Notes, summaries, assignments, exams, and problems for Social sciences

The Development of the Modern American Trade Union Movement

The modern American trade union movement began with the election of Samuel Gompers as president and Peter J. McGuire as secretary. Born in 1850, Gompers immigrated to America from the Jewish slums of London as a boy. He entered the cigar-making trade, where he received much of his education as a "reader"—a worker who read books, newspaper stories, poetry, and magazine articles to fellow employees to help break the monotony of their work. He eventually became a leader of his local union and the national Cigar Makers Union.

The Founding Principles of the AFL

A statement by the founders of the American Federation of Labor (AFL) expressed their belief in the need for more effective union... Continue reading "The Origins and Evolution of the American Labor Movement" »

Rhetoric and Poetica

As a general concept, rhetoric refers to the art of speaking or writing correctly and elegantly to move, delight, or persuade. Different authors have defined it in various ways:

• Cockcroft: Art of persuasive speech
• Lopez Eyre: Art of properly using language
• Arist: Ability to achieve something
• Quintilian: Science to work and take care of the ability to speak
• Protagoras: Man as a measure of all things

The natural origin of rhetoric is legal and political. Its roots can be traced back to Syracuse in the 5th century BC when eloquence became necessary to persuade during land expropriation disputes. Rhetoric was the capacity for oratory, the art of persuading. The first discourse on this topic was written by Corax of Syracuse, but it... Continue reading "The Art of Persuasion: A Guide to Rhetoric from Ancient Greece to Modern Advertising" »

Affective Filter Hypothesis

The Affective Filter Hypothesis suggests several factors influence language acquisition success.

Key Factors

• Motivation: Higher motivation correlates with better language acquisition.
• Self-Esteem: Increased self-confidence aids language learning.
• Anxiety: Lower anxiety is beneficial; ideally, anxiety should be zero for optimal acquisition.

When focused on the message and anxiety is absent, acquisition occurs. However, while zero anxiety may not be suitable for all tasks, it is crucial for language acquisition.

Facilitative Anxiety

Facilitative anxiety may be acceptable for certain tasks, but language acquisition requires anxiety to be directed away from the language itself.

Affective Filter

The affective filter acts as a block... Continue reading "Affective Filter: Impact on Language Acquisition" »

Unit 6: The Gilded Age and Industry

1. The Gilded Age and Industry

On the one hand, there were poor conditions as a consequence of industrialization, specifically regarding harsh working environments. Industrialization also helped America become a primary destination for European immigrants. By the end of the 1890s, rapid industrialization led to significant social problems.

2. Progressivism and Theodore Roosevelt

This era saw the tragic Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire and a peak in immigration. A key peculiarity of this period was the attempt by politicians to regain control of the country.

Progressivism primarily affected the middle classes, who felt threatened by both the upper and lower classes. They sought to restore power to institutions,... Continue reading "The Gilded Age, Progressivism, and World War I Impact" »

First of all, I'm a student of Spain, Catalonia, in the city of Barcelona. In my school, it isn't obligatory to wear a uniform, only in physical education courses.

My life as a student is very simple, since it is something every day. Aside, my time as a student has been very satisfactory, since I have learned many new things that have allowed me to develop myself better as a person, to develop my intellectual abilities later employed in the future. For me, the study is a very important tool needed for what you want to be grown-up and achieve higher social status and economic. Within this stage of student I have to do homework and study in the afternoons, after school.

However, what I most like is working group, because between us we can lend... Continue reading "Life as a Student in Spain: My Journey Towards Economics" »

SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT: (IN HISTORY)

• POSITIVISM (19th century): History is a science, and it has to be taught at universities. Manuscripts and written documents are crucial elements that prove events. Main approaches concern military history, political history, or history of law. History serves a nation's great events. Learning by memorization, repetition, and without context, focusing on political history topics. Teaching by repetition, comprehension, and exposition. Representation by timelines and axes of time. Historical time is linear, unique, and homogeneous.
• MARXISM: History of the poor people and the proletariat. Social and economic history are crucial for this movement. New documents and evidence emerged. New subjects, overcoming national

The Impact of Science on Production

• Saves resources per unit produced: Bob Allen maintains that the Industrial Revolution occurred in Britain because of uniquely high wages and cheap energy. The new technology bias is evident in textile manufacturing, though technological progress seems neutral in the long run.
• Eases the constraints of nature: The limiting factor in agriculture is nitrogen. While bacteria fix nitrogen slowly, the Haber-Bosch process introduced an industrial method to produce ammonia and nitrates in the early 20th century, forming the basis for spectacular yield increases.
• Improves quality of products: Quality improvement is difficult to measure, but ignoring it biases real income estimates downward. For example, the price of light

NATO: Origins and Evolution

Established in 1949 via the Washington Treaty, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is a military alliance comprising 29 member states from Europe and North America. During its first period (1949–1989), the alliance primarily countered the Warsaw Pact, which was formed by the Soviet Union in 1955. Notably, in 1966, Charles de Gaulle withdrew France from NATO's integrated military command.

Post-Cold War Expansion

Following the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, NATO underwent significant expansion. While the alliance began with 12 founding countries, 17 additional nations have joined through subsequent enlargements:

• 1982: Spain
• 1999: Hungary, Poland, Czech Republic
• 2004: Bulgaria, Slovakia, Slovenia, Estonia, Lithuania,