Impact of Technology on Small Businesses Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Impact of Technology on Small Businesses - Essay Example In the present paper the impact of technology is critically analyzed to understand whether adopting technology in its various forms is profitable to small businesses or not through qualitative research methodology. Small businesses drive the economy by leading in innovation and very crucial for national economies because of their large contribution in terms of employment and turnover (Burns, 2007). Small Medium Enterprises (SME) according to the Bolton committee is defined as an independent local firm whose ownership and management is vested in the same individuals and market share is small. A firm is termed as SME when it meets two of the three criteria’s namely consisting â€Å"up to 250 employees, up to  £50 million annual turnover and  £43 million annual statement of financial position total† as given by the European Commission of 2003 (Amm, 2011, p.1). Small businesses like large firms, in their operations try to apply latest technologies in order to be competitive, knowledgeable, more efficient and eventually more profitable (Kierman, 1995). However it has been found that technology is also negatively affecting the small businesses by decreasing the personal aspect of the business relationship, surveillance and constant monitoring using technology is decreasing employee morale and productivity significantly and brick and mortar small stores are losing their market share to large companies who use technology extensively (Hanley, 2013) moreover technology brings change that might not be adopted well by employees and is expensive and keeps changing (Keirman, 1995 and Burgess, 2002). SME’s compared to larger firms respond quickly to market threats and opportunities because they are more market-driven than larger firms who are more research driven. And use innovative technology or technology innovatively in developing new markets and about ten percent of SMEs are technology based and can be termed as innovative.  

The girls stories Essay Example for Free

The girls stories Essay What is there about Millers presentation of the society of Salem which allows the girls stories to be believed? In the 16th century, the lives of most people were centered around God. Many of the laws of the time were based from the Bible, the Ten Commandments in particular. It was believed at the time that there were supernatural forces at work to cause one to stray from Gods path. Ministers and clergymen thought it their duty to purge the Earth of these beings when they presented themselves. During the 1600s, due to most peoples strong belief in God there was consequently a strong belief in the Devil. It was believed that, as God had angels working in his order, the Devil had witches working to corrupt innocent souls. If something went wrong, there were two reasons for it: that you had displeased God or that the Devil was tempting you. So naturally when something as devastating as your child falling ill occurs, you would be looking for someone to blame: a witch. As the people of Salem based their laws on the teaching of the Bible and believed that the Bible itself told them that witches were to be punished by death. To the people of Salem the forest that surrounded the town was met with suspicion. The forest was inhabited with Indians, and as the Indians were not Christians they were believed to be evil, and therefore any association with the forest was considered to be part of the evil. As the girls were struck down by illness after dancing in the forest, it gave the town people the suspicion of the Devils involvement. The original cause of the suspicion was that two of the girls in the town fell ill, one of who was the daughter of Goody Putnam. Having already lost seven children at young ages, Goody Putnam was very worried for the health of her child. She was also becoming suspicious of how many children she had lost, with them all being seemingly healthy at birth. Goody Putnam was the first to cry witch. As the people of Salem based their laws on the teaching of the Bible they believed that the Bible itself told them that witches were to be punished by death.

Effects of War and Organized Violence on Refugees Essay -- Refugee Chi

In the literature about refugees and the effects of displacement upon them, certain themes are unmistakably persistent. Some of those themes could be found in Satrapi’s, Persepolis, and others could not. When Perry-Jenkins, a psychology professor, gave the Dean’s Reader class a supplementary presentation on the psychology of adolescence, she mentioned that psychological studies predominantly take place in the U.S. She also noted that cross-cultural and longitudinal studies are a more recent phenomenon in the psychology field. Perry-Jenkins also explained that most psychological studies are done in the U.S. due to funding reasons, but for whatever other reason, studies outside the U.S. are often done on children first, not adolescence or adults, hence the emphasis on children in many of the international studies I cite below. Psychological symptoms were an overwhelming theme throughout the material I reviewed involving refugees. It is important to remember that refugees leave their home country during a difficult time, and their pre-flight stressors can be and sometimes are worse than the post-flight stressors of adjustment to a new country. In any case, psychological distress comes in many forms. Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a very common stressor for refugees and was noted in Jodecyr, Graham, Sourander, Hjern, and Keyes’ work. Keyes reviewed the literature about six years ago and determined that almost every article in her work mentioned the effects of PTSD on refugees. Guilt is another stressor common to refugees for many reasons. Parents may have to leave in a rush and may not be able to take all of their children, a child may be leaving parents behind, and adolescent age children may feel the guilt of leaving t... ...Angel. "Organized violence and mental health of refugee children in exile: a six-year follow-up." Acta Paediatrica 89.6(2000): 722-727. Jodeyr, Simin. "Where do I belong?: the experience of second generation Iranian immigrants and refugees." Psychodynamic Practice 9.2 (2003): 205-214. Leavey, Gerald. "Psychological disorder amongst refugee and migrant schoolchildren in London." Social Psychiatry & Psychiatric Epidemiology 39.3(2003): 191-195. Satrapi, Marjane. Persepolis- The Story of a Childhood. New York: Random House, 2003. Satrapi, Marjane. Persepolis 2- The Story of a Return. New York: Random House, 2004. Sourander, Andre. "Behavior Problems and Traumatic Events of Unaccompanied Refugee Minors." Child Abuse & Neglect 22.7(1998): 719-727. Sourander, Andre. "Refugee families during asylum seeking." Nordic Journal of Psychiatry 57(2002): 203-207. Effects of War and Organized Violence on Refugees Essay -- Refugee Chi In the literature about refugees and the effects of displacement upon them, certain themes are unmistakably persistent. Some of those themes could be found in Satrapi’s, Persepolis, and others could not. When Perry-Jenkins, a psychology professor, gave the Dean’s Reader class a supplementary presentation on the psychology of adolescence, she mentioned that psychological studies predominantly take place in the U.S. She also noted that cross-cultural and longitudinal studies are a more recent phenomenon in the psychology field. Perry-Jenkins also explained that most psychological studies are done in the U.S. due to funding reasons, but for whatever other reason, studies outside the U.S. are often done on children first, not adolescence or adults, hence the emphasis on children in many of the international studies I cite below. Psychological symptoms were an overwhelming theme throughout the material I reviewed involving refugees. It is important to remember that refugees leave their home country during a difficult time, and their pre-flight stressors can be and sometimes are worse than the post-flight stressors of adjustment to a new country. In any case, psychological distress comes in many forms. Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a very common stressor for refugees and was noted in Jodecyr, Graham, Sourander, Hjern, and Keyes’ work. Keyes reviewed the literature about six years ago and determined that almost every article in her work mentioned the effects of PTSD on refugees. Guilt is another stressor common to refugees for many reasons. Parents may have to leave in a rush and may not be able to take all of their children, a child may be leaving parents behind, and adolescent age children may feel the guilt of leaving t... ...Angel. "Organized violence and mental health of refugee children in exile: a six-year follow-up." Acta Paediatrica 89.6(2000): 722-727. Jodeyr, Simin. "Where do I belong?: the experience of second generation Iranian immigrants and refugees." Psychodynamic Practice 9.2 (2003): 205-214. Leavey, Gerald. "Psychological disorder amongst refugee and migrant schoolchildren in London." Social Psychiatry & Psychiatric Epidemiology 39.3(2003): 191-195. Satrapi, Marjane. Persepolis- The Story of a Childhood. New York: Random House, 2003. Satrapi, Marjane. Persepolis 2- The Story of a Return. New York: Random House, 2004. Sourander, Andre. "Behavior Problems and Traumatic Events of Unaccompanied Refugee Minors." Child Abuse & Neglect 22.7(1998): 719-727. Sourander, Andre. "Refugee families during asylum seeking." Nordic Journal of Psychiatry 57(2002): 203-207.

Othello and Family Guy Essay

QuagmireOthello Cast inspired by the characters of Michaela N Cleveland Brown as Othello Cleveland Brown is overall a kind person with a hot temper. He becomes jealous easily, especially in terms of his marriage and wife. Cleveland trusts his friends to a fault, and is dim-witted. All these traits strike a strong resemblance to Othello. Similar to Othello, Cleveland racially does not fit in among friends, and both are treated different as a result. Both men also are trusted by their friends, and care more about what is going to make them happy in the moment, rather than long term. Cleveland and Othello tend to speak coarsely and slowly, as opposed to those who they mingle with. Othello and Cleveland furthermore are laid back. The men usually are the puppets of their mates, going with the flow and believing the most ridiculous of things. Cleveland represents Shakespeare’s Othello quite perfectly. Brian as Iago Brian is extremely intelligent, logical, and rational character. He is trusted, but not loyal to those who trust him. His motivations are not always clear or obvious. Brian is thought of as â€Å"man’s best friend† but he doesn’t act that way. He is generally mean spirited, quick-tempered, and has a sarcastic, dry, yet hilarious, sense of humor. These traits bear resemblance to Iago, Othello’s enemy. Iago and Brian are also manipulative, deceptive, and untrustworthy. Both characters lack a sense of emotion and compassion, as they are willing to do things, like kill friends or a wife, easily. Brian has a crush on Louis, and Iago is taken by Desdemona. Together they have a love-hate relationship with women, enjoying them physically, but annoyed with femininity and emotional drama. Iago and Brian mirror each other perfectly. Lois as Desdemona Lois is a complex, sweet, yet dark, jealous, and somewhat cold-hearted woman. She is known to cheat, be devious, and be extremely flirtatious, which in turn gets her into trouble. She loves her husband, but doesn’t have a problem with being unfaithful to him. She is known to be a beauty, and to have left her father to pursue a crazy lifestyle. Lois is a strong, independent woman despite being a wife. She furthermore has a bewitching affect over men, and she uses this gift to get what she wants. Desdemona is very much like Lois in all this attributes. Desdemona seems innocent but is truly brilliantly mischievous. Both are smart, but don’t always think before they act. They are both comparable, thus match beautifully. Joe Swanson as Michael Cassio Joe makes a perfect Cassio. Joe is a police officer, just as Cassio is a lieutenant. Joe is devoted, loyal, moral, masculine, buff, admirable, and honorable. Cassio in ‘Othello’ is also very much like this. Glenn Quagmire as Roderigo Roderigo is rich, rather foolish, too trusting of Iago, and interested in Desdemona. Quagmire is also well off, acts unintelligently, and is interested in women to an extreme. Both men are so obsessed over a certain woman they will do whatever it takes. They trust their friends to a fault and lack compassion. Both men exemplify immaturity too. Therefore, Quagmire and Roderigo quite nicely pair up. Bonnie as Bianca Bianca and Bonnie were prostitutes, loved fame and a title. They spoke softly and meaningfully. ‘ Carter as Brabanzio Carter is fatherly, rich, over-protective of his daughter, self-important, powerful, devious, blustering, and gets angry with his daughter’s husband numerously. Brabanzio is also fatherly, a senator, very protective of his daughter, devious, blubbering, self-intelligible, and is upset when his daughter leaves him for Othello. Both men hate their sons-in-law with a fiery passion. They are two of a kind.

Illegal Drug Use in Vietnam War Essay

During the Vietnam War, American soldiers and officials used illegal drugs such as marijuana, heroin and opium to release stress from war and to kill the pain of an injury. The uses of narcotics were not strictly monitored and were sold at low prices increasing the amount of usage. The use of illicit drugs may have also resulted in some sexual assaults that led to children with mixed nationalities. Before the Americans came into Vietnam, drug laws were not well determined and people did not use dope as much. However, soon after the Vietnam War started, most soldiers and citizens dramatically started using narcotics, mostly marijuana. Marijuana was available all over the country and this type of drug was a convenient crop to produce although it was an illegal act. Marijuana usage in Vietnam was far more widespread than it was in the United States and was cheap since it does not have to be imported from a foreign country. However, the South Vietnamese Government tried to tighten its policies so that it will be harder to obtain. In about 1970, the North and South Vietnam militaries pressured the soldiers to reduce the use of marijuana. This led to soldiers smuggling narcotics and wanting a refined kind of drug that could not be noticed easily. When heroin was first introduced, people hid it in their cigarettes and consumed by smoking. This highly addictive drug became very popular in Vietnam and was consumed a lot. Statistics and army records show that about 50% of the soldiers and officials had used either heroin or opium during the war.

Close analysis of key scenes in Journeys End Essays

Close analysis of key scenes in Journeys End Essays Close analysis of key scenes in Journeys End Essay Close analysis of key scenes in Journeys End Essay that he is deeply in love with Raleighs sister and that he is one of the colonels strongest men, is denied by Stanhope in the argument. Stanhope also says: Yes, she is waiting for me and she doesnt know. This immediately raises the dramatic tension as we are trying to either find out what it is that Raleighs sister doesnt know, or why she doesnt know. The only possible reasoning I can think of for Stanhopes behaviour is that Stanhope wants her to think good of him, or that she wouldnt think Stanhope very brave or courageous. This brings me to the very important aspect of Stanhopes character which is repeated throughout the play. Stanhopes expectations of him and of others are extremely high. This is the reason Stanhope chose drinking over pretending to be ill, his reason for not telling his family or Raleighs sister what is happening, and his reason for not returning home on his last leave. We already know that Stanhope is desperate at making sure no one knows his problems and this is putting pressure on himself. And this pressure and tension is reflected in the audience as we see Stanhope struggling and choosing not to reveal his fear. On Page 32 to 35, the stage directions show Stanhope drinking gradually more and more. This increases tension in the audience as we know that when Stanhope drinks, his temper becomes very short and he is easily irritated. Therefore we are expecting a big reaction from him. Stanhope also puts pressure on a few words directed towards Osborne, for example: I couldnt bear being fully conscious all the time youve felt that, Uncle, havent you? This puts pressure on Osborne and the members in the audience dont know how Osborne is going to react, or if he will agree with Stanhopes methods. As Osborne is portrayed as a very nice and good character, our loyalties automatically lie with Osborne so we in the audience are agreeing with Osborne. This section of the play is when Stanhope attempts to explain his drinking habit to Osborne and as he doesnt react aggressively, the tension drops and the audience can relax knowing that Stanhope isnt going to have a violent outburst. He is incredibly ashamed of himself but will never admit it and the audience is aware of this and this adds tension as we are unsure of whether or not to feel sorry for Stanhope. On page 33, Stanhope begins talking about confiscating Raleighs letter. As he is slightly drunk, we dont know if what Stanhope is saying, he is going to act upon. Cross out all he says about me. Then we all go west in the big attack and she goes on thinking Im a fine fellow. The tension quickly drops as Osborne dismisses this statement and carries on putting Stanhope to bed. So this makes us in the audience think that Stanhope isnt being serious or sensible and we automatically think that Osborne will sort it out, and nothing will become of it. The tension is also dismissed over this particular section of the play because after Stanhopes and Osbornes discussion, if you can call it that, over Raleighs letter, Osborne immediately talks to Mason completely normally and over trivial matters and this lets the audience forget about what Stanhope has just said. The next part of the play I am going to look at is Act II, Scene 1, around page 42. This is the part where Raleigh is talking about writing a letter. The pages preceding this incident are all talk of trivial matters and this lets the audience relax, there is no tension here whatsoever. However when Raleigh says the words: I started a letter when I came off duty last night. How do we send letters? This makes the audience immediately, sit up straight if you like, and pay close attention to what happens next. The silence juts before Raleigh says this shows that he is uncomfortable. This increases the tension as we remember Stanhopes previous statement from last night. Again, we are unsure whether Stanhope or Osborne will do anything about it. However this tension is dismissed as Osborne happily says where letters should go. This doesnt last long because as son as Stanhope enters the dugout, Raleigh makes a quick departure which is oddly suspicious. And makes Raleigh seem afraid of Stanhope, as if he knows that what he has written about Stanhope gives cause for questioning. This adds to the tension greatly as we start to think Raleigh has written something about Stanhope. Stanhope then starts talking about the forthcoming attack. We in the audience cannot relate to what Stanhope is talking about. It sounds complicated and dangerous. Osborne questions what Stanhope is doing which gives greater cause for concern. We can only rely on the fact that Stanhope is apparently a good officer and that he knows what he is doing. Stanhope also says: Im not going to trust the companies on our sides to hold their ground! This leads to thinking that they dont have much of a chance in the attack, and that the opposition has a good chance of succeeding. Therefore, we have added tension caused by worry and intrigue. The next section of the play is that of which Stanhope questions his sanity. He says: You dont think Im going potty? This makes the audience question whether what Stanhope is talking about organising the attack, will work and the audience worries about the lives of the people under Stanhopes command. We also wonder if Stanhope could be potentially dangerous as we know that he has a severe temper. At the bottom of page 45, we see Stanhopes outlook on the war and this shows Stanhope is very pessimistic and unhappy. It makes the war seem incredibly dangerous and contradicts the other soldiers opinions. For example, Stanhope says: You could have heard a pin drop in the quiet, yet you knew thousand of guns were hidden there, all ready cleaned and oiled millions of bullets lying in pouches And Osborne and Raleigh say: The Germans are really quite decent arent they? It was so near the German trenches that they could have shot our fellows one by one. But a big German officer stood up in their trenches and called out: Carry Him! We are more inclined to believe Stanhopes view on the war as we know he has had much more experience and is a superior officer towards his contemporaries, Osborne and Raleigh. This suddenly adds tension as, we cannot relate to the war, we were not alive in that time. But Stanhope gives a picture of the war making it look very bleak and threatening which adds tension. The next section I will look at is on page 47 to 49 where Stanhope confiscates Raleighs letter. The tension remains constant throughout page 46 until Stanhope asks the question: Whats Raleigh doing now? The tension increases dramatically and Osborne says calmly that he is finishing a letter. Stanhope becomes quite angry immediately and starts to become worried irritable. The language in this part is very short and snappy. This shows that Stanhope is irritated and slightly panicking. Osborne is in disbelief of what Stanhope Is saying. As we know Osborne to be very level-headed and calm, we tend to agree with what Osborne is saying, believing him to be in the right. This section is much deeper than military depth. It is basic manners and Stanhope seems to lack these at this time. Instead of politely and calmly thinking this through, he turns to aggression. This makes the audience very tense as we are expecting a great reaction. Stanhope then tells us about how he met Raleigh in the dugout the night before, and this does make us question Stanhopes sanity again. He says: He looked at me as if Id hit him between the eyes as if Id spat on him - We know that Raleigh would not look at Stanhope like this, he idolises him and worships him. Therefore we know Stanhope is becoming delusional and this increases dramatic tension as we want to see what Raleigh has actually written. When Raleigh returns to the dugout with his letter, the sentences become short and slow. This shows Stanhope has run out of patience and is trying to show authority over Raleigh. He wants to sound threatening to make Raleigh do what he wants him to, which is to give up the letter. Stanhope speaks very quietly, which adds to the sinister aspect. This is where tension becomes incredibly high as we are very close to reading the letter, and we dont know Stanhopes reaction. At the top of page 48, I can see in the stage directions, lots of words like stammering, nervously, astonished and trembling. This shows this scene is very tense. Stanhope resorts to orders, it his last resort and shows how desperate he is to stop any information about himself getting back home. He abuses his power as we know he would not do this normally. He also resorts to physical violence which will have looked very dramatic from an audiences point of view and very over-the-top. The tension drops as we realise Stanhope has got the letter off Raleigh and we are certain we are going to find out what he has written about Stanhope. However when we hear that Stanhope does not wish to read the letter, there is a sense of disappointment in the audience. As we are unsure whether or not we are going to find out what happens in the letter, there is tension throughout the rest of this scene, until Osborne has finished reading Raleighs letter. Tension is present when Osborne offers to read the letter for Stanhope. We wonder if Osborne has hidden motives, but I think that Osborne reads the letter because he feels for Stanhope. Even though Osborne does not believe Stanhopes tactics are right, he wants to help him, and put Stanhope out of his misery. The next part I am going to talk about is page 50 to 54, the part of the play where we hear about Stanhopes team having to make a raid on the Germans. Firstly we see Stanhope giving the Sergeant-major about the details on the attack. We have tension present as this is something unknown to most of us. We cannot imagine having a serious attack made on us, and this increases the tension. Stanhopes tone is very abrupt and snappy. This makes the scene seem a lot faster-paced and this creates more tension. Now, look here, sergeant-major! To start with, Stanhope is very honest, and certain things that he says, makes us doubt the success of the attack. For example, It may happen that companies on our sides will give way. This increases the tension as we automatically worry for the safety of the soldiers. Secondly I will discuss Stanhopes conversation with the Colonel about the upcoming raid. The first sign of tension we see is very obvious. The Colonel says: Im glad youre alone. Ive got some rather serious news. Immediately this sends alarm bells through our heads as we have no clues on what the Colonel is talking about. Anything could have happened to create a dramatic twist in the plotline. The Colonel tells us about the upcoming attack which will take place in a mere 2 days. This means there is hardly any time for the men to prepare for the raid. This creates tension as the success of the raid is looking bleaker. However the tension is still further increased as we hear that Stanhopes men have to make a raid, and that it has to be incredibly soon. Our hearts leap when the Colonel says: As soon as possible. He said tonight. The tension is at an all time high but slightly drops when Stanhope dismisses this. This does not last for long as it is decided that the raid will take place tomorrow afternoon, and in broad daylight. It is also decided that two officers and ten men have to be taken. This is a very dangerous raid and we are all aware of the officers, and fear for their safety. We also know that it is guaranteed that not all the men will come back so the suspense is very high. Stanhopes replies become very short which is an obvious sign of him not being incredibly happy or optimistic about the raid. This adds tension as we subconsciously trust Stanhopes decisions and judgements, as we know he is a good officer. The tension becomes greater as we know that Stanhope has to choose the men. This is a great burden to lie on Stanhopes shoulders and we feel the horror he feels. As the men go through the available officers and dismisses them one by one. We get the gradual realisation that the Colonel wishes to take Raleigh on the raid. We dont know how Stanhope will react to this news, if he will be glad to get rid of Raleigh. The tension in the audience is very high because we know that Raleigh does not have a sensible perspective on the war yet, and if this raid will frighten and shock him. The next part of the play is Page 55 to 58, where Stanhope and Hibbert are arguing over his assumed neuralgia. The audience are not sure whether to believe Hibbert or not, because other peoples accounts of Hibbert are not very high at all. Neuralgia is a disease that is incredibly difficult to prove if the sufferer has it or not, therefore it would be a great excuse to get out of the war. In the context of the time, it was rare for, what we now call shell shock to be recognised as an actual problem and to be taken seriously. A man who was seen as incapable of going out was very likely to be seen as a coward and many men would have been shot. I obviously refer here to contemporary context. There is a high sense of patriotism and men serving as soldiers were looked upon as if that was there duty. Courage from the men was both expected and assumed, and anything less than this was seen as weakness and actually failing. There were many high expectations placed upon the young men and it was not acceptable to let people down, as it would have affected your family and friends back home. Another issue contributing to the play would have been propaganda. At home, victories and glory were very much exaggerated and there wasnt much news of what was realistically happening in the trenches. We see examples of this duty throughout the play, ranging from the times when Stanhope doesnt wish for Raleigh to send a letter home to his parents, to where Hibbert wants to be sent home with an actual illness. Therefore the tension is high at all these times. The tension starts to increase when Hibbert raises his voice to Stanhope. It gives the audience a shock as up until that point the conversation has been quiet and civilised. Hibbert becomes hysterical and this causes tension as we dont know how Stanhope will react to this. We know that Stanhope has had a large amount of whisky. As we see Stanhope get out the revolver we reach the highest amount of tension. Again this is another example of contemporary context. When we see a gun, of any kind, we feel threatened. This has nothing to do with the war, but because Stanhope has got out his gun, we automatically suspect the worse. Stanhope subtlety threatens Hibbert and the tension becomes higher as we dont know if Stanhope is being serious and will carry out his threat. Suddenly, there is a lot of action on stage as we see Hibbert attempt to hit Stanhope. The tension is still high here as we know that Stanhope will be incredibly angry with Hibbert for trying to escape, let alone hit him. But we also know the punishment for deserting, or for striking a superior officer. During the 30 seconds Stanhope gives Hibbert, it is incredibly quiet onstage and we are left in suspense as we wonder whether or not Stanhope will shoot Hibbert. After the 30 seconds are up, the tension drops incredibly as we see Stanhope putting his gun back in the holster. Stanhope then talks to Hibbert perfectly normally, as if they have forgotten what has just taken place. Stanhope says: Good man, Hibbert. I liked the way you stuck that. After this, Stanhope explains himself to Hibbert, for the audiences sake. This relaxes the audience slightly as we know can understand Stanhopes reasons for behaving like he did. The next part in the play which causes tension is Osborne and Trotters conversation about the raid. The tension is high for two reasons. The conversation is very short and snappy and this keeps the conversation flowing at a faster pace. Nothing thats said is unnecessary. Secondly, the characters are giving their true opinions of their raid. They do not have to hide their opinions so we can see an honest view on the raid. As Osborne and Trotter are unsure about Raleigh going into the raid, we are tense as we doubt Raleigh will be safe. Finally we hear Raleighs opinion of being volunteered for the raid. The tension drops as we realise Raleigh is unafraid and very excited. IN some sense, this could add to the tension as we realise the extent of Raleighs naivety. Throughout pages 69 to 72, the tension is constant, as the raid is only a few minutes away. There is nothing major to comment upon, but the conversation is very distracting and different to what we would have been expecting. This shows that Osborne is trying to comfort Raleighs nerves. It also shows that Osborne is worried about the raid. And again, this causes tension in the audience. On Page 73, in the stage directions, it shows that there is a slight silence which will add tension and suspense to the audience. Afterwards there is a large amount of noise and flashing noise to signify the battle and this will cause tension as we can relate to the loud noises as threatening. Also, the immense scale of the noise means that we fear that men have been killed and because we cant see whats happening, the tension is high as we wait for the battle to end so we can see what has happened. After the noise on stage has finished there is a long conversation between Stanhope and the Colonel, talking about the German captive. This causes tension because no one mentions the officers sent out on the raid. The tension builds and builds throughout this conversation until the men are mentioned. It is the sense of not knowing if they are alright that keeps us interested in what is happening on stage. On the top of page 76, Stanhope and the Colonel begin talking about the men lost in the raid. Stanhope says: How awfully nice if the brigadiers pleased. This statement is awfully sarcastic. We know that Stanhope is incredibly close to being rude to a superior officer and there is tension because we dont know if Stanhope will take his insults any further or if he will leave it as it is. The tone Stanhope uses in his voice, in the stage directions it is said Stanhope speaks in a dead voice. I can imagine this to be a voice with no feeling or hidden meanings. This voice alone will add to the tension as we cannot detect what Stanhope is really feeling in this voice. After this sentence, there is a short silence, and this gives the audience time to take in what Stanhope has just said and prepare for what the Colonel will answer back. As the Colonel asks about the men, the tension quickly drops as we hear Raleigh has been brought safely back. From hearing about Raleigh being placed in the raiding party, and the raid itself, the audience focuses their attention on Raleigh, sure that he is not going to return. As we hear Raleigh is back safely, the tension drops, but rises again as we hear Osborne has not come back. To Stanhope the loss of Osborne will be incredibly trying on his nerves and the audience dont know how he will react to the news of his death. We worry he might take his drinking habit even further as Osborne was the only person Stanhope could depend upon and trust. In one sense, his only friend in the war. The next section I will analyse is on page 83, where Raleigh arrives late for Stanhopes specially planned dinner. To the end of the scene, Stanhope and Raleigh are arguing about Raleigh not turning up for dinner. The tension here is high as we dont know whether Stanhope will take pity on Raleigh, or be angry with him. As we see it becomes the latter, the tension drops a little bit and the tone of the conversation stays the same for a while. However on page 85 we hear Raleigh stand up for himself for the first time in the play. He says: Good God! Dont you understand? How can I sit down and eat that when when Osbornes lying out there - As this is the first time weve heard Raleigh talk to Stanhope, his beloved hero in this fashion, therefore we automatically listen more attentively to see if he keeps up this manner. The tension also increases as we want to see how Stanhope reacts to this sentence. As he carries on insulting and shouting at Raleigh, the tension drops as we see nothing more serious is going to become of this. Up until page 91 the tension stays constant until we hear Stanhope say a very short line of: Corporal Ross hit? Up until this point we dont understand the severity of the fire that is upon the men. It is the fact that we are seeing our first casualty, besides the death of Osborne. Automatically the tension rises as we hear of people becoming injured. Stanhope and the Sergeant Major talk in short and snappy tones. This keeps the play with a fast pace and keeps the audience enthralled. On page 92 we first hear of Raleigh being hit. We panic at this point because Raleigh is one of the main characters and we have grown to like him. The tension increases even more as we understand his spine is broken. Using contemporary context, we know that this is an incredibly severe injury. It has nothing to do with being in the war that gives us this tension, but the fact that we know, as well as the characters do that Raleigh is going to die. The reason the tension does not drop here however is because we are interested in seeing how Stanhope reacts to this news. In some sense, he should be happy as this cuts all his ties from the outside world, this injury keeps Stanhopes secret safe. However we hope Stanhope will show some emotion for his old friend and this is what we get to see. The tension increases as we see Stanhope trying to help Raleigh, even though we know he doesnt have much of a chance. These acts by Stanhope bring a small amount of hope upon the audience and keep the audience watching to see if Raleigh recovers. Also, the tension is high as we see a new and hidden side of Stanhope. Revealing his emotions about Raleigh and his kindness. In effect, this section of the play acts as a sort of conclusion and we can confirm Stanhopes true feelings over Raleigh and this keeps the audience paying attention.

The Importance of National Identity in Social Relations †Humanities Essay

The Importance of National Identity in Social Relations – Humanities Essay Free Online Research Papers The Importance of National Identity in Social Relations Humanities Essay As a result of this case another issue should be raised, that of the intensification of negative prejudice toward an ethnic out-group, stemming from the regular contact between two different national groups (Campbell cited p. 211). More specifically, a big number of Albanians came to Greece over the last decades as financial immigrant, legal or not. Their increased presence in the Greek territory (and, consequently the labour market) has led to the development or the aggravation of some Greeks negative attitude towards them and the raise of related stereotypes: Albanians are dangerous, dirty, deceitful, ungrateful and so on. The Albanian student mentioned above was the victim of the groundless rage of people who perceived of his bearing the flag as an injury to their national identity. This attitude is an example of self-identification and identification of the other, based on vague and fictitious criteria: not sharing the same history, coming from a different country, having different religion, customs and so on. When taking into consideration the extent of emphasis placed on the event and the cost for the student, it is difficult to overlook the importance of national identity in social relations. It has often been claimed that the idea of the nation is a construction that serves political or other interests. Hutchinson and Smith (1994 p. 48) quote Eric Hobsbaum who claims that â€Å"the nation was one of many traditions invented by political elites in order to legitimise their power in a century of revolution and democratisation†. Later in the same book Benedict Anderson (1994, p. 89) characterises modern nation as â€Å"an imagined political community†. A fundamental constituent of a nation and a common element that functions as a unifying factor is its shared traditions. There seem to be two categories of tradition; the first includes pure ones, those that their roots lie in the past and have been preserved in time, interwoven with the nations habits, norms, values and practices and that are an integral part of peoples national identity. The second category refers to the traditions which are invented. These are artificial outwardly imposed to the nation and might serve political or other purposes, functioning as a unifying factor or a factor enhancing faithfulness to the nation. Eric Hobsbaum distinguishes between three types of tradition. The first includes traditions that reflect the social cohesion of a nation, the second includes traditions that operate for the interest of the ruling classes and the third the medium for implanting or enforcing ideals, values or rituals. The two latter types are examples of invented traditions. The negative element of invented traditions is that when called for the manipulation of the masses can function as a covert way of fanatising people, cultivating racism and prejudice and intolerance for every out-group. Similar feelings of national pride or faithfulness to the national group were exploited by the Second-World-War Nazi authorities in order to bring about the Jewish holocaust as part of an ultimate mission. The symbols of the Nazi invented traditions were their anthem, the swastika, the formal military salute and many other which helped the representatives of the Arean Nation to establish the sense of uniqueness and superiority and to strengthen the sense of unity and solidarity. POINT: Religious faith is in important constituent of national identity. The intensity of identification with a religion is iften positively correlated with the strength of ones national identity. However, it seems religion itself is something obscure and indefinite, not to mention every individuals perception of his religion and his interpretation of what religious faithfulness means. Baumsteer Meanings of Life 187-189 approaches the issue critically noting that in many instances in the past religion has cheated its pure character by serving political interests. He adds that religion often becomes rigid (one example being Catholicism), thus not satisfying peoples emotional needs as they evolve along with social changes in time (Religions are rigid becase they cannot follow sociocultural changes in time, thus they cannot satisfy peoples evolving emotional needs. By comparing national identity with the religious, as Baumeister analyses it, one could detect the function and usefulness of the former for the individual (pp. 190-196). Apart from constituting a source of life meaning, the construction of national identity provides a link with the past a kind of collective memory of the common national origin one wants to consider him/herself a member of. Additionally, it provides an orientation for the future; it inspires a sense of aspiration, or an ideal. One function of this orientation for the future might be the rationalisation of labour and production as a bestowal to the nation and, accordingly, the production of children as a way of contributing to its preservation and expansion. Eriksons psychosocial theory stressed the importance of identity in the individuals developmental course of life. He consedered identity to be the persons way of defining him/herself and, as such, to crucial for his / her mental and cognitive development as well as a way of interacting with the surrounding world. Adolescence is a significant period because it signifies, among other things, the transition to the adulthood. During adolescence one is confronted with roles, relationships, values, some of which s/he adopts and othhers s/he questions in order to circumscribe his / her identity. This is why the identity is individualised and difficult to define. It might encompass the persons way of experiencing his / her gender, socioeconomic status, ideology, nationality, religion as well as the (significant) others reflections on the above factors. Two institutions that play a significant role in the construction of a persons national identity are the family that undertakes the primary role in the persons socialisation and the school, which is the secondary socialisation institution. They both provide sources of historical information, national ideals, attitudes, values, emotions, that are transmitted to the individual and contribute to the formation of his / her national identity. For instance, the Greek educational system often adopts an egocentric approach in the teaching of history, placing emphasisi on historical moments when Geece exhibited courage and succeeded, or stressing glorious moments of ancient Greek history, like the Golden Era of Pericles, makin shorter reference to the contemporary slavery. This approach could contribute greatly to the students feelings of national pride and to the identification of the students with their ancestors in terms of national origin. What the claim of the scholars might imply is that the content of the national identity is so wide, complex and fluctuating, that it cannot justify some peoples strength of beliefs and rigidity od attitudes as it happens in cases of negative nationalism (as opposed to liberal nationalism), racism, national stereotyping or chauvinism. Conclusion Whether national identity is a fictive characteristic or not, should be judged from the consequences on personality and communication. That is, however subjective, obscure and elusive national identity itself may be, it is more important to determine the ways in which it influences or even determines thought, emotion and behaviour. Especially when feelings of national pride and patriotism are manipulated by political and military authorities for the sake of imperialistic or other unethical purposes, it is crucial to examine it further. The fact that the content of national identity is something conventional, has been clearly illustrated by many scholars. All its constituents, traditions, borders, customs, cultural elements and so forth are agreed and established through repetition or preservation in time. What is more, national identity is, as mentioned above, completely subjective and idividualised; it cannot be circumscribed precisely. Two people may not share common history, land religion, race, customs, values or they may share some or all of the above in different degrees and combinations. Nevertheless, they serve a very important purpose, fundamental for the peoples emotional well-being: the sense of belonging, security, satisfaction of social needs (solidarity, production, undertaking of responsibility). Thus, we come to the conclusion that national identity is a powerful symolic link that connects people in place and time, and at the same time a dangerous seed that can be cultivated to cause dissention, disruption of the social order and alienation. Salkind, N. (1985). Theories of Human Development. John Wiley and Sons Inc. POY National identity, according to Parekh (People, Nation and State 1999, p.66) encompasses three components: a) a common constitution of a political community, including agreed rules, laws and norms, b) images of the nation, shared between members of a national community and c) a sense of personal commitment to the community. All the above are characterised by a degree of subjectivity and dynamism. That is, none of them can be precisely circumscribed or unanimously defined, nor can they remain static in place and time. With respect to the importance of the national identity in a person’s self-identification, it seems that the second and third element play a significant role and are related to fundamental psychological processes. To be more specific, as Parekh (1999, p. 67) observes, national identity is a form of â€Å"self-understanding. [†¦] It reflects qualities [the British] like about themselves and wish to preserve. Since they define themselves in terms of these qual ities , they seek to live up to them and feel or can be made to feel embarrassed and guilty when they do not [†¦]. Images are not only self-projections, but also tools of self-creation†. A relevant example that might illustrate Parekh’s point is the Greek term ‘’ This noun signifies a personality trait, a way of behaving, as well as a traditional Greek value. Greeks are proud because they consider this to be a â€Å"unique Greek characteristic† and they often substantiate this claim by the argument that there is no direct equivalent for the word in other languages. This compound word literally means â€Å"to love† (-) â€Å"pride† or â€Å"honour† (-). That is, to have a vivid sense of dignity and pride. Greeks often attach to the term meanings such as: â€Å"a kind of charisma†, â€Å"kindness†, â€Å"ethics†, â€Å"good will†, â€Å"consciousness†, â€Å"virtue†, â€Å"generosity† and â€Å"the idea of coming up to one’s responsibilities and fulfilling one’s duties† (Vassiliou V. Vassiliou G. 1966, cited 1995, p. 115). â€Å"Filotimo† () is one of the ideals that traditional nuclear Greek families aim to implant to the generations that follow. It is also frequently invoked when asking someone to come to his / her senses or to retract an undesirable attitude. Hence, in this example behaviours and interpersonal relationships may be influenced by a value system that is identified with national orientation. Similarly the – conscious or not – urge to prove worthy of the nationally praised characterization â€Å"philotimos† might function as a self-fulfilling prophecy. More specifically, the person might deal with particular situations in ways that confirm the family’s, friends’ or nation’s expectations from him /her. As far as commitment to the community – the third factor according to Parekh – is concerned, it is also subjective and difficult to determine. It involves a collective sense of belonging, shared emotions and symbols of the community like ceremonies, the f lag, the national anthem and so on (Parekh 1999, p. 69). Loyalty to the nation, patriotism and a common sense of solidarity are some of the characteristic ways in which a member of the nation experiences his bond with it. A positive form of experiencing identification with the nation is the case of people’s reaction during the Olympic Games. When athletes win medals they are overwhelmed with national pride, among other emotions, and so are their fellow-countrymen. Greeks again could be a characteristic example, because they strongly view the Olympic ideal as a part of their national identity – a kind of a collective heritage. Especially at the award ceremony where the national anthem is being performed the athletes often burst into tears and kiss the flag as an expression of loyalty to the nation. What is more, leaving for a moment the commercialization of the Olympic Games aside, the Greek origin of the Olympic ideal seems to be a strong motive for many Greek athletes , government members and even simple citizens to avoid getting involved in any form of corruption. More specifically, any entanglement in events of doping or other kinds of unethical competition would be considered very shameful and humiliating, particularly because of a shared sense of responsibility towards the heavy national heritage. This worry is probably so intense not so much because of the political or financial interests involved, but more because of a concern to preserve the national ‘good reputation’. My interpretation of this attitude is that it represents a shared way of experiencing national identity. The function of this identity could be that it constitutes a unifying factor for the nation and that it could inspire collectivity, ethos and a sense of duty, that may be more influential than any external or imposed force (like laws, government guidelines and regulations introduced by international institutions). A negative form of identification and bonding with the nation could be the case where national pride takes the form of commonly shared and publicly expressed prejudice for the national out-group. A representative example comes again from the Greek context, where a couple of years ago Odise Cenaj, an Albanian high-school student participated in the student parade as a flag-bearer. The parade took place as part of the annual ceremony for the celebration of a national anniversary, the 28th of October. A characteristic example of the relation between religion and national identity is the Greeks’ notion of their nationality. The majority – especially the older generations – tends to interweave the national element with the religious one, identifying ‘Greek’ with ‘Christian’ and in particular ‘orthodox’. Personal experience from the Greek sociocultural context has shown that the stronger the national identity is, the stronger is the identification with the orthodox faith. Especially in the case of this dogma, the etymology of the word reveals the deterministic view of its followers. The Greek compound word ‘Orthodox’ means ‘right’ (‘ortho’) – as opposed to ‘wrong’ – ‘belief’ (‘dox-a’, noun deriving from the verb ‘’ which means to claim, to believe). It becomes obvious that, as far as religion is concerned, the doctrineâ⠂¬â„¢s name reflects the disputes or clashes between Christians – and often between Christians and other followers of other religions – and the urge to prove that one dogma is more ‘correct’ than the other. There are cases where dimensions of the national identity of the person are so dominant in the person’s image that they determine his / her interaction with the world. For instance, an Afghani woman, who wears the burgha in a context outside her country, is as if she ‘introduces’ herself through her dress code, revealing her national origin before giving any other personal information, not even her external appearance. It becomes obvious that in such extreme cases a person’s national identity might play a catalytic role as far as social relations are concerned, as it denotes that a person is part of a particular social, political or religious system. This marker can often be very restricting not only regarding the person’s self – image, but also the way the (significant) others view the person and the extent to which the person can get involved in social relationships. As Roy (1999 p. 64) observes, there are often cases where the person who be ars indicators of his / her national origin does not do so as a result of his / her free choice, but rather to show compliance with a ‘moral obligation’ (as in the case of Muslim women who wear a scarf an as well as outside the borders of their country) or an imposed law (as in Afghanistan). In such cases, the expression of national identity through linguistic, dress, dietary or other cultural codes reflects the identity’s rigid or static character and it might contribute to the person’s social alienation (Roy, 1999 pp. 58-59). Prejudice and discrimination based on critiria od national origin might be an extreme case of what developmental psychology terms as ‘kin selection’ and ‘reciprocal altrouism’ (Goodhart 2004, p. , Ozkirimli 2000, p. 71). To be more specific, with respect to the incident with the Albanian student, the Greeks’ aggressivenes was inspired by the fact that their national identity was challenged and their sense of unity and homogeneity was at stake by the ‘intrusion’ of a foreigner, that provoked their national pride. It becomes obvious that the invocation of national identity was the unifying factor for the Greeks who opposed to the foreign student’s participation in the parade as a flag-bearer (something considered by many citizens to be a Greek ‘privilege’). Even though there was no obvious breaking of the law, there was a significant number of people who shared the same impressions and reacted in similar ways, providing no logical arguments. The politicians’ involvement and their attempts to calm down the annoyed citizens confirm the fact that they legitimised national prejudice in order to appear appealing to the public. Finally, the student, after the unfavourable reaction of the public, declared that he did not feel Greek any more and he did not want to share the Greek identity. This confirms the subjectivity and flux of national identity. It also proves that this identity may be determined on the basis of what other perceive of the individual. Hence, its formation is the result of reciprocal determination. As Goodhart (2004, p.) observes, people with the same nationality may have a variety of other differences (religion, class, area of inhabitance), a fact that justifies national identity’s fictitious character. Nevertheless, the example above confirms that members of a national minority may become ‘second-class citizens’ because they do not share the same historic past. The extent to which national identity is dominant in a person’s self-description may depend on whether it is being challenged or not. Depending on the circumstance a person finds him/herself in and the need to protect ot stand up for his/her identity, s/he will do so be it gener, religious, national or other identity. Therefore, its importance may vary according to the social context (Searle 2001, p. 3). The manipulation of national identity for political or military purposes wsa evident in World War II. German Nazis and Italian fascism are such examples. In both cases a ‘charismatic’ leader misled the military forces and the public opinion by cultivating and racist feelings. All thei arguments were groundless, superficial and completely lacked rational base. Both leaders aimed at unifying the nation and winning its by stressing its superiority over other nations. The appeal of this false ideology might be partly explained by social identity theory, which explains that people’s self-esteem is raised by the idea that they belong to a (social, racial, national or other) group that is ‘superior’ than others. Thus the leaders manipulated this emotional vulnerability (New Zealand†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.). Gellner (Nationalism 55) attempts to define nationalism based on poltical criteria. He places emphasis on education as an important factor in the formation of national identity. He observes that â€Å"men do not in general become nationalists from sentiment or sentimentality, atavistic or not, well-based or myth-founded: they becomenationalists through genuine, objective, practical necessity, however obscurely recognised† (Gellner 1994, p. 56). Hence, it seems that regardless of whether the roots of a person’s nationalism are emotional or rational, it is still difficult to specify the exact content of the idea of the nation. Moreover, the ‘fictive’ nature of national identiy can be deduced by the process of elimination: people may share the same national identity, without speaking the same language (as in the case of second, or third generation immigrants, who feel they belong to the nation of their ancestors, even though they might hardly speak their langu age). The same stands for people who live in the same country, work, vote, join the army but have different religious beliefs and customs. In terms of racial characteristics the given fact of ‘mixed marriages’ has eliminated any possibility of a pure, homogenous nation, proving Hitler’s aspirations to be not only extreme, but also utopian (Crouch 1999, p. 283; Ozkirimli 2000, p. 76). Finally, with respect to shared land and common borders, they seem to be the most fluctuating and less important factors in the subjective perception of national identity. In the case of Greece, Thessaloniki, the second largest city, was under the Turks’ domination until 1912 and it was not taken by the Bulgarian army, thanks to a successful Greek military and political operation of the last moment. Similarly, the islands of the South-East Aegean Sea were finally acknowledged as Greek territory after the end of World War II. During the above period and even from the ancient ti mes, there no question regarding the inhabitants’ Greek identity, either in their consciousness or in the consciousness of the people who lived in the mainland; there was a reciprocally agreed national determination which greatly enhanced shared feelings of solidarity and patriotism. An alternative way of approaching the relativity of national identity would be by viewing the emerging of European Union, which may contribute to the formation of another, wider notion of nationality. It seems that the new form of national identity has expanded to encompass all residents of the European union. This is evident in the way civil rights (i.e. work permissions) are shared throughout European countries, creating a sense of commonness and solidarity and a new kind of cultural community. An example of how a new form of border may be invented and all the implications: no need for a passport to travel within the European Union, bank account). This gives the impression of a shared trust, appreciation and privileges. To conclude, Parekh’s definition of national identity captures accurately its inconsistency: â€Å"national identity, then, is a matter of moral and emotional identification with a particular community based on a shared loyalty to its constitutive principles and participation in its collective self-understanding† (Parekh 1000, p. 69). References Anderson, B. (1994). ‘Imagined Communities’. In J. Hutchinson D. Smith (eds), Nationalism, Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 89-96. Baumeister, R.F. (1991). Meanings of Life. New York: Guilford Press. Campbell, P.T. (1995) sto keimeno: cited Georgas. Crouch, C. (1999). Social Change in Western Europe. Oxford: Blackwell. Goodhart, D. (2004). ‘Too Diverse?’ Prospect, 95, Hobsbaum, E. Ranger, T. (1983). The Invention of Tradition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Hutchinson, J. Smith, A.D. (1994). ‘Nationalism’. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Kedourie, E. (1994). ‘Nationalism and Self-determination’. In J. Hutchinson D. Smith (eds), Nationalism, Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 49-55. Ozkirimli, U. (2000). Theories of Nationalism. New York: ST. MARTIN’S PRESS, INC. Parekh, B. (1999). ‘Defining National Identity in a Multicultural Society’. In E. Mortimer R. Fine (eds), People, Nation and State, London: IB Tauris Publishers, pp 66-74. Roy, O. (1999). ‘The Elusive Cultural Community’. In E. Mortimer R. Fine (eds), People, Nation and State, London: IB Tauris Publishers, pp 56-65. Salkind, N. ( oxi to New Zealand!!!!!!!!! Vassiliou, V. Vassiliou, G. (1966). ‘The Implicative Meaning of the Greek Concept of Philotimo’. Journal of Cross-cultural Psychology, 4, 326-341. In ?. 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What to Do When Words Appear Twice in a Row

What to Do When Words Appear Twice in a Row What to Do When Words Appear Twice in a Row What to Do When Words Appear Twice in a Row By Mark Nichol Using a word twice in a row isn’t always a no-no, but there’s always a more elegant way to revise a sentence in which you might initially be inclined to repeat a word immediately. When words collide, try these approaches: 1. â€Å"What you do do is your own business.† Even if this sentence is intended as a counterpoint to a â€Å"what you don’t do† proposition, the emphatic first do is superfluous (â€Å"What you do is your own business†). If you must retain the repetition, introduce a separating phrase: â€Å"What you do decide to do is your own business.† 2. â€Å"They had had many arguments.† Replace the second had with a prepositional phrase (â€Å"They had gotten into many arguments†) or a more specific verb (â€Å"They had endured many arguments†), or introduce more vivid imagery into a revision (â€Å"They had verbally sparred many times†). 3. â€Å"I showed her her message.† Replace one pronoun preferably, both of the pronouns with a noun (â€Å"I showed my sister the woman’s message†). This isn’t a problem with him, because two forms of the pronoun would appear (â€Å"I showed him his message†), though, again, if him and his refer to different men, it might be better to specify, in place of one pronoun or the other, one of the men in question. 4. â€Å"He came in in disarray.† Replace the prepositional phrase with a simple verb (â€Å"She entered in disarray†). 5. â€Å"She gives in in every case.† Simply recast the final phrase (â€Å"She gives in every time†) or flip the phrase to the front (â€Å"In every case, she gives in†). 6. â€Å"What it is is a travesty.† â€Å"What it is† is always an unnecessarily verbose way to start a sentence. Start with the subject (â€Å"It’s a travesty†). 7. â€Å"I placed the card I had written on on the desk.† Recast the prepositional phrase â€Å"written on† with on at its head (â€Å"I placed the card on which I had written the note on the desk†). But first confirm that the modifying phrase involving written is necessary at all. 8. â€Å"We realize that that will not be satisfactory.† Replace the second that with a noun (â€Å"We realize that the proposal will not be satisfactory†). 9. â€Å"We will discuss this this evening.† Replace the first this with a pronoun (â€Å"We will discuss it this evening†) or a noun (â€Å"We will discuss the matter this evening†). 10. â€Å"Is there someone I can talk to to resolve the issue?† Employ a participial phrase in place in the infinitive phrase â€Å"to resolve† (â€Å"Is there someone I can talk to about resolving the issue?†) or amplify the second to by replacing it with the phrase â€Å"in order to† (â€Å"Is there someone I can talk to in order to resolve the issue?†). Occasionally, an immediate repetition of a word, separated from the first instance by punctuation, is appropriate for emphatic effect (â€Å"I have come here from far, far away†). At other times, even though punctuation separates the repetition, a recast would improve the sentence. For example, â€Å"Even though I was there, there didn’t seem to be anything for me to do† might be revised to â€Å"Even though I was there, I didn’t seem to be of any use† or â€Å"Despite my presence, there didn’t seem to be anything for me to do.† Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Style category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:50 Idioms About Talking5 Brainstorming Strategies for Writers20 Ways to Cry

IPO(Initial Public Offerings) industry in HongKong Term Paper

IPO(Initial Public Offerings) industry in HongKong - Term Paper Example The current discussion is aimed at analysing the IPO industry in Hong Kong. In last few years, IPOs have been transforming the financial structure of a number of private limited companies in the country. Hong Kong is considered as the world’s leading financial centers having a capitalist economy driven by low taxation and free trade. Hong Kong is considered as the most important international financial center and in the 2009-10 year, it raised 22% of the worldwide IPO capital making it the largest IPOs in the world and thus signifying the importance of IPOs. Hong Kong is considered as the international financial center mainly because of the passive government’s policies with no control over the imports and exports (Browning, 2014). Hong Kong has suffered a dip in the IPO volumes in last two years mainly because of the financial breakdown in the Asian and European economies. However, things have been improving a lot in last few years with a number of private limited companies lining up for the IPOs. The performance of Hong Kong IPO industry has been remarkably positive and lucrative in last few years making it one of the highly preferred economic destinations for a number of investors. The major purpose of the discussion is to understand the legal framework and procedures of the industry along with focusin g on the recent development and trends in a critical manner (Brown, 2014). As per the research conducted by KPMG (2013), it was found that funds raised via Hong Kong listing will increase to more than HKD200 billion in the year 2014. Hong Kong registered more than HKD 160 billion with more than 90 companies listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange. Furthermore, it is expected that the IPO industry of Hong Kong will witness a rise in IPOs by 78% from the previous year in the year 2014. This states the significance of

The Phaedo Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

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Haemato-oncology practice Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Haemato-oncology practice - Assignment Example Describe the pathology of severe sepsis and providing a clear rationale, discuss the immediate management of severe sepsis Sepsis and septic shock occur as a result of complex interaction between the pathogenic agent and the immune system of the host. During any localized infection, the normal physiologic response includes host defense activation resulting in influx of the monocytes and activated neutrophils, local vasodilation, release of inflammatory mediators, increased permeability of the endothelium and activation of coagulation pathways. In septic shock, these mechanisms further proceed to diffuse endothelial disruption, increased vascular permeability, thrombosis of end-organ capillaries and vasodilation. Damage to the endothelium further leads to activation of coagulation and inflammatory cascades leading to positive feedback loop which further causes end-organ and endothelial damage (Pinsky, 2011). The pathogenic agents induce exaggerated systemic inflammatory response. Due to systemic inflammatory response, imbalance of homeostasis occurs leading to disseminated intravascular coagulation, microthrombosis, organ dysfunction and even death(Pinsky, 2011). The first step in the management of shock is to evaluate and stabilize airway, breathing and circulation. This includes intubation and mechanical ventilation if necessary. 100% oxygen must be given at a high flow rate in all cases. The saturations and other vital signs must be monitored continuously using cardio-respiratory monitor. To improve circulation, a good intravenous access must be secured. If it is difficult to access peripheral lines, central venous veins or intra-osseous lines must be accessed. Intravenous fluids and if necessary, vasopressors and cardiac ionotropic agents must be given. The intravenous fluids used for resuscitation are crystalloids like normal saline and Ringer's lactate. The initial dose given is 20ml per kg as bolus over 5 minutes. This dose may be repeated if required. Th ereafter, the fluids are given based on the maintenance requirements and losses. Appropriate intravenous antibiotics must be started. Initial laboratory work-up includes complete blood counts, serum electrolytes, renal parameters, liver function tests, chest radiography and arterial blood gas analysis. Calcium, sodium bicarbonate and steroids are given as required. The management of shock is tailored to the cause and the stage of shock. In the irreversible stage, the cellular and tissue injuries cannot be reversed despite hemodynamic correction. There is widespread cellular injury as a result of lysosomal leakage. The damage is evident in organs like brain, heart, kidneys, adrenals and gastrointestinal tract. In the heart, nitric oxide synthesis occurs and myocardial contractile function worsens. There may be wide-spread coagulation necrosis, subendocardial haemorrhage or contraction band necrosis (Claessens and Dhainaut, 2007). Structured Reflection Reflective practice is essential to clinical practice and provides a retrospective look at current practice and questions the reason for doing so. It is a good way of learning and it enables the practitioner to assess, understand and learn through their experiences (Burns and Grove 1997). In the following assignment, I shall discuss about a patient with cancer related septic shock based on Gibbs (1988) Reflective Cycle. This is because, Gibbs Reflective Cycle is a straight

The Mercy of Religion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Mercy of Religion - Essay Example However, despite all this, conflicts still makes the most part of the news today; the media is talking about violence from all corners of the world. It is devastating how Christianity is least influential on the struggles for peace and against violence in the USA. They have let the leaders whose lips are fast to talk about war and how the citizens should protect themselves dominate the arena. Christian religion has its focus and attention on understanding the past events, how they affect our society instead of the earlier and current occurrences in the society (Moore 23). Christian believers should be quite hiding in the past and focus on the current and fulfill its obligation in terminating the global violence. The USA should be first in peace negotiation and ending violence. In every social setting, a woman is equally important like the man because she performs the basic task in the family like ensuring adequate water for use in the family, looking after the sick, tending the gardens and other duties. The woman is the building blocks of any society and I belief without her, we would have a chaotic society where peace is no existence, malnourished children, and men, and many features that are more unexciting, (Rosemary 12). Despite the good things a woman can do, many cultures do not regard her and mostly assume her efforts and duties, for instance, she is considered the poorest in the family for money she gets is utilized for the well being of the society while the man uses his to buy luxuries like a radio. Religion puts the woman a compromising position in that she is required to be submissive to the man, support him and in some religions, he must not be adulterous but a man can. Many NGO have however been establish and are working towards promoting th e rights of the woman in the society and above anything the appreciation she deserves for the roles she plays. Since its inception after the

India's global success in the film industry Essay

India's global success in the film industry - Essay Example Cinema is a major industry in India. A film industry uses many technological and commercial institutions of film making. A Cinema or a film industry depicts the culture and the art of a country in the movie that it usually make, the Indian film industry is famous for its distinguished melodrama style of film making. The Indian film industry is multi lingual. The main language used in the films of India is either Hindi or Urdu, besides these languages there are other languages such as Punjabi, Marathi, Bengali, etc that are used to present film and they target their respective language speakers. The Indian film industry in famously known as †Bollywood†, this name is an amalgamation of Bombay (the previous name used for the Indian city of Mumbai) and the ever popular Hollywood (a neighborhood in Los Angeles, California where the American cinema exists). (Bollywood History) Cinema made its first step into the Indian subcontinent in the year 1896 when Lumiere Brothers cinematograph film was screened in the city of Bombay on 7th July, 1986. This day, the concept of cinema was introduced in the Indian subcontinent but the initial silent film â€Å"Raja Harishchandra† (made by Indians totally) was released in 1913 to mark the start of the great Indian cinema. With this film, a trend of mythological and religious films took over the concept of film making in the Indian film Industry and this was further revolutionized in 1931 with the inception of sound in the first talking Indian film â€Å"Alam Ara†. The period after India’s independence was considered to be the golden era of the Indian film industry with respect to the songs, movies, etc made in the Indian film industry, by the 1970s and the 80s era, the Indian film industry had reached a great height and global recognition. In 1992, this global recognition was further enhanced in 19 92 when Satyajit Ray, an Indian filmmaker received a life time achievement Oscar for his excellent work and the

The Mercy of Religion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Mercy of Religion - Essay Example However, despite all this, conflicts still makes the most part of the news today; the media is talking about violence from all corners of the world. It is devastating how Christianity is least influential on the struggles for peace and against violence in the USA. They have let the leaders whose lips are fast to talk about war and how the citizens should protect themselves dominate the arena. Christian religion has its focus and attention on understanding the past events, how they affect our society instead of the earlier and current occurrences in the society (Moore 23). Christian believers should be quite hiding in the past and focus on the current and fulfill its obligation in terminating the global violence. The USA should be first in peace negotiation and ending violence. In every social setting, a woman is equally important like the man because she performs the basic task in the family like ensuring adequate water for use in the family, looking after the sick, tending the gardens and other duties. The woman is the building blocks of any society and I belief without her, we would have a chaotic society where peace is no existence, malnourished children, and men, and many features that are more unexciting, (Rosemary 12). Despite the good things a woman can do, many cultures do not regard her and mostly assume her efforts and duties, for instance, she is considered the poorest in the family for money she gets is utilized for the well being of the society while the man uses his to buy luxuries like a radio. Religion puts the woman a compromising position in that she is required to be submissive to the man, support him and in some religions, he must not be adulterous but a man can. Many NGO have however been establish and are working towards promoting th e rights of the woman in the society and above anything the appreciation she deserves for the roles she plays. Since its inception after the

Summary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Summary - Essay Example The major question is: What is tourism education? The other important concept to consider is to establish the difference between tourism education and tourism training. The other important question that sought to be addressed by the study is: How has tourism education developed in Indonesia? More importantly, the chapter sought to explore the concepts and methods used in delivering tourism education in the learning as well as teaching process. The chapter also sought to explore the level of tourism in the Indonesian Higher education. Tourism education has rapidly developed during the past two decades in different parts of the world. For instance, the first degrees in travel and tourism were offered in the 1980s in the UK (Messenger, 1991). This trend has slowly spread to other countries both developing and developed. Research has shown that this trend is a bit similar in developing as well as developed countries. However, there has been debate about whether to consider tourism as a discipline on its own. This is mainly because it is widely viewed as an emerging discipline which has not yet fully developed. The group that argues that tourism is a discipline on its own state that there have been different distinctive concepts peculiar to the tourism industry that have developed during the recent past (Leiper, 2000). For instance, the main destination ratio is a concept specifically meant for the tourism industry (Leiper, 1981). The Australian Standard Research Classification asserts to the notion that tourism has been long identified as However, the other group argue that tourism cannot be regarded as a discipline on its own as a result of the fact that it lacks integrated frameworks that have been developed in various disciplines in different researches. In actual fact, they argue that there are few or no theories that have been specifically developed for this area of study which means that it cannot be regarded as a

Histo-Bio Reading of the Farming of Bones Essay Example for Free

Histo-Bio Reading of the Farming of Bones Essay â€Å"Our motherland is Spain; theirs is darkest Africa, you understand? They once came here only to cut sugarcane, but now there are more of them than there will ever be cane to cut, you understand? Our problem is one of dominion. Those of us who love our country are taking measures to keep it our own†. This statement was memorized by both the Haitian and Dominicans prisoners tortured by the soldiers during the â€Å"Parsley massacre†, which was a clear illustration of the xenophobia the Tyrannical leader, General Trujillo had. Thus, a wave of genocide which decimates the Haitian emigre population is justified (Brice-Finch, 1999). Farming of the Bones, a novel of Danticat, does not only vividly reveal a detailed, fictional narration of what happened to the Haitians before, during, and after the â€Å"El Corte† or provide us a glimpse of the author’s life as a Haitian. The novel, considered to be one of the literary records of history of Haitians, was able to captivate the lives of Haitians in a land they partly owned. The Farming of Bones is a stark reminder of the massacre as well as a tribute to the valor of those Haitians who escaped the terror (Brice-Finch 1999). At that particular time, Haiti was being colonized by the Americans. This event pushed some of the natives to go to Dominican Republic and find work to be able to help their families left in Haiti. Most of them became cane workers, housemaids, houseboys, etc. as expected, most of them were being oppressed by their employers in different ways. Some of them were overworked but underpaid and some are physically abused. However, amabelle did not suffer the same fate as a personal maid since she was adored, if not loved by her employers. Papi and Donya Valencia, her patroness, never failed to treat her right. However, when the tyrant General Trujillo felt that the number of Haitians is continuing to grow, he felt it was high time to â€Å"cleanse† their land. After hearing news of the killings, Amabelle then decided to leave her patrons and go back to Haiti with her lover Sebastien and his sister. However, when she was about to leave, the cutting in 1937— a part of General Trujillo’s dictatorial regime, Donya Valencia bled—an event that made her stay at the house a little bit longer. Because of the slight delay, Amabelle was not able to meet Sebastien and Mimi by the church—the meeting place for those who will cross the border with Doctor Javier. It was said, nonetheless, that all those who were to meet in church were arrested by the soldiers together with the doctor and the priests. Amabelle then decided to go and find Mimi and his brother. She journeyed with Yves, a good friend of Sebastien. While they were on their journey, there were several instances of them having themselves almost killed by the Dominicans. Their companions, whim they met on the way, also died one by one and Yves and Amabelle were the only ones to return to their homeland. There, they attempted to have normal lives so they kept themselves busy; however, no matter what they do, it was very clear that the ghosts of the past would haunt them until death.the border region. These instances from the novel clearly mirror the 1937 Parsley massacre and had shown a very precise documentary of the said horrifying event. Such instances are as follows: First, General Trujillo was really the name of the tyrannical leader of Dominican Republic from 1930 to 1961, who ordered to kill all the Haitians so that, generally, they could have their country only for themselves. In the novel, him despising the Haitians was clearly shown in his actions. He was the sole mastermind of the â€Å"cleansing† of their border and he was also the one to pay very small amount of money to all the victims after the almost one-week bloodbath. Second, the narration of the Parsley Massacre was exactly how the event happened in 1937. The trucks containing the Haitians were real. The â€Å"killing spree†, where the peasants are to line by six and jump off a cliff if they were not able to say â€Å"perejil† (parsley) correctly, since the color of the Dominicans and Hatians are almost the same, also happened the same way it was in the novel. A quote from Senyora Valencia illustrates this point: â€Å"And in the parsley he said ‘pewegil’ for perejil. The Generalissimo had him in plain sight and could have shot him in the parsley, but he did not because the Generalissimo had a realization. Your people did not trill their r the way we do, or pronounce the jota. ‘You can never hide as long as there is parsley nearby,’ the Generalissi mo is believed to have said. On this island, you walk too far and people speak a different language. Their own words reveal who belongs on what side.† In this particular event, Dominican troops killed between 10,000 and 15,000 Haitians in approximately 2-6 days, particularly from October 2nd to October 4th 1937 (Upchurch, 1998). Third, the River of Massacre is really the name of the river at the borderline of Haiti and Dominican Republic. The Massacre River was named for a seventeeth century bloodbath, but as Danticat makes clear, it has continued to live up to its name. The river divides the small Caribbean island of Hispaniola into the countries of Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Because the countries are so close, their fates have historically been intertwined. The Farming of Bones begins in the Republic, during the regime of General Rafael Trujillo (Upchurch, 1998). Fourth and last in the significant similarities in events in history and the novel was that even though the Dominican leader taught its people to be cruel and to have no mercy for the Haitians, some of them chose to defy the General and helped hide several peasants during the mass killing. Senyora Valencia was a great example of such Dominicans: â€Å"Do you truly understand? During El Corte, though I was bleeding and nearly died, I hid many of your people. I hid a baby who is now a student at the medical school with Rosalinda and her husband. I hid Sylvie and two families in your old room. I hid some of Donya Sabine’s people before she and her husband escaped to Haiti. I did what I could in my situation.† In history, however, it is believed that although we must acknowledge that the Haitian-Dominican conflict stemmed from the occupation of the Dominican Republic by Haiti, it would be dangerous, and unfair to the Dominican people, to attribute Trujillo’s acts and ideology entirely to the same origin. Most of the Dominican people did not participate in Trujillo’s massacre of the Haitians. In fact, Many Haitians were saved by good-hearted Dominicans who could not imagine and could not accept the killings of thousands of innocents for petty reasons. The best example of this fact is the Dominican politician, Jose Maria Peza Gomez, who is believed to be of Haitian descent, and who escaped the massacre because a White Dominican family adopted him. As for the author’s relation to the characters, I found Amabelle most likely to share the life of Edwidge Danticat. There are few similarities in them but if you would compare Danticat’s life to that of other characters, it is most likely that you would find it difficult. For one, Danticat had always wanted to be a writer ever since she was a child. Her parents, on the other hand wanted her to be a doctor. In Amabelle’s case, she had always been veering away from her parents’ love for giving birth and chose to just sew clothes and at the same time serve Senyora Valencia. Another, I think, is the point in her life when her parents transferred to New York to work there. She was very young then and yet had to live without her parents with her. Amabelle experienced this when her parents drowned while crossing the river at the border. Both of them were forced to live without their parents at a time when they need guidance, love, and care from the person who brought them into this world. Third and last point is when Danticat transferred to Brooklyn to live with her real family. Adjustment to this new family was difficult, and to make it worse, she also had difficulty adjusting at school, because she spoke only Creole and did not know any English. Other students taunted her as a Haitian, a boat person, or a refugee. This time, it’s not only Amabelle who experienced the same treatment from other people but all the Haitians in the Dominicans part of the land. As evident in the novel, most of them suffered greatly because of their race, social status, and language. Obviously, it is very apparent that the novel Farming of the Bones was a literary record of what had happened to the 1937 massacre and a bit of the author’s life. In fact, the massacre, Danticat told Mallay Charters in Publishers Weekly, is not just a part of our history, as Haitians, but its also a part of the history of the world. Writing about it is an act of remembrance. References: Brice-Finch (1999) A review of The Farming of Bones, in World Literature Today, Vol. 73, No. 2, p. 373. Munro, M. (2006) Writing Disaster: Trauma, Memory, and History in Edwidge Danticat’s The Farming of Bones. London: Faber and Faber Upchurch, M. (1998) â€Å"No Room for the Living,† in New York Times Book Review. Lancer, J. The Conflict between Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Retrieved from http://www.allempires.com/forum/ Wucker, M. (1998) The River Massacre: The Real and Imagined Borders of Hispaniola Retrieved from: http://windows.on.haiti-the.river.massacre.files.html (2005) Edwidge Danticat. Retrieved from http://voices.cla.umn.edu/vg/Bios/entries/danticat_edwidge.html (2009) 70 Years Ago in the Dominican Republic! Retrieved from http://fowomouvriye.org/Bulletins/001/TheHopeAct.html (2012) The Farming of Bones: Author Biography. Retrieved from http://www.enotes.com/farming-bones (2012) Dominican Republic. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominica

The Philosophy of Rationality in Economics

The Philosophy of Rationality in Economics Nikita Kohli The ways of being human are bound but infinite. -Larry Niven An Introduction There exists no single definition of Rationality, yet it forms the cornerstone of basal assumptions of standard models of economics. A sweeping glance of the concept however, elucidates one fact. Rationality deals in human behaviour, it aims to understand its motivations and predict future outcomes based on choices. Rife with contradictions and limitations analogous to the innate complexity of human nature, this theory has been repeated altered and manifests itself in different ways with the progression of time. Objectives: The primary objective of this paper is to qualitatively analyze economic literature and draw conclusions pertaining to the concept of rationality and its relevance in the world today. Literature Review This paper, as the title suggests, aims to examine the concept of rationality, its use both philosophically in the study of broad humanity as well as in its more specific application to economics and standard models of human behaviour. In order to gain an understanding of early texts exploring concepts of rationality, such as the works of Aristotle and, the author relied on interpretative papers such as those of Fred Miller (1984). Various original works of authors have been studied chronologically to enable a historic overview of the concept, eventually yielding to contemporary work, implications and applications to various phenomena. Notable repositories of information such as the Palgrave Dictionary of Economics and critical essays on the subject of Rationality (a collection edited by Bill Gerrard) have been accessed. The papers with their extensive reference lists gave the author insight into the vast literature focused on this specific subject. Reviews and critiques, and studies in retrospect of concepts have been perused to help put an idea from another time into contemporary perspective. PART 1 Rationality: A historical Analysis If one devalues rationality, the world tends to fall apart – Lars Von Trier The first mention of the concept of Rationality is seen in the work of Aristotle; who states that the human being has a rational principle and the ability to carry out rationally formulated projects. (Miller, 1984). ‘Homo Economicus’ or the ‘Economic Man’ was a term that first appeared in the work of J.S Mill who described man as ‘solely as a being who desires to possess wealth, and who is capable of judging the comparative efficacy of means for obtaining that end’. (Mill, 1844). This is the base of the most widespread assumption in economics – that man strives to only maximize his utility and satisfaction, and this trait, intrinsic to all men, is termed ‘rationality’. Jevons, the forbearer of mathematical economics propounded a quantitative measure of the utility function. In stressing on the concept of marginal utility, he put forth some basic tenets of the utility consumption theory, namely that economic agents derive utility by consumption of goods, and that they are rational, calculating maximisers. In attempting to ‘treat the economy as a  calculus  of pleasure and pain’, Jevons (1871) set the foundations for a paradigm of Economics, which was deeply rooted in individualistic theories of motivation and decisions. Von Mises (1949), in his seminal work on human nature and decision making, asserted that human action is ‘necessarily always rational’. His understanding of rationality, however, differed from that of his successors in the field of Economics. He believed that every human being acted in a way that furthered their self-interest and was to achieve some end goal. When viewed in pure subjectivity, no action can be termed irrational as every human being acts out of some motivation, thus making the action ‘rational’. Concepts of Rationality: A contemporary analysis All human behavior is scheduled and programmed through rationality.   Michael Foucault In the early 1960s, mathematical economist John Muth (considered the Father of the Rational Expectations Revolution in Economics) put forth a body of work that would leave on indelible mark on the rationality discourse. For the first time, a significant difference in economic analysis was made, that between ‘adaptive’ and ‘rational’ expectations. Muth’s work and the theory of Rational Expectations was considered iconoclastic at the time as it proposed a shift in knowledge processing, analysis and decision making. Neo-classical economics, as propounded by Friedman, Keynes and others dealt with systems and analysis using historical data. This was termed ‘adaptive’. Adaptive neo-classical theory forms the basis for many policy decisions, be in pump-priming investment or monetary contraction. Policy is created in keeping with past results and some common assumptions in economics – people will demand more when the government invests in the economy etc. In contrast, Rational Expectations take into view the whole economy, in its real-time functionality, and uses imbibes current information in its analysis. It propounds that ‘rational agents’ continuously update their information and take into account the whole system. As Muth (1961) asserts, ‘the economy does not waste information, and that expectations depend specifically on the structure of the entire system. In addition to this fundamental tenet, this school of thought also states that markets will always clear; prices will adjust to fluctuations in supply almost immediately. When this concept is extrapolated to encompass the macro economy, it is often stated that no government policy or exogenous shock can shake up the system. This is because of the existence of rational agents, who, using their knowledge of existing phenomenon, expect certain outcomes and adjust their course of action accordingly. For instance, in a recessionary period, sellers will not let their prices fall. They behave in this manner because they are aware of the current scenario and preempt government investment intervention to attenuate falling demand. Thus they expect their demand to rise in the near future. As Greg Egan would put it, ‘It all adds up to normality’. While implicit in the Rational Expectations theory is the existence of perfect knowledge, transmuting into rational decisions, there emerged a field of study which emphasized the shortcomings of knowledge and information acquisition. The term ‘Bounded Rationality’ was introduced by Herbert Simon in his book Models of Man (1957). While in spirit adhering to the belief that human beings are rational, Simon’s theory observed a critical failing; that of the assumption of complete information. In this structure, human behaviour is viewed not in terms of rational, utility maximizing behaviour. Instead, it is seen as a series of actions, often not compatible with each other, decisions taken in situations of partial information and based on limited reflection. This accounts for the limitations to both knowledge and cognitive capacity. Taking this idea further, simmering in the field of human behaviour vis a vis economic processes, is the belief that human beings can sometimes be ‘Irrational’. Carrying out specific studies in this area, economist Dan Ariely finds surprising results. In a given situation, a person may make a choice which will not benefit them in the future, may not help them immediately, and the decision is made in the light of these two eventualities. Ariely explains that this is because human behaviour is not always controlled by rational motives, it is highly impulse driven and impacted heavily by exogenous factors. In the early 1960s, Gary Becker put forth the same idea; only that he believed even irrational agents can work ‘smoothly as a single unit’. Human irrationality, he states, was in fact rational. PART 2 – NUANCES OF RATIONALITY Amartya Sen anchors a clear distinction in the approaches to Rationality in literature. He divides them into two broad categories – Instrumental Rationality and Substantive Rationality. Substantive rationality is when one acts out of objectively, independently defined self interest. This lends itself to the General Equilibrium theory, the starting point of individual behaviour is a predefined utility function, and choice arises from this within the constraints imposed. Instrumental rationality dons a more humane approach wherein it allows for objectives that are not restricted to solely self-interest. This methodology acknowledges the influence of other factors on rationality. Sociologist Max Weber states a similar idea; that of Wertrationalor value/belief-oriented rationality, wherein the motives for action are often driven by reasons intrinsic to a particular actor, such as specific emotions, societal or spiritual aspects. Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky have made important contributions to the understanding of rationality and reactions to choice. The Prospect theory attempts to describe decisions under uncertainty. It empirically proves that a decision making process is often not rational; people are risk-averse when they stand to incur losses and risk-taking when they stand to gain. Another obstacle to ‘rational’ thinking is the problems posed by ‘heuristics’ (Kahneman Tversky, 1974). Heuristics are mental short-cuts, which usually involve focusing on one part of a complex problem and often ignoring the larger, more complete set of information. This limited perception of the issue at hand is used to make a decision. In any sphere of study, the influence of external social factors cannot be denied, on a superficial level, this impact could manifest itself in the way of the ‘Demonstration’ or ‘Bandwagon’ effect. On deeper examination, we see that these exogenous factors often define an individual’s sense of Rationality, which leads us to realize that Rationality can never be completely objective or homogenously innate to all. Adopting a pragmatic approach to the limitations posed by imperfect knowledge, Herbert Simon proposes the term ‘satisficing’. He pointed out that human beings lack the cognitive resources tooptimize: the relevant probabilities of outcomes are usually, thus the evaluation of all outcomes with sufficient precision is rare, if not impossible. A more realistic approach to rationality takes into account these limitations. An important application of the rationality principle in neo-classical economic theory is in the analyses of perfect competition. Competitive equilibrium is said to have been reached when each person maximizes their utility, given a certain set of assumptions (no externalities). This state of equilibrium will tend towards Pareto Optimality as it is assumed that the Pareto Optimal state is one where there is perfectly competitive equilibrium at a given set of prices and some initial distribution of resources. Every rational utility maximizer is in equilibrium, wherein no one can be made better off without hurting another’s well-being and current status. This basal assumption of rational behaviour establishes the relationship between the aforementioned concepts. PART 3: CONCLUSION In everything, one thing is impossible: rationality – Nietshchze This paper has attempted to shed light upon the various dimensions of rationality, as depicted in economic phenomenon. Problems arise however, with the implicit assumption of rationality in models involving human behaviour in varied situations. Rationality implies comprehensive knowledge of the current economic system, which is then factored into the decision making process. In keeping with the ‘Efficient Market Hypothesis’, markets will always correct themselves and clear as people are able to adapt and adjust to fluctuations almost immediately, due to their information. It has also been argued that natural processes of elimination ensure that rationality perpetuates itself, where those who act ‘rationally’ work optimally. This can be seen in nature, in the principle of ‘survival of the fittest’. Milton Friedman also draws this parallel to markets, where non-profit maximizing firms are driven to a wall so that only the ‘rational’, profit maximizing firms may survive. (Friedman, 1953). These applications and assumptions are rife with shortfalls. The first limitation is that of ‘knowledge’. Acquisition of this perfect knowledge to facilitate rationality is expensive, consumes resources, and in many cases proves impossible to obtain. To assume that perfect knowledge is a prerequisite for rational behaviour limits its scope. While looking at markets and macro-structures, one can see rational expectations as the underlying force in stock markets. These markets are extremely sensitive to minor fluctuations and react almost instantaneously to restore equilibrium. The same cannot be said of the economy. It is impossible to expect policy to change, or its impact to be as versatile as is seen in the stock markets. The case of the rupee depreciation illustrates this point, wherein the stock markets adjust to the disturbance, but the economy is left flagging. Chamberlin points out, that for Perfectly Competitive equilibrium to exist, there at first must exist a certain measure of disequilibrium. He states that not merely pure, but perfect competition is requisite for the rationality hypotheses can have their full power. The existence of the initial disequilibrium, in conditions of complete rationality, proves to be contradictory. Another limitation of the rationality assumption is that it makes for models that are normative, rather positive. Formally and explicitly, these provide frameworks to understand how agents should act in order to maximize their self interest. This fails in its predictive capacity, to see how one will behave in the future. We’re all mad here – Cheshire Cat, Alice in Wonderland Rationality is assumed to be highly centered on the individual. But as Kenneth Arrow 1986) points out, rationality gathers not only its force, but very meaning from the social context in which it is embedded. It holds only under ideal conditions, the nature of which is not seen in the world today. Adam Smith in the Theory of Moral Sentiments attributes actions to not only self-interest, but more humane factors like love, benevolence and community feeling. A science taking into account human behaviour must closely study its major drivers. Exposure to various social factors and upbringing influences the way people think. Defining rationality becomes problematic, what is rational to one may be deemed irrational to another. For instance, faith, religious belief, personal opinions and ideology are not universal in their impact and acceptance. Rationality then becomes extremely contextual; one person’s rationality is bound to not hold in another person’s situation. Rationality can also be temporal, due to the lack of accurate information about the future; what holds true today or in the immediate foreseeable future, may not hold in the long-run. The limits and bounds to rational thinking are not clear and universal, they’re morphed and moulded and coloured by personal experiences and biases. A crucial distinction needs to be made about what kind of behaviour is rational and what is not, and what models of behaviour may be useful in predicting actual behaviour. Taking into account various individualities poses a great challenge, but to attribute motivation and action to perfect rationality, especially in the context of subjective human behaviour, is problematic. Anomalies will be patent to the process of fitting human nature and motives into an objective framework. The author concludes that an assumption about human beings, especially one as pervasive as assumed rationality, is dangerous. At the same time, accounting for individual drivers is nearly impossible. Policy, and core economic theory must be able to account for, at the very least acknowledge, these discrepancies. This is the only way to create frameworks which may work with greater precision. REFERENCES Arrow, K. J. (1986). Rationality of self and others in an economic system.  Journal of Business, S385-S399. Friedman, M. (1953). The methodology of positive economics.  The Philosophy of economics: an anthology,2, 180-213. Heap, H.S (1993) Post Modernity and New Conceptions of Rationality in Economics. In The Economics of Rationality. (pp. 48-60). Routledge Jevons, W. S. (1871).  The Theory of Political Economy. Macmillan and Company. Kahneman, D. (1994). 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