My Visit to the Art Institute of Chicago Research Paper - 5

My Visit to the Art Institute of Chicago - Research Paper Example The museum is by far the most alluring museum in Chicago, with an amazing array of art. The museum, which is located on South Michigan Avenue (111) in Illinois, is home to numerous pieces of art that I later came to know from the curator were around 300,000. During my visit, 27th November, 2015, the museum was opened from around 10 am and closed at 8 pm. Even before I begin to describe my experience inside the museum, I have to highlight the awe I felt when I was at the entrance. Just at the entrance, visitors were greeted by the sculptures of lions strategically placed in such a manner that it gave the illusion of a palace been guarded by the vicious creatures. I found this to be like an aphrodisiac, in the sense that it enticed visitors to visit the museum in order to have a glimpse of the art inside. Even if a person, may not have originally been interested in visiting the museum, the sight of the lions is enough to lure anyone. Furthermore, the building is a good example of the ingenuity of the architecture of the many buildings in Chicago. I was able to learn a lot about the city by just being at the entrance; it was a very good presentation. Mind you, the premise offers a spectacular glimpse of the Millennium Park. I have to confess that I did not expect to be bombarded by thousands of art on display. There were numerous exhibitions on display, but as staunch Van Gogh fan, I was naturally propelled to admire one of his paintings, The Bedroom (1853-1890). The pictures I had previously seen on the internet cannot begin to explain the intensity of the colors or the mastery of the brush strokes.

Causes of Wrongful Convictions in the United Sates judicial System Research Paper

Causes of Wrongful Convictions in the United Sates judicial System - Research Paper Example shown that wrong convictions happen on daily basis in the US judicial system, with the Bureau of Justice Statistics admitting publicly that about 8% to 12 % of all the state inmates are either factually or actually innocent (Bohm, 2011). Therefore, this research paper is going to explore the issue of wrongful conviction in the USA judicial system, establish the root causes of the problem as well as introduce possible solutions with DNA being the most viable alternative to the problem. Controversial studies have shown that USA has one of the highest numbers of inmates in the world which is said to be roughly 7.1 million people (Free & Ruesink, 2012). Other contentious statistics estimate that about one person in every one hundred adults is an inmate with the ratio dramatically increasing if persons under probation are considered. The country has about 8 percent of prisoners in the federal prisons incarcerated for engaging in violent crimes with about 52 percent inmates being sentenced in state prisons (Free & Ruesink, 2012). It is estimated that about two-thirds of these criminals are rearrested within the first three years after their release with 52 percent of them being incarcerated. The findings of these studies are highly alarming and more precisely because of the high number of innocent persons who were convicted wrongly and imprisoned. However, most people in the country used to hold the presumption that the country’s judicial system is fair and blin d and that no individual is convicted for a crime that he or she did not commit (Tong, Bryant & Horvath, 2009). A number of factors are believed to have attributed to the wrongful conviction of innocent people in the USA with eyewitness misidentification being one of the major causes. Many scholars believe that eyewitness misidentification is the root cause of this prevalent problem in the country. The US judicial system used to rely so much on witness brought forward by eyewitnesses when convicting suspected

Two or More Theories of the Formation of Romantic Relationships Essay Example for Free

Two or More Theories of the Formation of Romantic Relationships Essay One theory of the formation of a romantic relationship is one put forward by Byrne and Clore called the reward/need satisfaction model. They suggested that we have relationships long term because we find them rewarding, or we don’t like the prospect of being alone. The rewards from a partner can include friendship, love and sex, or the particular person is associated with pleasant situations so then we want to spend time with them and form a romantic relationship. This can also include the satisfaction from a relationship with a person of high social status, as it would make you look good to other people. These needs can differ from person to person as to what is important. Rusbolt and Van Lange argue that rewards are important as when you do not know someone well communication can start on a ‘tit-for-tat’ basis with favours that can lead to more conversation and rewards. This was called by Clark and Mills and ‘exchange relationship’ as a relationship like this goes on it can turn to a ‘Communal relationship’ where rewards are given as a result of concern for a partner which can be an important aspect of forming a close relationship. May and Hamilton tested the good association part of the theory by getting groups of female students to look at pictures of male students and say if they like the look of them or not. One group looked at the pictures while pleasant music was being played, another group looked while unpleasant music was being played and a control group looked with no music. As predicted the group with pleasant music rated the male students the highest. This model may be very culturally bound as all the studies done were in the western world’s individualistic cultures. In other cultures one partner may not expect rewards and may be entirely giving, or arranges marriages will also go against this theory as the long term is made to happen. It suggests that these relationships are likely to be formed where partners meet each other’s needs even though they have different views about when this becomes important. It is argued that long-term happy relationships have needs met while unhappy ones have unmet needs, this was said by Smith and Mackie Another theory is the Filter Model proposed by Kerchoff and Davis; they say that relationships develop through three ‘filters’. It starts with the ‘field of availables’ which are people available for a relationship where we then filter out different partners for different reasons, so it narrows down to a ‘field of desirables’ who are the people we consider as a potential partner. The first filter involves the social model where we choose people without being aware by where they live, work, have been educated or their social class. With individual characteristics not being important at this point. Then there is similarity of attitudes and values, where a partner’s beliefs and ideas come into effect. This is where communication is easier and the relationship can progress, however if beliefs and views are very different then the relationship may not move from its current position. The final filter is the emotional needs, which is whether the people fit as a couple and can meet each other’s needs. Kerchoff and Davis used their model to do a study on students who had been together for more than or less than 18 months. They were asked to complete questionnaires over 7 months on attitudes and personality of their partners compared to theirs; it was found that this was important in relationships up to around 18 months, whereas after this psychological compatibility and ability to meet each other’s needs becomes more important supporting the filter model. However questionnaires can have bias as participants may want to shows themselves in the best light thus skewing the results, also all the participants were students so age difference in relationships was not accounted for. The filter model emphasizes the importance of demographic factors and attitudes as ‘filters’ in the development of relationships. Sprecher found that couples matched in physical attractiveness, interests and social background were more likely to develop a relationship that is long-term. Found due to his longitudinal study of couples over 21 years and found similar education and age at the start of the relationship at the start were more likely to stay together. They also gained more similar attitudes as time went on. The filter theory is also very culturally biased as other cultures ways of choosing a mate may not have anything to do with the mentioned factors due to a collectivist nature of the culture or any other differences. There is also the problem that this model generalises to every couple where there will instead be many individual differences between choices of partners.

Ir Spectral Analysis Of Oxovanadium Acetylacetone Biology Essay

Ir Spectral Analysis Of Oxovanadium Acetylacetone Biology Essay Complex will have ligand that will form coordination bond to the metal center by donating lone pairs of electrons to the empty d-orbital of the metal which is similar to the Lewis acid-base reaction. In this experiment, Acetylacetone and pyridine is the ligand will act as Lewis base and will be coordinated to the metal center of Vanadium, V, which is the Lewis acid. Acetylacetone is a ÃŽ ²-diketone that contains two alpha hydrogen atoms adjacent to the two carbonyl groups. As carbonyl-group is electron withdrawing group, these two carbonyl functional group will create an inductive effect which cause the alpha hydrogen to be more acidic and be easily deprotonated. Resonance stability of delocalising the anion formed from the deprotonation under basic condition also increases the probability of the deprotonation as shown in Figure 1: Figure 1: Mechanism of the deprotonation and delocalization of the alpha hydrogen Acetylacetone exist in both keto and enol isomer form as shown in Figure 2: Figure 2: Keto-enol tautomerisation of the Acetylacetone The enolate anion is able to act as a bidentate ligand as it can chelate onto the oxovanadium metal ion with the two oxygen atoms as the binding sites to form the VO(acac)2 complexes. Two acetylacetonate ligands are able to bind to the oxovanadium metal and form a square pyramidal complex. Addition of the pyridine compound will form an octahedral geometry complex. These can be further proven using IR spectroscopy where the different strengths, lengths and nature as according to Hookes law, IR absorption spectra is able to be unique for each complex. Experimental Procedure Preparation of VO(acac)2 The preparation of VO(acac)2 started with 5ml of concentrated sulfuric acid (H2SO4) slowly added to 5 ml of deionized water in a 50 ml round-bottomed flask. Then, 18 ml of ethanol and followed by 2 g of vanadium pentaoxide (V2O5) was added into the round bottom flask. The solution was refluxed in an oil bath for an hour. The mixture was then cooled and filtered using cotton wool. Subsequently, 6 ml of Acetylacetone was added drop wise to the filtrate. The reaction mixture was carefully added portion by portion to the solution that contained 7.4g of Na2CO3 in 120 ml of deionsed water in a 500 ml conical flask. The mixture was then cooled in ice water and filtered to obtain the dark green product. Product was dried under IR lamp. The product was weighted and percentage yield was calculated. Preparation of VO (acac)2py The VO(acac)2py was prepared first by dissolving 0.5 g of the VO(acac)2 products obtained in 20 ml of ethanol in a 50ml of round bottom flask. Then, the mixture was refluxed vigorously with 2 ml of pyridine for one hour which was then concentrated using rotary evaporator. Crystal of crude VO(acac)2py formed upon cooling in ice water which was then filtered and wash with 5 ml of ether. Product was dried under IR lamp. The crude dry product was weighted and percentage yield was calculated. The IR spectrum of product was then determined. Data Treatment and Analysis Calculation of Percentage Yield of VO(acac)2 The percentage yield was calculated using the following equation: V2O5 + 4H+ Æ’Â   2(VO)2+ + 2H2O + O2 -Reaction 1 2(VO)2+ + 2 acacH Æ’Â   2H+ + VO(acac)2 Reaction 2 Mole of H2SO4 used = Amount of H+ present = 0.0938 mol x 2 = 0.1876 mol Mole of acac used = Mole of V2O5 used = (limiting agent) The ratio of V2O5 and VO2+ is 1:2, Mole of VO2+ used = 0.0111 mols x 2 = 0.0222 mols As ratio of VO2+ and VO(acac)2 is 1:1, then theoretical mole of VO(acac)2 = 0.0222 mols Theoretical mass of VO(acac)2 = mole of VO(acac)2 x molar mass of VO(acac)2 = 0.0222 mols X 265.16 g/mol = 5.890 g Percentage yield of VO(acac)2 = Calculation of Percentage Yield of VO(acac)2py Mole of pyridine used = Mole of VO(acac)2 used = (limiting agent) VO(acac)2 is the limiting agent. The ratio of VO(acac)2 and VO(acac)2py is 1:1. Mole of VO(acac)2py = 0.00194 mols Hence, theoretical mass of VO(acac)2py = mole of VO(acac)2py X molar mass of VO(acac)2py = 0.00194 mols x 344.26 g/mol = 0.667 g Percentage of VO(acac)2py yield = Infra-red Spectroscopy Table 1: Summarized Data from IR spectrum of VO(acac)2py Important peaks observed in the spectrum of VO(acac)2 /cm-1 Important peaks observed in the spectrum of VO(acac)2py /cm-1 997.7 998.04 966.04 3449.72 Discussion Geometry of VO(acac)2 and VO(acac)2py Vanadium [IV] metal exists as vanadyl, VO2+ in aqueous solution. Before the reaction of the VO2+ with the acetylacetonate, VO2+ is coordinated to five water molecules and existed as octahedral geometry. However, acetylacetonate is a stronger ligand that displaces the water molecules. Since Vanadium is bonded to oxygen with a V=O bond, only 2 acetylacetonate will only be able to form coordinate bond with the vanadium central metal ion to form the VO(acac)2 complex with a square pyramidal geometry as shown in Figure 3. Figure 3: Reaction diagram of the coordination geometry of VO(acac)2 and VO(acac)2py The geometry of this complex is in the square pyramidal geometry instead of the trigonal pyramidal geometry is due to the steric effect caused by the acetylacetonate ligands. The geometry of the square pyramidal is to reduce the steric repulsion to the minimum with the optimal distance apart of the two ligands. Also, from Figure 3, it can be seen that there is a vacant coordination site on the principle z-axis available which allow another more coordination site if there is the presence of strong ligand such as pyridine in this experiment. Therefore, complexation occurred between the pyridine molecules and the VO(acac)2 where nitrogen lone pair in the pyridine molecules act as a Ï€- donor-ligand and strong Lewis base that donate the lone pair of electron to the VO(acac)2 complexes at the vacant coordination site. With the new VO(acac)2py complex formed having a distorted octahedral geometry due to the unequal bond length between the V=O bond and the V=N bond at the axial position of the vanadium metal centre which lead to asymmetry. Also, the octahedral geometry of the VO(acac)2py is a 6-coordinate complex that is of high thermodynamic stability. Shifting of the V=O stretching band The complex of the VO(acac)2 has an oxidation complex of +4 which the vanadium(IV) ion exists as a d1. Using the Crystal Field Theory, there is electronic repulsion between the electrons of the acac ligands and the electron on the vanadium metal ion which causes the initially degenerate 5 d-orbitals of vanadium metal ion to split into two different levels. The level with the lower energy has a t2g symmetry and consists of the dxy, dxz, and dyz atomic orbitals. The level with the higher energy has eg symmetry and consists of the dx2-y2 and dx2 orbitals. The difference between the energy levels is the ligand field splitting parameter, à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬  o. In the octahedral geometry, eg orbitals are on the axial direction and are the most affected by the electrostatic repulsion which destabilize the orbitals and excite them to higher energy level. The t2g orbital is not on the axial position and thus, not much affected by repulsion and thus, stabilized and move to lower energy as shown in Figure 4: eg orbital à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬  0 Energy dx2-y2 dx2 dxy dxz dyz t2g orbital Figure 4: Molecular diagram illustration of Crystal Field Theory As mentioned in the previous paragraph, the pyridine is a Ï€ donor ligand that binds to the VO(acac)2 complex at the vacant site at the axial position of the vanadium(IV) ion. The addition of the pyridine to the complex reduces à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬  0 which this reduction of the splitting parameter was observed using the comparison of the IR spectrum of the VO(acac)2 and VO(acac)2py. From the spectrum found in Appendix 2, the spectrum of the VO(acac)2py complex can be seen that the V=O stretching frequency of VO(acac)2py complex is 32 cm-1 lower than the VO(acac)2 complex when the V=O stretching frequency decrease from 998.04 cm-1 to 966.04 cm-1. These reduces of the stretching frequency is proportional to the stretching energy of the V=O bond of the complex. The addition of the pyridine will result in the reduction of the stretching energy of the V=O bond. This shows that the V=O bond of the VO(acac)2py is destabilized upon the addition of pyridine to VO(acac)2. This can be shown using Hookes Law as shown: where v is the stretching frequency in cm-1, k is the force constant, ÃŽ ¼ is the reduced mass. The binding of the pyridine has decrease the force constant and the lone pair of the pyridine ligand is electron-donating which increases the mass of vanadium ion that result in larger reduced mass, ÃŽ ¼, which according to the Hookes law, result in lower stretching frequency wavenumber. The wave number is proportional to the amount of energy that is needed for transition where it highly depends on the ligand field splitting parameter. The shifting of the stretching frequency indicate that the ligand field splitting parameter has decreased in magnitude which the addition of the pyridine ligand has caused destabilization of VO(acac)2py complex. Similarly, the lone pair of electrons of the nitrogen in pyridine is added onto the anti-bonding of the molecular orbitals of VO(acac)2 complex. This causes the pyridine to be trans to the V=O bond. Also, this bonding of the electrons donated will increase the electron density of the vanadiums d orbitals which will decrease the p Ï€ → d Ï€ donation from oxygen atom to the vanadium atom in the V=O bond. This result in the falls of the bond order of the complex and the lowering of the bond strength which also lengthen the V=O bond length. Overall, there is decrease of energy need to stretch the V=O bond and thus lead to the shifting of the V=O stretching vibration to lower frequency in the spectrum. This also further proven that the VO(acac)2py has an octahedral structure. Also, there is the delocalization of the Ï€ electrons from the aromatic ring of the pyridine which able to stabilize the complex more and decrease the p Ï€ → d Ï€ donation from oxygen to vanadium in the V=O bond. This make the vanadium-pyridine complexation more feasible and stable that result in the stronger V-N stretching bond which gain partial double bond character. As a result of the inter-electron repulsion, the electron density of the V=O bond is then shifted towards the oxygen atom and cause the weakening of the V=O double bond that cause the bond to loses the characteristic of the double bond nature. Thus, lesser energy is needed to stretch the weakened and lengthened V=O bond and lead to the shifting of the frequency of the spectrum. There is also the reason of the trans influence where the trans influence is the effect of pyridine ligand that weakens the bond that is trans to itself in the complex. The electrons of the oxo-ligand in the axial position of the complex occupies the dz2 orbital that will cause new binding ligand to form coordinate bond with the vanadium ion to be trans position to the oxo ligand. Pyridine ligand have donate electrons to the VO(acac)2 complex metal center and reside in the 3dz2 orbital from the site trans to the oxygen atom which causes repulsion. Therefore, the pyridine ligand and the oxo-ligand are in the trans position to each other which uses the same orbitals on the metal vanadium ion for bonding. However, the oxygen atom cannot donate the electrons to the metal as well as the pyridine ligand which causes the V=O bond to be weaker. Therefore, both axial bonds to the vanadium are weakened and lengthened which decrease the force constant (k) and decrease the stretching frequency. The shift also helps to confirm the presence of VO(acac)2py. On the other hand, the VO(acac)2py spectrum found in Appendix 2 have showed peak of 998.04 cm-1 which has a small different to the 997.7cm-1 peak found in the VO(acac)2 spectrum. This shows that there is still presence of VO(acac)2 in the product. Also the literature value of the V=O stretching bond of the VO(acac)2 is found out to be 995 cm-1 which is close to the 997.7 cm-1 in the product spectrum. These further prove that the VO(acac)2 is present. This can explain for the relatively low yield of 58.5% of the VO(acac)2py synthesis as the reaction has not gone into completion. However, comparing the intensity of the peak of 997.7 cm-1 and 966.04 cm-1 which indicate V=O bond in VO(acac)2 and VO(acac)2py complex respectively, there is higher intensity of the 966.04cm-1 which show that more pyridine adduct is formed in product. This also shows that the reaction may be an equilibrium reaction where both product and reactant can be present. This result can also be interpreted as the reac tion is not complete and more reflux time or higher temperature for reflux is needed to carry out to ensure more products formed. Lastly, there is a broad low intensity peak at 3449.72 at the VO(acac)2py spectrum found in Appendix 2 which was due to the presence of water that may be caused by insufficient drying of the VO(acac)2py product. Observation of Color changes During the synthesis of the complex, there is a series of observation of color changing of the compound in the solution. The color changes observed during the synthesis of the VO(acac)2 is due to the change of the oxidation state of V2O5 (oxidation state of V = +5). The orange powder of V2O2 is being reacted with the H2O and H2SO4 to reduce to a dark green solution of [V(H2O)5]3+ (oxidation state of V= +3) complex during middle of the vigorous reflux. When the reflux is complete, the solution was in dark blue color which is due to the reduction of the remaining V2O5 to dark blue [VO(SO4)(H2O)5] complex (oxidation state of V = +4). During the forming of the pyridine adduct, the dark blue VO(acac)2 is changed to dark green VO(acac)2py complex. This color changing phenomenon can also be explained using the Crystal Field Theory mentioned. Electrons of the two different energy level orbitals can be excited with à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬  o energy. The higher the oxidation state, there will be more different between the two splitting energy levels which therefore lead to higher à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬  0. For V2O5 (oxidation state of V = +5) will have a higher à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬  0 and hence will absorbs light of the electromagnetic spectrum of higher energy with higher frequency and reflect low energy light. Therefore, V2O5 will absorb the blue-green light of higher energy and reflect orange of lower energy light which is shown off as orange with naked eyes. When there is a reduction of the compound to VO(acac)2 or VO(acac)2py compound, the light absorbed was at lower frequency and light reflected was of higher frequency such as blue-green and thus, there is the change of orange powder to blue-green product. Therefore, VO(acac)2 and VO(acac)2py appe ared as blue-green compounds. Possible Limitations and Sources of Errors in Experiment There are several limitations of the experiment that result in not having 100% yield of the product of both VO(acac)2 and VO(acac)2py complexes. Firstly, there may be loss of product due to the cotton wool filtration that causes some of the filtrate to be trapped in the cotton wool and unable to pass through. Secondly, according to the Le-Chateliers principle, for the Reaction 2, if there is an increase in the H+ concentration, reaction will shift the concentration of the reaction to the left which result in lesser product produce. When the reaction mixture is added slowly to the alkaline sodium carbonate solution, incomplete neutralization may occur where not all H+ are removed, and hence lesser product is produced. Therefore, longer cooling time will be needed for re-crystallization so as to allow more crystallization of VO(acac)2 and push the reaction to the right. Another limitation is of using of the sulphuric acid, H2SO4 may result in the reduction of the VO2+ ions to V3+ ions which decrease VO2+ ions available for product of VO(acac)2 formations. The lower percentage yield of the VO(acac)2py may be due to incomplete refluxing and thus lead to low yield obtained. Also, impurities may be present in the VO(acac)2 product produced that observed at the bottom of the flaks which lead to false weight measured and inaccurate percentage calculated. The round bottom flask should be swirled every fifteen minutes during the reflux which can prevent the settling of the V2O5 solid at the bottom of the flask and identifying impurities. The yield of the VO(acac)2py can be improved with addition of excess pyridine and increase the reflux time. Possible Precaution in Experiment For the synthesis of the VO(acac)2 complexes, there is a step of the adding of ethanol into the mixture of solution for reflux. Ethanol was used as solvent. The metal vanadium atom is surrounded by non-polar ligands of acetylacetonate or pyridine in second part of the experiment. Ethanol is more non-polar than water and will form solvent-solute interactions with the complexes and dissolve those ligands for better interaction in the solution. The use of the ethanol also helps to separate the VO(acac)2 from the insoluble V2O5 residue that will be filtered and remain in the cotton wool during filtration. Also, ethanol was used to prevent side reaction that will arise so as to increase the yield of the product. From reaction 1, there is the reaction of the V2O5 and the H2SO4 to produce the intermediate VO2+ ion that besides reacting with the acetylacetonate in reaction 2, VO2+ can react with the water and oxygen molecules by-product formed from reaction 1. It is as shown in Reaction 3. The side reaction will decrease the amount of VO2+ available for reaction with the acetylacetonate in reaction 3 to form product of VO(acac)2. This will decrease the amount of yield of the product produced. 4VO2+ + 2H2O + O2  ® 4VO2+ + 4H+ Reaction 3 However, this side reaction can be reduced with the addition of ethanol where ethanol will react with oxygen and produce acetaldehyde as shown: C2H5OH +  ½O2  ® CH3CHO + H2O Reaction 4 Also, using vacuum to remove the oxygen and water formed can be a good way to reduce problem of side reaction with VO2+. Another precaution taken was adding drop wise of the acetylacetonate to ensure sufficient reaction time and prevent influx of the H+ concentration and shift the equilibrium to the left and decrease the yield of the product formed. Anhydrous sodium carbonate, Na2CO3, was dissolved in water so as to form alkaline solution to neutralise H+ ions so as to shift the acetylacetonate toward the enol form. This will increase the formation of the VO(acac)2 products. Also, the mixture solution was added slowly to the sodium carbonate solution so as to prevent the rapid foaming caused by the product of CO2 and lose of product due to overflowing. Also, slowly adjusting the pH with more alkaline environment and less mixture solution allows the reaction to react at steady pace and reduce any side reaction to occur. Conclusion The percentage yield of the product of VO(acac)2 and VO(acac)2py complex were 77.8% and 58.5% respectively. From the IR spectrum of VO(acac)2py, it is shown that the V=O bond have shifted from 9998.04 cm-1 to 966.04 cm-1. This shifting of the peak indicate the formation of the pyridine adduct, VO(acac)2py, with the decrease in the wavenumber of the V=O stretching band.

Political Satire in Animal Farm :: Animal Farm

Political Satire in Animal Farm    George Orwell, author of the highly acclaimed Animal Farm, wrote this fable in hopes of informing not only children, but also the population as a whole, of his views on the Russian Revolution and the rise of communism in that nation. The fable, a literary composition conveying a moral truth, clearly guides the readers through the steps and outcome of the Russian Revolution. But instead of the battle being fought and won in the streets of Russia, Orwell chooses to portray the happenings of the Russian Revolution on a farm based during the beginnings of the Industrial Revolution. The animals, unhappy with their day-to-day living conditions, rise and revolt against the tyrant Jones, the cruel and drunkard owner of the Jones' farm.    In Animal Farm, the barn was a place for the meetings that took place, and alternatively served as a shelter for all of the animals, except for the pigs. The schoolhouse was a place for the pigs, and rarely other animals, to learn to read and write and therefore grow in social power over the other less-intelligent animals that spent their days working in order to bring in enough food to keep the revolution alive. The farmhouse was where the Jones family resided, before the revolution that forced them astray. According to the commandments set forth after the revolution, no animal was to use the farmhouse for their own personal gain, however, the pigs were able to distort this rule so that they were able to live in luxury in this house meant for the humans. Building the windmill proved to be an important icon and struggle for the animals of Animal Farm, as it was destroyed twice and never quite brought the gleefulness and comfortable life that the animals were led to envision before-hand and during the construction by the sinister pig Napoleon. Each character of Animal Farm represented an important character or type-of people in the Russian Revolution, a direct comparison between Animal Farm, and a strong political movement that shocked the world.    Comrade Napoleon, as he insisted the other animals called him, represents Joseph Stalin, a cruel leader during and after the revolution, who exiled other political leaders and forced mass-executions upon the people, just as Napoleon does in Orwell's fable. Snowball, the opposing pig and leader of

Social Change Theories Essay -- Sociology

Social Change Theories Richard Roberts said, "As long as our social order regards the good of institutions rather than the good of men, so long will there be a vocation for the rebel." Moreover, the theories of functionalism, the conflict theory, and punctuated equilibrium enable rebels to emerge due to their theories' misplaced sense of value. Functionalism, largely influenced by Talcott Parsons, can be interpreted in several ways, creating the different versions of functionalism such as biocultural functionalism and structural-functionalism, which have different main aspects of belief. Bicultural functionalism expresses the belief that because of physiological needs social institutions were created in order to fulfill these needs. This belief suggests that functionalism, the belief that anything simply occurs because it serves a function, is based upon the individual's needs which include reproduction, food and shelter. Alternatively, the social structure and society as a "system of relationships" is also part of functionalism as the structural-functionalism view. According to the structural-functionalism it is not the individual that is important, but society as a whole. "He suggested that a society is a system of relationships maintaining itself through cybernetic feedback, while institutions are orderly sets of relati onships whose function is to maintain the society as a system." Overall functionalism in the idea that there is a disconnect between the mental states and the physical, and that mental states can only be identified through their functional role ("Functionalism." Web. N.p.). Parsons "[†¦] contributed to the structural-functionalist school conceptualized the social universe in terms of four types and levels of '... ...ll College. N.p., 21 Feb. 2000. Web. 25 Apr. 2012. . Morrow, Sarah , and Robert Lusteck. "Marxist Anthropology - Anthropological Theories." Department of Anthropology - The University of Alabama. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2012. . Porth, Eric, Kimberley Neutzling, and Jessica Edwards. "Functionalism - Anthropological Theories." Department of Anthropology - The University of Alabama. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2012. . "Punctuated Equilibrium | Academic Room." Educational Websites | Online Books | Online Classes | Open Access. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Apr. 2012. .

Brand Awareness and Perception towards Branded Jewellery Essay

The gems and jewellery industry occupies an important position in the Indian economy and is one of the fastest growing industries in the country. In the late 1990s, the Indian jewellery market witnessed a shift in consumer perceptions of jewellery. Apart from its historical religious significance, Jewellery is valued as an important savings and investment vehicle in India. Even in present times, Jewellery remains the Indian bride’s `Streedhan’, the wealth she takes with her when she marries and which remains hers. Gold jewellery is the preferred jewellery worn by women in India irrespective of their religious beliefs. In marriages, gold jewellery is the gift preferred by the near relatives of the bride and the groom. Jewellery is very popular among farmers, with an upsurge in gold sales after a good agricultural season. Buying of gold is an important part of every stage of an Indian citizen’s life— at birth, marriage, construction of home, festivals, relig ious ceremonies, setting up of new business, and death. Instead of being regarded as only an investment option, jewellery was being prized for its aesthetic appeal. In other words, the focus seemed to have shifted from content to design. Trendy, affordable and lightweight jewellery soon gained familiarity. Branded jewellery also gained acceptance forcing traditional Jewellers to go in for branding. As India makes rapid progress in the retail arena, the Indian Jewellery market is undergoing a gradual metamorphosis from unorganised to organised formats. Jewellery retailing is moving from a ‘storehouse of value’ to a precious fashion accessory. Plain gold is gradually easing its stranglehold on the Indian consumer psyche to give way to diamonds, platinum and coloured gemstones. The way jewellery was worn before is undergoing a tremendous change. However branded jewellery players will continue to face lot of competition from local jewellers. In order to gain market share, they will have to come up with designs that customers want and win the trust and confidence of consumers by hallmarking and demonstrating the purity of the gold used by them. To compete with traditional players, branded players must also find some way to differentiate themselves. While the success of a particular brand will depend on differentiation, affordability and quality will be a key element  in sustaining a brand. The present study will help us to understand the brand awareness and perception of the customers towards MALABAR GOLD jewellery in Bangalore. 3. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM In the emerging knowledge based economy it has become necessary to know how much market power lies with the brand name. Awareness and Perception are the two key metrics that any company would use to measure their brand strength. The study of brand awareness and perception is essential in marketing planning. Customer needs and preferences keep changing where brands ultimately command customer’s loyalty. Without brand awareness occurring, no other communication effects can occur. For a consumer to buy a brand they must first be made aware of it. Brand attitude cannot be formed, and intention to buy cannot occur unless brand awareness has occurred. Brand perception is created by consumer experience with the brand’s product or service. In other words, perception is the values consumers attach to a brand. After the purchase of specialty goods or shopping goods, the customer exhibits post purchase behaviour. It may be either cognitive consonance or cognitive dissonance. The consonance leads to dissatisfaction. But when it comes to customers going in high value premium segment goods such as gold, diamond and platinum ornaments, in a high competitive with too many players in the market, then the customer surely has a wide range of choice to choose from and carefully evaluates the different showrooms before making a purchase decision. In such a situation, any purchase dissonance will lead to very high degree of dissatisfaction, which may also lead to spreading negative opinion to the prospective buyer of jeweller’s outlet. Hence a research is undertaken to understand the brand awareness and perception towards branded jewellery with specific reference to Malabar Gold and Diamonds, Bangalore. 4. OBJECTIVES OF STUDY Primary objective The main objective of the study is to determine the level of brand awareness  and brand perception of Malabar Gold Jewellery, and the use of it as a measure to increase the marketing effectiveness of Malabar Brand Jewellery. Secondary objectives i. To compare the customer preference between the branded and non branded jewellery ii. To understand the parameters the customers consider while buying jewellery iii. To know how brand preference is formed in purchasing Malabar Gold jewellery among customers iv. To measure the level of satisfaction of customers of Malabar Gold v. To analyze the marketing strategies of Malabar Gold with regard to brand awareness and perception 5. RESEARCH DESIGN TYPE OF RESEARCH The study will be descriptive in nature POPULATION Customers buying gold in Bangalore City SAMPLE SIZE The sample for the study would be limited to 105 respondents. SAMPLING UNIT For this study the respondents will be the customers buying gold and diamond jewellery TYPE OF SAMPLING Simple random sampling method will be used for the study. TOOLS OF DATA COLLECTION Primary data: Primary data will be collected using a structured questionnaire as well as personal interview method. Secondary data: The secondary data for this work will be obtained from company magazines and brochures, website, newspapers, internet, text books, reports and other promotional materials. HYPOTHESES STATED FOR THE STUDY: Hypothesis 1 Null Hypothesis (H0): Gender of customers and preference for branded and non-branded jewellery is independent. Alternative Hypothesis (H1): Gender of customers and preference for branded and non-branded jewellery is independent. Hypothesis 2 Null Hypothesis (H0): Marital Status of customers and purchase of jewellery is independent. Alternative Hypothesis (H1): Marital Status of customers and purchase of jewellery is dependent. PLAN OF ANALYSIS The data collected from various sources will be tabulated and represented using the percentage and ranking method. Graphical tools like bar diagrams, pie charts etc., will be used to illustrate the tabulated data pictorially. Inferences and interpretation of the data will be done on the basis of tabulated data. In both Hypotheses 1 and 2, the null hypotheses will be tested using Chi-Square test for independence of attributes at 5% level of significance. 6. PROPOSED CHAPTER SCHEME: a. Introduction b. Review of Literature & Research Design c. Profile of Industry/Business/Selected Organisations d. Results, Analyses and Discussions e. Summary of Findings, Conclusions and Recommendations.