Manchild in the Promised Land Essay

The majority of Negroes during the time of Douglass and Washington spent their lives in the fields, gutters, and ghettoes of America. They continue to do so today. Two recently published autobiographies clearly indicate that Negro degradation and deprivation are confined neither to the South nor to earlier times. Claude Brown provides dramatic accounts of life in urban Negro slums. Both are highly readable, although Williamson’s seems less complete and less authentic. Brown tells the story of â€Å"Sonny,† a Harlem â€Å"corner boy† who went to college. His childhood and adolescence included chronic truancy, prolonged friction with his parents, gang fighting and assorted delinquencies. Sonny was intimate with personal danger and suffered severe bodily harm. He was well known to the courts and the youth correctional houses. Although Sonny’s childhood and adolescence appear to have been those of many Harlem youth, he was spared the fate of many of his friends: violent death, permanent body injury, demoralization, and fanaticism. Claude Brown’s account of his experiences growing up in Harlem in the 1950’s indicates it may be equally prevalent in a metropolitan setting. One of Brown’s friends 1965: 425) asserts: The time I did in Woodburn, the times I did on the Rock, that was college man . . . Every time I went there, I learned a little more. When I go to jail now, Sonny, I live, man. I’m right at home. That’s the good part about it . . . Now when I go back to the joint, anywhere I go, I know some people. If I go to any of the jails in New York, or if I do a slam in Jersey even, I still run into a lot of cats I know. It’s almost like a family. (425) For Brown and many of the revolutionaries, the slogan of black power seemed to have this content: †¢ Negroes, by themselves, must assert their political and economic power through such methods as the creation of all-Negro political parties such as the Black Panther Party. Coalition with whites is either impossible or undesirable, for it would undermine Negro dignity. Integration with whites should not be a paramount goal. Rather, Negroes should strengthen their own separate culture and society: â€Å"black is beautiful. † At some future date, if a Negro so chooses, he might integrate with whites. Negroes must affirm their unique identity, learn of their African heritage, and identify with the â€Å"colored† peoples throughout the world. White society is both oppressive and decadent. Negroes should not fight â€Å"the white man’s war† in places such as Vietnam. Violence, at least in self-defense, can and should be used by Negroes to achieve their goals. While Negroes are a minority in America, they can count on the support of Asian and African peoples. American man is now an urban man and he was recently a rural man. It would be strange if the psychological shock of trying to find streets as natural as fields or woods did not provoke savage explosions in the cities. Claude Brown’s brilliant examination of Harlem, Manchild in the Promised Land, showed just how much of the black ghetto’s barbarism came from the sudden transplantation of sharecroppers from shacks to tenements. Robert Kennedy was using more than a politician’s rhetoric when he stated before his murder: ‘We confront an urban wilderness more formidable and resistant and in some ways more frightening than the wilderness faced by the Pilgrims or the pioneers. ‘ Being labeled a troublemaker is a danger of growing up in suburbia as well as in the slums, but the suburbs are more likely to provide parental intervention and psychiatrists, pastors, family counselors to help the youth abandon his undesirable identity. It is much harder for the inner-city youth to find alternatives to a rebel role. Thus it is in the slums that youth gangs are most likely to drift from minor and haphazard into serious, repeated, purposeful delinquency. It is in the slums, too, that young people are most likely to be exposed to the example of the successful career criminal as a person of prestige in the community. To a population denied access to traditional positions of status and achievement, a successful criminal may be a highly visible model of power and affluence and a center of training and recruitment for criminal enterprise. As Ward (1998) describes it: Among the social institutions which delineated black urban associational life, the one most closely related to the vocal group was the street gang. Sometimes the groups and the gangs even shared the same membership. In Baltimore, Johnny Page of the Marylanders doubled as a member of the Dungaree Boys gang, while Julius Williams had dual affiliations as a battling member of the Shakers and as a balladeer with the Royal Jokers in Detroit. â€Å"Julius Williams was the terror of the school†, recalled his classmate Woodie King. â€Å"He was sixteen. He enjoyed fighting teachers and singing in class†. When Claude Brown returned from a juvenile detention centre in upstate New York in the early 1950s, he noticed that many of the old gangs from his Harlem neighbourhood had turned to doowopping in the wake of the Orioles’ inspirational rise from a Baltimore street corner, via an appearance on Arthur Godfrey’s CBS radio show Talent Scouts, to national celebrity (Ward 59) One of the most consistent patterns of emotional concern expressed by the disadvantaged child is for potency or power. His heroes are the strong, invincible men, such as Hercules or Superman. We could speculate that the interest in Greek mythology expressed by disadvantaged pupils is also related to this concern. As a result, we would like to see the schools investigate, with the children, the power concept. This is a possible study topic for even the earliest grades. Can people be strong in ways other than physical strength? The teacher might begin by asking the youngsters who their neighborhood heroes are–who are the â€Å"top cats† on their block–and then asking why they are so. We would guess that the responses will probably be in terms of physical strength. The objective then, would be to help the class begin to explore other routes of power. Staging points for such discussions might be derived from reading excerpts from the powerful autobiography of Claude Brown, Manchild in the Promised Land, the author’s experiences growing up in Harlem. 6 The most direct method, however, to help children feel greater potency is to let them experience it. A way that combines such experience with the improvement of writing skills was demonstrated by one of our teaching interns. In a seventh-grade English class, required by the curriculum guide to study paragraph skills, the teaching intern asked the class, â€Å"How many of you can remember any of the things you had to read in school when you were in the third grade? † Some hands went up, and names of books were reported. â€Å"How did you like them? † Claude Brown’s memories of post-war Harlem churches similarly stressed their extra-religious appeal. He attended one simply because he lusted after the preacher’s daughter and fondly recalled Father Divine’s 155th Street Mission, not for its spiritual nourishment, but because he could get all the food he could eat there for 15 cents. Brown also appreciated that the black churches of Harlem were commercial, as well as religious, enterprises. At Mrs Rogers’ storefront church, he recalled, â€Å"people jumped up and down until they got knocked down by the spirit, and Mrs Rogers put bowls of money on a kitchen table and kept pointing to it and asking for more†. (27-8) Works Cited Brown, Claude. Manchild in the Promised Land. New York: Macmillan, 1965. A youthful autobiographical account of modern life in a black ghetto of New York Bukowczyk, John J. â€Å"†Who Is the Nation? â€Å"-Or, â€Å"Did Cleopatra Have Red Hair? â€Å": A Patriotic Discourse on Diversity, Nationality, and Race. † MELUS 23. 4 (1998) Corbould, Clare. â€Å"Streets, Sounds and Identity in Interwar Harlem. † Journal of Social History 40. 4 (2007) Koelling, Holly. Classic Connections: Turning Teens on to Great Literature. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited, 2004 Nelson, Emmanuel S. African American Authors, 1745-1945 A Bio-Bibliographical Critical Sourcebook. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2000. Nelson, Emmanuel S. , ed. African American Autobiographers: A Sourcebook. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2002. Sampson, Benjamin W. â€Å"Season Preview 2004-05: A Comprehensive Listing of Productions, Dates and Directors at TCG Theatres Nationwide. † American Theatre Oct. 2004 Shafton, Anthony. Dream-Singers: The African American Way with Dreams. New York: Wiley, 2002. Sixty Years of Great Books by African-Americans. † Ebony Nov. 2005 Ward, Brian. Just My Soul Responding: Rhythm and Blues, Black Consciousness, and Race Relations. London: UCL Press, 1998.

Review of the Article About Gopher It Essay

The business plan of Goffer It is all about the plans and strategies for the establishment of an errand service for professionals in the business district of Boston. The service includes standard service, which includes usual time-consuming errand works of professionals, and custom service, which includes services according to the needs of the people. This partnership firm is to be founded by three highly experienced professionals with adequate knowledge in management and administration. The new venture they plan out is apt as there are not many similar ventures around their targeted locality and it is highly felt to be of need for the people. The population and the potential people interaction is quiet high in that locality. The services offered are quiet many and no competitor is as good as Goffer It. They had a very good marketing strategy and the formost among it is to utilize the benefits of the locality. As many thousands of people travel through the area it gives a natural opportunity for them to expose the firm to many without much of expenditure. This untapped market can be also expanded by way of short advertising campaigns too. The core of it included: * Needs of the target market on the basis of geography, demography, life style and buyer intentions. * Product differentiation. * Effective and profitable marketing mix. They also had a clear plan for the future, ways and means for expansion and to make it a profitable business in short time span of more than a year. They were very clear about the service to be delivered and the pricing of it. Their idea is to give the best service and gain customers through word of mouth. As the founders of this venture the three of them are well experienced and that they have prior experience in managing other but somewhat similar ventures. The best part of the organizational structure is that the three at the top are professionally fit for this work and they are good and qualified in finance and marketing, which can be considered the key areas of a business. Their advantages can be summarized in the following points. Untapped errand market * Large customer base * Low cost of marketing * Geographical advantage * Lifestyle of the people and their need for errand services * Experience of the partners in management * Their professional qualification in finance and marketing * Possibility of future expantion All these make this business very attractive and a possible success in the near future. There are no areas as such that are not addressed by them. Thus in this business plan we see a clear vision of a great firm in the years to come.

Laptops in the Classroom Essay

Today’s technological advances are ever-changing our world, making life â€Å"easier† and more convenient. Tasks that once may have taken hours of notes, reading and organizing the many pages of documents, can now literally be accomplished in minutes with today’s portable computers. Most would agree that in our learning institutions laptops have become an essential tool in the success of students. Where this agreement usually ends is on the question of the use of laptops while in the classroom. On the one hand some would argue that the use of laptops allow students to research information on the fly, and to take notes, having them neatly organized and even saved to a central database to make them easily accessible by any internet connected computer at any location. On the other hand, some say laptops lead to unnecessary interruptions and disturb the instructors and students alike. My own view is that laptops disrupt the class in many ways and should not be allowed in the classrooms during instruction. First of all, while in class or lecture, the constant clicking of the keys can prevent the instructor from being heard, especially when there is more than one or two keyboards clicking away. Also, the brief seconds that your mind lends to focus on the operation of computing could possibly the moment that a student misses key information. And there is a disadvantage to not giving your undivided attention to an instructor’s lesson, on a larger scale this becomes an obstacle for  McLemore 2 effective learning. As noted in an article, Laptops in Class: A Professional Virus by Maureen A. Howard: Our brains just aren’t designed to do multiple tasks simultaneously and do them well. Admittedly, I can agree that laptops provide many advantages for students including consolidating and organizing multiple subjects. But as I stated before, the operation of laptops in class can be a distraction, and at which point does that distraction become too much to be allowed? Having laptops in class brings up the issue of browsing the internet, playing games, communicating, or the great many other things that one could do, other than following along with the class instruction. Furthermore there is a potential for theft and damage to students property, which could also lead to students arguing and possible physical altercations. All of which impede the progress of learning in the classroom environment. In addition, one should also consider that the traditional method of taking notes by hand and later transferring those notes to a laptop also gives the student the opportunity to go over that information once again. This process helps students commit the information into long term memory. In conclusion, I believe that the negative aspect of using personal laptops in the classroom environment far outweighs the positive reasons to have them, and thus laptops should not be allowed in the classroom during instruction.

Berger Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Berger - Assignment Example How people see arts can be brought within their reach. Therefore, the credibility of an art can be improved by analyzing an art from a significant number of people. According to Berger, women and men have different types of social presence. Traditionally, men have been evaluated by the degree of power they may be possessing. Also, the power may be in a number of various forms including economic, moral or economic status. On the other hand, a woman indicates the various activities that can be or cannot be done to her. Therefore, representation of women in art is closely related to what women are seen in real life (Berger 18). Additionally, Berger points out those women are the main subject of the European painting of the nude. According to Berger, the nude illustration of a woman represents the biblical story of Adam and Eve. Sometimes the representation of women in arts is accused of vanity, when in reality they may satisfy the desires of men. He also makes a clear distinction of women representation of arts. He says that â€Å"To be naked is to be oneself. To be nude is to be seen naked by other and yet not he recognized for oneself. A naked body has to be seen as an object in order to become nude.† (Berger

Information Technology and Contemporary Social Change Essay

Information Technology and Contemporary Social Change - Essay Example By 2000, it became obvious that another major upheaval was taking place in society-the electronic or information revolution. The growth of the Internet between 1990 and 2000 was phenomenal, and at present shows no signs of decreasing. An overview makes it apparent that information technology (IT) and the resulting electronic advances determine social change throughout the planet as noted below: The business world now extends throughout the global community, and any business which does not have its own Web site is apt to fail. It is also a time when entrepreneurs are able to work on computers from home to earn money. With online shopping and eBay, all needs are anticipated, from the largest department stores to an individual selling on eBay. No longer is society isolated in pockets of communities; ease of travel has made the whole world accessible. In addition, information technology has linked the public to government, non-government, and private agencies where information can be downloaded without having to leave home. This is especially true in the United Kingdom. Every issue of concern to UK residents has a main Government site with several links to various issues and strategies. For instance, if one wishes to find information on poverty as a social illness, it is available at the following Web site: http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/social_exclusion_task_force/ Less one-on-one personal contact with increase in IT communication It is obvious that anyone dependent on use of a computer will have less personal contact with individuals. Even as world travel becomes less and less complicated, people are becoming more and more isolated. Watch the person traveling to a resort and sitting at a table all alone with a wireless computer open in front of him or her rather than striking up a conversation with other visitors from all over the world. E-mails offer quick, brief communication as a method of connecting with another person, but they don't lend themselves to long discussions and personal interaction with friends and relatives. Some people become so addicted to online discussion groups that they spend all their free time engaged in mindless chatter, and some use chat groups as therapy sessions or a way to communicate with others who share similar interests. There are an overwhelming number of chat groups available on the Internet, from how to use a business program called SharePoint to communications with fell ow cat lovers. Google offers information on every subject, but information is not always correct. Using the Internet to research a paper or find a specific product has many benefits, but the important factor is the source of information-whether or not it is reliable. For research purposes, the priority for a researcher is to access several sites regarding an issue and make a decision based on personal understanding of the material. For product reliability and best price, it is necessary to explore the same product from several

Paraphrase Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 6

Paraphrase - Essay Example However, misconceptions can arise from such ads that will affect the very lives of consumers. For example, the product being advertised claims or gives the impression that it can make the consumer become as fit as the model when in fact it has nothing to do with how the model looks like. Viewers who associate the product with the model’s great physique will then buy without actually researching further about the effects or importance of the product. Consequently, the issue on intelligent buying arises which makes the topic on advertising even more important. In Charles O’Neill’s The Language of Advertising, he presents how advertisers convey their messages in subtle ways that often trap the consumers in various ways. One of his points is that, advertisers often appeal to people’s emotions. For instance, he explains that in promoting the pick-up truck called the Ram, an ad that features the background of a farm and portrays hard-working farmers is used along with the reading of a poem entitled, â€Å"So God Made a Farmer† (323). Although the ad was simple and it did not use any attractive, naked men or women in the scenes, it was very successful because many viewers were emotionally touched by the ad, having them associate with the American culture that the ad reflects. Another means advertisers utilize is the use of sexual perceptions. They use men and women that are famous and beautiful which the majority would appreciate and desire to be associated with. Moreover, the advertisements adjust to the modern peo ple’s attention span. Since people are often busy, they do not have the patience to listen to long sentences that will appeal to their logic. Instead, they need short, simple sentences that may give them empty and often unreliable information. O’Neill argues that advertisers are making consumers stupid in many ways. For instance, because advertisements primarily aim to convince consumers that they need to buy their products,

Determining Causes and Effects Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Determining Causes and Effects - Essay Example Water quality has become a crucial issue along the southern shores of Lake Huron in recent years with levels of pollution both non-point and point source pollution increasing in intensity and wrecking untold havoc on the lake’s ecosystem (The Lake Huron Centre for Coastal Conservation, 2004). The lake has been plagued by different forms of water pollution, which have seriously jeopardized the lives and health of the animals, and humans depending on the water as well as the community who may use it for swimming or boating. This paper aims at examining the main causes of pollution on the lake as well as the social economical effect they have on the surrounding areas and it inhabitants. The main cause of pollution in Lake Huron is direct discharge of pollutant matter including, chemicals and microbial substances through a number of channels, which may fall under non-point or point pollution. The main pollutants in Huron originate from a number of sources, including runoff from industries, storm and drainage pipes or polluted water from rivers, other non-point sources are run off from road construction sites as well as oil and grease and similar runoff from urban energy production (Human Health and the Great Lakes, 2003). This is enhanced further by the considerable size of the drainage area of the lake, exposing it to material from an expansive area which increases the possibility of channeling contaminant matter. In addition, soil erosion, excess fertilizers from farms and herbicides have contaminated the lake water. While much of these pollutants have been managed today, sediments from such run off in retrospect are considered the main cause of pollution today. B acteria and other nutrients from animals which end up in the lake after they are washed in by rainwater, these are found in pathogens which re organisms mostly found in the intestinal tracts of mammals often originated from sewerage and septic tank systems (Crowe, n.d.). This has resulted to a

Gender Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Gender - Essay Example Three main prospects are portrayed in these two articles. The first one is that journalism is not about intellectual ability only but also about having great determination. Women who have to be journalists must be ready to persevere and show dedication in their work. They should be ready to go through thorough training and also have a deep conviction that they can do the work. As Arnold Bennett puts it, journalism ‘will surely prove both exhausting and disappointing to those whose hearts are not set fast upon it’. To those who do not have what she terms as ‘iron determination’, to go against all odds, will find a hard time being n journalism. However, for those who are determined and persevering, they will surely overcome the disappointments that come along with journalism and hence find their work interesting and fulfilling. One who aspires to be a journalist must also be a good writer and one who loves to read newspapers and periodicals in a regular basis. It involves a lot of reading and a need to know more time after time. Hence, someone who does not have a natural love for reading will have a hard time in the field of journalism. An aspiring female journalist should possess the talent of coming up with new ideas regularly and be willing and ready to share them with other people. She should be creative and know how to argue out points and facts so as to gain the confidence and acceptance of her ideas to people. A female journalist must also be ready to face the prejudices that the society has against women. Even in collection of information, men will always be biased on the type of information that they give females since they feel that the females cannot understand some issues. As much as many women can now be seen in the field of journalism, very few can be found in the most influential positions that involve decision making.

Answer the following exam questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Answer the following exam questions - Essay Example and peace process, which led to the spawning of two more radical splinter groups: Continuity IRA (CIRA), and the Real IRA (RIRA) in mid to late 1990s. The IRA, sometimes referred to as the PIRA to distinguish it from RIRA and CIRA, is organized into small, tightly-knit cells under the leadership of the Army Council. The IRA’s militant activities have comprised of bombings, assassinations, kidnappings, punishment beatings, extortion, smuggling, and robberies. Prior to the cease-fire agreement in 1997, the group was involved in terror campaigns in various places in Northern Ireland and England, including senior British Government agencies (and its officials), innocent civilians, police forces, and the Royal military installations. While the rationale for their activities is quite genuine, the group has also attracted criticism for its rigidity. For example, the IRA has not been willing to adopt non-violent methods for pressurizing its oppressive neighbour. For example, the group’s refusal in late 2004 to allow photographic documentation of its decommissioning process was an obstacle to progress in implementing the Belfast Agreement and stalled talks. The IRA is also criticized for funding its operations through criminal means. Every year millions of dollars are added to its coffers through robberies and other crimes. Unless the IRA puts an end to such deviances, its mission is unlikely to succeed. The IRA does not pose a direct threat to Australian citizens or Australian national interests. But in an indirect way, with the refusal of Canberra to detach itself from American and British neo-colonial ambitions, Australia can face a backlash. Already we saw an instance of this in the Bali bombings of 2002. With the IRA’s links with the Palestinian Liberation Organization, ETA and the Colombian militant group FARC, Australia is vulnerable to terror attacks from these organizations, if its foreign policy framework does not change. It is also no surprise

Using Pop-Up Stores to Boost Sales for Online Fashion Shop Essay

Using Pop-Up Stores to Boost Sales for Online Fashion Shop - Essay Example Pop-up stores not only help in creating the awareness but in the long run it also helps in boosting sales for the organisation. I realized this issue when I tried to convince my friend to purchase an item that was available online but was not available in the local market. His reaction gave me the problems or the perception of the consumer during online shopping. This lead to my research as to how can we make people aware of the positive aspects of online shopping. This is when I came across a website discussing about pop-up-up up stores and how it helps in boosting the sales for online shopping. During the discussion in the report our focus will be to find out how does pop-up-up up stores help in making the most out of pop-up shops and offline shops or spaces in order to boost the sales and create brand awareness. Another aspect of the research will be to find out the short term and long term benefits of having an extra outlet or a physical showroom for the products and how it can help a brand in terms of increasing the sales. On doing thorough research over the web I found several discussions that have been done about pop-up-up stores. However as the topic is closely related to online shopping, I could not find much relevant data related to the particular issue. The discussions were mainly showcasing the popularity of pop-up stores and how it has been helping the retailers in boosting their profit margins. As the economy is stabilizing, there has been a decrease in the available to spaces to set up a showroom (Allen, 2013). This has gone on to encourage the rise of pop-up stores as they can be practically put up anywhere. The idea is to take the consumers by a shock because they would never be expecting something at that particular place (Pegler, 2011). Another article discussed the benefits of coming up with pop-up stores. The first benefit discussed was that it was beneficial for the landlord as pop-up stores opened

Of Mice and Men English language Essay Example for Free

Of Mice and Men English language Essay Many of the characters in of Mice and Men are lonely and some have dreams to sustain them. Write about 2-3 of them and explain why we feel sympathetic toward them. The book of Mice and Men was written by an American writer called John Steinbeck. He was born in Salinas, California and wrote this book from the theme The Great Depression. The title of this book got its name from a Scottish poet Rabbi Burns in one of his poems called To a Mouse; which means most plans from man or animal dont work out in the end. When I say the Great Depression, this was a significant world event which started on 29 October 1929, this day was-from then on-nicknamed black Tuesday because on that very same day the stock markets crashed, which meant that the money in there lost its value. Due to this, 9 million banks closed, which meant that about 86,000 businesses failed; for 2 reasons: firstly the businesses didnt have the money to keep them going. Secondly people didnt have the money to buy the things the businesses were selling. Because businesses closed, unemployment rate increased, in 1929, the percentage of unemployment was 3%. However in 1934, the unemployment rate was 26%+. This shows that there was a big rise for people losing jobs. By saying this, you must be honoured to keep your job (most people lost their jobs), although if your job was secure, your wages would decrease by approximately 60%, if you walked out on that job, it would be hard for you to find another job, the employer wouldnt have to worry much since there were lines of people queuing up for jobs. At 1 point, estimates say 34 million people had no income at all, thus meant that people lived in shanty towns. This not only was in the small cities, but developed in the major states such as New York and Washington D.C. People nicknamed these shanty towns as Hoovervilles, because it was nicknamed after the American president at that time, Herbert Hoover. So how would this recession affect people? Some people couldnt cope with it so they committed suicide. Marriages broke down due to the financial pressure. People became itinery/migrant workers. This means travelling round the country looking for work, if they did find work, it would be short term, unskilled, insecure and labouring. Most jobs were in California (farming area), 1000s of families lost their homes due to failing to pay mortgages, so people had to live in shanty towns. So soup kitchens were set up, and there would be queues of 1000s (maybe more) of mixtures of people in dirty clothes to people in business suits. If these people were moving around they wouldnt be able to stay with their families/friends. Because of this, people got lonely because they were looking for jobs, so they wouldnt have any time for relationships, and as George says: we ask no questions on the ranch which means that you keep your self to yourself. No-one knows who you are or where youve come from, or what theyre planning to do next. If you knew these things about a specific person (or any person), they would tell you off for nosing around. All of the things I have mentioned all come in the theme of the Great Depression, which is the thing behind the story that John Steinbeck is trying to tell. For example, most characters in of Mice and Men were migrant workers and before Lennie and George came to the ranch in Soledad. Candy tells Lennie about a blacksmith called Whitey, who came, got his money and left, why he just quit, just wanted to move, didnt give no other reason but the food just say gimme my time, the way any guy would. Although George and Lennie travel around together, it would have been highly unusual for this to happen in a time like this, most men travelled alone. We see this in the novel like Slim, Crooks, and Candy, but I must say it is highly unusual that men travel around together, Slim says this in section 2. This novel is set in California, which is situated in the southern state of the USA. If you were working in a place where Lennie and George were working- your friends and family is miles- maybe further- away. Your only alternative is to make friends otherwise you are walking a lonely road. Also a thing that you would have to take into consideration is the size of the place, the place that they (Lennie and George) were working was on a ranch. A ranch is the equivalent for a farm in England, but however, a ranch is much bigger than a farm that we refer to in England. The distance, as Ive mentioned is pretty far- not to mention being cut off from your family and friends, theyd have to walk miles to the ranch, otherwise youd have to hitch a ride from a passing truck. From the way they live that I learned from chapter 2, firstly I learn that they are violent, I know this from when they let crooks- the black person- come into the bunk house for Christmas, sounds nice doesnt it? Letting the black man come into the bunk house on this festive occasion, but from what I learn they only let him in to batter him black and blue! And enjoy it! Yes sir, we had fun. They let the nigger come in that night. Little skinner the name of smitty took after the nigger. I personally think that its horrible, but its true. Secondly I learn that they have very little privacy and basic living condition. For example, they have straws for mattresses and apple crates for bedside desks. They have little comfort- like the bunk house isnt well presented, no paint on the walls, crates for chairs table in the middle and a deck of cards for daily entertainment, nothing compared to the entertainment that we have today, like PS3s and Xbox 360s etc. also, anonymity, the way people keep themselves to themselves, how people dont know where youre from. Finally, how migrant workers move from place to place- as this is what migrant workers do. We see this in the novel from the beginning when Lennie got in trouble and they had to flee when Lennie sexually harassed a girl in weed. Dreams help people achieve things in life, no matter what scenario you are in. they give people power and confidence. Although I state in the title of this essay and have dreams to sustain them; the dream that they are referring to is the American dream. Before John Steinbeck wrote this book, he was interested in finding out about power, ownership and control and what it did on normal people. Due to the Great Depression, most people didnt have jobs, so they relied on bosses to permit them to a job; but they manage to put all that stress aside towards a dream that they have. Most of who dream of a dream called the American dream. These dreams tell us about the life people are living. Most characters in the novel have dreams to. But Lennie and Georges dream are the most important because they tell us about the culture that has been created. America has always been seen as the land of opportunity, freedom, a place to live and most importantly, a new life. A place for wealth and a place for real possibilities, this was referred to as the American dream. Immigrants moved to over America because they believed in this dream. So how was America founded? In 1607, people from Britain went to America to find gold; these people were known as the Virginia colony. Because the island they first found they named after the Queen Elizabeth, who of course, was a Virgin Queen. But of instead finding gold, they found tobacco (which was known a black gold in Britain-very popular.) and brought it back to England to sell. In 1620 a group of English Protestants who detested against the Church of England moved to America looking for religious freedom, these were known as the Plymouth colony or Pilgrims. In the Harsh Winter of 1620-1621, half of the Plymouth colony died due the coldness of the weather, when they arrived to America, it was full of wilderness and red Indians/Native Americans. In 1630 1000 more arrived to establish more colonies. In 1642, the Plymouth colony had 12000 settlers from Europe, again searching for religious freedom. By 1776, the colonies in America were fed up of the British monarchs ruling them and wanted their own independence, because the monarch of England was the monarch of America, and they had enough of this. In Britain the law was only set up for the landowners, if you wasnt a landowner then you didnt count. So 4th July 1776, the American colonies set up a universal declaration of independence. Here is an extract from it. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by the creator with certain unalienable rights. Rights that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The statue of liberty was a present from the French man Gustave Eiffel, due to the French revolution happening in France he set up the statue of liberty to symbolise this dream, because the American dream was similar in France. If you were an immigrant coming into America by boat, the statue of liberty would be the first thing that you saw. However, this American dream inspired many people. By 1929, the Great Depression spoilt these dreams for many people since they didnt have the money to live happily. As stated in the novel, George and Lennie- and Candy aim to get a ranch to themselves and Lennie wants to pet the rabbits. Some elements of the dream include: material comforts and financial security- not being in debt and having everything you need. Being in control of your destiny- you making the choices in your own life, not people telling you what to do. Gaining the respect of others- living in a peaceful society. Companionship and sharing good fortune- having friends and keeping each other happy. And last but not least; making your mark-something to be proud of- achieving things in life; getting the best in life. The American dream today isnt all about freedom; its about money and fame. For example, if you look at Hollywood; actors and actresses etc. When an author writes a book, they must make some important choices. For example, whether to base the story involving letters or e-mails or telling the story as a flash back/ flash forward. People write book for various reasons: to inform the reader- this might be something that has happened previously, or presently. Some people write books to persuade or entertain you-it might encourage you to change your life. John Steinbeck written this book to inform-recalling what life was like in the Great Depression for migrant workers. He also creates a description; he lets the action sink in for the reader, also he helps create a physical appearance in your mind, by using a wide range of onomatopoeia and so crisp that a lizard makes a great skittering if he runs among them skittering is the sound that is being made. Another thing that the writer must consider is to select whether to write in 1st or 3rd person. If you wrote in first person, you can fully understand what that person, what goes on in that particular persons mind. But the down side is that you can only see what is happening when that person is present. If John Steinbeck chose to write this novel in the 1st person, we wouldnt see what would happen to George if Lennie wasnt there etc. however if you chose to write in the 3rd person, you can see the minds of all the characters in the book. Unfortunately 3rd person isnt always in the full depths of understanding- meaning that although you can read everybodys mind, it doesnt provide in depth detail. John Steinbeck chose 3rd person; this is a good choice because you can see in everybodys mind and John Steinbeck described the novel in full understanding in 3rd person, also he has put the plot in Great detail and has used a lot of wide range of vocabulary slowly, like a terrier who doesnt want to bring a ball to his master, Lennie approached, drew back, and approached again. Another interesting technique John Steinbeck has chosen to use is starting and ending the story in the same setting. He also set this novel in a rural location (in the countryside) and used adjectives, careful words and descriptions to this novel create an exact physical location. As well as this, the time scale of this novel is described for 1 week- this shows that George and Lennie havent moved very far in their lives, they havent moved forward. Finally one of the things that you need to consider is how much direct speech you use, not too much or you will slow down the plot, too less will not move the plot forward. So it is essential that you use the right amount. In this novel there is a lot of blasphemy Jesus he said hes jes like a kid aint he- and swearing listen here you crazy bastard- and racist comments Jesus how that nigger can pitch shoes- Steinbeck used a wide range of direct speech, thus helps us understand the characters more. This kind of language is found in most aspects of this novel- it is commonly asked why its studied in schools- racism, blasphemy and swearing is the kind of language that was used in the Great Depression, this was because the characters were migrant workers and they were uneducated, manual workers and non intellectual. Some of the characters in of Mice and Men are lonely; I am going to talk about 3 of them. The first character I am going to look at is Candy. Candy is an old swamper living at the ranch George and Lennie worked at. He is an old man with a missing wrist the wooden hatch raised. The door opened and a tall, stoop shouldered man came in. he was dressed in blue jeans and he carried a push broom in his left hand and out of the sleeve came a round stick like wrist , but no hand. Also he has a really old dog that evidently he has had since he was a pup and at is heels there walked a drag footed sheep dog he also has no relatives cause I aint got no relatives or nothing I find that Candy is lonely; he is lonely in several ways. Firstly his disability, he lost his hand I aint much good with ony one hand, I lost my hand right here on this ranch thats why they give me a job swamping an they give me two hundred and fifty dollars cause I los my hand this makes you think that it was their fault that Candy has lost his hand; because if it wasnt then they wouldnt give an old folk money if they could avoid it! Especially in a depression! So he cannot go out to buck barley like the rest of the men because he hasnt got the energy or strength like the other men have which means that he is lonely all day and has to wait for them to come back. He cant go down to Soledad because he is too old after that the guys went down to Soledad and raised hell, I didnt go there, I aint got the poop no more Candy was very close to that dog, he had him since he was a puppy, and so that dog is important to him. Firstly, he spends all of his day with that dog. Also that dog is a link to all the memories he has yeah I had him since he was a pup, god he was a damn good sheep dog when he was younger. When the dog gets shot Candy is desperate to leave the ranch, he hasnt got any body to keep him there (since his dog was his only companion) now the dog has been shot he hasnt got a friend anymore, which is why he is so desperate to leave the ranch. And follow Lennie and George with this dream that they have. Candy has become so desperate to be part of Lennie and Georges dream that he is prepared to give all of his savings to them spose I went in with you guys, thats three hundred and fifty bucks Id put in. that is three hundred and fifty dollars that Candy is prepared to give- $50 a month- so he is prepared to give 7 months wages to two guys that he has met on that very same day! This shows that he is desperate. Candy sees no hope on the ranch when they can me I wisht somebodyd shoot me hed rather be dead than stay on the ranch now his dog has been shot. He desperately wants something to look forward to, something to be happy about, and somewhere to belong to. The idea of this dream gives him hope. He wants to join the dream because his dog has been shot. Lennie and George accept him because he has got the money. Because Lennie and George have accepted Candy into this dream, he begins to change. Firstly Candy has gained the ability to be self critical. He can see that he should have shot his dog himself I ought to have shot that dog myself, George, I shouldnt ought to have let no stranger shoot my dog this shows that he has got over his dog being shot. Secondly Candy has gained the confidence to join in with the other men, like when he joins into the attack with Curley (glove fulla Vaseline Candy said disgustingly). This shows that he isnt scared to join in when everybody is cheeking Candy. He wouldnt have done this before because he would have been sacked, but now he fells more confident and feels more part of the group; he only used to say things behind peoples backs, not to their faces (the swamper stood up from his box know what I think George did not answer well I think hes married a tart) he only used to say things like that behind peoples back. Now he feels more confident, he will say it to their faces. Thirdly, he starts to plan and look forward I tell ya what Lennie, Ive been figuring about them rabbits he knows what his future going to be, he is looking forward to it. He wasnt like this before because he couldnt see any future, he had nothing to look forward to. His future seemed horrible theyll can me purty soon as I cant swamp out no bunk houses theyll put me on the county he tells Lennie and George that hes going to a county, no friends, no family, no entertainment, simple life, horrible experience. Finally I found out that has got more confident when talking to Curleys wife when he backs up Crooks if you was to do that, wed tell wed tell you up about you framing Crooks he wouldnt have done this before because it is the bosses sons wife that he is talking to and he would be sacked- and he cannot afford that to happen because he hasnt got no place else to go, he had to rely on his boss to permit him to work on the ranch and he is quite confident that he his future is going to happen, so now he doesnt care about being sacked, the fear of being sacked has left him. When Lennie kills Curleys wife the dream that Candy was looking forward to have come to an end, Candy was really relying on that dream, its made him more lively, its helped him join in with the other people (glove fulla Vaseline) now Curleys wifes death has caused this dream to fail. I know this from when he says to Curleys wifes corpse you done it dint you? I spose youre glad. Everbody knowed youd mess things up. You wasnt no good, you aint no good now, you lousy tart to say something like this to a dead body is highly disrespectful, like stealing candy from a baby it isnt acceptable because it is impolite. But all of his anger has caused him to strengthen up; become more confident, when he says if they was a circus or a baseball game we would of went to her jus said ta hell with work, an went to her. Never ast nobody say so. An theyd of been a pig and chickens an in the winter the little fat stove an the rain comin and jus us settin there. The dots between his speeches are called ellipses; these indicate that Candy is angry that his dream has been taken from him. And the ellipsis shows that Candy is trying to control his emotions, until he breaks down -his eyes blinded with tears. After this incident , Candy isnt just back to how he was before, I think that he would be more broken than he was because hew has lost his dog. When the dream was mentioned to him-it was like giving a child a sweet and taking it from him- he had his hopes up, now it looked like it was all over as if it had never begun. So his future seems quite dull for an old man. I think that he would be worse off. The next person I would like to observe is Crooks. Crooks is a stable buck who also lives at the ranch where Lennie and George once worked. A stable buck is someone who looks after the horses and the mules; he is also a black man. He lives not in the bunk house where all the other guys live; he lives in a shed of a barn. The job of the stable buck is very important because it is vital for the horses and the mules to be kept in good condition due to that being the only transport, meaning that the horses and the mules must be kept well looked after. The reason why he is called Crooks is because he is disabled; this shows that he cannot work with the other men. He has a permanent Job looking after the mules and horses; this is a semi-skilled job because it requires skill to do this job. There are several reasons why Crooks is lonely. Firstly he is black, the only black on the ranch and now there aint no coloured guy on the ranch he grew up as the only black family in Soledad there wasnt another coloured family for miles around. There is only one coloured family in Soledad an theres jus one family in Soledad. This makes him lonely because he hasnt got anybody like him, nobody black like him. He is the only one. Segregation means separation, separated from the others, this is what happens to Crooks. He isnt allowed in the bunk house, he lives in a little shed led off the barn a little shed led off the barn since he been separated from the others, he feels that white people have no right in his room you got no right to come in my room. This heres my room; nobody got any right in here but me. From this, Crooks feels rejected I cant play cards because Im black. They say I stink, well, I tell you, you stink too Crooks is a victim of institutional racism- this means that the law cannot protect him. I know this from when Curleys wife says to him I can get you strung up so easy it aint even funny The word nigger can be said in two ways-to describe sure, ya see, the stable bucks a nigger this shows ignorance, this shows that people do not know that it is an offensive word- and hurtful then you keep your place then nigger, I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it aint even funny what she said was true backthen, if a black man looked at a white woman funny then (no matter what personality she is) she can get him strung up and the law cannot protect him. Crooks is isolated, no-one comes into his room except for Slim and the boss guys like you dont come into a coloured mans room very much. Nobody been in here but Slim, Slim and the boss. Experts say that being isolated can affect your mental health, which evidently it has done to Crooks. He is quiet, aloof (keep yourself to yourself) and depressed. He was not always like this. In his youth he was part of a loving family remember when I was a little kid on my old mans chicken ranch. Had two brothers, they was always with me, always there this makes Crooks lonelier than he is now because he had a family, he had a life, he had a future, but now it has been taken from him. America was a far more racist community than it was now. I know this from the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) this was (and still is) a white supremacist organisation, which has an aim of striking fear and intimidation into black people. The KKK believed that blacks were like animals and had little rights due to the fact that they are black-terrible, but true- black people were routinely dragged out of their homes and beaten, raped, castrated (cutting off penis and testicles) or possibly murdered. Slavery was abolished in America; it was very strong in the southern states. This is why Crooks says that he isnt a southern Negro I aint a southern negro this shows that Crooks was born a free black. Crooks (as far as we know) hasnt suffered from the KKK but it could still effect him because he know in theory what will happen to him. Being isolated is not good for people. As Ive said earlier, isolation can affect your mental health. He is also the only character in this novel that knows what loneliness does to you- Steinbecks message has been put into Crookss mouth a guy goes nuts if he aint got nobody. From suffering from isolation Crooks begins to get his own back and scare Lennie want me ta tell ya whatll happen? Theyll take ya to the booby hatch. Theyll tie ya up with a collar, like a dog. From this he has become cynical (this means that you believe things will always go wrong, what ever the scenario) and pessimistic (always looking on the down side of things youll talk abut it a hell of a lot, but you wont get no land. Yet he may be black, but he is brighter than all the other men in the novel And he had a book too; a tattered dictionary and a mauled copy of the California civil code for 1905 he hasnt got the right to fulfil his intelligence, this shows what racism was like and what it did. When Lennie and Candy mention the dream to Crooks he offers to join it immediately if youguys would want to work for nothing-just his keep, why Id come an lend a hand. I aint so crippled I cant work like a son-of-a-bitch when I want to. The way he asked it was to hint to them, try not to give them an excuse to punish him. He really wants to be part of the dream, we never hear Crooks speak of his dreams, when Lennie and Candy talk about their dream, Crooks springs up and wants to become part of it. Crooks has the same dream, but he never shows it, because hes black. In the ellipsis he is trying to hint to them for them to accept him. We want Crooks to be accepted because it would be a better life, possibly a better ending. When Crooks wants to be part of Lennie and Candys dream, he has his hopes up, but when Curleys wife enters the scene and threatens him I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it aint even funny he changes his mind- not as if he wants to- but for protection. What Curleys wife said was true, so Crooks loses all of his confidence, and backs out of this dream. So what will happen to him is that he will be exactly how he was before lonely, aloof, intimidated. We will feel sorry for him because now he has ended up worse than he was before, now he knows that things will always go wrong for him In a Depression everybody suffers. If you were black or disabled you suffer even more because nobody would want to employ you. Employers want white, fit and young workers, if they were fit to get that job, it would be low payed, you would suffer either way, but if you was black or disabled you would be less likely to get that job, Candy only got that job because he lost his hand under their behalf. Crooks only got that job because hes been there a long time and hes got skill. If Crooks and Candy were kicked and had to start again, it wouldnt be easy for them to get another job. The final character I am going to look at is Curleys wife. Curleys wife is the recent bosses sons wife on the ranch lennie and George worked at- so the men on the ranc will look at her as the new kid. whit picked uphis cards and examined them seen the new kid yet. She looks probally 16-17 years old. I know this from when an actor said she could go with them. She says that she is only 15. he says I could gowith him on that show. But my ol lady wouldnt let me. She says because I was ony 15. Also she is pretty but in an artificial way- this means that she pretends to be beautiful a girl was standing there looking in. she had full rouged lips and wide spaced eyes, heavily made up. Her finger nails were red.her hair hung in little rolled clusters like sausages. She wore a cotton house dressand red mules, on the insteps of which were little bouquettes of red ostrich feathers back then respectable women didnt wear make up how she does, this is why the men refer her to as a tart I think Curleys married a tart she is never refered to as a name- just an individual. Also she can provokes strong feelings in both readers and characters (sympathy and hostility) to lennie, who thinks shes georgeous- shes purty- and George- who thinks discustingly of her- dont you even take a look at that bitch- the readers feel the same more-or-less. Steinbeck had a more sympathetic view of the character of Curleys wife- I know this from the Miss Luce letter. When Steinbeck adapted this novel into a play, the actor playing Curleys wife wrote to him because he did not know how to play her. So Steinbeck wrote a sympathetic letter back to Miss Luce explaining that her character in more detail. There are a number of reasons why Curleys wife is lonely. A womans role at that time was far different than today. Women those days had to stay in the home; cook meals and look after the kids- Curleys wife cant do this because she is living with Curleys father, she cant cook there is a cook that cooks all the meals on the ranch. Today women own companies, go to work etc. Curleys wife cannot get a job because in a depression, all the jobs would go to the men, plus women werent seen as workers, their job was to stay in the home. Also respectable women didnt wear make up, if you did then the men would think bad of you. Yet also there isnt another woman on the ranch for or nearby-so she hasnt got any support, girls and boys like the company of people their age, girls share make up, clothes, talk to each other, and chat about life. Curleys wife cant chat with other girls since there isnt anybody; Curleys mother seems evidently dead or doesnt live with them, so she cant talk to her. She cannot go into town to meet other girls because she cannot travel alone, if she does then society will disrespect her. She is treated by Curley as a sex object, as a possession- a perfect example of this is when she dies, Curleys reaction to her death, there is no weeping, no remorse, Curley goes straight for revenge Im gonna get him. Im going for my shotgun. Ill kill the big son-of-a-bitch myself. Ill shoot him in the guts. Come on, you guys he only goes for revenge for Lennie because he hates big guys. Curley sees his wife as a sex object from when he brags about his glove fulla Vaseline Curley says this because when the men ask him why he is wearing a glove full of Vaseline, he says he is keeping it soft for his wife. He only says this to make the other guys jealous. As for the other men on the ranch, they see her as someone who is dangerous, she is judged by her first appearance well aint she a looloo? they say this because she doesnt fit into the mens category as normal, respectable women didnt wear make up- she wears make up- respectable women didnt leave the house- shes in their faces. When Whit says I bet she even gives the stable buck the eye when he says this, it is a major insult to a woman. For a woman to sleep with a black man is seen as the taboo, it just wasnt right back then. They refer her to a tart (prostitute); however they talk about the actual tarts at the cathouse with real warmth and pleasure we go to old susys place. Hell of a nice place. Old susys a laugh- always cracking jokes. They talk about tarts as if they like them. But they dont like Curleys wife and call her a tart, when she isnt one. It seems as if she cannot win. When you are a married man, you work and look after your wife. Curley has only been married for two weeks and hes going to the cathouse! Curleys wife hasnt done anything. This does not pass unnoticed; Curleys wife tells Lennie how she feels about it I get lonely she said you can talk to people, but I cant talk to nobody but Curley. Else he gets mad. Howd you like not to talk to anybody? So what has loneliness done to her? Its made her desperate; she ignores the voice inside her head that something is wrong. She took Lennies hand and put it on her head. This shows that she is desperate for company. She also has become cruel listen nigger she said you know what I can do to you if you open your trap this shows that she feels as if she can get her own back on them, she feels as if- for the first time in a long time I suppose- she can take control. Eventually it kills her. She got that desperate for company that she stayed in that room with Lennie; and got herself killed. Many people have dreams, Curleys wife has a dream, and this dream means a lot to her. Curleys wife wants to be a movie star; this was because the film industry was just starting. This was a dream for most young girls back then. Like of how girls of 16-17 want to become models. Evidently this was a realistic dream for young girls back then. She got this dream from when she was 15; an actor said that she could be in the movies nother time I met a guy an he was in pitchers. Went out to the riverside dance palace with him. He says he was going to put me in the movies. Says I was a natural. Soons he got back to Hollywood he was going to write to me about it what this man really wanted to was to sleep with her. I dont think he was in the movies at all, I think he was just claiming, it would be highly unnatural for a Hollywood film producer to turn up in a small place like Soledad, like a famous person turning up in Bloxwitch, it wouldnt happen on an everyday basis. This is why her mother wouldnt let her my ol lady wouldnt let me her mother wouldnt let her go with him because he wanted to protect her. This shows that Curleys wife is shallow- cares about her appearance, gullible- believes everything that she is told, and naà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ve- meaning that she is too trusting to people. She hasnt got any real talent because we havent really seen her act out before, so the probability of this dream becoming true is highly unlikely. But she doesnt want to be in the movies to act. No, she wants to be famous; she wants to be admired and to wear flashy clothes. The affect of this is that she wants to be like how the actresses are, trying to impress the men- just the sad thing is that the men dont refer her as an actresses, they refer her to as a tart and vow to keep a distance form her. The effect of this is the total opposite of what she wants (of how they look at her as a tart) she doesnt want that, she wants to be respected by them. She wants to make something of herself well I wasnt gonna stay no place where I couldnt get nowhere or make something of myself this ties up with the American Dream. This is great proof that the dream actually exists. When Curleys wife dies, Steinbeck presents her death in a sympathetic and descriptive manner- now her rouged cheeks and her reddened lips made her seem alive and sleeping very lightly when he presents her death, we- us and the characters- see the real woman. We see her no more than a tool to be polished and maimed, never to be respected nor confided in. And when she described her dream beforehand, this is a sympathetic ending to her life. For the final part of this essay I will talk about who I personally think is the loneliest. I think that the loneliest character is Curleys wife because she is the only woman on the ranch and everybody looks down upon her as something disgustingly on a lavatory seat. She is also the loneliest because even her own husband doesnt particularly respect her. I think this text of Mice and Men was an interesting and mind bending book with a gripping and plot. There are some things that I know now that I didnt now before, for instance the Great Depression, I knew roughly what it was but I never knew that this book had the theme of it. Also, loneliness, the other theme, also happens today. Like how it drives people crazy. Like the message John Steinbeck is trying to put out.

Personal development Plan Essay Example for Free

Personal development Plan Essay Capital is generally referred by the people to the financial assets and resources, however besides the money; personal capital is also a part of capital. Capital is basically the ability to do something and it allows a person to make his own selections and if it is not available, it is very hard or almost impossible for one to make selections. To evaluate the performance of an individual, capital is an important concept. However, personal performance is not normally termed as capital but it does function in the same way as the financial resources but as for the financial resources, we must build up these resources if we want to accomplish something but the personal capital of an individual is his skills, intelligence, his network of contacts, education, or relationships, etc. (Productivity 501, 2007). We have certain options from where we can choose and these options are interdependent on the amount of capital we have actually acquired. For instance, let’s consider the skill capital. This can further be explained by an example of the skill to perform a particular task to accomplish a particular goal. This can also be to sail all around the world. However, this can only be made possible if the person knows how to sail. If this person does not even know how to sail in a lake along with strong winds, he would never be able to sail around the world. Same applies to the other skills that come under personal capital. Personal capital is something that an individual need to develop personally and is not present in a person from the start. This is basically about polishing the skills you already have in you and is all about increasing our skills as well as the level of intelligence that can be done by various activities such as by reading, studying, taking courses, etc. As for the relationships, they can be improved by investing some more time in them. In order to build up a relationship, giving time, taking care of the person and showing love is very essential and without all these factors it would be hard to maintain any relationship as these are the core factors that are required to make up and then to handle a relationship. To increase our network of contacts, it is a must that we reach out people after which we must stay in contact with them because just reaching them out won’t work effectively. Therefore, we must also remember our past acquaintances and should keep in touch with them as well. The activities mentioned above helps to increase our personal capital and so it also increases the opportunities that we might get.   According to Tom Peters, â€Å"everyone lives by selling something.†Ã‚   (Peters, 1999). People normally retreat when they hear about the word sales as it sounds devious. However, when you convince the other person and you sell, it develops more pleasure and satisfaction and it is all about moving your resources to the ones who need them. Personal capital is basically an ability in a person to make a difference and it can be either processing ability or leverage. The processing ability is basically the extent to which a person achieves a desired result with the resources available to him. It is all about achieving a task based on the thinking skills, energy, character of a person, the level of knowledge and know-how about an activity, thus it is all about achieving the targets within the given resources. This furthermore increases the value of a person as when an individual is different from the others and is able to do tasks effectively, it gives him an edge over others and this can even be his core competency. For instance, let us consider an example of a person who has stared with a new job and as the job is new, the person would need some guidance in order to achieve the targets. Therefore, as assistance is needed by the employee, the results would not be totally based on his skills but later after the employee develops understanding and know-how; he would be able to do the same task without getting help from any other person and can work independently. This shows that his processing ability has been increased. The second part of personal capital is leverage, it raises the productivity of others by using your expertise and further explaining it, we can say that it amplifies your processing ability through others and this can either be done by coaching an employee who is new or by guiding him with the way in which the task is to be performed. Leverage can be measured in a way as our ability to transfer our knowledge to the other party, for example leverage of an economics teacher who teaches the course at a university can be judged in way how he teaches the student and does that really benefit the student or not i.e. does it increase the knowledge of the student or not. Furthermore it is also about using your own previous experience to teach the new employees and help them out to reduce chances of errors or mistakes and when this is achieved, a person achieves leverage. Personal capital can only be built only by learning and trying, it is about the way in which an individual is supposed to take a process and further turn it into a better work process and it is also about adding value to the ideas proposed by the others. People can take courses that could help them to increase knowledge and their processing ability and the way they can share their knowledge that in turn increases their leverage. The reason why personal capital should be built is because of the value we place in making a difference in the tasks we are assigned and the better personal capital an individual has, the better can he perform and achieve he desired goal. Moreover, people have better personal capital will also be able to accomplish tasks that are more complex and challenging.   This is not just the only requirement; however a person should keep on improving his personal capital so that they can benefit from it and fulfill his responsibilities as a team member. Being creative is to turn the ideas that erupt into your mind into a reality and for consists of two aspects that have to be considered. The first one is the ability to think that a person has and the other is to actually create that particular idea. For creative thinking, innovation is a must. This basically means to implement the idea that has been though of. However, if some one has ideas but he does not implement them, he would be considered imaginative and not creative. Therefore, the crux of this paragraph is that there is no use of thinking if you are not doing what you have thought about. (Linda, n.d.) Moreover, creativity can also be defined as something that is new and it therefore requires both zeal as well as dedication. People usually determine certain symbols and myths from creativity that further reveals the hidden points of life. (Rollo May, The Courage to Create) According to another author, a product is only creative when it is novel and appropriate. Moreover, he states that a new product shows its originality, however it cannot be predicted. Creativity of a product basically depends on the concept. The bigger it is, more the ideas are generated and so creativity increases. (Sternberg Lubart, Defying the Crowd) Creativity can be used for the purpose of economic development, at work and everywhere. The resources available to us in the world are limited but the demands of the people are unlimited. Creative ideas only come in such case when our resources are restricted and as a popular saying of an economist and a social philosopher says that â€Å"Invention is the mother of necessity.† (Thorstein Veblen, 1857 1929). However, time and budget can limit creativity. In today’s world creativity is taken as something more than just an artistic expression as it was perceived to be in the previous centuries. However, now it is also essential in many other areas as well. It can be used just anywhere, in a very small thing such as to make a loft or a professional canvas painter. However, creativity can be taken differently by different people who are engaged in different tasks. Constant learning enhances the creativity in a person. Moreover, we should explore different techniques that can help us in improving our creativity. We should brainstorm ideas, do mind-mapping and meditation, etc. I would also say that creativity is basically a mental process that is all about creating new ideas but its originality and appropriateness should not be affected in any way. Creativity is also referred as a divergent thought from the scientific point of view and can be studied from various point of views such as in some of the aspects such as behavioral psychology, social psychology, psychometrics, cognitive science, artificial intelligence, philosophy, history, economics, design research, business, management, etc. (Linda, n.d.) There are certain questions that one must ask oneself for personal development.  · What’s the history of a person and repercussions for contributions in the past.  · Where we are and what have we gained? (Instead of, What have we lost?)  · What needs to be changed, such as structures to encourage and support learning and innovation?  · What needs to change in my leadership style to foster more of a learning culture? When and where should I practice being a learner? Once we ask those questions to you, one must also consider some of the things mentioned below.  · Hierarchy is not inherently a problem.  · Technical hierarchy not social hierarchy.  · Acknowledge power power dynamics. The more open this is, the less it will be a subtext of interaction.  · Be in the role of teacher, when the authority in a particular skill or situation, and of learner when not.  · Trust, trust, trust. Trying to control everything accomplishes the opposite.  · Communication Interaction must be encouraged as it is essential for personal development.  · Documentation Document learning in one area or project such that it can be shared with other areas and projects. The personal vision of a person is very important as this further develops goal awareness and social orientation. The personal vision of an individual helps them to guide their lives and also provides the direction that is essential to make a choice about the career. It thus, helps to show a way to a person and so it is important for us to identify our personal visions. A personal vision is basically written focusing on the life of person i.e. the joys and the sadness’s filled in their life, what they have achieved and how they have achieved, their contribution, what makes them, their brilliance as well as heritage. Personal vision in turn develops goal awareness as once you identify the personal vision is it easier for a person to focus more on his goals and what he wants to do in life. Moreover, it also develops social orientation in a way that a person cares more about the well being of the society and so he makes sure that their needs are being taken care of and they are satisfied. Other than that, an individual should also have the capacity to working together with other individuals and for this it is necessary that he develops communication, interactive skills and development orientation. The skills and performance of an individual must be upgraded continually and meeting this requirement involves training and development activities and appraising performance for the purposes of giving feedback and motivating people to perform at their best. Training usually refers to teaching lower level employees how to perform their present jobs, while development involves teaching managers and professional employees broader skills needed for their present and future jobs. Individuals must take training to enhance their individual performance that would then increase their productivity. It should focus on developing management skills/development and supervisory skills, technical skills and communication skills. Orientation training programs should be designed for individuals because they are typically used to familiarize them with certain things such as the general policies, procedures, culture and the like. All this results in reputed benefits such as increased morale of an individual; he becomes more productive, lower costs and the like. Team training is also important because it recognizes to facilitate individuals working together. It teaches the people, the skills they to work together and also facilitates their interaction that further focuses on technical, interpersonal and team interaction skills. Communication is very important because it is the only mode through which there can be an exchange of ideas between people but for this they need to interact with other people. They need to form their social groups, talk to their mates and develop orientation that helps to familiarize them with other people. Moreover, concreteness is important too. In this comes openness to change, operational effectiveness and responsiveness challenge. To be concrete basically means to be specific. While making a personal development plan it is also essential to be concrete. An individual cannot do each and everything. Some might be good as some tasks and some might be good at some tasks and so it is not necessary that all people can do the same work well. This in turn develops core competency. In the world today, changes are being made like in every second. However, it does take time for people to adjust to change and people are usually resistant to change but in the end they do have to accept the change. Therefore, it is necessary that one must be flexible and be able to adjust to change well.

TIRF Microscopy for Counting Molecules

TIRF Microscopy for Counting Molecules Robert Konstandelos How TIRF microscopy has enhanced the way single molecules are counted in the bacterial flagellar motor Abstract: The counting of individual molecules is important in order to establish how many molecules there are in a particular system. TIRF microscopy is one method to count molecules. The bacterial flagellar motor is a complex system in which motility protein B molecules can be counted using TIRF. Discussion is given for a key research topic based on counting of molecular subunits of this motor. Reviews of the background areas, limitations and confirmations of this research are conducted, and a discussion of the research and its contributions to technological and medical applications. 1. Introduction: The bacterial flagellar motor, TIRF microscopy and associated research Flagellar motors are machines used to drive many bacteria which have to swim in a solution like our bodies. This motor, usually studied in E. coli bacteria, is powered by a flux of H+ or Na+ ions across a cytoplasmic membrane driven by an electrochemical gradient (Sowa and Berry, 2008). The motor itself consists of two components, a rotor and a stator: the rotor spins relative to the cell and is attached by a helical filament known as a hook, whereas the stator is fixed to the cell wall (Francis et al 1994). A method commonly used to visualise the bacterial flagellar motor is Total Internal Reflection Fluorescence (TIRF) microscopy, which is one of the most frequently employed methods in bio-optical research (Leake 2013, P87). TIRF microscopy uses an evanescent field to illuminate the area covered by the specimen in question, which is adjacent to a glass-water interface. Using organic dyes has made it possible to view other properties of bacteria using TIRF (Sako et al 2000). This method is useful in counting the molecular subunits of the bacterial flagellar motor. TIRF microscopy has been used to view single molecules within live bacteria. For viewing the bacterial flagellar motor of E. coli, scientists tagged motility protein B (MotB) cells with Green Fluorescence Protein (GFP) in order to detect them via TIRF. This highlighted the areas within the bacteria where the motor was situated. To visualise the bacteria in a single confined position, the cell was tethered to the slide for viewing on the microscope. This is shown in Fig. 1, where the fixed position of the flagellum limits the bacteria’s movement to rotation. Fig. 1 Tethered cell showing its exposure to the evanescent field used for TIRF (Leake 2006, P355) 2. Background, difficulties and discoveries from the research 2.1 The history behind counting molecules Though the basis of this experiment began in the 60s, initially using the measurement of the activity of single molecules (Rotman 1961), optical detection and spectroscopic methods are now used instead. The counting of complex molecules can now also be achieved, but this area of research also needs TIRF microscopy. TIRF was enhanced in 1984 by Daniel Axelrod after the publishing of a paper on its experimental methods (Axelrod 1984), and those methods remain largely unchanged today. Furthermore, GFP molecules have only been recently understood. Without this research and development in GFP, visuals using TIRF would not be possible (Tsien 1998). 2.2 The difficulties encountered and overcome in counting molecules An estimate of around twenty-two molecules are thought to be present in the flagellar motor, with roughly eleven stator units. The main issue with determining this result explicitly is that there are many MotB molecules not associated with the motor. These molecules cause a problem as they are free to diffuse within the motors of the cell membrane. The fluorescence intensity was estimated from the areas where it was clear that no such molecules would interfere with results. Additionally, an intense laser beam focus for TIRF was required to photobleach GFP molecules. Only an extremely small region of the bacteria was viewed to improve the ability to track a small number of molecules – a significant amount of noise remained in the system, however, meaning that it is not yet possible to count exactly how many molecules are in each motor. Fig. 2 showing bright field (top) and their corresponding TIRF images (bottom) (Leake 2006, P355). The bright areas represent the flagellar motor. Using TIRF, bright spots indicate the centre of the cell rotation of the image shown in Fig. 2. There was a high density of spots centred on the flagellar motor, due to the high density of GFP-MotB molecules around the motor. Short times (between 0-10 seconds) are used because TIRF illumination over the bright spots decreases over longer periods of time, which makes it difficult to detect regions of the flagellar motor. Care was taken to not cause damage to the GFP due to the excitation light on the surrounding water: this means that smaller time steps were required such that the GFP molecules emitted a constant amount of photons. 2.3 The effects FRAP and FLIP With the noise effects reduced, there was the opportunity for the GFP-MotB molecules to spread into the area which had been bleached beforehand. Focusing the laser beam onto the motor itself resulted in the effects of fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) and fluorescence lost in photobleaching (FLIP). Observations of the molecular turnover in the cell found that over a period of five minutes, the intensity of the bright spots around the motor would decrease to nearly zero but then recover to half the initial intensity. This implied that binding and unbinding at the motor and bleaching occurred in the evanescent field (Leake et al 2006, P357), which means that the stator units in the motor only spend half a minute in each flagellar motor. This is demonstrated in Fig. 3, which illustrates the time elapsed after laser focused bleaching and how the intensity decreases but eventually recovers. Fig. 3. Shows the effects of FLIP and FRAP over the period of 5 minutes (Leake et al 2006, P357) 3. Benefits of the research and potential uses for the future An improved type of MotB was used in the research, which enhanced the way in which the molecules in the motor were counted. FLIP and FRAP indicate an alternative means for visualising the motor in motion, confirming that the stator units are dynamic instead of static (Sowa and Berry, 2008, P117). This is one of the first measurements of turnover in a molecular machine, establishing other possible characteristics which could be exploited to gain further understanding of the motor (Leake et al 2006, P357). Scientists are keen to understand more about how such motors work, so that developments in the delivery of medicine or for environmental purposes can be made. It may be possible to replicate the motor (Fukuda et al 2012). Delivery of medicine is one of the key goals: modelling the bacterial flagellar motor such that it could be used for targeted drug delivery would be revolutionary (Leake 2013, P259). Furthermore, through the development of nano-bots, this could be used to visualise diseased tissue or uncover parts of the human body. Summary This area of biophysics is relatively new: from the discoveries in the early 60s through to the 80s, there has not been a clear link between the two subjects. From the late 90s there was an opportunity to visualise biological material using physical optical devices. Over the past two decades, it has now reached to the point where it is possible to count single molecules to a close estimate. The use of GFP molecules combined with TIRF can enhance the visualisation of molecules in bacteria, and there are methods which can significantly improve the estimation of the number of molecules in the motor. This is still a difficult process due to the interference of other, unrelated molecules. FLIP and FRAP methods have proved that the stator is a dynamic rather than a static component of the motor. There are specific parts of this research which may be useful for future technological applications, for example: the delivery of medicine or the bio-sensing of diseased tissue. References Axelrod, D; Ann. Rev. Biophys. Bioeng.; 13; 1984; 247-68 Francis, N, R.; Sosinsky, G,E; Thomas, D; Derosier, D. J; Journal of Molecular Biology 235, 1994; 1261–1270. Fukuda, T; Kojima, M; Zhang, Z; Nakajima, M; Biomed Micro-device; 2012; 1027-32 Leake, M; Single Molecular Cellular Biophysics; 2013 Leake, M C; Chandler, J H; Wadhams, G H; Bai, F; Berry, R M; Armitage, J P; Nature 443; 2006; 355-358 Rotman, B; Biochemistry 47; 1961; 1981-91 Sako, Y; Minoghchi, S; Yanagida, T; Nature Cell Biol. 2; 2000; 1929-1932 Sowa, Y; Berry, R, M; Quarterly Reviews of Biophysics 41, 2008, 103-132 Tsien, R.Y; Annu. Rev. Biochem 67; 1998; 509–44

Automobile’s Contribution to Identity in America Essay -- Automobile C

The Automobile’s Contribution to Identity in America: Nostalgia, Nationalism and Status Introduction Over one billion cars have been manufactured world-wide in the past century, with nearly 700 million on the road today (Urry, 2006). As important as flight, computers, and mass communication, the automobile has been a key contributor to the growth and globalization of our world (Sheller, 2000). While the automobile is rarely the topic of sociological discussion and cultural study, this article will discuss the iconicism of the automobile and how it contributes to an individual’s identity. For some this is the Volkswagen Beetle – a car that embodies nostalgia and the by-gone era of the 60’s (Wilson, 2005). For others, the identity is the nationalism and pride invoked by owning a car that typifies a true red-blooded American (Edensor, 2004). And for others identity is defined by the status or image a car provides (Belk, 1988). These three aspects of identity will be used to discuss and answer my research question: â€Å"How does the automobile contribute to identity in America?† As the owner of a vintage 1974 Volkswagen Super Beetle, I have always been curious about the bond of nostalgia that is common amongst Volkswagen owners, prior owners and admirers. This infectious enthusiasm for the Volkswagen between owners combined with a general interest in the themes of how icons are born and the perceived societal status bestowed upon their owners have prompted me to write this article. 2 The Volkswagen Beetle is an iconic automobile that for many, imparts nostalgia (Wilson, 2005). The camaraderie and coming-of-age that is personified by the Volkswagen is a common, underlying characteristic amongst those who strongly identify with ... ...rica. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. * Levinson, H. (2004). Highways, People, and Places: Past, Present, and Future. Journal of Transportation Engineering, 130 (4), 406 – 412. Macworld. (2003). Volkswagen, Apple Team Up In 'Pods Unite' Promotion. http://www.macworld.com/news/2003/07/15/vw/, Accessed December 9, 2006. * Sheller, M. (2000). The City and the Car. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research. 24 (4), 737 – 757. * Sheller, M. (2004). Automotive Emotions: Feeling the Car. Theory, Culture & Society, 21 (4/5), 221–242. * Urry, J. (2006). Inhabiting the Car. The Editorial Board of the Sociological Review, 54 (1), 17 – 31. Vanden Bergh, B. (1992). Volkswagen as â€Å"Little Man.† Journal of American Culture, 15 (4), 95 – 119. * Wilson, J. (2005). Nostalgia: Sanctuary of Meaning. Lewisburg: Bucknell University Press. * Denotes scholarly source. 10

The V-chip :: essays research papers

The V-Chip What is a V-chip? This term has become a buzz word for any discussion evolving telecommunications regulation and television ratings, but not too many reports define the new technology in its fullest form. A basic definition of the V-chip; is a microprocessor that can decipher information sent in the vertical blanking of the NTSC signal, purposefully for the control of violent or controversial subject matter. Yet, the span of the new chip is much greater than any working definition can encompass. A discussion of the V-chip must include a consideration of the technical and ethical issues, in addition to examining the constitutionally of any law that might concern standards set by the US government. Yet in the space provided for this essay, the focus will be the technical aspects and costs of the new chip. It is impossible to generally assume that the V-chip will solve the violence problem of broadcast television or that adding this little device to every set will be a first amendment infringement. We can, however, find clues through examining the cold facts of broadcast television and the impact of a mandatory regulation on that free broadcast. "Utilizing the EIA's Recommended Practice for Line 21 Data Service(EIA-608) specification, these chips decode EDS (Extended Data Services)program ratings, compare these ratings to viewer standards, and can be programmed to take a variety of actions, including complete blanking of programs." Is one definition of the V-chip from Al Marquis of Zilog Technology. The FCC or Capitol Hill has not set any standards for V-chip technology; this has allowed many different companies to construct chips that are similar yet not exact or possibly not compatible. Each chip has advantages and disadvantages for the rating's system, soon to be developed. For example, some units use onscreen programming such as VCR's and the Zilog product do, while others are considering set top options. Also, different companies are using different methods of parental control over the chip. Another problem that these new devices may incur when included in every television is a space. The NTSC signal includes extra information space known as the subcarrier and Vertical blanking interval. As explained in the quotation from Mr. Marquis, the V-chips will use a certain section of this space to send simple rating numbers and points that will be compared to the personality settings in the chip. Many new technologies are being developed for smart-TV or data broadcast on this part of the NTSC signal. Basically the V-chip will severely limit the bandwidth for high performance transmission of data on the NTSC signal. There is also to be cost to this new technology, which will be

Essay --

The Effects of Cool- and Warm-Season Mites One of the most damaging, difficult to see and even harder to control invasive insect species is the mite. The vast majority of these plant-destroying insects fit into one of two categories: warm-season mites and cool-season mites. Both groups are characterized by their extremely small size and ability to swarm and damage plants quickly. Warm-season mites are only active during the spring and summer, while cool-season mites remain active throughout the colder days of spring and fall. Mite species are completely dormant in winter, though cool-season species can hatch on particularly warm days in January and February. Adult mites are generally oval-shaped and are less than a millimeter long. They often appear as very small red, white, green or brown dots, and can be difficult to detect against branches and leaves. One of the best ways to check for a cool- or warm-season mite infestation is to hold a sheet of white paper beneath a leaf and gently shake the branch. The tiny mites will drop onto the sheet and can be identified when they move. Plant-eating mites can be distinguished from predatory mites by squashing the mites and examining the streaks they produce. Green streaks indicate plant-damaging mites, while red or brown streaks indicate predatory mites. Predatory mites are helpful for controlling plant-eating mites, and should not be eradicated. Both cool- and warm-season mites affect a wide range of plants, including trees, shrubs, flowers, vegetables and fruiting plants, and can pose a significant control issue when present on indoor plants. Mites damage trees by sucking chlorophyll directly from the leaves and needles of trees, hindering the plant’s ability to photosynthesize. ... ...eep your plants healthy and protected. Mites are prone to attacking stressed or sick plants, so keeping your trees and shrubs fertilized and well-watered is imperative for ensuring plant protection. Another effective method is to simply hose the plant down with a powerful stream of water. This technique dislodges the mites, but must be done 3- to 4-times a day over a sustained period of time. The use of insecticides, such as Abacideâ„ ¢ 2 from Mauget, is recommended when large infestations can be observed using the white paper technique. Abacide 2 is an injectable, closed-system insecticide formulated to prevent damaging insect infestations. Late summer and fall applications help bolster the plant’s defenses against spring attacks. Abacide 2 is safe for use on nurseries, orchards, woodland and ornamental trees, public parks and commercial or residential properties.

Ecological Theory and Beautification Essay

The ecological theory in criminology maintains that the physical environment where people are situated influences certain human behaviors. The theory has its scientific advantages and disadvantages when compared to the process of â€Å"beautification,† which is the process of visually improving a city or town specifically one that is situated in an urban area. For the most part, the assertions of the ecological theory are not significantly dependent on the dominant ethnic group living in a particular area, thereby suggesting that the findings of the theory do not depend on subjective human relations but rather on the physical environment where they are located. It has a scientific advantage in the sense that it avoids the problems brought about by the relative circumstances of exactly who are living within the area. On the other hand, its disadvantage is that its findings—high crime rates with respect to social disorganization—can fluctuate between being a cause or an effect. In a sense, high crime rates can result to social disorganization and, similarly, social disorganization can lead to high crime rates. Relying on the physical environment in interpreting human behaviors is also problematic because doing so does not explain why some people in such areas commit certain crimes while others in the same areas do not. Beautification, however, is a relatively more stable theory than the ecological theory because, for example, urban beautification schemes through evictions are meant to address high crime rates and not the other way around. The ecological theory puts great emphasis on the fact of living within certain zones in an area as a primary reason for certain rates of crime. An earlier study conducted by Shaw and McKay (2006) in 1942 suggests that the Zone 2 of an area contain more crime rates than any of the other zones primarily because this zone does not have a settled community to begin with which, in effect, prevents the institutionalization of clear moral guidelines. In effect, the study in particular and the theory in general indicate that, regardless of those who settled in any of these zones, the behavior of the settlers as well as the rate of crime will have to depend on the corresponding zones. This argument is particularly interesting because it leaves the interpretation of human behavior on the physical environment instead on the people under study. According to Lowman (1986), there is the tendency to make unjust selections in using â€Å"criminological theory in developing geographic perspectives on crime† (p. 81). If that is the case, ecological theory as applied to criminology faces the greatest disadvantage—the disadvantage of arriving at biased results. Worse, the distinction between the causes and the effects of criminal activities may become blurred due to the tendency to not become objective. High crime rate can become a flexible factor, becoming a cause on one hand with social disorganization as its effect and becoming an effect on one hand with social disorganization as its cause on another. In fact, a separate study finds that there is no necessary connection between social class and crime and that more is yet to be understood in these two distinct concepts (Tittle, 1983). From the perspective of ecological theory, areas are divided into zones and these zones are occupied by more or less the same people in terms of social class, hence social stratification in the physical environment. If there is no apparent connection between social class and the types of crimes committed by people in any of the prevailing social classes, there remains the difficulty of further asserting that there is an apparent link between the physical environment and the rate of crimes in the different zones. Thus, the main disadvantage of using ecological theory in interpreting human behavior within the confines of certain zones is that it uses a shaky foundation. More specifically, the theory does not address the inconsistencies between those who commit certain crimes within a specific zone from those who do not commit any crime at all. The main question is: why do some people in Zone 2 commit theft, for instance, while some others do not? It appears that the physical environment does not hold a firm solution to the task of explaining human behavior. Nevertheless, another study reaffirms the assertion of the ecological theory. In a study conducted by Tita, Cohen and Engberg (2005), it was found out that small gangs operate within select areas especially in urban slum locations, suggesting that in some cases the ecological theory may hold true. In order to address the problem, it may be argued that urban beautification be taken into consideration such as demolishing structures in slum areas and replacing them with visually pleasing structures. The advantage of adopting this measure is that it can literally remove the physical environment where these small gangs thrive. As a result, a portion of the area is altered and cleansed, in a manner of speaking, which is a faster solution than the possible solutions that can be taken from the ecological theory. A disadvantage of applying the ecological theory in providing a solution to the problem of small gangs is that it requires sufficient time and firm policies. For instance, the ecological theory may suggest that the income in these slum areas should be raised through specialized government programs and the law enforcement be made more stringent. While the solutions taken from the ecological theory are certainly needed, they call for serious implementation and consistent follow-up on their development. On the other hand, the disadvantage of adopting the beautification solution through eviction is that it raises ethical concerns. It is a quick fix that carries several moral consequences, chief of them humanitarian reasons. Both the ecological theory and the process of beautification have their corresponding advantages and disadvantages. The challenge is not to find which one is generally better than the other but to determine which one applies best to a particular instance. Certain objections may be raised against either approaches, but they nevertheless remain significant methods in understanding certain types of human behavior such as criminal activities. References Lowman, J. (1986). Conceptual Issues in the Geography of Crime: Toward a Geography of Social Control. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 76(1), 81-94. Shaw, C. R. , & McKay, H. D. (2006). Juvenile Delinquency and Urban Areas: A Study of Rates of Delinquents in Relation to Differential Characteristics of Local Communities in American Cities. Oxfordshire: Taylor & Francis. Tita, G. E. , Cohen, J. , & Engberg, J. (2005). An Ecological Study of the Location of Gang â€Å"Set Space†. Social Problems, 52(2), 272-299. Tittle, C. R. (1983). Social Class and Criminal Behavior: A Critique of the Theoretical Foundation. Social Forces, 62(2), 334-358.