The Dimension of Inter-Professional Practice

Introduction This aim of this assignment is to analyse the unique role and contribution of nursing practices within inter-professional jobs and consider how inter-professional practices influence the way we manage the people in our care, using evidence based commentary. Mental illnesses are complex conditions and therefore cannot be managed by one professional. Holistic treatment of mental health patients requires a cohort of clinical professionals (Barker, 2008). For this assignment I chose Gibbs Reflective framework (1988) to enable my personal reflection and to improve my future nursing practice. In accordance with the NMC Code of Practice (2008) names have been changed to comply with confidentiality regulations; Grace will be my client’s name. Inter-Professional Team Working Pollard (2005), defined inter-professional working, as the process whereby members of different professions and/or agencies work together to provide integrated health and social care. Leathard (2003) states inter-professional working implies a group of professionals from different professions engaging in interdependent collaborations with mutual respect to provide integrated health and social care for the client’s benefit., Housley (2003) argues the multidisciplinary team is a group of people of different professions who meet regularly to discuss individual clients. Successful teamwork can have direct consequences for patient care and the inter-collaboration model of healthcare delivery is one of the most important modernisations of the healthcare system in recent years (Humphris and Hean, 2004). Effective team-working produces positive patient outcomes, while ineffectual team-working contributes to negative incidents in patient care (Grumbach and Bodenheimer, 2004). Client background Grace, a 21 year old female, was formally admitted via community mental health nurse due to non-concordance of medication. Grace suffers severe mental illness and personality disorder with a high level of self-harming, poor personal hygiene and inability to perform activities of daily living ADL’s. The Roper, Logan and Tierney model (Bellman 1996) states that 12 ADL’s produce a picture of the person’s lifestyle and these can be used to highlight problems which require nursing intervention. Inter-disciplinary team working and my role in Grace’s care The multidisciplinary review meeting for Grace’s care comprised a consultant psychiatrist,; a psychologist who assessed Grace’s behaviours and gave counselling sessions; social workers who assessed social wellbeing; an occupational therapist who assessed ADL; a dietician and the care-coordinator who was the key-worker involved in Grace’s care when she was in the community. The registered mental health nurse assigned to Grace was my mentor, and I was given the task of shadowing my mentor to assess Grace’s mental state on the ward and monitor any physical changes. The inter-professional team at the review placed Grace on level 3 observation due to her self-harming. Feelings I felt challenged and nervous about shadowing and handling the nursing report during the multidisciplinary team review. However, I realised this is a key role of the nursing professional in an inter-professional team, Davies & Priestly (2006) views nursing handover as vital information about clients under the care of nurses, allowing nurses to improve both the handover process and improve patient care delivery. I felt empathy for Grace, especially her anxiety over the (in her eyes) large number of people (the care team) caring for and deciding her ‘fate’. She shared in her one-to-one sessions that she was nervous of not doing the right things in front of the team and I remember thinking ‘we are both nervous for similar reasons’,, as I was also nervous about what the team thought about me and my practice. I reassured Grace that we were here to help her, using my communication skills to listen and ally her fears. Hamilton et al. (2010) stated listening is an essential skill for a mental health nurse. I felt frustrated within the team, feeling that some members worked toward their own goals rather than collectively aiming to ensure the best holistic care for Grace, which made working within the team challenging. An example of this was the doctor’s decision to exclude Grace from participating in ward activities without assessment from the occupational therapist. This is at odds with the traditional nursing role, which seeks to include the patient both physically and psychologically. I felt that this decision was not in Grace’s best interest, and could prolong her discharge. Evaluation In evaluating my empathy with Grace and her anxiety, I felt there was an understandable connection as we were both in new situations, while too much empathy can lead to difficulties in nursing (Mercer and Reynolds 2002), empathy is an important aspect in nursing. Whitehead (2000) states that one angle of team work that is often neglected is the ‘relationship’ between client and nurse, which she argues is important to ensure positive care outcomes and therefore should not be disregarded within a collaborative framework. After talking to my peers I found that we all felt some anxiety about working within a multi-disciplinary team. In evaluating my time as an inter-disciplinary team member and my anxiety, I realised this eased when roles were defined and responsibilities shared. Ovretveit et al. (1997) asserted that understanding and clarification of roles from the onset is necessary for good team-working and failure to define roles correctly can lead to confusion. My frustrations within the team were in part due to my anxiety of performing poorly in front of my mentor, and my inexperience of working within an interdisciplinary-team. I had little understanding of how the different roles and philosophies of other professionals would need to be compromised to ensure both safety of and good care for Grace and perhaps I placed too much importance on the nursing role without understanding what other professionals brought to the team. Analysis While my empathy can be a positive aspect to my nursing, on reflection, it may have clouded my judgement and my ability to follow the right course of action, given that Grace was known to self-harm. The decisions made by the doctor complied with Local Trust Policy (2010) on self-harming. Furthermore, NICE guidelines (2004) states that staff develop preventative strategies to ensure patient safety in cases of self-harming, by reducing opportunities to self-harm. The inter-disciplinary team decided Grace should not be allowed to participate in ward activities due to risk of self-harm. Through analysis of the team-work shown within this case, I believe that the team showed effective communication, as each professional had a good knowledge of the role they were expected to play in supporting Grace’s care and effective communication is vital in team-working (Ovretveit et al. 1997). My frustrations within the team can be explained by Whitehead (2001) who identified that collaboration work, while beneficial, did have a variety of barriers that could hinder development of close collaborative relationships within the different service provider’s professions, one being that the different professions may have different ideas on patient treatments that are at odds with other professionals within the multi-disciplinary team. While at first I did not understand the challenges that inter-professional working brings and thus did not feel that every member had Grace’s care foremost, after analysing my time within the team, I feel that every member was supportive of each other’s efforts to facilitate Grace’s recovery. Many opportunities were available to discuss concerns over the care-plan such as debriefing, one to one interactions, and supervision, highlighted by Freeth (2007) as vital to ensure good inter-professional development. Barriers to good inter-professional collaborations include poor communication, lack of understanding of other team members’ roles, work priorities and professional hierarchy (Whitehead, 2000), where such issues are apparent, it can be helpful to identify shared goals and voice concerns. Inter-professionals should use clinical judgment that encompasses the best of all team members’ professions in care provision to improve client wellbeing, aid th em to cope with health problems and achieve the best quality of life with their illness (RCN 2003; DoH, 2008). Conclusion In retrospect, I feel the strength of the team was its ability to develop and manage excellent patient-focussed care, resulting from the variety of disciplines, personalities and expertises. I have gained an in-depth insight into the roles and responsibilities nurses have in the development of client-centred care and a better understanding for the other team members professions, which I feel now that I was lacking. This reflective process has helped me gain an understanding of the importance of inter-professional team collaboration in managing clients with self-harm issues using positive practice guidance as stated in the NHS guidelines. Action plan This experience has taught me that inter-professional practices involve effective communication between team members and respect for other professional’s knowledge of client needs. I will seek to gain greater understanding of other clinical roles and what they represent and bring to the inter-disciplinary team. I will undertake personal development and learning by keeping up-to-date with changes in practice, embracing and promoting interpersonal working. This reflective commentary has enhanced my knowledge of inter-professional working, the challenges involved and the importance of communication and compromise, which will contribute to my personal development as a mental health nurse. In respect to my patient centred empathy, I believe this is an important trait in nursing; however, in the future I will temper my empathy with professionalism that focuses on patient safety first. I plan to improve my knowledge and expertise of the roles of other professionals. I will begin by focussing on the respect and value I have of other professionals’ expertise. With respect to my lack of confidence, I shall endeavour to develop confidence in sharing my knowledge in group forums. The placement amplified the importance of identifying and understanding patients’ needs and sharing this understanding with the inter-professional team members in order to facilitate effective healthcare interventions. References Barker. P., (2009). Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing: The Craft of Caring. 2nd ed. London. Hodder Arnold. Bellman, LM. (1996) Changing nursing practice through reflection on the Roper, Logan and Tierney model: the enhancement approach to action research. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 24(1): 129–138. Davies S., Priestley MJ., (2006). A reflective evaluation of patient handover practices. Nurs Stand. 20(21):49-52. Day, J., (2006). Interprofessional working an essential guide for health and social care professionals. Cheltenham: Nelson Thornes. Freeth, D., (2007). International learning Association for the Study of Medical Education: Edinburgh. Gibbs, G., (1998). Learning by Doing: A Guide to Teaching and Learning Methods. Oxford: Further Education Unit, Oxford Brookes University. Grumbach K, Bodenheimer T. (2004) Can health care teams improve primary care practiceJAMA. Mar 10;291(10):1246-51. Hamilton S., (2010). Rethink, Research and Innovation Teams Report for Nursing and Midwifery Council on nursing skills for working with people with a mental health diagnosis, London Housley, W., (2003). Interaction in Multidisciplinary Teams. Ashgate Publishing Limited: England. Humphris D, Hean S. (2004) Educating the future workforce: building the evidence about interprofessional learning. J Health Serv Res Policy. Jan;9 Suppl 1:24-7. Kozier, B., Erb G., Berman A., Snyder S., Lake R., Harvey S. (2008). Fundamentals of nursing: concept, process and practice. Harlow: Pearson Education Limited. Leathard, A., (2003). Inter-professional Collaboration: from policy to practice in health and social care. Philadelphia: Brunner – Routledge. Local Trust Policy (2010b). Assessment and Management of Service Users Who Self-Harm Policy, Local Trust Mercer, SW and Reynolds, WJ (2002) Empathy and quality of care. Br J Gen Pract. 52(Suppl): S9–12. NHS Choice (2011) NICE (2004), Self-Harm, Clinical Guidelines 16, cited from:http://www.nice.org.uk/nicemedia/pdf/CG16FullGuideline.pdf (Accessed 11/11 2012) NMC (2008), Code of Conduct, Nursing and Midwifery Council, London Ovretveit, J., Mathias, F., Thomoson, T. eds., (1997). Interprofessional working for health and social care. Hampshire: Macmillan Press Limited. Pollard, K., (2005). Interprofessional Working: an Essential Guide for Health and Social-Care Professionals; England, Nelson Thrones Limited. Roper, Logan and Tierney (1996), Whithead (2000) Education, behavioural change and social psychology: Nursing’s contribution to health promotion. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 34(6), 822-832 Whitehead D, (2001) Applying collaborative practice to health promotion. Nursing Standards. 15(20):33-7. Bibliography General Social Care Council, (2006). Code of Practice For Social Workers and Employers. London: GSCC. Golightley, M., (2008). Social Work and Mental Health People. Learning Matters. Barker. P., (2009). Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing: The Craft of Caring. 2nd ed. London. Hodder Arnold. Taylor. C., Lillis. C., Lemone. P., (2001). Fundamentals of Nursing: The art and Science of Nursing Care, 4th edn, Lippincott, Philadelphia. Thompson I., Melia K., & Boyd K., (2000). Nursing Ethics, London, Churchill Livingstone

My First Time Peering Through a Telescope Essay

When I was eight years old, I peered through a telescope for the first time in my life. It was a small device, no more than two metres long, and yet it let me glimpse a brilliant view of Jupiter: it was the size of a marble, magnificently striated in hues of brown, red and orange. Then, when I was 13, I went to the Birla Planetarium in Hyderabad, where I revisited my five-year old fascination with Jupiter as I sat spellbound in the arena as a cosmic dance played out in the canvas stretched above my head: stars flew around, tumbling in and out of the horizon, the rings of Saturn floating serenely in space, moons rising and setting through a mà ©lange of blues, yellows and greens. It was a performance I haven’t forgotten to this day, remembering it as an eternally unfolding story, a few hundred pages in the epic saga of the universe. It could have been the charismatic voice of the narrator, it could have been the undisturbed loneliness on the night of my stargazing, it could even have been my mindless interest thereafter to find out more and more about the travellers in the heavens, but today, those memories are the seeds of my passion for astroparticle physics. Many people – even science graduates – hear the name and think it’s a â€Å"big deal†. It is not. Astroparticle physics is the study of the stuff that stars are made of, and by extension, as Carl Sagan said, the stuff that we are made of. It is the search for and the understanding of the smallest particles that make up this universe one elegant phenomenon at a time. And just as my curiosity toward it was aroused one cloudless night in a small town in South India, so has it sustained: not within classrooms, not under the guidance of pedantic lecturers, but in my room, in the books I bought to teach myself more about it, in problems I solved, the simulations I ran and the experiments I conducted, in my mind where I could never rest without knowing how the universe worked. In the last 15 years, I have learned where the stars come from that fascinate little children as little, bright spots in the sky, I have learned what the comets that streak Hollywood’s most romantic scenes really are, and I have learn all about our sun and the significance of human life. Most  importantly, I have painted a glittering picture of the world for myself having met a wide range of people – young and old – simply by learning what I don’t know about and teaching what I do to anyone who is willing to listen. It is not a passion that I ever see fading because it has been an integral part of my growing years, a symbol of my parents’ support and my friends’ patience, and my own strengths, weaknesses and perseverance.

Knowledge Assessment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Knowledge Assessment - Essay Example These scholars also argued that a creative person is able to develop a new process even from ordinary setting and able to evolve a new process in accordance with the macro-environmental requirements. However, Kafetsios and Zampetakis (44; 710-20) argued that it is not possible to achieve innovation for organizations without taking help of creative minds. George and Zhou (87; 687-97) showed doubt over the mechanistic definition of organizational learning and they pointed out that an organization cannot learn by itself hence creativity in organization is sole function of individual personality trait of leaders and organizational members. Organization is a living thing and organizational members are integrated part of this living system. Hence, it can be surmised that creative personality trait of organizational members create the scope for knowledge sharing, learning from mistakes and ultimately achieve innovation. In such context, four different personality traits which can bring crea tivity can be identified in the following manner; Figure 1: Personality Trait (Source: Zampetakis, Kafetsios, Bouranta, Dewett and Moustakis 597) According to figure 1, personal traits such as proactive mentality, emotional intelligence, entrepreneurship intensions and assertive intellectual drive can help a person to perform creative behavior in the workplace. For example, proactive mentality helps the person to take responsibility in contingent situation and show the drive for thinking in new way, entrepreneurship intensions help the person to show the penchant for building new enterprise or new process, emotional intelligence helps the person to understand and respect the suggestion of team members formulating a new process and assertive intellectual drive helps the individual to solve emerging problems by deploying skill and talent. Developing a new idea in organizations by using creativity instinct is a systematic and stepwise process and these steps can be defined as, 1- ident ifying the problem by discussing with team members, 2- collecting information related to the solution of the problem from internal and external environment using both primary and secondary sources, 3- organizing brainstorming session with team members regarding the potential solution for the problem and selecting the optimal solution by using knowledge sources and 4- implementing the solution in order to bring creativity in the organizational. For example, an oil company can innovate or integrate its upstream and downstream activities in order to reduce the cost of operation. Hence, it can be said that organizational creativity is an inside-out approach which depends heavily on personality trait of organizational members. Question 2 (Option B-Mindfulness) Weick and Sutcliffe (17.4; 514-24) defined mindfulness as the inherent capability of an individual and organization to generate rich awareness regarding the details of the ongoing events and decide plausible actions to correct prob able errors in the decision making. Hence, mindfulness can be defined as mixture of cognitive processes such as, giving attention to the detail, relying on past categories to assess the present situation and eying one single perspective of the

Procurement Control Systems Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Procurement Control Systems - Case Study Example The review should include a check for accuracy and legitimacy. After the purchasing department receives the requisition, purchasing needs to submit the order to a vendor selection process. The company has omitted this step. If the material is a standard item, the selection should be on the basis of competitive bidding to assure the best price and reduce costs (Dall and West, 22). Buyer relationships or a vendor attribute system could be used for specialized material. This would help assure cost containment as well as reduce undue buyer-vendor influence and corruption of the process. When the material is received, a receiving report should go to the stores as well as purchasing and accounts payable. There also needs to be an interface with the inventory system to update the count and material level. In the example, receiving does not match the material to a purchase order to check for accuracy or completeness. This has the potential of accepting incorrect shipments or backorders that may have been cancelled. There is also too little control over the invoicing process. In the example, purchasing matches the purchase requisition, purchase order, and receiving report and generates an invoice. The invoice is sent to the controller for payment.

An IT strategy focused on maintaining a cutting-edge technology Essay

An IT strategy focused on maintaining a cutting-edge technology position - Essay Example The alignment of IT and business strategy of the firm is considered as one of the most important challenges for the managers.Without this alignment of both the strategies,it is relatively impossible for the firms to actually ensure that they retain and develop cutting edge technologies to help them stay ahead of the game. Without having access to the better IT technology, it is relatively impossible for the firms to continue to dominate the market. It has also been argued that those firms which initially focused upon perfecting their IT technology and making it more effective grew faster than the firms which initially focused upon the alignment of their IT and business strategy. This line of thinking therefore suggests that it is important to compromise on the alignment of the IT and business technology if the firm is actually able to first effectively improve its technology. One way or other, it is really important that without having cutting edge technology, it would be really inef fective for the firm to support the overall business strategy of the firm. This paper will therefore argue that without having access to the cutting edge technology, it may be entirely difficult for the firms to support their overall business strategy. IT Strategy The technology strategy of a firm is typically related with the development of tactics and tools related with the use of information technology within the firm. The critical focus of such strategy always remains on the acquisition and development of strategies which can allow the firms to develop their competitive advantage out of the information technology. It is however, important to understand that this strategy must also be leveraged through the people as without effective and efficient human resource, the firm may not be able to translate this strategy into a successful strategy. Traditional view of how technology should be utilized and how the technology strategy can actually be designed is based upon how effectively it can support the overall business strategy of the firm. One of the concerns has also been focused upon the optimization of the firm’s spending on the information technology. This line of thinking therefore often compromises the way IT can actually provide the real benefits to the firm. Over the period of time, it has been therefore argued that the overall business strategy should be the driving force for the IT strategy of the firm. This has however, been without the assessment that poor technology can actually fail to support the overall business strategy of the firm. It is therefore important first to ensure a seamless integration and alignment of both the IT and business strategy of the firm with each other. Access to the cutting edge technology It is argued that the access to the cutting edge technology as well as its effective deployment by the organization is necessary in order to allow the firms to better understand their market. The market insight and analytic abil ities provided by the cutting edge latest technology therefore allow the firms to not only better understand themselves but also better design and develop their strategies which can suit to the market where they are operating. One of the key aspects of having access to the latest technology is to gain the competitive intelligence allowing firms to better leverage their business strategy. Developing the capability of competitive intelligence can only be possible with the help of having access to the cutting edge technology. Old and outdated technologies may lack the capability to provide the same level of analytic insight to help firms to actually have a re-look at their business st

TOGAF Framework Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

TOGAF Framework - Research Paper Example The Open Group Architecture Framework (TOGAF) is a structure that presents a comprehensive technique and a group of supporting systems and tools for building effective enterprise design. Additionally, it can be utilized without any restriction from any corporation desiring to build up enterprise architecture for use inside that association/business/corporate. In addition, this formwork was established by associates of The Open Group, functioning inside the Architecture Forum. However, the first version of TOGAF framework was developed in 1995. In addition, it was foundational upon Technical Architecture Framework for Information Management (TAFIM), built by the United States Department of Defense (DoD). In this scenario, the Department of Defense offered The Open Group open authorization and extensive support to build TOGAF by crafting the TAFIM. Thus, it was the fruit of many years of development attempts as well as a lot of investment comprising million of dollars of US Government. Moreover, by taking the advantage of this powerful base, the members of The Open Group Architecture Forum have built several editions of TOGAF every year and published every one on The Open Group public website (The Open Group, 2011) and (Chase, 2006). 4 TOGAF Heritage 4 As discussed above the Open Group Architecture Forum has built several versions of TOGAF at normal intervals as well as published every one on the web site of The Open Group. Additionally, every form of TOGAF standard is built collaboratively by the members of the design Forum. In addition, at present it consists of approximately 200 corporate members, comprising vendor and customer organizations. In this scenario, the development is carried out by architecture practitioners, with the content foundational upon most excellent practices that developed within the contributing member businesses (Sante & Ermers, 2009) and (The Open Group, 2011). 5 Moreover, TOGAF was one of the primary representations with a powerful fo cus on procedure approached to structural design in the business. In this scenario, architecture can be considered as a business wide procedure that will be controlled by the business administration, through the support of corporate architect. Thus, the (corporate) planner has consequently become a very important person having organizational sensitivity (Sante & Ermers, 2009) and (The Open Group, 2011). 5 Furthermore, the latest versions of TOGAF involve superior features, which focus on the use of architecture as well as its power. However, it came into view when TOGAF started tackling with

Globalization Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Globalization - Assignment Example cal entities in cargo carrying executed by automobile, sea, railway, river and ferry transportation; establishing obligations, rights and responsibilities of every participant in transportation. The parties to the contract also guaranteed to endorse synchronized tariff policy. These were implemented for the success of the GUAM Agreement. Collaboration in the field of transport in between Georgia and Ukraine has become increasingly better and it can be regarded as another success (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia, â€Å"Relations between Georgia and Ukraine†). The main challenge has been that of the territory settlement between the member countries. The demilitarization of the conflict region and establishment of safety in these regions with the assistance of the multinational peacemaking services set out within UN or OSCE support for ensuring return of inhabitants and peaceful coexistence of communities have been the other challenge. Several measures are being taken to settle the conflicts in the territory of GUAM states to enhance the peace process so that trade activities can be carried out without any disturbances. This was done for proper integration among GUAM countries to maintain trade relationships (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Republic of Azerbaijan, â€Å"The Organization for Democracy and Economic Development – Guam†). Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Republic of Azerbaijan. â€Å"The Organization for Democracy and Economic Development – Guam†. 2008. About GUAM. October 4, 2010.

Causes of the AT&T-BellSouth Takeover Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Causes of the AT&T-BellSouth Takeover - Essay Example Consequently, the revenues of the company were falling, stock process declining and incurred huge cost price. Things looked even bleaker given the coming of internet phone calls and more serious competition from cable and wireless companies. AT&T, which is a holding company agreed to take-over BellSouth as a strategy to position it as a company committed in enhancing convergence, progressive innovation and competition in the communication and entertainment industry (Reardon, 2006). The take-over guaranteed AT&T Inc the rights to own and manage Cingular Wireless which is a leading provider of wireless data and voice services (Reardon, 2006). Moreover, AT&T would have the exclusive rights on ownership of YellowPages.Com which offer Yellow Pages and local search site. Reardon (2006) asserts that the AT&T-BellSouth takeover would help AT&T company cut down its labor by 10,000 jobs between 2007 and 2009. AT&T also hoped to increase its revenues and customer to about $ 130 billion in sales and 70 million customers by increasing its market niche from the previously 13 states to 22 states following the acquisition of the 9 southeast states previously served by BellSouth. Basis for the Final Agreed Price Before a company can be taken-over by another or in the case of merger, it is important that the value of the company is determined (Gould and Leisner, 2009). The value of the company is its net worth and is used to determine the final price to be paid out during acquisition. Whitney (2012) describes seven things that should be considered in valuing a business during a merger and acquisition of resources. He argues that the value of the business consists of not only the price but also includes the associated terms and the deal structure. He further explains that there exist different values of the business due to different operation assumptions, terms of payment and deal structure and not because of use of different valuation methods. Whitney (2012) describes future per formance, asset type, exit strategy, cash flow and deal structure as some of the determinants of business value. In 2006, AT&T Inc resolved to merger with a fellow telephone company BellSouth in a stock transaction worth $ 67 billion (Reardon, 2006). In the proposal for the merger, AT&T shareholders were to receive 1.325 shares of AT&T common stock for every BellSouth Common share. Reardon (2006) explains that under these terms, the deal would represent a premium of 17.9 percent over the closing stock price on Friday, 3rd March, 2006. Each of BellSouth common shares would be quote eat 37.09. However, Public Service Commission, (2006) explains that merger was subject to approval by the regulatory authorities and shareholders from both companies and was to be completed within six months. On December, 29th 2006, the takeover of BellSouth by AT&T was approved by Federal Communications Commission after the two companies settled on extra concessions that had been demanded by two Democrats members of the agency. The takeover price was agreed to be $ 85 billion as reported (Bartash, 2006). The take-over was approved four members while one abstained from voting. In determining the final price, a ratio of the closing prices of the stock of each company was calculated after which BellSouth shareholders were allocated the

The Vietnam Wars Paper Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

The Vietnam Wars - Research Paper Example The president used the constitutional powers in the office to order the deployment of US ground troops to the region in the end of the first quarter of 1965. The action, notwithstanding, President Johnson's objective for his country’s participation in Vietnam was not driven by the quest to win the battle, but for the military to stabilize South Vietnam's forces and government control of security situation in the region. Butterfield suggests that the ability of the Viet Cong "to build up their effort was consistently underrated" by the United States2. In light of this, President Johnson ordered what would turn out to be unpopular among Americans, when the country found itself mired in a deadlock with the warring factions of Vietnam. Although, the country participated in aerial bombings of the enemy North, President Johnson was of the opinion that the bombardment be restricted to defending South Vietnam. By restricting the battlefields, the American troops would not carry out a significant ground invasion of the North to eliminate the communist icons and structures nor would they seriously destabilize the Ho Chi Minh Trail or the major infrastructure used by his government. Impact of the 1965 American intervention in Vietnam The eight years of America's participation in Vietnam witnessed its military campaign fluctuate from enormous escalation of firepower to slow withdrawal. The American approach to the war, also evolved in its implementation, from a general â€Å"Search and Destroy† mission, which was intended to wear the enemy, to complete "Clear and Hold" strategies. The end result was based on pacification initiatives. Whereas, critics continue to argue that America’s poor performance in Vietnam was bound to happen, owing to the then prevailing political, social, and military issues, others are of the opinion that America’s involvement should not be regarded as such: that the â€Å"winning strategy† of the US military was t o decisively prolong the conflict in order to wear down the North Vietnamese military3. Nevertheless, the North Vietnamese strategy of implementing a complex program of insurgency and long-drawn guerilla war proved an elusive goal for the superior American military, hence its eventual defeat and de-escalation4. America’s attrition strategy The 1965 US intervention in Vietnam greatly impacted the conduct of the war. Unlike previously, when the country played a limited role of offering military advice to the South Vietnamese military, American forces took part in combat, complete with ground troops. From 1965 to 1968, the main strategy of the United States was taking control of the combat in South Vietnam from the local South Vietnamese Armed Forces (SVAF). The American ground forces based their successes on the "Search and Destroy" missions, while the Air Force carried out air raids under the Rolling Thunder bombing crusade. Although, General Westmoreland was confident these s trategies would wear down the Viet Cong forces and guerillas, political challenges driven by fear of attracting more states to the battlefield, such as China and or Soviet Union prompted the Johnson government to limit their combat to a strategic protection of South Vietnam. And whereas, Soviet played the role of a â€Å"diplomatic channel between Washington and Hanoi. . . Moscow always seemed unwilling to pile pressure on North Vietnam to give up its

Deborah Ellis Essay Example for Free

Deborah Ellis Essay Deborah Ellis started writing at age 11-12 inspired at a young age she grasped her talent. As a kid she was constantly moving from place to place due to her father’s work, and used writing as a coping method. When she grew up, her work and writing was mainly done by traveling and talking to others that have problems and taking note of everything. She started to write the book I am currently the Breadwinner her first book. The Breadwinner takes place in Afghanistan and the main character at only 12 years old is faced with the discrimination against women when her father is arrested by the Taliban and with no other way of providing for her family she dresses up as a boy and tries to find work. Coincidentally Ellis traveled to Afghanistan in 1997 to interview women located in refugee camps. These interviews helped her write her four part series of The Breadwinner. Her writing of this book was inspired by an interview with a mother living in one of the refugee camps. Ellis has become considered of the most beloved young adult writers today as well as being a philanthropist who donates almost all of her profit’s from her books to organizations like â€Å"UNICEF† and â€Å"Women for Women in Afghanistan†. Deborah Ellis is a very motivated person who feels strongly for the rights of women and takes that inspiration and uses it to write compelling stories. Of all the books she has wrote which has come to 18 in total, all of them have been moving stories of injustices. Deborah Ellis has achieved international recognition with her incredibly dramatic books that give readers a glimpse into the life of children in far out developing countries. Ellis has won the Governor Generals Award, Swedens Peter Pan Prize, the Ruth Schwartz Award, the University of Californias Middle East Book Award, the Jane Addams Childrens Book Award and the Vicky Metcalf Award. Deborah Ellis constantly finds new ways to express her feelings about the wrongs in the world and inspires us all when she writes about it.

The Process Of Coastal Erosion Environmental Sciences Essay

The Process Of Coastal Erosion Environmental Sciences Essay Coastal erosion is a natural process in which sand and rocks are dislodged from the shoreline by various eroding agents. Wave erosion is one of the major eroding agents which erode the beaches by breaking the rocks. In coastal erosion land is permanently and completely shifted from one region to another. The intensity of erosion along a beach is influenced by how hard a wave hits it; the intensity of the wave depends on tides and the water density. Coast erosion usually affects most people that live along the coastline and also the marine organisms that have their habitats along estuaries, bays and very shallow parts of the ocean water. Discussion Many coastline are facing rampant coastal erosion and mostly in the Atlantic and gulf where erosion percentages are about 6% per year. Many coastlines within the United States of America have been affected by coastal erosion and in our study today we will concentrate on the coastal erosion in Louisiana specifically along the Mississippi river. Wetlands within the United States are declining at a very fast rate in the past 200 years, this because of the increase in the natural evolutionary processes and also some human activities such as dredging. The wetlands within Louisiana are vast and wide as they extend to about 130 kilometers inland and 300km onshore. Various wetlands within the U.S.A are in stable conditions but the one in Louisiana if not quickly addressed it will be completely eroded in the next two hundred years (Dunne and Knapp 123). The delta plains within the Mississippi river together with its shorelines have been the recipient of sediment deposition by the river dating back to seven thousand years back. There have been shifts in the course of the Mississippi river which has resulted in the staking of sand and mud which later formed deltas which were abandoned by the changing of the river course. These delta began eroding and degrading reason being the following factors; the subsequent increase in the water level which may have been caused by global warming, bombardment by the loose sediment which may have been deposited and also the reason may have been the sudden occurrence of storms which could have washed away the sand particles which were deposited on the deltas. Other than the above reasons the natural marine processes did erode the margins of the deltas which were seaward leading to the formation of barrier beaches and also sandy headlands. Erosion subsequently continued resulting to the barrier islands which were of low relief and eventually causing separation with the main land by lagoons and shallow bays The erosion of the coastal shorelines in Louisiana has really led to the environmental and economic decline of the region as compared to the past. If urgent measures are not addressed the wetland in Louisiana will be no more. Due to the erosion of the deltas there was formation of barrier islands which acted as buffer zones hence leading to the decline of the ocean wave effects to the surrounding wetland and estuaries. Researchers have come up with findings that tend to explain that if the eroding of the barrier islands continue they will be no more by the climax of this century hence exposing the wetlands to the mighty force of marine processes which include; tidal power, transportation of sediments, wave action and the intrusion of salinity. These marine processes will therefore lead to the degrading of the wetlands. Coastal erosion which is also known as shoreline retreat can cause a lot of economic losses since the following sectors are adversely affected and they include ; agric ulture, tourism which to some countries is the main source of income, fishing and shipping as harbors are also affected (Finkl and Khalil 206). In Louisiana there are oil refineries and energy production sites and therefore through coastal erosion such activities are hampered and disrupted. In certain estimation by economists it was noted that if oil refineries in Louisiana were to be hampered for three continuous weeks then the countryà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s economy could suffer a setback of three hundred thousand jobs and also the loss of over one billion dollars. In a study conducted by waldemar nelson he states that if the coastal erosion is not corrected then the following economic conditions are likely to be affected: the transportation of oil and gas may be disrupted, navigation will also be hampered as erosion will make it difficult to navigate through the Mississippi river, commercial fishing may be hampered and some recreational activities like surfing may be affected. These are the direct impacts that may accrue as a result of coastal erosion. In a study conducted by Richardson and Scott they stated that coast erosion will impact a lot in the general economy of the United States of America. They further stated that there will be loss of jobs, decline in the household earnings and some of the business transitions of economy may be affected if the coastal erosion continues to disrupt industries in Louisiana. These are the indirect challenges that Louisiana may face as a result of the coastal erosion. Louisiana has had a decline in its wetlands for the past thirty years or so due to this a body of experts was formed to address this problem. This body was known as coastal wetlands planning, protection and restoration act which was made up of a task force whose responsibility was to keenly monitor, implement and design the conservation of the coast and also they were to make a follow up of the restoration projects that were being undertaken (Limnological Society of Southern Africa 81). For the purpose of their duties these task force were u fed with the high resolution and colored photographs of the region which were usually taken through aerial photography. These photographs enabled them to monitor the restoration progress and this was to continue for a period of twenty years. This taskforce always submitted a report of its findings and restoration projects to the congress. The projects to be undertaken were usually ranked regarding their costs and the benefits that were to be acqu ired from it. There is a formula which was used in accessing the benefits and ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s calculated through a methodology which is usually known as the wetland value assessment. Every year restoration projects were to be done and they include; restoration of the hydrology, protection of the shoreline, restoration of the barrier island, diversions of sediments, marsh management, proper use the material which is dredged, introduction of fresh water, planting vegetation and trapping of nutrients and sediments. A special body was established to monitor the progress and effectiveness of the projects. In the restoration of the coastal erosion in Louisiana the project needed an approximate of five hundred billion dollars to one billion dollar. These amounts were to assist in the protection of Louisiana against hurricane attacks (Morton 08). It is noted that it is not nature alone that is to be blamed on the degradation and destruction of wetlands in Louisiana but also the human activities which have been taking place in the Mississippi river delta. The following are some of the activities; there has been construction of levees which were designed to channel the riversà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ waters two thousand kilometers inland hence leading to the transportation of sediments which were deposited far from the coast. This sediment was of importance as they usually nourished the wetlands. Another human activity that has degraded the coast was the dredging of canals which were to be used in the facilitating of hydrocarbon exploration and its production, these led to the intrusion of salty water to the wetland from the Gulf of Mexico. Finally the drainage of water into the wetland so as to give room for development and agriculture has led to the loss and subsequent deterioration of the wetland (Finkl and Khalil 187). There are various ideas which have been put forward to address the problem of erosion of the Barrier Island and wetlands. Some of the ideas include; the restoration of the coast through the nourishment of the barrier island, sand and other materials that were dredged to be distributed to the wetlands, some other people state that a new navigation channel to be created so as to allow the delta plains to proceed normally with their erosion. These ideas still have their pros and cons as they still affect some communities, some interests in agriculture and also the petroleum and oil industry. There are various engineering solutions which are very expensive to implement for instance building of breakwaters so as to prevent the full force of the waves from hitting the wetland and also building of breakwaters. This idea is viable but it is very costly. The only way curb this problem is by understanding how wetlands and barrier islands change or evolve. Various coordinated studies are showing how the nature intended both the wetland and barrier island to work. Therefore in the planning process the researchers should take into consideration how they evolve rather than going contrary to Mother Nature. Some studies are also trying to examine the possibilities of replacing sediments with very fine grained sediments. All this are very good and attainable ideas but up to date all the engineering actions performed are still fruitless (Dunne and Knapp 128). .

All Quiet on the Western Front: War and its Purpose Essay -- essays re

"One is left with the horrible feeling now that war settles nothing. That to win a war is as disastrous as to lose one." - Agatha Christie We as people never stop to think about war and its definition. Accroding to the dictionary, war is defined as a state of hostility, conlict, antagonism and death. All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque tells the story about Paul Baumer, the narrator and protagonist of the book , a neneteen year old German soldier who fights in the front lines of Western Europle during Wold War I and describs its synical hateful environment. The autobiographical book, Night by Elie Wiesel, takes place during The Holocaust. Elie, as a young Jewish boy witnessed mass murder and loses his loved ones in the process in the hands of the Nazis while imprisoned in the most notorious death camp, Auchwithz. "I thought I was honoring my country, but I was very wrong " recalled Benjamin Mejia, a 40 year old army veteran who fought in war during Desert Storm. These descriptions of War follow its definition with high precisement and leads to the raw truth. The truth is that through it s hostile nature, war negatively affects the lives of the people involved with it buth physically and mentally which they have to carry for the rest of their lives. War and its antagonistic influence has the potential power of making its victims suffer physically. "I am operated on and vomit for two days. My bones will not grow together, so the surgeons' secretary says. It is damnable." said Paul Baumer as he was wounded as a cause of war. It must have been even worrse under the conditions soldiers in the past faced on account of not having the medical advances we have today. Antibiotics were not invented until later on in the century so soldiers back then had to suffer the enduring paing for a much longer period of time. "The pain was undefiable. It was like if someone were to stab you with a fiery pitchfork in the back," recalled Benjamin Mejia as he suffered third degree burns by an exploding land mine. He also added "I lost all feeling on my back for about a week and I had to suffer the excruciating pain of my skin peeling off my back." "A line, a short line trudges off in to the morning. Thirty two me n.&quo... ...ed both Paul and Kemmerich's mother emotionally due to the fact that Paul did not find anything sacred to him anymore to swear for and Kemmerich's mother for the lost of her son. "His last word was my name. A summons, to which I did not respond." said Elie as he visited his father's grave. He could not feel anything, not even for his own father. The definiton of war will never change. Its ideal prupose throughly is to cause pain of those who go through it or who are somehow involved. Through my prespective, I believe we need less hostility and use other inititatives and methods of reasoning and resolving problems rather than create brutality and increase death in this world. This book, its descriptions, but most importantly, Erich Maria Remarque, has significantly suceeded in emphasizing an in-dept overlook and understandment of what the outcome of war turns out to be which can also be associated with its supporting literature. We cannot prove anything through war; the only thing we have proven is how low us humans in general have sunk in resolving conflicts. Anybody has the potential power to kill someone through a simple pull of a trigger.

My favourite and least favourite characters from The Canterbury Tales :: English Literature

My favourite and least favourite characters from The Canterbury Tales My favourite character from Chaucer's Canterbury Tales is the Reeve. The Reeve comes across as a 'shady' or 'dark' character who's intentions are not fully recognised even when his prologue is finished. We don't get too much about his background but a lot on his appearance and the way he works. We already know that he is the farm bailiff. His appearance already gave a gripping edge to his personality, "His berd was shave as ny as ever he kan; "His beard was shaved as close as could His heer was by his eris ful round shorn; His hair was cut round his ears His top was dokked lyk a preest biforn. The top of his head was like a priest Ful longe wre his legges and ful lene," He had very long and skinny legs" His appearance gives the impression of an almost 'evil' looking character, with skinny, no calf legs and the phrase.. "His berd was shave as ny as ever he kan" gave the impression that he had a 'rugged' look to his face, a rough look which gives the impression that the others on the pilgramge might have looked up to him not in a role model way but rather a respectful and weary one. But then again he is given a holy like look as the top of his head is cut short like a priest giving the Reeve a holy look, which gives a clash of two worlds, the holy and the dark rugged side of life, but from examples from "The Summoner" and "The Monk", the chuchmen of the time were not see as very respectful men either and some could say the dark world was the world of the holy. This rugged, dark and ominous look is one of the things that makes me admire the Reeve, it is as if he is hiding his own real feelings, opinions on life within himself and that his face, this rough face is a mask hiding those feelings inside of him. It is as if you need to crack him to find more from him and his face gives no answers aiding to that. He also has a very clever and cunning nature which I admire in The Reeve. "Wel koude he kepe a gerner and a binne; Ther was noon auditour koude on him winne." "He could keep a granary and a cornbin well; No auditor could catch him out." This shows that the reeve had a cunning edge, clever at his job and also very stable in his job and with money as no accountant could ever

California Love :: Economics Culture Cultural Essays

California Love Do you have any interest in politics? Could you lay your hands on $3,500? Would you be able to attain 65 signatures from registered voters? If you answered yes to these three questions, then congratulations, you are qualified to enter the race to run the fifth largest economic empire in the world. All the more power to you my friend. If you are not already aware, my home state of California is undergoing civic pandemonium disguised in political rhetoric as a â€Å"recall.† We are witnessing one of the biggest travesties in the modern era and poor Gray Davis is clearly the victim. Given the circumstances when he took office, Davis has done a pretty damn good job with the mess he inherited from former Governor Pete Wilson. Davis is surrounded by malevolent bureaucrats on a day-to-day basis, as is true for most politicians, and when one has to work with these bad guys, bad things tend to happen. Why is this? California is dealing with the fallout from an inefficient federal government that left its western daughter to flounder in the wake of a crisis the feds very likely created. When Wilson pushed for de-regulation of energy distribution (electricity/gas), outside suppliers, primarily Texas ringleaders like Enron, were allowed to run wholesale pricing up unchecked. Pacific Gas and Electric then filed for ban kruptcy, Southern California Edison was similarly affected. Now layer on surplus spending from dot.com tax coffers and the inability of legislators to rein in spending after the collapse of the dot.com industries due to their greed or bury-the-head-in-the-sand mentality. Now you have a reversal of a record surplus to a record deficit of some 35+ billion dollars. Prime fodder for the Republicans. Whenever there is a great deal of power, you will find a great deal of attention, greed and controversy. In the political arena, parties will strive for stability and control to maintain their power. So, is this recall really a street-smart reaction by Republicans, or is there a connection between California's recent foibles and a Republican conspiracy to regain stability and control? My congratulations go out to Mr. Bush for once. Perhaps he actually does know what he's doing. Perhaps he can push his personal agenda and look totally innocent. Knowing how much California would suffer financially, he couldn't have had any connection to the demise of Enron and WorldCom, could he? No ... certainly he didn't plan this crisis to rid California of its apparent cause, Gray Davis, did he?

Arguments for and Against Genetically Modified Food Essay

â€Å"Biotechnology involves any technique that uses living organisms or parts there of to make or modify products, to improve plants or animals or to develop micro organisms for specific uses† (Dr Sriwatanapongse, www. afic. org) In the past century we’ve have been lucky enough to stumble upon one of the basic building blocks of organisms, DNA. In recent years scientists have been able to develop ways in which they can manipulate, alter, and transfer DNA in forms that can help improve our lives. One way in which DNA research has been used to improve our lifestyle, is by engineering the deoxyribonucleic acid into ways which can alter food supplies to make them bigger, taste better, resistant to pests and even make them have a greater concentration of nutrients. Of course this is great news to the human population, in terms of economic and life-saving values for third world countries, yet there are still disadvantages. With all the good news that comes from these altered crops, concerns are still among people. These concerns include; whether or not these alterations will affect humans in a negative way, or how they will impact the environment. Genetically engineering crops might play a significant role in increasing crop yield therefore allowing the world to feed more people while using less land. A recent study on bioengineered crops concluded that these crops are safe and can improve production dramatically. â€Å"To date, total acres of biotech crops harvested exceed more than 1 billion with a proven 10-year history of safe use. Over the next decade, expanded adoption combined with current research on 57 crops in 63 countries will broaden the advantages of genetically modified foods for growers, consumers and the environment. † (www. monsanto. com) Those opposing the genetically altered crops state that â€Å"One major detriment to genetically engineered food is that there has been no adequate testing to ensure that extracting genes from useful functions will yield the same results in different applications and species† (www. govhs. org). Predictions of future are that, consumers are able to get foods that last longer, taste better and are more nutritious than the current foods. There will also an even greater variety of foods all year round. These products will be made possible through genetic engineering, and some of them are already available. For centuries, farmers grew plants to produce special foods with unique characteristics: better taste, higher yield or greater resistance to drought or frosts. History shows, that five thousand years ago in Peru, potatoes were grown selectively. Plants, which produced potatoes with attractive characteristics, such as higher yields, were used to produce future plants. More than two thousand years ago, tree grafting was used by the Greeks to Gain a more fruit in orchards. Now, we have genetically engineered food that has been discovered and now offers a faster and more reliable method of establishing new traits in plants to provide foods that are better tasting, more nutritious or more in amount. Although all of this may seem futuristic, such crops do already exist. Not only have these crops been in laboratories for decades, but they have been in the market for years. Humans have only just begun to realize the benefits of these genetically altered foods. Genetically altered foods allow a wide selection of things to improve upon. Some altered abilities already exists in our fruits and vegetables, these include: pest, disease and herbicide. By using genetic engineering, plants that resist disease, pests or insects can be developed. This means that less chemicals, such as pesticides, are required. In the near future scientists hopefully will be able to â€Å"improve the drought resistance of most crop species and could have major implications for crops grown in dry areas† (www.abc. net. au/news). Weather resistance Plants could and can be developed to better withstand extreme weather conditions such as drought or frosts. Genetically engineering foods make crops easier to maintain and lower the cost in maintenance. One benefit of altered foods which is often overlooked is the Improved processing characteristics of these foods, leading to reduced waste and lower food costs to the consumer. Foods are being developed to contain more vitamins, minerals, protein and less saturated fat. For example, fruits and vegetables with higher levels of antioxidant vitamins â€Å"may reduce cardiovascular disease risk and help reduce the risk of certain cancers† (www. americanheart. org). The world population is expected to double to more than 10 billion people by the year 2050. Food biotechnology can help meet the increasing demand for food. â€Å"By increasing a crop’s ability to withstand environmental factors, growers will be able to farm in parts of the world currently unsuitable for crop production. Along with additional food, this could also provide economies of developing nations with much-needed jobs and greater productivity. Genetically engineered foods seem to have solved all the problems farmers and growers have had for years. Unfortunately all the positive effects of altered foods seem to mask the reality behind these perfect crops. Some of the disadvantages of altered crops include the possibility of mutations. â€Å"Plant breeders have induced mutations in selected plants by treating them with chemicals or radiation; however this is costly and unpredictable† (Microorganisms, biotechnology and Disease). Genetic engineering changes the nature of the food eaten. It can cause unexpected mutations in an organism, which can create new and higher levels of toxins in foods. Genetic engineering can produce unknown allergens in foods. Some foods may be implanted with the ability to produce antibiotics. This may help the plant, but if these plants that are infected with bacteria emerge new strands of bacteria that may become resistant to the most advanced antibiotics, there will be a problem. With herbicide-resistant crops, weeds may evolve to also become herbicide resistant. The spread of diseases across specific species may also become a factor because of a loss of ? bio-diversity’ in crops. When crops are altered for specific abilities, they are then mass produced. They are the only type of species grown in field of thousands. Because of this, the species will only be able to pass on to all generations the same DNA. Once started, they may not be easily controlled or contained. It makes the crops hard to calculate. Unfortunately the biggest problem raised from new modified foods is the fact that the public is unaware of how it works and the results behind the genetically modified food. Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is the genetic code in living organisms. About twenty five years ago, scientists began to understand how DNA worked. From this ways for speeding up breeding processes were understood to a degree. Agricultural scientists today can identify the genes that carry specific traits they want, such as ? disease resistance’ or ? nutrient content’ and transfer those genes to a plant, therefore creating a transgenic organism. Genetic engineering is the process of artificially modifying these ? blueprints’. By cutting and splicing DNA, engineers can transfer genes specific to one type of organism into any other organism. Some organisms have been enhanced through biotechnology such as; tomatoes, that go ? soft’ more slowly and so remain on the vine for longer. This gives them more colour and flavour. Also, virus resistant papyrus and squash, that make the crop more dependable. Genetically modified food seems to have already changed the world today. Many countries are already considering making more of their crops with genetically engineered properties. Scientists have gained a vast knowledge of genetic engineering and are now able to make many possibilities. Genetically engineered food has brought a lot of commercial benefits; increased crops quality, harvesting quantity, pest resistance, herbicide resistance, nutrient supplementation and more. Not only have the crops improved, but more crops are produced in less space. Although the benefits of bioengineering seem fantastic, there are still many mysteries left to understand in such a vast field of understanding. Genetic engineering might cause serious consequences to our future life as well next generations to come. Deeper insight into genetic engineering may be all that is needed for us to gain truly unlimited advantage from such a vast scientific field.

Morfosintaxis

The absence of l. It is and it cannot be confused with the finite I O for all persons in the present except for 3rd peers. Sing. The distinction of the bare infinitive in English main clauses is as follows: the verb immediately after a modal whether the verb is an auxiliary or a lexical verb, will always show absence of l. She might pass the test similarly, the verb after dummy do will also always show absence of l.They do like white coffee Simple(x) sentence : the sentence that consist of Just one clause, which means that there is only one lexical or main verb (V), though V can of course be preceded by Auxiliaries. Simple sentence is thus synonymous with 1 main clause. The Department rejected the proposal Complex sentence: the sentence that consist of 1 main clause, plus 1 or more subordinate clauses. A complex sentence contains therefore several lexical or main verbs (V), one for each clause that actually occurs, and in turn each of these verbs can aka its own Auxiliaries.One of th ese verbs (V) will be the main verb of the overall structure, and the other verbs (V) will be subordinated to the former. They all liked the way he behaved The first verbal form of a main clause (whether it is V or Qua is obligatorily a finite verb. By contrast, the verbal form of a subordinate clause can be finite or non-finite. Four basic types of simple(x) sentences: declarative sentences negative affirmative interrogative sentences exclamation sentences imperative sentences (typically) affirmative.

The Philosophy of Action in Hamlet

‘Words, words, words’: Hamlet’s philosophy of action Central to any drama is action. What distinguishes drama from other literary forms is the very fact that it is acted upon a stage, that voice is given to the words and that movement creates meaning. It is, therefore, puzzling that the most seminal dramatic work in the English language contains, arguably, precious little of what many might describe as dramatic action. Nevertheless it has moved, enthralled and, what is more, entertained generations of theatre goers across the centuries and is still regarded as one of Shakespeare’s most popular play.It has divided critics: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe regards as central to the play Hamlet’s inability to act[1] whereas T. S. Eliot reduces the work to ‘an artistic failure’. [2] If Tom Stoppard is to be believed, even the characters are at odds with this apparent lack of drama as Stoppard’s Rosencrantz asks ‘is it too much to expe ct a little sustained action?! ’[3] If then, we are to acknowledge that action is central to drama, it is important to remember that such action is usually derived from conflict.When regarding Hamlet through this basic philosophy, the play is in every way dramatic. The play is concerned with conflict. We have international conflict, familial conflict and internal conflict and it is these conflicts that drive the play. This is confirmed within the opening line ‘Who’s there? ’(I. i. 1)[4] Immediately we are plunged into the state of paranoia that envelops Elsinore, the question is confrontational and, furthermore, directs us towards the international conflict between Denmark and Norway. The drama of the play, however, is not as simple as this.For instance, we must also consider the dramatic structure of a play and apply this to Hamlet; a structure that goes from equilibrium to conflict and then on to a new equilibrium. It is impossible to relate this to the play; for who would agree that the Elsinore, at the start of Hamlet, is in a state of equilibrium? Indeed, as Stephen Ratcliffe points out, the catalyst for all action in the play does not occur within the play[5]. The murder of Hamlet’s father has already happened when Barnardo delivers that famous first line, a line which itself suggests a response to something that has happened offstage.Ratcliffe goes on to discuss that the line could almost be a response to a ‘knock knock’ joke but more seriously that it: begin[s] the play in response not only to some implicit, unspoken physical action- some motion or noise in the dark, [†¦] but to an implicit action not performed on stage – some motion of the Ghost of Hamlet’s father which Bernardo, who speaks this line, must imagine he has seen and/or heard. [6] Ratcliffe also suggests that the action not performed on stage does not happen at all.Alarmingly, he refutes Claudius’s confession of frat ricide in Act III, arguing unconvincingly that Old Hamlet’s murder had never taken place. [7] In spite of this he does raise an interesting issue that is concerned with the question as to why – when in Western literature dramatic narrative is defined by cause and effect – does Shakespeare place the primary cause off stage and beyond the gaze of his audience? We are left to imagine the dramatic possibilities of opening the play with the alarming and visually striking image of a brother’s murder.If Shakespeare’s decision to leave this exciting and sinister event in the wings confounds us, what, then, are we to make of the climax of the play? If we are to return to the classic dramatic structure of a play, we expect to see rising action leading to a climax that, in turn, leads on to the falling action culminated by the denouement. Hamlet gives us no such structure. There is no climax in the classic sense or if there is it appears in the final scene, n ot where one would expect. There is, nevertheless, one possibility that the climax may appear earlier in the play and that would be, in the traditional sense, in Act III.The murder of Polonius in Act III, scene iv might be regarded as the turning point of the play in the same way that Mercutio’s death in Romeo and Juliet is seen as such. It is at this point that we see Hamlet at a height of passion, ‘How now? A rat! Dead for a ducat, dead’ (III. iv. 23). The use of the word ‘rat’ shows Hamlet’s contempt for his supposed victim, the repetition of ‘dead’ embellishes his determination to kill, and the ducat is the small price Hamlet values the life he has just taken. The consequences of this action feed into every other event that is to happen: Claudius’s resolve to kill Hamlet, Ophelia’s eath and Laertes’s act of revenge which brings about the play’s final dynastic collapse. Once again, though, Shakespear e ‘removes’ the audience from the action, having the murder take place ‘offstage’. Polonius is murdered behind the arras and this takes us away from the immediacy of the action. There is no huge build up with a climactic duel as there is in Romeo and Juliet; we are not even given the drama of remorse that is evident in Macbeth. For these reasons, it is impossible to consider the death of Polonius to be the dramatic climax of the play, merely another cause leading on to another effect.This shortage of ‘action’, though, is illusory. A. C. Bradley comments on this when he suggests a hypothetical reaction to the play: What a sensational story! Why, here are some eight violent deaths, not to speak of adultery, a ghost, a mad woman, and a fight in a grave! [8] Hamlet does have a dramatic conclusion, of that no one is in doubt, but this has come after a series of procrastinations from the titular hero. All other action is kept firmly offstage. One mig ht hear Bradley go on to say ‘Treason, pirates, war, the storming of a castle and a regime change! The latter two were included in Branagh’s film version strongly alluding to the storming of the Iranian embassy in 1981 an event that was intensely exciting and dramatic for any that can remember it. For Shakespeare, however, such extravagant action appears to be superfluous to his play and is, therefore, not of importance. As a consequence, it would appear redundant to continue analysing what is not in the play, as Ratcliffe has done at length[9], and to focus on what Shakespeare does give us. What Shakespeare does give us is words, ‘words, words, words’(II. i. 192) and it is through these words that he provides the action. It is here where I must agree with Ratcliffe when he suggests that, in Hamlet, it is the language that is of importance and not the action. [10] It is necessary, then, to look at the power of language within the play and how Shakespeare fa cilitates it in order to sustain a dramatic structure. Firstly, as mentioned above, the catalyst for all the action in the play happens off stage but is delivered to the audience, and Hamlet, through the words of the ghost. We know that these ords are to hold significance as we have shared Horatio’s anxiety for the ghost to ‘stay and speak’ (I. i. 142). The appearance of the ghost is not enough. It is, therefore, the words that are spoken to Hamlet in conjunction with the apparition that help to creates the first piece of dramatic action in the play: Now, Hamlet, hear. ’Tis given out that, sleeping in my orchard, A serpent stung me – so the whole ear of Denmark Is by a forged process of my death Rankly abus’d – but know, thou noble youth, The serpent that did sting thy father’s life Now wears his crown. [†¦]Ay, that incestuous, that adulterate beast, With witchcraft of his wit, with traitorous gifts- O wicked wit, and gifts that have the power So to seduce! – won to his shameful lust The will of my most seeming-virtuous queen. (I. i. 34-46) What is striking about this scene is how it is dominated by the ghost and how little Hamlet actually says. If it were one of the lesser characters, it could be assumed that they were struck dumb and in awe of the presence of a spectre but, even this early in the play, we know enough about Hamlet to realise that this would not be the case for him.He mentions a few lines earlier that he is not afraid, saying ‘I do not set my life at a pin’s fee’ (I. iv. 65), so why now is he so quiet? Surely Shakespeare feels that Hamlet, like the audience, should be still with trepidation at the drama that is unfolding before them. In this short passage of the ghost’s speech we have incest, adultery, witchcraft, treachery, not to mention murder. Here we see Shakespeare using the power of words to create the action upon the stage, words that, like Ra tcliffe points out, enter through our ears as did Claudius’s poison. 11] Later on in the play we will see words used as poison, again by Claudius, when, in true Machiavellian style, he corrupts the mind of the vengeful Laertes. When discussing the power of words we must look at the play-within-a-play sequence of Act III, an aspect of the play which has been discussed at length by the critics but also one that brings into question another facet of action, that of acting. Hamlet is an extremely self-conscious play, bringing comedy into a highly dramatic moment in Act I, scene v when Hamlet asks the ghost ‘Canst work i’th’ earth so fast? (l. 170): this is an obvious comment on the crudeness of Elizabethan stagecraft. Earlier in the same scene Shakespeare has commented on the possibility of a bored audience when Hamlet comments on ‘this distracted globe’ (l. 97)[12] and, when Polonius states that when he played Caesar ‘Brutus killed me. â₠¬â„¢ (III. ii. 103) Jenkins points out that the actors playing Hamlet and Polonius were likely to have played Brutus and Caesar respectively in an earlier play and therefore are about to ‘re-enact’ the murder. 13] If we look at Hamlet’s instructions to the players: Speak the speech, I pray you, as I pronounced it to you, trippingly on the tongue; but if you mouth it as many of your players do, I had as lief the town-cryer spoke my lines. Nor do not saw the air too much with your hand, thus but use all gently; for in the very torrent, tempest, and, as I may say, whirlwind of your passion, you must acquire and beget a temperance that may give it smoothness.O, it offends me to the soul to hear a robustious periwig-pated fellow tear a passion to tatters, to very rags, to split the ears of the groundlings, who for the most part are capable of nothing but inexplicable dumb-shows and noise. I would have such a fellow whipped for o’erdoing Termagant. It out-Herods Herod. Pray you avoid it. (III. ii. 1-14) Again, we have a very self-conscious speech where there seems to be an in-joke upon the acting style of the actor who plays Polonius, if not intended by Shakespeare it could certainly be performed as such.There is also the awareness of audience as well in the comments about the groundlings which is rather a brave joke which, had they been enjoying the play, would have gone down in good humour. It might also be considered that Shakespeare followed up the joke by including the dumb-show that followed! If we look closely at the instructions, however, we notice the emphasis on the words rather than the action. The opening imperative is ‘Speak the speech’ and interestingly ‘as I pronounced it’ not as I acted or showed it which seems strange to say when instructing actors.It is true that in the restricted views of an Elizabethan playhouse an audience would go to hear a play but this would not be the case in a private cou rtly performance. Also we must remember that Hamlet is only concerned with one member of the audience; someone who, one might assume, would have the best view of the play. Hamlet’s instructions are followed by references to the tongue and mouth where the words must inevitably come from and then the simile of the town cryer again placing stress on verbal communication.Hamlet requests a limit to the ‘action’, the body movement – the acting- so that it is the language that is of paramount importance. In such a self-aware moment of the nature of acting and drama in the play are we not to assume that this is coming from Shakespeare as much as Hamlet? The players’ sequence has significance because here we have on stage the mechanics of Hamlet. There is the murder of Gonzago/Hamlet acted out on stage, the betrayal of Lucianus/Claudius and the union between the Lucianus/Claudius and Queen/Gertrude.Here Shakespeare gives us what we were denied in the first a ct the event which sets the whole play in motion. Not only that but by having Lucianus as the nephew to Gonzago we are also witnessing the events that are about to happen on stage or, at least, those that we expect to happen. Interestingly enough, though, is that Shakespeare has included a dumb-show as if to appease the groundlings despite his earlier comments but it is not through watching this that Claudius reacts but rather the words of the players that follows.At the line ‘On wholesome life usurps immediately’ (III. ii. 254) Claudius can no longer remain seated for he cannot deny the words, something that has been discussed and embellished by Ratcliffe. [14] The question as to why Claudius does not react to the dumb-show can be resolved in performance by choosing to have Claudius showing signs of discomfort throughout until he can finally stand it no more as in Olivier’s film version. There is nothing in the text, however, that suggests that this is how it sh ould be performed. The king questions Hamlet, Is there no offence in’t? ’ (III. ii. 227) and in this dialogue there is nothing to suggest that he is suffering from any anxiety regardless of how this line has divided critics. [15] So once again we see that it is words that have more power, more effect and more significance than mere actions. In looking at the philosophy of action in the play one must recognise that the play is essentially a revenge play and that all action must stem from the concept of revenge. Michael Mangan defines the revenge play as a play which: harts the protagonist’s attempts to [revenge]: this may involve a period of doubt, in which the protagonist decides whether or not to go ahead with the revenge, and it may also involve some complex plotting (in both senses of the word) as the protagonist decides to take revenge in an apt or fitting way. The revenger, by deciding to take revenge, places himself outside the normal order of things, and often becomes more and more isolated as the play progresses – an isolation which at its most extreme becomes madness. [16] It would appear, from this definition, that Hamlet is, indeed, a revenge play but who is it that seeks revenge?I would argue that it is not Hamlet for, as Catherine Belsey notes, ‘[r]evenge is not justice’[17] and we are reminded throughout the play that Hamlet seeks justice. For instance, Hamlet does not act rashly for he states: Give me that man That is not passion’s slave, and I will wear him In my heart’s core, ay, in my heart of heart (III. ii. 71-73) This might suggest that Hamlet holds reason close to his heart. Here we see that contrary to popular belief Hamlet is not a man that is ruled by passion but that is not to say that he is not passionate.If Hamlet were ruled by passion he would not have devised such an elaborate ploy to confirm the guilt of the king but would have acted straight away. Gone would be the procrasti nations and Hamlet could have roused up the populace as easily as Laertes does in Act IV, as Bradley points out[18], and Claudius would have been dead by Act II. Many critics that have argued this case seem to suggest that Shakespeare’s reason for prolonging the action was to fill out the five act structure of the play. [19] We are given three possible revenge heroes in the play: Hamlet we can discount, Fortinbras and Laertes.Shakespeare has provided these two characters to put Hamlet’s inability to act into stark contrast. Through Fortinbras we see the noble prince revenging the death of his father through careful planning and sharp resolve and in Laertes we see a rash young man whose desperate bid for revenge only quickens his own demise. It is important to note that even with the careful planning Fortinbras still shares Hamlet’s prolonging of the act when we consider that Denmark’s defeat of Norway was at the time of Hamlet’s birth some thirty y ears previous.Hamlet, however, does not seek revenge. He could have easily been able to exact it when he says ‘Now might I do it pat’ (III. iii. 73). The semantics of the word ‘might’ suggest that he has no intention of committing the murder. ‘Will’ or ‘must’ would imply a more decisive move yet Shakespeare gives us a Hamlet who is questioning his actions. His decision to spare Claudius whilst at prayer further indicates that it is justice and not revenge that Hamlet desires.Claudius points out to Laertes that ‘No place indeed should murder sancturise’ but Hamlet delays his action because he wants justice – a death for a death- like for like. Significantly, Hamlet is a revenger who is unable to act as Calhoun states he is unable to ‘play the role’,[20] or to use Ted Hughes’s metaphor: Like the driver of a bus containing all the characters of the drama, he hurtles towards destruction, in slow motion, with his foot jammed down hard on the brakes. [21] Having established the substance and value of words in Hamlet it is necessary to return to the question of dramatic climax in the play.It has always been recognised that it is a dramatic impossibility to act Hamlet on the stage in its entirety and it is not unknown for students of the text to skip through sections when reading but one thing always remains and that is the soliloquies. Within the play we have the most beautiful speeches composed in the English language and it is one of these that, I believe, forms the climax of the play. The climax of language that we are given in the play does follow the classic dramatic structure coming in Act III and at the risk of sounding cliched I would suggest that it is the ‘To be or not to be’ speech.It is in this soliloquy that we have the nub of the play rests and that is Hamlet’s internal conflict on how he should act. It has long been considered to be the musin gs of a troubled mind contemplating suicide and whilst no one will argue that Hamlet’s is not a troubled mind is he really deliberating the end of his own life? I would argue no. Shakespeare has already given us such ruminations earlier in the play with ‘o that this too too sullied flesh would melt’ (I. ii. 129) and I find it difficult to accept that a dramatist of Shakespeare’s calibre would not have developed his main character by the third act.In fact, I would argue that after confronting the ghost and hearing the charge against Claudius, Hamlet has been given new meaning to his life and that all thoughts of suicide have faded. ‘To be or not to be’ should read as ‘To do or not to do’ or ‘To act or not to act’ for it is in this speech that we witness Hamlet’s thoughts on whether to proceed with the killing of Claudius. Not once in the speech is there an ‘I’, nowhere does Hamlet refer to himself. His examples of the ‘whips and scorns of time’ (III. i. 70) save one do not seem to be justifications for taking one’s own life:Th’oppressor’s wrong, the proud man’s contumely, The pangs of dispriz’d love, the laws delay, The insolence of office, and the spurns That patient merit of th’unworthy takes (III. i. 71-74) Apart from unrequited love, for which many have taken their life, these seem to be the wrongs that are urging Hamlet to seek justice against Claudius. I might take this further and suggest a reading of the soliloquy where Hamlet knows that Claudius is eavesdropping, something that seemed to me implicit in Brannagh’s film. Through this reading we can see that Hamlet is acting a role for us as an audience but specifically for Claudius and Polonius.He is diverting attention from his true thoughts of murder whilst also confirming his ‘antic disposition’ (I. v. 180). In addition to this it explains why he apparently forgets the ghost of his father as he claims ‘No traveller returns’ (III. i. 80) as it would not be practical to reveal the truth at this stage. Also, the speech concludes that it is conscience that prevents him and the fear of the unknown when prior to this he has stated that it was because that God has ‘fix’d / His canon ’gainst self-slaughter’ (I. ii. 131-132).Arguably, this could be a variation of the same rationale yet there is a distinct change in tone which suggests a difference in attitude. Therefore, it is within this soliloquy where Hamlet reaches his decision which he reveals to Ophelia (and Claudius) when he says that ‘all but one – shall live’ (III. i. 150). One might argue that the opening line of this speech, ‘To be or not to be’ (III. i. 56), uncontrovertibly suggests that Hamlet is, indeed, reflecting on suicide but, once again, this is another self-conscious reflection upon the nature of drama.For Hamlet, the character in the play Hamlet, must act in order to ‘be’ and as a revenge hero, that act is the murder of Claudius. While Claudius is alive, Hamlet’s mind and soul are troubled and only through the act of revenge with ‘a bare bodkin’ can he bring about his ‘quietus’ (III. i. 75-6). Words, therefore, are the focus of this play. It is Shakespeare’s longest and in it we are given a character who ‘â€Å"comes alive† only in language’[22], it is through words that the dramatic action, except the final scene, takes place upon the stage.In terms of drama, the play is at odds with its form in that the driving action of the plot precedes the start of the play. We are given a revenge hero who is unable to live up to that title and only seems to spring into what one might call action when he has been hit by Laertes poisoned rapier and he knows that he is about to die, something which he poin ts out twice in the scene. Indeed, in performance, the final scene can be played as equally low-key as it can be played dramatic. In a self-conscious play such as this it seems clear that Shakespeare understands the power of words.To a dramatist, all action that can be created on a stage is a representation – one that is created through words. Crucially it is through language that the world of Elsinore is created and all those that exist within it exist through the words that they speak. It is, therefore fitting that Hamlet’s dying words are ‘the rest is silence’ (V. ii. 363) for he knows that without language he is nothing. Through Hamlet Shakespeare gives us a world where action is secondary to language because, in drama, one creates the other. 3967 words (exc. footnotes) 4338 words (inc. footnotes) Bibliography Primary SourcesShakespeare, William, Hamlet, ed. Harold Jenkins, The Arden Shakespeare, 3rd series (London and New York: Routledge, 1994) Stoppa rd, Tom, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead (London: Faber & Faber, 1967) von Goethe, Johann Wolfgang, Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship, ed. and trans. Eric A. Blackall (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1995) Secondary Sources Belsey, Catherine, ‘Revenge in Hamlet’, in Hamlet: Contemporary Critical Essays, ed. Martin Coyle (London: Macmillan, 1992), pp. 154-159. Bloom, Harold, Hamlet: Poem Unlimited, (Edinburgh: Canongate, 2003) Bradley, A. C. , Shakespearean Tragedy, 3rd edn. London: Macmillan, 1992), pp. 84-166. Calhoun, Jean S. , ‘Hamlet and the Circumference of Action’, Renaissance News, Vol. 15, No. 4. (Winter, 1962), 281-298. Dickson, Andrew, The Rough Guide to Shakespeare, (London: Rough Guides, 2005) Eliot, T. S. , ‘Hamlet’ in Selected Essays (London: Faber & Faber, 1951), p. 141-146. Fernie, Ewan, ‘Terrible Action: Recent Criticism and Questions of Agency’, Shakespeare, Vol. 2, No. 1 (June, 2006), 95-11 8. Hughes, Ted, Shakespeare and the Goddess of Complete Being (London: Faber & Faber, 1992), pp. 233-239. Jump, John D. , (ed. ) Hamlet: A Selection of Critical Essays (London: Macmillan, 1968), pp. 2-32. Kettle, Arnold, ‘From Hamlet to Lear’, in Shakespeare in a Changing World, ed. Arnold Kettle (London: Lawrence & Wishart, 1964), pp. 146-159. Mangan, Michael, A Preface to Shakespeare’s Tragedies (London and New York: Longman, 1991) Ratcliffe, Stephen ‘What Doesn’t Happen in Hamlet: The Ghost’s Speech’, Modern Language Studies, Vol. 28, No. 3/4. (Autumn, 1998), 125-150. ——————–, ‘‘Who’s There? ’: Elsinore and Everywhere’, Modern Language Studies, Vol. 29, No. 2. (Autumn, 1999), 153-173. ———————– [1] Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship, ed. and trans.Eric A. Blackall (P rinceton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1995), p. 146. [2] T. S. Eliot, ‘Hamlet’ in Selected Essays (London: Faber & Faber, 1951), p. 143. [3] Tom Stoppard, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead (London: Faber & Faber, 1967), p. 86. [4] William Shakespeare, Hamlet, ed. Harold Jenkins, The Arden Shakespeare, 3rd series (London and New York: Routledge, 1994), subsequent references are to this edition. [5] Stephan Ratcliffe, ‘What Doesn’t Happen in Hamlet: The Ghost’s Speech’, Modern Language Studies, Vol. 28, No. 3/4. (Autumn, 1998), pp. 125-150. [6] ——————–, ‘‘Who’s There? : Elsinore and Everywhere’, Modern Language Studies, Vol. 29, No. 2. (Autumn, 1999), p. 153. [7] Ratcliffe, ‘What Doesn’t Happen in Hamlet: The Ghost’s Speech’, pp. 135-139. [8] A. C. Bradley, Shakespearean Tragedy, 3rd edn. (London: Macmillan, 1992), Lecture III, p. 93. [9 ] Ratcliffe, ‘What Doesn’t Happen in Hamlet: The Ghost’s Speech’ pp. 125-150 [10] Ibid. , p. 129. [11] Ibid. p. 131 [12] Having opened my Christmas presents and receiving Bloom’s Poem Unlimited after I had written this essay, I feel obliged to cite him for what I assumed to be an acute and original observation.If only Father Christmas hadn’t been so efficient, I could have at least pleaded ignorance! Harold Bloom, Hamlet: Poem Unlimited (Edinburgh: Canongate, 2003), p. 10 [13] Jenkins (ed. ), Hamlet, p. 294 [14] Ratcliffe, ‘What Doesn’t Happen in Hamlet: The Ghost’s Speech’, pp. 131-132. [15] Jenkins explains how the line has been used to show Claudius’s calm attitude to the play and to prove his unease in Jenkins (ed. ), Hamlet, p. 301. [16] Michael Mangan, A Preface to Shakespeare’s Tragedies (London and New York: Longman, 1991), p. 67. [17] Catherine Belsey, ‘Revenge in Hamlet’, in Haml et: Contemporary Critical Essays, ed.Martin Coyle (London: Macmillan, 1992), p. 154. [18] Bradley, Shakespearean Tragedy, p. 98. [19] Notably the anonymous critic in ‘Extracts from Earlier Critics, 1710-1945’ in Hamlet: A Selection of Critical Essays, ed. John D. Jump (London: Macmillan, 1968), p. 22. [20] Jean S. Calhoun, ‘Hamlet and the Circumference of Action’, Renaissance News, Vol. 15, No. 4. (Winter, 1962), p. 288. [21] Ted Hughes, Shakespeare and the Goddess of Complete Being (London: Faber & Faber, 1992), p. 236. [22] Ewan Fernie, ‘Terrible Action: Recent Criticism and Questions of Agency’, Shakespeare, Vol. 2, No. 1 (June, 2006), p. 96.

Consensus Decision Making Essay Essay

A decision is a determination of a question or doubt by making a judgment. Decisions are a part of everyday life for normal human beings and can be as insignificant as to where to eat lunch, or as important as whether to pop the marriage question to a longtime girlfriend. Decisions can be made in a variety of ways, but most of the time they are either made individually or in a group setting. Both individual decision making and group decision making have their pros and cons, and can even determine the type of individual a person is. Decision making is not always an easy process, but is a part of life. There are major differences between group decision making and individual decision making. When individuals are in a group, decision making could not only involve one person’s opinion, but everyone’s opinion which could become vital to the final outcome. This could sometimes make it easier for a final decision to be reached, or maybe make it even harder to reach a final decision. Arguments and disagreements can occur in group decision making based on other people’s opinions. Sometimes people try to persuade other individuals to change their decision to the one they want, by giving them their own opinions and making them seem like facts. Group decision making can also be positive because there is more brain power involved which can ultimately lead to a quick and more efficient type of decision making. The other type of decision making is individual decision making. This type of decision is basically based solely on one opinion and one opinion only, which ultimately gets the individual what they want. The individual decision making also comes from one point of view and only from the knowledge from the individual. This could lead to a misunderstanding on how to decide because the individual was presented the information to process and had a hard time understanding on which way to decide. The individual’s knowledge on the topic they are deciding on may be little to none, and could lead to a poor decision. Either way, individual decision making and group decision making both have their major differences, positives, and negatives. All of the activities in class and the film â€Å"12 Angry Men,† give us individuals some perspective into decision making and also show us the explicit pros and cons. One very interesting and fun assignment we had to  do was the NASA assignment were as individuals we were given 15 choices of important items and had to rank them based on what we thought was important. Then we were put into groups and had to decide which ones were most important barring our opinions. Many people had conflicting views on what was important and what was not, and some had not realized how important an item was until they were in a group. It was extremely interesting to see how all of the group members came to decisions on this although conflict had occurred. Another group activity that we did in class was the time capsule activity. This was another strongly opinion based activity but because there were other people in the group there were many items being tossed around. There wasn’t a set list of items to choose from like the NASA activity, so there were unlimited amount of choices and some choices were surprising. Some important items were many of the times overlooked by the people in the group because their opinion came into play, which was just like the NASA activity. There were many disagreements while working in a group setting because some people may have different priorities. The movie â€Å"12 Angry Men† showed us more positives and negatives of individual and group decision making. In the beginning of the movie all but one juror votes individually decide that the man was guilty without any deliberation of the evidence. After discussing each piece of evidence the jury slows takes a turn towards not guilty. Although some were stubborn, the fact that all of the jurors talked out their opinions and had a reasonable doubt had some of the change their decision to not guilty. After much deliberation and conflict, the jury was unanimously deciding that the accused was not guilty after all. This was after almost all of the jurors had decided guilty, which meant that the group decision making was much more successful than the individual decision making. The right decision was made in the end because of the talking and opinions that were thrown around which ultimately had the jurors changing their initial decisions. This movie again showed us the positives and negatives when it comes to decision making. Many believe that group decision making is a much more efficient way of deciding outcomes which is why it is so often used in the United States Government. Examples like the House of Representatives and Congress show how many people deliberate about new decisions. Many new laws are discussed  by these groups of people and then eventually passed to the president. This just exemplifies how people opinions and votes do matter to the government. Of course the judicial branch is the branch the uses group decision making a lot. Jury’s make decisions on crimes by deliberating and talking about evidence and whether there is a reasonable doubt. They reach a verdict together and all have to agree on the same thing. The executive branch also uses group decision making. The president just doesn’t make decisions based on his opinions, he usually consults many people about new changes that he wants to make. The president is only one brain, and if he gets more opinions from other brains he can ultimately decide on whether or not this is going to benefit society as a whole. Individual decision making and group decision making have major differences. Both of them have their positives and negatives which are a part of everyday life, and are prevalent in the government.