Tuesday, December 24, 2019

Nazi Consolidation of Power in 1933 Was Primarily Due to...

It is to an certain extent that Nazi consolidation of power in 1933 was due to the use of terror and violence. However the terror and violence was very limited because the Nazis weren’t in a strong enough position to exert terror and violence alone. Nazi propaganda against the communists made most Germans fearful of Communism therefore allowing Nazis to consolidate a bit more power through means of terror. On the other hand the Nazi party’s policy of legality and the threat of communism are to a large extent the underlining most important factor in explaining how the Nazis were able to destroy political opposition and become dominant and consolidate power in 1933. Legality was a policy where Hitler’s objective was to legally consolidate†¦show more content†¦This is evident as on February 1st 1933 Hitler (through mediums such as the radio) broadcasted his â€Å"Appeal to the German People† and the SA began to attack the enemies of National Socialis m. As a result of this terror and encouraging the use of violence, twenty one days later the police were reinforced with the SA. This was significantly important in the Nazi consolidation of power as it removed threats and made people support the Nazis and Hitler even if the support was drawn out of fear of them being targetted through means of violence and terror, thus increasing support for them. Hitler stressed the issue of the Communist threat which was more important as it meant that more people would oppose them and even go as far as supporting Hitler to effectively legalise violence which their voters believed was needed in order for them to consolidate power and put a stop to the supposed threat. An example of this is that the Reichstag Fire allowed the police to legally arrest suspects without reference to the courts. Another way that the Nazis consolidated their power through violence was at the appointment of 50,000 SA, SS and Stahlhelm members on 22nd February 1933 to cr eate a wave of violence against communists and SPD supporters. There was a failure on the left which weakened the importance of the terror in violence in consolidating power. This is because, the communists and the SPD didn’t believe that the Nazi

Monday, December 16, 2019

Milgram’s Obedience Experiments Free Essays

Abstract This essay comprises a discussion of a classical experiment from the history of psychology, namely Milgram’s obedience experiment. This includes an evaluation of the relevance of Milgram’s findings to the present day. Finally, the evidence presented within the essay is synthesised and conclusions made. We will write a custom essay sample on Milgram’s Obedience Experiments or any similar topic only for you Order Now In particular, it is concluded that despite the moral and ethical implications of these studies, there is a clear need to learn about obedience to authority. Not only can classical experiments such as those conducted by Milgram assist in understanding human behaviour, but they can also assist in a number of environmental contexts, including schools and the military. The aim of this essay is to discuss a classical experiment from the history of psychology, namely Milgram’s obedience experiment. This will be followed by an evaluation of the relevance of Milgram’s findings in the present day. Finally, the evidence presented within the essay will be synthesised and conclusions made. Introducing Milgram’s Experiment One of the most famous psychology experiments ever documented is that of Milgram’s (1974) study of obedience to authority. The study involved deceiving participants into thinking they were giving electric shocks to another participant in an adjacent room. The study was disguised as being one on learning and memory, with the participant supposedly delivering the shock being the ‘teacher’ and the person supposedly receiving the shock being the ‘learner.’ Shocks were administered each time the learner answered incorrectly, with volts (v) progressively escalating from 15v (‘slight shock’) to 450v (‘danger: sever shock’) in increments of 15v. No shocks were actually delivered and the learner was an actor. The experimenter, wearing a white laboratory coat to exert authority, was in the same room as the participant (or teacher) and prompted them to continue delivering shocks despite any pleas from the learner. These pleas started at 150v. Of particular note is that the participant met the learner before the experiment and saw him being strapped into the chair where the shocks would be delivered to him. The teacher also heard the learner complain of a bad heart. It was found that the teachers only refused to stop administering shocks once they reached 368 volts, and 65% of teachers administered the ‘lethal’ shock. Even in variations of this study, an overwhelming majority of teachers continued administering shocks after they thought the student may be injured or unconscious. Milgram’s study gained its notoriety due to the many ethical and moral dilemmas it raises, which subsequently resulted in new ethical guidelines that prevented a replication of the study. That was until 2009, when Burger claimed to have replicated Milgram’s work. Indeed, Burger claims to have replicated the study in all ways except for study duration. Specifically, the study was stopped after the 150v decision to continue or not continue after hearing the learner’s pleas. The rationale provided for this variation in the replication is that, in Milgram’s study, 79% of participants who continued past 150v continued to the 450v. Thus, Burger proposed that stopping the experiment at 150v would still provide insight into how likely people were to go on to 450v should this have been expected of them. This is supported by a meta-analysis of eight of Milgram’s conditions, which shows that 150v was the point that elicited the most disobedience (Packer, 2008). Another aspect of Burger’s (2009) replication of Milgram’s experiment was to establish if participants who had witnessed another ‘teacher’ or ‘confederate’ (who was actually an actor) refusing to continue, would be more likely to refuse to continue themselves. Therefore, on certain issues, Burger went to great lengths to produce an accurate replication of Milgram’s experiments. In replicating the confederate condition, Burger predicted that this would have an effect on obedience levels, but this was not found to be the case. In fact, this variation in the experiment had no effect on obedience levels. This was a markedly different result to that recorded by Milgram, who found that 7.5% of the participants withdrew from the experiment when they witnessed the confederate doing so. When there were three teachers, comprising two actors who withdrew from the experiment, 30% of the participants also refused. This left just 10% of participan ts prepared to see the experiment through to the end. Not only were Burger’s (2009) findings in contrast to those of Milgram, but the interpretation of results is also limited in that Burger only examined the use of one as opposed two confederates. This is a significant weakness considering the wealth of evidence demonstrating the role of conformity on attitudes and behaviours (Hogg and Vaughan, 2011). The Relevance of Milgram’s Work Today Milgram’s study has a great deal of relevance today, most notably in terms of demonstrating how soldiers might react to orders during war. Even though the Milgram obedience study is considered unethical and not a good representation of obedience (Banyard, 2010), many consider his study to be a true and uninhibited study of obedience. Indeed, his findings demonstrate that if an individual in a position of power guides another individual to commit an unethical act, the person being guided is capable of behaving in ways they would not otherwise contemplate. Furthermore, carrying out evil acts is not necessarily dependent on an individual’s character, but the situations they find themselves in. In fact, Milgram’s conclusion was that â€Å"a substantial proportion of people do what they are told to do, irrespective of the content of the act and without limitations of conscience, so long as they perceive that the command comes from a legitimate authority† (Mi lgram 1974, p. 189). This has profound implications in the military, among many other contexts. The key insight gained from social psychology and, in particular, from Milgram’s experiments, is the importance of social influence on obedience. Indeed, Milgram’s work has been supported by other researchers. Berkowitz and LePage (1967) demonstrated in a study comprising students who were given electric shocks as task feedback, that more shocks were associated with more anger. In turn, angered participants gave more shocks and the aggressive cue of a gun increased the number of shocks students were willing to give. This highlights the potentially dangerous outcomes inherent within obedience to authority, providing the rationale for understanding this phenomenon as much as research allows. Conclusion In conclusion, this critique has provided insight into a classical experiment from the history of psychology, as conducted by Milgram and later replicated by Burger. Despite the moral and ethical implications of these studies, there is a clear need to learn about obedience to authority due to its relevance within today’s society. Not only can classical experiments such as those conducted by Milgram assist in understanding human behaviour, but the can also assist in a number of environmental contexts, including schools and the military. References Banyard, P. (2010) Chapter 2: Just following ordersIn N. Brace and J. Byford, Discovering Psychology, The Open University:Milton Keynes, pp. 61-96. 2.Berkowitz, L. and LePage, A. (1967). Weapons as aggression-eliciting stimuli. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 7, 202-207. 3.Burger, J. M. (2009). Replicating Milgram: Would people still obey todayAmerican Psychologist, 64, 1-11. Hogg, M. A. and Vaughan, G. M. (2011). Social psychology (6th ed.). Harlow: Pearson/Prentice Hall. Milgram, S. (1974). Obedience to authority.London: Tavistock. Packer, D. J. (2008). Identifying systematic disobedience in Milgram’s obedience experiments: A meta-analytic review. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 3, 301-304. How to cite Milgram’s Obedience Experiments, Essay examples

Saturday, December 7, 2019

Critical Think and Creativity free essay sample

Critical Thinking Creativity 1 CRITICAL THINKING AND CREATIVITY AN OVERVIEW AND COMPARISON OF THE THEORIES by Jean Marrapodi A Paper Presented in Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements of ED7590 Critical Thinking and Adult Education December 2003 Address: City, State, Zip: Phone: E- mail: Instructor: Mentor: 96 Ravenswood Avenue Providence, RI 02908 (401) 453-5972 [emailprotected] com Dr. Marsha Covington Dr. Barbara Salice Critical Thinking Creativity Table of Contents 2 Introduction. 3 Initial Research Impressions .. 4 Research Findings 4 Research on Critical Thinking Research on Creative Thinking.. 8 Research Mentioning Both Critical and Creative Thinking . 18 Observations about the Research and Conclusions . 23 References . 24 Critical Thinking Creativity Introduction In Developing Critical Thinkers, p. 114-118, Stephen Brookfield cites a variety of researchers’ main thinking on creativity, positing that creative thinking is one aspect of the development of critical thinking. (Brookfield, 1987) What are the commonalities between critical thinking and creative thinking? To me, the two appear to be in opposition to one another, since critical thinking is about evaluation of ideas and creative thinking is about expansion of ideas. I have always been known as a creative person, so this topic intrigues me. I have read several books in the popular psychology world about creativity, including works by von Oeck, deBono, Gelb, and Buzan. I have looked at materials designed to expand creativity in individuals, and was even asked to review a book on creativity for T+D magazine, ASTD’s flagship journal. When these two topics were juxtaposed, it sent me on a search for additional information. Interestingly, one of the techniques of creative thinking is to juxtapose unrelated topics to see what evolves from matching them. I am not the only one to have done this with creativity and critical thinking, and much of the literature I found matching the two is for K-12 teachers, because the teaching of these two concepts and practices is being strongly advocated in many public schools. In this paper, I plan to review some of the scholarly literature about creativity and critical thinking, looking for commonalities between them. I also plan to compare the public trade books about creative thinking and explore how that thinking aligns with the research. Finally, I would like to explore if the relationships between them can strengthen my creative and critical thinking abilities. Critical Thinking Creativity 4 Initial Research Impressions The literature is quite comprehensive on critical thinking and creative thinking. There is very little agreement among authors on definitions of what they are, and most of the scholarly research is comprised of quoting one another. There is research in academia, psychology and business covering each topic with strong opinions and recommendations. Research Findings Research on Critical Thinking In exploring the initial research on critical thinking, there are quite a variety of opinions defining it. In our text, Brookfield (1987) defines five aspects and four components of critical thinking (p. 5-9): Aspects of critical thinking: 1. Critical thinking is a productive and positive activity. 2. Critical thinking is a process, not an outcome. 3. Manifestations of critical thinking vary according to the contexts in which it occurs. 4. Critical thinking is triggered by positive as well as negative events. 5. Critical thinking is emotive as well as rational. Components of critical thinking: 1. Identifying and challenging assumptions is central to critical thinking. 2. Challenging the importance of context is crucial to critical thinking. 3. Critical thinkers try to imagine and explore alternatives. 4. Imagining and exploring alternatives leads to reflective skepticism. Critical Thinking Creativity W. Huitt, on Educational Psychology Interactive (Huitt 1994) provides a wonderful summary of the changing definitions: â€Å"The definition of critical thinking has changed somewhat over the past decade. Originally the dominion of cognitive psychologists and philosophers, behaviorally-oriented psychologists and content specialists have recently joined the discussion. The following are some examples of attempts to define critical thinking: †¢ 5 †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ the ability to analyze facts, generate and organize ideas, defend opinions, make comparisons, draw inferences, evaluate arguments and solve problems (Chance,1986, p. 6); a way of reasoning that demands adequate support for ones beliefs and an unwillingness to be persuaded unless support is forthcoming (Tama, 1989, p. 4); involving analytical thinking for the purpose of evaluating what is read (Hickey, 1990, p. 175); a conscious and deliberate process which is used to interpret or evalua te information and experiences with a set of reflective attitudes and abilities that guide thoughtful beliefs and actions (Mertes,1991, p. 24); active, systematic process of understanding and evaluating a rguments. An argument provides an assertion about the properties of some object or the relationship between two or more objects and evidence to support or refute the assertion. Critical thinkers acknowledge that there is no single correct way to understand and evaluate arguments and that all attempts are not necessarily successful (Mayer Goodchild, 1990, p. 4); the intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and action (Scriven Paul, 1992); reasonable reflective thinking focused on deciding what to believe or do (Ennis, 1992). Huitt also explores the perceptions of the various disciplines’ impact on critical thinking by looking at the influences of cognitive and behavioral psychologists, philosophers, and content specialists. Each processes the concept through a very specific lens. Peter Faccione (1998) introduces a five-step process of critical thinking: interpretation, analysis, evaluation, inference skills, presenting arguments, and reflection that may be used in the critical analysis process. His paper also quotes an â€Å"expert consensus statement regarding Critical Thinking Creativity critical thinking and the ideal critical thinker† (Fig. 1) created by a two year long research 6 Figure 1 panel’s work sponsored the American Philosophical Association in 1990. The following table summarizes what these concepts mean to this group. Critical Thinking Creativity Expert Consensus Panel Definitions 7 Interpretation â€Å"to comprehend and express the meaning or significance of a wide variety of experiences, situations, data, events, judgments, conventions, beliefs, rules, procedures or criteria. Analysis â€Å"to identify the intended and actual inferential relationships among statements, questions, concepts, descriptions or other forms of representation intended to express belief, judgment, experiences, reasons, information or opinions† Evaluation â€Å"to assess the credibility of statements or other representations which are accounts or descriptions of a person’s perception, experience, situation, judgment, be lief, or opinion; and to assess the logical strength of the actual or intended inferential relationships among statements, descriptions, questions or other forms of representation. Inference â€Å"to identify and secure elements needed to draw reasonable conclusions; to form conjectures and hypotheses; to consider relevant information and to educe the consequences flowing from data, statements, principles, evidence, judgments, beliefs, opinions, concepts, descriptions, questions, or other forms of representation. † Explanation â€Å"to state the results of one’s reasoning; to justify that reasoning in terms of the evidential, conceptual, methodological, criteriological, and contextual considerations upon which one’s results were based; and to present one’s reasoning in the form of cogent arguments. Critical thinking therefore requires the understanding of a broad knowledge base, the ability to identify inferential relationships, examining the credibility of the statements, the search for elements to draw conclusions, and the ability to explain the reasoning to get to this point. This analysis process is quite different from the other literature that had more parallels to creative thinking processes. Brookfield advocates a process of a critical thinker’s examination of information looking at the epistemological, experiential, communicative and political perspectives of the source information. This is somewhat similar to deBono’s Six Hat process mentioned later, but with a different end product. It appears that the process literature and the definition literature about critical thinking focus on different angles. While the defining literature has numerous similarities, the processes are quite different. Critical Thinking Creativity Research on Creative Thinking The research on creative thinking largely deals with the individual and how the creative process works. There are some articles about corporate creativity in particular, a fascinating one by Keith Sawyer (Sawyer 1999) that explores group creativity involved in improvisational 8 theater. Many of the articles deal with application of creativity in the workplace, and the removal of the barriers that constrain individuals from being creativity. There are many models presented, involving convergent/divergent thinking, the four P’s: a process, a product, a person and a press (Rhodes and Brown, quoted by Feldhusen and Goh, 1995), deBono’s Lateral thinking, etc. One of the common themes is letting go of the restrictions that define what is â€Å"right† and postulating numerous hypotheses. â€Å"Everyone knows that instant judgment is the enemy of creativity,† (de Bono, 1995) It isn’t necessarily that all judgment is wrong; it’s allowing the ideas to emerge without screening them out. It is repeatedly mentioned that there is a need for a quantity of ideas for a good one to emerge. Like critical thinking, creativity is viewed as a process rather than a product, and within the variety of theories, one defined creativity as needing to have an expert determine if something is creative, nd another just holding the process as the creative portion. It is generally measured by creative output, relying on the assumption that â€Å"those with higher creative potential have higher creative output†¦[or] mastery of the discipline†¦[relying] on the observation that creativity tends to be domain-specific—that is , most highly creative people are creative only within a single discipline. † (Smith, Paradice et al. , 2000) Creativity is defined as something different from intelligence, (Michalko, 1998). Creativity is often defined as a parallel construct to intelligence, but it differs from intelligence in that it is not restricted to cognitive or intellectual functioning or behavior. Instead, it is Critical Thinking Creativity concerned with a complex mix of motivational conditions, personality factors, environmental conditions, chance factors, and even products. † (Feldhusen and Goh, 1995) It is different from innovation, since 9 innovation is ‘ideas to action’—taking something that seems to be a good or even exceptional idea and transforming it into something that it tangible for others to use. Innovation is an active process that has a clearly defined end or goal and that produces something that others can use and indeed want! †¦The goal, if not drive, of creativity is to explore beyond current reality, to realize something new. On the other hand, the goal of innovation is to bring those novel ideas into a tangible form that in some way conforms to what others need in the here and now. Creativity is essentially a divergent activity, expanding beyond current experience, while innovation is essentially a convergent activity, bringing those same ideas back into people’s experience†¦creativity is an aspect of innovation;†¦the goal of creativity is exploration and invention. The goal of innovation is transformation and implementation. † (Richards, 2003) Interestingly, innovation is called a convergent activity here. That concept is usually associated with critical thinking. Perhaps innovation is the connecting piece between the two. Innovators like Joyce Wyckoff of thinksmart. om consider creativity to be a component of innovation. Many of the concepts found in creative thinking literature are included in her model of Innovation DNA (Wycoff 2002). (Figure 2) She considers creativity to be â€Å"a natural ability of every person, [and] the skill of developing a lot of ideas and connecting diverse concepts can be enhanced through training and exerc ise. It is up to the leadership to provide the direction and stimuli to spur creativity. † She names nine components of personal innovation. Several of these overlap with steps involved in the critical thinking process, indicated with an asterisk (*): A. Commit to the exploration and development of new possibilities †¢ Look for â€Å"a better way† and challenge the conventional approaches and answers. * †¢ Embrace change and actively explore uncharted territory. †¢ Facilitate development of stimulating challenges that energize and engage. †¢ Embrace diversity as a vital source of new perspectives possibilities. B. Seek out new connections between unrelated concepts * †¢ Regularly read the world for new trends, technologies, ideas and information. Critical Thinking Creativity †¢ †¢ †¢ 10 Understand thinking styles and think with whole brain and all senses. Remain open minded and search for opposites, anomalies and outliers. * Find or create new combinations and synergies. C. Commit to the creation of customer value †¢ Understand customer needs, goals and paradigms. †¢ Understand the strategic context and aim for win-win. †¢ Strive to elegantly deliver more with less. D. I ntegrate the specific business strategy with the process of innovation †¢ Understand the current art, science and language of the business area. †¢ Know the background and context well enough to recognize ideas that are innovations. †¢ Master the basic tools and methods in the area of exploration and idea generation. Understand the system of innovation and allows time for each step of the process. E. Build alignment around new possibilities †¢ Paint the WOW! picture of the future. †¢ Relate new ideas to existing business strategies and objectives. †¢ Speak to the styles and concerns of each stakeholder. †¢ Honor ideas regardless of origin. F. Cultivate collaborative relationships intentionally †¢ Build trust implicitly and explicitly, removing fear wherever possible. †¢ Respect rights and opinions of others. †¢ Express appreciation and honest concerns. †¢ Value the intent and context of collaborative relationships, inside and ou tside the organization G. Embrace and manage appropriate risk taking †¢ Take calculated and appropriate risks to advance ideas. †¢ Able to predict and track existing and emerging risks. * †¢ Communicate risks appropriately. * H. Effectively ma nage innovation projects †¢ Employ tools, processes and techniques flexibly and effectively. †¢ Honor and manage requests, offers and promises. †¢ Focus on the germane issues and juggles priorities. †¢ Scan the business climate to optimize timing for actions. †¢ Establish sound evaluation criteria to guide effective decision- making. * †¢ Elicit the agreement of â€Å"done. Critical Thinking Creativity 11 Figure 2 Critical Thinking Creativity 12 Creativity is something that â€Å"deviates from past experiences and procedures,† (Michalko 2000). â€Å"Creativity usually has been defined as the production of novel ideas that are useful and appropriate to the situation (Amabile, 1983; Mumford Gustafson, 1988, as quote d in Unsworth, 2001). Leonard and Swap believe â€Å"the creative process†¦consists of 1) preparation, 2) innovation opportunity, 3) divergence or the generation of options, 4) incubation, and 5) convergence or the selection of options. (Kelly 2000) Here we combine divergence, convergence and innovation all under the creative umbrella. Some speak of creativity as the process of discovery. It is more than cognitive functioning. Albert (1990, as quoted in Feldhusen and Goh, 1995) proposes six guiding ideas to â€Å"grasp the essence of creativity. † 1. Creativity is expressed through decisions, not products. 2. Knowledge of self and of one’s world is the medium of creative behavior. 3. Creative behavior is highly intentional. 4. Creativeness and personal identity are emergent. 5. 3 and #4 are mutually dependent. 6. Creative behavior engages individuals at the personal level of their identities and abilities. Feldhusen and Goh quote several other popular definitions : â€Å"MacKinnon (1962): [Creativity] involves a response of an idea that is novel or at the very least statistically infrequent. But novelty or originality of thought or action, while a necessary aspect of creativity, is not sufficient. If a response is to lay claim to being part of the creative process, it must to some extent be adaptive to, or of, reality. It must serve to solve a problem, fit a situation, or accomplish some recognizable goal. And thirdly, true creativeness involves sustaining of the original insight, an evaluation and elaboration of it, a developing of it to the full. Creativity, from this point of view, is a process extended in time and characterized by originality, adaptiveness, and realization. † Critical Thinking Creativity 13 â€Å"Czikszentimihaly (1990) theorized that the focus of creativity is in social systems and in making judgments about individuals†¦. Creativity is an interaction among a domain, a person, and a field†¦. it is a process that occurs outside the person who is creative. † â€Å"Amabile (1990) [sees creativity as a five stage process. Stage One] conceptua lizes the external input as an incoming stimulus but also sees the initial impetus as coming from within the individual. Stage 2†¦acknowledges the role of information or knowledge input. Creative processing then involves memory and environment search, response generation (Stage 3), and response evaluation (Stage 4). The culmination in Stage 5 is success, failure, or partial success. Influencing the whole creative process are task motivation, domain-relevant skills, and creativity-relevant or processing skills. † â€Å"Brown (1989) sees creativity as an unconscious process, but as an aspect or component of more complex behavior such as problem solving†¦emphasizing the role of problem finding as an element of creative behavior, as well as the possible fole of change factors in creativity†¦. Chance may favor the well prepared and the very active mind. Feldhusen (2002) himself makes a very interesting observation that creativity has much to do with the person’s existing knowledge base, especially within children. Torrence’s model of fluency, flexibility, originality and elaboration requires a significant kno wledge store in order to retrieve and elaborate on new ideas. In this early work (1947) creative people were accelerated in school, had a large knowledge base, and were â€Å"characterized by ability to stick with a task for a long time. † Feldhusen speaks of the large knowledge base assisting in the divergent thinking processes of idea generation. According to Smith, et al (2000) there are three categories of knowledge essential to â€Å"prepare the mind for creative endeavors: 1) Knowledge of the domain in which one intends to create, 2) knowledge of techniques that enhance creativity and factors that inhibit creative efforts, and 3) knowledge of other domains†¦[K]nowledge of other domains provides the material needed for construction useful analogies and.. one domain may have a solution that can be adapted and reused in another. † Mnemonics like Alex Osborne’s SCAMPER (Michalko 2000) representing †¢ Substitute? Critical Thinking Creativity †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Combine? Adapt? Modify, magnify or add? Put to other uses? Eliminate? Rearrange or reverse? 14 are common in the literature, providing a process for the individual to utilize to become creative. Tactics like reversals break existing patterns, â€Å"destabilize conventional thinking patterns and free new ideas. † There are suggestions to not think about something and let the subconscious process the information, and to use the ridiculous to spur on new ideas. (Michalko 2000) Writers explore the thinking of geniuses, in hopes that the reader might emulate some of their patterns. Howard Gardner began his explorations in to multiple intelligences by examining the thinking of geniuses. Michalko (1998) lists the thinking patterns of geniuses as follows: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Geniuses look at problems in many different ways Geniuses make their thought visible Geniuses produce many ideas Geniuses make novel combinations Geniuses force relationships Geniuses think in opposites Geniuses think metaphorically Geniuses prepare themselves for chance Not surprisingly, these patterns parallel many of the creative ideas and methods in the literature. There are numerous books in the business and self help sections in bookstores and libraries on increasing creativity. Books like Chic Thompson’s What a Great Idea! (Thompson 1992) include formulas and exercises to encourage freedom from old ideas, expression of new ideas, learning to create by changing perspectives, thinking in opposites, metaphors, future tense, then taking action to use the ideas. According to Smith, Paradice et al. (2000) there are four behaviors that prepare the mind for creativity: 1) learn something new every day, 2) seek out Critical Thinking Creativity constructive criticism, 3) incubate, or leave a problem alone for a while to allow the brain to work on it, and 4) put knowledge to work. 15 Sometimes creativity is about letting go of existing ideas to come up with something new. According to Dee Hock, founder of Visa The problem is never how to get new, innovative thoughts into your mind, but how to get old ones out. Roger von Oech, in A Whack on the Side of the Head, lists mental blocks that stifle creativity: Finding the right answer, requiring something to be logical, following the rules, always being practical, and assuming play is frivolous. These are all about letting go of pre-existing ideas to allow for the creative ones. Thomas (1999) is one of the many who lists barriers to creativity. His list is based on the work of Alexander Hiam, and lists nine: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Failure to ask questions Failure to record ideas Failure to revisit ideas Failure to express ideas Failure to think in new ways Failure to wish for more Failure to try being creative Failure to keep trying Failure to tolerate creative behavior Most authors in this vein believe removing the obstacles to creativity fosters it. Sometimes creativity is about exploring things from new perspectives. Edward deBono teaches what he calls Lateral Thinking Skills (de Bono 1995). One of his methods, the Six Thinking Hats, involves putting on a different â€Å"hat† to look at ideas. He color codes his hats: †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ White—facts figures, information, asking questions, defining information needs and gaps Red—intuition, feeling and emotions Yellow—logical positive, why it will work and offer benefits Black—logical negative, includes judgment and caution Critical Thinking Creativity †¢ †¢ 6 Green—creativity, alternatives, proposals, what is interesting, provocations, and changes Blue—overview or process control Using deBono’s system, ideas are explored from a variety of angles. DeBono’s other concepts of lateral thinking are designed to circumvent the brain’s natural patterns and tendencies. He also created the concept of PO, or provocation operation, which is designed to break out of existing patterns. There is a deliberate sense of looking at opposites, or reversals, or exaggerations to explore concepts from a different angle. One other method deBono uses is to introduce a random word into the discussion. Mixing in an unrelated concept causes the brain to think in a different direction and come up with new links, combining previously unrelated ideas to form new ones. While creativity is largely viewed as an individual process, there is also literature on organizational creativity, and what it takes to promote creativity within organizations. Constantine Andriopoulos (2001) of the Hunter Centre for Entrepreneurship hosted in the University of Strathclyde in the United Kingdom looks at creativity from an organizational viewpoint. Similar to some of the writings on learning organizations in the United States, he posits that there are five organizational factors that enhance creativity in a work environment. First, the organizational climate requires â€Å"participation and freedom of expression, but demands performance standards† and must be â€Å"open climates† where there is interaction with small barriers, a large number of stimuli, freedom to experiment, and the possibility of building on earlier ideals. † Secondly, the leadership style must be democratic and participative. Thirdly, the organizational culture must be â€Å"innovative (divergent and learning) and supportive (empowering and caring† as opposed to controlling and directive. There must be an open flow of communication, and the culture must encourage and support risk-taking, as well as self- initiated Critical Thinking Creativity 17 activity. The culture must be â€Å"stimulating and ensuring participative safety†¦employees can only be encouraged to think creatively if they are not afraid of criticism and punishment. † The organization must work to attract creative talent with the resources and skills in place, them work to develop those talents. Finally, the structure and systems of the entire organization must support creativity. These factors are in alignment with the types of activities that creative people take, and putting them in place in an organization would encourage creativity by its employees. Gareth Lewis, as quoted in Human Resource Management International Digest (2002) states, â€Å"Although people are clearly naturally creative in the ways they approach the world around them, this aspect of human behavior has not always been encouraged or acknowledged by organizations in which people work. Like critical thinking, creative thinking must be fostered to develop. â€Å"Creativity and innovation are the life’s blood or organizations in the information age. [It is a myth] that creative output depend[s] on the inspirations of a few, often flamboyantly different individuals†¦. it is a process in which both groups and individuals play important roles. Regardless of the size of the organization, the creat ive process is essentially the same. It consists of 1) preparation, 2) innovation opportunity, 3) divergence or the generation of options, 4) incubation, and 5) convergence or the selection of options†¦Managers can shape the creative process, design the group composition, enhance the physical environment, provide the tools and techniques to move things along, and lead the creative change†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Kelly 2000) Mauzy and Harriman (2003) review three climates for creativity. â€Å"Groups, like individuals, perform more creatively when intrinsically motivated. Climates conducive to creativity nurture the individuality at the heart of intrinsic motivation. They provide the safety necessary for curiosity to flourish. They provide support and patience for successful evaluation. They expect newness. † Looking at Hallmark, Hewlett-Packard and NetGenesis, they found Critical Thinking Creativity significant differences in the way these were individually established, but similarities in the 18 creation of a specific climate to foster and hire creativity, collaboration, open feedback, and the acknowledgement and rewarding of creative moments. Research Mentioning Both Critical and Creative Thinking In most of the education-oriented material, the definitions are highly watered down. Bloom’s Taxonomy is often referenced, using the higher level thinking skills to connect to critical and creative thinking. â€Å"Critical thinking involves logical thinking and reasoning†¦creative thinking involves creating something new or original†¦While critical thinking can be thought of as more left-brain and creative thinking more right brain, they both involve â€Å"thinking. When we talk about HOTS â€Å"higher-order thinking skills† were concentrating on the top three levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy: analysis, synthesis and evaluation. † (Lamb 2003) Huitt equates evaluation with critical thinking and synthesis with creative thinking: â€Å"Synthesis and evaluation are two types of thinking that have much in common (the first four levels of Blooms taxonomy), but are quite different in purpose. Evaluatio n (which might be considered equivalent to critical thinking as used in this document) focuses on making an assessment or judgment based on an analysis of a statement or proposition. Synthesis (which might be considered more equivalent to creative thinking) requires an individual to look at parts and relationships (analysis) and then to put these together in a new and original way. There is some evidence to suggest that this equivalent-but-different relationship between critical/evaluative and creative/synthesis thinking is appropriate. Huitt (1992) classified techniques used in problem-solving and decision-making into two groups roughly corresponding to the critical/creative dichotomy. One set of techniques tended to be more linear and serial, more structured, more rational and analytical, and more goal-oriented; these techniques are often taught as part of critical thinking exercises. The second set of techniques tended to be more holistic and parallel, more emotional and intuitive, more creative, more visual, and more tactual/kinesthetic; these techniques are more often taught as part of creative thinking exercises. This distinction also corresponds to what is sometimes referred to as left brain thinking (analytic, serial, logical, objective) as Critical Thinking Creativity compared to right brain thinking (global, parallel, emotional, subjective) (Springer Deutsch, 1993). † (Huitt 1994) 19 The Saskatchewan School board defines both creative and critical thinking as â€Å"qualities of good thinking processes and as types of thinking. Creative thinking is generally considered to be involved with the creation or generation of ideas, processes, experiences or objects; critical thinking is concerned with their evaluation. † They are â€Å"interrelated and complementary aspects of thinking. (Saskatchawan Education 2003) There are several models that exist that work to develop critical and creative thinking in schools. Calvin Taylor, in the Talents Unlimited program (Bellis) describes the talent areas as productive thinking, communication, planning, decision making and forecasting. Productive Thinking is the process of thinking of many, varied, unusual ideas, then adding to them. Communication works with â€Å"man y varied single words† describing things and feelings, then making a network of ideas and thoughts, and sharing these with others. Planning has the students think through the materials they would need, the steps to take, and the anticipation of problems. The next phase, Decision Making teaches the student to think about a variety of things that could be done (the creative aspect of generating many solutions), then thinking carefully about alternatives and choosing one, then defending the choice. Forecasting has the students making varied predictions about situations and exploring the cause and effect relationships. These steps are used when a child invents something. Bellis also writes about Scott Isaksen and Donald Treffinger’s creative problem solving model. Their basic course has six stages: mess finding, data finding, problem finding, idea finding, solution finding and acceptance finding. According to them, Critical Thinking Creativity â€Å"Creative thinking is described as: †¢ making and communicating connections to think of many possibilities; †¢ think and experience in various ways and use different points of view; †¢ think of new and unusual possibilities; and †¢ guide in generating and selecting alternatives. Critical thinking is described as: †¢ analyzing and developing possibilities to compare and contrast many ideas †¢ improve and refine ideas †¢ make effective decisions and judgments, and †¢ provide a sound foundation for effective action. † 20 Once again, we have a model of divergent thinking to create, and convergent thinking to decide. Helgeson (1993) suggests that there are three ingredients to teaching critical and creative thinking to children through the content areas: using relevant, real world issues; providing structure to solve problems and organize information, and a nurturing classroom environment. This thinking parallels many of the suggestions mentioned in article on fostering creativity in the workplace. The environment must be supportive of the process. In the corporate sector, Brown and Duguid (2001) discuss the tension that must exist between creativity and structure in order for an organization to survive. â€Å"Process emphasizes the hierarchical, explicit command-and-control side of organization—the structure that gets things done. By contrast, practice emphasizes the implicit coordination and exploration that produces thing to do. Practice without process tends to become unmanageable; process without practice results in the loss of creativity needed for sustained innovation†¦Companies that fail to control the conflicting forces of practice and process at best alternate between attempts to foster creativity and attempts to exert control. † As mentioned earlier, the organization must foster creativity, but this aspect of balance is important, and involves the critical thinking, logistical elements and the realism necessary to implement the ideas, but also provide a check and balance arrangement between practice and process. Critical Thinking Creativity Provost and Sproul (1996) incorporate the classic work of W. Edwards Deming in looking at creativity and critical thinking in using them to create improvement in an organization. 21 â€Å"Improvement comes from the application of knowledge†¦profound knowledge [is] the interaction of systems knowledge, knowledge of variation, knowledge of psychology, and knowledge of learning†¦combine with subject matter knowledge to accelerate the rate of improvement†¦. Improvement is desirable and necessary. For such organizations, creative thinking should be viewed as an essential supplement to, though not a replacement for, critical thinking. † Improvement methods may be based on either creative or critical thinking. â€Å"Creativity is the serious, deliberate, and systematic generation of new ideas, new concepts, and new perceptions of value. Creativity means escaping from existing perceptions and concepts to open up new ways of looking at and going things. It has to do with reconceptualizing systems and ideas as well as creating new ones from scratch. Tools based on critical thinking†¦depend on careful analysis, evaluation, and reasoning including both deductive and inductive reasoning and both analytical and systems thinking. Some of the tools provide ways to summarize and communicate existing knowledge; others focus on the collection, analysis and display of new data. They are useful in understanding existing knowledge, gaining additional knowledge and developing and testing changes. † Part of the process is designed to break away from assumptions by identifying them and challenging them. These are two common themes in critical and creative thinking. Gillian Ragsdell (2001) writes about â€Å"critical creativity† using a process of critical systems thinking. â€Å"Being critical involves encouraging complemetarism, sociological awareness, human well-being and emancipation†¦. complementarism could be seen in an appreciation that creativity can arise from a number of different origins—from conflict or from natural personal qualities. † There are a few key principles in critical creativity. First, the systemic principle, looking at the coherent whole, then the principle of participation, where multiple views are taken into account. Finally, there is the principle of reflection, where information is pondered. â€Å"Critical creativity attempts to further the emancipation of individuals through design, debate and disemprisionment. [It] encourages participants to design freedom into their approach, to Critical Thinking Creativity participate meaningfully in a process of open debate and to address coercive forces that hinder attempts to free themselves of their restrictive relationships†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Some of her concepts parallel Senge’s disciplines from The Fifth Discipline. 2 The University of Massachusetts has a graduate program that specializes in creative and critical thinking. They explain their rationale and define the two as: Critical thinking, creative thinking, and reflective practice are valued, of course, in all fields. In critical thinking we seek to scrutinize the assumptions, reasoning, and evidence brought to bear on an issue-by others and by oneself; such scrutiny is enhanced by placing id eas and practices in tension with alternatives. Key functions of creative thinking include generating alternative ideas, practices, and solutions that are unique and effective, and exploring ways to confront complex, messy, ambiguous problems, make new connections, and see how things could be otherwise. In reflective practice we take risks and experiment in putting ideas into practice, then take stock of the outcomes and revise our approaches accordingly. Critical thinking, creative thinking, and reflective practice are valued, of course, in all fields. In critical thinking we seek to scrutinize the assumptions, reasoning, and evidence brought to bear on an issue-by others and by oneself; such scrutiny is enhanced by placing ideas and practices in tension with alternatives. Key functions of creative thinking include generating alternative ideas, practices, and solutions that are unique and effective, and exploring ways to confront complex, messy, ambiguous problems, make new connections, and see how things could be otherwise. In reflective practice we take risks and experiment in putting ideas into practice, then take stock of the outcomes and revise our approaches accordingly. † (University of Massachusetts 2003) While UMass has a graduate program in critical thinking and creativity, concerns have been raised about the thinking emerging from the universities and the expectations of corporate America. â€Å"We look to entrepreneurs to solve old problems by introducing new products, new processes, and new organizational arrangements, often with some degree of risk. However, the personality type of the entrepreneur does not sit easily within organizations. Many of their characteristic qualities—a high challenging behavior, intrinsically motivated, poor at detail, opportunistic, curious and obsessed—would not only be out of place on a standard list or organizational competencies, but would be viewed negatively. † (Kandola 2002) Sometimes the Critical Thinking Creativity creative mindset marches to the beat of a different drummer, and is not welcomed into the environment that is not predisposed to creativity. 23 Observations about the Research and Conclusions There are certainly some overlaps in the research regarding the process of creative thinking and critical thinking. In both, we must challenge assumptions and prior knowledge. In critical thinking we do this to determine accuracy and validity of the statements, and in creativity to go beyond them, as in Donoghue’s concept of thinking further. (Donoghue 2003) His concepts of thinking further suggests we must take new perceptions of things, and not take them at face value. In creative thinking, the first solution is not always the best solution, though it may be right. In critical thinking, the presented solution may be accepted or rejected. Thinking further also requires us to create new frames of reference, as athletes need to do when the world record of running a mile could be broken again and again. Old thinking prohibits creativity and is accepting of what is presented without a critical examination of it. Both consider the thinking as processes rather than products or outcomes. Both involve the re-examination of existing information. It appears that creativity takes the next step after challenging assumptions and begins creating new ideas. Critical thinking challenges, but draws conclusions, rather than taking the concepts to new dimensions. Creative thinking is designed to create, and critical thinking is designed to analyze. It seems that creative thinking has aspects of critical thinking, and critical thinking has aspects of creativity. Like deBono’s thinking hats the process of looking at the alternative perspectives brings out the end result in both. Each has value, and when used in conjunction, creates a powerful process of higher order thinking. Critical Thinking Creativity 24 References Andriopoulos, C. 2001). Determinants of organisational creativity: A literature review. Management Decision 39(10): 834. Anonymo us (2002). New catalysts for creativity. Human Resource Management International Digest 10(2): 7. Bellis, M. Critical Thinking Skills Creative Thinking: Calvin Taylors model of creative thinking and critical thinking. Critical Thinking Skills Creative Thinking. M. Bellis. 2003. Brookfield, S. (1987). Developing critical thinkers: Challenging adults to explore alternative wasy of thinking and acting. San Francisco, Jossey-Bass Publishers. Brown, J. S. and P. Duguid (2001). Creativity versus structure: A useful tension. MIT Sloan Management Review 42(4): 93. de Bono, E. (1995). Serious creativity. The Journal for Quality and Participation 18(5): 12. Donoghue, C. (2003). Make the most of your mind by thinking further. New Zealand Management 50(1): 60. Faccione, P. (1998) Critical thinking: What it is and why it counts, California Academic Press Feldhusen, J. F. (2002). Creativity: the knowledge base and children. High Ability Studies 13(2): 179-183. Feldhusen, J. F. and B. E. Goh (1995). Assessing and accessing creativity: An integrative review of theory, research, and development. Creativity Research Journal 8(3): 231, 17p. Helgeson, L. J. (1993). Promoting creativity critical thinkingwith science. Teaching PreK8 23(5): 12. Huitt, W. (1994). Critical Thinking. Educational Psychology Interactive. 2003 Kandola, B. (2002). Graduate induction training techniques: A new model for fostering creativity. Education Tra ining 44(7): 308. Kelly, E. P. (2000). When Sparks Fly: Igniting Creativity in Groups. The Academy of Management Executive 14(1): 157. Lamb, A. (2003). Critical and Creative Thinking Blooms Taxonomy. A. Lamb. 2003. Critical Thinking Creativity 25 Mauzy, J. and R. A. Harriman (2003). Three climates for creativity. Research Technology Management 46(3): 27. Michalko, M. (1998). Thinking like a genius: Eight strategies used by the supercreative, from Aristotle and Leonardo to Einstein and Edison. The Futurist 32(4): 21. Michalko, M. (2000). Four steps toward creative thinking. The Futurist 34(3): 18. Provost, L. P. and R. M. Sproul (1996). Creativity and improvement: A vital link. Quality Progress 29(8): 101. Ragsdell, G. 2001). From creative thinking to organisational learning via systems thinking? An illustration of critical creativity. Creativity Innovation Management 10(2): 102, 8p. Richards, B. (2003). Intelligent innovation: Ideas to action. The Journal for Quality and Participation 26(2): 14. Sackatachawan Education,. (Retrieved 2003). Chapter IV: Critical and Creative Thinking. Understanding the Common Essential Learnin gs. Saskatachawan Education. Regina, SK, Saskatchewan Education. 2003: Sawyer, R. K. (1999). The emergence of creativity. Philosophical Psychology 12(4): 447. Smith,

Saturday, November 30, 2019

The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde Essays - Films, Novellas

The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Robert Louis Stevenson in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is telling us that we fear the knowledge of our duality so we keep silent. We are afraid of the truth, about ourselves, so we stay quiet. Everyone has a part of himself or herself that they dont reveal to anyone. We are afraid to show it but when it comes out wed rather not talk about it. The author shows knowledge as a very important thing. Now I shall know you again, said Mr. Utterson. It may be useful. This quote is said when Mr. Utterson meets Mr. Hyde for the first time. Another quote that proves this is I wish to see or hear no more of Dr. Jekyll. Lanyon said this after he had seen Mr. Hyde turn into Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Utterson was asking him questions about Dr. Jekyll. Lanyon, you remember your vows: what follows is under the seal of our profession... Lanyon is about to find out about Dr. Jekylls secret. Another pattern that the author shows as being important is fear. Mr. Utterson and Mr. Enfield were walking together and seen Dr. Jekyll in his house. They were talking to him when all of a sudden he started to change into Mr. Hyde. When they saw this they looked at each other, both were pale and had an answering horror in their eyes. I am afraid, I think there has been foul play. Poole says this when he goes and talks to Mr. Utterson about Dr. Jekyll. Also when Mr. Utterson and Poole want to talk to Dr. Jekyll and ask for him but find out that Mr. Hyde is inside they swing an axe at his door. They hear a dismal screech, as of mere animal terror. Another way fear is shown is when Lanyon saw Mr. Hyde turn into Dr. Jekyll. O God and O God again and again. Lanyon said this after what he saw. Another major pattern is duality. You can see duality through out the whole book. One example is Mr. Utterson and Mr. Enfield. Mr. Utterson is very popular around town. He is also involved with the town. On the other hand Mr. Enfield was always quiet and didnt do anything around the town. But they were always together. Another example is Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Dr. Jekyll was a smart, polite, and kind person. While Mr. Hyde was a person who liked to have fun. He was a rude and an evil person. This shows duality because Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was the same person. In the last chapter, the one that Henry Jekyll wrote he says Hence it came about that I concealed my pleasures. He wrote saying that he was holding back. Also in the same letter he says ...I saw that, of the two natures that contended in the field of my consciousness, I was both. In the same chapter he says he had just woke up and looked at his hand and saw something weird. It was the hand of Edward Hyde. Silence. Another thing he wanted us to know was important. I wouldnt speak of this note. Utterson said this when the guest compared the two handwritings of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Also When Dr. Jekyll wrote a note to Mr. Utterson excusing himself when he wouldnt see him The note said ...to lighten this destiny, and respect my silence. Lanyon left a letter to Mr. Utterson. When he opened it there was another letter that said not to be opened till the death or disappearance of Dr. Henry Jekyll. Mr. Utterson was temped to open it but he kept this silent too. Mr. Utterson and Mr. Enfield were walking and they seen Dr. Jekyll start to turn into Mr. Hyde. When they seen this Mr. Enfield only nodded his head, and both walked on once more in silence. Another example is when Poole takes Mr. Utterson a letter from Dr. Jekyll. After they read this Utterson puts this in his pocket and says I would say

Tuesday, November 26, 2019

Words Spelled with AE

Words Spelled with AE Words Spelled with AE Words Spelled with AE By Maeve Maddox Words with the AE digraph (two letters written together to express one sound) are often misspelled by reversing the letters, for example, writing â€Å"Ceasar† for Caesar. Once I had a high school student who spelled his name Micheal. The first time he turned in a paper, I corrected his name. When I understood that it was the spelling on his birth certificate, I learned (with difficulty) to control the impulse to correct it. Here are five proper names that are spelled with the AE digraph: Aesop Cadfael Caesar Maeve Michael An ae proper noun often misspelled is Israel. Here the ae is not a digraph, but two separate letters representing two distinct sounds: Is-ra-el. Most of the ae words remaining in English have variant spellings, but a few are spelled only with the ae, even in American usage: aerate aerobics aeronaut maestro Some ae words have variant spellings: aesthete/esthete anaemia/anemia anapaest/anapest archaeology/archeology caesura/cesura encyclopaedia/encyclopedia mediaeval/medieval judaeo/judeo paean/pean The word faerie, can be used as variant spelling of fairy, but more often it refers to fairies collectively. With the variant spelling faery, it refers to the realm where fairies live, a land of enchantment: Faerie is a perilous land, and in it are pitfalls for the unwary and dungeons for the overbold. J. R. R. Tolkien On Fairy Stories in Tree Leaf 11, 1964   Ã‚   The entry for the word daemon in Merriam-Webster states flatly, â€Å"variant spelling of demon.† The OED entry for daemon gives this definition: A [computing] program (or part of a program), esp. within a Unix system, which runs in the background without intervention by the user, either continuously or only when automatically activated by a particular event or condition. As any fan of Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials can tell you, neither dictionary has done an adequate job of defining daemon: A dà ¦mon is a type of fictional character in the Philip Pullman fantasy trilogy His Dark Materials. Humans in every universe are said to have dà ¦mons, although in some universes they are visible as entities physically separate from their humans, and take the form of animals, while in other universes they are not. Wikipedia, â€Å"Daemon (His Dark Materials)† The different pronunciations of the ae spelling must be left to another post. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Spelling category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Inquire vs Enquire20 Words Meaning "Being or Existing in the Past"What the Heck are "Peeps"?

Friday, November 22, 2019

5 Practical Space-Saving Resume Tips from The Essay Expert

5 Practical Space-Saving Resume Tips from The Essay Expert Conventional resume wisdom says to keep it to one or two pages, depending on the extent of your experience. Are you having trouble meeting these page requirements? If you have a few lines that you just cant fit onto that page, the following resume tips may help. Tip #1: Adjust Your Margins Are your margins set at 1 or 1.25? Try 0.5 top margin (above your header); 0.6 bottom margin; and 0.8 left and right margins. Tip #2: Reduce Your Font Size Try reducing your font size, even by 0.5pt. Acceptable font size depends on the font you are using. I recommend actually printing the resume to see how it looks on paper. Radical? Maybe. But worth it. Looking at a hard copy will ensure that you do NOT reduce the font size so much that it leaves your readers squinting! Tip #3: Streamline Your Header Your header does not have to take up 4 lines. Many resumes have a header that looks like this (and takes up way more space than necessary): Alternatively, consider something like: See how you have magically saved three lines that can be used for substantive information? Tip #4: Shrink the Space Between Your Sections You dont need to put an entire space between experience blurbs or sections of your resume. Instead, if you currently have full spaces between entries, try this: Delete the space that is currently there. Put your cursor at the beginning of the line. Go to the Paragraph menu. Insert a 6pt space before or after the line, as appropriate. If you insert a 6pt space before or after a line, it will almost always be a smaller space than the one you create by putting in a full line of space. How many extra lines can you squeeze from your resume with this trick? Tip #5: Use One Line for Your Employment Info Do you have your dates of employment running down the left-hand column of your resume? This format may be using up prime resume real estate! If your resume uses this format and you are having space issues, try this: Put the name of your employer all the way to the left margin of your resume. Put the location right after the name of the employer (preceded by a comma). Put your dates of employment all the way to the right by inserting a Right Tab at your location of choice (probably at 6.8 or so). To insert a Right Tab: Either double click on the ruler at the spot you want to insert the tab, or go to the Paragraph menu. Click on Tabs Insert the position in inches where you wish to insert the Right Tab Under â€Å"Alignment, click â€Å"Right. Hit OK or Apply If your text jumps off the page as a result of this maneuver, have no fear! It has not disappeared, it has just moved beyond your viewing area. Place your cursor where you know the text should be and start hitting the delete button. Eventually the text will come back onto the page and be nicely aligned at the right tab you created. If you are still having trouble fitting your resume onto the page, you may need more extensive organizational assistance to condense and prioritize your blurbs and bullets. There are many ways to pare down your language and still get your experience and skill across. Did these resume tips help you cut your resume down to size? Do you have any other space saving tips to share? For more resume tips, check out Brendas DIY resume writing books or   The Essay Experts resume writing services.

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Have sanctions achieved their political and economic goals in Zimbabwe Dissertation

Have sanctions achieved their political and economic goals in Zimbabwe - Dissertation Example It cannot be denied that the given policies have to some extent helped in stabilizing the strongly sanctioned economy by preventing a total collapse of the economic systems of a country that was once considered very successful. It is known that sanctions do not generally serve a positive role because they mostly lead to outcomes that are negative. Governments are known to develop contingency plans that aim at countering the adverse impact of sanctions. It is also evident that the sanctions imposed by the West are more reflective of thei...r own interests instead of what they purport to affect. Because of the different varieties of sanctions that have been imposed on Zimbabwe in its different sectors, this paper has mainly examined the economic and political impacts of the sanctions on the country and its people. This paper has found that after the imposition of sanctions in Zimbabwe, a number of sectors have deteriorated and put the lives of citizens to immense risk in view of the co llapse of health, education and water supply systems. Thus, the sanctions have worked in aggravating the conditions of people because the country’s relations with western countries have been soured and it has been virtually isolated in having only negligible influence amongst powerful nations. 1. Introduction It has been observed that states that have been known to violate human rights were invariably imposed with sanctions in different ways. Simply understood, sanctions are forms of punishments imposed on such states in order to make them comply with the given provisions of law. It is known historically that economic sanctions have been often used as an alternative to armed conflicts in making states to comply with given requirements. Zimbabwe has been under the grip of economic sanctions for over a decade, which has been imposed by the USA, the European Union, New Zealand, Switzerland and Australia on account of alleged human rights violations by the government. The US and the EU believe that the sanctions are measures to restrict the activities of President Mugabe and some officials of his government that are supportive of his policies. In contrast, the ZANU PF, Mugabe’ political party, has viewed the sanctions as being targeted against the entire nation. This paper will analyze the issue of whether the sanctions have achieved their political goals in Zimbabwe. The paper will make a critical appraisal of the effectiveness of the sanctions regime imposed on Zimbabwe The major crisis situations that led to the imposition of sanctions will be outlined after which the positive and negative impact of the sanctions will be examined by determining the effectiveness of the sanctions regime. In order to understand the issue thoroughly, it is important to briefly examine the historical patterns of sanctions. Essentially, sanctions are a means available to the UN Security Council under provisions of chapter 7

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

ASSIGN WRITER #4328 - Philosophy Unit - Business & Professional Ethics Essay

ASSIGN WRITER #4328 - Philosophy Unit - Business & Professional Ethics Journal Entries - Essay Example The primary role of an organisation, however, is to maximise profit, this is often best achieved by globalising, and this too is an ethical consideration for them in terms of self interest one. Thus, business imperatives and environmental concerns are often at odds with each other. Domestic household waste is also an environmental hazard yet householders are not penalised for not recycling or for purchasing products with environmentally damaging packaging, why then must there be an obligation for business owners and not wider society? Yet, the current state of the environment is a global concern with scientists only forecasting so many years before we pass the point of no return. Adopting an environmental ethic is a must for organisations but seeking a less damaging approach to globalisation is an alternative to the forced localisation that Norberg- Hodge (2001) is suggesting, which may also be unethical. Globalising businesses should place an onus on reducing carbon emissions but sh ould they have to cease international trade to do so? Childhood obesity has officially reached epidemic proportions but as Michele Simon points out in Government Abandons Children to Big Food (2006) food and beverage companies still refuse to take any social responsibility and curb advertising deliberately aimed at children. There are numerous ways that companies target children, companies deliberately purchase advertising time slots to air advertisements during children’s programming and specifically market to the child. Persistent children then harangue unsuspecting parents; the ethical consideration here is whether or not companies should be permitted to target children. This type of marketing also encourages social divide when parents can not afford or are themselves ethically opposed to the food or beverage being advertised, children who are

Saturday, November 16, 2019

Theme of Indolence Explored in Ode on Indolence Essay Example for Free

Theme of Indolence Explored in Ode on Indolence Essay Question: How is the theme of indolence explored in the poem ode on indolence? Ode on indolence is the praise of indolence/sluggishness; it makes the claim of the attractions of lethargy being more alluring than the attractions of the more active emotions of love, ambition and poetry. It is the admiration of the state of non-doing and non-feeling. The ode is a simple, straight forward story of a man who spends a lazy summer day in a state of numbness and does not want his visions of love, ambition and poesy to disrupt his indolence. These three figures are strikingly contrasted to the condition of indolence. The poetic persona could be Keats himself. The ode begins with the poetic persona seeing three figures one summer morning passing him by in a dream/vision, as if on a marble urn they returned with each turn of the vase. Their description resembles that of pilgrims with bowed necks, and joined hands wearing placid sandals and white robes, they were seen in profile. The figures are called shades and strange, the narrator is confused and cannot identify them. The narrators confusion is shown in the next stanza with the repetition of the questions regarding the identity and the nature of the figures. The word ripe is used to describe his time of idleness; this has positive innuendo and gives the impression of richness. The figures were robbing him of his summer-indolence, they are described as constructing a deep-disguised plot and are said to steal. These terms are negative and show these figures to be menacing or malevolent at least to a slight degree. In contrast indolence is compared to a blissful cloud that favourably makes pain numb and takes its sting away [metaphor], however it also takes the joy away from pleasure or pleasures wreath no flower [metaphor]. The narrator begs the shadows to leave him to his much longed-for nothingness. The term used- shadows insinuates the visions are dark and ominous. The third verse is commenced with yet another question addressing the reason for the figures appearance. His confusion is echoed in the word baffled. His soul is compared to a beautiful lawn strewn with flowers, stirring shades and baffled beams; the sky was clouded but there was no rain, only dew drops called the sweet tears of May. This pristine image of the narrators soul is brought on by the state of inactivity, thus we are made to believe that this state of being is desirable or covetable. He wants to bid farewell to the three shadows. The fourth verse shows the third turn of the urn and brings forth the realisation of the there figures- the fair maid love, ambition pale of cheek with fatigued eye and the maiden most unmeek poesy. Their description has negative connotations; only love is shown in a slightly positive light. In this verse the narrator feels intense urge to follow the three and longed for wings to fly in pursuit of them. Poesy is said to be the most appealing of the three and is called a demon; this could be justified by saying that it is because the narrator finds poesy most difficult to resist and it holds an almost enchantment like hold on him. Keats has expressed his wish to fly on the wings of poesy before in another poem. In the fifth stanza a question is posed to love to establish its elusive nature. Love is also criticised as being fleeting and short-lived and not to mention folly. Ambition on the other hand is condemned as being a mortal emotion that springs from the human heart. From other poems- ode to a nightingale or ode on a Grecian urn- we know that Keats has trouble with mortality and impermanence. And as for poesy, it has not a joy compared to honied indolence- the narrator would rather be devoid of common-sense and spend his drowsy noons numb and listless completely ignorant to the world around him [I may never know how change the moons]. The concluding stanza says adieu to the three and marks their defeat in rousing the narrator from his laziness. He commands the phantoms to vanish and never more return. He banishes them back to the dreamy urn and reduces them to faint visions. But taking into account that the state of indolence as compared to the three visions is hardly mentioned, it is not very convincing that the poetic persona prefers indolence over his other temptations [especially after reading some of his other poems]. It does however come across that he is trying to deny his passions even to himself.

Thursday, November 14, 2019

Richard III - Ian McKellen Makes Shakespeare Accessible to All :: Film Movies Richard III Ian McKellen

Richard III - Ian McKellen Makes Shakespeare Accessible to All Shakespeare at the time and even now still seems like a foreign language to many minds. From its deep and complicated plot development, and the archaic English that was its makeup, to the strange and old-fashioned medieval settings and costumes, a Shakespeare film of that time was not something very appealing to the public. McKellen’s approach to making the film Richard III eliminated many of these prejudices people had of Shakespeare movies. The historical â€Å"authenticity† of costume and setting was something that was removed from McKellen’s Richard III. To many, the authenticity of costume and setting made it confusing, old fashioned, and distant. It made the story seem like a history lesson, rather than the drama Shakespeare intended. By placing the story of Richard III in a modern setting of the 1930s, it eliminates many of these problems and allows the public to relate the film to their era. (i.e. Hitler, Hussein) It also made the story much more clear as you could recognize who was royalty, aristocrat, etc. The choice of the 1930s setting helped set up the background information needed to understand the political turmoil. The general populace would not have much knowledge of the period preceding the play, which is vital to understand the actions and decisions of various characters. McKellen used the period preceding WWII where a tyrant like Richard III could have overtaken Britain and gave Richard parallel motives to Hitler, Mussolini, etc. Another problem McKellen had to fix was the length of the actual script and the number of characters. To make it appeal to the public, you couldn’t make the film the several hours that was needed to perform the whole script. The fast paced life of today doesn’t allow enough time for that Besides this problem, the original script of Richard III is very slow moving and not very action packed, which is one of the reasons why so many complain that Shakespeare is â€Å"boring.† . McKellen therefore cut irrelevant scenes out, cut out many pages of speeches and was left with an accelerated, quality, and much more compacted Richard III.

Monday, November 11, 2019

Critical Review of Two Academic Papers

Critical review of two academic papers about the impacts of festivals and events to local and regional development The aim of this essay is to critical review two academic papers relating to the impacts of festivals and events to local and regional development. The first key writing of Moscardo (2007) Analyzing the role of festivals and events in regional development, focuses on the potential role of festivals and events and explaining how can they contribute to regional development.Another paper, wrote by Wood (2005) Measuring the economic and social impacts of local authority events, focuses on local authority use events in non-tourism regions and the post-industrial town of Blackburn in Lancashire. This essay will introduce the different methodological approaches that these two articles used and discuss why these methods suitable for these two papers. It will also discuss other parts of methods the authors used. According to Lancaster( 2009) using different kinds of methodological can make the data more reliable and valid.Focus on the content of these two papers, in the first writing, Moscardo (2007) describes that the study explored 36 case studies and analysis identified 13 themes which connected to the efficiency of festivals and events in regional development. The results of this research, which are analysed by using the qualitative research method, are used to describing how festivals and events can contribute to regional development. They also analysed the factors to the success of events and festivals. Moreover, Eisenhard (1989 cited in Moscardo) provided the main steps in case study analysis.In another article, Wood (2005) uses quantitative method to identified both economic and social impacts of community focused on local authority events. This research using mainly six questionnaires to evaluate two large events on different sides. As it mentioned, the authors used two different types of research methods. One is qualitative method and another one i s quantitative method. As noted by Easterby-Smith, Thorpe and Jackson (2008) there are mainly three distinct differences between qualitative data and quantitative data. First of all, qualitative data is based on through words express meanings and cannot be uantified. In contrast, qualitative data is based on meanings indicated through numbers and that can be counted or measured. Second, qualitative method conducted data from using conceptual model and quantitative method conducted data through using charts and statistics. Third, quantitative research relies mainly on statistical information and numbers, the results are numerical. Conversely, qualitative method need analyse longer descriptions instead of numbers. For using qualitative method, the advantages are this method strength is in uncovering more about people’s experience.As qualitative research focuses on small groups, it can be less expensive than quantitative research which may require large groups of participants or expensive measurement tools. There are also have some â€Å"postivist† (Egan 2012) issues with qualitative research, such as subjective, cannot be generalised and it is difficult to determine the validity and reliability of linguistic data. For using quantitative method, it both have positive sides and negative sides too. The advantages are the data is specific, replicable, generaliseable and it is aggregates across multiple subjects and summarizes findings.However, quantitative data may not be as rich as or as detailed as qualitative method and survey may be difficult for some participants, may not provide all the information needed for interpretations of data findings, and the large amounts of data may require more sophisticated analysis approaches (Cooper, Donohue and Tharenou 2007). Back on these two papers, the reason why Moscardo (2007) used qualitative research method is because this study is focused on a specific area about the role that successful events and festiva ls can play in regional development. It is need information specifically and robust.Due to the purpose of the study, another author Wood (2005) used quantitative research method , which is evaluate two events and develop local people's attitude to the region. They need widely information to know the general opinions of local authority events. Continuing focus on the different research methods the authors chose. Moscardo (2007) explored 36 case studies and identified 13 themes in content analysis. Anderson, Jansen and Velde (2004) state that case study research specializes in the understanding of a complex issue or experience in object and can be expanded or added to any known through previous research trengths. Case study highlights a limited number of events or conditions and detailed background analysis of the relationship between them. Elsmore (2012) maintains that case study has many merits. For example, first, it can put people , events and organisations in their both social an d historical context. Second, it has a ability to treat the subject as a whole. Third, data collection is very flexible, this strategy permits researchers to adjust their research strategy as the research proceeds. Furthermore, there is on need to generalise to a defined wider population.Moscardo also used Eisenhardt's (1989) steps in case study analysis, the process as starting from traditional problem definition and construct validation similar to hypothesis testing research. It required specify population, make theoretical and not random sampling. Next, it should combine both qualitative and quantitative methods and overlap data collection to allow investigators to take advantage of emergent themes. Then, analyse cases and across cases and compare findings and similar literature to build internal validity. Lastly, extend and test hypothesis in other samples of case studies.Anderson, Jansen and Velde (2004) indicate that the resultant theory from the Eisenhardt process is grounded enough for application. Wood (2005) developed 6 different questionnaires, it is important because these questionnaires are used to assess economic impacts of authority events and festivals through survey people's attitude. Cooper, Donohue and Tharenou (2007) report that there are many benefits of questionnaires. The first one is the responses are gathered in a standardised way, so questionnaires are more objective than interviews.Then, questionnaires not only can collect data relatively quick but also can contact a large number of people at a very low price if use telephone or postal. However, in some situations they can take a long time to design and analyse. Moreover, in some cases potential respondents will refuse to take the time to be interviewed or will refuse to answer some specific questions and response rates can be low from postal. In both papers, they chose different method, so the respondents and the numbers of information are different.In Moscardo's research, he use ca ses from different countries and a variety kinds of festival and event. About 50 per cent cases were from Australia, approximately all of the case were regular or recurring events. In Wood's research, the respondents were people and organisations, it surveyed six types, the attitudes to the region before event, event attendees and participants, non-attendees, local business, sponsors, community groups and attitudes to the region after event. The attitude surveys were carried out by telephone interview, and the numbers were selected randomly.Walliman (2011) says that when a sample is selected randomly, then every item in the population has an equal chance of being selected. These two writing were both described literature review in their different sections. According to Easterby-Smith, Thorpe and Jackson (2008) literature review is all their own and contribute to knowledge through literature reviews on a specific topic of research activities. They serve as valuable resources for thos e who want to get overview of the available research in a particular area.Literature review is always done as part of a paper highlighted key issues and related topics, and highlights the influence of conceptual or empirical studies already carried out in the field. To sum up, through comparing the methods used to the impacts of festivals and events to local and regional development in these two papers. It presents that there are mainly three differences between qualitative method and quantitative method. The biggest difference is that qualitative method express meanings through words and quantitative method is based on numbers.In addition, they both have advantages and disadvantages. Due to their different purpose of studies, one of them chose case studies and another chose questionnaires as their research method and explains their positive sides and negative sides. Moscardo (2007) uses case from different countries and in Wood's research, the respondents were people and organisati ons and Wood selected the sampling randomly. Finally, the last portion states why need literature review and how it is significant. Above all, a research should be use suitable methods, no matter it is qualitative or quantitative.

Saturday, November 9, 2019

God of Small Things Quotes Essay

Extended metaphor: â€Å"Perhaps Ammu, Estha and she were the worst transgressors. But it wasn’t just them. They all broke the rules. They all crossed into forbidden territory. They all crossed into forbidden territory. They all tampered with the laws that lay down who should be loved and how. And how much. The laws that make grandmothers grandmothers, uncles uncles, mothers mothers, cousins cousins, jam jam, and jelly jelly. Rahel and Estha live in a society with very rigid class lines. â€Å"Commonly held view that a married daughter had no position in her parent’s home. As for a divorced daughter – according to Baby Kochamma, she had no position anywhere at all. And for a divorced daughter from a love marriage, well, words could not describe Baby Kochamma’s outrage†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Chacko told the twins that, though he hated to admit it, they were all Anglophiles. They were a family of Anglophiles. Pointed in the wrong direction, trapped outside their own history and unable to retrace their steps because their footprints had been swept away† The concept of â€Å"Anglophilia† is a big one in this book, from the way everyone fawns over Sophie Mol, to Chacko’s cocky attitude about his Oxford degree, to the whole family’s obsession with The Sound of Music. But it’s pretty clear that the thing they love also holds them down. When Chacko says their footprints have been swept away, he is making a reference to the way members of the Untouchable caste have to sweep away their footprints so that people of higher classes don’t â€Å"pollute† themselves by walking in them. Even though by Indian standards their family is of a relatively high social status, they are of a low social status in relation to the British. Pappachi would not allow Paravans into the house. Nobody would. They were not allowed to touch anything that Touchables touched. Caste Hindus and Caste Christians. Mammachi told Estha and Rahel that she could remember a time, in her girlhood, when Paravans were expected to crawl backwards with a broom, sweeping away their footprints so that Brahmins or Syrian Christians would not defile themselves by accidentally stepping into a Paravan’s footprint. In Mammachi’s time, Paravans, like other Untouchables, were not allowed to walk on public roads, not allowed to cover their upper bodies, not allowed to carry umbrellas. They had to put their hands over their mouths when they spoke, to divert their polluted breath away from those whom they addressed. (2.270) This quote speaks volumes about the experience of the Untouchables, and it helps us appreciate the kinds of deeply ingrained attitudes that drive so much of the prejudice and hate we see in the novel. Then [Baby Kochamma] shuddered her schoolgirl shudder. That was when she said: How could she stand the smell? Haven’t you noticed? They have a particular smell, these Paravans. (13.129) Like Mammachi, Baby Kochamma has a heap of prejudices against other social classes, and these prejudices run deep. By disparaging Velutha out loud and saying that his smell must have been intolerable, she tries to show just how high class she is. Mammachi’s rage at the old one-eyed Paravan standing in the rain, drunk, dribbling and covered in mud was re-directed into a cold contempt for her daughter and what she had done. She thought of her naked, coupling in the mud with a man who was nothing but a filthy coolie. She imagined it in vivid detail: a Paravan’s coarse black hand on her daughter’s breast. His mouth on hers. His black hips jerking between her parted legs. The sound of their breathing. His particular Paravan smell. Like animals, Mammachi thought and nearly vomited. (13.131) Again, we see just how deeply Mammachi’s prejudices run. She doesn’t see Ammu and Velutha’s relationship as love between two people, as it might look to us. As far as she is concerned, it is as low as two animals going at it in the mud. The idea of a â€Å"coolie† (lower-class laborer) having sex with her daughter is so repulsive to Mammachi that it almost makes her puke. Still, to say that it all began when Sophie Mol came to Ayemenem is only one way of looking at it. Equally, it could be argued that it actually began thousands of years ago. Long before the Marxists came. Before the British took Malabar, before the Dutch Ascendancy, before Vasco da Gama arrived, before the Zamorin’s conquest of Calicut. Before three purple-robed Syrian bishops murdered by the Portuguese were found floating in the sea, with coiled sea serpents riding on their chests and oysters knotted in their tangled beards. It could be argued that it began long before Christianity arrived in a boat and seeped into Kerala like tea from a bag. That it really began in the days when the Love Laws were made. The laws that lay down who should be loved, and how. And how much. (1.207-210) This quote is full of what might seem like obscure references, but what it’s basically doing is pushing us to think about what caused everything to fall apart for Estha and Rahel. Did everything come crashing down because Sophie Mol came to Ayemenem? Or do the events of the novel happen as a result of decisions, actions, and rules that were made thousands of years before any of our characters were even born? Do things happen for a reason, because they’re part of this huge plan, or do they just happen because the world is fickle like that? [Estha] knew that if Ammu found out about what he had done with the Orangedrink Lemondrink Man, she’d love him less as well. Very much less. He felt the shaming churning heaving turning sickness in his stomach. (4.245) We can be pretty sure that if Ammu ever found out that Estha was molested, she wouldn’t be upset with him. She’d be unbelievably angry at the Orangedrink Lemondrink Man, but she would never actually blame Estha. Yet, in Estha’s mind, what happened to him is his fault, and he carries it around as his shame Ammu touched her daughter gently. On her shoulder. And her touch meant Shhhh†¦.Rahel looked around her and saw she was in a Play. But she had only a small part. She was just the landscape. A flower perhaps. Or a tree. A face in the crowd. A Townspeople. (8.48-50) This moment turns the way Rahel understands her role at home upside-down. All of a sudden, things are totally different than they usually are. Rahel’s realization that they’re in a â€Å"play† shows us that everyone here is playing a part to some extent – they aren’t being themselves. Sophie Mol’s arrival topples over Rahel’s reality; she goes from being one of the leads to being the â€Å"nobody† in the background. Now, all these years later, Rahel has a memory of waking up one night giggling at Estha’s funny dream. She has other memories too that she has no right to have. She remembers, for instance (though she hadn’t been there), what the Orangedrink Lemondrink Man did to Estha in Abhilash Talkies. She remembers the taste of the tomato sandwiches – Estha’s sandwiches, that Estha ate – on the Madras Mail to Madras. (1.10-12) Rahel’s ability to remember things that happened to Estha and not her tells us a lot about their joint identity and how profoundly she understands him.

Thursday, November 7, 2019

Allegory of the Cave essays

Allegory of the Cave essays What the Allegory Implies for People Living in a World of Senses The Allegory of the Cave implies that if we rely on our perceptions to know the truth about existence then we will know very little about it. The sense are unreliable and their perceptions imperfect because perceptions are only how we as individuals view things and not how they truly are. People are like the figures in the cave because they believe the things they see are how they truly are, much the way we believe the things we perceive to be the truth. The cave is like the world we live in because the things we see only resemble their true forms, much they way the shadows on the wall were only resemblances of their physical form. We can only know what is true when we know what is importance to us beyond what our senses perceive. We can not live ethically if we do not understand this. The virtues of the soul are akin to bodily qualities however we can not rely on these qualities for the truth, we must only understand their implications. Opinion gives way to knowledge through reasoning. Through the reasoning of this statement we can assess that our senses (opinions or perceptions) give way to understanding (knowledge) through their implications, or in other words, by our reasoning of their implications. People today are like the people of the cave because we are chained by our senses to what we perceive to be the true. The darkness is a metaphor for our eyes not being able to see in the dark how things physically are because sight is a sense that we can not rely on to see the truth even in the light. Plato implies that reality is like sitting in a cave with our back to the light. We can describe the shadows we see on the wall, but we never turn our heads around to see where the light comes from. Even worse, we never really see each other we are in the dark. The world we live in is like the cave because the shadows represent the objects we perceive to be t...

Monday, November 4, 2019

Case Report of the Alaska-Airline Disaster

This case report discusses about the Alaska-airline crash that has occurred on Jan, 31, 2000 at California. The causes, contributing factors, potential hazards and safe- guards that were ignored in accordance with air crash were discussed. This incident teaches a great lesson to the world to prevent future air- accidents and the inadequacies in policies to prevent loss of life and property.   Ã‚  Ã‚   The most miserable disaster of Alaska-Airline took place on 31 st January, 2000 at approximately 1621 Pacific- Standard time. The flight 261 that involves MD (McDonnell Douglas) - 83, N963AS was crashed at approximately 2.7 miles in the Pacific Ocean specifically at the north side of Anacapa- island of California. All the people in the flight that includes two pilots, three crew-members of cabin as well as 83 passengers were killed with destruction of the flight by impact forces (Carmody, 2002). There were dozen causes that have contributed to this disaster and have taught a great lesson about flight maintenance.    The main cause is that the in-flight failure of the acme- nut threads that is present on the jack-screw assembly (trim system) of the horizontal-stabilizer of flight has occurred. This has lead to the loss of pitch control of the flight. NTSB (2003) has stated that the jack-screw assembly is the most integral as well as crucial part of the trim- system of horizontal-stabilizer that acts as a critical airplane system and the destruction of this jack-screw assembly has caused the flight disaster. Moreover, the thread failure has occurred due to the insufficient lubrication that has lead to the excessive wear of the Alaska Airlines (Cockpit database, 2000). Basically, there was a fault in the fundamental MD- 83 flight design as it has no fail-safe design to counteract the thread loss of the total acme-nut that has lead to the catastrophic effects. In this disaster, improper adherence to the maintenance process as well as inspection of the jack-screw parts has exacerbated the design fault and has resulted in crash (Carmody, 2002). Another factor that has contributed was the extended interval for lubrication process. The Federal aviation-administration (FAA) has approved the extended lubrication interval that has contributed to the missing or improper lubrication. This has resulted in the complete wear of the threads of acme-nut. Further, increased interval for end- play check with approval from FAA for extension has allowed to the excessive wear that has progressed to failure without detecting the flaw. The horizontal-stabilizer has stopped working to the commands of the pilot and they were unable to rule out the cause. The acme- nut threads have worn inside the horizontal stabilizer and were sheared off completely. Then, the acme-screw and nut has jammed that has prevented the movement of horizontal-stabilizer. Later, the jam was overcome that has allowed the acme-screw to pull acme-nut causing the airplane to pitch downward (NTSB, 2003). It had lead to the (low- cycled fatigue) fracture of the torque tube again lowering the pitch from which regaining is impossible.   The use of auto-pilot at the time of horizontal stabilizer jam was inappropriate. Moreover, lack of checklist to land at these circumstances is an additional drawback. The pilots were not provided with clear guidelines to avoid experimenting with improper troubleshooting measures (Woltjer, 2007). The slats and flaps should have extended by the captain when the flight was controlled by the configuration after initial drive. The acme-nut threads were found to have worn extensively due to ineffective lubrication on the acme parts that have lead to the disaster. The recovered acme showed dried degraded grease that suggests that, it was not greased recently. The post-accident interviews of SPO-mechanic indicated that they had no knowledge to lubricate acme (NTSB, 2003). The safety board concluded that inadequate lubrication and lack of standard measures have lead to the accident. Fig: 1 shows acme-nut with plugged grease Increased pressure in the flight maintenance area in correcting, maintaining and delivering the flight in given time has contributed to this disaster. In this disaster, they have falsified the records that the flight has passed through the inspection process due to the increased pressure on them to make a scheduled return (Carmody, 2002). The measurements have showed that the jack-screw was in the brink to wear out and requires to be replaced by a newer jack-screw: but as it may delay the departure time, they have altered the record to be airworthy (ATEC, 2005).  The maintenance persons don’t have assertiveness to speak about the importance of lubrication and replacing the wear to the company.   The maintenance personnel have not helped the pilots when they were at horizontal-stabilizer problems. The safety issues in this accident include improper lubrication with inspection of the jack-screw, extended end-play check-intervals, over-haul procedures of jack-screw and design with certification of horizontal-stabilizer, maintenance program and FAA’s inadequacies has lead to disaster. Standards should be issued to pilots with the instructions to handle mal-functioning situations. NTSB (2002) ordered MD flights to replace dried greases with fresh grease. The size of the access-panel was increased to lubricate the jack-screw properly (FAA, 2002). The lubrication procedure for jack-screw was established as an inspection item to be signed by an inspector. The existing intervals were reviewed to identify the fault in the flight components. NTSB (2002) has conducted an evaluation and has issued a report with recommendations for maintenance. Improving fail- safe mechanism in MD design, promoting end-play check interval, issuing newer certification regulations and policies for horizontal stabilizers ensures safe air-travel. ATEC. (2005)  Incorporating Air Transport Association Codes into Maintenance Curriculum, ATEC Journal, 26 (2). Available from Aviation Technician Education Council [Accessed 28/02/17] Carmody, C.J. (2002)  Aircraft Accident Incident Report. Loss of Control and Impact with Pacific Ocean Alaska Airlines Flight 261 McDonnell Douglas MD-83, N963AS About 2.7 Miles North of Anacapa Island, California January 31, 2000, National Transportation Safety Board, Washington, DC:   National Transportation Safety Board. [Accessed 28/02/17] Cockpit database. (2000) Cockpit voice recorder database. Available from https://www.tailstrike.com/310100.htm [Accessed 28/02/17] FAA. (2002) Accident Board Recommendations, U.S.  Department  of  Transportation. Available from https://lessonslearned.faa.gov/ll_main.cfm?TabID=1&LLID=23&LLTypeID=4 [Accessed 28/02/17] NTSB. (2003) Loss of control and impact with Pacific Ocean, Alaska Airlines Flight 261, McDonnell Douglas MD-83, N963AS, about 2.7 miles north of Anacapa Island, California, January 31, 2000 (Aircraft Accident Report No. NTSB/AAR-02/01), National Transportation Safety Board. Washington, DC: National Transportation Safety Board [Accessed 28/02/17] Woltjer, R., & Hollnagel, E. (2007) The Alaska Airlines Flight 261 accident, A systemic analysis of functional resonance. Proceedings of the 2007 (14th) International Symposium on Aviation Psychology (ISAP), pp. 763-768. Available from https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:210824/fulltext01.pdf [Accessed 28/02/17]