Traveling Through the Dark Essay Example for Free

Traveling Through the Dark Essay When reading a poem for the first time, it is fairly easy to view it on a literal level. Nonetheless, after analyzing the purpose, tone, word choice, and figures of speech and how they simultaneously work together, the reader is hit with a whole new perception of the poem. William Staffords Traveling through the Dark holds this characteristic. The poem is about a man driving on a narrow road at night and his internal conflict triggered by an encounter with a dead deer along the road. He immediately leaves his car and walks toward the deer with the intention of rolling it into the canyon. However, when he discovers that this deer has an unborn fawn, the man is struck with an instant conflict. Does he push the deer off into the canyon? Or does he leave it alone and save the fawn while endangering the lives of others that will travel this narrow road? Stafford uses a mans simple confrontation with a deer as an instrument for conveying a deeper message about nature. He comes across a dead deer, and without hesitation, plans to push it into the canyon. This clearly indicates that the speaker holds no emotions whatsoever for the deer. Then, a conversational tone is thrown into the mix. The narrator is sharing and guiding the readers through his experience. He gives advice in line four, It is usually best to roll them into the canyon. This supports his informal attitude and establishes a relationship with the reader in hopes of allowing the reader to feel the way he does. Several symbolic elements emphasize the theme of Traveling through the Dark, all within the last three stanzas of the poem. The first symbol, an unborn fawn. The fawn represents the future of nature in the changing world. Although the mother, or nature in present time, has been killed the fawn still waits alive, still, never to be born (11). The fawn waits in hope that it will live to breathe air, in the hope that the speaker will save it. However, technology is also competing for the speaker’s attention. The first three lines of the fourth stanza make the idling car into a mechanized beast that kills nature. Some details about this mechanized beast are on lines thirteen to fifteen where the car aimed ahead (13) its lights, purred (14) its steady, idling engine, and emitting warm exhaust turning red (15). The third and final symbol is revealed only in the last stanza. On line seventeen, I thought hard for us all exhibits the fact that the speaker is representative of all mankind. The speaker represents mankind coming around the curve in the dark. He symbolizes mankind being caught in the struggle between nature and technology. Nature in the form of a dead doe is portrayed as an object worthy of pity while the mechanical beast is a ruthless image. Among the various descriptions relating to the dead doe, the most conspicuous is of her being large in the belly (8). The heap, a doe (6) describes the speaker’s first impression of the recent killing. Aside from those two images, the other description of the doe correlates to the sense of touch; the speaker notices that that the doe’s side was warm (10) after brushing finger against her fur. Stafford describes the car with regards to three of the body’s five senses. The car is described as having its lights lowered (13) or dimmed, casting the scene in shadows. The steady purring emitted from the engine appeals to the speaker’s sense of hearing. Warm exhaust (16) caresses the speaker, stimulating the speaker’s sense of touch.

Analysis of the Swamp in Psycho

Analysis of the Swamp in Psycho Adrian Secter Murder, Candy and Chains: An Analysis of the Swamp in Psycho â€Å"Show me a sane man and I will cure him for you.† Carl Jung Understanding a swamp is to understand what exists in shadow. Not the shadow of night or shroud, but that of the mute. The marginal. To know the scene in Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho where Marion Crane’s corpse-filled car is disposed of, is to know the film. Bogs have always been a place in flux, the last remainder of a primordial ooze. They serve as a place where strange organisms, many of which cannot survive elsewhere, can breed and grow. The same holds true for ideas. For a man such as Norman Bates, the swamp affords him (and his mother) the luxury of anonymity. Removed from the scrutiny of dry land, the rigors of reality, Bates’ imagination does as swamp creatures do. It experiments, it mutates and most importantly, it uses its natural habitat to dispose of any outsiders who threaten it. Given that the absorptive nature of the swamp scene is both literal and metaphorical, Michael Fried’s â€Å"Absorption and Theatricality† readily lends itself to this analysis. While Fried ostensibly concerns himself with Denis Diderot and 18th century French paintings, the case he presents all but begs to be deftly applied to film. A plea heard anachronistically by Psycho. This 1960 film is replete with striking scenes, and indeed it could be argued that the movie is comprised entirely of such scenes. It is however, the alluded to â€Å"swamp scene† that is most pertinent. In this scene, Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins) hides the car that his most recent victim, Marion Crane (Janet Leigh). After murdering Crane in her motel room and disposing of all the evidence thereof, Crane’s body and 1957 Ford remain. Cleverly vanishing both corpse and car, Bates wraps Crane in a shower curtain, dumps her in the trunk and rolls the car into a nearby swamp. All of this exposition appears fairly straightforward, and would be, were the film not directed by Alfred Hitchcock. With Hitchcock behind the camera, the scene is elevated beyond mere plot and into a realm worthy of Fried and analysis. The crucial point of this scene is that the only remaining proof of Crane’s murder, the car, does not go quietly into the swamp. In filming this descent of woma n, Hitchcock positions the car on a controllable platform, allowing him to adjust the speed with which the car is lowered into the murky gloom. The car is swallowed up, but only piecemeal. At first it proceeds smoothly, as the muddy waters seep into the front of the car. Then it stops. Half of a bone-white car still sticks out of the darkness. The trunk, with Crane inside, stares back at a watchful Bates. He stares back, munching on candy corn. The water finds its strength again and consumes more of the car. Then it stops. The trunk lies like a Nile crocodile, its back above the water. On the shore, Bates continues watching. At last, the water covers the trunk and its morbid contents. The camera lingers on the last bubbles, expiring as they flee towards the shore. With this knowledge of the scene itself in hand, it is now possible to delve deeper into the swamp. Fried begins â€Å"Absorption and Theatrically† with an explanation of the prevailing Rococo style which he neatly summarizes as being â€Å"exquisite, sensuous and intimately decorative†. Fried contrasts the ostentatious and often dull (an artistic combination of decided difficulty) Rococo style with its artistic antithesis, the return to imbuing paintings with absorptive qualities. Fried defines absorption as an â€Å"†¦.insistence on the unity of the painting and the insistence on the irrelevance of the beholder (Fried also reminds his readers that the effort to establish the unity of the painting must itself be understood as nothing but an effort to affect the beholder). Reading Fried with Hitchcock’s film in mind results in a fascinating adaptation of Fried’s explanation of relationship between Rococo and absorption. While cognizant of the perils analogies present, a careful cinematic examination of the dynamic between Rococo and Absorptive art sees a similar dynamic in the dynamic of the studio system and Psycho. Psycho follows in the artistic footsteps of painters such as Chardin and thus stands apart from the studio system of classical Hollywood films. On a very practical level, Psycho can also been seen as at odds with the prevailing system. In 1960, Alfred Hitchcock’s Paramount contract guaranteed the studio another Hitchcock film (his previous Paramount film being Vertigo in 1958) but studio executives found Hitchcock’s latest proposal to be repugnant and refused to finance it. Undaunted, Hitchcock produced the movie in cost-cutting black white, using his own television production company and filming at Universal Studios. It is fascinating and relevant to note that reviews of Psycho were decidedly mixed, with the New York Times praising the horror movie’s depiction of â€Å"†¦the little details of ordinary life, a virtue in keeping with the lesser genres†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Or so it would have been had that quotation not pertained to a Baroque critique of Chardin in the 1730’s. Taking quote from art critics in the 18th century and applying them to the Salon of 1960 prompts an examination of the qualities of the film that are reminiscent of Chardin’s â€Å"Soap Bubbles† and thus it’s theatrical and absorptive qualities. The swamp scene is an excellent case study for this as the previously articulated manner in which it is constructed allows the beholder to become a subjective character within the scene. The technique used to achieve this are very similar to those used in â€Å"Soap Bubbles†. Fried identifies this the painters (or directors) â€Å"choice of a natural pause in the action which, we feel, will recommence a moment later†. The result of these choice is paradoxical, as Fried goes on to say that a static painting or a film’s (static in its celluloid repetition) â€Å"stability and unchangingness are endowed to an astonishing degree with the power to conjure an illusion of imminent or gr adual or even fairly abrupt change.† Within the scene currently under analysis, this paradoxical choice is further amplified by the unique way film as an artistic medium can be re-watched. Despite the fact that an aesthete can (and many do) return to a certain museum to view a particular painting as many times as they please, and the fact that viewing and watching are for all intents and purposes synonyms, it cannot and is not said that an individual who has gone to the Louvre to see the Mona Lisa fifty times has â€Å"re-watched† the Mona Lisa, regardless of the pedantic truth of that statement. But film, and Psycho more pointedly, is a â€Å"re-watchable† form of art. It is not a petty quibble over semantics, but rather speaks to the manner in which knowing the inevitability of the outcome mutates the audience’s conscious viewing experience. When the swamp scene is watched for the first time, the viewer is struck with a tense and remarkable feeling. Despite just having witnessed the jarring murder of Crane in the infamously jarring shower, the audience finds itself wanting the car to go into the swamp. Hitchcock masterfully creates a situation of such deft tenseness that the audience is placed in the same mindset they have when watching a hero character disarm a bomb (always with one second left). The mastery of this scene is that it takes that expression of bomb-disarming relief and channels it for the benefit of a man who just brutally murdered a woman. A woman whose death has now been covered up, to the relief of the audience. In this crucial moment, the viewer does not want Bates to be caught. Upon re-watching the movie, and armed with knowledge of absorptive techniques, theatricality and French paintings of the mid-18th century, Hitchcock’s masterpiece offers up even more. Gazing (but never re-watching) paint ings such as Jean-Baptiste Greuze’s â€Å"La Pià ©tà © Filiale† with the Bates’ Motel’s swamp in mind, one realizes that they are lost in the scene because of the manner in which Norman absorbs himself in his task. Much like Greuze’s painting, wherein Fried says that â€Å"the primary emphasis is no on the variety and multiplicity of individual responses to a central event so much as on the merging of those response in a single collective act of heightened attention†, the audiences’ and Norman’s responses to the slow descent of a hearse into the swamp merge into an â€Å"act of heightened attention. Fried illustrates what is at the heart of the â€Å"absorptive state†. It creates and maintains a fiction, a fiction the beholder, the viewer, the audience, call it what you will does not exist at all. Both the family in Greuze’s painting and the candy-corn eating Bates are depicted in such a way that they not only forget themselves, they forget us too. Furthermore, there is a direct relationship between the degree to which the fiction of the viewer is omitted and the ability of the actual viewer to emerge themselves in the world of the art. In turn, the reality created by Greuze or Hitchcock sees more real because it seems to be, regardless of whether or not it is being beheld. But at the same time, the tension that manifests itself in aligning with Norman results from not being absorbed. This is in line with â€Å"Absorption and Theatricality† as the very same tension that absorbs the audience also results in the problems Fried makes out for Parisian salons in the 1750 and 60s’ when he says that the â€Å"illusion of negating the spectators presence creates both the absorption and the undermining of the images reality.† For the Salons, Fried makes the case that the fact that the absorption was being admired by critics made the illusion of negation increasingly difficult. However, for Psycho’s swamp scene, the latter effect serves to prod the viewer into realizing they were enthralled by the film’s antagonist, one who had dispatched the supposed protagonist not a third of the way through the film. It is fitting to being to draw this examination to a close the way that Hitchcock brings Psycho to a close. At the end of the movie, it is not the penetratingly insane stare of Norman Bates the audience is left with, but rather a shot of car being pulled out of the swamp with chains. It is only right that as the viewer was pulled into the film watching the car sink deeper into the swamp, that they should be returned to their world as the car is pulled out of the swamp. While Psycho may appear to conclude with a bland and straightforward explanation of Bates’ psychotic condition by a psychologist, appears can be, and frequently are deceptive. Receiving a medically valid reason behind the events that they have beheld is a poor balm on the confusion and terror they have absorbed. Hitchcock is fully aware of this and it is the primary reason why the film does not fade to black after the doctor’s rational explanation. The last fleeting moments of the film are reserved for the swamp. The re-introduction of the swamp, and the rising of the car, with all its macabre and money contents, raises introspective questions for the audience. While the police will undoubtedly open the trunk to find Marion and most of the stolen cash, the audience is faced with the prospect of opening their own conscious self to examination. Through the use of Michael Fried’s â€Å"Absorption and Theatrically† and a subsequent examination of the parallels between the Rococo and the studio, the absorptive and Psycho, this analysis has taken the crucial scene following Marion’s murder and used it demonstrate the manner in which the film’s audience becomes a subjective role in the film. The residual horror of the film is not merely the product of jarring murders but rather showcases the power of the absorptive technique in creating within the viewer shifting identification with the film’s characters. Ultimately, the audience is left with haunting questions regarding their own motives for things such as wishing the swamp would cover the car fully. And as the above analysis concludes, the answer can be a bit unsettling. But there is no need to upset. After all†¦ we all go a little mad sometimes.

Positivism and study of society

Positivism and study of society Positivism was named by Auguste Comte in 19th century, which was influenced by early empiricism of Enlightenment- with achieve the targets which include make objective knowledge and formulate the universal laws. The Rationalism also contributed positivism to improve the human conditions but not God (Smith, 2003, p76). Positivism has three development stages after it was mentioned- the early positivism, the logical positivism and standard positivism (Smith, 2003, p77). This essay will discuss the early positivism and logical positivism. As a branch of empiricism, the broader sense of positivism is the true knowledge which should be based on sense experiences, and only can be advanced by observation and experiment, avoided all metaphysical or speculation (Urmson, 1960). Another definition in this essay which should be introduced is the contributions of positivism. In this essay, contribution means the positivism how to create knowledge than before but not only focus on any positivistï ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½s theory or the contributions in any specific subject. Positivism affected the studies of society since early 19th century to now although some people point out positivism is not fitting for the development of society nowadays (Smith, 2003, p76). In this essay, the contributions of positivism are how the positivism creates knowledge. The methodology of positivism was complete the theory of empiricism in Enlightenment. Based on positivism methodology, the closed system was implemented in study of society by Positivists. The critical evaluation of these contributions will be stated in every section. This essay will also state using modern sight to review the contributions of positivism. Early positivism contributed to create a framework of research method and the basic principles of positivism. After early positivism, ï ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Vienna Circleï ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½ developed the thoughts and created logical positivism. Positivists followed the same thought to find truth out no matter which stage of positivism. All of them had contributions in history. As mentioned above, positivism is a branch of empiricism. Comparing with empiricism in Enlightenment, the biggest contribution of positivism is complete the methodology on empiricism and lead the positivism nearly regard to scientific spirit today (Heidegren, 2006, p92). Through this methodology, new scientific methods will be completed and applied on social science. The ontology of positivism methodology is the world is external and objective, and the observers should be independent and be neutral in the researches (Smith, 2003). Under this situation, the epistemology of positivism is building hypothesises and then to find the relationships between limited facts in social phenomena, and formulate universal laws at last (Smith, 2003). Be ï ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½neutralï ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½ and ï ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½objectiveï ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½ were positivists insert in the positivism methodology and affect the whole society. Take an instance for the contribution of ï ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½neutralï ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½ and ï ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½objectiveï ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½ in positivism is the positivist approach in criminology. Before the positivism, criminal suspects could prove their own criminal behaviours and this lead some criminal suspects were suffering and had to admit the behaviours which were not existed. However, positivists thought this was not humanistic and criminal suspects should be avoid from evidences, that means the criminal suspects cannot prove their own criminal behaviours (Simon, 2006). However, the contribution of ï ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½neutralï ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½ and ï ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½objectiveï ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½ has been questioned. For example, legal positivism has begun to be questioned in recent years. Priel pointed out ï ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Legal positivism is the thesis that one does not need to rely on evaluative considerations in order to identify what the law isï ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½ in his essay (2006). He had the question about the validity and content of legal positivism (Priel, 2006). Based on the positivism methodology, early positivists completed the scientific methods. As a representative of philosophers in Enlightenment, Bacon created ï ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½science of methodï ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½, there were three steps in the scientific method. First, making observations and repeat the observations, which were based on experiments. Secondly, classify the observations. Finally, formulating the observations to laws through inductive reasoning (Porter, 2007, p21-22). Comte and Durkheim inherited the scientific method and completed this scientific method to six steps, 1) make an observation, 2) suggest a question, 3) formulate a hypothesis and except outline, 4) testing the hypothesis through experiment method, 5) to analyse the data and 6) formulate a universal law (Cohen el al, 2007). Positivism completed the procedure of scientific method, inserted ï ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½hypothesisï ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½ and ï ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½experimentï ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½. ï ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Hypothesisï ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½ in scientific method was the speculations of relationships between factors- the causes and effects (Cohen el al, 2007). The ï ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½experimentï ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½ means to make a test in a controlled artificial environment which had small number of variables, this system was named closed system and which will be discussed later (Smith, 2003). Hypothesis is not only the speculation of the research, but also the key of the research. Positivists mentioned this notion of hypothesis and lead the scientific method to become complete and more validity. Basically, the research is built on hypothesis, no matter in natural science or social science. For example, scientific method is applied in natural science such as biology, chemistry, physics, and other else. In social science, scientific method is also applied widely, such as economy, legal system, psychology and other subjects. Figure 1 is a good example to show the hypothesis has became one of the most important links in economic study. Applying the closed system in social science is another contribution of the early positivism, as the notion of ï ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½experimentï ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½ which is mentioned above. Before the positivism, people only applied scientific method in natural science. Comte and Durkheim believe the social science is similar as natural science and closed system can be applied and the truth and law in social science will be found. This thought provided a model for studying the social science and made people create more knowledge about the society. There are three closures in the closed system- experimental closure, theoretical closure, and statistical closure. Experimental closure is through the experiment methods in an artificial environment to get an empirical purpose (Smith, 2003). This kind of closure is usually applied in psychology and other similar subjects. Theoretical closure is usually building theory models to analyse the relationships between variables (Smith, 2003). Theoretical closure has been applied in economy widely. For example, economists anticipate the trend of national economy through the theory models. The last closure is statistical closure which means finding relationships between different variables through quantitative measurable data sets (Smith, 2003). This closure is used in economy, psychology, political science and other subjects widely. For example, customer satisfaction investigation, examination of electoral results and so on. Early positivists let people study and understand society better through applied scientific method and closed system in study of social science and tried to obtain definite objective knowledge. However, some disadvantages are existed when positivists applying scientific method and closed system in study of social science. There are too many other unpredictable variables exist outside of the boundary of closed system which can affect the results (Smith, 2003). In addition, some social variables cannot be measurable such as beliefs and scientific method maybe not suitable for this situation (Bryman Bell, 2007). Logical positivism is a development of early positivism and appeared in early 1920s (Smith, 2003). A group of philosophers who had informal discussions at the University of Vienna and they were named ï ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Vienna Circleï ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½ (Smith, 2003). The logical positivism was promoted by ï ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Vienna Circleï ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½, the centre of the logical positivism was still avoid any kind of metaphysics and speculative attempts (Smith, 2003). According to Ganguly (1967), logical positivism is a kind of the empiricism which with a premise that the objects can be verifiable empirically and meaningful. Comparing with early positivism, logical positivism has ambition to all knowledge which cannot be verified (Smith, 2003). One of the contributions of logical positivism is the meaning of the theory should be communicable. Logical positivists proposed achieve this target through synthetic and analytic statement (Ganguly, 1967). Ayer was a famous positivist who contributed much in logical positivism, and he pointed out that the language which was used in science should simple, clear and free from mystification (Ganguly, 1967). Smith pointed out that this proposal ï ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½led many to refer to this new approach as the ï ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½linguistic turnï ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½ in the philosophy of the social sciences.ï ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½ (2003) Another contribution of logical positivism is logical positivists provide verifiability principle. Combining with induction in logical positivism, logical positivists believed the real value-free could be achieved (Ganguly, 1967). Before the logical positivism, researches were based on designersï ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½ purposes, therefore, the researches would be disturbed by designersï ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½ opinions although they tried to avoid that. For example, in some marketing satisfaction investigations, the questionnaire will bring researchers subjective and leading the answers. Some theories such as physics theories which cannot be experiment directly should be proved by logic methods. Logical positivists tried to make absolute objective topic and find the real objective truth. Their strict method and serious scientific spirit lead people to treat natural and social sciences carefully, and the real truth can be found without any subjective. However, some experts pointed out there are problems on logical positivism. First, the language requirement of logical positivism makes people confuse about the truth. Indeed, it is hard to translate the language because this doctrine defined the language so exactly (Ritchie, 2009). Secondly, the logical positivists mentioned the knowledge should be verifiable and logical, however, some theories is hard to be proved but people cannot say that is metaphysics (Ritchie, 2009). Positivism contributed so much in history and still influencing the philosophies and study of natural and social sciences today. Positivists provided useful framework in its period and helped people to collect knowledge. Positivism is an ï ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½extremeï ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½ philosophy which oppose to interpretivism, however, it is the time to combine them together to develop new framework for study of society (Ricciardi, 2009). As mentioned above, some weaknesses are existed when positivists applied scientific method and closed system in social sciences and obtained the knowledge, such as some hide variables are ignored by closed system when studying social sciences. Under this situation, the validity of the research will be questioned and it is not follow the principles of positivism. Therefore, new framework or new philosophy should be created to solve this problem and replace the positivism. To sum up, positivism was mentioned in early 19th century, Comte and Durkhaim were the founders of the positivism. The purpose of positivism is finding the absolute objective true knowledge, different stage of positivism followed this thought and tried best to avoid metaphysics and subjective. Early positivists who were influenced by empiricism in Enlightenment and completed the positivism methodology, new completed scientific method was created based on this situation. Early positivists developed the closed system and enhance the development of sciences as well. Furthermore, early positivists applied scientific method and closed system in study of society, this helped people to understand the world better in that period, although some disadvantages were exist, such as some variables in society were ignored. Vienna Circle developed the thoughts and methods in early positivism and created logical positivism. They applied more strict principles to find the objective truth. The most imp ortant contributions of logical positivism were using exactly accurate language to describe the theories and verifiable principle. These lead the sciences to be objective and more accurate. However, the weaknesses are still in logical positivism, for example, using exactly language will bring the barriers in communication in different languages. As the development of philosophy and sciences, positivism emerge more and more weakness and will be replaced by other new philosophies. Positivism has depth influence in history and the contributions cannot be eliminated. Bibliography Bryman, A. Bell, E. (2007) Business research methods, published by Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2nd Ed, 2007 Cohen, L., Manion, L. Morrison, K. (2007) The Scientific Method, Research methods in education, published by Routledge, New York, in 2007 Ganguly, S. (1967) Logical positivism- as a theory of meaning, published by Allied Publishers Private Limited, India, in 1967 Heidegren, CG (2006) Positivism before Logical Positivism in Nordic Philosophy, The Vienna Circle in the Nordic Countries, published by Springer, published in 2006 Porter, D. (2007) Baconï ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½s Method and Coleridgeï ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½s Empiricism, Knowledge broken: Empiricist method and the forms of Romanticism, Presented to the Faculties of the University of Pennsylvania in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy, published in 2007 Priel, D. (2006) TROUBLE FOR LEGAL POSITIVISM?, Legal Theory, Published by Cambridge University Press, published in 12/2006, p225-263 Ricciardi, F. (2009) Epistemology of Information Systems: Time for Something New? Positivism, Interpretivism, and Beyond, Information Systems: People, Organizations, Institutions, and Technologies, published on 03/10/2009 Ritchie, A. (2009) Errors of Logical Positivism, Philosophy, Vol: 12 Issue: 45, published in 02/2009 Simon, J (2006) Positively Punitive: How the Inventor of Scientific Criminology Who Died at the Beginning of the Twentieth Century Continues to Haunt American Crime Control at the Beginning of the Twenty-First, Texas Law Review, Vol: 84, Issue: 7, published in 06/2006, [accessed on 09/03/2010] Smith, M. (2003) Social science in question, edited, designed, and typeset by The Open University, published in 1998, reprinted 2002 and 2003 Urmson, O. (1960) The concise encyclopedia of western philosophy and philosophers, Urmson, O. edited, publisher: HUTCHINSON CO. London

Inadequate Support Systems for an African American Adult with Breast Ca

Description of the Problem A support system is defined as â€Å"a network of people who provide an individual with practical or emotional support† (Merriam-Webster’s, 2014). In the area of healthcare, a lack of adequate support system will negatively impact the health of an individual in multiple areas of care. This can include issues that arise not only from an individual aspect, but also through lack of support on social, emotional, instrumental, as well as informational levels. A lack of social support system means that one does not have close ties or strong relationships with family members, friends, colleagues, or members of the community. Social and emotional support is an essential part of health care involving all disease and illness, but even more so when chronic illness such as cancer is involved. This is evident in numerous studies which have found social and emotional support to be strongly correlated to â€Å"feelings of positivity, mutuality, and improved mental health outcomesâ⠂¬  among patients with cancer (Wenzel et al., 2012). Additionally, social support provides functional resources that affect a patient’s outlook on his or her health status. Instrumental support may include items such as the provision of financial assistance, while informational support might be receiving feedback from others to help patients motivate themselves to accomplish their goals (Ashing-Giwa et al., 2012). The term ‘support system’ affects many aspects of an individual’s health care which, when considered all together, compound to influence the patient most often on social and psychosocial planes of care. Problem The focus of this discussion is patient Regina, a 53-year-old African American woman who was diagnosed with breast cancer in Octobe... ...ificance in the healthcare plane. Wenzel, J., Jones, R. A., Klimmek, R., Krumm, S., Darrell, L. P., Song, D., Stearns, V., & Ford, J. G. (2012). Cancer support and resource needs among African American older adults. Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing, 16, 4, 372-7. The purpose of this study was to obtain experiential data on cancer diagnosis and treatment, and gather recommendations from survivors regarding treatment-related needs, strategies, and psychosocial support. Results indicate that the need for cancer-specific education, importance of faith and spirituality, availability of support, and identifying financial needs were the main issues recognized as important needs for the cancer patient. This article was useful in providing additional strategies and resources to implement in encouraging the formation of strong social support in individuals with cancer.

Essay --

Jack the Ripper and the murders of Whitechapel is a mystery that still plagues the world today. Even after hundreds of years, no one has been able to decipher who the Ripper really was. Jack the Ripper was and is an unsolved mystery. It is important however, for people to be informed of what happened in those dark days, even if they do not know who the killer was (Biography 1). Though there were several other serial killers before Jack the ripper, he was the first one to get the attention from the media. At the time he was murdering, newspapers were beginning to become a big deal so word out fairly quickly. Because of the press coverage, more people were aware of and invested in the case (Casebook 1). During time of the murders, several different police forces were involved, including something similar to a neighborhood watch. Anyone who looked remotely suspicious was questioned. Of all of the people investigated, the first to be talked to were the doctors and the butchers, mainly due to the way the Ripper handled the women. Sadly, no one was ever officially charged with the murders (Whitechapel 1). Jack the Ripper was one of the few serial killers that were never caught. Because of that, there are still people today who try to solve the age old case. There are only five proven murders, though people suspect he killed up to eight women. One of the things that made Jack the Ripper so mysterious was the fact that his victims had very little in common with one another. Usually serial killers will have a certain type of victim, but not the Ripper. All of the victims of the Ripper were of different ages and appearances. The only thing the girls had in common was their occupation of prostitution and a love of alcohol (... ...oaxes (Casebook 4). Although officials never figured out who the Ripper was, there were people they suspected, such as an assistant schoolmaster named John Druitt. Druitt is considered a suspect because he committed suicide right after the murders were committed. However, that is the only link police forces were able to find linking the two. Sources outside of the police force claimed that Druitt committed suicide because he was fired from the school for homosexuality, though that wasn’t ever proven (Whitechapel 4). Another commonly accepted suspect is George Chapman, who moved to the UK just before the murders began. Chapman was sentenced to death in 1903 for the murder of three of his wives. What keeps some people from believing he was responsible for the Ripper murders is the fact that he had poisoned his wives rather than using a knife (Whitechapel 4). Essay -- Jack the Ripper and the murders of Whitechapel is a mystery that still plagues the world today. Even after hundreds of years, no one has been able to decipher who the Ripper really was. Jack the Ripper was and is an unsolved mystery. It is important however, for people to be informed of what happened in those dark days, even if they do not know who the killer was (Biography 1). Though there were several other serial killers before Jack the ripper, he was the first one to get the attention from the media. At the time he was murdering, newspapers were beginning to become a big deal so word out fairly quickly. Because of the press coverage, more people were aware of and invested in the case (Casebook 1). During time of the murders, several different police forces were involved, including something similar to a neighborhood watch. Anyone who looked remotely suspicious was questioned. Of all of the people investigated, the first to be talked to were the doctors and the butchers, mainly due to the way the Ripper handled the women. Sadly, no one was ever officially charged with the murders (Whitechapel 1). Jack the Ripper was one of the few serial killers that were never caught. Because of that, there are still people today who try to solve the age old case. There are only five proven murders, though people suspect he killed up to eight women. One of the things that made Jack the Ripper so mysterious was the fact that his victims had very little in common with one another. Usually serial killers will have a certain type of victim, but not the Ripper. All of the victims of the Ripper were of different ages and appearances. The only thing the girls had in common was their occupation of prostitution and a love of alcohol (... ...oaxes (Casebook 4). Although officials never figured out who the Ripper was, there were people they suspected, such as an assistant schoolmaster named John Druitt. Druitt is considered a suspect because he committed suicide right after the murders were committed. However, that is the only link police forces were able to find linking the two. Sources outside of the police force claimed that Druitt committed suicide because he was fired from the school for homosexuality, though that wasn’t ever proven (Whitechapel 4). Another commonly accepted suspect is George Chapman, who moved to the UK just before the murders began. Chapman was sentenced to death in 1903 for the murder of three of his wives. What keeps some people from believing he was responsible for the Ripper murders is the fact that he had poisoned his wives rather than using a knife (Whitechapel 4).

Why Marijuana Remain Ilegal Essay -- Drugs, Legalization

â€Å"I felt so great after using this, I want to try this again† said Sam after using a drug name marijuana. He is an 18 years old football athlete who is about to graduate from high school. He was a smart boy who everyone sees the bright future for him. After a year Sam became a regular marijuana user and then marijuana took control over his life and he became mentally and physically sick. He couldn’t play for the football team anymore because he was physically unable to do it and then after a while he stopped going to college. Now there is no future for him or for his family. This story and many other similar stories about users of marijuana and its effects on their life are the reasons why marijuana should be illegal. Not only marijuana but any other drugs that are dangerous and harmful for people and society should be illegal. By definition, Marijuana is â€Å"green, brown, or gray mixture of dried, shredded leaves, stems, seeds, and flowers of the hemp plant.†(1) Marijuana has been very useful throughout history, for example â€Å"in 6000 B.C. cannabis seeds were used as food in china; in 4000 B.C. the Chinese used textiles made of hemp; in 2727 China used cannabis as medicine and in 1500 B.C. the Chinese cultivate Cannabis for food and fiber†(6). But unfortunately people today made this useful plant very dangerous by using it in a wrong way. Marijuana is very common and most used illegal drug in the United States. Marijuana’s scientific name is Cannabis but there are more different terms for marijuana that you can hear from different people such as weed, pot, grass, Mary Jane, or chronic. Marijuana has 400 dangerous and harmful chemicals but the main one is THC (tetrahydrocannabinol). People these days are using marijuana by smoking or... ...bling, it’s legal in some states in the United States but people are still doing it illegally. And also some believe by legalization of marijuana the number of crime in the society would decrease but it is not true because it would increase the crime, the society still have problem with alcohol that causes rape, robbery, reckless driving, and murder. They don’t want to face more problems by legalizing the marijuana. And the other argument was about legalizing marijuana because for the medical use. Some people from long time ago until now believed the chemicals that are in the drug can be useful for treating illnesses. But also there are some arguments and researches that show that these believe are not scientifically true. Because of these arguments and researches shows that marijuana is a dangerous drug and it can be harmful for society so it should not be legal.

Priorless tale

Prioress Tale and Christian Anti-Semitic In the story â€Å"Prioress Tale† by Geoffrey Chaucer had some ways where it was anti- semitic. The Catholic Church had a hatred of Jews. Jews did not believe Jesus was their savior. Christians hated and blamed Jews for the death of Jesus calling them Satan's agents. â€Å"The boy is â€Å"little†, â€Å"young†, â€Å"tender† etc. The Villains are â€Å"cursed†, â€Å"a wasp's nest of satan† who â€Å"conspire† to murder the little boy' (3).The school where the young boy had gone to was described as a good kid taught young children how o pray and praise Mary the mother of Jesus. â€Å"O mother maid, O maiden mother free! O bush unburnt, burning in Moses' sight, that ravishedest down from the deity†¦. Conceiv ©d was the Father's Sapience† (7). The Jews were killed as a penalty for the death of a young boy with no proof that they were the ones involved in this crime. â€Å"The Prio ress Tale† and â€Å"Christian anti-Semitism† both show how far a person will go to torment others to invent to be an activist of god.Christians had set up heir own policy in the name of god but there was no similarity to Jesus because Jesus represents of love and forgiveness. During the middle ages the tale reflects anti-Semitic in different ways. The Christians had blamed the Jews responsible for Jesus death. The church had discussions about how the Christians should not affiliate themselves with any Jewish people. Jews were not allowed to do a lot of things such as were not allowed to buy any property from the Christians. Jews were accused of a lot of things but they wasn't even involved with.For this reason Jews were burnt alive. One of the reasons Jews were blamed for doing malicious things because they planned for the death of Christ. Another reason why they were blamed for doing malicious things was when Jews had claimed the blood of Jesus for them and their chil dren. The medieval anti- Semitism had trust in the Jewish faith that they were in lower place to Christianity and they had an alliance with Satan. Jews were also cursed and would remain curse even if they had converted themselves to Christianity.