Personality Tests Are Flawed Heres What You Really Need to Know

Personality Tests Are Flawed Heres What You Really Need to Know Personality tests have been out there for a long time now, and they’re mainly used to determine a person’s traits and maybe even predict their behavior in certain situations.There are hundreds, if not thousands of these kinds of tests circulating around the Internet and they have a wide range and variety of questions, and they all claim they can tell you more about yourself.Some tests can determine what kind of sandwich you are, or what flavor of Starbucks coffee suits your personality the best and these tests are fun, but clearly, theyre just for laughs and arent to be taken seriously.Other, more serious tests are believed to actually be able to determine your personality and are very popular.But are these tests as accurate as people believe them to be and can you really measure someone’s personality by taking a quiz?WHY IS PERSONALITY SO IMPORTANT?We as humans tend to label things and people in order to put them into specific categories, and this is natural for us as we dont like when we dont understand something because it brings confusion and sometimes fears into our minds.And we label other people for a bunch of different reasons, some of them being:We usually like to be friends with people who we have something in common and share similar interests.We don’t like the people we can’t figure out what they’re like because it’s a strain to always be at the tip of your toes around someone when you don’t know how they’ll react in certain situations.Whether we like it or not, but we’re constantly mirroring people who are either more successful than us or have achieved great things, and we think that if we have similar traits as them, that we’ll become successful too.The ambiguity is what invokes fear in our mind, and when we can’t understand someone or something, we try to stay away from all of that.All of these reasons why we put labels on people are quite natural, and it’s easy to categorize others.But when it comes to our own personal ity and traits, we aren’t so eager to jump into conclusions that fast.This is why personality tests may be useful, but as youll see, they may be not what youre looking for if you really want to know a thing or two about yourself.A BRIEF HISTORY OF PERSONALITY STUDIESSince the beginning of early human era, great philosophers such as Hippocrates, Plato and Aristotle displayed through their work what could be considered some of the first classifications of humans by types and categories.For example, if we take a look at Plato, in his book “Republic”, in there, we can find a story of the Phoenician lie which suggests that some people are made out of gold and silver while others are made from brass making some people more “worthy” than others.Hippocrates, on the other hand, developed the Four Temperaments in his medical theory and categorized people into four types:Sanguine â€" Talkative, enthusiastic, active and social, associated with risk-taking behavior.Choleric â€" Extrove rted, independent, decisive, and goal-oriented, associated with dominant and short-tempered behavior.Melancholic â€" Detail-oriented, deep thinking, emotional and self-reliant, associated with striving for perfection.Phlegmatic â€" Relaxed, peaceful, quiet and easy going, associated with problem-solving and making compromises.There are also many different traces throughout the history of personality studies in Chinese and Hindu medicine, which was based on explaining different traits of human behavior and did actually influence some psychologists later in modern times.And of course, we have the zodiac which was debunked by a 1958 medical study in London called The Time Twins and, according to Washington Times, was an experiment involving 2000 babies born on the same date and roughly the same time which was monitored for decades.The research looked at things such as anxiety, IQ, sociability, and so on. What happened was that everyone ended up growing into their unique personality, me aning zodiac signs aren’t a great indicator of your personality.There was a boom in the psychology of personality at the beginning of the 20th century, and there were many theoreticians which paved the way for the modern understanding of the human personality. Some of the most famous are:Sigmund Freud (1856 â€" 1939) â€" The pioneer of psychoanalysis thought that our personality could be discovered through the examination of our sub-consciousness.Carl Jung (1875 â€" 1961) â€" He presented the introverted and extraverted type in analytical psychology.Abraham Maslow (1908 â€" 1970) â€" Developed the “Maslow’s hierarchy of needs” in 1943.Alfred Adler (1870 -1937) â€" The term “style of life” was first used in Adler’s works which described the dynamics of personality.THE ORIGINS OF PERSONALITY TESTSNo one knows for certain when personality tests became so widespread and popular but one thing is for certain and it is the fact that nowadays there are hundreds of different pe rsonality tests all over the Internet, in magazines and so on.The first personality tests were carried out by psychologists with their patients, but those tests were done behind closed doors and more often than not were used to determine if you had a mental illness or not.It’s also known that personality tests were used in the army prior to WW1 in order to assess soldiers into the military which is still practiced today not only for the army but also various special forces and police departments.But the first questionnaire typed personality tests were actually printed in women’s magazines somewhere around the 1950s, and they had to do with marriage and being a good wife because at that time women werent allowed in the workforce, so they had to have something to do outside the home which made them feel alive.There may be a surprise that the most popular test was actually developed by two women, which well talk about right away.MYERS-BRIGGS TEST AND IT’S FLAWSCertainly, the most popular and widespread personality test is the Myers-Briggs Traits Indicator or MBTI for short, which is believed to be able to accurately measure your personality by putting you into different categories.It was developed by Katherine Cook Briggs and her daughter Isabel Briggs Myers in the 1940s and was based on Carl Jung’s typology theories.The difference was that Jung’s theories weren’t conducted in controlled scientific studies but rather in clinical observation and introspection.The test became so popular that for many years it was considered to be so accurate that it could even tell what kind of a career a person might be most suitable for and so on.How the MBTI test works is it assess the person taking the test by answering questions based on   4 different traits and their counterparts which gives a total of 8 traits and, when combined make up 16 different types of personality.There’s also one extra trait â€" Identity, which underpins all the traits and shows how conf ident you are at making decisions.These traits measure if you:Are introverted, meaning you’re more focused on yourself, or extroverted, meaning you’re more focused on the outside world.Are more likely to trust your senses or your intuition or gut feeling.Approach the world by thinking, meaning logical reasoning, or by feeling, meaning you’re more subjective.Are judging, meaning you come to conclusions about things, or perceiving, meaning that you’re open to new information.Are assertive, meaning you know what you want, or turbulent, meaning you “go with the flow”. These types are shown by the IdentityWhen you finish the test and combine your traits, you’ll get a 4 letter type and one extra letter linked to the Identity trait.For the purpose of this article, I did the test myself on 16personalities.com and got the letters INTJ-A, meaning I’m an introvert, intuitive, thinking, judging, and assertive.If you’re interested in taking this test, feel free to do so, but ta ke it with a grain of salt and we’ll explain why.As it turns out, this test isn’t really that great at measuring your personality for many reasons and most of them being that the methodology with which the test determines your traits isn’t the same methodology which is used today.To further explain this point, we’ll have to take a look at how modern psychologists. Psychologists want their measurements to be reliable, and there are two types of reliability:Retest reliability â€" meaning that if you give people the same test over time, you’ll get similar results.Internal consistency reliability â€" meaning psychologists are measuring one trait at a time.Psychologists also measure validity, meaning that the results should have something to do with real life and actually predict a person’s behavior.Guess which test doesn’t properly assess these two principles.That’s right.Myer-Gibbs doesn’t follow any real scientific research but rather labels people into certain group s which doesn’t really help you understand much about yourself or others.According to Business Insider, a research done by Roman Krznaric, if you take the Myer-Briggs test in a five-week gap, there is a 50% chance youll end up with different results opposed to your initial results.However, to be completely honest, a good characteristic of the Myer-Briggs test is that it uses a numeric score, meaning that, for example, it shows that youre 56% introverted and not completely an introvert, so we have to give it some credits after all.So, as it turns out, the most popular personality test has major flaws, but where does that leave other similar personality tests, or do you even need personality tests to understand things about yourself and others. THE BIG FIVEThe second most popular personality test out there is “The Big Five” or the five-factor model, FFM for short, and was developed by a group of psychologists back in the 1980s.This test was based on Hippocrates’s four temperam ents we talked about earlier and was made for the purpose of assessing five major personality traits:Openness to experience â€"This is made to measure whether you’re inventive (curious) or consistent (cautious).Conscientiousness â€" This shows if you’re efficient (organized) or easy-going (careless).Extraversion â€" It serves to show if you’re more outgoing (energetic) or solitary (reserved).Agreeableness â€" Shows if you’re friendly (compassionate) or challenging (detached).Neuroticism â€" Shows if you’re more sensitive (nervous) or secure (confident).You can memorize these traits in an acronym â€" OCEAN or CANOE. Whichever floats your boat (get it? boat, canoe, no? okay).All jokes aside, this test really does show better results of your personality than the Myer-Briggs one, and it’s not only because it uses numeric measurements, but also because it can predict your behavior better than MBTI.The test itself consists of hundreds of different questions which you answer in the range from “Inaccurate”, “Neutral” and “Accurate.Once youre done, youll get to see your results in the percentage of each category, and youll be able to read what each trait means.As with the MBTI test, I’ve also taken this one on Truity.com, and I’m happy to share my results with you. I’ve got 90% on Openness, 73% on Conscientiousness, 56% on Extraversion, 33% on Agreeableness and 67% on Neuroticism.Quite frankly, I’m not that disappointed with the results, but I must say that the questions I had to answer didn’t feel as they could dwell deep into my personality and actually predict my behavior.I did the test again, and it showed not the same but similar results so we could say that it is somewhat useful to get some insight, but you can’t by any means get a real picture of who you actually are.All in all, if you’re curious enough to try this test feel free to do so, but as with the Myer-Briggs one, it won’t really predict your future let alone tell yo u if you have the traits needed to be the next millionaire. THE REASON THESE TESTS FAILFirst, f you think of it this way, all these tests are giving you are some hints of the traits you might have, but your traits can’t be measured by answering some random set of questions in order to get some numeric results.To really get a scientific insight on your whole personality, you would need to be monitored by a psychologist since the day you were born, and that’s not only unpractical but also impossible.Because even if that was to happen, the constant monitoring of a psychologist will surely have an influence on your personality in one way or another, mainly because our mind is susceptible to social interference.Another reason these tests fail is that you can never be completely objective about yourself, and you’ll always answer the questions on the test in accordance with how you now think about yourself.Third and this is the most compelling reason if you ask me, is that people cha nge and the person you are now and your traits might alter significantly in the future.Same goes for the person you were in the past because you dont have the same interests and traits as you do now.I think it is clear now why personality tests aren’t as accurate as they pretend to be, but one question remains, and that is â€"are they even useful? DO WE EVEN NEED PERSONALITY TESTS?We could go on and on about many different personality tests out there, and weve explained the two most common ones used by millions of people, and there is so many more test which really dwells deep into your personality, but the truth is rather disappointing.You see, personality tests are created by psychologists who do research and studies on the human mind and our behavior, but there’s yet to be a psychology theory which can accurately measure someone’s traits and predict whether they’ll stay the way they are or completely change their personality altogether.There have been countless factors in cluded, such as social influence, financial status, religion, culture, marital status, whether you’re a single child or have siblings, the list goes on and on, yet to no avail.And this has nothing to do with psychologists.Theyre doing their best to conduct experiments and observe the human mind based on a scientific study and I salute them for that, but in the end, humans are so unpredictable that it will take time to really get an accurate answer to the question â€" What is the self.If you think of it this way, who could better determine who you are than you, yourself? And once this question is asked, another one pops-up right away â€" do we even need personality tests?Well, Id hate to break it to you, but it shows that theyre just a waste of time.Instead of spending your time on these tests, you could actually be doing the things you want and like to do, the things that really define who you are.Because the answers you’re looking for are the same answers many philosophers, poe ts, musicians, artists, sociologists and of course psychologists are looking for as well.The question still remains â€" Who are we?CAN I FIND OUT ABOUT MY PERSONALITY BY MYSELF?Back in my first semester of the first year in college, I had the Introduction to psychology as a subject and although much of the things we’ve learned on that course I forgot, mainly because I’m not interested in psychology that much, is that there is a thing called introspection.Ive heard about introspection a while back, but never really researched it until I studied for my exam, which was, ironically enough, mainly oriented on the theories of personality.Right there and then I discovered something which we all do for the time to time, and that is self-reflection.Have you ever sat down on your bed or looked through the window and started to think really deeply about how your life’s been going?If you’ve answered yes, it’s a relief for me to know I’m not the only “crazy person” who does that, and also it shows that people conduct introspection on themselves at one point or another in their lives.The origins of introspection theory can be traced back to Wilhelm Wundt, and he gave specific instructions on how to properly self-reflect such as:You must be aware and prepare yourself for the process of introspection.You must hold attention and concentration once you start self-reflecting.You should be capable of repeating the self-reflection under the same conditions.You must understand the circumstances of your state while you’re self-reflecting and grade them by strength and quality.As you can see, these instructions feel a little rough and hard to follow, and this is mainly because Wundt wanted to make a synthesis of the conscious experiences a person who is self-reflecting could feel.Opposed to Wundt’s theory, Edward Titchener, who was his student, expanded the main idea of introspection and actually brought lot’s of Wundt’s ideas to America.What Titchener had in mind was that instead of self-reflecting on our whole life basically, we should focus on the individual components that make up our conscious experiences.What all this means is that self-reflection is a real thing and we can use it to find out more about ourselves, so instead of answering the questions on a personality test, we should try and ask ourselves the questions we want to answer.There is no personality test which will give you an answer of who you are, they can just tell you a little bit about your traits but not how you’ll act in certain situations because that all depends from case to case.FINAL WORDWe had to give you the ugly truth about personality tests, but we hope that you’ve learned a thing or two about personality and why it’s hard to answer difficult questions about such a broad part of human life.Also, we dont want to discourage you from taking the tests anyway because they can be fun, but you should take them with a grain of salt and not waste so much time in figuring out their meaning.Maybe in the future, there will be personality tests which can answer all the questions youve had about yourself and life in general, but for now, it seems that the best personality test is already in your head, and as life passes youll be able to answer most of the questions.

Who Killed Romeo And Juliet - 816 Words

Who killed Romeo and Juliet? â€Å"For never was a story of more woe Than this of Juliet and her Romeo.† (Act 5, Scene 3) Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is the tragic tale of a â€Å"pair of star-cross’d lovers† whose double-suicide reconciles their quarreling families. Though Romeo and Juliet took their own lives, it is difficult to determine who is to blame for their death: Nurse, Friar Laurence, or the dearly departed couple themselves? The Capulet’s Nurse raised Juliet from a young age, and was like a mother to her. Nurse’s wish that Juliet marry one day becomes apparent early in the play, as she tells Juliet: â€Å"Thou wast the prettiest babe that e er I nursed. An I might live to see thee married once, I have my wish.† (Act 1, Scene 3) Her wish to see Juliet married overrode her common sense when Juliet showed interest in their house’s enemy (Romeo Montague) at the masquerade. Rather than warn her away from him (knowing full well the consequences fraternizing with a Montague would have on Juliet if she were discovered), Nurse organized a wedding for the couple without Lady and Lord Capulet’s knowledge; she met with Romeo to arrange a time and place and took Juliet to the ceremony later that day. Nurse had good intentions as she loved Juliet and wanted her to be happy, but her foolish support of their relationship led them to become a desperate, lovesick couple that could not live without each other. Friar Lawrence- Verona’s Friar and trusted friend of the Capulets andShow MoreRelatedWho killed Romeo and Juliet?1978 Words   |  6 PagesMontague, both dead, and their families are grieving. But who is to blame? The young couples secret marriage, hidden from both of their families are wondering, who is to blame for their children’s death? What made these two young people do such a terrible thing to themselves, like committing suicide? 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Review Of This Republic Of Suffering - 1791 Words

9764 Mr. Jeter H1301 2 December 2014 Review of This Republic of Suffering: Death and The American Civil War by Drew Gilpin Faust (Alfred A. Knopf: New York, 2008, xiv + 271 pp.) Drew Gilpin Faust’s This Republic of Suffering: Death and The American Civil War tackles a subject that is not widely written about: the ways of death of the American Civil War generation. She demonstrates how the unprecedented carnage, both military and civilian, caused by the Civil War forever changed American assumptions of death and dying, and how the nation and its people struggled to come to terms with death on an unimaginable scale. The war created a veritable â€Å"republic of suffering† and Faust vividly portrays the United States’ ordeal, transformation, and†¦show more content†¦The public’s displays of mourning gave rise to new conventions or modifications of existing manners; in the blockaded South resourcefulness grew out of necessity as Southern widows could not import the latest European elegances. The most important transformation Faust describes here is of the new roles taken on by the survivors: as widows, orphans, and communitie s, even a nation of mourners. The war took a toll on the beliefs of soldiers and their families as the carnage destroyed beyond recognition or even annihilated bodies. In Believing and Doubting Faust explores quintessential questions revolving round religion and humanity that lingered in the minds of Americans as they wrestled with the consequences of that destruction cause by the war. 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Stefan’s Diaries The Craving Chapter 24 Free Essays

November 13, 1864 I am cursed. It is obvious now. Maybe that’s what being a vampire means. We will write a custom essay sample on Stefan’s Diaries: The Craving Chapter 24 or any similar topic only for you Order Now Maybe tragedy and evil come with the hunger and the fangs; it isn’t just having to live off human blood. It is the unending aloneness, being cut off from real life and from real relationships. Death will always be there to separate me from those I loved. There is a scroll of names in my head, and the list kept getting longer every day. Rosalyn was the first to die because of me. Katherine couldn’t stand that I was engaged, so she killed the girl. Even Katherine’s blood was on my hands. Though she came into my and my brother’s lives and turned them upside down. She died as a result of my actions. I should never have tried to reason with my father, never tried to convince him of a different viewpoint. As soon as he confided in me about the vampire hunt, I should have done everything I could to get Katherine out of town. Pearl. She, too, could have escaped. I don’t know exactly what her story was, but she seemed far more peaceable than Katherine. Alice the barmaid. All the humans I fed on in New Orleans. Too many to name, even if I had bothered learning their names. They were just unlucky folk who accidentally crossed my path when I was hungry or needed something. Callie. She died because I was stupid enough to think that she would be rewarded for helping out two vampires. The Sutherlands. Bridget, Lydia, Mrs. Sutherland, and Winfield. A normal family who just happened to catch the attention of one insane, vengeful vampire. And now Lexi. Lexi should have stayed in New Orleans in her hostel for the undead, safe in her own world where she could continue her own version of doing good. She will be the next to die unless I figure out how to save her. I have spent too much time in New York bemoaning my fate, moping, feeling cursed. By standing idly by, by complaining, I am letting evil occur all around me. Now is the time for action, for justice. I must channel my loneliness and despair into rage. I must stop being a coward, as I’ve always been, in both life, when I let my father bully me into a marriage I didn’t want, and in death, when I’ve allowed Damon to torture me and kill the people I love. Never again will I let others bend me to their will. From now on I will fight. And I will free Lexi, if it is the last thing I do. I crumpled the piece of paper in my fist, growling with anger. How had he taken her? I hadn’t heard a thing, even with my vampire senses. The servants, a couple of mice and rats in the walls, but nothing else. The vampire Lucius had come in complete silence and managed to seize – or disable – Lexi before she was able to cry out. What speed, what Power this beast must have! But for all of the vampire’s ancientness, for all that he was a â€Å"direct descendant from Hell,† for all of the monster he was, he had, with that single piece of paper, revealed one very human weakness about himself. He had a very petty need to gloat. If Damon were in his place, I would have come downstairs and seen Lexi dead on the floor. But the beast wanted me to know that everyone around me was in danger, to scare me before he killed me. Now there was only one thing on my mind. If Lexi was still alive, it was my duty to go after her and save her. And if she wasn’t alive†¦ it was my right and pleasure to kill Klaus’s foot soldier. This I swore. What was it he had said in the prison? An eye for an eye. He took something valuable from me and Damon, our wives and their family, because we had taken Katherine from him. But the Sutherlands were human, of no importance and very easily disposed of. His beloved Katherine died in a church fire. What if†¦ The words struggled to the surface of my brain. What if he planned on killing Lexi the same way? Suddenly I felt like I had a chance again. But which church? There had to be hundreds in the city. I ran outside. The smell of decay hung heavy in the air, as though Lucius had unwittingly laid a path for me. I followed it south, feeling as though I were gaining strength with each step that brought me closer to where Lexi might be – and who I should be. I had tried to stay away from humans, and that hadn’t worked. I had tried living with them, with disastrous results. But I had never tried a more moderate path. I would never be human, but I could help them, as I’d helped Bridget that night in the park. I could never live among humans, but I could find companionship among humans like Mrs. Sutherland and vampires like Lexi. Those ties would tether me to this world and keep me honest. I ran past a brick town house and grabbed a pigeon in midflight from the air, tearing into its neck for extra fuel. The stench was stronger now, and I saw an Irish Catholic church just two streets away. I knew people had actually been worried about this particular structure being torched, as had been done to others during the religious riots in Pennsylvania. But the place was quiet, with several old women sitting in the front pews, and oddly, the scent of decay that had permeated the air outside so strongly had evaporated. There was no odor of anything besides candles and incense burning at the altar. I slunk into a back pew and regarded the rose oculus window. The scene depicted a grieving Mother Mary in lapis lazuli blue as the sun, a bloody garnet, rose behind her. I closed my eyes and thought, hard. Why had Lucius thrown me off his scent? Was I wrong to assume that he wanted to bait me, so I could arrive at the correct church just as he put the match to the powder keg? What church would he choose – and why? Then it hit me: I was being stupid. The vampire had done due diligence and found out exactly where my bride’s family lived; he wouldn’t have just chosen a random church to burn down. He would have picked the chapel in which I was married. I knew the truth of this deep in my bones. But just as surely I knew that I couldn’t go after him by myself. And there was only one person who was capable of helping me. Damon. Damon, who had trapped me into the stupid marriage that got the Sutherlands all killed. Damon, who had killed Callie. Damon, who swore to make my life a living hell for all eternity. But in the end I needed him. I had seen him control his powers in ways I could not. And I would need all the Power I could get on my side if I was to find a way to defeat an old one. Lexi had rescued us from prison, and surely even someone as debased and fallen as Damon would recognize that we owed her. The only problem was finding him. And now, I think I’m ready for a drink was what he had said. For most vampires that only meant one thing. For my brother, well, he could easily have meant hitting the bottle as well as draining a person or two. But where? In the weeks between following me to New York and â€Å"finding† me at the Chesters’ ball, he had, as Lexi said, been sweeping the New York society scene as an Italian count. He had probably talked – or compelled – his way into any number of private clubs or restaurants. I wracked my brains, trying to remember the prattle Bridget had bored me with, about who was seen where with whom, and where was the latest place to go, and how there was an oyster bar serving genuine Pimm’s Cup, just like in England. For lack of any better idea, I went there first. It was a lovely place in an otherwise unwholesome area at the southern seaport. Uncertain-looking sailors wandered from pool of streetlight to pool of streetlight, gathering in twos and threes to quietly discuss the seedier side of import and export, laugh loudly, and sing old drinking songs. Among all of this rotting seaweed, though, fancy livery and decorated carriages were parked: society men lured by the oysters, Pimm’s Cups, and the dangerous aspect of the place. Inside there were quite a few of the young men I had seen at the Chesters’ ball, as well as at my own wedding. Even Bram was there, but he was keeping to himself and looked ill. His face was ashen and his eyes sunken, and he wore black ribbons around his sleeves for mourning. His drink was untouched and he just stared sadly out the windows at the river. I turned my back to him, not wanting him to call out that a murderer – as he no doubt thought I was – was in their midst. I beckoned for the hostess to come over. â€Å"Has D – uh, the Count DeSangue been by here tonight?† I asked. The girl looked me up and down, face flushing with excitement. â€Å"With him accused of murder and this being his favorite place and me being his favorite girl, what on earth would make me tell you something like that?† I could see by the thick scarf she wore around her neck that she wasn’t just warding off the cold night air – this had definitely been one of Damon’s haunts. I started to reach into my pocket for bribe money. She saw where I was going and shook her head. â€Å"Not on your life, love. Not for Damon.† â€Å"You have no idea who he is, or what you’re getting involved in,† I growled, grabbing her wrist. Her face fell and she tried to struggle out of my grasp. â€Å"Listen to me. I’m Stefan Salvatore – the other man accused of murdering the Sutherlands. Neither one of us did it, all right? We’re both on the run from the police. Now tell me where he is.† I didn’t compel her. I didn’t exactly threaten her. But she nodded mutely and I relaxed my grip. â€Å"I don’t know,† she said, rubbing her wrist. â€Å"I know he liked a drink at some of those fancy uptown places like the Skinny Black Cat and Xerxes’ Repose. He even had his own table at the Twenty-Two Club.† At that moment a waitress came out. â€Å"Are you talking about the count?† she asked, an excited grin spreading across her face. I sighed. â€Å"Yes.† â€Å"Well, he once took me to Strange Fruit just a few blocks down.† â€Å"He took you on a date?† the hostess said, envy apparent in her voice. The waitress nodded proudly. â€Å"Thank you,† I said, meaning it. Lexi or Damon would have compelled the women to forget me at that point. I sighed, thinking about how much easier life would be if my Powers were stronger and my will weaker. I checked Winfield’s pocket watch. It was five A.M.; an hour had passed since Lexi and I had first entered the mansion. Time was ticking by far too quickly for my liking, and every minute seemed to seal Lexi’s fate more completely. Seconds later I was standing inside the door of Strange Fruit, a large, low, dark bar with giant wooden fans slowly turning overhead. The sailors who couldn’t get into the oyster bar were there, along with every type of shady personality, lost soul, and criminal genius that managed to stay just this side of the law. Damon sat at a small rickety table by himself in just his shirtsleeves, a half-empty bottle of bourbon before him. â€Å"Nursing your wounds?† I asked, walking over. He didn’t even bother looking surprised. â€Å"A minor setback, brother. Don’t forget I have those dowry checks. As soon as things quiet down a bit I, and they, are out of this town.† â€Å"Doubtful any bank would cash a check for a suspected murderer.† â€Å"You really need to stop thinking like a human and start thinking like a vampire. There is no bank teller I can’t compel.† He stretched languorously and poured some drink into his glass. Then he offered the glass to me, and chugged a big swallow directly from the bottle. â€Å"I need your help,† I said, pushing the glass away. I handed him the piece of paper and filled him in on what had happened. He squinted his eyes as he read it. â€Å"So?† I looked at him, gape-mouthed. â€Å"He has Lexi,† I repeated. Then, afraid he was too drunk to understand what that meant, I pointed out the obvious. â€Å"We have to save her!† â€Å"Mm.† He thought about it for a moment. â€Å"Nope.† He made a big show of slowly kicking his legs back up onto the table, as if he had been in the midst of an important activity when I had interrupted him. â€Å"What is wrong with you?† I demanded. â€Å"You saw him – he’ll destroy her!† â€Å"So what?† Damon asked. â€Å"It was her choice to come to New York. No one asked her to come up here.† â€Å"She got us out of prison – â€Å" â€Å"We, excuse me, I was doing, just fine in that department. You forget. We could have gotten out on our own. We didn’t need her for that. She was meddling. If further meddling got her captured, well, that’s her own damn fault.† The anger that had ignited in me upon finding the note from the beast was now stoked into a rage that almost had me turning into full vampire mode. For just a moment, I didn’t care who saw me. â€Å"You,† I said, trying to calm down, trying to put the blackness I felt into words. Damon sat up and looked me in the eye almost eagerly, waiting for the fight. â€Å"You are†¦ you are†¦Ã¢â‚¬  I spat. â€Å"I am what you made me,† Damon said dully, lifting his glass as though to toast me. I grabbed his shoulders. â€Å"No. You don’t have to be a heartless killer. Even Katherine wasn’t that.† Damon’s eyes flashed. â€Å"Don’t speak to me about who Katherine was! I knew her better than you did.† I shook my head. â€Å"Even you know that’s not true. You loved her more, but I knew her just as well. All Katherine wanted was for the three of us to be together forever. She would not have wanted us to be at odds, fighting. She would not have wanted this.† The surprise and anger on his face at what I’d said was almost worth it. Almost. â€Å"I’m going to save Lexi. Or die trying. And if by some miracle I don’t die – I never want to see you again.† And before he could prepare some witty comeback or some threat, I banged my way out into the night, leaving my brother behind forever. How to cite Stefan’s Diaries: The Craving Chapter 24, Essay examples

Peloponnesian war

Introduction The Peloponnesian war is still widely studied in the history of Western Civilization. It was the second war that lasted between 431BC and 404BC. Athens and her empires (Spartans) engaged each other fiercely in the war.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Peloponnesian war specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The main catalyst of the war was intense conflict that had dominated Athens and Sparta. The very conflict was also evident during the earlier wars in Persia (McKay et al. 205). The genesis and progress of the war was heavily documented by Thucydides. He attributed the rising Athens imperialism power as the major cause of the war. One of the devastating impacts of the war was witnessed in Athens. The latter dismantled its empire, a move that divided the entire Greek state. The division left Greece powerless to prevent Persian Empire from reclaiming their Asian possessions (Encyclopedia Britannica (a) par. 8). Nonetheless, the works of an Athenian historian named Thucydides provides a lot of information on Peloponnesian war. Modern scholars have tried to make several interpretations to the war by critical reading of Thucydides account (Bagnall 122). Major causes of the war According to McKay et al. (555), any major war may be triggered by either known or unknown forces. In order to explore the rationale of this war, clhistorians have borrowed much from Thucydides’ writings. Thucydides, an Athenian General, wrote an account of the Peloponnesian War. However, some historians doubt if he ever took part in the war since some of his documented works are surprisingly vivid and coherent to qualify for a third-person narration (Encyclopà ¦dia Britannica (b) par.18). According to Bagnall (122), the major cause of the war as accounted by Thucydides was the indiscriminate expansion of Athenian power. The increased power, presence and authority of Athenian were by far and large, linked to economic dynamism and Periclean Imperialism. Moreover, the increase in Athenian power instilled fear on Sparta. The latter retaliated by developing a grudge that would eventually lead to war (Encyclopà ¦dia Britannica (a) par. 6). Besides, the Spartans had always enjoyed great power and since Athenians had overshadowed their presence in Peloponnesus, retaliation was the best way to go in order to resume the powerful position. According to McKay et al (566), the above explanation could be equated to Greek Culture at that time which viewed life as a perpetual struggle among human beings to gain advantage. According to Thucydides, Sparta army had no reason to fear Athenian rise to power since their army was larger and well equipped. At the beginning of the war, the Spartan army was estimated at 2000 cavalry and 30,000 hoplites as compared to Athens who had only 1200 cavalry and 13,000 hoplites (Bagnall 182).Advertising Looking for research paper on history? Let's see i f we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More However, Athenian navy was stronger than Spartan although the interest of Spartans in the sea was limited. Their only passion was in Peloponnesus. As such, they had no reason to fear. According to Bagnall (192), the fear could be linked to Corinth, the Spartan leader who feared Athenian imperialism in contrast to fearing the size of the army. Imperialism had set a ground for Athens to compete on an equal basis with Sparta for Aegean and western colonies. Investigation over the reliability of Thucydides account of the war has always interested some scholars who view him as a partisan of Athens and that his account could mislead the audience altogether. According to Encyclopà ¦dia Britannica( a, par.12), if indeed Thucydides was a partisan, his works could have hidden the fact that Athens was the aggressor. In addition, other scholars have viewed the reason to be too simplistic to cause such an overwhelming war. Wars have always been associated with differing political and ideological beliefs between two opposing sides, but Thucydides account lack any explanation on the above factors (Encyclopedia Britannica (b) par. 6). Bagnall (202) suggests that Thucydides may have been embroiled in a conflict that would have arisen between the supporters of democracy and oligarchy. In addition, the Dorian’s and Ionians cultural and racial differences were different and could be a basis of conflict. He refutes Thucydides as a reliable source of the event leading to the Peloponnesian war for it ignores the main ingredients that fuel any war (Encyclopedia Britannica (b) par. 12). Thucydides used the events of the 50-year period before the war to arrive at his ideology of what would have sparked the war (Encyclopedia Britannica (b) par. 19). Bagnall (221) refutes Thucydides explanation since the historical events before the war were not enough to justify the war. He perceives Thucydides account as a n escape strategy since he could not personally understand why the war broke out. Thucydides account shows that Pericles had prepared for the war by assessing the strengths and weaknesses of Athenian army long before the Peloponnesian league (McKay et al. 596). As a strategy to gain advantage over Athenians, Pericles had built a wall between Piraeus and Athens. In addition, he increased his reserve find with over 6,000 talents. According to (McKay et al. 616) the strategy was amount to cause conflict with other states. He adds that Thucydides could have accounted Pericles imperial ambition as another reason the colonies went to war.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Peloponnesian war specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More McKay et al. (602) concludes that Peloponnesian war can be attributed to several factors rather than the mere fear created by Athenian imperialism. The conflicts that existed between Athenians and the Peloponnesian league are myriad. Hence, it is not possible to pin point a particular incident as the major cause of the war. He advocates that the causes of this war should be viewed as a complex string of related factors such as conflict between democracy and oligarchy. Development stages of Peloponnesian war Historians classify the war into three parts namely the Archidamian war (431-421 BC), the peace of Nicias and the Sicilian Expedition (420-413 BC) and the Ionian war (412-404 BC). Archidamian (431-421 BC) The Archidamian period war that spanned for ten years was named after a Spartan king, Archidamus. The honor was for his contribution to the cautious policy that the Spartans employed during the start of the war. It was also due to the fact that he had directly opposed going to war with Athens (Encyclopà ¦dia Britannica (b) par. 16). The Archidamian stage saw each of the two opposing sides come up with strategies aimed at achieving victory in the war that each side h oped would be short (Bagnall 112). The Spartans adapted a traditional strategy that involved gathering a large and powerful hoplite army at Corinth’s isthmus. The hoplites would have guaranteed Spartans victory if Athens attacked while a reserve Peloponnesian army would guarantee attack Athens in Attica if they decided to hide behind the walls of Attica (Bagnall 121). Spartans chose the above strategy as it has brought them victory in all the previous battles against their enemies. However, the Athens proved to be experienced in war a thing which made the war to prolong than each of the sides had anticipated. Athens had a big empire and held a supreme position at sea a situation that put them at an advantage, and thus could not be forced to surrender. The position also made them not to fall onto Spartans trick to fight back when their territories were invaded. The sea ensured they had a constant supply of grains and other commodities even if Attica was ravaged (Bagnall 122). Pericles, on the other hand, exploited Athens strategic position and planned to gather his army inside Athens and deserted Attica to the enemy (Encyclopedia Britannica (a) par.17). His strategy was to lure the Peloponnesian army before the walls of Athens, and then attack their coastline at ease. Athens was at an advantage since the Peloponnesians could not carry on for long as they had to return home to harvest so they can refill their supplies (Bagnall 144). During the first year, the strategies of the two sides seemed to be working since they proceed according to plan. Archidamus army invaded Attica but Athens remained adamant to attack (Bagnall 144). Spartan had invaded Attica in the hope that Athens hoplites would offer resistance of which they would attack fiercely and the plan was to end the war as soon as possible. Since no amount of provocation would make the Athenians hoplites to fight back, Peloponnesian had to retire and disperse after several weeks.Advertising Looking for research paper on history? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More When they finally withdrawn, Athenians took the opportunity to equip a fleet of 100 ships and they raided Peloponnese. In addition, Pericles got his army out of Attica, and they raided Megarid as a revenge of Attica invasion (Encyclopà ¦dia Britannica (b) par.46). According to (Bagnall 145) their strategies of relying on attrition to win the war was what made it difficult to predict and measure how long the war would last, and if it would end in the first place. The following summer saw the Spartans adapt a direct attack strategy. Led by their King Archidamus they invaded Attica and destroyed most of it (McKay et al. 662). The Athenians reacted to the attacks by attacking the Spartan navy, but their strategy was proving to be too expensive. In addition, the Athenians got a blow when their leader Pericles died from a plague that claimed more a third of Athenian citizens (McKay et al. 615). The Spartans took the weakening advantage of Athenians, and attacked Plataea of which they man aged to subside by 427 BC. The success victory to seize Plataea made the Spartans think they were winning the war, and a wrap up they invaded Attica again. However, their calculation was wrong, and Athenians suppressed the Lesbos revolt in 427 (McKay et al. 665). They also embarked on a more aggressive attack where they invaded western Greece also managed to gain possession if Minoa island and in turn reclaimed a strategic position to the port of Megara. Under the leadership, of general Nicias Athenians succeeded to seize Isle of Melos, countryside of Tanagra and Locris, also tried to attack Westside of Greece to not avail (Bagnall 148). As the war progressed, Athenians were receiving more courage to launch more daring attacks. The regained confidence drove them to invade the island of Sphacteria, and they captured 292 Spartan soldiers. They also adapted another strategy in an attempt to damage Spartan economy, where they built a fortress at Pylos from where they used to receive run away slaves and helots (Encyclopedia Britannica (b) par. 28). The war continued as each side tried to outdo the other and each attack led to disasters after another. It came a time when both sides saw the need for a peace treaty as no one was ready for surrender (Bagnall 149). The peace treaty was called the peace of Nicias. Athens had survived the Archidamian war and this did not settle well with Spartans who always viewed themselves as superpower. Another war was not far from being fought as Spartans would take any available opportunity to show their mighty. The peace of Nicias Like any other conflict, the Peloponnesian war claimed lives, destroyed fortunes and eroded patience of both the Spartans and Athenians (McKay et al. 667). The harsh situation forced them to look for a chance to make peace agreements. The period is named after Nicias, the leader of Athenian as he was in charge of negotiating for truce (Bagnall 146). After negotiations, a thirty years period was agreed on. T he war was not to be ended but a call for a cease fire was initiated. However, this was never the case since violence erupted yet again. The period lasted for seven years only that was full of skirmishes (Encyclopedia Britannica (a) par. 28). During the peace period, Athenian was able to recruit many citizens into the navy and when they eventually found a leader another war was could not be prevented. The Sicilian expedition The new Athenian leader in the name of Alcibiades came up with another strategy to build up on his uncle’s strategy. Initially, Athens exploited the strategy of defense, but with Alcibiades on board Athenians could now figure out how to defeat Spartans (Bagnall 146). The Athenians under the leadership of Alcibiades planned for the Sicilian expedition amidst strong opposition from Nicias because he did not trust his nephew. However, all his strategies to persuade the citizens to refuse the expedition fell on deaf years as Alcibiades who was a good speaker convinced the citizens to support the cause (Encyclopedia Britannica (b) par. 26). As days progressed. there was nothing to stop the expedition and as a tradition Alcibiades and Nicias were elected the commanders of Athenian army, and another commander Lamachus to be the mediator incase of any differences between the two. The Athenian army that was sent to Sicily was very large almost exhausted their treasury (McKay et al. 592). The expedition was doomed to fail from the onset since having been accused of a crime in the eve of the expedition; Alcibiades was arrested along the way. When he was being taken back to Athens for charges, he managed to escape in the sea and later joined the Spartans side where he gave them all the secrets of the expeditions (Bagnall 148). Athenians had made a gross error to withdraw Alcibiades while he was the key architect behind the expedition. There were several setbacks that commenced when they failed to attack Syracuse (Bagnall 132). In the process of assaulting Syracuse, Lamachus was killed leaving Nicias a lone leader. Nicias was not a good leader when it came to conducting invasion as he only excelled in defense. He was slow and missed several great opportunities, which led to many of his mean being killed. Back home the Athenian assembly had heard of the devastating news and they sent him more men for reinforcement (McKay et al. 658). Athenian army was ill equipped, and they could not win the war. Thus, they concentrated to keep their fleet save to take them back to Athens. However, Nicias kept postponing their departure from Syracuse, and the Spartans ambushed their fleet cutting off any transport back home (Encyclopedia Britannica (b) par. 22). The Athenian army adequately short of supplies resorted to cross to Sicily, which were their sympathizers. However, this was not to be as Spartans laid an ambush for them as they were crossing the river. They slaughtered most of them, capture the rest and enslaved them. It is report ed that very few Athenians navy made it home. The Sicily expedition which is recorded in Greek history because of the large number of the army involved, ended in defeat for the Athenians (Bagnall 138). Consequences of the war The war turned out to be a catastrophe for Athens. She lost her empire and also never regained any political influence in the region (Encyclopedia Britannica (a) par. 36). However, she managed to preserve her wealthy status in the region. On the hand, Spartan won the war but was ill equipped to deal with the victory phase. The expertise of her leaders and the governance structure were not appropriate to the big region (Encyclopedia Britannica (b) par. 18). It never built a new empire, and her attempt to lead Greeks failed. The defeat of Athens left Greece disunited, and vulnerable to future attacks. Scholars equate the Athenians defeat as a Greece defeat as only she was capable of creating a united Greece (McKay et al. 694). Works Cited Bagnall, Nigel. The Pelo ponnesian War: Athens, Sparta, and the Struggle for Greece. New York, NY: Thomas Dunne Books, 2006. Print. Encyclopedia Britannica (a). Ancient Greek civilization, 2011. Jun. 23 2011, web. https://www.britannica.com/place/ancient-Greece. Encyclopedia Britannica (b). Peloponnesian War. Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, 2011. Jun. 23. 2011, web. https://www.britannica.com/event/Peloponnesian-War. McKay, P. John et al. A History of Western Society (9th ed.). Urbana-Champaign: Bedford/St Martin’s, 2008, Print. This research paper on Peloponnesian war was written and submitted by user Daphne H. to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Code essays

Code essays Many people may not know it, but they have heard part of Hammurabis Law Code before. It is where the fabled eye-for-an-eye statement came from. However, this brutal way of enforcing laws was not always the case in ancient Mesopotamia, where Hammurabi ruled. The Laws of Ur-Nammu are much milder and project a greater sense of tolerance in an earlier time. The changing Mesopotamian society dictated this change to a harsher, more defined law that Hammurabi ruled from. It was the urge to solidify his power in Mesopotamia that led Hammurabi to create his Law Code. It must first be noted that the Laws of Ur-Nammu were written some time around 2100 B.C., around three hundred years before Hammurabis Code. Because of this, The Laws of Ur-Nammu are much less defined in translation as well as more incomplete in their discovery. However, it is apparent from the text that these laws were concerned with establishing Mesopotamia as a fair society where equality is inherent. In the prologue before t he laws, it is stated that the orphan was not delivered up to the rich man; the widow was not delivered up to the mighty man; the man of one shekel was not delivered up to the man of one mina. This set forth that no citizen answered to another, or even that each citizen answered to each other, no matter their wealth, strength, or perceived power. This distinction of an equal society was important to the growing territory that was Mesopotamia. It allowed each person to feel important to their community because they were not lorded over by a superior class. Also, the sheer amount of different bands of people that made up the initial Mesopotamian society dictated that no distinction between origin or race could be made without destroying the careful balance that was set up. The Laws of Ur-Nammu were also distinct in that most penalties were fines or payments. One law stated that if someone severed the nose of another m...

Battle of Amiens in World War I

Battle of Amiens in World War I The Battle of Amiens occurred during World War I (1914-1918). The British offensive began on August 8, 1918, and the first phase effectively ended on August 11. Allies Marshal Ferdinand FochField Marshal Douglas HaigLieutenant General Sir Henry RawlinsonLieutenant General Sir John MonashLieutenant General Richard Butler25 divisions1,900 aircraft532 tanks Germans Generalquartiermeister Erich LudendorffGeneral Georg von der Marwitz29 divisions365 aircraft Background With the defeat of the 1918 German Spring Offensives, the Allies swiftly moved to counterattack. The first of these was launched in late July when French Marshal Ferdinand Foch opened the Second Battle of the Marne. A decisive victory, Allied troops succeeded in forcing the Germans back to their original lines. As the fighting at the Marne waned around August 6, British troops were preparing for a second assault near Amiens. Originally conceived by the commander of the British Expeditionary Force, Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig, the attack was intended to open rail lines near the city. Seeing an opportunity to continue the success achieved at the Marne, Foch insisted that the French First Army, just to the south of the BEF, be included in the plan. This was initially resisted by Haig as the British Fourth Army had already developed its assault plans. Led by Lieutenant General Sir Henry Rawlinson, the Fourth Army intended to skip the typical preliminary artillery bombardment in favor of a surprise attack led by the large-scale use of tanks. As the French lacked large numbers of tanks, a bombardment would be necessary to soften the German defenses on their front. The Allied Plans Meeting to discuss the attack, British and French commanders were able to strike a compromise. The First Army would take part in the assault, however, its advance would commence forty-five minutes after the British. This would allow the Fourth Army to achieve surprise but still permit the French to shell German positions before attacking. Prior to the attack, the Fourth Armys front consisted of the British III Corps (Lt. Gen. Richard Butler) north of the Somme, with the Australian (Lt. Gen. Sir John Monash) and Canadian Corps (Lt. Gen. Sir Arthur Currie) to the south of the river. In the days prior the attack, extreme efforts were made to ensure secrecy. These included dispatching two battalions and a radio unit from the Canadian Corps to Ypres in an effort to convince the Germans that the entire corps was being shifted to that area. In addition, British confidence in the tactics to be used was high as they had been successfully tested in several localized assaults. At 4:20 AM on August 8, British artillery opened fire on specific German targets and also provided a creeping barrage in front of the advance. Moving Forward As the British began moving forward, the French commenced their preliminary bombardment. Striking General Georg von der Marwitzs Second Army, the British achieved complete surprise. South of the Somme, the Australians and Canadians were supported by eight battalions of the Royal Tank Corps and captured their first objectives by 7:10 AM. To the north, the III Corps occupied their first objective at 7:30 AM after advancing 4,000 yards. Opening a gaping fifteen-mile long hole in the German lines, British forces were able to keep the enemy from rallying and pressed the advance. By 11:00 AM, the Australians and Canadians had moved forward three miles. With the enemy falling back, British cavalry moved forward to exploit the breach. The advance north of the river was slower as the III Corps was supported by fewer tanks and encountered heavy resistance along a wooded ridge near Chipilly. The French also had success and moved forward approximately five miles before nightfall. On average, the Allied advance on August 8 was seven miles, with the Canadians penetrating eight. Over the next two days, the Allied advance continued, though at a slower rate. Aftermath By August 11, the Germans had returned to their original, pre-Spring Offensives lines. Dubbed the Blackest Day of the German Army by Generalquartiermeister Erich Ludendorff, August 8 saw a return to mobile warfare as well as the first large surrenders of German troops. By the conclusion of the first phase on August 11, Allied losses numbered 22,200 killed wounded and missing. German losses were an astounding 74,000 killed, wounded, and captured. Seeking to continue the advance, Haig launched a second assault on August 21, with the goal of taking Bapaume. Pressing the enemy, the British broke through southeast of Arras on September 2, forcing the Germans to retreat to the Hindenburg Line. The British success at Amiens and Bapaume led Foch to plan the Meuse-Argonne Offensive which ended the war later that fall. Selected Sources History of War: Battle of AmiensFirst World War: Battle of AmiensBritish Army in World War I: Battle of Amiens