The Figures Displayed in Sylvia Plaths Mirror Essay -- Poetry Poem Sy

The Figures Displayed in Sylvia Plath's Mirror The speaker in Sylvia Plath's poem "Mirror" is the actual mirror itself, which has been owned by a now "old woman" (16) for quite some time. This woman has looked into her mirror every day for many years now. The mirror is very aware of her presence and its environment when she is not present. The author provides many details in order for the reader to grasp the mirror's view on its ever-day sights, but this would be an impossible task without the major use of figures of speech. Plath uses many figures of speech for the benefit of the reader to completely grasp the tone and theme of the poem. Once analyzed, we see that all of these figures of speech come together to achieve one overall effect - expressing the ultimate idea of the poem. The first image and descriptions of the mirror immediately suggest the author's use of personification that brings life to the mirror. From the very beginning it seems as if a person is describing himself: "I am silver and exact. I have no preconceptions" (1). We soon realize this is not the case, but that the mirror has taken on a personality and role in the poem. The mirror puts into words what the reader may already know, but just would never think about: if a mirror really could talk this is what it would say. A mirror holds no judgment of what it sees, but only reflects the truth: "I am not cruel, only truthful" (4). This particular mirror has been owned by only one - a now elderly woman who has looked into it for many years now. The author consistently maintains the personification of the mirror throughout the poem to let the mirror speak what it has seen of this woman and its environment over the past years. The next noticeable use by ... ...s a person would see its reflection in this as well, Plath ends with a simile regarding this reflection. The woman's reflection rises to her from this lake "like a terrible fish" (18). What she has seen is herself grow into an old woman, which although is the truth of the mirror, is a sad actuality to the woman. Without any of these images, this poem would be lacking to achieve the entire intention of a mirror describing in words what is only seen and not spoken. Plath has done a wonderful job at putting on paper an entire two stanzas of only scenes and not conversation. All of the figures of speech have come together to express one final idea: a mirror does not lie, but only reflects the truth (which can only be described by perfect imagery). Works Cited: Plath, Sylvia. The Collected Poems. Ed. Ted Hughes. New York: Perennial ? Harper and Row, 1981.

Conditioning and Learning Essay

â€Å"Learning, acquiring knowledge or developing the ability to perform new behaviors. It is common to think of learning as something that takes place in school, but much of human learning occurs outside the classroom, and people continue to learn throughout their lives. † (Gregory, 1961) Conditioning is the term used to designate the types of human behavioral learning. Since the 1920s, conditioning has been the primary focus of behavior research in humans as well as animals. There are four main types of conditioning: ? Classical Conditioning ?Operant Conditioning ?Multiple-Response Learning ?Insight Learning. Conditioning and Learning 2 LITERATURE REVIEW Classical Conditioning â€Å"Classical conditioning, also called associative learning, is based on stimulus-response relationships. A stimulus is an object or situation that elicits a response by one of our sense organs, like how a bright light makes us blink. Associative learning allows us to associate two or more stimuli and change our response to one or more of them as a result of simultaneous experience. † (Moore, 2002) â€Å"According to classical conditioning, learning occurs when a new stimulus begins to elicit behavior similar to the behavior produced by an old stimulus. Studies into classical condition began in the early 1900s by the Russian physiologist Ivan P. Pavlov. † (Klein, 1998) Pavlov trained dogs to salivate in response to two stimuli: noise or light, and food or a sour solution. The dogs’ salivation is automatically elicited by the food and sour solution, so these were called the unconditional stimulus. However, when the noise or light (conditional stimulus) was repeatedly paired with the food or sour solution over an extended period of time, the dogs would eventually salivate at the noise or light alone. This is a prime example of a conditioned response. Unconditional stimuli, such as the food and sour solution, allow the learning to occur, while also serving to reinforce the learning. Without an unconditional stimulus in his experiment, Pavlov could not have taught the dogs to salivate at the presence of the noise or light. Conditioning and Learning 3 Classical conditioning is particularly important in understanding how people learn emotional behavior. For example, when we develop a new fear, we have learned to fear a particular stimulus, which has been combined with another frightening stimulus. Operant Conditioning. â€Å"Operant conditioning is goal-directed behavior. We learn to perform a particular response as a result of what we know will happen after we respond. † (Blackman, 1975) For example, a child may learn to beg for sweets if the begging is usually successful. There is no single stimulus that elicits the begging behavior, but instead it occurs because the child knows that this action may result in receiving treats. Every time the child receives sweets after begging, the behavior is reinforced and the tendency of the child to beg will increase. During the 1930s, American psychologist and behaviorist Burrhus F.Skinner performed several important experiments into operant conditioning. Using what is now termed a Skinner Box, he trained rats to press levers to receive food. A hungry rat would be placed in a box containing a special lever attached to concealed food. At first the hungry rat would wander around the box, investigating its surroundings. Eventually it would accidentally press the lever thereby releasing a food pellet into the box. At first the rat would not show any signs of associating the two events, but over time its exploring behavior becomes less random as it begins to press the lever more Conditioning and Learning 4  often. The food pellet reinforced the rat’s response of pressing the lever, so eventually the rat would spend most of its time just sitting and pressing the lever. This type of learning is based on the idea that if a behavior is rewarded, the behavior will occur more frequently. There are four main types of operant learning: Positive Reinforcement, Negative Reinforcement, Punishment and Omission Training. Observational Learning â€Å"When we learn skills, we must first learn a sequence of simple movement-patterns. We combine these movement-patterns to form new, more complicated behavioral patterns with stimuli guiding the process. † (Domjan, 1995) For example, efficient typing requires us to put together many finger movements, which are guided by the letters or words that we want to type. We must first learn to type each letter, and then learn to put the movements together to type words and then phrases. To investigate this type of learning, psychologists have observed animals learning to run through mazes. An animal first wanders aimlessly through the maze, periodically coming to a choice-point, where it must turn either left or right. Only one choice is correct, but the correct direction cannot be determined until the animal has reached the end of the maze. By running through the maze numerous times, the animal can learn the correct sequence of turns to reach the end. It has been found that the sequences of turns near the Conditioning and Learning 5 Two ends of the maze are learned more easily than the parts near the middle. Similarly, when we try to learn a list of items, we usually find the beginning and the end easier than the middle. Insight Learning Insight refers to learning to solve a problem by understanding the relationships of various parts of the problem. Often insight occurs suddenly, such as when a person struggles with a problem for a period of time and then suddenly understands its solution. Therefore insight learning is solving problems without experience. Instead of learning by trial-and-error, insight learning involves trials occurring mentally. â€Å"In the early 1900s, Wolfgang Kohler performed insight experiments on chimpanzees. Kohler showed that the chimpanzees sometimes used insight instead of trial-and-error responses to solve problems. When a banana was placed high out of reach, the animals discovered that they could stack boxes on top of each other to reach it. † (Schwartz, 1983) They also realized that they could use sticks to knock the banana down. In another experiment, a chimp balanced a stick on end under a bunch of bananas suspended from the ceiling, then quickly climbed the stick to obtain the entire bunch intact and unbruised (a better technique than the researchers themselves had in mind). Kohler’s experiments showed that primates can both see and use the relationships involved to reach their goals. Conditioning and Learning 6 CONCLUSION There are many differences and similarities between each of these learning processes. For example, classical conditioning involves only involuntary or reflex responses where as operant conditioning involves both involuntary and voluntary reflexes. These diverse learning processes can be used independently in many different situations. Where classical conditioning may be extremely effective in one situation it might be ineffective in another. For this reason each of these learning processes, classical and operant conditioning and observational and insight learning are each as important and effective as the other. Conditioning and Learning 7 References. Kimble, Gregory: (1961) Conditioning and Learning, New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, Inc. John W Moore: (2002) A Neuroscientist’s Guide to Classical Conditioning. Stephen B. Klein: (1998) Contemporary Learning Theories: Pavlovian Conditioning and the Status of Traditional Learning Theory, Chap. 5 (Perceptual and Associative Learning). Derek E. Blackman: (1975) Operant Conditioning: Experimental Analysis of Behaviour (Manual of Modern Psychology). Michael Domjan: (1995) The Essentials of Conditioning and Learning. Tighe, Schwartz: (1983) Modern Learning Theory, Psychology of Learning and Behavior 2nd edition.

Welle

What was the most significant conclusion that Gregor Mendel drew from his experiments with pea plants? A) There is considerable genetic variation in garden peas. B) Traits are inherited in discrete units, and are not the results of â€Å"blending. † C) Recessive genes occur more frequently in the Fl generation than do dominant ones. D) Genes are composed of DNA. E) An organism that is homozygous for many recessive traits is at a disadvantage. 2) How many unique gametes could be produced through independent assortment by an Individual with the genotype AaBbCCDdEE? rite down the gametes ) Why did Mendel continue some of his experiments to the F2 or F3 generation? A) to obtain a larger number of offspring on which to base statistics 8) to observe whether or not a recessive trait would reappear C) to observe whether or not the dominant trait would reappear D) to distinguish which alleles were segregating E) to be able to describe the frequency of recombination 4)Two plants are cro ssed, resulting in offspring with a 3:1 ratio for a particular trait.What does this suggest? 5) The fact that all seven of the pea plant traits studied by Mendel obeyed the rinciple of Independent assortment. What does this suggest about the seven traits studied by Mendel? 6) In the cross AaBbCc x AaBbCc, what Is the probability of producing the genotype AABBCC 7) Given the parents AABBCc x AabbCc, assume simple dominance for each trait and Independent assortment. What proportion of the progeny will be expected to phenotypically resemble the first parent? ) Which of the following is the best statement of the use of the addition rule of probability? A) the probability that two or more independent events will both occur B) the probability that two or more ndependent events will both occur in the offspring of one set of parents C) the probability that either one of two Independent events will occur D) the probability of producing two or more heterozygous offspring E) the likelihood tha t a trait is due to two or more meiotic events 9) Radish flowers may be red, purple, or white.A cross between a red-flowered plant and a white-flowered plant yields all-purple offspring. The part of the radish we eat may be oval or long, with long being the dominant characteristic. *** If true-breeding red long radishes are crossed with true-breeding white oval radishes, what will the Fl phenotype? flower color trait in radishes Is an example of which of the B) sex linkage C) codominance D) incomplete dominance E) epistasis 10) Gene S controls the sharpness of spines in a type of cactus.Cactuses with the dominant allele, S, have sharp spines, whereas homozygous recessive ss cactuses have dull spines. At the same time, a second gene, N, determines whether or not cactuses have spines. Homozygous recessive nn cactuses have no spines at all. *** The relationship between genes S and N is an example of A) incomplete dominance. B) epistasis. C) complete dominance. D) pleiotropy. E) codomin ance. 1) Women (and all female mammals) have one active X chromosome per cell instead of two. What causes this?A) modification of the XIST gene so that it is active only on one X chromosome, which then becomes inactive B) activation of the Barr gene on one of the two X chromosomes that then inactivates C) crossover between the XIST gene on one X chromosome and a related gene on an autosome D) inactivation of the XIST gene on the X chromosome derived from the male parent E) the removal of methyl (CH3) groups from the X chromosome that will remain active 12) Which of the following statements is true of linkage? A) The closer two genes are on a chromosome, the lower the probability that a crossover will occur between them.B) The observed frequency of recombination of two genes that are far apart from each other has a maximum value of 100%. C) All of the traits that Mendel studied-seed color, pod shape, flower color, and others-are due to genes linked on the same chromosome. D) Linked g enes are found on different chromosomes. E) Crossing over occurs during prophase II of meiosis. 13) What does a frequency of recombination of 50% indicate? A) The two genes are likely to be located on different chromosomes. B) All of the offspring have combinations of traits that match one of the two parents.C) The genes are located on sex chromosomes. D) Abnormal meiosis has occurred. E) Independent assortment is hindered. 14) Map units on a linkage map cannot be relied upon to calculate physical distances on a chromosome for which of the following reasons? A) The frequency of crossing over varies along the length of the chromosome. B) The relationship between recombination frequency and map units is different in every individual. C) Physical order on the chromosomes is slightly different in every individual. E) Linkage map istances are identical between males and females. 5) Which of the following is known as a Philadelphia chromosome? A) a human chromosome 22 that has had a speci fic translocation B) a human chromosome 9 that is found only in one type of cancer C) an animal chromosome found primarily in the mid-Atlantic area of the United States D) an imprinted chromosome that always comes from the mother E) a chromosome found not in the nucleus but in mitochondria 16) The following is a map of four genes on a chromosome. Figure 1 Between which two genes would you expect the highest frequency of recombination? A) A and WB) w and E C) E and G D) A and E E) A and G 17) How do we describe transformation in bacteria? A) the creation of a strand of DNA from an RNA molecule B) the creation of a strand of RNA from a DNA molecule C) the infection of cells by a phage DNA molecule D) the type of semiconservative replication shown by DNA E) assimilation of external DNA into a cell 18) Cytosine makes up 42% of the nucleotides in a sample of DNA from an organism. Approximately what percentage of the nucleotides in this sample will be thymine? 19) What is meant by the des cription â€Å"antiparallel† regarding the strands that make p DNA?A) The twisting nature of DNA creates nonparallel strands. B) The 5†² to 3†² direction of one strand runs counter to the 5†² to 3†² direction of the other strand. C) Base pairings create unequal spacing between the two DNA strands. D) One strand is positively charged and the other is negatively charged. E) One strand contains only purines and the other contains only pyrimidines. 20)An Okazaki fragment has which of the following arrangements? A) primase, polymerase, ligase B) 3†² RNA nucleotides, DNA nucleotides 5†² C) 5†² RNA nucleotides, DNA nucleotides 3†² D) DNA polymerase l, DNA polymerase.