Wednesday, March 18, 2020

Free Essays on Julius Caesar

Caesar was born into the Julian gens, one of Rome's oldest patrician families. He was often a member of the more popular Democratic Party. He benefitted from the patronage of his uncle by marriage, Caius Marius. In 82 B.C. he refused to divorce Cornelia, the wealthy daughter of Cornelius Cinna, he was proscribed and he fled from Rome. He returned in 78 B.C. when Sulla died and began his political career. He quickly gained popularity, and in 74 B.C. he went to repulse a Cappadocian army. When he returned he helped advance the position of Pompey, the virtual head of the popular party. Caesar gained the status of military tribune before 70 B.C. and was quaestor in farther Spain in 69 B.C. He aided Pompey in gaining complete control of the war in the East. When he returned to Rome in 68 B.C. he was recognized as the head of the popular party in Pompey?s absence. His praise of Marius and Cinna made him popular with the people, but in return he earned the hatred of the Senate. In 63 B.C. he was elected pontifex maximus {high priest}, allegedly by heavy bribes. Later he reformed the calendar, which was one of the greatest contributions of history. Between 81 and 79 Caesar served on the personal staff of Marcus Minucius Thermus, who was praetor in Asia Minor. When Sulla died (78) Caesar felt it safe to go back to Italy. There he took up the profession of criminal law. That was a normal thing to do, while Caesar stayed far from politics. In 75 He went to Rhodes for higher learning, and was caught by pirates who were asking the usual tariff. He raised the prize and promised to kill his captors. After Ransom was paid Caesar got some ships and crucified the pirates. He then continued his studies but they were again interrupted when Mithridates of Pontus attacked Asia Minor a second time (74). On his own funds and will raised a small army to defend some towns, giving the official roman commander Lucullus time to organi... Free Essays on Julius Caesar Free Essays on Julius Caesar In the tragedy of Julius Caesar, after the death of Caesar both Brutus and Antony spoke at Caesar’s funeral. Brutus finished his speech trying to convince the crowd that they did the right thing to kill Caesar because he was ambitious. Antony then enters with Caesar’s corpse awaiting his turn to speak to the Roman citizens. Antony begins by praising Caesar even though he claims that his intent is not to praise him, but to speak as a friend at Caesar’s funeral. As he continues to speak, it is clear that Antony uses physical evidence and emotions so the crowd can be persuaded to help in getting revenge for Caesars death. Antony praises Caesar even though he claims that his intent is not to praise but to speak as a friend. Antony says â€Å". . . when that the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept –â€Å" to let the citizens think that Caesar loved them. He used rhetorical sentences to play with the citizens’ minds. â€Å". . . If I were disposed to stir your hearts and minds to mutiny and rage I should do Brutus wrong and Cassius wrong.† He says this in order to prove Brutus and Cassius wrong without making himself look like he is going against them. Antony pretends to like the conspirators so that they do not kill him so that he can get revenge for Caesar’s death. Antony tells them that he is not trying to convince them to go against the conspirators, but that is what he is doing by using physical evidence. It becomes clear that Antony understands the feelings of the mob because he knows what they want and what they are expecting. He cries and one the citizens has sympathy towards him which then convinces the rest of the citizens to feel the same. Antony used physical evidence and emotions, which persuaded them to go against the conspirators. â€Å"But here’s a parchment with the seal of Caesar- I found it in his closet- ‘tis his will.† but he then says he will not read it. Antony menti... Free Essays on Julius Caesar Julius Caesar – Power In William Shakespeare’s play, Julius Caesar, a group of men conspire to assassinate Caesar; a man they feel will destroy the Roman Empire if he is given such power. They feel he is not worthy of being an emperor. They are worried about the corruptive abuse of so much power. These men are also driven by the desire of having more power. William Gaddis said, â€Å"Power does not corrupt people; people corrupt power.†(Gaddis, William). Qtd. In Sweeney, K. Power Statements. Lecture Handout, English I. Lawrenceville: Notre Dame High School, 6 May 2002. This is clear in Julius Caesar. The desire and fear of power corrupt every character. The conspirators fear they will lose their free will and live under a tyrant. They also have the desire to increase their own power. Brutus, a close friend of Caesar, chooses to kill Caesar to prevent the fall of the Empire. He believes it is only for the good of the country and that he knows Caesar will become corrupted by power but ambition and praise also turn around his head. Caesar proves his conspirators right by becoming the tyrant they feared. Power and corruption play a big role in this story. As Brutus struggled with the decision of whether or not to join Cassius and kill his friend Caesar, he made a statement about Caesar’s character. â€Å"But tis a common proof. That lowliness is young ambition’s ladder, Whereto the climber-upward turns his face; But when he once attains the upmost round. He then unto the ladder turns his back; Looks in the clouds, scorning the base degrees: By which he did ascend†¦(II, I, 22-27). In this statement, he means that he believes if Caesar climbs the ladder to power, he will certainly rule as a dictator disregarding the common people as insignificant. As much as Brutus might truly believe this to be true about his friend, Brutus also gets caught up in the lure of power. He becomes easily swayed when Cassius flatters Brutus in his effort ... Free Essays on Julius Caesar Caesar was born into the Julian gens, one of Rome's oldest patrician families. He was often a member of the more popular Democratic Party. He benefitted from the patronage of his uncle by marriage, Caius Marius. In 82 B.C. he refused to divorce Cornelia, the wealthy daughter of Cornelius Cinna, he was proscribed and he fled from Rome. He returned in 78 B.C. when Sulla died and began his political career. He quickly gained popularity, and in 74 B.C. he went to repulse a Cappadocian army. When he returned he helped advance the position of Pompey, the virtual head of the popular party. Caesar gained the status of military tribune before 70 B.C. and was quaestor in farther Spain in 69 B.C. He aided Pompey in gaining complete control of the war in the East. When he returned to Rome in 68 B.C. he was recognized as the head of the popular party in Pompey?s absence. His praise of Marius and Cinna made him popular with the people, but in return he earned the hatred of the Senate. In 63 B.C. he was elected pontifex maximus {high priest}, allegedly by heavy bribes. Later he reformed the calendar, which was one of the greatest contributions of history. Between 81 and 79 Caesar served on the personal staff of Marcus Minucius Thermus, who was praetor in Asia Minor. When Sulla died (78) Caesar felt it safe to go back to Italy. There he took up the profession of criminal law. That was a normal thing to do, while Caesar stayed far from politics. In 75 He went to Rhodes for higher learning, and was caught by pirates who were asking the usual tariff. He raised the prize and promised to kill his captors. After Ransom was paid Caesar got some ships and crucified the pirates. He then continued his studies but they were again interrupted when Mithridates of Pontus attacked Asia Minor a second time (74). On his own funds and will raised a small army to defend some towns, giving the official roman commander Lucullus time to organi...

Monday, March 2, 2020

Types of Surveys for Sociology Research

Types of Surveys for Sociology Research Surveys are valuable research tools within sociology and are commonly used by social scientists for a wide variety of research projects. They are especially useful because they enable researchers to collect data on a mass scale, and to use that data to conduct statistical analyses that reveal conclusive results about how the variety of variables measured interact. The three most common forms of survey research are the questionnaire, interview, and telephone poll   Questionnaires Questionnaires, or printed or digital surveys, are useful because they can be distributed to many people, which means they allow for a large and randomized sample - the hallmark of valid and trustworthy empirical research. Prior to the twenty-first century, it was common for questionnaires to be distributed through the mail. While some organizations and researchers still do this, today, most opt for digital web-based questionnaires. Doing so requires fewer resources and time, and streamlines the data collection and analysis processes. However they are conducted, a commonality among questionnaires is that they feature a set list of questions for participants to respond to by selecting from a set of provided answers. These are closed-ended questions paired with fixed categories of response. While such questionnaires are useful because they allow for a large sample of participants to be reached at low cost and with minimal effort, and they yield clean data ready for analysis, there are also drawbacks to this survey method. In some cases, a respondent may not believe that any of the offered responses accurately represents their views or experiences, which may lead them to not answer or to select an answer that is inaccurate. Also, questionnaires can typically only be used with people who have a registered mailing address, or an email account and access to the internet, so this means that segments of the population without these cannot be studied with this method. Interviews While interviews and questionnaires share the same approach by asking respondents a set of structured questions, they differ in that interviews allow researchers to ask open-ended questions that create more in-depth and nuanced data sets than those afforded by questionnaires. Another key difference between the two is that interviews involve social interaction between the researcher and the participants because they are either conducted in person or over the phone. Sometimes, researchers combine questionnaires and interviews in the same research project by following up some questionnaire responses with more in-depth interview questions. While interviews offer these advantages, they too can have their drawbacks. Because they are based on social interaction between researcher and participant, interviews require a fair degree of trust, especially regarding sensitive subjects, and sometimes this can be difficult to achieve. Further, differences of race, class, gender, sexuality, and culture between researcher and participant can complicate the research collection process. However, social scientists are trained to anticipate these kinds of problems and to deal with them when they arise, so interviews are a common and successful survey research method. Telephone Polls A telephone poll is a questionnaire that is done over the telephone. The response categories are typically pre-defined (closed-ended) with little opportunity for respondents to elaborate their responses. Telephone polls can be very costly and time-consuming, and since the introduction of the Do Not Call Registry, telephone polls have become harder to conduct. Many times respondents are not open to taking these phone calls and hang up before responding to any questions. Telephone polls are used often during political campaigns or to get consumer opinions about a product or service. Updated  by Nicki Lisa Cole, Ph.D.