Personal Profile of Para Medical Officer Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Personal Profile of Para Medical Officer - Essay Example This attribute has helped me in overcoming the emotional trauma that is a norm of my field. I also think that it is a very fulfilling job because it gives me the opportunity to contribute towards the society in a positive sense. Working as a paramedic gives me self-satisfaction, because I feel important, by helping others. I have strong aspirations for future. I plan to introduce a service to patients that is effective and convenient. I believe that good diagnosis systems should be available for the patients; they are given proper treatment, which will help them in their recovery. In order to achieve this, it is very important for me, to have correct systems and knowhow about the management issues of the large medical facility, which I am lacking at this time, but I am learning and will accomplish this goal one day. Over my academic career, I have gathered basic knowledge in the field of paramedics. The focus of my studies has been on providing emergency medical service in case of road incidents. My stronghold on this field helps me in better decision making in volatile conditions, while placing a premium on emotional stability. I have also done practical training which has been very helpful in the development of the ambulatory skills that are needed in a healthcare career. This training was focused on ensuring fewer errors in future. What I found most challenging about my degree was learning English, because, it is not my native language. Therefore, I had to face a lot of problems in my degree because of it. But I had an interest in the medical field, so I had accepted this as a challenge and overcame it by discussing different concepts with experienced doctors on weekly basis. Another challenge that I had faced, was during my paramedic training, caused by witnessing the pain people go through in the case of tragedy, therefore it has taken me, a while before I had gotten acquainted with it.

Nano Technology in Oil Industry Essay Example for Free

Nano Technology in Oil Industry Essay Introduction Nanotech applications Nanoparticles have been successfully used in drilling mud for the Last 40-50 years. Recently the other disciplines of the oil industry, such as exploration, primary and assisted production, monitoring, refining and distribution, are approaching nanotechnologies due to its immense Potential for Confronting challenges, performance improvement cost. Especially in ultra-deep water and artic environments, Severe reservoir conditions (high-temperature and high-pressure formations), nonconventional resources of energy,Heavy oils, tight gas, tar sandsreservoirs) Present nanotech applications in oil industry: Most of the major oil and service companies, such as BP, ConocoPhillips, Shell, Total and Schlumberger. done research in exploiting nanotechnologies to improve oil and gas production. Developing subsurface micro- and nanosensors that could be injected in oil and gas wellbores identification of nanotech potentialities applied to EOR issues. Recent published results speak about Single-Walled-Carbon-Nano Tube (SWNT) / Silica nanohybrids, active at the fluid interface, if delivered at the O/W interface, would react and modify the oil properties to increase oil mobilization, hence oil recovery. Researchers ars analysing the potential benefits derived by the application of nanomaterials, nanofluids and nanomembranes in oil industry. Sensors: Nanomaterials are unparallelled tools for the development of sensors and imaging-contrast agents due to the significant alterations in their optical, magnetic and electrical properties, along with their ability to form (electrically and/or geometrically) percolated structures at low volume fractions. Such nanomaterials, when combined with smart fluids, can be used as extremely sensitive down hole sensors for temperature, pressure and stress even under extreme conditions. The ultimate evolution of instruments for oil prospects is perceived to be nanorobots, which should really provide an effective mapping of the reservoir. Nanorobots still remain a dream,shared by the medical and oil sectors. But advances in nanosensors miniaturization are becoming a reality. Coatings: A corrosion-resistant material solution represented by nanometric thin films  and composites with nanostructured fillers are in the advanced stage. corrosion-resistant materials are the â€Å"just ready to happen † nanotechnology-based applications,due to its relatively low risk, high effectiveness and low complexity. Nanocoated, wear-resistant probes, made of tungsten carbide or boron nitride, enhance the life span and efficiency of the drilling systems. The same applies to the nano-layered corrosion inhibitors in pipes or tanks, which creates a permanent molecular coating on the surface of metals, eliminating corrosion. Nanofluids and nanomaterials for drilling and completion : Nanotechnology has opened the development of smart fluids† for drilling, production and stimulation applications. Nanofluids and nano-based additives exhibit major advancement by enhanced drilling by adding benefits like wettability alteration, improved drag reduction and sand consolidation. A specialized petroleum laboratory has developed an advanced fluid mixed with nanosized particles and superfine powder that significantly improves the drilling speed and can eliminate formation damage in near wellbore zone. With the synthesis of a new breed of elastomeric composites filled with carbon nanotubes or other strongly anisotropic nano-objects, a stronger, tougher and more rugged drilling tools and apparatus will be manufactured in future. These tools will ensure a significant weight reduction and facilitate self-sensing elements to be interrogated for the real-time monitoring of the most critical parts. Another important technique in the development of super-hard materials is the use of nanostructured dispersed-hardened materials .First generation of nanotech applications for improving hydraulic fracturing are represented by BakerHughes’s nanostructured metal composites, combined by magnesium, aluminium and other alloys, which offer both strength at lower weight and the ability to â€Å"dissolve† away under certain conditions. Another example is the proppant produced by Oxane Materials, constituted by nano-structured ceramic material which is as strong as but lighter as ceramic proppant. A possible solution for mitigating fines, by nanocrystals for treating hydraulic fracture proppant packs to fix formation fines. Nanotechnology application for reservoir monitoring for enhanced oil recovery Nanomembranes: A new generation of lightweight and strong nanomembranes is being developed and employed, Which will remarkably enhance  the exploitation of tight gas by providing efficient methods for removing impurities, separating gas streams and enabling GTL production. Nanoporous and nanoparticulate materials are also quite encouraging to manage the Health, Safety, Environmental, risks arise due to presence of CO2 and H2S in hydrocarbon mixtures. Nanotechnology application for reservoir monitoring The petroleum sector and the medical visualize the dream of a nanosensor able to provide in-situ information about the systems under analysis. The most complicated and Complex challenge faced by oil industry is that it requires strong technical improvements in injected nano sensors into the reservoir, to face placement and recovery, protection in harsh environments , 3-D location, sensors powering and data storage retrieving. For example, the quantity of oil present in a reservoir could be assessed based on the amount of material lost or retained during the travel time, or the extreme conditions (temperature, pressure, salinity gradient) at which the nanoparticles were exposed and for how long, could be determined. The idea can be to pump nano-sensors in the reservoir periodically so as to regularly monitor changes in the well/field conditions.In turn, this could result in enhanced production efficiency. Several possible applications and exploitation schemes are currently under study with nano-devices injected into a reservoir. A novel paramagnetic nanoparticles into proppant structures together with these smart proppant could help in mapping the fracture efficiency using detectable contrast agents. Further nanoparticles could preferably segregate into different fluid portions, hence providing enhanced characterization of the reservoir and, fianlly , improved oil recovery,due to their miniscule dimensions, increased surface area and high mobility. Nanotechnology application for enhanced oil recovery: The greatest challenge at present is the possibility of increasing the efficiency of hydrocarbon production, both by improving the current EOR methodologies and by developing alternative technologies. The current researches indicate the new generation nano-agents should modify the properties of the injected fluid, in terms of viscosity, density, thermal conductivity and specific heat and modify the fluid-rock interaction properties, .The use of two different types of polysilicon nanoparticles (one nanometer-scale) in oil fields  improves wettability, to enhance water injection and improve oil recovery. The application of paramagnetic nanoparticles for EOR , possess a unique combination of fluidity and capability to interact with a magnetic field. The addition of a surfactant would greatly reduce the interfacial tension in waterwet reservoirs due to the presence of a dipole moment.The reservoir fluid molecules align, thus reducing the resistance to flow. ConocoPhillips, aims at creating a new class of polymer-type nanoparticles that can be incorporated with EOR injection fluids to improve hydrocarbon recovery by penetrating small pore throats without being trapped and hence the a mount of expensive injection can be decreased. The University of Alaska Fairbanks investigated The possibility of improving gas injection for the Alaska North Slope heavy oil recovery. Metal nanoparticles. reduce the viscosity of the heavy oil. Using super critical CO2 and Viscosity ReducingInjectant (VRI) saturated by nanoparticles, exploit the thermal properties of nanoparticles for improved heat transfer to heavy oil; explore the effects of Poly Di Methyl Siloxane and metal nanoparticles on density and viscosity for reducing mobility and viscous fingering Phenomena . When dealing with extremely low permeability reservoirs, conventional approaches to water flooding cannot provide recovery factors greater than 0.2. This is mainly due to capillary forces which are very strong in narrow pore channels. With low-permeability reservoir rocks, the level of purity and filtration of injected water is one of the most important issues for a significant oil recovery. With rocks characterized by a permeability of 0.1 ÃŽ ¼m2 the recovery factor deviates from an average of 0.4 by less than 10% if particulates in injected water are smaller than 200 nm. Nevertheless, with a rock permeability of 0.05 ÃŽ ¼m2 the recovery factor is dramatically approaching zero with the same particle ssize. A traditional water flooding technique is obviously unproductive in this latter case, unless water is filtered and purified of particulates down to at least 100 nm. Innovative water nano-filters are to be specially designed both to ensure uniform pore throats and the ability to recovery tens of billions of tons of oil. Some feel that oil is essentially a nanoliquid, with asphaltenes being the dominant part, flowing in a micro and often nanoscopic environment (i.e., the porous media). According to that,it seems justifiable to consider most of the oil and gas production technologies, reservoir treatments and  stimulation as nanotechnologies. Under this point of view, current petroleum science is relying on the study and control of physical chemical phenomena occurring at the nanometer scale and the ability to correctly model the reservoir flow plays an important role. However, a suitable tool to reliably describe coupled phenomena is still missing. The present approach being discussed is, for creating nanorobots to monitor individual pores and channels and hydrocarbon flow, exchange information and identify zones which intensify the extraction or the injection of water. CONCLUSION: Nanotechnology Application to the oil industry has an immense potential benefits. Some applications are already available,while others could come from Complementing the solutions developed for the biomedical, automotive, aerospace, chemical and, textile Industries. Well drilling, fracturing and cementing as well as new generation membranes for gas separation already rely on nanotech solutions. At present efforts are being made to design nano-sensors for reservoir characterization and monitoring and to produce nano-fluids for improving EOR processes. Promising results have been obtained from laboratory experiment, but field tests are still in progress..The future of nanotechnology applications is remarkable.

Studying the big five personality traits

Studying the big five personality traits Nowadays personality trait test becomes more and more famous in recruitment and personal assessment, it is aiming to predict possible academic success and work performance in different settings. Although there are many academic theories attempt to conceptualize and generalize individual differences in the personality research field, such as psychoanalytic theory, psychodynamic theory, phenomenological theory and cognitive theory. (B.R. Hergenhahn, 1994). Each theory contributes a lot on the understanding and conceptualizing of human individual differences. No matter what theory the investigator chose they all had the common goal to build a structured model to describe and explain personality trait. From Sigmund Freuds Id Ego Superego model to R.B.Cattells 16 personality factors model, we can see that every famous trait-orientated psychologist would put forward one personality model. However, by analyzing those personality models it is easy to find out that there were huge differenc es about the number and nature of factors. Since 1980s, trait-orientated psychologists/researchers reached a consensus about the description mode of personality and they have suggested that there are five major personality factors which also called as the Big Five Personality Trait model. (Arnold J et al, 2005) The five dimensions of this model was not presenting or deriving from any of the particular one theories above, but obtained from the daily common words that people used to characterize others and themselves. Instead of displacing all the existing theories, the Big Five Personality Trait model works multifunctional because it is able to represent various personality trait theories in the same framework. (John and Srivastava, 1999)In recent decade, the Big Five personality trait model has made remarkable progress, and also demonstrated and supported by many research studies, most psychologists regarded it as the best personality model so far (MBA LIB. 2010). The Big Five Personality Trait model highlighted the universality of every dimension in this model. These five traits include (Arnold J et al, 2005): Openness to experiences. This trait describes people, who are interested in many things, appreciation for art, emotion, fantasy, aesthetic, feelings, actions, ideas. Conscientiousness. This trait describes people have a tendency to show their self-discipline, act orderly and dutifully, and personal achievement striving. Extroversion. This trait describes people who treat others warmly, actively, excitement seeking, maintains positive emotions and tends to seek simulation when companying others. Agreeableness. This trait describes people tend to trust others more, being straightforwardness, modesty, tender-mindedness and cooperative with others. Neuroticism. This trait describes people who tend to feel anxiety, angry hostility, depression, self-consciousness etc easily. When assessing a psychological theory or model whether to be successful or not, there are few essential aspects should taken into account. First, when establishing a new theory or model it is important to consider its compatibility with other existing psychological theories. Eysenck derived his PEN model from Cattells 16-factor model and within the same factor analytic psychological model however, they are not contradicted, McMartin proposed the structure of personality is best conceptualized as consisting of five major traits, rather than Eysencks 3 types (McMartin, 1995) (Nathan C. Popkins, 2010) Therefore it is clear to see that the Big Five Personality Trait model is coherent with other factor-analytical models and all these models should not conflicts with each other directly. Some psychologists have assessed the Big Five Personality Trait model by using the Trait Descriptive Adjectives (TDA) and found highly internal consistency and reliabilities, and their factor structure is easily carried out with same method and procedure. (John and Srivastava, 1999.) In recent years, some research studies also showed that the five-factor model is also compatible with other psychological personality models. Some psychologists attempted and already discover the correlation relationship between the Big Five Personality Traits and Freuds famous psychoanalysis theories. (Huey and Weisz, 1997) Although they only found out the relationship between some elements of Freuds psychoanalysis theory and some elements of the Big Five Personality Trait, it also helps for proving of the compatibility and adaptability of the Big Five Personality Trait. Secondary, a successful psychological theory or model should also be capable to apply widely such as in clinical and organizational field, and it also needs to maintain in a high degree of consistency. McAdams suggested that the Big Five Personality Trait model is more like a list with five dimensions which is helpful to specify and classify personality traits than a psychological theory (McAdams, 1992). To apply the model into academic field to find its effectiveness, Digman (1990) claimed that the Big Five Personality Traits model provides a useful view of broad dimensions that characterize human individual differences. These dimensions can be measured with high level of reliability and impressive validity. (Digman, 1990, page 436) Digman had summed up that the Big Five Personality Traits model applies well for providing the personality traits structure. (Digman 1990) As its advantages of being simplified and systematical, it has been agreed by many researchers. As Jianan Zhong and Jinyun Duan (2004) indicated that they thought the Big Five Personality Traits is a well established model for describing personality traits. For a long time, researchers have realized that the number of major personality traits is actually less the Catells 16 factors and Eysencks 3 factors, therefore 5 factors seemed to be a reasonable choice. At the meanwhile, there are some criticisms raised. First, it is a non-explainable descriptive model, it cannot be said that there is only 5 factors to identify human personality traits (Eysenck, 2001). Second, the Big Fives advocates assumed that the five variables are independent to each other; however the situation is not always so (Eysenck, 2001). Third, there are still arguments among the meaning of these five variables, it has been limited by the different adjectives in different language systems thus the compatibility of t he model has been questioned. Fourth, many different ideas on how many should we number for the factors appears, there are 3, 4, 6, 7 factors separately. And finally, the Big Five Personality Traits is not capable and suitable for all cultural backgrounds; apart from the United States, researchers should carry out their own local studies (Boies K et al., 2001) (Ashton M C et al., 2000.). Is there any ways to measure our five personality traits? In 1985, Costa and McCrae brought up a questionnaire to measure the Big Five Personality Traits NEO-PI (Costa P T, McCrae R R. 1985, 1989). After that, they came up with the new edited version NEO-PI-R and NEO-FFI. They made this personality model becoming measurable; however, there are also criticisms. Frame of reference effects (Schmit M J, Royan A M, 1993) is one of the concerning, a reliable result will gain from some of the volunteer respondents, for those are not volunteers, such as a job seeker, they might be truthful on the description of themselves, they will characterize themselves as being reliable, hard-working and organized etc to get the job position. Therefore this may lead to the raising of general ideal-employees. Despite the inadequate aspects, the Big Five Personality Traits model still has advantages. It provided an integrated theory framework; it is simple which is consistent with economic principles. For this reason, there are huge amount of application researches about industry and organizational psychology in recent years. Since the research carried out about the correlation relationship between the Big Five Personality Traits model and the job performance, there is an agreed conclusion that this personality traits model can predict job performance, especially contextual performance (Goliath. 2010.). In these five major traits, conscientiousness is the most effective predictor. A research in 2000 (Gregory M.H et al., 2000) has demonstrated the above conclusions in advance, it also took into account of various job type and diverse performance criterion, and the findings showed that the agreeableness has the better prediction to the service job, openness to experience has the better prediction to the managerial job type, conscientiousness works the most effectively to predict different job types and different performance criterion. Jeffrey et al. (2001) carried out a research study to measure 276 students personality dimensions by using NEO-PI-R. The subjects were placed in a group decision-making scenar io to observe the task performance and contextual performance, and the contextual performance has been divided into cooperative behavior and voice behavior. The so-called voice behavior refers to the creative and constructive communicational behavior for the purpose of improving the environment, change the orientation. Detailed content includes providing constructive suggestions to the organization, such as how to improve the organization; how to perform the task; persuade others to accept new ideas, advices and guidance etc. The results showed that agreeableness is significantly positive correlated to the cooperative behavior; however it is significantly negative correlated with voice behavior. The research findings also supported the point of view of dividing the contextual performance into cooperative behavior and voice behavior. In order to investigate the interactional relationship between agreeableness and conscientiousness to the task performance, Witt (2002) use the personality questionnaire with 120 items to measure five factors in seven companies with different job types, it used higher assessment as main method to assess the task performance. The findings showed that, there are 5 out of 7 indicated that the staff with high conscientiousness but low social ability is ineffective especially in the situation where the cooperation with others is essential. In another word, among these work situations, the correlation between conscientiousness and task performance is influenced by agreeableness. Higher agreeableness works better than low agreeableness. It is easy to see that the Big Five Personality Traits model is able to predict task performance well and in particular the contextual performance. Jennifer et al. (2001) gathered 149 staff with different job types to carry out the research study about the relationship between openness, conscientiousness and creative behavior by using the questionnaires. NEO-FFI was used to measure openness and conscientiousness, the creative behavior was assessed by higher assessment. The result showed that, when the environment allows the personality to express, openness will accelerate the occurrence of creative behavior, whereas conscientiousness will block it. This seems to be contradicted to the above research findings of conscientiousness is a predictor of good task performance, the key issue here is the environment is also an important factor. It is valuable to conduct further research to stimulate staff with high conscientiousness but low openness to reach their potential of creativity. Costa and McCrae (Li Wang et al. 2000) also suggested that when dealing with the life stress events, people with higher openness would like to use a variety of coping strategies effectively. Because when facing the new environment, people with higher openness tends to be patient to discover, therefore they feel less tense when dealing with changes, they can manage to cope with the changes within the organization. The Big Five Personality Traits model can also be applied with the research about job satisfaction. Timothy (2002) gathered 334 relevant data among 163 dependent samples about personality traits and job satisfaction to do the meta- analysis. The findings indicated that openness and conscientiousness are significantly negative correlated with job satisfaction. Besides, David et al. (2002) conducted the research between the Big Five Personality Traits model and self-respect. The result showed that the self-respect is significantly negative correlated with neuroticism and is significantly positive correlated with extroversion, whereas there is no significant correlation with openness and agreeableness. Piers (2002) did the investigation on the relationship between the Big Five Personality Traits model and self well-being. The findings showed that neuroticism is significantly negative correlated with self well-being, however openness is positive correlated with self well-being, whereas there is no significant correlations between other factors and self well-being. Openness and job satisfaction, self-respect and self well-being all positive correlated, however, neuroticism is significantly negative correlated with all of these. In other words, neuroticism and extroversion are closely related with the life functions. To sum up the above applied research of the Big Five Personality Traits model, we can conclude that despite the consideration of cognitive and intellectual factors, this personality traits model can be used as a predictor during the selection and employee allocation. General speaking, conscientiousness has the better prediction to the task performance. For service work, agreeableness is an excellent predictor. For creative work, for instance, strategy planning, advertisement, art, literature etc, openness predicts better than other dimensions. For managerial work, extroversion predicts better than other dimensions. Besides, Barry and Stewart (Yufan Liu et al, 2002) also found out that within a group of people, the team performance carried out the best when the proportion of openness is adequate. Too much or too few openness people would not be conducive to the improvement of team performance. Unstable neuroticism has a negative impact on individuals in many ways; hence we should control our emotion wisely to improve individuals emotional stability. In a larger sense, the Big Five Personality Traits model provides us a reference to understand and shape our personality traits. Every positive outcome such as stable emotions, openness or agreeableness, conscientiousness, extroversion will help people to build a relatively perfect self.

Pericles Funeral Speech :: essays research papers

Pericles’ Funeral Speech   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Athens democracy has some evident differences of its own system compared to Sparta’s. They do not copy anyone else form of government, but run theirs in a unique way. In Athens everyone seems to receive fair treatment and poverty is not a struggle they encounter. Pericle informs that the people are friendlier and more respectful neighbors that Athens neighbors. Their individual system is like no others. Athens provides many activities such as regular games and sacrifices. Therefore, he says because of their own success they can enjoy the wonders of other countries. The Athenian system is very successful and operates smoothly because of the determination and effort the people of Athens put forth.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are some factors that made Athens and Sparta different that need to be addressed. First, Athens controls an â€Å"open city† where visitors can influence and share there knowledge about the â€Å"Athenian way.† In Sparta children are dealt with in a very strict and upright manner. The women of Sparta seemed to have more freedom and power in the household because they were separated from their husbands for large amounts of time and became accustomed to this way of living. They are highly educated to the point where they are smarter than the average person their age. In Athens things are a little more laid back. They learn and mature at their own pace and still end up highly knowledgeable. When in battle Athens brings just themselves while Sparta brings their whole confederacy.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I believe that Athens had an advantage over Sparta. Even though both had their own individual strengths and came together to become one I believe Athens methods were stronger. The Athenians worked well together and seemed to be extremely spiritually motivated to overcome any obstacle. I also feel this way because the way they were brought up as children.

Pragmatism Is the Philosophy of Practicality

INTRODUCTION Philosophy is a hypothetical interpretation of the unknown. It is a point of view that provides a logical, rational, and valid basis for educational effort and criteria for the selection of a sound educational practice. Philosophy of Education Educating children profoundly affects their lives and influences the life of anyone who comes into contact with those children. Education provides a foundation for a child to start his life. Without a true education, it becomes impossible for an individual to provide for themselves and their family.Also, well-educated people can make decisions that benefit both their own interests and the interests of society as a whole. In some cases, philosophies of education do contradict and oppose each other, like for instance, idealism as opposed to the philosophy of naturalism. In fact we cannot question it because they have different points of view as regard to education. STATEMENT OF POSITION Pragmatism is the philosophy of practicality an d usefulness. Pragmatists see the world as a place for experience of all kinds.Pragmatism believes changes in education and opposes traditional education. Gaining of knowledge for the sake of knowledge is not the real aim of education. This philosophy focuses mental, religious and aesthetic forms of human activity. If I were a teacher, I would go with the philosophy of pragmatism. For me pragmatism is shooting two birds in one stone, you are thinking and you are putting it into action. I don’t prefer a class sitting, writing, and reading books only, without applying it.The effectiveness of our ideas, statements and concept must be seen on our actions. In pragmatism, schools and other educational institutions are flexible, they can remain alive, active and satisfy the changing needs of the society and provide real experiences through activities. It is not only a center of education but a center of community because a school that inculcates the philosophy of pragmatism is a tru e representation of a society. Pragmatic teacher are the one who first succeed in the teaching-learning process.The teacher acts as a friend, guide and philosopher to the child to gain close and positive relationship so that it is easier for them to teach and handle problems in the teaching process. As an experience-based philosophy, the curriculum includes useful activities, experiences and subjects that are useful to the present needs of the learner and also for the future expectations of adult life. It also contains skills to develop the learners which develop social and purposeful attitude. They oppose bookish knowledge and condemn those methods which promote knowledge which is not useful.The learners are keen to try things out; they want concepts that can be applied. They tend to become impatient with discussion type. They learn best when techniques are shown and they have the chance to try it out. They are also open to innovation as long as effective in the educational process . CONCLUSION Pragmatism is an attitude and a way of living which opposing the old doctrines of idealism and naturalism and inspire the individual to look ahead and create new values for an unknown future, so that he leads a better, happier and richer life.The importance of studying pragmatism as a philosophy is to understand deeply the educational process. Each fundamental aspect has a basic function in the education process. To me an effective educator is, first and foremost, someone who genuinely cares about the quality of the education a student is receiving. My memories of great teachers always involve teachers who obviously put time and thought into actions with their lessons. They offered their time to students who wanted to improve.I think that as an educator you should put into practice all the thoughts and bright ideas into action necessary to make your lessons thoughtful and hopefully fun Pragmatism serves as our guide in the educational process. Through this, we can also have a brighter understanding on how education would be. It would probably a great help for us to have all this things for the fulfilment of our good towards education. References: Singh, Y. K. (2007). Philosophical Foundation of Education. New Delhi: A P H Publishing. Shahid, S. M. (2000). Philosophy of Education. Lahore: Majeed Book Depot.

Gender Differences in Advertisements Essay

It has been evident for the past decades that advertisers still use stereotyped images of men and women in their advertisements. This can say that the pursuit for equality is still not grasped by the society. The images we see in magazines, in televisions, in billboards portray a very old perception of gender, especially the inferiority and submissive nature of women, with their bodies used as mere sexual objects, if not, still used as household caretakers. Women are also deemed to be beautiful if they have slim bodies, fair complexion and long shiny hair. Men, on the other hand, are portrayed to be strong, dominant and successful in their careers. For this essay, I will be showing two examples of images, which reveals the still existing gender inequality. I will be referring to some themes and issues to support my arguments. Also, for my basic analysis of advertisements, I will be using Katherine Frith’s [1998] approach in â€Å"Undressing the Ad: Reading Culture in Advertising† [Lukas, 2002]. It includes a surface meaning, the advertiser’s intended meaning, and the cultural or ideological meaning. For the semiotic level, which connotes the social themes in advertisements, I will be applying Erving Goffman’s [1979] approach in â€Å"Gender Advertisements. † For the first example, I will use the Gucci Magazine advertisement as shown in Figure 1 in the appendix. Just by looking at the picture, you can already see that there is gender inequality. Before dwelling into that, I will first apply a basic analysis of the ad. 1. The Surface Meaning It can be seen that there are two subjects in the picture. It is very evident that one is female, while the other one can be assumed to be male. It is because of its masculine features, as seen in the upper body though the face was not explicitly shown. The female is down on the floor, touching the shoes of the male. She is wearing a sexy gold dress. The male is standing, wearing only khaki pants. Both clothing are assumed to be under the brand, Gucci. The setting is in the desert and the overall appeal of the image is very earthy. There are no words or taglines in the ad, just â€Å"Gucci†. 2. Advertiser’s Intended Meaning The advertiser might be showcasing the earthy tones and summer styles of Gucci, as seen in the very comfortable and breezy clothes the subjects are wearing. There is still a certain class in the style, whether you put them in the dessert or just wherever. 3. Cultural or Ideological Meaning The picture obviously depicts the dominance of males over females. To be more detailed, we use Goffman’s approach by taking into consideration the social themes being depicted here. The positioning of the subject explicitly exposes gender bias. The man is standing while woman is down on floor. It just shows that men are in control and have power over women. The woman is way below under his legs, at his feet to be exact. She is even touching his shoes. It reminds me of a servant, wiping the dirt of his master in the desert. The woman here really looked inferior and if we extend the picture upward, exposing the face of the man, it can be that he is looking down on her, seeing the contraction of his abdomen in the picture. Moreover, such display of abs connotes a very masculine and strong appeal. We know that men who have well developed abs are the ones who are the most physically fit. The woman on one hand is thin and sexy, with her body parts, especially the legs and the cleavage, generally exposed. Reexamining the â€Å"Nature/Culture† Paradigm, we are reminded of the â€Å"vertical† perspective, which organizes the relationships of male and female [Tilleuil, 2002]. The woman is labeled as the dominated and the man is labeled as the dominant. According to the sociologist, Claude Herne, â€Å"†In the advertising image, in order to make the woman feel inferior, signs multiply and underline the weakness, the lack of self-confidence, fragility, hesitation, dissimulation, submission, childishness and infantilization, too. † [Tilleuil, 2002]. This signs are very well depicted in this ad. The woman looks fragile, and she displays a look of submission in her eyes, like a slave. This leads us to another example of an advertisement, which now depicts heavy violence to women. The ad to be examined here is figure 2 of the appendix. It is an ad from Dolce and Gabbana. 1. The Surface Meaning In the ad, there are six subjects. There are five males and one female. It looks like they are in a rooftop of some resort/hotel. Some men are wearing fitted Polos, while others are half naked. Their skins are very shiny. It looks like there’s oil or sweat in them. One man is on top of the woman, while others are watching intently to the scene in the middle. The woman is lying down on the floor, wearing a sexy black dress and high heels. 2. Advertiser’s Intended Meaning The advertiser here is showcasing the sexy formal styles of Dolce and Gabbana, with their breezy polos, classy dresses. It looks like the clothing is part of their summer collection. 3. Cultural or Ideological Meaning/Goffman’s approach It is very evident in the picture that the scene is depicting a â€Å"gang rape†. This is extreme sexual violence right at your eyes. Such violence is even portrayed in classy way, with the clothing of Dolce and Gabbana at display. We look back to the inferiority and submissiveness of the woman here. The woman is again down on the floor, but this time, she is lying down, about to be raped by the first guy on top of her. But we also see here that they are being watched by other men. One of them is already topless, while, one is semi-buttoned, with his chest exposed. There is also one who is only wearing a sleeveless undershirt, while the last guy is still fully dressed up. They all have this sultry look to the woman. The woman here is about to give herself to the man, with her hips going upward. Yet, you can see that the man is locking her arms in the floor, and it looks like she cannot get away with his grasp. The woman has been the subject of sexual pleasure. Violence here is part of the pleasure package. As we have been exposed in the media, we can recall about the whipping, the slapping of women, their being tied up to different places, exposing a lot of skin, with their bodies being molded to different erotic positions. In most cases women are victims of such violence, since men being tied up would not be a delightful sight for them. Overall, as seen in most advertisements, women are always the weaker player, being taken advantaged of men, who are more superior. Women are still being depicted as mere objects of sexual desire [Sharabi, n. d. ]. Women are seen only as domestic providers, who do not have their own decision making powers. According to the blog of â€Å"Daughter of Liberty† [2007], she said that the following are some important points to take note in advertisements: 1. Canting It can be seen through the body language that women are submissive and they have low self-confidence. For our examples, it is explicitly shown with the woman on the floor, with no control. 2. Clowning It can be seen that women are usually posed like an innocent child in the ads, which connotes ignorance (stupidity perhaps) and practically it tells us that women are easily dominated. 3. Dependence Women are seen to be very dependent to men, which can be particularly found in the first advertisement, where the woman is touching the shoes of the man. 4. Dismemberment Dismemberment is described as focusing on a particular body part. However, for our first example, it was the man who was dismembered. 5. Dominance/violence This is evidently seen in both of our examples, especially in the Dolce and Gabbana ad, which depicts a gang rape. I think ads these days have become more violent and more associated to sex than ever before, due to change of perception of our society. Sex and violence is not a taboo anymore, and we can just openly discuss those issues in a coffee table. However, being a more open society must teach us to be less discriminating and degrading. Women and men were created equally. More ads should focus on empowering women, like what is happening in Dove. We must not let ourselves, especially our children to be exposed to such violence because images convey very powerful images and it can impact one’s behavior.