Kohlberg's Stages of Moral Development in Thank You for Smoking (2005) Essay

Kohlberg's Stages of Moral Development in Thank You for Smoking (2005) - Essay Example Some of the characters in the film swing across these moral stages, depending on their changing goals and target audiences. Characters in â€Å"Stage 1: Obedience and Punishment† display morality that comes from following authority (Crain, 1985). Nick Naylor (Aaron Eckhart) shows Stage 1 morality because he is initially focused on what his boss and company think is right. Instead of following the government or traditional social norms, Naylor follows the goals and norms of his company and boss. Naylor’s boss BR (J.K. Simmons) seeks for ideas on making smoking a more lucrative business. He tells Naylor: â€Å"We don't sell Tic Tacs, we sell cigarettes. And they’re cool, available, and addictive† (Sacks & Reitman, 2005). Naylor responds with a recommendation of product placement in the movies. He is responding to the pressure of doing what is right, based on what his company demands from him. Furthermore, Naylor displays loyalty to his boss, even when the latter does something wrong. BR steals Naylor’s idea of product placement in the movies and presents it to Captain (Rob ert Duvall) as his own. Naylor does not correct Captain anymore for fear of reprisal. Morality, in this stage, is â€Å"external† to the people, and not something they feel they must be personally responsible for, so they follow their bosses as the basis of their morality (Crain, 1985). Aside from Stage 1, characters in Thank You for Smoking exhibit morality in â€Å"Stage 2: Individualism and Exchange,† when they focus on the relativity of morals and the importance of making compromises to gain something. Naylor shifts to Stage 2, when he explains to his son that being right heavily relies on one’s argumentation skills. He tells his son: â€Å"That’s the beauty of argument, if you argue correctly, you're never wrong.† Morality is relative to the person doing the argumentation and his/her persuasiveness. Furthermore, flexible morality is another indicator of an individualistic approach to morality. Naylor admits to his son that to be in his job, he must have â€Å"flexible morals† (Sacks & Reitman, 2005). Flexible morals allow him to stay unaffected of the negative views on tobacco smoking. Jeff Megall (Rob Lowe) is another example of someone who manifests Stage 2 because he is not concerned of maintaining the social order or universal principles. Megall emphasizes that individuals have different opinions, so he calls himself a â€Å"facilitator† because â€Å"people decide for themselves† (Sacks & Reitman, 2005). He believes in the individual differences of morality and does not judge them. Heather Holloway (Katie Holmes) illustrates Stage 1 morality too because she exchanges something to gain another. She enters into a sexual affair with Naylor, so that she can access and expose his secrets as a reporter (Sacks & Reitman, 2005). These are examples of people, who believe in individualistic views of morality, as well as the flexibility needed to undergo social transactions for the purposes of personal gai n. The next stage is â€Å"Stage 3: Good Interpersonal Relationships,† and characters show this level of morality, when they do what is good based on what their family and community value as good behaviors (Crain, 1985). Naylor wants to be a better father to his son. In order to do this, he thinks that it is right to spend more time with him. Joey’s mother and stepfather are alarmed of what he is learning and inhaling from his father, but Naylor does not care, because he simply wants to have more quality time with Joey (Sacks

England Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

England - Assignment Example Players in the industry had to put forward drastic measures by the engagement of massive discounts so as to support the relatively threatened customer base especially due to the global economic meltdown which had its effects in the UK by the end of 2009.It has been reported that the global shipments of the products have been growing by 4% annually supported majorly by the imports from the US ,Japan and South Africa .The Japanese market has been stabilizing currently making ripple effects in the local market and enabling the increasing stability of the UK market an achievable phenomenon. By January the import of our company stood at 7% and the shipments to foreign branches stood at 3.1 %.The projected sales of champagne in the year 2012 is expected to be 35.5M. Sales is one of the most important components of a business ,however it has to promote responsibility to avoid the long term effects on their brand and to avoid the crumbling of the business. The size of the industry has been growing over the previous years, however it received a major slow down due to the impacts of the global economic recession. Despite the economic troubles facing the globe presently, the sales are stable and relatively high during the festive seasons plus there are new emerging markets within the country offering the champagne business new avenues for major sales. The ports that are used by our company for the importation of our facilities and majorly for our products have to meet the criterion for efficiency and have to be secure .the port has to be versatile ,have diversity of traffic and the charges have to be competitive and realistic for the business venture of our type to avoid extra input into the system. The company has been using the Bristol port for a very long time for its shipping duties since it is meeting the standards put by the management and the stakeholders in the company. Our

America And World War Ii History Essay

America And World War Ii History Essay The objective of this book is to subject the chief features of the Good War myth to bright analysis in the hope of present an additional realistic picture, one that does not demean the achievement of the United States and of liberal democracy but that at the same time does not diminish the stress, suffering, problems, and failures inevitably faced by a society at war. The war was good for the economy. It was liberating for women. It was a war of tanks and airplanes a cleaner war than World War I. Americans were united. Soldiers were proud. It was a time of prosperity, sound morality, and power. But according to historian Michael Adams, our memory is distorted, and it has left us with a misleading even dangerous legacy. Challenging many of our common assumptions about the period, Adams argues that our experience of World War II was positive but also disturbing, creating problems that continue to plague us today. Michael C Adams has contributed to The Best War Ever: America and World War II as an author. Michael C. C. Adams, a professor of history at Northern Kentucky University, is the author of The Great Adventure: Male Desire and the Coming of World War I (1990).   Much of the events of WWII has been mythologized not only by Hollywood and government propaganda, and over the years this mythology has been perpetuated by those who lived through the war themselves. Michael C. C. Adams has sought to expose these stories for what they are, fabrication and oversimplifications, and provide the basic facts that facilitate a truer understanding of WWII and the world wide cultural changes surrounding it, both before and after the war itself. In chapter one, Mythmaking and the War, Adams sets out the myth itself, as defined by Hollywood dramatization, government propaganda, advertisement agencies, and the revised memories of those who stayed home, as well as those who fought in the war itself. The war became Americas golden age, a peak in the life of society when everything worked out and the good guys definitely got a happy ending. (Adams, 2) The WWII era came to serve a purpose; to be the bygone age which America once was, and if worked hard enough for, could be again. It was, in a sense, Americas Garden of Eden, the time and place where all things were right. Of course, this was a manufactured ideal, what Adams calls a usable past. In creating a usable past, we seek formulas to apply in solving todays problems. Americans believe that WWII proved one rule above all othersit is usually better to fight than to talk. (Adams, 4) To make WWII into the best war ever, we must leave out the area bombings and other questionable aspects while exaggerating the good things. The war myth is distorted not so much in what it says as in what it doesnt say. (Adams, 7) This applies not only to the war itself, but also to the home front. Chapter two, No Easy Answers, begins the process of deconstructing the myth, and demonstrating that the events leading up to WWII began long before the Treaty of Versailles, and the ramifications of WWII will last much longer than the generation that fought it. Adams lays out the frame of the complex political, cultural and economic histories of each of nations which would become involved in WWII, and shows that there was no obvious point at which one decision would have prevented the war from happening. Taken in context, the actions each nation took leading up to WWII make sense. Adams asks, what could have been done differently? Apparently, not much; appeasement didnt work in Europe, and determent didnt work in Asia. There really were no easy answers. Chapter three, The Patterns of War, 1939-1945 lays out the way in which each nation fought the war, with a new speed and brutality made possible by technology and the remoteness of the enemy. Chapter four, The American War Machine, demonstrates how the tools were created and sent into battle, and how the soldiers and organization of each army differed, for better or worse. Chapter five, Overseas, outlines the realities of life for the American soldier both in the European and Pacific theatres, while chapter six, Home front Changes, does the same for those who stayed home. These chapters have one unifying purpose; to define the reality of the WWII era, expose the complex history and actors, and above all, disabuse us of the reigning WWII mythos. Chapter seven, A New World, takes us one step further and debunks the myth that returning GIs readjusted quickly without lasting physical ailments and emotional traumas and into a society awaiting them with open arms, friendly smiles and lovin g families. Above all else, Adams has provided an interesting and easily accessible framework with which one can examine WWII and appreciate the complexities and realities of the era. While his history is intentionally brief and uncomplicated by example and detail, it does achieve its purpose. By identifying the mythos and realities of WWII, the Good War can be appreciated for what it actually was; an ugly, brutal and ultimately necessary war. Adams says that the existence of the WWII distortions is not entirely the fault of the American public. It is also the fault of the Federal Government and the media. The government censored controversial material during the war and only delivered to the public details that were uplifting and beneficial to the cause. The media also used the war to its advantage, promoting products using references to the war.   Adams also goes into detail the Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome the soldiers endured during the war.   The book does go into some historical accounts of WWII. Most of Adams references though were secondary sources. I would have liked to see him use more primary sources which would have provided more authenticity and credibility to the book. I do recommend the book if you are looking for a quick read about WWII, but if you are looking for a military history about WWII, this is not the book for you. 3-John F. Kasson, AMUSING THE MILLION: CONEY ISLAND AT THE TURN OF THE CENTURY Amusing the Million: Coney Island at the Turn of the Century (American Century) Amusing the Million examines the historical context in which Coney Island made its reputation as an amusement park and shows how Americas changing social and economic conditions formed the basis of a new mass culture. Exploring it afresh in this way, John Kasson shows Coney Island no longer as the object of nostalgia but as a harbinger of modernityand the many photographs, lithographs, engravings, and other reproductions with which he amplifies his text support this lively thesis. After studying the whole book my point of analysis on this book is that In these times, when entertainers bare body parts normally kept strictly covered, it is hard to believe the cover photo of this book was considered rather racy a century ago. It shows a line of girls on the beach at Coney Island where the skirts on their swimsuits have been raised to reveal the shorts underneath. Considering that they also appear to have full-length tights on underneath the shorts, to modern eyes, they look overdressed. There were many social commentators at the end of the nineteenth century that argued that the egalitarian social structure of Coney Island was debasing the social fabric of the nation. As Coney Island was the most conspicuous example of the dramatic social changes taking place in the United States. By the turn of the century, the people were generally no longer rural tillers of the soil, having been transformed into urban tillers of the machines. Furthermore, by this time, the social distinctions between the upper and other classes were being blurred. As the author points out, at Coney Island, many of the stiff social restrictions came down. People who otherwise would not speak to each other became friendly and shared rides, beach water and other amusements.   The members of the compressed urban society craved simple and inexpensive recreation and Coney Island provided it. Therefore, as Kasson points out so well, it was a phenomenon that grew out of a social need and in many ways served as a social release. People could, for a very small fee, leave their crowded dwellings and engage in a day of escape. Everyone was equal on the rides and the beaches, so at least at that location, social distinctions disappeared.   Until I read this book, I had never considered the amusement park as a barometer for social change. However, it is now clear that Coney Island was a metaphor for a dramatic change in the social fabric of the nation and from this book, you can learn many of the details. These were all much the same in nature, differing mainly in size and duration. Their reason for being and the reason or them becoming a thing of the past is all the same.   The book suggests that they started in the mid-1800s is stretching the point somewhat as Fairs of all types were around for many centuries and only differed in how big they were, how far people travelled to them ,how much new inventions became incorporated and how long they lasted.   It seems that throughout history people loved to gather for just about any reason, but generally some sort of amusement along with the hope of seeing something new. Thus there were Races, Exhibitions of animals, crafts, products for prizes or sale, Auctions, Magic shows, Plays, Sporting events; and on and on ad infantilism.   This happened at Stonehenge and before, at the Roman Collisium, and Religious Celebrations. It didnt take much to create an event; heck, even a Hanging was enough to get a huge crowd out.  The same sort of thing continues today. So instead of taking the Subway to Coney Island or some other Amusement park; we go to the great Theme Parks, National Parks, Sporting Events, Concerts, Casinos, Vegas, Nashville, Ski Hills, Cruises, or even events and locations around the world, such as World Fairs or the Olympics.   The old adage The more things change, the more they become the same applies to Amusement Parks, just as it does to everything else.   The greatest change is in the ease of travel, the amount of disposable income available, and the introduction of TV where everything can be brought right into the living room. That doesnt leave much but the Thrill Rides, the Smells and Sounds, the Crowds and the Outdoors; but thats coming too.  The Canadian National Exhibition continues to run for 3 weeks in August: however it gets poorer and tackier every year and who knows how much longer it will continue. Amusement parks that began to exist during the turn of the century served as venues for fun and excitement as well as helped to release the repressed from the gentility of the Victorian Age of the nineteenth century. John Kasson examines the social and cultural ramifications that occurred in American society in his book, AMUSING THE MILLIONS: CONEY ISLAND AT THE TURN OF THE CENTURY. In his study, Kasson shows how the American landscape became playgrounds, especially in New York, which extended the use of recreational space, New Yorks Central Park, and expositions that commemorated and celebrated the American historical past, Chicagos Columbian Exposition of 1893. They magnified the cornerstones and building blocks of the city, and the behavior that was exhibited with the rising middle class, which attracted a mass audience. The city became cosmopolitan and modern where many engaged and frolicked, and helped to unlatch social, racial, and economic boundaries that were bestowed upon ma ny individuals; they also helped to rejuvenate cities through urban planning.   Indeed, Kasson explores the world of imagination. The amusements ran the gamut from a Barnum and Bailey atmosphere to reveling along the boardwalk amongst exotic and unusual exhibits that coveted Coney Islands Luna Park and Dreamland Park. And within the text Kasson highlights those who helped architect this unrestrained environment of excess, such as Frederick Law Olmstead, Daniel H. Burnham, George C. Tilyou, Frederic Thompson, James Gibbons Huneker, and Maxim Gorky. Undoubtedly these were elaborate and spacious constructed palatial playgrounds of pleasure full of materialism and consumption where many gathered for pure utopian enjoyment. According to Kasson, these amusements also served as an outlet for artists and painters whose works did not particularly belong in museums. However, they reflected the modernist and realist genres of the art world before they came into vogue, and they depicted technological, urban, populous, egalitarian, erotic, hedonist, dynamic, and culturally d iverse images that the public were not accustomed to (88).   Overall, this is an interesting trip down nostalgic memory lane. Through the revealing pictures and detailed narrative, Kasson shows readers how Coney Island at the turn became a form of liberation for an array of classes. In essence, this is a good source to refer to when studying or reading about the American Dream as it relates to amusement parks that transcended social and cultural change in American society.   4-John Kenneth Galbraith, THE GREAT CRASH, 1929 The Great Crash of 1929 The Great Crash, 1929  is a book written by  John Kenneth Galbraith  and published in 1954; it is an economic history of the lead-up to the  Wall Street Crash of 1929. The book argues that the 1929 stock market crash was precipitated by rampant speculation in the stock market, that the common denominator of all speculative episodes is the belief of participants that they can become rich without work and that the tendency towards recurrent speculative orgy serves no useful purpose, but rather is deeply damaging to an economy.  It was Galbraiths belief that a good knowledge of what happened in 1929 was the best safeguard against its recurrence. Galbraith wrote the book during a break from working on the manuscript of what would become  The Affluent Society. Galbraith was asked by  Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr.  if he would write the definitive work on the  Great Depression  that he would then use as a reference source for his own intended work on Roosevelt. Galbraith chose to concentrate on the days that ushered in the depression. I never enjoyed writing a book more; indeed, it is the only one I remember in no sense as a labor but as a joy.  Galbraith received much praise for his work, including his humorous observations of human behavior during the speculative stock market bubble and subsequent crash. The publication of the book, which was one of Galbraiths first bestsellers, coincided with the 25th anniversary of the crash, at a time when it and the  Great Depression  that followed were still raw memories and stock price levels were only then recovering to pre-crash levels. Galbraith considered it the useful task of the historian to keep fresh the memory of such crashes, the fading of which he correlates with their re-occurrence. For the purpose of the summary and analysis phase of this book I thought that the Republican Great Depression of 1929-1939 has been an unending source of mystery, fascination, and disinformation for the past four generations. As youre reading these words, theres a huge push on by conservative think-tanks and wealthy political activists to reinvent the history, suggesting that Roosevelt prolonged the Depression or that New Deal programs were ineffective. At the same time, folks like David Sirota are valiantly pushing back with actual facts and statistics, showing that Roosevelts New Deal was startlingly effective, particularly when compared with the Republican policies of 1920-1929 that formed the bubble that crashed in 1929, and the Republican failures to deal with its consequences during the last three years of the Herbert Hoover administration (1929-1933). To really understand what brought about the great crash, however, its most useful to read an historical narrative written by one of the worlds preeminent economists when that world-changing event was still fresh in his and his readers minds.  The Great Crash  is that book, first written by Galbraith in 1953-54 (and published in 1955) and updated for modern readers in 1997. From this book I like to discuss some points in its summary phase. From the Introduction The people who remained sane and quiet Extracts from  The Great Crash: 1929, John Kenneth Galbraith, First Published 1955, Page 27 Even in such a time of madness as the late twenties, a great many man in Wall Street remained quite sane. But they also remained very quiet. The sense of responsibility in the financial community for the community as a whole is not small. It is nearly nil. Perhaps this is inherent. In a community where the primary concern is making money, one of the necessary rules is to live and let live. To speak out against madness may be to ruin those who have succumbed to it. So the wise in Wall Street are nearly always silent. The foolish thus have the field to themselves. None rebukes them. From Chapter 1: A Year to Remember Opportunities for the social historian Extracts from  The Great Crash: 1929, John Kenneth Galbraith, First Published 1955, Page 26 In the autumn of 1929 the mightiest of Americans were, for a brief time, revealed as human beings. Like most humans, most of the time, they did some very foolish things. On the while, the greater the earlier reputation for omniscience, the more serene the previous idiocy, the greater the foolishness now exposed. Things that in other times were concealed in a heavy facade of dignity now stood exposed, for the panic suddenly, almost obscenely, snatched this facade away. We are seldom vouchsafed a glance behind this barrier; in our society the counterpart of the Kremlin walls is the thickly stuffed shirt. The social historian must always be alert to his opportunities, and there have been few like 1929. From Chapter 7: Things Become More Serious Things keep getting worse Extracts from  The Great Crash: 1929, John Kenneth Galbraith, First Published 1955, Page 130 In the autumn of 1929 the New York Stock Exchange, under roughly its present constitution, was 112 years old. During this lifetime it had seen some difficult days. On 18 September 1873, the firm of Jay Cooke and Company failed, and, as a more or less direct result, so did fifty-seven other Stock Exchange firms in the next few weeks. On 23 October 1907, call money rates reached one hundred and twenty-five per cent in the panic of that year. On 16 September 1922 the autumn months are the off-season in Wall Street a bomb exploded in front of Morgans next door, killing thirty people and injuring a hundred more. A common feature of all these earlier troubles was that, having happened, they were over. The worst was reasonably recognizable as such. The singular feature of the great crash of 1929 was that the worst continued to worsen. What looked one day like the end proved on the next day to have been only the beginning. Nothing could have been more ingeniously designed to maximize the suffering, and also to ensure that as few as possible escaped the common misfortune. The fortunate speculator who had funds to answer the first margin call presently got another and equally urgent one, and if he met that there would still be another. In the end all the money he had was extracted from him and lost. The man with the smart money, who was safely out of the market when the first crash came, naturally went back in to pick up bargains. The bargains then suffered a ruins fall. Even the man who waited out all of October and all of November, who saw the volume of trading return to normal and saw Wall Str eet become as placid as a produce market, and who then bought common stocks would see their value drop to a third or a fourth of the purchase price in the next twenty-four months. The Coolidge bull market was a remarkable phenomenon. The ruthlessness of its liquidation was, in its own way, equally remarkable. 5-Ronald G. Walters, AMERICAN REFORMERS, 1815-1860 American Reformers, 1815-1860, Revised Edition With American Reformers, Walters has composed a fine synthesis of secondary literature on the varied antebellum reform movements. In doing so, he argues that the reform impulse emerges out of evangelical Protestantism but by the Civil War takes a more secular turn more involved in legislating social controls than converting the hearts of individuals. As he develops this argument he addresses the different forms that this reform impulse took and organizes the book thematically. He discusses in successive chapters utopian movements and secular communitarians, abolition, the womens movement and the peace movement, temperance, health reform and spiritualism, working mans reform, and institutional reform, into which he groups mental hospitals, prisons and schools. Walters demonstrates the secularization of reform in the realm of communitarian societies. Thus, the early nineteenth century utopian settlements that often emerged out of pietistic impulses gave way to more secular experiments in social engineering such as Owenism, or as in the case of Oneida, how a once religious community endured only as a commercial venture. Similarly he shows institutions such as asylums wove their religious inspiration with the science of the times but like prisons and almshouses became holding pens for outcasts rather than places for healing and reform. Walters also situates the emergence of reform in the particular circumstances of antebellum America. He argues that the emergence of the middle class created made it possible for people to devote time to reform, and those technological advances in printing made it possible for people to actually make a living as an agitator. He also argues that reform helped shape the identity of the emerging middle class. This point comes through particularly clearly in his chapter on working mans reform. Walters synthesis suffers from its grand scope and short length. In it he sacrifices a certain amount of detail and analysis for space and clarity. The section on utopian movements, for example, traces the personalities of the major reformers and a brief outline of the community that followed without in-depth analysis. Throughout the book quotations from primary sources would have been helpful in giving a feel for the particular movement under discussion. The lack of primary source material allows Walters to sacrifice documentation, and the reader sometimes wishes for some assistance in discerning the origin or fuller development of a particular point. To his credit, Walters provides a good bibliographical essay at the end, but the lack of documentation sometimes proves frustrating and thus interrupts the otherwise smooth flow in the text. Nonetheless, American Reformers is a very readable and useful synthesis of the secondary sources on antebellum reform. As such, it is a helpful an d welcome addition to the field. In my mind, this is an introductory text, albeit a fine one. Walters is very accessable, he tries to include necessary historical perspective and whatever cultural information he deems to be valuable to the story hes telling in each chapter. And while each chapter is a story of a different movement or people, he also demonstrates those things these groups have in common. I wont spoil it for you, but at the least of it, they were all idealists who thought to affect the world around them. Material and political changes transformed America at a dizzying pace in the 1820s and 1830s. The expansion of industrialization, the creation of roads and canals to connect manufacturers to new markets, westward migration, a prolonged period of economic depression following the panic of 1837, and the broadening of voting rights triggered vast social upheavals. Reform movements were often attempts to cope with the consequences of these changes. Some movements wanted reform of institutions like prisons, schools, and asylums. Others looked to individual regeneration to transform the whole society. Some reformers drew attention to a particular groups suffering: Richard Henry Danas  Two Years before the Mast  (1840), for example, pressed for expanded legal rights for sailors. Others, like the founders of Brook Farm, sought radical and universal reform. A powerful source of reform emerged from the Second Great Awakening, the religious revivals sweeping the nation from the 1790s through the 1820s. Like the Great Awakening of the 1730s and 1740s, this series of revivals emphasized individual, often emotional religious experiences. Yet unlike the first period of revival, the Second Great Awakening had an even broader impact. The disestablishment of religion in the early national period and the deism associated with Americas founding fathers (that is, their belief in the power of reason and the existence of a Supreme Creator and their skepticism about supernatural religious explanations) seemed to threaten the nations Protestant moral foundation. Moreover, many Christians attributed certain social ills (drinking, dueling, disregard for the Sabbath, and the like) to Chris-tianitys decline. Ministers such as Lyman Beecher (1775-1863) and Charles Grandison Finney (1792-1875) responded with messages about wickedness, conversion, and the imm inent return of Christ. Moving away from the Calvinist doctrines (such as predestination) associated with the initial Great Awakening, they preached individual moral agency and personal salvation, moral improvement and perfection, and a responsibility to hasten the coming of Gods Kingdom. These religious ideas contributed to the desire for reform and creation of voluntary benevolent societies such as the American Education Society (1815), American Bible Society (1816), and American Tract Society (1825). These organizations distributed religious literatures, but their members also led efforts to stem Sabbath-breaking, drinking, and other forms of vice. Various female moral reform societies focused on ending prostitution, sexual exploitation, and the sexual double standard. The ostensibly moral concern with sexual vice also helped justify the not-so-pious demand for reform literature featuring fallen and wronged women in texts like Maria Monks  Awful Disclosures  (1836) and George Fosters  New York by Gas-Light  (1850). Evangelical reformers also played important roles in other reform movements. Theodore Dwight Weld (1803-1895), a disciple of Finney, began his career distributing tracts and preaching against strong drink. In 1829 Weld shifted his efforts to the campaign against slavery and authored two antislavery classics,  The Bible against Slavery  (1837), which dismantled biblical pro-slavery arguments, and  American Slavery As It Is  (1839), the text that inspired Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811-1896) to write  Uncle Toms Cabin  (1851-1852). Evangelical reform spread popular literature as tracts, sermons, Sunday school books, and temperance testimonies. The revivals also had an important influence on developments in literary style. Religious writings became more emotional and imaginative, formally less rigid, and theologically less rigorous. Antebellum religious texts began to rely on vivid narratives to illustrate, edify, and entertain. This new religious style, as David S. Reynolds calls it in his study  Beneath the American Renaissance  (p. 15), reshaped not only evangelical writing but also the style of liberal reformers, popular writers, and transcendentalists. 6-James M McPherson, ABRAHAM LINCOLN Abraham Lincoln In honor of the bicentennial of Lincolns birth, renowned Civil War scholar James M. McPherson has written a wonderful brief biography of our 16th President. This book will be a wonderful source for beginners to study Lincoln and will serve as a good framework for larger works, like David Herbert Donalds  Lincoln. This book covered the important aspects of Lincolns life from his birth and childhood in Kentucky and Indiana to his coming to Illinois, to his administration and death. McPherson discussed Lincolns tarnished relationship with his father and his wonderful relationship with his step-mother, which presented a more personal side of the man. Though short, this book does a great job of discussing Lincolns life in the larger context of American history. McPherson summarized the important moments and events during his life and provided a wonderful look at the war and its effect on him. True to his scholarly reputation, McPherson used great sources for this little biography, including the  Collected Works of Lincoln  and  Lincoln at Cooper Union  to name a couple. In addition to using great primary and secondary sources, McPherson provided a bibliographic essay that provided a great synthesis of the historiography of Lincoln and where it may be heading in the coming year. There are many things to like about this book. It is a well-researched, but brief biography that will reach a wide audience. The reputation of James McPherson as a scholar lends great weight to the legitimacy of this biography.  Abraham Lincoln  is a wonderful beginning to the scholarly celebration of the Lincoln bicentennial. - James McPherson has emerged as one of Americas finest historians.  Battle Cry of Freedom  , his Pulitzer Prize-winning account of the Civil War, was a national bestseller that Hugh Brogan, in  The New York Times Book Review  , called history writing of the highest order. In that volume, McPherson gathered in the broad sweep of events, the political, social, and cultural forces at work during the Civil War era. Now, in  Abraham Lincoln and the Second American Revolution  , he offers a series of thoughtful and engaging essays on aspects of Lincoln and the war that have rarely been discussed in depth. McPherson again displays his keen insight and sterling prose as he examines several critical themes in American history. He looks closely at the Presidents role as Commander-in-Chief of the Union forces, showing how Lincoln forged a national military strategy for victory. He explores the importance of Lincolns great rhetorical skills, uncovering howthrough parables and figurative languagehe was uniquely able to communicate both the purpose of the war and a new meaning of liberty to the people of the North. In another section, McPherson examines the Civil War as a Second American Revolution, describing how the Republican Congress elected in 1860 passed an astonishing blitz of new laws (rivaling the first hundred days of the New Deal), and how the war not only destroyed the social structure of the old South, but radically altered the balance of power in America, ending 70 years of Southern power in the national government. The Civil War was the single most transforming and defining experience in American history, and Abraham Lincoln remains the most important figure in the pantheon of our mythology. These graceful essays, written by one of America are leading historians, offer fresh and unusual perspectives on both. From my analysis point of view the book itself in hardcover is a joy to hold with its compact size, readable typeface and bound-in ribbon bookmark. Whoever worked on this project obviously did it as a labor of love. They worked the details on this one.  You cant honestly compare this work to others like Carl Sandbergs Lincoln or With Malice towards None or even my nice coffee table book of photographs taken of Lincoln. This work COMPLEMENTS those more comprehensive volumes. That said, it is not incomplete. It does an excellent job of hitting the hundreds of high and low points in Lincolns too brief life. The pace moves quickly and precisely along so that you never have the feeling that youre being written down to if thats the phrase Im looking for. This one has NOT been dumbed down for the reader.   Personally I see this smaller volume as an annual read

Land Travel in the 17th Century Essay -- European History Essays

Land Travel in the 17th Century Barbara Blaugdone traveled a great deal, using her faith and drive to spread her message across England and Ireland. In England, she traveled well over a hundred miles, in Ireland she traveled over two hundred. She also made several voyages by sea. Her travels must have been long and difficult, as she faced not only the everyday dangers of the road but the dangers of persecution and imprisonment as well. Many Quakers traveled in her time, following God’s will and spreading their message across many miles. They were not the only ones who traveled by land, however. Merchants and businessmen depended on goods, which were transported to them by farmers, merchant caravans, or ships. Peddlers made their living by travel, selling various goods and buying others. Wealthy young men often traveled to complete their education, and members of the upper-class visited health spas. Mainly, land travel was on foot or in the saddle. In addition to their own two legs, lower classes relied on mules or asses, wagons, and hand carts. The upper class used h...

Laboratory Techniques and Measurements

Name: Kensley Shelley|Date: 9-17-12| Exp 2: Laboratory Techniques & Measurements|Lab Section: 0000| Data Tables: Step 1: Length and Measurements Object Measured|Length in cm|Length in mm| Key|5. 15 cm|51. 5 mm| CD|12. 0 cm|120. 0 mm| Fork Spoon|18. 05 cm 16. 30 cm|180. 5 mm 163. 0 mm| Step 2: Warm Temperature Measurements Hot tap water temperature49. 50_? C Boiling water temperature __immediately:104. 5; after 5 minutes: 103. 0__? C Step 3: Cold Temperature Measurements Cold tap water temperature_24. 5_? C Ice water temperature after 1 min:4. 5, after 5 min:1. 0 ? C Step 4: Volume MeasurementsVolume of half filled graduated cylinder__12. 5__mL Volume of completely filled small test tube __n/a__mL Number of drops in 1 mL___14_drops Volume of the micro pipet __28__ drops_2___mL Step 6: Density Measurements Part A Mass of empty graduated cylinder_16. 9_g Mass of graduated cylinder and water 21. 1_g Net mass of the water __4. 2_g Density of the water_0. 84_ g/mL Part B Mass of graduated cylinder and alcohol _20. 4_g Net mass of the alcohol __3. 5_g Density of the alcohol__0. 7__ g/mL Part C Mass of graduated cylinder and salt solution ____g Net mass of the salt solution____gDensity of the salt solution____ g/mL Part D Volume of half filled graduated cylinder__8. 0__mL Volume of half filled graduated cylinder and metal bolt_9. 1__mL Volume of the metal bolt_1. 1_mL Mass of the metal bolt __7. 2__g Density of the metal bolt__6. 55__g/mL Part E Mass of half filled beaker__89. 0__g Mass of water displaced by metal bolt__90. 1__g Volume of the metal bolt__1. 1__cc Density of the metal bolt__6. 55__g/cc Mass of half filled beaker__89. 0__g Mass of water displaced by magnet__89. 8__g Volume of the magnet _0. _cc Mass of the magnet __4. 0_g Mass when dropping the magnet in the beaker__92. 9__g Density of the magnet__5. 00__g/cc Calculated volume of the magnet using dimensions of length x width x height__0. 78__cc Density of magnet using the calculated volume_5. 13___g/cc C onclusion: Questions and Problems: A. Which method of determining density is more accurate, the water displacement method in Part D or Archimedes’ principle method in Part E? Why? For the metal bolt, I received the same answer for both experiments, so I would say both were equally accurate in my experiment.B. What is the relationship between mL and cm3? They equal each other; mL = cc C. Everyone knows that water is supposed to boil at 100 ° C. Why did your water sample boil at a different temperature? Water boils at different temperatures depending on the altitude. The higher pressure in the air keeps the molecules from escaping as easily. D. To help you get a feel for metric measurements, you need to know the relative magnitude of a few basic measurements. For example: 1 mm = thickness of a dime, a penny weighs 2 ? grams, and 20 °C = normal room temperature. Determine the following: . What is the mass in kilograms (kg) of a person who weighs 143 lb? 64. 86 kg 2. What wei ghs approximately 1 g? dollar bill, paper clip 3. What is approximately 1 cm long, wide or thick? fingernail is 1 cm wide 4. What weighs about 100 g? 20 nickels, 40 pennies 5. What weighs about 1000 g? 1 liter of water Conclusion: The experiment was designed to help acquaint the student with proper laboratory measurements and techniques. This was done by allowing the student to use the different lab tools in a variety of ways, such as: heating, measurements, volume, and density.In completing this lab, I am better aware of the different tools which will be used and how to properly use them, because a slight mistake in measuring can skew your data. I witnessed this in the density calculations in that the wrong mass or volume could greatly skew the results of the density. I first recorded 7. 6 g as the mass for the metal bolt, but on second glance I realized it was only 7. 2 g. While this may not seem significant at first, having a difference of 0. 4 g is very significant in determinin g the correct density. I also observed how important it is to account for one uncertain digit.When measuring items using the cm side of the ruler, I had to account for an uncertain digit when it measured in between two lines. Accounting for this uncertain digit helps to gain a more accurate reading. Also, reading at the bottom of the meniscus is also very important when measuring. When I first used the beaker, I did not get down to eye level and therefore I could not properly see the meniscus, but after putting it to eye level, I could see that I was slightly off on my measurement. I also learned how to determine the mass of certain objects that are not easily measured.I did so by first measuring the cylinder's mass and then measuring the mass of the cylinder with the liquid in it. I was then able to subtract the two and get a good measurement of the mass of the liquid. Another technique practiced was using displaced water to determine the volume and subsequently the density of an o bject. By putting the object on a string and placing it in the water, I was able to record the mass of the displaced water (90. 1 g), which i was then able to convert to the volume of the object (1. 1 mL). This number along with the mass of the object (7. g), could then be converted to the density of the object (6. 55 g/cc). There were a few potential errors that could have occurred while preforming the experiments. First, when calibrating my at home scale, I had to place an object that was 500 g on the scale. While I believe the object I placed on it was close to that mass, it could have been off slightly which could have skewed my results. Also, there is always the possibility of miscalculations when I was determining the volume of the magnet using the ruler. There is always the chance of miss counting something which can led to inaccurate results. Laboratory Techniques and Measurements Measurement:Length, Mass, Volume, Density, and Time Peter Jeschofnig, Ph. D. Version 42-0267-00-01 Lab RepoRt assistant This document is not meant to be a substitute for a formal laboratory report. The Lab Report Assistant is simply a summary of the experiment’s questions, diagrams if needed, and data tables that should be addressed in a formal lab report. The intent is to facilitate students’ writing of lab reports by providing this information in an editable file which can be sent to an instructor. Data Table 1: Estimation of various measurements| Measurement| Estimated| Actual| % Error| Length (m)| | | | Time (s)| | | |Mass (g)| | | | Data Table 2: Measurement of an object using various instruments| | Length(cm)| Width(cm)| Height(cm)| Volume(cm3)| Object Being Measured:| | | | | Hand (hand units)| | | | | Hand (cm)| | | | | Ruler| | | | | Meter tape| | | | | Data Table 3: Measurement of an object using various instruments| | Length(cm)| Width(cm)| Height(cm)| Volume (cm3)| Object Being Measured:| | | | | Hand (hand units)| | | | | Hand (cm)| | | | | Ruler| | | | | Meter tape| | | | | Data Table 4: Measurement of an object using various instruments| | Length(cm)| Width(cm)| Height(cm)| Volume(cm3)| Object Being Measured:| | | | |Hand (hand units)| | | | | Hand (cm)| | | | | Ruler| | | | | Meter tape| | | | | Data Table 5: Determination of ? | Object| DiameterD(cm)| CircumferenceC(cm)| Slope| % Error| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Data Table 6: Density measurements| Method| Volume of water in graduated cylinder (mL)| Volume of water+ bolt(mL)| Volume of bolt (mL)| Mass of bolt in air (g)| Mass of bolt in water (g)| Mass of bolt â€Å"lost† in water (g)| Density orS. G. ofbolt(g/mL)S. G. =unitless| Water- displacement method| | | | | | | | Archimedes’ principle method| | | | | | | | Data Table 7: Time measurements using visual cues| Drop time (s)| Trial 1| | Trial 2| | Trial 3| | Average| | Data Table 8: Time meas urements using auditory cues| | Drop time (s)| Trial 1| | Trial 2| | Trial 3| | Average| | Questions Exercise 1: Estimation of Various Measurements A. Why is it important to correctly estimate length, time, and mass? Exercise 2: Measuring Using Instruments of Varying Degrees of Precision A. Can you think of an occasion when it would be adequate to use your â€Å"hand† measurement? B. What would happen to your volume calculations if the length, width and height measurements were off a little? Exercise 3: Graphing data and the determination of ?Object Description| Diameter (cm)| Circumference (cm)| Measuring Device| Penny| 1. 90  ± 0. 01| 5. 93  ± 0. 03| Vernier caliper, paper| â€Å"D† cell battery| 3. 30  ± 0. 02| 10. 45  ± 0. 05| Vernier caliper, paper| PVC cylinder A| 4. 23  ± 0. 02| 13. 30  ± 0. 03| Vernier caliper, paper| PVC cylinder B| 6. 04  ± 0. 02| 18. 45  ± 0. 05| Plastic ruler, paper| Tomato soup can| 6. 6  ± 0. 1| 21. 2  ± 0. 1| Plastic ruler, paper| 5. Graph C vs. d using a computer spreadsheet program. 7. What is the slope of the line? What does it represent? 8. Calculate the percent error of your value from the true value of pi.Exercise 4: Density Measurements A. Which of the two volume determinations will be more accurate? Why? B. Research the Archimedes’ principle method. Write one paragraph explaining why it is called Archimedes’ principle Exercise 5: Time Measurements A. Which is more accurate, the individual times or the average? Explain. B. Sometimes many trials are run and recorded. Then the highest and lowest data points are disregarded when taking the average. Could this technique help in this experiment? How? C. Explain any differences that occurred between recording the data visually and aurally.

Artificial Intelligence in Today’s Society

Artificial Intelligence in Today’s Society Larry Anderson INF103 Instructor Geathers November 21, 2011 â€Å"The goal of many computer scientists since the mid-20th century has been to create a computer that could perform logical operations. †(Bowles, 2010, 9. 2). The journey to achieving this is called Artificial Intelligence, which is considered to be the branch of computer science that is focused on creating machines that engage in human behavior, and intelligence. â€Å"The term Artificial Intelligence was first coined at the Dartmouth Conference in 1956 by John McCarthy. † (McCorduck, 2004, 2. ). â€Å"The Dartmouth conference paved the way for examining the use of computers to process symbols, the need for new languages and the role of computers for theorem proving instead of focusing on hardware that simulated intelligence. †(Krishnamoorthy & Rajeev, 1996, 9. 1). Even though this name was coined in 1956, we saw artificial intelligence 15 years earli er when the electronic computer was created in 1941. Artificial Intelligence is an exciting subject that will only get better with time, allowing humans to do things that were never thought to be reality, until the last few decades. In this paper, I will be telling you about the four main studies of artificial intelligence and their importance to our society, as well as how they are affecting our everyday lives. These four studies are expert systems, natural language, neural networks, and robotics. Mostly all artificial intelligences can be categorized under these four studies. Not only are these technologies making life easier, they are making life more enjoyable for all societies. The first study of artificial intelligence I will talk about is expert systems. Expert systems are computer programs that contain large amounts of information in a certain field. These programs use this large amount of information to solve problems that normally would require human intelligence. The great thing about expert systems is that they can process information, in seconds, which would take humans days. Every expert system is made up of two parts: knowledge, and reasoning. â€Å"The knowledge base of the expert systems contains both factual and heuristic knowledge. †(Engelmore & Feigenbaum, 1993, 1. 2). The knowledge is the information, while the reasoning is the problem solving aspect of the expert system. One common, but powerful paradigm involves chaining of if-then rules to form a line of reasoning. †(Engelmore & Feigenbaum, 1993, 1. 2). For example, if you have these symptoms, then you must have a head cold. Expert systems are affecting our everyday lives by diagnosing illnesses, and predicting the weather. â€Å"One of the first systems was a computer that could perform a medical diagnosis. † (Bowles, 2010, 9. 2). A doctor can enter symptoms into a computer, and then process a few questions for the doctor; after answering the questions the computer will make a diagnosis of the patient. This is very useful to doctors because now they can see more patients, and give promising diagnosis efficiently. The second way expert systems are affecting our lives is by predicting the weather. Meteorologists are using these systems to help predict hurricanes and tornadoes. This is very helpful to society, giving people more evacuation time during major storms. The second study of artificial intelligence is Natural Language, which is considered human language. â€Å"Natural language processing programs use artificial intelligence to allow a user to communicate with a computer in the user’s natural language. (Poole & Mackworth, 2010, 12. 6). The computer can both understand and respond to commands given in human language. The two biggest hurdles in this study are phonetic knowledge, and pragmatic knowledge. Phonetic knowledge concerns how words are realized, and how words are realized as sounds. Pragmatic Knowledge has to do with how sentences are used in different contexts and how that affects sentence interpretation. Even with the tough barriers of language, and the meaning of words computer specialists are producing helpful natural language processing programs to better society. When was the last time you made a customer service call? Natural language is affecting you when you call a customer service number, and an automated voice tells you to say a command. â€Å"Voice-recognition systems are now handling night and weekend toll-free directory assistance calls for big corporations. † (Poole & Mackworth, 2010, 12. 6). For example if you need to check your balance for a cell phone bill, a voice-recognition system can assist, without the need of a human. This allows the human customer service representatives to help customers with more complex questions. Another way natural language is being used is with Google’s real time translation application. With this application you can take snapshots of things in a different language with your phone and it will translate the words into your language in seconds. This can be useful when you are traveling in different countries, needing directions, or when you are selecting from a menu in a different language. â€Å"A neural network is, in essence, an attempt to simulate the brain. Neural network theory revolves around the idea that certain key properties of biological neurons can be extracted and applied to simulations, thus creating a simulated, and very much simplified brain. †(Reingold & Nightingale, 4. 1). The first important thing to understand is that artificial neural networks are an attempt to recreate the computing potential of the brain. However, no one has ever simulated anything as complex as an actual brain which makes it very difficult to finish the whole project. Credit card fraud is very big in the present day, because many people are not using cash; instead they are using credit cards and debit cards to make transactions. â€Å"Nearly 400,000 transactions per day are of fraudulent charges. † (Brause & Langsdorf, 1). Neural Networks are being used to detect fraud transactions with the principal of pattern recognition. Every time a credit card user uses their card there is a pattern of transaction. Neural network software uses information such as how much money a person makes, type of transactions made, and how frequent certain transactions are made to predict fraud. â€Å"Neural network based fraud detection is based totally on the human brain working principal. As the human brain learns through past experience and uses its knowledge or experience in making the decision in daily life problem the same technique is applied with the credit card fraud detection technology. † (Patidar & Sharma 2. ). The last study of artificial intelligence I will be talking about is robotics. Robots are physical agents that perform tasks by manipulating the physical world. â€Å"They perform tasks which are idealizations or extensions of human capabilities. †(Selig, 1992, 1. 1). Robots have four characteristics; sensing, movement, energy, and intelligence. First off, a robot must sense its surroundings u sing light, touch, and pressure sensors. Secondly a robot must have movement; a robot needs to move around in its in environment, whether or not the whole robot moves, or just parts. Thirdly, a robot needs power to function properly, this energy could be solar, electrical, or battery powered. Last, it must have some kind of intelligence, such as software from a programmer in order to operate. Actual robots might seem like far off science fiction, but that is not the case robots have been affecting our everyday life for years. One of the biggest uses for robots today is in the automotive industry. Over the past few decades robots have completely changed the automobile industry in many ways. Even though the use of robots has also led to many workers losing their jobs, it is very cost effective. The robots are used for welding, painting, drilling, sanding, cutting, and moving tasks in manufacturing plants. The robots have improved this industry with a job efficiency that couldn’t be duplicated by humans. These robots have made assembly lines and factories safer by handling jobs that are too dangerous and too difficult for workers to perform. Another great way that robots are working in society’s favor is by cleaning up toxic and contaminated areas that would otherwise be harmful to humans. The biggest reason that robots are able to do these jobs is that they can be easily shielded against hazardous environments and are easily replaceable, unlike humans. Robots are used to clean up nuclear waste or clean ammunition, and landmines all over the world. Robots are also an asset to the military because they can detect and diffuse bombs in a combat zone. These robots are saving lives every day because they are able to go into situations that are life threating to humans and get the job done. The studies of expert systems, natural language, neural networks, and robotics are just in their early stages of advancements, but are already showing important promising characteristics for the future of mankind. We already see these advancements being put to the test by making medical diagnosis, predicting weather, voice automated services, catching transaction fraud, building automobiles, and cleaning up hazardous wastes. There is no doubt that Artificial Intelligence is already affecting society in ways that were never imagined decades ago. Technology will continue to explode into the next few decades, excelling in Artificial Intelligence, how we embrace the advances, will define us as a society. Resources: Bowles, Mark, D. (2010). Introduction to Computer Literacy. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education. McCorduck, P. (2004). Machines Who Think. Natick, MA. AK Peters, Ltd. Krishnamoorthy, C. , Rajeev, S. (1996). Artificial Intelligence and Expert Systems for Engineers. CRC Press. Englemore, R. & Feigenbaum, E. (1993). Expert Systems and Artificial Intelligence. WTEC Hyper-Librarian. Poole, D. & Mackworth, A. 2010). Artificial Intelligence Foundations of Computational Agents. Cambridge University Press. Reingold, E. & Nightingale, J. Artificial Intelligence Tutorial Review. http://www. psych. utoronto. ca/users/reingold/courses/ai/ai. html Brause, R. & Langsdorf. Neural Data Mining for Credit Card Fraud Detection. J. W. Goethe-University. Frankfurt, Germany. Patidar, R. & Sharma, L. (2011). International Journal of Soft C omputing and Engineering. Jaipur, India. Selig, J. (1992). Introductory Robotics. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall International.

Basketball.

Basketball. BasketballBasketball is a game played on a rectangular court, which is usually indoors. The objective of the game is to score more points than the opposing team by putting an orange, round ball through a hoop called a rim. The rims are placed at opposite ends of the court, ten feet above the ground. The rim is connected to a four by six foot backboard. Basketball is one of the most popular sports in the world and it is played by both men and women.Each basketball team is allowed five players on the court at a time. The players consists of two guards, two forwards, and a center. You have to keep bouncing (dribbling) the ball down the court. You can not stop "dribbling" until you are willing to pass the ball to another player. You can not touch another player or it will be called a foul.English: Basketball article stub iconPlaying offence is the most prominent part of playing basketball. Basic offensive skills include passing, ball handling, shooting, and rebounding. Passing the ball i s the fastest and most efficient way of advancing the ball up the court. There are five types of passes that are "chest", where the ball is thrown at chest height, "bounce", where the ball is bounced on the ground before it reaches the other teammate, "overhead", where the ball is thrown with both hands over your head, "baseball-style", in which the ball is thrown like a baseball, and "behind-the-back", in which the player throws the ball at waist height with one hand whipping around the back. Another offensive strategy is shooting. The basic types of shooting are the "layup", the "jump shot", the "foul shot", and the "hook shot".The defense id just as important to winning the game as the offense. The goal of the...