Nature vs Nurture in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein Essay -- Mary Shelley

Philosophers and scientists alike have debated for centuries whether a person’s character is the result of nature or nurture. In the writings of Thomas Hobbes, it is expressed that humans are endowed with character from birth, and that they are innately evil in nature. John Locke’s response to this theory is that everyone is born with a tabula rasa, or blank slate, and then develops character after a series of formative experiences. The idea that true character is the result of experiences and societal interaction is a theme deeply explored throughout Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Through different interactions with the monster, Shelley attempts to express that it is because of Victor’s failings as a parent and creator, because of the monster’s isolation, and because of society’s reaction to the monster that the monster has become evil. The monster’s character is a direct result of how he was nurtured, based on his experiences and circ umstances, rather than his being innately evil from â€Å"birth.† One of the most influential contributions in the formation of the monster’s character is Victor’s failure as a creator and a father. As a creator, Victor has the responsibility of providing for his creation, just as God provided for Adam and Eve. At the same time, Victor also falls under the role of a father, and should therefore seek to strengthen the familial bond between the two of them. However, Victor fails in both of these endeavors, because he cannot accept the monster in his deformity. â€Å"Frankenstein’s sole regret†¦ is that he did not create an aesthetically pleasing being† (Bond). Victor, due to his skewed vision of humanity, believes outer beauty to be a reflection of inner character, and that because of the monster’s hideous appe... ...tation.† The English Review Sept. 2009: 18+. Literature Resource Center. Web. 9 Jan. 2015. Lehman, Steven. â€Å"The Motherless Child in Science Fiction: Frankenstein and Moreau.† Science Fiction Studies 19:1 (Mar. 1992): 49-57. Rpt. In Children’s’ Literature Review. Ed. Tom Burns. Vol. 133. Gale, 2008. Literature Resource Center. Web. 9 Jan. 2015. Marcus, Steven. "Frankenstein: myths of scientific and medical knowledge and stories of human relations." The Southern Review 38.1 (2002): 188+. Literature Resource Center. Web. 9 Jan. 2015. Seabury, Marcia Bundy. "The Monsters We Create: Woman on the Edge of Time and Frankenstein." Critique 42.2 (Winter 2001): 131-143. Rpt. in Children's Literature Review. Ed. Tom Burns. Vol. 133. Detroit: Gale, 2008. Literature Resource Center. Web. 9 Jan. 2015. Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. New York: Barnes & Noble, 2003. Print.

Personal Narrative- Growing Closer to God Essay -- Personal Perspectiv

Personal Narrative- Growing Closer to God My head spins as I fly down Capital Circle on my way back home from church. Church has always been the highlight of my week, but something was missing tonight. I just couldn't seem to focus on worshiping God. My usual words of praise were empty. My hectic life had become a distraction and kept me from focusing on God, who should be my main priority. The butterflies in my stomach feel more like a herd of elephants tearing through my body. I cry out, "Why God? Why am I so busy? Why can't things just slow down for a single night?" As I pull into my driveway the "elephants" continue and my stress level only escalates. An incredible urge to disappear overwhelms me. As I slump over my textbook and try to focus on studying, my gaze keeps shifting to my Bible. "Are you trying to tell me something God? Because I don't think you understand how much I have left to do tonight. My grade depends on studying for this test and I'm not ready for it at all." My arm creeps toward the Bible and snatches it up. It's as if the arm isn't my own; I can'...

Counterinsurgency in WWII and Vietnam

The counterinsurgencies in World War Two and Vietnam are strikingly different precisely because the insurgencies they fought were different. Every insurgency is unique. Some feel that an insurgency carries advantages that make it inherently unbeatable. Because the superior force is rarely prepared for an insurgency they are at a disadvantage from day one. The primary lesson learned from the experiences of World War Two and Vietnam is that counterinsurgency must entail more than just the deployment of superior military forces. An insurgency is not unbeatable.For a counterinsurgency campaign to be successful a carefully devised comprehensive strategy that integrates military, political and humanitarian goals must be devised. Insurgency and Counterinsurgency Defined Insurgency is a broadly defined term. An insurgency can take many forms. Generally speaking, it is an uprising of a smaller, weaker military and political force against the force that occupies power. Because insurgents are a lmost always outnumbered and lack military equipment, they fight a guerrilla-type war. Their goal is not to defeat the opposing force militarily, but instead to erode it while inflicting as many losses as possible.Insurgents often look for â€Å"soft targets† to attack rather than facing the enemy head-on. The ultimate goal is to fight a low intensity war that drains the opposing side of resources and public support. Robert Smith, in The Utility of Force, describes a common process through which insurgencies begin. First, one political wing separates from a larger party. After arming itself, this wing initiates a low intensity conflict against a larger power. Over time, the larger force is persuaded to cut its losses and withdraw. The insurgent party then goes about establishing a dominant force of its own (Smith, 2007).This cycle is evident in the 1980s insurgency of the Afghans against the Soviet Union and the eventual emergence of the Taliban. In recent years, the term â⠂¬Å"insurgency† has also been used to describe any conflict in which groups of foreign fighters enter a country to oppose a larger force. In either case the tactics of insurgency are similar. Counterinsurgency, in turn, is more than just military opposition to the insurgent force. Broadly defined, Counterinsurgency is the attempt by a political power or occupying force to tamp down rebellion.In the late 20th and early 21st century the effectiveness of insurgent tactics has been rediscovered. Media and technological advances have been integrated effectively and, as a result, insurgencies have become more complex. In response, counterinsurgency tactics have been revised and modernized. It is generally recognized that a more comprehensive military, political, economic and cultural effort is now required. Between World War Two and the present day, the nature and scope of counterinsurgency programs changed dramatically. The Vietnam conflict represented a halfway point in that evolu tionary process.The learning curve has been irregular, though. As each new insurgency surfaces new lessons must be learned and old lessons re-learned. World War Two: The emergence of modern insurgency and counterinsurgency Insurgency and counterinsurgency are not terms typically used in relation to World War Two. The seeds for the modern usage of both were sown during this era, however. The French resistance is sometimes described as an insurgent campaign. The tactics used by the Germans to counter this insurgency were brutal but ultimately ineffective.In fact, the French Resistance is credited with â€Å"coordinating sabotages and other actions which contributed to the success of Operation Overlord† (Smith, 2007). Allied forces even then were aware of the need to work with assets of â€Å"various political colors† (Smith, 2007). In working with insurgents in the early years of the war the Allies gained some knowledge about how to defeat an insurgency. This knowledge, in part, would be capitalized on at the end of World War Two and twenty years later in Vietnam. Meanwhile, the Germans faced a second insurgency from the Soviet Partisans.These were pro-communist Soviets most active in the border regions between Germany and the U. S. S. R. Like in the French resistance, these fighters sabotaged and harassed any vulnerable areas of the German occupiers they could find. Unlike in France, the Germans were never able to install a puppet regime to help them quell the population. The German counterinsurgency strategy was to stamp out any resistance as quickly as possible. The Germans and the Partisans for that matter executed thousands of civilians in this region. Counterinsurgency tactics in World War Two were somewhat primitive.Primarily, the goal was to use overwhelming military force before installing a puppet government favorable to the more powerful force. Terror was the tool for holding on to that power. Tactical reviews after the war provided some valuable information, but were also tainted by the political atmosphere of the day. For example, U. S. reports may have overemphasized the effect of partisans terrorizing the local population into supporting them. The effect of the terror caused by German counterinsurgency forces and other possible ideological reasons for local support were not studied fully enough.In the waning days of the war, remnants of the Nazi SS launched an insurgency of their own. Initial public support kept the insurgency afloat for nearly two years as various sabotages and political assassinations harassed the occupying forces. Eventually â€Å"Operation Werewolf† was defeated when the German public became assured that the Allies were committed to rebuilding their nation, through such programs as the Marshall Plan. This stands in sharp contrast to the terroristic methods of counterinsurgency that had been employed in earlier years.While not specifically part of the counterinsurgency program, media control assisted the allies in a way it would not during Vietnam. The greater threat posed to the American nation itself during World War Two led the public to accept tight military control of what was released through newspapers or other media. The media blackout was perhaps more successful for the Germans. Since the German public heard little or no negative news from the front, the Partisans and The French Resistance were never able to erode support for the war within Germany.In this sense, a totalitarian state with vast resources and complete media control has a certain advantage in counterinsurgency over free nations. When World War Two was over, the template of a successful insurgency had been advanced farther than that if a successful counterinsurgency. In the words of U. S. General Robert Smith: By the end of the Second World War, the defining characteristics of the antithesis of industrial war had been established, as a combination of basic guerilla and revolutionary warfare . (Smith, 2007) None the less, Allied knowledge increased from having been on both sides of irregular conflicts.Allied forces would put much of what they had learned about counterinsurgency into action during Vietnam. As always, some lessons had to be re-learned under difficult circumstances. Vietnam: Hard Lessons Researchers are still debating the effectiveness of the counterinsurgency effort in Vietnam. There is no doubt that operations such as â€Å"Market Time† and â€Å"Phoenix† were more sophisticated than any such efforts in World War Two. Militarily, they were at least partially successful. Efforts such as these combined elements of Allied experiences with what they had learned by studying German methods during World War Two.The military began to create â€Å"strategic hamlets† throughout South Vietnam. In order to do so, though, entire villages of civilians would often be relocated. Air assets also sprayed chemical agents on large tracts of farmland gro wing crops that could be used to help the North Vietnamese. In some cases, large numbers of civilians only suspected of collaborating with the communists were killed. Ironically, at the same time a humanitarian effort was established. USAID personnel, who had 6 months of language immersion and training in nation building, spearheaded the effort.The Military Assistance Command for Vietnam also worked with the National Revolutionary Development Plan to help Vietnamese victims of the war. Even when pacification efforts within Vietnam itself were going well, the insurgents were winning the media war. The Tet offensive was a military defeat for the communists. After Tet â€Å"the flagging rural pacification program picked up momentum†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Chant, 1990). Despite its military success, the counterinsurgency failed in two critical ways. The Vietnamese Communists fought the â€Å"hearts and minds† battle better, giving the peasants promises that had real meaning to them.For i nstance; the communists promised land loans and lower taxes to peasants (Alexander, 2002). The coalition could never establish a trust relationship with the majority of the population. When Congress cut off funds and recommended that â€Å"ground forces should not be committed† the mistrust of the Vietnamese was confirmed (Chant, 1990). In Vietnam, the media was on the front lines of war as never before. Initially the Allies believed that this would be a showcase for the military and would help maintain support for the war. By the end of the war, the insurgents had turned this factor completely in their favor.The North Vietnamese capitalized on American broadcasts and broadcasts of their own, essentially communicating directly to the American people that the war was unwinnable. They rightly assumed that the American media could play a significant role in eroding public support for the war. When the American military tried to exert greater control over the media, distrust and opposition to the war only increased. Analysis and Conclusion Contrary to popular belief, insurgencies have a long track record of success. In fact; â€Å"irregular or guerrilla warfare is, in fact, the most successful form of conflict† (Alexander, 2002).It is the repeated failure of major powers to recognize this and anticipate it that itself are the major reasons for insurgent success. In World War Two, insurgencies were relatively contained. In Vietnam and in the 21st century they are not. They are sophisticated multinational operations in which the insurgents sometimes cannot even be identified. World War Two and Vietnam are evidence that insurgency can take many different forms. The overall lesson, however, is the same. The degree of success for a counterinsurgency is directly related to the degree the insurgency was anticipated and planned for.Another clear lesson is that a counterinsurgency employing only military means is destined to fail. The experiences in World War Two and Vietnam do give some clues as to how to deal with the insurgency in Iraq. A comprehensive strategy must be developed that separates the insurgents from those who support them. Then an effective intelligence network with ample numbers of human assets must be developed and maintained. As shown in Iraq the lessons of prior wars are forgotten and must be re-learned. For example, when insurgents were driven out of a town coalition forces would often leave that area undefended.It was not until at least three years into the war that coalition forces began to use the â€Å"take and hold† method used in Vietnam more than three decades earlier. The ability to defeat insurgencies in the future depends upon learning and capitalizing on lessons such as these. The first step to defeating an insurgency is to expect one. The second step is to plan a counterinsurgency. Beyond these simple steps the process is incredibly complex and there are no hard and fast rules. Sources Alexander, Bevin. (2002). How Wars are Won: the 13 rules of war from ancient Greece to the War on Terror. New York: Crown Publishers.Chant, Christopher. (1990). The Military History of the United States (Vol. 13). New York: Marshall Cavendish. Markel, Wade. (2006). â€Å"Draining the Swamp: The British Strategy of Population Control†. Parameters. Retrieved 1/7/2008 from: http://www. carlisle. army. mil/usawc/Parameters/06spring/markel. htm . McClintock, Michael. (2002). â€Å"U. S. Guerrilla Warfare, Counterinsurgency and Counterterrorism, 1940-1990†. Instruments of Statecraft. Retrieved 1/7/2008 from: http://www. statecraft. org/chapter3. html . Smith, Robert. (2007). The Utility of Force: the art of war in the modern world. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

Do People in Public Life Have a Right to Privacy? Essay

People, famous or not, have a right to privacy, which is a basic human right. Although some of them have voluntarily made themselves known to the world, they are still entitled to live a life without others following them all the time, eavesdropping on what they say and being under surveillance. However, in the case of politicians or other powerful people, the right to privacy comes into conflict with another right, the public’s right to know. The entitlement and the necessity to get informed are essential to guarantee democracy; this can only be achieved by the freedom of the press. Therefore the right to privacy of certain politicians sometimes has to be neglected to ensure a rightful running of our country. But do we need to get informed about everything there is? We have to distinguish between famous people. Basically there are those who were seeking a public life – or at least knew to some extent what they were going into – and those who were not. Politicians, athletes, actors, musicians, entertainers and members of royalty belong to the former. The latter are ordinary citizens who become significant, because of their extraordinary experiences, for example victims of crimes or tragedies, but also criminals. The amount of ordinary citizens who receive their celebrity status unwillingly is quite big and the privacy of those people needs to be especially respected and maintained. Names, addresses or pictures that could lead to the identification of a person should never be made public. It is not of interest for the readers, and it usually does not make a difference for them, what the name of someone is, but for the one concerned publication of identity could mean embarrassment and harassment. Suspected criminals, for instance, could lose their jobs, their families could break up or their whole lives could get destroyed, even when they are innocent. Apart from that, as soon as someone is well known, they are pursued and harassed by journalists demanding interviews. Also in cases where a family just had to experience the loss of a dear person, the press usually shows little respect for that. While we tend to despise the way the press is treating ordinary people and feel the justification for their right to privacy, we have problems applying the same to people who were seeking a public role. In those cases we tend to think we have a right to the invasion of their privacy, since they have put themselves into the public eye on purpose. We demand to know about their personal lives, but we don’t see that this interest is only greediness for amusement. The press is using this human phenomenon and is sacrificing individual privacy for the entertainment of a general public to increase the circulation of a paper. We are satisfying our voyeurism and we even claim that we have a right to it, but by that we submit ourselves to the tabloid values of a mainstream media and put that under the cover of public interest. What is public interest? Journalists usually widen this term to use it as an excuse for all forms of reporting, in order to cover up every detail of one’s life. But public interest is not necessarily what the public is interested in, which is usually sex and crime; it is not what increases the circulation of a paper; it is not gossip. Public interest is the necessity to have access to essential information that allows us to keep a critical eye on our society. A person’s personal lives or gossip about it is not news and not of public interest. But unfortunately, reports about politicians’ sex lives are more popular than reports about someone’s policies and public actions. The position of politicians in the eye of the public is especially difficult to judge. On the one hand politicians use their happy family and home in campaigns, on the other hand we know personal particulars and behaviour have nothing to do with competence in running a country and private details, even if completely irrelevant, can still ruin careers. Sometimes only due to the intrusion of privacy, corruption or similar crimes can be made public, but at the same time not everything in one’s life is connected to one’s office. When personal morality and family values are deliberately used by politicians  as a reason for them to be elected, they have chosen to make it a public issue rather than a private one. This is a sad fact, but it does not justify intrusion of the personal lives of all politicians. A politician still is, like everyone else, entitled to privacy. Unfortunately, the press and the public seem to have grown bored covering politicians who aren’t celebrities and so personal gossip wins over public issues. Since their private lives are so closely observed, politicians are concentrating a lot on their image and consequently they have less time to spend on their actual job. This close scrutiny is not only humiliating, it also makes poor political performances more likely. If the public lost its big interest in private lives, political coverage and also politicians themselves would have to focus more on policies and actions. Everyone would have to stop making privacy an issue, which has no place in politics. However, competence seems to count less and less nowadays and politicians are rather supposed to have a good character. People are inclined to think that one who betrays his wife also betrays his country, which generally not the case. But character is not determinable by personal behaviour and moreover there is no connection between private morality and someone’s ability to do a job well. Would we rather have a morally integer, but less competent person in power? A lot of good leaders of the past would probable fail today, for example Kennedy, who committed adultery, or Kreisky, who had a speech impediment. Many talented people do not manage to reach a high position today, because they have no blameless personal lives and many are kept from seeking a public office, because they fear the intrusion of privacy. Politicians have to be observed in some respects. The press, being independent from any authorities, plays an important role in informing the public; it is the instrument that can expose corruption, wasting of taxes, hidden agendas or other crimes by examining actions and words of politicians. Naturally, there is no clear dividing line between public and private matter. Generally you can say, everything that has to do with the particular person’s profession has a public interest justification and can  thus be reported about. Intrusion of privacy should only be allowed in cases where privacy is strongly connected to the public office. Any other information revealed, which is irrelevant to the politician’s skills and competence, is not irrelevant to the image one has of that person. It just prejudices people against them and this can clearly not be in the public interest. Watergate, for instance, was one example of a journalist revealing illegal political actions, but h ere only information connected with the person’s profession was made public. Clinton’s sex-affair, however, was an example of going too far into privacy. People claimed the whole scandal was not about sex, but about committing perjury, which is not quite true. A perjury of Clinton about a land deal would have probable not interested as many, but this one was about sex, so the interest was enormous. Clinton was asked something he should have never been asked. Private questions – such as: â€Å"Have you ever committed adultery?† – ought definitely not be put to someone. Because if one refuses an answer to a query like that, it is a signal that there is something to hide. Since you hardly find someone who has never done anything wrong or illegal, it is especially unlikely to find a politician like that. Everyone knows they can’t admit little sins of their youth or sex affairs, because they know it would ruin their careers. So politicians have two possibilities when they are asked questions about their private lives: not answeri ng, the same as admitting, or lying. For celebrities, other than politicians, it is even more difficult to argue for their right to privacy, since so many of them use their status of being popular and seem to enjoy sharing private details and creating sensational news to stay well known or to make money. Publicity should be expected by them and loss of privacy is said to be the prize for fame. But does every skier, musician or actor really just want to be in the public eye? Is not also imaginable that a tennis player just loves to play tennis and detests being on television? We can reduce those people to the fact that they are famous, but it would show little acknowledgement for their talents or abilities. After all, the celebrity status is in many cases just by-product of someone’s success in a particular field. Fame does not rob anyone the  right to privacy and journalists go way too far for interviews or pictures of celebrities. Sometimes this has great consequence as in the case of Princess Diana, who died in a car accident after being chased by reporters. We are all obsessed with privacy, protecting our own on the one hand, and invading other people’s privacy on the other hand. If people similar to us, ordinary people, get their privacy invaded, we are outraged. But someone different to us, someone famous, somehow has the duty to uncover everything there is. Since they have voluntarily thrown themselves into the public light, they now belong to the public. Political scandals have shown the need for close observation of public figures, especially if they have power, but in most cases we hypocritically claim to have a right to know about something that is actually none of our business. Privacy is classed as a right under the European Convention of Human Rights and it applies to everyone.

Midweek review

Since the start of this course the collaboration between us went well. At the first meeting we made several arrangements concerning communication, availability and responsibilities. We decided to communicate through Backbone and we made meeting appointments a couple of days In advance. We came together before the analytical skills meetings and compared our results for Improvement and better understandings.With both of us attempting all the questions before we met to check If the answers were correct and helping the other If he did not understand how to do the question. The first presentation was set up In parts by our self with a high frequency of communication. Due to the structure of the presentation, we had to have constant communication with each other to ensure coherence between our parts and to ensure that we reach a common final conclusion. We will continue our current method because we think it has been successful so far.We have not had any immunization misunderstanding, and by using Backbone as a way of communication it allows us to get our points across immediately and efficiently without having to waste time traveling to a certain meeting point to discuss. We do agree that with respect to the final presentation, we might need to also increase the amount of personal meetings. And thus we have decided to start the research for the project early so that we could have meetings after tutorials. With respect to the time management during the course so far, we can be satisfied.Every assignment was finished properly in time according to our arrangements. We learned from the first presentation that it will be better to start earlier for the next presentation so we could do even more research. Furthermore we are really satisfied the way our cooperation worked out and we do not see any problems for the rest of this course. We followed our own composites arrangements and helped each other out where necessary. As learning point It might be useful to do more resea rch for presentations.Our way of communication does not deed any Improvements since we are always replying quite fast to each other. We talked about the feedback from the presentation and gave each other and thought about personal Improvements. In overall we feel that despite coming from different cultural backgrounds, we are able to work together as a team. We believe that we will not have any problems working together as we both want to do the best for this module, and have set certain standards for our projects. Midweek review By moratorium Midweek evaluation of teamwork and working procedure (Team Report) Queue JinnLiana – 16063163 meeting appointments a couple of days in advance. We came together before the analytical skills meetings and compared our results for improvement and better if the answers were correct and helping the other if he did not understand how to do The first presentation was set up in parts by our self with a high frequency of arrangements and helped each other out where necessary. As learning point it might need any improvements since we are always replying quite fast to each other. We about personal improvements.

Summative assessment - Part 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Summative assessment - Part 2 - Essay Example Thus, it is socially responsible and supports the entire market in order to ensure that the best products are available in the market. The company uses the most recent technology to run all its operations; every section or rather department of Anisa International has gone digital, starting from the marketing, management, communication and distribution of its products (Yahoo Finance, 2004). To start with, Anisa International, Inc. has gone digital in marketing of its products. There are a number of social websites that have allowed platforms for advertisements and other marketing procedures for various companies. Sites such as Facebook, twitter, YouTube and Google have made it easy and cheaper for business organizations across the globe to effective market their products. For instance, Anisa International has a Facebook page whereby all the news about the new products, changes in the existing products, prices of particular products and general company operations are posted. This style of marketing is somehow effective as it is easily accessible by any individual irrespective of age, gender, race or social class. With the current level of technology, there are hundreds of millions internet traffic daily; people access or rather visit various sites with diverse aims. Thus, for fashion lovers, Facebook pages for famous companies and other fashion websites are their destin ations. Information in Anisa’s Facebook pages is accessed or rather read by thousands of individuals daily. Therefore, the company easily spreads the news about its products via this medium. In addition, management of firm’s operations in todays’ world has gone digital. Many organizations have transformed from paper work or rather manual way of transacting and recording information to the digital way of handling all the operations of the companies. For instance, Anisa International, Inc. has all the information about the company’s operations stored and handled

Staff development Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Staff development - Assignment Example In the evaluation, it is more about what they have done for the organization and whether it was I line with the goals, mission and vision of the organization or not. In evaluating staff performance, the manager should allow for the employee to discuss their self-evaluation, what their needs are as well as the differences in the current and previously carried out evaluations. This allows bonding time and more communication as the interviewer and interviewee have interacted in the past hence an unstructured interview (Edenborough, 2007). In the staff selection interview, the manager takes all the charge and the staff is not allowed the open communication and personal input. This is necessary in order to create barriers and level of authority from the initial start with the employee. Managers that are too open may lead to employees that slack in performance, don’t take authority too seriously and hence leading to poor performance and manager-staff relationship in