Comparison of Novel and Film Adaption and Philip K. Dick’s Criticisms

Philip K. dick’s criticisms about the film adaption ‘Blade runner’ have been justified by the differences that have been shown. The theme of empathy throughout both texts has been shown through two different characters causing the effect to change. Rick Deckard has the hero sort of sign through human’s eyes throughout the novel whereas Roy Batty has the hero symbol in a replicants eyes throughout the film. The motivation for Deckard in the novel is to buy a real animal, playing on his want and needs, which is also a sign of empathy.Having this motive shows the selfish side of people and questions whether or not someone actually needs an animal to be happy. The idea is put across that killing for an animal (even if it is just killing an android) to be alright. Throughout the novel we watch Deckard’s development. Having only a glimpse of this development in the film adaption shown, the viewer won’t really understand that Deckard goes through a c hange. Ridley Scott has used a different way to put across the empathy by using a different character that was only a small part in the novel.Batty has been given the motive to find a way to live longer and be able to become more human. Batty became the super human figure with more intelligence and strength. However Dick wrote that androids died way before they could even begin to comprehend emotions, making sure they were as robotic as possible. Electric animals were just a little way from the bottom of the social ladder and having a real one puts you higher. Being able to take care of an animal shows the empathy that a human is able to have and not an android.The film adaption doesn’t revolve empathy around the animals like the novel does. A glimpse is seen through the wolf howls that Baty cries at the point when he feels so much pain and loss, again showing empathy through a replicant. Dick had that androids shut down at the moment they feel threatened towards their lives. Scott turns that around in the film adaption and has them fight back as shown with Pris as well as Baty. The minor characters in the novel have been taken out for the film adaption so this does change parts of the story.The novels characters contrasted with each other. Deckard had Iran to contrast with himself; he wanted to have an animal to keep his life meaningful whereas she had already given up. Irmgard shows the more gentle side of an android in contrast to Pris who is curious about how life works is still more violent to figuring it out â€Å"Restraining the spider with the edge of her hand. She was smiling. † This insinuates that she feeling some sort of emotion whether it be that it’s just that she trying to fake an emotion or she’s being sadistic.Having some of these contrasts cut out for the film adaption it’s hard to see what the character’s main intention is until later on in the film. Dick’s criticisms are justified in the way that the main parts of his story have been cut out. Some of the scenes make or break certain characters and not having them in the film adaption slows the story down in how it has been told. Characters even if they are minor are still relevant to the story and are used to put the point across. The film adaption does give a different point and is less straight forward than what Dick wrote ‘Do androids dream of electric sheep? ’

Human Nature in Lord of the Flies †Essay Essay

Authors often use their pieces of work and different literary elements to explain their philosophy on certain â€Å"ways of life† that humans possess. In Lord of the Flies, William Golding shows his view on human nature with his intense plotline of young boys getting stranded on a deserted island, trying to survive by themselves with limited resources, and then over time losing their sense of civilization. In the beginning the boys combine themselves under one, but as the story progresses, the boys create different opinions on survival thus creating divides in the group. This leads to several different altercations where the boys turn to behaviors that are barbaric. Throughout the book, Golding’s use of imagery portrayed the characters as cruel. It is through the description of their behaviors that Golding depicts a pessimistic view of human nature. Across the text, the author has several examples showing his pessimistic views, but above all the one factor that shows the brutality of mankind is Jack’s constant behavior towards Piggy. Golding writes in one disagreement, â€Å"He took a step, and able at last to hit someone, stuck his fist into Piggy’s stomach. Piggy sat down with a grunt† (Golding, 71). The two main opponents in this argument were Ralph and Jack, but yet when Piggy made one statement agreeing with Ralph, he got punched in his stomach which caused him to smash his glasses. This violence is continued throughout the book, and it is directed towards Piggy by the others who have forgotten how to respect one another. This quote illustrates Golding’s pessimistic views by describing the many ways humans lose their sense of right and wrong. Over time, Jack’s usual behavior becomes nasty and vicious which holds against the humane ways of the world now, and rather dates back to the natural nature of animals. The violence that Jack expresses from time to time also shows the cynical character he has turned into without humanity surrounding him. A second example pertaining to Golding’s view on human nature and the negativity it has is the way the littluns are treated in this book. In the novel, he explains, â€Å"Roger stooped, picked up a stone, aimed, and threw it at Henry† (Golding, 62). In other words, Roger an older boy decides to physically try and hurt a younger child for no reason. Golding tries to show that there must be something wrong with Roger to enjoy torturing Henry. His depiction of human nature is shown through the mental images the reader gets of the terror Henry is put through. Roger was determined to scare the little boy into tears without a valid reason of doing so, except for the fact that he had no discipline and was allowed to be so unruly. It shows that without the laws and rules of the society, the boys were acting like wilds animals. The last act of cruelty that depicts the pessimistic views of human nature was in the end when the boys were stripped of their humane qualities. Robert mutters, â€Å"He didn’t say. He got angry and made us tie Wilfred up† (Golding, 159). Jack had made the boys tie Wilfred up for no reason, and was planning to beat him up in front of all the other boys. He was going to use him as a toy and play with his life just because he felt like it. Jack’s cruel behavior towards Wilfred never had a reason and the other boys just let it go because they were scared for their own lives. The civilized thought of having value for other people’s life was absent from these boys’ mind, and rather the barbaric thought of inflicting pain was taking over. This example proves Golding’s view on human nature is pessimistic because he shows that at the core, these boys are evil and malevolent. Due to all of these examples of cruelty, the author suggests that human nature in fact is pessimistic and negative. In the novel, the good that society usually pushes upon the boys is not present and therefore the natural traits of humans are shown. The boys retrogress back into time, and become very brutal. With no manners or discipline, the boys are reacting in non positive ways creating a domino effect of bad events though out the whole book, until the end when they are finally rescued. Golding portrays a very melancholy look on humans and their innate behavior as he completely breaks down certain traits humans have worked for ages to build. As they continue to bring cruelty into their world, the boy lose civilization and the sugar coating it puts on mankind’s natural behavior. Golding breaks down these boys and shows the true core of human nature.

What characterised the Anglo-American Special Relationship during the Essay

What characterised the Anglo-American Special Relationship during the Cold War - Essay Example ps were cemented by the establishment of close ties between subsequent leaders of these countries as they sought to work together in national goals of influencing global economic and political systems. The cold war era is one of the period were the United States and Britain cooperated in a number of areas as both nations sought to secure their interests against resilient Soviet Union. The Anglo-American cooperation during cold was set had the objective of establishing close coordination in areas such economic performance, sharing of technological innovations and enhancing security through cooperation in defence and military movements in strategic areas. The strategies for achieving these goals were pegged at achievement of mutual benefit although there were instances where the two friendly nations were unable to share a common perspective on an issue as seen in the British attempt to ouster Nasser from Egypt presidency, which the United States did not support.1 However, the Anglo-American special relationship worked for the benefit of the countries especially when facing a perceived common threat. Therefore, given the mutual perception of Russia held by both Britain and the United States, it was only practical that the relationship would establish more areas that they agreed than where the countries did have a consensus on the best approach to handle a given domestic or international situation. Many nations that emerged from the Second World War as well as countries that had gained their independence in the past few decades faced considerable danger of falling under the influence of Soviet Union especially since they did not have strong institutional and political structures to assert their own identity. However, the reaction from these countries towards the Soviet Union could not be compared to the level of cooperation put in place by the United States and Britain as the two countries developed a coalition to face any potential threat from the Soviet Union in

U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) Essay

U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) - Essay Example For a new employer who currently has no international ventures, and would like to go international, there are several key factors that require their attention. Such factors include the availability of adequate financial resources, human and social capital. In additional, for a new employer to get focused internationally, there is the first need to go through the domestic market entry barriers and gather the opportunities that lead to higher purchasing power of consumers from the developed economies. The employer must also carry out market analysis to ensure that it has fully engaged the domestic market enough before moving to the international market. It goes without saying that one major factor that would push an employer to the international market would be the availability of adequate financial resources. Such resources will be necessary for the creation of new offices in the countries where the business would decide to venture in. There is also this aspect of hiring the human capital that would perform the various duties in the business. The financial resources, apart from aiding in acquiring offices, will also be necessary for setting up the operational structures and activities of the company in the new areas. The company will also have to invest in the social capital to be sure that its investment get enough market in the public sphere through good social relations. In deciding to pursue international business, the main determining factors include economic, environmental, market and competitive factors. The market forces will determine the receptivity of the customers to a global product. When the consumers are more receptive to the product, the business is set to go global. However, if the consumers are less receptive to the product, the business is not yet ready to go global and the best thing to do is to do enough marketing to increase its receptivity. Economic factors

Socio-economic background communication barriers Essay

Socio-economic background communication barriers - Essay Example For example, in a case involving a wealthy person and an underprivileged person, the wealthy individual may experience a communication variance in associating with the underprivileged person (Sonnenberg, 1990). A deprived economic situation can make a person have a feeling of inferiority and a well off economic condition can cause a feeling of superiority, thus causing a communication disparity between the two people. An individual’s religious status also has an impact on communication. In the justice system, in a number of occasions, an individual may not feel comfortable communicating with a person from a different religious status. This is largely because of the divergence in their belief systems. Religious notions have an impact on the way in which an individual thinks and perceives things and may result in a difference in views. In addition, an individual’s racial makeup may be a cause for communication barrier in the criminal justice system. Employees, victims, or offenders of a different racial position may contain a number of barriers to adequate communications, for example, through their assorted language and cultures. Social situations may comprise physical barriers that may be a cause of communication barrier in the criminal justice system. Physical barriers may entail specified territories into which unknown people cannot have access, or segregated sections for individua ls who hold different statuses (Sonnenberg, 1990). This separation causes a breakdown in communication in the entire criminal justice system. These barriers have an impact on individuals working in the criminal justice system. First, communication barriers may have a negative impact on the capacity of an individual to make a constructive contribution to the custodial and judicial course. What may be presumed to be lack of penitence, contempt for the courtroom regulations, or a lack of concern may at times be clarified by

Teaching and Learning Styles Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Teaching and Learning Styles - Assignment Example They loved to sing and dance to entertain me, and that was how we started our classes. I learned from them the value of fun whilst learning. In the future, I would love to see my students feeling comfortable and having fun as they learn. My experience in the community made me realize that I want to be a teacher. If I become a teacher, I then I can give my share in transforming lives and making the world a better place to live in. Teaching is a noble profession because it helps people become productive citizens. It raises human dignity and leads people to be humane, morally upright and rational. 212 words II. The words of Horace Mann explain the importance of education for me. If people will be educated, then they will have a chance to a better life. They can find a decent job, and poverty will be less or even non-existent. In being a teacher, I shall follow what I learned from Reggio Emilia, a community in North Italy famous for bringing about educational transformation for children. According to Malaguzzi (cited in Malaguzzi & Rubizzi,1995), one of the founders of the community, in order to teach children well, one must learn how to listen. This means that a teacher should value the thoughts of students and listen to what they know in order to determine what else needs to be taught and how they should be taught. In the future, I will apply this concept in order to design lessons that cater the needs of students in the multicultural classroom. 174 words III. In order to become a good teacher, I will strive to learn the fundamentals of teaching and comply with all the requirements that professors will give. I shall cherish every moment and think of teaching as an art that needs to be perfect. From designing lessons to executing plans and assessing students appropriately, I will always exercise caution in order to help students achieve their best.

Oil Spill Effect on Environment and Community Essay

Oil Spill Effect on Environment and Community - Essay Example This research paper examines one environmental factor that can have an adverse effect not only on the environment but also on the entire community. Talking about oil spills, it causes long term damages along with a lot of small damages which affect the entire environment. Some damages can also last for years. Oil which is spilled by tankers with damaged oil rigs and pipelines ends up in coating everything which is touched by it causing a bad affect on the entire ecosystem. Oil slick which is taken out of the large oil spills and is basically touching the beach along with the coats of oil and the entire sand and rocky area is touched by it as well. There are grasses and plants which will then absorb the oil marshes which are along the coastal area along with forests and wetlands are damaged and it will cause a lot of bad effects on the wildlife and the entire environment. When oil is not floating on the water surface and is basically sinking inside the marine environment the delicate ecosystem which is based underground is badly affected. Many fishes and also smaller organisms which are a very important part of the food chain are contaminated and are badly affected. Oil Spills end up in damaging the marshlands, marine ecosystem along with the entire beach area. There are many efforts and also remedies which end up in taking care of the environment however in spite of that many concerns and cases still exist. Sea mammals have to face a lot of problems and many of them end up in creating problems for the next generations.... oil is spilled near them and it can have deadly results for the birds, their feather are covered with oil which makes flying extremely difficult for them. The insulation process along with the water proofing is also affected badly and it ends up in giving rise to the hypothermia along with overheating. Oil is basically affected by the birds in the race of protecting their feathers which then badly damage the internal organs of the birds and it is also sometimes fatal for the birds (Effects of Oil Spills, 2012). Oil Spills are not only causing dreadful affects on the fish, forest, marine life and birds but it is also killing marine mammals badly. Whales, seals, sea otters and dolphins are few mammals which are badly affected. Holes of these animals are sometimes blown which ends up in making the breathing process extremely difficult for them along with badly damaging the communication process of these mammals. Hypothermia is caused to these mammals if their feather are fully covered a nd coated by the oil spill. Food supply of these mammals is badly affected and due to this oil spill the mammals can die and they also face extremely bad affects. The effects are not just for that particular time but they last for a longer time which causes death of many sea mammals later on as well (National Public Radio : News & Analysis, 2011) The growth rate of these mammals is affected badly along with some other smaller species being damaged badly as well. Eggs of the fish and larvae are exposed to the oil which ends up in increasing the death rate of the fishes which are an important part of the marine life. These fishes and the eggs which are covered with the oil die and even if some survive at that time their death is certain and the damaged fishes and the marine animals cannot be

2 essay questions. (1) discusse fundamentalism in the U.S (2) does

2 questions. (1) discusse fundamentalism in the U.S (2) does Islamic fundamentalism have a global goal.Define, explain, and discuss - Essay Example Traditional theological principles valued the preservation of the past elements of life that the Christian believers upheld. This entailed the conservation of sacred beliefs and literature. This view was widely rejected by modernist theology that sought to improve the universal democracy and educational systems of the world. Generic fundamentalism attributes creation order as the source of varied culture and social patterns that assign different responsibilities and roles to various individuals in the community. Such responsibilities and roles may occur in every member of the community from state officials to clergy leaders. This offers a vivid dichotomy that helps to distinguish the roles expected from each individual and the state as a general. Historic fundamentalism provides insight to the religion practices that existed in the US in the early 20th century. As immigrant continued to occupy numerous parts of the United States, varied cultural practices and social changes emanated. The societal changes and cultural variations propelled the historic fundamentalism to use all means ranging from intellect to legislature and courts to protect their historical views. The historical fundamentalism spread Christianity after the Second World Warafter surviving the arduous era between the world war one and world war two. Islamic fundamentalism will entail the Islamic movement that adheres to principles and guidelines as stipulated in the holy book of Quran. The religious movement has global goals that depending to the interpretation one holds to the term, may lead to numerous global goals. Non-Muslim communities especially the West usually confuses the term Islamic fundamentalism to refer to an Islamic extremist who carry out terrorism. According to the Westerners view, the Islamic fundamentalism upholds doctrines and beliefs that augment their desire to carry out terrorism. Most non-Muslims view terrorism as a global goal among the

Using SEI Strategies in a SIOP Essay Example for Free

Using SEI Strategies in a SIOP Essay Instruction will begin by discussing the differences between fictional and non-fictional books; Students will read the non-fiction book â€Å"What If You Had Animal Teeth† by Sandra Markle. This book is filled with fun and interesting facts on animal’s different teeth. The book will be read in its entirety engaging students and creating interest. Learning objectives will be introduced using chart paper. 1. I can gather important information related to my topic. 2. I can teach my partner how to find facts related to the chosen topic. 3. I can write my own informative book Teacher will display a premade chart that describes what nonfiction is. Read the definition aloud as students track with their eyes. Create a new chart and list nonfiction characteristics that can be found in a book and discuss their purpose. Look through nonfiction books to see specific examples of the nonfiction characteristics. Inform students that we will now go back and review the book â€Å"What If You Had Animal Teeth† and we will consider what facts we are given. Go to the first page, read the sentence and ask students  to do a think/pair/share. Think: What facts are given? Discuss with your group. Prompt students to share out with the whole class. Continue with each page. Tell students that they get to practice finding more facts by reading other nonfiction animal books. Give students a list of nonfiction books to choose from. Generate a discussion of what nonfiction means. Guide student discussion to the idea that we will research facts and create our own nonfiction booklet to help readers understand important information of our chosen topic. Give students the option of choosing 1 out of 4 animals to research and write about. Point out how when writing nonfiction material, you can use headings to help break up important information that you want readers to understand about the topic. Using ELMO (document camera), display worksheet â€Å"The Working Tools of Insects†. â€Å"We are going to look at the top of page. Does anyone remember what we call this?† Check for student understanding. â€Å"It is the heading.† Read aloud the heading found at the top of the page while students track with their eyes. Ask students to consider what the material is going to be based on the heading. â€Å"What do you think this story is going to be about based on what the heading is? I know that Insects don’t use tools like hammers or screwdrivers, so what else can tools mean?† Illicit responses such as â€Å"their antenna, their stingers, etc.† Relay to students that animals have tools too. â€Å"Birds can use their beaks to gather food. Porcupines can use their quills to protect them against predators.† Tell students that they will now have the opportunity to create their own fact booklet. Show students a premade example of the â€Å"fact booklet† that they will be creating. Explain to students what the purpose of nonfiction writing is. â€Å"Nonfiction writing is used to teach people information about something. When writing nonfiction we need to decide on what the most important information is that we should include in the writing.† Tell students that before writing nonfiction, they should ask themselves â€Å"What information will help the reader to understand the topic?† Ask students to brainstorm and share with their group by reviewing the reading materials of the chosen topic to find important information that they want to include. Show the students an example of how their first page in their fact booklet might look like. â€Å"I will choose to write facts about dogs. What important information  about dogs do I want my readers to know? I want my readers to know about the physical features of dogs for those readers who might not be familiar with them.† Write down a fact on the first page. Tell students that it is also important to have illustrations to help readers connect the pictures to the words, and understand what they are reading. Draw a picture above the facts on the first page. Students will now create their own fact booklet. Pass out construction paper. Have students fold paper in half, creating 12 pages altogether. Have them staple the pages to create a book. On the first page, have students write down their information on the bottom half of the page. On the top half of the page, have students draw a picture illustrating the facts that they have written. Have students include headings for each new fact that they are including. Reflection: Gather students in whole group to debrief. Ask students to explain what nonfiction means. Ask them to explain the difference between fiction and nonfiction. (Guide students to understand that nonfiction is used to give readers an understanding of a topic). Call on several students to share one fact that they have created in their fact booklet. This will give the teacher a good idea of how well students understand nonfiction. The influx of English Language Learners in U.S. educational school systems is on the rise. With this increase, our educators are feeling the pressure of finding a proper balance to support our linguistically diverse students through language and content instruction, allowing them to integrate within school and their community with ease. Educators can meet the immense and distinct needs of all students by integrating different educational instruction methods in their lesson planning. This paper will discuss five important components that should be included in educational instructional strategies for ELL learners and classrooms: comprehensible input, ongoing, specific, and immediate feedback, grouping structures and techniques, building background and vocabulary development, and student engagement. The SIOP lesson plan that can be found above is a detailed summary of a conceivable fourth grade lesson that can be directed in an ELL comprehensive classroom. This lesson encompasses instructional strategies used to  accommodate ELLs throughout class instruction. The Arizona State Standards used to support the components of the SIOP model can also be recognized in this lesson. Addressed in the SIOP lesson is the students’ ability to show awareness and understanding of non-fictional works, their ability to recognize the relationship between fiction and non-fiction, and their ability to recognize differences in the structure and components of non-fiction work by clarifying what nonfiction works are, as well as them capably using specific actions, emotions, or conditions that are basic to specific content (Center for Applied Linguistics, 2013). This lesson includes different instructional practices used with the students including partnering up and whole group discussion. These strategies were utilized to gain a clear and confident understanding of non-fictional structures of writing. The goal of the SIOP lesson plan is to engage students in collaboration with each other so that they can identify why nonfiction is an important part of reading and writing. While using the think/pair/share method, learners will acquire the ability to recognize nonfiction writing and compare it to fictional works. Both language and content objectives have been aligned with state standards, influencing the lesson plan. The language objectives used in this lesson include collaboration with partners and as a class, recognize significant information to a topic, create a structured informational book, and use nonfictional structures of writing. The content objectives include effective collaboration, convey clear ideas and information through informative writing, using appropriate writing format, develop work with facts, definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples related to the topic, and use appropriate words that demonstrate an understanding of the lesson in its entirety. The instructional strategies that were used in this lesson could be applied to all learners. Learners were given the chance to hold whole group discussion, think/pair/share, have paired peer discussion, and make comparisons. ELLs were able to build background by the inclusion of meaningful activities, collaboration, tactics, repetition, and response used in this lesson. This lesson also provided a scaffolding effect which can endorse high levels of success for second language acquisition. It is critical to an Ell’s growth and development that comprehensible input be integrated within each lesson. Comprehensible input can be described as the ability for students to  understand what is being said and presented to them (Campbell Mailman, 2013). With the use of oral demonstration and context or visual cues being incorporated into numerous methods in instructional teachings, comprehensible input can be attained. It is also important for educators to challenge their students by requesting that they explain what is expected of them. These practices can help heighten a learner’s familiarity and understanding of English. Another important element used in ELL instruction and which can be applied to all learners is feedback. Feedback is given to students to provide them with an awareness of their strengths and what improvements are needed to improve their performance. An educator can deliver feedback orally or through non-verbal communication. It is important to note that feedback is not a one-way communication, but rather an interaction between an educator and learner (McKimm). An attentive teacher recognizes the importance in instantaneous, detailed, and continuous feedback to help build student’s assurance in their own capabilities. This self-confidence can help students extend it to their communicative skills, evaluate their achievements and continue to improve on their work. Educators must ensure that all feedback is remedial, appropriate and applies to the benchmarks given. Educators must also remember that is it not important in the amount of mistakes a student makes. The true value is in the amount of instructional information that a student learns and understands. Grouping structures and methods are also used by educators to endorse collaboration and learning. By grouping students who have strong, developed English language skills with students whose English language skills are still emerging, students have had higher success rates while learning the English language (Albertazzi, Azofeifa, Serrani, 2013). Integrating ELL and non-ELL students gives all students the opportunity to develop and continue to build vocabulary, as well as expand their skills in understanding, listening and speaking. Collaborating with one another can be an equally powerful teaching strategy as any other method of teaching done by educators. Building background and vocabulary development is another instructional strategy used in ELL classrooms to help develop innovative approaches that familiarize ELLs to new language(Campbell Mailman, 2013). This strategy also reinforces language meanings, a crucial step to English language development. By making use of key ideas that emphasize reading,  writing, and vocabulary as well as articulation and word enunciation strategies, teachers can support ELLs in developing their vocabulary so that they learn English proficiently. Lastly, student engagement is an equally important task in ELL instruction. Keeping students active and engaged while teaching a subject that is complex can be difficult. By using various strategies such as acknowledging students interests, providing additional materials, and requesting students to bring in personal motivators to learning English, such as letters from pen pals or applications for sports sign ups, teachers can help keep students actively engaged and participating in educational instruction. Acquiring a second language can be a challenging task for ELL students. Educators are responsible for considering the dynamics of English language acquisition and must take strategic steps in engaging and instructing ELL students. If educators implemented each of the components mentioned throughout this paper by integrating them into their teaching, all students will have the opportunity to receive exceptional learning experiences. References Albertazzi, S., Azofeifa, M., Serrani, G. (2013) Second Language Acquisition. Retrieved on November 14, 2013 from http://www.slideshare.net/milaazofeifa/krashens-theory-on-second-language-acquisition Campbell, A. Mailman, L. (2013). Theories of Language Development. Retrieved on November 15, 2013 from http://languagedevelopment.tripod.com/id15.html The Arizona K-12 Academic Standards. English Language Learners. (n.d.). The Arizona Department of Education. Retrieved November 14, 2013 from http://www.azed.gov/english-language-learners/elps/forms/ CAL SIOP. (2013). What is the SIOP Model. Center for Applied Linguistics. Retrieved on November 15, 2013 from http://www.cal.org/siop/about/index.html McKimm, J. (n.d.). What is Feedback. Retrieved from http://www.faculty.londondeanery.ac.uk/e-learning/feedback/what-is-feedback

Astronomy Story Essay Example for Free

Astronomy Story Essay The day my life would change for ever was April 16th, 2013. This was the day that I left planet earth and embarked on one of the most important missions in NASA’s history. I should probably back up though, and explain to you how this came about. April 16th was sunny with only a few clouds in the sky, the smell of spring was in the air and with the end of second semester right around the corner, the quad was packed with people eager to catch some much desired sun rays. Unfortunately for me though I was stuck in astronomy. That day’s topic was our very own planet earth. Dr. Bozyan was lecturing about how planet Earth was actually very wet, that nearly 71% of earths surfaced is covered with water. I learned that while other worlds of the solar system have atmospheres, only Earths contains the oxygen that we humans and animals need to survive. I had really hoped that wasn’t true because I had big aspirations of one day living on mars. We learned about about the greenhouse effect and how clouds, snow, ice and sand reflect about 31% of the incoming sunlight back into space. The earth though also emits radiation into space because of its temperature. Fighting off the urge to day dream about the nice weather, I managed to also learn how Earths magnetic field produces a magnetosphere that traps particles from the solar wind. Like the motions of Earths tectonic plates, Earths magnetic field results from our planets internal heat. The last thing I wrote down in that class was a few interesting notes about how human activity such as Deforestation, burning of fossil fuels and industrial chemicals are damaging the ozone layer in the stratosphere. As I was seconds away from reaching freedom to the the spring air, Dr. Bozyan approached me and told me that she had a question for me. She was talking though in a soft almost secretive tone. She went on for about 10 minutes how she worked for a top secret NASA program that was interested in sending me on a mission. I laughed at that, it sounded like a calvin and Hobbs comic strip that I see in the Sunday paper. She went on and told me that the the great space race between Russia and the U.S.A. had never ended and that there was a race to gather observations from all nine planets in the solar system. They had top secret technology that would allow for this mission to be completed in only one week. The only catch was that it was so secret that I would be launching out of the URI planetarium that night, and that I couldn’t tell anybody where I was going. Me being the adventurous type decided this would be a great opportunity to become famous and in the process get to see some landmarks like the milky way and the man on the moon. Within hours I was in my very first space shuttle and on my way to the moon. The fastest time to the moon was 8 hours and 35 minutes by NASA’s New Horizons pluto mission. It was only going to take me 2 hours and 31 minutes and I was only supposed to stop at the moon for fuel because it was determined information about the outer planets was more important and we were trying to complete the mission in the quickest possible time. As the man on the moon figure approached within eye shot, I began to observe and take note of anything I could. Even though NASA had already explored the moon, that was no excuse for me not to absorb any observations of the moon for myself. I quickly began to observe that the moon was very dry and its surface was covered with plains and craters that is caused by the moon being bombarded by meteoric material also known as impact craters. As we touched down I quickly decided to throw on my space suit and check out the moon and its surroundings. I immediately found out that there was no atmosphere and no global magnetic field as it felt as if I were floating and that there was no gravity holding me down. There also appeared to be no liquid water of any kind. I realized that the 3476 km diameter of the moon was really just a spec in the cloudless pitch black sky of space. My last observation of the moon as my shuttle was just about done filling up was that it was pretty cold out. It was about -180 degrees Celsius that night, much colder then I was used too. Luckily though, I also packed my arctic ready winter hat and jacket. Next stop would be Venus. As the count down began to lift off I wondered if Venus had a â€Å"man on the moon†. On my way to Venus I decided that I should probably make myself a well deserved meal. I was gawking into the bag labeled food, in red sharpie that was handed to me right before take off, there was no pop tarts or my favorite barbecue chips . After much debate and thought, I narrowed my choice to a cup of NASA’S finest freeze dried ice cream. As we started to approach what I assumed was Venus but couldn’t tell until we landed because of the clouds that were hiding its surface from view. The first thing that I noticed was the size. It seemed to be about the same size of earth, I had always thought of Venus being smaller then earth. What I also observed, was that practically the whole surface was covered in lava! I felt like I was in some sort of sci-fi movie. Luckily for me I had a space suit because without it, I would have exploded. My Pressure meter on the left arm of my suit was telling me that the pressure was 90 atmospheres, which would be 90 times greater then the average air pressure at sea level on Earth. The temperature of Venus was very hot and I know that that was in my favor because if the temperature wasn’t so hot, the clouds would open up with a rain of sulfuric acid, and believe me I did not want that. I stored these mental snap shots in my head and finished the last of my notes and prepared for take off to Mercury. Mercury was definitely going to be one of the planets that I had to pay very close attention to when taking notes because only half of its surface had been viewed recently. Mercury was also going to be interesting to see because it has a very unique axis rotation, spinning three times on its axis for every two orbits around the sun. The first thing that I noticed on Mercury was that there was almost no atmosphere on the planet. That was pretty obvious because the planet looked life less and fried. I wrote in my observation notes that Mercury fried, literally because there was no atmosphere to protect against the harsh radiation of the sun. Mercury from my first view out the window reminded me a lot of the moon, there were craters every where. Mercury also from observation was definitely on the smaller side. As my time on Mercury was coming to a end, I realized that Mercury was a very boring planet to look at, only craters and low lying plains and cliffs. After the short trip from Mercury past Venus, Earth and the moon I approached Mars. I figured I could get a jump start on finding a future plot of land, for when humans were on Mars. As I approached Mars, I could see that the planet was full of craters. I was to stay on Mars for a full 12 hours while my rocket fueled up to make the trip to the outer planets. What I observed in those 12 hours was very interesting to me. I witnessed some incredible sights like vast canyons some 20,000 ft high, giant mountains and sand dunes. The air was very dusty and left a orange tint in the air. I quickly learned also that there was little atmosphere because as night started to fall tempters fell very rapidly and quickly well below 0. My rocket was fueled up again and it was time for take off. As I sat down in my space craft, I noticed that Mars definitely lived up to its nick name of the red planet because my white space suit was now covered in red dust. Just like that though, it was time to leave Mars and head straight to the big guys, Jupiter and Saturn. I quickly learned that Jupiter was just as advertised; very big! I could see Jupiter from my rocket almost the whole trip there. Jupiter was very bright definitely brighter then any star I had ever seen. I noticed the dark and light bands as they appeared from the space craft window, I learned later on that these are called belts( darker bands) and zones( lighter bands). Jupiter was very hard to land because there was no solid surfaces. Using a scientific tool on the space craft I was able to determined that Jupiter made up almost entirely of hydrogen and helium, with some other trace gases. For this case it was very hard for me to take observations since I could not actually get out and explore Jupiter. For the lack of mobility and time I was quickly just like that on my way to to explore the great ring planet of Saturn. While approaching Saturn the ring that it is most famous for was very visible, I actually managed to ta ke a photo with my space issued camera that was provided to me by NASA. Saturn was also huge although not as big as Jupiter it was definitely the second biggest thing I had ever seen, the first thing obviously being Jupiter. Like Jupiter I was unable to land on Saturn because of the chemical make up being mostly hydrogen and helium but the observations I was able to take away were that Saturn’s rings were made of thousands of narrow, closely spaced ringlets. Uranus and Neptune were next and if I wanted to make this trip in one week, I had to say good bye to the two gas giants and say hello to the trans-Saturnian planets. The two sister planets Uranus and Pluto were very much alike. My time on both planets were relatively the same experience. I was able to observe that both planets had many moons. Also the atmosphere on both planets was generally the same made up of mostly hydrogen and helium indicated by special tools on board the space craft. The one difference I did notice between these two sisters, is that Uranus actually rotates clock wise instead of counter clock wise. My visit with Uranus and Neptune was short and sweet. I packed my space craft and prepared it for lift off. 3..2..1 blast off were the words that I heard through the microphone that was hooked up with NASA. I awoke laying in the quad. The sun was high in the sky and there was a slight breeze. I realized that I had accidentally snoozed off in the quad, and what started off with me closing my eyes for 5 minutes to catch some rays ended with a nap that lasted 3 hours. I unfortunately soon realized quickly after that my amazing top secret to space was actually nothing more then a dream. There was no fame to come of it, and my professor never actually gave me the trust to go on this top secret mission. Although my trip to the solar system may not have been real, it will be something though that I will never forget.

Absorption spectroscopy and acetic acid

Absorption spectroscopy and acetic acid The absorbance of light, wavelength 632nm, was measured in an indicator solution at varying pH, and varying concentration, allowing for a Beer-Lambert plot to be constructed. This was then used to measure acetic acid uptake at the surface of deionised water and octan-1-ol coated water, allowing pH, and hence concentration, to be calculated from absorbance of the liquid. Introduction Surfactants are molecules which are able to form a surface across a liquid, and stop the interaction of foreign molecules with the solution without interacting with these molecules first. These are extremely useful since they often contain a hydrophobic and hydrophilic aspect, which interact differently to different molecules. Surfactants are used in the manufacture of paper, textiles and construction among others.[1] They are the main ingredient of detergents and they allow non-polar molecules to dissolve in polar molecules, such as oil into water. On the surface of the liquid, the surfactant will interact slightly differently. It will create a surface of hydrophobic tails. This will stop polar molecules from entering the liquid, since the liquid will appear to be a poor solution for the polar molecule to interact with. They also increase decrease tension of the liquid.[4] This barrier is expected to stop the acetic acid, used in part 3 of the experiment, interacting with the water solvent. If it does interact, the pH of the solution will lower due to acetic acids presence, and the indicator will show a change in colour. If no acetic acid enters the solution, no change should be observed or measured. Experimental Using de-ionised water, a reference light intensity was recorded. A 250ml solution (1) of 0.005% wt bromocresol green was then prepared, and absorbance was measured. 100ml was removed, and the pH adjusted using 0.1M sodium hydroxide and glacial acetic acid, and absorbance was noted at pHs between 3-6 at 0.3 increments. 50ml of remaining solution (1) was further diluted to solutions of 0.0025%, 0.00125%, 0.000625% and 0.0003125% concentration. Spectroscopic analysis of these concentrations was made, and a Beer Lambert graph plotted. A solution of unknown concentration was then spectroscopically analysed and its approximate concentration determined. This solution was then enclosed in a container with acetic acid, and spectroscopic readings taken every 30 seconds. This was repeated with fresh solution, with the addition of 0.2ml of octan-1-ol to the surface of the cuvette. Results The results for the pH change showed a curve, going from lower pH on the left to high pH on the right. This is a more quantifiable way of showing that as the Bromocresol turned blue at higher pH. This shows absorption toward the end of the spectrum of lower energy, (ie higher wavelength). So as pH increased, the absorbance of Bromocresol at 632nm increased too as it became blue. The next aspect of the experiment was to analyse how concentration affected the absorbance of Bromocresol green. As concentration of bromocresol green was altered, it was possible to draw a Beer-Lambert plot detailing how the absorption of the light changed with concentration of the Bromocresol Green. As would be expected, there is a straight line relationship between Bromocresol concentration and Absorbance except at higher concentrations, where the solution plateaus and becomes non-linear. Excluding this end point it is possible to derive the gradient, and hence the value of ?L. This was determined to be 36600. The Bromocresol solution of unknown concentration transmitted 0.222, making a LOG(Io/I) value of 0.67. Dividing this by the gradient gave the Bromocresol solution concentration to be 4.5710-6moldm-3. From this it is possible to determine the acidity of the solution using the Beer-Lambert plot as given above. Using an original pH, it is then possible to determine the concentration of the acetic acid on top of this, using simple equations associated with pKa and pH. From the information of Ka and pH, it is possible to calculate the concentration of acetic acid in the solvent. Error analysis Using error analysis and standard errors of instrumentation used, it is possible to construct the same graphs as above but with error bars. These are shown below. Discussion The calculations and graphs suggest that coating a solvent in octan-1-ol would encourage uptake of acetic acid, rather than inhibit it. This may be due to dimerzation or trimerzation of acetic acid (1) as it evaporates from the surface, making it more soluble in the partially polar octan-1-ol solution. Single carbon-oxygen bonds display less polarisation than carbonyl bonds do, and so it is likely that in this dimerised arrangement acetic acid more readily dissolved in the oil, in addition to acetic acid readily dissolving in organic solvents. Because of these reasons it readily crossed over from the relatively non-polar octanol to the polar water solvent, decreasing the pH of the Bromocresol containing solution in both the uncoated and octanol coated solutions. It is, however, most likely that the experiment was not successful. Alternative indicators, such as NH3, would have readily dissolved in water and increased the pH of the solution. It would also not have been able to dissolve in the octanol due to the higher polarity and availability of the nitrogen lone pair. Because of this it would have been a better indicator of the presence of a surfactant than acetic acid. Acknowledgements I would like to thank my demonstrators M. Azwani Mat Lazim and Miss Olesya Myakonkaya for their advice on the experiment. References R. J. Farn, Chemistry and Technology, Blackwell Publishing (2006) pp. 6. L. L. Schramm, Surfactants: fundamentals and applications in the petroleum industry, Cambridge University Press (2000) pp. 7. R. J. Farn, Chemistry and Technology, Blackwell Publishing (2006) pp. 6. K. S. Birdi, Handbook of surface and colloid chemistry, CRC Press (1997) pp. 338. P. Atkins, J. De Paulo, Atkins Physical Chemistry 8th Edition, Oxford Publishing (2006) pp. 432. P. M. S Monk, Physical chemistry: understanding our chemical world, John Wiley Sons (2004) pp. 225. V. H. Agreda, J. R. Zoeller, Acetic acid and its derivatives Volume 49 of Chemical industries, CRC Press (1993) pp. 96.

Reality vs. Illusion in Othello :: Othello essays

Reality vs. Illusion in Othello      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Reality and illusions are two words which may be confused among people reading or learning about this sort of topic.   Reality is what is real or true and should not be misinterpreted with illusion, which is fake or something a person believes is real.   Often people can put an illusion in some ones head and through words, can manipulate how they think, which affects the person's judgment on what is reality and what is an illusion.   Illusions can be mistaken as being reality and very often there is a person making another believe in the illusion through his/her actions and speech.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The play "Othello" has the greatest example of this and is easily understood through this example.   Iago is a very intelligent man who uses peoples weaknesses to his advantage.   Iago has got to be one of Shakespeare's most evil characters and he is a character who stands out among all of the Shakespeare characters.   Iago uses his skill to gain revenge and take advantage of people who he believes deserves this sort of punishment.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Iago uses this revenge in many occasions, one in particular he talks to Othello about Casssio and makes Othello believe that Cassio is sleeping with Othello's wife Desdemona.   This is definitely not the truth but Iago talks in such a way that Othello has no choice but to believe him.   Iago also plants Desdemona's handkerchief in Cassio's cabin knowing that Othello will eventually find it.   Iago uses persuasive words to make Othello believe these illusions and as an extra plan Iago is making Othello trust in him because only a good friend would break this kind of news to another friend.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Reality and illusion are often mixed up as in Othello.   People have to look out for the situations such as this.   It is hard to believe such opposite words with opposite meanings could be mixed up so easily if a person actually puts some intelligent thinking behind a plan like this.   To give credit where credit is due, Iago is very intelligent and he knows how to get his way.   

Developing an Appropriate Response to Child Abuse Essay -- Child Abuse

Child abuse is one of the fastest growing social problems in the United States. A social problem is, â€Å"a condition that a significant number of people believe to be a problem. A condition in which there is a sizable difference between the ideals of a society and its actual achievements† (Coleman et al. 2006:2). However, society has changed the way it views the issue, and is working towards finding a solution to this awful problem. Child abuse encompasses four main areas: physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, and neglect. Child abuse is considered a sociological phenomenon because it is a learned behavior. Learning the social patterns as to why people abuse will give a better understanding to its reasons, and also the development of society in the way that it views children. 3.6 million children were victims of abuse in the year 2006. Sixty four percent were victims of neglect, sixteen percent suffered from physical abuse, and eight percent were sexually ab used. Also in 2006, 1,530 children died as a result of abuse; an average of four children everyday (Child Welfare Information Gateway 2008). A study was done by David G. Gil, author of Violence Against Children: Physical Child Abuse in the United States and Journal of Marriage and Family, conducted a study about the types of child that was abused. His findings indicated that children of all ages are abused. He also found that abused children are more likely to come from single-parent homes or from large families. Income, occupation, and education are all factors that indicate the higher rates of abuse. Most children in his sample were abused by their mothers, and fewer than half the abused children in his sample were living with their biological father... ...lcohol abuse problems, children are often the most vulnerable. Briere (1992) talks about society’s responsibility to take care of its future, and using the feminist, functionalist, and conflict theory perspectives, it is our responsibility to change the way in which children are taken care of. The treatment of childhood maltreatment effects is still in its infancy, however. It is likely that the next decade will bring with it a burgeoning of treatment techniques and approaches relevant to child abuse. As this field develops, so too grows the opportunity for clinicians to provide increasingly more effective services to abuse survivors. To the extent that child abuse trauma underlies a significant proportion of modern mental health problems, these developments are likely to have substantial implications for mental health practice in the years to come. (P.163)

A Thematic Guide to Canadian Literature Essay

In Rabelais and His World, the formalist critic Mikhail Bakhtin makes the one reference to Canada that appears in the body of his work. Discussing the French humanist’s comic rendering of Pantagruel’s northwesterly journey to the icy underworld, he points to the various levels of correspondence between Rabelais’s text (itself a parodic reworking of Dante’s Divine Comedy) and Jacques Cartier’s journal account of his 1540 voyage to Canada. It was Cartier’s colonial venture, Bakhtin suggests, that had a particularly complex and important effect on the European imagining of otro mundo: the new world (397-400). For Bakhtin, this effect was felt most tellingly on what might be best described as the implications of the Word in the Old World imagination, for it was Cartier’s discovery of the New World that prompted an essential reconsideration of the intellectual and imaginative structures that had until this point guaranteed the Old World a confidence in its linguistic centrality and a certainty in its imaginative enterprise. So radical were the restructurings necessitated by this new information that throughout the earliest explorations of the New World whole editions of journals and maps were destroyed or bought up and hidden â€Å"because they were thought to disseminate the wrong kind of information† (Huggan, 7) or, in the more abstract sense, to speak the wrong language, spread the wrong Word. But as journeys and journals accumulated, so, too, did the notions of Canada as a problematic new land and new language, as a site at which Old World and traditionally worded certainties were confronted by an openness of place that refused to be fixed, refused to accommodate its particularities and paradoxes to the tropes or metaphors privileged by familiar verbal codes. Every journey across this new land became another imaginative â€Å"mapping† of what were at once the knowable and the radically unknowable realities of the place a number of the earliest cartographers had labeled, somewhat ominously, terra incognita: the unknown land. Such mappings were â€Å"not a luxury,† as Margaret Atwood has observed, â€Å"but a necessity,† for without the sense of certainty they provided, these early Canadians would â€Å"not survive† (Atwood, 18-9). Atwood’s observations were not in themselves particularly revolutionary but were building on echoes of such notable antecedents as Northrop Frye, who saw in this confrontation both the source of our deep terror regarding the imminence of Canadian geography and of our national myths and mythic patterns (626), and Desmond Pacey, who defined â€Å"the Canadian imagination† as â€Å"mainly a function of† a collision between an imagination grounded fixedly in Old World language and a geography â€Å"so various† and â€Å"inescapably impressive †¦ that in itself it offers an inexhaustible challenge† (437-44). More recently, W. H. New has invited a full rethinking of the most basic terms of this challenge, suggesting that from Cartier’s earliest contact the word â€Å"land† has to be seen as a particularly complex discursive terrain, â€Å"a ground of contestation† upon which â€Å"an ongoing history of [our] relations with place and space† plays out. As New suggests, Canada in this sense becomes a semiotic site at which â€Å"Fixity vies recurrently with fluidity, position with positionality, the place of social residence with the condition of being there. † For Sheila Watson, the condition of â€Å"being† in the her The Double Hook (1959) is very much a process of doubling back on the assumptions and Words that have traditionally been part of the foundation of Old World thought and action. Faced with an â€Å"inexhuastible challenge† to survive, Waton’s characters open the novel trapped in silence, the doubling back of the â€Å"spoken† into the lethal pits-and-snares of the â€Å"unspoken† or, worse still, into the morass of the â€Å"never said. † And is it is in this doubling back of language that Watson’s characters find themselves hooked not once (on the self-glorifications of protective silence) but twice, by the fear in which silence finds its most solid footing. The Double Hook opens with an act of matricide, an act that is itself a doubling back to (re)collect both classic (the story of Orestes, for instance) and biblical (1 Timothy) allusions for use in this new land. It is the most profoundly un-natural doubling, as son erases his own origin, his own naming, his own source. At the same time, it is an act that resonates deeply through a family that lives â€Å"suspended in silence† and that includes among its various acts of violence the suicide of Greta, who remains dumb despite her impulse to use â€Å"her voice to shatter all memory of the girl who had stayed too long† (32) and the blinding of Kip, a young boy who attempts to speak of and against the repressiveness shaping his valley home. But as Watson reveals, this Canadian place is a one in which any move to double away from the exhaustive struggle to find language is often a fatal slide. As the character known only as the Widow’s boy shouts in response to the violence erupting in the silences around him: Can a man speak to no one because he’s a man? Who says so?†¦ I’ve held my tongue†¦ when I should have used my voice like an axe to cut down the wall between us† (116). The boy’s emphasis here is crucial, for what Watson demands to here in her Canadian place is not the language of another or the displacing silence of the fearful but a radical and potent questioning of the potentialities of a language that can articulate the freedoms that Cartier and others had (en)visioned for this place. As Barbara Godard explains, Watson remains â€Å"[s]ensitive always to the thinness and inarticulateness of modern language† (153) and is always in search of ways â€Å"to disturb the reader’s conventional consciousness of words and their so-called corresponding realities† (153). Watson’s warning, and her practice in The Double Hook, is for the need to interrogate language in the modern world, to bring language back doubled onto itself as a act of demythologizing and dismantling; Watson’s novel proposes in its own writing an understanding of language and reality that finds its most profound articulation in the doubling onto itself of language itself. In this doubling back of language upon itself, another act of murdering one’s origins, â€Å"Watson signals her departure from realistic verisimilitude† (154) and from the strictures that bound, not freed, Cartier and subsequent explorers, to the language of their realities and their worlds. â€Å"In the fold of the hills / under Coyote’s eye† (11) language begins to redouble its energies, unfold its potentials to mean beyond the literal into the circular encounterings of allusion and echo and irony. When James flees his ranch on horseback following the murder of his own mother, he becomes, briefly, a perverted image of the classic Western hero riding off into the sunset and silence of the horizon. But as he soon recognizes, his is not a semiotic site located in that system; in his place, in his language, â€Å"a person only escapes in circles no matter how far the rope spins. † In other words (in new words), he must double back and begin to fill the silence, to dismantle the double back language (silence) that has reified around the edges of his folded valley. In his doubling back, he must meet again with Felix, a character whose own languages — the vernacular of the valley, the ritualized formality of religion, the silken transcendence of music — has itself been emptied of meaning, reduced to cliche: He wondered: If a bitch crept in by my stove would I let her fall on the hot iron of it? I’ve got no words to clear a woman off my bench. No words except: Keep moving, scatter, get-the-hell-out. His mind sifted ritual phrases. Some half forgotten. You’re welcome. Put your horse in. Pull up. Ave Maria. Benedictus fructus ventris. Introibo. Introibo. The beginning. The whole thing to live again. Words said over and over here by the stove. His father knowing them by heart. God’s servants. The priest’s servants. The cup lifting. The bread breaking. Domine non sum dignus. Words coming. The last words. (41) Doubling back into his own languages through words â€Å"ritualized† and words â€Å"said over and over,† Felix lives, in this moment, trapped like James, forever in the ellipses of the â€Å"half forgotten† and in the promise, always frustrated, of â€Å"[w]ords coming. † In the end, though, it is Felix, with the assistance of Kip, who brings the novel back from the creases of its own doubling, back to the glory of language made meaningful with its own resonant doubleness, allowing it to be both glory and fear, articulation and reflection, the said and the unsaid. It is Felix, who steps to the side of Angel in the moment of her deliverance to assist in the miracle, and who, even the new mother admits, â€Å"didn’t do bad for a man†¦ Especially for a man who never raised a hand to help one of his own mares in foal† (116). Fishing with Kip in the now meaningful silence that follows the birth, there is a conversation between the two generations of valley men during which the older man’s sense of responsibility and wonder serves as a corrective to the younger one’s suspicion and fear: When a house of full of women, Kip said, and one of them Angel, it’s best for a man to take his rest among the willows. When a house is full of women and children, Felix said, a man has to get something for their mouths. (117) Caught again in a silence, Kip pauses to reflect on Felix’s refocusing of the valley, his doubling of the â€Å"reality† of the presence in the house (â€Å"and children†) that effectively reinscribes community over isolation, family over individual. When Kip speaks again, it is to accept his role in the â€Å"branding† that had scarred his face: â€Å"I keep thinking about James, Kip said. I kept at him like a dog till he beat around the way a porcupine beats with his tail† (117). Pausing momentarily before he answers, Felix slips past the ritual responses, the formulaic platitudes that have defined him in the past. Rather than parable or vulgar dismissal, he engages the younger man with a reflection upon James’s burden and, more importantly, a question that at once engages Kip but also looks to his future in the valley: â€Å"Jame’s got more than a porcupine has to answer for, he said. How’re you going to pick up a living now? † To pick up living in the valley is, as Angel makes clear when she names her new baby Felix, is through the model of the older man, who passes on the will to speak and the will to be heard to a valley. Moving beyond language into love, and through love back to harmony and rebirth, Felix reimagines the silence of the valley, shaping its contours with words and allowing the connecting moments of quiet to reverberate with meaning, to double back into the words of the father-figure in order to find a path to the future. Works Cited Atwood, Margaret. Survival: A Thematic Guide to Canadian Literature. Toronto: Anansi, 1972. Frye, Northrop. Literary History of Canada. Toronto: U of Toronto P, 1965. Godard, Barbara. â€Å"’Between One Cliche and Another’: Language in The Double Hook. † Studies in Canadian Literature 3 (1978): 149-65. Huggan, Graham. Territorial Disputes: Maps and Mapping Strategies in Contemporary Canadian and Australian Fiction. Toronto: U of Toronto P, 1994. New, W. H. Land Sliding: Imagining Space, Presence, and Power in Canadian Writing. Toronto: U of Toronto P, 1997. Pacey, Desmond. â€Å"The Canadian Imagination. † The Literary Review 8 (1965): 437-44. Watson, Sheila. The Double Hook. 1959. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1989.

A Scholar Word

I admit that there are pros and cons of the activity but the negative side outweighs the positive. Voter's education is a big help for the community especially for the first time voters. We couldn't deny the fact that this community service including the youth profiling are beneficial for our society. But, Just like what Vive said, there are negative sides of the story First, instead of having our summer Job and summer class or even on-the-Job training, we are subdued by this activity.The community service will only take a few days or even hours of our time, but that could also be a time for rest after work or after school or even a time for our family after a long strenuous semester. But that won't happen because any of the statement above is not an excuse of not taking the community service. We are scholars, not robots, we also have a life to live. Second, the reason why we are in this scholarship is because somehow, some of us could not afford the whole tuition of the program we c hoose, for short we are not that rich.That's why spending even a few peso on our account without it being reimbursed is a big deal for us. Third, the way of grouping us is somehow a good thing because it teaches us owe to socialize with different kinds of people but the problem is throwing these group of people in an unknown barraging that even the Google map could not locate is like throwing scavengers in a remote island waiting to be devoured by sharks and beasts.And lastly, the common issue of all is that maybe the reason why we haven't hugged this community service unlike the other activities that we greatly enjoyed is that the foundation of this activity, starting from the orientation, is not right, not proper. Being yelled at the very first meeting is not a great way to start anything and it's a bit degrading for us scholars. We represent the youth that's why we a loud and active, and restraining us from doing so is improper and unprofessional especially if not all of us are i nvolve in the noisy rumble.This is an intellectual criticism, hope you won't take it personally. I am not speaking in the voice of a selfish, self righteous and self centered scholar, but rather I'm speaking in the voice of those unuttered cries of the scholars who are afraid to speak out what's in their mind with the fear of losing their scholarship. This is not a complain, this is a reflection. A Scholar Word By Babying

Chapter Summary of Guns Germs and Steel

1. How humans came into existence was talked about along with the major advances in the world’s development. It is proven that humans did evolve from monkeys in Africa. There is some arguments around if there were pre-Clovis people or not, but James Diamond says evidence would’ve been found by now. 2. The Maori and Moriori are the descendants of the Polynesians. Because they had a larger and denser population, the Maori people were more technologically advanced with more complex societies and technology. Smaller populations only make things when there is an actual need.3. There was a big population shift in North America when the Europeans colonized America and almost eliminated the Native American population. The Spanish conquistadors were Christians, who used God as their reasoning behind actions. So, when the Incan emperor and heir died of small pox, the Spanish used their communication skills to easily defeat the Incas. 4. The production of food is very important to a successful society, because food means more people. Domesticating animals also comes with its benefits such as: milk, meat, tools, labor, and transportation.For example horses were used in warfare. 5. There was a discussion revolving around why well off areas didn’t do food production. The earliest places that did adopt food productions were: Iraq, Mexico, and the Andes. 6. Ancient farming often had many diseases associated with it along with malnourishment and younger deaths. Usually people would do a combination of hunter gathering and farming. Mainly the only people who would not survive are the ones who could not farm because of geographical reasons. 7. Wild plants became crops through genetic modifications.For the purpose of reproduction, tasty plants had bitter seeds, so animals wouldn’t eat the seeds. 8. This chapter discussed why the Fertile Crescent thrived as well as it did. Three possible answers could be: the climate, self-pollination, and the ancestor c rops. The beginning of the chapter also talks a lot about why some locations used agriculture and some did not. There were many theories to this question. 9. The definition of a domesticated animal is: an animal selectively bred in captivity and thereby modified from its wild ancestors, for use by humans who control the animal’s breeding and food supply.Elephants and zebras are both capable of being domesticated, but no one has been successful at it yet. The most successfully domesticated animals have all come from Eurasia. 10. The axis and Earth’s rotation have an affect on the continent. Trade tends to move farther east and west, because they share the same day length, diseases, seasons, and climate. 11. Germs and infections had a huge affect on crops and animals. People develop immunity to certain diseases. Sometimes though infections can spread very slowly, which makes it act more effectively because no one discovers it.12. The ability to write and its importance w as discussed in this chapter. A societies comprehension is shown through its writing. A writing system has three basic parts: a sound, syllable, and word. The basic structures for many writing systems were based off The Sumerians and the Mesoamerican people. 13. Diamond says that there are a few parts for an invention to be used and wanted. It has to have an economic advantage and match the interest of society. It also must have social significance. 14. This chapter talks about the organization of a society.There are many levels of organization. The levels are: a band, tribe, chiefdom, state, and kleptocrat. The chapter discusses what each one was and talks about the roles of each one along with its strengths and weaknesses. 15. Even though Australia had some of the best technology, it didn’t ever attack Europe. Australia was known to isolate itself along with New Guinea. New Guinea was geographically isolated and progressed slowly for a few reasons. For example: their crops didn’t have significant protein and there were no diseases to keep intruders out. 16.China stayed very isolated and unified politically. Language was also discussed. Language changes and evolves into different languages, because when people invade the area they bring their own words and phrases that then become part of the local language. 17. A language that did not change was Polynesia’s. This has an unknown reason why. The Austronesians did have the largest population expansion in the last 6000 years. They attacked New Guinea and killed the majority of the New Guineans. 18. Eurasia did not successfully take over all the Native Americans.The Eurasians were use to working with domesticated animals, but there were not many domesticated animals there. Even though they couldn’t really use the animals, with the use of guns, germs, and steel the Eurasians had a huge advantage over the Native Americans. 19. Africa is predominately black for the reason that the black p eople owned the largest area. The black farmers attacked the Pygmy homeland and took their language. They also did this to the Khoisans. Africa didn’t domesticate animals until much later.

Managing Diversity at Spencer Owens Essay

The definition of diversity: The concept of diversity encompasses acceptance and respect. It means understanding that each individual is unique, and recognizing our individual differences. These can be along the dimensions of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, age, physical abilities, religious beliefs, political beliefs, or other ideologies. It is the exploration of these differences in a safe, positive, and nurturing environment. It is about understanding each other and moving beyond simple tolerance to embracing and celebrating the rich dimensions of diversity contained within each individual.1 Two corporations who have implemented diversity efforts and have dealt with the benefits and challenges of these efforts are Spencer Owens & Co. and Cityside Financial Services. When examining both diversity efforts, it is important to understand how well each company has done with previous and present efforts, the problems the companies are facing now and the root causes of these problems. While these companies have implemented their own efforts to diversify their staff, it is important to examine the similarities and differences in managing diversity. Spencer Owens & Co. How well has Spencer Owens done in its diversity efforts? Spencer Owens’ recent past shows a great deal of effort put into diversifying their workforce. In the mid-1980’s, Spencer Owens & Co. initiated a strategy to diversify the company’s employees from entry-level to executive ranks. Prior to this start date, the company had an all-white executive male team. From the start of this initiative, Spencer Owens did very well on its diversity efforts to hire people â€Å"on their merits and for their capacities to do what is expected or required of them. To implement  the plan, the company set hiring goals, communicating them to all employees and creating accountability.† Over the next ten years, this in turn created opportunities for women and people of color to become part of the team and establish career paths for them to be future leaders in various departments of the company. Following the start of this program (1985-1995), Spencer Owens was considered the most diverse staff in its industry accounting for 50% of the firm’s 150 managers and professionals were women, and 30% were people of color. Additionally, during this period, people of color that were hired into entry-level positions had been promoted and moved up into managerial positions. Four out of the12 member executive team were women and three were people of color. Extensive involvement in the efforts to attract, recruit and retain minorities and women in becoming managers, professional staff and directors were a key priority to the firm. Spencer Owens also knew that a key to internal diversity was to ensure the company’s policies and overall commitment to an equitable workplace by instituting affirmative action goals, along with, aggressive hiring and advancement practices that set high qualification and performance hurdles. 2  The team at Spencer Owens was proud of their company’s commitment to fairness and equality and to encourage the employees to be â€Å"colorblind† to gender and ethnic differences. Along with this strategy, the firm also initiated sensitivity training and held follow-up discussions. Multiple employees commented, â€Å"Everyone is the same and treated the same.† With feedback from these trainings and discussions, the firm went a step further to create networking groups for women and people of color. How well are they doing now? Why is the firm now having trouble? Recently, Spencer Owens diversity efforts have witnessed great changes while also encountering many issues and problems. In 2000, the firm hired Agnes Richards, their first woman executive in 45 years. Over the course of the next three years, Richards noticed that the diversity efforts were slowly unraveling and affecting the productivity of the company. For  example, Richards noticed friction among race relations, people of color were bringing charges of racism against the white workers, and there were new complaints made by the two networking groups. One of the first steps that Richards and her leadership team took was to reinstate the sensitivity trainings. However, it was noticed that there was poor attendance among the racial and ethnic minorities. In addition to these issues, Richards fired an African-American female manager due to tardiness issues and for portraying a bad attitude. At that point, employees became angry and frustrated. Due to the firm’s problems, Richards hired consultants to study the firm’s race and gender relations. The interviews revealed the following: †¢ Employees have concerns about the affirmative action initiative. †¢ White employees feel that the diversity program is adversely affecting the quality of the firm’s work. †¢ It is perceived that white male managers are opposed to new methods brought forth by newer employees. †¢ People of color are critical of affirmative action program, including superficial results and feel that they are tolerated and not accepted. †¢ People of color feel their ideas are easily dismissed. †¢ Perception that the network groups defend the minorities of the company. †¢ Overall feeling of retaliation and fear of being called a racist. What is the root cause (or causes)? Spencer Owens’s discrimination-and-fairness paradigm, which measures progress in diversity â€Å"by how well the company achieves its recruitment and retention goals rather than by the degree to which conditions in the company allow employees to draw on their personal assets and perspectives to do their work more effectively, had created a cognitive blind spot. As a result, the company’s leadership could not frame the problem accurately or solve it effectively.10 Instead, the company needed a cultural shift – it needed to grasp what to do with its diversity once it had achieved the numbers. Because of senior managers’ resistance to a cultural transformation, Spencer Owens continues to struggle with the tensions rising from the diversity of its workforce.10 The root causes of these problems is that the employees need to feel that the ways they may be different are understood and accepted.3 With the de-emphasis of sensitivity trainings and follow-up discussions, the team became isolated in their views on diversity versus affirmative action goals. The misunderstandings became apparent with the original mission â€Å"to consider people on their merits and for their capacities to do what is expected or required of them.† Many minority employees say they gain a sense of belonging in the workplace when their employers create opportunities for workers with diverse backgrounds to interact with others and to become involved as apart of a group. 3 The networks were a great idea for employees to feel connected to the company; however, the execution was not done properly. These diversity programs could have helped employees of different backgrounds by communicating feelings and experiences about climbing the corporate ladder or breaking through the glass celiling.3 However, these network groups became defenders for women and the other minorities due to the perception of treatment, opportunities, miscommunication between the minorities and the white employees. Additional root causes for the present problems include employees wanting fair treatment, a sense of belonging, understanding and acceptance, and a feeling that they are contributing. Cityside Financial Services How well has Cityside Financial Services done in its diversity efforts? Cityside Financial Services has done well in diversity efforts. In 1999, after 69 years of being in business, the company had become very much diversified with half of the employees in the company being females and 90% of the support staff was African American. In addition, 53% of middle managers, 42% of senior managers, and 25% executives were African American. Cityside operated as two units in their Sales Division: Retail Operations  and External Deposits. The retail operations unit was filled with mostly African American employees. The external deposits unit was made up of mostly white college graduates. Nearly equal numbers of managerial positions existed in each unit, giving whites and blacks similar advancement opportunities. Bank employees agreed that, â€Å"If you did your job well, you’ll be recognized and promoted for it.† 4 As stated in the article, â€Å"Over the years, Cityside Bank developed a reputation for being a high-functioning, multicultural organ ization.† While the bank itself was deemed to be a multicultural organization, the two sales units were founded on two separate and distinct models that it was described by one executive as â€Å"two different banks†. While the bank was diversified as a whole, these two units were very much specialized to their distinct client base. This separation of duties and ethnicities has led to some of the problems that the company presently is facing. While the External Deposit team was described as â€Å"white, smart, dedicated and loyal workaholics, it was also said that it’s not the perfect job for black staff that need a salary, may be hard-working, but not at that level.† In addition, some of the other red flags to the present problems included wealthy individuals complaining about the limited services being offered to them, other clients in Retail Operations feeling overshadowed by wealthier clients in External Deposits (and were leaving the bank), and the lack of understanding (no clear guidelines) by Retail and External as the best way to handle the new market segment. This lack of coordination compromised the bank’s efficiency and created trust issues between these two departments as to the best way to help clients. How well are they doing now? Why is the firm now having trouble? While the company continues to maintain an overall diversified work staff, they are now encountering significant issues in their diversity efforts. One of the main causes of the problems that Cityside is now facing is that they have sectionalized the company with African American employees  working in the Retail Operations department and the white employees working in the External Deposits department. Per the head of External Deposits, she commented that â€Å"the problem is what is expected of senior management here has a cultural bias towards whites. It’s not to say that African Americans aren’t also able to do all that. But because of historical racial issues, they have been limited.† According to one black officer in Retail, he commented that â€Å"white workers would not be able to handle the demands of the Retail unit.† He continued to say that â€Å"(whites) wouldn’t know what to do with people in this neighborhood.† This bias ties into ethnocentrism, which represents the feelings that one’s cultural rules and norms are superior or more appropriate than the rules and norms of another culture.5 In addition, poor career planning shows another problem that African American’s have faced as potential candidates in the External Deposit unit. When Ron Wilkens, one of the investors of the bank, wanted to learn more about how the black workforce viewed its career prospects, it was noted that the root problem was how they (African Americans) were perceived by the whites. Was he deemed as a decision maker and someone that understands the customer where his thoughts are taken seriously or is he someone that is viewed as good at operationally making things work? His black officer commented that he is respected by white colleagues, but questioned the value of his contribution to the firm seen by his white colleagues. While there is diversity in the company as a whole, there needs to be more diversity in each division to ensure that each employee is given an equal chance to grow and that customers are offered the best goods and services as possible. What do these cases have in common? There are some significant similarities between the two cases. First, both companies originally had an all-white staff. Both companies instituted programs to diversify their teams. For example, Spencer Owens adopted an  affirmative action plan while Cityside initiated an aggressive minority program. After these programs were implemented, both companies had double-digit percentages of their workforce made up of women and African Americans. It was noted in both cases that these companies were recognized in their industries as greatly achieving a multicultural organization. With that, both firms committed to a fair approach for advancing all employees. It was also noted that as the diverse programs were in action, both companies began to experience compromised efficiency as the staff began to have problems working together. At Spencer Owens, the affirmative action movement left some employees feeling alienated and unappreciated. The article states, â€Å"Many non-white professionals reported having their ideas routinely disregarded.† Furthermore, a Latino programmer staffer explained, â€Å"Until white people discover an idea, until they express it with their own words in their style, it’s as if it doesn’t exist.† This comment is similar to the quote made by one employee at Cityside who stated, â€Å"When a white man disagrees, he’s being strong. He’s taken with respect. When a black man disagrees, he’s being negative and whiny, militant and kind of like Malcolm X.† Both quotes show that while the companies made strides as far as diversifying their employee base, there is still a great difference in the way the ideas and contributions of white and minority employees are perceived. With this comparison summary, in both cases, the working environment involves how employees perceive one another. This is labeled as social cognition and social information processing. Social cognition is the study of how people make sense of other people and themselves. The perception process influences a host of managerial activities, organizational processes, and quality of life issues. 5 Additionally, stereotyping employees is also seen in both these case studies. At Cityside, African-American employees in the Retail Operations unit are deemed to be able to better relate to the â€Å"local community†, which is predominately African American. At Spencer Owens, there is a stereotype threat in which white managers are in fear of supervising people of color in  that â€Å"any constructive feedback could be perceived as being criticized and subsequently being called a racist.† Lastly, both companies conducted interviews and developed surveys to better understand the opinions of the staff in order to get to the root cause(s) of why tensions were on the rise. What differences do these two cases have? The main difference in the two cases is the approach the companies took to diversity. As previously stated, Spencer Owens used the discrimination and fairness paradigm, which has a â€Å"focus on equal opportunity, fair treatment, recruitment, and compliance with federal Equal Employment Opportunity requirements.† 10 This approach can make employees feel equal, but it can also lead to feelings of alienation and a loss of identity to the employees. This may be what led to the elimination of sensitivity training. In a sense, if we are all equal and are basically the same type of person, then there is no need to be sensitive to our differences, since this approach aims to eliminate the differences entirely. This approach is what led to the problems now being seen in Spencer Owens. Cityside used an approach called the Access and Legitimacy Paradigm. Supporters of this approach believed that you need â€Å"access to – and legitimacy with-a more diverse clientele by matching the demographics of the organization to those of critical consumer or constituent groups.† 10 Cityside put African-American employees in retail because they would be dealing with mostly clients of the same race and culture and this would give the company legitimacy in the community and increase sales. Where this approach went wrong is that it alienated African-American employees and clients. While the discrimination-and-fairness paradigm used by Spencer Owens aims to make all employees equal and the same, access-and-legitimacy, takes the opposite approach and separates employees by race, not allowing the two to work together or grow in their roles in the company. What approach to diversity might have been more effective in each of these cases? Diversity and Affirmative Action: Difference Affirmative action is selective in mandating changes that benefit previously disadvantaged groups. It is an outgrowth of Equal Employment Opportunity legislation.5 Diversity is inclusive, encompassing everyone in the workplace. It seeks to create a working environment in which everyone and every group fits, feels accepted, has value, and contributes.6 Managing diversity, while based on cultural change, is a pragmatic business strategy that focuses on maximizing the productivity, creativity and commitment of the workforce while meeting the needs of diverse groups. 7 Approaches to diversity that might have been more effective in these cases: Managing diversity entails recognition of the unique contribution every employee can make.5 Managing diversity also moves beyond valuing diversity in that it is a way in which to do business and should be aligned with other organizational strategic plans.6 Diverse employees offer an extraordinarily wide range of proficiencies for doing business in any marketplace. The following are different approaches that Wilkens and Richards could have taken to be more effective in their efforts (see footnote 8): 1. To attract young, new hires, college career fairs allow an employer to target people of color and women who may be good potential employees. 2. Employee referral programs: good employees typically associate with other good potential friends and associates. By implementing a program where employees refer other good candidates, employers can identify and reach out to others of the same race or background. 3. Recruitment: enlightened employers know that they need to take a hard look at their own tactics for generating diverse job candidates. These organizations take a serious look at their internal assessment around recruiting. With this, employers target key groups of employees and then mentor them so that they are able to navigate the system successfully. 4. Education/trainings: a successful diversity program will also educate all of a company’s employees to understand the business rationale behind their efforts. That way, the employees who don’t directly benefit from a company’s diversity efforts  understand that they still have a stake in the program’s success. In addition, encouraging employees to participate in skills-based volunteer projects can help unleash targeted skills.5 5. Mentoring programs: It is important to understand that a company cannot expect to change in corporate culture unless you get your full employee base involved. Partnering lower level employees with senior level employees, including diverse and promising professionals of color mentor-mentee sponsorships, may help facilitate the understanding of working together. 6. Merit systems: performance standards should be based on a thorough job analysis. Standards should be periodically updated. It is also suggested that the standards not be based on traits and personality factors; focus should be on behavior or performance – what the employee does.9 7. Company philosophy: seeking out practices that emphasize equality and teamwork in compensation and decision-making. What should Wilkens/Richards do to turn things around? In addition to considering the above seven items, Wilkens and Richards should contemplate the following actions: 1. Reinstate sensitivity trainings: this needs to be mandatory for all employees to improve the negative relationships between the team’s diversity as a workgroup, to help with conflict management and interpersonal dynamics.5 This training will help to encourage collaborative behavior and improve communication efforts amongst the groups. a. Diversity should be understood as the varied perspectives and approaches to work that members of different identity groups bring.10 2. Take steps to reduce negative effects of unconscious stereotyping and increase the use of group goals in heterogeneous groups. Rewarding groups to accomplish group goals might encourage group members to focus on their common objectives rather than on demographic faultiness that are unrelated to performance. a. The leadership team must understand that a diverse workforce will embody different perspectives and approaches to work, and must truly value variety of opinion and insight. 3. The leadership team must recognize both the learning opportunities and the challenges that the expression of different  perspectives presents for an organization.10 4. The organizational culture must create an expectation of high standards from everyone.10 5. The organizational culture must stimulate personal development.10 6. The organizational culture must encourage openness and make workers feel valued.10 7. The organization must have a well-articulated and widely understood mission.10 Conclusion: Wilkens and Richards must realize that increasing demographic variation does not in itself increase organizational effectiveness. They need to realize that it is how a company defines diversity –and what it does with the experiences of being a diverse organization – that delivers on the promise.10 These companies should develop an outlook on diversity that enables them to incorporate employees’ perspectives into the main work of the organization and to enhance work by rethinking primary tasks and redefining markets, products, strategies, missions, business practices, and even cultures. By instituting this learning-and-effectiveness paradigm for managing diversity, Wilkens and Richards will tap into true diversity benefits.10 References: 1. http://gladstone.uoregon.edu/~asuomca/diversityinit/definition.html 2. Ely, Robin. (April 17, 2006). â€Å"Managing Diversity at Spencer Owens & Co.† 3. Grensing-Pophal, Lin, (May 2002). â€Å"Reaching for Diversity Efforts in the Workplace.† 4. Ely, Robin. (April 17, 2006). â€Å"Managing Diversity at Cityside Financial Services† 5. Kreitner, Robert & Knicki, Angelo. (9th Edition/2010). â€Å"Organizational Behavior† 6. Stonybrook University. â€Å"Diversity and Affirmative Action: Difference† 7. www.business-marketing.com/store/affirmvsdiv.html 8. www.boston.com/jobs/diversity. (May 9, 2004). â€Å"DiversityWorks: How all Employees Benefit.† 9. Hodge, John. (June 1, 1993). â€Å"Relationship between managing diversity and merit-based systems.† 10. Thomas, David A. and Ely, Robin A. (September/October 1996). â€Å"Making Differences Matter: A New Paradigm for Managing Diversity.†