To What Extent Do You Consider the Emancipation of Serfs...

Essay Question: To what extent do you consider the Emancipation of Serfs 1861 to be a key turning point in the development of Russian government and society till 2000? Many historians argue The Emancipation of the Serfs in 1861, to be a key turning point within Russian history. It drastically altered Russia’s economic, political and social stipulation. One could propose the argument that this event lead to the fall of communism in 1990, further more suggesting the extent to which this event affected Russia. Hence this is ‘perhaps the most defining moment in Russian history, with its impact being seen many years after the event itself’. Although historians identify short term effects of this event, the significance to which this event†¦show more content†¦Both peasants and land owners challenged the government with the intention of generating further social changes. The instant consequences to the emancipation of the serfs left Russia crippled, ironic, when alleged that it intended to advance Russia’s status. Many historians argue that despite abolishing serfdom, the means in which it was carried out didn’t coincide with reality. Subsequently, there were many riots which caused a rise of political groups such as Narodnik movement whose existence proves that Russian society was changing. Disorder spread with calls for change within Russia like In May 1862 where a number of pamphlets were issued including the radical Young Russia. Such propaganda aimed to gain support and create challenging individuals which would pressure the Tsar to make further changes. One could argue that as a result this led to the 1905 revolution and the end of Tsardom. Society was extensively transformed. Indeed, there were many negative results, yet many reforms proved to be positive such as the development of education; in 1862 schools were placed under the jurisdiction of the state, rather than the church. The university regulations of 1863 allowed freedom for universities and as a result womens education flourished; by 1881 2,000 women were leaving their stereotypical roles behind and studying in universities, something that the west hadn’t yet done, showing that Russia was ahead of

Nicotine Essay - 809 Words

nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;In the world today, Nicotine is one of the most frequently used addictive drugs. The impact it has on society is like no other. It is one of more than 4,000 chemicals found in the smoke of tobacco products such as cigarettes, cigars, and pipes. This addictive drug is the primary component in tobacco that acts on the brain. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Tobacco can be found two ways, it can be dried brown leaves of various sizes or it can be a grown form of tobacco. When extracted from the leaves, nicotine is colorless, but quickly turns brown when exposed to air. It then becomes a poisonous, pale yellow, oily liquid with a pungent odor and acrid taste. The amount of nicotine contained in tobacco leaves ranges†¦show more content†¦When using the wet snuff it would be held either between your lips or between your gums and cheek. The dried snuff is snorted up the nose and the chewing tobacco is chewed. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Nicotine has many various effects on the body. In small doses nicotine can serves as a stimulant, entering the bloodstream and promoting the flow of adrenaline, a stimulating hormone. It also raises the blood pressure and reduces the appetite, and it may cause nausea and vomiting. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Nicotine is addictive! Most smokers use tobacco regularly because they are addicted to the nicotine. You can be addicted to the nicotine in a physical and physological addiction. Addiction is characterized by compulsive drug seeking and use, even if they are in the risk of health problems. It is well documented that most smokers identify tobacco as harmful and express a desire to reduce or stop using it, and nearly 35 million of them make a serious attempt to quit. Unfortunately, 7% of those who try to quit in their own achieve more than 1 year of abstinence; most relapse within a few days of trying to quit. Some of the other factors besides nicotine addictive properties include its high level of availability, the small number of legal consequences of using the tobacco, and the advertising methods used by companies. What most people do not realize is that theShow MoreRelated Nicotine Essay4379 Words   |  18 PagesNicotine Cigarette smoking has been known for years to impair health of smokers and nonsmokers exposed to smoke in various ways such as by damaging the lungs and circulatory system. Nicotine, present in mainstream and sidestream smoke, is believed to be one of the most toxic components of tobacco. In 1994, David Kessler, commissioner of the FDA, launched an attack on tobacco companies, claiming they deliberately increased nicotine levels in cigarettes. Nicotine has been shown in various experimentsRead MoreExtract Nicotine From Tobacco Samples And Calculate The Amount Of Nicotine1247 Words   |  5 Pagesdissolve in the solvent. The purpose of this experiment is to extract nicotine from tobacco samples and calculate the amount of nicotine in it. In this experiment, nicotine will be the substance we want to get, and dichloromethane will be the solvent. Through several cycles of extraction, nicotine was able to dissolve in the solvent which makes the color of liquid in the extractor to fade. T he solvent was later on evaporated, and nicotine was obtained. Only a little amount of solvent will be used in thisRead MoreThe Effects Of Nicotine Dependence On Adolescents936 Words   |  4 PagesHypothesis: In the study it was hypothesized that as the nicotine dependence progresses it would lead to low positivity in the mood, high negativity in the mood, and higher mood variability. The study also observed whether nicotine dependence in a person changes after increasing the frequency of the person smoking during the course of the study. Methods: a. Participants In the study, the participants who were recruited were from the SECASP project. The study was a longitudinal study based on examiningRead MoreCigarettes And Other Nicotine Products884 Words   |  4 PagesMikhaylovich Group topic: Cigarettes and Other Nicotine Products In today’s session, group members were to learn the physiological and neurological effects of using nicotine and tobacco. The importance of quitting smoking and the methods of cessation were discussed. PO was on time and minimally engaged in the discussion. PO showed no interested in today’s topic as evidenced by only answering questions when prompted. PO completed the weekly treatment progress, reported having attended one soberRead MoreEffects Of Alcohol And Nicotine On Drugs1589 Words   |  7 Pagesis lit, more chemicals are released. Nicotine is the major ingredient in tobacco products which contributes to dependence. Once absorbed, nicotine travels to the adrenal glands via the blood stream which results in the release of epinephrine. Epinephrine in turn stimulates the central nervous system, causing an increase of blood pressure, heart rate and respiration (National Institute on drug abuse). In addition to altering the levels of epinephrine, nicotine also af fects dopamine levels. BehavioralRead MoreThe Addiction Of Tobacco, Nicotine, And Smoking1492 Words   |  6 PagesThe addiction to tobacco, nicotine, and smoking is something the humans have embraced and battled since the early 1800’s. With more and more people falling into the habit and becoming addicted, many detrimental health effects on the body caused people to question what was going on and what was causing these negative reactions in the body. Soon enough, the healthy and â€Å"cool† cigarettes that everyone was smoking became the face of lung cancer, cardiovascular disease, birth defects, and many other deadlyRead MoreElectronic Nicotine Delivery Systems Industry Essay1609 Words   |  7 PagesThe UK has seen a rapid growth in the Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems industry, which consists of several devices including e-cigarettes. The question of their safety and supply arises with more concern in the pharmacy sector as they become increasingly popular. In today’s generat ion, pharmacists face a tough challenge to balances their roles as healthcare professionals and as successful retailers in order to survive against their competitors. The Royal Pharmaceutical Society has maintainedRead MoreFda Regulations : Nicotine Exposure Warnings And Child Resistant Packaging For Liquid Nicotine1664 Words   |  7 Pages Week 2 Assignment Proposed Regulations: Nicotine Exposure Warnings and Child-Resistant Packaging for Liquid Nicotine, Nicotine-Containing ELiquid (s), and Other Tobacco Products Hope Baruffa Professor Bowman Keller University 13 September 2015 The proposed rule, Nicotine Exposure Warnings and Child-Resistant Packaging for Liquid Nicotine, Nicotine-Containing ELiquid (s), and other Tobacco Products, is of great interest due to the fact that as a smoker andRead MoreNicotine Addiction: The Effects On The Body Essay1165 Words   |  5 PagesA Tobacco plant is made up of approximately 5 percent of nicotine by weight. There are two categories of tobacco products cigarettes and smokeless tobacco. Nicotine has many effects on the body but the effect it has on the brain is responsible for the so called â€Å"good feeling† that is behind the addiction. Nicotine is considered to be addictive because of the psychological and physiological effects on a person. The Center for the Advancement of Health published the results of a study on teenagerRead MoreAnalysis On Reduced Nicotine Content For Cigarettes1171 Words   |  5 PagesKatherine Kim Health Psychology Paper Option A November 18, 2015 Analysis on Reduced-Nicotine Content for Cigarettes Smoking is a major problem concerning public health. It comes with many side effects that affect not only the smoker, but also victims of secondhand smoke and even thirdhand smoke. Smoking is the leading cause of preventable death worldwide that affects at least 6 million people a year. Previous research has shown that smokers die an average of 15 years earlier than non-smokers. Eric

Charles Dickens, Great Expectations Free Essays

The text under consideration presents an excerpt from the novel â€Å"Great expectations† by Charles Dickens who is one of the world’s greatest novelists of the 19th century famous for his criticism of the bourgeois society of his time with its evils and contrasts of wealth and poverty, his unique mastery of character drawing and optimistic point of view concerning life and the world around him. The reader highly appreciates Dickens’s spirit of optimism, his love for common people and his strong belief in the final victory of good over evil as well as his humour which is to be found on every page and in characters and incidents of the greatest diversity. However, Dickens possesses a great dramatic instinct which can be proved by the following extract. We will write a custom essay sample on Charles Dickens, Great Expectations or any similar topic only for you Order Now On a stormy rainy night a young man named Pip is reading a book when a strange visitor interrupts him appearing unexpectedly. Pip lets him in wondering what has brought the man to his flat. While talking to him Pip suddenly begins to recognize the guest whose strange behavior confuses the young man. The stranger turns out to be Pip’s mysterious benefactor whom he helped escape from pursuit when a child and this fact shocks Pip so much for he considers his present status to be his own achievement. The convict reveals secret after secret and does not conceal his pride of Pip’s being a real gentleman. The extract under consideration presents a piece of 1st person narration which proves to be more objective from the point of view of the novel protagonist with elements of colorful description and vivid portrayal intercepted with a dialog and flashbacks deepening the reader’s penetration into the character thoughts. The prevalent mood of the excerpt is gloomy, nervous and disturbing, full of anxiety and tension maintained by the weather behind the window of the Pip’s room with an air of approaching disaster. With every coming word the author creates the atmosphere of a lonely stormy evening that brings not only disaster but also renders the character’s thoughts, his state of mind and soul, his vague foreboding of radical but inevitable changes that are both captivating ad dramatic. With the tonality of the narration gradually shifting along the scale of intensiveness the text under analysis can be split into four logical parts and the following names can be suggested for each of them. The 1st part titled â€Å"An anticipatory fear† introduces the reader into the story and forms the background against which all the events take place. The 2nd one bears the name â€Å"The stranger in the room† acquainting the reader with the uninvited guest who is the embodiment of mystery and enigma. The 3d part of the excerpt called â€Å"The present meets the past† provides the reader with some new information concerning the protagonist’s early life and reasons his present behavior. The final part which presents the climax of the extract can be named â€Å"The revelation† answering the questions aroused in the previous parts. Let us consider each part of the text separately. The 1st part of the extract serves as introduction into a stormy and dark evening provoking the whole chain of mysterious and striking events happening to the protagonist of the novel Pip reading a book late at night in his small London flat at the top floor of the building. Every detail introduced by the author is called upon enhancing the gloominess of the atmosphere and preparing the reader for the events forthcoming. To intensify the wretchedness of the weather of the weather the writer resorts to the whole palette of stylistic devices – numerous repetitions (â€Å"stormy and wet, stormy and wet†, â€Å"mud, mud, mud†) to form the background against the events take place and gradually draw the reader into the story who comes across another SD – polysyndeton (and†¦ and†¦ and) that is another type of repetition which intensifies the increasing strain and growing nervousness. Apart from that Dickens metaphorically compares the clouds with a heavy veil which being vast, heavy and all-embracing covers the whole city reinforcing the image of inevitable disaster by means of hyperbole (an eternity of cloud and wind, the worst day of all) lending an additional expressiveness to the narration. The wind is personified by the author and likened to a terrible monster, primeval beast which deals death and destruction and demolishes everything in its way (violent blasts, rages of the wind, the wind assails and tears the sound) in order to emphasize the implied feeling of the ramatic events coming. The lexical expressive means are strengthen by definite syntactic structures used by Dickens to contribute to a more colorful and probable presentation of the scene. The expressive intensive sentence â€Å"So furious had been the gusts† brings additional vividness and luster to the description is accompanied by a SD of detachment which primary function is to add sign ificance to the part of the sentence manifesting itself in the following phrase: and gloomy accounts had come in from the coast, of shipwreck and death. The time is flowing carrying away the last moments of Pip’s peaceful reading and the final one is burned out by the Saint Paul’s and all the many church-clocks striking. In this paragraph the author’s godsend is the use of SD of onomatopoeia (the sound of the clocks striking – leading, accompanying, following) that perfectly presents the idea of the clock chime as a sign of approaching danger or disaster. The parallel construction of this sentence is backed up by anaphora accentuating the temporary state of affairs (some†¦ some†¦ some). The SD of parallelism is also used by the author in the next phrase â€Å"The sound was curiously flowed by the wind and I was listening and thinking† which is gradually bringing the reader to the 2nd part of the excerpt â€Å"The stranger in the room† further intensifying the tense atmosphere of the 1st one. Gloomy prophesies turns out to be true – the strange uninvited guest is coming up the stairs to intrude into Pip’s apartment and Pip’s life. Dickens masterfully resorts to the SD of metonymy to maintain the air of mystery and growing suspense – Pip hears a footstep, not a man (I heard a footstep on the stair, the footstep stumbled), talks to a voice that seems to be the echo of his own words (There is nothing the reflected by matter? Nothing the matter†¦) presented by anadiplosis, sees a face – larding the image of the stranger with a special choice of words including epithets rendering not only the character’s thoughts but also enhancing the general sense of anxiety the whole extract is permeated with (nervous folly, awfully connected, dead sister, blown out lights, incomprehensible air, mere instant, the darkness beneath, a shaded lamp etc. ). The author has a firm grip on reader’s interest inserting an indefinite pronoun â€Å"whoever† which precedes the actual description of the night visitor built by the author with the help of antithesis (he was substantially dressed, but roughly), simile (like a voyager by the sea and tha abundant use of various epithets (muscular man, strong on his legs, large brown venous hands, browned, hardened). His hair is metaphorically called iron-grey, and judging by his appearance one might say that this person is used to hard work. The paragraph is practically built on parallel constructions backed up by anaphoric repetition (that†¦ that) to make the description of the stranger more expressive. Pip gets involved in the conversation with his visitor and we cannot but notice that these principle characters are opposed to each other at different levels and in different ways – both in speech and their attitude towards each other. All kinds of deviations from standard English – phonetic (arter, fur). Grammatical (you’ve grow’d up, I have never forgot it, you was a saying, wot) and lexical (nigh, alonger) are typical for Pip’s guest speech as contrasted to Pip’s highly educated phraseology that forms the huge gap between these two people that at first sight seems to be insuperable. Besides with the dialog intercepted the reader should pay the closest attention to the politeness the visitor addresses with to Pip (by your live, Master) and Pip’s inhospitable answers and nervous reactions finding their expression in such words as â€Å"resent the recognition of brightness, unwilling, ask as civilly as he can† revealing his inner shapeless fears and temporary mental state. One must feel the constant intention of the stranger to reach to Pip, to express joy caused by the sight of him (bright and gratified recognition that shone in his face), holds out both his hands to Pip – the phrase which runs like a refrain through the whole text merging its parts to a single whole and totally enjoys the view of Pip’s flat â€Å"looking about him as if he had some part in the things he admired†. Ascribing some positive intentions to the strange visitor on the one hand the author intensifies Pip’s negative attitude towards him on the other, laying an emphasis on the fact that Pip suspects the stranger to be mad, recoils from him talking to the interlocutor even in somewhat humiliating way (Why do you, a strange coming into my rooms at this time of the night, ask that question? ) when the first hint at disappointment of the night visitor gradually realizing him being an uninvited guest appears expressed by the epithets (his coarse broken voice) and his moment hesitation presented by epiphoric repetition (I’ll speak in half a minute. Give me half a minute, please) although his strong believe in Pip and his admiration remain unshakable. The atmosphere of growing suspense and tension maintained in the previous part bursts into a well-considered moment of recognition causing a tsunami of thoughts and feelings that threatens to devour the principle character. Pip’s night guest turns out to be the convict he helped escape from pursuit long time ago – and now this man so suddenly and unscrupulously interferes with Pip’s life. In order the reader forms a clear view of the situation, the author gives a flashback into the past events proceeding the present ones with a perfect use of causative-consecutive ties and connections. It is necessary to point out that repetition takes various forms in this paragraph. By means of anaphoric reiteration (For I knew him, but I new him, I knew him now! ) the writer sets an unmistakable rhyme reinforcing with every beat of Pip’s heart his feeling of realization and anxiety that is immediately communicated to the reader. No need to take a file, no need to take the handkerchief, no need to hug himself – there is something sinister about the fact that the phrase â€Å"no need to† is repeated so many times that the reader may find disturbing. As always when a repetition takes place, it results in a parallel arrangement of constructions (had driven away, had scattered, had swept us to the churchyard) which is meant to accentuate certain significant details of the past horrible for Pip. The constant use of the verb â€Å"to know† which is definitely a key word of the paragraph deserves special attention, as it is employed so as to emphasize the very fact of recognition. Moreover, the author resorts to a special choice of words aimed at lending an additional expressiveness to the moment described to produce the greatest possible effect achieved by the smallest possible means: to detect, to recall, feature, recognition, identity, suspect, consciousness, distinctly etc. The dramatic opposition of the characters previously introduced by Dickens finds its further development in the course of narration when being under the influence of moment hesitation Pip finally gives his hands to the convict – reluctantly – who grasps them heartily, and kisses them, and holds them which forms a kind of antithesis in the attitude of the personages towards each other. While the convict interprets Pip’s unconscious resignation as a good sign even going to embrace him, the protagonist overcomes his shock and astonishment to keep the distance (I aid a hand upon his breast and put him away) raising his voice in a fit of anger and in his desperate desire to be as far from this man as possible. The author favors reiterations in great abundance expressing one and the same idea from different angles to reveal Pip’s hesitation, lack of self-confidence with the help of root repetition (grateful, gratitude, to thank, to be thanked), anaphora (I am gl ad, I am glad) and chiasmus (I deserve to be thanked, you have come to thank me). As the author puts it Pip loses his self-possession not knowing what to do and the SD of aposiopesis (But surely you must understand – I†¦) is an excellent proof of it. The last phrase of the sentence bringing up the paragraph may be regarded as a logical summing up of what was previously said presenting the reader with a magnificent metaphor â€Å"the words died away on my tongue† proving to be an apotheosis of Pip’s temporary state of numbness and shock. While analyzing the text we must take into account the fact that both characters are presented in evolution – but each of them in his own unique way. At the beginning of the excerpt Pip is self-confident, self-reliant, a bit arrogant considering himself to be a master of the situation although this state does not last long. Pip tries to keep at the same level of formality but he is confused, nervous, anxious. Pip recognizes him but he’s unwilling to renew the chance intercourse with him (But our ways are different ways). In the course of narration he suffers lack of words and numbness while concerning the convict Dickens makes a well-thought-out swift in the mood of the personage shifting from friendly tone to somewhat ironic and self-assured one. The convict also repeats himself but deliberately as it produces quite a different, even opposite impression on the reader – his speech is now imbued with bitter disappointment and irony seems to be a perfect tool for its expression. Apart from this he tries to sound poetic (many a thousand mile of stormy water, since you and me was out on them lone shivering marshes) and all the dialect and uneducated features of his speech prominent not only in phonetics, but also in vocabulary and syntax cannot prevent the reader from perception of his romantic nature. In the stream of consciousness Pip turns off to his past again remembering some significant details about his acquaintance with the convict. Dickens resorts to anaphora (I was a poor boy, and to a poor boy they) to lay a special stress on the fact mentioned intensifying it with oxymoron (they were a little fortune) to lend probability and additional expressiveness to the description of Pip’s joyless childhood full of hardship and privation. The fact that the convict gave some money to Pip finds its reflection in the present when Pip is trying to repay to him to split all the bonds between them and get rid of the feeling of obligation. The protagonist’s actions insult the convict who does not care of money, burning them down. It is necessary to point out that Pip’s actions are connected polysyndetically to indicate Pip’s hurriedness and nervousness whereas the convict’s actions are joined asyndetically displaying perfectly his self-reliance. The contradictions of the convict’s manifest themselves in the recurring SD of chiasmus (with a smile that was like a frown, and with a frown that was like a smile) employed by the author confuse Pip even more when the night guest puts a question truing to sound greatly and deeply ironically – May I make so bold as ask you how you have done well? laying a special stress on â€Å"how† which is italicized. The question influences Pip in a strange and frightening way and the author reinforces his hidden fears using the emphatic it-structure in the following sentence – It was only now I began to tremble – in order to mark the moment when Pip’s numbness is ready to set him free giving way to much wilder feeling s and emotions. To impart to the paragraph its own stylistic value Dickens resorts to the SD of metonymy (lips had parted and shaped some words that were without sound) to deepen Pip’s hesitation and feeling of uncertainty. The question is piled on the question while the convict deliberately disparages himself (a mere warmint) to let Pip feel in full measure, keenly, acutely the convict’s ironic attitude towards him as a naive boy who thanks his lucky stars having no slightest idea of his real benefactor. Along with the epithet â€Å"wildly† the author make use of a colorful simile – with my heart beating like a heavy hammer of disorder action – and the SD of suspension (as to the first figure now. Five? As to the 1st letter of this layer’s name, now. Would it be J? ) to introduce the reader into the final part of the extract under consideration containing the denouement of the whole text. The final part of the text presents the climax of the excerpt with Pip’s state of shock being underlined in a number of ways and exaggerated. The author’s chief weapon is hyperbole. The abundant use of hyperbolic plural orms (disappointments, dangers, disgraces, consequences) blended with metaphoric (all the truth of my position came flashing on me, rushed in in such multitude) and some other hyperbolic expressions (I was borne down, had to struggle for every breath, could not have spoken one word though it had been to save my life, suffocating) give the reader a vivid sense of revelation befallen Pip who is about to faint which is proved metaphorically by the author (the room began to surge and turn) as well as metonymically (bringing the face that I now well remembered) . The final part is based on the SD of suspense which makes the idea of revelation more prominent and surely holds the reader’s attention till the very last word. The use of emphatic it-construction (It’s me wot has done it! ) deepens the reader’s understanding of it. The last paragraph is practically built up on parallel constructions backed up by anaphoric repetitions (as ever I earned a guinea, that guinea should go to you, as ever spec’lated and got rich, you should get rich) and the SD of antithesis (I lived rough, that you should live smooth, I worked hard that you should be above work). Rhetorical questions that do not need any answers but stimulate some meditations upon the real state of affairs strengthen the crash of all Pip’s great expectations. Disparaging himself deliberately the convict desires to sacrifice a lot for Pip’s sake that emphasizes his magnanimity and Pip’s pettiness. The young man’s happiness is the only compensation he needs and exclaiming – I could make a gentleman – and, Pip, you are him! – he sounds proud and satisfied with what he has done. In his novel Dickens touches upon some burning issues of his time in a life story of a young man whose being poor and lonely gets a chance to change all his life with the help of money and the power they give abandoning his friends and family, almost betraying the only people who ever loved him. With an ironic and satiric touch the author uncrowns all the great expectations of the young man who is subject to go through disappointments of his adult life much harder to overcome than childhood ones. For me the great value of the extract consists in my desire to read the whole story appeared while analyzing this text. To tell you the truth I’ve experienced some controversially feelings reading this passage trying to understand it completely and utterly. As they say good deeds are those you are not telling of so no matter how proud you are of your success and your achievements concerning some other person’s destiny you should not come to him to point out the connection between your actions and his fortune in order to avoid the annoying feeling of obligation, especially in case you do not know this person well enough to make him feel obliged. From my personal experience I cannot but say that friends and family will realize themselves whether they should thank you or not, as regards some other people you’ve ever secretly helped – sometimes it’s even a pleasure to watch them coping with their lives knowing that you’ve taken part in their success but keeping it to yourself to enjoy privately. Good deeds will be rewarded in any case – no need to force people thanking you or this gratitude will bring no good. How to cite Charles Dickens, Great Expectations, Papers

Term Structure of Interest Rates and its Relationship to Bonds

Question: Discuss about the Term Structure of Interest Rates and its Relationship to Bonds. Answer: Introduction: A bond is referred to as a debt investment that investors use as a financial instrument to earn a fixed or variable interest for a defined period of time. An article by Gary Porter and Curtis Norton (2010) describes a bond as a security or a financial instruments that allow firms to borrow money and repay over a long period of time. McGraw Hill (2015), defines a bond as interest only loan. To understand the bond market it is essential to comprehend the terminologies used in bond market, bond prices and interest rates, effects of demand and supply on bond prices and the risks inherent the bond market. Zero coupon bond, fixed payment loan, coupon bond and consol are the common types of bonds. Zero Coupon Bond According to the street (2017), Zero Coupon Bonds are discounted bonds that accrue zero coupons. Take a bond that has a face value of $100 with an interest rate of 10% for five years the investor will buy the bond at discounted rate of $62.09. The discounted price represents the interests that compounded automatically until bond matures. The price of zero coupon bond is calculated as the present value of the bond. The value of the bond is inversely related to the interest rate, when the value of bonds decreases the interest rate of the bonds increases. A $100 bond of 10% yield and coupon of 10% would be at a lower price of $49.72 if the interest rates would increase to 15%. Fixed - payment Mortgages Fixed rate mortgages are amortized loans that borrowers pay a fixed amounts at specified dates as agreed in the contract. The value of the mortgage is equal to the present value of fixed payments. Assuming an investor borrows $100 for 5 years at a monthly fixed rate of 10%, the investor will be required to pay $2.12 yielding the lender a total interest of $27.48. The other types of mortgage is adjustable rate mortgage where the payments are dependent on changes in interest rates. Coupon Bonds Bonds that investors are promised a series of periodic interest payments determined by a coupon rate and the face value at the end of the bond tenure are referred to as Coupon Bonds. According to Lee. M. Dunham PhD, (2014), coupon rates is used because historically coupons were printed on coupons. A coupon bond with an annual coupon rate of 10% and a yield 8% for a period of 5 years has a bond value of $107.99. Consols According to the American heritage dictionary of the English language (2011), a consol also known as a bank annuity is a government bond which pays perpetual interest with no maturity. The price of the console is usually the present value of interest received. Bond Yields Bond yields is the amount of return an investor realizes on a bond (Investopedia, 2017). It is usually considered as the cost of borrowing or the reward of lending. There are various ways of determining the bond yields depending on the investors preferences of investment; based on the tenure of the bond (yield to maturity), coupon payments (current yields), trading of bonds (holding period returns). Yield to maturity is the return that bond holders receive as a reward of holding the bond to its maturity (principal payback period). The price and yield of bonds have inverse relationship. When the yields of the bonds go up then, the value of the bond goes down. This rise in value of bonds is referred to as a capital gain and the fall of value is referred to as capital loss. The current yield is defined as the returns that bond holders receive mainly related to coupon payment. It is usually calculated as the annual coupon paid divided by the purchasing price. Where the price of the bond is at a discounted price to the value of the bond then the current yield becomes higher than the yield to maturity. Assume an investor purchases a bond of $100 at 10% coupon rate and maturity yield of 15%. The value of the bond is $83.24. When the bond is sold at a lower price than the value of the bond say $60 then the current yield of the bond will be 24.82%. If the bond is sold at a higher price t han its value say $115, then the current yield will be 6.4%. If the bond is sold at the value of the bond then the current yield will be equal to the yield of maturity. Bond Supply, Demand and Equilibrium Supply and demand determine the prices and returns (yields) of bonds. The relationship between the quantity the market is willing to sell versus the price forms the bond supply curve. The supply curve states that the price of a bond and quantity supplied are positively correlated. The demand and supply of bonds are also in tandem to the type of buyer. As for investors they would prefer higher prices to sell whereas corporates issuing the bonds view the high prices as an advantage in getting finances or loans. The relationship between the quantity the market is willing to buy versus the price forms the bond demand curve. Investors will be willing to buy bonds when the yields are high so that they can enjoy from the discounted prices of bonds. In economics equilibrium, is when the market demand is equal to the supply. The bonds demand and supply play along the equilibrium in that when there is excess demand the prices of the bond are pushed up and when the supply becomes excess then the investors push the prices down. The shifting in bond market supply is mainly related to changes in government borrowing, where when the government borrows excessively then the bonds quantity increases shifting the curve right. Changes in general business and anticipated increase in inflation also creates influx in the supply of bonds causing a shift of the supply curve to the right. The shifting in bond market demand is attributed to wealth, anticipated fall in inflation, increase in expected returns, reduced risk in bond markets and liquidity preferences. Risk Management in Bonds Bonds are termed risk primarily due to default risk, inflation and volatility in interest rates. As for default risk, securitization has been used as a risk mitigant. Noel Ransom (2013), defines securitization as the process of turning assets into securities. Examples have been seen in mortgages where investors channel proceeds of rent instead of payment of coupons. Government institutions use inflation indexed bonds as a reward of this risk to investors. Inflation and interest rate affect bonds interchangeably. Interest-rate risk arises from uncertainties of holding a long-term bond. The riskiness of bonds created inventions of bond ratings with the likes of Moodys and Standard Poors who monitor the credit worthiness of bond issuers and assess the default rate of bondholders. Bond holders who are risky are rated higher. Bonds can be categorized in accordance to their riskiness. Investment-grade bonds are commonly government bonds whose credit worthiness is almost a 100% guaranteed. Speculative grade bonds are bonds issued by companies and countries that are stake of non-immediate default risk. The other types of bonds are the highly speculative bonds which include loans that have high risk of default and Junk bonds that are high speculative grade bonds. Other risky bonds are subprime mortgages and commercial papers. Investors who are risk tolerant (have high risk appetite) require rewards for accepting those risks, they demand discounted prices in bonds and hence high yields. Taxes are generally an unintentional fee imposed on people and institutions that is enforced by a government entity (Investopedia, 2017). Cash flows from bonds are also taxed by the government. This propagates investors to base their decisions on the after-tax yield. For example, an investor who buys a $100 bond whose yield is 6% and a taxable rate of 30% considers the yield of a bond to be 4.2% after tax. Interest rates terms structure is a major concern to bond investors. The relationship between bonds with similar features but dissimilar maturities is called the interest rate term structure (Geneva Business School, 2017). Bond yields of different maturities have positive correlations. Research has also proven that yields of short term bonds are riskier than long term bonds and the return of long term bonds is usually higher than short term bonds. According to Creswell, J. W. (2003), the most common theories of interest rate term structure are expectation hypothesis, liquidity preference and information on interest rates theory. As for expectation theory, investors are seen to be indifferent in holding bonds with different maturities. The theory purports the research that have been done on bonds yields apart from the yield on long term bonds is usually higher bonds with lower tenure which is catered for by the liquidity premium theory. Information on the other hand is seen to be a ri sk indicator of bonds. References Consol. (n.d) (2011), American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Creswell, J. W. (2003). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed method approaches, 421 -429. Gary P and Curtis N (2010), Financial Accounting: The Impact on Decision Makers, 482, Cengage learning Centre. Geneva Business School (2017), Bonds, Bond Prices and the Determination of Interest rates, 4-9 Investopedia (2013), Bond Yields, Retrieved, from https:// https://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/bond-yield.asp. Investopedia (2017), Retrieved from https://www.investopedia.com/terms/t/taxes.asp#ixzz4WfiId2cK. Lee. M. Dunham PhD, (2014), Debt Securities, 2, Claritas Investment Certficate. McGraw Hill (2015), Interest Rates and Bond Valuation. Retrieved from https:// www.mcgrawhill.ca/college/ross McGraw-Hill (2015), New York, NY, 28, Thousand Oaks. USA Nowel R (2013), Securitization: Definition, Theory Process, 2, study Street (2017), what is a Zero coupon bond? Retrieved from https://www.thestreet.com/topic/47362/zero-coupon-bond.html.

Home of Mercy free essay sample

Home of Mercy Home of Mercy is a sonnet written by Gwen Harwood during modern era Australia. It depicts the lifestyle of a select few group of â€Å"ruined girls†, who have been impregnated and exiled to live with the nuns throughout the course of their pregnancy, in hope of exoneration. It deals with the confronting issue of the loss youthful innocence; is a wrong decision made in your teenage years really enough to have the rest of your social life destroyed? Gwen Harwood’s poem raises the problem of teenage pregnancy. Pregnancy in juveniles was something that shamed an entire family. With very few options, the young women were forced to live with the Catholic nuns in hope that god will show mercy upon them. The text was clearly written with a clear understanding of the feelings of the exiled women and the obvious suppression undergone by these girls. To some extent, â€Å"Home of Mercy† loses some of its power in a modern context because of teenage pregnancies becoming more and more accepted. We will write a custom essay sample on Home of Mercy or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page I think Gwen Harwood wrote her poem to not only outline the problem of unplanned pregnancy, but for the â€Å"onlooker† to have a different perception on this topic. Most people would look at them as â€Å"the ruined girls†, but I think Harwood is trying to make the reader feel compassion and sympathy for these underappreciated girls. She implies that they live very harsh lives, and touches on the notion that they aren’t mature physically (or mentally) when she refers to them as having â€Å"ripening bodies. In my opinion, Gwen is blatantly telling the reader that they should see both sides of this argument and not to jump to conclusions about them. The mood of â€Å"Home of Mercy† is one of its fundamental tools in persuasion. It contains a very strong emotion of suppression and domination, with a strong influence of a lifeless and depressing overtone. A main emotion is the strict and forceful routine enforced by the Catholic Church. The opening sentence â€Å"By two and two † already suggests that they are standing in regimented lines. The next line â€Å"at the neat margin of the convent grass† re-instates the sharp, tense lines symbolically representing their sharp, tense lives. The girls are shown as being ultimately dominated; â€Å"They kneel†, â€Å"their intolerable weekday rigour. †, â€Å"they will launder†. They have no say: â€Å"an old nun who silences their talking†, and are forced to do exactly what the nuns tell them or face life-long solitude. â€Å"Home of Mercy† is structured like a conventional Petrarchan sonnet (abba rhyming scheme), with a few minor flaws in the flow (line 1 and 4 have 11 syllables, and line 6 has 12). A strange aspect of the poem is the use of language. The poem is about a group of girls being treated like the scum of the Earth, yet there aren’t many violent or hateful words at all. Most of the meaning is put through symbolic references and metaphors. The most hateful words are sin and brutish, which are only used toward the end of the poem for effect. Visual imagery is also strong in Harwood’s poem. The opening line â€Å"By two and two† already gives the reader the impression that the girls are under strict control. angels will wrestle them with brutish vigour† is metaphorically saying that even the sacred angels won’t be by their side; that everyone is against them. â€Å"Home of Mercy† has iambic pentameter, with 10 syllables per line in most. A good example of Gwen using sounds to give effect to the poem is â€Å"They smooth with roughened hands†, the soft sounds of â€Å"smooth† in contrast of the harsh sounds of â€Å" roughened† have almost an onomatopoeic effect. Also, the line â€Å"faces of mischievous children in distress† contains sibilance of the â€Å"s† sound. â€Å"Home of Mercy†

Crossing Paths in Wuthering Heights essays

Crossing Paths in Wuthering Heights essays In the novel Wuthering Heights, a story about love turned obsession, Emily Bronte manipulates the desolate setting and dynamic characters to examine the self-destructive pain of compulsion. Emily Brontes Wuthering Heights is a novel about lives that cross paths and are intertwined with one another. Healthcliff, a orphan, is taken in by Mr. Earnshaw, the owner of Wuthering Heights. Mr. Earnshaw has two children named Catherine and Hindley. Jealousy between Hindley and Healthcliff was always a problem. Catherine loves Healthcliff, but Hindley hates the stranger for stealing his fathers affection away. Catherine meets Edgar Linton, a young gentleman who lives at Thrushcross Grange. Despite being in love with Healthcliff she marries Edgar elevating her social standing. The characters in this novel are commingled in their relationships with Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange. The series of events in Emily Brontes early life psychologically set the tone for her fictional novel Wuther ing Heights. Early in her life while living in Haworth, near the moors, her mother died. At the time she was only three. At the age of nineteen, Emily moved to Halifax to attend Law Hill School. There is confusion as of how long she stayed here, suggestions ranging from a minimum of three months to a maximum of eighteen months. However long, it was here where she discovered many of the ideas and themes used in Wuthering Heights. Halifax, just like the Yorkshire moors of York, can be described as bleak, baron, and bare. The moors are vast, rough grassland areas covered in small shrubbery. The atmosphere that Emily Bronte encompassed herself in as a young adult, reflects the setting she chose for Wuthering Heights. The setting used throughout the novel Wuthering Heights, helps to set the mood to describe the characters. We find two households separated by the cold, muddy, and barren moors, one by the name of Wuthering Heights, and the other Thrush...

What Are the Political and Cultural Developments of the Ancient and Term Paper

What Are the Political and Cultural Developments of the Ancient and Medieval Eras - Term Paper Example The Medieval Era is also referred to as the Dark Ages as there was very little writing, science or culture during this period. This period is finally believed to have ended with the fall of the Eastern Roman Empire in 1453. During all these years, the world has been a witness to innumerable events and discoveries, which have had a tremendous impact on our lives. Mesopotamia, was originally the area around the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Today, we know this region as the modern-day Turkey, Syria, and Iraq. Historians believe that the earliest civilizations began in a land which today is the modern Iraq. Geographically Iraq belongs to Mesopotamia of the Old Testament. The land of Mesopotamia was filled with surplus water resources and was a land with plenty of valleys and rivers. It was a land of fertile vegetation, plentiful wildlife, and abundant water. This paved way for producing surplus food and for the development of civilization. Civilization here was initialized by many rulers like Hammurabi (1792-1750 B.C.), Cyrus (550-530 B.C.), Darius (520-485 B.C.), and Alexander (336-323 B.C.). By 6000 B.C., Mesopotamia was occupied chiefly by Turkish and the Iranians. Southern Mesopotamia was the area from where a high sense of religion developed. Many of the important Mesopotamian cities developed in areas that surrounded Sumerian culture cente rs. This helped in the development of a close relationship between the government and religion. The ancient cities like Babylon and Assyria were a part of Iraq. There were also many attempts made for flood control and joint irrigation. This was very helpful in initializing the development of this civilization. Mesopotamia was controlled by different people at different times, starting with the Sumerians in around 3500 B.C. The Sumerians are said to have invented the wheel and the Cuneiform script, which most historians regard as the earliest form of writing. Ancient Mesopotamians had ceremonies for each month based on the waxing and waning of the moon, equinoxes and solstices, etc. Music played a very important part in their lives, and songs were sung to children, which and these were passed on through many generations as an oral tradition. Later these provided a valuable source of information about their past history. They used a small stringed musical instrument called the Oud, wh ich is considered as a forerunner to the European lute. They enjoyed games like boxing, wrestling, and some form of polo. Mesopotamians were known to bury their dead in family graves along with their possessions. The political history of the Sumerians was one of constant warfare, where each city-state would try to conquer and unify the other, but mostly failing in their efforts. Though it was eventually unified by Eannatum, the Sumerian King of Lagash for a short period, it was later conquered by the Akkadians, who survived for a few generations before being taken over by the Babylonians. EGYPT The Egyptian culture has about six thousand years of recorded history. Life here began along the banks of the river Nile. This place has a very rare geographical unity and also cultural unity. The Egyptian people even today feel proud about being a descendant of humankind who belonged to the earliest civilized community. Egypt was one of the earliest civilizations, which maintained such a dis tinctive and stable culture that it was powerful enough to later influence the cultures of Europe, the Middle East and the African countries. Most of the dynasties of the ancient Egyptians developed along the river Nile. A lot of

Breast Cancer and Red Wine Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Breast Cancer and Red Wine - Essay Example From this essay it is clear that despite the dreaded nature and repercussions of those who apparently contracted this illness, experts on the subject have revealed that risk factors have been clearly identified and avoiding these would assist in ultimate prevention. The aim of the current discourse is to focus on presenting a discussion on breast cancer, including its description, the current statistics of those affected, the explanations on how various body systems get affected, and the medications or treatments recommended, especially that which was currently discovered, through drinking red wine.As the report declares  from the statistics provided by the Cancer Research UK (2012), it was revealed the breast cancer ranked second in the world’s most commonly diagnosed cancer as of 2008. In the United States, breast cancer was the most commonly diagnosed cancer among females, and â€Å"the most common cause of death from cancer among Hispanic women; as well as the second mo st common cause of death from cancer among white, black, Asian/Pacific Islander, and American Indian/Alaska Native women†.  Cancer was identified to originate from the cell. From the explanations provided in the NCI, the normal cells in the body mature, die, and get replaced by new ones. Somewhere in the process of growth and development, some error occurs. When cells are expected to naturally die and be replaced, some just do not die; or some new cells just emerge even when not needed.

ARGUMENTATIVE, COMPARE AND CONTRAST Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

ARGUMENTATIVE, COMPARE AND CONTRAST - Essay Example The article is well written and presents its argument in a logical manner. First, Cloud (2008) presents the idea brought forward by John McCardell Jnr. that the drinking age should be lowered after several conditions have been met. He also presents McCardell argument that restricting alcohol to those below 18 years old raises its appeal thereby encouraging binge drinking. After presenting these views, Cloud (2008) begins his arguments using statistics. He notes that data provided shows that there has been no major shift in binge drinking since the age restrictions were put in place. He argues that binge drinking has in fact dropped from 40.7% in 1984 to 38.1% in 2006. In response to McCardell’s argument of unsupervised drinking, Cloud (2008) notes that even if the drinking age was to be lowered, there would be no one to supervise the 18-21 year olds. His final argument is that while lowering the drinking age may end infantilizing of college students, it may increase deaths on highways. According to data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, traffic fatalities and accidents connected with drinking have improved considerably since the restrictions were put in place. Sunders (2008) holds a different view and believes that college students between the ages of 18 and 21 are mature enough to drink. She also looks at McCardell’s argument that the drinking age should be lowered and that Washington should open the debate to look at amending the minimum drinking age. Her main argument is that the law is null and void since most people do not believe that the minimum drinking age works. Her arguments are also based on statistics and she argues that half of those between 18 and 21 year old have consumed alcohol despite the prohibitions placed by the law. She presents an argument forwarded by MADD that the minimum drinking age saves lives through the reduction of traffic accidents. She also notes that this fact has been supported by

Benefits of the Psychology of Personality

Benefits of the Psychology of Personality The psychology of personality enables us to understand ourselves better than it allows us to understand others. Critically evaluate this statement, giving empirical and/or theoretical evidence to support your arguments. According to Kohut (2013), personality is not a clearly defined and measured concept; therefore in order to understand ourselves and other people we have constructed implicit personality theories, through observing others’ behaviour and experiencing social interactions (Maltby, Day Macaskill, 2010). However, it is also clear that individual differences occur, making the study of personality more complex, and one which is highly influenced by and reliant on subjectivity. This produces problems with reliably understanding others, and also raises unexpected questions as to whether studying personality really does allow us to understand ourselves better than other people. Allport (1955), expresses personality as a process of ‘becoming’, unique to each individual and their context, and considers that individual differences are made sense of through comparison with accepted concepts. It would therefore make sense that many theories in personality research base themselves on common sense and rely heavily on intuition, often without explicit knowledge (Heider, 2013). Furthermore, psychological research (within personality psychology and other areas) is often directly influenced by personal experience. Allport also commented that by understanding ourselves and identifying issues which are important to our own experience, we are then able to collect structured knowledge about other people. Empirical research by Chiu, Hong and Dweck (1997) demonstrated that an individual’s understanding of themselves influences their view of the personalities of others, through pattern projection, and that forms implicit personality theories. This suggest s that we have an existing deeper knowledge of ourselves and that as we develop this we also cultivate theories about the behaviour of other people around us which allows us to understand them. If then, understanding ourselves enables a better understanding of others, it is important to consider how personality psychology allows us to understand ourselves better. Firstly, much of the terminology used (such as ‘self-actualisation’ and ‘self-concept’) places emphasis on our knowledge of ourselves and how individual awareness should be strived for, as shown by Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. The Need Satisfaction Inventory has been produced in order to operationalise and confirm Maslow’s theory using college students (Lester, 1990); this has provided more grounded evidence for ideas about achieving happiness and potential. Furthermore, the Jungian personality types are based on the concepts of ‘thinking’, ‘feeling’, ‘sensing’ and ‘intuition’ (Jung, 1998), placing emphasis on the internal and subjective, and classifying people using these individual processes. There are elements of psycholo gy which take internal processes to be irrelevant, such as operant and classical conditioning, which rely on genetics and situational factors (Pavlov, 1927; Skinner, 1938). Yet, personality psychology is concerned with what makes people different, and therefore focuses on the internal thoughts and processes which make a person who they are. We are clearly interested in the motives and causes of behaviour and this is one of the main reasons for studying personality (Maltby, Day Macaskill, 2010). Subsequently much research is based entirely on subjective processes as this allows us to understand ourselves better. Ullen, de Manzano, Almeida, Magnusson and Pederson (2012), looked at the phenomenon of ‘flow’ within personality psychology. This involved measuring ‘flow proneness’ using self-report, as flow is a subjective experience which involves enjoyment, low self-awareness and effortless actions when engaging in an activity of interest. The theory is based entirely on subjective experience as flow cannot be measured empirically or be identified by people other than the individual experiencing flow. Due to research such as this, logically it would appear that while undertaking personality research it should be easier to understand ourselves. We have direct information about our history, private behaviours, thoughts and feelings which others do not have, and that we do not have about other people (Vazire Carlson, 2010). However, there are limitations to the amount that we can understand our own personality and internal processes. Wilson (2009) commented on the use of introspection in psychology, stating that it may not be as effective as first thought, as many aspects of ourselves are hidden from conscious awareness, limiting its ability to provide us with self-knowledge. This notion of the unconscious is grounded in psychodynamic psychology and Freudian concepts. Freud considered the unconscious and reasoned that there is much of our thoughts, feelings and internal information about ourselves which is unknown to us. Freud considered consciousness to be a dynamic system, whereby unconscious thoughts manifest themselves in various ways such as dreams and ‘Freudian slips’ (Power, 2000). When understanding a person we put emphasis on their motives, rather than just the observed behaviour, however we cannot pass any judgement on the unconscious (ours or others’) or make generalisatio ns about unconscious processes, as it is beyond our cognition (Jung, 1998). In more recent research, Carlson (2013) provides research suggesting that mindfulness can improve self-knowledge, especially into internal aspects of personality such as thoughts and emotions. Mindfulness, as opposed to introspection, is being more aware of our own internal thoughts and processes without needing immediate explanation and justification- we simply observe our own state. Carlson considers that we can measure both trait and state mindfulness and that this may overcome the barriers of information and ego-defence which can distort our understanding of ourselves. Despite this, it is clear that currently we cannot fully understand ourselves; it has also been explored that this process is intrinsically linked to, rather than preceding, our understanding of others. Heider (2013) explains that as soon as we enter into an interaction with someone else we cannot be analysed and viewed separately from that person and the environment we are in. We respond to what others think of us, or what we perceive to be their views. Vazire and Carlson (2010) go further than behaviour and consider that an individual cannot develop a full understanding of themselves without considering the perspective of people who know them well. Others can see things about our personality and provide insights that we cannot, this is due to blind spots, as we sometimes have too much or too little information or self-presentation motivations which can distort our considerations. We do not view ourselves objectively as others do, which inhibits our understanding of ourselves. Vazir e (2010) produced the Self-Other Knowledge Asymmetry (SOKA) model to illustrate that both the individual and the people close to them have insight into different aspects of their personality. When we consider these ideas when understanding others, on an explicit level it is clear that the only way to find out what people are thinking is to ask them (Baumeister, Vohs Funder, 2007), however this produces a large reliance on self report, and raises methodological issues and problems. The Eysenck Personality Questionnaire, or EPQ (Eysenck, Eysenck Barrett, 1975) is used to measure personality using yes/no judgements by individuals on a series of statements. The self report asks questions such as: ‘Do you often wonder about things you should have done or said?’, ‘Do you often feel lonely?’ and ‘Are your feelings easily hurt?’ Considering Vazire and Carlson’s point, people close to the individual may have an insight and may be able to correct with regards to demand characteristics, however behaviour does not always reflect feelings and beliefs, leaving the self report with a large potential for bias. This is partly due to poor pre dictive validity which leads Baumeister, Vohs and Funder (2007) to argue that Social and Personality psychology disciplines are not really measuring behaviour because of their reliance on self report. They explain that there are often discrepancies between what people say they will do and how they actually behave, meaning that observations and direct experiments would be a more reliable way to study behaviour, and that self-report should be used to accompany these to provide deeper understanding. However, psychology is the study of why people do what they do, so this comment could be considered irrelevant if the emphasis of personality psychology is to explain internal processes and understand why people act as they do (Maltby, Day Macaskill, 2010). Adler (1998) would argue that everything happens with conscious intent and that observing behaviour actually gives no insight into what is occurring within an individual. Furthermore, self-reports do not occur in isolation from the envi ronment, therefore situational factors have an influence on the extent to which personality characteristics are displayed, which in turn may affect an individual’s perception of themselves and subsequently their self-report judgements (Ajzen, 2005). Additionally, self-reports are snap judgements which do not give much information into understanding others, yet can be useful for developing models and theories to explain general internal processes and behaviour (Baumeister, Vohs and Funder, 2007). For example, attachment theory relies on past experiences (Bretherton, 1992) and has proved a highly influential model used in many areas of psychology. As a model, it has been reliably based on observation of behaviour and has helped us to understand others, and even to make inferences about personality; however on an individual basis we often do not have the information available to allow us to make direct attribution retrospectively. We need to understand the full context and the goal of the individual and in this way we understand ourselves but not others. Models provide information about general behaviour, yet perhaps they only aid true understanding of ourselves and not others; when it comes down to environment and experience we kn ow ourselves. Subsequently, the use of self-reports in personality psychology poses questions as to the degree to which we are developing an understanding of others. On the contrary, Lounsbury, Levy, Leong and Gibson (2007) conducted a study into the Big Five personality traits and whether they influence sense of identity in an individual. Although a causal relationship could not be established, their research showed that each of the personality traits were related to, and subsequently may influence, identity. In this way, personality research allows us to develop an understanding of others and often inspire further research. The question is simply the degree to which research like this is able to produce understanding; the preceding points have shown that this may not be as strong as we would think. Reanalysis of such studies has shown reliability in self-report measures. McCrae and Costa (1987) showed strong cross-validation for measures of the five factor personality, showing that self-reports can provide us with insight into behaviour and be relied upon in some cases. So, in conclusion, it has become evident that the study of ourselves and others within personality psychology is perhaps more complex than first thought. This essay has raised many issues. Firstly, it is unclear as to how well personality psychology allows us to understand ourselves. On a conscious level it would appear than whilst trying to understand any aspect of personality we develop a clearer understanding of our own, however, research has shown limitations to this (Wilson, 2009; Power, 2000). Overall, it can be seen that we develop a better understanding of ourselves, yet this may not be to a greater extent than others; it may in fact be a joint process of understanding ourselves and understanding those around us (Heider, 2013; Vazire and Carlson, 2010). Alternatively, when we consider how much we are developing a better understanding of others, there are limitations in the use of self-reports, as it is hard to know the degree of understanding we are gaining and whether this i s providing us with a full picture (Ajzen, 2005). Therefore, there are many considerations which make it hard to know the extent of the understanding gained in personality psychology. Perhaps this is also dependent on interpretation of the word ‘understanding’ and the information needed. If a general knowledge of behaviour is adequate, then the models and theories provided by the discipline can help us to understand both ourselves and others to some degree. However, if we seek understanding on a deeper level, we may have to consider that personality psychology may not currently have all the answers needed for deeper insight in ourselves or others.

Sterilizing the World of ‘Dumb’ People . . . Why It Won’t Work :: Argumentative Persuasive Intelligence Essays

Sterilizing the World of ‘Dumb’ People . . . Why It Won’t Work â€Å"If we could just keep dumb people from having children, eventually there would be nothing but smart people and this would be a better place.† After reading this statement once and not really fully considering it, a lot of people may agree. At some point in their lives, many people may look at certain parents and their children and say, ‘those people really should not be allowed to have children.’ Usually these thoughts are just thoughts, for who are we to say who can and cannot have children. However, what if a government official proposed to sterilize everyone with less than an average IQ of 100. Would preventing ‘dumb’ people from reproducing really make this world a better place? Is the status of our society based on the intelligence of its people alone? The answer to solving the world’s problems and making this a better place to live are not that simple. There are many complex issues around defining and measuring intelligence. Even if we knew for sure that only ‘smart’ people make this place better, would sterilizing the ‘dumb’ work? How important is it to take into account other things that may affect a person’s development? Intelligence is influenced by the interaction of genetics, environment, and culture; therefore, sterilizing people would probably not keep the world free of people with an IQ of less than 100. If the world were cleansed of ‘dumb’ people, it would not guarantee a perfect world. Having a high IQ does not mean that a person will necessarily make this world a better place. Theodore Kaczynski, the Unabomber, had the IQ of a genius. He spent years of his life terrorizing, injuring, and killing people. On the other hand, just because a person has a low IQ does not mean they cannot make this a better place. Take, for example, the ‘Forest Gumps’ of the world or the mentally challenged. They may not be very smart on what our society subjectively calls intelligence, but they may bring joy and purpose to someone else’s life. Making this world a better place is not something left strictly up to the intelligence of the people in it. Anyone supporting the government official’s proposal is assuming that people’s intelligence alone causes the condition of the world, and there is no proof of this.