Case Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 9

Case - Essay Example Moore Tires offered Jonathan, who was an employee and owner of Morecedes Tires an employment opportunity that he agreed to. While conducting his routine responsibilities within the new job, the claimant was an employee of Moore Tires and not Morecedes tires, where he had previously worked. While undertaking his duties there, the claimant was injured and sustained significant injuries to his body. As Jonathan was unhooking a trailer, a jack handle from the trailer struck him. He suffered from various broken bones on his face as well as a detached retina. Despite having sustained injuries while undertaking his routine activities, Jonathan was not compensated by Moore tires for these injuries. To determine the status of employment of the claimant to the organisation (Moore Tires), during the time when he sustained injuries, and whether he was undertaking the job that he was supposed to be doing within the company. The kind of claim that Jonathan is seeking can only be made to individuals who are employees of the company and this can be proved. The form of agreement that the claimant had with Moore Tires has not been clearly defined as a formal agreement or an informal agreement. As the proprietor of Morecedes Tires, the claimant had been undertaking other duties assigned by Moore Tires and was paid through Morecedes, which was an independent company. The activities that he was undertaking when he sustained the injuries could similarly be on the same capacity and this has not been defined. The employment contract must be produced to show evidence that the claimant was actually an employee of Moore Tires and not an independent contractor. There is also need to determine the employer’s right of control in the work relationship that existed between the claimant and the employer (Miller, 2012). If the control of the employment terms and condition of work lies within the employer, then the claims that are being made by

History of Modern Philosophy Essay Example for Free

History of Modern Philosophy Essay 1- How, and with what success, does Hume deal with the apparent anomaly of the missing shade of blue? In A Treatise of Human Nature, Hume attempt to rid 18th century moral philosophy of what he considered to be meaningless and vacuous concepts underlying our theory of knowledge be it metaphysical arguments or hypotheses seemingly formulated from the mere imagination of many philosophers. Influenced by the emerging trend of empiricism and naturalistic science like Newton and Locke, which Hume owed much of his basic principles from Hume presented the Treatise as an attempt to introduce experimental methods of reasoning into the area of moral philosophy. In the first book of the Treatise, entitled Of the Understanding, Hume devoted the first part Of the Origin of our Ideas for explaining the basis of his philosophical system that appeals on the similar empiricist approach as that of Lockes. However, curiously, Hume had cited an explicit counter-argument the problem of missing shade of blue that could invalidate his whole philosophical system that is based on this central principle. Even more puzzling is Humes complacency with this problem, and although he considers the problem as singular and exceptional, he fully admitted to this counter example and did not try to resolve it. Yet, this case merits a deeper investigation, and it is this essays attempt to see whether his apparent complacency with the missing shade of blue would have any effect on the strength of his philosophical system, and other attempts to render this problem irrelevant. The problem of the missing shade of blue by Hume is as follows: suppose a man who is well acquainted with colours for thirty years and has seen all the colours in the set of possible colour spectrum, except for one particular shade of blue. Then, he is presented with a full spectrum of the shades of blue, from the darkest shade to the darkest, all except the one particular shade in which he has not yet encountered. It is then conceivable that this man would be able to produce this single missing shade of blue. The problem of this lies in the basis of the empiricist doctrine at which Hume is following, namely, that all ideas must be preceded by experience, yet, in this example, it is demonstrated that it is possible for an idea to precede sensation experience, as the man is able to produce the idea of the missing shade of blue without having first encountered it through his senses. At this point, I would like to elaborate more on Humes theory of mind and the origin of ideas as that would clarify why this example is so damaging to Humes system. As stated before, Humes project can be put into a general label of empiricism, which is a belief that all knowledge comes from experience. Much of his line of argument resembles that of Lockes, another prominent empiricist. Hume even borrowed Lockes key terminology to a certain extent, with terms like ideas and impressions. Locke believes that ideas are whatever the mind perceives in itself, or is in the immediate object of perception, thought, or understanding, as when one perceives, thinks, or understands, the ideas are before the mind. This limits all ideas to be originated from experience (perception), and also shows the connection between thought and perception and their interchangeable nature. The ideas can be divided into ideas of sensation (touch, smell, sight, etc.) and ideas of reflection (fear, happiness, sadness, etc.), which can then be separated further into simple and complex ideas, where complex ideas are derived from simple ones. Hume follows this line of argument with some modifications. He claims he restores the term ideas to its original sense by classifying the objects the mind is perceiving as perceptions, not directly as ideas as Locke have used, and from perceptions he then distinguished them into impressions and ideas, where they differ in degree, as impressions are more vivid and forceful before the mind, such when sees a colour, and the ideas are more faint, such when one thinks of a colour after having the impressions of it. Hume then makes the distinction of simple and complex ideas, and by introspection, Hume demonstrates that one can think of any simple ideas and then find corresponding simple impressions that are exact copies of each other, and one can do this with any conceivable simple ideas. Complex ideas are different in that they are composites of simple ideas. And with this experiment in introspection, Hume then postulates his first thesis, That all our simple ideas in their first appearance are derivd from simple impressions, which are correspondent to them, and which they exactly represent. We may call this the Copy Principle, as it simply states that every simple idea is a copy of a corresponding impression. One of the most important components of this thesis is the fact that its a genetic one in that it shows the origin of ideas as following from impressions as impressions to be the cause of ideas. Again, this is proved by the constant conjunction of simple impressions preceding simple ideas, which one can do to every simple idea one may have. Another support Hume gives is that of a man born defective of certain perceptive organs, hence, missing certain impressions (e.g. sight or sound), one would not have any ideas of those corresponded with the impressions, for it is evident that deaf people also have great trouble speaking. The genetic component is important in that they validate the empiricism doctrine on the reliance of experience. Anyhow, now we can see how the problem seems to defeat the purpose of this thesis. Moreover, a counter example, from a logical standpoint, one counter example is sufficient to turn an argument invalid. So why did Hume not deal with this problem? We may try to take it as Hume claimed the problem to be a singular case where it is not worth investing time on. Being a singular case, one may have to take the argument in closer inspection. Hume states explicitly that the man in question may have enjoyed the sights for thirty years and perfectly well acquainted with all the possible colours except one, and that may be the attempt by him to restrict this to some specific scenario. It is implicitly embedded in the counter example that the subject of this example must be well acquainted with all the colours, such that one can make up colours in ones mind, much like how only musicians of a certain skill level can sight read music. Thus, it appeals to some amount of experience such that one may be bound to experience, habits, or personal background. Yet, when given further consideration, this seems to be invalid as well, as these restrictions do not seem to hold. As far as experience go, a child who does not know what turquoise mean does not necessarily have an idea of the colour turquoise. So this case is certainly not an exceptional case and Hume had not dealt with it satisfactorily. Yet, Humean scholars have tried to find solutions for this problem and some even disregard it as a problem altogether. Firstly, the first objection to this counter argument is that there is no way to test whether the person in question does in fact have an idea of the missing shade of blue before seeing the missing shade or not. There is a great difference between being able to spot a missing spot in a complete spectrum of blue, and being able to produce an idea of the shade of blue without first encountering the impression of it. If ones sees a constant change in shade from, lets say blue-0 where it is darkest to blue-255 where it is the lightest shade, then if there is one shade of blue missing, it would be quite noticeable as the mind notices the jump in gradual and constant change, but it does not follow that one could create an idea of that missing shade. To test this is also impossible, as if one is to reproduce colour, it still does not follow that he produces the idea since he would only be mixing the existing colours to brighter shades, and thus, after finishing mixing the colour, one then has the idea of the colour following the impression. All other ways of testing is equally futile because they all involve exposing the subject to the missing impression one way or another. Alternatively, if we look at the thesis again, and instead of taking it as a genetic form of the argument that Hume meant it to be, and instead, modifies it slightly to a more analytical empiricism form. Humes thesis on the theory of mind, upon closer inspection, can be taken as a form of meaning empiricism, in the sense that ideas to him are the same as different thoughts, which are different kinds of concepts, which is linked to when one understands something in a linguistic sense one is linking the word with the meaning, or the concepts associated to the word. Hence, if we think of the initial genetic content of the thesis, that impressions strictly precedes ideas, we may relax it slightly in favour of the analogy to meaning empiricism and forget its genetic form and instead formulate the following thesis: that all simple ideas must have corresponding conceivable and encounterable impressions. By doing this, we are no longer faced with the problem of the missing shade, since it is perfectly possible that the subject would be able to encounter this particular shade. Lastly, from a personal view, I see the problem of the missing shade of blue as not a problem at all, but Humes mistake lies in classifying colours as simple ideas. It is true that the impressions of light blue might very well be different than dark blue, so to speak, but to use Humes method, it is possible to separate using our imagination the components light and dark from blue. Thus, it is the impression of blueness which is a simple impression, combined with the impression of light and absent of light that combine to give this multitude of shades of colours. Take this example, suppose some neutral shade of blue, lets number it blue 124, were put somewhere with light, you will be able to see blue 124. However, lets say for some reason, the room becomes lighter, certainly, the shade of blue 124 would have changed to some lighter shade of perhaps blue 200. If we vary the light in the room from darkest to lightest, it is then possible to observe from the darkest to the lightest shade of blue likewise. One may argue that the colour can be calibrated to some objective criteria, perhaps the ratio of pigments of colour blue of some sort, yet, that does not matter since all that matters to Hume is indeed only impression. Furthermore, using this example, we can also say that perhaps the subject of the experiment may have in fact encountered the particular shade of blue sometime before without acknowledging it. Conclusively, although Humes treatment of the missing shade of blue is very limited and very complacent, it is perhaps Humes own mistake for considering such example a problem, rather than the problem itself being a threat to his theory of origins of ideas.

Theories of planned behavior: Smoking

Theories of planned behavior: Smoking To examine if the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) predict smoking behavior, 35 data sets (N= 267,977) have been synthesized, containing 219 effect sizes between the model variables using a meta-analytic structural equation modeling approach (MASEM). Consistent with the TPBs predictions, 1) smoking behavior was related to smoking intentions (weighted mean r =.30), 2) intentions were based on attitudes (weighted mean r =.16) and subjective norms (weighted mean r =.20). Consistent with TPBs hypotheses, perceived behavioral control was related to smoking intentions (weighted mean r = -.24) and behaviors (weighted mean r =-.20) and it contribute significantly to cigarette consumption. The strength of associations, however, was influenced by studies and participants characteristics. Smoking remains the leading preventable cause of death and disease in western countries. Despite the constant reduction in smoking prevalence among adults over the last 20 years in developed countries, smoking rates have not decreased among young people, and the highest youth smoking rates can be found in Central and Eastern Europe. In an attempt to understand the psychosocial determinants of smoking initiation and maintenance, a variety of social cognitive models have been applied. One of the most influential theories predicting smoking behavior, the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) 1has been used both for conducting a wide range of empirical research on smoking behavior antecedents and for designing many theory-based intervention programs to reduce tobacco consumption. An increasing number of empirical studies have examined this model in relation to smoke and the variability of results suggests that a quantitative integration of this literature would prove valuable. Up to the present, various quantitative reviews of the TPB have been performed but centered in other behavioral outcomes, as exercise, 2 condom use 3 and others. Hence, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the success of TPB as a predictor of smoking behavior through meta-analytic structural equation modeling (MASEM), involving the techniques of synthesizing correlation matrices and fitting SEM as suggested by Viswesvaran and Ones. 4 The TPB, an extension of the Theory of Reasoned Action,5 incorporates both social influences and personal factors as predictors, specifying a limited number of psychological variables that can influence a behavior, namely 1) intention; 2) attitude; 3) subjective norm (SN); and 4) perceived behavioral control (PBC). 1 First, subjective norms are conceptualized as the pressure that people perceive from important others to execute a behavior. Second, peoples positive or negative evaluations of their performing a behavior are conceptualized as other predictor of intention (attitudes). Third, PBC represents ones evaluation about the easy or difficulty of adopting the behavior and it is assumed to reflect the obstacles that one encountered in past behavioral performances. Finally, attitudes, SN and PBC are proposed to influence behavior through their influence on intentions, which summarize persons motivation to act in a particular manner and indicate how hard the person is willing to try and how much time and effort he or she is willing to devote in order to perform a behavior. 6 The TPB has been applied through a relevant amount of primary studies and their predictive utility has been proved meta-analytically both for a wide range of behaviors 7, 6 and for specific health risky or health protective behaviors. 3, 2 These previous meta-analyses, however, have neither examined how useful the TPB is to predict smoking behavior, nor the overall structure of the model applied to tobacco consumption. Hence, some concerns remain relating to TPB and its utility to predict smoking behavior that deserves further examination through MASEM. Firstly, a weakness of the SN-intention relation has been found by previous meta-analysis 7 compared with attitude-intention and PBC-intention associations. It has been suggested that this lack of association indicates that intentions are influenced primarily by personal factors 6. In spite of, some primary studies finding strong beta values, ranging from .44 to .62, for attitude on smoking intention such as Hanson, 8 while others founded values near .18 or .19. 9, 10 At the same time, although researchers have theorized about the importance of PBC in this domain, regarding health-risky behaviors, the correlation between PBC and behavior had sometimes been disappointing. 3 One possible explanation is that PBC may not capture actual control. Other is that risky behaviors performed in social contexts may be more determined by risky-conducive circumstances than by personal factors. 11 Moreover, primary studies on smoking behavior have found contrasting results for PBC -behavior, such as r =.55 12 or r =.06. 13 Based on these discrepant findings, we proposed, as a first purpose of this review, to test the strength of relationships between TPB constructs applied to smoking behavior. Secondly, in order to clarify the influence of moderator variables and to provide further explanation for the variability on the effect sizes (ES) between primary studies, some studies and participants characteristics may be taken into account. Ajzen and Fishbein 5 argued that intention and behavior should be measured as close in time as possible to the behavior. In spite of that, primary studies on smoking behavior 14, 15 have found that beta values for intention- behavior association have been maintained during six months (à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¢=.38), nine months (à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¢=.35) and a year (à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¢=.35). Thus, it is important to quantitatively review the moderator effect of time interval on strength of TPB constructs. It has been recognized that culture provides a social context that affects prevalence of certain behaviors. Moreover, some studies have compared results of TPB applied to smoking behavior by using diverse ethnic groups into the USA, such as Hanson, 8 while a great amount of primary studies have expanded their applicability to different cultural contexts. 16, 15, 10 These studies have revealed contradictory results, such as for Puerto-Ricans and non-Hispanic whites, SN was not found as a significant predictor of intention, 8 while it was significant for African-American teenagers, or beta values for SN-behavior ranging from à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¢=.20 for UK samples 17 to à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¢ =.43 for Netherlanders students. 18 Hence, because of cultural differences with respect to the SN-outcomes association, there is a need to meta-analytically examine the moderator effect of culture. Ajzen and Fishbein 5 and Ajzen 19 also recommended scale correspondence of measures for intention to properly predict behavior. However, meta-analysis on TPB applied to exercise behavior have found that only 50% of examined studies had scale correspondence, 20 and that ES was the strongest for the intention-behavior association when studies had scale correspondence. 2 Based on these previous findings, we contend that a thorough examination of moderator effect of scale correspondence on strength of smoking intention and behavior relationships is needed. Research indicates that teenage years are associated with heightened sensitivity to SN 6 and differences have been found in previous meta-analyses between age groups regarding their intention -exercise behavior association. 2 At the same time, only one study has tested gender differences applying TPB to cigarette smoking, 13 founding that the model fitted better among female students. Despite the fact that no consistent evidence has been found relating to the moderator effect of age and gender on the TPB constructs association, we state that an exploratory analysis would be advisable. Thirdly, while previous studies on TPB on smoking behavior had used stepwise regression analyses, more recent ones apply SEM or path-analyses. When all TPB relationships were tested simultaneously, same patterns would change. For instance, after controlling the influence of intention, the PBC- behavior association would turn to negligible values (à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¢=.05), such as Albarracà ­n et al 3 proved for condom use. Moreover, based on the fruitful results of meta-analysis obtained in many research domains, 3, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25 it can be beneficial to use meta-analytic structural equation modeling techniques (MASEM) in testing causal models, such as some authors suggested. 4, 26 Based on these methodological and conceptual issues, the main objective of this meta-analysis was threefold. The first objective was to test the strength of the relationships between the TPB constructs with the smoking behavior. Specifically, we hypothesized: (1) large ES for intention-behavior, PBC-intention, PBC-behavior, and attitude -intention; (2) moderate ES for SN- intention; (3) larger ES for intention-behavior than for PBC-behavior and (4) larger ES for PBC-intention and SN-intention than for attitude-intention. The second purpose was to test the influence of moderator variables on the relationships between the TPB constructs. Specifically, we proposed (5) larger ES for attitude- behavior, PBC- behavior, SN-behavior, and intention-behavior when measures have been taken simultaneously; (6) larger ES when the time interval was shorter; (7) the largest ES for SN-intention and SN- behavior when participants belong to a collectivist culture, coded as Others into the category orig in of the sample; (8) larger ES for attitude- intention, SN-intention, PBC-intention and intention -behavior when constructs have been measured with scale correspondence; and (9) mean age of the sample, percentage of males and year of publication would moderate the relationships among TPB constructs. The third purpose was to test the predictive utility of TPB on smoking behavior through MASEM analyses. Specifically, we hypothesized that: (10) intention and PBC will predict smoking behavior; (11) attitude, PBC, and SN will predict intention and (12) intention will be a stronger predictor of behavior than PBC. Method Literature search In order to locate relevant studies, we conducted a computerized bibliographic search of the PsycInfo, MedLine, ERIC, using the terms smoke, smoking behavior, nicotine, tobacco consumption, and TPB as keywords. We also conducted a manual search of journals that regularly published smoking behavior research. Descendent searches have been conducted based on the references section of retrieved studies specifically previous TPB meta-analyses including multiple behavioral outcomes- and some authors have been contacted to obtain unpublished papers. This processes resulted in 52 studies retrieved in full text to further screening. Inclusion and exclusion criteria A study was considered for this meta-analysis if it met the following inclusion criteria: (1) the study had to report quantitative research on TPB applied to smoking behavior; (2) the study had to report a Pearson correlation coefficient between TPB constructs or data that enable us to calculate ES. Upon closer examination of the remaining 52 studies, a total of 27 studies were included which provided an amount of 35 independent samples (N= 267,977) and 219 ES. A total amount of 25 studies were excluded. Reasons for elimination have been that TPB construct measures were not included (8 studies), i.e.: 27, or that the studies were focused on smoking cessation instead of on smoking behavior (17 studies), i.e.: 28, 29. Only one dissertation has been included and no unpublished papers have been obtained. The studies that focused on smoking cessation have been excluded because the outcome variable in the model-smoking behavior versus smoking cessation-differs substantially. These studies will be used to conduct a separate meta-analysis on smoking cessation. All the included studies are marked with an asterisk in the reference section. Coding of studies The study characteristics coded were: year of publication, origin of the sample, scale correspondence, and time interval between TPB measures. The subject characteristics coded were: the number or participants, mean age of the sample, and gender (as percentage of men in the sample). We consider relevant to code how smoking behavior was assessed (i.e., objective vs. self-report.) but we could find only one study which used objective measures, as CO (carbon monoxide) tests. 30 Following the procedures of Symons and Hausenblas, 2 the time interval between intention and behavior was examined by classifying the studies as: (1) short (less than or equal to six months), (2) medium (greater than six months and less than or equal to one year), (3) large (greater that one year). Regarding scale correspondence, we examined the method section of each study in search of the detailed information. Such as Symons and Hausenblas suggested 2, scale correspondence has been fulfilled when the same magni tude, frequencies or response formats are used to assess the constructs. If intention and behavior were measured exactly with the same items, we considered that scale equivalence was present. If intention was measured with a broader redaction (i.e.: How certain are you that you could resist smoking this term?) while behavior was assessed by a more detailed item (i.e.: How many cigarettes did you smoke per day?), or by asking participants to classify themselves as non-smoker/current-smoker, we considered that scale correspondence has not been fulfilled. In order to ensure accuracy, the studies were coded by two authors independently, reaching an intercoder agreement of 90%. The level of agreement reached was highly satisfactory and inconsistencies were solved by consensus. Some decisions about independence of the samples were taken. If the same study design was carried out in multiple but independent samples (i. e, boys and girls, asthmatic and no-asthmatic students, African-American, Puerto Rican and Non-Hispanic white teenagers) results were entered into the meta-analysis as independent samples. 8, 18, 13 In other cases, only one ES per study has been considered. Data analysis We followed Hedges and Oldkins 31 meta-analytic fixed effects procedures to estimate weighted mean correlations. In these procedures, correlations were converted using Fishers r to z transformations and weighted by N 3, the inverse of which is the variance of z, in analyses. Using Cohens criteria, 32 ES values of .10, .30 and .50 were considered small, moderate and large effects, respectively. Graphical procedures were used to explore the skewness of data. When an extreme value was detected, analyses were carried both including and excluding the outlier. Next, we tested the homogeneity of the ES (Q statistics) and we analyzed the influence of moderator variables using categorical model (ANOVA analogous) and weighted regression analyses (fixed-effect model). One problem in the interpretation of meta-analytic results is the potential bias of the mean ES due to sampling error or to systematic omission of studies that are hard to locate. According to Orwin, 33 the tolerance index of nul l results should be calculated and there must be more than 300 unpublished studies (and not recovered by the meta-analyst) for the results to be annulled. However, this statement should be qualified because the index by categories yields small values in some of these categories. Therefore, we can conclude that publication bias is not very likely to threaten the results severely. MASEM analyses Meta-analytic structural equation modeling, which involves the techniques of synthesizing correlation matrices and fitting SEM, is usually done by applying meta-analytic techniques on a series of correlation matrices to create a pooled correlation matrix, which then can be analyzed using SEM, as suggested Viswesvaran and Ones. 4 However, these procedures have received criticism by Becker (1992) and more recently by Cheung and Chan. 26 Despite some problems, the major advantage of these univariate approaches are their ease of application in applied contexts. Based on these recommendations, we used Viswesvaran and Ones procedure to test the strength of the association among the TPB constructs with smoking behavior. The complete weighted correlation matrix was 5 x 5 and it was submitted to SEM analyses. The predicted model was fitted assuming the harmonic mean (N= 239) as sample size, 4 and it was estimated with unweighted least squares procedures. The proposed model, according to TPB l iterature, had three exogenous latent variables and two endogenous ones, such as depicted Figure 1. Besides chi-square, we reported Goodness of Fit Index (GFI), Adjusted Goodness of Fit Index (AGFI), Normative Fit Index (NFI), and Root Mean Squared Residual (RMR) as fitness indices. It is typically assumed that GFI, AGFI, and NFI >=.90, RMR values

A Feminist Reading of Updikes Rabbit, Run Essay -- Feminism Feminist

A Feminist Reading of Rabbit, Run  Ã‚        Ã‚  Ã‚   I do not like Harry "Rabbit" Angstrom. This creation of John Updike, this man who abandons his pregnant wife and young child, and his alliance to the late 1950's feeling of unrest and rebellion makes me angry. Many times throughout this novel my cheeks flushed furiously and I could not contain my exasperated sighs. When I read the last sentences of Rabbit, Run and closed the book, I was disappointed. It was not because Updike fails to make it clear where or to whom Rabbit runs (home to his wife? back to the prostitute?). Surprisingly, I was most disappointed because the novel had come to an end. Although my reaction to Rabbit was negative, it was a very strong reaction; I had become emotionally involved. Because Updike created this anti-heroic but fascinating main character, I was absorbed into his world. I do not like Harry "Rabbit" Angstrom, but because Updike's writerly skill, I understand him. And, by understanding him, I am able to realize the importance his place i s among the most influential (particularly American) literary characters.   Part of the reason that Updike's novel (and the subsequent three Rabbit novels to follow) has become such an essential piece of literature in the American tradition is Rabbit himself. Although he is not likeable, there are various important aspects and depths to the character of Harry Angstrom that cannot be overlooked. Some critics choose to look at the surface and explore Rabbit's nature comparatively with rabbits (the animal). There are many instances when we do see Rabbit acting much like his namesake. For example when he visits his parents home Updike describes this in very rabbit-like terms: Rabbit stealthily approaches hi... ...h him for anything.    Works Cited Detweiler, Robert. John Updike. Indianapolis: Indiana University, 1984. 33-45.    Kielland-Lund, Erik. "The Americanness of Rabbit, Run: A Transatlantic View." New Essays on Rabbit, Run. Ed. Stanley Trachtenberg. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993. 77-94.    O'Connell, Mary. Updike and the Patriarchal Dilemma. Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press, 1996. 13-36.    Pinsker, Sanford. "Restlessness in the 1950s: What Made Rabbit Run?" New Essays on Rabbit, Run. Ed. Stanley Trachtenberg. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993. 53-76.    Stevick, Philip. "The Full Range of Updike's Prose." New Essays on Rabbit, Run. Ed. Stanley Trachtenberg. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993. 31-52.    Updike, John. Rabbit, Run. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1960.   

Relationship between humans and nature Essay

Marlowe in his poem ‘The passionate shepherd to his love’ talks of the strong link between humans and the nature that surrounds them. The poem from beginning to the end talks mainly of the nature that surrounds us wherever we go. The poem makes us understand that we are actually dependent on nature for all our needs. The nature in its splendor is so beautiful that Marlowe has actually united with the environment. The poem captures the joy of love, in the midst of nature. In fact reading the poem makes one wonder, if the natural splendor that surrounded Marlowe when he wrote the poem, was the reason for his love to flow like a river. Nature makes one forget about the present. In fact, it makes us forget all about ourselves and become one with nature as we enjoy and be part of the beauty that surrounds us in all its glory. Marlowe in this poem talks more of the nature that surrounds him and less about his love. The poem talks of the quiet simplicity of rural life and how humans are part of nature. There is no way of separating humans from nature. The humans are dependent on nature for their very existence. The nature is dependent on humans to be admired and glorified. The human dependence on nature is highlighted by the fact that Marlowe is sitting upon a rock. He wants to make a bed of roses; wool for a coat from the lambs, buckles for the slippers from gold, a belt of straw, the list goes on. Marlowe by writing this poem has made the readers understand the relationship between humans and nature. Annie Dillard in ‘Sojourner’ talks of the Earth in its entire splendor. She talks of the mangrove tree that floats and becomes like an island in a sense. She rediscovers the magic of nature and how it can be viewed in a beautiful sense. People ordinarily will not give a second thought to a tree floating. She magnifies the significance and projects a simple natural event into something extraordinary. In fact Annie Dillard brings to life the mangrove tree that is all but dead. A tree that has no life has been brought to life with her words. When Dillard talks about the mangrove tree, she actually means the Earth and its movements. She tells that Earth is a sojourner, creating its own path and moves in a path that cannot be followed by any other thing on Earth. She tells that Earth is a wet ball thrown into eternity and humans are part of this. We the humans and nature have united to become one. She ends with a question asking what will happen at the end of the journey. The mangrove tree will finally end up in the Ocean. So where do the Earth and the humans living on it finally end up, is a question left unanswered. Mangroves play a major role in the essay by Annie Dillard. She uses the tree to show the human nature. The mangrove starts from scratch and builds a strong foundation. The human nature and relationships are similar. We all start from scratch and build many strong relationships as we grow. Some who are not able to make any relationships are like the mangrove tree felled by the hurricane, being tossed and not knowing the final destination. Annie Dillard unites with nature and is part of it. She talks of the Earths movement in words that make a person imagine and feel the true aura of nature. She has merged the human nature and the nature to be examples of each other.

Creativity and Creative Industries

Creativity and Creative Industries Introduction: Creativity and creative industries Creativity can be referred to as developing of a new substance that has never existed; it could be a solution or product. Creativity occurs if one invents something new that has never existed, or if it exists elsewhere, the creator is not aware of it.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Creativity and Creative Industries specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Creativity can also refer to a new process of tackling something or inventing a new idea. One can also introduce an existing product into a totally different market. With the emerging technology, upcoming industrious people are able to create their work and hence establishing outlets for their creativity as a way of promoting and distributing their creative work. The creative industries may include design, architecture, writing and publishing, music, photography, and performing arts. The screen production such as in the tel evision is inclusive. Hence, creative industries are economic activities that concentrate on the generation of knowledge and ideas. These industries are usually as a result of an individual creativeness inclusive of talents and skills (Queensland University of technology, n.d). Nevertheless, the creative industries contribute widely in a country’s economy due to their uniqueness in their operations, thus attracting many clients from within and abroad. Creativity yields creative industries, which in turn lead to employment, growth, and development in a country. Hence, creative industries contribute to gross domestic product (GDP), in distribution term and job creation (Henry, 2007, pp 9). To build creative organizations, knowledge and leadership is required; therefore, the presence of an ideal leader is important. This is a person who has the capabilities of spotting an idea that suits well with the needs of an organization.Advertising Looking for essay on business ec onomics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More He is an entrepreneur who finds ways of selling and guiding his/her through implementation. He is however conscious of how his ideas can be affected by contradicting actions of managers who are not keen. However, creativity is challenged by several factors, for instance, it is not easy to demonstrate the value of a new service or product that is not in existence. New ideas may be threatening to the existing market; nevertheless, if they sail through, developing of these ideas in to tangible products may be an easy task. There are a number of factors that an ideal leader should consider including the surrounding environment, which must promote idea generation. Scanning for new opportunities should be done continuously by clarifying the emerging problem. Practical techniques should also be implemented to encourage the generation of new possibilities. When the idea is finally implemented , a follow-up should be done regularly to ensure that the idea follows the right track (Arnold, 2010). Creativity can fall in many categories, for instance, the private health sectors. In is evident that private hospitals have more medical facilities as compared to public hospitals, which are limited to facilities. This is most evident in developing countries where a patient has to be referred to a private hospital to be attended. This may be due to the fact that a certain machine is only available in a certain private hospital. The profound point here is that, the management of such a hospital thought through how to attract patients or gain fame as a hospital. They then opted to import an expensive life saving machine form abroad, after surveying and discovering that such a machine does not exist in any of the hospitals in that country.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Creativity and Creative Industries specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Such an idea changes the lives of many people in the society, from the patient to the new employees / experts needed to operate the machine. Another example could be establishing a borehole in a community that has scarcity of water and by use of technology, pumping the water to taps. The business can decide on how to charge for the water service, thus making a community’s life easier and at the same time making money. Creativity is what gives sight to the blind, and what provides a better heart to the children with a heart condition. Through creativity, these surgeries are innovated, studied, and taught to medical specialists such that, when they perform the surgeries, they are a success. Therefore, everything in our lives revolves around creativity, which develops into ideas that form creative industries that deal with different products and services. Hence, creativity has contributed greatly to the community in that, it provides quality life for people in the society, and this is evident through a number of creative industries that surround us; architecture, designs, advertising, software, publishing, internet, electronics, infrastructure, among others. With technological know-how, our live move a little fast, since we no longer have to send an urgent letter via post office that task can be completed through an instant chat message or through yahoo-mail or face book. Despite the importance associated with creative industries, the cultural industries are also of benefit to a country such as the museums. However, it is due to their tradition state probably shuns visitors away; nevertheless, creative industries can boost such industries technologically to revive their fame.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The creative industries can also contribute to the cultural industries via architectural services, thus improving the outward image of these heritages. The internet has emerged as a result of creative industries, with its presence tasks are completed faster and communication is much easier due to the social clouds like facebook, my space among others. Information can also be acquired fast due to the search sites such as; Google, wikipedia and yahoo among others which can be referred to as information clouds. With the emerge of cloud culture, the internet has enabled exchange of information through chatting which enables one to express themselves and understand other peoples culture through interaction with other online communities. Culture gives us a sense of belonging and identity and hence through sharing of information and interaction, through clouds such as facebook, twitter and my space among others. Knowledge is the key to success, since it is through knowledge that one can be able to develop a generated idea. However, according to Arnold (2010), creativity may be faced by obstacles if the organization’s culture, does not entertain new ideas, but instead it criticizes them. Management may not be willing to take risks, thus hindering implementation of ideas. In organization where workload is routine and unrealistic expectations are required, it proofs difficult for the creativity to occur, since employee are always occupied with work. New Zealand’s creative industries According to a journal by Fritsch (2008), creativity is seen as a process mostly, other than a product in the earlier years, people used their own skills and to expand. In addition, with the presence of creative process, it leads to creative production and if creative output is emphasized, definitely a creative outcome results, hence leading to an economic success. The creative industries in New Zealand lead to the creation of goods, services, and knowledge in the textile, des ign, fashion, production, art and even in the photography sector. According to Grants et al (2009), the New Zealand creative industries led to 121,000 jobs in 2006; nevertheless, this sector led to increase of incomes, such that, as in 2006, the employee earned about $52,000 per year. A community creates a relationship that encourages the exchange of ideas and risk taking in a business environment. Nevertheless, the relationship in creative industries included a number of elements among them being an idea, which resulted to a process, experience, innovation, and collaboration. Creative industries are a part of Auckland, which is in New Zealand. According to Bruin (2005, pp 143), the creative industries in New Zealand are well acknowledged since it is believed to be a major contributor to the country’s economy. The New Zealand film industry is an example of a creative industry, which has over the years, attained recognition internationally by participating in movie production. For instance, the return of the lords, the whale rider, resulted to winning of an award like the Oscar for the actors, directors, screen artist, and digital animators in 2004. Due to technology, New Zealand has special effects on their productions, hence producing awards of this approach are evident in the innocentive company that broadcasts scientific questions for scientists to solve. Thirdly is the peer-vetted creative production approach, that is applicable in cases where no right answer exists thus, the online community task is find an answer that will respond to the customer’s tastes and preferences. Threadless is one of the companies that use this approach, where assigns a t-shirt design competition to the public. The distributed human intelligence tasking is the final approach, which is used when human intelligence tasks need to be tackled. Crowdsourcing organizations normally apply this approach when a lot of labor is required to organize piles of information in a p articular systematic way. Hence the crowdsourcing organization distributes the data online for the online communities to handle it. Amazon mechanics Turk is a company that allows organizations to hire an online community that can perform human intelligence tasks. However crowdsourcing faces critiques on its functionality, people tend to think that crowdsourcing organizations exploit an individual’s talent for the organization’s benefit; however, the online community participates willingly without being forced to and if any of their ideas win, they are then rewarded (Braham 2011, pp 6). The interaction between the creative industries and the cultural industries Creative industries are yielded from cultural industries. The difference is that the creative industries trend with up-to-date technology as opposed to the cultural industries. The cultural industries emerged in the early years and even then, people were creative as they are today. The creativity within culture i s evident in the way crops were grown from sowing seeds, and meat products were extracted from rearing animal, while wood was retrieved from growing of trees. Therefore, culture mostly relate to the past activities. Some of the cultural industries include broadcasting, internet, music, publishing, advertising, and even marketing industries. Some of the cultural products like the theatres have been modernized to big screen cinema, and in homes, the televisions are used to convey messages. Nevertheless, cultural institutions like the museums are present, thus portraying the past years of culture through exhibition of the old culture and traditions. Such cultural industries normally contribute to the economy of a country via tourism. Creative industries can be seen as a part of the cultural industries, since some cultural industries can be said to be creative in nature. The interaction between these two industries can be seen in this example of the music industry; a songwriter is the o ne who generates a unique idea of a song, â€Å"which is performed by artists in recording studios, then modified and produced by engineers, and then reproduced, marketed and distributed by record labelsâ€Å" (Brabham, 2008). Nevertheless, technology has contributed to creative industries due the easy accessibility of internet that can contribute to the growth of an idea, because of research. However, in the case of music industry where music is recorded on CDs and MP3s nowadays, they are also prone to creative destruction like piracy, thus interfering with the original targeted sales, leading to losses eventually. Nevertheless, these two industries have their differences, the table below explains: Fig 1: Table illustrating the differences between the creative industries and the commercial industries Cultural industries Creative industries Use low technology in its operation They use high technology, in terms of internet. In case of the museums and art gallery, customers n eeds are ranged a secondary. They target customer needs so as to develop They are not commercial at all. Concerned in innovation and entrepreneurship. They mostly focus on education matters like the museums. Their focus is on knowledge and information, so as to develop unique products. Employees in these industry are academics and artists, They employees here are interested in business and are mostly entrepreneurs. Its employees often have acquired high level of knowledge in academics. Technology is not an issue These industries employ employees on the basis of skills and knowledge. And must be familiar with the demanding technology. The employees’ salaries are usually low, since most of their work is based on interest. Employees in this industry are rewarded via money and reputation. The profound point here is that, the creative industries are privately funded and are modernized in contrast to the cultural industries, which mainly belong to a state and are tradi tion-based. Nevertheless, the main challenge that face the creative industry is mainly uncertainty in demand, because the goods produced depend solely on the preference of the customer, therefore, rendering it difficult to estimate the sales to be made. Hence, their main aim is to satisfy a customer, thus hoping that their products will be identified by the customers. Employees in such companies attribute their work to quality of what they produce, since the aim of creative industries is to maximize on their profits. However, product of creative industries differs in terms of quality, symbolism, aesthetics, and styles associated with the product. These industries work against time and therefore must comply with the time given. This usually applies to even their staff. In addition, their products are usually durable, such that they can be used repeatedly; an example is a video game (Puchta et al, 2010 pp 32- 35). Creativity contribution to the cultural industries Cultural industries can be enhance in a creative approach, for instance, by use of architecture and design whereby, through creativity, outstanding buildings can be redesigned and developed, thus emerging as unique and enhance their appearance; this can apply to museums. Secondly, the cultural industries should aim in adopting a creative approach in the marketing and branding area so that they can achieve a competitive advantage, hence be in a position to compete at global level, and even attract local tourists. The cultural industries should be able to embrace technology in their operations, thus being at a competitive advantage since they will be advanced technologically. The lack of commercial experience by the cultural industries, hence the creative entrepreneurs can assist in commercializing these sectors. The goods and products of these two industries vary in terms of ownership. Cultural industry goods are usually state owned thus described as the public goods, which are run by non-profitable org anization, while the creative industries are privately run and their good and services are marketed and distributed to convenient customers. In addition, these industries have to be at a competitive advantage in order to survive in the competitive market. According to Smith (2009, pp 153), the main reason why cultural industries are no longer a concern for visitors is because they seem old fashioned and less fun and attractive, hence people prefer visiting the cinemas, and watching soap operas on the television as a way of spending their leisure time. However, if these old heritages were renovated and a state of modernity is installed, then they would receive many audiences, not only for educational matters but also for leisure purposes. Conclusion Creativity is the source of developments across the world, since it leads to a creative society, which also yields to a creative economy that generates huge profits for its country, and in return provides of job opportunities and developm ent in the society. Without creativity, human beings cannot survive, thus thinking out of the box is what makes nations develop and earn profits. People’s living standards also improve due to creativity, since new source of incomes develop thus providing employment to the society; thus, a relationship between creativity and the society is build. Creativity is however, a major competitive factor in a country, due to the inclusiveness of technology, which is also a key to competition that may positively or negatively affect a product. Since creativity depends on one’s skill or talent, it literally affects the process of production. Creativity yields to external and internal benefits such that the external benefits are evident as an innovative idea while internal benefits of creativity are evident in job satisfaction and a person’s well-being, hence, these factors should be encouraged in organizations. Nevertheless, creativity should be incorporated to the cultural industries to develop them technologically such as good infrastructure, which could include wireless internet in public buildings. Crowdsourcing is evident in creative industries whereby tasks are distributed to the public for experts to tackle them. This practice is very efficient since the crowdsourcing company generates a variety of ideas and chooses the best among them. Though crowdsourcing is criticized for exploiting the community’s ideas, an organization benefits fully from this process and the winning idea is rewarded. The internet has brought about easy accessibility to information and communication has been made easier, effective and fast, thus yielding to many clouds in the community. Cloud culture for instance is a way in which different culture may be expressed, however cloud culture can only contribute to creativity if people are willing to cooperate, share and create information. Culture provides a sense of identity to people while creativity contributes to gr owth as culture stabilizes the society. It is however clear that the internet has benefited the world and made life easier. References Anon. 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