Oedipus and the Sphinx Essay Example for Free

Oedipus and the Sphinx Essay Know Thyself is sage advice. All Things in Moderation is also a wise saying. King Oedipus, subject of the most tragic story ever written, brought about his own downfall because of his excessive obsession to know himself. And, try as he might, the more he tried to escape his tragic Fate, the closer it got Thus, some say that the moral of the story is, Even if you try to thwart your destiny, you wont succeed. The concept of predestination plays a large role here. For example, if the gods know what will happen, and events are pre-ordained, how can people make free choices or have any semblance of free will? If the gods put challenges in our way that we fail to rise to, are we responsible for the consequences? Would knowing the future, as Oedipus does, cause us to act or behave any differently? The ancient scribe Sophocles wrote Oedipus the King (between 441-427 B.C.E.) for the annual festival where playwrights competed for prizes. These festivals were major civic occasions, with attendance expected of all noted writers. In his play Sophocles goes out of his way to present Oedipus as an extremely capable, beloved ruler. It should be noted that Sophocles never suggests that Oedipus has brought his destiny on himself by any ungodly pride (hubris) or tragic flaw (hamartia), common themes in Greek tragedies. Sophocles also makes a special effort to explain that Oedipus killed King Laius in self-defense, and a major theme in the tragic play is whether one can believe in oracles and seers. The title of the play, from which is derived the story, is often given in its Latin translation (Oedipus Rex), rather than in its original Greek (Oedipus Tyranneus), since the Greek term for king is the English tyrant, which means a monarch who rules without the consent of the people. THE TRAGEDY BEGINS Laius and his wife Jocasta (or Iocasta) were King and Queen of Thebes, a prosperous and famous city state in ancient Greece. King Laius, as many people did those days, consulted Apollos revered oracle of Delphi for advice and to find out what the future held for him. What the oracle announced shocked the royal couple The Delphic oracle said that the Kings son would grow up and kill him! To make matters worse, it was prophesized that the son would marry his mother and produce offspring by her. King Laius and Queen Jocasta were understandably aghast! A short time later Queen Jocasta became pregnant and gave birth to a darling little baby boy. Remembering with fear the oracle of Delphis words, the royal couple of Thebes had the infants feet pierced and tied together thats the meaning of the name Oedipus, swollen feet. (Myth Mans note: this mythical detail makes no sense. It must have been introduced to explain the heros name. (Hold everything, I stand corrected. Here is an informative note sent by reader Adam Johnston on July 1, 2011.) Hey there, Just thought Id let you know that the pointless mythical detail about Oedipus feet being pierced and tied together actually has dual function. It was to ensure that the baby would not survive when exposed to the wilderness. But, more importantly, it is a detail that helps him decipher the answer to the sphinxs riddle later in life. He is a crippled man who walks with a cane, and scholars see this as the assistance he needed to understand the part of the riddle regarding the 3 legs. Just thought you should know! ~Adam (Many thanks to Adam for taking time to bring this to my attention.) Laius and Jocasta knew that their baby son had to be destroyed, but they didnt have the heart to do so themselves. They instructed their most trusted slave to expose the hapless baby on Mount Cithaeron, a wild and beast-filled place where the infant surely would perish. In those days, it was usual to leave an unwanted or defective baby in the wilderness. However, the slave glanced down at the innocent child and took pity on it. Knowing that the royal couple of the nearby city state of Corinth was childless, and desperately desired a son, the slave left the crying infant, its feet still pierced and bound by a pin, in a place sure to be found. Sure enough, a kindly shepherd discovered the baby and brought the foundling for adoption to King Polibus and Queen Merope of Corinth. Oedipus was raised as a son by Polibus and Merope and grew to be a handsome, clever and brave young man, even though he walked with a slight limp from the wounds he suffered when his real parents pierced his feet. One day, while playing with his adolescent friends, he got into an argument with them. They insisted, as mean children sometimes do, that he was a fake son, and not the real child of Polibus and Merope. When Oedipus confronted his parents about this, they denied that he was adopted and swore that he was their legitimate child. They told Oedipus to forget what the mean kids had said, but now he was intrigued. To discover the truth for himself, Oedipus journeyed to Delphi and asked of the oracle, Who am I? The oracle, cryptic as always, replied: You are the man who will kill his father and breed children by his mother. Confused and devastated, the young man started to head back home. Nearing the crossroad, Oedipus decided never to return to Corinth and go to Thebes instead. He dearly loved his parents and thought that by never returning home he would keep them safe and thus overcome his Fate according to Apollos oracle. As he was approaching the crossroad between Delphi, Thebes and Corinth, distraught and deep in thought, Oedipus came upon an old man in a chariot, escorted by a few attendants. It was a narrow passage between two rocks and hard to navigate safely. The crabby old man in the chariot shouted: Get lost! Go away! Get off this road!, striking Oedipus with his long scepter. Adding further injury, the rude, regal old man ran over the young mans sore foot with his chariot wheel. Oedipus angrily grabbed the staff from his tormentors hands and hit him on the head, killing the old man. The same fate befell the attendants, who tried to attack and arrest Oedipus he valiantly fought and killed them too, save for one servant, who ran away in panic when the battle broke out. Hey, he just wanted to cross the narrow passage, thats all! Besides, Oedipus was simply defending himself, and he got there first! Little did Oedipus suspect that the old man he had just slain was his own father, and that the first part of the oracles prophecy had come true

Theories for Play and Learning in Childcare

Theories for Play and Learning in Childcare Introduction: Education is the backbone for any nation and children are future of a country. Proper education for children is very important for any children. But this education process must need to be productive and effective and designed in structured ways for prosperity of nation. To make education process effective through play and learning planners need to plan according to theoretical approaches practiced long time in play and learning. Not every child in a school or learning activity set is same. Some children are with special needs and need to be teaching carefully. Several types of assessment can be conduct to find out these children with special needs and teach them. Planning play and learning activities for children will be more productive by preparing them by consulting with parents and professionals. Finally results should be recorded for future uses with further education planning for a nation to be more developed. Wrong education in early stages can ruin the future of a child. So hi gh care, in designing early learning activities need to be taken for development of children and nation. Assessment criteria 1.1- Describe the development, over time, of theoretical approaches to play and learning. Several theories in play and learning have developed time to time but no theories were good enough to describe it. Many theories for development in educational practices for children are being used during 20th century. Important theories among them are maturational theory, behaviourist theory, psychoanalytic theory, constructivist theory, socio-historical theory, ecological theory, ecological theory, environmentalist theory and many others. Maturational Theory: This theory was developed by Arnold Gesell in 1925. This theory was developed, based on 3 assumptions, Development base is biological, Type of body, Ectomorph Endomorph Mesomorph Alternating between good and bad years. These assumptions are related with personality development that influenced teaching and reading method of children in mid nineteenth century. By this theory children were not ready for study until 6 years old mentally. Activities in school were developed for unready children to help them to be ready for reading. This process is still in practices known as preschool. Behaviourist Theory: Behaviourist theory was developed by Skinner and Bijou. This theory influenced special education programmes in schools. Its main theme is role of environment in children’s education and development. Teacher uses this theory for those who found with difficulties in on-going environment. Major objective of this theory was not left any children behind. Psychoanalytic Theory: From the very start of 1920 this theory was used for analysing behaviour disorder of children, developed by Freud. In this theory, play therapy was recommended for children accompanied by parents or children. This theory was very useful for children with special needs. Constructivist Theory: There are many constructivist theories, among them theory of Pia Get affects activities of classroom in 21st century. This theory focused on mathematical and logical knowledge of children via improving individual’s relationship rather than socially build knowledge. Socio-historical theory: Developed by Vygotsky in 1978 gave importance on socio-historical context of learning by teaching culture, language and literacy and involvement of adult persons in proximal development zone of a child. Proximal zone of development in children education concept affected learning and play greatly. Ecological System theory: This system stated that children’s learning capabilities are directly or indirectly get affected by their residence place. All macro, micro, meso and exo system of residing place affect a child’s temperament, activity, capability to learn and attention. Environmentalist Theory: This theory resembles ecological theory in some point. Follower of this theory believe that learning theory of children get shaped by environment they belongs to as natural response tendency of human to nature. This concept leads to the idea of developing schools, educators and most importantly families for proper learning of a child. Multiple Intelligence Theory: Developed by Gardner, this theory is influencing recent learning system. Main theme of this theory is to develop multiple types of problem solving abilities in children to develop them. Assessment criteria 1.2- Evaluate different philosophical approaches to play and learning. Philosophical approaches in play and learning are approaches taken by preschools to improve readiness of children. There are many of these approaches and some of them are evaluate below. Play based: Play based philosophy is program of school where children have the ability to choose activity according to their interest. This approach is also known as â€Å"child-centered† approach. In this philosophy, classroom is divided into various sections such as, science, kitchen, reading and many other reading related toys. Teachers let children to play. It seems that children are just playing but through playing they are building social communication skill, cooperation and getting interested in specific subject. This approach is one of the best philosophical approaches. Academic: It is designed with lots of activities for children. Opposite of play based where teacher guide children to do specific activities. Here children get prepared for reading. Teacher let children learn music, letters, shapes, colours etc. most of the parents think that this approach is best as their children are learning in a structured way but philosophers says that preschool stage is for learning social and communication skills. Montessori: This approach designed by Maria Montessori in Italy. This approach is play based with focus on academic activities. In this system children learn according to their pace. Teachers gathered them and design the classroom according to age. This helps younger to learn from older. This is a good approach as it’s based on play and learning both. Waldorf: This system increase children’s creativity in learning. Specific activities set according to time in weeks and ages of children where they can learn gardening, music, reading, singing, and acting. This system is a blend of creative learning and reading. They also learn other social skill in this system. Reggio Emilia: This system is designed to let children explore their learning capabilities. It was developed by Reggio Emilia in Italy. It is project based philosophy where students can learn according to their interest. Though, this system is good for aged children but not appropriate for younger children. Assessment criteria1.3- discuss on current influences on play and learning and the planning and provision of learning. Influencing factors Play and learning Planning and provision of learning Physical security In play and learning students do lots of activities and security program must be taken for them. Sometimes teachers may reject some activities where children might get physical injury. Social and emotional issues. Wrong social and emotional education ruins students’ ability in social skills and emotional feelings. Planners have to choose teacher with good social skills and emotional knowledge which is a tough task. Environment Environment of learning and play influence children ability to learn. Higher school authority has to ensure perfect environment for play and learning which is sometimes costly. Curriculum Curriculum leads children to further learning process after preschool. Wrong curriculum can kill valuable times and future of children so it must be designed with specialist. Parent and teacher role Better parental and teacher role can develop learning process and let a child learn hurry. Teacher role can be controlled by supervision but parent need to be counselled by school authority which increase cost and manpower. Assessment criteria 2.1- explain the use of observations to assess learning needs, consider how assessment based on observations can inform planning and respond to individual learning needs. Observation can be great uses to asses learning needs of a child. In this process a teacher observe children behaviour of academic learning, engagement in activities, interest, response to environment, continuity in interest, progress made by children etc. and record them. Parents can also children behaviour in their community. Systematic observation over time is better than one time observation. By observing several time it easy to know interaction of a child with activities and toys around him/ her. By documenting children behaviour, measuring children’s needs is easy. It allow to design further learning plan for children. For example 3 children playing with parts of aircraft toys and talking for much time help an observer to decide about children’s interest in airlines education along with their language, social and cognitive skills. Observer must be an unbiased person and avoid their personal interests and impression to assess needs of a child. Systematic observatio n should be; Happen several times over a time period. Designed to collect information about children from various types of sources including parents. Designed to collect information about children from various types of context. If teachers observe children they can know about the environment, curriculum, planning and strategies for teaching and can determine whether it need to be developed or not. Assessment criteria 2.2- discuss how information from other agencies can contribute to the assessment of learning needs. Information from other agencies can also contribute to the assessment of learning needs. It will help school to know about pros and cons of it. It enables a school to know perfectness of its progressing and needs. Information from other agencies also can be useful to know about of areas that need to be improved. It also informs about various types of different activities from other children in the community and can take precautionary system to avoid any wrong done in learning and play for future. Performances of other agencies also lead to motivation for teacher. Exchanging information between agencies can lead to amalgamation of agencies to work as safeguard for children and their learning. It can protect children from maltreatment, maintaining equality in children’s development, proper curriculum for learning process and take step that will help children to get the best outcomes. Professionals from agencies can analyse each other’s information to develop a much broade r and effective learning activities set or proper curriculum too. For example information from agency where only children with special need learn can be useful for children with special needs in another agency. These are some ways agencies information exchange can develop learning and play process of education for children. It is responsibility of agencies, authorities and parents in the community to work together to bring best outcomes of children for further national development through education. Assessment criteria 3.1- explain how to plan curriculum activities which promote learning. Curriculum activities are predesigned set of activities for learning of children step by step. Flawless curriculum can provide a child with best education he/ she needed and promote learning. Curriculum can be planned in various ways according to culture and social needs and experience of adults. But curriculum planned to promote learning must include following; The arts: Children need to be encouraged and stimulated by adult persons to reveal their thought, ideas and develop their creativity. Opportunity to share these ideas and thought via various types of arts such as writing, music, drama, dance, painting, design and other activities are very important. Language development: Language development is to improve children’s basic language skill and improve them to communicate with other. Language is the only media to share, gather and learn. So language development is a crucial part for development. Mathematical knowledge: Developing mathematical knowledge in early stage is important. Mathematical knowledge develops children’s logical skill and need for day to day life problem solving skill. Both indoors and outdoors activities should include this. Personal, social and emotional development: This is the utmost important education for children. This is about building their mental identity, values, norms, sustainable relationship, positive attitudes and finally for their well-being. Strong socio-personal and emotional development leads to success in other learning. Physical development: Physical play in outdoors or indoor develop physical strength and stamina of children and let them physically fit beside developing balance and body controlling and awareness about surroundings. Others thing need to be include in curriculum to promote learning are diversity, goals and objectives, routines, family involvement in learning process etc. Assessment criteria 3.2- assess the effectiveness of different approaches to planning learning opportunities. Whole school approach: Whole school approach is based on the idea that, every child has the ability to learn. Whole school practices is the method of diversified learning with high sets of measurement tool for achievements, learning and outcomes and teaching according to achievements of each students. This system includes behaviour support and learning support that need these. In a whole approach system teaching system s diversified with differentiate teaching style according to learners’ needs. Teachers teach here in 2 groups; focused teaching for student with normal achievement pace and intensives teaching for few students who need extra care. Integrated teaching approach: It’s a combination of play and learning guided by either elder person where adult people are intentionally involved with children in playing and learning or child directed play. Child directed play is learning process lead by children’s interest of exploring things. Children are able to learn by themselves but in this approach adults increase children’s learning by intentional engagement. Assessment criteria 3.3- consider methods of involving parents and other professional in reviewing assessments and plans. No specific methods are available of involving parents and other professional in reviewing assessments and plans. It happens in numerous ways. Professional and parents involvement in reviewing assessments helps to understand assessments results in a better way and to create more perfect plans for learning. Family centred system: Parents also can assess children’s behaviour and other activities. Observing only activities in school can’t provide better result. Children’s behaviour and interaction in society and community is important too, that can be assessed by parents and professionals in home. Working together: Another better way for parents, school and professional is to work together to assess behaviour of children and create plans for further learning. They can set standards for assessing by their experience and viewpoint and create plans. This assessment and planning method is more fruitful than any other. Communication: School authority also can communicate with parents and professional as needs to increase effectiveness of learning. Communicating them with assessment process and vital standards will bring proper result and plan. Advocacy and decision making: Advocacy by parents and professional in decision making process by using information from assessment can helpful too. School authority can take suggestion, guidelines and necessary step to make assessment and plans more successful. Community collaboration: Community collaboration by school with professional and parents can be great resulting methods. Collaboration with community let school and professional know more about activities and behaviour of children outside the school. That helps in assessment and planning. Assessment criteria 4.1- analyse the key issues in ensuring that assessment are objective and valid. Key principles for an assessment to be are validity, reliability, practicability and equitable and fair. Assessments procedures and process should be in standard way that can be reliable. Unbiased and regular practicability of assessment procedures is important also. These make an assessment objective. But to be valid there are 6 more key issues and they are, Content and standards: enough time should be taken to familiarise assessor with the units and their needs. This help to determine knowledge and skills need to assess. Create an assessment plan: assessment plan need to be created in this step. Considering learning stage of candidate along with assessment criteria. Choosing assessment method: it is very important issue. Method should be supportive to learning, capable of collecting evidence, providing chance for combination of assessment. Developing an assessment: assessment methods, standards and other criteria determined here. Determining acceptable evidence for the assessment: evidence of developing learning needs should be determine in this stage. Assessment criteria 4.2- reflect on the role of the practitioner in meeting children’s learning needs. Practitioner plays an important role in early learning of children with relevant curriculum. Practitioner must act properly and need to be productive to carry on their role to fulfil learning needs. Their roles are described below; Practitioners have to be capable of understanding curriculum for children education to implement them. They have to understand the importance of physical, intellectual, emotional and social knowledge needed for children. They should ensure security and value for every child equally without considering any discrimination. Practitioner and parents must have to work together to increase confidence of children. Practitioners have to help children to overcome their disadvantages. Positive relationship by practitioner with children and parents create an effective learning environment where children can feel safe and sound. Practitioner should engage children in different kinds of activities designed and lead by them. They need to be able to communicate with children appropriately. They need to take purposeful activity and proper intervention to engage children in learning process. At last, education to be productive and effective needs high care by practitioners. Conclusion: Various types of theoretical approaches used and being used in learning process of children. They were developed time to time and have effective influences in play and learning activities. Combining these theoretical approaches with philosophical approaches in play and learning can be more successful. These approaches affect play and learning and planning of play and learning. Observation method of assessment is one of the best methods to assess learning needs of children for future planning of learning. Information of other agencies is useful in case of planning developed learning plan. Play and learning activities in any school run according to a curriculum. A curriculum must be planned in ways that promote learning. Integrated approaches can be effective one to plan learning opportunities. Parents and professional involvements give different dimension to plan of play and learning. Their evaluation and opinion helps to develop a more productive and effective learning plan. For that , assessments of children need to be valid and objective and practitioners have to works perfectly for education of children needed to be effective in all sector of nation.

Background and history of intelligence testing

Background and history of intelligence testing The first intelligence test to be administered was in France in 1905 by Alfred Binet and Theophile Simon. The purpose of the first intelligence test was to identify mentally deficient children in French public Schools (Franklin 2007). Henry Goddard followed and, translated the intelligence test in 1910, and administered it to what he believed were four hundred children who lacked intellectuality and following year the number of students increased to two thousand white children considered normal. (Franklin 2007). In 1911 Goddard was to produce a range of scores that was to be compared to urban, native born foreign born, and others. Suggesting that children cannot learn beyond the scope of their grade of intelligence and was the first to suggest that intelligence tests measured the how much a child was capable of learning at a chronological age (Franklin 2007). Since these tests, an array of intelligence test has been administered to people in attempts to measure a person cognitive abi lity. Assessing students abilities through intelligence testing has questioned of the appropriateness of psychometric measures in regards to reliability and validity. Reliability regarding relies on consistency. For a test to be able to show consistency, error variance must be minimized. Test construction, test administration and test scoring and interpretation are the main three areas of error variance that can affect reliability (Cohen and Swerdilk 2010). It was argued , Simon Binets test needed to be revised in 1937 because the test originally administered in 1917 showed tasks not always as well chosen s those for ages from six to twelve and that upon retesting black students social scientist had shown that black students had received a higher intelligence score(Franklin 2007) . Regarding validity, in the early 1920s black social scientists debated what intelligence testing was measuring. Validity should be psychometrically sound to avoid test bias. Howard Longs research shows the Armys Alpha and Beta test yielded results that were greater in variation of individuals and groups within races than between races (Franklin 2007). Bond a director of Education at Langston University in Oklahoma also agreed explaining that the army intelligence score were a reflection of social and environmental impacts rather than innate intellectual abilities of those tested (Franklin 2007). The Brisbane Catholic Education, concentrated on refugees that seemed to be misrepresented as having an intellectual disability. The argument is that the validity of standardized cognitive tests is not able to measure peoples intelligence from a different background and implying that psychometric instruments had not yet been developed in their country (Fraine and Mcdade). Tests that were stan dardized to certain background schooling experience, level and quality of education and conceptions of behavior test taking experience would affect certain groups if taken the intelligence test(Fraine and Mcdade). There has been problem in intelligence testing and psychometric properties in relation to non- linguistics intelligence testing. In a study results show that although the Ravens Progressive Matrices is supposed to be a culture fair IQ test people from English speaking backgrounds did much better scoring 96.71 that people from Zimbabwean sample that scored 72.36 (Shuttleworth-Edwards, Kemp, Rust, Muirhead, Hartman, and Radloff 2004). Fairness is also a concern when a person takes an intelligence test. Controlling reliability and validity of a intelligence test shows a sound measurement, fairness aims at explaining the test and if it is used in a justifiable way. African refugees have been described as intellectually disable upon Australian schools. The Brisbane Catholic Education in Australia believes refugees from African backgrounds are labeled intellectually disabled upon completing intelligence test and other assessment of consideration such language barriers, culture difference acculturation trauma and previous experiences make it harder for psychologists to assess whether an African American is genuinely intellectually disabled(Fraine and Mcdade). Similar findings displayed that social conditions and low-test scores were highly correlated when measuring mental ability (Franklin 2007). When testing non -linguistic most children scored in the normal range, however these children were black and placed in a sch ool that separated white children from black children (Franklin 2007). The aim of this study is to check for sound psychometric measurements and culture bias when comparing different groups and the intelligence test taken. It is hypothesized that The PSYGAT will show good internal consistency and validity when tested against the Queendom Verbal. It is hypothesizes that the PSYGAT will show low when tested against the culture fair test. The Queendom tests are a verbal and a culture fair IQ test that are believed to have psychometric properties. The PSYGAT is a intelligence verbal test that was created by third year undergraduate psychology students. The PSYGAT was correlated well with the ACER AL a test that was designed by the Australian Council for Education for testing verbal abilities. Method Participants The sample consisted of three hundred and thirty seven undergraduate psychology students recruited from Monash University. Participants were recruited from campuses located at Singapore, Malaysia, South Africa, Clayton, and Caulfield. Participants were split into English speaking background and non-English speaking backgrounds. There were two hundred and sixty females and sixty-eight males. Two hundred and forty four participants were from an English Speaking background and ninety-three participants were from a Non English Speaking background. Materials Participants engaged in taking three intelligence tests. The tests were to be taken in their own time under no supervision. Participants used the computer to complete the three intelligence tests. Just before beginning the PSYGAT intelligence test a questionnaire asked the participants of the sex age and whether they were from an English or non- English speaking background. All participants results would be analyzed at a later stage regarding item analysis. Procedure Undergraduate monash psychology students were asked to complete three intelligence tests that would be administered via computer. Firstly, every participant found access to a computer to participate in the first intelligence test. The first test that was taken was the Queendom Verbal IQ test. Participants attempted the three tests it in their own time and were told that the test should take them approximately 30-35 minutes to complete. After Participants finished the test, they were asked to make sure to keep a track of their score, as they needed the results for later purposes. The second test was the Queendom Culture Fair IQ test. The test involved answering 20 items that participants were told there was no time limits on this test. After completion of this test, participants kept a record of their score. The third test was the PSYGAT. The PSYGAT was a verbal test constructed by third year undergraduate students. Participants were also asked to complete this test as the third and l ast test. Before beginning, the test participants were asked to enter the scores of the Queendom verbal and Queendom culture fair IQ test before continuing to be tested on the PSYGAT verbal IQ test. The test also asked participants of their age and gender and if they were of English or from a Non English background. Results Pearsons r investigated the relationship between the PSYGAT test, Queendom verbal IQ and the Queendom culture fair IQ for English and non-English speaking backgrounds. Pearsons r showed that that there was a significant result according to the relationship of the PSYGAT and Queendom verbal in both the English speaking background group ,r=.433,n=244,p0.05 but a small significant relationship between the PSYGAT and the Queendom culture fair for the non English speaking background group , r=.238,n 93,p0.05. Z scores were also used to determine if there was a significant difference in validity coefficients between the two groups regarding the PSYGAT and Queendom verbal and the PSYGAT and culture fair IQ. Pearsons r-values were transformed into Z scores to determine a statistical significance of the correlations between groups. Pearsons r-values were also transformed into z scores because of participant difference for each group. Results show that there was not a statistical significant d ifference in validity coefficients between the English and non English speaking background of the correlation between the PSYGAT and the Queendom verbal IQ z=-1.39,p>0.05. However a large statistical significance was shown in the correlation between the PSYGAT and the culture fair IQ z=3.73, p> 0.05. Discussion The aim of this study was to check for sound psychometric measurments and culture bias when comparing different groups and the intelligence test taken. It was hypothesized that the PSYGAT and the Queendom verbal would show no statistical significance in validity coefficients between the English speaking groups and non-English speaking groups. It was also hypothesized that there would be a statistical significance in validity coefficient between the PSYGAT verbal and the Queendom culture fair. The study showed that there was weak validity regarding the PSYGAT and Culture Fair IQ tests. Although there was The results of the study-undertaken reveal that intelligence tests can show bias of different groups. These biases from this study can be related to lack of understanding cultural backgrounds as well as using relevant psychometric measures, which can be linked to low validity in intelligence tests. Bonds argument that social and environmental differences in groups can affect test scores are may suggest similarities within this study in regards to the social setting and environment of participants that took the test. The Intelligence and School Achievement of Negro Children also showed that social conditions were highly correlated with low-test score (Franklin 2007). The results from this study show a significant statistical result between groups for the PSYGAT and culture fair test suggesting that social and environmental differences upon taking the test could have caused bias. In addition, The Brisbane Catholic Education argues that psychologists assessing refugees for intellectual abilities may show bias in their assessment due to lack of proper interpretation (Fraine and Mcdade). That is background-schooling experience, level and quality of education and conceptions of behavior test taking experience can reduce a test score for a certain type of group (Fraine and Mcdade). Th is Study could have affected one group more than another because of such factors. Suggestion of having psychometric instruments that can measure intelligence scores for different types of groups should also be developed in both countries to reduce bias in regards to cultural differences. In this case, Intelligence tests need to have psychometric properties that can be valid for analyzing score between different groups Cohen and Swerdilk 2010). Similar findings were found when people from English speaking background and non-English speaking backgrounds were tested on their IQ. Results show that although the Ravens Progressive Matrices is supposed to be a culture fair IQ test people from English speaking backgrounds did much better scoring 96.71 that people from Zimbabwean sample that scored 72.36 (Shuttleworth-Edwards, Kemp, Rust, Muirhead, Hartman, and Radloff 2004). Zindi also suggests that lack of westernized test sophistication may be the cause for lower scores (Shuttleworth-Edwards, Kemp, Rust, Muirhead, Hartman, and Radloff 2004). This study may have contribu ted to some cultural bias in regards to scores because of one of the test may not have been up to standards in regards to psychometric measures regarding content validity. The limitations in this study could have affected the results. Firstly, the way the three tests were administered could have yielded different intelligence scores for both the groups. Supervising the test takers making sure that the tests were taken without any aid of books or other people could change the results, which could have yielded different interpretation of the validity of the tests. In addition, although there was good internal reliability between the groups the large difference in participants could have changed the chronbachs alpha to either a higher or a lower value. Participant range could have also affected the statistical difference between the groups when assessing the PSYGAT and culture fair IQ component of the study. In addition item analyses should also be investigated to check whether the items begin tested are fair to all participants taking the intelligence test. That is one question could portray more than one meaning to different participants taking the test . Cole suggests item analyses is a difficult task because one must ensure that the item being used is relevant in construct therefore affecting bias (Cole 1989).

A Comparison between To His Coy Mistress and Sonnet 116 Essays -- Andr

A Comparison between To His Coy Mistress and Sonnet 116 The poem "To His Coy Mistress" was written in the mid 17th century by Andrew Marvell, being written in this time Marvell's poem was unable to be published as its taboo content was unfavoured by the puritans in power at the time. Whereas "Sonnet 116" by William Shakespeare was written in the late 16th century, a time of liberation and freedom for the stage and literature. Both poems are similar in theme and yet different in approach, they both pursue the theme of love although Marvell in a satirical Carpe Diem love style whereas Shakespeare in a traditional sonnet style. "To His Coy Mistress" by Andrew Marvell is about a young mans attempts to lure a woman into bed the true theme of the poem being more lust than love, the poem is in fact a parody of Carpe Diem love poetry and critiques the approach of an over eager young lover. "Sonnet 116" takes a more serious approach to the theme of love addressing the concept of eternal love "love alters not with his brief hours and weeks, But bears it out even to the edge of doom". The voice of the two poems also changes dramatically with Marvell there is an eager young lover willing to change tactics often in order achieve his goal. The voice is fickle and immature it evokes little sympathy from the reader and has rather a comic tone to it, this comic tone is highlighted by the fact that the poem is written in an iambic rhythm with four heavy stresses generally a rhythm used for comic value as it short and snappy allowing just the right amount of time for punnery and wit this effect is backed up by the poems rhyming couplets generally a rhythm used for comic value as it has a light tone to it. Shakes... ...imself merely a victim in a constant struggle to keep righteousness alive and if winning is impossible then better to lose a lot than a little "Thus, though we cannot make our Sun Stand still, yet we will make him run.". Shakespeare also ends on a rhyming couplet though this modest couplet is to lighten the serious tone "If this be error and upon me proved, I never writ, nor no man ever loved." though Shakespeare stresses that unless love is timeless and priceless and infallible it is nonexistent for Shakespeare believes there are no half measures in love. I personally enjoyed both poems though I preferred William Shakespeare's "Sonnet 116" as I feel the more serious classic approach to love makes more enjoyable reading, although the comic approach of Andrew Marvell's "To His Coy Mistress" was entertaining it did become quite tedious after a while.

Down To Who? :: essays research papers

Down To Who?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Does the magic of young love ever stand a chance? Down to You tells the story of two college students who fall madly in love with one another after meeting in a crowded, college bar. Throughout their relationship, there are the usual ups and downs of first love. Trust, loyalty, and friendship are all big factors between Al (Freddie Prinze, Jr.) and Imogen (Julia Stiles). Their relationship matures over the years and their love is tested by time and temptation.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Al plays an unbelievably sympathetic role. He’s portrays the â€Å"perfect† boyfriend. He’s very cute, sensitive, caring and he’ll do just about anything for Imogen. Al is an aspiring chef. He has a good family background. Both of his parents are very loving and extremely supportive of his goal for being a chef. They also love Imogen. Imogen is very sympathetic in the beginning of the movie. She and Al hit it off from the moment they laid eyes on each other in that bar. She is a cheery, enthusiastic freshman that is out to have a good time. She is very into art and painting. Al is particularly impressed with Imogen’s artistic talent. She gets scared of their commitment after a summer vacation in France and their relationship gets a little rocky after that. The two have quite an array of interesting friends that give the plot more depth. Monk (Zak Orth) is a good friend of Al’s. He is a porn star that has lost all faith in love. He gives the movie somewhat of a comical twist. After he becomes famous with his adult entertainment career, he develops a Shakespearian way of talking. It sounds very archaic and much more educated. Since he doesn’t really believe in love, he tries to convince Al that love is simply illusion. Al’s other friend Hicks (Shawn Hatosy) is much less complex. He is an average college guy that is pretty much out to get girls. He says and does a lot of comical things throughout the movie. One of my favorite parts is when he is working out, and he has a new hairstyle called a â€Å"mullet†. That’s when hair is short on the top and sides, but long in the back. Al and Imogen’s love is constantly tested in the movie. Cyrus (Selma Blair) is one of Monk’s co-stars in his adult movies. She tried to seduce Al numerous times throughout the movie, but he was strong and persistent about telling Cyrus that he was in love with Imogen.

Fences vs. Oedipus Essay

The Importance of Fatherhood Fatherhood is important and is often taken for granted and not treated with the respect it deserves. In the plays Fences and Oedipus the King, Troy and Oedipus are affected by the lack of fatherhood. In Troy’s case, he fails to be a supportive father to his son, Cory, ultimately distancing himself from his family. As for Oedipus, he is cursed by the gods before his birth, due to his father, Laius, raping and kidnapping a young boy (Weineck). Although the situations of each play are different the need for fathers is very similar. This topic may not seem of much importance but fatherhood can truly affect a child or the actual father. Both of these plays seem to be affected by the past which leads to the fathers putting their problems on the shoulders of their child. Fathers play an important role in a child’s life. Not only are they seen as their rock, but also as their protection. This is especially important in a boy’s childhood. This is shown by the relationship of Troy and Cory. Although, Troy is always around in Cory’s youth, he never gives any support for what Cory does. This is proved when Cory has a chance to talk to a college recruiter about football, but Troy claims he has no future in sports and just needs to give it up and go get a job and start making money (Roberts 1046). This incident, along with other questionable actions, lead to the resentment of Troy, not only by Cory, but by the entire family. The other questionable action by Troy was him cheating on his wife with another woman. This event is what totally crushed his relationship with his family, whom now refused to give him any respect. With no respect for Troy, Cory one day makes a comment towards his father, which does not sit well with Troy. This comment soon turns into an argument which, leads to Cory picking up a bat and threatening Troy. Troy then takes the bat from Cory’s hands and knocks him down (Weales). At this point Troy can show his dominance towards Cory but instead tells him to leave (Roberts 1071). This not only shatters the relationship between Troy and Cory but it shows the carelessness of Troy towards his son. Throughout the rest of the play, when Cory is present, the resentment of Troy is shown. Cory even contemplates not attending Troy’s funeral because he was tired of living in the shadow of his father (Roberts 1074). The relationship of a father to his son is essential to not only the son’s maturation process, but also to the father and his livelihood. Troy and Cory make good examples for this, because after Cory left Troy was never the same and in the same light it can be said the Cory learned from his father. He learned how to not be like his father. Before Oedipus the King, we know that King Laius of Thebes commits a crime in which he is punished for raping and kidnapping a child from a different kingdom. For this crime Laius is cursed by the god, Apollo. The curse stated that Laius’s â€Å"first born son would murder his father then marry his mother†. Instead of Laius abstaining from marriage or sex to prevent this curse from occurring, he marries and has a son, Oedipus (Weineck). This stupidity of Laius begins the failure of his fatherhood. Laius has not only compromised his life but he has created a terrible situation for Oedipus when he is grown. This father and son relationship is not direct but the actions and carelessness of Laius ultimately affect Oedipus, which makes his life literally a living hell. Like in Fences Laius is careless about his son, like Troy. Although Oedipus is his father’s murderer, it is unknown if Oedipus intentionally killed Laius. It is actually said that he was defending himself, so it is hard to put any fault on the lack relationship with Laius (Roberts 786). This lack of relationship also can be said to have led to the downfall of Oedipus. This is because when Oedipus find that he has murdered his father and married his mother he exiles himself. It can be said that if Laius had not impregnated Jocasta, or had he killed Oedipus as an infant, this terrible fate would never had happened. Laius could have also raised Oedipus and created a positive relationship between the two which could have prevented this situation. This relationship between Laius and Oedipus was flawed from before the birth of Oedipus resulting in the horrific fate that Oedipus experienced. This flawed relationship can be argued to have had no chance but it can be seen that at the end of the play Oedipus is affected by the knowing of murdering his father. The difference in Oedipus’s relationship with his father compared to normal father/son relationships was that he never really knew he had a relationship with his father, but all along it was his faulty relationship with Laius that cursed Oedipus in the first place. Although these two plays are very different in time periods, the basic buildup of each play is very similar. Father’s and son’s is a way these two plays connected very well. Laius and Troy perform a very careless fatherhood whereas Oedipus and Cory are helpless and cannot defy what their fathers do or have done. Cory, out of respect for his father, cannot do the thing he wanted to do such as, football, and this resulted in the broken relationship between Cory and Troy. This is comparable to Oedipus, in a way, because he was unable to defy the curse of the gods on his father which also leads to a broken relationship with Laius. These plays at first glance have nothing in common but when broken down they truly have a similarity in the importance of a father.

Coca Cola: Another Advertising Hit

When you think of Coca Cola what comes to your mind? It wouldn’t be surprising if you thought first of Coke ads. In the history of advertising perhaps no other company has had such a strong and continuous impact on society through advertising. Not only have Coke’s ads been successful at selling its soft drinks, but decade after decade Coca Cola’s ads and campaigns have influenced our very culture by making their way into the hearts and minds of the consumers. A Brief Ad History In the 1920s Coca Cola shifted its advertising strategy, focusing for the first time on creating brand loyalty.It began advertising the soft drink as fun and refreshing. Coke’s 1929 campaign slogan was: The Pause that Refreshes. To this day, that slogan remains number two on Advertising Age’s top 100 slogans of all the time. How about those famous Coca Cola Santa Clause print ads? Most people probably have seen an example of such. What most people don’t realize is that our modern-day vision of Santa as a jolly old man with a white beard in a red suit and hat is to some extent a result of those Coke ads that began emerging in popular magazines in 1931.Before that, the world’s image of Santa was fragmented, with physical portrayals of the legendary holiday visitor ranging from a pixie to a leprechaun to even a frightening gnome. But Coca Cola’s long-running series of ads solidified what was becoming a common U. S. image, making our beloved Santa Clause recognizable around the world. Those Coca Cola campaigns were probably a little before your time. but what about Coca Cola’s 1971 â€Å"Hilltop† campaign. Perhaps you remember its lyrics, â€Å"I’d like to teach the world to sing, in perfect harmony.I’d like to buy the world a Coke, and keept it company. † The song was sung by a choir of young people from all over the world, perched high on a hilltop, each holding an iconic hourglass-shaped bottle of C oke. Within months, Coca Cola and its bottlers received more than a hundred thousand letters about the ad. The ad actually received requests at radio stations; so many in fact, that a version of the song was released as a pop-music single. The jingle’s tagline, â€Å"It’s the real thing,† served as the foundation for Coke ads for years. Still too long ago for you?Maybe you have heard of Coke’s ad showing a bruised and battered Mean Joe Green tossing his shirt to a young fan after the boy shares his Coke with the pro football player. The ad appears consistently at the top of â€Å"Best Super Bowl Ads† lists. Or how about â€Å"Coke is it? † â€Å"Can’t beat the feeling? † certainly you would remember the jingle made famous in the 1990s, â€Å"Always Coca Cola†. And who doesn’t make some associate between the sweet, dark, bubbly beverage and polar bear? Innovative animation technology put those lovable creatures in only a handful of ads, but they are forever etched in the memories of consumers everywhere.These are only some highlights of Coca Cola’s long advertising history, stretching back to the company’s origin in 1886. With so many hits and such a huge impact on consumers, it’s hard to imagine that the beverage giant ever gets into an advertising rut. But as the new millennium began to unfold, many considered that Coke had lost its advertising sizzle. The company was struggling to create ads that resonated with younger folks while at the same time appealing to older consumers. And the company’s ads were routinely out-pointed by those of rival Pepsi. Coca Cola needed some new advertising fizz.Back to the Bowl Where does a company turn when it wants to make a big ad splash? For Coca Cola, it’s thoughts turned to the marquee of all advertising events – the Super Bowl. The company had certainly had success with the ad venue before. But scoring big with a Super Bowl ad isn’t guaranteed. In fact, many cynics view the ad venue as a waste of money. One team of researchers found that average brand recall one week after the 2008 Super Bowl was an unimpressive 7%. Recall for specific commercials and the brand represented therein was even worse at only 4%.That doesn’t speak very highly for a 30 second ad that costs $ 2. 7 million to air. And perhaps even more to produce. The Super Bowl has its share of critics who think it is far too costly for a single event, regardless of how many people tune-in. But for all the misses, there have been plenty of hits. In 1999, Hotjobs. com blew half of its $ 4 million advertising budget for the year on a single 30-second spot. The result? Traffic on its web site immediately shot up 120%, choking its network and server system. Monster. com saw similar results that same year.And hundreds of advertisers throughout the Super Bowl’s history have been very satisfied with the results of t heir ads. For its 2008 campaign debut, Coca Cola was confident that the Super Bowl was just right for its broad target market. It assigned Wieden + Kennedy the task of crafting a 60-second commercial. Hal Curtis, one of the top creative directors for the agency, took charge of the project. Two years before, Mr. Curtis had come up with an idea for an ad while working on a different campaign. He thought the idea was perfect for Coke. By now, you’ve probably seen the ad.Titled â€Å"It’s mine†, the spot is set at Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City, a parade famous for its blimp-sized balloons marched through the Central Park area on long tethers. The Coke ad focuses on two particular characters, Stewie Griffin from Fox network’s comedy television show Family Guy and the classic cartoon character Underdog. Both balloons sidle up to a huge Coke balloon. The two characters begin fighting over the coke, bouncing around in a kind of slow-motio n ballet against the New York skyline, bumping up against buildings.As the scuffle progresses above the streets, moving higher and higher, New Yorkers look on from hot dog stands, cabs, and even inside buildings. At the story’s climactic moment, a giant balloon depicting the cartoon character Charlie Brown emerges from nowhere, swooping and claiming a giant Coke, leaving Stewie and Underdog empty-handed. The spot cost Coca Cola $ 2. 3 million to make and more than double that to air. It was also the most difficult ad that Mr. Curtis had ever produced. For starters, he encountered mounds of red tape in negotiating the rights to use the well-known cartoon characters in the ad.Choreographic and shooting footages of giant balloons in one of the world’s biggest cities brought its own set of challenges. At one point, bad weather forced the project indoors and all the way across the country to the Paramount Studios on the West Coast. The post-shoot animation was considered ye t a third shoot for the ad. It all added up to four months of production and postproduction. When asked about the challenge of simultaneously reaching consumers of all ages with an advertisement, Mr. Curtis responded, â€Å"A good story appeals to everyone.And a story that is well told appeals to young and old. Certainly, there are times where we want to skew a message younger, but for this spot that wasn’t part of thinking. † Pio Schunker, Coca Cola’s head of creative excellence, added, â€Å"We are at our best when we speak to universal values that appeal to everyone rather than try and skew it to specific segments. † According to Mr. Schunker, the universal value referred to here was that â€Å"Good really wins in the end†, a point that he thought was made strongly with the contrast of Charlie Brown over a character like Stewie.In fact, Curtis originally pitched the ad with an ending that had the Coke bottle getting punctured on a flagpole and n either balloon getting it. But Coca Cola wanted something that was emotionally more positive, something that expressed optimism. â€Å"I felt it was such a downer of an ending to have these characters chase the Coke and not get it,† stated Mr. Schunker. It was Curtis’s 12 year old son, Will, who gave him the idea for what became the ending when he said, â€Å"Why can’t another balloon get it? † For Hal Curtis, the next logical step was Charlie Brown.Everyone was happy with the end result. Both Coca Cola and Wieden + Kennedy felt that the ad communicated the desired message perfectly while bringing out the kind of warm emotions that had emanated from Coca Cola ads for decades. The hunches of these ad veterans proved correct. The day after the game, Coke’s balloon ad had 350 blog posts, while Pepsi’s ads had only 250. A week after that, the â€Å"It’s Mine† ad was the most talked about ad online. SuperBowl-Ads. com had it rated a s the top ad of the dozens that aired on the 2008 gridiron matchup.And later in the year, the spot won a Silver Lion at the Cannes Lions festival, the most prestigious award event in the industry. There is no doubt that the â€Å"It’s Mine† ad achieved more buzz and more size than Coca Cola’s ads in recent history. But that’s only a first step to advertising success. In the end, the only result that really matters is whether or not the ad has the intended effect on consumers. Although the impact of Coca Cola’s â€Å"it’s Mine† ad or its history of other outstanding ads on actual beverage sales may never be known, one broader conclusion is clear.Every year, Interbrand publishes the premier ranking of global brands based on monetary value. And every year since Interbrand began publishing the list in 2001, Coca Cola has held the top spot. At $ 65 billion, Coca Cola is the world’s most valuable brand. Thus, it’s pretty easy to make the connection between Coca Cola’s brand value and more than 100 years of stellar advertising. Questions for Discussions 1. Consider Coca Cola’s advertising throughout its history. Identify as many commonalities as possible for its various ads and campaigns. (For a list of Coca Cola slogans over the years, check out http://en. ikipedia. org/wiki/Coca-Cola_slogans) 2. Analyze the â€Å"It’s Mine† ad based on the process of creating an advertising message. 3. Discuss issues of selecting advertising media for the â€Å"It’s Mine† ad. How might this process differ from that of other Coca Cola’s campaigns? From another campaigns for other companies? 4. Based on the information given in this case, how might Coca Cola measure the effectiveness of the â€Å"It’s Mine† ad? What else might Coca Cola want to measure? ———————– Coca Cola: Another Advertising Hit Famous c artoon: Underdog Stewie Griffin from Family Guy Charlie Brown