Deception Point Page 35

The tourists laughed. Gabrielle followed past the stairway through a series of ropes and barricades into a more private section of the building. Here they entered a room Gabrielle had only seen in books and on television. Her breath grew short. My God, this is the Map Room! No tour ever came in here. The room's paneled walls could swing outward to reveal layer upon layer of world maps. This was the place where Roosevelt had charted the course of World War II. Unsettlingly, it was also the room from which Clinton had admitted his affair with Monica Lewinsky. Gabrielle pushed that particular thought from her mind. Most important, the Map Room was a passageway into the West Wing-the area inside the White House where the true powerbrokers worked. This was the last place Gabrielle Ashe had expected to be going. She had imagined her e-mail was coming from some enterprising young intern or secretary working in one of the complex's more mundane offices. Apparently not. I'm going into the West Wing†¦ The Secret Serviceman marched her to the very end of a carpeted hallway and stopped at an unmarked door. He knocked. Gabrielle's heart was pounding. â€Å"It's open,† someone called from inside. The man opened the door and motioned for Gabrielle to enter. Gabrielle stepped in. The shades were down, and the room was dim. She could see the faint outline of a person sitting at a desk in the darkness. â€Å"Ms. Ashe?† The voice came from behind a cloud of cigarette smoke. â€Å"Welcome.† As Gabrielle's eyes accustomed to the dark, she began to make out an unsettlingly familiar face, and her muscles went taut with surprise. THIS is who has been sending me e-mail? â€Å"Thank you for coming,† Marjorie Tench said, her voice cold. â€Å"Ms†¦. Tench?† Gabrielle stammered, suddenly unable to breathe. â€Å"Call me Marjorie.† The hideous woman stood up, blowing smoke out of her nose like a dragon. â€Å"You and I are about to become best friends.† 41 Norah Mangor stood at the extraction shaft beside Tolland, Rachel, and Corky and stared into the pitch-black meteorite hole. â€Å"Mike,† she said, â€Å"you're cute, but you're insane. There's no bioluminescence here.† Tolland now wished he'd thought to take some video; while Corky had gone to find Norah and Ming, the bioluminescence had begun fading rapidly. Within a couple of minutes, all the twinkling had simply stopped. Tolland threw another piece of ice into the water, but nothing happened. No green splash. â€Å"Where did they go?† Corky asked. Tolland had a fairly good idea. Bioluminescence-one of nature's most ingenious defense mechanisms-was a natural response for plankton in distress. A plankton sensing it was about to be consumed by larger organisms would begin flashing in hopes of attracting much larger predators that would scare off the original attackers. In this case, the plankton, having entered the shaft through a crack, suddenly found themselves in a primarily freshwater environment and bioluminesced in panic as the freshwater slowly killed them. â€Å"I think they died.† â€Å"They were murdered,† Norah scoffed. â€Å"The Easter Bunny swam in and ate them.† Corky glared at her. â€Å"I saw the luminescence too, Norah.† â€Å"Was it before or after you took LSD?† â€Å"Why would we lie about this?† Corky demanded. â€Å"Men lie.† â€Å"Yeah, about sleeping with other women, but never about bioluminescent plankton.† Tolland sighed. â€Å"Norah, certainly you're aware that plankton do live in the oceans beneath the ice.† â€Å"Mike,† she replied with a glare, â€Å"please don't tell me my business. For the record, there are over two hundred species of diatoms that thrive under Arctic ice shelves. Fourteen species of autotrophic nannoflagellates, twenty heterotrophic flagellates, forty heterotrophic dinoflagellates, and several metazoans, including polychaetes, amphipods, copepods, euphausids, and fish. Any questions?† Tolland frowned. â€Å"Clearly you know more about Arctic fauna than I do, and you agree there's plenty of life underneath us. So why are you so skeptical that we saw bioluminescent plankton?† â€Å"Because, Mike, this shaft is sealed. It's a closed, freshwater environment. No ocean plankton could possibly get in here!† â€Å"I tasted salt in the water,† Tolland insisted. â€Å"Very faint, but present. Saltwater is getting in here somehow.† â€Å"Right,† Norah said skeptically. â€Å"You tasted salt. You licked the sleeve of an old sweaty parka, and now you've decided that the PODS density scans and fifteen separate core samples are inaccurate.† Tolland held out the wet sleeve of his parka as proof. â€Å"Mike, I'm not licking your damn jacket.† She looked into the hole. â€Å"Might I ask why droves of alleged plankton decided to swim into this alleged crack?† â€Å"Heat?† Tolland ventured. â€Å"A lot of sea creatures are attracted by heat. When we extracted the meteorite, we heated it. The plankton may have been drawn instinctively toward the temporarily warmer environment in the shaft.† Corky nodded. â€Å"Sounds logical.† â€Å"Logical?† Norah rolled her eyes. â€Å"You know, for a prize-winning physicist and a world-famous oceanographer, you're a couple of pretty dense specimens. Has it occurred to you that even if there is a crack-which I can assure you there is not-it is physically impossible for any sea-water to be flowing into this shaft.† She stared at both of them with pathetic disdain. â€Å"But, Norah†¦,† Corky began. â€Å"Gentlemen! We're standing above sea level here.† She stamped her foot on the ice. â€Å"Hello? This ice sheet rises a hundred feet above the sea. You might recall the big cliff at the end of this shelf? We're higher than the ocean. If there were a fissure into this shaft, the water would be flowing out of this shaft, not into it. It's called gravity.† Tolland and Corky looked at each other. â€Å"Shit,† Corky said. â€Å"I didn't think of that.† Norah pointed into the water-filled shaft. â€Å"You may also have noticed that the water level isn't changing?† Tolland felt like an idiot. Norah was absolutely right. If there had been a crack, the water would be flowing out, not in. Tolland stood in silence a long moment, wondering what to do next. â€Å"Okay.† Tolland sighed. â€Å"Apparently, the fissure theory makes no sense. But we saw bioluminescence in the water. The only conclusion is that this is not a closed environment after all. I realize much of your icedating data is built on the premise that the glacier is a solid block, but-â€Å" â€Å"Premise?† Norah was obviously getting agitated. â€Å"Remember, this was not just my data, Mike. NASA made the same findings. We all confirmed this glacier is solid. No cracks.† Tolland glanced across the dome toward the crowd gathered around the press conference area. â€Å"Whatever is going on, I think, in good faith, we need to inform the administrator and-â€Å" â€Å"This is bullshit!† Norah hissed. â€Å"I'm telling you this glacial matrix is pristine. I'm not about to have my core data questioned by a salt lick and some absurd hallucinations.† She stormed over to a nearby supply area and began collecting some tools. â€Å"I'll take a proper water sample, and show you this water contains no saltwater plankton-living or dead!† Rachel and the others looked on as Norah used a sterile pipette on a string to harvest a water sample from the melt pool. Norah placed several drops in a tiny device that resembled a miniature telescope. Then she peered through the oculus, pointing the device toward the light emanating from the other side of the dome. Within seconds she was cursing.

Connecting Superstition From Macbeth to Modern Day Society Essay

Macbeth, a play written by William Shakespeare, it is one of his more dark and sinister pieces. Even so, the multiple themes that Shakespeare incorporated into his play can be found in modern day society. Superstition, one of his many themes, is present even in the twenty-first century. Many people now believe in UFO’s (unidentified flying objects) coming to overrun our planet, the illuminati a group of influential and powerful people trying to take over the United Nations and unesco, along with old wives tales of superstition. Many different people have sited UFO’s all around the world. Some even claim to have been abducted, like Clayton and Donna Lee. They are a married couple living in Houston, Texas, they say that they have been abducted more than once, including an incident where Donna was pregnant and her baby was taken from her. Not only are UFO’s abducting people but they are also leaving signs in cornfields. A man living in the United Kingdom claims that aliens came over night and left a crop circle in his field, that isn’t all. The following day he caught a glimpse of an alien. No one knows what is to come but the people who have witnessed UFO’s and aliens first hand suspect they are planning to take over the Earth. Furthermore the illuminati want a new world order, where there is one government. There are famous people that are known to have joined the illuminati like late Michael Jackson, Beyoncà © and Lady Gaga. Before Michael’s death he started to reveal information on the illuminati because he was trying to free himself from their grasp, but by defying his contract he was murdered. You can tell which famous star is apart of the group quite easily. Their music videos would contain symbols of a triangle with an eye in the middle, like most of Lady Gaga’s videos. Or even by playing some of Beyoncà ©Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s music backwards, you can hear her saying bow down to the devil. To achieve their goal they have pawns that made a deal with the devil in return gained power and wealth. They make their move in the shadows, so they are unnoticed and a step closer to the civilization they want. Along with those two superstitious concepts are old wives tales. Few families have reported about â€Å"death knocks†, the family would here three loud knocks, and no one would be at the door. A few days later or even the next day someone in their family will be dead. Many people today believe in signs of what is to come like bad luck if they break a mirror or open an umbrella indoors. In conclusion all of these stories and events are relevant to Macbeth, to prove that a lot of modern day society is still relatable to old English literature.

The Source of Creativity in Writers

We laymen have always been intensely curious to know like the Cardinal who put a similar question to Ariosto – from what sources that strange being, the creative writer, draws his material, and how he manages to make such an impression on us with it and to arouse in us emotions of which, perhaps, we had not even thought ourselves capable.Our interest is only heightened the more by the fact that, if we ask him, the writer himself gives us no explanation, or none that is satisfactory; and it is not at all weakened by our knowledge that not even the clearest insight into the determinants of his choice of material and into the nature of the art of creating imaginative form will ever help to make creative writers of us. If we could at least discover in ourselves or in people like ourselves an activity which was in some way akin to creative writing!An examination of it would then give us a hope of obtaining the beginnings of an explanation of the creative work of writers. And, indee d, there is some prospect of this being possible. After all, creative writers themselves like to lessen the distance between their kind and the common run of humanity; they so often assure us that every man is a poet at heart and that the last poet will not perish till the last man does. Should we not look for the first traces of imaginative activity as early as in childhood The child’s best-loved and most intense occupation is with his play or games.Might we not say that every child at play behaves like a creative writer, in that he creates a world of his own, or, rather, re-arranges the things of his world in a new way which pleases him? It would be wrong to think he does not take that world seriously; on the contrary, he takes his play very seriously and he expends large amounts of emotion on it. The opposite of play is not what is serious but what is real. In spite of all the emotion with which he cathects his world of play, the child distinguishes it quite well from real ity; and he likes to link his imagined objects and situations to the tangible and visible things of the real world.This linking is all that differentiates the child’s ‘play’ from ‘phantasying’. The creative writer does the same as the child at play. He creates a world of phantasy which he takes very seriously – that is, which he invests with large amounts of emotion while separating it sharply from reality. Language has preserved this relationship between children’s play and poetic creation. It gives [in German] the name of ‘Spiel’ [‘play’] to those forms of imaginative writing which require to be linked to tangible objects and which are capable of representation.It speaks of a ‘Lustspiel’ or ‘Trauerspiel’ [‘comedy’ or ‘tragedy’: literally, ‘pleasure play’ or ‘mourning play’] and describes those who carry out the representation as â⠂¬ËœSchauspieler’ [‘players’: literally ‘show-players’]. The unreality of the writer’s imaginative world, however, has very important consequences for the technique of his art; for many things which, if they were real, could give no enjoyment, can do so in the play of phantasy, and many excitements which, in themselves, are actually distressing, can become a source of pleasure for the hearers and spectators at the performance of a writer’s work.There is another consideration for the sake of which we will dwell a moment longer on this contrast between reality and play. When the child has grown up and has ceased to play, and after he has been labouring for decades to envisage the realities of life with proper seriousness, he may one day find himself in a mental situation which once more undoes the contrast between play and reality.As an adult he can look back on the intense seriousness with which he once carried on his games in childhood; and, by equating his ostensibly serious occupations of to-day with his childhood games, he can throw off the too heavy burden imposed on him by life and win the high yield of pleasure afforded by humour. As people grow up, then, they cease to play, and they seem to give up the yield of pleasure which they gained from playing. But whoever understands the human mind knows that hardly anything is harder for a man than to give up a pleasure which he has once experienced.Actually, we can never give anything up; we only exchange one thing for another. What appears to be a renunciation is really the formation of a substitute or surrogate. In the same way, the growing child, when he stops playing, gives up nothing but the link with real objects; instead playing, he now phantasies. He builds castles in the air and creates what are called day- dreams. I believe that most people construct phantasies at times in their lives. This is a fact which has long been overlooked and whose importance ha s therefore not been sufficiently appreciated.People’s phantasies are less easy to observe than the play of children. The child, it is true, plays by himself or forms a closed psychical system with other children for the purposes of a game; but even though he may not play his game in front of the grown-ups, he does not, on the other hand, conceal it from them. The adult, on the contrary, is ashamed of his phantasies and hides them from other people. He cherishes his phantasies as his most intimate possessions, and as a rule he would rather confess his misdeeds than tell anyone his phantasies.It may come about that for that reason he believes he is the only person who invents such phantasies and has no idea that creations of this kind are widespread among other people. This difference in the behaviour of a person who plays and a person who phantasies is accounted for by the motives of these two activities, which are nevertheless adjuncts to each other. A child’s play is determined by wishes: in point of fact by a single wish-one that helps in his upbringing – the wish to be big and grown up. He is always playing at being ‘grown up’, and in his games he imitates what he knows about the lives of his elders.He has no reason to conceal this wish. With the adult, the case is different. On the one hand, he knows that he is expected not to go on playing or phantasying any longer, but to act in the real world; on the other hand, some of the wishes which give rise to his phantasies are of a kind which it is essential to conceal. Thus he is ashamed of his phantasies as being childish and as being unpermissible. But, you will ask, if people make such a mystery of their phantasying, how is it that we know such a lot about it?Well, there is a class of human beings upon whom, not a god, indeed, but a stern goddess – Necessity – has allotted the task of telling what they suffer and what things give them happiness. These are the victims of nervous illness, who are obliged to tell their phantasies, among other things, to the doctor by whom they expect to be cured by mental treatment. This is our best source of knowledge, and we have since found good reason to suppose that our patients tell us nothing that we might not also hear from healthy people. Let us now make ourselves acquainted with a few of the characteristics of phantasying.We may lay it down that a happy person never phantasies, only an unsatisfied one. The motive forces of phantasies are unsatisfied wishes, and every single phantasy is the fulfilment of a wish, a correction of unsatisfying reality. These motivating wishes vary according to the sex, character and circumstances of the person who is having the phantasy; but they fall naturally into two main groups. They are either ambitious wishes, which serve to elevate the subject’s personality; or they are erotic ones. In young women the erotic wishes predominate almost exclusively, for the ir ambition is as a rule absorbed by erotic trends.In young men egoistic and ambitious wishes come to the fore clearly enough alongside of erotic ones. But we will not lay stress on the opposition between the two trends; we would rather emphasize the fact that they are often united. Just as, in many altar- pieces, the portrait of the donor is to be seen in a corner of the picture, so, in the majority of ambitious phantasies, we can discover in some corner or other the lady for whom the creator of the phantasy performs all his heroic deeds and at whose feet all his triumphs are laid.Here, as you see, there are strong enough motives for concealment; the well-brought-up young woman is only allowed a minimum of erotic desire, and the young man has to learn to suppress the excess of self-regard which he brings with him from the spoilt days of his childhood, so that he may find his place in a society which is full of other individuals making equally strong demands. We must not suppose tha t the products of this imaginative activity – the various phantasies, castles in the air and day-dreams – are stereotyped or unalterable.On the contrary, they fit themselves in to the subject’s shifting impressions of life, change with every change in his situation, and receive from every fresh active impression what might be called a ‘date-mark’. The relation of a phantasy to time is in general very important. We may say that it hovers, as it were, between three times – the three moments of time which our ideation involves. Mental work is linked to some current impression, some provoking occasion in the present which has been able to arouse one of the subject’s major wishes.From there it harks back to a memory of an earlier experience (usually an infantile one) in which this wish was fulfilled; and it now creates a situation relating to the future which represents a fulfilment of the wish. What it thus creates is a day-dream or phanta sy, which carries about it traces of its origin from the occasion which provoked it and from the memory. Thus past, present and future are strung together, as it were, on the thread of the wish that runs through them. A very ordinary example may serve to make what I have said clear.Let us take the case of a poor orphan boy to whom you have given the address of some employer where he may perhaps find a job. On his way there he may indulge in a day-dream appropriate to the situation from which it arises. The content of his phantasy will perhaps be something like this. He is given a job, finds favour with his new employer, makes himself indispensable in the business, is taken into his employer’s family, marries the charming young daughter of the house, and then himself becomes a director of the business, first as his employer’s partner and then as his successor.In this phantasy, the dreamer has regained what he possessed in his happy childhood – the protecting hous e, the loving parents and the first objects of his affectionate feelings. You will see from this example the way in which the wish makes use of an occasion in the present to construct, on the pattern of the past, a picture of the future. There is a great deal more that could be said about phantasies; but I will only allude as briefly as possible to certain points.If phantasies become over-luxuriant and over-powerful, the conditions are laid for an onset of neurosis or psychosis. Phantasies, moreover, are the immediate mental precursors of the distressing symptoms complained of by our patients. Here a broad by-path branches off into pathology. I cannot pass over the relation of phantasies to dreams. Our dreams at night are nothing else than phantasies like these, as we can demonstrate from the interpretation of dreams.Language, in its unrivalled wisdom, long ago decided the question of the essential nature of dreams by giving the name of ‘day-dreams’ to the airy creation s of phantasy. If the meaning of our dreams usually remains obscure to us in spite of this pointer, it is because of the circumstance that at night there also arise in us wishes of which we are ashamed; these we must conceal from ourselves, and they have consequently been repressed, pushed into the unconscious.Repressed wishes of this sort and their derivatives are only allowed to come to expression in a very distorted form. When scientific work had succeeded in elucidating this factor of dream-distortion, it was no longer difficult to recognize that night-dreams are wish-fulfilments in just the same way as day-dreams – the phantasies which we all know so well.  ¹ Cf. Freud, The Interpretation of Dreams (1900a).So much for phantasies. And now for the creative writer. May we really attempt to compare the imaginative writer with the ‘dreamer in broad daylight’, and his creations with day-dreams? Here we must begin by making an initial distinction. We must separat e writers who, like the ancient authors of epics and tragedies, take over their material ready-made, from writers who seem to originate their own material.We will keep to the latter kind, and, for the purposes of our comparison, we will choose not the writers most highly esteemed by the critics, but the less pretentious authors of novels, romances and short stories, who nevertheless have the widest and most eager circle of readers of both sexes. One feature above all cannot fail to strike us about the creations of these story-writers: each of them has a hero who is the centre of interest, for whom the writer tries to win our sympathy by every possible means and whom he seems to place under the protection of a special Providence.If, at the end of one chapter of my story, I leave the hero unconscious and bleeding from severe wounds, I am sure to find him at the beginning of the next being carefully nursed and on the way to recovery; and if the first volume closes with the ship he is i n going down in a storm at sea, I am certain, at the opening of the second volume, to read of his miraculous rescue – a rescue without which the story could not proceed.The feeling of security with which I follow the hero through his perilous adventures is the same as the feeling with which a hero in real life throws himself into the water to save a drowning man or exposes himself to the enemy’s fire in order to storm a battery. It is the true heroic feeling, which one of our best writers has expressed in an inimitable phrase: ‘Nothing can happen to me! ’ It seems to me, however, that through this revealing characteristic of invulnerability we can immediately recognize His Majesty the Ego, the hero alike of every day-dream and of every story.Other typical features of these egocentric stories point to the same kinship. The fact that all the women in the novel invariably fall in love with the hero can hardly be looked on as a portrayal of reality, but it is easily understood as a necessary constituent of a day-dream. The same is true of the fact that the other characters in the story are sharply divided into good and bad, in defiance of the variety of human characters that are to be observed in real life.The ‘good’ ones are the helpers, while the ‘bad’ ones are the enemies and rivals, of the ego which has become the hero of the story. We are perfectly aware that very many imaginative writings are far removed from the model of the naà ¯ve day-dream; and yet I cannot suppress the suspicion that even the most extreme deviations from that model could be linked with it through an uninterrupted series of transitional cases. It has struck me that in many of what are known as ‘psychological’ novels only one person – once again the hero – is described from within.The author sits inside his mind, as it were, and looks at the other characters from outside. The psychological novel in general no doubt owes its special nature to the inclination of the modern writer to split up his ego, by self- observation, into many part-egos, and, in consequence, to personify the conflicting currents of his own mental life in several heroes. Certain novels, which might be described as ‘eccentric’, seem to stand in quite special contrast to the type of the day-dream.In these, the person who is introduced as the hero plays only a very small active part; he sees the actions and sufferings of other people pass before him like a spectator. Many of Zola’s later works belong to this category. But I must point out that the psychological analysis of individuals who are not creative writers, and who diverge in some respects from the so-called norm, has shown us analogous variations of the day-dream, in which the ego contents itself with the role of spectator.If our comparison of the imaginative writer with the day-dreamer, and of poetical creation with the day-dream, is to be of any value, it must, above all, show itself in some way or other fruitful. Let us, for instance, try to apply to these authors’ works the thesis we laid down earlier concerning the relation between phantasy and the three periods of time and the wish which runs through them; and, with its help, let us try to study the connections that exist between the life of the writer and his works.No one has known, as a rule, what expectations to frame in approaching this problem; and often the connection has been thought of in much too simple terms. In the light of the insight we have gained from phantasies, we ought to expect the following state of affairs. A strong experience in the present awakens in the creative writer a memory of an earlier experience (usually belonging to his childhood) from which there now proceeds a wish which finds its fulfilment in the creative work.The work itself exhibits elements of the recent provoking occasion as well as of the old memory. Do not be alarmed at the complexity of this formula. I suspect that in fact it will prove to be too exiguous a pattern. Nevertheless, it may contain a first approach to the true state of affairs; and, from some experiments I have made, I am inclined to think that this way of looking at creative writings may turn out not unfruitful.You will not forget that the  stress it lays on childhood memories in the writer’s life – a stress which may perhaps seem puzzling – is ultimately derived from the assumption that a piece of creative writing, like a day-dream, is a continuation of, and a substitute for, what was once the play of childhood. We must not neglect, however, to go back to the kind of imaginative works which we have to recognize, not as original creations, but as the re-fashioning of ready- made and familiar material.Even here, the writer keeps a certain amount of independence, which can express itself in the choice of material and in changes in it which are often quite ext ensive. In so far as the material is already at hand, however, it is derived from the popular treasure-house of myths, legends and fairy tales. The study of constructions of folk-psychology such as these is far from being complete, but it is extremely probable that myths, for instance, are distorted vestiges of the wishful phantasies of whole nations, the secular dreams of youthful humanity.You will say that, although I have put the creative writer first in the title of my paper, I have told you far less about him than about phantasies. I am aware of that, and I must try to excuse it by pointing to the present state of our knowledge. All I have been able to do is to throw out some encouragements and suggestions which, starting from the study of phantasies, lead on to the problem of the writer’s choice of his literary material.As for the other problem – by what means the creative writer achieves the emotional effects in us that are aroused by his creations – we h ave as yet not touched on it at all. But I should like at least to point out to you the path that leads from our discussion of phantasies to the problems of poetical effects. You will remember how I have said that the day-dreamer carefully conceals his phantasies from other people because he feels he has reasons for being ashamed of them. I should now add that even if he were to communicate them to us he could give us no pleasure by his disclosures.Such phantasies, when we learn them, repel us or at least leave us cold. But when a creative writer presents his plays to us or tells us what we are inclined to take to be his personal day dreams, we experience a great pleasure, and one which probably arises from the confluence of many sources. How the writer accomplishes this is his innermost secret; the essential ars poetica lies in the technique of overcoming the feeling of repulsion in us which is undoubtedly connected with the barriers that rise  between each single ego and the oth ers.We can guess two of the methods used by this technique. The writer softens the character of his egoistic day-dreams by altering and disguising it, and he bribes us by the purely formal – that is, aesthetic – yield of pleasure which he offers us in the presentation of his phantasies. We give the name of an incentive bonus, or a fore-pleasure, to a yield of pleasure such as this, which is offered to us so as to make possible the release of still greater pleasure arising from deeper psychical sources.In my opinion, all the aesthetic pleasure which a creative writer affords us has the character of a fore-pleasure of this kind, and our actual enjoyment of an imaginative work proceeds from a liberation of tensions in our minds. It may even be that not a little of this effect is due to the writer’s enabling us thenceforward to enjoy our own day-dreams without self-reproach or shame. This brings us to the threshold of new, interesting and complicated enquiries; but also, at least for the moment, to the end of our discussion. The Source of Creativity in Writers We laymen have always been intensely curious to know like the Cardinal who put a similar question to Ariosto – from what sources that strange being, the creative writer, draws his material, and how he manages to make such an impression on us with it and to arouse in us emotions of which, perhaps, we had not even thought ourselves capable.Our interest is only heightened the more by the fact that, if we ask him, the writer himself gives us no explanation, or none that is satisfactory; and it is not at all weakened by our knowledge that not even the clearest insight into the determinants of his choice of material and into the nature of the art of creating imaginative form will ever help to make creative writers of us. If we could at least discover in ourselves or in people like ourselves an activity which was in some way akin to creative writing!An examination of it would then give us a hope of obtaining the beginnings of an explanation of the creative work of writers. And, indee d, there is some prospect of this being possible. After all, creative writers themselves like to lessen the distance between their kind and the common run of humanity; they so often assure us that every man is a poet at heart and that the last poet will not perish till the last man does. Should we not look for the first traces of imaginative activity as early as in childhood The child’s best-loved and most intense occupation is with his play or games.Might we not say that every child at play behaves like a creative writer, in that he creates a world of his own, or, rather, re-arranges the things of his world in a new way which pleases him? It would be wrong to think he does not take that world seriously; on the contrary, he takes his play very seriously and he expends large amounts of emotion on it. The opposite of play is not what is serious but what is real. In spite of all the emotion with which he cathects his world of play, the child distinguishes it quite well from real ity; and he likes to link his imagined objects and situations to the tangible and visible things of the real world.This linking is all that differentiates the child’s ‘play’ from ‘phantasying’. The creative writer does the same as the child at play. He creates a world of phantasy which he takes very seriously – that is, which he invests with large amounts of emotion while separating it sharply from reality. Language has preserved this relationship between children’s play and poetic creation. It gives [in German] the name of ‘Spiel’ [‘play’] to those forms of imaginative writing which require to be linked to tangible objects and which are capable of representation.It speaks of a ‘Lustspiel’ or ‘Trauerspiel’ [‘comedy’ or ‘tragedy’: literally, ‘pleasure play’ or ‘mourning play’] and describes those who carry out the representation as â⠂¬ËœSchauspieler’ [‘players’: literally ‘show-players’]. The unreality of the writer’s imaginative world, however, has very important consequences for the technique of his art; for many things which, if they were real, could give no enjoyment, can do so in the play of phantasy, and many excitements which, in themselves, are actually distressing, can become a source of pleasure for the hearers and spectators at the performance of a writer’s work.There is another consideration for the sake of which we will dwell a moment longer on this contrast between reality and play. When the child has grown up and has ceased to play, and after he has been labouring for decades to envisage the realities of life with proper seriousness, he may one day find himself in a mental situation which once more undoes the contrast between play and reality.As an adult he can look back on the intense seriousness with which he once carried on his games in childhood; and, by equating his ostensibly serious occupations of to-day with his childhood games, he can throw off the too heavy burden imposed on him by life and win the high yield of pleasure afforded by humour. As people grow up, then, they cease to play, and they seem to give up the yield of pleasure which they gained from playing. But whoever understands the human mind knows that hardly anything is harder for a man than to give up a pleasure which he has once experienced.Actually, we can never give anything up; we only exchange one thing for another. What appears to be a renunciation is really the formation of a substitute or surrogate. In the same way, the growing child, when he stops playing, gives up nothing but the link with real objects; instead playing, he now phantasies. He builds castles in the air and creates what are called day- dreams. I believe that most people construct phantasies at times in their lives. This is a fact which has long been overlooked and whose importance ha s therefore not been sufficiently appreciated.People’s phantasies are less easy to observe than the play of children. The child, it is true, plays by himself or forms a closed psychical system with other children for the purposes of a game; but even though he may not play his game in front of the grown-ups, he does not, on the other hand, conceal it from them. The adult, on the contrary, is ashamed of his phantasies and hides them from other people. He cherishes his phantasies as his most intimate possessions, and as a rule he would rather confess his misdeeds than tell anyone his phantasies.It may come about that for that reason he believes he is the only person who invents such phantasies and has no idea that creations of this kind are widespread among other people. This difference in the behaviour of a person who plays and a person who phantasies is accounted for by the motives of these two activities, which are nevertheless adjuncts to each other. A child’s play is determined by wishes: in point of fact by a single wish-one that helps in his upbringing – the wish to be big and grown up. He is always playing at being ‘grown up’, and in his games he imitates what he knows about the lives of his elders.He has no reason to conceal this wish. With the adult, the case is different. On the one hand, he knows that he is expected not to go on playing or phantasying any longer, but to act in the real world; on the other hand, some of the wishes which give rise to his phantasies are of a kind which it is essential to conceal. Thus he is ashamed of his phantasies as being childish and as being unpermissible. But, you will ask, if people make such a mystery of their phantasying, how is it that we know such a lot about it?Well, there is a class of human beings upon whom, not a god, indeed, but a stern goddess – Necessity – has allotted the task of telling what they suffer and what things give them happiness. These are the victims of nervous illness, who are obliged to tell their phantasies, among other things, to the doctor by whom they expect to be cured by mental treatment. This is our best source of knowledge, and we have since found good reason to suppose that our patients tell us nothing that we might not also hear from healthy people. Let us now make ourselves acquainted with a few of the characteristics of phantasying.We may lay it down that a happy person never phantasies, only an unsatisfied one. The motive forces of phantasies are unsatisfied wishes, and every single phantasy is the fulfilment of a wish, a correction of unsatisfying reality. These motivating wishes vary according to the sex, character and circumstances of the person who is having the phantasy; but they fall naturally into two main groups. They are either ambitious wishes, which serve to elevate the subject’s personality; or they are erotic ones. In young women the erotic wishes predominate almost exclusively, for the ir ambition is as a rule absorbed by erotic trends.In young men egoistic and ambitious wishes come to the fore clearly enough alongside of erotic ones. But we will not lay stress on the opposition between the two trends; we would rather emphasize the fact that they are often united. Just as, in many altar- pieces, the portrait of the donor is to be seen in a corner of the picture, so, in the majority of ambitious phantasies, we can discover in some corner or other the lady for whom the creator of the phantasy performs all his heroic deeds and at whose feet all his triumphs are laid.Here, as you see, there are strong enough motives for concealment; the well-brought-up young woman is only allowed a minimum of erotic desire, and the young man has to learn to suppress the excess of self-regard which he brings with him from the spoilt days of his childhood, so that he may find his place in a society which is full of other individuals making equally strong demands. We must not suppose tha t the products of this imaginative activity – the various phantasies, castles in the air and day-dreams – are stereotyped or unalterable.On the contrary, they fit themselves in to the subject’s shifting impressions of life, change with every change in his situation, and receive from every fresh active impression what might be called a ‘date-mark’. The relation of a phantasy to time is in general very important. We may say that it hovers, as it were, between three times – the three moments of time which our ideation involves. Mental work is linked to some current impression, some provoking occasion in the present which has been able to arouse one of the subject’s major wishes.From there it harks back to a memory of an earlier experience (usually an infantile one) in which this wish was fulfilled; and it now creates a situation relating to the future which represents a fulfilment of the wish. What it thus creates is a day-dream or phanta sy, which carries about it traces of its origin from the occasion which provoked it and from the memory. Thus past, present and future are strung together, as it were, on the thread of the wish that runs through them. A very ordinary example may serve to make what I have said clear.Let us take the case of a poor orphan boy to whom you have given the address of some employer where he may perhaps find a job. On his way there he may indulge in a day-dream appropriate to the situation from which it arises. The content of his phantasy will perhaps be something like this. He is given a job, finds favour with his new employer, makes himself indispensable in the business, is taken into his employer’s family, marries the charming young daughter of the house, and then himself becomes a director of the business, first as his employer’s partner and then as his successor.In this phantasy, the dreamer has regained what he possessed in his happy childhood – the protecting hous e, the loving parents and the first objects of his affectionate feelings. You will see from this example the way in which the wish makes use of an occasion in the present to construct, on the pattern of the past, a picture of the future. There is a great deal more that could be said about phantasies; but I will only allude as briefly as possible to certain points.If phantasies become over-luxuriant and over-powerful, the conditions are laid for an onset of neurosis or psychosis. Phantasies, moreover, are the immediate mental precursors of the distressing symptoms complained of by our patients. Here a broad by-path branches off into pathology. I cannot pass over the relation of phantasies to dreams. Our dreams at night are nothing else than phantasies like these, as we can demonstrate from the interpretation of dreams.? Language, in its unrivalled wisdom, long ago decided the question of the essential nature of dreams by giving the name of ‘day-dreams’ to the airy creati ons of phantasy. If the meaning of our dreams usually remains obscure to us in spite of this pointer, it is because of the circumstance that at night there also arise in us wishes of which we are ashamed; these we must conceal from ourselves, and they have consequently been repressed, pushed into the unconscious.Repressed wishes of this sort and their derivatives are only allowed to come to expression in a very distorted form. When scientific work had succeeded in elucidating this factor of dream-distortion, it was no longer difficult to recognize that night-dreams are wish-fulfilments in just the same way as day-dreams – the phantasies which we all know so well. ? Cf. Freud, The Interpretation of Dreams (1900a).So much for phantasies. And now for the creative writer. May we really attempt to compare the imaginative writer with the ‘dreamer in broad daylight’, and his creations with day-dreams? Here we must begin by making an initial distinction. We must separate writers who, like the ancient authors of epics and tragedies, take over their material ready-made, from writers who seem to originate their own material.We will keep to the latter kind, and, for the purposes of our comparison, we will choose not the writers most highly esteemed by the critics, but the less pretentious authors of novels, romances and short stories, who nevertheless have the widest and most eager circle of readers of both sexes. One feature above all cannot fail to strike us about the creations of these story-writers: each of them has a hero who is the centre of interest, for whom the writer tries to win our sympathy by every possible means and whom he seems to place under the protection of a special Providence.If, at the end of one chapter of my story, I leave the hero unconscious and bleeding from severe wounds, I am sure to find him at the beginning of the next being carefully nursed and on the way to recovery; and if the first volume closes with the ship he is in going down in a storm at sea, I am certain, at the opening of the second volume, to read of his miraculous rescue – a rescue without which the story could not proceed.The feeling of security with which I follow the hero through his perilous adventures is the same as the feeling with which a hero in real life throws himself into the water to save a drowning man or exposes himself to the enemy’s fire in order to storm a battery. It is the true heroic feeling, which one of our best writers has expressed in an inimitable phrase: ‘Nothing can happen to me! ’ It seems to me, however, that through this revealing characteristic of invulnerability we can immediately recognize His Majesty the Ego, the hero alike of every day-dream and of every story.Other typical features of these egocentric stories point to the same kinship. The fact that all the women in the novel invariably fall in love with the hero can hardly be looked on as a portrayal of reality, but it is e asily understood as a necessary constituent of a day-dream. The same is true of the fact that the other characters in the story are sharply divided into good and bad, in defiance of the variety of human characters that are to be observed in real life.The ‘good’ ones are the helpers, while the ‘bad’ ones are the enemies and rivals, of the ego which has become the hero of the story. We are perfectly aware that very many imaginative writings are far removed from the model of the naive day-dream; and yet I cannot suppress the suspicion that even the most extreme deviations from that model could be linked with it through an uninterrupted series of transitional cases. It has struck me that in many of what are known as ‘psychological’ novels only one person – once again the hero – is described from within.The author sits inside his mind, as it were, and looks at the other characters from outside. The psychological novel in general no dou bt owes its special nature to the inclination of the modern writer to split up his ego, by self- observation, into many part-egos, and, in consequence, to personify the conflicting currents of his own mental life in several heroes. Certain novels, which might be described as ‘eccentric’, seem to stand in quite special contrast to the type of the day-dream.In these, the person who is introduced as the hero plays only a very small active part; he sees the actions and sufferings of other people pass before him like a spectator. Many of Zola’s later works belong to this category. But I must point out that the psychological analysis of individuals who are not creative writers, and who diverge in some respects from the so-called norm, has shown us analogous variations of the day-dream, in which the ego contents itself with the role of spectator.If our comparison of the imaginative writer with the day-dreamer, and of poetical creation with the day-dream, is to be of any value, it must, above all, show itself in some way or other fruitful. Let us, for instance, try to apply to these authors’ works the thesis we laid down earlier concerning the relation between phantasy and the three periods of time and the wish which runs through them; and, with its help, let us try to study the connections that exist between the life of the writer and his works.No one has known, as a rule, what expectations to frame in approaching this problem; and often the connection has been thought of in much too simple terms. In the light of the insight we have gained from phantasies, we ought to expect the following state of affairs. A strong experience in the present awakens in the creative writer a memory of an earlier experience (usually belonging to his childhood) from which there now proceeds a wish which finds its fulfilment in the creative work.The work itself exhibits elements of the recent provoking occasion as well as of the old memory. Do not be alarmed at the complexity of this formula. I suspect that in fact it will prove to be too exiguous a pattern. Nevertheless, it may contain a first approach to the true state of affairs; and, from some experiments I have made, I am inclined to think that this way of looking at creative writings may turn out not unfruitful.You will not forget that the  stress it lays on childhood memories in the writer’s life – a stress which may perhaps seem puzzling – is ultimately derived from the assumption that a piece of creative writing, like a day-dream, is a continuation of, and a substitute for, what was once the play of childhood. We must not neglect, however, to go back to the kind of imaginative works which we have to recognize, not as original creations, but as the re-fashioning of ready- made and familiar material.Even here, the writer keeps a certain amount of independence, which can express itself in the choice of material and in changes in it which are often quite extensi ve. In so far as the material is already at hand, however, it is derived from the popular treasure-house of myths, legends and fairy tales. The study of constructions of folk-psychology such as these is far from being complete, but it is extremely probable that myths, for instance, are distorted vestiges of the wishful phantasies of whole nations, the secular dreams of youthful humanity.You will say that, although I have put the creative writer first in the title of my paper, I have told you far less about him than about phantasies. I am aware of that, and I must try to excuse it by pointing to the present state of our knowledge. All I have been able to do is to throw out some encouragements and suggestions which, starting from the study of phantasies, lead on to the problem of the writer’s choice of his literary material.As for the other problem – by what means the creative writer achieves the emotional effects in us that are aroused by his creations – we have as yet not touched on it at all. But I should like at least to point out to you the path that leads from our discussion of phantasies to the problems of poetical effects. You will remember how I have said that the day-dreamer carefully conceals his phantasies from other people because he feels he has reasons for being ashamed of them. I should now add that even if he were to communicate them to us he could give us no pleasure by his disclosures.Such phantasies, when we learn them, repel us or at least leave us cold. But when a creative writer presents his plays to us or tells us what we are inclined to take to be his personal day dreams, we experience a great pleasure, and one which probably arises from the confluence of many sources. How the writer accomplishes this is his innermost secret; the essential ars poetica lies in the technique of overcoming the feeling of repulsion in us which is undoubtedly connected with the barriers that rise  between each single ego and the others. We can guess two of the methods used by this technique. The writer softens the character of his egoistic day-dreams by altering and disguising it, and he bribes us by the purely formal – that is, aesthetic – yield of pleasure which he offers us in the presentation of his phantasies. We give the name of an incentive bonus, or a fore-pleasure, to a yield of pleasure such as this, which is offered to us so as to make possible the release of still greater pleasure arising from deeper psychical sources.In my opinion, all the aesthetic pleasure which a creative writer affords us has the character of a fore-pleasure of this kind, and our actual enjoyment of an imaginative work proceeds from a liberation of tensions in our minds. It may even be that not a little of this effect is due to the writer’s enabling us thenceforward to enjoy our own day-dreams without self-reproach or shame. This brings us to the threshold of new, interesting and complicated enquiries; but also , at least for the moment, to the end of our discussion.

Pro Gay Marriage Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Pro Gay Marriage - Research Paper Example Recognition of gay marriage will pave the way to truly equal and accepting society where all people share the same freedoms and get the opportunity to love, be loved and create a family regardless of their sexual orientation. All arguments against gay marriage are ideological in their nature and they can be easily disapproved. According to Kellard, gay marriage does not threaten the institution of tradition marriage because not all traditional marriages are based on love. Many couples decide to marry in order to get money, social benefits or the access to healthcare. The rate of divorces in the USA tends to climb high and, obviously, it is not an indicator of a solid traditional marriage. Despite common beliefs that gay marriages are harmful for children, they serve as a better alternative to families where children have only one loving parent. Conservative religious beliefs does not apply to those who do not share them so it is not fare to take away freedom of love and religion from those who are granted to have it constitutionally (Kellard). Overall, there is no reason to think about gay marriage is something harmful and threatening; it is just a union of people who want to live together as a family. Objections to same-sex marriages are usually expressed by extremely conservative people who reinterpret information and even lie in order to present the issue in negative light and persuade Americans that they will ruin everything by supporting gay marriage. For instance, Dana Loesch, who is a well-recognized columnist, often writes about lawsuits filed by gay couples against certain organization in different states. In her articles gay couples sue with people who deny taking photos of their wedding, baking a wedding cake or renting a pavilion for their marriage (cited in Lampo). However, according to Lampo, all these cases have nothing to

Therapeutic Recreation Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Therapeutic Recreation Paper - Essay Example Statements like â€Å"I was treated like an object or my needs were not addressed with care† have become an agonizing music to my ears, wishing that something be done about all this. It is my belief that medical care and most importantly therapeutic recreation should embrace care giving in the service they give in order to live a more positive impact. The perception and view that patients or clients are ‘diagnostic label hung on an illness’ as Okeefe puts it, rather than an individual in need of recovering, growing and developing to me is intolerable. This perception is that many doctors and other professionals in the health care industry treat clients as objects; this leads to a casual relationship between clients and healthcare facilities leaving the clients unsatisfied. It is this notion that the financial, profits and research objectives are prioritized over care giving. This for instance has led to the development of mistrust between patients and health care providers as the former continues to experience personal biases and mistreatment in the services he or she is receiving. Personally, I have had quite a share of unpleasant experiences where I have been objectified in the past by being taken from one hospital room to the next, being treated impolitely and not being given considerations to what my needs are among others. Therefore, the trends that emanate form this article by O’keefe are appealing deductions and suggestions about care giving and therapeutic recreation. For the reason that therapeutic is a sub field in the medical field, recent trends have indicated that the field is continually drifting from its initial premises that it had to medical fundamentals and basis. This has deprived therapeutic recreation that is meant to help people having problems coping with the environment, themselves and others of the care they deserve. The article by O’Keefe has helped me learn that the field of therapeutic recreation is not what used to be and, for this reason, it should be changed back to what it was and even better. For this to happen, proper leadership devoid of personal interests and promotion is necessary to steer this field back to the right direction by formulating proper polices and regulations. Another trend that is presented in the article by O’Keefe and that I notice and identify with is the central idea of care giving. Care is stressed throughout the article and leaves the impression and emphasis of the author about the subject. As I have mention briefly above, the idea that care should be central in the leadership and provision of therapeutic recreation. Health care providers should exercise care when providing their services because it leads to a positive development of the client and the relationship involved. Be it in terms of assessing, evaluating, or administering treatment, it is essential to exercise care and concern to patients in order to improve the situations they are for the better. There are a few things that I have learned in the course of reading the article by O’Keefe. First, I have learnt more on the different types of care that should be included in therapeutic recreation leadership and practice. In addition, the care has been divided into four phases that I conclude will be of significant

Campbell soup Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Campbell soup - Essay Example From this period, Campbell diversified its products and posted billion dollars sale but small profits. The most important development, however, was due to its borrowings from investors, the company gradually became subject to the decision and pressures of stockholders. The most important of which include the managements protracted legal battles with investors. This dimension to Campbell’s existence has resulted to the adoption of management teams that were desperate to improve Campbell’s positive net margins because it affects the stock price. This the reason why it has pulled all the stops in order to generate the positive earnings that Wall Street demands to the point that illegitimate policies were adopted. Cases in point were the improper accounting, trade loading, among other policies. 1. Identify legitimate business practices that corporate executives can use for the primary purpose of manipulating or â€Å"managing† their company’s reported operating results. Are such practices ethical? Defend your answer. Examples of legitimate business practices that corporate executives can use in order to manipulate their organization’s operating results include: trade loading or the use of excessive price concessions in order for consumers to buy more products thereby propping up the reported revenues or profits for a specific period; and, converting given period-ending discounts as selling, general and administrative expenses instead of treating them as reductions of gross revenues. Another legitimate gimmick that organizations could legitimately use to smooth out its earnings and manipulate its operation reports is by putting excessive reserves on its balance sheet (i.e. for bad debts or defective merchandise) in one quarter, in effect, lowering earnings below what they otherwise would have been, and then reversing the process in another quarter, which would result to the conversion of some of the excess reserves into profit

Interplanetary Logistics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Interplanetary Logistics - Essay Example The reality is that human interaction with space was once consider a fantasy that was not remotely possibly, yet we are now perhaps only a few generations from being able to make that fantasy become reality (Bainbridge 2009). Space is largely seen as a mechanism by which we can increase our existing supply train. As such, the process by which modern civilisation conducts sustainable space exploration in the future will depend directly on an innate ability to effectively manage the supply chain, leading to a discussion centring on interplanetary logistics. The process by which this is undertaken today takes on a drastically different shape than it did during the original Apollo moon missions. During those early attempts at space exploration, required materials and tools were simply carried along for the wide. Future space exploration, however will depend on a complex network focused on the supply chain that enables sustainable colonisation based upon resources being available to people in real time, as they are needed, rather than simply relying on this on a mission by mission basis. This process will soon begin a new with scheduled missions to the moon beginning in the year 2020. The moon will literally become in a stepping off point for exploration deeper into space, and the vision is to have it become a supply command post where supplies and other associated items in terms of logistics are planned for in advance and are available as needed. No longer will astronauts be forced to rely only on what they can carry, but the objective is to have a system of logistics in place where needs are not only anticipated, but provided for in advance in order to keep the work going. This is a critical concept in terms of interplanetary travel due to the reality that lost or misplaced items can literally take months to replace, costing the crew valuable time to conduct experiments and get

Broadcasting Culture in the U.K Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 10000 words

Broadcasting Culture in the U.K - Dissertation Example (2) suggest, closely related to wider controversies revolving around race, class and sexuality. The methodology of this study will be that of a careful examination of what the movie audience actually sees and further, how these images/sounds influence their changing interpretation of gender roles within the film. Thus an analysis somewhat similar to the close-analysis of literary theory will occur in which what Bert States calls "the thing itself" (the film) will be considered together with its catalyzing effect upon the thoughts of the audience (States, 1). Due to the fact that this close analysis will involve a fairly detailed examination of the movies, two representative movies will be chosen for each of the decades concerned: Tarantula and Psycho from the 1950's and Fight Club and Thelma and Louise from the 1990's. While other movies will be mentioned, a discussion of just four examples in detail might seem a decidedly flimsy framework on which to hang an analysis of gender roles in film, but the depth of analysis possible by choosing just a few examples enables a firm foundation for the ideas to be laid. If an analysis descends too much into generalities it is liable to become just that, generic; films are best examined as the viscerally simple and yet overwhelmingly complex "things" that they are. A skimming over multiple films does not enable this. CHAPTER 1 1. High Heels in the Lab: A Close Look at the Portrait of Femininity in the 1950's Classic Tarantula It is possible to watch the apparently generic 1950's "monster movie" Tarantula without discerning the message that is almost subliminally contained with it that a woman can pursue a career... This dissertation reveals that different constructions of the â€Å"masculine† and the â€Å"feminine† have occurred since the beginning of Western dramatic literature in Ancient Greece, and have been continued within that most modern of art forms: film. The camera is traditionally seen as â€Å"male†, and it has a â€Å"gaze† that supposedly dwells upon the outer features of the female body while ignoring the complex human being beneath. The opposite is meant to be true of the man, who enjoys the position of having his intellect admired and his body ignored. When the camera looks at this body and the actions of the human beings within them in a problematic and more ambiguous manner, as has been shown in the four films discussed here, a more complex interpretation of human gender roles is possible. Thus Steve in Tarantula is a sexy, voluptuous woman and also a potentially brilliant scientist. The heroine of Psycho is equally feminine but takes on the â€Å"masculine†, active role of the thief trying to abscond with the money. Norman Bates controls his own world, and in fact literally â€Å"gazes† at his future victim through a peep-hole, but reveals surprisingly feminine features and neuroses. Indeed, the role of â€Å"Mother† that he takes on to murder people might be seen as the spectacularly unsuccessful attempt to subsume this feminine side. These two films, the representative of the 1950’s, were written at a time when gender roles were fairly rigidly enforced, although the stirrings of the massive changes that would occur during the 1960’s were starting to occur.

Communication Subject --RESEARCH PAPER Research

Communication Subject -- - Research Paper Example Parents have been pointed out to be substantial advocates of their own children and more so students. In many cases, they are termed as informal consultants when their children are making career choices and academic conclusions. According to Bhakar, & Seema, (2009), children who were born after 1982 want to be close to their parents to feel protected. Diane, (2010) also pointed out that since the introduction of electric devices, 48% talk with their parents daily. Frequent communication between parents and students contributes largely in maintaining a good relationship between the two. This is because the student feels free open their problems to the elders. This too helps parents in understanding their children better and know what they need from time to time. Not all parents have access to social network. Thus, this can be a slow or poor form of communication as compared to phone calls and text messages. Students who communicate with their parents via phone tend to get feedback faster than those using social media. Student’s performance is highly determined by how much the parent’s concern is. Through frequent communication, parents can learn their children’s weaknesses and rectify them immediately. In addition, parents can nurture good values of respect, honor, cooperation and responsibility, which in turn help in good academic performance. In efforts to nurture and back up student’s effective and social growth as well as academic advancement, parents have been encouraged to build a communication system with the teachers, which will in turn help them in monitoring their student’s progress. Communication with the student will also help you to know what kind of support your child needs if financial or emotional support the earlier you solve their problems the highly they will feel motivated to perform better. Students love and honor their parents very much and are never ready

Organizational Case Study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Organizational Case Study - Essay Example Multiple tiers of research, analysis, theories, hypotheses, and conclusions will be drawn apply the necessary programs as well as the human and other resources to successful serve all areas -- senior level managers/executives and the board of directors, full time employees, professional and paraprofessional staff, as well as the clients from the urban community -- of the organization. In a professional bureaucracy such as the Continuing Education Department, the administrator must be disseminate the department piece by piece, work group by work group, market segment by market segment to properly determine roles and responsibilities as well as levels of accountability. "Its operating core is large relative to its other structural parts - particularly the technostructure. Few managerial levels exist between the strategic apex creating a flat and decentralized profile. Control relies heavily on professional training and indoctrination." (Bolman & Deal, 2003, pp. 65-66) This approach will provide a grid and foundation for future forecast and the building of paradigms and theories to manage and develop programs in response to the needs of employees and affiliates as well as market (s) and community needs. Further segmentation, research and analyses provides greater understanding of the customers needs, trends and opportunities for innovations to serve both the communi ty outreach efforts and the staff development activities. The identification, research and analyses should provide the material to determine best practices, development of the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analyses, due diligence, competition within and without the immediate market community as well as trends in the distance and continuing education industries collectively. The development of other approaches will provide the basis for understanding decline in enrollment over the last two (2) years for both the staff development and community outreach programs. It is necessary to thoroughly understand the organizational chart, gaps strategy, reevaluation of corporate missions, the identification and qualification of redundant and/or overlapping responsibilities and programs, as well as streamlining departments, funds for the programs from both the strategic and operations levels to appropriately identify, define, qualify, design, redesign, develop and imple ment effective and efficient solutions and methodologies. Leadership and Strategic Planning Any philosophy developed to properly administer policies and procedures must reflect the organizational proficiencies as well as the community's needs, as this will allow both the internal and external environment to grow synergistically and symbiotically. The objectives must be apparent in the organization's long and short term goals and be a model to develop other programs as well as a foundation on which the organization can grow in response to the community's needs. In order to approach or create methodologies that address the organizational needs, careful assessment must be made to understand corporate mission and Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunity and Threats (SWOT). These are areas which provide focus and bench marks in checking and reviewing environmental feasibility issues.

MRSA Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

MRSA - Research Paper Example MRSA is a nuisance in hospital for the patients with open wounds or on invasive devices and bothersome for immunocompromised patients. The study reports MRSA to be the major cause of illness and mortality in the hospitalized patients and thereby enhances the burden of hospitalization cost. The research reports the mortality associated with MRSA between 1999- 2005. However, the article does not report the variation of cases in different hospitals to highlight the need of intervention required in a particular hospital to rule out the cause and take steps to eradicate MRSA as done in the study carried out by Hardy et al, (2007). The article considered evidence based research to highlight allocated resources to deal with MRSA and emphasize on the decision of policy makers to adopt control measures, but the article does not state the control measures to be adopted in different hospital settings to check spread of nosocomial spread of MRSA. On the other hand the study carried out by Hardy et al, (2007) specify the microbiological identification of patients followed by the isolation of such cases to prevent cross-infection together with application of mupirocin and skin disinfectant in order to remove the chances of any carriage. The article emphasize on thorough screening and isolation. According to Hardy et al, (2007), the interventions to control MRSA infection are poorly designed and including nurse cohort in bays. The screening method that is suggested by Hardy et al, (2007) directly implicate the molecular methods for detection of MRSA such as multiplexed PCR primers to detect the presence of gene (mecA). Methodology The methodology adopted was based on estimated incidence, i.e. the number of hospitalized cases with S. aureus-related discharge. The Surveillance Network (TSN) Database- is an electronic repository of susceptibility test is utilized to test the drug resistance patterns. However, the study highlights NHDS report on the mortality of the patient but t he reason of mortality was not specified. The report estimated only those mortality cases which were involved with MRSA. On the contrary, study carried out by Hardy et al, (2007) was systematically planned involving socio-economic, ethnic as well as age characteristics. It involved seven surgical wards encompassing general surgery, vascular, thoracic, ENT, trauma and orthopedic as well as urology. The study also had inclusion and exclusion criteria of the cases in contrast to the study carried out by Klein et al, (2007) which does not have any exclusion criterion nor does the study involved sampling procedure. On the other hand, study carried out by Hardy et al, (2007) involved nasal samples as they can be procured easily and have 84% sensitivity. The results procured were immediately conveyed to the staff of the concerned departments to have laboratory protocol and for patient information and communication. All these actions such as data collection, data analysis, sample size, econ omic analysis, modelling were swiftly performed to control the infection. All these methods were lacking in the study carried out by Klein et al, (2007). Discussion According to Klein et al, (2007), antimicrobial drug-resistant illnesses inflict larger costs as compared to the susceptible infections caused for instance infection caused by Staphylococcus

Pepsi Co Essay Example for Free

Pepsi Co Essay Pepsi Co is one of the largest Multi-national enterprises in US having operations in different countries of the world. It basically deals in beverages and soft drinks and offers different brands such as Pepsi, Tropicana, and Gatorode etc. The sheer success of its brands depicts that it is one of the most successful organizations in US which is operating at The International level. Pepsi receives its revenue in US dollars from all its licensed bottlers working across the world. However, it pays to its suppliers and employees in the local currency where it operates. Due to this factor, its cost structure is affected as the volatile movements in currency can really produce a volatile movement in its cost of sales. This factor also creates more sever impact when some of the countries where Pepsi Co works do not allow forward booking of US dollars. Therefore, Pepsi Co may not be able to hedge itself against the currency volatility. (G. I. , 2003) There are countries where Pepsi Co makes and receives payments in US dollars. However, since its foreign affiliates have to purchase the US dollar from the local market to pay to it therefore, the impact may be more volatile specially if the local currency appreciates against the US Dollar. If local currency appreciates against US Dollar, the revenues of the company will go down because local affiliates would not buy fewer US Dollars because of appreciation. This will also affect the profitability of the company because Pepsi Co would now have to remit the higher amount of US Dollars to pay to its suppliers in the local market. Therefore, its overall expense would increase. Therefore, the whole profitability would come down as a result of this. (Tallman, 2007). Bibliography 1. G. I. , Z. (2003). MNEs, globalisation and digital economy: legal and economic aspects. Managerial Law, , 45 (1), pp. 1-296. 2. Tallman, S. B. (2007). A New Generation in International Strategic Management. New York: Edward Elgar Publishing,.

Guidelines on Human Resource Management Policies

Guidelines on Human Resource Management Policies SRTATEGIC HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT HR professionals, help people in an organizations management. They identify the best candidates and employers to fill open positions is an employees right to work, to make sure that. HR professionals to apply for workers compensation, workplace safety, benefits and value through the development of programs related to employee relations employees are working to keep. Recruitment and selection Recruitment of specialists working to fill open positions within the organization. Must comply with the internal rules of engagement and compliance with all laws and regulations that deal with discrimination in the recruitment process. These companies can staff post ads for jobs, CV-screen candidates to interview and recommendations from recruiters. Examples of work in connection with this feature is a recruiter, recruiting specialized staff and manager. Compensation and Benefits Compensation and Benefits professional staff to ensure that their jobs will be right back. Its like they have health insurance, medical and vision insurance, life insurance and short-term disability coverage for employees who work to provide such benefits. In the field of industry, labor and wage data analytics professionals to conduct research, prepare and distribute reports for staff compensation and benefit packages may have trouble negotiating with external suppliers. Wages, benefits consultants, compensation and benefits management, reward management and staff researchers working in the area of à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¹Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¹compensation and benefits, there are some in the industry. Health and safety A master of the health and safety of their employees with vested interest in work-related injury, a considerable amount of money every year is the price. Professional health and safety protection programs, the implementation of health policy and security, and to work with state and federal safety regulations to ensure compliance with development work and to prevent occupational diseases and accidents. In this area of work security director, security supervisor, member wellness package planner and executive of member wellness. Labour and Employee Relations Labour relations between the employer and its employees. Works in the field of industrial relations, between the manager and the worker will be able to negotiate a deal. Solve problems related to employee performance, employee relations worker. They maintain a positive employer-employee relationship and a mental collapse and reduced production stops. Available in the field of employee relations and human resources and employee relations representative vacant labour relations consultants, industry relations, managers, labor relations director, manager, employee relations, including consultants,. Training Training and development professionals assess the training needs of the organization, the training of staff and evaluation of the results of the session ended. If these professionals can make plans for a new orientation and employee training programs for knowledgeable workers. Preparation experts also make sure that personnel comprehensive exercise as vital by the safety and health Administration, or OSHA frequency and other organizations. Work in the field’s necessary training, coaching and development manager, instructional designers, e-learning specialist, director of learning and development, learning and professional development and training and development manager. Risk Management Business risk management is a technique used to transfer the risk to the organization. In human resources, risk management is analysing each region and identify potentially harmful. For example, professional risk management practices employment agency looking to find out if there are potentially discriminatory and may lead to a lawsuit. The risk during this process is the possibility of abuse, loss of property, injury and damage to the company. Our work in this area is extremely dangerous and risk management manager. Managers and Directors Human resource managers and directors of human resources to manage the work of other experts. Managers can act as a bridge between employees and management, the companys growth strategy will make recommendations for the new hiring and compensation policies. HR Director as information of all characteristics of HR management. Meet these goals and support staff to carry out the goals of the department directors. The human resource director to resolve a controversial or sensitive issues, conflict resolution and mediation skills needed to improve. ANSWER 3.2 REQUIREMENT FOR DEVELOPMENT OF HUMAN RESOURCE POLICIES Guidelines on the development of HR Policies 1. Introduction It is clear that the development of human resources and evaluation of policies, guidelines and try to clearly delineate the characters and accountabilities of those convoluted in the work process of communication. The role of the leader of the five stages of organizational development of a suitable work area, according to the principles described in the study and development of the human resources division synchronized with the field. 2. Design and Development 2.1Stage 1 Identification Over the years, people departmental resources in Human Resources Committee updated on the development and implementation of related design. Division in the development, he called me, and improve and make progress, people will be given. School officials, teachers, and safety of the environment in the data, and the organization down. 2.2 Stage 2 Scoping Community Resources community will begin the process of demarcation of skin conditions and direct strategies to ensure that the policy is in accordance with the instructions of the branch instructions. Management team to identify people who will lead in determining the course of development, equality and diversity policies and services. Team management will be identified and involved in the regulation expires. Each will lead to facilitate focus groups, which will be held on the advice of its human resources and management, management of school / school is responsible for managing the program, and the Director of the loans, using / use policy. Focus groups can be represented by the President and others as may be required with the help of information technology. Accruals usually takes up to 4 weeks. 2.3 Stage 3 Drafting Focus groups and the development of the first draft of the policy to be considered in the context of retaining executives. At this point, research focus groups in the working groups for each of the representatives to formulate policy. Policy development activities that can be done by staff in the field, a series of meetings with the possibility, either. Although the development of policies in all discussions / documents will be treated confidentially. Ensure that the design of policy and action plan for the implementation of the policy, adequate capacity and the device can be managed by a group of human resource management is presented. Consultation usually lasts up to 4 weeks. 2.4 Stage 4 Consultation In the design of the scope of the plan that I have to be sent to the ministry of the heads of the University of the Department / Director, the Unions to consult with their own members and, where appropriate, to drink in he chooses; more extensively and in the design of lorem University. Its a life he wishes to and promotions where appropriate, in like manner shall they be judged by the legal obligations was also instructed that Antiochus and the University will be used to provide consulted. All the feedback will be collected, and peruolutandi in the design is going to be necessary to be done, for example. Consultation relating to the maximum six weeks. 2.5 Stage 5 Approval Approval of the Executive Board must be some areas. Final draft was approved by the Human Resources Committee and under the formal nature of the universe explained that no amount of advice from the staff of the company. 3. Implementation 3.1 Plan will have three stages. As suitable the Human Resources Division will graft with the Welsh Language Services to confirm the Welsh translation of all applicable certification in line with the University’s Welsh Language Scheme. 3.2 Subsequent support by the Academy the new policy will be dispersed to all Heads of School and Trade Unions for their evidence, the strategy decide be located on the website and a sign located on the University notice board recommending control of the new procedure and other acknowledged statement procedures proper to the Policy. 3.3 A sequences of updating factories will be applied to connect the strategy. The Human Resources Partition will work with Schools/Directorates to recognise any improvement essentials in virtual to the new policy and will develop an appropriate development programme for staff involved. 4. Monitoring 4.1 Monitoring procedures, with Equality and Diversity Impact assessments, for strategies will be recognised and practical where appropriate; this will be contingent on the specific need of the policy. 4.2 These guidelines will be rehabilitated and assessed yearly to safeguard their efficiency. REFERENCE http://work.chron.com/types-human-resources-management-jobs-14618.html http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/humrs/staffinfo/policyprocedures/guidelinesonthedevelopmenthrpolicies.html

The Macroeconomic Concept Of The Multiplier Economics Essay

The Macroeconomic Concept Of The Multiplier Economics Essay Currently, Chinas economic is growing rapidly. Living standard of the people has improved and urban rural income has substantially improved. The balance of the household shaving is increasing year by year and china has maintained a high saving rate. The marginal propensity of consume trend to drop, which is extremely unfavorable for the future development of the country economy and it will directly affect the growth rate of GDP. So, all this will become fetters in the process of the development of the economic. In this paper, I will evaluate the extent to which a thorough understanding of the macroeconomic concept of the multiplier would help government to manage their own macro economy. Macroeconomic Macroeconomists study aggregated indicators such as GDP, unemployment rates, and price indices to understand how the whole economy functions. (Burda Wyplose,2005) Macroeconomists develop models that explain the relationship between factors such as national income, output, consumption, unemployment, inflation, savings, investment, international trade and international finance. In contrast, microeconomics is primarily focused on the actions of individual agents, such as firms and consumers, and how their behavior determines prices and quantities in specific markets. (Sloman, 2006) While macroeconomics is a broad field of study, there are two areas of research that are emblematic of the discipline: the attempt to understand the causes and consequences of short-run fluctuations (Griffiths Wall, 2008) in national income (the business cycle), and the attempt to understand the determinants of long-run economic growth (increases in national income). 3. Macroeconomic Multiplier theory Macro-economic multiplier theory is based on marginal propensity to consume by the British economist J.M. Keynes, which explains the relationship of multiples theory between investment and income. The Keynesian multiplier theory is an extension of the field in the international balance of payments, in terms of constant exchange rates and price. It analyzes that income adjustment play a role in the international balance of payments. Its basic content is that investment change brings the impact to the total national income greater than the investment itself, such as a change is often a multiple of the investment changes. (Sloman Wride, 2006). As economic sectors are interrelated, so an investment in a particular sector will not only increase the income of this sector, but also cause a chain reaction in the various sectors in the national economy, thereby increasing investment and income of other sectors, increase of multiplier the national income exponentially. In fact, the multiplier formula simply gives the multiplier as the inverse of the marginal propensity to withdraw (mpw): K=1/mpw. (Sloman, 2006:464). (Show below figure1-3) Figure 1: The multiplier: a shift in injections (Source: Sloman Wride 2006:488) Multiplier  ¼Ã‚  à ¢- ³Y/à ¢- ³J  ¼Ã‚ Ãƒ ¢- ³Y/à ¢- ³W  ¼Ã‚  (c ¼Ã‚ a)/(b ¼Ã‚ c) Figure 2: The multiplier: a shift in withdrawals (Source: Sloman Wride 2006:488) Multiplier  ¼Ã‚ Ãƒ ¢- ³Y/à ¢- ³W  ¼Ã‚  (c ¼Ã‚ a)/(a ¼Ã‚ b) Figure 3: The multiplier: a shift in the expenditure function (Source: Sloman Wride 2006:489) Multiplier  ¼Ã‚  à ¢- ³Y/à ¢- ³J  ¼Ã‚  (c ¼Ã‚ a)/(b ¼Ã‚ a) 4. The current macroeconomic situation in China Presently, China is facing the most severe situation since the Asian financial crisis, which is the most difficult time of the economic development since the new century. In terms of the entitative economy, China is the one of the country in this round of financial crisis which is affected hardly. The industrial sector, energy and raw material sectors and the real estate sector have large impact in this financial crisis.  ¼Ã‹â€ China country review, 2008 ¼Ã¢â‚¬ °. From the fourth season in 2008, Chinas economic development problems start to show their impact as a result Industrial production and exports are declined, unemployment increased. From judgments of the countrys economic situation, the Government fully recognized the seriousness of the economy and from the macroeconomics of the multiplier made the measures to following: 4.1. Augment the multiplier to achieve increase in national income In the short term, we can be augmenting the multiplier to achieve increase in national income i.e. raise the marginal propensity to consume and reduce the marginal propensity to save. At present, Chinas savings continue to increase and reached about 15 trillion Yuan, so there is a large potential of consumption. In this situation, the government application of the macroeconomics of the multiplier stimulates consumption. (Wilkinson, 2005:477) .Such as: Reduce the bank deposit interest rates and the collection of interest on income tax; energetically develop tourism, improving holiday economy; improve the minimum subsistence level, increase laid-off workers and retirees personnel subsidies; Appropriately reduce tax on consumption of the general goods, at the same time assess high tax on consumption goods of special. For example, economic crisis havent just affected the issue of workers to return home, but also opportunities of employment. Survey show that from 2002 to 2007, there was an average increase of 5.6% in the migrant workers in the first half, but last year the amount of this growth was only 1.6%, about 4 % poorer than usual.(China Develop Institute 2008) By using multiplier theory, if you make a simple projection, (Wilkinson, 2005:144). i.e. 4 percentages is equivalent to 5.4 million people, these people should be roughly equivalent to the group of migrant workers who should have working out but lost the opportunities in the economic crisis situation. If we add the unemployed people to return home early in this year, this group of people (accounting for 15% of migrant workers) are about 25 million migrant workers who lost their jobs or jobs opportunities due to economic crisis. 4.2. Augment investment to achieve increase in the national income In the long term, the marginal propensity to consume in a steady state, then the multiplier is fixed, so we need to increase investment and improve the national income. (Voyles, 2009) In China, the government makes a lot of policy and adjust fiscal policy and monetary policy, adopted a proactive fiscal policy and appropriately loose monetary policy. There are production, consumption, investment, exports in various field, etc. Now, the state has invested 4 trillion Yuan (China Develop Institute, 2009) in railroad this year and next year, which will stimulate domestic demand. By 4 trillion Yuan package of investment programs, the central government invested 540 billion in this year. But there are 160 billion investments in the original budget this year, so after adjusting for new investments in the State this year was only 380 billion. If the multiplier effect is 1:3, then the central government can bring up more than 1 billion investments. Therefore ¼Ã…’Government expending is an important source by way of investment, which play an important role in the direction of investment and optimization the investment structure. 4.3. Export expansion to achieve increase in the national income China is facing unprecedented opportunities and challenges since joined WTO, we must seized the opportunity and integrate with the international economy, improve the structure of export products and increase the proportion of high value-added exports, improve terms of trade, through external trade bring out the rapid development of the national economy to increase national income. In recent years, the contribution of export in Chinese economics growth rate is around 20% (China Develop Institute, 2009), and now we have to compensate the sharp decline in exports by investment and consumption demand. By using multiplier theory, If the export growth rate is measured by the level of 10%, then the investment growth rate reach to 10% and 2 trillion Yuan of domestic investment and demand-pull may be achieved in the same year. In general, to maintain a GDP growth rate of 8%; if exports rate this year is 6%, it is very difficult to reach 8%, if it rely on 2 trillion domestic investment and demand-pull; if the exports this year have zero-growth, it is absolutely impossible if they rely on 2 trillion domestic investment and demand-pull to achieve 8%. 5. Drawbacks of the Multiplier theory 5.1. Ignores the time lags In the Keynesian multiplier theory, investment, consumption, national income etc all of them are liquidity and change over time. The number of the increase can only be compared with the different periods of the same length. The increase in the periods of different length cannot be explained by using this theory. The Multiplier theory ignore the time lags discuss the flow of change that it is meaningless. (Sloman, 2006:475) For example, in last year, Chinas export was increased to 17%, where textile products have negative growth rate. Relatively, mechanical and electrical products had grown with a high growth rate. But now, it has begun to enter in the difficult term. Last year, Chinas export of electromechanical products maintained a positive growth, as order form have a longer period for machinery and electronic products and as a impact of the time lags shrinking foreign order forms were fewer and start to increase on lay-off of the mechanical and electrical products manufacturing. 5.2. Ignore the difference of the capital flows and capital stocks The multiplier can only exist in stock of the flow, such as money, loans, stock and so on. The multiplier can not exist in the capital flows (McAleese 2004:471), such as investment, consumption, demand, income, etc. and it cannot be extended to the flow of money. For example, recently, China Eastern Airlines exposed that the gas has a loss of 6.8 billion Yuan and CITIC Pacific has lost 200 million Yuan. (China Develop Institute, 2009). The amount lost by companies is huge, due to the misleading by Multiplier theory. According to estimate, so far Chinas financial institutions and enterprises has been loss of approximately 2 trillion Yuan in the overseas investment .Therefore, we can not focus only on the production and GDP growth. 6. Conclusion Keyness multiplier theory is an important component of the system macro-economic theory. But multiplier theory has some drawback, as it ignores the distinction between capital flows and capital stock, ignores the factor of the time lags and led to wrong conclusions. In this situation, where saving are high and consumption is less, application of the Keyness multiplier theory manage the country own macroeconomic. Firstly, through improving the social security system and consummate pension, unemployed, market of the medical insurance and the building of housing accumulation fund. Secondly, Growth accelerated from the current investment in China, demand has increased. Implementation of a positive fiscal policy and increased investment is necessary. The government needs to extend the consumption. Finally, In terms of the export tax rebate rate not high, the government can be used promptly refund in full rebate solution to bring part of the cash flow difficult problem for lag of the export tax rebate. In terms of the export credit, the government makes to encourage measures and to expand exports. Meanwhile, the active use of WTO preferential policies for developing countries to expand exports, optimize the export product mix, improved condition of th e trade.

Dances With Wolves Essay -- Movies Native Americans History Papers

Dances With Wolves No matter how you choose to categorize human beings, whether by race or religion, nationality or gender, the resultant categories will display at least one immutable constant. Each group, no matter how diverse their beliefs or how dissimilar their behaviors, will contain men of honest and peaceful natures as well as men of divisive and violent natures. In the film Dances With Wolves, we are exposed to two distinct categories of people inhabiting post civil war America, the white man and the Native American. We, most likely, begin the movie with defined ideas as to which group contains honest, peaceful men and which group contains violent and savage men. We are, however, exposed to behaviors which are in opposition to the accepted stereotypes associated with these groups. As we move through the film we are taken from the comfortable starting point of our existing stereotypes into new territory, both literally and philosophically. The film accomplishes this by allowing us to journey wi th John Dunbar, a man who is as open minded and free of preconceived notions as the originally empty journal on which his new ideas and understandings are written. Through his experiences we are exposed to the sharp contrast between the violent and crude, as well as the peaceful and thoughtful natures of men. With every exposure we are purposefully moved further and further away from what may have been our preconceived notions regarding these groups of people. Through John's eyes we are first exposed to the world of the white man embroiled in the carnage and butchery of the Civil War. The gruesome hospital scene only emphasizes the fact that life in the "civilized" world can be anything but. A brief contrast is made when the... ...bar, separate ourselves from them. The film Dances with Wolves provides us with an opportunity to journey out of a comfortable world which may be founded on hastily established stereotypes, into a world of truth. It begs us to deal with people from a position of knowledge and understanding, rather than one of ignorance clothed in superiority. It shows us enough of our own shortcomings to make us see that we could also be the victims of generalizations made by others based on the behaviors of the few. It presents us with a poignant example of what can be lost when people become what they claim to be fighting. It is a message that is as applicable today as it was in the time of the American West. Works Cited: Costner, Kevin, dir. Dances with Wolves. Perf. Kevin Costner, Mary McDonnell, Graham Greene, and Rodney A. Grant. 1990. Videocassette. Orion, 1991.