Commentary on Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel Essay examples

Commentary on Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel The novel Like Water for Chocolate is the story of a woman fighting tradition in quest for love and freedom. The novel has diverse relations of apathy and love between the characters. The author Esquivel illustrates these relations by the use of the colors red and white. Throughout the novel Like Water for Chocolate, Laura Esquivel uses the colors red and white to symbolize love and apathy in the relationships between the characters. Laura Esquivel uses the color red to symbolize love and passion in relationships. In the following quote "Mamma Elena had come to get a sheet or something and had caught Tita red-handed."(p. 136) The little box that contained mamma Elena's old love letters with her old love, Jose Trevino. Tita, being caught 'red-handed' may symbolize that her hands had been stained and contaminated with the love that was concealed inside the box. Another quote that reinforces the motif red is when Tita asked Nacha is she was to add more food coloring...

Classical Conditioning and Pros and Cons of Punishment Essay

Classical conditioning is a form of behavioral learning and was first introduced when Ivan Pavlov came upon a study when he was studying the psychology of digestion in dogs. He noticed that the dogs would not just begin salivating when the meat powder was introduced, but also when the person responsible for feeding would enter the room or heard there footsteps. Classical conditioning is when two stimuli are presented in close succession repeatedly, until the response given to one becomes associated with the other. An example of this was when Pavlov introduced the bell right before he brought the dogs food that is unconditioned stimulus, it would cause an automatic reaction or unconditioned response. The bell would be the conditioned stimulus or neutral stimulus. When paired together, the unconditional stimulus and the conditional stimulus would cause conditioned response. There are many ways to apply classical conditioning to everyday life. Here I will show you how it can be used in teaching your dog to sit. When my son was small he wanted a dog and I would always watch him play with his dog call Casper. I would watch my son try to put Casper in the front of his 2 seat car and try to strap him down but Casper will always try to bit him. I had too but a muzzle over Casper’s mouth so he wouldn’t bit my son. Then my son will ride around the compound and pretended Casper was his best friend or sometimes his baby brother. After checking myself, I realize I was punishing and innocent dog was brutal and violent action which was not really necessary. I decided to teach Casper some tricks so I bought a clicker to start Casper on his training course. The first trick we thought our dog was to sit. From then on, every time my son tell the dog to sit I would click the clicker twice. Soon as Casper sat I would give him a treat, a small piece of beef treat. We would practice this over and over until eventually all I had to do was make two click of the clicker and Casper would sit. Casper after a while would stare at me waiting on the treat. In this situation, the click of the clicker is the neutral stimulus which by itself meant nothing to the dog. However, when the neutral stimulus comes to be paired with something, the beef treat, it caused the dog to react and in this case to sit. The treat is the unconditioned stimulus and the reaction is unconditioned because no prior learning was required. However, when we  paired the click of the clicker with the beef treat it then triggers a reaction in the dog to sit. This now changes the neutral stimulus, the click, into a conditioned stimulus and since Casper now sits at the click it also changes the reaction into a conditioned response. After learning this my son used the same procedure only this time one click was used to teach the dog to come. Now my son doesn’t have to strap Casper in the seat anymore. My son just have to sit in his car and Casper will run after the car and jump into it at sit for himself. Conclusion it is through Pavlov’s discovery of classical conditioning that one can rationalize how a person acquires involuntary reactions to a particular stimu lus. Animals as well as humans can be taught to react to certain activities in a particular way. Just as my scenario of teaching my dog to sit with a clicker. As this paper proves by my own scenario of teaching my dog to sit that classical conditioning is still used today in our everyday lives. To teach a dog the meaning of the click, a treat is given immediately after clicking. Once the dog learns the positive effects of the clicking sound, the clicker itself acts as a conditioned reinforcement. Now Casper seem to run after my son without even hearing the click of the clicker but just a mare rolling on the wheels of his little car. As I have learned about the pros and cons of punishment in my own person training of my dog it don’t have to be always brutal when teaching but rather enhancing what a dog already know with operant condition. Sometimes if we use too much force it my turn a dog into and aggressive and dangerous animal or the dog might become more obedient to its master.

A Brief Note On Liberal Arts Seminar The Pursuit Of Science

Erich Thalacker Dr. Paulina Mena October 2, 2014 Intersections: Liberal Arts Seminar The Pursuit of Science Frequently, scientists are judged purely on the contributions they make towards the advancements to science. This being an integral aspect of evaluating them, society cannot forget the importance of how each individual became the great patron of science that they are vastly known for. Many variables make up a scientist; their genes, how they are raised, their place in society, and the historical context of the time they lived in are just to name a few. These individual concepts are what make up the human side of science, the side often forgotten and skipped over when thinking about our favorite scientists. Many of them must use†¦show more content†¦Edward Hoffman, who gained his PhD from the University of Michigan, states that Samuel had to do his long labor in order to provide for his increasing household (Hoffman 6). Because his father was not around all the time, Abraham had to rely on himself and deal with his mother. Though he was born into an une ducated family, Abe’s kin encouraged him in all of his intellectual pursuits. They saw the value in working with ones mind and encouraged Maslow to be scholar (Hoffman 5). This encouragement helped put Abraham in schooling opportunities and he took advantage of them all. Though, he may not have had emotionally supporting parents and â€Å"remembers his childhood as a bleak time,† Maslow was very close with his cousin, Will Maslow (Hoffman 10). The friendship pushed Maslow to learn more about himself and become more outgoing, along with building his low-self esteem. Similar to how Abraham’s ties with other humans in his childhood was limited, so where his opportunities in the area he and his family were located at. Abe explains that each block in the neighborhood he resided him had its own â€Å"ethnic identity [whether it be] Irish, Italian, or Jewish† (Hoffman 3). This way of life was hard on a young and scrawny boy who had a craving for learning. Maslo w explains, â€Å"I was the little Jewish boy in the non-Jewish neighborhood. It was like being the first Negro enrolled in the all-white school. I was isolated and unhappy. I grew up in libraries and