Sarbanes-Oxley Act Essay Example for Free

Sarbanes-Oxley Act Essay From the e-Activity, recommend how the SOX framework can ensure reliable and complete financial information and how accounting professionals have benefitted from its use. Provide support for your response. Evaluate how the SOX has reinforced investors’ and creditors’ confidence in companies and how these individuals can take steps to verify the accuracy of the financial statements of potential investments or loans. Provide support for your rationale. Answer: The Sarbanes-Oxley Act was signed into law on July 30, 2002. Passed in response to the corporate and accounting scandals of Enron, Tyco, and others of 2001 and 2002, the laws purpose is to rebuild public trust in Americas corporate sector. The law requires that publicly traded companies adhere to significant new governance standards that broaden board members roles in overseeing financial transactions and auditing procedures. While nearly all of the provisions of the Act apply only to publicly traded Corporations, the passage of the bill served as a wake-up call to the entire nonprofit community. Indeed, several state legislatures have already passed or are considering legislation containing elements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act to be applied to nonprofit organizations. In many instances, nonprofit organizations have adopted policies and altered governance practices in response to the Act. Nonprofit leaders should look carefully at the provisions of Sarbanes-Oxley, as well as their states laws, and determine whether their organizations ought to voluntarily adopt governance best practices, even if not mandated by law. This report will review those provisions and assess their relevance to nonprofit organizations. Finally, it is important to note that two provisions of Sarbanes-Oxley apply to all entities, including nonprofit organizations. This report will also review those features of the Act that require immediate nonprofit compliance.

The Principle Of Triple Appeal Media Essay

The Principle Of Triple Appeal Media Essay In the yesteryears, the area of advertising has rarely been studied within the psychological context of psychodynamics. The principle of Triple Appeal has never been researched as a complete factor influencing the effectiveness of advertisement. The Triple Appeal Principle evoked from the Freudian Theory or Psychoanalytic Theory which states that the behavior of Homo sapiens is influenced by their Psyche (ID, Ego and Superego) which is present in the preconscious and unconscious state of mind. The human psyche is also known as the Triple Appeal. The Psychoanalytic Theory states that the preconscious and unconscious needs or drives are at the heart of human motivation and personality. Triple appeal appeals to the Id, but also include a disguised appeal to the superego, which comes out in a condition the ego can resolve. Advertising effectiveness relates to how well a brands advertising achieves the intended. Companies use many different statistics to measure their advertising effectiveness. These measurements can be used for all types of advertising, including television, radio, print, direct mail, Internet and outdoor advertising. An advertisement of a brand is considered effective when the consumers are influenced to buy the product after getting exposed to the advertisement. A companys advertising effectiveness usually increases over time with many messages or exposures. 1.2. Problem statement: This research studies the impact of triple appeal (Id, Ego, and Superego) on advertising effectiveness. The research will focus on advertisements which have triple appeal content in them and relate their effect on consumer behavior. 1.3. Hypotheses: There is a relationship between triple appeal and advertising effectiveness. 1.4. Outline of the study: The paper is organized in five sections. The first section is the introduction of the research. It provides the overview of the study and the hypotheses which are to be tested for the research. The second section presents the literature review. The third section tells about the research methods used in the study. The fourth section provides the results and outcomes of the research. And finally, the fifth section provides discussions, implications and conclusion of the research. The purpose of the research was to analyze whether Freuds psychoanalytic theory (Triple Appeal) applied in advertisements, leave an impact on consumers or not. 1.5. Definitions: The independent variable studied in this research is Triple Appeal. Triple Appeal consists of three interacting forces: Id, Ego and Superego. These forces are explicated below. 1.5.1. Triple Appeal (Freudian Theory) Triple Appeal is a theory of motivation and personality that postulates that unconscious needs and drives (particularly sexual and other biological drives) are the basis of human motivation and personality. Sigmund Freuds psychoanalytic theory of personality is the cornerstone of modern psychology. This theory was built on the ground that unconscious needs, especially sexual and other biological drives, are at the core of human motivation and personality. Freud constructed this theory on the basis of patients recollections of early childhood experiences, analysis of their dreams, and the specific nature of their mental and physical adjustment problems. 1.5.2. Triple Appeal Advertisements: Triple Appeal advertisements contain contents which stimulate the drives of sex, hunger and thirst which is Id. Such advertisements also contain superego which is disguised. The conflict of Id and Superego is shown to be balanced by the Ego. Usually a sensual and sexy model is used in the advertisement to trigger the Id appeal. Tempting food shots and eating demeanors are portrayed to stimulate the three appeals. 1.5.3. Id, Ego Superego: Based on his analysis, Freud proposed that the human personality consists of three interacting systems: the id, the superego and the ego. The id was conceptualized as a warehouse of primitive and impulsive drives basic physiological needs such as thirst, hunger and sex for which the individual seeks immediate satisfaction without concern for the specific means of satisfaction. In contrast to the id, the superego is conceptualized as the individuals internal expression of societys moral and ethical codes of conduct. The superegos role is to see that the individual satisfies needs in a socially acceptable fashion. Thus, the superego is a kind of brake that restrains or inhibits the impulsive forces of the Id. Finally, the ego is the individuals conscious control. It functions as an internal monitor that attempts to balance the impulsive demands of the Id and the sociocultural constraints of the superego. 1.5.4 ID It is the initial state of mind in a humans personality. The other states are developed later. The unconscious mind (ID) contains two biological instincts: Eros and Thanatos. Eros means life instinct, sex drive and libido (primitive urges for sex) and Thanatos is the aggressive drive and death instinct (Ehrenzwei, 1965; Mcleod, 2009).Our unconscious mind has all the repressed information and desires which are either disturbing or unethical. This information is so significant and powerful that it is kept suppressed in the unconscious mind. This information exerts a significant influence. According to Freud, the impulses of the subconscious and unconscious reveal themselves in several ways (such as in dreams). ID has been a source of considerable frustration because it has been tested alone by researchers, and it defied objective description as it is extremely difficult to objectively test or measure the influence of unconscious mind (Mcleod, 2009). The ID seeks immediate gratification, which happens when we experience pleasure. ID is also called the Pleasure Principle which demands instant satisfaction, nevertheless of the consequences. (Grey, 1980; Mcleod, 2008).In 1993, Chaudhri researched to see whether or not pleasure principle is the primary source of motivation in choosing product and brand. Two dimensions (Hedonic and Analytic) of products were compared to gauge the impact of pleasure principle. 1.5.5. Ego According to Freud, ID is the horse and Ego is its rider. Ego controls the unrealistic demands of ID and acts in accordance with the appropriateness of the external world (Mcleod, 2008). Ego operates on the Reality Principle. Ego and Superego are parts of the Conscious, Preconscious, and unconscious states of the mind. Ego operates rationally and devises realistic stratagems to obtain pleasure. ID shows Ego the right direction to seek satisfaction which is not harmful to itself or the ID (Mcleod, 2008; Rook, 1987). Rook (1987) stated that if high impulsions of ID are not repressed, then it leads to severe psychosocial problems. Anticipated pleasurable experiences are difficult to resist, because they are brought about by the impulses of ID. The Ego pursues long-term and goal-oriented gratification, which encourages ID to control its impulses. 1.5.6. Superego Superego is the conscience which is the part of the unconscious mind. Superego is a force that defends people from uncontrolled behaviour by giving them an internalization of all environmental inhibitions, particularly those of the parents. It fills a person with guilt when they deviate from the moral standards and values of the society. Its a kind of parent, formed of response developments to unconscious sexual wishes; obeying it results in the secondary egotism of pride, a belief of being loved by a parent figure, and violating it creates guilt. 1.5.7. Advertising Effectiveness CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW ID In 1992, Moore stated that subliminal stimulation triggers the unconscious mind and activates the instincts of ID. Penn (2008) researched in neuroscience and stated that unconscious and conscious thoughts are influenced by our emotions and physical responses. He also argued that we cannot measure engagement in brands and ads unless we get to know the unconscious response because it occurs below the conscious level. Many techniques and procedures have been delved to find out the rationale behind the factors that influence the operations of ID (Penn, 2008). TamaÃ…Å ¸ and DumitraÃ…Å ¸cu (2009) explored the Eros aspect in advertisements, which uses sexual arousal in order to access the unconscious mind of humans to convey their messages. This sexual influence changes the attitude of a person. The information buried in the ID surfaces transfers to the conscious mind, which acts upon the decision taken by the ID. During thirst, the ID instantly decides the drink the person should take, depending on the messages imbued earlier from the advertisements. No logic is used, as the ID is incapable of this. All this helps to shape up the attitudes of consumers as well as their thoughts and actions (TamaÃ…Å ¸ DumitraÃ…Å ¸cu, 2009). According to Freud, ID is the horse and Ego is its rider. Ego controls the unrealistic demands of ID and acts in accordance with the appropriateness of the external world (Mcleod, 2008). Ego operates on the Reality Principle. Ego and Superego are parts of the Conscious, Preconscious, and unconscious states of the mind. Ego operates rationally and devises realistic stratagems to obtain pleasure. ID shows Ego the right direction to seek satisfaction which is not harmful to itself or the ID (Mcleod, 2008; Rook, 1987). Rook (1987) stated that if high impulsions of ID are not repressed, then it leads to severe psychosocial problems. Anticipated pleasurable experiences are difficult to resist, because they are brought about by the impulses of ID. The Ego pursues long-term and goal-oriented gratification, which encourages ID to control its impulses. Freud stated that ego, super-ego, and id contribute to the perception of vivid imagery. This activity relates to a weakened ego. He stated that, if a person has a weak ego, he/she is likely to represses a particular behavior which in turn results in vivid imagery (Bergan, 1965). By contrast, the experiential view emphasizes the importance of primary process thinking in accord with the pleasure principle. Primary process thinking involves a task definition oriented toward hedonic response and is primary in the sense that it hearkens back to the way a baby pursues immediate pleasure or gratification. This type of consumption seeks fun, amusement, fantasy, arousal, sensory stimulation, and enjoyment. Indeed, the evidence suggests that consumers typically spend the majority of their lives eating, sleeping, chatting with friends, making love and watching television. Surely, any meaningful attempt to model such relatively pleasure-oriented consumption must pay attention to its hedonic components. Few consumer researchers have followed this lead, although the study of product usage and related activities is clearly a requisite cornerstone to the development of the experiential model. The importance of such study is reinforced by the emphasis on entertainment arts, and leisure-related offerings, which often depend more on the allocation of time than money. Given the operation of the pleasure principle in multisensory gratification, exciting fantasies, and cathected emotions, ones purchase decision is obviously only a small component in the constellation of events involved in the overall consumption experience. Holbrook Hirschman, 1982 Chaudhuri (1993) made a case for ID the pleasure principle as the prime source of inspiration in the choice of product and brand. The study attempted to reproduce the findings of the FCB grid by categorizing seventy six products using diverse dimensions hedonic and analytic value, which were operationalized as the degree of pleasure and the amount of apparent differences between brands. In the speculation of psycho-analysis there is no hesitation in assuming that the course taken by mental is invariably set in motion by an unpleasurable stress, and that it takes a direction coincides with a lowering of that tension that is, with a prevention of unpleasure or a creation of pleasure (Chaudhuri, 1993). Moore (1992) stated that the Psychodynamic theorists use the term unconscious as a noun with a capital U, to refer to, for lack of a better term, the id-a cauldron full of seething excitations, as Freud expressed it. Because semantic activation without conscious awareness can be demonstrated, some observers have jumped to the conclusion that subliminal stimulation provides relatively direct access to the ID. This paper proposes that elements of the tobacco industry, having long recognised the power of sexuality in advertising, have now tapped into the lure of Freuds counterpoint to Eros the death instinct, or Thanatos. Whether this happens consciously or unconsciously is of little consequence since the culture from which such advertising derives may be impaired in its capacity to be life-affirming and thus finds violation to be a source of entertainment. The issue therefore opens into questions of wider cultural psychopathology ranging from tobacco addiction to consumer addiction and the world ecological crisis. Psychological and spiritual mechanisms by which violative advertising might trigger deep necrophilic and sexually abusive motivations are discussed, as are the implications for therapeutic work at both individual and cultural levels, in political leadership and for health education. These include the need to sensitise people to the significance of violative imagery in advertisin g and its role in psychospiritual exploitation. (McIntosh, 1996) EGO Venger (2008) compared cigarette advertising across several cultures by using the technique of text analysis. His study examined the message stratagems and the ideological viewpoints in cigarette advertising in American and Ukrainian magazines within the framework of their different authoritarian environments. Venger (2008) wanted to gauge whether or not the two nations differed in their use of creativity in terms of ID, Ego and Superego. He also gauged their level of obedience to regulations. His objective was to show how cigarette advertisements attempt to bond with consumers by portraying culturally appropriate messages that strengthen the ideology, all within a greatly examined regulatory environment. The messages across the two nations differed in their use of creativity appeals to ego, social needs, and sensory pleasure and also their obedience to regulation. He first compared the two nations from economic, cultural, and regulatory viewpoints and then analyzed the strategies of cigarette advertising in Ukraine and the United States. According to Epstein (1994), Freuds psychodynamic theory stated that we are not in control of our own minds. A person can only think rationally when the unconscious turns to conscious level done through psychoanalysis. He regarded Ego (conscious thinking) as the tip of an iceberg. All our mental activity is operated by the Ego. Thus, several advertising agencies pay millions of dollars for cigarette advertisements which appeal to the Ego of a person. Epstein (1994) stated that in cigarette ads the visual appeal of the messages will overcome the verbal message of the surgeon who says smoking can endanger ones life an appeal aimed at the rational system. Epstein (1994) tested whether or not a surgeons message in a pictorial graphic form would leave an impact on consumers. Sigmund Freud (1954) made a great contribution to Psychoanalysis with his concept of the super ego which was referenced as primitive and unconscious aggregate of values and psychoanalysis in form by contemporary authors. Still, he is often credited with having revealed the irrational content of consumer psychology and thus undermined traditional ideas of human rationality as it relates to ethnic groups. Therefore, psychoanalysis also questions traditional ideas of irrationality. It shows that human tastes, preferences and other apparently irrational psychological consumers marketing decisions have a meaning and it is rational. Even though, most theorists argue that there is continuity between rationality and irrationality. Freud (1954) portrays the human being as a creature dominated by unconscious instincts, by infantile desires and primitive drives. He shows how consciousness and rationality is only one, relatively minor, facet of our psychology. He demonstrates how even the most apparently rational and conscious activities and experiences are influenced by unconscious wishes and fantasies, which operate in ways which do not apply to the principles of reason and logic. The reasons that we believe we have for our thoughts and actions are revealed as mere rationalizations, which cloak and deny their real, unconscious motives. As a result of existing controversy between Freudian theories and other recent theorists in the field of Psychoanalytic theories, we might not be able to reach satisfactory marketing applications to effective consumption. At best, we will have a fulfillment and understanding of rational buying behavior and similarity of consumption among ethnic groups (U. Elimimian, 2007). Psychoanalytic psychology also depicts impulse control as socially necessary. Freud (1911/1956) claims that human civilization is based on individuals development of internalized impulse controls. He interprets impulses as products of two competing forces: The pleasure principle and the reality principle. The pleasure principle encourages immediate gratification but is compromised insofar as a person responds to the reality principles tendency toward rational deliberation. These two forces often compete, because impulses encourage action without careful consideration about the objective environment, and with little or no regard for potential realistic consequences. If an individual lacks sufficient impulse control, it represents a defect of repression that may lead to severe psychosocial problems. Impulses may be difficult to resist because they often involve anticipated pleasurable experiences. The reality principle ultimately pursues personal gratification; the crucial difference i s that the reality principles orientation is more long-term and goal-oriented, which tends to encourage delayed over immediate gratification. In human development, the transition in dominance from the pleasure principle to reality principle is one of the most important advances in the development of the ego (Freud 1920/1949). (Rook, 1987) In his book, The Interpretation of Dreams (1), Freud suggests that vivid imagery arises as a result of regression. He considered imagistic thought to be part of the primitive aggregation of behaviors characteristic of the preverbal life of the child. As one aspect of the lack of rationality found in the childs thought, Freud postulated an inability to distinguish between internally and externally originated perceptions. Stated in terms of his three part system, ego, super-ego, and id, the perception of vivid imagery is an activity related to the processes of a weakened ego. It was Freuds view that whenever regression occurred it was disruptive and damaging in its influence on the efficient operation of the ego. Topographically ego regression (primitivization of ego functions) occurs not only when the ego is weak-in sleep, in falling asleep, in fantasy, in intoxication, and in the psychoses-but also during many types of creative processes. This suggested to me years ago that the ego may use the primary process, and not be only overwhelmed by it. The general assumption is that under certain conditions the ego regulates regression, and that the integrative functions of the ego include voluntary and temporary withdrawal of cathex is from one area or another to regain improved control. (Bergan, 1965) SUPEREGO Sigmund Freud (1954) made a great contribution to Psychoanalysis with his concept of the super ego which was referenced as primitive and unconscious aggregate of values and psychoanalysis in form by contemporary authors. Still, he is often credited with having revealed the irrational content of consumer psychology and thus undermined traditional ideas of human rationality as it relates to ethnic groups. Therefore, psychoanalysis also questions traditional ideas of irrationality. It shows that human tastes, preferences and other apparently irrational psychological consumers marketing decisions have a meaning and it is rational. Even though, most theorists argue that there is continuity between rationality and irrationality. Freud (1954) portrays the human being as a creature dominated by unconscious instincts, by infantile desires and primitive drives. He shows how consciousness and rationality is only one, relatively minor, facet of our psychology. He demonstrates how even the most apparently rational and conscious activities and experiences are influenced by unconscious wishes and fantasies, which operate in ways which do not apply to the principles of reason and logic. The reasons that we believe we have for our thoughts and actions are revealed as mere rationalizations, which cloak and deny their real, unconscious motives. As a result of existing controversy between Freudian theories and other recent theorists in the field of Psychoanalytic theories, we might not be able to reach satisfactory marketing applications to effective consumption. At best, we will have a fulfillment and understanding of rational buying behavior and similarity of consumption among ethnic groups. (U. Elimimian, 2007) The superego incorporates the values and morals of society which are learnt from ones parents and others. It develops around the age of 4 5 during the phallic stage of psychosexual development. The superegos function is to control the ids impulses, especially those which society forbids, such as sex and aggression. It also has the function of persuading the ego to turn to moralistic goals rather than simply realistic ones and to strive for perfection. The superego consists of two systems: The conscience and the ideal self. The conscience can punish the ego through causing feelings of guilt. For example, if the ego gives in to id demands, the superego may make the person feel bad though guilt. The ideal self (or ego-ideal) is an imaginary picture of how you ought to be, and represents career aspirations, how to treat other people, and how to behaviour as a member of society. Behaviour which falls short of the ideal self may be punished by the superego through guilt. The super-ego can also reward us through the ideal self when we behave properly by making us feel proud. If a persons ideal self is too high a standard, then whatever the person does will represent failure. The ideal self and conscience are largely determined in childhood from parental values and you were brought up. (Mcleod, 2008) Dr. Dichter claims that practically all of it is hit-or-miss stuff, and that he is the first to apply to advertising really scientific psychology. That includes psychoanalysis-probing into the subconscious. Dr. Dichter scoffs at advertising which tries to reason with potential customers, to scare them or lecture them on their shortcomings. He believes in tapping hidden desires and urges. This examination explores advertisings effects on the individual through the critical lenses of ideology and psychoanalysis, concluding that although ideology is a relevant methodology, it remains incomplete. Psychoanalytic theory, on the other hand, provides multiple avenues of interpreting how advertising addresses both the conscious and the unconscious mind, and offers a potential methodology for personal resistance and social change. To this point, I have demonstrated only that dream-theory can offer an interpretation of an advertising text. Now I must come to the crux of my exploration: Is there any meaningful association between this dream-informed reading and the way the advertisement appeals to its audience or even its effectiveness at inducing purchase? Remember that Freud in Interpretation of Dreams stated .Every dream reveals itself as a psychical structure which has a meaning and which can be inserted at an assignable point in the mental activities of waking life. Can fantasy-based advertising operate like dream, and be inserted at an assignable point in the mental activities of waking life? (Bellinson, 2006) The relations of superego and ego ideal to id and ego, so crucial in this context for the development of our sense of justice and of its emanations in moral (justness) judgments and law, are highly complex and, though probably holding the clue to final answers, still controversial in the detail of the history of the individual. We may begin with the pleasure principle which, ruling the subconscious Id, makes us aim for pleasure in a shifting and still obscure response to both Eros, the Life Instinct, and Thanatos, the Death Drive. (EHRENZWEI, 1965) TRIPLE APPEAL Penn (2008) stated that Cognitive scientists acknowledged the significance of unconscious mechanisms, particularly in the area of recall, but the role of sentiment was never seen as particularly significant. Thus, in much 20th century advertising theory, emotion was something of an afterthought; a means of facilitating consideration to communication (because we will probably pay more attention to advertising that we like). He suggested that thinking and feeling are not separate from the brain, but neutrally personified in it. Our feelings, reasoning, conscious and unconscious thoughts are surrounded by our emotions and bodily reactions. TamaÃ…Å ¸ and DumitraÃ…Å ¸cu (2009) studied the different characteristics that differentiate conscious from unconscious perception which influence our reactions to stimuli. The messages in advertisements constantly tell us that one product is better than the rest. Our minds capture the message and goes with it. Another technique used by the advertisers is sexual arousal. Advertisers know that sexual desire is the most influential of human desires. They embed sexual appeals in their advertising messages, by means of pictures, sounds and terms. These messages are not obvious. These embedded messages are hidden, so they appear ordinary. It is only our unconscious mind that is proficient of identifying and accumulating these messages where they lie hidden, un-criticized, not judged and unknown to the individual until the time of purchase, when decision is made. The hidden and buried information then floats up and is moved to the conscious mind, which operates upon it. For example , if one is thirsty, the unconscious mind straight away chooses the type of drink the person has to take, depending on the messages implanted previously from the advertisements. No reasoning or logic is used, because the ID (unconscious mind) is not capable of this. All this helps in moulding the attitudes of people, then their thoughts, and lastly their actions. This study underscores the complementary roles of the cognitive (perceptive) and psychodynamic (projective) approaches to the study of responses to advertisements. Effectiveness reflected influences of ads on subjective responses such as liking and fantasy, as well as on judgments of an ads quality and intention to buy the product. This study compared cognitive and psychodynamic perspectives on responses to simple and complex advertisements for perfume and liquor products. (Cupchik, Leonard and Irvine-Kopteski, 1998) This dissertation examines the representations of youth identity in print advertisements found in Y Magazine and SL Magazine. The researcher uses Critical Discourse Analysis to analyse the identities that are constructed in four fashion brands. The print advertisements are also interpreted by young people from Grade 11 classes in two Johannesburg high schools. Learners completed survey questionnaires and participated in focus group discussions. My interpretation of the advertisements reveals three over sexualized identities in the Soviet, Guess and Diesel advertisements. The learners responses are varied; some identify with the brands and accept the subject positions that are offered by the advertisements and others critique the sexuality that pervades the majority of the advertisements. Learners interpretations also reflect different reading positions, as well as unclear gendered target audiences. I conclude that media representations provide a range of powerful resources, which you ng people draw on in constructing their identities. (Clifford, 2006) One of the now-conventional accounts for why we exclude sex from the public sphere is attributable to Sigmund Freud, who maintained that repression of the libido is essential to civiliza-tion.182 In Freudian theory, everyones first love object is his or her opposite-sex parent, and both development of the personality and maintenance of the family require repression of these incestu-ous desires.183 From a societal standpoint, Freud thought the repression of sexual drives necessary to redirect human energy into more socially productive endeavors. Absent repression, the theory goes, we would be even more obsessed with sex than we already are, and no one would bother making the trains run on time.84 Freud also considered sexual repression essential to social bonding. But one need only open ones eyes to see the extent to which a pornographic conception of sex, obsessed with the erotics of transgressing taboos, dominates our culture. Pornographic maga-zines and videos do a thriving busines s. Even in more mainstream culture, sexual taboos and their transgression sell everything from movies to magazines to records to clothes to television shows to perfume. We are obsessed with those who dare to approach, play with, and transgress the rules: Calvin Klein advertisements, Madonna videos, Prince songs, NYPD Blue, Cosmopolitan advice columns on adding spice to your sexual life, and daytime talk shows featuring those who have broken the rules and lived to tell their story on national television. (Cole, 1994) The unconscious mind contains our biologically based instincts (eros and thanatos) for the primitive urges for sex and aggression. While we are fully aware of what is going on in the conscious mind, we have no idea of what information is stored in the unconscious mind. The unconscious contains all sorts of significant and disturbing material which we need to keep out of awareness because they are too threatening to acknowledge fully. So, the unconscious is not like a dustbin containing unimportant or irrelevant thoughts. Rather, it is precisely because they are so powerful that they are kept buried. Nevertheless, they exert a significant influence (Mcleod, 2009). The subconscious contains thoughts and feelings that a person is not currently aware of, but which can easily be brought to consciousness. It exists just below the level of consciousness before the unconscious mind. This is what we mean in our everyday usage of the word available memory. For example, you are presently not thinking about your mobile telephone number, but now it is mentioned you can recall it with ease. Mild emotional experiences may be in the subconscious but sometimes traumatic and powerful negative emotions are repressed and hence not available in the subconscious. Our feelings, motives and decisions are actually powerfully influenced by our past experiences, stored in the subconscious and instincts from the unconscious. Freud applied these three systems to his structure of the personality, or psyche the id, ego and superego. Here the id is regarded as entirely unconscious whilst the ego and superego have conscious, preconscious, and unconscious aspect. Freud also regarded the mind to be like an iceberg, where the greates

Person-centred Care Essay

Person-centred Care Essay Introduction: Reflective essay on person centred care Modern day Healthcare has increasingly embraced concepts of client-centred practice and empowerment. However, Taylor (2003) posits that existing literature on the subject does not give clear and unambiguous descriptions of the ways by which nurses can empower clients. Nonetheless, nursing practice is inclusive of people from very different backgrounds. In my ward for example, a high proportion of the nurses did not get their initial qualifications and experience in the UK, and my mentor too did not start of as a nurse from the UK. As a result of this, in the absence of well defined guidance for patient empowerment as a practice concept (by regulatory authorities), nurses and other healthcare practitioners will always encounter difficulties in the performance of their duties in recognition of patient empowerment as a concept. The way patient care is manifest in hospitals has evolved over time and now centres around collaborative working with different teams coming together to ensure that client care and outcomes are improved (Hansson et al 2008), (Hewison and Stanton 2003). Working in this way requires that the patient is an inclusive and active partner in his care planning and care delivery. This new way of working has also been emphasised by the government introducing the agenda for patient-centred care and patient empowerment. The Department of Health stipulates that the NHS needs to empower patients more and give them control over their healthcare (DoH 2008) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) also requires that patients are always consulted before any procedure is carried out on them (WHO website). The whole concept of empowering patients may not be new to healthcare practitioners because some healthcare practitioners are known to have spoken about making efforts to carry the clients along in the process of their care delivery (Stewart et al. 2002), but Paterson (2001) claims that some healthcare professionals have also been known to use subtle and covert ways to avoid fully implementing the patient empowerment requirement even at the risk of going against regulation to empower patients. Empowerment has been (in essence) practitioner defined to suit the practitioners. As an example, at the MDT meetings I attended, the patients views were not adequately promoted, and considering the requirements of the patient empowerment agenda, the patient is supposed be in charge of his healthcare. I raised this with my mentor and the ward manager, and recommended that the patient be consulted before, and updated after every meeting that has to do with his care delivery. Acknowledging client empowerment as a way forward and in emphasising the need for this modern way of working, the Prime Minister in a key message in January 2008 said that patients are to be treated as active partners in their care. Brown et al (2006) consider that for care to be client-centred, care delivery must be focused on the client and empower and engage the client to his/her full potential as a partner in his/her care delivery. Whereas the client-centred concept requires that what is best for the patient is done, patient empowerment requires providing clients with adequate information and the knowledge required to make informed decisions and take control of their lives (Kielhofner 2002). The issue of patient empowerment raises an issue about empowering intellectually disabled persons who cannot make suc h decisions on their own. If an adult with intellectual disability does not have complete ability to communicate, their choices can be diminished which in turn can make it particularly difficult to ensure that their opinions are heard (Cameron and Murphy 2002); and even in instances where a nurse is designated the health facilitator for the client, there is no guidance as to how much decision making can be undertaken on his behalf (Martin and Carey 2009). These further complicate issues in nursing management for a qualified nurse and will call on good managerial skills. Modern healthcare practice environment is a highly regulated one with stringent requirements of the healthcare practitioners. The continued drive for improvement in both healthcare delivery service and the patients experience and quality of life (DoH 2005) have led to the promotion of improved integration between healthcare disciplines and agencies, and regulatory requirements to promote the concept of patient empowe rment (DoH 2008), (Corsello and Tinkelman 2008), (Glasby and Parker 2008). Empowerment is a natural phenomenon and is essential to humans. Patient empowerment may be resisted by nurses because of existing nurse-patient relationships (Nyatanga and Dann 2002) and so a deliberate cultural shift needs to be pursued to inculcate nurses with the shift in paradigm. To achieve, the nurse will need additional training, and the clients ought to be carried along in drawing up treatment plans. The more the client is involved in the treatment planning, the more the client appreciates his/her part in the patient empowerment agenda, and the more the satisfaction with the care delivery service. I have used simple courtesies like saying thank you to the client, and realised it brightens their day very much and also makes them much happier and willing to discuss their feelings and opinions with me. The convergence of management and nursing has evolved over the past few decades and management is often cited as the reason for failings, and also as the likely solution (Pollitt 1993) to many of the problems in the NHS. Management was first f ormally defined by Henry Fayol (1949) as the composite function of planning, organizing, coordinating, commanding and controlling activities or events. More recent definitions in management theory look at management from the perspective of empowerment, total quality management, organizational culture etc. (Hewison and Stanton 2003). Leadership and management skills in nursing overlap to a very large extent but whereas leadership skills are needed in the more personal aspects like mentoring and motivation, management skills are needed to meet organizational targets and the management of available resources. Summary With the problems associated with recruitment and retention of nurses in the health sector, and the attendant high turnover of nurses came an additional expectation of nurse-managers to help reverse the trend (even though several of the pioneering nurse-managers had not had formal managerial training) (Contino 2004). Contino (2004) described the managerial skills required of a good nurse manager to include change management, communicating plans, managing the flow of information, managing nursing ROTAs and managing finances (income and expenses). Courtney et al (2002) rate financial management knowledge as one of the top requirements for a nurse manager in order to understand financial forecasts, financial plans, financial ratios and financial performance ratios. A nurse manager needs to be very conversant with current practices and concepts. A good understanding of service improvement and knowledge (and use) of the available developmental resources for nurse improvement like the Lead ership at Point of Care programme (Janes and Mullan 2007) are essential for successful nurse-management. Carney (2009) reported that clients were more likely to be dissatisfied whenever they felt the nurse leader was incompetent. The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) requires that the nurse is conversant with and aware of current developments in practice by way of continued professional development after qualifying as a trained nurse. To manage a team well, a nurse will need very good communication skills in addition to the authority to take decisions within the boundaries of his/her responsibility (Cross and Prusak 2002), (Carroll 2005) as and when necessary. A nurse manager should be a good team-player and able to multi-task (Jaynelle and Stichler 2006) and possess very good communication skills that go beyond language and/or grammar, to listening, being assertive and ensuring that the nurses decisions are enforced especially when the nurse speaks on behalf of a client (or helps to amplify the clients voice) (Harris 2003). The nurse manager should ensure that adequate communication links are established between the client and the MDT so that client views are always considered. The nurse manager should patiently try to clearly understand the patient (Lynden 2006) so as to be able to ensure clients views are accommodated in clients care delivery. In situations of acute ailments, clients can present with intellectual disability or a moderated ability to communicate verbally which can make it difficult to understand their opinions or wishes (Cameron and Murphy 2002) for their care process. To be a leader, todays nurse will need to be able to command the respect of other team members. To achieve acceptability nurse managers need to be people with high integrity and people management/motivation skills and be able to work in a collaborative setting (Carroll 2005). Integrity in this perspective is synonymous with honesty (Kouzes and Posner 2002) and several studies have highlighted the importance of honesty fo r nurse management or leadership because people (clients and nurses alike) will want to assure themselves that their leader is worthy of their trust (Kouzes and Posner 2003). During my placements in an adult care unit of a major hospital, from observation and interaction with patients and healthcare staff, my attention was drawn to a plight of some of the patients in my care: I realised that some of the patients were not being allowed to determine the course of their treatment as required by the patient empowerment agenda (DoH 2008) and this was more especial in patients with acute ailments. There was a lack of full management implementation of the Patient empowerment agenda, with particular emphasis on the relevance given to the patients choice (or voice) in the patients care delivery. The quality of care delivery is assessed by its ability to improve patient care through the collaborative team work of healthcare professionals and how patient-focused the care delivery is. For the purposes of this work, I shall refer to a renal patient in my care during my placement as Mr. B (not real name). All references to him or a hospital do not identify either. When Mr. B was †¦ and was refusing to be compliant, I approached him and had a talk with him. I discovered that his lack of compliance was in protest of the fact that he was not aware he was being put on †¦ reinforcing the position of Corsello and Tinkelman (2008) that clients will respond better to care that encourages their participation and is considerate of their specific needs. To ensure that this did not happ en again, I brought the patients complaint to the attention of my mentor and ensured that the multi-disciplinary team was made aware by adequately documenting my findings and observations. I regularly sought advice and guidance from my mentor because mentoring and role-modeling are active ways of knowledge transfer in large organizations (Carney 2009) and improves the care delivery service. Service improvement remains a core requirement for the Knowledge and Skills Framework for a registered nurse (DoH 2004) and requires an all-party embracing culture of seeking continuous improvement (Janes and Mullan 2007) where honest and periodic performance appraisals are evident. Service improvement in the NHS has been an issue of high importance and has necessitated the establishment of groups that are charged with charting out improvements within the NHS like the NHS Improvement (NHS Improvement Programme 2008). Practicing nurses are encouraged to keep abreast with developments from such groups. A new service improvement concept of patient-safety is gaining popularity in healthcare although regulatory definition is not yet specific (Feng et al 2008). Flin and Yule (2003) claim patients can be injured through the actions of healthcare staff, and Feng et al (2008) insist that a blame and shame culture inhibits learning from mistakes and can exacerbate incidences of mistakes. To this end (in the UK) an Expert group was established that recommended that the culture around error reporting shifted towards finding the cause of the error rather than the culprit (DoH 2000). Nurses are often under pressure from shortage of nursing staff, and a change in the nursing environment can improve patient safety and outcomes (Lin and Liang 2007). During my placements, I observed that Mr. B was often in bed for prolonged periods between nursing visits. I appraised the risk of the situation and ranked his needs by priority. He looked like he was beginning to get sore from immobility, so I delegated his need for exercise to the physiotherapist in the MDT, and having assessed the competency level of the HCA on the ward, I delegated the tasks of keeping Mr. Bs environment clean and regularly turning him to air his back to the HCA. The HCA had been previously supervised for this task and had been assessed as competent to perform it satisfactorily. Conclusion To achieve the required improvements which accompany patient empowerment that the NHS strives for, there must be a change from the current culture where the nurse sees the client as a patient (Nyatanga and Dann 2002) towards seeing clients as part and parcel of the decision making in their care delivery. Quality will be improved when patient empowerment/voice in patient care is active, client engagement is on a regular basis, and nurses are more patient in hearing patients out and in attending to patient calls. Patient safety issues including the security of the patient, proper risk assessment, maintaining cleanliness of his environment and regular visits should be the norm

Brown vs. Board: The Brown Sisters Speak :: papers essays

Brown vs. Board: The Brown Sisters Speak I remember heading over to Foellinger Auditorium with Jessica saying to myself, I have no clue what this event was going to be all about. All Jessica had said to me was that the Brown sisters were going to be speaking. We entered the auditorium to find the first floor surprisingly alive with people talking among each other and seats quickly becoming full. We decided that it would be better to observe from above so we took the stairs up to the balcony and found seats right along the edge. From above, I could see the many people who came out for the event. The crowd contained many scholars and professors as well as a good group of students. I received a call from my friend, who spotted me from her seat in the first floor. She said that she was there to take notes for a class assignment as well. So, I think many students were also there because, just like, had an assignment to accomplish. It was at this point that I had finally put two and two together and realized that the Brown sisters were the daughters of the Reverend Oliver Leon Brown, who is the same person involved in the infamous Brown v. Board case. Jessica laughed at me for my slowness. I, however, began to get excited because this was truly rare and special occasion. I had wished that more people attended the event but looking at the crowd a second time, I was pleased to see the varying ages of the people in the crowd. There were people that looked older than the Brown sisters to young grade school students who came in as a class. Somehow, we were all connected because in one way or another, whether we are young or old, the decision that was passed down by the Supreme Court on Brown v. Board changed many lives. There were many things said by the Brown sisters that ranged from the historical context of the case to what it did for their lives. But one quote stood out in my head, and it was made by Dr.

Abortion Essay -- essays research papers

China - Two researchers say comprehensive new data shows that traditional family patterns in China, combined with tough population-control measures, have resulted in ``female infanticide on a grand scale'' -- close to 800,000 baby girls abandoned or killed in a single region between 1971-80 alone. G. William Skinner, an anthropologist and China specialist at the University of California-Davis, and Chinese researcher Yuan Jianhua based their conclusions on an analysis of 1990 Chinese census data. They presented their findings at the Association for Asian Studies' annual meeting last weekend in San Diego. While the phenomenon of disappearing girls isn't new, the paper by Yuan and Skinner is the first to show how location and family composition help determine infants' fate: The more rural a baby girl's surroundings, and the more sisters she had at birth, the higher her chances of not surviving. The researchers say most of the girls were abandoned or killed at birth. Chinese officials have long maintained that missing girls are adopted or raised on the sly, but Skinner said the data does not allow for concealment. Skinner and Yuan, who works for a semiofficial agency in Beijing that does population projections for the Chinese government, focused on a 1 percent census sample of China's lower Yangtze region. Located around the central metropolis of Shanghai, the area ranges from crowded coastal cities to surrounding rural communities, and had a population of 140 million in 199...

National Culture Essay

National culture is the value system and pride associated with a nation. Many people deny their national culture when they move to a new location, and embrace the national culture of their new home. Characteristics of culture As one might expect, all cultures must share several characteristics if ‘’culture’’ is to be differentiated from other forms of behavior. These similarities between all cultures are surprisingly few. The ultimate goal of cultural anthropology is to determine which characteristics all cultures share in common. Society Firstly, all culture must take place through a medium of a group of people, known as a society. Even extinct or imagined cultures have societies to transmit the culture. As culture cannot exist without culture. Other animals, such as bees or ants, congregate into societies, yet these animals do not exhibit it culture. Yet no human society is without culture. The functionalist school of anthropological thought attempts to explain why culture is so vital to human societies. Culture of Bangladesh The culture of Bangladesh has a unique history, dating back more than 2500 years ago.The land, the rivers and the lives of the common people formed a rich heritage with marked differences from neighboring region. The culture of Bangladesh is composite, and over centuries has assimilated influences of Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism and Islam. It is manifested in various forms, including music, dance and drama, art and craft; folklores and folktales; languages and literature, philosophy and religion. Music, dance and drama Music and dance style of Bangladesh may be divided into three categories, namely, the classical, folk and the modern. The classical style has been influenced by other prevalent classical forms of music and dance of the Indian subcontinent and accordingly shows some influences dance forms like bharata natyam and kuchipudi.The folk and tribal music and dance of Bangladesh are of indigenous origin and rooted to the soil of Bangladesh. Several dancing style in the north-eastern part of the Indian subcontinent,  like Manipuri and santal dances, are also practiced in Bangladesh, but Bangladesh has developed its own distinct dancing style. Bangladesh has a rich tradition folk songs, with lyrics rooted into vibrant tradition and spirituality, mysticism and devotion. Such folk songs also revole round several and other themes, including love themes. Drama remains popular in Bangladesh, including performances of playes bye local playwrights as well as adaptations from writers of western origi n. Jatra, that is folk drama is also a part of culture of Bangladesh . Pohela Boishakh Pohela Baishakh celebration in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Pà ´hela Boishakh is the first day of the Bengali calendar. It is usually celebrated on the 14th of April. Pohela Boishakh marks the start day of the crop season. Usually on Pà ´hela Boishakh, the home is thoroughly scrubbed and cleaned; people bathe early in the morning and dress in fine clothes. They spend much of the day visiting relatives, friends, and neighbours and going to the fair. Fairs are arranged in many parts of the country where various agricultural products, traditional handicrafts, toys, cosmetics, as well as various kinds of food and sweets are sold. The fairs also provide entertainment, with singers, dancers and traditional plays and songs. Horse races, bull races, bullfights, cockfights, flying pigeons, and boat racingwere once popular. All gatherings and fairs consist a wide spread of Bengali food and sweets. The most colourful New Year’s Day festival takes place in Dhaka. Large numbers of people gather early in the morning under the banyan tree at Ramna Park where Chhayanat artists open the day with Rabindranath Tagore’s famous song, Esho, he Boishakh, Esho esho (Come, year, come, come). A similar ceremony welcoming the new year is also held at the Institute of Fine Arts (Dhaka) and University of Dhaka. Students and teachers of the institute take out a colourful procession and parade to round the campus. Social and cultural organisations celebrate the day with cultural programmes. Newspapers bring out special supplements. There are also special programmes on radio and television. Prior to this day, special discounts on clothes, furniture, electronics and various deals and shopping discounts are available. Special line of sarees, usually cotton, white sarees with red print and embroidery is sold before this day as everyone dresses up for this day. Jasmine flowers are also a huge sale for this event  which adorns the women’s hair. Background In 1952, the emerging middle classes of East Bengal underwent an uprising known later as the Bangla Language Movement. Bangladeshis (then East Pakistanis) were initially agitated by a decision by the Central Pakistan Government to establish Urdu, a minority language spoken only by the supposed elite class of West Pakistan, as the sole national language for all of Pakistan. The situation was worsened by an open declaration that â€Å"Urdu and only Urdu will be the national language of Pakistan† by the governor, Khawaja Nazimuddin. Protest Police declared Section 144 which banned any sort of meeting. Defying this, the students of University of Dhaka and Dhaka Medical College and other political activists started a procession on February 21, 1952. Near the current Dhaka Medical College Hospital, police fired on the protesters and numerous people, including Abdus Salam, Rafiq Uddin Ahmed, Sofiur Rahman, Abul Barkat and Abdul Jabbar, died. The movement spread to the whole of East Pakistan and the whole province came to a standstill. Afterwards, the Government of Pakistan relented and gave Bengali equal status as a national language. Effects This movement is thought to have sown the seeds for the independence movement which resulted in the liberation of Bangladesh in 1971. Commemoration To commemorate this movement, Shaheed Minar a solemn and symbolic sculpture, was erected in the place of the massacre. The day is revered in Bangladesh and, to a somewhat lesser extent, in West Bengal as the Martyrs’ Day. This day is the public holiday in Bangladesh. UNESCO decided to observe 21 February as International Mother Language Day. The UNESCO General Conference took a decision to that took effect on 17 November 1999 when it unanimously adopted a draft resolution submitted by Bangladesh and co-sponsored and supported by 28 other countries. In Assam and North-east India In Silchar, India, eleven people were killed by police firing on 19 May 1961 when protesting legislation that mandated the use of the Assamese language.[1] Bengalis in Assam and north-east India observe 19 May as Language Movement Day to remember the 11 Bengalis who were killed on the day by police fire in Silchar Railway Station. Weddings A bride for Turmeric ceremony A traditional wedding is arranged by Ghotoks (matchmakers), who are typically friends or relatives of the couple. The matchmakers facilitate the introduction, and also help agree the amount of any settlement. Bengali weddings are traditionally in five parts: first it is the bride and groom’sMehendi Shondha, the bride’s Gaye Holud, the groom’s Gaye Holud, the Beeya, and the Bou Bhaat. These often take place on separate days. The first event in a wedding is an informal one: the groom presents the bride with a ring marking the â€Å"engagement† which is gaining popularity. For themehendi shondha the bride’s side apply henna to each other as well as the bride for the bride’s Gaye Holud, the groom’s family – except the groom himself – go in procession to the bride’s home. Bride’s friends and family apply turmeric paste to her body as a part of Gaye Hoof bride, and they are traditionally all in matching clothes, m ostly orange in colour. The bride is seated on a dais, and the henna is used to decorate the bride’s hands and feet with elaborate abstract designs. The sweets are then fed to the bride by all involved, piece by piece. The actual wedding ceremony â€Å"Biye† follows the Gaye Holud ceremonies. The wedding ceremony is arranged by the bride’s family. On the day, the younger members of the bride’s family barricade the entrance to the venue, and demand a sort of admission charge from the groom in return for allowing him to enter. The bride and groom are seated separately, and a Kazi (authorized person by the govt. to perform the wedding), accompanied by the parents and a Wakil (witness) from each side formally asks the bride for her consent to the union, and then the groom for his. The bride’s side of the family tries to play some kind of practical joke on the groom such as stealing the groom’s shoe. The reception, also known as Bou-Bhaat (reception), is a party given by the groom’s family in return for the wedding party. It is typically a much more relaxed affair, with only the second-best wedding outfit being worn. Relatives decorating the groom with traditional wedding turmeric in a Bangladeshi Gaye Holud ceremony in Dhaka. Architecture and heritage Bangladesh has appealing architecture from historic treasures to contemporary landmarks. Jatiyo Smriti Soudho, a tribute to liberation war martyrs is also an architectural landmark Sports A cricket match between Bangladesh &India at the Sher-e-Bangla Cricket Stadium inDhaka, Bangladesh Cricket is the most popular sport in Bangladesh, followed by football. Kabaddi is the national sport in Bangladesh. Cricket is a game which has a massive and passionate following in Bangladesh. Bangladesh has joined the elite group of countries eligible to play Test Cricket since 2000. TheBangladesh national cricket team goes by the nickname of the Tigers – after the Royal Bengal Tiger. The people of Bangladesh enjoy watching live sports. Whenever there is a cricket or football match between popular local teams or international teams in any local stadium significant number of spectators gather to watch the match live. The people also celebrate major victories of the national teams with great enthusiasm for the live game. Victory processions are the most common element in such celebrations. A former prime minister even made an appearance after an Internationalone day cricket match in which Bangladesh beat Australia, she came to congratulate the victory. Also in late 2006 and 2007, football legend Zinedine Zidane paid a visit to local teams and various events thanks to the invite of Nobel Peace Prize winner Dr. Muhammad Yunus. Religion Festivals and celebrations are an integral part of the culture of Bangladesh. Prominent and widely celebrated festivals are Pohela Boishakh, Independence day, National Mourning Day, Eid ul-Fitr, Eid ul-Azha, Moharram, Durga puja, and Language Movement Day. Bangladesh is ethnically homogeneous, with Bengalis comprising 98% of the population. The majority of Bangladeshis (about 90%) are Muslim, and a small number of Hindus, Christians and Buddhists are also living in the country. But due to immense cultural diversity, multiple dialects, hybridization of social traits and norms as well as cultural upbringing, Bangladeshis cannot be stereotyped very easily, except for the only fact that they are very resilient in nature. People of different religions perform their religious rituals with festivity in Bangladesh. The Government has declared National  Holidays on all important religious festivals of the four major religions. Durga Puja, Christmas, and Buddha Purnima are celebrated with enthusiasm in Bangladesh. All of these form an integral part of the cultural heritage of Bangladesh. Bangladesh is a land of festivity. Muslims celebrate Eid-ul-Fitr, Eid-ul-Azha, Eid-e-Miladunnabi, Muharram etc. Hindus observe Durga Puja, Kali Puja, and Sarashwati Puja among others. Buddha Purnima is the biggest festival for Bengali Buddhists, and Borodin (Christmas) is celebrated by the Christians. People from several tribal communities also have their respective festival as well. Apart from these religious and tribal celebrations we also have several secular festivals. Pohela Boishakh (Bangali New Year) is the biggest among all the festivals in Bangladesh. We also observe 21 February as Shahid Dibash (as observed worldwide as International Mother Language Day), 26 March as Independence Day, and 16 December as Victory Day. Lifestyle Cuisine Panta Ilish – a traditional platter ofPanta bhat, with fried hilsa slice, supplemented with dried fish (shutki),pickles (achar), dal, chillies, and onion – is a popular dish during the Pohela Boishakh festival. Bangladesh is famous for its distinctive culinary tradition, delicious food, snacks, and savories. Boiled rice constitutes the staple food, and is served with a variety of vegetables, fried as well with curry, thick lentil soups, fish and meat preparations of mutton, beef, and chicken, and very rarely pork only by certain small groups. Sweetmeats of Bangladesh are mostly milk based, and consist of several delights including roshgulla, sandesh, rasamalai, gulap jamun, kalo jamun, and chom-chom. Several other sweet preparations are also available. Bengali cuisine is rich and varied with the use of many specialized spices and flavours. Fish is the dominant source of protein, cultivated in ponds and fished with nets in the fresh-water rivers of the Ganges delta. More than 40 types of mostly freshwater fish are common, including carp, varieties like rui (rohu), katla, magur (catfish), chingÃ…â€"i (prawn or shrimp), as well as shuÃ… £ki (dried sea fish) are popular. Salt water fish (not sea fish though) and Ilish (hilsa ilisha) are very popular among Bengalis, can be  called an icon of Bengali cuisine. Serving dishes with beef is not a rare occurrence in Bangladesh. Beef curry is very common and an essential part of Bengal cuisine. Dress Bangladeshi people have unique dress preferences. Bangladeshi men sometimes wear kurta or fatua on religious and cultural occasions. Bangladeshi men wear lungi as casual wear (in rural areas) and shirt-pant or suits on formal occasions. The lungi is not considered proper to be worn outside the house except by the farmers and the low-income families. Shalwar Kameez and Sharee are the main dresses of Bangladeshi women. The women also have a different preference to which types of Shalwar Kameez and Sharee they would like to wear. Whether it may be silk sharees, georgette sharees, or designer sharees, each particular fabric contributes to representing the culture overall. Weaving the fabric for these dresses is a traditional art in Bangladesh. Conclusion Different culture groups think, feel, and act differently. There are no scientific standards for considering one group as intrinsically superior or inferior to another. Studying differences in culture among groups and societies presuppose a position of cultural relativism. It does not imply normalcy for oneself, or nor for one’s society. It, however, calls for judgment when dealing with groups or societies different from one’s own. Information about the nature of cultural differences between societies, their roots, and their consequences should precede judgment and action. Negotiation is more likely to succeed when the parties concerned understand the reasons for the differences in viewpoints.

Poetry †Pablo Neruda Essay

1. The speaker in this poem is the persona, because first person is used (â€Å"I†). 2. The character of the speaker changes from the beginning of the poem to the end. At the beginning the character is unsure in his words and actions, can’t find an answer to his questions: â€Å"I don’t know, I don’t know where it came from, from winter or a river. I don’t know how or when†, â€Å"I did not know what to say†. The character has also lost his identity: â€Å"there I was without a face†, â€Å"my eyes were blind†. By the end of the poem, the speaker ‘finds himself’ as part of something, part of the â€Å"void†, â€Å"mystery†, â€Å"part of the abyss†. He finds himself going with the flow, wheeling â€Å"with the stars†, â€Å"my heart broke loose on the wind†. 3. a) The kind of images used most often after the line, â€Å"and suddenly I saw† in stanza two are connected with the nature and its flow: â€Å"palpitating plantations†, â€Å"shadow perforated†. They are also connected with how the world opens for the speaker: â€Å"the heavens unfastened and open†. b) This imagery contributes to our understanding of the speaker’s thoughts and feelings when he first encounters poetry, because the reference to nature helps the reader to understand the idea of the poem. Nature is something everybody understands regardless of nation or education. 4. The speaker’s first lines of poetry could be â€Å"pure nonsense, / pure wisdom†. They could be nonsense because he is not guided by his thoughts, but the poetry simply flows in him and he writes it. The lines can be wisdom as well because of the way the poet receives his ideas and puts them into words.