My Views On Education And Policy Cycles - 1390 Words

With years of experience Ravitch explains her changed views on education and policy cycles. Ravitch talks about the evolution of her experience from public schooling to politics. She discusses education and how it transformed to a testing movement. The two main focuses in American education were accountability and choice. Educational differences began with the transition of the Clintons administration to the Bush administration. Her career enhanced within education when she was asked to work for the Department of Education. She joined the Bush administration to be the assistant secretary in charge of educational research and improvement. Ravitch wanted to focus on a strong curriculum, which included opportunities in liberal arts and sciences. Ravitch explains her passion for the American school system and the progress she made. Her focus was to keep a well rounded educator in each classroom. Ravitch starts by explaining the ideas of charter schools and other market based reforms. Rav itch discusses the difference between the no child left behind act and a nation at risk. The Clinton administration Goals 2000 program gave the states federal money for individual academic standards. The Bush administration implemented the no child left behind act in 2002. Bush’s no child left behind program melded smoothly, with a central feature of the Clinton administration’s Goals program: namely leaving it to the states to set their own standards and pick their own tests (Ravitch, 2011).Show MoreRelatedPreparing to Teach in the Lifelong Learning Sector Level 3/4 Unit 008 Roles, Responsibilities and Relationships in Lifelong Learning1723 Words   |  7 PagesLifelong Learning Roles, Responsibilities and Relationships in Lifelong Learning In this assignment I will be talking about key aspects of legislation, regulatory requirements and codes of practice relating to my own role. 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In the teaching/ learning sector however, roles can be blurred and legislation somewhat confusing, suggested by Holtrop (1997) â€Å"Obviously teachers wear many hats; friend, counsellor, judge, mentor, hundredsRead MoreRape Culture, Rapth, And The Cycles Of Social Justice1644 Words   |  7 PagesThe ways in which our society envisions rape culture, racism and wealth, and the cycles of socialization and liberation have been an ongoing challenge throughout history. Social justice and community is all about making the society we live in function better by providing the support and tools to help change the world. Most people understand social justice as a way of pursuing equality, but the issue is rooted within each individual and requires ea ch individual to be a change in society. 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My background of social studies is relatively insufficient, which is why this course is essential to my education. Even though I have not completed the whole course, I can already tell how uninformed I am in this area of study. However, the important aspect to reflect on is not what I do notRead MoreWhat Makes A White Christmas?1464 Words   |  6 Pagesthe snow? Growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area there was never a lot of that. There was however another white substance the holiday wouldn’t be complete without; Sugar, wh ich is in desperate need of government regulation that promotes health education and a limited intake has been entrenched into our culture. Without it we don’t have fruitcake, gingerbread houses, or eggnog. This isn’t a new tradition either. we’ve been domesticating sugar cane for approximately 10,000 years, using sugars as a

Analysis Of The Book The Overthrow Regime Change On The...

1. What is Kinzer’s thesis (what is he arguing in this book)? Kinzer’s thesis in the book the Overthrow is regime change in the United States. The author explains how regime change has been happening over one hundred years and how it is nothing new for the United States. He well explains and gives great example of how the United States is willing to do anything to other governments in order for them to accomplish their goals. Kinzer states that the US has overthrown fourteen different foreign governments around the world such as Hawaii, Chile, Iraq, South Vietnam, and others. The government overthrows these countries without misgiving the outcomes they will cause to them. â€Å"In most cases, however, it acted mainly for economic reasons-†¦show more content†¦Another example is the overthrow of Nicaragua. The United States overthrow Nicaragua with the excuse that they wanted security for the US. When in reality it was because they were supporting companies from the United States that wanted to work in Nicaragua. In my opinion, the United States was an egoist in most of their overthrows because they only cared of their own benefits. 3. Geographically, where does each chapter focus (ie. Hawaii, Afghanistan, etc.)? Do any of the locations surprise you? Chapter one focuses on: Hawaii Chapter two focuses on: Cuba, Philippines, Puerto Rico president McKinley Chapter three focuses on: Nicaragua Chapter four focuses on: Virginia, Honduras Chapter six focuses on: Guatemala Chapter seven focuses on: South Vietnam Chapter eight focuses on: Chile Chapter nine focuses on: Iran Chapter ten focuses on: Grenada Chapter eleven focuses on: Panama Chapter twelve focuses on: Afghanistan Chapter thirteen focuses on: Iraq Chapter fourteen focuses on: Iraq In reality, most of these locations surprise me because I would have never imagined that the US overthrew many countries. I was never well informed of all the overthrows the US has done especially in the way they did it. In most of the history classes, I have taken they usually try to make the US look good and never like the â€Å"bad† country. For that reason, is why I really enjoyed and appreciated this book. 4. Who are the main historical actors in each chapter (i.e. who are theShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of Persepolis : The Story Of A Childhood By Marjane Satrapi758 Words   |  4 Pagesof the analysis of the graphic novel of Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi, it is clear that events portrayed in the novel represent the tribulations and tragedies that various citizens of Iran experienced upon the downfall of Reza Shah, the Islamic Revolution, and the Iran-Iraq War. In terms of plot, the story is told through the memoirs of upper middle class Tehran female citizen, Marjane Satrapi aka â€Å"Marji†, as she recounts her perceptions and views of the overthrow of theRead MoreIdentification And Evaluation Of Sources2372 Words   |  10 Pagespaper the question â€Å"How did Sam â€Å"The Banana Man† Zemurray change the political organization of Honduras in the 1910’s?† will be examined. The decade of 1910-1920 is used to narrow the span of time that can be considered. Honduras is examined because it was the second largest banana exporter in the world up to 1915, thereafter it was the largest (Bucheli 11). The first source is â€Å"The Fish That Ate The Whale† by Rich Cohen. This is a non-fiction book that is a secondary source. The value of this sourceRead MoreEssay on Mel Gurtovs Superpower on Crusade1220 Words   |  5 Pagespolicy has an erratic temperament. 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It would be a political and strategic mistake to identify irregular warfare, COIN especially, as America’s dominant strategic future (Grey 1).† I disagree, I would assert that due to the United States’ superior military power and technology, more stable political system (democracy), and globally dominate economy, we can and will, beRead MoreOil And Natural Gas : A Source Of Strategic Power956 Words   |  4 Pagesan argument in his book that exemplifies the unexpected interaction between geopolitics and geoeconomics in current global economy (â€Å"Review of Michael Klare s Blood and Oil,† n.d.). Great value and large imports of oil in Middle East encourage certain powerful developed countries to meddle resources in this region, which creates massive chaos and social controversies. Middle Eastern oil resources have been regarded as â€Å"a stupendous source of strategic power† by a State Department memo sinceRead MoreGeorge Kennan: The Long Telegram of 19461862 Words   |  8 Pagesopportunistic, and its leaders did not wish to risk a general war with the West. For this reasons, the Soviets were highly sensitive to the logic of force and would retreat if confronted with resolution (Kennan 1946). Internally, it was a police state ruled by a Communist Party oligarchy and bureaucracy, but one that was always insecure in its power. Although Marxism had no real emotional appeal to the masses, the elites were guided by the assumption that the imperialist powers were always attemptingRead MoreReview of Bitter Fruit by Stephen Schlesinger and Stephen Kinzer3197 Words   |  13 PagesBitter Fruit by Stephen Schlesinger and Stephen Kinzer Book Review and Critical Analysis The year is 1954. Government agencies resurrect secret plans previously discarded until a more forceful administration comes to power. Behind the scenes, the CIA and State Department are fervently working in over time trying to engineer a government overthrow against a populist nationalist in their own backyard who has the dare audacity to threaten both US economic and geopolitical interest. AccusationsRead More Communism Essay2765 Words   |  12 Pagesworld politics for much of the 20th century. As a political movement, communism sought to overthrow capitalism through a workers’ revolution and establish a system in which property is owned by the community as a whole rather than by individuals. In theory, communism would create a classless society of abundance and freedom, in which all people enjoy equal social and economic status. In practice, communist regimes have taken the form of coercive, authoritarian governments that cared little for the plightRead MoreReading Lolita in Tehran as a Critic to the Changes in the Education System During the Revolution2374 Words   |  10 PagesReading Lolita in Tehran as a critic to the changes in the education system during the revolution â€Å"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.† Nelson Mandela Introduction Although â€Å"Reading Lolita in Tehran† is classified as a memoir which by definition is â€Å"a special kind of autobiography, usually involving a public portion of the author’s life as it relates to a person, historic event,Read MoreThe Relations Between Syria And Lebanon2146 Words   |  9 PagesThe post 9/11 world has bought about huge changes throughout the Middle East and many countries are experiencing challenges unprecedented since the end of the Second World War. United States foreign policy, the rise of Islamic fundamentalism, and the geopolitical struggle between Iran and Saudi Arabia throughout the Middle East has made the region politically unstable and ripe with conflict and human suffering. This dire situation is a great example of how interconnected the relationships of Middle

Intercultural Psychology for Individual and Relational Self

Question: Discuss about theIntercultural Psychology for Individual and Relational Self. Answer: Personal vs social identities Concepts The concepts of personal identity and social identity are fundamental in the personal development of different people. From a philosophical point of view, the concept of personal identity deals with the concept of making a true person at all times where the personal identity remains static at all times. Typically, it is a unique numerical identity of a person in a given period. It reflects the identity of a person at one time and the identity of a person in a different time where the identity reflect the same person (Sedikides Brewer, 2015). On the other hand, social identity refers to a portion of individual self-concept that can be represented in social membership group. This applies social identity theory that predicts intergroup behaviors in group status and legitimacy. From personality identity wheel, the three main adjectives that can be applied to describe personal identity include persistent, motivated and sociable. These are the main descriptive words of myself that can be integrated with concepts of personal identity wheel. On the other hand, social identity is a reflection of individuals in all cultural aspects that demonstrate the relationship between social and cultural identification. The issues of discrimination, privileges, and whiteness are very applicable in personal identity and social identity (Green et al., 2007). Discrimination is associated with whiteness where individuals with different skin colour are privileged based on the personal and social overview. Action The design applied in action was based on characteristics made in the personal identity wheel and social identity wheel. The completion of the two wheels revealed two characteristic draws from social and personal identity (Hattie, 2014). The implication of these characteristics was to determine the view of identity in the society. Again, 20 privileges were generated from one characteristic in social identity. The members of the selected group were expected to enjoy these privileges from social identity perspectives. Reflection There are two examples selected in both personal identity wheel and social identity wheel. Form personal identity wheel, the two examples that I selected are favorite music and favorite hobby. On the other hand, the two examples of the social identity that I selected are age and religious or spiritual affiliation. The example of favorite music is very important to personal identity because it defines the orientation of a person in the cultural aspect. The favorite hobby of a person also establishes the originality and personal interests (Brewer Pickett, 2014). From social identity, the main character that can be selected is gender. There are 20 privileges associated with age. First, other people fail to see you as a sexless being. Second, people assume you are heard to hear when speaking to you thus making them raise their voice. Again, age demographic is represented on TV proportionately. Again, one is view as technologically literate. People tend to respect you based on age where people do not automatically assume you are slow in doing things. Also, individuals do not overlook you when providing job opportunities. Moreover, the privilege of open-mindedness is guaranteed based on age. In that connection, it is challenging to be dismissed. Another privilege is physical fitness. There is no ignorance by advertisers on goods and services you consume. Again, your appearance is views culturally upright. Lastly, age brings the privilege of independence in citizenship. References Green, M. J., Sonn, C. C., Matsebula, J. (2007). Reviewing whiteness: Theory, research, and possibilities.South African Journal of Psychology, 37 (3), 389-419. Brewer, M. B., Pickett, C. L. (2014). The social self and group identification. The social self: Cognitive, interpersonal and intergroup perspectives, 4, 255. Hattie, J. (2014). Self-concept. Psychology Press. Sedikides, C., Brewer, M. B. (Eds.). (2015). Individual self, relational self, collective self. Psychology Press.

Students and School Uniforms Essay Example For Students

Students and School Uniforms Essay Students and School UniformsThe implication of school uniforms on the public school system would make a dramatic positive change for the students now and in the future. Currently the public school system allows casual dress code attire throughout the United States. Differing from private school institutions, where uniforms are mandatory. School uniforms are beneficial to the students and to the parents of these students. Secondly, uniforms provide structure and unity within the schools. Lastly, school uniforms make the environment in which the students conduct in for approximately 6 7 hrs. of their day a safer place. How much does it cost to dress for school? The prices in the fashion market targeted to school age children are on the rise yearly. The $28 billion childrens apparel market experienced continuous growth from 1998 to 2003 up 32% (Key note publications, 2003), this statistic showing the growth in spending on fashion clothing for young children. The clothing market now being a large expense for parents of these children. The purchasing of school uniforms is proven to be less expensive than the competitive fashion market at this time. We will write a custom essay on Students and School Uniforms specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now School uniforms are typically purchased yearly, with the growing child. This lessening the amount of money spent on uniforms and attention paid to the fashion markets competitiveness. A school is a form of a total institution. It is a place for reform, structure and unity for the individuals within that environment to fulfill a common goal. For a total institution to properly work there must be unity. A uniform help to provide that unity. Many positive institutions with the adaptation of a uniform dress code are successful in the process of unification. For example, the air force and other military based institutions. In these institutions each individual is clear on the mandatory uniform policy, this awareness and discipline provides a stern and later acceptance to rule. Once in uniform, studies show that increases in acceptance of others are evident. The viewing of multiple individuals wearing the same uniform brings a form of acceptance and unity due to similarity in appearance. The safety of our children is of our highest concern daily. In recent years schools across the country have experienced violence, gang activity, and thefts of clothing accessories. (L. Isaacson, Student Dress Codes. January 1998). A school environment is not a place for violent activity. This enforcing a quote made from The Manual on School Uniforms, A safe disciplined learning environment is the first requirement of a good school. To be worried about ones personal belongings, and more importantly ones life disrupts the learning environment, stumping ones ability to strive and accomplish academically. The addition of uniforms in the public school system has shown a positive decrease in violence and an increase of attendance. Statistics show, a decrease in crime by 36 percent, fighting by 51 percent, and vandalism by 18 percent (L. Isaacson). With these statistics how could anyone argue against the addition of school uniforms? To keep our children safe from violence from fashion pressure from other children may only take the agreement to allowing the acceptance of a school uniform dress code. A school is a place to learn and to strive. For a child this may be a hard ordeal. With the addition of fashion pressure, in acceptance from others and the inability to walk the hallways because of ones faded shirt, makes this impossible. Lets makes this easier for our children, allow school uniforms to out public school institutions.

The Sixties Essays - Counterculture Of The 1960s, Hippie

The Sixties Essays - Counterculture Of The 1960s, Hippie The Sixties The Sixties split the skies. Only Civil and two world wars so neatly divided our history into a Before and After. And the Sixties were more divisive than World War II, which drew more people for the war effort. The Sixties drove people apart husbands from wives, children from parents, students from teachers, citizens from their government. Authority was strengthened by World War II. It was challenged by the sixties. Relatively few Americans in 1960 would have predicted that the decade ahead was to be among the most turbulent of the century. Despite the growing restiveness of the nations African American population, and despite undercurrents of protest and discontent from many other groups, most Americans faced the future with optimism. The civil rights movement spawned social activism. Among the many effects of the civil rights movement as it gained momentum in the early 1960s was its impact on Greensboro sit-ins in 1960, accelerating with the 1961 Freedom Rides, and with the Mississippi Summer project. These movements opened up some eyes to Americans so they could see what was going on in the country at this time. Most of the things that went on in the sixties dealt with the War. The Cold war in which included the Korean War, but mostly dealt with our little rivalry the Soviet Union. There was a lot of division between people because of the War. Many people couldnt handle the thought of War. They were just scared that they had to be in a country that was involve in the War. Others thought that it was the perfect time to start their own groups. Some were Ethnic groups in which gained more power. Though much of American history, most of the nations dominant institutions had been controlled by middle-class, Protestan t, white males. Nonetheless, throughout those same years, American society was extraordinarily diverse. It included may groups whose political economic, and social outlook was very different from those of the controlling white male population. African American, Native Americans, Hispanic Americans, and members of other ethnic groups were largely excluded from the mainstream of American life. Women lived within sharply defined boundaries. People in the South and the West had different interests from those in the Northeast. The Existence of racial, ethnic, and religious diversity had been the source of many conflicts and adjustments for more than three centuries. In the 1960s, perhaps more than at any other moment in American history, that diversity erupted and helped redefine the nations life. African Americans, students and women all raised challenges to traditional practices and institutions. So did other groups who felt excluded from the centers of American life. The Counterculture rejected traditional standards and styles. The rise of political radicalism on college campuses occurred alongside an even larger change in the character of American youth: the emergence of what became known as the counterculture. Among the conspicuous features of this was a general contempt among young people for traditional standards. Youths displayed that contempt by wearing long hair, shabby or outrageous clothing, using unconventional speech, and acting in conventional standards of behavior. They also were attracted to drugs, particularly to weed(marijuana) and hallucinogens. In addition, they adopted a new and more permissive view of sexual behavior. Rock music was an increasingly important part of the counterculture. Lying behind these open challenges to traditional lifestyles were the outlines of a philosophy. Like members of the student left (with which it in many ways over lapped, the counterculture challenged the nature of modern American society for its hollowness and artificiality. It called for a more natural world in which men and women would live in closer harmony nature and would have greater freedom to vent their instincts and emotions. This was, in the end, a search for personal fulfillment. Popular phrases of the 1960s expressed something of it s character. Do your own thing or if it feels good, do it. So did the communities created by the so-called hippies. Adherents of the counterculture who attempted to withdraw from the conventional world and the live among people who shared their beliefs. Such communities emerged in the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood of San Francisco and then spread to other large cities. The hippies

Best Crucible Act 4 Summary

Best Crucible Act 4 Summary SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Act 4 gives us the exciting conclusion to this saga of madness. How are the citizens of Salem and their governing officials dealing with the fallout from the trials?Will the "witches" falsely confess to avoid execution? Does John Proctor still, like, totally hate himself? Read on to find out all this and more, including key quotes and a thematic analysis for the final act of The Crucible. Want to get better grades and test scores? We can help. PrepScholar Tutors is the world's best tutoring service. We combine world-class expert tutors with our proprietary teaching techniques. Our students have gotten A's on thousands of classes, perfect 5's on AP tests, and ludicrously high SAT Subject Test scores. Whether you need help with science, math, English, social science, or more, we've got you covered. Get better grades today with PrepScholar Tutors. The Crucible Act 4 Summary - Short Version Act 4 opens with Herrick removing Tituba and Sarah Good from a jail cell so the court officials can hold a meeting there.Reverend Hale and Reverend Parris are off praying with the other condemned prisoners, which is unsettling to Danforth and Hathorne. When Parris arrives at the meeting, he explains that Hale is trying to get the prisoners to confess to their crimes rather than lose their lives needlessly. He also reveals that Abigail and Mercy Lewis have run away, and they stole his life’s savings. The authorities then discuss the state of social unrest that has emerged in Salem after the jailing of so many citizens. Hathorne denies that there is any possibility of rebellion ("Why at every execution I have seen naught but high satisfaction in the town" (pg. 7)), but Parris is very concerned about what will happen if they hang people who are well-respected. Parris has already received a death threat in the form of a dagger wedged in his doorway. He advises that they postpone the hangings and continue pushing for confessions, but Danforth refuses because it would make him look bad. Hale arrives and says that he hasn’t extracted any confessions yet. The one prisoner who he hasn’t talked to is John Proctor. The officials decide that they will bring in Elizabeth Proctor to speak with him and convince him to confess. Elizabeth and John are left alone, and Elizabeth informs John of Giles Corey’s death. Giles was pressed to death with heavy stones since he refused to plead guilty or innocent to the charges of witchcraft. John begs her to tell him whether or not he should confess. He’s leaning towards confessing because he doesn’t think very much of himself and feels his soul is already beyond redemption. He asks for Elizabeth’s forgiveness, but she says her forgiveness doesn’t mean anything if he won’t forgive himself. She also places some blame on herself for the way things went down with Abigail. She tells him that only he can decide whether or not to confess. John tentatively agrees to confess, but he refuses to name any names and then is reluctant to sign the confession. He decides he can’t go through the rest of his life after signing his name into disgrace in this permanent way. He snatches the signed paper away at the last minute and rips it to shreds, thus sealing his fate. Rebecca Nurse and John are then led off to the gallows by Marshal Herrick. The others beg Elizabeth to convince him to reconsider, but she refuses to deprive him of this choice when it’s clearly the only way he can break free from his self-hatred. "Ain't nobody dope as me I'm dressed so fresh so clean" -John Proctor at the end of The Crucible The Crucible Act 4 Summary - "Oops, I Didn't Read It" Version This act takes place in a jail cell in Salem.Marshal Herrick wakes up the occupants, Sarah Good and Tituba, to move them to a different cell.The two women speak of their plans to fly away to Barbados after the Devil comes for them and transforms them into bluebirds.They mistake the bellowing of a cow for the arrival of Satan to carry them away (could've happened to anyone).Herrick ushers them out of the cell as Tituba calls to the Devil to take her home. Once they leave, Danforth, Hathorne, and Cheever enter the cell, and Herrick returns to join their meeting. Danforth is disturbed to learn from Herrick that Reverend Hale has been praying with the prisoners. Reverend Parris is also supposed to meet with Danforth and Hathorne, so Herrick goes to get him.Apparently, Parris is praying with Reverend Hale and Rebecca Nurse.It turns out that Parris told Herrick to allow Hale to see the prisoners. Danforth is concerned that Parris is acting weird.Hathorne mentions Parris has had looked a little crazed lately and thinks it might not be wise to allow him amongst the prisoners.He said good morning to Parris a few days earlier, but Parris just started crying and walked away.Hathorne is worried about Parris appearing this unstable since he’s supposed to be the town’s spiritual leader.Cheever says he thinks Parris’ distress is a product of the ongoing property disputes in town.Abandoned cows are wandering all over the place because their owners are in jail.Parris has been arguing with farmers about who gets to claim these cows for days, and he doesn’t handle conflict well, so it makes him upset.Parris finally enters the cell, looking haggard.Danforth and Hathorne immediately criticize him for letting Hale speak with the prisoners.Parris says Hale is trying to persuade the prisoners to return to God and save their lives by confessing.Danforth is surprised, but he welcomes this news. Parris then reveals why he called this meeting with the court officials.Abigail and Mercy Lewis disappeared a few days before.Parris says he thinks they’ve boarded a ship, and they stole his entire life’s savings to pay for passage.He’s been upset lately because he’s completely broke.Danforth is exasperated and calls Parris a fool.Parris says that the next town over, Andover, rejected the witch trial trend and threw out the court, whichhas sparked the beginnings of a rebellion in Salem.Abigail most likely left for fear that people in Salem might turn against her. Hathorne doesn’t buy into the idea that a rebellion is fomenting in Salem because the town has been supportive of the executions so far.Parris points out that this is because all of the people who have been executed up until now had bad reputations for other reasons (Bridget Bishop lived with a man before marrying him, Isaac Ward's alcoholism left his family in poverty).Now they’re about to hang Rebecca Nurse and John Proctor, people who are still well-liked and respected in the community.That’s not going to sit well with many of the townspeople.Parris advises Danforth to postpone the hangings so he and Hale can continue to push for confessions and avoid social unrest.Danforth is adamant that everything will proceed as planned.Parris reveals that he has received a death threat and fears for his life if they don't postpone the executions. Hale enters the cell, saddened and exhausted, and says he hasn’t been able to get anyone to confess.He begs Danforth to pardon the prisoners or at least give him more time to bring them around.Danforth insists he can’t pardon anyone or postpone the hangings. Twelve people have already been hung for the same crime. Pardon or postponementwould be unfair and, what’s worse, it would make him look weak. John Proctor is the only prisoner Hale hasn’t spoken to yet.The officials decide to summon Elizabeth Proctor to see if she will speak to her husband and persuade him to confess.Hale keeps pushing Danforth to postpone the executions, arguing that it would show that he is merciful rather than weak, but Danforth won’t change his mind.Hale points out that society in Salem is on the verge of collapsing because of the upheaval caused by the trials.Danforth asks Halewhy he has even bothered to return to Salem, and Hale says it’s because he can’t live with the part he played in condemning innocent people to death.There will be less blood on his hands if he can get them to confess. Elizabeth Proctor is led into the cell. Hale begs her to convince her husband to confess.He says it’s better to tell a white lie than to sacrifice a life for pride, but Elizabeth is not convinced("I think that be the Devil's argument." (pg. 122)).She agrees to speak with her husband, but she doesn’t promise to persuade him to confess. A raggedJohn Proctor is escorted in by Marshal Herrick, and he and Elizabeth are left alone.Elizabeth reveals to John that many people have confessed to witchcraft, but Giles Corey refused to plead one way or the other on the charges leveled against him.He was pressed to death by his interrogators, but his sons will inherit his farm (his property would have been publicly auctioned off if he officially died a criminal). Proctor has been contemplating making a confession, and he asks Elizabeth what she thinks he should do.He feels he has already committed so many sins that it’s stupid for him to bother holding up his integrity on this one point.John says he has only refrained from confessing out of spite, not nobility.He asks for Elizabeth’s forgiveness.She says he needs to forgive himself first, and her forgiveness doesn’t mean much if he still feels he’s a bad person. She blames herself for pushing him into Abigail’s arms and says he shouldn’t take responsibility for her issues as well. Hathorne returns to the jail cell.Elizabeth tells John that he has to make his own choice on whether or not to confess.John says he chooses to have his life, and Hathorne assumes this means he will confess.John asks Elizabeth what she would do, but his question ends up being rhetorical. He knows she would never give into the pressure and lie.However, he still hates himself and thinks he’s not good enough to die a martyr. Danforth, Parris, Cheever, and Hale return and start questioning Proctor so they can write down his confession.John begins to confess, but he falters when Rebecca Nurse is led into the cell and expresses her disappointment.John refuses to name any names of other people he’s seen with the Devil, and Danforth becomes frustrated.Hale manages to persuade Danforth to accept this and allow John to sign the confession as-is.John balks at actually signing his name to the confession.He finally does so, but then he snatches the signed paper away.He doesn’t want to be held up by the court as an example to other prisoners. John says he can’t bring himself to bind his name to such a shameful lie.Danforth is incensed and insists that the document must be an honest confession, or Proctor will hang.Proctor tears up his confession.He finally decides he does have some decency within him, and it will be manifested in this final sacrifice.Danforth orders the hangings to commence.Parris and Hale beg Elizabeth to convince John to reconsider as John and Rebecca are led off to the gallows.Elizabeth refuses; she realizes that this is what John needs to do.He’d rather die with dignity than live in shame, and she respects his choice. Yeah do whatever you want John. Honestly, I don't know why you didn't just tell them you're pregnant too - these guys will believe anything. The Crucible Act 4Quotes In this section, I'll list a few of the most important quotes in Act 4 and explain why they matter. â€Å"Oh, it be no Hell in Barbados. Devil, him be pleasure-man in Barbados, him be singin’ and dancin’ in Barbados. It’s you folks - you riles him up ‘round here; it be too cold ‘round here for that Old Boy.†Tituba, pg. 3 This is probably the most substantive line spoken by Tituba in the play.She recognizes the culture in Salem as overly repressive and conceives of â€Å"the Devil† in a different light.The Devil is not an evil presence; he represents freedom from the bonds of a society that forces people to deny their humanity constantly.Tituba feels that the Devil is provoked into mischief by the hypocrisy of the citizens of Salem. â€Å"Postponement now speaks a floundering on my part; reprieve or pardon must cast doubt upon the guilt of them that died till now. While I speak God’s law, I will not crack its voice with whimpering. If retaliation is your fear, know this - I should hang ten thousand that dared to rise against the law, and an ocean of salt tears could not melt the resolution of the statutes.† Danforth, pg. 9-120 This quote provides deeper insight into Danforth’s character and state of mind.He feels that he can’t postpone the hangings now because he may be seen as weak and indecisive.He definitely can’t pardon the prisoners because people might suspect mistakes were also made in past convictions.Every person brought in by the trials and convicted must receive an equally harsh punishment, or Danforth’s reputation will be decimated.He is so authoritarian that he would hang ten thousand people who objected to a law without stopping to consider whether this big of an uprising could indicate major flaws in the law itself. Danforth is dependent on this concept of the infallibility of the law because it allows him to maintain control. â€Å"I came into this village like a bridegroom to his beloved, bearing gifts of high religion; the very crowns of holy law I brought, and what I touched with my bright confidence, it died; and where I turned the eye of my great faith, blood flowed up. Beware, Goody Proctor - cleave to no faith where faith brings blood. It is mistaken law that leads you to sacrifice. Life, woman, life is God’s most precious gift; no principle, however glorious, may justify the taking of it. I beg you, woman, prevail upon your husband to confess. Let him give his lie. Quail not before God’s judgement in this, for it may well be God damns a liar less than he that throws his life away for pride.† Reverend Hale, 122 Hale is a disillusioned shell of the man he was at the beginning of the play.He initially felt that he was bringing enlightenment to Salem, but he inadvertently brought destruction instead.His good intentions rooted in a strong faith led to the loss of innocent lives.Hale argues that throwing away one’s life, even if it’s done in adherence to God’s commandments, leaves a darker moral stain on the world than giving a false confession.This advice is largely an effort to assuage his guilt about the situation. He won’t be able to live with himself if all these people die because of his mistakes. â€Å"Let them that never lied die now to keep their souls. It is pretense for me, a vanity that will not blind God nor keep my children out of the wind.† John Proctor, 126 John is convinced that he is not worthy of dying as a martyr because he has already lied and committed immoral acts in his life.He feels his soul beyond saving, so he should stop acting all virtuous and just confess.There is no point in remaining honest if he is already going to Hell with or without this false confession. At least if he lives, he can continue to provide for his kids and postpone an unpleasant afterlife. â€Å"Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies! Because I am not worth the dust on the feel of them that hang! How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name!† John Proctor, pg. 133 Proctor has this outburst after he snatches his signed confession away from Danforth.He can’t bring himself to permanently sacrifice his reputation by signing the confession. He feels his self-loathing and inevitable suffering in the afterlife is punishment enough (â€Å"I have given you my soul†). He can’t stomach the idea of also being defined by his confession in the eyes of society and history.He knows his name will forever be associated with cowardice and a lack of integrity. â€Å"He have his goodness now. God forbid I take it from him!† Elizabeth Proctor, pg. 134 Elizabeth refuses to dissuade John from revoking his confession.She can see that he has achieved freedom from his own self-loathing through this final truthful act.If she persuades him to return and confess, she might as well not save his life at all because he will feel so utterly worthless after throwing away this last bit of integrity. John's destruction of his confession is similar to ripping up a check and throwing it in someone's face when they offer to pay off your debts just to show that their power over you. In both cases, for better or for worse, pride wins out over self-preservation. Want to get better grades and test scores? We can help. PrepScholar Tutors is the world's best tutoring service. We combine world-class expert tutors with our proprietary teaching techniques. Our students have gotten A's on thousands of classes, perfect 5's on AP tests, and ludicrously high SAT Subject Test scores. Whether you need help with science, math, English, social science, or more, we've got you covered. Get better grades today with PrepScholar Tutors. Act 4 Thematic Analysis Here's a list of the major themes that are expressed in Act 4 along with some short explanations and analyses. Irony Danforth makes a few ironic statements in Act 4 as he interrogates Elizabeth and John.In observing Elizabeth’s lack of emotion when he asks her to help them convince John to confess, he says â€Å"A very ape would weep at such calamity! Have the Devil dried up any tear of pity in you?† (pg. 123)He is shocked that she isn't acting more upset even though he has shown no remorse for condemning people to death throughout the play. In fact, he expressed his viewpoint that "I should hang ten thousand that dared to rise against the law, and an ocean of salt tears could not melt the resolution of the statutes" (pg. 120).He can't understand why Elizabeth doesn't fall apart and beg her husband to confess because he doesn't grasp the idea that an action can be legally prudent but morally distasteful. Later in Act 4, Danforth becomes angry at the implication that John’s confession may not be the truth.He says â€Å"I am not empowered to trade your life for a lie† (Danforth pg. 130). This is an example of tragic irony because Danforthhas been trading people’s lives for lies this whole time. He has sentenced numerous people to death based on lies about their dealings in black magic, and he has accepted the false confessions of those who would rather lie than be executed. Hysteria Though there is less evidence of hysteria in this act, Danforth, for one, is still very much caught up in the â€Å"WWIIIIIITTTTCHHHH† mindset.As John gives his confession, Danforth says to Rebecca Nurse â€Å"Now, woman, you surely see it profit nothin’ to keep this conspiracy any further. Will you confess yourself with him?† (pg. 129).He remains convinced that everyone is guilty. Danforth also becomes frustrated with Proctor when he won’t name names in his confession: â€Å"Mr. Proctor, a score of people have already testified they saw [Rebecca Nurse] with the Devil† (pg. 130). Danforth is convinced that John knows more about the Devil's dealings than he has revealed. Though Rebecca Nurse's involvement has already been corroborated by other confessors, Danforth demands to hear it from John. This testimony will confirm that John is fully committed to renouncing his supposed ties to Satan. Reputation As the hysteria over the witch trials dies down, it becomes apparent that the reputations of the accused continue to influence how they are treated as prisoners.Parris begs Danforth to postpone the executions of John and Rebecca because they’re so well-respected that he’s received death threats for going along with their hangings.He says, â€Å"I would to God it were not so, Excellency, but these people have great weight yet in the town† (pg. 8). However, Danforth’s own reputation as a strong judge hangs in the balance, and he dares not damage it by getting all wishy-washy. â€Å"Postponement now speaks a floundering on my part; reprieve or pardon must cast doubt upon the guilt of them that died till now. While I speak God’s law, I will not crack its voice with whimpering† (pg. 9). John Proctor’s concern for his reputation also plays a role in the events of Act 4. He goes to the gallows instead of providing a false confession because he realizes his life won't be worth living if he publicly disgraces himself in this way:â€Å"How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name!† (pg. 133). Power and Authority In Act 4, many of the power structures that were in place earlier in the play have broken down or become meaningless.Though the judges and reverends technically still hold official positions of authority, Reverend Parris has been subjected to death threats, and Salem as a whole seems to be in complete disarray.The judges now have little respect for Parris ("Mr. Parris, you are a brainless man!" pg. 7), who has become weak and vulnerable following the loss of his life's savings. The prisoners have lost what little faith they had in the earthly authority figures who have failed them, and they look towards the judgment of God.John ultimately realizes the only power he has left is in refusing to confess and preserving his integrity.As Elizabeth says to him, â€Å"There be no higher judge under Heaven than Proctor is!† (pg. 127). In steadfastly refusing to confess,Rebecca Nurse ends up holding onto a significant amount of power. The judges cannot force her to commit herself to a lie, and her sacrifice will deal a serious blow to their legitimacy. Guilt Several characters are still dealing with intense guilt at the end of The Crucible.After quitting the court in Act 3, Hale did some self-reflection and decided to return to Salem to advise the accused witches to confess.His rationalization is that encouraging people to lie to save their lives is a forgivable sin, but being responsible for the deaths of innocentsis not.He’s wracked with guilt over the part he played in kicking off the witchcraft hysteria (â€Å"There is blood on my head!† pg. 121). However, because Hale is so tormented, he’s only able to consider his personal feelings about the situation. The false confessions might absolve him of his guilt, but the confessors would be forced to live the rest of their lives in shame. This might seem strange to us today (obviously you should just lie to avoid being executed!), but we have to consider the pervasiveness of religion in Puritan society. This is not just a matter of upholding one's good name in society - it's a matter of the state of one's soul. To the most devout people (like Rebecca Nurse)in such a highly religious culture, lying about involvement with the Devil might be considered worse than death. If a person dies without sin, she will go to Heaven, but if she corroborates the lie perpetuated by the courts, her soul will carry a permanent stain and could spend eternity in Purgatory or Hell. Hale's argument is less than convincing to people who have spent their whole lives in service to God and don't intend to compromise such an excellent record. Meanwhile, John Proctor continues to feel guilty for his affair and the role it has played in putting both he and his wife in mortal peril.A deep fear of hypocrisy almost persuades Proctor to confess because he would feel guilty martyring himself next to other people like Rebecca Nurse who are genuinely without sin. He says,â€Å"My honesty is broke, Elizabeth; I am no good man† (pg. 126).However, he ultimately doesn’t allow his guilt to define him and refuses to give up the remainder of his integrity. Elizabeth also displays some guilt in Act 4 when she partially blames herself for pushing John into Abigail's arms("I have sins of my own to count. It takes a cold wife to prompt lechery" pg. 126). The sexism of the play shows through in Elizabeth's guilt. She has been conditioned to believe that it's her job to prevent her husband from straying by being a happy homemaker. If we weren't entirely sure that this play was written in the 1950s before, it's pretty clear now. She was bedridden, but that's no excuse for not attending to John's every need. What was she expecting? That he WOULDN'T sleep with a teenager? The CrucibleAct 4 Review Let's do a quick recap of the events of Act 4, the frustrating conclusion of The Crucible: Danforth and Hawthorne meet in a jail cell and discuss their concerns with Parris' erratic behavior and Hale's return to Salem. Parris joins them and reveals that Hale is advising the prisoners to confess. Parris also reveals that Abigail ran away with his life's savings, most likely because of the rising societal discontent withthe court's activities. Both Parris and Hale beg Danforth to either pardon the prisoners or postpone the hangings until confessions are obtained because Rebecca Nurse and John Proctor still have such good reputations, and their executions could cause an uprising. Danforth refuses because he's already executed other prisoners accused of the same crimes, and he doesn't want to look weak. They decide to bring in Elizabeth Proctor so she can talk to John and hopefully convince him to confess before he is sent to the gallows. John and Elizabeth discuss this decision, and John is leaning towards confessing because he doesn't feel he's worthy of martyrdom. Elizabeth tells him he has to make his own choice. John begins to confess, but he falters when he is ordered to sign his name to the confession and learns that itwill be displayed publicly. He tears up the confession and decides he will go to his death rather than permanently ruin his reputation and sacrifice the only integrity he has left. The officials try to convince Elizabeth to stop him, but she refuses because she recognizes this is the only way John can end his feelings of self-hatred. John and Rebecca Nurse are led to the gallows to be executed. In Miller's short afterward, entitled "Echoes Down the Corridor,"he statesthat Parris was soon voted out of office, and the families of the victims of the witch trials were later provided with compensation by the government. He claims that in the aftermath of the trials, "the power of theocracy in Massachusetts was broken." However, the events of The Crucible provide an all too clear allegory for many modern-day tragedies borne of prejudice, fear, and ignorance. What's Next? Now that you've read summaries for each act of The Crucible,check out our complete thematic analysis of the play so you can kick butt on all your English quizzes and essays. Need some quotes to flesh out your essay? Read this list of the most important quotes in The Crucible, catalogedby theme. You should also take a look at this article to see detailed analysisof the most important characters in The Crucible. Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or your ACT score by 4 points?We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

Applied Research Project Capstone Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Applied Research Project Capstone - Essay Example The Department of Homeland Security (2010) also argues that the new and evolving threats that need close attention are cyber security, prevention of cyber crime, and the protection of the critical infrastructure. The article provides information on how through international cooperation there have been efforts to foster the establishment of the national and international watch and warning networks in order to detect and prevent cyber attacks as they emerge. Information on public awareness on cyber security is also found in the article. Besides, there is also information on the need for coordination and cooperation between the government and the private sector to ensure cyber security. The article by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (2014), provides a framework for enhancing critical infrastructure cyber security. Since the United States’ cyberspace is connected to the rest of the world, attacks can cross the border at lightening speed. The article also provides information on the significance of critical infrastructure to the national and economic security of the nation. Moreover, there is information on how internet traffic can be monitored and malicious intrusions to the critical infrastructure systems detected. Department of Homeland Security. (2010). Preventing and Defending Against Cyber Attacks. Retrieved February 26, 2015, from: http://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/defending-against-cyber-attacks-november-2010.pdf National Institute of Standards and Technology. (2014). Framework for Improving Critical Infrastructure Cyber Security. Retrieved February 26, 2015, from

Super Prison Project Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Super Prison Project Management - Essay Example The act of imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty possibly imposed by the state for a crime committed. The history of prisons dates back to the Biblical history of Joseph in Egypt. However, it began in the 19th century in Britain and has advanced to most countries in the World. In England and Wales, the history of prisons has been that prisoners are assigned security classes when sentenced, while all prisons are provided with specific security classifications depending on the prisoners’ types and numbers recommended (Alexander M., 2012). For instance, the classifications were into category A, B, C, and D. i. Category A: Meant for those whose escape from the prisons would most likely endanger the public and national security. ii. Category B: those of no serious/ maximum security needs, however for those who needed to be highly bared from escaping the prisons. iii. Category C: convicts who own no trust from the prison administrations in case they are left in the open c onditions, but are unlikely to make any escape attempts (Carlson M. and Garrett S, 1999). iv. Category D: convicts who can be reasonably trusted not to make any attempts of escaping from the prisons, and are hence provided with the privilege of an open prison. Such prisoners are subject to approval by the prison administrations and given Release On Temporary License to be able to work outside the prison and or leave for home upon passing their Full License Eligibility Date, which is usually a quarter of any sentence period (Ayers E. L., 1984). Super prison project is entitled to include among other things: religious facilities housing chaplaincy officers and other facilities for counseling; education facilities including library, with provision of adult education and continuing education opportunities; health facility; an exercise yard; a sally port; a segregation unit; a unit for vulnerable prisoners; safe cells; visiting area; a death raw; staff accommodation area; support facilit ies area; agriculture or industrial plant run with the convicts’ labor; a recreational area; and an administration area for prison management (Diiulio J., 1990). 2. Work Breakdown Structure This is a representation of the stakeholders’ roles in diagrammatic format (Harrison F. and Dennis L., 2004). Project management as a discipline involves planning, motivating, organizing and controlling the available resources so as to attain a specific goal; in this case the construction of the Super Prison (Young-Hoon Kwak, 2005). The stakeholders will therefore the managers of each department assigned to them. 3. Stakeholders A stakeholder is anyone involved in a project for the purpose of successful implementation of the project’s strategies. Effective implementation of this project requires composition of stakeholders who will be charged with the responsibility of foreseeing and supervising each and every activity that are undertaken (Dennis L., 2007). A number of stakeh olders, each assigned specific duties will have to demonstrate their potential in undertaking the proposed functions schedule for each rank in the project management. The stake holders will include: a. Executive Sponsor The Executive Sponsor of this Super Prison development and implementation project will be the government of England, and will have the responsibilities of: owning the project and funding it directly; being responsible for the project’s benefits; providing recommended resources and key Implementation Officers to the project in a timely manner; working very closely with the Project manager to deliver the expected benefits; chairing of the Steering Committee in case called upon; approving project initiation plan, statement of project scope, project plan, and any other changes to the set plan, scope or benefits;

Philosophy in our daily lifes Essay Example for Free

Philosophy in our daily lifes Essay This essay will discuss how can we apply metaphysics to our daily life as students, including activities and philosophical situations that take place through the week. The writing will have a special focus on metaphysics, on how it highly impacts and relates to a high school student’s daily life, by using tools regarding this topic by Alain Badiou, Van Inwagen, Plato, Aristotle and The Matrix. Philosophy is the invention of new problems, however not all situations can be philosophically analyzed. That is why a current philosopher from metaphysics explains in his text â€Å"The Event† how are these situations identified, because currently a very crucial and polemique problem is that most of people think that philosophical situations are constantly affecting us in every single thing we do, which leads most people to mistaken normal standpoints as philosophical situations. Due to that, the author of â€Å"Thinking the Event † has made this writing to help people to stop using the term philosophy wrong. The three aspects that differ a normal standpoint with a philosophical situation are choice, distance and break. The first aspect means either picking to think or not thinking, when a complex and not regular situation takes place, which means choosing to research and get to know well the problem, or leave it how it is and walk away; the second requisite for a philosophical situation is the distance, which is the comparison of the actual situation which is commonly d etected as the truth and its farness from the power, which in regular situation there is no real distance or disagreement; the last condition is the break, which basically is to realize and accept how different is the event from reality as we know it. Cyber bullying and bullying are new problems that have grown exponentially in the twenty first century, because of the constant invention of technology and social networks. The stage of high school is a highly concentrated area of both types of bullying and other forms of molesting, however all of these according to the program of Bullying Stops With Me, one  out of four students is bullied, from which eighty percent of the times ends in physical aggression. To identify if this is a philosophical situation, the three requirements need to be present. The first one is the choice to think or not to, of why the bully is attacking the bullied; the second one is to find the distance between power and truth, in this case the power represented by the bully who is doing this because of any type of problems he has internally, that he projects towards the bullied, who represents the truth that has no reason to deserve the treatment of this teenager; the third is the break, which is being able to differ how bullying by this boy is so far from the ideal situation where he has no real problems with the bullied, who has to deal with the aggressive discharges from the damaged kid. The three conditions for a philosophical situation to be detected have been successfully proven, in a given event in a high school student’s life. This has been an example of a daily problem that many students experience in their studies at school, which after analysis it has been able to be categorized as a philosophical situation. After knowing how to differentiate regular problems from philosophical situations, it is easier to go deeper into philosophy and learn from one of its branches, which is metaphysics. Van Inwagen defines metaphysics as the study of ultimate reality, which shows a brief explanation of the topic, but still it contains a deep meaning in each word that conforms this definition given by the author. One great mind of this branch of philosophy is Plato, student of Socrates and teacher of Aristotle, who has deeply influenced many authors and philosophy as we know it today. Many high school students go through a very rough stage in their lives where the image of each person is always compared with the ideal one. These images are created or known through the ones that photoshop editors pick as perfect. They have a huge impact on the lives of high school students, which have created a substantial amount of problems to junior high students such as anorexia and bulimia among other problems because of the authors and editors and the figures that they have created to be the perfect ones and the ones that everybody should aspire to be. Plato discusses the ideal form or intelligible world and its influence on matter. This point taken by the greek philosopher relates to the perfect picture earlier discussed, of how the ideal image of a woman or man should be, which in consequence affects the matter or the scholars on their body, because they  want to resemble to those icons that the editors have created. This point is also taken by the movie of The Matrix when Neo is in the white room, seen as the residual image (perfect form of himself) which can be related to the ideal model that the world has cr eated of the human body, compared to the natural apppearence when he is in the real world, where he appears bold and his body is different. The relation of the photoshop form, the residual and the figure on the Matrix from the intelligible (Plato) world are things that highly influence a student’s life, which show how we are strange prisoners from these images, because these pupils are not common prisoners with shackles and in a prison as Plato mentions on his text The Allegory Of The Cave. Plato mentions the phrase â€Å"We are strange prisoners† because of the uncommon slavery that the world has made us be. This philosopher who lived thousands of years ago saw this polemique, that back then was present and after centuries it still is present in a high school student’s life and in a movie such as The Matrix. The film shows everyone as a prisoner from the program (the matrix), that was made by the machines to have all humans controlled so that they could take their energy. Taking into account this motion picture earlier mentioned, there is a relation between the real lives of each person in the matri x with the prisoners of The Allegory of the Cave. This text is about slaves shackled without any movement, who have been like that all of their lives, inside a cave where they see these shadows and a stories about them on a wall before them, with a fire behind to illuminate these shapes. One day the master decides to free one of the slaves who is taken outside the cave by force. Once the prisoner is out it narrates how difficult it is for him to get used to the light of the sun and the unusual world before him. For him to be able to adjust to these changes he starts by just seeing shadows, from that the moon and at the end the Sun. After his experience he gets back to the cave and he tells the other slaves what he lived and experienced, who later mocked him. At the end he gets to the conclusion that he rather be a poor servant with that knowledge than back in the shadows with ignorance. The Allegory of the Cave has six important symbolisms that relate to the lives of many high school students. The first one is the cave, which is the society, the knowledge and costumes that most of the people consider as the absolute truth; the second is the fire, representing the knowledge that society gives to each person, which shape  many lives of scholars through their acceptance of these; the third one is the prisoners that symbolizes the students; the fourth is the shadows, that are the things that learners think they know, which are perceived through their senses; the fifth is the shackles, representing the comfort zone where undergraduates stay due to the fear of being judged; the final is the light, where they can actually find the real knowledge. These symbolisms represent to be part of many of the lives that high school students have through their three years of study, because a great amount of these undergraduates constantly accept rules or truths that others implement on them. These situations reveal one very important problem that they experience when they try to belong to a group. They take the information that group gives them (fire symbolism) and that’s what they use as reference point to other activities they face through their day. As consequence they become strange prisoners from that information that is given to them, not allowing them to come out to the light (real knowledge) and experience the real world, which is way to different and more filled up with information about the world. In some cases there are students that notice that they are slaves of information that the groups give them and they decide to leave all that information behind and experience the real world, however for many it is very hard to get accustomed to the real world and its information due to the dramatic change, which in consequence leads them back to the world of shadows. Another greek philosopher named Aristotle, who made a huge impact on western philosophy discusses on his studies the four causes that lead a person to be virtuous. These causes are the material (material of what and object is composed of), the formal (the potentiality of what it can become or work for), the efficient (tools that shape the object) and the final (its purpose). These four causes are the ones that through reason lead people to accomplish their total actuality (ultimate purpose). The four causes are deeply related to a scholar’s life, as does any other human being, which can lead them to be virtuous people through the completion of the stages, however when teenagers try to fit in a club the causes seem to be farther away because of the shape that their lives take once they commit to belong to a group. High school is about fitting in and belonging to a society, where he or she relates to the people within, nonetheless these people usually try to belong to the high and social groups, which dictate a set of  norms in order to be part of it. These rules are usually doing drugs, drinking alcohol, smoking cigarettes and relations hips with the opposite gender. They usually lead the subject to an acceptable place within the group, yet these requisites lead the person to move further apart from their causes and to a virtuous life. Peer pressure assumes an important role in this case, principally because the teenager desires so bad to belong, that he or she will do anything to accomplish their goal. This situation has created polemique, because once you enter high school no person wishes to be at the bottom, without being recognized socially, which builds another wall between the subject and the final cause depending on the type of group that a person wants to belong to and how far are the ideologies of the group from the ones of the person. Van Inwagen, a metaphysician debate on how appearances tend to be deceptive and that reality stands behind all these appearances. These, disguise the reality and they do this type of â€Å"scheme† through the misleading of what people sense. Many social groups and images that photoshop has ideally formed have highly disguised the truth of perfect and ideal body. In the case of groups they show how not having parents is better (appearance), yet these people suffer of psychological problems and loneliness (reality) which they tend to hide with the amazingness of not having elderly people caring for you, leading scholars to have problems with their parents because of the attention and concern that they have for them that it is bad seen in the teen society. Another case that can relate to the point of Van inwagen of appearances being deceptive is drinking and smoking, which is seen in social high school groups to be fine and without consequences (appearances), however drinking and drugs are another way to balance their lack of attention in parenthood (reality). For photoshop they disguise these models with perfect body, teeth, hair, skin among other things when the reality is that these models just stand there and let the photographers take pictures of them, which later are incredibly edited and placed on magazines and big announcements that serve the purpose of projecting an ideal form to sell advertisements among other things. Another important situation of an undergraduate is the effort and results they tend to have at school. Many students consider high school as a social network that leads them to a happy stage of their lives by partying and skipping classes, nonetheless they forget the importance of their education when they  fa il classes, which can be occasionally improved, however the way that students deal with failure is why they cannot succeed. Plato teacher of Aristotle debates that an unexamined life is not worth living because even though people experience some discomfort or pain this is only temporary and it is worth it due to what comes next. The â€Å"temporary pain† can be seen in this case as studying more and partying less, that eventually would lead to having good grades, getting into a good college and being successful. Yet if they remain in an unexamined life of ignorance they will live a different type of pain, which will remain there for all of their lives. This last phrase of different type of pain is related to a scholar’s life when he fails classes and eventually school, leaving him without his or her studies, leading to a bad employment and misery. That is why in the Allegory of the Cave, Plato in his conversation with Glaucon mentions how the slave that was set free and comes back to the cave says that he would rather live being a poor servant of a poor master with all the knowledge that bac k in the shadows. This shows in the student’s life that if he went out to the real world and saw what he could become and the truth about it, he would not rather be an ignorant teen that only parties who remains in the shadows because he can not see what can happen if he remains the same. To conclude this essay, it has been seen the different aspects that a teenager boy or girl on high school can have and how are they related to the different authors and movie of metaphysics. These authors have one thing in common which is seeking the truth, however their methods to guide them to the goal differ. The two main authors are of greek background, Aristotle and Plato. Aristotle focuses his methods and theory on the sensible realm and later on the intelligible realm, unlike Plato who uses these concepts the other way around focusing on the world of forms or ideal world and its influence on the natural realm. It is for each person to decide the view on which they stand, which could be philosophy being a set of footnotes of Plato; Aristotle being superior than Plato, because he took Plato’s ideas and improved them; or Plato focuses on abstract ideas and Aristotle is concentrated on concrete objects and its development, changes and purposes. This views are for each person to the decide focusing mainly on undergraduates and their philosophical situations and how they wish to deal with them by either choosing one of the views or remaining in the shadows. Bibliography BIBLIOGRAPHY Cohen, Marc. The Allegory of the Cave. 11 July 2013. 12 September 2014 https://faculty.washington.edu/smcohen/320/cave.htm. Cohen, S. Marc. Aristotles Metaphysics. 11 June 2012. 12 September 2014 http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-metaphysics/. Paul, John. 2 July 2013. 11 September 2014 http://2011bullyingprogram.weebly.com/bullying-statistics.html . Stanford Universuty. Metaphysics. 10 September 2007. 11 September 2014 http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/metaphysics/. Thesaurus.com. Synonims. http://www.thesaurus.com/browse. Unknown. Notes on Alain Badiou’s Thinking the Event. 22 June 2012. 12 September 2014 http://de-bel-aizin.tumblr.com/post/25651855872.

Neglect and Decay in Joyce Carol Oates Haunted Essay -- Joyce Carol O

Neglect and Decay in Joyce Carol Oates' "Haunted" â€Å"Things in the world even those built by man are so quiet left to themselves†¦Ã¢â‚¬  People futilely fight the decay of life and relationships in an attempt to find beauty and goodness in the world. Joyce Carol Oates masterfully illustrates this theme in her short story â€Å"Haunted.† Oates reveals the protagonist Melissa’s desperate struggle with looming forces like the physical environment, her twisted relationship with her best friend, and even the insanity in her own mind. Oates utilizes imagery, symbols, and metaphors to show the downtrodden state of the countryside in which Melissa and Mary Lou live. Mentioning it several times throughout the story, Oates uses glass as a major symbol signifying the once beautiful structures which become ugly and useless in neglect. In all of the houses Melissa and Mary Lou explore, there is broken glass underfoot and windows which have been smashed. â€Å"Slippery like water,† the glass foreshadows the danger of Melissa’s mind finally shattering. Oates also describes Mary Lou’s eyes as blue â€Å"lik...

Mariah, by Che Husna Ashari

Mariah by Che Husna Azhari Introduction Mariah is a short story written by Che Husna Azhari who is a prominent Malaysian writer of literature. She received a degree from Tunku Khurshiah College, Seramban in 1973, and her A Levels from Oxford College of Further Education in 1975. In 1979, she received a degree from Brunel University of West London in Polymer Technology. In 1985, Che Husna was awarded a PhD in Response Engineering from Brunel University of West London. Che Husna is a Professor at the Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, specializing in non-metallic materials processing.She also serves as the Director of the Center for Corporate Planning and Communications at that university. Ms. Che Husna’s writings are generally set in Kelantan, Malaysia, and her best known short stories are used as standard teaching texts in Malaysia. Synopsis Mariah is widower who sells her ‘Nasi Berlauk' at her stall in order to survive herse lf and being admired. This Che Husna Azhari artwork is about polygamy issue within Pak Imam, which can be considerd as a big character besides Mariah. Pak Imam already has a wife, Cik Yam, who is a loyal wife and being the icon of other woman with full package in her own.After Pak Imam had discussed with her about his intention to have another marriage with Mariah, Cik Yam felt upset and do not agree on the time. But because she loves his husband so much, he agreed to let Pak Imam to get married. As for Pak Imam, even though he is known as Imam and respected by the whole villagers, but he is still just an ordinary person that cannot being separate by other human being by behaving like he is (want to get married with Mariah although he already have Cik Yam as his wife).Themes The theme is about women’s discrimination, sacrificial love and polygamy. Cik Yam agreed to the second marriage of her husband because she loved him so much and did not want him to be sad. She did not pre vent Pak Imam to get married with Mariah, the Nasi Belauk seller. At first, when Pak Imam tell Cik Yam that he want to get married another one, she just get sad for a while and and she gave permission to Pak Imam after that to be married with Mariah. In this story, issue of polygamy is not a big issue. However, he issue of polygamy is important in this story when it is about Cik Yam decision, whether she want to give permission or not to let the polygamy between herself and Mariah. Character Mariah A beautiful widow Usually wears Baju Kebaya Sells Nasi Berlauk in Molo Admired by men in her village Pak Imam A pious man Respected by all people in the village Husband of Cik Yam Friend of Che Gu Leh Fell in love with Mariah Cik Yam Wife of Pak Imam Characterized as perfect wife based on the sentence â€Å"The Imam looked at his wife with obvious pride.There was not a living man in Molo who did not envy him for having such a devoted wife. † Barren according to Pak Imam â€Å"Why couldn’t his wife bear children like other women? Some women, it seemed, have the fecundity of rabbits, but not his wife. † – Very devoted and loyal to Pak Imam A former politician. Plot The story begins with the exposition of the main character who is Mariah as the beautiful Nasi berlauk seller. It describes how Mariah’s beautiful figure appears as she walks as in â€Å"all eyes were transfixed on a figure coming through the entrance. It was the figure of a woman.She was delicately balancing two huge basins on her head, her hips swaying gaily to and fro with the rhythm of the balancing. That particular gyrating seemed to mesmerise the men and glue them to their places†. It also describes how Mariah was admired by men in the village. The rising action starts when Mariah was accused of putting something into her nasi berlauk to enchant all men in the village including Pak Imam by the head of womenfolk Che Gu Nab. It follows with the flashback of Pak Imam’s past about his unforgettable secret love with the daughter of his master, the Sheikh.The climax of this story is when Pak Imam asks permission from his wife to marry Mariah as in â€Å"He then told Cik Yam of Mariah, how he had fought his emotions and how he had lost. He begged Cik Yam’s forgiveness, kissed the hem of Cik Yam’s sarong and asked for her permission to take Mariah as his second wife! †. The falling action of this story is when Cik Yam finally agree to let Pak Imam to marry Mariah under the condition of equality. The story resolves with Pak Imam finally marry Mariah.

Atlantic Revolution

Nationalism and revolution often go hand in hand. Yet, while nationalism might lead to revolution, and perhaps national independence, it is much broader than revolution, and one should not be confused with the other. â€Å"All nationalists believe that nations can be identified by certain characteristics that all its citizens hold in common. These characteristics include the linguistic, ethnic, religious, or historical traditions that make a nation distinctive. All nationalists†¦are linked across time by [a common] language, literary tradition, and history† (Gelvin 2011). Atlantic Revolution What the American Revolution had in common with the Atlantic Revolution is that it wasn’t one single event or conflict that lead to uprisings everywhere. They were interconnected sharing common political vocabulary and strong democratic character† Where the American Revolution sought to create a new republic the Atlantic republics wished to recreate a new society from scratch. The American Revolution started a Trans-Atlantic Age revolution. Discovery of the New World It all began with the discovery of the New World by Columbus is 1492, which happened on behalf of Castile which was the Spanish crown. Prior to this discovery Europe had switched from the Feudalist system to the Capitalist system. Nationalism in Europe fueled the desire to control colonies in Asia and Africa. Finding a new route to the orient was the goal, when the Americas were discovered. The â€Å"Atlantic revolution,† was the redirection of trade routes brought about by the great geographic discoveries. The Atlantic revolution, however, did not so much replace the old lines of medieval commerce as build upon them† (Britannica). The European merchant capitalism formed a framework that became a joint venture for Europe, Americas and Africa. One that was founded upon coerced labor in which all contributed to the vast complicated network known as the Atlantic economy. â€Å"While not equal in power, each was critical in the contribution to the construction of the Atlantic world†(Benjamin 2011). Atlantic World By 1607 the first English settlement in America was set in Jamestown Virginia. Only Seven out of Ten settlers remained in the New World, due to starvation, harsh living conditions and wars with the Natives. The natives who had traded food for death were fighting two enemies disease and setters. Diseases such as malaria, small pox, scarlet fever and influenza wiped the Natives out. Creating a shortage of labor in the creation of the New World. When Columbus first arrived, he brought Horses. These horses were traded to Native Americans which helped change the face of hunting forever. This allowed the Natives to move from hunting parties requiring several men that lasted days to one hunter on horseback. The New World gave the Old World tobacco, cocoa, beans, tomatoes, corn and potatoes. Both Corn and potatoes became the food of the poor after Europe came out of the epidemic known as Black Death. Although no cure for the countless diseases on both sides of the New and Old Worlds. The retreat of the plague left Europeans with only war, hunger and a raft of other infections to deal with. † Economy The Columbian Exchange brought the Europeans wealth and power. The combined animal and plant products from the Indies exceeded gold and silver in value. While it brought the native Americas an unequal exchange of food for diseases that caused entire Indian cultures to vanish. The Columbian Exchange brought the Africans to other countries; discovered by the Portuguese searching for gold, later kidnapped later to be bartered and sold into slavery to satisfy Europeans unquenchable taste for goods. While the Columbian exchange had life changing positive and disastrous ending negative effects on four continents and three branches of humanity. Ecology became destiny determining who would thrive and who would die. Tobacco John Rolfe was an entrepreneur, who dared to sail to the Americas. He landed in Chesapeake Bay, with a dream and some tobacco seeds. He planted them and a crop grew that was worth One Million United States currency of today. August 1619 the first permanent African involuntary labors arrived to care for the tobacco crops. Slavery did not exist at this point in time, Later another One Thousand settlers arrived with Twenty African indentured servants. â€Å"The black indentured servant, with his hope of freedom, was increasingly being replaced by the black slave. â€Å" In 1705, the Virginia General Assembly removed any lingering uncertainty about this terrible transformation; it made a declaration that would seal the fate of African Americans for generations to come†¦ â€Å"All servants imported and brought into the Country†¦ who were not Christians in their native Country†¦ hall be accounted and be slaves. All Negro, mulatto and Indian slaves within this dominion†¦ shall be held to be real estate. If any slave resist his master†¦ correcting such slave, and shall happen to be killed in such correction†¦ the master shall be free of all punishment†¦ as if such accident never happened. † (PBS) â€Å"The Body of Liberties, recognized the enslavement of Africans as not only legal but also moral in 1641† (Code Noir 2008). Slave Revolution When the first record of blacks arrived in US history it was in Virginia in 1619. The Colonists used words like, black skin and connoted words like â€Å"soiled, dirty†¦ horrible, wicked to describe the blacks, while white skin connoted â€Å"purity, beauty, and goodness. â€Å"About 1860 racism reared its ugly head when white settlers started referring to themselves as white. As time progressed, harsh, brutal treatment of the Negro, the African American, the Black, was based on the dehumanizing of this person, and asserting white supremacy. † (Sanders) Unable to swallow the idea that a black man could be their equal, the American White Anglo-Saxon took steps to make sure that equality just didn’t happen. As early as 1740 laws were passed that punished, by death, any act of rebellion Negro slaves committed or any act against a white person that resulted in grievous wounds, bruises, or maiming, without benefit of trial. French Colony of Saint Domingue The French had the slave system down to a science knowing that the average rate per slave was three years. This inevitable death sentence, sparked a revolution within the slaves themselves. The French Revolution sparked, the most famous revolution which began in the French colony of Saint Domingue later known as the country of Haiti. The Haitian revolution lasted for twelve years, under the leadership of Toussaint L’Ouverture. The revolution took a turn when the slaves acquired guns from the neighboring Spanish and used them to fight off the British, French, and Spanish defeating 60,000 soldiers. The revolt caused Britain and France to abandon slave trade, making One Million black slaves French citizens in 1794. The French-Haitian Revolution What Nationalism and Revolution tell us about the role of slavery in the Atlantic World was what was done to justify slavery. In 1831 a Slave revolt lead by Nat Turner was used as reason to continue slavery. The whites were far outnumbered which was why The Haitian Revolution was kept quiet. For this reason, white Frenchmen were not permitted in Cuba for fear that they tell the story of the revolt in Haiti. One Million black slaves became French citizens in 1794 and when Napoleon tried to reinstitute slavery in 1802 things did not go well. Ultimately, Catholicism was used to try to de- Africanize the slaves, the colony wished to assimilate them culturally in order to continue their subjugation. American Revolution The American Revolution affected slavery by creating new ways for the slaves to be free. People started questioning slavery on all sides. The Americans won their independence from the British but the most vital area that America needed to address was the one of racial segregation. The primary cause of the civil war was slavery, and States’ rights. The Americans celebrated when the French overthrew its Absolutist monarchy. Sanctioned violence in France overflowed to the borders of Great Britain where they remained at war until 1815. Once the British war with France began depleting the British treasury. The war known as the French and Indian War is also known as the Seven Years War. The depletion of the treasury caused Britain, who decided the colonies had grown fat under their not so watchful eye to tax the Colonists on goods that had not previously been taxed. The Stamp Act of 1765, caused Parliament to take action, deciding that the colonies needed to contribute to their own defense. That action was followed by the British action to tax the Colonists on goods that had not previously been taxed. The final blow came when British forced the colonists to house and feed British soldiers. These collective actions made the colonists angry. The Colonists were without a representative in Parliament to peak for them. From these collective actions the phrase, no taxation without representation was born. Attempting to further cripple the colonists attempts for independence the English outlawed production of an American currency – and forced the colonies to borrow from British banks at high interest. John Adams stated that,† The revolution was effected before the war commenced. The revolution was in the minds and hearts of the people. † (Adams, 2010) Conclusion The American Revolution and Atlantic Revolution wasn’t one single event or conflict that lead to uprisings everywhere. They were interconnected sharing common political vocabulary and strong democratic character† While Nationalism and revolution often go hand in hand nationalism might lead to revolution, and perhaps national independence. Granted, â€Å"All nationalists believe that nations can be identified by certain characteristics that all its citizens hold in common. These characteristics include the linguistic, ethnic, religious, or historical traditions that make a nation distinctive. All nationalists†¦are linked across time by [a common] language, literary tradition, and history† (Gelvin 2011).

Colombia Essays - Member States Of The United Nations, Republics

Colombia Essays - Member States Of The United Nations, Republics Colombia COLOMBIA GEOGRAPHY: Colombia stretches over approximately 1,140,000 sq. km, roughly equal to the area of Portugal, Spain, and France put together. Colombia occupies the northwestern end of South America, and is the only country there with coasts on both the Pacific (1350 km long), and the Atlantic (over 1600 km.) Three Andean ranges run north and south through the western half of the country (about 45% of the total territory.) The eastern part is a vast lowland which can be generally divided into two regions: a huge open savannah on the north, and the amazon in the south (400,000 sq. km approx.).Colombia is a country of geographical contrasts and extremes. As well as the features mentioned, it has such curiosities as the desert of La Guajira, the peninsula in the most north-eastern tip of the country; the jungle of the pacific coast which holds one of the world's rainfall records; and the Serrana de la Macarena, an isolated mountain formation about 120 km. long, rising abruptly from the eastern plains t o some 2500 meters. Colombia also has several small islands. The major ones are the archipelago of San Andrs and Providencia in the Caribbean Sea, the Islas del Rosario and San Bernardo along the Caribeian coast, and Gorgona and Malpelo in the Pacific Ocean. HISTORY: Spaniards founded Santa Maria la Antigua del Darien in 1510, the first permanent European settlement on the American mainland. In 1538 the Spaniards established the colony of New Granada, the area's name until 1861. After a 14-year struggle, in which Simn Bolvar's troops won the battle of Boyac in Colombia on Aug. 7, 1819, independence was attained in 1824. Bolvar united Colombia, Venezuela, Panama, and Ecuador in the Republic of Greater Colombia (1810-1830), but lost Venezuela and Ecuador to separatists. Bolvar's Vice President, Francisco de Paula Santander, founded the Liberal Party as the Federalists while Bolvar established the Conservatives as the Centralists. Santander's presidency (1832-1936) re-established order, but later periods of Liberal dominance (1849-1857 and 1861-1880), when the Liberals sought to disestablish the Roman Catholic Church, were marked by insurrection and even civil war. Rafael Nuez, in a 15-year-presidency, restored the power of the central government and the church, which led in 1899 to a bloody civil war and the loss in 1903 of Panama over ratification of a lease to the U.S of the canal zone. POPULATION: The racial makeup of the Colombian population is diversified. About half the people are mestizo (of mixed Spanish and Native American ancestry), about 20 percent are of unmixed European ancestry, and about 14 percent are mulatto (of mixed black and white ancestry). The remaining 8 percent is made up of blacks, Native Americans, and people of mixed race. The population of Colombia (1993 estimate) was 34,942,767, giving the country an overall population density of about 30 persons per sq km (about 79 per sq mi). About 70 percent of the population was classified as urban in the late 1980s. CULTURE : The heritage of the Spanish colonial period is more noticeably preserved in Colombia than in any other South American country, and family life and dress often still conform to traditional norms. Although Colombia is a country of many racial mixtures, its culture is diversified more by region than by ethnicity. The Native American civilization was rapidly assimilated into that of the Spanish settlers, whose language nearly all Colombians speak today. Distinguished Colombian writers include the 19th-century novelist Jorge Isaacs and, in the 20th century, the poet Germn Pard Garca and the Nobel Prize-winning novelist Gabriel Garcia Marquez. The National Library in Bogot (1777) contains more than 680,000 volumes; it also administers town and village libraries throughout the country. The leading museums are located in Bogot. The National Museum contains collections relating to the Spanish conquest and the colonial period. The National Archaeological Museum exhibits utensils, stone carvings, textiles, gold works, and other materials found at sites throughout the country. The famous Gold Museum features a noted collection of pre-Columbian gold objects.

Comparatives and Superlatives in Spanish

Comparatives and Superlatives in Spanish In English we often use the suffixes -er and -est to indicate that something is or has more or most of a quality. But Spanish takes a different approach. Spanish Comparatives Spanish uses the adverbs ms and menos before an adjective to indicate that something has more or less of a particular quality. Such phrases are known as comparatives. Ms also is often the equivalent of the English suffix -er when applied to adjectives. Some examples: Él es guapo. (He is handsome.)Él es menos guapo. (He is less handsome.)Él es ms guapo. (He is handsomer.)Ella es inteligente. (She is intelligent.)Ella es menos inteligente. (She is less intelligent.)Ella es ms inteligente. (She is more  intelligent.) Such comparatives are explained more fully in the lesson on comparisons of inequality. Spanish Superlatives Superlatives are used to indicate that something has the most of a particular quality, as can be done with the English suffix -est. They are formed in Spanish much like above, except that the definite article is also used, as in these examples: Él es el ms guapo. (He is handsomest.)Él es el menos guapo. (He is the least handsome.)Ella es la ms inteligente. (She is the most intelligent.)Ella es la menos inteligente. (She is the least intelligent.) Plural definite articles can be used, as can the neuter article: Ellos son los ms guapos. (They are handsomest.)Ellas son las menos inteligentes. (They are the least intelligent.)Lo ms importante es amar. (The most important thing is to love.) The suffix -à ©simo or one of its variations is sometimes considered a type of superlative: Ella es altà ­sima. (She is extremely tall.)Él es guapà ­simo. (He is extremely handsome.) Irregular Forms of Comparatives and Superlatives The most common irregular comparatives and superlatives are those involving bueno (good) and malo (bad). The comparative and superlative forms are mejor and peor, respectively: Este coche es bueno. (This car is good.)Este coche es mejor. (This car is better.)Este coche es el mejor. (This car is best.)Esta casa es mala. (This house is bad.)Esta casa es peor. (This house is worse.)Esta casa es la peor. (This house is the worst.) The forms mayor and menor can also be used as irregular comparatives and superlatives when referring to age: Pablo es viejo. (Pablo is old.)Pablo es mayor que su hermano. (Pablo is older than his brother.)Pablo es el mayor de su familia. (Pablo is the oldest in his family.)Katrina es joven. (Katrina is young.)Katrina es menor que su hermana. (Katrina is younger than her sister.)Katrina es la menor de su familia. (Katrina is the youngest in her family.) Finally, pà ©simo is sometimes considered to be an alternate superlative of malo, and mximo an alternate for grande. Sample Sentences Mi principal compromiso es ms pragmtico que ideolà ³gico. (My main promise is more pragmatic than ideological.) El lago de Saoseo es ms azul que el cielo. (Lake Saoseo is bluer than the sky.) La nià ±a cuya belleza le dio el tà ­tulo de la nià ±a ms bonita del mundo ha firmado un lucrativo contrato. (The girl whose beauty gave her the title of the prettiest girl in the world has signed a lucrative contract.) Son ms baratos en otras tiendas. (They are cheaper in other stores.) No hay personaje ms o menos à ºtil; todos tienen su propio rol en el juego. (There is no character more or less useful; all of them have their own roles in the game.) No creo que sea menos importante. (I dont believe its less important.) Este aà ±o ser el mejor aà ±o de la historia de la humanidad. (This year will be the best year in this history of humanity.) De todos los posibles escenarios, ese me parece el menos probable. (Of all the possible scenarios, that seems to me to be the least likely.) Esta decisià ³n es la ms difà ­cil de toda mi vida. (This decision is  the  most difficult one of my whole life.) Gracias, abuelos, por esta divertà ­sima maà ±ana que nos habà ©is regalado,  ¡sois los mejores! (Thanks, grandparents, for this most fun morning you have given us. Youre the best!) Considerada por todos como la peor pelà ­cula de ciencia ficcià ³n de la historia. (It is considered by everybody to be the worst science-fiction film in history.) Key Takeaways Spanish uses ms before an adjective to indicate that someone or someone has more of the adjectives quality.Spanish uses menos before an adjective to indicate that someone or someone has less of the adjectives quality.To indicate that something has the most or least of some quality, precede ms or menos with a definite article such as el or la.