Pygmalion Essays (478 words) - Film, Literature, Academy Awards

Pygmalion is an element of comedy in the sThere tory Pygmalion and in the film My Fair Lady. In the play and the film alike, a woman of the streets named Liza Doolittle is transformed from a dirty low-life from the streets to a respectable high-class woman in only six months by two wealthy gentlemen named Higgins and Pickering. Pickering challenged Higgings to make this young girl a respectable lady and this becomes the object of the story, which is filled with several comical scenes dealing with the changing lifestyle of Liza Doolittle. There are several humorous situations found in this play. Liza Doolittle's attitude is humorous in itself. She takes everything that Higgins and Pickering say to her seriously, even if they are only joking, for instance when Higgins referred to her as ?baggage? and asked his colleague Pickering if they should have her sit down or toss her out the window. Liza responded with her patented ?Ah-ah-ah-ah-ow-ow-oo-oo!!!? and quickly tried to get away from Higgins. There are several scenes like this throughout the play which I thought were all funny. Another scene I thought was humorous was the bath scene. Liza Doolittle, being a lady of the streets, had never taken a real bath before, and when she was asked to take her clothes off and get into the tub, she through another fit and made a huge fool out of herself. Even though this film and play were both made a long time ago, there are still parts of it that can still be considered funny by today's standards. Just imagining a bet between two distinguished gentlemen on whether or not they can change a woman from the streets into a woman of high class can be funny. A movie that this can be compared to today is Pretty Woman starring Julia Roberts and Richard Gere. In this movie, Richard falls in love with Julia and changes her from a woman of the streets to a decent and beautiful woman, much like Higgins fell in love with Liza Doolittle and changed her. Although the movie My Fair Lady made it big back in the past, I don't think that it would be very successful at the box office if it were to come out today because everyone's view of comedy has drastically changed from what it used to be. Comedy has lost its innocence, and this movie was too innocent to make it today. Movies such as American Pie and Big Daddy are what audiences want to see today because they portray people with serious problems in a funny way, and they don't hide anything in doing it, they make audiences laugh in a new way. In conclusion, I think that the play Pygmalion and the film My Fair Lady both have elements of comedy. There are some funny moments throughout both the play and the movie that would still be considered somewhat humorous, but I don't think that the movie would succeed in the box office today. Speech and Communications

Free Essays on Jean Piaget

Comparison and Contrasts of Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky This essay will seek to compare and contrast Jean Piaget’s and Lev Vygotsky’s theories on cognitive development of children. Information for this essay has been derived from the classroom text and also various internet resources that will be cited at the conclusion of the essay. Jean Piaget’s and Lev Vygotsky’s are two theorist who studied childhood development in the early 1900’s Although the two never met, their theories have many commonalities, but yet also have several differences. Piaget’s and Vygotsky’s theories are widely-known and still practiced today. There are three themes that Piaget’s and Vygotsky’s theories share: challenge, readiness, and in the importance of social interaction. The best example of challenge is exemplified in Vygotsky’s concept of the zone of proximal development. ZPD can be defined as the range of tasks one cannot yet perform independently, but can perform with assistance and guidance of others. Challenge appears more discretely in Piaget’s theory, but is still present. Piaget’s theory states that children develop more sophisticated knowledge and thought processes only when they encountered phenomena they cannot completely understand. This creates what Piaget refers to as disequilibrium, a sort of mental discomfort. This prompts the child to attempt to make sense of what they have observed by replacing, reorganizing, and better integrating their schemes. This is called accommodation. Readiness is another theme that appears in both theories. Growing children are not cognitively ready for all experiences. According to Piaget, children can accommodate to new objects and events only when they can also assimilate them into their existing schemes. Thus meaning there must be an overlap of "new" and "old". Piaget also argued that children cannot learn from an experience until they have begun the trans... Free Essays on Jean Piaget Free Essays on Jean Piaget Comparison and Contrasts of Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky This essay will seek to compare and contrast Jean Piaget’s and Lev Vygotsky’s theories on cognitive development of children. Information for this essay has been derived from the classroom text and also various internet resources that will be cited at the conclusion of the essay. Jean Piaget’s and Lev Vygotsky’s are two theorist who studied childhood development in the early 1900’s Although the two never met, their theories have many commonalities, but yet also have several differences. Piaget’s and Vygotsky’s theories are widely-known and still practiced today. There are three themes that Piaget’s and Vygotsky’s theories share: challenge, readiness, and in the importance of social interaction. The best example of challenge is exemplified in Vygotsky’s concept of the zone of proximal development. ZPD can be defined as the range of tasks one cannot yet perform independently, but can perform with assistance and guidance of others. Challenge appears more discretely in Piaget’s theory, but is still present. Piaget’s theory states that children develop more sophisticated knowledge and thought processes only when they encountered phenomena they cannot completely understand. This creates what Piaget refers to as disequilibrium, a sort of mental discomfort. This prompts the child to attempt to make sense of what they have observed by replacing, reorganizing, and better integrating their schemes. This is called accommodation. Readiness is another theme that appears in both theories. Growing children are not cognitively ready for all experiences. According to Piaget, children can accommodate to new objects and events only when they can also assimilate them into their existing schemes. Thus meaning there must be an overlap of "new" and "old". Piaget also argued that children cannot learn from an experience until they have begun the trans...

Effective Lesson Objectives

Effective Lesson Objectives Lesson objectives are the key element in creating effective lesson plans. The reason for this is that without stated objectives, there is no measure of whether a particular lesson plan produces the desired learning results. Therefore, time needs to be spent before creating a lesson plan by writing effective objectives. The Focus of Lesson Objectives In order to be complete and effective, objectives must include two elements: They must define what is going to be learned.They must give an indication of how that learning will be assessed. First, an objective tells students what they are going to be learning in a lesson. However, the objective does not end there. If it did, they would read like a table of contents. In order for an objective to be complete, it must give the students some idea of how their learning is going to be measured. Unless your objectives are measurable in some manner, there is no way that you can produce the evidence necessary to show that the objectives were in fact met. Anatomy of a Lesson Objective Objectives should be written as a single sentence. Many teachers like to start their objectives with a standard beginning such as: Upon completion of this lesson, the student will be able to.... Objectives must include an action verb that helps the students understand what they are going to learn and how they will be assessed. In Blooms Taxonomy, Bloom looked at verbs and how they related to learning, dividing them into six levels of thinking. These verbs are an excellent starting point for writing effective objectives. A simple learning objective that meets the criteria listed above is: Upon completion of this lesson, the student will be able to convert fahrenheit to celsius. By stating this objective from the beginning, students will understand exactly what is expected of them. Despite everything else that might be taught in the lesson, they will be able to measure their own learning if they can successfully convert fahrenheit to celsius. In addition, the objective gives the instructor an indication of how to prove that learning has taken place. The teacher should create an assessment that has the student perform temperature conversions. The results from this assessment show the teacher whether or not the students have mastered the objective. Pitfalls When Writing Objectives The main problem that teachers encounter when writing objectives is in the choosing of the verbs that they use. As previously stated, Blooms Taxonomy is a great place to find many action verbs that can be used when writing learning objectives. However, it can be tempting to use other verbs that are not part of the taxonomy such as enjoy, understand, appreciate, and like. An example of an objective written using one of these words is: Upon completion of this lesson, the student will understand why tobacco was such an important crop to the settlers in Jamestown. This objective does not work for a couple of reasons. The word understand leaves a lot open to interpretation. There were a number of reasons why tobacco was important to the settlers at Jamestown. Which one should they understand? What if historians disagree about the importance of tobacco? Obviously, because there is a lot of room for interpretation, students do not have a clear picture of what they are expected to have learned by the end of the lesson. Second, the method for measuring learning is not clear at all. While you might have an essay or other form of assessment in mind, the student is not given insight into how their understanding will be measured. Instead, this objective would be much clearer if it was written as follows: Upon completion of this lesson, the student will be able to explain the impact that tobacco had on the settlers at Jamestown. Upon reading this objective, students know that they are going to be learning about not only the impact that tobacco had on the colony, but they are also going to have to explain that impact in some manner. Writing objectives is not meant to be a form of torture for teachers, but instead, it is a blueprint for success for both teachers and students. Create your objectives first, and many questions that need to be answered about your lesson will fall into place.

Security Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Security - Case Study Example Computers had literally made the task of computing very fast and ultra accurate; people expect results within minutes or seconds. Scientific, medical, and technological progress had been achieved with the use of all the computer technologies currently available, accelerating human advancement by several degrees if compared to the prior centuries and millennia before the advent of computers. Other areas of human endeavors have likewise benefited from this computer-related development such as in the business and industry sectors, in the telecommunications, banking, trading and commerce sectors as well as in almost all aspects of human life. Today, there is no escaping the fact of interacting with computer-related equipment as people go along their lives in their daily activities. Computers are used in various ways wherein people may not be aware of, like in a building with a computer-controlled air conditioning system, using an elevator or an escalator, trying to get in touch with thei r friends, acquaintances, and relatives through social media sites, to buy a product or service on-line through electronic commerce (e-commerce), and get the news or entertainment from the Internet. This paper focuses on one such aspect, which is the human-computer interface (HCI) that is at the basic level by which people interact with computers. Discussion The field of study concerning the use of computers by humans is called as the human-computer interface (HCI) or also called alternatively as human-computer interactions (HCI). The basic premise of HCI is to study the optimal design of the interaction between people (the users) and the computers or machines they are using in order to give the maximum benefit and likewise avoid unexpected problems between man and machine. HCI is a multidisciplinary approach that utilizes several fields such as engineering design, architecture, computer graphics, the operating systems, and the software programming (confidentiality, integrity, and a vailability or CIA). It is supplemented by the human side of this knowledge such as linguistics, communication theories, cognitive psychology, the social sciences, and human factors like logic, ease of use, user satisfaction, memory recall, attention span, and user experience that contribute to desired results. There are a good number of engineering designs to observe as a guide when designing a human-computer interface (HCI) but it can be reduced to the basic principles which are a focus on the user, emphasis on the task to be performed, and actually measuring the real uses of this interface based on several or repeated simulations to detect any deficiencies and eliminate these. The designer or engineer of the HCI must firstly determine who will be the eventual users of the HCI, so that the final design will be suited for them. Secondly, the designer must know the tasks to be performed using the computer interface, specifically defining these tasks in detail, and also how often the se tasks are to be performed within the day, or during a certain work period. This will hopefully help establish the parameters to be used in the HCI design, using empirical ways or methods to determine the required benchmarks or performance levels (Sarmento, 2005). In order to be able to properly analyze the design issues of the new cash register

Need for Well-Defined Career Goals and Career Assessment Plans Personal Statement

Need for Well-Defined Career Goals and Career Assessment Plans - Personal Statement Example The present paper has identified that reflective practice facilitates assessment of career plans so as to achieve long term and short term goals of professional excellence. My long term goal is to become a highly successful cardiologist. Hence, I have set myself short term goals have been set for 3-5 years where I would be using my business management degree to earn money for my medical studies that would help me to become a cardiologist. I have been a conscientious worker and have gained considerable experience in managerial and administrative work while managing deans’ office. For five years, I have been in charge of 9 deans that involved considerable planning and administrative skills. It has also given me the impetus to improve my managerial skills by studying for my graduation in general business major in management. The course has greatly facilitated in giving me a more practical aspect of management skills that are needed to improve and improvise work paradigms for opti mal results. I have now put my experience and knowledge to my family business. This way, I would be able to earn higher wages which I can save for my medical degree. At the same time, I would also help to take the business to a higher level of success. Career assessment plans help to acquire skills and necessary knowledge for professional growth. They facilitate in the development of a wider perspective towards the issues which helps to apply the informed choices to meet the challenges of the career goals. Our family business is to provide security guards for events, offices etc. I have made extensive plans to widen the interests of our business and use more sophisticated state of the art technologies to enhance security within the campuses and homes. The expansion of business goals has tremendously impacted the scope of business across the wider region and customers resulting in significantly higher financial outcomes.  The financial results of our family business have inculcated great confidence in myself and in my abilities to go to the next stage of my career management plan. My savings and bonus earned can now be used for meeting the expenses of my medical study. I would be applying to NYU University of medical science for my medical study in the field of cardiology. Being a cardiologist has been my cherished dreams that can now be realized. I now intend to study hard for my long term goal. In the current time, stress and competitive working conditions significantly impact health and well being of people at large. The heart-related problems have especially escalated in recent times. My family has seen many casualties to heart diseases. My grandfather had always been a role model for me and he had been a strong pillar of support for me and my family during the hard times. When he died of sudden heart attack, it made me determined to become a cardiologist. I believe that having a cardiologist within a family would not help them to become more aware of the reasons that lead to heart diseases but it would also help them in times of emergency and save a life. I would like to become a highly successful cardiologist so I can save lots of lives and give happiness to people at large. I am a very sensitive person and have strong empathy towards people who are ill and infirm. I am also technology savvy which would be a great asset in my medical field, where state of art technology-based instruments, are used to diagnose the cause of diseases.

Utilitarian View on Modern Day Situations Essay Example for Free

Utilitarian View on Modern Day Situations Essay Utilitarianism Utilitarianism is the traditional understanding that the right act is the act which will actually, or most probably produce the greatest amount of happiness or pleasure throughout the world. The view was most famously founded by Jeremy Bentham, and later adapted by John Stuart Mill. Utilitarianism focuses on the consequences of an event rather than following strict rules and in general can be classed as a type of naturalism that offers a reductionist approach to ethics. Natural Law Natural Law is the theory that all humans can discover what is right, due to moral being written into our nature in some way. This theory suggests that there are some absolute ethical standards are the set by the way the universe is and the way humans are. Natural law lies a great deal of importance on applying reason and science and the use of inherent values such as fairness. Situation Ethics Situation ethics are based on the principle of love, and how all right and good actions result in the greatest amount of love as a result. Due to this, human beings should always act lovingly but the values of acting lovingly largely depend on the situation and cannot be predefined, instead the values of situation ethics are free to change in any shape or form from example as they relate the circumstances. Proportionalism Proportionalism is neither deontological or teleological, but rather it lies somewhere in between the two. It is an extension of Natural law, that can be easily compared with rule utilitarianism. It has moral rules (generally of the Christian variety) and says that it is never right to go against a principle unless there is a proportionate reason which would justify it. So some things are always right or wrong, but in certain situations it could be tolerated, e. g. murder is always wrong, but there may be an exception in a just war. Toleration is not saying something is right or wrong, but rather is used to choose the lesser of two evils. Virtue Ethics Virtue Ethics describe the right action to be the action which a virtuous person would do in the same situation, and for this reason, Virtue Ethics are not absolute, they are relativist. Instead of looking at the consequences of a particular action Virtue Ethics looks at the character of the individual and as a result provides us with guidance of what are the ideal characteristics of a good person. Utilitarianism Perspective In Vitro Treatment Even though IVF has been criticized because many people think that it is an unethical method of creating a child, utilitarians have said that it can bring about the greatest good for the greatest number of people, yet some people do not see how. Bentham’s hedonic calculus enables us to find out whether or not IVF will bring about this about. When Bentham came up with the idea of the hedonic calculus he asked seven questions that all try to predict. Regarding the length of the effects of IVF treatment, the answer to is that the effects will last a life time. When creating a child you don’t expect the effects to last for a short period of time, you want them to last for the rest of your life and the rest of the child’s life. For example the first test tube baby, Louise Brown, is now actually a mother herself. Furthmore, there is also the case of whether the embryo will attached to the inside of the mother womb and investigations have shown that there is a one in five chance that this will happen, even though this may seem a high risk factor there is a twenty per cent chance of at least one of the eggs taking if ten are fertilised. As a result of this IVF treatment, both the mother and the father will be greatly effected in the majority, because they will have to donate their zygotes and then have them fertilised. Afterwards the woman will have to have the eggs implanted into her womb and even then the embryos may not take. There is also the financial side to this treatment, it costs a lot of money and even then the embryos might not take to the woman’s womb therefore it would just be like burning money because it is, in a sense, money wasted. The doctors will be affected because what they are doing is hard work, but they will be affected in a good way because they are getting paid a lot of money for this. There is no saying how many lives the child will affect in the future. That maybe is one of the drawbacks of IVF treatment, the child might grow up to be hooked on drugs or be a rapists or serial killer but then don’t you take that risk with any child? Then the weakness is in Bentham’s hedonic calculus i. e. it is not possible by any means to predict the future yet we still try to through means like this. The IVF treatment could also take as long as you want it. Then there would of course be there is the process of waiting for the baby to be born if the IVF is successful but it could be born late or early, so again we cannot predict the future because of the fact that it is too uncertain. The final and question is whether the act of IVF treatment will cause happiness or un-happiness in the future, and my answer to this is that the future is so uncertain it is almost impossible to predict what is going to happen. From the evidence above it is clear that a utilitarian wouldn’t support IVF treatment, because it isn’t certain whether or not this treatment would avoid pain and create the most amount of happiness, because the IVF treatment might not be successful and then there is a lot of money wasted on embryos that didn’t work. There might be a lot of future un-happiness more so than future happiness. Then there is the factor that the IVF treatment takes a long time and might not last a long time because the baby may miss-carry. This is definitely one of the drawbacks to utilitarianism, because the future is so uncertain it is not possible to predict whether or not this baby will become something that will go onto help others and create happiness or be something that ruins peoples lives and ruins their own lives. Natural Law Perspective In Vitro Treatment The underlying principal of natural law is that as God has created us then we should let nature take its course. In doing this, we are therefore allowing the will of God to be performed. If you take this stance then clearly you would be against any form of fertility treatment. This type of treatment is seen as interfering with nature and therefore offends the principles of Natural Law. If a woman cannot conceive then it is natures way of saying that she should not have children we should not interfere with that decision is the view of the proponents of natural law. They would also be against genetic engineering and designer babies. Utilitarianism Perspective Voluntary Euthanasia The definition of the word Euthanasia is A good and peaceful death. Utilitarianism is a moral theory which stresses that the goal of moral endeavour ( or to put it another way, the measure) is the production of Good. any action is to be assessed by their production of good consequences. If the definition of Euthanasia is applied then as it is supposed to bring about good in the form of a peaceful death then utilitarianism can be brought into play because the result is good the action must be morally correct. Natural Law Perspective Voluntary Euthanasia Natural law holds that human beings by nature do good and avoid evil and these goods are observable goals that we are fundamentally born with in our nature. Natural Law deals in moral absolutes that cannot be broken regardless of the situation, The end never justifies the means, so no amount of suffering can justify an evil act. To aspect of protecting the innocent is seen to be very important by those that follow Natural Law, therefore it would seem that euthanasia is always wrong. However, the principle of the double effect must not be disregarded. As whilst it is seen as wrong to kill, is giving someone pain relief if a secondary effect is that they die wrong? In this situation, you are asking Is death a proportionate outcome? For this reason, while Natural Law doesnt support active euthanasia, I believe that in some cases it might well allow an action whose intention is merely to relieve pain, even if the action leads to death. The Implications of Benthams Theory on Animal Treatment In my opinion Jeremy Bentham would claim that the morally relevant question about animals is not Can they reason? or Can they talk? but, Can they suffer ? And, animals do in fact suffer, and do in fact feel pain. Therefore he would argue that pain is an intrinsic evil whether it is experienced by a child, an adult, or an animal. If it is wrong to inflict pain on a human being, it is just as wrong to inflict pain on an animal. For this reason, animals should be treated with the same amount of respect as human beings are treated as it has yet to be proven, it will likely will never be proven, that animals do not suffer. Why punish criminals? Utilitarian Perspective According to utilitarianism our duty is to do whatever will increase the amount of happiness in the world. Utilitarians view punishment as treating people badly, by taking away their life or freedom through capital punishment and imprisonment. In Bentham’s own words, he wrote, â€Å"all punishment is mischief: all punishment in itself is evil. † So what do Utilitarians think about capital punishment? At first it may seem obvious that they oppose it, because by punishing someone, this person will suffer thus will be unhappy. Because punishment is a means of producing suffering, nd suffering is bad, punishment can only be justified on utilitarian grounds if the amount of suffering is outweighed by benefits to society and that good cannot be produced in any other way that does not involve suffering. In other words, if punishment will bring about more good than bad for society, and that good cannot be produced in any other more advantageous way, then it can be justified on utilitarian grounds. Here are many ways where punishment can benefit society: First, capital punishment can help to reduce crimes by being a deterrent to would-be criminals. Someone who is tempted to commit a crime might not commit the crime now that he knows that he would be punished, thus introducing the threat of punishment. Second by making people who have already committed crimes incapable of committing future crimes. By executing criminals, they will be taken off the streets, they will be removed from this life, and further crimes that they were going to commit will be avoided. In this way there will be less unhappiness. Third, the act of capital punishment may in some case provide comfort and gratification for the victim’s family. The victim’s family may be comforted if they knew that the killer has received what he deserves. In conclusion, a utilitarian would advocate the death penalty only if it is the only way of generating benefits to the society which are greater than any harms, or evil which its use may cause. A society might be happier to know that a murderer can never kill again, and it may in fact make the murderer himself happier with his life ending immediately rather than spending his whole life imprisoned. How does Mills approach to justifying any majority inflicting pain on the minority address the difficulty of Benthams hedonic calculus? Mills approach to pleasure wasnt simply based on quantity, he instead described there to be two levels of pleasures, higher and lower. The higher pleasures were intellectual pleasures, whilst the mower pleasures were purely sensual. Mill also stated that most ordinary people should generally follow the traditional moral rules rather than calculate every situation. This is the reason why some people state that then surely John Stuart Mill is a Rule Utilitarian, who should generally following moral rules, even if the rules are decided through Utilitarianism. How does Rule Utilitarianism prevent the justification of executing any minority, as issued by the majority? Rule Utilitarianism ensures that the traditional moral rules should be followed, therefore whilst rules are in place, these rules may be decided by Utilitarianism. This will prevent extreme cases from taking place and general rules in society being overturned by the majority.

Social Hysteria in Shirley Jacksons The Lottery Essay example -- Shir

Social Hysteria in The Lottery Tradition is a central theme in Shirley Jackon's short story The Lottery. Images such as the black box and characters such as Old Man Warner, Mrs. Adams, and Mrs. Hutchinson display to the reader not only the tenacity with which the townspeople cling to the tradition of the lottery, but also the wavering support of it by others. In just a few pages, Jackson manages to examine the sometimes long forgotten purpose of rituals, as well as the inevitable questioning of the necessity for such customs. The black box represents virtually the only part of the original ritual that has been preserved since the lottery began. It is there not only to hold the papers that will be drawn, but also to represent to the townsfolk the tradition. The black box is constructed of pieces of the original box, a link to the time when the purpose of the lottery was clear. Most of the old custom has been forgotten: wood chips have been replaced with paper slips, and on one can remember the recital and ritual salute that had previously been part of the lottery; but the o...

Learning Motivation

Learning is a process that permanently changes behaviour with the result of experience. (Cherry, 2009) Alternatively, it can also be defined as knowledge or skill acquired by instruction or study. Learning, from an individual’s personal experience, can be summarized as a lifelong insatiable process that drives the inner self to absorb anything and everything that one hears, sees or reads for personal growth to make a better person and conducive living. There are five different ways of which learning can be studied.Learning as a quantitative increase in knowledge- it is a form of acquiring information. Learning as memorising – storing of information that could be used for reproduction later on. Learning as acquiring facts, skills, and methods that can be retained and used as necessary. Learning as making sense or abstracting meaning – it involves relating parts of the subject matter to each other and to the real world. Finally, learning as interpreting and underst anding reality in a different way which involves comprehending the world by reinterpreting knowledge. quoted in Ramsden 1992: 26) (Smith, 2012). A question was raised, ‘What makes a human acquire knowledge? What makes a human want to learn? ’ The answers varied from it being a necessity, for competition purposes, or simply, the act of curiosity. It may also be of positive motivation from the surrounding environment, but what caught my attention was of it being an instinct upon birth. If learning changes behaviour permanently, what then is motivation? Motivation is defined as a process that initiates, guides and maintains goal-oriented behaviour.In our everyday life, motivation is used to define our actions (Cherry, 2012). As an example, motivation drives an individual to resume a pursuit in higher education after a certain succession of time away from the field. Motivation may be delineated specifically into three major components. Primarily, activation initiated the be haviour in an individual to re-enrol in university. Consequently, persistence, a continuous effort that an individual puts in order to overcome obstacles such as to complete tasks assigned before respective deadlines.The final delineation would be intensity, which is viewed as the concentration that is put in to achieve the goal. Motivation can also be branched out to Extrinsic or Intrinsic (Cherry, 2012). Drawing from personal experiences, when an individual is asked to perform weekend duties at work, the said individual is motivated to complete the said task due to the reasoning that he or she would gain double monetary compensation for that day of attendance. This would be an apt representation of extrinsic motivation due to the external factor of monetary compensation or rewards at the end of the day.However, if the said individual is asked to complete an assignment, it is not purely for the sake of completing the said task, but due to the nature of curiosity within encouraging the need to obtain more in depth knowledge for personal gratification. With the understanding of the definition of ‘learning’ and the two branches of ‘motivation’, we study the motives of five different perspectives of which psychology extends a say in ‘learning motivation’; psychodynamic, behaviourism, humanism, cognitive and biologically.Psychodynamic, the first and foremost study in the field of psychology, is the study of the unconscious mental forces (Cliff, 2011). Based on the original theoretical standings of Freud, a psychoanalyst whose theories are clinically derived, a technique called free association to replace hypnosis was developed. He directed his patients to relax and report anything and everything that came to their mind, regardless of how strange it sounded.He collected data based on what was reported to him during therapy and formulated a theory that a human behaviour and feelings are mostly negative flashbacks from childhood memories (McLeod, 2007). Freud construed that the mind is like an iceberg; the peak of it is the conscious mind, followed by the slightly lower and hidden section from the conscious mind, known as the preconscious mind that stores information which can be voluntarily brought to awareness. The unconscious mind, that makes the base of the iceberg, is hidden deep down in a human’s mind and contains repressed feelings, thoughts, and memories (McLeod, 2007).This being said, a flashback down memory lane of an individual who was exposed to a variety of starters learning modules comprising of kaleidoscopic colours and a variety of shapes helped triggered the infant’s curious mind to explore the fancy world of art. Along with positive encouragement from the infant’s environment, a desire to achieve succession and to prompt the mind to move forward in this field exposed the infant to a possibility of self achievement. 20 years later, the said individual has established a n artistry career out of a small piece of exposure from the infant days.With such positive motivation from the growth environment, the said individual carries a lifelong of happy memories within to be reminisced upon in adulthood. This eventually creates positive intrinsic growing experience that leads to positive motivation in achieving succession for the future. Alternatively, an infant would be negatively affected should the background history tell us that the individual grew up in a pitiful environment of physical abuse. Take for example a child from the war stricken country of Afghanistan.The child goes through a series of bloodshed throughout the growing process and would carry along such painful memories into adulthood. There are adults who are able to handle such experiences, to be able to positively grow into a better person and to want to achieve conducive living environment for the future generation, such are intrinsic determination and motivation that grew within the ind ividual. Behaviour, on the other hand, is a result of stimulus-response association whereby all behaviour, regardless of the measures of complexity, can be concluded to a simple stimulus-response chain. McLeod S. A. , 2007) Watson, an American psychologist believed that psychology is the science of observable behaviour. (Cherry, Behavioral Psychology Basics – Understanding Behavioral Psychology in 10 Easy Steps, 2009) The environment is regarded as the stimuli and the effect that takes place on a living creature’s behaviour is the response. Hence as Watson quoted, ‘’To predict, given the stimulus, what reaction will take place; or given the reaction, state what the situation or stimulus is that has caused the reaction’’ (McLeod S. A. , 2007)Classical Conditioning is a study done by Russian psychologist, Ivan Pavlov on classic experiment that associated his dog to salivate at the sound of a bell repetitively upon a provided meal. Over repeated trial, the dog learned to associate the ringing of the bell with the food and continuously response to a ringing bell even with the absence of food. From Pavlov’s experiment, we can conclude that the stimulus, the bell and food gives off a salivation response from the dog. Operant Conditioning, on the other hand was investigated by B.F. Skinner. In his experiment with a pigeon, the pigeon would be rewarded with food when it turns to its left. The more the pigeon turns, the more it was rewarded. When a behaviour is repeated by the subject, a reward is presented. Skinner positively concluded that repetition leads to reinforcement and reinforcement then leads to change in behaviour. ‘’With the right tools, we can predict and control behaviour of the world. ’’ (Slomp, 2006) Behaviourism can also be observed in our everyday life.Take for example, an observation made on a working individual’s lifestyle on weekdays, whereby the said individual perf orms a routine habit of rising to work, enjoying lunch break, leaving the office, working out at a gym, coming home to continue with the secondary lifestyle of pumping in a few hours of education and retiring for the day. These activities are performed at specific timings scheduled by the individual. There is nothing spontaneous about this, as a matter of fact, it is redundantly blunt.Such a routine can be classified as classical conditioning whereby the said individual’s mind has already been aligned to perform in such a way, that it almost sounds robotic. With eight hours of working five days a week, targets are to be achieved by and individual which are calculated on a daily and monthly basis (sentence is incomplete). With each target achieved, an individual is then rewarded with monetary compensation at the end of the day. This motivates the individual to achieve beyond the target provided, and with each success, it changes from a necessity to a desire to climb the succes s ladder at work.Such case is classified as operant conditioning. The working environment is also a factor that affects the individual’s success. With a positive and encouraging working team mates, a said individual creates such positivism and encouraging attitude within to achieve not just personal growth but to grow together with the company. Should the individual face a stressful environment with unsupportive team mates and negativism from the higher management, the said individual would not achieve the daily or monthly target and would end up being a failure not just personally but also in the company.In the 1950s, ‘Humanism’ dominated the field of psychology upon rejecting the ideas of psychodynamic and behaviourism as it was deemed too pessimistic (McLeod, Humanism, 2007). Humanism takes into consideration both the observer and the behaving person’s point of view in their study. The emphasis is based on each individual’s capacity for growth an d self-actualization (Cherry, 2012). Humanistic approach exercises free will for each individual’s choice made, human values, and the creativity in living life.The fundamental belief is that each and every individual is innately good. Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers regarded that personal growth and fulfilment in life a basic human need (McLeod, Humanism, 2007). Every individual seeks to grow psychologically to continue self enhancement, in other words, everyone seeks self- actualization. This is regarded as a man’s desire to attain self- fulfilment within his potential being, in other words, to become everything one is capable of becoming.Maslow introduced a pyramid to his concept of self-actualization with five levels of needs, firstly, physiological needs such as vitals basic needs like water, air, food and sleep, secondly, security needs related to a desire to achieve steady employment, health insurance, safe neighbourhood and a shelter, thirdly; social needs, the n eed for belonging, love and affection, the fourth is esteem needs, to boost self- esteem, social recognition and accomplishments and finally, self-actualizing needs which is at the peak of the pyramid whereby these people are self-aware, concerned of personal growth and interested in fulfilling their potentials to an optimum level (Cherry, Hierarchy of Needs, 2012). Each level must be achieved before moving on to the next level of the hierarchy. That being said, the application of humanism is observable in the process of growth within humans.Looking back during the cavemen era, humans were exposed to a lifestyle based on purely survival, hence every individual learned survival skills, how to hunt for food, to gain water, and to have a roof above their heads which were caves basically. Slowly, man kind began evolving. From the basic needs of survival, humans began acquiring luxurious items, such as clothes and money. Consequently, education slowly seeped into the picture of mankind e volution. We do not have to go far to study such evolution because from birth, we were taught to eat and it was injected into our infant minds that education is the most important factor in life. With the constant drilling of such facts from infantry days, such attitude is formed that we are to educate ourselves to be a better person, to have good jobs and salaries, to have a better life than our parents had.The intrinsic desire of achieving all these is planted within us and with each level of completion, graduation with a Masters, we move on to seeking jobs and on to a nice roof to surround ourselves and a mating partner. This is all simply a life process that humanism studies. Once the hierarchy is completed, mankind maintains the wonderful life achieved. Just like a game of snake and ladder, humans learn to achieve self actualization with the right mindset, and to learn from mistakes too by sliding down when we land on a snake spot, that is, a failure. From failures, we are moti vated to grow, we learn from mistakes made and improve them. At the end of the day, it is the completion of the hierarchy created within and the wisdom achieved that makes life worth living. Cognitive psychology is the modern scientific study of the mind. Cognition means ‘’knowing’’.It is the study of mental act or process by which knowledge is acquired or in other words it is how a human processes information (stimuli) and reacts upon it (response) (McLeod, 2007) Cognitive psychologist emphasizes on how our thinking influences our behaviour. Piaget studied child cognitive development by applying natural observation on his growing children and clinical interviews and observations of adolescence. Piaget believed that children think differently than adults and stated that they go through four universal stages of cognitive development. Development is biologically based and changes as a child matures and cognition therefore develops in all children in the same sequence of stages. There are four stages of cognitive development that were summarized by Piaget. McLeod, Jean Piaget, 2009) Firstly, sensorimotor which takes place at the age of 0-2 years old is described as an infant builds up direct knowledge of the surrounding world with reflex action and perceptual movement and to relate the pysical result to the perceived results. Secondly, the preoperational stage takes place between the age of 2-7 years. It explains that a child is mentally able to represent events and objects and engage in symbolic play. Their thoughts and actions are purely egocentric which Piaget believes where a child is able to view a situation from another person’s point of view. Consequently, from the age of 7-11 years, concrete operational stage takes over egocentricism. At this stage, a child begins to develop a cognitive logical or operational thought but is only able to apply the logic to physical objects.The final stage of development would be formal ope rational which takes place from age 11 onwards. At early adolescents stage, manipulation of ideas without the dependence of concrete manipulation takes place. A child is able to combine and classify items in a critical, analytical and creative way of action solving. Cognitive psychology also views people as being similar to a computer that is used to process information. A human brain and a computer processes information, stores the data and has input and output procedures. This shows that a human’s memory comprises of three stages: encoding (receiving of information), storage (information is saved) and retrieval (information is recalled) (McLeod, Psychology Perspective, 2007)The initiative to learn leads to cognitive response like when an individual who takes an interest in learning a new language woud be intrinsically motivated to master the language. The individual would be motivated to pick up the new language skills due to the high level of interest towards the subject m atter. This allows information to be collected, stored for future usage and would be retrieved once again when needed. When there is a high level of interest in learning something new, or simply a curiousity that grows within an individual to know more of a certain subject matter, this allows cognitive process to take place easily compared to an individual who is forced to take up a new language skill with low level of interest. The environmental surrounding is also a factor that relates to cognition process.When an individual with high interest of learning a new language is surrounded by people who are as motivated as him and have positive attitude, it motivates the individual to lean further into the subject matter. Psychologist from the biological perspective studies the interrelation of behaviour and experience with the chemical processes that takes places in the nervous system of the body. The electrochemical activities between the neurons in the nervous system and the brain ca use humans to react such as to think, to feel, to eat, and basically any other behaviour that makes up an individual’s daily life. (Sammons, 2009) The study of biological psychology can be categorized as, firstly, comparative method whereby different species of animal can be studied and compared. This helps in the understanding of human behaviour.Secondly, physiology which is the study of the functionalism and relation between then nervous system, hormones and brain function and how a sudden change in a stimulus such as the environment can change an individual’s behaviour. Lastly, inheritance, which is the study of genetics, ways in which genes affect an individual’s behaviour. (Mcleod, 2007) In regards to this, we can study how the stimulus affects the chemical processes that take place in a human’s mind to understand the teory of learning motivation in a human. The exposure to stimulus of learning would trigger a response, for example in a case of nicot ine addiction in a family trait.A pregnant mother who has a serious addiction of nicotine is likely to transfer such chemical process and gene to her newborn child as the bloodstream within the mother and the newborn is infiltrated with nicotine. They are often adviced to inhibit the intake of nicotine during pregnancy to avoid genetics defects in their newborn. However, we can often see that parents who smoke in front of their child during the early stages of the newborns life, are likely to impact the newborn at an early stage of nicotine addiction too. It is also due to the stimulus surrounding of the infant that would trigger such response from the growing child. Behavioral traits from parents are passed down to their children too and hence would have a generation of nicotine addicts in that family.We can see that this is an intrically motivated biological behavior of learning how to pick up a cigarette stick directly from the parents themselves to influence the future generatio n to be addicted to nicotine too. In conclusion to the study of learning motivation in aspects of five perspectives of psychology, we can see that each perspective is interrelated with the study of behavior and environment as factors that separate an intrinsically or extrinsically motivated outcome. A wise man once said, ‘Your life is simply within your mind’s control. Trick your mind into thinking positive and you shall have a prosperous life, or treat it to negative seeds and you shall bare the fruits of negativity in your daily life response. ’

Black and Decker

The black and decker corporation: power tools division| The Case of Black and Decker| The Marketing Plan for The Professional Tradesmen Segment Year 1991/1992| | Executive Summary Gary DiCamillo, Black and Decker’s president of power tools for United States, is reviewing the most recent sales records and figures indicating the professional tradesmen segment’s market share in his office. The research findings are not looking good and surprisingly, he didn’t expect otherwise. It has been almost a decade that this segment is in the bottom half of brand perception.There has not been any more vital time to understand the cause of this setback. This urgency lead him to ask Joseph Galli, the vice president of sales and marketing at Black and Decker, to conduct a thorough research to develop a marketing plan for the year 1991/1992. The new plan is developed to target the major problem in the Professional Tradesmen segment: Low market share among comparatives and no profi tability. After a detailed situation and consumer analysis and evaluating the alternatives, John Galli concluded that professional tradesmen segment needs to be repositioned.After a careful product assessment, Galli realized the professional quality of items produced by B&D is above their major comparatives such as Makita and Milwakee. However, the brand is poorly differentiated from the lower grade products in the consumer segment; the segment which B&D holds the most solid market share among comparatives. The permeation of B&D in consumer segment has tarnished brand perception in professional tradesmen segment; both product lines are offered in the same color: Charcoal Grey!Additionally, due to the already established and extensive negative recognition of professional tradesmen segment among professional buyers of power tool products tagging any product to this brand won’t generate the drastic results that B&D is pursuing. Furthermore, it was Black and Decker’s weak presence in Home Depot, the rapidly growing professional tradesmen product outlet, which was contributing to the problem. They needed to strategically enter this market while emphasizing their position in Home Center and Two-Step distribution channel.Following these realities, Galli knew with almost no profitability in this segment asking for advertising allowances and rebate money is not an option. As a result, he introduced a marketing plan revolving around repositioning the professional tradesmen segment and establishing a new brand entry, backed by B&D service and warranty handling and differentiating products from consumer segment by colorization. 1 Introduction Black and Decker is one of the world’s largest power tool manufactures and the leader of power tool market in United States.In 1991, Black and Decker’s sales record was over $5 billion and the company ranked 7th in brand recognition throughout U. S and 19th in Europe market. The nation’s power tool company leader divides in three segments: consumer, professional industrial and professional tradesmen. The consumer tool segment is offering products for â€Å"at home† use and is the most popular division with proximately $250 million in revenue in 1990. The professional industrial targets the corporates that purchase tools in large quantities for the use of professional employees.The revenue for this segment is estimated $110 Million as well. The professional tradesmen segment is the $420 million size division which represents products that professional individuals such as carpenters and contractors purchase to use on the job sites where they are required to take their own tools. However, this segment generated only $35 million revenue in 1990 with almost no profit. Both consumer and professional industrial segments owned a solid position in the market with 45% and 20% segment shares in power tool market. However, this success did not transfer to the professional tradesmen segment.In 1990, B&D roughly held 9% market share in power tool market in United States. This highlighted the presence of the competitors such as Makita and Milwaukee with 50% and 10% market shares to the senior management of B&D more than ever. Professional tradesmen segment was clearly suffering and falling behind in the dynamic and competitive power tool market. Joseph Galli, the vice president of sales and marketing in Black & Decker decided to conduct an extensive research to find the root of this problem and conclude an alternative.In this research, the problem highlights itself as the professional tradesmen segment’s low market share, no profitability and desperate need to reposition for this segment. Following is the situation analysis of Black and Decker supporting the idea of repositioning the professional tradesman unit. 2 Situational Analysis Internal factors By virtually creating the power tools industry, Black & Decker holds primary strength in the consumer and industrial segments, proved by being ranked #1 in those respected market share positions.By holding large amount of equity in the US and Europe, DeWalt can aggressively be put into the professional tradesmen segment to take the market lead from Makita. Although Black & Decker only holds a 9% share in the current professional tradesman segment, Black & Decker holds the title of being one of the best producers of high quality goods. By repositioning the DeWalt name in the rapidly growing professional tradesmen segment, that 9% market share will quickly increase with the support of our brand recognition and image.With the strong internal factors, the Black & Decker Company has strong potential in building an admirable image in the $420 million professional tradesmen segment. External Factors The professional tradesmen segment, although relatively new, has rapidly been growing compared to the consumer, 7%, and industrial, no growth, segments. Having high market shares in the consumer a nd industrial parts, Black & Decker holds a strong 30% of the total market share. Also growing in importance, are the home centers, The Home Depot being the largest of the quickly growing chain stores of home improvement.Buyers of the professional tradesmen tools also heavily patronize emerging retail distribution outlets, such as The Home Depot and Lowe’s. Competitive analysis Despite the fact that Makita does share 50% of the current market, the current position they hold in brand image is not nearly as positive as Black & Decker. Consumers have regarded Makita as, 3 â€Å"arrogant† and â€Å"dictatorial. † On the other side, Black & Decker has been put in the top ten in the U. S in the aspect of brand strength.One of the main reasons why Makita has grown much success in the past decade was with the help of the new rapid development of home center outlets. A common characteristic shared within the top three manufacturers of the professional tradesmen segment w as that all three offered broad product lines, offering approximately 175 SKU’s each. Consumer Analysis Black & Decker Corporation as a Power Tools Division has been ranked low in the professional tradesmen market. In efforts to increase awareness and market the power tools division in a more competitive way, a consumer study was established and processed.Consumers of different ages, sexes, and races that work in the professional tradesmen field and the general public were asked a series of non-bias questions in order to gain a competitive advantage in the future sales opportunity. In order to do so we needed to study the current trend of consumer awareness and behavior as well as the pre conceived opinion of the Black & Decker product reputation both past and current trends. The following segments were used: Young Adults (ages 15-25), Adult Women (ages 26-60), and Adult Men ages (26-60).Young Adults (ages 15-25): The young adults being mostly single, college age living at ho me with parents or with roommates who typically don’t use power tools were vaguely familiar with the Black & Decker name and not associating as a Power tool brand. Adult Women (ages 26-60) usually homemakers, single moms, have advanced education, professional, and work both outside the home as well as in the home. Of the Adult females surveyed 75% were familiar with the Black & Decker name and had purchased a B&D power tool over any other brand.Of those women, 75% also choose durability over cost when compared to similar items. While most women appear to be more in tune to actual cost of household products such as a Dust Buster when compared to professional grade tools, they still have a more realistic estimate of actual cost when compared side by side. Most women rate 4 Black & Decker as a good-excellent power tool product and would recommend to a friend and purchase additional B&D products. Adult Men (ages 26-60) Most with a higher level of education and with more experienc e using power tools.In some instances adult men and women shared the same opinion but when asked, men choose warranty over compatibility. 56% of adult men rated Black & Decker as a poor choice for a power tool. While women were found to be more willing to purchase additional power tools with the Black & Decker name only 10% of males said they would and most would not recommend B&D as a power tool option. With the above data collected it is determined that dropping the Black & Decker name instead of just Sub branding would better benefit the goals of the company and gain a larger advantage in the market.Having such a negative appeal from the current state is not only discouraging but also provides a more complete analysis of how the consumers view the Black & Decker name, regardless of the quality of an actual item. Alternatives, Pros and Cons The first alternative would focus on B&D consumer and Professional-Industrial market segment which it already maintains the #1 market share. T he professional-Tradesman segment would become an afterthought for B&D, instead focusing primarily on profitability at the expense of market share.B&D research had shown that their tools were highly regarded in the professional industrial segment, for high quality. B&D field test of their products with all identifying marks removed against competitors products which also had all identifying marks removed, showed that product quality was strongly competitive with other brands. This would greatly diminish the Black and Decker brand by deemphasizing the quality in the professional-Tradesman segment. The result would be a negative effect on consumer and industrial segments as well.Brand loyalty and image would suffer greatly while gaining market share for the Professional-Tradesman segment. The second alternative would be to sub-brand B&D product. The brand would have a new name for its professional tradesman products, but would also state â€Å"by Black and Decker†. 5 This alter native would not entirely clear all negative brand perception in the B&D Professional Tradesman segment. Professional Tradesman segment viewed the B&D brand as a product for home instead of job use.This alternative would still carry the negative perception of the B&D brand in the Professional Tradesman segment of the market. B&D quality perception of suppliers quality would remain first to last based on company research. Color was generally regarded as a product differentiator and this alternative would not make any changes in this regard, keeping the B&D tools their respective traditional colors. This alternative would do little to increase market share and revenue.The third alternative, which has been chosen for the best possible outcome, would be to use an entirely different brand name for the B&D Professional-Tradesman segment of the market. The brand name chosen is DeWalt, the brand has storied history in the stationary wood working business since the company was founded in 191 8. DeWalt products were permanently installed on many lumberyards, garnering awareness of the brand, verified by research at 70% and also positively viewed as one of the best by 63% of the professional-tradesman segment of the market.The company was purchased by B&D in 1960, so the brand name could be easily assigned to a B&D product. The color option eventually chosen was yellow, a familiar sign of caution used on many construction sites. The yellow coloring would also differentiate the DeWalt product from many other brands including B&D and many other successful brands in the professional-tradesman segment. This option would theoretically double the market share within three years; operating income would also increase by 2%. RecommendationsThe product chosen to replace the B&D nameplate in the professional tradesman segment is the DeWault. DeWalt brand would position the B&D professional tradesman products a step higher in product quality and reliability, relieving the negative br and association in the respective segment. The color yellow chosen for the product would create instant awareness of the brand amongst its immediate competitors Makita and Milwakee. The price of the DeWalt Professional-Tradesman product would be positioned comparably to the Makita and Milwakee brands.Milwakee and Makita are priced 5% and 10% respectively over current similar B&D products. 6 The distribution channels that will be used include home centers, which include The Home Depot and Home Club. Home centers are increasingly becoming a popular source for professional-tradesman tools. Home centers have a combined yearly sale of 8. 5 million dollar in the professional-tradesman market. DeWalts rise in the marketplace will greatly depend on these types of distribution outlets. Two-steps will be used for distribution as well, including Ace and Servistar.DeWalt will not be offered in discount oriented membership club stores, as they are perceived to be positioning themselves as a â₠¬Å"fathers day gift† The DeWalt brand has an existing 70% awareness rating among Professional-Tradesman, and a 63% positive view by tradesman. The company was founded in 1918 and has been a permanent fixture in lumberyards since, the presence over the years has created most of the existing promotion of the brand. The yellow color of DeWalt tools will help it differentiate itself form other products and also promote itself as being the only yellow tool for Professional-Tradesman on the market.Conclusion The purpose to conduct this marketing plan was to find an alternative to Black and Decker’s decade long failure to own large enough market shares in professional tradesmen segment. Black & Decker has succeeded to position the consumer and professional industrial segments in the top ranked market share among comparatives however, professional tradesmen segment has failed to reach anywhere beyond %9. The internal factor for B&D is that, this company is one of the world†™s largest power tool producers and in the comparison product analysis Black and Decker’s products win over the competitors.This means B&D has the potential to earn the top brand perception that is missing. On the other hand, consumers are the external factor who prefers using B&D products for home use rather than on job sites this is while Makita and Milwaukee are the two preferred brands in professional tradesmen segment. Galli is coming up with three alternatives. The first option is to harvest professional tradesmen channels. This option is vetoed because professional tradesmen segment is growing more rapidly than consumer and industrial segments.Dropping this segment will lead to a huge loss in a long run. The second alternative is to sub-brand. This alternative is ruled out as well since releasing any products under any brand while still tagged to B&D will not lead to increase sales due to extensive negative brand perception in professional tradesmen products. The thi rd alternative is to drop the tainted Black and Decker name and produce a line of products under DeWalt brand, the brand owned by B&D with already established market share and good brand perception.Even though, building a new brand from the ground up takes time (proximately three years) this alternative is highly recommended. DeWalt brand saws have a very high brand recognition and durability. Additionally, this product line will be offered in a new color: Yellow. The color that indicates safety and can easily be recognized and differentiated by customers. Timeline Spring -begin advertisements with print by using our sub-branding method -sub branding would emphasis on the new name De-Walt -prepare for manufacturing and distribution of product for upcoming summerSummer -hold a press conference inviting various professional tradesmen, small and large corporations such as construction companies and small business owners to introduce the new product line and hold demonstrations -offer s ample test tools to professional tradesmen – set up workshops using the new sub-branded power tools to generate a buzz and interest in the new products which would be available for purchase soon -begin distribution among large retailers as well as club stores -increase advertisement both in print, radio and televisionSeptember -evaluate sales -take market surveys of those using the new sub branded product line December -continue to offer demonstrations on the use of the new line -decrease advertisement efforts -offer holiday packages to encourage families to purchase the new product lines for their husbands, fathers, brothers etc. for the upcoming holidays -have successfully created a positive outlook and increased market share and sales of the new sub branded product line by the end of the year

History of the Second Congo War

History of the Second Congo War The first phase of the Second Congo War led to a stalemate in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. On one side were Congolese rebels backed and guided by Rwanda, Uganda, and Burundi. On the other side were both Congolese paramilitary groups and the government, under the leadership of  Laurent Dà ©sirà ©-Kabila, backed by Angola, Zimbabwe, Namibia, the Sudan, Chad, and Libya.   A Proxy War By September 1998, a month after the Second Congo War had begun, the two sides were at a stalemate. The pro-Kabila forces controlled the West and central part of the Congo, while the anti-Kabila forces controlled the east and part of the north.   Much of the fighting for the next year was by proxy. While the Congolese military (FAC) continued to fight, Kabila also supported Hutu militias in rebel territory as well as pro-Congolese forces known as  Mai Mai. These groups attacked the rebel group,  Rassemblement Congolais pour la Dà ©mocratie  (RCD), which was largely made up of Congolese Tutsis and was supported, initially, by both Rwanda and Uganda.  Uganda also sponsored a second rebel group in the northern Congo, the  Mouvement pour la  Libà ©ration du Congo (MLC).   In 1999, a Failed Peace In late June, the major parties in the war met at a peace conference in Lusaka, Zambia. They agreed to a ceasefire, exchange of prisoners, and other provisions to bring about peace, but the not all of the rebel groups were even at the conference and others refused to sign. Before the agreement even became official, Rwanda and Uganda split, and their rebel groups began fighting in the DRC. The Resource War One of the most significant show downs between Rwandan and Ugandan troops was in the city of Kisangani, an important site in the Congo lucrative diamond trade. With the war stretching on, the parties began focusing on gaining access to the Congos wealth of riches: gold, diamonds, tin, ivory, and coltan. These conflict minerals made the war profitable for all involved in their extraction and sale, and extended the misery and danger for those who were not, mainly women. Millions died of hunger, disease, and a lack of medical care.  Women were also systematically and brutally raped. Doctors in the region came to recognize the trademark wounds left by the torture methods used by the different militias. As the war became more and more overtly about profit, the various rebel groups all began fighting among each other. The initial divisions and alliances that had characterized the war in its earlier stages dissolved, and fighters took what they could.  The United Nations sent in peacekeeping forces, but they were inadequate for the task. The Congo War Officially Draws to a Close In January 2001,  Laurent Dà ©sirà ©-Kabila was assassinated by one of his bodyguards, and his son, Joseph Kabila, assumed the presidency.  Joseph Kabila proved more popular internationally than his father, and the DRC soon received more aid than formerly. Rwanda and Uganda were also cited for their exploitation of the Conflict minerals and received sanctions. Finally, Rwanda was losing ground in the Congo. These factors combined to slowly bring about a decline in the Congo War, which officiall ended in 2002 in peace talks in Pretoria, South Africa. Again, not all of the rebel groups participated in the talks, and the eastern Congo remained a troubled zone. Rebel groups, including the Lords Resistance Army, from neighboring Uganda, and fighting between groups continued for more than a decade.   Resources and Further Reading Prunier, Gerald.  .Africa’s World War: The Congo, Rwandan Genocide, and the Making of a Continental Catastrophe  Oxford University Press: 2011.Van Reybrouck, David.  Congo: The Epic History of a People. Harper Collins, 2015.

Wave-Particle Duality Definition

Wave-Particle Duality Definition Wave-particle duality describes the properties of photons and subatomic particles to exhibit properties of both waves and particles. Wave-particle duality is an important part of quantum mechanics  as it offers a way to explain why concepts of wave and particle, which work in classical mechanics, dont cover the behavior of quantum objects. The dual nature of light gained acceptance after 1905, when Albert Einstein described light in terms of photons, which exhibited properties of particles, and then presented his famous paper on special relativity, in which light acted as a field of waves. Particles That Exhibit Wave-Particle Duality Wave-particle duality has been demonstrated for photons (light), elementary particles, atoms, and molecules. However, the wave properties of larger particles, such as molecules, have extremely short wavelengths and are difficult to detect and measure. Classical mechanics is generally sufficient for describing the behavior of macroscopic entities. Evidence for Wave-Particle Duality Numerous experiments have validated wave-particle duality, but there are a few specific early experiments that ended the debate about whether light consists of either waves or particles: Photoelectric Effect - Light Behaves as Particles The photoelectric effect is the phenomenon where metals emit electrons when exposed to light. The behavior of the photoelectrons could not be explained by classical electromagnetic theory. Heinrich Hertz noted that shining ultraviolet light on electrodes enhanced their ability to make electric sparks (1887). Einstein (1905) explained the photoelectric effect as resulting from light carried in discrete quantized packets. Robert Millikans experiment (1921) confirmed Einsteins description and led to Einstein winning the Nobel Prize in 1921 for his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect and Millikan winning the Nobel Prize in 1923 for his work on the elementary charge of electricity and on the photoelectric effect. Davisson-Germer Experiment - Light Behaves as Waves The Davisson-Germer experiment confirmed the deBroglie hypothesis and served as a foundation for the formulation of quantum mechanics. The experiment essentially applied the Bragg law of diffraction to particles. The experimental vacuum apparatus measured the electron energies scattered from the surface of a heated wire filament and allowed to strike a nickel metal surface. The electron beam could be rotated to measure the effect of changing the angle on the scattered electrons. The researchers found that the intensity of the scattered beam peaked at certain angles. This indicated wave behavior and could be explained by applying the Bragg law to the nickel crystal lattice spacing. Thomas Youngs Double-Slit Experiment Youngs double slit experiment can be explained using wave-particle duality. Emitted light moves away from its source as an electromagnetic wave. Upon encountering a slit, the wave passes through the slit and divides into two wavefronts, which overlap. At the moment of impact onto the screen, the wave field collapses into a single point and becomes a photon.

World War II Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

World War II - Research Paper Example History has recorded and proved time and over again that such aggressive act of violence against any nation has resulted in changing the face of the earth and has produced profound effects on any involved country’s global and political standing. It is not the matter of who wins or loses the war because despite the fact, every nation gets affected by its negativity in one way or the other. Our world history has detailed accounts of many important wars which has changed the world map accordingly but two wars have always considered as of having greater affect globally and much violent that any other war. This essay compiles the details about World War II. It is an attempt to provide authentic research material for understanding what caused this war, how it was started and how it ended. If we look at it in a statistical manner then World War II started in 1939 and ended in 1945 but this essay is not about when it started. To have an in depth and comprehensive analysis of second wo rld war, we will have to look back a decade or more to understand the reasons for which a war of such a magnitude became unavoidable and inevitable. Covering a span of over 26 years of pre-war state, during and post-war from 1919 to 1945 it will incorporate all the major events that defined and shaped the future. Its foundation was laid soon after the World War I which raged in Europe from 1914 to 1918. It was fought between the central powers including Germany, Ottoman Empire and the Austro-Hungarian and the allied forces which included United States, Italy, Britain and France. It can be termed as the aftermath of the World War I. The great first war saw the allied forces as victors while the central powers were on the losing side. Naturally the winners wanted the losers to pay and so a peace agreement namely the Treaty of Versailles was formed which contained enough substance to punish and humiliate the nations who lost. (Goldstein) As the latter two sides ceased to exist, only Ge rmany was left to bear the victor’s brunt. There were the territorial losses as the part of the agreement for peace with which new nations were formed taking parts from Germany and the Soviet Union. Also the Austro-Hungarian regime was divided into newer states namely Poland, Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia. Those Germans who were parted and divided due to the formation of new states were called Ausland Deutsch (German Outsiders). So a grudge started building against the central powers in Germans and European nations. Then another reason which proved decisive in paving way for a second world war was the great depression which started in 1929. This changed the economic stature of many nations and global economy literally crashed. This produced devastated effects on the economy of Germany and European nations because they were already shaken due to the war debt. The European nations were so weakened by the war that the newer global economic downfall caused their economy to utterl y collapse. This brought an end to the perception that capitalist and democratic political environment prevailing so far has failed to secure the boundaries of European nations especially Germany. These aftereffects of World War I produced a negative yet indispensible urge in the Germans and they started developing a strategy for revenge. Soon after this after math of World War I and the great depression which followed, world saw the unexpected emergence and popularity of two dictators the Italian Benito Mussolini and the German Adolf Hitler. Germans who were helpless and starving to death needed a dictatorial regime that could provide an instant solution to their problems. They instantly accepted Hitler as their leader and soon the national socialist Nazi