Naturalism in Jack Londons “To Build a Fire” Essay

Even with our ability to tame some sides of nature, there are still certain conditions and forces which are beyond control; we inevitably are left with no will, powerless against nature’s indifferent influence. This struggle against nature is depicted by many authors of the 19th and early 20th centuries, using key concepts of naturalism and determinism, a key component of naturalist theory, as a foundation and philosophy for many of these stories. Jack London and Stephen Crane are notorious for their writings which have been regarded as cornerstones of naturalist theory in classic American literature. Stories such as â€Å"to Build a Fire†, â€Å"The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky†, convey themes of naturalism and universal determinism in order to show the protagonist’s lack of free will in his constant battle with nature, often foreshadowing catastrophe and displaying natural instinct found within each character. In theory of Naturalism, nature holds certain p recepts that even our own will and integrity cannot bend or break. Charles Darwin, creator of the theory of evolution, believed in patterns of natural selection and that over time our environment will shape our genetics. Even we as humans, in Darwin theory, are susceptible to change as we have no free will and our environment shapes and determine things for us. We in speculation have no control over our own fates; we only have choices that will lead us towards a certain future, one that is decided by nature, and not the individual. In the story, â€Å"To Build a Fire†, London makes us aware that the protagonist is completely unaware of that notion, he believes with his own determination and will he can conquer the deepest hardships of the wild, attempting to defy the words spoken to him by the old man at Sulphur Creek. The adventurer simply believes through his own resolve that this expedition is simply an obstacle to which he can survive, but when set against nature in this environment, survival is the key concept, a profound element when talking about Naturalism. The forces of nature and its destructiveness are beyond the protagonist’s control, and London makes that point when he talks about the cold and its effects on the explorer, saying â€Å"But, rub as he would, the instant he stopped his cheekbones were numb, and the following instant the end of his nose went numb.†(London, pg 1064) Though the man, through his own determination, attempts to warm himself by  rubbing his cheeks and the end of his nose with his mitten, he is unable to fulfill this desire, as nature takes hold of his destiny. This sense that nature prevails can also be read in lines such as â€Å"He pulled the mitten on the right hand, and beat it fiercely against his knee† (London, pg 1064) He is essentially fighting, savagely, against nature though is unable to triumph. It is somewhere between his spittle freezing and his face forming frostbite that the man should come to some conclusion about his place in nature. Yet as London described before, his inability to recognize the â€Å"significance† of nature and her power puts him in an awful position. His conceit will continue to lead him towards a desolate and bleak future, until finally he will become helpless and feeble amongst the supremacy of nature. It is important to note that the first incident sprung on to the character in this story is passed off as something of bad luck, â€Å"He cursed his luck aloud†(London, pg 1063 ). The word luck whether bad or good, implicates his lack of free will, luck is something not controlled by him, as suggested by the naturalist theory. It is even more important to take note of phrasing used in his second and most devastating incident. London uses the phrase, â€Å"It was his own fault or, rather his mistake†(London, pg 1062) when describing the occasion when the spruce tree collapses onto his final chances for survival. London follows fault with mistake in order to convey to the reader that his fault would mean him bearing responsibility, rather it is then stated as a mistake, meaning an incident a bit more outside of his control. In the naturalist theory there are choices, but all choices lead towards certain predetermined futures. The man made the ill-fated decision to build his fire under the tree shrouded in tons of snow, just as all through the story he has been continually attempting to overcome nature’s wrath throughout the story. His conceit had caught up with him as nature took control of the mistake and extinguished his only chances of making it out alive. Survival as mentioned before is a key concept of Naturalism, it is vital in the struggle against nature, in order to beat the unfavorabl e conditions of nature, one must survive. In order to survive one must have keen instincts to thrive in the wild, and in the story, London uses the man’s mammal companion and his owner, in order to show this necessity for instinct. The protagonist has a certain level of intellect, which gets him by, yet he still needs matches to create his fire  and he needs a map in order to guide him to certain locations, all which exercise ones intellect. None of these require instinct, only a certain methodology and knowledge of the items. In the sense of his intellect as opposed to the dog’s instinct, the man’s knowledge of his complicated tools can only take him so far, but eventually lead to error, such as his fingers becoming too numb to strike his matches to create a fire. The dog on the other hand is able to rely solely on instinct in order to overcome the veracity of nature, such as burying itself into the snow when it becomes cold or gnawing the ice between its extremities. Although the man cannot rely on fur in order to keep his warmth, London still shows us that the instinct of the dog prevails the man’s subpar intellect. London even agrees upon the statement, â€Å"This man did not know co ld. Possibly all the generations of his ancestry had been ignorant of cold, of real cold, of cold one hundred and seven degrees below freezing-point. But the dog knew; all its ancestry knew and it had inherited the knowledge.†(London, pg 1061) If the man had similar instinct as the dog and understood the severity of the cold, he could have been more cautious in his approach and possibly survived the misfortunes to come or not even have began the expedition of impending doom. Though the man took his intellect for granted, if his instinct were stronger he would have known not to build his fire under the tree. His method had led him thus far and would eventually lead him to death, as the dog would survive and using his instincts to find the nearest suppliers of food and fire. In Crane’s novel, â€Å"The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky†, Crane has set up an environment which contrast the more natural element of the Yukon in â€Å"To Build a Fire†. The story revolves around a more civil setting, with the town of Yellow Sky which serves as a reflection of the old west. Coming back to the notion of determinism, it can be found that every character has a notable lack of free will amongst society. Even at the beginning of the story the protagonist, Jack Potter, is on a train which is very symbolic of his lack of free will, a continuous and predetermined path. Also we get a sense of the influence of nature on Jack as the story depicts , â€Å"The m an’s face was reddened from many days in the wind and sun, and a direct result of his new black clothes was that his brick-colored hands were constantly performing in a most conscious fashion†.(Crane) As the story progresses the reader is informed of Jack’s current condition, to which he  has claimed to have â€Å"gone headlong over all the social hedges†( Crane ) This custom of going against social norms describes yet another characteristic of naturalism, just as in London’s story, we see a man who defies advice and travels into the heart of the Yukon alone. Also this defiance of social values shows the animal like instinct within Potter, whether he was acting out of lust or loneliness, he resorted to some â€Å"sharp impulse† which presents an instinct within himself, one not well thought out. He is nervous in his approach towards home and his attempt to exercise free will has proved disheartening as he fears what others might think of his illicit behavior. He is confined and his will is broken. As the perspective switches to Yellow Sky we see a town very much stuck in the tradition of the old west. With the social conventions surrounding Yellow Sky, society have again proved as an authoritive and dominating control. The town is almost dictated by societal customs, such as the closing of the saloon when scratchy strolls through befuddled and bellicose. This is routine for the town as the bar tender mentions â€Å"No, he can’t break down that door,† replied the barkeeper. â€Å"He’s tried it three times.†(Crane) Almost satirizing the idea of the old west as nobody is that distraught except for the drummer from the east. This act of Scratchy continuously terrorizing the town gives us the idea of the force of social conventions and their plight upon the town. Determinism dictates the town as they wait while Scratchy displays his power and for their sheriff to eventually show up and smother Scratchy’s hostility. When Jack shows up with his new bride it can be inferred that Crane introduces the hero aspect detailed in the theme of naturalism. Throughout the book we see a man who is quite nervous and hesitant around his bride, but when pitted against his old adversary Scratchy, Jack takes up the role of the hero. When approached by Scratchy he is vulnerable and relates this to scratchy when he says, â€Å"You know I fight when it comes to fighting, Scratchy Wilson, but I ain’t got a gun on me. You’ll have to do all the shootin’ yourself.†(Crane) Throughout the story we see that Jack has a hindered sense of free will as he frets over societies view of himself and it is t hen foreshadowed he will encounter his long time foe Scratchy who dictates Jacks everyday job as Sheriff. But it is here at the end that we see Jack triumph over these social concerns by sacrificing himself and then overcoming Scratchy. By the end of the story we Jack as the ideal naturalist  hero, one who has overcome the dilemmas of the natural world. Naturalism is an idea that can explain many aspects of society. For instance the very reason I write this paper is to earn a degree that I must obtain in order to live a better life in the future, whether or not it is truley what I want to pursue. There are non-fictional accounts of men whom have abandoned the tyranny and mediocrity of their society and entered the wild only to gain a freedom they’ve never had, some of whom are inspired by these naturalistic writers. London and Crane give their readers a sense of what nature holds, often conveying how wonderfully aesthetic the natural world can be. It is possible to learn from naturalism and the literature that surrounds it, to understand how powerful nature is and how corrupt society has become. All of our naturalistic heroes whether fictional or non fictional, depart this life in a similar manner. They pass fighting the wilderness, conquering society, or stepping outside of their own confines and crossing new bounds. When they depart this life it is death by surviving in the natural world, a place where only few truths in this world are found. In the midst of their last moments, they slip into the most comfortable sleep they have ever known.

Early Childhood Special Education Roots Essay

Early childhood special education that is practiced today has a varied and sometimes hard won history. Its roots are entangled in cultural, economic, and idealistic influences; each facet tinged by the colored lens of the times and adding a little glint to modern day practices. The conglomeration of historical theories and practices, political actions and enacted laws has paved the way to modern early childhood special education practices and programming. Just like a child learns and builds on his knowledge and understanding of his environment, so too does the practice of early childhood special education. In its infancy ECSE was not labeled as such, and in fact was simply teaching. Throughout history, many educators have had differing perspectives and opinions on how best to educate children. Many of those ideas and practices have popularly endured, and some have become very small portions of our current systems, or faded into obscurity altogether. One of the earliest models on early childhood education was the Montessori model. The Montessori methods and tools are prevalent in classrooms today, from individualized and sensory programming to didactic learning materials. Other early educators realized that even very young children benefit from instruction. Jean Piaget identified stages of development from birth to adolescence that still assist educators in identifying appropriate modes of teaching. Others like Robert Owen, John Locke and Lev Semenovich Vygotsky theorized that a child’s environment had a profound influence on his/her development and education, giving a foundation for current early intervention strategies in impoverished, urban areas. Vygotsky also gifted to forward generations the theories of the Zone of Proximal Development, scaffolding and ideas about special needs students working in least restrictive environments. All the way from these LRE’s, are the ideas of institutions. The residential school model however is still useful in some ways today. Samuel Gridley Howe and Dorothea Dix implemented supportive, residential schools for children with disabilities, but when the First World War had its grips on the country, the schools deteriorated into holding cells that pervaded until throughout the depression era. Politics and societal situations have always been instigators of change for education. Post World War II, many war veterans returned home with disabilities changing the attitudes and urgency in servicing individuals with special needs, spurring a profusion of financial and program support. Moving into the mid-20th Century, civil rights opened a consciousness about not only race, but also a socioeconomic dichotomy. Project Head Start was federally funded compensatory program, with a focus on aiding the impoverished; it would later evolve into a more comprehensive program for seeking and aiding special needs children and families. Many other programs and studies aimed at supporting young children with disabilities and their families began to appear, including Early Head Start, the Carolina Abecedarian Project and the Perry Preschool Project, among others. These programs and research studies aimed at aiding and reinforcing the importance of early intervention for at risk children. Supporting and preemptively averting the struggles brought on by environmental disadvantages made the transition to special education support logical. With the social climate changing and an awareness of human rights, legislation regarding special needs populations was ripe. Perhaps the greatest catalyst to change was the enactment of PL 94-142 the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 1975. The foundations of this public law and the following amendments are the backbone of all special education as we know it today. This law has 6 main areas of concern. First, the right to a free and appropriate public education is bestowed. Throughout the coming decades, interpretation of FAPE comes up in many court cases, each ruling setting precedence for the future. Second, children with disabilities are given the right to learn in the least restrictive environment (LRE) a practice from centuries prior, but with legal backing, changed the model of public schools in this country. An Individualized Education Plan was written into the body of the IDEA, giving specific protocol for supporting the learning of each individual student. This item is the true workhorse of special education classrooms, bringing the student’s goals, objectives and educational plan, the educators, parents and the other support staff together in one document. The fourth premise of the IDEA is the guarantee to guardians of procedural due process, retaining the guardian’s rights regarding notices, evaluations, placements and other educational plans. Unbiased and multiple assessment criteria is the 5th area addressed in the IDEA. Lastly, part of the legislation includes the parents of special needs students, by affording them access to related services that would benefit the student. Related services was and is an area for interpretation, and again, many court cases have been tried and decided creating standards for what qualifies as a related service. Aside from these six main points, the IDEA has outlined much more. IDEA has given us a universal structure for classifying disabilities, and in a 1991 amendment, ruled that an umbrella classification for preschool aged children was acceptable and malleable state to state. This meant that children would not have to be prematurely labeled or stigmatized, when proper assessment was yet to be exacted. This law gave rise to the term â€Å"developmentally delayed†. A preschooler and his/her family could receive services under the classification of developmentally delayed. IDEA has also given individual states the leeway to define and exact methods of determining what developmentally delayed means. While culturally and regionally more specific, this leaves a large range of differences in qualifications across the country. Since its inception, individuals with special needs have reaped many benefits from the laws and boundaries set by the IDEA, but it wasn’t until October 1986 that very young special needs children and their families could be guaranteed services. While grants and incentives for states to serve the preschool population were available, participation in those programs were completely voluntary. The Education of the Handicapped Act Amendments, or PL 99-457, passed in October 1986, mandated that all special needs preschoolers between the ages of three and five be provided with a FAPE . This law was enacted with the purpose of enabling early intervention and a cost effective preventative strategy to serving special populations. Part C of this law also makes services for infants, birth to age two voluntary. Adding preschoolers to the population of compulsory service made the use of IFSP or Individualized Family Service Plans prevalent. These plans are similar to IEP’s except that they comprehensively include the family and give leeway to assigning the role of the service provider, enabling professionals who are most capable of assisting each family to act. Unlike and IEP, the IFSP must be reviewed at least every 6 months, ensuring relevancy with a quickly growing and changing child. Related services including counseling and classes are now extended to family members. By sharing the process and improvement with the preschoolers’ guardians, we are able to see much greater progress with cooperative engagement. Along with the IFSP, PL 99-457 saw the requirement of an Individualized Transition Plan, aiding young adults in making the change into adulthood. Fast forward to 1997, and PL 105-17 made some important amendments to the IDEA. Related services are expanded, developmentally delayed category can be applied up until age nine, parameters and process around discipline is set. Functional Behavior Assessments or Behavior Intervention Plans must be enacted when providing discipline to special education children. Also, assessments for qualifying for special education are expanded, and Child Find reaches into private schools to deliver services to more children. Along with these changes also came a change in funding based on census data versus enrollment data. The percentages served translated to a fixed amount of funding, averting a glut of over qualifying students. Lack of English Language proficiency is excluded as an area of qualification for services. This is important with the rising populations of English language learners. With the number of children from non-english speaking families on the rise, achievement gaps were widening. The No Child Left Behind Act in 2001 was drawn to support impoverished, special needs and English language learners. This act is directly responsible for the Amendments to IDEA that came in 2004. One of the most important changes made was that of aligning the standards of highly qualified special education teachers to the standards of the No Child Left Behind Act. Inclusion of ECE teachers is yet to be enacted, however. The field and study of Early Childhood Special Education is a deeply diverse and ever evolving practice. Past experience has dictated that social climates, politics, events and laws all contribute to the programming of ECSE. The gains have been great, with dramatic increases in the numbers of children and families found and served, but as a nation, we certainly have some more distance to travel. With current legislation and social issues ranging from secure schools to better serving working families, subsidized healthcare, immigration policies or revamping teacher evaluations, the future of Early Childhood Education is unwritten and open to influence.

Thesis proposal about antibiotic resistance pathogens in fomities Dissertation

Thesis proposal about antibiotic resistance pathogens in fomities - Dissertation Example Few pathogens exhibit resistance to antibiotics. Genes that confer resistance to drugs can however be transferred between microorganisms (Hawkey and Jones, 7). This transfer can occur through three different ways namely; transformation, transduction or by conjugation. This transfer makes many bacteria to develop resistance. Antibiotic resistance can, therefore, occur naturally. In this natural occurrence, the causative gene becomes shared between organisms in close proximity of one another (Birgit Strommenger, 3). In such occurrence, the bacteria cannot be exposed to treatment. Exposure to antibiotics at this stage can cause evolutionary stress which leads to the development of the resistant trait. Plasmids can be defined as DNA molecules separate from the chromosomal DNA with the ability to replicate on their own (Abad and R M Pintà ³, 65). Most antibiotic resistant genes reside within these plasmids. The ability of plasmids to replicate independently makes it extremely difficult t o kill the microorganisms residing in them. Some organisms possess several resistant genes. Multidrug resistant is the formal name given to such organisms. Informally, they can be referred as superbugs. Executive summary This is a research based proposal which seeks to explore into the area of antibiotic resistance by commonly found infectious bacteria. ... The factors which aid the pathogens in the spread have also been put into consideration within this proposal. Introduction The extensive use of antibiotics in modern day medical treatments has brought about many challenges into the field of medicine. Several microorganisms when exposed to these drugs develop resistance to the drug. This in turn translates to a difficult dilemma to medical practitioners. The only way to treat these infections is through exposing them to drugs. This exposure, however, makes them develop resistance to the same drugs (Hawkey, 4). This proposal explores the various pathogens which have developed this trait. The role of these pathogens in Hospital Acquired Infection and the transmission routes for the pathogens are also evaluated. Causes of antibiotic resistance Numerous reasons have been cited for the widespread resistance to antibiotics in modern medicine. The extensive use of antibiotic in modern medicine has been one of the major contributors to this e merging trend. Overreliance on antibiotic has been a leading factor to the development of multidrug resistance among pathogens (Hawkey and Jones, 7). The multidrug resistant pathogens have also become prevalent between many bacterial species which did not previously exhibit these characteristics. This can be attributed to the ability of certain bacteria to transfer the resistant gene to others. The misuse and overuse of antibiotics by both doctors and patients alike has been quoted as the major cause of drug resistance. Other factors have been the addition of antibiotics into animal feeds, and fraudulent practices among the manufacturers within the pharmaceutical industry. There is a need for the individuals

Effective pedagogic principles in primary teaching today Essay

Effective pedagogic principles in primary teaching today - Essay Example During the development of academic content for students of the English language, teachers should check that they establish standards for the content to be covered by the syllabus. Apart from doing that, it is primarily important for teachers to employ all the means available to them, to increase the accessibility of the given content among the students (Garinger, 2002). In a similar way, the teacher should guarantee that the language used for teaching should be culturally relevant and authentic. The research done in this field shows that the textbooks used for teaching the English language should be suitable to the varied needs of the students to be taught using the specialised teaching materials. The extensive research done in this area shows that the textbooks used for teaching students should be varied, progressive, and challenging (Garinger, 2002). The materials used for teaching English should offer learners the opportunity to use language in an integrated manner, and more importantly, the different materials should be connected to one another, so as to allow for the progression of skills in language (Howard and major, 2005). The selection of the materials incorporated into the teaching of English should take into account, the varied cultural backgrounds of the learners, and incorporate the use of culturally relevant literature. The materials used should incorporate a wide range of texts related to different themes, and the activities should foster the language acquisition of the students. In order to help students to understand important concepts, the literature should incorporate a variety of visual representations, including charts, diagrams, pictures and concept maps; visual aids help to make language and content more accessible to students.

Project 3 Information System Security Plans Research Paper

Project 3 Information System Security Plans - Research Paper Example Then, with todays rapidly changing political, economic, and importantly technical environment increasing the threat for the federal agencies, it becomes paramount for those agencies to adopt a strong security plan. In that direction, the Information Technology Laboratory (ITL) at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has developed guidelines on the ways to formulate and adopt a security plan. â€Å"NIST SP 800-53 contains the management, operational, and technical safeguards or countermeasures prescribed for an information system† (Swanson, Hash & Bowen, 2006). Among the various parts of the NIST’ security plan, the focus will be on the four sections of General Description, System Environment, Laws, regulations, and policies, and finally Security Control Selection. So, when a federal agency like Department of Defense (DoD) adopts a security plan, these four sections can contribute optimally to the process and so the discussion will about why are thes e sections are important and how they can be applied in DoD. All federal agencies or systems including DoD reflect some to extreme level of sensitivity and because of that it requires protection for its physical IS system and its virtual data as part of secured and good management practice. In that direction, DoD adopted a risk-focused security plan and guidelines of NIST in 2014 after dropping its longstanding DoD Information Assurance Certification and Accreditation Process (DIACAP). DoD transitioned to NIST considering its effectiveness, in-depth focus and at the same user-friendly nature. â€Å"The NIST library of security controls (in NIST publication 800-53 Rev. 4), currently in use at most civilian agencies, are much larger and the controls more granular, yet easier to understand and implement, than DIACAP, say those familiar with both methods†

Evidence-Based Project.Paper on Diabetes that describes a new Essay

Evidence-Based Project.Paper on Diabetes that describes a new diagnostic tool or intervention for the treatment of diabetes in - Essay Example The psychosocial concerns of parents and children should be addressed primarily. Parents must get proper assurance that the diabetic needs of their children would be addressed in school. Each and every child with diabetes should be monitored in their developmental level that measures the child’s acceptance and its ability to perform self-care. Proper family coping mechanism can be introduced in the school diabetic control program so that parents can deal with child’s behaviors and feelings. Self empowerment and enhancement of self confidence would enable better disease management. Special counseling is recommended for adolescents who struggle with problems like depression and poor self confidence. School personnel and nurses who manage the diabetic control program can guide the children and their families. The diabetic control program puts forward a care planning that includes parent conference and individual care plan. A planning meeting would be organized when a new s tudent is diagnosed with diabetes. School nurse and the health care team would train children and their parents to make diabetes care. The diabetic control program recommends organizing parents meeting in which parents’ checklist would be prepared. ... Planning meeting must gather all healthcare personnel who are part of the diabetic control program, and the caretakers of the child including parents. They would be familiarized with an agenda that would enable proper diabetic care for the child. For example, teachers, school bus drivers and others would be taught what an emergency is and what must be done during an emergency. Individual care plan is also a highly useful diabetic care aspect. School nurse would develop the individual care plan and educate the child, parents and the school staff with the plan. Such plan contains the routine care factors that includes blood glucose monitoring, food schedule, insulin schedule and syringe disposal. In the special training provided in the diabetic control program, all who are involved with the child would be familiarized and trained with the diabetic control measures. They would be taught about the monitoring tools like glucometer. They would be taught to recognize the symptoms of hypogly cemia and hyperglycemia. Parents, children and staff would be trained of daily diabetic care procedures, monitoring techniques, insulin injections and healthcare and safety guidelines. Treatment or diabetes management (diabetes control) involves diabetes monitoring and necessary control measures. Children, parents and school staff would be taught of blood glucose monitoring procedures. Difference steps of blood glucose monitoring and disposal of supplies would be performed. Emergency care situations like loss of consciousness, absence of blood sugar level increase (even after food intake). Low blood sugar can take the child to an emergency situation where prompt action is required. Nurse and school staff should take quick actions at the initial signs of hypoglycemia.

Math Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Math - Essay Example The writer compares the ordeal underwent by these discipline to that facing mathematics in the contemporary world. The teachers have oriented there students towards believing that cramming formulas is the only best way to pass mathematics. The students do not get the chance of knowing the various dimensions since they only have to substitute the given values in the formula. Lockhart argues that the belief inflicted by the teachers is what makes the student perceive mathematics as no art. Lockhart presents a conversation between Simplicio and Salviati who go on to stress about the failure of the teachers to make mathematics easy to their students (Lockhart 6). The conversation brings a reader to realizing that the teachers only require the students to master the techniques without considering the context and the whole process. The failure by the standard mathematics curriculum triggers Lockhart to propose the relivening of aesthetic in mathematics as the only way to promote the love f or this subject. He disapproves the so called â€Å"ladder myth† associated with the contemporary mathematics. The ladder myth makes students to concentrate only on the theory part without considering how the structures of the questions came to be; consequently diminishing the art nature. The writer concludes by proposing a standard school mathematic curriculum whereby lower school math students consist of the explanation about the origin of various mathematics aspects. The last part of the curriculum is Calculus. Question 2 I agree with Lockhart’s view that the curriculum has fabricated the real mathematical model to a sculpture that scares the students away. The contemporary mathematics education has forced the students to go direct into mastering the techniques and not appraising the real context and process (Lockhart 4). This design acts as the basis for the witnessed failure by most students to embrace the existence of mathematics. Most of the students get scared at the first view of a â€Å"long formula†, such as that for calculating surface area of a cylinder (2?r2 + 2?rh). The teacher requires the students to master this formula otherwise they will not get the right answer. This has acted as the most surprising part of the modern education. As stated by Lockhart, the curriculum, teachers included, do not understand that the students need to get a broader perception about the context implied. Lockhart’s comparison of math to art proves strong since the involved teacher could have broken the surface area of a cylinder as the sum of the surface area of the two circles (at the top and bottom) plus that of the area of the triangle (2?rh). Considering the nature of math teaching, the educators should be fully responsible for making math interesting to the kids. The educators have failed in recovering the need for studying and embracing math. The curriculum accentuates that the only expectation from math education is to perform wel l in the subject while living out the need for real knowledge useful in the long run. It orients the students to believe that cracking the exams is the basis for studying math. The educators need to realize that the math students are just like other human beings who usually become at ease with something they can relate to. As asserted by Lockhart, they should consider making math curriculum be practical and relevant to the kids’

Identity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Identity - Essay Example In this variegated world the human beings simply could not avoid the unavoidable and intimate process of socialization that gives way to what is called the individual and collective identity. Thereby, the individual identity is not merely the product of one’s specific self concept, but is rather a concept that is shaped and formed by an array of forces that tend to be economic, legal, social and many a times historical in their ramifications, which scratch and etch the human consciousness and continue to shape, control and define the entity that is called identity. Identity is a notion that happens to be multi-faceted, open and perpetually evolving in its content and scope. As far as I could peek into my childhood days, I could distinctly notice the fact that during the nascent stages of the human life, the development of the individual identity is governed a lot by what an individual thinks about oneself. When I was an infant, my parents where the only outside force that to a large extent shaped my identity (Gielen & Roopnarine 213). The very helplessness and dependence of my child hood state saved me from an early exposure to the multifarious social forces that I had to deal with at a more mature stage. My home and family was the cocoon that not only allowed me to shape my identity in a relatively benign and loving environment, but also protected me from more potent and political outside influences. I was totally oblivious of the fact that in the times to come, forces like ethnicity and color will pervade my inner world and shape my identity in varied ways and forms. Hence, the only god that governed the shaping of my identity was I and my parents. Thereby, I am happy to say that I had quite a happy childhood and this allowed me to develop a positive self concept of myself that shaped an identity that was open, gregarious, happy and confident. The positive reinforcements from my family further ossified this sense of invulnerability and mirth. However, this identity related complacence was not to last forever. As I grew up and my sense of self evolved, I realized that my parents and my family were not only a source love and affection, but also happened to be social individuals who belonged to a specific class, race, ethnicity and culture. It is not that my parents predominantly tried to introduce me to these sometimes hard to acknowledge, but valid facts, but I gradually picked up these facts about my family and hence about myself through eavesdropping into their unsuspecting daily interactions. These socio-economic attributes assigned to my family gradually began to become a part of my identity. Hence, I got a very basic idea of the society and my place in it through this primary socialization with my family (Gielen & Roopnarine 63). Thereby, I could certainly say that my family circumstances largely selected my mother tongue, religion, social class and nationality. It will be true to say that I had a very basic idea about my ide ntity as I entered the mature world. Yet, I was curious to not only test the validity of these identity attributes I inherited, but to practically see as to where I stood in the outside world. In that context I could distinctly identify my young adulthood period

Good Country People Essay Example for Free

Good Country People Essay This essay will delve into the life of Flannery O’Connor not only as it is told biographically but as her life relates and is reiterated in the stories she writes. By using O’Connor’s fiction as a backdrop to her life, the essay will focus on the bizarre characterization of the protagonists of O’Connor’s stories as much as O’Connor herself was a very unique person. Thus, O’Connor will be exemplified as being explained through her characters such as in the story Good Country People. O’Connor was a great user of allegory in her stories. As O’Connor in her life was an introvert most of her characters are gregarious such as in Good Country People and the character Hulga. Hulga denies herself first in the story by the changing of her name from Joy to Hulga which signifies O’Connor’s own contempt of falsities. She is stating through the character Hulga that people are prone to be blind in areas in which they should be keeping both eyes open. She states this in regard to events in her own life such as growing up Catholic in a mostly Protestant neighborhood. Hulga is blind to her own personality and what she is capable of doing and by changing her name she is trying to rewrite her own history. O’Connor as a write can sympathize with this notion as through her characters O’Connor is trying to find her own identity. O’Connor’s true niche in writing lay with the creation of the tragic hero. She felt that she herself was a tragic hero since she at once had to overcome a physical malady as well as remain static because of that malady and thereby not enjoy the world nor prove to the world the capabilities of the self; herself. Her second belief was that the world is charged with God (Wikipedia). She was unapologetic in her writing style and the ‘grotesque’ characters with which she filled her stories. Each character of O’Connor’s fiction brought on a fundamental change for the character. When Hulga changes her name and then meets Manly Pointer and goes through a very quick transformation. The rejection of the name Joy to the embrace of the name Hulga reveals for the audience that Hulga does not enjoy herself but expects life to be filled with disappointment and in fact has been taught as much from family and neighbors. Upon meeting Manly Pointer Hulga, Hulga is contemptuous and sees herself as better then him whom she describes as simple and dim witted yet agrees to go on a picnic with him in order to show him a deeper meaning to life (Hulga is hung up on suffering and sadomasochistic fantasies). In fact, Hulga is the one who is ignorant about the world as Manly Pointer demonstrates a series of hoodwinking events in which he seduces Hulga and leaves with her wooden leg. This is where Manly Pointer reveals his true self and where the reader is exposed to the true Hulga. O’Connor was brilliant at recognizing the validity of a person in key moments. Hulga had to be stripped of her dignity in order to be humble and recognize some truths about herself. This parlays to the fact of O’Connor’s illness and her attempting to make sense and assign some sort of purpose to the disease in which she could see none as a Catholic expect to think of it as a way in which it allowed herself to remain humble before God. As O’Connor states in Good Country People, Everybody is different, Mrs. Hopewell said. Yes, most people is, Mrs. Freeman said. It takes all kinds to make the world. I always said it did myself. (OConnor 181 -82) Thus, O’Connor is exemplifying that diversity is the key to the enjoyment of life and that ascertaining to the idea of perfection is unconscionable. O’Connor’s niche in literature was the writing of tragedy. This is seen not only when Manly Pointer steals Hulga’s leg and she must wait for assistance up in the tree house. O’Connor wanted her characters to be presented through a dichotomy of good and bad or through their capabilities of violence paired with their being touched by divine grace (Wikipedia). This change then is painful; for Hulga it is pride and the fact that she is faced with her own ineptitude and country ways. Each character falls in the story, tragically and ironically. Thus, O’Connor is not sentimental in her stories which reveals a character trait of her own; the absence of pity from her life as it is from her stories. This plays into the concept of identity which relates to most of O’Connor’s characters; the self journey and the eventual finding of the self at the end of the journey no matter who the self truly is. O’Connor for her part led a very sheltered life so the theme of a journey is prevalent in most of her stories, especially in Good Country People. O’Connor liked to write about displaced people because she herself felt out of place or even she felt this theme got to the truth of humanity faster than a character that already has sought redemption at the beginning of the story. O’Connor wrote about the journey just as much as she wrote about the metamorphoses of the characters since for O’Connor it was in the change of character, the switch from sin to asking for forgiveness that marked her life. Work Cited O’Connor, Flannery. Good Country People. Harcourt Company, Noonday Press, 1977.

Policy Recommendation Essay Example for Free

Policy Recommendation Essay The difficulty with any definition of poverty involves the meaning of minimum needs and the amount of money required to satisfy these needs. (Ansel M. Sharp, 2010) Those in poverty sometimes face an additional obstacle to earning an adequate income. Discrimination as we use it means that equals are treated unequally or that the ‘unequal’s are treated equally. Discrimination exists in the labor market when people with equal productivity are paid different wages or people with differences in productivity are paid equal wages. Discrimination can also exist in the product market when consumers pay different prices for the same product. (Ansel M. Sharp, Evidence of Discrimination in Our Economy, 2010) Discuss the major impact to society of the problem. In 2001, some six-point-eight million families, or nine-point-two percent of all families, lived in poverty. This translates into more than thirty-two-point-nine million individuals, a staggering number to many Americans who have never been personally touched by poverty. Indeed, some have characterized those who live in poverty as the hidden poor. Studies have shown that there is a significant turnover in the poverty population: Families and single individuals move into and out of poverty several times throughout the years in response to significant life events. Although no reliable estimate exists for the number of hardcore poverty cases, the incidence of poverty can be easily seen to vary dramatically across a number of demographic characteristics. (Ansel M. Sharp, What is Poverty? , 2010) Just imagine searching through heaping piles of refuse at landfills, looking for anything that could seem partly edible, to satisfy an unending hunger. Many people around the world face this situation every day of their lives. What could have caused a situation like this to occur? The education and skill level, health or handicap status, and discrimination play a vital role in poverty. A major factor determining whether someone will end up living in poverty, education or skill level can make or break an income. Education plays a vital role in acquiring jobs, learning new skills, and bringing home necessities and comforts of life. A person who doesn’t receive an education has a very small chance of making much money and acquiring skills that would bring home a desirable income. Many who do not have an education bring their family into a cycle of poverty, where their posterity doesn’t necessarily have the income to go to college or even don’t have a desire to acquire a high school diploma. Poverty rates are higher among families with only one parent or head of household present. Poverty is also related to age, those very young and those very old have higher rates of poverty than those in their prime and middle-age years. The economic cause of poverty is family incomes depend on the quantities of resources that families can place in employment and the prices received for those resources. To understand poverty, then, it is important to understand what determines the prices paid for human and capital resources and what determines the quantities that can be employed. Under competitive market conditions, the basic principle of wage rate determination is that units of any kind of labor tend to be paid a price equal to any one worker’s contribution to an employer’s total receipts. In other words, workers are paid about what they are worth to employers. What a worker is worth to an employer is referred to by economists as the marginal revenue product of labor. (Ansel M. Sharp, The Economic Causes of Poverty, 2010) Market discrimination may be traced to two primary sources. These are the power to discriminate in the market and the desire to discriminate. In our complex market economy, the wages of workers vary widely. Even workers hired by the same employer to perform similar jobs are often paid different wage rates. The meaning of wage discrimination is clear enough: unequal pay for equal contributions. But proving discrimination depends on being able to distinguish among individuals on the basis of individual efforts and productivity. Generally, humans are paid pproximately what they are worth in a competitive economy. (Ansel M. Sharp, Evidence of Discrimination in Our Economy, 2010) Employment discrimination means that some people are not hired because of non-economic characteristics such as race or gender. Two individuals with the same training, education, and experience apply for a job, however one is black and one is white. If both do not have the same chance of getting the job, discrimination has entered into the decision-making process. There is a growing belief that discriminatory differences in pay, especially gender differences in pay, occur largely because of occupational segregation. In general, men work in occupations that employ very few women, and women work in occupations that employ very few men. The economic results of occupational segregation for women are low wages. Women are often relegated to occupations where productivity and experience have little to do with their status and where opportunities for overtime and premium pay are limited. Price discrimination occurs when people of different races or genders are forced to pay different prices for the same good or service, provided the differences are not due to differences in cost of serving the consumer. (Ansel M.

The Corporate Culture Of Fedex Business Essay

The Corporate Culture Of Fedex Business Essay In order to complete the task the organization selected was FedEx. The corporate culture of FedEx was based on superior client service as well as displayed an attitude of doing whatever it takes to serve clients as of the top to the bottom. The expansion of the Internet, therefore, was something FedEx might employ to enhance its client base plus create a competitive service advantage. It allowed FedEx to not just let its clients pull real time information moreover data into their internal systems, however in addition to that turn out to be further involved in the internal processes of its clients. which involves the contributing factor in transforming FedEx into an e-trade. Even though there was no planned strategy to build an e-trade, the decisions that the business made to align the organization structure by means of systems plus processes has carved out a model for building a successful trade for the 21st century, which lends support to transportation logistics competence as well as selling as well as supply chain logistics answers management. (De Wit, 2004) FedEx is renowned for plus recognized for its total fidelity plus its attention to detail. FedEx accomplishes this by not being a mass of bodies moving in one direction however rather by being the several parts that compose it plus working together. FedExs guaranteed on-time service plus complete satisfaction is unconditional. The image the business has so meticulously cultivated assists maintain as well as extend its market share. FedEx Logistics offers customized, integrated logistics in addition to warehousing answers worldwide. FedEx Logistics is the parent business of FedEx Logistics furthermore Caribbean Transportation in February 2000 to offer customs brokerage moreover trade facilitation answers. FedEx Corporate Services formed in January 2000 to bring together the sales, client services, public relations in addition to IT resources. On January 19, 2000, FedEx announced a novel branding strategy that involved transforming the businesss name to FedEx Corporation, as well as ex tending the FedEx brand to four of its five subsidiary companies. Providing clients by means of an integrated set of trade answers was the pivotal reason for the renaming of the business as FedEx Corporation. Clients wanted to deal by means of one business to meet their transportation plus logistics needs. The announcement created to pool together the marketing, sales, client services, information technology plus electronic commerce resources of the group furthermore offer variety of trade answers. (Johnson, 2005) Technological growth has always been a major manner for FedEx to add value since it can cut costs along by means of creating novel manners of finding competitive benefits. Lastly, FedExs improving in addition to transforming of the organizational structure over the last few years has added value. By developing different subsidiaries all operating under the FedEx brand name has organized the business down by means of improving the communication inside the business as of one division to another. (De Wit, 2004) The ability to keep up by means of e-trades will depend on how well a business can keep up by means of novel emerging technologies. FedEx has transformed into an e-trade by improving several of its core competencies. On January 19, 2000, FedEx announced a novel branding strategy that resulted in the transform of the businesss name to FedEx Corporation as well as extended this FedEx name to four of its five subsidiary companies. FedExs strategy was to take advantage of its brand image, the name that clients have counted on for reliable service plus cutting edge technology. The transformation created an integrated set of trade answers. Clients will just need to deal by means of one business for all its supply chain, logistics, moreover delivery needs. This offered a single point of access to client service, billing, sales furthermore automation systems. Each business under the FedEx umbrella operates independently however competes collectively. The novel organization is geared to assis t trades of all sizes in achieving their goals. (Johnson, 2005) Mission: FedEx Corporation will produce superior financial returns for its shareowners by providing high value-added logistics; transportation furthermore related information services through focused operating companies. Client requirements will be met in the highest quality manner appropriate to each market segment served. FedEx Corporation will strive to develop mutually rewarding relationships by means of its employees, partners plus suppliers. Safety will be the first consideration in all operations. Corporate activities will be conducted to the highest ethical as well as professional standards. (Lynch, 2006) Problems: FedExs strategy was to capitalize on the growth of e-trade moreover aimed at integrating its physical transportation by means of its virtual information infrastructures to create a large matrix of systems that meets the needs of trades ranging as of transportation services to complete supply chain management answers. FedEx has taken a client focused approach in addition to all systems are cantered on the client. The process of building the systems furthermore technology infrastructure was the first step in the transformation. Next, was the integration of trade processes into these systems? (Lynch, 2006) This was not an easy task moreover required expertise in logistics plus supply chain management. FedEx was following the technology age taking place in our country at this time as well as piggy backed on the growing e-trade market. The final step is for FedEx to transform its trade furthermore make people aware of the innovations and advancement. (Lynch, 2006) Political: FedEx conducts its trade internationally moreover therefore is required to follow international laws, rules furthermore regulations. FedEx will not carry shipments, which are in violation of any U.S. export laws. As by means of all shipping companies, they will not assume liability for any loss or expense, including, however not limited to, fines in addition to penalties, due to failure to comply by means of export laws or regulations relating to the export, import or movement goods at central hub locations, FedEx employees work jointly by means of U.S. Customs officials to prevent contraband as well as restricted items as of entering plus leaving the U.S. FedEx has initiated strict shipping guidelines furthermore know ones client rules, in conjunction by means of law enforcement, to deter moreover prevent the movement of dangerous furthermore deadly agents into the U.S. They screen packages for illegal currency and monetary instrument shipments in violation of the Bank Secrecy Act r eporting requirements. (Lynch, 2006) Economic: FedEx Corporation has grown as of a package mover to the leading transportation offer in the world. It was the first to establish critical factors to transform a conventional trade into an e-trade. FedEx developed a global network which offers services beyond transportation, including full service management tools plus support. FedEx led the manner in the deregulation of the transportation industry, which resulted in economic competition in addition to a decrease of transportation costs as of 7.4 % of GDP in 1980 to 6% of GDP in 1999. It employed 166,000 full-time furthermore part-time workers in the United States in 2000, by means of a payroll as well as benefits of  £7.2 billion. The direct and indirect employment impact of FedEx operations is over 550,000 jobs, or around 1 in every 270 jobs in the United States. The businesss revenues exceeded  £18 billion in fiscal year 2000 while the combined direct plus indirect output produced by FedEx activities totalled approximately  £53 billion. The number of export packages transported by FedEx has been growing steadily over 15 percent. FedEx has tripled its market share over the last seven years. The value of these exports has in addition augmented 300 percent, an annual average of over 22% while during the same period U.S. exports just augmented 50%, a 7% annual augment. The evolution moreover success of FedEx has had a multiplier effect on the U.S. economy. It continues to make technological furthermore operational advances that are impacting on global markets as well. (Johnson, 2005) Socio-cultural: FedEx has established that it cares very much regarding the global community. It uses its resources to assist thousands of organizations throughout the world. Their aircraft furthermore vehicles deliver tons of aid to disaster sites. Employees volunteer countless hours to make their communities better places to live, play, in addition to work. FedEx gives financial support to assist ensures childrens safety as well as improve education. FedEx is committed to all their employees and the communities in which they live. They demonstrate this by offering financial support plus volunteer support for charities that promote educational, artistic moreover cultural, civic furthermore humanitarian well being. (De Wit, 2004) Technological: The FedEx Corporation has made massive strides in technology and is setting the industry standard for competence furthermore client service. FedEx has sought technological advances in response to client needs, and has excelled in anticipating as well as projecting demands of an environment that would depend plus thrive on information. The technology FedEx has developed enables clients in addition to support personnel to have wireless access to essential information systems networks anytime moreover anywhere. FedEx was the first to integrate wireless technology further than two decades ago, furthermore continues to develop and lead the industry in developing innovative wireless answers. (De Wit, 2004) FedEx has long been in the forefront in recognizing the potential of the Internet to offer fast, easy furthermore convenient service options for its clients. In 1994, the FedEx Web site was launched by means of a bold package tracking application that was no doubt one of the first true corporate Web services. FedEx turned out to be the first transportation business by means of a web site offering a feature that allowed clients to generate their own unique bar-coded shipping labels moreover contact couriers to pick up shipments. The web site today handles over 1.1 million package-tracking requests daily. Further than 2.5 million clients connect by means of the business electronically everyday as well as electronic transactions account for two-thirds of the five million shipments FedEx delivers daily. The web site is acclaimed in the trade community for its speed, ease of employ plus client-focused features. (Lynch, 2006) Global: The international market place is by far the businesss most prominent growth opportunity. The FedEx global story began by means of the growth of FedEx Express, which today covers further than 210 countries by means of quick, reliable express transportation. FedEx has been a leader in the global economy, offering clients further choices and further places. The family of companies representing FedEx operates hubs all over the world, giving clients limitless opportunities to expand their client base. (Johnson, 2005) FedEx Trade Networks offers global e customs clearance in the U.S. in addition to Canada, offers freight forwarding services that connect the U.S. furthermore Canada by means of Asia, Europe, Latin America moreover other major international regions. FedEx Supply Chain Services leverages the global transportation in addition to information networks of the FedEx companies as well as their affiliates to offer international supply chain management answers to clients in North America, South America, Europe, and Asia. (Ward, 2006) Competitive Environment The competitive environment is made up of the life cycle stage, competitors, key success factors, plus Porters 5 forces. FedEx is still in the growth stage of the life cycle. There are few competitors in the postal service plus delivery industry. Top Competitor: UPS The United Parcel Service was founded in 1907 inside the United States. Today UPS is a  £30 billion business that focuses on enabling commerce around the planet. UPS is one of the most recognized plus admired brands in the world on top of express carrier and package delivery. UPS is a leading offer of specialized transportation, logistics, capital, plus e-commerce services. UPS is involved in further than 200 countries worldwide. (De Wit, 2004) UPS Internet Shipping is ones fastest in addition to most convenient shipping answer on the Web. Access the industrys widest array of shipping options right as of ones computer. UPS Internet Shipping offers several key benefits including: Store up to 300 addresses in Address Book Access shipment details plus tracking data for up to 90 days Customize preferences for fast, easy shipping Shipping software not required nothing to install Strategic Analysis: Most carrier firms emphasize the same strategic dimensions furthermore employ similar strategies moreover that once common strategy that is the carrier trade is the high investment in research and growth in order to develop better technologies. In the trade, firms by means of the best technology tend to have a higher market share and this can be seen as a competitive advantage. (Johnson, 2005) Key Success Factors: The key success factors for FedEx trade is technology. This is what makes a business run as well as ultimately makes the money for the business. Another key success factor is marketing. People need to be familiar by means of the carriers names in addition to services so they have trust in the quality of the service offered. The further a parcel carrier is globalization; the better success it will have when it comes to international deliveries. International deliveries are costly plus there are just a few carriers that can offer total global delivery services furthermore this might be a competitive advantage. Client service is very significant; carriers need to keep the clients satisfied by means of the service so they continue to come back moreover employ the service. (De Wit, 2004) Value Chain Analysis Identification of Core Competence Primary activities: Inbound logistics- handling and storing of products to be shipped. Operations- shipping products, logistics, value chain analysis, financial analysis, handling orders, checking orders. Outbound logistics- delivery of the products, receiving payment. Marketing furthermore Sales- develop a positive image of the business making people feel comfortable plus satisfied by means of the product. Service- Concentrates on client satisfaction, doing anything that satisfies the clients. Support Activities: Procurement- purchasing, trucks, planes, gas in addition to other assets Technology growth- investments in systems innovation, research moreover growth and information technology HR management- hiring, training, developing and compensating employees as of truck drivers to top-level management Firm infrastructure- General management, planning, accounting, legal support, government regulations, required to support the value chain Global distribution involves managing not just the movement of goods, however in addition the flow of information furthermore finance that moves by means of the goods. A FedEx supply chain answer is a streamlined organization as well as that one core competency leads to another it is a continuous flow. (Stacey, 1996) SWOT Analysis: Strengths: Market Leader Number one in the International Air Express Industry They had a head start in the trade Can clear customs faster allowing shipments to avoid delays Weakness: Major competitors and its operations Growth demand Opportunities: Expand into further countries Buy further planes plus trucks to deliver further packages faster Start delivering further heavy weight cargo Improve ground delivery Upgrading distribution in addition to logistic services Threats: Competitors that offer better prices, faster travel time Clients stop buying products Gas Prices can rise that will have an impact on the prices Five Forces Model: Threat of Novel Entrants: The threat of novel entrants is low in the parcel industry. It is low for the reason that it is very expensive to get involved in the industry. Starts up costs are high. It is expensive to have the services that are equal to that of FedEx moreover the other competitors. (Lynch, 2006) Bargaining Power of Suppliers: The bargaining power of suppliers is high. It is high for the reason that when looking at the items that the parcel industry employ such as, planes, computers, furthermore vehicles. If FedEx is not on good relations by means of these people, the costs can augment drastically. (Ward, 2006) Bargaining Power of Buyers: The buyers have a very strong bargaining power. They have the ability to switch their user to one of the other members of the industry at any time. It is the job of FedEx to make sure that the client is always happy. It comes as no extra cost to the buyer to switch their parcel delivery business. The just lose that is really suffered comes at the expense of the business for losing a client. (Whittington, 2000) Product Substitutes: It is very easy to substitute a delivery service. There are not several out there however the ones that are well established in the eyes of the client and the industry. It would not be a complex task to switch one business for another. Since this is the case, FedEx has to maintain good client relations by means of their clients. (Stacey, 1996) Intensity of Rivalry: The parcel industry is an intense industry. There are five main players in the industry competing for market share. The features that they are competing on are the speed of delivery, the competence of the delivery, furthermore prices. If one can create a successful mix of the three of those factors, one will hold the greatest market share. (Lynch, 2006) FedEx has turn out to be a major technology user. The employ of IT to its trade enabled FedEx to surpass the rest of the industry as well as acknowledge Fred Smith as the visionary who forced his plus other companies to think outside the proverbial one. He rationed that the business have to acquire its own transportation fleet while competitors were buying space on commercial airlines moreover sub-contracting their shipments to third parties, reliable on its overnight delivery commitments, an image that has turn out to be fundamental to FedExs overall success. The introduction of novel technology allowed FedEx to install further than 100,000 sets of PCs by means of its software, allowing clients to be linked in addition to logged into their ordering and tracking system. The emergence of PCs loaded by means of FedEx software transformed the client base into an electronic network. Information enables corporate clients to tighten their order-to-delivery cycle, exercise just-in-time (JIT ) inventory management furthermore synchronize production levels to market demand. FedExs quality of service turned out to be synonymous by means of the quality of the information offered to its workforce. (Johnson, 2005) FedEx has enhanced information management in terms of being able to identify the critical factors involved by means of success of an e-trade. It has successfully transformed as of a conventional trade into an advanced e-trade in its network economy. FedEx has succeeded in several areas including: visionary leadership in the application of novel technologies, defining the information infrastructure, integrating internal processes, and aligning the organizational structure for maximum benefits. FedExs key strategy was client service furthermore for its clients to adapt into its novel information technology. FedEx harnessed its novel technologies plus extended the electronic trade to all of its clients. FedEx has developed this technology moreover made it possible for its clients to connect by means of them in any manner the client chooses. The restructuring of FedEx addressed several processes however in exacting the integration of logistics as well as supply chain management proved to be most successful. The enabled FedEx to cut inventory levels, reduce costs as well as shortening order-cycle time. This is a key for FedEx to improve the quality of service they offered to their clients. (Mintzberg, 1998) FedEx has laid out a vast matrix of transportation in addition to information networks that will offer them by means of a huge competitive advantage for some time. To function as e-trade Business will need to turn out to be increasingly client/answers focused. All processes have to be integrated to ensure a unified client centred front that offers services throughout the value chain, logistics, and parcel carrier trade. FedExs novel restructuring will serve their clients as well as apply novel technologies constantly to improve their response time and the value of the information they offer. FedEx will continue to build, innovate, furthermore exploit technologies as of the successful base they have created and will be on top of the industry for a long time to come. FedEx can be classed as an innovator in its field, being the first business to introduce several of the technologies furthermore processes that are worn in the courier trade today. Innovation can be seen as a context-speci fic process of invention, diffusion, adoption in addition to implementation. (Lynch, 2006) FedEx management understands the strategic significance of innovation plus has forged links to create the FedEx Technology Institute. .FedEx has in addition shown a strong trend for technological innovation. This means that the business is not always reactive to competition; rather they often force the competition to follow their lead. This gives FedEx a competitive edge, moreover in addition continues to ensure that the FedEx brand-name is well respected. (De Wit, 2004) Challenges Faced: While carrying out this task the experiences that were face while used the analytical tools and techniques introduced in the module were really very fruitful and I came across situations where I felt that I really am an employee of the organization and felt the situation the organization was facing and going through. And the techniques introduced and taught in the module enabled me to think about the solutions that might help the organization. The advancement in the nature of the techniques introduced in the module and the way the over all modules was organized throughout it really enabled me to understand the situations an organization may go through during its business process. This was a great experience as along with focusing on the task I also practiced and learned how to search and go through different sources more efficiently in order to complete a task.

Comparing the Book and Movie Version of The Grapes of Wrath Essay

The Grapes of Wrath: Comparing Book and Movie      Ã‚  Ã‚   Ford attempted to establish a sense of historical context by inserting two paragraphs of prose on the screen immediately following the opening credits: ' In the central part of the United States of America lies a limited area called 'the Dust Bowl', because of its lack of rains. Here drought and poverty combined to deprive many farmers from their land. This is the story of one farmer's family, driven from their fields by natural disasters and economic changes beyond anyone's control and their great journey in search of peace, security, and another home.'    In its description of a '' limited area called 'the Dust Bowl', 'the prose serves to limit the scope of the tragedy about to be witnessed to a specific, isolated part of the nation. The simple past tense used in the final sentence of the first paragraph underscores a feeling that this is all over by the time of the film, 1940. The second paragraph prepares us not for Steinbeck's picture of failure on a national scale but for the story of 'one's farmer's family' who are victims of changes ' beyond anyone's control', and who will set out on a heart-rending journey ' in search of peace, security, and another home.' One can already notice in this opening lines of the film that the director's attempted to carefully avoid attaching specific blame in this potentially controversial film. The possibility of social change wrought by violent by violent conflict suggested in the novel will not even be hinted at.       The movie only focuses on the Joads, a migrant family from the Dust Bowl region, while the novel's focus shifts from the Joads to the situation of all the migrants who went to Californi... ...hile the peasants will keep trudging down a long, hard road. The Grapes of Wrath as a novel argues that in order to survive spiritually and physically on the planet man must commit himself to man and environment, whereas the film version focuses on the traditional figure of the isolated individual who will make things 'right'.    Sources Cited and Consulted: Davis, R. M. (editor). Steinbeck: A Collection of Critical Essays. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1972. Pratt, John Clark. John Steinbeck: A Critical Essay. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans, 1970. Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath . New York: Penguin Books, 1986. The Grapes of Wrath   Directed by John Ford   Produced by Daryl F. Zanuck 20th Century Fox, 1940. Wyatt, David ed. New Essays on The Grapes of Wrath. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990. Comparing the Book and Movie Version of The Grapes of Wrath Essay The Grapes of Wrath: Comparing Book and Movie      Ã‚  Ã‚   Ford attempted to establish a sense of historical context by inserting two paragraphs of prose on the screen immediately following the opening credits: ' In the central part of the United States of America lies a limited area called 'the Dust Bowl', because of its lack of rains. Here drought and poverty combined to deprive many farmers from their land. This is the story of one farmer's family, driven from their fields by natural disasters and economic changes beyond anyone's control and their great journey in search of peace, security, and another home.'    In its description of a '' limited area called 'the Dust Bowl', 'the prose serves to limit the scope of the tragedy about to be witnessed to a specific, isolated part of the nation. The simple past tense used in the final sentence of the first paragraph underscores a feeling that this is all over by the time of the film, 1940. The second paragraph prepares us not for Steinbeck's picture of failure on a national scale but for the story of 'one's farmer's family' who are victims of changes ' beyond anyone's control', and who will set out on a heart-rending journey ' in search of peace, security, and another home.' One can already notice in this opening lines of the film that the director's attempted to carefully avoid attaching specific blame in this potentially controversial film. The possibility of social change wrought by violent by violent conflict suggested in the novel will not even be hinted at.       The movie only focuses on the Joads, a migrant family from the Dust Bowl region, while the novel's focus shifts from the Joads to the situation of all the migrants who went to Californi... ...hile the peasants will keep trudging down a long, hard road. The Grapes of Wrath as a novel argues that in order to survive spiritually and physically on the planet man must commit himself to man and environment, whereas the film version focuses on the traditional figure of the isolated individual who will make things 'right'.    Sources Cited and Consulted: Davis, R. M. (editor). Steinbeck: A Collection of Critical Essays. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1972. Pratt, John Clark. John Steinbeck: A Critical Essay. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans, 1970. Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath . New York: Penguin Books, 1986. The Grapes of Wrath   Directed by John Ford   Produced by Daryl F. Zanuck 20th Century Fox, 1940. Wyatt, David ed. New Essays on The Grapes of Wrath. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990.

Flight 93 :: essays papers

Flight 93 Flight 93, the flight that crashed near some fields in the outskirts of Pennsylvania. But what was it doing there? What caused the plane to miss its target and crash? These answers may soon be revealed when detectives can finally examine the planes black box, found just recently. Many answers however can be found through other pieces of info that have come up along the way during the investigations. For instance, the multiple calls made to family members as well as 911 from the frantic passengers. Mark Bingham for instance called 911, as well as his mom telling her he loved her and that the plane was being hijacked. Another man called 911 screaming that they were being hijacked and that he heard some sort of explosion and saw white smoke coming from the plane. Then there was Tom Burnett, who called his wife saying the hijackers had already stabbed to death one passenger and that he intended to do something about it. A Jeremy Glick called his relatives saying the same, that he and some other passengers were intending to fight the hijackers. These calls brought up the thought that perhaps some passengers on board had fought the hijackers, keeping them from controlling the plane, and sending it crashing to the ground. Another theory is that the pilot, Jason Dahl might have purposefully crashed the plane to prevent the hijackers from taking it over. Or perhaps that Dahl had cut off the planes fuel with out the hijackers being aware. It was said that the plane looked like it went straight down; and that the plane had almost completely disintegrated on impact leaving a hole several feet deep. Another theory was that perhaps the U.S. Military had shot down flight 93 as to prevent it from taking aim at another important government building. But these claims have been sharply denied by Pentagon officials. The FBI says to the question if it has been ruled out or not that it is â€Å"kind of a loaded question.

Linguistics and Language Teaching. Essay

Introduction Language may refer either to the specifically human capacity for acquiring and using complex systems of communication, or to a specific instance of such a system of complex communication. The scientific study of language in any of its senses is called linguistics. Linguistic theory has traditionally considered native speakers as the only reliable source of linguistic data (Chomsky 1965). It is therefore not surprising to ? nd only a limited number of works focusing on non-native speakers prior to the 1990s. The ?  rst attempt to put‘(non)nativism’ onto the centre stage of linguistic inquiry by challenging current undisputed assumptions on the matter was Paikeday’s (1985) The native speaker is dead , in which it is argued that the native speaker ‘exists only as a ? gment of linguist’s imagination’ (Paikeday 1985: 12). Paikeday suggested using the term ‘pro? cient user’ of a language to refer to all speakers who can successfully use it. A few years later, Rampton (1990) similarly proposed the term ‘expert speaker’ to include all successful users of a language. Davies (1991, 2003) further delved into ‘native speaker’ identity, and thus formulated the key question of whether a second language (L2) learner can become a native speaker of the target language. His conclusion was that L2 learners can become native speaker of the target language and master the intuition, grammar, spontaneity, creativity, pragmatic control, and interpreting quality of ‘born’ native speakers. Generally, English educated Malaysians of all ethnic and family language background speak and move alike. However, with the implementation of the national language policy of Bahasa Malaysia as the national language of Malaysia and as the language of instruction, (except in the cases of Chinese or Tamil medium primary schools), the status of English Language in Malaysia is different from the earlier years. The English language covered a continuum from first language through second language to a foreign language. Bahasa Malaysia is replacing English in most of its previous functions, but English may be expected to remain as a continuum from second language to foreign language according to the background and occupation of the speaker. In Malaysia, presently the use of English is less common than in Singapore and is likely to decrease steadily with the implementation of the national language policy. However, English still remains as a language of considerable importance and is still being used in various spheres of everyday activity. The role of English has changed from its earlier status as the precise language of the colonial era and the decades after the Second World War to a second language. At the moment, it is still considered as an international code to be used for diplomatic and commercial negotiations and as a language necessary in many fields of tertiary study and research. Not surprisingly, the non-native English language speakers among Malaysians make grammatical mistakes from time to time. These usually happened among Malaysian adult students and even among some Malaysian English teachers. 1. The transcript of a recorded conversation. The following excerpt is a recorded conversation among teachers and will be analysed of the mistakes made by some teachers during discussion. Our discussion was on the quality and effectiveness of a programme called ‘Program Penutur Jati’ or English Language Teacher Development Project (ELTP). Briefly, the aim of the project is to enhance the lower primary ESL teachers’ ability to plan and deliver quality English lessons based on the new National English Language Curriculum in 600 schools across East Malaysia. The teachers involved in discussion come from various races, ethnic groups, ages and teaching experiences. Kamel : That is my opinion. I don’t know yours. Ok. Chairperson : I agree †¦. laugh Kamel : But , as I said just now. I don’t like that the fixture.. ok. For example aaaa as my mentor come to our school .. every Monday ok.. my class start at nine o’clock†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 7. 30.. that mean one and half hour include the preparation for my lesson, so I don’t think that I have an ample time for me to prepare the things†¦ ok . Moreover, the one hour and one and half hour is the .. for all to prepare.. the whole week not only , the one day. So I don’t think that will be effective. Chairperson: Emmmm Kamel : So Chairperson : Did you tell him about it? Kamel: Aaaaaa†¦ So far not yet. Chairperson : Do you have the chance to talk about it. Kamel : Because, I don’t have any.. I don’t have the opportunity to.. Chairperson : Then, you should tell him. Kamel ; I was thinking. Why don’t the mentors like them to be .. have qualification in teaching, so that they can come to the trainee teachers training college rather than†¦ Chairperson : For your information, ahh Chairperson : Overall, it seems to be working with you†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Naga : The ideas (cough)†¦ is good and different†¦ he is friendly. Chairperson : So.. ahh. If supposing .. You have a mentor to this.. who doesn’t speak.. doesn’t speak like Morrocan. Alright Naemah : Yehhh Chairperson: Right.. Alright, if.. Chairperson: Who? Chairperson : Madam Soya? She is from where? Others : Bulgaria.. (together) Chairperson : Bulgaria? Does she have the accent? Chairperson: What do you think? Do you think†¦ | 2. Common grammatical mistakes and errors by non-native English speakers. The types of errors can be categorised into two: descriptive and surface structures. Descriptive errors include noun phrase, verb phrase and complex sentence. While surface structure errors include omission, addition, misinformation, misordering and blends. After analysing the recorded conversation, there are few mistakes or errors made by Mr. Kamel during the said discussion. a. The use of unmarked forms instead of marked forms is far more frequent, as can be seen in the examples as follows. * I don’t know yours. * I don’t know about you. * .. as I said just now. * .. as I have said just now. One possible cause of these errors is merely interlingual errors which is the result of mother tongue influences ‘Saya tak tahu awak punya’ and ‘†¦ seperti yang saya kata tadi. ’ respectively. In his article, ‘A Role for the Mother Tongue’ in ‘Language Transfer in Language Learning’, Professor Corder (1981) reinvestigated the phenomenon and questions the term ‘transfer’. He suggests that mother tongue influence as a neutral and broader term to refer to what has most commonly been called transfer. Corder says that since most studies of error were made on the basis of the performance of learners in formal situations where it appears that errors related to mother tongue are more frequent, it was natural that an explanation of the phenomenon was of considerable concern to the applied linguistic. It was out of this concern that the whole industry of contrastive studies arose. He also claims that as far as the acquisition of syntactic knowledge is concerned, no process appropriately called interference takes place, if by that we mean that the mother tongue actually inhibits, prevents, or makes more difficult the acquisition of some feature of the target language. The term ‘interference’ is now most often used to mean what is no more than the presence in the learner‘s performance in the target language of mother-tongue-like features which are incorrect according to the rules of the target language. b. Obviously. Mr. Kamel has the problem in pronouncing certain words especially in the pronunciation of the initial sound of common words like the, there, then and that. It is also the middle consonant sound in feather and the final sound of bathe. These sounds are formed with the tongue tip behind the upper front teeth. The initial sound of that and the final sound of both are both voiceless dental. This problem arises because Mr Kamel’s tongue is not merely touches the teeth. Thus, his pronunciation of these particular words are incorrect. Besides, difficulty in phonology can caused by mother tongue interference. Eltrug (1984) affirmed that mother tongue interference can contribute to a large number of pronunciation errors made by students. An English sound does exist in the native language, but not as separate phonemes. This simply means the first language speakers do not perceive it as a distinct sound that makes difference to meaning. For example The sound /? / does exist in Malay, but whether the vowel is long or short does not make any difference in meaning. For instance, the English phonemes/? / and /i:/ differ very much in meaning as in the words ‘leave’ and ‘live’, ‘sheep’ and ‘ship’. The great amount of vocabulary of English really makes the second language learner suffer in reading. There is a lot of words unknown and the most confusing point is even the second language learner know the meaning but they can’t really understand the meaning of the whole sentence. It is because an English word gives different impressions in different situations. This makes things so confusing about the meaning of the word. Grammatical interference is defined as the first language influencing the second in terms of word order, use of pronouns and determinants, tense and mood. Interference at a lexical level provides for the borrowing of words from one language and converting them to sound more natural in another and orthographic interference includes the spelling of one language altering another. In Malay grammar, it does not require one to have any form of determiner in front of instruments like computer, piano, internet. English grammar, however, requires the instruments mentioned above (computer, piano, internet) to be preceded by determiners and if neither a possessive determiner nor a demonstrative determiner is used, the use of either a definite article or an indefinite article is necessary. Thus, the ungrammatical sentences in could be the result of interference of the cultural transfer from Malay language structure on English. Erroneous form| Correct form| She plays piano while I sing. Malay: Dia bermain piano sementara saya menyanyi. | She plays the piano while I sing | She stay at home. Malay : Dia tinggal di rumah | She stays at home. | Table 1 : Examples of interference from the learners’ first language. c. Subjects also exhibited errors in subject-verb agreement as is shown in the examples as follows: * Every Monday, my class start at nine o’clock†¦. * Every Monday, my class starts at nine o’clock†¦. The omission of â€Å"-s† can be attributed to the fact that Bahasa Malaysia does not require verbs to agree with subjects. However, the ending free form is generalised for all persons to make the learning task easier and this is a common intralingual made by people with diverse native languages like Mr Kamel. 3. Causes and sources of errors and mistakes Interlingual errors are the result of mother tongue influences. Learners transfer/borrow some forms but not others due to two factors such as proto-typicality and language distance (Kellerman, 1979). Malay learners of English commonly make errors in negative sentences. For example: Adryna no coming today. [Adryna tak datang hari ini. ] Such errors are common in pre-verbal negation using no, the same negative construction as in their L1. In order to determine whether transfer is the cause for the occurrence of errors, James (1998), demonstrates that learners with a particular L1 make an error that those with a different L1 do not. He provides a useful summary of these strategies which includes the following; a. False analogy b. Misanalysis c. Incomplete rule application exploiting redundancy d. Overlooking co-occurrence restrictions e. System-simplification It is not clear which strategy is responsible for a particular error. Errors can also be viewed as ‘natural’ or as ‘induced’. For example: a. He played football yesterday. b. He goed home at six. c. He drinked milk. d. He eated dinner. e. He sleeped at eight. Conclusion To conclude, learners’ errors are a part of the learners’ language learning process. Hence, teachers should not penalise students for the errors they made. Instead, teachers should note those errors and devise ways to assist learners to overcome their problems in language learning. It is difficult to decide whether grammatically or acceptability should serve as the criterion for error analysis. If grammatically is chosen, an error can be defined as ‘breach of the rule of the code’ (Corder, 1967). Defining errors in terms of grammatically also necessitates giving consideration to the distinction between overt and covert error: In the field of methodology, there are two schools of thought with regard to learners’ error. Firstly, the school which maintains that if we were to achieve a perfect teaching method, the errors would have never be committed and therefore the occurrence of errors is merely a sign of inadequacy in our teaching techniques. The philosophy of the second school is that we live in an imperfect world and consequently errors will always occur in spite of our very best teaching and learning  methods. One effect has been perhaps to shift the emphasis away from a preoccupation with teaching towards a study of learning. The differences between the two are clearly defined: that the learning of the mother tongue is natural, whereas, we all know that there is no such inevitability about the learning of a second language; that the learning of the mother tongue is part of the whole maturational process of the child, whilst learning a second language normally begins only after the maturational process is complete. A child’s incorrect utterances can be interpreted as being evidence that he is in the process of acquiring language and the errors provide these evidences. Brown and Frazer (1964), point out that the best evidence a child possesses construction rules is the occurrence of systematic errors, since when the child speaks correctly, it is quite possible that he is only repeating something that he has heard. In the case of the second language learner, it is known that we do know some knowledge of what the input has been which we call as the syllabus. The simple fact of presenting a certain linguistic form to a learner in the classroom does not necessarily qualify it for the status of input, for the reason that input ‘is what goes in’, not ‘what is available’ for going in, and we may reasonably suppose that it is the learner who controls this input. This may well be determined by the characteristics of his language acquisition mechanism and not by those of the syllabus. References Mariam Mohd Nor, Abdul Halim Ibrahim, Shubbiah, R (2008). OUM-Linguistics and Language Teaching. Seri Kembangan, Selangor. Open University Malaysia. Corder, S. P. (1967). The significance of learners’ errors. International Review of Applied Linguistics, 5, 161-70. Corder, S. P. (1981). Error analysis and interlanguage. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Ames, C. (1998). Errors in language learning and use: Exploring error analysis. London: Longman. Kellerman, E. (1979). Transfer and non-transfer: Where are we now? Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 2: 37-57. Eltrug, N. S. (1984). Analysis of the Arab Learners’ Errors in Pronunciation of English Utterances in Isolation and Context. Ph. D Dissertation. The University of Kansas. Chomsky, N. (1965). Aspects of the theory of syntax . Cambridge, MA: MIT Press Paikeday, T. (1985). The native speaker is dead! Toronto: Paikeday Publishing. Rampton, M. B. H. (1990). Displacing the ‘native speaker’: Expertise, af? liation, and inheritance. ELT Journal 44. 2, 97–101. Davies, A. (1991). The native speaker in applied linguistics . Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. Davies, A. (2003). The native speaker of World Englishes. Journal of Pan-Paci? c Association of Applied Linguistics 6. 1, 43–60

Personal Finance Essay

Personal finance addresses the way an individual or families earn, budget, save, and spend money gained from employment, loans, or gifts. As a college student, my personal finances are based upon money I have obtained, seasonal employment and parental support. In creating my budget, I had to realize that my income was not the same each month so I had to make sure I had enough money to pay for my gas, phone bill, and entertainment. Sometimes I would go over budget due to unexpected bills so I would ask for help from my parents. I use a debit card through my bank City National Bank. I chose this bank because my parents also bank there and it’s a small personal bank. It makes it easier if I need my mom to transfer money to my account in case of an emergency. I do not use checks only my debit card and occasional cash, the debit card pulls money out of my account somewhat like a check. I do check my account online, and my statement looks similar to the on in The Money 101 Student Workbook. The format is a little different, but the same kind of information is given. I do not keep a register much to my mother’s dismay. Every Christmas, she gives me a register to keep track of my spending but I fail to use it. I do track my spending through balance inquiries that I receive via the ATM, as well as online. If I wanted to change banks, I would choose a bank that would be in Marshall and has the small town feel to it. I would also want one that might offer interest on my account. I didn’t find any new information concerning debit cards, but I do prefer a debit card to a credit card because it takes money out of your account instead of possibly spending what you don’t have. You can also abuse a credit card and use it unnecessarily. I did check on annualcreditreport. com to see if I had a credit report, but I do not because I don’t have any accounts in my name. The best card deal I found was on chase. com because if I put my name on my parents account then I could also have their 8. 99% interest rate. There were lots of credit card offers that had 0% introductory rates, but since I have no credit, then the interest rate would rise dramatically. Some insurance policies that would be important for personal finance would be disability insurance, car insurance, and health insurance. Identity theft insurance would probably be a good insurance protection. The thing that stuck out to me when Mike Brady came and spoke was the concept of â€Å"full coverage† insurance for your car, he said that it’s only an interpretation and not something that is written down, he also stated that there is no such thing as â€Å"full coverage. I would probably put my savings in the savings account in my bank since I would have access to it. My retirement plan would be to match whatever my company is putting into my 401K and putting money into stock that I can draw from when I actually do retire. The test that we took in the back of the booklet was fairly easy after looking through this so many times I answered a credit card would be the one to hurt you the most when in fact it says the student loans would affect your credit score more. My parents educated me very well on a lot of these subjects especially budget and checking account, my mom has preached to me about having a budget for as long as I can remember. The thing I learned from this unit, just to point one out, was the savings and retirement planning I didn’t realize it was such a priority because at my age you really don’t think about those things but I’ve learned that I do need to start early.