The Relevance of William Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet Today

The Relevance of William Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet Today I strongly agree with this statement the reason being, the story of Romeo and Juliet shows arange of emotions and issues that people from any age, gender or background are able to relate to. This is one of many reasons why the story is such a big success in todays culture. Shakespeares story is focused on the two young lovers that cant be together and all the anguish that surrounds them, this is true as it follows on in to days society. At the beginning of the play Shakespeare lets the audience have an insight to what the play may be about, he does that in such a way through the prologue which is featured in the beginning of the†¦show more content†¦Audience will feel they are able to relate to the two lovers as them there selves have falling in love at first sight or maybe the audience might feel Romeo just taking advantage of her so he can sleep with her and think of her as a quick thing, or it could be a crush and not love. In Shakespeare time their were arrange marriages in well establish families, this has lead me to believe that Shakespeare has taken that situation and related to his play, this issue was raised, where Lady Capulet says to Juliet how stands your dispositions to be married this quote is saying how do you feel about having an arranged marriage and the response that Juliet gives It is an honour that I dream not of in other words it is not her desire to be married. This can still happen to families or societies that are in conflict. This can also be said to some parents in certain cultures for example Muslim or Asian, they decide on who would be suited for their son or daughter. Todays audience may feel strongly with Juliets decision because people feel its wrong of the parents to do that against her and that no one can choose who they fall in love with. On the other hand people may agree with the parents choice and they will see that their decision is to protect their daughter security and future happiness. Ive noticed that there are moreShow MoreRelated William Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet Essay1690 Words   |  7 PagesWilliam Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet Although the story of Romeo and Juliet is over 500 years old, it is as relevant and appealing today as it was when first performed. Although dated, the story of Romeo and Juliet still holds great appeal and relevance to today’s society, despite the differences in morals and values between William Shakespeare’s audience 500 years ago, and Baz Luhrmann’s audience today. The arising issues of order and authority, fate and love entertain/ed and appeals/edRead MoreEssay on Consequences of Love and Hate Explored in Romeo and Juliet1075 Words   |  5 Pagesand playwright, William Shakespeare, the play Romeo and Juliet is written in a poetic disquisition that distinguishes many timeless themes. These themes transcend the boundaries of this perennial classic into the foundation of many prevailing modern-day literary workings. Shakespeare wrote Romeo and Juliet in the late fifteen hundreds in the riveting city of Verona, Italy, where it has since been revered as one of the most preeminent and recognized play’s in history. Romeo and Juliet explores the extentsRead MoreThe Representation of Love and Marriage in William Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet793 Words   |  4 PagesThe Representation of Love and Marriage in William Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet In this essay I am going to examine love and marriage and the way it is presented in the play Romeo and Juliet. William Shakespeare is one of the most famous writers in British history. During Shakespeares time, attitudes to love and marriage were very different to the ways we are used to today. Love is presented as an intense and overwhelming force in the story and different forms of loveRead MoreLooking For Richard A Film By Al Pacino1251 Words   |  6 Pagesenjoy watching a Shakespearean play. 2 1 1 2. That’s old stuff; Shakespeare has no relevance to life today. 4 3 3 3. Shakespeare’s tragedies can’t be fully understood without the use of notes and â€Å"translations.† 3 2 4 4. Shakespeare should be required reading for high school and college students. 3 2 2 5. People’s problems and behaviors change significantly from one century to another. 2 1 2 6. Shakespeare’s plays were meant for the upper-class intellectuals of the time. 1 2 3 7. People can’tRead MoreWilliam Shakespeare s Othello And The English Language1649 Words   |  7 PagesPoet, playwright, actor and dramatist, William Shakespeare is one of the most influential and greatest writers up to this day in poetry and the English language. Known, for his many acclaimed works such as his famous plays, â€Å"Othello,† â€Å"King Lear,† and â€Å"Romeo and Juliet† etc. More than four hundred years have passed and William Shakespeare’s work still alive as if it was during the early ages of Shakespeare work. Shakespeare influenced ranges from literature, theater, films and even the English languageRead MoreTheme Of Love In Romeo And Juliet913 Words   |  4 PagesClassic literature has timeless relevance. William Shakespeare’s tragedy, Romeo and Juliet (1599) is a play about star-crossed lovers who eventually are unable to run away and live together and enjoy their marriage. The play explores contrasting themes of several types love and hate, which in a way represents the motif of light versus dark that is presented in the play. These themes rely on each other to exist and lead to so many of the tragic events in the play. Love and hate have always been experiencedRead MoreLove, Haste and Contrasts in William Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet1547 Words   |  7 PagesContrasts in William Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet In this assignment, I will be looking at the play of Romeo and Juliet. I will analyse how Shakespeare has used language in the play for symbolic effect. I will observe on how Shakespeare has presented love and the way in which Romeo and Juliet talk to each other, I shall decide whether their love was real and talk about their parents contrasting views and opinions. I will also comment on the plays relevance today and seeRead More The Politics of Contemporary Approaches to Shakespeare Essay3166 Words   |  13 Pages-----------------Paper begins here------------------- A number of years ago, Arizona State University denied tenure to the head of the graduate theater program because of his commitment to teaching acting through the classics, most prominently through the plays of William Shakespeare. The professor under controversy, Professor Jared Sakren, hailed from Juilliard. ASU had recruited him primarily to build a graduate acting department. An equation for success turned into a recipe for disaster. The feminists in the departmentRead MoreEssay about William Shakespeares Relevance Today2257 Words   |  10 PagesWilliam Shakespeares Relevance Today For as long as formal education has existed in Britain it has been a largely standard assumption that teaching the works of William Shakespeare is relevant and necessary. Perhaps the relevance of his writing is taken for granted, perhaps it is necessary to re-examine the role of Shakespeare for the modern audience. There are indeed many people who question the relevance of this 440 year old playwright to a 21st century audienceRead More Othello – How it Ranks Essay2151 Words   |  9 PagesOthello – How it Ranks  Ã‚         In the context of thousands of plays written by hundreds of dramatists since 500 years prior to the time of Christ, how does William Shakespeare’s play Othello rank? In this essay let us find the proper place for this play, and consider critical opinion in the process.    Othello would appear to have a beauty about it which is hard to match – thus ranking high. Helen Gardner in â€Å"Othello: A Tragedy of Beauty and Fortune† touches on this beauty which enables

The Silver Linings Playbook Chapter 25 Free Essays

string(81) " that Caitlin has been married to my brother for years, yet I had never met her\." The Asian Invasion After a relatively short workout and an even shorter – and silent – run with Tiffany, I hop a train to Philadelphia. Following Jake’s directions, I walk down Market Street toward the river, turn right on Second Street, and follow the road to his building. When I reach the address, I am surprised to find that Jake lives in a high-rise that overlooks the Delaware River. We will write a custom essay sample on The Silver Linings Playbook Chapter 25 or any similar topic only for you Order Now I have to give my name to the doorman and tell him who I am visiting before he will let me in the building. He’s just an old man in a funny costume, who says â€Å"Go Eagles† when he sees my Baskett jersey, but my brother having a doorman is sort of impressive, regardless of the man’s uniform. Another old man wears a different sort of funny costume in the elevator – he even has on one of those brimless monkey hats – and this man takes me to the tenth floor after I tell him my brother’s name. The elevator doors open, and I walk down a blue hallway on a thick red carpet. When I find number 1021, I knock three times. â€Å"What’s up, Baskett?† my brother says after he opens the door. He’s in his Jerome Brown memorial jersey because it’s game day again. â€Å"Come on in.† There is a huge bay window in the living room, and I can see the Ben Franklin Bridge, the Camden Aquarium, and tiny boats floating on the Delaware. It’s a beautiful view. I immediately notice that my brother has a flat-screen television thin enough to hang on the wall like a picture – and it is even bigger than Dad’s television. But strangest of all, my brother has a baby grand piano in his living room. â€Å"What’s this?† I ask. â€Å"Check it out,† Jake says. He sits down on the piano bench, lifts the cover off the keys, and then actually starts playing. I am amazed that he can play â€Å"Fly, Eagles, Fly.† His version isn’t very fancy, just a simple chord progression, but it’s definitely the Eagles’ fight song. When he begins to sing, I sing along with him. When he finishes, we do the chant and then Jake tells me he has been taking lessons for the past three years. He even plays me another song, which is very unlike â€Å"Fly, Eagles, Fly.† This next song is familiar – surprisingly gentle, like a kitten walking through high grass – and it seems so unlike Jake to create something this beautiful. I actually feel my eyes moistening as my brother plays with his eyes shut, moving his torso back and forth with the sway of the piece, which also looks funny because he is wearing an Eagles jersey. He makes a couple of mistakes, but I don’t even care, be cause he is trying very hard to play the piece correctly for me and that’s what counts, right? When he finishes, I clap loudly and then ask him what he was playing. â€Å"Pathetique. Piano Sonata number 8. Beethoven. That was part of the second movement. Adagio cantabile,† Jake says. â€Å"Did you like it?† â€Å"Very much.† Truthfully, I am amazed. â€Å"When did you learn to play?† â€Å"When Caitlin moved in with me, she brought her piano, and she’s sort of been teaching me all about music ever since.† I start to feel dizzy because I have never heard mention of this Caitlin, and I think my brother just told me she lives here with him, which would mean my brother is in a serious relationship I know nothing about. This does not seem right. Brothers should know about each other’s lovers. Finally I manage to say, â€Å"Caitlin?† My brother takes me into his bedroom, and there’s a big wooden poster bed with two matching armoires that look like guards facing each other. He picks up a framed black-and-white photo from the bed stand and hands it to me. In the photo, Jake’s cheek is smashed against a beautiful woman’s. She has short blond hair, cut almost like a man’s, and she is very delicate-looking, but pretty. She is in a white dress; Jake is in a tuxedo. â€Å"That’s Caitlin,† Jake says. â€Å"She plays with the Philadelphia Orchestra sometimes and does a lot of recording in New York City too. She’s a classical pianist.† â€Å"Why have I not heard about Caitlin before?† Jake takes the portrait from my hands and stands it up on the dresser. We walk back into the living room and sit down on his leather couch. â€Å"I knew you were upset about Nikki, so I didn’t want to tell you that I was †¦ well †¦ happily married.† Married? The word hits me like a giant wave, and suddenly I am slick with sweat. â€Å"Mom actually tried to get you out of that place in Baltimore for the Mass, but it was when you were first admitted and they wouldn’t let you out. Mom didn’t want me to tell you about Caitlin yet, so I didn’t at first, but you’re my brother, and now that you’re home, I wanted you to know about my life, and Caitlin’s the best part. I’ve told her all about you and – if you want – you can meet her today. I had her go out this morning while I broke the news to you. I can call her now, and we can have lunch before we go down to the Linc. So, do you want to meet my wife?† The next thing I know, I’m at a little swanky cafe off South Street, sitting across from a beautiful woman who holds my brother’s hand under the table and smiles at me unceasingly. Jake and Caitlin carry the conversation, and it feels a lot like when I am with Veronica and Ronnie. Jake answers most of the questions Caitlin asks me, because I do not say much at all. No mention is made of Nikki or my time at the bad place or just how bizarre it is that Caitlin has been married to my brother for years, yet I had never met her. You read "The Silver Linings Playbook Chapter 25" in category "Essay examples" When the waiter comes, I say I’m not hungry, because I don’t have very much money on me – only the ten bucks my mother gave me for the subway, since I already spent five bucks on the PATCO ticket. But my brother orders for all of us and says he is treating, which is nice of him. We eat fancy ham sandwiches with some sort of sun-dried tomato paste, and when I finish, I ask Caitlin if the ceremony was a nice one. â€Å"What ceremony?† she says, and I catch her looking at the little white scar above my right eyebrow. â€Å"Your wedding ceremony.† â€Å"Oh,† she says, and then looks lovingly at my brother. â€Å"Yes. It was really nice. We had the Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City and then a small reception at the New York Palace.† â€Å"How long have you been married?† My brother shoots his wife a look that I do not miss. â€Å"A while now,† she says, which makes me feel crazy because everyone present knows that I do not remember the last couple of years – and because she is a woman, Caitlin knows exactly how long she has been married to Jake. It is obvious she is trying to protect me by being vague. This makes me feel awful, even though I realize Caitlin is trying to be kind. My brother pays the bill, and we walk Caitlin back to their apartment building. Jake kisses his wife by the entrance door, and his love for her is so obvious. But then Caitlin kisses me right on the cheek, and with her face only a few inches from mine, she says, â€Å"I’m glad I finally got to meet you, Pat. I hope we’ll become good friends.† I nod because I don’t know what else to say, and then Caitlin says, â€Å"Go Baker!† â€Å"It’s Baskett, dummy,† Jake says, and Caitlin blushes before they kiss again. Jake hails a taxi and tells the driver, â€Å"City Hall.† In the taxi I tell my brother I don’t have any money to pay for the taxi ride, but he says I never have to pay for anything when I am with him, which is a nice thing to say, but his saying it makes me feel sort of strange. Underneath City Hall, we buy subway tokens, spin a turnstile, and then wait for the southbound Orange Line. Even though it is only 1:30 p.m. and kickoff is not for seven hours yet, even though it is a Monday, a day when most people have to work, many men in Eagles jerseys are already waiting on the platform. This makes me realize that Jake is not working today – it makes me realize I do not even know what Jake does for a living, which really starts to freak me out. I think hard and remember that my brother was a business major in college, but I cannot remember where he works, so I ask him. â€Å"I’m an options trader,† he says. â€Å"What’s that?† â€Å"I play the stock market.† â€Å"Oh,† I say. â€Å"So who do you work for?† â€Å"Myself.† â€Å"What do you mean?† â€Å"I work for myself and do all my business online. I’m self-employed.† â€Å"Which is why you could take off early to hang out with me.† â€Å"That’s the best part about being self-employed.† I am very impressed with Jake’s ability to support himself and his wife by playing the stock market, but he doesn’t want to talk about his work. He thinks I’m not smart enough to understand what he does; Jake doesn’t even try to explain his work to me. â€Å"So what did you think of Caitlin?† he asks me. But the train comes, and we join the herd of boarding Eagles fans before I can answer. â€Å"What did you think of Caitlin?† he asks again after we find seats and the train starts moving. â€Å"She’s great,† I say, avoiding eye contact with my brother. â€Å"You’re mad at me for not telling you about Caitlin right away.† â€Å"No, I’m not.† I want to tell him all about Tiffany following me when I run; finding the â€Å"Pat† box; how Mom is still on strike and dirty dishes are in the sink and Dad turned his white shirts pink when he did the wash; how my therapist Cliff says I need to stay neutral and not get involved in my parents’ marital problems but only focus on improving my own mental health – but how can I do that when Dad and Mom are sleeping in separate rooms and Dad is always telling me to clean the house and Mom is telling me to leave it filthy – and I was having a hard time keeping it together before I found out my brother plays the piano and trades stocks and is living with a beautiful musician and I have missed his gala wedding and therefore will never see my brother marry, which is something I very much wanted to see, because I love my brother. But instead of saying any of this, I say, â€Å"Jake, I’m sort of worried about seeing that Gia nts fan again.† â€Å"Is that why you’ve been so quiet today?† my brother asks, as if he has forgotten all about what happened before the last home game. â€Å"I doubt a Giants fan will show up at the Green Bay game, but we’re going to set up in a different parking lot anyway, just in case any of the asshole’s friends are looking for us. I got your back. Don’t worry. The fat guys are setting up the tent in the lot behind the Wachovia Center. No worries at all.† When we arrive at Broad and Pattison, we exit the subway car and climb back up into the afternoon. I follow my brother through the thin crowds of diehards who – like us – have begun tailgating seven hours before kickoff, on a Monday no less. We walk past the Wachovia Center, and when the fat men’s green tent comes into view, I can’t believe what I see. The fat men are outside of the tent with Scott, and they are yelling at someone hidden by their collective girth. A huge school bus painted green – it’s running, and the driver is inching toward our tent. On the hood of the bus is a portrait of Brian Dawkins’s bust, and the likeness is incredible. (Dawkins is a regular Pro Bowler who plays free safety for the Birds.) As we get closer, I make out the words the asian invasion along the side of the bus, which is full of brown-faced men. This early in the afternoon, parking spaces are plentiful, so I wonder what the argument is about. Soon I recognize the voice, which argues, â€Å"The Asian Invasion has been parked in this very spot for every home game since the Linc was opened. It’s good luck for the Eagles. We are Eagles fans, just like you. Superstition or not, our parking the Asian Invasion bus in this very spot is crucial if you want the Birds to win tonight.† â€Å"We’re not moving our tent,† Scott says. â€Å"No fucking way. You should have gotten here earlier.† The fat men reiterate Scott’s sentiment, and things are getting heated. I see Cliff before he sees me. â€Å"Move the tent,† I say to our friends. Scott and the fat men turn to face me; they look surprised by my command, almost bewildered, as if I have betrayed them. My brother and Scott exchange a glance, and then Scott asks, â€Å"Hank Baskett – destroyer of Giants fans – says, ‘Move the tent’?† â€Å"Hank Baskett says, ‘Move the tent,'† I say. Scott turns and faces Cliff, who is shocked to see me. Scott says, â€Å"Hank Baskett says, ‘Move the tent.’ So we move the tent.† The fat guys groan, but they begin to break down our tailgate party, and soon it is moved three parking spaces over, along with Scott’s van, at which time the Asian Invasion bus pulls forward and parks. Fifty or so Indian men exit – each one of them wearing a green number 20 Dawkins jersey. They are like a small army, and soon, several barbecues are going and the smell of curry is all around us. Cliff played it cool and did not say hello to me, which I realize was his way of saying, â€Å"It’s your call, Pat.† He simply faded away into the other Dawkins jerseys, so I would not have to explain our relationship, which was kind of him. When we have our tent resituated, when the fat men are inside watching television, Scott says, â€Å"Hey, Baskett. Why did you let the dot heads have our parking spot?† â€Å"None of them have a dot on their head,† I say. â€Å"Did you know that little guy?† Jake asks me. â€Å"Which little guy, me?† We turn around, and Cliff is standing there with a sizzling platter of vegetables and meat cubes skewered on sticks of wood. â€Å"Indian kabobs. Quite delicious. For allowing us to park the Asian Invasion bus in its usual spot.† When Cliff lifts the platter up, we each grab an Indian kabob, and the meat is spicy, but delicious, as are the vegetables. â€Å"And the men in the tent – would they also like one?† â€Å"Hey, fat-asses,† Scott yells. â€Å"Food.† The fat men come out and partake. Soon everyone is nodding and complimenting Cliff on his delicious food. â€Å"Sorry for the trouble,† Cliff says so nicely. He’s been so kind – even after hearing Scott call him a dot head – that I can’t help claiming Cliff as a friend, so I say, â€Å"Cliff, this is my brother, Jake, my friend Scott, and †¦Ã¢â‚¬  I forget the fat men’s names, so I just say, â€Å"Friends of Scott.† â€Å"Shit,† Scott says. â€Å"You should have just told us you were friends with Baskett here and we wouldn’t have given you any trouble. You want a beer?† â€Å"Sure,† Cliff says, putting the empty tray down on the concrete. Scott hands everyone a green plastic cup, we all pour bottles of Yuengling Lager, and then I am drinking beers with my therapist. I am afraid Cliff will yell at me for drinking when I am on medications, but he doesn’t. â€Å"How do you guys know each other?† one of the fat guys says, and then I realize that by â€Å"you guys,† he means Cliff and me. I am so happy to be drinking beers with Cliff that I say, â€Å"He’s my therapist,† before I can remind myself to lie. â€Å"And we are friends too,† Cliff quickly adds, which surprises me but makes me feel pretty good, especially since no one says anything about my needing a therapist. â€Å"What are your boys doing?† Jake asks Cliff. I turn around and see ten or so men rolling out huge sheets of Astroturf. â€Å"They are rolling out the Kubb fields.† â€Å"What?† everyone says. â€Å"Come on, I’ll show you.† And this is how we came to play what Cliff calls the Swedish Viking game while tailgating before Monday Night Football. â€Å"Why do a bunch of Indians play a Swedish Viking game?† one of the fat men asks. â€Å"Because it’s fun,† Cliff replies, so cool. The Indian men are quick to share their food and are also so knowledgeable regarding Eagles football. They explain Kubb, which is a game where you throw wooden batons to knock down your opponent’s kubbs, which are wooden blocks set up on opposite baselines. The knocked-down kubbs get tossed to the opponents’ field and set up where they land. To be truthful, I am still not exactly sure how it all works, but I know the game ends when you clean the opponents’ field of kubbs and knock down the kubb king, which is the tallest block of wood, set up in the center of the Astroturf. Cliff surprises me by asking if he can be my partner. All afternoon he tells me which blocks to aim for, and we win many games in between bouts of eating Indian kabobs and drinking our Yuengling Lager and the Asian Invasion’s India Pale Ale out of green plastic cups. Jake, Scott, and the fat men assimilate into the Asian Invasion tailgate party very nicely – we have Indians in our tent, they have white guys on their Kubb fields – and I think all it really takes for different people to get along is a common rooting interest and a few beers. Every so often one of the Indian men yells â€Å"Ahhhhhhhh!† and when we all do the chant, we are fifty or so men strong, and our â€Å"E!-A!-G!-L!-E!-S! EAGLES!† is deafening. Cliff is deadly with his wooden batons. He mostly carries our team as we play Kubb against various groupings of men, but we end up winning the money tournament, in which I did not even know we were playing until we won. One of Cliff’s boys hands me fifty dollars. Cliff explains that Jake paid my entry fee, so I try to give my brother my winnings, but Jake will not let me. Finally, I decide to buy rounds of beer inside the Linc, and I stop arguing with my brother over money. After the sun sets, when it is just about time to go into Lincoln Financial Field, I ask Cliff if I can talk to him alone, and when we walk away from the Asian Invasion, I say, â€Å"Is this okay?† â€Å"This?† he replies, and the glassy look in his eyes suggests he is a little drunk. â€Å"The two of us hanging out like boys. What my friend Danny would call ‘representing.'† â€Å"Why not?† â€Å"Well, because you are my therapist.† Cliff smiles, holds up a little brown finger, and says, â€Å"What did I tell you? When I am not in the leather recliner †¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"You’re a fellow Eagles fan.† â€Å"Damn right,† he says, and then claps me on the back. After the game I catch a ride back to Jersey on the Asian Invasion bus, and the Indian men and I sing â€Å"Fly, Eagles, Fly† over and over again because the Eagles have beaten the Packers 31 – 9 on national television. When Cliff’s friends drop me off in front of my house, it’s after midnight, but the funny driver, who is named Ashwini, hits the horn on the Asian Invasion bus – a special recording of all fifty members screaming â€Å"E!-A!-G!-L!-E!-S! EAGLES!† I worry that maybe they have woken up everyone in my neighborhood, but I can’t help laughing as the green bus pulls away. My father is still awake, sitting on the family-room couch watching ESPN. When he sees me, he doesn’t say hello, but loudly begins to sing, â€Å"Fly, Eagles, fly. On the road to victory †¦Ã¢â‚¬  So I sing the song one more time with my father, and when we finish the chant at the end, my dad continues to hum the fight song as he marches off to bed without so much as asking me a single question about my day, which has been extraordinary to say the least, even if Hank Baskett only had two catches for twenty-seven yards and has yet to find the end zone. I think about cleaning up my father’s empty beer bottles, but I remember what my mother told me about keeping the house filthy while she is on strike. Downstairs, I hit the weights and try not to think about missing Jake’s wedding, which still has me down some, even if the Birds did win. I need to work off the beer and the Indian kabobs, so I lift for many hours. How to cite The Silver Linings Playbook Chapter 25, Essay examples

Homosexuality in U.S. free essay sample

Overview of societys changing views; looking at legal scientific issues, political activism and the issue of AIDS. This paper is a study of the current understanding about homosexuality, the state in which an individual is sexually attracted to members of his or her own gender instead of to members of the opposite sex. Estimates vary regarding the percentage of the population that can be defined as homosexual; some experts believe it may be as high as 10 percent but acknowledge that the precise number is impossible to determine since cultural and societal stigmas continue to make an openly homosexual lifestyle difficult and painful. While as recently as the early 1970s homosexuality was classified as a psychological disorder by the American Psychiatric Association, the majority of scientists now agree that sexual orientation is determined primarily by an individuals genes. However, many families, societies, organized religions, and legal systems continue to..

The Historic RH Law Essay Sample free essay sample

The historic RH jurisprudence is non merely a legislative act that will protect and advance the sexual and generative wellness and rights of Filipinos and heighten maternal and infant wellness. It is besides a calamity-risk decrease scheme and a clime alteration extenuation and version policy. The link among population. generative wellness and clime alteration are through empirical observation given as they are well-established and validated.The absence of a comprehensive and national policy on RH besides contributed to the degree of desolation and impact of clime alteration on the lives of people.The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change ( UNFCC ) defines climate alteration as â€Å"a alteration of clime which is attributed straight or indirectly to human activity† . This definition genuinely demonstrates the nexus between population and clime alteration.The followers are the relevant impacts of the RH jurisprudence on population in relation to calamity-risk decrease and direction:1. Continuing the basic human right to reproductive self-government wherein twosomes and adult females are empowered to freely and responsibly find the figure and spacing of their kids. We will write a custom essay sample on The Historic RH Law Essay Sample or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page therefore extenuating the population growing rate. 2. Enabling twosomes and adult females to carry through their birthrate ends. Surveies have shown that the spread between wanted and existent birthrate rates is alarmingly high in adult females in the poorest quintile. Harmonizing to the 2006 Family Planning Survey. an norm of 44 % of gestations in the poorest 10 % of Filipino adult females are unwanted. 3. Increasing the prophylactic prevalence rate ( CPR ) . Again. the FPS 2006 reveals that contraceptive usage remains highly low among hapless adult females whose households are at greatest hazard during catastrophes. Among the poorest 20 % of adult females. over 50 % do non utilize any signifier of household planning because of deficiency of information and entree to services and trade goods. 4. Decreasing adolescent gestations as a consequence of age and development-appropriate generative wellness and gender instruction. Despite the bead in adolescent matrimonies. teenage gestations in the state have increased by 65 % over a 10-year period from 2000-2010 harmonizing to the United Nations Population Fund ( UNFPA ) and Plan Philippines. Teenage gestation in the Philippines is among the highest in the universe. 5. Decreasing migration as fewer kids exert less force per unit area on parents to seek the elusive â€Å"greener pasture† in urban centres.6. Generating more nest eggs from lesser authorities intercession and outgo for gestation and maternity-related wellness services which nest eggs can be channeled to climate alteration extenuation and version policies and installations. The RH jurisprudence is much more than merely a household be aftering legislative act. â€Å"It is genuinely an effectual development tool that will at the same time help authorities in turn toing jobs associating to population. generative wellness and clime alteration. † Addressing clime alteration and seting a arrest to the impairment of the environment need non be dearly-won and must non be limited to investings in green engineerings. Harmonizing to the chief writer of RH. Representative Edcel Lagman. â€Å"since a immense population and catastrophes are fatal spouses. the extenuation of the population growing rate as a logical effect of advancing cosmopolitan entree to reproductive wellness and household planning. will heighten the Philippines’ positive response to climate alteration extenuation and version. † He said further. â€Å"family planning is well cheaper than many low C technologies† and that â€Å"family planning is a cost effectual tool in cut downing C emanations. † â€Å"Truly. lesser emitters mean lesser emanations. † Lagman said.

Overview of information tecnology in the UK essays

Overview of information tecnology in the UK essays The United Kingdom is located north of France and east of Ireland and is made up of England, Whales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. It has an overall population of about 60 million people. The UK is at the forefront of Western Europe in the information technology arena. They have one of the most developed telecommunications system in the world that provides 100% demand satisfaction with no wait time. The government is attempting to provide all its services online and strongly supports the development of information technology in all areas. The UK has several science and research and development parks run by their universities that work to develop new technologies and enhance the regions IT capabilities. They are ranked as one of the most advanced IT countries in the world; however they still lag behind the U.S. and a few other countries in internet usage and E-commerce capabilities. Despite their willingness to move forward in the realm of information technology they are very conservative and venture capital is sometimes hard to come by, in addition to this they have some stringent laws and taxes that both ease and hinder internet usage and capabilities. The United Kingdom has one of the best telecommunication systems in the world. It is a world leader in the terms of speed, development, expertise in transmissions, and software, opto-electrics and manufacturing of equipment in this area. They use a mix of buried cables, microwave systems, and fiber optics to create their in country infrastructure and have 30,938,000 conventional phone lines in place. Their international telecommunications infrastructure is also very strong and is devised of 40 coaxial submarine cables, 10 Interstat earth satellite stations, 1 Immarstat, 1 Eurtestat satellite stations and at least 10 international switching centers. This strong infrastructure is due mainly to deregulation of the telecommunications industry and liberalizatio...

Graduate Record Exam Frequently Asked Questions

Graduate Record Exam Frequently Asked Questions Like it or not, if youre applying to grad school the Graduate Record Exam (GRE) is on your to-do list. What is the GRE? The GRE is a standardized exam that permits admissions committees to compare applicants on the same scale. The GRE measures a variety of skills that are thought to predict success in graduate school across a wide variety of disciplines. Actually, there are several GRE tests. Most often when an applicant, professor, or admissions director mentions the GRE, he or she is referring to the GRE General Test, which is thought to measure general aptitude. The GRE Subject Test, on the other hand, examines applicants knowledge of a specific field, such as Psychology or Biology. You will most definitely be required to take the GRE General Test; however, not all graduate programs require you to take the corresponding GRE Subject Test. What Does the GRE Measure? The GRE General Test measures the skills that youve acquired over the high school and college years. It is an aptitude test because it is meant to measure your potential to succeed in graduate school. While the GRE is only one of several criteria that graduate schools use to evaluate your application, it is one of the most important. This is particularly true if your college GPA is not as high as youd like. Exceptional GRE scores can open up new opportunities for grad school. The GRE General Test contains sections that measure verbal, quantitative, and analytical writing skills. The Verbal section tests your ability to understand and analyze written material through the use of sentence completion and reading comprehension questions.The Quantitative section tests basic math skills and emphasizes data interpretation as well as your ability to understand and apply quantitative skills to solve problems. Types of questions include quantitative comparisons, problem-solving, and data interpretation.The Analytical Writing section tests your ability to articulate complex ideas clearly and effectively, examine claims and accompanying evidence, support ideas with relevant reasons and examples, sustain a well-focused, coherent discussion, and control the elements of standard written English. It consists of two written essays: Analyze an Issue Task and Analyze an Argument Task. GRE Scoring How is the GRE scored? The verbal and quantitative subtests yield scores ranging from 130-170, in 1 point increments. Most graduate schools consider the verbal and quantitative sections to be particularly important in making decisions about applicants. The analytical writing section yields a score ranging from 0-6, in half-point increments. How Long Does the GRE Take? The GRE General Test will take 3 hours and 45 minutes to complete, plus time for breaks and reading instructions. There are six sections to the GRE One Analytical Writing section with two 30 minute tasks. This section is always the first a test-taker receivesTwo Verbal Reasoning sections (30 minutes each)Two Quantitative Reasoning sections (35 minutes each)One unscored section, typically a Verbal Reasoning or Quantitative Reasoning section, that may appear at any point in the computer-based GRE revised General TestAn identified research section that is not scored may also be included in the computer-based GRE revised General Test Basic GRE Facts The GRE General is administered by computer year-round.Register to take the GRE at a test center near you.The fee for the GRE is $160 in the US and US Territories, $90 in all other locations.On Test Day arrive 30 minutes early to complete any paperwork. If you arrive late, you may not be admitted and will not be refunded.Bring identification to the test center. Unofficial scores appear on the computer screen following your test. Official scores are mailed to you and the institutions you choose 10 days to two weeks afterward. Plan to take the GRE well in advance of application due dates. Try to take it the spring or summer before you apply to grad school. You can always retake the GRE, but remember that youre allowed to take it only once per calendar month. Prepare well ahead. Consider a GRE prep class.

John Wesley Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

John Wesley - Essay Example Wesley’s preaching mainly focused in developing the Modern Methodist movement, which encompasses the concept of Pentecostalism, the Charismatic movement and Neo-Charismatic churches. Thus, he strongly emphasized on the evangelical status which was much more deviated form the Orthodox Catholic Christianism. Also, he insisted much on perfectionism among the Christians, where he focused on implanting holiness in their heart and life. He framed small groups through which he preached the sacraments and other religious instructions among the members of the groups. Thus the concept of Christian perfectionism was his major basic sacramental theology. â€Å"Wesley wished Methodist to become peculiar people; to abstain from marriages outside the societies; to be distinguished by their dress and by the gravity of speech and manners; to avoid the company of even relatives who were still in Satan’s kingdom.† (Bloy, n. d). Thus, pertaining to the above statement he insisted th at the Methodist to lead a disciplined and spiritual life. Moreover, he always opted for the Open-air teaching where he preached the essence of faith in Salvation and to feel that each and every human being is the child of God and they are filled with God’s spirit. Also he maintained a cordial and amicable relationship with his fellow followers. This part of the content will identify and link the relationship of John Wesley with his followers and his contribution to the Christian History. Wesley traveled all throughout his life meeting all sections of people propagating the vital elements of Methodism and the concept of evangelism. â€Å"He traveled almost constantly, generally on horse back, preaching twice or thrice a day.† (Theology thru Technology). As mentioned above, he formed small groups or societies and propagated his preaching through the groups. Each group had to follow the religious instructions strictly. He insisted the concept of personal responsibility i n developing the spirituality among the members of the societies. He also selected preachers among the groups and they had the role of spreading the concept of evangelism and taking care of the people. His main motive was to administer discipline among the members of the society and thereby allowing them to feel the spirituality and ultimate salvation. His link and relationship with the people, who were his followers, can be easily identified through various events that he implemented during his period. For example, he opened many chapels and made the people to assemble in those chapels and commissioned the preachers respectively. Importantly, he raised funds for the schools, orphanages and established charity homes in various regions of United States of America. Also, he assisted the poor and the sick people by providing them with appropriate medication and other treatment for illness. Thus, he rendered a helping hand for the people who were in need. Moreover he took earnest steps in preparing the religious literatures through which he could make even a lay man understand the essence of Christianity. Through his continuous and constant traveling he was able to meet people and enlighten them with his preaching. â€Å"He is believed to have traveled in the course of his itinerant ministry more then 250,000 miles and to have preached more than 40,000 times.† (John Wesley, n. d.). Thus he spread the vital essence of spiritual Holiness among the people. John Wesley can be considered as a keen observer of Human behavior,

Economics and Environment Policy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Economics and Environment Policy - Essay Example It would be very relevant to quote a few sentences regarding the definition of Environmental economics laid down by the National Bureau of Economic Research Environmental Economics program. "undertakes theoretical or empirical studies of the economic effects of national or local environmental policies around the world. Particular issues include the costs and benefits of alternative environmental policies to deal with air pollution, water quality, toxic substances, solid waste, and global warming." (para 6) According to Davis Lamb the environmental economics' focal point is to centralise on the perception of externality of environment. In other word some or more of the outcomes of a commotion are not evaluated in accordance to its fiscal result. As an example he states that when the pollution level of a given state reaches its optimum level the price of the producer of this pollution subject should be taken into consideration otherwise the balance would be in the brink of commotion. Therefore it is encouraged to formulate the outcome of a polluting medium in respect of utility oriented price format. "in connection to public goods (goods that are "non-excludable" and "non-rival" - that is, they are open to all). Visitors to an open-access recreational area will use the resource more than if they had to pay for it, leading to environmental degradation. This of course assumes that there is no other policy instrument (for example, permits, regulation) being used to control access." (Lamb, 2006, 148) In economic terminology, according to, Davis Lamb in his book Cult to Culture: The Development of Civilization on the Strategic Strata, "these are examples of market failures, and that is an outcome which is not efficient in an economic sense. Here the inefficiency is caused because too much of the polluting activity will be carried out, as the polluter will not take the interests of those adversely affected by the pollution into account. This has led to controversial research into measuring well-being which tries to measure when pollution is actually starting to affect human health and general quality of life". (Lamb, 2006, pg 149) Therefore it is quite evident that the prime concern of the subject environmental economics is to formulate logical outcome and settlement of the issue of pollution and control thereby saving the environment. To attain this objective there are four major solution schemes present as effective tool. Along with these four there are also other alternative tools that are quite logical in implementation. The four basic formulations could be enumerated as Better defined property rights Taxes and tariffs on pollution or Removal of "dirty subsidies" Quotas on pollution Environmental regulations According to the Coase Theorem the assigning property rights is based on a fact that there is all probability that this application would lead to an optimal solution of environmental policies of economics whereby in accordance to regardless of who receives them, the basic

Family Effects on Criminal Behavior Essay Example for Free

Family Effects on Criminal Behavior Essay It is rare for a person to see someone, who comes from a â€Å"good† family per say, to get into criminal behavior but it does happen. These people are brought up in this world with high standards and at some point they just can’t take it. They’re brought up with high expectations on them so when they can’t be met they find a way to cope. They turn to things, such as drug abuse, to make it through their situations. Others are just anti-social so they don’t know another way out but to turn to something that will accept them. Family has a major effect on what they’ll do. If they expect them how they are flaws and all they’re more likely to stay away from criminal behavior. But if they expect nothing but perfection and then are shunned on for not meeting those standards, they find a way to cope. They turn to things that you wouldn’t expect them to do. They’re brought up to high expectations. Then there’s people who aren’t brought up in a â€Å"good family† and don’t turn to the criminal behavior. These people are doing it for themselves. They saw what it was like to come from a â€Å"poor family† and don’t want to be that way the rest of their lives. They know what it’s like to live without the things they need and they want better for their future. They aren’t held to meet high expectations so any type of accomplishment they met is highly looked upon. But then there is the person who was brought up in a â€Å"good family† and isn’t looked upon as doing something so amazing. They just break at some point. But the ones who don’t come from a â€Å"good† family are given praise. People that come from a â€Å"good† family have more pressure on them to be a better person. They have high family values to meet. In Agnew’s Sources of Strain and Their Consequences it states one of the sources of strain is failure to achieve goals and one of the negative affective states could be anger or frustration. So then they turn to drug abuse or violence. But in some cases it’s not the family who has the effect on them. Because in the social learning theory it states that, people act aggressively because, as children, they modeled after the violent acts of adults. So when people are brought up in this world with those role models they try to be just like them. So a person’s acts aren’t only affected by their family. But their family does have a great deal on how they’ll be in the future. Though it is more likely for people that come from a disadvantaged family to turn to crime, there are always exceptions to everything. People can come from a good family and still turn to crime. They find a way to be individual, to stand out from the rest of the family. They want to have their own individuality and be paid attention to and if crime is the only way they are seen, the crime is what they will turn to. As for people who come from a poor family they may want to be able to give back to their family what they couldn’t be given. They strive to be different and stand out from the rest of their family. They too are looking for individuality.

Frege on Truth, Beauty and Goodness Essay -- Friedrich Ludwig Gottlob

Frege on Truth, Beauty and Goodness Scholars of Frege have spent a good deal of energy in discussing his views about truth, logic, and the relation between them. To one set of clues, however, scant attention has been paid. Repeatedly throughout his career, Frege attempted to illuminate the relation between logic and truth by comparing it to the relations between ethics and the good and aesthetics and the beautiful. Truth, beauty and goodness, of course, have had a long history in platonic philosophy. By the beginning of Frege’s career, they were also coming to play a prominent role in neo-Kantian thought, particularly that of Wilhelm Windelband. It is plausible to conjecture that Frege was inspired to look at ethics and aesthetics to understand the link between logic and truth by their connection in the work of Windelband or other neo-Kantians, though I know of no direct evidence that he was. But whatever the sources of Frege’s use of the analogy, it is to his own writing that we must look for its meaning . In the following, I shall look at the comparisons in detail in order to see exactly what Frege intended in likening the relation of logic to truth to that of ethics to the good and aesthetics to the beautiful. It will turn out that, although the language of the various comparisons is superficially similar, Frege actually makes four different points by means of the analogy. Furthermore, only one of these comparisons says something that both a) is about logic and truth and b) could not be better said by a comparison of logic to, for example, physics. I draw two general conclusions from this. First, Frege was struggling over how to understand the relation of logic to truth. (Perhaps this is obvious anyway.) If he had not bee... ...c and Thought†. Frege, Gottlob. (1967) The Basic Laws of Arithmetic, trans. M. Furth (Berkeley: University of California Press). ---------- (1977) Logical Investigations, trans. P. Geach and R. Stoothoff (New Haven: Yale University Press). ---------- (1979) Posthumous Writings, trans. P. Long and R. White (Oxford: Blackwell). Gabriel, Gottfried. (1984) â€Å"Fregean Connection: Bedeutung, Value and Truth-Value†, Philosophical Quarterly, 34, 372-6. -------------- (1986) â€Å"Frege als Neukantianer†, Kant-Studien, 77, 84-101. Goldfarb, Warren. (2001) â€Å"Frege’s Conception of Logic†, in Future Pasts: The Analytic Tradition in Twentieth Century Philosophy, eds. J. Floyd and S. Shieh (Oxford: Oxford University Press). Ricketts, Thomas. (1996) â€Å"Logic and Truth in Frege†, in Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, Supplementary Volume, 70, 121-40.

Do Prisons Work Essay

This study will examine the effectiveness of current prison treatment programs in Australia, New Zealand, South East Asia, United States of America in rehabilitating or reforming an individual and coinciding recidivism rates upon a prisoners release. Prison based treatment programs for sex offenders in Western Australia, New South Wales and New Zealand are examined and recidivism rates compared. Treatment programs for offenders with drug and alcohol issues and the various strategies within the criminal justice system such as diversion, education and drug court programs are examined and differences explained. Rehabilitation programs such as education, life skills, employment and cognitive behavioural treatment are explained and research discussed. Conclusions will be drawn outlining programs with the highest level of recidivism both in Western Australia and globally. The â€Å"nothing works† mantra (Martinson) 1974, is seen to be refuted and treatment is seen to be successful when it is matched to the criminogenic needs of the offender (MacKenzie, 2006). Future recommendations are made in regards to the need for correctional staff to assess each offender as an individual with different needs, and to therefore implement programs that will give the offender the best change of reform or rehabilitation (MacKenzie, 2006). There are many treatment and rehabilitation programs currently used in corrections around the world aimed at reducing recidivism (MacKenzie, 2006). A heuristic approach classifies various strategies into incarceration, treatment programs and rehabilitation (McKenzie, 2006). These interventions represent different strategies for controlling crime in the community, and have some theoretical rationale for expecting a reduction in crime, despite being different in the mechanism anticipated to produce the reduction (MacKenzie, 2006). Incarceration deprives the prisoner of opportunities to commit crime, usually through detention in prison or in some states capital punishment (McKenzie, 2006). Rehabilitation is based on the premise that people can change, and if assessment is to contribute to rehabilitation it must be capable of measuring change (MacKenzie, 2006). The Static 99 risk assessment measure is an International Tool that is currently used to assess recidivism levels of sex offenders (Hoy & Bright, 2008). Rehabilitation orientated treatment programs include education, cognitive skills and employment (MacKenzie, 2006). Correctional educational programs are seen to have optimistic results in lowering levels of recidivism in prisoners (Stevens & Ward, 2007). Kaki Bukit Prison School based in Singapore is seen to be successful in reducing recidivism by aiming to creative a learning environment based on Peter Senge’s book â€Å"The Fifth Discipline† (Senge, 1990). Part of the discipline involves inmates engaging in the â€Å"The Reflective Thinking Process† (Oh, 2007), an education programme which aims to assist prisoners in reflecting on past destructive behaviour and to encourage appropriate restitution. The school is supported by a multidisciplinary team of teachers, prison officers and counsellors who work together to help students in their studies and in their journey of change to become responsible, thinking citizens (Tam, 2007). For inmates who completed their studies at Kubit Bukit Centre and were released in 2000 and 2001, the 2 year recidivism rate was 24% (Oh, 2007). Acacia, Western Australia’s only private run prison, is operated by Serco and aims to bring service to life (Needham, 2009). Storybook Dads is an example of this and aims to rehabilitate prisoners, break the cycle of reoffending and close the gap between a child and his father (Needham, 2009). The program opens up a broad range of educational opportunities ranging from writing their own stories to learning how to use a computer (Needham, 2009). The main objective of the program is to empower fathers and for children to feel loved, which then improves the lives of the prisoner’s children (Needham, 2009). Prisoners are given the opportunity to record their child’s favourite bedtime story on a CD with sound effects, personal message and CD cover (Needham, 2009). Current research indicates that fathers who have been imprisoned tend to withdraw from life outside the prison and subsequently lose contact completely with their children (Needham, 2009). Statistics show that six out of ten children whose father is a current or ex- prisoner become involved in criminal activities and consequently find themselves in similar situations to their father’s in prison (Needham, 2009). The Storybook Dad’s program runs in eighty prisons in the United Kingdom and maintains family connections and reduces reoffending (Needham, 2009). The National Fatherhood Initiative runs a similar programme called the Incarcerated Father’s Program which operates at Branchville Correctional Centre in Indiana (Gosnell, 2006). It is similar to Storybook Dad’s programme in helping prisoners reunite with their children and families (Gosnell, 2006). One study monitored 186 men for three years after release from prison with only five returning (Gosnell, 2006). Three men returned for small offences whilst two came back on a long term basis indicating low levels of recidivism, when in comparison seventy percent of men released from prison normally return within an average of one to three years (Gosnell, 2006). Prison based treatment programs offered in Western Australia for sex offenders are the Sex Offender Program, Indigenous Sex Offender and Intellectually Disabled Offender (Macgregor, 2008). Community based maintenance programs are offered for each type of offender, the current program for disabled people being the Safe Care Program (Macgregor, 2008). In Australia, most treatment programs for sex offenders are based on cognitive behavioural therapy aimed to target the criminogenic needs or risk factors of offenders (Macgregor, 2008). If these needs are altered the chances of changing the criminal behaviour are higher in the range of 10-30% (Blud, 1999). The programs are seen to be effective in that they work to alter many of the cognitive deficits displayed by offenders (Blud, 1999). They target the known risk factors for sexual reoffending which are cognitive distortions, empathy deficits and wide ranging self regulation (Hoy & Bright, 2008). A Western Australia study in 2002 measured recidivism rates of 2165 sex offenders referred to the treatment unit from 1987 to 1999 (Greenberg, 2002). The study compared treated offenders with non-treated offenders, with no significant findings on effects of treatment on sexual recidivism (Greenberg, 2002). Systematic differences between the non-treated and treated group in the Western Australian study, such as indigenous status, risk category, and length of sentence may have impaired comparisons of groups (Lievore, 2004). Inconsistencies across the data, methodological limits may have limited the study from being able to identify less significant treatment outcomes, and to identify sources (Greenberg, 2002). At present a prison based treatment program designed for adult sex offenders is offered in every Territory and State Australia, despite many having yet to be evaluated (Macgregor, 2008). An evaluation conducted in New South Wales on the Custody Based Intensive Treatment program for high risk offenders (Hoy & Bright, 2008) compared recidivism rates of 117 treated offenders with those predicted by the STATIC 99 risk assessment measure, an internationally used tool that assesses the recidivism risk of sex offenders (Hoy & Bright, 2008). STATIC 99 risk probabilities are based on a large sample of sex offenders in the United Kingdom and Canada (Hanson & Thornton, 2000). The study found that 8. 5% of sex offenders treated at the Custody Based Intensive Treatment programs committed further sexual offences in 3. 5 years, compared with a predicted sexual recidivism of 26% (Hoy & Bright, 2008). An evaluation was conducted on the Te Piriti Special Treatment Program for child sex offenders in New Zealand (Nathan, Wilson & Hillman, 2003). Te Piriti incorporates cognitive behavioural therapy methods in combination with Tikanga Maori, holistic practices derived from world view and a desire to understand the universe (Nathan, 2008). This study compared recidivism rates of Te Piriti graduates with a control group used in the Kia Marama study (Nathan, 2008). In comparison with the non-treated group’s sexual recidivism rate of 21%, a small 5. 7% of offenders who completed the programme at Te Piriti reoffended sexually (Nathan, 2008). Maori sexual offenders were also found to have a positive response to the program (Nathan, 2008). Only 4. 41% of Maori offenders reoffended sexually after receiving treatment at Te Piriti (Nathan) 2003 compared with 13. 58% of Maori Kia Marama graduates (New Zealand Corrections, 2003). These results are supportive of the argument that programs are more effective in reducing sexual recidivism when the design and implementation are attuned to the cultural background of the offenders (Macgregor, 2008). Currently, there are various strategies within the criminal justice system that respond to offenders with drug and alcohol issues (Makkai & Payne, 2003). At one end of the spectrum is the diversion by police of first offenders or low level offenders into education or treatment programs (Makkai & Payne, 2003). At the other end, is the diversion of repeat drug dependent offenders facing imprisonment into intensive drug court programs (Makkai & Payne, 2003). Drug courts aim to divert both men and women offenders (Freeman, Karski & Doak, 2000). The elements of the New South Wales drug court program are treatment; social support and the development of living skills; regular reports to the court; and regular urine testing (Freeman et al. , 2000). During the twelve month program, participants are expected to stabilise their lives by not using drugs to address health issues, and to cease criminal activity (Freeman et al. ,). Ideally, they consolidate their situation and develop life and job skills, and financially reintegrate fully, becoming financially independent (Freeman et al. ,). Analysis of the data indicates a high success rate, with only thirteen percent of the participants having committed an offence on completion of the program, indicating a low level of recidivism (Freeman et al. ,). A promising approach to combating illicit drug use has been implemented at the Metropolitan Women’s Correctional Centre in Victoria (Peachy, 1999). Carniche program includes core courses in drug awareness, drug education and Alcoholics Anonymous, which provides a group therapy environment and a twelve step program based on abstinence and group support (Peachy, 1999). The program runs for three to four months, after which the prisoners are reintegrated into the mainstream prison population (Peachy, 1999). The program involves a maximum of ten prisoners who live in a residential unit separate from the main prison population who participate in intensive drug group and individual counselling (Peachy, 2000). The program has not been evaluated for its effect on offender recidivism and its success may depend on the support available to prisoners upon release (Peachy, 2000). A new program for women offenders, titled Reconnections, completed its pilot phase at Bandyup Women’s prison in September 2009 (Porter, 2009). The program was based on therapeutic interventions to assist women in looking at past trauma and abuse in addressing their offending behaviour (Porter, 2009). Although the program was scheduled to commence in early 2010, funding problems prevented the commencement of the program (Porter, 2009). Despite the program failing to commence prison doors at Bandyup continue to open to volunteers and visitors, a move imprisoned women value (Department of Corrective Services, 2005). The Western Australian Department of Justice allows over 3,000 volunteers who provide support for victims of crime, prisoners and juvenile detainees (Department of Corrective Services, 2005). Western Australia’s drug rehabilitation is seen to be a part of the whole sentencing process both in prison and the community for a prisoner’s release on parole (Cox, 2007). There is a continuum drug users who go through the Perth Drug Court’s treatment programs are less likely to reoffend than those sent to prison (Cox, 2007). Recidivism rates for offenders using the court’s drug treatment programs were 17 percent lower than those for offenders sent to prison (Cox, 2007). The study assessed 250 drug users, dealt with the Drug Court who were charged with offences such as burglary, theft or fraud between 2000 and 2003 (Cox, 2007). In comparison to Western Australia one in every 100 adults is locked up in America and there punitive corrections system do not follow a Western approach, incorporating resources such as Drug Courts to help prevent re-offending (McClatchy, 2008). Kansas has been seen to rethink incarceration policies, with a focus on reserving prison for the worst criminals who pose a real danger to society (McClatchy, 2008). Kansas’ only drug court, in Lyon County, has slashed offender rearrest rates almost by half. (McClatchy, 2008). In California, a study found that in a two-year period, drug courts cost $14 million but saved tax-payers more than $43 million over the costs of sending offenders to prison (McCatchy,2008). Kansas Department of Corrections has had success with a new parole re-entry program, including a pilot project in Wichita that gives parolees more support and helps them to keep on the straight and narrow (McClatchy, 2008). Corrections Secretary Roger Werholtz has seen the new philosophy dramatically cut re-offender rates state-wide and reduced recidivism (McCatchy, 2008). Spectrum Addiction Services offers residential treatment, outpatient, detox and domestic violence service for substance abusers and Correctional Recovery Academies in Massachusetts, Georgia and Rhode Island (Astell, 1995). The treatment strategy supported by Spectrum is based on behaviour and based on self-esteem, participant’s feelings, and self-revelation much as the 12 step program of Alcoholics Anonymous (Astell, 1995). Spectrum views the way to fight recidivism is behavioural, teaching people the skills to stay straight (Astell, 1995). A situational approach to drug abuse may be another avenue to explore when examining the Vietnam War (Astell, 1995). Many American soldiers who were involved with heroin use in South East Asia did not bring the habit home, indicating that some drug abuse is situational (Astell, 1995). In the mid 1970’s a pessimistic assessment of rehabilitation programs by Robert Martinson asserted that â€Å"nothing works† in correctional treatment (Cullen & Gendreau, 2000). However recent reassessment using methods of meta-analysis has found that offender treatment programs do reduce problem behaviour (Cullen & Gendreau, 2000). Effective programs are those which recognise the importance of individual differences and the measurement of these factors when assessing what programs and interventions would be most suitable for each offender (Harland, 1996). Privatisation of prisons is seen to be a positive solution to improving treatment programs and reducing associated recidivism in developing more of a restorative framework to treatment programs (Corporate Responsibility, 2007). This involves emphasising the importance of good relationships between prisoners and staff, the need to recognise the impact of cultural differences when implementing programmes and matching an officer of suitable culture and temperament to best assist the needs of the prisoner (Corporate Responsibility, 2007). Further study is indicated as being required for WA Sex Offenders with little research being available for this group of offenders when compared to other states in WA (Cullen & Gendreau, 2000). Systematic differences between the non-treated and treated group in the Western Australian study, such as indigenous status, risk category, and length of sentence may have impaired comparisons of groups (Lievore, 2004). Inconsistencies across the data, methodological limits may have also limited the study from being able to identify less significant treatment outcomes, and to identify sources (Greenberg , 2002). A recommendation for improved research design is suggested in the implementation of a similar tool as the Static 99 in Australia which is currently only available internationally in measuring sexual recidivism (Mackenzie, 2006). Another finding from reviews of the studies is the large difference of amount of research completed for drug-offenders in comparison with other offenders, such as women prisoners and sex offenders which is currently limited (MacKenzie, 2006). Given the current concern about the increasing amount of drug offenders entering the correction system it is apparent as to why there is uch a large number of evaluations of programs being completed for these offenders (MacKenzie, 2006). Although the role for corrections appears to be a current challenge, it is hoped that with further research, funding , availability of treatment programmes and education of prison officers in addressing individual and cultural differences, that the offender be given the greatest chance for rehabilitation, reform and consequently a life of freedom outside the prison bars (MacKenzie, 2006).

Theory X, Theory Y

Theory X, Theory Y by Douglas McGregor is a motivation theory. Douglas McGregor is a social psychologist and applied two sets of assumptions to the organizational structure called Theory X and Theory Y. His theory is based on managerial views of human beings. In his book, The Human Side of Enterprise, he outlined a new role for managers. He stated that managers should assist subordinates in reaching their full potential, rather than commanding and controlling. Theory X is negative and Theory Y can be stated as the opposite, positive. Douglas concluded that managers shaped their behavior towards workers based on either the X or Y views.Theory X presumes that average employees dislike work, are lazy, dislike responsibility, and must be coerced to perform. (text book citation pg 177) Theory X is focused on an authoritarian management style. Rewards and punishments are assumed to be the key to employee productivity. Employees have little to offer in terms of organizational problem solvin g. Under Theory X employees need to be controlled and threatened to get them working. Employees work for money and security only. According to theory X, appraisals and promotions occur on a regular basis.This view is based on that employees merely satisfy their lower-level physical needs and could not hope to be as productive. Theory Y supposes that employees like work, are creative, seek responsibility, and can exercise self-direction (text book citation pg 177). Theory Y is focused on a participative management style. The managers would take suggestions from workers. These type of managers relate to Theory Y employees and try to share ideas on how the work should be carried out and how it should be improved. The manager values the workers opinion. This type of leadership leads to high motivation.Theory Y assumes that there is an opportunity to align personal goals with organizational goals by using peoples own ambition for self fulfillment. Individuals go to work of their own acco rd, because work is the only way in which they have a chance of satisfying their need for achievement and self-respect. Effort in work is as natural as rest and play. Employees under Theory Y are motivated by many different factors apart from money. The most important reward is satisfaction of their ego needs. What is the relevance of this topic to the study of organizational behavior?The relevance of this topic to the study of organizational behavior is that every employee has some hierarchy of needs and alerting managers’ actions and views accordingly will lead to more motivated workers in an organization. Organizational behavior is the study of what people do in an organization and how their behavior affects the organization’s performance. (text book citation. Pg 11) Organizational behavior works towards improving the organization’s effectiveness and to establish an improvement and organizational change so that employees will be more productive and happy.In t urn those organizations will be more effective and efficient in achieving their goals through their employees. Theory X and Theory Y stated that employees can either be motivated by strict direction or allowed to work freely. Either one of these two theories would maximize an employee’s job motivation and would produce happy employees working towards the organizations goals. â€Å"The effectiveness of organizations could be at least doubled if managers could discover how to tap into the unrealized potential present in their workforces. (book citation) What are the strengths and weaknesses of the theory or idea? There are both strengths and weaknesses in Douglas McGregor’s, Theory X and Theory Y. Some of the strengths of Theory X and Theory Y are that it exposes the endless possibilities for creating opportunities for people to obtain personal satisfaction, knowledge, achievement, challenge, prestige, and other rewards through work. This theory offers opportunities for human resource development involvement in team-building sessions and management development.Douglas’s theory also offers those in supervisory positions a chance to gain some self-knowledge thus acquiring some insight in their managerial skills. Theory X and Y call for managers to examine their assumptions about human nature and see how these models lead to managerial practices. These assumptions will be reflected in management attitudes toward employees, the kind and amount of participation they allow, and the outcomes they expect. The strength of McGregor’s theory is its significance. When McGregor formulated his theory, companies competed on their ability to mass produce goods.Today, however, paying attention to the human aspect is a requirement if any organization. Without a powerfully motivated, highly skilled, self-reliant human resource, organizations do not stand a chance to survive, much less compete. McGregor’s theory provides the solution to problems related to the human aspect of an organization. Some of the weaknesses in McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y theory are that there is only so much money that can be offered as motivation and only so much control that can be applied. People change and so do motivators. McGregor states that a satisfied need no longer motivates.This theory has no evidence to support Theory X or Theory Y. There’s no validity in the assumption that managers who modify their actions or behaviors will lead to more motivated workers (textbook citation p177). It is part of the manager's job to exercise control and influence, and there are situations in which this is the only method of achieving the desired results because subordinates do not agree that the ends are desirable. What does the research say about the theory? Has it been supported by research? Cite the relevant research, and explain what it shows.Studies in relation to the application and observations of McGregor’s Theory X and Y views of managerial behavior and employee outcomes have been conducted and have shed some additional light on this topic. McGregor’s research has also been questioned for its practicality and usefulness. For instance, in Kopelman, Prottas, and Davis journal in the Journal of Managerial Issues (2008 (2) 255-271) they state that â€Å"the paucity of substantive research on the effects of Theory Y managerial assumptions/attitudes may be attributed to the absence of a construct valid measure that is freely available to researchers.How can McGregor’s theory be tested if the focal construct has essentially gone unmeasured? (p. 2697) McGregor’s theorizing about the effects of managerial assumptions has not been rigorously examined. (p. 269) . A construct-valid measure of the central concept was developed, as a critical first step in assessing the substantive validity of McGregor’s theorizing. During this research, a survey was given to undergraduate and gradu ate students in business. The survey consisted of four principal section s measuring Theory X and Theory Y attitudes and behaviors, faith in people, fast food opinions, and items relating to leisure time activities.The reasoning behind the survey was that Theory X/Y attitudes and assumptions would be closely related to Theory X/Y behaviors and that Theory X/Y attitudes and behaviors would be positively but distally related to generalized faith in people. The end results of the survey concluded that in order to construct validity of a measure should precede substantive research. Summarizing the research done by Kopelman, Prottas and Davis it was stated that theory Y attitudes, such as participative leadership should not be viewed as proxies for measuring managerial attitudes.Theory Y pertains to an individual difference variable reflecting assumptions about people at work-it is not a specific set of recommended management practices. (p. 267) In Kermally’s Book (p. 39) it state s that State you cannot and should not apply one set of assumptions to fit all situations. Again, the focus should be on individual differences and needs. There are groups of workers who would like to be directed and who are not keen on taking responsibility. Such workers would perform better under ‘autocratic managers’. According to the Harvard Business Review (p. 8) we need further investigation of what personality characteristics fit various tasks and organizations. The theory of motivation and organization will have to take account of the contingent relationship between task, organization, and people. Kermally, S. (2005). CHAPTER FIVE: Douglas McGregor (1906-1964). (pp. 35-41). Thorogood Publishing Ltd. Retrieved from Business Source Complete database. Morse, J. , ; Lorsch, J. (1970). Beyond Theory Y. Harvard Business Review, 48(3), 61. Retrieved from Business Source Complete database.

Intentism - The Resurrection of the Author

Intentism - The Resurrection of the Author Free Online Research Papers Since the 1920s, a certain view regarding meaning in art has dominated the Anglo-American universities and became almost dogma. This viewpoint insists that works of art should primarily be understood by how minds receive them rather than by the psychology that created them. Such an understanding of meaning in art essentially relegates the artist to just another interpreter of his or her own artwork. For this reason Roland Barthes famously proclaimed ‘the death of the author’. To refer to the artist’s intention was to naively refer to the unknowable and to place unnecessary limitations on the wealth of possible readings of the artwork. Intention was seen to stifle the work. Adrian Searle in the Guardian once referred to Tony Cragg’s sculptures by enthusing, ‘Finally freed from the artist’s ideas and fantasies of intention, all the conceits that made its existence possible, including the fundamental act of making, the work floats freely, emerging from a kind of blindness’ (1). In contrast, a group of artists have surfaced who share the belief that the author is alive and well and able to communicate their intended meaning to their intended audience with a degree of accuracy sufficient for them to be pioneers in society, helping to shape what will be, rather than merely documenters of society, recording what is and was. We believe that to consider the artist’s role as anything less is to effectively gag the artist, or simply drown the artist’s intended meaning in a cacophony of conflicting interpretations. We have become known as Intentists and we claim that ‘All meaning is simply the imperfect outworking of intention.’ What follows is a brief outline of this position and its importance. A: What is intention? At the heart of Intentism lies a particular understanding of the role of ‘intention’ in the process and understanding of art and literature. In fact, for Intentists, artwork cannot have any meaning divorced from realised or accomplished intention. In order to better understand the role of intention we shall first seek to define it according to what it is and is not, beginning with the latter. So firstly, what is intention not? 1. Intention is not always conscious. For example, when the phone rings my intention to answer it is not always a conscious one. 2. Intention is not simply belief. I may believe I will fail my driving test without intending to. 3. Intention is not a plan. I can think of a plan without intending on using it. 4. Intention is not wishing or longing since these things may be out of reach and not intended. So then, what is intention? Donald Davidson speaks of the ‘primary reason’ of intention; that the intender has a ‘performance expectation’ (2). If Davidson’s performance meets his expectations then the work would have the aforementioned realised intention. It is the interplay between an artist’s expectation and performance that characterises artistic creativity from conception to the finished work. The stages of intention within the creative and critical process can be summarised in the following five headings: 1. The artist intends something. By this we mean that the artist has a creative mental ‘surge’ with a performance expectation which can be sometimes so fast that it can feel instinctive, for example when playing free-form jazz, or can seem to evolve in a measured logical way. Either way this creative mental surge contains the seeds of meaning for all meaning in art or anything else is simply the imperfect outworking of intention. Our intentions, as stated above, can be conscious, subconscious and even unconscious. Therefore, an artist’s work may include many unconscious influences such as instinct and habit. If the influences were permitted into the art-making process, then they are bound up in intention. The opposite of an intended action is not an unconscious action, but an accident. Even artistic accidents, when allowed to remain, have been intentionally incorporated into the end product and so have their meaning governed by the artist’s intention (3). 2. The artist acts on his/her intention modifying it as he works. The artist, seeking to realise the intention, will continually alter their performance expectation where it seems fit. Even if the artist begins by free association, there normally will follow an intentional time of evaluation and editing. 3. The artist finishes when he/her intends to. If intention has no place in the termination of works of art, how is it possible to know when a work is finished? Surely a work is only finished when the artist decides it is so. The artist chooses to refrain from doing any more, either by quitting and leaving the work unfinished and intention unrealised or because the work has fulfilled his/her intentions. When an artist dies in the midst of some creative purpose it is normally assumed that the work is unfinished, since the action of creativity was not terminated by the artist’s intention. 4. The critic seeks to understand the meaning of the work through the ‘realised’ intentions of the artist. The meaning of the work relates only to the artist’s realised intentions, which is the finished work. Yet in order to understand the realised intention, the intention process of the artist needs to be recognised. 5. The critic assesses the appropriateness of the intention. The merit of an artwork is to be found both in the value of the intention when realised, and how well the intention was realised. In 1878, Whistler took John Ruskin to court over a review that his ‘Nocturnes’ were ‘slapdash, unfinished, they look like work in progress rather than finished paintings’ (4). One of Whistler’s defenders, William Michael Rossetti (the brother of Dante Gabriel Rossetti), took notes on the trial and said that the art critic should always bear in mind the artist’s intentions. Whether the artist successfully fulfils these intentions may be difficult to ascertain but is the domain of the critic. However, Rossetti continued that Whistler’s work was ‘justified to itself by adequately and exquisitely fulfilling its own condition†¦Whistler produces the exact result he is aiming at’ (5). Rossetti was right in reminding Ruskin that any appraisal of artwork that fails to take into account artistic intent ion can be validly accused of ‘missing the point’. He does, however, provide a ‘get out clause’ for the artist if the chief test of the merit of an artwork were how well the intention was realised, since the artist can simply form his intention around what he has already done. It is the job of the critic to critique the artwork as realised intention with a bias towards ambition. A meagre intention almost perfectly realised ought never to outweigh a majestic intention sketchily realised. B: Three Models for understanding intention and meaning in art In order to better understand the relationships between artist and artwork and intention and meaning we shall consider three models: the traditional model, the postmodern model and the Intentist model. The models can be viewed in terms of a chronological evolution in how art is understood. Brief explanation of the Traditional model : The traditional model represents a linear understanding of how the meaning of artwork is conveyed and understood. The artist thinks of an idea (intention), goes to work and makes his idea a reality (artwork = realised intention) and the meaning of the artwork can be ‘passively received’ and understood by the interpreter by studying the artwork and to a lesser degree the artist. This model dominated our understanding of art for thousands of years until the last two centuries and because it is linear and almost mathematical, it differs little from the Modernist model. Brief explanation of the Postmodern model : The traditional model seemed inadequate once Post-modernist thought explored how individuals and communities engage differently with the ‘vocabulary’ of signs and the structural ‘grammar’ of the artwork. There are three key issues in the Postmodern understanding of meaning in art. Firstly, advocates of this model believe it is impossible to discover the artist’s intention via the artwork. The author is dead because it is the artwork that speaks to us rather than the artist. A broken bridge between artist intention and artwork illustrates this concept. Secondly, the process of finding meaning is found through dialogue between the artwork and the interpreter. Thirdly, the artist becomes simply another interpreter of his/her own work since the meaning of the artwork is not connected to intention. For Intentists, the Postmodern conclusion that it is impossible to discover the artist’s intention via the artwork is right at the heart of the problem with this model. Of course, there are complications in viewing a work through the intentions of the artist but artistic intent is not as elusive as some would suggest and especially not to the intended audience. When we are in everyday conversation we habitually know our interlocutor’s intention without asking for clarification, indeed we become so adept at recognising what others intend their words to mean that misunderstanding surprises us. Historians often consider the bias of the author when analysing written accounts. In order to do so, they need to be able to recognise the intended meaning of phrases sometimes written in the distant past, however imperfectly interpreted. Richard Wollheim, Chairman of the Department of Philosophy, University of California puts it this way ‘why if in our everyday lives we belie ve we can grasp the intentions of others, why should we think†¦the intentions of artists, the psychological factors that motivate them, have a peculiar elusiveness†¦people have no hesitation in writing military history, in which they talk about the intentions of generals, when of course generals, by their very nature, are totally committed to concealment of their intentions. But nevertheless, the idea persists about artists’ (6). There are several ways an observer can seek an artist’s intention. These include: A. Interpreting the work through sketches that preceded it. B. Reading any notes or communication on the work C. Placing the work in the artist’s oeuvre and using this to compare ideas and artistic progression. D. Seeing the work in the setting of its genre. In sum, artist intention is not elusive. Even if it were sometimes difficult, a critic would be irresponsible to conclude that artist’s intention is irrelevant in interpreting a work. As we shall see from the Intentist model below, intention is both integral to meaning and key to appraisal. Brief explanation of Intentist model : Although the phrase ‘intended meaning’ has been used above in order to differentiate between the Post-modern view of ‘meaning through dialogue’ and the what the artist intended the work to mean, Intentists believe that all meaning is intended meaning. Sever the connection between intention and meaning and all meaning is lost. In the past, ancient hieroglyphics were meaningless forms until their intended purpose was discovered. The intention journey that took the artist from an idea to finished artwork was across a bridge that must remain unbreakable. Meaning and significance It is the belief of Intentists that there has been a serious misunderstanding of the terms ‘meaning’ and ‘significance’ in art criticism. Director of the National Gallery Nicholas Penny, in conversation with Jonathon Jones of the Guardian (27 March 2008) said paintings that survive for centuries change their meaning again and again. This is a common understanding, but can this use of ‘meaning’ stand up to rigorous analysis? A Case Study In 1960 the photographer Alberto Korda took a photo of Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara. Korda had an original intention for the artwork and realised it in the photograph. Since then, the photo has reached iconographic status and has come to represent many different things such as ‘revolution’, ‘justice’ and even ‘coolness’ amongst teenage students. Are these associations new meanings of the original photograph unintended by the original artist? In the case of the Che Guevara image two different processes have taken place, graphically represented at the top left (1) and top right (2) of the Intentism model. Firstly, as we see from the top left of the diagram, people can appropriate an artwork and thereby give the artwork a new ‘significance’ (not a new meaning). The distinction between ‘significance’ and ‘meaning’ is an important one and it is a misunderstanding of the difference between the two that led to the erroneous Post-modern concept of ‘meaning through dialogue’. The person who creates the artwork is responsible for the meaning, not the one who ‘receives’ it. Yet the receiver can choose to attribute a certain significance to the artwork. This significance can be personal, one of many ‘significances’ and can even be in conflict with the meaning, but should never be termed a ‘new meaning’. In this way individuals and communities chose to give Korda’s photograph a new significance. Secondly (as represented in the top right of the diagram) the original photograph was adapted by Jim Fitzpatrick in 1967 in order to create the heavily stylised posters with the red background that often featured on teenage students’ bedroom walls in the 1970s. Fitzpatrick took the artwork and used it to realise a new artistic intention, thereby creating a new artwork based upon a previous artwork. Another similar example is the alteration of the Mona Lisa by Duchamp. The intention of the new artwork is different and therefore the meaning is different. There can be no new meaning without a new realised intention such as Fitzpatrick’s. Note also that the artwork is not the meaning, but rather the vehicle for the meaning. The artwork only means something because the artist intended it to. Equally words are not the meaning but can be used by an intender to carry meaning. This applies also to individual words. Swiss linguist Saussure believed that a word and its meaning is arbitrary. For example, the word ‘pen’ has no intrinsic relevance to a pen. We understand a word by understanding the intention of the speaker’s choice of sounds. When a dictionary states that a particular word has five meanings it reads as though the word itself has five intrinsic meanings without needing an intender. In fact, the writers of the dictionary are stating that people generally intend this combination of letters to mean five different things. Dictionaries are only as accurate in as far as their definitions conform to the use of the words within a context and by an intender with a specific intention. When a dictionary states that a word has five meanings, it is similar to when a journalist states that ‘a criminal has been captured.’ The journalist uses the verb in the passive voice so that person who did the capturing is not mentioned. They could instead state that someone captured a criminal but we all know that someone had to do the capturing. In the same way when a dictionary writer gives a meaning there is an implicit intender that is not mentioned, probably the English speaking public (see part 3 of the diagram). To avoid confusion it would be more accurate if dictionaries stated that one spelling represents five words rather than one word has five meanings. Homonyms like ‘nail’ (a metal fastener or fingernail) have two totally different meanings even though the spelling and pronunciation are identical and ought not to be considered the same word. The implicit intender is used when archaeologists find ancient drawings in a cave. How do we know that crude scratches are not arbitrary marks made by the weather or accidental? How do we know that they are intentional? The observer perceives a meaning and therefore an implicit intender. Often the implicit intender is simply ourselves and we interpret the intender to have the same intentions we would have if we had created the same end result. Summary of the Key points of the Intentist model 1. It is an evolution of the Post-modern model, not its rejection. 2. It restores the unbreakable link between meaning and artist intention: all meaning is realised intent, meaning is the imperfect outworking of intention 3. It replaces ‘finding meaning through dialogue’ (from the post-modern model) with ‘loading significance’ 4. It sees the interpreter’s role of understanding the meaning as to recreate the intention journey, however imperfectly. 5. It states that the artist is able to communicate their intended meaning to their intended audience with a degree of accuracy sufficient for them to be a pioneer in society and to have a certain degree of responsibility for the effect of the artwork on society. C: Beardsley’s Three Objections Beardsley and Wimsatt wrote the seminal paper on the subject of intention ‘The intentional Fallacy’. (1946 rev. 1954) Beardsley’s key arguments against a link between intention and meaning are set out in an essay published in the book ‘Intention and Interpretation’ (7). They represent three important objections that Beardsley believed proved the link to be a fallacy. Let us deal with them one at a time. 1. ‘Some texts that have been formed without the agency of an author, and hence, without authorial meaning, nevertheless have a meaning and can be interpreted. For example, certain kinds of verbal mistake.’(8) He uses the example of when Hart Crane wrote’ Thy Nazarene and tender eyes,’ a printer’s error transformed it into ‘Thy Nazarene and tinder eyes’, but Crane let the accidental version stand. Here Crane simply preferred the serendipity of the printer error. (The very fact that Beardsley can label it a ‘mistake’ means that the text is judged by the author’s original intention.) It is similar to the printer suggesting a word change and Crane considering what people would intend the altered phrase to mean and liking it enough to keep it. The only difference in this case is that the word change is accidental. When Crane decides to let the accidental version stand he is intentionally incorporating the phrase into his work and therefore intending it to mean something. 2. ‘The meaning of a text can change after its author has died. But the author cannot change his meaning after he has died. Therefore, the textual meaning is not identical to the authorial meaning. The OED furnishes abundant evidence that individual words and idioms acquire new meanings and lose old meanings as time passes.’ (9) Here Beardsley wrongly assumes that the meaning of a text can change. Once the writer’s intention is realised and the text finished then the meaning of the text cannot change and it does not matter whether the author is alive of dead. The author cannot alter the meaning of the text without altering the text. The authorial meaning and the textual meaning are one and the same. Furthermore, Beardlsey displays a serious misunderstanding of how words develop by suggesting that words acquire new meanings independent of their use. Surely, the only reason words acquire new meanings is if they are used by people in a new way with a new intention. Words would never acquire new meanings in a vacuum. The OED is simply recording how one word has been used with different intentions over the years. This is the same problem that was addressed earlier regarding National Gallery Director, Nicholas Penny and art. German philosopher Gadamer spoke of this as ‘eine Wirkungsgeschichte’ or ‘effective history’ (10); how a painting might be involved in all sorts of events that change people‘s associations of it. Yet, surely, when the artist finishes the work, the work has all of its determinate artistic properties at that time? As philosopher Livingston points out ‘an event, once past, cannot acquire new non-epistemic properties’ (11). If a painting is constantly changing its meaning, then we can never really know what a painting ever means. Furthermore, a later work does not change an earlier one. One reads later paintings in the light of earlier ones, not the other way round. What can change, is a person’s associations with a work. Intentism agrees with ED Hirsch who speaks of this as the work changing significance (12). Our conditioning and socio-political environment can make us perceive some aspects of an artwork more sensitively yet be unaware of other aspects but it cannot alter the artwork itself. When the Nazis attributed degeneracy to certain modernist pictures they effectively attributed a degenerate significance to the art without changing the meaning of the work. If a painting can endlessly change its meaning then we cannot argue against Nazi art criticism. Our art could become defenseless against future art critics imposing their own meanings then being both judge and executioner. 3. ‘A text can have meanings that its author is not aware of. Therefore, it can have meanings that its author did not intend. Therefore, textual meaning is not identical to authorial meaning’ (13) Here we find a further example of the common misunderstanding of the difference between ‘meaning’ and ‘significance’. Texts cannot have meanings that its author is not aware of, but texts can have a number of significances to different individuals and communities. The meaning of a text is limited to the magnitude of the author’s intentions, but the significance of the text is potentially unlimited. When Martin Luther King said, ‘I have a dream’, his intended meaning, the only meaning for those words, majestic though they are, was limited to the context and purpose of his speech. The significance of those words to African Americans, to oppressed people with aspirations everywhere, in fact to many who have never read the speech and so are unaware of the context is far greater than the meaning. In practice academics almost always refer to the link between the author’s intention and the meaning of a text when they disagree with a critic. Logically, it is impossible to disagree with written viewpoint of a critic unless you believe that the intention of the author is linked to the meaning of his or her writing. Such a critic should not write, ‘Johnson is incorrect in his view of†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ or even ‘Johnson in his book is incorrect’ but should write, ‘the book is incorrect and of the author I have no idea’. D: Conclusion- Intentism is a force for good When someone speaks, or when an artist creates, who decides what he or she means? Is the speaker able to communicate or is the listener free to interpret what is said in other ways? Intentism is a movement that deals with such a fundamental issue. Should we be content to let our words and actions be interpreted as a listener sees fit? It is hoped that a reader of this essay would first understand the intention of the arguments before deciding to accept of reject them. Conversely, Intentists believe that removing the centrality of intention from communication invariably leads to the break down of accountability. Can an artist, for example, the Jamaican reggae singer ‘Bounty Killer’, known for including death threats to homosexuals in his lyrics, be accountable for the impact of his work on society? Are the critics reading homophobia into the work or is there discernable intent that is morally obnoxious? Intentism grew from like-minded artists who knew that the author and artist are alive and well and can act as pioneers, creating art that stretches human imagination and initiates aesthetic and moral debate of social benefit. They believe that far from being a regressive reaction to postmodernism, Intentism is a small part of what happens next. Intentism passionately believes in freedom in debate without fear of our intentions being censored. Log on to www.intentism.com to view our manifesto. If you agree or disagree with anything in this article please join in the debates on the site. (You would need to log on but need not join as an Intentist). Note: The first Intentist art exhibition will be held in London in 2009. Recommended reading Livingston, Paisley. 2005. Art and Intention (Oxford: Oxford University Press) Notes 1) Furlon, William (editor). 1995. The Dynamics of Now, (Tate Gallery Pub Ltd), 108 2) Mele, Alfred R. 1992. Springs of Action (Oxford: Oxford University Press), 141 3) See Sextus Empiricus’ story of the happy accident of the artist Apelles of Kolophon in the Preface of Livingston, Paisley. 2005. Art and Intention (Oxford: Oxford University Press), vii 4) Furlon, William (editor). 1995. The Dynamics of Now, (Tate Gallery Pub Ltd) 95 5) Ibid 6) Ibid, 152 7) Iseminger, Gary (editor). 1992. Intention and Interpretation (Temple University Press), 25-27 8) Ibid 25 9) Ibid 26 10) Gadamer, Hand-Georg. 1960. Truth and Method (Tubingen), 299-300 11) Livingston, Paisley. 2005. Art and Intention (Oxford: Oxford University Press), 93 12) Hirsch, Edward D Jr. 1967. Validity in Interpretation (New Haven: Yale University Press) 13) Iseminger, Gary (editor). 1992. Intention and Interpretation (Temple University Press), 26-27 Research Papers on Intentism - The Resurrection of the AuthorThe Gnostic JesusAmerican Central Banking and OilThe Mechanics of Grading Grading SystemsMr. Obama and IranDefinition of Export QuotasDeontological Teleological TheoriesStandardized TestingThe Story of Beatrix PotterThree Concepts of PsychodynamicDistance Learning Survival Guide