Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Multi project assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Multi project assignment - Essay Example The successful completion of projects and tasks is found to often be as a result of the combined efforts of the various members of a given team. It is important for teams to ensure that they are able to work as a single cohesive unit so as to be able to be effective and successfully manage to achieve the team’s goals. Some of the good things that were seen to happen to the conglomerate team during the course of the game were that the team members showed good cooperation and were able to communicate effectively and unite to work as a team exhibiting sufficient harmony and trust in their work. The groups were also able to effectively deal with some of the risks such as the potential failure by suppliers to make deliveries in good time and the risk of faulty products. In addition to this, changes were well received by the team members who effectively adapted and ensured that that the processes proceeded flawlessly. Communication The open communication of both information and idea s is widely perceived to be an integral aspect of effective team functioning. Good communication between team members is seen to be associated with a number of outputs that are commonly attributed to positive communication between team members, these outputs are seen to typically include good project performance, innovation as well as commercialized products and patents (Neider, 2005). After having been assigned into our respective groups by the tutor, My fellow Conglomerate group members and I met to develop a possible strategy on how we would be able to tackle the exercise that we had been assigned. Having been selected as the group’s PMO, I was tasked with the key responsibility of ensuring that I offered adequate help to my fellow group members to help them calculate the overall and total budget. We managed to elect a PM for our group and the various pairs of the different member countries set off to discuss on the possible strategies that they would use so as to be able to effectively control the timelines and budgets of the country for which that they happened to represent as council members. During this initial meeting, considerable time was spent setting both the deadlines and milestones that the various council members in the different countries were supposed to achieve. In my capacity as the PMO, I also took time to painstakingly highlight individual project objectives for the different council members and upon ascertaining that all the group members clearly understood their assigned roles. All the conglomerate team members actively contributed to the general development of individual checklists that would be used by the team members so as to avoid any eventually of their overlooking critical aspects of their projects. The group had an efficient communication strategy as the team members, the PMO and the PM were able to communicate with each other during the frequent meetings that were scheduled to be held briefly on a daily basis. In the even t that a matter happened to arise, it was possible for the members, the PM and the PMO to communicate via email and phone calls. The team members were able to debate on and unanimously agree on an agreed timeline for the different stages of the projects by different countries so as to minimize any eventuality of the country’s having to spend on the projects while at the same time avoid penalties resulting from reassignments and cancellations of bookings.

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

Good Corporate Governance and Sustainability Research Paper

Good Corporate Governance and Sustainability - Research Paper Example Under the good corporate governance applied, Ford performed very well in business plan development and compensation, business plan review, special attention review and automotive strategy meeting, corporate policy letters and directives, management systems. That is the main reason why Ford is only one of the auto companies which kept performing during the 2008 global financial crisis in America. Mallin (23) asserts that the element of diversity in companies is one of the things that benefit from corporate governance. Corporate governance promotes diversity by, firstly, ensuring a board of governance or company leadership that respects diversity. Gender diversity in companies’ leadership is one of the crucial issues commentators of corporate governance have emphasized. In the past five years, seven countries have passed legislation mandating female board representation and eight have set non-mandatory targets. A study of Canadian companies showed that boards with three or more women performed much better in terms of governance than companies with all-male boards. The study also found that the more gender-diverse boards were more likely to focus on clear communication to employees, to prioritize customer satisfaction, and to consider diversity and corporate social responsibility. To illustrate the point above, McKinsey & Company, as the world’s leading consulting firm, is a great example in the real world. Mallin (24) attributes the improvement of a company’s economic and financial performance to the varying skills and abilities of diverse groups of people. He argues that the skills of people from different backgrounds outperform homogenous groups. In order for companies to uphold corporate governance to ensure diversity, they invite applications from the public. This helps companies to pool  a variety of skills and abilities from which they can appointable candidates. In addition, corporate leaders use mentorship to educate persons from lower levels with the skills required to handle senior positions.

Saturday, November 16, 2019

Prius Essay Example for Free

Prius Essay Analysis of 4P’s – Product, Place, Price, Promotion f. SWOT Analysis of Toyota Motor Corporation and Toyota Prius g. Competitors Against Toyota Prius h. Target Market of Toyota Prius 3. Objectives a. Corporate Objectives b. IMC Objectives 4. Time Frame 5. Promotion Strategies a. Print Advertising b. Internet Advertising c. Sponsorship Activity d. Exhibition 6. Promotion Budget 7. Appendix 8. References 1. EXECUTION SUMMARY This Integrated Marketing Communications Proposal is a one-year communications plan, which is to be launched in Hong Kong, for the Toyota Prius. It aims to further raise the awareness of the Prius and in turn increase the market share and sale. Market analysis identified the target market, which consists of two groups: private and corporate buyers. Consequently a communications strategy that makes use of various media has been created. Newspaper and car magazines as the print advertisements, the Internet, sponsorship activity and exhibition will be the main media. The Creative strategy is designed to emphasize the unique selling points of the Prius and weaken the target markets objections. The budget (HK$1,000,000) has been allocated for the events and advertisements this year. The majority of the budget will be spent on the 2 two-day exhibition, followed by the print advertising. 2. SITUATION ANALYSIS a. Background Information of Toyota Motor Corporation Toyota is a Japanese car manufacturing company founded by Sakichi Toyoda in 1937. They have four key strategies which aim at customer satisfaction, quality assurance, continuous improvement and reduction of waste. Toyota has manufactured various types of cars such as Corolla and Carmy. After continuous improvement, Toyota is likely to be the best seller in the world this year in terms of sales. . Communication History of Toyota Motor Corporation Crown Motors, the local agency of Toyota, has published various advertisements for its vehicles through newspapers, magazines, TV commercials, exhibitions and sponsorships, etc. However, there are merely few local sponsor activities and exhibitions for Prius and thus it is still new to local drivers. c. Background Information of Toyota Prius Toyota Prius is one of the worlds first commercially mass-produced and marketed hybrid automobiles. It released in Japan in 1997 and then worldwide in 2000. By the end of 2003, nearly 160,000 units had been produced for sale in Japan, Europe and North America. In Latin, â€Å"Prius† means before or first. Technologies applied in the Prius are brand new and advanced ideas so that the Prius suits the name for the series. The Prius has won a number of awards, which are shown below. d. Awards Attained by Toyota Prius †¢ 1997–98  ¦ Car of the Year Japan †¢ 2003  ¦ Scientific American names Toyota Motor Corporation as Business Leader of the Year (Scientific American 50; December, 2003) for its singular accomplishment in the commercialization of affordable hybrid cars. 2004  ¦ Motor Trend Car of the Year  ¦ Car and Driver Magazines Ten Best List  ¦ North American Car of the Year Award †¢ 2005  ¦ European Car of the Year e. Analysis of 4P’s – Product, Place, Price, Promotion The Prius was released locally in 1999. Apart from the large comfortable driving environment, it was the first vehicle that introduced the â€Å"Hybrid Synergy Drive†, which helps the car become exceptionally fuel economical. The distribution of the Prius is mainly located at the six local Crown showrooms. The price of the Prius is around HK$230,000 which is a bit higher than the ther series or Japanese cars because Toyota positioned it as advanced technology vehicle with the features of environmental friendly and fuel-saving technologies. The major promotion channels used were exhibitions, car magazines and sponsorships of environmental protection events. According to the previous brand promotion of Toyota, newspapers, television commercials and the Internet were also used. f. SWOT Analysis of Toyota Motor Corporation and Toyota Prius i. Strength Toyota is Japan’s largest and the world’s third largest car manufacturer with assurance of reliability and high quality image. Toyota was one of the first manufacturers to introduce the concept of â€Å"Just in Time† production that allows to reduce operating cost and overheads and to respond to customer demand quicker. The yearly budget for RD is set at the highest amongst car manufacturers for various research centres around the world. This willingness to invest has brought Toyota an innovative image and created products such as the Prius. The Prius has advanced technologies which aim at environmental protection. It lets drivers save fuel and thus needs low maintenance cost in the long run at affordable price. i. Weakness Reputation of Toyota is not enough to convince buyers who like to express themselves with their choice of car, thus prefer cars with higher prestige from manufacturers such as Mercedes. Appearance of the Prius may relatively not as outstanding and attractive to potential buyers. According to Wikipedia, the Prius has been criticized for its aesthetics and handling characteristics. T oyotas life cycle assessment shows that the amount of energy required to manufacture a Prius is higher than that of a similar gasoline powered vehicle. iii. Opportunities Toyota’s new hybrid technology has proven very successful worldwide and already created several brand extensions and derived models. Toyota could obtain the benefits of being the first in the market, currently 90% market share in hybrid vehicles. The introduction of new models in growing segments offers opportunities. The Internet also helps the marketing of cars, thus improve communications and reduce operating cost by offering online showroom, online booking of test drives, nearest dealer locator, online purchasing and e-brochures, etc. Increase in fuel prices can also be treated as one of our opportunities as the Prius is fuel-conservative vehicle. iv. Threats Major threat comes from rich and big competitors. Indirect competition comes from alternative methods of transport. Other government incentives are also aimed at reducing the usage of cars, such as the increase in tax. These actions can reduce the number of car purchases and reduce eventual profits. g. Competitors Against Toyota Prius Toyota Prius being an environmental-friendly and energy-efficient vehicle, competitors will be defined as those which have similar technologies in the manufacture of fuel-saving engines. Honda Civic GX and Insight are energy-efficient vehicles but not for sale in Hong Kong. Also, General Motors FlexFuel series and Hybrids series are powerful competitors in the same situation. Hence, Toyota is the local pioneer in this product line. h. Target Market of Toyota Prius The target market can be split into two major categories: B2B customers and private consumers. B2B customers are fleet and corporate buyers, who buy cars either for hire or rental or for company fleets. The environmental features make the Prius particularly interesting for business buyers because of his low operating cost. Private consumer is either male or female and between the age group targeted at 25 and 39 years old. Some of them are likely to be married and with family responsibilities. They are affluent, well-informed and educated adults. They may be of upper middle class. They pursue environmentally-friendly lifestyle. 3. OBJECTIVES Objectives exist on three levels, corporate, marketing and communication, in which marketing and communication are regarded as the integrated marketing communications (IMC) objectives. a. Corporate Objective It can be summarized as shareholder wealth maximization and is ultimately achieved through higher profits and increased sales. b. Integrated Marketing Communications Objectives Toyota Prius is at the growth stage of product life cycle. As the environmental friendly technology of the Prius still being the pioneer in the industry, the objective is defined to be long term. It is important to further raise the awareness of this feature to the public by 30% at the end of this year, which in turn increase the market share aimed at 25% and increase the sales by 25%. It is hoped that by the proposed promotion strategies, it can fully reach the target market and make the potential buyers aware of the Prius. Then, during the events and in the advertisements, we can educate them and explain the technical knowledge and advantages of the Prius, so that they are excited about the Prius and develop the word-of-mouth. It is hoped to motivate buyers to find out more about the Prius by visiting our website to order brochures or a test drive. Visits to exhibitions and showrooms may lead to the act of purchase which is our ultimate goal. 4. TIME FRAME 5. PROMOTION STRATEGIES To promote the Prius, we have considered several means including the use of newspaper and car magazine as print advertising, Internet advertising, sponsoring activities and exhibition. a. Print Advertising i. Newspaper The main objective of newspaper advertisement is to perform the function of teaching consumers in the learning process. The next step is to attract the readers to the exhibitions and showrooms to do the feeling process. In the newspaper advertisement, we use the theme that the Prius only emits leaves but not pollution. It is a fresh car. We have two sets of advertisements. The first one is for advertising the Prius during the exhibition period. Another one is during the period without exhibition. The slogan â€Å"Prius, it’s fresh† is still used in these advertisements to make the whole campaign consistent. Here explains the two designs. The first one is used during exhibition period. It is published in a coloured full page. As the main theme of this set of advertisement is to connect the Prius with a fresh sensation, the main color of the page will be green. A white Prius runs down a green road. At the back of the car is a cluster of leaves. It shows the idea that the Prius would make the place it runs green. At the top left corner we can see the awards that the Prius got in the last few years. They tell customers that even professionals appreciate the Prius much. At the same time, three icons are used to conclude the main features of the Prius: low emission, high energy efficiency and the auto-charge function. The bottom of the page includes information about the exhibition, the venue and the time. At the bottom right corner there is a coupon. People can bring the coupon to the exhibition and get a model of the Prius. The plan is to attract more readers to come to our exhibition and feel the Prius. Another advertisement will be published during non-exhibition period. It will be published in a coloured quarter page. The design of this advertisement will also be used to relate the Prius to a fresh atmosphere. The background of the page is a large piece of grasslands. The back of the Prius is coloured with a pattern of cluster of green leaves. The slogan and three icons are also put in the page to recall readers’ memory that it used to be the Prius’ advertisement. At the bottom of the page is a list of showrooms demonstrating the Prius. We hope that readers who are interested in will go to the showrooms directly to feel how fresh the Prius is. ii. Car Magazine Besides newspaper, car magazine will also be used as one of the printed advertisements. According to the result of our questionnaire, most of the interviewees obtain the car information by the car magazine. It shows that car magazine is the main channel to promote. We have chosen CarPlus ( ) to promote because it is one of the members of South China Media Limited. Car Plus is positioned as the middle-class car magazine and it is suitable for our target group. Also, CarPlus is top three car magazine in Hong Kong. It is believed that after we have post the printed advertisement on CarPlus, it can increase the awareness of the Prius among potential car buyers. The theme is â€Å"Prius integrates with the nature†. The design of the print advertisement divides into two pages. The first page creates a natural environment so grassland is used as the background. Then, the grassland has a blank car shape and there is only a slogan â€Å"Today, Tomorrow†. The print advertisement is made simple and being curious so that it can create stopping power and let the reader to feel interested in the advertisement first. The second page is different from the previous one. The background is green and the car place at the middle. It is to create a fresh look of the advertisement and provide more details. There are several logos describing the feature of the Prius. b. Internet Advertising Internet is one of the most important media channels of automobile products. Based on the questionnaire’s result, Yahoo! is the main search engine of our target group. Therefore, a floating advertisement is used in order to bring awareness of the Prius. When the Internet users open the Yahoo! ebsite, the image of the Prius will appear in the screen, followed by a sound effect which is the sound of car engine. If the user is interested, he/she can click it and it will link to Toyota website. The Internet floating advertisement aims to raise the awareness of the customers and give them a fresh impression about the Prius. c. Sponsorship Activity For sponsorship activity, HK$50000 is spent on the World Widelife Fund (WWF) to promote environment protection. We will sign contract with WWF to makethe Prius the appointed car of the organization. As WWF focuses on nvironmental-friendly events, using the Prius will not only increase the reputation of the organization, but also increase the awareness of the Prius. We will give WWF a special price, near the wholesale price. The objective of this campaign is to connect the Prius to environmental-friendly business. Every time when people see the Prius, they will be able to think of fresh environment. d. Exhibition According to the findings of the survey, it shows that (% of interviewees ) usually visit car exhibition before purchasing cars. In order to raise the awareness of the Prius among our target audience, two exhibitions will be held this year. . Time Two exhibitions which will last for 2 days are scheduled to be held on 29th and 30th July, and 24th and 25th November this year. In order to better allocate the available resources, Flighting schedul ing method will be used. The exhibitions are arranged to be held at these two periods since it is expected that people’s purchasing desire are higher before the summer vacation and Christmas. ii. Venue Shatin New Town Plaza is chosen since it is one of the largest exhibition venues in the New Territories. In addition, the rent ($80,000/day) and space provided (3,600sq. ft) are suitable to carry out the exhibition. As Shatin is a well developed town, many people, especially middle classes, settle there. Holding the exhibitions in Shatin would probably increase the chance of reaching our target audience. The circulation of Shatin New Town Plaza per day ranges from 250,000 to 300,000, estimating 15. 6% of the people shopping there are our target customers, aged from 25 to 39 years old, according to the data from statistics of the Shatin New Town Plaza and Census. iii. Settings of Exhibition For the first exhibition on 29th and 30th July, a press conference will be held together with the exhibition. Chief Executive Officer of Toyota Hong Kong will introduce the main features of the Prius and answer the queries from the mass media and the public. Hence, the press conference allows people to get more information about the Prius. At the same time, overhead projection of the Prius video will be shown on the screen during the press conference and throughout the exhibition to create the feel of high technology. On the second day of the exhibition, there will be a cheque giving ceremony for sponsoring WWF to enhance the image of environmental protection of the Prius. For the second exhibition on 24th and 25th November, a famous artist who loves driving cars and is the representative of â€Å"Environmental Friendly Star† ( ) of Shatin Junior Chamber ( ), Miriam Yeung ( ), will be invited to share the feeling of using the Prius. With the famous artist giving professional opinions, the environmental friendly image of the Prius can be strongly established and strengthened. Background music, like birds singing, will be played throughout the exhibition, so as to create the feel of being in the nature, making people feel refreshing and environmental conscious. In addition to auditory stimulation, visual effect will also be emphasized. Flowers and plants will be used in the exhibition. They are used to enhance the environmental friendly image of the Prius. To strengthen the image, the Prius will be displayed on an artificial meadow with the shape of a leaf. All the above use the idea of classical conditioning since they serve as an unconditional stimulus and gives rise to an unconditional response, refreshing and environmental conscious. Through contiguity and repetition, this unconditioned stimulus will develop an association with the conditioned stimulus, appearance of the Prius, and thus gives rise to the conditioned response, the Prius is refreshing and environmental conscious. The floor plan of the event is shown as below. [pic] It is important to ensure the target audience can experience the full car visually so as to understand more about the Prius. One of the Prius is specially processed to be a partially transparent car, thus people are able to see the internal structure, like the hybrid engine of the Prius. Two normal Prius will be exhibited. People can experience the comfort of the car and professional opinions are given by salesmen at the same time. According to Foote, Cone ; Belding Grid, cars should use the model of Informative (The thinker) since the involvement of the target audience is high and it requires more thinking processes. Therefore, learn- feel- do model is used. Through the exhibition, target audience are able to learn more about the car from the transparent car model and the professional opinions from the salesmen, also, customers can feel and experience the comfort of the car. These settings are used to increase the chance of purchase. Board and decoration will be placed in the exhibition hall. Besides, decoration of trees and leaves will be placed so as to stress the feature of â€Å"environmental-friendly† of the car. The boards will show the features of the Prius and with the emotional appealing graphics. The customers could learn more about the product through the statistics and comparison. iv. Use of Manpower Personal selling in exhibition is very important since cars are high involvement product and more convictions are needed for purchase. Personal selling will be carried by salesmen who are trained to be familiar with the Prius in advance. Salesmen should be able to tell the advantages and features of the Prius and to answer queries from customers. The Prius will be promoted by sex appeal. Three beautifully dressed ladies will stand in front of three Prius respectively. It is used to increase the awareness of potential customers and photographers to take photos for them. Moreover, nine salesmen will be distributed around three Prius, promoting and answering queries raised by people. v. Exhibition Rundown On 29th July, 2006 |11:30-12:30 |Opening ceremony + Press conference | |12:30-15:00 |Exhibition | |15:00-17:00 |Racing queen for photo taking | |17:00-21:00 |Exhibition | |21:00-22:00 |Clearing | On 30th July, 2006 11:00-13:00 |Exhibition | |13:00-14:00 |Cheque giving ceremony of sponsoring World Wildlife | |14:00-15:00 |Exhibition | |15:00-17:00 |Racing queen for photo taking | |17:00-21:00 |Exhibition | |21:00-22:00 |Clearing | On 24th November, 2006 |11:00-13:00 |Exhibition | |13:00-14:00 |Sharing from artist— | |14:00-15:00 |Exhibition | |15:00-17:00 |Racing queen for photo taking | |17:00-21:00 |Exhibition | |21:00-22:00 |Clearing | On 25th November, 2006 |11:30-15:00 |Exhibition | |15:00-17:00 |Racing queen for photo taking | |17:00-21:00 |Exhibition | |21:00-22:00 |Clearing | 6. PROMOTION BUDGET 7. APPENDIX 8. REFERENCES

Thursday, November 14, 2019

In Support of Parenting Education Essay -- Child Development

In a perfect world, every child would be wanted and loved, and all parents would have the capacity and the desire to raise children who are healthy, mentally and physically strong, and displaying high moral integrity. Sadly, this is not the case. Some parents are, unfortunately, not much interested in what happens with their children. Other parents are not pleased with what is happening in the home with their children but do not know what to do to create effective change. Still other parents are unaware that there is another way, a better way, of parenting. Parent education could help in all of these scenarios. The literature demonstrates that parenting interventions improve the quality of the relationship parents have with the children as well as improving child social behavior (Scott, O’Connor, Furth, Mathias, Price, and Doolan 2010). Programs have been particularly effective when delivered to motivated, ethnic majority parents, but there has been little study of programs that serve as interventions aimed at preventing a wide range of poor outcomes associated with antisocial behavior, such as involvement in risky lifestyles, low school attainment, and a lack of satisfactory friendships (Scott et al.). There are, of course, problems associated with delivery of parenting programs; the greatest challenge is getting parents to participate when there is no mandate that they do so. Skilled personnel may be another issue; urban areas may have sufficient counselors and educators, but rural areas may not. A third issue is cost, although, as pointed out by Scott et al., â€Å"programs can i n theory be justified since in the long run they should reduce the high cost of antisocial behavior arising from increased use of services, higher levels... ...t effective when parents take an interactive part. Works Cited Brannon, Diana. â€Å"Character Education—a Joint Responsibility.† Education Digest 73.8 (2008): 56- 60. Parker, David C., Nelson, Jennifer S., and Burns, Matthew K. â€Å"Comparison of Correlates of Classroom behavior problems in schools with and without a school-wide character education program. Psychology in the Schools 47.8 (2010): 817-827. Reinberg, S. (2010). U.S. kids using media almost 8 hours a day. HealthDay News January 20, 2010. Retrieved from http://www.businessweek.com/lifestyle/content/healthday /635134.html Scott, Stephen; O’Connor, Thomas G.; Futh, Annabel; Mathias, Carla; Price, Jenny; and Doolan, Moira. â€Å"Impact of a Parenting Program in a High-Risk, Multi-Ethnic Community: the PALS Trial.† Journal of Child Psychology & Psychiatry 51.12 (2010): 1331-1341.

Monday, November 11, 2019

Evaluate the Methods Used by the Psychodynamic Approach

Charlotte King Orion 12 Psychology EXAM QUESTIONS Evaluate methods used by the psychodynamic approach. One of the methods used by the psychodynamic approach is case studies. Case studies are used to practice their therapy on to see if it actually works. The therapy created by Sigmund Freud, is called psychoanalysis. An example of one of the case studies would be the case study of Little Hans. Hans was at the age where he noticed he had a penis and therefore played with it a lot. His mother noticed this and told him to stop it otherwise she would call the doctor and get him to cut it off.Hans later on developed a phobia of horses, so his father got in touch with Freud and told him about Hans’ strange behaviour and he suggested that he was scared of horses because of the large penis. Later on, Freud and Hans’ father discovered that he had a phobia of horses because he saw his father as a rival and he apparently had a large penis. He saw his father as a rival because he ac quired the Oedipus complex which meant that he had a sexual desire for his mother and therefore wanted to get rid of the father.Freud interpreted that the horses in the phobia were symbolic of the father, and that Hans feared that the horse (father) would bite (castrate) him as punishment for the incestuous desires towards his mother. With Hans feeling threatened by his dad, Freud thinks that he comes up with a defence mechanism known as ‘identification with the aggressor'. This is where Hans would bond with his father by adopting his mannerisms and actions, this way; he will not feel hostile towards him. Weeks after, Hans’ phobia improved and at the end of the phobia he had two fantasies. One of them being that his father was the granddad not the dad.And the other about his bottom and penis being removes then being replaces with larger ones. After recovering from the phobia, Hans’ father reassured Hans that he had no intention of cutting his penis off. One weakn ess of the case study method is that it cannot set precedent for all cases with similar patients. For example, psychoanalysis might work on Hans but it might not work on someone else who has a phobia of horses. However, case studies over history of psychology have been able to provide clinicians with valuable information about different psychological illnesses.Meaning, a particular study can be used as a means of insight into life with the illness. Another downside to the case study method is the completely open and uncontrolled environment in which it takes place. This eliminates its usefulness as an indicator of cause and effect since the variables in the study are uncontrolled. This makes it too difficult or presumptuous to state that one value correlates in any way to another. Instead, a clinician can develop a hypothesis on this relationship and use another research method to determine support for, or refutation for, their hypothesis.This is why it was mentioned earlier that ca se studies can lay down the foundations for further psychological research. Another method is the use dream analysis. This is where dreams are looked into more depth to figure out their true meaning. Freud considered dreams to be the ‘royal road to the unconscious' as it is in dreams that the ego's defences are lowered so that some of the repressed material comes through to awareness. Freud distinguished between the  manifest content of a dream  (what the dreamer remembers) and the  latent content,  the symbolic meaning of the dream  (i. e. the underlying wish).The manifest content is often based on the events of the day. The process the underlying wish is translated into the manifest content is called dream-work. The purpose of dream work is to transform the forbidden wish into a non-threatening form, reducing anxiety and allowing us to continuing sleeping. Dream work involves the process of displacement, condensation and secondary elaboration. Displacement  takes place when we transform the person or object we are really concerned about to someone else. Condensation  takes place when we combine different factors into one aspect of the manifest content.Secondary elaboration  occurs when the unconscious mind strings together wish-fulfilling images in a logical order of events, further obscuring the latent content. According to Freud this is why the manifest content of dreams can be in the form of believable events. On 24 July 1895, Freud had his own dream that was to form the basis of his theory. He had been worried about a patient, Irma, who was not doing as well in treatment as he had hoped. Freud in blamed himself for this, and was feeling guilty. Freud dreamed that he met Irma at a party and examined her.He then saw a chemical formula for a drug that another doctor had given Irma flash before his eyes and realised that her condition was caused by a dirty syringe used by the other doctor. Freud was no longer guilty. Freud interpreted t his dream as  wish-fulfilment. He had wished that Irma's poor condition was not his fault and the dream had fulfilled this wish by informing him that another doctor was at fault. Based on this dream, Freud went on to propose that a major function of dreams was the fulfilment of wishes. Another method used in psychoanalysis is free association.Free Association or the Talking Cure is based on the psychodynamic model of abnormality. Psychotherapy places great significance on childhood experiences, such as the psychosexual stages, and on repressed impulses and unresolved conflicts in the unconscious. The aim of psychotherapy is to bring repressed material into conscious awareness – ‘to make the unconscious, conscious’. During therapy sessions the patient is encouraged to relax on a couch and talk about whatever comes into his mind. The therapist listens and offers no judgement about anything the patient says.It is hoped the patient will relax his internal censor an d released repressed material from the unconscious. The therapist then helps the patient interpret the material and gain insight into the origins of the conflict. During the therapy the patient may also transfer his unconscious feelings and emotions onto the therapist. Psychotherapists help the patient deal with their recovered memories that came from the unconscious. Patients go through a cathartic experience called abreaction. Someone who experiences this will be cured of the disorder.

Saturday, November 9, 2019

Famous poem Essay

William Cullen Bryant’s famous poem â€Å"Thanatopis† literally means a view of death. This poem is one of the classics about death as it offers a peaceful view of death, comfort for the living, and no matter what a person’s religious beliefs, the poem is still applicable. â€Å"Thanatopsis† views death as part of the return to nature, like death is just another phase of life itself. â€Å"Earth, that nourished thee, shall claim Thy growth, to be resolved to earth again,† (Bryant). This quote explains that as a person has lived upon the Earth, the Earth will now live upon that person. The person will live on but in another way. â€Å"Surrendering up Thine individual being, shalt thou go To mix forever with the elements,† (Bryant). What is meant in this quote is that the person goes on living in Nature although each part of the person as an individual is gone. â€Å"Thanatopsis† also tells the reader that he/she will not go to death alone. Everyone who has ever died will already be there. Everyone who hasn’t gone yet will be there eventually. Social class or age do not matter; we all share one thing, and that one thing is death. In that way, we are all equal and death becomes the great equalizer. â€Å"Thanatopsis† also provides comfort for the living. â€Å"and what if thou withdraw In silence from the living, and no friend Take note of thy departure? All that breathe will share thy destiny† This statement provides comfort for the living as well. For those who seemingly have no one in life, they will not be alone in death. No person ever wants a friend or family member to suffer or to be alone, and Bryant tells us that no person will ever be alone. It is much easier to let someone go in this case. The real beauty of the poem is that it provides comfort to a person no matter what his/her religious beliefs are. If the reader is an agnostic or atheist, the poem views death as just all part of the cycle of Nature. We return to nature. If the reader is Christian, the poem becomes a split between body and soul. The body returns to Nature, and there is no mention of the soul or spirit. The spirit can be seen as going anywhere because there is no mention of it. So this poem is absolutely able to translated to Christianity. In fact, Bryant purposely rejected Puritanism in this poem in favor of a more open and accepting Unitarianism. In fact, if the reader is Buddhist, the return to Nature can be seen as reincarnation. Therefore the poem is in sync with many different religions. The wonderful way that Bryant views death gives the living and the dying much comfort in the process. In the end, death is like lying down on the couch and drifting off to sleep. It is painless and easy. Bryant also gives the reader advice on how to live life so that there is no need to regret death or to be afraid of it. The poem can provide comfort to any person of any religion and according to William Long provides an appreciation of nature that we cannot forget. Works Cited William Cullen Bryant. Retrieved November 24, 2007 at Web Site: http://www. msu. edu/~cloudsar/thanatop. htm Thanatopis. Retrieved November 24, 2007 at Web Site.

Thursday, November 7, 2019

Behind the Mask of Jason Voorhees Professor Ramos Blog

Behind the Mask of Jason Voorhees Jason Voorhees is a huge horror icon today. His character in the Friday the 13th franchise is a very unique one as well. However, some things needed to have taken place for Jason Voorhees to be born. His story comes from inspiration of a lot of different movies and characters. There are many individual events and causes that created Jason. There has been a lot of character development of Jason over the years, yet, if it weren’t for other films, there may not have been any inspiration for the creators of Jason to draw from. If it werent for them, we might’ve never gotten the story of Jason! Thank goodness these all happened, these are the causes of Jason. There is also a really good tie-in Jason has with one of Cohen’s Monster Theories. One of the biggest influences or causes for Jason Voorhees is Michael Myers from the movie Halloween (1978). During the late 70s and early 80s, there was a big boom in horror titles that were in the slasher category. In 1978, the film ‘Halloween’ was created and birthed the famous character of Michael Myers. He was a masked killer that had a tendency to kill savagely. This led to many more characters in the future with the same concept and some really similar ones too. For example, for Jason to have the tendency to kill recklessly, Michael Myers’ story of mental health was needed. This story allowed Michael’s killing to be somewhat justified because he was unstable. This allowed Michael to kill over and over again. The same thing could be said for Jason. For his killing to be justified he had to undergo some trauma. Some of the trauma that Jason experienced was drowning in the lake at camp with no one to help him out. Then later as a spirit or ghost, he exp erienced the death of his mother when she went to kill in his name. The experience of trauma was needed for both of these masked murders to go ahead and kill the way they did. So the cause of Michael going through trauma is how we got a similar story in Jason. Now what was needed for Jason to have the mask? Well that was really based on the times the movies were filmed. In the first Friday the 13th, Jason isn’t the killer, his mother is. He then goes onto kill in an older state in his life in Part 2. He has a burlap sack covering his face in the films. This is due to the embarrassment of his deformed face. Jason goes on to Part 3 of the franchise where he then adopts the infamous hockey mask. However, even though Jason is sporting some kind of mask or covering, he isn’t the first to do it. The main movie that started this trend was the Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974). This had the main character, Leatherface, take the faces of the victims and put it on his own face to hide his identity. Which then led to Michael Myers, the next horror movie in that time frame, to pick up a mask and go forth in killing. This then caused Jason to go ahead and put on a burlap sack in the Part 2, and finally the well known hockey mask in Part 3. One fun fact about this hockey mask is that it wasn’t completely planned into the story of Jason. The director at the time was really into the sport of hockey and suggested the usage of the hockey mask. This decision had no back story it was just spontaneous. One of the questions that people ask about Jason is on his weapon of choice. Why would he use a knife or machete when there are other more devastating weapons out there? One of the most famous things about him is that he is very slow and uses a melee weapon to take the lives of his victims. But why? He is so slow and he would benefit from a firearm, or even throwing knives for that matter. Yet, Jason only having a machete stems from the various horror moves from around it’s time. For example, these movies consisted of ‘Halloween’, ‘Psycho’, and ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’, these movies all have the main killer sporting a knife. However, in all these movies the killer is using a just a basic kitchen knife. Its concept can get old very quickly and that’s where the inspiration of Jason’s machete came from. The evolution of these films likely inspired the use of the machete because its much more menacing. If someone is rushing towards you full force, with a long machete that can slice through anything like butter, it’s most likely that anyone would be scared. One monster theory that relates to Jason is ‘The Monster Dwells at the Gates of Difference’. This is because as Cohen says, â€Å"The monster is difference made flesh, come to dwell among us. In its function as dialectical Other or third-term supplement, the monster is an incorporation of the Outside, the Beyond- of all those loci that are rhetorically placed as distant and distinct but originate Within†. This applies to Jason because he is very different from regular human beings. He is of demonic descent. He has some sort of paranormal aspects to him because he is half human and half demon. Yet, he is an undead human. This is because he his skin and flash is rotting. There’s really no way to kill Jason. While there are ways to kill him, he keeps on resurrecting and coming back. In a sense because of his demonic background he is immortal. He is really different from a regular human being. So he is going against the norm and ‘dwells at the gates of di fference’. As was mentioned earlier, Jason’s story was caused from a lot of different movies and characters. There was a lot of influence from films like Psycho, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and Halloween. These films really helped to shape the story line for Friday the 13th. Each of the films had an input to his character development. This is evident in his appearance, physical characteristics, and actions. These films allowed for the creators of Jason to pull from many ideas. So in short, these films and characters caused Jason Voorhees and helped develop him. Cohen, Jeffrey Jerome. â€Å"Monster Culture: Seven Theses.† From Monster Theory: Reading Culture. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1996. Renee, V. â€Å"The Birth of Jason: The Inspiration Behind the Iconic Mask and the Title ‘Friday the 13th’.† No Film School, 2015 Interview. Barkan, Jonathan. â€Å" Sean Cunningham Reveals the Inspiration for Jason’s ‘Friday the 13th’ Hockey Mask!† Bloody Disgusting, 2015.