Nathaniel Hawthornes Young Goodman Brown Essay -- Young Goodman Brown

Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Young Goodman Brown" Nathaniel Hawthorne’s story â€Å"Young Goodman Brown† portrays the growth of Young Goodman Brown through vivid symbolic setting. â€Å"Young Goodman Brown† is an allegory in which the setting is very important to the theme of the story. Throughout the narration, detailed setting and emblematic characters surround Goodman Brown. Goodman Brown is an Everyman character, which could be any one of us, struggling with his Puritan heritage, more specifically his spiritual faith. The setting is first introduced during a conversation between Goodman and his wife â€Å"Faith† which is symbolic of his struggle with his spiritual faith throughout the story. Standing in the doorway of his own home he turns to confront his wife, who encourages him to stay at home with her, the first expression in the story of his internal conflict with his â€Å"faith†. Walking away from his wife, he begins to question himself in several ways. Why is he leaving? What is he longing for? Where exactly is he going? â€Å"â€Å"Poor little Faith!† Thought he, for his heart smote him. â€Å"What a wretch am I to leave her on such an errand!†Ã¢â‚¬  (391) Without knowing the exact answer to any of the questions he enters the woods, dark and dreary, which Hawthorne uses to express the sense of evil. To understand the significance of the setting you have to understand the background of the Puritan culture which Hawthorne doesn’t state but expects the reader to know. Puritans live their lives for God. They believe everyone and everything is evil and one must live his life so to not unleash this inborn sin. Throughout the story, Goodman struggles with his own image of faith. Just as any young adult may step back and question their initial upbringing, he too, questions his forefathers. He doesn’t want to become who they were, the common feeling among younger generations. Brown could be any one of us who as we mature begin to discover flaws in our families and acquaintances we knew not existed. Continuing down his path in the woods he runs across a man â€Å"in grave and decent attire†. The word â€Å"grave† suggests the danger and seriousness of the journey. Soon the author persuades us that this man represents the devil in Goodman’s struggle with his beliefs. The man is willing to lead Goodman deep into the forest, or in other words, deep into sin. The man even addresses Brown telling him... ... himself from the generations before; he cannot completely separate himself from his parent’s faith and culture without losing his own identity. Hawthorne displays vivid setting throughout â€Å"Young Goodman Brown† to help him deal with the insecurities concerning not only his character but also his own forefathers and his own faith. The setting in â€Å"Young Goodman Brown† is critical to understanding the internal struggle for maturation of the main character. From â€Å"Faith† his wife, his journey through the dark and lonely yet demon- populated woods, supernatural happenings, Hawthorne takes his readers on an adventure filled with symbolic setting. To fully appreciate and understand â€Å"Young Goodman Brown† one must recognize with and pull out the expression of allegory Hawthorne uses to fulfill the curiosity in young maturing minds. Goodman Brown could be any of us, struggling with the inconsistencies in our own lives, and the unknown journeys we will venture to take while trying to form our own identities of self and mature into functioning adults in our society. Works Cited Hawthorne, Nathaniel. "Young Goodmam Brown", The Story and Its Writer, 4th ed. Ed. Ann Charters. Boston:

Symbolism in Jacksons The Lottery Essay -- The Lottery Essays

Lottery: A Terrifying Trip Symbols can be used to convey a special meaning to the reader by association, especially when a material object is used to represent something abstract. Throughout the years, American writers have been using their works as a way to describe society to their broad audiences. As time periods change, writers as well as readers change their view about society. Several factors affect how readers view society in a piece of literature. To get a better understanding of the society expressed in a piece of literature, one must consider not only the time period in which the work was written, but also the life of the author, the style in which the work was written, and criticism of the piece. In Shirley Jackson’s â€Å"The Lottery,† the society is demonstrated as unchangeable due to the underlying fear and evil of human nature. By using, main types of symbols represented in this story, are characters' names and objects. Jackson wrote several pieces of literature throughout her life, she is most known for her short story â€Å"The Lottery.† The lottery takes place in a small town on June 27th. The lottery is an annual event handled by Mr. Summers and the postman, Mr. Graves. The night before the lottery, Mr. Summers and Mr. Graves made slips of paper that are placed in an old black box that has been used for the lottery for a very long time. The children are the first to arrive for the lottery, then the men, followed by the women. As Mr. Summers calls the names of the families in the town, heads of the households, the men, come and draw slips of paper from the black box. During the lottery, Mrs. Adams mentions that the other towns are thinking of stopping their lottery, to which Old Man Warner responds it wil... ...l human character. Writers of American literature have many different opinions on the society. In order for readers to understand an author’s view on the society, they must look at many different aspects including the writer’s life and the time period in which the work was written. Though writers have different theories about the society, they express their philosophies into their work. The town who seem horribly uncivilized, where a son stones his mother, yet they can easily be compared to today's society. Following customs blindfolded in any given society does prove to be fatal, and as I would like to say, disgusting. We need to realize that although, we make a society in the end it is painful for the society as a community to conclude life according to a black box. Work Cited Wilson, Kathleen, ed. Short Stories for Students. Detroit: Gale, 1997.

Freud – Analysis of a Phobia in a Five-Year-Old Boy – Little Hans

Analysis of a Phobia in a Five-Year-Old Boy – Little Hans Chronological Summary of Events 1903 Hans born. (April) 1906 3 to 3 ? First reports. 3 ? to 3 ? First visit to Gmunden. (Summer) 3 ? Castration threat. 3 ? Hanna born. (October) 1907 3 ? First dream. 4 Removal to new flat. 4 ? to 4 ? Second visit to Gmunden. Episode of biting horse. (Summer) 1908 4 ? Episode of falling horse. Outbreak of phobia. (January) 5 End of analysis. (May) Background Little Hans (Herbert Graf) was born in April 1903 to Olga Graf (mother) and Max Graf (father).He undertook four months of treatment, which was conducted by Hans’ father himself, and supervised by Freud, who took somewhat of a backseat. Freud wanted to explore what factors led to the phobia and what factors led to its remission. He believed children face subconscious emotional conflicts just as adults do, and their future adjustment depends on how well the conflicts are solved. It was the first ever psychoanalytic treatment on a child. Freud believed that the sexual impulses in a child would be fresh and naive, unlike when conducting the analysis on an adult, where the impulses have to be ‘dug out’.Freud hypothesised that the analysis would correspond with his previous work in the ‘Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality’. Overview First observations were taken at three years, where Hans’ spirit of enquiry towards ‘widdlers’ became apparent with his initial observation that the presence or absence of a widdler differentiated between inanimate and animate objects [p. 9]. He also assumed that all animate objects were like himself and possessed this important bodily organ – thus allowing him to arrive at a genuine abstract knowledge: ‘A dog and horse have widdlers; a table and chair haven’t. He was not deterred from this notion despite noting the lack of a ‘widdler’ on his sister Hanna [p. 11]. Hans had begun to practise the commo nest – and most normal – form of auto-erotic sexual activity; Giving himself pleasure by touching his member. The castration complex was first planted in to Hans’ head at three and a half years when his mother told him the doctor would come and chop his widdler off if he didn’t stop playing with it. [p. 7-8]. At the present time he was unfased, and suggested he could wee out of his bottom.His mothers threat made Hans believe it was possible to lose your genital organs, which he would later subconsciously believe would happen for repressing oedipal desires. This concern for the loss of his widdler was initially dismissed from his thoughts but made its effects apparent at a later period. Taking pleasure in his own sexual organ soon turned in to scopophelia, in active and passive forms with his main fantasies and dreams being aimed around widdlers, widdling and wishing that the girls in Gmunden would help him widdle [p. 19]. At age 3 ? e asked his father â⠂¬ËœDaddy, have you got a widdlers too? ’ When he asked his mother if she had a widdler, she replied with ‘why of course’. He also repeatedly expressed the desire to see his mother and fathers widdlers in order to draw comparison. Hans had observed that larger animals had correspondingly larger widdlers and formulated the hypothesis that this was the case with his parents. For example; his mother he thought must have a widdlers ‘like a horse’. This reflection could be interpreted that a child’s wish to be ‘bigger’ had been concentrated on his genitals.The sexual aim in which he pursued his girl playmates had ‘found it’s way into object love’ in the usual manner from the care he had received as an infant. It’s suggested that this sudden erotic urge originated from the pleasure derived from the cutaneous (skin) contact of sleeping next to his mother (Hans would crawl into bed most mornings). This caused se xual arousal or ‘Satisfaction of the instinct of concentration [Moll (1898). Cf &SE;, 7, 169 n. 2. ]. This facilitated his increased interest in other girls (wanting to sleep with Mariedl Etc. and ultimately wanting to see their widdlers. Little Hans showed affection towards both genders of children indiscriminately and once described Fritzl as ‘the girl he was fondest of’ [p. 16]. This contributed to Freud’s idea of ‘object-choice’ and ‘homosexuality in children’ suggesting that most children have homosexual tendencies as they are only acquainted with one kind of genital organ. Freud intimates that because little Hans had a widdler, and gave so much importance to it, he chose to have this ‘familiar feature’ as his sexual object.It is also important to note that in his future development he demonstrated ‘an energetic masculinity with traits of polygamy; he knew how to vary his behaviour, too, with his varying fem inine objects—audaciously aggressive in one case, languishing and bashful in another. His affection had moved from his mother on to other objects of love, but at a time when there was a scarcity of these it returned to her. ’ Hans demonstrates elements of the sexual relations of a child to his parents discussed in Interpretation of Dreams [1900a, in Section D (? ) of Chapter V; Standard Ed. , 4, 248 ff. ] and in Three Essays [1905d, Standard Ed. 7, 222 ff. ] with regard to being a little Oedipus who who wanted to have his father ‘out of the way’, to get rid of him, so that he might be alone with his beautiful mother and sleep with her. This wish had originated during his summer holidays at Gmunden and had developed with the alternating presence and absence of his father (due to work commitments). Hans identified that his fathers’ absenteeism gave him the opportunity of increased intimacy with his mother; which he longed for. This desire for his fath er to ‘go away’ then later developed into a desire for him to permanently go away – to die.This caused great conflict within Hans as it contradicted the deep love he also felt towards his father. For example; hitting his father then immediately kissing the place he had hit [p. 42]. Freud goes on to comment that ‘the emotional life of man is made up of pairs of contraries such as these. ’ And that ‘†¦they usually go on supressing each other until one of them succeeds in keeping the other altogether out of site. ’ Children offer the exception to this in that they can exist peaceably side-by-side for some time. Baby Hanna and the Stalk The most important influence upon the course of Hans’ psychosexual evelopment. Hans wathed how Hanna was cared for and this stimulated trace memories of his own early experiences of pleasure. His fever a few days after Hanna’s birth was an indication of how little he liked the addition to t he family [p. 11]. Although affection came later his first thoughts were hostility and fear that yet more brothers and sisters might arrive – further eroding the time and affection mother would devote to him. Freud states that it is clear within Hans’ unconscious he treated his sister and father in the same way – wanting them permanently out of the way.Interestingly Hans did not associate the same guilt towards his sisters death wish as that of his father. He subconsciously wanted mummy to drop Hanna in the bath so she would be gone, which consequently caused Hans great anxiety when having a bath himself, fearing it would happen to him as a punishment for thinking such things. Again, this wish would mean he could have his mummy all to himself. This hostility is represented by a fear of the bath [p. 66]. The use of a Stork to explain the origin of Hanna was in conflict with the childish sexual theories he had begun to apply to the material in front of him.There i s a clear progression from his initial acceptance of his fathers explanation; ‘he declared with conviction: â€Å"The stork's coming to-day. ’ to a growing awareness that ‘Everything he says shows that he connects what is strange in the situation with the arrival of the stork. He meets everything he sees with a very suspicious and intent look, and there can be no question that his first doubts about the stork have taken root. [p. 10] Causes of anxiety and the beginning of the phobia Little Hans suffered an anxiety-dream shortly before the start of the phobia, in which mummy had gone and he had ‘no mummy to coax with’.This, combined with his separation from his mother at the time of Hanna’s birth [p. 96] led to a sudden surge of wanting mummy. Initially he would show signs of distress when away from her but it soon became evident that he was still afraid even when his mother went with him. Freud suggested Little Hans had now concentrated his li bido on her. His want to be with her constantly now changed into anxiety producing the phobia. He was initially scared of a big white horse biting him in the street, and his father worried this was connected to the fear of big widdlers, which he had once taken great pleasure in examining.His fear was so strong that he struggled to leave the house, even more so without his mother. Whereas Little Hans once loved the fact that big animals had big widdlers, he now repressed it and was scared. This was thought to be due to him being so dissatisfied with his own. Anxiety was caused by mixing his ‘former pleasure’ of big widdlers with his ‘current un-pleasure’ of them. Little Hans admitted to placing his hands on his widdler every night which resulted in some kind of sexual pleasure or satisfaction (something which Freud later distinguished as a normal form of auto-erotic sexual activity).Yet at this early stage of the illness when his anxiety was heightened he ex pressed a fear that ‘the horse will come into the room’ [p. 24]. His father worried that this masturbation was not helping the phobia. Freud suggested that it was his affection for his mother that he was trying to replace with his fear of horses [p. 28]. His libido was attached to seeing his mother’s widdler and masturbation was giving him gratification. Attempts were made to stop this act, and daddy told Hans that mummy did in fact not have a widdlers [p. 31], which calmed the phobia for a short while.Freud believed that accepting women do not have widdlers risked destroying Hans’ self-confidence and heightened the castration complex, so he resisted the information. After a short time an episode of illness caused the phobia to return. Freud finding similarity between the psychological structure of these phobias and that of hysteria termed this ‘Anxiety-hysteria’ concluding that such hysterias are the most common of all psychoneurotic disorder s and goes on to state they are par excellence in the neuroses of childhood. Little Hans’ outbreak of anxiety-hysteria was by no means as sudden as it first appeared.The anxiety dream he had where his mother had gone away and he was left with ‘no-one to coax with’ [p. 26] was proceeded by two examples of attempts to seduce her [p. 19 ; 23]. Hans dreamt of ‘exchanging endearments and sleeping with her; but all of the pleasure was transferred into anxiety – causing a punishment and repression. The catalyst for suddenly turning this sexual excitement into anxiety is speculated upon by Freud suggesting that mothers’ rejection of his advances could be one possibility. His fear of horses was traced back to an impression he had received at Gmunden [p. 9] when his father warned him ‘‘Don't put your finger to the horse; if you do, it'll bite you. ’ The words, ‘don't put your finger to’, which Hans used in reporting this warning, resembled the form of words in which the warning against masturbation had been framed. ’ Hans attempted to communicate his feeling towards his mother, in what was still a distorted form, with the phantasy of the two giraffes. Little Hans’ story of the big giraffe and the crumpled giraffe was interpreted by his father and Freud. His father was indeed the big giraffe and mummy was the crumpled giraffe.Subconsciously, little Hans wanted to take possession of mummy, by taking her away from daddy. Hans loved getting in to bed with mummy in the morning, it gave him pleasure, but the big giraffe calling out was his father dislike of him getting in. Immediately after the giraffe fantasy Hans disclosed two others; ‘forcing his way into a forbidden space at Schonbrunn, and the other of his smashing a railway-carriage window on the Stadtbahn [p. 40-41]. In each case the punishable nature of the action was emphasized, and in each his father appeared as an accomplice . This again links to the oedipal characteristic of taking possession of his mother.This combined with his burgeoning childish sexual theories that ‘taking possession’ would involve some form of consummation which gave rise to the elusive thought of something violent and forbidden – which the dreams allude to. Freud states that the dreams were therefore ‘symbolic phantasies of intercourse’ and that his father plays accomplice within the dreams as Hans has very astutely deduced that ‘I should like’, he seems to have been saying [to his father], ‘to be doing something with my mother, something forbidden; I do not know what it is, but I do know that you are doing it too. The giraffe fantasy resulted in Freud and father deciding it was the right time to inform Hans ‘he was afraid of his father because he himself nourished jealous and hostile wishes against him’ and thus ‘partly interpreted his fear of horses for him: the horse must be his father— whom he had good internal reasons for fearing. ’ [p. 42] Subconsciously he was extremely fearful that his father would find out, as he feared if he did he would castrate him. When an internal situation such as this one cannot be processed, it becomes pathological, and a compromise-formation needs to happen, which becomes apparent at the very end of the analysis.Enlightening Hans on this subject had cleared away his most powerful resistance against allowing his unconscious thoughts to be made conscious; for his father was himself acting as his physician. As a result Hans became more aware/willing/confident to describe the details of his phobia; ‘He was not only afraid of horses biting him—he was soon silent upon that point—but also of carts, of furniture-vans, and of buses (their common quality being, as presently became clear, that they were all heavily loaded), of horses that started moving, of horses that looked big and heavy, and of horses that drove quickly.The meaning of these specifications was explained by Hans himself: he was afraid of horses falling down, and consequently incorporated in his phobia everything that seemed likely to facilitate their falling down. ’ [p. 46-7]. Hans described going for a walk with his mother and witnessing a bus-horse fall down and kick abut with his feet [p. 49]. He was terrified thinking the horse was dead and that all horses will fall down. He then associated this with the wish for his father to ‘go away’ and wanted him ‘to fall down in the same way and be dead. When confronted with this notion Hans did not dispute it and later went on to play a game of biting his father; symbolically accepting the theory that he had identified his father with the horse he was afraid of. [p. 52]. Upon questioning Hans’ father uncovered an impression which lay concealed behind that of the falling bus horse of an event that occurred during t heir summer at Gmunden. While they were playing horses Fritzl had hit his foot against a stone and fallen down. [p. 58].Seeing the bus horse fall while walking with his mother had reminded him of this although Hans initially denied this [p. 82]. Freud commented that ‘It is especially interesting, however, to observe the way in which the transformation of Hans's libido into anxiety was projected on to the principal object of his phobia, on to horses. ’ Hans regarded Fritzl as a substitute for his father, particularly as Fritzl competed with Hans for the attention and affection of the girl playmates at Gmunden in a similar way to the manner in which Hans competed with his father for his beloved mothers affection.Freud also states that ‘When repression had set in and brought a revulsion of feeling along with it, horses, which had till then been associated with so much pleasure, were necessarily turned into objects of fear. ’ The ‘Lumf’ Complex Han s became unexpectedly preoccupied with ‘lumf’ showing disgust at anything that reminded him of evacuating his bowels [p. 55]. Hans had been in the habit of insisting upon accompanying his mother to the W. C. [p. 63]. His friend Berta filled his mother's place, until the fact became known and he was forbidden to do so [p. 1]. His father speculated that there was a link between the symbolism of a loaded horse cart passing through some gates (which Hans had observed in the Customs House opposite their home) and the passing of faeces out of the body [p 66-68]. Hans further clarified the symbolism of lumf with an additional phantasy of the plumber; ‘Daddy, I thought something: I was in the bath, and then the plumber came and unscrewed it. Then he took a big borer and stuck it into my stomach. ’ [p. 65]. Freud interpreted this as ‘With your big penis you â€Å"bored† me’ (i. . ‘gave birth to me’) ‘and put me in my mother's w omb. ’ His fantasy regarding the plumber unscrewing the bath and then struck him in the stomach with a big borer was further interpreted later on in the analysis. He was remoulding a ‘fantasy of procreation’, distorted by anxiety. The big bath was his mother’s womb and the borer was his fathers penis; giving a connection to being born. We must also consider Hans’ earlier confession that he wished that his mother might drop the child while she was being given her bath, so that she should die [p. 72].His own anxiety attached to bathing was a fear of retribution for this evil wish and of being punished by the same thing happening to him. Hans moved on to draw the natural conclusion that little Hanna was a lumf herself and that all babies were lumfs and were born like lumfs. We can thus deduce that all furniture-vans, drays and buses were only ‘stork-box carts’, and were therefore symbolic representations of pregnancy; and that when a horse fell down it can not only be seen as his dying father but also his mother in childbirth – a conflicting desire and fear.As discussed during the stork analysis Han’s had noticed his mothers pregnancy and had ‘pieced the facts of the case together’ without telling anyone. Which was demonstrated by his sceptical attitude towards the stork explanation given by his father and his description of Hanna joining them at Gmunden a year before her actual birth. Hans justified this phantasy, and in fact deliberately embellished it as an act of revenge upon his father. against whom he harboured a grudge for having misled him with the stork fable. Freud eloquently summarises Hans’ subconscious feeling on the matter; ‘If you really thought I was as stupid s all that, and expected me to believe that the stork brought Hanna, then in return I expect you to, accept my inventions as the truth. ’ Hans continued to seek revenge within the phantasy of teasin g and beating horses [p. 79]. This phantasy, again, had two constituents. Firstly to reinforce his pleasure at the teasing he had submitted his father with the recollection of Hanna at Gmunden; and secondly, it reproduced the obscure sadistic desires directed towards his mother. Hans even confessed consciously to a desire to beat his mother [p. 81].Hans discloses further phantasies which seem to confirm his growing confidence to communicate his conscious wish to ‘get rid’ of his father and that the reason he wished it was that his father interfered with his own intimacy with his mother. As Freud states this clearly shows Hans’ ‘progressive development from timid hinting to fully conscious, undistorted perspicuity. ’ Overcoming his fears – Concluding phantasies Freud describes the first of these as a triumphant, wishful phantasy, and with it he overcame his fear of castration’ in which the plumber gives Hans a new and, as his father gues sed, a bigger widdler [p. 98].His second phantasy confessed to the wish to be married to his mother and to have many children by her [p. 96-97]. Significantly this phantasy also provided an acceptable [to Hans] resolution to the unacceptable conflict within him caused by his desire to kill his father. Instead he promoted him to marry Hans’ grandmother. Thus resolving the alternating emotions of love and hate towards his father and the evil thoughts he’d harboured towards him. Hans had made up for the loss (reduced care and attention received from his mother) he experienced as a result of the birth of his sister by ‘imagining he had children of his own. And so long as they were at Gmunden he could really play with his children and therefore found an acceptable [to him] outlet for his affections. The families subsequent return to Vienna refocused Hans’ attention on his mother resulting in him gaining satisfaction by ‘a masturbatory stimulation of his g enitals. His desire to have children was twofold: He considered Hanna to be born like passing a lumf and therefore identified with his own feelings of pleasure in passing stool. Secondly the compensatory pleasure of passing his affection onto them. The conflict within Hans arose by his inability to cognise his fathers ole in Hanna’s (and therefore his own) birth. Hans could understand that he and Hanna were his mothers children – after all he now knew she had bought them into the world. But what role had his father played and what gave him the right to say they were his? As discussed Hans considered his fathers presence detrimental to his relationship with his mother for example by preventing her from sleeping with him. This revelation further reinforced Hans’ hostility towards his father which was compounded by stork lie which Hans perceived to be a conscious decision by his father to ‘keep Hans from the knowledge he was thirsting for. This, Hans conclude d, was therefore putting him at a disadvantage on two fronts. Despite hating his rival he was the same father whom he had always loved and was bound to go on loving, who had been his model, had been his first playmate, and had looked after him from his earliest infancy; thus giving rise to his first conflict. Freud therefore states that the ‘hostile complex against his father screened [the] lustful one about his mother. ’ Summary ; Conclusions Witnessing the horse falling down carried no ‘traumatic force’.It acquired significance due do Hans’ former interest in them and the earlier event in Gmunden which lead to the association of horses from Fritzl to his father. This was then compounded by the additional association of the horse falling with his mother in childbirth. Freud describes this ‘return of the repressed’ as returning in such a manner that the ‘the pathogenic material was remodelled and transposed on to the horse-complex, while the accompanying affects were uniformly turned into anxiety. Hans’ phobia was also further distorted by the warning he had been given about masturbation and its link to the hostility he felt towards his father. Hans was later affected by a ‘great wave of repression’ giving up masturbation and turning away in disgust at everything that reminded him of excrement and of the pleasure he had previously derived from observing other people performing their natural functions. This repression, considered natural by Freud [Three Essays [1905d, Standard Ed. ]], was not however the ‘precipitating cause of the illness. The two key conditions leading to Hans’ phobia were tendencies within Hans that had already been suppressed and had therefore never been able to find uninhibited expression: i) Hostile and Jealous feelings towards his father ii) Sadistic impulses (premonitions of copulation) towards his mother. These repressed ideas forced their way into Han s’ consciousness as the (distorted) content of the phobia. As Freud describe this was however a ‘paltry success’ as the forces of repression ‘made use of the opportunity to extend their dominion over components other than those that had rebelled. The purpose of the phobia was therefore to restrict his movement: Keeping him closer to his mothers affections. Hans had always taken pleasure in movement ‘I'm a young horse’, he had said as he jumped about’ [p. 58]. This pleasure in movement had however included the instinctive impulse to copulate with his mother and resulted in Hans causing his symbol of movement (the horse) to develop into a conscious anxiety. Alfred Adler suggested that anxiety arrises from the suppression of an ‘aggressive instinct’ [Adler, ‘Der Aggressionstrieb im Leben und in der Neurose’ (1908)].However Freud disagrees with this notion and goes on to state that this aggression is an ‘indis pensable attribute of all instincts. ’ Or to simplify; ‘each instinct [has] its own power of becoming aggressive. ’ Frued identifies the two instincts which became repressed in Hans as ‘familiar components of the sexual libido. ’ Freud seemed to hold Hans in high regard describing him as ‘well formed physically, and was a cheerful, amiable, active-minded young fellow who might give pleasure to more people than his own father. He went on to observe that it is ‘by no means such a rare thing to find object-choice and feelings of love in boys at a similarly early age. ’ Signigficantly he also goes on to speculate that ‘sexual precocity is a correlate, which is seldom absent, of intellectual precocity, and that it is therefore to be met with in gifted children more often than might be expected. ’ This is demonstrated by Hans’ ability to cognate abstract reasoning; particularly towards his childish sexual theories rel ating to the origin of his sister Hanna.Freud continues to say that Hans ‘is not the only child who has been overtaken by a phobia at some time or other in his childhood. ’ In fact such phobias can be ‘extraordinarily frequent. ’ Typically ‘Their phobias are shouted down in the nursery because they are inaccessible to treatment and are decidedly inconvenient. In the course of months or years they diminish, and the child seems to recover; but no one can tell what psychological changes are necessitated by such a recovery, or what alterations in character are involved in it. He therefore concludes that ‘Hans’ illness may not have been any more serious than that of many other children who are not branded as degenerates. As discussed in previous papers [For example; last section of the third of Freud's Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality(1905d), Standard Ed. , 7, 225. ] psycho-analytic analysis of adult neurotics regularly identifies infan tile anxiety as the ‘point of departure. ’ Freud goes on to discus wider societal issues stating that we ‘concentrate too much upon symptoms and concern ourselves too little with their causes. An issue arguable still as relevant today as it as at the time of Freud’s writing. Freud’s concern was that ‘In bringing up children we aim only at being left in peace and having no difficulties, in short, at training up a model child, and we pay very little attention to whether such a course of development is for the child's good as well. ’ It can therefore be argued that the phobia was in fact an advantage for Hans as it directed his parents to ‘unavoidable difficulties’ in ‘overcoming the innate instinctual components of the mind. With his father assistance Hans now longer carries the repressed complexes other children still have to bear. It is also fair to state (as Freud does) that such complexes (as the origins of babies) a re not only repressed by children but dreaded by their parents. Freud also looked to counter potential criticism that by bringing Hans’ ‘wicked instincts’ into his conscious he might act upon then. For example; acting out his evil wishes against his father?In his Postscript (1922) Freud scornfully comments that some readers of the case study had foretold ‘a most evil future’ for little Hans who had been a ‘victim of psychoanalysis’ thus ‘robbing him of his innocence. ’ He triumphantly reports that none of these predictions had come true and that the analysis actually facilitated Hans’ recovery. It had in fact helped prepare him for the emotional turbulence of his parents separation in subsequent years. A further point to consider from the postscript is teenage Hans’ apparent ‘infant amnesia’ towards the challenges of his early years.He also argues in favour of ‘full disclosure by telling him about the ‘vagina and copulation’ allowing him to put an end to his ‘stream of questions’ without loosing ‘love for his mother [or] his own childish nature. ’ In his conclusion Freud discusses a number of principles common to modern psychotherapy. For example: ‘A number of individuals are constantly passing from the class of healthy people into that of neurotic patients, while a far smaller number also make the journey in the opposite direction. ’ ‘A child's upbringing can exercise a powerful influence for good or for evil upon the disposition’ they subsequently exhibit. The origin of pathogenic complexes†¦ deserves to be regarded by educators as an invaluable guide in their conduct towards children. And subsequently ‘At what cost has the suppression of inconvenient instincts been achieved? ’ He also passes comment on the psychoanalytic process itself. Specifically relating to this analysis he states: ‘Previously, his father [the therapist] had been able to tell him [Hans] in advance what was coming, while Hans had merely followed his lead and come trotting after; but now it was Hans who was forging ahead, so rapidly and steadily that his father [the therapist] found it difficult to keep up with him. This alludes to the significant challenge the therapist faces in containing and interpreting the information and emotions the patient transfers onto them. In the case of Hans this is compounded by the conflict produced within the father-son/therapist-patient diad. Something Freud refers to when discussing the considerable barrier in bringing Hans’ hostility towards his father into the little boys conscious. This is summarised beautifully by Freud in the following paragraph: ‘The physician is a step in front of him in knowledge; and the patient follows along his own road, until the two meet at the appointed goal. ‘Beginners in psycho-analysis are apt to assim ilate these two events, and to suppose that the moment at which one of the patient's unconscious complexes has become known to them is also the moment at which the patient himself recognises it. They are expecting too much when they think that they will cure the patient by informing him of this piece of knowledge; for he can do no more with the information than make use of it to help himself in discovering the unconscious complex where it is anchored in his unconscious. ’

Women As ‘Real Men’

Throughout the selected stories in Giovanni Boccaccio’s The Decameron many themes are brought to a readers attention. These themes help relate and compare the tales to one another in more ways than one. In the tale, Day two Story nine it raises a certain question on how a man may look as his wife, and the standards his wife may have to uphold. In comparison Day Five Story Ten, the question raised is a question of loyalty of a wife to her husband, which in turn, compare with the standards a wife may have to uphold for the husband. In both of these stories women are seen in the end as tough characters that take these actions from their husbands without any question; they are the real men in the tales. The tale Day Two Story Nine is about a man Bernabo whom is married to Zinevra, a very trustworthy wife. Bernabo and his friend Ambrugiolo while away get into a conversation about how easy it is to cheat on their wives while they are away, because in the end Ambrugiolo’s thought is that they do the same thing. Bernabo disagrees he looks at his wife as very trustworthily and Zinevra would never do such a thing. Because of a bet the two men end up making, Amrugiolo undeservingly wins the bet, or so Bernabo is led to believe. Bernabo orders a servant to murder Zinevra because of this misleading sin she been framed of committing. She pleads to the servant for her life and runs away to begin a new life as a man. Zinevra made a new life for herself after she was framed and moved on. But one day in the market she ran into her husband, Bernabo after much talking they realized who each other were. In the end, Zinevra gets revenge on Ambrugiolo and he is killed. Zinevra was in control of her decision to either go back to her husband Bernabo after he did not trust her word and ordered her to be killed, or not. She ends up goes back to her husband and in a way is a hero. Bernabo did not trust the loyalty of their marriage and was quick to judge Zinevra, but in the end the two lived happily ever after. Day Five Story 10 is another story with the loyalty of a husband and a wife. The story is about a man Guaitieri marrying a beautiful peasant, Griselda. Quick to marry, Guaitieri does not know if Griselda is truly a loyal companion and tests her through dramatic and horrific tricks. Including lying to Griselda about killing both their daughter and son, and Griselda does not question it and agrees with his actions. Guaitieri does not know what will break his wife because he believes this woman could not be so loyal. Therefore he pretends to divorce the peasant, and tells Griselda that he is getting remarried. He wants her to not only attend the wedding, but also clean and decorate the house for the event. Griselda agrees yet again, and in the end Guaitieri is convinced that she is just as loyal as she acts and tells her the whole truth of the matter. Their children were never killed, and the woman he was about to marry was their daughter. The loyal Griselda takes back Guaitieri and they live happily ever after. While reading these stories, which were written in a time not like today, a reader may be taken back. With the Bernabo and Zinevra story, a reader may question why Bernabo was so quick to judge what he thought was a trustworthy and loyal wife. But as we see in the selected tales women are viewed almost as a prize or object not as a companion or a real person. We see that in Guaitieri and Griselda’s story as well Guaitieri tests Griselda over and over and would not believe that she really was a loyal as she was coming off to be. Readers would take this story and see Griselda as almost an abused women, husbands do not treat their wives this way this time in age. In contradiction back in the day Griselda was seen as such a loyal women and wife because of her reactions to Guaitieri’s terrible lies. In both tales, the women over come their challenges and are viewed as harder and tougher people then the men.

Serial Killer Research

The Insanity Of Killers Serial murder is a psychological crime in many aspects. It is a planned, thought out action. The crimes themselves are often committed in order for the killer to gain a sense of power, control, and domination. There must be psychological desires and/or perceived needs that are otherwise lacking in his or her life. Are serial killers insane? Not by legal standards. The legal definition of insanity is based on the 19th century M’Naghten Rules: Does the offender understand the difference between right and wrong?If he flees or makes any attempt to hide the crime, then the offender is not insane, because his actions show that he understood that what he was doing was wrong. Yet what person in their right mind would filet young children and write letters to the parents, glorifying over what a fine meal their child made? In the case of Albert Fish, the jury found him â€Å"insane, but he deserved to die anyway. † A formal definition of legal insanity fir st was adopted in 1843 and is called the M'Naghten test; its basic form still is used today.The test outlines that the defense must clearly prove that the accused person was so impaired psychologically as to not understand that the crime was wrong when he or she committed it. Most crime experts believe that serial killers are not insane and are fully aware of their actions at the time that they commit murders. What's more, serial murderers commit several crimes, so it would follow that they should be proved as insane when planning and committing all the crimes they're charged with.Some serial killers have been diagnosed as psychopaths, or people who act with total disregard for the rights of others; they can tell the difference between right and wrong, however, so psychopaths aren't considered insane. Society believes that the insanity defense is used far more often than it actually is and people believe that the defense is used as a tactic to avoid punishment. People perceive seria l killers as inhumane and question how they could ever commit the crimes that they do.Some think it is inhumane to put a killer to death, but isn’t it even more inhumane to kill as many people as that killer did? One of the most predictable attempts to shift the blame is by creating an evil dark side, or alter ego. Fabricating an alter ego is a convenient way to pin the guilt on another, even if that other is within. It's a psychological variation of â€Å"the devil made me do it. † But diabolical alter egos are usually clumsy constructions that fall apart under scrutiny. At best, a legitimate split personality could hope for a mental institution instead of death row.But authentic cases are exceptionally rare. The motives of serial killers can be placed into five different categories: visionary, missionary, hedonistic, gain motivated, power and control. Visionary is like having that little voice in your head telling you to do something, so the killer listens and even s ometimes tries to shift the blame on to the voice and claiming to be insane. So-called missionary killers believe that their acts are justified on the basis that they are getting rid of a certain type of person and thus doing society a favor.The hedonistic type kills for the sheer pleasure of it, although what aspect they enjoy varies. This is the most common type of serial killer depicted in slasher and horror movies, psychological thrillers, and so on. Gain motivated, most criminals who commit multiple murders for material ends (such as Mafia hit men) are not classed as serial killers, because they are motivated by economic gain rather than psychopathological compulsion. Power and control, their main objective for killing is to gain and exert power over their victim.Such killers are sometimes abused as children, leaving them with feelings of powerlessness and inadequacy as adults. They must be insane, what normal person could slaughter another human, for the sheer pleasure of it? Yet the most chilling fact about serial killers is that they are rational and calculating. As the â€Å"British Jeffrey Dahmer† Dennis Nilsen put it, â€Å"a mind can be evil without being abnormal. † Serial Killer-Psychopathic or Psychotic Differences between the two. What is a serial killer? A serial killer is a person who attacks and kills victims one by one in a series of incidents.Some characteristics of a serial killer is that they have a minimum of three to four victims, usually with a â€Å"cooling off period† in between. The killer usually is likely to victimize a stranger than they are to victimize someone that they know. The serial killer has a sadistic urge to dominate there victims, they do not profit, except for psychological satisfaction. The serial killer usually looks for victims that are vulnerable. The majority of serial killers are white males, in there late 20’s to early 30’s, but some have been known to be a lot older.Serial k illers usually come from lower to middle class family backgrounds and they usually have at least an average intelligence. There are two types of serial killers, the psychotic and the psychopath. The psychotic serial killer is one who is legally insane, they cannot tell the difference between right and wrong, they may hear voices, see visions and sometimes may have hallucinations prior to committing the murders. â€Å"The son of Sam† aka David Berkowitz is a great example of a psychotic serial killer. The second type of serial killer is the psychopathic serial killer.The psychopathic serial killer does not suffer from hallucinations, they know the difference between right and wrong, and are in touch with reality, they just do not care what the are doing is not right. Psychopathic serial killers lack one very important trait and that is that they do not have a conscience, or that there conscience is too weak to stop the violent behavior. A psychopathic serial killer does not fe el any guilt, nor are they sorry for there actions. There are numerous theories as to whether a person is born with the predisposition to kill; some theories suggest that the psychopath is a product of his/her environment.It is possible that it is a combination of both genetics anjd the person’s environment. The worst part of a psychopathic serial killer is his/her ability to blend in with their environment. They will act normal, but underneath there persona, lies two uncontrollable traits; sexual abnormality and a consuming need for power. The killing satisfies both the ultimate control over life and death. Simply, killing gives them pleasure, they will because they want to and because they enjoy doing so.The only thing that stops a serial killer from committing these types of killings is either they are arrested or they die. Works Cited Debswood, . â€Å"Serial Killer – Psychopathic or Psychotic. † Scienceray. 19 2008. Web. 2 Nov 2012. . Ward, Daniel. â€Å"T he M'Naghten Rule: A Re-evaluation. † Marquette Law Review. Marquette Law Scholarly Commons, n. d. Web. 4 Nov 2012. . Bardsley, Marilyn. â€Å"Albert Fish. † Trutv-Crime Library. A Time Warner Company. Web. 3 Nov 2012. . Sullivan, Andrew. â€Å"Mind of Madness. † Studymode. studymode. com, 27 2011. Web. 5 Nov 2012. .

Quiz Computer Forensic & Investigation Essay

Hanley Strappman, 37, was trying to learn about the Computer and Digital Forensics program at Champlain College. He was able to obtain some files, which he put on a floppy disk. To disguise his espionage, he decided to smuggle the floppy back home after altering the files so that they couldn’t be read using the ordinary DOS/Windows file manager. His deception was discovered, however, and the floppy has been recovered. Some of your counterparts have already tried to examine the disk to no avail. Upon discussions with Hanley, he has boasted that there are three files on the disk but that â€Å"You’ll never know what I got!!† You are being provided with a forensically true and accurate copy of Hanley’s floppy disk. You are asked to examine the floppy disk and provide answers to a few questions about the integrity of the data that was recovered (in terms of maintaining the evidentiary chain), the recovery of certain information, and any actions that the suspect may have taken to intentionally delete, hide and/or alter data on the floppy disk. Good Luck! Using the software tools provided to you in class, audit the disk and conduct a full analysis of any artifacts found on the media. The following questions must be completed in the time allotted: The Questions 1. What is the name and address of the person to whom Hanley wrote a letter? Dr. John Watson 8295 Martha Lane Los Alamitos, CA 90720 2. Who is in the picture that Hanley obtained? Lewis Carroll, Edith, Lorina and Alice Lidell 3. What is the information that Hanley supplied in a password-protected form? A file named â€Å"curriculum† in Microsoft Excel format. 4. What are the names of the files on the floppy? Each was hidden or obscured in a different way; indicate how you found the files and how you recovered the information. The file name is cc_stuff.exe Change the format to the .zip format and enter the password to get the information 5. Where did you find the password? By using PRTK software, inside the evidence image at the pwd

Monopolistic Competitive Market

Monopolistic Competitive Market Introduction The term market refers to the place where buyers and sellers meet to engage in transactions that entail the exchange of goods or the provision of services for a consideration. A market is not only characterized by a building where people carry out business transactions. This is because any place that people carry out commerce can be referred to as a market. A market is characterized by various mechanisms that facilitate trade. These mechanisms usually pertain to the supply and demand of products and services (Bergin, 2005).From this explanation it should be clear that a market is comprised of three main elements. The sellers these are the people who bring the products or services to the market to be procured by the willing buyers. At this stage it is imperative to highlight that in most cases sellers are the produces however in other instances the sellers are not necessarily the producers instead they can be traders. The second element of the market is the buyers. Buyers are individual who are willing and able to acquire the products or services being offered at the prevailing market price.Buyers are of two types; there are those that buy the products or services for their own consumption and there are those that buy the products or services in order to resell them in different markets. The buyers who buy the products for their own consumption are referred to as consumers whereas buyers who buy the products or services in order to resell them in different market are commonly referred to as trades and they can also be called arbitragers (Nicholson & Snyder, 2008). The third element of the market is the products that are being traded.The term product can be used to refer to either goods or services that are being offered in exchange for a consideration. The term product can also be used to refer to commodities only. General Objectives One of the general objectives of this paper is to facilitate the readers of this docu ment to gain an understanding of how markets work and most importantly how a monopolistic competitive market works. This paper will achieve this through briefly discussing various types of markets and their characteristics.Another general objective of this paper is to compare and contrast the various characteristics of the different forms of market structures. This will serve to enable the readers to carry out a comparative analysis of the various forms of market structures thus they will be able to enhance their knowledge on market structures. This objective will be attained through the analysis of the factors, which are mainly in play for the existence of a particular form of market. The paper will also seek to analyze how the various factors in such markets interrelate in order to develop a market mechanism for that form of market structure.This is because all forms of markets structures have market mechanisms. These market mechanisms are usually as result of the interaction of v arious factors that are both internal and external to a particular market. Specific Objectives One of the specific objectives of this paper is to discuss the conceptual theory of a monopolistic competitive market. The discussion of the monopolistic competitive market entails analyzing the various factors that characterize this particular form of market structure. This is will be important form enhance the knowledge of the readers of this paper, on monopolistic competitive market structure.The discussion of the conceptual theory will also enable the readers to have a good basis for analyzing and responding to questions that relate to monopolistic competitive market structure. Another objective is to discuss the characteristics of a monopolistic competitive market. The discussion of the characteristics of a monopolistic competitive market structure is important because it will serve to explain how the various factors involved in this type of market structure interrelate in order to th is unique type of market.The discussion of the characteristic of a monopolistic competitive market will serve to enhance the understanding of the readers of how companies that operate in such a market carry out their operations. The discussion of these characteristics will serve to inform the readers the various factors that companies operating in this type of market put into consideration during decision-making. This discussion will also enable the readers to be able to identify a monopolistic competitive market in a real business situation.This paper also aims at establishing how market equilibrium is achieved both in the long – run and in the short run. This is mainly because in a monopolistic competitive market structure, market equilibrium is achieved differently both in the short – run and in the long – run. This analysis is imperative mainly because this knowledge enables the management to have a good basis for decision-making. The analysis will provide f actors that the management should put into consideration whenever they are making decisions concerning either the short term or the long – term future of a company.The illustration of how market equilibriums are achieved in the short run or in the long run will enable the readers to gain understanding of how the various factors in this market structure relate in the determination of the equilibrium market prices. It will also enable to understand how companies that operate in a monopolistic competitive market adapt themselves in order to be able to operate in this particular form of market at minimal costs and manage to obtain maximum profits. This paper will also provide a practical example of a monopolistic competitive market.In this example, the paper will seek to illustrate how the conceptual theory is exhibited in this form of market structure. This paper will utilize this example in order to enhance the knowledge of the reader on how market equilibrium is attained both in the long – run and in the short – run. This example will illustrate how the various factors are displayed in a real market situation, also this paper will utilize the example to look at the type of decisions that are made by mangers of companies that operate in a monopolistic competitive markets structure. Conceptual TheoryThere are four forms of market structure namely, monopoly, perfect competition, monopolistic competition and oligopoly. These forms of market structures are characterized by different market conditions. Markets are mainly classified according to the number of firms in the industry or the form of products sold in them. The number of firms operating in a particular market determines the level of competition in that market. Product markets are mainly categorized according to the number of firms in the industry and the degree of competition that is prevalent in a particular industry.At this stage it is also important to highlight that equilibrium pric es in these markets are subject to the forces of supply and demand. The forces of supply and demand are known as the price mechanism. An individual firm on itself cannot influence the price of a commodity and can therefore only take the price prevailing in the market. Due to this condition a firm is therefore said to be a price taker (Nicholson & Snyder, 2008). The movement along a demand curve is caused by changes in price of a commodity.An increase in price results in a decrease in quantity demanded hence a movement along the demand curve to the left. A shift in the demand curve is caused by changes in factors other than the price of the commodity in question. Different quantities are therefore demanded at the original price. A shift in the demand curve outwards to the right indicates that more quantities are demanded at the original price whereas a shift inwards to the left indicates that fewer quantities are demanded at the original price (Dwivedi, 2006).Movement in the supply c urve is similar to movement in the demand curve. A shift in the supply curve refers to a relocation of the supply curve either outwards to the right or inwards to the left due to change in the factors that affect supply other than price. This means that at each price, a different quantity will be supplied that was previously supplied. Equilibrium price refers to the price, where the quantity demanded equals that supplied. It is the price at which the amount the customers are able and willing to buy is equal to the quantity producers willing and able to supply.The equilibrium point, refers to a point at which the demand and the supply curve intersect. Any price above the equilibrium price leads to excess supply, whereas any price below the equilibrium price leads to excess demand. Excess demand or supply causes disequilibrium in the market. Due to the excess demand for a particular commodity in the market, a shortage is created. This shortage causes the consumers to compete for the l imited commodity in the market thus making the price of that commodity go up. As he price continues to rise, suppliers put more of the commodity into the market (Mandal, 2007). On the other hand, the high price also discourages some consumers from buying the commodity. This scenario of increased supply and reducing demand continues until the equilibrium price and quantity are set. When there is excess supply of a commodity in the market the prices begins to fall. As the price falls more consumers purchase the commodity. The suppliers also reduce the amount of the commodity they are releasing into the market due to the falling prices.This scenario of falling supply and increasing demand continues until the equilibrium price and quantity are set. It is also important to highlight that a general assumption in the study of this subject is that firms aim at attaining maximum profits using minimal costs possible. This means during decision making the managers of the firm will always aim a t using the least resources possible and utilise them efficiently in order to attain the maximum achievable profits possible. The level of output that will bring about maximum profit in a firm depends on the costs incurred and the revenues earned.Revenues refers to incomes obtained by a firm from the sale of its outputs and they may be categorized into three namely, total revenue, average revenue and marginal revenue. Total revenue refers to the total income earned by a firm from the sale of its output. Total revenue is obtained through multiplying the total output sold by the price. Average revenue refers to income per unit of output. Average revenue can be obtained by dividing the total revenue obtained by the number of units of output. It is important to note that the average revenue is the same as the price of the commodity (Dwivedi, 2006).This implies that the average revenue curve, which relates average revenues to output, is the same as the demand curve, which relates prices to output. Marginal revenue refers to the addition to the total revenue arising from the sale of an additional unit of output. Marginal revenue can also be obtained by subtracting the previous total revenue from the current one and can be seen to be equal to the price and average revenue. Characteristics of a monopolistic competitive market This is a market structure that combines aspects of perfect competition and those of a monopoly.There are many sellers and many buyers just like in perfect competition. The commodities dealt with are similar but each firm tends to differentiate its products from those of its competitors through acts such as branding, packing, wrapping and coloring. A monopolistic competitive market structure is a combination of the features that will be discussed in the succeeding paragraphs. In a monopolistic competitive market there exist many buyers and sellers. This comes in adequately because there is no single firm that can influence the prices of commoditi es or services in the market.If a business sells its goods or services above the market price then consumers can buy their goods from other businessmen. If a company sells its products at a lower price then chances of making a loss is very high (Mandal, 2007). Though a business may increase its prices in a perfect competition, the action may be risky since customers will move to another business. This is not the case with a monopolistic business, though a firm may lose some of the customers, some will remain due to the kind of relationship they have with the seller or even the quality of the given products.All the aforementioned factors are due to the fact that there is a large number of buyers and customers that act independently. In this form of market structure it is assumed that the sellers and the buyers of commodities are well informed about the market. That is they know the prices, quality of products and all the factors affecting the market. In this market the products are d ifferentiated. The products from different producers either vary in quality or the product is a group of commodities which are close substitutes of each other (Mandal, 2007).For instance, in the toothpaste industry there are different brands such as Colgate, Close– up and Aquafresh. This differentiation of products from different firms enables each firm to enjoy a certain degree of monopoly power. A monopolistic competitive market is characterized by freedom of entry and exit. This means there are no barriers to a business entering or living the market. This means that new firms wishing to supply the same commodity are free to do so (Bergin, 2005). Similarly, existing firms wishing to leave the market are free to do so.How to determine equilibrium in the short – run and long – run on Monopolistic Competitive Market Structure Price and output determination under monopolistic competition Due to product differentiation, a firm under monopolistic competition is able to exercise some influence on the price of the product. This means that a firm can raise prices yet some customers will still buy at these high prices (Dwivedi, 2006). However, many customers will switch to rivals’ products. On the other hand, if the firm lowers the price, it would attract some buyers from the rival firms, thereby increasing its product’s demand.A monopolistically competitive market has a demand curve that slopes downward from left to right. In a monopolistic competitive market the demand curve is fairly elastic. This means that a small change in price will bring about more than proportionate changes in quantities demanded. This is because there are many substitutes in the market. The demand curve is more elastic than the one faced by a monopolist but less elastic than a perfectly competitive market whose demand is perfectly elastic (Jehle & Reny, 2011). The relationship between average revenue and marginal revenue is similar to that of a monopolist.F or average revenue to be increasing as more units of output are sold, the marginal revenue must be lower than the average revenue. Short – run equilibrium output under monopolistic competition A firm under monopolistic competition will be at equilibrium at an output when profits are maximized. This is the position when marginal revenue is equal to marginal cost. This is at price P1 and quantity Qe. However, there still excess demand and the firm can maximize its profits by changing price Pe. The firm will therefore produce quantity Qe and sell at price Pe (Jehle & Reny, 2011).Qe represents equilibrium output and P1 represents equilibrium price. The price at which the equilibrium output can be sold is determined by the demand Curve (Average Revenue) and its price. Profits are maximized at a level of output between O (zero) and the equilibrium quantity demanded. Long – run equilibrium output under monopolistic competition A firm under monopolistic competition can make su pernormal profits in the short – run. Since there is free entry of new firm into the market, the supernormal profits will attract the new firms with the effect that demand for the old firm’s customers will be taken by new firms.The demand curve for the old firm therefore shifts right to left (Mandal, 2007). A lower quantity is demanded at each price. Firms are likely to increase expenditure on product promotion due to increased competition, which in turn would cause the average total cost curve to shift upwards. New firms will continue to enter the market as long as the existing equilibrium is achieved and all firms would be earning normal profits. The equilibrium point is where the average revenue is equal to the average cost. This point is achieved in the long run when the average revenue curve is a tangent to the average cost curve.The firm will be at equilibrium when it produces output at the equilibrium quantity demanded (Bergin, 2005). This is where the marginal revenues equal the marginal cost because the firm is in the business of profit maximization. At the point of equilibrium, the average cost is equal to the average revenue. This is so because competitive pressure means that a firm can neither make a loss nor earn supernormal profits. At this point of equilibrium the firm is making normal profits only. Conclusion An example of a monopolistic competitive market is the toothpaste market.The toothpaste market is characterized by firms that offers products that are similar but they are highly differentiated. Consumers of Colgate toothpaste believe that Colgate is the number one brand of toothpaste that ensures strong teeth. As a result of this the consumers are normally willing to buy toothpaste regardless of the price. Consumers of Aquafresh toothpaste believe that Aquafresh is the number one brand that ensures healthy germs and fresh breathe. As a result of this customers are willing to always procure the Aquafresh toothpaste regardless of the price.Consumers of the two products believe the products are different and this is because of the way the manufacturers have positioned the brands. REFERENCES Bergin, J. (2005). Microeconomic Theory: A concise Course. New York: Oxford University Press. Dwivedi, D. N. (2006). Microeconomics: Theory & Applications. New Delhi: Dorling kindersley. Jehle, G. A. , & Reny, P. J. (2011). Advanced Microeconomic Theory. New York: Pretence Hall. Mandal, R. K. (2007). Microeconomic Theory. New Delhi: Atlantic Publisher. Nicholson, W. , & Snyder, C. (2008). Microeconomic Theory: Basic Principles and Extension. New York: Cengage Learning.