Public agencies Essay Example for Free

Public agencies Essay A child’s social awareness and development are necessary to aid him/her to face the reality of life. In accordance to that, a parent has a vital role to be played in helping his/her children to attain this knowledge through experiential or hands-on learning. But in reality, not all things could be learned inside a house or even inside the classroom. That was why different public agencies are strongly advisable to parents who need reinforcements in teaching their children about mental retardation, social living, transition, and developing their vocational skills. Below is a list of some public agencies that could help parents bring out the best in their children and the reasons why they are strongly recommended. First, I would like to recommend to parents to bring their child in this agency called Vision Quest. Vision Quest has run a long way for nearly 35 years. They have their distinct way of reaching out to the youth. According to Robert Burton, the founder and chairman of Vision Quest, â€Å"In Vision Quest programs, young people find themselves surprised, challenged, inspired, and sometimes confused but always growing. It’s the path to a new start. † Moreover, they use a very practical approach which concerns primarily with ethics and values. They make learning and discovery a fun thing to do, which in turn earns them a long term result. Furthermore, this agency has already passed and made a positive result to the evaluation conducted by different well-trusted organizations such as Rand Corporation, the Pennsylvania Juvenile Court Judges Commission, the State of California Auditor General’s Office, the Allegheny court system, and the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for the Study of Youth Policy. I would also highly recommend the Youth Communication agency. This agency has the main goal of hearing and understanding the youth of today because they believe that these young people have their own ideas, solutions, and concerns about the society. They develop newsmakers, news writers, make new stories, discover talents and flaunt a child’s full potential. These provide the parents the knowledge of their child’s emotions and skills. Another good choice is the Variety Club of Illinois. This helps physically, mentally, and emotionally challenged youth nowadays. They keep their responsibility and assist parents in their child’s physical activities. They have a mobility program called â€Å"Kids on the go† wherein they provide physical activities that require a lot of movement and socialization. These are great chances to mold a child’s productivity. On the other hand, Association House Agency is also highly recommended. It aims to educate, train, and provide child welfare, mental health, and recovery services. This agency teaches children different vocational skills, art crafts and assists with special Olympics that children would enjoy. Boys and Girls Clubs of Chicago is another agency of great choice. This agency has the main purpose of inspiring and enabling young children most especially those children who undergo disadvantaged circumstances to realize their worth and their full potential as concerned citizens. Also, a child should also learn different social skills which would be very useful in becoming a productive and law-abiding citizen in the near future. With that, Zion Temple Educational Center could accompany parents in teaching these skills. This agency helps elementary students attain good academic standing while enjoying recreational activities. This would be a very big help to parents because learning I guess, is easier when you are having fun. Abraham Lincoln Hope Headstart is an agency designed to help children be successful in the fields they are to take, promotes positive thinking, and provides enjoyable creative experiences. This helps parents in molding their child’s community responsibility and provides an educational setting for experiential purposes. Another helpful public agency is Brain Boosters. This helps children increase their self-esteem and be a sociable person, improve study habits and gain high grades, and the social skills to make him a good citizen of the US. They provide skillbuilding activities that bring out a child’s full potential. These goals are also reflected by this agency called South Side Help Center. This also aims to develop a child’s social skills that could help him get all along his daily living. Moreover, this also enhances a child’s potential of being a good leader through some constructive activities. And lastly, I would like to recommend the School of Art Institute. This agency helps parents in discovering their child’s creative side and aesthetics. This also gives an opportunity to aspiring young artists. I believe that all the agencies mentioned above could be of great help in each parent’s role of guiding, molding, and developing his/her child’s physical and mental capacity and to lead their children in the right path. These agencies could all divert children’s attention into a more productive and significant activities. Parents have their choice of watching their children’s growth and well-being. If all parents would just realize how significant these public agencies are, their children will never go wrong and children of today will less probably possess risky behaviors. Also, most probably, through practice and daily experiences, these activities would be developed as hobbies.

Eyewitness Testimony Essay

Eyewitness Testimony Essay The use of eyewitness testimony is infamously a primary source of evidence used within the judicial system around the world; however its use has raised various questions as to its reliability and validity especially within court cases. This essay explored first of all, the biological factors of memory and recollection of memories within the human brain. Memories are believed to be stored and processed within the hippocampus part of the brain where it goes through the multi-store model (Atkinson and Shiffrin, 1968). This is where danger of the reliability of memory occurs. It was argued that eyewitness testimony is a reliable form of evidence especially with its validity in terms of the events leading up to the use of EWT; what is deemed important information is believed to be remembered more clearly. Sigmund Freud (1920) suggested that memories can only be retrieved by encouraging remembering past episodes and re-instating these past memories into their consciousness. Psychologists N ibett and Ross (1980) quoted that the reason why eyewitness testimony is persuasive is that it influences the jury on a deeper level. However, eyewitness testimony posed more disadvantages than advantages with the various factors that affect it such as weapons focus in incidents involving weapons which cause distractions and loss of memories. The primary psychologist that tested the use of memory was Elizabeth Loftus who conducted various experiment to test this, such as the Automobile Destruction experiment in the 1970s. After having collated all the arguments together, it was suggested that improvements must be made in order to improve the quality of eyewitness testimony; these included the legal system and police forces involvement in collating information as quickly as possible. The most imperative form of evidence when investigating a crime is the honesty of witnesses on trial, the application of eyewitness testimony. Though the use of eyewitness testimony by juries is considered most valuable, the question of fallibility of witness statements poses various problems and issues. Eyewitness testimony has been a thriving aspect of the Criminal Justice System, an incredible amount of research into this element of cognitive psychology questions the reliability of peoples memory especially using it as evidence to determine the outcome of the trial and convictions. Research into the reliability of evidence, often referred to as witness psychology is renowned as being the longest established area of law and psychology, dating back to the beginning of the 20th century.  [1]   The area of eyewitness testimony has always posed a problem with reliability and the effectiveness of human memory. Human memory is described by cognitive psychologists Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968)  [2]  as a three stage theory in which memory is modelled in, this memory stage model is called the Multi-Store Model. The Multi-store model theory consists of the memory being divided into three stages, the first stage being the sensory store, the second stage is the short term memory (working memory) and the third being long term memory. The transfer of information from one store to another is controlled by the process of attention and rehearsal of memories. One of the most critical assumptions made by cognitive psychologists is that the human mind has a limited capacity for processing information. Therefore, any external information that the environment consists of is often very difficult for the human mind to assimilate and process; so people are selective about what information is to be retrieved and this is otherwise known as attention, where some information is assimilated while other pieces are ignored. The first stage of the multi-store model, the sensory store, is where the information from the senses (iconic, echoic, tactile, olfactory and gustatory), is transferred into but this is only for a very short period of time. The initial information retrieved by the senses is then transferred into the short term memory store; this is transferred through attention given to the information transferred from the senses involved. When the information has been transferred into the short-term memory store, this is the store concerned with forgetting information and this information is ultimately lost entirely. Therefore, for information to be remained in the memory, from the short term store into the long term store, the information must be rehearsed. Rehearsal is the cycling of information through the memory, this rehearsal of memory can be carried out in two different methods. Therefore this essay will investigate whether the application of eyewitness testimony statements is a reliable form of evidence to be used by the judicial system. Furthermore, this essay will argue whether eyewitness testimony is ideal to use as one of the most important pieces of evidence to use or whether the application of eyewitness testimony is fallible. After comparing for and against the reliability of eyewitness accounts, an evaluation will be drawn over how eyewitness testimony can be improved to an extent where it can be further accurate. This essay will explore the elements of eyewitness testimony and how these factors can determine whether an eyewitness account is accurate. These elements include the effect of weapon focus on witness memory, how leading questions can manipulate witness statements and recollection of memory, reconstructive errors of memory and the application of psychological experiments when exploring the function of these elements on the human memory. Th e application of the eyewitness testimony includes multiple formal questioning sessions with witnesses on trial, taking statements of the events witnessed and witnesses appearing in court with the jury. The issue of integrity when applying eyewitness testimony accounts is delegated to the jury, who are assigned the role of determining the judgement of whether the eyewitness statements are fallible or reliable  [3]  . The use of eyewitness testimony has a profound and compelling effect on the outcome of a trial and conviction, and this is why an accurate eyewitness testimony is needed in order to gain justice. The Aspects of Eyewitness Testimony As a consequence of the limitations of information processing in the human mind, witness statements need to be reviewed for accuracy and if any external factors of either the environment or the function of memory may have affected the outcome of the witness account  [4]  . Quite often, when the memory cannot recall the entire incident or situation, it may result in the unknown areas being replaced by events that may never have took place in reality but the mind may perceive as a potential occurrence and therefore causes fallibility in the eyewitness testimony. In essence, the memory may fill in gaps where it fails to recall what may have happened  [5]  . Many factors affect eyewitness memories which are illustrated below: Interference of Memory Processing: The period of time that has lapsed between the witnessing of the incident and the questioning of the eyewitness can determine the amount of information that the witness can recall. On the other hand, interference which is the loss of old stimuli as a result of new information can also subsequently reduce the accuracy of eyewitness accounts.  [6]   Leading Questions in Witness Interviews: A leading question in its form or content, suggests to the witness being interviewed what answer is desired or leads them to the desired answer. Some questions can often be made more suggestive than others and these questions the legal concept of a leading question. The main pioneer for investigating the consequences of particular leading questions was Elizabeth F. Loftus in 1974.  [7]   Schemas: The human mind has evolved its memory capacity and the ability to remember certain aspects by organising information into categories, otherwise known as schemas  [8]  . Schemas help organise memories that can consist of familiar people, objects and situations and allow people to understand and act appropriately to whatever is encountered. Arousal, Anxiety and Violence Distraction: Quite often, cognitive psychologists have questioned the poor recall of eyewitness accounts is primarily a result of where their attention is focused upon. A possible reason for arousal, anxiety and violence distraction could be that a violent incident, with the use of weapons, draws the focus of the witnesss attention away from who is causing this anxiety, which results in little or no processing of other information.  [9]   Weapon Focus: When a witness views a crime in which a weapon is used as a method of violence and distraction, the weapon achieves its purpose in distracting the attention of those witnessing the crime. The distraction affects the witnesss attention due to the potential threat of violence9. External Influences: Quite often, external influences can affect the accuracy of eyewitness accounts, especially if the media has been influencing the events that have taken place. The witness may re-interpret their witness statements to match what the media has claimed may have existed or happened. Apart from the media, other external influences may include other witness accounts of what happened and/or the type of environment that the situation may have occurred in, e.g. in darkness, low-lit room etc. Conformity: Through the questioning process that witnesses must endure, group questioning in particular, gives into reason the reliability of witness recollections as they may conform in order to fit each others interpretation of what happened. Reliability of Eyewitness Testimony The use of eyewitness testimony has provided crucial evidence that can often lead to the identification and arrest of a criminal suspect or a hazardous event can be avoided. Eyewitness testimony impacts strongly upon the trial process and the verdicts that are given by the jury are quite often influenced heavily by eyewitness accounts. Stern and Dunning, 1994  [10]  quoted that eyewitness testimony is perhaps the most compelling types of evidence presented to police investigations and criminal trials. Although the human memory and its information processing ability, has substantial amounts of limitations that can lead to invalidity and inaccuracy, it does however, demonstrate a unique ability to process information where the acquired stimulus information is stored. The human mind can potentially hold millions of pieces of information, though not all at once, which when acquired by the brain can be reinstated and remembered. The memories that the mind deems as important for growth and use consistently is life are episonic which represents the episode of the memory where as certain skill or piece of information; semantic which identifies what that piece of information consists of and what it is and finally procedural which processes who that information is to be used or handled. For example, teaching a child how to read a book at a particular age is episonic, knowing what a book is, is semantic and how to read the words in a book would be procedural.  [11]   The process of information being transferred from the short term memory into the long term memory was an experiment conducted by psychologists Welch and Burnett in 1924. The experiment was to test the theory of the serial position curve where it consisted of the subjects being presented with a list of 16 words in which they had to recall in order. The results of this experiment, illustrated the serial position curve in which the recollection of words and the results of the experiment were graphed and this illustrated a curve effect were the last recalled words were remembered best whereas the words in the middle of the recall were remembered poorly. Cognitive psychologist, Sigmund Freud believed that memories were allocated in the brain  [12]  . Freud referred to these memories as true memories and described that they lay deep in the unconscious element of the brain, where they lay undisturbed as a factor of surface mental activity. Freud insisted that these memories were never lost or forgotten as they are only inaccessible and latent, having become a part of the unconscious  [13]  . For these memories to be accessed, Freud promoted the technique free association. By encouraging witnesses to reminisce about past episodes that have occurred within their lives, Freud insinuated that they could reinstate long-forgotten yet important memories from their past into their consciousness. However, it can be argued that the true memories that Freud insisted exist in the human sub-conscious are in fact potential complex blendings of both fact and fiction. Memory is an extremely fragile aspect of the human mind that can potentially be supplemented, altered and reconstructed by external stimuli that can question an event that may never have occurred. However, it is argued that the human mind is capable of remembering significant pieces of information that is considered vital and important. This is considered one of the key factors in which juries do consider eyewitness testimony accounts as a vital piece of evidence. Psychologists Nibett and Ross, 1980 quoted that the reason why eyewitness testimony is persuasive is that vivid testimonies have a strong impact on observers so this conclusively means that they are easier to remember especially upon the jury  [14]  . Though the potential invalidity of eyewitness accounts is extensive, error made in witness accounts are extraneous when the observers are able to distinguish between accurate and inaccurate witnesses  [15]  . However, there may be a possibility that the eyewitness account is accurate but leading questions by the criminal investigation team may provoke the memory to be changed to fit the question or the most relevant and fitting answer  [16]  . The Unreliability of Eyewitness Testimony The malleability of eyewitness accounts demonstrates the excessive inaccuracy of it being used as a vital evidential piece in the courts and criminal justice system. Many hypotheses have been established that suggest reasons for the valued use of eyewitness testimony. Saunders et al believe that jurors tend to place too much faith in eyewitness testimonies; however the problem lies with whether eyewitness testimony is a reliable source of evidence to use  [17]  . The inaccuracy of witness accounts is demonstrated by the various aspects that intercept with each other and substantiate hesitation for its use as evidence. The use of leading questions can quite often alter information/intelligence or can quite often misinterpreted accounts to match the information that the witness has been presented with. An experiment conducted by Elizabeth Loftus and John Parmer illustrates the interaction between language and memory in 1974  [18]  . The reconstruction of an automobile destruction consisted of two experiments in which subjects were shown films of automobile accidents. After the observation, the subjects were then asked questions about the events that occurred in the films; How fast were the cars going when they smashed into each other? The use of the word smash demonstrated higher estimations in the speed of the car as opposed to other verbs used in place of smash such as collided, bumped, contacted and hit. When the experiment was repeated a week later, the subjects who received the word smashed were more likely to agree to the question asked Did you see any broken glass? even though there was n o recollection of broken glass within the video. These results highlight the theory that the questions asked in relation to an event can result in a reconstruction of a witnesss memory of that event. Though witness memory is quite often inaccurate in that they fail to distinguish the events that had occurred, quite often, the human memory can remember erroneous events and details that may be introduced by third party interference. In the 1970s, Elizabeth Loftus conducted an experiment to demonstrate how third party interference can invalidate witness accounts by introducing false facts. Subjects were shown a slideshow of a car at an intersection with either a yield sign or a stop sign. The experimenter then asked the participants questions which falsely used the word stop sign instead of yield sign which is what was actually shown in the slideshow. The results indicated that subjects remembered seeing the false image; the introduction of false cues altered the memory of the participants in the experiment. Bartlett conducted an experiment in which he read a story The war of the ghosts out loud to a group of participants where he concluded that participants attempted to fit the story into their western schemas and as a result, distorted it during recall  [19]  . This showed that they were not recalling the information exactly as it had been presented to them, but were making assumptions at the story, based on their own understanding. This correlates with what a witness may assume a criminal or crime scene may look like and therefore use this to describe the suspected. Schemas are an effective method of processing and encoding information  [20]  . The idea of schemas were originally established by Frederick Bartlett in the 1930s which involved a large number studies in which he showed ways in which participants made sense of whatever they were shown affects the way they recall it later  [21]  . For example, in one of his studies, Bartlett showed participants unfamiliar line d rawings and instructed them to memorise it. Bartlett then asked his participants to talk aloud at the same time as memorising the picture. He found that different participants made sense of the figures in different ways. Later in the experiment, the participants were asked to draw the figures as they remembered them and Bartlett discovered that the schemas which they established during their initial encoding influenced their recall. Therefore, schemas may influence what witnesses may define what a criminal looks like or behaves like and this may influence their account of events. Through the questioning process that witnesses must endure, witnesses can either be questioned on a one-to-one basis where the interviewer questions the witness independently or witnesses can be questioned as a group if the incident has been witnesses by multiple people. In particular, group questioning which gives into reason the reliability of witness recollections as they may conform in order to fit each others interpretation of what happened. This conformity can purposely invalidate information as the witness does not want to be isolated from the events that the other witnesss describe as having happened. This subjective information again affects the testimony because false information is being interpreted is invalid due to conformity of information. The weapons focus effect  [22]  perceives to be a result of the witnesss attention being predominantly directed towards the weapon, resulting in diversion of attention away from the situational aspects and the criminal suspect. When a witness views a crime in which a weapon is used as a method of violence and distraction, the weapon achieves its purpose in distracting the attention of those witnessing the crime. The distraction affects the witnesss attention due to the potential threat of violence. Although an incident has occurred, the attention of the witness is primarily upon the weapon so they are not observing the rest of the incident or the person who is posing the threat and this causes the witness to have lack of information about the incident. This area of eyewitness psychology is known as weapon focus; unfortunately this distraction results in a very poor eyewitness testimony as the witness is unable to recall events and descriptions. Unfortunately, most crimes involve the use of a weapon as a vulnerability tool, which in essence causes the stress and anxiety levels of the witness to rise and therefore will fail to encode and remember vital information. Eyewitness inaccuracy may also be a result of errors that occur within the memory process; the memory is divided into three distinct stages of processing: encoding, storage and retrieval. The occurrence of errors is very likely at any particular stage within the memory processing stages. Acquiring information or otherwise known as encoding is illustrated within the Yerkes-Dodson principle which according to its theorists, an increase in arousal improves performance up to a certain point. Once arousal has passed the critical point which is otherwise known as the optimum, performance tends to decline and these results in poorer memory performance. So, in essence when a person is moderately aroused, the information is encoded best as opposed to extreme arousal or stress where the information is lost or encoded insufficiently. The Yerkes-Dodson theory  [23]  demonstrates that if a witness observes a crime that is substantially violent and/or makes the witness experience high levels o f fear and anxiety, they are less likely to remember any significant levels of information because of the extreme stress which results in encoding of information inaccurate. This conclusively makes their eyewitness account unreliable because they fail to remember any substantial amounts of information and detail of what happened and of the perpetrator. The question of witness account accuracy raises questions about whether the time after the incident occurred, if the account is still valid as evidence because quite often, large amounts of time and substantial interference can deteriorate the information from memory. This deterioration refers to the loss of stimulus information as a result of passed time. The amount of time that has lapsed between the occurrence of the event and the questioning and testimony of the witness can quite often determines the amount of information the witness can recall  [24]  . This interference is due to the loss of old stimulus information caused by new stimulus information; this can also reduce the accuracy of eyewitness accounts. People are more likely to overestimate the duration of brief events but on the other hand underestimate the duration of prolonged events (Penrod, Loftus and Winkler, 1982). Other psychological research has demonstrated that the presence of a weapon also reduces the accur acy of eyewitness accounts. Evaluation of Eyewitness Testimony Taking into consideration the flaws in which eyewitness accounts may consist of, which effectively invalidates the testimony, these flaws can be avoided by both the eyewitness and the criminal justice system that use the accounts as a form of evidence. Most importantly, the way in which witness accounts are handled is vital in establishing a valid eyewitness testimony with as much truth as possible. The interviewing process which is conducted by the criminal justice system i.e. police, courtroom judges, need to be done in a careful and delicate way so that there is no decay or deterioration of information. Though the memory of the witnesses may differ, depending on age and memory capacity, quite often the initial first few hours after the occurrence of an incident is vital in collecting as much valid information as possible. So, the interviewing of witnesses should be conducted right after the incident when possible to avoid any decay of information and/or third party interference. In terms of the actual interviewing process, the use of leading questions should entirely be avoided unless the witness has mentioned specific events or descriptions which would not invalidate information as it has been confirmed by the witness. Leading questions  [25]  can quite often add new information that the witness may not have known about and will therefore mention false information in order to fit their account with what is evidently known by the police. Specific questions that can be used in the interviewing process may help the witness to run through their track of events which in some circumstances reveal any recollection of events without any external influence. Quite often through the criminal investigation, the witness needs to be interviewed many times to establish the course of events and important descriptions, whether this is through the crown prosecution trial or by the police. If later eyewitnesses need to be interviewed, they should be able to recall as much information that they reported initially, avoiding any extra information that they may have picked up from third party interference. So in essence, there is no uncertain information but information that the mind has remembered and rehearsed within their memory and indicates a positive recollection of events. Though no control can be given to what eyewitnesses will focus on and concentrate entirely on, measures on how information is collected can partially help to distinguish between valid and false information within accounts. Conclusion It can be concluded that the use of eyewitness testimony will also be used as a vital source of evidence by the criminal justice system for years to come. Eyewitness testimony can hold vital pieces of information that cannot be retrieved from any other source, without eyewitness testimony, the police would find it incredibly difficult to discover any potential clues and evidence of what happened or description of what the perpetrator physically looks like. Criminal cases in which there is not eyewitnesses to give evidence are usually those cases which find it incredibly hard to convict the guilty so have to rely upon other physical evidence such as CCTV, DNA, fingerprints etc. However, the use of eyewitness accounts seems to create a lot of doubt in whether it is a reliable source of evidence to be used because its accuracy is questioned based on interpretation. The use of leading questions and third party interference can decay any initial recollection of events that the eyewitness may have believed to have happened. But the human memory has flaws within itself regardless of extra information that can falsify or invalidate the recollection of what occurred and why. The initial pioneer of evaluating eyewitness evidence, Elizabeth F. Loftus  [26]  highlights the flaws of eyewitness accounts and of the human memory. The conclusions in which Loftus has discovered were advantageously used to improve quality of interviews and valid eyewitness accounts but unfortunately cannot eliminate all invalid information. So, in essence, the question as to whether eyewitness testimony is a reliable source of evidence still remains unclear on the basis that it is vital evidence which is needed to collate important information. However, its reliability is questioned in terms of validity and how much the witness is able to accurately recall all pieces of information especially having experienced high amounts of anxiety and stress. Eyewitness testimony will always remain a vital source of evidence but its use should be delicately considered to avoid any false information or invalid convictions.

Entrapment in Waiting for Godot and Existence and Existents Essay

Entrapment in Waiting for Godot and Existence and Existents      Ã‚  Ã‚   Samuel Beckett's play Waiting for Godot has been criticized as a play in which nothing happens-twice. Not only are Vladimir and Estragon, the two primary characters, unable to change their circumstances in the first act, the second act seems to be a replay of this existential impotence. Vladimir's remark "Nothing to be done," at the opening of the play, may be said to characterize the whole. Estragon complains that "Nothing happens, nobody comes, nobody goes, it's awful!" (Beckett 27). Ostensibly, the play is a series of meaningless conversations on subjects of no importance. One wonders, then, if it isn't true that nothing happens in this play and, hence, if the play has my real artistic merit. But something is happening. The characters are struggling to free themselves from a treadmill of an existence in which they are trapped-a struggle that is, perhaps, significantly like our own. Let us first consider the role of time in the play. Vladimir and Estragon want time to pass but are forced to acknowledge that even when it does, nothing changes. In other words, the time they recognize offers them no genuine future. On the contrary, it promises them more of the same: Estragon: We came too soon. Vladimir: It's always at nightfall. Estragon: But night doesn't fall. Vladimir: It'll fall all of a sudden, like yesterday. Estragon: Then it'll be night. Vladimir: And we can go. Estragon: Then it'll be day again. (Pause. Despairing.) What'll we do, what'll we do! (Beckett 45- 46)    If night would only come there would be an end to this day. But that is no hope since another day ... ...h, Colin. Angels of Darkness: Dramatic Effect in Beckett and Ionesco. New York: Barnes and Noble Books, 1792. Fletcher, Beryl S., and John Fletcher. A Student's Guide to the Plays of Samuel Beckett. Boston: Faber and Faber, 1985. Fletcher, J. Action and Play in Beckett's Theater. Modern Drama 9 (1966/67) 242-246. Iser, W. Beckett's Dramatic Language. Modern Drama 9 (1966/67) 251-259. Kenner, Hugh. A Reader's Guide to Samuel Beckett. New York: Farar, Straus, and Giroux, 1983. Lamont, Rosette. Beckett's Metaphysics of Choiceless Awareness. Samuel Beckett Now. Ed. Melvin J. Friedman. Chicago: U of Chicago Press, 1975. Lyons, Charles R. Samuel Beckett. New York: Grove Press, 1983. Metman, Eva. Reflections on Samuel Beckett's Plays. Samuel Beckett: A Collection of Critical Essays. Ed. Martin Esslin. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1965.

charhf jimhf Character of Jim and Huck Essay -- Adventures Huckleber

Huckleberry Finn – Study of His Character    In Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, he takes an alternate route from the normal adventure clichà ©. On the surface as well as when searching for a deeper meaning, many adventure books are unfulfilling in that they posses no real message. It is not that an adventure book should be deemed poor in quality simply because it lacks depth, because that's not really what an adventure book offers. Conventionally, the adventure book is a descriptive book in that it describes every leg of the protagonist's journey. The pivotal part to a truly fulfilling book is the deeper meaning, the stuff below the surface-- to me, this is what separates The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and puts it head and shoulders above any book I have read in that genre. Twain offers up more than the conventional adventures-- he personifies the characters to the point of showing their exact dialect through improper spelling and grammar. He displays the character's emotions and thoughts, maki ng it easy to relate to many of the things that the characters are thinking, in essence making a better book. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a book saturated with morals and lessons. If you take the tale at face value the characters seem uneducated, but the depth to the book shows that there is a lesson being transmitted through each of the characters.    The vivid and colorful characters make this book pleasing to read, a type of book that makes reading not a burden, but entertainment that rivals even video games. Twain takes Huckleberry Finn, on the surface your average character but because of the extent that Twain develops the characters, the character's rises and p... ... may look like they are disrespectful and malignant just because of the clothes they wear, their place in society, their dialect, or the way the do their hair. These are all of course outward appearances and should not influence our judgment of someone but they almost always do. Huck and Jim are great examples that adhere to this doctrine well-- Jim for instance is a slave, he almost seems foolish by his superstitions. Though through deeper inspection, Jim turns from a slave to a father figure, offering guidance to Huck and protecting him. Twain illustrates that below every ugly surface, there is usually a great personality to discover.    Works Cited    Bruce, Robert Ph.D. CliffsNotes On Twain's Huckleberry Finn. New York: Hungry Minds, Inc., 2000. Twain, Mark. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. New York: Bantam Books, 1981.   

Disintegration of Dick Diver in Fitzgeralds Tender is the Night Essays :: Tender is the Night Essays

The Disintegration of Dick Diver in Tender is the Night The exact nature of Dick Diver¹s descent throughout the course of Tender is the Night is difficult to discern. It is clear enough that his disintegration is occasioned by Nicole¹s burgeoning independence, but why or how her transformation affects him this way is less than obvious. Moreover, it is not at all apparent what is at stake, more abstractly, in this reciprocal exchange of fates. In this paper, I will propose a reading of this change that relates Nicole¹s strength to her naturalness, her identification with instinct and natural impulse, and Dick¹s strength to his civilization, his identification with the curtailment of natural impulse through psychiatry and prewar American civilization. The relationship between Nicole and Dick is such that what happens to the one must happen to the other. Both Nicole and Dick turn by the novel¹s end to impulse and instinct, but while Nicole does this by gaining an independent self-consciousness, Dick achieves this onl y through drinking. Throughout the novel Nicole is identified with the childish and animalistic wildness of instinct. This is most obvious in the uninhibited expression of emotion which characterizes her episodes of madness. We see, for instance, her frenzied laughter as she rides the Ferris wheel and causes her car to crash. As the car finally comes to a halt, "she, [Nicole], was laughing hilariously, unashamed, unafraid, unconcernedŠ.She laughed as after some mild escape of childhood" (192). And as a patient at the clinic, after having her affection for Dick rebuffed, we are told, "Nicole¹s world had fallen to pieces, but it was only a flimsy and scarcely created world; beneath it her emotions and instincts fought on" (143). As the story progresses, though, the expression of these impulses become less openly dangerous and abnormal and more linked to her growing sense of self. One more restrained way in which Nicole is identified with impulse is her use of money. Money in the story is a sort of materialized passion, the tangible expression of an appetite to possess and control. Money becomes more and more plentiful as the story moves on, such that by the beginning of book three, after Dick gives up his stake in the clinic, "the mere spending of it, [money], the care of goods, was an absorption in itself. The style in which they traveled was fabulous" (257).

Compare and Contrast “A Raisin in the Sun.”

Compare/Contrast Paper on â€Å"Raisin in the Sun, â€Å"by Lorraine Hansberry. The play â€Å"A Raisin in the Sun,† was a radically new representation of black life, resolutely authentic, fiercely unsentimental, and unflinching in its vision of what happens to people whose dreams are constantly deferred. I compared Act One, Scene 2, in the play and the film. The setting in the play is on a Saturday morning, and house cleaning is in process at the Youngers. In the film, the setting is the same as play, with lighting and costumes. The plot in the play is when Mrs. Younger gets the insurance check of $10,000. In the film, the plot is the same, but includes music not mentioned in the play. The dialogue in the film has some deletions from the original text, with new dialogue added throughout the scene. Some film techniques used are: the film cuts back and forth to different characters, the room is well lit with the sunshine coming in through the window, and music is added throughout some parts of this scene. Perhaps the biggest difference between the play and the film in this scene involves dialogue. Much of the dialogue is deleted; however, new dialogue is added through some parts of this scene. Also, in the play, the mailman comes up to their apartment and rings the doorbell unlike the film, Travis runs up to him outside the building and gets the mail from him right away and runs back to give it to Mrs. Younger (his grandma). Racism was rampant during the 1950’s and this often hindered African American dreams. What is the American dream? In the play, A Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry, Walter is depicted as being a very ambitious and determined man. He often had dreams of making a better life for his family and himself. One way of making a reaching his dream was to open a liquor store. â€Å"I got a dream†¦. I got to take hold of this here world; I’m going to open a liquor store. † (p. 701). This is all Walter dreams about. A way for him to achieve this dream is to utilize the $10,000 insurance money from his father’s death. Walter’s dream conflicts with his mother’s, Lena’s (mama’s), dream. Lena, known as mama, is a strong, caring, and very religious woman. She works very hard to try and help her family have the best. She dreams of owning a house for the family â€Å"You should know the dream I have of owning a house and fixing it up and making me a little garden† (p. 707). This brings about conflict with the other family members, particularly Walter who is already set on opening his own liquor store.

Implications of Space and Time for Distributed Work Essay

In this paper â€Å"Implications of Space and Time for Distributed Work: An Interpretive Study of US-Norwegian Systems Development Teams†, Saker and Sahay (2004) present the results of a study they conducted on problems and strategies of virtual collaboration in space and time in the area of Information System Development (ISD). A theoretic presentation of the concepts of space and time investigated in the study is given. By studying the actual experiences of eight teams, the authors show that space and time pose difficulties for virtual teams therefore influencing team organization and strategies. The teams were selected from the University of Norway and the University of America ensuring that team demographics in terms of gender, age and educational backgrounds were evenly distributed to rule out any factors that may influence the results of the study. The authors used the methodology for studying virtual teams called virtual ethnography. The results show that both separations in time and space posed communication problems resulting in delayed responses that caused tensions and discomfort in meeting of targets and deadlines. Individual members had difficulties in synchronizing their biological clocks hence the inability to commit to work schedules, missing online meetings and deadlines. The ICT tools used posed difficulties in time management. Some teams failed to understand each other on a personal level due to lack of human interaction. Language and cultural barriers caused misunderstandings resulting in passing of judgments on others’ work ethics. Different levels of skills and knowledge of ISD hindered production of desired outputs by teams in different locations. Biases in software use were also evident for different country locations forcing teams to use software platforms they had little experience on. Addressing the problems mainly centered on the better use of the ICT tools, reaching compromises, improvising, and developing relations in a bid to approximate real organizations. The teams also came up with engagement rules and codes of conduct to ease their work relations. The authors conclude that electronic and face to face communication is never the same with the former producing some social behaviors that have to be adjusted for.