National Foundation for Educational Research Essay

Over the last century different techniques have been used to organise children within schools according to what the public and government asked for and needed. For example â€Å"after the Second World War the number and size of schools increased, the tripartite system of secondary education was introduced and there was increased competition for grammar school places† Sukhnandan and Lee (1998 pg. 13). There was a drive for excellence and the 11 plus exam leant itself easily to the administration of streaming. However during the 1960’s research was carried out that suggested streaming had negative social consequences for pupils, which could have been the catalyst for the shift of emphasis from excellence to equality. This resulted in a shift from streaming to mixed ability teaching that continued throughout the 1970’s and 1980’s. Ability grouping, in the form of setting and within class grouping, was sometimes used in higher year groups for linear subjects such as maths, science and modern languages but mixed ability was the main grouping method. The essay question implies that again there has been a shift, this time to setting. Boaler et al (1998) seems to imply that pressures from the government are to blame for this move; suggesting research (Gewirtz, Ball & Bowe, 1993 cited in Boaler et al 1998) indicates some teachers regard the curriculum set out in the 1988 Education Reform Act as incompatible with mixed ability teaching implying that they have no choice. Today’s Governments seem to be increasingly interested in achieving goals and raising standards, even if this means children missing out on the social advantages of mixed ability grouping. Setting seems to reinforce social divisions, as there are a higher proportion of boys, children of lower socio-economic status, children born in the summer and those of ethnic minority backgrounds in the lower sets (Boaler, 1997a, 1997b. Oakes, 1982. Sutton, 1966. Cited in Sukhnandan and Lee, 1998. ) whereas children in mixed ability classes tend to come from a range of different backgrounds. I find this quite extraordinary, as the Scottish Parliament has recently spent millions on an anti-racism campaign. Surely segregating the children, albeit unintentionally, will undermine the message sent out by this campaign? The essay will discuss the advantages and disadvantages research has told us concerning setting. It will begin with the discussion of the effect of teacher’s attitudes and expectations of the set that they are teaching. It will then discuss the limitations pupils face by being placed in sets. It will discuss the social gap created by teaching children in sets. It will also discuss the advantages to the teacher of teaching children in sets and the advantages to the pupils. The essay compares setting to mixed ability teaching on several occasions this is because mixed ability teaching was the technique used before the recommendation to use setting also there seems to only be limited research on the other forms of grouping. Research has shown there to be both advantages and disadvantages to setting. Boaler et al (1998) demonstrated many disadvantages to setting. In their paper they cited a worrying statistic Jackson (1963) â€Å"96% of teachers taught to streamed ability groups† meaning they taught all the children without consideration into their individual differences. Boaler et al (1998) made reference to some of the experiences of pupils in setted mathematics classes, they reported that their teachers consistently made comments such as â€Å"you’re in the top set, you should be able to do this† and â€Å"you’re in the bottom group your not going to learn anything†. These attitudes are undoubtedly detrimental for the child. Boaler et al (1998) reported that children in higher sets were disadvantaged because their teachers had too high expectations of the children they were teaching, one third of the children taught in the highest sets felt they were being pushed to hard, that their lessons were paced too fast and they were under too much pressure to succeed because of their teachers expectations and the competitive ethos between pupils in higher sets. This was discovered to really upset certain children, Boaler et al, (1998) â€Å"I mean I get really depressed – it really depressed me, the fact that everyone in the class is like really far ahead and I just don’t understand†. It was reported that girls were the most affected by this citing the fact that although girls have been reported to be overtaking boys in all subjects boys still get the highest grades in mathematics (where the use of setting is dominant). The complete reverse was reported for those in lower sets, who felt that their lessons were too slow; they weren’t being challenged so lost interest. They believed that their teachers had no faith in them. This would then lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy, they have no option but to perform to the set that they are allocated, if they are not encouraged then they will languish in the bottom sets their entire school life. This causes a self fulfilling prophecy, if they are told that they’re incapable of anything more they will begin to believe it, so they wont try to do anything more. Even if the children in the lower sets worked to be moved up into the higher sets they are unlikely to be successful. Teachers teach the children in specific sets to different tiers of an exam, so those in lower groups will not learn the same things as those in higher groups so movement between the sets would be difficult. The idea that children are taught to specific tiers is generally problematic because children are allocated to sets up to three years before they sit the exam and as mobility is rare this can have detrimental effects on their attainment if they were aware that they could only get a low grade. Boaler et al (1998) reported that only some children actually knew the implications of this. The teachers high expectations of those in higher sets and low expectations of those in lower sets causes a further social gap between the sets, those in the top sets will be called â€Å"boffins† and those in the lower sets will be seen as â€Å"stupid†. This is further intensified by the allocation of better qualified and more experienced teachers to higher sets even though research suggests (Black and Wiliam, 1998, p42 cited in Boaler et al 1998) that this type of high quality teaching is more beneficial to those children in lower sets who need more guidance as they are more easily distracted. The lower ability children will recognise that the higher ability children are seen as better and again this will have detrimental effects on their self-esteem causing them to become interested in anti-educational activities where â€Å"it’s cool to be alienated† (Hallam article from TES website, Passmore 2002) and will heighten the rift between the ability groups. In a mixed ability class for example there is a reduced distinction between children’s ability, which is beneficial to the children. There is even the suggestion that children of lower ability use those of higher ability as role models. A further problem could be caused because of a distinction made between academic and vocational subjects. Only subjects such as Maths, Science, English and Modern Languages are set while subjects such as Art and Music are mixed ability as a general rule. Children who are good at art and music may not feel as valued as those who are good at maths. The emphasis for teachers seems to be applied to children in higher sets because they get taught by the best teachers and get taught in the best classrooms. Also the children who aren’t interested may distract other children in these mixed ability groups. Ultimately this will lower their self-esteem and have a negative effect on their attainment in and feelings for the subject. Of cause there must be advantages to setting otherwise the First Minister wouldn’t have recommended it. One major advantage is that, compared to mixed ability teaching, it’s easier for teachers to implement as they can pitch work at a level that is more appropriate for the level the children are at. In mixed ability teaching a large majority of the class are unsupervised while setting lends itself to whole class teaching. This would appear to benefit those children in both higher and lower ability groups. Children in higher ability groups could be neglected and left to get on with their work in mixed ability classes while in sets these children will be given more attention, the children in with less ability will feel less inferior and more confident in groups of children with similar ability. Another benefit for high ability children is that low ability children who don’t want to learn will not distract them. The government is aiming to raise standards so it’s understandable to want to give children of higher ability a better chance. Research (Kulik and Kulik, 1982. 1987. Cited in Sukhnandan and Lee, 1998. ) shows that gifted and high ability children achieve more when placed in sets than they do when placed in mixed ability groups. It’s believed by some that high ability pupils benefit in groups with similar ability because it increases motivation by providing appropriate challenges and competition. There is also the implication that the children will be like-minded, facilitating the opportunity for them to discuss and ‘bounce ideas’ between each other. Possibly the main reason why the First Minister recommended this form of ability grouping is because all the research conducted in this area conflicts resulting in there being no truly consistent findings on the effect of ability grouping for pupil achievement. His recommendation could therefore be based on the fact that setting is easier for teachers so it is more likely children will be taught effectively. His main concern appears to be with raising standards and setting is easier to manage and improve than mixed ability teaching as set guidelines can be given for the attainment targets for each set. The blame for these inconsistent findings has been given to the research methods used. There’s a suggestion made that the outcome of ability grouping isn’t the only thing being tested. The quality of teaching, the teacher’s expectations, the pupil’s expectations and the materials available will all effect the pupil’s achievement. The evidence seems to produce more disadvantages to setting than advantages. The main ones being social rather than necessarily academic. However a child will perform better if they are happy and confident. Being labelled as â€Å"set 6† is not good for a child’s self esteem or confidence especially when teachers reinforce the idea that they are not as ‘good’ as those in higher sets. This ultimately leads to a self-fulfilling prophecy, which eventually causes the child to lose all interest. If the First Minister’s objective really is to raise standards then shouldn’t he be focussing on these low ability children and trying to raise their attainment levels? High ability groups also suffer because of the expectation that they are more capable than they actually there. To improve this it might be necessary to re-teach teachers on pupil differences and explain that all the children within the set are not identical. For this to occur they’d have to be a reduction in the emphasis placed on meeting targets, teachers need the flexibility to return to areas that children are finding difficult. When all said and done isn’t education for the benefit child? The First Minister’s recommendation needs to be accompanied by guidelines for teachers on how they can avoid the negative effects of homogeneous grouping. These guidelines should include careful planning, using well-defined targets and remaining aware of the negative effects of ability grouping (GB. Scottish Office. HMI, 1996. Cited in Sukhnandan and Lee, 1998. ) There could also be a move away from emphasis on academic achievement to more recognition of non-academic achievements to restore the self-esteem of children in lower ability groups (Elton Report, 1989. Taylor, 1993. Cited in Sukhnandan and Lee, 1998. ) His recommendation was probably the right one considering the drive to raise standards and make teachers lives easier. Because of the lack of conclusive evidence for what type of grouping is more beneficial academically for the child he was right to choose the method that could be most easily implemented and controlled. However this lack of conclusive evidence means that more research needs to be carried out to discover what the best form of grouping is. To do this researchers will have to establish what is ultimately best for the child, possibly new ways of grouping could be developed or the old ways upgraded.

Predominance of Goddesses in Minoan Religion Essay

The most obvious thing present in Minoan religion is its polytheistic and matriarchal features, thus it is always referred to as a goddess religion, wherein all deities are female and there had been no male divinity detected until later times. Added to that is the fact that male deities are uncommon and they are usually embodied on a lesser level in contrast to female deities. The predominance of goddesses in the Minoan religion is very apparent in its cults. The proof to this claim is that the majority of mainland palaces shows paintings of parades wherein the people give offerings to their goddesses. Clay statues of female deities were also located in Crete. The predominance of female gods is also indicated by the central task occupied by priestesses in religious rites and the attendance of women in ceremonies’ environment. The number of women also exceeded that of priests and male assistants, and this could be seen in the paintings on the Aghia Triadha Sarcophagus which would be further discussed later on this paper along with other evidences found which points to the predominance of goddesses in the said religion.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Minoans worships female gods, and even though there are several proof of male deities, portrayals of Minoan goddesses greatly outnumber representations of something which could be judged as a Minoan male deity. Whereas some of these portrayals of women are considered to be representations of worshippers and female priests overseeing religious rituals, as opposed to the goddess herself, there still appear to be numerous female deities such as Mother Goddess of fertility, and so on (Hooker, 1999).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Since ruins and remnants were the only thing left for us in understanding Minoan culture, one could only hypothesize and predict what the Minoans religious culture and practices had been. The Minoans left only some articles and pieces of their relics which only suggests at a prosperous and complicated religious practices and figurative method behind their cracked exteriors. As already mentioned earlier, the most evident attribute of this particular religion is that it is polytheistic and matriarchal in nature. Most of the Minoans gods are female and it was only after so many years that male gods had been identified and even then they hold inferior position in contrast to female gods. A majority of religious and cultural scholars now accept as true that almost every religion started out with a matriarchal characteristics and it was only after so many years that they decided to change this matriarchal existence into a patriarchal one. The sudden change from a matriarchal kind of religion into a patriarchal one is still a cause of great controversy up to this point in time. However, the espousal of an inactive way of life due to agriculture may have basically reoriented society in the direction of a patriarchal model of organization and the ensuing rethinking of religion comprised by female gods.   What is for sure is that urbanization radically hastened gender inequality as the lives of mankind unexpectedly took up a double magnitude, that of the public and the private life. The control of public life which is comprised of supervision, regulation, and military groups made up by the men definitely shaped a reorientation of religious principles. However, the Cretans apparently did not change their matriarchal way of life and religion into a patriarchal one. Up to this point in time, the heritage of the female oriented religion is still present in their lives. This is evident through the fact that in Crete men and women alike vow through the name of Virgin Mary. In Crete, the epithet Panagia is as popular as ever (Hooker, 1999).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The ruler of the Minoan pantheon appears to have been omnipotent goddesses who governs and oversees everything in the world. This god is a mother deity, the label having come from her supposedly motherly attitude towards everything and everyone here on Earth. The relationship of a mother to a child is believed to be completely different from that of a father to his children. One may find this particular claim hard to understand however, such would not be the case if one thinks back and reflect that almost everyone holds the saying that â€Å"there is no greater love than that of a mother to a child† to be true, and even Sigmund Freud suggests the same notion on one of his works, â€Å"Moses and Monotheism†. According to him, the relationship between a mother and child is apparently more real than that of a child with his father especially if one would consider the fact that each and every one of us came from our mother’s womb. Although a relationship with a father is also a biological one, such is different and could only be supposed since the child did not come from the father, rather, as mentioned earlier, we all came from our mother’s womb. From here, one could deduct that one of the fundamental aspects of a matriarchal religion is a closer affiliation or connection, like kinship and the like to their goddesses. Religions dominated by male figures on the other hand, is liable to emphasize distance. However, all of these are mere suppositions and intelligent guesses from great thinkers, considering the fact that very little information regarding goddess religion were actually handed down to us.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It is basically owing to this reason that it is hard to weigh the nature of the mother-goddess of Minoans. There are several demonstrations of goddesses, which directs to the assumption that the Minoans were polytheistic. However there are also assertions that the many representations of female goddesses were nothing but just numerous manifestations of a single goddess.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   There are numerous goddesses which could be differentiated from one another in spite of the claims for a monotheistic religion. There is The Lady of the Beasts   or what others call the Huntress, this particular deity is epitomized as one which conquers and is efficient in mastering beasts or animals. In a later embodiment, Huntress became the Mountain Mother and was illustrated to be standing on a mountain and evidently defending the animals as well as the natural world. Snake Goddess, on the other hand is probably the most popular goddess of the Minoan religion. She has snakes interlinked on her body and since her sculptures are found only on houses or small shrines in palaces, there are suppositions that the Snake Goddess is some kind of a domestic deity. However, the household goddess also appears in the form of a tiny bird, this is assumed since there are several shrines which are leaning around a dove-like form. Majority of scholars thinks that major goddesses of Greek religion such as Hera, Artemis, and the like originated from Minoan goddesses (Marinatos, 1993).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The world for the Cretans appears to be saturated with divinity, every object in the universe were all full of religious significance. This is evident on their worship of trees, pillars, and so on, the priesthood as it appears, is dominated by women, although there are minute proofs that palace kings also serves religious purposes (Marinatos, 1993).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   There are also proofs that the Minoans religion also holds belief on demons, which are constantly depicted as doing certain religious rites and the like, so their precise nature is hard to judge. They are also portrayed in human forms, with the hands and feet of a lion, and while they are definitely hideous, they could still be, considered as representations of religious worships.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Also, as mentioned earlier, urbanization radically modifies social relations. Instead of genuine, natural, relationships founded on kinship and empathy, urbanized cultures managed themselves around more theoretical, less durable, and intrinsically uneven lines. For instance, urbanized society revolves around class or economic function instead of kinship, economic function creates a sort of social discrimination, as officials, priests, and so on comes to dwell in more significant roles than other people. /urbanization also creates a rip in human experience in that life is separated into public and private areas. Men were the ones who dominate public fields (Trustees of Dartmouth College, 2005).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Crete, on the other hand avoided this sudden shift from matriarchal rule into a patriarchal one. Crete appears to be a society with no or very little class prejudices. Archaeological proofs imply that women did not stop from playing significant role in their society, especially on the public spheres. Women there operated as priests, as functionaries as well as officials, they also joined in the same sports male joins in. This is greatly admirable considering the fact that sports in Crete were extremely fierce and risky. Bull-jumping for one is a sport wherein those who are weak at heart could not possibly hope to join into. All the demonstrations of the said sports points out that even a woman join in this dangerous activity.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It also appears that females partake in every profession and employment accessible for the male of the specie. The speedy increase of commerce in Crete includes accomplished craftswomen and entrepreneurs, and even the great, system of government and priesthood is full of women. In spite of the fact that the palace kings are male, the society itself could not be considered a patriarchal one.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In fact proofs which came from Cretan settlements proved that Cretan society and religion is a matrilineal one. This is evident in the fact that kinship ancestry was reckoned through the mother’s lineage. Although there is no way to be certain that the Crete society is indeed matrilineal one could not deny that it is a possible conclusion especially since their religion is goddess-based.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Places of worship could also be one determinant that the religion of Minoans is goddess based. Many caves located in Crete showed a great deal of information regarding the Minoan religion. Caves were 1st utilized in Crete as abodes or some kind of living areas in the Neolithic period. By the end of the Neolithic era, caves started to be used at length, as burial grounds, and this kind of custom carried on all throughout the Early Minoan age. Caves were also viewed as cult places in the Middle Minoan era, where they hold their worship to their deities. The predominance of female goddesses in Minoan religion is supported by the presence of these caves wherein the deities they revere there all proved to be females.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   One of the most prominent cult caves is the Cave of Eilethyia which could be located near Amnisos and whose name is linked to the goddess Eileithyia. The basis for this particular connection could be found in Homer’s Odyssey. Close to the center of the cave, one could find a cylindrical stalagmite and contained in the area and in front of the stalagmite is something which looks like a square stone, which some believes to be an altar.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The presence of domestic shrines also points out to the matriarchal facet of the Minoan religion. The shrine at Myrthos is supposedly the place where the goddess Myrtos was found. This particular shrine could be dated back at the early Prepalatial period and it was known to endure all throughout Minoan prehistory. Four of the best well-known Minoan havens could also attest to the domineering feature of the said religion (Moss, 2000).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Shrine of the Double Axes at Knossos is a small shrine which was deserted along with its religious furnishings in situ and is therefore very precious in terms of understanding the Minoan religion. The room’s ground region is separated into different levels. A number of big vases could be located in the front area, in the middle region a stand table of offerings is entrenched in the bottom, and on each side of the table groups of tiny jugs and cups could be seen. At the back of the room, one could see an elevated bench wherein two set stuccoes clay could be located. It is where one the horns of consecration are placed, and in each container, between the horns of consecration is a circular hole. This hole is supposedly used to hold a double axe. Amidst the two pairs of horns, they located a figurine of a woman which is shaped like a bell. There were also found a slighter statue of a woman. They also found a sculpture of a man holding out a dove as well as two other figurines of women (one of which have a bird atop its head). The last is frequently believed to be a goddess while the other statuettes are categorized as votaries.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Town Shrine at Gournia is a post-palatial bench asylum situated close to the utmost point of the neighborhood. This tiny shrine does not belong to a palace or to any huge structure in particular. Rather, the shrine is an independent architectural division close to a cobbled road. When the shrine was unearthed they saw that it is in a noticeable poor state of conservation. However, its floor is full of a huge quantity of cult belongings, some of which are similar to those of the Shrine of the Double Axes. The absence of associated pottery made it had to date the shrine; however, it is possible that it was last put into use in the LM IIIB era. A low bench is situated in the southern partition. The northeast corner, on the other hand, showed a public stand table of offerings about which were to be found four snake-tubes, the bottom of a 5th snake-tube hidden on the stand table of offerings   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Ayia Triadha Sarcophagus is also one of the great sources of evidence if one wants to prove that Minoan religion is basically goddess-based. The said sarcophagus was discovered in a pillaged tomb in early fourteenth century B.C. It is located in Ayia Triadha, thus the name Ayia Triadha Sarcophagus. The front side of the sarcophagus depicted goddesses which were represented by the double axes, there are also birds located atop the axes which is believed to symbolize the arrival of a goddess. In the West end of the sarcophagus is an incomplete male processional scenario, it also shows a chariot pulled by two Agrimia, and the chariot also carries two women. Agrimia is believed to have religious implications in Minoan art. It is also probable that the two women on the chariot are goddesses. At the back side of the sarcophagus is a shrine with a tree in the middle. To the left of the said shrine is an altar, a woman stands in front of the altar and behind the woman is a sacrificial table where a bull is secured which indicates that it is to be sacrificed. The woman standing have her hands held high while at the other side of the scene one could see a parade of women with their palms down which signifies that the sacrifice is meant for the earth or to an underworld character which in turn, implies the possibility that the sacrifice is meant for a funeral of some sort. At the East Side of the sarcophagus are two females riding a chariot which is pulled by two winged griffins, and over them there is a flying bird. The two women are viewed as goddesses, which are implied by the mystical appearance of the griffins. These figures are also viewed to be guides for those who are heading towards the underworld (Minoan, 1988).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   As could be seen, huge quantity of evidences points out that the Minoan religion is indeed dominated by females. It is also mainly because of this particular observation, which were derived mainly from archaeological relics, that it is conclude that the society of Crete is also matriarchal in nature. The presence of numerous goddesses depicted through relics such as paintings, vases, and place of worships and so on all points out that the religion of Minoans were indeed polytheistic and goddess-based in nature. Works Cited Hooker, R. (1999) â€Å"Minoan Religion.† Marinatos, N. (1993). Minoan religion: ritual, image, and symbol University of South Carolina Press. Moss, M. L. (2005). The Minoan Pantheon: towards an understanding of its nature and extent   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   John and Erica Hedges Ltd. Trustees of Dartmouth College (2000) â€Å"Minoan Religion.† Warren, P. (1988) Minoan religion as ritual action Gothenburg: P. Astroms.      

Black Men and Public Space

Darkness is known for its negative undertone. In earlier times, we saw darkness as an interpretation of evil; likewise, light represented God and all good. From literature we, as a society, have built what later became social rules, giving rise to things such as prejudice. In Brent Staples essay â€Å"Black Men and Public Space† this is clearly shown by the authors own experiences of antipathy and hostility towards him caused by his own self. In â€Å"Black Men and Public Space†, Brent Staples begins by coming to the realization of the way he’d be viewed for the rest of his life. He describes feelings of uneasiness towards his newfound self-image. It all came to him one evening in an ally where his tall frame walked behind a young woman. She proceeded to perceive him as a threat to her safety even her life, and race off into the night. Later on his –problem- took a deeper hit on him when even as a professional this image continued to follow him. It evolved into harm for himself when he is mistaken for a thief several times. Toward the end the author learns how to manage this issue by cleaning his image, and controlling his rage toward the ones who considered a criminal. Consistent rejection can cause a man –or woman to see the world as of one color or the other, to the extremes. Thus creating a situation of self-blame where one might think and accept that every bad incident its their own fault. He is blaming himself for actions that occur without actual intent of the so-called attacker. In â€Å"Black Men and Public Space,† Staples writes, â€Å"My first victim was a woman† (566). This phrase creates a dark tone that only gets clearer as the essay moves on. The image of – the victim- is passed onto the author itself. And the fact that is proclaiming himself as an aggressor indicates that he has acknowledged this as a reality. In today’s society, people have the tendency to change how they –act and react- toward certain groups of people, places of interaction, friends and strangers. It can range from lowering safety standards when ones home, to the point of running from someone that, by mistake, its portrayed and related to something harmful. This can create a unique experience, most of the time being of uneasiness and stress. Staples write, â€Å"I First began to know the unwieldy inheritance I’d come into- the ability to alter public space in an ugly way† (566). It is clearly stated in the previews quote that the author is now experimenting a new way of social awareness that it’s brought upon him by just being that way he is. It is surprising how fast people tend to judge yet it also can be way of protection. Even though the author might not be the real aggressor that does not takes the fact that another man like him could be the authentic one. Today’s civilization has grown with fear. Fear of loosing what’s theirs, fear of the police, fear of politics, fear of what’s unknown and different. Sometimes this can manifest in avoidance of the subject but in some occasions it can be a little more –active-. Staples writes, â€Å"And I soon gathered that being perceived as dangerous it’s a hazard in itself† (567). As a result of his dangerous association the author realizes that it’s unsafe to be outside too. As some women tend to opt just to sprint away from you, some men might choose to fight the problem. This brings concerns to the author who apart form being socially un-welcome is now threatened by his own naturally built image. Fear is accompanied by a need for survival. Some animals grow being dominant, creating fear to control. Other just decide to hide hoping not to be involved into precarious situations. In â€Å"Black Men and Public Space†, Staples describes, â€Å"I chose, perhaps unconsciously, to remain a shadow – timid, but a survivor† (568). Staples explain that he took the –smaller animal- path and tries to remain un-recognizable in order for him to have a safer journey around avoiding confrontation. Is easier to hide that to fight but in the long run that –easiness- brings other problems, where self-blame can evolve to depression and self-depreciation. It comes a time in every man’s life when he has to choose between himself and society. When he has to decide whether to stand on his own or simply hide his true self in order to escape confrontation, arguments and possible rejection. Most people have a tendency to – go with the flow- be just like everyone else. Staple writes, â€Å"I now take precautions to make myself less threatening† (568). This quote describes the idea previously expressed. He chooses to alter his image to make his journey safer. In order to add this newer safer self, he must subtract what he was before, losing his identity. In Staples essay â€Å"Black Men and Public Space†, big issues are explored and described in a way that we can relate to without getting lost in the context. On a narrow sense the essay can be viewed as how the author goes through the realization of how he is pictured, moving to the changes he has to make to be -socially- less threatening. Doing this one can go a process of depression and losing identity. This is just the example of only one person but this case is not reserved to him only, it happens to almost everyone and in many different levels. We are 6,602,224,175 humans suffering form all kind of unreal and unfair treatment and as a result, hate and resentment are created, and in fact they are he main cause of racism and un fair treatment towards others thus creating a vicious cycle from which we need to get out in order for humans to walk though these crowded streets in harmony. Work Cited Brent Staples. â€Å"Black Men and Public Space†. Four in One: Rhetoric, Reader, Research Guide, and Handbook. Eds. Eduard A. Dornan and Robert Dees. 5th Edition. Boston: Longman, 2011. 167-169. Print Black Men and Public Space Darkness is known for its negative undertone. In earlier times, we saw darkness as an interpretation of evil; likewise, light represented God and all good. From literature we, as a society, have built what later became social rules, giving rise to things such as prejudice. In Brent Staples essay â€Å"Black Men and Public Space† this is clearly shown by the authors own experiences of antipathy and hostility towards him caused by his own self. In â€Å"Black Men and Public Space†, Brent Staples begins by coming to the realization of the way he’d be viewed for the rest of his life. He describes feelings of uneasiness towards his newfound self-image. It all came to him one evening in an ally where his tall frame walked behind a young woman. She proceeded to perceive him as a threat to her safety even her life, and race off into the night. Later on his –problem- took a deeper hit on him when even as a professional this image continued to follow him. It evolved into harm for himself when he is mistaken for a thief several times. Toward the end the author learns how to manage this issue by cleaning his image, and controlling his rage toward the ones who considered a criminal. Consistent rejection can cause a man –or woman to see the world as of one color or the other, to the extremes. Thus creating a situation of self-blame where one might think and accept that every bad incident its their own fault. He is blaming himself for actions that occur without actual intent of the so-called attacker. In â€Å"Black Men and Public Space,† Staples writes, â€Å"My first victim was a woman† (566). This phrase creates a dark tone that only gets clearer as the essay moves on. The image of – the victim- is passed onto the author itself. And the fact that is proclaiming himself as an aggressor indicates that he has acknowledged this as a reality. In today’s society, people have the tendency to change how they –act and react- toward certain groups of people, places of interaction, friends and strangers. It can range from lowering safety standards when ones home, to the point of running from someone that, by mistake, its portrayed and related to something harmful. This can create a unique experience, most of the time being of uneasiness and stress. Staples write, â€Å"I First began to know the unwieldy inheritance I’d come into- the ability to alter public space in an ugly way† (566). It is clearly stated in the previews quote that the author is now experimenting a new way of social awareness that it’s brought upon him by just being that way he is. It is surprising how fast people tend to judge yet it also can be way of protection. Even though the author might not be the real aggressor that does not takes the fact that another man like him could be the authentic one. Today’s civilization has grown with fear. Fear of loosing what’s theirs, fear of the police, fear of politics, fear of what’s unknown and different. Sometimes this can manifest in avoidance of the subject but in some occasions it can be a little more –active-. Staples writes, â€Å"And I soon gathered that being perceived as dangerous it’s a hazard in itself† (567). As a result of his dangerous association the author realizes that it’s unsafe to be outside too. As some women tend to opt just to sprint away from you, some men might choose to fight the problem. This brings concerns to the author who apart form being socially un-welcome is now threatened by his own naturally built image. Fear is accompanied by a need for survival. Some animals grow being dominant, creating fear to control. Other just decide to hide hoping not to be involved into precarious situations. In â€Å"Black Men and Public Space†, Staples describes, â€Å"I chose, perhaps unconsciously, to remain a shadow – timid, but a survivor† (568). Staples explain that he took the –smaller animal- path and tries to remain un-recognizable in order for him to have a safer journey around avoiding confrontation. Is easier to hide that to fight but in the long run that –easiness- brings other problems, where self-blame can evolve to depression and self-depreciation. It comes a time in every man’s life when he has to choose between himself and society. When he has to decide whether to stand on his own or simply hide his true self in order to escape confrontation, arguments and possible rejection. Most people have a tendency to – go with the flow- be just like everyone else. Staple writes, â€Å"I now take precautions to make myself less threatening† (568). This quote describes the idea previously expressed. He chooses to alter his image to make his journey safer. In order to add this newer safer self, he must subtract what he was before, losing his identity. In Staples essay â€Å"Black Men and Public Space†, big issues are explored and described in a way that we can relate to without getting lost in the context. On a narrow sense the essay can be viewed as how the author goes through the realization of how he is pictured, moving to the changes he has to make to be -socially- less threatening. Doing this one can go a process of depression and losing identity. This is just the example of only one person but this case is not reserved to him only, it happens to almost everyone and in many different levels. We are 6,602,224,175 humans suffering form all kind of unreal and unfair treatment and as a result, hate and resentment are created, and in fact they are he main cause of racism and un fair treatment towards others thus creating a vicious cycle from which we need to get out in order for humans to walk though these crowded streets in harmony. Work Cited Brent Staples. â€Å"Black Men and Public Space†. Four in One: Rhetoric, Reader, Research Guide, and Handbook. Eds. Eduard A. Dornan and Robert Dees. 5th Edition. Boston: Longman, 2011. 167-169. Print Black Men And Public Space Black Men and Public Space Black Men and Public Space Black Men and Public Space

Theme Park Management Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Theme Park Management - Assignment Example The maximum number of tourists are from Germany (about 50 percent), with Switzerland contributing 22 percent and France, a close second, with 18 percent. The rest 10 percent constitute visitors from other countries. Given these facts, the researcher has attempted to find out if the planning process of the theme park laid any stress on sustainable development of the local community. The research, therefore, aimed at evaluating to what extent the local residents were involved in the planning process of the park, both then and now, and the perspective of the local residents and stakeholders about their involvement, again both then and now. The researcher has used a positivistic research philosophy with a mainly deductive research approach, to establish the research objectives. Primary research (interviews, questionnaire) and secondary research (review of travel literature) were used for the project. The logic employed was that since the number of people was relatively large, a quantitative approach was employed. Though the researcher has not excluded the importance of qualitative research and in fact has included few interviews in trying to establish the aim of the project. In every research it is important to know about the research approach, how the data was collected and analysed, as the results of the research will vary accordingly. (Language Center. Writing up Research Method and Research Design.) For example, if the efficiency of the voting system in a democracy has to be determined and if a questionnaire survey is being provided to the people across the country, then it is a much better approach than randomly interviewing people. Two factors, one the huge base and the second sectional bias and prejudice will affect the results of the interviews. However, if the questionnaire has options marked as excellent, very good and good, then it gives no option to the respondent to answer in the negative. Hence, though the quantitative research method would be the best suited, it may lead to wrong conclusions, because the questions did not have exhaustive options. What is generally agreed on is that there is no 'perfect' research method. Data collection, however, is best representative when both quantitative and qualitative data is collected. So, interviews, which tell the 'inside story' is essential to understand the analysis. (Carter McNamara, Copyright 1997-2008.) In whatever which way the data is collected, analysis is best when the process starts working backward that is from the research goals. Starting this way, helps to streamline the thought, organise the data and focus on the analysis. In the Europapark project, though the aim was to determine the involvement of the local community in the initial as well as the present planning and implementation of the theme park project, the research objectives were fragmented into: Determining tourist attraction in a theme park and ways in which the local community can be involved in the project. Identifying the actual involvement of the local community in the planning process, in the design phase and in the current period. Determining the local community's perception of their involvement in the

Parenting Education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Parenting Education - Essay Example They must be told at the initial phase of their lives that a little mischief is always permissible but doing this in an all-out manner is not a very acceptable thing. This paper takes a keen look at the critical standpoint of the relationships that exist within the parents and the kids’ spheres. It also studies the basis of the parents being at the helm of complete control and exerting their influence in nearly all the kids’ activities and undertakings. One sees this relationship between the parents and the kids in such a way that allows for their positive association with one another. However it is when the kids stop realizing that they are answerable to their parents that the whole problem creeps into the related domains. This is one of the most important aspects that one should understand before delving deep into the study basis of associations between the parents and their kids. The parents are unaware of the new ways and means through which their kids are bent upon deceiving them (Levine 2007). They are also unknowing the realms that their kids are outsmarting them in terms of technological prowess and related technical details that they are learning by the day. The ignorance therefore is very detrimental towards the cause of raising kids on a solid footing, as the repercussions are immensely hazardous for the parents as well as their kids. The parents might not live long enough to see their kids getting to good ages but what they can do is to inculcate a sense of sound.

Research proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 2

Research Proposal Example Critically ill adults in 8 intensive care units will be enrolled within 24 hrs of intubation in the research with 2 x 2 factorial design. The 2 x 2 factorial design implies that the patients will be divided into two equal groups each comprising of 250 participants. The control group is subjected to tooth brushing technique and the other group antiseptic agent (Chlorhexidine). This number of patients will satisfy the ratio of 30 individuals per variable. Patients excluded from the research are those with a clinical diagnosis of pneumonia at the time of intubation (Munro, Grap, Jones, McClish & Sessler, 2009). The development of VAP will be determined through the use of CPIS (Clinical Pulmonary Infection Score). The rationale for setting this location is to obtain reliable information about prevention of VAP in critically ill adults in the ICU environment. The sampling strategy in this research proposal is probability sampling and in specific the technique employed is the criterion. Probability sampling is the most valid strategy to attain statistical generalization (Gerrish & Lathlean, 2015). Criterion sampling is carried out on the basis of one or more standards for selection. For instance, in this case, the focus is on the use of a toothbrush and antiseptic agent (Chlorhexidine) on critically ill patients in the ICU. Moreover, this strategy will assist to choose participants that are capable of giving results of this research on aspects of prevention of VAP in ICU using oral care hygiene that is poorly understood (Boswell & Cannon, 2014). The research design for this proposal is a parallel trial design. In a research using this design, the parallel groups’ investigations are not limited to a specified period, but rather until either of the treatment group exhibits a clear benefit. These experiments last until the time one treatment is more effective than the other (Gallin & Ognibene, 2012). In this case, the design will investigate the

Corporate Repurchase Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Corporate Repurchase - Research Paper Example This is an indication of a growing business when people are buying business' stocks. The business growth benefits both, the owners, as well as the investors. In order to extend the stock fundraising, corporations repurchase their stocks. This process is commonly known as a 'corporate repurchase'. 'Repos', 'buybacks', 'reverse repos', 'or 'repurchase agreements' are also some terms implying the same process. (WiseGEEk, 2009) A repurchase agreement, also known as lending buyback occurs when all or some of the securities, comprising of bonds, stocks, or money markets; are sold by the corporation at a premium. The corporation agrees to buyback these securities later at a higher price. A repurchase agreement is very similar to a 'secured loan' in different ways as the securities are taken as collateral. Typically, the repayment takes place after a few months. This is the case of a short option loan. Long option loan, for which repayment can be prolonged up to two years, are not so common. (WiseGEEk, 2009) When corporations buy their own stocks from the general market or stockholders in a systematic fashion, it is called a corporate buyback. In order to cut down the costs of the repurchase agreement, the corporations can combine it with a corporate repurchase program. ... This is a possibility when there are two differing ideas. (WiseGEEk, 2009) A corporate repurchase program can strategically explain that a company thinks of its stock in the market as undervalued. When the companies offer a buyback plan, they are actually cutting down the amount of outstanding stocks, as corporate heads are allowed to buy stocks from stockholders. Thus, the stock price goes up. (WiseGEEk, 2009) A corporate repurchase may also be undertaken for other reasons. It can be used to offset the costs that are incurred when companies offer a compensation package to the workers. It may also be used to strengthen internal control. A company's stock earnings weaken when it is offering stock options or provides for a 401K. Stocks are brought back into the control of the company when a buyback occurs. The worth of stocks also increases for the existing stockholders. (WiseGEEk, 2009) A corporate repurchase can be carried out in several ways. For instance, existing stockholders can be consulted. An offer is made to them to purchase the stocks at a premium. Investors do not get much time to accomplish it. Another way of repurchasing stocks is by acquiring stocks on the market. This process takes a long time. Corporate repurchase is indeed a very effective way that enables businesses to purchase the company back from stockholders. If 100% of the company's stocks are bought back, the corporation may become private and abandon the public trade method. (WiseGEEk, 2009) Buybacks are a way of administrating the buyers' market. The process limits the stocks for investors. Supply and demand of stocks is controlled when a company engages in a buyback. A buyers' market is transformed into a seller's market as the

Statistics Project Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 9

Statistics Project Example In this case, a description of the length of labor could have been initiated whereby the length of labor of one works would be considered as a random variable. A probability distribution that provides a description to such a random variable would them be initiated. 4. The distributions of scores for the experimental and control groups were not similar for the length of labor because the two means were different. The mean of the experimental group was 14.63 while that of the control group was 12.79, portraying a mean difference of 1.84 (Troy & Dalgas-Pelish, 2003). 5. The experimental and control groups were slightly in their type of feeding since in all types of feeding such as bottle feeding, breast feeding, as well as the combination of the two modes of feeding depicted a difference in their mode, as a measure of central tendency (Mann, 1995). Breast-feeding was found to have a mode of 40.6% for the experiment group against 41.7% for the control group, while bottle-feeding had a mode of 53.1% against 50.0% for the experimental group and control group respectively. On the other hand, the combination of both the breast and bottle-feeding showed a mode of 6.3 and 5.6 for the experimental group and the control group respectively (Troy & Dalgas-Pelish, 2003). 6. The marital status mode for the subjects in the experimental and control groups included 78.1% for the married subject in the experimental group, against 86.1% for the control group. The mode also included 3.1% for the separated/divorced subjects in the experimental group against 2.1% in the control group, and 18.8% for the single subjects in the experimental group, against 8.3 in the control group (Troy & Dalgas-Pelish, 2003). The frequencies for these three subject categories for the experimental groups against the control groups were 0.781 vs. 0.861, 0.031 vs. 0.021, and 0.188 vs. 0.083 for the married, separated/divorced, and single subjects respectively. 7. The median for the education data cannot be

Argument paper -- Obamacare Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Argument paper -- Obamacare - Essay Example However, Obama care is not a good option in our society at this moment due the cost involved, biases and high operating costs (Fact 1). Despite its help towards average earners in the American society, it has created havoc and high operational costs to the rich and big businesses. The Obama care affects the American negatively by increasing taxes, causing unfairness in society, straining the economy and changing the cost of operating businesses. First, for the government to get funds to insure millions of American citizens, obviously the money has to come from taxes. Moreover, this can negatively affect the high-income earners thus causing bias in the society. Because of high taxation rates on the rich people, this can in turn affect their employees as a result of the reduction of working hours. The Obamacare is not a good solution, as it seems to be a punishment towards the rich people and big businesses (Investors Business Daily 1). Moreover, due to high taxation on rich businesses might lower the investors confidence, and this might negatively affect the local economy. Another negative situation on the Obama care is its ultimatums towards all American citizens. This law is forceful in that it requires that by January 2014 everybody was to have registered in this programme and those who fail a fee was to apply. Additionally, this Medicaid can only be achieved through the State and the federal funding. Unfortunately, not all states have the capability of fully funding this plan (Obama care facts 1). Thus, about 5.7 million people from the poor backgrounds will be without an insurance cover exposing their lives to danger. Furthermore, the state and the federal governments also provide fund for the plan making matters even more badly. A classic example is the Children Health Insurance Fund (CHIP). As a result, the operation cost of health insurance gets higher than the growth of the economy. This phenomenon strains the available resources in

What can the human resource management department contribute to the Assignment

What can the human resource management department contribute to the development of successful leadership within an organization - Assignment Example Man creates or overlooks opportunities and scenarios. Hence, people power is considered the most significant and dominant factor of all the resources available to an organization. In this regard, the essay aims to determine what the human resource management department can contribute to the development of successful leadership within an organization. The discourse would initially define relevant terms that would be used in the paper including human resources management, leadership, competencies, and the difference between behavioral and functional approaches to job performance. Definition of Terms Martires (2004) defined human resources management as â€Å"the art and science of acquiring, motivating, maintaining, and developing people in their jobs in light of their personal, professional, and technical knowledge, skills, potentials, needs and values and in synchronization with the achievement of individual, organization and society’s goals† (p. 6). Human resources dep artments in some organizations are subsumed in another department or it may be a separate department itself. As one of the primary functions of human resources management (HRM), development of human resources require the registration, tracing, and insuring of all personnel’s progress through continued job proficiency, career growth and guidance. Competencies are upgraded and expertise is developed in this broadening phase of people management. By competencies, the definition provided by Boyatzis (1982) is most appropriate: â€Å"an underlying characteristic of an employee (i.e., a motive, trait, skill, aspects of one’s selfimage, social role, or a body of knowledge) which results in effective and/or superior performance† (Cited in USOPM, 1999, p. 7). Likewise, leadership has been defined as the process of influencing people to work or act towards the attainment of specifically defined goals (Martires & Fule, 2000, p. 569). On the other hand, that Ken Valenzuela, the Chief Editor for BeALeader.Net collected various definitions of leadership: â€Å"Leadership is a process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal† (Northouse, 2004). His own definition is hereby presented as â€Å"the ability of developing and communicating a vision to a group of people that will make that vision true† (Kenneth Valenzuela, 2007). Authors Lussier & Achua (2004) define leadership as â€Å"the influencing process of leaders and followers to achieve organizational objectives through changes† (Lussier & Achua, 2004). There are different types of leaders depending on the personality of the leader and subordinates and the situation. Different leadership theories stipulate diverse leadership styles, such as: the behavioral approach (autocratic, democratic and laissez faire leaders); there is the task-oriented versus people-oriented leaders; and contemporary theories present the emergence of transformational leaders and servant leadership styles. Leadership and Management Development The article published by the US OPM revealed trends in HRM that focus on the rise of competencies where leadership and management development begin to assume more challenging roles in light of the changing forces affecting HRM in contemporary organizations. The trends that were revealed are hereby summed as â€Å"

First Person Singular Essay Example for Free

First Person Singular Essay As children we spent most of our lives exploring and learning new things with the help of our parents. There are some memories very vague but others that we will remember for the rest of our lives. These memorable moments could be the simplest to most complex things but as children they were a big deal to us. A childhood journey that I find extraordinarily memorable was the time I went to England with my parents because I traveled across the globe and I experienced different adventures. The time I went to England was a memory I will treasure forever because it was the first time I traveled to a different continent. I was in fifth grade when we underwent this trip which made me the coolest kid in class so that really made the trip important to me. We arrived at the airport to find out that my dad needed a VISA since he was not a citizen of the US, this forced us to delay our trip and fly to New York for 3 days. After that issue was resolved we finally flew to England. The flight took about 8 hours. During the flight we ate dinner and breakfast on the plane, I recall the food not being that great especially being a picky child. We also had to sleep on the plane which can be very uncomfortable for more than an hour. I also remember having to share the minuscule bathroom with my mom to brush our teeth. Following the lengthy flight we finally reached our destination, England. Clearly, traveling to another continent is a memory I will never forget. Another reason I will cherish this trip throughout my life is because we encountered new adventures. The country seemed pretty similar to the United States but as we were getting onto the car my dad entered what he thought was the passenger seat but came to see it was really the drivers seat. Not only are the steering wheels on the opposite sides of the car but they drive on the opposite side of the road as well. We stayed at my dad’s friend’s house while our stay. This house had 4 stories including the basement, this was new to me because in Florida you only see 2 story houses most of the time. The food was a very big obstacle for me because I was not used to the food prepared in the house. The woman of the house made us a traditional English dinner which quite honestly was not to my liking. It was a large sausage with mashed potatoes and vegetables. As a fifth grader I would have preferred McDonald’s. We didn’t have an itinerary for what we wanted to do so we just did random things the city of London had to offer. While in London I saw men completely painted like statues but would randomly move and scare you half to death, that was enjoyable. Then we reached â€Å"The Eye†, the biggest ferris wheel in the world that you can see all of London from the top. Sadly I wasn’t able to ride it because it takes 45 minutes to go all around and we didn’t have enough time for that. But I did get to visit Big Ben and the Buckingham Palace. I also rode a train for the first time. This train went extremely fast and it even had a full bathroom right in the middle, it felt like it was taken out of â€Å"Back to the Future.† The last thing we did on our trip was go to a Robin Hood museum in the city of Nottingham that showed us his story. Evidently, the adventures we underwent contributed to this special memory. Given these experiences, my trip to England will be a souvenir to the journeys in my childhood because I traveled across the globe and I experienced different adventures. Many more mementoes will be added to the list as time goes on but as of now that trip was one of the most influential expeditions I have had.

World Economy Essay Example for Free

World Economy Essay Having goods transported to Western Europe from Asia was difficult and the Europeans did not have the technology to acquire theses goods themselves therefore the Middle East becomes the middle men which started to become pricey. During the 15th century, a series of technological improvement triggers the Europeans to set out and acquire these good themselves. The Europeans had gain a spark of interest of the Asia after the Crusades. The European’s never had direct trade with south and East Asia but was familiar to Asian good mostly the upper class. Also the people of the west wanted to go out and discover, moving away from the fear of fall of earth’s edge also helped begin these explorations. The western powers wanted more land and they knew more land meant more goods that they can use and as well as export.The only power that the western Europeans faced was the lack of advanced technology to help then succed these goals. The first expeditions were limited because of the lack of proper technology, like small oar-propelled ships that were usually used in Mediterranean trade therefore was not useful when it came top traveling far into the ocean. This factor led to the invasion of a better way to traveling the Atlantic. Deep-draft, round-hulled sailing ships made further exploration possible. The Europeans also began to use the compass that was originally made during the Han China, but the Europeans were starting to improve it as well. Mapmaking and other navigational developments were made as it is mentioned that navigation schools were present and they encouraged exploration. Explosives were another Chinese invention that aided the Europeans with their conquest of land, explosives were adapted into gunnery. Advances in European metalwork which helped to create the first guns and commons. Greed, curiosity and rivalry is triggered the desire the go beyond Europe and discover what the rest of the world had to give. In conclusion, It can be said that technology plays a significant role in making these ideas became reality, technological improvements and new inventions aided an age of Exploration or European global dominance.

Philosophical Implications Of Artificial Intelligence

Philosophical Implications Of Artificial Intelligence INTRODUCTION: For a long period of time philosophers are trying to resolve the questions related to artificial intelligence. Like, how minds are working? Can machines act intelligently like humans do?, if its so would they really have brain? What would be the ethical implications in that? The philosophers view about AI is that machines act intelligent and do to actually thinking are in strong AI categories. They never worried until program works properly, no questions like its working under simulation of intelligence or real intelligence. My stand on this is almost followed by the same instances. Do you think really robots act intelligent? Perhaps, it depends on how it is defined. In other words, it depends upon how one defining intelligence or consciousness with machines exactly involved. Yes, robots are intelligent with the system in-built or good simulations, but we deal with not practical, only theory. By comparing two architectures say human and machine, its not fair ask questions like robots really think?. But, consider the questions like, Machines fly? Machines can swim? For first question yes is the answer. Because aeroplane will fly. So technically machines can fly. For second question no is the answer. Though ships or submarines move in water, but we dont call it swimming. Neither of question does not have any impact on lives or its nature. It has to do with their capabilities and meaning how we take. Consider Mr.Alan Turing quotes,Instead of raising question machines think,we should ask it can past test on a behavioural intelligence. For example, the program ELIZA and the MGONZ internet chatbot fooled humans who didnt realize they are taking to a program and the ALICE program fooled one judge in 2001 competition named Loebner Prize. He also exercised on same facts which leads to the objection to the possibility of intelligent machines. According to the proposals given by Darthmouth ,all aspects which features of intelligence truly tells that machine can be made to stimulate it. I also agree to the following quote if a machine acts as intelligently as human, then it is as intelligent as a human. Consider the facts how artificial brain and heart is working, which can satisfy the law of nature, demands. So we can say machines are intelligent? We now analyze the facts in two dimensions. From Disability point of perspective, I should say,Robots can never do X. Mr.Alan Turing lists X as being kind, using proper words, doing something new, analyzing this from right from wrong, to the subject of tits own thought. Alan try to predict what would be possible in future years, though we have classical records of what computers or super computers already done. And its true that computers performs may well that what humans doing alone. It will play games like chess, cricket, spell check in documents and in medical theraphies like diagonising the diseases and it do hundreds of multiple task as well as human or better than humans. Computers requires performance at each fields in science say no chemistry, biology, computer science, astronomy, maths at level of a human expert. The educational testing service has used an automated program to grade millions of essays, the program agree with human graders 97% of the time, about the same level of two graders agree. [1]. And its also clear that computers do work better than humans, but it does not mean that computer excel everything. Of course, it use insight and understanding in task performances, not a part of behaviour. The objection from mathematics perspective for any formal axiomatic system F powerful enough to do arithmetic, to construct a Godel Sentence G(F) with the following properties, G(F) is a sentence of F,but cannot be proved within F. If F is consistent then G(F) is true [2]. Philosophers as mentioned this theorem shows that machines are mentally inferior to humans, because machines are formal systems that are limited by the incompleteness theorem, but human minds are operate by quantum gravity. No human brain could compute the sum of 100 billions of 100 digit number in their lifetime, but computer do it in seconds, before invention of mathematics itself human started to behave intelligent, so its not fair to say that mathematical reason plays more than important role in what it means to be smart or intelligent. Computers have binded to limitation on what they can prove but there is no evidence for human, that they are immune from those limitations. And its easy to claim that normal system cannot do X, then claims humans can do X using their informal method without evidence, like wise its too tough to say that humans are not subject to Godels incompleteness theorem, because any rigour proof contain a formalization of a claimed unformalizable humans talent. So I planned to left with an appeal to intuition that humans perform superhuman feats of maths insights. From informality point of view, the most persistent critics of artificial intelligence was ; argument from informality of behaviour; by Turing. Like humans, system cannot generate behaviour intelligent as human they can only follow set of rules. This inability to capture all in a set of logical rules is called the qualification problem in artificial intelligence. Its correct what Dreyfus pointed that, logical agents are vulnerable to the qualification problems. From his view, human includes knowledge of rules but as a background within which they exercise. Various problems have been addressed when Dreyfus and Dreyfus making proposal moving from being artificial intelligence critics to artificial intelligence theorists. i.e, Neural network architecture. It includes, Unless having proper background you wont get good serialization such that incorporating background knowledge with the neural network learning process. My concern about this is, the good reason for a serious redesign of current models of neural processing, then it can take the advantage of previously learning knowledge in the way that other algorithms proceed. Neural networks are supervised which requires guidance say it needs proper input and outputs. But unsupervised or reinforcement learning never looks for trainer (human). In many issues Dreyfus made impact on the commonsense knowledge, uncertainity importance of considering situated agents. But for me, these are all the evidences of intelligence progress,not its impossibilities. Let us consider this question can machines really think? According to myself, the machines which passes Turing test would still not be actually thinking. Its quite simulation of thinking. From his point of view,the machines has to be aware of its own mental states of action say consciousness, which is most important. Its almost false question, according to philosopher Mr.Karl Popper the term falsiable does not mean something is false, instead that if it is false, then this can be shown by experiment. [3] From my study of direct experience I personally feel that machines has a not actually feel emotion, whether the machine purpoted beliefs, desires of other representations are actually about something in the real world. Analysing Turings point,why should we want to insist on higher standard for machines that we do for humans? After all, in our life we dont have any direct evidence about the internal mental states of any other humans. Instead of arguing continually over the point ,it is usual to have the polite convention that everyone thinks. And questioning machines act on consciousness is difficult, but it got nothing to do with practice of artificial intelligence. I agree to the fact that, we are interested in created programs that behave intelligently, not in whether someone else pronounces them to be real or simulated. To understand this fact, we should consider the question of whether artifacts are considered real. Frederick Wohler synthesized artificial urea in 1848 and why its so important means, it proved that organic and inorganic chemistry could be united. Like the artificial Chateau Labour wine would not be the Chateau Labour wine, even if it was chemically indistinguishable, simply because it was not made in the right place in the right way. We conclude this topic by saying the philosophers John Searles lines, no one supposes that a computer simulation of a storm will leave us all wet. Why on earth would anyone in his right mind suppose a computer simulation of mental process?'[4] The behaviour of an artifact is important while in others it is the artifacts pedigree matters. For artificial minds, there is no convention just we are left to rely on intuitions. From the above quotes, its easy to agree that computer simulations of storms do not make us wet, instead its not clear how to make this analogy over to computer simulation of mental processes. Are mental processes more like storm or chess? like Chateau Labour or like Urea? This all depends on your theory of mental process and what it states. Under the theory of Functionalism any intermediate caused condition between input and output gives state of mind. In other words, two systems with isomorphic causual process would have the similar mental state. Therefore, computer program might have same mental state as a person. But in contrast, the theory of biological naturalism states that, the mental states are higher level emergent features which are caused by low-level neurological processes in the neurons and properties of the neurons that matters. To analyse these two view points, let we look at one of the oldest problem in the philosophy of mind. The mind-body problem: This problem questioning the mental states and processes related to the brain (bodily) state and processes. By analysing the problem of mind-architecture problem, it allow us to talk about the possibility of machines have minds. Mr.Rene Descartes, who considered how an immortal soul interacts with the body and concluded with the soul and body are two distinct type of things-a dualist theory. The monist theory called materialism, tells there is no such thing like immortal souls; only material objects. Consequently, mental states such as pain, knowing that one is riding in a horse or believing that Delhi is capital of India are brain states. Mr. John Searle pithily sums up the idea with the slogan, Brains cause minds. The materialist must face the two serious obstacles. The first problem is freewill: how can it be that a purely physical mind, where every transformation is governed strictly by the laws of physics, still retains any freedom of choice? Many philosophers agreed that this problem requires a careful reconstitution of our naÃÆ'Â ¯ve notion of free will, rather than presenting any threat to materialism. Then the next problem concerns the issues of consciousness but not identical, questions of understanding and self-awareness. So simply, why is it feel like anything to have certain brain states, whereas presumably does not feel like anything to have other physical states, for example being a rock. To start to answer such questions, we need ways to talk about brain states at levels more abstract than specific configurations of all atoms of the brain of a particular person at a particular time. For example, as I think about the capital of India,my brain undergoes myriad tiny changes from one picosecond o the next, but these never brings the qualitative changes in brain state. To account this, we need a notion of a brain state types, under which we can able to judge whether two brain states belongs to the same or different types. Though different opinions are existed, almost everyone believes that if one takes a brain and replaces some of the carbon atoms by a new set of carbon atoms (perhaps even atoms of a different isotope of carbon, as is sometimes done in brain-scanning experiments) the mental will not be affected. This is a good thing because real brains are continually replacing their atoms through metabolic process, and yet this in itself does not seem to cause major mental upheavals. Let us consider a particular kind of mental state: the propositional attitudes which are also known as intentional states. These are the states such as believing, desiring, fearing, knowing which refers to some aspect of the external world. Consider the examples, the belief that Delhi is the capital of India is a belief about a particular city and its status. We will be asking whether it is possible for computers to have intentional states, then it helps to understand how to characterize such states. Hence the identity or non-identity of mental states should be determined by staying completely inside the head, without the reference to the real world. To analyse this dilemma we turn to the thought experiment that attempts to separate intentional states from their external objects. From these several theories we conclude that mental states cannot be duplicated just in the basis of some program having same functional behaviour with similar inputs and outputs. The Ethics and Risks of developing artificial intelligence pose some problems beyond that of, to say, We might loose our jobs to automation. Humans might have too much leisure time. Peoples might lose their sense of being unique. We might feel like loosing some privacy rights. The use of artificial intelligence systems might result in a loss of accountability. The success of AI might mean the end of the human race. CONCLUSION: I conclude the machines are intelligent but often dependable on others intelligence. The intelligence explosion has also been called the technological singularity by maths professor Mr. Venor Vinge who writes that within 30 years ,we will have the technological means to creates super human intelligence. After human era will be ended. Considering the curve of technical progress Venor and Good said the progress growth is exponentially at present. However, it is quite a step to explorate that the curve will continue on to the singularity of near- infinite growth. The potential threats to society posed by Artificial Intelligence and relative technology some are unlikely and two basic thing which needs serious handling. The ultra intelligent machines might lead to a future that is very different from today and we may not like it. Next one is that the robotics technology may enable weapons of mass destruction to be deployed by psychopathic individuals. And I conclude that this is more of a threat from biotechnology and nano technology than from robotics.

Aristotles Analysis of Oedipus the King Essay -- Oedipus Rex Essays

Aristotle's Analysis of Oedipus Rex   Ã‚  Ã‚   Aristotle is the most influential philosopher in the history of Western thought. A Greek drama by Sophocles, Oedipus Rex, was praised in the Poetics of Aristotle as the model for classical tragedy and is still considered a principal example of the genre.   In this essay I will analyze Oedipus Rex using Aristotle's concepts praxis, poiesis, theoria.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Thought and character make persons actions.   They only indicate the basic meaning of action but if one wants to understand how the arts imitate action more than just in concepts of thought and character he or she should explore the notion of it a little further.   Action springs from character and thought.   Aristotle believes that a man?s character makes him act in certain ways, but he acts only in response to the change of circumstances in his life, and it is his perception that shows him what to look for and what to avoid in each situation.   Furthermore, in Aristotle?s psychology, action and character are formed from out ill-defined emotions, which he calls pathos.   Therefore in any tragedy the element of it is essential.   If we want to understand the action in Oedipus Rex, we must concentrate on the relationship between the pathos with which the actual play starts and ends, and the purpose which is to find the slayer, t hat produces the events of the story.   Action and passion or (praxis and pathos), are very sharply contrasted.   Action is simply active: the character perceives something that it wants, and gradually ?moves? toward it.   Passion on the other hand is passive: the character suffers something that it can?t control, and therefore ?is moved? thereby.   This can be best illustrated in the Prologue of Oedipus Rex, Thebe... ...ing and unrivaled in its comprehensiveness. Works Cited and Consulted Barnes, Jonathan. The Complete works of Aristotle. Revised ed. Vol. 2. Princeton: Princeton UP, 1984. Benardete, Seth. ?Sophocles? Oedipus Tyrannus.? In Sophocles: A Collection of Critical Essays, edited by Thomas Woodard. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1966. Ehrenberg, Victor. ?Sophoclean Rulers: Oedipus.? In Twentieth Century Interpretations of Oedipus Rex, edited by Michael J. O?Brien. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1968. Grene, Marjorie. A Portrait of Aristotle. Chicago: U of C, 1963. Murray, Robert D. Jr. ?Sophocles? Moral Themes.? In Readings on Sophocles, edited by Don Nardo. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven Press, 1997. ?Sophocles? In Literature of the Western World, edited by Brian Wilkie and James Hurt. NewYork: Macmillan Publishing Co., 1984.

Religion and Relationships in Christina Rossetti’s Work Essay -- Gobli

Religion and Relationships in Christina Rossetti’s Work Our dreams are commonly known as the subconscious manifestations of our inner desires. Creative writing, like dreams, can represent an outlet, a method of pseudo-fulfillment for those unrealized wishes or fears. In the case of much fiction, especially poetry, these hidden triumphs are often so subtle that the reader may not recognize the achievement or the repressed emotion to which it relates. Christina Rossetti is known as one of the primary female figures of the Victorian Period. The majority of her poetry falls into one of two categories: religion and relationships. Many of her poems on relationships included a theme of death, yet often centered on the relationship between the dead or dying and their loved ones. She wrote a number of poems on love, as well, but these often bring forth a sense of loss, avoidance, fear, or disbelief. Based on some of these love poems and the fact that she was reportedly in love twice during her lifetime, it seems clear that Christina Rossetti was no stranger to the desires of humanity. We, as people, tend to have a natural urge to be seen on a very personal level, to be understood for that which makes us unique, and to be loved in spite of these things. Rossetti’s â€Å"religious poetry acknowledged these longings and formed an outlet for them. Many of her ‘poems explore what she saw as the great danger that the Victorian cult of love and marriage posed to the souls of woman’† (Touchà © 4). She held very strongly to her faith and is reported to have turned down two men whom she dearly loved because of religious differences that she could not overcome. â€Å"As a deeply religious woman she was afraid somebody ‘could co... ...J. and Vivienne J. Rundle, ed. The Broadview Anthology of Victorian Poetry and Poetic Theory. Orchard Park: Broadview Press,1999. Everett, Glenn. â€Å"The Life of Christina Rossetti.† Victorian Web. 26 Nov. 2004. 14 Dec. 2004. . â€Å"Maid.† Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary. 1976. Rossetti, Christina. â€Å"Promises Like Pie-Crust.† Net Poems. 2003. 13 Dec. 2004. . Touchà ©, Julia. â€Å"The Longing for Motherhood and the Concept of Infertility in the Poetry of Christina Rossetti.† Victorian Web. 26 Nov. 2004. 14 Dec. 2004. . â€Å"Virgin.† Def. 1a. Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary. 1976. Womble, Alison. â€Å"Sappho and Christina Rossetti II.† Victorian Web. 26 Nov. 2004. 14 Dec. 2004. .

Computers in Medicine :: Medical Technology Technological papers

Computers in Medicine In today’s society, there is a wide range of computer use. Almost every where you go today you are required to have some sort of basic understanding of how a computer is operated. In my report, I am going to tell you how computers are use in the field of medicine. There is a wide variety of use and need for a computer in the medical field. Some of the main points I will be discussing is why Health Care Professionals use computers, where computers are used in the Health System, while giving you some insight on computers in the medical field in which you may not have thought of. Computers are used by Health Care Professionals because they can help increase the productivity. This allows a health care facility to keep computerized medical records. With the programs, out there today this allows the physician to analyze a patient’s data statistically and mathematically. This leads to the use of multimedia patient records. A multimedia file is an image, text file, a video clip, and audio file: anything that can be displayed or played on your monitor or speakers. An example of this would be: A cardiologist can scan a patient’s EKG strip and attach the image to the patients record for future reference. By being able to store your patients data on a hard drive this will cut down on the amount of papers around the office, and the number of staff members a physician may need to hire. By having, a patient’s file stored in your computer memory could dramatically cut down the time it takes a physician to locate the necessary information needed for a particular patient. Not only can computers be beneficial to cutting down on the amount of work, it could also open the lines of communication between the patient and physician. If a physician begins to utilize e-mail, this could increase the amount of communication with patients. This could be beneficial to his/her practice. A computer is used in a wide variety of places throughout the Health Care System: Clerical stations for reports, memos, patients records, billing, statistics, insurance claims, charting and research graphics; Nursing stations for reports, patients records, hospital information systems; Medical instruments for patients monitors, medication delivery systems, and lab equipment. In Medical education, computers are used for Computer Aided Instructions, Computer Managed Instruction and Interactive Multi-media systems, and there are many more uses of the computer evolving such as, for diagnosis, research, Publication retrieval (National Library of

Principles Of Communication In An Adult Social Care Setting

Describe two ways how effective communication can affect relationships in an adult social care setting between individuals using the service, their carers, colleagues and other practitioners. By having effective communication within a service you can encourage active participation from the service users, carers, colleagues and anyone else using the service. If effective communication is used, you are able to promote empathy and reach a shared understanding.Identify three ways of finding out the communication and language needs of an individual Asking the individual – You would be immediately be able to establish their most effective way of communicating. By observing the individual – You would be able to visually see if they need any aid to communicate Asking friends and family – They will be able to inform you of the most effective way to communicate and the most preferred by the individual Looking at the individuals care plan – You would be immediately i nformed off the preferred method of communication and the way in which is best to communicate with the individualDescribe three factors to consider when promoting effective communication There are many different factors that need to be considered when using effective communication. You need to establish whether the person needs any aids to assist them when communicating. Once you have established this, you need to find the best possible way to communicate with them. The way in which you approach that person, does your body language need to be considered or your tone of voice? This could be so you make the person feel as comfortable as possible to ensure you they are reading your body language correctly.The environment may need to be adjusted, for example , loud noises or flashing lights could distract the person ,which could lead to ineffective communication. AV – Describe three verbal and three no verbal communication methods and styles that a social care worker may use in a n adult social care setting. Verbal – Vocabulary, knowing what vocabulary to use and not to use needs to be remembered as the person you are speaking to may not understand. Verbal – The tone of your voice is very important as the individual could misinterpret what you are trying to say.Verbal – You need to ensure you are both speaking in the right language. Non Verbal – The use of written words is beneficial to communicate with someone who is deaf or someone who is unable to talk. Non Verbal – The use of body language is important as this can be misinterpreted by other people. Non Verbal – Eye contact is important as it can reassure the other person that you are listening to them. Avi – Explain why it is important to respond to an individual’s reactions during communication When you are communicating with someone it is important that you respond the correct way using different methods.This can reassure the individual that you u nderstand them and can show that you are showing empathy. If you did not show any response to that individual, it could lead them to becoming frustrated or distressed as they may feel you do not understand them and they are enable to convey what they are trying to say. They may feel they cannot communicate with you which could lead to lack of confidence with in you. Avii – Explain how an individual’s background can influence the way they communicate. The individual that you are communicating with may only speak their native language.Gestures that they use may be different. They may respond to touching for example holding someone’s hand of hugging. The tone of voice that is used may be different to what they are used to. Aviii – Identify three examples of barriers to communicate and explain how you could over come each barrier. A Noisy environment, which could distress the individual. – The environment should be adjusted accordingly prior to your me eting with the individual. Communication Aids, if not used to could prevent communication – You need to check which communication aids are needed.You need to check whether they are working, does the individual need a medical review, is that the correct aid for that person. Not allowing enough time to listen, this could stop the individual being able to communicate their needs – Finding time to listen to the individual , if they take a while to communicate , ensure you have freed up enough time, ensure you are being patient and are aware. Aix Describe two strategies you could use to clarify misunderstandings. Once you have communicated with an individual you could respond with a summarisation to clarify that you have understood.If you have not this could allow the person to correct you. If you are ensure of what someone has tried to communicate with you, you could seek clarification from another person involved with the individual. Ax A social care worker wants to enabl e more effective communication with individual’s using the service. Explain how they could access extra support or services that may be helpful. You could seek extra support from the individual’s family and friends, they may be able to help with information on the preferred method of communication and why they like using this to help you understand.Support could include attending GP appointments with that person regarding their communication needs. Speaking to their social worker who may be able to help with background information. Attending support groups to see how the individual communicates with other people. Speech and language services may be of help to educate you with different techniques and methods of communication. Translation services may help if you do not speak the individual’s language. Task B Bi How would you explain the term confidentiality to Hannah?I would explain to Hannah that confidentiality is that Hannah’s information should be tre ated confidently at respectively at all times. That Hannah’s confidential information can be shared when it is needed to ensure effective care is delivered. Also, that Hannah has the right to object to her confidential information being shared and this will be respected. Before any information has been shared to anyone involved within her care, this would have been explained and she would have needed to agree to her information being shared to benefit her health.There may be times when there are other obligations and duties that outweigh the obligations to confidently. This would purely be for the benefit of Hannah’s care. To reassure Hannah, I would explain that all staff have to follow policies and procedures on a daily basis ,to ensure confidently rules are followed and her information is treated with respect. Bii – Describe the possible tensions that may arise between telling others of Hannah’s decision and keeping this information totally confidently . Confidently could be breached as the wrong person could receive confidential information.Hannah could feel that her personal information is not being respected. There could be safeguarding issues as Hannah’s health could be affected. Biii – Describe ways to maintain confidentiality in day to day communication. When discussing an individual it is important that there are not people present who should not be. When passing on information it is vital that you check the identity of the person who is receiving the information. Always keeping written records safe and do not leave files lying around for other people to access.When having private conversations always ensure you have privacy. Do not discuss person information outside of work. Biv – Explain when and how a social care worker should get advice about confidentiality. If you are unsure if you are passing on confidential information to the right people or need some clarification, you could refer to you confid entiality policy within your workplace for information and guidance. If you felt that you or someone else has breach confidentiality within your workplace you could seek help and advice from your line manager.

The Best Way of Reducing Stress

Almost stresses and difficulties of modern life are caused by high density of working when people face to hard problems in daily working. It seems to me that the best ways to reduce the stress is playing sports to relax and think wisely to find the best solution to overcome the difficulties. According to me, playing sports is the best way to relax and release the stress. When you get the stress it means that your body is tired and your brain is no longer sober. In that case playing sports gives you not only good physical health but also sober mind. Moreover, playing sports help you extricate yourself from negative thinking because when you focus in the game you always think positive therefore you will get fresh mental powers. In my case, whether I feel stressed or not, I always play my favorite sports at the weekend. In summer I choose swimming, in winter I choose table tennis or badminton. To me, playing sports at the weekend helps me free all the strains of the passing week and give me more power for the coming week. Along with the way that I have mentioned above, in order to get out of the difficulties, one more thing you should do is to think wisely and try to find the best solution for hard problem that you are facing to. When getting into hard problems, people tend to work continuously for very long time without a break and they think with high density of working will help them escape the hard situation. They are wrong, because the more they are tired the less their brain is intelligent. In my opinion, in that case they should reduce their work and think in another way before continue. For example, they had better discuss and share this problem with other friends and co-workers, more people have more ideas and the best idea will help them to solve the hard problem. Taking all above discussions into account, it seems very clear that playing sports is the most effective way for combating stress and thinking wisely is the most positive way to solve the difficulties.

Dbq-Early Valley Civilizations Essay

DBQ-early valley civilizations essay Throughout history, civilizations have contributed to the cultural and intellectual life of humanity. These civilizations had developed about 5000 years ago. These civilizations had been defined as based on agriculture and urban settlements. At that period had been developed many cultural and intellectual achievements, but also stable government and a strong economy. The ancient River Valley civilizations of Egypt and Mesopotamia all made key contributions to future societies.For thousands of years, people all over the world have developed, progressed, and eventually formed civilizations. The area between the Tigris and Euphrates River was called Fertile Crescent because its rich soil and crescent shape (document 1). This region was where Mesopotamia one of the first civilization on earth grew. Sumer was an ancient civilization in Mesopotamia they created cuneiforms. Cuneiforms were the world’s first written language; Sumerians invented thi s writing system to keep track of business dealing (document 2).Mesopotamia developed between the Euphrates and Tigris River. Geographically, Mesopotamia occurred near major rivers since water was easily available and agriculture flourished. The most important invention that was created in the ancient times by Sumer in Mesopotamia was the wheel . it had a major impact in the world because it makes it easier for people to get to places faster and without the wheel the world would not have been the same. Egypt civilization was located in northeast Africa near on the border of the Nile River.Hieroglyphics was a system of writing that was based on pictures; it was created by the Egyptians to keep the records (document 6). pharaoh was the name of the king or god king of Egypt. Pharaoh built pyramids to serve as houses or tombs and specialized skill such as mathematics, geometry, engineering and architecture were need to built the pyramids (document 5). Life in ancient Egypt was centered largely on agriculture. The majority of the people were involved in farming. Wheat, fruits and vegetables were the principal crops.The Nile River helped irrigate the crops and made the soil fertile for good farming; people depended on the Nile for food and water (document 4). Egypt contributed many things in the world, such as their efforts in astronomy, medicine, writing, mathematics and architecture. In conclusion, the ancient River Valley civilizations Egypt and Mesopotamia did have many key contributions that helped expand future societies. Egypt and Mesopotamia were two civilizations that contributed to the expansion of trade, civilization, government, and political and social status.