Personality theory

Many people use the term ‘personality’ to identify the characteristics of an individual or the kind of skills a person has. Psychologists who study human personality tend to use idiographic or homothetic techniques in trying to explain the aspects of human behavior. â€Å"Personality theories organize what of which we already know, stimulate new research and give theorists an opportunity to specify a view in personality† (Engler, 2008)Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Personality theory specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Trait theory Trait theory is the primary personality theory that is biologically based on classical human genetics. Such utterances as being outgoing, kind, hot tempered are some of the words used to describe individual. All this words can be concluded to being the personal traits of an individual. Most of time we use an individual characteristic to explain their behavior. Theo rist who studied this theory focused on the difference in character portrayed by different individuals. The Idea behind this theory is that, how an individual behaves, is dictated by the joint effects of the organisms inherited capabilities and past experience. It centers on the capability of recognizing and measuring a person’s personality. One of the early theorists to study this theory was Gordon Allport in 1937. He began his research after noting that there were almost over 4000 words which could be used to describe character trait of a person from a single dictionary. His approach was based on the differentiating the different types of traits within a person (Richard, 2007). According to him, the central human traits were dictating the personality of individual e.g personality expressions while the secondary human traits were more peripheral and did not manifest immediately. He also thought that the most common traits were the ones which were recognized in a cultural context which varied across different cultural practices. Besides Gordon, Theorists such as William Sheldon also took part in trying to explain the traits theory.Advertising Looking for report on psychology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More This theory is argued on the basis of how one would carry out the study which was through idiographic or homothetic techniques. Gordon applied the principles of scientific taxonomy as he studied the character traits of different people, another principle he applied was expanding a unified theory of personality in a general manner other than the specific aspects of it which was later reviewed by Raymond Cattell and Hans Eysenck (theorists). Important aspects about this theory according to Gordon are that personality is dynamic adult and children have different motivation schemes, he also believes that with a few character traits one can easily explain an individual behavior and conscious va lues can be used to shape the personality of a person. Allport theory is completely viable in the sense that it is credible. Its concept primarily relies on the learning theory, psychoanalysis and existentialism. Although many other theorists find his work more descriptive and it lacks specific propositions from which a researcher can conduct tests and get the result from. The validity of trait measures and its objectivity has been well defined in the five factor model which defines neuroticism, extraversion, conscientiousness, openness and agreeableness all which have brought order and understanding to the traits theory. Most physiologists assumed that traits could be used to explain human abilities. Issues related to culture, national origin, native language, gender, racial identity are some of the differences between people. These aspects are known to explain the kind of character trait a person is believed to have. It is considered that personality traits structure transcends cultural differences (Engler, 2008). The theory has been used to look at specific cultural manifestations of common personality dimensions especially upon the big five personality traits with the only difference being the modest created for each of these traits.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Personality theory specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More References Engler, B. (2008).Personality Theories: An Introduction. New York, NY; Cengage Learning, Richard M. (2007). Theories of Personality. New York, NY; Cengage Learning, This report on Personality theory was written and submitted by user Will H. to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here. Personality Theory Introduction Erik Erikson is a proponent of Freud’s psychosexual development theory supporting Freudian elements of psyche and the concepts of Oedipal and Electra complexes as explanation of sexuality. In his theory of epigenetic psychosocial development of personality, he expanded the Freud’s psychosexual theory by introducing the aspect of society and culture and by adding the principle of epigenetic.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Personality Theory specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Erikson postulates that the genesis of the personality development is from the innate characteristics of a child that are sequentially build through the eight stages of personality development under the influence of the society and culture. Erikson believes that personality development does not end at adolescence as depicted by Freud but it is a lifelong process. Each stage has an optimal time required for th e ego to resolve a psychosocial crisis. The resolution of the psychosocial crises at the preceding stages cumulatively determines the personality. Proper resolution of the psychosocial crisis in each stage result into a personality virtue while poor resolution of the psychosocial crisis result into mal-adaptation and malignancy. Mal-adaptation and malignancy are the anomalies of imbalanced personalities that may occur at each stage. The malignancy is due to skewed ego resolution towards negative personality while mal-adaptation is due to the skewed ego resolution towards positive personality. Hence, the epigenetic psychosocial theory postulates how personality develops from the innate characteristics through into the adulthood by the consecutive and cumulative impacts of the society and culture. The Infant Stage This personality development occurs within the first two years of an infant, a stage known as oral-sensory stage. The psychosocial crisis here is between the trust and mistr ust that depends on the perceived quality of the maternal care by the infant. Proper resolution and balance of the trust and mistrust by the ego, results into a virtue of faith and hope that gives an infant the qualities of patience and tolerance when the needs are not satisfied in time.Advertising Looking for research paper on psychology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More These virtues are important in our future personalities, as they will help us â€Å"get through disappointments in love, our careers, and many other domains of life† (Boeree, 2006). Faith and hope will make us endure the hard circumstances we encounter in the society and our work places. Improper and imbalanced resolution of trust and mistrust by the ego will result into malignancy and mal-adaptation. Too much maternal care will result into â€Å"mal-adaptive tendency of sensory mal-adjustment† where an infant will trust anybody through into the adulthood without imagining of possible harm from the strangers. On the other hand, poor maternal care will result into â€Å"malignant tendency of withdrawal† where an infant develops mistrust, depression and psychosis way into the adulthood (Boeree, 2006). An overt trust or mistrust personality affects our relationships in the work place and the society. The Toddler Stage This is the second stage occurring between 2-4 years, and is known as anal-muscular stage. The psychosocial crisis at this stage is the autonomy versus shame and doubt that depends on the degree of the restrictions imposed on the child by the parents. The toddler needs a balance between autonomy, and shame and doubt thus the ego must resolve the psychosocial crisis by balancing the two. According to Boeree (2006) â€Å"proper, positive balance of the autonomy, and shame and doubt, you will develop the virtue of willpower or determination.† The virtue attitude of determination improves our performanc e in the work places and the society. Little or no restriction of a toddler will result into â€Å"mal-adaptive tendency of impulsiveness† where a toddler develops a personality of shameless and overconfidence in which later in adulthood one become over ambitious. On contrary, too much restriction of the toddler will result into â€Å"malignant tendency of compulsiveness† where the toddler loses self-esteem and becomes dependent on the rules and regulation in order to do things perfectly (Boeree, 2006).Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Personality Theory specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Preschooler Stage This is the genital-loco motor stage, which occurs at the age of 4-6 years. The psychosocial crisis is between the initiative and guilt at the level of family relation. At this stage, the child develops the capacity of moral judgment and oedipal experience ensues. The virtues of purpose and courage result when the ego resolves and balance the psychosocial crisis between the initiative and the guilt (Davis Clifton 1995). The virtues of purpose and courage help us to be responsible in our work and to the society. If the child has too much initiative, it will result into â€Å"maladaptive tendency of ruthlessness† where the person becomes selfishly objective in life not considering the interest of others. On the other hand, too much guilt will result into â€Å"malignant tendency of inhibition† (Boeree, 2006). The inhibited person becomes reserved and rigid, never to propose anything that is worth doing in the work places and in the society. School Age Child This is the fourth stage in psychosocial development and it occurs between the ages of 6-12 years. The psychosocial crisis is industry versus inferiority that occurs in the context of the community and the school. At this stage, the balance between industry and inferiority results into the virtue of co mpetence (Davis Clifton 1995). The virtue of competence in our lives makes us achieve satisfaction in our work and serving the society. The mal-adaptation of industry will result into narrow virtuosity that is characterized by the narrowness of our minds and interests, hence making us be mere actors of our real characters in the society (Davis Clifton, 1995). The malignancy of inferiority that occur at this stage is the inertia; one become inactive in the work place and in the society due to the feeling of inferiority complex thus the inactiveness makes have poor socialization skills. Adolescence Stage This is the fifth stage occurring between the ages of 12-18 years. The psychosocial crisis is between ego identity and the role confusion in the context of peer groups and role models. The virtue of fidelity is achieved when there is proper resolution of the psychosocial crisis by the ego (Boeree, 2006). Fidelity makes us to conform to the demands of the work and the society in spit e of the challenges.Advertising Looking for research paper on psychology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The anomaly resulting from psychosocial crisis resolution is the identity crisis. Too much of the role confusion will result into â€Å"malignant tendency of repudiation† where one becomes alienated from the mainstream society and get involved with the vices in the society. On the other hand, excess of the ego identity will result into â€Å"mal-adaptive tendency of fanaticism† (Boeree, 2006). Fanaticism makes one to nurture the infallible interests without considering the views of others. Adult Stage These are the sixth, seventh and the eight stages and occur between the ages of 18 and beyond. The psychosocial crises are intimacy versus isolation, generativity versus stagnation and integrity versus despair. The psychosocial crises occur in the context of friends, partners, workmates, and the society. If the psychosocial crises are resolved and balanced very well, the virtues of love, care, and wisdom are obtained (Davis Clifton, 1995). The virtues of love and care ar e what makes us a have a healthy relationships with our partners, families, friends, community and the whole society. While the virtue of wisdom makes one approach death with courage and this is the gift to the children as â€Å"healthy children will not fear life if their elders have integrity enough not to fear death† (Davis Clifton, 1995). The mal-adaptations at these stages are the promiscuity, overextension, and presumption. The mal-adaptations results into loose behavior at young adult, overworking in the middle adult and presumptuous character. In contrast, the malignant tendencies are exclusion from relationships in the young adult, middle life crisis of rejectivity and disdained in the life of the old (Cherry, 2010). These malignancies and mal-adaptations are the personalities the society is trying to avoid in the bid to build a better society. Conclusion The epigenetic psychosocial personality development theory clearly elucidates the sequentially development of pe rsonality from the innate personality of an infant through into the old through a cumulative effect of the societal and cultural factors. This theory is consistent with the Freud’s psychosexual theory with extension of the developmental stages into eight as compared to the five stages of psychosexual theory. Moreover, the aspects of culture and society have been incorporated together with the epigenetic concept. Balanced and proper resolution of the psychosocial crises at the stages results into personality virtues while skewed resolution of the crises results into personality anomalies of ma-adaptation and malignancy. The personality virtues and anomalies determine our roles in the work places and in the society. References Boeree, G. (2006). Erik Erikson: Personality Theories. Psychology Department  Shippensburg University. Retrieved from http://www.social-psychology.de/do/pt_erikson.pdf Cherry, K. (2010). Erikson’s Theory of Psychosocial Development. Psychology. W eb. Davis, D., Clifton, A. (1995). Psychosocial Theory: Erikson. Haverford. Retrieved from http://ww3.haverford.edu/psychology/ddavis/p109g/erikson.stages.html This research paper on Personality Theory was written and submitted by user Aryana P. to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here. Personality Theory Introduction Personality theories are conceptions that have been propagated by psychologists and academicians from time immemorial. The attempt at defining personality is guided by the intent of trying to understand and explain the psychological distinctiveness and similarities that people exhibit. This essay will critically analyze the cause of different personalities or character traits among individuals. The analysis will put into consideration the various theories that have been posited in effort to explain the same. This essay is largely informed by chapter 11 of the book â€Å"Psychology† by Hockenbury Hockenbury. In the book â€Å"psychology†, fifth edition, Hockenbury Hockenbury (458), observe that one has to understand the theory upon which the description of an individual’s personality is based in order to understand and make sense of the different characteristics of that personality type.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Persona lity Theory specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Hockenbury Hockenbury (458) further argue that there are clear explanations for the different characteristic in different personality types. Some of the theories discussed by Hockenbury and Hockenbury include the psychoanalytic theory, the social cognitive and humanistic perspective, the behavioral genetics theory and the trait theory. An analysis of these theories shows that one’s personality is dynamic and is dependent of many factors. For instance, as per the behavioral genetics theory, the manner in which a person behaves is influenced by inherited traits. On the other hand, the trait theory posits that one’s personality is dependent on what he or she has learnt from experience. The biological dimension indicates that the personality of our parents and fore-parents rubs on us. Each person gains something, in terms of personality trait, over time in the course of his own n atural growth and development. This means that a child will partly possess the character traits inherited from his family or parents and equally incorporate some characters he learns in his childhood into his or her persona. â€Å"The girl with a dragon tattoo†, is a movie that was produced in the ghettos of the US by Jermaine Dupree. This movie was geared towards highlighting the other face of the US. Unlike the much-publicized good life in America, which characterized by conspicuous consumption, fun and liberty, there are neighborhoods in the USA where crime and poverty among other ills abound. The movie rotates around one character, a girl by the name Lisbeth Salander. Salander is born and brought up in the ghetto from which the movie is shot. Her mother, Megan Salander, bore her after she was heartlessly gang raped by a group of young men who were drug peddlers for having failed to pay a drug debt. Being a drug addict herself, she did not care about the consequences of th at act, as she was already accustomed to bigger shocks and harsher treatments. For the mother, Lisbeth was born after or because of a bad accident and therefore was not a fruit of love. This meant that from the onset the mother treated Lisbeth unlovingly. Actually, many of her mother’s friends marveled and believed that it was by a miracle that the poor girl survived an abortion. Analysis of Lisbeth’s Traits Based on Personality Theories The life of lisbeth confirms some of the personality theories discussed in Hockenbury Hockenbury. For instance, after watching the movie, one cannot fail to relate the personality theory of behavioral genetics exemplified in the life of Lisbeth Salander. In the movie, the girl is portrayed as having a variety of character traits. Interestingly, when one compares her with the mum one can clearly differentiate the characters she inherited from her mother and those she picked along the way. The semblance between the character traits of L isbeth and her mother tend to confirm the theory that some character traits are genetic based.Advertising Looking for essay on psychology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Considering the psychoanalytic perspective on personality, lisbeth’s behavior can be understood as defense mechanisms she develops in order to survive in her environment. Sub-consciously, having had an unloving mother, she tends towards being defensive. Among her dominant traits highlighted in the movie is brutality. This particular trait is observed from her very early life. Psychoanalytically, it could be argued that love needs from since when she was born drive her towards hate. The girl was practically vicious in everything she did. At a mere age of three, she had already caused enough damage to many children of her age. This meant that many parents in the neighborhood would rarely allow Lisbeth to get anywhere close to their children. Eventually, the child was left with few if any child to play with. Matters deteriorated when she joined school. The very first day at school was met with untold hostility from her to the rest of the pupils. She actually managed to ruin another girl’s face using one of her toys. The girl in question had to undergo medical treatment, as she needed several stitches to bring her angelic face back to normal. By the time Lisbeth was halfway through her school life, she had been transferred to uncountable schools. This restless behavior could be explained psychoanalytically, but it could also be explained in terms of an under compensated ego as per the socio-cognitive perspective. Lisbeth could be said to have had an undercompensated ego due to the unloving childhood. Nobody in here social environment affirmed her. Consequently, desiring affirmation or due to reciprocal determination found in her social environment, she had literally appeared on the black book for record times in every school s he attended. She was always referred as the ‘special one’, by not only her fellow pupils but her teachers as well. In Lisbeth’s actions, one discerns desire to proof herself. One incident that prompted the authority to seek psychiatrist help for the girl was an instance of madness she got involved in with a boy in their class. Many knew the boy in question for his brutality, and practically he was certainly not just any other push over. He was hugely built and this meant that many of his colleagues were no much to his strength. The only mistake the boy did was to undermine the capability of Lisbeth. Being a small and lean girl, the bullyboy was sure of beating hell out of her head. He managed and actually beat her into a pulp.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Personality Theory specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More At least for a while, the rest of the school was in high spirits that some medicine had actually been discovered to heal Lisbeth extraordinary craziness. They were all mistaken. The next few days were hell to Lisbeth and she did not dare get out of their house as she had a black eye. Upon resuming school, her mission was clear, at least to herself, she was a girl going after revenge. It did not take long for the Physical Exercise class to come, and they were all thrown out of class into the field. In total amazement to many pupils and teachers, she was very active that particular day on the hockey pitch. The first swing she made with her stick left the boy who had bullied her without at least six teeth according to those who could count them. Her comment was simple, it must have been an accident and that she was sorry. That was her last day in school. The behavioral genetics theory, arguably, also captures or explains Lisbeth’s character. The neighborhood, in which Lisbeth was brought up, was literally for the outcast in the society. The only thing that was not done there was merely the one that did not exist. By this notion, every kid was somehow an expert in many evils and prostitution or sexual immorality was their favorite. As many would guess, Lisbeth was not an exception. At a tender age of fifteen, she had literally graduated from sleeping with boys, and not many grown up men could equally meet her urge. Considering the trait theory, one discerns impulsiveness, disnihibition and elements of introversion in Lisbeth’s character. Lisbeth was widely known to be a loner, which is a trait of introverts. However, she approached issues with much impulsiveness, obsession and worrying novelty. One thing that amazed many people, those that were fortunate to interact with her, because she was a loner, was her brilliance in using and manipulating a computer. According to her own explanation, having been raised by many trustees, one of them was a computer scientist and it was from his motivation that she actually developed interest in computers. The most fascinating thing was how even the most qualified computer scientist, could not be able to handle some of the tasks she used to perform with no basic formal training.Advertising Looking for essay on psychology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Conclusion From the discussion on Lisbeth, as portrayed in the movie â€Å"the girl with a dragon tattoo†, it is clear from the onset that individuals acquire character traits from their parents i.e. inheritance but also from environment i.e. learning behavior of a neighborhood. There is a lot of things or happenings in Lisbeth’s life that confirm that character traits are inherited while there is enough to confirm as well that character traits are learnt from the environment. Lisbeth, one of the main characters from the movie ‘The girl with a dragon tattoo’ tends to resemble her mother in many ways. From being hostile, immoral but very brilliant, one can tell that she took after her mother. Lisbeth is strategic and does her things meticulously but with very selfish intentions and she is never remorseful about her dirty life. Such a disposition, it can arguable be asserted that she acquired it from living in her neighborhood. Work Cited Hockenbury, Don Ho ckenbury, Sandra. Psychology, New York: Routledge Publishers, 1991. Print. This essay on Personality Theory was written and submitted by user Mae Fisher to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Definition and Examples of RAS Syndrome

Definition and Examples of RAS Syndrome RAS syndrome is a humorous initialism for Redundant Acronym [or Abbreviation] Syndrome syndrome: the (redundant) use of a word thats already included in an acronym or initialism. Also known as  PNS syndrome (PIN number syndrome syndrome) and acronym-assisted pleonasm. Common examples of RAS syndrome include  PIN number (personal identification number number),  AC current (alternating current current) and HIV virus (human immunodeficiency virus virus).  Such redundancies, says Bryan Garner, may be passable in speech- especially with unfamiliar acronyms- [but] they should be avoided in formal writing (Garners Modern American Usage, 2009). The term RAS syndrome first appeared in the magazine New Scientist (May 26, 2001). Examples and Observations LCD display for liquid crystal display displayCNN network for Cable News Network networkRAM memory for random-access memory memoryRSI injury for repetitive strain injury injury  SARS syndrome for severe acute respiratory syndrome syndromeMVUE estimator for minimum-variance unbiased estimator estimatorCMS system for content management system systemBBC corporation for British Broadcasting Corporation corporationIRA account for individual retirement account accountPCR reaction for  polymerase chain reaction reaction Redundancies Everywhere You Look I overheard part of your ATM story and I just couldnt let it go by. Do you know what ATM stands for?Of course. Automated teller machine.He went to college, Robin said.Okay, how about PIN?You mean as in PIN number?Aha! she exclaimed again. Now do you see it? The bartender brought her drink and she took a careful sip, then came back to them. You said you were at the ATM machine and forgot your PIN number. The automated teller machine machine and the personal information number number. Redundancies everywhere you look.(John Lescroart, The Hunter. Dutton, 2012) Reply RSVP The request reply RSVP is pretty much the same thing as youre being asked to reply twice. . . . [T]he word Sahara means great desert in Arabic (via Tuareg), so referring to that big, hot, sandy place in North Africa as the Sahara Desert is totally tautological, meaning as it does great desert desert.(Roger Horberry, Sounds Good on Paper: How to Bring Business Language to Life. Bloomsbury, 2010) The Lighter Side of RAS Syndrome Sidney Cochran: I am going to bed. We have a 10 a.m. plane to catch in the morning.Diana Barrie: 10 a.m. is the morning. That is redundant, you A.H.(Michael Caine and Maggie Smith in California Suite, 1978)

GLOBALIZATION POVERTY AND INEQUALITY Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 9000 words

GLOBALIZATION POVERTY AND INEQUALITY - Essay Example It makes us wonder whether in this context, globalisation is actually beneficial as the neoliberals claim. In fact, time has come to search for other viable alternatives, or if necessary, to modify globalisation in such a manner that it really helps to serve the poor and needy, and helps to remove all boundaries of inequality. Executive Summary: A close look at the arguments presented by the neoliberal theorists will show us that in the past two decades there has been a marked decrease in the income inequality index factor and also a downward growth rate of the poverty factor, a great deviation from the picture that we have seen for a century and a half. Neoliberal arguments further explain that this improved picture is arising mainly from the globalization factor that is bringing about a fusion of economies throughout the world breaking all national borders and boundaries. A look at the economic conditions of the third world countries reveal that, nearly all of the South East Asian countries, especially China and India, have progressed rapidly with a fall in poverty rates. However the central and eastern European countries, comprising many of the former members of the Soviet Union republic, and the countries of the sub-Saharan belt have regressed and shown increased poverty levels. The Latin American cou ntries are stagnant as far as their poverty graph is concerned; however the neoliberal argument says that globalization is here to stay, since after the break down of Bretton Woods, it has been generally concluded that it is more beneficial to have an converging system, instead of opting for interests that conflict and create barriers. This paper will explore and will take an in-depth look at the arguments put forward by the neoliberal theories, and will analyze the empirical basis for their arguments. â€Å"Globalization

Project Management Master Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Project Management Master - Assignment Example That is why Project Management is told to be the best method of implementing change. The defining and planning stage - means to plan the project in more detail by writing and publishing a full definition of the project and determining a project plan. The production of a Project Plan, or Schedule, is a key part of the development of any project. The schedule Formal methods of project management offer a framework to manage this process and provides a series of procedures to manage the project through its life cycle. According to the Lasa Computanews Guide to Project Management, the key elements are: Many project management systems are proprietary. Project management consultants sell them as a package of services that will include training sessions and consultancy alongside documentation that will include templates and guidance notes. These packages don't come cheap - they cost hundreds or thousands of pounds. But this approach may be a cost effective solution for larger organizations that want to set up a structure to manage a number of projects. Practically, they are paying to set up a framework that includes: training for staff, consultancy and support to manage projects within the organization. However, in RCIAS Good Practice Bulletin No3 there are noted some of the common issues identified within the Research Councils or the wider public and private sectors: Procurement Strategy, Guidelines, Supply of management information, Training, Contract Signing Powers, Use of consultants. The Procurement Strategy issue is determined by the fact that few councils have a formal and authorized procurement strategy.

2ND PAPER Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

2ND PAPER - Essay Example Chances that the super power would diminish in the next decades are clearly high. The best positioned countries to challenge America’s prominence are found in East Asia and globally by China. (Abdelnour, Wesley & Herman pg57) It is believed that if Chinas economic growth continues consistently the next two decades just in the same pace as the last two decades, then it would surpass and rival the United States of America in terms of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) .GDP is not measured in terms of dollar but in terms of purchasing power parity. Even if Chinas economic status does not does not reach the Americas standards, it is notable that the growth has created a fundamental political inspiration in the entire East Asia. The economic clout extends East Asia affecting both great powers and the developing countries due to enthusiasm for raw materials and competitive prices for low cost goods. China is resolute in climbing the technological ladder, a clear indication that it might affect United States of America economically. Already China is regarded as the most dominant military powerhouse in the entire East Asia thereby making significant strides creating excellence in the armed forces. The tense relationship between USA and Russia has been fuelled by Americans interest in Crimea with regard to the sanctions that have been attached to Russia recently by President Barrack Obama of the United States. Several banks have been blacklisted by the US government following the Russian infiltrations in Ukraine. Majority of Russian businessmen in the United States who have close links with Vladimir Putin have been expelled from the country. President Obama has also come with strategies to tame some parts of the Russian economy comprising both the oil and gas industries which form a bunch of Russians export. (Abdelnour, Wesley & Herman pg29) According to President Barack Obama, the action would interfere with the

Queen Victorias Effect on Britain

Queen Victorias Effect on Britain Did Queen Victoria leave her subjects in a better condition in 1901 than when she found them in 1837? The Victorian era was principally a time of change, of transience: the translocation of a people, challenged morally, socially and in their religious beliefs, as never before. Standing majestically above all this was the image of stability which Queen Victoria symbolised. The shift from the rural life of the eighteenth century and the Romantic Movement in the Arts which accompanied it was displaced and the population in the industrial towns and cities swelled to the point of overflowing, producing slums and sweatshops rather than the wealth and security that had been sought, with ‘the Age of the Novel’ involved with social issues as well as establishing a new literary genre. In 1837, when Victoria came to the throne, these changes had already begun and by the time her reign ended, in 1901, more was ahead particularly if one considers the ‘long nineteenth century’ which encompasses the pre-war years up to 1914. How far her people were in a ‘better condi tion’ by the end of Victoria’s reign will be the subject of this essay, looking at the idea via the different media of change evidenced in religion, literature, politics and related social issues as well as the Imperialism which the establishment of the British monarch as the first Empress of India established. In many ways, it is true to say that Victoria presided over a Renaissance which had not been seen since her antecedent, Elizabeth, had been on the throne. The coincidence that a female monarch should have been in place at both times of regeneration does not, however, imply a connective: conditions were very different during Elizabeth’s reign, particularly in the area of social mobility and religious imperatives. The Victorian era saw the greatest challenges to both of these that had ever been seen. The movement of the peasantry to the towns saw an enormous shift in both the physical location of the population and its imperatives. Much was lost, in terms of tradition and permanence when the move to the cities occurred because most of those who did relocate in the hope of increasing their meagre incomes had never been farther than the next village before they moved and this had been the case for generations. Indeed, as early as the mid-nineteenth century novelists were using the idea of the rural idyll to exemplify an ideal existence now lost[1]. This is evident in novels such as George Eliot’s Adam Bede (1859) which was set some fifty years before it was written: As he reached the foot of the slope, an elderly horseman, with his portmanteau strapped behind him, stopped his horse when Adam had passed him, and turned round to have another long look at the stalwart workman in paper cap, leather breeches, and dark-blue worsted stockings.[2] The mounted, unidentified and detached observer (a connective with the contemporary reader) takes a ‘long look at the ‘stalwart workman’ in an elegiac emblem of the author’s intent within the novel to show a time now lost and the changes that were about to take place. Adam as a type of workman has been displaced and is no longer to be found and which represents a longing for a return to old times and old days associated with the countryside which can be traced to the present day and certainly becomes a primary informative, present in works such as Flora Thompson’s enduringly popular Larkrise to Candleford (1945) and further evidenced even in the work of such ‘scientific’ novelists as H.G. Wells in his novel, The History of Mr Polly, and the character of Leonard Bast as well as the evocative, mystical rural setting in E.M. Forster’s Howard’s End, both written in 1910. The novel also introduces the character of a female preacher, a ‘Dissenter’, in other words a Methodist, and by combining the two, Eliot shows that despite the loss of the life portrayed in her novel, there were positive challenges which changes such as the growing desire for the emancipation of women, at the forefront of which was J.S. Mill[3], and the need to find new ways of expressing religious sensibility. The ultimate challenge to religion, of course, was presented by the theories of evolution which were being formulated in the 1860s. Although Charles Darwin is credited with having discovered this, the work of such as Herbert Spencer, who actually coined the term ‘survival of the fittest’ in his Principles of Biology (1864) which Darwin incorporated into a later edition of his own work, were also significant. Within his seminal The Origin of Species, first published in 1859, Darwin introduced to the wider public the then profoundly disturbing notion that man was not created entire and complete as the Bible relates but evolved and thus dispossessed an entire generation who had previously felt secure in the knowledge of God as their Creator (though Darwin uses this term himself many times within the work and does not deny the idea of a Creator directly[4]). It is a mistake, however, to assume that Darwin’s ideas had much immediate effect on the population at large. R ather, its immediate aftermath may be discerned in the literature of the time, George Eliot, a close friend of Spencer, amongst these. Moreover, his published theories were simply an affirmation for many of a growing generic scepticism, such as Thomas Hardy shows: On the last day of the year [1901] he makes the following reflection: ‘After reading various philosophic systems, and being struck with their contradictions and futilities, I have come to this: Let every man make a philosophy for himself out of his own experience. He will not be able to escape using terms and phraseology from earlier philosophers, but let him avoid adopting their theories if he values his own mental life. Let him remember the fate of Coleridge, and save years of labour by working out his own views as given him by his surroundings.’[5] However, just as the move from the towns to the cities subsequently produced a sense of loss, the disconnection with the certainty of divine creation also saw the longing for a mystical element to life once ‘the divine’ had, in a sense, been removed from it: seeking ‘an oasis of mystery in the dreary desert of knowledge’[6]. The disconnection resulted in the burgeoning of interest in Spiritualism which was witnessed at the end of the century, with personages as eminent and respected as Rudyard Kipling not only interested and involved with this but also writing about it in stories such as the mysterious ‘They’[7] and imagination came to be seen as connected to the divine and dislocated by Darwin’s discoveries, Forster wrote in 1910: ‘They collect facts and facts and empires of facts. But which of them will re-kindle the light within?’[8] However, the connection of facts with the denial of imagination had been discussed much earlier by the man who is above anyone the voice of the nineteenth century, Charles Dickens. In his novel of 1854, Hard Times, he demonstrates the denial of the importance of ‘fancy’ in Utilitarian educational methods and the pre-eminence of ‘facts’[9]. This he extends to the teaching methods used to train the teachers themselves: He and some one hundred and forty other schoolmasters had been lately turned at the same time, in the same factory, on the same principles, like so many pianoforte legs. He had been put through an immense variety of paces, and had answered volumes of head-breaking questions. [†¦] He had worked his stony way into Her Majestys most Honourable Privy Councils Schedule B, and had taken the bloom off the higher branches of mathematics and physical science, French, German, Latin and Greek. [†¦] Ah, rather overdone, MChoakumchild. If he had only learnt a little less, how infinitely better he might have taught much more![10] Dickens the radical is less appreciated now than in his own time, as in subsequent centuries he has come to be seen simply as a master-story teller, which of course he was. However, this is to deny the way that Dickens, as evidenced in this satirical swipe at the Utilitarian movement, used his immense popularity in the cause of social reform. Indeed, in the early years of Victoria’s reign, he published his second and third novels, Oliver Twist (1837-9) and Nicholas Nickleby (1838-9). The first of these was concerned with the effects of the infamous ‘Poor Law’ and the 1834 amendment. It was widely believed that the abuse of this injured rather than helped the poor and Dickens’ novel was intended to bring that to the notice of those who had the power to do something about it, as well as reaching the newly literate lower echelons and letting them know they had someone who would speak for them, that their story, as Dickens remarked in his Preface to the 1867 ed ition, from thieves to prostitutes, was a ‘TRUTH’ that ‘needed to be told’[11]. As his friend and first biographer remarked: His qualities could be appreciated as well as felt in an almost equal degree by all classes of his various readers.[12] Thus, as the novelist is known to have said, by making people care about one child, he might make them care about the many and this emanated from his own sufferings as a child alone in London when his father was imprisoned for debt in the infamous Marshalsea (which was to provide the setting for his later novel, Little Dorrit, 1857, though the six hundred year old prison closed in 1842) whence he was accompanied by his wife and younger children[13]. Dickens never spoke of the experience, save through his fiction, nor did he ever forget it. In Nicholas Nickleby and the creation of Dotheboys Hall, Dickens continued to exercise his creative power to bring to the attention of his readers the appalling social evil of the Yorkshire schools, whose abuses he remembered hearing of as a child and then investigated (whilst wearing a disguise) as part of his research for the novel. As the author said in his fragment of autobiography, ‘we should be devilish careful what we do to children’[14]. Dickens had a long memory and an acute social awareness and both are evident in Nickleby, as is the sheer exhilaration and appetite for life which had proved so popular in his first novel Pickwick Papers (1836-7). Moreover, Dickens was a successful reformer, commenting in his preface to the 1848 edition: This story was begun, within a few months after the publication of the completed Pickwick Papers. There were, then, a good many cheap Yorkshire schools in existence. There are very few now.[15] The fact is stated simply but the achievement was immense. The obverse of these schools, of course, was seen in Arnold’s pioneering work in reforming the public schools, as evidenced in Thomas Hughes’, Tom Brown’s Schooldays (1857). The issue of social and educational reform was one with which many novelists were concerned at this time, engaging with both the needs and desires of the weakest in society. Engels had identified this as ‘the social war, the war of each against all’[16] and he applied this as a generic to the multiplicity of industrial towns and cities: What is true of London, is true of Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds, is true of all great towns. Everywhere barbarous indifference, hard egotism on one hand, and nameless misery on the other, everywhere social warfare, every mans house in a state of siege, everywhere reciprocal plundering under the protection of the law, and all so shameless, so openly avowed that one shrinks before the consequences of our social state as they manifest themselves here undisguised, and can only wonder that the whole crazy fabric still hangs together.[17] Engels’ work was published between September 1844 and March 1845 and had an immediate effect on not just those who were, if one may term it so, ‘declared radicals’, like himself, but also those like the deeply ‘respectable’ and widely respected writer Elizabeth Gaskell, whose first novel, Mary Barton, written in 1848, partly to assuage the pain of losing her child, deals largely with the poverty experienced by the poor in Manchester. Gaskell, encouraged by both her husband, the Ereverend William Gaskell, and Dickens, researched the conditions of the city in which she and William were then living. What she found horrified her and the reality of expression present within the novel can be seen in her powerful descriptions of the slum dwellings she had seen: Our friends were not dainty, but even they picked their way, till they got to some steps leading down to a small area, where a person standing would have his head about one foot below the level of the street, and might at the same time, without the least motion of his body, touch the window of the cellar and the damp muddy wall right opposite. You went down one step even from the foul area into the cellar in which a family of human beings lived. It was very dark inside. The window-panes many of them were broken and stuffed with rags, which was reason enough for the dusky light that pervaded the place even at mid-day. After the account I have given of the state of the street, no one can be surprised that on going into the cellar inhabited by Davenport, the smell was so foetid as almost to knock the two men down.[18] The importance of setting such descriptions in the context of fiction might be thought possibly to lessen its reality in the eyes of contemporary readers but nothing could be farther from the truth, as though few would be drawn to the admirable tracts of Engels, many were attracted to the vivid stories of such as Dickens and Gaskell. Indeed, Gaskell was careful always to ensure that her work did not offend those in power to the extent that she will qualify a passage on the uncaring attitude of the rich as perceived by the poor by adding placatory comments such as: I know that this is not really the case; and I know what is the truth in such matters: but what I wish to impress is what the workman feels and thinks.[19] The implied separation in comprehension may appear patronising by today’s standards but it must be remembered that Gaskell was truly attempting to do as she proclaimed, ‘impress’ the thoughts and feelings of ‘the workman’ on those in power in the hope it would aid reform. If she had been too directly challenging, they would simply not have read her works which would have defeated the object. Gaskell faced similar opposition in her second novel, Ruth, published in 1853, when she addressed the topic of an unmarried mother sympathetically, much too sympathetically for the liking of many, who felt she was undermining the perceived moral and religious mores of the time. The novel was thought to be based upon the true story of a girl called Pasley: In 1850 she took up the cause of a girl called Pasley whom she had come across in the New Bayley prison. In a long letter to Dickens, at that time involved in his emigration project for fallen women, she gives details of the case. Pasleys career exemplifies the dangers facing even a girl of respectable parentage who was neglected. The daughter of an Irish clergyman who had died when she was two, she had been neglected by an indifferent mother, and then placed in an orphanage, before becoming a dressmakers apprentice. Following a series of misfortunes for which she had not herself been responsible she had been seduced by her own doctor. The consequence had been first the Penitentiary and then a career of petty crime; finally, by an appalling stroke of coincidence, the poor girl had been confronted when in prison by her very seducer, now acting as prison surgeon.[20] Certainly, there are many similarities between the case of Pasley and that of Ruth and Gaskell’s clear intent is to show how difficult was the plight of girls in Ruth’s and Pasley’s situation. Gaskell successfully persuaded Dickens to intervene for Pasley and she emigrated but clearly the case was not forgotten by her as emblematic of the vulnerability of young girls in nineteenth century society. Indeed, she had already addressed the idea that prostitution was the usual fate of such girls in Mary Barton and the ‘petty crime’ to which she refers might certainly be euphemistically describing prostitution. Attitudes towards prostitution were far from sympathetic and much of the reforming work done at the time concerned not only changing conditions for prostitutes but also in improving the notorious double-standard which operated towards it, both then and now. The Contagious Diseases Acts of 1864, 1866, and 1869 to some extent reflect this. The Act was established to protect soldiers but had the coincidental effect of advancing the cause of women’s liberation: [†¦] legislation intended to protect members of the British armed forces from sexually transmitted diseases ended up galvanizing a major Victorian feminist movement in which working- and middle-class women worked together for a common cause.[21] Thus, it can be seen that Gaskell’s pre-emptive strike truly reflected the feelings of many that Victorian laws operated for the protection of men rather than women and that even though there were exceptions, such as Mill and Dickens, the latter of whom set up Urania Cottage as a refuge for ‘fallen women’, the vast majority of the population preferred simply to ignore the suffering and anguish of girls on the streets. Somewhat ironically, compassion towards prostitutes was stirred by the infamous ‘Whitechapel Murders’ of 1888-91, perpetrated by the still unidentified ‘Jack the Ripper’. Even for the so called ‘respectable’ working classes, indeed, in general conditions were appallingly bad, especially in the factories and sweatshops[22] which abounded both in London and elsewhere in the country: ‘The nineteenth century saw the Englishman turn town dweller and by 1900 three-quarters of the nation lived in towns’[23]. Bearing this in mind, it seems inevitable that conditions in these towns would be at best difficult and at worst unbearable (the infamous employment of children as, for example, chimney-sweeps, being evident in the work of such as the reformer Charles Kingsley who wrote The Water Babies in 1863 to expose this abuse). Thus, approaching the end of Victoria’s reign, the population was generally in a state of crisis. However, there was a discernable exception to this, in part, in the beginning of what we would now take to be an upwardly mobile meritocracy. Consisting largely of those persons concerned with ‘white-collar work’, the clerk for example, this section of society knew a growth and freedom such as never before. Possibly the best example of this is to be found in George and Weedon Grossmith’s The Diary of a Nobody, first published in Punch as a series of articles during 1888-9, in the form of a diary of the fictional Mr. Pooter. The highly amusing work is also an invaluable record of a new type of man emerging in Victorian society: My clear wife Carrie and I have just been a week in our new house, â€Å"The Laurels,† Brickfield Terrace, Holloway—a nice six-roomed residence, not counting basement, with a front breakfast-parlour. We have a little front garden; and there is a flight of ten steps up to the front door, which, by-the-by, we keep locked with the chain up. Cummings, Gowing, and our other intimate friends always come to the little side entrance, which saves the servant the trouble of going up to the front door, thereby taking her from her work. We have a nice little back garden which runs down to the railway. We were rather afraid of the noise of the trains at first, but the landlord said we should not notice them after a bit, and took  £2 off the rent. He was certainly right; and beyond the cracking of the garden wall at the bottom, we have suffered no inconvenience.[24] The Pooters encapsulate the image of a new class, living in their own home, employing a servant, having a garden and yet still retaining their parsimonious connective with their humbler origins; in many ways, the Pooters are the future. In conclusion, it may be remarked that the Victorian era saw the greatest period of change that had ever been seen. Industrial development saw riches and poverty in unequal measure; improvements were made in nursing and social concerns but the population mostly remained in poverty and both ill-nourished and inadequately cared for in terms of health; the trains united the country but the rural population was fragmented and the urban largely in dire circumstances; schooling was expanded and literacy improved but the standard of education was at best questionable; the Empire flourished but its members across the seas were mostly downtrodden, subjugated and rebellious: in short, to quote Dickens’ famous opening to A Tale of Two Cities (1859), ‘it was the best of times and the worst of times’. It is extremely difficult to assess, in the final analysis, whether the end of Victoria’s reign saw her people in a better or worse condition than when her reign began but certainly, the single most important development seen was the opportunity for change. In this sense if no other, the population was better off at the end of the long nineteenth century than at the beginning of it. However, the war that was about to devastate Europe brought apocalyptic changes which could never have been envisaged and certainly Tennyson’s famous reference in ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’ (1854) to the fact that ‘Some one had blunderd’ would take on a profoundly disturbing resonance from which the world over which Victoria presided would never recover. Truly, 1914 brought more than just the end of an era it brought the end of Victorian mores and the expectations of the population would alter radically, with revolution, such as occurred in Russia in 1917, a perpetual possibility, especially with the growth of the unions and the Socialist Party, which wiped out the Liberals. Victoria’s reign was not just one age but many and as such, like most eras, was both good and bad. Bibliography Ackroyd, Peter. Dickens. London: Guild Publishing, 1990. Beer, Gillian. Darwin’s Plots. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000. Davis, Philip. The Victorians. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002. Cobbet, William. Rural Rides. New York: Cosimo Classics, 2004. Darwin, Charles. The Origin of Species. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996. Dickens, C. Oliver Twist. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999 Dickens, Charles. Hard Times. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1989. Eliot, George. Adam Bede. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998. Eliot, George. The Lifted Veil. London: Virago Press, 1985, Englels, F. The Condition of the Working class in England (1844) http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1845/condition-working-class/index.htm> Forster, E.M. Howards End. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1987. Forster, J. The Life of Charles Dickens in Two Volumes. London: J.M. Dent, 1980. Hardy, F.E. The Life of Thomas Hardy. London: Macmillan, 1962. Hughes, Thomas. Tom Browns School Days. New York: Harper Brothers,1911. Gaskell, Elizabeth. Mary Barton. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1993. Gaskell, Elizabeth. Ruth. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998. Grossmith, G M. The Diary of a Nobody. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998. Kipling, Rudyard. Kim. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1918. Kipling, Rudyard. Traffics and Dicoveries. New York: Charles Scribner Sons. Langland, Elizabeth. Nobodys Angels: Middle-Class Women and Domestic Ideology in Victorian Culture. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1995. Lawrence, D.H. The Rainbow. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997. Lightman, Bernard, ed. Victorian Science in context. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1997. Maltus, Thomas. Essay on the Principle of Population (1798), 29.11.08. http://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/economics/malthus/index.htm> Mathias, P. The first Industrial Nation. London: Routledge, 2001. Mayhew, Henry. The Unknown Mayhew. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1971. Mill, J.S. The Subjection of Women. New York: Prometheus, 1986. Roberts, F. David. The Social Conscience of the Early Victorians. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2002. Smiles, Samuel, Self Help. 29.11.08 http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext97/selfh10h.htm> Smiles, Samuel. Industrial Biography: Iron-Workers and Tool-Makers. Boston: Ticknor and Fields,1864. Sturt, George. Change in the Village. London: Caliban Books, 1984. Thompson, Flora. Lark Rise to Candleford. London: Penguin, 2008. The Victorian Web. accessed 30.11.08. http://www.victorianweb.org/gender/contagious.html> Worthen, John. D H Lawrence. The Early Years 1885-1912. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991. 1 Footnotes [1] For more on the idea of changes and loss of traditions see: Sturt, George. Change in the Village. London: Caliban Books, 1984. (First published in 1912.) [2] Eliot, George. Adam Bede. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998, p. 12. [3] See: Mill, J.S. The Subjection of Women. New York: Prometheus, 1986. [4] Darwin, Charles. The Origin of Species. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996. [5] Hardy, F.E. The Life of Thomas Hardy. London: Macmillan, 1962, p. 310. [6] Eliot, George. The Lifted Veil. 1878. London: Virago Press, 1985, p. 26. [7] Kipling, Rudyard. Traffics and Dicoveries. New York: Charles Scribners Sons, 1904, p. 337. [8] Forster, E.M. Howards End. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1987, p. 43. [9] Dickens, C. Hard Times. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1989, pp. 8-9. [10] Dickens, C. Hard Times. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1989, p. 10. [11] Dickens, C. Oliver Twist. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999, Preface, p. xx. [12] Forster, J. The Life of Charles Dickens in Two Volumes. London: J.M. Dent, 1980, vol. I, p. 83. [13] Forster, J. The Life of Charles Dickens in Two Volumes. London: J.M. Dent, 1980. [14] Forster, J. The Life of Charles Dickens in Two Volumes. London: J.M. Dent, 1980. [15] Dickens, C. Nicholas Nickleby. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1990, Preface to the 1848 Edition, Lii. [16] Englels, F. The Condition of the Working class in England (1844): 29.11.08. http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1845/condition-working-class/index.htm> [17] Englels, F. The Condition of the Working class in England (1844): 29.11.08. http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1845/condition-working-class/index.htm> [18] Gaskell, Elizabeth. Mary Barton. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1993, pp. 79-80. [19] Gaskell, Elizabeth. Mary Barton. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1993, p. 49. [20] See Alan Shelston’s introduction to: Gaskell, Elizabeth. Ruth. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998, pp. vii-viii. [21] See: ‘The Contagious Diseases Act’, accessed 30.11.08. http://www.victorianweb.org/gender/contagious.html> [22] See: Mayhew, Henry. The Unknown Mayhew. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1971. [23] Mathias, P. The First Industrial Nation. London: Routledge, 2001, p. 226. [24] Grossmith, G M. The Diary of a Nobody. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998, p. 3.

Career as a Concept Artist Essay -- Video Game Development

The employment outlook in my area for a Concept Artist in Video Game Development isn’t too promising. Nebraska isn’t the metropolis for technological employment like this, thus I would have to relocate to somewhere along the East or West Coasts, where jobs are more available than they are in the mid-west. This is due to the fact that a lot of the Game Publishing companies, such as Blizzard Entertainment, Monolith Games, a subdivision of Warner Bros. Entertainment, require an applicant to work on-site. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2007, Graphic Designers earnings ranged from entry-level pay of about $35,000.00 to staff-level median of $45,000.00. More seasoned designers earned $62,000.00 and freelance designers earned around $60,000.00. Design Directors earned up to $98,600.00. Graphic designers with ownership or partnership interests in a firm or who were principals of the firm in some other capacity earned $113,000,00. Generally, for every company, there’s a different salary, depending on the type of work being completed and what they need. The role of ...