Thursday, October 31, 2019

Education Can Have Profound Affects On Students Identity Essay

Education Can Have Profound Affects On Students Identity - Essay Example This can be simply assessed by the negative or pessimistic behavior that those students might have about life or other people. They might develop negative or pessimistic attitudes even about God or they might come up with deep feelings of angst, fear and guilt or an insane preoccupation in relation to sin. So it is obvious that any worldview shapes the actions and guides the behaviors of its beholder. What is learned in school will eventually surface in life or in the identity of the students. In this line of thought, school administrators and teachers should be extremely careful on the contents and ways of managing any learning institution. It is also necessary to find solutions in the direction of implementing change and transformation in the inner circles of faculty and staff. One specific educational issue that it's being address lately with due emphasis is the achievement gap among different groups of students according to economic, political and social backgrounds. In the United States this educational issue has taken a radical turn after President George W. Bush and his Administration passed as law the "No Child Left Behind Act 2001". This new law is aimed at improving the performance of all students in the United States and it firmly stresses that it is necessary to ensure that no student gets trapped in a failing school. Among its new features, the No Child Left Behind Act includes "increased accountability for States, school districts, and schools; greater choice for parents and students, particularly those attending low-performing schools; more flexibility for States and local educational agencies (LEAs) in the use of Federal education dollars; and a stronger emphasis on reading, especially for our youngest children." (No Children Left Behind, 200 4). On the other hand, The Education Trust was established in 1990 by the American Association for Higher Education, and it aims that all students at all levels of education get a high academic achievement in order to close forever the achievement gaps that separate minority or poverty-stricken students from the most favored class of students. This institution is positively engaged in closing the achievement gap among all the students in the United States at all costs. Craig Jerald, Senior Policy Analyst at the Education Trust, sums up his research on this issue with the significant result that shows that "there are thousands of schools nationwide that have poverty rates and/or minority enrollments in the top third of their respective states and also had top-third scores on one or more state assessments." (Jerald, 2002). Jerald and Kati Haycok, Director of The Education Gap, suggested that a school system won't be judged as successful unless it teaches successfully all kinds of students. They also stated that "despite what many administrators learned in graduate school, newer, more sophisticated research shows that it is not just poverty or family background that determines student achievement. What schools do does matter." (Jerald & Haycok, 2002). Their recommendations are based on a common agenda of five priority points: 1.- The Bully Pulpit: Take responsibility for raising achievement and closing achievement gaps-in word and deed. 2.- Standards: Use standards to reshape instruction. 3.- Curriculum: Provide all students with a rigorous

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Introduction to Business Law Individual Project 1 Essay

Introduction to Business Law Individual Project 1 - Essay Example A trial Court only has the jurisdiction to intervene in a case involving two parties within a particular jurisdiction or in a case where a complaint is brought by a litigant against a local Government body. Similarly, the Supreme Court is generally likely to hear disputes involving two states or those involving constitutional rights and in this case, since the issue is the breach of contract by the U.S. Government of one party located within a particular Court of Appeals jurisdiction, the case may be likely to heard at the U.S. Court of Appeals for that particular jurisdiction. Another matter that may be taken up by the U.S. Court of Appeals is the appeal of the 5th U.S. District Court decision. However, in view of the visit of the Company senior directors, it appears likely that the issue that will be taken up would involve a business issue and in this case, the contractual dispute that involves the U.S. Government being cited as one of the parties in the suit appears to be the one that is likely to qualify. The function of the law is to ensure that the rules and regulations that are established by various Government and executive bodies are upheld and maintained by individuals, and it is the forum where any disputes arising out of the application of the law may be adjudicated. The two most important sources of law are statutes and judicial precedents. Statutes are the major sources of law and they may be constitutional ones, in which case they are framed at deferral and state levels, or they may be statutes that are framed at the federal and state levels. Laws may also be comprised of ordinances passed by other Government bodies, administrative agency rules or executive orders. Additionally judicial precedent may also become a source of law in some cases. While judicial decisions themselves do not become laws per se, important decisions made

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Eating Behaviour and Perceptions of Body Image in School

Eating Behaviour and Perceptions of Body Image in School Eating behavior and perception of body image in school children Background Body dissatisfaction, which is defined as the discrepancy between perceived and ideal body image, can start during childhood (Smolak 2004) and can lead to eating and weight problems in adolescence (Stice 2002; McKnight 2003). Specifically, Stice 2002 reported that when an adolescent presents with body dissatisfaction the probability of engaging to dieting and eating habits that are precursors of eating disorders was increased. Besides that body dissatisfaction was linked to bulimia (Stice 2002). Moreover, McKnight 2003 suggested that school children who presented with thinner preoccupation were in greater risk of developing an eating disorder (McKnight 2003). In addition, body dissatisfaction has been associated with obesity, since obesity is an eating disorder risk factor (Fairburn, Welch et al. 1997; Mustillo, Worthman et al. 2003) and body image is a moderator of the risk of developing eating disorders (Dounchis, Hayden et al. 2001). Except from body dissatisfaction, eating proble ms in early childhood can lead to eating disorders in adolescence and early adulthood (Kotler, Cohen et al. 2001). A number of studies have focused on the relationship between eating styles that precede the development of eating disorders, and the perception of body image in various age groups like school children, adolescents and university students and have reported that individuals with high EAT and ChEAT scores were more likely to choose a thinner ideal body image and consequently had body dissatisfaction (Edlund, Halvarsson et al. 1996; Nishizawa, Kida et al. 2003; Gonà §alves, Silva et al. 2012; del Mar Bibiloni, Pich et al. 2013; Kutlu and Civi 2013). In more detail, Kutlu and Civi (2013) investigated the association between symptoms of eating disorders and body perception by using the Eating Attitude Test (EAT-40) in university students and found that individuals who perceived themselves obese reported higher scores in the EAT-40 and thus demonstrated a relation between eating disorders and body image perception. Similar results were presented in a study that investigated the association between self-physique and symptoms of anorexia nevrosa in high school individuals in Japan and showed that students with an eating disorder often chose the thinnest ideal body image when compared to the students who did not have an eating disorder (Nishizawa, Kida et al. 2003). Additionally, Edlund et al. 1996 investigated the relation between the ChEAT, DEBQ questionnaires and body image in school girls and observed that girls with high ChEAT scores were more likely to diet and engage to restrained eating and these girls had a higher discrepancy between ideal and perceived body image. Other studies have focused on eating behaviors like restrained and emotional eating and the relation with perception of body image (Kapka-Skrzypczak 2012; Wiedemann and Saules 2013; Ohara, Kato et al. 2014). Ohara et al. 2014 investigated the association between eating behavior, by using the DEBQ questionnaire, and discrepancy of body image in Japanese university students and suggested that restrained eating was negatively associated with body dissatisfaction in both males and females. In addition, university female students with emotional eating had higher levels of discrepancy of body image. This pattern was not observed in males (Ohara, Kato et al. 2014). Wiedemann and Saules (2013) suggested that the positive association between emotional eating and weight problem perception, another term for body image perception, could be explained by the fact that individuals that perceive themselves as overweight engage to emotional eating because they experience strong emotions like anger, d epression or anxiety more often than individuals who are satisfied with their body image. Kapka-Skrzypczak (2012) studied the relationship between dietary habits in adolescents and young adults and reported that students that weren’t on a diet were more satisfied with their body image as compared to students that tried to lose weight. Another important fact that arises from the existing literature is that the majority of studies are cross-sectional and examine the association between eating disorders symptoms or eating behavior and body dissatisfaction in a specific point in time. This results in a lack of longitudinal data studying the exact pathway that connects eating behavior and the discrepancy between perceived and ideal body image. Moreover, most of the studies that were found during the literature search included adolescents and university students and only two studies investigated this relationship in school children (Edlund, Halvarsson et al. 1996; Gonà §alves, Silva et al. 2012). Therefore, the objective of this study is to explore the association between eating behavior of school children (9 year old), reported by mothers, and the discrepancy of body image. For this purpose data from the Generation R study will be used. Additionally, eating behavior will be assessed by the Children’s Eating Beh aviour Questionnaire (CEBQ) and the perception of body image by the Children’s Body Image Scale (CBIS). In conclusion, future studies should focus on younger ages, between 4-9 years old, because currently it is not known whether the association that is demonstrated by the aforementioned studies for adolescents and university students is present at this age group too. Furthermore, longitudinal studies investigating whether eating behavior of preschool children is a predictor of the perception of body image are needed and besides the individual and parental factors, sociocultural factors should be taken into consideration. Generation R Generation R is a population-based prospective cohort study from fetal life to young adulthood (Jaddoe, van Duijn et al. 2012). This study aims to investigate the causes (environmental and genetic) and the pathway that contribute to a normal or abnormal growth and consequently the state of health throughout fetal life, childhood and adulthood. In Generation R there are certain areas of research interest: maternal health, growth and physical development, behavioral and cognitive development, respiratory health and allergies, diseases in childhood, and health and healthcare for children and their parents. Generation R invited all pregnant women living in Rotterdam and were expected to deliver between April 2002 and January 2006. Furthermore, follow-up studies included children born by mothers that participated in the study. Participants had to sign a written informed consent in order to be able to participate in the study. Physical examinations and questionnaires were included in the a ssessments, where the majority (86%) of the questionnaires were filled out by parents. Generation R has been approved by the Medical Ethical Committee of the Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam. More information and details of Generation R can be found elsewhere (Jaddoe, van Duijn et al. 2012). Children’s Eating Behaviour Questionnaire (CEBQ) The CEBQ was developed in order to assess the eating behavior of children and study which eating styles lead to obesity and overweight (Wardle, Guthrie et al. 2001). Children’s eating behavior is reported by parents and consists of 8 eating behavior items: food responsiveness, enjoyment of food, emotional overeating, desire to drink, satiety responsiveness, emotional undereating and fussiness. In order to measure these items a 5-point Likert scale is used and ranges from 1 to 5, where 1 denoted â€Å"never† and 5 â€Å"always† (Wardle, Guthrie et al. 2001). Children’s Body Image Scale (CBIS) The CBIS is an instrument that is used to assess the perception of body size in children (Truby and Paxton 2002). CBIS consists of 7 figures which have different versions for males and females. These 7 figures range from the thinnest body shape to the fattest (3rd to 97th NCHS percentiles) (Truby and Paxton 2002). Usually, children have to choose between these 7 figures the one that represents the perceived and the one that denotes the ideal body image. Covariates Child BMI, gender, ethnicity, maternal BMI and education will be included in the regression analysis as potential confounding variables (Gonà §alves, Silva et al. 2012; Baillie and Copeland 2013; Bergmeier, Skouteris et al. 2014; Sukariyah and Sidani 2014). It has been demonstrated that female high school students had higher scores on emotional eating and binge eating than males (Sukariyah and Sidani 2014). Additionally, Baile and Copeland (2013) observed that women had higher score on the Body Shape Questionnaire. An different pattern was reported in Goncalves et al. (2012), where boys who were not satisfied with their body image had higher score in the ChEAT questionnaire, a pattern that was not seen in girls who participated in the same study. Moreover, another study in Korean adolescents found that males had higher percentage of body image distortion and thus were in greater risk of developing an eating disorder than females (Hyun, Jung et al. 2014). BMI has been associated with body image dissatisfaction, since individuals with a higher BMI are more likely to be dissatisfied with their body image and engage to restrained eating (Jones and Crawford 2005; OHaver, Melnyk et al. 2009; Gonà §alves, Silva et al. 2012). Furthermore, differences in the magnitude of body image dissatisfaction concerning ethnicity have been suggested by some studies (Gluck and Geliebter 2002; Baillie and Copeland 2013). Glunk and Geliebter (2002) reported that Caucasians and Asians had a higher discrepancy of body image than African Americans and Caucasians scored higher on the eating disorder questionnaire than Asians and African Americans. Baillie and Copeland (2013) observed that Caucasians had a greater body dissatisfaction with their body image than Chinese but no differences were found concerning the scores on the eating disorder questionnaire (EAT-26). Lastly, maternal BMI and education have been associated with food fussiness in children (Bergmeier, Skouteris et al. 2014). Besides that, Goncalves et al. (2012) found that higher maternal BMI was associated with higher scores on the ChEAT questionnaire. Research question(s) Is there an association between eating behavior and the discrepancy between perceived and ideal body image? In case an association is present, which items from the CEBQ questionnaire are related with the discrepancy between perceived and ideal body image? Hypothesis This study will not be based on a specific hypothesis. Instead an exploration of the association between eating behavior and discrepancy of body image will be conducted in 9 year old children from the Generation R study. Methods Subjects In this study data were collected from both mothers and their children. Firstly, mothers provided information on their child’s eating behavior by filling out the CEBQ questionnaire, when their children were at the age of 9. Secondly, children at the age of 9 filled out the CBIS for the assessment of the perception of body image. In total data from approximately 4000 children are available at this point. Statistical Analysis CBIS provides ordinal data but usually it is treated as interval data (Collins 1991). From the CBIS questionnaire the variable discrepancy of body image will be created. Discrepancy of body image is defined as the difference of perceived-ideal body image. Plots to check whether the variables of interest are normally distributed will be done. Descriptive statistics will be performed for eating behavior items and body image (ideal, perceived and discrepancy of perceived-ideal) (mean scores and standard deviations). For this purpose statistical tests, parametric (ANOVA, χ2) and non-parametric tests for not normally distributed data will be done. Check correlation between confounding variables, eating behavior and body perception. Multiple linear regression will be performed where eating behavior (in the form of CEBQ scores) will be the outcome variable and discrepancy of body perception will be the independent/explanatory variable. Sensitivity analysis will be performed for the participants that didn’t have any missing values, in order to check whether individuals with missing data are different from individuals without missing data. Multiple imputation techniques will be used in order to check for missing data and avoid bias. Statistics SPSS 21 Period of thesis/internship 1 April 2015 – 31 August 2015 Investigation scheme: 1-24/04: Conducting literature search and writing research proposal 27/04-01/05: First acquaintance with dataset 04-08/05: Preparation of data analysis 11/05-05/06: Statistical Analysis and writing part of the report 08-12/06: Interpretation of results for the data analysis 15/06-22/07: Writing report 23/07-09/08 Holidays 10-17/08: Correcting and improving manuscript 18-21/08: Outline and submit report 24-31/08: Preparation of presentation and presentation References Baillie, L. E. and A. L. Copeland (2013). Disordered eating and body image in Chinese and Caucasian students in the United States. Eating Behaviors 14(3): 314-319. Bergmeier, H., H. Skouteris, et al. (2014). Child temperament and maternal predictors of preschool children’s eating and body mass index. A prospective study. Appetite 74(0): 125-132. Collins, M. E. (1991). Body figure perceptions and preferences among preadolescent children. International Journal of Eating Disorders 10(2): 199-208. del Mar Bibiloni, M., J. Pich, et al. (2013). Body image and eating patterns among adolescents. BMC public health 13(1): 1104. Dounchis, J. Z., H. A. Hayden, et al. (2001). Obesity, body image, and eating disorders in ethnically diverse children and adolescents. Body image, eating disorders, and obesity in youth: Assessment, prevention, and treatment: 67-98. Edlund, B., K. Halvarsson, et al. (1996). Eating Behaviours, and Attitudes to Eating, Dieting, and Body Image in 7à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ yearà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ old Swedish Girls. European Eating Disorders Review 4(1): 40-53. Fairburn, C. G., S. L. Welch, et al. (1997). Risk factors for bulimia nervosa: A community-based case-control study. Archives of General psychiatry 54(6): 509-517. Gluck, M. E. and A. Geliebter (2002). Racial/ethnic differences in body image and eating behaviors. Eating behaviors 3(2): 143-151. Gonà §alves, S., M. Silva, et al. (2012). Disordered eating among preadolescent boys and girls: the relationship with child and maternal variables. Nutrients 4(4): 273-285. Hyun, M.-Y., Y.-E. Jung, et al. (2014). Factors associated with body image distortion in Korean adolescents. Neuropsychiatric disease and treatment 10: 797. Jaddoe, V. W. V., C. M. van Duijn, et al. (2012). The Generation R Study: design and cohort update 2012. European journal of epidemiology 27(9): 739-756. Jones, D. C. and J. K. Crawford (2005). Adolescent boys and body image: Weight and muscularity concerns as dual pathways to body dissatisfaction. Journal of Youth and Adolescence 34(6): 629-636. Kapka-Skrzypczak, L. (2012). Dietary habits and body image perception among Polish adolescents and young adults-a population based study. Annals of Agricultural and Environmental Medicine 19(2). Kotler, L. A., P. Cohen, et al. (2001). Longitudinal relationships between childhood, adolescent, and adult eating disorders. Journal of the American Academy of Child Adolescent Psychiatry 40(12): 1434-1440. Kutlu, R. and S. Civi (2013). Evaluation of eating habits, body perception and depression status of university students. Gulhane Medical Journal 55(3): 196-202. McKnight, I. (2003). Risk factors for the onset of eating disorders in adolescent girls: results of the McKnight longitudinal risk factor study. American Journal of Psychiatry 160(2): 248-254. Mustillo, S., C. Worthman, et al. (2003). Obesity and psychiatric disorder: developmental trajectories. Pediatrics 111(4): 851-859. Nishizawa, Y., K. Kida, et al. (2003). Perception of selfà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ physique and eating behavior of high school students in Japan. Psychiatry and clinical neurosciences 57(2): 189-196. OHaver, J., B. M. Melnyk, et al. (2009). The Relationship of Perceived and Actual Weight in Minority Adolescents. Journal of Pediatric Nursing 24(6): 474-480. Ohara, K., Y. Kato, et al. (2014). Eating behavior and perception of body shape in Japanese university students. Eating and Weight Disorders-Studies on Anorexia, Bulimia and Obesity 19(4): 461-468. Smolak, L. (2004). Body image in children and adolescents: where do we go from here? Body image 1(1): 15-28. Stice, E. (2002). Risk and maintenance factors for eating pathology: a meta-analytic review. Psychological bulletin 128(5): 825. Sukariyah, M. B. and R. A. Sidani (2014). Prevalence of and Gender Differences in Weight, Body, and Eating Related Perceptions among Lebanese High School Students: Implications for School Counseling. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences 159: 184-191. Truby, H. and S. J. Paxton (2002). Development of the childrens body image scale. British Journal of Clinical Psychology 41(2): 185-203. Wardle, J., C. A. Guthrie, et al. (2001). Development of the childrens eating behaviour questionnaire. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 42(07): 963-970. Wiedemann, A. A. and K. K. Saules (2013). The relationship between emotional eating and weight problem perception is not a function of body mass index or depression. Eating behaviors 14(4): 525-528. 1

Friday, October 25, 2019

Lack of Male Intimacy :: Feminism Feminist Women Criticism

The Lack of Male Intimacy As I sit in the auditorium of the school I attend, I listen to the speaker of the day make his fatal mistake. He has done well up until now, relating to us only facts and ideas. Now, he has suffered from a lapse in judgment, and seems to have forgotten his surroundings - an all male audience. He has the audacity to display genuine, vulnerable emotion. I wait for the response I know he will get. The sound fills my ears. The all male audience brings forth a sarcastic and mocking chorus of "awwwwwww." One could not imagine the same event transpiring in an all female group. It is pretty much commonly accepted that men do not show emotion. It is pretty much commonly accepted among men that men should not show emotion. The group in the auditorium had bought into this stereotype. Most of them were probably not accustomed to seeing men display their emotions, and it made them nervous and uncomfortable. So, they reacted with the two most common defenses used when one is uncomfortable in the face of something one does not understand: criticism and humor. In "Locker Room Talk," Stephen Dunn notes that the danger of a man having sex is the possibility of "admitting he felt something...". So, Dunn believes that many males see the display of emotions as something along the same lines as an admission of guilt. Something they would try to avoid in most situations. I agree. I think it is pretty clear that men, as a rule, have trouble sharing their emotions. So, the real questions are, "why do m en have this problem," and "can things change, and how?" While there are probably a few reasons for this condition, and the answer cannot be given with absolute certainty, I think the answer can be found by looking back through time. This abstinence from intimacy is probably as old as the family structure. When humans began to settle down as families, responsibilities were assigned in the way that the family could survive the most efficiently. The children would have to be taken care of, and food would have to be provided. It made sense for one person to handle one of the two major tasks. It was logical for the mother to attend to the children, because she had carried each of them for nine months, and was required to breastfeed them.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

WRL media coursework, Amnesty

In June 2007 amnesty international, an organisation who have traditionally partnered the Catholic Church, changed there policy on abortion after there research in Dafur. They looked into rape and how in many countries it is being used as a weapon of war and once a tribe has defeated another tribe the women of the area would be raped as a signal of victory. After these findings amnesty who previously neutral on abortion has stated that it supports abortion in certain circumstances such as rape, incest and as a weapon of war. Over the years both the Catholic Church and amnesty have worked together on freeing political prisoners and highlighting human rights. However since amnesty changed its policy on abortion against there's they have advised all Catholics to quit there membership to amnesty. In my coursework I'll be looking at two articles on there views on the preceding and be comparing and contrasting between them. The first article is from the guardian, a paper which is well known for its liberal thinking and belief of free will. It believes the Catholic Church is wrong for banning amnesty and both starts and finishes ridiculing the Catholic's view as â€Å"nonsensical. † They also mention how out of the 1/4 million catholic members of amnesty only 222 quit and how most of these where from the clergy who may of lost there jobs if they had refused. It also mocks the catholic mentioning how â€Å"105 Catholics have even increased there donations†. To show what side the guardian is really on it talks about how 2000 Catholic schools will suffer from not being able to use amnesty's teachings. The final part of the article talks about amnesties policies and talks about there research in Darfur and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, overall the guardian makes a very convincing argument which undermines the Catholic's view. Meanwhile the Telegraph is a much more traditional paper and believes in the Catholic Church, however does not rebuff amnesty too much. The telegraph relies on statistics to present a case and uses numbers such as â€Å"2000 secondary schools† and â€Å"5000 Catholic parishes† and if the telegraph were to present a case where the numbers aren't available they would probably struggle. The article contradicts the guardian by claiming the number of Catholic's leaving Amnesty as â€Å"exodus†. However unlike the guardian admits how the splitting has made a lot of Catholic's look at there faith. The article also does not insult the Catholic's decision as the telegraph has a large catholic following which it would not want to upset. I believe each of the articles support one side, the guardian supports amnesty and the telegraph supports the Catholic Church's view. After reading both articles I believe the guardian puts up a much more convincing and uses the information carefully to make me believe it is a pointless decision for the Catholics to turn there back's on amnesty and will do them no good. I personally feel neutral about abortion, I believe that abortion is a serious decision and unnecessary abortion is wrong. However just like amnesty I believe abortion is ok if caused by rape or it may affect the women's life. This just goes to show maybe the Catholic's attack is unfounded and that there is no point in splitting of amnesty and the Catholics, as I am a catholic and like many share these views. What I have learnt from this coursework is how influential the media can be and how they can pick up a topic, twist it, put people against each other and make a profit from it. Newspapers can create evil figures and change the public's view of a character for example the way the tabloids have changed the way people think of Heather McCartney during her divorce. However everybody has there own opinions on what the Catholic Church has done and all have these opinions for different reasons. Some peoples religions change there view many Catholics will back there Church and fully support there church. Others will be altered by there upbringing and many will follow what they were brought up to believe so if they were brought up to follow amnesty they are more than likely to stick with them. Newspaper's change people's views and can create a bias between sides and if the public are constantly battered with the information it is only a matter of time before the minds change. A final factor that can change peoples view is there own good and bad experiences and if someone has a bad experience with a person, group or organisation there view of them will be altered. This may not be an issue that effects everyone, however it is a very important event for Catholic's or anyone associated with the Catholic Church, especially those who are members of Amnesty as it put there religion and personal beliefs in conflict and can cause some important personal decision to be made on there religious future. So it goes to show moral views and religious views for Catholics are not identical and issues such as this just highlight this. Finally we come to what may happen from now on and what the future paths are for the Catholic Church and amnesty. Firstly the Catholics may ignore what the church has to say on amnesty and carry on supporting both amnesty and being a catholic and in the end ant feud will be dropped. Secondly the media may carry on picking up on the story and use it as a daily article, this may result in publicity neither side wants and the whole topic becoming out of hand and both sides being made a mock of. The final option is for both amnesty and the Catholic Church to come to a compromise and to forget there one minor difference and focus on there many similarities and soon the media will get bored of the whole topic and move onto a more interesting news. As for both amnesty and the catholic church this is the result which suits them both but what happens from here is down to them and the media.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Evaluation-Macbeth Coursework Essay

In my english coursework on Macbeth by William Shakespeare the task was to choose two soliloquys and write about them, write how they affect the story, the character, if they are important in that particular scene and if they make any significant mark on the play and the story. The two soliloquys I chose were act 1 scene 7, and act 2 scene 1. I chose these two soliloquys because they are important points in the story. They help shape the storyline and the way in which it goes. These two soliloquys come in the start of the play, and therefore help shape it greatly. They come just before Macbeth murders Duncan, act 1 scene 7 is where Macbeth is thinking to himself whether he should commit the murderous deed or not. His first thoughts to himself are that he shouldn’t, but his devious wife soon persuades him. In act 2 scene 1 Macbeth is on his own and is hallucinating. He sees a dagger before him pointing to Duncans room, almost beckoning him to go and kill his king to which Macbeth has been so loyal to. This soliloquy is famous and helps to shape the storyline because it is just before he kills Duncan. From these soliloquys I have studied I can learn a lot about the ideas of the play. I think the main ideas that I can gather from act 2 scene 1 are that a man can be completely changed by a single action in his life. Macbeth was loyal to his king, but then his wife suggested the idea of kiling Duncan and taking the throne himself. From this act I can also learn about the characters. Macbeth is influenced by his wife and she has a lot of control over him, he is a strong and loyal man to his king and has a fairly strong character. From this I can learn that a play works on characters actions and reactions, this is what builds storyline and character. The ideas of the play here as shown in this soliloquy by Macbeth deciding whether or not he should kill duncan are that a loyal man can be driven to do something that goes against what he stands for, and that the main character does not have much self confidence, and doubts himself. This soliloquy shows me that the character doubts himself, and is considering whether or not he should commit the murder so he can fullfil his wife’s plan of becoming king, which he is now beginning to like the idea of. From this I can learn that this particular play works on deceit, betrayal and selfishness from some characters. Some of the ideas in these soliloquys that interested me the most were how a mans ideas and thoughts of himself and what is right and wrong can be changed very quickly if his pride is under threat, as shown in act 2 scene 1. I find another idea interesting in act 1 scene 7, if someone is under pressure than their mind can work in a completely different way, and they would think to act like they would never act if they were calm and in control. This is shown here in this soliloquy by Macbeth thinking to himself whether or not he should commit the deed or not. In explaining my findings to the class, I was pleased with the way I interpreted the Shakespearean text and the way I wrote the essay in which I was reading from. Also in explaining it to the class, I think I should have looked up more and read as I looked at my essay sheet most of the time. I don’t think I made the audience feel involved enough in what I was saying. This is my evaluation of my Macbeth english coursework on soliloquy’s.