Hinduism and Buddhism Essay Example

Hinduism and Buddhism Essay Example Hinduism and Buddhism Essay Hinduism and Buddhism Essay The term â€Å"Hinduism† came from the Greek and Persian travelers of Indus Valley. This was adopted by the Hindus; they also used the term â€Å"Veda† or â€Å"Vedic religion† which refers to the ancient texts at the core of the tradition, or the â€Å"Sanatana Dharma or the eternal Law. Hinduism is a diverse religion that is found primarily in India. The Hindus differ unlike in the practice of most religions, they believe that being acknowledge as Hindus come first because their beliefs and practices are just a component of their religion. Other religion beliefs differs in the sense that in order to be acknowledge as a follower in a certain religion you have to be able to practice first the beliefs of the group. The Hindu tradition encourages Hindus to seek spiritual and moral truth wherever it might be found. The Hindus believe that that no statement of belief can contain every rightful thing that a person must do instead they believe that an individual must realize the true meaning of life and the truth of all things according to how he is able to perceive things accordingly. They also believe that our experiences and practices with people are some of the factors in order for us to see moral and spiritual truth.The Hindus have three Gods, Brahma the creator, Vishnu the preserver and Shiva the destroyer. They believe in the so called â€Å"nirvana† which for them is the ultimate peace and happiness but in order to pursue nirvana they have to first live accordingly towards their norm and other necessities. Dharma is an important content of their doctrine. This dharma signifies the right aright knowledge in order to be in the correct path and have a correct action. The Hindus emphasize living in accordance with the dharma in order for the individual to attain the spiritual knowledge and the right course of ethical action.The Hindu tradition aims at comprehensiveness; Hinduism aims to make a person rich in a way that Hinduism will b e available to all people without having to limit their traditions and practices. It also encourages an individual to explore life in order to gain divine realization by providing diverse system in realization. Another thing about Hinduism is that it constantly experiment and assimilate new ideas.   It is not mainly concern with the origin of a thing or how a person has evolved on to his becoming, but it is more concern with realization of what is the truth through our experiences. Hinduism is very open with new ideas, teachers and practices. It is not exclusive unlike other religions but it aims to be more universal.The Hindus believe in â€Å"karma†. Karma is believed to be the condition where a person is in the present which is determined by his/her past. According to the practice of karma our actions makes up an important role in determining our position in life. It is believed that whatever choices we make directly affects us in the future. Our actions have its consequ ences. That is why in order to have good karma or consequences in life a person must make choice between doing a good thing to others and not harming them. Karma is the principal framework of ethics in Hinduism, it is also known as destiny to some, but the difference is that karma is unlike destiny where there is no freewill, in karma it is still up to the individual to make a choice and the consequences follows.According to Hinduism our body plays an important role in the goals that we want to achieve. They believe that human beings consist of not one body but three bodies. The three bodies consist of the gross physical body, a subtle body of our thoughts and feelings and an even subtler body, known as the casual bodies. This known casual body is known to have our ignorance of the truth around us. The physical body separates after death leaving only our subtle and casual body to travel on the next life. Hinduism believes in reincarnation, that is why they value every living thing t hat exists because they believe that when humans die they are either reincarnated into a plant or an animal.BuddhismBuddhism is based on the teachings of Gautama Buddha. It is a practices the spiritual development of a person in order to realize the true essence of life. They incorporate meditation into their practice in order to change one self and develop the right qualities such as awareness, kindness and the wisdom.   This experience has mold and developed the traditions of the Buddhist for more than a thousand years already that has lead many to achieve Enlightenment.Unlike other religion, Buddhism does not have to worship a God or a creator. The Buddhist teaching is straightforward and practical. They believe that nothing is permanent or fixed, everything changes. A person who practices Buddhism believes that every human action have its own consequences. Since nothing is constant, there is always a possibility for change to occur. Buddhism is available to all people and can be practice by any individual who wishes to despite their age, race or nationality. In fact many people around the worlds are practicing Buddhism because it teaches people with practical ways in realizing how to develop and utilize these teachings in order to transform themselves in a more responsible individual in control of their lives and has gained wisdom and compassion for others.There are many people practicing all over the world and is not merely concentrated in India alone. Even westerners are practicing Buddhism. They follow many different Buddhism but all are geared towards realization of the truth and having wisdom. It reflects the importance of non violence practices and that no harm should be done to other people or nay li8ving thing in this world. Everything according to Buddhism is equal. Another thing that is common among the different practice of Buddhism is the four noble truths. These four noble truths are important in order to achieve wisdom and compassion for ot hers they must be able to take this into practice. Another component of this four noble truth is practicing the eightfold path. The eightfold path basically talks about the right things to do in order to achieve enlightenment.Hinduism and BuddhismThe practice of Hinduism and Buddhism are similar in many ways. One is that they are both polytheistic. Both of this religion come from the same background and are both diverse in their beliefs about afterlife, deity and rituals. Buddhism and Hinduism believe in reincarnation, which a person after death is reincarnated, but the difference is that where the individual goes after he or she gets off the endless cycle. They are also different in terms of whom they are going to worship and not to worship.Just like other religion both Buddhism and Hinduism both have rituals and traditions to follow. After the Hindus accomplish redemption they go to moksha but the Buddhist believe that the main goal is to achieve nirvana in the afterlife.   The Hindus can achieve redemption by living in life asceticism, they need to become a holy man and relinquish all their material possessions in order to become one with the Brahma.   In order for the Buddhist to become one with the universe they need to live their lives according to the doctrine of eightfold path. This would help the Buddhist to attain nirvana. Basically the eight fold path speaks about the right that any Buddhist should possess in order to attain nirvana.Another difference between the two religion is that Hindus believe in the caste system, where it prohibits intermarriage among those Hindus that is not within their caste and their marriage are to be arrange with same people in the caste system that they are in. For the Buddhist they did not believe in the caste system and see past this. One the similarities in both religion is that they both believe in karma’ that every of our actions has its return effect on us. The Hindus believe that karma plays an importa nt role in their reincarnation as well the Buddhist. According to both of their beliefs, our action is directed towards others and every living thing in this world plays an important role on the consequences that we will achieve. The Buddhist believes that we do will come back to us. If we are to harm others therefore our karma would also inflict harm to us and that if we are good to others we will have a good karma as well.Another similarity among the two religions is they both believe in seeking for the truth in order to gain wisdom and appropriate knowledge. They are both subjective through learning and giving importance of being kind to others achieving peace and harmony within oneself. Although there are a lot of crucial differences between the two, their main similarity which is being good to others and practicing no harm to others plays an important role in molding a person.I believe that what is important in the teachings of these two religions especially in the world today were many people are driven with so much greed for themselves is that we must be good to others. Another is being responsible for actions, since everything is changing and constantly changes are also directed towards only thinking what is best for us that sometimes we are not aware that many people are hurt and suffering as a consequence of our abrupt behavior. Another importance that is important about the teachings of these two religions is having a peace of mind because when one has this a person can be of sound judgment to what he or she is doing. Being at peace of oneself also plays an important role in how we interact with others, if we are able to have an inner most peace of ourselves then we won’t have a hard time dealing with people appropriately. What is also important in the perspective of both religions is that they both stress the importance of a person being genuinely good and take responsibility in their actions. If people of today possess such character then t here would be less misunderstanding and less fighting and people would be less violent and more people would be more open to settling their problems in a more conducive and appropriate way.References:Boeree, C., G. (2000). The Basic of Buddhist Wisdom. Retrieved June 29, 2008 from http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/buddhawise.htmlBuddhaweb.org (2008). Essentials of Buddhism. Retrieved June 29, 2008 from buddhaweb.org/Encarta (2008). Hinduism. Retrieved June 29, 2008 from http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761555715/hinduism.htmlFwbo.org (2008). What is Buddhism? Retrieved June 29, 2008 from http://fwbo.org/buddhism.htmlLorentz, M. (2008). Basic Belief of Hinduism. Retrieved June 29, 2008 from mnsu.edu/emuseum/cultural/religion/hinduism/beliefs.html

SAT Book Guide The Best Books for Intense Study

SAT Book Guide The Best Books for Intense Study SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips If you're a student who wants to leave no stone unturned as you prep for the SAT,then this SATpreparationbook guide is for you. These are the best SAT books for students committed to devoting significant time, like 100 or more hours, to get ready for this important test. The recommendations on this book list go beyond a general review of the SAT and provide the skills, strategies, and insights you need to get a top score. Before diving into the SAT book list,let's consider an important question: are books the most effective way to study for the SAT? Are Books the Best Method for Intense Study? Since you're puttingin hard work to achieve your target scores, you also want to make sure your prep materials are working for you. If you're devoting asignificant amount of time to studying, you should see results. So what methods of test prep will be most effective in preparing you for the SAT? If you're looking to use books to prep, you should be aware that all test prep books have pros and cons. Some excel in teaching content while others focus on strategies. On the flip side, somehave unrealisticpractice questionsorbring in concepts that will never actually show up on the SAT. To truly delve into all sections of the SAT, you'd be best served by studying from several of these books together in a coherent sequence. Given this, I'll recommend a possible approach to tackle these books effectively, rather than trying to read them from cover to cover. Even with this plan of attack, studying from books requires a lot of self-discipline and self-motivation. Besides getting ready for the SAT, books pose the extra challenge of designing a logical study plan, prioritizing some concepts over others based on your needs, and sticking to your schedule. Because this degree of discipline is tough for students at all levels and ages, an alternative method of studying that can be very effective is online test prep. PrepScholar's online SAT program incorporates the most useful aspects of these books - content, strategies, high quality practice questions - while adding that helpful component of accountability. Plus it goes one step further and customizes the study plan to you. PrepScholar diagnoses your strengths and weaknesses, helps you design a study plan based on your individualprofile as a test-taker, and tracks your progress along the way. Books can be very useful for students looking to study intensely for the SAT. If you're using books, I recommend taking the time to develop a thoughtful approach and study plan customized to you, setting benchmarks along the way, and finding ways that help you stay accountable to your goals (even when a marathon of your favorite show is on). First on this list is the critical book that all students need for SAT prep. The Critical SAT Prep Book for Practice Tests The book that all students should use to prep for theSAT comes from College Board itself: College Board's Official Study Guide, otherwise known as the Blue Book. While this book is a must have, it also doesn't stand on its own as your only resource. Let's look at the pros and cons of the Blue Book. College Board's Official SAT Study Guide, or the "Blue Book" Amazon price: $16.43 Pros Why is this book so critical? The Blue Book has official practice questions from previously administered SATs. It has 10 official practice tests, meaning over 35 hours of practice testing and 1700 practice questions! Ambitious test-takers shouldnot just take these tests for practice, but also study them deeply. Take the time to understand exactly what each question is asking, as well as any mistakes you made and why. Was it a lack of knowledge? Difficulty managing time? A careless error? By scouring answer explanations and practicing thoroughly, you can become an expert in taking the SAT. Then the real one will just be another 3 hours and 45 minutes that you're well accustomed to. Students who want the full test-taking experience should note that these practice tests are actually only 3 hours and 20 minutes. Why? The real SAT will have an extra 25 minute experimental sectionfor the purpose of testing out future material and maintaining accuracy in scoring. The experimentalsection can be math, critical reading, or writing, but you won't know which one until you finish the test. Even then, you'll only know which section had extra time, but not specifically which 25 minute section was experimental. If you want the true experience in terms of testing time, you might consider adding an extra 25 minute section when you take practice tests. Since official questions are the gold standard, we've gathered 8 official SAT practice tests here that you can use, as well. Four of the tests are from the current version, while the other four are older. The drawback of these is that the answer key doesn't have explanations of each question. Besides the hours of practice testing and studying the Blue Book provides, what are some areas in which it's lacking? Cons The Blue Book stands above the rest for officialquestions, but taking practice tests is not the only part of SAT prep, especially for intense studiers. You want a thorough review of content and skills, plus those extra insights and strategies that will help you avoid the common SAT tricks and pitfalls. The Blue Book is not the best source of instructionor strategies. Since it's created by the test-maker, College Board, it's not going to give away its secrets! The other drawback of the Blue Book is that its answer explanations are not particularly thorough. It only gives a brief explanation why an answer choice is correct, but it usually doesn't delve into why the other answer choices are wrong. Since on the SAT most answer choices usually sound reasonable, this could leave you still feeling confused. Intense studiers should thoroughly understand what a question is asking, along with the common "distractor" answer choices that pop up, especially among passage-based Critical Reading questions. It's also helpful when books guide you through a question type step by step, so you can use that same thought processfor next time. Luckily, there is a book that provides more thorough answer explanations to some of the hardest questions in the Blue Book. You can think of it as the Blue Book's companion: the similarly named Black Book. The Critical SAT Prep Book for Strategy The SAT Prep Black Book by Mike Barrett supplements College Board's Blue Book and refers directly to official SAT questions. If you're looking for a deep understanding of SAT structure and question types, then this book is a must-have on your SAT prep book list. SAT Prep Black Book by Mike Barrett Amazon price: $17.97 Pros According to Barrett, the SAT is actually an easy test. It doesn't test particularly high levelskills, nor does it require you to have learned advanced concepts in math, reading, or writing. Instead, the SAT is difficult for students because it asks about basic concepts in strange ways. Barrett asserts that students can perform well on the SAT by learning about its "strangeness." By seeing through the tricky wording and distracting answer choices, students can use his strategies to greatly improve their scores. While his take may not resonate with everyone, I think he has highly useful insights to share about the test. He can help change the way you think about the SAT and approach and process each question. For instance, Barrett emphasizes that every multiple choice question has only one unambiguously correct answer. When students start to overthink all the realistic-sounding answer choices, that's when they run into trouble. He helps you identify which one is correctfor each question type, along with understanding exactly why the other ones are not quite right. The SAT Prep Black Bookgives thorough explanations of official practice questions, which is a key part of SAT prepfor any motivated student. A lot of his strategies influenced the developers of PrepScholar's online prep program and were incorporated into the way PrepScholarteaches students about the SAT. Cons Because the Black Book delves deeply into the SAT, it requires a lot of commitment from students. To get the most out of it, you really have to be disciplined and engage with the material. Some students find it overly wordy, which can make it hard to stick with. That's why the Black Book tends to be used by the most dedicated SAT studiers. While the Blue Book and Black Book supplement each other well, they are still not sufficient as your only sources of test prep (sorry!). You've probably noticed I talked about practice tests and strategies. So what's missing? Good old-fashioned instruction of content and skills. Drilling yourself on grammar rules, practicing solving algebraic equations, and sharpening your critical reading skills are still essential for doing well on the SAT. The Black Book's strength does not lie here. Instead, it assumes most students have a strong foundation of knowledge. For this kind of test prep, let's look at the best book for overall prep and then the best books by SAT section. The Best SAT Prep Book for General Study For students planning to devote a good amount of time to SAT prep, I recommend Barron's SAT for an examination of all sections of the SAT. Barron's SAT Amazon price: $14.31 Pros Barron's SAT has a comprehensive review of all sections of the SAT. It explains the various question types on Critical Reading and the grammar skills you need for Writing. It's especially thorough in its coverage of SAT math, which it breaks down into numerous subtopics, like percents, solid geometry, coordinate geometry, and logical reasoning, to name a few. Barron's helps you build your vocabulary with a High Frequency Word List and a 3,500 Word List. If you purchase the book, you can also access an online component that helps you design a study plan. Barron's encourages you to start out with a diagnostic test and pinpoint your strengths and weaknesses. In addition, it includes 6 full length practice tests with answer explanations. That's an additional 24 hours of testing and 1,020 practice questions! Combine that with the Blue Book practice tests, and you'll be well on your way to becoming an SAT expert. Cons Barron's SAT is a very thorough book, which is both a strength and a weakness. Because it covers so much, it can feel overwhelming to students. While the book suggests you customize your study plan based on your diagnostic test, this can feel like a lot of added planning. Another weakness of Barron's has to do with its strategies. The introductory chapters offer some suggestions for time management and identifying question types, but it doesn't go much beyond the obvious. It doesn't offer asinsightful a take asthe Black Book or some of the subject-specific books. Finally, many students find that Barron's SAT actually overshoots the SAT with overly advanced concepts, and that its practice tests are unrealistically hard. While overpreparing isn't necessarily the worst problem, you don't want to waste time with concepts you don't need or get an unrealistic sense of your scoring level. When using Barron's SAT practice tests, try to keep an eye out for its similarities and differences with official College Board practice tests. Having a critical eye will help you make the most use out of these unofficial practice questions. Another approach to delving into SAT material is to divide it up by section. These are my recommendations for the best books for SAT math, reading, and writing. Best SAT Prep Books to Study Math These three books - PWN the SAT, Dr. John Chung's SAT Math, and the Powerscore Math Bible - are designed for motivated students looking to gain a top math score. Let's consider the pros and cons of each. PWN the SAT: Math Guide Amazon price: $28.28 Pros According to the author, Mike McClenathan, he wrote PWN the SAT to help "ambitious, highly motivated kids maximize their SAT math scores. He takes a more engaging, personable approach than a lot of other test prep books, as you can tell right away in the introduction: "Do you crave a higher score? Are you willing to do a little hard work to achieve it? Good. I knew I liked you." Given the fact that other test prep books can be a little, ahem,dry,PWN the SAT is a welcome departure in style and tone. He spends the first 30 pages on test-taking strategies and techniques, discussing how best to read the math questions, how to not get fooled by questions that appear easier than they are, and useful guessing strategies that go beyond the obvious. McClenathan breaks each math concept into numerous subtopics, like ratios, prime factorization, symbol functions, circles, and probability. This detailed approach will truly help you leave no stone unturned in your review of any and all math concepts that may show up on the SAT. Like the Black Book, PWN the SAT is best used in conjunction with the Official Study Guide, or the Blue Book. It refers directly to official practice questions, giving detailed answer explanations for all the math questions you'll find there. These go beyond the answer explanations in the Blue Book and are usefulfor understanding your errors and applying the same skills and thought process to similar questions on future tests. In addition to referencing official questions, PWN the SAT has its own diagnostic drills to assess your skills. You can also check out the PWN the SAT website for useful blog posts and a discussion forum where you can connect with other students and leave questions and comments for the author himself. By the way, for any non-gamers out there (myself included), PWN means to conquer and is pronounced "pone." The more you know. Cons PWN the SAT excels in instruction and review, but it doesn't have a ton of its own practice questions. It has to be used alongside the Blue Book, to which it explicitly refers. You should also seek out more practice questions if you need to drill particular skills, like shape geometry or functions. Similar to Barron's SAT, PWN the SAT has been criticized for having overly challenging math questions and examples. Again, you want to keep a critical eye. If you become familiar with the SAT, then you'll be able to sense when a concept or wording of a question exceeds the difficulty level you'll actually encounter. It's also relatively expensive for a book that covers only one section of the SAT. Finally, some students find this book too wordy. I personally find it engaging and funny, at least as far as test prep books, but how much it resonates with you is a matter of individual opinion. You can check out a free preview at Amazon and decide if it speaks to you. Dr. John Chung's SAT Math: 58 Perfect Tips and 20 Complete Tests Amazon price: $26.59 Pros While some books are on the wordy side, Dr. John Chung's SAT Math is not one of them. It cuts down the math section to rules and practice problems. The 58 "tips" are the most important concepts you need to know for math, like linear functions, slope, and proportions. There isn't much here in the way of explanation, so it's geared towards highly achieving math students with a strong foundation in these concepts. It gives you lots of practice problems - 20 practice tests - to drill each of the 58 skills, with thorough, if concise, answer explanations. Cons One downside of this book is the cost, considering it covers only one section of the SAT. It is definitely geared towards more advanced math students, and doesn't offer much in the way of clarifying instruction. Students who don't want to do a lot of reading in their math review will like this approach. Again, check out the free preview on Amazon to see if this style resonates with you. Another con is that the questions can be overly challenging. They are still valuable, especially with the answer explanations, because they drill all the important math concepts. That being said, you want the most realistic practice questions possible to get a true sense of the SAT. Finally, this book has some typos and errors in layout. While this doesn't detract from the quality of the instruction, it can be distracting. Powerscore SAT Math Bible Amazon price: $25.08 Pros The Powerscore SAT Math Bible is a great resource for students with strong math backgrounds and those who feel less confident in this area. It starts with an "operation mastery" section to review important concepts, along with drills to reinforce each skill. It offers 8mainpractical strategies for attacking SAT math questions, along with example problems that show you exactly when and how to apply each strategy. It also explains confusing SAT wording with its "highlighted arithmetricks" and "SAT traps." The chapters are divided by content area - arithmetic, algebra, algebra II, geometry, coordinate geometry, data analysis, statistics, and probability - which are further broken down into subtopics. It also has a glossary to ensure you understand all the math-related terminology. Overall, the Powerscore SAT Math Bible has over 375 high quality example and practice questions, along with detailed explanations. Its online supplementary component also refers to official questions from the Blue Book and has extra study aids like math flash cards. One particular strength of this book is its frequency guide, which rates the importance of concepts from 1 to 5. This helps you prioritize your studying. While books like Dr. Chung's 58 Perfect Tips throw all the concepts at you at once, the Powerscore SAT Math Bible helps you sort them by frequency and importance. Cons While this book has numerous example and practice questions, it's not as substantial when it comes to actual practice tests. You'll want to make sure to incorporate at least a pre-test and post-test into your study plan to gauge your progress, as well as others to measure it along the way. Because this book is geared for students at all levels, it may have extra material you don't need if you're already well versed in the math concepts. For more advanced math students, it may not be immediately challenging because of its introductory sections and material. All three of these math books have strengths and can be effective as you work towards a high score. If you're looking to focus especially on Critical Reading and/or Writing, I recommend the guides by Erica Meltzer. Best SAT Prep Books to Study Critical Reading and Writing Erica Meltzer, who runs the blog, The Critical Reader, has written complete guides to the Reading and Writing sections of the SAT. They're both high quality books useful to students looking to master these sections. The Complete Guide to SAT Critical Reading by Erica Meltzer Amazon price: $31.95 Pros Erica Meltzer has a very lucid take on the SAT Critical Reading. She was an English major in college, but she recognizes that the skills you pick up in English classes don't necessarily translate to a high score on the SAT Reading. Instead, she teaches students about the types of questions and specific skills that SAT Critical Reading calls for. With these insights, she demystifies this section of the test that can otherwise be quite tricky to study for. She breaks down questions into types, like main point and vocabulary in context, and drills each skill with practice questions. Her passages are highly realistic, and she gives practical strategies for managing time and processing key information easily and efficiently. Besides the questions and in-depth explanations, this book has a comprehensive vocabulary section with high frequency words, multiple meaning words, and common roots. To help you prep for sentence completions, she has 75 practice questions featuring commonly used SAT words. Cons One con of this SAT book is the layout and visual presentation. It packs a lot of small font words into each page and doesn't break them up with graphics. This can get old when you're tired from studying for the SAT for hours. Some also find Meltzer's style on the dry side, while others appreciate that she doesn't add unnecessary fluff. It's also on the expensive side, especially taken together with The Complete Guide to SAT Grammar. Another aspect to consider is the way she organizes content by skill. It can be helpful to drill each skill you need for Critical Reading, but remember that the actual tests will present questions in random order. You'll need to both learn the skills and be able to identify what skill each question is testing on your own, without it already being labeled into categories for you. Her guide to SAT grammar similarly organizes content by rule and skill, which is especially useful for reinforcing your knowledge of grammar. The UltimateGuide to SAT Grammar (and SAT Grammar Workbook) by Erica Meltzer Amazon price: $27.86 ($28.45 for workbook) Pros The UltimateGuide to SAT Grammaris a must-have if you're looking for a detailed breakdown and drill of each and every grammar rule that is likely to appear on the SAT. There are dozens of exercises and practice questions to reinforce each rule. This book will help you recognize and correct errors, as well as identify question types so you can predict exactly which rule each question is testing. There are thorough explanations for each practice question, and you can find additional practice questions in the SAT Grammar Workbook. Similar to PrepScholar's approach to SAT Writing prep, Meltzer breaks the section down by skill and clearly instructs students on each one. Cons One major con of these SAT books is the price. If you purchase the reading, grammar, and grammar workbook together, then you're looking at almost $100 already. Since these books don't have a ton of practice tests, you'd also be using at least one or two other books for additional practice testing. While this book helps you drill each skill, you'll want to make sure you can identify and predict the skills on your own. This is another reason why you'll want to reinforce the lessons with practice tests, in which the skills tested byidentifying errors, improving sentences, and improving paragraph questions are all mixed up in random order. Now that you've read my recommendations for the best SAT books to read for intense study, you might be wondering how best to use these books to prepare. Stacking them up in a huge pile will just be daunting, increasing therisk that all these books just end upcollecting dust in a corner of your room. Let's talk about how you can approach these hundreds of pages of material in a manageable, scaffolded way. One step at a time to reach your target scores... How to Study from these SAT Prep Books How can you take this daunting amount of material and break it up into smaller, manageable goals, like taking steps up a long ladder? First, I would recommend taking a diagnostic practice test from the Blue Book. Score your test and use your results to gauge your level and determine which areas require the most focus from you. Depending on how long you plan to study, you can spread out other practice tests in increments. These can be used as benchmarks to track your progress. Remember to leave one for the end of your test prep, close to your actual SAT, to record your score improvements and if need be, do any last minute studying. Review each practice test section by section and mark the questions you miss by practice type and skill. Mike Barrett's Black Book can help you identify question type more clearly, as well as apply strategies to save time and eliminate "distractor" answer choices quickly and easily. After analyzing your results,I would suggest reviewing content and skills where you need tomost. If you're strong in math, you couldstart out by drilling yourself on reading, vocabulary, and grammar. If you scored well on reading, then you might turn to math first. Throughout, you can use practice tests to gauge your improvement and shift to another section once you've improved in the first. If you are a freshman or sophomore, you can start studying a year or so before your first real test. You can devote several hours a week to studying and then ramp up this time commitment in the months leading up to your test. To customize your study plan to your individual needs,I highly recommend analyzing your practice tests and then diving into your weaknesses with relevant recommended SAT prep books. This can help you build up both skills and confidence where you need it most. As planning and sticking to an effective study schedule is a challenging aspect of your test prep, you also might want to look into other options that help you with this planning. Which option will getyou the prize of a high SAT score? Is Studying from Books the Best Option for Intense Prep? Some of these recommended SAT books are highly comprehensive, while others dive into specifics. There are ones that focus on math, reading, and grammar instruction, and others that reveal test-conquering strategies. Taken together, they have the content you need to become an expert in the SAT and achieve top scores. At the same time, self-study from these books requires a ton of discipline. You need to customize your study plan to you, and make sure you sit down and put in the time. There's no one else who's going to know whether you're making time to prep or doing it effectively (except maybe your parents staring over your shoulder). Some students are able to chip away one day, week, and month at a time keeping their end goal in sight, but for most this is a trying test of willpower and motivation. Apart from the isolation of self-study, all these SAT preparation books can get expensive. If you wanted to draw on the strengths of all of them, you'd already be spendingover $200. Sadly, there's no great SAT preparation books with free pdfdownloads. PrepScholar's online program was developed with all this in mind. It has the expert content, strategies, and practice questions, while also understanding the stress, pressure, and challenges of scheduling surround test prep. It's not like you have all the free time in the world tostudy for the SAT, nor do you want to waste time on concepts you already have down. We understand that you want to make the most of your test prep, while getting the intensive prep you need to achieve top scores and be a competitive candidate on college applications. Because PrepScholar has an affordable, all-in-one program that helps you devise a study plan, keep track of your progress, and focus on the areas you need to the most,it has helped many highly achieving students find success. It also has the additional option of a one-on-one tutor, combining the best parts of customizable educational technology with the motivating coaching of an experienced tutor. Besides online prep, you can also find a plethora (10 points for SAT vocab!) of online resources with information and practice for the SAT. Among PrepScholar's SATstrategy guides are The 21 Critical SAT Math Formulas You Must Know How to Get an 800 on SAT Reading The Complete Guide to SAT Grammar Rules 6 SAT Essay Examples You Can Use to Answer Every Essay Prompt Should You Guess on the SAT? 6 Guessing Strategies The Best Way to Review Your Mistakes for the SAT How to Get a Perfect SAT Score, by a 2400 Full Scorer Before adding all these SAT books to your Amazon cart and clicking purchase, I would encourage you to explore and compare the various methods of test prep. If you're committed to working hard for your SAT scores, then make sure you're going about it in the way that's most enjoyable and above all, most effective for you. What's Next? The strategy guides listed above are just a few of the free resources we provideon the SAT. You can explore more practical strategies for the math, Critical Reading, and writing sections of the SAT here. 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Final Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 20

Final - Essay Example The employees cannot go to the court or contact the legal authorities in case of being fired or released prematurely or without any previous notices dispatched. The first is the public policy exception. This is subject to a given employer and industry that is working in a given state and the overall ruling and standing of the state in that regard. The injury incurred during the working hours and various other conditions that are unforeseen and have little doing with regard to the employees work make up for the exception in the entire process. The second exception is that of employee’s case of being targeted based on the racial discrimination. In case of the client’s believe that anything of similar form may have taken place, the employer can be subjected to questioning and the employee may well go to the court or the legal entity and win the case against their employers. The labor unions provide for support and protection against this case and often the employees enrolled under the protection of various labor unions in a given state can enjoy this entitlement and protection in case of conflict between the two parties. As the Director of HR Golden Hospital I would have the concerns regarding the overall irregularities that are in practices and due to which one of the employees was terminated. I would be worried making sure these practices are stopped at once and professional practices are taken into account. Also the employees stance of questioning the overall cause of termination would be another point that would concern me. The H.R department should be notified about her termination and the reason for her termination should be mentioned. The concerned departments and individuals should also be told of the shortcomings that were faced in the form of her performance and the overall negligence that came forth in the event of the overall scenario. The situation would be handled in the

News Article Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

News Article Analysis - Essay Example According to Miller, the higher pricing trend is fairly pinpointing the lack of competition in the market. The limited supply from few and rising demand from many locals and international investors is creating lack of competition here. Some suppliers are enjoying the high profits by selling the condominiums in high prices and are intended to cover losses made due to the recession. This concept is derived form the theory of demand-pull price hike. Since the market was showing intensified demand for the condos, the towers also being transformed into condos. It is also creating hype among the potential buyers as constantly rising prices are creating urgency to conduct a deal. This strategy resulted in sales increase according to the letter to attorney journal from the condos developer on Oct. 24, 2012. The market concept tells that less supply and more demand increases the prices in the market and so alike pre-crises market the sellers charging premium prices from customers. Throughout the articles it is reflected that every real state seller especially in the condos is charging high prices taking advantage of the lack of competition in the market. The scarcity of supply shaped some sort of oligopolistic competition in the Manhattan market. ... The shortage of supply in the market is resulted due to recession because of which the construction was brought at halt.. The recession in the US economy affected all the business sectors throughout the country. Every state of US faced a recession’s impact. The system’s problem originated when the lending capacity of banks became weaker because of the bankruptcies of huge multinationals and more specifically banks. The bankruptcy of huge firms and investment house Lehman Brothers played the role of nail in the coffin and was the actual reason for bringing the recession in the US economy.. The mortgage lenders analyzed the situation and stopped making more investments on real state industry. Also, the investors of real state industry delayed their plans of investment because of the decreasing demand. The real state investors in Manhattan moved with trend and decreased their investments in the real sate sector of the state. Those projects that were under construction at t he time of recession were the only supply for near future. Also, real real-estate constructors bought the drowning investors’ unit at bucks in recession. Hence, when the economy started getting recover after the phase of recession there were only few suppliers of newly constructed condominiums were competing in the market. Also, for the period of next two years they were the only suppliers in the market. The recovery led the people of Manhattan to bring back their investments in purchasing condominiums which increased demand. Real estate companies increased prices because of lack of competition or the unavailability of demanded supply. The prices were charged higher with a margin of good percentage and due

New Forms of International Conflict Essay -- International Politics

The conflicts of the last few centuries have been dominated by the West. The two world wars and the subsequent Cold War were dominated by Western states and ideals. It is posited that as the USSR collapsed and the Cold War ceased, the conflict of the West subsided and allowed conflicts of other nations and factions have come to the fore. As the bipolar world system became unipolar, other issues emerged or gained prevalence, the economy seeped back into world economy, technology has advanced at a rapid rate completely changing the way wars are fought and America pursued its goal of democratisation. America became the dominant superpower in 1989, as the world moved into a unipolar system; thus changing the country’s foreign policy. Instead of fighting the ‘evil empire’ (Reagan: 1983) the foreign policy changed to protecting international stability and leading a worldwide movement for democracy. This policy has portrayed figures, arguably rightly, as modern-day Hitler’s. Saddam Hussein, Colonel Gadaffi and Hosni Mubarak have seen this treatment, until the pretence of forming a ‘new world order’ (Carpenter: 1991: 24) The US has been seen to have become the world police. This has created anger amongst many Arab states as the US attempts to force democracy on countries with mixed results; Grenada and Panama were successful whilst Lebanon and Iraq proved costly, in terms of money and human lives, and the failure to establish an effective democracy. Lebanon saw 250 American casualties whereas Iraq has seen 4483. (iCasualties.org:2011) This chang e in conflict has been brought on by nearly global acceptance of democracy and the lack of a significant opponent to challenge the US. China may be where the world is looking to rival the US but ... ...Order (2002) 7. B Gokay and R B J Walker (eds), 11 September 2001: War, Terror and Judgement (2002) 8. Ronald Reagan, ‘Evil Empire Speech’, March 9th 1983. http://www.nationalcenter.org/ReaganEvilEmpire1983.html 9. Icasulties details the casualties occurred during the Iraq war. http://icasualties.org/iraq/index.aspx, 07.12.2011 10. Geohive, a website, 2011, that gives estimated world population numbers. http://www.geohive.com/ 11. Google public date explorer, 2011, gives information about various economic statistics about world states http://www.google.co.uk/publicdata/explore?ds=d5bncppjof8f9_&met_y=ny_gdp_mktp_cd&idim=country:CHN&dl=en&hl=en&q=china+gdp#ctype=l&strail=false&bcs=d&nselm=h&met_y=ny_gdp_mktp_cd&scale_y=lin&ind_y=false&rdim=country&idim=country:CHN:USA:GBR&ifdim=country&hl=en&dl=en 12. M. Van Creveld (1991) On Future War. London: Brassey’s.

Organizational Counseling Essay

Counseling is the service offered to the individual who is under going a problem and needs professional help to overcome it. The problem keeps him disturbed high strung and under tension and unless solved his development is hampered or stunted. Counseling therefore is a more specialized service requiring training in personality development and handling exceptional groups of individuals. Meaning of counseling Complex processes such as counseling are always difficult to define. In dictionary terms the word Counseling has a variety of meanings. It often implies the giving of advice or the recommendation of a particular course of action, presupposing that the one who is advising or recommending does so from a basis of superior knowledge and greater wisdom. The term also carries certain connotations which are derived from the legal use of the word ‘counsel’. In recent years, however, the word â€Å"counseling† has acquired a specific meaning as a technical term to describe a particular kind of therapeutic interaction between people. Many authors and institutions have defined counseling as follows: The steering committee of the Standing Committee for the Advancement of Counseling (UK) in 1969 offered the following definition. â€Å"Counseling is a process through which one person helps another by purposeful conversation in an understanding atmosphere. It seeks to establish a helping relationship in which the one counseled can express his/her thoughts and feelings in such a way as to clarify his/her situation, come to terms with some new experience, see his/her difficulty more objectively, and to face the problem with less anxiety and tension. Its basic purpose is to assist individuals to make their decision from among the choices available to them.† Three components which are essential if the meeting of two persons, one of whom has a problem, is to be termed â€Å"counseling† are the process, the objectives, the relationship. According to Brammer & Shostrom, â€Å"Counseling is defined as a way of relating  and responding to another person so that he/she is helped to explore his thoughts, feelings and behavior to reach a clear self-understanding. Also, the person is helped to find and use his/her strengths to be able to cope more effectively with making appropriate decisions, or taking appropriate action.† According to Makinde (1983) â€Å"Counseling is as an integrative process between a client, who is vulnerable and who needs assistance, and a counselor who is trained and educated to give this assistance. The goal of the interaction is to help the client learn to deal more effectively with him/herself and the reality of his environment.† According to Willey & Andrew, Counseling involves two individuals one seeking help and other a professionally trained person helped solved problems to orient and direct him to words a goals. Employee Counseling Counseling has been practiced in one form to other since the evolution of mankind. In every field which requires dealing with people, counseling is essential. Counseling is dyadic relationship between two persons; a manager who is offering help (counselor) and an employee whom such help is given (counselee). It may be formal or informal. Formal counseling is a planned and systematic way of offering help to subordinates by expert counselors. Informal counseling is concerned with day to day relationship between the manager and his subordinates where help is readily offered without any formal plan. Every manager has a responsibility to counsel his subordinates. When individual managers are unable to deal with specific problems, the counseling services of a professional body is required. An organization can either offer the services of a full-time in-house counselor or refer the employee to a community counseling service. Counseling occasionally is necessary for employees due to job and personal problems that subject them to excessive stress. Counseling is discussion of a problem that usually has emotional content with an employee in order to help the employee cope with  it better. Counseling seeks to improve employee’s mental health. People feel comfortable about themselves and about other people and able to meet the demands of life when they are good in mental health. The counseling need not be limited to work-related issues. Marital problems, problems with children, financial difficulties or general psychiatric problems may not be directly related to the job, however, we recognize that individuals cannot completely separate their life away from the job from their life on the job. Therefore personal problems do affect a worker’s job performance. So counseling is also necessary for personal problems along with work- related issues. Performance counseling involves helping an employee understand his own performance, find where he stands in relation to others and identify ways to improve his skills and performance. It focuses, essentially, â€Å"on the analysis of performance of the job and identification of training needs for further improvement†. An increasingly popular form of counseling involves employees who are about ready to retire. Pre-retirement counseling prepares individuals to deal with the realities of leisure, as well as ou tlining details about social security benefits and company pension provisions. Employee Counseling at Workplace It is required of every manager to help his subordinate in the free exploration of his strengths, abilities, competence, interests and other related positive features. It requires participation from both the parties in the performance review and goal-setting process. Thus, performance counseling has become an important feature not only in performance review but also in the implementation of the appraisal system in the organization. It is natural that subordinates need guidance, coaching or help of an experienced person. This role may be played by the immediate superior or the personnel manager. The managers or superiors who have to play the role of ‘counselor’ can play it successfully if they develop the skill for counseling. Such a skill would be useful in understanding subordinates, assisting them in their efforts to grow and develop, and in improving their interpersonal relations both at work and in the society at large. Counseling is a two-way process in which a coun selor provides help to the workers by  way of advice and guidance. There are many occasions in work situations when a worker feels the need for guidance and counseling. The term â€Å"counseling† refers to the help given by a superior to his subordinate in improving the latter’s performance. It is in effect a process of helping subordinates to achieve better adjustment with his work environment, to behave as a psychologically mature individual, and help in achieving a better understanding of others so that his dealings with them can be effective and purposeful. Distinction between Organizational Counseling Interventions & Organizational Development Organizational Development (OD) and Organizational Counseling Interventions (OCI) are two natural extensions of systems thinking within the larger discipline of Psychology. Given the fact that OD and OCI technologies have a common origin within Psychology as a discipline, and the development of the systems perspective in particular, it is necessary to identify the core distinctions between these two approaches to serving the organization: Both OCI and OD interventions are designed to improve overall organizational health and effectiveness, which in turn improve the working conditions of individual employees. Some of the typical areas of focus and expertise where OD and OCI differ are listed below, and these may be used as decision-making criteria. Organizational Development Organizational Counseling Leadership development Personality dysfunction (substance abuse, psychiatric symptoms, etc.) Departmental (re)organization Stress/Change Management Poor Morale Grief reaction to loss or death Group retreats Critical Incident Stress Management Skills development and technology usage Employee/patient safety issues Team – building Communication breakdown within teams Workplace climate Entrenched interpersonal conflict Promoting improved/increased organizational performance Promoting organizational wellness Who Can Counsel People who are in a position to counsel in the work place could be co-workers who would function as peer counselors, supervisors and managers who would counsel their own staff and staff members like the human resources manager and the training manager who could counsel any staff member because of the uniqueness of their positions. In addition, directors or senior managers are well placed to counsel members of the management staff. Counseling deals with personal, social, vocational, empowerment, and educational concerns. Counselors work only in areas in which they have expertise. These areas may include intra- and interpersonal concerns related to school or college adjustment, mental health, aging, marriage or family issues, employment, and rehabilitation. Counseling Quick Reference Keep this quick reference to use whenever counseling individuals, employees or team members. Counselors must demonstrate these qualities to counsel effectively: a) Respect for subordinates. b) Self and cultural awareness. c) Credibility. d) Empathy. Counselors must possess these counseling skills: 1. Active listening. 2. Responding. 3. Questioning. Effective counselors avoid common counseling mistakes. Counselors should avoid: 1. Personal bias. 2. Rash judgments. 3. Stereotyping. 4. Losing emotional control. 5. Inflexible counseling methods. 6. Improper follow-up. When to Counsel There are many situations in the workplace when counseling might be called for: Some of these problems arise outside the work place. They can be personal problems such as sexual behavior that might pose a high risk for HIV/AIDS, or addiction to drugs or alcohol. They may be related to family issues: money problems, sickness and death in the family causing grief or trauma. They may also be issues related specifically to the work place, such as matters like career development, discipline, performance, relating to customers or clients, promotion, redeployment, transfers, redundancies, retirement, etc. There might be problems individuals have in relating to others in the work place, either as individuals or as part of a team. Other problems may lie in relating to customers, to bosses or to those in authority in general. Bosses might also have problems in relating to their juniors. Need of Counseling Counseling is an integral part of an over-all program of guidance. â€Å"Counseling is a specific process of assistance extended by an expert in an individual situation to a needy person†. This means the counseling situation arises when a needy person is face to face with and expert who makes available his assistance to the needy individual to fulfill his needs. There is an urgent need of introducing and strengthening the counseling service to meet the various needs of the individuals or employees. 1. To help in the total development of the organization: Along with the intellectual development proper motivation and clarification of goals and ideas to pupils in conformity with their basic potentialities and social tendencies are important total development of the individual nauseates that individual differences among them are expected, accepted, understood and planned for and all types of experiences in an institution are to be so organized as to contribute to the total development of the organization. 2. To develop readiness for choice and changes to face new challenges. 3. To minimize the mismatching between achievement and expectation and help in the  efficient use of manpower. 4. To motivate the youth for self-employment. 5. To help fresher establish proper identity 6. To identify and motivate the counselee 7. To help the counselee in their period of turmoil and confusion. 8. To help in checking wastage and stagnation. 9. To identity and help individuals in need of special help. 10. To minimize the incidence of indiscipline. Bargadon has mentioned the following situations where counseling in required: 1. When a pupil requires not only reliable information but also an interesting introspection of those in formations which can solve his personal difficulties. 2. When a pupil needs intelligent listener who has more experience than the pupil to whom he can recite his difficulties and through which can seek suggestions for his working plan. 3. When the counselor has to assess those facilities which can help in resolving the pupil problems but the pupil doesn’t enjoy such an access to those facilities. 4. When the pupil has some problem but he is unaware of that problem and his development, he is to be made aware of that problem. 5. When the pupil is aware of the problem and difficulties created by the problem but he feels difficult to define it and to understand it that is, when the pupil is familiar with the presence of the problem and its nature but he is unable to face the problem due to this tempor ary tension and distraction. 6. When the pupil suffer the main maladjustment problem or some handicapped with is temporary and which needs careful long due diagnosis by an expert. Characteristics of Effective Counseling 1. Purpose: Clearly define the purpose of the counseling. 2. Flexibility: Fit the counseling style to the character of each subordinate and to the relationship desired. 3. Respect: View subordinates as unique, complex individuals, each with a distinct set of values, beliefs, and attitudes. 4. Communication: Establish open, two-way communication with subordinates using spoken language, nonverbal actions, gestures, and body language. Effective counselors listen more than they speak. 5. Support: Encourage subordinates through actions while guiding them through their  problems. Problems in Employee Counseling A manager has to deal with various types of problems in dealing with his subordinates, employees and particularly problem employees. Basically no employee is a problem employee, except hereditary and inborn perversions, criminal tendencies, addictions, and nervous and psychological breakdowns. Once an employee turns to be a problem employee, the employer has mainly two options viz., repair and recover, or replace. For the purpose of repairing and recovering and rehabilitating, employee counseling has an important role to play. Problems are generally associated with the causes like: 1. Inferiority and Low Self-Esteem Inferiority feeling of an employee may play great havoc in individual life and work. Though a mild form of inferiority in certain persons may help them to work hard and overcome the inferiority. But very often, inferiority complex may lead a person to utter disappointment and depression leading to withdrawal perversion, absenteeism and even psychosomatic and psychotic problems. Inferiority is a feeling of inadequacy in comparison with others, or a feeling of being inferior to others. When the inferiority feelings in a person become overwhelming and persisting, it may develop into a state which Adler called â€Å"inferiority complex†. Recently thinkers started believing that inferiority can be overcome with the help of self-esteem, and effective counseling helps in gaining self-esteem. Self-esteem is closely linked with self-image, self-worth and self-concept. Self-concept and self-image are the terms which represent the picture which we have of ourselves. Self-image and self-c oncept may include a list of character traits, physical features, attitudes, feelings, strengths, weaknesses etc. Self-esteem refers to the evaluation which an individual makes of his worth, competence, value and significance. When a person loses self-esteem, he develops inferiority in him, which grows into an inferiority complex. Such people do not feel worth of themselves. Hence, the basic task of a counselor is to improve self-esteem in such counselees. 2. Injustice or Ill-treatment Very often injustice or ill-treatment makes considerable impact in their minds resulting in behavioral problems, inferiority and low self-esteem. Depriving an employee of adequate wages, leave, or any perks, giving him an arrogant treatment, depriving a legitimate promotion, promoting somebody overlooking the legitimate candidate; may such incidents take place in organizations very often which may result in inferiority feeling or feeling of low self-esteem and low morale affecting the efficiency of the aggrieved employee. As far as possible such incidents must be avoided. Once such a situation arises and an employee is aggrieved, it is better to rectify it. However, if the aggrieved employee is counseled and rectification is promised at a later date, he or she can be brought back to the proper track. 3. Premarital Anxieties and Sexual Perversions Premarital anxieties are common in many young employees. Once the marriage is arranged and the person is engaged, his anxiety increases. Two people of different family backgrounds, different cultures, different environments, etc., are bound to have anxieties before they come together. If one happens to wait unmarried after a particular age too, one’s anxiety is bound to increase. Similarly, there are possibilities for sexual perversions in not only young employees but even in married employees. There are people with broken relationships who are tempted to be subject to sexual perversions and resulting guilty conscious. In all such cases the concerned employee needs counseling before a total breakdown and collapse of personality. Such people can be spiritually motivated, educated, kept under the close contact of an influence group, and so on. 4. Alcoholism Alcoholism is, perhaps, the largest threat to the human element of organization. In fact, alcoholism is a serious social, moral and health problem. It ruins careers, disrupts families, affects productivity and efficiency, destroys bodies, and leads to untold human misery. Many traffic accidents are caused by alcohol abuse. There are many causes which lead to alcoholism. Prominent among them are: (i) Hereditary drinking; (ii) Executive culture; (iii) Executive stresses; (iv) Physiological reasons; (v) Broken family set up; (vi) Environmental influence; (vii) Low job  satisfaction and morale; (viii) Tasks involving strenuous physical exertion; (ix) Perpetuating influences ; (x) Feelings of depression and stagnation; and (xi) Feeling of isolation and loneliness. A counselor’s job is not easy as far as an alcoholic is concerned. One or a few counseling sessions may not yield any considerable effect. However, a sincere effort on the part of an executive counselor may help an alco holic employee, at least in the long-run. Some medical intervention may also be helpful along with counseling. 5. The problem of Addictions Another important employee problem which deserves counseling is addictions. Addiction is a very dangerous problem which torments the social and work environment of today. Drug addiction has gone beyond proportions among youngsters now-a-days. Not only drug addiction, many people are addicted to alcohol, pornographic materials, television, sexual immorality, smoking, compulsive spending, overeating, gambling, and so on. There are some people who are addicted to earning money and amassing wealth by hook or by crook. There are workaholics who have addiction to work, due to which there are many broken families in the urban society. Addiction is any habit, practice, behavior or even thinking which is habitually or compulsively attached to a person, which exerts more and more control and power over him. There can be many causes for addiction; some of which are: (i) Inadequate parental care; (ii) Broken family atmosphere; (iii) Bad company; (iv) Peer or other social influence; (v) Feeling o f emptiness in life; depression or stresses; (vi) Low self-esteem and deception; & (vii) Psychological problems. Both drug addiction and alcohol abuse involve behavior change, physical deterioration, family stresses, financial problems, career destruction, increasing psychological disintegration, lawlessness and so on. Addiction affects both the victim and his family. Even the psychologists and counselors may exhaust and drain themselves out by constant pressure of dealing with addicts. Hence, it is not an easy task for executives to deal with such cases. However, very tactful approach on the part of the executives and managers may make a considerable effect in helping them if they act in time. â€Å"A stitch in time saves nine†. 6. Mental Conflict in Union Rivalries In recent times, there are many employees who lose their confidence, mental peace, job satisfaction and productivity due to union rivalries. Many right thinking and unattached employees become the victims of such rivalries. Some militant trade union leaders and their henchmen even manhandle assault and ill-treat such employees. Their legitimate promotions and claims are blocked by such trade unionists. Sometimes even management becomes helpless in doing justice to such employees due to the obstructions and resistances created by such union leaders. In such situations victims are bound to be disappointed, disgruntled and aggrieved resulting in depression and stress. Executive counselors and human resources executives have great role to play in rebuilding the personality and career through counseling and timely intervention. They can be recovered, and revitalized through counseling and timely guidance. They can then be exposed and developed through training followed by redeployment and a change in placement. 7. Breakdown in Interpersonal Relationships Breakdown in interpersonal relationships is another important problem which creates low morale and depression in work-life which deserves timely intervention and counseling. There are many stress situations in one’s work life. Organizational causes of stress are occupational demands, role conflict, role ambiguity (stress from uncertainly), stresses from overload and under load, responsibility for others, stresses from evaluation, poor working conditions, unwanted changes, and such other factors lead to personal stresses. Interpersonal stresses make more impact in work life. Strains and breakdowns in interpersonal relationships have direct relationship with individual stresses. When cordial relationships exist in the work place, impact of other stresses may get effectively tackled. But when stresses from strained interpersonal relationship in the work environment increase, the individual’s effectiveness, balance and productivity can get affected. In all such occasions, c ounseling and guidance would become necessary to help the individual to control his problem emotions and sustain himself to be effective in the group. 8. Low Job Satisfaction and Morale Another important cause which affects the human behavior in organization is low job satisfaction backed by low morale. Low job satisfaction leads to low morale and vice-versa. Morale and job satisfaction are closely tied to the basic concepts of attitudes and motivation. Wages have been found to be the basic determinant of job satisfaction. However, once the monetary needs are considerably met by the wages, other aspects like self-actualization, fulfillment, working conditions, security of employment, prestige, agreeability of the job, group cohesiveness, expertise, etc., also determine the job satisfaction. Some researchers have thrown light on the positive relationship between occupational level and job satisfaction. Job satisfaction has a considerable relation with the promotion possibility. Superior-subordinate relationship and cooperative and affectionate attitude and approach of the superior may also influence the job satisfaction level of the subordinates, though much empirica l work has not been done in this area. Low job satisfaction and low morale must be tackled at the root. Immediate supervisor or superior may first come to know about the problem in his subordinate and initiate timely and sincere counseling efforts. At times, assistance of professional counselors can be sought. Every manager must make up his mind to nip in the bud all such problems which adversely affect job satisfaction and morale with the help of skillful counseling. 9. Breakdown in Family Life Every individual, rich or poor, has to face many family problems, some of which can seriously affect the peace of mind, happiness, achievement motivation and efficiency. Those who have broken family lives and serious family problems may possibly become unsuccessful in their work life too. Very often problem which affect the family life can convert a good employee into a problem employee. Studies have already proved that some alcoholics and drug addicts are the products of broken families. In fact, breakdown in family life very often affects the work life. Hence, if such employees are provided with ways to release their tension, their efficiency can be improved. Counseling is of great importance in such cases once such employees can be brought to proper track with the help of counseling, their personality, behavior and performance can be improved with the help of exposure in training, T-group formation, etc., so that better sense of  cohesion and commitment to organization can be en sured. Solving the Problems of Employee Counseling The problems of employee counseling can be solved in various ways. The following could be simple check list to follow – 1. Deal with dignity: An individual has to be dealt with dignity. An individual is more a victim of circumstances. This should be communicated clearly to assuage feelings of the individual. 2. Give time: Give individuals time and avoid shock impact. This gives the employee time to think of alternatives in a job loss situation. Importantly, the employee might try and improve productivity. 3. Build courage and confidence: Highlight strengths of the individual and build personal confidence level. Irrespective of personal circumstances, retaining confidence and mental balance, is critical. 4. Offer help: Offer personal and corporate help. More important than offering help is to listen patiently and offer whatever help is possible. 5. Involve family, where possible: A job affects the family and hence, where the employee is receptive, involve the family in counseli ng. 6. Give positive references: Give good and positive references to employees terminated to improve their chances of sourcing an alternate employment. 7. Allow use of facilities: As far as possible, allow a usage of corporate facilities, especially where there is no direct cash outflow. Typical facilities would include transport, sports, club, library, canteen etc. 8. Offer subsidy: In large companies, employees are eligible for a variety of benefits including transport, housing and furniture. Where possible, continue to offer these facilities at a subsidized price, for a short period of three to six months. 9. Communicate: Most importantly, involve the employee and listen empathetically. Keep in touch with the employee at some frequency to sustain courage to face the crisis and instill a ray of hope to come out of the crisis successfully. Aims of Counselling Counselling and guidance aims to: enable citizens to manage and plan their learning and work pathways in accordance with their life goals, assist educational and training institutions to have well motivated pupils, students and trainees who take  responsibility for their own learning and set their own goals for achievement assist enterprises and organisations to have well motivated, employable and adaptable staff, capable of accessing and benefiting from learning opportunities both within and outside the workplace provide policymakers with an important means to achieve a wide range of public policy goals support local, regional, and national economies through workforce development and adaptation to changing economic demands and social circumstances assist in the development of societies, in which citizens actively contribute to their social and democratic development Importance of counselling aims within labour market: Within the labour market, guidance and counselling can: Improve the accuracy and accessibility of the information available to individuals about short- and long-term job opportunities. In turn this can improve individual decision making about jobs and about job training opportunities. achieve a better match between skills, interests and qualifications on the one hand and available job opportunities on the other help to improve the allocation of labour across regions, industries and occupations in the face of labour supply and demand fluctuations resulting from technological and structural change Significance of Counseling 1. Decision marking construct: The psychological problems of adolescents can be seen as decision making problems. 2. Conflict: These decisions making problems almost always involve some conflict, either because of factor emotional ambiguities or both. 3. Assertions: Behavior is a result at the assumptions, beliefs, and attitudes that one his about himself, others and the world in which her lives. 4. Disconfirmations: The effects of behavior following decisions are feed back to the individual perceived and they confirm or disconfirm ascertain to varying degrees. 5. Tension: When assertions are disconfirmed, tensions result. 6. Redundancy: Tensions inhibit the ability of an individual to reexamine his assertions and attempt to confirm them and thus they cause redundant behavior. Reception and Integration Counseling Points Reception and integration counseling should begin immediately upon arrival so new team members can quickly become integrated into the organization. Counselor must counsel new team members when they arrive at organization. This reception and integration counseling serves two purposes: First, it identifies and helps fix any problems or concerns that new members may have, especially any issues resulting from the new duty assignment. Second, it lets them know the organizational standards and how they fit into the team. It clarifies job titles and sends the message that the chain of command cares. Chain of command familiarization. Organizational standards. Security and safety issues. Noncommissioned officer (NCO) support channel (who is in it and how it is used). On- and off-duty conduct. Personnel/personal affairs/initial and special issues. Organizational history, structure, and mission. Human resource practices within the organization Off limits and danger areas. Functions and locations of support activities. On- and off-post recreational, educational, cultural, and historical opportunities. Environmental orientations both internal and external. Other areas the individual should be aware of as determined by the counselor. Approaches/Types of Employee Counseling In attempting to help an employee who has a problem, a variety of counseling  approaches are used. All of these counseling approaches, however, depend on active listening. Sometimes the mere furnishing of information or advice may be the solution to what at first appeared to be a knotty problem. More frequently, however, the problem cannot be solved easily because of frustrations or conflicts that are accompanied by strong feelings such as fear, confusion, or hostility. A manager, therefore, needs to learn to use whatever approach appears to be suitable at the time. Flexibility is a key component of the employee counseling process. There are three types/approaches to counseling which are given as follows – 1. Directive 2. Non-directive 3. Participative 1. Directive Counseling: It is full counseling. It is the process of listening to an employee’s problem, deciding with the employee what should be done and telling and motivating the employee to do it. This type of counseling mostly does the function of advice, reassurance and communication. It may also perform other functions of counseling. Advantages and disadvantages of Directive counseling Exhibit 1: Advantages and disadvantages of Directive counseling Advantages: Quickest method. Good for people who need clear, concise direction. Allows counselors to actively use their experience. Disadvantages: Doesn’t encourage subordinates to be part of the solution. Tends to treat symptoms, not problems. Tends to discourage subordinates from talking freely. Solution is the counselor’s, not the subordinate’s. 2. Non-directive Counseling: In non-directive counseling, the employee is permitted to have maximum freedom in determining the course of the interview. It is the process of skillfully listening and encouraging a counselee to explain troublesome problems, understand them and determine  appropriate solutions. Fundamentally, the approach is to listen, with understanding and without criticism or appraisal, to the problem as it is described by the employee. The employee is encouraged, through the manager’s attitude and reaction to what is said or not said, to express feelings without fear of shame, embarrassment, or reprisal. The free expression that is encouraged in the non-directive approach tends to reduce tensions and frustrations. The employee who has had an opportunity to release pent-up feelings is usually in a better position to view the problem more objectively and with a problem-solving attitude. Advantages and disadvantages of Non-directive counseling Exhibit 2: Advantages and disadvantages of Non-directive counseling Advantages: Encourages maturity. Encourages open communication. Develops personal responsibility. Disadvantages: More time-consuming Requires greatest counselor skill. 3. Participative Counseling: Both directive and non-directive methods suffer from limitations. While the former is often not accepted by independent employees, the latter needs professionals to operate and hence is costly. Hence, the counseling used in most situations is in between these two. This middle path is known as participative counseling. Participative is a counselor-counselee relationship that establishes a cooperative exchange of ideas to help solve an employee’s problems. It is neither wholly counselor-centered nor wholly counselee-centered. Counselor and counselee mutually apply their different knowledge, perceptions, skills, perspectives and values to problem into the problems and find solutions. Advantages and disadvantages of participative counseling Exhibit 3: Advantages and disadvantages of participative counseling Advantages: Moderately quick. Encourages maturity. Encourages open communication. Allows counselors to actively use their experience. Disadvantages: May take too much time for some situations. Methods of Employee Counseling Effectiveness of counseling largely depends on the methods and techniques as well as the skills used by the counselor. Methods and techniques of counseling change from person to person and from situation to situation. Normally employee counseling involves the following methods: 1. Desensitization: Once an individual is shocked in a particular situation, he gives himself no chance for the situation to recur. This method can be used to overcome avoidance reactions, so as to improve the emotional weak spots. If an employee is once shocked by the behavior, approach or action of his superior, he would continue to avoid that superior. It is difficult for such superiors to be effective counselors, unless such superiors prove otherwise through their behavior or action on the contrary. Similarly, once an employee is shocked by a particular situation, he can be brought back to that situation only if he will be convinced through desensitization that the shock will not to take place further. Counselor can make use of desensitization in such situations. 2. Catharsis: Discharge of emotional tensions can be called catharsis. Emotional tensions can be discharged by talking them out or by relieving of the painful experience which engendered them. It is an important technique as a means of reducing the tensions associated with anxiety, fear, hostility, or guilt. Catharsis helps to gain insight into the ways an emotional trauma has been affecting the behavior. 3. Insight: With the help of insight one may find that he has devalued himself unnecessarily, or his aspirations were unrealistic, or that his childish interpretation of an event was inaccurate. Then he can overcome his weakness. 4. Developing the new patterns: Developing new patterns becomes very often necessary when other methods to deal with weak spots remain ineffective. In order to develop new, more satisfying emotional reactions, the individual needs to expose himself to situations where he can experience positive feelings. The manager who deals with such individuals may motivate or instigate them to put themselves into such situations, so that their self-confidence may increase. Every counselor must concentrate his full attention on two aspects viz., using of assessment tools, and utilizing counseling methods, choice of which differs from person to person, situation to situation, and from case to case. The Counseling Process Effective counselors use the four stages of counseling process which are given as follows – A. Identify the need for counseling. B. Prepare for counseling. C. Conduct counseling. D. Follow up. A. Identify the Need for Counseling Quite often organizational policies, such as counseling associated with an evaluation or counseling required by the command, focus a counseling session. However, one may conduct developmental counseling whenever the need arises for focused, two-way communication aimed at subordinate development. Developing subordinates consists of observing the subordinate’s performance, comparing it to the standard, and then providing feedback to the subordinate in the form of counseling. B. Prepare For Counseling Successful counseling requires preparation. To prepare for counseling, do the following: 1. Select a suitable place. 2. Schedule the time. 3. Notify the subordinate well in advance. 4. Organize information. 5. Outline the counseling session components. 6. Plan your counseling strategy. 7. Establish the right atmosphere. 1. Select a Suitable Place: Schedule counseling in an environment that minimizes interruptions and is free from distracting sights and sounds. 2. Schedule the Time: When possible, counsel a subordinate during the duty day. Counseling after duty hours may be rushed or perceived as unfavorable. The length of time required for counseling depends on the complexity of the issue. Generally a counseling session should last less than an hour. If one need more time, schedule a second session. Additionally, select a time free from competition with other activities and consider what has been planned after the counseling session. Important events can distract a subordinate from concentrating on the counseling. 3. Notify the Subordinate Well in Advance: For a counseling session to be a subordinate-centered, two-person effort, the subordinate must have time to prepare for it. The subordinate should know why, where, and when the counseling will take place. Counseling following a specific event should happen as close to the event as possible. However, for performance or professional development counseling, subordinates may need a week or more to prepare or review specific products, such as support forms or counseling records. 4. Organize Information: Solid preparation is essential to effective counseling. Review all pertinent information. This includes the purpose of the counseling, facts and observations about the subordinate, identification of possible problems, main points of discussion, and the development of a plan of action. Focus on specific and objective behaviors that the subordinate must maintain or improve as well as a plan of action with clear, obtainable goals. 5. Outline the Components of the Counseling Session: Using the information obtained, determine what to discuss during the counseling session. Note what prompted the counseling, what one aims to achieve, and what one’s role as a  counselor is. Identifying possible comments or questions to help counselor to keep the counseling session subordinate-centered and to help the subordinate progress through its stages. Although counselor never knows what a subordinate will say or do during counseling, a written outline helps organize the session and enhances the chance of positive results. 6. Plan Counseling Strategy: As many approaches to counseling exist as there are leaders. The directive, nondirective, and combined approaches to counseling were addressed earlier. Use a strategy that suits your subordinates and the situation. 7. Establish the Right Atmosphere: The right atmosphere promotes two-way communication between a counselor and subordinate. To establish a relaxed atmosphere, you may offer the subordinate a seat or a cup of coffee. Counselor may want to sit in a chair facing the subordinate since a desk can act as a barrier. Some situations make an informal atmosphere inappropriate. For example, during counseling to correct substandard performance, as a counselor you may direct the subordinate to remain standing while you remain seated behind a desk. This formal atmosphere, normally used to give specific guidance, reinforces the leader’s rank, position in the chain of command, and authority. C. Conduct the Counseling Session Be flexible when conducting a counseling session. Often counseling for a specific incident occurs spontaneously as counselors encounter subordinates in their daily activities. Such counseling can occur in any suitable places wherever subordinates feel ease. Good counselors take advantage of naturally occurring events to provide subordinates with feedback. Even when counselor haven’t prepared for formal counseling, s/he should address the four basic components of a counseling session. The purpose is to guide effective counseling rather than mandate a series of rigid steps. Counseling sessions consist of: 1. Opening the session. 2. Discussing the issues. 3. Developing the plan of action. 4. Recording and closing the session. Ideally, a counseling session results in a subordinate’s commitment to a plan of action. Assessment of the plan of action (discussed below) becomes the starting point for follow-up counseling. 1. Open the Session: In the session opening, state the purpose of the session and establish a subordinate centered setting. Establish the preferred setting early in the session by inviting the subordinate to speak. The best way to open a counseling session is to clearly state its purpose. For example, an appropriate purpose statement might be: â€Å"The purpose of this counseling is to discuss your duty performance over the past month and to create a plan to enhance performance and attain performance goals.† If applicable, start the counseling session by reviewing the status of the previous plan of action. 2. Discussing the issues: The counselor and the subordinate should attempt to develop a mutual understanding of the issues. Counselor can best develop this by letting the subordinate do most of the talking. Use active listening; respond, and question without dominating the conversation. Aim to help the subordinate better understand the subject of the counseling, for example, duty performance, a problem situation and its impact, or potential areas for growth. Both counselor and subordinate should provide examples or cite specific observations to reduce the perception that either is unnecessarily biased or judgmental. However, when the issue is substandard performance, counselor should make clear how the performance didn’t meet the standard. The conversation, which should be two-way, then addresses what the subordinate needs to do to meet the standard. It’s important that he defines the issue as substandard performance and don’t allow the subordinate to define the issue as an unreasonable standard-unless he considers the standard negotiable or are willing to alter the conditions under which the subordinate must meet the standard. 3. Develop a Plan of Action: A plan of action identifies a method for achieving a desired result. It specifies what the subordinate must do to reach the goals set during the counseling session. The plan of action must  be specific: it should show the subordinate how to modify or maintain his behavior. It should avoid vague intentions such as â€Å"Next month I want you to improve your production skills.† The plan must use concrete and direct terms. A specific and achievable plan of action sets the stage for successful development. 4. Record and Close the Session: Although requirements to record counseling sessions vary, a counselor always benefits by documenting the main points of a counseling session. Documentation serves as a reference to the agreed upon plan of action and the subordinate’s accomplishments, improvements, personal preferences, or problems. A complete record of counseling aids in making recommendations for professional development, schools, promotions, and evaluation reports. To close the session, summarize its key points and ask if the subordinate understands the plan of action. Invite the subordinate to review the plan of action and what’s expected by counselor. With the subordinate, establish any follow-up measures necessary to support the successful implementation of the plan of action. These may include providing the subordinate with resources and time, periodically assessing the plan, and following through on referrals. Schedule any future meetings, at least tentatively, before dismissing the subordinate. D. Follow Up Counselor’s Responsibilities: The counseling process doesn’t end with the counseling session. It continues through implementation of the plan of action and evaluation of results. After counseling, counselor must support subordinates as they implement their plans of action. Support may include teaching, coaching, or providing time and resources. Counselor must observe and assess this process and possibly modify the plan to meet its goals. Appropriate measures after counseling include follow-up counseling, making referrals, informing the chain of command, and taking corrective measures. Assess the Plan of Action: The purpose of counseling is to develop subordinates who are better able to achieve personal, professional, and  organizational goals. During the assessment, review the plan of action with the subordinate to determine if the desired results were achieved. The counselor and the subordinate should determine the date for this assessment during the initial counseling session. The assessment of the plan of action provides useful information for future follow-up counseling sessions. Conclusion The ability to counsel is an important skill for managers and caring co-workers. Organizations that have people trained in counseling will be better able to handle their people issues than those that do not. Staffs who are feeling anxious, stressed, or unhappy will not be able to perform very well on the job despite their background and experience. If they have had an opportunity to talk through their problems with a trained counselor, they will be able to be much more productive. This will save the organization time and money. References 1. Blum, M. L., and Balinsky, B. Counseling and psychology. Egnlewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1954. 2. Bordin, E. S. Psychological counseling. New York: Appleton, 1955. 3. Maier, N. R. R. Principle of human relations. New York: Wiley, 1952. Ch. 12 & 13. 4. Counseling-techniques-in-an-organization, Available at:

Minoan Bronze Age Civilization of Ancient Crete

The Minoan civilization is what archaeologists have named the people who lived on the island of Crete during the early part of the prehistoric Bronze Age of Greece. We dont know what the Minoans called themselves: they were named Minoan by archaeologist Arthur Evans after the legendary Cretan King Minos. Bronze Age Greek civilizations are split by tradition into the Greek mainland (or Helladic), and the Greek islands (the Cycladic). The Minoans were the first and earliest of what scholars recognize as Greeks, and the Minoans have a reputation of having had a philosophy that harmonized with the natural world. The Minoans were based on Crete, located in the center of the Mediterranean Sea, about 160 kilometers (99 miles) south of the Greek mainland. It has a climate and culture different from that of other Bronze Age Mediterranean communities that arose both before and after. Bronze Age Minoan Chronology There are two sets of Minoan chronology, one which reflects stratigraphic levels in archaeological sites, and one which attempts to plot societal changes arising from events, particularly the size and complexity of Minoan palaces. Traditionally, Minoan culture is divided into a series of events. The simplified, event-driven chronology is first elements identified by archaeologists as Minoan appeared about 3000 B.C.E. (Pre-Palatial); Knossos was founded about 1900 B.C.E. (Proto-Palatial), Santorini erupted about 1500 B.C.E. (Neo-Palatial), and Knossos fell in 1375 B.C.E. Recent investigations suggest that Santorini may have erupted about 1600 B.C.E., making event-driven categories less than secure, but clearly, these absolute dates will continue to be controversial for some time to come. The best result is to combine the two. The following timeline is from Yannis Hamilakis 2002 book, Labyrinth Revisited: Rethinking Minoan Archaeology, and most scholars use it, or something like it, today. Minoan Timeline Late Minoan IIIC 1200-1150 B.C.E.Late Minoan II through Late Minoan IIIA/B 1450-1200 B.C.E. (Kydonia) (sites: Kommos, Vathypetro)Neo-Palatial (LM IA-LM IB) 1600-1450 B.C.E. (Vathypetro, Kommos, Palaikastro)Neo-Palatial (MMIIIB) 1700-1600 B.C.E. (Ayia Triadha, Tylissos, Kommos, Akrotiri)Proto-Palatial (MM IIA-MM IIIA) 1900-1700 B.C.E. (Knossos, Phaistos, Malia)Pre-Palatial (EM III/MM IA) 2300-1900 B.C.E. (Vasilike, Myrtos, Debla, Mochlos)Early Minoan IIB 2550-2300 B.C.E.Early Minoan IIA 2900-2550 B.C.E.Early Minoan I 3300-2900 B.C.E. During the Pre-Palatial period, sites on Crete consisted of single farmsteads and dispersed farming hamlets with nearby cemeteries. The farming hamlets were fairly self-sufficient, creating their own pottery and agricultural goods as necessary. Many of the graves in the cemeteries contained grave goods, including white marble figurines of women, hinting at the future cultic assemblages. Cultic sites located on local mountain tops called peak sanctuaries came into use by 2000 B.C.E. By the Proto-Palatial period, most of the people lived in larger coastal settlements which may have  been centers for maritime trading, such as Chalandriani on Syros, Ayia Irini on Kea, and Dhaskaleio-Kavos on Keros. Administrative functions involving the marking of shipped goods using stamp seals were in place at this time. Out of these larger settlements grew the Palatial civilizations on Crete. The capital was at Knossos, founded about 1900 B.C.E.; three other major palaces were located at Phaistos, Mallia, and Zacros. Minoan Economy Pottery technology and various artifacts of the first Neolithic (pre-Minoan) settlers on Crete suggest their possible origin from Asia Minor rather than mainland Greece. About 3000 B.C.E., Crete saw an influx of new settlers, probably again from Asia Minor. Long-distance trading emerged in the Mediterranean as early as EB I, propelled by the invention of the longboat (probably at the end of the Neolithic period), and the desire across the Mediterranean for metals, pottery forms, obsidian and other goods that were not readily available locally. It has been suggested that technology drove the Cretan economy to blossom, transforming the Neolithic society into a Bronze Age existence and development. The Cretan shipping empire eventually dominated the Mediterranean Sea, including mainland Greece and Greek Islands and eastward to the Black Sea. Among the major agricultural goods traded were olives, figs, grains, wine, and saffron.  The main written language of the Minoans was the script called Linear A, which has yet to be deciphered but may represent a form of early Greek. It was used for religious and accounting purposes from about 1800–1450 B.C.E., when it abruptly disappeared to be replaced by Linear B, a tool of the Mycenaeans, and one that we can read today. Symbols and Cults A considerable amount of scholarly research has focused on the Minoan religion and the impact of the social and cultural changes that occurred during the period. Much of the recent scholarship has focused on the interpretation of some of the symbols associated with Minoan culture. Women with Upraised Arms. Among the symbols associated with Minoans is the wheel-thrown terracotta female figurine with upraised arms, including the famous faience snake goddess found at Knossos. Beginning in late Middle Minoan times, Minoan potters made figurines of females holding their arms upward; other images of such goddesses are found on seal stones and rings. Decorations of the tiaras of these goddesses vary, but birds, snakes, disks, oval palettes, horns, and poppies are among the symbols used. Some of the goddesses have snakes coiling around their arms. The figurines fell out of use by the Late Minoan III A-B (Final Palatial), but appear again in LM IIIB-C (Post-Palatial). The Double Axe. The Double Axe is a pervasive symbol by Neopalational Minoan times, appearing as a motif on pottery and seal stones, found written in scripts and scratched into ashlar blocks for palaces. Mold-made bronze axes were also a common tool, and they may have been associated with a group or class of people connected with leadership in agriculture. Important Minoan Sites Myrtos, Mochlos, Knossos, Phaistos, Malia, Kommos, Vathypetro, Akrotiri. Palaikastro End of the Minoans For some 600 years, the Bronze Age Minoan civilization thrived on the island of Crete. But in the latter part of the 15th century B.C.E., the end came rapidly, with the destruction of several of the palaces, including Knossos. Other Minoan buildings were torn down and replaced, and domestic artifacts, rituals, and even the written language changed. All of these changes are distinctly Mycenaean, suggesting a population shift on Crete, perhaps an influx of people from the mainland bringing their own architecture, writing styles and other cultic objects with them. What caused this great shift? Although scholars are not in agreement, there are in fact three major plausible theories for the collapse. Theory 1: Santorini Eruption Between about 1600 and 1627 B.C.E., the volcano on Santorini island erupted, destroying the port city of Thera and decimating the Minoan occupation there. Giant tsunamis destroyed other coastal cities such as Palaikastro, which was completely inundated. Knossos itself was destroyed by another earthquake in 1375 B.C.E. There is no doubt that Santorini erupted, and it was devastating. The loss of the port on Thera was exceptionally painful: the economy of the Minoans was based on maritime trade and Thera was its most important port. But the volcano didnt kill everyone on Crete and there is some evidence that the Minoan culture didnt immediately collapse. Theory 2: Mycenaean Invasion Another possible theory is an ongoing conflict with the Mycenaeans mainland in Greece and/or New Kingdom Egypt, over control of the extensive trade network that had developed in the Mediterranean at the time. Evidence for the takeover by Mycenaeans includes the presence of scripts written in the ancient written form of Greek known as Linear B, and Mycenaean funerary architecture and burial practices such as the Mycenaean-type warrior graves. Recent strontium analysis shows that the people buried in warrior graves are not from the mainland, but rather were born and lived their lives on Crete, suggesting that the shift to a Mycenaean-like society may not have included a large Mycenaean invasion. Theory 3: Minoan Insurrection? Archaeologists have come to believe that at least a substantial portion of the reason for the downfall of the Minoans may have been internal political conflict. The strontium analysis research looked at the dental enamel and cortical thighbone from 30 individuals previously excavated from tombs in cemeteries within two miles of the Minoan capital of Knossos. Samples were taken from contexts both before and after the destruction of Knossos in 1470/1490, and 87Sr/86Sr ratios were compared to archaeological and modern animal tissues on Crete and Mycenae in the Argolid mainland. Analysis of these materials revealed that all of the strontium values of individuals buried near Knossos, whether before or after the destruction of the palace, were born and raised on Crete. None could have been born or raised on the Argolid mainland. A Collection End What archaeologists are considering, overall, is that the eruption on Santorini destroying the ports likely caused an immediate interruption in the shipping networks, but did not in itself cause collapse. The collapse came later, perhaps as escalating costs involved with replacing the port and replacing the ships created more pressure on the people on Crete to pay for rebuilding and maintaining the network. The Late Post-Palatial period saw the addition to the ancient shrines on Crete of large wheel-thrown pottery goddess figures with their arms stretched upward. Is it possible, as Florence Gaignerot-Driessen has supposed, that these are not goddesses per se, but votaries representing a new religion replacing the old? For an excellent comprehensive discussion of Minoan culture, see the University of Dartmouths History of the Aegean. Sources Angelakis, Andreas, et al. Minoan and Etruscan Hydro-Technologies. Water 5.3 (2013): 972-87. Print.Badertscher, S., et al. Speleothems as Sensitive Recorders of Volcanic Eruptions – the Bronze Age Minoan Eruption Recorded in a Stalagmite from Turkey. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 392 (2014): 58-66. Print.Cadoux, Anita, et al. Stratospheric Ozone Destruction by the Bronze-Age Minoan Eruption (Santorini Volcano, Greece). Scientific Reports 5 (2015): 12243. Print.Day, Jo. Counting Threads. Saffron in Aegean Bronze Age Writing and Society. Oxford Journal Of Archaeology 30.4 (2011): 369-91. Print.Ferrara, Silvia, and Carol Bell. Tracing Copper in the Cypro-Minoan Script. Antiquity 90.352 (2016): 1009-21. Print.Gaignerot-Driessen, Florence. Goddesses Refusing to Appear? Reconsidering the Late Minoan III Figures with Upraised Arms. American Journal of Archaeology 118.3 (2014): 489-520. Print.Grammatikakis, Ioannis, et al. New Evidence About the Use of Serpentinite in the Minoan Architecture. A ?-Raman Based Study of the â€Å"House of the High Priest† Drain in Knossos. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 16 (2017): 316-21. Print.  Hamilakis, Yannis. Labyrinth Revisited: Rethinking Minoan Archaeology. Oxford, England: Oxbow Books, 2002. Print.Hatzaki, Eleni. The End of an Intermezzo at Knossos: Ceramic Wares, Deposits, and Architecture in a Social Context. Intermezzo: Intermediacy and Regeneration in Middle Minoan Iii Palatial Crete. Eds. Macdonald, Colin F. and Carl Knappett. British School at Athens. London: The British School at Athens, 2013. 37-45. Print.Haysom, Matthew The Double-Axe: A Contextual Approach to the Understanding of a Cretan Symbol in the Neopalatial Period. Oxford Journal Of Archaeology 29.1 (2010): 35-55. Print.Knappett, Carl, Ray Rivers, and Tim Evans. The Theran Eruption and Minoan Palatial Collapse: New Interpretations Gained from Modelling the Maritime Network. Antiquity 85.329 (2011): 1008-23. Print.Molloy, Barry, et al. Life and Death of a Bronze Age House: Excavation of Early Minoan I Levels at Priniatikos Pyrgos. American Journal of Archaeology 118.2 (2014): 307-58. Print.Nuttall, Chris. Friend or Foe: Mycenaeanisation at Phylakopi on Melos in the Late Bronze Age. Rosetta 16 (2014): 15-36. Print.