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Learning Contract and Action Plan Report

Management Skills – BUMGT2601

Tutor/Lecturer: Peter Osman

Due: September 15th, 2008

Student Name: Sally Jones

Student Number: 2764835

Executive Summary

A key factor for all managers is the ability to manage their time more efficiently. “The only way to create more time is to effectively become a manager of your own time” (Colwill & Birchall, 1992, p.243). The ability to manage your time has to come from the recognition of what your time is spent on; therefore completing activities such as a journal can assist in improving time management skills. (Whetten & Cameron, 1995) To improve time management skills, different theories are discussed and analysed in this report in relation to improving study time. The first theory tested was the Lakein ABC system, which requires tasks to be prioritised according to their importance and urgency.

The second theory discussed is Pareto’s 80/20 rule, which identifies that 80 percent of our activities are trivial and only provide 20 percent of the results that we desire, where 20 percent of our time is spent on vital tasks which is 80 percent of the results we desire (Hunsaker, 2005). Another theory called the biological prime time theory identifies that each person has a time of day in which they are more productive, the key is to discover this time and capitalise on it by assigning the most important and urgent tasks to be completed at this time of day. (DeJanasz, Wood, Gottschalk, Dowd & Schneider, 2006)

Another factor that can help to maximise time is the division of tasks; by dividing up large projects it helps to avoid feeling overwhelmed and it also helps to identify accomplishments. (Whetten & Cameron, 1995)

Time management theories also suggest that in organising you work space can assist individuals to maximise their time so it cannot rob you of time in two ways. One, to spend time looking for items and two, you are not interrupted or distracted. (Whetten & Cameron, 1995) The last theory explored is to make a list of discretionary tasks, which is the process of making a list of some five to ten minute tasks to complete in those spare times that occur throughout the day, being careful that these tasks do not consume time off the urgent or important tasks. (Whetten & Cameron, 1995)

These theories were tested and the results in the report have discovered ways in which time can be maximised through the study of time management theories to achieve a certain goal.

Contents

1.0 Time ManagementPage 4

2.0 Time recognitionPage 4

3.0 ABC SystemPage 4

4.0 Pareto’s 80/20 RulePage 5

5.0 Biological Prime TimePage 5

6.0 Division of TasksPage 5

7.0 Organisation Work SpacePage 6

8.0 Discretionary TasksPage 6

9.0 FindingsPage 6

10.0 ConclusionPage 9

11.0 ReferencesPage 10

1.0 Time Management

Managers need to “direct activities and control events so that goals are met within the appointed time frame” (Caroselli, 2000, p.72). In order to achieve this within the time frame, time management needs to be emphasised. Time management is defined by DeJanasz et..al (2006, p84) as “the ability to allocate our time and resources to accomplishing our objectives”. It refers to the way in which we manage our tasks and priorities. Time is a constant, there are always twenty-four hours in a day, the challenge for managers in to maximise time (Flanagan & Finger, 1998). The “only way to create more time is to effectively become a manager of your own time” (Colwill & Birchall, 1992, p.243). In managing your time, it enables you to prioritise and complete more goals and tasks. (DeJanasz et..al, 2006, p.84) Various theories can assist in achieving this.

2.0 Time Recognition

The only way in which to maximise time is to recognise exactly what our time is spent on, therefore completing activities such as a journal can assist in improving time management skills. This self-analysis alerts us of our tendencies to use time inefficiently (Whetten & Cameron, 1995). Whetten and Cameron (1995) argue that it is impossible to undertake time management or decrease time stressors unless you know what your time is spent on. It relates to self-analysing what we do and how we spend our time, the sudden realisation of how our time is spent can result in an incentive towards personal change. (Stewart, 1998) Therefore different theories can be put in place to assist managers and people wishing to use there time more efficiently.

3.0 ABC System

In order to use ones times more effectively, tasks need to be prioritised. This can be done using the ABC system developed by Alan Lakein. To apply this to everyday tasks each task receives an A, B or C. The letter the task receives depends upon the urgency or importance of the task, where A tasks are most urgent, B tasks are important but not urgent and C tasks are those that can be done after tasks A and B are completed. (Hunsaker, 2005) These tasks can further be prioritised, for example, ‘A’ tasks can be A1, A2, A3, etc. (Stewart, 1998) By making priorities and lists daily, although seemingly it is just common sense, enhances time management as memory is not solely relied upon. (Whetten & Cameron, 1995) Although whilst making these lists “avoid generating multiple lists, unmanageable numbers of priorities, items duplicated on several lists, and constantly changing priorities” (Stewart, 1998, p.27)

4.0 Pareto’s 80/20 Rule

Pareto’s 80/20 rule states “80 percent of our activities are trivial and only provide 20 percent of the results that we desire” (Hunsaker, 2005, p.139) where 20 percent of our time is spent on vital tasks which is 80 percent of the results we desire. Therefore we need to consider what is the best use of time right now and is this achieving maximum effectiveness? (Hunsaker, 2005) Therefore it is crucial to “analyse which tasks make up the 20 percent and spend the bulk of your time on that” (Whetten & Cameron, 1995, p.125) For this principle to work, the 20 percent of activities that are most important and provide the most pay off need to recognised. This is in comparison to the other 80 per cent, which tend to be time wasters. Once this is recognised, then more time needs to be allocated to these tasks and to further analyse if what we are doing is the most effective use of our time. (Hunsaker, 2005)

5.0 Biological Prime Time

By recognising your optimal work time, or also known as biological prime time, it allows you to “maximise use of this time by scheduling and doing demanding jobs during these peak periods” (DeJanasz et al. 2006, p.88) This ensures that the most important tasks receive the most effort. For managers, this technique could be critiqued to apply to all workers, if their prime time is known, then tasks which require a lot of effort and importance can be delegated to them at their peek times (Whetten & Cameron, 1995).

6.0 Division of Tasks

Large projects can be divided into smaller tasks to avoid feeling overwhelmed. This helps to identify accomplishments and avoids the feeling of being inundated, this then leads to procrastination as the individual is feeling overloaded. (Whetten & Cameron, 1995) This means that large or difficult tasks are broken down into stages or parts to complete one at a time, seemingly making the task smaller and more achievable. This can result in the individual feeling less stressed over the capacity of work to be completed and achieving these in stages results in more positive thoughts of success. (Worrall & Cooper, 2001)

7.0 Organisation Work Space

Organising our workplace can greatly assist our time management. In doing so, it cannot rob us of time in two ways. One, to spend time looking for items and two, you are not interrupted or distracted. (Whetten & Cameron, 1995) In order to be organised, critical factors such as location, comfort, having items readily accessible, establish a filing system, stick to one task at a time and clear the desk of all other tasks, this can assist in reducing time wasters such as searching for various documents (Flanagan & Finger, 1998) Distractions rob people of time. By having an area away from these distractions, or a set time of the day when no one is to disturb you, it can give the individuals time to concentrate on important tasks or just give them a time in which to relax and have time to think (Whetten & Cameron, 1995)

8.0 Discretionary Tasks

Making a list of some five to ten minute tasks to complete in those spare times that occur throughout the day can assist managers utilising their time. It is important to be careful that these tasks do not consume time off the urgent or important tasks. (Whetten & Cameron, 1995) This means those times throughout the day when waiting for a meeting, taking a phone call or for something to begin are not wasted and this time can be used more effectively maximizing time usage. (Whetten & Cameron, 1995)

9.0 Findings

These theories were all tested in relation to the aim of maximising time in order to increase at home study by thirty percent. By using time recognition, a journal was created to identify current level of study time, this concluded that ten hours per week was the current level and identified that to increase this by thirty percent would result in thirteen hours per week. This realisation came from a journal kept on week one, (Refer to Appendix A) which acknowledged four key areas on which my time was spent: work, university, study and T.V. The aim of the action plan was to increase study time, therefore it was noted that T.V needed to be decreased and spare moments throughout the day needed to be utilised in order to capitalise on study time. In doing this, I recognised that there were large chunks of time that were wasted throughout my week, although I felt as though I was constantly busy. This technique of keeping track of my time throughout my research provided both my post and pre test measures. I would also keep a journal every week to analyse progress using various theories.

In week two, the theory of making lists of things to accomplish that day was used along with the Alan Lakein ABC system (Hunsaker, 2005) to prioritise these tasks that were set throughout the day. In doing this, I made a draft list and then set priorities to each activity, then a final list was done with these in order containing an A, B or C next to each task so I recognised which tasks were most important to complete first, and B tasks would not be started unless all A tasks were either complete or at a stage in which no further work could be done on them. My expected outcome for this theory was that I would complete most tasks labeled A and B as I already make lists, but do not prioritise these, and that productivity would not increase dramatically. The actual outcome was a surprise. By making a list with priorities on them, I found that my productivity did increase as I was accomplishing tasks that were of importance, rather than doing the trivial tasks that looked good as I crossed them off the list. I found the theory of Lakein to be fairly straightforward, but did in fact help increase my study time, as study was a higher priority than doing the washing.

I also attempted to recognise my biological prime time in week two. This is to attempt to increase the amount of work done, as high priorities would be done in the time in which the body was more productive, hence being referred to as the optimal working time. (DeJenasz et al. 2006) I kept a chart where I rated my energy levels from one to ten each day to assess where my prime time stood, which I have highlighted peek times throughout the day where my energy levels were at its highest. (Refer to Appendix B) The expectation from this was that my ‘prime time’ would be later in the day, as I do not consider myself as a morning person, but in reality I found it was very difficult to recognise this time of day, as I found my energy levels each day changed, but the most common trend was to have my peek later in the day, from around 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. generally. This theory did not work as well as I hoped as although recognising this time proved difficult, actually being able to schedule activities in this time was close to impossible, as work hours would change, unexpected priorities would occur, and homework was slotted in at spare moments throughout the day, as my weeks are unstructured and vary, arriving at a certain time of day to complete study was not realistic at this point in time. I have concluded that this theory may be more useful when I start full time employment, as my week will be more controlled with less variables to juggle.

In this week, I also decided to try to organise my workspace. According to Whetten and Cameron (1995), a disorganized workspace can rob you of time in two ways. One, to spend time looking for items and two, you are not interrupted or distracted. I have a room in my house which is purely for study, therefore I already have a place which is away from distractions, although I removed my mobile phone, my MP3 player and all other non related university material. My desk however needed to be organised, I brought shelves and containers so that various documents were no longer lying around and cleared my desk of all clutter and mess so that my working environment was clean and organised. The anticipation of this theory was that the time I spent cleaning my desk would be a complete waste of time. However on reflection it was not, I did find that time spent looking for things was reduced dramatically if not distinguished. Also having a clear space to work in was more motivating, as I didn’t feel cluttered and stressed as much.

I then tested the 80/20 rule in week three. This proved to have similar results to the Alan Lakein ABC system (Hunsaker, 2005) as the most urgent tasks were more focused upon than the irrelevant tasks. The only difference was I was unclear on exactly how much percentage of my time was spent on urgent compared to trivial tasks, as I focused on the urgent ones, and once they were complete then moved onto the trivial tasks on my to-do list. Therefore I concluded that this theory although useful, did not present to be any more helpful than simply prioritising tasks.

It is very often that throughout my week I find myself very rushed and have the constant feeling of not having sufficient time, so Whetten & Cameron, (1995) suggested that in order to maximise time, discretionary tasks should be recognised in and completed in the small amounts of spare time that occurs throughout the day. This theory sounded good on the surface, but with my perceived lack of time, did not think that it would prove to be successful. On reflection, I did have spare moments throughout the day in which I never recognised prior to this activity. I made a list of a few quick tasks that could be achieved in ten to fifteen minutes for times throughout the day when I was waiting for something to begin. This proved to be quite helpful as in those spare moments little tasks that rarely were achieved got completed. Although in relation to my aim of increasing my study time, this theory did not have much effect, as the tasks I listed did not directly affect the amount of study time.

The last theory in which I tested was to divide up large projects to avoid the feeling of being overwhelmed. I did not have high expectations for this theory as I assumed that I would still feel quite overwhelmed with my workload, as I would know that I still had to accomplish all tasks even if they were broken down into smaller ones. On reflection of this, I was mistaken. By breaking larger tasks down and achieving small amounts at a time, it gave me a sense of accomplishment and kept me more motivated to complete extra tasks, therefore resulting in the large tasks being completed earlier. I felt less pressure to sit down and try to finish a whole assignment or a group of questions. This theory proved very useful as I could see “the light at the end of the tunnel” and I will continue to use this theory well into my working life.

10.0 Conclusion

From the analysis, which took place over a five-week period, the post-test results showed that in using time management theories, I was able to maximise my time use to exceed my goal of increasing my study time of thirty percent to actually achieving sixty percent for a total of sixteen hours per week. This was achievable due to putting in place these theories and finding which ones worked well with my schedule and daily life.

11.0 References:

Caroselli, M., (2000) Leadership Skills for Managers, United States, McGraw Hill.

Colwill, J., & Birchall, G., (1992) Practical Management: An Introduction to Management Skills, Australia, Longman House

DeJanasz, S., Wood, G., Gottschalk, L., Dowd, K., & Schneider B., (2006) Interpersonal Skills in Organisations, Australia, McGraw Hill

Flanagan, N., & Finger, J., (1998) Just about everything a Manger need to know, Queensland, Australia, Plum Press

Hunsaker, P., (2005) Management: a skills approach (2nd ed.) New Jersey, Pearsons Education

Stewart, D., (1998) Handbook of Management Skills, (3rd ed.) England, Gower Publishing Limited

Whetten, D., & Cameron, K., (1995) Developing Management Skills (3rd ed.) America, Harpers CollinsWorrall, L., & Cooper, C., (2001) Management skills development: a perspective on current issues and setting the future agenda, Leadership & Organization Development Journal 22(1) Retrieved September 4, 2008 from HYPERLINK “http://www.emeraldinsight.com” http://www.emeraldinsight.com

MAP: 1 – Page Project and Trial Run

The MAP consists of being able to do a video analysis from scratch. This 1-pg description is mainly designed to focus your question to a particular activity. Please take a look at the corresponding video on D2L before starting this.

What is the physical activity you plan to analyze?

There are no right or wrong answers here – because we are using video analysis, there are two factors that will constrain your choice of activity:

The number of dimensions the movement occurs in– Video analysis means we can only look at 2 dimensions (i.e. left/right and up/down). Any activity that has significant motion in all 3 dimensions cannot be analyzed accurately. Examples of 2D movements are walking, running, vertical jump, dart throwing, basketball free throw, reaching on a table etc. Examples of movements that are 3D are baseball pitching, complex gymnastics/diving maneuvers etc. Avoid 3D movements – if you are in doubt, please ask

Speed of the movement – do not choose extremely rapid movements like a golf swing or a hockey slap shot (unless you have access to a high speed camera). S

Find a published research paper related to the physical activity:

Provide a full citation for this paper (APA format)

Describe the main findings of the paper you have reviewed in your own words in 1 paragraph

To find research articles that are published in Journals, use websites such as Pubmed (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/) or Google Scholar (https://scholar.google.com/)

Access to these journals can be obtained through the MSU library website.

Use keywords such as “biomechanics”, “kinematics”, “EMG”, “force plate” etc. along with your physical activity. For example, if you want to examine papers looking at muscle activity during walking in stroke survivors, type in something like “Gait walking EMG stroke”

Develop a research question based on the paper that you have reviewed

The research question must be of the form – “We want to look at the effect of X on Y”

Where X is the factor you manipulate in your experiment (i.e. the independent variable).

Examples of independent variables are age (children vs. adult), sex (male vs. female), expertise (novice vs. expert) etc.

And Y is the biomechanical variable(s) you will measure from the video (i.e. the dependent variables).

Examples of dependent variables are knee angle at landing, range of motion in shoulder flexion-extension, peak hand speed, release angle at take-off, average horizontal velocity of the hip during the jump, etc.

Choose two dependent variables for your experiment

One will be a linear variable (e.g. displacement, velocity etc.)

One will be an angular variable (e.g., angular displacement, angular velocity etc.)

So for example, if you are looking at a squat lift, your research question must be of the form,

“We want to look at the effect of expertise (novice vs. expert) on:

(a) the maximum vertical velocity of the hip during the squat, and

(b) the maximum knee flexion during the squat.”

Describe the anatomical locations you will need to analyze on video (e.g., hip, knee, shoulder etc.)

If you need to compute an angle, you will need to analyze at least 3 points – for example, if you want to compute elbow angle, you need a marker on the shoulder, one on the elbow and one on the wrist

Describe the experiment you plan to do (in one paragraph)

How are you going to control the independent variable?

Who is going to perform the activity? Where will you film the activity?

Describe which angle you will film from (frontal plane, sagittal plane, transverse plane)

Describe any safety precautions you might need to take during filming

Trial Run:

You will also do a quick trial run to make sure you can do all the steps that you proposed. For the trial run, you need to the following steps:

a) Record a calibration video for your movement

b) Record a single video of the movement you want to analyze. For example, if you are comparing expert vs. novice, then just do one of the videos for now

c) Import the calibration and movement videos into Tracker and calibrate the movement video (similar to all labs that you have done on Tracker)

d) Check the calibration using a tape measure (e.g., just like on the labs, you can measure the height of the person using a tape measure to check if your calibration gives a reasonable answer)

e) Analyze the movement you recorded and compute your two dependent variables that you proposed in step 4 (e.g. hip velocity/knee angle etc.). Take a screenshot on Tracker with the graph for each of the corresponding variables (two screenshots total)

You will then submit on D2L

– The TRZ file

OR

– The TRK file AND the associated videos (the mp4 files). Please remember that unlike the labs (where we had the video files), if you just submit a TRK file, we will not be able to check your work on our end without the video file

So for the MAP trial run, you have to submit 2 things:

1. A PDF document answering the 6 questions about your MAP, and two screenshots of the trial run (described in step e)

2. The Tracker files (either TRZ or the TRK+ movie files) for one condition in your MAP

Please note that the MAP trial run is meant to help you get started with the work required to do the final project correctly. This component itself will not be graded – instead we will provide feedback about what things to fix on the final project. So please don’t worry if something is not ‘perfect’ now – the goal is to be able to get used to the steps involved and use the feedback to do well on the final project

Map Exercise

(30 points)

1. Please look at the three maps shown on the slide labeled question one.

Name one difference you can find in the size and shape of a continent (3 Points)

The continents are all of different sizes and shape but Africa and south America seems to have almost similar shape and size but there is a difference still.

All other continents except Africa and south America have an absolutely irregular shape.

Some continents are too small in shape compared to others

Which map would you use if you where sailing a ship (3 Points) (Hint which shows the least distortion of the ocean)

I would use the MD 1951 Map

Open the map entitled 1951

And look at the key shown below

What do the brown lines on the map represent and what do the numbers mean (2 points) (Hint they look like this below)

The brown lines on the map represents the contours.

The numbers are the altitudes of the different areas.

How do you use these lines to understand the landscape (2 points)

These lines give the landscapes altitude and the slope. When the lines are close to each other, it means that the landscape is steep and if they are distanced from each other the landscape is less steep.

How can you find out where this map (entitled 1954) is of (I am looking for a location) (2 Points) (Hint look at the bottom)

By using the information provided at the bottom of the map one can know where this map is of. That is, Lanham, MD. Upper Marlboro 15’ Quadrangle, N 3852.5-W 7645/7.5.

How can you measure distance on the map and where is this located and why is this important to all maps (2 point)

Distance on the map can be taken using a string or flexible material and then the measurements are converted using the maps scale.

The map’s scale is located at the bottom of the map.

Open the map MD_1993

Compare this map to the previous map how has this area changed (3 Points)

The area has become more occupied. The population of people has increased as well as that of infrastructure. More structures like roads and buildings have been added to the map changing the area. The vegetation seems to have reduced significantly.

What does the pink areas of the map represent (Hint look at the pink writing at the bottom) (3 points)

The pink areas represent the extension of urban areas.

Can you find Prince Gorges Community college on this map and describe how would you identify the location using what you have on the map (2 points)

Yes. Towards the eastern part of the map.

I would identify the college by first looking at the map key. I would then go through the map identifying the college sign as indicated in the key. After that I would look for the name prince Gorges.

Please find a map and either paste it below or provide a link (Either from the internet or else were.) I found an Africa physical features map. The link is,

https://www.google.com/search?q=africa+physical+features+map&rlz=1C1CHBD_enKE808KE808&sxsrf=AOaemvIBy35TZ4GAfoexrcAH_88chnUtjA:1639707376758&tbm=isch&source=iu&ictx=1&fir=hfiePwPaK5wygM%252CC2DPvM1hHWYV2M%252C_%253BAed0GjpxZwophM%252CYQIypt6hfy_zKM%252C_%253BqqjjYYpCjkRMzM%252CtBZqx7LN5zyKIM%252C_%253BvrBTlKdQWw4QeM%252CUNww4orlmYByWM%252C_%253BW85cFEtLKxRmhM%252CA2zWlhJHaeCvXM%252C_%253BP_DR4RfllGhsnM%252CYQIypt6hfy_zKM%252C_%253B9H1MW0kGdDKEEM%252CpK4CSaQjg52AWM%252C_%253BJkiLAfTydpAuKM%252C69hr08vNrX7nuM%252C_%253B8l-NVGSwAa0bFM%252Cm7mhWWyQmwTMdM%252C_%253BT3uJ3VCDa2_8SM%252CTdlDjia1vseXJM%252C_%253BQ1p2l7cvdrz1XM%252CSLztBRad-4VJoM%252C_%253BDgc0_xOjsZ2ZxM%252CZZNUZv94WPuXdM%252C_%253BfTsRHMUJhl8ucM%252ChiSdl2bsdpUKyM%252C_%253BwBQuAVGSXP3ieM%252ComwKNZG2CXExnM%252C_%253BH1eahH8XnetmLM%252C4gnmI6tqmfQ3tM%252C_&vet=1&usg=AI4_-kQ17AL9wISibClAQVNkefwjbqv1Qg&sa=X&sqi=2&ved=2ahUKEwiM_ef94en0AhVGVhoKHVkXAwoQ9QF6BAgIEAE#imgrc=hfiePwPaK5wygMPlease describe what the map shows (2 points)

The map shows Africa continent physical features and also the latitudes and longitudes.

Please describe why this map interests you (3 Points)

I am interested in knowing more about Africa continent physical features and mostly because of the unique features which support life of many wild animal. I also want to learn about this feature which mostly sustain summer climate.

How does the design of map you chose help emphasize the purpose of the map? (3 points)

The physical feature map indicates the topography and the physical features of areas in the map. This indication helps learners know more about other places in details.

MD_1993.tifMD 1951.tifQuestion 1.pptx

LEGAL DNA (WALL STREET JOURNAL 2002)

THE WORLD ECONOMY is putting modern capitalism through another stress test. Like tests that physicians do for people with heart disease, this one highlights the system’s weaknesses and brings forth various prescriptions for treating symptoms. But, just as with heart disease, the stress test raises intriguing questions about genetic advantages: Do some economies have institutions, laws and commonly accepted business norms that produce a stronger strain of capitalism, one better adapted to withstand shocks and improve its people’s prosperity?

Specifically, why do the U.S. and Britain have bigger stock markets and more shareholding citizens than Germany and France, and does that make their economies more flexible? Why do more companies go public in India than in Brazil? Why do American businesses use private arbitration more than others to resolve corporate disputes? Why are U.S. governments more comfortable settling trade disputes one case at a time than their Continental counterparts?

To a remarkable degree, the answers can be traced to the different legal traditions that emerged in England and France in the 12th century and spread through their colonies. Nine hundred years later, these traditions still influence business, investors and government. And as globalization steadily erodes national boundaries, the differences are causing unavoidable strains. WESTERN COMMERCIAL LAW comes from two traditions: the common law, with roots in England, and the civil law, rooted in ancient Rome and refined later by continental Europeans. Common-law countries, including the U.S. and other former British colonies, rely on independent judges and juries and legal principles supplemented by precedent-setting case law. In civil-law countries, which include much of Latin America, judges often are lifelong civil servants who administer legal codes packed with specific rules. Case law matters less. Civil-law countries distrust judges and arbitrators; common-law countries venerate and empower them. Rule-laden civil-law countries aren’t well-adapted to cope with change; the case-law approach makes common-law countries inherently more flexible. All this has long fascinated law professors. After the early failures at building capitalism in Russia following communism’s collapse, the issue also attracted a band of economists, led by Harvard’s Andrei Shleifer. They sought to identify conditions essential for functioning markets and private property. Whatever they were, Russia didn’t have them.

Examining 49 countries from Argentina to Zimbabwe, the economists discerned a distinct pattern in both rich and poor countries: “Civil-law countries exhibit heavier regulation, weaker property-right protection, more-corrupt and less-efficient governments and less political freedom than do common-law countries,” Mr. Shleifer puts it. As France well illustrates, civil law “more easily accommodates the expansion of government intervention in economic and social life.” Investors in civil-law countries, Mr. Shleifer and colleagues argue, are less certain that their property rights will be enforced. One symptomatic example: Civil-law countries more frequently require shareholders to attend meetings to vote instead of voting by mail. In these countries, few people own stock, bond and stock markets are smaller and more companies are controlled by a few big holders. In the past decade, this has proved a significant constraint on investment and economic growth. The law matters—and it matters a lot. AS FINANCIAL MARKETS outgrow national borders, economies built on different legal foundations are being forced to reconcile their differences. When shares of a French company are traded on the New York Stock Exchange by a Japanese brokerage house, there is pressure to agree on consistent accounting standards and a shared understanding of investor-protection rules. The trend is toward the U.S.-British approach, but the deep roots of the alternative explain the resistance in other countries.

Similar tensions appear in world trade disputes. The U.S. tends to be more willing to allow World Trade Organization arbitrators to make case law (particularly when decisions favor the U.S.) than Europe, which prefers clear rules. The old differences also inform some international environmental disputes: Civil-law countries, accustomed to well-articulated and rigid rules, are uneasy relying less on rules and more on tradable pollution permits. There remains a chicken-and-egg dispute about which came first: The law, as Mr. Shleifer and allies argue, or the rise of an independent business-investor class that demanded legal protection, as Columbia law professor John Coffee Jr. sees it. In either case, the lesson of history is sharp: Markets and the prosperity they can provide do not exist independent of the law and the institutions of government but are intertwined with them. Well-functioning financial markets, in particular, rest on clear and enforced protections for investors. And when a changing economy requires new rules—for auctioning radio spectrum, modernizing stock markets, regulating new financial products, enforcing intellectual property rights—it’s wise to remember that the economic impact is long-lived.

Name:

Course:

Title: A comparative analyses of the Japanese and Western perspective of indebtedness

Date: August 7th 2013

Introduction

This paper is based on an analysis from the book “The Chrysanthemum and the Sword” that was written by Ruth Benedict who is an anthropologist. The paper presents a comparative analysis with a guide from the text of the Japanese and western perspective of ineptness. The ideas presented in this paper have been researched and gathered from the book and personal interpretation and understanding of the book. The paper will present a description of different societies in the west and how they perceive debts and the issue of paying debts. The issue of indebtedness is closely associated with community believes, as different communities approach paying debt differently. This paper will also draw the close relationship between communities believes and actions in paying debt. Communities in Japan show very contrasting ideologies and all that is covered in this paper.

Debt is viewed differently by both Americans and Japanese; this is majorly affected by the communal setting. Americans hold the view that they owe their existence to no person while Japanese pay allegiance and feel to be in debt of the people who lived before them. This presents different approaches to debt between two communities; Japanese view themselves as debtors to the ages. This means that they owe their existence to those who lived in the world before them. Americans take a different approach to this, viewing themselves as heirs of the age; we exist by our own right and have ourselves to thank.

Debtors to ages

This is an approach to debt in Japan, with great reasoning behind it. Those who existed and lived before us played a great role in maintaining a place that we would find. They took good care of the environment for us to find a better place, took part in research and inventions to make life easier. We enjoy life and go through our day to day activities more easily because of the efforts of those who lived before us. The ages are our ancestors and we are their debtors in this approach. Taking thought into this, it makes sense to be grateful for finding a wonderful place where we can call home. The fact cannot be stressed enough that we are somehow here because of those who lived before us, our ancestors and by this virtue we are debtors.

Heirs of ages

Our existence does not make us debtors by any virtue, not to our ancestors and not to those who live in our generation. We are free to take our actions just like those who came before us were free to live and exist. Our definition of debt is an obligation, which arises from a situation in which we take part in. this provides for free existence, naturals; we come into this world to inherit and by this fact we are heirs of ages. We inherit from those who lived before us and are free to make what we want of our existence.

The meaning of the word debt in Japanese context is of great importance in understanding the communal belief of debt. According to Japanese, debt is a duty and obligation of the debtor to a person who has done him/her well and contributed to their existence. There are two parties in the case; the debtor is a person who has a greater ability than the creditor. The debtor assists the creditor because of his/her high standing in society. An example of such a relationship is that between a child and his parents, a parent is a debtor to a child because of all that the parent does to maintain the welfare of the child. Being raised by your parents and given a good life in all that is within their abilities makes you owe your parents. This is a communal belief by Japanese, based on the definition and understanding of the word debt.

In the west, debt has a different meaning and communities approach it with a different perspective. There is a distinction between debt and moral duty; in Africa it is the moral duty of a child to obey the parents. The moral duty further extends to bind the child to take care of his parents when they get old, and to support them financially as a symbol of gratitude. Sometimes a child is not as successful or as prosperous as his parents and may not be able to support them financially but does not dishonor them. This is not seen as breaking the moral duty. This is a significant comparison between the definition and idea of debt as a word. What the Japanese see as debt, in the west is termed as a moral duty and responsibility.

In the battlefield, soldiers were served with many things including cigarettes and water here they were put in debt. This brings a new understanding to the word debt in a Japanese context; you can get into debt involuntarily. This shows that according to the definition of debt, aid can put you in debt, while you are working in the interests of your creditor. The scenario where soldiers are termed as creditors for receiving supplies form the king contrasts the initial understanding of the word debt. It is difficult to understand how one gets into debt for receiving what they require when in the battlefield. The soldiers are in the battlefield to defend their country, but Japanese have a different view on this. Soldiers are said to be working for the emperor and whatever they do in during the war is for the emperor.

The scenario is different for soldiers in the west. Soldiers go to battle to defend the borders of their nation and to fight the enemy of their nation. The act of going to war is not for the king of the land to take glory or vest his own interests but soldiers go to war to protect the interests of the entire country. During war, soldiers are entitled to getting supplies and this does not put them at debt. Debt is not something you can get into involuntarily; you have to consent to get into a debt. It is the duty of the country, whose interests are being protected to provide the soldiers in war with supplies. After the war and the soldier come back home with victory, the state rewards them to show appreciation. Rewards to soldiers are not to imply payment of any form of debt; they imply that the state appreciates the services of the soldiers and their bravery.

In Japanese a sign of help has to be reciprocated with words of appreciation, the debtor has to thank the creditor or his helper for any help received. However, the words that are used to express appreciation for kind action are quite contradicting and paint a different picture from that of being assisted. From a direct simple translation of the words used to express gratitude, the message passed by the debtor is that of receiving not help but a burden. This brings another understanding to the word debt in the Japanese context, a debt is a burden placed on you.

Kino doku

This is one word that is used to express appreciation by the Japanese, this when translated is an expression of a bad feeling. The word, though an expression of gratitude is used only in specific scenarios for example when a stranger helps you and you are not able to pay them back or do a similar generous act. By saying Kino doku, you will be expression the situation that you find yourself in of being assisted but not in a position to do the same. This presents a feeling of self-pity, that you are more of a receiver than a giver.

Arigato and Sumimasen

These are other words that are used to express gratitude in Japanese; the translation of these words also would not bring out the meaning of appreciation to a person from the western world. Both terms are used in a business setting to compliment and show thankfulness to a store owner. When translated, they mean, a difficult feeling that a debtor will never forget. It is a never ending feeling of gratitude; this presents a different image of a burden and commitment. A debtor is burdened and should always remember his creditor. The words of appreciation indicate that the debtor knows that he may never have the chance to pay back or reciprocate the actions of kindness shown to him.

In the west, showing appreciation is quite different and the meaning is presented with the actual words. Thank you is a word used to show express gratitude for help for serviced rendered. A debt is not a burden and the debtor is not in any way committed to the creditor. A person who has been helped, though may not have a chance to go the same and help his debtor is not obliged to always remember. People tend to forget those who helped them when they were in needy situations and they move on with life. The intention of helping someone is not to make him always remember you but to remove him from the current situation to a better situation so that he can help himself in future and help others. The cause of helping people in Japanese is different from that in the West, in Japanese a difficult feeling is created after helping someone and may express regret while in the west an uplifted feeling is created and sincere gratitude is expressed.

On

This presents a relationship and the nature of the relationship between a debtor and a creditor. There is a relationship that is formed when a person helps another, in the Japanese context, on is the simple word that presents all the relationships that may emerge. On could represent, Loyalty, Love and Obligations from the debtor to the creditor. In an example, you have an on to your parents, you are a debtor and this could mean you have an obligation to love and be loyal to them. The on will show the relationship, this may be quite confusing as one word could stand for so many meanings.

On comes with many implications, which we from the West may call consequences and this is the reason why Japanese may not accept a kind offer from a stranger. It poses a demand for you to feel obligated to be loyal to a person who showed you kindness at one time, you may not remember all strangers who helped you while in a difficult situation. Remember, debt is a burden in Japan, and you have to carry this burden everywhere you go for this reason nobody wants to carry a burden from a stranger. A person is more likely to accept a favor or an action of kindness from a relative or a close neighbor because he can bear the burden and at one time will be close enough to reciprocate. This shows the fear of consequences of being in debt to the extent of refusing to accept help.

The expression of gratitude and saying thank you in Japanese is done with humility. A person who is saying thank you expresses humbleness in the words used to thank and at the same time is apologetic. This is the ultimate symbol of being grateful, being sorry that you have been helped. In the west a person may say thank you just to show courtesy and not necessarily humility. The feeling of being helped does not make a person feel sorry rather it makes them feel joyful. Thank you is not only used to show gratitude but also show courtesy in the west. Appreciation does not necessarily make you feel sorry for yourself rather it bring joy. This is a great difference between the two cultures, the expression of gratitude and the feeling of help on the debtor. Here two different situations express the same feeling.

Summary

We see two cultures with a similar feeling of debt but with different approaches, due to the difference in understanding. While the west debt and indebtedness is an obligation only if financial and entered to if both parties are in consent, the situation is different in Japanese. A debt can be entered into even when the debtor does not agree or is not in consent of the debt. Simple actions of kindness can make you debtor, once you accept the kindness. This creates a situation where people are resentful in receiving help, in fear of being in debt.

A child and parent scenario; in Japanese, a child is a debtor to his parents for being raised and receiving a good life. In the west, a child has a moral obligation to be loyal and hold a special place in his heart for his parents and being raised does not make him a debtor. Even when a parent single handedly raises his children, educating them and providing for them, he is performing his duty and not helping the child. However in Japanese, when a parent raises the children, it is not his duty but it is a debt being made.

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A Comparative Analysis of the Philosophical Views on the Existence of God and Evil.

The concept of evil and morality has been one of the most pivotal in the history of humanity. Evil is a moral concept covering all forms of pain, misfortunes and suffering. Morality, on the other hand, is a binary system of determining good and evil. Evil and morality traverse through philosophy, religion, governance, culture and to some extent science. Wars have been fought over differences in schools of thought concerning evil. For religion, the concept is even more crucial. Many traditional religions believe in an omnipotent, omniscient and perfectly moral deity. This being said, the concept of evil has always threatened the collapse of religions that believe in such a god. Epicurious raised the “unanswered” question that questioned the concurrent existence of such a god and evil within the same reality ADDIN CSL_CITATION {“citationItems”:[{“id”:”ITEM-1″,”itemData”:{“DOI”:”10.1017/S0034412509990369″,”ISSN”:”00344125″,”abstract”:”This paper develops a challenge to theism. The challenge is to explain why the hypothesis that there exists an omnipotent, omniscient and all-good god should be considered significantly more reasonable than the hypothesis that there exists an omnipotent, omniscient and all-evil god. Theists typically dismiss the evil-god hypothesis out of hand because of the problem of good – there is surely too much good in the world for it to be the creation of such a being. But then why doesn’t the problem of evil provide equally good grounds for dismissing belief in a good god? I develop this evil-god challenge in detail, anticipate several replies, and correct errors made in earlier discussions of the problem of good. Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010.”,”author”:[{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Law”,”given”:”Stephen”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””}],”container-title”:”Religious Studies”,”id”:”ITEM-1″,”issue”:”3″,”issued”:{“date-parts”:[[“2010″,”9″]]},”page”:”353-373″,”publisher”:”Cambridge University Press”,”title”:”The evil-god challenge”,”type”:”article”,”volume”:”46″},”uris”:[“http://www.mendeley.com/documents/?uuid=5a27d49a-7deb-34cf-aa56-5ef99c03fefc”]}],”mendeley”:{“formattedCitation”:”(Law)”,”plainTextFormattedCitation”:”(Law)”,”previouslyFormattedCitation”:”(Law)”},”properties”:{“noteIndex”:0},”schema”:”https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json”}(Law). Many arguments have been raised throughout the years to explain or to dispute the existence of god. In this brief review, the beliefs of Hume, Kant, James and Augustine are discussed in contrast and comparison to one another.

David Hume was a Scottish philosopher in the 1700s. In his writings, Dialogues, Humes considered Epicrious’s question and raises many views concerning it. He argues not from the view of an atheist but as a sceptic. He considers all the unnecessary forms of evil within our reality in the juxtaposition of a provident God. He challenges the view held by some that perhaps what we consider as evil is just apparent evil or “evil” whose eventuality will lead to good. Hume reasons out that the human’s view of morality and evil is determined by how his mind perceives reality and not by any philosophical arguments. Therefore, such a philosophical belief, that evil does not exist, cannot be a fathomable reality for an individual. Hume questions the provident God he believes in. He wonders why such a God would not provide fully for his creation despite his infinite ability to do so. Hume does not see the presence of evil as evidence for the absence of a god. Instead, he sees that we not only have no reason to argue for his existence but we also have none to dispute it. Overall, Hume believes that unnecessary evil exists concurrently with God. He also believes that God exists, is all-powerful, can end and prevent evil but chooses not to ADDIN CSL_CITATION {“citationItems”:[{“id”:”ITEM-1″,”itemData”:{“DOI”:”10.1017/S0031819114000229″,”ISSN”:”1469817X”,”abstract”:”The problem of evil for theists was how to reconcile suffering with a benevolent God. Hume solved the problem of evil by claiming that the divine was amoral but not by denying God’s existence which he needed in order to advocate his favoured notion of a general providence. Indeed, Hume’s treatment of the problem of evil showed that his quarrel in the Natural History of Religion 1and the Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, 2 Section XI, was with a particular providence rather than the possibility of a divine orderer. The fundamental problem of evil for Hume, was evil’s potential to drive people to the notion of a particular providence with its attendant damaging passions. In considering his alternative of the general providence Hume is shown to be closer to theism than has often been thought.”,”author”:[{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Tarrant”,”given”:”James”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””}],”container-title”:”Philosophy”,”id”:”ITEM-1″,”issue”:”4″,”issued”:{“date-parts”:[[“2014″,”10″,”17″]]},”page”:”603-620″,”publisher”:”Cambridge University Press”,”title”:”Hume’s fundamental problem of evil”,”type”:”article”,”volume”:”89″},”uris”:[“http://www.mendeley.com/documents/?uuid=52e8a7e3-456e-35f0-9676-c18e2e016808″]}],”mendeley”:{“formattedCitation”:”(Tarrant)”,”plainTextFormattedCitation”:”(Tarrant)”,”previouslyFormattedCitation”:”(Tarrant)”},”properties”:{“noteIndex”:0},”schema”:”https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json”}(Tarrant).

On the other hand, Kant (an 18th-century metaphysical philosopher) offers a non-theistic view of evil. He claims that humans have free will and can be inclined to do either good or evil. He views evil as a “stain” in the human will and classifies it in degrees of severity. He starts with those who are not necessarily corrupted by evil but are too weak to do what is morally right. He then goes on to describe the impure who do good but fueled by impure intentions and ends with those that have a fully evil will. He explains that this last category of individuals converts what is morally right to self-serving interests. Kant’s views have been disputed by many philosophers because his view does not necessarily explain natural evils nor heinous morally wrong acts ADDIN CSL_CITATION {“citationItems”:[{“id”:”ITEM-1″,”itemData”:{“DOI”:”10.1080/09608788.2012.718860″,”ISSN”:”09608788″,”abstract”:”Kant proclaimed that all theodicies must fail in On the Miscarriage of All Philosophical Trials in Theodicy, but it is mysterious why he did so since he had developed a theodicy of his own during the critical period. In this paper, I offer an explanation of why Kant thought theodicies necessarily fail. In his theodicy, as well as in some of his works in ethics, Kant explained moral evil as resulting from unavoidable limitations in human beings. God could not create finite beings without such limitations and so could not have created humans that were not prone to committing immoral acts. However, the work of Carl Christian Eberhard Schmid showed Kant that given his own beliefs about freedom and the nature of responsibility one could not account for moral evil in this way without tacitly denying that human beings were responsible for their actions. This result is significant not only because it explains an otherwise puzzling shift in Kant’s philosophy of religion, but also because it shows that the theodicy essay provides powerful evidence that Kant’s thinking about moral evil and freedom underwent fundamental shifts between early works such as the Groundwork and later works like the Religion within the Limits of Mere Reason. © 2012 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.”,”author”:[{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Duncan”,”given”:”Sam”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””}],”container-title”:”British Journal for the History of Philosophy”,”id”:”ITEM-1″,”issue”:”5″,”issued”:{“date-parts”:[[“2012″,”9″,”1″]]},”page”:”973-991″,”publisher”:” Routledge “,”title”:”Moral evil, freedom and the goodness of god: Why kant abandoned theodicy”,”type”:”article-journal”,”volume”:”20″},”uris”:[“http://www.mendeley.com/documents/?uuid=be59283e-30f1-3fcd-87d8-ef6c845aad52″]}],”mendeley”:{“formattedCitation”:”(Duncan)”,”plainTextFormattedCitation”:”(Duncan)”,”previouslyFormattedCitation”:”(Duncan)”},”properties”:{“noteIndex”:0},”schema”:”https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json”}(Duncan). 

Augustine, a Christian philosopher, confesses his struggle with the origin of evil in his writings (Confessions). He goes through a journey of trying to balance out the paradox of the existence of God and evil all at once. Early on he reconciled the two by shedding his belief in God’s omnipotence. If God is not omnipotent, then he cannot stop evil. He then rejects this notion and comes to view evil not as a created entity on its own but distorted good. He further rationalizes this though by explaining that all that is created by God is inherently good, but at varying levels. Therefore, when morally evil acts occur, it is because of a corruption of the inherent good in a person and not an evil caused or allowed by God. He believes that the choice to do evil is based on the free will which God gave to humans ADDIN CSL_CITATION {“citationItems”:[{“id”:”ITEM-1″,”itemData”:{“DOI”:”10.1017/S0034412513000401″,”ISSN”:”00344125″,”abstract”:”The question of why humanity first chose to sin is an extension to the problem of evil to which the free-will defence does not easily apply. In De libero arbitrio and elsewhere Augustine argues that as an instance of evil, the fall is necessarily inexplicable. In this article, I identify the problems with this response and attempt to construct an alternative based on Peter van Inwagen’s free will ‘mysterianism’. I will argue that the origin of evil is inexplicable not because it is an instance of evil, but because it is an instance of free will. © 2013 Cambridge University Press.”,”author”:[{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Willows”,”given”:”Adam M.”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””}],”container-title”:”Religious Studies”,”id”:”ITEM-1″,”issue”:”2″,”issued”:{“date-parts”:[[“2014″]]},”page”:”255-269″,”publisher”:”Cambridge University Press”,”title”:”Augustine, the origin of evil, and the mystery of free will”,”type”:”article-journal”,”volume”:”50″},”uris”:[“http://www.mendeley.com/documents/?uuid=0d814966-edd1-3e13-92ed-32bd1116caa0″]}],”mendeley”:{“formattedCitation”:”(Willows)”,”plainTextFormattedCitation”:”(Willows)”,”previouslyFormattedCitation”:”(Willows)”},”properties”:{“noteIndex”:0},”schema”:”https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json”}(Willows).

Lastly, the 19th-century pragmatic philosopher William James. From his writings, James did not believe in an omnipotent, omniscient and perfectly moral God. He instead viewed God as a being in the metaphysical realm whose knowledge has bounds and leaves humans to dictate their actions without the foreknowledge of what they might choose. Concerning evil and morality, James, unlike the three other philosophers, abandons the binary confines of good and evil. He proposes a pragmatic school of thought concerning morality. He sees morality as an intuition built through experiences in life. The societal norms within which one is raised determine their inner sense of right and wrong. Good and evil. A pragmatic society does not set morally right and wrong laws but rather considers the additive value of a series of moral action and chooses those which offer the least friction ADDIN CSL_CITATION {“citationItems”:[{“id”:”ITEM-1″,”itemData”:{“DOI”:”10.1017/S0025727300005457″,”ISSN”:”09505571″,”abstract”:”William James is often described as one of America’s foremost philosophers and the founder of American psychology. During the second half of the nineteenth century and the first decade of the twentieth century he published several key texts on a broad range of topics, including the psychology of religion, ethics, epistemology and metaphysics. Many are still in current use, and contemporary philosophers continue to pore over them. Biographers, meanwhile, happily speculate on everything from James’s parental relationships to the state of his marriage. However, there has been relatively little detailed exploration of how James’s published writings and his private life may have intersected. This article explores one such intersection: that between James’s protracted experience of ill health and the elaboration of the notion of evil in his writings. Any perusal, however perfunctory, of the thousands of letters written by James that are still in existence, cannot fail to miss his repeated references to his health, or lack of it. He certainly was not one to suffer in silence, and it is clear that, for much of his life from his early adulthood onward, he considered himself a confirmed invalid. His references to his health cover a variety of different ailments. In the 1860s, when James was in his twenties, he was plagued by everything from a bad back, to melancholy and constipation. These symptoms have not escaped the attention of his biographers; most, however, have brought to them Freudian-inspired schema. Daniel Bjork, for example, suggests that James’s ongoing problems with back pain had something to do with the unfulfilled sexual urges of a young man. He reminds us that once James was married, few such back complaints continued. 1 Similarly, Howard Feinstein ‘explains’ James’s constipation with reference to psychoanalytic theory, calling attention to the same condition suffered by his brother Henry, the novelist. According to Feinstein, the two brothers found it difficult to sever their suffocatingly close fraternal bond-an event that was reminiscent of their original ‘separation crisis’ from their parents. That ordeal, moreover, is held to be inherently linked to the brothers’ acquisition of sphincter control for the first time. Thus we should not be surprised that a later fraternal separation crisis was accompanied by a symbolic re-enactment of this bowel control process which manifested itself as constipation, concludes Feinstein. 2″,”author”:[{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Sutton”,”given”:”Emma K.”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””}],”container-title”:”Medical History”,”id”:”ITEM-1″,”issue”:”3″,”issued”:{“date-parts”:[[“2011″]]},”page”:”389-392″,”publisher”:”Cambridge University Press”,”title”:”When misery and metaphysics collide: William James on ‘the problem of evil'”,”type”:”article-journal”,”volume”:”55″},”uris”:[“http://www.mendeley.com/documents/?uuid=49082bdb-24c4-3cbf-89d4-33e9b7b4f2ba”]}],”mendeley”:{“formattedCitation”:”(Sutton)”,”plainTextFormattedCitation”:”(Sutton)”,”previouslyFormattedCitation”:”(Sutton)”},”properties”:{“noteIndex”:0},”schema”:”https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json”}(Sutton).

In my subjective opinion, God, to be a sovereign creator and one in control of the physical world has to be all-powerful, all-knowing and good in every sense. The existence of evil in such a reality is best explained by Augustine’s school of thought since it allows the existence of such a God in this harsh reality. The only shortcoming would be that Augustine’s rationale does not explain the reasons for the existence of natural evil under the reign of such a God. Objectively, James’ beliefs have a much better fit within our reality. Since God is not all-powerful, evil, a separate force within the metaphysical realm can exist and cause sheer unnecessary harm within the world.

Works Cited

ADDIN Mendeley Bibliography CSL_BIBLIOGRAPHY Duncan, Sam. “Moral Evil, Freedom and the Goodness of God: Why Kant Abandoned Theodicy.” British Journal for the History of Philosophy, vol. 20, no. 5, Routledge , Sept. 2012, pp. 973–91, doi:10.1080/09608788.2012.718860.

Law, Stephen. “The Evil-God Challenge.” Religious Studies, vol. 46, no. 3, Cambridge University Press, Sept. 2010, pp. 353–73, doi:10.1017/S0034412509990369.

Sutton, Emma K. “When Misery and Metaphysics Collide: William James on ‘the Problem of Evil.’” Medical History, vol. 55, no. 3, Cambridge University Press, 2011, pp. 389–92, doi:10.1017/S0025727300005457.

Tarrant, James. “Hume’s Fundamental Problem of Evil.” Philosophy, vol. 89, no. 4, Cambridge University Press, 17 Oct. 2014, pp. 603–20, doi:10.1017/S0031819114000229.

Willows, Adam M. “Augustine, the Origin of Evil, and the Mystery of Free Will.” Religious Studies, vol. 50, no. 2, Cambridge University Press, 2014, pp. 255–69, doi:10.1017/S0034412513000401.

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Autobiographical Elements in the Beautiful and the Damned

It is widely thought that all fiction that is great is autobiographical since writers compose more effectively when they are writing about the things that they are familiar with, or have experienced. More than the other fictional writers, Fitzgerald drew upon and borrowed most of his own experiences and feelings to compose his short stories and novels. In some of his best works, fictional elements make it possible for him to provide moral order and artistic form that life rarely gives; autobiographical elements invest in much of his work with a high quality, which most critics consider the most notable mark of his greatest works. Repeatedly the author emphasizes that his fiction originates from his experiences and feelings (Goldhurst 240- 540). This paper will take a biographical approach to analyze one of the works of this author, the Beautiful and the Damned, using the real life stories and experiences of the author and his life to analyze the life and experiences of the characters in the novel.

Some of the greatest autobiographical elements in notable in the author’s second novel, the Beautiful and the Damned, lie in his representation and portrayal of his marriage both strained and defined by the endless parties in the environs around New York City. Although more than once the author has pointed out that her mother was, actually, a better and admirable person than the major female character in the novel, Gloria Gilbert Patch, Zelda and her mother Gloria clearly share a character in being irresponsible, reckless, and selfish in their behavior. The other major character in the novel, Anthony Patch reflects the growing concern of the author in the 1920s that he was being pulled into a life of indulgence, just as some scholars like Richard Caramel illustrate the fear Fitzgerald had that he was putting in a bad light his reputation as a serious artist by producing and composing work that was apparently unimportant and popular. The cynical friend of the Patches, Mary Noble, who snubs Anthony later in the story, was probably based on a fried of the author known as George Jean Nathan, who was an influential magazine editor, as well as, a drama critic (Bruccoli and Baughman 343- 567).

Between May 1924 and October 1922, Fitzgerald and his wife rented a residential house in Long Island in a place called Great Neck, where they met and invited, and got invited to parties by numerous, rich people, many of whom worked in the show business. The author later met and became a close friend called Ring Lardner, who was also a writer in Long Island during one of these parties. Gloria and Anthony are the essence and the life of the Jazz Age life and glamour, just like the real couple, Zelda and Fitzgerald. A magnetic and brilliant couple, they throw themselves at life with an extraordinary energy that is exciting. New York is their playground and they drink, and dance for days on end. Their marriage is also passionate, they are alive, rich, young and lovely and they hope and expect to inherit the earth. However, as their wealth deteriorates, their marriage becomes difficult, and reality forces them to grow up (Bruccoli and Baughman 343- 567).

Only a few authors are able to transform autobiographical materials successfully into their novels or into any other form of literary art. The Beautiful and the Damned transforms the now widely known and familiar real stories of Scott and his wife Zelda’s marriage, their drunken nights, scandalous, public behavior, days darkened by debts and lack of money, into a captivating and exciting piece of fictional work. Anthony Patch, who is one of those people blessed with weaknesses and taste of an artist but with no inspiration for creativity, marries the flirtatious and beautiful Gloria. As they expect to inherit some money from the family of Anthony, they adopt a life style that surpasses their means. In recounting their decline, physically, morally, and financially, and showing a grim and twisted end to the story, the author created a poignant and satirical portrait of the era he and his work only could define (Goldhurst 240- 540).

These events narrated in the book clearly reflect the lives of the real life Zelda and Fitzgerald. When the author at some point moved to New York where he married Zelda. During this time, several sources have quoted the author saying that he recalls riding a cab up the fifth Avenue, rich, young, in love, and famous. He and his wife lived tragically, luxuriously and dissolutely just like the characters he uses in the novel. Just like the characters in the novel, the real characters in life lived extravagantly and soon they collected, huge debts and their downfall started here. It is clear from his autobiography that the author felt that his wife was wrong for him she flirted with men, was reckless, a spender and loved parties and drinking, and it is clear that Fitzgerald based the Character Gloria on his extravagant wife and the life she lived (Elias 245- 66).

In addition to the above, one can liken or compare Anthony’s drinking problems that increase towards the end of the novel probably because of troubles with money and his wife, with those of the real Fitzgerald, whose drinking problems also escalated in real life between the years of 1935 and 1937, as a result, of his huge debts and his wife’s sickness. The author also talks of a number of influential friends in the novel, most of who are in the show business. These include such people as Maury Noble, Anthony’s best friend, Richard Cramel, a novelist, Joseph Bloeckman who works in the show business, and Jewess Rachael. These characters are obviously based on the real life friends of Fitzgerald whom they used to party and drink with in their drunken nights, in New York (Elias 245- 66).

The author’s attitude towards the two characters Anthony and Gloria is in consisted, and probably is because of the autobiographical nature of most of the material he uses in the novel. Like the Patches, the life of Fitzgerald of drinking and parties are clear, and both the couples struggle with issues of money. The author judged himself through the depictions of both Dick Carmel and Anthony, and he bases part of the character of Gloria on Zelda. The connections are extremely deep- rooted between these two couples, and that is why most critics and commentators have argued that the novel is basically based on the real life stories of the writer Fitzgerald Scott and his wife. The novel explores many of the similar themes that he would later use in his other work, like the Great Gatsby. The novel deals with the complexities and the mysteries of marriage that the two faced in real life (Elias 245- 66).

Comparison of the real life Fitzgerald’s and the Patches

Fitzgerald’s Patches

Lived in new York where they lead an extravagant life They also lived in new York and led an extravagant life

Loved drinking and partying They also loved the night life

They ran into huge debt They also had a lot of debt

Fitzgerald later became an alcoholic Anthony also became dependent on alcohol

Work cited

Bruccoli, M. and Baughman, J. F. Scott Fitzgerald: A Life in Letters. New York: Scribners, 1994. Print.

Elias, Amy. ‘The Composition and Revision of Fitzgerald’s The Beautiful and the Damned’. Princeton University Library Chronicle 51 (1990): 245-66. Print.

Goldhurst, William. ‘H. L. Mencken. ‘In E. Scott Fitzgerald and His Contemporaries. New York: World, 1963. Print.

Article 1a Assignment – PSYC 4033

Dr. McDonald – Spring 2022

Article 1a—date due: Feb 8

Your name: ________________________________________________

AUTHORS OF ARTICLE: Foster, N. L., Mueller, M. L., Was, C., Rawson, K. A., & Dunlosky, J. 

Instructions: Please use this and only this sheet to answer the questions regarding your assigned article; in other words, be succinct. Incomplete sentences are acceptable as long as they get the message across. Use the space allotted and no more! USE YOUR OWN WORDS – NO PLAGIARISM AND NO QUOTING!!! Most importantly, put answers in everyday language.

Motivation for the study: The main motivation for the study is that interleaving is beneficial and it assists in improving math learning. Interleaving involves mixing two or more tasks that are difficult in order to improve learning. This is especially true with math, as children often struggle with this subject and the learning of mathematical concepts often relies on memorization. Interleaved practice can help children learn concepts such as multiplication, fractions and decimals, addition, subtraction and more at an earlier age than traditional practice alone. Thus, it is essential to assess why interleaving enhance performance.

Hypotheses/Predictions: Interleaving enhances effective learning of a particular problem since that problem type instances tend to be practiced in close proximity to different problem types instances from a similar domain.

Another prediction is that math problems distribution practice by way of interleaved practice schedule tend to greatly improve the relationship between the problem and the strategy.

Independent Variable(s) EXP’T 1 only – only list ones used; there may or may not be extra lines In addition, clearly circle between or within subjects for each IV

1._______ interleaving practice _____________________________ Between Sub/Within Sub

2._discriminative contrast ___________________________________ Between Sub/Within Sub

3. distributed practice _________________________________________ Between Sub/Within Sub

Control Variable(s) EXP’T 1 only —list two

1._ Participants

2._ materials

Dependent Variable(s) EXP’T 1 only—only list ones used; there may or may not be extra lines

1._Blocked

2._Interleaved

3._Remote interleaved

Results – a) interpret Figure 3 on page 1094. What does it show? Does it match the predictions? b) interpret Fig 4 on page 1095. What does it show? Does it match the predictions?

a)_ The results for the experimental group are shown in the table below

comparing mean retrieval ability across trials:

1- Correctly retrieved formula from CTC weather, then had error during test 2; 2- Correctly retrieved formula from CTC weather and had no errors during test 3; 3- Incorrectly retrieved formulae from CTC weather; 4- Retrieval ability was different across trials.

Wedge problems were selected based on a previously described study that showed that students with dyscalculia (or other numerical difficulties) have trouble with problems in which there is an addition operation involving two or more numbers such as adding 8 to 12.

b)_ A one-way ANOVA on final performance of wedge problems indicated a significant effect of group. Two potential outcomes were measured: a performance on a series of wedge problems and a group identification. Participants were part of one of two groups: those with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and those without OCD. While the OCD group, as predicted, tended to perform better than the control group on the final set of problems they both attempted, this is not surprising as such individuals are often perfectionists and naturally find it more difficult to “let go” or move on from their work.

Relation to class material – use pages 119-126 in the Baddeley et al. textbook to find a study that relates directly to this one. Give the name of the authors of that study and a brief description of their findings. Describe similarities and differences between that study and the one you just read in terms of materials, experimental design and results. How do these two studies relate to a general topic from the class?

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Autoimmune Disorder

Name

Institution

Date:

Autoimmune Disorder

Autoimmune disorders are diseases that occur as a result of the immune system attacking as well as destroying health tissue body. The immune system is an important part of the body as it helps the body fight against invasion from invasion and diseases. For a normal human who is health, the immune system is often able to differentiate between its cells as well as the cells that may be a threat to the body, however for most autoimmune disorders the immune system is not able to recognize the health cells in the body and those that it should fight. This therefore leads to the body producing antibodies that fight normal tissues and cells. This paper will explore the various types of autoimmune disorders and their causes.

There are 80 different types of autoimmune diseases that do exists. According to research. There are several factors that may result in the autoimmune diseases including gender, genetic as well as racial component. According to the National Institute of Health 24 million Americans suffer from at least one autoimmune disease (WebMD In response to unknown trigger, antibodies are often produced in the body attacking its own tissue. Some of the autoimmune disorders that exists includes rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus, inflammatory bowel disease, psoriasis, Guillain-Barre Syndrome, Vascullitis, and Addison Disease. Race and ethnicity has often been stated to be among the reasons for occurrence of some autoimmune disorders. For example, lupus tens to affect more African Americans as well as ethnicity when they are compared to the Caucasians. Multiple sclerosis and Addison have strong genetic links,

Rheumatoid arthritis is a form of autoimmune diseases as a result of inflammation of the joint. At times when the disease is so severe, it may end up affecting how the joints function or look. When RA occurs in the fingers, it may result in deformities in joints of the fingers making movements of the hand quite difficult. When the antibodies start attacking its own tissue, the inflammation of the joint they begin to get inflamed. People between ages 30 to 50 but it may also affect the children a condition referred to as juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. The common joints that are affected includes feet, ankles, knees, wrist, hands. Common sign and symptoms includes stiffness likely to occur during morning hours, joints get to swell, pain that may get worse with joint movement and tiredness.

Psoriasis is another form of autoimmune disorder where the skin tends to get inflamed, raised and may turn red on arrears such as knees, lower back, elbows and knees. Just like most autoimmune disorders, the cause of psoriasis is unknown, there has been research that has been linked with abnormally fast growing skin cells. When the skin cell multiply quickly that is between 3 to four days, it also tends to shed quite quickly. There are three forms of psoriasis including plaque psoriasis, guttate psoriasis and pustular psoriasis. Common sign and symptom associated with psoriasis includes red patches on skin and raised skin especially if its plaque psoriasis, sore throat may precede guttate psoriasis. In pustular psoriasis, it may include small pustules which are blister with pus on the body.

Multiple sclerosis is also considered an autoimmune disease as the body seems to attack its health cells. It affects the central nervous system specifically the spinal cord and brain. The immune system gets to attack the myelin sheath which is the protective sheath covering nerve fibers responsible for communication. When these sheath are destroyed, it results in communication problems. Progression of the disease leads to eventual damage of the nerves. The signs and symptoms is likely to vary from person to person as well as severity of the nerve damage. People that may be affected with severe MS, may be unable to walk while other experience prolonged periods of remission. Other symptoms include the numbness of legs or limbs, tremors, visual problems including partial or complete loss of sight or blurred vision, slurred speech, tingling or pain and fatigue.

Autoimmune Addison disease is a chronic disease that results when the adrenal glands do not produce sufficient or fail to produce the hormones cortisol and aldosterone and for this reason, the disease is at times termed as chronic adrenal insufficiency or hypocortisolisms. The disease symptoms vary from one person to another. Visual development of the disease is elaborate over time and is often non-specific at first (Napier, 2012). It affects a number of individuals It affects a number of individuals worldwide and it affects both men and women worldwide. It is illustrated by uncontrolled weight loss, severs muscle weakness fatigue and low blood pressure, and in other cases the skin may darken. In most cases, Addison’s disease is caused by severe destruction on the adrenal cortex the outer part of the adrenal gland. The damage is often caused by the immune system. The Immune system might attack the adrenal gland causing severe damage to the adrenal cortex.

90% of the damage caused to the endocrine organ renders the organ ineffective meaning it will not have the capability to produce sufficient steroids hormones, cortisol and aldosterone and once the levels of the three core hormones reduce, the symptoms of Addison’s manifest. Due to the underproduction of the cortisol hormone and aldosterone, Addison’s disease is otherwise known as chronic adrenal insufficiency or hypocortisolism. Some of the main functions of the cortical hormone include maintaining of blood pressure and the important cardiovascular functions, it also plays a critical role in aiding and balancing the work of insulin in ensuring the sugars are broken down to energy as well as ensuring the immune system inflammatory response is regulating. The hormone is also associated with the regulation of carbohydrates, proteins, and fat metabolism. Addison disease is also termed as autoimmune disease because it results from a malfunctioning immune system that produce cells to destroy other glands. The results are the destruction and disruption of other several hormones and hence affecting several other body systems. Research demonstrates that the condition has a vivid and strong genetic connection and the characteristic make it possible for the disease to be hereditary.

Gullain Barre Syndrome is an autoimmune disorder whereby the immune system attacks the nerves causing tingling and weakness in the extremities. The sensation may quickly spread with the severity depending on how bad the nerves are affected. The causes of Gullain Barre are unknown but in most cases it is preceded by an infection such as stomach flu of a respiratory infection. Common signs and symptoms include feeling of pricking sensation on toes, fingers or ankles, one may also experience weakness in their leg increase hear rate, severe pain that may be cramp like and difficulty in breathing. The condition worsens rapidly thus one needs to get medical attention as soon as possible (Mayo Clinic).

Different autoimmune disorders are treated differently but most cannot be cured the aim of the treatment is to always control the immune response thus minimizing inflammation and the symptoms. Common drugs used in the treatment of autoimmune disorders include nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs as well as immune suppressing drugs. Most of these treatment relieve symptoms such as pain, fatigue, skin rashes and welling. Researchers are conducting more clinical research and drug trials to try and look for permanent cures for most of these autoimmune disease.

References

Autoimmune Diseases: What Are They? Who Gets Them? (2018, August 14). Retrieved from https://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/autoimmune-diseasesGuillain-Barré syndrome. (2020, January 15). Retrieved from https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/guillain-barre-syndrome/symptoms-causes/syc-20362793Napier, C., & Pearce, S. H. S. (2012, December). Autoimmune Addison’s disease. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23177474

The test results show that my primary leadership style is task focused and my secondary leadership style is intellectual. The scores from the quiz are as follows:

a. task – 6

b. Social – 5

c. Intellectual – 6

d. participative – 5.7

To an extent I agree with the results that have come up after answering the quiz. I really value speed, action, efficiency as well as consistency. However, I still know that sometimes I also act impatiently or rather as if in a hurry. Sometimes I am also too impatient about getting the results. Still I know that I am good at decision making.

Secondly, I am also quite thorough and accurate about whatever I do and that helps me make my long term plans. It is therefore, that people consider me objective, logical as well as committed. However, there is also a bit of rigidness in me and slight reluctance to other’s input. But, generally due to single minded focus on task I am able to achieve great results from whatever I do.

I find that my leadership style can be greatly helpful in the field of public administration where things like efficiency, consistency and commitment are greatly valued. In the field of public administration mostly come across situations where ‘shared leadership’ applies’. Seeing the growing challenges in public leadership it needs a person to remain committed to his task as well as be good at decision making. It needs participative decision making where I can deliver with my accurate and thorough actions and decisions.

In this field it also needs consistency apart from efficiency since the challenges are relatively bigger which will need to be addressed quite fast. To address the challenges one needs to have single minded focus on his task as well as remain consistent with whatever he is doing. Yet, I know that most importantly I will have to consider the factor of shred leadership and how I can deliver while including others in my decisions and actions.

There are some key points which I will need to include for my leadership growth so that I can deliver consistently as well as prove effective in my sphere. My leadership style is primarily task focused and secondly intellectual.

The two concepts that I can apply in this regard are as follows:

a. Foster development of others: The main idea behind this concept is to engage and include others. The first step in this regard is to learn with others and also to encourage learning while working. Apart from this it is also important to reward and recognize the work and efforts of others.

b. build effective teams: The idea behind this concept is to find ways for using people’s strengths for team projects and to encourage participation in this way. Secondly, it needs to create collaborative opportunities for learning and to build trust.

It encourages participation as well as collaboration.

Reference:

Topic: Leadership and Power (n.d.). In PLS 308 – Public Administration. Retrieved June 20, 2013, from HYPERLINK “http://people.uncw.edu/imperialm/UNCW/PLS_308/PLS_308_Lecture%20Notes_Leadership.pdf” http://people.uncw.edu/imperialm/UNCW/PLS_308/PLS_308_Lecture%20Notes_Leadership.pdf

Lead SeLf: Key ConCeptS and IdeaS (n.d.). In LEADS. Retrieved June 20, 2013, from HYPERLINK “http://www.cchl-ccls.ca/assets/LEADS/LEADS_KeyPoints_EN.pdf” http://www.cchl-ccls.ca/assets/LEADS/LEADS_KeyPoints_EN.pdf