English - Cognitive Linguistics Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

English - Cognitive Linguistics - Research Paper Example 134). This is because there has been extremely inadequate attempt to provide an exposure analysis of cognitive linguistics in the recent past. Additionally, cognitive linguistic offers a definition of conceptual account of ideational purpose of language in which individual experiences is designed by construal operations (Liddell 2008, p. 314). Cognitive linguistic entails the entire structuring of affective classification and configuration of ideational ascribed to cognitive agents such as intention, volition, perspective and attention (Charteris-Black, 2004, p. 61). In regard to this, cognitive linguistic brings about concrete conception of language that portrays basic cognitive abilities. Some of the basic abilities reflected by cognitive linguistics are ability to build structured conceptualization in various organizational levels, ability to come up with proper interaction between different aspects of a structure, ability to take a situation at different categories of abstraction s, and the ability to observe a single situation in different dimensions (Lakoff and Nunez, 2000, p. 123). According to cognitive linguistic, the study of language entails analyzing its function in transmitting information. (Fairclough, 2009, p.9). Additionally, when using language in communication, communicator employs creative elaboration, transfer, and mapping (Kemmer and Arie, 2005, p. 115). All this is done to understand the meaning of the language. On the other hand, language does not bring about meaning. It depends entirely on cognitive resources and cultural models to make meaning. Grammar guides the language users by prompting them to perform complicated cognitive operations. In reference to cognitive linguistic, the meaning of a language depends on the context where it is used. Cognitive linguistic also rehabilitate and redeem some basic aspects of language such as metonymy and metaphor. These aspects form the rhetorical language periphery (Brugman, 200, p. 89). These aspe cts are also very powerful in mapping human thought. They have a definite role in the understanding of religion, poetry, philosophy mathematics, science, and everyday thinking and speaking. As observed from previous cognitive linguistic study, language encompasses various categories and processes (Wodak and Michael 2001, p 67). On the other hand, cognitive linguistic model describes the interrelationship between events and objects. This model describes the cognitive capability of an individual in getting the meaning of a language (Herskovits 2006, p. 78). As stipulated by cognitive linguistic, language and thought are embodied. Individual impartial structures and sensorimotor is also known to play a crucial role in shaping conceptual structure. In cognitive linguistic, conceptual structure is made of prototypes. As a result of this, grammar is a mere neutral system (Taylor 2002, p.9). On the other hand, in communication, the capabilities that organize language are always specific to the language used. Some basic capabilities that organize language include conceptual integration, recursion, analogy, view point and perception. The application of cognitive linguistic in critical disclosure analysis is based on various theories. The commonly known theories are metaphor theory and mental space theory (Kress and Robert 2002, p. 40). Metaphor theory has experienced consistent development over the last few years. According to the theory, metaphor forms the basis of all human

Grid Iron Gang Essay Example for Free

Grid Iron Gang Essay 1. Clearly identify the movie watched. The movie I decided to watch for this project was Gridiron Gang. 2. What stereotypes or assumptions are made about the ethnic or cultural group? That they are criminals might be juvenile delinquents, uneducated, thugs or gang members and that they are trouble makers. 3. What is/are the identified issues of one of the many characteristics? Discuss at least two. Roger weathers was one of the main characters that the movie started out with. One issue was that he had to much time to be on the streets. Obviously he did because the movie started out with him being in the juvenile detention center. With all this time it allowed him to be out wondering the streets committing crime but also mix with the wrong people. The second issue was that he was a known gang member. Once he was released, he went right back to that same lifestyle and ran into some friends that were in trouble and he got killed. 4. Discuss at least one theory of delinquency and how it might apply to one or more of the characters in the film? In the book there are psychological theories. Psychoanalytic approach is a theory is composed as a structure with three parts, the id, ego and super ego. The id is the part of one’s personality that is comprised of unconscious biological and psychological desires and instincts. The ego is the part of one’s personality that represents the identity of the actual behavior. Finally, the superego is the part of one’s personality that represents the conscience and moral character of the individual. If the id is stronger than the superego, delinquency is more likely to occur. I think that this theory applies to Kenny bates in the film because he stole a car. I don’t think he needed the car, he just wanted it. Also I think it applies to bug wendal because he robbed an old woman for her money. 5. What are some of the risk and protective factors you can identify for one or more of the characters in the film? For Roger weathers some risk factors I could come up with are: low involvement in the four key areas, gun possession, chronic truancy, police trouble and gang membership. I could not think of any protective factors for him. For Willie weathers some risk factors I came up with were: low involvement in the four key areas, violence and aggression, gun possession and gang membership. I could not think of any protective factors for him as well. I couldn’t think of any protective factors for either of the characters because we get to see the home life of Willie and it doesn’t seem to be so much of a happy home. The mother seems to get beaten by her boyfriend and Willie seems as if he has all the free time to run around in a not so good neighborhood. As for roger, I’m just guessing it’s the same lifestyle for him since he also participated in a gang and in criminal activity. 6. Did the movie give you hope or inspiration? Or did you feel sad and depressed? Why and how? The movie gave me hope and inspiration. I felt good about the outcome of it. It ended happy and the juveniles all played the football game with all their heart. It’s because in the beginning they didn’t seem to work well together, getting in fights and not playing as a team. Throughout the movie they kept getting closer and closer and playing better together and when they really needed to they pulled it through in the end and won that game. It made me look at them different even though they it’s not real life.. The stragedies and whole thought of the delinquents coming together and accomplishing something they all wanted in custody, was a wonderful thing.

Dramatic Effect in An Inspector Calls Essay -- J.B. Priestley

Inspector Goole’s plays a various amount of roles throughout the novel such as being a socialist as in others words is looking for them, a fraud as we discover he isn’t an inspector, a ghost as we discover he isn’t real and in some ways brings a sort of split in the Birling family as everyone has lost trust in one another. The following paragraph that is going to be established involves a comparison of an actual inspector contrasting with inspector Goole. This is an essential point as it helps us analyse on, how this inspector manages to make the Birling family confess about the knowing of the women who had committed suicide, Eva smith. However, if it was an ordinary inspector it could have been a different story. In other words, priestly does this to show a comparison of a fraud of an inspector in the 19th century and one who’s in the 21st century, where there is more crime and corruption. Goole is different towards an original inspector firstly; because he is more social towards them i.e. isn’t strict and has a calm approach towards him. As well as being social, he still can’t prevent arguments which commence between certain members of the families. He also isn’t very strict and is quite persuasive as well as changing the situations of characters significantly. An example of when this commences is when the inspector manages to convince Sheila that Eva smiths death wasn’t entirely her fault. We discover that she is convinced as she agrees with his opinion. â€Å"Yes. That’s true.† This shows that she has been convinced about the statement of the inspector however, as soon as she states her opinion, she becomes suspicious of the inspector as she stares towards him very closely due to the fact on what he stated, this then leads the... ... actually is. Another reason which suggests realism is the fact on how classes were treated. In The Victorian era, when Queen Victoria reined Britain, the three classes (upper, middle and working) were established through this time period. This is why Eva Smith had a difficult life as she didn’t have rights and was helpless as was working class. The audience later on know how helpless she was as she was used by Gerald and Eric for prostitution. In conclusion I would state that from my previous points that the Inspector may not have been as strict as an ordinary one however, did manage to reveal the truth by establishing tension through out the interrogation which was shown by the way priestly had used dramatic effects and figurative language. He also managed to change the attributes of the characters during the interrogation as well as a captivating cliff-hanger.

Why do the students cheat on the exams?

Keywords: study, student, deadline, Exam In the university context Just like any other society, we have crime and dishonesty and amongst all , students' cheating is just one of the appearances of these . Firstly I'd like to specify a clear definition And remind of what exactly is exam and why is it an inseparable part of the education Cause I believe that we should have a clear image of what we are doing and why are we doing it in order to be a professional .In education an examination is a test provided to see if the person who wants to take a degree or special certificate is capable of being taken that certificate or not. † adopting this definition we conclude that taking an exam is a requirement of receiving a degree. So this can be first motto for this essay â€Å"no exam,no degree ; no degree,no exam. † Students have different motives for study , they study In their specific majors as engineers-to be , translators-to be , accountants-to be , etc . They have to learn essential materials to be a standard engineer , translator , accountant , etc . W we successful expert and the other case in which the student is Just trying to get the degree and is not into learning the major and getting a good expert , however shocking , but this case is very frequent in Iran universities . And I think it is caused by disagreement of education and Jobs taken by graduates . By dropping the second group out of analyze circle ,we have the students who really want to learn things they have to learn during education period , and the intention of the writer is to inspect these students' cheating and express why they tend to cheat in this step . Titer believes that in standard context they will study well with no dishonesty and therefore will get the degree with no cheating. But life is never perfect and problems like emotional problems and financial affect students' life and these problems in the life tend to ruin the plan of study. And makes the student to miss the d eadlines , most of the students in order to not miss the deadlines decide to use their last weapon And cheat . Because in this situation if they don't cheat they'll ruin the whole schedule of their education.They cheat and they pass the exam with n acceptable mark, and seemingly everything is okay. But in the next semesters the hidden wound in the body of education, shows up. With no time to cure it. And this is where a dishonest solution, makes the problem deeper. But encountering deadlines is not always the same in every student. There are some foresighted students who by missing the deadline seemingly ruin the plan but in fact they strengthen it by keeping it pure . Shampoo says – ‘l AS May your nightmares become more agitated – . You contemplate the interpretation – GAS b so that when you get up

Ob Effective Communication

ORGANISATION BEHAVIOUR Case study: Bridging The Two Worlds – The Organizational Dilemma What are the barriers to effective communications in Aluminium Elements Corp and how were they addressed? What would you do differently? GSM 5101 Organizational Behaviour Page 2 1. 0 INTRODUCTION Communication refers to the process in which information is transmitted and understood between two or more people. The word â€Å"understood† is emphasized because the transmitting of the sender's meaning to other people is the essence of good communication.In the model of communication, there are various channels and barriers (noise) that can become the factors of communication effectiveness. 1. 1 Introduction to communication Figure 1 Communication Model Figure 1 refers to the communication model. Firstly, communication starts when a sender has a message which he intends to send to the receiver. The sender will encode the message and transmit the message. In this process, sender will choos e the channel of GSM 5101 Organizational Behaviour Page 3 communication through which the message is sent to the receiver.These channels may include voice, body language, the social media, electronic gadgets, and so on. However, ‘noise’ may occur during the transmission of message and this can become barriers to the communication. These barriers can be psychological, social or structural and can affect the clarity of the intended message. When the receiver receives the message from the sender, he will decode the message in order to understand it. If the receiver wishes to respond the message, the same communication process will take place. Either way, the ‘noise’ will negatively affect the meaning of the conveyed message. . 2 Case summary The case describes the experience of William Todorovic who was just appointed as the manager of AEC's customer service group. More specifically, this case describes the communication problem that existed between different departments in AEC i. e. the company management, office staffs, and shop floor workers. Firstly, the shop floor workers appeared to be less friendly with the office staff and the company management because they felt that both the office staff and company management do not care about their feelings and opinions.This can be seen in the way the management excluded the shop floor workers in the daily production meeting, and the fact that the management have their own separate lunch rooms, bath rooms, and enjoy other perks that the shop floor workers do not have. These seemed to have negatively affected the relationship between the floor workers and the office staff. Besides that, the communication between the top management and the shop floor workers was also not really effective.William's superior, George, for example, do not like to confront one of the shop floor worker, John, directly, and instead, he sent a long memo to John that was difficult for him to understand. Another machine worker, Tony, has certain ideas about the office staffs. He thought that the office staffs only cared about schedules but not the shop floor workers. GSM 5101 Organizational Behaviour Page 4 William was trying to address these problems by listening to the shop floor workers and try to understand their requests and demands.This seemed to have a positive effect whereby, the employees became friendlier and began to accept William as one of their own. Members of other departments also began to rely on him to deliver messages to the shop floor workers. Meanwhile, John has made a significant contribution in the improvement of the scheduling job on the one related to the aluminium slitter. William had made this known to George, his superior. William has also suggested that they should award some sort of promotion to John. George decided that John should attend a management skills seminar which meant that John he would promoted.However, John misunderstood the decision by George and thought that the management did not appreciate the result because they sent him to a seminar to improve his performance. He was very upset and ready to quit from AEC. 2. 0 BARRIERS OF EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATIONS IN AEC Effective communication is a sharing process which involves the first party sending a message that can be easily understood by to the second party. However, there are some barriers that may influence the effectiveness of communication which may result in misunderstanding or misinterpretation.In the case study of AEC, William Todorovic has discovered several barriers to the effective communication between the employees in the organization. 2. 1 Imperfect Perception There were different perceptions between the management and the floor staff. For example, the floor staff thought that the management were unaware of the problems at the floor and were too self-centered that they only cared about their schedules, issuing orders and making demands. GSM 5101 Organizational Behaviour Page 5 As for the management, they thought that they did not have anything to learn from floor employees.Such perception has made them hardly understand the real process in finishing orders and this has created a gap between the management and the floor staff. 2. 2 Poor selection of medium to communicate Choosing the right medium or channel for communication may affect the effectiveness of the transmitted message In AEC, the management has used memos to communicate with the shop floor employees. This was in fact, a one-way communication because after the memo was sent out no further clarification was made by the management, and no feedback was obtained from the shop floor employees.This means that the management would not know whether the staff actually understood what they were expected to deliver. As we can see, George was actually surprised when he found out that John was upset when he received the memo following his accomplishment. The latter misunderstood the intention because the medium used in this communication was usually used to deliver ‘bad news’. William also found that shop floor employees were not accustomed to talking with the management and office staffs.This was because, any verbal communication that occurred between them would be one-way and consisting of orders and demand by the management. Furthermore, shop floor employees have not been invited to join the daily production meeting unless there was a specific issue that necessitates their attendance. This is also a kind of one way communication because the management did not â€Å"hear† the real issues from the production. In fact, the production meeting was held without the production members. GSM 5101 Organizational Behaviour Page 6 2. 3 Information overloadEach people have certain level of information process capacity which is the amount of information they can process in a fixed unit of time. When the information a receiver received is more that his process capacity can h old, he may misinterpret the message from the sender. For example in the case study, William found that John found George unpleasant because George always wrote long and complex memos to shop floor employees. John could not understand the memo because of the information overload in the memo. 2. 4 Work space design Work space is another communication barrier in the AEC organization.As indicated in the case study, the lunchrooms and washrooms facilities were exclusively for the management and the office staff. Such work space designs did not encourage both shop floor employees and the management ; office staffs to mingle with each other. This explains why the employees were surprised when they saw William, their manager, not having lunch in the office lunchroom. 3. 0 HOW THE BARRIERS WERE ADDRESSED After William understood the problem between the management and shop floor employees, he came out with some solutions to overcome the problems.Below are the actions taken by William in tryi ng to solve the problems. 3. 1 Mingling with shop floor workers In order to address the barriers of communication in AEC, William had spent more time mingling with the floor employees. He always had his lunch at the lunch area at the floor. GSM 5101 Organizational Behaviour Page 7 William also visited the shop floor frequently. This was because by doing so, he was able to talk with the floor employees and share their views and problems. Indirectly, William could discover the real situation in the organization from that department.Besides that, William has allowed the shop floor employee, i. e. John to decide on the scheduling of jobs. Being an experience aluminum slitter, John probably knew better on the operations of the floor job. This was evidenced through his suggestion that William was be able to reduce the new work order turnaround from four to five weeks to a single day His actions have encouraged two-way communication which helped to improve communication effectiveness betwe en the management and the shop floor workers. 3. 2 William as a messengerWhen the relationship between William and the shop floor workers became closer, the staff from other departments came up to him and asked him to relay messages to the shop employees. This was because William spoke the same â€Å"language† with them. Since then, William became the â€Å"middle man† between the management/office workers and the shop floor workers. This approach could improve the effectiveness of communication because the requests from the management could be transmitted to the shop floor workers through William. LimitationsHowever, there are several of limitations in using a messenger as a channel of communication between the two parties. Firstly, William’s job will be overloaded because members from other departments relied on him to relay messages to the shop floor employees. Besides that, William may transmit the wrong message to shop floor employees if he did not understa nd the message well. Moreover, this method may not fully solve the communication problem because if William leaves the company, the situation will resume. GSM 5101 Organizational Behaviour Page 8 . 3 Listening feedback from shop floor employees William always walked around to find opportunities to talk with shop floor employees. As described in the case study, he has to have an open mind when listening to them, identifying their problems and hearing new ideas from them. Such approach helped to improve the effectiveness of communication because the management not only can identify the real problem at production side, but also be exposed to new ideas from the employees. 4. 0 WHAT COULD BE DONE DIFFERENTLY?After identifying the barriers of communication between AEC’s management and the shop floor employees, and what they did to address the problems, we have come out with more suggestions to further reduce the barriers and improve the effectiveness of the communication. 4. 1 Enco urage two-way communication between management ; bottom-line employees Communication barriers in AEC organization are mainly cause by lack of two-way communication. Through this method, more effective communication can be achieved because the sender will receive feedbacks from the receiver.In this way, the sender can identify whether the message he sent is understood by the receiver correctly or not. For example, the management of AEC can invite shop floor members to join their daily production meeting because shop floor members know the production well. They can raise the production problem to management directly in the meeting. Management people also can announce their plan ; management objectives / targets directly to the shop floor employees. Communication will be more effective when both parties understand each other and this can be done if the two-way communication is implemented correctly.GSM 5101 Organizational Behaviour Page 9 4. 2 Redesign workspace The AEC workspace desig n has also been a barrier to effective communication because both management and shop floor workers have separate lunchroom and washroom. This will limit the chances for both parties to meet with each other. AEC can redesign the workspace by allowing the shop floor employees to use the same lunchroom and washroom used by the management/office staff. Such arrangement will increase the familiarity between the management and the shop floor employees as there are more chances for the two to meet more often.This in the long run will improve the communication between the staff in the company. 4. 3 Make the content of the management memo clearer Memo is one of the channels of communication within the AEC organization. Shop floor worker John, always complained that the company vice president, George, sent long and incomprehensible memos to him. In order to let John understand well the memo, George can reduce the unnecessary content in the memo and thus, make the length of memo shorter. By r ight, a complement memo should not be long and complicated.Besides that, the memo should be clearer to avoid misunderstanding. John may be confused by the content of memo because it did not state that he will be promoted and he was upset when he found out that he was told to attend a seminar. If the memo has stated this clearly, this wouldn’t be happen on him. 4. 4 Implement web based communication AEC can implement web based communication such as e-mail in their organization. They are several of advantages of using e-mail to communicate, for example it will save cost and time, and the information can reach to the right person.More importantly, the e-mail can be used as a two-way communication because the receiver can reply the sender after received the e-mail. Management can give their orders to the shop floor workers and if the latter have any problem, they can raise it to the management through e-mail. GSM 5101 Organizational Behaviour Page 10 For example, George can send his complement memo to John by e-mail. If John did not understand the e-mail, he could reply the mail memo and asked George for clarification. 5. 0 CONCLUSIONAfter reading the AEC case study, we found that effective communication is very important in an organization. A company must use the correct communication channel within their organization to ensure that the right message reaches the intended recipients. However, there are various types of noises/barriers that may affect the communication process such as imperfect perceptual, inappropriate communication channels, information overload and workspace design. These communication barriers must be addressed promptly as they may hinder the company’s productivity.

rebellion essays

rebellion essays Rebellion in the Fifties During the Fifties the United States was filled with confidence but at the same time insecurity. The United States emerged from WWII as a global superpower and a symbol for freedom. The United States saw its role in world affairs as the protector of free countries from communism. The fear of communism expansionism during the fifties was a major issue. Communism represented radical thinking and ideas, a shift away from conservatism thinking or a shift away from the center, to a shift towards the edge. During the Fifties the fear of communism spreading in America gave rise to movements such as McCarthyism and the House on un-American Activities (HUAC). These movements represented the feelings of Americans towards communism at the time, they represented fear and the way to contain their fears was to weed out the bad seeds. These movements created a shift towards the center again, towards conservatism. This trend towards the center or conservatism can be seen in all aspects of American life. Not only was conservatism evident in the Fifties, but also rebellion. The push to be conservative and persecute individualism was an immense undertaking that it created fear and out of that fear came rebellion. In any controlled environment, such as the one the United States created for itself during the Fifties, there is bound to be some kind of tension or rebellion, rebellion against the pressure of being normal or conservative. There was a great deal of stress being placed on being just like everyone else. The voice of the rebellion was usually the entertainers, artists, or writers. Many of these people expressed their feelings about current issues by disguising it in their stories, movies or, paintings. Many of these people challenged the politics of the mainstream or the center. However there were works done that supported the shift towards the center and conservatism. Three wor...

Hopefully Caring Less About Shibboleths

Hopefully Caring Less About Shibboleths Hopefully Caring Less About Shibboleths Hopefully Caring Less About Shibboleths By Maeve Maddox In a recent email reader Phil Dragonetti raises the specter of could/couldnt care less. Why do some say I could care less;when they really mean I couldnt care less.? Weve already dealt with that shibboleth at DWT. I still have the bruises to show for voicing the opinion that as far as Im concerned, either is acceptable to convey the idea that one cares very little about a matter. The argument that the couldnt care less form is more logical moves me not at all. Since when is it a requirement of an English idiom that it be logical? Todays shibboleth is the word hopefully used with the meaning it is to be hoped that. Some examples: His parting remark was, â€Å"Hopefully, they will get it right next time.† Hopefully they’re working on a Mac port. Hopefully, they will end college the way they started it together. Hopefully weve won some fans over today, (This from a British source) Hopefully we are not headed for disaster in Cairo. This use of hopefully is disdained by many. For example this entry at Englishplus.com: Hopefully is an adverb which means what it ought to [italics mine]full of hope or characterized by hope. It normally modifies verbs. Nonstandard English sometimes substitutes the word hopefully for I hope (or some other subject with the verb hope). Correct: They listened hopefully for the sound of the rescue party. †¨(They listened with hope) Incorrect: Hopefully, they will come in time. Correct: I hope they will come in time. On the other hand, heres the note at Merriam-Webster: it is hoped : I hope : we hope usage In the 1960s the second sense of hopefully, which dates to the early 18th century and had been in fairly widespread use since at least the 1930s, underwent a surge in popularity. A surge of criticism followed in reaction, but the criticism took no account of the grammar of adverbs. Hopefully in its second sense is a member of a class of adverbs known as disjuncts. Disjuncts serve as a means by which the author or speaker can comment directly to the reader or hearer usually on the content of the sentence to which they are attached. Many other adverbs (as interestingly, frankly, clearly, luckily, unfortunately) are similarly used; most are so ordinary as to excite no comment or interest whatsoever. The second sense of hopefully is entirely standard. I often wonder what it is about some words or expressions that causes people to harbor such strong feelings against them. This comment by a guest of Charlie Rose is what prompted me to write about hopefully: [We should] tax all people 90% for misusing hopefully. Animosity towards hurtful ethnic or gender slurs are one thing. But hopefully? (Excuse me while I put on my catchers mask. I know Im about to be pelted.) Michael Quinion has an excellent discussion of hopefully at World Wide Words . You may also find the note at Answers.com of interest. Although I dont find hopefully particularly objectionable as a sentence adverb, I have to acknowledge that audience is everything. College students, for example, would do well to avoid the taboo usage in a written assignment. And I have to admit that I have friends and relatives around whom I would hesitate to use it. Sometimes knowing youre right doesnt matter. I recall a college English professor who told how he learned the importance of adapting to ones audience when he was home helping with the harvest and foolishly asked his fellow workers: To whom does this pitchfork belong? Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Dialogue Dos and Don'ts50 Idioms About Arms, Hands, and FingersLetter Writing 101

Serial Killer and Baby Killer, Janie Lou Gibbs

Serial Killer and Baby Killer, Janie Lou Gibbs Janie Lou Gibbs murdered her husband, three children, and a grandson by poisoning them with arsenic so she could collect on the life insurance policies she had on each victim. Good Home Cooking Janie Lou Gibbs, from Cordele Georgia, was a devoted wife and mother who spent much of her free time giving to her church. In 1965, her husband, Marvin Gibbs died suddenly at home after enjoying one of Janies good home cooked meals. Doctors concluded an undiagnosed liver disease caused his death. An Act of Giving The show of sympathy to Janie Lou and her three children from the church was overwhelming. So much so, that Ms. Gibbs decided to give part of Marvins life insurance money to the church to show her appreciation for their stellar support. Marvin, Jr. With Marvin gone, Gibbs and her children pulled together but within a year tragedy struck again. Marvin, Jr. age 13 seemed to have inherited his fathers liver disease and after collapsing with severe cramps, he too died. Again, the church community came to support Gibbs through the painful death of her young son. Janie, overwhelmed with appreciation gave a portion of Marvin, Jr.s life insurance payment to the congregation. A Family Plagued How so much could go wrong with one family was hard to understand, but one could not help to admire Gibbs inner strength especially when just a few months later, 16-year-old Lester Gibbs began complaining of dizziness, headaches and severe cramping. He died before ever getting to the hospital. Doctors decided the cause of death was hepatitis. To Give Is To Receive With disbelief but with the usual sympathy and support, the church helped Gibbs through her terrible loss. Gibbs, now broken hearted with all that she had to endure in two years, knew she could never have made it without the support of the church, and again, offered a portion of young Lesters life insurance payment to them to help show her undying gratitude. Grandmother Janie Her last and oldest son, Roger, was married and the birth of his son, Raymond seemed to lift Janie out of despair. However, within a month both Roger and his perfectly healthy newborn son were dead. This time the attending physician asked for an investigation into the deaths. When the tests came back showing that Roger and Raymond had been given arsenic poisoning, Gibbs was arrested. Goodbye Janie Janie Lou Gibbs was found guilty of poisoning her family May 9, 1976, and received a life sentence for each of the five murders she committed. In 1999, at age 66, she received a medical release from prison because she was suffering from the advanced stages of Parkinsons disease. Source Murder Most Rare The Female Serial Killer by Michael D. Kelleher and C.L. Kelleher Schechter, Harold. The A to Z Encyclopedia of Serial Killers. Paperback, Revised, Updated edition, Gallery Books, July 4, 2006. Deadly Women - Discovery Channelï » ¿

Lecture on Race Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Lecture on Race - Essay Example However, in the Revisionist School of Thought during the 1950s and 1960s, these teachers were considered protagonists - heroes actually, who were active in fighting for education and for the right to vote. One of the early demands of the freed slaves after the war was the right to education. This was heard by the Northern commanders occupying the South - and this led to the Port Royal Experiment. Furthermore, one of these Freedmen teachers, Mary Peake put up a school in 1861 in Virginia. 2. What was the Supreme Court Decision concerning segregation in the case, Plessy V. Ferguson. What was the Supreme Court Decision concerning segregation in the case, Brown V. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas. The Supreme Court, accordingly after the Civil War, ruled in favor of the segregation policy in the South, where public places were segregated into different areas for blacks and whites. The rule being followed was "separate but equal" doctrine. In Plessy V. Ferguson, the Supreme Court ruled that Homer Plessy, who was colored yet by blood lineage, more white than black, was fallacious in his thinking by refusing to ride a train coach for colored people in Louisiana because in his view it rendered black people inferior. In its decision, the Supreme Court ruled implicitly that inferiority is a matter of feeling or point of view - "it is not by reason of anything found in the act, but solely because the colored race chooses to put the construction upon it". In Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, the Supreme Court, on the other hand ruled against the segregation policy, when it said that segregation had no place in public education - "separate educational facilities are inherently unequal". The case arose as black children challenged the decision of the Topeka Board that put up separate facilities for black and white children. 3. What was the difference in their view of native Americans between men authors and women diarists Men and women authors differed when it came to the portrayal of native Americans. Men authors, who were white, were coming from a point of view on which American Indians were the enemies and white men who searched and fought for settlement areas in the West, were the heroes. Their source of information was their experience as white men and those of others who were also like them, white men. They of course emphasized that part of history when men had to conquer the lands, and in that way gave focus to the danger and treachery posed by the native Americans who were the enemies and of the heroic adventures of the settlers. This point of view became the basis for the hostile policy against native Americans. Women authors on the other hand, saw behind the wagon train tales of hostile action and adventure. American Indians, according to the diaries and recollection of women were recorded as friendly and of service. It was as not much of the danger posed by the native American that the women authors spoke of - but of other difficulties such as disease, drowning and death in the move towards the West. Moreover, the women authors portrayed men who were their husbands as not necessarily good hunters or providers. They humanized their men,

Parenting styles- authoriative Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Parenting styles- authoriative - Essay Example In fact, most parents do not even care to keep track of what their children do. This is detrimental because it makes a child grow without knowing what is morally right or wrong. â€Å"Lack of proper parenting skills and styles have been blamed for such of the bad behaviors seen in children today† (Gray 15). As such, it is advisable for a parent to adopt effective parenting skills to ensure that a child grows up responsibly and morally upright. This discourse will present the parenting skills that parents need to adopt to help bring up children who are responsible, morally upright, and respectful in the society. Authoritative parenting style deals with being responsive to the emotional needs of children, reasoning with children, and setting limits. This parenting method is common amon middle class and it is assicated wit successful children. â€Å"Children brought up by authoritative parents are more likely to become self reliant, well behaved, socially accepted, and autonomou s† (Lookatch 55). In addition, they are less likely to show signs of anxiety and depression and they do not engage antisocial behavior such as use of drug and deliquency. Praising a child is also another important parental skill that parents need to observe. ... Praising a child for good behavior or for an achievement is important for the proper development of a child. Praising a child for an achievement in life motivates them to continue doing well in life (Gray 53). In addition, it helps in boosting a child’s self-esteem, which increases personal satisfaction. Discipline has been one of the most debated parenting issues in recent time. The debate has mainly centered on how a parent should discipline a child whenever they do wrong. However, Lookatch states that â€Å"discipline is very important in molding the behavior of a child† (Kapoor 45-46). As such, in the event that a child does a mistake, a parent should discipline the child immediately. This should also involve correcting the child instantly by showing them why it is wrong to engage in bad behaviors. Correcting and explaining to the child why it is wrong to engage in bad behaviors is important since it makes the child grow knowing that engaging in bad behavior is not acceptable. Showing a child love is one of the most important parenting skills needed for raising a healthy and morally upright child. Gerhardt states in his book â€Å"Why Love Matters† that love is an essential parenting skills that is needed in bring up a healthy child (Gerhardt 41). According to Gerhardt, â€Å"love plays a critical role in the development of the brain of a child during the early years of their lifem† (Kapoor 78). As such, to bring a healthy, respectful and a morally upright child, parents must show the love to a child all the time during their childhood. He attributed this to the fact that love plays a critical role in shaping a child’s social and emotional brain system. He also noted that â€Å"a child who is brought up with love tend to show the same love to others

Strategic Hospitality Management - A Plan for the Expansion of Accor Essay

Strategic Hospitality Management - A Plan for the Expansion of Accor - Essay Example So Europe as a whole (including France) has a total of about 50% of Accor’s business, but the Asian market has only 9%. Considering the populations of Asia and their growing middle class, this seems a somewhat skewed proportion with ample room for improvement. The proportions hotel business are as follows: As the company has been successful within the Economy sector it seems logical to plan for the future using the paradigm that has succeeded thus far. GOALS The Accor Board is planning on continued expansion with 10,000 rooms per annum over 2007/2008. This represents a fairly modest 2.2% rise per annum. This growth is planned across both established markets, such as in Europe and North America, and emerging markets in the developing world, such as Latin American, the Middle East, and Asia. PROPOSAL Established Markets Country The country chosen for expansion in the established market is Switzerland. The brand that will be expanded is the budget ETAP band. Switzerland is a logi cal and promising choice for the following reasons. 1)The Swiss economy is one of the most advanced in the world and has a broad range of economic activity, with a main focus on the banking and tourism sectors: â€Å"Switzerland’s economy is based on a highly qualified labor force performing highly skilled work. The main areas include micro-technology, hi-tech, biotechnology, and pharmaceuticals, as well as banking and insurance know-how. Most of the people working in Switzerland are employed by small and medium-sized enterprises.†

Examining My Community's Source of Energy Essay

Examining My Community's Source of Energy - Essay Example This paper seeks to establish the sources of energy in Hillsborough County, Florida both at the basic home level and the community level. It will look into the type of energy in use and the approximate cost of energy from the household to the community. This will also include the impacts of the energy source to the community over the time it has been in use and seek to establish new alternative sources that can effectively replace the existing sources with consideration to the effects both to the household and the environment. Sources of energy for the community Hillsborough County in Florida is a community that has several choices on the sources of energy to use. This comes as a result of the availability of several companies that specialize in provision of the different types of energy. Currently, there are around sixteen energy production companies in the area. The common types of energy source in use are coal, electricity, solar energy and wood. However, is worth noting that thes e sources of energy are mostly generated locally which leads to the centralized pollution system to the environment by the well over sixteen companies in the area. ... The coal is also used for the same reason of heat and energy production by the companies though there are a small number of households that make home use of it. Impacts of available energy sources on home and community The discussion about use of coal, wood and the production of electricity are all embroiled in the fact that to some extent, they all pollute the environment. The United States of America is one of the countries with the highest use of coal. In the locality, the disaster caused by the use of coal cannot be undermined. One effect of coal use is the radiation exposure. Coal is known to contain traces of Uranium and Thorium which are radioactive materials that occur naturally occur naturally. The coal wastes from the plants are known to be highly disastrous than the direct emissions from a nuclear plant. The other long term effects of the gases released from the use of coal are those associated with the greenhouse gas release to the environment. These greenhouse gases are of great hazard especially to the ozone layer depletion. The third negated effect of coal use is that it causes so many annual deaths. In the United States at large, the deaths resulting from the coal particulate pollution and ground level ozone without effective pollution control measures is on the increase. The deaths are caused by probable development of lung cancer, heart attacks and the acute bronchitis to the victims. Coal also when used even in traces release methyl mercury to the environment. This is a mercury emission that is very fatal to the plant and animal life. The air emissions related to use of coal in this environment is of absolute interest. There are a

What Makes an Effective Team Work Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

What Makes an Effective Team Work - Essay Example In some situations, one type offers the most benefits, and in some other circumstances, other type of team can be fruitful in achieving the expected outcomes. However, in order to understand the effectiveness of teamwork, the paper will now discuss some of the different types of teams that will allow an efficient understanding of teamwork. Analysis of the material related to teams has indicated that different experts and researchers have identified and categorized teams into different types that will take more than this paper. For this reason, this paper will discuss some of the most common and effective types of teams that will be worthy of a discussion. As the name says itself, peer means someone that is almost of the same characteristics of the other. In this regard, peer workgroups usually involves individuals that possess the same attributes; however, such attributes can vary and depend on setting of the workgroup. For instance, an evident example of peer-to-peer workgroup is an educational class in the school that involves children or students of the same age group (DuBrin, pp. 77-81). The basic notion of peer-to-peer workgroup is an informal platform that provides an opportunity to the team members to achieve the objectives while learning and complementing each other. One of the significant characteristics of peer-to-peer workgroup that it although caters individuals of the same age group or same class or same interest, such as music, art, etc. However, it always consists of various diverse attributes of the team members, such as different socio-economic status, different race, etc that makes peer-to-peer group an efficient an d natural way of interacting with each other. Until now, the paper discussed an informal type of workgroup that involves peer-to-peer learning; however, additive and conjunctive are both formal types of teams that enable the team members to work formally to achieve the

American Literature Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

American Literature - Essay Example These four pieces have been selected carefully to cover the most crucial aspects of the American lifestyle and the culture of the American society in general. The Godfather, The Great Gatsby, The Long GoodBye and The Social Network are four pieces which have been used in the paper to find out various patterns regarding the American way of life. All of these pieces are focusing a particular point in the history of America, where certain fads were apparent and various lawsuits had their own effects of the society, thus all such aspect will be covered in the paper. For instance, The Great Gatsby particularly focused on the post World War I period when the American Elites had their own way of life as they were highly indulged in a luxurious lifestyle full of lust and obsession with the material things. Similarly, The Godfather focuses on the post WWII period which represents a period of transition by portraying the story of a Mafia family which suffers badly due to the changes in the sys tem how the Mafia system works. Also, The Long Goodbye is another post WWII Classic literary piece which also tries to portray the world of Drug Mafia and the perils of the system prevailing at that time in the American way of life. The Social Network, however, is a completely new and a recent composition which reflects the current trends of the American lifestyle. ... The lust for money makes them even greedier; also the urge to flaunt their wealth in front of others makes their lives fall apart in the long run. Secondly, American lawsuits have always inflicted major problems in the system, and when the Americans try to use illegal methods, problem are further complicated. Also, all of the pieces tend to show a slight transition in the American culture, and they portray that change is inevitable, however the change brings along various implications which are hard to resolve. It was perceived that the virtual world which minimize the problems, however, this was never the case as reflected in the paper. To make generalizations regarding the American way of life via the literary texts composed by highly reputable artists it is first important to analyze the pieces one by one. â€Å"The Great Gatsby† is the classic and one of the most popular books composed by Scott Fitzgerald. The author has incorporated all kinds of evils as well as the good about the American society during the time, by introducing many different characters and connecting those though different stories. The novel is more of roller-coaster ride where events are events reveal various aspects, and the scariest ones, thereby creating a realistic scenario of the time. The story revolves around two main characters, i.e. Nick and Gatsby, however many different supporting characters have also been introduced. Nick was a war veteran who plans to shift to the city to make use of the metropolitan life to make some money. On doing so, he happens to live next to Gatsby, who is a millionaire and throws the most lavish parties in now every now and then. Nick also gets to meet Daisy, who was rather Gatsby`s cousin, and both Daisy and Gatsby also a love affair

What Makes an Effective Team Work Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

What Makes an Effective Team Work - Essay Example In some situations, one type offers the most benefits, and in some other circumstances, other type of team can be fruitful in achieving the expected outcomes. However, in order to understand the effectiveness of teamwork, the paper will now discuss some of the different types of teams that will allow an efficient understanding of teamwork. Analysis of the material related to teams has indicated that different experts and researchers have identified and categorized teams into different types that will take more than this paper. For this reason, this paper will discuss some of the most common and effective types of teams that will be worthy of a discussion. As the name says itself, peer means someone that is almost of the same characteristics of the other. In this regard, peer workgroups usually involves individuals that possess the same attributes; however, such attributes can vary and depend on setting of the workgroup. For instance, an evident example of peer-to-peer workgroup is an educational class in the school that involves children or students of the same age group (DuBrin, pp. 77-81). The basic notion of peer-to-peer workgroup is an informal platform that provides an opportunity to the team members to achieve the objectives while learning and complementing each other. One of the significant characteristics of peer-to-peer workgroup that it although caters individuals of the same age group or same class or same interest, such as music, art, etc. However, it always consists of various diverse attributes of the team members, such as different socio-economic status, different race, etc that makes peer-to-peer group an efficient an d natural way of interacting with each other. Until now, the paper discussed an informal type of workgroup that involves peer-to-peer learning; however, additive and conjunctive are both formal types of teams that enable the team members to work formally to achieve the

Principles of Microeconomics Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Principles of Microeconomics - Research Paper Example In economics, entrepreneurs play a key role in bridging the gap between capital and labour. Entrepreneurs also take on significant risks in order to generate profit. Many people do not think of universities and colleges as businesses, but, in fact, they are large and complex businesses in a microeconomic sense. Many private colleges charge two to four times the tuition of state colleges, and then award aid based on merit to coerce desired students to attend, resulting in a final price that varies by student and that favors students in certain categories over others (Friedrich 1). Because the services that a college provides to student are the same even though some students pay a drastically steeper price to attend, this can be considered an example of price discrimination on a microeconomic scale. In cases of price discrimination, different prices are charged to customers in order to generate some specific results. In the case of many private universities, price discrimination is intended to increase competition and encourage acceptance of the best quality students. Whether this form of price discrimination is ethical is a subject that has been largely debated as the cost of college education has risen steadily over the last decades. Friedrich, Alex. â€Å"Notes in the Margins: Med school, loans and price discrimination.† MPR News. 14 June 2011: 1.

Understanding Inflation Essay Example for Free

Understanding Inflation Essay The amount a product costs should be the first decision a consumer has to make before they purchase a good or service. Consumers may find themselves asking what exactly makes a price rise and why their money can purchase less and less. The answer to this question is inflation. What is inflation and why should any consumer care about inflation? A general overview of the inflation phenomenon, the main measures of inflation, and how inflation plays a role in the economy will all help a person better understand why their money seems to be worth less each year. Overview of Inflation In order to truly understand inflation, the first step is listing the main cause of inflation pressures on the economy. Inflation begins initially and continues to occur due to sustained excess of spending in the economy. (Wilson 27) This amounts to spending over and above what is considered average spending for the economy in past months. The type of spending that would cause inflation is when people, groups, businesses, government, and foreigners all together demand or try to spend more than the economy can produce at full employment, prices in general will be bid up. (Ibid) Basically what this amounts to is people all wanting to buy products and services, but there are not enough products or services to fulfill all the buyers. The prices will go up because manufacturers can sell the product at a much higher rate because there are so many buyers. The solution to the problem is really two separate incidences that must happen in order for prices to begin falling. One of these solutions is excess demand for goods and services is reduced† and the other solution is for â€Å"capacity of the economy to produce is expanded, the price level will continue to rise. (Ibid) Thinking about these two situations makes sense. If the demand for goods or services decreases then less people will want to buy and there will be more of the product for the remaining consumers. Also, if a manufactured item is rising because it is not manufactured in many factories and suddenly factories spring up all over to manufacture the product then the price will fall. The demand and supply capacity are the cornerstones of inflation, but what also plays into inflation’s fluctuations is the money supply. The Federal Reserve Bank sets interest rates for borrowing of money. The lower the interest rate the greater amount of money that is borrowed, and the higher the interest rate the lesser amount of money that is borrowed. (Wilson 103) For example, if borrowing $1000 would cost 10% a year, a borrower would be paying $100 a year for the use of that initial $1000. If, however, the Federal Reserve Bank lowers the interest rate to 5%, the amount the borrower would be paying per year would be cut in half. In the latter example, a borrower would be willing to take out a larger amount of money because it would cost them less. So, with a larger amount of cheaper money in the market, prices will begin to rise because the cost of that money would cause more people to borrow as compared to a higher rate of interest. Money would essentially be worth less because the Federal Reserve allows it to be worth less by dropping the interest rate. The rise in prices would continue until the Federal Reserve once again decides to raise the interest rate. (Ibid) The Federal Reserve utilizes these money techniques in order to help spur growth in the economy, but the downside to economic growth is always inflation. Measures of Inflation An important concept of inflation is to pay close attention to inflation indicators. These â€Å"indicators† are indexes that signal a potential arrival of inflation for the country. Many measures of inflation exist, but the main types are the Consumer Price Index (CPI), Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), and the Bryan-Cecchetti model. The CPI is perhaps the most important indicator because it is the model that all other inflation models emulate in some way. The first step in understanding the CPI is to decipher the calculation of the index. The CPI is constructed from basic component indexes. Component indexes are those goods and services that a consumer purchases and those â€Å"components† are split into 207 items. (Moulton 13) Also, there are 44 more items included for the urban areas of the United States, and these two sets of items are multiplied together to a total of 9,108 components for the CPI. (Ibid) For example, dairy products are considered just set of the components within the 9,108 components used to calculate the CPI. A problem arises with the CPI in that many products come and go in the market and it is up to the CPI to document these types of changes. This problem is overcome by the economists allowing for products to enter and leave the market as well as estimating the indexes on the basis of samples used from all the items that consumers buy for a given period. (Ibid) This type of calculating gives economists as comprehensive a picture as one can get. The resulting figure is compared to previous time periods and an increase percentage or decrease percentage is discovered from the calculations. This increase or decrease percentage is the amount that general prices have risen or fallen in between those time periods. If the prices rise then the CPI will show the American public that inflation has occurred. It is important that the CPI stay current with the ever-changing American economy. This is why the CPI is updated once every 10 years, and the last update occurred in 1998. (Greenlees, and Mason 3) This aspect of the CPI is important because of its relation to inflation. The CPI is used in many government programs including entitlements for school lunches and food stamps as well as the amount figured for tax deductions. (Ibid) If the CPI is not allowed to evolve with the evolving economy, many people would not be allowed government benefits or tax deductions that they otherwise would deserve. Thus, the CPI is examined and revised so inflation pressures do not have as much an impact on government programs. Another measure of inflation that is essentially a CPI number but factored with a different set of variables is the BLS model. The BLS model highlights the fact that some parts of the CPI are considered volatile due to outside pressures such as weather and international conflicts. Cogley suggests, the Bureau of Labor Statistics computes a ‘core inflation’ measure that consists of a weighted average of all CPI components except for food and energy, which are removed because their prices tend to be more volatile. (94) Energy can be affected by international conflicts and food supplies can be affected by the weather. Thus, the BLS model will demonstrate a less drastic change in inflation numbers if these events do occur. A final measure of inflation that utilizes the CPI is the Bryan-Cecchetti model. This model takes the BLS model one step further. The Bryan-Cecchetti system still uses the CPI as a basis, because the economists that developed this model understand that the CPI is the greatest general measure to be utilized. However, the Bryan-Cecchetti model extends the BLS approach by automatically excluding large price changes from the CPI basket regardless of the sector in which they arise. (Ibid) Bryan-Cecchetti correctly identifies that other sectors besides energy and food are affected by outside influences and can have a drastic rise or fall. However, the CPI is still considered the main standard for deciding the amount of inflation in the economy. The Role Inflation Plays in the Economy Inflation would essentially mean nothing to the average consumer if it had no bearing on the economy. It is in the economy that inflation can either hinder a person’s ability to purchase or cause a lack of growth for businesses. The role inflation plays in the economy is substantial. One of the main consequences of unwanted inflation is to the American worker. The first negative impact is a consumer’s shopping patterns and amount of money spent on goods and services. Inflation â€Å"causes consumers to shift the timing of their shopping closer to the receipt of income and creates incentives for shop owners to decrease their inventories. (Frenkel, and Mehrez 616) Less of a product in the store and less purchasing power of consumers combines to create even more inflation in the economy to occur. It is a cycle that ultimately raises prices to a harmful degree. So, a consumer is left with little alternatives to combat the harm that inflation causes. A person with less money will possibly lose their job (because of the lack of buying by other consumers), will consume less (because of the higher prices and lower supplies), invest less (because of the lack of money to invest), and finally rely more on credit (because the purchasing power of credit does not have to be paid until later). (Ibid) Another problem with inflation in the economy is it decreases the value of the dollar. As discussed previously, more dollars in the stream of commerce or rising prices due to limited supplies will help lower the value of the dollar. In this country, for example, â€Å"the dollar lost about three-fourths of its value between 1965 to 1985; between 1985 and 2005, it lost a bit over one-third of its value. (Hoar 42) This dramatic decrease in dollar value is due to inflation. This occurrence is precisely why older Americans will reminisce about how a movie and a Coke cost them less than a dollar. The dollar is still the same, but the amount it can purchase has decreased and will more than likely continue to decrease in the future. Conclusion If a person is purchasing goods or services in America then inflation and the CPI are important concepts to understand. Understanding these two concepts will help a person better plan their future and allow them to stay calm when their money cannot buy them as much as before. Works Cited Cogley, Timothy. A Simple Adaptive Measure of Core Inflation. Journal of Money, Credit Banking 34. 1 (2002): 94+.Frenkel, Michael, and Gil Mehrez. Inflation and the Misallocation of Resources. Economic Inquiry 38. 4 (2000): 616-628. Greenlees, John S. , and Charles C. Mason. Overview of the 1998 Revision of the Consumer Price Index. Monthly Labor Review 119. 12 (1996): 3+. Hoar, William P. Myths about Inflation. The New American 12 Dec. 2005: 42+. Moulton, Brent R. Basic Components of the CPI: Estimation of Price Changes. Monthly Labor Review 116. 12 (1993): 13+. Wilson, George W. Inflation Causes, Consequences, and Cures. 1st ed. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1982.

Development of Tools for Learning in a Science Museum

Development of Tools for Learning in a Science Museum Introduction: Science museums and science centres are informal science institutions which are the effective channels that have been used as the tools to communicate science and technology to the public. These informal educational institutes provide various positive impact such as the memorable learning experiences influence to attitude and behaviour, the increasing of visitors knowledge and understanding of science, the personal and social inspirations which can enhance inter-generation learning, and the impact on encourage trust and understanding between the public and the scientific community (ECSITE 2009). Museums became the places for everyone including families, the American Association of Museum reported that in the US the majority group visited the museum in 2006 was the family group (Borun 2008). Parents usually bring their children to museums for many reasons, learning something new, relaxation, and entertainment (Laetsch et al. 1980; Wolins 1989; Falk Dierking 1992b; Falk Dierking 2000 ) There are long literatures of researches which study about family visitor learning in Museum and informal setting institutes in the Western culture. Many research attempt to understand the social behaviour and improve the learning experiences for the family visitors by investigated visitors attention and participation (KORAN et al. 1988; Judy Diamond 1986; McManus 1987; Falk 1991). For example, the research on the influence of children on the viewing behaviour of family groups by Judy Diamond in 1979 in Falk and Dierking, 1992 indicated that families tend to understand exhibition by trial and error and discussing among the group without reading instructions. Children likely to interact with exhibition more than their parents who tend to learn by looking for the information (Sherman Rosenfeld 1982). There are also broad perspectives of how people learning in the museums. For understanding of the museum experience Falk and Dierking, described that the physical, personal and sociocultural context are the important elements which affect the learning outcome in a design setting in exhibition and museums gallery (Falk Dierking 1992b; Falk Dierking 2000). Science Museum and Science Centre have a strategy in using many kinds of media to communicate the scientific concepts to their visitors such as text panels, multimedia panels, interactive exhibits, hands-on exhibits, and activities. In 1997 the study and development of family friendly exhibition by Minda Borun introduced seven concepts of the successful multi-ages users of interactive science exhibition in order to support the family learning in museum which are Multi-sided, Multi-user, Accessible, Multi-outcome, Multi-modal, Readable and Relevant (Borun Dritsas 1997; Borun et al. 1997; Borun 2008). In Thailand many people believe that science is very difficult and feel alienate from their life. The main customers of the informal science institutions in Thailand are students and families (NSM year report 2005-2009). In 2005 Aphiyas research on the public interest and awareness of science and technology in Thailand found that families prefer to spend their leisure time at shopping malls rather than museums. This might be result from the difficulty of accessibility to the exhibition by family groups. Moreover, the family groups might believe that their children could gain more knowledge from a science museum when they visit the museum along with their school class. However, there are very few researches and understanding about how people learning science through the exhibition and how to enhance the family learning behaviour in science museum in Thailand. Interestingly, museums offer free-choice learning experiences and motivate visitors to interact and gain the scientific concepts by themselves, most of the exhibitions in science museums or science centres are designed for a wide range of visitors from individual to multi-ages users. However, exhibitions might not usually provide enough support to promote a parent and child to learn scientific concept from an exhibition together (Borun 2008). It is a worthwhile study to research and develop tools that could encourage the family audiences learning science through science exhibitions. This research will conduct based on multidisciplinary areas of social science, science communication, and a science education framework. This study attempts to accumulate body of knowledge to understand the process in exhibitions tool development which relates to existent knowledge about media development, visitor interactions, and visitor behaviour. This could enhance the family users to participate, interact, and learn science from exhibits in museum gallery. The three exhibits tools in this research consist of a label written for specific group, an interactive instruction screen, and a video instruction. Text label is one of the most important elements in the exhibition. Visitors usually learn from label. In the Natural History Museum and Zoo the critical element of intent and engagement is narrative, particularly from panel (Stocklmayer et al. 2010). Many exhibitions use the mini text label not only provide their content, but also attracts visitors by their variety characteristics. Moreover, some research in exhibit labels indicated that the using of questions in label can facilitate the visitors behaviours of learning conversation and engage them to the exhibitions. (Hohenstein Tran 2007) The engagement with the science exhibition has been recognised as very important in learning science. Science exhibits themselves, usually, attract visitors to engage with, but they may not support visitors to learn (Haywood Cairns 2006). Touch screen instruction allows visitors engage with information of the exhibit. It might enhance families learning science from the exhibits. Miensner, 2007 applied the video tracking to observe the types of childrens behaviours in the interactive science exhibition from six science and discovery centres in the UK and US. She indicated that there were three main interactions between the young visitor and interactive exhibits which are imitation, performance, and explanation (Meisner et al. 2007). The study introduced a video instruction add-on interactive science exhibits. The video instruction provides the information about how to play or interacts with the exhibit and also delivers the explanation about the application of the scientific concept that exhibits in the form of video and text only. This kind of novel media has been applied at Launch Pad, the interactive science exhibition at Science Museum in London. In this study, the video instruction and explanation will be invented to enhance families learning with the expectation that family visitors might imitate directly from video and obtain the scientific messages. This research focuses on the study and development of three types of media tailored to science exhibitions in museum galleries, which aims to facilitate families learning scientific concepts from the existing science exhibits. This could enhance their learning process during their visit informal science institutions without the necessity to transform the whole structure of exhibits only for support family groups. Purposes of the study The purposes of the study are summarized as follows: To develop exhibitions tools base on informal learning theories that enhance families learning science in science museums. To study the effectiveness of the science exhibitions tools based on enhancing family learning science in science museums. To evaluate and find out that how much the tools enhance family learning science from science exhibits in science museums and are there any differences in relationships between tools and particular kinds of exhibits. Scope of the study This study will work toward the research questions by using two mains methodological approaches, quantitative and qualitative. The study will design, test and revise prototypes of the three tools, mini text label, VDO instruction, and touch screen label. This research will use questionnaires, interview, and observation of families action and interactions in order to gather the empirical data. The research study will examine and develop three types of the exhibition tools, which used to convey messages from the basic science exhibits to family groups (case study on National Science Museum Thailand), based on how the tools enable learning science through Thai family groups in order to enhance family learning science in science museum. The family in this research are defined as a multi-generational visiting unit with at least one adult over the age of 19 and one child between ages of 9 12 years The subjects of this study are families who visit National Science Museum Thailand. The population is limited to 100 families, fifty groups for experiment and the rest for the control groups (Borun Dritsas 1997) Research Questions: Which types of the tools, mini text label, VDO instruction, and touch screen label have ability to encourage and enhance family groups learning science in science museum? How these tools enable learning science for family groups? How to design the exhibits tools to encourage and enhance family learning science in science museum? Significance of the study This study will deepen the knowledge of science education and science communication that is applicable. The consequence of this finished research study will result in the development of the distinct tools that enable family learning science and accessibility to science exhibits in science museum. The research can be used as a model not only for other science museums and science centres, but also for other kind of museums to communicate their contents to multi-ages visitors effectively by using the beneficial result from this research to develop the tools which support their exhibition. The tools can enhance and encourage multi-ages groups access to the exhibits then gain more benefits from the exactly goals of the exhibition. This effective informal learning will over time hopefully develop positive attitudes toward science and will create a society more attuned to the acceptance of a scientific approach. Framework of the study The framework of this study has evolved as a consequence of the literature review in the field of informal education in science and technology, physical and social context as a family visitor in museum, narrative, meaning of media in museum and Thais family perception in science education. In Figure 1 the development of the three exhibition tools is based on informal learning in science education, narrative and media interpretation. The hypothesis is that families who utilize the exhibition tools for their instruction during interact with science museum exhibitions represent the increasing of the accessibility to science exhibitions, the understanding of science contents in exhibits and a positive attitude toward science. Input Family group (Parent-Child) Design: three exhibition tools base on narrative and media meaning in science communication, physical context and social context in museum Mini text label Interactive label Video instruction Knowledge fields Science Education ( informal) Science Communication Social Science Narrative and media development Quantitative Questionnaire Accessibility and difficulty to exhibits content Entertainment Science achievement Important of basic science Tools using Parent-Childs awareness toward basic science Qualitative Interview Tracking, video tracking Out put Science achievement (Familys learning science) Family better understanding of basic science FIGURE 1: FARMWORK OF THE STUDY

Band of Brothers by Stephen Ambrose :: American History

Band of Brothers by Stephen Ambrose I. Authors Background Stephen Ambrose was born in 1936 and grew up in Whitewater, Wisconsin, a small town where his father was the M.D. At the University of Wisconsin, he started as a pre-med, but inspired by a great professor he changed his major to History. After getting his M.A. degree at Louisiana State University, he returned to the University of Wisconsin to complete a Ph.D. Ambrose began teaching at the University of New Orleans. He started as a Civil War historian but changed to political history after President Eisenhower asked him to become his biographer. Since then, Ambrose has written more than twenty books. Among his best sellers are D-Day, Citizen Soldiers, Band of Brothers, Undaunted Courage and Nothing like it in the World. He was also a consultant for Steven Spielberg’s movie Saving Private Ryan. He is a retired Professor of History. Ambrose is now the director of the Eisenhower Center in New Orleans and is the founder of the National D-Day Museum. He is also a contributing editor of the Quarterly Journal of Military History. II. Synopsis Band of Brothers is a fascinating book that captures moments lived by soldiers during World War II. It specifically relates to the History of a small unit of paratroopers known as Easy Company, 506 Regiment, 101st Airborne. It is a story that follows the company from its inception to the capture of Hitler’s nest. It begins with the training of these soldiers at Camp Toccoa, Georgia. The 140 members of easy company who were young men from different social levels were physically and mentally trained. This particular company had an extremely harsh training, but many believe it is because of this training that they were considered as one of the best rifle companies in the army. Their trainer was Captain Sobel who they disliked but was later replaced with Lieutenant Winters. Two of the many things these soldiers learned were brotherhood and leadership. The first drop done by the paratroopers was on June 6, 1944 in Normandy. This drop did not result as planned. Planes were flying at a high velocity and at a short distance from the ground. Therefore one of the planes got hit. They arrived at Carentan which they captured and flew back to Aldbourne. Their second drop was on September 17, 1944 in Holland. This time it was perfectly done.

Body, Perception and Identity in ‘the Birthmark’ and ‘Hands’

Social sciences have often dealt with the relationship between a person’s body figure and his or her self-image. In this respect, the sociologist Carolina Gonzalez Laurino (2008: 23) claims that â€Å"la construccion social de la identidad se encuentra en estrecha relacion con la auto-percepcion del cuerpo. † However, the image an individual has of his or her own figure may be affected by other people’s perception. In the case of â€Å"The Birthmark,† by Nathaniel Hawthorne and â€Å"Hands,† by Sherwood Anderson, the body plays a central role because it determines the characters’ identities and the way they interact with others. It is the purpose of this essay to explore the ways in which the characters of Georgiana and Wing construct and alter their identity and self-image by the way in which their anatomies are described and treated by others. In â€Å"The Birthmark,† Georgiana’s self-image undergoes two major changes under the influence of male perception. At first, some of her lovers admire the birthmark: â€Å"Many a desperate swain would have risked his life for the privilege of pressing his lips to the mysterious hand. (Hawthorne 284) For this reason, Georgiana believes that the mark on her left cheek is a feature of which she should be proud. Later, however, this view of her mark changes due to the influence of her husband’s words and actions: after asking Aylmer about the words he uttered in his sleep and seeing his reaction –â€Å"Aylmer sat in his wife’s presence with a guilty feeling† (Hawthorne 286) – Georgiana urges Aylmer to remove the birthmar k no matter the consequences: â€Å"let the attempt be made at whatever cost† (Hawthorne 286). Gradually, she starts to feel her husband’s hatred herself, and this repulsion is intensified to the point in which she would rather die than carry on living with the mark: â€Å"for life, while this hateful mark makes me the object of your horror and disgust, – life is a burden which I would fling down with joy† (Hawthorne 286). In Sherwood Anderson’s story, the main character’s life is dramatically changed by the community’s perception of his hands. As a young man, he has a positive view of his hands because they are the means through which he expresses himself: â€Å"By the caress that was in his fingers he expressed himself. † (Anderson 31-32) However, when the community in Pennsylvania turns against him, the way in which they talk about the hands changes his perception of that part of his body: â€Å"Although he did not understand what had happened he felt that the hands must be to blame. Again and again the fathers of the boys had talked about the hands. † (Anderson 33). As a result, Wing constantly tries to conceal his hands, and every time he speaks to George, he tries to occupy them in some insignificant activity so as to prevent them from expressing something undesirable. However, one afternoon, when Wing is talking to the young reporter, he loses control of his hands for a moment and they move freely and caress the boy. This situation deeply disturbs Biddlebaum: â€Å"With a convulsive movement of his body, Wing Biddlebaum sprung to his feet and thrust his hands deep into his trouser pockets- Tears came to his eyes† (Anderson 30). Furthermore, the fear he feels because of what his hands may be capable of causing changes his personality from a confident, sociable member of the community to that of a timid man who chooses to isolate himself. This significant change is also reflected by the fact that he moves to a different city and changes his last name to Biddlebaum. In this regard, the effect that the perception of the community of Winesburg has is shown by the part they take in the creation of his new identity: â€Å"[the hands’] restless activity (†¦) had given him his name† (Anderson 28). From the aspects analyzed above, it can be concluded that the image each of these characters has of him or herself is greatly influenced by other people’s perception. The way in which either their whole bodies or parts of them are viewed affects who they – believe – they are and the way they interact with those around them.

Romeo and Juliet – Guilty Deaths

Deaths The Shakespearian play Romeo and Juliet is a well known story about star-crossed lovers whose fates end in tragedy. The deaths of these two lovers can be held responsible on two main characters, Friar Lawrence and the Nurse yet out of the two, who is more liable? Friar Lawrence is a priest who marries the two lovers, gives Juliet a fake potion to prevent her from marrying Paris, fails to send the letter to Romeo telling him about his plan and selfishly runs away from Juliet in fear that he would get into trouble for his involvement.The Nurse is Juliet’s lifelong caregiver who helps Juliet and her lover get married, becomes their â€Å"messenger† and later on in the play, changes her mind on who Juliet should be with. The physical actions and guidance of both the Friar and Nurse demonstrate their liability for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet. Although, it is undeniable that Friar Lawrence is more to blame than the Nurse on the deaths of Romeo and Juliet through his guidance, advice and physical actions throughout the play.In the play, Romeo and Juliet are very young and constantly seek advice and guidance of people older and supposedly wiser than them, like Friar Lawrence and the Nurse. What is unclear to them is that the advice and guidance that they receive comes with many consequences, and for Romeo and Juliet, it is death. Throughout the course of the Shakespearian play, Friar Lawrence gives the couple a lot of advice and guidance. To avoid marrying Paris, he tells Juliet to pretend to be dead with the help of a special potion he made.As part of the plan, he was supposed to inform Romeo of this arrangement yet he fails which later costs him his own life along with Juliet’s. â€Å"Come I’ll dispose of thee/ Among a sisterhood of holy nuns/ Stay not to question, for the watch is coming/ Come, go good Juliet. I dare no longer stay/† (Shakespeare 5. 3 155) demonstrates how selfish he was as he left the Capulet tomb and le t Juliet kill herself instead of attempting to help her. By letting her die alongside Romeo, he is more responsible for their deaths. The second character that holds responsibility for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet through her advice to Juliet is the Nurse.Throughout, the Nurse seems to admire Romeo. She praises him for his love for Juliet and seems to be fond of their marital union. After Atabani 2 a heated discussion between Lady Capulet, Capulet and Juliet about whether or not she should marry Paris, she changes her mind about Romeo and their marriage. She believes that because he is exiled from Verona that he should be dead to Juliet. Romeo is banished, and all the world to nothing. That he dares ne'er come back to challenge you. Or, if he do, it needs must be by stealth. Then, since the case so stands as now it doth.I think it best you married with the county. Oh, he’s a lovely gentleman. Romeo’s a dishclout to him. An eagle, madam, Hath not so green, so quick, s o fair an eye As Paris hath. Beshrew my very heart. I think you are happy in this second match. For it excels your first. Or if it did not. Your first is dead, or ’twere as good he were. As living here and you no use of him (3. 5 88) All through the play, it is clear that the Nurse is a very mother like character to Juliet therefore when she gave Juliet advice on who to marry, the Nurse was attempting to advocate bigamy.This upsets Juliet and because of the advice the Nurse gives her, she goes to Friar Lawrence in seek of a remedy for her aching heart. Although both the Nurse and Friar Lawrence may have seemed to have good intentions in giving advice to Romeo and Juliet about their star-crossed love, the Friar’s words of advice makes him more accountable for their deaths. In Romeo and Juliet, the fulfillment of certain actions leads to the play's tragic ending, death. In the play Friar Lawrence is one of the characters whom commits physical acts that makes him responsi ble for the deaths of the lovers.Firstly, he marries the two lovers in a secret ceremony with only the Nurse attending. By performing their marriage, he defies their fates and bonds them as star-crossed lovers, which leads to their devastating deaths. After, the Friar’s realization of their forbidden love he states â€Å"In one respect I’ll thy assistant be/ For this alliance may so happy prove/ To turn your households rancor to pure love† (2. 3 46). He marries them against Atabani 3their families in hopes that he may end the feud that divides the Capulets and the Montagues.By creating a marital union between the Juliet and Romeo, the Friar creates more hatred between the families that builds up to the conclusion. By marrying them, the Friar makes himself more accountable for the suicides of Romeo and Juliet. The second character who is physically liable for the deaths of the star – crossed lovers is the Nurse. After the Prince exiles Romeo to Mantua for murdering Tybalt, the Nurse plays a â€Å"messenger† role, in which she continuously goes back and forth between the two lovers. She helps them be Atabani 3 ogether even though she knows that both the Capulets and Montagues would disapprove. The Nurse would also constantly bring news from Romeo to Juliet about their blooming love and later, their marriage. Now, afore God, I am so vexed that every part about me quivers. Scurvy knave! Pray you, sir, a word And as I told you my young lady bid me inquire you out. What she bade me say, I will keep to myself. But first let me tell ye, if ye should lead her into a fool’s paradise as they say, it were a very gross kind of behavior, as they say.For the gentlewoman is young, and therefore, if you should deal double with her, truly it were an ill thing to be offered to any gentlewoman and very weak dealing (2. 4 53) are the words of The Nurse while she is explaining to Romeo about her role as a messenger between both Juliet and R omeo. If the Nurse had considered what would happen to this couple, she may not have wanted to become their messenger and risk their lives like she did. As a result of both the Friar and the Nurse’s involvement physically they can both be held accountable for the deaths of the lovers, yet it is evident that Friar Lawrence can be considered more responsible.Through his guidance, advice and physical actions throughout the play, it is undeniable that Friar Lawrence is more to blame than the Nurse on the deaths of Romeo and Juliet. The Shakespearian play Romeo and Juliet written in 1590 explores many different themes including fate, love and death. The deaths of the protagonists Romeo and Juliet can be blamed on the physical actions, guidance and advice of both the Friar and Nurse. This later demonstrates who is more responsible for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet.The Nurse’s actions, advice and assistance includes helping the lovers get their marriage, becoming their †Å"messenger† and later on in the play and changing her overall idea about the marriage between Juliet and Romeo. The actions, guidance and advice that Friar Lawrence administrates to both Romeo and Juliet include marrying the two lovers, giving Juliet the potion, failing to send the letter to Romeo in time and selfishly running away from Juliet in fear that he would get into trouble for his involvement make him more responsible than the Nurse.

Guns Should Not Be Banned in the US Essay

Just a few weeks ago a man with the name Adam Lanza decided to take the guns of his mother and take the life of 20 children and 8 adults, including his mother’s and his own. This atrocity hasn’t been the first one. In the weeks since the massacre, gun control supporters have called for a new federal ban on assault weapons and for reductions in the number of concealed-carry permits issued to private citizens. However, to blame assault weapons for this tragedy makes as much sense as blaming airplanes for the 9-11 attacks. The problem lies with the perpetrator, not the tool used to commit the crime. It is an illusion that further gun control will protect the public since no law, no matter how restrictive, can protect us from people who decide to commit violent crimes. Guns should never be banned in the United States, because the possession of guns ultimately helps improve public safety. Embodied in the Second Amendment to the Constitution is the truth that self-governing i ndividuals should bear the responsibility for defending themselves. The Amendment states, â€Å"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.† Many heated controversies in regard to the Second Amendment have been generated among legal scholars. The most vigorous debate among all is the correct meaning of the phrase. Some argue that the right of bearing arms only applies collectively to those in the militia. However, Pratt indicates that many scholars ignore the foundational principles in the Amendment, including the law of self-government and the right of self-defense. His argument is supported by a quote from one founding father, â€Å"a primary law of nature, which . . . (is] the immediate gift of the Creator.† Pratt indicates that, self-defense is a God-given right that is unalienable and incapable of being surrendered or transferred. Many pro gun control supporters adhere to the belief that the availability of guns make violent crime happen and, more importantly, that criminal violence in general can be reduced by limiting access to firearms. This is a testable empirical proposition. Research shows that disarming the public has not reduced criminal violence. For example, in Washington, D.C. and New York City, severe gun control laws had been applied, yet Washington D.C. is the â€Å"murder capital of the US† and New York City ranks among the most dangerous places in the country. In both cities, violent criminals can easily obtain the most deadly weapons on the streets within minutes. Legal scholar John Lott presents the most rigorously comprehensive data analysis ever done on crime statistics and right-to-carry laws. Lott had sat the agenda on the impact of guns on crime in America by creating a massive dataset of all 3,054 counties in the United States during 18 years from 1977 through 1994. He proposed a powerful statistical argument that state laws enabling citizens to carry concealed handguns had reduced crime (18). There are two reasons why concealed handgun laws reduce violent crime. First, they reduce the number of attempted crimes because criminals are uncertain about the possibility of potential victims defending themselves. Second, victims with possession of guns are in a much better position to defend them. Lott also presented the strong negative relationship between the number of law-abiding citizens with permits and the crime rate, which declines as more people obtain permits (59). The ultimate question that concerns everyone is whether allowing law-abiding citizens to own guns will save more lives or not. While there are many anecdotal stories illustrating both good and bad uses of guns, Lott answered this question by illustrating his data analysis and conclude the net effect. This timely and provocative work comes to the startling conclusion: more guns mean less crime. Possessing guns is one of the major methods for citizens to defense themselves. Some people may use guns in illegal ways, but more have the purpose of preventing horrible things from happening to them. Making guns illegal will primarily disarm peaceful citizens. At the same time, criminals will always find the weapons they need to carry out their crime. This situation leaves a green light for violent criminals to attack everyone, leaving potential victims defenseless. Every day, thousands of peaceful Americans successfully use guns to defend themselves. A study conducted by Florida State University criminologist Gary Kleck found that Americans use guns defensively 2.5 million times a year based on 16 national surveys of samples of the U.S. population. Prior to Kleck’s study, thirteen other surveys indicated a range of between 800,000 to 2.5 million defensive gun uses annually. Given that there are far more gun-owning crime victims than there are gun-owning criminals and that victimization is spread out over different victims while offending is among a relatively small number of offenders, Kleck arrived at the conclusion that defensive gun uses are substantially more common than criminal gun uses (102). This claim has been repeatedly confirmed, and remains one of the most consistently supported assertions in the guns-violence research area. Through years of research, Kleck has found strong evidence that â€Å"crime victims who use guns during a crime are less likely to be injured or killed, and less likely to lose property than crime victims who adopt any other strategy, including non-resistance.† The intent of some advocates of gun control can be misleading. As the debate over the 1976 District of Columbia gun ban demonstrates, â€Å"gun control† often covers for a hidden agenda. British Cabinet papers declassified in 1969-70 demonstrate that contrary to claims made in Parliamentary debates, the intent of the Firearms Act 1920 was not to reduce or prevent crime, but to prevent a feared Bolshevik revolution in Britain. Direct statements by members of the Cabinet demonstrate an intent to mislead the public about their objectives. There are reasons other than the possession of guns that could cause the high frequency of shooting. Being one of them, Cramer’s article, Ethical problems of mass murder coverage in the mass media examines the way in which statistically disproportionate coverage of mass murders by Newsweek and Time from 1984 to 1991 encouraged at least one copycat crime, and may have caused others. Cramer uses a copycat crime Joseph Wesbecker convicted after Patrick Purdy as an example. Initial coverage of Purdy’s crime was relatively restrained, and only the essential details were reported. But a week later, Patrick Purdy’s name continued to receive press attention, and consequently his fame increased. Articles referencing Purdy or his crime continued to appear in for many months. On September 14, 1989, Joseph Wesbecker, using the exact same weapon as Purdy did, conducted a massacre of his own. After reading about the destructive power of Patrick Purdy’s weapon, Wesbecker clipped out a February Time magazine article on some of Purdy’s exploits, in order to describe the gun to a gun dealer. Fame and infamy are in an ethical sense, opposites. Functionally, they are nearly identical. The human need to celebrate human nobility, and to denounce human depravity, has caused us to devote tremendous attention, both scholarly and popular, to portraying the polar opposites of good and evil. The pursuit of fame can lead people to acts of great courage and nobility. It can also lead to acts of great savagery. Other than the long-time debates on gun control law itself, it is necessary for the public to think about other issues regarding public safety. In all cases, gun bans have been ineffective, expensive, and even counter-productive. If properly issued, registered, monitored and stored, guns will help defense US citizens’ safety. The fact is that we live in a dangerous world and the government cannot protect us for every single minute. We must ultimately rely upon ourselves and only by having the necessary tools can we make it realizable. Therefore, guns should never be banned in the United States.