Tkam Theme Essay Free Essays

Kiah Lyons Mrs. Farrands Honors English II 30 October 2012 As youngsters, we are instructed essentially that something whether it is an individual, article, or conviction is just fortunate or unfortunate. We can arrange or distinguish what is positive or negative utilizing three sources. We will compose a custom article test on Tkam Theme Essay or on the other hand any comparative subject just for you Request Now Normally our convictions are fundamentally founded on what our family unit says. Society additionally has an enormous job in our perspectives also. In the case of something is unlawful, prohibited, or even disliked by society it is viewed as terrible. In any case, saying something is worthy or not adequate is something totally not quite the same as what our activities state. Numerous guardians utilize the platitude: Do as I state, not as I do. Once in a while we realize something conflicts with what is correct or against or ethics however we do it in any case. Scout sees that in many occasions; what those in her family unit advise her, what society advises her, and what her family and society does not all correspond. This is apparent while breaking down two fundamental subjects of the book which are race and Boo Radley. Atticus consistently tells Scout and Jem the significance of rewarding minorities individuals similarly if worse. While conversing with Mr. Raymond, Scout discloses to him that Atticus advised her â€Å"cheatin’ a shaded man is multiple times more regrettable than cheatin’ a white man, Says it’s the most noticeably awful thing you can do† (Lee 205). While protecting Tom Robinson, Atticus told the court: â€Å"The truth is this: some Negroes lie, some Negroes are improper, some Negro men are not trustworthy around ladies dark or white. However, this is a reality that applies to mankind and to no specific race of men† indicating his solid conviction of uniformity among all men regardless of what their skin shading might be (Lee 208). Despite the fact that Atticus emphatically has confidence in the statement from Thomas Jefferson that â€Å"All men are made equal†, Aunt Alexandra would in general have an alternate point of view in regards to hued people (Lee 208). This is unequivocally clear in the manner she treats and discusses Calpurnia. At the point when Aunt Alexandra first showed up, rather than a heartfelt welcome she reveals to Calpurnia immediately â€Å"Put my sack in the front room, Calpurnia† which shows that Aunt Alexandra sees Calpurnia of an alternate class and has no regard for her. Auntie Alexandra objected to for all intents and purposes everything that Calpurnia did, and on the off chance that it could be kept away from, she didn't need Scout and Jem investing any additional energy with her. Despite the fact that Scout anticipates going to Calpurnia, Aunt Alexandra isn't enamored with the thought, and really urges Atticus to fire Cal. She trusts Cal is certifiably not a decent job mole which drives her to advise Atticus to â€Å"face it at some point or another [†¦] We don’t need her now† (Lee 138). Auntie Alexandra felt that on the grounds that Calpurnia was dark, she was not fit as a mother figure, and permitted her presumptions about blacks influence her perspective on Calpurnia. All through the mid year, Jem, Scout, and Dill love to reenact Boo Radley’s life and mess around which incorporate playing with the house, which Atticus doesn't affirm of. At the point when he got the children he revealed to them that â€Å"what Mr. Radley did was his own business. On the off chance that he needed to come out, he would† (Lee 50). Despite the fact that the remainder of his family might not have indistinguishable convictions from Atticus, he takes exceptionally his guidelines and ethics of rewarding men of numerous kinds and hues with deference and correspondence. Plainly Maycomb’s society doesn't concur with Atticus guarding Tom Robinson. Scout doesn't understand that she would confront this resistance until a couple of individuals from Maycomb offer comments about Atticus to her, not having the guts to express anything to Atticus’ face. In school, Scout faces her first restriction from Cecil Jacobs when he says: â€Å"Scout Finch’s daddy guarded niggers† (Lee 77). Indeed, even a portion of her family opposes Atticus guarding Tom. Francis, just rehashing what his grandma says, discloses to Scout that Atticus â€Å"is a nigger-lover† and â€Å"we’ll always be unable to walk the lanes of Maycomb agin. He’s ruinin’ the family†, which obviously prompts Scout punching Francis (Lee 85-87). Passing by Mrs. Dubose, Scout and Jem get a greater amount of the standard provocation when she says offers a stooping comment about a Finch â€Å"in the town hall lawing for niggers† and that Atticus is â€Å"no better than the niggers and waste he works for† (Lee 105). With respect to Boo Radley, most everybody in Maycomb has an alternate story for Boo Radley and why he remains at home throughout the day. Stephanie Crawford even cases â€Å"she woke up in the center of the night one time and saw him looking straight through the window at her† (Lee 13). Jem said that Boo â€Å"dined on crude squirrels and any felines he could get, [†¦] his eyes popped, and he slobbered a large portion of the time†, clearly a story yet nobody said anything unique. (Lee 13). It would be simple for Scout to fall in accordance with what most of what individuals think so she would be acknowledged. The characters’ activities all through the book appear on the off chance that they in reality live by what they lecture. For instance, Atticus realizes that he will confront objection guarding Tom Robinson. He reveals to Jack that â€Å"reasonable individuals go absolutely crazy when anything including a Negro comes up† (Lee 91). Realizing that he can't conflict with what he accepts, he shields Tom notwithstanding the restriction. He additionally shields Calpurnia when Aunt Alexandra speaks adversely about her colloquialism â€Å"Calpurnia isn't going out until she needs to. You may suspect something, yet I couldn’t have along without her every one of these years. She’s a dependable individual from this family and you’ll essentially need to acknowledge things the way they are† later adding â€Å"She attempted to carry them up as indicated by her lights, and Cal’s lights are entirely acceptable ? what's more, something else, the kids love her† (Lee 138). Atticus could have handily taken his sister’s side, however he truly values everything that Cal has accomplished for his family. Society accepts that individuals of color are of a lesser class which is the point of convergence of the Tom Robinson case. Despite the fact that Tom had more proof to demonstrate him honest than the offended party needed to demonstrate him liable, his race was what at last sentenced Tom. Atticus offers the expression before the court that the â€Å"case is certainly not a troublesome one [†¦] It ought to have never come to preliminary. This case is as basic as dark and white† (Lee 207). With respect to Radley, nobody endeavors to put forth an attempt to face the boisterous gossipy tidbits, for example, that Boo â€Å" went out around evening time when the moon was down, and peeped in windows. When people’s azaleas solidified in a chilly spell, it was on the grounds that he had inhaled on them. † and the â€Å"Radley walnuts would execute you† (Lee 9). It was increasingly essential to have a decent story, than to have the not all that exuberant truth. Their activities indicated their actual convictions. We can be shaped into acceptable individuals by taking the great and awful from each source, or we can be indoctrinated into one source. Each source has their advantages and disadvantages, which is the reason it is critical to think about what individuals state while taking other factors into consideration, before promptly adjusting their perspectives. In any case, we would all be able to take in things from our household’s convictions, what society says, and what peoples’ activities state. As we develop as a people and we gain understanding, we increase a superior comprehension of what is acceptable and terrible, good and bad. Step by step instructions to refer to Tkam Theme Essay, Essay models

Joan Of Arc Was Born English Literature Essay Essay Example

Joan Of Arc Was Born English Literature Essay Example Joan Of Arc Was Born English Literature Essay Joan Of Arc Was Born English Literature Essay furthermore, Jean Lemaitre. Her inquisitors much of the time asked her stunt requests and reiteration requests in plans to get her. Their messy quick ones did non trip her up ; she gave cunning answers and comments. This test was vile and numerous paperss from the test were changed. The Judgess asked her to decry her voices, however Joan remained by the Lord ( Stanley n.p. ) . Joan was pronounced liable of sorcerer exchange and condemned to perish. She would be scorched alive on May 30, 1431 ( Kelly and Rogers 152 ) . When Joan was singed she was to have on a sack on her caput that read the words blasphemer , backslid , coward and idolatress ( Stanley n.p. ) . When Joan was singed on the Wednesday of May 30, 1431, God left her chest unburned for such fearless valiance and mettle. On June 7, 1456 Joan s test was toppled, go forthing her unpracticed individual ( Heffernan 259 ) . Pope Leo XIII announced Joan of Arc respected on January 27, 1894. Pope Pius X so proceeded by thrilling Joan of Arc in 1909, and inevitably Joan was to the full sanctified by Pope Benedict XV on May 26, 1920. Joan was sanctified by a similar church that had consumed her at the intrigue ( Kennedy ) . Joan of Arc is the patronne of France and the military, and her blowout twenty-four hours is May 30 ( Kelly and Rogers 152 ) . I truly appreciate Joan of Arc s boldness and backbone. She had the option to make such huge numbers of things at such a juvenile age and a constrained life expectancy. Would you be able to envision holding to pardon everybody for what they had done to you as you were around to be abused by them? She remained by the Lord and was compromised with anguish except if she censured her voices, yet she did nt! Having so much boldness and grit is so slippery, seting the entirety of your religion and trust in voices that you hear. She truly is a victim and a brave mind.

Free Online Career Test Guide

Free Online Career Test Guide You don’t need to go globetrotting if you want to figure out who you are and what career suits you the best. You don’t need to invest in serious counseling either if you want to know in which direction to develop you professionally. © Shutterstock | dotshockIn this article, we explore what online career tests really are, why is it worth to take them and at which point of your professional life. We present you the scientific background of these questionnaires and the most common test types that you can encounter. We show you how you can benefit from filling out an online assessment whether you are an employee or an employer, and what some of the trusted resources for such tests are.WHAT ARE ONLINE CAREER TESTS? A SHORT DEFINITIONOnline career tests are tools that help to explore different suitable careers for people by identifying their major personality traits and skills. They are based on an assumption that certain characteristics make people more capable and willing to do certain jobs, and working in these jobs will give them more satisfaction.Free online career tests give an idea to you or your future employer of how the combination of interests and skills impact your working life. They also make matches wit h job types, depending on your answers.[slideshare id=30453719doc=careerplanningandassessment-140126110535-phpapp02w=640h=330]Psychology has been studying the relationship between behavior, skills, or motivation, and job performance for a long time. These studies contributed to the development of testing tools, that would later gain more popularity by having them introduced to schools throughout the United States and then to workplaces all over the world.While previously the focus was on the matching skills set between the person and the job, it has been increasingly acknowledged that there are other factors playing a role in fitting in successfully. Today’s career tests also include questions that explore your values, motivations, and preferences.As an outcome, most self-assessed tests will provide you with a report about your work personality, but some even add a list of job openings that you can apply to straight away. It is a good way to use the full potential of these tests. Nevertheless, we would advise on always taking a second look at the results before making any major decision about your career. After all, these are clever tools but certainly not without limitations.WHY PERFORM AN ONLINE CAREER TEST?To assess work personalityYour personality traits have different manifestations in your personal and professional lives, with different advantages and disadvantages. By performing a career test, you can find out which of these traits relates to your work performance and how. Introverts, who have hard times to achieve social recognition, can get applauded for their reliability or autonomy. Meanwhile, a person with great social skills and a favorite at every party could be the gossip central of a workplace.Because most traits can be perceived positive and negative, there is not one good answer to the test questions. It means cheating is useless you will only “fake your way out of the job”. The test will also show the employer not only if you can do t he job, but if you will do it, based on the assessment of your behavior.To find ways to advanceCareer advancement is a tricky game, sometimes blocked by factors other than professional skills. Luckily, there is more than one way to advance, and a good use of career assessment tests can be to help select a suitable one. The process will again involve exploring your good and bad side, too.Narcissists are sometimes hard to be around, but if you happen to be one, you can be a great leader and thrive in powerful positions. Others are paralyzed by the pressure of constantly making decisions, but will make useful contributions in data analytics or reporting.Still, getting along with people is a requirement for most career advancements. If you do have people skills, you can consider many options, so a free online career exploration can be a crutch to lean on telling you what other traits you possess that point to a direction. It can also tell if you dealing with humans and their problems do n’t come to you naturally.But career development is not always about leading others: it can also be excelling in your field. Your creativity might make you the best graphic designer or your empathy drives you the heights in your health care profession. To work better in a teamIt has been proven several times that teams with the right combination of personalities perform better than uniform teams. Natural differences between team members increase the effectiveness of communication, and, therefore, productivity.Ideally, team members possess at least one of the major teamwork skills, such as collaboration, contribution, accountability, encouragement, conflict resolving, and challenging others. Also, a team often develop its own roles and, ideally, most of them are constructive.There is always a leader, then someone who is good at motivating others, and another one who is a brainstormer. People with more analytical minds will prefer to do the tasks of an administrator or a summarizing role. Members with diplomacy skills will be the ones who facilitate a compromise.Destructive roles are also often developed, but these should be eliminated as soon as possible. You might think of unnecessary criticism, a know-it-all attitude, aggressive behavior, or conflict avoidance.Recent research has found that mostly it is the communication styles of personality types that affect the outcome of teamwork. The quantity, quality, distractions or keyword usage characteristics together can make or break a team’s success. Career tests can help decide if your position in your team builds on your strengths, or if your weaknesses hinder team performance because you’re at the wrong position. You can define an ideal role for yourself in which you can perform better, and contribute to a better performance of the collective. There’s always room for improvement based on personality if it is clearly linked to an improvement in efficiency and business results.To realize full potentialEv eryone has the potential to fulfill his or her dreams, but realizing this capability is easier said than done. First, you have to be in the right place, at the right time. Then, it involves a great deal of self-knowledge, to know when you’ve arrived there.Furthermore, signs of reaching someone’s full potential might be different. For some, it is making the most advancement possible on the career ladder. For others, it is getting the highest quality work done.Sometimes your special gifts are obvious and have long shown. In other cases, people think they are so average there’s no special place and time to achieve what they dream of. This is where a career aptitude test can play a major role in clearing the fog.On the journey of knowing yourself better, nature, habits, strong and weak points are all stops to include. Look for several tests to better define your values and see which ones will help you overcome your barriers.If you find any of these traits describe you well, you ha ve a good chance to succeed, because they are commonly associated with success and they can commonly be found in people. Some examples are:OptimismDetermined, goal-orientedGratefulnessCuriosityOpenness to changeHowever, as well as career exploration can confirm you having or not having these traits, they are in no way an indicator of whether you will be able to reach your full potential. It will always depend on when and how you use your innate abilities, and also how you develop them.Some of the tests will even call your attention on fulfilling your career needs on different levels. There can be different types of questions trying to assess what you think career success entails to be equally satisfying both professionally and emotionally. To get support for a career changeTesting is one way to approach a career change. You might want to spend some time on that, but you also need to give thought about it. Yes, that will include being ready to accept if it says the job of your dreams is not really suitable for you.Doing such a test from time to time is also a way of looking back to career choices made, and realize bad ones in time. Self-reflection doesn’t come naturally for some, and filling out a career or psychometric test is the easiest way to start.If you realize your frustration can really be deducted to a bad career choice, test results might give you the motivation and drive to change your life. Sometimes it’s all it takes to make the first move, regardless of the results.If you’ve known too well what your problem is, and you are already motivated enough, that should lead you to the next question: are you prepared? Make this your focus when you’re interpreting the results of an assessment. Look for signs of risk-taking attitude, planning abilities, responsibility, spontaneity, and openness. These are some of the traits that will help you along the change.No matter what was your original plan when you started your career, and whether it was well p lanned or ad-hoc you have to re-develop it? And the great part of this work can be done by testing yourself.WHEN TO TAKE A CAREER TEST?Everyone deserves a good careerThe age at which you finally know what you want to be as a grown-up is farther away with each generation. Still, there is one thing everybody’s sure of: that they want a good career.But what makes a career good or bad? Is it just an individual perception, or there are objective measures to create a definition from?Well, you have probably guessed it, not really. With the exception of financial stability, which is also a doubtful measure, all the other criteria of a good career are rather subjective. Definitions include working with a purpose, doing a job that presents an opportunity to grow through adequate challenges.A bad career, one that you want to avoid, is one that doesn’t use your strengths, doesn’t fit your lifestyle, and doesn’t give you fulfillment at the end of the day.To get the benefits, you might w ant to know what your starting point is, and what skills and personality traits you can build on along the way. There are also typical times when such assessment is appropriate:Watch this inspiring lecture on what makes a career fulfilling. Typical timing #1: During studiesFree online career tests are very popular among young people trying to select a major at the university or starting a career when approaching the end of their studies. After all, these are periods of insecurity, where career guidance is essential, and many would accept it more from an independent online source than from Mom or Dad.Picking a career becomes no less of an easy choice, but dedicating some time to fill out assessment tests will keep you from overwhelming. The reach of these tests should not be overestimated, though: they are intended to show a vague direction.If it’s the first time you try researching career options, the most important advice is to keep it honest. You will know nothing useful about y ourself if you try to comply with some obscure external expectations. Besides, there are no good or bad answers, either.Choose a time and a place where you feel comfortable, and give the necessary thought to each question. If you have done it right, you will recognize yourself among the strengths or interests listed.Then, expect the test results to contain hints to more than one possible professions. Be open-minded about all possibilities, and try to think skills, instead of job titles. These, plus your values and interest will actually help you narrow down the career field. If you are really lucky, you can even recognize common patterns with the studies you have been pursuing!Typical timing #2: Pre-employmentThere could be many times when it is not even you who wants to find out about your true motivations and values.Career aptitude tests are common tools used by recruiters, as part of the candidate screening process. Most often in the middle of the process, after your application had been shortlisted and you have been screened by phone, and before you are invited for a face-to-face interview.A funny clip on career placement tests and how they might be misused. They can aim for weeding out the unskilled, but also to know whether or not a candidate will fit in the company culturally. In this latter case, the test will contain questions regarding values, talents, and temperament.Testing can occur at all levels of the corporate hierarchy, but their content might differ. Candidates for mid-level managerial or executive positions are more likely to get tested for their personalities, as well as people applying for positions that strongly rely on working with a team.Also, this type of screening is on the rise because of the well-known deficiencies of the resume, and because this seems a more objective evaluation of aptitude than relying solely on the candidate’s self-perception or on recruiter bias.According to a 2011 study by the Society for Human Resource Manag ement, 18% of US companies use some sort of psychometric test, and experts agree this figure is growing at a 10%-15% rate per year.You can deny filling out these tests but you can also use them to your advantage more about that in the fourth chapter [How Can You Profit from an Online Career Test?].Typical timing #3: During employmentAptitude tests and personality tests are very useful helpers of the HR department when it comes to filling internal vacancies or deciding about promotions. Just as in the previous cases, test results can be good indicators of future performance, especially if there is a bottom line to compare to as this is about people who are already working at the company.If you are subject to such testing during your employment, don’t take it as an offense, nor does it show a lack of trust in you. It is rather a way to show you are considered for something more than you are currently doing.But you performing above average in your current position doesn’t necessa rily mean you will be able to do the same one level higher. More responsibility or more administration, necessary in the upper regions of the career ladder, can have a counter-effect on some.By testing your behaviors, one can more easily tell if you have the skills and traits that come with a more senior position. In the end, it can lead to more job satisfaction, whether you stay where you are or get promoted.To some extent, you can also prepare to these assessments, as they can be a little different from what you’d expect. In many cases, they present you real-life situations taken from the actual position that you will have to solve. While there is no right or wrong answer here, think knowledge, skills, and attitude to be demonstrated in your answer.WHAT ARE THE MAIN TYPES OF CAREER APTITUDE TESTS? FROM JUNG TO GAMINGPsychological BackgroundIn an effort to understand the behavioral differences among people, psychology has long worked on defining certain criteria along which these differences can be measured. The aim of these studies was to describe normal behavior on one hand and to be able to predict pathological behavior on the other. Work psychology later found out that typology might help in managing people in the workplace.Carl C. Jung: Psychological TypesAlthough not without predecessors, Carl C. Jung was the one to lay the foundations of modern-day personality typization with his book titled “Psychological types” in 1921. He incorporated the previous theories of Sigmund Freud and Alfred Adler but created a unique theory that became influential for generations to come.In his book, Jung identified eight types of personalities, characterized by one of four main cognitive functions and two main attitudes.[slideshare id=35214184doc=analyticalpsychology-140528081434-phpapp01w=640h=330]Each person performs either an extroverted or an introverted attitude. Accordingly, extroverts and introverts draw energy from diverse sources: extroverts from the extern al world and social interactions, while introverts more from observing and contemplating.The four main functions again form two dichotomies: thinking and feeling are the judging functions, while sensation and intuition are the perceiving functions. Both attitude types can have either function, but they are using them in very different ways.The perception of information along the lines of sensation and intuition means believing in cues originating externally or from someone’s fantasy. The information then can be processed by thinking or by feeling, or along the lines of rules or emotions.These are the resulting eight personality types:Introverted sensationIntroverted intuitionIntroverted feelingIntroverted thinkingExtroverted sensationExtroverted intuitionExtroverted feelingExtroverted thinkingWhile all of these might be used by the same person at different times, there is usually one dominant function and attitude that describes a person more than the others. Jung thought that in this hierarchy, the dominant character is really that of the conscious, while the unconscious can still bear the other traits.Otherwise, preferences are more or less natural born, although some development throughout one’s life is possible.Organizational BehaviorOver time, it became clear to psychologists and researchers that human behavior within a professional organization is a field worth studying separately. Organizational structures, as well as other people or group of individuals in the organization, can have a significant impact on one’s behavior.Organizational behavior studies emerged as a separate field in the 1940-50s, influenced by psychology, sociology, and several other disciplines, but it only became acknowledged by the American Psychology Association in the 1970s. Its main aim is to understand human behavior as it became clear that was crucial for a more effective management of organizations of all kinds.According to researchers, it all comes down to a change in r oles when individuals get in an organizational setting: people act differently while working than in their personal lives, and this distinction often causes conflicts in both settings. Or, the advantages and disadvantages of such distinction can be enhanced or minimized by taking behavioral characteristics into account.Productivity was one of the first and main concept that kept scientists busy, but their approach to people’s workplace behavior soon introduced other views, such as decision-making patterns and other sociological and psychological concepts.The techniques included mainly mathematical and statistical models to describe how to make better decisions taking human behavior into account. The main beneficiary of it was the management, at all levels.Quantitative methods had their popularity rising when the focus was on more effective organizational structures, mainly in the 1970s. In the most recent times, anthropology and leadership studies have had a major impact on the di scipline, shifting the focus to culture and qualitative research.The findings of organizational behavior studies have since penetrated the modern-day organization: the significance or the workers’ personalities, their job satisfaction, or a variety of motivation techniques from the managers’ part, became commonly known as having an effect on the organization as a whole.Industrial/Organizational PsychologyThe scientific study of human behavior within an organization can be approached from many different directions, as you have seen above. But one approach that has been prevailing recently is that of industrial psychology.In today’s labor market, characterized by talent shortage and ruled by the idea of employees having to fit culturally in an organization, industrial and organizational (I-O) psychology can provide employers solutions for the better selection of workers, as well as the improvement of their well-being.[slideshare id=45271214doc=industrial-organizationalpsychology -150228211604-conversion-gate02w=640h=330]It is widely believed that if the employees of a company are carefully selected and their emotional needs are taken care, it reduces the number of pain points with the workflow. I-O psychologists are, therefore, used to help with the design of better processes for recruiting and selecting these employees, and the appropriate, personality-based motivation and engagement.The design of such processes included the use of various tools, among which tests are given preference. By using a good selection of them, I-O psychologists can predict the possibility of a good fit based on objective measures, or which team will have the best performance.It is essential though that the validity of these tests be accurate and the reliance on them making decisions should not be exclusive. In order to correctly predict job performance, I-O psychologists must make sure the tests they select cover the necessary skills and personality traits for a specific position in their assessment and contain no irrelevant measures. They have to be somehow realistic as well because tests that are too abstract will provide results that are too hard to interpret, let alone base a hiring decision on it.I-O psychology is, after all, a scientific discipline, and that means an obligation to introduce processes that are reliable in producing equally good results in equal circumstances.Test TypesThe Myers-Briggs Type IndicatorProbably the most common career test, filled out by two million people per year, is the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. Merging the original typology of Carl Jung (see Psychology background) and her own findings, founder Katharine Cook Briggs developed an inventory of personality types to understand and describe the differences among people.She worked with her daughter, Isabel Briggs Myers who created the first questionnaire in the 1940s and further developed it based on their many decades of research. It was intended for public use from day on e the researches mission was to help people better understand their preferences and make better career choices based on this knowledge.This instrument has eventually become a standard among assessment tests, frequently used by many employers worldwide to assess their workforces. Many other uses have also been explored, as further research and development of the theory behind the test, as well as many challenges, have been ongoing ever since.The main concept behind the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator was to identify the basic preferences of Jung’s eight types (organized by two dichotomies) and to elaborate the sixteen distinct types, the result of all the possible interactions among the alternatives. This is supposed to help to know oneself better and manage workplace interactions accordingly.The test offers a multiple-choice style questionnaire where you have to indicate your preferences among certain behaviors. The result is your personality type in the form of a four-letter abbrevi ation, deriving from the words Extraversion, Introversion, Sensing, Intuition, Thinking, Feeling, Judging, and Perceiving. © Wikimedia Commons | Jake BeechThe most important advantage of this assessment test is that it has a long history proving it both valid and reliable. It, in fact, measures the personality of people and has repeatedly given relevant results for decades.With Myers-Briggs, you can quite easily find out how to draw energy to get you through your workday, what could help you to perform better, to be able to fix some burdens you might encounter in your work life that has been hindering your performance. Furthermore, you can adjust your communication style and message when trying to resolve workplace conflicts, knowing that there could be personality differences behind.Knowing your type can support your decisions not only at work but also in many personal aspects of your life. Think about selecting the proper material for learning based on your learning style, improving your relationships with your family, or create opportunities for your personal growth.Among the disadvantages, the most common problem that will get in the way of proper interpretation is the results being on the borderline of two types. Exploring all the 16 types and using your intuition might help to select the best fitting one, but some simply become overwhelmed by the many options.What’s more, Myers-Briggs is not always suitable for those who are not clear about their own preferences, like young people still on the road to self-discovery. Especially if they are not aware that someone’s type can even change over time, as the answers this person gives to might differ depending on life circumstances or other factors. MAPPMotivation Appraisal of Personal Potential, or MAPP as it is widely known, is the most used career assessment test specifically for work-related purposes. It was developed in the 1990s by Henry Niels, founder of Assessment.com, and has been filled out eight million times ever since.It became a success early on, mainly due to the fact that it was the first career test available o nline, and so much different from the paper-and-versions of that time. Niels realized the prevailing assessment tests were just too long and detailed for the use of everyday people, and that in the online world, it has to be much easier to use: both the filling of the test material and the interpretation of the results.Just as many predecessors, he based his assessment on personality typology but focused more on the motivations of the different types. The first users of the test were business trying to recruit good fits for their positions, but then MAPP was let go of such restrictions and Niels made it available to the public, which has also become its most important competitive advantage.So a MAPP assessment ended up containing 71 pieces of three statements, about your preferences. You have to select which one of the three you most and least prefer. The assessment takes about 15 minutes to complete just the right attention span on the web.The results are shown immediately and con tain a long description reporting on one’s personality, including nine work-related traits. Contrary to the simplicity of the test itself, this explanation part is considered too long and too hard to interpret by the online reviewers.An indisputable advantage of the MAPP report is that it gives job recommendations besides the narrative, based on your scores compared with the scores of certain professions, which gives good career guidance.A very insightful TED talk on motivation in businesses. Work Personality IndexThe Work Personality Index (WPI) is another example of psychometric testing used in career guidance, team assessment, and candidate selection. It was developed by a research and development group led by educational measurement expert Dr. Donald Macnab of Psychometrics Canada. The first version of the assessment came out in 2001, and an updated version in 2014.The personality inventory behind this test contains 21 traits, organized in six so-called scales.The categorizati on is based more sources, the Occupational Information Network model of the US Department of Labor, the California Psychological Inventory, and the revised version of the   NEO Personality Inventory.These scales measure the work-related preferences of an individual regarding one’s own working style, teamwork, problem-solving, and stress tolerance, among others.What sets this test apart from the others is that it only measures traits that are directly related to work performance by making respondents react to typical work situations. Because of this, it is only suitable for those who already have some kind of work experience, and not for school-age people for just choosing a career.After completing the assessment, WPI provides one of five report types for different purposes. Depending on the user and the goal, there are reports for individual career development and leadership competence, selection in hiring, help for a career change or a job match.GamificationCareer assessment test s have been losing their appeal lately, especially among young employees. In an effort to lure them to complete those tests again, gamification has been adapted to career testing and game-like assessments were born.They are based on the assumption that instead of a tried-and-played job interview performance, people can more easily be themselves and show their true characteristics while being immersed in a game.Large corporations were the firsts, teaming up with smaller video game developer companies, to create career games that are just as fun for the candidates as they are informative for the hiring manager.These companies, including the likes of insurance company AXA, or accountant Deloitte, realized that by adding games to their selection toolbox, they are able to better assess behaviors related to real work situations, and improve in diversity hiring by considering people who otherwise wouldn’t have a chance to land a job at that workplace.Videos can successfully recreate the actual work environment, be it a restaurant or an office, and present real-life challenges to the player. Accordingly, the action taken by those same players will surely be relevant to the job at hand.They are also easily scalable, making it suitable for mass recruitment. Eventually, they get a more diverse workforce, considering even those who otherwise wouldn’t have a chance, with traditional recruitment methods. Companies can also compare the scores or action of the candidate gamers with some of their existing staff, to get a comparison of the skills.Still, these games have to meet the highest standards when it comes to validity and reliability, just like it is the case with traditional assessment tests, in order to consider an equal part of the recruiter’s toolbox. This usually takes a strong psychometric background of the developer and a large enough candidate database to test on.Considering the high costs of game development, no wonder it didn’t seem accessible for a lon g time for other than large corporations. However, there are other types of games open for use by any organization, even individuals.Some game-like career tests aim for going through the usually annoying, still necessary steps of self-discovery in less time and in a more entertaining way. You can easily get done with identifying your work personality by connecting dots for 8 minutes, manage a theme park or release fireflies.HOW CAN YOU PROFIT FROM A FREE ONLINE CAREER TEST?Benefits as an Employee or Job-SeekerThere are many different ways to learn about your motivations, values, and interests at work: a self-assessment test is one of them. Whether you take it at the beginning of your career or in the middle of it, or you take one regularly, you will be able to make more informed decisions about your professional advancement.Why Is It Important to Know Yourself?Getting to know yourself is beneficial in all aspects of life and your career is no exception. In the best case scenario, th is is a lifelong process, with lifelong benefits.As a job seeker, especially when looking for a job for the very first time, the insights you can gain from such an assessment are invaluable. Sometimes simply facing a tough question is enough to get you thinking about what matters you the most. If you steer your career in that direction, it is more likely to be satisfying in the long term.Other times, the report you get after completing a test will contain the career advice you need. It can reassure you about the choices you had made regarding your education, and helps compare your ideals about your working life with actual requirements for living it. Those who know themselves will not spend time or money on activities that don’t support their self-realization.Knowing yourself is also useful in planning. On the road to a rewarding life, including a good-fitting job, there are many steps to take, and planning your action steps accordingly require choosing from many options.With a li ttle self-knowledge, some of these options will become irrelevant, while others are more likely to lead you to success. The same knowledge will protect you from biases from the part of your influencers, like family or teachers.Here are some typical but disturbing questions it is worth to get an answer to:What do you do well?What motivates you?What type of lifestyle do you prefer?How much are you willing to take risks?What is your attitude towards hierarchy?How do you interact with other people?How do your moods affect your life?Ideal Circumstances to Taking the TestNot all states of mind are equal when it comes to taking a career aptitude test or a personality test. You want to be at your best when you want to find out about yourself so that the results would reflect the best of you. When you feel energized, someone made you happy by giving a positive feedback, or something happened that built up confidence in you these are all good moments for testing.But when you decide it’s th e right time, you might also want to think about it as the only time: the time you dedicate exclusively to this purpose. Help yourself focus fully by excluding all distractions. Make sure you are not disturbed by either family members, postmen or pets, as there should be no music and no TV in the background. This is how you make your inner voices heard!By the way, you cannot expect realistic results that are actually helpful if the answers you choose are from a fictional character, and not a real person you. We all want to be somebody else sometimes, but filling a career test is not the right time for role-playing. Answer the questions on the test honestly, and make sure nobody is checking your answers from behind your back, literally or theoretically, to avoid unconscious bias.Using the Test Results for an ApplicationIt might be your own initiative or the recruiter’s to fill out a career assessment test during the application process to a job. Whatever the case, you can use the results to your advantage.If you take it independently, make sure you ask somebody to revise the findings with you, as a realistic interpretation is the first step towards successfully using it for a job application.Although these reports usually don’t contain anything truly negative, feel free to leave out anything that is unacceptable for you and to focus on the traits that you consider the most positive ones. Then compare it with the job description or job advert, and make sure to include all the attributes that match one of the requirements.If you take the test as an official part of the application process, i.e. suggested by the recruiter, then obviously you won’t have such room to give your own interpretation of the results. However, you can prepare for being tested: you can find out what type of test is, and find similar ones online. You can read sample reports and make yourself familiar with their interpretation. The rule of thumb: be as job-specific as possible.Using th e Test Results for Career DevelopmentEven if you started out on the right career path, you can still feel stuck at some point in your life. Still, it is never too late to reflect on your choices or make adjustments if necessary. This is when you need to start career planning all over, beginning with assessing your values, strengths, and weaknesses.As people can change a lot over time, it is wise to think out of the box about yourself and approach the results of a test open-minded. The first thing you can use the test for is to see how much you have changed and in what perspective.Furthermore, the suggestions made by the test can serve as an inspiration to try new things or discover new sides of yourself that can be used to give a boost to your career, to reach your full potential.If you discover something not so favorable through the assessment, don’t take it as an offense, but as something that provides a good opportunity to develop. Behaviors can be improved and attitudes can be changed for the better these are efforts always appreciated by an employer.Either way, the advantages profusely outweigh any disadvantages that may come in the form of interpretation difficulties or privacy concerns. As a bottom line, you learn to balance your priorities again and find hidden resources for further learning or, if necessary, for a career change.Benefits as an EmployerWhy Is It Important to Have the Professional Profiles of Your Employees?Employee engagement is all the rage these days, and adequate motivation, inspiration, and management, in general, are necessary for reaching the next level. But what counts as adequate depends on the person: that is the main reason why an employer needs to know its workforce.Depending on who is difficult or easy to manage, a variety of techniques is needed. So the more the managers know about the personalities in a given workplace, the more effectively he or she is able to guide them to create more value for the business.You can st udy the most common typologies described in the Psychology Background chapter, or you can apply a different approach, but the point should always be to strive for discovering people’s potential. There is no such thing as a bad personality, only a bad trait. By being aware of those, the most common pitfalls can be avoided, and teamwork can be improved. Besides that, everyone has their positive side that can add to the team, and the diversity of strength again adds up to better performance.The other thing that makes personality assessment so important is the improved retention among the employees: a lower turnover rates saves a lot of money and energy for the business. Recruitment can be a starting point of retention efforts, and with the help of organizational psychology, you can get ahead of your game. Get a profile of your candidates, and compare it with the current team, to see which one of them would fit in culturally and personally, and still bring something new to the table.P ractical Advice to Make Your Employees Take a TestWhether you are to test your employees’ aptitude or personality, the best advice to make them participate is to go straight up to them and ask. Of course, you will need some solid arguments when they ask about your reasons.First of all, you need to dispel any misunderstandings and assure them that nobody is going to be fired as a result of a test report. Moreover, reassure them that there is no such thing as failing on these tests, since there are no right or wrong answers, either.But all this might not be enough then it all comes down to transparency. It should be obvious that everyone gets his or her own report, to see what you see. This way, they get a chance to know themselves better, to identify their strengths and values.Then, you should also be transparent about your own motivations, for example by sharing some of the arguments in the above chapter. Employees need to know that by taking the test, they are taking a step towa rds improving not only themselves but also team performance.And last, but not least, transparency is important when it comes to the validity of that specific test you intend to use. Let your team know how carefully you had selected and that it measures exactly what you need to measure, and nothing else.Good Methods to Interpret Test ResultsWhen it comes to interpreting the results of a career test, there is no such thing as too much caution. It is important that the employees do not ignore them, as well as do not take it as a judgment.The best way to avoid unnecessary emotions is to follow instructions regarding the interpretation if the developer of the test provides any. But even in the lack of an official instruction, discussing the findings of a free online career test should always be a private consultation.Resist the temptation to only throw numbers around: no ratio, percentage, score, or inventory number of a personality is informative without context. The main purpose is to improve, and it is only possible if everyone is one the same page about where the starting point and the end goal are.If the test results describe a personality, a good method to interpret it positively is to add your own observations about that person. A positive feedback, on the other hand, will encourage the subject of the test to try to improve on the weaker traits as well.Always ask for feedback, too: to which extent does your employee agree with the test results? What are his or her objections? What career ideas does the test inspire? Let the employee know your ideas about the next steps, too.But whatever the method, always remember, and make the employees remember, that this is just a test one perspective, no more, no less, and it should be treated like that.WHERE CAN YOU TAKE A FREE ONLINE CAREER QUIZ?Online, of course, but we have a more detailed answer than that. Some sources are more trusted or more comprehensive than others, and besides having a plethora of free options out there, we also show you that sometimes it is worth to pay for a career exploration.Free ResourcesWhere Do You Find Such Tests for Free?Fortunately, free assessment tests are not so hard to find. A broad selection of free career orientation materials is available on the O*NET site, one that is supported by the US Department of Labor, and contains tests that can mostly be self-assessed and self-interpreted.The types of these and other questionnaires can range from a short quiz to a detailed and time-consuming, multiple-choice test material. They might also have different names that signal a different focus.Look for personality tests if you want to know more about yourself and your major personality traits, and not just in relation to work. Look for aptitude tests if you are trying to assess your skills in the relation of an actual job or occupation. Look for career assessment test if you want to measure how much you enjoy particular endeavors.You can narrow your search by target groups, too. There may be separate types of test suitable for fresh graduates and career changers. For example, the connection between their major and their possible future careers is answered on “What Can I Do With This Major?.” Although not in the usual multiple choice test format, this website aims to address the most common problem of higher education students, the connection between a major and a future career.How Do You Know Which Tests Give Professional Results?Except for when you take a career quiz for fun, there are certain factors to consider to decide about the professionality of such an evaluation.You want the test to be valid. It should measure what it says it will measure. Its questions must give relevant results specific for career guidance. Look for any evidence showing the developer of the test used scientific methods for the elaboration of the questionnaire.You want it to be reliable. In other words, it should show consistency over long periods of time and amon g a significant number of testers. It has to produce similar results with similar types of people. Also, the same person has to score the same if taking the test twice, with not much time between the two occasions.You want it to be easy to fill and not to take too much of your time. Most assessments can be completed in 15-20 minutes by the average person. If you see a test takes more time than that, or it has a language that seems incomprehensible by just quickly looking at it, skip it.As yet another option to make sure you are not wasting your time with a test is to check its reviews online. Although the page is currently not updated, Toptenreviews.com has a site dedicated to career aptitude tests where you may still find the one you are about to take.Resources with a Paying OptionWhile there is really a good variety of the online career tests that are offered for free, many providers offer both a gratis and a paid option. Make sure to explore the additional value on offer, because there are times when it is worth to invest in them.The most common case is when you only get a short summary as a result of testing, and you are asked to pay, should you wish to get a detailed report of your career assessment. This more comprehensive version might reveal more things that push you in the right career direction.To get the assessment from a renowned institute or professional is another reason many people are willing to pay a contribution. The providers of the original Myers-Briggs or MAPP test are themselves the guarantees of quality research behind the tests and a proven track record of relevant test results.It also happens now and again that the report you get puts you on the borderline for some skills or personalities or otherwise uninterpretable. Though you can pay for a package with a one-on-one consultation included, giving you the chance to ask your specific questions about the report.Finally, many test makers have utilized the power of assessments right away b y providing unique career recommendations. They either do that by matching relevant skills in your profile with those in the job ads, or giving a score for how likely is the fit between you and the job.Image credit:  Wikimedia Commons | Jake Beech under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

John Wayne Gacy, the Third Most Prolific Serial Killer in U.S. History

John Wayne Gacy was convicted of the torture, rape, and murder of 33 males between 1972 until his arrest in 1978. He was dubbed the Killer Clown because he entertained children at parties and hospitals as Pogo the Clown. On May 10, 1994, Gacy was executed by lethal injection. Gacys Childhood Years John Gacy was born on March 17, 1942, in Chicago, Illinois. He was the second of three children and the only son born to John Stanley Gacy and Marion Robinson. From age 4, Gacy was verbally and physically abused by his  alcoholic father. Despite the abuse, Gacy admired his father and constantly sought his approval. In return, his father would hurl insults at him, telling him he was stupid and acted like a girl. When Gacy was 7 years old, he was molested repeatedly by a friend of the family. He never told his parents about it, fearing that his father would find him at fault and that he would be severely punished. Gacys Teen Years   When Gacy was in elementary school, he was diagnosed with a congenital heart condition which limited his physical activity. As a result, he became overweight and endured  teasing from his classmates. At age 11, Gacy was hospitalized for several months at a time after experiencing unexplained blackouts. His father decided Gacy was faking the blackouts because the doctors were unable to diagnose why it was happening. After five years of being in and out of the hospital, it was discovered that he had a blood clot in his brain, which was treated. But Gacys delicate health issues failed to protect him from his fathers drunken wrath. He received regular beatings, for no particular reason other than his father disdained him. After years of abuse, Gacy taught himself not to cry. This was the only thing he consciously ever did that he knew would provoke his fathers anger. Gacy found it too difficult to catch up with what he had missed in school while hospitalized, so he decided to drop out. His being a  high school dropout  solidified his fathers constant accusations that Gacy was stupid. Las Vegas or Bust At the age of 18, Gacy was still living with his parents. He became involved with the Democratic Party and worked as an assistant precinct captain. It was during this time that he began to develop his gift for gab. He enjoyed the positive attention he received in what he felt was a prestigious position. But his father quickly squelched whatever good came out of his political involvement. He belittled Gacy’s association with the Party: he called him a Party patsy. Gacy’s  years of abuse  from his father finally wore him down. After several episodes of his father having refused to let Gacy use his own car, he had enough. He packed his belongings and escaped to Las Vegas, Nevada. A Frightening Awakening In Las Vegas, Gacy worked for an ambulance service for a short time but was then transferred to a mortuary where he was employed as an attendant. He often spent nights alone at the mortuary, where he would sleep on a cot near the embalming room.   On the last night that Gacy worked there, he got into a coffin and fondled the corpse of a teenage boy. Afterward, he was so confused and shocked by the realization that he had been sexually  aroused by a male corpse, that he called his mother the following day and without providing details, asked if he could return home. His father agreed and Gacy, who had only been gone for 90 days, quit his job at the mortuary and drove back to Chicago. Burying the Past Back in Chicago, Gacy forced himself to bury the experience at the mortuary and move forward. Despite not having completed high school, he was accepted at Northwestern Business College, where he graduated in 1963. He then took a management trainee position with the Nunn-Bush Shoe Company and was quickly transferred to Springfield, Illinois, where he was promoted to a management position. Marlynn  Meyers was employed at the same store and worked in Gacys department. The two began dating and nine months later they married. Community Spirit During his first year in Springfield, Gacy had become very involved with the local Jaycees, dedicating much of his spare time to the organization. He became adept at self-promotion, utilizing his salesmanship training to gain positive attention. He rose through the Jaycee ranks and in April  1964 he was awarded the title of Key Man. Fundraising was Gacys niche and by 1965 he was appointed the vice-president of the Jaycees Springfield division and later that same year he was recognized as being the third most outstanding Jaycee in the state of Illinois. For the first time in his life, Gacy felt confident and full of self-esteem. He was married, a good future before him,  and had persuaded people he was a leader. The one thing that threatened his success was his growing need to be  sexually involved with young male teens. Marriage and Fried Chicken After dating in Springfield, Illinois, Gacy and  Marlynn  married in September 1964 and then moved to Waterloo, Iowa where Gacy managed three Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurants owned by Marilyns father. The newlyweds moved into  Marlynns  parents home, rent-free. Gacy soon joined the Waterloo Jaycees, and once again quickly moved up the ranks. In 1967, he received recognition as Outstanding Vice-President of the Waterloo Jaycees and earned a seat on the  Board of Directors. But, unlike in Springfield, the Waterloo Jaycees had a dark side that involved illegal drug use, wife swapping,  prostitutes, and pornography. Gacy slid right into the position of managing and regularly participating in these activities. Gacy also began to act on his desires to have sex with male teenagers, many of whom worked at the fried chicken restaurants he managed. The Lure He turned a basement room into a hangout as a way to attract teens. He would entice the boys with free alcohol and pornography. Gacy would then take sexual advantage of some of the boys after they became too intoxicated to put up any resistance. While Gacy was molesting teens in his basement and doing drugs with his Jaycee pals, Marlyn was busy having children. Their first child was a boy, born in 1967, and the second child was a girl, born a year later. Gacy later described this time of his life as being nearly perfect. It was also the only time he finally gained any approval from his father. The Colonel A common trait shared by many  serial killers  is their belief that they are smarter than everyone and that they will never get caught. Gacy fit that profile. With his above-average earnings and his social connections through the Jaycees, Gacys ego and confidence level grew. He became pushy and commanding and would often brag about accomplishments, most of which were transparent lies.   The Jaycee members who were not into hookers and porn began putting a distance between themselves and Gacy, or Colonel, as he insisted on being called. But in March 1968 Gacys near-perfect world quickly fell apart. First Arrest In August 1967 Gacy had hired 15-year-old Donald Voorhees to do odd jobs around his house. Donald met Gacy through his father, who was also in the Jaycees. After finishing his work, Gacy lured the teen to his basement with the promise of free beer and  porn movies. After Gacy supplied him with an abundance of alcohol, he forced him into having oral sex. This experience seemed to unplug any fears Gacy had about getting caught. Over the next several months, he sexually abused several teenage boys. He convinced some of them that a scientific research program that he was involved in was looking for participants and they would be paid $50 for each session. He also used blackmail as a way to force them into sexual submission. But in March 1968 it all came crashing down on Gacy. Voorhees told his father about the incident with Gacy in his basement, who immediately reported it to the police. Another 16-year-old victim also reported Gacy to the police. Gacy was  arrested  and charged with oral sodomy of the 15-year-old and attempted assault of the other boy, charges he strongly denied.   As his defense, Gacy said that the accusations were a lie by  Voorhees  father who was trying to sabotage his efforts to become president of the Iowa Jaycees. Some of his Jaycee friends believed it was possible. However, despite his protests, Gacy was indicted on the sodomy charges. In an effort to intimidate Voorhees and keep him from testifying, Gacy paid an employee, 18-year-old Russell Schroeder, $300 to beat up the teenager and warn him against showing up in court. Voorhees went straight to the police who arrested Schroeder. He promptly  admitted his guilt  and Gacys involvement to the police. Gacy was charged with conspiracy-assault. By the time it was over, Gacy pled guilty to sodomy and received a 10-year sentence.   Doing Time On December 27, 1969, Gacys father died of cirrhosis of the liver. The news hit Gacy hard, but despite his obvious poor emotional state, the prison officials denied his request to attend his fathers funeral. Gacy did everything right in prison. He earned his high school degree and took his position as head cook seriously. His good behavior paid off. In October 1971, after completing just two years of his sentence, he was released and placed on  probation  for 12 months. Marlyn filed for divorce while Gacy was in prison. He was so angered by the divorce that he told her that she and the two children were dead to him, vowing never to see them again. Marlyn, no doubt, hoped that he would stick to his word. Back in Action With nothing to return to in Waterloo, Gacy moved back to Chicago to begin rebuilding his life. He moved in with his mother and got a job working as a cook, and then worked for a construction contractor. Gacy later bought a home 30 miles outside of Chicago, in Des Plaines, Illinois. Gacy and his mother lived in the house, which was part of the terms of Gacys probation. In early February 1971, Gacy lured a teenage boy to his home and tried to rape him, but the boy escaped and went to the police. Gacy was charged with  sexual assault, but the charges were dismissed when the teen did not show up in court. Word of his arrest never got back to his parole officer. First Kill On Jan. 2, 1972, Timothy Jack McCoy, age 16, was planning on sleeping at the bus terminal in Chicago. His next bus wasnt scheduled until the following day, but when Gacy approached him and offered to give him a tour of the city, plus let him sleep at his house, McCoy took him up on it.   According to Gacy’s account, he awoke the following morning and saw McCoy standing with a knife at his bedroom door. Gacy thought the teen intended on killing him, so he charged the boy and got control of the knife. Gacy then  stabbed the teen to death. Afterward, he realized that he had mistaken McCoys intentions. The teen had a knife because he was preparing breakfast and had gone to Gacys room to wake him up.   Although Gacy had not planned to kill McCoy when he brought him home, he couldnt dismiss the fact that he had become sexually aroused to the point of orgasm during the kill. In fact, the killing was the most intense sexual pleasure he had ever felt. Timothy Jack McCoy was the first of many to be buried in the crawl space under Gacys home. Second Marriage On July 1, 1972, Gacy married a high school sweetheart, Carole Hoff. She and her two daughters from a previous marriage moved into Gacys home. Carole was aware of why Gacy had spent time in prison, but he had downplayed the charges and convinced her that he had changed his ways. Within weeks of being married, Gacy was  arrested and charged  with sexual assault after a teen male accused him of impersonating a police officer to get him into his car, then forcing him to engage in oral sex. Again the charges were dropped; this time because the victim had tried to blackmail Gacy. In the meantime, as Gacy added more bodies in the crawlspace under his house, a horrible stench began to fill the air, both inside and outside of Gacys home. It got to be so bad that neighbors began to insist that Gacy find a solution to get rid of the odor.   Youre Hired In 1974 Gacy left his construction job and started a contracting business called Painting, Decorating, and Maintenance, or PDM Contractors, Inc. Gacy told friends that one way he planned to keep his costs down was by hiring teenage boys. But Gacy saw it as another way to find teens to lure to his basement of horrors.   He began posting available jobs and then invited the applicants to his house on the pretext of talking to them about a job. Once the boys were inside his home, he would overpower them using various tricks, render them unconscious and then begin his gruesome and sadistic torture that almost always led to their death. The Do-Gooder While he wasnt killing young men, Gacy spent time reestablishing himself as a good neighbor and good  community leader. He worked tirelessly on community projects, had several neighborhood parties, developed close friendships with his next-door neighbors, and became a familiar face, dressed as Pogo the Clown, at birthday parties and at the childrens hospital.   People liked John Wayne Gacy. By day, he was a successful business owner and community do-gooder, but by night, unknown to anyone but his victims, he was a sadistic killer on the loose. Second Divorce In October 1975 Carole filed for divorce after Gacy admitted to her that he was attracted to young men. She wasnt surprised by the news. Months before, on Mothers Day, he had informed her that they would not be having any more sex together. She was also bothered by all of the gay porn magazines lying around and she could no longer ignore all the teenage males coming in and out of the house. Having Carole out of his hair, Gacy focused on what really mattered to him most; keeping his do-gooder facade in the community so that he could continue to achieve sexual gratification by raping and killing young boys. From 1976 to 1978, Gacy had managed to hide the bodies of 29 of his victims under his house, but because of lack of space and the odor, he dumped the bodies of his last four victims into the Des Moines River. Robert  Piest On December 11, 1978, in Des Moines, 15-year-old Robert Piest went missing after leaving his job at a pharmacy. He told his mother and a co-worker that he was going to an interview with a construction contractor about a summer position. The contractor had been in the pharmacy earlier in the evening discussing a future remodel with the owner.   When  Piest  failed to return home, his parents contacted the police. The pharmacy owner told investigators that the contractor was John Gacy, owner of PDM Contractors. When Gacy was contacted by the police, he admitted being in the pharmacy on the night the boy disappeared but denied ever speaking to the teenager. This contradicted what one of  Piests  fellow employees had told the investigators. According to the employee,  Piest  was upset because he had been turned down earlier in the evening when he asked for a raise. But when his shift ended, he was excited because the contractor that was remodeling the pharmacy agreed to meet with him that night to discuss a summer job. Gacy’s denying that he had even spoken to the boy raised a lot of suspicions. Investigators ran a background check that revealed Gacys past criminal record, including his conviction and prison time for sodomizing a minor. This information put Gacy on the top of the list of possible suspects. On December 13, 1978, a  warrant to search  Gacys Summerdale Avenue home was granted. While investigators searched his home and cars, he was at the police station giving an oral and written statement about his activities at the pharmacy on the night  Piest  disappeared. When he learned that his house had been searched, he went into a fit of anger. The Search The  evidence  collected at Gacys house included a high school ring for the class of 1975 with initials J.A.S., handcuffs, drugs and drug paraphernalia, two drivers licenses that were not issued to Gacy, child pornography, police badges, guns and ammunition, a switchblade, a piece of stained carpet, hair samples from Gacys automobiles, store receipts, and several items of teen-styled clothing in sizes that would not fit Gacy.   Investigators also went down into the crawl space, but did not discover anything and left quickly due to the rancid odor that they attributed to being a sewage problem. Although the search solidified suspicions that Gacy was likely an active pedophile, it did not turn up any evidence linking him to  Piest. However, he was still their prime suspect.   Under Surveillance Two surveillance teams were assigned to watch Gacy 24 hours a day. The investigators continued their search for  Piest  and continued interviewing his friends and co-worker. They also began interviewing people who had contact with Gacy. What investigators learned was that Robert  Piest  was a good, family-oriented kid. John Gacy, on the other hand, had the makings of a monster. They also learned that  Piest  was not the first, but the fourth person who had disappeared after having contact with Gacy. Meanwhile, Gacy seemed to be enjoying a game of cat and mouse with the surveillance team. More than once he was able to sneak away from his house undetected. He also invited the team into his home and served them breakfast, and then he would joke about spending the rest of the day getting rid of dead bodies. The Big Break Eight days into the investigation the lead detective went to the  Piests  home to bring his parents up to date. During the conversation, Mrs. Piest mentioned a conversation that she had with one of the employees working on the night her son went missing. The employee had told her that she had borrowed her sons jacket when she went on her break and left a receipt in the jacket pocket. This was the same jacket that her son had on when he left to go talk to the contractor about a job and never returned. That same receipt was found in the evidence collected during the search of Gacys house. Further  forensic tests  were performed on the receipt that proved that Gacy had been lying and that  Piest  had been in his home. Gacy Buckles Those closest to Gacy were interviewed by detectives on multiple occasions. Afterward, Gacy demanded that they tell him everything that was said. This included the in-depth questioning of his employees regarding the crawl space under Gacys home. Some of these employees admitted that Gacy had paid them to go down into specific areas of the crawl space to dig trenches. Gacy realized it was just a matter of time before the extent of his crimes would be exposed. He began to buckle under the pressure, and his behavior turned bizarre. On the morning of his arrest, Gacy was observed driving to the homes of his friends to tell them goodbye. He was seen taking pills and drinking mid-morning. He also talked about committing suicide and confessed to a few people that he had killed thirty people. What finally led to his arrest was a  drug deal  that Gacy orchestrated in full view of the surveillance team. They pulled Gacy over and placed him under arrest.   Second Search Warrant While in police custody, Gacy was informed that a second search warrant of his home had been issued. The news brought on chest pains, and Gacy was taken to the hospital. In the meantime, the search of his house, particularly the crawlspace, had begun. But the extent of what would be uncovered shocked even the most seasoned investigators. The Confession Gacy was released from the hospital later that night and taken back into custody. Knowing that his game was up, he  confessed to murdering  Robert  Piest. He also confessed to thirty-two additional murders, starting in 1974, and hinted that the total could be as high as 45. During the confession, Gacy explained how he had restrained his victims by pretending to do a magic trick, which required that they put on handcuffs. He then stuffed socks or underwear into their mouths and used a board with chains, which he would place under their chest, then wrapped the chains around their neck. He would then choke them to death while raping them. Victims Through dental and radiology records, 25 of the 33 bodies found were identified. In an effort to identify the remaining unknown victims, DNA testing was performed from 2011 to 2016.   Went Missing Name Age Location of Body January 3, 1972 Timothy McCoy 16 Crawl space - Body #9 July 29, 1975 John Butkovitch 17 Garage - Body #2 April 6, 1976 Darrell Sampson 18 Crawl space - Body #29 May 14, 1976 Randall Reffett 15 Crawl space - Body #7 May 14, 1976 Samuel Stapleton 14 Crawl space - Body #6 June 3, 1976 Michael Bonnin 17 Crawl space - Body #6 June 13, 1976 William Carroll 16 Crawl space - Body #22 August 6, 1976 Rick Johnston 17 Crawl space - Body #23 October 24, 1976 Kenneth Parker 16 Crawl space - Body #15 October 26, 1976 William Bundy 19 Crawl space - Body #19 December 12, 1976 Gregory Godzik 17 Crawl space - Body #4 January 20, 1977 John Szyc 19 Crawl space - Body #3 March 15, 1977 Jon Prestidge 20 Crawl space - Body #1 July 5, 1977 Matthew Bowman 19 Crawl space - Body #8 September 15, 1977 Robert Gilroy 18 Crawl space - Body #25 September 25, 1977 John Mowery 19 Crawl space - Body #20 October 17, 1977 Russell Nelson 21 Crawl space - Body #16 November 10, 1977 Robert Winch 16 Crawl space - Body #11 November 18, 1977 Tommy Boling 20 Crawl space - Body #12 December 9, 1977 David Talsma 19 Crawl space - Body #17 February 16, 1978 William Kindred 19 Crawl space - Body #27 June 16, 1978 Timothy O'Rourke 20 Des Plaines River - Body #31 November 4, 1978 Frank Landingin 19 Des Plaines River - Body #32 November 24, 1978 James Mazzara 21 Des Plaines River - Body #33 December 11, 1978 Robert Piest 15 Des Plaines River - Body #30 Guilty Gacy went on trial on February 6, 1980, for the murder of thirty-three young men. His defense lawyers tried to prove that  Gacy was insane, but the jury of five women and seven men did not agree.  After only two hours of deliberation, the jury returned a verdict of guilty and Gacy was given the death penalty. Execution While on death row, Gacy continued to taunt authorities with different versions of his story about the murders in an attempt to stay alive. But once his appeals were exhausted, the execution date was set. John Gacy was executed by lethal injection on May 9, 1994. His  last words  were, Kiss my ass. Sources Fall of the House of Gacy by Harlan Mendenhallï » ¿Killer Clown by Terry Sullivan and Peter T. Maiken

Major Problems in American History to 1877 Essay

Major Problems in American History Volume I: to 1877; 3rd ed. Chapter 2: The Southern Colonies in British America Introduction * April 26, 1907 – group of ships bearing 128 men sailed into the Chesapeake Bay; began the settlement of Jamestown --ââ€" ºfirst successful plantation in the Americas * English had attempted to establish colonies in locations as varied as present-day Maine and Virginia --ââ€" ºbut all had failed * Colony’s early years were horrific * Colonists were more interested in finding precious metals than feeding themselves * They encountered a variety of new diseases in the swampland in Jamestown * Many were gentlemen who felt it below their stations to clear fields or build stockades (barriers) *†¦show more content†¦Document 2 – Indentured Servant Richard Frethorne Laments His Condition in Virginia, 1623 * Document 2 indicates life of an English indentured servant could be difficult. In this letter to his parents, Richard Frethorne recounts the trials of the living in the 17th century Virginia and pleads to return to England. * Like many young men hoping for new opportunities in the colonies, Richard Frethorne agreed to workShow MoreRelated U.S. History 1877-1933 Essay1028 Words   |  5 Pagesquot;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;-Arnold Toynbee, A Study of History nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;The above statement is one that seems to be very true when looking back upon the history of the United States. From the years 1877 to 1933, this country went through many changes and transitions in the areas of politics, economy, society, and culture, which resulted in the birth of a new nation. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;The period from 1877 to 1901 in American history was known as the Gilded Age, it was titled soRead MorePrimary Source Anaylsis George Alsop765 Words   |  3 Pagesgiven the â€Å"Priviledge†5 of spending three hours a day within the plantations house during the warmest summer months, something that Frethorne was denied as they were forced to â€Å"Work hard both early and late†6 for little reward. The lack of Native American hostilities experienced by Alsop will also have been a contributing factor for his more positive experience of indentured servitude. By 1666, the Seven Years war had been concluded for three years and whilst tensions between the British and NativesRead MoreThe Long Journey Of African Americans1176 Words   |  5 PagesAfrican American has a long history since the time of the slavery in the United States of America. There has been a timeline on how the changes have occurred in political, education, social and economic deve lopment of the black Americans. The black people were despised because of their skin color leading to lack of development on their part. They were denied their rights until the late 20th century when their fight for recognition brought the much anticipated results. These changes have gone untilRead MoreThe History of Labor Unions Essay1241 Words   |  5 Pagesimpact on labor. By believing in the producerist ideology, people would be staying with tradition, and that leaves no change for our world. Many laborers wanted change, which led to problems for the laborers. During the latter part of the 19th century, many laborers faced numerous problems. Some of these problems included, â€Å"mechanization of industry, emergence of giant corporations, nationalization of labor, public sentiment greatly admired the ‘Captains of Industry,’ and immigration† (Farless)Read MoreThe Endurance Of The Human Spirit Essay1364 Words   |  6 PagesAfrican American Endurance Bernard Kenan Ashford University HIS206: United States History II Betsy Anderson 10/31/2016 The endurance of the human spirit is always able to be seen through the eyes of the less fortunate. Not to discredit any other race or say that any race is superior to any other, however the enduring spirit of African Americans could be seen during the 1800’s and still can be seen shining brightly today. When one thinks of endurance, one tends to think about sustainabilityRead MoreEssay On Connecting The Present And The Past708 Words   |  3 Pageslower class that a minority control the majority of the wealth in the nation. The richest 1% of the U.S. total population own a total of one-third of the U.S. net worth. From an economist’s perspective, one can see the gradual trends which got the American people to this point. The U.S. economy saw a boom during Bill Clinton’s era from 1993-2000. Average U.S. incomes went up on average 4%, but the rich experienced a much larger increase of 10.3%. The rich accounted for nearly half, 45%, of all theRead MoreReconstruct ion Of The Civil War1365 Words   |  6 Pagesstates back into the Union. The victory in the Civil War has granted four million slaves their freedom. After the Civil War, the Civil Rights Act of 1866, the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth amendments help protect the freedom of African Americans. They were granted the right to vote, obtain land from former owners, develop their own employment, use public facilities, and participate in political actions. Life changed dramatically for these free slaves. Most importantly, they no longerRead MoreEssay about Change and Continuity in the Guilded Age1194 Words   |  5 PagesContinuity in the Gilded Age Emergence of Modern America nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; â€Å"Every day things change, but basically they stay the same.†-Dave Matthews Change and continuity are two major principles of life. They can easily be applied to history because their application accurately portrays the circumstances, and characterizes the era of interest. Merriam-Webster defines continuity as an uninterrupted connection, succession, or union, or an uninterrupted durationRead Morereserchpaper817 Words   |  4 Pagessystem created new forms of freedom. Between 1880 and 1900 an average of 35,000 workers perished each year in factory and mine accidents, the highest rate in the industrial world. Class divisions became more and more visible. Many of the withiest Americans consciously pursued an aristocratic lifestyle. The working class lived in desperate conditions. How was the west transformed economically and socially in this period? Let me be a free man†¦ the chief joseph spoke of freedom before a distinguishedRead More Thomas Edison Essay1443 Words   |  6 Pages Thomas Alva Edison is considered one of the greatest inventors in history. He was born in Milan, Ohio on February 11, 1847 and died in 1931. During his life he patented 1,093 inventions. Many of these inventions are in use today and changed the world forever. Some of his inventions include telegraphy, phonography, electric lighting and photography. His most famous inventions were the phonograph and the incandescent light bulb. Edison did some of his greatest work at Menlo Park. While experimenting

Al Qaeda Network Free Essays

Al qaeda the ‘terrorist network’ and Osama bin Laden have carried out a complicated ‘media campaign and ‘public relations’ over the last 10 years (qtd. in Bevy, 2006). As Bevy (2006) excerpted, â€Å"’terrorism-analyst’ think that these communications have been intended to draw out ‘emotional reactions’ and converse intricate ‘political messages’ to a worldwide viewers as well as to explicit populaces in the ‘Islamic world’, the U. We will write a custom essay sample on Al Qaeda Network or any similar topic only for you Order Now S., Asia, and Europe.† A number of analyst and officials consider that ‘Al Qaeda’s messages’ hold signs that notify and educate operatives to get ready for and perform fresh attacks. Bin-Laden has referred to his ‘public-statements’ as significant chief sources for parties in quest to know Al Qaeda’s political demands and ideology. Osama bin Laden’s familiarities as a ‘financier’ and ‘logistical-coordinator’ for the Arab and Afghan struggle to the ‘Soviet-Invasion’ of Afghanistan throughout the 198os are considered to have supplied backdrop for his principle that ‘Muslims’ can obtain valuable ‘military action’ motivated by ‘Islamic principles’ (Bevy, 2006). According to Bevy (2006), his contact to the philosophies of ‘conservative Islamist-scholars’ in Saudi Arabia and his work with the Arab activist in Afghanistan offered the ideological and theological foundation for his principle in the interest of ‘puritanical Salafist Islamic-reform’ in Muslim societies and the need of ‘armed resistance’ in the countenance of ‘perceived aggression’ – an idea Al-Qaeda has since connected with a commonly-binding ‘Islamic principle’ recognized as â€Å"defensive-jihad† (qtd. in Bevy, 2006). After a few years after he initiated setting up Arab volunteers to dispose of ‘Soviet forces’ from ‘Afghanistan’, bin-Laden had a ‘vision’; the instant had come, he informed his friends, to start a ‘global jihad’, or’ Islamic holy-war’, in against to the crooked ‘secular-governments’ of the ‘Muslim Middle East’ and ‘Western-powers’ that maintained them (New York Times, 2001). Bin Laden, the ‘Saudi’ millionaire’, would utilize his campgrounds in Afghanistan to obtain ‘holy-warriors’ from around–the-world – who had at all times followed ‘local goals’ – and figure them into an ‘international-network’ which would wrestle to convey all Muslims under a ‘militant-version’ of ‘Islamic law’. At some stage in the ‘anti Soviet jihad’ Bin-Laden and his combatants have been given American and Saudi funding; a number of ‘analysts’ think Bin-Laden himself had ‘security-training’ from the C.I.A. (BBC, 2004). Following the ‘Iraqi-invasion’ of Kuwait, Bin Laden articulated these analyses in resistance to the beginning of ‘foreign military-forces’ to Saudi Arabia. Bin Laden illustrated the presence of non-Muslim troops and U.S. in Saudi Arabia following 1991 Gulf-War as reason for transformed commitment to ‘defensive jihad’ and the endorsement of violence against the United States and Saudi government. What is Al Qaeda? Any number of theories has been advanced as to the origins of the name â€Å"Al Qaeda†, from a reference to a computer file revealing the identities of Arab veterans of the Afghanistan conflict (the database), to Osama bin Laden’s alleged high-tech headquarters, deep in the mountains of Afghanistan (the secret base), drawings of which – impressive though entirely fictitious – were produced by the American media when U. S. operations began in October 2001 (Chaliand Blin, 2007). The name Al Qaeda, which instantly became the focus of the media attention following the August 1998 U. S. embassy bombings had long had mythical status. According to Chaliand and Blin (2007) Osama bin Laden himself had contributed to the mystery surrounding the name by never uttering it prior to the events of September 11. The groups’ leaders, in their internal communications, usually referred to it as â€Å"the society†, an internationally neutral appellation. In fact, it was ‘Abdallah Azzam who had named the organization; in 19888, the first signs of a Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan, ‘Azzam decided that he would not disband the Army of Arab volunteers he had created four years earlier but would use it to undertake a much vaster mission – re-conquest of the Muslim world (Chaliand Blin, 2007). To that end, he needed a standing vanguard of fighters to serve as leaders of the umma; he coined the term al-qaeda al-sulbah (the solid base) for this, which was also the headline of an editorial he wrote in al-Jihad in 1988. How to cite Al Qaeda Network, Papers

Innocence and Experience in The Lamb free essay sample

A discussion and analysis of William Blakes poem The Lamb. This essay deconstructs the notion of innocence in William Blakes poem The Lamb to demonstrate that in order represent innocence, it must first be corrupted by experience. Songs of Innocence and Experience, which appeared in 1794 as a part of William Blakes Illuminated Series, explores the human progression from innocence to experience. It was Blakes belief that wisdom was found in innocence and that experience was mere disillusionment. Accordingly, much of the poetry and artwork in the Songs depicts the fall of Adam and Eve from innocence to experience. Blake held the belief that innocence was the natural and God-like state of existence whereas experience was a result of sin. The simplicity and joyful nature of the poems in Songs of Innocence demonstrate this belief. The Lamb, for example, which appears in Songs of Innocence, has often been celebrated for its joyful and simple innocence. We will write a custom essay sample on Innocence and Experience in The Lamb or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page