Organisation on learning Essay Example for Free

Organisation on learning Essay Background: Previous research suggests that the organisation of information is integral to its storage in and recall from memory. Aim: Differences with regard to the use of categorisation of information have been observed between cultures and age groups, so the aim is to find out the degree to which categorisation affects the learning of information in 16-18 year olds. Method: 20 participants aged 16-18 had 60 seconds to learn as many words as they could from a grid containing 24 words. The grid contained 6 words in 4 different semantic categories and was either categorised (control) or randomised (experimental). Participants then recalled as many of the words as they could. The amount of words that they recalled was observed. Results: The difference in the number of words remembered between the two conditions was found to be insignificant when put to the independent t-test and tested at the 0.05 level. In fact, participants in Condition B (randomised) recalled more words on average than those in Condition A (organised). However, participants in Condition B showed 68.83% categorisation upon recall, compared with 0.5% that would have been shown if participants recalled the words in the order that they appeared on the radomised grid. Conclusion: The results suggest that the degree of organisation of information upon presentation does not affect the amount of information remembered. However, the actual process of mentally organising the information may be a significant factor in the amount of information remembered. Individual differences may affect the way the information is organised, but this study found that categorical organisation was the most common form of this. Introduction Much evidence suggests that information in memory is highly organised, and that we remember large amounts of information by associating it with other similar pieces of information already stored. It may even be that the organisation of information is a prerequisite for information to be stored; for example, Mandler (1967) stated that memory and organization are not only correlated, but organization is a necessary condition for memory. From this viewpoint, it follows that, by definition, any information stored in the memory must be organised somehow. It may also be that the organisation of information upon presentation facilitates its storage, and that if information is not organised, people will attempt to create their own methods of organisation (Tulving, 1968). Categorical clustering is a term coined by Bousfield (1953) in order to describe one type of organisation in learning. In his research, he presented participants with a list of 60 words (15 from 4 different categories: animals, anthroponyms, professions and vegetables) and asked participants to free-recall the list. He found that, despite not having been told what the categories were, participants tended to recall the words according to their category and thus demonstrated the phenomenon. Bower et al. (1969) presented participants with words which were arranged into conceptual hierarchies. For one group, these were arranged in hierarchical form, and for the other they were listed randomly. The participants who were presented with the words in hierarchical form recalled almost 31/2 times as many words as those to whom they were presented randomly, suggesting that the organisation of the words upon presentation facilitated their storage in memory. A similar trait has also been observed with naturally occurring stimuli. Rubin and Olson (1980) asked students to recall the names of as many members of staff in their school as they could, and found that students showed a strong tendency for the members of staffs names to be recalled by their respective departments. This also shows evidence for categorical organisation. They further found that students who re-arranged word cards into more categories remembered more words on average than those who created less categories, and that those who were not told to actively remember the words, instead just sort them, remembered the same amount as those asked to remember them. These indicate that not only does categorisation increase the amount of information remembered, but the active process of organisation may even cause the information to be remembered. More support that organisation and learning are intertwined comes from Kahana and Wingfield (2000), who found that the relation between organisation and learning remained the same even after significant differences between participants mnemonic abilities had been taken into account.  One case study which suggests that memory is highly organised comes from Hart et al. (1985). Having almost made a complete recovery from a stroke two years previously, M.D. experienced no problems except that he was unable to name different types of fruit and vegetable or sort them into categories. However, he was able to name and sort types of food, for example, and vehicles, which suggests that his inability to carry out these tasks was limited to specific semantic categories. Aims The findings of this previous research suggest that organisation does play a large role in the storage, structuring and restructuring of information in memory. However, organisation does not necessarily imply categorisation, which is what will be tested here. Also, in a similar way that Gutchess et al. (2006) found that age and culture affected the way in which categorisation was used in memory, it may be that young people in turn use it differently. So, the following experiment aims to investigate the effects of organisation on learning in 16-18 year-olds. More specifically, it will investigate the degree to which organisation of information upon presentation affects the storage and recall of words presented in a randomised grid. Following on from research by Bower et al. (1969) and Rubin and Olson (1980), two hypotheses have been drawn:  Experimental hypothesis  Participants will recall, on average, fewer words when the words given are listed randomly, than will the participants for whom the words are listed categorically.

Developing Green Infrastructure in New York CIty

Developing Green Infrastructure in New York CIty Chapter 1 New York City, U.S.A. New York City background City of New York is the most heavily populated city in the United States and one of the most populous urban agglomerations in the world. From the geographical point of view, it is located in a coastal area at the mouth of Hudson River into the Atlantic Ocean. The city’s territory has been extensively altered by human intervention, especially with considerable land reclamation. At the present time the city total area is 1214km2, 790km2 out of it being land and is increasing with every year. New York City’s land use is characterized as a highly developed urban core on Manhattan Island and a sprawling dense suburban area. The average building height in the city is approximately 142m. The city’s climate is vastly affected by its proximity to the Atlantic Ocean having 2.5 °C as average temperature in winter and 24.9 °C as average temperature in summer. Hurricanes and tropical storms are rare in New York, however they are not uncommon and always have the potential to strike the area. Urban heat island in New York City In the city of New York, urban heat island is a very well-known fact and it causes a lot of problems in various parts of the city, especially in the areas with high buildings. In the last two decades there have been countless researches and analysis made by different scientists and city government regarding atypical increased heat in some urban districts. In the last years, abnormal city climate became a bigger concern also for general public and the number of local communities involving in various heat mitigation programs is increasing. One of the most problematic zones regarding urban heat island is Manhattan. This district has the shape of a high urban canyon with buildings height ranging from around 70m up to 541m but the average height is of approximately 130m. The traffic in this area is overwhelming and combined with the large amount of materials that can absorb heat during the day, Manhattan is considered the hotspot of high temperatures in New York City. However, during the day there are multiple regions with higher temperatures than in Manhattan. But then again during the night, the temperature remains elevated in this specific region while in the other areas, the cooling process happens much faster and considerably easier. Figure 5‑a Manhattan map During summer temperatures are elevated and in this period urban heat island is more accentuated. Summer temperatures in the city are in average 4 °C warmer than surrounding suburban and rural areas. During winter city temperatures are in average 3 °C warmer than surroundings.[1] According to this research Variations in New York city’s urban heat island strength over time and space[2] in New York City, on a typical summer day with 30 °C air temperature, roofs and upper parts of buildings’ facades can reach more than 80 °C, while the pavements and streets on the floor of the urban canyon have a temperature varying from 65 ° to 80 °C. Mitigation strategies Urban heat island mitigation programs Absence of parks, gardens and street trees is a well-known problem in New York City districts and in 1996 the first program with the intention of greening the city has begun. It is called the Greenstreets and the purpose is to â€Å"change unused road areas into green spaces that beautify neighborhoods, improve air quality, reduce air temperatures (†¦). Since its beginning, over 2500 Greenstreets have been built citywide†[3] and the below table shows the current status. Figure 5‑b This table shows the percentages of vegetation and impervious surfaces in some of the New York City neighborhoods. The percentages are comparative to the specific zone. Landscape architects work together with the city government and local community groups to determine how best to increase the green infrastructure in the city. In Manhattan, more than half of the buildings’ roofs and terraces are no longer impervious because of the multitude of programs implemented by the government to fight the heat. The most important plan is called PlaNYC 2030[4] and it was implemented in 2007. Since then 903000 trees have been planted and in 2014 New York City had the cleanest air in the last 50 years. Moreover, since September 2013, an additional 185000m2 of black asphalt felt roofs have been upgraded to green roofs. Currently only 14% of the city area is covered by parks and gardens and they help reduce the heat, but the program is continuing. According to NASA â€Å"about 14 percent of the New York City’s impervious surface area consists of rooftops, most of them dark, heat-generating surfaces, typically tar†[5]. If this all this area is to be transformed into green roofs, then the percentage of gardens could grow up to 28%. In January 2010, one major project called Green light for Midtown[6] has been implemented in the midtown area, Manhattan. The idea was developed as a little part of the PlaNYC 2030. This project was a â€Å"major initiative in the City’s efforts to improve mobility and safety†[7]. However it also had a smaller and not that important objective to increase the green areas in midtown and have lighter colored streets and pathways. Some trees have been planted but more have been placed in large pots to ensure flexibility. Most of the streets have been temporarily painted in green and blue colors. The project was a success at that time as the lighter surface colors ensured a lower temperature for pedestrians. Another program called NYC  °Cool Roofs[8] (White roof project) [9], has as purpose turning most of black asphalt felt roofs in New York City into white roofs. The procedure is by painting the roof covering with a highly reflective paint, of minimum 0.75 albedo as stated in the project law[10]. According to the White Roof Project research on a summer day with 32 °C a white roof surface temperature is with 6 °C warmer than the air temperature and with 44 °C cooler than a black asphalt felt roof[11]. Since the project started in 2010, more than 535000m2 of roofs have been painted white in New York City metropolitan area[12]. Figure 5‑c Map of New York City with white roofs at the end of 2012 Figure 5‑d White Roof Project research Even though white roofs are more used than green roofs, the latter have greater heat mitigation potential. In Manhattan, while a white roof has the power to cool the air temperature with 0.7 °C on a summer day, the same area of green roof can cool the air around with approximately 3 °C and the effect is extended on a larger area.[13] Indoor temperature New York City has to struggle every summer with air conditioning and mechanical ventilation of every building. Because of the intense heat and the amount of units running in the same time, long power blackouts are very common and people had to find solutions to improve the air quality indoor. A lot of companies took the decision to install living walls indoors because of design reasons, but in time they realized the positive effects that they have on indoor climate. As a result, this solution became with time popular and more people and companies take the decision to install a living wall inside to help the air conditioning. Indoor temperatures during summer are very close to the outside temperatures and a living wall indoor can reduce the room temperature with as much as 7 °C. Green structures Figure 5‑e The Trump Tower in New York City Green facades and living walls are a common choice between New Yorkers but not as common as green roofs. Living walls are mostly used inside or on terraces and balconies. Green facades are also an appealing design in New York City and they appear mostly on old buildings. On new buildings, a full or partial green faà §ade is achieved by plants that people grow in their balconies or hanging from the outside window sill. Green roofs are increasing not only because of the multitude of promoting programs and laws but also because people discovered the benefits that these structures have. Most of them are becoming used as fruits and vegetable gardens, especially on the apartment blocks, schools and kindergartens. Moreover a nice flower garden on each apartment terrace increases the property value. Therefore the real-estate agencies are taking advantage of this feature and implement green roofs and green walls in more and more buildings. As a conclusion, most of the people’s reasons for adding a green roof or living wall anywhere in the city are more oriented to economic benefits or attractive view and practical usage. However the effect on the city climate and indoor temperature is the same. Communities involvement Figure 5‑f Public tree nursery The city government has a very efficient and well-organized informing procedure for local communities and the number of volunteers for helping cool the city is increasing. Also Central Park in Manhattan area, during summer is considered the heart of cool and shade and people realized how much power vegetation can have on the city climate. Therefore one of the most important practices that communities are doing is helping the government create spaces or use the existing parks for public tree nurseries. When trees reach the necessary size, volunteers help the government plant them on streets or in areas where shade is needed.[14] As a result, New York City is becoming a greener city. Moreover, through the program NYC  °Cool Roofs and White Roof Project, people volunteer to paint their own roofs white. 1 | Page [1] Slosberg, R. B., Rosenzweig, C., Solecki, W. D., 2007. New York City Regional Heat Island Initiative: Mitigating New York City’s Heat Island with Urban Forestry, Living Roofs, and Light Surfaces [2] Gaffin, et al., 2007. Variations in New York city’s urban heat island strength over time and space [3] NYC Parks. Green Infrastructure. [online] [4] Myors Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability, 2014. PLANYC Progress report 2014 [5] NASA. The Making (and Breaking) of an Urban Heat Island. [online] [6] New York City Department of Transportation, 2010. Green Light for Midtown Evaluation Report [7] New York City Depertment of Transportation. Pedestrians – Broadway. [online] [8] NYC  °Cool Roofs, 2012. NYC  °Cool Roofs Annual review 2012. [9] White roof project is a continuity project of NYC  °Cool Roofs White Roof Project, 2010. White Roof Project. [online] [10] A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York and the New York city building code, in relation to roof coating standards, 347-A (January 1, 2012) [11] See Figure 5-d [12] NYC  °Cool Roofs, 2014. NYC  °Cool Roofs. [online] [13] Rosenzweig, C., Solecki, W. D., Parshall, L., Lynn, B., Cox, J., Goldberg, R., . . . Watson, M., 2009. MITIGATING NEW YORK CITY’S HEAT ISLAND Integrating Stakeholder Perspectives and Scientific Evaluation. [14] American Society of Landscape Architects (Producer), 2012. Urban forests=Cleaner, cooler air

Successes And Failures Of Executive Information Systems

Successes And Failures Of Executive Information Systems The Executive Information Systems (EIS) was facing a high risk of failures, these estimates 70% of the failures. Organizational psychological, technological and educational issues make the implementation of the system difficult. Although it was an EIS but there were only little users of executives and the majority of the executives never rate the EIS advantages highly. The majority users of the system are middle management level. Based on this fact, implementation success cannot be taken for granted. The failure and success of other system cannot be applied to EIS. More organizations are using EIS and their derivatives and this make the system important. But there is less additional research about EIS although the model of critical success factors (CSF) for EIS already exists 10 years. There do not have any prove that show CSFs are universal in the application in different situation. System success There are some difficulties to define system success. Based on combination suggestions from many researchers, the article researchers had chosen 5 evaluation creations and introduce with the explanations. Access : the EIS is made available and users are given access to the system The development team should make the system available for the entire user. Use : the EIS is used by the intended users If the system cannot provide any benefit to the users, the system is facing failure. The development team also needs to make sure that EIS is using by the potential users. Satisfaction : users are satisfied with the EIS The satisfaction of user is important. If the user is satisfied with the system, it means the system successful. Positive impact : the EIS has positive impact the executive and the organization If the system can bring benefits to the user then the system is success. Diffusion : the EIS tends to spread The number of users also can show the successful of EIS. When an EIS user gains impact from the system, he will promote it to other colleagues. This will increase the number of users of EIS. CSFs reviewed Based on Rocket and DeLong (1988), they had mentioned that there are 8 areas that appear to be the important factors to EIS success. Other researches prove that the factors will influence the EIS success and the researchers add on two factors that will influence the EIS success. Committed and informed executive sponsor The committee that invests time and effort in development of EIS will have more understanding about the capability and limitation of the system. Operating sponsor They need to have operating sponsor to design the details of implementation from the user side to leverage the executive sponsor. Appropriate IS staff Senior executive need a quality staff to support the IS. This can make sure that the top management can interact with supporting staffs to make the system success. Appropriate technology The acceptance of system is based on the choice of hardware and software. The specifically designed product has solved the problem of lack of hardware and software. Management of data The internal and external sources, ability to access the data are the issues in system development. Some factors will block the implementation information systems (IS) for executives. Clear link to business objectives The system must have a clear link to business objective and clear benefits in using the technology. The system must provide something that other system does not have in order to add value to the data. Management of organizational resistance The political resistance is the factor that causes failure in using system. The reason is because executive can change information and shift the power inside the company. Management of system evolution and spread This is to fulfill the users demand and identifying all the needs of user and take it into account when expend the system. Evolutionary development methodology Evolutionary development methodology find the way on how the system can give value to the executive, and keep the executive hopefully and aware of the project. Carefully defined information and system requirements Fulfill the executive need is the key of successful system. Methodology This research studied the basic EIS success model. This model shows that CSFs will influence the system success. To get the 10 CFSs, the researchers study the six Hong Kong organizational cases. The researchers used face to face interview. They used a series of personal interviews with the key person in organizational. The questionnaires include open-end questions, and all the questionnaires send out before the interview. This was to make sure all the interviewee would provide more information. There are two sets of questionnaires; company still using the system and company stop using the system. Results After the results for all six organizations were analyzed, three success cases emerged (Major railway, international airline and health care provider companies), two failed cases (Utility and shipping companies) and one unresolved case (Large University). The two failures cases are categories as true failures by the decision to terminate the EIS and deficiency of benefits derived by the firm. The unresolved case was happen where the system was actually used, but it has no met its initial expectation, only a small fraction of its functionally, the benefits were not conceive and that no future expansion plan were planned. There are ten CSFs. The first one is a committed and informed executive sponsor. In success cases, top management always ensures resources and political support, provide direction and feedback, keep constant pressure on EIS project team and communicate strong and put continuing interest to the EIS developers and data providers. In unresolved case the president applies hands off approach to manage EIS project but he ensures the resources support needed for EIS. However, the failed case never set deadlines for EIS project and faced loss on sponsorship after loss of interest and direction from top management. The second CSFs are an operating sponsor. In success cases, operating manager have commit resources and time, participate and promote and help match business needs with technological capabilities. In unresolved cases, operating manager has handling day to day issues of development and translates users needs to design team. However, in failed cases, no clear single operating sponsor role are assign so the top management operating focus cannot be communicate to users. The third CSFs are appropriate IS staff. In success cases, companies applied team approaches which include external consultants, sponsors and data providers. In unresolved cases, internal staff confronted problem after external consultant left, company not have enough competence internal staff. Companies cannot development new EIS to meet users new requirements. However, in failed cases, there are no inheritor after the departure of IS staff. Company staffs are lack experience with EIS development. External consultants are lack understanding of the executive environment. The fourth CSFs are appropriate technology. In success cases, the capability, capacity and response time of technology are pleased with users. Vendor-supplied EIS software is used and a custom-built system is developed in management. The system supports for rapid screen design and maintenance. Users are pleased with it because this system is ease to use, always updated with new user needs and it is more flexible and faster. In unresolved case, users are facing the problem with accessing the system as there are complicated and slow response time. However, in failed cases, management felt difficult to write their own software as there is no prototype provided and need a long time to build the system. The fifth CSFs are management of data. Data that produced by system is in novel format consists of hard and soft data, internal and external data which add value to existing reports. Data are timely, accurate, reliable and consistent. Manager will verify the feasibility of obtaining information before committing to incorporate into EIS. In unresolved cases, duplication of works is occurred. Data are not being updated and incomplete in system. Moreover, they do not provide external data too. In failed cases, manager unable or taken a long time to obtain information for EIS. Data are not provided on time and presented in desired formats. Duplication of works is occurred too. The sixth CSFs are clear link to business objectives. For success cases, management is able to identify the key performance indicator, focus on business opportunity and then define the benefits by using EIS. They will define the critical success factors before the commencement of EIS project. For unresolved cases, value of EIS clearly defined and linked directly to users information needs. However, in failed cases, EIS do not have clear link to business objectives as executives are undervalued the importance of EIS. In succession, they do not convey clearly the objectives and benefits of EIS to users. In the seventh CSFs, it discuss about management of organizational resistance. There are few reasons make the factors successes which are EIS developers report that organizational resistance is not significant, majority of users are willing to use the system also make the factors success, resistance is handled by education and negotiation and relief which make IT is an important tool to help staff achieve business objectives. On the other side, there are some reasons make the factors become unresolved case. First, resistance is found initially due to the unfriendly user interface and slow response time. Second, resistance is less since training is provided and the technology is enhanced. Then, the reasons make the factors fails are data providers and middle management do not cooperate with the EIS project manager. There is also no action to manage the resistance. Corporate culture is not ready for the EIS and reluctant to embrace the technology also make the factors fail. After that, in the eighth CSFs which is good management of system evolution and spread. To be success in EIS new modules or refinements and enhancements are carried out following their comments. Then, new features and functions are added to meet increasing user requirements and also they are also encouraging user participation to express their needs. The reasons of no evolution due to the inadequate human resources and EIS cannot be enhanced quickly enough to capitalize on the newfound requirements make the case become unsolved. If there is no planning for EIS spread and evolution is not made to respond to users needs make the case fails. In the ninth CSFs, it discuss about the evolutionary or prototyping approach. Without using evolution or prototyping approaching make the case become unresolved. If the user only using prototyping approach without using evolution approach then it would make the case fails. Then in the tenth CSFs, it discusses about information and system requirements are carefully defined. The factors which help to achieve the EIS succeed are defined a view of what EIS is intended to achieve, review the existing management reports, interview executives and personnel who work for executives, the design is capable of meeting the requirements of different executives, arrange on-site meeting with EIS users at each output for meeting the information requirements of each output manager, ask personnel who support management and encourage users to devote time to try the EIS prototype. For some unsolved case, the users just review the existing reports to define information requirements and not carefully defined real users needs. Then, reasons like executive cannot devote time to the EIS project, information and system cannot be clearly defined, unable to articulate information requirements, users do not have time discuss with consultants and external consultants have problems t o understand users needs because of a lack of familiarity with the business make the case fails also. Discussion The three success cases seem to manage the CSFs well but the other two cases fails to do so. A well-managed of meta-CSFs can either result in a good or bad way. However, without such CSFs, it increases the difficulty in identifying the success and failures in an EIS. It was uncertain to identify the meta-CSFs as only six cases are analyzed. However, based on the analysis, the unresolved case, even though that had well championship from executives and operating sponsors, they miss the fundamental factor. This refers to the resources of the people, financial and appropriate technology. Another factor that influenced the unresolved case is the link to business objectives. Executives have a strong orientation but limited time to search for benefits. System with clear benefits demonstrated, linked to business objectives, and has a higher user acceptance. Temporal consideration is reflected as strong sponsorship of resources before EIS is launched. Little usage is achievable if the system cannot establish clear benefits. The two failure cases provide some evidence of the critical failure factors yearning in failing the EIS, top management prefer informal personal reporting, fear of losing influence by the employees, uncooperative data provider and middle management with EIS project manager and unprepared corporate culture. Both failed organization apparently implemented the Chinese management system. The characteristic of this management is that all strategic and major personnel decision is made by the owners and direct supervision of work and personal reporting rather than formal information system. Critical failure factors are different from the CSFs clear link to business objectives and management of organization resistance. Management system weighted the peoples experiences and beliefs rather than formal written rules for the sake of the organization, may be opposed to business objectives. Strong opposition causes the failure of the IS or vice versa. Mismatch of IS with the organizations managem ent system should be differentiated from normal organization resistance to avoid fear-based culture. However, in these two failure cases, the existence of letting the system fail is higher than the success of the system. Conclusion Understanding system failure and success is important. The on-line analytical processing (OLAP) associated with the EIS trend is a way of looking beyond transactions to forces driving them. It helps organization to have accurate forecast sales to have better planning in inventory, production, advertisement expenses and product pricing. In this study, Rockart and Delongs application of the eight CSFs and the additional of two factors are confirmed. Hence, it is important to have championing, resources and system link to business objectives. Unsuccessful system may result from disagreement with management system. Organizations that translate the needed information with business goals to a good system are likely to success than solving problems with an IS. Student Expectations In this case, EIS is not function perfectly because there is limited functionality, high implementation costs, less reliable and less secure data. IS project team should give pressure to the company as they are creating and maintaining the system, to receive resources that should have been received. This means that resources will be received at the time when it is needed and not after. The encouragement by the IS staff is important after the system has been done (creating/maintaining) as they need to demonstrate the benefit in sense of it ease in accessing the system and so on. Less time is needed to produce information that is needed as time is gold to the executives. Proper and specific training shall be given by external consultants to internal IS staffs, especially when a new system was created. This is to make sure that are a backup of the system in case external consultant leave. Nowadays, there is a lot of business systems which are more useful compare with EIS. For example, International Business System (IBS), which is a leading provider of distribution management solutions. IBS focuses on industries such as automotive, electrical components, paper packaging, pharmaceutical distribution and so on.

The Physiology and Psychology of Bulimia Essay -- Eating Disorder Weig

The Physiology and Psychology of Bulimia Bulimia is a disorder centered around an individual’s obsession with food and weight. This obsession involves eating large quantities of food, feeling guilty about the food consumption, and taking drastic measures to prevent caloric/fat absorption. Measures vary with each individual and include one or all of the following: forced vomiting, abuse of laxatives or diuretics, or excessive exercise. This disease affects one to three percent of adolescent and young women in the United States, and bulimic behaviors are displayed by ten to twenty percent of adolescent and young women in the United States (http://dcs.engr.widener.edu/galla/gal la.htm). In the studies of bulimia nervosa there is a continuing debate concerning the underlying cause of the disease - whether it is physiological or psychological. Studies have found convincing results for both theories. Numerous links have been found between eating regulation and neurotransmitters. However, there is no clear evidence that neurotransmitter dysfunction is the underlying cause of bulimia nervosa. Of the neurotransmitters that have been tested, serotonin has had one of the largest roles in the regulation of food intake among patients with bulimia. Progress has also come through treating bulimia as a psychological disorder. Treatment under this theory often involves psychotherapy and the use of antidepressants. However, it is widely accepted that the path to the best results involves the combination of both physiological and psychological methods of treatment. First, the physiological aspect will be explored. Assuming that eating regulation is controlled primarily by the brain, disturbances could exist in several places: (1) the br... ... Kaye, Walter H. and Harry E. Gwirtsman, eds. (1985). The Treatment of Normal Weight Bulimia, Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press. Pope, H.G., Jr. and Hudson, J.I. (1982). "Treating Bulimia with Antidepressants." Psychopharmacology, 78, 176-179. Stunkard, Albert J. and Eliot Stellar, eds. (1984). Eating and Its Disorders: Research Publications, 62, 84; 259-260. Walsh, Timothy B. (1988). Eating Behavior in Eating Disorders, Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press. Winik, Myron, ed. (1988). Control of Appetite: Current Concepts in Nutrition, 16, 27-34; 82-83. Wurtman, J.J. and R.J. Wurtman, et al. (1981). "Carbohydrate Craving in Obese People: Suppression of Serotoninergic Transmission." International Journal of Eating Disorders, 1, 2-14. Wurtman, J.J. and R.J. Wurtman, eds. (1979). Disorders of Eating: Nutrition and the Brain, 3, 121. The Physiology and Psychology of Bulimia Essay -- Eating Disorder Weig The Physiology and Psychology of Bulimia Bulimia is a disorder centered around an individual’s obsession with food and weight. This obsession involves eating large quantities of food, feeling guilty about the food consumption, and taking drastic measures to prevent caloric/fat absorption. Measures vary with each individual and include one or all of the following: forced vomiting, abuse of laxatives or diuretics, or excessive exercise. This disease affects one to three percent of adolescent and young women in the United States, and bulimic behaviors are displayed by ten to twenty percent of adolescent and young women in the United States (http://dcs.engr.widener.edu/galla/gal la.htm). In the studies of bulimia nervosa there is a continuing debate concerning the underlying cause of the disease - whether it is physiological or psychological. Studies have found convincing results for both theories. Numerous links have been found between eating regulation and neurotransmitters. However, there is no clear evidence that neurotransmitter dysfunction is the underlying cause of bulimia nervosa. Of the neurotransmitters that have been tested, serotonin has had one of the largest roles in the regulation of food intake among patients with bulimia. Progress has also come through treating bulimia as a psychological disorder. Treatment under this theory often involves psychotherapy and the use of antidepressants. However, it is widely accepted that the path to the best results involves the combination of both physiological and psychological methods of treatment. First, the physiological aspect will be explored. Assuming that eating regulation is controlled primarily by the brain, disturbances could exist in several places: (1) the br... ... Kaye, Walter H. and Harry E. Gwirtsman, eds. (1985). The Treatment of Normal Weight Bulimia, Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press. Pope, H.G., Jr. and Hudson, J.I. (1982). "Treating Bulimia with Antidepressants." Psychopharmacology, 78, 176-179. Stunkard, Albert J. and Eliot Stellar, eds. (1984). Eating and Its Disorders: Research Publications, 62, 84; 259-260. Walsh, Timothy B. (1988). Eating Behavior in Eating Disorders, Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press. Winik, Myron, ed. (1988). Control of Appetite: Current Concepts in Nutrition, 16, 27-34; 82-83. Wurtman, J.J. and R.J. Wurtman, et al. (1981). "Carbohydrate Craving in Obese People: Suppression of Serotoninergic Transmission." International Journal of Eating Disorders, 1, 2-14. Wurtman, J.J. and R.J. Wurtman, eds. (1979). Disorders of Eating: Nutrition and the Brain, 3, 121.

Of Mice and Men By John Steinbeck Essay -- English Literature

Of Mice and Men By John Steinbeck 1. How significant is the theme of loneliness in Of Mice and Men? 2. To what extent is it correct that The Great Gatsby, Death of a Salesman and Of Mice and Men explore important, but different aspects of ‘The American Dream’? 3. What is the importance of dreams and dreaming to the success of Of Mice and Men? A. Background Information Describe the historical background to the novel i.e. the USA in the mid/late 1930’s The USA of the mid and late 1930 was still suffering from the Great Depression. Many thousands were unemployed and had lost their homes. These people would often wander around the country, searching for jobs and a place to rest. John Steinbeck clearly outlines the lives of these men, traveling around from one job to the next, in his book Of Mice and Men. The depression had been caused by the stock market crash in 1929. Most Americans blamed President Hoover because he had been the President at the time and did know what to do about it. The Midwest suffered even more as the dust bowl crisis came into play. As the employees were dependant on their jobs employers could easily cut wages or even make them move at their will. When Roosevelt came into office he initiated many government programs supporting the suffering Americans. B. Summary Write a plot summary George Milton and Lennie Small, two migrant workers, arrive south of Soledad and spend a night next to Salinas River. As the two settle down it becomes clear that Lennie, a tall man with a â€Å"shapeless† face, has some sort of mental disability while George is relatively short and seems rather intelligent. Lennie also seems dependant of George as he looks out for him and helps h... ...ackground and makes a fortune. This still does not enable him to reach what he is actually longing for, his love Daisy. He has no reputation and does not belong to the American aristocracy and exactly that is what keeps him from fulfilling his dream. At last he dies in protecting Daisy. This seems extremely unfair and is clearly a criticism on this aspect of the American Dream. All of these three different books have given different views on the American Dream and spotlighted on different aspects of it. Every single one of these aspects is as important as the other ones no matter whether they are critical or have a positive message towards the American Dream. Some of these seem to overlap and contradict but overall it becomes very clear when looking at all three pieces of writing what the flaws of the American Dream are and what is so special about it.

Outline and assess the role of the police in the social construction of crime (50 marks) Essay

Social construction refers to the way in which crime and deviance in society might be created and shaped by society and social institutions. This can occur in a number of different ways. For example, they can influence public perception and definitions of what establishes crime and deviance, deviants or non-deviants. They can also influence the amount of crime in society by amplifying it therefore clamping down on it. They can add pressure for changes in legislation which can then alter definitions of crime and can criminalise activities previously regarded as legal. They can also influence the extent, trends and patterns of recorded crime in how they operate. Interactionism is an action approach which views society in a micro perspective. It argues that the definitions of deviance and normality are social constructions and are relative, meaning it will depend on a range of factors such as the time, place and social context in which the act takes place whether the behaviour is defined as a crime or deviant. Marxism is an example of the conflicting view as they argue that the law and social rules reflect the interests of the rich and powerful groups in society who have managed to impose their ideas and way of thinking on the wider population through coercion and ideological control. Therefore they are able to get their assumptions of crime to stick as opposed to the opinions of an ordinary person on the street. Functionalism however argues the consensus view that law and norms about acceptable behaviour in any society are simply a reflection of the wider collective conscience and these laws and social rules are created and enforced to the benefit of everyone. Therefore deviance is behaviour that breaks these agreements on what is acceptable. Functionalists view this defining process as straightforward and objective. The police are an institution that is assigned the duty to enforce the law and take action to those breaking these rules, in order to achieve order and safety in society. They are therefore considered as having a key role in the social construction of crime. The main way the police display this is through the use of discretion in the enforcement of the law. This refers to when police officers have to apply their own judgement to decide which laws are suited for the given circumstance. The choices individual police officers make would be greatly influenced by their own concerns and interests. Colman and German found evidence in their study which showed that there were individual racist police offers who apply the law more harshly to certain ethnic minorities. Reiner also suggested an explanation on the basis of police discretion which refers to culture. It is noted that the police force are overwhelmingly white males. Officers work long hours in each other’s company, being largely isolated from the public. This therefore results in the development of a very specific occupational culture. This is referred to as ‘canteen culture’. Skolnick suggested three of its components. The first being suspiciousness. This talks about the fact that officers, whilst carrying out their training, are taught to discriminate between ‘decent people’ and ‘potential troublemakers’. According to Reiner, they categorise and stereotype certain people as ‘police property’. For example, they regard young males, particularly youths from ethnic minorities as potential troublemakers. A second component is internal solidarity and social isolation. This causes police officers to rely on one another in terms of support when physically threatened and when denying accusations made by the public. Lastly, conservatism refers to those who join the police in the first place are rarely politically radical. However while the job of policing emphasises a non-political attitude, police officers must uphold the law; it also upholds the traditional values and nature of the state. There is a strong sense of conservative values evident in the police. A final component of masculinity was suggested by Graef. He noted how most police officers are male and drawn from the working class. Their culture therefore ultimately reflects traditional working class values of heavy drinking, physical prowess and heterosexuality. Racial stereotyping is also heavily emphasised and linked with assuming the role of the police officer. Cicourel attempted to discover what deviance is by examining the way in which some acts and individuals become defined or labelled as deviant. Cicourel therefore looked how a young person is defined as delinquent. The first stage is a police officer deciding to stop and interrogate the individual based on meaning held by the policy about what is ‘suspicious’ or ‘unusual’. These can be related to particular geographical areas for example. If the individual portray themselves as the ‘typical delinquent’ in ways they speak and in their demeanour, they are more likely to be arrested. The second stage applies if the young person has been arrested, resulting in being referred to a juvenile (probation) officer. The suspect’s background is then looked at. Coming from a ‘broken home’ and showing bad attitude towards authority are factors that would increase the likeliness of them being charged with an offence. Cicourel identifies how social classes can alter the way the juvenile probation officer would consider their choice of action. When a middle class juvenile is arrested they are less likely to be charged with an offence due to their background not fitting the typical criteria of a delinquent. Moreover, middle class parents are better able to negotiate successfully on their child’s behalf. Due to this, middle class juvenile is often defines as ‘ill’ or accidently straying from the path of righteousness, allowing them the chance to reform. Middle class juvenile are more likely to be released with just a warning. Cicourel concluded that justice is negotiable and his theories reveal the power and control both the police and the juvenile probation officer have over a young individual’s life. This therefore implies that it is these two agents who contribute towards the social construction of crime as they are given the authority to select certain individuals and undergo the process of labelling them as deviant. Taylor, Walton and Young however criticise Cicourel’s conclusion as he fails to explain how subjective meanings held by the police and juvenile probation officers of the ‘typical delinquent’ originate in the first place. Marxists agree with considering the police as a key agent in social construction of crime and deviance but they believe it reflects the ideology of ruling class. Gordon argues that crime is rational and individuals must fend for themselves in order to survive. This is particularly true of the American poor as America has minimal welfare services compared to many other advanced societies. Gordon stated that most crimes in the USA share the similarity of representing rational responses to the competitiveness and inequality of life in capitalist societies. Gordon argues the law enforcers in the USA support the capitalist system in three ways. Firstly they select members of the subject class and punish them as individuals – they are viewed as ‘social failures’ and responsible for their criminal activities. By placing this focus on an individual, it draws away from capitalism which is primarily responsible for their criminal deviance. Secondly the imprisonment of members of the subject class is a way of eliminating those who may have shown opposition to the capitalist society – reducing the opposition of the system. Finally by imprisoning the criminals who are ‘enemies of the state’, they are sweeping away an embarrassing extreme outcome of capitalist society. If something was done to help these people, if their difficult situations were made public then it would throw doubt on the capitalist society – as it produced them initially. This reflects the idea that enforcers of the law serves to maintain ruling-class power and ideology. Therefore suggesting that the police and courts exert their power and control to further strengthen the ruling class and continue to force submission of the subject class. The laws and the ideas of crime and punishment are argued to have been constructed based on the ruling class’ preferences. It is also argued that the police are not a significant factor of the social construction of crime and the informal agent of social control which is media has a greater influence. The media shape wider social definitions of what is criminal and deviant. They can also configure the public’s perceptions and fears in terms of what they choose to report and how they choose to represent this. This therefore implies that what is considered as deviant is linked to the influence that the media has on the public, causing them to react in a certain way. The police can therefore be argued as just victims of the media as it pressures them to act against these negative social groups which have been categorised as public enemies, and if they don’t choose to take action, the reputation of the police could be threatened. ‘Moral panics’ is a concept used to describe the media’s reactions to particular social groups or acts that threaten societal values. Their reaction is often out of proportion to the real threat and puts pressure on authorities to control the problem. Marxists believe that moral panics serve an ideological purpose. Stuart Hall studied the media coverage of black muggers in the 1970s and concluded that it served the purpose of dividing the working class, diverting attention away from the mismanagement of capitalism by the ruling class and justified severely restrictive laws and policing that could be used against other problem groups. Stuart Hall’s theory however is criticised for being too deterministic and ignoring the centre of activity. Functionalists would argue the influence of the role of police in the social construction of crime is wrongly exaggerated. They would describe the police as having a close relationship with the local area being policed. Therefore the role of the police force is being to represent the shared interests of the majority of law abiding people to defend them against the minority of offenders. They would disagree that the enforcements made by the police are revolved around the interests of the ruling class as they argue that police officers are drawn up from the community therefore ultimately reflecting its characteristics. They also believe that individual offenders are caught as a result of complaints made by the community not due to the individual police officer’s view and attitudes affecting the decision.

An Analysis of Jim Morrison’s Poetry

An Analysis of Jim Morrison's Poetry Through the Eyes of a Fan. James Douglas Morrison’s poetry was born out of a period of tumultuous social and political change in American and world history. Besides Morrison’s social and political perspective, his verse also speaks with an understanding of the world of literature, especially of the traditions that shaped the poetry of his age. His poetry expresses his own experiences, thoughts, development, and maturation as a poet — from his musings on film at UCLA in The Lords and The New Creatures, to his final poems in Wilderness and The American Night.It is my intention to show Morrison as a serious American poet, whose work is worthy of serious consideration in relation to its place in the American literary tradition. By discussing the poetry in terms of Morrison’s influences and own ideas, I will be able to show what distinguishes him as a significant American poet. In order to reveal him as having a clearly defi ned ability as a poet, my focus will be on Morrison’s own words and poetry. I will concentrate on his earlier work to show the influence of Nietzsche and French poets such as Arthur Rimbaud and Antonin Artaud and the effect they had on Morrison’s poetry and style.Morrison’s poetic style is characterised by contrived ambiguity of meaning which serves to express subconscious thought and feeling—a tendency now generally associated with the ‘post-modern’ or avant garde. His poetic strength is that he creates poetry quite profound in its effect upon the reader, by using vividly evocative words and images in his poems. While it is obvious that Morrison has read writers that influence his work, and their influence remains strong in subject and tone, he still manages to make it his own in the way he adapts these influences to his style, experiences, and ideas.We would expect to find remnants of quotes, stolen lines and ideas, in a lesser writer, but Morrison shows his strength as a poet by resisting plagiarism and blatant ‘borrowing,’ in order to achieve originality in his own verse. As T. S. Eliot has said, â€Å"Bad poets borrow, good poets steal. † Morrison’s poetry is very surreal at times, as well as highly symbolic — there is a pervading sense of the irrational, chaotic, and the violent; an effect produced by startling juxtapositions of images and words. Morrison’s poetry reveals a strange world — a place peopled by characters straight out f Morrison’s circus of the mind, from the strange streets of Los Angeles boulevards and back alleys. Morrison’s speech is a native tongue, and his eye is that of a visionary American poet. He belongs to what poet and critic Jerome Rothenberg calls the â€Å"American Prophecy . . . present in all that speaks to our sense of ‘identity’ and our need for renewal. † Rothenberg sees this prophetic tradition as: Affirming the oldest function of poetry, which is to interrupt the habits of ordinary consciousness by means of more precise and highly charged uses of language and to provide new tools for discovering the underlying relatedness of all life . . A special concern for the interplay of myth and history runs through the whole of American literature. Thoreau, Emerson, and Whitman saw the poet’s function in part as revealing the visionary meaning of our lives in relation to the time and place in which we live . . . we have taken this American emphasis on the relationship of myth and history, of poetry and life, as the central meaning of a ‘prophetic’ native tradition. The lasting impression of Morrison’s poems is that they attempt to render the dream or nightmare of modern existence in terms of words and imagery, quite bizarre and obscure, yet compelling at the same time.An important aspect about the body of his work and his commitment to his particular style, o ne closely aligned to Rothenberg’s ‘prophetic’ tradition, is that it is in the tradition of what other poets of his time were writing. Morrison’s early experiments with poetry and prose, written between 1964-69, depict — in the language of an intellectually ambitious film student — the strong influence of people such as Nietzsche and Artaud, and his ideas on aesthetics, philosophy, life, and film in particular.His early writings are the foundation on which he develops his poetic style. All the motifs, symbols, and imagery introduced in his first collection of poems recur continuously throughout his later works. The Lords and The New Creatures was conceived as two separate books; however, it was published as one book containing Morrison’s ideas and poetry. Essentially, it is a forum for the fleshing out of style. The first half of the book The Lords: Notes on Vision, is a collection of notes and prose poems; while the second half, The N ew Creatures, is an assortment of poetry.The Lords is a motley work of ideas and prose, loosely held together with motifs of death, cinema, and the reinterpretation of mythical and theatrical theory. While originality seems to be in short supply, and naive idealism in abundance, it is interesting for the allusion to, and presentation of philosophical and aesthetic ideas, central to Morrison’s poetry. Stylistically, The Lords reflects his propensity for ‘dark’ imagery and self-mythology, which would later be a fundamental characteristic of his poetry and performance.The motifs that pervade all of his poetry abound; the ‘city’, ‘sex’, ‘death’, ‘assassins’, ‘voyeurs’, ‘wanderers’, ‘deserts’, ‘shamanism’, and so on. The autobiographical and historical references in the poems reflect the myth making process of turning fact into fiction: the inner world of the psyche and its perceptions of surroundings, a mythological landscape of Morrison’s mind. The poetry, however, has a strong sense of place; the strong observational power of the astute outsider, works well in the invocations of strange border towns and locations. His vision of Los Angeles, or ‘L'america’, is profound in its focus and impressions.It is even stranger because of the ambivalent nostalgia Morrison seems to hold for the place, where he had lived and performed with the Doors: â€Å"Los Angeles is a city looking for a ritual to join its fragments. † At first, for Morrison, it was musical theatre that would attempt to provide the ‘ritual’ for the city, using his shaman principles to try to ‘join its fragments’, and bring his audience together. When that failed, and the ‘summer of love’ and the notion of hippie solidarity had dissipated, he turned to his poetry as the ritual that would piece together the fragments of his own experience.Like Eliot’s ‘fragments’ shored against his ruins in The Waste Land, Morrison’s words and poetry are the means by which he can make sense of his world and guard against his aesthetic mortality. However, as always in his poems, there is a sense of cynicism, directed toward himself as well as the reader. Almost as if, his suffering and sacrifices, made in the name of art and cultural freedom, were not for his own benefit but for the benefit of â€Å"you,† the reader: Words are healing. Words got me the wound and will get me wellIf you believe it. This segment from the absurdly titled, ‘Lament for the Death of my Cock,’ reflects Morrison’s pessimism and poetic idealism. The sense of suffering expressed in this later poem is also found in his earlier work The Lords, in relation to the idea of sacrifice for the good of all: â€Å"What sacrifice, at what price can the city be born? † Morrison’s early aw areness of society’s ills, and his benevolent sense of social responsibility, meant that he had a personally doomed and intense experience of America and its ideals.In particular, the ‘Western Dream,’ as expressed in his apocalyptic invocation of a ‘brave new world’ of dreamlike existence and ritual: â€Å"We are from the West. The world we suggest should be a new Wild West, a sensuous, evil world, strange, and haunting. † With his own experience informing his work, Morrison begins The Lords by addressing the reader rhetorically, as if revealing some truth about modern existence. He introduces his analogy of a society’s relation to place, in terms of a ‘game’. His vision of the city is one of a dystopian environment—it is an interpretation of the American condition and all modern civilisations.Morrison sees the city in modernist and symbolist terms: the metropolis as a metaphorical reflection of society: We all live in the city. The city forms – often physically, but inevitably psychically – a circle. A Game. A ring of death with sex at its center. Drive toward outskirts of city suburbs. At the edge discover zones of sophisticated vice and boredom, child prostitution. But in the grimy ring immediately surrounding the daylight business district exists the only real crowd life of our mound, the only street life, night life. Diseased specimens in dollar hotels, low boarding houses, bars, pawn shops, urlesques and brothels, in dying arcades which never die, in streets and streets of all-night cinemas. Like Eliot’s invocation of the â€Å"unreal city† in The Waste Land, inherited from Baudelaire’s line about the â€Å"[s]warming city, city full of dreams, where ghost’s in broad daylight catch the walker’s sleeve,† there is a relation of person to place. Rimbaud’s perception of a city is more in line with Morrison’s, when he cries: â€Å"O sorrowful city! O city now struck dumb, / Head and heart stretched out in paleness / In endless doorways thrown wide by time; / City the Dismal Past can only bless: / Body galvanised for sufferings yet to come. Morrison’s almost socialist perception of American society and its negative effect upon culture and people, is one of the main concepts behind The Lords. He defines it as: the feeling of powerlessness and helplessness that people have in the face of reality. They have no real control over events or their own lives. Something is controlling them. The closest they ever get is the television set. In creating this idea of the lords, it also came to reverse itself. Now to me, the lords mean something entirely different. I couldn’t really explain.It’s like the opposite. Somehow the lords are a romantic race of people who have found a way to control their environment and their own lives. They’re somehow different from other people. The concept o f the ‘lords’ is a philosophical construct and a poetical device used to distinguish society as hierarchical. Morrison’s idea of the lords can be related to Nietzsche’s view in The Will to Power (1967), of â€Å"the Lords of the Earth — that higher species which would climb aloft to new and impossible things, to a broader vision, and to its task on earth. The lords are the poets and artists — the people who are revolutionaries, who seek to change the conformist culture in which they exist and lead society forward: The Lords. Events take place beyond our knowledge or control. Our lives are lived for us. We can only try to enslave others. But gradually, special perceptions are being developed. The idea of the â€Å"Lords† is beginning to form in some minds. We should enlist them into bands of perceivers to tour the labyrinth during their mysterious nocturnal appearances. The Lords have secret entrances, and they know disguises. But they give themselves away in minor ways.Too much glint of light in the eye. A wrong gesture. Too long and curious a glance. The Lords appease us with images. They give us books, concerts, galleries, shows, cinemas. Especially the cinemas. Through art they confuse us and blind us to our enslavement. Art adorns our prison walls, keeps us silent and diverted and indifferent. Door of passage to the other side, the soul frees itself in stride. In contrast to The Lords, Morrison’s companion text The New Creatures, emphasises the nightmarish existence of other ‘creatures’ who are submissive and almost sub-species in their herd mentality and hellish existence.The violent imagery and surreal nature of the verse in The New Creatures, creates a disorganised and chaotic collection of poetry that seems to have no apparent motive or logic. The content is highly subjective and foreign to most readers; some allusions and imagery are familiar in their generality, yet pointless in the apparent obscurity and juxtaposition. The poems’ personal content unfortunately makes most of The New Creatures inaccessible in their metaphorical and symbolic rendition of Morrison’s psyche.In parts, Morrison evokes a tone and a cadence with the structure of word and image interplay similar in effectiveness to the lyrics he wrote for The Doors, some of which he actually performed: Ensenada the dead seal the dog crucifix Ghosts of the dead car sun. Stop the car. Rain. Night. Feel. Most of the poems in The New Creatures seem strange and unrelated. Morrison gives the reader a clue to his method of poetry, by his comments on art forms like film, especially when his poetry is so obviously cinematic in its style and effect.He states, with a reference to the modernist idea of art replicating ‘stream of consciousness,’ that he was â€Å"interested in film because, to me, it’s the closest approximation in art that we have to the actual flow of consciousne ss. † Many of Morrison’s poems throughout his work are like film-clips in an avant-garde surrealist cinema. There is an intellectual, yet dreamy quality to his juxtaposition of ideas and insights about the world. Like the main technique of crowd manipulation he used on stage, Morrison uses the pause for great effect, yet not in the conventional grammatical or formal sense.Instead of a caesura, an ellipse, or a new line (all of which he also uses to effect), he uses an image as a barrier to overcome, to be ‘broken through’: Savage destiny Naked girl, seen from behind, on a natural road Friends explore the labyrinth — Movie young woman left on the desert A city gone mad w/ fever This pause, this break in flow or subject (in this case the metaphorical ‘labyrinth’) renders the verse as a staccato series of images rather than a progressive stream of ideas and words. In other words, the structure of the poem does try to replicate the irrationa l logic of stream of consciousness.Often these poems differentiate themselves from Morrison’s more coherent pieces; characteristically, they are like abstract paintings of violent and bizarre scenes, giving the reader a sense of the intoxicated state prevalent throughout much of Morrison’s notorious, alcoholic and drug-abused, life. Reading some of Morrison’s less adept poetry is like reading notes someone took while experiencing an LSD trip. This is what a vast percentage of them actually are according to legends of Morrison’s excesses.The same elements combine in his more proficient poetry; in intonation, profound visions, states of consciousness, and hallucinatory images, all culminating in a unique contemplation of the world. His cinematic technique of image juxtaposition also emulates the effects of a ‘psychedelic’ experience, which could also be interpreted as no less than an experience of Morrison’s world and the ‘60s itse lf. Poetry, and his idea of the Poet, was the genesis for most of Morrison’s experience. Poetry inspired and vocalised his love of the cinematic visual, performance art, and musical lyricism.It also expressed his most profound thoughts, philosophies, and beliefs; it was a means to relay his world, which was increasingly close to destruction. In The American Night, his poem ‘An American Prayer’ echoes Frazer’s Golden Bough along with the philosophies of Artaud and Nietzsche. Morrison appeals in his lament for understanding, for a consensus that technology and so-called ‘progress’ is not necessarily better or more exciting than the mythically imbued past: Let’s reinvent the gods, all the myths of the agesCelebrate symbols from deep elder forests . . . We have assembled inside this ancient and insane theatre To propagate our lust for life and flee the swarming wisdom of the streets . . . I’m sick of dour faces Staring at me from the T. V. Tower. I want roses in My garden bower; dig? In this sense, his attitude toward modernity is one of disdain, similar to Eliot’s perception of a defunct Western civilisation in The Waste Land. Consistently, throughout his poems, Morrison is anti-TV, almost as if he sees it as responsible for contemporary society’s decline.It is paradoxical in that he vehemently supports a view of the world through the camera lens of the filmmaker’s eye. Apart from this cinematic aspect that carries through from his earliest work, the consistent use of dark and violent imagery, and the allusion to sublime philosophy and art, there is no one unifying aspect to his poetry. There is, however, an element of autobiography in the poems, subtly placed in the symbols and motifs associated with the lead singer of the Doors: Snakeskin jacket Indian eyes Brilliant hair He moves in disturbedNile Insect Air In The New Creatures, references abound to his clothes, ‘Indian’ vi sions, Alexandrine hair, and shamanic dance moves — it is a story about himself. We then are introduced to the poet’s perception of his reader: You parade thru the soft summer We watch your eager rifle decay Your wilderness Your teeming emptiness Pale forests on verge of light decline. More of your miracles More of your magic arms â€Å"You,† are the reader along for the journey; â€Å"we† are the ‘lords,’ the poet speaks—enlightened ones, the ones who can see ‘your wilderness’ . . America? He continues: ‘You’ are lost now, ‘we’ are still the one’s who can see what the reader cannot. Morrison invites us into his world, but the reader is always kept at ‘arm’s’ length. In the next section of the poem, we are introduced to the state of the world and its inhabitants; disease, despair, images of torture, and the ominous presence of death always lurking in the background. A st range exotic world is revealed, with rites and customs straight out of Sir James Frazer’s The Golden Bough: Bitter grazing in sick pasturesAnimal sadness and the daybed Whipping. Iron curtains pried open. The elaborate sun implies dust, knives, voices. Call out of the Wilderness Call out of fever, receiving the wet dreams of an Aztec King. The ‘elaborate’ sun is elaborate in its context; the ‘iron curtain’ forcibly opened reveals war, communism, Stalinist tyranny etc. The ‘sun’ could be a reference to the east, the land of the rising sun (also the name of a city in Ohio); its place in the wilderness ‘implies’ its ancient and customary qualities of meaning.The Aztec King brings a whole new dimension and significance to the sun as the ancient Mayans used the blood of human sacrifices to strengthen the daily journey of the sun across the sky. The characters of the poems are ‘creatures’ of a nightmarish world. It is only upon realising that the creatures are meant to be us—we modern humans—that the fragments of society, held up to us as a mirror of ourselves through the experience of the author, become familiar.Robert Duncan, a poet from Morrison’s era, in a passage reminiscent of Morrison’s credo of ‘wake up’ and the paradoxical consequence of his (Morrison’s) beliefs, perhaps best sums up the poet’s meaning and reason for creating such a world: It is in the dream itself that we seem entirely creatures, without imagination, as if moved by a plot or myth told by a story-teller who is not ourselves. Wandering and wondering in a foreign land or struggling in the meshes of a nightmare, we cannot escape the compelling terms of the dream unless we wake, anymore than we can escape the terms of our living reality unless we die.Later in his life, as a more mature and serious writer, Morrison attempted to awaken from his own ‘ living reality, ’ he had become very aware of the naivete of his early work. He reflects on the significance of some of his early ideas and acknowledges the limits of his experience and youthful literary talents in terms of an expression of his life, art, and as a ‘prophetic’ poet: I think in art, but especially in films, people are trying to confirm their own existence. Somehow things seem more real if they an be photographed and you can create a semblance of life on the screen. But those little aphorisms that make up most of The Lords — if I could have said it any other way, I would have. They tend to be mulled over. I take a few seriously. I did most of that book when I was at the film school at UCLA. It was really a thesis on film esthetics. I wasn’t able to make films then, so all I was able to do was think about them and write about them, and it probably reflects a lot of that.A lot of passages in it — for example about shamanism — turned out to be very prophetic several years later because I had no idea when I was writing that, that I’d be doing just that. The motif of the city in Morrison's poetry is as surrealistic as it is symbolic in the strange juxtapositions of vivid imagery, symbol, and metaphors of human consciousness. The truth is, one can never truly understand the mind of the American Poet. We are here, humbled by grandeur of his work, basking in the shadow of a creative mind we cannot comprehend.I have based my life's work off the poetry this one man has sent left behind, and here is my humble attempt to make a third person understand, not the poetry, but what I took away from it. I have reached a point in life where I feel the need to broaden my horizons, to move on from my never ending obsession with Morrison and his words, so I write these words not to have them read or heard, but as a rite of passage. Goodbye Jim Morrison, and thank you for every thing. I shall forever be waiting at the harbor for t he one day when the Crystal Ship comes in. Forever waiting for one last word to the world, from Mister Mojo Rising.