Does age matters in relationship? Essay

â€Å"Age is a Matter of Mind — if you don’t Mind, it doesn’t Matter.† but the The Bible says not to be â€Å"unequally yoked† (weird way to put it†¦ anyway) It is entirely your choice whether you decide to date someone considerably older or younger than yourself. To some age isn’t a significant factor in dating, while others have a strong opinion and will only date people the same age or within a few years of their age. It is a personal choice. There are no rules to say you shouldn’t date someone much older or younger than yourself, but be prepared for possible judgment from others if there is a considerable age gap. Of course, even if the age difference is there, you have to look at what you both enjoy. Do you have common interests and desires? If so, then an age difference of any size can potentially be overcome. There’s certainly no sense in throwing away a chance at happiness just because of a number. It’s just a good thing to be aware of, in case some difference should arise. But if two people are committed to making something work, it can, in spite of any obstacles that might come up. Both of you need to be sure that â€Å"Both are in Agreement and on the same Page?† But when there is a large age gap, this is when a relationship can face difficulties. With an age gap there is always going to be lifestyle differences. A younger person may enjoy nights out with their younger friends and have no interest in starting a serious relationship, whereas, their older partner might be at an age where they want to settle down and spend quiet time alone with them. However, if one person involved lies about what they want from the relationship then this can cause big problems further down the line. If you want a serious relationship, but the person you are dating only wants a casual one, then you need to think long and hard about whether they are worth sacrificing your dreams for. There are in fact many upsides to age differences in relationships that can have an extremely positive impact. The younger partner has the potential to extract energy and spark from the older partner. Equally as beneficial, an older lover can provide emotional stability and offer guidance with life choices. However social situations with family and friends can be challenging. Despite these potential problem areas, many relationships with an age gap are highly successful. The key is honesty and communication. Being open and truthful from the start about what you are looking for in a relationship, and even life, is the best way to ensure you are able to achieve this. If both partners are in agreement, then there is no issue. Like with any relationship, if you are happy, have a strong bond and are committed to making it work, then together you can cope with any complication life throws in your direction. Levels of Maturity – Immature individuals tend to be funnier and more exciting to be around, but when it comes to the important things – sometimes you can be left disappointed. Sometimes, different levels of maturity can be the deciding factor between your relationship making it or breaking under the pressure. Warning! If he’s still single/divorced after all these years, there must be a reason? Yes, he may not have found â€Å"the right one† yet, but seriously — why is he still single/divorced? Commitment-phobic? Emotionally stunted? Self Centered? You might want to check out his collection of baggage before you travel any further on this journey with him. Good Luck!

Experiencing Violence in the Workplace Essay

Diagnosis of â€Å"Andrea C.: Experiencing Violence in the Workplace† Being able to form a diagnosis properly for a client is a process that is wide-ranging and broad. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) (American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2013) supports recommendations and standards for identifying a diagnosis for a client. The procedure of diagnosing is more than skimming for symptoms in the DSM; one must assess, interview and identify issues, as well as refer to the DSM for a diagnosis. Case Study: Andrea C Andrea C. a company manager, is forty-nine and divorced. The location of the building where she was employed was an isolated part of the town. Her job duties included opening and preparing the office each day. The location of the office and being alone in the morning give Andrea a sense of fear and uneasiness. Andrea shared her concerns about her safety with her superiors at work. Disappointingly, before the issue was addressed Andrea was brutally assaulted while opening the office one morning. Andrea was beaten unconscious, nose broken, cuts to the face and neck, stabbed multiple times, sexually assault was attempted (Butcher et al., 2013). As a result of the attack, Andrea endured â€Å"a fractured skull, fractured nose, multiple stab wounds on her body, facial injuries, dizziness, impaired balance, wrist pain, residual cognitive symptoms from being unconscious, poor memory, intense anxiety, and symptoms of posttraumatic stress† (Butcher et al., 2013, p. 117). Based on the case study, her diagnosis is as follows: 309.81 Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, With Dissociative Symptoms (F43.10) 300.82 Somatic Symptom Disorder V62.89 Victim of Crime (Z65.4) Rationale Hansell and Damour (2008) explain stress disorder trauma as an emotionally overcoming experience where either real or apparent likelihood of loss of  life or grave injury to self or a significant other. The DSM (APA, 2013) explains that a client who experiences PTSD must face one or more of the following symptoms: direct experience with a traumatic event, witness an event, learn of a traumatic event related to a close friend or family, and extreme or repeated exposure to traumatic events. Andreas experience was directly related to her own personal involvement with a traumatic event. Andrea experiences intrusion symptoms; these symptoms arrive suddenly and occur when memories of the previous traumatic event plague your life (APA, 2013). Andrea expresses that she has a solid fear of returning to work (Butcher et al. 2013). Andrea’s opposition to return to work can be considered a â€Å"persistent avoidance of stimuli† (APA, 2013, p. 271). Andrea is feeling hopeless, guilty and withdrawn (Butcher et al. 2013) showing that Andrea is having â€Å"negative alterations in cognitions† (APA, 2013, p. 271). Andrea is also exhibiting hypersensitivity towards undertakings and activities stating that they are debilitating. Andrea also speaks of memory problems. Somatoform are physical symptoms triggered through psychological factors (Hansell & Damour, 2008). Consider â€Å"somatic presentations can be viewed as expressions of personal suffering inserted in a cultural and social context† (APA, 2013, p. 310). Andrea expresses somatic symptom disorder through multiple symptoms. Andrea’s physical grievances are excessive, suggesting her need for attention. She states that she is in a tremendous amount of pain and easily agitated and hostile if others do not take her seriously (Butcher et al., 2013). It seems that Andreas lasting psychological problems are being revealed as physical symptoms. Andrea is experiencing two of the symptoms, excessive feelings and thoughts (APA, 2013) that are related to somatic disorder. Other factors and data relevant to the assessment, treatment, and diagnosis of Andrea is the fact that she was a victim of a crime. Andrea may have image issues related to the scars associated with the attack she received, causing her shame, embarrassment or uneasiness. Andrea’s incapability to return to work and her related symptoms are negatively affecting her life. These issues are results of being the victim of a crime. Conclusion Providing Andrea with a diagnosis is no simple task. Andrea exhibits several different symptoms, hence, providing comorbidity. The diagnosis I offer is  accurate from the data supported in Andrea’s case and from the assessment. With data gathered from the DSM, the MMPI, Andrea’s case study, I conclude that the diagnosis of PTSD, Somatic Symptom Disorder and Victim of a crime are applicable to Andrea. References American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.).Arlington, VA: Author. Butcher, J. N., Hooley, J. M., & Mineka, S. (2013). Abnormal psychology (16th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson. Hansell, J. & Damour, L. (2008). Abnormal psychology (2nd ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.

Poe’s “The Black Cat” as an Example of Gothic Story

Poe's â€Å"The Black Cat† as an Example of Gothic Story Edgar Allan Poe, who lived a short and tragic life, was mainly known for his gothic stories embedded in the atmosphere of terror and suspense, with insane protagonists placed in gloomy settings. He is considered to be a horror-master and his literary output renders him a father of the detective story and one of the most prominent gothic story writers (Fisher 2004: 81). The Black Cat, first published in 1843 in The Saturday Evening Post (Sova 2007: 35), is one of many visible instances of Poe’s talent in writing gothic fiction.Beyond the shadow of a doubt, it is an excellent example of a gothic story due to its numerous features characteristic of this genre (Hayes 2004: 85). Although gothic fiction is a genre which was born in England at the end of the 18th century, it was soon well-received in the United States, where it influenced a wide array of writers. It was primarily based on the European Romantic Movement b ut over the course of time, tragic and supernatural dimensions were added to these stories as the leading themes in America. The genre has a number of characteristics, one of which is the setting.Main protagonists are usually placed in an old, abandoned castle, with secret chambers and passages. The action of gothic stories take place in dark, spooky and dismal places. The plot is very often mysterious and some unexplainable events occur on regular basis. Gothic authors try to produce an atmosphere of suspense in their works by creating unpredictable characters, who struggle with madness, anger and acts of panic, in order to threaten the readers. The characters’ state of mind, their feelings and emotions, frequently take precedence over the plot.Ghosts and supernatural events are more than common in gothic texts and so are the tormenting visions and unlucky omens that often haunt the main characters. What is more, female characters who appear in such stories, for instance, ar e often put in distress, threatened and dominated by enraged males (Childs and Fowler 2006: 99-100). The Black Cat is a story narrated by an unnamed storyteller who at the very beginning, claims to be totally sane and rational and states that he is sentenced to death and will be killed the following day.Thus, he wants to reveal his dark secrets and make a confession to unburthen his soul (Badenhausen 1992: 487). From the start, the reader is made to perceive the narrator as an average man who loves his wife and is a great admirer of animals. The story, set in an ordinary house with nameless characters, changes over the course of the action into a thorough description of the narrator’s mental state and his acts of madness. Still, no further details on the lives of the main protagonists, including their profession or age, are provided as the story unfolds.The storyteller, due to his addiction to alcohol, becomes an abusive monster who ends up murdering his wife while attempting to kill the cat (Fisher 2004: 209). The narrator’s wife is a character whose love to animals, as opposed to her husband, is unconditional and unwavering. By following the gothic convention of literature, The Black Cat can be read as a story of the clash of masculinity and femininity (Fisher 2004: 86). One of features of the gothic fiction, as mentioned above, is presenting the female character in distress.Gothic writers very often try to present the relations between the tyrannical and impulsive male and a feeble and helpless female. The narrator in The Black Cat was, as a young boy, a very tender and delicate man (Stark 2004: 260). Nonetheless, his behavior over the course of time changed drastically. Heavy drinking alters his life as well as the lives of his nearest ones including his wife and pets. Still, no information on why the narrator hits the bottle is given in the text (ibid: 260-261). The shift in his behavior is very abrupt and unexpected.The plot progresses so q uickly that it is hard to see when exactly the storyteller becomes a mad man. â€Å"I grew, day by day, more moody, more irritable, more regardless of the feelings of others†. The bullied wife faces the acts of violence of her husband tacitly and she seems to be subordinated by him, perhaps even afraid of rebelling against him. The couple does not have any children and the wife has no one who would support her and stand up for her in front of her cruel spouse (Bliss 2009: 97; Badenhousen1992: 493; Sova 2007: 36). The narrator bluntly says, â€Å"I now blindly abandoned myself, my uncomplaining wife, alas!Was the most usual and the most patient of sufferers†. Pluto, the animal from the title and, simultaneously, the object of the narrator’s madness, is a key character in the story. In the narrator’s mind, his favorite pet turns all of a sudden from a lovely little friend into a beast which frightens him. â€Å"A faithful and sagacious cat†, as descr ibed at the beginning, used to be the best playmate of the narrator. For many long years, they enjoyed spending time together. The horror of the pets and the wife begins when the narrator starts to drink alcohol.Nevertheless, he admits that he is aware of the dramatic change in his behavior caused by the addiction and he sees that he has started treating his wife and his pets badly (Sova 2007: 36). One night, after returning home drunk, the narrator gouges the cat’s eye out using a pen knife. A horrible deed, described in one sentence, is followed by a paragraph starting with â€Å"When reason returned with morning† in which the narrator describes his internal feelings after committing the act and the feeling of guilt which vanishes as soon as he starts drinking again.The above cited sentence proves the narrator’s awareness of the brutality of his actions, but the subsequent events show that at the same time, he does not feel any remorse (Bliss 2009: 97). Still, one morning, not long after cutting out the eye, the narrator, on a spur of a moment, hangs the cat on a tree in the garden. His explanation is utterly illogical: with tears in his eyes he says, â€Å"Hung it because I knew that it had loved me, and because I felt it had given me no reason of offence; – hung it because I knew that in so doing I was committing a sin† (Sova 2007: 35).The latter citation clearly proves the Gothicism of the story. A mad man murders an innocent cat only because it was good. A deed so illogical that it cannot be explained rationally. One bloody act, aimed at playing on emotions, giving a thrill, kindling the feeling of terror and cruelty in readers, is just a beginning of the murdering path that the narrator takes (Bliss 2009: 98). The night after committing â€Å"the deadly sin† the fire breaks up, burning down the dwelling place of the storyteller, destroying his fortune, and leaving him in despair.The next day, a strange figure, a n apparition of a gigantic cat, appears on the wall, the only wall that survived the fire. To explain the strange figure on the wall, the narrator suggests that the cat was thrown to the room by someone at the night of the fire and as he puts it, â€Å"the falling of other walls compressed the victim of my cruelty into the substance of the freshly-spread plaster; the lime of which, with the flames, and the ammonia from the carcass, had then accomplished the portraiture as I saw it†. Not long after killing Pluto, the narrator finds another cat during one of his bar crawls.The cat looks surprisingly familiar: it has similar fur in dark color and it lacks one eye, just like Pluto. There is, however, one significant difference between these two cats. The second one has a white spot on its fur which at first sight, according to the narrator, is just a spot, but with time, it starts to look like gallows to him (Bliss 2009: 97). The spot on the cat’s fur, as well as the sign on the wall after the fire that occurred the night after hanging the first cat, can be perceived as an omen – a supernatural element in the story.The fate of the second cat is also different than Pluto’s. Another day, the narrator together with his wife are in the caller doing some housework, an ordinary situation that ends in a dramatic way. The cat, all at once, appears under his owner’s feet nearly tripping him over. In the act of an unrestrained rage, the narrator takes an axe attempting to kill the cat- the beast. His wife prevents him from committing the murder and in consequence, the killing punch strikes her head (ibid: 98). (†¦) I withdrew my arm from her grasp and buried the axe in her brain. She fell dead upon the spot, without a groan†. The narrator in only two sentences describes the killing of his own wife. Not only is he imperturbable after perpetrating the brutal murder, but he also becomes preoccupied with the problem of how to get ri d of the body instead of showing some grief after his wife’s death. He considers several possible ideas, even â€Å"cutting the corpse into minute fragments, and destroying them by fire†.The husband, and from now on also the coldblooded killer, considers defacing the body of his once beloved wife just to cover up the entire murder of his. The idea of burying the body in the wall of the cellar is a recurring theme in gothic stories. Poe used this idea also in The Cask of Amontillado, for example (Badenhousen 1992: 490). â€Å"I had walled the monster up within the tomb! † The last sentence of the story emphasizes the gothic mystery visible in the work. An act of burying the wife in the wall must have taken the narrator some time.How could he miss the fact that the cat hid itself in the gap while he was immuring his wife? How did the cat manage to survive four days behind the wall without the fresh air and any food? The questions to which answers remain shrouded i n mystery are major characteristic of this genre. To recapitulate, the story of the cat and its mad owner is undeniably a masterpiece. Each sentence in the text is meaningful and each needs a scrutiny to properly interpret the whole work. The gothic literary convention is mostly visible in the main character, who happens to be the narrator of the story.He scares the reader by being unpredictable, rage-driven and unreliable. Moreover, the pace of the story, keeping the reader in a lasting suspense, and the presence of numerous omens make The Black Cat one of many very elaborate examples of Poe’s gothic stories. References Badenhausen, Richard. 1992. â€Å"Fear and Trembling in the Literature of the Fantastic: Edgar Allan Poe’s The Black Cat†, Studies in Short Fiction 29, 4: 486-498. Bliss, Ann V. 2009. â€Å"Household Horror: Domestic Masculinity in Poe's The Black Cat†, The Explicator 67, 2: 96-99.Childs, Peter and Roger Fowler. 2006. The Routledge Dictio nary of Literary Terms. London: Routledge. Fisher, Benjamin Franklin. 2004. â€Å"Poe and the Gothic Tradition†, in: Kevin J. Hayes (ed. ), The Cambridge Companion to Edgar Allan Poe. London: Cambridge University Press, 72-91. Sova, Dawn B. 2007. Critical Companion to Edgar Allan Poe: A Literary Reference to His Life and Work. New York: Facts on File. Stark, Joseph. 2004. â€Å"Motive and Meaning: The Mystery of the Will in Poe's The Black Cat†, The Mississippi Quarterly 57, 2: 254-263.

Research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 31

Research - Essay Example The findings linked with the studies done at Vancouver School of doing phenomenology to develop methods of answering the research questions. Moreover, the chosen method increased knowledge and understanding of the phenomena. The research used clinical, theoretical and policy findings as significant factors in the therapy of the disease. Clinical treatment incorporated exercises, to lessen the pain and rise fitness, as well as well-being of a patient (Petursdottir, Arnadottir & Halldorsdottir, 2010, p.3). Besides, theoretical aspects entailed the development of a conceptual model, which indicated many external and internal factors as having significant impacts on the exercise behavior among people with osteoarthritis. Policy in the curing of the disease included the adaptation of regular exercises at least thrice a day. Regular exercise would assist osteoarthritis patients to ease their muscles and reduce pain with joints around their hips and knees. Strict following of clinical, theoretical and policy aspects of osteoarthritis would greatly heal various patients and assist in reducing pain within their joints. Readers were able to hear and understand the phenomena studied, since the participants talked about physical therapists and physical therapy, as the main factors of the study. Moreover, clear communication of the members and a sense of positive connection equally contributed to an important aspect of the physical results. Readers can find elements of the research report, since all the aspects of the osteoarthritis categorized in the research, for easy access and analysis of the research findings. In addition, knowledge of the disease and practical experiences incorporated into the research report for readers to understand phenomenal aspects of osteoarthritis. Overall presentation of the research was suitable for the purpose, method and findings since statistics taken by the participants included the interpretation of charts and

Lobour Market Policy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Lobour Market Policy - Essay Example The understanding of "labor market" or more appropriately, "labor markets" involves the study of the dynamics of the market vis--vis the demand and supply of various kinds of labor. A 'labor market' may be defined as the number of people employed plus the number of unemployed but seeking work. The supply of labor depends upon variables such as natural population growth, new entrants, immigrants, retirements, increased female participation, de-industrialization, skills shortage and surpluses, education and training, flexibility, and wage determination. The 'level of employment' is the proportion of such employed in the total labor market. The levels of supply and demand in the 'labor market', just as in 'markets' for any other goods depend on the availability of work, the availability of labor and their skill compatibility. However the main difference between the two is the function of supply and demand in setting the price and quantity. Whereas in the case of goods, increases in prices result in increased production for the demand to be satisfied, this does not happen in the case of labor for there are limitations of time available for labor and increased wages may result in less supply of labor as workers may tend to utilize increased earnings to indulge in leisure activities. Some economists believe that the laws of supply and demand apply more to certain segments of the markets only where workers change job types corresponding to changing wage rates.Segmenting labor markets The 'agency theory' of labor management purports that the principals (owners or managers) have to develop ways to monitor and control the activities of their agents (staff); that the principals may have problems in ensuring that work is carried out according to instructions and that therefore it is necessary to clear up ambiguities by setting objectives and monitoring performance. (Armstrong 2003, p. 281). However Armstrong suggests that the theory "looks at the employment relationship purely from management's point of view and regards employees as objects to be motivated by the carrot and stick." He calls it a "dismal theory, which suggests that people cannot be trusted." (Armstrong 1996, cited in 2003, p.281). The neoclassical theory of labor markets assumes that firms aim to maximize their profits with minimal costs; the number of buyers (firms) and sellers (workers) is high; there is no collective bargaining that there is no monopsony of power (exploitation of labor because of large supply and low demand) and that the firm is a wage taker. In a perfect world, with no bargaining forums like trade unions, labor markets may be 'competitive'. This means that the workers and employers have information about each other and that there are no transaction costs. On the other hand, job search, training and the need to gain experience to switch jobs are variables that determine supply and demand in a normal labor market. However the glaring lacuna of this theory is that it assumes that labor is homogeneous which means that all workers turn out equal amount of work and that there are no differences in skills and experience of workers. This is demonstrated by the study of Hipple and Stewart (1996), w hich highlights the wide variations in the

Compare multiple stories Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Compare multiple stories - Essay Example To begin with, the story Romeo and Juliet was a literary masterpiece which detailed the power of love in the society. The overriding theme and line of thought was the fact that the love that Romeo and Juliet shares was so strong that any other thing in their life did not matter. As much as there is rejection and strong opposition due to the family differences between Romeo and Juliet, the story reiterates that it is the power of love which concurs all. In principle, this story highlights and brings to the front the aspect and issue of the strength of the affection and love that two people share. Comparatively, the story Othello by the same author brings to the gore the issues of the power of love and how rejection or family and social status could be a barrier. It articulates the principle that in the human society, there are things that rarely change such as a person from a wealthy or influential family is expected to just interact and marry from the same class. For instance, Othello courts and dare Desdemona, who was the daughter of Brabantio who was an influential leader in the country. Othello on the hand was just a military commander in the army and by extension he was a worker or servant in of the family of Desdemona. Later on, the other people try to interfere in their love by scheming and putting stain in the relationship or the love affair of Othello and Desdemona. They include Iago and Roderigo who also confirms to have romantic feelings for Desdemona. As the play proceeds, they hatch a plan to instill jealousy and fury in the approaches of Othello through manipul ations and betrayals. At the tail end, the love intrigues and pain bring to the light good reasons to make Othello to kill himself. Comparatively, these two stories all end with tragedies which are occasioned by the hard feelings of sour love and betrayals.

Human Resource Management Company Changes Essay

Human Resource Management Company Changes - Essay Example The unstructured interview is the most used interview for selecting employees although this is most likely to change, as there is increasing evidence that the other two kinds of interview are a lot better at identifying applicants who are likely to do well on the job. The 'reliability and validity', which Wysocki (2000) refers to, are two standards that are used in the selection process. When an organization is trying to separate the best candidate out of a group of candidates, some sort of rating scale is needed, the people selecting the new employee need to be able rate each candidate numerically, the best way would be to give them a score for each selection method used. When all the candidates have been scored, their scores can be compared and decisions made about who is the best person for the job. "Five generic standards that should be met by any selection method are, (1) reliability, (2) validity, (3) generalisability, (4) utility and (5) legality." (De Cieri H, Kramar R, et al, 2003, p 196) The scores that are given to each candidate need to be reliable, that is free from random error. Reliability is defined by De Cieri and Kramar (2003) as 'the degree to which a measure is free from random error' . ... De Cieri and Kramar (2003), define validity 'as the extent to which performance on the measure is related to performance on the job.' This basically means that the scores of candidates need to be linked to how well they will perform on the job. The closer the link, the more valid the score. Generalisability is defined as "the degree to which the validity of a selection method established in one context extends to other contexts. Utility is the degree to which the information provided by selection methods enhances the bottom-line effectiveness of the organization." (De Cieri H, Kramar R, et al, 2003, p 205). "The final standard that any selection method should adhere to is legality. All selection methods should conform to existing laws and existing legal precedents."(De Cieri H, Kramar R, et al, 2003, p 207). Structured interviews usually have the highest reliability and validity scores when compared with unstructured or semi-structured interviews, making the structured interview the better choice of interview for the organization to use as a selection method. Schmidt and Hunter (1998) created a table rating the validity of different selection methods; the structured interview had a validity of 0.51 whilst the unstructured interview had a validity of 0.38. These numbers are correlation coefficients; a correlation coefficient is "a statistic that measures the degree to which two sets of numbers are related to each other."(De Cieri, H. & Kramar, R., 2003, p 197). This means that the structured interview is better than an unstructured interview at predicting how well a candidate will perform on the job. Other selection methods, which have also improved over the years, are used along with the selection interview, they include; "References, physical ability

E-business( i will upload the topic for the writer) Essay

E-business( i will upload the topic for the writer) - Essay Example The cloth line, sales people have the option of searching for the customer physical premises and deliver the product. In offline selling, the sales person physically identifies the need. For example, the clothe seller may notice that there many new born in the region therefore, decide to major on the present opportunity otherwise one may be wasting time trying to sell school uniforms. On this stage, the seller focuses on the customer needs, evaluates the suitable cloth to fit in well, and then prioritizes the customers (Goldman Sachs Group, 2012:24). It is advisable for the seller to let go off those not likely to buy to save time and other involving resources. The next step is the physical contact with the buyer. The seller uses communication skills to create interest from the first conversation. In this stage, the seller uses humor to make the process interesting and grab customer attention. The seller states the purpose of his visit clearly and time factor is put into consideratio n not to waste customers’ time (Reynar, Phillips, & Heumann, 2010:418). When presenting, the seller focuses on the benefit and qualities of the cloth. Allow the customer to ask many questions and wear a smile on your face. At this stage, he seller may face objections from the customer therefore, one should be able to handle customers’ worries and provide alternatives. ... For Pike to contact a successful online business, it understands the business obligation since its sales force will be performing transactions online. It is very keen not to incur looses from fraud or even viruses. Online business requires Pike to poses clear information and guidelines on order placement, delivery, warranties, refunds, and security. Privacy is also of high importance. The technological change is affecting and influencing the mode of selling and purchasing of goods and services because customers can access products and services in the internet. Even though the customer and the seller are not in the same place, they are able to conduct a business transaction (Marilyn & Judy, 2010:217). Pike has a website where it displays information about the available clothes, size, quality, theme, fabric characteristics, colors, and even price. The online seller has to prospect customers and send them to the website. Pike has to identify with the customer need and therefore, step in to satisfy it. Pike strategizes and outdoes competition since so many products are available online. Once a prospecting customer opens the website, Pike is able to establish a rapport. The rapport may emerge from the speed of downloading items and information, its aesthetics and navigation. Every activity a customer performs on the website is an opportunity to establish rapport. To establish on this, the site is friendly to the customer from the first instance. For example, the customer is able to find all the information required about a dress, the site downloads images first and provide an interactive platform where customers can post questions and recommendations. The site is

Climate Change in Latin America and the Caribbean Essay

Climate Change in Latin America and the Caribbean - Essay Example The glaciers in Columbia are vanishing and there are hurricanes not only in Central America but even in southern Brazil. The result of these phenomena will have debilitating effects on fisheries, coral reefs, water availability and agriculture. It will also result in an imbalance as the fragile ecosystem will not be in position to tolerate the increasing carbon level in the atmosphere as also the degrading effects of deforestation (Climate change threatens Latin America and the Caribbean). One may wish to turn the clock back and work on an agenda that may trigger the momentum to restore the ecological balance. The good news is that attempts are made in the direction of this restoration. The outcome of these attempts may take decades or even centuries to realize the desired effects. Nevertheless, the issue is survival of mankind with the rest of the plants and animals. Hence, every little contribution towards revival of the original environment has exponential effects in the improvement of the entire region. The increase in the amount of carbon in the air poses dire problems. It will raise sea level by 15 to 95 cm by 2100 AD. Heavy rains, floods, drought, desertification could result in colossal unsettlement and disease such as malaria and cholera. Poor countries such as Cuba and Guatemala will be particularly affected as they will not have the means to sustain elongated period of disease and drought (Future Climate Change in Cuba and Guatemala). The Contributions The steps for restoration of the ecological balance are worked out by ensuring clean energy technology and sustainable land use and forestry. Promotion of clean energy technology in Latin America is taking place as joint ventures with multinational corporations. The change from fossil fuel to clean energy will ensure better atmosphere with less carbon in the air. Reduction of carbon emissions from factories and automobiles will mean cleaner atmosphere. The solution towards cleaner energy is ensured through agencies like the Kyoto protocol, ecological footprints, global bio-capacity, sustainable development, etc. The Kyoto Protocol The Kyoto protocol makes it mandatory for industrialized nations to cut down on the greenhouse gas (GHG). It is an international agreement linked to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Thirty seven industrialized countries and the European community have the responsibility of reducing GHG by 5% against 1990 levels over the five year period 2008-2012. The Kyoto protocol was adopted in Kyoto, Japan, on 11 December 1997 and came into force on 16 February 2005. The countries meet their protocol target under three market-based mechanisms which are: Emissions trading also known as the carbon market, Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), and Joint Implementation (JI) (Kyoto

Unionized Workers In America Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Unionized Workers In America - Essay Example In response to the strikes, RCA moved its operations from Camden to Bloomington (Romero 175). The same argument can be used to argue for the reason behind the dramatic changes in the number of unionized workers over the period from 1930 to 2003. During the early period of the 1930s and 1940s, most of the American companies set up their manufacturing hubs in different parts America. Initially, the corporations paid less salary to the members and extracted greater output from them. However, with the formation of unions, the workers started demanding more wages and this resulted in the fact that the manufacturing bases were often shifted from one place to another. However, with the rise of pressure from the worker's unions the management started getting cornered and were forced to comply with the demands of the workforce. However, with the start of globalization, the companies realized that they could get the same level of output as they were presently getting if they shifted the manufa cturing bases to countries like India and China. As the companies started to shift their manufacturing bases to third world countries the number of workers in America got reduced and this resulted in the fall of unionized workers in the USA. ConclusionThe above essay tries to provide an explanation behind the rise and fall of the number of unionized workers in America over the period from 1930 to 2002. The probable explanation is the shift of the manufacturing bases to third world countries.

India Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

India - Essay Example Hinduism practices a diversity of beliefs. The first and major belief of Hinduism is the belief in the sacred reality, which is founded upon Brahman. Brahman is the ultimate authority on sacred reality. He is considered as the manifest basis of the entire unmanifest (Griffin, 1). This means that Brahman is the manifestation of all the Vedic gods and this makes him the creator and the creation itself. He thus considered being eternal, changeless, perfect and absolute (Griffin, 1). The effect of this belief in humanity is the foundation of the belief in a supreme being. Human beings practice religion due to the belief in a supreme being, which is seen as the source of creation and authority on earth. The Supreme Being is depicted as one that must be accorded respect and obedience to its laws and teachings. It is this belief in a Supreme Being that evidences the aspect of humanity that demands respect to be accorded to the Supreme Being. The belief on life, death and reincarnation taugh t by Brahman is an indication of the perceptions held by human beings on life after death and the origin of life. The second vision of India is founded upon the teachings of Buddha. Unlike Hinduism, Buddhism dies not believe in creation or the existence of a creator god. It instead teaches on the impermanence of all reality and the need to focus on experiencing the present. It also teaches on the absence of an entity within the human body. This means that contrary to other human religions that lay an emphasis on the human soul, Buddhism does not place any belief on the existence of the human soul. Rather, it places belief on reincarnation and the need to preserve high standards of morality. In this respect, Buddhism explains humanity as independent existence guided by faith and high moral codes (Griffin, 1). Sikhism, on the other hand, has some degree of monotheism. It places belief on all powerful, magnificent, and immanent being. As opposed to the other visions, Sikhism place beli ef on creation. It insists that the world was created by the utterance of god. This view explains the source of humanity as originating as a creation by the divine being. According to this vision, humanity arose by creation. Jainism, like Buddhism and Hinduism, does not believe in creation but rather in reincarnation as the source of humanity. However, as opposed to the other visions, it places firm belief on the law of nature. This is the law of Karma, which may be described as the human soul, and is responsible for governing human conduct through the notion that bad deeds collect on the karma making it sticky. All these visions of India, though dissimilar in some aspects, converge on the insistence of divinity arising from nature. It is this convergence in these visions that may be used to argue that these similarities form the Indian vision on humanity. 2 The views of the visions of India are different from Europe and North East countries. The ‘mother vision’ of Indi a is Hinduism that has influenced other religions in a great way. The religions affected in India are Islam, Christianity, Sikhism, Buddhism, Jainism and Baha’i. India has accepted different religions to be practiced by its citizens and has fostered on the freedom of worship, which has been the main factor that has promoted the diverse worship of religion. The vision, Hinduism refers to different types of believes and religion practices that religious individuals practices to their different

The Aborigines Act of 1905 Essay Example for Free

The Aborigines Act of 1905 Essay The Aborigines Act of 1905 supposed to be an act that raised provision for the better protection and care of the Aboriginal inhabitants of Western Australia; however in reality the real purpose of the act was not to make the general wellbeing of the Aborigines better, it was to control every movement they made and have power over every aspect of their lives. The following essay discusses several of the clauses in the text that prove its intention most deceiving, and what the act truly accomplished. Clause 4 declares that there is to be an Aborigines Department under the Minister whose duty is to promote the welfare of the aborigines by providing them with food, clothing, medicine and medical attendance when they would otherwise be destitute, providing for the education of aboriginal children, and generally assisting in the preservation and well-being of the aborigines. This is the only clause in the whole of the Act that sees to the rights of the aborigines. Clause 8 of the Act states that the Chief Protector is to be the legal guardian of every Aboriginal and half-caste child until they attain the age of sixteen; as well as Clause 60 again highlighting that the governor has custody of the Aborigines and half-caste providing for their care and education. They saw the parents as unfit to raise their own children; they didn’t want them teaching their traditional ways and so, against a parent’s basic right, they took the children and raised them under European light. According to clause 12 the minister may cause any Aboriginal to be removed and kept within the boundaries of a reserve, or to be removed from one reserve or district to another. The government had the power to just remove any aboriginal from their homes whenever they felt fit and place them in a completely different district. Not only was this most inconvenient for them in ways any being would understand, it was damaging to their cultural identity and the spiritual belonging to a home land. As far as employment went; clause 17 states that it was against the law to employ any indigenous person without permit from the chief protector, which was difficult to obtain. Even if they were given permit, clause 22 said that they had to be paid with rations rather than money like the whites- in efforts to control everything they owned. If they were unhappy in the job in which they were employed, clause 58 said that if they wanted to leave the jobs, it would be an offence against the act and they were liable to imprisonment. The question we have to ask ourselves again is ‘how was this in any way beneficial to their wellbeing’? Under Australian law, it is illegal to arrest any person without warrant. On the contrary; clause 55 stated that it was perfectly lawful to arrest any aboriginal or half-caste without warrant who offends any provisions against the Act. Which brings us to Clause 52, which established that any Aboriginal or half-caste was deemed to be proved guilty in the absence of proof to the contrary; In other words, guilty until proven innocent. Who would defend them? How would they prove themselves innocent? Furthermore, who would believe their word for it? What this basically meant was that any Indigenous could be imprisoned for the smallest of accusations without a second thought. In conclusion, to call the Aborigine’s act of 1905 unjust is an understatement. The many clauses mentioned proved the said purpose of the act as for the better protection and care of the aboriginal inhabitants was misleading and far from the truth. The overall impact of most of the clauses would be deemed an outrage in the white society and certainly would not be accepted let lone tolerated.

Equality is promoted in Sikhism

Equality is promoted in Sikhism The word Sikh means student in the Punjabi language. Sikhs are students and followers of Guru Nanak (b. 1469), the founder of the Sikh tradition. Guru Nanak was succeeded by nine Gurus or holy teachers. Since 1708, the Sikh Guru has been their religious scripture, the Guru Granth Sahib. There are over 20 million Sikhs worldwide, making Sikhism the fifth largest organized religion in the world. (http://www.sikhnextdoor.org/students/learn) This essay will attempt to evaluate ways in which equality is promoted, to achieve this, is vital to overlook at some of the teachings of Sikhism . One of the main aspect of Sikh practical response to equality can be found in the teachings of the Gurus starting with Nanak, the first Guru, who after he had a powerful mystical experience, in which he received a divine calling to bring people to an awareness of God, said there is no Hindu, there is no Muslim. This brief statement give us a glimpse of a new starting process towards equality, starting from understanding oneness ( Shackle and Arvind,2005,pg.43.). The teachings of the Gurus are not set as philosophical treaties or codes, but as poetry with a strong devotional prominence, which is designed to be sung or recited. Sikhism does not derive from any established creed, it does not fight any preceding one. Sikh philosophy and religion are enlighten from within the Indian heritage. Far from dissociating it completely from Hinduism ,they have accepted the Hindu pantheon of Gods without any dispute. Lakshmi, Durga, Brahma, Shiva and Vishnu are celebrated deities in the songs of the gurus. There is no attempt to deny their existence or divinity. The effort is only to put them as lesser deities serving the supreme Lord. (KAUR RAIT, 2005,pg.17) Sikhism preaches a message of devotion and remembrance of God at all time , truthful living, and equality of mankind. Because of this Sikhism is open to all through the teachings of its ten Gurus enshrined in the Sikh Holy Book and the living Guru Sri Guru Grand Sahib . The Sikh philosophy and teachings put great emphasis on the importance of putting others before oneself. where self exists there is no God. Where God exists there is no self.(Guru Nanak) It promotes a classless society, giving more importance to virtue than wealth. The status of an individual should be determined by deeds or merits not by class position. All should be treated as equal irrespective of their material resources. Guru Arjun Dev said, The wisdom of God looks upon all alike, such as the wind that blows alike for the commoner and the King.(W.H. McLeod, 1999,pg.32) The Sikh concept of equality applies naturally to both man and women and is promoted through the teachings and practises of the Gurus. Sikhism advocates sex equality and accords women an equal place in society. At the emerging of Sikhism the Gurus condemned practices prevalent in India in the fifteenth century which undermined women, such us the veiling of women, sati and female infanticide. Sikhs allowed women to remarry, and Guru Nanak condemned the custom to wear the veil. in India sati and female infanticide were only legally abolished in the nineteenth century. Sikh Gurus allowed women free, unrestrained and equal participation in the spiritual as well as social life, in fact they give women what should always been theirs anyway; full equality to participate to religious services, to be equal partners in marriage and family life. If some of the men protested that women were ignorant, the Gurus said let them express their ignorance. Sikhism is a practical religion and has nowhere ignored facts. It recognises that women can speak out of ignorance, but so can man. (Nanak,2006, pg.150.) The achievement of equality is further demonstrated in the ceremonial custom of the Khalsa a form of baptism. New Members, male and female alike are committed to upholding the Rahit (Sikh code of ethics and rituals) and help the community. The importance to Sikhs for equality is also manifested in the Langar Meal (Community Kitchen) is part of the act of worship and is a very important aspect of Sikh life, it was instituted for a social issue , as the society was divided into many castes and the difference between Hindus and Muslims. It was made mandatory by Sikh Guru that only when one would sit down at the same level as the other and eat together that one can join the Sangat (Company of Holy).Thus, the cooking, cleaning of dishes and serving of food happens with everybody involved irrespective of their background. All of them sit on the ground, as it is consider to be leveled and eat food. These public activity were considered unimaginable amongst the principle of the class conscious Indian society. Where according to purification system, sharing of food, drink and utensils touched By someone from a lower caste was considered as made impure. (Nesbitt, 2005, pg 32.) The practice of Langar meal is still in effect at Gurudwara (Sikh place of worship). Another given name for langar is Pangat, Sikh families consider its a privilege to provide the langar and serve it to others.( Mayled, 2002,pg.12) On human rights, Gurus principles of equality was a natural thing that came from their faith. God loves us without distinctions of caste, creed, colour and sex. Equality implies tolerance of differences, existing in dress, food, custom and so on. For Sikh the state as a vital role to play in the formation of an ideal society. It is always stressed that whoever roles over the state should always be a dispensers of justice and equality and must never wield their authority despotically. They are responsible to God the Supreme Sovereign, for all their actions. They are only agent commissioned to govern in the manner of Platos; with justice, kindness, sympathy and promote the welfare of their people. They are to conduct their functions, as a mandate from God. To this last view the Sikh Gurus gave a revolutionary turn by emphasising that whoever rules is not responsible to God alone, but to the people as well, for whose good they are set up by God. Therefore if a ruler deviates from the path of justice and duty, it is just to offer resistance to his wrong doing.( O.P.Ralhan,1997,pg.72) The Sikh religion teaches that life continues after death in the soul and not in the physical body. Therefore the last act of giving and helping others through organs donation is both consistent with and in the spirit of Sikh teachings. (Benedetti, 2008,pg.57) To resume we can definitely say that from the beginning, Sikhism give women equality with men not only in religion`s affairs. Both attend services as equal members and conduct services, to work together In preparing and serving for the communal meal. They share equal responsibilities in all the social and cultural activities at the gurdwara. Sikh women and men take part on equal terms as president, secretaries, and activities organizers. The Sikh Gurus never said that man and women should play exactly the same role in every area of life. They thought that men and women should respect and value equally the different roles that each undertakes. In the Sikh marriage vows emphasis is on mutual faithfulness, and this again brings to our minds in another practical contest the word equality (Singh,1998,pg.22.). In view of all that has been presented so far, to many of us the ideal of equality to which Guru Nanak appealed the people in the fifteenth century significantly could serve as a model in our own day an age, and could give a new meaning, a new direction, a new authenticity to our own cause of equality chartered only in recent decades in the west. BIBLIOGRAPHY: ENRICO BENEDETTI ,2008,Living Donor Organs, McGraw Hill companies USA CHRISTHOPHER SHACKLE and ARVIND PAL SINGH MANDAIR,2005,Teaching of the Sikh Gurus, Published by Routledge,70 Madison Ave, New York. KANWALIJT KAUR SINGH, 1998,Sikhism for today, oxford University Press, Oxford, England NESBITT E., 2005 ,Sikhism A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press, Oxford, England NIRMAL NANAK, 2006, pg.150, Sikh philosophy and religion, New down press group publisher, Slough, Berkshire, England O.P.RALHAN,1997, The great Gurus of the Sikh, Anmoul publications, New Delhi India. SATWANT KAUR RAIT, 2005, Sikh women, Trentham books Limited, Stoke on Trent, Staffordshire, England. W.H. MCLEOD, 1999,Sikhs and Sikhism, Oxford University press, New Delhi) http://www.sikhnextdoor.org/students/learn.html ACCESSED ON 7/04/2010

What Is Ethnonationalism And Its Political Role Politics Essay

What Is Ethnonationalism And Its Political Role Politics Essay The conclusion of the Cold War in 1991 coincides with the surge of violent civil conflicts and the break of nations based on ethnonationalism. The 1990s witnessed a new surge of violent civil conflicts and the splintering of ethnic wars (graph). Dan Smith, director of the International Peace Research Institution in Oslo (PRIO), has calculated that of the 52 armed conflicts of various sizes that took place in 42 states in 1993, 36, in 30 states, had ethno-national characteristics; that is, at lest one side could be identified as belonging to a distinct ethnic group (Tishkov 2004:72). The term ethnonationalism refers to a politicized group affiliation based on inherent traits ethnicity, race, clan, tribe, cultural heritage or religion that define a group of individuals in the minds of its members. Ethnonationalist violence should not surprise, went the common refrain, as they are based on primordial human emotions and centuries of history. There may be a shift were the individuals pr imary identity and allegiance shifts from the civil state to the ethnonation. This shift may or may not result in violent conflict. As of 2000, fewer than 10% of the worlds 191 nations are ethnically or racially homogeneous (Wright 1973:158). Such conflicts may involve great violence, such as Bosnia and Rwanda; however in other cases there is little violence, such as Northern Ireland. Ethnonationalism violent conflicts also occur within established democracy, for example, the struggle between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland (Slack and Doyon 2001:139). Ethnonationalism The roots of modern nationalism can be found in late eighteenth-century Western Europe and North America, and it subsequently spread to all of Europe and eventually to all parts of the world (Alter 1994:18). Ethnicity is the most central and powerful element in the development of nationalism. Ethnonationalism denotes both the loyalty to a nation deprived of its own state and the loyalty to an ethnic group embodied in a specific state, particularly where the latter is conceived as a nation-state (Connor 1994:?). Ethnonationalist believe nationality is inherent, one can neither acquire it if one does not have it, nor change it if one does; it has nothing to do with individual will, but constitutes a genetic characteristic (Guibernau and Rex 2010:5). Ethnonationalism is rooted in a sense of common origins, primarily ancestral, as manifested in shared linguistic, religious, and racial marker (Riggs 1994:599). Nationalism is defined as an extensive aggregation of individuals closely associated with each other by common descent, language or history, as to form a distinct race or people (Slack Doyon 2001). Nation by the latter definition becomes equivalent to ethnic group. Nation is a matter of self-awareness or self-consciousness (Connor 1978:104). This is precisely why it is so difficult to define nation, because it is a self-defining group. Nationalism arises when the members of a nation demand that the nation be organized into a sovereign state (Slack and Doyon 2001:140). The essence of nationalism is not tangible, but psychological, a matter of attitude rather than fact (Connor 1972:42). MORE ON PAGE 43. Nationalism is likely to be based on ethnic distinctions, rather than the idea that everyone who lives in a country is entitled to the same rights and privileges (Guibernau and Rex 2010:96 Reader). Allegations of ethnic supremacy, along with ethnonationalism and retribution for past in justices, are at the center of much of the ethnic violence (Cozic 1994:93). The causes and implications of ethnic conflict are understood as a dispute about important political, economic, social, cultural or territorial issues between two or more ethnic groups (Guibernau and Rex 2010:90). Ethnicity relates to the identification of individuals by language, religion, geographical location, the sharing of common historical experience, or various other elements. Membership of the group is based on the presumption of a shared trait or traits that can be anything from genealogy to dressing habits (Slack Doyon 2001:140). An ethnic group is therefore defined by a boundary ascribed by the members of the ethnic group or outsider. There is a distinction between primary and secondary ethnic groups (Riggs 1994:592). Riggs asserts that primary ethnic groups tend to function as closed sub-societies within a larger host society, whereas secondary ethnic groups, while maintaining their cultural identity, participate directly in a host society at various levels (1994:592). In modem states members of primary ethnic communities reject the state where they live as a basis for their self-identity, whereas members of secondary ethnic communities accept the state (Riggs 1994:592). Problems arise in both cases but they are different (Riggs 1994:592). Members of a primary ethnic community feel like prisoners and they seek to escape the confines of the state (Riggs 1994:592). This leads them to rebel, to seek autonomy, independence, or unification with another state by boundary changes (Riggs 1994:593). The members epitomize ethnonationalism. By contrast members of a secondary ethnic community often feel that although they ar e unfairly treated by the state, it is possible by peaceful means to secure full equality of status as citizens in all matters involving political, social and economic justice (Riggs 1994:593). Their sense of grievance often leads to political action and non-violent protests or civil disobedience, but not to rebellions (Riggs 1994:593). Conflict tends to emerge when ethnic or national identities are in opposition to each other. Additionally, between 1918 and 1945, nationalism became synonymous with intolerance, inhumanity and violence (Cozic 1994:19). Most ethnic conflicts have a background of domination, injustice or oppression by one ethnic group or another (Wright 1993:158). Although ethnic conflict is viewed as a strife based on religion, economic inequality, political, language, or another tangible element, the conflict is fundamentally based on identity which manifests itself in the us-them syndrome (Connor 1967:46). The ethnic conflict could escalate into ethic genocide. According to Riggs (1994) about 130 million individuals have been slain between 1900 and 1987 as a result of genocide committed by governments on their own people. Many times more people are killed in genocide and mass murder than in all foreign and domestic wars (Riggs 1994:583). While most of the deaths reported by Riggs probably cannot be attributed to ethnonational conflicts, however, it is reasonable to presume that ethnic conflict has been an important factor in many of them. Democracies provide minorities with opportunities for non-violent expression of grievance. Minorities believe they can gain more legitimacy through peaceful political action than by violent rebellions or terrorism. Conversely, in weak authoritarian regimes, where minorities are suppressed and often killed, some will organize rebellions, feeling that only by violence will they gain the autonomy needed to protect their interests. Riggs offers the complementary finding that genocide occurs most often in non-democratic states, whereas democracies are far more non-violent. Among the 169 million victims of democide during the 20th century, Riggs claims that only about 2 million were inflicted on their citizens by democratic states (1994). Of the 167 million, over 110 million took place under communist regimes, about 138 in totalitarian states and well over 28 million under authoritarianism. (Riggs 1994:584). Ethnonational rebellions, therefore, have several dimensions: they often combine r evolt against oppression by hostile but dominate communities with the need to create enclaves of order in a context of disorder (Riggs 1994:584). The Troubles (1968-1998) The conflict of the Troubles dates back the 1600s when Britain began colonizing Ireland, it encouraged Protestants from Scotland and English, to move to Northern Ireland to help maintain and control the Irish Catholics (Healey 2006). The new arrivals began, with the assistance of the English, to own much of the economy, political structures, and land in the northern region of Ireland. The Protestants began to separate themselves from the native Catholics through policies implemented to create separate facilities within the same society for the use of a minority group, similar to Jim Crow segregation in the United States. Difference in laws and customs between Protestants and Catholics were used to reinforce the subordinate position of the Irish Catholics. However, the Irish were not subordinated and attempted to gain their independence through violent rebellions, which ultimately led to their independents. The Eastern Rebellion in 1916, also known as the Proclamation of 1916, led to creation of the Republic of Ireland (Healey 2006). The Republic of Ireland consisted of most of the island, except the providence of Ulster. Now, Northern Ireland consisted of Protestant majority and the Republic of Ireland consisted of Catholic majority, which provided the underlying basis for the Trouble. In Northern Ireland, Catholic and Protestant are terms used to connote two diverse and conflicting cultures (Shivers and Bowmen 1984:3). Distinguishing factors between the two are internal, the way one views oneself. However, Most people in Northern Ireland insist that the civic conflict that occurred was not because of religion but sovereignty: not Protestantism but Loyalism; not Catholicism but Nationalism or Republicanism (Vincent 127). Protestant majority and Catholic minority in Northern Ireland is another way of distinguishing between the two groups. There is no distinct term to explain the minority-majority spilt, but Northern Irish people have use many other terms: Insiders/Outsiders; the haves/the have nots; colonials/natives; Scotch/Gales; Protestant/Catholic; Unionist/Nationalist; Loyalist/Republican; British/Irish; the Orange/the Green (Shivers and Bowmen 1984:4). The attempts by Catholic minority to express through the electoral process their long-standing discontent wit h political rule by a religiously and culturally distinct people, as well as the attempts of the moderate government to move toward equalization of opportunity for the minority, resulted in a series of violent reactions during 1966, and untimely the beginning of the Troubles (Connor 1967:12). The struggle predicated on fundamental differences in national identity. The people of Northern Ireland did not homogeneously consider themselves Irish. In a study conducted in 1968 by the University of Strathcylde, 43 percent considered themselves Irish, 29 percent British, 21 percent Ulster, and 7 percent mixed, uncertain, or mixed (Connor 1967:45). On the basis of ethnic and religious history in Northern Ireland, there is a correlation between those that identify themselves as Irish and Catholicism (Connor 1967:45). McGarry and OLeary (1995) interpret religion as an ethnic marker, a component of ethnonationalism in Northern Ireland, the conflict is about two contesting national identities, Unionist (Protestant) and Nationalist (Catholic). Religion is just a label used to distinguish members of one ethnonationalist group from another. Religion was used as the basis of separate social structures that keep communities apart. Whyte (1990) wrote about the three ways in which religion and social segregation were seen in Northern Ireland: segregation by religion in education, high levels of endogamy (marriage within ones religious group), and high levels of residential segregation. The churches worked together with the political parties and the two states, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, to keep people divided and maintain their power (Fulton 1991). Religion has acted as an agent in historical struggles for political power (Fulton 1991). Churches tried to keep their control through influencing political policy and maintaining their grip on the education system. According to Wright (1973), religion as an ideology is extremely important. Religion was an important source of identity in Northern Ireland, even for Protestants who do not go to church (Wright 1973). Religion can operate as an ideology even for those who are not committed believers (Wright 1973). Religion is important in many complex ways; it provides meaning and substance to ethnonational identities (Mitchell 2006). Religious ideas inform Protestants everyday understandings of social relationships and perceptions of Catholics (Wright 1973). The more segregation between communities, the less information each has of the other. Knowledge comes from socialized teachings, ideas, theories, and mythologies, which are often religious in nature (Wright 1973). Religious ideas overlap with political and economic divisions and this makes them even more important. Religion, according to Claire Mitchell (2006), derives social and political significance from five overlapping dimensions: 1) relationship between the churches and sociopolitical power (i.e. relationships with nationalist and unionist politicians), 2) role of religion as the dominant ethnic marker (maintained through segregated education, marriage, housing patterns and social networks), 3) religions role in the construction of communities (esp. Catholicism, the role of the Catholic Church in organising social life and the importance of ritual), 4) religions role in the construction of ideologies (esp. Protestantism, concepts such as liberty, the honest Ulsterman, and anti-Catholicism), and 5) relationship between theology and politics (esp. for fundamentalists/evangelicals). The essence of nation being is psychologically important. Members of a particular group feel a sense of being related to one another, or of myths of being from a common descendent. The turmoil in Northern Ireland between those who think of themselves as Irish and those who do not is facilely explained as a religious struggle, no other readily identifiable distinction, such as language or race, being in evidence (Connor 1984:146). Ethnonational discrimination does occur in a given state, for example, in Northern Ireland discrimination is a major element in the poorer economic and occupational status of the Irish as contrast with the non-Irish (Connor1984:148). The Good Friday Agreement marked the end of the Troubles, which was established in 1998, created a new power sharing agreement for the governance in Northern Ireland (Healey 2006). Thus, both Protestant and Catholic parties would participate in the government. The Bosnian War (1992-1995) Yugoslavia was formed in 1918, at the end of World War I (Healey 2006:479). The country consists of a variety of ethnic groups, including Croats, Serbs, Bosnians, and Muslims. In 1974 Josip Broz Tito turned Yugoslavia into a confederation of six republics, one of which was Bosnia and Herzegovina (Slack and Doyon 2001:142). Bosnia was the most diverse republic, often described as a microcosm of the Balkans, a human mosaic made up of the genes of innumerable (Slack and Doyon 2001:141). Before this the Muslims have never been able to assert themselves as a distinct ethnic group, with aspirations of statehood, as have the Croats and Serbs (Slack and Doyon 2001:141). As a consequence of the newly formed republics, Muslims were going to be the dominant group in Bosnia. During the time that Yugoslavia was led by Tito, Roman Catholic Croats, Orthodox Christian Serbs, and Muslim Bosnians coexisted peacefully in Bosnia. However, following Titos death in 1980, Yugoslavia began to be breakup. While the Croats tended to view Yugoslavia as a decentralized federation, the Serbs were espoused to a highly centralized system (Slack and Doyon 2001:142). With Bosnias secession from Yugoslavia in 1992, the Bosnian Croats and the Bosnian Serbs suddenly became apart of the ethnic minorities in the new state of Bosnia instead of being members of the dominant Croat and Serb nations within Yugoslavia. The population Bosnia in 1991 consisted of Bosnian Muslims (1.9 million, 44% of all), Serbs (1.4 million, 31%), Bosnian Croats (760,000), 17%, and Others (all remaining ethnicities jointly: 350,000, 8%) (Tabeaui and Bijaki 2005:188). Demographic conditions can lead to ethnonationalist war when ethnonationalism becomes a political force (Slack and Doyon 2001:159). The relative numbers of rival ethnic populations within a disputed territory becomes an issue of concern for a civil war. Bosnian Serbs, and later also Bosnian Croats, fought (often through ethnic cleansing and terror campaigns) to take and control territories that otherwise would be subject to the rule of Bosnian Muslims. Ethnic conflict takes place when mobilized identity groups struggle for greater power, whether for power in an already established state or a newly independent state. In 1991, the Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic began to increase the dominance of Serbs in the former Yugoslavia, particularly in three republics, Bosnia, Croatia and Slovenia, felt directly threatened by Serb nationalism and the perspective of Greater Serbia carved out of the territories mainly in Bosnia (Tabeaui and Bijaki 2005:188). The Muslims fought for these terr itories, as they believed they did not have much choice. Breaking away from Yugoslavia put Bosnian Muslims in a particularly difficult position, as they were left with no support other than the one expected from the international community, which came in April 1992, however, it did not stop the Bosnian conflict (Tabeaui and Bijaki 2005:189). Due to the mixed ethnic composition of Bosnia, there was an absence of a single ethnic Muslim republic in the former Yugoslavia. The most essential observation of the Bosnian population at the outbreak of the 1990s conflict is that while there were Bosnians in a geographical sense, there were hardly any Bosnians in a political sense. Bosnian Muslims, Serbs and Croats existed as politically distinct groups who happened to live in Bosnia (Tabeaui and Bijaki 2005:188). Political goals of these groups were too distinct to allow for coexistence. Serbs, and later also Croats, fought, often through ethnic cleansing and terror campaigns, to take and control of Bosnia (Tabeaui and Bijaki 2005:188). The conflicts were not religious wars, but religion and language were important tools of ethnic identification, ethnonationalism. In an effort to distinguish the other the ethnic groups stressed subtle differences among the languages. Located in the heart of the former-Yugoslavia, Bosnia found itself locked between two more powerful states, Croatia and Serbia. The wars caused the most destruction in Bosnia, as the country contains sizeable Croat and Serb populations. The 1990 elections, is an example of growing ethnonationalism in Bosnia, members of each ethnic group voted in the 1990 election along ethnic nationalist lines, even though they were unimpressed with the party leaders, out of fear that ethnic groups to which they did not belong would gain political ascendancy (Slack and Doyon 2001:143). The political construction of ethnonationalism had now begun, and Bosnia was beginning to partition. The Territorial partitions can lead to renewed violence and mass refugee flows, entail an indefinite international peacekeeping presence, and paradoxically can result in new sets of sectarian demands (Wood 2001:70). An imposed partition only rarely results in a homogeneous territory and often leads to civic wars. Signed at the end of the war, the Dayton Agreement was more of a ceasefire agreement than a sustainable, long-term solution for Bosnia. According to this agreement signed in December 1995, Bosnia is a partitioned state divided into two parts. One entity is the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina with a majority of Muslims and Croat population, and the other entity is Republika Srpska, almost entirely populated by Serbs (Tabeaui and Bijaki 2005:189). The borders were determined by the frontlines when the wars ended, resulting in the formation of ethnic enclaves. The three dominant ethnic groups, Muslims, Serbs, and Croats, are represented in all levels of government thus creating excess personnel and slow reform. The country has three presidents, one from each group, and a parliament in which Croats, Serbs and Muslims each have a third of seats. Furthermore, many politicians gain votes in elections through ethnonationalist campaigns that appeal to their own ethnic and religious group . The entire government reports to a High Representative, who is appointed largely by the international community and will remain in Bosnia for an undetermined time. Since the wars, the population of Bosnia in 2009 was 4.6 million according to the CIA World Factbook. Muslims comprise 48% of the population, Serbs are 37% and Croats are 14%. Religious demographics strongly reflect ethnic demographics in the population of Bosnia, with 40% Muslim, 31% Orthodox, and 15% Roman Catholic. With such a strong connection between religion and ethnicity in the former Yugoslavia, it is not surprising that religion became an important tool of identification of ethnonationalism during and after the wars. Rwanda (1994) While Rwandas two ethnic groups, Hutus and Tutsis, experienced a long history of hatred, the conflict escalated in April 1994 when a plane carrying the Hutu President of Rwanda was shot down over the capital, Kigali (Healey 2006). The suspicious deaths of the presidents of Rwanda triggered a sudden and massive bloodletting, primarily by Hutus against Tutsis (Wood 2001:60). An estimated 5-10 per cent of Rwandas population was then killed between the second week of April and the third week of May 1994; one of the highest casualty rates of any population in history from non-natural causes (Hintjens 1999:241-2). In all roughly 800,000 people were killed, and millions fled Rwanda (Healey 2006). The history of Tutsi and Hutu over the past century is one in which traditional ethnic roles were continually manipulated, fuelling hostility and making recurring mass violence all but inevitable (Wood 2001:64). Colonization and conquest helped fuel the already intense ethnic conflict between the Tutsis and Hutus in what is now Rwanda (Healey 2006). Traditionally, Tutsis had been the rulers over the Hutus. By 1400, Europeans nations began colonizing Africa, and Germany had established control over the region, which possessed Rwanda, in the late 1800s (Healey 2006). In an attempted to administer and control Rwanda, Germany put the Tutsis in a position to govern the Hutus. The case of divide and rule, further perpetrated the hostility between the two ethnic groups (Healey 2006:480). After Germanys defeat in WWI, Belgium took control over the region, and continued the tradition of the political and economic differentials between the two tribes (Healey 2006:480). Colonial support shifted toward Hutus in the 1950s and, by Rwandas independence from Belgium in 1962, a new generation of Hutu leaders were able to turn against the Tutsis, expelling several hundred thousand to neighboring Burundi and Uganda (Wood 2001:62). In 1969, two nations were established in the region: Burundi, which was dominated by Tutsis, and Rwanda, which was dominated by Hutus (Healey 2006). The Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF), led by Tutsi, had been waging an increasingly successful war since its 1990 offensive against the Hutu-dominated government of President Habyarimana (Wood 2001:60). His government had managed to control ethnic violence in the 1980s and had been pursuing power-sharing talks with the RPF that culminated in the August 1993 Arusha Accords (Wood 2001:60). At the same time, though, he had also cracked down on political opponents, including moderate Hutus, and had begun to incite violence against Tutsis (Wood 2001:60). An October 1993 Tutsi military coup against the predominantly Hutu government of neighboring Burundi heightened paranoia among Rwandan Hutus (Wood 2001:60). Up to and during the April-July 1994 genocide, the RPF continued to take territory away from government troops and finally ousted the government (Wood 2001:60). Hutu militia (known as the Interahamwe originally a government-sponsored youth movement became an armed anti-Tutsi force in the early 1990s) hunted down Tutsis and moderate Hutus (Wood 2001:60). The Interahamwe ideology behind the government supported genocide painted Tutsis as an invading force from the north. This inaccurate caricature was reinforced by colonial rulers who favoured the Tutsis as natural born leaders, racially superior to Hutus, and imposed ethnic identity cards, thereby aggravating a tightly controlled political system and an economically interdependent society (Wood 2001:72). Officials of the authoritarian regime of President Juvenal Habyarimana, felt as if their power was diminishing so they used their monopoly of media to create a finely tuned propaganda machine that played on Hutu fears of the former Tutsi elite and purveyed false, versions of the history of relations between the two groups (Snyder and Ballentine 1996:30). In April 1994, the Hutu official group unleashed militias trained in the techniques of genocide. At the same time, Radio-T6levision Libre des Mille Collines, a pseudo-private station established by Habyarimanas wife, announced that Tutsi rebels were about to rise up and kill Hutu, and consequently that all Hutu should join the militias in a campaign of preventive killing (Snyder and Ballentine 1996:30). Unlike Bosnia, where ethnic cleansing dragged on for several years, the genocidal frenzy in Rwanda lasted about three months (Wood 2001:60). Exhorted by government-sponsored hate broadcasts and leaflets, and often led by officials, many Hutus turned on their Tutsi neighbors with a vengeance. For the most part, Hutu mobs had free reign to shoot, hack, and beat to death men, women, and children hiding in their homes, churches, hospitals, and even orphanages (Wood 2001:61). Many Tutsi women were raped before being killed and many children, as a means of degrading and terrorizing Tutsi communities. Interahamwe leaders carefully planned the genocide, provided weapons, compiled lists of important Tutsis, and went to each commune to ensure that killings were thoroughly carried out (Wood 2001:61). The ideology behind Rwandas genocide evolved amidst harsh conditions of poverty, arable land scarcity, and income inequity (Wood 2001:64). Theories of racial struggles and hierarchy enhance during the time of economic struggle. In the mid 1980s the price of coffee dropped (Hintjens 1999). The export of coffee and tea has been important in the region (Healey 2006). As a result of the economic decline, the search began for a scapegoat and the decline became another reason for genocide. In Rwanda conspiracy theories and myths were used to justify genocide. In an impoverished ethnocratic state like Rwanda, ethnicity is also the ruling principle of economic and social differentiation, with ethnic groups then forced to confront each other in the process of competition for material and social resources (Markakis 1993, 236). Such demography-linked pressures as shrinking farm size (an average of less than 1 hectare) and high fertility rates (with a population doubling time of under 20 years a nd a young population age structure), as well as a stagnant economy, helped increase tensions between Rwandas 7.8 million Hutus and Tutsis (Wood 2001:64). Nationalism in effect attempts to squeeze an idealized grouping of otherwise disparate people into a territorially defined state (Agnew and Corbridge 1995). Ethnic segregation through the division of artificially bounded political units becomes a requirement for the preservation of a groups threatened identity and thus a matter of life and death. (Wood 2001:63). Comparative Analyze In both Rwanda and Bosnia, the genocides have been part of an overall socio-economic collapse that has left its perpetrators financially much worse off than they were before. Genocidists justified their actions through an ideological than an economic view of national greatness, while exploiting difficult living conditions to scapegoat minorities (Wood 2001:64). In addition, they initiate genocidal measures in peripheral areas of the redefined living space; some of the most brutal violence took place in the rural peripheries of northern and eastern Bosnia, eastern Croatia, northwest Rwanda, and eastern Congo (Wood 2001:64). At the same time, genocidists can go to great lengths to crush heterogeneous and thus politically suspect enclaves within the cultural core of an endlessly purifying homeland (Wood 2001:65). In both Bosnia and Rwanda, the belligerent ethnic groups speak the same language and most Tutsis and Hutus even belong to the same religion. Political leaders in both areas exaggerated perceived ethnic differences and old grievances (Wood 2001:65). They also manipulated violence-inciting propaganda, such as broadcasts by Rwandas infamous Radio Mille Collines describing Tutsis as cockroaches (Wood 2001:65). While not the grand territorially defined strategy that it was in Bosnia, ethnic cleansing was also the goal of Rwandan genocidists. In Rwanda the mechanics of ethnic cleansing were simpler than in Bosnia. Tutsis and some moderate Hutus were killed on the spot or rounded up (either encouraged or forced) in convenient locales, usually church and school compounds, and then massacred by the thousands (Wood 2001:68). But like Bosnia and other twentieth century genocides, ethnic cleansing could not be contained within Rwanda (Wood 2001:68). Bosnia and Rwanda, two radically different geographic contexts, are testimony to how dormant ethnic mistrust and fear can be manipulated into a swift genocidal eruption (Wood 2001:72). In an increasingly heterogeneous world, genocide will remain a fundamental international security threat. (Wood 2001:72). Central to the process of the Bosnian war is the concept of ethnonationalism. The Bosnian war arose out of the collapse of totalitarian control of territory producing a political void that, in turn, exposes a deep-rooted rivalry between ethnic groups leading to a struggle for control of territory ending in an attempt at violent resolution (Slack Doyon 2001:140). Conclusion

Comparing Fascism, Communism and Nazism Essay examples -- Compare Cont

Comparing Fascism, Communism and Nazism Fascism, and discontent go hand in hand. After WWI Europe was devastated, the people had lost hope in the systems, neither the liberals, nor conservatives had been able to prevent the terrible disaster that was the war. Socialists were the closest one, however not happy with socialism either, a group of socialist joined and formed their own ideology. The difference between this new ideology, and other that had originated before, is that the first thing that comes to mind when you talk about fascism, is not what they stood for but what they hated most. Fascist hated socialism because of its internationality. They hated liberals because specifically because their ideology center in the individual strength of the human been, and in sharing when a variety of thoughts are in conflict, not imposing. They hated conservatives because they like to preserve the system, and for them change had to be very small, and slow, while fascist wanted radical change now. Fascism and communism had a lot in common. They both wanted radical change,...

The Character of Puck in A Midsummer Nights Dream Essay -- Midsummer

The Character of Puck in A Midsummer Night's Dream      Ã‚   Considered one of William Shakespeare's greatest plays, A Midsummer Nights Dream reads like a fantastical, imaginative tale; however, its poetic lines contain a message of love, reality, and chance that are not usually present in works of such kind. All characters in the play are playful, careless and thoughtless, and Puck: one of the central characters in the play: is significant to the plot, tone, and meaning of A Midsummer Nights Dream, thus becoming a representative of the above-mentioned themes.    The plot in this one of Shakespeare's plays is comical and, at times, ironic. As summarized by Puck in the last stanza of the play:    If we shadows have offended Think but this, and all is mended: That you have but slumb'red here While these visions did appear. And this weak and idle theme No more yielding but a dream Gentles do not reprehend: If you pardon, we will mend. And, as I am an honest Puck If we have unearned luck Now to scape the serpent's tongue We will make amends ere long; Else the Puck a liar call: So, good night unto you all. Give me your hands, if we be friends, And Robin shall restorer amends. (Shakespeare 89)    Puck suggests to both the watchers and, consequently, to the readers, that if they did not enjoy the tale, they should pretend it was a dream: a notion so convincing that at times the audience is left bewildered; this effect of his works made Shakespeare seem so cunning, like Puck. The lines above formulate the ending of the play to be ironic and humorous, much in the same way as the rest of the story was told. The general plot, with certain char... ...ctions and attributes of other characters and Puck helps contribute to deceitful aura of the play. Another key factor of this play were its many inclinations toward a comical relief and Puck's involvements of making mishaps occur. The mood, implication, and scheme are all carefully weaved together in the play, with Puck being a symbol or a catalyst for nearly every one of them.    Works Cited Shakespeare, William. The Riverside Shakespeare. Houghton Mifflin Company. Boston. New York. 1997.    Works Consulted    Briggs, Katharine M. The Anatomy of Puck. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1959.    Nevo, Ruth. Comic Transformations in Shakespeare. New York: Routledge, Chapman & Hall, 1981.    Rhoades, Duane. Shakespeare's Defense of Poetry: "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and "The Tempest". Westport, CT: Greenwood Press,1986.

Alfred Hitchcock has been called ‘the Master of Suspense’, considering ‘psycho’ state how effectively he achieves the element of suspense in this film

Alfred Hitchcock has been called ‘the Master of Suspense', considering ‘psycho' state how effectively he achieves the element of suspense in this film. The film Pycho is known for its suspense. The dictionary definition of suspense is ‘the anxious uncertainty the audience feels while waiting for an event. It's an attraction/repulsion response, or that ‘oooooh errrrr' feeling! ‘ I personally think that suspense is the feeling of not knowing what's about to happen, feeling unsure of how to react to the next thing that happens. It puts you in to a state uncertainty or excitement, like you are waiting for a decision. It makes you feel a degree of apprehension or anxiety. Alfred Hitchcock was brought up in a strict Roman Catholic environment. He always knew exactly what was right and what was wrong and was aware of other people's wrong doings. This comes across in the film. Marion was the first woman to be murdered and she was also the first person to be seen as immoral, she was seen in white underwear in the first scene as she was in bed with a man she was having an affair with. This shows her flaunting her sexuality. She was also seen flushing the toilet just before she was murdered. This is another thing that Hitchcock was brought up to think was immoral also Hitchcock was a misogynist. This might explain why he killed off the main female character in the film. Work played a huge part in Hitchcock's life, he was a workaholic infact. People would describe Hitchcock as obsessive with his films because he would devote his life to and take so much pride in them. Psycho was released in 1960. The morals and attitudes of people were a lot different in 1960 to what they are now. There were far more of the population who attended church and would call themselves ‘christian'. Also there was a much surer sense of definite rights and wrongs; moral and immoral behaviour was much more clearly defined. In the film this comes through clearly. In 1960, men were thought to be superior to woman they certainly occupied the higher status in their occupations. Marion is at work and the man who has come in to speak with her boss is talking to her. He looks old and arrogant. He is boasting about how rich he is, telling Marion about how he is buying a house for his daughter. He is trying to chat up Marion but she ignores him. He sits on her desk so that he is at a higher level than her to show that he is more important. Marion is seen in her underwear. This was a very rare thing to see in any film in 1960. Before she stole the money she was seen in white underwear which is shocking enough. After she has stolen the money, she is seen again in her underwear but this time it is black. White is seen as a pure colour so this is why she was wearing white before she stole the money where as black is not pure, a dirty colour, this is why she was wearing black after she had stolen the money, to symbolise that she has become immoral. The audience can now expect something bad to happen. Just before Marion steps into the shower were she gets murdered she flushes a check down the toilet. Films would never show a toilet being flushed in 1960. It was looked up on as an immoral thing to be seen. Now, in 2003, seeing someone flush a toilet on a film is completely normal. The film starts with a shot of Marion and Sam (her secret boyfriend) in bed. They talk about running away and getting married. Marion goes into work that day as if everything is normal. She sits down at her desk when her boss walks in with a man. The man sits down on her desk and starts telling Marion about the $40000 he has in cash to buy a house and he gives Marion the $40000 to put in the bank but Marion steals the money so that she can get married. She drives to a motel – the ‘Bates Motel', and gets herself a room. She spends sometime talking with Norman Bates, the owner, and then goes to her room for a shower but as she has a shower someone murders her. Norman then takes Marion's body and puts it in a river. Marion's sister, Lila, realises she is missing and asks Sam if he knows where she is, he doesn't. Arbogast is a detective who try's to find Marion so he goes to the motel to see if she is there but Norman says that he doesn't remember her. Arbogast still suspects something so he goes to Norman's house however as he goes up the stairs, he also gets murdered. Sam and Lila realise that Arbogast hasn't returned so Sam goes to the motel to look for him but he can't find him so then Sam and Lila go back to the motel. Marion's sister goes into the house to look for Norman's mother as Sam and Lila think that she knows something. Lila goes down to the cellar and finds a skeleton of Norman's mother just as Norman comes in to the cellar dressed as his mother with a knife to kill Lila but Sam stops him. Norman's mother was dead but he believed she was still alive, for example, he would pretend to be her and it was Norman being his mother who had murdered Arbogast and Marion. This is a horror/thriller film. It focuses on an individual who is mentally ill and it explores some of the possible consiqueses of mental illness. This is one of the most successful of Hitchcock films. This could be due to the amount of suspense in it. Hitchcock has used very successful techniques of creating suspense. There are many scenes in Psycho that are suspenseful for example the shower scene where editing was used in a bold and sharp way. The shower scene, in which Marion was brutally murdered, was a huge hit with its audiences. This is because is was so suspenseful. The quick cuts – the entire stabbing lasted only twenty seconds, the sound effects – you could hear the tearing of the flesh as the knife broke the skin but you never actually saw the knife cut the skin, the music – all strings, very high pitched, the sort of music that makes you cringe and know that something big is about to happen, all created a great amount of suspense. When Marion is in the shower we see the door of the bathroom open, but Marion doesn't. Seeing this makes us pay attention, at this point the suspense starts. Then the music starts and we see the knife. At this point we are almost certain that she is going to be murdered. Then the murderer pulls back the curtain and Marion screams. In my opinion, this is the most suspenseful point in the murder. As she is being stabbed, there are alternate shots of Marion and the knife and the music is very loud and fast. When the murderer has gone, everything slows down as Marion slides down the wall and falls to the ground. There is a close up on the blood going down the plug hole after the camera has very slowly zoomed in on it. There is then a close up on Marion's eye, as she lies dead on the ground, and the music is very low and slow and then all the action is over and the level of suspense suddenly drops. This plays with the mood of the audience, it takes them from a state of tension or anticipation, building up to the point were the murder is commited and then giving the audience a kind of release. The music plays a big part in creating suspense. The music used in Psycho is very sinister, high pitched and high tempo. The music not only creates suspense, it adds a certain amount of tension. As the camera focuses on different things, the music tempo and pitch changed to build suspense, for example, as the camera pans across the room with the money in it the music is a medium tempo but as the camera zooms in on the money the tempo of the music shoots up. This draws your attention to the money. Another of the most suspenseful scenes in Psycho is where Arbogast is murdered. He walks in to the house slowly and curiosly. This is suspenseful as the audience know he's looking for something and are waiting to see what it is. As he walks up the stairs, the audience see a door open slowly. This builds the tension and anxiety that the audience feel. We see someone step out of the room, at this point the music that was heard when Marion was murdered was played. The audience now associate this music with murder. The person who stepped out of the room starts to walk quickly over to Arbogast on the stairs. The music is very loud and quick at this point. The audience's heart rate is automatically increased and they are more exited/uncertain. You then again hear him being stabbed but don't actually see it. As Arbogast falls down the stairs, the camera is above him, and he then falls to the floor and the murderer stabs him again, then the music suddenly stops and the camera cuts straight to a different scene. All through that scene there is a lot of suspense. There is a great deal of suspense created in the scene where Lila goes to talk to Norman's mother. Lila walks down to the cellar. The audience thinks she is down there because Norman had said previously that he was taking her down there. When Lila walks into the cellar, she sees the back of who she thinks is Norman's mother. She turns Norman's mother around and find only the skeleton of her. Throughout this scene there is slow low music playing until she sees the skeleton then the music speeds up. We then see Norman running in to the cellar dressed as a woman. This confuses the audience but builds the suspense as the audience are unsure. When Norman walks into the cellar the music changes to the music played for the previous two murders. The music automaticly creates suspense as the audience presume there will be another murder. At this point, the audience immediately suspect that he is going to murder Marion's sister but then we see Sam who stops him from murdering her. This creates suspense because it is a twist to what has happened with the other murders, so we do not know what to expect. As Sam fights with Norman he knocks the light bulb so it is swaying. There is a close up of the skeleton, it is in the shadow, then in the light, then in the shadow again etc. because of the light bulb swaying. The audience feels calm at this point as the light bulb swaying slowly and quietly gives the impression that the drama is over. When Marion is driving away from Phoenix with the stolen money, the audience hear the voices in Marion head. We hear the voice of her boss, what he might say if he found out she had stolen the money. This is suspenseful because we are thinking what if her boss does know she stole the money†¦ what would he do? The voices make the audience feel anxious because they hear what Marion is thinking, and therefore they are put in Marion's position. We sympathise with Marion because we know what she is thinking. Although she stole the money, we don't feel sorry for Cassidy (the man whose money it was) he is a very arrogant man, he boasted about how much money he has and he tries to flirt with Marion. He doesn't respect Marion; he thinks he can easily get her because of his money. He says ‘I never carry as much as I can afford to lose. ‘ This tells us that he can afford to lose the money and it would be good to use the money for a good cause. If Marion had stolen the money from a charity, we would not sympathise with her because she is taking the money from a worthy cause. When Marion and Norman are in the parlour, Marion talks about Norman's mother. She suggests he puts her into a mental home. Norman's reaction to this suggestion builds suspense. He gets very angry and looks like he could get aggressive. He often compares people to birds as stuffing birds is his hobby. When Marion suggests his mother could go to a mental home, Norman compares his mother to one of his stuffed birds on the wall, he says how she is as harmless as one of them. He says how a mother is a boys best friend which makes us believe that he is very close to his mother but he is closer to her then anyone expected. Hitchcock has the title ‘The Master of Suspense'. I personally don't think that he deserves that title for this film. In 1960 he may have deserved it for this film as it was the first film like this, but now, in the year 2003, there are many films like this. It has suspense but I don't think it has enough suspense for him to have that title. Psycho is a horror/thriller film and it achieves the title of being a horror/thriller film better than it achieves the title of a suspenseful film.