Major Patrick Ferguson in the American Revolution

The son of James and Anne Ferguson, Patrick Ferguson was born on June 4, 1744, in Edinburgh, Scotland. The son of a lawyer, Ferguson met many of the figures of the Scottish Enlightenment during his youth such as David Hume, John Home, and Adam Ferguson. In 1759, with the Seven Years War raging, Ferguson was encouraged to pursue a military career by his uncle, Brigadier General James Murray. A well-known officer, Murray served under Major General James Wolfe at the Battle of Quebec later that year. Acting on his uncles advice, Ferguson purchased a cornets commission in the Royal North British Dragoons (Scots Greys). Early Career Rather than immediately join his regiment, Ferguson spent two years studying at the Royal Military Academy in Woolwich. In 1761, he traveled to Germany for active service with the regiment. Shortly after arriving, Ferguson fell ill with an ailment in his leg. Bedridden for several months, he was unable to rejoin the Greys until August 1763. Though capable of active duty, he was plagued by arthritis in his leg for the rest of his life. As the war had been concluded, he saw garrison duty around Britain for the next several years. In 1768, Ferguson purchased a captaincy in the 70th Regiment of Foot. The Ferguson Rifle Sailing for the West Indies, the regiment served in garrison duty and later aided in putting down a slave revolt on Tobago. While there, he purchased a sugar plantation at Castara. Suffering from fever and issues with his leg, Ferguson returned to Britain in 1772. Two years later, he attended a light infantry training camp at Salisbury overseen by Major General William Howe. A skilled leader, Ferguson quickly impressed Howe with his ability in the field. During this period, he also worked on developing an effective breech-loading musket. Beginning with previous work by Isaac de la Chaumette, Ferguson created an improved design which he demonstrated on June 1. Impressing King George III, the design was patented on December 2 and was capable of firing six to ten rounds per minute. Though superior to the British Armys standard Brown Bess muzzle-loading musket in some ways, the Ferguson design was significantly more expensive and took much more time to produce. Despite these limitations, around 100 were produced and Ferguson was given command of an Experimental Rifle Company in March 1777 for service in the American Revolution. Brandywine Injury Arriving in 1777, Fergusons specially equipped unit joined Howes army and participated in the campaign to capture Philadelphia. On September 11, Ferguson and his men took part in the Battle of Brandywine. In the course of the fighting, Ferguson elected not to fire at a high-ranking American officer for reasons of honor. Reports later indicated that it may have been either Count Casimir Pulaski or General George Washington. As the fighting progressed, Ferguson was hit by a musket ball that shattered his right elbow. With the fall of Philadelphia, he was taken to the city to recover. Over the next eight months, Ferguson endured a series of operations in the hope of saving his arm. These proved reasonably successful, though he never regained full use of the limb. During the course of his recovery, Fergusons rifle company was disbanded. Returning to active duty in 1778, he served under Major General Sir Henry Clinton at the Battle of Monmouth. In October, Clinton dispatched Ferguson to Little Egg Harbor River in southern New Jersey to eliminate a nest of American privateers. Attacking on October 8, he burned several ships and buildings before withdrawing. South Jersey Several days later, Ferguson learned that Pulaski was camped in the area and that the American position was lightly guarded. Attacking on October 16, his troops killed around fifty men before Pulaski arrived with aid. Due to the American losses, the engagement became known as the Little Egg Harbor Massacre. Operating from New York in early 1779, Ferguson conducted scouting missions for Clinton. In the wake of the American attack on Stony Point, Clinton directed him to oversee the defenses in the area. In December, Ferguson took command of the American Volunteers, a force of New York and New Jersey Loyalists. To the Carolinas In early 1780, Fergusons command sailed as part of Clintons army which sought to capture Charleston, SC. Landing in February, Ferguson was accidentally bayoneted in the left arm when Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarletons British Legion mistakenly attacked his camp. As the Siege of Charleston progressed, Fergusons men worked to cut off the American supply routes to the city. Joining with Tarleton, Ferguson aided in defeating an American force at Moncks Corner on April 14. Four days later, Clinton elevated him to major and backdated the promotion to the previous October. Moving to the north bank of the Cooper River, Ferguson took part in the capture of Fort Moultrie in early May. With the fall of Charleston on May 12, Clinton appointed Ferguson as an inspector of militia for the region and charged him with raising units of Loyalists. Returning to New York, Clinton left Lieutenant General Lord Charles Cornwallis in command. In his role as inspector, he succeeded in raising around 4,000 men. After skirmishing with local militias, Ferguson was ordered to take 1,000 men west and guard Cornwallis flank as the army advanced into North Carolina. Battle of Kings Mountain Establishing himself at Gilbert Town, NC on September 7, Ferguson moved south three days later to intercept a militia force led by Colonel Elijah Clarke. Before leaving, he sent a message to the American militias on the other side of the Appalachian Mountains ordering them to cease their attacks or he would cross the mountains and lay waste to their country with fire and sword. Enraged by Fergusons threats, these militias mobilized and on September 26 began moving against the British commander. Learning of this new threat, Ferguson began retreating south then east with the goal of reuniting with Cornwallis. In early October, Ferguson found that the mountain militias were gaining on his men. On October 6, he decided to make a stand and assumed a position on King Mountain. Fortifying the highest parts of the mountain, his command came under attack late the next day. During the Battle of Kings Mountain, the Americans surrounded the mountain and eventually overwhelmed Fergusons men. In the course of the fighting, Ferguson was shot from his horse. As he fell, his foot caught in the saddle and he was dragged into the American lines. Dying, the victorious militia stripped and urinated on his body before it buried in a shallow grave. In the 1920s, a marker was erected over Fergusons grave which now lies in Kings Mountain National Military Park. Selected Sources Patriot Resource: Patrick FergusonMajor Patrick Ferguson

Closure of Public OHV Areas Essay - 1185 Words

Closure of Public OHV Areas Some years ago a new form of recreation came about known as an Off Highway Vehicle(OHV). Today these high powered, light weight vehicles come in many forms with anywhere from four to two wheels. There are many areas across the United States for such vehicles to be driven but as of today there are some groups out there who wish to close the areas in which these vehicles can be used. One area in particular, located outside of Yuma on the California and Arizona border has been subjected to many threats recently and those who use the land for its recreational purposes have had to fight to keep the land that was originally granted to them for use by the US government. This one area is what many would call a†¦show more content†¦There are no valid points brought to light by the CBD to logically explain why the imperial sand dunes outside of Yuma need to be closed to off road use. To look into this argument requires that you look more deeply into the issues that are really at hand. Now that the CBD has no claims that support what they actually stand for, that being of something environmentally related, they must now tread onto foreign territory saying such things as â€Å"While most people who come to the Imperial Sand Dunes respect the law and each other, as ABCNEWS reported, crimes such as alcohol and drug abuse and acts of violence and vandalism have grown in recent years and become a serious issue (ABCNEWS.com).† and â€Å"Its just a rave party mentality with offroad vehicles mixed with violence, Its just a crazy area† (James Gilbert). These are the new arguments coming forth from the sierra club activists now that their bet which they had so heavily weighted their chips has fallen through. To make statements such as this clearly shows the weaknesses in the CBD’s argument because they have had to leave their original stance and move onto something that does not concern them what so ever. To make a claim such as this would be the same as if the CBD said there should be no more rock and roll concerts because of the violence and drug use that is associated with them. The aforementioned claim is of no relevance to what the CBD is arguing for and in turn should be immediately

Baroque Humanities Free Essays

If ever there was a period of enlightened absolutism on European soil, it has to be the 150 year-long period from 1600 A. D. to 1750 A. We will write a custom essay sample on Baroque Humanities or any similar topic only for you Order Now D. , which witnessed the rebirth of grand styles in art, sculpture, painting and literature. The ideas of monarchism were rejuvenated during this era as the issues of social contract and individual liberty frequented the thinking minds. In fact the thinking renaissance had already been set in motion by eminent philosophers and rulers, including Joseph II and Maria Theresa of Austria, Louis XIV of France, Frederick II of Prussia and many others. Also known as the Baroque period, this phase is noted for its spectacular growth and development across all vertices, especially in artistic realms. What singles out the Baroque from other periods in European history was its dynamism of cultural expressions. The creation of art was unrestrained and raw in nature. From a political perspective, the British Commonwealth under the leadership of Oliver Cromwell thrived in trade and commerce, and secularism emerged after the brutal bloodbath of the Middle Ages. The royal court of England was receptive to the refreshing counter-reformatory changes that occurred in the intellectual sphere of this period. Our current course of discussion goes beyond just the social, political or religious scenarios that characterized the Baroque era. Rather we attempt to seek the culminating point to have come out of the intellectual revolution of the time, expressing itself in threefold directive of literature, music and art. To achieve our objective, we have picked up three authoritative works distinctive of the Baroque era – Orfeo by Claudio Monteverdi for music, The Flaming Heart by Richard Crashaw for literature and The Last Supper by Jacopo Tinteretto for artwork. The rest of this essay is going to elaborate on how the profound philosophies and witticism of the Baroque period were manifested in these three masterpieces. Music in the Baroque featured a discernible style and mode of expression unique to this era only. It was converged on a diverse breed of artistic expressions to form a continuum of aesthetic principles rooted in visual and literary arts. First performed in 1607, Orfeo by Claudio Monteverdi is deemed as the signature musical composition of the Baroque. The grandeur of this Italian opera dissolved the geographical barriers and traversed far and wide to all corners of Europe. Composed on the themes of the Greek legend of Orpheus, Orfeo celebrates the freedom of spirit of the Baroque through its forceful dramatic appeal and impeccable orchestration. The compelling intellectual sensitivity of the Baroque literature is best manifested in The Flaming Heart, an English poem by Richard Crashaw. This poem captures the extravagance of poetic imagination both in content as well as in form. As argued by Summers and Pebworth (175), The Flaming Heart is comparable to The Ecstasy of St. Teresa by Bernini in its vividly descriptive expression of personal emotions. As the poem nears the end, it weaves a state of the mind for the reader, which is left unexplored by Bernini (Summers et al. 175): â€Å"By all of him we have in thee, Leave nothing of my self in me: Let me so read thy life that I Unto all life of mine may die. † (The Flaming Heart 2009) The Baroque elements in Crashaw, as argued by Healy (1), are reflected in his â€Å"tendency to adopt the fallacious view†¦Ã¢â‚¬ . Indeed, the period in question was stripped off all sorts of polished sophistication and the style of expression was more inclined to counter reformatory impulses than to â€Å"judgments about taste† (Healy 2). The Last Supper by Jacopo Tinteretto concerns the Biblical allusion to the spiritual act of communion. As a groundbreaking work of manneristic painting, a genre that evolved in the Baroque traditions, this piece of artwork speaks volumes for the ingenuity of painters belonging to the Venetian school during the Italian Renaissance. The quintessential baroque features in The Last Supper are manifested through Tinteretto’s offbeat use of perspective and lighting effects. Similar to all other artistic genres of the baroque, the manneristic painting too was characterized by freedom of expression and intricacies of ornamentation. In case of The Last Supper, these aspects were brought to life by brisk brushstroke technique on canvas (The Last Supper by Jacopo Tinteretto 2002-2009). Etymologically the term ‘baroque’ implies abnormality and extravagance. Now it has been historically proved that any productive age is bound to be fueled by these traits rather than orderly and genteel ones. It is quite clear from the above discussion that the Baroque era was the golden period in the history of Europe in terms of authentic art movements. Literary compositions, musical experimentations and painting reflected the erratic but extremely creative spirit of the age. Works Cited Healy, Thomas F. Richard Crashaw. Leiden: Brill Archive, 1986. Summers, Claude J. , and Ted-Larry Pebworth. The wit of seventeenth-century poetry. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1995. â€Å"The Flaming Heart. † Poemhunter. com. 23 April 2009. 23 April 2009 http://www. poemhunter. com/poem/the-flaming-heart/. â€Å"The Last Supper by Jacopo Tinteretto. † DirectEssays. com. 2002-2009. 23 April 2009 http://www. directessays. com/viewpaper/18155. html. How to cite Baroque Humanities, Papers

Industrial Revolution and its Impact on Urbanization and Urban Places

Question: Write an academic essay on the Industrial Revolution. In the hypothetical essay that he has assigned, you are to research the history of the Industrial Revolution and its impact on urbanization and urban places. Answer: Introduction Segal et al., (2014) Learning skills vary with the kind of learning style a person perceives. It affects much on the research style they perform for finding a particular research topic. Chipman et al., (2013) also affirm that some take notes and some explore as many as resources from different sources like the internet or by visiting the desired place. The research procedure too varies with the subject they have been provided for their project. In the following essay, the research method will be discussed for the topic on Industrial revolution and its impact on urbanisation and urban places for a visual learner. Discussion According to Boud et al., (2013), there are different types of learners relying on the learning and the personality types. These learning methods provide them with a procedure in which they are comfortable to gather knowledge and can attain more concepts on that. Malone and Yoon, (2014) demonstrate that there are visual learners who prefer using of pictures and statistical data to understand a concept and even use them to complete their assignment. Chen, (2015) depict that there are physical learners who prefer to gather informationthatencompass theirintellect and body in a combined orderto learn things like visiting their mentors to get some additional data or draw the images by themselves, logical and social learners who prefer to study by funding logic behind every possible thing and enjoy learning collaboratively in a group respectively. Dunne, (2014) depict that proceeding for a research topic can be effectively be initiated after evaluating what exactly is the reason behind the given topic and what will be the researcher gets. In this assignment, the topic is Industrial revolution and its impact on urbanisation and urban places. In this context, the first step will be finding the keywords for gaining knowledge of the concept. The keywords that should be searched by the researcher are the industrial revolution, advantage and disadvantage of the industrial revolution, its consequence and impact on human life, urbanisation and industrialisation. Pellegrino and Hilton, (2013) states that selecting appropriate keywords signifies the ability of a person to proceed with a good understanding of the research topic. The second step will be to think in depth regarding the topic based on the personal experience in order to draw a rough idea on the key concept that is industrial revolution (Berger et al., 2013). It is quite evident that the society comprises of more industries and infrastructural building than playgrounds and parks. McInerney, (2013) portray that the third stage will be to search for the history of the industrialisation and the primary reason behind this rebellion on any one of the internet search engines. Fink, (2013) further added that proceeding in this way, the history behind the research topic will be gathered and to add some prominent details, several statistical data can be found from where it could be easily understood how much the industrialisation influenced the planet earth throughout the years from its initial time. Brown et al., (2013) states that the gathered primary data can then be taken to the academic expert or their mentors or teaching assistants so that they can encourage them to search further for the best solution as they can confirm whether they are proceeding in a correct way or not. Moreover, in order to collect more information, McInerney. (2013) demonstrate that people may visit different places like university libraries or to some nearby industries to gather short overviews on the facilities they have provided to their workers and the crucial factors that are influenced by the industrial revolution. This blends the visual learning style with the physical style of learning. Dabbagh and Kitsantas, (2012) states that for an academic piece of writing can be welly initiated by searching primary factors that influence urbanisation like the wage offered by an organisation to their employees, facilities and the living style they are offering in the urban areas must have to be considered. Influences like the development of the industry and the living standards, provision of all kind of materials for satisfying human needs are some of the beneficial impacts of the industrial globalisation. Points should be highlighted on the dependency of the rural area in the urban ar eas for illustrating the difference between the situation of pre and post industrial revolution. Kirschner and van Merrinboer, (2013) illustrates that there is a dual side of any circumstance and hence there are some disadvantage reacted with the industrialisation. In order to make the essay effective, some disadvantages should also mention. Environmental adversity is one of the significant disadvantages of the industrialisation. The urban spaces become over crowded which results in the deforestations. Pictures can also be provided including the statistical data of the deforestation and its negative consequence. Dunlosky et al., (2013) states that students can search for academic journals or many another book for acquiring a critical analysis that can provide more value to the written essay by presenting evidence for the undertaken ideas rather than representing the main perception as sufficient proof. It is a self-directed and self-corrective way of presenting the view as it provides guidelines that the procedure undertaken by the student is correct (Benson, 2013). The method t hat is used in the entire assignment for writing an essay on the selected topic of Industrialization revolution and its impact on urbanisation and urban areas is proved to be a beneficial method for a visual style learner as the final assignment itself comprise of pictorial statistical data on the influences of industrialisation on urban areas. Conclusion Hence, it is concluded from the entire discussion that learning process is not same for everyone; some prefer visual learning style while some prefer only theoretical learning style. However, in this assignment, the visual learning styles are being considered that ultimately will be depicted in the assignment that comprises of the pictorial data gathered from journal articles, research paper and the internet sources. Crucial points are noted down by consulting the mentors and the nearby industrialists in order to get a perfect overview of the selected topic. Gathering of all these data will help the researcher to formulate an effective essay. Moreover, it is also concluded that incorporation of two or more styles of learning results in a perfect outcome and hence, supporting the visual learning style with physically gathered data helps in the formulation of a good assignment work. References Benson, P. (2013). Teaching and researching: Autonomy in language learning. Routledge. Berger, D. E., Pezdek, K., Banks, W. P. (2013). Applications of cognitive psychology: Problem solving, education, and computing. Routledge. Boud, D., Keogh, R., Walker, D. (2013).Reflection: Turning experience into learning. Routledge. Brown, G. A., Bull, J., Pendlebury, M. (2013).Assessing student learning in higher education.Routledge. Chen, A. (2015). Operationalizing physical literacy for learners: Embodying the motivation to move. Journal of Sport and Health Science, 4(2), 125-131. Chipman, S. F., Segal, J. W., Glaser, R. (2013).Thinking and Learning Skills: Volume 2: Research and Open Questions. Routledge. Dabbagh, N., Kitsantas, A. (2012). Personal Learning Environments, social media, and self-regulated learning: A natural formula for connecting formal and informal learning. The Internet and higher education, 15(1), 3-8. Dunlosky, J., Rawson, K. A., Marsh, E. J., Nathan, M. J., Willingham, D. T. (2013).Improving students learning with effective learning techniques promising directions from cognitive and educational psychology.Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 14(1), 4-58. Dunne, E. (2014). The learning society: International perspectives on core skills in higher education. Routledge. Fink, L. D. (2013). Creating significant learning experiences: An integrated approach to designing college courses.John Wiley Sons. Kirschner, P. A., van Merrinboer, J. J. (2013). Do learners really know best? Urban legends in education.Educational psychologist, 48(3), 169-183. Malone, T., Yoon, J. (2014, March).Wordle: A Case Study for Learning Possibility of Vocabulary Terms to Visual Learners. In Proceedings of Society for Information Technology Teacher Education International Conference (pp. 2918-2924). McInerney, D. M. (2013).Educational psychology: Constructing learning. Pearson Higher Education AU. Pellegrino, J. W., Hilton, M. L.(2013).Education for life and work: Developing transferable knowledge and skills in the 21st century. National Academies Press. Segal, J. W., Chipman, S. F., Glaser, R. (2014).Thinking

The Golden Rule free essay sample

One day as a naive child, I asked my parents, If you are supposed to treat others the way you want to be treated, why is anyone ever mean? Everyone I know had had the golden rule branded into their brains ever since they could hear, yet, as some got older, the branding had obviously faded. Even as a young girl this phrase stuck in my mind and ever since then I have tried to live through it. Recently, I saw the benefits of treating others the way I would like to be treated. Throughout my work with the St. Ignatius Teen Service Group, Key Club, and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, I have been able to help so many people in various ways. For me, it was never about getting credit. Ive always wondered why we need to keep track of community service hours in high school because if you really care about the people you are affecting, you dont care about the credit on your end. We will write a custom essay sample on The Golden Rule or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page As I was applying for colleges, I came across the teacher recommendation section and had to think of the people in my life that could describe my true character the best. I have been accepted to every single school that I have heard back from so far. I know I could never have said that without these people that have gotten to know me over the years. Being respectful and honest with the writers of my recommendation letters has allowed them to write respectively and honestly about me. If I had been rude to them, I know I would not have been given all of the opportunities that are popping up right in front of me. â€Å"Watch your thoughts, for they become words. Watch your words, for they become actions. Watch your actions, for they become habits. Watch your habits, for they become character. Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.† -Unknown. After reading this quote on a poster at my school, I began to really think about it and realized how true and important it is. If you are always good to people; if you always respect and share with others, people will notice. You will make a lasting impression in their minds that will assist them in their decision of how to treat you.

abortion4 essays

abortion4 essays Abortion, one of the most controversial issues debated today, can easily be broken down into two distinct viewpoints: those who support abortion and those opposed to abortion. Pro-life and Pro-choice viewpoints are at the complete opposites of the spectrum and argue every issue from murder to morals and values to violence. In the two articles about abortion, "Abortion Is a Selfish choice," and "Abortion Is Not A Selfish Choice," each side argues their case and justifies their position. The first article "Abortion Is a Selfish Choice," acknowledges that those who choose abortion are acting in their own self-interest while the opposing article, "Abortion Is Not a Selfish Choice," argues that the fundamental issue in the abortion debate is the right of women to make their own decisions about reproduction. Both viewpoints provide reasons to question ones own strongly held opinions. According to the authors of Opposing Viewpoints, "Careful examinations of others views can lead to t he readers understanding of the logical inconsistencies in their own opinions, perspectives on why they hold an opinion, and the consideration of the possibility that their opinion requires further evaluation" (Bender and Leone, 11). Both articles provide extensive examinations over selfishness and abortion and from my own experiences with abortion I believe it is a selfish choice. In the first article, "Abortion Is a Selfish Choice," Mother Teresa argues the position that those who choose abortion are making a selfish choice. Mother Teresa states that "Abortion destroys ones ability to love because people who choose abortion do so to avoid the hurt that unselfish love of their children would require" (48). In the article, there are three key points that Mother Teresa stresses. First, she acknowledges "Breaking the Peace," then "Abortion Leads to Violence," and finally "Adoption, Not Abortion." In these three subtopics, ...

Capital Budgeting and Investment Analysis

As per our calculations based above we recommend the company, Equator Ltd to accept plan A. this is so because Plan a offers higher net present value than plan B (Au and Au, 1992). as already mentioned plan a is a highly automated project which involved use of more machinery and use of less physical labour. Though using automated techniques of production has its own advantages, it also carries a lot of disadvantages (Bierman and Smidt, 1975). Therefore, before accepting the plan A based on its high Net present value, the company should also consider the following points: Therefore, before acceptance of proposal A the company should consider all monetary and non-monetary factors. (Jordan, 2014) Efficient capital market refers to the market structure where the share prices of an entity reflect the latest information. This statement implies that any event or action or information which may affect the financial position of the company (Seitz and Ellison, 1999), be it directly related to it or indirectly, gets incorporated in the share price as soon as the information is received. The intrinsic value of a financial security represents a claim on cash flows of company which are expected to be earned in future. This intrinsic value is the present value of the future cash flows. Therefore, if the future cash flows are affected in any manner by any information, then it should be reflected in the price of the security, this is the whole concept of efficient capital market. (Warren, 2017) Equator Limited in the given case plans to invest ina new line of product which will require huge investments (Shapiro, 2005). If the company decides to raise capital by way of Equity shares then efficient capital markets would be highly productive and beneficial for the company. This can be understood buy the following discussion. The above analysis of the plan of the company represents high returns. If the capital markets are efficient then the investors will also read the same information and would want to invest to invest in the shares of Equator seeing its high expected return and growth. The capital markets being efficient will incorporate the same information in the share price and in turn will help increase the value of the company. (WARREN, 2017) Therefore, the capital market efficiency will help Equator Limited to raise capital since the company has a high growth and return projected. Aldridge, A. (2005). The market. 1st ed. Cambridge: Polity. Au, T. and Au, T. (1992). Engineering economics for capital investment analysis. 1st ed. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall. Bernstein, P. (2007). Capital ideas evolving. 1st ed. Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley & Sons. Bierman, H. and Smidt, S. (1975). The capital budgeting decision. 1st ed. New York: Macmillan. Capital Budgeting Valuation. (2013). 1st ed. Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley. Chernobai, A., Rachev, S. and Fabozzi, F. (2007). Operational risk. 1st ed. Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley. Danthine, J. and Donaldson, J. (n.d.). Intermediate financial theory. 1st ed. Dayanada, D. (2002). Capital budgeting. 1st ed. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Fabozzi, F. (n.d.). Capital markets. 1st ed. Fleming, D. and Chamberlin, S. (n.d.). Surviving the future. 1st ed. Hitt, M., Ireland, R. and Hoskisson, R. (n.d.). Strategic management. 1st ed. Jordan, B. (2014). Fundamentals of investments. 1st ed. [S.l.]: Irwin Mcgraw-Hill. Seitz, N. and Ellison, M. (1999). Capital budgeting and long-term financing decisions. 1st ed. Fort Worth: Dryden Press/Harcourt Brace College Publishers. Shapiro, A. (2005). Capital budgeting and investment analysis. 1st ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall. Warren, C. (2017). Financial & managerial accounting. 1st ed. [Place of publication not identified]: Cengage Learning. WARREN, C. (2017). ACCOUNTING. 1st ed. [Place of publication not identified]: SOUTH-WESTERN.

Employee relations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Employee relations - Essay Example The model they suggest is a partnership between labour and management that would result in a â€Å"high performance workplace with mutual gains for both the organisation and workers.† (Betcherman et al., 1994; Guest, 1995 and Verma, 1995 cited in Bratton et al. 1999: 334). Any changes that sweep society in the economic, social and political fields, not to speak of technological advancements will have inevitable consequences in the employer-employee relationship. Consequently, in Britain, mass unemployment of the 1980s and various legislations that curtailed union activities have had a marked effect on the bargaining power of labour because of the reduction in trade union membership and institutional protection. These developments corroborate Dunlop’s theory of industrial relations systems described below. However the trend is not unique to the United Kingdom and is attributable to increased competition at the local, regional and global levels and heightened consumer expectations. A trade union is defined as â€Å"a continuous association of wage earners for the purpose of maintaining and improving the conditions of their employment.† (Webb, Sydney & Webb, Beatrice cited in Trade Union). Does this mean that by definition, there is a conflict of interest between a trade union that represents its members and the organisation that employs those members as workers, more so if the organisation is in the public sector? The objective of this paper is to analyse the conundrum by taking recourse to theoretical bases and wherever possible their practical applications. 1.2. John Dunlop’s theory of industrial relations systems: In his 1958 classic, Industrial Relations Systems, John T. Dunlop, described the role of three principle actors in all industrial relations systems. They are, management organisations, workers (whether

Dont ask dont tell policy should gays be allowed in the military Research Paper

Dont ask dont tell policy should gays be allowed in the military argumentative - Research Paper Example At the same time because of the psychological and biological reasons, it is difficult for a soldier to control or limit his sexual energy for a prolonged period. He will definitely try to release his sexual energy in one way or other. In most of the cases, the unsatisfied soldiers may engage in same sex sexual activities in order to release their sexual energy. Thus the number of gays in the military may goes on increasing. ‘Homosexuals serving in military’ is not a new issue. It started even thousands of years before. Famous philosopher, Plato has pointed out the presence of gays in ancient Greek military in some of his books. When we examine the Napoleonic wars, there also we can see the details about the presence of gays in military. In short, the peculiar life styles forced many of the soldiers to become homosexuals. Unlike normal life, the soldiers forced to interact only with the male community during their stay in military which prevent them from expressing their emotions, feelings or desires freely. In military only the military goals are important rather than the individual needs. The unsatisfied soldiers often select homosexuality to release their sexual energy. Even the military officers know the sexual behaviors of the soldiers. But in most of the cases, the officers will not take it seriously. Most of the Western countries including United Kingdom, France, and Russia permit gay people to serve in the military whereas China and United Sates are against it. Israel is one country which encourages gays to serve in the military. The reluctance of United Sates in allowing gay people to serve in the military has provoked lot of discussions in America and currently the issue is under judicial review. Even the political parties and political leaders have different opinions about allowing gays to serve in the military. Dont ask, dont tell (DADT) is a policy implemented in US military by law,

Definitions of Attitude Essay Example for Free

Definitions of Attitude Essay An attitude can be defined as a positive or negative evaluation of people, objects, event, activities, ideas, or just about anything in your environment, but there is debate about precise definitions. Eagly and Chaiken, for example, define an attitude a psychological tendency that is expressed by evaluating a particular entity with some degree of favor or disfavor.[2] Though it is sometimes common to define an attitude as affect toward an object, affect (i.e., discrete emotions or overall arousal) is generally understood to be distinct from attitude as a measure of favorability. [3] This definition of attitude allows for ones evaluation of an attitude object to vary from extremely negative to extremely positive, but also admits that people can also be conflicted or ambivalent toward an object meaning that they might at different times express both positive and negative attitude toward the same object. This has led to some discussion of whether individual can hold multiple attitudes toward the same object.[4] Whether attitudes are explicit (i.e., deliberately formed) versus implicit (i.e., subconscious) has been a topic of considerable research. Research on implicit attitudes, which are generally unacknowledged or outside of awareness, uses sophisticated methods involving peoples response times to stimuli to show that implicit attitudes exist (perhaps in tandem with explicit attitudes of the same object). Implicit and explicit attitudes seem to affect peoples behavior, though in different ways. They tend not to be strongly associated with each other, although in some cases they are. The relationship between them is poorly understood. Jungs definition Attitude is one of Jungs 57 definitions in Chapter XI of Psychological Types. Jungs definition of attitude is a readiness of the psyche to act or react in a certain way (Jung, [1921] 1971:par. 687). Attitudes very often come in pairs, one conscious and the other unconscious. Within this broad definition Jung defines several attitudes. The main (but not only) attitude dualities that Jung defines are the following. †¢ Consciousness and the unconscious. The presence of two attitudes is extremely frequent, one conscious and the other unconscious. This means that consciousness has a constellation of contents different from that of the unconscious, a duality particularly evident in neurosis (Jung, [1921] 1971: par. 687). †¢ Extraversion and introversion. This pair is so elementary to Jungs theory of types that he labeled them the attitude-types. †¢ Rational and irrational attitudes. I conceive reason as an attitude (Jung, [1921] 1971: par. 785). †¢ The rational attitude subdivides into the thinking and feeling psychological functions, each with its attitude. †¢ The irrational attitude subdivides into the sensing and intuition psychological functions, each with its attitude. There is thus a typical thinking, feeling, sensation, and intuitive attitude (Jung, [1921] 1971: par. 691). †¢ Individual and social attitudes. Many of the latter are isms. In addition, Jung discusses the abstract attitude. â€Å"When I take an abstract attitude† (Jung, [1921] 1971: par. 679). Abstraction is contrasted with concretism. â€Å"CONCRETISM. By this I mean a peculiarity of thinking and feeling which is the antithesis of abstraction† (Jung, [1921] 1971: par. 696). For example: I hate his attitude for being Sarcastic. Pasted from The classic, tripartite view offered by William J. McGuire[9] is that an attitude contains cognitive, affective, and behavioral components. Empirical research, however, fails to support clear distinctions between thoughts, emotions, and behavioral intentions associated with a particular attitude.[10] A criticism of the tripartite view of attitudes is that it requires cognitive, affective, and behavioral associations of an attitude to be consistent, but this may be implausible. Thus some views of attitude structure see the cognitive and behavioral components as derivative of affect or affect and behavior as derivative of underlying beliefs.[11] Despite debate about the particular structure of attitudes, there is considerable evidence that attitudes reflect more than evaluations of a particular object that vary from positive to negative. Attitudes also have other characteristics, such as importance, certainty, or accessibility (measures of attitude strength) and associated knowledge.[12] There is also considerable interest in inter-attitudinal structure, which connects different attitudes to one another and to more underlying psychological structures, such as values or ideology.[13] Attitude function Another classic view of attitudes is that attitudes serve particular functions for individuals. That is, researchers have tried to understand why individuals hold particular attitudes or why they hold attitudes in general by considering how attitudes affect the individuals who hold them.[14] Daniel Katz, for example, writes that attitudes can serve instrumental, adjustive or utilitarian, ego-defensive, value-expressive, or knowledge functions.[15] The functional view of attitudes suggests that in order for attitudes to change (e.g., via persuasion), appeals must be made to the function(s) that a particular attitude serves for the individual. As an example, the ego-defensive function might be used to influence the racially prejudicial attitudes of an individual who sees themselves as open-minded and tolerant. By appealing to that individuals image of themselves as tolerant and open-minded, it may be possible to change their prejudicial attitudes to be more consistent with their self-concept. Similarly, a persuasive message that threatens self-image is much more likely to be rejected.[16] Attitude formation According to Doob (1947), learning can account for most of the attitudes we hold. Theories of classical conditioning, instrumental conditioning and social learning are mainly responsible for formation of attitude. Unlike personality, attitudes are expected to change as a function of experience. Tesser (1993) has argued that hereditary variables may affect attitudes but believes that they may do so indirectly. For example, consistency theories, which imply that we must be consistent in our beliefs and values. As with any type of heritability, to determine if a particular trait has a basis in our genes, twin studies are used.[17] The most famous example of such a theory is Dissonance-reduction theory, associated with Leon Festinger, which explains that when the components of an attitude (including belief and behavior) are at odds an individual may adjust one to match the other (for example, adjusting a belief to match a behavior).[18] Other theories include balance theory, origincally proposed by Heider (1958), and the self-perception theory, originally proposed by Daryl Bem.[19] Attitude change Main article: Attitude change Attitudes can be changed through persuasion and an important domain of research on attitude change focuses on responses to communication. Experimental research into the factors that can affect the persuasiveness of a message include: 1. Target Characteristics: These are characteristics that refer to the person who receives and processes a message. One such trait is intelligence it seems that more intelligent people are less easily persuaded by one-sided messages. Another variable that has been studied in this category is self-esteem. Although it is sometimes thought that those higher in self-esteem are less easily persuaded, there is some evidence that the relationship between self-esteem and persuasibility is actually curvilinear, with people of moderate self-esteem being more easily persuaded than both those of high and low self-esteem levels (Rhodes Woods, 1992). The mind frame and mood of the target also plays a role in this process. 2. Source Characteristics: The major source characteristics are expertise, trustworthiness and interpersonal attraction or attractiveness. The credibility of a perceived message has been found to be a key variable here; if one reads a report about health and believes it came from a professional medical journal, one may be more easily persuaded than if one believes it is from a popular newspaper. Some psychologists have debated whether this is a long-lasting effect and Hovland and Weiss (1951) found the effect of telling people that a message came from a credible source disappeared after several weeks (the so-called sleeper effect). Whether there is a sleeper effect is controversial. Perceived wisdom is that if people are informed of the source of a message before hearing it, there is less likelihood of a sleeper effect than if they are told a message and then told its source. 3. Message Characteristics: The nature of the message plays a role in persuasion. Sometimes presenting both sides of a story is useful to help change attitudes. When people are not motivated to process the message, simply the number of arguments presented in a persuasive message will influence attitude change, such that a greater number of arguments will produce greater attitude change.[20] 4. Cognitive Routes: A message can appeal to an individuals cognitive evaluation to help change an attitude. In the central route to persuasion the individual is presented with the data and motivated to evaluate the data and arrive at an attitude changing conclusion. In the peripheral route to attitude change, the individual is encouraged to not look at the content but at the source. This is commonly seen in modern advertisements that feature celebrities. In some cases, physician, doctors or experts are used. In other cases film stars are used for their attractiveness. Emotion and attitude change Emotion is a common component in persuasion, social influence, and attitude change. Much of attitude research emphasized the importance of affective or emotion components. Emotion works hand-in-hand with the cognitive process, or the way we think, about an issue or situation. Emotional appeals are commonly found in advertising, health campaigns and political messages. Recent examples include no-smoking health campaigns and political campaign advertising emphasizing the fear of terrorism. Attitudes and attitude objects are functions of cognitive, affective and conative components. Attitudes are part of the brain’s associative networks, the spider-like structures residing in long term memory that consist of affective and cognitive nodes. By activating an affective or emotion node, attitude change may be possible, though affective and cognitive components tend to be intertwined. In primarily affective networks, it is more difficult to produce cognitive counterarguments in the resistance to persuasion and attitude change. Affective forecasting, otherwise known as intuition or the prediction of emotion, also impacts attitude change. Research suggests that predicting emotions is an important component of decision making, in addition to the cognitive processes. How we feel about an outcome may override purely cognitive rationales. In terms of research methodology, the challenge for researchers is measuring emotion and subsequent impacts on attitude. Since we cannot see into the brain, various models and measurement tools have been constructed to obtain emotion and attitude information. Measures may include the use of physiological cues like facial expressions, vocal changes, and other body rate measures. For instance, fear is associated with raised eyebrows, increased heart rate and increase body tension (Dillard, 1994). Other methods include concept or network mapping, and using primes or word cues in the era . Components of emotion appeals Any discrete emotion can be used in a persuasive appeal; this may include jealousy, disgust, indignation, fear, blue, disturbed, haunted,and anger. Fear is one of the most studied emotional appeals in communication and social influence research. Important consequences of fear appeals and other emotion appeals include the possibility of reactance which may lead to either message rejections or source rejection and the absence of attitude change. As the EPPM suggests, there is an optimal emotion level in motivating attitude change. If there is not enough motivation, an attitude will not change; if the emotional appeal is overdone, the motivation can be paralyzed thereby preventing attitude change. Emotions perceived as negative or containing threat are often studied more than perceived positive emotions like humor. Though the inner-workings of humor are not agreed upon, humor appeals may work by creating incongruities in the mind. Recent research has looked at the impact of humor on the processing of political messages. While evidence is inconclusive, there appears to be potential for targeted attitude change is receivers with low political message involvement. Important factors that influence the impact of emotion appeals include self efficacy, attitude accessibility, issue involvement, and message/source features. Self efficacy is a perception of one’s own human agency; in other words, it is the perception of our own ability to deal with a situation. It is an important variable in emotion appeal messages because it dictates a person’s ability to deal with both the emotion and the situation. For example, if a person is not self-efficacious about their ability to impact the global environment, they are not likely to change their attitude or behavior about global warming. Dillard (1994) suggests that message features such as source non-verbal communication, message content, and receiver differences can impact the emotion impact of fear appeals. The characteristics of a message are important because one message can elicit different levels of emotion for different people. Thus, in terms of emotion appeals messages, one size does not fit all. Attitude accessibility refers to the activation of an attitude from memory in other words, how readily available is an attitude about an object, issue, or situation. Issue involvement is the relevance and salience of an issue or situation to an individual. Issue involvement has been correlated with both attitude access and attitude strength. Past studies conclude accessible attitudes are more resistant to change. Attitude-behavior relationship This section requires expansion. (September 2012) The effects of attitudes on behaviors represents a significant research enterprise within psychology. Two theoretical approaches have dominated this research: the theory of reasoned action[21] and, its theoretical descendant, the theory of planned behavior,[22] both of which are associated with Icek Ajzen. Both of these theories describe the link between attitude and behavior as a deliberative process, with an individual actively choosing to engage in an attitude-related behavior. An alternative model, called MODE for Motivation and Opportunity as DEterminants was proposed by Russell H. Fazio, which focuses on motivations and opportunities for deliberative attitude-related behavior to occur. MODE is a Dual process theory that expects deliberative attitude-behavior linkages like those modeled by the theory of planned behavior only occur when individuals have motivation to reflect upon their own attitudes. Pasted from Theory of reasoned action From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search The theory of reasoned action (TRA), is a model for the prediction of behavioral intention, spanning predictions of attitude and predictions of behavior. The subsequent separation of behavioral intention from behavior allows for explanation of limiting factors on attitudinal influence (Ajzen, 1980). The Theory of Reasoned Action was developed by Martin Fishbein and Icek Ajzen (1975, 1980), derived from previous research that started out as the theory of attitude, which led to the study of attitude and behavior. The theory was born largely out of frustration with traditional attitude–behavior research, much of which found weak correlations between attitude measures and performance of volitional behaviors (Hale, Householder Greene, 2003, p. 259). Pasted from Definition and example Derived from the social psychology setting, the theory of reasoned action (TRA) was proposed by Ajzen and Fishbein (1975 1980). The components of TRA are three general constructs: behavioral intention (BI), attitude (A), and subjective norm (SN). TRA suggests that a persons behavioral intention depends on the persons attitude about the behavior and subjective norms (BI = A + SN). If a person intends to do a behavior then it is likely that the person will do it. Behavioral intention measures a persons relative strength of intention to perform a behavior. Attitude consists of beliefs about the consequences of performing the behavior multiplied by his or her evaluation of these consequences. (Fishbein Ajzen, 1975) Subjective norm is seen as a combination of perceived expectations from relevant individuals or groups along with intentions to comply with these expectations. In other words, the persons perception that most people who are important to him or her think he should or should not perform the behavior in question (Fishbein Ajzen, 1975). To put the definition into simple terms: a persons volitional (voluntary) behavior is predicted by his/her attitude toward that behavior and how he/she thinks other people would view them if they performed the behavior. A persons attitude, combined with subjective norms, forms his/her behavioral intention. Fishbein and Ajzen say, though, that attitudes and norms are not weighted equally in predicting behavior. Indeed, depending on the individual and the situation, these factors might be very different effects on behavioral intention; thus a weight is associated with each of these factors in the predictive formula of the theory. For example, you might be the kind of person who cares little for what others think. If this is the case, the subjective norms would carry little weight in predicting your behavior (Miller, 2005, p. 127). Miller (2005) defines each of the three components of the theory as follows and uses the example of embarking on a new exercise program to illustrate the theory: †¢ Attitudes: the sum of beliefs about a particular behavior weighted by evaluations of these beliefs ââ€"‹ You might have the beliefs that exercise is good for your health, that exercise makes you look good, that exercise takes too much time, and that exercise is uncomfortable. Each of these beliefs can be weighted (e.g., health issues might be more important to you than issues of time and comfort). †¢ Subjective norms: looks at the influence of people in ones social environment on his/her behavioral intentions; the beliefs of people, weighted by the importance one attributes to each of their opinions, will influence ones behavioral intention ââ€"‹ You might have some friends who are avid exercisers and constantly encourage you to join them. However, your spouse might prefer a more sedentary lifestyle and scoff at those who work out. The beliefs of these people, weighted by the importance you attribute to each of their opinions, will influence your behavioral intention to exercise, which will lead to your behavior to exercise or not exercise. †¢ Behavioral intention: a function of both attitudes toward a behavior and subjective norms toward that behavior, which has been found to predict actual behavior. ââ€"‹ Your attitudes about exercise combined with the subjective norms about exercise, each with their own weight, will lead you to your intention to exercise (or not), which will then lead to your actual behavior. Pasted from In psychology, the theory of planned behavior is a theory about the link between attitudes and behavior. The concept was proposed by Icek Ajzen to improve on the predictive power of the theory of reasoned action by including perceived behavioural control.[1] It is one of the most predictive persuasion theories. It has been applied to studies of the relations among beliefs, attitudes, behavioral intentions and behaviors in various fields such as advertising, public relations, advertising campaigns and healthcare. The theory states that attitude toward behavior, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control, together shape an individuals behavioral intentions and behaviors. Pasted from Extension from the theory of reasoned action The theory of planned behavior was proposed by Icek Ajzen in 1985 through his article From intentions to actions: A theory of planned behavior. The theory was developed from the theory of reasoned action, which was proposed by Martin Fishbein together with Icek Ajzen in 1975. The theory of reasoned action was in turn grounded in various theories of attitude such as learning theories, expectancy-value theories, consistency theories,[2] and attribution theory.[3] According to the theory of reasoned action, if people evaluate the suggested behavior as positive (attitude), and if they think their significant others want them to perform the behavior (subjective norm), this results in a higher intention (motivation) and they are more likely to do so. A high correlation of attitudes and subjective norms to behavioral intention, and subsequently to behavior, has been confirmed in many studies.[4] A counter-argument against the high relationship between behavioral intention and actual behavior has also been proposed, as the results of some studies show that, because of circumstantial limitations, behavioral intention does not always lead to actual behavior. Namely, since behavioral intention cannot be the exclusive determinant of behavior where an individuals control over the behavior is incomplete, Ajzen introduced the theory of planned behavior by adding a new component, perceived behavioral control. By this, he extended the theory of reasoned action to cover non-volitional behaviors for predicting behavioral intention and actual behavior. Extension of self-efficacy In addition to attitudes and subjective norms (which make the theory of reasoned action), the theory of planned behavior adds the concept of perceived behavioral control, which originates from self-efficacy theory (SET). Self-efficacy was proposed by Bandura in 1977, which came from social cognitive theory. According to Bandura, expectations such as motivation, performance, and feelings of frustration associated with repeated failures determine effect and behavioral reactions. Bandura (1986)[full citation needed] separated expectations into two distinct types: self-efficacy and outcome expectancy. He defined self-efficacy as the conviction that one can successfully execute the behavior required to produce the outcomes. The outcome expectancy refers to a persons estimation that a given behavior will lead to certain outcomes. He states that self-efficacy is the most important precondition for behavioral change, since it determines the initiation of coping behavior. Previous investigations have shown that peoples behavior is strongly influenced by their confidence in their ability to perform that behavior (Bandura, Adams, Hardy, Howells, 1980).[full citation needed] As the self-efficacy theory contributes to explaining various relationships between beliefs, attitudes, intentions, and behavior, the SET has been widely applied to health-related fields such as physical activity and mental health in preadolescents,[5] and exercise.[6] Concepts of key variables Behavioral beliefs and attitude toward behavior †¢ Behavioral belief: an individuals belief about consequences of particular behavior. The concept is based on the subjective probability that the behavior will produce a given outcome. †¢ Attitude toward behavior: an individuals positive or negative evaluation of self-performance of the particular behavior. The concept is the degree to which performance of the behavior is positively or negatively valued. It is determined by the total set of accessible behavioral beliefs linking the behavior to various outcomes and other attributes. Normative beliefs and subjective norms †¢ Normative belief: an individuals perception about the particular behavior, which is influenced by the judgment of significant others (e.g., parents, spouse, friends, teachers).[7] †¢ Subjective norm: an individuals perception of social normative pressures, or relevant others beliefs that he or she should or should not perform such behavior. Control beliefs and perceived behavioral control †¢ Perceived behavioral control: an individuals perceived ease or difficulty of performing the particular behavior (Ajzen, 1988).[full citation needed] It is assumed that perceived behavioral control is determined by the total set of accessible control beliefs. †¢ Control beliefs: an individuals beliefs about the presence of factors that may facilitate or impede performance of the behavior (Ajzen, 2001).[full citation needed] The concept of perceived behavioral control is conceptually related to self-efficacy. Behavioral intention and behavior †¢ Behavioral intention: an indication of an individuals readiness to perform a given behavior. It is assumed to be an immediate antecedent of behavior (Ajzen, 2002b).[full citation needed] It is based on attitude toward the behavior, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control, with each predictor weighted for its importance in relation to the behavior and population of interest. †¢ Behavior: an individuals observable response in a given situation with respect to a given target. Ajzen said a behavior is a function of compatible intentions and perceptions of behavioral control in that perceived behavioral control is expected to moderate the effect of intention on behavior, such that a favorable intention produces the behavior only when perceived behavioral control is strong. Pasted from Cognitive dissonance is a term used in modern psychology to describe the feeling of discomfort when simultaneously holding two or more conflicting cognitions: ideas, beliefs, values or emotional reactions. In a state of dissonance, people may sometimes feel disequilibrium: frustration, hunger, dread, guilt, anger, embarrassment, anxiety, etc.[1] The phrase was coined by Leon Festinger in his 1956 book When Prophecy Fails, which chronicled the followers of a UFO cult as reality clashed with their fervent belief in an impending apocalypse.[2][3] Festinger subsequently published a book called A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance, published in 1957, in which he outlines the theory. Cognitive dissonance is one of the most influential and extensively studied theories in social psychology. The theory of cognitive dissonance in social psychology proposes that people have a motivational drive to reduce dissonance by altering existing cognitions, adding new ones to create a consistent belief system, or alternatively by reducing the importance of any one of the dissonant elements.[1] It is the distressing mental state that people feel when they find themselves doing things that dont fit with what they know, or having opinions that do not fit with other opinions they hold. [4] A key assumption is that people want their expectations to meet reality, creating a sense of equilibrium. [5] Likewise, another assumption is that a person will avoid situations or information sources that give rise to feelings of uneasiness, or dissonance.[1] Cognitive dissonance theory explains human behavior by positing that people have a bias to seek consonance between their expectations and reality. According to Festinger, people engage in a process he termed dissonance reduction, which can be achieved in one of three ways: lowering the importance of one of the discordant factors, adding consonant elements, or changing one of the dissonant factors.[6] This bias sheds light on otherwise puzzling, irrational, and even destructive behavior. Pasted from The elaboration likelihood model (ELM) of persuasion[1] is a dual process theory of how attitudes are formed and changed that was developed by Richard E. Petty and John Cacioppo in the early 1980s (see also attitude change). The model proposes an elaboration continuum, which determines the extent to which arguments are processed and evaluated (high elaboration) versus peripheral cues such as source expertise or attractiveness (low elaboration) shape persuasion. The model is similar to the Heuristic-systematic model of information processing developed around the same time by Shelly Chaiken. Pasted from Central route Central route processes require the audience to use a great deal more thought, and therefore are likely to predominate under conditions that promote high elaboration. Central route processes involve careful scrutiny of a persuasive communication (e.g., a speech, an advertisement, etc.) to determine the merits of the arguments. Under these conditions, a persons unique cognitive responses to the message determine the persuasive outcome. If a person evaluates a message centrally as reliable, well-constructed, and convincing, it will often be received as favorable even if it is contrasting to the receiver’s original stance on the message. So, if favorable thoughts are a result of the elaboration process, the message will most likely be accepted (i.e., an attitude congruent with the messages position will emerge), and if unfavorable thoughts are generated while considering the merits of presented arguments, the message will most likely be rejected.[1] In order for the message to be centrally processed, a person must have the ability and motivation to do so. In order for the receiver to have motivation to centrally process a message it must have relevance to him or her. Peripheral route Peripheral route processes, on the other hand, does not involve elaboration of the message through extensive cognitive processing of the merits of the actual argument presented. These processes often rely on environmental characteristics of the message, like the perceived credibility of the source, quality of the way in which it is presented, the attractiveness of the source, or the catchy slogan that contains the message.[1] It is also frequently used when the argument presented is weak and/or lacking evidence. The peripheral route is a mental shortcut process that accepts or rejects a message based on irrelevant cues as opposed to actively thinking about the issue [2] The peripheral route is a process in which outside influences affect the decision making process. This is also the process used when the audience is unable to process the message. This could be from having a message that is too complex, or an audience that is immature. The most common influences would be factors such as reward. Reward could be objects like food, sex or money. These inducements create a quick change in mind and action. Celebrity status along with likability and expertise are other factors in the peripheral process that have become more popular. Humor within messages is a dominant influence in this process as well. Appearance also has the ability to gain the attention of individuals which can create an interest in the topic, but will not create a strong change in individuals. The goal of the peripheral process is to create change, this change can be weak and even temporary as opposed to the strong and lasting change in the central route. Choice of route The two factors that most influence which route an individual will take in a persuasive situation are motivation (strong desire to process the message; e.g., Petty Cacioppo, 1979) and ability (actually being capable of critical evaluation; e.g., Petty, Wells, Brock, 1976). Which route is taken is determined by the extent of elaboration. Both motivational and ability factors determine elaboration. Motivational factors include (among others) the personal relevance of the message topic, accountability, and a persons need for cognition (their innate desire to enjoy thinking). Ability factors include the availability of cognitive resources (e.g., the presence or absence of time pressures or distractions) or relevant knowledge needed to carefully scrutinize the arguments. The ability to understand the message that is being communicated. Distractions such as noise can affect the ability for one to process a message. An example of noise would be a persuader trying to share his message in a room full of crying babies, this would make it extremely difficult for listeners to concentrate on the message being given. Noise that you cant physically control would be if a persuaders listeners could concentrate on the message because they had something else on their mind which was more important than the persuaders message like a death in the family, or problems theyre having in their relationship. Another example of this is in children. A child will change their behavior because his or her parent told them to do so rather than taking the information given and processing it. As that child grows up, however, he or she will have a higher cognitive complexity, and therefore be able to process the information of the situation centrally in order to draw a conclusion of their own. (OKeefe) The subjects general education level, as well as their education and experience with the topic at hand greatly affect their ability to be persuaded. Under conditions of moderate elaboration, a mixture of central and peripheral route processes will guide information processing. There are benefits and consequences for both processes. An individual who disagrees with the message being presented will likely have a boomerang effect if he or she centrally processes the message and bounce farther away from the speaker’s goal. If that same situation takes place, but the message is peripherally processed, a weak change will not have as large of a negative effect on that individual. (OKeefe) Type of Elaboration: Objective Versus Biased Thinking Attitude, motivation, and ability strongly increase the likelihood that a message will be ingrained in the minds of listeners. Although, as the social judgement theory suggests, they may not process the information in a fair, objective way. Attitudes are general evaluations that people hold that correspond with how they perceive themselves in relation to the world they live in. One way to influence attitude is to give peripheral cues. Peripheral cues can be things that lead to good or punishing or they can invoke provide guiding rules or inferences. These are often effective because they cause the audience to draw the conclusion themselves, therefore, making them believe it is their own idea, so they buy in to it. (Griffin) Many of the evaluations are based on Cognitive intelligence, behavior, and guidance. Given a basic understanding of an individuals attitudes one can interpret which type of elaboration would better suit the situation. There are two types of elaboration a listener can possess: (Biased elaboration, Objective elaboration) Elaboration can lead to both positive and negative results depending on the audience who is receiving the message. Individuals who have a Pre conception of a certain topic are going to be much harder to persuade oppose to an individual who has an open mind about a topic where only the facts hold truth. Biased Elaboration: Top-down thinking in which predetermined conclusions color the supporting data. This is used on people who likely already have their minds made up about a situation before the message is ever conveyed to them (Cacioppo) Ex. Someone who has had a negative personal experience with motorcycles will probably have made up their minds and be biased in the way they process the message.[2] Objective Elaboration: Bottom-up thinking in which facts are scrutinized without bias; seeking truth wherever it might lead. These listeners let the facts speak for themselves and approach the message with an unbias mind. Which leads to a true unbiased result or opinion. (Cacioppo) Ex. A person who is listening to a motorcycle salesman and already has a mindset about them. This person would let the facts influence their attitude.[2] Testing the Elaboration Likelihood Model To design a way to test the Elaboration Likelihood Model, it is crucial to determine whether an argument is universally seen as strong or weak. If an argument is inconsistent in opinions of strength, the results of persuasion will be inconsistent. A strong argument is defined by Petty and Cacioppo as â€Å"one containing arguments such that when subjects are instructed to think about the message, the thoughts they generate are fundamentally favorable† (Griffin). In general, a weak argument that is universally viewed as weak will entice unfavorable results if the subject is instructed to and is in an appropriate environment to consider it logically (or when testing the central route of the Elaboration Likelihood Model). In turn, a strong argument under similar circumstances will return favorable results. The test arguments must also be rated for ease of understanding, complexity, and familiarity. To scientifically study either route of the Elaboration Likelihood Model, the arguments themselves must be designed to have consistent results.[3] Conclusions of the Elaboration Likelihood Model In addition to these factors, the ELM also makes several unique proposals.[1] It is suggested that attitudes formed under high elaboration, the central route, are stronger than those formed under low elaboration. This means that this level of persuasion is stable over time and is less susceptible to decay or any type of counter-persuasion. Attitudes formed under low elaboration, the peripheral route, are more likely to cause a short term attitude change. Variables in ELM routes can serve multiple roles in a persuasive setting depending on other contextual factors (examples below). Under high elaboration, a given variable (e.g., source expertise) can either serve as an argument (If Einstein agrees with the theory of relativity, then this is a strong reason for me to as well) or as a biasing factor (if an expert agrees with this position it is probably good, so let me see what else agrees with this conclusion at the expense of information that may disagree with it).[4] Under condition s of low elaboration, a given variable can act as a peripheral cue. This could happen, e.g., through the use of an experts are always right heuristic. Note that, while this is similar to the Einstein example presented above, this is a simple shortcut, which, unlike the Einstein example, does not require careful thought. Under conditions of moderate elaboration, a given variable can serve to direct the extent of information processing: If an expert agrees with this position, I should really listen to what (s)he has to say. Interestingly, when a variable affects elaboration, this can increase or decrease persuasion, depending on the strength of the arguments presented. If the arguments are strong, enhancing elaboration will enhance persuasion. If the arguments are weak, however, more thought will undermine persuasion. More recent adaptations of the ELM (e.g.)[5] have added an additional role that variables can serve. They can affect the extent to which a person has confidence in, and thus trusts, their own thoughts in response to a message (self-validation role). Keeping with our source expertise example, a person may feel that if an expert presented this information, it is probably correct, and thus I can trust that my reactions to it are informative with respect to my attitude. Note that this role, because of its metacognitive nature, only occurs under conditions that promote high elaboration. Pasted from Attitudes Attitudes are evaluations people make about objects, ideas, events, or other people. Attitudes can be positive or negative. Explicit attitudes are conscious beliefs that can guide decisions and behavior. Implicit attitudes are unconscious beliefs that can still influence decisions and behavior. Attitudes can include up to three components: cognitive, emotional, and behavioral. Example: Jane believes that smoking is unhealthy, feels disgusted when people smoke around her, and avoids being in situations where people smoke. Dimensions of Attitudes Researchers study three dimensions of attitude: strength, accessibility, and ambivalence. †¢ Attitude strength: Strong attitudes are those that are firmly held and that highly influence behavior. Attitudes that are important to a person tend to be strong. Attitudes that people have a vested interest in also tend to be strong. Furthermore, people tend to have stronger attitudes about things, events, ideas, or people they have considerable knowledge and information about. †¢ Attitude accessibility: The accessibility of an attitude refers to the ease with which it comes to mind. In general, highly accessible attitudes tend to be stronger. †¢ Attitude ambivalence: Ambivalence of an attitude refers to the ratio of positive and negative evaluations that make up that attitude. The ambivalence of an attitude increases as the positive and negative evaluations get more and more equal. The Influence of Attitudes on Behavior Behavior does not always reflect attitudes. However, attitudes do determine behavior in some situations: †¢ If there are few outside influences, attitude guides behavior. Example: Wyatt has an attitude that eating junk food is unhealthy. When he is at home, he does not eat chips or candy. However, when he is at parties, he indulges in these foods. †¢ Behavior is guided by attitudes specific to that behavior. Example: Megan might have a general attitude of respect toward seniors, but that would not prevent her from being disrespectful to an elderly woman who cuts her off at a stop sign. However, if Megan has an easygoing attitude about being cut off at stop signs, she is not likely to swear at someone who cuts her off. †¢ Behavior is guided by attitudes that come to mind easily. Example: Ron has an attitude of mistrust and annoyance toward telemarketers, so he immediately hangs up the phone whenever he realizes he has been contacted by one. The Influence of Behavior on Attitudes Behavior also affects attitudes. Evidence for this comes from the foot-in-the-door phenomenon and the effect of role playing. The Foot-in-the-Door Phenomenon People tend to be more likely to agree to a difficult request if they have first agreed to an easy one. This is called the foot-in-the-door phenomenon. Example: Jill is more likely to let an acquaintance borrow her laptop for a day if he first persuades her to let him borrow her textbook for a day. Social Norms and Social Roles Social norms are a society’s rules about appropriate behavior. Norms exist for practically every kind of situation. Some norms are explicit and are made into laws, such as the norm While driving, you may not run over a pedestrian. Other norms are implicit and are followed unconsciously, such as You may not wear a bikini to class. Social roles are patterns of behavior that are considered appropriate for a person in a particular context. For example, gender roles tell people how a particular society expects men and women to behave. A person who violates the requirements of a role tends to feel uneasy or to be censured by others. Role requirements can change over time in a society. The Effect of Role Playing and the â€Å"Prison Study† People tend to internalize roles they play, changing their attitudes to fit the roles. In the 1970s, the psychologist Philip Zimbardo conducted a famous study called the prison study, which showed how roles influence people. Zimbardo assigned one group of college student volunteers to play the role of prison guards in a simulated prison environment. He provided these students with uniforms, clubs, and whistles and told them to enforce a set of rules in the prison. He assigned another group of students to play the role of prisoners. Zimbardo found that as time went on, some of the â€Å"guard† students became increasingly harsh and domineering. The â€Å"prisoner† students also internalized their role. Some broke down, while others rebelled or became passively resigned to the situation. The internalization of roles by the two groups of students was so extreme that Zimbardo had to terminate the study after only six days.

Feminism and Cultural Relativism in Human Rights Discourse: Sex-determi

Feminism and Cultural Relativism in Human Rights Discourse: Sex-determination Test in India ABSTRACT: Feminists and cultural relativists are highly critical of human rights even if their criticisms have taken two diametrically opposed sides. This has created a conflict between the two groups. In this paper, I summarize the views of feminists and cultural relativists and then show that there are many similarities between them despite their differences, for they share a common ground concerning human rights discourse. Based on the similarities, I believe that both must work together on this matter by making changes in an inclusive way with regard to human rights violations. This is true not only at the international level but also at national levels. To demonstrate this, I analyze the issue of the sex-determination test in India and show that if feminists and cultural relativists joined hands, then the problem of aborting female fetuses in India (due to cultural conditioning and leading to the larger problem of adverse sex ratios) could be resolved. I conclude by proposing th at medical technology could be channeled in the direction of progress if feminists and cultural relativists work jointly for the promotion of women's rights by recognizing 'different voices' of women across race, class, age, culture, sexual orientation and wealth. Recently, during the world conferences organized by United Nations in Vienna, Cairo and Beijing, the human rights discourse has taken different forms and have created bitter differences among different camps. In these international conferences, feminists claim victory over cultural relativists as feminists were able to reaffirm women's human rights. (1) Feminists and cultural relativists are the... ... (5) See Claude Ake, "The African Context of Human Rights," Africa Today, Vol. 32, number 5 (1987) (6) Hilary Charlesworth, "What are Women's International Human Rights"?, Human Rights of Women, supra note 25, at 617. (7) See Shashi Tharoo, "The Universality of Human Rights and their Relevance to Developing Countries," Nordic Journal of International Law, Vol. 142 (1990 (8) See Radhika Balakrishnan, "The Social Context of Sex Selection and the Politics of Abortion in India," Power and Decision: The Social Control of Reproduction, by Gita Sen and Rachel C. Snow, 266-283; Amartya Sen, "The Economics of Life and Death," Scientific American, (May), 40-47. (9) See the growth of population chart in Amulya Ratna Nanda, Census of India, 1991, Series-1, Registrar General & Census Commisioner, India, Statement 2, 21. (10) Bombay Case Reporter, 20:3, (1988) 2-7.

Environmental Science Study Guide Essay

Environment- everything around us. Including nonliving things (air, water, and energy) Environmental science- an interdisciplinary study of how humans interact with the living and nonliving parts of their environment. Ecology- the biological science that studies how organisms or living things interact with one another. Ecosystem- A set of organisms within a defined area or volume that interact with one another and with their environment of nonliving matter and energy. Natural capital- the natural resources and natural services that keep us and other forms of life alive and support our human economies. Resource- anything that we can obtain the environment to meet our needs and wants. Perpetual resource- is a continuous supply of solar energy. Renewable resource- a resource that takes anywhere from several days to several hundred years to be replenished through natural processes. Sustainable yield- the highest rate at which we can use a renewable resource without reducing its available supply. Reuse- involves using a resource over and over in the same form. Recycling- involves collecting waste materials and processing them into new materials. Economic growth- is an increase in a nation’s output of goods and services. Gross domestic product (GDP) – the annual market value of all goods and services produced by all businesses, foreign and domestic, operating within a country. Economic development- an effort to use economic growth to improve living standards. More-developed countries- those with high average income and they include the United States, Canada, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and most European countries. Less-developed countries- (opposite of well-developed countries) Pollution- any presence within t he environment of a chemical or other agent such as noise or heat at a level that is harmful to the health, survival, or activities of humans or other organisms. Point sources- single, identifiable sources. Ex. Smokestack of a coal-burning power or industrial plant. Non-point sources- are dispersed and often difficult to identify. Ex. Pesticides & some trash. Pollution cleanup/output pollution control- Involves cleaning up or diluting pollutants after we have produced them. Pollution prevention/pollution control- reduces or eliminates the production of pollutants. Ecological footprint- the amount of biologically productive land and water needed to provide the people in a particular country or area with an indefinite supply of renewable resources and to absorb and recycle wastes. Affluence- consuming large amounts of resources far beyond basic needs. Per capita ecological footprint- the average ecological footprint of an individual in a given country or area. Ecological tipping point- an irreversible shift in the behavior of a natural system. Exponential growth- occurs when a quantity such as the human population increases at a fixed percentage per unit of time, such as 2% per year. Poverty- occurs when people are unable to fulfill their basic needs for food, water, shelter, health, and education. Environmental worldview- your set of assumptions and values reflecting how you think the world works and what your role in the world should be. Environmental ethics- are beliefs about what is right and wrong with how we treat the environment. Planetary management worldview- the view that we are separate from and in charge of nature. Stewardship worldview- holds that we can and should manage the earth for our benefit, but that we have an ethical responsibility to be caring managers or stewards of the earth. Environmentally sustainable society- one that meets the current and future basic resource needs of its people in a just and future basic resource needs of its people in a just and equitable manner. Natural income- living sustainability Social capital- making the shift to more sustainable societies and economies. Chapter 2 Science- a human effort to discover how the physical world works by making observations and measurements, and carrying out experiments. Model- an approximate representation or simulation of a system. Peer Review- involves scientists openly publishing details of the methods and models they used. Scientific Law/law of nature- a well-tested and widely accepted description of what we find happening repeatedly in nature in the same way. Unreliable science- (opposite of scientific law and reliable science) Tentative/frontier science- some of the scientific results are validated and reliable, and some are not. Matter- anything that has mass and takes up space. Atomic theory- the idea that all elements are made up of atoms. Neurons- no electrical charge Protons- positive electrical charge Electrons- negative electrical charge Nucleus- extremely small center of the atom, containing one or more protons/neurons. Atomic Number- equal to the number of protons in the nucleus of its atom. Mass number- the total number or neutrons and protons in its nucleus. Isotopes- the forms of an element having the same atomic number but different mass numbers. Molecule- a combination of two or more atoms of the same or different elements held together by forces called chemical bounds. Ion- an atom or a group of atoms with one or more net positive or negative electrical charges. Acidity- a chemical characteristic that helps determine how a substance dissolved in water will interact with and affect its environment. pH- used as a measure of acidity Chemical formula- chemists use this to show the number of each type of atom or ion in a compound. Organic compounds- contains at least two carbon atoms combined with atoms of another element. Inorganic compounds- (opposite of organic compounds) Genes- certain sequences of nucleotides. Chromosome- a double helix DNA molecule wrapped around some proteins. Chapter 3 Abiotic- Nonliving Aerobic respiration- nutrient organic molecules such as glucose combine with oxygen to support carbon dioxide, water, & energy. Anaerobic respiration- form of cellular respiration in which some decomposers get the energy they need through the breakdown of glucose in the absence of oxygen. Atmosphere- mass of air surrounding the earth. Autotrophs- (same as producer) Biogeochemical cycles- processes that recycle nutrients in various chemical forms (include carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur, and hydrologic cycles) Biomass- organic matter produced by plants & other photosynthetic produces; total dry weight of all organisms. Biosphere- zone of the earth where life is found. Biotic- living organisms. Carbon cycle- cyclic movement of carbon in different chemical forms from the environment to the organ. Chemosynthesis- process in which certain organisms extract inorganic compounds from their environment and convert them into organic compounds without sunlight. Community- populations of all species living and interacting in an area at a particular time. Consumers- organism that cannot synthesize the organic nutrients it needs and gets its organic nutrients by feeding on the tissue of others. Decomposers- organisms that digest parts of dead organisms. Ecology- biological science that studies the relationships between living organisms and their environment. Ecosystem- one or more communities of different species interacting with one another and with chemical & physical factors making up the environment. Fermentation- (same as anaerobic respiration) Food chain- series of organisms in which each eats or decomposes the preceding one. Food web- complex network of many inter-connected food chains and feeding relationships. Greenhouse gases- gases in the earth’s lower atmosphere that cause the greenhouse effect. Gross Primary Productivity (GPP) – rate at which ecosystems producers capture and store a given amount of chemical energy as biomass in a given length of time. Herbivores- plant eating organisms. Heterotrophs- (same as consumer) Hydrologic (water cycles) – biogeochemical cycle that collects, purifies, and disturbs the earth’s fixed supply of water. Hydrosphere- earth’s liquid water. Â  Natural greenhouse effect- natural effect that releases heat in the atmosphere, near the earth’s surface. Net Primary Productivity (NPP) – rate at which all the plants in an ecosystem produce net useful energy. Nitrogen cycle- cyclic movement of nitrogen in different chemical forms. Nutrient cycles- the circulation of chemicals necessary for life. Omnivores- animal that can use both plant and other animals as food sources. Organisms- any form of life. Photosynthesis- complex process that takes place in cells of green plants. Phosphorous cycle- cyclic movement of phosphorus in different chemical forms. Population- group of individual organisms of the same species living in a particular area. Primary consumers- organism that feeds on some or all parts of plants. Producers- organism that uses solar energy/chemical energy to manufacture nutrients. Pyramid of energy flow- diagram representing the flow of energy through each level in a food chain/web. Secondary consumers- organism that feeds only on primary consumers. Stratosphere- 2nd layer of the atmosphere. Sulfur cycle- cyclic movement of sulfur in various chemical forms. Tertiary consumers- animals that feed on animal-eating animals. Ex.shark, lion, bear. Trophic level- all organisms that are the same number of energy transfers away from the original source of energy. Troposphere- Innermost layer of the atmosphere. Chapter 4 Adaptation- any genetically controlled structural, physiological or behavior characteristic that helps an organism to survive or reproduce. Adaptive trait- (same as adaptation) Background extinction- normal extinction of various species as a result of changes in environmental conditions. Biological diversity- variety of different species Biological evolution- change in the generic makeup of a population of species in successive generations. Differential reproduction- phenomenon in which individuals with adaptive generic traits produce more living offspring than those without trait. Ecological niche- total way of life of a species. Endemic species- species found only in one area likely to be extinct. Extinction- complete disappearance of a species. Â  Fossils- skeletons, bones, shells, body parts, leaves, seeds or impressions of such items that provide evidence of organisms. Foundation species- species that play a major role in shaping a community. Generalist species- species with abroad ecological niche. (Can live/adapt in many places) ex: humans Geographic isolation- separation of populations of a species into different areas for long periods of time. Indicator species- species whose decline serves as early warnings that community is being biodegraded. Keystone species- (foundation species) Mass extinction- widespread, global extinction over a short period of time. Mutations- random change in DNA molecules that can alter behavior/anatomy in offspring. Native species- species that live or thrive in a particular ecosystem. Natural selection- process in which a particular set of genes is produced in succeeding generations more than other genes. Niche- total way of life or role of a species in an ecosystem. Nonnative species- species that into migrate into an ecosystem or are deliberately/accidently introduced into an ecosystem. Reproductive Isolation- long term geographic separation of members of a particular sexually reproducing species. Specialist species-species with a narrow ecological niche. Speciation- formation of two species forms one species because of divergent natural selection in response to change in environmental conditions. Species- group of similar organisms. Species diversity- number of different species. Theory of evolution- widely accepted scientific idea that all life forms developed from earlier life forms. Chapter 5 Age structure- percentage of the population of each age level in a population. Carrying Capacity- maximum population of a particular species that a given habit can support over a given period. Coevolution- evolution in which two or more species interact and exert selective pressure on each other that can lead each species to undergo adaptations. Commensalism- an interaction between organisms of different species in which one type of organism benefits and the other type is neither helped nor harmed to any degree. Environmental resistance- all of the limiting factors that act together to limit the growth of the population. Inertia- the ability of a living system to be restored through secondary succession after a more serious disturbance. Interspecific competition- attempts by members of two or more species to use the same limited resources in an ecosystem. Limiting factor- single factor that limits the growth abundance or distribution of the population of a species in an ecosystem. Mutualism- type of species interaction in which both participating species generally benefit. Parasitism- interaction between species in which one organism preys on another organism. Persistence- (same as inertia) Population-group of individual’s organisms of the same species living in a particular area. Population crush- dieback of a population exceeded carrying capacity. Population density- # of organisms in a particular populations found in a specified area/volume. Predation- when an organism feeds on another. Predator- prey relationship: relationship predator VS. Prey. Primary ecological succession- ecological succession in an area without soil or bottom sediments. Range of tolerance- range of chemical & physical conditions that must be maintained. Resilience- the ability of a living system to be restored through secondary succession after a severe disturbance. Resource partitioning- process of diving up resources. Secondary ecological succession- succession in which natural vegetation has been removed or destroyed but the soil hasn’t. Chapter 6 Cultural carrying capacity- the maximum number of people who could live in reasonable freedom and comfort. Crude birth rate- the number of live births per 1,000 people in a population in a given year. Crude Death rate- the number of deaths per 1,000 people in a population in given year. Fertility rate- the number of children born to a woman during her lifetime. Replacement-level fertility rare- is the average number of children that couples in a population must bear to replace themselves. Total fertility rate- the average number of children born to women in a population during their reproductive years. Life expectancy- the average number of years a newborn infant can be expected to live. Infant mortality rate- the number of babies out of every 1,000 born who die before their first birthday. Demographic transition- when countries become industrialized and economically developed, death rates and birth rates decline. Family planning- provides educational and clinical services that help couples chose how many children to have and when to have them.

Prison and Finn

Book Review on: Incarceron Author: Catherine Fisher Number of pages: 442 Publisher/Year: Dial Books 2010 Imagine a living prison so vast that it contains forests, towns, and even seas. This is Incarceron. It is a self- sustaining prison like no other. Incarceron’s prisoners live in cities, not cells, and they live normal lives. The prison has been sealed for centuries and only one man, in legend, has ever escaped. The story starts with Finn, a seventeen year old, who is convinced he doesn’t belong in Incarceron.This is because he has dreams where he sees stars, and there are no stars in Incarceron. He thinks he came from the outside and got stuck there somehow. The story tells that Finn is part of a tribe with his oath brother, Keiro. They just caught a prisoner who turns out to be a Maestra, or leader, of another tribe so they trade her back to them for her weight in goods like coins and treasures. Finn finds a strange key in the treasures and decides to keep it. The o ther â€Å"key† part of this book is a character named Claudia who is the warden of Incarceron’s daughter.She sneaks into her father’s study and finds a key in one of the drawers of his desk. She quickly takes it and goes to her teacher, Jared. He says that he has never anything like it and that he will have to do research to see what it does. That is when the story really takes off because Finn decides he has to find a way out of Incarceron and Keiro, Attia, a prison girl who lives on the street and a prophet who always wanted to see stars and the outside named Gildas follow him. Finn then began to fiddle with the key and it started to glow. Claudia pops up out of nowhere as a holographic image because she also had a key.She tells them that she wants to help them escape and their journey soon comes to an end near the edge of Incarceron, the wall. Claudia goes back to her father’s study to search for clues. She sits down in the chair in the middle of the room and is instantly transported to Incarceron. She had no idea what was going on but she soon found Finn and the others. Her father couldn’t stand that she was in there so he told them how to get outside. He said that the keys are actually transporters so that when you press the eye of the eagle on the keys you teleported out.The dilemma was that there were only two keys and five of them. After a lot of fighting Finn and Claudia promise to return for the rest of them and they left. We later find out that the prison is actually inside the watch that the warden carries around with him. All in all, I truly believe that this is an awesome book. The way that the author melds two story lines into one plot amazes me and I had a great time reading this story I would recommend Incarceron to anyone that likes fantasy books with twists. I can’t wait to start reading the second one. Reviewed by: Andrew Caldwell ***** English IV Period 4