Howards End Essay -- Gender Roles, Feminism, Womens Rights

Throughout the novel, we are often led to question the gender roles into which the men of Howards End are forced. As the novel is highly feminist, due to the ideas, words, and actions of both the Schlegel sisters, it is merely inevitable that the concept of masculinity should be in the novel as well, for its existence only supplements the feminist themes. However, the pervasiveness of masculinity is multifaceted. We are made aware of Henry’s powerful masculinity, but also of Leonard’s meeker acceptance of manhood not as something taken for granted but as a privilege, a thing to be desired. Coupled with Tibby’s queerness, the range of masculinity portrayed in the novel breaks the mold of stereotype. In this time period, being a man means acting in such a way as to imitate a Wilcox man. This involves essentially running England (albeit perhaps to a lesser degree than the Wilcoxes) while still maintaining one’s gentility. â€Å"If Wilcoxes hadn’t worked and died in England . . . There would be no trains, no ships . . . no fields even. Just savagery† (149). It takes masculinity to essentially run the country, and the Wilcox men have this. They are the ones who have built up society and as such, they are the ideal men to follow in example. A man is allowed to participate in general society much more than a woman–in fact, often he can do whatever he wishes (within basic means) and end up in less trouble than a woman. This is shown clearly when Henry Wilcox is thought just a little bit lesser of when his affair with Jacky is found out, compared to the societal shun that the Schlegels expect once they discover Helen is having a child. Being a man ideally does not mean succumbing to temptation, although Henry, Charles, Leonard, and Pau... ...es gets hay fever, he â€Å"gets quite cross when [Helen] inquires after it† (3). The Wilcoxes are so stagnant in their roles of manliness that they are reluctant to even admit that they could be weak enough to contract an illness. In their eyes, weakness is a characteristic of the female, and certainly not the male. Masculinity is not limited simply to one model in Howards End, that of the Wilcox men, but it is in fact malleable. Although it is not always beneficial (especially in Leonard’s case) to not fit the stereotype, the fact remains that one can still be a man, per se, without having to live up to the stereotype. Indeed, the eccentricity of Forster’s characters allow for the stereotypical male to seem ridiculous and out of place. The novel’s true heroes are those who do not conform (or are not able to conform) and thus break out of their stifling gender roles. Howards End Essay -- Gender Roles, Feminism, Women's Rights Throughout the novel, we are often led to question the gender roles into which the men of Howards End are forced. As the novel is highly feminist, due to the ideas, words, and actions of both the Schlegel sisters, it is merely inevitable that the concept of masculinity should be in the novel as well, for its existence only supplements the feminist themes. However, the pervasiveness of masculinity is multifaceted. We are made aware of Henry’s powerful masculinity, but also of Leonard’s meeker acceptance of manhood not as something taken for granted but as a privilege, a thing to be desired. Coupled with Tibby’s queerness, the range of masculinity portrayed in the novel breaks the mold of stereotype. In this time period, being a man means acting in such a way as to imitate a Wilcox man. This involves essentially running England (albeit perhaps to a lesser degree than the Wilcoxes) while still maintaining one’s gentility. â€Å"If Wilcoxes hadn’t worked and died in England . . . There would be no trains, no ships . . . no fields even. Just savagery† (149). It takes masculinity to essentially run the country, and the Wilcox men have this. They are the ones who have built up society and as such, they are the ideal men to follow in example. A man is allowed to participate in general society much more than a woman–in fact, often he can do whatever he wishes (within basic means) and end up in less trouble than a woman. This is shown clearly when Henry Wilcox is thought just a little bit lesser of when his affair with Jacky is found out, compared to the societal shun that the Schlegels expect once they discover Helen is having a child. Being a man ideally does not mean succumbing to temptation, although Henry, Charles, Leonard, and Pau... ...es gets hay fever, he â€Å"gets quite cross when [Helen] inquires after it† (3). The Wilcoxes are so stagnant in their roles of manliness that they are reluctant to even admit that they could be weak enough to contract an illness. In their eyes, weakness is a characteristic of the female, and certainly not the male. Masculinity is not limited simply to one model in Howards End, that of the Wilcox men, but it is in fact malleable. Although it is not always beneficial (especially in Leonard’s case) to not fit the stereotype, the fact remains that one can still be a man, per se, without having to live up to the stereotype. Indeed, the eccentricity of Forster’s characters allow for the stereotypical male to seem ridiculous and out of place. The novel’s true heroes are those who do not conform (or are not able to conform) and thus break out of their stifling gender roles.

Origin of the Number Zero Essay -- systems, number, cultures, symbols

As ancient numerical systems came to be and evolved over time, so did the number zero. Zero did not seem to be an obvious start to the natural numbers to the mathematicians who pioneered the different number systems of the past. Having a symbol that meant basically â€Å"nothing† appeared in a few cultures but usually long after the initial creation of the culture’s number system and sometimes was a controversial idea. (Textbook) The delay in adding zero to the number systems was most likely because in most cultures the earliest number systems were additive. This meant that they had symbols to represent certain numbers and merely added them all together to achieve the desired number. The symbols could be arranged in any order. This type of system did not require a symbol to represent zero in order to make any other numbers. Such systems are limited and eventually evolved into systems where the position of the symbols in a number changed its meaning. These positional systems are part of what created a need for a â€Å"place holder† symbol, which later would become the number zero. (Textbook, scientificamerican.com article) For example, the Egyptian’s Hieroglyphic number system was additive and had no zero symbol. It dated back as far is 3500 B.C. and is one of the earliest known number systems. This system used pictures to represent the numbers 1, 10, 100, 1000, etc. Since order did not matter, the Egyptians did not even need a symbol to represent an empty space. Eventually the Egyptians created their hieratic system. The Hieratic was a more difficult system with more symbols (1-10, 20, 30, etc.) but still did not employ a symbol to represent zero as a number. There is evidence that Egyptians used their symbol for â€Å"good† ... ... small circle was used for the number zero. (Kaplan) Independently, the Mayans created multiple symbols for the number zero in their vigesimal (base 20) number system. The Mayan culture was at its peak from 300 B.C. to 900 A.D. and during this time there are many examples of glyphs used to represent zero. The most common was a stylized shell. Others included faces, animals, flowers, and different types of shells. (Kaplan) The number zero now has many uses besides being the smallest natural number. It is used in set theory, logic (0 is used as the truth value for false), category theory, etc. Its position as the origin in graphs and number lines is essential to bridge the gap between negative and positive numbers. It is obvious that without it mathematics as we know it would not exist and though its creation seemed to have been delayed it was inevitable.

Death Of A Salesman :: essays research papers

Death of a Salesman - Willy Charley says something in Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman that sums up Willy’s whole life. He asks him, "When the hell are you going to grow up?" Willy’s spends his entire life in an illusion. He sees himself as a great man that is popular and successful. Willy exhibits many childlike qualities. Many of these qualities have an impact on Willy’s family. His two sons Biff and Happy pick up this behavior from their father. He is idealistic, stubborn, and he has a false sense of his importance in the world. Willy is like an impetuous youngster with high ideals and high hopes. Children always have high hopes for their future. They all want to be astronauts or millionaires. Willy always believes he can achieve that kind of success. He never lets go of his wasted life. He dreams of being the man who does all of his business out of his house and dying a rich and successful man. Furthermore, Willy also dreams of moving to Alaska where he could work with his hands and be a real man. Biff and Happy follow in their father’s footsteps in their lofty dreams and unrealistic goals. Biff wastes his life being a thief and a loner; furthermore, Biff, along with happy try to conjure up a crazy idea of putting on a sporting goods exhibition. The problem with Willy is that he never grows up and deals with his obstacles. Willy is also a very stubborn man. He is like a little child that wants to do something their way even though they know that another option would be the wiser choice. Charley practically sets a potential job into Willy’s lap and he refuses it. Willy just was fired and needed a job. He refuses one. Willy is too stubborn to let go of his old job and take a new one. He still believes that he is at the top of his profession. When Willy does not get his way he acts just as a child would. He has tantrums such as when he basically challenged Charley to a fight after he told him to grow up. Biff is also stubborn like his father. He never gives up being a child. He steals and lies. Biff cannot handle being ignored, so he steals a pen. Willy’s childlike stubbornness hampers him throughout his life.

Native Americans-White Relations

AP US History DBQ: Native Americans-White Relations, 1800-1850 In the time period of 1800-1850 white Americans expanded across the vast lands on the western side of the continent and regularly encountered conflict with various Indian nations. In these documents, interactions for the various Indian nations were subjected to different cultivation between each tribe per say that there were responses that filled different needs and demands. Some tribes provided benefits such as agriculture and household manufacture and produced the idea that settlements to be blended and conform into one people.Other interactions created conflict because some of our land purchases were not 100% in compliance with the constitution. Yet some Indian nations were highly influenced by leaders such as Tecumseh for which they understood his implied meanings with obedience and respect. These primary sources of information give a great insight to the goals of the whites and their encounters The businesses to furn ish clothing and subsistence to the Indians became highly insufficient however the promotion of agriculture and household manufacture were essential.The goals of the whites were to settle as uch land possible for their nation called for it with an exponentially increasing population. Acting upon a coincidence of interests these promotions will â€Å"enable them to live on much smaller portions of land, and, indeed, will render their vast forests useless† ex Doc. A. These forests found useless and disadvantageous for they are â€Å"learning to do better on less land, our increasing numbers will be calling for more land† ex Doc. A. In Ultimate concession the best possible outcome would be to â€Å"blend together, to intermix and become one people† for that we can continue xpansion without conflict.Another response of the interactions was the idea that the Indians could be granted an annuity to guarantee growth towards the cultivation of their lands. The governor w ished for the Native American populations to â€Å"become more civilized† ex Doc. B which called for grants from the government. Such examples would include an â€Å"annuity of five hundred dollars to procure the necessary articles for the purpose of enabling them to cultivate their lands† ex Doc. B. However these promotions and ideas were only a cover-up of that the â€Å"governor got them to ign a deed for their land without their knowledge†.The chiefs considerer it out of consideration to that it was not in their power to do any such thing without consent from other nations. . The Chickasaw, Cherokee, Choctaw, Creek and Seminole nations were the only 5 major tribes that were highly affected from the Indian removal acts and were forced into Indian reservations ex. Doc D. The Indians were highly influenced by Tecumseh and gave him immediate obedience and respect for he was an â€Å"uncommon genius, which spring up occasionally to produce revolutions or verturn the established order of things† ex Doc. C.Yet due to the want vs. need for land the vicinity of the United States when Tecumseh died in the Battle of Thames from American forces. Tecumseh's goal of establishing a independent Indian nation Mississippi river. In conclusion, the time period of 1800-1850 white Americans expanded across the western side of the continent encountered conflict and different interactions with various Indian nations. Popular belief believed that that to achieve an ultimate point of rest and happiness that they should share their settlements and lend together and become one people ex.Doc. A. Chiefs would be shown imaginary annuities of five hundred dollars a year only to be fooled with the signing of the deed for their lands without their knowledge ex Doc. B. One of their only leaders Tecumseh, controlled implicit obedience and respect for when he died the Indian nations would not be represented into a independent nation west of the Mississippi river e x Doc C ; D. These interactions between whites and Indians in the time period were various for the needs and demands for the Indian nations so that we would continue the westward expansion.

How And Why The North Won War by 1865 Essay

Abstract My research topic for this essay is explain how and why the North won war by 1865. In this essay I will be explaining the various reasons as to why the South surrendered to the North and how it all happened. This war took place from 1861 to 1865 and is ranked as the most deadliest war in American history. The Union or Northern States won the war against the South or the Confederacy. Instead of looking at causes or consequences, in this essay I will go into the reasons as to why did the North win the Civil War. The American South, though raised in military tradition, was to be no match North in the coming Civil War. The manpower on the Union side was much larger and outnumbered the Confederate army strength. The lack of emphasis on manufacturing and commercial interest, the South surrendered to the North their ability to to fight independently. It wasn’t the Northern troops nor generals that won the Civil War, but their guns and equipment. From the very first start of the war, the Union had various advantages. â€Å"The North had large amounts of just about everything that the South did not, boasting resources that the confedaracy had even no means of attaining.† (Brinkley, 1991). The Union had large amounts of land available for growing food crops which served for providing food for its hungry soldiers and money for the growing industries. The South, on the other hand, devoted most of their land to its main cash crop: cotton. Raw materials were almost entirely concentrated in Northern mines and refining industries. Railroads and telegraph lines are what the North was surrounded by, but left the South isolated, outdated, and starving. The Confederates were willing to sell their cash crops to the North to make any sort of profit. Little did they know, â€Å"King Cotton† could buy them time, but not the war. â€Å"The South had bartered something that perhaps it had not intended: its independence.† (Catton, 1952). The North’s growing industry had a powerful dominance over the South. Between the years of 1840 and 1860, American industry was steady growing. â€Å"In 1840 the Research Paper: â€Å"Explain how and why the North won war by 1865.† 4 total value of goods manufactured in the United States stood at $483 million, increasing over fourfold by 1860 to just under $2 billion, with the North taking the king’s ransom.†(Brinkley, 1991). The hidden reason behind this dramatic growth of money is because of the American Industrial Revolution. Beginning in the early 1800s, some of the ideas of the industrial revolution began to get picked up from the American Society. One of the first industries to see quick development was the textile industry, but, thanks to the British government, this development almost never even passed. Years before this, England’s James Watt had developed the first successful steam engine. This invention completely revolutionized the British textile industry, and eventually made it the most profitable in the world (â€Å"Industrial Revolution†). The British government, were astonished with this new material but cautious, so they ended up trying to protect the nation by preventing the export of textile machinery and even the emigration of skilled mechanics. â€Å"Despite valiant attempts at deterrence, though, many immigrants managed to make their way into the United States with the advanced knowledge of English technology, and they were anxious to acquaint America with the new machine s.†(Furnas, 1969). People like Samuel Slater can  be credited with beginning the revolution of the textile industry in America. He was skilled mechanic in England, and spent long hours studying the schematics for the spinning jenny until finally he no longer needed them. â€Å"He emigrated to Pawtucket, Rhode Island, and there, together with a Quaker merchant by the name of Moses Brown, Research Paper: â€Å"Explain how and why the North won war by 1865.† 5 he built a spinning jenny from memory.† (Furnas, 1969). This would later become known as the first modern factory in America. It would also become known as when the North had the economic dominance over the South. The South could not seem to accept this after the time passed so they thought they could breakthrough somehow. Another inventor by the name of Eli Whitney set out in 1793 to revolutionize the Southern cotton industry. â€Å"Whitney was working as a tutor for a plantation owner in Georgia (he was also, ironically, born and raised in New England) and therefore knew the problems of harvesting cotton.† (Brinkley, 1991). Until then, the risky task of separating the seeds from the cotton before sale had to be done by slave labor and was not very effiecient. With that being said, Whitney developed a machine which would separate the seed from the cotton swiftly and effectively, cutting the harvesting time by more than one half. This machine, which became known as the cotton gin, had amazing results on the South, producing the highest trend the industry ever had. â€Å"In that decade alone cotton production figures increased by more than 2,000 percent. â€Å"(Randall and Donald, 1969 ). Lots business opportunities opened up, including the expansion of the Southern plantations. â€Å"This was facilitated by the fact that a single worker could now do the same amount of work in a few hours that a group of workers had once needed a whole day to do.† (Brinkley, 1991). This allowed slaves to pick much more cotton per day and this led most plantation owners to expand their land. Most of the gains from the cash crop took over the basic necessity of the food crop. â€Å"In 1791 cotton production amounted to only 4000 bales, but by 1860, production Research Paper: â€Å"Explain how and why the North won war by 1865.† 6 levels had skyrocketed to just under five million bales.† (Randall and Donald, 1969). Cotton was now bringing in about  $200 million a year, which is a very big change for the south. â€Å"King Cotton† became a fundamental motive in Southern economy. However, during this short time of economic process, the South failed to realize that it would never be fully sustained by â€Å"King Cotton† alone. What it needed was the help of â€Å"Queen Industry.† Eli Whitney knew and realized that the South would not rapidely accept change, so he decided to take his smart mind and ideas back up to the North, where it could be put to good use. He found his niche in the small arms business. A while back, during two long years of quasi-war with France, Americans had been troubled by the lack of rapidity with which sufficient armaments and equipments could be produced. Whitney came out with the invention of interchangeable parts. His vision of the perfect factory included machines that would produce, from a mold, the various parts needed to build a standard infantry rifle, and workers on an assembly line who would construct it. The North, eager to experiment and willing to try anything of economic progress, decided to test this new method of manufacture. It did not take long for the North to make Eli Whitney’s dream a reality. The small arms industry was successful. â€Å"By the onset of the Civil War, the confederate states were noting the fact that there were thirty-eight Union arms factories capable of producing a total of 5,000 infantry rifles per day, compared with their own paltry capacity of 100.† (Catton, 1952). During the mid-1800s, the Industrial Revolution dug deep into to the sides of the Northern states. â€Å"Luckily, immigration numbers were skyrocketing at this time, and the sudden profusion of factory Research Paper: â€Å"Explain how and why the North won war by 1865.† 7 positions that needed to be filled was not a big problem.† (Randall and Donald, 1969). â€Å"The immigrants, who were escaping anything from the Irish Potato Famine to British oppression, were willing to work for almost anything and withstand inhuman factory conditions.† (Jones, 1993). Although this exploitation was extremely cruel and very unfair to the immigrants, Northern businessmen profited alot from it. By the beginning of war in 1860, the North, from an economical standpoint, stood like a towering giant over the Southern society. Of the over 128,000 industrial firms in the nation at the time, the Confederacy held only 18,026. â€Å"New England alone topped the figure with over  19,000, and so did Pennsylvania 21,000 and with 23,000.†(Paludan, 1988). The total value of goods manufactured in the state of New York alone was over four times that of the entire Confederacy. The Northern states produced 96 percent of the locomotives in the country, and, as for firearms, more of them were made in one Connecticut county than in all the Southern factories combined. The Confederacy had made one mistake and that was believing that its thriving cotton industry alone would be enough to sustain itself throughout the war. Southerners didn’t see a need to go into the uncharted industrial territories when good money could be made with cotton. What they failed to realize was that the cotton boom had done more for the North than it had done for the South. Southerners could grow huge amounts of cotton, but due to the lack of mills, they couldn’t do anything with it. The cotton was sold to the Northerners who would use it in their factories to produce woolens and linens, which were in turn sold back to the South. â€Å"This cycle stimulated industrial Research Paper: â€Å"Explain how and why the North won war by 1865.† 8 growth in the Union and s tagnated it in the Confederate states.†(Catton, 1952). Southern plantation owners believed that the growing textile industries of England and France were highly dependent on their cotton, and that, in the event of war, those countries would come to their rescue. The Civil War gave an even bigger boost to the already growing factories in the North. The troops needed arms and warm clothes on a constant basis, and Northern Industry was ready to provide them. By 1862, the Union could use almost all of its own war materials using its own resources. The South, on the other hand, was in desperate need and dependent on outside resources for its war needs. â€Å"Dixie was not only lagging far behind in the factories. It had also chosen to disregard two other all-important areas in which the North had chosen to thrive: transportation and communication†¦the Railroad, the Locomotive, and the Telegraph- -iron, steam, and lightning-these three mighty genii of civilization†¦will know no lasting pause until the whole vast line of railway shall completed from the Atlantic to the Pacific.†(Furnas, 1969)  During the ante-bellum years, the North had shown a great desire for an effective mode of transportation. For a long time, canals had been used to transport people and goods across large amounts of land which were accessible by water, but, with continuing growth and expansion, these canals were becoming obstacle to many Northerners. They simply needed a way to transport freight and passengers across terrains where waterways didn’t exist. â€Å"The first glimmer of hope came as America’s first primitive locomoti ve, powered by a vertical wood-fired boiler, puffed out of Charleston Research Paper: â€Å"Explain how and why the North won war by 1865.† 9 hauling a cannon and gun crew firing salutes†(Catton, 1952). The Railroading industry became a big thing in the North, where it provided a much needed alternative to canals, but could never quite help the South. Much of this could be because Northern engineers were experienced in the field of ironworking and had no problem constructing vast amounts of rail lines, while Southerners, weren’t very experienced in that area. The Union, with its some 22,000 miles of track, was able to transport weaponry, clothes, food, soldiers, and whatever supplies were needed to almost any location in the entire theater. Overall, this greatly helped the Northern war effort and increased the morale of the troops. The South, however, was lacking on most of this. â€Å"With its meager production of only four percent of the nation’s locomotives and its scant 9,000 miles of track, the Confederacy stood in painful awareness of its inferiority.†(Randall and Donald, 1969). Another obstacle arose in the problem of track gauge. As the war kept on, the Confederate railroad system steadily deteriorated, and by the end of the struggle, it had all collapsed. Communication, was also a big problem to Southern economical growth. The telegraph had came into American life in 1844. This fresh form of communication greatly facilitated the operation of the railroad lines in the North. Telegraph lines ran along the tracks, connecting one station to the next and aiding the scheduling of the trains. The telegraph provided instant communication between distant cities, helping the nation come together like never before. Yet, the South, unimpressed by this technology and not having Research Paper: â€Å"Explain how and why the North won war by 1865.† 10 the money to experiment, chose not to go into its development. By 1860, the North had laid over 90 percent of the nation’s some 50,000 miles of telegraph wire. â€Å"Morse’s telegraph had become an ideal answer to the problems of long-distance communication, with its latest triumph of land taking shape in the form of the Pacific telegraph, which ran from New York to San Francisco and used 3,595 miles of wire† (Brinkley, 1991). The North has assuredly won over the South. Northerners, prepared to enjoy the deprivation of war, realized that they were experiencing an enormous industrial boom even after the first year of war. â€Å"Indeed, the only Northern industry that suffered from the war was the carrying trade.† (Catton, 1952). To the South, however, the war was a drain and only made them suffer even more. The South decided not to use two crops which would prove the outcome of the Civil War. Those crops were industry and progress, and without them the S outh was defeated. Refrences Angle (1967) Paul M. A Pictorial History of the Civil War Years. Garden City, New York: Doubleday Brinkley (1991) American History: A Survey. New York: McGraw Catton, Bruce (1952) The Army of the Potomac: Glory Road. Garden City, New York: Doubleday, Furnas, J.C (1969) The Americans: A Social History of the United States 1587-1914. New York: Putnam Jones, Donald C. (1993) Telephone Interview Paludan, Philip Shaw. (1988) A People’s Contest. New York: Harper Randall, J.G., and David Herbert Donald. (1969) The Civil War and Reconstruction. Lexington, Massachusetts: Heath

Btec Business Level Essay

TESCO’s customers want a quality product they can buy for a reasonable price. They want these products to be of good standard because the customer is spending their money on the products. Customers want the money they spend on purchasing these products to be worth it and that the quality they receive from the amount they have paid to be of a good standard. TESCO respond to this need by making sure to they sell the right products for their store because if they don’t they could lose a valuable customer, customers are the one putting their money into the revenue of the company. TESCO are always building new stores around the world all of the time but some people disagree with them building them, as we have found out in Bristol last year when there was riot over TESCO being built. TECO’s business objective of ‘To be a creator of highly valued brands’ is influenced by the customer stakeholder. This is because the part of the objective ‘be a creator’ this means that they want to have a high valued brands to make sure the customers return again to buy their products that they are selling in the store. Directors/Managers Directors want to have the business to strive and make sure their employees are happy with the conditions they are working in. They always are working to improve the business. TESCO’s business objective ‘’To grow the UK core’’ is influenced by the directors because they want to the company to be the best that it can be and to strive well by creating new opportunities for their employees and building new stores to give the unemployed jobs to go too. Government Government influence TESCO because they make the decisions on how much tax is given to the company, they also influence TESCO by deciding when they can build the stores and whether its applicable to be in that particular area. TESCO business objective ‘’To grow the UK core. ’’ The government influence this because they set the tax and make sure they are operating within the guidelines, they read through the planning applications for where they want the stores to be. Suppliers Suppliers influence TESCO by the growth of purchasing the long term contracts, this links to the business objective of ‘’To grow retail services in all our markets’’ because when they want to expand their business they want to make sure that the suppliers can supply the same product for every store they have. A benefit of having local suppliers is that it supports the community, and as Tesco has different stores all around the world which means different countries require different suppliers. Employees TESCO workers want a regular work and pay, good wages for the work and hours they do and to be a valued member of the team. To be listened to when they have a problem or they have a fault that affects their working conditions and they are all given training to make sure they can work to the full maximum of what Tesco wants. TESCO’s business objective ‘To build our team so that we create more value’ is influenced by the employee stakeholder this is because TESCO are always looking for new employees and that new people are joining the team every day to expand the business even more. Employees are key for customers to return. Shareholders TESCO’s business objective ‘’To be an outstanding international retailer in stores and online’’. This influenced by the shareholders because they are suggesting improvements that affect the quality of what they are selling and expanding their business with help with the directors of the company. Tesco need shareholders money to expand because they are the ones who are investing in the company but also shareholders do expect a dividend at the end. Communities TESCO communities always have preservations on whether they like the store where it is and whether they think it is right for the area. TESCO try and work together with the communities where their stores are, TESCO business objective ‘’To put our responsibilities to the communities we serve at the heart of what we do. ’ This influenced by the community because they suggest ideas to the store. Tesco are providing a local service to the community with providing jobs which is means more money going to the government. TESCO try their best to change these and make the store a better place for customers.

Piaget’s Developmental Psychology Essay

Piaget (1896-1980) believed that there was a quantitative difference between the intelligence of adults, young children and older children. He believed adults have better knowledge of the world and because children do not use the same logic in there thinking. He believed that children’s logic changed as they developed through their four stages of life Piaget came to this conclusion after completing his cognitive development test. Unlike psychologist Siegler and Huges, Piaget is a theoretical psychologist and carried out many experiments to illustrate his theories. These stages have been critisied by many psychologist including Hughes, Siegler, Rose, Blank. Sensorimotor Stage Piaget believed that a new born had basic biological motivations, and acquired knowledge by accommodation and assimilation, and once a child has acquired these schemas it would be at equilibration. It has been argued that Piaget underestimated the intelligence of a newborn. Piaget’s sample did not illustrate a wide variety of children therefore his experiment cannot be related to every child at that relevant age. His study was also only preformed on his own children therefore results could have been bias. Similar experiments were devised by other psychologist giving different conclusions, indicating Piaget’s results were not always reliable. Piaget’s first stage stated that a baby (0-2) first explores the world using motor and reflex actions. For example a child reaches towards an object and after many attempts will be able to eventually grasp the object and then bring the object to its mouth and will continue to explore it uses the senses of taste and smell. A child is said to have completed this stage of development once they have obtained object permanence (a child understands that an object still exists even when it is not visible). This theory was tested by giving a 5-6 months old child a toy to play with, the toy was covered with a cloth and the baby’s behavior observed. Results showed that a baby immediately lost interest as if the object never existed. However when tested with a 10 month old child it would continue to reach for the toy although it could not see it. Another explanation is that the child did not think the toy had seized to exist but was distracted by the movement of the cloth, which is why the child looks away and appears to have ‘forgot’ the toy. Bower and Wishart (1972) argued that it does still exist in a babies mind even when it may not be visible. There experiment was done on a baby less than four months; the baby was offered a toy but as it reached for the toy the lights were switched off this showed that even when the lights were off the child continued to reach for the toy. It can be argued that the child was not reaching out for the toy but was just reaching due to the discomfort of the sudden darkness. This study could also go against the ethics as the child could have been experiencing fear from the sudden loss sight. Pre-operational Stage At this stage a child develops symbolic thinking; another characteristic of this stage is egocentrism. Piaget devised a three mountain task to test this theory. A child was sat in front of a three mountains model, a doll was then placed at varies positions in the modeled mountains and pictures were presented, they were asked to pick the picture that represented what the doll could see. Four and five year olds selected the picture showing what they could see, this suggested that they thought the doll could see what they could identifying egocentrism. However most seven years old were able to identify the correct picture. Due to Piaget’s selection of children it was very difficult to apply his findings to others, his own children were used throughout most of his experiment and any others were from well educated backgrounds. It can be argued that this experiment lacked ecological validity as the child could not relate to the situation they were presented with. Hughes devised a task to test egocentrism in a child but relating to an everyday situation, children as young as three and a half answered the question correctly, and 90% of children tested altogether were able to give the correct answer. Concrete operational stage A child enters this stage when they understand the appearance of something may change although the item itself remains the same. Piaget tested this stage by setting out a row of counters in front of each child, than asking the child to make another row the same as the first one. Piaget would than spread out his row of counters and ask the child if there were still the same amount of counters. This experiment tested a child’s conservation of numbers. Most seven year olds were able to answer this question correctly concluding by the age of seven children are able to conserve numbers. To test the conservation of liquid Piaget collected two identical glasses A + B and a taller thin container C and asked the child which container held more, he then transferred the liquid from A+B to C and asked the child again. When a child was able to identify that both containers held the same amount of liquid they had achieved the concrete operational stage. Many aspects of this test have been criticized, including the social context of the child’s understanding. Rose and Blank argued that when a child is asked the same question twice they assumed there first answer was incorrect and changed their answer. When Rose and Blank replicated this experiment and only asked the question once most six years olds gave the correct answer. McGarriglr and Donaldson (1974) argued that as the adult changed the appearance children would assume this was significant so devised an experiment were the appearance of the items were changed accidently. Children tested were between four and six, results showed that more than half tested gave the correct answer. Confirming children conserve at a younger age than Piaget claimed. Formal Operational Stage A child shows logical thinking but generally needs to be able to work through sequences with actual objects. Once a child can manipulate ideas in their head it has entered the formal operational stage. Piaget tested this by giving each child string and weights and told them to find out which factors affects a complete swing of the pendulum they could vary the weights, length of string and strength of push. Piaget found children who had entered the formal operational stage approached the task systematically testing one variable at a time. Psychologist Robert Siegler (1979) tested children aged five and upwards, by using the balance beam test. Results showed that eventually the child would take into account the interaction between the weight and the disc but would not achieve this ability until they were between 13 and 17. This concluded that children’s cognitive development is based on acquiring and using rules in increasingly more complex situations instead of stages. Conclusion Piaget tested his children and well-educated professionals therefore making his findings ungeneralised and potentially bias. Subsequent questions relating to the child’s individual answer may have led children to give the answer researchers were looking for. Piaget underestimated the ability of children’s social understanding. A child’s perception of an adult the importance of a familiar context and the meaning of a second question all affect a child’s performance. Weaknesses in Piaget experiment prevent children from showing what understood. Piaget overestimated the age at which children entered the formal operational stage (Siegler). As Piaget focused on individual children he failed to take social settings into account. He failed to show that development is continuous and not in stages Evidence suggests that environmental factors, ethics and gender could alter a child’s development. Small samples and controllability of variables were not taken into account. Piagets had very little evidence to support his findings and believed that his finding could be applied to every child. Piaget’s focus on qualitative development has played an important role on education. Piaget opened the opportunities for others to learn and discover more on how children development.