The Forbidden City Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Forbidden City - Essay Example A city, which is now Beijing, was a significant commercial center in the beginning of the ninth century BC. It became the administrative core of the principality of the Yan and eventually became the capital of Liao and later on the Jin. The northern tribe, the Tartars, constructed a city near this site in the tenth century.ii When the Venetian explorer Marco Polo visited the location, he illustrated it as the city of Khan, with fortified roofs highlighting the green flora of mulberry trees. Modern Beijing is roughly five centuries old, with several of its prominent edifices entirely restored. When Yung-lo instituted Beijing as his Chinese capital in the early fifteenth century, he commissioned roughly 200,000 laborers to construct the imperial city. Hsu Tai, Feng Chiao and Yuan An, his three engineers, were provided with the direction to build a massive, affluent and mystifying palace to function as the metropolis of the Emperor to the rest of the world. The role of the Emperor was a difficult one. Auditoriums were required for receiving delegations, along with places of worship for sacramental cleansing and processional paths. He as well demanded expansive domestic residences with backyards for himself and his loved ones in addition to administrative housing.iii The Forbidden City was entangled in ceremonial and spiritual notions. Legend tells that the core structure of the City was envisioned in a reverie by the mentor of Yung-lo, a futurist monk. He envisioned a celestial city, wherein the Lord of Heaven dwelled in a purple enclosed space, which is assumed to be a constellation shaped by 15 heavenly bodies revolving around the polestar.iv As Chinese cosmology believes, purple was an embodiment of bliss and happiness and as well as that of the polestar. Hence, the Emperor proclaimed himself as the Son of Heaven, with the divine obligation

Write 4 page research paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Write 4 page - Research Paper Example The number of Arabs immigrants has rapidly grown due to the changes in the United States laws and the increased political and economic hardships in Middle East countries. Arabs Americans are the fastest growing minorities in America. The Arabs who first arrived in United Stated were comparatively homogenous groups of persons. Most of the Arabs immigrants were Christians from Lebanon and Syria. Most of them came from remote areas where they had limited access to formal education. The recent Arabs immigrants tend to be more diversified in terms of their educational achievement, religious background, and terms of their country of origin (Short 300). Arabs Americans are almost in every state, although they are more likely to be located at one place such as Chicago, New York, San Francisco, Detroit, Los Angeles, and Boston. The cities have large neighborhoods of Arabs Americans communities and have Arabic grocery stores, restaurants, and other businesses. The largest Arab Americans neighborhood is found Dearborn, Michigan. Arab Americans have become one of the most diverse groups of people in United States. Around 50 percent are Christians while the other 50 percent are Muslims. Some of the Arab immigrants trace their roots in African nations while others trace their origin in Asian countries. Some Arab Americans are born in America with their parents and grandparents born in United States making these Arabs have the little knowledge of the Arabic language. Others have immigrated to United States recently and therefore they are fluent in Arabic and can speak a bit of English. Arab Americans are also diversified in terms of income and jobs. Some are professional lawyers and doctors while others work in farms and factories. Many Arab Americans are a business owner of large enterprises. Some Arab women work as homemakers while others are found in all kinds of professions. Research shows that Arab Americans have better education level compared to average American

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Essay Example for Free

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Essay In the early 1960’s there was a drift towards Cognitive Behavior Therapy as people turned away out of disappointment in the psychodynamic theory for psychotherapy. Also at this time social learning theory was the new and upcoming study. This is when Cognitive theory emerged with Alfred Adler. He was the first Cognitive therapist who came up with the idea that an individuals beliefs and ideas is what makes up their behavior (Lantz, 1996). He believed that this type of psychotherapy would allow the clients to make changes in the way they think to change their behavior and solve their problems. Alfred Adler was not the only contributor to Cognitive theory. Between the late 1950’s and early 1960’s Albert Ellis came up with dysfunctional thinking or emotions that come from irrational beliefs. He sought out to change these unclear emotions with psychotherapy and by challenging these beliefs. His books are very well known and used a lot of by different therapist. He is basically considered the grandfather of Cognitive Behavior Therapy and his ABC model is used widely. Albert came up with Rational-emotive therapy, which was later on changed to Rational-emotive behavior therapy because Ellis wanted his clients to act upon their new beliefs by putting them into practice (Wilde, 1996, p. 9). Others who have contributed to Cognitive theory have been William Glasser, Arnold Lazarus, Don Tosi, Victor Ramy, Maxie Maultsby, Aron Beck and many more. William Glasser used effective psychotherapy to help his clients find courage to change their life style and become more responsible of their goals. He did this by pointing out the worth of self and the basic human need to be loved. His ‘reality therapy’ consisted of his clients focusing on personal responsibility to understand their own reality (Lantz, 1996). Arnold Lazarus came up with the seven modes of the client that help assess their functioning. These seven modes are sensation, imagery, cognition, behavior affect, interpersonal living and drugs (Lantz, 1996). These modes, according to Lazarus, would help come up with a treatment plan that would help the client in all areas of their function lives. Don Tosi contributed to Cognitive theory by intergrading hypnosis with the therapy. Hypnosis is used to help the clients picture their thoughts in a healthy way through exploration and redirection (Lantz, 1996). Victor Ramy focused his work on helping clients change their self-concept. His books show how to help a client work with and change the cognitive misunderstanding of themselves. Maxie Maultsby used the ABC model as used by Albert Ellis but he also contributed by using rational behavior therapy with youngsters, for self-help groups, and group therapy. Aron Beck was a psychiatrist who used cognitive treatment to help his clients who had anxiety and personality disorders. He did extensive research on effective Cognitive therapy and how it helps clients with a range of individual problems from suicidal patients to those who have borderline personality disorders. Many of those who contributed to Cognitive therapy were not social workers. The first social worker that used Cognitive therapy was Harold Werner. Werner struggled early on when he tried to bring Cognitive therapy to social work as those who had a psychoanalytical point of view attacked him. His efforts allowed the theory to be accepted in the social work arena. Howard Goldstein also helped bring Cognitive therapy into the social work profession. Behavior theory is a mixture of different theories combined and it first came about in the first quarter of this century. The work of Ivan Pavlov and his classical conditioning theory, the work of B.F. Skinner and J.B. Watson and their operant condition theory and the work of Bandura on the social learning theory is all combined in the behavior theory. The classical conditioning theory states that a conditioned stimulus can cause a conditioned response with the famous example of Pavlov and the salivating dog. This is a behavior that is learned and that can be used to help clients during therapy especially those who have anxiety disorders. The operant conditioning uses human behavior and examines it. Skinner believed that behavior was measurable and that certain situations cause human to react is certain ways. Once these behaviors are learned through the scientific method we can predetermine a clients actions and help them with either negative or positive reinforcements. This will either increase or decrease the client’s behavior depending on if the behavior is punished or positively reinforced. In the late 60’s is when behavior theory became a front-runner with clinical social work. At this time the psychodynamic theories were under attack and a new theories were sought out. Social learning theory focuses on using the ABC model that Albert Ellis used to help clients. This involves finding the antecedents, target behaviors, and consequence in ones problematic behavior. Antecedents is what the client was doing before the situation occurred, target behavior is the behavior that needs to be changed or focused on and the consequence is the result because of their target behavior (Thomlison Thomlison, 1996). These three are analyzed to figure out what needs to change in the behavior to get an alternate positive consequence or to see how the situation can be avoided. Principles and Concepts: There are four basic concepts to Cognitive theory. The first uses Albert Ellis’s ABC model to deal with the emotions we feel and the way we think about our situations and ourselves. The ABC model helps us identify our thoughts and then helps us control our emotions (Lantz, 1996). If what we are thinking during a situation is irrational then our emotions are going to be uncontrollable and irrational also. If we have rational thoughts then our emotions will be functional. If our trigger behavior causes irrational emotions then we need to find rational emotions to replace the irrational belief (Wilde, 1996, p. 33). The second basic concept to Cognitive theory is that these irrational beliefs are in our unconscious and we are not aware of them. This may make it difficult to find out what the thoughts are and why we have dysfunctional emotions. To help our clients notice their irrational beliefs we have to allow them to learn misconceptions about themselves so they are more aware of their thoughts. Irrational believes lead to illogical emotions, which causes the client to react in an unreasonable way, but there are exactions to these types of situation, which is basic concept three (Lantz, 1996). Sometimes the way we feel has nothing to do with our irrational beliefs. What we are feeling is really true or there could be a neurological or other health problem, which can make an individual feel down or angry or upset. A disparity in the brain chemistry can cause dysfunctional emotions. Lastly all irrational emotions are not always dysfunctional which means a rational belief can be dysfunctional also. A client might get sort of ‘high’ or excited from something dangerous such as a gun. Playing with a gun might give a client a feeling of excitement and happiness but it is not safe to play with guns. Feeling happy or excited is not considered a dysfunctional emotion but in this case we would have to teach the client about the misconception in their mind that playing with guns is safe or fun. Cognitive theory allows a person to recognize their environment and their situation both physically and communally and it allows them to work through and change it (Lantz, 1996). A basic concept to Behavior theory is that all behavior is learned and that individual have problematic behaviors. According to Skinner our social problems can be measured through our behavior. By changing the environment and reinforcing the client with either positive reinforcement or negative reinforcement we can get them to change their behavior. The stimuli from the reinforcement will allow the client to either change or remove the behavior (Thomlison Thomlison, 1996). Social learning theory, which involves the ABC model, shows us how behavior can change for the better. Similarities and Differences: The biggest similarity between Cognitive theory and Behavior theory is the intertwining of the Social Learning Theory. They both use the ABC model and look at the antecedents, behaviors, and consequences of each situation. With Cognitive theory, the trigger behavior comes with an irrational belief that needs to be changed. Clients often times have irrational beliefs during their behavior. After the consequence takes place the ABC model will help us show them their irrational beliefs and teach them that with a rational belief a different consequence could have taken place. With Behavior theory a similar pattern is used. The problem is identified and the target behavior is observed by the social worker other wise known as ‘behavior analysis’ (Thomlison Thomlison, 1996). The social worker then works with the clients on changing both the antecedents and the consequences to attain a different behavior. Changing the antecedent is known as manipulating the environment condition (Streff, Geller, 1986). The antecedent is changed to increase a positive behavior in the situation. The consequence is used as reinforcement either positive or negative. The reinforcement allows for a change in behavior. The difference between the two theories is that one focuses on the beliefs and emotions that one has about themselves and the behavior that comes from these beliefs and the other focuses on problematic behavior and the reinforcements that change this type of behavior. Behavior therapy uses both positive and negative reinforcements and Cognitive therapy focuses on eliminating the negative behavior or emotion and replacing it with positive rational behavior. A belief scale that serves as a measure from one to ten, is used to see how irrational the clients beliefs really are (Watson, Morris, Miller, 2001). With Behavior therapy reinforcements are used to encourage clients but with Cognitive therapy rational beliefs are used to encourage clients. The clients are questioned on their beliefs and often times humor is used to show the clients how irrational their beliefs can be (Wilde, 1996, p. 61). A limitation of behavior therapy is that reinforcement don’t always work for everyone. A stimulus for reinforcing someone depends on that person’s perception of the stimulus (Wilde, 1996, p. 18). If an individual is having behavior problems and the negative reinforcement is to stay after school, the individual might not think of it as negative reinforcement if they don’t like going home. Their situation at home might be worse then staying after school for detention. Another issue is that behavior theory only deals with the exterior of the problem and does not investigate the deep down root of the problem. Because behavior therapy doesn’t focus on the internal process of the client, the reinforcements are only successful if they bring change in the client’s life for the better. Although Cognitive theory may look at the root of the problem by focusing on automatic thoughts and core beliefs, it also has limitations. It is argued that Cognitive theory only looks at the problem for that one situation that occurs. One incident takes place where the client has inappropriate behavior with irrational beliefs (Atherton, 2007). Other aspects of the client’s life may or may not come up while discovering their irrational beliefs. Another issue is that with Cognitive theory, treatment is not emphasized with family members, the environment, and other interventions (Lantz, 1996). Both theories are culturally sensitive and work with all different backgrounds. Because different races and cultures have different social misconceptions, irrational beliefs may vary from culture to culture; but all cultures have irrational beliefs (Lantz, 1996). What is considered positive or negative reinforcements in one culture may not be considered so in another culture. These types of things vary but both types of therapy work with all different sorts of people. Both theories are compatible with the NASW code of ethics. Cognitive therapy and Behavior therapy both value the client and humanity. Cognitive therapists emphasize the use for rational thinking, which is not only for the client but also for society. The worth of the client is maintained and it is important to make sure that the client doesn’t feel threatened or ashamed by these techniques and it is up to the social worker to maintain these techniques. Blending The Two Theories: Research shows that when blending Cognitive therapy with Behavior therapy there are no proven results that the outcome is better for the client right away. The research does show however that there are more long term results when combining the two theories as apposed to just using one therapy or the other (Thomlison Thomlison, 1996). Behavior theorists such as Skinner argue that when combining Cognitive theory to Behavior theory, the focus on behavior gets diverted and so the therapy is not as effective. Research is not conclusive on this matter but it shows that efficacy to the therapy depends on the problem that the client is having. As time goes on most social workers use Cognitive Behavior Therapy and not just one or the other. By blending the two theories we can focus on the client’s behavior, reinforce their positive behaviors and allow them to recognize their ideas and beliefs about their behavior to allow them to make rational choices and have rational emotions.

The Tragedy Of Machismo Media Essay

The Tragedy Of Machismo Media Essay The tragedy of machismo is that a man is never quite man enough. (Greer, 1987) This is a quote that could serve as a metaphor to describe how man can never be as ideal as portrayed by advertisements. The modern portrayal of men in advertisements is the one in which they all appear to be ultra masculine, and researches have shown these images to have a negative impact on the self-esteem of men, especially boys and young men (Constructed bodies, deconstructing ads: Sexism in advertising, para 2). This could be explained by the fact that men is trying to pursue the norm, of which they should be ultra masculine, leaving them under excessive emotional stress as they try to model after these stereotypically male attributes; or for some, especially feminine and androgynous men, to simply stay relevant within their social circle and essentially, the society-as discussed in Is the Malboro man the only alternative? The role of gender identity and self-construal salience in evaluations of male models. (Gnoth and Brett, 2009) The objectification of woman by modern advertising has been debated upon for many years since the start of the post-feminist era as women slowly gain their foot power in the society. As far as the apparent diminishment of advertising campaigns targeted to promote product services through the use of womens sexual appeal goes, there has also been a significant increase in the objectification of men in advertising. Unlike women who are shown as being excessively thin, men are shown as being over muscular and athletic. A 2002 study by the University of Wisconsin suggests that this new focus on fit and muscled male bodies is causing men the same anxiety and personal insecurity that women have been feeling for years. (Masculinity and Advertising, 2010) In the United Kingdom, one of the very worrying causes of death among men is suicide, which stands at a proportion of 1 out of 100 deaths. It is postulated by Mulholland (2010) that depression is one of the main causes of suicide, which main cause is poor self-esteem. Self-esteem is a concept that can only be measured by self-report. (Frost and McKelvie, 2004) It is measured by how much people value themselves and how worthy they feel their beings are. Poor self-esteem, therefore, occurs in people whose self-values or self-priorities are not met. So, where do these values and priorities come about? Why is value placed on certain things as opposed to other things? Several reasons that could have influenced how and what values and priorities people, mainly men, are adopted come to mind: Advertisements, social and cultural trends and the perception of men by the opposite sex. All factors: Advertisements, social and cultural trends and womens perception of men should be considered equally and not be discounted in any way. Hence, this paper shall seek to prove that the extent to which that modern advertising is negatively affecting mens self esteem is larger than the other factors. Advertisements vs Womens Perception of Men A quote by Ray Lewis, a professional football player featured in a viral television commercial for Old Spice, from the television commercial Old Spice | The Man Your Man Could Smell Like goes: Hello, ladies, look at your man, now back to me, now back at your man, now back to me. Sadly, he isnt me, but if he stopped using ladies scented body wash and switched to Old Spice, he could smell like hes me. This particular television commercial (Old Spice | The Man Your Man Could Smell Like, 2010) was posted onto YouTube, a video sharing website, and has garnered almost 31 million views, 37 thousand comments, 114 video responses and umpteen reposts by other YouTube channels since its release in February, 2010. These staggering figures were also reflected in their sales figure: a 106% increase in sales (Old Spice Campaign Smells Like a Sales Success, Too, 2010) within 4 months of the start of the marketing campaign, Smell Like A Man, Man. The videos in this campaign, which seem to be targeted mostly at women, all feature a hunky man promoting the Old Spice products while reading a script which humorously brings across the point that no man is like him; no man can ever be like him; and the closest you can get to be like him is to smell like him. Judging by the fact that Old Spice had chosen women as the main target audience for their marketing campaignwhich they should have done extensive research to determineit can be inferred that womens perception of men, or particularly her man, has great power in deeply affecting men, influencing them in their decision making; in this context, the kind of smell they use. This inference can also be further proven by the actual increase in sales of the Old Spice products. However, to conclude that it is actually the womens perception of men that is affecting how men view themselves is a very narrow-minded act because the images displayed explicitly to the public through the form of advertisements are what are influencing womens perception of men. Hence, it can be concluded that advertising is and takes precedence and relevance over womens perception of men in lowering mens self-esteem. Next, this paper will explore this question: Is modern advertising following social and cultural trends, or is it going ahead of them? Advertisements vs Social/Cultural Trends Advertisements have always been known to be able to cause an impact, fulfilling their purpose to influence, urge and compel the public to purchase or engage the goods and services they are endorsing. In this context, it is no doubt that by doing so, they are also influencing the way people think about which are popular products or services and which are not, albeit subconsciously. However, what are the things that inspire advertisers in the way they advertise their products? Do they safely follow social conventions or do they actually set the standards? While it is easy to argue that since the sole purpose of advertisements is to persuade people to buy or engage goods and services, advertisements must surely conform to social standards; however, the possibility of it happening in reverse also deserves consideration. The following example presents evidence that supports the statement that advertising does go ahead of social trends; however isolated an example it is. In an interview conducted by CNN with Donatella Versace (Donatella Versace, CNN Interview, Part 1/3, 2009), designer for fashion powerhouse, Versace, it was mentioned that Versace was the first ever luxury brand to have entered China. Before 1979, the year China introduced Versace into its market, the idea of a luxurious lifestyle was not widespread, partly due to the then still low living standards. However, over the years, it was the upbeat advertising of the luxury goods lifestyle that started the notion of living life luxuriously. Since then, China has surpassed the United States of America to become the second-largest luxury market in 2009 (Luxury Brands in China, 2010). China is also set to become the second largest consumer of luxury by 2015 (China Luxury, 2007). The above-discussed point has proven that advertising and social trends both influence each other in a way or another. They are also factors that have in one way or another negatively affected mens self esteem. However, if we were to consider the extent to which has more direct effect on lowering mens self esteem, it will be advertising, since the visual representation in the form of images is straightforward and clear, unlike social trends, which sometimes can be unobvious, leading men to be oblivious about their existence. The Importance of Context When discussing the effect that modern advertising has on mens self-esteem, the context of the circumstances also has to be considered in depth. Across time and space, the set of priorities of men changes and is different. Therefore, we can assert that advertisements may not actually affect mens self-esteem as images portrayed by advertisements at a present time or place may not be what they desire to emulate or copy. For example, in the early to mid 20th century China, value might be put on people who had good martial arts skills because in those days, that was one of the few things people associate success with. However, nowadays, value seems to be put on wealthy people with social stature because of the change in what people associate success with-from life skills, or skills in general, to economic wealth. In addition, since martial arts originated from Asia, Westerners may lack familiarity to it and find it hard to relate to it, even though they are living in the same era. Hence, if an advertisement featuring a martial arts master were to be shown to the men of today, the effect of this advertisement on their self-esteem might actually be minimal to none. It might be true that the context in which advertisements are being displayed for public view and what they are actually about might not be applicable to some people due to the differences in each individuals set of values and priorities, but without factoring in external factors such as globalization, it will be unfair to come to the conclusion that advertisements have little to do with the lowering of self-esteem of men. With globalization, and the rise of computers and the Internet, the myriad of pages, websites and even programs are tools that have been connecting people, communities and even nations together. The exposure to advertisements online is abundant since usually, one of the key revenues for web and program developers is the endorsement of products through advertisements on their web pages and programs. The convenience and high accessibility of the Internet has enabled companies to broaden their customer market, and in the same way also helped expose people to a huge and limitless array of advertisements. Under the influence of these advertisements, which include references from both the present, past, and also all around the world, people start to learn more about the cultures of others, past and present. By accumulating more real world knowledge over time, advertisements will now be more relatable and relevant. Hence, advertising will, again, present the risks of lowering mens self este em. Conclusion All in all, although the social and cultural trends and also factors such as the womens perception of men have in a way or another contributed to the negative change in the way men view themselves, they are in fact caused by the extensive exposure to advertisements that have been making use of the objectification of men to sell their goods and services. Therefore, it is with huge certainty that I conclude that advertisements is to a large extent the main cause of the decreasing self-esteem of men.

Shakespeare: The Best Playwright that Ever Lived :: Biography Biographies Essays

Shakespeare: The Best Playwright that Ever Lived William Shakespeare was a supreme English poet and playwright, universally recognized as the greatest of all the dramatists. A complete, authoritative account of Shakespeare's life is lacking; much supposition surrounds relatively few facts. His day of birth is traditionally held on April 23, and he was baptized on April 24, 1564. He was the third of eight children, and was the eldest son of John Shakespeare. He was probably educated in a local grammar school. As the eldest son, Shakespeare would of taken over his father's business, but according to one account, he became a butcher because of reverses in his father's financial situation. According to another account, he became a school master. That Shakespeare was allowed considerable leisure time in his youth is suggested by the fact that his plays show more knowledge of hunting and hawking than do those of other dramatists. In 1582, he married Anne Hathaway. He is supposed to have left Stratford after he was caught poaching in a deer park. Shakespeare apparently arrived in London about 1588 and by 1592 had attained success as a playwright. The publication of Venus and Adonis, The Rape of Lucrece and of his Sonnets established his reputation as a poet in the Renaissance manner. Shakespeare's modern reputation is based mainly on the 38 plays he wrote, modified, or collaborated on. Shakespeare's professional life in London was marked by a number of financially advantageous arrangements that permitted him to share in the profits of his acting company, the Chamberlain's Men, and its two theaters, the Globe and the Blackfriars. His plays were given special presentation at the courts of Queen Elizabeth I and King James I. After about 1608, Shakespeare's dramatic production lessened and he spent more time in Stratford. There he established a family in and imposing house, the New Place, and became a leading local citizen. He died on April 23, 1616, and was buried in the Stratford church. Although the precise date of many of Shakespeare's plays is in doubt, his dramatic career is divided into four periods: (1) the period up to 1594, (2) the years from 1594 to 1600, (3) the years from 1600 to 1608, (4) the period after 1608. In all periods, the plots of his plays were frequently drawn from chronicles, histories, or earlier fiction. Shakespeare: The Best Playwright that Ever Lived :: Biography Biographies Essays Shakespeare: The Best Playwright that Ever Lived William Shakespeare was a supreme English poet and playwright, universally recognized as the greatest of all the dramatists. A complete, authoritative account of Shakespeare's life is lacking; much supposition surrounds relatively few facts. His day of birth is traditionally held on April 23, and he was baptized on April 24, 1564. He was the third of eight children, and was the eldest son of John Shakespeare. He was probably educated in a local grammar school. As the eldest son, Shakespeare would of taken over his father's business, but according to one account, he became a butcher because of reverses in his father's financial situation. According to another account, he became a school master. That Shakespeare was allowed considerable leisure time in his youth is suggested by the fact that his plays show more knowledge of hunting and hawking than do those of other dramatists. In 1582, he married Anne Hathaway. He is supposed to have left Stratford after he was caught poaching in a deer park. Shakespeare apparently arrived in London about 1588 and by 1592 had attained success as a playwright. The publication of Venus and Adonis, The Rape of Lucrece and of his Sonnets established his reputation as a poet in the Renaissance manner. Shakespeare's modern reputation is based mainly on the 38 plays he wrote, modified, or collaborated on. Shakespeare's professional life in London was marked by a number of financially advantageous arrangements that permitted him to share in the profits of his acting company, the Chamberlain's Men, and its two theaters, the Globe and the Blackfriars. His plays were given special presentation at the courts of Queen Elizabeth I and King James I. After about 1608, Shakespeare's dramatic production lessened and he spent more time in Stratford. There he established a family in and imposing house, the New Place, and became a leading local citizen. He died on April 23, 1616, and was buried in the Stratford church. Although the precise date of many of Shakespeare's plays is in doubt, his dramatic career is divided into four periods: (1) the period up to 1594, (2) the years from 1594 to 1600, (3) the years from 1600 to 1608, (4) the period after 1608. In all periods, the plots of his plays were frequently drawn from chronicles, histories, or earlier fiction.

Super Leadership :: Business, Creative Culture

Idea Generation and Creative Potential The global competitive forces are compelling organizations to develop highly innovative and creative environment, where idea generation is encouraged and serves as a live blood for organizational survival by creating a strong creative culture. Because of this pressure on organization to be more creative, they are turning towards idea generation and developing creative potential of employees. Idea generation is one of the coherent phases of the creative process (Kanter, 1988); (West & Farr, 1989). Similarly, it is argued that the creativity is nothing else but the generation of novel and useful ideas (Amabile T. , 1988). Likewise, it is commented that various scientists characterize creativity as a source of generating novel or useful ideas by individuals or teams members. This manifests that idea generation and creativity are two sides of a same coin (Greenberg & Baron, 2003). Moreover, creativity is a vital characteristic related to life that we act upon in daily routine. It covers a problem at workplace that become pleasure or an imagination that becomes a reality in a hi-tech world (Bonnardel, 1999). Creativity and productivity are highly correlated due to which firms strongly believe in the effects creativity has on better performance and due to this conviction, they spends a lot of money on creativity in firms (Dennard, 2000). However, in order to foster the idea generation and creative potential of employee in the organization are compelled to identify the underlying elements. For creating such environment, various factors have been identified & explored by the scholars (West M. A., Sparkling fountains or stagant ponds: An integrative model of creativity and innovation implementation in work groups, 2002a); (West M. A., Ideas are ten a penny: its team implementation not idea generation that count, 2002b); (Mumford, 2003); (Gilson & Shalley, 2004); (Amabile, Barsade, Mueller, & Staw, 2005); (Shin & Zhou, 2003), and (Cheng, 1994). More recently, in a study, it is substantiated the importance of interpersonal character of idea generation as highlighted in recent literature on creativity. Furthermore, it is argued that the creation of ideas instigates the interaction between the individual and its social environment (Zhou, 2008). For idea generation, the broader (organizational) context needs to stimulate interpersonal contacts as much as possible. An open, helpful, somewhat informal culture, in which people can easily call on others, facilitates formal and informal social connections and idea generation. Creative Culture Everybody has a role to play as citizens and consumers, culture and creativity, at the same time, help deliver new, more sustainable ways of living and working.

The Discovery of DNA

It is amazing how important things are being discovered by persons who spend most of their lives dedicated to research. It is perhaps more amazing how a scientist discovers one thing while trying to discover other things. Imagine if no one was patient enough to conduct experiments to prove their assumptions. If that was the case, we would not know today that DNA is the genetic material. This paper will discuss how DNA was discovered, its structure and the scientists who contributed to the discovery.Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is considered as the molecular blueprint of life that can be passed to the next generation. It was discovered in 1953 (University of Georgia, 2007) from experiments seeking to understand bacterial pneumonia which claimed many lives during the twentieth century. During these experiments, researchers stumbled into discoveries which later on became the reagents for further experiments leading to the discovery of DNA as the genetic material (O’Connor, 2008).D NA looks like a twisted ladder wherein rungs are secured by two out of four molecules that are interlocking. These molecules are nucleic acid bases. The four molecules include thymine, adenine, cytosine, and guanine (University of Georgia, 2007). Certain scientists have been notable for conducting experiments leading to the discovery of DNA. One of these was Oswald Avery whose team was trying to find out how to treat lobular pneumonia. From his experiments, he proved that DNA indeed carries genetic information.During that time, many people believed that the gene would be made up of protein and not nucleic acid (WGBH, 1998). Another scientist which contributed to DNA discovery was Frederick Griffith who, in 1928, conducted an experiment utilizing pneumonia bacteria and mice. Recent studies pointed that Griffith’s experiment was one of many others hinting that DNA was the hereditary material. Griffith assumed from his experiment, wherein he used a smooth (S) and rough (R) strai ns of Streptococcus pneumoniae on a mice, that polysaccharide coating was the cause of the illness to the mice.Further into his experiment, he found out that something in the living cell, and not the polysaccharides, caused the disease. Later on he speculated that the R strain bacteria he injected into the mice has absorbed the dead S strain bacteria’s genetic material. Furthermore, he speculated that the protein contained in the chromosomes was not the genetic bacteria due to the finding that heat denatures protein (Biology at Clermont College, n. d. ). At first, Avery was skeptical of the results of Griffith’s experiment. However, other researchers further studied Griffith’s findings.In 1931, Sia and Dawson found out that transformation, a process wherein one strain absorbs the genetic material of another strain and becomes that bacterium, could also take place in liquid cultures of pneumococci and mice. In 1948, Linus Pauling found out that proteins are shape d in alpha helix, which looks like a spring coil. Another significant discovery took place two years later, when Erwin Chargaff discovered an important foundation of the description of DNA: nitrogen bases in DNA varied, but some bases occur in one-to-one ratio.Pauling’s findings have further aroused interest into two researchers, namely: Francis Crick and James Watson. They were not the only ones interested in studying DNA. Maurice Wilkins and Rosalind Franklin from London were also studying DNA. Franklin discovered the possibility that DNA can occur in two forms. It depends on the humidity of the air. Franklin figured out that the molecule’s phosphate was located on the outside. Watson and Crick, determined to redeem their studies after a failed model, conceptualized that there are two chains of nucleotides in the molecule.These two chains were in a helix, as what Franklin has discovered, but one chain was moving to the opposite direction of another. Furthermore, they believed that the strands of DNA molecule served as the template for the other. The strands separate during cell division. In addition, a new half is built on each strand. The team found out that this was the way DNA reproduces without change in its structure (WGBH, 1998). The discovery of DNA was considered as the most important biological work and it has paved the way for further experiments and studies. Crick and Watson won the Nobel Prize for their findings. References Biology at Clermont College. (n.d). DNA structure and function. Retrieved January 30, 2009, from http://biology.clc.uc.edu/courses/bio104/dna.htm O’Connor, C. (2008). Discovery of DNA as the hereditary material using Streptococcus pneumoniae. Nature Education, 1(1). University of Georgia. (2007). Study suggests how DNA building block might have formed. Retrieved January 30, 2009, from http://www.world-science.net/othernews/071102_adenine.htm WGBH. (1998). Watson and Crick describe structure of DNA. Retrieved January 30, 2009, from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/databank/entries/do53dn.html