Media and Politics Essay

We all agree that a well-informed public leads to a more open, just and civic-minded society. Yet today it seems every major and minor news network has a Sunday talk show or weekly roundtable dedicated to â€Å"educating† the American public about politics. In addition, with the growth of the Internet, thousands of Web sites exist with information on politics and government. The irony is that while the quantity of places we can go for political information continues to increase, the quality of that information has not. Recent voter turnout shows an American public with a general apathy toward government and the political process. If we continue to focus on innuendo instead of insight, we threaten to create even more public apathy. For everything a quick sound bite delivers in sharpness, it often loses the same in substance when the message reaches the public. While it may be easy to fault the media for the lack of public confidence in America’s political system, policymakers are also partly to blame. Because increased political partisanship has led to an adversarial relationship between policymakers, it has created a disconnect with the media who cover them. It is only natural for the media to present the news in this â€Å"crossfire† approach when that is all it hears from politicians on a daily basis. Thus, instead of creating a well-informed society, policymakers, and the media can inadvertently work together to give the appearance that complicated issuesare black or white, with no in-between. We all know this is not true. For television, and the American media generally, the election of 2000 will be the first real taste of things to come, the beginning of the end of an era if not the end itself. Whispers of the â€Å"information revolution† could be heard in 1994, mostly in the accents of the Right, but in 2000, the Internet’s campaign presence will be sounded in shouts and with cymbals.  Campaigning via Websites and the use of e-mail, already routine, will edge toward dominance. In addition, a significant fraction of the public will be getting its politics from the Internet: the Pew Research Center found that in 1995, only 4 percent of adults went on-line for news at least once a week; by 1998, the figure had reached 20 percent, and rising. Today, however, television, which displaced the press and radio (and movies, for that matter), is itself substantially being shouldered aside. It is not even surprising that, according to the Pew Research Center, while 60 percent of adults â€Å"r egularly† watched TV news in 1993, that figure dropped to 38 percent in 1998. Like the press and like radio, television will retain much of its power; its quality of its influence may even rise; what is certain, however, is that it will have to change. If we are lucky, that change will help Americans reclaim some of democracy’s old charm. Our communities have been weakened or shattered by the market, mobility, and technology, and the centralization of the media and of party politics has taken much of the spirit out of our politics, emphasizing mass and hierarchy, and leading citizens to seek dignity in a private life that seems increasingly confined. Our politics, like our society, is more and more divided into two tiers. The elite levels, especially around the national capital and the media centers, are dense with organized groups and with information about the subtleties of policy and politics†¦The great majority of Americans, by contrast, are socially distant from power, baffled by its intricacies, anxious about change, and inundated by the welter of information being made available to them. The links that connect citizens to government are thin, mostly top-down, and dominated by money: the parties are increasingly c entralized bureaucracies, and â€Å"participation† is apt to take the form of donating money in response to direct appeals, voicelessly, without any say in group leadership or policy. As for the dominant news media, they are not seen as a stratum between citizens and centers of power, but as part of the powerhouse, an element of the elite or in its service. The great majority of Americans know that they depend on the media†¦the media decide what opinions to attend to and in what ways. Viewers, lacking a voice, can assert their discontents only by changing channels or by turning off the set, and in relation to politics, tuning out has become startlingly common, a silent protest against indignity. It does  not help that, eager to cultivate and hold a mass audience, the news media tend to dumb down their political coverage, as indicated by the ever-shrinking sound bite afforded to candidates and leaders. It is probably even worse that the media also pander, playing to our worst impulses. Early and consistently, polls showed that most Americans were convinced that coverage of the Lewinsky affair was doing damage to our institutions, telling pollsters that they wanted it to receive much less attention from the media. However, media leaders knew, of course, that despite this public-regarding judgment, very few Americans, as private ind ividuals, would be able to resist getting caught up in the tacky salacity of the thing. As a result, we got coverage in agonizing detail: Russell Baker called it â€Å"disgusting,† an indication that the media market is dominated by â€Å"edge, attitude, and smut.† Moreover, it encouraged millions of Americans to view the media, for all their power, as worthy of contempt. Political societies can be symbolized but not seen, and the most important political controversies turn on words–like justice, equality or liberty–and hence on public speech. A picture makes a strong impression, but one that tends to be superficial. Many see who you appear to be, Machiavelli advised the prince, but not many will recognize who you are. And often, visual coverage of politics is banal or beside the point. In the internet, a good many observers discerned a trend toward a more decentralized communication and politics, more interactive and hence friendlier to democratic citizenship. However, the Internet, at least so far, is not leading us to the public square. It does enable minorities to find like-minded people, to avoid the sense of being alone, and sometimes this gives strength and assurance to our better angels, although at least as often it gives scope to the dark side. In general, however, the Internet creates groups that lack what Tocqueville called the â€Å"power of meeting,† the face-to-face communication that makes claims on our senses, bodies as well as minds. — Over the past five decades, the American electorate has come to depend more and more on the news media for learning about political candidates and making voting decisions. The growth of all forms of media and the rise of â€Å"objectivity† in the press†¦ has made voters more dependent on the news media for campaign information. Today, about seven in 10 voters depend mainly on the news media for information to make choices when they cast their ballot. Voters’ dependence on the news increases the importance of the role that the news media play in American elections. But what do American voters want from election news coverage? And how do voters evaluate the news media’s coverage of presidential elections? In a word, â€Å"lukewarm† describes the general feeling of voters about the performance of the news media in covering presidential campaigns, according to national scientific surveys of the American electorate conducted from February through November 1996, as well as a more recent survey, conducted in October 1999, on the current campaign. The surveys were conducted by the Center for Survey Research and Analysis (CSRA) at the University ofConnecticut. Funding for the 1996 surveys was provided by The Freedom Forum. Why the tepid feelings? American voters are quite consistent in what they say they want from election news–and they are quite clear in saying that what they want is often not what they get. The American electorate is hungry for news and information that allow it to evaluate the substance of presidential candidacies on the basis of issue positions and on the likely consequences of electing a particular candidate to office. News provided outside of these parameters, while perhaps entertaining, is viewed as â€Å"nonsense† in the words of our focus group participant. Two types of stories–those that review how candidates stand on issues and those that describe how election outcomes might affect voters–are clearly the kinds of stories in which voters express the highest levels of intere st. The remedies suggested†¦.enhanced coverage of issues and candidates positions, more coverage of the possible impact of election outcomes on public policy and broader coverage of the  full field of candidates, not just the front-runners–could improve the quality of news and promote voter learning, which would be healthy for American democracy. At the same time, less coverage of the election as a sporting horse race and less obsession with entertaining stories about candidates personal lives would, according to voters, be an improvement. In election periods, the polls highlight the role of public opinion in the political process. They also illuminate the importance of public opinion measurements in the media. Fundamentally, and at their best, media polls are a way for public opinion to be reported and perceived, thus fulfilling the eminent 19th-century British visitor James Bryce’s conception of the American press as the â€Å"chief organ of public opinion,† and community â€Å"weathercock.† However, when employed inappropriately by overzealous reporters and analysts, polls can be used to create an exaggerated sense of precision that misleads more than it informs. Polls routinely bring the public into election campaigns. In an otherwise fragmented and even alienated society, poll reports may be the only means individual members of the public have in situating themselves in the greater society. News reports of poll results tell individuals that they are part of a majority or a minority on various issues. In campaigns with more than two candidates, especially early in the primary season, information about relativecandidate standing gives voters the information to help them cast a vote that is strategically advantageous. But most importantly, polls take that strategic information about candidate performance away from politicians’ control and places it in the hands of the public. News organizations no longer are forced to rely on the instincts of party leaders  or on carefully orchestrated leaks from partisan pollsters for data. Because they are numbers, poll results sometimes create the appearance of a false precision in reporting of candidate support or presidential approval. In fact, some polling organizations flaunt this alleged precision by displaying results to a 10th of a percentage point. Of course, the error due simply to the sampling design is usually at least 30 times greater than the specificity presented. Moreover, there are growing concerns about the ability of su rvey researchers to reach the majority of households selected in their sample. Some respondents refuse to be interviewed. Others have become ever more difficult to reach during the short news survey-interviewing period that must be sandwiched between public events. This perception of precision and accuracy leads journalists into making blunders, including attempting to find deep meaning when there probably isn’t any. Newspaper and television reporters often try to attribute a three-point difference in the margin between two candidates to some campaign action. Either the â€Å"slipping† candidate has made a mistake, or there has been a successful strategic decision that has brought supporters to the â€Å"rising† candidate. Sometimes small movements in the percentages of subgroups that form only a part of the total sample are given the same â€Å"explanatory† treatment. Those â€Å"differences,† however, are more likely to be caused by sampling error than by campaign events. In mid-October, a prominent presidential candidate addressed his largest audience. Hundreds of thousands of voters heard his message–but they never got the news that his message contained some distortions, omissions, and half-truths. Those significant matters were either ignored or buried in coverage by the leading news media. Why? It was not because of bias. It was because the candidate’s message was delivered not at a campaign event but in campaign television ads. And when candidates communicate via ads on the tube  instead of on the stump, journalists act as if we are stumped about our role and responsibility. Journalists at most major and medium-sized newspapers are proud that they are now at least covering political advertisements at all. They report on them in small-boxed features called â€Å"Ad Watch† or something of the sort. But they haven’t figured out that they are still being manipulated by the ad-makers. The â€Å"Ad Watch† reports c arry the transcript of the 30-second ad, followed by a small section in which a reporter subjectively interprets the ad-maker’s strategy. Then–in the most valuable section–the reports briefly focus on the factual accuracy of the ad’s claims. Newspapers display these â€Å"Ad Watch† boxes on inside pages, back with the snow tire and truss ads. Think about it from a journalist’s viewpoint: when a candidate distorts his record in a huge rally speech, a good reporter fact checks the claims. The resulting news story will surely focus in part on the candidate’s omissions and distortions that present a different and more accurate picture of his record.And that may well be a page one story. Now think about it from the political strategist’s viewpoint: Democratic and Republican strategists expect print journalists will check ads for accuracy but then downplay the results. So, being skilled manipulators, they are willing to take a light hit in a box that is buried back with the truss ads and will run just once if they can pour their unfiltered, exaggerated and distorted message in to living rooms where it may be seen by millions, not just once but perhaps 10 times in a campaign. There is one mistake that all journalists make whether we are covering politics at the White House, state house, or courthouse. Every time we report on money and politics, we fail to tell people the real story about how the system really works because we are using the wrong words to describe what is happening right before our eyes, every day. So no wonder people just shrug when we report that a special interest â€Å"contributed† $100,000 to Democrats or Republicans. Because, this special interest really did not â€Å"contribute† this money (which my dictionary explains means that it was given as though to a charity). What the special interest representative really did was â€Å"invest† $100,000 in the Democrats or Republicans. Big business people (see also: big labor, trial lawyers, et al) â€Å"invest† in politics for the same reason that they invest in anything–to reap a profitable return on their â€Å"investment.† Use the right word and suddenly  everybody understands what is really going on. They will especially understand when we regularly report that the largest agribusiness â€Å"investments† in Senate and House races routinely go to the top agriculture committee members, and largest energy special interest â€Å"investments† go to the top energy committee members, and so on. Use the right word and suddenly our next task as journalists becomes clear–and clearly difficult: we need to do a better job of discovering the campaign investors’ motives. We need to ask, Just what profitable return did the investor expect to reap for that campaign investment? A tax subsidy? A regulation waived? A loophole that is difficult for a squinting journalist to see with a naked eye? Whatever the return, this much is clear: the money ultimately comes out of the U.S. Treasury. Clearly, our present system, which we like to say is based on private financing of campaigns, can also be viewed as a form of backdoor public funding–where the taxpayers pay the final tab, no doubt many times over. We journalists have yet to find a way to calculate how many billions of tax dollars it now costs us to finance election campaigns through the back door. At least we can begin using a vocabulary that will finally tell it like it is.

Hospital and Appointment Management Purposes

Homework Assignment #2 03/04/13 Please provide your answer after each problem and submit the file with your answers through Angel. Problem #8 from page 145 Using the Crow’s Foot methodology, create an ERD that can be implemented for a medical clinic, using at least the following business rules: a. A patient can make many appointments with one or more doctors in the clinic, and a doctor can accept appointments with many patients. However, each appointment is made with only one doctor and one patient. b. Emergency cases do not require an appointment.However, for appointment management purposes, an emergency is entered in the appointment book as â€Å"unscheduled. † c. If kept, an appointment yields a visit with the doctor specified in the appointment. The visit yields a diagnosis and, when appropriate, treatment. d. With each visit, the patient’s records are updated to provide a medical history e. Each patient visit creates a bill. Each patient visit is billed by o ne doctor, and each doctor can bill many patients. f. Each bill must be paid. However, a bill may be paid in many installments, and a payment may cover more than one bill. . A patient may pay the bill directly, or the bill may be the basis for a claim submitted to an insurance company. h. If the bill is paid by an insurance company, the deductible is submitted to the patient for payment. [pic] Problem #2 from page 173 Given the following business scenario, create a Crow’s Foot ERD using a specialization hierarchy if appropriate. Tiny Hospital keeps information on patients and hospital rooms. The system assigns each patient a patient ID number. In addition, the patient’s name and date of birth are recorded.Some patients are resident patients (they spend at least one night in the hospital) and others are outpatients (they are treated and released). Resident patients are assigned to a room. Each room is identified by a room number. The system also stores the room type (pr ivate or semiprivate), and room fee. Over time, each room will have many patients that stay in it. Each resident patient will stay in only one room. Every room must have had a patient, and every resident patient must have a room. I believe specialization hierarchy is 100 percent not appropriate.Although resident patients are an identi? able type of patient instance, there are not additional attributes that are unique to only that kind or type of patient. Participation in a relationship that is unique to a particular kind or type of instance is not suf? cient justi? cation for a specialization hierarchy. Indicating that only some instances will participate in a relationship is addressed by the optional participation designation. In this module, all resident patients must have a room; however, not all patients are resident patients so room is optional to patient.

Impact of the French and Indian War Essay

The Native tribes are one of those directly affected by the French and Indian War. Many native populations suffered a great loss when the French power in North America was eliminated. The French proved to be a strong ally of these native tribes and were essential in countering the continued British expansion. The elimination of the French power resulted to the dispossession of many native tribes, forcing them to move out of their lands. When the Spanish-controlled Florida was taken-over by the British, native tribes who did not want to involve themselves with the British, migrated westward. This has resulted to heated confrontations between several tribes who were already established in the area (Ohio History Central, 2005). The British exploited the boundaries between opposing tribes, making the natives fight among themselves. The French and Indian war also affected the American colonists. As Britain continued to expand their control over the colonies of other European powers, they continued to resettle many of its people throughout their North American provinces. As Britain continued to focus on its war for territory, it began neglecting its duties for its people and its colonies. The French and Indian war resulted to the doubling of Britain’s national debt, and with the shortage of funding; the government imposed new taxes on their colonies. This resulted to stiff resistance, and strained relationship between Britain and its colonies. Troops were called in to the colonies in order to make sure the taxes are paid accordingly (Ohio History Central, 2005). This greatly inconvenienced the colonies, until it finally came down to the American Revolutionary War. Reference: Ohio History Central. (2005). French and Indian War. Retrieved July 27, 2009, from http://www. ohiohistorycentral. org/entry. php? rec=498

Section 2 of principles of corporate social responsibility Essay

Section 2 of principles of corporate social responsibility - Essay Example ocial responsibility can be defined as continuing commitment by business to behave ethically and contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families as well as the local community and society at large (Baker). As a person that values the benefits that businesses bring to our community I am motivated by companies that do the right thing. I once worked in a company that was very involved in the community. Employees were encouraged to participate in community service. The firm would provide economic incentives for people that wanted to get involved in the community. Employees were eligible to get paid their normal day salary for doing community service once a month. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs model help me understand the things that motivated people and me. When I worked in a homeless shelter I realized the importance of first order need of physiological. These poor people were very motivated when they received a meal from the shelter. The third need in Maslow’s pyramid is social. When I was working for a Saudi Airline I was motivated by my manager due to the fact that we talked about different things with each other. Corporate social responsibility is a strategy that must be implemented in order to comply with the expectation of the customers. Back in the 1990’s the apparel giant Nike Corporation got involved in some bad business practices. The firm established several sweetshops in developing countries. A sweetshop can be defined as a business establishment that makes its employees work under harsh and hazardous conditions and pays only minimal wages that are barely enough for the employee to meet its physiological needs (Businessdictionary, 2010). When the scandal was reveal to the general public Nike took a big hit. The firm lost millions of dollars in revenue due to the bad press it received in the aftermath. Despite the rotten apples that exist in the corporate world there are many companies that

Lobbing group Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Lobbing group - Essay Example Freedom House central mission is to ensure the government is accountable to their people, the right rule of law is upheld, there is freedom of speech and expression for all, association and ensure there is respect for freedom and rights of the minority. Freedom House mainly concentrates on laws regarding human rights the civil society and in regards to communication and information. It focuses on rules that facilitate free and unbiased flow of information and ideas through the media or the Internet. Freedom House targets mainly the legislators who pass and amend the laws regarding freedom of speech, free Internet and freedom of the media and the security agencies that are against freedom of communication and the Internet. Freedom House is a board of trustees who are comprised of mainly labor leaders, business leaders, former senior government officials, scholars, journalists and writers. The board members and the organization do not identify itself with either the Democratic or the Republican parties in the USA. The members who join have to have one voice and agree that promotion and making the government accountable for human rights and democracy is crucial to American citizens interests locally, internationally and towards achieving international peace. Policy agenda of Freedom House especially the freedom of expression and that of global Internet freedom has support from individuals and large corporations. Supporters especially the staff members and board members who dedicate their time and money towards Freedom House are mainly political enthusiasts who want a liberal society where the government is accountable. Achieving such interests for themselves and the community they live in will ensure a better life in general for the country and the world as a whole. Some members of the organization are businessmen who make donations to the Freedom House

Password Management Protocol vulnerabilities Essay

Password Management Protocol vulnerabilities - Essay Example Many users use autocompleting in their browser and this main threat for the password security and we will show It on the example of one non-malicious software called â€Å"WebBrowserpassview†. We will analyze the password storage protocol used in the browser like Google Chrome, Opera, Firefox Mozilla, Seamonkey. These browsers store their passwords almost equally and their passwords can be revealed to the hacker with the help of the tool we mentioned above. Because mechanism of the encrypting passwords is very weak and even the simplest applications can retrieve them from their register, moreover, this application has good interface and getting passwords can present problem for the hacker, because it needs physical contact with the target computer, however, there are thousands modifications of this software which have hidden interface and after the running can send all passwords on the email or FTP-server of the hacker. Therefore saving of the passwords in the browser is quite doubtful method of password storage (10 Most Popular Password Cracking Tools 2014). Here we can see good interface for the passwords viewing and various operations with them. This application allow user to save them to the file. This file can be copied to other emails and then used in malicious activities like the accessing some bank-accounts without the two-step authorization that requires special key that system sends to the cell-phone of the user or to the email. There are many ways to protect computer from such attacks. The first way – avoiding downloading some software, regardless from the content and specifications written on the site, if the site is not Microsoft.com or other associated site to the OS user use. Creators of the password storage systems can use special encrypting protocols which will help to defend passwords from retrieving with some application. Moreover, developers can use key file that will give access to the passwords, we mean any file in the system that will be

Three major causes of soil erosion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Three major causes of soil erosion - Essay Example Sheet erosion is caused by the effect of rainfall on the surface soil. The force of water running downhill caused by adequate rainfall could remove the soil particles on the surface and carry it towards the lower areas. The heavier the rainfall is or the longer the rain occurs, the more soil particles are taken from its original position. Sheet erosion is definitely a natural phenomenon. However, the degree of erosion can be determined also by natural and artificial factors. The most effective natural means of preventing sheet erosion is vegetation. This is because â€Å"sheet erosion mainly occurs under conditions where the soil surface is insufficiently protected by vegetation cover† (Govers, 2004, p.947). The roots of plants and trees on slopes contribute in reducing the effects of erosion by holding on to the surface soil. Aside from this, the roots also tend to siphon certain amount of the rainwater that seeps into the soil. The foliage also prevents portions of the total rainfall from hitting ground. Human intervention may be necessary in order to prevent soil erosion. Such interventions would include actual planting of trees on slopes that are most vulnerable to erosion due to rainfall.

Managerial Economics Week 6 Individual Work 1 Assignment

Managerial Economics Week 6 Individual Work 1 - Assignment Example However, the decision may be affecting passengers and the public. The policy of increasing charges luggage fees can increase revenues for airlines. U.S. airlines collected more than a billion dollars in baggage fees for overweight bags, or extra bags in 2008. The revenue was an increase of 148 percent from the previous year. From a managerial perspective, the decision by U.S airways to charge $25 luggage fees for first checked bags was the best decision for the airline. Fluctuating oil prices are a major constraint and limiting resources that affect decisions of most managers. Given the high operation costs for maintaining an airline firm in the market decision such as developing luggage fees may become beneficial to the airline. Managers in US airline decided to charge luggage fees as one of the best alternative to solve the problem of increased costs of oil and operational costs for the air travel. Airlines are companies meaning they need to make decisions that boost their revenues. Increases in revenues enable airlines to remain competitive in the industry. The increase in oil prices is an evident phenomenon all over the world. The world economy is also unstable. Volatility in oil prices and world economic downturn are some of the biggest challenges the airline industry has to face today. Increased o il prices and security costs are major reasons explaining operational losses for many passenger airline companies. It is because of such costs that airline companies such as US airway decide to implement revenue generating fees for services that traditionally were part of the air ticket prices. The fact that charging luggage fees in enraging passengers a lot raises many questions, for example, should the U.S. airway and other airline firms continue charging luggage fees or should they include the fees in the ticket price? While most passengers accepted

International Public Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

International Public Law - Essay Example Furthermore, policy-making is intensely prejudiced by the media, which tends to form communal views. The process of policy creation set up objectives from side to side conflict decree making solutions to policy troubles affecting a group of people. However, policy reply are often influenced since of insufficient information, middling policy design, and bad executive, due to influential media and additional interest group, and unproductive implementation. This income that the policy process is frequently not what the public was appears for in the primary place. By civilizing processes such as the foreword of reforms of the scheme, and media control, improved policy organization could be complete. The aim of international law is to check the behaviour among states since where there exists a society of states, the preservation of law and order becomes necessary. A state will, as a broad rule, do its utmost to act inside the confines of the structure of policy which make up international law. Any state disregarding these broad principles of peaceful and supportive cohabitation among states runs the risk of incurring the condemnation of the fellow states in the community. Such condemnation will hardly ever limit itself to a "tag" of bad standing, but could even lead to harsh consequences. International Public Laws: Present international law usually recognised as having its origin in the Middle Ages in Western Europe - where, at the time, procedure of decentralisation most important away from Roman Catholic Church plus Holy Roman Empire towards the Reformation plus rise of Nation-States - "Natural law", specified universalist territory and Church, originally theological (including divine exposure as one of its sources) - though by time of Hugo Grotius (1583-1645) natural law adopting a rationalist approach, being seen to gain from worldwide reason - Independence and parity of States interpret into need for consent - clear tension flanked by natural law plus notion of permission 2) Brief History of International Public Law In 1980 Dwight Waldo write that social discipline, which includes public administration, did not abandon ethics as some had optional but instead rejected bearing in mind ethics (4). Since that time, for a diversity of reasons, principles as a focus of notice in public administration has grown progressively or explode, depending on your tip of view, in academic- and practitioner-oriented investigate. The text in the area is vast, and numerous appraisals catalogue it. Rather than create a new set of categories, a brief account here can usually describe this corpse of literature for there purposes. For the sake of shortness, we primarily make very good reference for principles in public management to the Handbook of managerial Ethics, shortened by Terry L. Cooper, which is a new, comprehensive book containing 29 envoy public administration pieces on principles with numerous references. A recent conference in

Macro Economic Policy in both the UK and the Europe area Research Proposal

Macro Economic Policy in both the UK and the Europe area - Research Proposal Example According to the classical point of view, the business cycles are the result of disturbances in the production and spending. The Real Business Cycle theory is the extended version of the classical theory, which sees business cycle as the result of the productivity shocks. According to the Real business cycle theory, the reduction in the productivity at temporary basis creates a declining effect on the real wages, employment level, and output and increase the interest rate and the prices. The RBC theory finds a positive relationship between the business cycle and the level of real wage, prices and the overall productivity level of Labour. On the other hand, the theory asserts a negative relationship between the price level and the business cycle. The anti-cyclical trend of the price level is taken as a failure by many of the critics of the theory. Except the productivity shocks the increase in the Government purchase also increase the employment level, the interest rate, and the price level. Hence the classical model undertakes the study of both fiscal factors and the productivity shocks. Although the fiscal policy can play its part in order to improve employment level and output the classical economists do not support the role of Government action and state that the invisible hand can adjust the market to the most efficient level. In order to understand the practical applications of all these above theories, we will undertake the comparative study of macroeconomic policy in both the UK and the Euro area.... The RBC theory finds a positive relation ship between the business cycle and the level of real wage, prices and the overall productivity level of Labour. On the other hand the theory asserts a negative relation ship between the price level and the business cycle. The anti-cyclical trend of price level is taken as failure by many of the critics of the theory. Except the productivity shocks the increase in the Government purchase also increase the employment level, the interest rate and the price level. Hence the classical model undertake the study of both fiscal factors and the productivity shocks. Although the fiscal policy can play its part in order to improve employment level and output but the classical economists do not support the role of Government action and states that the invisible hand can adjust the market to the most efficient level. In order to understand the practical applications of all these above theories we will undertake the comparative study of macro economic policy in both the UK and the Euro area. 2- Aim: The aim of this research is to examine the role of the Classical, Keynesian and Real Business Cycle theory by undertaking a comparative analysis of the macro economic policy in UK and Europe. 3-Objectives To review the literature about this issue up till now. To improve the presentation of different economic indicators. To help common people understand the importance of macroeconomic policies. To assess and evaluate the gaps in the macroeconomic policies of UK and Europe by implementing the three major theories. Provision of suitable recommendations to undertake improvement in the macroeconomic policy area. Two views about the

Food Inc Essay Example for Free

Food Inc Essay The movie makes some really good points. The best point is that subsidized corn artificially lowers the cost of animal feed and high-fructose corn syrup. This creates a tax-subsidized economic incentive for people to choose fast food over nutritious options. Scrapping farm subsidies including corn would be a great idea (that the movie doesnt propose). It has a good segment about how Monsanto is using intellectual property law to unfairly create a US soybean monopoly, suing farmers who never bought Monsanto seed and forcing them to capitulate because of the sheer weight of legal bills. But the movie descends into sensationalism. For example, it takes a sad case of a kid named Kevin who died of E Coli poisoning after eating a hamburger. It traces the industrys response which is to use ammonia to make sure that almost no E Coli survives and criticizes its solution while playing ominous music in the background along with unanswered cries of anguish from Kevins mother. It fails to mention that (1) all E Coli dies when meat is cooked properly (2) using ammonia to kill E Coli is an ingenious idea thats very effective (3) the food with the greatest risk of E Coli poisoning is organic spinach. It doesnt mention how the fast food industry eliminated the use of hydrogenated vegetable oil, almost completely eliminating trans fat from fast food. It has a scene comparing the resources used by a free range cow farmer who has about 20 cows versus an industrial slaughterhouse that processes thousands failing to mention that if the free range farmer produced cows on the same scale he would use 4x to 10x the resources for the same output. The movie takes an ill-advised stance against genetically modified food (google Norman Borlaugh). It makes several self-defeating arguments (like arguing that our industrially-produced food is infected and resource-intensive and that we should pay more to eat organic which is actually much more resource intensive and more likely to be contaminated by bacteria because of the use of poop as fertilizer instead of nitrates). The movie makes some interesting points. But the whole big business bad thing is a completely useless attitude that is a constant source of irritation to me personally. People and businesses have, do, will, and should act in their own best interests. The question is which policies should be created to incentivize wise outcomes? Regarding Monsanto, the problem isnt evil big business, its that the US should reform its legal system to act like the UKs where if you sue someone and lose then you have to pay their legal fees. That would prevent Monsantos abuses of IP law (and would accomplish tort reform in medical malpractice).

The Role of Conflict Essay Example for Free

The Role of Conflict Essay In the establishment of leader-follower relationships, harmony is required in order to achieve the best possible results within an organization. But in the real world, perfect harmony is not likely to happen. Leaders and followers have varying degrees of intellect, perception, and principles – and these are the very things that contribute to conflicts in an organization. While conflict can easily be assumed to have a negative effect on a leader-follower relationship, it plays a special role within the community – a role that is as equally important as harmony. The main function of conflicts is to bring out the best in every plan, policy, and method that is implemented by the leader or the group as a whole. Conflicts cause members to voice out their views and opinions to their leaders or other members with the aim of correcting what they think or feel are not right about it. Consequently, this ensures that every step that the group makes passes the strict scrutiny and evaluation of its own members and leaders (Cuban 29). Conflicts challenge the actions of leaders or other group members. People who stimulate conflicts are not necessarily bad for the organization. In fact, conflict indicates that the group is composed of people who are morally involved and committed to all the pursuits that their organization are willing to take. The actual people who seemingly create conflict are there to ensure that all steps taken by the group conforms well within social norms and ideology of the organization they belong to. They are there to protect the interests of the group and make certain that everything is done for its greater glory. They are actually more involved, although in a negative way, than those members who choose not to air out their views, no matter how right they think they are. In essence, conflicts makers benefit the organization more than the member or the leader who is indifferent to what transpires around them (Harolds Wood 203). Conflicts also bring about the best in a leader. Conflicts, whether it is aimed to make the organization good or worse, is an issue that a leader needs to deal with. A capable leader can be evaluated in terms of performance and skills by to his ability to handle conflicts. His ability to remain as a leader can be assessed through the techniques he or she uses to address the problem and the actual solutions he was able to implement (Korabik, et al 409). Works Cited Cuban, Larry. â€Å"Conflict and Leadership in the Superintendency.† Phi Delta Kappan 67.1 (1985): 28-30. Harolds, J Wood, BP. â€Å"Conflict Management and Resolution† J Am Coll Radiol 3.3 (2006): 200-2006. Korabik, Karen, Baril, Galen L, Watson Carol. â€Å"Managers Conflict Management Style And Leadership Effectiveness: The Moderating Effects Of Gender† Sex Roles 29.5-6 (1993):405-420.

Fragile X Syndrome Case Study Health And Social Care Essay

Fragile X Syndrome Case Study Health And Social Care Essay From seven years old, Michaels speech was still rather incoherent, he spoke very quickly and under his breath and didnt make much eye contact. Only up until the last couple of years his speech has improved and is much clearer, although he still tends to perseverate and get stuck on a subject and repeat the same thing over and over. Michael has a sister 2 years older and in 1992 they were both referred to the genetics clinic in the Royal Childrens Hospital by our pediatrician as they both presented with significant developmental delays and the doctor suspected some genetic condition may be at the root of the problem. Tests were performed, even an X-ray on Michaels head as they noted he had rather dysmorphic features, but nothing proved positive and there was no known reason for their problems. ______________________________________________________________________________The patient presented in the above case study is a classic case of Fragile X-Syndrome, the most frequent cause of inherited mental retardation. Patients presenting with this syndrome are affected in various facets of functioning, including intellect, emotion, behavior, and physical characteristics. The cause of the syndrome involves the expansion of a single trinucleotide gene sequence on the X chromosome. Other disorders that are placed in this category include Huntingtons Disease, Kennedy Disease, Dentatorubralpallidoluysian atrophy, and Friedrichs ataxia. This consequently results in the failure to express a protein that is required for normal neural development, and coded by the FMR1 gene. Because it is an X-linked disorder, cases are seen in all carrier males and in 35% of carrier females. Because of the subtle nature of signs of the syndrome and difficulty in diagnosis, all children with mental retard ation should be tested for Fragile X syndrome and family members are advised to undergo genetic counseling in order to decrease the recurrence of Fragile X in the family. Etiology The abnormality of the chromosome presented in Fragile X syndrome is found on the Xq27.3 site and commonly used as a diagnostic marker for the syndrome [1]. In most cases, the expansion of the single trinucleotide gene sequence includes 50 to 200 CGG repeats at the site and these repeats are passed down from generation to generation [1]. In comparison, the number Mathew 2 of repeats in a normal individual is between 6 and 50. Due to the increasing expansion of the trinucleotide gene sequence, there is methylation of the DNA which in turn silences the FMR1 protein [3]. FMRP plays important roles in learning and memory, and also appears to be involved in development of axons, formation of synapses, and the wiring and development of neural circuits. Diagnosis Because there is no clinical diagnostic criteria, scoring systems have been developed to select individuals for Fragile X Syndrome [4]. It can also be diagnosed using molecular genetics testing of the FMR1 gene. One method of diagnosis is based on chromosomal study to present the chromosome under special folic acid deficient culture conditions [3]. There are two different types of molecular DNA tests. The screening tests are polymerase chain reaction based. Additionally, they need to be confirmed using Southern blot hybridization [5]. It is important to diagnose affected patients as early as possible to provide early intervention and supportive care (i.e., specific developmental therapy and an individualized education plan) and to inform parents for further family planning [4]. One half of families in a 2002 survey reported having an additional child with fragile X syndrome before the older affected child was diagnosed [4]. Family history collection should include questions about other family members, with particular attention to developmental delay, mental retardation, and psychiatric disorders [4]. In addition, a family history of women with premature ovarian failure and men with FXTAS should be ascertained. A positive family history in a proband with developmental delay should prompt consideration of genetic testing of the FMR1 gene [4]. The American College of Medical Genetics recommends testing, regardless of family history, for all males and females with mental retardation of unknown etiology [4]. Therapy/Treatment Treatment is supportive, requiring a multidisciplinary team and including anxiety-reducing measures, behavior modification, and medications to manage associated psychiatric disorders. Individual education plans are necessary for school-age children [2]. Although several Mathew 3 medications have been proposed to treat fragile X syndrome, none of them are supported by ]good evidence [2]. While there is no current cure for the syndrome, there is hope that further understanding of its underlying causes would lead to new therapies. Currently, the syndrome can be treated through behavioral therapy, special education, and when necessary, treatment of physical abnormalities [2]. Persons with the fragile X syndrome in their family histories are advised to seek genetic counseling, to assess the likelihood of having children who are affected, and how severe any impairments may be in affected descendants [2]. The Fragile X syndrome been the subject of numerous studies, and recent investigations have addressed the question of whether this disorder is amenable to either prenatal diagnosis or to treatment with folic acid [3]. In a previous study, the effect of oral folic acid therapy (10 mg/day) in a blind study of 14-year-old monozygous twins with the fragile X syndrome was examined [3]. They reported on eight patients with psychotic-like symptoms. Seven were improved by therapy with I M 5-formyltetrahydrofolate (folinic acid) at doses of 0.5 mg/kg body weight for a period of a few weeks [3]. Three patients had an almost total recovery from psychotic-like symptoms [3]. One 14-year-old boy who was severely hypotonic and disinterested in his environment became responsive and able to sit and crawl after 2 months of therapy with folic acid in doses of 1 mg/kg day [3]. Harpey also reported some success with therapy with intramuscular folinic acid and hydroxocobalamin by mouth [3]. In a recent re port, a male fetus was diagnosed as having fragile X and the mother was started on a regime of folic acid 2 mg/day [3]. After delivery, the baby was treated with 1 mg/day of folic acid. On evaluation at 6 weeks of age, the baby was described as having a dolicocephalic head, long ears, a flattened malar area, enlarged testes, and a high frequency of fragile X chromosomes (20/60 cells). Two studies attempted controlled trials of folate in the fragile X syndrome, and one of these has been reported in some detail [3]. Brown conducted a double-blind crossover study in which two brothers with the fragile X syndrome were treated with either intravenous folic acid (1.6 mg/kg daily as a single dose) or saline placebo for 8 days [3]. Following the controlled trial, the brothers were maintained on 10 mg/day of oral folic acid for 3 weeks. Over 6 weeks, the dose was increased to 500 mg/day for the younger brother and 1,000 mg/day for the older brother, and then both Mathew 4 brothers were maintained on 1,000 mg/day from 1 month to 5 months after the onset of the study [3]. Because this disorder is a very common cause of familial mental retardation, and because of the in vitro effect of folate in decreasing expression of the fragile site, one may be tempted to attempt folate therapy in these patients. However, two studies to date have failed to demonstrate any abnormality of folate metabolism in cultured cells from patients with the fragile X syndrome [5]. Therefore, we urge continued caution in the expectation of beneficial results and advise against routine use of folate therapy in patients with established mental retardation and the fragile X syndrome [5]. Because there is no cure for Fragile X syndrome, the hope is that future investigations into the underlying causes that will further lead to new therapies.

Immigration to the United States Essay -- Immigrants USA Borders Essay

Immigration to the United States Works Cited Not Included Immigration to the United States has been happening since the Mayflower landed at Plymouth Rock in 1492. America is one of the most diverse nations in the world, attracting people from every corner of the globe in hopes of a better way of life. America in the past has relied on migrant workers to balance the economies growth when internal resources have been exhausted; moreover, the agriculture business has depended on the seasonal employment of migrant workers from Mexico to meet the labor demand. Programs have been created in the past granting work contracts for the flood of Mexican labor into the United States, and new work programs are being analyzed to suffice the needs of the agriculture business today. During World War II America was pushed to exhaustion trying to reach the labor efforts needed to support the war. Looking for a way to relieve the tension, the federal government came to an agreement with the Mexican government to allow contract workers in to come to the United States to assist the agriculture business in the Southwest. From 1942 to 1964 the Bracero work program supplemented the America workforce. Almost 4.5 million flooded America, a vast majority of these workers were allocated to three states: California, Arizona, and Texas. Four terms where met between Mexico and America federal government, these four terms laid out the ground rules for the program until its fall in 1964. These four terms are stated as: 1. Mexican contract workers would not engage in U.S. military service. 2. Mexicans entering the U.S. under provisions of the agreement would not be subjected to discriminatory acts. 3. Workers would be guaranteed transportation, ... ...ct), is even more expansive because, though it would not permit the guest workers to become immigrants, it would not be limited to agriculture†(Guthrie). This provision would combat illegal immigration, by offering the opportunity of documented workers in the United States. Illegal immigration into the United States is becoming more of an issue, and harder to control. A program that allows the government to oversee and regulate immigration is necessary in the near future. America can not eliminate illegal immigration, but it could regulate it. A major issue with immigration work, is that all the money made by the immigrants is not invested into America’s economy, but sent back to the families in Mexico. A program would not eliminate negative impacts of illegal immigration; moreover, it would control the problems, enabling the government to regulate immigration. Immigration to the United States Essay -- Immigrants USA Borders Essay Immigration to the United States Works Cited Not Included Immigration to the United States has been happening since the Mayflower landed at Plymouth Rock in 1492. America is one of the most diverse nations in the world, attracting people from every corner of the globe in hopes of a better way of life. America in the past has relied on migrant workers to balance the economies growth when internal resources have been exhausted; moreover, the agriculture business has depended on the seasonal employment of migrant workers from Mexico to meet the labor demand. Programs have been created in the past granting work contracts for the flood of Mexican labor into the United States, and new work programs are being analyzed to suffice the needs of the agriculture business today. During World War II America was pushed to exhaustion trying to reach the labor efforts needed to support the war. Looking for a way to relieve the tension, the federal government came to an agreement with the Mexican government to allow contract workers in to come to the United States to assist the agriculture business in the Southwest. From 1942 to 1964 the Bracero work program supplemented the America workforce. Almost 4.5 million flooded America, a vast majority of these workers were allocated to three states: California, Arizona, and Texas. Four terms where met between Mexico and America federal government, these four terms laid out the ground rules for the program until its fall in 1964. These four terms are stated as: 1. Mexican contract workers would not engage in U.S. military service. 2. Mexicans entering the U.S. under provisions of the agreement would not be subjected to discriminatory acts. 3. Workers would be guaranteed transportation, ... ...ct), is even more expansive because, though it would not permit the guest workers to become immigrants, it would not be limited to agriculture†(Guthrie). This provision would combat illegal immigration, by offering the opportunity of documented workers in the United States. Illegal immigration into the United States is becoming more of an issue, and harder to control. A program that allows the government to oversee and regulate immigration is necessary in the near future. America can not eliminate illegal immigration, but it could regulate it. A major issue with immigration work, is that all the money made by the immigrants is not invested into America’s economy, but sent back to the families in Mexico. A program would not eliminate negative impacts of illegal immigration; moreover, it would control the problems, enabling the government to regulate immigration.

We Should Not Reinstate the Military Draft :: Argumentative Persuasive Argument Essays

We Should Not Reinstate the Draft I never thought I would say this but I think we should reinstate the draft. It has been years since we have wanted or needed a draft, but in view of the United States being attacked on September 11, 2001, I feel our country must be ready and prepared to defend itself. If being prepared means reinstating the draft, a mandatory summons for military service, then I think we should consider this a reasonable proposal. I think the tragic events of September 11 will evoke most people to agree with me. Since September 11 we have seen a surge of patriotism in this country that seemed hidden for many years. I am so glad patriotism was not lost, and I think most Americans would be willing to defend their country in light of this attack. We are a nation and a people who believe in freedom and democracy. It tells other nations who we are and what we stand for. It is these beliefs that lead me to believe that the people of the United States will do anything to preserve our freedom and democ racy even if it means reinstating the draft. I want to prove this notion, but am unsure how to accomplish this. I have not read any recent articles in newspapers or magazines that have dealt with this issue. My textbook was not a source either. So I decided to do two things. First, I went to the Internet for any information, articles, discussions, or statements relating to this issue. Second, I decided to conduct an informal poll. This informal poll consisted of male and female respondents with an age span of eighteen to sixty two. My poll started with classmates in my Western Civilization and Studio Art classes and the professors who instruct these classes. My poll included emailing friends and family who live and work in New York, family currently serving in the Armed Forces, and a family member who is a Veteran of the Viet Nam War. Also included in this poll is a random sampling of the townspeople of Los Alamos. Medical personnel at Los Alamos Women’s Health Services, and the lunch crowd at Cafà ©Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ Allegro rounded out my poll. This cross section of Americans evoked many feelings and opinions and stimulated many conversations and critical thought. These conversations exhilarated me and the results I obtained amazed me.

Our Moving Fate: A Study of El Greco’s Assumption of the Virgin Essay

Our Moving Fate: A Study of El Greco’s Assumption of the Virgin El Greco painted his â€Å"Assumption of the Virgin† in 1577 for the convent of Santo Domingo el Antiguo in Toledo, Spain. Born in Greece as Domenikos Theotocopoulos, (his nickname translates from Spanish into â€Å"The Greek†), El Greco was the top artist of the Spanish School, and was commissioned to paint â€Å"Assumption† to adorn the convent’s altar. The painting is a daunting size—over six feet wide and twice as tall—surrounded by a wooden frame tinted with a non-uniform metallic gold paint. The oil on canvas creates some, although not obvious texture, and brush strokes are visible only slightly in the garments of the human subjects. The Virgin Mary is the main figure in the painting, situated horizontally-centered in the upper-half of the canvas. She is wearing a blue flowing gown which begins below her bosom and reaches down to her feet, and a deep red fabric covers her chest and upper limbs. Her arms are outstretched and she is looking up into the heavens, flanked by female angels, adults and infants, who are praying and looking on. Below the clouds in the bottom-half of the canvas is a group of mortal men with mixed emotions and split into two groups leaving a part in the mass directly below Mary. All of the figures wear loose outfits similar to Mary’s, and many of the colors, bright but not full, are repeated throughout. One subtle detail particularly worth noting is a small piece of white paper in the bottom right-hand corner of the canvas. El Greco added the image to the paintings that he believed were his true masterpieces. Regardless of any analysis, it is certain that El Greco was extremely proud of â€Å"Assumption,† and believed it to be one of his best. .. ...â€Å"Assumption of the Virgin,† El Greco has done three remarkable things. His use of sneaky geometry and symbolism first completely hijacks control of the viewer’s gaze, and then creates a dynamic, accelerating scene on what is in reality a canvas at rest. Finally, instead of simply presenting a scene, he creates an actual anticipation of judgment, and brings the viewer so completely into the scene that he shares the same fate as the painted mortals themselves. It is fitting that El Greco’s masterpiece made its way to the altar in a sanctuary, where its effect would be most appropriate. And perhaps this was El Greco’s intention all along. As a believing Catholic, he must have been satisfied to know that worshipers praying in Antiguo’s church would witness, and literally join humankind as they desperately tried to please God, agonizing over his judgment of their own fate.

Crossing the Rubicon Essay

Crossing the Rubicon By: Emalie Von Douche In Crossing the Rubicon: The Decline of the American Empire at he End of the Age of Oil, there are three main points where Mr. Ruppert tries to blame the entire tradjety of September 11, 2001, better known as 9/11, on the acting Vice President at the time, Dick Cheney. At first glance this seems to be a bold if not insane accusation against the Vice President of the United States of America, but Ruppert does make a few points that will make you think. The first point of Ruppert is Dick Cheney had the Ability to pull off this plan if he wanted to. According to Ruppert, Cheney was acting as Commander in Chief on 9/11 due to the terrible threat on the United States. This means he was in control and was calling the shots. Ruppert also has reason to believe that Cheney was leading a â€Å"completely separate chain of Command & Control via the Secret Service, assuring the paralysis of Air Force response on 9/11. The Secret Service has the technology to see the same radar screens the FAA sees in real time. (Kane) Ruppert claims that President Bush was kept out of a leadership position on purpose by the Secret Service men around him as he was reading to school children the morning of 9/11. He also claims that the Secret Service, acting through Cheney, had control over the FAA, Airforce (including the Fighter Jets), and President Bush. One question I would ask Ruppert is â€Å"Why? † Why would Cheney and the Secret Service go throu gh all of this trouble to attack his own country? The answer, according to Ruppert, is simply Oil. Cheney’s plan was to start a never-ending war to take control of the Middle Eastern oil and use it for American purposes. Ruppert claims that there was a peak in the oil reserves around the world from 2000-2007. After 2007, oil will become more rare and extremely more expensive. â€Å"By way of confirmation, people in and close to the oil industry are reporting that increased drilling is not resulting as yet in significantly increased supply. † (Ruppert) Upon hearing of this news, Cheney had to go into action. He just needed the right time to plan his so called â€Å"Attack†. According to Ruppert, the â€Å"right time† was any time that Cheney chose because as of May 8, 2001, Dick Cheney was put into control of all training exercises of all branches of military and government. This means he could set up â€Å"fake† hijackings by calling them training situations just in case anyone would ever want to hijack airplanes and fly them into buildings. Cheney did call for these training simulations, except he did it on the morning of 9/11. Also, Cheney called for another training simulation that send all the fighters from D. C. into Canada and Alaska to train just incase an attack came from Russia. This meant that the Air Force could not do anything to prevent the hijacked airplanes from crashing into anything they pleased. Also, the Secret Service had control over the FAA flight path screens and put fake hijacked airplanes in the air to confuse air traffic control. At one point the FAA thought there was 11 hijacked airplanes. All of this was put into motion by Dick Cheney and people taking orders from Cheney. He is guilty for singlehandedly putting this plan into motion and being successful. The scary part if these accusations by Ruppert are true, is that Bush and Cheney were re-elected the following term.

Why Is the Initial Consultation so Important?

Word count: 1892 Why is the initial consultation so important? What factors will an ethical therapist cover at this time? In this essay I will be looking at the purpose of the initial consultation, what happens during this meeting and why it is such an important time in the client/therapist relationship. I will endeavour to cover as many of these issues as possible in order to illustrate the importance of this initial consultation and the factors that an ethically minded therapist should cover. The initial consultation†¦free or not?The initial consultation may well be the most crucial aspect of hypnotherapy, if not all therapies. Everything from the knowing the client, interpersonal dynamic to the eventual success of the therapy has a basis in this first meeting between the client and the therapist. Indeed, the client’s decision to remain engaged with the therapeutic process may be determined by factors from this early meeting. There is much controversy and debate around whether the client should be charged for the initial consultation. One thought is that charging would be unjust if the therapist cannot provide the sought therapy for one reason or another.A counter argument to this is: if there is no charge clients may take advantage of this â€Å"free† session without any intention to return. It could also be said that a â€Å"free† session acts as a lure for the client, implying they may feel obligated to enter into a contract with the hypnotherapist. In my opinion, the initial consultation is fundamental for the evaluation of the client, in order to have a clear idea of the client’s issues and needs. It would be unethical practice on the part of the therapist if this evaluation was not carried out. As long as this is explained to the client in the very first contact then it is right to charge.However I myself would prefer to offer this as a â€Å"free† consultation because I see the first session as an evaluation for both parties. It is an opportunity for the therapist to fulfil their duty of care and understand the client’s needs before undertaking any work with them. It is also an opportunity for the client to explore the possibility of undertaking a course of therapy without feeling any pressure to continue if they feel uncomfortable. I would however make this consultation session shorter than a usual session, to distinguish the difference.I would also have very clear boundaries around how a free consultation was administered. Some of the benefits of providing a free initial consultation are: †¢ Enables you to get a ‘feel’ for the client, as you will be face to face – is this someone you could work with? †¢ You can check that you do not know the client in any way or that you are not connected to them in a way that is inappropriate (Dual Relationship) †¢ You can check whether they are on any medication, particularly anti-psychotics or anti-depressants †¢ You can gain an understanding of their family history that may indicate possible areas of concern. You can assess their goal with them and determine whether it is obtainable †¢ You can arrange a contract for your therapy including costs and number of sessions before reviewing †¢ You can find out about previous therapy/counselling in the past- was it successful, are there any therapies they didn’t like? Why? You can gain an understanding of their family dynamic and living environment †¢ You can enquire as to any problems that may effect their motivation and self esteem †¢ You can assess whether you will need to run any questions by your supervisor before proceeding further †¢ Conveys professionalism in your field – which can only assist with public relations and instilling respect and trust in this therapy. †¢ May help to encourage ‘undecided’ potential clients attend as ‘what have they got to lose? †¢ Assist s with building trust and rapport, you are building a working relationship before the therapy starts in earnest. †¢ You can assess whether you have the skills to go ahead with therapy †¢ You can explain your confidentiality policy †¢ You can assess the personality of the person by using the assessment questionnaire – therefore deciding what style of screed you could use with them †¢ You can also assess modality and obtain other information that ou may need to create a personalised induction †¢ You can makes sure there is no sexual attraction between yourself and client – this would undoubtedly interfere with the therapy and would be unethical practice †¢ You can begin the process of ‘seeding’ the client for ready acceptance of future work †¢ Enables you time to seek GP approval if that is what is needed. It could be argued that the only ‘con’ that comes from offering a free initial consultation is the cost to yourself as you will have given away half an hour or so of your time for free, time that maybe could have been spent with a paying client.It is important to note that you have to be very careful as to how you advertise and conduct free initial consultations. This is due to complex legal issues relating to using free products as a sales pitch. Knowing and Informing The consultation process should be concerned with two primary aims; knowing the person and informing the person. The latter is somewhat less involved and aims to ensure that the client has a clear understanding of the therapist, the nature of hypnosis, and the guidelines within which both are framed.Clients need to know that they are dealing with a trained individual, and how that person will work with them. This means that they should know the therapist’s qualifications (and perhaps even a method of checking them, such as a telephone number or web address) and their particular philosophy or approach to therapy. So me clients may have experience of preferred or disliked therapies. The client also needs to be clear about the nature of hypnosis, what it is and what it is not, issues regarding loss of control, revealing secrets, not coming out of a trance etc.It might be useful to send such information to clients when they make their consultation appointment and then review it during the first face-to-face meeting. As explored above, meeting with the client for the first time is very much concerned with learning about them and their needs and their expectations of the possible therapy. It goes without saying that this is also a crucial time for the therapist to gather as much information to begin a successful therapeutic relationship. Information and data will usually be collected and added to a form that is generally referred to as a ‘Notation’.This will cover details such as: †¢ Full name (also name they like to be referred to) †¢ Address and contact details (including pe rmission to use these contact numbers etc) †¢ Occupation †¢ G. P. name and surgery †¢ Medical history – current Medication and health problems, addictions †¢ Relationship status †¢ Childhood – brief description eg happy, average, bad childhood †¢ Hobbies/interests †¢ Problems in work life †¢ Problems in close relationships †¢ Any previous experience of Hypnotherapy or other therapies †¢ Dislikes/fears What is the clients goal and is this a long term problem/If so what brings them to therapy now †¢ Any other issues All of the above information is required if the therapist intends to work within an ethical framework. Talking to the client face to face gives the therapist more information by observing body language for example and it is also an opportunity to begin to build trust and develop rapport but probably most importantly it is necessary to find out if the work requested is actually within the therapist’ s professional scope.Medical history and current medication will give a good indication as to whether the client can be helped in this setting. If there is any suggestion of mental illness it could be detrimental to the client to pursue this course of action and unethical for the therapist. If in doubt the therapist has a duty to seek approval from the clients GP, informing him of the intended changes the client would like to make, and the course of therapy intended. This can only take place with the clients consent and without this the therapy cannot egin and should not. The therapist has a duty of care to refuse the client and any other action would be unethical. Some times it might be necessary to refer the client on to a more relevant professional. If the client is assessed as a suitable candidate for hypnotherapy it is now important for the therapist to get to ‘know the client’ and to begin to build a working relationship based on mutual respect. Listening to the c lient, being truly present, will go a long way towards the client feeling safe and heard.Paying attention to the client’s personality is also important, and we need to try and ‘mirror’ that to a degree. For example if a client is very shy and reserved he will feel uncomfortable if the therapist acts in a flamboyant and theatrical manner. If in telling his story the client observes facial expressions and body language that seem judgemental the client is unlikely to feel positively towards the therapist. In order to build rapport we must behave in a way that facilitates the required response, alienating the client will only serve to close down the relationship before it has even started.When actively listening to the client it is important to be empathic rather than sympathetic. This is far more helpful as this helps the client to find a solution to the problem as opposed to a moment of sympathy, which the client could ordinarily get without seeking professional gu idance. During this gathering of information, the therapist is able to learn more about the client’s lifestyle, childhood, relationships, personality traits, likes and dislikes style and modality.With this knowledge the therapist can craft or adapt a screed to suit that persons preferred modality and style. In learning about the client the therapist is able to help in a much more effective way and is able to avoid any words and images that might be detrimental to the treatment. As rapport develops and more is revealed about the client, it might become necessary to change the style of a screed, but it is at least a starting point that will have more relevance, than if the therapist started with a generic script.The more personalised screed is likely to have a more positive outcome. It is also useful to find out if the client has had any experience of therapies previously and if the experience was a positive one. Find out if the client has any previous knowledge, exposure or ex pectations of hypnosis. Do they have any fears surrounding pursuing a course of hypnotherapy? Now is the time to discuss these issues and to try to allay any fears  they may have. If the client has no previous experience of Hypnotherapy, use this time to educate the client about what hypnosis is and isn’t.The therapist should end the initial consultation by summarising what was said, they should give a brief outline of the main points, issues and themes that the client has raised. This gives a complete picture of what was discussed and also it allows space to clear up any misunderstandings. Conclusion To summarise, the initial consultation is important because it gives the client and therapist chance to evaluate each other face to face and to decide whether they can realistically (and ethically) work with each other.There are many important factors that need to be given careful consideration before any therapy commences and the information gathered (and imparted) at this ti me is key to gaining the knowledge required for a successful outcome, if therapy commences. References and Bibliography Chrysalis Module 3 handout ‘The role of the Subconscious’ Karle and Boys Hypnotherapy, A Practical Handbook (2nd edn), Free Association Books (2010) Heap and Dryden, Hypnotherapy A Handbook,Open University Press (2010)

Movie “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” Essay

Nurse Ratched: That’s okay, Nurse Pilbo. If Mr. McMurphy does not want to take his medicine, we will just have to arrange for him to have it some other way, although I don’t think he’d like it very much. In the movie, although most of the patients are not â€Å"chronics† (committed forcibly), nobody ever leaves to establish their autonomy. Nurse Ratched, under the guise of a counselor interested in helping them to overcome their problems and establish independence, actually uses implicit and explicit measures to oppress them and keep them captive in a de facto dictatorship. One of the ways to keep the patients docile and puerile is exemplified in the foregoing dialogue. The ingestion of pills indicates an oral fixation and an inability to progress to the proper phallic stage. Even if the pills are not the catalyst of the arrested development, and their neuroses are the result of arrested development that preceded their admission to the hospital, the pills preclude any possibility of ameliorating their problems. McMurphy, who is the quintessential representation of democracy and rugged individualism, has no such problems. However, in an attempt to control him, Ratched threatens to forcibly insert the pill into his body rectally. Such an action, if completed, would symbolize a regress to the anal stage,  successfully removing him from the world writ large and the Law of the Father. Luckily, McMurphy feigns swallowing the pill to appease her, and then spits in out. Two incidents that support psychoanalytic reading Billy Bibbitt is a stuttering, virginal, thirty-year old boy child. His inability to establish solidarity with anyone, especially of the opposite sex, and his profound difficulty articulating himself, show an inability to successfully enter the Symbolic realm and establish a name for himself. He is strikingly similar, in many ways, to the monster in Frankenstein. However, towards the end of the movie, he is wheeled in a wheelchair into an isolated room, where he has sex with a strumpet. As he sits in the wheelchair, he is ill, malignant to society, a cancer who has been successfully removed.However, after coitus, he becomes confident, holding his head high, laughing, and most importantly, he does not stutter. Nurse Ratched asks him if he is ashamed of what he did. He says, â€Å"No, I’m not† as articulately as an ambassador. Unfortunately, Ratched threatens to tell his mother, which once again removes him from the Symbolic realm, forcing him to stutter again, losing the linguistic facility he required. It is too much for him to bear. He kills himself. Charlie Cheswick, an insecure neurotic, becomes enraged, overtly challenging Nurse Ratched when she hides his cigarettes. Inspired by McMurphy and his democratic, paternalistic ideals, he begins to see the cigarettes as a phallic symbol, his absent father, desperately attempting to return to the imaginary stage so that he can accept his father’s dominance, disabuse himself of an overwhelming need for his mother, and enter the Symbolic realm, thereby gaining his autonomy. Unfortunately, Ratched and the sadistic orderlies put an end to his fustian ranting, and he is led away, crying, to receive electro-shock therapy. L Interpretation of one character using psychoanalysis Martini, played by Danny Devito, not only has a childlike physicality, but  has a puerile affect as well. He does not speak throughout the entire film, except for non-sequiturs and sibilant and monosyllabic utterances in response to McMurphy’s remarks and always has an innocent smile on his face, oblivious to the meaning of language (he cannot understand McMurphy’s explanations of how to play cards). This shows an inability to escape the imaginary realm, as he is not able to successfully construct meaning with others. However, towards the end of the movie, after all of the patients reveled in bacchanalian bliss, Nurse Ratched asks him to pick up her soiled cap, which lay on the floor. He understands her and, smiling, carries out her order. He may not be able to understand the Law of the Father, but he can understand Ratched’s language (the signifier) and the thing that it signifies (oppression that relegates him to eternal childhood). Themes and Issues ** McMurphy (Law of the Father) versus Ratched (the maternal thing and object a which the patients are seeking, but can never recover. However, the faà §ade of possibly grasping it – Ratched strings them along- keeps them hostage). ** Taciturnity versus fluency Symbols ** Cigarettes are symbolic of the phallus ** Pornographic playing cards, which can possibly be symbolic of a mother figure, are here used (I believe) to stimulate sexual desire in an attempt to draw the patients towards the Symbolic realm). ** Pills are symbolic of an oral fixation. ** Wheelchair is symbolic of paralysis (stifled by Ratched’s dictates), but when Billy Bibbitt falls out of the wheelchair, into the arms of a woman, Ratched’s control is vitiated. Why I believe in this reading Because mental illness, or the perception of mental illness, is the focus of the movie, psychoanalytic criticism is perhaps the best critical theory to analyze the themes and characters. The aberrant behavior manifested by the patients can easily be explained using the imaginary and symbolic realms, and metaphoric connections can be drawn, as the heading â€Å"symbols† shows. This is not only an easy and productive theory to use for this movie, but one which yields (I believe) truthful explanations. Reader Response Textual Passage â€Å"But Doc, she was fifteen years old, going on thirty-five, Doc, and, uh, she told me she was eighteen and she was, uh, very willing, you know what I mean†¦I practically had to take to sewin’ my pants shut. But, uh between you and me, uh, she might have been fifteen, but when you get that little red beaver right up there in front of ya, I don’t think it’s crazy at all now and I don’t think you do either†¦No man alive could resist that, and that’s why I got into jail to begin with. And now they’re telling me I’m crazy over here because I don’t sit there like a goddamn vegetable. Don’t make a bit of sense to me. If that’s what’s bein’ crazy is, then I’m senseless, out of it, gone-down-the-road, wacko. But no more, no less, that’s it.† In the foregoing passage, McMurphy defends his sanity with an apology that would be difficult for anyone in society to disagree with. He portrays the female as the lascivious one, so interested in satisfying her sexual desires that she prevaricates about her age to copulate with the â€Å"unsuspecting† McMurphy. He portrays himself as the all-American male, respectful of women, yet having a strong libido, ready, willing, and able to cleave the beaver at a moment’s notice. J He becomes the victim when he ascertains her true age, and derides the system for questioning his mental health for acting as any other man would in his situation. He concludes his defense with verbal  irony, acerbically vociferating that if such behavior is abnormal, then he is indeed the king of craziness. Two incidents that support reader-response McMurphy knows that the others are not crazy, and although he may not be able to articulate it, knows that they are all being governed by an autocrat with no interest but self-interest. In an effort to overcome the totalitarian regime, he knows he must win the other patients over to his side. To become victorious over Nurse Ratched, he feigns watching the World Series, creating his own game, a game which is a foundation of democratic ideals, as American as apple-pie. Nurse Ratched looks on in disbelief and rage as the patients, usually reticent and phlegmatic, become excited and happy, buying into McMurphy’s ideals. She immediately importunes them to stop, but as the scene ends, they continue their revelry. It appears that McMurphy has the upper- hand. The movie takes place in the 1960’s, when racism was still prevalent. It is important to note that all of the patients are white, yet powerless, and all of the orderlies, a menial job, are black, yet dominate the patients throughout the movie. Not only do they physically control the patients, but also are mentally and emotionally healthier, and they have more freedom (they listen to the World Series, while the patients cannot). Perhaps even implicitly, the director is advocating equal rights for African Americans, or perhaps even insinuating that blacks are superior to whites. However, since they must answer to those in charge (who are also white) the latter theory does not seem plausible. The director most likely wants to show how powerless the mentally ill truly are, to be controlled by people who were subjugated and kept in bondage for hundreds of years. They are truly the dregs of society. Interpretation of one character using reader-response Although Chief Bromden seems to be more powerless than McMurphy throughout most of the film, it is he who survives and escapes into the world writ  large at the movie’s end. Bromden has intrinsic strength, but is unable to find it throughout most of the movie because it is concealed by a hatred for the world (fostered by his father’s alcoholism). However, he buys into McMurphy’s democratic ideals, his vision of freedom, and desires to break free from the bondage and begin a life full of promise. Unfortunately, he is forced to do it alone because McMurphy, who appears to be so powerful throughout the entire film, is only affecting interest in freedom. He knows that he is a pariah, and desires to be incarcerated to escape the pain of the world. He lies to himself and to others when he spreads his vision of autonomy. He has several chances to escape to freedom during the movie, but forsakes them in favor of wild antics. However, intractability and totalitarianism do not mix. His obstreperous antics and unwillingness to escape from his subjugation cause his demise. After he is lobotomized, and Bromden understands McMurphy will never be free, he knows that he can never be free unless he escapes from the institution. Hanging on to the ideals of democracy, which he now firmly believes in, he knows he must be strong enough to accomplish the dream that McMurphy could not fulfill. He suffocates McMurphy so that he can enjoy freedom after all, and then uses brute strength to experience a freedom of his own as he throws the fountain, which McMurphy could not lift, through the window). It appears that Bromden is the stronger of the two after all, and McMurphy’s strength was always artificial. He was not able to change any of the other patients with his worldview, but it appears verisimilitude can ha ve positive effects after all. Where is Chief Bromden now, I wonder? Themes/Issues ** Democracy versus totalitarianism **Perception versus reality ** Black versus white ** Femininity versus masculinity **Criminality versus insanity ** Nature versus nurture ** Social constructs and identity formation Symbols ** Music symbolizes regimentation and control ** Sex symbolizes freedom ** Race, affect, cognitive development, gender, and mental stability symbolize stratification. ** Mental facility symbolizes a microcosm with the macrocosm, which is directly antithetical to the ideals the macrocosm embraces – rationing of personal effects, bedtimes, facilitated and monitored conversations, etc. ** Choice symbolizes the taboo. Why I believe in this reading Without reader response, subjectivity cannot exist. When myriad ways of looking at the world do not exist, provincialism ensues, and eventually a maniac like Nurse Ratched may govern us all. J To preclude myopia and societal malignancies (racism, classism, chauvinism, and other biases), it is necessary to view texts, and by texts I mean everything society that can be analyzed, as objectively as possibly, analyzing them from many perspectives. I am grateful to have the ability to use my mind to attempt to develop solutions to the ills of the world, because some people live in worlds that preclude them from using their minds to seek justice for themselves and others. Nurse Ratched’s must be thwarted before they establish power! Feminist Approach Textual Passage Nurse Ratched: Why did you ask that girl to marry you Billy? Billy: I, I, I, loved her Nurse Ratched. Nurse Ratched: Why didn’t you tell your mother about it? Your mother told me you didn’t tell her. Billy Bibbitt: ( He is silent and hangs his head in shame). Charlie Cheswick: (Fearfully and hesitantly) Nurse Ratched, let me ask you a question. Nurse Ratched: (Angered, with fire in her eyes, affecting concern) Go ahead, Mr. Cheswick. Charlie Cheswick: Nurse Ratched, can’t you see he’s uncomfortable. I mean, if he doesn’t want to talk, can’t we just go on to some new business. Nurse Ratched: ( Impatiently and caustically, verging on a diatribe) The business of this meeting, Mr. Cheswick, is therapy! While it might appear that Nurse Ratched is genuinely concerned about Billy at first glance, after further examination it is apparent, from this discourse and other interlocution throughout the movie, that she has deep seated sexual problems and loathes men, hatred that may be the product of inequalities or abuse that she has experienced at the hands of men. While adult men should not have to apprise their parents of relationships with the opposite sex, Nurse Ratched thinks it is imperative. She is remembering promises of fidelity from sweet-talking Lothario’s, men who proposed marriage, but did so clandestinely, all in an effort to use her for sexual pleasure! She loves Billy’s inability to articulate himself, because he  cannot flatter women with lies, and break their hearts, as men broke hers. She values men who are close to their mothers because such relationships are built on trust and innocence. Those who keep secrets can conspire to hurt others for their own selfish gain. Mothers hate that! When she attempts to counsel Billy, she does so from a personal bias, even if she does not see it. In an effort to assuage her own pain, and the oppression of all women in society, she destroys Billy’s self-image, emasculating him, making him as powerless as she is. Interpretation of Mildred Ratched using feminist criticism Mildred Ratched shows a desire, a compulsion really, to completely control every man on the ward throughout the entire movie. She knows she cannot establish such power with completely healthy men, so she cherishes her time at the ward (if one is on the qui vive during the movie, it is apparent that she comes when the sun just rises and leaves when it is dark – she’s a fanatic!). She is attempting to create her own world, one where she is completely in charge, and the oppressive ideologies of a patriarchal society become a de facto fiction. Almost all of the men are taciturn, or when they do speak, the language is fragmented and uncertain. Her language is omnipresent and omnipotent, superseding and threatening to completely obliterate the language of the outside world. When McMurphy, an intractable democratic ideologue with glib on his tongue and subversion on his mind comes to the facility, her own suppression becomes a reality once again, and she knows she must fight u ntil she tames this wild beast. Although McMurphy proves to be a formidable foe, she defeats him in the end, proving that a woman’s language can defeat the oppressive language of men when the two collide, and that others will still accept it after the battle is over. It is interesting that a male, Chief Bromden, who is thoroughly emasculated throughout the entire movie, has to generate the strength to escape from â€Å"feminine language† to enter the masculine language of the world writ large. It is NO LONGER the world writ large. Nurse Ratched’s world has turned into the macrocosm, and everywhere else is just a microcosm, only tangentially connected to reality proper, a reality that the virtuous Nurse Ratched creates. Two incidents that support this kind of reading I have already covered a lot, so I will give two brief examples. Randall McMurphy says: â€Å"They’ve been giving me ten-thousand volts a day and I’/ hot to trot. The next woman to take me on’s gonna light up like a pinball machine and pay off in silver dollars.† Nurse Ratched shows anger at first, and then affects amusement before changing the subject. She in sickened by his objectification of women, but then understands that she has him under her control. He won’t be gettin’ any nookie if she can help it! J Earlier in the film, she hides the patients’ cigarettes as punishment for gambling. The cigarettes represent phalluses, which she has complete control of. She emasculates them, and will only give their members back if they are good boys and follow her rules.

A Separate Peace Essay

In the novel, A Separate Peace, by John Knowles the question is presented â€Å"what is a true friend?† The author challenges the question by manifesting two main characters, Finny and Gene, to have a type of rivalry relationship. Finny is a self-confident, outgoing, and athletic person. Awhile on the other hand Gene is quiet, competitive, and intelligent person. Gene gains jealous thoughts which in the end lead their friendship too gradually to fall apart. The author creates a challenge that frustrates both Finny and Gene to test both side of their relationship. As an example the author shows Finny’s fall in the climax of the book is due to Gene being jealous of him which then leads to Finny’s tragic injury.†I was not of the same quality as he. I couldn’t stand this†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Knowles 52). Gene was surrounded with depression and major guilt. I feel that, with friendship there is always going to be envious feelings towards the other party no matt er what, but not to a point of possibly injuring them or hurting them really bad. Another incident is when Gene wears Finny’s clothes while he is recovering from his injury. This brings out the thought that Gene missed Finny and he had a feeling of loneness, but however he is also replacing him in his athletics.†Listen, pal, if I can’t play sports, you’re going to play for me† (Knowles 76). Due the past altercations, Gene will play for Finny, not only because he was the second best player but Finny was injured. So I guess you can say he qualifies for his replacement. This shows that in a friendship or relationship, when two friends have had an argument in the past that has lead to loneliness, an empty feeling, and non communication, but in the end this is the factors that makes a friendship stronger when they finally talk again for the first time in a long period of time and they both feel the love and welcoming type of feeling. The last incident that occurs shows the true feelings of friendship illustrated by the author is, this is when Finny falls down the stairs and  he breaks his leg for the second time. But sadly in the end e eventually dies in surgery when the doctor begins his procedure on Finny’s leg to try to fix it. The doctor then explains that the marrow of the bone escaped and went throughout his bloodstream leading to his heart killing him. Gene didn’t cry for one reason, when he was at Finny’s funeral, he felt as if this was his own.†I could not escape a feeling that this was my own funeral, and you do not cry in that case†(Knowles 184). Gene is mad at himself for endangering Finny’s life by bouncing and unbalancing the tree branch as Finny leaped out towards the water and in the end unintentionally ending his Finney’s life. John Knowles wrote the sad story of when friends obtain the feelings of envy or jealousy, on their journey to discover the true meaning of what they thought was a true friend. Their jealous cravings lead them to their tragedy and this is the major factor that brought their friendship to a end. The question â€Å"What is a true friend?† can only be answered in your opinion for there is no true definition of true friends because everyone is different and therefore think differently and has a different opinion on the subject. A Separate Peace Essay The book, A Separate Peace was written by John Knowles. It was first published in 1959. It tells the story Gene Forrester, a former student at a prep school in New Hampshire, who returns to the school after he graduates. While he is there, He remembers the summer of 1942. When he walks up to a tree by the river, he remembers his friend and roommate Phineas. Phineas was the best athlete in the entire school. From then on the story moves back to 1942 at the school named Devon. Phineas’ athleticism inspires Gene to become one of the smartest kids in the school. He starts to do well in school until he failed a test because of a trip to the beach with Phineas. When this happens, he blames Phineas for him failing. He begins to get angry with Phineas and tries to stay focused until one day when Phineas persuades Gene to go and jump from a tree into the river. Gene thinks this is just another attempt to pull him from his studies so when he and Phineas are standing on the tree limb, Gene Jounces the limb to cause Phineas to lose his balance and fall to the river bank. Phineas shatters his leg and this accident cost him his athletic career. Gene felt guilty about the incident and tries to confess to Phineas. Phineas refused to believe what happened and continued to think that it was just an accident. Once Phineas returns to the school, he convinced Gene to train for the 1944 Olympics. Gene tried to explain that this would be impossible with World War II going on so Phineas persuaded him to believe that the war is fake. Gene accepted his explanation and began to train for the Olympics. Then one day, Brinker Hadley brings the boys and some of their friends together for a mock trial to accuse Gene for being responsible for the accident. When another boy shares his view of the story saying that he saw Gene Jounce the limb, Phineas leaves the room in anger. While walking down the stairs, he fell and broke his leg again. While talking to Phineas in the hospital, Gene insists that he didn’t mean to hurt him. Phineas accepts his apology and they remain friends. The next day in surgery, marrow from Phineas’ leg leaked into his blood stream making its way to his heart and killing him. Gene looked back after the war and realized that his real enemy was his own jealousy of Phineas. A Separate Peace Essay In chapter four the doppelganger is starting to form. Gene is starting to believe that there is a deadly rivalry between Finny and him. Gene is striving to win the valedictorian which means he has to study hard. Gene thinks that when he wins valedictorian that Finny and him will finally be even. Gene asks Finny if he minds that Gene is trying to win valedictorian, Finny replies, â€Å"I’d kill myself out of jealous envy† (52). Gene believes this. Gene has a lot of bitterness towards Finny since Finny is a star athlete and can talk his way out of any trouble he gets in to. To help deal with the bitterness Gene starts to tell himself that Finny is also jealous of Gene’s academic abilities. This bitterness towards Finny helps Gene advance in classes to bother Finny. Gene starts to think that Finny purposely tries to ruin his study times. Gene is starting to realize that Finny was never trying to compete with Gene with him. Gene then goes into deeper bitterness than he was in before, Gene believes that Finny is superior. This foreshadows when Gene shakes the tree limb. When Finny falls off the tree, this is the climax of the story since Gene and Finny are doppelgangers and only one of them can exist, and the one that is trying to hurt the other Gene. Finny was never trying to hurt Gene in any way but it was all in Gene’s mind. The doppelganger is a conflict that goes on through out the whole book, Gene is always trying to get rid of Finny and compete with him meanwhile, Finny never means to harm anyone. When Finny dies, Gene shed no tears because Finny and him were one, and he couldn’t cry at his own funeral. A Separate Peace Essay It is important to confront reality, no matter how harsh it is. People will always face difficult situations, but avoiding them is often more dangerous than the situation itself. In his novel, A Separate Peace, Knowles explores what can happen when a person or even an institution tries to avoid painful circumstances. In the story, Gene, the protagonist, and his friends are students at the Devon boarding school; and the troubling issues they face are wars, the external, World War II, and the intimate conflicts that often arise between close friends. Knowles uses the motif of the transformation of Devon, Finny, and Gene to show the importance of confronting head-on the wars within and around them. Devon boarding school shields Gene and his classmates from the hardships of World War II. Gene’s class, the â€Å"Upper Middlers,† are too young for the draft. This causes the teachers at Devon to see them as the last evidence of â€Å"the life the war was being fought to preserve† (29). The teachers are afraid to expose the boys to the terror of war and so they hide it from them. While throughout the country, others participate in the war effort, Gene and his classmates remain apart and spend their time â€Å"calmly reading Virgil† (24). Because of this separation, the war becomes â€Å"completely unreal† (24) to the Upper Middlers. The entire world appears to be churning in the upheaval of the war, but Devon tries to remain the same, shielding the boys from its hardships. Unfortunately, when the effects of the war inevitably come to Devon, its attempts at avoidance result in a negative transformation with bitter and unintended consequences. In its efforts to deny the war’s existence, Devon changes from idyllic and relaxed in the Summer Session to rigid and uncompromising in the Winter Session. In the summer at Devon, the boys play games on the â€Å"healthy green turf brushed with dew† to the calming sounds of â€Å"cricket noises and the bird cries of dusk† (24). Such imagery makes Devon seem like a peaceful oasis for the Upper Middlers. However, this relaxed atmosphere of the Summer Session ends with Finny’s fall from the tree at Devon River. Jumping from the tree was an activity originally designed to prepare soldiers for war and Finny’s injury from it represents the boys’ first experience with the pain that war brings. To Devon, Finny’s fall proves that the relaxed atmosphere of the Summer Session could not protect the boys from the reality of war. As a result, Devon rejects the carefree environment of the Summer Session and changes into a strict school where â€Å"continuity is stressed† (73) in the Winter Session. This transformation proves negative as evidenced by Knowles stark change in his description of the Winter Session. For example, while in the Summer Session the boys freely roamed the â€Å"healthy green turf† of Devon’s fields, they crowd into the dark â€Å"Butt Room† a smoking room that Gene compares to a â€Å"dirty dungeon†¦ in the bowels of the dormitory† (88). Where once the boys played in beautiful fields, they are now confined in close, dark rooms. Gene further classifies the transformation as negative by immediately remarking that â€Å"peace [has] deserted Devon† (72) when he returns for the Winter Session. In attempting to avoid the effects of the war, Devon sacrifices its status as a haven for the boys. When the reality that the world is at war inevitably strikes Devon, its transformation makes it less able to deal with the effects of the war. Gene compares the inexorable arrival of the war to the snow that blankets the school grounds. He calls the snowflakes â€Å"invaders† that cover the â€Å"carefully pruned shrubbery bordering the crosswalks† and likens them to the â€Å"invasion of the war on the school† (93). In making this comparison, Gene seems to show that just as Devon’s â€Å"carefully pruned shrubbery† cannot escape the snowfall, its structured atmosphere cannot escape the war. In fact, it is that structured atmosphere that makes the war seem all the more attractive to the very boys Devon tried so desperately to protect. Representing this is the Upper Middlers’ decision to clear snow from train tracks designed to transport troops. This is their first serious contribution to the war effort and requires that they travel away from Devon, symbolizing their desire to leave their school and participate in the war effort. As they work, the boys see a train car of soldiers whom they view as â€Å"elite† in comparison to their â€Å"drab ranks† (101). Directly after seeing the troops, all they boys can discuss is the â€Å"futility of Devon and how [they] would never have war stories to tell [their] grandchildren† (102). The boys see Devon’s strict unchanging atmosphere as inadequate amidst the upheaval of the war. As a result, the Upper Middlers slowly reject Devon, resigning from clubs, leaving the school to enlist in the war, and losing their academic vigor. They resent Devon for keeping them from the war and remain forever distant from it. Gene exhibits this distance when he describes Devon after graduating. Gene calls Devon a â€Å"hard and shiny† (11) museum; he feels no connection to it. He finally concludes that â€Å"The more things stay the same, the more they change after all† (14). In trying to remain untouched by the war, Devon changed to a school that pushed its students to the very war it tried to avoid. Like Devon, Finny does not accept the hardships or existence of war in his life. Throughout the story, Finny embraces the glorified aspects of war, but refuses to accept its atrocities. For example, Finny wears his pink shirt to celebrate the Americans bombing of Central Europe. However, when he realizes that the bombing killed women and children, he tells Gene that he doesn’t think the bombing took place. He does not want to believe that innocent people are often casualties of war. Eventually, Finny decides that the war cannot exist because it causes too much suffering. Similarly, Finny calls Gene his â€Å"best pal† (48) and openly displays his affection for him. However, when Gene confesses to deliberately jouncing him from the limb out of jealousy, Finny refuses to listen. He cannot accept that a friend could become an enemy. Eventually, Finny’s denial of the conflicts in his life lead to a negative transformation. In trying to retain his rejection of the war, Finny changes from a confident, athletic leader into an embittered invalid. In the summer, Finny excels, becoming a natural leader of the boys and easily winning over teachers. Finny is also physically impressive as evidenced by Gene’s description of him playing in the Devon River. Gene says that Finny is in â€Å"exaltation,† with glowing skin and muscles â€Å"aligned in perfection† (34). In this description, Finny seems like an ideal, almost God like figure, completely in control and confident. Finny’s injury at the end of Summer Session, however, signals a dark transformation. Gene shakes the limb Finny is standing on while about to jump off the tree at Devon River and Finny falls and breaks his leg. Because Gene deliberately jounced Finny out of a tree used to prepare the seniors for war, Finny’s fall and subsequent injury symbolizes a forced confrontation with the potential pain of World War II and the war between Gene and himself. Rather than working through the hardship and pain, Finny rejects his former status as an athlete and leader and lets his injury define him as an isolated invalid. Instead of using his athletic abilities to overcome his injury, Finny seems to remain permanently maimed. Although his leg heals and his cast becomes so small that an â€Å"ordinary person could have managed it with hardly a limp noticeable† (157), Finny’s gait is permanantely changed. His inability to heal completely from his injury symbolizes his inability to confront and move on from the conflicts that caused it. Similarly, Finny loses his place as a leader among the Upper Middlers. When Finny returns to Devon for the Winter Session, he finds that the war dominates the Upper Middlers’ conversations. Finny does not believe the war exists and so he isolates himself and stops spending as much time with his peers. Where once he was a natural leader, he becomes an outcast to preserve his disbelief in the war. Finny’s negative transformation makes him more vulnerable to the wars in his life. At the end of the Winter Session, Brinker conducts a mock trial and convicts Gene of his role in Finny’s injury. Finny is again forced to face the reality of Gene’s jealousy. Furthermore, during the trial, Finny speaks to Leper for the first time after his return from the army. Leper’s insanity, induced by the war, forces Finny to confront its painful implications. Because of Finny’s transformation, he is even more susceptible to these implications. Symbolizing this are the events following the mock trial. After Brinker convicts Gene, Finny falls while trying to run away. He re-breaks his leg, reopening the wound of the summer and revisiting the pain of the wars in his life. Where before the injury only crippled Finny, this time, Finny eventually dies from it. Just as his invalid state made him more vulnerable to re-injuring his leg, Finny’s transformation in response to the war made him more vulnerable to it. Unlike Devon and Finny, Gene faces the reality of the war around him and his inner struggle with Finny. While Gene enjoys the peaceful atmosphere of Devon in the Summer Session, he recognizes its inadequacies. Gene explains, â€Å"Perhaps I alone knew†¦ Devon had slipped through their [the professors’] fingers during the warm over looked months† (73). Gene realizes that the Summer Session, and the realities it avoided, would be the undoing of Devon. Furthermore, while the other Upper Middlers deny the existence of the war, Gene understands it at a deep level. Gene explicitly says, â€Å"The war was and is reality for me† (32). He embraces the war instead of masking it. Similarly, Gene recognizes the inner war with Finny. Gene knows that he deliberately jounced the limb of the tree so that Finny would fall. He repeatedly tries to confess this to Finny, openly and inwardly confronting his jealousy. Finally, when Leper goes to war and is discharged for mental instability, Gene is the only student who visits him in his home and sees him in his worst state. Gene is able to witness the shock and horror of the war. Because of his ability to face the wars around and within him, Gene undergoes a positive transformation. Gene confronts the conflicts in his life and uses them to mature from a fearful, insecure boy to a balanced and strong man. Initially, Gene identifies the presence of fear in his life. As an adult reflecting on his childhood, Gene can see â€Å"with great clarity the fear [he] had lived in† (10). Gene is also initially in-athletic. While Finny garners many athletic awards, Gene does not often participate in sports and focuses on his studies. This makes Gene feel inferior to Finny and so he often succumbs to Finny’s desires, often at the expense of his own academic success. Gene feels inadequate and insecure in the Summer Session, but the Winter Session signals a change within him. Before returning to Devon for the Winter Session, Gene visits Finny and confesses his guilt. After confronting his jealousy and confessing to Finny, Gene returns to Devon and becomes increasingly independent and secure. Symbolizing this is Gene’s experience in the Naguamsett River. On his first day back to Devon, Gene falls into the â€Å"ugly, saline,† (79) waters of the Nagaumasett. Incidentally, Gene calls this encounter with the filthy waters a â€Å"baptism.. on the first day of this winter session† (79). This use of the word baptism, a term associated with initiation or rebirth, seems to convey that Gene is beginning a new life. Just as he emerges renewed from the gritty disgusting waters of the Nagaumasett, he emerges renewed from his painful, uncomfortable confrontation of his inner war with Finny. Directly following Gene’s â€Å"baptism,† Finny returns to Devon as an invalid and he and Gene’s roles reverse. Now, It is Finny who needs Gene, both physically and emotionally, to help him deal with his injury and his functioning at Devon. Gene’s sudden athletic prowess represents this role reversal. Since Finny cannot participate in sports, he trains Gene. As he excels in his training, Gene notices that Finny seems â€Å"older†¦. nd smaller too† (121). He then realizes that he is actually bigger and Finny is only smaller by comparison. Gene has used the conflict in his life to leave behind his insecurities and become a strong, independent man. Gene’s transformation proves positive as it enables him to grow from the conflicts in his life. The results of the mock trial do no break Gene like the do Finny. He has already confronted his jealousy and guilt, and is secure enough to withstand the pain. Likewise, when Gene finally graduates from Devon and enlists in the army, he endures the war without losing his sanity like Leper. Gene is able to do this because he â€Å"already fought [his] war† (204) at Devon. He learned to confront harsh realities, and therefore can overcome them. As an adult, Gene is able to return to Devon content and secure, having made his â€Å"escape from† (10) the fear that plagued his childhood. His ability to confront his wars enable him to mature through them. Devon, Finny, and Gene all transform throughout the story. However, Devon and Finny changed to avoid the war, but Gene changed to grow from it. These transformations and stark difference in their outcomes powerfully convey the importance of unflinchingly confronting wars without and within. A Separate Peace Essay One of the main focuses in the novel A Separate Peace is the friendship of Gene Forrester and Phineas. One would assume that two completely opposite people wouldn’t have such a strong relationship. They both have different views of the world. Where one would find strength the other finds weakness. With having two opposing personalities as the main characters, it’s easy for the reader to identify with one more than the other. It also gives the reader a chance to admire, as well as pity, both Gene and Phineas. One of the most important differences between Gene and Finny is their views of the world. Gene has a more cynical world view. On the other hand, Finny’s view of the world is very pure and naive. Finny truly believes that everyone is good in the world. Another thing that sets Gene apart from Finny is their strengths and weaknesses. Gene is one of the top students of his class, while Finny just gets by with below average grades. But what Finny lacks in academic achievements, he makes up for in athletics. Read more:  Write about a person you admire essay Finny also has the natural ability to lead others and has a non conforming attitude, whereas Gene is follower and has a more conforming attitude. As well as many other novels, A Separate Peace includes easily relatable characters. While reading the novel, I discovered that there are certain qualities of both Gene and Finny that I can identify with. After careful consideration, I realized that I most identify with Gene rather than Finny. He and I both are drawn to people with larger than life personalities. I can also relate to his insecure feelings that come with having friendships with those types of personalities. His strength in academics is another trait of his that I can identify with. Even though I identify more with Gene, I also pity him. I pity that his jealousy pushed him to do something so harmful to his supposed best friend. I also pity that fact that he doesn’t have enough self confidence to tell Finny the truth. That being said, the person I admire would be Finny. He has this natural ability for being a leader, and it’s said several times that he can get away with anything. I also admire that instead of him moping about his leg, he twisted his own reality just to be happy. In conclusion, the main relationship in A Separate Peace involves two people with opposing personalities. They both view the world differently. Gene has more of a pessimistic view of the world, while Phineas’s view of the world is very innocent. Where Phineas finds strength, Gene finds weakness. While I indentify more with the character Gene, I also pity him for the outcome of his poor decisions. Instead, I admire Phineas. I admire his self confidence and attitude towards life. A Separate Peace Essay In the book, A Separate Peace, the author, John Knowles, writes to us a novel about war, but happens to focus more on the war within the human heart. This novel tells a story of two boys’ co-dependency during World War Two, and explores the difficulties with understanding the self during adolescence. Identity is complicated enough as the narrator, Gene Forrester, enters adulthood in a time of war, but a difficult friendship with a fellow student and rival leads to a further confusion of identity. Early in the book, the boys’ relationship is charged by Gene’s jealousy and hate of Phineas’ leadership. However, after Phineas falls from the tree, Gene ejects his darker feelings from himself and turns their relationship in a new direction where co-dependency, instead of envy, drives it. The central relationship between Gene and Finny, involves a troublesome search to authorize identity outside of co-dependency. Gene Forrester is a boy with many conflicts that he must face throughout his high school year. The most significant of these troubles is, without a doubt, Gene’s struggle with his own identity. At first Gene is displeased with his personality, or lack thereof. He envies his best friend, Phineas’ (Finny’s), wit, charm, and leadership. Throughout the book, Gene repeatedly finds himself acting like his friend, a transformation occurring that Gene is unaware of. There are a number of significant transformations within this story. Phineas is transformed from an active athlete into a cripple after his accident and then sets out to transform Gene in his place. This change is the beginning process by which Gene’s identity begins to blur into Finny’s, a transformation symbolized by Gene’s putting on Finny’s clothes one evening soon after the accident. â€Å"I washed the traces off me and then put on a pair of chocolate brown slacks, a pair in which Phineas had been particularly critical of when he wasn’t wearing them, and a blue flannel shirt† (78). This is the first time in the book that we notice just how much Gene is codependent on Phineas, even when he is gone. From this point on, Gene and Phineas come to depend on each other for psychological support. Gene playing sports because Phineas cannot, â€Å"Listen, pal, if I can’t play sports, you’re going to play them for me†¦Ã¢â‚¬  this allows Finny to train Gene to be the athlete that Finny himself cannot be. This training seems to be a path for Phineas simply to live vicariously through Gene. But Gene actively welcomes his attempt, for just as Finny acquires inner strength through Gene, Gene also finds happiness in losing the person he dislikes, himself, into the person he truly likes, Phineas. †¦and I lost part of myself to him then, and a soaring sense of freedom revealed that this must have been my purpose from the first: to become part of Phineas. † (77) In this way, the boys’ relationship becomes a perfect illustration of co-dependency, with each feeling off of and becoming fulfilled by, the other. This newfound co-dependency begins the evolution of the boys’ individual identities. Finny knows himself throughout the book, and is comfortable in his own skin, at least at first. After his fall, he becomes more withdrawn and tends to hide his true feelings. He seems to lose himself as the book progresses. The innocence and general good nature that defined him early on is lost in later chapters, as he continually deludes himself as to Gene’s true intentions. Gene, on the other hand, hides his true identity from Phineas and the others through most of the novel. Yet Gene truly reveals himself at several key points such as pushing Finny from the tree. The boys are living in their own secret illusions that World War Two is a mere conspiracy created by old men and continuing to believe that Gene, Finny through him, will go to the Olympics and that the world can’t change their dreams. The boys are refusing to develop their own goals and responsibilities without each other. Not even Finny’s death, though it separates them physically, can truly disentangle Gene’s identity from Phineas’. Gene feels as though Finny’s funeral is his own. In a way, the funeral is indeed Gene’s own. So much of Gene is intermixed with Phineas that it is difficult to imagine one boy existing without the other. The entire novel becomes Gene’s recollection of building his own identity, culminating in his return to Devon years later, where he is finally able to come to terms with what he’s done. During the time I was with him, Phineas created an atmosphere in which I continued now to live, a way of sizing up the world with erratic and entirely personal reservations, letting it’s rocklike facts sift through and be accepted only a little at a time, only as much as he could assimilate without a sense of chaos and loss† (194). It is perhaps only his understanding that Phineas alone has no enemy that allows the older Gene to reestablish a separate identity. One that is inferior to Phineas’. A Separate Peace Essay One of the most asked questions for A Separate Peace is: who exactly is the protagonist and antagonist? Most would agree that Gene is the protagonist, however is it Gene or Phineas that is the enemy? I believe that the real ‘bad guy’ in this book is Gene. He envied Phineas from the very beginning but didn’t admit it until a little later on. Whether it was getting away from trouble, having a natural athletic ability, or simply being modest and humble about things, Phineas seemed to have been better at almost everything. In this novel, many events occur between Gene and Finny that foreshadow the inner conflict Gene faces. For example, Gene and Finny are rebellious and often end up in trouble with the teachers. However, because of Finny’s smooth words, he is able to get the both of them away from punishment almost every single time. After getting out of trouble multiple times, Gene admits that he couldn’t help but envy Finny â€Å"just a little bit.† Small events like those happened often, and the reader can sense a feeling of jealousy growing inside of Gene. As Finny continued to be absolutely great at everything, Gene began to envy him more. Due to Gene’s inner conflict, their friendship dramatically changes. Gene plays the main character also known as the protagonist. He’s the narrator and brings the readers back fifteen years before as he tells his story of his life at Devon School. His actions and discoveries are what create the plot. For example, because Gene becomes a bitter and jealous person, he ends up creating a theory that Phineas is his rivalry (discovery). The darkness inside himself subconsciously forces him to jounce the limb, making Phineas fall (plot). Although Gene is the protagonist, I believe he is also the antagonist. In the book, Gene and Phineas have a good friendship; there were no arguments and they got along just fine. Gene, however, begins to envy Finny with things as simple as smooth words and athletic ability. As time progressed, the darkness inside of Gene grew and eventually it was full on competition. An antagonist is someone who opposes the main character, and oddly enough Gene opposes himself. He creates this fake assumption that Phineas is trying to be the better person. Unfortunately he got his theory mixed up with reality causing his friendship with Finny to fall down hill. â€Å"I found a single sustaining thought; you and Phineas were even. You are both coldly driving ahead for yourselves alone.† When it all comes down, Phineas is both the protagonist and antagonist. He is the main character yet he is his own enemy. His inner conflicts and insecure thoughts caused him to ruin his best friend along with their friendship. This book can teach the readers a great lesson about friendship and consequences when you start losing yourself to jealousy and envy; it certainly taught me something! A Separate Peace Essay In John Knowles’ novel A Separate Peace, it begins with the protagonist, Gene Forrester coming back to his alma mater the Devon School in New Hampshire. Wandering through the campus, Gene makes his way to a tall tree by the river; the reason for his return. From here he takes the reader back to the year 1942 during World War II when he was in high school. During the summer session of 1942, he becomes close friends with his daredevil roommate Finny. Finny is able to convince Gene into making a dangerous jump out of a tree into a river, and the two start a secret society based on this ritual. Gene slowly begins to envy Finny’s athletic capabilities and his innocence, and thinks that Finny envies him in return. Gene finally realizes that there was never any rivalry between them when, one day, Finny expresses a genuine desire to see Gene succeed. While still in shock, he goes with Finny to the tree for their jumping ritual. When Finny reaches the edge of the branch, Gene’s knees bend, shaking the branch and causing Finny to fall to the bank and shatter his leg. He goes to see Finny and begins to admit what happened, but the doctor interrupts him, and Finny is sent home before Gene gets another chance to confess. On his way back to school from vacation, he stops by Finny’s house and tries to tell him the truth about what happened. Finny refuses to listen to him, and Gene rescinds his confession and continues on to school. World War II is in full swing and the boys at Devon are all eager to enlist in the military. Brinker Hadley, a prominent class politician, tells Gene that they enlist together, and Gene agrees. But later that night, he finds Finny has returned to school. Both Gene and Brinker decide not to enlist. Brinker organizes a meeting with their classmates and has Gene and Finny come without notice. The boys question the two about the fall. Finny does not say much because he cannot remember clearly, and Gene claims that he doesn’t remember the details of it. The boys now bring in Leper, who was sighted earlier in the day skulking about the bushes, and Leper begins to implicate Gene. Finny declares that he does not care about the facts and rushes out of the room. Hurrying on the stairs, he falls and breaks his leg again. Gene sneaks over to the school’s infirmary that night to see Finny, who angrily sends him away. The next morning, he goes to see Finny again, takes full blame for the tragedy and apologizes. Finny accepts these statements and the two are reconciled. Later, during an operation on Finny’s leg, something goes wrong, killing him. Gene receives the news with  relative calmness; he feels that he has become a part of Finny and will always be with him. At the end of the novel Gene reflects on the constant enmity that plagues the human heart—a curse from which he believes that only Finny was immune. I believe that John Knowles titled his novel A Separate Peace because Gene gains a separate peace with himself. Even though he hurt Finny and had lots of conflict with him and troubling finding himself, at the end he is able to feel at peace. It was a different peace than he was expecting. The novel focused on the inner wars we wage with ourselves. Even in the midst of a world war, Gene battles his inner demons and defeats his worst enemy inside himself and thus creates a different, a separate peace for himself. The four main characters in A Separate Peace are the protagonist, Gene Forrester, the antagonist, Brinker Hadley, and two of their classmates Finny and Elwin â€Å"Leper† Lepellier. If I were to describe Gene in five words, I would say that he is insecure, envious, loyal, competitive, and honest. I would describe Brinker as authoritative, demanding, intelligent, responsible, and mature. Finny is outgoing, free-spirited, mischievous, vulnerable, and charismatic. And Leper is gentle, contemplative, quiet, bright, and bold. My first impression of the protagonist, Gene was that he very much a follower and not a leader. Right from the start he â€Å"let Finny talk [him] into stupid things† (17) and felt that â€Å"he was getting some kind of hold over [him]† (17). But he still jumped from the tree anyway. Another time I was able to see this was when Finny suggested that they go to the beach and Gene had thought of all the risks such as â€Å"expulsion, destroyed . . . studying [he] was going to do for an important test the next morning, blasted the reasonable amount of order [he] wanted to maintain in [his] life, and . . . the kind of long, labored bicycle ride [he] hated† (46). But his response was still â€Å"’ [a]all right’† (46). These actions of continuing to follow what others do, specifically Phineas is on Phineas’ first day back after his fall. Finny tells Gene for the first time that he was working towards the 1944 Olympics, but with his broken leg, he can no longer achieve that goal, which gives him the idea to train Gene for them instead. â€Å"And not believing him, not forgetting that troops were being shuttled toward battlefields all over the world, [he] went along, as [he] always did† (117). Gene does not only show this willingness to go along with just Finny, but Brinker as well. My first impression of  the antagonist, Brinker Hadley was that he is very authoritative and that he is definitely a leader. The first time I was able to see this was after their long day of service to the war effort when a group of boys including Brinker and Gene were in the butt room, and Brinker had told everyone that â€Å"[he was] giving it up† (100) and that he would enlist the next day. I saw it as him taking advantage of his leadership position among the boys and to lead the way into serving in the war. A more obvious way of seeing his leadership is the way that he is described as â€Å"the hub of the class† (87). Hub is a synonym for the center of something, or the heart and core. If someone is described as the hub of the class, then it means that they are the person that keeps the class together. The final way I was able to see Brinker’s leadership was towards t he end of the book. Even though he had transformed to a more rebellious way, there was still a sign of his authority when he had arranged the trial in the Assembly Hall. His wanting to know the truth that was hidden from him drove him to hold the meeting in order to find it. Gene is definitely a dynamic and round character unlike Brinker who is a static and flat character. Gene changes very significantly in the story. He struggled a lot with finding himself and his identity, so much that he believes that he is a part of Phineas. Oddly enough, this sort of makes sense. One way to think about it is the guilt – Gene was so disgusted with himself for having caused Finny’s accident that he can’t bear to be himself, so he becomes someone else: Phineas. Another explanation is that because the struggle to define him is so difficult, he’s simply borrowed someone else’s identity instead of creating one for himself. But once Finny is gone, Gene has to rely on himself to make decisions and make up his own rules. At the end of the novel as Gene is reflecting fifteen years later, he says that â€Å"[his war ended before [he] ever put on a uniform . . . [because he] killed [his] enemy there† (204). I believe that the enemy he defeated was the part of Phineas that was in him, and by doing that he was able to gain peace. Brinker really does not transform much throughout th e story. His main change is when he steps down from his position in the Golden Fleece Debating Society and his behavior at the winter festival, but his strong and authoritative personality remains. â€Å"It wasn’t the cider which made me surpass myself, it was this liberation we had torn from the gray encroachments of 1943, the escape we had concocted, this  afternoon of momentary, illusory, special and separate peace.† (136,137) This passage stood out to me because in the midst of a raging war, these schoolboys were able to find their own peace with each other by having fun and seeing that the little things in life like a winter carnival could create such an escape for them. It was their idea of freedom that gave them such peace within themselves, and it was as if the war was not even going on. There were many themes in this novel, but the one that stood out the most to me was the difference between creating your own identity and dependence on someone else to â€Å"borrow† theirs. When Phineas told Gene that he would be participating in sports in his place, Gene had a realization that what he had been longing for was to be a part of Finny. This is very different than the end of the novel where Gene is looking back to that time and realizing that the part of Phineas that was in him had died when Phineas died. And because of that death, he had to rely on himself in order to craft his own identity and to finally gain peace. I think that one of the biggest decisions Gene had to make was to tell Finny the truth on his way back to school after the summer session. Even though Finny did not listen to him, the courage that it took Gene to do that was immense. I think that it was wise because it showed that he cared enough about Finny to tell him the truth. I also think that it helped him get rid of some of the guilt by just having Finny know what actually happened, whether he believed it or not. If I were in Gene’s position I probably would do the same thing just because I know from previous experience that if you lie, it can really hurt you in the end, and it is a pain to have it harboring over you all the time. Iâ€⠄¢ve learned two life lessons from this novel. One is to enjoy life, and not be so worried about what is going to happen next. I should not be completely apathetic to the future, but to live to the fullest and have fun. Another more serious lesson is the importance of forgiveness and love. If someone has wronged me, I should not keep a grudge against them or make them feel terrible about it, but instead I should do what Christ calls us to do which is to love one another as yourself, and to forgive. A Separate Peace has really reminded me how important these lessons, especially the latter are as I continue to mature. There really was not anything that I disliked about this book except for one quote. Gene is telling the reader one of Finny’s most important rules, and one of them was â€Å"[a]lways say your prayers  at night because it might turn out that there is a God† (35). I did not like this quote just because of what I believe in and what I know as truth. I believe that there is a God and that I should always pray no matter what. But other than this one quote, there was nothing I really disliked about it.