Journey of life Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Journey of life - Essay Example Another family tradition that has been very important in my family is the weekly prayers and lunch, every Friday, we would get together and share a meal after our prayers, and this helped us understand the importance of family and spirituality. Religious Events As a Muslim, each year we have the Ramadan, this is the time we take to fast and pray, we do not eat after sunrise and after sunset we are allowed to partake in our meals. This event has taught me that one cannot be a slave to food or the desires of his body and that the spiritual life is crucial. We also have the Eid Alfeter and Eid Aladha in our calendars in addition to Alhaj when we go the Mekkah in December for one week to worship Allah; it is a time of rejuvenation for our spiritual life, this seems to echo the sociocultural theory that children master activities and add value to them just as we do with our spiritual life. Academic Events I have been very fortunate in life to have two graduations, one from college and the other from the English program and in both events my family was there to celebrate with me, they were some of my proudest moments in life. I knew that I had achieved a major milestone as is expected in my journey through life and as an interpretation of the sociocultural theory which includes learning as part of cognitive development. Having my family to be a part of it showed me that family always rejoices with one in good and in bad times. This achievement was a step into the adult life because I was now walking into the world to fend for myself and not rely on my family as I always had. Career Events After school, I got a job with a company and to celebrate, I invited my colleagues for dinner, this was a way to form a relationship with them while at the same time celebrate the blessings in my life. After a while I moved jobs and took another one as a high school teacher, this was necessary as in life one cannot stagnate in the same position, growth is expected and is a way of sh owing positive development, it is one of the steps to self actualization Relationship Events My wedding day was one of the happiest days in my life, after an year of engagement to my fiance I was happy to be taking this major step, this was the only romantic relationship I had had in my life in line with the psychosocial development theory, intimacy as compared to isolation became important in my life. Taking the marriage step was a bold move on my side, despite it being the norm, there were times I was not sure if I would make a good husband but after evaluating myself I decided that I was ready and I would become better each step of the way as we guide each other, my wife and I. Challenging Events Coming the United States was not just exciting but challenging as well, I was overwhelmed and culture shock hit me hard, I did not know how o speak English and it being the main language I knew I had a long road ahead of me. As the social cognitive theory states that people observe and a t times take up the behaviour of others, I took up the challenge and decided that I would master the language come rain or shine and I am happy that my determination bore fruits as I can now effectively communicate in English. Looking back at all the events in my

First Day of High School Essay Example for Free

First Day of High School Essay Walking into a brand new school for the first time with a bundle of happiness and a twisted knot in your stomach indicating just how nervous you really are, sure is a way to start your first day of high school. It is natural on the part of every student to remember the first day at school. Recently, I just became a 9th grader. I remember the day as a unclear haze, that resembled a impossible puzzle to complete. The night before was spent with stories of high school back in the last couple decades or so. Ever so often was an, Oh youll blend in, Youve grown so much, and I cannot believe youre already in high school. Eventually the praise died down and it was time to climb into bed. The first thing I came to realize was a large building pacted tightly together within a compound wall. As small as I am, i couldnt not seem to put the puzzle pieces together but luckily a map became my bestfriend. The schedule was confusing at first, since it was a long summertime before I had last read one. Nothing felt stable or ordered, everything seemed like it was going to be chaotic any minute. A few seconds later the bell rang, as I thought to myself how much I did not ever recall a harsh stop and ponder during the summer about miss the bell itself. The pattern went throughout the day as a class began, and after a long period a bell ended the period and began a new class. This went on for what felt like years. I walked through the halls and tried to categorize exactly what type of people I would be dealing with and Ive realized the fact high school is anything but the type of events they describe in movies. Everyone seemed to fit each category perfectly, however it wasnt quite the match. These faces appeared more normal and friendly. I remember my imagination of what high school was like when I was younger. I was just dying to experience all the new and exciting things that awaited me. From sports to boys to all the partying, I just wanted to know what everything was like and now that Im finally here, I feel like I want to go back to when I was younger and not wish to grow up so much. As time goes on you find yourself getting to class earlier and earlier each day. Finding new routes, talking a little more, taking more time between classes and the tension eases. The days do not get harder, but the work and study habits do. Later days of the school year are always easier then the first few. Some say that high school was the best time of my life, just like others say that high school was the worst time in their lives. To be honest, I am not sure which category I fall into yet. Ive had a good start but I know high school wont be picture perfect for me. The only thing I can say is that I am learning.

Conformity Essay -- essays research papers

According to Leon Mann, conformity means ‘yielding to group pressures’. Everyone is a member of one group or another and everyone expects members of these groups to behave in certain ways. If you are a member of an identifiable group you are expected to behave appropriately to it. If you don’t confirm and behave appropriately you are likely to be rejected by the group. Like stereotypes, conforming and expecting others to conform maintains cognitive balance. There are several kinds of conformity. Many studies of conformity took place in the 1950’s which led Kelman to distinguish between compliance, internalisation and identification. Compliance is the type of conformity where the subject goes along with the group view, but privately disagrees with it. Internalisation is where the subject comes to accept, and eventually believes in the group view. Identification is where the subject accepts and believes the group view, because he or she wants to become associated with the group. Leon Mann identifies normative conformity which occurs when direct group pressure forces the individual to yield under the threat of rejection or the promise of reward. This can occur only if someone wants to be a member of the group or the groups attitudes or behaviour are important to the individual in some way. Apart from normative conformity there is informational conformity which occurs where the situation is vague or ambiguous and because the person is uncertain he or she turns to others for evidence of the appropriate response. Thirdly, Mann identifies ingratiational conformity which occurs where a person tries to do whatever he or she thinks the others will approve in order to gain acceptance (if you make yourself appear to be similar to someone else, they might come to like you). The first major research into conformity was conducted in 1935 by Sherif who used a visual illusion, known as the auto-kinetic effect. Sherif told his subjects that a spot of light which they were about to see in a darkened room was going to move, and he wanted them to say the direction and distance of the movement. In the first experimental condition the subjects were tested individually. Some said the distance of movement wasn’t very far in any directio, others said it was several inches. Sherif recorded each subjects response. In the second experimental condition, Sherif gathered his subject... ... and Willis give some criticisms of the early research into conformity. Firstly the studies do not identify the motive or type of conformity. Do the subjects conform in order to gain social approval? Are they simply complying? Do they really believe that their response is correct? Secondly Hollander and Willis claim that the experiments do not identify whether the subjects are complying because they judge that it’s not worth appearing to be different, or because the actually start to believe that the groups judgement is correct. Hollander and Willis also claim that the studies cannot show whether those who do not conform do so because they are independant thinkers or because they are anti-conformists. And Lastly, they claim that the studies seem to assume that independance has to be good and conformity has to be bad. However conformity is often benificial. Sherif and Asch have each conducted fairly artificial laboritory experiments which showed that about 30% of responses can be explained by the need or desire of the subjects to conform. These experiments may not accurately reflect real life when conformity might be benificial and sometimes contribute to psychological well-being.

Cornel West’s contribution to African/Amercian Philosophy Essay

Cornel West, born June 02, 1953, is an American philosopher, author, actor (some of you may know him from Matrix Reloaded and Revolutions), civil rights activist and prominent member of the Democratic Socialists of America. West, commonly known for his blend of political and moral insight and criticism and his contribution to the post-1960s civil rights movement, focuses primarily on the roles of race, class and gender in America. West pulls scholarly contributions from such varied traditions as the African American Baptist Church, pragmatism and transcendentalism. West’s father was a civilian U. S. Air Force administrator and his mother an elementary school teacher and eventually a principal. During West’s childhood the family settled in an African American working-class neighbourhood in Sacramento, California. There West regularly attended services at the local Baptist church, where he listened to moving testimonials of privation, struggle, and faith from parishioners whose grandparents had been slaves. Another influence on West during this time was the Black Panther Party, whose Sacramento offices were near the church he attended. The Panthers impressed upon him the importance of political activism at the local level and introduced him to the writings of Karl Marx. In 1970, at age 17, West entered Harvard University on a scholarship, did graduate school in philosophy at Princeton University, where he was influenced by the American pragmatist philosopher Richard Rorty, and after receiving his doctoral degree in 1980, West taught philosophy, religion, and African American studies at several colleges and universities, including Yale University, the University of Paris, Princeton University, and Harvard University. His books generally combines Christian moral sensibility with a form of philosophical tradtition influenced by American pragmatism. For example, his book Race Matters, West, who resolutely participated in several demonstrations, was always a political activist and an academic, and this created a conflict which led to him resigning from his post at Harvard. His best-known work, Race Matters, a collection of essays, was published exactly one year after the start of riots in Los Angeles that were sparked by the acquittal of four white policemen on charges of aggravated assault in the beating of Rodney King, an African American motorist. The book discussed the general hopelessness and â€Å"nihilism† of African Americans in poverty and condemned African-American leaders for pursuing policies that West believed were thoughtless, narrow-minded, or self-serving. West refers to the United States as a ‘racist patriarchal’ society in which everyday life is classified based on the notion of ‘white supremacy’. He criticizes the whites as being weak in the struggle to gain acceptance for blacks, and thus he argues the 9 11 attack gave the whites an indication into what it means to be a black persons living in the US – feeling unsafe, unprotected, hated, and subjected to random violence.

Managing Stress and Conflict in the organisation Essay

Following a traumatic incident I and three other Fire-fighters attended in February 2012 I decided to test GAL’s current support mechanisms relating to coping and dealing with stress, in specific PTSD (Post-traumatic stress disorder). In a very short space of time it became very apparent that GAL has no ability either within the company or by the designated external provider to deal with PTSD. At that time GAL use an external provider (AXA) as their main point of contact for any employee requiring counselling on a variety of aspects but this did not include PTSD. This was highlighted when I personally called the support hotline only to be told they could not help. Even though PTSD is quite specific I do consider it falls under workplace stress due to the very nature of our specific job role and that this form of stress would not be at the forefront if our job role was of a different nature. So after evaluation of GAL’s effectiveness to deal with workplace stress I would state that it is an area that is left wanting at that time of the original incident. Since then GAL and in specific the FS now has an option if required to contact WSFRS) to utilise their TAC team (Trauma After care). I met with the team’s leader to discuss their service and what it could offer us. We compared our current in house stress counselling service at that of WSFRS. Our service was not even close to comparable with that of WSFRS. Taking the discussions into account I arranged to meet again with the TAC team and GAL’s HR and Occupational health. The outcome of this meeting was to formalise a procedure that GAL as a whole but more so the FS can call upon when required the services of WSFRS TAC team if our own in house service provided by AXA was not capable or sufficient in dealing with a specific demand or request for counselling. The TAC team have since the meetings delivered presentations to all FS Watch’s and to other members of GAL, primarily HR, Occ Health and other customer facing departments. These presentations involved delivering what the service can or can’t do, signs and symptoms of stress and how do recognise it as an individual or as a colleague of friend. As a FS we have also set up a tracker with Occ Health to trial for 24 months to see if or how many days in the workplace are lost to stress and how that can be improved if it did become an issue. At present Occ Health do hold data relating to days lost through stress companywide but to to its very nature that data is strictly confidential so cannot be used or discussed in my evaluation of workplace stress. One statistic that was shared with me was that WSFRS had seen a 27% reduction in days lost through workplace stress following the inception of its TAC team initiative. These findings were shared with relevant departments within GAL.

To what extent is Act III Scene ii an important turning point in Hamlet Essay Example

To what extent is Act III Scene ii an important turning point in Hamlet Essay Example To what extent is Act III Scene ii an important turning point in Hamlet Paper To what extent is Act III Scene ii an important turning point in Hamlet Paper Essay Topic: Hamlet Hamlet is considered to be one of Shakespeares most famous plays and is a play of questions. Unresolved questions are constantly being asked, such as the ghosts intentions, good or evil. The most important question in the play in whether Hamlet is really mad, or is he acting. Hamlet is constantly seeking the truth to these questions. In this essay I am not only going to focus on the original text by Shakespeare, but will also be focusing on Franco Zefferellis film production of Hamlet. Zefferellis 129 minute film contains only 31% of the lines. In addition, Zefferelli also rearranges and rewrites. Leading up to Act III Scene ii, Hamlet is very upset about the death of his father, and we can see this as in Act I Scene ii Hamlet is the only person dressed in black which shows that he is the only one that is still mourning over his fathers death. Also Hamlet acts very nobly towards his father and this is shown in Hamlets soliloquy, also in Act I Scene ii. So excellent a King Hamlet, p35 Hamlet is very hostile towards Claudius throughout the play, even before the ghost tells Hamlet that Claudius murdered his father, and Hamlet shows this as even when Claudius and Gertrude are making the same point, Hamlet only agrees with Gertrude, and not with Claudius. When Hamlet realises that the ghost was telling the truth about the murder, his hostility towards Claudius turns into great anger, and this anger gets greater and greater from this point onwards. The marriage of his mother upsets Hamlet a lot, and during Hamlets soliloquy in Act I Scene ii he shows his true feelings on the subject. Within a month! Ere yet the salt of most unrighteous tears had left the flushing of her galled eyes, she married. O most wicked speed, to post it is not, nor it cannot come to good. Hamlet, p36 Hamlet also says how he feels about the marriage to Horatio, which shows that he trusts Horatio not to say anything, and Horatio agrees with Hamlet. Horatio: My Lord, I came to see your fathers funeral. Hamlet: I pray thee do not mock me, fellow student. I think it was to see my mothers wedding. Horatio: Indeed my Lord, it followed hard upon. p37 Throughout the play Horatio is the character that Hamlet trusts the most, as he always speaks to him about important points. The ghost in the play determines the plot and theme of the play. He does this as when the ghost speaks to Hamlet and tells him about the murder, and that Hamlet must seek revenge he is basically telling the audience the plot of the play. The ghost is also the result of the play within a play in Act III Scene ii. This is because Hamlet feels that he needs to prove if the ghost was telling the truth before he goes and kills his uncle, Claudius. The is one of the main questions posed in Hamlet, and Act III Scene ii is a major turning point in the play. After Hamlet has spoken to the ghost, he says that he is going to pretend that he is mad, and he tells Horatio and Marcellus this, which once again shows that he trusts Horatio, but that he also trusts Marcellus, which is important later on in the play. The consequences of Hamlet seeking revenge are very severe as when he knows that the ghost was telling the truth and after he has set out to seek revenge, there are a great many deaths in the play, which are all a result of Hamlet seeking revenge. Before this however is Hamlets feigned madness. All of the characters (with the exception of Claudius) are convinced that Hamlet has gone mad, and Gertrude thinks that it is because of his fathers death, and her marriage to Claudius. I doubt it is no other, but the main, his fathers death, and our oerhasty marriage. Gertrude, p61 Claudius however, is not sure whether Hamlet is really mad. He is also thinks that the problem may be deeper than Hamlets fathers death. Love? His affection do not that way tend, nor what he spake, though it lackd form a little, was not like madness. Claudius, p84 In Act III Scene ii Hamlet involves Horatio as a second judgement on Claudius reactions to the play. He feels that this is important as with his hatred for Claudius he might not be entirely reliable, as he may exaggerate things in his mind. This is why he wants Horatio to say what he saw, so that they can compare views. Give him heedful note, for I mine eyes will rivet to his face: and after we will both our judgements join, to censure of his seeming. Hamlet, p88 There are lots of relationship changes in Act III Scene ii. A few of the main relationship changes include the relationships between Hamlet Ophelia, Hamlet Gertrude, Hamlet Claudius, and Hamlet Horatio. The relationship between Hamlet Ophelia is a very important, as Hamlet is very angry with his mother remarrying so quickly, and so has a hatred for all women. He takes out this hatred on Ophelia, and also intimidates and teases her. He does this before the play has begun. He also makes sexual innuendos towards her. Hamlet: Thats a fair thought to lie between maids legs. Ophelia: What is, my Lord? Hamlet: Nothing. p89 There is also a relationship change between Hamlet Gertrude, as when Gertrude tells Hamlet to go sit next to him, he says no and goes to sit with Ophelia. Gertrude: Come hither my good Hamlet, sit by me. Hamlet: No, good mother, heres metal more attractive. p89 Also in this scene we see that Claudius does not react well to the play of the murder. This shows us that Claudius has a very guilty conscience as a result of the murder, and during this scene he shows this by acting very peculiarly during the play. He also realizes that Hamlet may know about the murder and so he starts to panic. This shows to Hamlet that the ghost was telling Hamlet about the murder of his father, and as a result of this the theme of revenge develops from this point onwards. Now I will explore the ways in which Franco Zefferelli creates dramatic tension in his film interpretation of Act III Scene ii.

Answers to Practice Questions before the Midterm ( Essays - Economy

Answers to Practice Questions before the Midterm ( Essays - Economy Answers to Practice Questions before the Midterm (MBAC 512) Prof. Silke Forbes Spring 2017 Multiple-Choice Questions 1 . The law of demand states that, holding all else constant: A. as price falls, demand will fall also. B. as price rises, demand will also rise. C. price has no effect on quantity demanded. D. as price falls, quantity demanded rises. 2 . An increase in the price of steak will probably lead to: A. an increase in demand for chicken. B. an increase in demand for steak. C. no change in the demand for steak or chicken. D. an increase in the supply of chicken. 3 . If A and B are complements, an increase in the price of good A would: A. have no effect on the quantity demanded of B. B. lead to an increase in demand for B. C. lead to a decrease in demand for B. D. none of the statements associated with this question are correct. 4 . Suppose both supply and demand decrease. What effect will this have on the market price? A. It will fall. B. It will rise. C. It may rise or fall. D. It will remain the same. 5 . Assume that the price elasticity of demand is -2 for a certain firm's product. If the firm raises price, the firm's manage rs can expect total revenue to: A. decrease. B. increase. C. remain constant. D. either increase or remain constant, depending upon the size of the price increase. 6 . One of the conditions under which market-based (third-degree) price discrimination is profitable is: A. ability to identify consumer types. B. inability to resell the good. C. differences in demand elasticities. D. All of the statements associated with this question are correct. 7. The own price elasticity of demand for apples is -1.2. If the price of apples falls by 5 percent, what will happen to the quantity of apples demanded? It will increase 5 percent. It will fall 4.3 percent. It will increase 4.2 percent. It will increase 6 percent. 8. If apples have an own price elasticity of -1.2 we know the demand is: unitary. indeterminate. elastic. inelastic. 9 . A consumer values a car at $525,000 and a producer values the same car at $485,000. If the transaction is completed at $510,000, the transaction will generate: No surplus. $25,000 worth of producer surplus and unknown amount of consumer surplus. $15,000 worth of consumer surplus and $25,000 of producer surplus. $25,000 worth of consumer surplus and unknown amount of producer surplus. 1 0 . The opportunity cost of an action: is equal to the marginal cost of an action. is equal to explicit cost. is equal to the value of next best alternative . is the total cost of an action 1 1 . If Average Variable Costs are equal to $5 and Average Fixed Costs are equal to $15, then the Average Total Costs are equal to: $10 $5 $15 $20 1 2 . Sarah's Machinery Company is deciding to dump their current technology A for a new technology B with small fixed costs but big marginal costs. The current technology has fixed costs of $500 and marginal costs of $50 whereas the new technology has fixed costs of $250 and marginal costs of $100. At what quantity is Sarah Machinery indifferent between two technologies? 5 6 7 8 1 3 . In 2011, Netflix raised prices on its DVDs and internet streaming plan. This decision could have been based on the following rationale: Netflix had become an industry leader thereby making the demand curve inelastic. Netflix had become an industry leader thereby making the demand curve elastic. Internet service, a complement to a Netflix subscription, had become more expensive. There are many substitutes to Netflix products. 1 4 . It costs a firm $80 per unit to produce product A and $50 per unit to produce product B individually. If the firm can produce both products together at $120 per unit of product A and B, this exhibits signs of Economies of scale. Economies of Scope. Diseconomies of Scale. Diseconomies of Scope. 15 . When there are economies of scale, per-unit costs increase as output increases. per-unit costs