Midterm Review Essay - 963 Words

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The follow question is one of two to be answered for the midterm. - BeShow MoreRelatedMidterm Review1485 Words   |  6 PagesInteractive Management Science MSamp;E 107/207, Midterm Review The Flaw of the Averages Mindle 1 / Uncertainty vs. Risk * Risk is in the eye of the beholder * Risk reflects how uncertain outcomes cause loss or injury to a particular individual or group * Risk attitude measures the willigness to incur risk in the quest of reward * Different risks to the same uncertainty Mindle 2 / An uncertain number is a shape * A distribution * â€Å"Uncertain numbers† * Risk is subjective Read MoreMidterm Review2002 Words   |  9 Pagesï » ¿The Federal Circuit Court of Appeal has appellate jurisdiction over the U.S. Claims Court. True Which of the following terms best describes the decision reached by an arbitrator? Award The dispute resolution method that is most likely to be used by a regulatory agency to negotiate the provisions of the regulations with the interested groups so that there is less likelihood of a challenge once the regulations are promulgated is: regulatory negotiation With reference to the federal governmentRead MoreReview for Midterm I1634 Words   |  7 PagesCalifornia State University –Fullerton Econ 201- Review for Midterm I Dr. El Hag- Spring 2010 Multiple Choice Identify the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question. ____1.The slope of a line that passes through the points (10, 15) and (20, 7) is a. | -5/4. | b. | -4/5. | c. | 4/5. | d. | 5/4. | ____2.If Shawn can produce more donuts in one day than Sue can produce in one day, then a. | Shawn has a comparative advantageRead MoreGeology Midterm Review2404 Words   |  10 PagesIntroduction to Geology GEOL-101 Midterm 1 Review Based on the textbook: Understanding Earth, 6th Edition, by Grotzinger and Press CH 1: earth system Summary The human creative process, field and lab observations, and experiments help geoscientists formulate testable hypotheses (models) for how the Earth works and its history. A hypothesis is a tentative explanation focusing attention on plausible features and relationships of a working model. If a testable hypothesis is confirmed by a large Read MoreMidterm Review Bio1291 Words   |  6 PagesBiology Final Exam Review Sheet a) The identity of each element is defined by the number of protons in its nucleus a. The physical and chemical properties of each element are defined by: i. Number of protons and neutrons in the nucleus ii. Number of electrons orbiting the nucleus Proton = mass of one a positive charge Neutron = mass of one and no charge Electron = negligible mass and a negative charge Isotopes of an element a) Isotopes are different forms of the same element a.Read MoreMidterm Review Essay9272 Words   |  38 PagesChapter 16 1.) All of the following factors contributed to explosive economic growth during the Gilded Age EXCEPT: Question options: | a) | availability of capital for investment. | | b) | a growing supply of labor. | | c) | abundant natural resources. | | d) | low tariffs. | | e) | federal land grants to railroads. | | | 1 / 1 point | 2.) By 1890, the majority of Americans: Question options: | a) | worked as farmers. | | b) | worked as independent craftsmenRead MoreEssay on Midterm Exam ( Review)1542 Words   |  7 PagesExam Review 1 Multiple Choice Identify the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question. ____ 1. Each of the following functions are within the framework for Human Resources Management EXCEPT: a. recruitment and selection. b. training and development. c. employee relations. d. employee discipline. 2. Which of the following is NOT a primary impact that technology has had on HRM? a. It has improved the processes of internal and external communications. b. It has altered the methodsRead MoreUs History Midterm Review777 Words   |  4 PagesUS History Midterm Study Guide General Government: 1. What were the Articles of Confederation? 2. Explain the roles of the three branches of the US government play? 3. Explain the political concept of Federalism 4. Be able to differentiate between Dual Federalism Cooperative Federalism (cake?) 5. What purpose does the Bill of Rights serve? 6. Identify the two houses of Congress and the term length of each. 7. What percentage of Congress has to vote to override a vetoRead MoreMidterm Review Questions Set 11481 Words   |  6 PagesREVIEW QUESTION SET #1 FOR THE MIDTERM EXAM QUESTION 1 (PRODUCTIVITY) ElectroPlus manufactures electronic components. It has recorded data for the last three years as shown in the table below. ElectroPlus Productivity Data (in millions of dollars) 2009 2010 2011 Sales 220 258 248 Materials 124 146 142 Labor 56 66 56 Overhead 16 24 20 a) Calculate a measure of labor productivity for each year and comment on the pattern. b) Calculate a measure of multifactor productivity for each year usingRead MorePsci 231 Midterm Review2130 Words   |  9 PagesSection One: 1. What is, â€Å"Utilitarianism† and why is it important to the study of businessgovernment relations? Utilitarianism is a usually described as the greatest happiness for the greatest number. It reflects the action that produces the most happiness for people; meaning that an action is good if it produces a higher ultility of happiness. The thoery treats all members of a society equally, balances the inequalities in wealth between rich and poor people and justifies human acts. For example

Martin Lynch-Gibbon, is a London wine merchant married to Antonia Free Essays

Martin Lynch-Gibbon, is a London wine merchant married to Antonia. They had wed due to convenience and they do not have a child. He is having an affair with Georgie, an academic younger than he is. We will write a custom essay sample on Martin Lynch-Gibbon, is a London wine merchant married to Antonia or any similar topic only for you Order Now She gets pregnant early on, but they end it. She attempts suicide after rejections by Martin and his brother. Seemingly out of nowhere, Antonia declares that she is leaving him. Martin is shocked. She goes with Palmer, one of their friends and her psychoanalyst. As it turns out, she and Palmer have been having an affair as well. Martin leaves their house, but he does not want his affair to go public, or be committed any further. Then he falls for Honor, Palmer’s stepsister who teaches anthropology at Cambridge. One night, he goes into her house uninvited and unannounced, and finds her in bed- with her stepbrother. Later, Antonia tells Martin that she has been seeing Alexander as well, his older brother, and it dates back to them having been introduced to each other. He turns to whisky to battle his problems. More than being an adulterer, he thinks of himself as a cuckold. â€Å"A Severed Head† explores fear of intimacy between the married couple, the fear of being in a relationship that values commitment. It also illuminates the ways in which sexual relationships are unraveled, especially when one manipulates or dominates the other. How to cite Martin Lynch-Gibbon, is a London wine merchant married to Antonia, Papers

Critical Care Nursing Health Restoration

Question: Describe about the Critical Care Nursing for Health Restoration. Answer: Introduction Sleep is a necessary natural function to preserve physiological and psychological health. Sleep is more vital for the critically ill patients of the intensive care unit for their health restoration. Yet, patients sleep in the ICU has been reported by a huge number of patients and their family members to be of reduced quality. Sleep alteration can be described as the apparent or definite changes in night-time sleep (both quantity and quality) with successive day-time deficiency. Sleep disruptions may be transient or acute, but frequently it is a recurrent difficulty in patients of intensive care unit. Sleep in ICU patients is frequently disrupted by diverse environmental factors of ICU settings. Sleep architecture gets significantly altered when sleep periods are fragmented by frequent awakenings due to ICU environmental factors. Numerous evidence suggested that a considerable percentage of ICU patients experience deprived sleep quality and repeated awakenings which subsequently contr ibute to physical and mental suffering. It is the duty of the nurses to mitigate these environmental factors contributing in sleep alteration for the wellbeing of the patients. Therefore, appropriate nursing interventions and recommendations are vital for patient-centered care. Sleeping alteration in intensive care patients Even though sickness, pain, discomfort, and medication subsidise to alterations of sleep patterns in patients of intensive care, the prime aspect producing sleep interruption is the ICU environment (Pisani 2015). Environmental elements including patient care activities (monitoring, therapeutic interventions and diagnostic measures), uncomfortable positions, excessive light, noise from several sources like alarms, conversations, ventilation, beepers, television and phones (Luetz et al. 2016) are have been purported to interrupt sleep in critically ill patients (Pisani et al. 2015). Major complaints from ICU patients include falling asleep, early morning awakenings with incapability to continue sleeping, remaining asleep, too much daytime drowsiness and non-restorative sleep (Pisani 2015). Irrespective of the causes, sleep alterations disrupts the circadian rhythm that plays an important role in the biological function and has been found to be connected with harmful bodily consequences such as fatigue,alterations in metabolism, immune function, protein catabolism and nitrogen stability (Pisani et al. 2015). Sleep deficiency and disturbance are identified to interrupt the recovery process in patients, reduce the quality of life and cognitive abilities. Furthermore, sleep pattern alterations can upsurge pain intensity, anxiety, and depression (Matthews 2011). According to the study of Carreira et al. (2015), even in critically ill patients without any sedation, sleep architecture, and quantity is severely disturbed. The severity of disease, comorbidities, and human interventions adversely upset sleep architecture and quantity. Sleep aberrations impact main ICU outcomes. Effects of noise level on sleep Noise intensities in ICU settings was recognized to be the prime environmental stressor for patients sleep alterations. Noise is a persistent factor in ICU due to the cacophony of medical activities and technological intensive care (Bihari et al. 2012).The World Health Organisation recommended that sound frequency within ICU must not surpass 30 decibel(A) at night in order to lessen sleep alteration. Noise intensities in ICU have progressively amplified over the last decades and healthcare professionals being the main source of the generated noises. Subjective investigations exploring the influences of sound on sleep specify that ICU patients ascertain the acquaintance to sound and incompetence to sleep as a key stressor (Luetz et al. 2016). In addition, objective surveys direct that the sound produced within the ICU environment is not favourable to the capability to sleep (Delaney et al. 2015). Effects of ICU medications on sleep Several of the drugs prescribed to the critically ill patients have strong effects of sleep pattern alterations. Opiates, antipsychotics, and benzodiazepines are associated with rapid eye movement sleep suppression. Standard sleep architecture can be affected by sedatives (Bihari et al. 2012). Sedation may have adverse impacts on sleep by affecting the normal characteristics of the sleep electroencephalogram (Matthews 2011 and Bihari et al. 2012). Figure 1: Impacts of drugs used in the Intensive Care Unit on sleep (Weinhouse and Schwab 2006). Physiological effects of sleep disturbance The chemo-sensitivity of the respiratory center of the brain is declined among sleep-deprived patients. Researches have showed many hostile impacts of sleep deficiency on respiratory muscle functioning (Kamdar et al. 2012). A substantial decrease in forced expiratory volume 1 (mean decline of six percent) and forced vital capacity (mean decline of five percent) in sleep-altered patients with the chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder compared to non-sleep-altered chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients have been observed. Findings suggest that sleep-deficient conditions may cause patient hypoventilation, harmfully causing pulmonary reserves and generally ability and readiness to accelerate preventing from mechanical ventilation (Delaney et al. 2015). The appearance of cardiovascular disorders due to sleep alteration originates from the stimulus of the sympathetic nervous structure and the discharge of the catecholamine adrenaline and noradrenaline. As a consequence, heart rate and blood pressure level get increased because of modifications in baroreflex sensitivity (Delaney et al. 2015). The adaptive immune system and the effective function of the T-cells was found to be susceptible to sleep alterations, as researchers have discovered that sleep performs a vital part in T-cells extravasation. Moreover, the functioning of natural killer cells was revealed to be harmfully affected by altered sleep conditions (Delaney et al. 2015). Disruption of circadian rhythm and sleep alteration in critical conditions cause dysfunction of innate immune response (Dengler et al. 2015). Irregular cortisol levels in intensive care patients cause disorders with circadian rhythms, as cortisol discharge is generally amplified earlier to awakening to facilitate the patient into a status prepared to be active. An escalation in cortisol amounts and reduction of melatonin creates a tendency for patients to be in the insomniac condition which can promote the worsening of catabolic activity and surges oxygen intake (Delaney et al. 2015). Sleep alterations negatively impact carbohydrate metabolism causing insulin resistance and clearance of glucose. The rise in sympathetic nervous system functioning and the subsequent pressure reaction overwhelms the discharge of insulin from -cells of pancreas. This event within the ICU patients can intensify underlying comorbidities, putting those patients at risks for other secondary complications. For instance, increased patient mortality has been linked with instability in blood glucose levels (Delaney et al. 2015). Psychological effects of sleep alteration Sleep alteration in ICU environment can lead to delirium. It is well-recognised that sleep alteration is a usual event in critically diseased patients and delirium arises often in patients at greater threats (Barr et al. 2013). A rising frame of evidence proposing that the advancement of delirium due to sleep alteration caused by the disturbing ICU environment is an independent prognosticator of the greater span of stay, amplified morbidity and mortality, disposition to an institutional setting from the hospital, and impairment of cognitive abilities during discharge from hospital (Pulak and Jensen 2016). Impacts of sleep alteration on social abilities and quality of life Numerous investigation data have established that sleep alteration has deleterious impacts on the patients quality of life in ICU both in the course of their hospitalization and for a different span of time afterward their discharge. It has been proposed that the sleep fragmentation, endured by ICU patients may be linked to persistent neurocognitive dysfunction (Barr et al. 2013). Contemporary studies of sleep alteration and chronic sleep deficiency have confirmed neuro-cognitive scarcities that mount up with time, regardless of any adaptation to the subjective sense of sleepiness (Kamdar et al. 2012). Clinical investigation of patients with obstructive sleep apnea, who also suffered from sleep alteration occasionally related with hemodynamic variability and hypoxia. These studies have exhibited the deformities in a wide range of neuro-cognitive and social activities some of which can even persist for months even after beginning of treatment with the constant affirmative approach (Ba rr et al. 2013). Role of the nurses in addressing and minimizing the impacts of sleep alteration in ICU Nurses deliver the holistic care to the patients. It is a prime duty of a nurse to evaluate and minimize alteration in sleep patterns of patients due to ICU environment. Evaluation of sleep alterations According to Matthews (2011), depending on the patient's condition, a nurse should evaluate how the ICU environment, treatment procedures, and medications subsidise to sleep alterations. Sleep evaluation can be characterized as objective, behavioral, and subjective. The most effective method of measuring sleep is polysomnography (Elliott et al. 2013). Bispectral index is another method practiced in ICU to measure sleep (Matthews 2011). Most efficient behavioral measure is actigraph. It a leg or wrist accelerometer that registers gross motor activities and rests over a prolonged period (Solverson and Doig 2014). Uninterrupted actigraph observation is used in seriously ill patients to direct usage of medications, sedative and improve recognition of agitation (Matthews 2011). Subjective assessment approaches such as nursing observations and self-reports of patients can offer additional useful means of assessing sleep features and effectiveness of sleep interventions. Sedation assessment tool that uses descriptive statistical measures is actually more accurate than results of sleep and non-sleep conditions (Matthews 2011). As described by Matthews (2011), using own appraisal of the patients about their sleep is necessary since they are capable of comparing normal quantity and quality sleep with the quantity and quality of sleep during their serious disease conditions. Everyday sleep records, visual analog scale and quality of life feedbacks are essential and have been practiced in a diverse critical care observations. For the patients with stable conditions, verbal communication of trouble in falling asleep, sleep fragmentation and restlessness required to be promoted on a regular basis with the procedure of formal evaluations.Patients and their family members can also contribute insights to etiological aspects and evaluation of their insight of sleep complications and potential respite methods can facilitate suitable treatment (Aitken et al. 2016). Even though objective accounts of the quantity of sleep periods and disruptions may vary from the perception of the patients, monitoring of sleep and wakeful behaviours over twenty-four hours, and representations of physical and mental sleep fragmentation (e.g., pain, sound, anxiety) may be beneficial in evolving a comprehensive care strategy (Matthews 2011). Nursing interventions of sleep alterations If evaluations suggest sleep alterations a multidisciplinary methodology should commence immediately. Incorporation of assessment result of patients sleep arrays and habitual sleep rituals into the care plan is significant. Normal sleep patterns are specific for each patient and data collected via holistic and comprehensive assessments are necessary to be determined the etiology of sleep alterations. Anxiety in the ICU environment interferes with sleep. Nursing interventions such as relaxation therapy can help patients reduce anxiety (Matthews 2011). A nurse should also evaluate the potential sources of noise and act to minimize those noises. Simple measures like providing quiet time to allow the patient's mind to slow down, comfortable temperature, ventilation and dim light can increase the quality of sleep (Maidl et al. 2014). Research has shown that mild back massage before bedtime can effectively promote sleep (Matthews 2011). Providing pain relief shortly before bedtime and posi tioning patients comfortably can promote sleep. Excessive noise can cause sleep alterations that can result in ICU psychosis. Keeping the ICU ambient quite by lowering the volume on television and radio, avoiding the use of intercoms, setting beepers on non-audio mode, talking quietly on the unit and anticipating alarms on IV pumps are obligatory (Luetz et al. 2016). Using sound generators with soothing sounds like rainfall, ocean, and waterfall can induce sleep (Su et al. 2013). Observation of patients medication and diet is vital because difficulty in sleeping can be a side of drugs such as bronchodilators. In situations like this, nurses need to change medications immediately after the evaluation findings. Benzodiazepinesare frequently recommended in the treatment of sleep alterations (Matthews 2011). Conclusion Sleep alterations and related health complications are crucial difficulties for patients in intensive care units. Different environmental factors of ICU such as patient care activities, uncomfortable positions, excessive light, and noises, all contribute to a incompetence of the patients to sleep. A collective methodology that integrates evaluations of sleep alterations and disturbances, behavioral interventions, control of environmental factors, appropriate pharmacological management and educational are essential to diminish the influence of sleep alterations and disturbances in patients of ICU. Following the comprehensive assessments of environmental aspects of ICU, an effective care plan must be developed to deliver times of uninterrupted sleep and reduce disturbance, identification of medication regimens that can promote sleep and recommendation non-pharmacological interventions constructed on individual requirements and desires or the patients. Nurses possess the suitable positi on to detect problems in their own units that can hamper quality and quantity patients sleep. Support from not only the nurses but also from all associates of the healthcare crew is necessary for implementing environmental modifications and make advancement in addressing sleep and energy requirements for the patients. References Aitken, L.M., Elliott, R., Mitchell, M., Davis, C., Macfarlane, B., Ullman, A., Wetzig, K., Datt, A. and McKinley, S., 2016. Sleep assessment by patients and nurses in the intensive care: An exploratory descriptive study.Australian Critical Care. Barr, J., Fraser, G.L., Puntillo, K., Ely, E.W., Glinas, C., Dasta, J.F., Davidson, J.E., Devlin, J.W., Kress, J.P., Joffe, A.M. and Coursin, D.B., 2013. Clinical practice guidelines for the management of pain, agitation, and delirium in adult patients in the intensive care unit.Critical care medicine, 41(1), pp.263-306. Bihari, S., McEvoy, R.D., Matheson, E., Kim, S., Woodman, R.J. and Bersten, A.D., 2012. Factors affecting sleep quality of patients in intensive care unit.J Clin Sleep Med,8(3), pp.301-7. Carreira, S., Lavault, S., Pallanca, O., Mayaux, J., Delemazure, J., Arnulf, I., Similowski, T. and Demoule, A., 2015. Risk Factors and Prognostic Impact of Sleep Alterations in ICU Patients: A Prospective Observational Polysomnographic Study. InD16. PREDICTING RISK AND OUTCOMES FOR CRITICAL ILLNESS(pp. A5397-A5397). American Thoracic Society. Delaney, L.J., Haren, F. and Lopez, V., 2015. Sleeping on a problem: the impact of sleep disturbance on intensive care patients-a clinical review. Annals of intensive care,5(1), p.1. Dengler, V., Westphalen, K. and Koeppen, M., 2015. Disruption of circadian rhythms and sleep in critical illness and its impact on innate immunity. Current pharmaceutical design,21(24), pp.3469-3476. Elliott, R., McKinley, S., Cistulli, P. and Fien, M., 2013. Characterisation of sleep in intensive care using 24-hour polysomnography: an observational study.Critical Care,17(2), p.1. Kamdar, B.B., Needham, D.M. and Collop, N.A., 2012. Sleep deprivation in critical illness its role in physical and psychological recovery.Journal of intensive care medicine,27(2), pp.97-111. Luetz, A., Weiss, B., Penzel, T., Fietze, I., Glos, M., Wernecke, K.D., Bluemke, B., Dehn, A.M., Willemeit, T., Finke, A. and Spies, C., 2016. Feasibility of noise reduction by a modification in ICU environment.Physiological measurement,37(7), p.1041. Maidl, C.A., Leske, J.S. and Garcia, A.E., 2014. The influence of quiet time for patients in critical care.Clinical nursing research,23(5), pp.544-559. Matthews, E.E., 2011. Sleep disturbances and fatigue in critically ill patients. AACN advanced critical care,22(3), p.204. Pisani, M., 2015. Sleep in the intensive care unit: An oft-neglected key to health restoration.Heart Lung: The Journal of Acute and Critical Care, 44(2), p.87. Pisani, M.A., Friese, R.S., Gehlbach, B.K., Schwab, R.J., Weinhouse, G.L. and Jones, S.F., 2015. Sleep in the intensive care unit.American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine,191(7), pp.731-738. Pulak, L.M. and Jensen, L., 2016. Sleep in the Intensive Care Unit A Review.Journal of intensive care medicine,31(1), pp.14-23. Solverson, K. and Doig, C., 2014. An assessment of long-term sleep quality using actigraphy in survivors of critical illness.Critical Care,18(1), p.1. Su, C.P., Lai, H.L., Chang, E.T., Yiin, L.M., Perng, S.J. and Chen, P.W., 2013. A randomized controlled trial of the effects of listening to non-commercial music on quality of nocturnal sleep and relaxation indices in patients in medical intensive care unit.Journal of advanced nursing,69(6), pp.1377-1389.

Research Paper on Information Theory Essay Example

Research Paper on Information Theory Essay Information theory is the study of how the transfer of information can be done most effectively. The so-called statistical information theory was founded in the mid-1900s by Claude Shannon as part of a communication theory he developed, where the information theoretical concept of entropy plays a central role. In his theory, information measure is a measure of the increased determination degree you will be provided a variety of possible alternatives reduced to a smaller amount of options. This is measured as the logarithm of the ratio of the number of options before and after the reduction. This information measure is used inter alia in communication theory for calculating a channel capacity to transfer information and in coding theory for calculating the redundancy, and the degree of data compression possible. An example of areas in which the theory has gained much importance is telecommunications, computer technology, space technology, and biology. In most cases, this involves sending a complete message from a sender to a receiver. We will write a custom essay sample on Research Paper on Information Theory specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Research Paper on Information Theory specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Research Paper on Information Theory specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer The history of the information theory dates back to the 1940s, when Claude Elwood Shannon delivered significant contributions to the theory of data transmission and probability theory. He wondered how to ensure lossless data transmission channels via electronic (and optical today). This involves, in particular, to separate the data signals from the background noise. He was also trying to identify errors occurring during the transmission and correct it. The additional redundant (bearing no additional information) is necessary for the data to be sent and received, as well as to be verified or corrected. It is doubtful and was not claimed by Shannon that his 1948 study published A Mathematical Theory of Communication is of substantial importance for issues outside the communications technology. The concept of entropy used by him, associated with the thermodynamics is a formal analogy for a mathematical expression. In general can be defined as an engineering theory at a high abstraction level of information theory. It shows the trend for the scientific nature of art, which led to the formation of the engineering sciences. The reference point of Shannon’s theory is the accelerated development of electrical communications technology with its forms of telegraphy, telephony, radio, and television in the first half of the 20th Century. Before and next to Shannon there were Harry Nyquist, RVL Hartley, and Karl Kupfmuller who made important contributions to the theory of communication engineering. Norbert Wiener gave mathematical clarifications of relevance to the information theory, which helped its considerable publicity in the context of his reflections on cybernetics. If you need a good source of a highly urgent data you will need to look through free sample research papers on information theory, which will give a clear understanding of the issue. Are you looking for a top-notch custom research paper on Information Theory topics? Is confidentiality as important to you as the high quality of the product? Try our writing service at EssayLib.com! We can offer you professional assistance at affordable rates. Our experienced PhD and Master’s writers are ready to take into account your smallest demands. We guarantee you 100% authenticity of your paper and assure you of dead on time delivery. Proceed with the order form: Please, feel free to visit us at EssayLib.com and learn more about our service!

Critically evaluate the empirical support for Piagets theory of the stages of cognitive development The WritePass Journal

Critically evaluate the empirical support for Piagets theory of the stages of cognitive development Introduction Critically evaluate the empirical support for Piagets theory of the stages of cognitive development IntroductionReferences.Related Introduction Cognitive development overlooks the way children learn which Piaget (1896-1980) has had a great influence on. Piaget observed children throughout activities by interacting with them verbally and active listening. Piaget (1952) believed that children move through various stages in order to develop.   In order for children to develop they had to pass the four stages, Piaget (1952) names the stages as follows, sensorimotor, pre-operational, concrete operations and formal operational. However there have been many criticisms made by many theorists such as siegler, case, Lewis etc. In this essay I will be evaluating Piaget’s theory stages of development critically and coming to a conclusion. Piaget had a broad horizon on cognitive development. He felt that in order for a development to be passed a child creates schemas.   Piaget (1951) schemas are senses of experiences gained by a child from birth. A schema represents a child’s physical and mental capability, for an example a new born child begins to grasp, suck, blink etc. In order for a child to go through the next stage he should be intellectually and mentally fit. The first stage is the sensori-motor, this stage start from birth to 2 years. During this stage children begin to use their senses to create senses in order to develop such as see, hear, touch etc. Piaget (1952) did a task with children ages 8 to 12 months. He called this task â€Å"object permanence†, where he hid an attractive toy away from the child. The child responded by pushing objects away to find the toy. His findings showed him that children began to problem solve and have an understanding. The second stage is the preoperational stage. This stage occurs from 2 to 7 years. Piaget (1936) felt that children were not intellectually capable as their perception was dominating the way they saw situations. He believed that there were many limitations to the way children will think during this stage. The first limitation was egocentration where their own perceptions are being dominated by themselves. Piaget felt that young children are unable to express their views other than their own. In order to prove this he created a task called â€Å"three mountains task†. He came to the conclusion that children up to the age of seven could not identify what the doll could see as they would only answer what they could. The second limitation to this stage is centration which Piaget (1936) believed that children could only focus on one situation going on at one time ignoring others. Piaget (1952) created a task called â€Å"conservation†, this task involved objects which were t ransformed into different lengths, shapes etc. From this task he found out that children cannot focus or understand the concept of height while concentrating on the width. Robert Siegler (1981) replicated Piaget’s (1958) â€Å"Balance Beam† task to see why children could not solve conservation tasks. However Siegler (1981) believed that there are some strategies which children use in order to complete tasks. From his experiment he found that children below 5 could not use the first strategy but used strategy 2 and 3. The third stage is concrete operations. This stage starts from 7 to 12 years. This stage strongly focuses on reasoning. At this stage children are able to see and understand conservation tasks, size, height etc. There are 4 areas which consist within this stage conservation, classification, seriation. Conservation involves children to problem solve mathematically. Classification is for children 7 to 10, Piaget (1967) has said classification is what children in those ages should be able to understand and group objects relating them to their characteristics. Seriation is children able to put things in order for example in size, colour shape, numbers etc. This stage is allowing children to experiment with real objects in order to explore and problem solve. Piaget (1967) did an experiment for seriation with sticks where he found out that, children can put into series of order but make many mistakes.   He found that above 6 years can put in order in no time and correctly. The final stage is formal operational. This stage occurs in children around 11 according to Piaget (1958). At this stage children are thinking like adults where they can easily problems in their head with ease. Piaget (1958) constructed a task called â€Å"pendulum†. From this task he found out children do little mistakes but learn from them and all three stages pre- operational, concrete and formal operational are concurred and passed. Lewis (1981) did an experiment to show that not all teenagers at the age of 11 can think like adults, he found out that 50-60% teenagers used formal operations. This shows that not all teenagers including adults use this stage. However Bryant (1974) had criticised that tasks that Piaget (1936, 1951, 1952) did to prove his theory were very hard for children to do. Bryant (1974) proved that Piaget was a bit harsh in tasks with children so he constructed a task where he found out that children under 5 were able to do the tasks without any hesitation. This shows the Piaget (1952) did have a good theory but didn’t have the right task for the age group which the children didn’t answer correctly. Robbie case (1992, 1998) did an experiment to see that a child’s development is not just about schemas or to see their cognitive development, but it includes information processing, which is internal capacity of a child.   Cases’ (1992, 1998) theory shows that children have not got enough memory capacity to help them process and develop. So as children grow older they concur the stage. This essay has come to the conclusion that Piaget’s theory has a good source of empirical support to prove his theory. Piaget himself has underpinned numerous tasks such as 3 mountains task, pendulum, object permanence, in order prove his stages of development. However other theorists such as Bryant (1947), Case (1992), Lewis(1981) and Siegler (1981) have proved that there more to the stages of development for example case (1992) has showed that information processing has an equivalent contribution. Nevertheless Piaget had a great impact on cognitive development whereas as many theorists have been inspired. References. Berk. E. L. (2009). Child Development. United States: Library of Congress Cataloging-in- Publication Data pages, 22-24,224-257,278, 280-281, 293. Birch, A. (1997).   Developmental psychology.   London: Macmillean Press LTD, pages 65-80,111-113. Piaget, J. (1955). The Childs Construction of Reality, trans. London: M. Cook. Piaget, J. (1959). The Language and Thought of the Child. London: Routeledge and Kegan Paul. Siegler R. S. (1998). Childrens Thinking 3rd edition. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, pages 44, 66-67, 74-78.

Obsidian - Volcanic Glass Prized for Stone Tool Making

Obsidian - Volcanic Glass Prized for Stone Tool Making The volcanic glass called obsidian was highly prized in prehistory where ever it was found. The glassy material comes in a range of colors from black to green to bright orange, and it is found everywhere rhyolite-rich volcanic deposits are found. Most obsidian is a deep rich black, but, for example, pachuca obsidian, from a source in Hidalgo and distributed throughout Mesoamerica during the Aztec period, is a translucent green color with a golden yellow sheen to it. Pico de Orizaba, from a source in southeastern Puebla is almost completely colorless. Obsidian Qualities The qualities that made obsidian a favorite trade item are its shiny beauty, its easily worked fine texture, and the sharpness of its flaked edges. Archaeologists are fond of it because of obsidian hydration-a relatively secure (and relatively low cost) way to date the period an obsidian tool was last flaked. Sourcing obsidianthat is to say, discovering where the raw stone from a particular obsidian artifact came fromis typically conducted through trace element analysis. Although obsidian is always made up of volcanic rhyolite, each deposit has slightly different amounts of trace elements in it. Scholars identify the chemical fingerprint of each deposit through such methods as X-ray fluorescence or neutron activation analysis  and then compare that to what is found in an obsidian artifact. Alca Obsidian Alca is  a type of obsidian that is  solid and banded black, gray, maroon brown and bottled black maroon brown, that is found in volcanic deposits in the Andes mountains between 3700-5165 meters (12,140-16,945 feet) above sea level. The largest known concentrations of Alca are at the east rim of the Cotahuasi Canyon and in the Pucuncho basin. The Alca sources are among the most extensive sources of obsidian in South America; only the Laguna de Maule source in Chile and Argentina has comparable exposure.   Three types of Alca, Alca-1, Alca-5 and Alca-7, outcrop on the alluvial fans of the Pucuncho basin. These cannot be discerned with the naked eye, but they can be identified on the basis of geochemical characteristics, identified through ED-XRF and NAA (Rademaker et al. 2013). Stone tool workshops at the sources in the Pucuncho basin have been dated to the Terminal Pleistoceneand stone tools dated to the same 10,000-13,000 year range have been discovered at Quebrada Jaguay on the coast of Peru. Sources For information on dating obsidian ,  see the article on obsidian hydration. See the History of Glass Making, if thats what interests you. For more rock science on the substance, see the geology entry for obsidian. For the heck of it, try the Obsidian Trivia Quiz. Freter A. 1993. Obsidian-hydration dating: Its past, present, and future application in Mesoamerica. Ancient Mesoamerica 4:285-303. Graves MW, and Ladefoged TN. 1991. The disparity between radiocarbon and volcanic glass dates: New evidence from the island of Lanai, Hawaii. Archaeology in Oceania 26:70-77. Hatch JW, Michels JW, Stevenson CM, Scheetz BE, and Geidel RA. 1990. Hopewell obsidian studies: Behavioral implications of recent sourcing and dating research. American Antiquity 55(3):461-479. Hughes RE, Kay M, and Green TJ. 2002. Geochemical and Microwear Analysis of an Obsidian Artifact from the Brown Bluff Site (3WA10), Arkansas. Plains Anthropologist 46(179). Khalidi L, Oppenheimer C, Gratuze B, Boucetta S, Sanabani A, and al-Mosabi A. 2010. Obsidian sources in highland Yemen and their relevance to archaeological research in the Red Sea region. Journal of Archaeological Science 37(9):2332-2345. Kuzmin YV, Speakman RJ, Glascock MD, Popov VK, Grebennikov AV, Dikova MA, and Ptashinsky AV. 2008. Obsidian use at the Ushki Lake complex, Kamchatka Peninsula (Northeastern Siberia): implications for terminal Pleistocene and early Holocene human migrations in Beringia. Journal of Archaeological Science 35(8):2179-2187. Liritzis I, Diakostamatiou M, Stevenson C, Novak S, and Abdelrehim I. 2004. Dating of hydrated obsidian surfaces by SIMS-SS. Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry 261(1):51–60. Luglie C, Le Bourdonnec F-X, Poupeau G, Atzeni E, Dubernet S, Moretto P, and Serani L. 2006. Early Neolithic obsidians in Sardinia (Western Mediterranean): the Su Carroppu case. Journal of Archaeological Science 34(3):428-439. Millhauser JK, Rodrà ­guez-Alegrà ­a E, and Glascock MD. 2011. Testing the accuracy of portable X-ray fluorescence to study Aztec and Colonial obsidian supply at Xaltocan, Mexico. Journal of Archaeological Science 38(11):3141-3152. Moholy-Nagy H, and Nelson FW. 1990. New data on sources of obsidian artifacts from Tikal, Guatemala. Ancient Mesoamerica 1:71-80. Negash A, Shackley MS, and Alene M. 2006. Source provenance of obsidian artifacts from the Early Stone Age (ESA) site of Melka Konture, Ethiopia. Journal of Archaeological Science 33:1647-1650. Peterson J, Mitchell DR, and Shackley MS. 1997. The social and economic contexts of lithic procureent: obsidian from classic-period Hohokam sites. American Antiquity 62(2):213-259. Rademaker K, Glascock MD, Kaiser B, Gibson D, Lux DR, and Yates MG. 2013. Multi-technique geochemical characterization of the Alca obsidian source, Peruvian Andes. Geology 41(7):779-782. Shackley MS. 1995. Sources of archaeological obsidian in the Greater American southwest: An update and quantitative analysis. American Antiquity 60(3):531-551. Spence MW. 1996. Commodity or gift: Teotihuacan obsidian in the Maya region. Latin American Antiquity 7(1):21-39. Stoltman JB, and Hughes RE. 2004. Obsidian in Early Woodland Contexts in the Upper Mississippi Valley. American Antiquity 69(4):751-760. Summerhayes GR. 2009. Obsidian network patterns in Melanesia: Sources, characterisation, and distribution. IPPA Bulletin 29:109-123. Also Known As: Volcanic glass Examples: Teotihuacan and Catal Hoyuk are just two of the sites where obsidian was clearly considered an important stone resource.

Developing Successful Business Teams Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Developing Successful Business Teams - Essay Example Characteristics of team and its contribution to the overall success of the organisation: Team can be defined as a group of people working together to achieve a common target for the welfare of the organisation. However, Dackert, et al. (2010) cited that in a team, the members complement the strengths and weakness of each other. The characteristics of an ideal team such as in Apple Inc., has been mentioned as under: A team leader: Each of the team operates under a team leader. Team leader directs the right path and motivates the members to achieve the targets. The success of effective teamwork in Apple Inc. depends primarily on the leadership quality of Steve Jobs. A common goal: Each of the team members’ work to meet a common short term and long term objectives that improves the business performance of the company. In Apple Inc., the staff are dedicated to provide unique and innovative technical solutions to the customers. Communication : An effective team work includes free communication among the team members. In Apple Inc., the employees can share the feelings and ideas with each other. Moreover, the staff of Apple Inc .are also allowed having an open communication with the leaders. Measurement of team performance: The teamwork of a particular department is being measured by the managers at a regular interval of time. In the company, the managers conduct a team meeting in every month with the team members to discuss the progress of the ongoing project.

The U.S Debt Ceiling Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The U.S Debt Ceiling - Term Paper Example In essence, it can just limit the Treasury from settling expenditures once the limit has been achieved, but which have already been permitted and appropriated. When the debt limit is normally reached devoid of any raise in the limit having been passed, the Treasury has to use extraordinary measures to provisionally fund government expenditure and responsibilities till a resolution can be reached. The U.S. Treasury has never, in the past, reached the level of wearing out extraordinary actions, leading to a default, even though the Congress, on a number of occasions, seemed like it would permit a default to occur (Masters, 2013). Managing of the U.S. public debt is a significant aspect of the macroeconomics of the country’s financial system and economy, and the debt limit is a restraint on the Treasury’s capacity to run the United States economy (Abotalaf, 2011). However, there are talks on how the U.S. financial system should be controlled, and whether a debt limit is a suitable method for restraining government expenditure (Abotalaf, 2011). This paper will discuss the consequences of debt ceiling in the United States economy, how the country got there and how they can get out of it. What the United States Got to the Current Debit Ceiling In Article I, Section 8 of the American Constitution, only the Congress can consent to the loaning of money by the United States on credit (Levit et al., 2013). From the independence days of the U.S. till the early 90’s, the Congress openly consented to every singled debt issued (Masters, 2013). To offer more elasticity to support the U.S.’s involvement in the First World War, the Congress modified the technique through which it legalized debt in the 1917, 2nd Liberty Bond Act. Under this law, the Congress created a summative limit also known as a â€Å"ceiling†, on the overall amount of fresh bonds, which could be issued (Austin et al., 2012). The current debt limit is a summative limit relev ant to almost all national debt, which was significantly created by the both the 1939 and 1941 Public Debt Acts that have consequently been amended to transform the limit amount (Abotalaf, 2011). From time to time, political disagreements occur when the Treasury informs the Congress that the debt limit is almost to be reached (Masters, 2013). When the debt ceiling is achieved and pending a raise in the limit, the Treasury can use "extraordinary measures" to seek extra time before the limit can be increased by the Congress (Austin et al., 2012). The U.S. has never got to the level of a default where the Treasury was not able to pay United States debt requirements, even if it has been close on a number of occasions. The only exemption was in the 1812 War when a number of areas in Washington D.C., and also the Treasury, were burned to the ground (Levit et al., 2013). The U.S. reached, in 2011, a crisis level of close to a default on public debt. The holdup in raising the debt limit led to the initial downgrade in the U.S. credit ranking, a quick plunge in the stock market, as well as a raise in borrowing expenditure. Another debt limit crisis developed in early 2013 when the ceiling was reached once more, and the Treasury assumed extraordinary measures to evade another default (Levit et al., 2013). The 2013 debt limit crisis was settled, for now, on 4th February, 2013, when the President consented to the No Budget, No Pay Act and also delayed the debt

Domestic monetary systems Essay Example for Free

Domestic monetary systems Essay With a population of 170 million, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is strategically located in South Asia, sharing borders with India to the East, China to the North East, Afghanistan to the North West and Iran to the West. To the south lies the Arabian Sea, this provides close proximity to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. The country is predominantly Muslim with a major portion of the population (65%) residing in the rural areas. Although significant progress has been made in recent years, the country still lags behind as far as social infrastructure and human development are concerned. (Bajwa, 1999) Structure of Government and Politics: The constitution of the country, promulgated in 1973, holds out the country as a parliamentary democracy with all powers vested in the parliament. However, for much of the past decade, Pakistan was run along the lines of a military dictatorship, with Parliament subservient to the President and vast powers vested in his self. After the gradual transfer of power to democratic forces following an election on the 18th of February, the resignation of General (Retd) Pervaiz Musharraf, and the election of Asif Ali Zardari as the new President, parliament is reviewing the balance of power between the Presidential Palace and the Parliament House and it is expected that, soon, the country would revert back to the old format of the President being a ceremonial Head of State and the Prime Minister running the country independently with Parliament backing. (Malik, 2001) At present, there is a coalition government in place that comprises the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP). It is led by the President of the country, Asif Ali Zardari, who happens to be the widower of famed democratic leader Benazir Bhutto, assassinated by terrorist elements during an election rally in the city of Rawalpindi last year. Other coalition partners include the MQM (Muthaida Quami Movement translated as United National Movement) and the ANP (Awami National Party). The Opposition is deeply divided and primarily consists of the Pakistan Muslim League (Q) and the Pakistan Muslim League (N). The main political issues on the domestic front are, as mentioned above, the repealing of anti democratic laws enacted as part of the constitution by the outgoing military regime and the issue of the deposed judges of the supreme court that were sacked by the former military regime when they refused to remain puppets. Apart from this, there is the dire issue of reconciliation between neglected provinces. However, the inability of the new coalition government to actively address issues of popular appeal and an over indulgence in issues of power sharing and power consolidation lend it ever decreasing credibility in the eyes of the general public. Although the new government has been in power for almost an year, its performance has been dismal. The popular mandate of democracy that has shot the PPP and its coalition partners into power has not been implemented. The Prime Minister, Yousuf Reza Gillani, remains a puppet and the Presidential Palace remains the main power fort. Despite the fact that the opposition is ready to support the government on national issues, such as the reinstatement of deposed judges and the repealing of undemocratic laws, the government has so far shown quiet restraint to address these issues. Foreign Policy: â€Å"Pakistans foreign policy has been marked by a complex balancing processthe result of its history, religious heritage, and geographic position. The primary objective of that policy has been to preserve Pakistans territorial integrity and security, which have been in jeopardy since the states inception. † (US Library of Congress) The aforementioned paragraph adequately describes Pakistan’s foreign policy ever since it came on the map of the world in 1947. Being predominantly Muslim, the country finds itself sentimentally attached to the Islamic World, in particular the Middle East. A developing country, lacking skilled manpower and capital to exploit the wealth of natural resources that its lands have been bestowed with, the country’s foreign policy has had to take in account the economic impact that relations with other countries can have. Moreover, traditional enmity with the giant neighbor on its eastern borders (India) has forced it to make balancing measures with staying in the good books of China and supporting pro Pakistan elements in Afghanistan. (Bajwa, 1999) Pakistans foreign policy is deeply aligned with the United States goal of War on terror. After the September 11 attacks, Pakistan renounced terrorism and became a frontline state in the war against terrorism. The country is the main supply route to NATO forces stationed in Afghanistan and is a major non NATO US ally. Despite this close alignment with the United States, the country often finds itself in a tricky situation when it comes to its tribal belt bordering Afghanistan. These areas are largely unregulated since independence from the British in 1947, operate with full autonomy while pledging allegiance to Islamabad. Pakistan is blamed for â€Å"not doing enough† to quell terrorist incursions from these tribal areas. Tribes here are said to be providing safe havens to terrorist and Taliban elements with the theory that the top brass of Al Qaeda and the Taliban is hiding here. NATO led forces have made several air strikes in the area which Pakistan declares as encroachment on its sovereignty but takes little steps to discipline these tribal belts. Part of this inaction is based on the fact that a stable Afghanistan, aligned with India is not in the best interests of Pakistan. Traditional enmity with India over the Jammu Kashmir disputed territory has led the two countries to fight three full scale wars in 1948, 1965 1971 and one limited war in 1999. Pakistan perceives a pro Pakistan Afghan government or an unstable Afghanistan as a hedge against encirclement by India. It is this threat to its security that leads it to, introvert if not extrovertly, refrain from taking any drastic steps to quell those destabilizing elements in Afghanistan that originally emanate from its terrotiry. (Bajwa, 1999) On the economic front, Pakistan is primarily an exporter of textiles accounting to about 57% of the country’s exports. Prime markets are North America and Europe. Good relations are important with these two blocks of nations as they provide trade facilitation and, at the same time, help with soft loans and aid to help in social and economic development. Remittances also play an important part in the country’s balance of payments and a large amount of Pakistani’s work in the Middle East, Europe and America. The country’s foreign policy also has to take account of these factors. (Malik, 2001) Thus, to sum up, as implied earlier, the country’s foreign policy is driven by its perceived security threat, religious affiliation with the Islamic fraternity of nations and the dependence upon economic aid and facilitation by friendly countries. While the policy has been largely successful in maintaining the country’s territorial (if we exclude the secession of East Pakistan in 1971 due to Indian intervention) integrity and safeguarding its economic interests, continuing on such lines indefinitely is not an option and it is important that the country makes a strategic review of its policy and seek alternative ways of addressing outstanding issues. Domestic Monetary Systems: Speaking In purely political economic terms, the government of technocrats that took power in October 1999 was faced with a huge crisis. Business confidence was low, investors were hesitant and the economy seemed to be heading for a deeper depression. Political legitimacy for the regime was another issue. Quite smartly, the policy makers then decided to lower interest rates. The idea was that low interest rates would encourage private sector borrowing, push up aggregate demand, increase corporate sector profitability, help in the generation of employment and quite importantly provide legitimacy to the regime. The concept to create this artificial boom was not a bad idea at all, but the fact that this approach only stocks problem for the future are alarming. While banking is referred to as â€Å"the refined management of money†, during the last 9 years, the country bore witness to the greatest mismanagement of scarce resources in the history of the country. The rise of consumer banking in an undocumented economy meant that people borrowed cheap and spent it on unproductive activities like buying consumables, investing on a volatile stock market vacationing in Europe. New investment in capital was made, but the bulk of the corporate sector used the low interest rates to either replace existing machinery or reschedule existing loans at cheaper rates. Thus, the economy was inflated by the use of an expansionary monetary policy that increased the dependence on oil and fuel. Worse, the effect is more severe as a high proportion of petroleum consumption is used by private car owners. Had the government tried to balance total economic and social benefit with total economic and social costs, by for example, encouraging public transport as opposed to private car ownership, the economy would have been less affected by the oil price hikes. Switching to Compressed Natural Gas was instead provided as a viable alternative but the result was lower gas supply for domestic and industrial use. Today, the Pakistani economy is representative of an over inflated balloon and attempts to deflate it are having serious repercussions. The state bank of Pakistan has raised interest rates to 15. 5% in attempt to curb inflation running as high as 20%. Measures have been introduced to reduce the money supply. This would help ease inflationary pressures on the demand side. However the argument goes that high interest rates would discourage investment, lead to low business confidence result in excessive saving as people would consume less and save more. This would mean that a â€Å"general glut† would appear in the economy with high inventories and unused capacity. Unless there is adequate demand outside the economy, employment levels may fall and output would decrease, leading to further slow growth, possibly complete stagnation. Given the current world economic scenario, with recession in the US, the sub prime mortgage crisis, competition from low cost producers such as China and India and the overall geo political scenario, monetary contraction is only making matters worse. Another important problem is the fact that unethical business practices like cartelization and hoarding are ever prevalent in this country. Moreover, the country is highly dependent upon imports of fuel and other items to aid its industries. Thus, a major portion of the inflation that the country faces is cost push in nature. However, the aim remains to target aggregate demand. (Janjua, 2008) This policy of the government makes some sense as the economy is artificially inflated. However, by not targeting the cost push factors and solely targeting the demand factors by reducing money supply, the government is not helping consumer and business confidence. The government’s inaction can be explained by two reasons. First, the country has recently obtained a hefty loan of USD 7. 6 billion from the IMF. A condition of this loan is to restrict money supply further. This is typical of many IMF financings which focus on monetary betterment as opposed to the level of unemployment and GDP growth. Secondly, many of the cartels have representation in the government and due to the absence of a strict legal system; any action against them is made impossible. Foreign Trade: A very interesting scenario is presented in the Economic survey of Pakistan 2007-8, which states that exports â€Å"suffer from serious structural issues which need to be addressed primarily by the industry itself, with government playing its role of a facilitator. † It then goes on to tell how textiles are the most important contributor to exports (56. 67%) and the issues that the industry faces as a result of its inability to innovate, become efficient and embrace fashion trends in its primary foreign markets. A new surprise is found in the face of food items (the country is running out of water, by the way) accounting for 13% of total exports, petroleum products (meager resources at best) accounting for 6% of total exports, manufactured leather products 3. 7% and chemicals and pharma products almost 3. 27% of total exports. Aggregate these and you find that the top five exports make up 83% of total exports. (Ministry of Finance, 2008) The point of doing this analysis is to show that as an economy; Pakistan is heavily exposed to, what is called in financial management terminology, unsystematic risk. Its lack of diversity makes it more prone to microeconomic shocks in the prime exports that it makes. Another worrying problem is the terms of trade, (a monetary measure of the price of exports upon the price of imports). Sadly, whereas the terms of trade were highly in favor of Pakistan until 1998-99 (115. 7), they have since then nose dived to stand at 58. 35 (2007-8). What this implies is that although the country has been exporting a lot more in volume, in value terms, international trade is becoming increasingly disadvantageous for Pakistan. Even if you take the effect of rising oil prices out of this analysis, the terms of trade had, never the less had fallen to 73. 6 by 2004-5. This lack of value addition makes us it more suspect to microeconomic level industry shocks that could further damage its standing in the export market. (Ministry of Finance, 2008) The previously mentioned most accurately describes the Pakistani government’s policy towards foreign trade. Although it has been working tirelessly to gain access to markets in Asia, Europe and North America for its export industries, the emphasis has remained towards increasing textile exports. This support of textiles and agricultural items to a certain extent has not fared well for other industries and sectors. Export diversity is low and so is value addition. Moreover, the country has not been able to reposition itself with regard to reliance on imports. So in so, that even though the country is an agricultural country by definition, due to poor harvests and lack of support, in certain years, we see that staple food items are imported by this agricultural country. Although natural consequences favor that Pakistan produces and exports textiles and food items, unfortunately, but both these industries have certainly lost their efficiency at doing the job that is intended of them. The textile industrys inability to change coupled with power shortages and political nightmares and our lack of water resources for agriculture coupled with reluctance from commercial banks to serve this sector means that there should be a policy change at the federal level. The high level of competition that these industries face means that the government has to take steps not only to help these industries blossom and at least maintain their market share, but to ensure that comparative advantage is exploited in other fields as well. The Pakistani government has been providing support to the traditional industries for some time now with mixed results. Therefore, instead of a status quo â€Å"wait and see† policy, a change is warranted. Thus, a policy shift should be made towards growth of value adding, job and export oriented activities. Exchange Rate Policy: Interest rate parity and purchasing power parity holds that changes in exchange rates between currencies can be explained by differences in interest rates and inflation rates respectively between countries. Building on this premise, the Rupee Dollar (PKR:USD) exchange rate remained range bound between PKR 59/USD to PKR 62/ USD for almost 8 years, starting 2000. The reason was that the country followed a managed float, with the central bank intervening in the market whenever the exchange rate would go out of range. This was happening against the backdrop of the fact that interest rates and inflation rates were considerably high in Pakistan and the currency was expected to depreciate. (State Bank of Pakistan) This managed float policy changed in early 2008 when the new government took power and the country reverted to a floating system. The rupee has since lost 33% of its value against the US dollar and currently stands at PKR 80/USD. (State Bank of Pakistan) The current policy is more realistic in its economic nature as the country, lacking substantial foreign currency reserves and a permanent balance of payment deficit could not continue to support an artificially strong exchange rate. Furthermore, this new policy of floating exchange rate systems will benefit the country with regard to its exports becoming cheaper when priced in USD. However, whether demand for the country’s exports picks up is another issue. More over, the effect of the rise in the prices of imports also has to be considered as many inputs in the production process are imported. Conclusion: The analysis of Pakistan’s monetary, foreign trade, exchange rate and foreign policy reveals the tendency in many developing countries to take decisions regarding economy based on politics. The short term benefits include lending credibility to the person in power, but the long term effects are almost always devastating. References: Bajwa Naseem, F. (1999) Pakistan : A Historical and Contemporary Look. Karachi : Oxford University Press. Asif Malik, M. (2001). Ideology and Dynamics of Pakistan. Karachi: Publishers emporium. Lipsey G. , H. Harbury, C. (1992) First Principles of Economics. London: Oxford University Press. Library Of Congress. For Researchers. Retrieved from http://www. loc. gov/rr/ State Bank Of Pakistan. Publications : Financial Stability Review. [Data File] Retrieved from http://www. sbp. org. pk/fsr/2006/index. htm Janjua Ashraf, M. (2008).. Government Borrowing and State Bank’s Authority. The Daily Dawn Economic and Business review Retrieved 12th december 2008 from http://www. dawn. com/2008/11/24/ebr14. htm

Synopsis :: Essays Papers

Synopsis Both the movie and the book should be approached as a mystery that unfolds. It is written realistically but has a great deal of mystical overtones throughout the story. Both the movie and the novel begin in the middle of the story which in the beginning may be slightly confusing to either the movie go’er or the reader. Once the story has gone full circle it comes together in and attempts to question some primal beliefs as freedom, love, self worth, and the â€Å"natural† instinct for a mother to protect her child. Here is a brief summary of what has happened prior to the novel and movie’s opening. Mr. Garner purchases a 13-year old black slave girl named Sethe in order to assist his wife by doing the routine jobs around the house. Sethe is the only female slave owned by Mr. Garner who has five other male slaves – three Pauls, Halle, and Sixo. Sethe marries Halle and gives birth to four children. While she is pregnant with her fourth child, the six adult slaves decide to escape the household. Her three children make it to safety due to the aid of a runaway slave woman but Sethe waited for Halle, which caused her to get caught. She is then brutally raped and severely beaten by the slave owners but Sethe does eventually manage to escape without Halle. Sethe makes it out of Kentucky and gave birth to â€Å"Denver† the night before she crosses the river to Ohio. For 28 days Sethe and her children happily live with Halle’s mother, Baby Suggs, but she is soon found by the slave-owner who had come to retrieve them. To avoid a return to slavery, Sethe decid es to kill her children and herself. She is only able to kill her toddler, later known as â€Å"Beloved†. At the novel and films opening, which takes place after slavery has been abolished, the entire family is tortured by the ghost of the baby girl haunting the house, and the Black Community has turned their back on Sethe for her seemingly horrendous actions. Observations The character Sethe is presented as a former slave woman who chooses to kill her baby girl rather than allowing the child to be exposed to the physically, emotionally, and spiritually oppressive horrors of a life spent in the confines of slavery.

Alcoholism And Rehabilitation

Alcoholism, also known as alcohol dependence, is unfortunately a widespread ailment which spans people of all age groups and socioeconomic levels. The health risks of this disease, and alcoholism is a disease, are as widespread as the individuals who contract it. In addition to these health risks, alcoholism is also an influencing factor in another problem plaguing societies, domestic violence. Thus, alcohol and anger create a sometimes fatal combination. As a result, rehabilitation success rates are vital in the ridding alcoholism and its negative effects from society.Alcoholism is a disease which can be described by degree. Alcohol dependence describes individuals who have developed a â€Å"maladaptive pattern† of alcohol consumption which is characterized by a developing alcohol tolerance, withdrawal symptoms, or hangovers, and the inability to stop drinking. It doesn’t stop there People with alcohol dependence may progress to alcohol abuse which can significantly in terfere with their social lives, their work or their interpersonal relationships.In addition, this abuse can also cause a host of related issues including â€Å"major depression, dysthymia, mania, hypomania, panic disorder, phobias, generalized anxiety disorder, personality disorders, any drug use disorder, schizophrenia, and suicide† (Cargiulo 2007). According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), drinking up to 14 drinks in a week for men or seven drinks per week as a woman could indicate alcohol dependence. In addition, the NIAAA estimates that up to nearly 18 million Americans could be considered alcoholics (Lauer 2006).That amounts to way too many individuals who are addicted to a drug that is both physically and mentally harmful, not to mention the effects on society as a whole. Despite the many mental and physiological problems that are associated with alcoholism, some of the most frightening are the health problems associated with the brai n. Evidence exists that shows the damage that alcohol consumption does to the brain. Brain imaging studies have revealed that people with alcoholism have significant differences in parts of their brains than those without alcoholism.The brain volume is reduced in alcoholics as well as the blood flow to the brain. The reduced blood flow has been linked to a lowering of inhibitions and memory, impaired cognitive function in general and even damage to the corpus callosum (Cargiulo 2007). Thus, alcoholism can directly translate to serious problems with the mind. These problems can lead to long term brain damage. Lesions in the brain form in those with long term patterns of alcohol abuse. This can translate into Korsakoff’s disease which is characterized by motor impairment and thinking impairments which can affect a person’s ability to care for himself.In the end, the individual may have to be cared for institutionally. Alcohol affects the neurotransmitters in the brain. A s the disease progresses to chronic status, the brain cells begin to adapt to the alcohol that seems to reside permanently in the brain. As a result, the brain becomes reliant on the alcohol to work. If alcohol is removed, the symptoms of withdrawal take longer and longer to subside. Ultimately, the brain tissue will rebel, in a way, and the withdrawal symptoms can be severe, even fatal. Once the cells in the brain die, they cannot be regenerated (Shoemaker 2003).These effects seem to affect males to a greater degree than females. This fact can be explained by differences in drinking patters, choice of alcoholic drinks, rate of alcohol metabolism and the protective effects of hormones such as estrogen (de Bruin, 2005) As such, alcohol dependency and abuse is three times more prominent in men as it is in women even though evidence suggests that for both genders, the numbers are underreported (Cargiulo 2007). As if the physical effects on the body were not bad enough, the behaviors of individuals who are addicted to alcohol are also quite dangerous.The drinkers find themselves to be less inhibited and more willing to engage in risky behaviors. Many of these behaviors can be characterized as aggressive and violent. In addition to the money that society has to pay for the medical care, it is also very costly to sort through all the social issues that alcoholism may create. Galvani (2004) gives several possible reasons why this risky and damaging behavior may occur in drinkers. Physiological theories argue that ethanol, the drug in alcohol increase aggression biologically.A theory known as Disinhibition Theory notes the earlier link between alcohol and cognitive function, specifically the portion of the brain mentioned above that regulates levels if inhibition. The Deviance Disavowal theory argues that the abusers use alcohol as a reason for their behavior and consciously drinks so that they can blame the alcohol for their actions. Social Learning theories explain that people will act in a way based on their experiences around others. Therefore, parents and societal expectations can lead to alcoholic abuse and abusive behaviors (Galvani, 2004).As with many ailments, more than one option for treatment exists. Many of these options can occur in conjunction with others. For years, behavior modification such as one might find in various 12 – Step Program or other similar programs have been the way of choice. These programs focus on the addicts significantly changing the way they behave in society including the people with whom they associate. Either a professional or a group of individuals led by a former addict facilitate the alcoholic’s recovery.Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), is an organization most known for its success rates for alcoholics’ recovery. It is available to anyone who desires its services. Lately increasing research evidence has found that a 12-step program affiliation is not only effective on its own, but even mo re effective along with professional, medical treatment, including residence based programs. The truth is, â€Å"Involvement with AA is consistently and positively associated with improved drinking outcomes, replicated across a large volume of studies using a variety of treatment methods† (Cloud, Zeigler and Blondell, 2004).The reason for this success is the three core items of AA: identification of self as a member, the number of steps completed, and the quantity of meetings attended (Cloud, Zeigler and Blondell, 2004). It can be a tiring process for an already worn individual. Because so many of these types of programs rely on frequent attendance by the alcoholics. One study sought to find the correlation, if any, between the duration of treatment and the level of intensity of the treatment. Moos and Moos (2003) conducted a study of 276 alcoholics who began formal treatment for alcohol abuse.These patients were involved with out-patient programs, residential programs, or a combination of the two. The average length of treatment was 20. 7 weeks, and the average intensity, or number of contacts, was 2. 8 contacts per week. These researchers first note that the individuals who had longer duration of treatment usually had less intense treatment. They found that patients who had a short treatment duration, which is considered 1-8 weeks, were more likely to abstain from alcohol than those who received no help whatsoever.If the treatment lasted for nine weeks or more, then the patient was even more likely to abstain from alcohol. This seems to suggest that the longer the treatment duration, the better the individual may respond to the treatment (Moos and Moos, 2003). However, recently the question has arisen as to whether or not recovering alcoholics must completely abstain from alcohol or not. Most programs, such as AA, or other groups perhaps affiliated with churches or in-patient and out-patient residential programs, build potential and motivation for suc cess on complete life changes.These changes includes huge behavior shifts which focus on completely eliminating alcohol. Unfortunately, many people do not seek treatment because they don’t want to completely give up the occasional beer or social glass or wine. Humphries, Weingardt, and Hoyst (2005) agree and have encouraged programs like Moderation Management which do not force individuals to part with alcoholic beverages forever. Allowing a choice of goal may be one effective way to increase the numbers of people willing to enter alcohol treatment.It is estimated that as few as 10% of individuals with alcohol use disorders attend treatment; more flexible goals may appeal to a wider range of these people. There is also evidence that therapy can move people toward choosing a realistic drinking goal for themselves (Humphries, Weingardt, and Hoyst, 2005). On one side of this debate are those that argue in favor of abstinence. They say that the disease controls the individual and that this person will definitely lose control of they are exposed to alcohol, even a small amount . (Humphries, Weingardt, and Hoyst, 2005).Never drinking again is the surest way to â€Å"cure† this disease. Alcohol recovery patients are constantly reminded that they are and always will be an alcoholic, just like a diabetic always will be a diabetic. Opponents to the abstinence-only argument argue that people and their problems with alcohol are all different with different times of drinking and different levels of drinking. The researchers use the common phrase â€Å"different strokes for different folks† in describing this philosophy. While they agree that some problems require abstinence, but they allow that other individuals could moderate their drinking and still improve.They call this a â€Å"harm-reduction orientation toward alcohol problems† which â€Å"focuses less on the amount of alcohol consumed and more on helping individuals decrease the harms rel ated to alcohol use. Although abstinence may be desirable, it is not the primary measure of successful outcomes† (Humphries, Weingardt, aned Hoyst, 2005). Some of the personal demographics of individuals who are more likely to experience success on non-abstinent programs include younger people, those with social and psychological stability, those who are regularly employed, and those who believe that they can seriously manage a moderate drinking program.However, if the patients are pregnant, experiencing liver problems, or are in the advanced stages of alcoholism, they may be forced to consider only the abstinence route (Humphries, Weingardt, and Hoyst, 2005). Another reason that some people avoid seeking treatment for alcoholism is their reluctance to commit to residential or in-patient treatment. Luckily, recent studies have indicated that outpatient treatment is effective in treating alcoholic dependency. Studies of this type have reported abstinence rates of 34-59% for 6 m onths post-treatment, 48 % for 19 to 24-month post-treatment and 52% for the 49-month post-treatment mark.In Bottlende and Soyka’s study of 2005, their rates were slightly higher for the six month mark at 64% abstaining, and 14 % significantly reducing their alcohol intake with a 22% rate of serious relapse. Perhaps, if people understood that they could get good results with a outpatient program, they would be more inclined to seriously consider treatment. Additionally, alcoholics do not need lengthy terms of treatment. Perhaps a brief commitment would do the trick for many with alcohol problems.â€Å"Brief interventions targeting alcohol consumption have been found to be very effective in changing clients’ consumption levels† (Roche and Freeman, 2004). One study cited by these researchers noted that heavy drinkers were likely to reduce the amount of alcohol they consumed six and twelve months after a brief intervention as compared with similarly heavy drinkers who received no interventions whatsoever: A WHO study conducted in eight countries involving over 1600 participants found that brief interventions reduced daily alcohol consumption on average by 17% and intensity of drinking by 10%.Brief interventions also reduce the number of alcohol-related problems, health-care utilization and associated treatment costs and the number of emergency department admissions. Brief interventions are also highly cost-efficient due to the minimal cost of the intervention and the breadth of scope for prevention of more serious and more costly problems (Roche and Freeman, 2004). However, the same benefits were not noted for women or for low consumers of alcohol who occasionally drank at very hazardous levels, also known as binge drinkers.Evidence suggests that â€Å"the majority of alcohol-related harms† affect these moderate to low drinkers who binge (Roche and Freeman, 2004). This study just shows that people do react differently to alcohol. One h uge area of research in alcohol rehabilitation right now is in the area of gender. The above study mentioned that women do not receive the same level of benefits from brief interventions as men receive. This has led many researchers to fill the research gap between studies that focus on only males or on mixed genders and females. While women have a lower rate of substance abuse, those that are alcoholics suffer just as men do.In fact, women actually suffer more severe effects in some cases than men do. For example, women have more alcohol related health issues, â€Å"mental disorders, death rates, quicker addictions and greater social isolation and stigma† (Najavits, Rosier, and Nolan, 2007). This is unfortunate because women have become increasingly more addicted to alcohol at younger and younger years of age. However, studies also indicate that while in treatment, women show more rapid improvement and are more able to control impulsive behaviors that are so problematic for men (Najavits, Rosier, and Nolan, 2007).Of course, one rehabilitative method that is often overlooked in the search to rehabilitate alcoholics is the pharmacological method. While drugs are frequently use to aid in helping alcoholics avoid painful and dangerous withdrawal symptoms, others are now being marketed as treatment methods themselves. One such drug is Acamprosate which is a synthetic compound with a similar structure to that of the neurotransmitter GABA and the neuromodulator Taurine† (Scott, Figgitt, and Keam, 2005).Once the patient is detoxified, Acomprosate helps the patient maintain abstinence in the place of rehabilitation programs. This way, individuals can maintain his social and professional life. Several studies found this to be true a year after use had begun â€Å"irrespective of disease severity or the type of psychosocial support† (Scott, Figgitt, and Keam, 2005) the patient received. Also, the drug appears to pose few tolerance issues such as naus ea, diarrhea or the like. A second prescription medication is available for the treatment of alcoholism.Naltrexone has also produced very positive results in promoting abstinence among recovering alcoholics. This drug has also had several positive research trials and works better in conjunction with behavioral therapy. One way this drugs works is to result in a reduced urge to drink and negative physical side effects if it is taken in conjunction with alcohol (Rohsenow, 2004). Alcoholism is a horrible, addictive disease that leads not only to medical problems such as brain and liver problems, but also to psychological problems, social problems and even violent behavior.The disease affects individuals differently, and new approaches are always being considered to treat each sufferer. While abstinence only and residential programs seem to have prevailed in the past, the new approaches are leaning to more brief, outpatient programs and interventions that support both abstinence and mod eration when it comes to alcohol consumption. These new programs also take into account differences that result from race and gender. With hope, this disease will soon be tamed, or even eradicated, with better and better rehabilitation programs.. References Bottlender, M. & Soyka, M. (2005). Efficacy of an Intensive Outpatient Rehabilitation Program in Alcoholism: Predictors of Outcome 6 Months after Treatment. European Addiction Research 11 (3): 132-137. Cargiulo, T. (2007). Understanding the health impact of alcohol dependence. American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy 64: S1-S17 Cloud, RN, Ziegler, CH, & Blondell, RD. What is Alcoholics Anonymous Affiliation? Substance Use & Misuse 39(7), 2004: 1117-1136 Galvani, S. (2004). Responsible disinhibition: Alcohol, men and violence to women.Addiction Research & Theory 12 (4): 357-371 Humphreys, K, Weingardt, KR, & Horst, D. Prevalence and predictors of research participant eligibility criteria in alcohol treatment outcome studies, 197 0-98. Addiction 100(9), Sep 2005: 1249-1257 Moos, RH & Moos BS. Long-term influence of duration and intensity of treatment on previously untreated individuals with alcohol use disorders. Addiction 98 (3), March 2003: 325-337. Najavits, LM, Rosier, M, & Nolan, AL. (2007). A New Gender-Based Model for Women's Recovery From Substance Abuse: Results of a Pilot Outcome Study.American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse 33(1), 2007: 5-11 Roche, AM & Freeman, T. (2004). Brief interventions: Good in theory but weak in practice. Drug and Alcohol Review 23(1):11-18. Rohsenow, Damaris J. (2004). What Place Does Naltrexone Have in the Treatment of Alcoholism? CNS Drugs 18(9): 547-560. Scott, LJ, Figgitt, DP, and Keam, SJ. (2005). Acamprosate: A Review of its Use in the Maintenance of Abstinence in Patients with Alcohol Dependence. CNS Drugs 19(5): 445- 464 Shoemaker, W. (2003). Alcohol’s Effects on the Brain. Nutritional Health Review: The Consumer’s Medical Journal 88:

Puppy Mills

Tiffany Baldeo MWF 8:00-8:50am ENC1101 Informative Essay Puppy Mills, Be gone! Bulldogs on sale! Yorkie puppies available here! Have you ever wondered where all these cheap puppies for sale in pet stores come from? The answer is that they are produced in factory-like environments known as â€Å"puppy mills†. Puppy mills are large-scale dog breeding operations where profit is given priority over the well-being of the dogs. Puppy mills treat dogs like products, not living beings, and usually house them in overcrowded and unsanitary conditions without adequate veterinary care, socialization, or even food and water.The cute puppies for sale at your local mall were probably bred from dogs that don’t play outside or get groomed. Puppy mill dogs are typically kept in cages with wire flooring that injures their paws and legs and cages can be stacked up in a column, which means waste falls on the dogs housed below them. Compromised health and conditions like matting, sores, mang e, severe dental disease and abscesses are often widespread. Many puppy mill puppies are born with or develop overt physical problems that make them unsalable to pet stores, which mean they end up abandoned or just left to die.Many sick puppies do manage to end up at pet stores, though, where the new puppy owner unknowingly purchases the sick dog. Breeding dogs at the mills sometimes spend their entire lives outdoors, exposed to the elements, or crammed inside filthy structures. When a parent at a puppy mill is no longer able to produce, the dog may be given to the nearest shelter, abandoned, or even destroyed. Also, because the puppies produced in puppy mills do not have safe and healthy homes selected for them ahead of time, if they are not purchased by the time they hit a certain age, they may suffer the same fate.Female dogs usually have little to no recovery time between bearing litters. When, after a few years, the females can no longer reproduce or when their breed goes out o f style, the dogs are often abandoned, shot, or starved until they eventually die. Many pet stores with cute puppies for sale will tell you that they don't get their puppies from puppy mills. They'll say their puppies are all from â€Å"USDA licensed breeders. † If you dig a little deeper into what that actually means, you'll find that it's not worth much. The standards of care required by the USDA are woefully inadequate and not what most of us would consider humane.They leave a lot of room for dogs to be severely mistreated. Even if they were adequate, they're not enforced. Take a look at a scathing report done by the Inspector General on USDA's lax enforcement of the law regulating breeders and judge for yourself whether USDA licensing of puppy mills is enough to make you shop at stores that sell puppies. In fact, you only have to be licensed by USDA as a commercial breeder if you are selling puppies to pet stores or brokers. So USDA licensure is actually a pretty good ind icator that the breeders are, in fact, puppy mills.Small hobby breeders, who sell their dogs directly to the public, including those who only sell their puppies online, do not have to be licensed or inspected by USDA. Don’t support the industry. Most pet shop puppies come from puppy mills, and so do most dogs sold over the Internet. Pet shop puppies are separated from their mother at as young as six weeks of age. The health of the puppies is not always guaranteed. Purchasing a puppy for sale at a pet store or online often supports the horrible puppy mill industry. Buying anything in pet stores that sell puppies supports the industry, too.Buy all your pet supplies, toys, pet food, and kitty litter, from stores that do not sell puppies, or buy your pet supplies online from websites that do not sell puppies. Breeders or owners of large kennels are supposed to adhere to regulations and follow protocol when it comes to their business and the wellbeing of the animals that are in th eir facilities. The puppy mills project states that of the 3,000 USDA licensed breeding facilities, a large number of them have violations that go unpunished and led to the maltreatment of the animals behind the walls.The United States government should be making more strides to help the animals that must endure these horrific living conditions. The Animal Bill of Rights is being used by the Animal legal defense Club to show that there is a large amount of support that is going towards the promotion of more strict animal rights. They also need to help congress come up with harsher punishments for the people that feel that they are above the law and do not need to follow the laws when it comes to animals and abuse.The Fund also states in their website that in the United States about 45 states including the District of Columbia have a type of felony level animal cruelty provision which may be in forced in cases of animal fighting or death of an animal. States need to take a closer loo k at the puppy mill facilities or â€Å"breeding kennels† and take more drastic measures against people who violate regulations. It is not fair to the animals that they have to live in such conditions that can make them sick and feel unloved.

Free Essays on Huckleberry Finn

Twain, through this novel, reveals a boy's initiation into manhood. Huck's existence on the raft teaches him about life as it really is. Whenever he goes on shore, he sees the cruelty of society and man's inhumanity to his fellow man. When he returns to the raft, he feels the peace of nature and the nobility of the black slave that shares his journey. Southern society has taught Huck that slaves are sub-human creatures with no feelings, only a piece of property to be bought and sold. At the beginning of the novel, Huck buys into this philosophy without question. He cannot believe that he is helping "a nigger" escape to freedom. It is against everything he has been taught (and he knows Tom Sawyer could never do it.) Huck is amazed to learn that Jim cares deeply about his family, just as a white person cares for his (and more than Pap ever cared for Huck.) He is even more amazed that Jim can have his feelings hurt when Huck plays a trick on him. He never believed that Blacks had feelings. But every time that Huck goes on shore, he loses some of his innocence; he begins to understand the hypocrisy of society. He sees the Grangerfords killed by the Shephardsons, and he sees the Duke and Dauphin easily dupe the townspeople out of their money. Instinctively, Huck realizes that Jim is wiser and worth more than many of the white people on shore. When he is forced to make a decision about turning Jim in or standing by him, Huck decides not to betray his friend, even if it is against everything he has been taught by society and even if he goes to hell for it. By the end of the novel, Huck knows for sure than he cannot fit into the civilized way of life or partake in the hypocrisy of society. He knows himself well enough to realize he must move on. As a result, at the end of the novel, he sets out for new lands to the west, seeking a place that offers truth and freedom.... Free Essays on Huckleberry Finn Free Essays on Huckleberry Finn The Illustrious Huckleberry Finn The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Samuel Clemens is in no way a racist piece of literature. Its author is in no way a racist; he’s quite the opposite. Some believe the book needs to be banned from school’s required reading lists and libraries. These debates come about due to the description of one of the book’s characters Jim, a black run-away slave that befriends Huck through his adventures down the river. Because Jim’s character is described as an uneducated â€Å"nigger† some people have looked upon this characterization as racist. I say, however, that the books main goal was to alert people of racism, and Clemens was just staying accurate to the time in which the story takes place. Jim is depicted as a slave in the south during a period when slavery was a commonly practiced and widely accepted way of life. Slaves in the early 1800’s were not provided any formal education, never allowed any independent thought and were constantly mistreated and abused. The author is merely describing how an undereducated slave spoke in those days and is providing an accurate portrayal of society’s mindset during this time period. In fact, Clemens’ message about blacks during this time was an absolute antithesis of racism. While Jim may be unlearned, he is the only character in the book that truly understands what it means to love. His morals remain unsullied throughout the adventures, and he becomes a father figure for Huck. Clemens uses the term â€Å"nigger† throughout the book. Yet only through his characters dialect and not of his own accord is Jim ever referred to as a â€Å"nigger.† He is merely illustrating the ignorance of people in this time. The use of the word "nigger" is most certainly a very slanderous slang term that is not socially acceptable in present times. It is a word that holds nothing of value for any black American. The word’s meaning is stated by Funk and Wagn... Free Essays on Huckleberry Finn One may wonder why Mark Twain would choose to write an antislavery novel some twenty years after the end of the Civil War. By the early 1880s, Reconstruction, the plan to put the United States back together after the war and integrate freed slaves into society, had hit some shaky ground, although it had not yet failed outright (that wouldn't occur until 1887, three years after the publication of Huck Finn). Still, as Twain worked on his novel, race relations, which seemed to be on a positive path in the years following the Civil War, once again became strained; Jim Crow laws, designed to limit the power of blacks in the South, began a new, insidious effort to oppress. Twain made a powerful decision when he chose to describe a system that no longer existed, when doing so could just lead the unsympathetic reader to claim that things had gotten much better for blacks. One way to analyze this decision is to read slavery as an allegorical representation of the condition of blacks in the United States even after the abolition of slavery. Just as slavery places the noble and moral Jim under the control of the white man, no matter how degraded that white man may be, so too did the more insidious racism that arose near the end of Reconstruction oppress black men for illogical and hypocritical reasons. However, the new racism of the South, less institutionalized and monolithic, was also much less easy to critique. Slavery was a tough practice to justify; but when white Southerners enacted racist laws or policies under a professed motive of self-defense against newly freed blacks, far fewer people, Northern or Southern, saw the act as immoral. In exposing the hypocrisy of slavery, Twain demonstrated how racism distorts the oppressors as much as it does those who are oppressed. Just as the South has never entirely escaped the legacy of slavery, this theme, articulated so subtly by Twain at such an early time, has continued to animate Southern writ... Free Essays on Huckleberry Finn Twain, through this novel, reveals a boy's initiation into manhood. Huck's existence on the raft teaches him about life as it really is. Whenever he goes on shore, he sees the cruelty of society and man's inhumanity to his fellow man. When he returns to the raft, he feels the peace of nature and the nobility of the black slave that shares his journey. Southern society has taught Huck that slaves are sub-human creatures with no feelings, only a piece of property to be bought and sold. At the beginning of the novel, Huck buys into this philosophy without question. He cannot believe that he is helping "a nigger" escape to freedom. It is against everything he has been taught (and he knows Tom Sawyer could never do it.) Huck is amazed to learn that Jim cares deeply about his family, just as a white person cares for his (and more than Pap ever cared for Huck.) He is even more amazed that Jim can have his feelings hurt when Huck plays a trick on him. He never believed that Blacks had feelings. But every time that Huck goes on shore, he loses some of his innocence; he begins to understand the hypocrisy of society. He sees the Grangerfords killed by the Shephardsons, and he sees the Duke and Dauphin easily dupe the townspeople out of their money. Instinctively, Huck realizes that Jim is wiser and worth more than many of the white people on shore. When he is forced to make a decision about turning Jim in or standing by him, Huck decides not to betray his friend, even if it is against everything he has been taught by society and even if he goes to hell for it. By the end of the novel, Huck knows for sure than he cannot fit into the civilized way of life or partake in the hypocrisy of society. He knows himself well enough to realize he must move on. As a result, at the end of the novel, he sets out for new lands to the west, seeking a place that offers truth and freedom.... Free Essays on Huckleberry Finn Superstitions in Huckleberry Finn In the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, there is a lot of superstition. Some examples of superstition in the novel are Huck killing a spider which is bad luck, the hair-ball used to tell fortunes, and the rattle-snake skin Huck touches that brings Huck and Jim good and bad luck. Superstition plays an important role in the novel Huck Finn. In Chapter one Huck sees a spider crawling up his shoulder, so he flipped it off and it went into the flame of the candle. Before he could get it out, it was already shriveled up. Huck didn't need anyone to tell him that it was an bad sign and would give him bad luck. Huck got scared and shook his clothes off, and turned in his tracks three times. He then tied a lock of his hair with a thread to keep the witches away. "You do that when you've lost a horseshoe that you've found, instead of nailing it up over the door, but I hadn't ever heard anybody say it was any way to keep of bad luck when you'd killed a spider."(Twain 5). In chapter four Huck sees Pap's footprints in the snow. So Huck goes to Jim to ask him why Pap is here. Jim gets a hair-ball that is the size of a fist that he took from an ox's stomach. Jim asks the hair-ball; Why is Pap here? But the hair-ball won't answer. Jim says it needs money, so Huck gives Jim a counterfeit quarter. Jim puts the quarter under the hair-ball. The hair-ball talks to Jim and Jim tells Huck that it says. "Yo'ole father doan' know yit what he's a-gwyne to do. Sometimes he spec he'll go 'way, en den ag'in he spec he'll stay. De bes' way is tores' easy en let de ole man take his own way. Dey's two angles hoverin' roun' 'bout him. One uv'em is white en shiny, en t'other one is black. De white one gits him to go right a little while, den de black one sil in en gust it all up. A bo...