Friday, November 29, 2019

Freedom of Choice free essay sample

My mom would take my sister and I to the library frequently. What made books so appealing to me was that at the library there was a room full of them and I could pick whichever ones I wanted. This was my first experience with freedom, one of the only parts of my life I could control. When you’re 8 years old, even maybe 10 anywhere you go you’re choices are limited. You’re completely dependent on parents for money if you even get to buy what you want. It was a big deal for me because my mom usually made my decisions for me; my life was planned and I had an empty head. I also liked books as a kid because reading came pretty easy to me. I wasn’t someone who stumbled over words or needed to practice reading extra. Reading gave me confidence, and at the same time it was something I could challenge myself with. We will write a custom essay sample on Freedom of Choice or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page I liked to read book series, like the majic treehouse books it was a challenge and an accomplishment to finish each series, to read thicker heavier books. By middle school and high school reading wasn’t exactly a cool thing to do so I gradually stopped reading books, became more social and spent more of my free time with friends instead of sitting in a room by myself with a book. Writing was a different story though, I was always the last one to finish copying notes from the board, I hated writing as a kid because it was so structured. By the time high school came around most of the time writing assignments were bullshit. Teachers just gave long tedious assignments because the harder they made school the smarter it made you obviously. I hated writing pretty much all through high school. By senior year I stopped doing English assignments, because I hated them and I was going through a rough patch in my life. I began to look at life from a much more pessimistic viewpoint, stopped caring about a lot of thing like school and writing in general. After I was old enough to think for myself I was angry about how I was being taught English and writing. I hated listening to other people in classes reading aloud and taking notes about a book while I was reading in it. For me it ruined the story to have to look at it closely and painfully pick it apart piece by piece. You can’t dissect a frog with out killing it first. I don’t know why but for some reason English teachers get some sort of sick pleasure out slaughtering the books they love, or maybe they hated the books and threw them on the chopping block because they were taught English the same way. Junior year of High School I finally got out of accelerated English classes, it was a good move. I breezed through the class and my English teacher used much more modern teaching methods. My favorite part of the class was outside reading. Outside reading was my favorite part of English class as long as I can remember because I like books I just couldn’t enjoy them piece by piece I needed the whole thing, and once again with outsde reading we had freedom to choose what book we wanted to read. If I could use one word to describe my English teacher junior year it would be progressive. There were a lot of other words I could use to describe her, like biased, radical, batty, but if I had to choose just one it would be progressive because she used modern books, unconventional books, classic books, she used the whole spectrum from online media, blogs, email, ipods and sure some of it was still busllshit but it was bullshit I could get on board with. Sure we still slaughtered texts but that class introduced me to my all time favorite book. Walking through the library was an everyday thing, part of moving from one class to another or a safe haven for skipping class, as long as I kept my head down and my pencil moving because who skips class to do work? But that day in the library was different. First it whispered in my direction, then it called quietly, until finally after many double takes and sideways glances it shouted â€Å"Read me! † so I slowly walked over, grabbed it and read. And read. Until the bell rang and I had to leave. But I didn’t stop there like an itch I couldn’t scratch the book haunted me until I was done. From beginning to end I was riveted. This book broke all the rules, the author used words like bastard and shit talked about life, about the mysterys behind it and about walking away from it all on a whim. He wrote about everyday things in the most interesting way, he wrote about sex, about drugs, about nothing at all and about everything at the same time, I’ve never asked more questions about a book in my life and found comfort in never knowing the answers. Its main character stole cars married women, left women, conned innocent people, was well connected, and the whole time survived on nothing more than wits and keenness. The book changed my life, I found it at a very impressionable age and it made an enormous impact on me. It made me realize that there was more to life than what everyone said, it made me understand that I had been thnking backwards my whole life it made me second guess our consumerist society, it made me want to leave it all behind. Without On The Road by Jack Kerouac I would be a very different person today. I always thought that reading and writing was for lonely people. People shut away from the world wether they wanted to be or were there by choice. Ann Frank’s Diary is considered a great novel but if it weren’t for the Nazi’s it wouldn’t have been as interesting. Hemmingway was a drunk that loved cats. Once a basic foundation of English rhetoric has been laid down, most people could become writers if given the chance, it’s a side effect of cabin fever. Writing is the closest you can come to talking to yourself without being considered insane. No matter how you dress it up though, writers are artist at the core their painbrush a pen their canvas the page, and all artist are weird. Too weird to live too rare to die

Monday, November 25, 2019

Creative Process essays

Creative Process essays The creative process is learning not to see with your eyes, but with your heart and soul. Creativity is an original product of the imagination. The imagination is the central force in driving the creative process. The creative process focuses on the mechanisms and phases involved as one partakes in a creative act. A second aspect of creativity is the creative person. Here, personality traits of creative people are central. The creative process includes five steps but is not limiting, leaving room for your own style to shine through. Creativity involves the translation of our unique gifts, talents and vision into an external reality that is new, useful and uniquely ours. Stephen Nachmanovitch, author of Free Play, wrote spontaneous creation comes from our deepest being and is immaculately and originally ourselves...ultimately, the only techniques that can help us are those we invent ourselves (10). We should not feel constrained to stay between the lines; we should feel free to express ourselves in any way we see fit. Originality is derived from being true to ourselves, not anything else. Artist Betty Edwards believes there are five common steps in the creative process. The creative process steps should be used as a guideline to aid the creative individual along the way. Luckily, the trail...is at least marked with pointers to guide the chase...like clues in a treasure hunt, these notations spur the quest (Edwards 2). The stages of the creative process follow a successive order beginning with the first insight and followed by saturation, incubation, illumination and verification. There is not much more to say about the creative process because there are different personality types, and the creative processes of one are not the same as those of another...each of us must find his or her own way into and through these essential mysteries (Nachmanovitch 10). The process is like a dark...

Thursday, November 21, 2019

CURRENT ISSUES IN FINANCIAL REPORTING Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 4

CURRENT ISSUES IN FINANCIAL REPORTING - Essay Example Off-balance-sheet-financing is that debt that is not usually reported on a company’s balance sheet. The formal distinction between off and on-balance sheet items present some complications that are usually subject to some level of judgment by management. However, the primary distinction between the off and on-balance sheet items is based on whether or not a business/company owns or is legally responsible for that debt. Additionally, uncertain liabilities or assets are subject to being grouped as ‘probable’, ‘meaningful’ and ‘measurable’. Some of the examples of the off-balance sheet items include; unconsolidated subsidiaries, operating leases, financial instruments such as hedging contracts and derivatives securities, contingent assets/liabilities among many others (Bauman, 2003). Financial statements need to be adjusted from time to time so that they are able to reflect the economic substance of the information they represent. Companies should, therefore, focus on accounting methods that emphasis on economic substance by considering changes in accounting policies. Economic substance is a transaction that has a purpose besides reducing tax liability. Conversely, Sally and Schreiber states that, â€Å"The economic substance doctrine is a common law judicial doctrine that disallows tax benefits of a transaction if the transaction lacks economic substance or a business purpose.† Therefore, transactions and events should be accounted for in a manner that faithfully represents their true economic substance and not the mere legal form. The off-balance sheet items; thus, provide a reason financial statements often fail to faithfully represent the economic substance. Off-balance sheet activities usually do not represent the true picture of a net worth of a firm. This is because firms do not include market values of their off balance sheet items. Furthermore, the transparency of off balance sheet activities are

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Nonconsequensialists and Consequensialists Essay

Nonconsequensialists and Consequensialists - Essay Example As in consequentialism, a consequentialist may argue that lying is wrong, and the reason he or she will gave is that it generates negative consequences or the results. But a consequentialist might allow this in some foreseeable consequences, and where lie is good enough, so people can lie in those situations. On the other hand a deontologist may argue that lying is always wrong, no matter what good it can bring to the liar. They will never allow this in any situation or the circumstances. G. E. M Anscombe, in 1958, came up with the term consequentilism first time in her essay "Modern Moral Philosophy". In her essay, she expressed what she thought as the major error of some moral theories, for example by Mill and Sidgwick. 1 The term, consequentilism became popular further and many authors used it in their writings. The ethical theories are sorted into two groups, one theory is regarding the wrong and right actions, and this is called consequentialist theory. The other theory is non-consequentialist theory; utilitarianism is an example of consequentialist theory. And that judgment in consequentiatlist theory is done by the rightness ad wrongness of any action and also the results of those acts. ... On the other hand, the non-consequentialist theory in ethics concludes the right or wrong acts not on the base of consequences but on their properties and attributes. Libertarians support this theory and believe that people should be free to do whatever they want to. If someone's action is hurting or harming other people than it does not mean that people should stop doing things on their own will. They should do what ever they want to but they should respect the privacy and freedom of others too, but should not hold back their actions only because of people. The major difference between consequentialist and non-consequentialist is the judgment of action and in consequentialist theory; the final conclusion is based upon the consequences and results whereas in non-consequentialists theory, it checks the nature of the action. What happens normally is that non-consequentialists limit the scope and range of facts, which should be reviewed to perform the right action. Non-consequentialists try to ignore the consequences, which is not actually possible and can create a lot of problems in future. So the non-consequentialist theory limits the range of considerations that could be used in determining the rightness and wrongness of any action. Though it is proved psychologically that the acts by people are limited because of many constraints, for example, time limit, finite processing capacities etc. So non-consequentialist ethics is suitable for the decision procedures, where the empirical restrictions are rationality talked about. Many philosophers agreed that non-consequentialist theory can be successful only after the proper judgment of

Monday, November 18, 2019

ONTOLOGICAL PARADOX Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

ONTOLOGICAL PARADOX - Research Paper Example ne has the ability to choose from the multiple patterns of lives with the chance of being embedded in one of the possible past-future pairs (Santas 39). The possibility of breaking out of limitations of only being able to exist in the present has led to many depictions of possible situations where human beings are able to freely move through the past present and future. Obsession with changing the past has not been limited to popular culture but has also featured in academic field such as physics and philosophy. This essay argues against the notion presented by some physicists and philosophers that one can travel back into the past to change based on the inconsistencies of time travelling. In this kind of fantasies, many tend to perceive an instrument such as special machine that will facilitate the backward time travel, think of a special machine which will enable man disappear from one place and time and reappear at a past time in a different or same place. There is a philosophical line of thought based on the existence of what is called a closed timelike curves (CTCs) discovered by philosophers and physicists working on time travel. CTCs are â€Å"curves in space and time† which provide â€Å"possible paths of bodies† to move through various universes. The model containing CTCs was discovered by Kurt GGdel in the 1940s and was believed to be models of the Einstein field equations (Seaman and Ssler 141). Based on model, Godel makes a theoretical assumption that it is possible for one to travel and come back at the exact time and place by making a round trip on a rocket ship in a suitably wide curve. This means that the object will get back to its past to the exact moment when it commenced the journey. The argument presented by Godel is based on the belief by some philosophers and physicists that the past, present and future equally real. These views on past, present and future represent the ideas of externalists group of theorists who argue that there was no

Saturday, November 16, 2019

Sexualized Dual Relationships In Therapy Social Work Essay

Sexualized Dual Relationships In Therapy Social Work Essay The main concern as a counselor is creating and managing professional limits, which must always center on the best interests of the client. However, except for behaviors of an illegal nature, ethical concerns can negatively interfere with ones work because there are no straightforward answers. The detrimental effect of sexual intimacies within a professional counseling relationship makes it apparent that it is always inappropriate to have a sexual relationship with a client. In the first part of this paper, a case study of a client who engaged in a sexual relationship with her former psychologist is illustrated. Main ethical concerns, application of specific ethical codes, techniques to address the issue, and an ethical decision-making process are analyzed to resolve the case. In the second part of this paper, an interview is conducted with a clinical psychologist, which highlights the issues relating to ethical standards and practices, transference, multicultural concerns, boundary violations, and supervision. Introduction The structure within which a therapist and client relationship occurs is beneficial for adequate counseling. Healthy limits create a relationship that is proficient, trusting, and demonstrates an environment for competent psychological counseling. Therapists must know that ethical violations can relate to the gray areas between transference and countertransference (Redlich, 1990). Corey, Corey, Callanan, (2011) state that sexual relationships between therapists and clients continue to receive substantial research in the professional literature. Sexual relationships with clients are undoubtedly unethical, and all of the main professional ethics codes have explicit prohibitions against these violations. Furthermore, such relationships are a violation of the law. The power imbalances may continue to sway the client well after the end of the counseling relationship, and professional standards forbid a therapist from engaging in any sexual relationship with a past client in which counsel ing service was provided in the past five years (Bouhoutsos Greenberg, 1999). Therapists must know that any dating relationship is considered a form of inappropriate behavior that could fall within the classification of sexual abuse. The harmful effects of sexual abuse within the professional standards makes it obvious that it is inappropriate to have a sexual relationship with a client. The Dilemma Rachel, a 24-year-old client, comes into her counselors office and states that she feels suicidal because she engaged in a sexual relationship with her former psychologist. Because the assessment and management of a suicidal client is extremely serious, the counselor addresses this issue immediately. As she approaches the suicide assessment, the counselor keeps three things in mind: consult with a colleague for another opinion, document the process, and evaluate the clients risk for harming herself (Corey, Corey, Callanan, 2011). The counselor asks Rachel to sign a no-suicide contract. In the contract, she agrees to avoid harming herself, but if she feels she cannot control herself, she would call 911, or another person who is close to her and she can trust. The counselor also asks her to talk with her family about her feelings. Rachel states that she disclosed to them that she is very depressed and is feeling suicidal. The counselor explains to Rachel at length about dual relationships. Usually when there is an ethical infringement such as a psychologist having a sexual relationship with a client, the relationship begins with a non-sexual relationship (Brown, 2002). Rachel says the relationship began in good faith and as time passed, the boundaries between her and the psychologist began to weaken. The risk of harm occurring to Rachel increased as the psychologist and client became more intimate, and there is a greater power differential just as there exists between men and women in general. The counselor explains about how these professionals may exploit and seduce female clients intentionally for their own satisfactions. Rachel proceeds to tell her counselor about the symptoms and feelings she is experiencing: a sense of guilt; emptiness and isolation; sexual confusion; trust issues; role confusion in therapy; severe depression and acute anxiety; suppressed anger; and cognitive dysfunction involving flashbacks, nightmares, and intrusive thoughts. The counselor concludes that the client is indeed experiencing almost all of the symptoms described as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Main Ethical Concerns A professional counseling relationship, which involves sexual relations, is against the law. Sexual exploitation in a professional counseling relationship is described as, sexual involvement or additional forms of physical relations between a practitioner and a client (Brown, 2002, pg. 79). Situations involving sexual actions between a counselor and client are never acceptable. According to Moustacalis (1998), sexual activity between a client and counselor is always damaging to client well-being, despite of what reason or beliefs the counselor chooses to justify it. However, client consent and compliance to participate in a sexual relationship does not diminish the practitioner of his duties and responsibilities for adhering to ethical standards. Failure to take responsibility for the professional relationship and permitting a sexual relationship to develop is a mistreatment of authority and confidence, which are exclusive and fundamental to the therapist and client relationship. In any professional counseling relationship, there is an innate power inequity. In this case study, the former therapists power arises through the clients belief that the therapist has the proficiency to help with her problems, and the clients confession of personal information, which is usually kept secret. The reality that counseling services cannot be successful unless clients are willing to open up does not change the main power imbalance (Moustacalis, 1998). Therefore, the psychologist has an important responsibility to take action, do no harm, and is ultimately liable for managing boundary issues if violations occur. Ironically, the former therapist in this case failed to maintain appropriate professional ethical standards and caused psychological damage to his client instead of promoting a trusting and healthy professional relationship. Because of the seriousness and complexity of these sexual boundary violations, Rachel currently suffers from suicidal thoughts, depression, an xiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder. The power difference that is in the therapist-client relationship causes Rachel to find it complicated to discuss boundaries or to recognize and defend herself against ethical violations. In addition, clients may at times prompt a sexual relationship and their behavior could promote violations (Marmor, 2000). Application of Specific Ethical Codes Techniques to Address Dilemma According to the 2005 American Counseling Associations (ACA) Code of Ethical Standards, Sexual or romantic counselor-client interactions or relationships with current clients, their romantic partners, or their family members are prohibited (A.5.a). Relating to former clients, Sexual or romantic counselor-client interactions or relationships with former clients, their romantic partners, or their family members are prohibited for a period of 5 years following the last professional contact. Counselors, before engaging in sexual or romantic interactions or relationships with clients, their romantic partners, or client family members after 5 years following the last professional contact, demonstrate forethought and document (in written form) whether the interactions or relationship can be viewed as exploitive in some way and/or whether there is still potential to harm the former client; in cases of potential exploitation and/or harm, the counselor avoids entering such an interaction or re lationship (A.5.b). In this case, Rachels emotional intensity and stress generated due to difficult or conflicted personal relational situations may override her understanding of healthy therapeutic and relational processes. In addition, it suggests clients, such as Rachel, who possess little therapeutic knowledge relating to boundary violations, or with limited understanding of therapy, are particularly vulnerable (Marmor, 2000). The ACA Code of Ethical Standards also states that counselors act to avoid harming their clients (A.4.a). During their sexual relationship, Rachels former practitioner may assume she is responsible in the relationship and can sustain herself emotionally and psychologically. However, not all clients have this ability and look to their therapist for support. Engaging in a dual sexualized relationship is destructive to client welfare and is a dysfunctional means to offer security to a vulnerable client (Robinson, Reid, 2000). Techniques to address this case are complex, yet imperative to consider. First, Rachels former therapist needs to be reported to the state licensing board for ethical complaints of sexual intimacies with a client (Hall, 2001). During this process, Rachel should know that a breach of client confidentiality will occur as a part of the reporting process. Next, Rachel must find a reputable attorney because there is a good possibility that the former therapist may deny the accusation or blame Rachel by saying she is making false claims. The former therapist could be the subject of a lawsuit. Malpractice is a serious legal concept involving the failure of a professional to provide the level of services or to implement the skill that is normally expected of other professionals (Hall, 2001). He risks having his license taken away or suspended as well as losing his insurance coverage and his credibility as a therapist. This ethical violation could have been avoided if the therapist carefully considered the dynamics of a healthy therapeutic relationship and put the clients needs before his own. Decision-Making Process The ethical decision making process used for the case of Rachel would be to first define the problem. Rachel is in search of counseling because she engaged in an intimate, sexual relationship with her former psychologist. Rachel currently feels guilty and resentful toward her former psychologist and is experiencing suicidal thoughts. The next vital step in ethical decision making is evaluating moral principles (Corey, Corey, Callanan, 2011). In this case, the moral principle that would take priority is non-maleficence. Rachel expressed her need to talk with a counselor and feels she has a limited number of people she can trust. Since the former therapist violated the sense of non-maleficence, it may cause Rachel harm if the current therapist were to defy her trust because Rachel could panic and hurt herself if she feels she has no other option. Rachel must form a trusting relationship with her current counselor, and the counselor must maintain that sense of trust. The next step woul d be to talk with a supervisor or colleague to hear other perspectives or ideas. The fourth step is to make sure as her current therapist, decisions are not influenced by emotions (Corey, Corey, Callanan, 2011). Having emotional awareness can ensure an accurate assessment of the situation. Therefore, encouraging Rachel and building up her sense of self-worth is essential. By creating a plan that includes psychological help along with legal action, Rachel will likely feel as though she has some control when assessing each option. The final step is implementation, and the therapist should help Rachel follow through with her plan. Interview Dr. Jennifer Lambert is a clinical psychologist and received her Psy.D from the University of Illinois. During the 45-minute interview, she provided thoughtful insight into the issues relating to ethical standards and practices, transference, multicultural concerns, boundary violations, and supervision. First, making ethical decisions involves developing an acceptance for dealing with gray areas and coping with uncertainty. Even though awareness of the ethical standards of ones profession is significant, this knowledge is not enough. Ethical codes provide direction in assisting one in making the best informed-decisions for the benefit of clients and the practitioner. These standards may differ among agencies, and it is vital that every human service professional becomes aware of the exact policies of the agency. Secondly, Dr. Lambert discussed an example of transference. She is a supervisor for an adolescent mental health clinic and works with many great colleagues. One of her colleagues is an excellent therapist, but often she asks Dr. Lambert for marital advice. She does her best not to sway her colleague because Dr. Lambert knows the harm it could cause to their relationship. Instead, she encourages her colleague to inspect her own beliefs and values without imposing or giving direct advice. This story is an example of colleague transference and possible dependency if Dr. Lambert is not cautious when discussing these issues. Next, Dr. Lambert spoke about multicultural concerns and boundary violations in therapy. As a therapist, it is key to know and appreciate ones own cultural background, yet not push values onto clients. To be effective with diverse clients, therapists must accept and celebrate cultural differences and view them as a positive learning experience. By practicing acceptance while being curious, it will bring understanding between cultures and assist in expanding trust in the therapeutic relationship. Maintaining professional and personal boundaries is a necessity in the therapeutic process. If a therapist becomes emotionally over-involved with a client, counselors will likely lose their objectivity and ultimately cannot exercise proper judgment in the helping process. When counseling adolescents, maintaining appropriate boundaries can be complicated. Often, an adolescent sees the therapist as a friend to confide in, but if the young client becomes too dependent, relationship boundaries ma y be crossed. This can also violate boundaries if the therapist does not address the dependency. Lastly, a vital element in the licensing process is supervision. Dr. Lambert believes the role played by the supervisor is important for the appropriate development of the trainee. The supervisee should be open to the ideas and leadership style of the supervisor. Above all, supervision was developed to help future therapists enhance their competency and during this process, the trainee will learn the necessary skills that will assist them in their entire professional career. One challenge to supervision is the continuous shortage of qualified professionals and the incapability to supply sufficient hours for proper competency development. When choosing a supervisor, an individual with a good moral and ethical approach is an area of concern. This factor would assist in developing a proper personal approach, and a supervisor must teach by example the importance of understanding transference/counter-transference, diversity, and rapport. Supervision is a support system, which gives the op portunity to present challenges that one may not be prepared to deal with when they occur. Summary Ethical decision making in the counseling field is a continuing assessment with no simple answers. In order to encourage the well-being of clients, counselors must always balance the professional ethical codes with their own life experiences and personal values to make critical decisions about how to assist their clients successfully (Redlich, 1990). Therefore, understanding the ethical codes and the effect of inadequate counseling practices are helpful for counselors as they maintain therapeutic relationships with clients. Nonetheless, even though professional codes of ethics offer guidelines for how counselors should act with clients, they do not give complete answers for how counselors must act in every circumstance. Ideally, counselors should integrate their knowledge of professional ethics with good judgment to facilitate the best interests of their clients. It is imperative for counselors to create personal and professional boundaries with their clients in order to avoid proble ms such as unethical counseling, favoritism, exploitation, harm, etc (Corey, Corey, Callanan, 2011). Counselors must treat all clients respectfully, compassionately, and responsibly, while not compromising the professional relationship established with them.

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

John Steinbeck: Experiencing the Dust Bowl Essay -- essays research pa

The 1930’s were a decade of great change politically, economically, and socially. The Great Depression and the Dust Bowl wore raw the nerves of the people, and our true strength was shown. From it arose John Steinbeck, a storyteller of the Okies and their hardships. His books, especially The Grapes of Wrath, are reflections of what really went on in the 1930’s. John Steinbeck did not write about what he had previously read, he instead wrote what he experienced through his travels with the migrant workers. â€Å"His method was not to present himself notebook in hand and interview people. Instead he worked and traveled with the migrants as one of them, living as they did and arousing no suspicion from employers militantly alert against â€Å"agitators† of any kind.† (Lisca 14) John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath was derived from his personal experiences and his journeys with the migrant workers. John Steinbeck was born on February 27, 1902 in the town of Salinas, California. Salinas was an agricultural trading center with ties to the farms and ranches in the area. Steinbeck’s father, John Steinbeck Sr., was in the flour-milling business and through it supported his family of three daughters and one son. Steinbeck was a good student and a great writer even at an early age; he wrote stories for his high school paper. (Lisca 1-4) The experiences that were most influential to Steinbeck were not at school, but instead came from his home and the countryside. He read his mother’s books, which included the titles of Crime and Punishment, Paradise Lost and The Return of the Native. Another major influence was the countryside of California that surrounded him all his childhood. He went with Good 2 his family to his mother’s family ranch, where Steinbeck was surrounded by nature, and these kinds of trips led him to write such books as â€Å"East of Eden† and â€Å"The Red Pony†. (Lisca 3-5) Later in life, Steinbeck wrote a book called â€Å"In Dubious Battle†, which made him known as sympathetic to the labor conditions in California. Because of this, Steinbeck accepted assignments to write articles about the migrants working in California. Steinbeck had been aware of the labor problems in his state of California, but for these articles he wanted to experience it firsthand. For inspiration for his articles, and also what would turn out to be the inspiration for â€Å"Grapes of Wrath†, he visited t... ...out I’ve tried to make the reader participate in the actuality, what he takes from it will be scaled entirely on his own depth or hollowness. There are five layers in this book, a reader will find as many as he can and he won’t find more than he has in himself. (DeMott xiii).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  John Steinbeck was not observing these people’s plight, but was instead living and feeling it. Steinbeck could have only been considered an observer in that he did not have to experience it. Throughout his experiences living and working with the migrants he not only became interested or aware of the cause, but he became attached to the cause and it became a part of him. Good 5 Works Cited DeMott, Robert. Introduction. The Grapes of Wrath. By John Steinbeck. New York: Penguin Books, 1939. Lisca, Peter. John Steinbeck: Nature and Myth. New York: Thomas Y. Cromwell Company, 1978. Steinbeck, Elaine, and Robert Wallsten. Steinbeck: A Life in Letters. New York; Penguin Books, 1989 Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath. 20th century ed. New York: Penguin Books, 1939. Steinbeck, John. Working Days: The Journals of Grapes of Wrath. Ed. Robert DeMott. New York: Penguin Books, 1989.