Brand Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Brand Analysis - Essay Example Nike was started in the early 1960s when Phillip Knight, the Chief Executive Officer and William Bowerman, partnered to develop a coach’s idea of manufacturing products that would help to improve the consumers’ performance, who were athletes, on the track (Coucha, 2011). Nike ventured into it with the promise to make possible â€Å"authentic, athletic performance† with their shoes (Schmidt & Chris, 2002). That became their brand promise. The brand image that Nike initially launched was purely an American emblem, associated with high performance, aggressive and innovative top male athletes. These athletes were considered achievers, in line with what Nike intended to present to the consumers (Coucha, 2011). In delivering their product related promise, Nike joined the growing aerobics arena which was influencing the design of shoes towards being more fashionable, albeit less durable. Although other manufacturers were using garments to manufacture shoes for the aerob ics market, Nike stuck to leather, which was more long lasting but considered less fashionable (Kunde, 2002). As part of extending their non tangible promise, Nike took to the corporate scene by embracing the global social responsibility. Initially, it was a reaction to public oppositions relating to their labor practices in Asia. To salvage their image, they changed their corporate labor strategy, campaigning to be the industry leader in worker relations. They refurbished their factories and improved the working conditions on their premises in Asia. Compensation packages for labor were raised and new global standards applied. They created a Corporate Responsibility Division to reflect their intention to care for the ‘World family of Nike† (Schmidt & Chris, 2002). A brand’s perception and recognition are considerably influenced by its visual presentation. For effective visual brand identity to be achieved, the use of particular and consistent visual elements is cr itical (Schmidt & Chris, 2002). To create a distinction, a logo, colors, fonts, and graphic elements are used. In terms of visual identity, Nike’s logo of the â€Å"swoosh† is outstanding and easy to remember by consumers. Globally, there is a 97% recognition and awareness for the Nike logo and brand (Coucha, 2011). This is further propelled by associating themselves with athletic celebrities with similar personalities as the Nike brand. Examples include Michael Jordan the basketball hero and Michael Johnson the sprinter. For the purpose of increasing their relevance in the European market, Nike began associating themselves with famous European sports personalities while maintaining their criteria of selecting names that matched the Nike personality of super achievers. Such names included Eric Cantona and Roberto Mandeni. They also sponsored local, European teams like Borussia Dortmund and Paris saint Germain. This had an appeal that made them a household name in Europ e (Holt, 2004). Advertising strategies were customized to reflect the similarities of European countries with the United States as a means of dealing with the diverse culture differences. As compared to Adidas, the German giants, Nike portrays a more self expressive and emotional personality in its brand image. This gives for a challenging, hardworking and winning mentality with a focus on

The branches of philosophy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The branches of philosophy - Essay Example The branches of philosophy This paper explores these ethical perspectives, reviews relevant perspectives on ethics as an academic discipline, reflects the relevance of ethics among individuals and society, and identifies the key ethical perspectives, values and principles that would most benefit individuals and society. The course content convinced me of the relationship between philosophy and ethics as well as their components. While philosophy deals with the analysis of fundamental ideas and logical examination of the basic concepts of life ethics deals with justification of morality in determining what is right and wrong. In fact, ethics is only one of the branches of philosophy while the other three branches are metaphysics (deals with the ultimate reality and structure of existence), epistemology (branch of philosophy that examines the nature, types, and limits of knowledge) and aesthetics (branch of philosophy that explores the nature of beauty). The course also showed me how metaphysics, epistemology, a nd aesthetics contribute towards the making of one’s ethical perspectives. The course has also thrown light on the major ethical perspectives such as deontological teleological, aretological. It is worthwhile to analyze and apply these ethical perspectives and their sub categories into ethical questions related to homosexuality, capital punishment, environmental ethics, euthanasia, and abortion. For instance, it is worthwhile to evaluate the ethics regarding the issue of homosexuality from utilitarian as well as egoist ethical perspectives. ... For instance, it is worthwhile to evaluate the ethics regarding the issue of homosexuality from utilitarian as well as egoist ethical perspectives. There are for and against utilitarian ethical arguments with regard to homosexuality. Utilitarian ethical theories ask what brings the greatest benefit or least harm for the greatest number, they look at how the effects of homosexuality either increase benefits or minimize harms for the greatest number of those affected. As such, utilitarians who argue for homosexuality regard it as an orientation rather than a choice. They also hold that once the society accepts homosexuals the homophobia of the society will diminish. On the other hand, utilitarians who are against homosexuality argue that it contributes to problems such as addiction and suicide and that greater societal acceptance of homosexuality will not bring about greater happiness to the homosexuals. Similarly, one can find considerable differences in the deontological perspectives towards ethical issues surrounding capital punishments while comparing the deontological perspectives with that of teleological, utilitarian, retributive, abolitionist and egoist approaches. In the same way, the content of the course has been instrumental in providing me insights into environmental ethics which very often go underreported and unnoticed. I came to understand that the conflict between anthropocentric concerns and bio-centric concerns are quite evident in environmental ethics. Similarly, the issues of euthanasia and abortion discussed in the module also raise many ethical questions based on ethical perspectives. While utilitarian ethics tend to recognize the patient’s autonomy in taking decisions as to what will benefit them most the deontological ethicists

Definition Of Business Economics Commerce Essay

Definition Of Business Economics Commerce Essay Business economics, also called Managerial Economics as a field in applied economics uses economic theory and quantitative methods to analyze business enterprises and the factors contributing to the diversity of organizational structures and the relationships of organizations with labour, Capital ,land ,taxes international trade and product markets. Managerial Economics consists of that part of economic theory which helps the business manager to take decisions. Business involves decision-making. Decision making means the process of selecting one out of two or more alternative courses of action. Economic theories help to analyze the practical problems faced by business organizations. Business economics integrates economic theory with business practice. It is a special branch of economics that bridges the gap between economic theory and business management. It deals with the use of economic concepts and principles for decision making in a business unit. It is called Business Economics or Economics of the organizations. Every business is operated by some resources and these are limited . Business economics tells the techniques about how to utilize resources for maximum satisfaction . Both micro and macro economics tools are used in business economics . But micro economics are so related to business economics because for effective operating of business , micro economics helps to optimize demand , production and price and factor price theories. DEFINITION OF BUSINESS ECONOMICS In simple words, business economics is the discipline which helps a business manager in decision making for achieving the desired results. In other words, it deals with the application of economic theory to business management. According to Spencer and Siegelman, Business economics is the integration of economic theory with business practice for the purpose of facilitating decision-making and forward planning by management. According to Mc Nair and Meriam, Business economics deals with the use of economic modes of thought to analyses business situation. From the above said definitions, we conclude the following objectives of business economics: 1) Explanation of nature and form of economic analysis 2) To apply economic concepts: and principles to solve business problems 3) Spell out the relationship between Managerial Economics and other disciplines outline the methodology of managerial economics. 4) To make overall development of a firm. 5) To minimize risk and uncertainty 6) To help in demand and sales forecasting. 7) To help in operation of firm by helping in planning, organizing, controlling etc. 8) To help in formulating business policies. 9) To help in profit maximization. NATURE OF BUSINESS ECONOMICS Managerial Economics and Business economics are the two terms, which, at times have been used interchangeably. However, the term Managerial Economics has become more popular and seems to displace progressively the term Business Economics. Business economic seeks to establish rules which help business organizations attain their goals, which indeed is also the essence of the word normative. However, if the firms are to establish valid decision rules, they must thoroughly understand their environment. This requires the study of positive or descriptive theory. SCOPE OF BUSINESS ECONOMICS : As regards the scope of business economics, no uniformity of views exists among various authors. However, the following aspects are said to generally fall under business economics. 1. Demand Analysis and Forecasting 2. Cost and production Analysis. 3. Pricing Decisions, policies and practices. 4. Profit Management. 5. Capital Management. 6. Inventory management 7. Linear programming and theory of games 8. Environmental issues 9. Business cycles These various aspects are also considered to be comprising the subject matter of business economic. Thus, managerial economics comprises both micro and macro-economic theories. The subject matter of managerial economics consists of all those economic concepts, theories and tools of analysis which can be used to analyze the business environment and to find out solution to practical business problems. CHARACTERISTICS OF BUSINESS ECONOMICS The following characteristics of business economics are: 1. Micro economics: Managerial economics is micro economic in character. This is so because it deals with the problems of an individual business unit. It does not study the problems of the entire economy. 2. Normative science: Managerial economics is a normative science. It is concerned with what management should do under particular circumstances. It determines the goals of the enterprise. Then it develops the ways to achieve these goals. 3. Pragmatic: Managerial economics is pragmatic. It concentrates on making economic theory more application oriented. It tries to solve the managerial problems in their day-today functioning. 4. Prescriptive: Managerial economics is prescriptive rather than descriptive. It describes solutions to various business problems. 5. Uses macro economics: Marco economics is also useful to business economics. Macro-economics provides an intelligent understanding of the environment in which the business operates. Managerial economics takes the help of macro-economics to understand the external conditions such as business cycle, national income, economic policies of Government etc. 6. Uses theory of firm: Managerial economics largely uses the body of economic concepts and principles towards solving the business problems. Managerial economics is a special branch of economics to bridge the gap between economic theory and managerial practice. 7. Management oriented: The main aim of managerial economics is to help the management in taking correct decisions and preparing plans and policies for future. Managerial economics analyses the problems and give solutions just as doctor tries to give relief to the patient. 8. Multi disciplinary: Managerial economics makes use of most modern tools of mathematics, statistics and operation research. In decision making and planning principles such accounting, finance, marketing, production and personnel etc. 9. Art and science.-Managerial economics is both a science and an art. As a science, it establishes relationship between cause and effect by collecting, classifying and analyzing the facts on the basis of certain principles. It points out to the objectives and also shows the way to attain the said objectives. SIGNIFICANCE OF BUSINESS ECONOMICS 1. Business economic is concerned with those aspects of traditional economics which are helpful for business decision making in real life. These are adapted or modified with a view to enable the manager take better decisions. 2. It also incorporates useful ideas from other disciplines such as Psychology, Sociology, Accounting. Statistics and Mathematics can be used to solve or at least throw some light upon the problems of business management. Business economics takes the help of other disciplines having a bearing on the business decisions in relation various explicit and implicit constraints subject to which resource allocation is to be optimized. 3. Business economics helps in reaching a variety of business decisions in a complicated environment. 4. Business economics makes a manager a more competent model builder. It helps him appreciate the essential relationship Characterizing a given situation. 5. At the level of the firm. Where its operations are conducted though known focus functional areas, such as finance, marketing, personnel and production, business economics serves as an integrating agent by coordinating the activities in these different areas. 6. Business economics takes cognizance of the interaction between the firm and society, and accomplishes the key role of an agent in achieving the its social and economic welfare goals. It has come to be realized that a business, apart from its obligations to shareholders, has certain social obligations. Business economics focuses attention on these social obligations as constraints subject to which business decisions are taken. It serves as an instrument in furthering the economic welfare of the society through socially oriented business decisions. USES OF BUSINESS ECONOMICS Business economics is useful because: 1) It provides tools and techniques for managerial decisions 2) It gives answers to the basic problems of business management. 3) It supplies data for analysis and forecasting. 4) It provides tools for demand forecasting and profit planning. 5) It guides the managerial economist. 6) It provides optimal Solution to Business Problems. 7) Business economics study is very helpful for effective utilization of business resources. It determines every factors price on supply and demand of such factor so, that the price becomes optimize by this supply and demand analysis. 8) Keynesian s general theory of employment tells us that full employment depends on investment and effective demand if both will increase after this employment can increase . Govt. takes steps for increasing investment in self employment schemes and try to help to sell the products after this full employment generated. Thus, Business economics offers a number of benefits to business managers. It is also useful to individuals, society and government. APPLICATIONS OF BUSINESS ECONOMICS IN MANAGEMENT The basic function of a management executive in a business organization is decision making and forward planning. Decision Making means the process of selecting one action from two or more alternative courses of action whereas forward planning means making plans for the future. The question of choice arises because resources such as capital, land, labor and management are limited and can be employed in alternative uses. The application of economics to business management or the integration of economic theory with business practice, as Spencer and Siegelman presents, the following aspects :- Reconciling traditional theoretical concepts of economics in relation to the actual business behavior and conditions. In economic theory, the technique of analysis is one of model building whereby certain assumptions are made and on that basis, conclusions as to the behavior of the firms are drowned. The assumptions, however, make the theory of the firm unrealistic since it fails to provide a satisfactory explanation of that what the firms actually do. Hence the need to reconcile the theoretical principles based on simplified assumptions with actual business practice and develops appropriate extensions and reformulation of economic theory, if necessary. Estimating economic relationships, viz., measurement of various types of elasticities of demand such as price elasticity, income elasticity, cross-elasticity, promotional elasticity, cost-output relationships, etc. The estimates of these economic relationships are to be used for purposes of forecasting. Predicting relevant economic quantities, eg., profit, demand, production, costs, pricing, capital, etc., in numerical terms together with their probabilities. As the business manager has to work in an environment of uncertainty, future is to be predicted so that in the light of the predicted estimates, decision making and forward planning may be possible. Using economic quantities in decision making and forward planning, that is, formulating business policies and, on that basis, establishing business plans for the future pertaining to profit, prices, costs, capital, etc. The nature of economic forecasting is such that it indicates the degree of probability of various possible outcomes, i.e. losses or gains as a result of following each one of the strategies available. Hence, before a business manager there exists a quantified picture indicating the number of courses open, their possible outcomes and the quantified probability of each outcome. Keeping this picture in view, he decides about the strategy to be chosen. Understanding significant external forces constituting the environment in which the business is operating and to which it must adjust, e.g., business cycles, fluctuations in national income and government policies pertaining to public finance, fiscal policy and taxation, international economics and foreign trade, monetary economics, labor relations, anti-monopoly measures, industrial licensing, price controls, etc. The business manager has to appraise the relevance and impact of these external forces in relation to the particular business unit and its business policies. CONCLUSION In business organizations and firms business economics plays a very important role .The usefulness of business economics lies in adopting the tools from economic theory, incorporating relevant ideas from other fields to take better business decisions. business economics serve as a catalytic agent in the process of decision making by different functional departments at the firmà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s level. For the organizations appropriate direction one should follow the rules of business economics. which will be helpful in organizations success.

Creating a Modern-day Movie Adaptation of The Glass Menagerie Essay exa

Creating a Modern-day Movie Adaptation of The Glass Menagerie Dysfunctional. Codependent. Enmeshed. Low self-esteem. Personal struggles of the twenty-first century or those of the past? In his play, The Glass Menagerie, Tennessee Williams portrays a southern family of the 1940’s attempting to cope with life’s pressures, and each of their own conflicts, after they have been deserted by their father and husband. In attempting to create a modern-day movie adaptation of The Glass Menagerie from the original play, a parallel element would still be conveyed to the audience- inner and intra personal struggles of the past continue to be those of the present. If produced in the present day, the new version would have seemingly subtle changes such as new speaking styles, characters, and sets that will allow it to become modernized. Some original parts of the play such as â€Å"dated† dialogue, character traits, and settings will be discarded, but the original vision of Tennessee Williams will remain intact by keeping elements essential to recounting the Wingfield Family struggles.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As director of the updated production of The Glass Menagerie, one would first have to look at the type of speaking style and dialogue as a means to modernize the original content. In the play, Amanda, the mother, is characteristic of a southern belle. Her language reflects the stereotypical tradition and the polite nature of a southern woman. Tom and Laura, in keeping with their...

Zimbabwe

Q. 1. The potential revenue of the field. Find the most reliable figure for this, tell where you obtained it and explain why you think it is the most reliable figure that you could obtain. Ans. 1. Zimbabwe started selling diamonds and earned more than ?1 billion by selling diamonds (The Press Association). The soldiers forced people to work harder. They also tortured them and their children with heavily armed force. There is no official estimate for the revenue from selling stones and diamonds in that sector but an unofficial estimated range is showing ?1. billion from that field in Zimbabwe (The Press Association). The eastern alluvial diamond fields of diamond estimated to meet one-forth demand of the total demand of diamond across the world in 2006. They earned high revenue and profit by trading diamonds into several countries, like, Israel, India, Lebanon and Russia. The government of Zimbabwe earned $20 million from the legal sale of diamonds in 2008 (The Press Association). But the important thing is that most of the earned income and revenue of mining diamonds is illegal and it has no governmental or official record. If a Chinese mining company wants to set up a legal partnership with Zimbabwe government then it will achieve great revenue with high profit and growth through mining diamond in Marange which is a newly founded diamond field in Zimbabwe. This particular field of diamond is situated in the eastern field which earned high revenue through diamond mining in Zimbabwe. To expand their trade facilities, they arranged some private planes to bring buyers from foreign countries. Most of the diamond fields in Zimbabwe are illegal and distributing conflicting diamonds to many countries. These illegal mining fields are expecting high profit and thus they forced poor people to work harder under the mechanism of ‘Dig or Die’ (The Press Association). Poor people are bound to work under the heavily armed security guard in these illegal fields of diamond. According to Abbey Chikane, the Kimberley Process monitor for Zimbabwe, marked the Marange Diamond field in Zimbabwe as a certified diamond field to export conflict-free diamonds to meet the demand of diamond across the world (Mutsaka, Wonacott and Childress, 2010). The human right organization of Zimbabwe is protesting the diamond mining though several illegal diamond fields which are doing illegal activities through killing many poor helpless men, raping women and torturing children to get hard work from them. To solve these problems, the government of Zimbabwe has become very serious to set up legal diamond mines to export conflict-free diamonds. Q. 2. Who controls the Mining Development Corporation? Do they have any existing joint venture partners? Who in the Zimbabwean government will influence decisions regarding the investment? Ans. 2. Diamond exporting and supplying business is currently controlled by the government of Zimbabwe. Though it is controlled by the government, there is a presence of powerful illegal diamond fields in Zimbabwe and these fields are engaged in several illegal and non-ethical activities with the help of the armed police and security guard force of Zimbabwe. The presence of political battle and high rate of corruption in the Zimbabwean economic, political and social atmospheres guided the government to a wrong direction. Being the Zimbabwe monitor of the world diamond control body, Abbey Chikane, also stated that the diamonds are ready for sale in the international market to provide minimum international standard of diamond (Mutsaka, Wonacott and Childress, 2010). According to the investors, the mining of diamond in Marange was conducted through use of virtual slaves under the control of armed soldiers in 2008 (Mutsaka, Wonacott and Childress, 2010). Therefore, this field is not working legally or the government may be not serious about fact of diamond mining in Zimbabwe. The Kimberley Process is an international monitoring body to control conflict-free diamond supply from certified diamond fields under governmental rules and regulations. Mr. Chikane announced that Zimbabwe can start trading the Marange diamonds under proper guidance of the government of Zimbabwe. According to him, the Zimbabwe government has taken several effective steps to regulate legal diamond fields and to remove illegal sources of diamond. The Kimberley Process did not consider the fact of taking steps against governments which violated the rules of the human-rights organization in Zimbabwe in diamond mining. The Kimberley team investigated that the heavily armed security forces killed many people, raped women who were illegally mining in the Marange fields in July, 2008 (Mutsaka, Wonacott and Childress, 2010). But the officials denied these charges against them and the government and they told that the security guards were there to give protection to the governmental part of the Marange diamond fields in Zimbabwe. The Kimberley members restricted sales of diamonds by the Marange diamond fields as they were supplying non-certified stones in the international market with proper certificates. This helped to get certification for the diamond fields in Zimbabwe. It also allowed exporting several other legal diamond fields into the foreign market. Zimbabwe's government earned $20 million from the legal fields of diamonds in 2008 (The Press Association). There are some political conflicts in Zimbabwe in the issue of diamond exporting and mining from legal and illegal diamond fields of the country. After the election in Zimbabwe in 2008, the situation in Marange diamond field has become very much concern about their effectiveness of the Kimberley Process. A top member of the World Diamond Council, Martin Rapaport reigned from the Kimberley Process to protest against their activity and controlling mechanism of the process. Human rights organizations in Zimbabwe are now become very much concern about the export of diamond in the international market after getting the green signal to restart the sale of diamonds from the Marange diamond fields, where heavily armed soldiers deployed by the President Robert Mugabe have been charged for conducting illegal activities (Peta, 2010). The Zimbabwean government investigated that more than 4 million carats of diamonds were founded from the controversial fields of the Zimbabwean diamond fields. Marange was one of them. The estimated value of the total sale of diamonds will be around $1. 7bn according to the Zimbabwe's 2010 budget and that will be very much helpful to provide a boost to the economic condition of Zimbabwe (Peta, 2010). Investment from the foreign investors is always encouraged the mining development corporation of Zimbabwe. To meet the international demand of diamond, they are gradually expanding their international business through legal export of conflict-free diamonds of certified diamond fields of Zimbabwe. To increase their revenue, the government of Zimbabwe is very much interested to incorporate many foreign investors across the world. The director of the Centre for Research and Development which is a Zimbabwean human-rights organization was tracking the operations in Marange diamond field in Zimbabwe (Peta, 2010). According to them at the end of 2008, there was no improvement in the condition of the human rights in the Marange diamond field. Mr. Maguwu, the director of the research and development centre, also showed how diamonds from the Marange Diamond field were being smuggled out from Zimbabwe to Mozambique and it became a profitable strategy for the soldiers of Zimbabwe through illegal diamond export to other foreign countries (Peta, 2010). The Zimbabwe government forced the African Consolidated Resources to take back their claims against the government and their officials in the issue of diamond supply and export from the Marange diamond field in Zimbabwe at the end of 2006. The high court of Zimbabwe decided that all diamond mines should hand over their power of illegal diamond export to the central bank of Zimbabwe and those mines could get back their power after resolving the dispute in 2008 (Peta, 2010). Therefore, after the political and social battle in Zimbabwean diamond fields, it has become mandatory to get certified by the government, the diamond research and development centre and also by the human rights organization of Zimbabwe. Game Theory: Q. 3. Game theory is very useful in planning strategy. Your firm, if it decides that it is a good investment, wants to win the rights to develop the mine. Explain how you can use game theory to plot a winning strategy. Ans. 3. If the Chinese firm decides that it will be a good investment and also wants to win the rights to develop the diamond mines in Zimbabwe, then they should follow a strategic plan with game theory application. The firm can invest in the Marange diamond field through legal contract of partnership with the mining company. They should be aware of the fact that there are no illegal activities in the mining field against the human rights organization in Zimbabwe. The government of Zimbabwe should follow ethics of the social and political aspects in the case of diamond mining from different legal fields of diamond. According to the perfect formation of the game of this case of development in the field of diamonds, the most effective and suitable pay-off will be the combination of the investment of the Chinese firm and the investment in the legal fields of certified diamonds in Zimbabwe. The investment of the Chinese firm will be more profitable if the firm can invest into a legal field of diamonds, rather than investment into an illegal field of diamonds. There are some other factors related with social, ethical and legal perspectives of the country in the case of diamond mining. These aspects should be highly concerned by the Chinese company who is very much interested to get with some Zimbabwean mining company through legal partnership contract. The Chinese company can get high revenue and profit if it makes a contract with an illegal company but other social, legal and ethical aspects will not be there. There may be several strategies but only one pay-off will be economically, financially, legally and ethically viable for this case. Pricing Strategies: Q. 4. Explain why the price of diamonds in international markets is so high. Note that a good answer to this question will involve research into the pricing strategies of the firms that sell diamonds as well as the application of basic economic principles. Ans. 4. The price of diamond is very high in the international market. If demand increases for a commodity, the price of that commodity will also increase keeping other factors as unchanged. The demand curve of a commodity is downward slopping in the price of the commodity and the quantity demanded for the commodity framework. Demand Curve of commodity: Price Demand Curve †¢ Quantity Demanded (Source: varian, 2003, pp. 4-6) The price of the commodity and the quantity demanded of the commodity are taken respectively as the vertical and the horizontal line of the diagram. The demand of diamond is gradually increasing in the international market. In the above diagram, according to the basic concept of the demand curve, the demand is dependent on the price of the commodity. Therefore, the price of any commodity should also be dependent on the demand of the commodity. In general, if the demand increases, the price should fall according to the demand curve. But in this case, the price of diamonds is gradually increasing with the increase in the price of the diamonds. The price of the diamonds is very high in the international market to reduce the demand of diamonds in scarcity of diamonds in the global market. The scarcity of diamonds is the main reason for the increasing price of diamonds in the international market. At present, there are few diamond mines from which high quality diamonds can be found. On the other hand, there are few diamond mining companies in the world. Therefore, the competition in these companies is negligible. If a firm with monopoly power in a market increases the price of its commodity, there will be no change in the demand of the commodity. This advantage for the diamond mining companies encourages them to increase the price to achieve high revenue and profit from this business. In the competitive market the firms can not increase the prices of their products because if they increase the price the demand of the product will reduce in those firms and the consumer will prefer to buy from any other firm at lower price of the commodity. There is another important reason for the increment of the price of diamonds in the international market. Most of the exported diamonds are smuggled out from the African diamond fields in different countries. These smugglers have fixed very high price for these diamonds in the foreign market. Though this reason is illegal and not providing any economic theory, it is a very important reason for the high price of diamonds. Ethics: Q. 5. What is the Kimberly Process Certification Scheme? What are the elements of the scheme? Does this investment satisfy these? Why or why not? Ans. 5. Mines Minister of Zimbabwe, Obert Mpofu, stated that more than 90% of the total demand from the international market was achieved by the trade watchdog, the Kimberley Process group in November in 2009 (BBC News, 2009). The armed police force in the diamond mining field killed more than 200 poor people by torturing them at the Marange field of diamonds (The Press Association). The activists wanted to remove these pathetic and illegal activities which were gradually reducing the socio-economic culture of the economy. They also announced to reform the planning and controlling strategies of diamond fields in Zimbabwe and they fixed 2010 as the deadline of this reformation (BBC News, 2009). The Kimberley process is a controlling body under the governmental power in Zimbabwe. With the help of this organization, the government earned a lot revenue and profit but it was not helpful to maintain social, legal and ethical aspects of the economy. To achieve high profit and growth, this organization forced people to work harder in the diamond fields of Marange. The security guards killed many people, raped women and forced children to work continuously in the fields. The Kimberley Process decided to work against the human rights groups of Zimbabwe. Therefore, this process is not concern about the ethics of the organization and they are away from maintaining social responsibilities in Zimbabwe. The government denied these charges against their officials and they are still not very much worried about the fact. The 70-member Kimberley Process group approved a compromise diamond contract at a summit in Namibia in 2009 (BBC News, 2009). To maintain balance in the socio-economic aspects of the economy, an independent monitoring body with independent inspector was established. This organization mainly monitors the diamond mining from the controversial fields. As this process is completely away from maintaining ethics and any other social responsibilities, the investment in this organization will not provide any knowledge of social, economic, legal and ethical responsibilities. This will not be suitable or helpful for the future in a long-run perspective. Q. 6. Do you think that this investment is ethical? Why or why not? Ans. 6. Investment in this organization or process will not be an ethical decision for the Chinese mining company. This process helped to work illegally to achieve high profit in an illegal diamond mining sector. This process is not maintaining any ethics which should be helpful for long-term planning. This process also affects the environmental degradation in Zimbabwe. It is also damaging farming irrigation systems in Zimbabwe (Conflict & Blood Diamonds, 2009). If the Chinese mining company wants to observe a sustainable growth and development for a long-term perspective, they should not go for the partnership contract with the Marange Diamond mining fields and should not even go for investing in these illegal unauthorized and non-certified diamond mining fields in Zimbabwe.

Computers and Education Essay

Nowadays, it is generally believed that computers are essential for our modern education. They are indispensable studying tool that makes it easier for many people to learn subjects from mathematics to language skills. However, there are some aspects of a good education that cannot be taught using computers. Computers play a significant role in all fields of modern society. They are widely used by banks for account management and by stores for keeping records of sales and inventory. Computers are also necessary for interpreting data from a patient’s history and determining diagnosis. Moreover, computers make an important contribution to the education. They are widely used by school and university students and by students who study at home. Computers may be very helpful for learning most subjects. Some of those subjects are mathematics, languages, information technology that cannot be taught without computer, and so on. Computers are capable of storing and combining information in a way that makes is very simple to access and use. Computers simplify students studying by providing them with easy typing software, many useful exercises. In addition, they can make it easier for teachers to assess the students and mark their work. However, there are some features that cannot be taught by using computers. For example, it seems obvious that the subject like singing would be virtually impossible to learn without teacher’s involvement. Furthermore, while computers can be used by students for learning languages, they cannot provide them with an adequate feedback on their pronunciation or writing skills. Learning such subjects like chemistry and physics would be extremely difficult or sometimes even dangerous without teacher’s supervision while having done various experiments. In conclusion, it is important to point out that computers can be beneficial  for educational purposes and they can help students with learning most of the subjects. Despite this in some cases, it is also necessary to engage teacher to make the education more effective and complete. Teacher would also be helpful for pupils as he or she could answer their questions, provide them with a wide range of examples and give them more exercises on particular matters students have difficulties with.

Whats a Liberal Arts College Should You Attend One

What's a Liberal Arts College Should You Attend One SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips If you’ve started researching colleges, you’ve probably seen the term â€Å"liberal arts school† thrown around quite a bit without really understanding what it means. What is a liberal arts college, actually? And how is it different from other sorts of colleges and universities? It’s hard to get a straight answer when it comes to defining a liberal arts college. In this post, I’ll dive a little deeper into defining the liberal arts before explaining what it means to get a liberal arts education. Then, I’ll talk about how these colleges differ from non-liberal arts schools and how that may affect your educational experience. What Are the Liberal Arts? To get a good understanding of the origins of the liberal arts, we have to go all the way back to classical antiquity - think ancient Greece in its prime. Participation in civic life was pretty important to many classical philosophers, who thought that a certain fundamental knowledge should be expected of active free citizens. In ancient times, liberal arts included grammar, logic, rhetoric, arithmetic, geometry, and even music and astronomy. The â€Å"liberal† in liberal arts has nothing to do with political liberalism, and everything to do with the original Latin roots of the words: artes liberales translates to subjects of the free person. Modern understanding of the liberal arts has, unsurprisingly, changed from that of ancient philosophers’. When we talk about the liberal arts today, we’re referring to a broad range of subjects: literature, languages, history, philosophy, math, and sciences. What liberal arts don’t include are any sort of vocational, technical, or professional studies. What Is a Liberal Arts Education? Now that you’ve gotten a mini-history lesson, we can get into what it means to get a liberal arts education in modern times. Different cultures sometimes have their own unique twists on what it means to offer a liberal arts education. In general, though, a liberal arts education is one that focuses on producing well-rounded individuals. American schools that provide a liberal arts education might aim to produce â€Å"global citizens†: individuals who are well-equipped to participate in an informed, ethical way in the world around them. One could say that the ultimate goal of a liberal arts education is to teach students how to think critically, and to effectively interpret and analyze new information they encounter as they navigate their environments. These programs tend to be flexible in the sense that there’s not only one career path you could feasibly pursue post-graduation. If you attend a liberal arts program, you might say you have a liberal arts degree.Examples of liberal arts degreesinclude languages and literature, biology and life sciences, philosophy, cultural studies, and psychology. What Doesn’t Count as a Liberal Arts Education A liberal arts degreeis not something you would receive in a vocational, technical, or professional program. These sort of programs exist to educate students with the purpose of preparing them for a specific career - that is, there’s a clear professional end goal. As such, these educations are generally more career-oriented. Examples of non-liberal arts educations include law school, medical school, engineering programs, and architecture programs. Architecture may be considered a form of art - it just doesn’t fall under the heading of liberal arts. What Is a Liberal Arts College? Like I alluded to in the introduction, there’s no set or standardized definition of a liberal arts college. In general, though, they are educational institutions that emphasize undergraduate education (as opposed to producing research) and award at least half of their degrees in the liberal arts fields of study (like I described above). Students generally pick one course of study to focus on, while also taking courses in other diverse subjects. Check out our post on top liberal arts colleges for examples. Liberal arts colleges tend to encourage their students to study a wide range of subjects instead of focusing solely on one field of study. The way schools actually do this varies, however - there are a few different paths that liberal arts colleges can take here: Core Curriculums - Core curriculums are set plans of study that include mandatory courses in different subjects that all students must take in order to graduate. An example would be the core curriculum at Purdue’s College of Liberal Arts within Purdue University. Distribution Requirements - Distribution requirements are plans of study that require students to take courses across a range of different subjects, but they don’t dictate exactly which courses a student must take in order to graduate. At Williams College, for example, students have to take courses in three different â€Å"divisions† (in addition to meeting requirements for their major of choice): Languages and the Arts, Social Studies, and Science and Mathematics. Open Curriculums - Open curriculums mean that students don’t have to meet any course requirements - either in the form of specific, mandatory courses or distribution requirements - in order to graduate. They are free to choose any courses available to them as long as they meet the requirements for their choice of major. An example of an open curriculum is the one offered at Amherst College. How Are Liberal Arts Colleges Different From Other Schools? Liberal arts colleges are often compared to research universities, although some schools exist as hybrids - both pushing to be research powerhouses while also striving to offer a liberal arts education. The traditional liberal arts college focuses primarily on undergraduate education, however, which means that professors tend to be hired and retained for their teaching and not necessarily for their research experience. This tends to affect student/professor relationships and overall student learning experiences. For example: Undergraduates may have more access to professors because there’s less of an emphasis on research and graduate programs. The colleges themselves tend to be smaller than research universities, with smaller class sizes and student: faculty ratios. There may be fewer research opportunities available. Access to research projects is one of the major differentiators between liberal arts colleges and other types of schools. To make this a bit easier to understand, here’s a chart with the typical characteristics of a traditional liberal arts college vs. a traditional research university: Liberal Arts Colleges vs. Research Universities Liberal Arts Colleges Research Universities Degree Program Offerings More limited, but sometimes unique, degree programs Wide selection of degree programs Pre-Professional Options Few (if any) pre-professional offerings More pre-professional degree offerings Research vs. Teaching Professors are generally focused on teaching over research Professors are generally focused on research and graduate students over teaching undergraduates Class Size Smaller average class size Larger average class size Research Opportunities Fewer research opportunities and less exposure to research More research opportunities and exposure to research Public vs. Private Usually private May be public or private Lectures vs. Seminars Many small seminar offerings More lectures, fewer small seminars Mentorship Career Opportunities Easier to form relationships with profs and peers for career professional connections More difficult to form relationships with profs, but more career fairs and recruiting events The issue with the above chart is that many of the top private research universities also pride themselves on providing liberal arts educations for undergraduates - there isn’t a clear delineation, then, between a liberal arts college and a research university in these circumstances. Top research universities may, for example: Have core curriculums, distribution requirements, or even open curriculums that are very similar to the ones you’d see at a traditional liberal arts college (Brown has a famously open curriculum, for example). Offer few (if any) pre-professional degree programs. You won’t find many business or finance degree programs, for example, at many of these liberal arts-minded research universities. Strive to offer smaller seminar-style courses to encourage student participation and class discussion. See Harvard’s freshman seminar program as an example. We can see, then, that there are really three options here when discussing this spectrum of school types: we have liberal arts colleges and research universities, but there are also hybrid options that tend to be pretty prestigious and highly-ranked. It’s important to keep these in mind when researching colleges, but remember that these hybrid options are often top-tier and shouldn’t be considered safe bets if you’re submitting applications. What Sort of School Is the Right Fit for You? If you’re leaning towards the liberal arts in general (or are even still making up your mind, but don’t know what type of college would be the best fit), these next considerations should help you figure it out. Career Goals Do you know exactly what you want to do after you graduate? Many students don’t know exactly what they want to do professionally when they’re just applying to college. If you’re not sure, it’s not just ok - it’s normal. Liberal arts educations (either at liberal arts colleges or hybrid schools) really encourage students to explore and develop their interests. If this sounds appealing, a liberal arts education will probably be a good fit. A liberal arts education is also a good option if you want a flexible degree that won’t necessarily hinder a variety of job prospects across fields/disciplines. Amherst College doesn’t have official pre-med or business majors, for example, but it still sends quite a few students to graduate programs in those fields. Alternatively, if you know specifically what you’d like to do and know that you need a pre-professional degree to pursue your career of choice, a liberal arts degree may not be the most efficient way to meet your goals. Engineering is a prime example - if you get a non-engineering degree (liberal arts or otherwise), you’d need to double-back to get the specialized education you need before advancing professionally. You also don’t need to attend a liberal arts college or hybrid university to get a flexible degree - many traditional research universities offer degree programs that aren’t necessarily pre-professional (like English, Economics, or Romance Languages). In sum: your career goals can inform whether you want to go the liberal arts route or not, but they don’t necessarily make a liberal arts college better or worse than other school options. Are you sure where you’re headed, or are you still figuring things out? Research Experience Is it important that you get research experience as an undergraduate? If you plan on pursuing a graduate degree in a research-heavy or competitive field (e.g. if you want to go to medical school or get a PhD), it’s important to get good research experience as an undergraduate. It’s easiest to do this at a research university. Some traditional liberal arts colleges offer these opportunities, but you’ll want to scope relevant departments before committing to a liberal arts college. For example, let’s look at Williams College (a top liberal arts college) versus Johns Hopkins University (a top research university that offers a liberal arts education to undergrads): Johns Hopkins University received 939 grant awards in 2014, making it the country’s most funded university by the NIH Williams didn’t make the list of the top 50 most-funded schools Put simply, more grant money = more research opportunities. Research universities tend to get more funding because they invest a lot of resources into producing research. Target Major Are you looking for something more general (e.g. English, Romance Languages, History) or something pretty specific (e.g. Cognitive Science, Integrative Biology, Slavic Languages Literature)? Liberal arts colleges tend to offer fewer and more general majors because they’re just smaller schools. Sometimes, though, they offer some unique and even niche options. For example, Amherst offers general options like American Studies, Economics, and English, but they also offer a unique major called Law, Jurisprudence, and Thought. In total Amherst only offers 28 majors, whereas Arizona State University offers over 300 options. Are you okay with not having a super specialized major (unless you’re into one of a college’s niche options)? You’d do alright at a liberal arts college. Do you want more variety and/or more opportunity for specialization? A traditional research university or a hybrid university may suit you better. Environment Educational Experience This is perhaps the most important consideration. Would you like the hustle and bustle of a big university, with big lectures taught by big-name professors? Or would you prefer something more intimate, with smaller seminars taught by professors who are dedicated to teaching? What really matters is what you are most comfortable with. The only way to really figure this out is to visit a few schools. To give you some examples, most of the top liberal arts colleges are relatively small, whereas the top research universities (hybrid or otherwise) are much bigger: Liberal Arts Colleges: Williams = 2,045 undergrads, Amherst = 1,792, Swarthmore = 1,542, Bowdoin = 1,805 Hybrid Colleges: Harvard = 6,694 undergrads, Princeton = 5,391, Yale = 5,447 Public Research Universities: UCLA = 43,000 undergrads, Texas AM = 49,000 If you want something small and intimate, you would likely be happier at a liberal arts college. If you want something bigger and busier, public universities may be best. If you want something in-between - a bigger campus but with opportunities for smaller classes - you might look into some of those hybrid options. Now would be a good time to think about whether you’re cool with crowds. What’s Next? Need more guidance when it comes to picking the school that’s best for you? We’ve got you covered. Read about whether it even matters where you go to college and how to get into your top-choice college. Set on a liberal arts school? Check out the top-ranked liberal arts colleges. One of the next questions you may have might rise out of a more practical concern - you know how your experience may differ at a private liberal arts college when compared to other types of schools, but should you expect any difference in cost? Learn more about different college expenses. Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or your ACT score by 4 points?We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

Free Essays on A Good Man

In Flanney O’Conner’s, â€Å"A Good Man is Hard to Find† a great deal of irony is used to express her views on how society and culture in the present day and how it has changed from that of the past. O’Connor used the family’s grandmother as a key component in the story because of her personality and her old age. She was able to show her feeling about the lack of respect for family and elders through the grandmother. The stories idea explores into deeper things than just respect. As the story continues many spiritual observations are made in regard’s to how the â€Å"old South† use to view religion. The beginning of the story is an important part because the reader is first exposed to the idea that the grandmother is little respected or listened to by any of the family members. She begins by challenging the family against taking a trip to Florida, because she had just learned a crazed killer by the name of the Misfit who is on the run into that area. When this argument is brought forth to the family, â€Å"Bailey didn’t look up from his reading, so she wheeled around then and faced the children’s mother† (232) who also showed the same interest and respect as the father did. One important element in this scene was when the grandmother made this remark. She was astounded that her son would be willing to take his family into such a place with possible danger and remarked with, â€Å"I wouldn’t take my children in any direction with a criminal like that a lose in it. I couldn’t answer to my conscience if I did† (232). At first interpretation most readers probably thought was just a way for the grandmother to get out of going on the trip, although it was an example for the author to show how family life had changed from her time. Even with changing family styles, grandparents are a group of people who are usually admired and looked up to by family members, and a favorite of yo ung children. The aspect of this story that made it ... Free Essays on A Good Man Free Essays on A Good Man In Flanney O’Conner’s, â€Å"A Good Man is Hard to Find† a great deal of irony is used to express her views on how society and culture in the present day and how it has changed from that of the past. O’Connor used the family’s grandmother as a key component in the story because of her personality and her old age. She was able to show her feeling about the lack of respect for family and elders through the grandmother. The stories idea explores into deeper things than just respect. As the story continues many spiritual observations are made in regard’s to how the â€Å"old South† use to view religion. The beginning of the story is an important part because the reader is first exposed to the idea that the grandmother is little respected or listened to by any of the family members. She begins by challenging the family against taking a trip to Florida, because she had just learned a crazed killer by the name of the Misfit who is on the run into that area. When this argument is brought forth to the family, â€Å"Bailey didn’t look up from his reading, so she wheeled around then and faced the children’s mother† (232) who also showed the same interest and respect as the father did. One important element in this scene was when the grandmother made this remark. She was astounded that her son would be willing to take his family into such a place with possible danger and remarked with, â€Å"I wouldn’t take my children in any direction with a criminal like that a lose in it. I couldn’t answer to my conscience if I did† (232). At first interpretation most readers probably thought was just a way for the grandmother to get out of going on the trip, although it was an example for the author to show how family life had changed from her time. Even with changing family styles, grandparents are a group of people who are usually admired and looked up to by family members, and a favorite of yo ung children. The aspect of this story that made it ...

A Research Of the Events Leading Upto World War II By Tuchmans Guns Of August.

A Research Of the Events Leading Upto World War II By Tuchman's Gun's Of August. One of the deadliest wars in world history, World War I, lasted from July of 1914 until November of 1918. This was one of the first wars to be defined as a global war. This essentially means that all of the world ‘s superpowers were fighting and consequently the whole world was affected. The world’s powers all gathered together and were part of either two groups. The first group was the Allies, which consisted of France, the British Empire, and the Russian empire. The second group was the Central Powers, which consisted of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Germany. In The Guns of August, Barbara Tuchman examines the months leading up to the war and the first few months of it. Specifically, she focused her narrative on the military history aspect of World War I. Overall, Tuchman depicts an extraordinary prelude to World War I, such as the decisions of the superpowers involved and world events that affected the war. It has been described by the reviewer Samuel R. Williamson Jr. as â€Å"one of the finest works of history†¦[and of being a part of] the best sellers list for more than forty weeks†. Tuchman begins her book by illustrating her thought process behind her work and the methods that she used. She starts with an introduction that exemplifies the need for facts and connections in order to accurately depict World War I. In the Foreword, written by Robert Massie. In this foreword, Massie reflects on Tuchman’s writing process and how she describes her work. On page xi, Massie states that in regards to Tuchman’s work, she asked numerous questions and â€Å"[her] research was too find out†¦ what really happened.† In other words, Tuchman’s question would be ‘What really and factually happened in the prelude and first few months of World War I?’ On page xi, there is another question; Massie describes Tuchman’s efforts to get at â€Å"how it actually felt for the people present?† In other words, Tuchman’s question would be ‘how did World War I make the people involved feel like?’ In the author†™s note, Tuchman herself, once again reiterates this question and how she answered it throughout her book. In the authors note, Tuchman goes on to explain how she answered these questions. In seeking answers to these research questions, Tuchman gathered great amounts of information from various types of sources. On page xxiv, Tuchman states that the first question was answered based on evidence from documents she’s gathered and even that â€Å"all conditions of weather†¦in the following pages [of the novel] have documentary support†. Some examples of documents that she used to answer this question are primary sources of battle orders, telegrams, secret codes, maps, and weather reports. On page xxiv, Tuchman states, in regard to the second question, she had a â€Å"total immersion in military memoirs†¦[and] all†¦ thoughts or feelings, in states of mind public or private†¦ Have documentary support.† Similarly to the first question, this quest ion is also omnipresent throughout the novel. Therefore it is hard to pinpoint the documents used to answer this question down to one. Nevertheless some examples of primary sources she used to answer this question are letters, memoirs, dairies, and pictures. Nevertheless, Tuchman’s approach strays from the classic historiographical approach from here on out. Her study is more of a descriptive history than one of pure analysis. In one book review, Jeanne Lombardo states that Tuchman used â€Å"the historicist technique of combining documentary evidence with the powers of the imagination†¦ [which] she uses to paint a vivid, living picture of the events and individuals of August, 1914.† It is important for readers to understand that although Tuchman doesn’t come right out and say what her analysis is, it doesn’t mean it is nonexistent. Tuchman utilizes her documents in a way, which creates an eloquent story. Tuchman backs up this idea when she states that she believes â€Å"the very process of transforming a collection of personalities, dates, gun calibers, letters, and speeches into a narrative eventually forces the ‘why’ to the surface† (xii). It is also important to include the interpretation of Ulrich Trumpener. He states in his book review published in The Journal of Modern History that The Guns of August was a great narrative work, but â€Å"as a scholarly contribution to the history of World War I it is less than satisfactory†¦ [Tuchman’s] story is only partially based on the best available evidence†¦[and contains] oversimplifications.† Trumpener continues to discuss how The Guns of August increasingly left out information regarding certain countries’ contributions to the war. Nevertheless, Tuchman addressed this issue in her author’s note where she stated there was some omission regarding certain fronts throughout her book. In regard to these omissions, she states that they were â€Å"outside my chronological limits and it seemed to me there was unity without it is the prospect of tiresome length if they were included† (xxiv). Personally, I believe that her descriptions were all based on fact and the omission of certain aspects was essential. This is because it would have been detrimental to her interpretations and consequently her narrative descriptions. Overall, Tuchman’s sound research through both primary and secondary sources regarding World War I led to her study revolving around what she believed truly led to the war. She had numerous interpretations from her analysis of the documents. She specifically believed that there were roughly four reasons that this war started. The first reason she believes was due to a misconception regarding the free trade and the idea it would stop a war because people would want to avoid economic consequences. This idea can be idea can be shown on page 12, where Tuchman states: Lord Esher delivered lectures on the lesson of The Great Illusion at Cambridge and the Sorbonne wherein he showed how ‘new economic factors clearly prove the inanity of aggressive wars’. A 20th Century war will be on such a scale, he said, that it’s inevitable consequences of ‘commercial disaster, financial ruin and individual suffering’ would be ‘so pregnant with restraining in fluences’ as to make war unthinkable. In this quote, Tuchman illustrates the belief that the war was considered unthinkable due to the economic effects it would have. Tuchman uses a source that included the preaching’s’ by someone who was considered highly educated to prove this point. The Second reason Tuchman believed that the war happened the way that it did was due to ideologies regarding warfare. Tuchman thought there was too much of an emphasis of the countries involved on the idea of a quick war and staying on the offense. She demonstrated this idea on page 372, where she stated: Clausewitz [a German] had described terror has the proper method to shorten war, his whole theory of war being based on the necessity of making it short, sharp, and decisive. The civil population must not be exempted from wars the fax of estimate feel it’s pressure and be forced for the severest measures to compel their leaders to make peace. In this quote, Tuchman illustr ates her thought that the war happened the way it did because the leaders of the nations involved believed that the war was bound to be quick and short. This specific example revolves around the German peoples’ ideologies of a short war and the need to always attack. Tuchman used Clausewitz to prove the pressures of a short war and offensive attacks. The third reason Tuchman discussed revolved around the effects of the treaties. Tuchman emphasized how the treaties and alliances resulted in a type of domino effect, which resulted in more countries becoming involved with the war. Tuchman describes this idea on page 63: The government maintained the disingenuous position that the military â€Å"conversations† were, in Haldane’s words, ‘just a natural and informal outcome of our close friendship with France’. Natural outcome they might be; informal they were not†¦ the General Staff have ‘certainly committed us to fight, whether the cabinet likes it or not.’ In this quote, Tuchman explains her thought that the war happened the way it did because of how many intertwined alliances and treaties there were. This specific example revolves around the connection between the U.S and France and how their alliance essentially meant that if one of them went to war, they both had to. Lastly, another in terpretation she came across was the contradictions involved in the warfare, such as having technological advances but sticking to the traditions of wars in the past. She discusses this on page 457: Doumergue made a deep impression when he said, ‘it takes more courage to appear a coward and risk popular disfavor interest being killed.’†¦[This statement] provided a subject for further heated dispute. In this quote, Tuchman outlines a heated debate from this time. This debate was essentially one revolved around trying to overturn distiniguished ideals on the ethics of war. Previously, it was thought it was better to die in battle than to give up. Nevertheless, the use of that ideology in this war was detrimental to the militaries because of the invention of new weapons. Tuchman decided to write The Guns of August when a publisher, Cecil Scott of the Macmillan Company, invited her to write a history describing the events that took place during this war. In the preface, Tuchman described a concern she had about the idea that no one would be interested in such a topic or read this book. She stated, â€Å"In moments of depression during the course of writing, I had asked Mr. Scott [the publisher], ‘Who is going to read this?’ (xxi) The book was originally intended for an audience that had previous knowledge of World War I and wanted to see an interpretation of how it felt for those involved. Nevertheless, as a richly descriptive study with a blend of imagination and evidence, resulted in it becoming a widely read book across a variety of populations. The book turned out to be a great resource for those interested in studying the origins of World War I, but needed a captivating story to keep them entertained while learning. The feature that was often denounced by some, the writing style being a descriptive narrative with imaginative pieces based on fact, is what ultimately led to its widespread popularity. Tuchman’s writing style in this text matched the needs of the intended audience and this outreach included every day people. Making the compelling story based on the facts allowed people who would normally be bored by history to become captivated. An example of Tuchman’s ability to present fact with an interesting narrative can be shown on page 90: Meeting the censure of his comrades, Admiral Troubridge demanded a Court of Inquiry which order to his trial by court-martial in November, 1914, on the charge that ‘he did forbear to Chase H.I.G.M.’s ship Goeben, being an enemy then flying’. Tuchman is able to bring Admiral Troubridge to life. She captivates her readers through not only listing the facts but also using fantastic diction, such as the word â€Å"demanded†. Nevertheless, she is also able to give her readers the facts needed to understand the causes of World War I. In this instance, she was able to give a quote from a secondary source, an article on Troubridge. This use of captivation is done by one of the three types of historical writing, Narrative writing. This is because narrative writing is used when the author wants to chronologically tell an event; in this case it was the prelude to the war. Also this style is usually used when an author is telling a military history, which Tuchman is. The Guns of August is, ultimately, an insightful and rigorous work that describes the military history of World War I. Tuchman was able to coherently voice her interpretations on the reasons the war occurred through a descriptive narrative. Although, there are some differences in opinion revolving around Tuchman’s analysis, she does a great job utilizing her sources in a way to prove the economic and militaristic reasons behind the inevitable Global War. Works Cited Lombardo, Jeanne Belisle. The Guns of August by Barbara W. Tuchman. Center for Future Consciousness.http://www.centerforfutureconsciousness.com/pdf_files/2008_ Essays/A Review of The Guns of August by Barbara W.pdf. Sewanee Review. Project MUSE Fifty Years On: The Guns of August, Always Popular, Always Flawed. Accessed November 18, 2016. https://muse.jhu.edu/article/497154. Trumpener, Ulrich. The Journal of Modern History 35, no. 1 (1963): 94-95. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1899184. Tuchman, Barbara W. The Guns of August. New York: Ballantine, 2004. .

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

Smoking Cessation - Research Paper Example Quitting the practice of smoking has been tried by many and many have even successfully accomplished it. There are several who wish to quit smoking but their attempts have failed. CDC reports that 68% of the smokers who fall into the adult population have tried to either give up on this practice and are willing to live their lives without smoking (cdc.gov, 2014). The benefits of smoking cessation can be categorized into long term as well as short term benefits. Smoking cessation has psychological, social as well as physical benefits for smokers as well as people and the environment around the smokers. Smokers are a population that is frowned upon in social settings and people tend to disassociate themselves from smokers because smokers tend to smell bad and smoking even leads to the degradation of the smoker’s teeth and this negatively impacts their public profile. Due to these smokers face difficulty in making friends especially in groups comprising of nonsmokers. Quitting sm oke can help the smokers in eliminating bad breath and help in developing a positive social image and this can in turn increase their social acceptability. Smoking is heavily held responsible as a cause of death and this is because smoking has been found to lead to severe illnesses which ultimately take the lives of smokers. CDC reports that smoking of tobacco leads to severe illnesses which leads to deaths that are premature in nature and by quitting tobacco smoking, individuals can reduce the risk of premature death (cdc.gov, 2014). Smoking has even been recognized as one of the factors that negatively impacts the psychological health of individuals. According to Parrott, smoking is considered as a reliever of stress but it is one of the reasons that further increase the levels of stress. This means that by quitting tobacco smoking, quitters can relieve their psychological issue of stress. There are

I want you to choose the appropriate topic Essay

I want you to choose the appropriate topic - Essay Example The government leaders of Centralia did not act on the side of the public’s interest. The public included the miners who died due to the government leaders’ faulty public administration acts. In the article â€Å"The Blast in Centralia No. 5†, there was an important need for a strong and effective public system in the Centralia, Illinois community. The article shows that 111 miners died from the mine blast. The blast occurred in Centralia, Illinois more than generations ago (Stillman, 2009). The issues that arose from the mine blast focused on the selfish interests of some government officials and the mine owners. The mine owner, Centralia Coal Company, was more interested in generating profits from the mine diggings, not the miners’ safety. The mine owners refused to implement the safety recommendations issued by the safety professionals. Likewise, the Centralia government leaders must answer for the mine blast casualties. The blast report sent to the gov ernment agency, Illinois Department of Mines and Minerals, proved some Centralia administrators were not prioritizing the public’s interest (Stillman, 2009). Further, to be more effective and efficient, the government’s political setup should focus on generating favorable outputs that benefit the community. The 28th U.S. President, Woodrow Wilson emphasized that government leaders must balance the issues of constitutional democracy and â€Å"inherent concerns for popular control and participation with the theories of efficient, professional administration, and their stress on systematic rules and internal procedures as distinct from democratic oversight and influence.† (Stillman, 2009). Wilson insists that the people MUST elect professionals that include doctors, engineer, lawyers, and others who have the political will to serve the public’s interest, during their stint as political bosses of the community. Political bosses include mayors and senators. An effective

Casino gambling in Kentucky Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Casino gambling in Kentucky - Term Paper Example In this context, the legislation matter has been the campaign proposal of Governor Steve Basher in his bid for election. Associated Press (2007) stated that the proposal of the Governor to legalize casinos in Kentucky is based on the assumption that it will bring growth to the economy in terms of revenues and taxes. The proposal has been submitted for a legislative process of approval and will also be presented to the Kentucky General Assembly for consent. The proposed bill if passed, allows 9 to 12 casinos in Kentucky, and is expected to bring estimated revenue of $600 million a year in tax revenue. In this critical issue, the Kentucky General Assembly composed of the people of Kentucky have been given the chance to have their voices heard in a direct poll whether they agree with this move or not. The recent events shown in the news carried by WBKO (2010) reported that the legalization of casinos in Kentucky did not pass the legislative session. There are possible reasons for the rejection of the proposal as there are studies that show disadvantages for having Casinos in Kentucky. The probe studies of Anderson and Nevada Council on Problem Gambling show that the proliferation of problem gamblers has negative impact on their lives. Andersen viewed it as a bad social policy because of the large social costs it entails; it makes it harder for problem gamblers to reform, and makes it contributory to social corruption. But Andersen and those concerned in his study are missing the points of the benefits of gambling, and making it appear that it is one of the deadliest sins in the world. For example, Andersen said that the government is â€Å"supposed to be the minister of God, Romans 13†, but its moral stance is compromised when it enters into legalized gambling. However, it could not be discounted that there are also benefits coming from the

Domestic Business Activities from an International and Global Point of Research Paper

Domestic Business Activities from an International and Global Point of View - Research Paper Example As Vice President, it is important to have knowledge of domestic activities and policies and to understand the various cultures and operations of the sales force outside of the United States. This can only be accomplished by using a human resource (staff) from around the world as they are familiar with the countries, company, and cultures in which they live and are operating. Proper training, understanding of a various cultures, how business is handled in different parts of the world, varying company policies and operations (although the company is one entity, policies and routines vary slightly, if not extremely, in order to accommodate the differences), language and cultural differences, various sales methods, training, customer service, account management, follow-up procedures, key accounts management, etc. can only be handled by working with the various sales teams and using their expertise. The Vice President must make use of his number one asset which is a human resource in ord er to apply the best approaches and methods and focus on both the macro and microeconomics of the global business. He cannot do this alone but will achieve success if he learns from those in the various parts of the world and learns from those who are experts in the various locations and cultures in which they live and work. They will know the best approaches to communication, sales, customer service, find solutions, developing innovative tactics, etc. The best way of managing a diverse sales team is to incorporate the sales management from each area and empowering them and learning from them.

Thomas King's Truth about Stories and Its Impact on Social Workers Assignment

Thomas King's Truth about Stories and Its Impact on Social Workers - Assignment Example I think this is a message that is especially important for social workers to keep in mind as they struggle to help those who are not a part of the dominant culture or socio-economic class. One thing that makes Kings message so effective is the personal tone in which he tells all his stories. He frequently speaks to the reader and is not shy about telling us when he is aiming for a story-telling tone. In the first chapter, he tells two different creation myths, one Christian, and one Native. The tones he uses to tell them are very different, as he points out afterwards. â€Å"In the Native story†, he says, â€Å"I tried to recreate an oral storytelling voice and craft the story in terms of a performance for a general audience† (King, 2003, p.22). However, the Christian version told with a less playful tone, used a â€Å"sober voice† which â€Å"makes for a formal recitation but creates a sense of veracity† (King, 2003, p.23). Kings stories in the book usually use a mix of these two tones, and the result is one which speaks directly to people and seems realistic without being unengaging. Also, the storytelling tone is part of the problem King wishes to speak about, that Native people are never really taken seriously and understood from their own points of view, but lumped into one big category, Native, and viewed as a sort of childish un-advanced race of people. As he says of his Native creation myth, â€Å"the conversation voice tends to highlight the exuberance of the story but diminishes its authority† (King, 2003, p.22-23). This, usually in the guise of focusing on Native performers who had to struggle to figure out whether they were still Native Americans or something else entirely, is a central theme throughout the book, along with the stereotyping that causes this main problem.

Casino gambling in Kentucky Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Casino gambling in Kentucky - Term Paper Example In this context, the legislation matter has been the campaign proposal of Governor Steve Basher in his bid for election. Associated Press (2007) stated that the proposal of the Governor to legalize casinos in Kentucky is based on the assumption that it will bring growth to the economy in terms of revenues and taxes. The proposal has been submitted for a legislative process of approval and will also be presented to the Kentucky General Assembly for consent. The proposed bill if passed, allows 9 to 12 casinos in Kentucky, and is expected to bring estimated revenue of $600 million a year in tax revenue. In this critical issue, the Kentucky General Assembly composed of the people of Kentucky have been given the chance to have their voices heard in a direct poll whether they agree with this move or not. The recent events shown in the news carried by WBKO (2010) reported that the legalization of casinos in Kentucky did not pass the legislative session. There are possible reasons for the rejection of the proposal as there are studies that show disadvantages for having Casinos in Kentucky. The probe studies of Anderson and Nevada Council on Problem Gambling show that the proliferation of problem gamblers has negative impact on their lives. Andersen viewed it as a bad social policy because of the large social costs it entails; it makes it harder for problem gamblers to reform, and makes it contributory to social corruption. But Andersen and those concerned in his study are missing the points of the benefits of gambling, and making it appear that it is one of the deadliest sins in the world. For example, Andersen said that the government is â€Å"supposed to be the minister of God, Romans 13†, but its moral stance is compromised when it enters into legalized gambling. However, it could not be discounted that there are also benefits coming from the

Thomas King's Truth about Stories and Its Impact on Social Workers Assignment

Thomas King's Truth about Stories and Its Impact on Social Workers - Assignment Example I think this is a message that is especially important for social workers to keep in mind as they struggle to help those who are not a part of the dominant culture or socio-economic class. One thing that makes Kings message so effective is the personal tone in which he tells all his stories. He frequently speaks to the reader and is not shy about telling us when he is aiming for a story-telling tone. In the first chapter, he tells two different creation myths, one Christian, and one Native. The tones he uses to tell them are very different, as he points out afterwards. â€Å"In the Native story†, he says, â€Å"I tried to recreate an oral storytelling voice and craft the story in terms of a performance for a general audience† (King, 2003, p.22). However, the Christian version told with a less playful tone, used a â€Å"sober voice† which â€Å"makes for a formal recitation but creates a sense of veracity† (King, 2003, p.23). Kings stories in the book usually use a mix of these two tones, and the result is one which speaks directly to people and seems realistic without being unengaging. Also, the storytelling tone is part of the problem King wishes to speak about, that Native people are never really taken seriously and understood from their own points of view, but lumped into one big category, Native, and viewed as a sort of childish un-advanced race of people. As he says of his Native creation myth, â€Å"the conversation voice tends to highlight the exuberance of the story but diminishes its authority† (King, 2003, p.22-23). This, usually in the guise of focusing on Native performers who had to struggle to figure out whether they were still Native Americans or something else entirely, is a central theme throughout the book, along with the stereotyping that causes this main problem.

Feminist Epistemology Essay Example for Free

Feminist Epistemology Essay Abstract In this paper I analyze the potential of Allison Jaggar’s suggestion that emotions in general, and outlaw emotions in particular, be incorporated into feminist epistemology. Jaggar advocates a standpoint theory of emotions, and suggests that the emotions of the oppressed in particular are helpful rather than inimical to acquiring knowledge. I argue that although there are some potential problems with Jaggar’s approach, these problems are common to standpoint theories and can be addressed by applying the solutions offered by other feminist theorists. One common criticism made by feminist epistemologists[i] is the critique of traditional epistemology’s notions of objectivity and neutrality. As Naomi Scheman puts it, in traditional epistemology â€Å"[t]hose who are taken to be in the best position to know are those who are believed to be objective, distanced, dispassionate, independent, and nonemotionally rational† (3-4). [ii] According to Allison Jaggar, the result of this conception of the knower in modern epistemology is a sharp distinction between reason and emotion where reason is privileged because emotions are viewed as involuntary responses that distort our rational observations of the world, which in turn distort the knowledge we can gain from these observations (1992). She further argues that this distinction contributes to the denial of women’s epistemic authority since women are associated with emotions and men with reason, and so men became the standard by which epistemic authority is judged. This is just one of many concerns feminist epistemologists share. However, there are many dissimilarities between feminists as to how to deal with the problems in traditional epistemology. [iii] One approach that I will focus on in this paper is feminist standpoint theory, particularly the standpoint theory offered by Jaggar in â€Å"Love and Knowledge: Emotions in Feminist Epistemology. † What Jaggar aims to accomplish in her paper is to â€Å"begin bridging the gap [between emotion and knowledge] through the suggestion that emotions may be helpful and even necessary rather than inimical to the construction of knowledge† (1992, 146). The bridge she wants to build includes a methodology for identifying biases of the dominant group that leads to false appraisals of the world. This methodology relies on the notion that perspective can be altered by the way one is situated in the world, particularly how one’s situatedness can affect one’s emotional perspective and response. I will explain the concept of emotional perspective and response in a moment, but I want to first note that the type of emotions she thinks are important to feminist epistemologists are outlaw emotions—which are emotional responses that do not follow or support the values and norms we have been taught to accept. Because outlaw emotions are usually a negative response to norms and values, they can help us identify which biases are causing errors in our methods of seeking knowledge. The point that Jaggar wants to make clear is that impartiality in our epistemic methods is impossible, therefore, we should give up on the notion of impartiality and work towards identifying biases that will better guide our epistemic endeavors. There is much debate between feminists over the potential of feminist standpoint epistemologies, yet, I think that Jaggar’s methodology warrants some consideration. [iv] However, because she offers just a sketch of how emotions might be incorporated into epistemology, there are some aspects of her theory that are problematic. The first problem is that standpoint theories seem to neglect the differing experiences of particular individuals within groups by trying to speak about the experiences of these groups in general. The second problem is that Jaggar needs to address how to distinguish which outlaw emotions could potentially further feminist interests from the other emotions, outlaw or otherwise. The general aim of this paper, then, is to initiate an investigation into whether Jaggar’s proposal will be a fruitful endeavor for feminist epistemologists. The more specific aim of this paper is to point out some of the potential problems that arise from her theory, as a feminist theory, and to offer some potential solutions for these problems, some of which are solutions that feminists have previously used to answer similar problems in other feminist theories. 1. Jaggar’s View Jaggar argues that theories that make the distinction between reason and emotion as it pertains to knowledge are mistaken in that they falsely assume emotions are involuntary responses that can be separated from reason. Jaggar contends that most emotions are socially constructed, intentional, and can influence our perceptions of the world. For example, when someone feels anger at a slight from a friend, this anger arises not as an involuntary response, but rather there is a judgment being made about the way friends ought to behave and the response of anger is the appropriate emotion that corresponds with one’s expectations being disappointed. We form beliefs about what constitutes a slight by a friend at the same time as we learn what our society values as appropriate friendship behavior and appropriate responses to different experiences—say affection as a response to respect from one’s friends and anger to disrespect. The idea that emotions are constructed suggests that socialization influences our appraisals of the world and the judgments we make are often emotional responses to observations that reflect the norms and values of our society. For example, when someone tells a joke the expected response is for a person to be amused. However, my being amused by a joke presupposes a number of social conditions. For instance, when we hear something like ‘a priest, a rabbi, and a duck walk into a bar’ we immediately feel an anticipatory amusement, since we recognize this as a joke formula. [v] If I do not recognize this formula then my lack of understanding could cause me to not share the same social experience as the other people who are hearing the same joke. Second, in order to find the joke amusing I must not only understand the language in which the joke is told, but also the content of the joke. I must share the same appraisal of the world in order to actually be amused by the punch line. Third, emotional responses are neither automatic nor passive in the sense that we have no control over them. I may be amused and laugh at a joke of this type. However, I may not laugh if I find the joke to be in bad taste even though not laughing when amusement is anticipated often creates moments of social tension and discomfort. The important thing to note here is that in both cases whether or not I am amused can be a deliberate conscious decision. From this example, we can see why Jaggar suggests that, â€Å"every emotion presupposes an evaluation of some aspect of the environment while, and conversely, every evaluation or appraisal of the situation implies that those who share the evaluation will share, ceteris paribus, a predictable emotional response to the situation† (1992, 153). Just as I would have to share a similar appraisal of the world in order to understand the punch line of a joke, I am also influenced by those preconceived notions to think the joke is funny. At the very least, I am conditioned to some extent to recognize a joke when I hear one and laugh when I think laughter is the expected response. Jaggar thinks it is important to recognize that emotions play a role in how we seek knowledge, given that if we maintain the distinction between emotion and reason in epistemology, then this distinction will influence whom we think are good epistemic agents: namely, dispassionate investigators who can keep their emotions from interfering with their observations. Ironically, because the notion of a dispassionate investigator is considered the ideal, we are biased in our assessment of who is a good investigator and who is not. Note that Jaggar is not saying we are not being impartial enough in our assessment of investigators; rather she is saying our bias in favour of the dispassionate is inhibiting because emotion is an essential part of knowledge. Moreover, the distinction between emotion and reason is problematic, as Jaggar points out, because â€Å"reason has been associated with members of dominant political, social, and cultural groups and emotion with members of subordinate groups†, like â€Å"people of color†¦and women† (1992, 157). The result of the false distinction between emotion and reason is that it produces a myth about investigators that functions in a circular pattern where the myth reinforces the oppression of those who are perceived as emotional, while the oppression reinforces the myth that it is bad to be emotional. In order to give a full account of what it means to be a good investigator, then, we should acknowledge how emotions function to produce passionate investigators who are reliable observers. The first point Jaggar thinks a full account should include is that in many ways emotions are socially constructed in a way that reflects the norms and values of our society, and that this emotional construction influences our evaluations and observations of the world. The second aspect of the social construction of our emotional constitution she wants to point out is that our emotional construction is not complete in the sense that there are people who do not always respond to or evaluate particular situations in a manner that reflects social norms and values. Jaggar calls these unconventional emotional responses and evaluations â€Å"outlaw† emotions, and states that they are usually experienced by â€Å"subordinated individuals who pay a disproportionately high price for maintaining the status quo† (1992, 160). However, when the distinction between emotion and reason is maintained biases against emotional responses in general and unconventional emotional responses in particular, are disregarded. For example, a woman may feel anger or fear when a sexist joke is made, but when she tries to voice her opinion she is told either that she did not understand the joke or that she has no sense of humour. Thus, when the distinction is maintained it makes it difficult, if not impossible, to realize that the joke is not funny because it is based on a negative stereotype. That is to say, it is not acknowledge that the stereotype and the expected emotional response is dictated by the current norms and values. Furthermore, because a woman, who may already be identified as a bad observer, is pointing out that there may be a mistake in our way of thinking, her response is disregarded as emotional and unreliable, and the oppressive norms and values go unquestioned. 2. Jaggar’s Methodology and Potential Problems The benefit of ridding ourselves of epistemologies that do not acknowledge the role of emotions, both conventional and unconventional, is that we can begin to recognize which norms and values are causing harmful biases and negative stereotypes. Furthermore, Jaggar claims that feminist outlaw emotions—which are outlaw emotions that â€Å"incorporate feminist perceptions and values†Ã¢â‚¬â€are particularly useful in feminist epistemology because they â€Å"can help in developing alternatives to prevailing reality by motivating new investigations†¦Feminist emotions provide a political motivation for investigation and so help determine the selection of problems as well as the method by which they are investigated† (1992, 161). Although Jaggar meant to offer a rough sketch of some of the changes that need to be made to our epistemic theories and practices, I think there are  some potential problems that need to be addressed. For one, I think she needs to say more about how we should determine which emotions will lead to fruitful norms and values, and which emotions we should reject. To her credit, it seems that Jaggar recognizes this is a question that needs to be addressed given that she tries to give reasons for why â€Å"certain alternative perceptions of the world, perceptions informed by outlaw emotions, are to be preferred to perceptions informed by conventional norms† (1992, 161). She claims the reason women’s outlaw emotions should be given consideration is because women are not members of the group that conventional beliefs about emotions privilege. Given that women experience the consequences of not being privileged, they are not as likely to adhere to these norms without question. Hence, they are better able to articulate the negative aspects of their experiences because they do not fear that this questioning of norms will threaten their privileged status. The problem with this response is that it does not seem to fully answer the question, because some outlaw emotions will not provide reliable guides to identifying biases, and so the difficulty will be distinguishing which emotions are reliable from those that are not. In order to give a more robust argument for why we should give special consideration to the emotions of oppressed people she needs to first address the fact that the â€Å"oppressed† do not share one perspective. As pointed out by Marilyn Frye, one problem with making claims about the standpoint of women’s emotional perspectives is that such claims seem to presuppose there are universal types of emotions—outlaw or otherwise—that are consistent throughout the emotions experienced by women. Frye notes that this is a mistake often made by feminists given that it is common for epistemological theories to espouse that â€Å"all knowers are essentially alike, that is, are essentially like oneself: one thinks that one speaks not just as oneself, but as a human being† (35). What happens in feminist theorizing as a response to this attitude is feminists become convinced they need to speak as â€Å"Women† in order to be taken seriously. As Frye points out, feminists often face the difficult task of trying to articulate â€Å"the circumstances, experience and perception of those who are historically, materially, culturally constructed by or through the concept women. But the differences among women across cultures, locales and generations make it clear that although all female humans may live lives shaped by the concepts of Woman, they are not all shaped by the same concept of Woman† (36). [vi] The point I want to stress from this passage is that not all women will experience the same emotions in the same contexts because we are formed by different concepts of â€Å"Woman† even though women in general face oppression in one form or another. In response to the problem of women’s differing experiences, Frye suggests feminists approach epistemology with a different methodology. That is, a methodology that will allow women to give meaning to their own experiences even though they are not experiences that are shared by all women. Part of this project entails that feminists give up the notion of a universal women’s experience. Another part is that they listen to many different women’s experiences and look for patterns of similarity. Frye suggests this methodology will result in the following: The experiences of each woman and of the women collectively generate a new web of meaning. Our process has been one of discovering, recognizing, and creating patterns—patterns within which experience made a new kind of sense, or in instances, for the first time made any sense at all. Instead of bringing a phase of enquiry to closure by summing up what is known, as other ways of generalizing do, pattern recognition/constructions opens fields of meaning and generates new interpretive possibilities. Instead of drawing conclusions from observations, it generates observations. (39) I think this methodology will be helpful in pointing out the outlaw emotions that can offer guidance as to which of our norms and values are questionable, and opens a dialogue over potential ways to change them. The methodology Frye advocates can be further developed if we consider potential ways in which women can express their experiences such that patterns can be recognized. One approach that I find particularly convincing is offered by Morwenna Griffiths. Griffiths suggests that feminist epistemologists can employ autobiographical accounts of women’s experiences as a means of articulating the differences between women’s experiences. Like Frye, Griffiths also notes that there is no one experience common to all women. However, Griffiths further claims that, â€Å"[i]ndividuals are not entirely of one group or another. On the contrary, individuals are fragments of an uncertain number of groups† (62). The conclusion she draws from this point is that it is an oversimplification to limit the types of knowledge humans can acquire into categories like women’s knowledge. One person can experience oppression from the perspective of more than one position. To name a few, one may experience oppressions from the perspectives of a particular race, class, gender, or sexual orientation, and intersections of these. For example, the oppression experienced by a native woman is not the same as that experienced by a native man or that experienced by a white woman. Hence, Griffiths suggests that one’s positions in the world at different times can contribute to her understanding of the world, which in turn will influence the knowledge she can acquire about the world. Noting the different positions from which an individual can have experiences and acquire knowledge is important because it suggests that there can be similarities between the positions we occupy and the individual experiences we have. This potential to have similar experiences of the world further suggests that similarities in experience make it the case that we are not completely denied access to other people’s understanding of the world. The reason Griffiths thinks autobiographical accounts are a crucial feature of feminist epistemology is because the way in which individuals come to find similarities in experiences is through language. To further clarify her point, she argues that, language has a considerable power to determine what we see and do, but this power is not absolute. We also create new language, by working on the languages in which we live. Individual experience can be used in creation knowledge in combinations with the experiences of others. Groups can develop languages of their own if they share particular psychosocial, social and linguistic experiences. Thus women in society, for instance, who share particular positions within it can develop a way of talking about this. (66) In short, Griffiths suggests that language is key to feminist epistemology because it points out how women with different experiences can nonetheless come to some consensuses on the oppressions they experience and the knowledge developed from these experiences. 3. Conclusion I think that if we incorporate Griffiths’ and Frye’s approach on Jaggar’s theory what we will find is a more tenable response to questions about which outlaw emotions can be regarded as being particular to women: namely, patterns of outlaw emotions that feminists have recognized through the expression of different women’s autobiographical accounts. And once we can start pointing out the commonalities between the different perspectives that arise from the standpoint of different women, we can begin show that there is something about women’s reality that makes it the case that they are experiencing the world differently than men. I have not even scratched the surface with respect to giving a detailed explanation of exactly how Jaggar thinks a fully functional theory of outlaw emotions might look. However, I am assuming that once theorists start admitting that emotion is an integral part of epistemology the intricate details of how to identify fruitful outlaw emotions will be worked out. For instance, we might be able to start identifying patterns of emotions that could be considered outlaw emotions and which norms and values that they are a response to. And this recognition will further our abilities to start questioning the norms and values that guide our epistemic practices. I think this is the sort of thing Jaggar had in mind when she states that the benefit of bridging the gap between emotion and knowledge is that our emotions, when properly accessed, â€Å"may contribute to the development of knowledge, so the growth of knowledge may contribute to the development of appropriate emotions† (1992,163). The development of this project may be slow and arduous, but given the problems that exist in traditional epistemology I think Jaggar’s project seems worthy of consideration as a potential contributor to a solution. NOTES [i] For the purposes of this paper I will equate feminist epistemologists with feminists philosophers of science given that there are many overlapping interests between the two. [ii] For similar arguments, particularly with respect to how positivism had contributed to the notion of the ideal objective knower, see Jaggar (1992) and (1983), especially pp. 355-358; Code (1993). [iii] As noted by Louise Antony, â€Å"For discussions of epistemological frameworks available to feminists, see Sandra Harding, The Science Question in Feminism, (Ithaca, N. Y. : Cornell University Press, 1986), especially pp. 24-29; Mary Hawkesworth, â€Å"Feminist Epistemology: A Survey of the Field,† Women and Politics 7 (1987): 112-124; and Hilary Rose, â€Å"Hand, Brain, and Heart: A feminist Epistemology for the Natural Sciences,† Signs 9, 11 (1983): 73-90. † (Antony 2002, Note 3). [iv] For discussion of Feminist Standpoint Theory, see Bar On (1993); Harding (1993); Longino (1993). For a more general analysis of essentialism in feminist theorizing, see Spelman (1988). [v] Thanks to Elizabeth Brake for clarifying the distinction between the emotion of amusement and the behavior of laughter, as well as supplying me with an example of amusement anticipation. [vi] Jaggar does mention that she is speaking â€Å"very generally of people and their emotions, as though everyone experienced similar emotions and dealt with them in similar ways† (Jaggar 1992, 157). And she further notes that â€Å"it is an axiom of feminist theory†¦that all generalizations about ‘people’ are suspect† (Jaggar 1992, 157). So she does, at the very least, seem to recognize that she may fall prey to Frye’s criticism. However, she goes on to argue that making generalizations about the emotionality of women is part of how the epistemic authority of men is perpetuated, and she does not address the issue of how she should deal with the problem as it applies to standpoint theory. I find this particularly odd given that in another work she claims that part of the project of feminist ethics entails that feminists be sensitive to the fact that all women are not similarly situated in such a way that universal claims can be made about them even though there are commonalities between women’s situatedness at times. (Jaggar 1991). So, although I am uncertain as to why she does not deal with problems that might arise from this issue as it applies to standpoint theory, I gather that she would welcome rather than reject feminist theories that could aid her in avoiding this problem as it would apply to feminist epistemology. BIBLIOGRAPHY Alcoff, Linda, and Elizabeth Potter. 1993. Feminist epistemologies. New York: Routledge. Antony, Louise. 2002. Quine as a feminist: the radical import of naturalized epistemology. In A mind of one’s own 2nd edition, ed. Louise M. Antony and Charlotte E. Witt. Colorado: Westview Press. Bar On, Bat-Ami. 1993. Marginality and epistemic privilege. In Feminist epistemologies. See Alcoff and Potter 1993. Code, Lorraine. 1993. Taking subjectivity into account. In Feminist epistemologies. See Alcoff and Potter 1993. Frye, Marilyn. 1996. The possibility of feminist theory. In Women, knowledge and reality 2nd edition. ed. Ann Garry and Marilyn Pearsall. New York: Routledge. Griffiths, Morwenna. 1995. Feminisms and the self. New York: Routledge. Harding, Sandra. 1993. Rethinking standpoint epistemology: â€Å"what is strong objectivity†?. In Feminist epistemologies. See Alcoff and Potter 1993. Jaggar, Alison M. 1992. Love and knowledge: emotions in feminist epistemology. In Gender/body/knowledge. ed. Alison M. Jaggar and Susan R. Bordo. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press. . 1991. Feminist ethics: projects, problems, prospects. In Feminist ethics. ed. Claudia Card. Kansas: University Press of Kansas. . 1983. Feminist politics and human nature. New Jersey: Rowman Allanheld Publishers. Longino, Helen E. 1993. Subjects, power and knowledge: description and prescription in feminist philosophies of science. In Feminist epistemologies. See Alcoff and Potter 1993. Scheman, Naomi. 1993. Engenderings: constructions of knowledge, authority, and privilege. New York: Routledge. Spelman, Elizabeth V. 1988. Inessential women: problems of exclusion in feminist thought Boston: Beacon Press.