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Literary Analysis of the Cask of Amontillado

Literary Analysis of the Cask of Amontillado

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Literary Analysis of the Cask of Amontillado

‘The Cask of Amontillado’ by Edgar Allan Poe is an interesting short story that significantly shows proper application of literary devices. Edgar Allan Poe is a famous literature author not only in the field of short stories but also in writing poems and essays. ‘The Cask of Amontillado’ is the author’s last and greatest short stories that were published in 1846. It is a story that dramatically touches the society as it involves vengeance, murder, addiction and torment primarily set in a large Italian underground cemetery. The reader sees it a voyage from the dark and enigmatic vacations of human inner self. The characterization in the text is excellent as the author brings a clear image of the characters and their traits in developing the story. Poe appropriately makes use of literary devices such as symbolism and imagery among others in building the plot and themes in the short story as elaborated into a profound extend below.

The author composes unique traits in his literary work which plays a significant role in attracting reader’s attention and creating suspense. For instance, regarding the short story The Cask of Amontillado at the climax the reader is left wondering about the bricks and the significance of building the wall. The narrator tells the story in first in the first person up to the end. The main cast of ‘The Cask of Amontillado’ includes Fortunato, Montresor and Luchesi. The characters play a significant role in creating the plot and bringing out the principal theme. The story is about the crisis between the narrator and Fortunato who has insulted him. The narrator has the urge to doing revenge (Foy, et.al page 45).

Looking at the plot analysis of the short story, the author has appropriately established it in the relation of other literary devices. He has efficiently used the fundamental constituents that makes literature work the plot complete and thought-provoking. These elements bring a natural flow of the story starting from the preliminary state of affairs, conflict, tricky situation, climax, suspense, completion of the conclusion. In the initial situation, the narrator brings about an insult and a vow of revenge. Characterization brings about the whole thing regarding the beginning of the story. It is through Fortunato’s unattractive traits that lead to his act of insulting Montresor. The narrator has a sympathetic character as he has forgiven the colleague for sometimes, but it comes to the extent that Montresor cannot hold that anymore thus the urge of doing revenge.

The conflict of the short story comes as the two characters the narrator and Fortunato are in a struggle to make things work out in the right way forever. For Montresor to avenge the insult by Fortunato, he has to get a worthy way to do it in such that there will be no capability of Fortunato revenging back. If it happens so, he would be the winner and has accomplished his mission. The punishment must have a practical impact that Fortunato will have to feel and undoubtedly know that it has come from the narrator. It is through the narrator’s avenging trait that the conflict of the story is evident. Moving a step forward to the complication of the short story, the author has put it in a natural way considering that there are no much of it manifested. Montresor carefully makes go a clue of what is happening through other characters the Amontillado and Luchesi. It led to Fortunato insisting on going after Montresor down into the subversive cemetery of his worst bad dreams. Montresor plays with him and lures him. However, Fortunato did not have any intention of turning back up to a situation when it was very late.

The climax of the story is the most significant part that one can refer the characters trapped in a conveniently man-sized world. This is the most massive and most crucial instant of the Poe’s story. It is evident as Montresor comes with Luchesi and his rival Fortunato is not pleased with the act. Fortunato refers Luchesi as a completely ignorant person and thriving one. Fortunato is chained in the upright casket in the foulest depths of the underground cemetery. Later the suspense in the story is created by the act of building brick by brick. Going into Fortunato’s situation, there is a significant suspense created by Montresor’s deeds. The actions of Montresor bricking Fortunato leaves him unaware of what will happen next to him to whether it is a complete joke or a dangerous thing. The putting of the final brick brings the termination of the story, and the suspense is resolved. Montresor is merciless and does not care even about hearing the pleading ringing of Fortunato’s bell. It was guaranteed that after the air in the tiny brick casket is thoroughly used up, Fortunato will be demised. The conclusion of short story’s plot helps the reader to have a perspective of looking back what happens and at what time did this happen. In the second last line of the story, it is clear that the story was the action of Montresor killing Fortunato occurred about fifty years ago (Gale, page 13). The bold thing at the end the story that the reader comes to know is that Montresor gets away from the crime he committed.

Furthermore, the short story’s themes have a significant effect on the literary analysis effectiveness. The major themes found in Poe’s story include betrayal, mortality, drugs and alcohol, freedom and confinement and foolishness and folly. The themes build the whole plot of the short story and are also significant in talking about the issues affects the society in today’s life. To begin with the theme of freedom and confinement, the difference between the two words is openly brought out in the story. For one character to have freedom and rejoice another one must be confined or die. It is shown with the act of Montresor killing Fortunato as a way of avenging for the assaults. The large part of the story happens in enormous and incredibly mistakes that could have been avoided there is togetherness and cohesion among the involved characters.

Secondly, betrayal brings about the main action in the story The Cask of Amontillado. It is because of one character’s betrayal that there is a revolting sequence of vengeance, seen underground in the mass grave. Betrayal is the core reason for the act of revenging and death. For instance, the insulting and threatening of Fortunato can be referred as a betrayal as Montresor gave him a chance of changing the behavior as it was expected but it was in vain. Taking a real-life example in today’s society, the same incidences are evident as people betray others resulting in enmity and death to a greater extent. The same the plays an essential role in building the plot of the story and developing other literary devices.

The other theme seen in the story is about drugs and alcohol. The commonly seen drug used in the story is wine. At the beginning of the Poe’s story, Fortunato is met drunk by Montresor as he plans to do the revenge. It can be the primary reason for Fortunato having the urge of using an abusive language as drugs at many instances result in the judgement impairment. All through the story drugs are mingling in between the lines and can be referred to anything that the character tends to use in acquiring their desires. Also, the theme of mortality is major in Poe’s short story and can be considered as a foreshadowing and illumination of was going to happen next in his life. The Cask of Amontillado is the author’s last short story before his death composes vast, terrifying fixation on bones, dead body and demise. The story can be seen as an illumination of the life after deceased and can be an explanation of what he has passed through in life. It facilitates the development of imagery as the reader is capable of building the exact picture in mind. For instance, on how Montresor was planning to revenge, how he was putting brick by brick on the casket and how Fortunato suffered as the casket run out of the air (Poe, page 21).

Additionally, the theme of foolishness and folly is significant, and the author postulates it effectively. It is through foolishness and recklessness that cost one’s life. For instance, it was Fortunato’s folly that resulted in his death. If the character had respect amongst other people, all would have worked well to him as such an instance of insulting would not have happened. The story is wholly about the about how foolishness and folly lead to hideous and cruel immoralities. ”The Cask of Amontillado” has two characters brings about the conflict and central matter in the story which are Montresor and Fortunato. By the end of the story, their joint ridiculousness terminates in misfortune and severe suffering for them both. The tragedy seen is core thing that takes the readers mind making one think more intensely about their silly ways. It is metaphorical as one sarcastically suffers due to foolishness like these characters. It is a moral lesson to the reader that prudence is vital in humans and facilitates to a better living with others.

It the story, Poe profoundly make use of symbolism, allegory and imagery. In The Cask of Amontillado, everything is symbolic and different things can be seen representing various meaning. To begin with is the coat of arms belonging to the Montresor’s family which is a picture of the shield. On it, there is a giant foot which the author refers to as wild a crazy serpent. This signifies that Fortunato is a snake on the glass which bits Montresor and on the other hand as a result of Montresor reactions his big gold foot crashed him down. The court of arms has a fabricated color which represents darkness and death of Fortunato. Through allegory that the theme of drug and alcohol is build up in the story. The author’s life was in captivity of drugs which had addicted him for a long while. One of the drugs he was addicted to was laudanum that comes from puppies that are obviously blue. This brings irony regarding freedom that is illustrated in the theme of freedom and confinement.

The tone of every literature work is vital in attracting the reader’s attention and making the story enjoyable. In this story, the author appropriately develops its tone regarding the settings and its composition. The tone of the story can be expressed as spine-chilling, humorous and elegant. Montresor refers to the mounds of the bones and the human remains as elegant making it sound somehow lovely. Hos he expresses the seemingly of the underground cemetery makes one see it as a beautiful place to be even though scaring. The humorous tone is also seen in large parts of the story. The jokes are to a greater extent entertaining breaking monotony in the short story. It can at some point make the reader contented thinking that everything happening for a moment is all right. Before Fortunato’s suffering and death, one is happy as everything seems to be doing on well and one is after that left guilty after the death (Saxton, page 38).

The settings of the short story can to an extent be viewed as awful and disgusting which can grab readers thoughts making one expects a horror and traumatizing experience. The Cask of Amontillado is all through acted on the underground cemetery during the carnival season in a particular place in Italy. The author purposely uses horror in the setting mainly with the aim of expressing either freedom or confinement in a contradicting way as the characters in various occasions’ shows imprisonment and liberty. The carnival festive and Montresor’s family underground grave are clear and directly illustrates the purpose of the story. During the Carnival festival, the Italians were celebrating their freedom, and people all over have happiness. The two main characters Montresor and Fortunato at the beginning of the story are seen participating in the same festival. Furthermore, as they both move deeper into the underground cemetery, they pass through smaller and fouler spaces. It signifies that as they move into the grave, they were going further away from the fresh air and freedom.

As seen from the above discussion, it is at the end of the story that the author reveals the name of the narrator who is Montresor and was a member of Montresor’s family. The narrator finally alters may he rest in peace which one is not sure whether he meant the words or not. At first, he is postulated as a person with human traits, and one could not expect that he was to avenge through murder. The trait would have played a significant effect making him feel sorry for his deeds. In the community the same occasions are evident, and it is a great lesson showing the repercussions of the evil actions people take in the name of revenge. The author is competent and has correctly applied literary devices in developing the story The Cask of Amontillado. The story is educative, and it does not only plays a vital role in entertaining the reader but also giving precautions of one to be cautious of the expected result in every act.

References

Foy, Roslyn Reso, and William E. Lambo. “Freemasonry, the Brethren, and the Twists of Edgar Allan Poe in THE CASK OF AMONTILLADO.” The Explicator 73.4 (2015): 252-256.

Gale, Cengage Learning. A Study Guide for Edgar Allan Poe’s” Cask of Amontillado”. Gale, Cengage Learning, 2016.

Poe, E. A. (2016). The cask of amontillado. The Floating Press.

Saxton, Audrey. “The Devil’s in the Details: A Characterization of Montresor in Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado”.” Criterion: A Journal of Literary Criticism 10.1 (2017): 16.

Literary Analysis of The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan

Literary Analysis of Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club

The Joy Luck Club is a compilation of eight women’s personal stories—four pairs of mothers and daughters—about their lives and the relationships they must learn to navigate across various cultures. These accounts are conveyed through the eyes of the women, based on the perspective of the mothers and daughters. The plot begins not long after the death of Suyuan Woo, a founding member of the social and investment club. Jing-mei is supposed to take her mother’s position in the club as a way to attain a balance. The most essential concepts discussed in this book are tradition and culture. The two groups of women addressed in the narrative are diametrically opposed in terms of how they see the world, one focused on the past through tradition and norms, and the other unaware of their cultural past and fully assimilated into the American way of life. As a consequence of their cultural and traditional roots, they must make a concerted effort to guarantee that their girls are exposed to the same things they were, thus creating a rift in their relationships and later bridging the cultural and traditional gaps amongst them.

Despite seeming to adjust well to their new circumstances, the mothers never entirely integrate their Chinese culture, rituals, expectations, or norms into their new American life as compared to their Americanized daughters. The mothers never get complete command of the English language, abandon their families’ traditions and habits, or forget that they were born in China. Their English-speaking daughters, on the other hand, were born, raised, and educated to consider themselves fully American, in a culture that is “too full to swallow any sorrow” (17). Their storylines concentrate around generational tensions, cultural misinterpretations, and other identity difficulties. Their mothers seem to be living in the past, according to their daughters. The daughters make no effort to hide their displeasure with their mothers’ tales about life in China because they are both outraged and afraid of their parents’ judgment. The mothers want the daughters to have the best termed as “swallowing more Coca-Cola than sorrow” (17). The mothers are seeking to educate their daughters about Chinese culture, but the girls are finding it difficult to balance their lives in America, particularly their jobs, with their mothers’ lofty and perplexing ambitions. As a consequence, moms and daughters have a sense of alienation from one another, leading to silence. A generational, sociological, and cultural status discrepancy that is difficult to overcome exacerbates the situation. The cultural boundaries between the women will not be broken until the daughters learn to listen to their moms’ experiences and understand how they relate to their own lives. Despite the fact that the ladies come from all cultures and have different ways of doing things, this is true.

Despite the fact that each tale in the novel has a distinct narrator, they all show how past events, traditions, cultures, or the relationship with any of these factors may influence the present. This supports the notion that a person’s traditions, past, background, and upbringing has a substantial impact on their cultural identity and worldview. Each narrator has a “moment when her identity becomes fixed forever” (64). Ying-ying’s life was formed by difficult childhoods, war, poverty, starvation, and, in her case, a single act of awful conduct as a youngster. She was the lone kid in a happy family where she grew up. Furthermore, three of the mothers married when still in their teenage years. Three of them were married to men who didn’t love them, and one of them married a great man who died in the war. One of the ladies had children with one of the dads from a prior marriage. Individual histories of the mothers are advantageous to their attempts to construct new lives in the United States to a greater or lesser degree. Each narrative is a powerful example of how past events continue to influence the present and to form a new culture that is fully founded on traditions and expectations. From a Chinese-American perspective, Lindo Jong admits that “these two things do not mix” in reference to American and Chinese cultures (254). Each mother’s Chinese ethnicity has an influence on her current life in the United States. Childhood has a tremendous influence on each daughter’s adult life, just as each mother’s past has on her daughter’s current, complicating the matter even further.

All of the parents’ stories had a few things in common: vivid recollections of growing up as a girl and young woman in China, perplexing tales about raising children in the United States, and almost terrifyingly high expectations for their daughters due to their cultural differences and expectations. Similarly, the daughters’ tales focus on how they failed to meet their moms’ expectations, how they were concerned about how Chinese culture would fit into their very American life, and how they had no clue of their mothers’ inner energy or deepest secrets. Several of the narrators highlight the difficulties they have while seeking to communicate their ideas and emotions with people from completely diverse backgrounds. Ying-ying feels like the separation of mother and daughter is too great, “I have watched her as though from another shore” (274). Because none of the daughters understand the language, no one in the family, including the daughters and parents, has any awareness of the culture. Furthermore, there are occasions when moms and daughters are unable to communicate with one another, making it difficult for both sides to understand the other’s perspective. Even if both the girls and their moms speak a little English and a little Chinese, communication will be challenging at times due to the need to translate words with very different intended and accepted meanings. There may be a few small misunderstandings as a result of this.

When the mothers relate to their daughters on the basis of their own lives, they are well aware that their insights are met with silence due to the differences in culture and upbringing. They continue to converse in the hopes that one of their words or ideas would strike a chord with one of their daughters, who will remember it and pass it on to her own daughter. Lindo Jong gives Waverly friendly parental advise despite acknowledging that fact that Waverly may “not understand where she comes from in a double cultural heritage” (49). Daughters are given their mothers’ tales as real gifts, soul sacrifices, and talismans in order to help the younger women tackle their challenges with the support of their mothers. These stories were hand-picked from the mothers’ immense archives of recollections. The mothers often conduct mental dialogues with their daughters, in which they develop questions, thoughts, and sentiments that they are unable to express orally owing to the cultural and generational differences.

In conclusion, the novel is a depiction of how culture, traditions, general gaps, and other features of an inter-generational relationship mesh together and diverge at the same time. The girls consider their moms to be dumb since they speak improper English. The moms, on the other hand, are furious with their daughters because they do not understand the cultural nuances of their language and have no plans to teach their own children about their Chinese ancestry. Throughout the story, characters repeatedly bring up Chinese concepts, only to learn the hard way that they must understand Chinese culture to appreciate its value. In a society where daughters and mothers have divergent life ideas, culture and tradition continue to clash.

Literacy has a rich background stemming from over 3000 years ago

Literacy has a rich background stemming from over 3000 years ago. It began, in its most basic form, as an oral form of expression growing into using written symbols to share information. Generally, literacy is defined as the ability to read and write (Hobbs). Literacy is however more complex than just reading and writing. It involves taking up -not a general source of knowledge as is commonly thought- but rather assimilating and creating one’s own culturally and societally available knowledge. From this definition, literacy becomes awfully situation-specific thereby derogating any power ascribed to attaining the knowledge of a specific culture and placing all cultures -and hence identities- on a singular plane. Although ideal, what is ideal? this is far from the reality in our greatly diverse yet paradoxically integrated society. Power, within this context, refers to the ability to influence and have authority over others whereas identity is the inherent and socially constructed view of oneself (Menge). Since identity is a social construct, it is greatly amenable to the environment one is exposed to. Due to numerous shifting and widening social constructs, certain cultures, and hence identities have developed a false but seemingly innate sense of a position of power as opposed to others. 

The three writers who? Full intros needed. express the correlation between literacy, identity and power in both divergent and convergent ways, from the perspective of minorities in a society. Finn doesn’t fit that description. Their views are not only relevant to the western world but to any society that experiences power inequalities due to ethnic and socio-economic status differences. It is clear from the three discourses essays, articles, texts, etc. a discourse is a larger entity. that literacy, power and identity are correlated with each one of them having an influence on the other. Literacy and identity are both victims of circumstance and causes of power imbalance in societies. Their relationship is hardly ever linear and easily solvable? Why do we want to solve a relationship? by a singular solution. Understanding their relationship from the unique perspectives of those most affected by it could help develop a multifaceted view and approach when solving the resultant inequalities in society.nice final point. Is that what the essays do? If so, say so.Right from the start, Mellix and Anzaldúa come out very strongly in expressing how their distinct dialects affect power relations both within and outside their own linguistic dialects. Good topic sentence.Mellix, an American woman of African descent, was forced through societal pressure to adopt the use of different dialects of English (Black English and Standard English) depending on who she was associating with (Mellixpage # not author name needed). In the essay, Mellix demonstrates the underlying power implications involved in the situational use of either dialect. She says that the use of Standard English served two purposes: when addressing white people, it served to show their knowledge of their language -to assert a sense of equality between their two cultures due to their knowledge of this “dominant dialect”. On the other hand, standard-English speaking blacks used “proper” English to show that they were better than black English speaking blacks whenever they were around them but resorted to a mix of the two in the absence of the black English speaking blacks (Mellix 262).

Anzaldúa, a south Texan Latina, laments about the tension Chicano speaking Latinas find themselves in where they not only have to prove the worth of their dialect to North-Americans but to fellow Latinas. Chicano Spanish, which evolved from other languages, is considered less than other dialects. The Chicanas, therefore, end up facing an identity crisis that is compounded even within their dialect.  In another instance, Anzaldúa noted that despite the Spanish community being the largest minority group in the USA, French rather than Spanish was advocated for teaching in schools due to its higher social status within society.

Evidently, the social status of different languages is a manmade construct that if unchecked resembles a consequence of natureyou are making many really strong points about these issues and this is one of them. Nice! . Logically speaking, no dialect on its own has more importance than the other since in and of itself it serves its purpose: conveying information, knowledge and ideas within a community. However, outside influences such as politics and economic factors place a false value on language bearing damaging consequences to minority groups in societies.

Both Mellix and Anzaldúa express how their dialects offered them a sense of family, belonging and a distinct identity. Mellix felt distanced when forced within the bounds of Standard English; which felt foreign as opposed to Black English (Mellix 261). It took her years of formal school training and mental restructuring in order to be able to express her whole self in a language she never considered her own but necessary to course through life.

Anzaldúa, described her people attaining their identity only when they had a name and a language that was wholly theirs (Anzaldúa 43). According to Finn’s review, one’s family has a direct bearing on which education system one eventually attends and consequently their future occupation –hence influence on society. Not only this, the education system which one attends ends up shaping their future identity. For example, in the essay, children in the working class schools ended up developing a rebellious streak as part of their identity (Finn 12).

A diverging point between the two essays, Anzaldúa feels ambivalent towards her own language and her culture whereas Mellix feels ambivalent towards the Standard English. Anzaldúa explains that despite feeling great pride and having a solidified sense of identity when she saw her language and its variants published, in films and in movies, she, together with other educated Chicanas, felt shame and alienated (Anzaldúa 41). She felt as if the two cultures within herself cancelled each other out leaving her null. One can sense that Anzaldúa is still battling it out within herself to find space for her identity within a society that shames her for it. On the other hand Mellix feels ambivalent towards Standard English. She senses that she both needs and dislikes it despite the power it accords her (Mellix 260).

People of minority groups within any society always have to go out of their way to accommodate the groups with societal power. A study by Steele et al. assessing how stereotypes affect performance of African Americans showed that African Americans performed poorer when under the threat of possible stereotyping (Claude Steele 123). Minority groups existing in environments where the actions of others directly or indirectly insinuate their inferiority with regards to their ethnic background may end up having a skewed identity of themselves or low intrinsic self-worth. This trickles down to how they respond to people in authority and how authority itself responds to them and their needs.

The two authors, Mellix and Finn, present two different ideas concerning identity and power that end up converging on the impact of the school systems. Teachers in Mellix’s school, which was a predominantly black school, taught Standard English using Black English. The irony of it all was not lost on Mellix. Teachers would reprimand black-English speakers with the thought that they would not be able to get jobs speaking Black-English.

On the other hand, Finn introduces the idea of social class and its influence within the school systems, identity and power. Finn reviews a study by Anyon that showed that the school system, and hence quality of education received, differed among different social structures. He demonstrated the far reaching effects of the school system and its influence on the path children take in the future. Children from higher social class families attended school that primed them to be leaders of the future (bear power) whereas those from, say, working class school who are disadvantaged because of either poverty or cultural reasons attend schools that prime them to work routine jobs. Finn indirectly presents the facts that oppose a common notion that children from poor backgrounds are less literate. We could now argue that children from poor backgrounds attend sub-standard schools as compared to children from affluent families. This goes to show that the problem is systemic rather than natural. To a lesser extent, Anzaldúa’s essay addresses the impact of the school system on literacy, power and identity. She points out that Chicano students within the USA were offered speech classes in order to get rid of their accents

 

Whereas Finn uses persuasive writing style both Mellix’s and Anzaldúa’s essays read like descriptive essays. Finn’s persuasive writing uses the existing body of knowledge concerning the influences of social class on the school systems to demonstrate the consequent inequity in literacy levels, power and the impact on identity. Mellix gives us an account of her story as in a memoir. This makes her story resonate with the reader because of the personalized approach it uses. Although Anzaldúa also uses a descriptive style, the essay is routinely punctuated with poetry in efforts of describing the importance of diversity in dialect and the current plights encountered.

Mellix takes the reader through a tumultuous journey of finding her voice within a language that is not inherently hers. She explores how her identity was intertwined with her form of expression and what it took for her to find a new identity and use it in developing literacy in forthcoming generations. Anzaldúa’s use of poetry and Chicano Spanish is like pungent garlic within her prose narrative. It makes the point her story is trying to describe. Anzaldúa refuses to conform to the societies powerful and accommodate the majority groups in her writing. She forcefully takes the power that has been elusive to many like her by, using her own words, using her wild tongue. Finn talks as if to a reader seeking to understand the disparity between the various school systems in the USA. He presents the case and gives suitable evidence in order to convince the reader that social classes do indeed impact school systems.

Literacy, identity and power do not lie on a linear relationship within societies. They are all affected and affect each other with the aid of other outside influences. Having more voices from society that have felt their impact, rise up and speak up will be off benefit in determining their intricate interrelatedness and making meaningful steps towards reducing inequities in society.

Strong draft, Tashae. The middle is the strongest and is where the points are most specific and best integrated w/ documentation. These last paragraphs lack that, but this is a draft, so revision can easily fix that. In the first paragraphs, things can get pretty vague and wordy. Revise to make your excellent perspective more direct and thus more powerful. Let me know if you have any questions or wish to talk.

Literature Review on ornamentation of artwork

Literature Review

Contents

TOC o “1-3” h z u Mosaic PAGEREF _Toc378194653 h 3Fabric decoration PAGEREF _Toc378194654 h 4

Research shows that ornamentation of artwork adds value as well as, aesthetics; however this is mainly done by decorating the surfaces of the artwork using different motifs. The artwork includes decorating furniture, utensils and clothing. However, there is other ornamentation or artworks which mainly involve the body art. For example, in the past, the use skin was the major canvas for African expression for many years making ornamentation of artwork to become the source of interest for many Kenyans. Artwork ornamentation started gaining a strong foothold in the 1900s and from the anthropological research; it is evident that many cultures across the world are today using different forms of artworks as well as, ornamentation for different reasons (Gair, 2006).

Throughout the history of African culture, anthropologists noted that exploring ethnic motifs as well as, designs from the material culture of the Kenyan ethnic groups and utilizing them in ornamentation has become greater activity to the Kenyans people. Artwork and aesthetics ornamentation in Kenya can be examined in terms of the complexity required for creating and decrypting a work of art. As a result, the government of Kenya has proposed different laws for aesthetic complexity (Thomas, 2002). According to the first law of aesthetic complexity in Kenya, it is noted that too condensed encoding may make a decryption of a work of art impossible and is also perceived to be chaotic by the untrained mind, whereas too regular structures are perceived as monotonous, too orderly and not very stimulating. Thus a necessary condition for an artistic form or design to appear appealing is its complexity to lie within a bracket between monotony and chaos. According to the second law of aesthetic complexity, due to human predisposition, this bracket is invariably based on natural forms; with rather limited plasticity. The third law of aesthetic complexity states that aesthetic complexity trends are dominated by the available resources, and thus also by cost and scarcity.

Several strategies on the other hand have been applied to increase the aesthetic complexity and artistic expression virtual universes. The human mind seems to be able to recognize automation in pattern creation, and often resents too simple schemes. Presently, there are different motifs and designs in Kenyan. The designs include the use of paints, mosaic, fabric decoration, body artwork and many others. Painting in artworks use color pigment such as paints on distinctive surfaces. Painting allows artists to creatively decorate surfaces so as to make then appear like a different image without altering the actual image (Thomas, 2002). For example, “Rock paintings were believed to be the first painted works of art mostly done by the cave people. They painted using their fingers and soft colored clay on rock surfaces following examples of claw marks made by animals. Clearly, then, a well-known ideal source of paint material used on rocks came from colored soils obtained from organic or living matter as well as, inorganic (Baker, 2007).

The study carried out notes that, “red” paints were obtained from “iron oxide, black paints were executed from inorganic compounds such as manganese dioxide, as well as pine carbons. Therefore, the paints used by creative artists to produce painting artworks were also obtained by mixing ground color pigments and they may be added with various types of cohesive substances such as gum to bind them on a planned surface (Harrison, 2001). The various paint pigments have different mixing properties and they require diverse types of binders to transform them into workable tools. Painting is significant because it embellish o an artwork. Painting attaches our daily life to the aesthetics of colors. Conversely, through painting artists attain imitated creative styles to supplement with their attained skills of color use. Painting on the other hand can be used as a medium for sharpening a learner’s logical reasoning (Thomas, 2002).

As well as to discover the life and art of greatest painters as well as past events. Most artisans paint to review and to practice their theoretical knowledge of colors, and during critiques, painting artists acquires shared knowledge about techniques and colors.

MosaicIt is evident that ethnic motifs and designs derived from material culture can as well be utilized in ornamentation. For instance, the ornamentation of pieces of art work is significant in adding the value to the item and improves the quality and aesthetics. As a result, using of motifs that are derived from the material culture of our Kenyan ethnic groups will greatly help in preserving the culture and heritage of different communities (Baker, 2007). However, this can only be done by utilizing the motifs in ornamenting an individual artwork. Today, most Kenyans decorate their ornaments using mosaic. A mosaic is a type of artwork that can be made by arranging small colored pieces of hard materials like glass, stone and tiles to create a beautiful decorative pattern (Thomas, 2002). The history of mosaic art (2008) tells us that “mosaic history goes back some 4,000 years or more, with the use ofterracotta cones pushed point-first into a background to give decorations.” From this we can understand that any hard surface can provide a base for a mosaic artwork so long as it is firm, free from moisture and grease or liquids (Baker, 2007).

According to research, by the eighth century there were pebble pavements with different unstructured decorations of coloured stones used for creating patterns by the Greeks. These mosaic artworks were used for various purposes like making elaborate decorations in worship places especially churches, surfacing roads, house floor, walls, decorative utensils and furniture (Harrison, 2001).

Other creative artists who do mosaic use recycled materials from broken coloured pieces of terracotta carefully selected from earthenware of a kind like glass, pottery as well as tiles. Mosaic artworks are created in different ways, some display shapes of precise geometric patterns, while other are arranged almost randomly to display or show scenes of people and animals. In other words, there is no right or wrong choice for making mosaics artworks (Gair, 2006). This type of motif design has a great impact on contemporary art and the ornamentation skills on the designers and artisans.

Fabric decorationToday, fabric decoration as a type of motifs and designs are currently used for ornamentation in the Kenyan contemporary art. Fabric decoration is the art of embellishing cloth or fabric for pleasant appearances. Other artistic define “fabric design/decoration” as “the patterning of an essentially plain fabric to render it more appealing or to serve a particular purpose.” Hence, the designer of fabric decoration should not only be given the fundamental skills of depicting creative and artistic enhancements on the surface of a fabric for various intended aims, but they can as well learn about altering fabrics by sewing, given that this can also be an approach typically used to decorate fabrics. Other methods of fabric decoration include dyeing, bleaching, starching, waxing, printing and sewing (Harrison, 2001).

In Kenya, the antiquities or ancient past of fabrics starts from tribal people such as the Nilotes, Cushites and Bantus who used bark cloth for clothing, interior decorations, protection from bad weather by covering their naked bodies and very many other purposes (Gair, 2006). It has also been speculated in Kenya that the direct trade relations between the Indians living in Kenya and the people living in Western Kenya has resulted in the cross-cultural transfer of ideas and skills in fabric decoration, which later translated into the patterning of bark-cloth, initially exclusively, for royal usage.” This for many years has presented the value of promoting cross-cultural understanding by the people who used bark cloth. It also led to the discovery of more ways of decorating fabrics, which most Kenyans wear today for distinctive purposes. Literally, some sources suggest that decorated bark cloth existed in other parts of Africa (Baker, 2007).

References

Baker, G. (2007). The artwork caught by the tail: Francis Picabia and Dada in Paris. London: MIT Press.

Gair, A. (2006). Artist’s manual: a complete guide to painting and drawing materials and techniques. London: Chronicle Books.Harrison, H. (2001). Painting shapes and edges: give depth, clarity and form to your artwork. New York: North Light Books.

Herskovic, M. (2003). American abstract expressionism of the 1950s: an illustrated survey with artists’ statements, artwork and biographies. London: New York School Press.

Thomas, T. (2002). Artwork by Tona Thomas. London: U.S. Dept. of the Interior, Indian Arts and Crafts Board, Sioux Indian Museum and Crafts Center.

Literature review fraud and corruption prevention strategies

Literature review: fraud and corruption prevention strategies

According to the available literature, the following processes have inherent risk of fraud and corruption: provision of medical by medical personnel, human resource management, procurement of drugs and supplies, distribution and prescription of medicine, budgeting and pricing and regulatory parameters. The available literature concur that fraud and corruption negatively impact the economy. Besides limiting economic growth, fraud and corruption affects access of patient care. The negative of fraud and corruption in a healthcare system are well described by Sparrow (2008) who observes that such unethical practices could even lead to reduced utilization of public facilities. According to Rothstein (2011) this is already a reality in the developing countries where patients visiting private clinics rather than government-run hospitals. In such countries, fraud and corruption has also affected the government choices on how to invest revenue, with corrupt government opting to invest in construction in healthcare facilities in order to extract bribes from the contractors.

There is also a feeling that among the researchers that fraud and corruption impairs trade, deters and diverts government spending away from public goods such as education and health. According to Miller, Roberts and Spence (2005) a lot resources are channeled towards personal uses and in the end the health care system could be collapse. The available literature has investigated the factors that encourage fraud and corruption in a work place. According to Johnston (2005) one of the common causes of fraud and corruption is poor working environment. Johnston (2005) further observes that workers need to be motivated to accomplish their assigned responsibilities. Menzel (2005) further suggests that fraud and corruption are encouraged by workplace pressures, dissatisfaction, perceived workplace unfairness and cultural tolerance of corruption. On his part Graaf (2007) believes that fraud and corruption are supported by lack of effective organizational structures and systems. Consequently, there is need to ensure, appropriate policies, procedures and systems are put into place.

A number of solutions have been suggested to fight fraud and corruption in the healthcare sector, including the use of detection systems. In the health-care context, three types of fraud exist: provider fraud, consumer fraud and payer fraud. Maureen (2007) observes that the health sector is prone to fraud and corruption due to a number of reasons. Firstly, there exist imbalances of information and an inelastic demand for services. For this reason you find that the medical practitioners take advantage of the ignorant patients by recommending unnecessary treatments which they then claim reimbursements for. Secondly, public sector is prone to low-productivity and efficiency due to lack of competition and external accountability. This is a serious problem at NHS where organizational processes have not kept up with its structural changes. As a result, the employees are not responsive to the patients’ needs. Most importantly, in the public sector its becomes difficult to embrace the modern management practices such increased managerial discretion and local decision making and as such the employees may feel de-motivated. The sections below examine strategies that can discourage fraud and corruption and suggests ways in which they can be adopted at the NHS.

5.1 Promoting an anti-fraud culture

Two approaches are used in strengthening the anti-fraud culture: changing the beliefs, attitudes and the norms of the employees and improving the internal control and developing compliance systems. Compliance systems encourage the employees to comply with the applicable laws, regulations and standards. However, to encourage an anti-fraud culture in the organization will require deep commitment of both the management and the employees. The available literature concur that implementing a change initiative in an organization is not only resource-intensive but could be jeopardized by resistance from the employees. In this regard, the NHS should initiate an ambitious training program on how to detect fraud and its effects in the society. For successful implementation of such a program, the government should allocate enough funds. The management should consider restructuring the reward system and recognize the efforts of the whistle blowers.

5.2 Strengthening the legal framework

Some of the countries have developed anti-bribery laws to prevent and a perfect example is the USA Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and the UK Anti-Bribery Act. According to these laws have in health sector prosecutions and as such should continue to be used. According to Gorsky (2008) having an appropriate legal framework plays an important role in raising awareness and deterring fraud and corruption by prosecuting and imposing penalties. The 1998 Public Interest Disclosure Act does not incentivize third parties to volunteer fraud-related information to the fraud investigators. Consequently, an appropriate legal framework should be established, and the government should increase the punitive measures taken against false claimants. The UK government should emulate the American legal framework which has an effective law- the False Claims Act- and adequately resourced teams to negotiate with the offenders. Under the Deferred Prosecution Agreements, the teams can recommend additional monitoring, introduction of reforms or accept pay compensation in return for non-prosecution.

5.3 Human resource management

It is widely accepted that poor remuneration is one of the risk factors for fraud and corruption. It is also widely acknowledged that paying employees competitive salaries can act against fraud. While adhering to these practices, the NHS should as well emphasize on ethical training of all workers in the health system. It is also worth pointing out that the number of the in-house specialists in NHS bodies is very low; hence need to employ more of them to reduce incidences of fraud and corruption. The managers in the health care sector work with the suppliers, contractors and other private sector partners. Owing to this fact, it is increasingly vital to educate them about managing contractor relationships. It will be very important to re-train the health-care managers on contractual management and procurement.

A key component of fraud prevention is having good prosecutorial capabilities. Unfortunately, the current NHS counter-fraud infrastructure does not enough capability to deal with potential fraud by major corporations. More over, the major suppliers have vast resources to defend themselves against criminal and civil actions. Just to illustrate, a case brought against the Icelandic Bank collapsed due to lack of quality lawyers and inadequate resources. Consequently, the government should allocate more financial resources to the NHS for the improvement of investigative and prosecutorial capabilities.

5.4 Adoption of IT

Information and communications technologies are effective in promoting transparency and public accountability. At the time, ICT increases operational efficiency and improves internal governance. In this regard, adoption of the EMR can reduce opportunities for manipulation and cover-ups. The HNS should also consider investing more in:

Anomaly detection systems. Such systems are easier to implement, and have been found to be effective in detecting unknown patterns of fraud

Social networking analysis and multiple-entity fraud system (Barber, Bonnet & Bekedam, 2004). This system is effective in detecting large volumes of seemingly unrelated claims. However, installing such systems is effort and time-intensive.

Integrated case management systems and empirically based tools.

With the growing complexity in fraud-related crimes, it becomes necessary to acquire equally sophisticated fraud and abuse detection techniques.

5.5 Citizen engagement and stakeholder participation

According to Soeters and Griffiths (2003) citizens can play an important in the prevention of fraud and corruption in the heath sector. More so, the media and community groups can provide the necessary oversight to encourage ethical practices in the health sectors. The NHS also needs to actively engage the public to improve trust and reduce inaccurate perceptions of corruption. Most importantly, the NHS should invest more resources in educating the public about the negative effects of fraud and corruption. While NHS could use the mass media for its outreach, it could also consider adopting social media platforms and community-based organizations. That way, the organization can avoid the high costs of advertising, and ensure the funds are utilized in more profitable ventures.

Comparative analysis

The American health care system is highly contracted out and majority of the services are reimbursed on a fee-for-service basis. The medical practitioners have a high propensity to misuse the current system, and they have been given undue authority of determining the appropriate levels of care. Just like in the UK system, the providers and the medical practitioners are in a position to submit false or inflated bills. Falsification of claims is encouraged by the automation of the payment systems. Lack of human scrutiny, means a bulk of the payments is done electronically and on trust. The NHS can learn from the American experience by using a broader range of controls, and by the establishing whistleblower statutes. Under the American system, the whistleblowers receive a share of any eventual settlement and this has been a powerful tooling tackling healthcare fraud and corruption.

References

Owen, J. (2011). Fraud by staff and patients cost NHS £3bn a year. The independent, 12, 13

Pollock, A. (2004). NHS plc: the privatization of our healthcare. Verso

Rashidian, A., Joudaki, H., & Vian, T. (2012). No Evidence of the Effect of the Interventions to Combat Health Care Fraud and Abuse: A Systematic Review of Literature. PLoS ONE, 7(8), 41988.Rivett, G. (1998). From Cradle to Grave: 50 years of the NHS. Kings Fund

Rothstein, B. (2011). The Quality of Government: corruption, social trust and inequality in international perspective. University of Chicago Press Chicago

Soeters, R. & Griffiths, F. (2003). Improving government health services through contract

management: a case from Cambodia. Health Policy and Planning 18(1), 67-71

Literature Review Research Matrix

Literature Review Research MatrixPlease note that the first row of data is meant as an example. Please read the example article (Garriott, Hudyma, Keene, & Santiago, 2015) as a guide for how to dissect each article assigned.

Reference Main Themes/Constructs Research Questions Theoretical Framework or Model Population & Sample description & “N=” Methodology and Design Summary of Findings

Garriott, P. O., Hudyma, A., Keene, C., & Santiago, D. (2015). Social cognitive predictors of first and non-first-generation college students’ academic and life satisfaction. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 62(2), 253–263. doi: https://doi.org/10.1037/cou0000066 Academic Progress, academic satisfaction, college outcome expectations, college life efficacy, environmental supports, life satisfaction, positive affect. What are the predictors of students’ academic and life satisfaction? Lent’s model of normative well-being. N=414

Students from two 4-year universities. Quantitative, Quasi-Experimental, Multiple Measures. Results suggested the hypothesized model provided an adequate fit to the data while hypothesized relationships in the model were partially supported. Environmental supports predicted college self-efficacy, college outcome expectations, and academic satisfaction. Furthermore, college self-efficacy predicted academic progress while college outcome expectations predicted academic satisfaction. Academic satisfaction, but not academic progress predicted life satisfaction.

Adams, T. L., & McBrayer, J. S. (2020). “The lived experiences of first-generation college students of color integrating into the institutional culture of a predominantly white institution.”

http://library.capella.edu/login?qurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.proquest.com%2Fscholarly-journals%2Flived-experiences-first-generation-college%2Fdocview%2F2394539724%2Fse-2%3Faccountid%3D27965First-Generation, College Students, Culture, Integration, Students of Color, Predominantly White Institution (PWI), Phenomenological Qualitative Research Design How do first-generation college students of color experience college at a PWI? No framework or model used No specific number of participants .

Currently enrolled first-generation college students of color Qualitative research design; phenomenological qualitative approach The findings supported the literature in that first-generation college students share a common set of challenges, such as being more likely to come from low-income families, identify as a racial minority, are less prepared academically for college, report more feelings of marginalization, and experience greater cultural difficulties and participants in this study expressed these same experiences.

Another finding is that participants value the relationships and connections they have formed at the institution, they raved about the quality of the education they were receiving, they were thankful for the opportunity to receive a higher education from a well-known institution, and they all expected to graduate from the university.

There was insinuation that the campus was segregated as a whole, but as well as among peers within their own race and ethnic group

Deng X. &, Yang Z. (2021). “Digital proficiency and psychological well-being in online learning: Experiences of first-generation college students and their peers.”

http://library.capella.edu/login?qurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.proquest.com%2Fscholarly-journals%2Fdigital-proficiency-psychological-well-being%2Fdocview%2F2544936308%2Fse-2%3Faccountid%3D27965Digital proficiency; psychological well-being; college students; information and communication technology; quantitative analysis; COVID-19 (1) How does digital proficiency explain the psychological well-being of first-generation college students and their counterparts?

(2) How do individual background factors explain the psychological well-being of first-generation college students and their counterparts? No framework or model used N = 309

The participants of this study were undergraduate and graduate students at a Business College at a four-year urban, public university on the west coast of the United States.  Surveys Study findings suggest that developing and strengthening college students’ digital proficiency is especially important for promoting their psychological well-being in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic when delivery of face-to-face instruction and physical classroom interactions are diminished.

Duran et al. (2020). “A critical quantitative analysis of students’ sense of belonging: Perspectives on race, generation status, and collegiate environments.”

http://library.capella.edu/login?qurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.proquest.com%2Fscholarly-journals%2Fcritical-quantitative-analysis-students-sense%2Fdocview%2F2396274639%2Fse-2%3Faccountid%3D27965 1. How does sense of belonging differ based on race, generation status, and the intersection of each?

2. What is the relationship between exposure to or participation in collegiate environments and sense of belonging?

3. How do collegiate environments relate to students’ sense of belonging when taking into consideration the intersection of race and college generation status? Astin’s input– environment–outcome (I-E-O) model N = 7,888

The 8 participating institutions were classified as doctoral universities with 1 of the private universities located in the Mideast, the other private university and 2 of the public universities in the Great Lakes region, 3 public universities in the Far West, and 1 public university located in New England Critical quantitative research; Survey  The study findings indicate that African American / Black collegians had significantly lower belonging

The study results also revealed the conditional effects of involvement and engagement on campus. Namely, continuing-generation African American / Black students did not experience the positive influence of cocurricular engagement on their belongingness compared to the entire sample.

Ellis et al. (2019). “Examining first-generation college student lived experiences with microaggressions and microaffirmations at a predominately white public research university.”

http://library.capella.edu/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=pdh&AN=2018-28120-001&site=ehost-live&scope=site Microaggression; Microaffirmation; First-generation college students; Lived experience; 1. How microaggressions shape the lived undergraduate experience of FGCS at a predominately White public research university

2. How communications and exchanges may empower and support the identities and experiences of undergraduate students who identify as an FGCS. Sue et al.’s microaggression framework N = 3,453

Enrolled undergraduate first-generation college students from the university Empirical Study; Qualitative Study; Quantitative Study The qualitative study revealed that FGCS experienced microaggressions and microaffirmations at a PWI, which shaped how FGCS felt connected to others on campus and dictated their decisions to engage with peers, faculty, and formal resources.

Literature Review Part 3 Sample Submission

Literature Review Part 3 Sample Submission

Name: Rolando Carol

Research Topic: Power Dynamics and Conformity

Caveman Outline

Paragraph 1: Topic Introduction

Gabbert, Memon, & Wright (2006)

Meade & Roediger (2006)

Paragraph 2: Why conform?

Define informational and normative influence

Campbell & Fairey (1989)

Gabbert, Memon, & Wright (2007)

Asch (1955)

Paragraph 3: Power

Define types of power

Keltner, Gruenfeld, & Anderson (2003)

Galinsky, Magee, Gruenfeld, Whitson, & Liljenquist (2008)

Paragraph 4: Power affects conformity

Brinol, Petty, Valle, Rucker, & Becerra (2007)

Eaton, Visser, Krosnick, & Anand (2009)

Morrison, Rothman, & Soll (2011)

Paragraph 5: Knowledge Gap

Skagerberg & Wright (2008)

Paragraph 6 (Final paragraph): Purpose, Design, and Hypothesis

Restate research purpose/goal

Design

Hypothesis

Middle Paragraph (Paragraph 4)

Most research on social power and conformity suggests that those in powerful positions should be more resistant to social influence than those in less powerful positions. Research on social power and persuasion, for example, has shown that power can validate an individual’s existing views (Brinol, Petty, Valle, Rucker, & Becerra, 2007) and is associated with endorsing resoluteness and resisting attitude change (Eaton, Visser, Krosnick, & Anand, 2009). Power may be an impediment to experiencing empathy (Galinsky,Magee, Inesi, & Gruenfeld, 2006) and increases the psychological distance that one feels from others (Smith & Trope,2006) while motivating one to act in accordance with one’s own disposition or attitudes (e.g., Chen, Lee-Chai, & Bargh,2001; Galinsky, Gruenfeld, & Magee, 2003; Galinsky et al.,2008). Finally, powerful individuals have been shown to perceive less need for input from others, even when advice could help them perform better (See, Morrison, Rothman, & Soll, 2011). For these reasons, one would expect powerful individuals to exhibit less memory conformity than less powerful individuals.

Last Paragraph

The purpose of the present study is to investigate the effects of work place social power on memory conformity between dyads. Participant-actor pairs will first see 50 images on a computer screen. Next, they will be randomly assigned to one of three social power combinations: Manager-Subordinate, Subordinate-Manager, or Collaborator-Collaborator. After these role assignments, pairs will be tested on whether each of 100 images (50 old and 50 new) had or had not been shown previously. Actors will always respond before participants so we can measure participants’ memory conformity toward their partners. In line with prior findings on social power and memory conformity, I predict that subordinates will display significantly more memory conformity than both managers and collaborators.

Literature Review on Underlying Causes That Can Create a Serial Killer

Literature Review on Underlying Causes That Can Create a Serial Killer

Sayrey-Sothea El

University of Houston

Dr. Bravo

Serial killing or serial murder involves the murder of more than one person, usually with a “cooling off” period between the murders. These crimes usually have no apparent motive and involve strangers who are murdered over extended periods of time. The U.S. has a higher percentage of serial killers than any other country in the world, with nearly 25% of all serial killings worldwide taking place in America (Pace, 2019).

Based on FBI investigations, many serial killers suffer from a combination of personality disorders which are often inconspicuous. The three major categories of personality disorders include Paranoid, Schizoid, and Psychopathic. Many psychologists believe that serial killers fall into the last category. Psychopathy is a mental disorder in which a person has an antisocial, sadistic or psychopathic disposition with poor impulse control. A person who suffers from a form of psychopathy may display superficial charm and intelligence while hiding deep-rooted problems with their behavior and emotions. According to the FBI Behavioural Science Unit, serial killers have an innate ability to manipulate others, give them someone to talk to, and trust them with sensitive information.

Serial killing is one of the most complex and challenging forms of crime to investigate as there is rarely any forensic evidence left behind in cases that do not involve sexual assault or armed robbery; police rely heavily on knowledge about typical patterns to link cases together and identify likely suspects for questioning.

The standard theory is that serial killers share a long term obsession with violence, however few cases of serial homicide have been directly named as such, some of which include: John Reginald Halliday Christie (killed at least 12 people); Charlie Lyke (39 victims); Henry Lee Lucas and Ottis Toole (17 victims); Aileen Wuornos (7 victims) (Deepak & Ramdoss, 2021). Theories about the “Mackenzie painting” are based on the observation that all five of the known cases of serial homicide involve small town American males that were around 20-30 years old.

In the United States, there has been a slight increase in the number of serial killers since the mid-1990s. The increased publicity and media coverage of these cases may be responsible for this increase. Additionally, in areas that have experienced serial killings, such as the so-called ‘killing fields’ along Route 40 near Green River, Utah and Nevada, it has also become more likely that there will be a killer or killers available to police before any bodies are found.

The first notable US serial killer is usually considered to be H.H. Holmes, who killed 11 people over 18 months between 1896 and 1897 in Chicago. Holmes is also believed to have had a hand in the highly publicized murder of his own wife, who disappeared from the home the couple shared. Holmes was never tried for his crimes due to a hung jury, and later escaped from jail. He was eventually captured, confessed to his crimes and was hanged in Philadelphia on May 7, 1896.

The United States has produced many notable serial killers, including Richard Trenton Chase (“The Vampire of Sacramento”), David Berkowitz (“Son of Sam”), Patrick Kearney Mitchell (“The Milwaukee Monster”), Ted Bundy and Aileen Wuornos. Some killers have become infamous because of the gruesome circumstances of their crimes, the total number of victims, or the length of time during which they eluded capture. Others, such as those who have committed mass killings or those whose crimes have earned them a place in popular culture, are noted for their fame. Some serial killers have even been researched and written about to such an extent that they have become synonymous with murder itself. Theodore Robert Bundy is one example. He was a serial killer who was active in several states throughout the 1970s and confessed to killing thirty women. He once said that he could “go out and kill anybody between one day and six months from now.

One of the best-known cases involving a string of serial murders was that of Ed Gein. Gein was convicted and executed in 1957 for the murder of a total of two women and a teenage girl. He was known to have been obsessed with the concept of body parts, particularly skulls and femurs, which he would retain from his victims. Another local man, Driver Ed Kearney (a pharmacist) confessed to Gein that he had killed two women and an illegitimate son for insurance money, but later recanted the confession. Another man also confessed to killing several people in a similar way but later recanted as well.

Also of note is Ottis Toole who murdered five females in Florida between 1974-1976. Toole was a drifter who worked for victims and stole their money, jewelry, and personal effects. He kept the skull, skins, bones and hands of all five women. He was arrested in 1977 after police traced a stolen money order from one of his victims to his mother’s home in Fort Myers (Toates & Coschug-Toates, 2022).

Many serial killers move from area to area to find new victims. Some are quite organized in their efforts to find new victims or avoid being caught by the law. Some killers perform violent acts to attract their victims, while others choose a method of killing that is less personal. Most serial killers are male but women are also known to be serial killers and some have been sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole. We know what causes a person to become a serial killer but how many of these individuals will commit serious violence and murder? It’s estimated that there are around 400-500 active serial killers in the United States alone and they kill approximately 3000 people every year (Call, 2019). This number is based on the FBI definition which is any person who has killed three or more people within a year or killed one victim up to four times during the same time frame.

References

Call, C. (2019). Serial entertainment: A content analysis of 35 years of serial murder in film. Homicide studies, 23(4), 362-380.

Toates, F., & Coschug-Toates, O. (2022). Understanding Sexual Serial Killing. Cambridge University Press.

Deepak, S. A., & Ramdoss, S. (2021). The life-course theory of serial killing: A motivation model. International journal of offender therapy and comparative criminology, 65(13-14), 1446-1472.

Pace, A. N. (2019). Serial killers in popular media: A content analysis of sensationalism and support for capital punishment.

stress among secondary schools teachers in singapore

Literature Review on Stress faced by Secondary School Teachers in Singapore

Name

Course

Course Instructor

Date

Introduction

In the contemporary settings, stress has become a common element in the humans’ daily lives. Issues such as financial crisis, autocratic employers and work overload pose as examples of stress that one faces daily. The contemporary society is characterized by high reliance on industrialization and technology thus giving teachers a stressful period in their line of work. It is universally accepted that the modern society has placed a critical obligation on the teachers’ shoulders. The aforementioned statement is attributed to the fact that the society considers teachers as the entity responsible for molding students thus preparing them for the challenges presented by the world. Consequently, with all these responsibilities placed on teachers they are usually susceptible to suffer from stress. From the above statements one comes to a conclusion that teachers’ stress can be correlated to the negative exposure of emotions like anger and frustration while undertaking their daily tasks (Lambert & McCarthy, 2006). In accordance with the views highlighted by Child (2004) in his work, he opines that the commencement of multiple innovations in the school setting act as a stressor in the teachers’ lives. Factors incorporated into the school setting such as more administration and time consuming systems of assessment act as the leading causes of tension in teaching (Kyriacou, 2009). This review will highlight on several domains of stress in relation to secondary school teachers in Singapore and provide an efficient way of tackling the stress. The paper shall focus on one workshop and expound on it to reveal its beneficence to handling stress.

Icebreaker exercise

First and foremost an exercise termed as the ‘icebreaker’ has to be conducted for the effective highlighting and execution of the critical problem namely stress in secondary school teachers. This review supports the establishment of the training manual for the Stress Management and Relief for Teachers workshop. This training manual shall be implemented in Singapore for the mainstream secondary schools. The workshop will be executed as a 4 hour programme during the regular break in school terms. The Stress Management and Relief for Teachers workshop play a more important role than the mere issuance of techniques for relieving stress in the workplace. The adoption of the aforementioned training manual reveals a new framework for managing stress other than merely treating the symptoms related to the stress (Townsend & Avalos, 2007). The underpinning of the SMART workshop is emotional intelligence. Once an individual is able to manage the stress in the workplace it acts as an advantage to the worker, since they increase their output (Menlo, 2009).

What is stress?

The first act in the complex process of better management of stress involves the effective identification of stress in the workplace (Keeves & Watanabe, 2003). The term stress is derived from the Latin language (strictus) to depict strictness. Stress has managed to become part of every individual’s daily communication and conversation. According to Selye (1974) stress is correlated to the pace of an individual’s life. With regard to the aforementioned statement anything horrible or interesting which is responsible for enhancing intensity in one’s life can affirmatively be responsible for stress. According to Hiebert there are three models of stress that one is to consider when highlighting the issues on stress. The first consideration is the environmental model also referred to as the stimulus event. Secondly, is the individual’s response and the final aspect is the boundary between the environs and the individual.

The Stressors

Generally, stress is discussed in a negative context and yet it can also possess positive values. Stress can be considered as a potential opportunity when it offers several potential achievements. According to Robert and other authors (2004) he expounds on a term referred to as ‘Eustress’. In simple terms Eustress is any form of stress which bears positive outcomes. Other authors opined that stressors may manifest themselves in environmental form. Under this domain the stressors which are environmental factors are responsible for accruing stress in an individual’s workplace. Generally, there are prerequisites to a teacher or any other worker experiencing stress reaction (Li & Hong Kong Institute of Educational Research, 2008). The stressors are further categorized into four distinct categories namely; organizational level stressors, group level stressors, individual level stressors and extra organizational stressors (cite). The impact the stressors have on individuals vary, with some having positive effects (self-motivation) while others having the negative or counterproductive effects.

All over Singapore, teachers are subjected to long working hours and to top it up there is no guaranteed job security. It is also evident that the nature of the job is transforming, the requirements of the employers and education ministry also changing thus leading to a highly competitive work domain. Due to the aforementioned facts the job is becoming more complex thus creating stress to the teachers. When a teacher strives to attain the required experience and the subjection to the current working environment, the individual is susceptible to suffer from stress. In turn this sort of stress adversely affects the teacher by causing physical problems to the individual, for example cancer (Price, 1970).

Why be concerned with stress?

It is universally accepted that stress experienced at the workplace acts as a source of multiple problems in a human’s circulatory system. This can lead to serious heart problems, for example heart attacks (Boey, 2010). Ultimately, when an individual is subjected to stress his/her body experiences adverse effects of the stress. The SMART workshop adopts both the overt and covert tendencies of individuals in the process of eliminating stress in the workplace. This strategy is developed to tackle the specific stressful situations that have been mentioned by the teachers. The workshop’s focal points are two conventional tactics to stress management namely; a psychological practice intended to highlight the negative perceptions attributed to stress and another psychological practice which reduces the physical level of stress thus aiming to eradicate stress mentally and physically.

In the psychological context, the key to coping is not found in the stressor but rather the coping mechanism (Kyriacou, 2000). The aforementioned author has the belief that it is the actual stress assessment and managing manner that has an impact on the magnitude of the reaction of the stressful impetuses. The SMART workshop accommodates cognitive restructuring practices to aid individuals to manage the stress through altering their stress evaluation and perception of stress induced acts (Palmer & Cooper, 2010). The process of cognitive restructuring involves the attainment of cognizance of any form of cognitive distortions and negative thought practices, challenging the detrimental thoughts and replacing them with more beneficial habits (Varvogli,& Darviri, 2011).

The SMART workshop’s psychological strategy is based on the ‘Relaxation Response’. This strategy is easy to learn since it is made up of abridged meditative stress interpolation mechanism developed by Benson (a Harvard physician). Previous application of the ‘Relaxation Response’ yielded positive results in reducing levels of stress of nurses in Taiwan (Tsai & Crockett, 1993).

After the actual implementation of the SMART workshop its generic core shifts from managing stress to improving an individual’s well-being (Emmett, 2008). Individuals who advocate for the well-being practice claim that the existence of positive evaluation and emotional states of employees tend to improve their quality of life and overall performance. Under such circumstances employees tend to have ‘optimal states’ which translate to happier and productive workers (Blömeke, 2013). Acording to Warr (1987), he asserts that there subsist five fundamental components that contribute to an individual’s mental well-being: namely, independence, aptitude, integrated operations, affective well-being and ambition.

Conclusion

In order for the successful advancement of quality of the education in Singapore, the state has to place its education system at the pinnacle of its priorities. The society considers teachers as the builders of the nation, thus the authorities should improve the working surroundings in the school settings.

References

Blömeke, S. (2013). Modeling and measuring competencies in higher education: Tasks andchallenges. Rotterdam: SensePublishers.

Boey, E. K. (2010). Teacher empowerment in secondary schools: A case study in Malaysia.München: Utz.

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Literature Review on Globalization

Literature Review on Globalization

 

Gillespie,B and Leflaive,X 2007, “Innovation, globalization and the environment”, OECD Observer,no.261,pp.38-40

Sachs,J 2010,”Globalisation in the era of environment crisis”, International Trade Forum, no.1,pp.7-10.

Globalization is a precedure of interaction and integration between the people, companies, and governments of different countries. This procedure has an impact on many aspects such as, the economy, politics and the environment. Thus, globalization has become a debatable issue recently; so much work has been done to date in order to identify the link between globalization and the environment.Two different articles reveal contrasting perspectives on globalization and the environment. Brendan Gillespie and Xavier Leflaive from the OECD Observer, in their article” Innovation globalization and the environment” examine the various viewpoints of globalization. While, Jeffrey Sachs, Professor of Health policy and Management of Columbia University and special adviser on the Millennium Development Goals to UN Secretary, offers a biased view of globalization. Both articles provide useful information to aid the readers to have better comprehension of this issue.

Gillespie and Leflaive emphasise that environmental solutions, while necessary for the planet, can also be a valuable part of international economic development. All countries must work together to achieve a positive result. The responsibility of initial action lies with OECD nations, as they have most contributed to this problem, and they can afford solutions to it. Those governments must encourage private enterprise, while monitoring their own activities for green credibility. They conclude by remarking on the difficulties of encouraging people to be environmentally responsible.

Jeffrey Sachs begins this essay by pointing out the huge damage that humans have done, and are doing, to the planet and its other inhabitants. Destruction of water sources and the atmosphere, and therefore food resources occurs. Demand for food and use of chemicals is now so great that it is destroying other species and soon will be unsustainable. Governments and people need, now, to agree on technologies for power, water and food.

The article by Gillespie and Leflaive Provides a useful insight into the impact of globalization and solutions for it. This article would appeal to scientists and politicians, who would find it rich in information. It is well researched because it has many references and they are reliable references for example, information is drawn from the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. In addition, the authors have divided their article into many sections and this might help the readers to follow the ideas more easily. Moreover, they have used relevant examples, such as, “hybrid cars are being marketed”, and “eco-friendly houses are being built”. (p.39). The well organised and range of the key points in the article make it easy for the readers to find crucial information. As globalization is a very significant topic in this era the authors make a few suggestions, for instance, people should recycle and switch lights off. Throughout, the article, the authors have achieved their purpose successfully. However, there are some aspects which have weakened the article. The first weakness is that the authors failed to list the names of OCED countries, it would have been better if they had listed them for more clarity. Another, weakness is the picture which was included, as it did not add any value to the article if there was a graph instead of the picture it may have made the article more understandable. The authors present irrelevant information about Europe without any clear purpose for it.

In contrast, Sachs’s article seeks to persuade readers that globalization has a negative impact on the environment, in other words the author has a narrow view of globalization. The writer has the authority to write in this field as he is a Special Adviser on the Millennium Development Goals to UN Secretary. Sachs warns of the risks of the globalization effect on the environment. He supports that by giving some examples such as, the effect on the ozone, the use of CFCs and the anthropogenic effect. In addition, the author coins a new term for example, “anthropocene”, however, the explanation of it is sufficient(p7).Sachs uses a number of technical words to explain the ideas in the article” fertilizer, chemical, nitrous oxide”(p9).Furthermore, the author’s evidence is reliable as quotes from the UN Frame- Work Convention on Climate Change. Overall, it is a comprehensible article and its ideas are clear and well organized. However, it would have been better if the author had explained the meaning of “chlorofluorocarbons” (p7). Readers who interested in gaining a broader understanding of globalization may notice the lack of references.

To sum up, whereas, Gillespie and Leflaive look broadly at globalization and the environment in terms of effects and solutions. Sachs focuses more narrowly and he has a pessimistic view of globalization. Both articles are relevant to the 21st century and the authors have achieved their purpose successfully. The two articles could be helpful for students or science enthusiasts who require a broad view of the controversial debate on globalization.