Measures Taken for Reducing Maid Abuse in Singapore Essay Example for Free

Measures Taken for Reducing Maid Abuse in Singapore Essay There are approximately 150,000 migrant domestic workers (MDW) in Singapore and many of them suffer forms of abuse – physical and sexual violence, food deprivation, confinement in workplace and late or non-payment of salary. In 2011, an estimated 4000 MDWs ran away from their employers’ home, many of them frustrated, overworked and underpaid. (TWC2, 2011) The Singapore law doesn’t stipulate a minimum wage or mandatory rest days in contracts for these domestic workers. Instead, many initiatives have been put in place to protect the interests of these workers. (Agence France Presse, 2003) From January 2005, workers seeking to enter Singapore as MDWs have to be at least 23 years of age and have completed a minimum 8 years of formal education. They must also sit for an entry test in English to validate the worker’s linguistic, numerical and practical abilities. These measures are aimed at improving the overall quality of workers who will be working in Singapore households in an effort to promote harmonious working relationships with their employers. These workers will also be in a stronger position to understand their rights and seek protection or recourse under Singapore law should they suffer any form of abuse or ill treatment. Ministry of Manpower (MOM) has also put in place training courses to educate employers. Starting from April 2004, first time employers of MDWs have to attend a compulsory Employers Orientation Program, which educates employers on their obligations towards these workers. It underlines good employment practices to promote mutual respect between both parties. A new accreditation system has also been put in place to regulate employment agencies, which provide recruitment and placement services of these MDWs from June 2004. The accreditation requirements include proper orientation of MDWs, employer education in regards to their obligations towards the welfare of MDWs and the facilitation of written employment contracts between MDWs and their employers. Failure to achieve this accreditation will result in agency’s license being revoked. While these measures work towards protecting MDWs interests and well being, the challenge to make sure agencies and employers follows suit still exists. There are still cases of physical abuse reported and many more go undetected and unreported even though the government has stiffened penalties for acts of abuse against MDWs. Moreover, there are currently no regulations on fees charged by these agencies resulting in excessive fees being paid by MDWs to secure employment in Singapore, some of whom receive no salary for up to a year just to pay off these fees. (HRW, pg 48-51) Regulations should be passed to limit the extent these fees are being charged to MDWs. Singapore’s government also charges employers of MDWs a monthly levy of S$345 on top of a bond of $5000 per worker. This tax allows the Singapore government to collect approximately $400m each year, of which very little goes towards improving support services for these workers. The government should in turn use these taxes to help to create awareness of maid abuse or to pass it on to the various Volunteer Welfare Organisations such as Humanitarian Organization for Migration Economics and Transient Workers Count Too to work on prevention of maid abuse. It is MOMs requirement that the maid go for a medical check up every six months. Beside this measure, they could also conduct regular spot check on the maid, just like what they done for the foreign construction workers to check on safety measurements.

Strategic Analysis of Tesco for UK and US Markets

Strategic Analysis of Tesco for UK and US Markets Brief background As the Tesco used the corporate strategy like diversification, it has begun its Tesco bank and Tesco hope its bank could offer mortgages for its customers, also Tesco has buy a restaurant in UK. Although Tescos supermarket has taken the biggest market share in the UK market, but it is decrease in 2012-2013. So this means the Tescos business met problem in the UK market. One of the major challenge for Tesco was that the discovery of equine DNA in beef and other meat products throughout the UK industry. So the Tesco should do some change on its business strategy in the UK market. As the biggest retailer in the world, these years Tesco met some problem as its expanded market, such as the Japan market and the U.S market. In the US market, Tesco named their store a new name fresh easy. As the Tesco makes wrong strategy in US market, its entry mode is FDI, this makes Tesco pay a lot of money on the distribution build and on the store design. Also Tesco do not localization on the US market, thus it failed in the US market. Tesco should learn something new about how to expand its foreign market, such as localization and choose a right entry model to entry foreign market. As Tescos annual report(2012) has said that Tesco is one of the worlds largest retailers with operations in 14 countries. But its business met some problems in recently years. As it has entry the US market for several years, US market does not make any profit. Also in the UK market, Tescos supermarket face the problem of the reducing market share. Aim and objectives The aim of study is to assess the Tesco strategic choosing and if they using right or wrong strategic. The objectives are to: Provide a general overview of the Tesco business running in the US and UK. Analyze the business environment in the US and UK Analyze the retail market environment in the US market Identify and assess the Tesco value chain in the US retail market Identify what problems Tesco has meet on its business in recent years. Identify if Tesco face finance problem when its entry the US retail market and after entry the US market, if the Tesco has problem with cash flow or something else in finance. Research questions What is the Tesco advantage in the UK? It is can be keep in other countries market? What kind of strategy that Tesco using recent years, how it’s working? Did Tesco choose right strategy in the US market? After entry US market, when Tesco has nonprofits in the first year, what kind of decision that Tesco has made and how it influence its business. MNEs how to avoid failed or reduce its lost in the new market. Likely source of literature The conduct this research there are three types of literature sources will be used to discussion of the topic. Including primary literature sources, secondary literature sources and reference guides (Naoum,2013) Primary literature sources: the first-hand testimony or direct evidence. Includes academic research journal, refereed conferences, and reports. Secondary literature sources are cite from the primary sources, for example textbooks, newspaper articles, and magazine and construction news. Reference guides are useful for find out the basic questions quickly, such as dictionaries and handbooks. Literature sources Research methodology Research strategy Source of Data The source of data will be collected mainly from Tesco annual report, newspaper, academic journal article and academic report which based relevant with Tesco Plc. Also some finance detail will get from e-databases of uclan library website. Data collection Data will be collection from the literature directly. Methods of Data analysis Wolcott (1994) stated that methods of data analysis are used to describe facts, highlight useful information, detect patters, develop explanations and test hypotheses. Among several of data analysis methods, content analysis, typology and taxonomy as well as descriptive statistics will be used. Typology and taxonomy method is used to analyze the qualitative data. It can identify different kinds of data, thus forming sub-groups with the general construction project risk category. It can also clarify the relationship between the concepts. Descriptive statistics is a summary to describe the basic features of the data in a study. It helps ones to simply large amounts of data in a sensible way. Content analysis is a method for summarizing any form of content by counting various aspects of the content. It is useful to analyze and understand the collections of text(Strauss and Corbin,1990). references

Neurobiology of Memory Reconsolidation

Neurobiology of Memory Reconsolidation What is the current understanding of the neurobiology of memory reconsolidation and how will impact psychology. Abstract This essay is focusing on the neurobiology of memory reconsolidation, specifically on the molecular mechanisms of LTP and reconsolidation, and the crucial role synaptic plasticity plays in fear conditioning and its resultant implication for psychopathology specifically Posttraumatic stress disorder This essay is focusing on current understanding of the neurobiology of memory reconsolidation, specifically on the molecular mechanisms of LTP and reconsolidation, and its resultant implication for psychopathology specifically promising research using propranolol and d-cycloserine as a treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder. Memory consolidationis the process by which memories are stabilised after being acquired. Consolidation studies have traditionally focused on the hippocampus andsystems consolidation, whereshort term memories become long term memories and independent of thehippocampus over time (Pinel, 2011). The more recently discovered process of consolidation is synaptic consolidation, which occurs within the first few hours after learning, and requires protein synthesis and gene transcription (Pinel, 2011). Long term memories were once considered to be stable, but within the last decade, the discovery of reconsolidation, the process in which stored memories can be retrieved and held in labile short-term memory, has changed theory and research on memory (Pinel, 2011). The neurobiological process of synaptic memory consolidation is thought to be long-term potentiation (LTP), which is the prolonged strengthening of the synapse with increased signalling between two neurons (Sacktor, 2012). The model of LTP and synaptic consolidation, as first theorised by Hebb (Pinel, 2011), suggests that changes in membrane potential and alterations of synapticprotein synthesis such as activating Phosporylated Mitogen Activated Protein Kinase (MAPK),are achieved through activatingintracellular transduction cascades, such as glutamate activating the NMDA receptor so that calcium ions can enter the neuron. These molecular cascades triggertranscription factors such as CREBthat lead to changes ingene expression through RNA synthesis (Pinel, 2011). The result of the gene expression is the lasting structural remodelling of synapses. This complex process of the molecular cascade, expression and process of transcription factors, is susceptible to disruptions in the short ti me period immediately following memory induction (Nader, Schafe LeDoux, 2000a). The potential for memory to be distrupted during consolidation has been extensively researched using pharmacology and trauma. For example, in experiments on Pavlovian fear conditioning in rats, LTP and fear conditioning were blocked when NMDA-receptorantagonistswere administered (Nader et al, 2000b). This process ofLTPis regarded as a contributing factor tosynaptic plasticityand in the growth ofsynaptic strength, and is thought to underlie memory formation, as it affects memory when disrupted. It was previously thought that even though this long process of consolidation could be disrupted, once a memory was consolidated it could not be disrupted. This classic view has been revised over the last 15 years, with extensive research showing that consolidated memories, once retrieved, revert to a labile state where they can be disrupted and undergo another consolidation process, called reconsolidation. (Shwabe, 2014). Reconsolidation was first hypothesised after studies were done using electroconvulsive shock therapy to disrupt consolidated fear memory (Tronson Taylor, 2007). Nader’s (2000a) landmark research using Pavlovianfear conditioningon rats found that a consolidated fear memory can return to alabilestate, when the amygdalais infused with theprotein synthesis inhibitor anisomycin. Subsequent studies have also shown that post-retrieval treatment with protein synthesis inhibitors can lead to an amnestic state (Shwabe, 2014). It has been concluded therefore that cons olidated fear memory, when reactivated, enters a changeable state that requires de novo protein synthesisfor new consolidation or reconsolidation of the old memory (Shwabe, 2014). Since these breakthrough studies many more have found evidence supporting reconsolidation, and have explored its processes and implications. Reconsolidation research over the last decade has demonstrated that some, but not all memories can be strengthened, weakened, or updated thus providing an opportunity to modify some long term memories (Shwabe, 2014). This very limited essay will focus on a few of the important animal and human studies related to fear memory and reconsolidation theory and its implications for psychology. Fear conditioning, fear memory and extinction learning experiments, often use manipulations of theamygdala, due to its involvement in the encoding and memory of significant emotional experiences (Agren et al, 2012). Most of the research on reconsolidation has been done on animals, one of the first studies of human fear memory consolidation was by Kindt in 2009 in which healthy participants were first fear-conditioned and the fear was reactivated by a single presentation of a conditioned stimulus 24 hours later. Shortly before memory reactivation, participants received the beta-adrenergic receptor blocker propranolol during the proposed reconsolidation window, which resulted in substantial weakening of the behavioural fear response and the return of fear memory. Research by Schiller (2010) also explored fear memory activation and update mechanisms and extinction learning, and found the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) plays an important role (Schiller, 2013). Agren et al (2012) also demonstrated fear memory trace erasure in the amygdala of humans using behavioural manipulations. Using functional brain imaging, Agren and colleagues (2012) found that when reconsolidation was disrupted through extinction training, the fear memory was significantly weakened and the memory trace was erased in the amygdala. Additional important recent research providing support for memory updating used Pavlovian fear conditioning manipulations and micro density heat map measures of fear memory on the lateral amygdala of rats, and found that the memory recapitulated not only in the same location but in new areas during reconsolidation (Bergstrom, McDonald, Dey, Tang, Selwyn Johnson, 2013). These, and many more important studies using different experimental manipulations, suggest that memory is labile and updated after reactivation, and that more or less the same areas are recruited for reconsolidation that are involved in initial memory formation. The potential ability to modify established emotional memories through the processes of memory updating, reconsolidationand extinction of conditioned fear memories has important implications for the treatment of many mental disorders, including anxiety disorders, such as post-traumatic stress disorder. Posttraumatic stress disorder is classified as ananxiety disorderin the DSM iV, characteristic symptoms of PTSD are strong traumatic memories that are continuously retrieved in an intrusive manner, causing re-experiencing of the original trauma (Schwabe, 2014).Research is focusing on testing pharmacological treatments and behavioural interventions that target memory reconsolidation in PTSD populations. One drug being researched in neurobiology for the treatment of PTSD is propranolol, the b-adrenergic receptor antagonist that has effects on protein synthesis. The idea that propranolol could be a useful treatment in PTSD stemmed from studies showing that this drug can disrupt the reconsolidation of fear conditioning in animal models and humans (Kindt, 2009). There is some evidence of success with propranolol, such as in pilot studies by Pitman (2002) and Vaiva (2003) which found that immediate treatment with propranolol decreases posttraumatic stress disorder two months after trauma. In recent experiments using propranolol, patients with chronic PTSD were asked to prepare a written script of their personal traumatic experience that caused the PTSD. Each patient then received either propranolol or a placebo (Brunet et al, 2008). One week later, all patients underwent a procedure where there physiological arousal was tested as the script was read. The results showed that psychophysiological responding was significantly lower in patients who had received propranolol a week earlier than in patients who were administered a placebo. These findings were replicated and extended in three open-label studies where PTSD symptoms were significantly lower than at pretreatment (Brunet et al, 2011). In these promising studies on the effect of post-retrieval propranolol in chronic PTSD it is ambiguous as to whether the benefits were from propranolol enhancement or the psychological intervention; And whether propranolol enhanced extinction consolidation or blocked memory reconsoli dation. (de Kleine et al, 2013). Some of these studies also lacked the appropriate control groups that would be required to conclude that the observed effects are due to changes in memory reconsolidation, however, these findings suggest that postretrieval manipulations with propranolol might be a promising tool in the treatment of PTSD, even when the trauma is decades old. d-cycloserine (DCS) is another pharmacological intervention being recently researched in reconsolidation and PTSD due to it being a partial NMDA receptor agonist and extinction enhancer (De Kliene, 2014). Research on using exposure therapy with DCS for PTSD suggests that it could be promising (De Kliene, 2014). Exposure therapy is established as an effective form of fear extinction training in PTSD through the repeated exposure of the trauma memory, and its emotional processing (De Kliene, 2014). De Kleine, Hendriks, Kusters, Broekman, and van Minnen (2012) investigated the effect of DCS on exposure therapy on a female civilian population and found no overall enhancement effects, but a stronger treatment response. However, a second study on a male veteran population found a significant enhancement (Litz et al, 2012). Some criticisms of these studies were the possibility that DCS might have undesirable effects when there is no in session fear extinction, and the need for more research and better administration of the drug (De Kleine, 2014). Sheeringa (2014) researched the effect of d-cycloserine with cognitive behaviour therapy on pediatric posttraumatic stress using a randomized placebo-controlled d-cycloserine. So far, DCS has only shown as extinction effect when used with behavioural training such as exposure therapy and CBT. This study did not show a greater effect on reducing PTSD symptoms, but did show preliminary evidence for improving attention of participants. Another promising study currently in press looked at whether DCS enhanced psychotherapy when used with virtual reality trauma exposure therapy (Difede, 2014). The pilot trial was randomized, placebo-controlled, and double-blind and found significantly greater PTSD remission rates for DCS group, with larger between groups effect sizes (Difede, 2014). Understanding the processes of reconsolidation and the crucial role synaptic plasticity plays in fear conditioning does have exciting and important implication for psychopathology specifically PTSD. There are still barriers and boundary conditions to be understood and overcome for example, memory age and strength. In Posttraumatic stress disorder, unwanted memories need to be retrieved and destabilized before they can be modified during reconsolidation. One of the barriers particular to PTSD is that researchers have proposed that younger and weaker memories are more likely to be modified after reconsolidation than older and stronger memories which are less likely to be modified (Wihchet, 2011). Further boundary conditions highlighted by Shwabe at al (2014) is the context in which the reactivation takes place, and the presence of new information at reactivation of the memories. Therefore, more research is needed to understand exactly when memories do and do not undergo reconsolidation in order to use reconsolidation as a treatment for disorders such as PTSD.

ray charles Essay -- essays research papers

Ray Charles   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the 1930s many black musicians where coming out of the south. One especially who would soon top the charts and hit fame and fortune starting in his young years, Ray Charles. After conquering poverty, blindness and many other things, success was possible. In his young age he had a few losses in his family and near after came down with a disease which was causing him to go blind. He later came over the blindness and was able to learn and compose music with the help of his skills in mathematics. After enduring a harsh childhood and blindness, Ray Charles was able to over come his handicap and follow his dream in music.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ray Charles was born on September 23, 1903 to a very poor family. Although no birth record exists, his mother, Retha Robinson, dubbed him Ray Robinson, which he later changed so as to not be confused with Sugar Ray Robinson, a famous boxer (World Book 383). Ray Charles, or as everyone called him RC, was born to a mother only sixteen years old and she had another coming. By RC’s first birthday, his little brother George was born. â€Å"None was sure who George’s father was, but all remembered that Mr. Pit and Mis Georgia, who had no children of their own, adopted George to take the added burden off Retha†(Michael 7). While Retha was not able to watch over RC, he was cared for bye her friend Mary Jane, who was split up with her husband and had lost her son.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  At the...

Winter in the Blood by James Welch Essay -- Native American Novels Win

Winter in the Blood by James Welch Winter in the Blood, a Native American novel written by James Welch, takes place on a cattle ranch in Montana, around 1970. On the surface, this is a story of a Blackfoot Indian sleepwalking through his life, tormented by visions, in search of a connection to his heritage. Welch's language is, at once, blunt and poetic, and the pictures it conjures are dreamlike and disquieting. Furthermore, the narrator of the novel is disheartened by the loss of his brother, Mose, and his father, First Raise ? the two most cherished people in his life. After struggling with guilt, sorrow, and alcoholism, the narrator overcomes these down falls through re-identifying with himself and his culture? specifically through the help of his grandfather, Yellow Calf.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the opening line of the novel, the narrator provides a vivid description of the his decaying surroundings:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  'In the tall weeds of the borrow pit, I took a leak and watched the sorrel mare, her   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  colt beside her, walk through burnt grass to the shady side of the long-and-mud   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  cabin . . . . The roof had fallen in and the mud between the logs had fallen out in   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  chunks, leaving a bare gray skeleton, home only to mice and insects.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Tumbleweeds, stark as bone, rocked in a hot wind against the west wall (1).'; Welch opens the story with this line to show a relationship between the narrator's feelings of worthlessness and the worthlessness of his environment. In addition, the author melodically begins the novel in a somber manner ? so the reader may immediately adjust to the tone encompassing the story.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The narrator continues with describing his resentment towards his home life, 'Coming home was not easy anymore. It was never a cinch, but it had become a torture (2).'; This excerpt provides the reader with an understanding of the sorrow that the protagonist feels at the beginning of the novel and throughout the first half. Further narration includes the protagonists feelings of distance from the land and blame that he places upon himself, 'But the distance I felt came not from country or people; it came from within me (2).'; Thus, as the reader, we understand that the narrator has removed himself from the land and his culture.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  On the narrator's journey to find his girlfriend, Welch clearly demonstrates the overabundant use of alco... ...Yellow Calf and to ask him if he was ever acquainted with his 'grandmother'; (another twist: not old woman) (152). And, yes, Yellow Calf did know his grandmother and was able to provide the narrator with the missing pieces, of his grandmother's stories, that he longed for: that Yellow Calf is his grandfather and that he was the only one that treated his grandmother with respect after Standing Bear's death. Once the narrator realized this they,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  'shared this secret in the presence of ghosts, in wind that called forth the   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  muttering of tepees, the blowing snow, the white air of the horses' nostril . . .   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  but there were others, so many others (159).'; It is then that the narrator completely absorbs the teachings from Yellow Calf, and allows his life to come full circle.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the end, through the guidance of Yellow Calf, the protagonist discovers himself, learns to respect the natural order of the land, and overcomes the guilt and sorrow that has lived within him for many years. The physical journey may be complete, but the spiritual voyage will continue for a lifetime. Works Cited: Welch, James. Winter in the Blood ,New York : Penguin Books, 1974.

Theme of Guilt in Hamlet & Fifth Business

There is one human emotion that can paralyse us, lead us to lie both to ourselves and others, to commit actions that we don’t endure, and to cripple any rational thought processes. It is self perpetuating if allowed to get out of control. Its side effects are anger, aggressiveness, fear or reclusiveness. Its symptoms are irrational behaviour, lying, anguish, and lack of self-esteem. It is the strong emotion that can affect our conscience, like an acid drop it corrodes the soul within and in extreme conditions it demolishes one’s life, it is better known as guilt. Guilt is a reoccurring theme in Robertson Davies’ Fifth Business, and William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, that is demonstrated by various characters including, Dunstable Ramsay, Paul Dempster, Hamlet and Claudius and this essay shall compare the theme of guilt between the two literatures. In the novel Fifth Business, guilt is a plague that has spread throughout the lives of Dunstan Ramsay, and Paul Dempster; both characters are drenched with guilt that was a result of a tragic incident caused by Percy Staunton Boyd when he threw the snowball and it â€Å"hit Mrs. Dempster on the back of the head. † (Davies, 2). Dunstan experiences guilt early on in his childhood, realizing it is him who ultimately caused the premature labour of Paul, â€Å"Nevertheless this conversation reheated my strong sense of guilt and responsibility about Paul. † (Davies, 136). As the guilt overtakes his life, Dunny compares what he is feeling to what dying feels like and questions whether that would be better than dealing with this overwhelming guilt: â€Å"Ah, if dying were all there was to it! Hell and torment at once, but at least you know where you stand. It is living with these guilty secrets that exacts the price† (Davies, 19). Born prematurely, Paul Dempster was convicted of being guilty as he was responsible for robbing his mother of her sanity, as explained to him by his father, Amasa Dempster, â€Å"My father always told me it was my birth that robbed her of her sanity. So as a child I had to carry the weight of my mother’s madness as something that was my own doing. † (Davies, 148). Moreover Paul was forced to feel the guilt at a young age, causing him to become frustrated, and that is when he decides to escape from Deptford and runs away with Le grand Cirque forain des St. Vite (Davies, 148), â€Å"‘He was my only teacher till I ran away with a circus. † (Davies, 265). Equivalently in the play Hamlet, the theme of guilt was developed through Hamlet and his most hateful enemy, King Claudius. Hamlet experiences guilt when he recognizes that he has not yet avenged his father’s death and in Act I Scene ii Hamlet reveals that he is upset and disappointed with himself, as he has not taken any actions to attain revenge from Claudius, the murderer of his father. Hamlet then calls himself, â€Å"a peasant slave† and questions, â€Å"What's Hecuba to him, or he to Hecuba, That he should weep for her? What would he do, Had he motive and cue for passion That I have? † (Shakespeare, II, ii, 529. 38-541). Furthermore, Hamlet later decides to relief his overwhelming guilt by commanding the actors to re-enact his father’s death through The Murder of Gonzago, (Shakespeare, III, ii, 284), in order to confirm that the ghost was being truthful and Claudius did kill his father, â€Å"May be the devil, and the devil hath power T' assume a pleasing shape. Yea, and perhaps Out of my weakness and my melancholy, As he is very potent with such spirits, Abuses me to da mn me. I’ll have grounds More relative than this. The play’s the thing Wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the king. † (Shakespeare, II, ii, 561- 567). Eagerly wanting the throne Claudius murdered his brother, King Hamlet by poisoning him when he was sleeping in the garden, â€Å"He poisons him i’ th’ garden for‘s estate. † (Shakespeare, III, ii, 246); his crime was soon revealed by the intelligent Hamlet, when he ordered the actors to create a play outlining the murder of King Hamlet, â€Å"Speak the speech, I pray you, as I pronounced it to you, trippingly on the tongue. †(Shakespeare, III, ii, 190-191). Claudius provoked and disturbed from the play, orders for it to be stopped, â€Å"Give o’er the play. † (Shakespeare, III, ii, 253) and leaves the scene, â€Å"The king rises. (Shakespeare, III, ii, 250) as his dirty crime is now evident. Devoured with the guilt of killing his brother, Claudius confesses and prays to God, hoping that it will cost him less time in Purgatory, â€Å"Oh, my offence is rank. It smells to heaven. It hath the primal eldest curse upon ’t, A brotherà ¢â‚¬â„¢s murder. Pray can I not. Though inclination be as sharp as will, My stronger guilt defeats my strong intent, And, like a man to double business bound, I stand in pause where I shall first begin, And both neglect. † (Shakespeare, III, ii, 37-44). Silent yet deadly, its side effects are anger, aggressiveness or fear and reclusiveness. Its symptoms are irrational behaviour, lying, anguish, and lack of self-esteem. It is the strong emotion that can affect our conscience, like an acid drop it corrodes the soul within and in extreme conditions it demolishes one’s life, it is better known as guilt. The theme of guilt is an important reoccurring phenomenon in Robertson Davies’ Fifth Business, and William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, as demonstrated by a number of characters including, Dunstable Ramsay, Paul Dempster, Hamlet, and Claudius, and this essay compared the theme of guilt between the two literatures.

Meno’s Dialogue

I have always been fascinated at the idea of the saying: â€Å"if at first you don’t succeed, try try again. † Learning to me has always been upon the idea of problem solving, that we must attempt to figure out the truth while stumbling upon questions and false answers. In Meno’s dialogue with Socrates, Meno attempts to ask Socrates if virtue can be acquired. Expecting a bold and grand statement as heard upon by his sophist peers from Thessaly, Meno was amazed to hear that Socrates had no clue to his question, even going further by stating that Socrates hasn’t met anyone who knows what virtue is. While in their quest to find out if virtue can be acquired by teaching, they struggle through the logic behind it. Meno points out by defining virtue as a list: â€Å"there will be no difficulty, Socrates, in answering your question. Let us take first the virtue of a man-he should know how to administer the state, and in the administration of it to benefit his friends and harm his enemies. A woman’s virtue, if you wish to know about that, may also be easily described her duty is to order her house, and keep what is indoors, and obey her husband. Every age, every condition of life, young or old, male or female, bond or free, has a different virtue: there are virtues numberless, and no lack of definitions of them; for virtue is relative to the actions and ages of each of us in all that we do†. But Socrates manages to debunk this error with his example of Meno’s list of virtues being like a swarm of bees. A second attempt by Meno makes the same mistake as the first, as Meno manages to say that health is a virtue: â€Å"I should say that health is the same, both in man and woman. A third attempt at defining what virtue also comes up empty handed. After coming up with no luck, Meno states that he feels numb and confused, and this is known in the story as paradox of inquiry. The paradox states that learning isn’t possible, because you either know what you’re looking for or you do not. But rather than being arrogant or simply giving up, Meno manages to listen to what Socrates is about to teach him, unlike the old and conceited politician Anytus, who is insulted after Socrates debunks his theory of â€Å"talking to any gentleman on the streets of Athens to see true irtue† by explaining that not all the sons of well-respected Athenian men turned out to be perfect and well off. Thus, both Socrates and Meno are problem solving to find out if virtue can be taught to an individual by using one of Meno’s slaveboy as an example. Socrates then manages to draw a square with four equal sections and asks the slave to find the length of the side of a square that has an area that’s double in size. As the slave incorrectly attempts to answer time after time the correct answer, it proves to us something about how learning proceeds. The slaveboy manages to figure out the correct answer with Socrates only telling him hints to figure out the problem. We ultimately are not stuck in a paradox and learning is possible by constantly using the dialectic method, that is, constantly questioning oneself. What does all this mean for the nature of reasoning or logos and its importance in coming to know things? It ultimately shows us that mankind wonders for things and are willing to learn, even if they are unknown to them. Even in the ancient days of Athens, people were curious to learn and obtain new knowledge. The way people learn is by through dialectic method, as I mentioned earlier, to have back and forth discussion with your arguer or yourself until you have come to right conclusion or answer. As we have with the slaveboy, he repeatedly wondered and questioned himself until he manages to stumble upon the correct answer, rather than being spoonfed by Socrates. A common analogy to this story I grew up with that’s common to me is the education system I went through in Indonesia and here in the United States. In Indonesia, learning and being spoonfed are both intertwined, as teachers would give you the answer to the questions ahead of time and students are supposed to regurgitate the information back. Here in the United States, more critical thinking comes into play into the education I got here, I was forced to think through for my answers rather than the teacher giving me the answer. As in the story of Meno, such dialectic reasoning or critical thinking is prevalent in trying to find out the truth.