Characters and Viewpoint (Elements of Fiction Writing)

Customer Reviews:

Good Tips .......2007-09-22

Orson Scott Card is a master story teller, so it's great to learn from him. It's one of the basic books for learning how to construct your characters. You'll need others though, like The Complete Writer's Guide to Heroes and Heroines (Paperback)
by Tami D. Cowden

It takes time to find the gold.......2007-08-30

Characters & Viewpoint by Orson Scott Card

Reading this book was like eating soup that had bursts of flavor in it. To find the flavor, you had to eat a lot of soup that was tasteless. After reading this book, I felt it was suited more for the novice who knows little to nothing about the structure of a book and developing the characters in that book. A novice in my opinion is someone who wants to be published and famous but wasn't willing to put in the time reading while they were young a to learn the literary skills taught in English literature in high school/college. It is my opinion that this book digresses and has too much fluff and could have been written in fifty to seventy-five pages instead of the one hundred and seventy-three that it is. Although the book offers valuable insight into the development of characterization, it did not need to run on as long as it did. When I read Creating Character Emotions by Ann Hood, it didn't take long to finish the book. Hood's book was packed with information and examples and did not digress like Card's book did. On the other hand, it took me five times as long to read Card's book because of the digressions. However, I do not think that Hood's book was written for the novice. Card's book takes the reader by the hand and leads him/her gently toward an understanding of developing characterization along with plot and other structural elements that are required to write a story that has a chance to see print. Hood's book, on the other hand, leaps in and roars ahead without taking the time to develop the necessary skills. I felt that Hood's book took for granted that the reader would know the things that Card teaches them in his book. I have four more books on characterization by four other authors and I plan to read them all. I know what my main weakness is in developing a narrative--characterization. After reading Hood and Card, I feel it is important to have a diverse perspective on the topic of developing characterization. One book may not be enough to understand what it takes to bring people to life on the flat page filled with black print.

Valuable, entertaining little book.......2007-05-14

Somehow, Orson Scott Card has a way of making anything an enjoyable read. This is true with his book on Characters and Viewpoint. He places his knowledge in the package of his well developed prose so that it is fun to read and easy to understand. But Card also likes to give his readers special treats and this book is no exception. Readers find the special treats in the stories Card shares of his many writers bootcamps and workshops including anecdotes from such well read authors as Gene Wolfe. This helps the reader understand that Card is not just drawing off his knowledge, but that of many other authors just as talented as he is. Most certainly worth multiple reads.

A writer's notebook.......2007-04-10

If you desire to write stories full of imagination, as well as fact, then I suggest you read this book. It is chock-full of explanations, viewpoints, instructions, as well as entertainment. As a budding writer, I am constantly seeking for the one book that will propel me to stardom. I find this one to be a definite step-up in that direction.

Characters and Viewpoint.......2007-03-10

Orson Scott Card makes informative and lasting insights into the creation of--and following the Point of View of--each character. This is not the STEP A to STEP Z version of writing instructions that make for a clear-cut pattern. Instead, it is a deeper instruction, breaking down the elements of writing that hide from so many want-to-be writers.
It is filled with cute little anecdotes and slap-you-in-the-face wake-up calls. ANY writer, no matter how experienced, would benefit from this book. Its an excellent referrence that forces the reader to THINK.

Little Green Book of Getting Your Way: How to Speak, Write, Present, Persuade, Influence, and Sell Your Point of View to Others (Jeffrey Gitomer's Little Books)

Average customer rating:

Great Book - Get this one!!!
Happy Book
Little Green Book of Getting your Way
If You Sell Something, Read This Book
Fun and interesting

Little Green Book of Getting Your Way: How to Speak, Write, Present, Persuade, Influence, and Sell Your Point of View to Others (Jeffrey Gitomer's Little Books)
Jeffrey Gitomer
Manufacturer: FT Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0131576070

Customer Reviews:

Great Book - Get this one!!!.......2007-09-22

Jeffrey Gitomer knows his stuff ... I am a professional presenter and found this book very useful. I would recommend it to a friend ... and often do! :)

Happy Book.......2007-09-13

Gitomer has an entertaining - yet direct style that always makes me smile. His written word is as entertaining as his live presentations. This is a great book to share with your loved ones.. and your collegues! Quick read, entertaining and thought provoking.

Little Green Book of Getting your Way.......2007-09-07

I have bought several of this title and given them as gifts. When you want to know how to get your way in many situations and the right way to do it, this is the book. Big print, quick reading.

If You Sell Something, Read This Book.......2007-08-28

Jeffrey has written a number of books and this is one you should have if you have to sell anything to anybody. Lots of ideas, fun to read, and most importantly, the stuff works if you will just do it. I always like a person who practices what he preaches. Jeffrey does that. Read it and learn.

Fun and interesting.......2007-08-28

It is a cool little book loaded with practical sales advice. Everyone who has seen it at my house, has looked at it, and asked to borrow it. The ideas, though not original, are refressing non the less, and is a wonderful reminder of the most basic ways to manipulate without other people feeling that way.

History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)

Average customer rating:

Calculations are only as good as your numbers
Pants on fire?
Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed.
Very Interesting
History as Science Fiction

History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
Anatoly Fomenko
Manufacturer: Mithec
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 2913621058

Book Description

Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.

Customer Reviews:

Calculations are only as good as your numbers.......2007-08-03

Yes, we can all agree that mainstream history is nearly 100% BS due to politics, economics, ego, problems with dating techniques, and various conspiracies. Agreed. But, I've been researching the distinct possibility that human history (in terms of civilizations) are much more ancient than we've been told, so coming across this book was very interesting to me. I wondered how Fomenko could be wrong (if at all) because he is very persuasive in his presentations. Then it dawned on me. If at previous times in prehistory, due to the various catastrophies that are well documented (comets, asteroids, planetary disruptions, plasma discharge, pole reversals, etc) the Earth was in a different position in relation to the sun, different tilt on its axis, different orbit, different rotation (in terms of velocity and DIRECTION), and the continents were in different positions, then would this not cause the ancients to see the sky (constellations) differently? In other words, is Fomenko making erronious assumptions about the physics of the Earth in pre-history, which then corrupt his data with regards to dating the relevant astrology? The last event to seriously disrupt our planet occured roughly 3500 years ago, according to other good researchers, so is it possible Fomenko has been confused by this? The vastly different physics of our planet in the not so distant past may explain this confusion, which is not to say the "mainstream" version of history is correct; on the contrary. I am not an expert in these fields, but wanted to see if this idea could spark discussion.

Pants on fire?.......2007-07-19

Will people ever read before spamming? Yes, Jesuits could not rewrite world history alone, they had help. Anyway, Dr Prof Acad A.Fomenko does not point to jesuits as the driving force of world wide history manipulation in published volumes 1,2,3;, actually he barely mentions the poor devils. Check it with 'Search inside' feature, please. China is rarely mentioned either, in fact, Dr Fomenko is completely eurocentric. Right, his theory contradicts all mainstream schools of history, because in their actual state they are all built on blatantly erroneus chronology. You don't need a mysterious cabal (conspiracy) to falsify history, the falsification is its modus operandi. It is inherent to history(ians) to falsify (distort) events, as it is inherent to humans to boast as it is inherent to power (authority) to legimize itself by referrring to glorious past made to its own order. Dr Prof Fomenko and team have identified scores of instances of such manipulation in Russian, European, etc.. history, and delivered valid statistical proof thereof. His own 'reconstruction' is completely another story. Forget c14 as a valid method of dating. W.Libby has initially discovered a brilliant method of INDEPENDENT dating. Too bad, c14 method has become a joke after a forced marrige with dendrochronology with consensual chronological scale inbuilt. Radiocarbon method can't stand blind tests, but is so very productive as a rubberstamp.

Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09

There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.

For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.

Very Interesting.......2007-03-07

It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.

History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10

Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.

I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.

Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.

Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.

I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.

This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.

Write Great Fiction: Characters, Emotion & Viewpoint : (Techniques and exercises for crafting dynamic characters and effective viewpoints) (Write Great Fiction)

Average customer rating:

Elegant explanations and examples
As great as the first book! Get this one too!
Loads of information and very easy read . . .
Another great book in a must have series of books
excellent

Write Great Fiction: Characters, Emotion & Viewpoint : (Techniques and exercises for crafting dynamic characters and effective viewpoints) (Write Great Fiction)
Nancy Kress
Manufacturer: Writers Digest Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1582973164

Book Description

The indispensable Write Great Fiction series continues with an in-depth look at three of the most important tools in the writer's craft: character, emotion and viewpoint. With the tips and techniques in this book, readers will learn how to:

-Create compelling characters that readers believe in -Write scenes that deliver an unforgettable emotional impact -Distinguish among the many different kinds of viewpoint, and choose the one which is right for their story

Each chapter is filled with examples drawn from the work of successful writers and action-and- results exercises that help readers take their lessons to the keyboard.

Customer Reviews:

Elegant explanations and examples.......2007-09-27

This guide was an easy read since the subject was broken into easy pieces for digestion. I was especially pleased with the literary examples of many classic and contemporary authors, which made obvious the understanding of principles explained in each chapter. This book substantially lifted my confidence in fiction writing technique.

As great as the first book! Get this one too!.......2007-08-25

This is just as great as the first book, Plot and Structure by James Scott Bell. If you liked the first one- you will love this! It really helps you to find your characters and its interesting to read.

Unlike Plot and Structure, Character Emotions and Viewpoint does have a few swear words in their examples. I dont like those, but if you want to understand this topic its worth it!

Loads of information and very easy read . . ........2007-07-26

This book is loaded with great information for all those aspiring authors who need a hand with developing memorable characters. It's very helpful and an extremely easy read.

Another great book in a must have series of books.......2007-03-30

I picked up what I thought would be a rehashing of old material covered in other books on the same subject, but The Great Fiction series of books continues to impress and surprise.

So many books on creating characters speak to their physical description, wants, motives and give the character a background. This book goes a step further and tells you how to do those things and hits the key point of showing emotion.

In addition, chapter Eight titled "Talking About Emotion -- Dialogue and Thoughts" was worth the price of the book alone.

Other great topics were "Showing Change in Your Characters" and "Frustration -- The Most Useful Emotion in Fiction."

Like the other books in the series, Appendix A recaps the author's critical points. Thus for the impatient reader, jump to this appendix and read what the book is about. For those of us who enjoy the journey of the reading the previous 200+ pages, the appendix is a nice summary.

Overall, this felt like the first book that brought all the concepts of characterization into one place and provided me with an easy to follow roadmap to creating, deepening and SHOWING my characters off in my story.

My recommended characterization plan:
1) Read this book as a guide on how to breath life into your characters and what you are trying to accomplish with your characters. (Characters are not there by accident!)

2) Pick up The Marshall Plan of Novel Writing by Evan Marshal or First Draft in 30 Days by Karen Weisner. Both of these books take many of the concepts listed in this book and put them into templates and forms you can fill out to plot your novel

3) Write. Write. Write.

Don't do what I did and spend the last ten years reading more on writing than actually writing. Get that first 1 million words written asap!!
While you are doing it, read this book, which has found a permanent place on my book shelf as a handy reference and reminder of what makes a successful cast of characters.

excellent.......2007-02-28

A book to read and re-read with extensive advice for making your characters merit their inclusion. I found each topic to be concisely dealt with and particularly liked the final chapters on writer's block and editing.

The Pentagram Papers: A collection of 36 papers containing curious, entertaining, stimulating, provocative, and occasionally controversial points of view ... by, the partners of Pentagram Design

Average customer rating:

Lovely and Inspiring
A keepsake cornucopia
A Collection of Eclectic Reading

The Pentagram Papers: A collection of 36 papers containing curious, entertaining, stimulating, provocative, and occasionally controversial points of view ... by, the partners of Pentagram Design
Pentagram Partners
Manufacturer: Chronicle Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Accessories:

ASIN: 0811855635

Book Description

Celebrated global design firm Pentagram has produced a series of signature annual documents, known as Pentagram Papers, exclusively for clients and colleagues since 1975. On the occasion of the firm's 35-year anniversary, these quirky and influential Papers are collected here together for the first time. Each Paper explores a unique and curious topic of interest to the Pentagram designers Mao buttons, the Savoy ballroom, rural Australian mailboxes, and the pop architecture of Wildwood, New Jersey, have all been featured subjects. Included here are not only in-depth reproductions and detailed discussion of the Papers' origins, but also an exclusive new Paper created especially for the book and set into a tray inside its back cover.

Customer Reviews:

Lovely and Inspiring.......2007-08-28

You don't have to be a designer to enjoy the ecclectic array of topics and visual stimulation that is included in this book. But design professionals will truly enjoy the Pentagram backstory and insight into the creative process of this groundbreaking firm.

A keepsake cornucopia.......2007-07-29

Designers and others of course, love nicely produced keepsakes. Paper companies latched onto the idea years ago of having their paper samples beautifully designed and printed. I've still got several Broad Spectrum samplers from Simpson Lee Papers designed in the early sixties and an almost complete set of the stunning Imagination series from Champion Papers issued in the sixties, seventies and eighties.

Pentagram first issued their delightful and intriguing keepsakes in 1971 given away to their clients and although it doesn't say so in the book they were also available on subscription, the first four were a £1, the next three £2 each but they gave up charging from number eight, probably too much administrative hassle.

The book is a wonderful celebration of the thirty-six Papers issued up to 2006. Each one has a few spreads shown (though not every page) so you'll get a good idea of the wide range of subjects: Paper 17: Mao badges; Paper 11: Norman Bel Geddes amazing 1937 City of Tomorrow or Paper 15: a few pages reproduced from a 1924 book about what can be seen from a train window between Paddington and Penzance, England. My favorite is Paper 16: Kingswalden Notes, a seventy-two pager showing architect Quinlan Terry's handwritten journal with his beautifully precise architectural drawings for a 1971 country house.

Kit Hinrichs, from Pentagram's San Francisco office, designed the book and from front to back it's a visual treat to look at. Excellent typography, printing (175dpi) paper and inserted into the inside of the back cover is your copy of Paper 36!

***FOR AN INSIDE LOOK click 'customer images' under the cover.

A Collection of Eclectic Reading.......2007-03-08

To be blatently sales related, an organization such as a design firm has a difficult time in selling itself. What can you say that doesn't sound like pure puffery - we do neat designs, we have brilliant people, look at what we've done in the past.

The Pentagram partnership instead decided to publish a series of papers, monographs really that talk about something that interestes the partners. The papers cover an eclectic range of subjects. A paper on Cuban cigar bands may be followed by a paper on rural Australian mailboxes or improvision in Cuba after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

The papers have enough interest in their own right, in their acceptance by the Pentagram customers that they have kept up this practice for 35 years. And they keep the name Pentagram in the minds of their readers.

Here for the first time are all of the Pentagram Papers bound together in a single book.

Average customer rating:

Points of View
Robert E DiClerico , Allan S. Hammock , Dr Robert DiClerico , and Allan Hammock
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0072817399

Book Description

This comprehensive best-selling reader features contrasting viewpoints on current political debates and traditional topics of interest in contemporary American Government courses. By providing two opposing positions for each topic, Points of View challenges students to examine and appreciate differing perspectives.

The Pearsall Guide to Successful Dog Training: Obedience "from the Dog's Point of View"

Average customer rating:

Premier basic, intermediate, and advanced training book
excellent for beginners inobedience training
excellent for beginners inobedience training

The Pearsall Guide to Successful Dog Training: Obedience "from the Dog's Point of View"
Margaret E. Pearsall
Manufacturer: Howell Books
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Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0876057598

Customer Reviews:

Premier basic, intermediate, and advanced training book.......2004-06-06

Personally acquainted with the authors, after attending many of the problem clinics that Milo held, I then enrolled to be trained as an obedience trainer under their tutelage--and have come back to this book again and again as a resource. You can scarcely get a better steer than to be directed to this publication. It does teach you to think from the dog's point of view, and usually you can then figure out where the glitch is--magical. Firmly, five stars.

excellent for beginners inobedience training.......1999-02-06

Is this pearsall book in paperback? When was it first published? Has she written any more since this one?

excellent for beginners inobedience training.......1999-02-06

Is this pearsall book in paperback? When was it first published? Has she written any more since this one?

The Mirrored Window: Focus Groups from a Moderator's Point of View

Average customer rating:

Dynamic analysis of consumer motivations
Looking through the one way mirror
For all aspiring marketing professionals
Refreshing Resource
Expert Moderator Tells All!

The Mirrored Window: Focus Groups from a Moderator's Point of View
Judith Langer
Manufacturer: PMP
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0967143942

Book Description

Whether you're a looking at using focus groups for the first time, looking for ways to make your projects more productive, or looking to make your facil ity the regional star: if you're involved with qualitative research in any way, lo ok no further. Expert moderator JUDITH LANGER guides you to success step-by-step using real examples from defining your project to writing the report.

Compare the advantages of focus group research over quantitative studies:

Get a checklist that helps you easily determine when to use qualitative research and when to choose quantitative. Learn when to use groups over one-on-one interviews and how to decide on an optimal group size. Plus, the questions to ask to decide if telephone research will suffice.

Here's how it's done

Understand the process and timing for selecting a facility, scheduling groups, screening respondents, re-screening respondents, conducting sessions, and reviewing results. Judith Langer's commonsense approach helps you proceed with absolute confidence.

What makes a facility great

Learn which features and services to look for when selecting a facility. Planning a new facility or renovating an older one? Ms. Langer's book delivers information you'll want to share with your architect, interior designer, and even your banker who wants to understand your business better.

Rogue respondents

Find out what you need to know about cheaters, repeaters, and deceivers. Learn how to deal with know-it-alls, people who talk too much, respondents who are rude, and conversations that stray off the topic at hand how to stay in control.

Dozens of tips for gaining control without losing your own self-control: Actual phrases and signals you can use to keep a group on track how to get the group talking, how to ask questions without biasing responses, how to control group dynamics, when to probe and when to use a firm hand.

Get the most out of sessions

As a client, learn when to speak up and when to let the moderator do her job. As a moderator, learn how to address client concerns and how to deliver the most value to them.

Reporting tips

In a full chapter dedicated to writing useful reports on research, analysis, and implications, Ms. Langer shares such sound advice as "Avoid using numbers when reporting on qualitative studies" wisdom and guidance to sharpen anyone's reporting skills.

Customer Reviews:

Dynamic analysis of consumer motivations.......2007-08-31

The hidden persuaders of marketing have come out of their mazes to explain willingly how they probe people to find out what makes them tick and why they buy one product instead of another. Everybody knows about surveys and nose counting from political polls and other quantitative research. Now Judith Langer covers qualitative research (QR), the established, but often less explained, way to find out what consumers like and dislike on a deeper level. She notes the advantages and disadvantages of focus group set-ups that allow marketers' clients to hide behind big one-way mirrors, and watch and hear representative customers responding to their product. QR's chief drawback and the reason some companies prohibit it, Langer notes, is that some clients find it "vague," and are uncomfortable with its surveillance tactics. We recommend this authoritative look behind the one-way mirror to those who deal with focus group results.

Looking through the one way mirror.......2007-05-13

This text was excellent for those intending to create and facilitate focus groups for the first time. The book adopts practical tips to create the topic guide for the session, along with identifing various techniques to conduct the research and achieve the desired outcomes. Not sure how valuable it would be for an intermediate or advanced market researcher, but for the novice it is definately worth the read.

For all aspiring marketing professionals.......2001-09-12

In The Mirrored Window: Focus Groups From A Moderator's Point Of View, Judith Langer (senior vice president of Langer/Roper Qualitative Research Division) draws upon her more that twenty years of experience and expertise to cogently clearly explain the role and performance of the focus group as an important aspect of the marketing process. With the use of examples drawn from a variety of different industries (including parts of an actual transcript from focus groups for Playboy Enterprises), Langer illustrated the client's role, offers tips for controlling rambunctious groups, and how to energize groups that lag or get distracted from the targeted issue or presentation. The Mirrored Window is essential reading for all aspiring marketing professionals and is a core addition to any Marketing or Business School reference library.

Refreshing Resource.......2001-04-13

This outstanding book has become my preferred resource as I develop in the practice of qualitative research consulting on Judith Langer's side of the mirror after years in the back room. It provides a comprehensive, intelligent and thoughtful approach to qualitative research that I highly recommend for anyone involved in learning more about consumers. I especially enjoyed discovering her process for writing actionable, meaningful moderator reports. The challenge of conducting analysis and developing implications is demystified, thanks to Ms. Langer.

Expert Moderator Tells All!.......2001-03-07

Whether you're looking at using focus groups for the first time, looking for ways to make your projects more productive, or looking to make your facility the regional star, look no further. Expert moderator JUDITH LANGER guides you to success step-by-step, using real examples, from defining your project to writing the report.

o Compare the advantages of focus group research over quantitative studies.

o Understand the process and timing for selecting a facility, scheduling groups, screening respondents, re-screening respondents, conducting sessions, and reviewing results. Learn which features and services to look for when selecting a facility.

o Find out what you need to know about cheaters, repeaters, and deceivers. Learn how to deal with know-it-alls, people who talk too much, respondents who are rude, and conversations that stray off the topic at hand.

o Review dozens of tips, actual phrases and signals you can use to keep a group on track-how to get the group talking, how to ask questions without biasing responses, how to control group dynamics, when to probe and when to use a firm hand.

Get the most out of your sessions and research dollars. As a client, learn when to speak up and when to let the moderator do her job. As a moderator, learn how to address client concerns and how to deliver the most value to them-Every Time!

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Quine's Two Dogmas: Nominalism and Wholism

A Nice Period Piece

Worth the cost for the first two essays alone.

Metaphysics is dead! - long live the conceptual scheme!

From a Logical Point of View: Nine Logico-Philosophical Essays, Second Revised Edition
W. V. Quine
Manufacturer: Harvard University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0674323513

Customer Reviews:

Quine's Two Dogmas: Nominalism and Wholism.......2007-04-02

This small book of 184 pages including an index is a collection of previously published papers. The chapters "On What There Is", "Reification of Universals", "Identity, Ostension and Hypostasis", "Reification of Universals", "Theory of Reference" and "Two Dogmas" expound on two central theses of Quine's philosophy of language. The first thesis is his nominalism, and the second is his wholism (or "holism").

"On What There Is", "Reification of Universals", "Identity, Ostension and Hypostasis", "Reification of Universals", and "Theory of Reference" are several papers that set forth Quine's nominalist philosophy of language, which is due to his fidelity to the predicate calculus created by Whitehead and Russell. Quine had written his Ph.D. dissertation titled A System of Logic under Whitehead, who in his "Foreword" wrote that logic shapes metaphysical thought. Whitehead and Russell had a nominalist agenda, and Quine bought into it.

This shaping with the Russellian symbolic logic is accomplished by combining existence claims with quantification, such that the only relation the symbols can have to the real world is by reference. Elsewhere in his "On Universals" as well as in "Reification of universals" in this book Quine thus argues that in the Russellian logic realism must be expressed by quantifying over predicates so they reference universals (i.e. ideas or meanings) as "entities". And he co-authored with Goodman "Steps toward a Constructive Nominalism", a nominalist manifesto, in which all philosophers are classified as either "platonists" or nominalists depending on whether or not predicates are quantified. Nonnominalists are chagrined at the "platonist" caricature. Furthermore nominalism typically gives philosophers the willies, and Willie Van Quine's appeal to the contrived Russellian logic used as an Orwellian newspeak has caused few to reconsider.

Quine's first statement of his wholistic thesis is set forth in "Two Dogmas of Empiricism" (1951), which has been much more influential than his nominalism; in fact it is this article that motivates many readers to buy this book. The enabling feature of Quine's wholism is his thesis that language is so empirically "underdetermined" that there is much latitude for choice as to what statements to reevaluate in the light of any single contrary experience. The thesis of the empirical underdetermination of language can be traced to Duhem's view of physical theory, which Quine cites in this article. Duhem said that there could be many theories, all equally empirically adequate, that explain the same phenomenon. But Quine furthermore extends Duhem's thesis to include not just theory but all of language including observation language.

Quine's most elaborate statement of his wholistic thesis is set forth in his first full-length book, Word and Object (Studies in Communication) (1960), where he expresses it in the literal vocabulary of behavioristic psychology instead of the metaphorical statement given in "Two Dogmas". His wholistic view went through some retrogression, when he came to think that his earlier and more radical pragmatism implies an unwanted cultural relativistic view of truth. Consequently in the 1970's he attempted to restrict the extent of his semantical wholism, so that the semantics of theory is not viewed as contributing to the semantics of observation language. This is a residual positivism that does not inhibit later pragmatists.

"Two Dogmas" is a seminal document that has guided the way to the contemporary pragmatism, which prevails in academic philosophy today. For more on Quine Google my History of Twentieth-Century Philosophy of Science at my philsci web site for the book with free downloads by chapter.

Thomas J. Hickey

A Nice Period Piece.......2006-09-20

`From a Logical Point of View' originally published in 1953 in a series of essays by W.V.O. Quine. My comments pertain to the 2003 re-release by Harvard University Press which includes the prefaces to both the 1953 and 1980 editions.

The two best known essays from this text, "On What There Is' and `Two Dogmas on Empiricism' have been reprinted in many anthologies over the years. Although Two Dogmas may strike contemporary readers as trivial, coming at the end of the verificationist era, it did have some historic significance and is worth a look for that reason alone. I also enjoyed some of the other essays, e.g. "Reference and Modality" and "Meaning and Existential Inference". Potential buyers may wish to access the on-line table of contents prior to purchasing.

I enjoyed the book - it is a relatively accessible look back at mid twentieth century analytic thought. That said, it is largely a period piece and probably only of interest to dedicated followers of modern analytic philosophy.

Worth the cost for the first two essays alone........2002-12-30

This collection is worth the price simply for "On What There Is" and "Two Dogmas of Empiricism" alone. "The Problem of Meaning in Linguistics" is a gem that (along with the last six essays) is too often overlooked, simply because it occurs after the above two (notorious) essays. If you do not own this book, then you cannot be someone who works in the contemporary, post-positivist philosophy of language.

Metaphysics is dead! - long live the conceptual scheme!.......2000-11-30

With this book, Quine bursts onto the scene of analytical philosophy with claims the boldness and insight of which dealt a deadly strike to the orthodoxy of logical positivism. Being published for the first time in 1953, From a Logical Point of View followed hot on the heels of Wittgenstein's Philosophische Untersuchungen and although it's approach is quite different from that of Wittgestein's work, it has received less attention than P.U. Quine's arguments are transparent and yet very substancial in their claims. Better than anyone before or after him Quine realised that the rejection of traditional metaphysics has much graver consequences than it was imagined by the logical positivists. Quine tries to reconcile empiricism with metaphysics-criticism through a pragmatic view of the theory of reality. The result; - the conceptual scheme, is a fasinating and extremely controversial idea, but it has changed the face of metaphysics and epistemology forever. Long since philosophical classics, the essays "On What There Is" and "Two Dogmas of Empiricism" are still the best and most readable expositions of the views, which saw Quine elavate theoretical philosophy to a level of thinking, of which it still benefits tremendously.

Anthropology from a Pragmatic Point of View

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Kant's Psychology

Anthropology from a Pragmatic Point of View
Immanuel Kant
Manufacturer: Southern Illinois University
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0809320606

Book Description

In the fall semester of 1772/73 at the Albertus University of Königsberg, Immanuel Kant, metaphysician and professor of logic and metaphysics, began lectures on anthropology, which he continued until 1776, shortly before his retirement from public life. His lecture notes and papers were first published in 1798, eight years after the publication of the Critique of Judgment, the third of his famous Critiques. The present edition of the Anthropology is a translation of the text found in volume 7 of Kants gesammelte Schriften, edited by Oswald Külpe.

Kant describes the Anthropology as a systematic doctrine of the knowledge of humankind. (He does not yet distinguish between the academic discipline of anthropology as we understand it today and the philosophical.) Kant’s lectures stressed the "pragmatic" approach to the subject because he intended to establish pragmatic anthropology as a regular academic discipline. He differentiates the physiological knowledge of the human race—the investigation of "what Nature makes of man"—from the pragmatic—"what man as a free being makes of himself, what he can make of himself, and what he ought to make of himself." Kant believed that anthropology teaches the knowledge of humankind and makes us familiar with what is pragmatic, not speculative, in relation to humanity. He shows us as world citizens within the context of the cosmos.

Summarizing the cloth edition of the Anthropology, Library Journal concludes: "Kant’s allusions to such issues as sensation, imagination, judgment, (aesthetic) taste, emotion, passion, moral character, and the character of the human species in regard to the ideal of a cosmopolitan society make this work an important resource for English readers who seek to grasp the connections among Kant’s metaphysics of nature, metaphysics of morals, and political theory. The notes of the editor and translator, which incorporate material from Ernst Cassirer’s edition and from Kant’s marginalia in the original manuscript, shed considerable light on the text."

Customer Reviews:

Kant's Psychology.......2000-03-25

Kant's Anthropology is what we call today - psychology. The book is a series of lectures that Kant himself edited into a book. Usualy we know Kant as hard to read, yet this book is unique in that. It flows, from subject to subject, examining man's mind and various characteristics of the human spirit. It is embodied with examples from life and literature, and gives a very good idea of Kants views regarding everyday life and behavior of normal people, and also of insane ones. It is a very warm book, filled with intelligent remarks about the human race, and it gives a very good notion of psychology (both cognitive and abnormal) in Kants days. I recommend it Highly.

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