Schizoaffective disorder Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Schizoaffective disorder - Essay Example For a full diagnosis of this disorder to be verified, there should be a period of at least two weeks where the patient displays psychosis without mood disorder, and these symptoms of psychosis should not be due to the use of medication or other substances. Schizoaffective disorder tends to affect an individual’s perception and emotions and this result in false perceptions as well as disordered thought processes, which include delusions, disorganized speech, and thought process. Due to this, it is very common for those affected by this disorder to have dysfunctions in both their social and occupational lives. The division into depressive and bipolar types of schizoaffective disorder depends on whether an individual has ever had manic, hypomanic or mixed episodes, and symptoms for this disorder normally occur in early adulthood, with symptoms rarely occurring before the age of thirteen (Diabetes Week, 2009). A person who has this disorder tends to experience extreme transformati ons in mood and has some of the psychotic symptoms, which are related to schizophrenia such as hallucinations. The psychotic symptoms are reflected when a person is unable to differentiate between what is real from what is imagined, and these symptoms tend to vary greatly from one person to another (Dodd, 2010). While the symptoms may be mild for in certain individuals, they can manifest themselves very severely in others. Some of the symptoms, which are displayed when one has schizoaffective disorder, are the following: depression, mania, and schizophrenia. Cases of depression in schizoaffective disorder are always accompanied by various characteristics such as the loss of appetite and this tends to result in the loss of weight. Furthermore, the individual’s sleeping patterns also change so that this individual my sleep a lot or very little, depending on their situation. Depression is always accompanied by excessive restlessness as well as a lack of energy in the body. The i ndividual experiences a lack of interest in those activities that he or she was very active in. there are times when an individual may have feelings of being worthless or hopeless and this can bring about guilt or self–blame. Depression may also bring about the inability to think coherently or to concentrate, and the individual may be tempted to resort to suicide as a result. Schizoaffective disorder is often accompanied by mania, which results in the increase in activity of the affected person, and these include work, social, and sexual activities. Mania also results in the increased talking of the individual due to the rapid and racing thoughts, which are common symptoms of mania. An individual feels very little need for sleep and may in fact prefer staying up late trying to do other activities. The individual might also be very agitated about nothing important in particular. Furthermore, there is a chance that mania might result in the individual having a very low self-est eem and this brings about very destructive behavior such as having unsafe sex, having spending sprees, as well as driving recklessly. Schizophrenia is one of the signs, which enable nurses to identify that a person does in fact, have schizoaffective disorder (Martin, 2007). One of the symptoms of schizophrenia is delusions; this is where an individual has very strange beliefs, which have no real basis in reality, and he or she holds on to these beliefs even when they are presented with facts to the contrary.

Structure of Secondary Schooling Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Structure of Secondary Schooling - Essay Example This essay approves that the basics start at school and slowly as they become mature they realize learning is a long process and helps them to be disciplined. The importance of learning is to share with others and make them educated. Studying at colleges and universities is totally a different ball game compared to schools. In colleges and universities the curriculum will be based on practical assumptions. Courses offering at universities and colleges are termed as professional courses and inclined towards engineering, management and political careers. The students will be trained accordingly to fulfill the immediate requirements. The most important thing is to realize the responsibilities towards the society and taking up those responsibilities, which is an indication of a good citizen. Education is an important tool that makes every citizen to know their responsibilities and utilize them properly. This report makes a conclusion that one of the main reasons of learning disabilities is the lack of concentration. Student’s thoughts divert very easily. They could not keep up their concentration level up to the mark. Short-term memory is also one of the reasons. Some of them were unable to remember previous days lessons or unable to grasp Assessing student’s abilities and disabilities is the major factor and teachers should strive to identify these issues. By identifying their strengths and weaknesses one can easily work on these issues. Self-confidence plays an important role in everyone’s lives. It is the deciding factor that decides a winner and a loser.

The Baths of Caracalla Essay Example for Free

The Baths of Caracalla Essay The baths of Caracalla were enormous buildings, with huge frescoed vaults covering the massive rooms. Constructed which began in 212AD and took approximately five year to complete. The original name of the bath was called the Thermae Antoninanae. (power) The baths of Caracalla was a great accomplishment in Greek history and was shown evidentially threw the benefit for the people, novelty and uniqueness and the Architecture. The baths of Caracalla was a great project who had been all started by Emperor Septimus Severus in 206AD and then was later completed but his son Caracalla and was created because the emperor had a duty to provide entertainment for their people, baths were great for socialization purposes (power). The Roman baths have a long varied past. In early history Romans used baths for health and cleanliness. The baths that most people think of like a tub didn’t come into play until 25BC, with the First Thermae built by Emperor Argippa. Until then Romans bathed in neighbourhood baths with an average of five bath houses per block. So the baths of Caracalla were nothing new to the people. The Emperor made it only to improve on design, grandeur and popularity of the ones before him. The baths were open sunrise to sunset; most commoners went only once a day. It was normal for an emperor to use it for luxury and bath as many as seven to eight times a day. A common routine for the Romans were; easy exercise in the palaestra, then continue to attend the baths, after anoint themselves in oil and then finish by eating. unknown, The baths of caracalla) The baths of Caracalla severed as the new â€Å"ideal† baths for romans; it could hold over 1,600 people and allowed them a new place to go. It contained the grandest and most elaborately decorated buildings, and was also the last major building project undertook in Rome until nearly 100 years later. The baths differed from predecessors by its large scale and its imposin g facade, no other bath or building in Rome could compare. Much of its original building is standing, which has been destroyed by an earthquake in 847 . The bath was built on the outskirts of the southern part of the city, near the Circus Maximus and the imperial palace. (unknown, The baths of caracalla) The baths consisted of a series of massive rooms, over an area of 26 acres. It took on the shape of any normal bath house, it was rectangular and very systematically. (unknown, The baths of caracalla). Rooms that were in the bath were vestibules which acted as a lobby between the interior of the building and outer space. Apodyterium which were considered the dressing rooms , and was the first stop for bathers before getting in the water , and a slave would commonly stay on watch over belongings. The calidarium was a hot room with a pool of water at a 35m diameter, Tepiberium was considered just a warm room kind of like a sauna we have today. Frigidarium was the cold room and the opening air swimming pool was called the natatio. The outside of the Baths are covered with gardens which included statues and fountains. Other rooms where the gymnasia and the study room. The building system combined the use of baked brick with concrete called opus caementicium which was a mixture of small pebbles and sand and lime motar. The water for the baths was brought from the springs of Subiaco, 100km from Rome through the aqueducts. It was distributed by tubes, the bath consisted of three network tunnels, for facilities water, sewage and wood which was used in 50 furnaces to heat the water. The floors were covered with black and white mosaics which can still be seen somewhat today. (Zeballos) Compared today with the baths, everyday you don’t see hundred of men in a bath together, nor with women. Today we have individual baths in our homes. The discussion of policy or philosophy is all done in offices now a day , but back then it was all done by a group of people sitting in a bath together. Generally they were washed by slaves or eunuchs, instead of depending on their selves for their own cleanliness. Water was a constant for them, because it was always there for them when here now a days we have to pay for our water supply. The baths of Caracalla are looked at by people in a numerous amount of way , now what of left of it after the earthquake, is now a monument to Roman history, its persistence to benefit the people which kept them clean and the beautiful architecture that was done to make this one of the most memorable accomplishment in history today, and the way that its uniqueness and novelty has different from today’s society.

Social Work Practice

Social Work Practice A Summary of my Understanding of Critical Reflection with Social Work Practice INTRODUCTION Reflective social work practice is a key learning and development process in social work courses which enable social work trainees to apply theories and models in critical and challenging situations in practice to enhance professional developments (Scragg and Knott, 2007). Great emphasis is placed on developing skills of critical reflection about, in and on practice and this has developed over many years in social work. Reflecting about, in and on your practice is not only important during practice learning and education to become a social worker, but it is considered a key to continued professional development. Social work is a profession that acknowledges life-long learning as a way of keeping up to date, ensuring that research informs practice and striving continually to improve skills and values for practice (Parker, 2004). Contemporary social work educators and practitioners are increasingly emphasizing the value of reflective practice as a rich source of social work theories an d skill development that conceptualize formal learning theory (DCruz et al, 2007). This essay will explore my understanding of reflective social work practice and the application of key theories and models of reflection to promote best social work practice. Schon(1993) considers critical reflective practice to involve thoughtfully considering ones own experiences in applying knowledge to practice while being coached by professionals in the discipline (Ferraro, 2000). In order to put this into perspective, I will begin this essay by looking at the development and nature of critical reflective practice followed by my understanding of critical reflection and its application within social work. Also I will look at the merits and demerits of critical reflective practice in social work. The next section will involve a critical account of my development of reflective practice in my practice learning opportunity (PLO). Zhao (2003) defines reflective practice asan ability to reflect on experiences, to employ conceptual frameworks, and to relate these to similar and dissimilar contexts so as to inform and improve future practice. Kondrat (1992) explained that reflection on practice in social work has been associated with attempts by practitioners to distance themselves from their experiences and thereby achieve a more objective view of their practice (cited in DCruz et al 2007). However according to Fook (2002) critical reflection places more emphasis and importance on understanding how a reflective stance uncovers power relations, and how structures of domination are created and maintained (www.courses.hull.ac.uk/modules/MA PLO inductionsession.html) [accessed on 22/09/2009]. Also critical reflection, as an approach to practice and the generation of knowledge, values the practice wisdom of practitioners and seeks to generate theory from practice experience inductively (DCruz et al 2007). As a practice skill, critical reflection has been developed as a process that is taught to practitioners and students to enable them to enhance and research their practice (Fook, 1999, 2002). DEVELOPMENT OF REFLECTIVE PRACTICE A review of development of reflective practice in contemporary times indicates a substantial knowledge base. The thinking about critical reflection and reflective practice has evolved over many years, through carefully constructed theories, research and application. Dewey (1938) suggested that people only begin to reflect when they identify an issue as a problem to be overcome and recognize that this can create an air of uncertainty about the outcome (Parker, 2004). Schon (1987) is widely credited with the extensive development of reflective practice and thereby increasing the popularity of reflective practice in social work practice. His work was built on the ideas proposed by John Dewey, where he describes the process of change and understanding in professional learning and development from a technical- rational approach to an approach based on reflection-in-action (www.learningmatters.co.uk/sampleChapters/) [accessed 20/09/2009]. He asks social work practitioners to engage in a re flective conversation where they could blend theoretical knowledge with their own personal experience to gain a greater understanding of a specific situation. Schà ¶n is of the notion that real life practice situations could be messy, involve uncertainty, and may challenge our preconceptions and beliefs. It is clear that Schà ¶ns idea of a reflective practitioner requires honesty and openness to engage in a critical reflective conversation to improve social work practice. However, he admits that this level of openness may occasionally be problematic if students are required to share their reflections with supervisors or fellow students due to power imbalances within the practice (www.learningmatters.co.uk/sampleChapters) [accessed 20/09/2009]. Schà ¶n (1984) and Kolb (1983) separate works have given critical reflective practice the credibility in contemporary social work practice, where they have employed basic principle of reflecting on experience to improve action and professional practice (Saltiel 2006). In recent years the concepts of reflection-in-action and reflection-on-action have become widely influential, in professional educa tion and training where a wide range of teaching methods have been developed to encouraged students to reflect on their practice and integrate theory with action ( Saltiel, 2006). Schon (1983) realising the risk reflection-in-action could create in the future as it become habitual and routinised, advocated for a much more formalised methods of reflection known as reflection-on-action. This is a reflection after an event has occurred by revisiting previous judgements in a more analytical way designed to make tacit knowledge explicit (Taylor, 2006).   WHY CRITICAL REFLECTION FOR LEARNING IN SOIAL WORK PRACTICE? Reflective practice is split into two interrelated components, practice and reflection, which are clearly not just as simple as doing and thinking. Practice, is an event which is usually, but not always, observable, which Michael Eraut (1994) calls practice performance. It includes cognitive and affective aspects as well as the behavioural. On the hand reflection, implies a number of processes which are largely linked to the practice event (www.leeds.ac.uk/educol/documents/000000468.htm) [accessed 19/09/2009]. Calderhead (1989) defined reflection broadly; as an acquisition of attitudes and skills in thinking. It is a process of becoming aware of the influence of societal and ideological assumptions, especially ethical and moral beliefs, behind professional practice. The two components are clearly not discrete since good practice will, for example, consist of the practitioner eliciting the clients or service users reflections on the practice. The various processes of reflection as outlined particularly by Schon (1987) can be summarised as the analysis, synthesis, evaluation and feeling. However, critical reflection transforms practice by challenging existing social, political and cultural conditions (Clift et al., 1990). It involves ethical and moral criticism and judgements (www.leeds.ac.uk/educol/documents/000000468.htm) [accessed 19/09/2009]. My practice learning experience at Age concern has challenge my knowledge and values in working with my supervisors, colleagues and service users and more importantly my experience acquired from FASU in my PLO1.   At Age Concern the environment was quite friendly but intimidating and the workload was demanding as much was expected of me.   However, by deploying reflective techniques such as self and peer assessment, reflective conversation, engaging in collaborative discussions with my team members and critically reflecting on my practice and professional development I got grip with the practice. I always engage in a reflective conversation with my supervisors and peers where I blend my theoretical knowledge acquired from formal learning with my own personal experience to gain a greater understanding of situations. Schà ¶n (1987) is of the view that real life practice situations can be messy, involve uncertainty, and may challenge our preconceptions and beliefs. It is clear from Schà ¶ns idea that a reflective practitioner requires honesty and openness to engage in a critical reflective conversation. However, this level of openness may occasionally be problematic if students are required to share their reflections with supervisors or fellow students (www.learningmatters.co.uk/sampleChapters/) [accessed 20/09/2009]. Working with service users who are fifty years and above and experiencing social inequalities and deprivation in different circumstances was very challenging. My openness and honest attitude towards my service users helped me to record events in the right perspectives. Thereafter by critically reflecting on the actions taken during practice transforms my understanding of the theories and models and how to improve my social work practice. According to Fook (2002) critical reflection places emphasis and importance on an understanding of how a reflective stance uncovers power relations, and how structures of domination are created and maintained (www.courses.hull.ac.uk/modules/MA PLO induction session.html) [accessed on 22/09/2009]. My understanding of critical reflection coupled with a supportive learning environment at Age Concern, made me to appreciate better how theoretical knowledge and skills are vital to best social work practice. It seems to me that critical reflective practice offers a highly challenging paradigm of learning. It is more of inductive learning than a deductive learning as the case may be in formal learning contexts such as Higher Education Institutions. MERITS AND DEMERITS OF CRITICAL REFLECTICE PRACTICE Under appropriate environmental conditions, critical reflective practice can help individual social workers and students to enhance their personal and professional development in practice. Appropriate conditions include: a supportive environment, social workers readiness to undergo self-reflection, individual space for individual workers to undergo critical reflective practice, workers own reflective practice and awareness of ones limits and breaking point (Yip, 2006). A supportive environment does not only imply a supportive organizational context, including colleagues and supervisors but how it encourages empathic rapport that is crucial for constructive self-reflection in reflective practice (Calderhead, 1989). It is obvious that mutual support and open sharing among colleagues is the best breeding ground for constructive critical self-reflection. Notwithstanding the supportive environment, the individual social workers open-mindedness is critical for spontaneous and critical self -reflection in reflective practice (Atkins and Murphy, 1993). Moreover, according to Fisher (1997) critical reflective practice is learning tool for social work students that provide solutions to a wide range of practice theories and models available and enables practitioner-learners to theorise their practice drawing on knowledge embedded in practice. The technique of critically reflecting on previous practice aim to promote the development of practitioners abilities to generate understanding of their practice, their theories of action and the values they hold. Another attraction of reflective practice is the hope that it seems to hold out for personal professional development and transfer of learning from one setting to another (Yip, 2006). Martyn (2001) argues that reflection can help people to make sense of the circumstances presented to social workers in complex situations, relating them to agency requirements (Payne, 2001). Critical reflective practice can be a rewarding experience resulting in self-enhancement in both personal and profes sional development. Contrarily, unsupportive setting can mostly be destructive to many social work students self and professional development. Such unsupportive conditions include an oppressive social environment, highly demanding working environment, social workers unresolved past experiences from previous learning placements as well as supervisors- students relationships. An oppressive environment implies a setting where there is an imbalance of power that is oppressive to the individual worker and discouraging professional development (Miehls and Moffatt, 2000). Sometimes it may be a highly critical supervisor, apathetic colleagues, a working team full of oppressive politics and dynamics, or insecurity and uncertainty in the social workers employment. In an oppressive environment, social workers may be obliged to disclose their weaknesses and shortcomings or their unpleasant practice experiences to supervisors within the agency; such disclosure may then be used against the worker as an excuse to abus e, to exploit, to undermine and even to dismiss them (Yip, 2006). Secondly, critical self-reflection in reflective practice demands that social workers subject their inner space and autonomy to self-analysis and self-evaluation (Boyd and Fales, 1983). Self-observation and self-dialogue also demand reflective distance that originates from the social workers own initiative and readiness (Voegelin, 2000 cited in Yip, 2006). However, a demanding workload in terms of a many caseloads, diversity of work, challenging clients may cause exhaustion and stress. This makes critical self-reflection in such settings a real nightmare and may be more of an additional burden rather than to assist the social worker or student. CONCLUSION In conclusion, this essay is an attempt to summarise my understanding of critical reflective social work practice and how it impact on my professional development as a social worker. My practice learning at Age Concern shows that related parties, such as supervisors, agency administrators, social work colleagues or social workers need to create appropriate conditions and relationships for social workers in training to develop their skills and knowledge on critical reflective practice. When social work students critically reflect on challenging issues in their placement, they develop the requisite skills and knowledge which could impact positively on the lives of service users. In reflective practice, social work students are to be encouraged to undergo self-reflection to develop models and theories that would enhance their social work practice. On the other hand, related parties should also be careful to avoid inappropriate conditions that may create possible limitations to the professional and self-development of social workers. Moreover, other researches emphasize on how different conditions affect the self-reflection process of social work students in reflective social work practice. In summary under appropriate conditions, social workers critical self-reflection can be very constructive, resulting in self-enhancement, leading to improvement in social work practice and enables students to plan and focus on what they need to do to improve social imbalance in society. REFERENCES Atkins S. and Murphy, K. (1993) Reflection: a review of literature Journal of Advanced Nursing, 18, pp. 1188-1192. Boyd E. M. and Fales, A. W. (1983) Reflective learning: key to learning from experience, Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 23(2), pp. 99-117. Calderhead, J. (1989) Reflective teaching and teacher education Teaching and Teacher Education, 5(1), pp. 43-51. Clift, R., Houston, J. and Pugh, M. (1990) Encouraging Reflective Practice in Education, London, Teachers College Press. Dewey, J (1933) How We Think. Boston: D.C. Heath Co Dempsey, M., Halton, C. and Murphy, M (2001) Reflective Learning in Social Work DCruz, H., Gilligham, P. and Melendes S (2007) Reflexivity, its Meaning and Relevance for social work: A critical review of the literature, British Journal of Social Work 3(1) pp. 73-90 Education: Scalffolding the Process, Social Work Education, 21(5), pp.585-595 Evans, D. (1991) Assessing Students Competence to Practise. London. CCETSW. Ferraro, J. M (2000) Reflective Practice and Professional Development, Eric ClearingHouse Teacher Education, Washington DC Fisher, T (1997) Learning about child protection, Social Work Education, vol16 pp. 93-111 Gould, N. (1989) Reflective learning for social work practice, Social Work Education,8(2), pp. 9-19. Kolb, D. A. (1984) Experiential Learning. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, Prentice Hall PTR. Miehls, D. and Moffatt, K. (2000) Constructing social work identity based on reflexive self, British Journal of Social Work, 30, pp. 339-348.Own Practice, Oxford, Butterworth-Heinemann. Ruch, G. (2000) Self and social work: towards and integrate model of learning, Journal of Social Work Practice, 14(2), pp. 99-112. Schà ¶n, D. (1983) The Reflective Practitioner, New York, Basic Books. Schà ¶n, D. (1987) Educating the Reflective Practitioner, San Franciso, Jossey Books. Schà ¶n, D. (1993) Reflective Inquiry in Social Work Practice, Hong Kong, Centre for the Study of Social Work Practice. Sheppard, J. (2000) Learning from personal experience: reflections on social work practice with mother and child and family care, Journal of Social Work Practice, 14(1), pp. 38-50. Taylor, C. and White, S. (2001) Knowledge, truth and reflexivity: the problem of judgement in social work, Journal of Social Work, 1(1), pp. 37-59. Voegelin, E. (2000) In Search of Order, St Louis, University of Missouri Press. Yip, K (2006) Self-reflection in Reflective Practice: A note of caution. British Journal of Social Work, vol. l36 pp.777-788 Zhao, F. (2003) Enhancing the Effectiveness of Research and Research Supervision through Reflective Practice Walker., McCarthy, P., Morgan, W., Timms, N. (1995) In Pursuit of Quality: Improving Practice Teaching in Social Work. Newcastle-Upon-Tyne. Relate Centre for Family Studies. www.courses.hull.ac.uk/modules/MA PLO induction session.html www.learningmatters.co.uk/sampleChapters/ www.leeds.ac.uk/educol/documents/000000468.htm www.courses.hull.ac.uk/modules/

Moses as an Inspiational Figure Essay -- essays research papers

I think Moses was a very inspirational character and in this essay I am going to talk a bit on the message of Moses and why by the world's major religions he is seen as an inspirational figure and one of the best leaders and prophets. He was born in Egypt to a Jewish mother, Yochevet. When Moses was born the Hebrew?s were slaves in Egypt. Pharaoh was afraid of them because he thought they might take over his country. He ordered that all Hebrew baby boys be killed at birth so that they would not grow up and fight against him. To save Moses his mother made a plan. She hid him in a basket by the side of the River Nile. Moses' sister Miriam watched over him until Pharaoh's daughter came to the river to wash. She found Moses in his basket. Miriam told her she knew a woman who could be a nurse for the baby. It was his mother. Pharaoh's daughter took him back to live with her as though he were her son. Moses grew up as an Egyptian prince, but he never forgot he was a Hebrew. One day Moses lost his temper and killed an Egyptian who had beaten a Hebrew slave to death. This proves he...

Vietnam War :: essays research papers

Upon reading the novel After Sorrow, written by Lady Borton, I have realized that my view of the Vietnam War was skewed. Although I didn’t live through the Vietnam War unlike my parents and their peers, I thought I was close enough in age to fully understand what happened during that time in my countries history. This novel gave the account of the Vietnamese War told by the people of Vietnam who lived there during that time. The American soldiers used bombs, napalm, Agent Orange and other horrible weapons to kill the â€Å"Viet Cong.† The government justified the killing of the Viet Cong because they were under the impression that they were all communists. Reading this book described a totally different war, even the name is different. The American War, as the Vietnamese called it, was barely even fought by the Viet Cong guerilla soldiers. In actuality the war was fought in homes and market places by Vietnamese women and children. Another major misconception was that the Viet Cong guerilla forces were strictly communist; Lady Borton found that this was largely untrue. After all of the terrible and disturbing stories told by the Vietnamese in this novel, the fact that Uncle Beautiful cannot blame Americans for their suffering. This quote is significant to me because of the obvious unwavering faith Uncle Beautiful has for Ho Chi Minh. Ho Chi Minh believed the Marxists view of the distinction between government and the people during wars of national liberation. He voiced to the Vietnamese people that the American and Vietnamese people were on the same side and were victims just as much as the Vietnamese were. Minh held that the US government, controlled by capitalists, made money off of the arms industry and therefore a war would be in their best interests. He made the Vietnamese people see through their suffering and not hold the actions of a few Americans against the entire nation. I think it is remarkable how the Vietnamese could distinguish between the government and people of one nation.

Virginia Woolf’s a Room of One’s Own

Though published seventy years ago, Virginia Woolf's A Room of One's Own holds no less appeal today than it did then. Modern women writers look to Woolf as a prophet of inspiration. In November of 1929, Woolf wrote to her friend G. Lowes Dickinson that she penned the book because she â€Å"wanted to encourage the young women–they seem to get frightfully depressed† (xiv). The irony here, of course, is that Woolf herself eventually grew so depressed and discouraged that she killed herself. The suicide seems symptomatic of Woolf's own feelings of oppression within a patriarchal world where only the words of men, it seemed, were taken seriously.Nevertheless, women writers still look to Woolf as a liberating force and, in particular, at A Room of One's Own as an inspiring and empowering work. Woolf biographer Quentin Bell notes that the text argues: the disabilities of women are social and economic; the woman writer can only survive despite great difficulties, and despite th e prejudice and the economic selfishness of men; and the key to emancipation is to be found in the door of a room which a woman may call her own and which she can inhabit with the same freedom and independence as her brothers. 144) Woolf empowers women writers by first exploring the nature of women and fiction, and then by incorporating notions of androgyny and individuality as it exists in a woman's experience as writer. Woolf's first assertion is that women are spatially hindered in creative life. â€Å"A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction,† Woolf writes, â€Å"and that as you will see, leaves the great problem of the true nature of women. . . and fiction unresolved† (4). What Woolf seems to say is that being female stifles creativity.Woolf does not assume, however, that a biological reason for this stifling exists. Instead, she implies that a woman's â€Å"life conflicts with something that is not life† (71). In other words , mothering, being a wife, and the general daily, culturally defined expectations of women infringe upon creativity, in particular the writing of fiction. The smothering reality of a woman's life – – housekeeping and child-rearing duties, for example – – distract a woman from writing. Sadly, Woolf notes, even if a woman in such circumstances manages to write anyway, â€Å"she will write in a rage where she should write calmly.She will write foolishly where she should write wisely. She will write of herself where she should write of her characters† (69-70). Woolf posits here that an angry woman, writing out of the repression of her everyday life, will be an ineffective writer. Finally, Woolf blames the patriarchal culture, as if the freedom of women writing is â€Å"some infringement of [man's] power to believe in himself† (35). She suggests that men resist women writers because fiction by women somehow diminishes their belief in their own wo rks.Woolf's message, it seems, is that women must rail against the resistance of the patriarchal culture and attain some degree of independence and androgyny. Woolf does not suggest that women write the same as men. In fact, Woolf asserts that â€Å"it would be a thousand pities if women wrote like men, or lived like men, or looked like men† (88). Woolf believes that a man's sentence is not a woman's sentence, that the two will be vastly different from each other, though not necessarily one better than the other.Her assertion is that men's sentences are awkward in the hands of women because â€Å"the nerves that feed the brain would seem to differ in men and women† (78). This difference of gray matter and neurons would necessarily result in a difference of perspective and sentence structure. Woolf suggests that for fiction to be artfully done, there must exist a measure of androgyny, â€Å"a plan of the soul so that in each of us two powers preside, one male, one fema le† (98).In essence, Woolf claims that this state of androgyny would allow women the same freedom to express themselves that men seem to have been inherently endowed with. â€Å"The androgynous mind is resonant and porous,† Woolf continues, â€Å"it transmits emotion without impediment; it is naturally creative, incandescent and undivided† (98). What Woolf overtly states here is that the ideal creative mind is a marriage, or balance, of the supposed female traits of emotionalism with the supposed male traits of productivity and style. What is implicit, however, is that the female mind can be resonant and porous only when undivided.In other words, a woman can write well only when her mind, like a man's, is not forced to choose between gender and identity, or between her art and society's expectations of her. A woman will write with fluidity and resonance only when she has the same freedom of expression as a man. An additional notion Woolf presents is that women mu st maintain individuality in their experiences as writers. This intimacy with one's identity nurtures the creation of fiction, but only when written out of one's own personality and not imitated through another's. â€Å"Why are Jane Austen's sentences not the right shape for you? Woolf asks Mary Carmichael (80). The idea Woolf reinforces here is that a woman should find and develop her own writing style, not simply mimic her predecessors. Notice, though, that Woolf does not suggest we glean no stylistic inspiration from women writers like the Brontes and Jane Austen, who paved the way for generations of women writers. â€Å"Books continue each other,† Woolf says, â€Å"in spite of our habit of judging them separately† (80). Continuing something, however, does not mean using the same blueprints or tools during the creative process.What Woolf implies is that every book a woman, sitting in that room of her own, produces will generate books from other women. A degree of m imicry, of course, is impossible to avoid. â€Å"A woman writing,† Woolf admits, â€Å"thinks back through her mothers† (97). The â€Å"mothers† here are not only biological mothers who give birth to our physical bodies, but also those women who meticulously scratched their way out of patriarchal constraints and into print; the women who acted as surrogates to birth generations of women writers.Subtle mimicry would seem a natural act under such circumstances, much as a child unconsciously develops personality traits of either parent. Finally, a woman reading Woolf's book has to wonder if that â€Å"room of one's own† is strictly a spatial, physical concept. It is possible that Woolf writes of a psychological construct as a room of one's own, a place one can emotionally go to and write from. Few of us have the luxury of a concrete room of our own, and if we are to be writers, emotional space of our own is the barest necessity.Women who want to write must f ind some quiet space in their psyches from which they can create. â€Å"So long as you write what you want to write, that is all that matters,† Woolf encourages, â€Å"and whether it matters for ages or only for hours, nobody can say† (106). What Woolf seems to say is that what we create within that space of ourselves, within a single moment, is what matters so long as we do it with an eye toward our own individual, androgynous hearts.