J.C. Bach Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

J.C. Bach - Essay Example After J.S. died when J.C. was only fifteen, J.C.’s older brother, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, took over the musical instruction (Erickson 174). Bach’s works reveal the influences from both his father and his brother. Classical music is â€Å"serious or conventional music that follows long-established principles (Vandome 7)†. As a classical composer, Bach was limited to the rules placed down by the many classical artists before his time, including those of his father and brother. Indeed, the majority of what J.C. Learned growing up had been the works of his father, which helped him to understand the principles of classical music. After being taught by his father and brother, J.C. Bach moved to Italy in 1756 to learn under Giovanni Battista Martini, another famous classical musician. While living in Italy, Bach obtained the job as the organist at Milan Cathedral, where he also wrote two of his Masses, a Requiem, and a Te Deum. J.C. Bach was the only child of the ele ven Bach siblings to dabble in opera, which became a successful career for him. He first wrote the arias to be placed into the operas written by other composers, and then he wrote pastiches; it was in 1760 that he was paid to write a complete opera, Artaserse. Two years after, he was commissioned by the King’s Theatre in London to write more operas. ... However, not only did Bach remain in London, but he also became the most popular musician in England for a reign of twenty years and was given the job of being the music master of Queen Charlotte and her children. This eventually led to Bach’s marriage to the Queen’s daughter, Cecilia Grassi, in 1766 (Thompson 29). Grassi and Bach did not have children together, but instead focused on Bach’s music career. Unfortunately, at the end of his twenty-year music reign, people’s interest in Bach’s works diminished entirely. By the time of his death on January 1, 1782, he was remembered more as his father’s son than the individual musician that he aimed at becoming. After his death, Franz Joseph Haydn, another well-known name in classical music, worked off of many of Bach’s works, and many of his concerts involved quite a few of Bach’s symphonies. During his time in London, Bach met an aspiring young classical musician by the name of Wol fgang Amadeus Mozart. Mozart had been touring London, as well as Paris, on the orders of his father with the hopes of promoting Mozart’s talents as a classical musician; as a young musical prodigy, Bach became interested in the future of the young man. Due to the amount of time that Bach and Mozart spent together, it is believed that Bach became one of the greatest influences on Mozart’s music. The extent of Bach’s influence can be seen in Mozart’s piano sonata in B-flat in the Linz sonata (Nicholas 88), which is similar to two of Bach’s sonatas that Mozart would have been subjected to in his time. Mozart revered Bach so much that he arranged three sonatas from Bach’s Op. 5 into

Left In The Lurch Essay Example for Free

Left In The Lurch Essay Jim showed up at work today and found out that Sara called in sick but Jim thought he saw Sara at the gas station on his way to work this morning. It was a car like hers and he’s pretty sure that it was her license plate. Jim and Sara were supposed to give a big presentation to the CEO today and Sara never sent him her slides for the PowerPoint show. What are Jim’s options? Jim should call Sara to see if she would answer the phone to check on her. If she answers he could then ask if she would send the power point slides by email. Or Jim could try to postpone the meeting to a later time until he can get the power point slides from Sara or she could be there for the presentation. What does he actually know and what does he think he knows? Does it matter? Jim knows that Sara called in sick and they were to give a big presentation to the CEO and he also knows he doesn’t have her slides for the Power Point show. Jim thinks he saw Sara at the gas station because he saw a car that looked like hers and he thought the license plate was her number. It doesn’t matter why she called in sick or if it was her at the gas station. Jim still needs to find a solution to his problem before the presentation. How could he apply the character qualities you’ve learned about so far (persistence, enthusiasm, optimism, and self-control) in this situation? Being positive in this state of affairs and having the determination to get through this presentation. Being optimistic will help him give the performance without Sara. Jim can exhibit self-control by not getting upset and blaming everything on Sara, when he should be focusing on the presentation. Jim exhibiting self-control, being optimistic, being persistent and enthusiastic all plays a major role in the way he is going handle this problem. These qualities will help Jim to make new slides for his presentation and overcome the urge to be upset with Sara. His ability to show enthusiasm will help him to deliver his presentation to the CEO. What should he do? Jim should try and call Sara to see if she can email the slides. If he can’t get a hold of Sara, Jim can do the slides himself and go into the meeting with confidence and enthusiasm. Jim should focus on getting through the meeting by doing the best that he can do in this type of situation by, showing that he can overcome and adapt to the situation he is facing.

Presentation of War in Literature | The Man He Killed and Dulce Er Decorum Est

Presentation of War in Literature | The Man He Killed and Dulce Er Decorum Est The Man He Killed by Thomas Hardy (1840-1928), and Dulce et Decorum est, by Wilfred Owen explore the theme of war, they both take similar views on life during and after the treacherous times that war created, and its lasting effects. However, the poets choose to display these feelings through their poetry in different ways. In Hardys poem, the poet adopts the person of a war veteran in the Boer war. The poem is about his actions in this war and their lasting effects. In Dulce Decorum est, the poet prefers to take a step back, he is not as directly involved as Hardy, yet he continues to get his message across very effectively by describing the horrors he witnessed. Though the poems were written in different wars the messages they portray are very similar as the poems do not divulge into the actual wars they were based on, but, instead on the inner dynamics of war on a whole. Wilfred Owen is known as being one of the most famous poets of the First World War. He wrote Dulce et Decorum Est while he served as a soldier in the appalling conditions of the trenches. Dulce et Decorum Est gives a distressing account of the futility of war, generated from his own personal experiences. It was composed during the summer of 1917 when Owen wrote a series of poems about the war. The preface to this collection was My subject is War, and the pity of War. This shows Owens view to war and his purpose for writing the poems was to show the disgusting horror that war created to an ill-informed and uneducated audience back at home in England. Though the war made Owen famous it ultimately led to his demise a year later. The Man He Killed by Thomas Hardy was written to express Hardys beliefs. Hardy felt that war was inhuman, he despised the heartlessness atrocity between men. The poem is specifically addressed to the Boer War, which Hardy was passionately against. The poem may seem very simple at first but in fact it is a very skilful one, it is hampered with irony and Hardy makes interesting use of colloquialism (writing in a conversational style). Hardy titled the poem The Man He Killed, in the third person. However, the poem is narrated in the first person. The person in the poem, the he in the title and I in the poem, is clearly a soldier of the Boer war attempting to explain and perhaps clarify the reasons to kill another man in battle. The short lines, simple rhyme scheme, and colloquial language make the poem almost like pleasant nursery rhyme as it is so simple and easy to read, however, this is an ironic contrast to its less than pleasant subject. In Dulce et decorum est, Owen is showing how the press and public at home were comforting themselves in the belief that all the young men dying in the war were dying noble, heroic deaths. Owen on the other hand, shows how the reality was quite different; the young men were dieing horrible and obscene deaths in the trenches. I believe that Owen wanted to open the eyes of the reader to what was really going on in the war to illustrate how vile and inhumane war really is. The first line sets the tone for the rest of the poem Bent double, like old beggars under sacks. He uses the simile like old beggars to show how the average soldier was not being treated nobly or with respect but like someone the lowest class (a beggar). It also shows how the young, vibrant boys who signed up had the life taken out of them by the war and were becoming old well before it was their time. This put the reader in the right frame of mind about the war, it casts out any false pretences they had about the war and opens their eyes to the inhumane truth war created. He uses bitter imagery like coughing like hags and But limped on, blood shod. All went lame; all blind; Drunk with fatigue to show how these apparent youthful and strong men had been broken by the war and become prematurely old and weakened. Owen takes pity on these tired and weary soldiers as he describes them in the most unglamorous, inglorious manner. Similarly, in The Man He Killed, Hardy also banishes a common misconception about war, that killing a man was a dignified and noble thing to do. In the first stanza Hardy establishes that things could have been different in more favourable circumstances between him and his foe: Had he and I but met they could have had a drink together By some old ancient inn. However, in the second stanza, Hardy shows the true circumstances in which they did meet, which is in stark contrast to the first stanza. Ranged as infantry Hardy once again reemphasises the point that the men are not natural foes but have been ranged, which means that they have been set against each other by someone elses decision. The phrase as he at me indicates they are both in similar situations. This tells the reader how your foe may have been your friend in indifferent circumstances but because someone higher has said they are your enemy means you must kill them, in essence you must banish your own moral and personal view s on the person you are about to kill because someone has told you, falsely, it is your duty to kill them. Like Owen, Hardy takes pity on the soldiers, as it is not their fault, as he shows it is kill or be killed in war. In The Man He Killed, Hardy also exhibits the dark side of man, especially his capacity for violence and cruelty. He does this in the last stanza where concludes with a repetition of the contrast between his treatment of the man he killed and how he might have shared hospitality with him in other circumstances, Youd treat, if met where any bar is, or even been ready to extend charity to him Or help to half a crown. Before this he says that war is quaint and curious, as if to say war was is bit of a harmless puzzle. This may give the impression that war is undamaging and acceptable, but as the reader now knows from the events described in the poem and the knowledge he already has of war, make it clear that Hardy applies this phrase quaint and curious with great irony, knowing full well that this statement is far from the truth. It forces the reader, through Hardys irony, to divulge deeper into the ethics behind war and the brutality and inhumanity it creates, and to consider how human s are often victims of sheer circumstance and fate, which has lead them to take another persons life. Hardy has very cleverly through colloquial language and simple statements, made the reader think as though they have made a judgment of whether war is right or wrong on their own, when really Hardy has inconspicuously made that decision for them. Furthermore, Owen also shows how war has changed man into a killing beast. He concentrates on the use of mustard gas, a new devastating weapon used in the First World war. If inhaled without the protection of a mask, the gas quickly burns away the lining of the respiratory system. Owen shows this as he compares the soldier who has breathed in the toxic fumes with a man consumed in fire or lime. When you have breathed in the fumes, it is of often compared with drowning, as mustard gas effectively drowns people in the blood from their own lung tissues. Owen then skilfully uses a metaphor to tie into the drowning theme as he says As under a green sea, I saw him drowning. This was because Mustard gas had a green colour, he calls it a sea to show how it was impossible to get away from. Owen continues this aquatic theme as he views this floundring man as if through an underwater mask, Dim through the misty panes. This gives the impression that Owen was unable to fully access the situation through his gas mask, there is also a helplessness felt by Owen as there is nothing he can do, which adds to the surreal and nightmarish atmosphere of the poem, in all my dreams, before my helpless sight. This dream then becomes a harsh reality as the guttering, choking soldier plunges at the helpless speaker, seeking help, in an effort to escape his inevitable death, Owen uses triple emphasis to engrave this astringent image in the readers head. Owen can do nothing for the man; there is still a feeling of responsibility and guilt. This vivid imagery creates a bleak image in the readers mind, Owen is trying to make them question whether the suffering and torture created by war is really worth it. His despair at war and the loss of morals it results in are shown in phrase sores on innocent tongues, as Owen realizes that this soldier, though he is fighting in a war, is innocent and there was no reason for him to die in this way. Owen then uses alliteration to further emphasize the inh umanities man does to man by describing the soldiers slow death, he repeats initial consonant sounds in closely related words wagon, watch, white, writhing. Owen then continues to use bitter imagery combined with similes such as, Like a devils sick of sin to describe the soldiers dying face. This exceptionally dramatic imagery creates a lasting and distressing impression on the reader, as Owen reveals the true horrors that go on during times of war. In The Man He Killed, Hardy illustrates that the reason for killing a man because they are your foe is not good enough. This is shown in the third stanza. The colloquial style Hardy uses enables him to repeat the word because, when he is trying to justify the reason for killing the man, implying hesitation, and therefore doubt as he doesnt know why he killed him. He uses repetition of my foe and the of course this also shows that there is an element of doubt as the speaker tries to convince himself of his justification for the killing. Hardy has already made it clear that the men fighting each other because of an artificial hostility created by others. He adds at the end of the stanza Thats clear enough which is obviously ironic, as the reason for killing is far from clear to the reader because of the reasons above. The last word of the stanza although ultimately destroys the whole entire believability of the reason he has just given. I believe the main point of this poem is to show that there is never a good enough reason to kill another man. Hardy shows this through illustrating how these men would have been friends if they had met under different circumstances yet because someone has said they were there enemy this was a good enough reason to take the other persons life, thus showing how war is a pointless and frivolous act. On the other hand, in Dulce et Decorum est, Owen in not against the reasons why soldiers are killing each other but the fact that these young, innocent and possibly naive men were signing up based on the belief that it is sweet and fitting to die for your country (which is Dulce et decorum est the title of the poem in Latin). At the end of the last stanza, Owen sums up the poem. Owen speaks directly to reader calling the reader my friend, this draws the reader into the poem. He says you would not tell with such high zest, to say directly to the reader that if they had witnessed the horror that he had witnessed then the readers attitude towards the war would change. Therefore, the reader would not repeat patriotic slogans to make people sign up, To children ardent for some desperate glory. The title of the poem Dulce et decorum est is used with a certain sense of irony as the poem is all about how it is not sweet and fitting to die for your country. However, Owen abandons this irony a nd just says The old Lie, showing how more soldiers will die in the circumstances of the fallen soldier in this poem, if the reader continues to spread that lie to young men who have been blinded by this sense of patriotic duty to their country. The final line brings about the full chilling effect of the poem Pro patria mori: to die for ones country. Owen shows how people are signing up to the war on lies like Dulce et decorum est, however, this is far from the truth as nobody deserves to suffer the fate of the fallen soldier in the poem for their country. Within Dulce et Decorum Est the poet utilises a variety of powerful poetic devices in order to depict death in war as a brutal and horrifying experience. It is through the use of this simile that the poet arouses the sympathy of the responder as they witness the grotesque nature of such a death. In Dulce et Decorum est Owen masterfully uses a variety of potent poetic devices to depict the horrifying nature of death in a war to stimulate a response from the reader. He uses metaphors and similes to provoke sympathy for the people who were dying in the war, as the reader witnesses the grotesque death of the soldier who died in the poem. By doing this Owen portrays his message in a very bold and tasteful way. In The Man He Killed Hardy uses a colloquial style of writing combined with an ABAB rhyme scheme, this makes the poem very easy to read and long lasting. Hardy uses slang to get the reader involved in the poem, this allows Hardy to make a strong point in highlighting the irony behind how war can turn friend into foe simply by association and sway the reader against war. Both poems are against war and the reasons and ethics behind them. Though Hardy uses a more direct approach to get his point across, both poems successfully complete the objective that the poets had for them , which was to open the readers eyes to the true reality of war.

Duke Basketball :: essays research papers

There are 12240 students at Duke University, and every year 12 out of those 12240 are put on a mission. The expectations are far above the ground, these 12 men and their coaching staff are called the Duke University Blue Devils basketball team. Year after year their mission is to bring home an NCAA basketball national championship trophy. Three of 84 teams at Duke University have reached their goal by winning a national championship. Duke is one of the nations best known basketball programs. Just eight miles away from Dukes campus, one of their toughest competitors and arch enemy, the University of North Carolina Tar Heels. The Duke ? UNC rivalry is one of the best in sports, they are usually one of the top teams in the nation. Duke is the forth- winningest program in the nation (1799-792). Under Coach Mike Krzyzweski they have become the winnigest program in the country (648-167). Coach K as they call him, has brought all 3 national championships to Durham, North Carolina (1991, 1992, 2001). Duke basketball dates back to when they were Trinity College, the name was later changed in 1923 to Duke University. Trinity never was as high-quality of a team as Duke has been in the last 20 years. Trinity won 48 games in the 65 years of their existence. In Dukes early years the basketball program did not triumph as in recent years. At the time the power sport at Duke was football. In 1949 a change came when a young man named Dick Groat came around, he became the star of the Blue Devil basketball and baseball team. Groat wasn?t recruited to play basketball he was on an athletic scholarship for baseball. None the less, he was elected as an All- American in 1951 and 1952 for his basketball talents. Unfortunately, he was never able to lead either of his teams to a championship. His basketball number (10) was retired, and now hangs on the ceiling of Cameron Indoor Stadium. The 1980?s rolled around and the ?Cameron Crazies? (Duke Basketball fans) felt as if there were no hope for their Blue Devils basketball program, but that?s where they were wrong. Along came what is arguably the greatest coach to step foot on a basketball court, Coach Mike Krzyzewski. Coach K has had unprecedented success at Duke, winning three national championships, and making Duke the powerhouse basketball school that they are today.

Aluminum Essay -- Elements Natural Resources Science Essays

Aluminum Hello buddy! How is the weather in Paris? It is extremely cold in New York and there is snow all over the place. The reason I am writing is to give you the information you wanted on aluminum. I have everything you would possibly want to know about everything from mining to recycling, but I will begin with a little background on the element first. Aluminum is the third most abundant element in the Earth's crust and was probably formed during the birth of our solar system through collisions of hydrogen atoms under intense heat and pressure. Aluminum never occurs as a metal in nature and is only found in the form of its compounds, such as alumina, because of its strong affinity with oxygen. It is this special bond for oxygen that explains why it withstood all attempts to prepare it in its elemental form until well into the nineteenth century. The aluminum industry was founded in 1854, but it was not until the late 1880's that a method was found to bring down the prices and permit aluminum to be used in a wide variety of ways. Most of the aluminum in the world today is made from Bauxite. It was first discovered in 1821 near Les Baux, France. It was formed by the weathering of aluminous rocks such as feldspar, nepheline, and clays. During the weathering, these rocks are decomposed and leached out, leaving behind a residue of ore rich in alumina, iron oxide, and silica. Most of these large Bauxite deposits are found in the tropical and the subtropical climates, where heavy rainfall, warm temperatures, and good drainage combine to encourage the weathering process. Because Bauxite is usually found near the surface, it is mined by open-pit methods. After the extraction of the Bauxite, it must be converted to A... ...dditional information, you could get in touch with the Reynolds Aluminum Recycling Company of America for tips to construct your program. Lorin Industries could also help since they are the worlds largest job shop anodizer of aluminum. As for myself, I could just call any of my references that I leave on the bottom of this letter if I need any additional information. Take care pal and I will see you very soon. References 1. Altenpohl, D. G., Aluminum Viewed from Within, (1981). 2. Ammen, C. W., Casting Aluminum, (1985). 3. Bakker, M., Encyclopedia of Packaging Technology, (1986). 4. Burkin, R. R. Production of Aluminum and Alumina, (1987). 5. King, F., Aluminum and its Alloys, (1987). 6. Pampillo, C. And Biloni, H., Aluminum Transformation Technology and Applications, (1980). 7. Peck, M. J., ed., World Aluminum Industry in a Changing Era, (1988).

The Fabulous Fifties Essay examples -- essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Some may call it the â€Å"fabulous fifties,† but others call it a time of â€Å"tensions and insecurities.† Several people think back on the fifties and remember them as the â€Å"good old days,† while others think of it as a time of crisis and terror. Although Americans were faced with many hardships throughout the fifties, I think that the positive aspects such as the new technologies, growing economy, higher focus on education, and growing job opportunities of the era outnumber the negative aspects, such as racism that African Americans faced, and the changing roles of women, making the fifties an overall â€Å"happy† period in American history.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The fifties are characterized as a watershed period, due to the unparallel growth and change that America socially and economically experienced after WWII. In the years during the War and the Depression there was high employment, low inflation and a yearning for normalcy, and stability in many Americans lives. The fifties changed all of this providing the American culture with prosperity by way of network television, air conditioning, computers, jet travel, a national highway system, chain hotels, and franchised fast food that made businesses boom. The fifties are also characterized as a golden age when everything was simple and innocent. People had peace and prosperity due to the war ending, and they expressed their feelings of excitement and anticipation through their clothing with men dressing in suits and hats, and women in dresses, stockings and heels, and by going out dancing to big bands downtown, and experimenting with the new technologies and organizations of the time. With World War II bringing thousands of men back to America seeking new lives and opportunities, the US experienced an economic expansion like it had never seen before. During the middle of the twentieth century wages increased 22%, family income went up from $3,000 to $5,400, and the Gross National Product increased from $206 billion to $440 billion. In order for the country to meet the demands of the massive consumptions of the American people, industries had to expand and create more efficient ways of selling there products through advertisements, which as a result provided citizens with more job opportunities.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In my opinion I think that the fifties were defian... ...greater emphasis on engineering and mathematics, which provided a boom in many of these careers. The Government began building technical institutes focused on scientific, and space research encouraging Americans to further their education in these areas. After the Sputnik event, the US economy began to fall. Unemployment grew, and problems were erupting in the White House. Sherman Adams was dismissed for taking bribes, and many people were becoming to think that life was not as good as they thought it was. To many the fifties was a period when the United States prospered and dominated much of the world’s economy, a time when girls wore poodle skirts and guys wore leather jackets and danced around to Elvis and rock & roll. When Americans began to take advantage of leisure time experiencing new inventions like hula-hoops, Barbie dolls, becoming active in sports like baseball and football, and making television a dominant part of mass media. Although it was also a time when society underwent world shattering changes, it was a period in history that helped stabilized a country that just got out of war and prepared America for the changes that it experiences in the upcoming years.

Obediance and Deindividuation Essay

Most, if not all humans, have some ethics and morals, which help the individual make distinctions between right and wrong. Therefore, in most situations human beings behave in accordance with their morality. Studies on notions such as obedience to authority and deindividuation have shown that in some cases, an individual can be made to act in direct opposition to their morals and ethics. Studies conducted by Milgram (1963) on obedience have shown that if an individual is ordered to do something by someone who is perceived to be in power, it is possible that they will do it, even if it is something the person does not believe is right. Also, studies conducted by Zimbardo (1973) on deindividuation have shown that a normally healthy, intelligent person can lose their identity in a crowd, and commit acts of violence and aggression which they would not normally commit. According to the deindividuation theory, this is because the individual feels that they can no longer be singled out and held personally responsible for behaviour. The studies conducted by Zimbardo (1973) and Milgram (1963) have been examined and compared in this essay. The notions of obedience and deindividuation have been the subject of some very informative and sometimes disturbing research by social psychologists. Obedience is defined by Moghaddam (1998) as: â€Å"changes in behaviour that arise when people follow the instructions of persons in authority.† Our tendency to comply with authority figures can be surprisingly strong (Bourne & Russo, 1998). Experiments on the subject, particularly those conducted by Milgram (1963) have shown that though obedience is, in many forms positive, it can also be extremely negative, instigating individuals to commit acts of violence or aggression, of which they would not normally partake. Deindividuation is defined by Moghaddam (1998) as: â€Å"The loss of one’s sense of self identity as an individual person, associated with lower self awareness and decreased personal responsibility in group settings†. This can often lead to acts of aggression or violence, by a normally placid person. This notion, as well as the notion of obedience to authority, has been examined in this essay, by looking at, and comparing the studies conducted  by Milgram (1963) and Zimbardo (1973), Milgram looked to explore the notion of obedience by using the cover story that he was conducting research on the effects of punishment on learning. He advertised for volunteers aged twenty to fifty who would be paid four dollars an hour plus fifty cents petrol money. It is important to note though, that the participants were told that the money was theirs simply for coming to the laboratory no matter what happened after their arrival. A wide range of occupations, ages and backgrounds were represented in the chosen sample. The selected participant was introduced to a person (a forty-seven year old accountant, whom most observers found mild mannered and likeable [Milgram, 1963]) who pretended to be another participant, but was actually a confederate of the experimenter. It was explained that as this was a learning experiment, it was required that there be learner and teacher. The participants took a piece of paper from a hat to determine whether he was the teacher or learning. This was rigged so that the participant would always be the teacher (both pieces of paper said ‘teacher’). The teacher was then allowed to watch the learner being strapped into an ‘electric chair’ which was to be used to administer electric shocks. The learner was told that though the shocks could be extremely painful, they cause no permanent tissue damage. The teacher was then taken to an adjacent room and seated in front of a ‘shock generator’ consisting of thirty switches set in a horizontal line. The switches were marked, increasing from 0 to 450 colts, 15 volts at a time. Each group of four switches was also marked, from lowest voltage to highest, â€Å"slight shock†, â€Å"moderate shock†, â€Å"strong shock†, â€Å"very strong shock†, â€Å"intense shock†, â€Å"extreme intense shock†, â€Å"danger, severe shock† with the last two switches simply marked â€Å"XXX† (Moghaddam, 1998). The participant was given an example shock of 45 volts. The learning exercise was a word association task. Each time the learner got an answer wrong, the teacher was instructed to administer a higher level of shock. The teacher was also required to call out the voltage level before administering a shock, to make sure they were fully aware of the shock  level. The learner was instructed to give specific response to different shock levels. Between 75 and 105 volts, the learner grunted. At 120 volts, the learner shouted that the shocks were becoming painful, after that the learner complained of a bad heart and shouted that he no longer wanted to be part of the experiment. The cries became more and more distressed until shock level three hundred, when the learner indicated that he could no longer give answers to the memory test. After this, all that was heard from the learner was agonized cries. The participant was instructed to treat the lack of response as a wrong answer and continue increasing the shock level every five to ten seconds. At different stages of the experiment, the subjects looked to the experimenter for guidance or expressed their wishes not to continue, to which the experimenter’s responses were standardized. A series of ‘prods’ were established, which were to be used each time a participant indicated his unwillingness to go on. These prods were always given in order and were started again each time the participant showed reluctance These were: â€Å"Please continue†, then â€Å"The experiment requires that you continue†, then â€Å"It is absolutely essential that you continue† and finally â€Å"You have no other choice, you must go on†. If the participant refused to go on after the last prod, the experiment was terminated. The participants showed obvious signs of distress throughout the experiment, especially while administering the more powerful shocks. Subjects were observed to sweat, tremble, stutter, bite their lips, groan and dig their fingernails into their flesh (Milgram, 1963). Many subjects said they could not go on, but nevertheless they did. Approximately sixty five percent of participants were fully obedient (Moghaddam, 1998), continuing until they reached the most potent shock on the generator, at which point, the experimenter called a halt to the session. Not one participant stopped before shock level 20, which was 300 volts, and the point at which the learner stopped answering questions. Milgram asked groups of laypeople and experts to predict the outcome of the experiment before it as conducted. As it was predicted that participants would refuse to administer shocks of more than a minimal voltage to learners (Moghaddam, 1998) these results amazed many people. This experiment demonstrated that normal, healthy, intelligent people are capable of carrying out violent and destructive acts, if placed  in the right (or wrong) situation. This was also demonstrated by a study carried out by Zimbardo (1973). The Stanford Prison experiment, as it was known, simulated a prison environment in the basement of the psychology building at Stanford University. The prison was made to be as realistic as possible, with bars, prison uniforms, identification numbers and uniformed guards (who wore mirrored sunglasses). Volunteers for the experiment were screened with clinical interviews and psychological tests to ensure that they were emotionally stable and mature. Participants were to be paid fifteen dollars a day for the two week experiment. The study required two roles, guards and prisoners, which were assigned by a coin toss. The prisoners were unexpectedly arrested at their homes and brought to the ‘prison’ in a police car. They were handcuffed, searched, fingerprinted, booked, stripped, deloused, given a number and issued a prison uniform. Each prisoner was then placed in a six by nine foot cell with two other inmates (Bartol, 1998). The guards were simply instructed to keep order. They all wore standard uniforms and carried a night stick, keys to the cells, whistles and handcuffs. Guards drew up their own rules for maintaining law and order in the prison. Before the prisoners were allowed to do anything, they had to obtain permission, and they were required to address the guards as ‘Mr corrections officer, sir’. The participants quickly absorbed their roles. Guards degraded the prisoners in different ways, making them clean toilet with their hands, disrupting their sleep and using physical punishments and solitary confinement for minor infractions (Bourne and Russo, 1998). The prisoners broke down and accepted the brutal treatment. Three had to be released during the first four days because of hysterical crying and severe depression and many others begged to be paroled, willing to forfeit the money they had earned for participating in the experiment (Bartol, 1998). The experiment was terminated after only six days, well short of the planned two weeks, because of the guards’ brutality (Bourne and Russo, 1998). It is interesting to note some of the remarks made by the prisoners: â€Å"I practically considered the prisoners as cattle† and â€Å"I was tired of seeing  the prisoners in their rags and smelling the strong odours of their bodies that filled the cells† (Moghaddam, 1998). The experiment prompted Zimbardo to conclude â€Å"Many people, perhaps the majority, can be made to do almost anything when put into psychologically compelling situations-regardless of their morals, ethics, values, attitudes, beliefs, or personal convictions† (Zimbardo, 1973, cited in Bartol, 1998). Much the same conclusion had been reached by Milgram (1963) with respect to authority figures (Bartol, 1998). The results of these studies make statements about human nature and social psychology by demonstrating the importance of situational variables in determining behaviour. Zimbardo’s (1973) experiment illustrated the influence of deindividuation – the process of losing one’s identity and becoming part of a group, as a situational variable (Bartol, 1998), and Milgram’s (1963) study examined the variables involved in obedience to authority. Deindividuation follows a complex chain of events. Firstly, the presence of many other people gives rise to a sense of anonymity, the individual then loses identity and becomes part of a group. Under these conditions, the person feels that they can be no longer singled out and held responsible for their behaviour. According to the deindividuation theory, this generates a â€Å"loss of self awareness, reduced concern over evaluations for others, and a narrowed focus of attention† (Baron & Byrne, 1977, cited in Bartol, 1998). The combination of these things is believed to lower restraints against antisocial or aggressive behaviour. This theory is supported by Zimbardo’s (1973) prison experiment. As was demonstrated by Milgram’s (1963) experiment, individuals are likely to be obedient to people who have power (whether real or perceived) over them. Also, culture teaches people in certain roles to expect to be obeyed. As such, people learn to play authority roles, as well as roles submissive to authority (Moghaddam, 1998). This dominant-submissive relationship was demonstrated in the prison study. Stereotypically, prison guards are  perceived as having dominant, possibly even sadistic personalities, whereas prisoners, will tend to be aggressive and socially deviant (Moghaddam, 1998). The results of this study indicate that situational factors have a large bearing on behaviour, regardless of morals, ethics, values, attitudes or beliefs, or in short, the nature of the individual. This is also demonstrated by Milgram’s (1963) study. Milgram’s (1963) experiment also demonstrates how normal, healthy, intelligent people are quite capable of carrying out destructive acts, in this case, however, the individuals carried out these acts, because they were persuaded to do so by a person whom they perceived to be in authority. This can be seen on a much larger scale in the success of dictators, such as Saddam Hussein and Adolf Hitler. A substantial proportion of people do what they are told to do, irrespective of the context of the act and without limitations of the conscience, so long as they perceive that the command comes from a legitimate authority (Milgram, 1977, cited in Bartol, 1998). A lot can be learned from this about human nature. It can be inferred from this study, as well as Zimbardo’s (1973) study that normal, healthy, intelligent human beings are capable of carrying out acts which normally go against their nature, if the individual is placed in the right (or wrong) situation. These studies showed the effects of authority figures and environmental factors involved in behaviour and suggest that in many cases, people engage in behaviour that goes against their very nature, simply because they are told to do so. The results also show, that under deindividualized conditions, people may do things that they would not normally do, or engage in acts that they did not think they were even capable of. A better understanding of deindividuation could lead to a decrease in violent or aggressive acts committed by individuals in a crowd, for example rioting, and a better understanding of obedience to authority could decrease the possibility of events like those caused by Hussein or Hitler happening again. References Bartol, C.R. (1998). Criminal Behaviour. New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Bourne, L.E. and Russo, N.F. (1998). Psychology Behaviour in Context. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. Milgram, S. (1963). Behavioural Study of Obedience. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 67 (4), 371-378. Moghaddam, F.M. (1998). Social Psychology. New York: W.H. Freeman and Company.