Communication between couples of different ethnicitys Term Paper

Communication between couples of different ethnicitys - Term Paper Example Since the communication is considered to be an important part of our everyday lives, therefore, interpersonal communication is equally important for the interpersonal relationships, for which communication is considered as lifeblood. Without considerable communication, relationships cannot flourish at any stage (Kalbfleisch, Interpersonal Communication: Evolving Interpersonal Relationship). However, the interpersonal communication becomes more complex between couples of different ethnicities. In this paper, to discuss the interpersonal communication between couple from different ethnicities, two articles have been discussed. The first article is by Harris and Kalbfleisch (2001); which discusses the attraction of different ethnic groups towards each other. The article also explains that while dating, the individuals keep in view the ethnic background of the partner and select their communication strategies accordingly. The second article is by Claborne and Duan (2011) which discusses the mate selection in intercultural marriages. The researcher claims that with positive link of communication between couples, a balanced relationship can be attained. On the basis of these discussed articles, the conclusion for this paper has been made accordingly. Articles ARTICLE 1: In the article, ‘Interracial Dating: the Implications of Race for Initiating a Romantic Relationship’ by Harris and Kalbfleisch (2001), the research shows that mostly the couples from different ethnicities are attracted towards each other because of similar values and interest. Few of them are attracted due to the physical appearance of their counterpart, and the rest of them because of their physiological makeup. The paper predicts the future of interracial dating to be very bright, as the population of the U.S. will consist primarily of people of the colour. This will increase the interpersonal contact between different ethnicities, thus the ratio of their relationship will also rise. T he paper discusses the role of communication in the interracial romantic relationship. The paper presents six factors by Orbe that influence the co-cultural communication. The factors include: the preferred outcome for the relationship; the lived experience of co-cultural group members; abilities that refer to personal skills at using different communication practices; situational context involving the setting; perceived cost and reward involved in the co-cultural communication; and communication approaches to choose the appropriate communication strategy. Similarly Adler and Towne (2003) discuss the identity needs of the humans and explain that the sense of identity only comes from the interaction with others. Under this situation, the results of the paper conclude that the race of a potential romantic relational partner directly affects the verbal strategies that a person uses to initiate the date. It was also stated that due to the attitude about the interracial relationships, th e participants purposely choose verbal strategies. Showing that, to fulfil their identity needs, the partners adopt different strategies that help them continue the communication between them. ARTICLE 2: The other paper is ‘Interaction in Intercultural Marriage’ by Claborne and Duan (2010). The paper discusses the expectancy in the communication and culture. The paper says that cultures are extremely complex and consist of a number of interrelated cultural orientations. Thus, the expectancy valences can

Discipline of Teams Essay Example for Free

Discipline of Teams Essay What differentiates effective teams which enhances performance of a set objective? An effective team is a small group of individuals with complementary skills, having a clear objective and with a common purpose. Each individual in the team is accountable for the overall performance of the team and works for its best interest. There is a basic discipline that makes teams work. A team is more than the sum of its parts; its performance includes both individual results and a collective work product which reflects the joint real contributions from team members. Most teams shape their purposes in response to the needs of the organization, there needs to be an element of winning, revolutionizing or being the cutting edge so that each member of the team is equally motivated and is pushed to contribute effectively. The sense of purpose brings about a passion to deliver and hence builds the need for clear communication and constructive conflicts. To build teams performance we need to build a sense of urgency to accomplish the purpose, select members to match the skill potential required, set clear behavioral rules, challenge the group regularly, spend lots of time together to bond effectively and exploit the power of positive feedback, recognition and reward. In a team we need people with technical and functional expertise as well as people who are good at problem solving and decision making. We need each member, including the team leader to contribute in concrete ways and more importantly each member should hold themselves accountable. Effective teams find the experience of working together to solve a need highly energizing and motivating. Every company faces specific performance challenges for which teams are the most practical and powerful mobilizer at the top managements disposal.

Agroecology and Miguel Altieri Essay -- Agriculture Agricultural Essay

Agroecology and Miguel Altieri Agroecology and agriculture in general took a giant leap forward in 1492 when Christopher Columbus discovered the New World. Previously, the New and the Old World only shared three species: sweet potato, bottle gourd, and coconut. Now that this New World had been discovered, there was much that could be gained, and it was more than just gold (Bermejo 1994). Many attempts at growing crops in the new and very different environment proved frivolous, but others found success. In fact, it is known today that many crops reach their optimum yield in an environment that is different from their own. The first crops introduced into the Americas were the European grains, vegetables, and fruits; these were unsuccessful at first. However, some crops did adapt well to the tropical environment right from the beginning, including: bananas, sugar cane, and citrus fruits. Potatoes, tomatoes, gourds, beans, and chilies have all found their way into European cuisine; these crops all originated in the Americas. Rice, a now major player in Mexican food, was also introduced by the Spaniards. African grasses also replaced low yield grass species in Latin America. This giant exchange of species would completely change the world’s diet (Bermejo 1994). Although explorers set out in a conquest for â€Å"God, gold, and Glory,† and did, in fact, satisfy all of those desires, they discovered something that was way more valuable than anything they could have ever imagined. They discovered a whole new world that had unlimited resources, land, plant species, and anything else they could ever use in their lifetime. In their conquest, however, they managed to almost wipe out a whole population, thousands of years of history, an... ... from http://www.historycooperative.org/journals/wm/60.4/jones.html Lopez, B. (1990) The Rediscovery of North America. The University Press of Kentucky. Lexington. Sandberg, B. (2006). Beyond Encounters: Religion, Ethnicity, and Violence in the Early Modern Atlantic World, 1492-1700. Journal of World History, 17, Retrieved November 10, 2006, from http://historycooperative.press.uiuc.edu/journals/jwh/17.1/sandberg.html Schwartz, B., D'Arcy, H., Schuman, H. (2005, April 1). Elite Revisionists and Popular Beliefs: Christopher Columbus, Hero or Villain?. Public Opinion Quarterly, 69, Retrieved November 10, 2006, from http://80elibrary.bigchalk.com.proxy.uwlib.uwyo.edu/libweb/elib/do/document?set=pbsissue&groupid=1&requestid=issue_docs&resultid=9&edition=&ts=22A09C01D33E00EEC1C57E5266921447_1163398443033&urn=urn%3Abigchalk%3AUS%3BBCLib%3Bdocument%3B106981986

Ancient Greece Essay

Greek Mythology, set of diverse traditional tales told by the ancient Greeks about the exploits of gods and heroes and their relations with ordinary mortals. The ancient Greeks worshiped many gods within a culture that tolerated diversity. Unlike other belief systems, Greek culture recognized no single truth or code and produced no sacred, written text like the Bible or the Qur’an. Stories about the origins and actions of Greek divinities varied widely, depending, for example, on whether the tale appeared in a comedy, tragedy, or epic poem. Greek mythology was like a complex and rich language, in which the Greeks could express a vast range of perceptions about the world. A Greek city-state devoted itself to a particular god or group of gods in whose honor it built temples. The temple generally housed a statue of the god or gods. The Greeks honored the city’s gods in festivals and also offered sacrifices to the gods, usually a domestic animal such as a goat. Stories about the gods varied by geographic location: A god might have one set of characteristics in one city or region and quite different characteristics elsewhere. II A A1  PRINCIPAL FIGURES IN GREEK MYTHOLOGY Greek mythology has several distinguishing characteristics, in addition to its multiple versions. The Greek gods resembled human beings in their form and in their emotions, and they lived in a society that resembled human society in its levels of authority and power. However, a crucial difference existed between gods and human beings: Humans died, and gods were immortal. Heroes also played an important role in Greek mythology, and stories about them conveyed serious themes. The Greeks considered human heroes from the past closer to themselves than were the immortal gods. Gods  Given the multiplicity of myths that circulated in Greece, it is difficult to present a single version of the genealogy (family history) of the gods. However, two accounts together provide a genealogy that most ancient Greeks would have recognized. One is the account given by Greek poet Hesiod in his Theogony (Genealogy of the Gods), written in the 8th century BC. The other account, The Library, is attributed to a mythographer (compiler of myths) named Apollodorus, who lived during the 2nd century BC. The Creation of the Gods According to Greek myths about creation, the god Chaos (Greek for â€Å"Gaping Void†) was the foundation of all things. From Chaos came Gaea (â€Å"Earth†); the bottomless depth of the underworld, known as Tartarus; and Eros (â€Å"Love†). Eros, the god of love, was needed to draw divinities together so they Greek Mythology might produce offspring. Chaos produced Night, while Gaea first bore Uranus, the god of the heavens, and after him produced the mountains, sea, and gods known as Titans. The Titans were strong and large, and they committed arrogant deeds. The youngest and most important Titan was Cronus. Uranus and Gaea, who came to personify Heaven and Earth, also gave birth to the Cyclopes, one-eyed giants who made thunderbolts. See also Creation Stories. A2 A3 A4 Cronus and Rhea Uranus tried to block any successors from taking over his supreme position by forcing back into Gaea the children she bore. But the youngest child, Cronus, thwarted his father, cutting off his genitals and tossing them into the sea. From the bloody foam in the sea Aphrodite, goddess of sexual love, was born. After wounding his father and taking away his power, Cronus became ruler of the universe. But Cronus, in turn, feared that his own son would supplant him. When his sister and wife Rhea gave birth to offspring—Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, and Poseidon—Cronus swallowed them. Only the youngest, Zeus, escaped this fate, because Rhea tricked Cronus. She gave him a stone wrapped in swaddling clothes to swallow in place of the baby. Zeus and the Olympian Gods When fully grown, Zeus forced his father, Cronus, to disgorge the children he had swallowed. With their help and armed with the thunderbolt, Zeus made war on Cronus and the Titans, and overcame them. He established a new regime, based on Mount Olympus in northern Greece. Zeus ruled the sky. His brother Poseidon ruled the sea, and his brother Hades, the underworld. Their sister Hestia ruled the hearth, and Demeter took charge of the harvest. Zeus married his sister Hera, who became queen of the heavens and guardian of marriage and childbirth. Among their children was Ares, whose sphere of influence was war. Twelve major gods and goddesses had their homes on Mount Olympus and were known as the Olympians. Four children of Zeus and one child of Hera joined the Olympian gods Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Hades, Hestia, Demeter, and Ares. Zeus’s Olympian offspring were Apollo, Artemis, Hermes, and Athena. Hera gave birth to Hephaestus. The Offspring of Zeus  Zeus had numerous children by both mortal and immortal women. By the mortal Semele he had Dionysus, a god associated with wine and with other forms of intoxication and ecstasy. By Leto, a Titan, Zeus fathered the twins Apollo and Artemis, who became two of the most important Olympian divinities. Artemis remained a virgin and took hunting as her special province. Apollo became associated with music and prophecy. People visited his oracle (shrine) at Delphi to seek his prophetic advice. By the nymph Maia, Zeus became father of Hermes, the Olympian trickster god who had the power to cross all kinds of boundaries. Hermes guided the souls of the dead down to the underworld, Greek Mythology carried messages between gods and mortals, and wafted a magical sleep upon the wakeful. Two other Olympian divinities, Hephaestus and Athena, had unusual births. Hera conceived Hephaestus, the blacksmith god, without a male partner. Subsequently he suffered the wrath of Zeus, who once hurled him from Olympus for coming to the aid of his mother; this fall down onto the island of Lemnos crippled Hephaestus. The birth of Athena was even stranger. Zeus and Metis, daughter of the Titan Oceanus, were the parents of Athena. But Gaea had warned Zeus that, after giving birth to the girl with whom she was pregnant, Metis would bear a son destined to rule heaven. To avoid losing his throne to a son, Zeus swallowed Metis, just as Cronus had previously swallowed his own children to thwart succession. Metis’s child Athena was born from the head of Zeus, which Hephaestus split open with an axe. Athena, another virgin goddess, embodied the power of practical intelligence in warfare and crafts work. She also served as the protector of the city of Athens. Another of Zeus’s children was Persephone; her mother was Demeter, goddess of grain, vegetation, and the harvest. Once when Persephone was gathering flowers in a meadow, Hades, god of the underworld, saw and abducted her, taking her down to the kingdom of the dead to be his bride. Her grief-stricken mother wandered the world in search of her; as a result, fertility left the earth. Zeus commanded Hades to release Persephone, but Hades had cunningly given her a pomegranate seed to eat. Having consumed food from the underworld, Persephone was obliged to return below the earth for part of each year. Her return from the underworld each year meant the revival of nature and the beginning of spring. This myth was told especially in connection with the Eleusinian Mysteries, sacred rituals observed in the Greek town of Elevsis near Athens. The rituals offered initiates in the mysteries the hope of rebirth, just as Persephone had been reborn after her journey to the underworld. Many Greek myths report the exploits of the principal Olympians, but Greek myths also refer to a variety of other divinities, each with their particular sphere of influence. Many of these divinities were children of Zeus, symbolizing the fact that they belonged to the new Olympian order of Zeus’s regime. The Muses, nine daughters of Zeus and the goddess of memory, Mnemosyne, presided over song, dance, and music. The Fates, three goddesses who controlled human life and destiny, and the Horae, goddesses who controlled the seasons, were appropriately the children of Zeus and Themis, the goddess of divine justice and law. Far different in temperament were the Erinyes (Furies), ancient and repellent goddesses who had sprung from the earth after it had been impregnated with the blood of Uranus’s severed genitals. Terrible though they were, the Erinyes also had a legitimate role in the world: to pursue those who had murdered their own kin. A5 Disruptive Deities Human existence is characterized by disorder as well as order, and many of the most characteristic figures in Greek mythology exert a powerfully disruptive effect. Satyrs, whom the Greeks imagined as part human and part horse (or part goat), led lives dominated by wine and lust. Myths depicted them as companions of Dionysus who drunkenly pursued nymphs, spirits of nature represented as young and beautiful maidens. Many of the jugs used at Greek symposia (drinking parties) carry images of satyrs. Equally wild, but more threatening than the satyrs, were the savage centaurs. These monsters, Greek Mythology depicted as half-man and half-horse, tended toward uncontrolled aggression. The centaurs are known for combat with their neighbors, the Lapiths, which resulted from an attempt to carry off the Lapith women at a wedding feast. This combat was depicted in sculpture on the Parthenon, a temple dedicated to Athena in Athens. The Sirens, usually portrayed as birds with women’s heads, posed a different sort of threat. These island-dwelling enchantresses lured mariners to their deaths by the irresistible beauty of their song. The seafaring Greek hero Odysseus alone survived this temptation by ordering his companions to block their own ears, to bind him to the mast of his ship, and to ignore all his entreaties to be allowed to follow the lure of the Sirens’ song. B B1 B2 Mortals The Greeks had several myths to account for the origins of humanity. According to one version, human beings sprang from the ground, and this origin explained their devotion to the land. According to another myth, a Titan molded the first human beings from clay. The Greeks also had a story about the destruction of humanity, similar to the biblical deluge. The Creation of Human Beings Conflicting Greek myths tell about the creation of humanity. Some myths recount how the populations of particular localities sprang directly from the earth. The Arcadians, residents of a region of Greece known as Arcadia, claimed this distinction for their original inhabitant, Pelasgus (see Pelasgians). The Thebans boasted descent from earthborn men who had sprung from the spot where Cadmus, the founder of Thebes, had sown the ground with the teeth of a sacred dragon. According to another tale, one of the Titans, Prometheus, fashioned the first human being from water and earth. In the more usual version of the story Prometheus did not actually create humanity but simply lent it assistance through the gift of fire. Another tale dealt with humanity’s re-creation. When Zeus planned to destroy an ancient race living on Earth, he sent a deluge. However, Deucalion, a son of Prometheus, and his wife Pyrrha—the Greek equivalents of the biblical Noah and his wife—put provisions into a chest and climbed into it. Carried across the waters of the flood, they landed on Mount Parnassus. After the waters receded, the couple gratefully made sacrifices to Zeus. His response was to send Hermes to instruct them how to repopulate the world. They should cast stones behind them. Stones thrown by Deucalion became men; those thrown by Pyrrha, women. The Greek People According to myth, the various peoples of Greece descended from Hellen, son of Deucalion and Pyrrha. One genealogy related that the Dorian and the Aeolian Greeks sprang from Hellen’s sons Dorus and Aeolus. The Achaeans and Ionians descended from Achaeos and Ion, sons of Hellen’s other son, Xuthus. These figures, in their turn, produced offspring who, along with children born of unions Greek Mythology between divinities and mortals, made up the collection of heroes and heroines whose exploits constitute a central part of Greek mythology. C C1 C2 C3 Heroes Myths about heroes are particularly characteristic of Greek mythology. Many of these heroes were the sons of gods, and a number of myths involved expeditions by these heroes. The expeditions generally related to quests or combats. Scholars consider some of these myths partly historical in nature—that is, they explained events in the distant past and were handed down orally from one generation to the next. Two of the most important of the semihistorical myths involve the search for the Golden Fleece and the quest that led to the Trojan War. In other myths heroes such as Heracles and Theseus had to overcome fearsome monsters. Jason and the Golden Fleece Jason was a hero who sailed in the ship Argo, with a band of heroes called the Argonauts, on a dangerous quest for the Golden Fleece at the eastern end of the Black Sea in the land of Colchis. Jason had to fetch this family property, a fleece made of gold from a winged ram, in order to regain his throne. A dragon that never slept guarded the fleece and made the mission nearly impossible. Thanks to the magical powers of Medea, daughter of the ruler of Colchis, Jason performed the impossible tasks necessary to win the fleece and to take it from the dragon. Afterward Medea took horrible revenge on Pelias, who had killed Jason’s parents, stolen Jason’s throne, and sent Jason on the quest for the fleece. She tricked Pelias’s daughters into cutting him up and boiling him in a cauldron. Medea’s story continued to involve horrific violence. When Jason rejected her for another woman, Medea once more used her magic to avenge herself with extreme cruelty. Meleager Jason and the same generation of heroes took part in another adventure, with Meleager, the son of King Oeneus of Calydon and his wife Althea. At Meleager’s birth the Fates predicted that he would die when a log burning on the hearth was completely consumed. His mother snatched the log and hid it in a chest. Meleager grew to manhood. One day, his father accidentally omitted Artemis, the goddess of the hunt, from a sacrifice. In revenge Artemis sent a mighty boar to ravage the country. Meleager set out to destroy it, accompanied by some of the greatest heroes of the day, including Peleus, Telamon, Theseus, Jason, and Castor and Polydeuces. The boar was killed. However, Meleager killed his mother’s brothers in a quarrel about who should receive the boar skin. In her anger Althea threw the log on to the fire, so ending her son’s life; she then hanged herself. Heroes of the Trojan War The greatest expedition of all was that which resulted in the Trojan War. The object of this quest was Helen, a beautiful Greek woman who had been abducted by Paris, son of King Priam of Troy. Helen’s husband Menelaus and his brother Agamemnon led an army of Greeks to besiege Troy. After ten Greek Mythology years, with many heroes dead on both sides, the city fell to the trick of the Trojan Horse—a giant wooden horse that the Greeks built and left outside the gates of Troy while their army pretended to withdraw. Not knowing that Greek heroes were hiding inside the horse, the Trojans took the horse into the city. The hidden Greeks then slipped out, opened the city gates and let their army in, thus defeating Troy. The Iliad, an epic poem attributed to Greek poet Homer, tells the story of the Trojan War. The story continued with the Odyssey, another long poem attributed to Homer, in which the Greek hero Odysseus made his way home after the Trojan War. Odysseus returned to his faithful wife, Penelope, whereas Agamemnon returned to be murdered by his faithless wife, Clytemnestra, and her lover. Historians considered the Trojan War entirely mythical until excavations in Turkey showed that there had been cities on the site of Troy and that fire had destroyed one of these cities at about the time of the Trojan War, sometime from 1230 BC to 1180 BC. C4 C5 Heracles and Theseus. The deeds of the heroes Heracles (see Hercules) and Theseus exemplify a central theme in Greek mythology: the conflict between civilization and wild savagery. Each hero confronted and overcame monstrous opponents, yet neither enjoyed unclouded happiness. Heracles had been an Argonaut but left the expedition after being plunged into grief at the loss of his companion Hylas. In another story, a fit of madness led Heracles to kill his own wife and children. But he is best known for his feats of prowess against beasts and monsters, which began soon after his birth. The most difficult of these feats are known as the 12 labors, which are believed to represent efforts to conquer death and achieve immortality. Although Heracles died, his father, Zeus, gave him a place on Mount Olympus. Theseus successfully slew the Minotaur, a monster that was half man and half bull. On his voyage home to Athens, however, he forgot to hoist the white sails that would have signified the success of his adventure. According to one tale, Theseus’s heartbroken father Aegeus, seeing black sails, believed his son had died, and committed suicide. The Aegean Sea in which he drowned is presumably named after Aegeus. Oedipus No hero of Greek mythology has proved more fascinating than Oedipus. He destroyed a monster, the Sphinx, by answering its riddle. Yet his ultimate downfall served as a terrifying warning of the instability of human fortune. As a baby, Oedipus had been abandoned on a mountainside by his parents, King Laius and Queen Jocasta of Thebes, because of a prophecy that the child would grow up to kill his father and marry his mother. Saved by the pity of a shepherd, the child—its identity unknown—was reared by the king and queen of the neighboring city of Corinth. In due course, Oedipus unwittingly fulfilled the prophecy, matching the horrific crimes he had committed with the equally ghastly self-punishment of piercing his own eyes with Jocasta’s brooch-pins. Greek Mythology III A Gods and Goddesses B THE NATURE OF GREEK GODS AND HEROES In many respects the gods and goddesses of Greek mythology resembled extraordinarily powerful human beings. They experienced emotions such as jealousy, love, and grief, and they shared with humans a desire to assert their own authority and to punish anyone who flouted it. However, these emotions and desires took supernaturally intense form in gods and goddesses. As numerous literary descriptions and artistic representations testify, the Greeks imagined their gods to have human shape, although this form was strongly idealized. The Greeks, moreover, modeled relationships between divinities on those between human beings. Apollo and Artemis were brother and sister, Zeus and Hera were husband and wife, and the society of the gods on Mount Olympus resembled that of an unruly family, with Zeus at its head. The gods could temporarily enter the human world. They might, for example, fall in love with a mortal, as Aphrodite did with Adonis; Apollo with Daphne; and Zeus with Leda, Alcmene, and Danae. Or they might destroy a mortal who displeased them, as Dionysus destroyed King Pentheus of Thebes for mocking his rites. Not all Greek divinities resembled human beings. They could also be uncanny, strange, and alien, a quality made visible in artistic representations of monsters. For example, the snake-haired Gorgon Medusa had a stare that turned her victims to stone. The Graeae, sisters of the Gorgons, were gray-haired old crones from birth. They possessed but a single tooth and a single eye between them. Typhoeus was a hideous monster from whose shoulders grew a hundred snakeheads with dark, flickering tongues. Even the major deities of Olympus showed alien characteristics at times. A recurrent sign of divine power is the ability to change shape, either one’s own or that of others. Athena once transformed herself into a vulture; Poseidon once took the form of a stallion. This ability could prove convenient such as when Zeus assumed the form of a swan to woo Leda. Zeus turned Lycaon, a disrespectful king, into a wolf to punish him for his wickedness. The ability to exercise power over the crossing of boundaries is a crucial feature of divine power among the Greeks. Heroes Greek mythology also told how divinities interacted with heroes, a category of mortals who, though dead, were believed to retain power to influence the lives of the living. In myths heroes represented a kind of bridge between gods and mortals. Heroes such as Achilles, Perseus, and Aeneas were the products of a union between a deity and a mortal. The fact that the gods often intervened to help heroes—for example, during combat—indicated not the heroes’ weakness but their special importance. Yet heroes were not the equals of the gods. With a logic characteristic of Greek myth, heroes typically possessed a defect to balance out their exceptional power. For example, the warrior Achilles, hero of the Trojan War, was invulnerable except in the heel. The prophet Cassandra, who warned the Trojans of dangers such as the Trojan Horse, Greek Mythology always prophesied the truth but was never believed. Heracles constituted an extreme example of this paradox: His awesome strength was balanced by his tendency to become a victim of his own excessive violence. Nevertheless, the gods allowed Heracles to cross the ultimate boundary by gaining admission to Olympus. IV A B THE FUNCTIONS OF GREEK MYTHOLOGY Like most other mythological traditions, Greek myths served several purposes. First, Greek myths explained the world. Second, they acted as a means of exploration. Third, they provided authority and legitimacy. Finally, they provided entertainment. Explanation Greek myths lent structure and order to the world and explained how the current state of things had originated. Hesiod’s Theogony narrated the development of the present order of the universe by relating it to Chaos, the origin of all things. By a complex process of violence, struggle, and sexual attraction, the regime led by Zeus had eventually taken over. Another poem by Hesiod, Works and Days, explained why the world is full of trouble. According to the poem the first woman, Pandora, opened a jar whose lid she had been forbidden to lift. As a result of her disobedience all the diseases and miseries previously confined in the jar escaped into the world. Such a myth also makes a statement about relationships between the sexes in Hesiod’s own world. Scholars assume that he composed the poem for a largely male audience that was receptive to a tale that put women at the root of all evil. One of the commonest types of explanation given in myths relates to ritual. Myths helped worshipers make sense of a religious practice by telling how the practice originated. A prime example is sacrifice, a ritual that involved killing a domesticated animal as an offering to the gods. The ceremony culminated in the butchering, cooking, and sharing of the meat of the victim. Hesiod recounts the myth associated with this rite. According to this myth, the tricky Titan Prometheus tried to outwit Zeus by offering him a cunningly devised choice of meals. Zeus could have either an apparently unappetizing dish—an ox paunch, which had tasty meat concealed within—or a seemingly delicious one, gleaming fat on the outside, which had nothing but bones hidden beneath. Zeus chose the second dish, and ever since human beings have kept the tastiest part of every sacrifice for themselves, leaving the gods nothing but the savor of the rising smoke. Exploration Myths charted paths through difficult territory, examining contradictions and ambiguities. For instance, Homer’s Iliad explores the consequences during the Trojan War of the Greek leader Agamemnon’s decision to deprive the warrior Achilles of his allotted prize, a female slave. Achilles feels that Agamemnon has assailed his honor or worth but wonders how far he should go in reaction. Is he right to refuse to fight, if that means the destruction of the Greek army? Is he justified in rejecting Agamemnon’s offer of compensation? One of this poem’s themes explores the limits of honor. Greek Mythology The dramatic genre of tragedy provides the clearest example of mythical exploration (see see Greek Literature; Drama and Dramatic Arts). The great Athenian playwrights of the 5th century BC— Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides—wrote tragedies that explored social questions by placing them, in extreme and exaggerated form, in a mythical context. Sophocles’s tragic play Antigone concerns just such an extreme situation. Two brothers have killed each other in battle: Eteocles defending his homeland, and Polynices attacking it. Their sister Antigone, in defiance of an edict by the city’s ruler, attempts to bury her ostensibly traitorous brother Polynices. Sophocles raises several moral issues. Is Antigone justified in seeking to bury her brother? Which should prevail, a religious obligation to tend and bury a corpse, or a city’s well-being? The answers to these moral issues are far from clear-cut, as we might expect from a work whose subtlety and profundity have so often been admired. C D V A Legitimation Myths also had the function of legitimation. A claim, an action, or a relationship acquired extra authority if it had a precedent in myth. Aristocratic Greek families liked to trace their ancestry back to the heroes or gods of mythology. The Greek poet Pindar, who wrote in the early 5th century BC, offers ample evidence for this preference. In his songs Pindar praised the exploits of current victors in the Olympian Games by linking them with the deeds of their mythical ancestors. In addition, two Greek city-states could cement bonds between them by showing that they had an alliance in the mythological past. Entertainment Finally, myth telling was a source of enjoyment and entertainment. Homer’s epics contain several descriptions of audiences held spellbound by the songs of bards (poets), and recitations of Homer’s poems also captivated audiences. Public performances of tragic drama were also hugely popular, regularly drawing some 15,000 spectators. ORIGINS AND DEVELOPMENT OF GREEK MYTHOLOGY Our knowledge of Greek mythology begins with the epic poems attributed to Homer, the Iliad and the Odyssey, which date from about the 8th century BC even though the stories they relate probably have their origins in events that occurred several centuries earlier. Scholars, however, know that the origins of Greek mythology reach even farther back than that. Origins of Greek Mythology Linguists (people who study languages) have concluded that some names of Greek deities, including Zeus, can be traced back to gods worshiped by speakers of Proto-Indo-European, the common ancestor of the Greek, Latin, and Sanskrit languages. But it would be misleading to regard the people who may have spoken this language as originators of Greek mythology because many other elements contributed. Greek Mythology Archaeologists have shown that many of the places where mythical events presumably took place correspond to sites that had historical importance during the Mycenaean period of Greek history (second half of the 2nd millennium BC). Scholars thus consider it likely that the Mycenaeans made a major contribution to the development of the stories, even if this contribution is hard to demonstrate in detail. Some scholars have argued that the Minoan civilization of Crete also had a formative influence on Greek myths. The myth of the Minotaur confined in a labyrinth in the palace of King Minos, for example, might be a memory of historical bull-worship in the labyrinthine palace at Knossos on Crete. However, there is little evidence that Cretan religion survived in Greece. Nor have any ancient inscriptions confirmed that Minos ever existed outside of myth. Scholars can demonstrate influence on Greek mythology from the Middle East much more reliably than influence from Crete. Greek mythology owed much to cultures in Mesopotamia and Anatolia, especially in the realm of cosmogony (origin of the universe) and theogony (origin of the gods). To take one example, a clear parallel exists in an early Middle Eastern myth for Greek poet Hesiod’s story about the castration of Uranus by his son Cronus and the subsequent overthrow of Cronus by his son Zeus. The Middle Eastern myth tells of the sky god Anu who was castrated by Kumarbi, father of the gods. The weather and storm god Teshub, in turn, displaced Anu. Scholars continue to bring to light more and more similarities between Greek and Middle Eastern mythologies. B Development of Greek Mythology Our knowledge of Greek myths comes from a mixture of written texts, sculpture, and decorated pottery. Scholars have reconstructed stories that circulated orally by inference and guesswork. Homer’s epics, the Iliad and the Odyssey, stand at the beginning of Greek literary tradition (see Greek literature), even though they almost certainly depended on a lengthy previous tradition of oral poetry. The Iliad is set during the Trojan War; it focuses on the consequences of a quarrel between Agamemnon and Achilles, two of the leading Greek warriors. The Odyssey is about the aftermath of the Trojan War, when the Greek hero Odysseus at last returns to his home on the island of Ithaca following years of wandering in wild and magical lands. The Trojan War later provided subject matter for many tragic dramas and for imagery on countless painted vases. Hesiod’s Theogony, composed in the 8th century BC at about the same time as the Homeric epics, gave an authoritative account of how things began. The creation of the world, described by Hesiod in terms of passions and crimes of the gods, is a theme that later Greek philosophers such as Empedocles and Plato developed but took in new directions. This connection serves as a reminder that mythology was not a separate aspect of Greek culture, but one that interacted with many other fields of experience, particularly the writing of history. For example, in the 5th century BC Greek historian Herodotus employed numerous themes and story patterns from Greek epics and tragedies in writing his historical account of the war between Greeks and Persians (see Persian Wars). Although the authority of Homer and Hesiod remained dominant, the poetic retelling of myths continued throughout antiquity. Myths were constantly remade in the light of new social and political circumstances. The Hellenistic period of Greek history (4th century to 1st century BC) saw many new trends in the treatment of myths. One of the most important was the development of mythography, Greek Mythology the compilation and organization of myths on the basis of particular themes (for example, myths about metamorphosis). Such organization corresponded to a wish of newly established Hellenistic rulers to lend legitimacy to their regimes by claiming that they continued a cultural tradition reaching back into a great past. Artists, too, portrayed myths. Statues of gods stood inside Greek temples, and relief sculptures of scenes from mythology adorned pediments and friezes on the outside of these temples (see Greek Art and Architecture). Among the best-known examples are the Elgin Marbles from the Parthenon in Athens. These reliefs include depictions of combat between centaurs and Lapiths. Other visual representations of mythology were more modest in size and scope. The best evidence for the use of mythology in Greek painting comes from painted ceramic vases. The Greeks used these vases in a variety of contexts, from cookery to funerary ritual to athletic games. (Vases filled with oil were awarded as prizes in games. ) In most cases scholars can securely identify the imagery on Greek vases as mythological, but sometimes they have no way of telling whether the artist intended an allusion to mythology because myth became fused with everyday life. For example, does a representation of a woman weaving signify Penelope, wife of Odysseus who spent her days at a loom, or does it portray someone engaged in an everyday activity? The Greeks retold myths orally, as well as preserving them in literary and artistic works. The Greeks transmitted to children tales of monsters and myths of gods and heroes. Old men gathered to exchange tales in leschai (clubs or conversation places). Storytelling, whether in writing, art, or speech, was at the heart of Greek civilization. VI A THE LEGACY OF GR.

House of Payne

SM Family Television Review The comedy show that my family and I enjoy watching is House of Payne, which airs on TBS every Friday at 8pm. â€Å"The Paynes are three generations living under one roof. The story begins when CJ and his family move into the house of his aunt and uncle, a fact that no one is really happy about. CJ has two children, and his aunt and uncle have very different ideas about raising kids. I think a lot of people will be able to relate to the Paynes†. (http://www. tbs. com/stories/story/0,, 107846,00. html). The show is based off real life issues that everyday families experience such as, drug addiction, teen pregnancy, sex, marriage, morals and values, and most of all trust. As, a 23 year old, mother, student, wife, daughter etc, I was able to quickly relate to a few things in the show. This family did impact my life on what family really was because, I always have been the one to just think of my immediate (Mom, Dad, Brothers, Grandma) when I heard the word family. Now, that things have been introduced to me from different perspective, I am now able to fully understand what family is all about. I realize that when I have no one else to count on, that my family is the last hope I have, and also understand that sometimes I may have disagreements with relatives, but its ok because as long as there is communication, nothing is to hard to overcome, All of these things are key points that House of Payne focus on. After watching this show consistently, it has had a very positive impact on me, my family, my marriage and my ability to raise my children at such a young age. Although, these actors, and actresses are acting, they are real people and majority are related, such as the main characters, Cassi and Lavan Davis, who are husband and wife in real life. I enjoy watch the way the reveal each message because they all have a valuable lesson that I learn. This television series is a Christian based show, so I think that is the reason I enjoy watching it so much. It is interesting because some days, I may feel at my worst and watching this show can easily be a inspiration to me. Expressing my feelings and saying how I felt have, also been another issue I’ve had problems with, and it also have taught me this as well. I believe that even a non-believer would enjoy watching this show because again, it’s real people, and they to know what it’s like to face certain situations. I feel that I can somewhat relate to this show because again, I am a young mother, married with children, living day by day , focusing on doing the right thing, despite what I see and hear around me. And sometimes, whether you’re old or young, this can be a challenge. House of Payne have messages for all ages, and they are very powerful messages!

Free Essays on The “Birth“ (about Frankenstein)

The â€Å"Birth† In researching the life of Mary Shelley, I found that pregnancy and childbirth, as well as death, were a big part of her life. She had four children and a miscarriage that almost killed her. This was all before the age of twenty-five. Only one of her children survived to adulthood and outlived her. Her first child was born prematurely in February of 1815 and died in March. As any mother would be, she was devastated by this and took a long time to recover. Mary Shelley’s second child, William, was born January 24, 1816. That is when she thought of the story. Her first child had died and her second was only 6 months old. About six months later she was pregnant again. Pregnancy was at the front of Shelley's mind at that point in her life. This information gave me a new outlook on the story of Frankenstein. This may be a stretch, but I think that Frankenstein is partially about the fears of a pregnant woman. The story expresses many of the fears of a mother-to-be; What if my baby is deformed? Will I still love it like a normal child? Am I capable of being a good mother? Will I be okay through childbirth? I believe that Mary Shelley was expressing her fears related to the death of her first child, her ability to nurture, and the fact that her mother died having her. This is reflected in Victor’s failure as a parent. Victor Frankenstein labored on his creation for approximately nine months. Finally, he describes the â€Å"birth†: "I saw the dull yellow eye of the creature open; it breathed hard, and a convulsive motion agitated its limbs." (Pg. 51) Instead of reaching out to his child, Victor runs out of the room disgusted by the creature’s ugliness. When the creature follows after him, Victor continues to run away, completely abandoning his creation. While creating his â€Å"child†, Victor never considered whether it would even want to exist. He also did not think about the creature's appearance... Free Essays on The â€Å"Birthâ€Å" (about Frankenstein) Free Essays on The â€Å"Birthâ€Å" (about Frankenstein) The â€Å"Birth† In researching the life of Mary Shelley, I found that pregnancy and childbirth, as well as death, were a big part of her life. She had four children and a miscarriage that almost killed her. This was all before the age of twenty-five. Only one of her children survived to adulthood and outlived her. Her first child was born prematurely in February of 1815 and died in March. As any mother would be, she was devastated by this and took a long time to recover. Mary Shelley’s second child, William, was born January 24, 1816. That is when she thought of the story. Her first child had died and her second was only 6 months old. About six months later she was pregnant again. Pregnancy was at the front of Shelley's mind at that point in her life. This information gave me a new outlook on the story of Frankenstein. This may be a stretch, but I think that Frankenstein is partially about the fears of a pregnant woman. The story expresses many of the fears of a mother-to-be; What if my baby is deformed? Will I still love it like a normal child? Am I capable of being a good mother? Will I be okay through childbirth? I believe that Mary Shelley was expressing her fears related to the death of her first child, her ability to nurture, and the fact that her mother died having her. This is reflected in Victor’s failure as a parent. Victor Frankenstein labored on his creation for approximately nine months. Finally, he describes the â€Å"birth†: "I saw the dull yellow eye of the creature open; it breathed hard, and a convulsive motion agitated its limbs." (Pg. 51) Instead of reaching out to his child, Victor runs out of the room disgusted by the creature’s ugliness. When the creature follows after him, Victor continues to run away, completely abandoning his creation. While creating his â€Å"child†, Victor never considered whether it would even want to exist. He also did not think about the creature's appearance...

Pottery and its Role in the Lives of People

Pottery and its Role in the Lives of People Introduction Culture is regarded as the complex system of meaning and behavior that defines the way of life for a given group or society. Among others, culture encompasses beliefs, customs, and ways of life (Andersen Taylor, 2010).Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Pottery and its Role in the Lives of People specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Culture includes ways of thinking as well as patterns of behavior. Observing culture involves studying what people think, how they interact, and the objects they use. In any society, culture defines what is perceived as beautiful and ugly, right and wrong, or good and bad. Culture helps to hold society together, giving people a sense of belonging, instructing them on how to behave, and telling them what to think in particular situations. Culture is both material and non material. Material culture consists of the objects created in a given society such as its buildings, art , tools, print, broadcast media, and other tangible objects. In the popular mind, material artifacts constitute culture because they can be collected in museums or archives and analyzed for what they represent. These objects are significant because of the meaning they are given. A temple for example, is not merely a building, nor is it only a place of worship. Its form and presentation signify the religious meaning system of the faithful. History of Pottery and its Role in People’s Lives Ordinarily, pottery is a considered to be an occupation that has no limits (Hopper, 2000). The beauty about pots is that their quality surpasses age and cultural borders. Although it has elements of both, pottery is neither painting nor sculpture. In general, pottery has concerns that are quite different from most other forms of expression. First, it is the process of transforming from flexible mad to hard ceramic. Second, it has associations with the rigors of daily life and the rituals of r eligious life. Third, it has multiple uses. Fourth is the finite variety of form that may be created. Fifth is its range of technical variation, giving a possibility of expression that is at least equal to all the variants of paintings and graphics, from water color to oils, and from etching to photo-lithography. Lastly is the degree of skill that is needed to bring all these concerns to the focal point of a finely made piece of work.Advertising Looking for research paper on cultural studies? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More History of Pottery As argued by Hopper (2000), the history of pottery goes back at least 8,000 years, to the Neolithic times, when the nomadic hunter settled to the life of crop farming and animal husbandry. Nobody is exactly sure where and when pottery making first developed. What is most likely is that it developed spontaneously in different places during roughly the same period of time. Ceramic history could be much older than what is currently accepted. Recent findings in Australia claim archeological remains containing rudimentary ceramics dating back 30,000 years. The area usually credited with being the cradle of civilization, that of the Mesopotamian basin in the Middle East is also credited with having the first pottery making cultures. Japan possibly has a ceramic history at least as long as any in the Middle East. One recurring fact is that, in what are often labeled as primitive cultures, the quality of clay work and its decoration had become exceptionally well made and sophisticated at such an early period in man’s cultural history. Regardless of where the actual first developments took place, the rudimentary forms from early pottery making cultures also have an astonishing similarity. Archeologists generally agree that, like most of mankind’s major discoveries, the earliest pottery probably developed by accident. There are two basic theories of de velopment. It may have come from observations of the way the earth became baked around fire pits, with the subsequent experimentation of making and firing pinched clay pots. On the other hand, it may have come from the accidental burning of clay lined baskets. Baskets were the original storage containers. They were made from grasses, reeds, roots, or soft malleable tree branches, primarily for carrying and storing grains and seeds, the major elements of the diet at that time. Baskets are anything but impervious to the loss of small seeds, which easily find their way through the basket weave. After a while, inner coatings of clay were probably smeared into the baskets to prevent loss. Some of these mud lined baskets were probably accidentally burnt, leaving a fired clay lining. Pottery could have even developed from the process of wrapping foods in a skin of clay and placing them in the embers of a fire or on heated rocks to cook. This method was common among the Indians of North Ame rica, and may also have been the precursor of the common cooking pot.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Pottery and its Role in the Lives of People specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More From these simple beginnings, has developed an art form that has served mankind for thousands of years, for his daily needs from birth to the grave, and beyond. Throughout man’s pottery making history, he has developed a huge repertoire of shapes and surfaces to fill his many needs. Looking at pottery in museums or as illustrations in books, one can not help but be amazed by the huge and subtle diversity of forms that man has molded clay into, for a wide variety of uses. Beyond the natural instincts of enjoying the purely manipulative quality of the material, and the function which is required of the formed objects, ceramic form has been influenced and altered by many factors and forces. Pottery developed as a response to th e needs of mankind. They became containers and dispensers. The forms they took developed for a number of reasons including the use required, religious associations, as a substitute emulating other more precious materials, geographical and climatic considerations, and the many variations in cultural customs. Once the basic needs became evident, forms were developed and made to serve them. Today, the variety of ceramic vessel forms that have been created is almost infinite. Pottery and Religious Associations Religious associations also had a profound effect on form development. Pots were made for fertility rites, deflowering of young girls, ritual libation vessels for the pouring of wines or oils, usually over sanctified ground, through to flower vases for temples and shrines of many oriental countries. They also include pots made for funeral rites and ceremonies dating far back into the earliest of cultures. In ancient Egypt, rulers and other people of power were embalmed and mummifi ed after death. Their internal organs were removed during the embalming process and were later interred with the mummy. Clay form has been greatly influenced by objects made from materials other than clay. Objects in use by different strata of any society might simultaneously have included objects made in gold, silver, bronze, copper, stone, glass, wood, bone, leather, roots, reeds and grasses, or clay. Not all these material were used by all cultures, but in each culture there was a hierarchy of materials that were used, mainly as a symbol of status. Clay was usually at the lower end of the status scale and often used to simulate objects made in a material of a higher value.Advertising Looking for research paper on cultural studies? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Chinese porcelain was perhaps the lonely early ceramic development which was afforded the recognition of being a material of substantial value. In some cultures, notably India, pottery was the disposable material, like today’s paper. In some parts of India, everyday pottery was thrown away after use, either as a measure of hygiene, or by religious doctrine, or both. In many cultures, simple pottery forms were often endowed with spiritual or symbolic significance which has become lost with the passing of time. Vessels generally are the universal feminine symbol, the womb of the Great Mother, shelter, protection, nourishment, and fertility. Lidded forms, covered jars, boxes, urns, or bottles represent the feminine principle of containing, enclosure, or the womb. The chalice, cup, or goblet represents the source of inexhaustible sustenance or abundance, the heart and salvation, plenty, immortality, and receptivity. The ewer is a symbol of purity, and of washing the hands in inno cence. Gourd shaped vessels represent mystery and longevity. Pottery in Regard to Geographic and Climatic Considerations Geographic and climatic considerations are responsible for many form variations. First, the availability of clay and the types of available clay determine to some extent the objects that can be made in any given area. For instance, there may be only muddy clay or buff clay with a large amount of sand in it, as one finds in the Middle East and Africa (Coakes, 1998). The pottery there is of a very direct nature, with little opportunity for excessive manipulation. In other areas, where there may be an abundance of highly plastic clay, pots of a much more fluid nature may develop. Plastic clays will usually tolerate a great deal more manipulation, and therefore more complex forms are likely to emerge. Different pots are made at high altitudes than those made at sea level, not only because of the clay content but also because of the firing variations at higher altitude s. Climatic conditions have also played an important role. In hot countries, water is a precious commodity. Pots made for storing water are usually shaped to conserve water from excessive evaporation and are therefore usually made with comparatively narrow necks. Water is either tipped out or lifted out with a small ladle or dipping pot attached to a string. A vessel may even be a totally enclosed form with just a minute spout and small filling hole. The forms themselves may be quite extended and swollen to expose a maximum of its surface to condensation on the outside of the pot, in order to keep the water cool inside. There are usually a considerable number of insects in hot countries which are kept out of the containers by various cunning devices such as enclosed forms, objects that fill from the base, strainers, and many anti insect lid and spout variations. In cold or temperate climates, forms of cups and bowls are often more closed than open so that hot foods don’t cool too quickly, and the pots can also be a source of heating for the hands. Other climates will undoubtedly have their special effects. Pottery and Mankind’s Cultural Customs Mankind’s varied cultural customs and living habits have yet other influences on the development of form in pottery (Collins, 2005). For example, the way that potter is used, and in what sort of environment, has a very strong effect on the way that the bases of ceramic objects are made. In cultures that use tables, the base of the object needs to be flat or nearly flat. In other cultures that may have little use for tables, pots may be hanged from branches, walls, hooks, or ceiling supports. Pots used in this way often have pointed bases. In yet other cultures, the objects may be placed directly on earth or sand floors. In this case, we often find pots with rounded bases that can be made to tip or roll easily when in use. These forms would often be set on a braided fiber ring or even a ceramic ring, to facilitate tipping. In a further development of form, pointed or round-based pots were half buried for the storage of liquid that needed to be kept cool. It is much easier to bury or half bury a pot with a rounded base than one with a flat base. In some places where the contour of the ground was uneven, tripod or multiple feet were developed to keep the piece stable. Pottery and Carrying Carrying methods also have a strong bearing on form. In many cultures, particularly in Africa, objects are made with round bases to fit onto the head, separated and kept secure by a ring of fibrous material (Orton et al., 1993). In others, particularly in the mountainous parts of South America, the pots were carried on the upper part of the back, or slung behind the neck by a rope or cloth sling placed through the pots low level handles and around the person’s fore head. The handles that were the support loops for the slings were carefully contoured so that they had no sharp edges that mi ght cut the fabric. Their placement was critical to good support and mobility. Pottery in Food Preparation and Serving The ways and means of preparing and serving food and drink have also had their effect on form development of pots (Rhodes, 2004). In early primitive societies, food was mostly consumed in its raw or uncooked state. The diet of early civilizations consisted of little more than various forms of grain with the occasional portion of meat or fish, and beer made from fermented grain to wash the food down and aid digestion. The earliest forms of food preparation were either by direct cooking of meat or fish by piercing bits of flesh on sticks and holding them in front of a fire, or by steaming. This was done by heating rocks in a depression in the ground, or by placing hot rocks in a basket. In both cases, the rocks were covered with a thin layer of damp leaves or seaweed and the food placed on top. This was then covered with further layers of leaves, and sometimes earth o r sand to contain the heat and steam. Both of these simple methods of cooking were and are still common in many areas. Other timeless methods are cooking on top of embers, as well as on both charcoal and peat. As cooked foods became more widespread, different ways of cooking also developed. Pottery was developed to serve these needs, although in some cultures, notably India and Islam, iron, copper, and brass cooking pots were preferred. Of all the pottery that we can see in the museums of the world, cooking pots are perhaps the least in evidence, most likely because of their fragility from continual use, but also because they may not have been held in high enough esteem to be placed in tombs to accompany the deceased in their after life. Most of the pots that one finds in museums were made to be used rather than just to be looked at. Often, they had a special significance and were mainly used for less damaging actions of daily life. With a gradually changing role from utility to con templation at certain periods of history, the pots of some cultures attained a glorified role and were made expressly to be looked at. This happened particularly in England, Europe, and Czarist Russia from the mid eighteenth to the mid nineteenth centuries, where a large volume of interior ceramic accessories had little or no function other than a decorative one. Among these, one would find mantelpiece garniture sets, obelisks, and centerpieces, often based on structures and forms from the classical world of Egypt, Greece, and Rome. Pottery and Gaming According to Skibo (1992), even games have had their effect on shaping some pottery forms. In classical Greece, a game called Kottabos was played using wine cup or kylix. The kylix is a stemmed up cup with elegant handles. In the game, a finger was crooked through the handle and then, with a flick of the wrist, the dregs of remaining wine were flipped at a target across the room. If the aim was accurate, the thrower dislodged a flat me tal disc from the top of a metal stand, which then fell to the floor with a resounding crash. Both the shape of the cup and the handle had some effect on the efficiency of the game, and the resultant kylix form was one of great elegance. Variations on the kylix form have been abundant since the neoclassic period of the nineteenth century. Conclusion From the discussion presented in this paper is it clear that pottery is an amalgam of many things. In the late twentieth century, we may not be aware of many of the attributes, considerations, and hidden meanings that are built into pots of old, or of their importance to the cultures that made them. More often than not, we are only aware of the form or surface itself, and of one culture’s forms in relation to those of another. Looking at the application of pottery in the areas of eating, drinking, storage, carrying, cooking and food preparation, serving, lighting, washing and perfuming, funeral, planting, as well as decoration and contemplation, it is obvious that pottery has played a big role in revolutionizing mankind’s way of life. The items we see and use today owe their origins to earlier practices of pottery. The present collection of items in house hold and elsewhere are certainly a result of the olden art of pottery. References Andersen, M. L. Taylor, H. F. (2010). Sociology: The Essentials, Belmont, CA: Cengage Learning. Coakes, M. (1998). Creative Pottery: A Step-By-Step Guide and Showcase. Gloucester, Massachusetts: Rockport Publishers. Collins, N. P. (2005). Alamo Pottery: The Complete Collectors Guide: The History of Alamo Pottery and Its Offspring, Gilmer Pottery. AuthorHouse: Bloomington, Indiana. Hopper, R. (2000). Functional Pottery: Form and Aesthetic in Pots of Purpose. Iola, Wisconsin Krause Publications Craft. Orton, C., Tyers, P. Vince, A. (1993). Pottery in Archaeology. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press. Rhodes, D. (2004). Pottery Form. Mineola, NY: Courier Dover Public ations. Skibo, J. M. (1992). Pottery Function: A Use-Alteration Perspective. New York, NY: Springer.

Looking Back at Rodney King and the L.A. Riots

Looking Back at Rodney King and the L.A. Riots Rodney King became a household name after images surfaced of him taking a life-threatening beating by four white police officers from the Los Angeles police department in 1992. After the four police officers were acquitted by a jury,  a violent uprising  broke out in Los Angeles, lasting over five days, and leaving more than 50 people dead and thousands injured. A Brutal beating On March 3, 1991, 25-year-old Rodney King was leaving an event by car with his friends when a police car on his tail motivated him to attempt to flee at 100 miles per hour. According to Kings account, he kept driving instead of pulling over because he was violating the terms of his parole- from a prior robbery- by drinking and he wanted to avoid trouble with the police. Instead, he kept driving and triggered a high-speed chase that ended when he pulled over. As King stepped out of the vehicle with his hands up police instructed him to get on the ground and they began beating him with their batons. Between four officers, King was struck at least 50 times and received at least 11 fractures. Nearly beaten to death, King was rushed to the nearest hospital where doctors operated on him for five hours.  Ã‚   Thankfully for King, a bystander named George Holiday had been overlooking the balcony during the brutal beating and recorded  the incident. The next day, Holiday took the footage to the local television station. The outrage and backlash from the officers actions was so significant that Rodney King was released from the hospital four days later  with no official charges filed against him. Conviction On March 15, 1991, Sergeant Stacey Koon and officers Laurence Michael Powell, Timothy Wind, and Theodore Briseno were indicted by a Los Angeles grand jury in connection with the beating. A little more than two months later, the grand jury decided not to indict the 17 officers who were there at the time of King’s beating but did nothing. The four officers accused of beating King were acquitted on April 29,1992. A violent uprising  began in South Central Los Angeles. An truck driver, uninvolved in King’s case, was beaten and the footage was caught on videotape by a passing helicopter. The mayor declared a state of emergency and the governor made a request for the National Guard to assist law enforcement officials. During that time 1,100 Marines, 600 Army soldiers, and 6,500 National Guard troops patrolled the streets of Los Angeles. Heartbroken and feeling responsible for the surrounding chaos, Rodney King, fighting back tears, made a public statement and recited the following famous lines: People, I just want to say, can we all get along?† on May 1, 1992. Small Victories The nation waited in fear of future riots as the trial for the four officers began. Less than two months later, two of the officers- Koon and Powell- were found guilty by a federal jury for having violated King’s civil rights. According to  news  reports, â€Å"U.S. District Court Judge John Davies sentences both Sergeant Stacey Koon and Officer Laurence Powell to 30 months in prison for violating Kings civil rights. Powell is found guilty of violating Kings constitutional right to be free from an arrest made with ‘unreasonable force.’ Ranking officer Koon is convicted of permitting the civil rights violation to occur.† Sadly for King, struggles with alcoholism and drug use led to further negative interactions with the law. In 2004,  was arrested after a domestic dispute and later plead guilty to driving under the influence. In  2007  he was found drunk with non-threatening gunshot wounds. In recent years, Rodney King has given several personal interviews including with CNN and Oprah.  On June 18, 2012, his fiancee Cynthia Kelley, a juror in his trial many years prior, found him at the bottom of his swimming pool. He was pronounced  dead  at the hospital. A Catalyst for Change Rodney Kings horrific experience with the Los Angeles Police Department was horrific helped to illuminate some of the myriad problems with police brutality. Images of the beating and the uprising  that followed live on in infamy as a symbol of the troubled relationship between police and the Black community.

Meeting Stakeholder and Quality needs Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Meeting Stakeholder and Quality needs - Essay Example (Ashley & Amir, 2010) Intermediary stakeholders are not directly related to the organization but may have an interest in the organization. E.g. - government. The list of stakeholders of any company are- The stakeholders have many expectations and it can be categorized as satisfied, exceeded, created or eliminated. The success of the organization depends if the expectations are met or not met. The expectations of the stakeholders can be overlapping and there are various operational and management goals are designed to satisfy the different stakeholder expectations. The expectations of the customers will be to get the better quality service and low costs and the expectations of the management and the company is to improve the return on investment, increase profit margins and control operational expenses. (Kumar, 1998) There are different ways of achieving the stakeholder expectations. Defining standards for input, process and outcomes are very essential for meeting the requirements. The standards laid by the organization must be realistic, reliable, valid, clear and easily measurable. Firstly, the organization needs to analyze the stakeholders and understand their interest and impact in the organization. The organization then needs to develop a strategy that provides guidance to communicate and interact with the key stakeholders. The strategy developed need to be implemented across the organization to achieve the desired results. The stakeholder strategy should incorporate the following elements-   These results have to be periodically checked and monitored to access the results. This helps the organization to evaluate where they stand and what are the additional strategies that need to be adapted in order to improve the results with the organizations stakeholder.  (Lauri, 2009) It is very essential for the organization to organize regular meetings with the key stakeholders and involve them in every meeting. Review process should be initiated and approval of

Impact on management science Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Impact on management science - Essay Example To answer this question it is necessary to examine the nature of HRM and its role in strategic organizational development and planning. Whilst top management must always accept the need for innovation there is still the decision as to which opportunities it wishes to develop in relation to its resources and those it chooses not to pursue. An effective business strategy depends upon the successful management of opportunities and coordination of HR in order to create a competitive advantage. Taking into account that HRM is not an independent part of business, it is possible to assume that HRM is a strategic activity aimed to respond effectively to changes and business transformations. The basis strategic HRM is that every manager is given a clear idea of the results expected. The human resources function is now highly specialized and perhaps can be said to be at the centre of conflict between labour and capital. They in effect operate on the 'boundary' between the workforce and the organization. Human resource management is that part of the process of management that is concerned with the maintenance of human relationships and ensuring the physical well-being of employees so that they give the maximum contribution to efficient working. It is obviously closely related to the management process as a whole and each functional manager and supervisor applies the principles effectively. Departmental managers, by effective leadership, ensure human resources policy is adhered to and department activities are successfully carried out. Michael Armstrong (2003) proposes the following definition of HRM: " the concept of HRM could be regarded as a philosophy governing how employees should be treated in the interests of the organization. But this philosophy can be applied in many different ways and there is no single model which can be used to describe HRM (p 23)" A logical approach to the consideration of this function is to look first of all at the problem of overall company organization and manpower planning, then the operations necessary to implement the plan, that is, recruitment and selection, training and development, and wage and salary administration. Other aspects of human resource management include industrial relations and the law of employment, welfare and safety, and other employee services. The importance is that the process of HRM is extremely important and continues to advance rapidly and change becomes imperative. When an organization develops a highly committed work force, coupled with enlightened management, its self-managed multifunction teams will be able to take on the challenges of the future (Price, 2004). Driven Forces of Strategic Intent to Planning Social Change as a Driven Force of Strategic Intent in HRM Social change creates new HR policies and training needs. For example, as more people travel abroad and experience the high levels of customer service in North America and the Far East they become more demanding in their expectations for customer service at home. As a further example, in society women's right to occupy jobs at the highest levels in companies and institutions. Both these examples indicate the need for HR training, the first in customer care skills and the second in management skills for women. In this situation, training is a strategic tool of the entire organization realized

French and American Revolution Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

French and American Revolution - Essay Example This taxation infuriated them as these taxes were never approved by the parliament of the respective colonies. The colonies stated that they are prepared to pay taxes, but not those which are not based on the principle of ignorance and are not equitable. Similarly, in the France, the monarchy imposed heavy taxes on the ordinary people of France to pay-off their trading debts. One important thing in this was that nobles and rich of France were not obliged to pay these taxes. This angered the ordinary population of France which was toiled and poked hard by the monarchy, they were subject to. Although, the cause of American Revolution is simple and very easily understandable, that is it was triggered due to Britain's greed, whereas the reason behind French revolution is very deeply rooted. Their King had divided the people into two social classes and from there he gave luxuries to the rich class at the expense of poor class. This left the poor class on the verge of Famine and this movement started which was aimed to depose the king. On the other hand, American Revolution also started to get rid of Britain from their homeland and to gain independence. From the above disFrom the above discussion, we can clearly identify that both of these movements were started by the oppressed and abused classes of the respective countries and were able to get rid of the authority which was oppressing them, but the end results were quite different for both of these nations. Americans on one hand were able to get rid of the British and gained independence and constituted their law, but French, on the other hand, were left only to see Napoleon Bonaparte's rise to the position of power. (Mark Steel, 2003) One reason for the difference in the outcomes of the two movements was the lack of organization and planning in French movement as compared to American Revolution. In the American movement, the Congress decided when to start the movement. They had a meeting and decided that they are ready to take over the government from the British, before rebelling against the foreign forces of oppression. The movement was entirely planned and once the Britishers left, Congress took over the government and gave American a gift of constitution for their long struggle against oppression. On the other hand, French were fighting against the upper social class. In the other words, they were not fighting for the self-rule, like the Americans, but they were rebelling against a tyranny that supported rich and nobles at the cost of ordinary people of France. Similarly, French did not have any authority to take over the government once the monarchy is deposed, whereas American had Congress to take over the g overnment after Britishers left. This gave the opportunity to Napoleon Bonaparte to seize the position of power and ultimately he ascended on the throne and once again, the French find themselves in the midst of monarchy. The reason behind this was that Americans were fighting against foreign forces which meant that if they win, the Britishers could be forced out, whereas it was different in the France's case, they were fighting among

HRM1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

HRM1 - Essay Example Management, experts have been able to explain the major difference between the two terminologies: Personnel management is more concerned with the administrative aspect of an organization; that is, payrolling, complying with employment legal issues and managing employees’ administrative concerns; but, Human Resources Management stretched far than that. It includes taking care of employee’s welfare, psychological motivation, training, legal representation, promotion and even relationship among the employees working together.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   However, history has demonstrated that personnel/Human resources Management arose as a result of the dire need to control the human aspect of a business, which appeared to be the most significant area that could being either success  or failure to any organization if it is properly managed or not (Armstrong, 2006).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   This report will focus majorly on the tasks of Personnel/Human Resources Managers in an organization. Japan Airlines, JAL is used as an organizational case study for which the activities of its Personnel/Human Resources Managers would be analyzed and dissected. The findings are compared with the common theories about Human Resources Management. The comparisons and contrasts are laid out, and recommendations are given to explain how the Human component of any organization could be successfully managed.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   A large organization like Japan Airlines with a total workforce of over 50,000 employees requires efficient Human resources Management to be able to successfully management its army of employees (JAL, 2009). The following are the activities of Human Resources Managers at JAL: Recruitment/training:   Human Resources Managers at Japan Airlines hire and train the company’s horde of workers. The process of hiring is different from other companies: for example, any candidate that would like to work for JAL must be ready to attend up to three interviews.

The Evolution of the Leadership Archetype of Female Essay

The Evolution of the Leadership Archetype of Female - Essay Example The Devil Wear Prada MovieThe Devil Wear Prada Movie With the growth in the global economy, female leadership levels stabilized. This 2006 movie shows female power based on relationships of career, friendship and love in complex and at times paradoxical opinions. Female power relationships detailed in the movie, portray that women use power appropriately to ensure they maintain their business competitiveness. This surfaces when Andrea acts loyal to Miranda when she attempted to alert of the coup that intended to overthrow Miranda for a younger woman. However, love and friendship linkages depreciate as women become successful professionally. In spite of relationship drawbacks, such movies portray optimism and stable female figures for young females in the workforce (Danya 70).The Girl Next Door movie With the high and improved economic standards, their enhancement occur in life and consequently, because of westernization, social evils such as prostitution and production of pornographi c materials have sprung up. In this 2004 American teen film, the main actor Matthew (an honour student), decides to love for the first time a girl next door, but in the process meets challenging circumstances after he learns of her former porn work.  The Patriarchal Archetype of Women Heroines According to the producers of The Girl Next Door movie,’ the female character, Danielle (Elisha Cuthbert) contrasts to her male counterpart Matthew Kidman (Emile Hirsch) in a way that Matthew holds a higher leadership level due to his higher education. Unlike in the comedy, ‘Baby Boon’ and in the Devil Wear Prada movie, where the female figure confers upon a high social class and at the same time cares for life (caring for the child). On the other hand, Danielle is portrayed as a reformed porn star. It is unclear whether she has any significant form of education. She underwent this social vice in order to sustain herself. During the

HRM1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

HRM1 - Essay Example Management, experts have been able to explain the major difference between the two terminologies: Personnel management is more concerned with the administrative aspect of an organization; that is, payrolling, complying with employment legal issues and managing employees’ administrative concerns; but, Human Resources Management stretched far than that. It includes taking care of employee’s welfare, psychological motivation, training, legal representation, promotion and even relationship among the employees working together.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   However, history has demonstrated that personnel/Human resources Management arose as a result of the dire need to control the human aspect of a business, which appeared to be the most significant area that could being either success  or failure to any organization if it is properly managed or not (Armstrong, 2006).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   This report will focus majorly on the tasks of Personnel/Human Resources Managers in an organization. Japan Airlines, JAL is used as an organizational case study for which the activities of its Personnel/Human Resources Managers would be analyzed and dissected. The findings are compared with the common theories about Human Resources Management. The comparisons and contrasts are laid out, and recommendations are given to explain how the Human component of any organization could be successfully managed.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   A large organization like Japan Airlines with a total workforce of over 50,000 employees requires efficient Human resources Management to be able to successfully management its army of employees (JAL, 2009). The following are the activities of Human Resources Managers at JAL: Recruitment/training:   Human Resources Managers at Japan Airlines hire and train the company’s horde of workers. The process of hiring is different from other companies: for example, any candidate that would like to work for JAL must be ready to attend up to three interviews.

Deforestation In Amazon And Local Climate Changes Essay

Deforestation In Amazon And Local Climate Changes - Essay Example The strong threat of climate change is coupled with another eerie possibility that of absolute regional drought that can be caused by climatic change. Most of the remaining tropical forests of the world are in the Amazon region, and some areas of the forest contain huge deposits of the range of organisms present in a particular ecological community or system. Therefore the continuous deforestation in the Amazon threatens climate stability and is an added factor to the global atmospheric change disaster. Scientific research has overwhelmingly proved that cutting and removing trees from their natural environment contributes 1.5 billion tons of carbon dioxide out into the atmosphere every year. Clearing forests to acquire more land and more human activities in the tropics will release an additional 1300 billion tons of carbon per year, which is greater than the amount of carbon emissions released by 13 years burning of fossil fuel all over the world. The new research conclusively proves that preserving huge forests such as the Amazon as carbon absorbents will contribute a great deal to stabilizing greenhouse gas emissions. Another important factor is the need to reduce levels of emission as these could slow down the capacity of forests to absorb carbon. Method of Research: An official inquiry was carried out for the way in which deforestation effects climate changes with the help of twin numerical experiments of an â€Å"atmosphere general circulation model (AGCM) with prearranged and approved global sea temperature and the AGCM over the global tropics. The results showed that the twenty first century environmental change may be the most unfortunate bequest that will be passed on to future generations. The strong threat of climate change is coupled with another eerie possibility that of unmitigated regional drought brought about by climatic change. More than half of the remaining tropical forests of the world are in the Amazon region, and some areas of the forest contain huge deposits of the range of organisms present in a particular ecological community or system. It is generally measured by the numbers and types of different species, or the genetic variations within and between species. In fact the Amazon contains about 25% of the biodiversity on the face of the Earth (Science Daily 2007). It acts as a major agent of global climate making vapor to produce clouds, which has a deep circulating affect across the entire globe. It also stores mass of living organisms within a particular environment, measured in terms of weight per unit of area and soil carbon. Therefore the continuous deforestation in the Amazon threatens climate stability and is an added factor to the global atmospheric change catastrophe. On the other hand the stabilization of the deforestation of the Amazon forests would provide the chance for adaptation to climate change including contributing towards the improvement of climate change. To control deforestation in the Amazo n would envisage major replacements in policies, governance, sustainability and economic science. Quantity of Rainfall: Rainfall decreases over deforested tracts, because heavy clouds holding copious amounts of water are only attracted to tracts of heavy forests, which was proved conclusively during the Rondonian Boundary Layer Experiment the physical methods and means that constitute the link between rain bearing clouds and heavy forestation. It has been amply demonstrated that the atmospheric limits over areas of heavy forests is more unbalanced and contains larger

The Impact Of Intellectual Properties Protection Essay Example for Free

The Impact Of Intellectual Properties Protection Essay Some of the aims and objectives of the project include: Determine the responsibility and functioning of the intellectual property domain in the IT and automobile industry. The manner in which each type of Intellectual property (IP) instrument could be applied in the software and automobile industry. The extent and level of protection various other intellectual property rights instruments (such as copyrights, database protection, IC protection, trade secrets, designs, trademarks, etc) that could be provided. The obstacles, hurdles, ideas, conceptions, etc, that could oppose the implementation of the various intellectual property instruments for protection in the software and automobile fields. The impact and scope patents and other intellectual property right instruments could have in the IT and automobile industry. Determining the ways in which IP could act as a hindrance to the development of the software and the automobile fields To promote an inter-professional relationship that could exist between IP, management, technology and law. To equip the stakeholders in the technological field about the way they could protect their applications or intelligence of their mind. To suggest potential ways in which the hindrance and monotony caused by IP could be removed in the software and the automobile industry. To promote healthy competition between organizations in the field of technology such that it would be a win-win situation for them and for the public. The application of antitrust laws in the field of IP especially for patent nonuse To determine the circumstances under which Procedures used to benefit the public (such as revocation of the patent and compulsory licensing) can be imposed (especially to ensure that a healthy competition exists in the market). Technology is improving each and every day.   It is very important that IP is protected completely so that the owner reaps the fruits of the intellectual labor.   Each intellectual property instrument (such as patent, copyright, trade secrets, designs, trademarks, database protection, chip protection, etc) tries to protect certain aspects of technology.   For example patents try to protect the revolutionary aspect (such as inventions), whereas Semi-conductor protections tries to protect evolutionary aspects (as the development in semi-conductor technology is incremental in nature).   To a certain extent the trademark and copyright laws flow automatically and several other IP instruments have to compulsorily be registered.  Ã‚   However, copyrights may not offer complete protection (it may also be difficult to apply copyrights to the field of software or the internet as websites and software is constantly updated).   A certain amount of trade secret is lost whenever an emp loyee quits a company. A company’s intellectual property forms a very important resource.   However, the company should be able to determine the nature of its resources and the manner in which it could be exploited.   A company with a good IP strategy could gain a competitive edge in the industry to a certain extent and within varying periods of time (depending on its competitiveness). It can be seen that a company having a single patent would have a distinct advantage in the market.   The opponents of the company may begin to take up alternative strategies that may be ineffective in nature, consume a lot of time or prove to be very costly.   A company should conduct a SWOT analysis of its IP situation.   Even small corporate are beginning to identify IP as an invaluable assets and are using it to enable growth.   The key to success of a company would be to manage it IP resources effectively (through proper identification, maintenance, evaluation, protection, sharing and utilization). In such a competitive age, could the IT and the automobile industry ignore IP and related laws?   I do feel that this could be a very good research question, and each and every aspect including past cases, benefits and limitations of each IP instrument and the manner in which a company could develop an effective IP strategy may be discussed.   Even the potential ways in which the IP owner could misuse his/her laws could be suggested, so that unhealthy competition or monotony is created in the market.   In such circumstances, the law-makers need to bring about certain laws that would create a balance between public interest and the owner of the IP. A company can possess various IP’s and in different fields.   The IP may be a technology which is new and revolutionary or a slight modification of evolution of current technology.   Some of the IP’s that a company could possess include patents, copyrights, database protection, designs protection, trademarks, IC protection, trade secrets, etc.   A company can protect it’s IP in several ways:- Use the trade-secret mechanism to protect its IP (in this way the company would just be protecting its property and not be using it to gain extensive profits). Disclose its IP to the appropriate statutory authorities and obtain relevant IP registrations. Protect it’s IP through contractual means (e.g. licensing of a software) – The contract for use may be for a certain periods of time or may be restricted for use within a certain geographical area. Contents Table of Cases -Table of Statues I.e. 1.Chapter one: Literature Review 1.1. Introduction to intellectual property 1.1.1. What is inventions and what’s not? 1.1.2. Protecting inventions 1.2. Forms of intellectual properties protection 1.3. Cost of the protection, durability, and its effectiveness 1.4. Confidentiality 1. Chapter two: Need to Protect IP in the software and the automobile industry 2.1.1. Secrecy and confidentiality 2.1.2. Need to reward the owner for helping develop and advance technology for the benefit of the society 2.1.3. Creating a health business environment in the Market 2.1.4. Public Benefit (duty of the patent owner to make known new and useful technology for the benefit of the public i.e. to work the invention, and not to wrongfully suppress or hide the technology from the public after obtaining a patent from the patent office), Relevant cases Continental Paper Bag Co. v. Eastern Paper Bag Co.; Pfizer V. Government of India [434 US 308 (1978)]; Remington Products V. North American Philips corporation; Image Technical Services V. Eastman Kodak Co. [504 U.S. 451 (1992)]; Medtronic Sofamor Danek, Inc. v. Michelson case, etc. 3.1. Chapter three: Ways in which the different IP instruments could be implemented and the level of protection provided by each instrument 3.1.1. Patents 3.1.2. Copyrights 3.1.2.1. Database protection 3.1.4. Trademarks 3.1.5. Trade secrets 3.1.6. IC protection 3.1.7. A combination of these 4.1. Chapter four: Business Competition and IP 4.1.1. Instances in which IP has created a healthy competition in the Market 4.1.2. Instances in which IP has created an unhealthy competition in the Market 4.1.3. Manner in which IP has helped to develop technology further 4.1.4. Manner in which IP is acting as a hindrance to the development of technology Case Studies IBM (they currently hold the most number of patents in the US) http://www.ibm.com/ibm/governmentalprograms/ippatent.html#resources; Microsoft http://www.microsoft.com/about/legal/intellectualproperty/default.mspx; Dell 5.1. Chapter five: Problems concerning the Use of IP 5.1. 1 Public Interest 5.1.2. Unhealthy competition 5.2. Ways in which the problems could be solved 6.1. Chapter six: IP Processes in a Company 6.1.1. IP Policy 6.1.2. IP Resources at the Company 6.1.3. Planning and Strategizing 6.1.4. Monitoring and Evaluation 6.1.5. SWOT analysis 6.2. Problems-solving 6.2.1. Infringement Situations or Issues Concerning IP – Sega Enterprises V. Richards; Apple Computers V. Computer Edge, IBcos V. Barclay, Lotus V. Lotus V. Paperback, Lotus V. Borland, Whelan V. Jaslow, Computer Associates V. Altai (1992), John Richardson V. Flanders (1993), Gottschalk V. Benson (1972), Parker V. Flock (1978), in re Abele (1982), Canter Fitzgerald V. Tradition (UK), Lab Corp v Metabolite, in re Walter (1980), in re Freeman (1978), Microsoft Clipboard Application (2006), Arryhythmia Reascarhe V. Corazonix (1992), Re Alapatt (1994), Softman v. Adobe, Koch and Sterzelix-ray apparatus (1988), VICOM Application (1987), Fujistu’s Application (1997), MAI V. Peak Computers, State Bank V. Signature Financial (1998), ATT V. Excell Comm. (1999), Amazon V. Barnes and noble.com (1999), Mark and Spencer V. One in a Million (1998), Tata Tea V. Gem Lifts (D2000-1823), Novell V. CPU, IBM Text processing Appication (1989), Geodynamik device (2002), 7.1. Conclusion 7.1.1. The Future of IP in the software and automobile industry 7.1.2. The unanswered questions -Bibliography References: Calton, J. 2001, â€Å"Dissolving the Digital Dilemma: metatheory and intellectual property†, Human Systems Management, vol. 20, pp. 19-23. Edward Lowe Foundation 2003, How to Gain a Competitive Edge, [Online], Available: http://www.lowe.org/index.elf?page=ssercstoryid=8869function=story, [Accessed: 2007, May 17]. Kurth, A. 2005, Software/Electrical Lawyers, [Online], Available: http://www.andrews-kurth.com/Page.aspx?BD_ID=5555, [Accessed: 2007, May 17]. Maheswari, U. 2002, Implications of Biotechnology on Patents and Food Security, [Online], Available: http://www.altlawforum.org/Resources/lexlib/biotech, [Accessed: 2007, May 17]. NSW 2007, Intellectual Property (IP), [Online], Available: http://www.smallbiz.nsw.gov.au/smallbusiness/Technology+in+Business/Intellectual+Property/, [Accessed: 2007, May 17]. Ramakrishna, T. 2005, Basic principles and Acquisition of Intellectual Property Rights, NLSIU, Bangalore. Ramakrishna, T. 2005, Information Technology Related Intellectual Property Rights, NLSIU, Bangalore. USPTO 2005, General Information Concerning Patents, [Online], Available: http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/doc/general/novelty, [Accessed: 2007, May 17]. WIPO 2007, What is Intellectual Property?, [Online], Available: http://www.wipo.int/about-ip/en/index.html, [Accessed: 2007, May 17].

Drug Discovery And Development

Drug Discovery And Development A drug is created through lots of stages. This essay provides the description of the basic concepts of drug discovery and development, and identifies the role of some medicinal chemistry, such as pharmacology and pharmacokinetics. There are lots of processes of creating new drugs, where we may mainly distinguish between drug discovery and drug development. Drug discovery comes about in several different ways. The method is to subject new chemical entities to a set of screening tests designed to detect different types of biological activity. These include in Vitro screens as well as in Vivo screens. The history of drug discovery has changed gradually. Before 1990, medicines were produced by chemical synthesis or were isolated from existing compounds exhibiting poly-pharmacology or side effects, such as plants and herbs. Also, screenings were carried out through low throughput screening. More recently, the understanding of human receptors and substances which cause specific activity has proceeded, so this led to new drugs, such Cimetizine and Ranitizine. The studies of DMPK and ADME have progressed as well, so the studies were applied to drug discovery. In addition to that, the change from low throughput screeni ng to high throughput screening allowed mass screening. Since 2000, the incredible advance of understanding of the human genome has led to novel medicines, such as Aranesp, Epogen, and Enbral, which are more biological than before. Toxicology developed and has been adapted to drug discovery as well. At the same time, attempts with using computers are increasing. As I mentioned above, the method of finding lead compounds has changed. Nowadays, main six methods to find lead compounds are becoming popular. Firstly, it is to improve existing drugs. Secondly, it is to create new drugs on the basis of natural products. Also, rational drug design using protein crystallography is becoming popular. The rest is high throughput screening, fragment screening, and virtual screening. In addition, there are the main two methods of designing structures, which are structure based design and ligand based design respectively. Targets of finding new lead compounds are mainly eight targets, which are re ceptors, enzymes, ion-channels, nuclear receptors, kinases, bacterial/viral targets, human genome, and others. The process of drug discovery is complex, so it takes 4 to 8 years to finish it. In the process of drug discovery, the small structural changes of chemicals sometimes cause large changes and effects. For instance, propranol shows both ÃŽ ²1 andÃŽ ²2 adrenoceptor selectivity. On the other hand, atenolol shows only ÃŽ ²1 adrenoceptor selectivity. The structural differences between propranolol and atenolol are small, but their showing effects are different respectively. Once a new chemical compound has been discovered, drug development has to be carried out, culminating in its being licensed for use and marked. Preclinical tests on isolated tissues and in animals should ensure that the drug has the required mechanism of action and at least in animals will produce appropriate system responses. At this stage, the new drug will be tested against standard drugs in comparative assays. Toxicity tests in animals should in most cases allow some prediction of toxic effects in humans. In comparisons of drugs used clinically, potency does not necessarily relate directly to therapeutic usefulness. It is important to consider also the maximum achievable response and the incidence of unwanted effects. Clinical testing in humans involves four phases. Phase 1 is the measurement of pharmacological activity, pharmacokinetics and side effects in healthy volunteers. Phase 2 is pilot studies in small groups of patients to confirm that the drug works on the target condit ion and to establish the dosage regimen to be used in phase 3. Phase 3 is formal clinical trials in a large number of patients to determine the incidence of unwanted effects. Phase 4 is post marketing surveillance to establish efficacy and toxicity in general use. The detection of rare, adverse effects is most likely to occur in this phase. It takes 5 to 8 years to finish this stage, and costs much money than drug discovery stage. It takes about 10 to 12 years from an idea to marketable drugs totally. Also, it takes approximately 800 million dollars to develop one new drug. The duration of a drugs patent from the time of its registration with the UK Patent Office is 20 years. Therefore, pharmaceutical industries have to recoup their investment and make a profit, some of which will spend researching and developing other drugs. After a drugs patent expired, other pharmaceutical companies can make and sell the quite similar drug which is called a generic drug. As a result, the price often drops significantly. As a generic drug has become popular among people due to the price and the efficacy, generic drugs market is growing rapidly. The definition of medicinal chemistry Medicinal chemistry is a chemistry based on discipline which is involved in aspects of biological, medical and pharmaceutical science. Also, it is concerned with the invention, discovery, design, identification and preparation of biologically active compounds. The chemistry is a study of their metabolism, mode of action at a molecular level, and relationships between chemical structure and activity. The role of pharmacokinetics in drug discovery and drug development Pharmacokinetics is the science of exploring the changes in drug concentrations throughout the body with time. It is important to understand the time course of drug effects. The time course of drug action usually follows that of the concentration at the target site. There are 4 main phases in the pharmacokinetic process, which are absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion. Drugs can be administered through the gut or by other route, which is called absorption. Most drugs dont spread rapidly throughout the whole of body water. A drugs penetration into these compartments is indicated by its volume of distribution that would be required to hold the amount of drug in the body at the measured plasma concentration. The plasma membrane of the cells constitutes a hydrophobic lipid barrier and drug permeation can occur by direct distribution through the lipid and carrier mediated transport. Diffusion of a drug depends on its concentration gradient and its diffusion coefficient. The concentration gradient established within the cell membrane depends on the drugs lipid/water partition coefficient. This is estimated by the drugs distribution between water and a simple organic solvent. Most drugs are ionised in aqueous solution. The ionised form is hydrophilic, so the ionisation impedes passive membrane permeation. When a drug enters the body, it is subjected to the processes that have been developed for dealing with toxic foreign molecules, which are called metabolism and excretion. The liver is the main site of drug metabolism, and the kidney is the main site of excretion. There are some important terms in pharmacokinetics, which are half-life, AUC, and drug clearance. Half-life is the time taken for any given plasma concentration to decrease by 50%. AUC is a measure of the extent of absorption. Drug clearance is defined as the volume of plasma cleared of drug per unit time. Drug metabolism in drug discovery The main purpose of drug metabolism is to cause detoxification. Metabolism involves two main processes. Firstly, the molecule is made more hydrophilic to reduce the possibility of reabsorption in the renal tubules. Secondly, it is conjugated to reduce its effects and aid excretion. As I mentioned above, there are two phases of metabolism. Phase à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã‚   is mainly oxidative reactions, such as oxidation, reduction, and hydrolysis. The oxidation of a drug requires the cytochrome P450 which is the major enzyme. Phase à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã‚ ¡ is conjugation reactions with sugar residue, such as glucuronidation, glycosidation, and sulfation. UDPGT is the main enzyme at this stage. Interestingly, there are species differences in metabolism. For example, lidocaine is metabolised to 4-hydroxylidocaine by hydroxylation in rats. On the other hand, lidocaine is metabolised to monoethylglycinexylidide by deethylation in dogs or men. The main reason why these differences occurred is the difference o f enzymes between species. There are some particular enzymes in men and dogs, but there may be not the enzymes in rats. When the situation happens, species differences occur in metabolism. to The role of pharmacology in drug discovery Pharmacology concerns the study of how drugs affect the function of host tissues or combat infectious organisms. In most cases, drugs bind selectively to target molecules within the body, usually proteins but other macromolecules as well. The main drug targets are receptors, enzymes, ion channels, and transporters. It is generally desirable that a drug should have a higher affinity for its target than for other binding sites. One of the main roles of pharmacology in identifying new drugs is drug target identification with using compounds known pharmacological properties to identify new target mechanisms, and identifying new receptors, ion channels, transporters, and enzymes. Receptors are protein molecules in or on cells that act as recognition sites for endogenous ligands such as neurotransmitters, hormones, inflammatory mediators. Many drugs used in medicine make use of these receptors. The effect of a drug may produce the same responses to an endogenous ligand or prevent the actio n of an endogenous ligand. A drug that binds to a receptor and activates the cells response is termed an agonist. A drug that reduces or inhibits the action of an agonist is termed an antagonist. Some drugs produce the maximum response that the tissue can give. These are termed full agonists. Other drugs may not give the maximum tissue response in any concentration, which is called partial agonists. A drug shifts the equilibrium in favour of the non active form, so reducing background activity. Such drugs are referred to as inverse agonists. An antagonist is defined as a drug that reduces the action of an agonist. There are three main antagonism mechanisms, which are competitive antagonism, irreversible antagonism, and non-competitive antagonism. A competitive antagonist binds to the receptor and prevents the binding of an agonist. If the antagonist binds reversibly, then the effect of the antagonist can be overcome by raising the concentration of the agonist so that it competes mor e effectively for the binding sites. In irreversible antagonism, the antagonist binds irreversibly, reducing the number of receptors available for binding. In non-competitive antagonism, the antagonist does not block the receptor itself but blocks the signal transduction process initiated by receptor activation. Enzymes catalyse a chemical reaction, so convert substrates to products. In most cases, enzymes are proteins, and their targets are intracellular. Ion channels are fundamental membrane proteins, and convey ions across cell membranes. There are three main types of ion channel, which are voltage-gated channels, ligand-gated channels, and G-protein regulated channels. Voltage-gated channels are closely involved in ion gradients, and make the tissues excitable. Ligand-gated channels consist of a number of transmembrane subunits. The channel governs fast cell to cell communication. G-protein regulated channels modulate the excitability of excitable tissue. Transporters are protei ns which can penetrate a cell membrane without modifying it, and transport substances. Drugs can modify this action by blocking a binding site, or acting as a false substance, and being transported into a cell. The importance of oral administration and oral bioavailability Oral administration is the most convenient and acceptable route, because of the importance from the point of view of patients. It is much easier for patients to take medicine orally than taking by other routes. The important factors of oral drugs are potency, selectivity, rapid dissolution, and rapid transfer across the membranes of the gastrointestinal tract, low clearance, absence of dose independent and time independent in pharmacokinetics, and no interaction with other drugs. Oral bioavailability is the proportion of the orally administered dose that reaches the systemic circulation. Incomplete release from the dosage form, destruction within the gut, poor absorption and first-pass elimination are important causes of low bioavailability. There are two main factors controlling oral absorption, which are physical barriers and biological barrier. Physical barrier comprises solubility, ionisation, lipophilicity, drug formulation, and interaction with other substances. As I discussed above, solubility, lipophilicity, and ionisation are closely related to absorption. Drugs must dissolve to establish a concentration gradient for absorption, the rate and extent of absorption depending on the pharmaceutical formulation. Rapid absorption of a drug requires its disintegration into small particles. In general, food will slow absorption by reducing the drugs concentration. On the other hand, biological barriers comprise efflux, transporters, and metabolism. Efflux is a biological reaction which forces out unnecessary substances. The reaction prevents drugs from entering inside of a cell. Metabolism is one of the biological barriers, because of different enzymes which are mainly CYP 450. Transporters are one of biological barriers, but the role of transporters preventing drugs from entering an interior cell is not clear now. The example of drugs Histamine is a mediator in both acute inflammation and the immediate hypersensitivity response. There are two main types of histamine receptor which are H1 and H2 receptors. Antihistamine drugs can target each receptor type. The main physiological aspects of the gastrointestinal tract are gastric acid secretion. The excess of gastric acid secretion cause peptic ulcers. In peptic ulcer, the balance between gastric acid secretion and mucosal-protective mechanisms is altered. The main approach to peptic ulcer is drugs used to reduce acid secretion. The H2 receptor antagonists, Cimetizine, Ranitizine, reduce gastric acid secretion in response to histamine, gastrin, and food. The proton pump is responsible for the secretion of gastric acid into the stomach. Therefore, the proton pump inhibitors show the effect of reduction in the secretion of gastric acid. Antibacterial drugs are compounds used to treat bacterial infections. There are some targets for antibacterial drugs, such as cell wall, nucleotide mechanism, and protein synthesis. One of the important targets is cell wall which provides support for the membrane. Its main constituent is peptidoglycan which is an excellent target for drugs. Drugs affecting peptidoglycan synthesis include penicillins and penicillin G. Conclusion I learned the basis of drug discovery and development through these lectures, and I found the importance of medicinal chemistry, such as pharmacology and pharmacokinetics. It is essential to understand medicinal chemistry for discovering and developing novel and ideal drugs. At the same time, I feel we should consider discovering and developing drugs from the point of view of patients as well.