Ethical Practice In Counselling Essay

What is ethical practice in counselling? How is this reflected in the skills, competencies and qualities of an effective counsellor? Part A The aim of this assignment is to show what ethical practice is in counselling and how carrying out ethical practices make a more effective and competent counsellor. The first part explains what is meant by ethical practice. The second part will examine boundaries implemented by counsellors to protect both parties. The second part focuses on the skill of listening along with other non – specific factors in order to be an effective counsellor. Next part defines a competent counsellor and the problems which occur when this is absent. The final part examines the ethical issue of advice and explains the implications of giving advice. Working in a counselling role whether it is voluntary or professional it is important you adhere to the ethics set out. There is a unified ethical code set out by the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP). The ethical framework in which counsellor’s ensure they carry out their roles appropriately along with the understandi ng that they be held accountable with regards to client wellbeing and safety. The BACP is not designed to hinder the counsellor but work alongside their values, morals and principles to protect clients in terms of expectation, rights and quality of care. General ethical commitments are expressed through their principles. These are fidelity; autonomy; beneficence; non-maleficence; justice and self-respect. Personal qualities of a counsellor are important and interlink with values and principles of the counsellor, these consist of empathy; sincerity; integrity; respect; resilience; competence; wisdom; humility and courage. The use of their skills, competencies and qualities combined with their principles should make an effective counsellor. (Langridge, 2008) (BACP, 2013) Boundaries could be defined as a framework in which the client and counsellor work together. It acts as a safety net to ensure that the client does not come to any harm. This works alongside the ethical practice of non-maleficence. The counsellor makes clear their expectations / limitations so it’s visible to the client and also helps avoid malpractice. These boundaries also help ensure the client / counsellor is kept safe. An example of these metaphorical boundaries would be a verbal agreement as it sets out the key  features and identifies what needs to be done to avoid misunderstandings. (Langridge,2008). Th e qualities needed from the counsellor to implement this would be sincerity and integrity. The sincerity to be consistent by doing what you said you were going to do. Integrity here can be seen as moral, straightforward and honest in stating your limitations and drawing up an agreement (BACP 2013). These boundaries are set out in a way to suit each counsellor some are fixed and some more flexible, some may argue that this can be damaging to the relationship if they are over or under boundaried (mcleod, p.229) An example of boundaries is shown in the DVD (OU, 2008, section 4) where Helen (counsellor) is talking to James she clearly sets out boundaries stating she was not qualified but could help in a listening capacity (a skill which is very important) and also that the conversation was confidential this ensured the clients well-being and also covered the counsellor from any ethical backlash i.e malpractice. Jamie understood this and continued the conversation. Counsellors use non-specific factors when engaging with clients. A vital skill involves actively listening, this requires the counsellor to absorb all information given to them by the client without pre judgement or imposing own ideas (this can be seen in emotional and mental safety). This demonstrates to client that you think they are very important and you care (Langridge, 2008). it is also important to pay attention to the non-verbal cues as well such as body language, eye contact (although can make client feel uncomfortable) and head movement. (Langridge, 2008). It can also be said it is very important in the therapeutic relationship to pay attention to what is not being said also. Rennie (1994b, citied by McLeod) found that if the client felt misunderstood they would conceal their feelings. Some may talk openly about the important thing whilst covering up what is really happening. Therefore the counsellor needs to gain as much access as possible into ‘hidden material’. The ethical way to do this would be to examine notes that look at inner experiences as well as what was said. Both experiences of the client and counsellor can be examined. This can be useful in training and well as looking at own techniques and re-examining them when fully qualified. P252. Also using open questions could draw out fuller responses from client and enable the  counsellor to access more information into the complex issue surrounding client. Interpersonal skills needed by the counsellor are listening, empathy, awareness, communication and responsiveness. This will enable a good therapeutic relationship to form which is key to ensuring goals are met on both parts. Bordin’s Therapeutic alliance model (1979, cited by McLeod) highlights the notion of these competencies along with the ability to use specific techniques in an appropriate manner. Empathy is an important quality identified as an ethical component and should be adhered to in order to become an effective counsellor. In the DVD (ou, section 1, 2008) there is clear evidence of the counsellor actively listening to client. She uses basic counselling skills such as clarification to check her understanding of the problem (awareness) and see the problem through the client’s world (empathy). She also uses open questions to identify the areas in which the client can reflect and understand her own problem (responsiveness & communication) and in turn she has empowered the client by not imposing judgement but by demonstrating that the most important skill a counsellor has is listening to the client. In contrast in DVD (OU, 2008, section 5 clip 1) we see the counsellor not listening to what the client said and made the client feel unimportant. In turn this heightened their anxiety and left them no further forward to finding a solution. This demonstrates lack of empathy and justice on the counsellor’s part which are highlighted by the BACP to ensure clients well-being. The ethical quality of competence works alongside what BACP determine Beneficence, to work within own competence using research and reflection to inform practice. This entails the willingness to pursue knowledge and understanding in order to develop skills further but also have a good set of skills to do the job already. To highlight what incompetence can do DVD (OU, 2008, section 5clip3) shows counsellor is out of her depth and could not give client a straight answer or any kind of guidance. Although ethically restrained to give advice the counsellor should have guided client through their feeling using basic counselling skills. However client left upset, confused and blaming herself for the issues she had. Personal qualities are lacking in order to make the counsellor effective. A counsellor is ethically bound not to give advice necessarily to the client but more to use the skills of encouragement and support to guide the client to find their own solutions to their problems  and for the client to become self-determining. Should the counsellor simply give advice on issues with the client they may simply be pressing upon the client their own views and beliefs rather than following the ethical framework that effective counsellors adhere to. (Landridge,2008). Sometimes the client expects the counsellor to tell them the answers to their problems and is disappointed when the counsellor is unable to do so. However the counsellor needs to use qualities such as resilience, competence and wisdom in order to work with the client in these situations. (McLeod, 2008 p.259). In contrast to the ethical principle of advice the DVD (OU, 2008, section 5 clip 2) where the counsellor is trying to solve practical problems of the client (the light bulb) instead of addressing emotional issues to do with her mother. She should not have been trying to give advice as this is unethical but instead allow her client to reach her own solution and explore her feelings toward her mother deeper. The support here was clearly not given. Instead the counsellor should have used her skills of listening, open questions and paraphrasing to guide client toward exploring her feelings. Competence and wisdom were clearly lacking making a very ineffective counsellor and potentially damaging the relationship. To surmise the ethical framework ensures the client and the counsellor are protected. Counselling skills are essentia l in order for any counselling relationship. Use of basic skills should enable the counsellor to be more effective in succeeding. However this assignment has highlighted what happens when basic skills are lacking. Possession of counselling qualities as mentioned at the start should enable client to strike up a good relationship with the counsellor. This is crucial in order for counselling to be successful. Therefore the skills, competencies and qualities combined should make counselling more successful for the client and the counsellor more effective. (Word count 1474)

Successful Sportsman

An excellent sportsman incorporates many traits such as powerful physique, keen senses, discipline, calm and yet gregarious and outgoing. Unfortunately, teenagers lack tenacity resulting in the declining of numbers of sportsmen in our country. Little did they know, becoming a successful sportsman just requires integrity and perseverance. First of all, a successful sportsman consumes a balanced meal which consist all the necessary nutrients for enhancing their physique and metabolism. Besides that, more vegetables are included in the meal. It is because vegetables contain important minerals and vitamins which are beneficial to sportsmen. Including nutritious food such as seafood, meat, eggs and others are also profitable to sportsmen. Sportsmen should strongly avert on eating fast food because fast food contains excess amount of fat and salt which is unfavourable and an obstacle to becoming a successful sportsman. Enough sleep and rest is also a major requisite for becoming a successful sportsman. Studies have shown that sleeping for 8 hours is the most suitable and healthy time. Sleeping too much or too less could results in downright situation. Relax after training is too needed as to not over stress the sportsman. Over excessive training could results in tears and wears of your body and does not bring up the consequence that you anticipated. As the most important factor in becoming a successful sportsman, regular training is demanded. Continuous practice with suitable rest is best for a sportsman to prevent over stress. Having a discipline and determined heart is highly valued and necessary in training too. Rebellious behavior will only bring you to be unacceptable in the community. As a good sportsman, a sublime sportsmanship is needed. Avoid from breaking the rules and be prepared to accept losses. You cannot win in every game that you participated even if you are the most excellent sportsman in the world. Finally, a good coach which is charismatic and motivated is a necessity for developing a successful sportsman. A good coach is needed to seek and tap on to a conceal talent buried in a person. A good coach is also important in arranging strategies to raise the winning factor of a sportsman without breaking barriers and rules.

Major Forces Shaping the U.S. Economy Essay

Three issues will shape the economy’s performance the next 18 months. To what extent will consumer spending slow? What is the outlook for business expenditures? Will the Federal Reserve go too far in raising rates? Commentators and pundits are prone to say that consumers are â€Å"in great shape,† |†still going strong,† â€Å"resilient,† and so on. While it is easy to get caught up in this optimism, there is a need to focus more on the finances that underlie this spending. On a basic analysis, it will quickly become apparent that household finances are stretched to the point where slowdown can be expected, perhaps a significant slowdown, in consumer spending the next 6-12 months. Some of the reasons behind such a possibility are: Interest Rates: With the overall cost of credit rising since 2004, Americans with large outstanding balances on their credit cards, home equity loans, and adjustable rate mortgages are starting to feel the pinch. The Explosion in Household Debt. For years, Americans have been spending far more than what they have been earning. With borrowing costs historically low and home equity values increasing, consumers piled up on debt to finance a level of consumption that far exceeded their income growth. In the last five years, Americans have increased their total outstanding debt by $5 trillion. (To put that number in context, corporate sector debt jumped by about $1 trillion in that time frame, while federal government debt rose by $1. 3 trillion). That $5 trillion in additional liabilities brought total outstanding household debt to a record $11. 8 trillion. Servicing this massive liability was certainly easier when interest rates were low. But after a steady rally of rising rates, the burden of carrying those IOUs has now gotten much harder. Gasoline Costs. In addition to servicing that huge debt, Americans will need to part with more money for gasoline in coming months. A few other reasons on this line are: Rising Healthcare Costs Marginal Growth in Real Income Tougher Personal Bankruptcy Laws A Boost to Savings because of Rising Interest Rates The cumulative effects of these factors will depress consumer spending the second half of the year and probably through the first half of 2007. What is the Outlook for Business Expenditures: Since consumer outlays make up 70% of all U. S. economic activity, the expected slowdown in household spending will have a palpable impact on the economy. Fortunately, what will keep the economy out of any serious trouble is business spending. Driving capital expenditures this year will be strong profits, high capacity utilization rates, strong foreign demand for U. S. products, global competitive pressures, and that the cost of capital remains relatively low. Will the Federal Reserve Go Too Far in Raising Rates: So long as the Fed does not go too far in raising rates, a level that can be defined as above 5. 50%, the threat of recession is nil this year and next. Led by weaker consumer spending a softer housing market, U. S. economic activity can slow markedly in the second half of 2006 and last through the first half of 2007. However, strong business expenditures and a pick up in exports will keep the economy out of any serious trouble. Of course, should the economy suddenly be sideswiped by a serious external shock, the threat of recession becomes more real. The severity and timing of the downturn will depend on the nature of the shock. While there are numerous risks that bear close watching — such as the war in Iraq, the Israeli-Palestinian talks, North Korea, 2006 hurricane season, Venezuela, Nigeria —the threats that have the greatest probability of materializing involve Iran, a terrorist strike on Saudi oil facilities, and an Avian flu human pandemic (Baumohl).

Pre-modern Indian History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Pre-modern Indian History - Essay Example Taxila commanded the royal road which is the modern Kabul, formerly the valley of river Cophen connecting Gandhara to the kingdom of Magadha in the east. The Taxila town also commanded the Kashmir river valley up to the Indian Ocean in the south (Xinru, 21). Considering the command areas the Taxila held, it is believed that they also had rules over the land between Babylonia in the west and China in The East. During this ancient period, there was the Greek, Achaemenid and Kushan ages. In the Kushan age there were Sirsukh, Jaulian and the Mohra Moradu tribes (Edwin, 4). This paper will explain the establishment of the Kushans Empire and their numerous social, religious, economic and political engagements in the ancient Asian history. The Taxila Kushans In the early days, the Kushans were mainly nomads who belonged to the Yuezhi clan residing on the grasslands of the eastern Tarim Basin region, in present-day Gansu province in China (Xinru, 19). The Yuezhi tribe was believed to be comp rised of jade and horse traders who moved with their herd guarded by an estimated 100,000 to 200,000 military men. They were forcefully evicted from their original residence by the stronger Xiongnu tribe. Reports claim that they first migrated west and then south to Transoxiana a region north of Oxus River which is today referred to as Amu Darua (Xinru, 10). They further migrated to the Bactria region in the northern part of India. The Kushans of the Yuezhi clan were notably dominant creating a supreme rule over others tribes (William, 11). In the 1st century AD in the territories of ancient Bactria on both sides of the middle course of Oxus, the Kushans Empire under the leadership of king Kujula Kadphises was originally established after a successful invasion and control of the Bactria region. This was favored by the then existing rivalry between the Parthians and the scytho-Parthians (Xinru, 12). Through his enormous troops of military men, King Kujula Kadphises comfortably took c ontrol of the southern prosperous region which is the northwest part of ancient India traditionally known as Gandhara. Reports suggest that he rued the empire up to the year78 AD. On his death his able son Vima Taktu succeeded him and expanded the kingdom further in to the northwest part of south Asia. He later appointed and installed generals to these lands who were to exert the Kushan rule on the inhabitants (Smith, 45). Kujula Kadphises grandson Vima Kadphises took the helm of leadership after the death of his father in 95. He is credited with the greatest expansion of the Kushan Empire by acquiring vast lands that were to fall under the Kushan control. Reports claim that he expanded the lands to Afghanistan and North West India. Due to the empire expansion, some Kushans later relocated and settled in central Afghanistan and the northwest of the Indian subcontinent up to the lands of Saketa and Sarnath which are found on the Varanasi or Banares areas. It is also reported that the y held diplomatic relations with the Han of China, the Roman Empire and also the Sassanid Persia. During his reign, the Kushans are believed to have acquired a lot of wealth due to the connections and control they had over the Silk Road (Edwin, 24). His successor Kanishka 1 continued with the rule with records crediting him for his territorial administration from two capitals:

MARKETTING Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

MARKETTING - Essay Example The target market will focus on the demographic characteristics such as income of the potential customers as well as their location. The company aims at trading both locally and internationally in major cities in the world. The company aims at creating a position of quality and reliable product in the minds of the customers. By taking such positioning statements, the company will create a good identity and image in the minds of the customers. The company faces stiff competition in the market from other kitchen appliances providing companies and it is essential for the company to strategize on their positioning approaches. The company is going to reposition its products by adding more features to their toasters as compared to the current features. Moreover, the company is going to identify competing toasters in the market and try to adjust their products features to a level that the competing brands do not have. By repositioning the company products, the company will be able to set a unique identity in the customer’s minds. According to Trout and Rivkin (11) the business market is changing. Therefore companies need to come up with products that that reflect on how the minds of the customers opera te. By understanding the customers mind, the repositioning strategies will be easier to adapt and

Digital Channels and Social Media Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Digital Channels and Social Media - Essay Example The most important part of business is advertising your products and services and social networks have made it very easy. The success of your business depends on more public relations you make. This was not easy some years back but now the world has shrunk into a global village and making social relations is easier than ever before. Finding your target market and serving them, sharing of information and ideas, updating your data details of sales and taxes, and following the market trends; these all tasks are now just as easy as that. Getting the feedback from your customers is of vital importance in every type of business. This job can be done through communicating with your customers; social media and digital channels provides us this valuable facility and use of this facility can take your organization to the height of success. Use of digital channels and social media in marketing: Digital marketing is a term defining upraise of your business by the use of different digital tools l ike emails, social networks and cellular services. The marketing of your business can be done very effectively by using digital technology and internet services. There are many uses of digital channels in marketing field some of them are discussed here. There are wide uses of digital marketing and social media networking. The most important use is your direct link with your customers this facility is provided to business organization and they can use it to increase their sales. The records of your customer and deals with them can be saved and reviewed at any time. You can save your time and efforts by addressing many of your customers at same time. The level of ease will increase and you... This essay approves that social media is another mean of interaction between people; social media is defined formally as the set of different online technology implements that make people to communicate easily through internet and share their information, ideas, views and resources with people of interest. It includes text, audio, video, images, podcasts, and some others. Different social networks like Facebook, twitter, and blogs are used presently for the convenience in every aspect of life. Social media are differentiated from other old fashioned media in many ways frequency, reach, quality, immediacy, usability, and permanence. The most appropriate use of social media is in the field of marketing, advertisement and public relations. Social media has affected the businesses; it has taken them from ground to higher levels. Social media is used as powerful tool for marketing of different products and services, different people have started their own small business and marketed their products of Facebook, tweeter, and other internet based social media. This report makes a cocnlusion that the first and top most ethical issue that can badly affect the repute of any business is use of social media and digital channels for customers’ feedback. When you place your product on a social media website for sake of market it may harm your business. Many people will comment and claim negatively and your product will lose the market. To build trust and credibility regarding the use of social networks and digital channels certain steps must be taken. Avoiding spam emails, popup windows, deceptive marketing and advertising to keep the trustworthy relationship with your consumers and satisfy their needs.

Behavior Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Behavior - Essay Example When discovered, cheating does not only impact the student’s reputation but also his relationship with others. As a form of deception, cheating is used to protect one’s own happiness or merits. It is an actually a selfish act, as it only protects only the personal happiness or contentment of the individual. A student cheats on his homework so he will not get a failing grade. He may be doing it to prevent his parents from being unhappy with him, or he is protecting his name or his benefits. Same as lying, cheating protects something that makes him feel happy or comfortable. But the same with lying, it jeopardizes one’s morality and confidence. It sacrifices confidence as it shows that the person is not confident that he will be able to answer questions on his own. It shows that the person is not able to accept his limitations, and is taking the easy way out in learning and improving himself. Cheating is a shortcut to showing that one knows something factual. It is not from his own understanding. And this indicates lack of self-confidence and lack of perseverance to really understand and learn what he needs to understand and learn. Cheating affects not only the person cheating but also other people around him. Because he is covering up for his lack of knowledge, pretending that he knows something he doesn’t, other people may believe him for his pretentions. And when he slips and the truth is revealed, that he does not really know what he is talking about, people tend to veer away from him. Deceptions are very damaging when discovered. It creates a gap between people. Remember the classic childhood story of The Boy who Cried Wolf? In the end, when one’s deceptions are discovered, it marks his persona and people tend to doubt his words. When it is the truth that they are speaking, they might find that people don’t listen to them anymore. One of the most common undesirable behaviors is lying. There are different forms of lyi ng. People lie because of different reasons. Some forms of lying are cheating, bending the truth, fabricating stories or information and denying what is real or the truth. Anything that is fabricated or deceiving, in the form of oral and written communication, is lying. Everyone has an episode of lying. One of the most common forms of lying is cheating. This is very common with students. Cheating is not just about copying other’s answers during exams or for homeworks, whether intentional or unintentional. It also involves plagiarism, passing another’s work as his own and inventing or fabricating stories that are claimed to be factual. It can also involve stealing answer keys and even revealing answer keys by posting them through the internet or passing it off to friends. When it’s intentional, cheating involves not only the cheater but also the person who allows the cheater to copy his work. This shows that cheating may involve more than one person. Even if the person knows that cheating is bad and that he, himself, is not cheating, in a way he becomes part of the cheating process since he allowed the cheater to cheat using his answers. This shows how cheating affects relationships and the reputation of the cheater and person being used to cheat. The same with lying, one of the common reasons for cheating is to protect something that the cheater is benefiting from. Examples of these are maintaining high grades, getting additional credits, being known as the top in the class and getting attention from the teacher and parents because of the high grades. Another reason might be pressure from peers, wherein the cheater is part of a group who cheats. Jumping in the bandwagon is also another

Recycling Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Recycling - Research Paper Example Integrating recycling into K-12 educational system has become a goal for many educators. Usually it is integrated into science or social studies classrooms. This is due to its inclusion in the national education standards for both of these subject areas. Common areas that recycling is integrated into the curriculum include areas such as the study of natural resources, general environmental units, soil units, water units, community units, economic units, and geography units. Although interest is growing, major textbook publishers do not always include recycling in a textbook so teachers are left to supplement the textbooks with outside curriculum to meet the national standards. For example, in a unit about trees or natural resources teachers could include supplemental curriculum about recycling because in the textbook it is never explicitly covered. Non-profit organizations as well as governmental organizations have created supplemental curriculum for teachers to fill this void. Recycling involves processing used materials into new products to prevent waste of potentially useful materials, reduce the consumption of fresh raw materials, reduce energy usage, reduce air pollution (from incineration) and water pollution (from land filling) by reducing the need for "conventional" waste disposal, and lower greenhouse gas emissions as compared to virgin production. Recycling is a key component of modern waste reduction and is the third component of the "Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle" waste hierarchy. Recyclable materials include many kinds of glass, paper, metal, plastic, textiles, and electronics. Although similar in effect, the composting or other reuse of biodegradable waste - such as food or garden waste - is not typically considered recycling. Materials to be recycled are either brought to a collection center or picked up from the curbside, then sorted, cleaned, and reprocessed into new materials bound for manufacturing. Most people don't think twice about what they put in the garbage. The average American produces from 3-5 pounds of trash per day, which adds up to 50 tons per year. That means over 200 million tons of trash are produced by everyone in the U.S. every year! Up to 70% of this trash is buried in landfills. The scary thing about this is that even though landfills are getting tons of new trash every day, more and more are closing down because they are too expensive to maintain. This is becoming a widespread problem across the U.S. as states struggle to find alternative ways to reduce the amount of trash accumulation. Only about one-tenth of U.S. garbage actually gets recycled every year, when in reality over half of it can be recycled into new products. Recycling is one of the most important acts to follow in our daily lives because it can reduce the amount of waste in our landfills, sustain our natural resources and provide better air and water quality. On average, each person throws away eight dry-cell batteries each year. A dry cell battery is the type of batter used to power small household items like clocks and radios. Double and triple A batteries, C, D, and 9-vot batteries are all dry-cell batteries. Batteries are powered by heavy metals that interact with chemicals, so simply discarding batteries can cause a horrible impact on the environment, especially when old batteries leak and mixed with rain water pollute the soil and into

Do Some Elements Of Religion Have More Weight Than Others Essay

Do Some Elements Of Religion Have More Weight Than Others - Essay Example However these elements do not hold same value as each other. Elements like belief system, rituals and emotional experience have more value than other elements of religion. Belief system has always been the foundation of a religion and without it the pillar of religion would shake. Every religion is based on certain beliefs and faith and hence it has more weight than other elements. Without belief there a religion cannot exist. According to (Cline,2011)â€Å"Religion is certainly a type of belief system, but not all belief systems are religion. Differentiating religious from non-religious belief systems is sometimes easy, but other times rather difficult†. Religious beliefs gives a meaning and perception to a person’s imagination .Religious beliefs are supernatural in nature and people believe in it with full faith .People and various communities throughout the world have been believing in sets of rules and customs since ages, which is passed on to them by their ancestor s. These religious belief systems are based on the writings and teachings made by the founder of these religious concepts. The ideas and thoughts of religion are codified in to belief system and hence it’s of high value.... Even though the religion has 8 elements few element can be seen as totally absent. We can see that element like true devotion and self realization is absent .The people are now more in to religion for material benefits and there is not honesty or truth in their practice of religion. People are not pure in their thought and actions even though they follow the customs and rituals of their religion. To be faithful in religion, one must be pure in thoughts and deeds and in the present religious practice it is more of outwardly action that inward. Sometimes people practice a religion just for namesake and there is no meaning to it from their part. In ancient times, God and religion was really sacred concepts and people gave it prior importance than people of these times. Another element totally absent in religion is the process of self realization. People all over the world do pray and perform rituals, but they fail to acknowledge the divinity inside them. This problem arises due to the l ack of education from religious perspective. People believe that God is an outwardly thing and pray and struggle before God. They fail to understand that God exist in the core of our heart and realizing him is the sole way to be happy. People mostly love God for their self benefit and not out of natural love for him. When one understands that God is inside him, he will be blissful and content with life. People need to enquire about self and his purpose on this earth in order to prove his love to God. Scientology is a concept which believes that human beings are immortal and it concentrates on human rights. As per (Kent,1997) â€Å"Although some social scientists insist that Scientology is a religion, the more appropriate position to take is that the

Exploring the relationship between Eddie and Catherine Essay Example for Free

Exploring the relationship between Eddie and Catherine Essay Exploring the relationship between Eddie and Catherine as it develops throughout the play  A View from the Bridge is a play centred around the life and loves of one man: Eddie Carbone. As the play develops, we see his personality become twisted, all because of the arrival of his wifes distant cousins. When Eddie finally realises and accepts what it is he feels, disaster strikes and inevitable tragedy occurs. Written by one of the most infamous playwrights of the 20th Century, Arthur Miller is a respected, intelligent and thought provoking man. This play is just an example of how someones life can be instantly changed simply by the arrival of another human being. From a caring, loving, protective uncle, the character of Eddie Carbone morphs into a monster of incestuous lust and violent anger. When we are first introduced to the characters of Eddie and Catherine, we are shown how intimate and secure their relationship seems on the surface. Although Catherine acts like a child, pretending that she has no idea about how the world around her works, Eddie knows that she is so much more than that, with a higher level of intelligence and a much brighter future. However, even though Eddie has a strong plutonic bond with his niece, he finds it difficult to show her how he feels. When he first speaks to her, saying, Where you goin all dressed up? he means for it to be advice, suggesting that she is dressed inappropriately and should consider wearing something else. However, it comes out more like a scalding, questioning her actions and the choices that she has made. From the beginning of the play, Catherine is strongly irritated by the way Eddie speaks to her, no matter how well he means. At this stage in the play, this irritability is irrelevant because the love between these two characters is too powerful for anything to break. During the current stages of their lives, their relationship is presently very strong and reliable. They both trust each other boundlessly and share a love that only they can feel. However, as the events in the storyline develop, so too does the stress between them which has been built up over the years. Because of the stress that is put forward to each of them, the characters soon begin to anger one another causing their seemingly unbreakable relationship to break. In the latter part of the first scene that Eddie and Catherine are in together, an argument develops about the choice of clothes that Catherine is wearing (a short skirt to be precise). Eddie claims that she has been walking wavy whilst going down the street. Again, even though he is trying to look out for her and offer her the best advice he can for her own good, the manner by which he speaks it is insulting, and this therefore causes Catherines confidence and self-assurance to shatter. This is only the beginning of the dramatic events that are going to happen. During the scene that features the introduction of Marco and Rodolfo to the Carbone family, Eddie feels a further need to embarrass Catherine even more than what he has done previously. As she walks into the room wearing her high-heeled shoes, Eddie comments on them: Whats with the high heels, Garbo? and later Do me a favour, will you? Go ahead. Catherines attempts at trying to defend herself are faltered because she is so powerless when Eddie tells her what to do. This shows us that Eddie doesnt want other males looking at Catherine in a sexually attractive fashion, and this is also the first telltale sign of Eddies incestuous feelings towards his niece due to his blatant portrayal of jealousy. Even though Catherine is enraged by his comments and extremely embarrassed, she somehow manages to find it in her heart to forgive him. This proves the strength of their relationship at the moment, showing that it takes a lot more than that for their relationship to be destroyed. This emphasises the fact that Eddie and Catherine have a mutual, almost telepathic, understanding of each other. When we see Alfieri on stage after this scene, he discusses the issues that have yet to pass between the family, suggesting that Eddie has an inevitably tragic destiny, which comes as a result of his perverted feelings towards Catherine.  Much later in the play, during the scene where Catherine and Rodolfo are coming home from the cinema, we see a side to Eddie that further emphasises his twisted, incestuous feelings towards his innocent niece. The manner in which he speaks to them pronounces his jealously of Rodolfo more than anything previously said in the play. Rodolfo. Go inside, will you? Eddie uses these words as a desperate attempt at trying to get Catherine by herself, and when I doesnt work the first time, he starts to mildly insult Rodolfo, by saying such things as (smiling unwillingly) Fountains? (Rodolfo smiles at his own naà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½vetà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½) and tries to mock him and his origin. Once Eddie finally manages to be alone with Catherine, his real feelings towards her start to unmeaningly surface. When hearing her say the she likes Rodolfo, his mood turns from bad to worse. Currently, it seems that as Catherine and Rodolfos relationship develops, so too does her relationship with Eddie deteriorate. Eddie tries to use everything he has to change Catherines opinion on Rodolfo, such as he has no respect for him despite everything he has helped him with, and saying that he dont bless me. Eddie uses the fact that Rodolfo doesnt bless him in the false hope that it might make Catherine think about whether he blesses her, however nothing Eddie could say at this point would make her think differently. Eventually, he starts to make up lies about how Rodolfo reacts, by saying such things as He dont respect you, and He knows I mind, but it dont bother him. But sadly, deep down Eddie knows that nothing he says will change Catherines feelings, towards himself or for Rodolfo. At this point in the play, we can see the first signs of Catherines independent feelings blossoming and how the fear and control that Eddie once had over her falling apart. She is able to stand up to Eddie and promote her feelings, no matter what he thinks about them or tries to do to change them. She even has enough confidence built up inside of her to ask Eddie Why? when it comes to explaining why he doesnt like Rodolfo. Before we even reach the second act in the play, we have seen Catherine develop from an innocent little girl that followed orders from her uncle, to a now independent young woman who wants answers from that once domineering uncle.

Theological Reflection Approach on Practice

Theological Reflection Approach on Practice A written reflection on practice (1,500 words) Rational of the Theological Reflection Approach I have decided to use the Imagination and Spiritual Wisdom approach to this theological reflection because it allows for a deep understanding of the experience and the feelings involved. Then it progresses into creating an image from those feelings and by questioning the image we may develop an insight to what was really happening and use theology to help us to understand this insight. Thus, leading to action or an understanding of future actions in similar events.[1] Thick Description Someone in the church (A) was organising a surprise party for the vicar and his wife (VW) for their 25th wedding anniversary with permission from the rest of the family. They were organising it as a friend and not as a member of the congregation and therefore it was a non-church event. It was mentioned to people in the church as they would obviously be invited as friends of the couple. There was an element of tension between certain members of the congregation as they felt that it should have been done through church and this was expressed to the church wardens, who had also been asked to help with the party, and A. This led to a disagreement between A and another member of the congregation (B) one Sunday morning before the service. This was witnessed by a few people although they could not hear what was being said. It did however turn out that this issue was resolved quickly once tensions had calmed down. The pastoral situation came from someone (J) who had witnessed this altercation. J has been a member of the congregation for many years and has developed a close pastoral relationship with the vicar and his wife and the member of the congregation. She was concerned about how B had be treated through this situation. Over the course of the week various messages had been sent via social media between A, J and various others in the congregation about this altercation, the party in general and views about it. The messages had become somewhat hurtful and not appropriate. J had become quite upset about it and went to speak to the VW to ask if A would stop sending messages to her. J did say that she could not go into detail about the messages and why they had started in the first place as she did not want to spoil the surprise. It transpires that the messages continued to be sent with A convinced that the surprise had be spoiled and was placing the blame towards J. Due to wanting to keep the surprise J contacted myself. I met with J on a Friday evening in church with most of the meeting explaining what had transpired over the past week. J was very agitated and angry about what was happening in terms of the messages. I allowed her to speak and reassured her that I was listening to what was being said but clear that I was not agreeing with her opinion about A although was sympathetic towards her feelings about what had happened. I was also aware that J did not like A but the reason for this was unknown to me. Others had also noticed this dislike and I mentioned this to J. I also pointed out that A was a liked person and people were viewing Js actions as not very nice. J took exception to this comment and defended what she had said and done by saying that something had happened with A in a previous church that none of us were aware of. The meeting concluded with a decision that I would speak to A and ask for the messages to stop, that I would reassure A also that J had not spoiled the surprise, J agreed that she would not respond to any messages that were sent to her in regards to the party or anything else along similar lines. We finished by praying and J thanked me for listening. Feelings 2.1 Reflections on Personal Feelings of the Situation Personally, the whole situation felt a little petty and had no feelings towards this situation and felt that this could be sorted out. Yet I was aware there would need to be further reconciliation of J and A as feelings ran deep of dislike towards each other. 2.2 Reflection on Js Feelings of the Situation The feelings that were clearly visible by J in this situation were: Anger towards A because of the altercation with B Frustration asked for the messages to stop and they had continued Shock she had been challenged over her attitude towards A Power knew information that no one else knew about A When reflecting on these feelings being displayed I felt that the underlying elements to all of this was a sense of jealousy towards A and the VWs newly formed friendship and therefore an element of displacement by J in her relationship, which was ultimately a pastoral one, with VW. Image Based on the feelings mentioned above the image that comes to mind is: This image shows the child-like nature of the situation (the messages sent via social media), the exclusion or perceived exclusion of one from a group, and finally the two who have paired off not being aware of the person or the feelings of the person who has been excluded. Theology 4.1 Biblical Passages The biblical passages that reflect jealousy which could speak into this situation are: Genesis 37 Joseph and his brothers being jealous of his relationship with their father. Proverbs 27.4 Anger is cruel and fury overwhelming, but who can stand against jealousy? Luke 10.38-42 Mary and Martha being with Jesus Genesis 4 Cain and Abel and the jealousy of how God favoured them Mark 10:35-45 James and John asking to sit at the right and left hand of Jesus and the reaction of the rest of the disciples Reflections on the Biblical Passage Genesis 37 The passage that I felt reflected this situation the best was of Joseph and his brothers being jealous. Joseph receiving his coat from Jacob is a sign of love towards his son to the exclusion of the other sons/brothers. The brothers reaction to this situation was one that led to Joseph being separated from his family as they sold him to be a slave. The brothers reaction could not be hidden within them but was publicly acknowledged between them and towards Joseph himself with a lack of greeting or salutation.[2] The selling of Joseph should not have happened, and was not actually planned but the opportunistic nature of the brothers, brought a situation to pass which ultimately was used by God for a greater purpose (Gen. 50.20). The hatching of a plan to tell Jacob about the death of Joseph had wider issues for the brother as their fathers grief was great. [3] The brothers jealousy led to the pain of Joseph as a slave and then in prison. The pain of Jacob in the act of grief over Joseph, the story does not tell us of the life of the brothers and Jacob but the grief would have been a long running issue within the house hold. The brothers had to live with knowing that they had caused this grief. Parallels between the Thick Description and Biblical Passage If the people in the thick description were the biblical characters it would be: A was Joseph, J was the brothers, VW was Jacob and to an extent I was the caravan of Ishmaelites. Js jealousy of A was great and in effect trying to sell A to me as someone who was of no value and a trouble maker. Reflecting on this now I could see that if this was to carry on then there could be great pain for VW in the long term and then the ripple effect of this amongst the church community. New Insights and Action Reflecting on the theology of Joseph and this pastoral care situation I would have addressed it in the following way: Not challenged Js behaviour towards A in the initial instance. I should have listened to the problem that was being raised and dealt with that in the way that I did. I would have then arranged another meeting with J to discuss her behaviour and attitude towards A. In a follow up pastoral care situation I would have addressed the feelings of J towards the relationship between A and VW. I would have asked her to share how seeing the relationship form made her feel and why she felt that this might be an issue. Hopefully over time she would have seen her jealousy was not necessarily something that should have been an issue. This may have taken a few pastoral encounters to come to a conclusion. There may have also been a need for a time of reconciliation between J and A and also a session between J, A and VW to discuss the feelings between the three of them. I would have been a good person to facilitate this as I was neutral in the situation and had a relationship with the people involved where there could be honesty and openness. Word Count: 1563 Appendix 1 This situation was part of a larger situation that soon unravelled within the church community so the new actions and insights are speculative as to how I would have handled the situation if it had continued. Bibliography Killen, Patricia OConnell, and John De Beer, The Art Of Theological Reflection, 1st edn (New York: Crossroad, 2014) Longman, Tremper, How To Read Genesis, 1st edn (Downers Grove, Ill.: Authentic Media, 2005) Mounce, William D, The Crossway Comprehensive Concordance Of The Holy Bible, 1st edn (Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway Books, 2002) Thompson, Judith, Stephen Pattison, and Ross Thompson, SCM Studyguide To Theological Reflection, 1st edn (London: SCM Press, 2008) UpChurch, John, and Association Counselors, Genesis 37:4 Commentary John Gills Exposition Of The Bible, Bible Study Tools,2017 [accessed 17 March 2017] [1] Killen and Beer, The Art of Theological Reflection, p. 21 [2] UpChurch, Exposition of the Bible, [3] Longman, How to Read Genesis, p.151

Example Answers to Questions on Ethical Behaviour

Example Answers to Questions on Ethical Behaviour My view is that, ethical behavior will pay off in long run. Even though it might take few years down the track for the company to pay off. Ethical behavior is basically an individuals view of what is right or what is wrong. Ethical behavior is used inside and outside of the business environment. We also make ethical decision in our daily life. All human beings are behaving ethically from their own point of view, which also might differ from culture to culture or business environment. In our daily lifestyle, ethical behavior has passed on in every culture generation by generation, which seems it pays off. Ethical behaviors in a workplace are based on the combination factor depending on their ideas. The ideas of work environment ethics is related to how people who work for and who run the business applies their perception of right and wrong in a way they conduct the business . It is good for the company and the companies product to maintain its value at the same time retain standard. This would happen, if the company stand its foot on the ethical behavior. All the existing companies should choose to behave ethically to keep their relationship between their customers and co workers. This is very important in businesses now days to increase their sales of product and services. All the business should maintain first class service. Being ethical also refrains from the companies name or by product also being spoiled and it also keeps the customers happy. But if the leader of the company or the manager misleads the employees or the organisation in a wrong direction, than the rewards bad behavior. Some of these unethical behaviors that are done by the leaders in a bad organization could be lying, cheating and stealing. Even though by lying or cheating might not be a loss for the company, but its like taking the organization and its products and services to a major risk. To run a good ethical behavior organization one must ensure that the leaders abide by the rules and regulation of the particular organization. And the leaders should have the similar ethical thinking of what the organization has. The risks of the organization could take place by running businesses by unethical manners are as follows:- Loss of customers Bad name of the organization in the existing society. Prevents the organisation from growing Bankruptcy Risk of being sued. Breach of consumer responsibility. Loss of good employees. In an organization, employees should form a system to solve any ethical problem that arises with the help of leaders and the managers. As a leader the first step is to specify the appropriate behaviors not just by words but also by your action. To prevent unethical dilemma at a workplace the manager or the leader should provide employees with proper training during the orientation. If you want to make sure your workplace is a good role model of an ethical behavior (doing what is right) the leaders of the organization should ensure the employees continue to follow the rules that are laid out throughout the entity. While it is hard for a company to write some of the simple rules and regulations as long as the general rules are given out, so the company should ask to live by the response of the behavior that they make unethically and hold them accountable for doing so. According to the workforce in todays business culture all individuals should be prepared to deal with stressful situation. Such as when employees are caught for doing previous unethical decision they start blaming the victim (he was stupid enough to fall for it), and finger pointing (she does the same thing, and you never call her on it) will not be tolerated. To make sure that the unethical behaviour does not arise, therefore companys written rule is compulsory for every individual. Also all the rules should be clear easy to understand, and posted to notice board. Even though it is easy to understand the ethical and unethical behaviour thats why the rules made for employees should be memorized. This is how your business can find its way through the gray areas, and the way out on the other end of the tunnel. My past job was also a great experience that the ethical behaviour does pay off in long run. This was when I was back in Sydney. I met Brian Hussain, who was very keen on opening up his own business in a car detailing. He told me that he was going to offer me a job of a manager, since i had two years experience in the detailing of cars. So i took his offer since the income offered to me was great. Brian Hussain spoke to the owner of Premier Parking, which is well known in Australia, to go partners with him in 1998. They both came to an agreement and decided to open up the detailing shop by the name off Elite Car Care in May 1998. The first Elite Car Care was opened in the parking lot of Leichardt mall, Sydney. So i started working from the first day of the opening, business was running a bit slow since most people were not aware of it that the car wash was in the parking lot. Months went past and the business started to make progress, by the end of 1998. The turnover was almost three times more than what we usually use to make. And the workers were really good but the only issue i had that they had a student work permit with only 20 hours of work availability. Since the Car Wash was open for 7 days, it was important for me to have at least four staffs every day except Mondays. Weekends use to be the most busy days of the week, and in order to get the work done I had to ask the employees to do extra hours, which the students 20 hours were exceeded. The immigration was ok with the students if they went over the 20 hour to 23 hours, as long as they dont repeat it often. Brian Hussain, use to come around the work place almost every afternoon just to check up on the hours of the staffs and the sale we did throughout the day. So what Brian Hussain was, cutting down the hours of work the students did to 20 hours even if they worked till 22 to 23 hours. What was done by Brian Hussain was wrong, but i really couldnt do much since he was the boss. The actions of Brian Hussian, made the workers leave, which also made us loss some of our really good customers. Because the work was not done properly and the time frame that the customers had to wait for their vehicles to be cleaned was also stretched. In 1999 i arranged a meeting with Brian Hussain and his partner in the business, who was the owner of premier car park. I told him that the decisions that Brain Hussian made was not ethical and it also affected our business in a great loss. I also suggested that on the busy days of the week if the workers work really hard and skip there lunch to get the work done we should give them a bonus or reward for their effort contributed to the car wash. They knew it will be some extra expenses for the business, but they agreed to do as i suggested. After these changes were made there was a great progress and growth in the business environment, even the workers were satisfied to what the rules that was laid by the organization. By the mid 1999 the turnover was so good that Brian Hussain and his partner decided to open another car wash in Double Bay, which i know was a great idea, because the people that lived there are rich and drive expensive cars. And by the end of 1999 Elite Car Care had a great name in the market of car wash, which made the old customer that we lost in Leichardt to come back to us. This is why i strongly suggest that ethical behaviour pay off in long run and also maintains a healthy relationship with the customers and employees. It is also said what goes around comes back around this is a true saying and I believe to stand by it. References http://www.suite101.com/content/ethics-in-the-modern-workplace-a32979 http://www.asla.org/nonmembers/publicrelations/pressreleases/press071801.htm http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_2001_July_20/ai_76649894/ Question 2 Societys impact will be reflected by the ethical leaders, how the decisions are made and they need to be people oriented. Leaders are there to set an example in an organisation and by doing that they resolve the negative impact on the society. Leaders show ethical behaviour by doing right thing and at the same time they help to motivate the followers. They also help the followers achieve the moral knowledge to its highest peak. In reality ethical leaders cover more encouragement of ethical behaviour. For example, repeating the ethical behaviour programs in their daily life. By being ethical the society helps the base of the business environment to be strong and steady. Right condition should be created by ethical leaders and also organisational culture to encourage the development of ethical behaviour. With a good ethics a leader can convince the world. Society has been represented by a leader or leaders at different levels for e.g can be city, town, village, industry, club, association, country, etc. Such as USA is well known of its power and ethical behaviour, which is unmatchable leader in the world. Another example would be an American leader sent the USA army to Iraq to resolve the conflict they had in Iraq. The lack of corporation and support by the leaders can have a great negative impact on the society and the environment both. This could also result in the rise of crime, corruption, pollution, and social conflict. Todays people blame the leaders for things they have negative impact on the society reason being lack of faith on the leader. For example the voters of Canada no longer believe that their leaders are honest. More than half the people have researched by the British Columbia, which said the government is making their life worst. Being an ethical leader its not just making, doing the jobs that makes the business benefit, but it also must be equally benefit for the people and the society. To complete accurate information through channel leaders need to suggest on professional, personal and legal grounds. By doing this you will have a peace of mind and have no guilt as well as having a respect for the administration of employees. A leader being unethical doesnt just have a impact on the employees but also on the society. If this happens, it could result in a big collapse. One of the great examples that was using a unethical behaviour and then collapsed, is Enron. We can also describe ethical leadership as an trustworthy also describe ethical leaders transparent, honest and trustworthy culture that would later on help them achieve long lasting position of leaders in their groups, nations and organisations. Great example would be a well known person from India his name is Mahatma Gandhi for his great leadership style. In todays generation everybody expects the leaders to have the ethical behaviour and values in the society. By having such a large number of population its hard to separate the evil ones from the good ones. Thats why it gets hard to stay ethical and honest in the world of competition. To improve the ethical leadership in the business environment it is important to introduce ethical from the top first. A leader with ethical behaviour is also a part of social responsible organisation at different levels, which includes legal, economic, and ethical. If a company cannot look after its legal and economics responsibilities then it is not socially responsible. Sometimes company need to do more than it is required to have good impact on the business and in society too. To become more socially responsible a company needs to examine its ethical actions. Apparently company should strives in order to provide ethical treatment to all stakeholders away from shareholders. If the organisation allows their employees and the community in the decision making process as stakeholders then this will have a great impact to reduce negative and at the same time improve the positive outcome for each group. By doing this it also improves the companies action becomes more and more socially responsible. For a leader to have a ethical behaviour in a business organisation, his own thoughts and ethical behaviour should match with the business and society. In todays society leaders should know what kind of behaviour either positive or negative impact on others and the people around them. An ethical leader also helps the business to have a better and healthy communication between the business and society. Some of the good examples of how ethical leaders or an organisation helps the society are as follows:- Disaster Relief whereby for example telecom provide a support to society by proving resources and working twenty four hours , seven days to restore communication to homes and businesses. While working to restore the communication, telecom also provide free calls diverts to all customers and also a free wireless broadband in society. It is also a good thing that a society benefits from ethical behaviour of an organisation because the employees are part of the society.

Magical Realism: Theory and History :: Magical Realism Literature Papers

Magical Realism: Theory and History While reading Franz Roh, Angel Flores, Amaryll Chanady, and Luis Leal, I have learned many things about magical realism. I also learned that there are many different definitions for magical realism. I have learned that magical realism is not considered a fairy tale. Amaryll Chanady feels that magical realism is focused more toward reality. However, Luis Leal feels that magical realism is used to express emotions. While reading these essays and finding some research on magical realism, I found that many people have many different views on what magical realism is. By doing research, I have found that it can mean many different things, and it is exciting to learn about something as interesting as magical realism is. Learning about magical realism has been very interesting for me. When reading Franz Roh, I learned a lot about Post- Expressionism and Expressionism. Expressionism involved a painting. It involved animals walking in the sky, and it also showed heated heads popped like corks from overflowing bottles, while Post- Expressionism dealt with painting and pictures with frames (Roh 16-17). On the other hand, Angel Flores was a little hard fro me to understand at first. I found myself asking questions such as "Will I understand what I am reading?" "Is this going to make sense to me?" "What am I suppose to see in this American Fiction?" I did learn that magical realism has to deal with fantasies written in Spanish (Flores 110-111). Then looking at Amaryll Chanady, I learned that Flores stated that, "practitioners of magical realism clings to reality as if to prevent their myth from flying off, as in fairy tales, to supernatural realism." Luis Leal also has many different opinions toward magica l realism. However, I did not agree with a few of them. I did understand and agreed with a few, though. In Luis Leal's essay, I learned that Roh explained the origin of the term by saying that with the word "magical," as opposed to "mystical," he wanted to emphasize that the mystery does not descend to the represented world, but rather hides and palpitates behind it (120-121). I agreed with what he wanted to emphasize. It was also mentioned that magical realism is not magic literature. Magical realism is used to express emotions not to evoke them (120-121). I feel that magical realism is definitely used to express emotions, not to evoke them.

Irony in The Lame Shall Enter First Essays -- Lame Shall Enter First E

Irony in The Lame Shall Enter First      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  "[W]hen thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth" counsels the Bible, thus setting the precedent for all well-meaning members of western society concerning their charitable intentions (Matt. 6.3). Humanity's motivation to aid others, regardless of the outcome, is oft times spotted by the subtle struggle between selflessness and selfishness. Flannery O'Connor captures this classic conflict between good and evil in Southern Grotesque fashion through her characters, the protagonist Sheppard and his foil, Rufus Johnson, in [comment2] "The Lame Shall Enter First".[comment3] Challenging the literal paradigm of light and darkness, O'Connor weaves together well crafted characterization, cryptic dialogue, and both biblical and literary allusion in this paradoxical plot and, by way of Sheppard and the antithetical Rufus, blends the black and white of Christian dogma into an ironic grey.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The contrast of light and dark begins with the description and characterization of the apparently angelic [comment4] Sheppard, and continues with the introduction of the obscure and ominous Rufus Johnson. O'Connor is not pretentious in her description and development of either character. Sheppard's white hair and "halo" are obvious references to his protagonistic status as the story's do-gooder [comment5] (Norton 371). The narrator continues on by lauding his charitable contribution to the community as a counselor and weekend volunteer for "boys no one else cared about" (372). The reader's only initial clue toward Sheppard's self-righteous mania is his deliberate, guilt-implying sermon towards Norton, his disconcerted and doomed son. It is n... ...pherd", only the agony of total defeat. Sheppard's epiphany comes too late and the stark contrast that once distinguished him from the dark object of his alms turns into the faded realization that he is no better than the beleaguered beneficiary. Through O'Connor's strategic literary devices, deft character contrast, and parody of entrenched Christian values, the reader is left to digest and dissect the fact that maybe the entire flock [comment15] isn't worth one black sheep. Between the black and white islands of moral certainty, good and evil, there lies a sea of ironic grey.    Works Cited    The King James Version. Great Britain: Cambridge UP, 1996. O'Connor, Flannery. "The Lame Shall Enter First." The Norton Introduction to Literature. Eds.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Jerome Beaty and J. Paul Hunter. 7th ed. New York: Norton, 1998. 371-414.   

Hinilawod Summary Essay

Hinilawod recounts the story of the exploits of three Sulodnon demigod brothers, Labaw Donggon, Humadapnon and Dumalapdap of ancient Panay. It would take about three days to perform the epic in its original form. Thus, making it as one of the longest epics in the world. Kaptan, the king of the Gods, decreed that the beautiful Alunsina (also called Laun Sina, The Unmarried One) marry upon reaching her maidenhood. Though all the unmarried gods from every corner of the universe tried to win her hand in marriage, she chose to marry a mortal, Datu Paubari, ruler of the Halawod. Angered by Alunsina’s decision, her suitors conspired to harm the newlywed couple. Maklium-sa-t’wan, the god of the plains, called a council meeting of the Gods. The council decided to destroy the couple’s home, Halawod, by flood. Fortunately for Alunsina and her husband, her sister Suklang Malayon (Goddess and Guardian of Happy Homes) discovered the evil plot and warned them of it. Before the flood, the new couple sought refuge on a higher ground and escaped the gods’ wrath undetected. They returned to the plains and settled near the mouth of the Halawod River after the flood has subsided and lived in secrecy. After several months, Alunsina became pregnant with triplets. The couple was ecstatic and Datu Paubari prepared the things needed for childbirth including the siklot. When the triplets were born, the couple called them Labaw Dongon, Humadapnon and Dumalapdap. Immediately after giving birth, Alunsina summoned the high priest Bungot-Banwa to perform the rites of the gods of the Mount Madya-as to ensure that the triplets will have good health. During the ritual, Bungot-Banwa burned some alanghiran fronds and a pinch of kamangyan in an altar that he made himself. He opened the windows of the north side of the room after the ceremony and in came a cold wind that transformed the infants into strong, handsome young men. When he reached adulthood, Labaw Donggon, the eldest of the triplets, decided to go on a quest to find himself a wife. He heard of the beauty of Angoy Ginbitinan of Handug and wanted her for a wife. He asked his mother to prepare the things he will need for the journey—a magic cape, hat and belt, and kampilan (sword). The journey to Handug took several days. Labaw Donggon had to pass by plains, valleys and mountains to get there. When he finally arrived, he asked for an audience with Angoy Ginbitinan’s father and asked for her hand in marriage. The father agreed in one condition: Labaw Donggon  must kill the monster Manalintad as part of his dowry. Labaw Donggon agreed and went away to confront the monster. With the help of his magic belt, he was able to kill the Manalintad. He cut off the tail of the monster and brought it back to Handug as a proof of his victory. Angoy Gibintinan’s father was satisfied with the proof and allowed Labaw Donggon to marry his daughter. After the wedding, Labaw Donggon and his new bride started their journey back to his home. Along the way, they m et a group of young men who were on their way to Tarambang Burok to win the hand of Abyang Durunuun, sister of Sumpoy, the lord of the underworld. According to these young men, Abyang Durunuun has beauty that equals no other. Labaw Donggon and Angoy Gibintinan continued on their journey. Upon reaching home, Labaw Donggon asked his mother to take care of his new wife and told her that he will be going on another quest. This time he will be going to Tarambang Burok and vie for the hand of the beautiful Abyang Durunuun. On his way to Tarambang Burok, Labaw Donggon had an encounter with the giant Sikay Padalogdog. This giant had a hundred arms and he won’t let the young demi god pass without a fight. And fight they did. In the end, the hundred-armed giant admitted defeat and allowed the Labaw Donggon to pass the ridge. Labaw Donggon won the hand of the legendary Abyang Durunuun and also took her home to his mother. Thereafter, the demi god went on third quest to Gadlum. This time the object of his desire is Malitong Yawa Sinagmaling Diwata, the young bride of the lord of darkness, Saragnayan. Aboard his biday nga inagta (black boat), Labaw Donggon sailed across many seas on his way Gadlum. He also traveled across the region of the clouds and the land of stones before he found himself at the shores of Tulogmatian, the seaside fortress of Saragnayan. Upon setting foot on the shore, Saragnayan asked who he was and his business. When Labaw Donggon expressed his desire to have Saragnayan’s young wife, the lord of darkness just laughed and told him it’s impossible. The young dem i god then challenged the Saragnayan to a duel for the hand of the beautiful Malitong Yawa Sinagmaling Diwata. The duel lasted for years. Labaw Donggon held Saragnayan’s head underwater for seven years but the lord of the darkness still lived. With the help of his pamlang (amulet), Saragnayan defeated Labaw Donggon and imprisoned him beneath his house. Meanwhile, Labaw Donggon’s two wives gave birth to a son each. Angoy Ginbitinan called her child Aso Mangga while Abyang Durunuun called her son  Abyang Baranugon. Both sons went in search of their father a few days after they were born. They arrived in Tulogmatian and asked Saragnayan to free their father. Saragnayan told Abyang Baranugon to go home to his mother when he noticed that the young lad still has an umbilical cord. The young lad took offense and challenged the lord of the darkness to a duel. Saragnayan accepted the challenge and fought with Abyang Baranugon. The lord of darkness was no match for the strength of Abyang Baranugon and was defeated in the process. Abyang Baranugon earned the freedom of his father and took him home. Meanwhile, the defeat of Labaw Donggon in the hands of Saragnayan and his subsequent imprisonment angered his brothers Humadapnon and Dumalapdap. Humadapnon swore to the gods of Madya-as and vowed that he would seek revenge on all of Saragnayan’s kinsmen and followers. He then embarked on a journey to Saragnayan’s. He took with him a man known for his exceptional swordsmanship, Buyong Matanayon of Mount Matiula. Together they traveled the same path that Labaw Donggon took. The duo ended up at a place called Tarambang Buriraw. Here lives a seductive sorceress called Piganun. The sorceress changed herself into a very beautiful maiden and captured the heart of Humadapnon. No matter what Buyong Matanayon did, Humadapnon would not leave Tarambang Buriraw. After seven months of staying in Tarambang Buriraw, Buyong Matanayon remembered that they brought some ginger with them. He thought of a plan to break Piganun’s spell over his friend. One evening, at dinner, Buyong Matanayon threw seven slices of ginger into the fire. Upon smelling the burning ginger, Piganun ran away from the room. Buyong Matanayon struck Humadapnon in the head, which rendered the latter unconscious. He then dragged his body away from the place and managed to escape. The duo continued with their trek and exacted revenge on all of Saragnayan’s family and friend. They eventually found themselves in a place called Piniling Tubig. There was a big gathering when they arrived in the village because the ruler of the land, Datu Umbaw Pinaumbaw, was giving away the hand of his daughter in marriage to anyone who can remove the huge boulder that rolled off the mountain to the center of the village. No one has succeeded. Humadapnon rose to the challenge and took off his magic cape. He then used it to lift the huge boulder off the center of the village and hurled it back to the mountain. Datu Umbaw Pinaumbaw honored his word and gave his daughter’s hand in marriage to Humadapnon. The two were married and  a big feast was held. During the wedding feast, a guest minstrel sang and paid tribute to the beauty of Burigadang Pada Sinaklang Bulawan, the goddess of greed. Enchanted with the story, Humadapnon started on a quest to seek the goddess’ hand in marriage. He met Buyong Makabagting, son of the Datu Balahidyong of Paling Bukid, who was also hoping to win the hand of Burigadang Pada Sinaklang Bulawan. The two fought in a duel and Humadapnon emerged victorious. The defeated Buyong Makabagting helped Humadapnon in his quest. Humadapnon eventually married the goddess of greed and brought her home to his mother. Shortly after Humadapnon left their home to seek revenge on Saragnayan’s family and followers, Dumalapdap embarked on a quest of his own. He decided go to Burutlakan-ka-adlaw and marry the maiden Lubay-Lubyok Hanginun si Mahuyokhuyokon. With him was Dumasig, the most powerful wrestler in Madya-as. After several months of traveling, the two warriors came face to face with a two headed monster called Balanakon. The monster guarded the ridge that led to the place where the maiden lived. They managed to kill the monster but were confronted with another kind of monster when they reached the gate of the palace where the maiden lived. Called Uyutang, the monster was similar to a bat with sharp, poisonous claws. Dumalapdap fought with the Uyutang for seven months. He was able to defeat the monster when he grabbed its ankle and broke it. Then he took his iwang daniwan (magic dagger) and struck Uyutang under the armpit. The monster howled in pain, causing an earthquake that broke the ridge they were fighting in into two. Half of the ridge became an island that is known today as Negros, while the other half became Panay. With the monster Uyutang dead, Lubay-Lubyok Hanginun si Mahuyokhuyokan was free to marry Dumalapdap. He brought her home and was reunited with his family. Datu Paubari celebrated the return of his three sons with a very big feast. His sons left for different parts of the world after the feast. Labaw Donggon ventured north, Humadapnon went south, and Dumalapdap embarked to the west. Datu Parubari was left to rule in the east. Humdapnon was visited by his spirit friends Taghoy and Duwindi in his dream and told him of lovely maiden who lived in a village by the mouth of the Halawod River. The demigod left his dominion to look for the maiden named Nagmalitong Yawa. He brought with him a boatful of crew. Humadapnon and his men safely traversed through a sea the color of human blood with the help of his spirit friends. They landed on an island that was inhabited by beautiful  women and headed by the sorceress Ginmayunan. For seven years, Humadapnon and his crew were imprisoned in the island until Nagmalitong Yawa helped them escape by disguising as a boy. Humadapnon and Nagmalitong Yawa were married soon after in Halawod. During the wedding feast, Humadapnon’s brother, Dumalapdap fell in love with Huyung Adlaw and asked his brother to help him talk to the parents of the maiden. Humadapnon left his new wife and accompanied his brother to the Upperworld where Huyung Adlaw lived. It took the brothers sev en years to come back from their journey to the Upperworld. They arrived just in time for the ceremony that will have Nagmalitong Yawa married to Buyung Sumagulung, an island fortress ruler, in a ceremony. The brothers were enraged and killed all the guests and the groom. Humadapnon also stabbed his wife because the treachery only to feel remorse later on. He asked his spirit friends and found out that his wife only agreed to marry Buyung Sumagulung because her mother, Matan-ayon, convinced her that Humadapnon is not coming back. Upon learning of this, Humadapnon asked his sister, Labing Anyag, to use her powers to bring Nagmalitong Yawa back to life. Seeing how remorseful he is, Labing Anyag agreed. However, Nagmalitong Yawa was so ashamed of agreeing to marry Buyung Sumagulung that she ran away to the underworld and sought the protection of her uncle Panlinugun, who is lord of the earthquake. Humadapnon had to kill an eight-headed snake in his pursuit of Nagmalitong Yawa. Then he had to duel with a young man who spirited his wife away. The duel ended when Alunsina intervened and revealed that the young man is also her son, Amarotha. This son died during childbirth and was brought bac k from the dead to keep Alunsina company. Alunsina decided that both Humadapnon and Amarotha deserved a piece of Nagmalitong Yawa so she cut the girl in half and gave a piece each to her sons. Each half turned into a whole live person. Humadapnon brought his wife back to Panay.

Genetically modified food †Allergy Essay

Genetically modified foods are becoming more and more used in our community. But, they are not as safe as people presume them to be. Genetically modified foods can cause a big problem in the world, even if it can produce large quantities of foods, it is found that it can cause an allergy to certain foods, many scientists had voted to ban them and there not always labeled that it’s a GMO. Therefore, they should be abolished within the world. To start off, the fact that there is a chemical that is produced that can cause allergic reactions to some people. The scientist had stated that the chemical is safe to use: â€Å"But the biotech companies and the Environmental Protection Agency–which regulates plant produced pesticides–tell us not to worry. They contend that the pesticide called Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) is produced naturally from a soil bacterium and has a history of safe use. † (Smith). The counter argument was proof that this chemical is actually not safe to use, it can make a person sicker than presumed. Jeffery Smith stated: â€Å"Repeated exposure via inhalation can result in sensitization and allergic response in hypersensitive individuals. † So much for the contention that Bt does not interact with humans. †(Smith). I have been allergic to onions since I was twelve years old, this could be caused by the chemical Bt. If the Scientists saying that is drug is harmless they’re wrong because it’s been proven that this chemical can cause an increase in allergies. Therefore, maybe if we had all natural food growths than maybe I could eat onions now. That is why GMO’s should be abolished. There are so many GMOs that are not even labeled as that how people ever know what their eating if it’s not labeled. It’s the people have a right to know what’s going in there body. Without sharing that information it’s bad for the people to trust anything that is not farmers. Granted some people don’t care, but there are people who do. In an article by Peter Sand he states: â€Å"Hence, in CCFL sessions since 1997,57 the EU and other food importers such as Norway consistently argued that the declared primary purpose of their GM food labeling regulations is not a health risk warning, but information to enable consumers to exercise their freedom of choice. † (Sand) It’s not that the food is completely unsafe that is the problem of not telling them that it’s genetically modified, the problem is that it’s breaking some freedom laws. If a person doesn’t knows about anything how they can make any decision about it. And my final point is that even scientist in some countries signed a petition to ban GMOs from their country. A letter was presented at the World Trade Organization conference in Seattle in 1999. Ed Ayres stated that: â€Å"’The letter expresses â€Å"extreme concern† about the hazards of GMOs to biodiversity, food safety, and human and animal health, and recommends a global moratorium on environmental releases of GMOs â€Å"in accordance with the precautionary principle†Ã¢â‚¬  (Ayres). So even some scientists would like to ban GMOs, How can that make any sense if all GMOs are safe why do scientists want to ban them. When many people whom specialize in that field don’t want it in the country why should any average citizen of any country. It should be abolished if even the people creating it say it should be banned. Not to mention they want to ban it for the safety of people and animals. In conclusion, genetically modified foods cause an increasing problem with the allergy rate increasing, scientist wanting to ban them, and not even telling anyone that they are genetically modified. This could lead to a bigger problem with in the world and it should be stopped now. Genetically modified foods should be abolished within the world.

Psychological Disorders and Therapy Essay

I. Introduction Schizophrenia is not only the most dreaded psychological disorder but also one of the most heavily researched. Some important new discoveries link schizophrenia with biological factors, such as brain abnormalities and genetic predispositions. Schizophrenia is one of the most heavily researched psychological disorders. Several factors have been proposed as causes of schizophrenia, from biochemical imbalances in the brain to faulty family relationships and socioeconomic environment. Although a great deal of interesting research has been carried out, to date no single factor has been isolated as the cause of schizophrenia. II. The Understanding and Search for Causes Schizophrenia a) Brain, Structure, Function and Abnormalities Recent advances in the measurement of brain structure and function have set the stage for comparing normal individuals with those suffering from schizophrenia. One brain-imaging technique, computer-assisted tomography, or CT scan, uses many low-energy X-rays of the living brain taken at a number of different points and integrated into pictures by a computer. Studies using this technique show that many individuals with schizophrenia have enlarged brain ventricles, compared to normal persons. Some researchers believe a link sexists between the enlarged ventricles and the lower frequency of alpha waves observed among individuals with schizophrenia. The idea that imbalances in brain chemistry might underlie schizophrenia has long intrigued scientists. Strange behaviors, they knew, can have strange chemical causes. The saying â€Å"Mad as a hatter† refers to the psychological deterioration of British hatmakers whose brains, it was later discovered, were slowly poisoned as they moistened the brims of mercury-laden felt hats with their lips (Smith, 2003). Scientists are beginning to understand the mechanism by which chemicals such as LSD produce hallucinations. These discoveries fuel hope that a biochemical key to schizophrenia might be found. One chemical key to schizophrenia involves the neurotransmitter dopamine. When researchers examined patient’s brains after death, they found an excess of receptors for dopamine (Wong, 2000). What is more, drugs that block dopamine levels, such as amphetamine and cocaine, sometimes intensify schizophrenia victims overactive to irrelevant external and internal stimuli. Modern brain scanning techniques reveal that many chronic schizophrenia patients have a detectable brain abnormality. Some have abnormally low brain activity in the frontal lobes (Cohen, 1999). Others, most often men, have enlarged, fluid-filled areas and a corresponding shrinkage of cerebral tissue (Andreasen, 2000). b) Genetic Factors A popular line of research in recent years has been the search for a genetic link in schizophrenia. Several approaches to the study of genetic relationships have been used. Overall, results of this research are consistent with a genetic basis for the disorder. For example, identical twins are more likely to share schizophrenic diagnoses than fraternal twins, whether the twins are reared apart or together. The greater the severity of schizophrenia, the more pronounced this relationship is. Furthermore, children whose parents both have schizophrenia are three times more likely to develop the disorder than are children with only one parent with schizophrenia, whether children are reared with their parents or not. Children who are reared by an adoptive parent with schizophrenia but whose biological parents are normal do not have higher rate of schizophrenia (Kestenbaum, 2001). The most convincing evidence for a genetic relationship comes from research showing a characteristic defect on c hromosome 5 among family members who have some types of schizophrenia (Sherrington, 2000). Naturally, scientists wonder whether people inherit a predisposition to these brain abnormalities. The evidence strongly suggests that some do. The 100-to-1 odds against any person’s being diagnosed with Schizophrenia become 10-to-1 among those who have an afflicted identical twin. Although there are only a dozen such known cases, it appears that an identical twin of schizophrenia victim retains that 50-50 chance whether they are reared together or apart. Adoption studies confirm a genetic link (Gottesman, 2001). Children adopted by someone who develops schizophrenia are unlikely to â€Å"catch† the disorder. But adopted children do have an elevated risk if a biological parent is diagnosed with schizophrenia. The genetic contribution is beyond question. But the genetic role is not so straightforward is beyond question. But the genetic role is not as straightforward as the inheritance of eye color. After all, about half the twins who share identical genes with a schizophrenia victim do not develop the disorder. Thus, behavior geneticists Susan Nicol and Irving Gottesman (2000) conclude that some people â€Å"have a genetic predisposition to the disorder but that this predisposition by itself is not sufficient for the development of schizophrenia.† c) Psychological Factors If, by themselves, genetically predisposed physiological abnormalities do not cause schizophrenia, neither do psychological factors alone. As Nicol and Gottesman report, â€Å"no environmental causes have been discovered that will invariably, or even with moderate probability, produce schizophrenia in persons who are not related to a schizophrenic.† Nevertheless, if genes predispose some people to react to particular experiences by developing schizophrenia, then there must be identifiable triggering experiences. Researchers have asked:   Can stress trigger schizophrenia? Can difficulties in family communications be a contributing factor? The answer to each question is a strong, clear maybe. The psychological triggers of schizophrenia have proved elusive, partly because they may vary with the type of schizophrenia and whether it is a low-developing, chronic schizophrenia, or a sudden, acute reaction to stress. It is true that young people with schizophrenia tend to have unusually disturbed communications with their parents. But is this a cause or a result of their disorder? It is true that stressful experiences, biochemical and abnormalities, and schizophrenia’s symptoms often occur together. But the traffic between brain biochemistry and psychological experiences runs both ways, so cause and effect are difficult to sort out.   It is true that schizophrenic withdrawal often occurs in adolescence or early adulthood, coinciding with the stresses of having to become independent, to assert oneself, and to achieve social success and intimacy. So is schizophrenia the maladaptive coping reaction of biologically vuln erable people? Most of us can relate more easily to the ups and downs of mood disorder that to strange thoughts, perceptions, and behaviors of schizophrenia. Sometimes our thoughts do jump around, but we do not talk nonsensically. Occasionally we feel unjustly suspicious of someone, but we do not feat that the world is plotting against us. Often our perceptions are distorted, but rarely do we see or hear things that are not there. We have felt regret after laughing at someone’s misfortune, but e rarely giggle in response to bad news. At times, we just want to be alone, but we do not live in social isolation. However, millions of people around the world do not talk strangely, suffer delusions, hear nonexistent voices, see things that are not there, laugh or cry at inappropriate times, or withdraw into their private imaginary worlds. Because this is true, the scientific quest to solve the cruel puzzle of schizophrenia continues. d) Environmental Stress Approaches to schizophrenia have not been exclusively biomedical. Even studies of identical twins show that more than half these pairs do not have share diagnoses of schizophrenia. Because they do share all genetic material, there must be environmental factors that also contribute to the disorder, either by protecting constitutionally vulnerable individuals or by precipitating symptoms of the disorder (Kestenbaum, 2001). One way of conceptualizing the relationship between the environment and schizophrenia is through the concept of stress. A stress hypothesis holds that individuals are genetically vulnerable to the disorder. III. Treatment Behavioral Therapy Voluntary behaviors are strongly influenced by their consequences. This sample fact enables behavior therapists to reinforce desired behaviors, while withholding reinforcement for undesired behaviors. Using operant conditioning to solve specific behavior problems is called behavior modification, a therapy that has raised hopes for some cases thought hopeless. Retarded children have been taught to care for themselves. Autistic children have learned to interact. People with Schizophrenia have been helped to behave more rationally on the hospital ward. Physical   methods or therapy This includes electroshock therapy and brain surgery. It consists of passing electric currents through the brain, producing convulsion coma. Psychoanalysis A procedure requiring that the patient and analyst meet for hour- long sessions several times a week for many months. During these hours the analyst helps the patient bring into consciousness the repressed conflicts that have caused the illness. If the treatment is successful, the patient learns realistic methods of dealing with conflicts. The technique of free association is an important part of psychoanalysis. The patient is encouraged to talk about whatever comes to mind, without regard to apparent relevance or propriety of the material. The analyst helps the patient to understand the meaning of this material. Patients develop resistance in their efforts to talk freely, and it is the analyst’s task to help them overcome such resistance. Resistances are usually associated with feelings of guilt in regard to fantasies about hostility, dependency and sexuality. IV. Conclusion Schizophrenia literally translated means â€Å"split mind.† Split mind refers not to a multiple-personality split, but rather a split from reality that shows itself in disorganized thinking; disturb perceptions, and inappropriate emotions and actions. The schizophrenia victim experiences an altered world. Minute stimuli, such as the grooves on a brick or the reflections of a voice, may distract attention from the whole scene or from the speaker’s meaning. Worse, the person may perceive things that are not there. Such hallucinations are (sensory experiences without sensory stimulation) usually auditory. The person may hear voices that seem to come from outside the head and that make insulting statements or give orders.   The voices may tell that patient that she is bad or that he must burn himself with a cigarette lighter or even commit murder. Less commonly, people see, feel, taste, or smell things that are nonexistent. Such hallucinations have been compared to dreams breaking into waking consciousness. When the unreal seems real, the resulting perceptions are at best bizarre and at worst terrifying.

Development of the Periodic Table

It’s a rarity that we should come across a laboratory, classroom, chemistry textbook or lecture theatre that doesn’t contain a periodic table of the elements. It required the immense research and determination of the scientist Dmitri Mendeleev to show us that all elements followed a natural form and provided us with the first decent periodic table. There are 111 elements recognised today by IUPAC and they are arranged in the periodic table in horizontal groups and vertical periods.The eight groups consist of the alkali metals, the alkaline earth metals, the transition elements, metalloids, non-metals, the halogens and the nobel gases. The development of the periodic table first began with Antoine Lavoisier. His job as a privatised tax-collector helped finance his scientific research. He was the first scientist to classified the elements into four groups. These groups consisted of gases, metals, non-metals and metal oxides. In 1789, he proposed the Law of Conservation of Mass. This law stated that the mass of the products of a chemical reaction is equal to the reactants.This led to the â€Å"chemical revolution† and sparked interest amongst other scientists which, in turn, led to the periodic table that we know of today. In 1817 Johann Dobereiner saw became aware that the atomic weight of strontium was exactly half of the sum of the atomic weights of calcium and barium, which were elements that possessed similar properties. It took Dobereiner another twelve years to propose the Law of the Triads, after extensive research into finding the triads of the halogen group and the alkali metal group.In 1829 he proposed that nature contained triads of elements, with the middle element showing properties that were an average of the other two elements when ordered by atomic weight. Slowly, Dobereiners views began to be taken up by other chemists who tried to complete the unfinished triads, as further knowledge of the elements was gained. Dobereinerâ₠¬â„¢s triads played an important role in Gmelin’s Hand Book of Chemistry, but besides their importance in this publication not much notice was taken of the triads until much later on.The first scientist to arrange the elements in a periodic system was not actually a chemist, but a geologist. Beguyer de Chancourtois proposed a three-dimensional representation of the list of known elements wrapped around a cylinder in a helical graph. Elements that appeared on the same vertical line on the cylinder had similar properties. His helical graph also contained compounds and ions as well as elements so Beguyer de Chantcourtois’ work was disregarded until the work of Mendeleev.In 1862, John Newlands wrote a paper in which he arranged the fifty-six known elements into eleven groups based on similar physical properties. He noted that many of the elements with similarities differed by some multiple of eight in their atomic weights. Newlands found his work unpublished by the Royal S ociety as there were many criticisms made about his classification of the elements. John Newlands left no places in the table for undiscovered elements which altered the flexibility of the scheme.He didn’t evaluate the best values for the atomic weights, which was a serious omission according to Mendeleev. Some of the elements didn’t obey the scheme, the metals Mn, Ti and Fe aren’t of any resemblance to the non-metals P, Si and s which are placed eight elements before them. He was so convinced of his Law that he tried to force the elements to fit into this system Newlands believed that the system of the octaves would remain valid despite the number of elements that should be discovered. His work was ignored and forgotten until the work of Mendeleev had become famous.Both Dmitri Mendeleev and Lothar Meyer produced similar results concerning the periodic table even though they worked independently of each other. Meyer constructed an abbreviated version of the peri odic table, with only half if the known elements included. Meyer did not separate the elements of the sub-groups and main groups as Mendeleev did, but he did include the transition metals. Meyer had already predicted that there were undiscovered elements that would fit in his system, and so he left vacant spaces for them to be added to the table as they were discovered.Meyer stated the Law of periodicity in 1868 which stated that ‘The properties of elements are largely periodic functions of their atomic weight, Identical or similar properties recur if the atomic weight is increased by a definite amount which is at first 16, then about 46, and finally 88 to 92 units’ Although Meyer’s table wasn’t used due to lack of certainty and flexibility, his colleague Seubert, from the University of Tubingen, republished his first papers in 1895, the year of Meyer’s death, so that students would be reminded of Meyers importance in the development of the periodic system.Dmitri Mendeleev published his first periodic table in 1869. He arranged the elements in order of increasing atomic weight. Mendeleev created cards, with each elements symbol, atomic weight and its physical and chemical properties written on the cards. When these cards were arranged in order of increasing atomic weight then a table of the elements was formed which gave rise to the periodic table of the elements. There were gaps present in the table but Mendeleev didn’t see this as a problem. Instead he believed correctly that the gaps insinuated that elements were yet to be discovered .From these gaps, he was able to predict accurately the physical and chemical properties of the undiscovered elements which he called eka-alumium, eka-boron and eka-silicon. The prefix eka- means similar to. He predicted that ten undiscovered elements existed and seven of these ten were discovered. Some say that his work and research was so brilliant because he wasn’t aware of the previous work done by Beguyer de Chancourtois, Dobereiner and Newlands. He didn’t accept the values for atomic weight without questioning the values.If the element did not fit into the scheme, he simply changed the weight and re-positioned the element in a group where its chemical and physical properties were more suited. He also made some of the periods longer to accommodate what we now know today as the transition metals. Mendeleev’s table is arranged in rows and columns. The elements that we see today in a horizontal period were shown on his table in vertical columns and vertical groups were shown in horizontal rows. Below is an example of the periodic table of Dmitri Mendeleev.Lord Rayleigh discovered a new inert, gaseous element in 1895 called argon. Although he knew of argon’s existence since 1983, it took him over a year to actually isolate the gas. Along with his colleague, William Ramsey, they noticed that this element didn’t fit into any of the known periodic groups. Ramsey made a suggestion that a new group should be formed and placed between chlorine and potassium in the periodic table. It was grouped with helium and a new family of elements was formed. Ramsey also correctly predicted the properties and identification of neon.These inert, gaseous elements were labelled as the ‘zero’ group because of the zero valency of the elements. They were also called the inert gases for many years because they almost completely lacked in any chemical reactivity. It was only when Neil Bartlett in 1962 successfully made a compound which included the element xenon, that the group became known as the noble gases. It was found that xenon bound chemically to oxygen and fluorine and so it showed that there is indeed, limited reactivity in this group of elements. Between the ears of 1911 and 1914, Henry Moseley established the atomic numbers of the elements in the periodic table. This atomic number refers to the number of elect rons in a neutral atom. He discovered the atomic number by using an experimental procedure which involved each element producing X-rays. He noticed that as the atomic weight increased, so did the energy of the X-rays. He didn’t understand this until he assigned numbers to the elements. This was a breakthrough in the development of the periodic table and gave rise to a periodic law.This law states that ‘The properties of elements are periodic functions of their atomic number’. This Law was better than that of Mendeleev. When Moseley arranged the elements in order of increasing atomic number instead of increasing atomic mass then the irregularities that existed in Mendeleev’s table were gone. It is because of Moseley’s work that the periodic table that we have today is in existence. The final crucial change to occur in the period table of the elements came about from the work of Glenn Seaborg in 1940.He discovered the transuranium elements 94-102, sta rting with plutonium. A year later, Seaborg and his team discovered the isotope plutonium-239. He found that this isotope could be used to construct a nuclear bomb due to the isotope being fissionable by bombardment with slow neutrons. The amount of the plutonium-239 was very little so he began working on how to increase the abundance of the isotope. This research led him to join the Manhattan Project to make bombs for the U. S. Army.When the war ended he began focusing on the other trasuranium elements. Seaborg noticed that the heaviest elements were placed in the main body of the periodic table and he made another change to the table once again. He removed these heavy elements and placed displayed them separately from the main body of the table. He named the elements the Actinide series. As well as identifying the transuranium elements, Seaborg and his team brought to light more than 100 isotopes of the elements in the periodic table.Seaborg received the honour of having an elemen t named after him in appreciation of his extensive research into the periodic table. This element is named seaborgium (Sg). A transition metal is one which forms one or more stable ions which have incompletely filled d orbitals. Members of the transition elements and their compounds are good catalysts, probably due to their ability to change oxidation state. In the case of transition metals, they act as good catalysts because they are able to adsorb other substances onto their surface.The 38 elements occur in groups three to twelve, and it is their valence electrons that occur in more than one shell that cause them to have many oxidation states. Most of the transition metals take a coloured form, as do some of their ionic compounds. Because of the electrons in the d subshell, they are separated into different energy levels, causing the elements to absorb the frequencies of white light. Hence they appear to be coloured. The discovery of new elements, largely due to research in radioa ctivity, has had an appreciable impact on the development of the periodic table.The discovery of radioactivity in 1896 by Henri Becquerel inspired Marie and Pierre Curie to devote themselves to researching this area of chemistry. They succeeded in isolated radium and polonium just two years later. Marie measured the radiation given out by compounds of uranium and noticed that there was a similar radiation emitted by thorium compounds. During this time, she made the unexpected discovery that pitchblende contains a miniscule amount of an unknown radiating element. Pierre realised the importance of his wife’s work and joined in her research.Over the next year they found two new elements and began work on isolating them so their chemical and physical properties could be established. The third radioactive element was found three years after the discovery of radioactivity when actinium was separated from pitchblende by Debierne. The discovery of these three elements and radon were not the only ‘new’ elements found. Approximately 35 more elements were discovered in the early twentieth century, but these were later identified as isotopes of elements that had already been discovered.The identification of these isotopes and elements give rise to the modern periodic table of the elements. Some would say that although the periodic table is informative and a great discovery, the table does have some limits. Questions were raised in connection with the nonexistence of elements heavier than uranium. There were two main questions raised: Was it possible for heavier elements to occur in other parts of the universe? Was the lack of these elements caused by the instability of heavier atomic nuclei?John Newlands was the only scientist associated with the periodic table to consider the possibilities beyond the limits of the atomic weights. He talked about its upper and lower limits and concluded that there was a simple association between the atomic weights and the ordinal numbers. Some scientists continued to leave vacancies ahead of hydrogen for the neutron, electron, alpha-particle or the hydrogen ion, even after it had been known that the order number was indicated by the number of protons in an atom of the element.So today we are left with a period table of the elements that looks like this. There are eighteen groups and seven periods along with the lanthanoids and the actinoids in a separate grouping underneath the main body of the table. The table is laid out in such a way that the electron configuration for each element is valid as you go across a period. The periods get longer in the periods 4 – 7 to accommodate their electron configuration with s, p, d and f sub orbitals.The periodic table that we have today is a valuable resource for means of education. It’s something that many people take for granted, not realising that it was built over centuries by many great scientists. The modern layout is easy to use and com prehend making the understanding of organic chemistry as a whole easier. Although there may be some doubts to the validity of the table, no one can deny the fact that this family tree of the elements is nothing short of a genius way to assist in the teaching and learning of chemistry.