Literature Review Authentic Leadership Models Essay

Literature Review Authentic Leadership Models - Essay Example rship, which responds to globalization, and (3) spiritual, holistic and transcendental leadership, which revive universal spiritual ideas to provide holistic and integrated models. Renowned personalities throughout history have provided role models of leadership, and it is through studying their leadership characteristics that many of the features of leadership models are derived. These include social and political leaders, business leaders, and also spiritual leaders such as prophets and saints. For example, the Bhagvad Gita extols the leadership of Krishna, the Buddha’s leadership demonstrated true compassion, and the Holy Quran (surah 18: 83-98) presents an exemplary model of leadership of Dhul-Qarnayn, believed by some to be either Alexander or Cyrus the Great. Confucius’ ideas also have profound lessons for modern leadership theory. Social learning theory then explains how people learn from the examples of others. In the modern era, Burns’ conceptualization of leadership as either transactional or transformational set a new paradigm in leadership theory a few decades ago. Transactional leaders are described as leading for the sake of simple social exchanges, and transactional leadership models are grounded in self-interest and designed to uphold the status quo. On the other hand, transformational leaders â€Å"stimulate and inspire followers to both achieve extraordinary outcomes and, in the process, develop their own leadership capacity† (Bass & Riggio, 2006, p. 3). The following are the components of transformational leadership: Another stronger form of leadership, namely charismatic leadership, is more socialized and constructed to serve collective interests. In the highly personalized form however, it can lead to dominating and authoritarian behavior and self-aggrandizement (Bass & Riggio, 2006, p. 13). On the other hand, more charismatic styles of leadership have been found to positively correlate with â€Å"traditional, collectivist work,

Pizza and Break-even Point Essay Example for Free

Pizza and Break-even Point Essay Complete both parts. a) What are the three methods used for solving systems of equations? Which method do you prefer to use? b) Break-Even Analysis – Systems of Equations Application Problem Suppose a company produces and sells pizzas as its product. Its revenue is the money generates by selling x number of pizzas. Its cost is the cost of producing x number of pizzas. Revenue Function: R(x) = selling price per pizza(x) Cost Function: C(x) = fixed cost + cost per unit produced(x). The point of intersection on a graph of each function is called the break-even point. We can also find the break-even point using the Substitution Method. Suppose Dan’s Pizza Parlor has a fixed cost of $280 and it costs $4 to produce each pizza. Dan sells every pizza for $12. The Revenue Function is: R(x) = 12x The Cost Function is: C(x) = 280 + 4x The break-even point occurs where the graphs of C and R intersect. Therefore, we can find this point by solving the system: y =12x y = 280 + 4x. How many pizzas does Dan have to produce to break-even? If he exceeds his break-even point, will he make a profit or have a loss? A) What are the three methods used for solving systems of equations? Which method do you prefer to use? graphing, substitution, and elimination. I use all there but I think I use elimination more. B) C(x) = 280 + 4x r(x)= 12x 12x= 280 + 4x 8x=280 x= 35 R(x) =12(35) =$420 So Dan has to produce 35 pizzas to produce his break-even point. He will have a$420 profit.

Richard and Iago: Rational, Sensitive, or Vegetative? :: essays research papers

Can humans have three souls? Or are there three parts to the human soul? Most people would say that a person has only one soul. However, the human soul is very complex, which explains why there are so many parts to it. In the Elizabethan period, people understood that there were three â€Å"souls† in a person, or three parts to the human soul. These were the rational, sensitive, and vegetative souls. Both of the plays Richard the Third and Othello by William Shakespeare are examples of this concept. The characters of Richard in Richard the Third and Iago in Othello each are influenced by the rational, sensitive, and vegetative souls as they were understood by the Elizabethans.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  During the Elizabethan period, the rational soul was understood to be that part of a person that was the closest to God. This soul caused the person to be more rational in thinking and to behave logically. The main characters in each of these plays are not governed by the rational soul. Richard is driven by his desire to be the king of England, and Iago is driven by his hatred of Othello. Richard becomes a ruthless murderer who will stop at nothing to be king. He indirectly kills his brother King Edward the Fourth, kills his nephews who are heirs to the throne, and anyone else who he believes is in his way. Iago is also very cold-hearted. He is Othello's lieutenant, and, as Othello believes, his good friend. However, Iago devises a plan to destroy Othello. By doing so, he must also destroy those closest to Othello, most notably his wife Desdemona. Iago does this simply because he is able to. In this way, the two characters ignore the rational soul and are not guid ed by it.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The sensitive, or passionate soul was understood to govern that part of a person that looks past all logic and reason. Iago and Richard are somewhat governed by this soul in that they both are passionate about what they are doing. Richard is driven by his desire to be king. In his pursuit of the throne, he overlooks all logical thinking. Instead, he focuses only on what he must do in order to reach his goal. This shows how good of a planner he is. Iago also does this, although his goal is not as clear. He concentrates on destroying or discrediting the people closest to Othello.

Fast Food and Food Handler Wear Essay

1. Infrared thermometers are used to measures? Surface temperatures 2. Food cannot be refrozen once it is thawed because? Dangerous bacteria can grow on thawed food 3. What is the minimum temperature for transporting hot food and hot food holding items? 135 (F) degrees 4. The appropriate freezing method for destroying the anisakis parasite in fish is? -4 f degrees and held for 7days 5. What type of jewelry may a food handler wear while preparing food? Plain band 6. A women runs out of the bathroom in a fast food restaurant, and frantically tells the manager that the bathroom sink has backed up and is overflowing. What should the manager do? Close the restroom and call a plumber to unblock the drain 7. The concentration of a sanitizing solution is compromised when? The solution is to hot 8. All of these foods are potentially hazardous expect for? Raw asparagus 9. If the water supply to an establishment is shut off and there is no alternate portable water source? The establishment needs to close until the water supply is restored 10. The minimum internal temp of a pork roast or tuna casserole cooked in a microwave is? 165 (f) degrees for 15seconds 11. A food handler reports to the manager that he has been diagnosed with hemorrhagic colitis. The manager must? Ask the person to leave the establishment and report the incident to the health dept. 12. Clean plates are required for each trip to the buffet because? Contamination can be prevented 13. Frozen foods, other than ice cream, must not be stored at a temp. Over? 0 f degrees 14. Hand washing is not allowed in sinks that are? Used for food prep 15. Light bulb in food prep area must? Be covered to prevent physical contamination 16. The safe way to thaw large poultry or meat product is? In a frig at 41 f or lower 17. The minimum temp and time allowed for cooking a roast beef is? 130 f for 112 min 18. Hand antiseptics can be used? After proper hand washing 19. Which of the following is the best method for killing bacteria in ground beef? Cook to 155 f for 15 sec 20. Which of these disease- causing bacteria may be found in the shell eggs? Salmonella 21. Cooked food is a self serve establishment that has been in the danger zone of under 135 f to over 70 f internal temp of? 165 f – for 15 sec 22. When displaying live shellfish for consumption, the FDA food code requires that you? Have a HACCP plan and a variance 23. The chef prepared a large quantity of homemade beef stew and divided it up into two shallow pans for cooling. He placed the pans in the refrigerator and stirs them frequently. However, he was unsuccessful in cooling the stew from 135 f to 70 f within 2 hrs. What must the chef do to cool the stew? Reheat stew at 165 f for 15 sec and begin cooling process again 24. The entire hand washing process should take at least? 20 sec 25. Listeria bacteria is especially dangerous because? It can grow in dish water 26. Back siphoning occurs when the portable water pressure is lower than the waste water pressure and the waste water backs into the portable water-cross connection? Air gaps 27. Which of these foods in the most likely source of botulism? Vegetables in a swollen can 28. The internal receiving temp of fresh? 41 f 29. Which organism is most likely to multiply in vacuum or airless packaged foods? Clostridium botulinum 30. The minimum wash temp for chemical sanitizing in a ware washing machine should be? 120 f degrees 31. To manually hot water sanitize in a three sink process, the item must be in the water that is at minimum? 120 f – 30 sec 32. Which of the following is a safe food handling practice? Clean and sanitize food surfaces in constant use every 4 hrs 33. In a Hazards Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) plan, CCP’s are identified in? Flow chart 34. Measure a chicken noodle casserole where do you insert thermometer? Into the center or thickest part of the casserole 35. Grease traps must be cleaned on a regular basis because the can? Cause a backup 36. Product stuffed with either raw chicken or beef must be cooked to an internal temp of? 165 f for 15 sec 37. The first step in planning a food safety training program is? Identify the topics for the training 38. When cooking in a microwave, potentially hazardous foods should? Be rotated or mixed halfway through the cooking process 39. To ensure that the items are sanitized, the temp of a ware washing machine’s final sanitizing rinse must be at least? 180 f degrees 40. What two factors are the most important for controlling food borne illness in the food preparation process? Time and temp 41. Reduced Oxygen Packaged food must be stored? In refrigeration 42. An outbreak of typhoid fever, caused by the Salmonella Typhi Bacterium, is most likely to occur after? Flooding 43. Which of the following fall into the â€Å"eight most common food allergens† category? Milk, Wheat, Soybeans 44. Enterohemorrahagic E. coli is a? Bacteria that produces shiga toxins. 45. Which of the following bacteria are found in soil? Bacillus cereus 46. The anisakis simplex worm is most likely to be found in? Under cooked fish 47. Which of the following illness DO NOT have to be reported to the local health dept? Giardiasis 48. Which type of temp probe would use to measure the temp of an oven or refrigerator? Air 49. Which of the following is NOT a method for removing oxygen from packed foods? HMR 50. For traditional steeped tea, the hot water should be a minimum of? 175 f and steeped for minimum of 5 min 51. The correct method for calibrating a stem type thermometer is? In water and ice, and calibrate 32 f 52. Shellfish dealer tags must be kept on file for how many days after the shellfish was harvested? 90 days 53. You have a food delivery arriving in an hour that will consist of milk cartons, fresh chicken breasts, and vacuum-packed bacon. What is the best thermometer to use to check product temperatures on all of these products? Bimetallic thermometer 54. Food borne intoxication is caused by eating food that contain? Poison producing microorganisms 55. To free up space in the kitchen, a busser is asked to manually clean some pot and pans in a three-compartment sink. First he scrapes and rinses the items. Then, he washes them in the first sink, rinses them in the second sink, sanitizes them in the third sink, and sets the items on the drain board to air dry. What did the busser do wrong? He forgot to clean and sanitize the sinks before using them 56. PCO stands for? Pest control operator 57. The best method of preventing an outbreak of Hepatitis A is? Proper hand washing procedures 58. On her morning shift, a food handler puts on clean disposable gloves, and begins to move defrosted hamburger patties form the refrigerator to the preparation area, as directed by the cook. Then, she is asked to slice tomatoes. When she’s done, she slices raw onions. In this sequence of task, when should the food handler change gloves? After moving the hamburger patties to the preparation area 59. The chef just finished preparing raw chicken breasts in a citrus marinade. She will store them in the refrigerator for the next shift to cook and serve for dinner. In order to prevent possible cross-contamination, where should the chef place the tray of chicken breast in the refrigerator? On the bottom self next to the ground turkey 60. A food handler comes to work with a bad cold, but insists that he is well enough to work. The employee is asked to take his temperature, and it turns out that he has a fever. What should the manager do? Send the employee home 61. Which of the following bacteria might be found in a food worker’s hand wound? Staphylococcus aureus 62. A father takes his four year old daughter and her friend to the local hamburger diner after swimming lessons. The friend wants a hot dog, and his daughter wants a hamburger. Because the father likes his hamburgers rare, he orders a rare hamburger for himself and his daughter. What should the server do? Explain that the restaurant cannot serve rare hamburgers to young children 63. Salmonella spp. Bacteria have recently been found in contaminated? Produce 64. A food worker used a Quats sanitizing solution in a three compartment sink as the final step in the cleaning and sanitizing process. She confirmed that the water temp was 75 f, she followed the manufacturer’s concentration instructions, and she completely immersed the cleaned metal cooking pots in the solution for 15 sec. last, she let the pot air dry before storing it. What did the food worker do wrong? She didn’t immerse the pot long enough 65. Which of the following foods are most easily contaminated with the Norovirus? Ready to eat foods 66. Shigella spp. Bacteria are most likely to be found in contaminated? Water 67. A catering company is preparing and transporting hot and cold foods to a customer site for a birthday party. The customer will then reheats and serve the food to guests at the appropriate time. Which of the following must the catering company provide to the customer? Reheating instructions for hot foods 68. A customer has just finished eating a seafood salad with a peanut dressing. As he is paying the bill, the customer starts to have trouble breathing. His face starts to swell, and he breaks out in hives. Most likely the customer is suffering from? An allergy attack 69. In the final hour of a local fund raising event, your food booth runs out of ice for cold beverages. What is the best course of action to follow? Send a volunteer to the nearest store for a bag of ice 70. A food handler in a small coffee shop has just finished deep frying a batch of chicken nuggets, when a customer order comes in for fried shrimp. What does the food handler need to do to avoid cross- contact? The food handler should use a different fryer and oil assigned to cook seafood 71. At an offsite catered event, the food service manager has been hot holding a beef stir fry at 145 f, when suddenly she loses her heat source. Guests are in line waiting to be served. What should the manager do? Begin to serve guests, because the stir fry can be out of temp control for up to 4 hrs 72. A server walks up to a newly seated party of two. The female customer announces that she has a wheat allergy. What should the server do? Wait till the customer orders, and then check with the manager to confirm if any of the ordered items contain wheat

A Ready and Modern Army, a Strategic Priority

Planning Guidance, the Army will focus on five strategic priorities to meet the Nation's strategic imperatives. Although all of these priorities are significant, the strategic priority â€Å"A Ready and Modern Army† is the most important because it directly impacts the Army's ability to respond when called upon. â€Å"A Ready and Modern Army' strategic priority affects the Army's personnel, equipment, supplies, and training.One thing is non-negotiable: Americans expect and trust that their Army is properly trained and deployment ready at any given time. It is important to note that in a time of budget cuts and manpower reduction, balancing readiness and modernization will continue to be an issue across the entire Department of Defense. Nevertheless, the Army will need to continue to scale its forces into scalable, well-equipped, and highly trained force in order to maintain readiness in an unpredictable world where modernization is absolutely necessary for the Nation to addre ss future global trends.Additionally, it is crucial that the Army continues to conduct rigorous and practical training at home stations at multi-echelon levels and leverage modern technologies such as virtual and emulation capabilities. Finally, the Army needs to capitalize more on the skills and knowledge of the Army National Guard and Army Reserve as well as having the right mix of capabilities in order to establish and maintain a globally responsive and regionally-engaged force.Overall, â€Å"A Ready and Modern Army' means that the Army will need to holistically look at Its personnel, equipment, supplies, and training and determine the best way to Integrate operations where It makes sense to provide the most efficient and effective solution. The need for Integration Is even more critical In the context of the foreseeable fiscal environment.

The Runs Test for Random Sequences

The Runs Test for Random Sequences Given a sequence of data, one question that we may wonder is if the sequence occurred by chance phenomena, or if the data is not random. Randomness is hard to identify, as it is very difficult to simply look at data and determine whether or not it was produced by chance alone. One method that can be used to help determine if a sequence truly occurred by chance is called the runs test. The runs test is a test of significance or hypothesis test. The procedure for this test is based upon a run, or a sequence, of data that have a particular trait. To understand how the runs test works, we must first examine the concept of a run. Sequences of Data We will begin by looking at an example of runs. Consider the following sequence of random digits: 6 2 7 0 0 1 7 3 0 5 0 8 4 6 8 7 0 6 5 5 One way to classify these digits is to split them into two categories, either even (including the digits 0, 2, 4, 6 and 8) or odd (including the digits 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9). We will look at the sequence of random digits and denote the even numbers as E and odd numbers as O: E E O E E O O E O E E E E E O E E O O The runs are easier to see if we rewrite this so that all of the Os are together and all of the Es are together: EE O EE OO E O EEEEE O EE OO We count the number of blocks of even or odd numbers and see that there are a total of ten runs for the data. Four runs have length one, five have length two and one has length five Conditions With any test of significance, it is important to know what conditions are necessary to conduct the test. For the runs test, we will be able to classify each data value from the sample into one of two categories. We will count the total number of runs relative to the number of the number of data values that fall into each category. The test will be a two-sided test. The reason for this is that too few runs mean that there is likely not enough variation and the number of runs that would occur from a random process. Too many runs will result when a process alternates between the categories too frequently to be described by chance. Hypotheses and P-Values Every test of significance has a null and an alternative hypothesis. For the runs test, the null hypothesis is that the sequence is a random sequence. The alternative hypothesis is that the sequence of sample data is not random. Statistical software can calculate the p-value that corresponds to a particular test statistic. There are also tables that give critical numbers at a certain level of significance for the total number of runs. Runs Test Example We will work through the following example to see how the runs test works. Suppose that for an assignment a student is asked to flip a coin 16 times and note the order of heads and tails that showed up. If we end up with this data set: H T H H H T T H T T H T H T H H We may ask if the student actually did his homework, or did he cheat and write down a series of H and T that look random? The runs test can help us. The assumptions are met for the runs test as the data can be classified into two groups, as either a head or a tail. We keep going by counting the number of runs. Regrouping, we see the following: H T HHH TT H TT H T H T HH There are ten runs for our data with seven tails are nine heads. The null hypothesis is that the data is random. The alternative is that it is not random. For a level of significance of alpha equal to 0.05, we see by consulting the proper table that we reject the null hypothesis when the number of runs is either less than 4 or greater than 16. Since there are ten runs in our data, we fail to reject the null hypothesis H0. Normal Approximation The runs test is a useful tool to determine if a sequence is likely to be random or not. For a large data set, it is sometimes possible to use a normal approximation. This normal approximation requires us to use the number of elements in each category and then calculating the mean and standard deviation of the appropriate normal distribution.

Developing Professional Knowledge to Create Professional Success

Developing Professional Knowledge to Create Professional Success Introduction Professional knowledge and skills are essential aspects in every individual as they enhance success in the activities and processes undertaken. This is because the knowledge and abilities enhance capability, efficiency as well as effectiveness. There is a risk of the knowledge and abilities being non useful if they are not developed through application and hence the need to have various professional bodies and associations to nurture them (Nour, 2008).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Developing Professional Knowledge to Create Professional Success specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More This piece of work looks at how the development of professional knowledge and abilities lead to career success. I have a lot of interest in the field of accountancy and hence have decided to take the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) as the professional association of study in this paper. I have some und erstanding on the association since I have attended various conferences through which I have gathered considerable information. The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants is an international professional organization meant for all certified public accountants (CPA). AICPA is a very essential professional institute that has in a great way helped in the development of professional knowledge in the field of accountancy. This has been through the provision of services aimed at developing the accounting knowledge and abilities to ensure that all professionals in this field are well equipped to allow them to carry out their activities diligently and result to overall success in their career. Accounting is a relatively complex field that touches of financial related aspects that require adequate development of professional knowledge and abilities to be successful. It involves the recording, classification, analyzing and interpretation of transactions. It is therefore a very critical element in any business organization that aims to succeed. Some of the services offered by the AICPA to its members to facilitate professional knowledge development include participation in various activities of the organization in an effort to allow them to be conversant with what goes on in the field of accountancy, provision of career news that help in improving their career through utilization of emerging information, provision of leadership skills among others (Baker, 2011). The development of professional knowledge and abilities made possible by the AICPA allows those in the field to carry out their duties and responsibilities in a professional manner hence attaining success through ensuring satisfaction of all the people served.Advertising Looking for essay on education? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The association has also helped in placi ng accountancy as a very important field in the business world and those with the skills usually secure job opportunities very easily as their services are highly appreciated. AICPA has proved to be very essential in shaping people’s perceptions towards their career and they tend to appreciate it thus carry out their duties effectively. The professional knowledge and abilities gained from membership in AICPA cannot be underemphasized as it plays a great role in enhancing one’s career. It for example acts as an identification of a professionally qualified individual which is depicted by an individual’s professional behavior, expertise as well as general performance. The ability to network which is facilitated by the association is also an advantage accrued to the members as they are able to learn a lot from the people with whom they have a common interest and thus keep their career growing day by day (Williams, 2010). Conclusion It is evident that the aspect of d eveloping professional knowledge and abilities is very crucial in achieving success in any given career. Career success is achieved through a combination of various aspects for instance professional skills and knowledge as well as being goal oriented. This allows individuals to be able to balance their personal life and work life and thus achieve success in their careers. Professional associations such as the AICPA are therefore crucial as they promote development of professional knowledge and overall career success through provision of guidance and services relevant to specific professional fields. Reference List Baker, L. (2011). About the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. Web. Nour, D. (2008).Relationship Economics: Transform Your Most Valuable Business Contacts into Personal and Professional Success. New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Developing Professional Knowledge to Create Professional Success specifi cally for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Williams, T. (2010). Positioning For Professionals: How Professional Knowledge Firms Can Differentiate Their Way To Success. New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons.

Humor and Violence in A Good Man Is Hard to Find

Humor and Violence in 'A Good Man Is Hard to Find' Flannery OConnors A Good Man Is Hard to Find is surely one of the funniest stories anyone has ever written about the murder of innocent people. Maybe thats not saying much, except that it is also, without a doubt, one of the funniest stories anyone has ever written about anything. So, how can something so disturbing make us laugh so hard? The murders themselves are chilling, not funny, yet perhaps the story achieves its humor not in spite of the violence, but because of it. As OConnor herself writes in The Habit of Being: Letters of Flannery OConnor: In my own experience, everything funny I have written is more terrible than it is funny, or only funny because it is terrible, or only terrible because it is funny.   The stark contrast between the humor and the violence seems to accentuate both. What Makes the Story Funny? Humor is, of course, subjective, but we find the grandmothers self-righteousness, nostalgia, and attempts at manipulation hilarious. OConnors ability to switch seamlessly from a neutral perspective to the grandmothers point of view lends even greater comedy to the scene. For instance, the narration remains absolutely deadpan as we learn that the grandmother secretly brings the cat because she is afraid he might brush against one of the gas burners and accidentally asphyxiate himself. The narrator passes no judgment on the grandmothers preposterous concern but rather lets it speak for itself. Similarly, when OConnor writes that the grandmother pointed out interesting details of the scenery, we know that everyone else in the car probably doesnt find them interesting at all and wishes shed be quiet. And when Bailey refuses to dance with his mother to the jukebox, OConnor writes that Bailey didnt have a naturally sunny disposition like she [the grandmother] did and trips made him nervous. The clichà ©d, self-flattering phrasing of naturally sunny disposition tips readers off that this is the grandmothers opinion, not the narrators. Readers can see that its not road trips that make Bailey tense: its his mother. But the grandmother does have redeeming qualities. For instance, shes the only adult who takes the time to play with the children. And the children arent exactly angels, which also helps balance out some of the grandmothers negative qualities. The grandson rudely suggests that if the grandmother doesnt want to go to Florida, she should just stay home. Then the granddaughter adds, She wouldnt stay at home for a million bucks [†¦] Afraid shed miss something. She has to go everywhere we go. These children are so awful, theyre funny. Purpose of the Humor To understand the union of violence and humor in A Good Man Is Hard to Find, its helpful to remember that OConnor was a devout Catholic. In Mystery and Manners, OConnor writes that my subject in fiction is the action of grace in territory largely held by the devil. This is true for all her stories, all the time. In the case of A Good Man Is Hard to Find, the devil is not the Misfit, but rather whatever has led the grandmother to define goodness as wearing the right clothes and behaving like a lady. The grace in the story is the realization that leads her to reach out toward the Misfit and call him one of my own children. Ordinarily, Im not so quick to allow authors to have the last word on interpreting their work, so if you favor a different explanation, be my guest. But OConnor has written so extensively and pointedly about her religious motivations that its hard to dismiss her observations. In Mystery and Manners, OConnor says: Either one is serious about salvation or one is not. And it is well to realize that the maximum amount of seriousness admits the maximum amount of comedy. Only if we are secure in our beliefs can we see the comical side of the universe. Interestingly, because OConnors humor is so engaging, it allows her stories to pull in readers who might not want to read a story about the possibility of divine grace, or who might not recognize this theme in her stories at all. I think the humor initially helps distance readers from the characters; were laughing so hard at them that were deep into the story before we start to recognize ourselves in their behavior. By the time we are hit with the maximum amount of seriousness as Bailey and John Wesley are led into the woods, its too late to turn back. Youll notice that I havent used the words comic relief here, even though that might be the role of humor in many other literary works. But everything Ive ever read about OConnor suggests that she wasnt particularly concerned about providing relief for her readers and in fact, she aimed for just the opposite.

Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 7

Marketing - Essay Example The pitchers’ initial proposal is a 15% company shares in exchange for the money. After a very long bargaining, two of the Dragons, Deborah and Theo together with the pitchers agreed to close the deal with 25% shares of the company in exchange for the  £200,000 investment. Coin Metrics Limited, a recently established company, supplies a wireless revenue monitoring technology specially designed for gaming machines like arcade. This machine is capable of providing a cost effective systems that will give the owners of the amusement and gaming industries the power to easily and accurately monitor the financial performance of their of their assets and gaming sites. The company’s mission is to become the number 1 supplier of amusement and gaming industry data products. (Site Performance Measurement, 2007) Guardian is the product name of Coin Metrics modular wireless data capture and reporting system. The system is consists of three (3) modules namely: the Guardian WDCâ„ ¢, the SITE Guardian â„ ¢, and the NET Guardianâ„ ¢. The Guardian WDCâ„ ¢ module is made of a small electronic card powerful enough to provide a wireless data connection to the SITE Guardian PCâ„ ¢ application. This module has a single connection to the machine communication ports; and is connected to the BACTA data port of each gaming machines using an industry standard of 25- way connector. To ensure that all the data specifically game fault and game performance meters are permanently stored within the system, this module is designed with the features of a Bluetoothâ„ ¢ radio chip-set and microprocessor with a permanent FRAM memory storage. The Bluetoothâ„ ¢ radio enables the virtual meter data to be read by the SITE Guardian â„ ¢ PC application while the protocol information that is produced by the gaming machine is stored in the ‘virtual meter’ memory of this module. The Guardian Wireless Data Capture (WDC) module can

Government Guidance on Child Protection Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Government Guidance on Child Protection - Essay Example For example, to safeguard children in such a manner that each child irrespective of race or class acquires equal share with the aid from charities as charity trustees is the responsibility shouldered by the UK charitable trust (Safeguarding Children, Nov 2006). Similarly other key partners that work along with the Governmental bodies in protecting children have duties to support children's families that are needy and are unable to contribute towards means to alleviate child abuse. That clearly indicates the notion that partnership cannot be created and maintained alone by the agencies unless they are given adequate moral support by the children's family and their informal networks of support. Children's families are also supposed to play role in partnership working because many studies of problems among child population have indicated that children perceive their problems to be connected with the all-encompassing broad domains of school, family, friends and health. Therefore we can say that child's protection starts at home and Government along with the collaboration of other legislation authorities, trustees and educational sectors and practitioners aims to maintain partnership working while seeking through social or professional consensus what is in a child's best interests (Hedy et al, NSPCC). A recent event highlighting such partnerships is that of London's Safeguarding Children's Board which in order to improve collaborative mechanisms instigated recent improvement between various statutory bodies and minority ethnic communities along with managing eight London departments commenced in July 2006 and ended in June 2007 (LSCB, 2006). However the decision to work as partners with the UK Government satisfied the legislatory aspect of children's protection. All the efforts to help eradicate child abuse were in accordance with Children Acts 1989 and 2004, and involved the partnership of other departments like children education, health issues, housing, sexual offences, adoption and domestic violence. The role of parents and professionals in partnership working The efforts of the UK Government to work in partnership enables protection and future prevention of child abuse first by involving the parents to take good enough care of their own children. This is evident from the section 2.3.4 from the Children's Act that enables parents to accompany their children during school hours and professionals are suppose to keep their eyes on children who are missing at schools, are never enrolled or one who has not attended school for a while (LSCB, procedure). This, the professionals are supposed to do in collaboration with the child's family according to section 3 of the procedure's manual (LSCB, procedures). This indicates that the first partners in partnership working with the Government are the parents as they play a central role in their children's protection and welfare and should therefore be involved, wherever possible, in all decisions and actions relating to them. While working in all stages of the child protection process parents realise that their children have a

Cultural Sensitivity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Cultural Sensitivity - Essay Example Health care disparities encompass inequalities in regards to rank, social status and age. Disparities in the health care system are closely linked to equity. There are various factors that lead to the differences among individuals. The US population is highly multi-ethnic, and it is mandatory to understand the various cultures (Diller, 10). In spite of the advancements made in the health care system, there are increasing differences in health status among Hispanics, Native Americans, African Americans, Haitians, Jamaicans and Pacific Islanders (Diller, 10). Additionally, the challenges facing the healthcare sector have increased over the years as the population becomes more ethnically diverse. The future of the health care system in the US will be influenced significantly by advancements in ethnic minorities.The composition of the US population has been changing dramatically over the years. This is true from the statistics shown by the recent studies conducted on the population. In t he past decade, there was a relative increase in ethnic groups as follows: non-Hispanic White 5.5%, African American, 16.4%, Hispanic, 65.3% and Pacific Islanders 123.5% (Diller, 11). If this development continues in the future, the number of ethnic minorities will continue rising. Statistics from the census conducted in 2000 reinforce this argument. This further emphasizes the need for cultural competency in the health care system. The table below shows the expected figures by 2042 (Diller, 11). Composition of the US population Ethnic group 2009 (%) 2050 projections (%) Native Americans 1.6 2.0 Asians 5 9 Hispanics 15 30 Non- Hispanic Whites 66 46 Source: Diller, 12 There are five key challenges facing health practitioners in ensuring cultural sensitivity. The main challenge is communication; different ethnic groups have their native languages and hence may not communicate fluently in English. This calls for the need of interpreters for various languages (Weinstein, 447). Secondly, patients from different groups are conservative and are reluctant to talk about sexual matters and other personal problems. Thirdly, there exist clinical differences among the different ethnic groups, for example, the prevalence to some diseases including hypertension and diabetes. The fourth challenge is ethics; Medical practitioners should have respect for different cultures and beliefs while handling their patients. Last but not least is the problem of trust; Patients from different ethnic groups tend to be afraid of the figures in authority and fail to trust the care givers in hospitals. The issue of cultural diversity in the health care sector is here to stay, and there are numerous solutions to the problems emanating from this diversity. Health care providers should

Health Care Recruitment Paper Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Health Care Recruitment - Research Paper Example Over the years, the hospital has expanded rapidly and the management board has been approving necessary resources and providing moral support to help the hospital personnel handle ever increasing number of patients. On December 3, 2010, the board approved recruitment of fifteen surgical unit nurses to address acute shortage of surgical nurses in ABC-Hospital. It is a move that is aimed at increasing the number of patients attended and fast tracking surgical procedures. Surgical nurses are charge with critical responsibility of ensuring that emotional and physical wellbeing of pre- operative and post-operative patients are well cared for and managed professionally. Failure to recruit nurses will weaken the ability of the surgery nursing unit to provide care and treatment as required. In addition, the number of people to undergo surgery will continue to decline causing a lot of backlog and suffering to the patients who need urgent surgical procedures. Following is a recruitment plan th at will enable ABC-Hospital to recruit fifteen surgical nurses. 2.0 Recruitment plan 2.1 SWOT analysis Strengths of the Surgical Unit at ABC-Hospital ABC-Hospital surgical unit is usually allocated sufficient finances to run its day to day activities. This has enabled the department to acquire state- of art surgical equipment and personnel to ensure that patients receive best health care services. The surgical unit has a fully fledged counseling unit to help surgical personnel especially the nurses to handle emotional challenges and fatigues that is caused by their work. When surgical nurses reached twenty five, the doctors will be able to increase the number of patients undergoing operation from four to over eight per day. Weaknesses of the Surgical Unit at ABC-Hospital The number of surgical nurses is ten. This is barely sufficient to meet increasing workload and high staff turnover in the surgical department. Shortage of surgical nurses is attributed to high staff turnover as a r esult of the stressful nature of the job that leave many nurses drained of energy and some decide to quit their jobs or transfer to general wards. The few available nurses are overwhelmed and cases of burnout, increasing number of absenteeism and lower staff morale has also been witnessed. This impact negatively health care delivery services to the patients. Acute shortage of surgical nurses led to reduced number of new surgical cases from an average of eight patients daily to three cases each day. Threats of the Surgical Unit at ABC-Hospital Stressful working conditions may result to increased surgical staff turnover in future. Most staff work more than forty hours stipulated in the job contract. This denies them adequate time to interact with other staff members as well as their family and friends. Globally, there is acute shortage of competent nurses. This means that it will be difficult to recruit and retain competent surgical nurses because demand for them is very high. Opportu nities of the Surgical Unit at ABC-Hospital ABC-Hospital has decided to increase the number of surgical nurses from ten to twenty five by April 31, 2011. ABC-Hospital considers its surgical unit extremely important and the board has approved staff development budget. A staff member who has worked in the hospital for more than twelve months is eligible for study leave. In addition, surgical staff members attend professional meetings at least once

Evaluate the Relation Between the Media, Politicians and Big Donors in Essay

Evaluate the Relation Between the Media, Politicians and Big Donors in UK - Essay Example The big donors provide the huge funds for the politician’s campaigns with the aim of influencing some policies or deals when the politicians attain official or elected positions (Koss 17). With these few examples, it is apparent that there is a relationship between big donors, politicians and the media. In politics, the media has direct impact or influence on the public, as it conveys all the political messages required to sway the public in a particular direction. Therefore, for the politicians to be successful in their political bids, they have to be intertwined with the media. This is not unique for the United Kingdom, since other politicians running different affairs in other countries practice the same. The media is the main source of news for every person in the United Kingdom, therefore, making it an important tool in furthering political agendas. It influences the public immensely by swaying their perception about different politicians. The media also helps in exposing scandals that may be detrimental to some politicians’ career (Dean 12). Take the example of the United Kingdom parliamentary expenses scandal that was exposed in 2009 by the Telegraph Group. The Daily Telegraph published copies of the expenses records, which proved that members of parliament had misused the taxpayers’ money through bloated allowances and expenses. The media focused on the scandal, thus provoking anger among the citizens who demanded for the resignation and prosecution of the members of parliament involved in the scandal. The immense power of the media was demonstrated, as it was able to inform the people about secret mischievous dealings that were happening in parliament. The media was able to invoke anger in the public and create the image of a failed legislature. Owing to the media, the public lost confidence in some politicians; therefore, creating pressure for the

Business management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 2

Business management - Essay Example Risk is defined as the uncertainty of profit or danger of loss due to some unforeseen events. Some form of risk is present in all functional areas of business, be it production, marketing, sales or operations. ABC Chemicals employs some 50 people whose duties include performing day-to-day business transactions and decanting of the chemicals into smaller containers. As the company deals in chemicals, the materials being used may be toxic, foul smelling, corrosive, carcinogenic, staining and allergenic in nature. A routine exposure to such chemicals without deploying safety mechanisms can cause serious health ailments for the employees. Research has proved that constant exposure to harmful chemicals can lead to cancer, skin diseases and other organ malfunctioning besides causing irritation and dizziness. Fires and explosions in the premises due to chemical reactions or toxic spills can cause massive destruction of business operations and human lives. At a distance of 25 meters from the company site is a local nursing home that cares for elderly residents with age-related conditions like dementia. Across the road from the nursing home is a child care centre that provides day care for children under 5. A chemical house like ABC Chemicals, releases toxic waste whether it is involved in the process of manufacturing chemicals, refilling the drums carrying solvents and acids or in the transportation of the same. Harmful chemicals are released while decanting and pouring the material in separate drums. As the entire process is done manually, there could be spills and leaks. One cannot even rule out the possibility of this waste reaching the nursing home and child care center in the neighborhood through drains, water pipes or soil. Study indicates that the elderly residents at the nursing home suffer from problems like dementia. According to ‘MedicineNet.com,’ an online, healthcare media publishing company, based in California, â€Å"dementia is a

Evaluate the Relation Between the Media, Politicians and Big Donors in Essay

Evaluate the Relation Between the Media, Politicians and Big Donors in UK - Essay Example The big donors provide the huge funds for the politician’s campaigns with the aim of influencing some policies or deals when the politicians attain official or elected positions (Koss 17). With these few examples, it is apparent that there is a relationship between big donors, politicians and the media. In politics, the media has direct impact or influence on the public, as it conveys all the political messages required to sway the public in a particular direction. Therefore, for the politicians to be successful in their political bids, they have to be intertwined with the media. This is not unique for the United Kingdom, since other politicians running different affairs in other countries practice the same. The media is the main source of news for every person in the United Kingdom, therefore, making it an important tool in furthering political agendas. It influences the public immensely by swaying their perception about different politicians. The media also helps in exposing scandals that may be detrimental to some politicians’ career (Dean 12). Take the example of the United Kingdom parliamentary expenses scandal that was exposed in 2009 by the Telegraph Group. The Daily Telegraph published copies of the expenses records, which proved that members of parliament had misused the taxpayers’ money through bloated allowances and expenses. The media focused on the scandal, thus provoking anger among the citizens who demanded for the resignation and prosecution of the members of parliament involved in the scandal. The immense power of the media was demonstrated, as it was able to inform the people about secret mischievous dealings that were happening in parliament. The media was able to invoke anger in the public and create the image of a failed legislature. Owing to the media, the public lost confidence in some politicians; therefore, creating pressure for the

What are the ways in which the Early Years Foundation Stage supports Essay

What are the ways in which the Early Years Foundation Stage supports practitioners in thier planning for young children's learning - Essay Example Many theorists have presented their own views on children. Behaviorists led by the prominent B.F. Skinner, John B. Watson, Edward Thondike, etc., see children as organisms that learn by reinforcement. The Maturationists, led by Jean-Jacques Rosseau, Maria Montessori, Friedrich Froebel, etc. see the child as like a seed that contains all the elements to produce a fruit if given the proper amounts of nutrients from the soil and water along with sunshine and an ideal climate (Brewer, 2001). The Constructivists, founded on the works of Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky, believe that children are not passive recipients of knowledge, rather, they actively work at organizing their experience into constructing their own learning. In many ways, children have proven that they indeed are capable of many things originally unexpected of them. Constructivists are consistent in their belief that children’s capabilities in terms of learning can even match that of adult’s. Because of their clarity of thinking, unobstructed by pressures put on by society, they may even surpass the learning abilities of adults. â€Å"Children are seen as active and competent in their own learning, fully participatory in co-constructing their learning through social interactions, as opposed to this somehow being shaped by more knowledgeable others.† (Mitchell & Wild, 2004, p. 734) In an effort to meet children’s developmental needs, the education of teachers is now putting emphasis on child-centered approaches. The growing awareness that children are indeed capable of becoming contributing members of society has prompted the UK government to consult children themselves, of things that matter to them most in order to be the basis of proposals for change. These key outcomes—being healthy, staying safe, enjoying and achieving, making a positive contribution and economic well-being are detailed in the Every Child Matters report

Relationship Between Machbeth and Lady Macbeth Essay Example for Free

Relationship Between Machbeth and Lady Macbeth Essay Throughout the play Macbeth, there is an ongoing relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. Right away you pick up that Lady Macbeth is a very cold controlling person, while her husband is very naive and weak. The relationship these two share is as what most people would see as unhealthy. There are never any agreements, there is never any reasoning, it’s one way, Lady Macbeth’s way, and that’s it. This is one of the biggest factors as to why all these tragedies happened. She sparked Macbeth’s dark side, she brought it out of him and as the play progresses, you see how Macbeth is out of control and how Lady Macbeth loses all her power over him. The roles become reversed and it leads to one big mess spiralling out of control. Macbeth, once a meek, loyal man is influenced by his cold, cruel wife and from there, tragedy strikes. The relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, you can see right away is not a good one. She is the type of person who has to have it her way. She is making Macbeth live the life she wants. When the three witches foresee him becoming King of Scotland, Lady Macbeth doesn’t even question if he will achieve it or whether to try, she orders him to be it saying â€Å"Shalt be thou art promised† (Macbeth 1, V). Besides her always taunting and ordering Macbeth, you never see any affection between the two. You never hear them acting like a normal married couple. It seems as if they are just two people with the label of husband and wife. They can never just have a normal conversation, it’s always orders and arguments. Macbeth never wants to let down or disappoint her, it’s almost like he is scared of her. This relationship is what causes the tragedies. Lady Macbeth has a huge influence on Macbeth. Their relationship has to be the engine that sparked all the deaths. It starts off by Lady Macbeth ordering him to kill King Duncan, the King of Scotland. She first taunts him by saying â€Å"It is too full o’th’milk of human kindness to catch the nearest way† (Macbeth 1, V). This shows how cold Lady Macbeth is, as milk is the food of a new born child, she implies Macbeth is too much like a kind child to murder anyone, which is a method used to spur Macbeth on into killing the King. When Macbeth finally finds the courage to tell her he doesn’t want to kill, she shuts him down instantly. She goes â€Å"And live a coward in thine own esteem† (Macbeth, 1, VVI). This is a huge insult to Macbeth, and this is what finalizes his decision to kill King Duncan. You can see how she starts rubbing off on him when he says â€Å"False face must hide what the false heart doth know† (Macbeth 1, VVI). As the play continues, Lady Macbeth is constantly telling Macbeth what has to be done. Killing after killing, she is in his ear about what to do next. Eventually, Macbeth has no more control over his darkness and you quickly see things start to change. Once Macbeth started getting more confident by his killings, he realized he was gaining more and more power, and his ambition grew stronger and out of control. You start to see his and Lady Macbeth’s relationship change. Lady Macbeth starts feeling guilty in act three. â€Å"Tis safer to be that which we destroy, than by destruction dwell in doubtful joy† (Macbeth 3, II), this shows she realizes that getting what you want doesn’t bring peace. Despite the fact that both are feeling guilty, Lady Macbeth tries to remain strong in front of Macbeth â€Å"Things with without all remedy should be without regard: what’s done is done†. This shows Lady Macbeth again telling Macbeth that the murder has happened and that he should get over it, as nothing can be done to change it. There is however a hint of remorse in Lady Macbeth’s voice, showing how she is losing her power over Macbeth, mainly because she is finding it hard to get over her guilt. It happens once again when Macbeth shouts out â€Å"O, full of scorpions is my mind, dear wife† (Macbeth, 3, II). This is where we understand Macbeth cannot let go, he has to now take the matter of murder into his own hands. As the scenes go by, you see Macbeth making his own decisions. He starts killing firstly without conscience or guilt, and secondly, without Lady Macbeth’s consent. He stop telling her his plans and when Lady Macbeth hears word of her husband’s actions, she is overwhelmed with guilt and commits suicide. When he finds out about this, he shrugs off her death, he felt more guilty about the killing of the King, a person he hardly even knew, than the death of his wife, the woman he believed to have loved. This proves that one, either Macbeth was in too deep with his evil side at this point, he showed no remorse, or two, he didn’t really love his wife, another point proving their unhealthy relationship. Perhaps it is Lady Macbeth’s cold hearted ways that have taught Macbeth not to care, perhaps if there was no Lady Macbeth, Macbeth would still be the man he started off as. Every person has a dark side amongst themself, it’s just a matter of how you contain it. By the end of the play we see how the relationship has deteriorated to such a state Macbeth loses all emotions. He no longer cares who the person is, who will be affected by their murder, or if they deserve to die or not, if there is the possibility of them coming in the way of Macbeth and his dream, they are dead. Macbeth no longer has the fear of getting caught either. He believes he is invincible, that he can do anything. This just goes to show how much one person can have such a huge impact on your life and how the right amount of taunting and nagging mixed with a whole lot of ambition creates a very dangerous, deadly mix.

A Comparative Analysis Of Online News Articles Media Essay

A Comparative Analysis Of Online News Articles Media Essay In European Union citizens are expected to take responsibility and actions to limit the threat of climate change as well as authorities or corporations. However, while only 36 percent of citizens in Lithuanian take personal action, 75 percent of British do. In light of framing as media effects theory media coverage can be considered as an explanation for different levels of personal contribution. Based on the latter assumption the online news content in Lithuania and the United Kingdom was investigated in terms of attribution of responsibility to citizens, authorities and industry/corporations. The findings showed that the use of the same frames varies by country and political preferences of media. However, the findings were not explicit enough to prove the one directional relationship between media content and individual level behavior, where media is perceived as having power upon individuals. Contrary, the results showed that social problems guide thematic choices of editorials an d therefore individuals have impact on media. As a result, findings raised concerns that the notion of framing as an interactive process would more relevant than the assumption of framing as linear process. Introduction Today climate change is on political, media and individual agendas all across Europe. Political and legislative efforts prove that climate change mitigation is a priority for the European Union. Furthermore, citizens are expected to take responsibility and actions to limit the threat as well. Supranational survey Eurobarometer shows, 63 percent of Europeans say they have taken personal actions to combat climate change (European Commission, 2009). However, the EU as a body of 27 Member States is more diverse than one seeing aggregate level figures could think. For instance, while only 36 percent of citizens in Lithuanian take personal action, 75 percent of British do (European Commission, 2009). The topic of climate change not only has its thematic relevance, but as well scientific. In light of framing theory media coverage can be considered as an explanation for different levels of personal contribution to climate change mitigation among Lithuanians and British. To assess the influence of media portrayals of climate change on individuals, two research questions are developed: RQ1. To what extent do media frame climate change in terms of attribution of responsibility to industry and corporations, international and national authorities, and citizens themselves? RQ2. Does the attribution of responsibility to particular actor vary by country: the United Kingdom and Lithuania? To be more specific, I expect to find that Lithuanian media attribute responsibility to citizens more seldom compare to British media. Moreover, in media coverage in Lithuania attribution of responsibility to citizens should be less visible than attribution of responsibility to authorities or industry. Contrary, in British media attribution of responsibility to citizens should more or equally visible compare to authorities and industry. The next chapter will provide theoretical framework on which the paper rests. It will be followed by the sections of method, results and discussion. Literature review Within the realm of social sciences, such as sociology, psychology, political science and political communication, studies of framing are common. In a way it explains why framing as a concept is rather scattered, as Entman once referred to it (Entman, 1993, p. 51). However, scientists of different disciplines share the perception that the function of a frame is to help people organise the complexity of the world into meaningful categories (Nickels, 2005, p. 21). Framing as theory can be conceptualized in terms of media effects (e.g. Scheufele, 1999; Scheufele, 2000). Generally, media effects are classified into cognitive, affective and behavioural. Cognitive effects refer to the assumption that how news is presented has influence on what people know or think about issues, people, and event (Glynn Jeong, 2003, p. 634). Affective effects refer to emotional reactions to media coverage. Behavioral effects can be understood as observable actions that are linked to media exposure (Perse, 2001, p. 3). What concerns the latter, a widely cited study of Kahneman and Tversky (1984) showed that how a particular issue is framed determines perceptions of problems and subsequent actions upon them (Vliegenthart et al., 2008, p. 419). In view of these considerations, the prominence of framing theory and framing effects studies in the field of communication flows naturally. In the field of political communication framing effects studies often focus on investigating the relationship between news content and individual perceptions (e.g. de Vreese, 2002). Nickels (2005) argues that partially this is determined by the assumption that the news is the principal means by which they [i.e., people] experience and learn (p. 22) about certain issues. A frame in media is an emphasis in salience of certain aspects of a topic (De Vreese, 2002, p. 27). The frame works by omitting some aspects and attaching more salience and meaning to others (Entman, 1993, p. 53). The reasoning of selecting of these aspects can be determined by political, media and social context (De Vreese Semetko, 2004, p. 93). Therefore, media frames can be defined as social and cultural indicators of the particular time (Nickels, 2005, p. 26). Frames in media can be investigated by the presence or absence of certain key-words, stock phrases, stereotyped images, sources of information, and sentences that provide thematically reinforcing clusters of facts or judgements (Entman, 1993, p. 52). In general, two main ways to analyze frames can be identified issue-specific and generic. The former is considered to be a better approach to detect newly emerging frames while the latter is based on the investigation of predefined frames in the text (Matthes Kohring, 2008). Majority of the studies of generic frames focus on the prevalence of one or several frames in media. Attribution of responsibility (e.g. Iyengar, 1987; Iyengar, 1991; Semetko Valkenburg, 2000; Valkenburg et al., 1999) fall within most commonly investigated generic frames. Valkenburg et al. (1999) defines the attribution of responsibility frame as representing an issue or problem in such a way as to attribute responsibility for causing or solving a problem to the g overnment or to an individual or to a group (p. 552). The biggest advantage of generic approach enables to detect differences or similarities between certain media (or within it), cross-nationally and over time (Nickels, 2005, p.24). However, generic frames are not suitable to explore the new issues as they are derived from theory. Iyengar (1991) measured how individuals attribute responsibility for social problems after exposure to different content. The research proved that, when television news present issues in terms of individual, people tend to attribute responsibility to individuals rather than government. Semetko and Valkenburg (2000) investigated the presence of 5 news frames theoretically derived from prior framing studies: attribution of responsibility, conflict, human interest, economic consequences, and morality. Media content was analyzed in the period surrounding the Amsterdam meetings of European heads of state in 1997 (p. 93). The study unveiled that the attribution of responsibility frame was used the most in news. Moreover it showed that attribution of responsibility was more used in serious media both press and television. Bennet and Iyengar (2008) argues that today with growing opportunities to personalize media content the way people learn about and experience the social world has changed. Therefore, media effects theories have to be reconsidered to go in line with changing social environment. Opponents claim (e.g. Holbert, Garrett Gleason, 2010), to announce a new era of minimal media effects is too early. Another criticism addressed to framing-effect studies is the commonly used experimental design, which neglects natural environment people live in and questions generalizability of the findings (Chong Druckman, 2007, p. 102). Those trying to overcome methodological drawback by comparing media content with survey results agree that it is difficult to separate out the effects of the media from other environmental or social influences (Glynn Jeong, 2003, p. 633). On the other hand, if effects are proved to be present on individual level under experimental conditions, it is logical to expect them to be present in society at large. To put it in Vliegenthart et al. (2008) words, this does not imply that all citizens are exposed to (à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦) news, but that on the aggregate level news coverage has the potential to drive the attitudes of a substantial share of the population (p. 418). To sum up, despite changing media environment and individual habits towards media use, media still often is a primary framer and therefore has the power to set the tone and scope of the discussion about particular issue. In view of the considerations discussed in this chapter, the present empirical research was based on the assumption that frames in media influence how people think about certain problems and act upon them. To be more specific, that how media frames climate change issue in terms of frame of attribution of responsibility affects individual behavior. As in this study aggregate level public opinion surveys results will be compared with media content, I am aware that social or other influences will not be encountered. Method The main interest of the current study is to find out if media content are capable of explaining, why people in some countries are more likely to take personal actions to fight climate change than others. Therefore, two cases representing significant contrasts in citizens behavior were needed The United Kingdom and Lithuania appeared to comply with the condition (Eurobarometer, 2009). Consequently, the comparative design was chosen as it served the aim of the study best. As Hantrais (1996) defined, the aim of comparative cross-national research is to seek explanations for similarities and differences or to gain a greater awareness and a deeper understanding of social reality in different national contexts (Bryman, 2004, p.53). The design was realized in the form of quantitative content analysis of news websites articles in two countries. The content of news was analyzed in terms of the presence of attribution of responsibility frame. The operationalization of this generic frame was mainly based on measures developed by Semetko and Valkenburg (2000). However, as I was interested, to what extent responsibility is attributed to a particular actor, the frame was divided into three new frames. These are: Attribution of responsibility to international and national authorities, attribution of responsibility to industry and corporations, and attribution of responsibility to citizens themselves. Clusters of four yes-no framing questions were used to identify if generic frames are present in analyzed news articles (see Appendix 1). For framing analysis four news websites were chosen Guardian.co.uk and Thetimes.co.uk in the United Kingdom, and Lrytas.lt and Respublika.lt in Lithuania. All of them are websites of popular national newspapers: The Guardian and The Times, and Lietuvos rytas and Respublika, respectively. As the online and traditional versions of newspapers share the content, it can be estimated that information reaches young and older, online and traditional newspaper readers at national level in both countries. Furthermore, it was estimated that political leaning of newspapers can influence the findings. According to traditional division of newspapers by political affiliation, Guardian.co.uk. and Respublika.lt was chosen as leaning to left, and Thetimes.co.uk and Lrytas.lt as leaning to right. The period of investigation is from 2009 July 1 till 2009 August 1. The choice of the period was determined by the fact that the survey on Europeans attitudes towards climate change (Eurobarometer, 2009) was conducted in 2009 August-September. Therefore, the period had to be prior to survey fieldwork. Only articles with the main topic of climate change/climate change mitigation were selected for framing analysis. In total media sample consisted of 135 articles. However, media coverage varied by country meaningfully: N=26 in Lithuania and N=109 in the United Kingdom. Although chosen research design is consistent with the aim of the study, it also has several drawbacks that must be considered. Firstly, small media sample may lead to biased results as media coverage was restricted to two news websites in each country. Secondly, the study period of month does not allow measuring the presence of frames in changing political and social environment throughout longer period of time. To put it in other words, the findings show one-time situation. As a result, I am aware that generalization of research outcomes is limited. Results The results of content analysis showed that the frame of attribution of responsibility to citizens in Lithuanian media is more present than in British media (see Table 1), contrary to initial expectations. The most present frame in both countries appeared to be attribution of responsibility to international or national authorities. The Lithuanian media was more likely to use this frame and exclusively attributed responsibility to international authorities. The British media paid more attention to attribution of responsibility to industry and corporations than Lithuanian. Table 1. The presence of attribution of responsibility frame by country The findings confirmed that political affiliation plays an important role in presenting climate change issue. Left leaning websites (Respublika.lt and Guardian.co.uk) appeared to be more likely to attribute responsibility to citizens than left leaning (Lrytas.lt and Thetimes.co.uk). In Respublika.lt 63 percent and in Guardian.co.uk 28 percent of articles contained the latter frame, while only 17 percent in Thetimes.co.uk and none in Lrytas.lt did. Right leaning news sites considerably more discussed climate change issue in terms of attribution of responsibility to international and national authorities than left leaning. Table 2. The presence of attribution of responsibility frame by outlet To sum up, the media coverage does not seem to be directly related to behaviour: In Lithuania, where citizens are less likely to combat climate change personally, the frame of attribution of responsibility was more present than in British media. In this case, the personal behaviour in relation to climate change mitigation seems to be a reason for a bigger or smaller media attention rather than a cause of citizens behaviour. Discussion As is evident from the last chapter, the use of frames of attribution of responsibility in news sites varied by country. However, the variation was not consistent with initial expectations. In terms of presence of attribution of responsibility frame results were opposite than expected: In Lithuania the media attributed responsibility to citizens more than media in the United Kingdom. Therefore, the media cannot be considered as a main factor determining low citizens involvement in climate change mitigation in Lithuania and high involvement of people in the United Kingdom. In this case the direction of influence is likely to be from individuals to media. Low awareness of climate change mitigation at individual level in Lithuania encourages media editorials to address the problem. As the latter problem is not present in the United Kingdom, the frame of attribution of responsibility to individuals is less present in media. Furthermore, the results go in line with criticism of framing as a one way-communication model. As Nickels (2005) noted, the framing process (à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦) is more likely to be an interactive process of negotiation where political, media and public actors have different measures of framing power(p. 32). From this point of view, a relationship between media and individuals should be investigated as an interactive process of negotiation about climate change. In light of such an approach the power of framing of different actors could be assessed more accurately. Both Lithuanian and British media mainly discussed how climate change is tackled at political level while the role of citizens and industry and corporations received considerably less attention. The prominence of attribution of responsibility to authorities frame should not be surprising considering policy priorities of the EU. Firstly, the European Union is said to play an important role as the international agenda setter in relationship to climate change mitigation (Schreurs Tiberghien, 2007, p. 19). Secondly, during the last twenty years the EU managed to turn the encouragement to stabilize greenhouse gas emissions into legislation. Furthermore, the comparison by political preferences of news websites shows that political affiliation strongly influences the content. Climate change mitigation in terms of citizens behavior in left leaning websites was presented more often than in right leaning. The latter news sites concentrated more on attribution of responsibility to authorities. In total, right leaning news are more balanced according to the frequency of the whole three frames use. Therefore, findings prove a tight relationship between politics and media. The main limits of the study appeared to be related to methodological concerns. A short period of investigation at one particular time does not let to assess if findings can be generalized or they represent only a particular case. Another drawback is that aggregate level data on citizens behavior in relation to climate change mitigation was compared to media content of small sample. Therefore, it would be beneficial for the aim of the study to increase media sample and investigate how changes in media correspond with changes in public opinion/behavior over time. This could be considered as a future research direction in terms of methodological improvements. Besides the information related to the aim of the study, the investigation showed that Lithuanian media uses the frame of attribution of responsibility in context of international affairs: The role of national or local authorities was not mentioned in media once. Contrary, British media paid more attention to national governments policies related to climate change. As the EU is instrumental in climate change mitigation, it would be intriguing to explore how successful is the EU in setting climate change issue on political agendas of new Member States, i.e. what role governments play in climate change mitigation. Furthermore, media sample of climate change related articles in the United Kingdom appeared to be five time bigger than in Lithuania. Consequently, it would be interesting to investigate to what extent the climate change issue is present compare to the total content media in different countries. In light of media frames the study to show that the use of the same frames varies by country and political preferences of media. However, in light of framing effects the empirically collected data was not explicit enough to shed light on connection of citizens attitudes and subsequent actions and media content. The study unfolds the need encounter cultural, economic and political differences, as well as the interactive notion of framing process participants. References Bennet, W. L., Iyengar, S. (2008). A New Era of Minimal Effects? The Changing Foundations of Political Communication. Journal of Communication, 58, 707-731. Bryman, A. (2004). Social Research Methods (2nd ed.). New York: Oxford University Press Inc. Chong, D. Druckman,J. N. (2007b). A Theory of Framing and Opinion Formation in Competitive Elite Environments. Journal of Communication, 57, 99-118. De Vreese, C. H. (2002). Framing Europe: Television News and European Integration. Amsterdam: Aksant Academic Publishers. De Vreese, C. H. Semetko, H. A. (2004). Political Campaigning in Referendums: Framing the Referendum Issue. Abingdon: Routledge. Entman, R.M. (1993) Framing: Toward Clarification of a Fractured Paradigm. Journal of Communication, 43(4), 51-58. European Commission (2009). Special Eurobarometer 322 / Wave 72.1 Glynn, C.J. Jeong, I. (2003). Public Opinion and the Media (pp. 631-640). In Encyclopaedia of International Media and Communications, Volume 3. Holbert, R., Garrett, R. Gleason L. (2010). A New Era of Minimal Effects? A Response to Bennett and Iyengar. Journal of Communication, 60(1), 15-34. Iyengar, S. (1987). Television News and citizens Explanations of National Affairs. American Political Science Review, 81, 815-831. Iyengar, S. (1991). Is Anyone Responsible? How Television Frames Political Issues. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Matthes, J. Kohring, M. (2008). The Content Analysis of Media Frames: Toward Improving Reliability and Validity. Journal of Communication, 58, 258-279 Nickels, H.C. (2005). Framing the Refugee and Asylum Question in Luxembourg: An Interactive Approach to Framing Theory. Doctoral dissertation, Faculty of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Amsterdam School of Communications Research. Perse, E. M. (2001). Media Effects and Society. Mahvah: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. Scheufele, D.A. (1999). Framing as Theory of Media Effects. Journal of Communication (Winter), 103-122. Scheufele, D.A. (2000). Agenda-Setting, Priming, and Framing Revisited: Another Look at Cognitive Effects of Political Communication. Mass Communication and Society, 3(23), 297-316. Semetko, H. A. Valkenburg, P.M. (2000). Framing European Politics: A Content Analysis of Press and Television News. Journal of Communication, Spring, 93-109. Schreurs, M.A. Tiberghien, Y. (2007). Multi-Level Reinforcement: Explaining European Union Leadership in Climate Change Mitigation. Global Environmental Politics, 7(4), 19-46. Vliegenthart, R., Schuck, A., Boomgaarden, H. de Vreese, C.H. (2008). News Coverage and Support for European Integration. International Journal of Public Opinion Research, 20(4), 415-439. Valkenburg, P., Semetko, H. de Vreese, C.H. (1999). The Effects of News Frames on Readers Thoughts and Recall. Communication Research, 26(5), 550-565.

The Use of Symbolism and Imagery in Tourneurs The Revenger’s Tragedy E

The Revenger’s Tragedy by Cyril Tourneur, was written using symbolism and imagery, which comes from the protagonist (The revenger) Vindice. A main trait of a tragedy is that there will be a downfall of a character within the play, in this case from the opening scene the protagonist, Vindice, is the clear culprit for an emotional meltdown and a tragedy all of his own. These themes of symbolism and imagery in The Revenger’s tragedy are a connection between what is right and wrong. In the first character whom is introduced into the play and is of a high social background, we know this because throughout the soliloquy Vindice speaks using Iambic pentameter (blank verse) however when the character Vindice is in disguise he speaks in prose this shows to the audience that he is not himself. The first sign of symbolism in the play is in the first soliloquy, ‘[holding a skull; he watches as]...’ this skull is a symbol of the loss of his lover Gloriana. Also an example symbolic language from Vindice when using black verse is the reference to the skull, because the skull is seen as an empty ‘shell of death’ and a picture of Gloriana, it also acts as a ornament for the audience to see while he reconstructs her ‘fill’d out’ its hollow bareness of her face and the dazzling eyes that once decorated its â⠂¬Ëœunsightly rings’. The skull of Gloriana could also symbolise the fate of Vindice, the skull acts as a constant reminder of death and it seems to be following him round where ever he goes. There is an inevitable link between the death of his ‘betrothed lady’ and the revenge he seeks upon the royal family. He is trying to set a balance by taking one life because the life of Gloriana was taken, but trying to fix a balance creates Vindice’s in... ...tement says that this family believe that raping women is acceptable because they believe that every woman would enjoy sec and he has no remorse for raping Lord Antonio’s wife. This makes the act of revenge build for Vindice because he is not only killing the Duke for one person but for two women whom were treated wrongly by the duke or his family in this case the duke’s son. The downward spiral of the character Vindice, shows a large scope of emotion, starting with a quite normal grieving process for his partner, to seeking his revenge on the Duke, this revenge soon spiralling out of his control when he decides to get revenge on the whole of the royal family because the Dukes son raped Lord Antonio’s wife. Therefore the use of symbolism and imagery works well and the play follows an effective structure in which the tragedy becomes the tragedy of Vindice alone.

Kite Runner Essay Essay

Khaled Hosseini’s kite runner has many themes that are significant. This book also has themes that are hidden to the reader, to find these themes the reader needs to think about the events that occur in the book. In this book redemption, discrimination, and violence play a big role in the events in this book. Redemption is one of the most important themes in the kite runner. Throughout the story, Amir is trying to redeem himself because of many events that he was a part of. In the begging of the story Rahim Khan calls Amir and tells him â€Å"There is a way to be good again.† (Page 2) Putting this in the first chapter of the story tells the reader many things about Amir, it could tell us that Amir has done many things that he regrets, or he has done things that caused pain to someone else. Amir’s mother dies when she is giving birth to him, throughout the story Amir tries many different things to redeem himself to his father. When Amir wins the kite competition he thinks that he would finally redeem himself for his mothers death. Amir thinks that he redeems himself because â€Å"A smile played down on my father’s lips. He opened his arms† (Page 79) When someone does this someone will automatically think that you redeemed yourself to that person. Another event that Amir does that he redeems himself for later is when he blackmails Hassan. Amir’s father gives him a watch and Amir decides to put it under Hassan’s pillow. Later when Amir’s father finds out that he took his watch he forgives him, but Ali (Hassan’s father) says that they make the decision to leave. To the near end of the book, when Amir goes back to Afghanistan, he receives a letter from Hassan. The letter tells him that he (Hassan) died, and that he has a son that it taken by the Taliban. Amir tells Farid (The person who takes Amir around in Afghanistan) about Sohrab, and he tells him â€Å"You have a visa to go to America, to life with me and my wife. It’s true. I promise† (Page 355) When Amir found out that he lost his best friend he went through a lot of trouble to get Sohrab. Amir could have avoided this if he did not frame Hassan. If Amir did not frame Hassan, Hassan and Ali could have fled the country with Amir and his father. This event has a big impact on the events in the story. Without these examples of redemption, it is hard to picture the book ending in the way that it did. Along with many other themes, discrimination is one of the less discussed themes in this book. In my opinion I think that discrimination should be a theme that should be as important as any other theme. Discrimination plays a big role in the kite runner because of the structure of the social classes. In the begging of the story we know that Hassan is Amir’s Hazara but later we know that he is Amir’s brother. When Amir won the kite competition Hassan went to get the winning the kite. Hours had passed and Hassan did not show up. Amir goes looking for him and he asks Omar (only involved in one paragraph) if he saw Hassan, Omar answers him by saying â€Å"Your Hazara?† (Page 68) without saying more than two sentences, we can see that people in the class with Hassan are treated with no respect and they are called Hazaras. Another event that happens when Hassan finally finds the kite that allowed Amir to win the competition he is surrounded by Assef and his gang. Assef is one of the biggest discriminators towards Hazaras as he is intimidating Hassan, he says, â€Å"A loyal Hazara, Loyal as a dog† (Page 72) When Hassan said this he could of compared Hassan to something else, but he picked a dog to show the most disrespect towards Hassan. In my own opinion I think that discrimination towards Hazaras in Kabul is horrible because they are treated as if they are a different race of people. Hazaras have the exact physical features as any average human being but they are treated like they are slaves. This is how discrimination, which is one of the themes that is not talked about a lot, is significant in this book. Violence is also one of the themes that are not discussed as much, violence should be because it is important and it is hidden. There are many examples that show violence in the book. One of the examples that show violence is when Hassan gets raped when Assef and his gang surround him. The author does not tell the reader that Hassan got raped but instead he makes Wali, one of the members of Assef’s gang, tell Assef â€Å"My father says it’s sinful† (Page 75) This is a indirect message to inform the reader that Hassan gets raped. This is one great example that violence plays a big role in the process of this book. Assef could of threated Hassan instead of raping him. In my opinion I think that he could not have done something that wasn’t related to violence. Assef wanted to have his revenge on Hassan but it was hard to do something that has nothing to do with violence. Later on in the book, when Amir and Hassan do not talk to each other after Hassan got raped for him over a kite. Hassan asked if he could go under the pomegranate tree and let Amir read a story for him. When Amir and Hassan were under the pomegranate tree, Hassan asked Amir what he was doing wrong so he could stop, Amir told him that Hassan should stand up for himself. Hassan did not answer and Amir started to throw pomegranates on Hassan, Amir then told him â€Å"Hit me back! Hit me back goddamn you† (Page 92) this is another great example that shows the violence that is included in the book. Hassan is the most loyal person in the book and Amir does not appreciate it; instead Amir wants Hassan to hit him with a pomegranate. When Hassan stands up, he then smears a pomegranate on his face and walks away. This is how violence plays a theme in the book. It is not as visible as the other themes in the book but it is as significant as the other themes. Redemption, discrimination, and violence are themes in Khaled Hosseini’s kite runner that play a big role in the book. Without these three themes it is hard to picture if the book would end up the way that it actually ended up being. Quotes and Information taken from â€Å"Kite Runner† by Khaled Hosseini

Long period of time Essay

What Techniques does Dickens use in Great Expectations to gain and sustain his readers attention and interest, and how effective do you find these techniques? Illustrate your answer using examples from the text?  Although Great Expectations was written some 150 years ago it is still being read even today. Dickens grabs the readers attention from the very start and manages to sustain it throughout the book by using a variety of techniques which I am going to explore in more depth. The chapter begins with the introduction of Pip and saying how his name came to be. ‘My Fathers family name being Pirrip and my Christian name being Philip’ this gives the reader an impression that Pip is you’re genuinely average person and the main character will most probably be Pip as he is introduced very sharply in the opening paragraph. Dickens characterises Pip and his tone of voice as learned and precise and uses formal vocabulary which may suggest he has had a good upbringing and his family are strong on manners and respect. Pip then begins to tell the reader that he never knew his parents and has never even seen them in photos let alone real life ‘I never saw my Father or my Mother, and never saw and likeness of either of them’ Although he had never seen his Mother or Father humour and pathos combine in Pips explanation of how he formed a mental image of his parents ‘The shape of the letters on my Fathers [tombstone] gave me an odd idea that he was a square, stout, dark man with curly black hair’ Pip is shown as having a very powerful imagination and that he needed to create an image of his Father he never knew from whatever was left of him that he could find, even though it wasn’t very promising. In the third paragraph Pip begins to describe the scenery and whereabouts of his location ‘Ours was marsh country, down by the river, within, as the river wound, twenty miles of the sea’. Pip describes the area as if a camera was scanning the landscape and that we could see what he was describing which I think is very effective as it makes the reader more involved in the story as if they were there with him. Pips ‘smallness’, suffering and vulnerability is emphasised further on in the book ‘At such a time I found out for certain, that this bleak place overgrown with nettles was the churchyard ; and that Philip Pirrip, Georgiana were dead and buried and that Alexander, Bartholomew, Abraham, Tobias and Roger were also dead and buried’. This gives the reader a sense of sympathy towards Pip as most of his family are dead and that he hasn’t got much in his life. It also gives the reader an impression that Pips ‘days are few’ as his family hasn’t got a good track record of living long and this may worry Pip. The scenery ‘dark flat wilderness’ and ‘distant savage lair’ reflects Pips emotional state and feeling of no hope, which backs up the idea that Pips days are few and death may be around the corner. Dickens uses a mixture of emotions to fully gain and sustain the readers interest, and all of the characters have different personalities and physical features. Dickens also uses characternyms as a sharp way to introduce the individuality of the character and by one short phrase or even a word we can create a mental picture of what the character looks like. ‘My name is Jaggers’. The reader would feel by reading this that he is a hard, stern man with little emotion and that he has a jagged personality.  Ã¢â‚¬ËœMr Wopsle, the clerk at the church’ This is a very funny name and Dickens is trying to amuse the reader as the name isn’t very common.  Ã¢â‚¬ËœUncle Pumblechock’ This is also a very funny name and suggests he may be an arrogant person with a posh, pompous personality. Dickens mixes humour with seriousness consistently throughout the course of the book and balances this just right to keep the reader wanting to keep going on and read more. He does this throughout the description of Mrs. Joe and forces the reader into creating their own image of her by saying things which offer little help in knowing what she may look like ‘Not good looking’. This is brief but it is backed up by an in-depth description of her personality which may help the reader complete the ‘jigsaw’ in terms of Miss Joe’s appearance. He tells us. ‘She must have made Joe marry her’ and ‘had established a great reputation.. Because she had bought me up by hand’. This gives the reader a clear idea of Mrs Joes personality as from those two phrases the reader can gather that she is a very strict, temperamental and bossy woman. Dickens uses a wide variety of techniques to make his novel more enjoyable and for the reader not to want to put it down. He illustrates every scene very well by using repetition, similes and metaphors. He uses repetition as a technique to reinstate his thought and to make the reader almost feel as if he/she is there, as the point has been emphasized twice. ‘It was wretched weather; stormy and wet, stormy and wet; and mud, mud, mud deep in all the streets’ It also makes us feel as if it has been raining for a long period of time. Another example of Dickens using repetition as a technique to gain and sustain his readers attention is when Pip meets the convict who when talking to Pip uses the word and many times, this shows that he feels over-whelmed by the presence of Pip and a bit scared as he stutters to find words as he uses and a lot. ‘A fearful man all in coarse grey with a great iron on his leg. A man with no hat, and with broken shoes, and with an old rag ties round his head. A man who had been soaked in water, and smoothed by mud, and lamed by stones, and cut by flints, and stung by nettles, and torn by briars; who limped, and shivered, and glared and growled; and whose teeth chattered in his head as he seized me by the chin’. Another technique that Dickens uses to devastating effect I feel is the pace as this keeps the reader interested at all times, he builds momentum up to a particular scene by keeping a consistent pace and then slows the pace down when using very descriptive language which creates suspense for the reader and keeps the readers imagination open as to what may happen next. ‘He looked about him with the strongest air†¦. Pulled off a rough outer coat†¦. and†¦. Hat†¦. I saw that his head was furrowed and bald†¦. Long iron grey hair growing on its sides†¦. He stopped in his looking at me, and slowly rubbed his right hand over his head†¦. He sat down on a chair that stood by the fire, and covered his forehead with his large brown veinous hands’. Towards the end of the book Dickens does the opposite and uses an acceleration of pace. ‘They had pulled one sudden stroke ahead, had got their oars in, had a run thwart us, and were holding on to out gunwale, before we knew what they were doing. This shows Pip as being excited as he is rushing what he is saying as he is not describing anything in detail and can’t to say what happened. Another very good technique that dickens uses in Great Expectations is Dickens’s larger than life characters that have been exaggerated to make the story come alive and more believable. A good example is Miss Havisham, as she is regularly described by Pip as â€Å"some ghastly waxwork from the fair† and having† dark eyes†. She is also described as a â€Å"skeleton†, and someone who had â€Å"shrunk to skin and bone† and having clothes that were faded and lost their brightness. This makes the reader perceive her as a very evil and dead person.  As I can see from his wide range of techniques that are used to great effect Dickens is able to gain and sustain the readers interest from the very start and keeping it going right through to the end of the book which makes Great Expectations so well renowned even today.

Increasing Age Diversity in the Workplace

In this paper we will discuss the factors that relate to the relationship between the employee and employer in regards to age diversity and how organizations can handle this form of diversity. Managers have a unique challenge with having such a diverse workforce as they need to be able to prevent it from occurring. They also need to be watchful as even with the best policies discrimination can still occur and they must be able to handle the quickly and efficiently.No person should feel discriminated against in their place of employment and possibly with everyone adhering to the policies this may one day be the case. Increasing Age Diversity in the Workplace In a country that is diverse as the United States one would think that discrimination would not occur. Unfortunately differences in age, culture, and sex still represent some of those that are being discriminated against. Companies are taking steps to prevent further occurrences but even this is not enough as there are still docum ented cases of discrimination that have occurred.We also have no way of quantifying the amount of cases that have gone unreported. Anti-discrimination laws have been passed, now it is up to the companies to implement policies that adhere to these laws and ensure equal opportunities to all of their employees. As the population begins to age there are several factors that may occur in regards to employment relations. With aging comes an increase is diseases and comorbidities. This represents higher costs in health care for the company and their insurance companies.In order to make up for the increase in costs there may be a need to increase the premiums for those particular patients. The children of the aging patients may also require more flexible scheduling in order to take care of their aging parents, as most families may not be able to afford the costs of assisted living. Managers have a unique challenge when dealing with the age diversity in their companies. Although there is leg islation in place in regards to equality, there is a real gap in between the law and what actually occurs.Each company has their own practices of preventing discrimination in their facilities but it needs to be followed thoroughly. The managers will need to monitor their practices, on a regular basis, to make sure that they are not discriminating against their employees. They themselves may not believe that they are indeed discriminating against anyone but this is where they need to be educated further so that they will be cognizant of their actions.Geert Demuijnck writes in his article, â€Å"The mere fact that practices are designed and implemented does not imply that inequality automatically is reduced† (Demuijnck, 2009). Discrimination is not a straightforward problem. Companies will need to implement policies and possibly change practices several times until there is a satisfactory outcome. Another challenge for managers is the ability for the aging workforce to learn an d implement new technology. By no means does this mean that they cannot learn, but there will need to be programs set in place that will train them to use the new electronics.This will need to be offered to all employees, not just the older population, as you do not want to unintentionally discriminate against the younger employees. It could be voluntary and/or it could be an incentivized program that would give each person who passes the course a certificate and increase in pay. The aging workforce should not be disqualified from working just because there is new technology that is being implemented every day; they just need on the job training to acquaint themselves with the new software and equipment.Managers also need to understand how to work with the vast differences in generations. There are four different generations in the workforce today and the way they interact and perceive their lives and careers are vastly different. Not only will managers needs to be able to accommoda te the aging employees, but they will also need to understand the differences between the generations and equip them to work together to promote their strengths and become productive group.Organizations can cope with the differences with discrimination by setting a clear policy in place and making sure that the policy is distributed to all of their employees. This could be done through a handbook or a pamphlet. Once the policy is in place there should be clearly defined guidelines and penalties for not adhering to the policy. Before the policy is rolled out, managers should be trained on how the policy will work and how they are to identify other employees that are not adhering to the guidelines.The policy should be clear cut as to how an employee may file a complaint. If an employee or another manager is found to be breaking the policy then a progressive penalty system should be issued starting with a verbal warning and progressing to the possibility of being let go from the instit ution. It may not be easy to follow but the policy will need to be adhered to fully. Secondly, if an employee feels discriminated against the organization may have to cope with the legal matters and legal expenses if the person decides to press suit.The expenses may not always be monetary; the expenses could include the time spent by personnel gathering documents for the defense, also loss in morale and reputation. As previously described, companies need to have the policies set in place to prevent discrimination from occurring thereby also preventing litigation and the financial costs associated with it. As companies set policies in place to eliminate discrimination, they must also examine their existing policies to ensure that they do not discriminate in any way.Policies that have mandatory retirement dates may need to be modified or be completely removed. Most positions can be filled with an employee of any age provided, of course, that they have the skills for the position. Earl ier it was discussed that programs could be provided to keep the aging workers up to date with the technical changes, these programs must be offered to each employee. If the companies only offer the programs to specified age groups this could be argued as a form of discrimination. Healthcare premiums are offered at a lower cost if a person is healthy.Naturally when you age your health begins to deteriorate so decreased premiums for those who are younger or healthier may be taken as discrimination. Unfortunately these incentives are put in place to help promote healthier lifestyles but they do, in a way, discriminate against those that are aging. To change this would be difficult. One way would be to stop offering the discounted premiums to those that are healthy all together. Another option would be to offer the discounts not based on what diseases you have but on what kind of lifestyle you live (not smoking, increasing exercise).Certain things such as genetics predispose people tow ards medical conditions that they have no way of preventing and they should not be penalized financially for this. In conclusion, there is no question that there has been a decrease in documented cases of age discrimination over the last several years, but even with the changes made in the workplace we know that it continues. Companies must educate their managers on their anti-discrimination policies and also educate their employees in regards to how to discuss their concerns if they feel that they are being discriminated against.There is no easy answer to the discrimination argument as everyone perceives situations differently. As the saying goes, the best defense is a good offense. Preventing the discrimination from occurring is the offense. Also employees need to feel that discussing their concerns with their managers will not have repercussions on themselves and managers need to be educated in order to handle their concerns properly. This will improve over time but the companies must constantly monitor and make changes as necessary.