Study Questions 1- 14 - 1527 Words

Study Questions 1-14 – The House on Mango Street â€Å"The House on Mango Street† Why does Esperanza disapprove of the house on Mango Street? Esperanza disapproved of the house because she expected the house on Mango Street to be a house with plenty of room, â€Å"real stairs,† at least three bathrooms, and a huge yard. But in reality the house was small, crumbling, with no front yard, and only a small backyard. It has apartment-style stairs, only one bathroom, and only three bedrooms, so everyone has to share. It’s not a house Esperanza can point to with pride. â€Å"Hairs Why does Esperanza focus on hair? It distinguishes her from everyone else. She looks around and sees everyone with different types of hair. She admires her mom’s hair because it s†¦show more content†¦Esperanza is afraid to talk to the owner of the store and only does so when she buys a little Statue of Liberty. Nenny is not intimidated by him, and one day she asks him about a wooden box in the shop. It is a music box, and the man plays it for them. Esperanza finds the music surprising and emotional. Nenny tries to buy the box, but the man tells her it’s not for sale. From the indications in this vignette, it seems that this box indicates a lost love one of the man, and the music streams into the store light instead of the darkness that is within it. Meme Ortiz What does it show about the neighborhood children that they have a Tarzan Jumping Contest? It shows that the children are more free-minded of racism than others. The children do not care whether one is of another culture, race, or background. They care about who can jump further than the other or who can come up with the rest of the money to buy a bicycle. From children, we all need to learn to relax and have fun together. Louie, His Cousin and His Other Cousin Why do the neighborhood children all wave at Louie s cousin as the police drive by with him in the back seat? One day, another cousin of Louie’s drives up in a beautiful new Cadillac and takes the neighborhood kids for a ride. They go around the block again and again, until they hear sirens. Louie’s cousin orders everyone out and takes off in the car. HeShow MoreRelatedScin 135 Lab 4635 Words   |  3 Pageshttp://hwcampus.com/shop/scin-135-lab-4/ Part 1 of 1 - 97.75/ 100.0 Points Question 1 of 14 5.0/ 5.0 Points Which example location did you choose to study? A.Forest Fires in Yakutsk B.Smallholder Clearing in Mozambique C.Deforestation in Paraguay D.Protected Area Loss in Cote dIvoire E.Kalimantan Palm Oil Plantations F.Sarawak old and new logging roads G.Finnish and Russian Forestry Question 2 of 14 10.0/ 10.0 Points Using your own wordsRead MoreScin 135 Lab 4627 Words   |  3 Pageshttp://hwcampus.com/shop/scin-135-lab-4/ Part 1 of 1 - 97.75/ 100.0 Points Question 1 of 14 5.0/ 5.0 Points Which example location did you choose to study? 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The Black Death Free Essays

string(26) " divided into five parts\." â€Å"The Black Death: Natural and Human Disaster in Medieval Europe† by Robert S. Gottfried is known as â€Å"A fascinating work of detective history, The Black Death traces the causes and far-reaching consequences of this infamous outbreak of plague that spread across the continent of Europe from 1347 to 1351. Drawing on sources as diverse as monastic manuscripts and dendrochronological studies (which measure growth rings in trees), historian Robert S. We will write a custom essay sample on The Black Death or any similar topic only for you Order Now Gottfried demonstrates how a bacillus transmitted by rat fleas brought on an ecological reign of terror — killing one European in three, wiping out entire villages and towns, and rocking the foundation of medieval society and civilization. † The Black Death was an epidemic which spread across almost all of Europe in the years 1346 –1353; the plague killed over a third of the entire population. It has been described as the worst natural disaster in European history. The Black Death discusses the causes and results of the plague that devastated medieval Europe. It focuses on the many effects it had on the culture of medieval Europe and the possibility that it expedited cultural change. Robert S. Gottfried argued that rodent and insect life cycles, as well as the changing of weather systems affect plague. He claimed that the devastation plague causes is partly due to its perpetual recurrences. Plague ravaged Europe in cycles, devastated the people when they were recuperating. As can be later discovered in the book, the cycles of plague consumed the European population. A second thesis, which he described in greater detail, was that the plagues expedited the process of cultural change. The plagues killed a large percentage of each generation, leaving room for change. Why the name, Black Death? â€Å"The traditional belief is that it was so called because the putrefying flesh of the victims blackened in the final hours before death supervened. The trouble about this otherwise plausible theory is that no such phenomenon occurred. It is true that, in cases of septicemic plague, small black or purple blotches formed on the bodies of the sick and this symptom must have made a vivid impression on beholders† (Ziegler) Coming out of the East, the Black Death reached the shores of Italy in the spring of 1348 unleashing a rampage of death across Europe unprecedented in recorded history. By the time the epidemic played itself out three years later, anywhere between 25% and 50% of Europe’s population had fallen victim to the pestilence. The plague presented itself in three interrelated forms. The symptoms were not the same as in the East, where a gush of blood from the nose was the plain sign of inevitable death; but it began both in men and women with certain swellings in the groin or under the armpit. They grew to the size of a small apple or an egg, more or less, and were vulgarly called tumors. In a short space of time these tumors spread from the two parts named all over the body. Soon after this the symptoms changed and black or purple spots appeared on the arms or thighs or any other part of the body, sometimes a few large ones, sometimes many little ones. These spots were a certain sign of death, just as the original tumors had been and still remained. The bubonic variant (the most common) derives its name from the swellings or buboes that appeared on a victim’s neck, armpits or groin. These tumors could range in size from that of an egg to that of an apple. Although some survived the painful ordeal, the manifestation of these lesions usually signaled the victim had a life expectancy of up to a week. Infected fleas that attached themselves to rats and then to humans spread this bubonic type of the plague. A second variation, pneumonic plague, attacked the respiratory system and was spread by merely breathing the exhaled air of a victim. It was much more virulent than its bubonic cousin – life expectancy was measured in one or two days. Finally, the septicemic version of the disease attacked the blood system. Having no defense and no understanding of the cause of the pestilence, the men, women and children caught in its onslaught were bewildered, panicked, and finally devastated. The Black Death covers the affects that numerous plagues had on the culture. There appear to have been several separate introductions into Europe. It reached Sicily in October 1347 carried by twelve Genoese galleys where it rapidly spread all over the island. Galleys from Caffa reached Genoa and Venice in January 1348 but it was the outbreak in Pisa a few weeks later that was the entry point to northern Italy. Towards the end of January one of the galleys expelled from Italy arrived in Marseilles. From Italy the disease spread northwest across Europe, striking France, Spain, Portugal and England by June 1348, then turned and spread east through Germany and Scandinavia from 1348 to 1350. It was introduced in Norway in 1349 when a ship landed at Askoy, then proceeded to spread to Bjorgvin but never reached Iceland. Finally it spread to north-western Russia in 1351; however, the plague largely spared some parts of Europe, including the Kingdom of Poland and isolated parts of Belgium and the Netherlands. The cycle of the plagues struck each generation. After a plague ravaged Europe from 599-699, plague killed in 608, 618, 628, 640, 654, 684-686, 694-700, 718, and 740-750. In the early stages of the above series, intervals are apparent. These intervals demonstrate the cycles of the rodent and insect life. Robert S. Gottfried also argues, rightfully so, that plague may have hastened cultural change. Along with plagues came the need for a cure. Plague destroyed the existing medical systems, and was replaced by a modern heir. Previous to the plague, scientists based their knowledge on early scientists such as Hippocrates and Galen. Scientists knew little about what they were doing. The medical community was divided into five parts. You read "The Black Death" in category "Papers" These divisions were physicians, surgeons, barber-surgeons, apothecaries, and unlicensed practitioners. These divisions were adequate when Europe was without plague, but were obviously not prepared for plague. Doctors responded with a series of changes are to thank for the development of modern science. Although the government had medical workers try to prevent the plague, the plague persisted. Most medical workers quit and journeyed away because they feared getting the plague themselves. There were methods that did work. Cities were hardest hit and tried to take measures to control an epidemic no one understood. In Milan, to take one of the most successful examples, city officials immediately walled up houses found to have the plague, isolating the healthy in them along with the sick. Venice took sophisticated and stringent quarantine and health measures, including isolating all incoming ships on a separate island. But people died anyway, though fewer in Milan and Venice than in cities that took no such measures. Pope Clement VI, living at Avignon, sat between two large fires to breath pure air. The plague bacillus actually is destroyed by heat, so this was one of the few truly effective measures taken. Gottfried succeeded in convincing me that his thesis was truth. The opening chapters gave me a solid background of plague, explaining why he believes it had such an impact on medieval population and culture. Next, it delves into the affect that changing weather had on the plagues, explaining the European environment during 1050-1347; the time of plagues greatest destruction. That complete, Gottfried describes the consequences immediately following the plague. It is said that the disease killed 25% to 40% of Eurasia and part of Africa. By this point, it is more than obvious hat plague had a tragic affect on Medieval Europe, The Consequences and effects of the Black Death plague were prices and wages rose, greater value was placed on labor, farming land was given over to pasturing, which was much less labor-intensive, this change in farming led to a boost in the cloth and woolen industry, peasants moved from the country to the towns, the Black Death was therefore also responsible for t he decline of the Feudal system, people became disillusioned with the church and its power and influence went into decline, this resulted in the English reformation. After giving a full background on plague and European culture and environment, Gottfried gives solid details to support his theses. According to Gottfried, the Medical structure of Medieval Europe, adopted from that of the Romans, was nearly eliminated in the search for ways to cure plague. The spread of plague, successfully stated by Gottfried, directly depends on climate. Plague can only spread under certain climate conditions. In order for Y. Pestis, a series of complex bacterial strains, to survive, it mustn’t be too hot nor too cold. Too cold can kill the bacteria, and too hot can slow its progress. During the plague’s most devastating times, the temperature was perfect for the spread of Y. Pestis. Gottfried also describes that spread of plague can also depend on the strength of animals. Humans are merely secondary hosts to the fleas carrying Y. Pestis. The fleas afflict their host with the plague when they regurgitate the bacteria. These fleas prefer an animal host, not humans. When their animal host dies, they move on to a secondary host, possibly humans, but not necessarily. When the generation of bacteria-carrying fleas dies, or the temperatures prevent the plague from spreading, the cycle continues until all the variables once again allow for the plague to spread. Gottfried successfully conveys his point. Robert S. Gottfried achieved in getting his two theses across. His methods were to educate the reader on the topic, giving only the facts necessary to convey his point. After giving the reader information on plague and Medieval Europe, he argued his thesis, making frequent references to points he had made earlier in the book. Gottfried also made it obvious that others supported his theories. At the end of each important point, he marked it with a number corresponding to the reference in the back of the book. â€Å"Neither physicians nor medicines were effective. Whether because these illnesses were previously unknown or because physicians had not previously studied them, there seemed to be no cure. There was such a fear that no one seemed to know what to do. When it took hold in a house it often happened that no one remained who had not died. And it was not just that men and women died, but even sentient animals died. Dogs, cats, chickens, oxen, donkeys sheep showed the same symptoms and died of the same disease. And almost none, or very few, who showed these symptoms, were cured. The symptoms were the following: a bubo in the groin, where the thigh meets the trunk; or a small swelling under the armpit; sudden fever; spitting blood and saliva (and no one who spit blood survived it). It was such a frightful thing that when it got into a house, as was said, no one remained. Frightened people abandoned the house and fled to another. -Marchione di Coppo Stefani In conclusion, The Black Death successfully proves that a great deal of tragedy in the 13th century had much to do with animals in the environment. Death was a habitual visitor to fourteenth century Europe. Never before had humanity seen such widespread dying. Famines, wars, and a host of deadly diseases all took millions of lives during the 1300s. But the worst single calamity to wrack this troubled century was the Black Death—a plague that killed anywhere from 24-25 million Europeans between 1347 and 1351. As Frederick F. Cartwright and Michael D. Biddis, authors of Disease and History, observe, â€Å"The Black Death was not just another incident in the long list of epidemics which have smitten the world. It was probably the greatest European catastrophe in history. † Anywhere from 25 to 40 percent of the total population of Europe died from this plague. Similar death rates took place in Asia, the Mideast, the Mediterranean, Africa, and as far away as Greenland and Iceland, thus making the Black Death the greatest ecological calamity in human history. It also conveyed that plague accelerated the progress of culture, bringing the need for modern medicine. Gottfried makes it apparent that man did not understand enough about the environment to prevent plague, maybe a message to the world today. Dense population, as Gottfried suggested, breeds plague. Early plague has educated us, and we should focus on this, plague seems to be inevitable with certain circumstances and lack of knowledge. Not only did Gottfried educate us on the past, but may have prepared us for the future. Works Citied â€Å"Efforts to Stop the Plague. † Insecta Inspecta World. Web. 27 Apr. 2011. http://www. insecta-inspecta. com/fleas/bdeath/Stop. html. Gottfried, Robert Steven. The Black Death: Natural and Human Disaster in Medieval Europe. New York: Free, 1983. Print. â€Å"The Black Death, 1348. † EyeWitness to History – History through the Eyes of Those Who Lived It. Web. 27 Apr. 2011. http://www. eyewitnesstohistory. com/plague. htm. How to cite The Black Death, Papers The Black Death Free Essays Black Death refers to a bubonic and pneumonic plague believed to have come from rats and which spread throughout Western Europe during the 14th century resulting to the death of millions, drastically decreasing the overall population of Europe, and changing the economic and cultural landscape of the region. It came in periodic epidemics from 1300s to the 1700s in the various places where it struck. The plague is said to have originated in Central Asia when the Mongol army, in an attempt to take siege of the Caffa in the Crimea during the early 1300s, catapulted plague-infested corpses into the city. We will write a custom essay sample on The Black Death or any similar topic only for you Order Now The fleeing traders carried the disease with them to Sicily. From Italy, it immediately spread into peopled towns and cities around neighboring France, Spain, Portugal, England, and other parts of Europe. It caused the total disappearance of villages as about one-third of the entire population of Europe died in the epidemic which ensued. It was most virulent in England where it claimed about half of its population. It spread quickly because doctors did not have enough knowledge then on how to cure the disease and any purpose of finding a cure was defeated by the fact that the plague claimed its victim within a week. Poor hygiene and sanitation practices among the crowded European cities also contributed to the outbreak. Aside from the dramatic decrease in Europe’s population, the Black Death stopped on-going wars and caused a slump in trade. It decreased available labor in the farmlands. It even affected the Catholic Church as people turned to superstition to explain the cause of the plague when their faith could not do anything to cure it. There was mass slaughter and burning of Jews who were accused of spreading the plague. A good effect of the epidemic, however, is that the shortage of workers resulted to better remuneration for the peasants as farm owners tried to outdo each other in luring the peasantry to work for them. These resulted to social mobility which would eventually lessen the power of the nobility and clergy in succeeding centuries. The Black Death experience illustrates how disease could change the history of humankind especially if it affects multitudes of populations around the world. With the advanced technology in the field of medicine today however, and the presence of international organizations like the World Health Organization, it has become easier to contain epidemics before they could become as widespread as the Black Death experience. How to cite The Black Death, Papers

Describe Romeo as a lover before and after he meets Juliet. Essay Example For Students

Describe Romeo as a lover before and after he meets Juliet. Essay Throughout the story the way in which Romeo feels and act as a lover change hugely. We can notice this even by the way he expressed himself, it is not only the meaning of the words but how he says them. By the love of Juliet his character also changes, he becomes a happier man, and jokes, his attitude is transformed, but at the same time, he is suffering immensely because of this love. He should not see Juliet because they are from different groups, Romeo is a Montague, while Juliet is a Capulet. They are really big enemies. My only love sprung from my only hate! Montagues and Capulets hate each other so by fate we know that a love between them is impossible. There is dramatic irony, we already know from this that this story is going to end sadly, with death. Romeo at the begging of the story is presented as a very passionate, young man, with complex personality. He is immature and enjoys feeling infatuated with the supposed love he feels towards Rosemary, but at the same time he is sad because it is not corresponded love. He thought Rosemary was the most beautiful woman, and that there does not exist so much beauty as the one she has, and so does not want to look at other woman. One fairer than my love? The all-seing sun neer saw her match since first the world begun. He does not believe that someone more beautiful than Juliet could exist. He spoke in a very complex and elaborated language, full of metaphors, images, and always in rhyming couplets, it shows it is an artificial love, just an obsession. His father does not know what is wrong with Romeo, Shuts up his windows, locks fair daylight out, and makes himself and artificial night. This is said by him and refers to Romeo, and shows that therefore he was not acting normally. Romeo is sad, and so he isolates himself , he hides in the sickamore. His father even compares Romeo to a bud, As is the bad bitten by an envious worm ere he can spread his sweet leaves to the air. He thinks a worm, evilness, is eating his thoughts, and is destroying Romeo, who is young as a bud, and so it does not let him to grow and show his beauty. Romeo therefore, is not acting normally, his father sees odd things in him. When Romeo sees Juliet by the first time, he is stun by her beauty, and forgets about Rosaline. O she does teach the torches to burn bright. He thinks she is incredibly attractive. Imagery of light reaches its climate, when Romeo compares Juliet to the sun, which is the maximum of all the light, that means Juliet is the greatest light for Romeo. He immediately falls in love of her, and his character began to change, and he reinforces this by the way in which his words change. He stops using a so elaborated language. Romeos idea of love is very passionate and pure just as Juliets, and in contrast with Mercutio, Sampson, and the nurses idea of love which is a more physical love, anxious for sex, and the outward things of love. They do not understand them, and so this is what is going to isolate them even more from the rest. Romeo is really passionate, and anxious to see Juliet, he even crosses the orchard into the Capulets house, so he is putting his life in risk. He prefers to die in the orchard looking for Juliet, than dying without Juliets love. I am pierced with his shaft. This means he is too much in love. (He was pierced by cupids arrow). He is also very happy about this love, he is in very high spirits. For the first time he jokes with Mercutio about women, sexual organs, body language. They speak puns, and their dialogue is full of sexual meanings, we can see the close relationship between them. Romeo is not melancholic nor sad any more. Romeos attitude has change progressively. But we can see the contrast between their view of love. Mercutio is still the one who refers to sexual meanings, and Romeo just laughs about it, because even though, his love continues being pure, he is more romantic, he does not use sexual words, but instead uses puns in a different way. Romeo has a more idealistic view of love. From the beginning of the story Romeos love has been a pure one, the same idea of love that Juliet has. .uc17fced2a126c57df6607495fdfbe7c8 , .uc17fced2a126c57df6607495fdfbe7c8 .postImageUrl , .uc17fced2a126c57df6607495fdfbe7c8 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .uc17fced2a126c57df6607495fdfbe7c8 , .uc17fced2a126c57df6607495fdfbe7c8:hover , .uc17fced2a126c57df6607495fdfbe7c8:visited , .uc17fced2a126c57df6607495fdfbe7c8:active { border:0!important; } .uc17fced2a126c57df6607495fdfbe7c8 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .uc17fced2a126c57df6607495fdfbe7c8 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .uc17fced2a126c57df6607495fdfbe7c8:active , .uc17fced2a126c57df6607495fdfbe7c8:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .uc17fced2a126c57df6607495fdfbe7c8 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .uc17fced2a126c57df6607495fdfbe7c8 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .uc17fced2a126c57df6607495fdfbe7c8 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .uc17fced2a126c57df6607495fdfbe7c8 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .uc17fced2a126c57df6607495fdfbe7c8:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .uc17fced2a126c57df6607495fdfbe7c8 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .uc17fced2a126c57df6607495fdfbe7c8 .uc17fced2a126c57df6607495fdfbe7c8-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .uc17fced2a126c57df6607495fdfbe7c8:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Write an analysis of Baz Luhrman's opening sequence of Romeo and Juliet. How does it grab the audiences' attention? EssayIn conclusion, Romeo does change in all aspects, by the exception of his view towards love. With Juliet he feels real love, even though sometimes there is some artificial love, elaborated language in his speeches, but even though there is still a big change in his way of speaking. He has turned into a better man, happier, but at the same time very passionate with Juliet, and anxious to see her, and do whatever is needed for her. He prefers dying than not having Juliet, so their love is so strong that not even death can keep them apart.

Theory Of Duality Of Personality In Crime And Punishment Essays

Theory Of Duality Of Personality In Crime And Punishment Duality The theory of duality of personality is exhibited clearly in Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment by the character Raskolnikov: Svidrigailov represents the cold, intellectual side of his personality and Sonia is a clear example of his humane, compassionate side. Let us examine these separate components of Raskolnikov's social traits. Svidrigailov is the distinct representation of Raskolnikov's intellectual side which emphasizes self-will. He also represents a type of Nihilist superman. He feels that the world is essentially an evil place; therefore, in order to conform with the universe, he must be essentially evil. The universe, under this theory, is also meaningless and directionless, or man's main coarse is for the gratification of appetite. Every act that Svidrigailov performs is for his own pleasure and to place him above common morality. Svidrigailov is not a true intellectual; but he does not allow minor human actions or morality or law to prevent him from having his way. Therefore, Raskolnikov can commit murders because of his theories, and Svidrigailov can carry out amoral acts for his own satisfaction. A perfect example of this would be that he rapes a thirteen year old girl and upon hearing that she hanged herself, he has no feelings of remorse. He also has no feelings of guilt for poisoning his wife a nd causing the death of his servant Petya. Raskolnikov's intellectual side is immersed in his theory of the extraordinary man. Therefore, he must stand alone or have self will and not need human companionship just as Svidrigailov. The opposing side of Raskolnikov's character is Sonia Marmeladov. Her function is to redeem Raskolnikov. She represents Raskolnikov's warm, compassionate, humane side. This portion of his character operates without thought. His initial thought and actions in a situation are representations of this aspect of his personality. Raskolnikov often carries out acts of charity or humanity and then, when he has intellectualized his actions; he regrets them. An example of this is when he gives the Marmeladovs his last bit of money, and then shortly after regrets having given the money away. If left to his immediate reactions, Raskolnikov would always act in a charitable and humane manner and sacrifice himself for his fellow man. No one is less fit for a life of prostitution than Sonia, but this was the only way that she could support her family. She is a martyr for her cause, or a Christ-figure. She represents the suffering of all humanity and Raskolnikov turns to her in order to help him with his suffering. She feels intense degradation and shame for her profession but she never had lost touch with God. Her simple faith in God is part of her strength. As Raskolnikov would sacrifice his money or his own self to benefit others, so does Sonia go into prostitution in order to benefit her family. Raskolnikov's actions in the novel seem strange and contradictory because of his duality. A perfect display of such inconsistencies in his character is his initial resistance to his sister's engagement to Luzhin and then later feeling that she should marry ?whom she pleases.? His first reaction was with his humane side (Sonia) not wanting his sister to enter an undesirable marriage and then his intellectual side (Svidrigailov) contending that he must not concern himself with the insignificant problems of others. English Essays

Jeb Stuart essays

Jeb Stuart essays Jeb Stuart was a combination leadership general in the mid-nineteenth century. He was a great leader as well as a good follower. In the following paragraphs I intend to tell about his life before the army and his life during his service, explain why he was such a great leader, and discuss the roles he played in the battles he fought. Every great story has a beginning. This one is no exception. James Ewell Brown Stuart was born on February sixth, eighteen thirty-three. He was the seventh of twelve children and the youngest son. Stuart attended Emory and Henry College before being appointed to the United States Military Academy. He graduated thirteenth out of forty-six in his class and was appointed cavalry sergeant, which was the highest rank attainable for these cadets. After graduation Stuart of course entered the U.S. army and because of his participation in the military academy was given the rank of second lieutenant, and was assigned to the regiment of the Mounted Texas Riflemen. He excelled in leading the regiment, and was promoted and transferred to the newly formed first Regiment, U.S. Cavalry. On January fifteenth, eighteen sixty-one Jeb sent a letter to Jefferson Davis asking him for a position in the confederate army. On May third of the same year he sent his letter of resignation to the U.S . army, and three weeks later was given the rank of captain of the southern cavalry. This didn't last too long due to Stuart's superb skills. At the end of it all he was promoted to major general of the entire confederate cavalry division. Stuart was in many battles in the Civil War, some he played a vital role in, others not. His first service was in the Shenandoah Valley, but he was at First Manassas where he nipped at the Union right flank, and then tried to organize a pursuit. After that he had an unusual role. Nobody had foreseen entire brigades of cavalry, so Stuart kept command ...

Learn Ten Facts About Washington, D.C.

Learn Ten Facts About Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., officially called the District of Columbia, is the capital of the United States. It was founded on July 16, 1790, and today has a city population of 599,657 (2009 estimate) and an area of 68 square miles (177 sq km). It should be noted, however, that during the week, Washington, D.C.s population rises to well over one million people due to suburban commuters. The population of the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area was 5.4 million people as of 2009. Washington, D.C. is home to all three branches of the U.S. government as well as many international organizations and the embassies of 174 foreign nations. In addition to being the center of U.S. government, Washington, D.C. is known for its history, many historic national monuments and famous museums like the Smithsonian Institution. The following is a list of ten important things to know about Washington, D.C. Inhabited by the Nacotchtank Tribe of Native Americans When Europeans first arrived in what is present-day Washington, D.C. in the 17th century the area was inhabited by the Nacotchtank tribe of Native Americans. By the 18th century though, Europeans had relocated the tribe and the region was becoming developed. In 1749, Alexandria, Virginia was founded and in 1751, the Province of Maryland chartered Georgetown along the Potomac River. Eventually, both were included in the original Washington, D.C. District. The Residence Act In 1788, James Madison stated that the new U.S. nation would need a capital that was distinct from the states. Shortly thereafter, Article I of the U.S Constitution stated that a district, separate from the states, would become the seat of government. On July 16, 1790, the Residence Act established that this capital district would be located along the Potomac River and President George Washington would decide exactly where. The Organic Act Officially Organized the District of Columbia Initially, Washington, D.C. was a square and measured ten miles (16 km) on each side. First, a federal city was constructed near Georgetown and on September 9, 1791, the city was named Washington and the newly established federal district was named Columbia. In 1801, the Organic Act officially organized the District of Columbia and it was expanded to include Washington, Georgetown, and Alexandria. The War of 1812 In August 1814, Washington, D.C. was attacked by British forces during the War of 1812 and the Capitol, Treasury and White House were all burned. They were quickly repaired however and governmental operations resumed. In 1846, Washington, D.C. lost some of its area when Congress returned all District territory south of the Potomac back to the Commonwealth of Virginia. The Organic Act of 1871 then combined the City of Washington, Georgetown and Washington County into a single entity known as the District of Columbia. This is the region that became known as todays Washington, D.C. Washington D.C. Is Still Considered Separate Today, Washington, D.C. is still considered separate from its neighboring states (Virginia and Maryland) and it is governed by a mayor and a city council. The U.S. Congress, however, has the highest authority over the area and it can overturn local laws if necessary. In addition, residents of Washington, D.C. were not allowed to vote in presidential elections until 1961. Washington, D.C. also has a non-voting Congressional delegate but it does not have any senators. Economy Focused on Service and Government Jobs Washington, D.C. currently has a large growing economy that is mainly focused on the service sector and government jobs. According to Wikipedia, in 2008, federal government jobs made up 27% of the jobs in Washington, D.C. In addition to government jobs, Washington, D.C. also has industries related to education, finance, and research. D.C. Is 68 Square Miles The total area of Washington, D.C. today is 68 square miles (177 sq km) - all of which formerly belonged to Maryland. The area is surrounded by Maryland on three sides and Virginia to the south. The highest point in Washington, D.C. is Point Reno at 409 feet (125 m) and it is located in the Tenleytown neighborhood. Much of Washington, D.C. is parkland and the district was highly planned during its initial construction. Washington, D.C. is divided into four quadrants: the Northwest, Northeast, Southeast, and Southwest. Each quadrant radiates out from the Capitol building. The Climate Is Humid Subtropical The climate of Washington, D.C. is considered humid subtropical. It has cold winters with average snowfall at about 14.7 inches (37 cm) and hot, humid summers. The average January low temperature is 27.3ËšF (-3ËšC) while the average July high is 88ËšF (31ËšC). The Population Distribution As of 2007, Washington, D.C. had a population distribution of 56% African American, 36% White, 3% Asian and 5% other. The district has had a significant population of African Americans since its founding largely because of the freeing of slaves in the southern states following the American Revolution. Recently, however, the percentage of African Americans has been declining in Washington, D.C. as more of the population moves to the suburbs. Cultural Center of the U.S. Washington, D.C. is considered a cultural center of the U.S. because of its many National Historic Landmarks, museums and historic places such as the Capitol and White House. Washington, D.C. is home to the National Mall which is a large park within the city and it contains museums like the Smithsonian and the National Museum of Natural History. The Washington Monument is located on the west end of the National Mall. Sources: Wikipedia.org. (5 October 2010). Washington Monument - Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_MonumentWikipedia.org. (30 September 2010). Washington, D.C. - Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington,_D.C.

Oedipus the King Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 4

Oedipus the King - Essay Example Oedipus is a strong personality, indeed. He represents a kind of compassionate and careful, fair but strict leader. He is characterized by swiftness of thought and action and frankness. He possesses all the features any audience would like their leader to possess. Oedipus expresses his sincere concern of the health and well-being of his people: â€Å"Explain your mood and purport. Is it dread /Of ill that moves you or a boon ye crave?/ My zeal in your behalf ye cannot doubt/ Ruthless indeed were I and obdurate/ If such petitioners as you I spurned† (11-15). Being a thoughtful ruler and a person of action, Oedipus had sent Creon, his right hand, to the oracle even before priest came to him. As Creon returns, Oedipus insists on his reporting the oracle’s answer in front of all the people: â€Å"Speak before all; the burden that I bear/ Is more for these my subjects than myself† (100-101). Learning that it is necessary to punish the murderer of Laius, staying in The bes, Oedipus behaves as a fair, strict but kind ruler. He promises that the murderer will only be exiled from the city, his life being left to him. Oedipus promises that the same punishment will befall on people close to him. At the same time, from the very first lines Sophocles reveals the flaw that is leading Oedipus to his tragedy. This is pride. Entering, Oedipus declares: â€Å"am hither come, myself, I Oedipus, your world-renowned king† (7-8). At the beginning of the second scene Oedipus conveys his belief that he can replace gods. As he enters and hears the chorus’s prayer to gods to save Thebes, Oedipus says: â€Å"Ye pray; tis well, but would ye hear my words/ And heed them and apply the remedy,/Ye might perchance find comfort and relief† (218-210). This pride causes Oedipus’s blindness, leading him to his downfall. Obviously, it was his self-pride, which guided him earlier as he left the home of his foster parents and set off trying to deceive his

English Grammar Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

English Grammar - Essay Example Through this class I have learned that no matter what I write, the piece will never reach its zenith without proper grammar. I enjoyed English class in elementary school. I don't believe that I found much inspiration in the subject because I knew it was a core class and I was expected to get the all important "A". It was not until middle school that I actually began to loose points on other tests because of poor grammar. I became aware of the importance of grammar during my first Social Studies test and lost ten points because of improper grammar. I can recall readying myself to do battle with my teacher and demanding my well earned "A" and watching my imagined victory deflate as my teacher explained to my classmate that they were lucky they did not receive a "F" because of the poor grammar on their test! Erroneously, I presumed that my grammar would improve with my widening repertoire of vocabulary. I had hoped that by writing for my school newspaper, I would be the new maven of journalistic news, not so. My grammar held me back. I found my articles being consistently edited due to my lack of grammatical skills and realized that if I did not do something about it, my grades would fall, I would be thrown off of the newspaper and fail the SAT's! I realized that any point that I tried to make in writing would be belied by horrid grammar use. It was then that I realized that grammar skills are the common denominator to all subjects. I sought tutoring in high school from my English teacher and we began from square one. Slowly but surely I gained confidence in adverbial placement. Additionally, I became determined to not rely upon the spell and grammar check feature in my computer. Obviously, I felt intimidated when I began this course. I am not a scholar, nor am I looking to be. I had expected everyone to be far more advanced than I. To prepare myself for this course, I began tutoring myself on a website called Edhelper.com. I studied acrostic poems, conjunctions, collective nouns and I began to study adjectives. Once this class began, I felt that I was starting with solid footing, but I soon came to learn that "composition" means far more than a simple name to a class. This class in English composition has taught me to compose. I have learned to take thoughts and bring them together to create a vision. As I mentioned earlier, I do not consider myself a scholar or the next Pulitzer prize winner. I do believe however, that my progress in grammar has affected my writing in a positive way not just in prose but in speech as well. I am a mature woman now. I am not a child, adolescent or young adult. My grammar usage, both written and oral gives the reader and listener respectively, their first impressions of me. I want them to be positive impressions. Grammar usage, whether we care to admit it or not, is a reflection of our intellect and our wit. This class has been the most challenging by far as applied to grammar. I am well aware of the fact that I have not mastered grammar and I am learning to proof read my work because I am a reactive writer. Nonetheless, I think this is my most successful class because I am confident in grammar usage both verbal and written. I appreciate all of the advice that I have received and the encouragement that greets me as I read my feed back

Students stress Essay Example for Free

Students stress Essay ?Introduction paragraph: As we know going to college has a huge importance for every student. Obviously students gain different experiences from each other. Becoming a student has advantages and disadvantages. This essay introduces us with one of the disadvantages which is students stress. Financial problems , time management , changing sleeping or food habits and social activities are some effects and causes that induce students stress. Body paragraphs Topic sentence : Time management is an effect that induces students stress. Connecting explanation: When students don’t manage their time appropriately they find it difficult to study. Detail / Evidence 1 : Not being able to arrange their time ,they find it difficult to find the right time to study or work (or any other activity) Detail / Evidence 2 : The more time spent at work (or different activities), the less time a student spends studying. Example 1: Having to hold down a job and still be a college student is a constant source of stress (Calderon , Hey Seabert , 2001). Connecting explanation : The students that work or attend to social activities find it hard to manage their time so they can achieve what they want. Concluding sentence : As we see from the example above students that don’t manage their time have lots of stress. Time management is an effect that induces students stress. Being regular attendees to different activities makes them to have less time to study. Having a work also complicates the ability to manage their time appropriately. It is important for every student to have at least a guide that explains how they can handle this stress. Being able to manage our time helps us a lot to achieve in the appropriate way our studies , work and social activities. Topic sentence : An important cause that leads to students stress is financial problem. Connecting explanation : Having financial problems it is surely the best way to distract students from their studies. Detail / Evidence 1 : Financial support is a tremendous factor in the success of a college student. Detail / Evidence 2 : The need for financial support leads students to take care of job responsibilities. Example 1 : If the student has a family that involves his or her own children, the support of everyone is needed even more to achieve the goal of graduation (Trockel et al , 2000). Connecting explanation : Not having a financial support leads students to take job responsibilities which causes lots of stress. Concluding sentence : As we see in the example above the support of the family is a huge importance. Having financial problems it is surely the best way to distract students from their studies. Finding how to manage their costs is obviously very stressful. The reason that obligates students to take care of job responsibilities is the lack of a financial support. Being free of financial responsibilities is a relief for them. According to the example , to achieve the goal of graduation the students families must give them support. Topic sentence : Changing sleeping habits its another cause that creates students stress. Connecting explanation: When students go to college change their sleeping habits because of job responsibilities or social activities. Detail / Evidence 1 : Sleep deprivation causes shortened attention span. Detail / Evidence 2 : Increased number of errors that students make on a test. Example 1 : Sleeping shorter amounts of time has shown to increase factors such as anxiety and stress which have been associated with academics performance (Celly et al 2001). Connecting explanation: Usually students that change their sleeping habits for different reasons tend to lose their attention which reduces their grades. Concluding sentence : According to the example above , sleeping less causes much more stress which lowers the academic performance. Changing sleeping habits its another cause that creates students stress. Most of the students when they go to college start a work or attend to social activities which makes them sleep less. A low attention its obviously a lack of sleep. Not being careful to their courses makes them lose lots of information and increases the errors in their tests. According to Celly (2001) Anxiety and stress come from a low amount of sleep and that’s what leads to a reduced academic performance. Topic sentence : Being part of social activities is another cause that induces students stress. Connecting explanation : Following social activities spends the students time more than it should. Detail / Evidence 1 : Taking time out of frequent study hours to work out pulls away from grades. Detail/ Evidence 2 : Exercising too much or not at all can influence academic performance. Example 1 : Students who exercised seven or more hours a week obtain significantly lower grades than students who exercised 6 or fewer hours weekly or not at all. Connecting explanation : Exercising too much reduces students academic performance which leads to lower grades. Concluding sentence : According to the example above , we can see the importance of not spending too much time in different activities. Being part of social activities is another cause that induces students stress. We all know that following social activities is good when its not exaggerated. It is obvious that spending lots of time in activities doesn’t give us the opportunity to study enough. Not studying enough surely reduces students grades. According to the example above , students should understand the importance of spending appropriate hours on social activities. Topic sentence : Another cause that induces students stress is changing food habits. Connecting explanation : Because of different things that students might have during their college they don’t have enough time to cook so they change their eating habits. Detail / Evidence 1 : Having an unhealthy diet is an important detail that leads to students stress. Detail / Evidence 2 : Learning to cook is a new challenge for students. Example 1: Little storage space is available in the average dorm room , and food storage may not be possible at all (Trockel et al , 2000). Connecting explanations : Many students consider learning to cook as a challenge so they choose to have an unhealthy diet which causes stress for them. Concluding sentence : According to Trockel (2000) the reason that students choose to have an unhealthy diet is because of the little storage space available in the average dorm room , or the food storage might not be possible at all. Another cause that induces students stress is changing food habits. Students before going to college were used with moms cooking. Now they have to do everything on their own , concluding cooking. Because of many students consider cooking as a challenge they go to the supermarket to buy something to eat. Having an unhealthy diet its proved that lowers the capacity to study and this causes students stress. According to Trockel (2000) the reason that students choose to have an unhealthy diet is because of the little storage space available in the average dorm room , or the food storage might not be possible at all. Concluding paragraph : As we see there are lots of causes and effects that induce students stress. Last year I was a freshman in an Italian university and I can say from my experience that is very difficult to handle a stress that college induces. I think that those causes and effects are parts of every students life that is why they shouldn’t freak out. Knowing how financial problems , social activities , time management , the change of sleep and food habits effect students should also be a good priority for studiers to find a way how we can handle it. Capable students obviously will be an important step that will lead us to a better future.

Hamlet’s Madness in Craft Essay example -- Literary Analysis

In Act I, Scene V, after hearing the ghost’s demand for revenge, Hamlet says in advance that he will consciously feign madness while seeking the opportune moment to kill Claudius. Therefore, it is hard to conclude that he coincidentally became insane after making such a vow. Hamlet’s supposed madness becomes his primary way of interacting with the other characters during most of the play, in addition to being a major device that Shakespeare uses to develop his character. Still, the question remains: Is Hamlet really crazy or just pretending? The major conflict which seems obscures the possibility of obtaining clarity on the answer to this question is Hamlet’s inability to find any certain moral truths as he works his way toward revenge. Even in his first encounter with the ghost, Hamlet questions the appearances of things around him and worries whether he can trust his perceptions, doubting the authenticity of his father’s ghost and its tragic claim. Since, he is contemplative to the point of obsession, Hamlet’s decision to feign madness will occasionally lead him perilously close to actual madness. Indeed, one might argue that because of this conflict, it is impossible to say for certain whether or not Hamlet actually does go mad, and, if so, when his feigning becomes reality. Conversely, Hamlet’s sharp and targeted observations lend significant credence to his feigning madness. Most notably, he declares, â€Å"I am but mad north-north-west: when the wind is southerly I know a hawk from a handsaw† (II.ii.361–362). That is to say, he is only â€Å"mad† when he is oriented in a certain way, but that he is lucid the rest of the time. Nevertheless, Hamlet confusion translates into an extremely intense state of mind that is highly suggestiv... ...mlet’s desire to attain Laertes’ pardon clearly represents an important shift in his mental state. Whereas Hamlet was previously self-obsessed and preoccupied with his family, he is now able to think sympathetically about others. He does not go quite so far as to take responsibility for Polonius’s death, but he does seem to be acting with a broader and more humane perspective after the shock of Ophelia’s death. In conclusion, perhaps it is worthwhile to ask this question: if a person in a rational state of mind decides to act as if he is crazy, in order to abuse the people around him regardless of whether he loves those people or hates them, and to give free expression to all of his most antisocial thoughts, when he starts to carry those actions out, will it even be possible to say at what point he stops pretending to be crazy and starts actually being crazy?

Book Report: Thus Spoke Zarathustra Essay

The Book The controversial fiction book of Existentialist Friedrich Nietzsche titled ‘Thus Spoke Zarathustra’ was originally written in German in late Eighteenth Century. This fiction book, which was completed between 1883 and 1885, tells about the author’s philosophy of ‘the eternal recurrence of the same,’ his most contentious story on the ‘death of God’, and his introduction of the concept of the overman (Repeboom, 2001). Thus Spake Zarathustra represents the philosophy of its own author, as well as his concept of ethics and morality which— according to him— must be taken into account by men. The book’s main character personifies Nietzsche’s moral ideals as against the morality of his time. In presenting his philosophy and his ideals of morality, Nietzsche satirically and apparently appropriated for himself a biblical style. By doing so, Nietzsche showed his strong opposition to Judea-Christian concept of God and morality. Synopsis ‘Thus Spoke’ centers on the conjured journey of Zarathustra— from his ten years of seclusion in the wilderness up to his long travels in the low-land where he met with several kinds of personalities and where he declared that God is dead and preached his own concept of morality. The name Zarathustra actually came from a historical figure Zoroaster, the Persian diviner who founded Zoroastrianism. However the rationale of Nietzsche in writing the book is to present a new form or notion of Zarathustra, whose literary purpose is to introduce a new concept of morality that is totally different from Judea-Christian ethics and morality. With this Nietzsche claimed that it was his fictitious character Zarathustra who is the â€Å"first moralist† (Nietzsche et al, 1989, p.327). Nietzsche went on by saying that it was Zarathustra who thought and spoke of the eternal struggle between good and evil. One of the popular lines or quotations in the book is that famous aphorism â€Å"God is dead,† a concept which was popularized by Nietzsche. However, the most significant pillar of the story is the concept of overman, translated from the German word ‘Ubermensch’ (Nietzsche, 2004, p.56). According to Nietzsche, the overman is man’s symbol of self, as well as the concepts of ‘self-overcoming,’ ‘self-direction,’ self-cultivation,’ and ‘self-mastery’ (Nietzsche et al, 1989). In the story, Zarathustra was 30 years old when he practically abandoned his home and decided to live in the mountains ((Nietzsche, 2004, p.1). After ten years of living in the wilderness, Zarathustra decided to leave the mountains to preach his new found knowledge and gospel to the people in the lowland. On his way down he met different kinds of individuals like a saint, the backworldsmen, the pale criminal, the preachers of death, the priests, and the virtuous, among others. The finale the book’s main character’s preaching is the principle of eternal recurrence. This doctrine postulates the eternal repetition of all events. Based on the philosophical concept of Nietzsche, only the overman cal fully understand said doctrine, because it is only him who has the will power to assume conscientiousness and accountability for all aspects of his life and to desire nonentity more than for every moment to happen over and over again. Zarathustra has a problem confronting this concept of eternal recurrence, since he cannot accept the notion that the weakness of the masses will happen again ad infinitum without any progress or development. At the last part of the novel, Zarathustra gathers in his cavern in the mountain several individuals who have not yet achieve the status of an overman. In his cave, Zarathustra and his men enjoy a banquet and express their joy by singing several songs. At the end of the book, Zarathustra finally embraced the doctrine of eternal recurrence, as well as the notion that â€Å"joy is deeper still that grief can be† (Nietzsche, 2004, p.310). The Concept of Overman One of the most controversial ideas introduced by Nietzsche is the concept of overman. According to Nietzsche, the status of an overman is what men should achieve. However, one cannot achieve this status without forsaking the values instilled upon him by the contemporary religious and ideological structures that continuously poison his way of thinking and his values. During Nietzsche’s time, the concept of morality was dominated and dictated by the Catholic Church. All societal norms, doctrinal beliefs, religious traditions, and mystical ideas were deeply associated and strongly connected with the religious teachings and dogmatic beliefs of the Catholic Church. With this, Nietzsche presented his idea of an ideal man— the overman— through his fiction book titled Thus Spoke Zarathustra (Nietzsche, 1967). In this book, Zarathustra at the age of thirty spent 10 years living in the wilderness and enjoying his independence and seclusion. When Zarathustra decided to leave the mountain to preach and spread his new-found gospel or idea to the mob of people below, he met a number of different types of people like the priests, the pitiful, the magician, the virtuous, the tarantulas, the last man, to name a few (Nietzsche, 1967). One of the classes of person he met is a saint who devoted all his life and works to God. Zarathustra was greatly surprised that the man was never informed that God is dead. There, Zarathustra asserts that â€Å"man is something which ought to be overcome† (Rosen & Gillespie, 2000). By overcoming ‘man,’ an individual must create his own virtuous according to his own will or purpose in life. By doing so, he becomes a creator of values and not an absorber of the same. Zarathustra also declares and claims that man is tied between the beasts and the overman, and thus the humanity must seek for the coming of the overman by being true to the world and this life and by deserting the morals and ethical standards that poisoned man’s mind and his values. In presenting the overman as the creator of virtues, Nietzsche also rebuked all the established values and morals of his time. The concept of overman is something that is higher in standards and in terms of values than the men who subordinated their will and live to a structure that preaches for the departure of human soul from earth. Being a creator of values, must live according to his morals and based on what he thinks is right, and nor according to anybody’s will or to society’s moral standards.   In some of his works which were published on the Gay Science, Nietzsche identified at least two structures that set the values and moral standards that should not be imbibed by any man who aspires to be an over man (Allison, 2001). One of which is the religious structure or the Catholic Church that preaches predominant Christian values. Christian dogma and other religious beliefs advocate for the virtue of meekness and pity. Nietzsche through Zarathustra contends the absence of any virtue in being humble if a person is too feeble to be able of being otherwise. Thus, this means that meekness is never a desired virtue if man fails to live as an individual who creates values. The doctrinal foundation of Christian faith is against the values by which the overman lives for. Nietzsche enumerated the three sins that can be committed against God. These sins are the following— sex, the desire for power, and selfishness. These things, based on the existentialist moral code of Nietzsche, should neither be condemned nor abandoned. This is because all these three, when chased with good intent and a clear conscience, are essential to man’s existence, power and life. The overman needs all three for his pursuit of happiness. This is to say— based on Nietzsche’s Existentialist ideals that happiness, therefore, is the goal of every virtuous man. On the other hand, state or government is so strong a superstructure in setting substandard morale codes and values. This is the reason of Nietzsche in presenting his concept of overman. Based on the philosopher’s personal works, the state is a potent menace to a free and happy life because it seeks to shape populace into a middling, unthinking multitude. Apart from this, the state also advocates for the propagation of the egalitarian principle of democracy that glorifies the meekness of the weak and impedes the growth of the strong-willed and the creative. Critical Evaluation However, it must be carefully noted that Nietzsche’s argument in his fiction novel that â€Å"God is dead† should not be taken literally. One of the central concepts of the book is the pronouncement made by Zarathustra in one of his many sermons that God is dead. This statement should be taken in its figurative sociological meaning or essence than as a spiritual, mystical account. In the book, god represents a metaphysical structure that continues to poison the minds of men. This doctrinal poison is what preventing from attaining the status of an overman. By saying that God is dead, what Zarathustra means to say is that the arrival of the overman signals the end of the obsolete and old-fashioned moral code of the Christian faith that had become the binding force of all social, political and spiritual lives of people in the medieval ages (Nishitani, Parkes & Aihara, 1990). It means that the Christian concept of good and evil had already lost its grip on our culture and norms. According to Nietzsche, the society’s and religious’ concept of the eternal struggle between good and evil was philosophically flawed and defective. This is because the Christian faith and other religious doctrines consider many things that are good to man evil, like sex, power, and selfishness. Religious institutions, particularly the Chatholic Church, which was the dominant religious denomination during Nietzsche’s time, considered man’s pursuit of happiness as evil. Everything that gratifies man is considered evil, while everything that highlights man’s weaknesses and sacrifice is deemed good and virtuous— the meek and the poor in spirit are virtuous. On the other hand, those who seek to follow their will to power, and those who desire selfishness and power are considered evil-doers. They are society’s troublemakers who need to repent for their sins in order to be saved by a higher being or a supernatural power. Thus, Nietzsche’s purpose in presenting Zarathustra as the preacher of new yet controversial values, which must be achieved by man alone, and in introducing his concept of overman who must create his own values are the main foundation of his philosophy Existentialism. Existentialism is the philosophy that postulates that individuals themselves generate the significance and quintessence of their lives (Kaufman, 1989). It means that man must live according to his will. This is what Nietzsche actually posited in his book titled ‘The Will to Power’ (Nietzsche et al., 1968). By Nietzsche’s definition, Zarathustra is indeed overman— someone who creates values and who emphasizes the importance of self. The hero in his fiction book embodies what men should do or go through to attain the status or essential level of an overman. For about ten years, Zarathustra abandoned all his material possessions and went to live alone in the wilderness, away from the mob and safe from the values of the Christian faith and the indoctrination of the state. Zarathustra did not suffer simply because he does not believe in suffering. His goal is the pursuit of happiness. An overman is someone who rebukes the sacrifice of an individual, and who cherishes personal gratification like sex, selfishness and desire for power. This is because these three elements of personal pleasure are considered evil by society and by the moral codes of the dominant religious institution. By presenting Zarathustra as a paradigm of an overman, Nietzsche means that man must live independently according to his will and not to the values and moral codes of the Church and the state (Emmanuel, 2001). To be an overman, man must create his own values according to his image and not to the image of the society where he lives. Bibliography: Allison, D. (2001). Reading the New Nietzsche. Maryland: Rowman and Littlefield CBC Arts (2007). Artist behind Biejing’s bird’s nest stadium boycotts Olympics. CBC News Website. August 11. Retrieved September 22, from http://www.cbc.ca/arts/artdesign/story/2007/08/11/beijing-artist-stadium.html Emmanuel, S. (2001). The Blackwell guide to modern philosophers. Boston: Blackwell Publishing Kaufman, W. (1989). Existentialism from Dostoyevsky to Sartre. New York: Meridan Publishing Company Nietzsche, F., Kaufmann, W. (ed), & Hollingdale, R.J. (1844-1900). The Will to Power. Germany, Nietzsche. Nietzsche, F. & Levy, C. (1967). Thus Spake Zarathustra. Washington: Plain Label Books Nietzsche, F.W. (2004). Thus Spake Zarathustra. Massachusetts: Kessinger Publishing Nietzsche, F.W., Kaufmann, W., Kaufmann, W.A, Hollingdale, R.J. (1989). On the genealogy of morals: Ecce Homo. London: Vintage Books Nishitani, K., Parkes, G. & Aihara, S. (1990). The Self-overcoming of Nihilism. New York: SUNY Press Pereboom, C.G. (2001). Existentialism: Basic Writings. Indiana: Hacket Rosen, S. & Gillespie, M. (200). The mask of enlightenment. London: Yale University Press Secondary resources: Nietzsche, F.W. (1974). The Gay Science: With a prelude in German rhymes and an appendix of songs. New York: Random House Pippin, R. (2006). Nietzsche: Thus Spoke Zarathustra. Chicago: University of Chicago Press Yovel, Y. (1986). Nietzsche as affirmative thinker. New York: Springer

Censorship in High School, From Mark Twain Essay

â€Å"It is my will which chooses, and the choice of my will is the only edict I must respect. â€Å"-â€Å"Anthem† by Ayn Rand. As Americans, we are granted many rights and freedoms which are not given to all nations and countries. These â€Å"certain inalienable† rights have been an issue of debate for hundreds of years. High school students are taught the basics of our laws and constitution in government. However, their basic rights afforded to them by the United States are always in question. While they can work in our society and get tried as adults in court, their first amendment right is taken away daily. Over the years, our greatest novels have been burned or banned, and put in the same category as pornography and smut. Journalism classes have been given only certain topics, upon the discretion of the school board, to publish in newspapers. Even sex education has been stifled in some states because people think it gives permission for teens to be promiscuous, and they need to be sheltered from this. Instead, we need to prepare them for life in the real world, let them form their own opinions on a variety of topics, and not take away their right to read and learn any subject matter in spite that it might be an uncomfortable issue in society. First, repressing information or misinforming teenagers in schools is immoral and unethical. The topic that is on teenagers minds the most, and is probably explained the least, is sex. By their 18th birthday, 6 in 10 teenage women and nearly 7 in 10 teenage men have had sexual intercourse. That said, 35% of national public schools necessitate abstinence only in sexual education. The only discussion of birth control and contraception is its ineffectiveness (1). The Alan Guttenmacher institute, which is the National Center for Education Statistics, shows from 1995-2002 teen pregnancy has dramatically declined. The cause of this is due to educated birth control methods, not abstinence. The institute also proved that only 14% of the decline was as a result of prolonging the sexual experience. That leaves 86% of teenagers becoming more aware of safe sex methods and using them. Since then, the rate has had a plateau and is likely to increase because of these programs. The government spends one hundred and seventy six million dollars annually on abstinence curriculum, and yet â€Å"more than 9 out of ten Americans have sex before marriage and have done so for generations. † I agree that teaching a child sex is foremost the parent’s right and privilege. But why would parents want to mislead their children? also I agree that sexual education should teach abstinence first and primarily. That is why comprehensive sexual education guides teenagers in the right informative direction. Teachers and parents can inform and educate, sending that teenager out into the world with realistic expectations. With the glorification of sex in the media, the question is can that teenager discern fact from fiction in a moral and knowledgeable fashion? The late 1960s were controversial for the U. S due to its role in Vietnam. In 1967, three students that attended public school in Des Moines, Iowa, were suspended from school. The students decided to wear black armbands to reflect their mourning of soldiers and to signify their opposition of the war. This monumental case went to the supreme court, where ultimately it was decided: â€Å"Prohibition against the expression of opinion, without any evidence that the rule is necessary to avoid substantial interference with school discipline or the rights of others is not permissible under the first and fourteenth amendments†(Tinker vs. Des Moines school district 393 us 503). In 1988 high school journalists tried to publish articles about teen pregnancy and the effects of divorce on students. However, the last two pages of the paper were cut because they were deemed inappropriate. The school board claimed the right of privacy had been an issue. Also, The principle felt that the topic of sexual activity and birth control were inappropriate and uncomfortable. So do we uphold one right of press above others for privacy? This case went to the United States District Court that claimed â€Å"the first amendment rights of students in the public schools are not automatically coextensive with the rights of adults in other settings. † Judges ruled that a â€Å"school need not tolerate student speech that is inconsistent with its basic educational mission, even though the government could not censor similar speech outside the school. †(2). The Court of Appeals found that the newspaper was â€Å"intended to be and operated as a conduit for student viewpoint† and â€Å"precluded school officials from censoring its contents except when â€Å"‘necessary to avoid material and substantial interference with school work or discipline . . . or the rights of others†(3). Well, what if the school got hit with a law suit due to infringement of privacy? The courts found no lawsuits could have been maintained against the school with the written material. Judge Brennan concluded that no explanation could be given to cut the pages. They were made â€Å"simply because he considered two of the six â€Å"inappropriate, personal, sensitive, and unsuitable† for student consumption. He violated the first amendments prohibitions against censorship of any student expression that neither disrupts class work nor invades the rights of others† (3) With court rulings such as this, its hard to believe that schools today are still fighting with students against their right to publish articles that give some sort of meaning to their high school experience. One of the biggest concerns understandably, is a disrupted school environment. we are there to learn, and it is hard to facilitate that when controversy is on the lips of all. It is hard to make that distinction. But the distinction is there, and if there is an article that talks about viewpoints, concerns, and is informative to current issues, it should not be censored due to the fact that it is uncomfortable for officials. In an era that consists of Paris Hilton, impersonal computers, and video games, maybe schools should give teenagers something that isn’t superficial to be passionate about. Imagine walking in an English classroom, sitting at a desk and opening the text for the day, which is Shakespeare’s â€Å"Hamlet†. Scanning the pages, and then realizing something is not right. There are whole pages missing, and a lot of the writing is blackened out. Someone has vandalized the book! The teacher sorrowfully explains that the school will not let students read certain novels because of vulgarity, sex, violence and â€Å"radical ideology†. He also says that â€Å"Tom Sawyer†, â€Å"A Wrinkle in Time†, and â€Å"To Kill A Mockingbird† have been deleted from the curriculum until further notice. Furthermore, the PTA will be burning all the copies of Aldous Huxley’s â€Å"Brave New World† after football practice if anyone wants to participate. The same happens in art class, where in the textbook all the nude statues and paintings have clothing drawn on them. In biology, any mention of Darwin has been ripped out of the pages of the text book. As extreme as this may sound, these are all incidents that have happened in the present years. As someone who grew up with all these classics in the classroom, I am devastated at the thought of not being able to develop with these characters. My love of books developed in the second grade, and I never viewed any of the opposing material as controversial. In fact, none of the students in the classrooms broke into riots at the mention of the dreaded â€Å"N† word in â€Å"Huckleberry Finn†. Actually the teacher used it to explain the word, the history, and how hurtful it was. The book coincided with the lessons we were learning in history on the anti-slavery movement. Trying to protect a young adult from sex and violence is reasonable and should be done on an educated basis. Parents need to be involved in their teenager’s life. If a book makes them uncomfortable, read the whole book and not just the uncomfortable portions. Discuss the material openly, and help the child form morals and ethics. For the teacher, if a parent has a problem with the material, give the teenager an alternate assignment. Why should every person in that classroom be denied their right to learn? Studies have shown that reading books like these help with the critical thinking process and aides in further education. Schools are forums where students learn to provide objectivity and make their own educated opinions. Besides, with today’s flow of mass media and internet, teenagers and children are exposed to more questionable resources. They are over exposed to an amount of sex, violence, and vulgarity that no classic literature can compare to. In conclusion, schools should be enlightening teenagers and giving them the tools they need for their future, letting teens shape and articulate their opinions and options realistically, and letting them learn any subject that is pertinent to their life even if it is â€Å"taboo† in society. Legally, schools have to validate banning an opinion, expression, or curriculum by showing that it was for more than a need to stay away from the discomfort that goes with an unpopular viewpoint. I think Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart said it best with, â€Å"Censorship reflects a society’s lack of confidence in itself. It is a hallmark of an authoritarian regime†

Why you need to stop researching and start writing - Emphasis

Why you need to stop researching and start writing Why you need to stop researching and start writing Theres no getting away from it: research is addictive. And theres a good reason for that – were all hard-wired to search. Its a survival mechanism, programmed into us by evolution. As hunter-gatherers on the savannah, we needed something that would shake us from our slumber; that would make us get off our fur-clad backsides and look for food or shelter. As you need both to live, this was undeniably a positive trait. And so those ancestors who happened to get a kick out of finding things survived, while those who could take or leave the wildebeest-tracking or shelter-finding starved or risked attack at dawn. As a result, we all became programmed to look. That kick you get when you find something new is actually a surge in the production of the feel-good hormone dopamine. And where once it was useful, these days it can actually be a real handicap. Thats because we get a dopamine rush not just from finding food or shelter, but from finding information. And information is everywhere. We dont even need to find it: it finds us. In todays always-on, smartphone-dominated world, it can sometimes feel like information hunts or even haunts us. But we still have our original programming in place. We still want information. And our tech-connected world provides it in spades. We look, we find, we feel good (for a moment, at least), and we look for more. This positive feedback loop is a recipe for addiction. And addicts are what millions of us are. Dopamine compresses time. It makes an hour seem like a few minutes. (Time really does fly when youre having fun.) As Clay Johnson says in his book, The Information Diet, A quick check of email when we get home can often end up in evenings entirely lost to LCD screens. It actually takes energy to avoid information, because resisting the urge to search means overcoming millions of years of evolution. And when information is all around us, avoiding it can be exhausting. And so we come to writing – or, more specifically, not writing, because were still researching. When youve been given free licence to go hunting for facts, its going to be hard to stop – especially if youre an information junkie already. If youre researching a report, every new little nugget of data, every intriguing fact, gives you a (perhaps subconscious) frisson of pleasure and spurs you on to look for more. Research is also a safe place. As long as youre looking, your report is still perfect. As long as youre still searching, you dont have to face the terrifying prospect of being crippled by writers block. In the end, research itself can become another displacement activity. At some point, there will come a time when you have to stop researching and start writing. What you need to do to overcome this is start to stack the odds in your favour again. So here are five ways to do exactly that: 1. Set a time limit on your research A project without a deadline is a hobby. If it is a hobby, then great. But if youre being paid to find information, then at some point youre going to have to report back. Staying in research mode forever is pointless, so set a time limit. Put a date in your calendar or – for more regular, smaller projects – give yourself just a day or two, or even just a few hours. Then start writing. 2. Use placeholders in what you write It can actually be profitable to write with small gaps in your knowledge. I wrote this piece in 45 minutes, but I was only able to do that because I didnt allow myself time to look up the name of the author of the book I mentioned above. Instead, I just wrote [insert name of author] and carried on writing. You can come back and fill in the gaps later. 3. Read offline The internet is one giant warren of research rabbit holes that lead you to distracting websites (and usually, I find, to social media or endless news sites). Its all too easy to disappear down one while fact-finding, and to be gone for hours. Apps like Pocket  and Evernote overcome this. Pocket, for example, lets you send information (articles, videos and images) to an app that you read offline (on any platform), in a layout that looks more like a book and without distracting menus. It also lets you tag the items you add to it, as does Evernote. Its a real boon to effective research. 4. Get some sleep Burning the midnight oil could actually be working against you. It takes immense willpower to stay super-focused and – ultimately – to stop researching. And your brain needs to be on top form in order to connect ideas and get writing. No amount of coffee will push ideas quickly enough around a brain fogged by tiredness. 5. Practise information hygiene Wean yourself off your information addiction by limiting how much information can chase you. Every smartphone or computer notification is a distraction that you need energy to ignore. (The author Kathy Sierra calls them cognitive leaks.) If you give in to them, youll reinforce your addiction to research. If you dont, youll leach away energy – energy that would be much better spent writing. Ive got a confession: Im an information addict too. I love that dopamine rush. In fact, one of lifes more old-school pleasures for me is to visit a university library. I love the heady aroma of centuries of accumulated knowledge. But thats generally not why you research. You do it not just to discover, but to share. And if you dont share it, no one will ever know that you discovered it in the first place. So, stop researching, and start writing. Image credit: Pet Greens Live Catnip

Actions Speak Louder Than Words

Automatic imitation – copying observed actions without intention – is known to occur, not only in neurological patients and those with developmental disorders, but also in healthy, typically-developing adults and children. Previous research has shown that a variety of actions are automatically imitated, and that automatic imitation promotes social affiliation and rapport. We assessed the power of automatic imitation by comparing it with the strength of the tendency to obey verbal commands. In a Stroop interference paradigm, the stimuli were compatible, incompatible and neutral compounds of hand postures and verbal commands. When imitative responses were required, the impact of irrelevant action images on responding to words was greater than the effect of irrelevant words on responding to actions. Control group performance showed that this asymmetry was not due to modality effects or differential salience of action and word stimuli. These results indicate that automatic imitation was more powerful than verbal command. 1 Actions speak louder than words Introduction Even when we do not intend to imitate others, we are inclined to copy their body movements. This tendency, known as ‘mimicry’ or ‘automatic imitation’, was once thought to be confined to patients with frontal brain damage (Lhermitte, Pillon, Serdaru, 1986), atypically-developing individuals (e. g. Charman Baron-Cohen, 1994), ‘savages’ (Darwin, 1989) and nonhuman animals (Thorndike, 1898). More recent research has shown that automatic imitation is also common in healthy, typically-developing adults (e. g. Wallbott, 1991; Lakin Chartrand, 2003; Brass, Bekkering, Wohlschlager, Prinz, 2000) and children (Simpson Riggs, 2007). The purpose of the present study was to estimate the strength of our tendency automatically to imitate the behavior of others by comparing it with the strength of our tendency to do what we are told; to perform actions on verbal command. Most previous research on automatic imitation has been concerned, not with the strength of this tendency, but with its pervasiveness and effects on social attitudes. Carefully controlled laboratory studies have found automatic imitation of facial expressions (e. g. Wallbott, 1991), as well as finger (e. . Brass et al. , 2000), hand (Heyes, Bird, Johnson, Haggard, 2005) and arm movements (e. g. Kilner, Paulignan, Blakemore, 2003). Studies investigating the ‘chameleon 2 Actions speak louder than words effect’ in semi-naturalistic social situations have shown that gestures such as eartouching and foot-wagging are automatically imitated, that this kind of mimicry can occur without the imitator’s conscious awareness, and that it prom otes affiliation and rapport between social partners (e. g. Lakin Chartrand, 2003). Indirect evidence of the pervasiveness of automatic imitation has been provided by functional imaging and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). For example, imaging has shown that the observation of hand, foot and mouth movements activates the same areas of premotor cortex active during their execution (Buccino et al. , 2001). Revealing yet further specificity, the observation of hand and arm movements selectively increases TMS-induced motor evoked potentials from the particular muscles involved in executing these movement (e. g. Strafella Paus, 2000). In behavioral studies, stimulus-response compatibility (SRC) procedures are often used to detect automatic imitation. These procedures provide some indication of the strength of the automatic imitation tendency by showing that it can interfere with performance based on task instructions. For example, Kilner et al. (2003) instructed participants to make sinusoidal arm movements in a vertical plane while observing a model perform the same vertical movements (compatible condition) or sinusoidal arm movements in a horizontal plane (incompatible 3 Actions speak louder than words condition). Although participants were, presumably, equally motivated to obey instructions in the two conditions, their movements showed more, counterinstructional deviation from the vertical plane in the incompatible than in the compatible condition. Other SRC studies have shown that automatic imitation interferes, not only with the spatial properties of movement, but also with its timing. Participants instructed in a simple reaction time (RT) task to open their hand as soon as an observed hand began to move, initiated the opening movement faster when the stimulus hand opened than when it closed (Heyes et al. 2005). Similar studies have shown that automatic imitation can influence the timing of hand and finger movements even when the observed movements are taskirrelevant, i. e. when participants are instructed to respond, not to the observed movements, but to arbitrary stimuli such as digits (Brass et al. , 2000), crosses (Bertenthal et al. , 2006) or colors (Sturmer, Aschersleben, Prinz, 2000 ). As far as we are aware, only one study has explicitly compared the strength of automatic imitation with that of other response tendencies (Brass et al. , 2000). This study found that the impulse to imitate finger movements was stronger than the tendency to respond with finger movements to arbitrary symbols and to static spatial markers. The results were important in providing evidence that automatic imitation is genuinely automatic (i. e. that it occurs contrary to task instructions), and that it is not reducible to spatial compatibility (see also Heyes et al. , 2005; 4 Actions speak louder than words Bertenthal et al. , 2006), but Brass et al. (2000) provided only a very conservative estimate of the strength of automatic imitation. Theories of imitation assume that it is based on stimulus-response connections that are either innate (e. g. Meltzoff Moore, 1997) or the product of long-term learning (e. g. Heyes Ray, 2000). If this is the case, it is not surprising that the tendency to imitate is stronger than the tendency, based solely on task instructions, to respond differentially to symbolic cues. Like imitation, spatial compatibility effects depend on innate or learned response tendencies (Tagliabue, Zorzi, Umilta, Bassignani, 2000). However, Brass et al. s study did not show that automatic imitation is generally stronger than the tendency to respond to the site of stimulation; only that automatic imitation is stronger than spatial compatibility when the spatial cue is smaller and less dynamic than the body movement cue. The present study provided a more stringent test of the strength of automatic imitation by comparing it with that of the tendency to obey verbal commands. Like imitation, verbal command is a common method of instruction in everyday life, and the power of words to evoke actions is a product of deeply engrained mechanisms. Indeed, one theory of imitation, the associative sequence learning (ASL) model (e. g. Heyes Ray, 2000), suggests that the two response tendencies become engrained in the same way; that we learn to imitate through correlated 5 Actions speak louder than words experience of observing and executing action units, just as we learn the meanings of words through correlated experience of the words and their referents. We used a Stroop procedure to compare the strengths of automatic imitation and verbal command. There were four groups of participants. In the focal group (Manual-Auditory), participants were required in each trial to open or to close their hand in response to a compound stimulus. The compound consisted of an image of a hand in an open, closed or neutral posture, and the sound of a word: ‘open’, ‘close’ or a neutral nonword. In one condition, participants were instructed to imitate the action and to ignore the word (action-relevant task), and in the other condition they were told to obey the verbal command and to ignore the action (word-relevant task). In any given trial, the stimulus on the taskirrelevant dimension (the word in the action task, and the action in the word task) was compatible, incompatible or neutral with respect to the stimulus on the taskrelevant dimension. For example, in the action task, an image of an open hand was accompanied equally often by the word ‘open’ (compatible), the word ‘close’ (incompatible) and by a nonword (neutral). If the tendency to imitate is stronger than the tendency to obey verbal commands, then, in this focal group, one would expect the impact on performance of action stimuli in the word task to be greater than the impact of word stimuli in Actions speak louder than words the action task. More specifically, one would expect the compatible taskirrelevant stimulus to speed responding, and /or the incompatible task-irrelevant stimulus to slow responding, more in the word task than in the action task. However, an effect of this kind would not be sufficient to show t hat automatic imitation is stronger than the tendency to obey verbal commands, for two reasons. First, it could be that the action images used in this experiment were more salient or easier to discriminate than the word stimuli. In this case, one would expect action images to be more potent stimuli, not only for automatic imitation, but also for nonimitative responding. To address this issue, we included a second group of participants (Vocal-Auditory) who were presented with exactly the same stimuli as the focal group, action images in compound with word sounds, but they were required to make vocal rather than imitative responses. For example, in the action task, this group said ‘open’ when they saw an opened hand, and ‘close’ when they saw a closed hand. Langton, O’Malley, Bruce (1996, Experiment 5) found that irrelevant gestures affected vocal responses to words to the same extent as irrelevant words affected vocal responses to gestures. Therefore, we expected that, in contrast with the focal group, the performance of the Vocal-Auditory group would be affected equally by irrelevant actions in the word task, and by irrelevant words in the action task. 7 Actions speak louder than words The second issue concerns modality of stimulus presentation. In the focal group, actions were presented visually and words were presented in the auditory modality because those conditions are typical of everyday life. In the course of development, it is likely that simple verbal instructions, consisting of a single word, are more often heard than seen. However, because spoken words unfold over time, whereas images are instantaneously available for processing, auditory presentation of verbal commands could put them at a disadvantage. In other words, if irrelevant actions have a greater impact than irrelevant words in the focal group, this could reflect, not the relative strengths of automatic imitation and verbal command, but faster processing of visual than auditory stimuli. To address this issue we included two further groups in which the word stimuli were written rather than spoken. One of these groups (Manual-Visual) made hand movement responses, and the other (Vocal-Visual) made vocal responses. Thus, there were four groups: Manual-Auditory, Vocal-Auditory, ManualVisual and Vocal-Visual. We predicted that in the focal Manual-Auditory group the effect of irrelevant actions on speed of responding to words would be greater than the effect of irrelevant words on responding to actions. If this asymmetric effect indicates that the automatic tendency to imitate is stronger than the tendency to obey verbal commands, rather than an effect of nonspecific features of the stimuli or stimulus-response mapping, then it should also be present in the Manual-Visual group, but not in the Vocal-Auditory or Vocal-Visual groups. 8 Actions speak louder than words Method Participants Forty-eight right-handed volunteers (15 men, mean age: 22. Â ±7. 5 years) were randomly assigned to one of four groups: Manual-Auditory, Vocal-Auditory, Manual-Visual and Vocal-Visual. All had normal or corrected-to-normal vision and normal hearing. The experiment was carried out with local ethical approval and written consent. Stimuli and Apparatus Warning and imperative stimuli were compounds of hand action s and words with coincidental onsets. Hand actions were life-sized images of postures made by a male right hand, taken from the angle at which one normally views one’s own hand, and presented on a laptop computer screen (60Hz, 400mm, 96DPI) in color on a black background. For the warning stimulus, the hand was in a neutral posture, with the fingers closed and pointing upwards in parallel with the thumb (visual angle: 6. 96Â ° x 13. 33Â °), and was shown for a variable duration between 800ms and 1520ms. For the imperative stimuli, the hand was in an opened (15. 5Â ° x 13. 5Â °), closed (7. 0Â ° x 11. 2Â °) or inverted neutral posture (see Figure 1D for examples), and was shown for 640ms. Word stimuli were either sound files presented via the laptop’s internal speaker (auditory) or superimposed in white 9 Actions speak louder than words nk on the hand stimuli in the centre of the screen (visual; 6. 5Â ° to 7. 1Â ° x 2. 6Â ° to 3. 1Â °). For the warning stimulus, the nonword clepo was presented for 650ms (auditory) or between 800 and 1520ms (visual). For the imperative stimuli, the word ‘open’, ‘close’ or the nonword pocle (see Figure 1C for examples) were presented for 640ms (visual) or between 600ms and 640ms (auditory). The nonwords clepo (warning stimulus) and pocle (neutral stimulus) were phonotactic amalgams of phonemes contained in the two words ‘open’ and ‘close’. Pocle contained the same syllables as clepo, presented in reverse order. For the manual response groups, response onset of opening and closing hand movements was measured by recording the electromyogram (EMG) from the first dorsal interosseus muscle of the right hand (see Heyes et al. , 2005). For the vocal response groups, onset of voice responses was measured via a free-standing electret microphone (Vivanco EM 32, Vivanco-direct. com). The RT interval began with the onset of the imperative stimulus, and ended with EMG onset (manual responses) or the activation of the microphone (vocal responses). Design and Procedure Participants sat at a viewing distance of approximately 700mm from the stimulus presentation screen. For the manual response groups, the participant’s right forearm lay in a horizontal position across his/her body, supported from elbow to wrist by an armrest. The wrist was rotated so that the fingers moved 10 Actions speak louder than words upwards during opening responses, and downwards when closing. Thus, the plane of response movement (up-down) was orthogonal to the plane of action stimulus movement (left-right), controlling for any effects of left-right spatial compatibility. After making each response, participants returned their hand to the neutral starting position; their fingers closed and parallel to the thumb. Each trial began with the presentation of the warning stimulus. After a variable duration it was replaced by the imperative stimulus. Participants were instructed to respond to the imperative stimulus as quickly as possible, without making errors, by opening or closing their hand (manual response groups) or by saying ‘open’ or ‘close’ (vocal response groups) as soon as they saw an open or closed hand posture (action-relevant task), or heard or saw the word ‘open’ or ‘close’ (word-relevant task). They were instructed to ignore the irrelevant dimension. After the presentation of the imperative stimulus, the screen went black for 3000ms before the next trial. Four action-relevant and four word-relevant task blocks of 60 trials were presented in alternating order, counterbalanced between participants. Relevant and irrelevant stimulus compounds were compatible (e. g. an open hand accompanied by the word ‘open’), incompatible (e. g. an open hand accompanied by the word ‘close’) or neutral (e. . an open hand accompanied by the nonword pocle). The six trial types, defined by compatibility (compatible, neutral or 11 Actions speak louder than words incompatible) and relevant stimulus (open or close), were equiprobable and randomly intermixed within each block. Results Mean RTs are plotted as a function of task and compatibility in Figures 1AD. Incorrect responses and RTs less than 100ms or greater than 1500ms were removed (3. 1%). Figure 1 about here As predicted, in the focal Manual-Auditory group (A) the impact of irrelevant actions on responding to words was greater than the impact of irrelevant words on responding to actions; there was an asymmetry favoring actions over words. This asymmetry was not observed in the Vocal-Auditory group (B), who responded to exactly the same stimuli using vocal responses rather than hand actions, suggesting that the asymmetry was not due to greater salience of the action than of the word stimuli. The asymmetry favoring actions over words was present in 12 Actions speak louder than words the Manual-Visual group (C), who saw rather than heard the word stimuli, indicating that it did not depend on faster processing of visual than auditory stimuli. Providing further confirmation that this asymmetry was not due to nonspecific factors, the Vocal–Visual group (D) showed the reverse asymmetry; irrelevant actions had a lesser effect on responding to words than did irrelevant words on responding to actions. These impressions were confirmed by an initial ANOVA, in which task (action-relevant, word-relevant) and compatibility (compatible, neutral, incompatible) were within-subject factors, and response mode (manual, vocal) and word modality (auditory, visual) were between-subject factors, and by subsequent analyses in which a 23 ANOVA (task x compatibility) was applied to the RT data from each group separately. The initial analysis indicated a significant three-way interaction (task x compatibility x response mode: F(2, 94) = 35. , p lt; . 001), and a nonsignificant four-way interaction (task x compatibility x response mode x word modality: F(2, 94) = 1. 1, p = . 341). The separate analysis of the data from the focal Manual-Auditory group yielded a significant interaction between task and compatibility (F(2, 22) = 20. 8, p lt; . 001), confirming that there was an asymmetry favoring actions over words. This interaction was also significant in the Manual-Visual group (F(2, 22) = 25. 5, p lt ; . 001), but it was 13 Actions speak louder than words bsent in the Vocal-Auditory group (F(2, 22) = 1. 5, p = . 252), and reversed in the Vocal-Visual group (F(2, 22) = 5. 5, p = . 017). In the two groups where there was an asymmetry favoring actions over words, mean RT in the action-relevant task was shorter than in the word-relevant task (Manual-Auditory: F(1, 11) = 48. 7, p lt; . 001; Manual-Visual: F(1, 11) = 172. 3, p lt; . 001). To check whether the action-dominant asymmetry was dependent on this main effect of task on RT, the data from these groups were subjected to bin analyses. For each group, RTs of each participant in each task were divided into five bins of equal size (Ratcliff, 1979). Three quintiles were selected in which, within group, mean RT on neutral trials was approximately equal in action-relevant and word-relevant tasks. The data from these quintiles were subjected to 2x3x3 ANOVAs (task x compatibility x bin). These analyses showed that, in each group, although there was no main effect of task on RT (Manual-Auditory: F lt; 1; Manual-Visual: F(1, 11) = 1. 1, p = . 16), there was a significant task x compatibility interaction (Manual-Auditory: F(2, 22) = 11. 8, p lt; . 001; Manual-Visual: F(2, 22) = 11. 9, p = . 001). Thus, the action-dominant asymmetry observed in the Manual-Auditory and Manual-Visual groups did not depend on faster responding in the action task than in the word task. 14 Actions speak louder than words Discussion Previous research has shown that healthy adult humans have a pervasive and automatic tendency to imitate the actions of others, but this is the first study to provide a stringent test of the strength of this tendency. Using hand actions in a Stroop procedure, the power of actions to elicit imitative responses was compared with the strength of our tendency to obey verbal commands. The results from the focal group, who made manual responses to simultaneously presented actions and spoken words, showed that the impact of irrelevant actions on responding to words was greater than the impact of irrelevant words on imitative responding to actions. The same asymmetry was observed when written, rather than spoken, words were presented, indicating that it was not due to faster processing in the visual modality. The same asymmetry was not observed when participants made vocal, rather than imitative, responses, indicating that the action-dominant asymmetry was not due to greater salience or discriminability of the action images than of the verbal stimuli. Therefore, these findings suggest that the human tendency to imitate is stronger than the tendency to obey verbal commands. Previous studies have indicated that irrelevant actions influence the control of movements made in response to color, spatial and symbolic cues (Sturmer et al. , 2000; Bertenthal et al. 2006; Brass et al. , 2000). The present findings show for 15 Actions speak louder than words the first time that automatic imitation effects occur, not only when the imperative stimuli bear an arbitrary or purely spatial relationship with responses, but also when they are verbal commands; that is, when the relationship between the imperative stimulus and the response is both specific and overlearned. Langton, O’Malley, Bruce (199 6, Experiment 5) used a Stroop procedure to compare the power of actions and words, but they did not examine imitative responding. Instead, they required participants to make vocal responses to directional gestures (a person pointing up, down, left and right) and to their verbal equivalents, and found symmetrical compatibility effects; irrelevant gestures affected vocal responses to words to the same extent as irrelevant words affected vocal responses to gestures. We found the same symmetrical pattern in our Vocal-Auditory group, when participants were making nonimitative responses, but a contrasting pattern, indicating action dominance, when participants were making imitative responses. Thus, comparison of the two studies i) confirms that action dominance is specific to imitation, and ii) indicates that, in the case of nonimitative vocal responding, actions and words have comparable impact both when the action stimuli are pointing gestures and when they are opening and closing hand movements. 16 Actions speak louder than words In a variant of the game ‘Simon says’, played at teatime in Victorian England, children were required to grip the tablecloth when an adult, gripping or releasing the cloth, said ‘Hold tight! ’, and to release the cloth, regardless of the adult’s action, when he said ‘Let go! . Presumably, amusement derived from the fact that, like the participants in the present experiment, children could not resist the influence of automatic imitation, and were therefore compelled flagrantly to disobey the authority of verbal command. However, the results of the present study do not merely vindicate the disobedient behav ior of Victorian children. They show that automatic imitation is much more than a parlour game, or a device that experimental psychologists can use to investigate the processes involved in stimulus-response translation. These findings show that automatic imitation is not only pervasive but also powerful. Even among healthy, typicallydeveloping adults, it is more powerful than the tendency to obey verbal commands. In this context, actions do indeed speak louder than words. 17 Actions speak louder than words References Bertenthal, B. I. , Longo, M. R. , Kosobud, A. (2006). Imitative response tendencies following observation of intransitive actions. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 32, 210–225. Brass, M. , Bekkering, H. , Wohlschlager, A. , Prinz, W. 2000). Compatibility between observed and executed finger movements: comparing symbolic, spatial, and imitative cues. Brain and Cognition, 44, 124-43. Buccino, G. , Binkofski, F. , Fink, G. 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Using nonconscious behavioral mimicry to create affiliation and rapport. Psychological Science, 14, 334-339. Langton, S. R. H. , OMalley, C. , Bruce, V. (1996). Actions speak louder than words: Symmetrical cross-modal interference effects in the processing of verbal and gestural information. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 22, 1357–1375. Lhermitte, F. , Pillon, B. , Serdaru, N. (1986). Human autonomy and the frontal lobes. Part I: Imitation and utilization behavior: a neuropsychological study of 75 patients. Annals of Neurology, 19, 326-334. 19 Actions speak louder than words Meltzoff, A. N. Moore, M. K. (1997). Explaining facial imitation: A theoretical model. Early Development and Parenting, 6, 179-192. Ratcliff, R. (1979). Group reaction time distributions and an analysis of distribution statistics. Psychological Bulletin, 86, 446–461. Simpson, A. Riggs, K. J. (2007). Under what conditions do young children have difficulty inhibiting manual actions? Developmental Psychology, 43, 417-428. Strafella, A. P. Paus, T. (2000). Modulation of cortical excitability during action observation: a transcranial magnetic stimulation study. Neuroreport, 11, 22892292. Sturmer, B. , Aschersleben, G. , Prinz, W. (2000). Correspondence effects with manual gestures and postures: a study of imitation. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception Performance, 26, 1746-1759. Tagliabue, M. , Zorzi, M. , Umilta, C. , Bassignani, F. (2000). The role of longterm-memory and short-term-memory links in the Simon effect. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception Performance, 26, 648-670. 20 Actions speak louder than words Thorndike, E. L. (1898). Animal Intelligence: An Experimental Study of the Associative Processes in Animals (Psychological Review, Monograph Supplements, No. 8). New York: Macmillan. Wallbott, H. G. (1991). Recognition of emotion from facial expression via imitation? Some indirect evidence for an old theory. British Journal of Social Psychology, 30, 207-219. 21 Actions speak louder than words Author note AB is now at Faculte de Psychologie et des Sciences de lEducation, Universite Catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium. 22 Actions speak louder than words Figure caption Figure 1. RTs in compatible, neutral and incompatible trials for word-relevant (solid line) and action-relevant (broken line) task conditions. Results are presented separately for the four different participant groups: (A) ManualAuditory, (B) Vocal-Auditory, (C) Manual-Visual and (D) Vocal-Visual. Vertical bars indicate standard error of the mean. Images show compatible, neutral and incompatible stimulus compounds in action-relevant (Panel C) and word-relevant (Panel D) task conditions for the visual word modality groups (C and D). For the auditory word modality groups (A and B), words were spoken. 23