Monday, September 30, 2019

Negotiation in Action

Negotiation in Action One of my most substantial accomplishments is that I learned significant concepts and principles of negotiation during the course. Negotiation process and a variety of tactics that I learned in class or through the textbook, Getting to Yes, were definitely helpful for improving my understanding of negotiation and its strategy. Another important accomplishment is that I have learned what I couldn’t have learned from lectures or textbooks through negotiation simulations.I prepared a lot for each negotiation and tried to follow the strategy that I had set up in advance. After negotiations, I tried to identify what worked, what didn’t and how I could improve next time. I have kept a list of successes and mistakes and I have eventually become more confident in a variety of negotiation situations. While negotiating, I have been more like a soft positional negotiator who emphasizes the importance of building and maintaining a better relationship, trying n ot to hurt other’s feelings.My unique set of negotiation skills are : ? polite, positive and active attitude, ? a good listener and ? thinking of the other’s position. During the process of negotiation simulations, I have always tried to listen more actively and acknowledge more carefully what is being said by the partner. If I pay attention more, the partner will also feel the satisfaction of being heard and understood. However, I realized that I need to balance my position better according to different situations.I have learned that constructively initiating positional bargaining is essential and approaching to solutions according to my position is more effective in negotiation process. In addition, I have learned not only that negotiating with partners cooperatively and competitively is one of the most significant factors for successful negotiation but that cultivating good relationships for the future is very important as well. To do so, I need to effectively manag e emotions in disputes and favorably understand cultural differences.I would like to set two top priority goals for my future negotiation. One is that, thinking about a variety of tactics such as â€Å"BATNA†, ZOPA, and etc. , I will always try to find an optimal solution, which is â€Å"win-win† for both sides, instead of arguing over my position and pursuing only my own interests. The other priority is that I will establish healthy personal and professional relationships in my life, having a positive and active attitude, understanding people, appreciating their wants, identifying their needs and learning about their background and what makes them who they are.Recommendation Letter I strongly recommend this course. This course is designed to cover the range of negotiation situations and issues faced by managers and decision makers. This course explores negotiations in many contexts: simple personal transactions, public and private sector collective bargaining, resolvi ng disputes. I was able to develop tactics and strategies for becoming an effective negotiator and have confidence in the ability to analyze negotiations in a variety of contexts and to conduct successful negotiations.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Assignment: The Darby Company Manufactures and Distributors

BA561 –winter 2006 LP Case Notes: 1. This is an individual assignment. As stated in the syllabus you must do your own work or you will fail the class. 2. You can use any software you wish to perform the analysis, but the assignment was designed under the assumption that you would be using the LINDO software used for LP in BA555. 3. The project is due at the beginning of class in week four (February 1). The Case: The Darby Company manufactures and distributes meters used to measure electric power consumption. The company started with a small production plant in El Paso, Texas and gradually built a customer base throughout Texas.A distribution center (DC) was established in Ft. Worth, Texas and later as business expanded to the North, a second distribution center was established in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The El Paso plant was expanded when the company began marketing its meters in Arizona, California, Nevada and Utah. With the growth of the West Coast business, the Darby Company opened a third distribution center in Las Vegas, Nevada and just two years ago opened a second manufacturing plant in San Bernardino, California. Manufacturing costs differ between the company’s two production facilities.The cost of each meter produced at the El Paso plant is $10. 50. The San Bernardino plant is more efficient and produces meters at $10. 00 a unit. Due to the company’s rapid growth, not much attention has been paid to the efficiency of the distribution system, but Darby’s management has decided that it is time to address this issue. The costs of shipping a meter from each of the plants to each of the three distribution centers is shown in Table 1. Yearly production capacity is 30,000 units at the El Paso plant and 20,000 units at the San Bernardino plant.Note that no shipments are allowed from the San Bernardino plant to the Ft. Worth distribution center. The company serves nine customer zones from the three distribution centers. The forecast of the number of meters needed in each customer zone for the following year is given in Table 2. The Unit costs of shipping from each distribution center to each customer zone is given in Table 3. Note that some of the distribution centers can not serve certain customer zones. In the current distribution strategy demand at the Dallas, San Antonio, Wichita and Kansas City customer zones is satisfied by shipments from the Ft.Worth DC. In a similar manner the Denver, Salt Lake City and Phoenix customer zones are served by the Santa Fe DC. And the Los Angles and San Diego customer zones are satisfied by the Las Vegas DC. To determine how many units to make at each plant, the customer demand forecasts are aggregated at the distribution centers and a transportation model is used to minimize the costs of shipping from the production plants to the distribution centers. Issues the company wants you to address 1. If the company does not change its distribution strategy what will its manufacturi ng and distribution costs be for the following quarter? . Suppose the company is willing to change its distribution strategy so that customer zones could be served from any distribution center for which costs are available. Would this reduce total costs? If so by how much? Would you make this change? Please be sure to examine all supply chain implications beyond just direct dollars saved. 3. The company wants to explore the potential of direct shipping from the plants to certain customer zones. Specifically the shipping cost is $. 30 per unit from San Bernardino to Los Angeles and $. 70 from San Bernardino to San Diego.The cost for direct shipments from El Paso to San Antonio is $3. 50 per unit. Should the company do direct shipping? If so on which routes? 4. In 3 years demand is expected to have increased 30% on average across all customers. At that time the company expects to have saturated the markets they presently serve (in other words additional growth will have to come from n ew markets). It will cost 3 dollars a unit to increase capacity at the El Paso plant and 4 dollars a unit at the San Bernardino plant. How much capacity, if any, would you add to each plant to satisfy future demand?Instructions: 1. When answering the questions it is expected that you address the following: a. What is the mathematically optimal way to meet all demands and constraints at the minimal cost? You must use LP to answer this question. b. The LP model gives you the minimum cost solution. What assumptions are you making if you implement the optimal solution from the model? At a minimum pleases be sure to consider: i. Quality ii. Delivery reliability and speed iii. Managing logistics iv. Optimizing the supply chain v.Customer satisfaction 2. You must turn in a disk (floppy, cd or dvd) that contains all models you used to write the paper. The disk should contain the models and the solutions. Assignments that are not accompanied by a disk with the models and solutions will lose 30%. You can not turn your models and solutions in late. 3. You may use any software supported by the COB you wish- but Dr. Pagell will be using LINDO. 4. Your assignment will have an appendix where the models are explained, Please use typical LP nomenclature (let statements and the like).If the professor can not figure out what the variables in your models represent you will lose points. 5. You will have a second appendix with a print out of your results. If you run multiple models you will need to print out results from all of the runs. 6. When it comes to format you do what you think is best to answer the questions with the following expectations / limitations: a. You will turn in a well written, grammatically correct, logically consistent paper. b. Presentation will be professional. Everything should be typed, easy to read, laid out in a logical manner, and so on. . Make sure you tell the reader where to find information. For instance if you are using a dual price to answer a qu estion say so. And tell the reader where to find this information in the paper. I am not going to guess where information comes from. d. This is a paper not a 4 questions test. I expect you to write a paper that integrates all four questions. Papers where each question is in its own stand alone section with no linkages to other sections of the paper will get lower grades than papers that integrate the information.Grades: Your grade will be based on the proper formulation, solution and interpretation of the models. Formulation and solutions will be worth 70% of your grade and interpretation will be 30% of your grade. The instructor reserves the right to give bonus points to students who come up with very elegant formulations. Table 1 Shipping cost per unit from production facilities to distribution centers | |Ft. Worth DC |Santa Fe DC |Las Vegas DC | |El Paso Plant |$ 3. 0 |$ 2. 20 |$ 4. 20 | |San Bernardino Plant |- |$ 3. 90 |$ 1. 20 | Table 2 Yearly demand forecast |Customer Zone |Demand in meters | |Dallas |6300 | |San Antonio |4880 |Wichita |2130 | |Kansas City |1210 | |Denver |6120 | |Salt Lake City |4830 | |Phoenix |2750 | |Los Angles |8580 | |San Diego |4460 | Table 3 Shipping costs from DC’s to customer zones in dollars ($) |Customer Zone | DC |Dallas |San Antonio |Wichita |Kansas City |Denver |Salt Lake City |Phoenix |Los Angles |San Diego | |Ft. Worth |. 3 |2. 1 |3. 1 |4. 4 |6. 0 |- |- |- |- | |Santa Fe |5. 2 |5. 4 |4. 5 |6. 0 |2. 7 |4. 7 |3. 4 |3. 3 |2. 7 | |Las Vegas |- |- |- |- |5. 4 |3. 3 |2. 4 |2. 1 |2. 5 | |

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Effect of Nutrition on Cardiovascular Disease Essay

Effect of Nutrition on Cardiovascular Disease - Essay Example Exercise as well benefits the heart while having the added benefit of weight loss and strength gain. According to a study conducted at the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (2005), "The more fast-food restaurants in a neighbourhood, the higher the prevalence of cardiovascular disease or death" (Taggart 2005). Such outlets offer menus with foods extremely high in fat and cholesterol, therefore avoiding such foods can only be good for the heart and the body overall. Eating more fish and fish oil, which increases omega-3 fats, and ingesting more fresh fruits and vegetables, will lower one's risk of heart disease (Massey 4). Although alcohol is looked upon by many as part of an unhealthy lifestyle and a decadent pleasure, wine has been found to have a beneficial affect on mortality for those individuals with CVD, as well. A 1995 study indicated that "there was a does-response relationship between the frequency of the intake of wine and mortality; the maximum effect was observed with a daily intake" (citing Gronbeak, et al.; Bygren, Carstensen, Engfeldt, & Theobald 652). Another decadent delight, chocolate, can have health benefits as well when eaten in moderation. It is the flavonoids in dark chocolate that appear to have some benefit on risk factors for cardiovascular disease when consumption is limited to approximately and ounce a day (Tufts 3). A risk that is almost unavoidable ... A risk that is almost unavoidable in today's industrial-age lifestyle is pollution. No matter where one lives, factories and vehicles have created air quality issues, and "several medical studies have suggested a link between air pollution and heart disease in people who are already at risk because of high cholesterol, diabetes and high blood pressure" (Massey 4). Researchers discovered that this is because pollution combined with a high-fat diet results in a quicker build up of "atherosclerotic plaque in the arteries" (4). Another enormous CVD risk is obesity and abdominal adiposity as reported in one recent study. Researchers determined that "a changing waist circumference affected the cardiometabolic riskboth waist and BMI change, together, were related to change in systolic blood pressure and hypertension" (Balkau, Fezeu, Picard, Vol, et al. 1901 & 1904). A lifestyle conducive to a healthy heart is one that includes regular exercise and weight loss. "A person who leads a sedentary lifestyle is two times as likely to develop heart disease as an individual who is physically active" (Ebony 122). Aerobic exercise promotes cardiovascular fitness and can be accomplished through cycling, jogging, walking for extended periods of time, etc Other "heart-smart" activities include resistance training, "which increases strength, decreases body fat and helps regulate blood cholesterol. Conclusion With a change in lifestyle, including a healthy diet and regular exercise, the possibilities of reducing or eliminating cardiovascular disease is great. Unfortunately, lifestyle changes are difficult and take enormous will and commitment to successfully obtain. However, when individuals realize that a change in habit can dramatically lengthen their

Friday, September 27, 2019

Ashes by Edvard Munch and Abstractoin by Juan Gris Essay

Ashes by Edvard Munch and Abstractoin by Juan Gris - Essay Example The mural print is a depiction of a man and a woman in a forest that is dusky. The atmosphere in the picture is relatively gloomy filled with both hopelessness and despair. The trees and the existence of a man and a woman can be interpreted to be a form of a romantic adventure. However, the adventure may have been crippled by a misfortune. The woman has her hands on her red, long hair while standing at the center of the picture. The frowned face is filled with desolation and despair while the direction of her eyes is towards the audience (viewer). Apparently, she is regretting something. On the other hand, the man has his hand on his head while sitting on the left corner of the picture. The tone of his face is apparently not only sickly but also green. In fact, the man appears to be so hopeless that his pace can’t face the viewer. The dress that the woman has on her is white and it is half unbuttoned. Inside the white dress, one can glimpse at the red undergarment . The colors depicted in Munch’s work can be interpreted in several ways. According to my interpretation, white is used to represent innocence of the woman in question while the red one can be a symbol of either love or passion or even romance. As for black, which is normally associated with negativity, symbolizes either death or sorrow. The green painting on the man’s face expresses a disturbed state of the mind and a sad mood. Interestingly, a clear look at the picture using high definition quality glasses indicates that there is lack.

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Critiquing a Website Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Critiquing a Website - Essay Example The website being evaluated in this report is the www.southalabama.edu/alumni. It is used by old students and friends to establish connections with the alumni association of the University of South Alabama. Visitors can access the latest news regarding the alumni activities and also take membership if they meet the criteria. The website also has a newsletter which updates the members about the latest happenings. Information is also available about scholarships along with forms. Ferocious jaguar eyes are what that greet you when you visit the homepage of the University of South Alabama National Alumni Association. The dark background against the bright colored banner does not have a desirable visual effect. One could nearly miss the white colored title of the webpage as it is overshadowed by the bright color of the banner. There are more than half a dozen links that are crammed up on the left side of the page. One needs to actually hunt for the "Home" link. It is the 16th link from the top and has small paw icon associated with it. There is no uniformity in the links on the left side of the page as some of them have tiny icons associated with them and some don't. There is description present on the homepage about the alumni which is too short. The homepage has two links with different names which open up to the same page, "Alumni Board" and "Board of directors ". Similarly "Contact Us "is linked thrice on the homepage and that is redundant. Apart from this there are different font sizes and bold text used in

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

J.S. v. Blue Mountain School District and US v. Michael Anthony Essay

J.S. v. Blue Mountain School District and US v. Michael Anthony Marcavage, Appellant - Essay Example Michael Anthony Marcavage. The case was first filed in 2007 then the final decision took place in June 2010 in The Third Circuit. Michael Anthony filed an appeal against the Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia. In the first case two students from Blue Mountain School District were suspended. They had created a fake profile of their principal on MySpace. The eighth standard students did not mention the principal, James McGonigle’s name on the profile but they included his picture which they took from the website of the school district. They also identified this profile of a person who is a ‘principal’. The profile also contained many negative comments about McGonigle and his family along with characterizing the principal as a sex-obsesses paedophile. The school had thus determined that the students had violated the discipline of the school by creating a fake profile. The school discipline prohibited any student of making negative accusations of an y staff members of the school. Thus, the students were suspended from school for ten days. J.S. was one of those students who sued McMonigle the school district and his superintendent in account of violating her rights from the First Amendment. She argued that she could not be punished for her out-of-school conduct or speech which did not cause any disruption for the classes or administration. It was ruled that any out-of-school speech which affects the school campus could be punishable, even if the effect does not cause substantial disruption as decided in Tinker’s case in 1969. However, J.S. then appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. The Third Circuit held that in the Tinker case it was applied that a student’s speech, whether out-of-school campus or in school campus, that causes harm or threatens the school or any member of the school district is punishable. J.S. was granted an en branc rehearing for her appeal. The en branc reversed the decision of the District Court and held that there was an exception to Tinker’s case that the school district could not punish students for their 0ff campus speeches that have not affected the educational mission of school. Thus it was concluded that the school district held no authority to punish the students for their off campus behaviour or speech. In the second case, Marcavage had started an anti-abortionist demonstration with about twenty other people along the sidewalk of the Independence National Historical Park. He had not applied for any permission for the demonstration. The place where he demonstrated was the only entrance and exit access to the Liberty Bell Centre. They positioned themselves outside the entrance hindering the entrance and exit to the Liberty Bell Centre. Alan Saperstein was the ranger of the Park and he approached Marcavage asking him to relocate from the entrance and exit access to the area near the Visitor Centre on Market Street. He also ask ed Marcavage to stop using his bullhorn. Despite the requests Marcavage refused to relocate and continued his demonstrations. Saperstein approached him again with Ian Crane on the telephone line who was the chief ranger of the Park and who had dealt with Marcavage before too. Marcavage was ordered to obey Saperstein and relocate but he refused. Saperstein came several times and received negative responses from Marcavage who continued his demonstrations so finally Saperstein came with some other rangers and physically restrained Marcavage by holding his hands at his back and marching him off the sidewalk. Marcavage was accused of violating the permit terms and interfering with the agency functions. He

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 17

Analysis - Essay Example It is not possible to claim that one is right in doing such things in a certain way e.g. committing adultery at the right time and with the right woman. He argues that for such cowardly and unjust actions, there is no mean because what is seen to be intermediate is in fact extreme. When such actions are done, they are wrong. The reasons given by Aristotle clearly support the thesis. He shows that the choice of an action lying between good and bad is itself a bad action since it is not possible to do a bad thing in the right way. What is seen to be an intermediate or midpoint is itself a bad choice. The reasons given are plausible because the fact that a bad action is being undertaken, it remains to be bad regardless of where and how such actions are committed. For instance, there is no way of good way of being a murderer or adulterous. In real life, this passage plays an important in real life since it emphasizes on the importance of choosing the right action when faced with the choices of bad and evil. For example, the mid-point between non-murder and murder is not the right choice. The right choice in this case is non-murder. Therefore, there is no good deed that lies between bad and good. It will remain to be

Monday, September 23, 2019

Influencial Person during the American Revolution Essay

Influencial Person during the American Revolution - Essay Example He was born in Thetford, England, to a corset-maker father and a religious mother, both of whom were Quakers1. He enrolled in school, attending regularly until almost the age of thirteen, when he was forced to drop out and learn his father’s trade. Deciding that he disliked being a corset-maker, he tried a number of other trades, including teacher, grocer, and excise tax collector2. While he worked his best at these occupations, Paine really had no desire to make these occupations his for the rest of his life, and therefore fared badly in all of them. Paine came to the colonies in 1774, settling in Philadelphia after meeting with Benjamin Franklin in London. Franklin wrote what was known at the time as â€Å"letters of introduction† for Paine, and Paine left for the colonies to begin a new life3. Less than two years later, Paine found himself embroiled in the American Revolution. Many Americans believed, at first, that the fight with the British was not about independen ce or gaining any sort of freedom, but rather to plead with the King for a redress of grievances4. In 1775, when the revolution had progressed as far as the Battles of Lexington and Bunker Hill, four of the Founding Fathers, including John Adams, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, and George Washington, met to review dispatches, during which time Paine entered the room5. After being introduced by Franklin, Paine states frankly, â€Å"These States of America must be independent of England. That is the only solution to this question!†6 Though most of the men felt that this was, in essence, a shocking statement, they all realized that Paine was right, and that independence must be achieved if they were to live freely from England7. Paine proceeded, not long after, to write the pamphlet that would energize the American people, entitled Common Sense. In this pamphlet, he addressed the problems of the English monarchy, the advisability of separation from England and gaining American independence, the nature of the American colonists as a society, and also made some modest proposals for a new form of government8. His motive, in writing the pamphlet, was not only to plant the idea of independence in the minds of the colonists but to turn the anger of Americans away from particular parliamentary measures and towards what he considered the root of the problem, which, in his mind, was the English constitution itself9. Common Sense sold more than 100,000 copies in only a few months, and helped to create a rapid growth of support for the idea of independence in the early months of 177610. One of the reasons for its success was that, by coincidence, it was published first on the same day that a speech from the King of England reached the United States, denouncing all Americans in the colonies as traitors and rebels, and stating frankly that it would be the right of England to bind the colonies forever11. Though at first it was read with a wide amount of alarm, as most colonists knew from almost the first words that it was a statement against the grain of normal thought at the time, after taking many pauses and re-reading it over and over again, most of the American public came to realize that Paine was right, and that independence would be the only way to free themselves from English tyranny forever12. Paine had an audience ready to listen to him and hail him as a prophet not because of his words, but

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Review Of Documentary Lifers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Review Of Documentary Lifers - Essay Example   To shed some light on this issue, Channel 4 created a series of documentaries a few years ago that highlights and follows some of the prisoners serving what amounts to a life sentence at Gartree prison. The film itself is designed to give viewers a glimpse of the harsh reality of life behind bars, without any possibility of seeing freedom again on the other side. It provides a stark contrast between a society that believes in second chances, with the reality that such opportunities are not afforded to everyone, particularly those who have violated certain societal norms and mores that go against the grain of civilized society (Channel 40d 2012).   Through the depiction of various real life inmates, this documentary guides viewers towards a better understanding of the concept of having certain prisoners serve a life sentence, no matter what efforts they may make to better themselves behind bars. In the end, the documentary is masterful of not making a social judgment about the e fficacy of the UK’s policy of life imprisonment; rather, it leaves the choice up to the individual viewer as to rather or not the concept is beneficial or harmful to society as a whole.  This documentary, by and large, is effective because the prisoner themselves are afforded the opportunity to tell their stories. Some are truly regretful for their actions, while others express a feeling that their lives truly are over, resulting in a no fear attitude that pervades their existence in prison.

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Eddie Carbone Essay Example for Free

Eddie Carbone Essay Whats more, this would make Marcos purpose of the journey, to build a future, pointless. In addition, Eddie cruelly implies that Rodolfo is an inexperienced longshoreman. I seen greenhorns sometimes get in trouble that way. By saying this, Eddie aims to hurt Rodolfos feelings and perhaps make him feel like an unwanted boy. Soon afterwards, Eddie tries to explain how American girls are also strict and that Catherine shouldnt arrive home late at night, till he came here she was never out on the street twelve oclock at night. In affect, both Rodolfo and Marco try to understand Eddies point of view, as if he were a father to them. Eventually, Marco comes to a decision and tells Rodolfo to arrive back home earlier. But the audience knows that Eddie fails to express whats really on his mind. Essentially, Eddie understands that if Catherine is seen with Rodolfo by any of Eddies friends, Eddies reputation would be ruined and hell be the joke just like Rodolfo. It is this urge to protect Catherine, to keep her from discovering her independence which makes him increasingly sensitive to the presence of Beatrices cousins and to Rodolfo in particular, to whom Catherine rapidly becomes attracted. Later on in the scene, Catherine and Rodolfo begin to dance. When they come to an end, Eddie subconsciously twists the newspaper in his hands into a tight roll. The other characters are aware of what he is thinking, but they wait for his answer. Unsurprisingly, Eddie fails to clearly express his thoughts on Rodolfo; during his attempt to mock Rodolfos femininity and expose him as weak, he manages only to tell everybody that with Rodolfos abilities, he wouldnt be on the waterfront he would be someplace else like in a dress store. Here, Miller has explored Eddies prejudice against Rodolfo, who is different. Furthermore, Eddie uses repetition to reinforce his points, He can cook. He can sing. He can make dresses. Seeing that language proved unsuccessful for Eddie and even he cant understand what hes saying anymore, he tears the paper in two and decides to utilize physical action, a skill where he knows he can beat Rodolfo. Miller uses such gestures and stage directions as the tearing of the paper to dramatize the feelings of Eddie. Eddies obsession with Catherine is something he is not able to recognize or understand for himself. Instead he focuses his anger and frustration upon Rodolfo, who has a frivolous and light-hearted attitude to life. It is this that Catherine finds attractive and Eddie finds repulsive and unmanly. Eddie is also suspicious of Rodolfos interest in Catherine, believing that he seeks her hand in marriage in order to gain an American passport. While a degree of realism is appropriate in the design of the Carbone family home, the street itself should also be indicated. Accordingly, throughout the boxing match, the table lamp may well collapse, leaving the room gloomy and obscure. To compensate for the illumination, a red MOTEL light featuring outside the window could remain pulsing on and off. Nonetheless, the men will continue boxing, whilst Catherine switches the main light back on. I assume that merely a few seconds would allow the radiance to take full effect. The word motel indicates the cheap accommodation immigrants require in Brooklyn. In addition, while Catherine and Rodolfo dance, the main light could dim and the motel light could appear flashing on and off to the rhythm of the music. It may encourage the passionate mood set by the music. While the fight occurs on stage, I would recommend that Marco stay solitary in the corner. By separating Marco from the rest of the characters, who are supposedly in the centre of the stage, the audience recognizes his presence, without him having to do anything. Marco has cleverly kept quiet throughout the scene unless asked a question, as he may be embarrassed to display his weak language skills. But when Eddie cracks a punch at Rodolfo, Marco suddenly gets involved. Marco challenges Eddie by inviting him to raise a chair from its leg. Eddie has underestimated his opponent and his false sense of confidence about his own strength has led Marco to win the test of strength. Clearly Marco knows his adversarys well and is smart enough to avoid talking, but he prevails in a physical battle. You may think of the chair struggle as a battle for primate dominance, whereby both challengers are fighting to become Alpha male. Nonetheless, in both contests Eddies authority is undermined and in his own living room. In brief, I believe that Marco is in control of the situation, even though he stepped in half way through the scene. Eddie considers the challenge and presence of other men to be a threat to his authority. Eddies fear of losing his authority and masculinity serves as a prime motivating force, for him to assert his power. It is Eddies reluctance to compromise with the other characters and Catherines ever increasing appeal to Rodolfo that causes Eddie to fight for his control. Here, the vision Alfieri foresaw at the beginning of the play is in reaching distance. In the final scene, the act of betrayal of members of Eddies own family brings about the final bloody tragedy which Alfieri foresaw at his first interview with Eddie. Despite Alfieris efforts, Marco is intent upon revenge for his betrayal, while Eddie is determined to maintain his reputation and his honour. During the last scene of the play, Marco and Eddie come face to face in full view of the neighborhood. This theatrical scene holds the climax to the play and even though the audience is well aware of what is to happen, they are more curious as to how the other characters will react. In this scene Eddies reputation is at stake and he is prepared to stake his life on the line. By Catherine finding work and her growing attraction to Rodolfo, which leads to their planned marriage brings out an increasingly aggressive reaction in Eddie that starts to break the family apart. Eddie is trying to defend his own innocence so that, when his wife says, You cant have her, he is genuinely disgusted that she could think of him that way. He defends himself against the sexual allegation to the end. But if there is a sexual guilt operating here, it is combined with the social situation he is in. Basically, there is noting more horrifying to the general public than betrayal. It destroys the protection of their society. There is also the political side; because Miller was in the middle of the McCarthy period, the so-called Congressional investigation in America. When Eddie yells I want my name! he implies that he wants his reputation back from Marco. When Eddie handed Marco over to the authorities, Eddie squealed He killed my children. That one stole the food from my children. Eddie believes that Marco is to blame for tarnishing his reputation with this lie. On the other hand, Marco was partially correct for what he had said for the reason that, without Marco earning money for his children, they will be unable to purchase food and could ultimately die. In reality, Eddie cannot face the fact that the reason he lost his name was because he betrayed Rodolfos and Eddies trust; and treachery was considered the worst act in a Sicilian society. Marco refers to Eddie as Animal, which suggests that Eddie was a suck up` to the American law. Resembling an animal, Eddie did anything to get his just rewards. Likewise a dog would do anything when offered a bone. Finally, after realizing what he has done, Eddie is prepared to risk his life in order to save his reputation, his name. Eventually, Eddie dies in the arms of his wife, after Marco had killed him in self defence. In the closing speech by Alfeiri, he declares we settle for half, in which case he is referring to Eddies attitude towards the American and Sicilian law. Eddie has followed the American law, by reporting the illegal immigrants to the authorities. However, he has also pursued Sicilian concepts; such as the last moment, when he was prepared to die for his reputation. This shows that he is half American and half Sicilian. Alfieri recognizes that the death of Eddie Carbone should serve as a reminder to those who must carry on, and to the audience, that it is better to settle for half, it must be. Yet as Alfieri admits, this represents a compromise of peoples hopes, desires and sense of justice which he ultimately regards with alarm. The chorus, Alfieri, is the law. He has the ability to move in and out of the play. He knows the Sicilian way, but understands that the Sicilian way is something you outgrow when you come to America. I suspect that Eddie wants to be more like Alfieri than any other character. He wants to have a foot in both camps. He wants to be defined by his job. Miller implies that Eddie is a tragic hero, since the one virtue Eddie lacks is not being able to settle for half. Eddie cannot accept the presence of other men being something other than a threat to his authority. It was obvious from the beginning that Eddie would get into trouble if he continued what he was doing, but his obsession with not being able to settle for half brought about the event that Alfieri foresaw and which he was powerless to prevent, despite his best efforts. The play is a Greek tragedy because Eddie is led by fate towards a destiny he cannot escape. Through his death, the audience is involved, purged of their emotions by a tragic ending, leaving the theatre sadder but wiser. In conclusion, Eddie is Millers solution that he set himself about trying to write a Greek tragedy in Brooklyn. Shezad Chowdhury 10P Page 1 of 6 Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE Arthur Miller section.

Friday, September 20, 2019

Comparison Of Parmenides And Heraclitus Philosophy Essay

Comparison Of Parmenides And Heraclitus Philosophy Essay At the first sight Heraclitus and Parmenides uphold the opposite principles, with their doctrines being in dramatic contrast, while the former affirms change, becoming and cyclic recurrence of things and the latter denies their existence. For Heraclitus true being is circular and transforms into not-being, life turns into death and the change that occurs is eternal and cyclical, it truly is (Graham). While for Parmenides true being is motionless and static, it does not change behind the appearance of change. Both philosophers indirectly abolished death by stamping becoming with the seal of being (McFarlane). But, actually, Parmenides and Heraclitus asserted the One. They merely applied to different approaches to teach the same things. Heraclitus affirmed that diverse appearances change, therefore opposites exist in interconnection, depend on each other and are in unity. He conceived a unity of opposites and accepted becoming, while Parmenides refuted opposites, accentuated being and claimed: Being is ungenerated and indestructible, whole, of one kind and unwavering and complete. Nor was it, nor will it be, since now it is, all together, one, continuous. Hereby, different appearances of reality do not truly change, because they so not exist. Parmenides considered that change is impossible, as everything is staying the same, being one single static element, but his opponent, Heraclitus, on the contrary, affirmed that everything is in constant flux, it is changing and his statement everything flows and you cannot step into one and the same river twice have become phrases. He argued that one cannot step twice into the same river, nor touch mortal substance twice in the same condition. By the speed of change, it scatters, and gathers again, so the river will be different every time it is regarded (Graham). Claiming that motion is change, Heraclitus became known for his philosophy of universal flux and fire that, according to him, was the basic material of the world, as well as his controversial theory of coinciding opposites. The philosopher is considered to be independent of a definite school, as this heritage is multilayered and comprises elements of material monism and scientific cosmology, metaphysics and rationalism, but he definitely was a revolutionary whose works despite they were profoundly studied remain controversial and challenging to interpret (Graham). The Greek philosopher presents uses the inductive method by means of which he wants the others to understand the world, he habitually presents a simple situation giving a concrete image, hereby he enables readers to educate themselves. To convey his beliefs more fruitfully Heraclitus uses such stylistic devices as chiasmus and alliteration in his speeches in defense of the theory. The philosopher diligently reiterates that his readers will not understand his message, but he promises to try to explain them everything he is able to see to: distinguish each thing according to its nature and show how it is (Graham). The form in which Heraclitus presents his work is essential for understanding its essence, he uses the technique of verbal complexity and syntactical ambiguity, Charles Kahn, for instance, characterizes his style with two words linguistic density and resonance. With his style similar to Hesoid and the Orphics Parmenides is supposed to have written only one work entitled On Nature that is unfortunately preserved only in fragments, though it originally extended to about eight hundred verses. Parmenides broke the prose tradition by writing it in hexameter verse and was widely quoted by the later authors who kept it for the future generations. The philosopher speaks in support of his principles in the Proem that has a number of interpretation variants and is regarded by contemporary scholars in the aspect of the strict monism, logical-dialectics, meta-principle etc. The work deals with the goddess who must reveal the two ways to Parmenides and he should chose the better one. The two ways present his former error and the truth that becomes clear to him. The work consists of two parts, the first one concerns the truth or the true reality and the second deals with the world of illusion, that is the world of senses and opinions. In the fragment 8 t he goddess utters the philosophers principle of the universal statics by claiming: As yet a single tale of a way remains, that it is; and along this path markers are there very many, that What Is isà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ whole and uniform, and still and perfect à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ with the past or the future being meaningless for the reason. Parmenides believed that the reality is and must be in the strictest sense and any alternation in it is not possible. Remarkably, in Parmenidess Proem the goddess criticizes ordinary men for being guided with their senses. Unlike Heraclitus, the thinker judges merely by reason and never trusts the senses. In the human perception the world is nothing but a deceitful show (Palmer). Several other fragments found indicate that Parmenides touched upon the themes of physiology and human thought in his work and claimed that our own selves are deceptive and accentuated subjectivity of individual perception. While Heraclitus also emphasizing human affairs is supposed to be the first humanist, who proves the blindness of humans in his doctrine. Though he believed that humans are frequently incapable of understanding, let alone wisdom, he does not deny the importance of senses and says: The things of which there is sight, hearing, experience, I prefer. The philosopher connected accumulation of wisdom with senses and memory rather than with knowledge, and the latter does not necessarily teach humans understanding. So, in accordance with Heraclitus, people do not learn by experience, as they cannot process the information they perceive, however, humans still exercise self-knowledge and sound thinking. To comprehend his insights one should catch their complexity and discover the unity of the elements (Graham). According to Guthrie, for Parmenides there was no cosmology, as he presented the proofs of the impossibility of the opposites existence. Conceiving the plurality of normal beliefs, the philosopher, however, makes mention of cosmology principles in the fragments 8 and 9 where he discusses light and night, as well as the stars, sun, moon and the earth itself. Commenting on his cosmology, Guthrie remarked that for he philosophy it remains just a dialectical device used for viewing the picture of the physical and sensible world (Palmer). The evidence of that is found in the goddesss words when she characterizes cosmology as: the beliefs of mortals. Contrary to Parmenides, Heraclitus being a cosmologist mentions in his texts the kosmos order describing the world around us, that he identifies with fire. Fire is described in his doctrine as the origin of all, all things are merely manifestations of fire and it is a symbol of change because it is never the same, without change, according to him, there will be no world. The elements are in cosmic balance and undergo the eternal transformations with no single element gaining predominance (Graham). Heraclitus says in his work: The turnings of fire: first sea, and of sea half is earth, half fireburst. Unlike Parmenides, who proved the impossibility of the existence of opposites in his doctrine, Heraclitus entails the coincidence of opposites and discusses their interconnection, saying: Sea is the purest and most polluted water: for fish drinkable and healthy, for men undrinkable and harmful. According to Herclitus, contrary qualities are included into the same thing, he reasons that th e same thing is living and dead at the same time, it is waking and sleeping, young and old (Graham). However, the philosopher accentuates that though the opposites are correlative, they are never identical to each other. But the coincidence of opposites results in contradictions that cannot be avoided by the philosopher. Barnes, for instance, blames the scholar for violating the principles of logic and making knowledge an impossible thing (Graham). Analyzing the philosophers beliefs as those advocating the radical change, we see that Heraclitus flux is a case of the unity of opposites described in his doctrine. But contemporary analysts claim, he cannot be both a believer in radical flux and a monist, so he is definitely a pluralist who urges self-control and moderation and regards the soul as the moral center of human existence (Graham). Despising passion, he admires the power received through self-mastery and self-purification: It is not good for men to get all that they wish to g et. Whatever our desire wishes to get, it purchases at the cost of soul. Parmenides also discusses the behavior of the humans, is interested in the human thought and reasoning, though his discourse on that matter concerns cosmology. The interconnection becomes clearer as he discusses a wide range of natural phenomena. Being a rigid monist, Heraclitus believed in war, he even praised it calling it a guiding force in the world and claiming: War is father of all and king of all; without the conflict we would have only lifeless uniformity. The philosopher as well as Parmenides speaks of God, however, Hercalitus means neither the Greek Gods nor a personal entity. He considers that God exists in every soul and in every single thing in the world. Due to his fire and flux theory he explains the presence of God in everything on earth. While Parmenides suggests that What Is is a god, and what must be must be or exist and must be what it is, not only temporally but also spatially (Palmer). Though one thinks that the universe is static, eternal and motionless, denies change and becoming, another one affirms them and opens new perspectives for the Greek though by introducing his theory of flux and fire, both have influenced the philosophic tradition and challenged the naÃÆ' ¯ve theories of their predecessors by developing more sophisticated ones. Parmenides, being a metaphysical monist, and Heraclitus, rather independent of any ancient theories, a material monist, a scientific cosmologist and a rationalist, have much more in common than it used to be generally recognized. Moreover, Heraclitus is supposed to inspire Parmenides for developing a contrasting theory, so that they could be seen as representatives advocating constant flux and universal stasis.

Thursday, September 19, 2019

In this cold generation :: essays papers

In this cold generation In this cold generation, called "Generation X," where young men and women find themselves lost wondering what to do with their life, finding a passion for something, a passion that rules your life, is very important. I found out in my interview with Phil Gervais that unlike many of his generation he has a direction. He looks like any other 18 year old, but he is different because in some way he has what many of us lack: he knows what he wants. He wants to become a firefighter. Phil has found a passion that rules his life. Phil is pursuing a major in Social Rehabilitation but as soon as he finishes college, he will apply for a job with the Fire Department in his hometown of Ware Massachusetts. How did Phil develop this passion? Phil's desire to become a firefighter is an inherited trait because for generations many members of his family served as firefighters. This family legacy remarkably influenced Phil's choices in life. His grandfather Ernie, an emigrant from Canada, became the first one to enroll as a volunteer firefighter. Then his father, his uncle and finally his aunt all became firefighters. Phil used to go with his father when he answered his fire calls. While accompanying his father in 1992, a time when Phil was only 8 years old, he saw a victim of a fire for the first time. His first encounter with a dead person did not discourage him from the idea of becoming a firefighter. How did it happen? One afternoon he went with his father to the scene of a fire and there he suddenly saw in the middle of the floor a dead body of one of the victims of the fire. Partially covered with a blanket, Phil could only see a few burned spots on the hands. Nevertheless, he was not scared. While accompanying his father on many fire calls, Phil heard many terrible noises and he felt the heat of the fire. He saw tragic sights such as the dead body on many occasions. These scenes became commonplace during his childhood. Now eighteen years old, Phil works as a volunteer firefighter in his hometown. Only last week he was able to put his training to practice in a real fire call.

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Cabaret Essay -- essays research papers

'How do the cabaret songs and routines comment on the social issues which are the background for the story of Cabaret?' Satirical on every level, Bob Fosse's 1972 film Cabaret redefines the previously accepted genre of the musical. Using the songs and routines as cunning tools of social commentary the musical numbers both predict and interpret the world of Berlin in 1931. The opening routine, 'Wilkommen', is a powerful introduction to the opposing worlds of the protagonists Brian and Sally and also indicates the significance all songs in the Cabaret will be instilled with. As the camera moves from the distorted mirror to the grotesquely masked face of the Master of Ceremonies (Joel Grey) who claims, 'I am your host, wilkommen', the need to look below the 'beautiful' surface of both the cabaret and Berlin is established. As the opening progresses the MC welcomes in three languages, English, French and German, communicating from the outset that the satirical and political messages of the film are universal, but often in need of personal interpretation. It is obvious the the MC as a good host will meet all our needs and it is vital to note that it is with him that we establish our initial identification; the relationship with Brian (Michael York) is secondary even though he is the protagonist. Like the audience, the MC is an observer who seeks to critiqu e the world of Berlin. The initial establishment of the female protagonist, Sally Bowles (Liza Minnelli), is also undertake...

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

The Representation of Evil in Stevensons Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Essay

The Representation of Evil in Stevenson's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde This essay will show how evil is represented in Robert Louis Stevenson's 'Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde'. 'Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde' is about evil and the duality of people's personalities. To show this I will focus on Stevenson's use of characterization, setting, historical, social and cultural context, settings, symbols and language. Robert Stevenson lived in the Victorian era, this was a very repressive and strict society where it was expected that middle class men would visit prostitutes. This was because people were not supposed to be like animals and have animal instincts such as lust. This meant that middle class men would only sleep with their wives so they could have children and carry on the bloodline. This society would have influenced Stevenson as he was a middle class man himself and he would have experienced his own stifled emotions and hidden instincts, such as lust and rage. Stevenson may also have taken inspiration for the character Mr. Hyde from the crimes of Jack the Ripper who was committing his violent crimes on women at that time. Stevenson may have also been influenced by Mary Shelly's 'Frankenstein', which also deals with the themes of dual personalities and evil. In the text Stevenson uses a lot of powerful imagery when describing Mr. Hyde. He uses words such as detestable and deformed. These words create a picture in the readers mind and give them a general feeling of horror, evil and mistrust. Through out the play Stevenson refers to Mr. Hyde as an animal "God bless me the man seems hardly human". This makes the reader picture Mr. Hyde as s... ...one is particularley important and relevant due to the advances of science, which have seen scientists able to clone human embryos. As we can see in 'Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde' and also in Mary Shelley's 'Frankenstein" people who play with nature and do not take responsibility for their work and creations ultimately end up creating evil things which they do not understand or know how to control. It could be said that Stevenson wrote the story as a warning to Victorian society about repression and science or maybe it was just an interesting mystery story, which happens to have like many fictions and stories to have become almost true. To conclude I think that evil is effectively portrayed in 'Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde'. Stevenson does this by focusing mainly on the themes of duality and suppression of and in human nature.

Monday, September 16, 2019

Priorless tale

Prioress Tale and Christian Anti-Semitic In the story â€Å"Prioress Tale† by Geoffrey Chaucer had some ways where it was anti- semitic. The Catholic Church had a hatred of Jews. Jews did not believe Jesus was their savior. Christians hated and blamed Jews for the death of Jesus calling them Satan's agents. â€Å"The boy is â€Å"little†, â€Å"young†, â€Å"tender† etc. The Villains are â€Å"cursed†, â€Å"a wasp's nest of satan† who â€Å"conspire† to murder the little boy' (3).The school where the young boy had gone to was described as a good kid taught young children how o pray and praise Mary the mother of Jesus. â€Å"O mother maid, O maiden mother free! O bush unburnt, burning in Moses' sight, that ravishedest down from the deity†¦. Conceiv ©d was the Father's Sapience† (7). The Jews were killed as a penalty for the death of a young boy with no proof that they were the ones involved in this crime. â€Å"The Prio ress Tale† and â€Å"Christian anti-Semitism† both show how far a person will go to torment others to invent to be an activist of god.Christians had set up heir own policy in the name of god but there was no similarity to Jesus because Jesus represents of love and forgiveness. During the middle ages the tale reflects anti-Semitic in different ways. The Christians had blamed the Jews responsible for Jesus death. The church had discussions about how the Christians should not affiliate themselves with any Jewish people. Jews were not allowed to do a lot of things such as were not allowed to buy any property from the Christians. Jews were accused of a lot of things but they wasn't even involved with.For this reason Jews were burnt alive. One of the reasons Jews were blamed for doing malicious things because they planned for the death of Christ. Another reason why they were blamed for doing malicious things was when Jews had claimed the blood of Jesus for them and their chil dren. The medieval anti- Semitism had trust in the Jewish faith that they were in lower place to Christianity and they had an alliance with Satan. Jews were also cursed and would remain curse even if they had converted themselves to Christianity.

Reading Skills Essay

Reading Reading is the receptive skill in the written mode. It can develop independently of listening and speaking skills, but often develops along with them, especially in societies with a highly-developed literary tradition. Reading can help build vocabulary that helps listening comprehension at the later stages, particularly. Micro-skills involved in reading. The reader has to: †¢ decipher the script. In an alphabetic system or a syllabary, this means establishing a relationship between sounds and symbols. In a pictograph system, it means associating the meaning of the words with written symbols. †¢ recognize vocabulary. †¢ pick out key words, such as those identifying topics and main ideas. †¢ figure out the meaning of the words, including unfamiliar vocabulary, from the (written) context. †¢ recognize grammatical word classes: noun, adjective, etc. †¢ detect sentence constituents, such as subject, verb, object, prepositions, etc. †¢ recognize basic syntactic patterns. †¢ reconstruct and infer situations, goals and participants. †¢ use both knowledge of the world and lexical and grammatical cohesive devices to make the foregoing inferences, predict outcomes, and infer links and connections among the parts of the text. †¢ get the main point or the most important information. †¢ distinguish the main idea from supporting details. †¢ adjust reading strategies to different reading purposes, such as skimming Why is reading skill is so important? Reading is one of the skills most crucial for a child’s success in school and in life. If children don’t learn to read with comprehension early enough, their education is at risk. If they don’t learn to read effortlessly enough to render reading pleasurable, their chances for a fulfilling life–by any measure, whether academic achievement, financial stability or job skills–are tremendously diminished. How to improve reading skill: Teaching reading can be an arduous task as it is often difficult to know how to improve student skills. One of the most obvious, but often unnoticed, points about reading is that there are different types of reading skills. †¢ Skimming – reading rapidly for the main points †¢ Scanning – reading rapidly to find a specific piece of information †¢ Extensive – reading a longer text, often for pleasure with emphasis on overall meaning †¢ Intensive reading – reading a short text for detailed information These different types of skills are used quite naturally when reading in a mother tongue. Unfortunately, when learning a second or foreign language, people tend to employ only â€Å"intensive† style reading skills. I have often noticed that students insist on understanding every word and find it difficult to take my advice of reading for the general idea, or only looking for required information. Students studying a foreign language often feel that if they don’t understand each and every word they are somehow not completing the exercise. In order to make students aware of these different types of reading styles, it is useful to provide an awareness raising lesson to help them identify reading skills they already apply when reading in their native tongues. Thus, when approaching an English text, students should first identify what type of reading skill needs to be applied to the specific text at hand. In this way valuable skills, which students already possess, are easily transferred to their English reading. Outline: †¢ Ask students about what types of reading they do in their own mother tongue(s). †¢ Write different categories of written material on board. i. e. magazines, novels, train schedules, newspapers, advertising, etc. †¢ Have students describe how they go about reading each kind of material. You may want to prompt them by asking the following questions: o Do you read every word in the tv schedule? o Do you understand every word you read when reading a novel? o What kind of clues can the presentation of the material give? o How much time do you spend reading the newspaper? Do you read every single word? o What kind of assumptions do you make when you read the first few lines, or a headline? (i. e. Once upon a time†¦. ) o How much time do you spend reading the various types of materials? †¢ Based on students’ answers to such questions, ask them to identify the type of skills they are using in the various reading situations. †¢ Divide students into small groups and give them the skills summary and short worksheet. †¢ Have students discuss their opinions about the various skills required for the listed materials. †¢ Present various â€Å"real world† materials (i. e. magazines, books, scientific materials, computer manuals etc. ) and ask students to identify the necessary skills required. Reading Styles  Skimming – Reading rapidly for the main points Scanning – Reading rapidly through a text to find specific information required Extensive – Reading longer texts, often for pleasure and for an overall understanding Intensive – Reading shorter texts for detailed information with an emphasis on precise understanding Identify the reading skills required in the following reading situations: †¢ The TV guide for Friday evening †¢ An English grammar book †¢ An article in National Geographic magazine about the Roman Empire †¢ A good friend’s homepage on the Internet †¢ The weather report in your local newspaper †¢ A novel †¢ A poem. †¢ A bus timetable †¢ A fax at the office †¢ An advertising email – so called â€Å"bodyfit† †¢ An email or letter from your best friend †¢ A recipe †¢ A short story by your favourite author Note: There is often not a single correct answer, several choices may be possible according to your reading purpose. If you find that there are different possibilities, state the situation in which you would use the various skills. Developing Reading Skills How many of us remember how we learned to read? Even if we cannot remember how we learned, as parents and educators we can do a lot to help children learn to read and enjoy reading. Reading involves three distinct but intertwined skills: decoding, fluency and comprehension. Decoding is understanding and using sound/letter relationships. Fluency is being able to read quickly and easily. Comprehension is being able to get meaning from the words that have been put together. Comprehension is the point of reading—the reason for reading. But a reader must reach a certain level of decoding and fluency before comprehension can occur. Learning to read involves a constant back-and-forth flow among these three skills. A difficulty in any one of them can cause a breakdown in reading skill. Decoding Decoding means understanding the sounds associated with letter symbols and being able to put them together. A good reading program teaching decoding skills will include phonological awareness activities, blending sounds and segmenting sounds. Phonological awareness is the understanding that words are made up of individual letter/sound combinations. Blending is being able to put those sounds together to â€Å"read† a word. Segmenting is being able to separate a word into individual sounds. In more advanced reading, blending and segmenting will be used to put together or take apart multisyllable words. Some instruction in decoding is useful for all readers to help them read unfamiliar words and also in spelling. Many readers understand the decoding system easily. Those who do not should receive more extensive, direct teaching in these skills. Decoding is what we often associate with phonics and is frequently considered the boring part of learning to read. But it doesn’t need to be. Teachers can help their child with phonics and phonological awareness through word games. Rhyming activities, discussing words with alliterative sounds (â€Å"mean monsters munching mints†) or play games by deleting sounds (say â€Å"clap† without the â€Å"c†) are all ways to help young children become aware of sounds. Having them read or spell nonsense words (such as â€Å"glont† or â€Å"bresk†) can become a game which will help them practice using sounds and learn patterns in the English language Fluency Once a child knows all the sounds, he needs to be able to blend them automatically (or without consciously thinking about it) and speedily to achieve fluency. Fluency is the ability to read smoothly and with expression. Fluency is the bridge between decoding and comprehension. Sometimes children work so hard at decoding each word in a sentence that they cannot remember what they read by the time they reach the end. They lack fluency. Fluency is an area where parents can help since it requires practice and modeling. Reading aloud to your children with expression and enjoyment both before and after they can read themselves, is a good way to model fluency. Once they have learned to read, read aloud collaboratively, taking turns reading a page. Repeated reading is another way to improve fluency, so do not hesitate to read the same books over and over. Comprehension Comprehension is really the end-product, or goal, of reading. We read to gain knowledge and understanding, and we read for pleasure. Each of these requires good comprehension. Many thinking skills and life experiences involve reading comprehension. In addition to speed of decoding and fluency, comprehension has many other components, including knowledge of vocabulary and language usage, background knowledge, memory, sequencing (understanding and remembering events or ideas in the order in which they are presented), visualizing (making a picture in your head as you read) and focusing (maintaining attention and interest). Teachers can have a great impact on a child’s reading comprehension. Again, reading aloud with children will inspire a love of books and reading and will provide vocabulary and language stimulation and background knowledge that will aid them when they begin to read themselves. Children who have dyslexia or a specific learning disability can benefit much more quickly from remediation if they have good listening comprehension. Reading books together gives children a chance to talk about the book, to discuss new facts and explore new ideas. Children can also improve their vocabulary and background knowledge through  discussions and activities with their friends (a trip to the zoo to learn about animals, a walk in the park to talk about kinds of plants). Integrating the Skills These three skills—decoding, fluency, and comprehension—are used continually as children’s reading skills progress. As new phonemes (letter/sound combinations) are added to reading, some children need lots of practice to become fluent with them. As they encounter more difficult words, reading may become less fluent, and the students may need to review or learn new decoding skills. If decoding skills were shaky to begin with, that can become a problem as children encounter more difficult words. Sometimes in middle school, or even high school, a child will have difficulty reading new words, and he will benefit from some instruction in how to break words apart into their syllable parts for reading or spelling. A good reading program will include all three skills. It is important for teachers to understand that reading has several parts and requires many different skills. If a child is having difficulty with reading, he may need some testing or assessment to figure out the problem. A teacher or tutor or academic therapist can then give the child specialized teaching to remediate the problem. Characteristics of Fluent Readers †¢ read with a purpose (to get information or for pleasure) and understand the purpose of different texts (e. g. , ads to encourage buying, editorials to present and influence opinions, recipes to give instructions); †¢ read quickly, automatically recognizing letters and words, maintaining a flow that allows them to make connections and inferences that make the text understandable; †¢ use a variety of strategies, depending on the text, to read efficiently (e. g., varying reading speed, predicting what will happen next, previewing headings and illustrations); †¢ interact with the text, making use of background knowledge as well as the information on the printed page; †¢ evaluate the text critically, determining whether they agree or disagree with the author; †¢ expect to understand the text and get meaning from it; and †¢ usually read silently. Conclusion Much research has been concerned with first language reading and has generated many approaches to teaching reading. However, there is a growing body of literature on both foreign language academic reading and second language reading. All three areas contribute to the understanding of the reading process and have implications for instructional practice. Teachers who are aware of these reading approaches can tailor reading instruction to meet the needs and goals of English language learners. Suggestions for Developing Reading Instruction Knowing what good readers do and comparing this with the strategies used by learners in their classes will enable ESL teachers to gauge learners’ needs. Adult English language learners come with varied reading backgrounds and experiences. Some are fluent readers in their native languages; some are not. Their view of literacy will be influenced by the literacy practices of their culture. Yet, they all will share the experience of learning to read in English, and they will approach reading differently from the way native speakers approach it (Rance-Roney, 1997). The following activities can help learners develop reading proficiency. The choice of activity, however, depends on the needs of the learners, the nature of the text, and the demands of the reading task. Reading Proficiency Activities 1. Because good readers read with a purpose, learners should read texts that meet their needs and are interesting. Teachers can choose texts, or let the learners choose texts, that are relevant to the learners’ lives. They also need to be exposed to texts that they are likely to encounter in everyday life, such as newspapers and magazines, work memos, schedules, and medical instructions. 2. In order to develop automatic recognition skills, learners who are preliterate or literate in a language with a non-Roman alphabet should be given opportunities to develop letter recognition and sound-symbol correspondence skills. This should not be done in isolation, but with familiar texts that they have practiced orally or heard before (Hood et al. , 1996). For example, learners can identify words that begin with a certain sound in a dialogue they know. Learners who are literate in their own language may find phonics instruction unproductive unless differences between their native language and English are pointed out. Spanish speakers, for example, need to know that the letter â€Å"a† can express more than one sound in English. Vocabulary development also plays a role in automaticity. In texts where vocabulary may not be familiar, teachers can introduce key vocabulary in prereading activities that focus on language awareness, such as finding synonyms, antonyms, derivatives, or associated words (Hood et al. , 1996). Modified cloze exercises, where examples of the target structure (e. g. , prepositions) are deleted from a text and learners fill in as many blanks as they can, are also helpful. 3. Using appropriate strategies for various reading tasks increases comprehension, but acquiring an array of strategies is a long and difficult process (Grabe, 1995). Nevertheless, such strategies as skimming for the main idea, scanning for specific information, predicting what a text is about or what will happen next, and making use of the context and illustrations to discover word meanings are critical for English language learners beyond the beginning level. 4. Prereading activities that introduce the text encourage learners to use their background knowledge (Eskey, 1997). Class members can brainstorm ideas about the meaning of a title or an illustration and discuss what they know. The teacher can highlight cultural assumptions inherent in the writing. Awareness of various text types and their styles (advertisements, recipes, editorials) is also helpful. 5. Evaluating texts for implicit values and assumptions is another important reading skill. Reading texts that present different opinions or different descriptions of the same situation help develop an awareness of how language reflects values (Hood et al. , 1996). Texts that present an issue without presenting a solution, such as â€Å"Dear Abby† letters (without the replies), can lead to discussion and writing about differing points of view (Auerbach, 1992). 6. Good readers expect to understand what they are reading. Therefore, texts should contain words and grammatical structures familiar to the learners (Eskey, 1997). However, it is not always easy to find texts that are both understandable and interesting for adult English language learners to read. Authentic reading material can often be found by the learners themselves, who have written pieces to share with each other. 7. Extensive reading for a sustained, uninterrupted period of time is not only valuable for developing vocabulary but is also an important way to develop reading proficiency and language acquisition in general (Grabe, 1991; Krashen, 1993). In class, learners can engage in Sustained Silent Reading (SSR) of materials they have chosen themselves. They can be encouraged to read outside of class by maintaining (and periodically turning in) reading logs that list what they have read and by making one- to three-minute oral presentations recommending a book, story, or article to their classmates (Dupuy, Tse, & Cook, 1996). Conclusion Much research has been concerned with first language reading and has generated many approaches to teaching reading. However, there is a growing body of literature on both foreign language academic reading and second language reading. All three areas contribute to the understanding of the reading process and have implications for instructional practice. Teachers who are aware of these reading approaches can tailor reading instruction to meet the needs and goals of English language learners. AN APPROACH TO A READING LESSON STAGE 1: Check understanding of ‘essential’ vocabulary. (Do you think it is necessary or desirable for your students to understand all the vocabulary) AIM: For students to understand the meaning of words essential to the completion of set tasks. STAGE 2: Establish interest in the topic through discussion based on the topic or prediction. AIM: To generate students’ interest in the topic of the text. (These two stages are necessary to prepare the students for the reading skills. ) STAGE 3: Set atleast two different reading tasks. Give the easier task(questions), first to build confidence. This would be task which require scan reading. AIM: For students to have practice in scan reading skills. STAGE 4: Provide a task.

Sunday, September 15, 2019

Analysis of the Rocking Horse Winner Essay

A literary analysis of ‘The Rocking Horse Winner’ by D H Lawrence cannot fail to mention the strong metaphor of the toy rocking horse itself. Other strong metaphors include the race horses and the idea of gambling in general.. The image of a boy rocking himself to illness and death on a toy horse suggests a powerful and upsetting metaphor for a child’s burning ambition and distress, and to understand the metaphor we must look more closely at the story itself. In â€Å"The Rocking-Horse Winner,† short story by D H Lawrence, a child gets the feeling that circumstances in his family are deteriorating financially and feels utterly powerless to improve the situation. He sees the bitterness of his mother’s discontent and tries to improve her lot, although she seems to pay him little regard. All her attention seems concentrated on a husband who, despite his efforts, can never provide enough for her insatiable appetite for material things. Horses in general, gambling on their races and in particular, the rocking horse itself become metaphors for the child’s ambition, and the driven quality of his determination to succeed – at all costs. The child, Paul, decides that there will never be means to support his family unless he assumes some sort of control himself. Paul decides to resolve the financial crisis through luck, chance, fate and gambling on horses. He thinks that he can divine winning horses in races by riding his own toy rocking horse. The horse metaphors suggest the themes of ambition in life turning to a blinkered disregard for the costs and consequences in a narrow given area, a drive bordering on obsession. Either by luck or by judgement, Paul actually starts to win money and hopes it will make his mother happy. What he doesn’t realise is that she is the sort of person whose appetite will simply grow and whose discontent is of her own making. The need for money just balloons out of control and family members start to put pressure on him. The strain of duty, loyalty, responsibility, guilt, repression and denial of affection and reward becomes so unbearable that he rides his rocking horse so madly that he gets sick and collapses as his chosen horse is about to win a famous race. D H Lawrence’s own relationship with his mother – one of love, but also of control – is relevant to the story too. In his drive to succeed, Paul echoes the need of the young Lawrence to please his own mother – and of course, highlights another form of ambition, that of her hopes and dreams for a gifted young son in avoiding the pit life and aiming for something arguably higher and more academic. The horse metaphor it seems, has deep roots in Lawrence’s own childhood.

Saturday, September 14, 2019

Miss Essay

Unit Title: Unit sector reference: Level: Credit value: Guided learning hours: Unit accreditation number: Promote good practice in handling information in health and social care settings HSC 038 3 2 16 J/601/9470 Unit purpose and aim This unit is aimed at those working in a wide range of settings. It covers the knowledge and skills needed to implement and promote good practice in recording, sharing, storing and accessing information. Learning Outcomes The learner will: 1 Understand requirements for handling information in health and social care settings Assessment Criteria The learner can: 1.1 Identify legislation and codes of practice that relate to handling information in health and social care 1.2 Summarise the main points of legal requirements and codes of practice for handling information in health and social care 2.1 Describe features of manual and electronic information storage systems that help ensure security 2.2 Demonstrate practices that ensure security when storing and accessing information 2.3 Maintain records that are up to date, complete, accurate and legible 3.1 Support others to understand the need for secure handling of information 3.2 Support others to understand and contribute to records Other s may include: ï‚ · Colleagues ï‚ · Individuals accessing care or support Exemplification 2 Be able to implement good practice in handling information 3 Be able to support others to handle information  © OCR 2010 1 Assessment This unit needs to be assessed in line with the Skills for Care and Development QCF Assessment principles. This unit is competence based. This means that it is linked to the candidate’s ability to competently perform a range of tasks connected with their work. This unit may be assessed using any method, or combination of methods, which clearly demonstrates that the learning outcomes and assessment criteria have been met. This unit requires workplace assessment of occupational competence. Assessment decisions for competence based learning outcomes (eg those beginning with ‘Be able to’) must be made in a real work environment by an occupationally competent assessor. Any knowledge evidence integral to these learning outcomes may be generated outside of the work environment but the final assessment decision must be within the real work environment. Competence based assessment must include direct observation as the main source of evidence. For this unit, learning outco mes 2 and 3 must be assessed in a real work environment. Guidance on assessment and evidence requirements  OCR does not stipulate the mode of delivery for the teaching of the content of this unit. Centres are free to deliver this unit using any mode of delivery that meets the needs of their candidates. Centres should consider the candidates’ complete learning experience when designing learning programmes. National occupational standards (NOS) mapping/signposting This unit has been developed by Skills for Care and Development in Partnership with Awarding Organisations. It is directly relevant to the needs of employers and relates to national occupational standards developed by Skills for Care and Development. As such, the unit may provide evidence for the following national occupational standards in health and social care developed by Skills for Care and Development: HSC 31 Content recurs throughout HSC NOS knowledge requirements NOS can be viewed on the relevant Sector Skills Council’s website or the Occupational standards directory at www.ukstandards.co.uk Functional skills signposting This section indicates where candidates may have an opportunity to develop their functional skills. Functional Skills standards can be viewed at http://www.qcda.gov.uk/15565.aspx 2  © OCR 2010 Functional Skills Standards English Speaking and Listening Reading ïÆ' ¼ ïÆ' ¼ Mathematics Representing Analysing ICT Use ICT systems Find and select information Develop, present and communicate information ïÆ' ¼ Writing ïÆ' ¼ Interpreting Additional information For further information regarding administration for this qualification, please refer to the OCR document ‘Administrative Guide for Vocational Qualifications’ (A850). This unit is a shared unit. It is located within the subject/sector classification system 01.3 Health and Social Care.

Friday, September 13, 2019

Central Bank for GCC Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Central Bank for GCC - Research Paper Example International financial crisis in the recent years calls for monetary integration and regional cooperation of the countries for efficiently dealing with the crises and protecting the interests of the member countries. The monetary policies of a central bank plays pivotal role in regulating interest rates and inflation in the countries with a view to ensure economic growth. The monetary policies of a central bank have impact on various economic factors such as employment, liquidity in the system and stability of the currencies. Central bank proposed for the GCC countries aims at financial stability in the GCC countries with a view to reorient the strategies of the group countries in response to the dynamic international economic situation and to promote economic cooperation among the group countries. Therefore, the structure of the central bank should be designed to achieve these objectives in relation to the group countries. ... Under the monetary policies of GCC central bank, stability in exchange rate could be achieved. The member countries of GCC peg their currencies to USD and their interest rates are fixed based on the changes interest rates in US. Adjustments in interest rates in sync with US policy might have negative impacts on domestic economies of the GCC countries. Currency unification is expected to delink pegging of GCC currencies to USD. The member countries are not yet prepared for monetary union. There are differences in economic fundamentals among the countries. Trading and transactions within the region is very limited, and the countries are mostly dependent on oil exports. Lack of efforts towards economic integration and institutional development are the important drawbacks. The differences in the economic policies followed by the GCC countries would make the unification process difficult. Three different methods used to test the GCC economies by Abu-Bader and Abu-Qarn (2006), the Structur al VAR, co-integration tests and common business cycles provide no support for establishing a monetary union (AlKholifey & Alreshan, p. 19). They also observed ‘that neither AD nor AS shocks are symmetrical between the GCC countries and the selected European countries’ (p. 20) while AD refers to Aggregate Demand and AS, Aggregate Supply. Structure of the suggested Central Bank for GCC Monetary union in GCC can stimulate uniformity in macroeconomic policies within the union and inter alia improve investment options and allocation of resources within the region. Fundamental factor involved in establishing central bank or monetary union is convergence of monetary, fiscal and structural policies of the member countries. According to Sturm and Siegfried (2005, p. 63), ‘monetary union

Thursday, September 12, 2019

Safelite Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Safelite - Case Study Example The productivity of the Safelite installers was low for a number of reasons. The first one was that the installers had challenges locating the customers. For instance, an installer would arrive at the agreed location and not find the client as a result of wrong directions, wrong instructions or failing to use given guidelines. Secondly, ignorance and lack of keenness by technicians to quality and quantity of materials need for specific job. Technicians mandate was to counter check if the materials were the correct ones and were with no faults. The wrong materials would mean rescheduling the appointments which wascostly and some clients would seek services elsewhere (Hall 3). Lastly, there was poor coordination in the Dispatch Command Centers. Technicians complained that the Dispatch Command Center managers equally assigned jobs to all technicians instead of assigning more work to the most efficient technicians, hence slowing them. To counter the above problems, the CEO of Safelite at the time, Mr. John Barlow, came up with idea to introduce a Performance Pay Plan. Instead of having stores in different localities, it would be better to have a group of store in one place that would be known as market. The market would have on central center of distribution hence more efficient. The plan also involved giving incentives to managers and technicians (Hall 7). The idea was stimulated by his previous work experience at Sears. The Performance Pay Plan addressed the low productivity problem to some extent. The incentive plan was meant to increase productivity with its major objectives being to motivate employees, develop loyalty among its workforce so they would not be lured away by competitors and to embrace the industry’s high turnover. The Performance Pay Plan, though a good, initiative brought a new set of problems. The switch from wages to piece rate would be consequential on recruitment. It may reduce the number of technicians willing to work for the

Wednesday, September 11, 2019

Managing Aircraft Maintenance Projects Successfully Research Proposal

Managing Aircraft Maintenance Projects Successfully - Research Proposal Example Regulations and common sense both mandate that each aircraft be the subject of a fully documented maintenance protocol towards ensuring the airworthiness and serviceability of the aircraft. Routine preventive maintenance, although well within the purview of common sense, is not a required part of the maintenance protocol. Within the aircraft maintenance protocol, each aircraft and the work required for its service is regarded as an individual project. The reality of aircraft maintenance project management (AMPM) is that several overlapping projects must be managed simultaneously. This presents major obstacles and difficulties for the aircraft maintenance organization in terms of resource management and utilization, budgetary constraints, priority conflicts and lead-time fulfillment. These considerations are compounded by several factors. Greater demands are being placed on aircraft as the number of passenger miles being flown trends upward over time. The number of aircraft being flown also trends upward but at a disproportionate rate. More importantly for the proposed research, the number of aviation maintenance technicians in the industry trends upward at a much lower rate, suggesting that the workload placed on maintenance technicians per capita is becoming ever greater. Air Transport Association o f America statistics for the 12-year period from 1983 to 1995 gives these increases as 187%, 70% and 27% respectively, supporting the ‘work overload’ factor of AMPM. Baron (2009) discusses at some length untoward events that can be attributed directly to the effects of fatigue experienced by aircraft maintenance personnel, and so to the project management practices of their working environments. It is important to note the finding recounted by Baron from a study conducted by Johnson et al in 2002. Based on quantitative and qualitative data, those authors discerned that in general, AMTs and AMEs working in aircraft maintenance services were

Tuesday, September 10, 2019

Training professionals have a leading role in innovation and change Essay

Training professionals have a leading role in innovation and change - Essay Example This has transformed and redefined the role of trainers from merely developing programs to holistic assistance and monitoring, as well as motivating the employees to share information and knowledge amid themselves. The essay discusses the roles and responsibilities of training professionals to bring about innovation in the present day’s business. The approach of the training professionals towards the design and delivery of the developmental programs for the training of the employee workforce, have also been discussed. The essay finally compares and contrasts the innovative training and development programs of two Australian organizations. The training professional plays a major role in the 21st century businesses. The significance of the responsibility in relation to the approach of training professionals can be understood from all the positive alterations that occur as a result of training and development programs in an organization. According to Vemic, the approach of traini ng professionals presently acts as the originator of new expertise and knowledge among the employees. Training professionals persuade creativity as well as inventiveness and form the skill base of the complete organization. The skill base and knowledge bestows the organizations with exclusive characteristics and distinguishes it from its peers (Vemic, â€Å"Employee Training and Development and the Learning Organization†). Based on the similar context, White & Bruton state that any organization has to realign itself and concentrate on new technologies, new procedures as well as new approaches of performing activities, in order to become innovative. However, no organization can accomplish innovativeness if its employees are not properly trained and possess cognitive skills and knowledge. Thus, the role of training professionals is crucial because they ensure the presence or availability of adequately trained human resources in the organization for its innovative ventures (Whit e & Bruton, â€Å"The Management of Technology and Innovation: A Strategic Approach†). Furthermore, Hargreaves & Jarvis stated that in today’s competitive world, innovation and change is a continuous as well as a rapid process. The tasks of training professionals vary depending on the type of innovation the organization is looking forward to. The training professional requires the support of higher management as well as external alignment in instances of radical change. Major reorganization of the company or their product line would require the training professional to develop multi skilled employees, since such kind of changes are strategic in nature and have a wide impact on the organization. On the other hand routine changes for the enhancement of the prevailing arrangement or service, necessitates the training professional to develop necessary skills and coordination amongst the involved team. The training professionals undertake a very complex role in the current scenario. They act as proactive agents of change for the development of innovative strategies in the organization. They also act as ‘providers’ contributing training to the employee workforce designed to enhance and maintain the performance of the company (Hargreaves & Jarvis, â€Å"

Monday, September 9, 2019

Strategic Military Intermodal Transportation Essay

Strategic Military Intermodal Transportation - Essay Example These are all geared towards providing the Command's clients with excellent and time-effective service. USTRANSCOM provides a daily service to American warfighters. As such, it strives towards providing an integrated and synchronized deployment and distribution system under unified command. As such, it is the Command's role to work closely with the Department of Defense (DOD) in order to provide warfighter support. The DOD transformations towards integration and unification are part of the USTRANSCOM Distribution Process Owner initiatives. Specifically, according to the Transcom.mil Web site, military assets are valued in excess of $52 billion; these include 87 ships, 1,269 aircraft, 2,150 railcars and other equipment. Infrastructure is in the range of $1.4 billion. Its wartime human resources comprise 51,853 soldiers on active duty, 88,089 of reserve force and Guard, and 16,606 of civilian personnel. Commercial partners provide equipment such as aircraft and vessels in the Civil Reserve Air Fleet (CRAF). The Voluntary Intermodal Sealift Agreement also provides access to various resources controlled by civilian entities. These are used to provide 88 percent of U.S. land transport, 50 percent global air transport, and 64 percent of global sea transport. As mentioned, the Command conducts its operations on a worldwide scale, on a daily basis. According to Transcom.mil, an average week sees more than 1,900 air missions and 10,000 ground shipments across 75% of the world. B. USTRANSCOM Component Parts USTRANSCOM operates by means of various component commands, each focused on a specific aspect of the Command's operations. These include the Air Mobility Command, The Military Sealift Command, and the Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command. The first is located at the Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, the second in Washington, D.C., and the third in Alexandria, Virginia. Specifically, the function of the Air Mobility Command (AMC) is to provide services such as strategic and tactical airlift, refuelling, and aeromedical evacuation. In this way, the AMC enables the deployment, sustenance, and redeployment of U.S. forces. Because of its wide reach via commercial contracts through programs such as CRAF, the AMC is able to provide swift response. Special duty and operational support aircraft, such as Air Force One, also function under this component of the Command. The Military Sealift Command (MSC) provides sealift transportation for the same purpose as those of the AMC: to sustain and deploy U.S. forces where these are needed, and where they are most easily reachable by sea. The MSC comprises both government-owned and chartered ships under VISA contracts. The main function of these ships is to move unit equipment from the United States to operation posts throughout the world. In addition to these, the MSC also commands prepositioned ships throughout the world. These are placed in strategic locations in order to provide equipment and supplies to the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and the Defense Logistics Agency. In order to provide fast and efficient service, these ships remain at sea. This reduces response time, especially for urgent needs. The function of the Surface Deployment and Distribution Command (SDDC) is to provide ocean terminal, commercial ocean liner and traffic management services to U.S. forces on a global basis. As such, the SDDC is mainly

Sunday, September 8, 2019

T. C. Boyles When the killings done Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

T. C. Boyles When the killings done - Essay Example Pinpoint five or six instances where environmental issues, including problems, become apparent. Perhaps the most spectacular feature of T. C. Boyle’s striking novel titled When the killing’s done is that on many accounts it escapes the stagnation that one might connect with a novel of its genre – the narrative is not only regarding animal rights as it may appear at first but in his story, Boyle showcases the dynamism and complexity that is associated with environmental activism, morality, ethics and the family life which shapes the actions and intentions of a human being. The purpose of this essay is to highlight the background for Boyle’s story by bringing to light the underlying environmental issues in the novel, in doing so the paper draws attention to five instances that are present in the book where problems and issues related to the environment become evident. In conclusion the essay examines the impact of Boyle’s novel in creating awareness r egarding aspects related to environmental activism such as biodiversity management, the issue of non-native species in habitats and the redesigning of ecosystems. At the crux of the narrative that is presented in When the killing’s done lies the conflict between Alma Boyd Takesue and Dave Lajoy. While, Alma seeks the absolute eradication of invasive species such as black rats and feral pigs on the islands of Santa Cruz and Anacapa, for Lajoy the killing of an animal regardless of its categorization as an invasive species is a grave violation of morality and â€Å"†¦that’s what he has to remember: save the animals† (Boyle p75). The varying perceptions and motivations of the two characters in advancing their environmental agendas is not only reflective of a conflict or problem that seeks resolution within the novel itself but also gives insight into the dilemmas associated with environmental activism in the real world. The fundamental question here is that wh en the benefits of environmental activism and protecting the flora and fauna are agreed upon on a widespread scale, why is it that human beings cannot collaborate in harmony to achieve a common objective? Due to its focus and analysis of the subjectivity associated with morals and ethics in environmental activism on a macro level, Boyle’s novel intends to spread a message that comprehends the need to strike a balance between values, morals and ethics for the overall good of humanity. Another aspect that is prominent in the novel has been crafted by Boyle in the background stories of the characters, in fact, it would be correct to state that Alma owes her existence to the island – the island saved Alma’s grandmother from possible death which could have been the consequence of a shipwreck that occurred in 1946. Furthermore, Lajoy’s girlfriend Anise Reed also shares a special relationship with the islands due to her mother’s employment at a ranch loca ted on the island. The implications of these relationships that have been woven within the narrative by Boyle necessarily enhance the dramatic element of the novel to portray the characters and their situations in a manner that is believable. Alma’s determination to promote her cause and garner the attention of the press on the issue of environmental concern also stems from personal reasons, which enhances the ambiguity of the criterion for right and wrong, thereby, enhancing the subjectivity that is associated with an individual’s motivation for environmental activism and selecting the best possible method of conservation. In essence, When the killing’s done documents decades of changes in habitats, ecosystems and the environment that have been brought about by the