20th Century Genius Award Essay

A nominee for the 20th Century Genius Award should be Riley B. King. King has had an integral part in the history of the blues style of music since the mid 1950s. The manner in which he plays his guitar, Lucille, and his voice are very distinguishable. His style of instrumentation has carried over to other genres of music as well. He is hail as the reigning king of the blues. Most blues guitar solos will have some of the recognizable King inspired bent notes. Riley B. King, better known as B. B. King, was born September 16, 1925 to a family of poor sharecroppers in Mississippi. King’s artistic contribution to the 20th century is music, most notably the Blues. In the blues arena, he is probably one of the greatest and most respected guitarists in the history of the genre. When one hears the name B. B. King, the music of the blues immediately comes to mind. His musical motivation came from the music in his church. At first, Riley wanted to become a gospel singer. The pastor in his church taught him the basics of guitar. He then became a self taught guitarist by using instruction books he ordered through the mail. Since his arrival on the scene in the mid 1940s, King has been the definition of blues for the world wide audience. In his youth, he would play his guitar on street corners for dimes. There were nights when he would play in four towns. Riley also performed with small gospel groups. At the age of 21 hitchhiked from his home in Mississippi to Memphis to pursue his dreams in music. In 1948 King’s performance on a radio station in West Memphis launched his career. This performance turned in to regular performances at a grill in West Memphis called Sixteenth Avenue Grill and to a 10 minute time slot called â€Å"King’s Spot† on a radio station in Memphis. King’s 10 minute show was such a hit, the show was lengthened and turned in to a show called â€Å"Sepia Swing Club. † Riley decided he should have a name that was easily remembered for his radio show, so he started out with Beale Street Blues Boy. That named seemed to be too long, so he shortened it to Blues Boy King. When Blues Boy King first performed in New York, he decided to shorten his stage name to B. B. King. King has named his guitars â€Å"Lucille† after he performed at an event in Twist, AR. A couple of men began to brawl over a woman and during the brawl a stove that was fueled by kerosene was knocked over. This set fire to the building and everyone rushed out. When King realized his guitar was still inside, he risked his life to run back inside and retrieve it. After it was all said and done, he found out the two men were fighting over a lady by the name of Lucille. At that time he figured he would give the name â€Å"Lucille† to his guitars so he would remember to in no way do a foolish thing like fighting over a woman. In King’s song, â€Å"Three O’clock Blues (1951), the song begins with a four bar guitar introduction, followed by four full choruses of the twelve bar form. The third chorus is an instrumental with the guitar improvising on the harmonic progression. In this song, King sings and then plays guitar lines that serve as a response to his vocal lines. The guitar lines reproduce and expand on the vocal melody to which they answer and often use string bends to reach blue notes. An accompaniment is provided by saxophones playing notes that are long held. The drums are very quite with little or not accenting of the backbeat. Some urban sophistication in the arrangement is the occasional use of half step slides into some of the main chords of the progression. A great deal of the time, King slides down to the appropriate chord, then turns around and slides up to the tonic chord at the final beat. During his career, King has created one of the most individualistic guitar techniques in the world. He integrated his specific and intricate vocal-like string blends and his left hand vibrato. These types of instrumentation have turn out to be important works of a rock guitarist’s expression. B. B. King was inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame in 1984 and into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987. He received the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS) Lifetime Achievement Grammy Award in 1987 and has received honorary doctorates from several universities. According to Billboard, â€Å"B. B. King has 74 entries on the Rhythm and Blues charts and he was one of the few full fledged blues artists to score a major pop hit when â€Å"The Thrill Is Gone† crossed over to the mainstream success. † King’s lyrical and expressive solo style has made a large impact on several artists in the rock genre such as Eric Clapton, George Harrison, Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, and Jimi Hendrix, Mike Bloomfield. B. B. King’s urban blues guitar style includes the playing of lines that are equal in importance to the lines he sings. There is no single recording that can show the brilliantness of B. B. King’s abilities as a guitarist or a singer. His interest in playing melodic lines rather than chordal accompaniments is quite obvious in several of his numbers. King has performed as a featured soloist with jazz bands and groups of all sizes. He has also performed with large orchestral string sections playing arrangements of blues songs. Considering what B. B. King has done for the art of blues music, the accomplishments he has had during his career, and the influence he has had on the various genres of music, his contributions to the blues music will continue to impact the music industries for years to come. For these reasons, B. B. Kind should be considered for nomination for the 20th Century Genius Award. References (April 03, 2008). B. B. King. Retrieved April 10, 2008, from Academy of Achievement Web site:  http://www.achievement.org/

Comment and Compare the Boscastle and Pakistan Floods Essay

During the 2010 monsoon season (July and August), Pakistan experienced the worst floods recorded in its history. Heavy rainfall caused flash floods in the north and north-western regions of the country. The subsequent run-off created a southward moving mass of water approximately the size of the United Kingdom. The flood waters travelled downstream through Punjab and Sindh until they reached the Arabian Sea. Many of the main tributaries feeding into the Indus River were also flooded, further inundating agricultural lands. In total, some 20 million people were displaced and 50,000 square km were submerged, while standing crops, infrastructure and land were damaged extensively. The extent of the destruction caused by the 2010 floods is hard to comprehend. The floods impacted seventy-eight districts, resulting in the deaths of over 1900 people with at least another 2900 injured. In the areas receiving flood-waters 70% of the roads and bridges were swept away. More than 10,000 schools and 500 hospitals were destroyed or damaged, as were about 1.6 million homes. In a relatively short period of time, millions of Pakistanis who were already having a difficult time making a living before the floods found themselves homeless and unsure of how to survive. The losses were largest for crops with direct damage to 2.1 million hectares of standing Kharif crops (crops that are sown in the rainy season) – mainly cotton, rice, sugarcane and vegetables; one million tonnes of food and seed stocks were lost along with a large number of on-farm water channels and wells. Livestock were decimated during the flash floods in the hilly areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, while grazing animals and poultry were also lost in the plains area. In all, approximately 200,000 livestock (including cows, sheep, buffalo, goats and donkeys) were initially confirmed dead, with the total rising somewhat over time. Of immediate concern was the increased risk of outbreaks of contagious diseases due to unsafe drinking water, poor sanitation and personal hygiene, food insecurity,lack of shelter, overcrowding and decreased access to health care. In late August 2010, over 450,000 cases of dysentery and other diseases were reported, and some 3.5 million children were considered at risk of contracting water-borne diseases including diarrhoea and cholera. Three rivers – the Valency, Jordan and Paradise – converge on the small, tourist village of Boscastle on the Cornish coast. The majority of the damage caused by the flash flood on 16th August 2004, 52 years after the catastrophe that was the Lynmouth flood, was attributable to the Valency. In total, an input of 3 million tonnes of water was added to a tiny drainage basin, whose size was just 40 square kilometres. Attention must be paid not just to the total volume of rain but also the intensity with which it fell. 185mm arrived in just five hours, the majority falling in the first two hours. Under such conditions, infiltration was virtually impossible, with the rate of precipitation greatly exceeding the infiltration capacity of any soil type. The soils were already saturated from previous rainfall earlier in the week, encouraging surface run-off to begin even sooner. The three river valleys are very steep and narrow; a broader floodplain would have helped to soak up ex cess water and to reduce energy more effectively through an increased hydraulic radius. The settlement of Boscastle was allowed to develop on a narrow flood plain on the west coast of England, where rainfall is often high. The rainfall of August 2004 hit at the worst time of year, when the settlement population doubled to 2,000 as tourists arrived. Much higher levels of motor vehicle damage were also experienced as a result of this temporary population increase. In addition, shops were carrying greater levels of stock than at other times of the year. Although new flood defences were set to be built in October of that year, work had not yet started. Overall, excellent emergency services and Environment Agency response meant no lives were lost. However, due to the constantly changing nature of the tourist population, it took a long time to clearly establish that there had been no fatalities. Most shops stayed shut for the rest of the season and the bad publicity reduced tourist numbers during the following years, resulting in a negative multiplier effect for the entire lo cal community. In addition, the effect spread beyond Boscastle – other settlements along the river were perceived to be at risk by tourists. Boscastle businesses could claim compensation from their insurance companies (claims for ‘disruption to trading’ in Boscastle amounted to  £15m). However, others businesses elsewhere in Cornwall could not, even though they too may have suffered reduced trade in the following years. This became a cause for concern, with tourism accounting for 30% of Cornwall’s GDP and tourists spending up to  £1 billion throughout the county. Shared amenities such as Boscastle village green were now covered with silt and up-ended cars. There were serious costs for a small community with a seasonal employment problem, due to its over-reliance on summer tourism. There was also irreplaceable loss of historical artefacts; The ‘Witch Museum’ – which was fifty years old and received 50,000 visitors a year – saw some of its unique contents damaged. Infrastructure disruption was another major problem; both bridges in Boscastle were destroyed and sections of r oad swept away. Telephone, water, electricity and gas supplies were all immediately interrupted. People found the value of their homes permanently reduced, now that Boscastle was associated with a serious flood risk. It has been suggested that values were halved. In some instances it took six months before properties were sufficiently repaired for homeowners to permanently return. This was one of the worst problems that flood victims faced: they could not physically return to their homes even when the floodwaters receded. In some cases, the historic character of the houses in Boscastle caused extra problems. Six properties were destroyed outright; most others required between  £15,000 and  £30,000 for repairs. Insurance companies reimbursed most people however some home and car owners did not receive compensation because (a) they lacked appropriate insurance cover or (b) they found that they were not entitled to payment because insurers regarded this unusual event as an ‘Act of God’. It is difficult to compare these two floods, which both caused significant damage, but the scale to which this happened varied tremendously; one occurred in a small, sleepy Cornish village while the other tormented a whole country. The numbers involved also differed; there were thankfully no deaths in the Boscastle flood (one resident suffered a heart attack but that was the extent of the casualties), whereas there were over 1500 people killed in Pakistan with millions more left homeless and in danger of starvation and waterborne diseases. The cost of the clean up for a small village like Boscastle was great enough; that for the already heavily indebted, poverty-stricken Pakistan was impossibly high. The greatest similarity is the physical geography of the land which didn’t allow for adequate drainage of the affected areas. Pakistan is essentially split down the middle with the western side of the country all at least 300m above sea level whereas the eastern half is low lying farmland/floodplains. This meant that the excess surface runoff caused by the high levels of rainfall simply followed the gradient of the land and flooded the lower lying east. Boscastle is in an even worse position as it is sitting at the bottom of a valley so the water came from both sides, converging at the village where the already swollen rivers simultaneously burst their banks. Another similarity was the high levels of rainfall immediately preceeding the floods which meant that the subsequent rainfall was unable to infiltrate the already saturated ground.

A Review Of Woolworths Limited Commerce Essay

A Review Of Woolworths Limited Commerce Essay Woolworths Limited is one of the major Australian companies with extensive retail interest around Asia-pacific region. Largest food retailer in Australia, Largest retail firm in Australia and New Zealand and largest takeaway liquor retailer, hotel and poker machine operator in Australia. The Woolworths limited family is one of the huge employers in Pacific-Asia. With around 200,000 team members working in support offices, stores and distribution centres across Newzeland and Australia. Woolworths limited also continues to develop in buying and wholesaling offices in India and Asia. Retailing is most people focused business that makes recruiting, retaining intelligent employees and developing significant to their success. Through Woolworths limited policies, educate and development opportunities, reward and recognition programs, career opportunities and initiative to provide a balance and healthy work life, they target to keep doing the right things by their people and they keep on to recognise Woolworths limited as such a great place to work. Woolworths limited is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer. A diversity strategy has been certified and developed by the top management group, part of Woolworths’ ongoing commitment to diversity. In Woolworths limited, where all employees are treated with respect, dignity and courtesy, this is their target to provide a healthy work environment. They acknowledge that diversity adds significance in bringing dissimilar perspectives to work environment and in reflect the communities they serve. It helps business benefits as well. A diversity working community has been created comprising and Human Resource managers from all divisions. The purpose of the community is to, prioritise events to harness diversity within the company, make sure that recognising diversity owned by the business and managing accordingly. The gender at Woolworths, female constitutes 55% of the company workforce and proud of the progress the com pany made in the area of gender diversity, mainly in the top leadership role. 16.7% of leadership roles in company were held by women, for the financial year 2003-04 and 27% had increase in the year 2008-09. In facilitating women’s career development and progression, Woolworths Limited focuses to create an environment that is appreciation and supportive of difference. Men and women offer various perspectives those provide undeniable business benefits and they try to remove the barriers that may restrict the women career progression. These include the structured networking opportunities and mentoring. Woolworth’s board members two are women out of nine, which represent 22% of the board. Peter chandler, a part time employee of Woolworths at Katherine in northern Territory, which is 320 kilometres from south Darwin, is among an expanding group of Indigenous Aussies who are become Woolworths employees. Peter has gained experience in almost all departments of the store, suc h as perishable, bakery and presently working as a night fill employee. Woolworths is such a great place to work, diverse backgrounds such as people with disability, should have the opportunity to be work with Woolworths, which job they are suited. Woolworths limited has a memo of understanding with disability works Australia (DWA) and when recruiting a disability candidate, Woolworths require the contractor to use service of the Disability work Australia. The contractor is the supported to wage system is used decide the employee’s wage.

Analyse ways in which minimum core elements can be demonstrated in Essay

Analyse ways in which minimum core elements can be demonstrated in applying theories and principles for planning and enabling inclusive learning and teaching - Essay Example As such, the teacher can collaborate with language specialists in order to devise relevant activities. The instructor must ensure that the language of use should correspond with learning level of the students’ learning, while also being dynamic enough to allow the acquisition of more vocabulary. Other methods that will be helpful at this point include: setting tasks for learners to read; using readable and accessible texts to help learners develop their comprehension skills; using reciprocal teaching; making use of effective questioning; and reading handouts and written materials aloud; and finding ways to present materials through means other than written information (Lawton & Turnbull, 2007, p. 44). As for numeracy and learning theory, it is important that the instructor offers alternative methods for solving problems; increasing awareness of the language of numbers [such as multiplication, addition, product, times and share]; and avoiding the assumption that learners arrival at correct answers necessarily means comprehension of the topic. There is also a great need on the side of the teachers to design exercises that are relevant and meaningful before according learners with opportunities to practice, sharpen and put the skills they have acquired to use (Lawton & Turnbull, 2007, p. 44-45). Teachers should develop the culture of using up-to-date technologies such as whiteboards, m-learning and digital cameras to motivate learners. It is important at this juncture that the instructor encourages learner autonomy in ICT use. In this light, webquests the use of function keys and keyboard shortcuts will help develop individual ICT skills. Older learners who may not be enthusiastic about the use of ICT should also be encouraged to start using ICT. Other provisions of ICT which may go a long way in creating tech-savvy learners include interactive whiteboards,

Ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 3

Ethics - Essay Example This paper develops a brief personal code of ethics, the basic tenets of which include ethical conduct toward others, respect, equality, and personal accountability. Rationale A personal code of ethics is a reflection of the deepest moral and ethical values, which are fundamental and vital for the future individual and professional success (Long 14). These values guide the lives of individuals, create and sustain self-identity, promote self-esteem, and make individuals empowered in personal and professional life (Long 14). This personal code of conduct provides effective operating definitions and instructions for following personal ethical and moral values of respect, equality, and accountability. The code of ethics ensures personal commitment to these values (Barbeito 122). The personal code of ethics is a formal document which supports and confirms personal commitment to the highest standards of ethical performance and conduct. ... 1. Ethical values: to engage in learning and regularly expand the knowledge of ethical norms and values. 2. Equality: to ensure that each family member and friend receives sufficient attention and that the needs of all are considered. 3. Respect: to be truthful with everyone, avoid blunt expressions, bold claims, and any manipulation of others’ emotions and feelings. 4. Accountability: to pay attention to what others are saying about the actions and decisions that bear their consequences on them. Enforcement The principal goal of enforcing this code of ethics is to guarantee that behaviors and decisions are ethical (Kidder 24; Verschoor 20). Enforcement does not aim at imposing punishment for unethical decisions and acts. For the aims of effective enforcement, any violation of the code is considered as a form of serious misconduct. Law preserves its precedence over the ethical code (Kidder 27). Regular/ continuous education becomes the top priority in ensuring and enforcing et hical behaviors and decisions. These elements will serve an effective driver of personal ethical behaviors and the source of continuous knowledge improvement about ethics. Works Cited Barbeito, C.L. Human Resource Policies and Procedures for Nonprofit Organizations. John Wiley & Sons. Kidder, R.M. How good people make tough choices. New York: Fireside, 1995. Long, D.H. Doing the Right Thing: A Real Estate Practitioner’s Guide to Ethical Decision Making. Cengage Learning. Verschoor, C. â€Å"Is Your Ethics Code Based on Compliance or Values?† Strategic Finance, 82 (2000),

Organizational Issues and Trends Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Organizational Issues and Trends Paper - Essay Example d of course in order to be able to predict tendencies the managerial staff has to be on top of the topic in the present to know how are these areas affect the business in the present and how they have influenced in the past to learn from the victories and the mistakes. Three topics or issues of great importance which are studied in this essay are global ethics, stress in the workplace and organization politics. The paper analyses these three issues from a current perspective as well as looking at the tendencies in these issues a decade from now. Stress is a mental and emotional condition that affects the behavior of humans in all facets of life. It is a condition that is not healthy and organization must recognize its existence and ensure preventive measures are in place to minimize its occurrence. If stress is identified among a group or individual worker the company must also have a way to litigate with the problem on a personal and confidential matter to ensure the employee or employee get the help needed to deal with the problem. Since stress is a human condition spark by a variety of factors in a person’s personal and work life it will always be present among some members of the staff. A company first of all has to take measure to ensure the work conditions of the company do not contribute to a stressful work environment as well as having protocol measures in place to identify employees suffering from this medical condition to provide them with the counseling the person needs to help them deal with the situation . Stress in the workplace is an undesirable condition because it leads to lower productivity, a higher incidents of human error, unnecessary tension, a lack of group synergy and other negative factors for an enterprise. The factors or categories that lead to stress in the workplace include bad economic trends in an organization, interpersonal relationships, organizational culture, lack of promotional opportunities for qualified candidates and other

Generation X Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Generation X - Essay Example urdles as well as stereotypes, the strong, appealing characteristics from the particular events, issues and people stem individuals born in generation X, making them extraordinary. Generation X is defined as the generation born in the years 1965 to 1980, immediately apparent in this generation after the baby boomers. This generation was named ‘X’ as the letter itself represents an unknown, mystery. This generation is better educated and more ethnically diverse (Rosen 4). In addition, this generation was raised at a period of increasing divorce rates, faltering economy, and two income families. From all generations, this is the only one that was pushed into early adulthood. The aspect of women liberation from traditional roles as only homemakers is broken in this generation. This is evident by several women joining the work force, leaving behind their infants. During this era women broke the traditional characteristic of being dependent to a man to being independent and self sufficient. The con of this move was the commencement of latchkey kids who had no choice, but to take care of themselves whilst their parents worked (Zustiak 32). I am a clear example of such children; both my parents worked, being the first born, I had the responsibility of taking care of my siblings. I can say that I took the role of my parents, and disciplined my siblings when they made a mistake. I lacked the emotional needs from my parents and turned out into an autonomous, self-reliant individual. The situation at home forced me to grow up faster, and also adapt parenting skills. This was a challenge, as I was struggling the balance of being a child, sibling and at the same t ime ‘a parent. This explains why individuals who are in this generation like I, demonstrate the values of resourceful, autonomy and contribution, attributes of the command of authority and structured work hours. I was raised at a time where there was the emergence of personal computers, television, and Atari

The Chocolate War Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Chocolate War - Case Study Example The war has also set back attempts by the world’s large chocolate companies to curb the use of child labor and help improve the lives of the people in the Ivory Coast by teaching them new farming techniques and business practices.  Worse still for the Ivory Coast, where the incomes of six million people – about 35% of the population – are linked to cocoa farming, is that chocolate companies may begin rethinking their reliance on the country amid fears of continuing political instability.  Ã¢â‚¬Å"If things don’t improve,† says Anne Prendergast, an analyst with the commodities trading firm Refco in New York, â€Å"over the next five years one may see a gradual erosion of production from the Ivory Coast.†Ã‚  In the succeeding weeks the rebels and the government have made progress toward peace. The next several months are critical. If the Ivory Coast can begin to mend its shredded political and social fabric, it may be able to undo the damage already don to its cocoa economy. But if unrest continues, the situation could become dire for both the country’s cocoa farmers and the world’s companies.  The war turned any of the major cocoa centers in the western part of the Ivory Coast in the battlefields. Farmers abandoned their crops to flee the rebel advance. Iberian mercenaries fighting alongside the rebels seized the entire northern half of the country before French peacekeepers intervened to separate the warring sides. The prospect of further political problems spooks international chocolate executives. So far, no chocolate company has pulled out.

Response to The Omnivore's Dilemma Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Response to The Omnivore's Dilemma - Essay Example Because of these extensive choices, dilemmas are arising in the human’s minds regarding how food items are produced, whether naturally or artificially, whether unethical practices are followed, in total dilemma of what food to eat. â€Å"When you can eat just about anything nature has to offer, deciding what you should eat will inevitably stir anxiety† (Pollan 3). So, the main intent of the author, Michael Pollan is to provide the readers with an overview of the production process of various food choices, so the readers can select the apt foods, they want to consume. To learn for himself, and also to inform the readers about the production processes and thereby about food choices, Pollan follows the food chains of the three major food categories, which provide us the food– industrial food, organic food, and foraging food. That is, he examines the food chains of these three food categories from the initial till it reaches the humans stage (factory production and s upermarkets in the case of Industrial food, agricultural farms, small scale producers and vendors in the case of organic food and finally hunting expedition in case of foraging). â€Å"To this end, he embarks on four separate eating adventures, each of which starts at the very beginning — in the soil from which the raw materials of his dinners will emerge — and ends with a cooked, finished meal.† (Kamp 2006). The other main intent of Pollan is bring into focus how corn plant has came to dominate majority of the food choices in the American diet, and so allocates sizable portion of the book (close to 7 chapters) discussing about it. Although, corn is a benign plant, which is grown in large numbers throughout America and consumed directly in minimal quantities, it is actively used in the production of various food items, food additives, preservatives, etc. That is, after corn is produced, it is milled or refined or recompounded, and then it could â€Å"become any number of things, from ethanol for the gas tank to dozens of edible, if not nutritious, products, like the thickener in a milkshake, the hydrogenated oil in margarine, the modified cornstarch,†¦the ubiquitous sweetener known as high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS).† (Kamp 2006). With such extensive ‘applications’, Corn plant production is crucial to the survival and functioning of the various food industries. Because of which, the industrial food industry is implementing various dubious and unethical production practices to produce corn in a large scale manner. With heightened production, the corn has become cheap and plentiful, with Pollan even stating that it has become a â€Å"remarkably inexpensive industrial raw material.† (Kamp 2006). As a result, Pollan argues, food is much cheaper and more plentiful than it used to be, but unfortunately the health of the humans and that of the environment has deteriorated. Pollan also had the intent to bring out th e negatives of the organic food industry as well. Although, the organic industry mainly produces environment friendly and healthy foods for the people to consume, the production process in that industry also has started bordering on commercialization. That is, producers are adopting many of the methods of the industrial fo

Lucas v Dole Essay Example for Free

Lucas v Dole Essay In the Fall of 1987, plaintiff Julia Lucas appeals the dismissal of her job discrimination suit. Lucas, a white woman, argues that she was the victim of reverse discrimination when Rosa Wright, a less qualified black woman, was promoted to the Quality Assurance and Training Specialist position at her job. The judge dismissed the claim, finding that Lucas did not make out a prima facie case (Open Jurist, 2011). Statement of the Problem Both Julia Lucas, a white woman, and Rosa Wright, a black woman, work for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). They both applied for Quality Assurance and  Training Specialist (QATS) positions at the Flight Service Station in Leesburg, Virginia. Both women, along with nineteen other applicants, were qualified for the two positions that were available. Edward Dietz, the official who interviewed the top four applicants, selected Rosa Wright and another woman named Sharon Hall as the best candidates to fill the positions. Edward Dietz did not consider Julia Lucas. Lucas believed she was reverse discriminated and took the case to court (Open Jurist, 2011). Findings of Fact It was verified that although FAA determined that all nineteen applicants were ualified, Wright did not have a current Pilot Weather Briefing Certificate at the time of her selection, a QATS job requirement. Lucas presented other evidence in order to show discrimination. She testified to the subjective nature of the interviewing process, which consisted of five general questions concerning the QATS position. She presented Lucas v. Dole 3 evidence that her answers were detailed and job specific, while Wrights were broad and could apply to many jobs. Evidence also showed that in July 1985, Wright was given a temporary position involving education and training of students learning about the air raffic control system. The temporary position was not advertised to other workers in the customary way, and Wright was selected before some workers knew of the opening. Five other employees also testified that race may have been a factor in the selection of Wright and in other situations at the Leesburg facility. Favoritism there had helped create poor labor-management relations, although it is not clear whether the favoritism was racially motivated. The last piece of evidentiary support Lucas had was the comparison of her own professional experience and qualifications with those of Wright (Open Jurist, 2011). Impact in the Workplace Reverse discrimination is a controversial form of discrimination against members of a dominant or majority group, including the city or state, or in favor of members of a minority or historically disadvantaged group† (Wikipedia, 2011). Whether discrimination is reversed or not, Conclusions The judge dismissed the case, finding that Julia Lucas did not make out a prima facie case. In other words, it was not â€Å"based on the first impression; nor was it accepted as correct until proven otherwise† (Wikipedia, 2011). A prima facie case of unequal treatment by direct or indirect evidence of discrimination is under the McDonnell Douglas framework. To establish a prima facie case under the McDonnell Douglas framework, a plaintiff must show (1) she is a member of a protected group; (2) she applied and was qualified for a job that was open; (3) she was rejected, and (4) the job remained vacant. Lucas satisfies the basic requirements of McDonnell Douglas, except that the job did not remain open. In her testimony, Lucas admitted that she scored in the bottom third among the interviewees, and that those above her included blacks, whites and Hispanics. In conclusion, there was no evidence that racial discrimination was involved in Rosa Wright’s promotion. (Open Jurist, 2011).

The Role Of Teacher in Written Feedback

The Role Of Teacher in Written Feedback Teacher written feedback plays an essential role in a students writing process. It helps students identify their own strengths and weaknesses, which, in case of the latter, will make students know how to go about improving themselves and become effective writers (Penaflorida, 2002, p. 364). According to Ferris (2002), teacher feedback, if addressed effectively, can also contribute to students overall second language acquisition. Important as teacher written feedback is, there have been several studies comprehensively dealing with the issue. Even with those that do, there exists a lack of consensus over such matters as what aspects teacher feedback should focus on, which forms of feedback are preferable to students, etc. In the context of teaching writing in Vietnam, few studies have been conducted on feedback in general and teacher written feedback in particular. The same situation could be seen at the College of Social Sciences and Humanities-Vietnam National University, Hanoi. In reality, neither an investigation into the current feedback giving practice nor students preferences for teacher written feedback has been carried out at the college. It is, therefore, an open question whether or not current teacher written feedback is beneficial to students at the college. All the aforementioned reasons urge the author to carry out the research entitled A study on teacher written feedback on 1st-year students writings at the College of Social Sciences and Humanities-Vietnam National University, Hanoi. This study is an attempt to examine the real situation of teacher written feedback at the CSSH and to propose some suggestions for the betterment of the current practice. The yielded results is hoped to serve as a useful source of reference for those who concern about the subject matter. I.2. Aims of the study This study is carried out with the aims to: investigate the current practice of teacher written feedback on 1st year students writings at the CSSH-VNU propose some recommendations for the betterment of teacher written feedback at the CSSH. I.3. Research questions In order to achieve the abovementioned aims, the study will be conducted to answer two research questions: In what ways is teacher written feedback given to the 1st-year-students writings at the CSSH VNU? What do 1st-year students at CSSH expect from teacher written feedback to make it more effective? I.4. Scope of the study The research will work on the current situation of teacher written feedback on the 1st-year student writings at CSSH-VNU. The subjects selected for this study are the 1st-year students who are studying English at college. Moreover, the research examines only teacher written feedback but not other types of feedback such as teacher-student conference or teacher taped comments, since teacher written feedback is the main type of feedback at the college. Chapter II: Literature Review This chapter, which reviews the overall background concerning teacher written feedback, will serve as the foundations based on which the study is carried out. II.1. Concept of teacher feedback in writing Concerning the matter of teacher feedback (or respond/commentary), there exist a vast number of definitions given by researchers. Keh (1990) considers feedback as any input from a reader to a writer with the effect of providing information to the writer for revision (p. 294). In other words, it is the comments, questions, and suggestions a reader gives a writer with the view to enhancing his/her writing. The concept of feedback given by Joe (2006) is probably one of the most comprehensive one: Feedback is an inseparable and recursive component of both the teachers instruction and the writing process. It represents a sense of audience and purpose in forming the on-going writing process, while establishing a concept of collaborative reader-editor relationship between teacher and student. The feedback from the reader-editor appears as input for further reexamination and revision of the prior written work by providing optimum opportunities to develop and refine ideas, and may take various forms such as conference and interview. (p. 53) This concept is considered the most thorough one that covers almost aspects of teacher feedback, namely, the positions of feedback in writing instruction and writing process, the relation of student-teacher in process writing, the forms of feedback, and the role of feedback in a writing process. Its thought will, therefore, be used thorough this study. II. 2. Role of teacher written feedback As mentioned above, teacher feedback plays an essential role in a writing process. The importance of teacher feedback can be aptly summed by Straub (1996) It is how we receive and respond to student writing that speaks loudest in our teaching (p.246). In the absence of a face to face verbal writing conference, written response is the only way in which teacher can respond to the individual needs of students. It is via the comments on their writing that students can identify their own strengths and weaknesses, which, in the case of the latter, will make the students know how to go about improving themselves and become effective writers (Penaflorida, 2002, p. 346). Therefore, feedback is considered, first of all, a pedagogical tool that helps enhance students writing competence. Moreover, according to Ressor, teacher feedback is believed to provide students with not only the incentive to improve but also the guidance about how to improve (as cited in Vengadasamy, 2002). Feedback, in this sense, adopts another function; that is, stimulating and motivating student to write. II.3. Features of good teacher written feedback What constitutes good teacher written feedback is a complicated issue. There is little consensus among researchers over the matter as in reality, different individuals may prefer different types of feedback. While some people enjoy negative and direct feedback, other may feel discouraged by the same feedback. Therefore, it is normal to see different sets of criteria for good teacher written feedback. According to Coffin et al. (2003, p. 101), three vital elements of a good feedback are positive comment, criticism and suggestion for improvements. The coexistence of positive comment and criticism, according to Ferris Hedgcock (1998), will bring about the best effects (p. 128). While positive comments can motivate writers, negative ones can constructively show them where they have gone wrong and what action they should take in order to improve their paper. A suggestion is also needed as a guideline for students to make revision. Notably, the aforementioned set of criteria only mentions the elements constituting good teacher feedback. Researchers on teacher feedback also list a large number of other criteria, among which is the one given by Leki (1992). According to this researcher, feedback is only good when teachers concentrate on the content along with a limited amount of feedback on grammar, punctuation, and spelling. According to Baechle Lian (1990) and Mastropiery Scruggs (1994) (as cited in Konold Miller, 2004), high-quality feedback should be timely, accurate, constructive, outcome-focused, encouraging and positive. What is more, good feedback must necessarily avoid unknown abbreviations, codes, ambiguous and unobtainable suggestions for improvement. This set of criteria, in comparison with the two sets mentioned above, is more sufficient since it covers nearly all aspects of good feedback, that is, the elements of good teacher written feedback, the tone of teacher feedback (encouraging and positive) as well as the practicality of the feedback (obtainable suggestions). The existence of different ways to define the criteria of good teacher written feedback indicates that there is no standard type of teacher feedback. It is, therefore, necessary that each teaching and learning environment carry out research to find out the types of feedback that suit their students most. II.4. Major issues of teacher feedback on student writing Providing effective feedback to students has been a matter of concern among writing teachers as well as researchers. A great number of questions have been asked: What should teacher comment on?, To which extent should feedback be?, Which types of comment are most effective? and so on. However, it is the fact that researchers have not reached a consensus over the answers to such questions. Within a small scale study, an overview of the literature of the two main issues, namely content and types of teacher written feedback will be discussed in the following part. II.4.1. Content of teacher written feedback Teachers have been faced with a constant question of what to focus on when giving feedback to student writing. Fathman and Whalley (1990, p.178) notes: much of the conflict over teacher response to written work has been whether teacher feedback should focus on form or content of the writing. Content, in their opinion, refers to comments on organization, ideas and amount of detail, while form involves comments on grammar and mechanical errors. Traditionally, teachers were inclined to identifying and correcting all the surface-level errors; i.e., errors on form (Sommers, 1982). Kepner (1991) explains that teacher corrects errors out of the fear that the erroneous structures would become fossilized in the students. However, the mere focus on form correction would have detrimental impact on student writing. That students receive a corrected draft from a teacher with red-ink correction all over the page would only add to their anxiety when dealing with another writing task. Moreover, a large amount of error correction may draw the students attention to form only but not to the important matter of developing the content (Sommers, 1982). This is because when teacher feedback focuses on form (grammar, spelling, etc.), many students will revise their writing by correcting the surface mistakes and will make few or no other changes. The result is that the students rewriting becomes grammar exercises rather than challenges to clarify meaning. In some other research, there seems an agreement that attention must paid to both content and form for the fact grammatical inaccuracies can have negative effect on the overall quality of the student writing (Raimes, 1992, p. 308). In short, what to feedback on remains a complex issue. Though many studies have been carried out on the issue, a consensus over the matter has not been reached. This indicates that further studies are needed in order to find out the answer to the problem. II.4.2. Types of teacher written feedback This part will present some major types of feedback: positive feedback negative feedback, direct feedback indirect feedback, marginal feedback end feedback. These types of feedback are discussed and compared in pair in a way that the differences between them, i.e., the advantages and disadvantages of one type over the other, are highlighted. II.4.2.1. Positive feedback versus a negative feedback In their studies, Fathman Whalley (1990) suggests that positive comments give students motivation to improve their writings. When students are told they are doing right, they feel motivated to write more and to write better. However, only positive comment is not sufficient enough to motivate students to improve their writing. According to Hyland and Hyland (2001), negative comments are more useful for many students who want their problems to be highlighted. Too much negative feedback, however, may adversely affect students writing. As they re-read the writing with red marks all over the page, students may feel discouraged and stop trying to correct the mistakes. All things considered, it is advisable that teachers get a balance between praise and criticism, since the combination of both kinds will bring about the best effects (Ferris Hedgcock, 1998, p. 128). II.4.2.2. Direct versus indirect feedback Direct feedback is teachers explicit written corrections in response to students errors. With direct feedback, students are expected merely to transcribe the teachers suggested corrections into their texts. Indirect feedback, on the other hand, is when the teacher alerts students to error using general comments, but gives students the opportunity to fix errors themselves (Ferris, 2002). In his study, Ferris (2002) shows that indirect feedback is more helpful to student writers in most cases because it leads to greater cognitive engagement, reflection, and guided learning and problem-solving. Since teachers only point out the mistakes (or suggest the way to correct them), students have to figure out the way to correct the mistakes on their own. This, in the long run, helps promote students thinking as well as the ability to self-edit their own writings. Moreover, when having to correct the mistakes by themselves, students normally remember the mistakes better; therefore, they are more likely to be able to avoid them in the future. Beneficial as indirect feedback to students, for mistakes that are too complicated, direct feedback proves better than indirect one because it saves students from discouragement when they could not solve the problems on their own. All things considered, it would be the best way that teachers combine both direct and indirect feedback when they respond to student writings. II.4.2.3. Marginal versus end feedback Marginal feedback is a kind of feedback that is written in the margin or between sentence lines of the students paper. By contrast, end feedback refers to the summary feedback at the end of the paper. According to Ferris and Hedgecock (1998), there is no conclusive evidence that either marginal or end comments are preferable or more effective. In reality, each type of feedback is used with a certain aim. While marginal comments are more suitable to respond to specific sections of the text, end comments are usually saved for more global concerns affecting the entire composition. To sum up, as the above literature indicates, there is no consensus over what constitutes effective feedback. As a result, in order for teachers to make full use of feedback, they need to adjust the types of comments to the certain kinds of students. Chapter III: Methodology This chapter, which introduces the methodology of the study, covers the research approach, the methods of data collection, and the methods of data analysis. III.1. Research approach A combination of both quantitative and qualitative method was utilized in this study so as to achieve the desired aim. Quantitative method realized by means of a questionnaire to students, proved to be appropriate because it was adequate to find objective answers to such questions as How is feedback given to the 1st-year student writings and What do students expect from their teacher written feedback?. Moreover, thanks to the large number of participants in the study, that is, 80 1st-year students, the information acquired is reliable and generalisable (Nunan, 1989, p.4). In this study, qualitative was also needed since one end of the research was to find out how teachers respond to their student writings and why they respond in such ways. Qualitative study is based mainly on three basic data gathering techniques, that is, participant observation, interview and document or artifact analysis. III.2. Methods of data collection III.2.1. Questionnaire The first method aims at collecting statistical data from students to answers two research questions: (1) In what ways is teacher written feedback given to the 1st-year-students writings at the CSSH VNU? and (2) What do 1st-year students at CSSH expect from teachers written feedback to make it more effective? The data gained not only provided the researcher with an overall understanding about the students opinion about current situation of teacher written feedback given but also some pedagogical implications for the practice of giving feedback at CSSH. The questionnaire included two main parts, namely, the current situation of teacher written feedback and students expectations of teacher written feedback. The subjects selected for the study include 80 freshmen who are in the second semester of the academic year 2009-2010 at CSSH-VNU. The questionnaires were distributed to respondents with the researchers presence so that clarification and disambiguation could be made timely. (A copy of the questionnaire can be seen in the Appendix A). The steps of conducting and distributing questionnaire can be illustrated as follows: Studied available documents and chose the most appropriate data Designed questionnaire Piloted questionnaires Revised questionnaires in terms of language as well as instructions so as to make it clear and reader-friendly Distributed questionnaires to 1st-year students at CSSH Gathered findings from respondents, analyzed and interpreted the data. III.2.2. Student writing analysis Analyzing student writings already responded by teachers served two main functions. First, it gave the researcher an in-depth look at how teacher written feedback is given to the 1st-year student writings. In addition, it provided materials for the interviews with the teachers. Three groups of students were randomly selected. From the four groups, 15 newly-commented writing papers were borrowed and analyzed. The steps of analyzing students writings can be illustrated as follows: Borrowed the writing papers from students Read students writing papers with the teachers written feedback Analyzed the teachers comments in terms of feedback content and types. By this way, the distinctive features of a certain teachers style of giving written feedback could be discovered. III.2.3. Semi-structure interviews In this study, semi-structure interviews with the teachers were used with the views to double-checking the information gained in the questionnaire. The situation of teacher written feedback was, therefore, looked into from two different angles, both from teachers and students perspectives. Three teachers working at CSSH were invited to take part in the interviews. This number was reasonable because if it was greater, the qualitative data would be too enormous to manage. The interviews were carried out informally in the teachers native language so as to elicit the most information from the teachers involved. During the interview, audio recorder was utilized. All the data were then transcribed and translated into English for data analysis. (The content of interview questions and Transcription of the interviews can be seen in Appendix B) In short, the combination of qualitative and quantitative method was utilized so as to yield the most information needed. At the same time, the shortcomings that persisted in individual method would be overcome. III.3. Method of data analysis Since collected in both quantitative and qualitative method in this research, the data, therefore, needed to be processed in different ways so as to yield the most accurate results. As for the quantitative approach, the researcher followed the statistical procedure from coding questionnaire data to summarizing and reporting data in a reader-friendly way. As for the qualitative approach, the method of data analysis was to transcribe the recorded interviews and synthesize them. The recorded interviews were first transcribed in their original language and then translated into English. Only English would be used in the discussion of findings for convenience. CHAPTER 4: Discussion of results IV.1. Current situation of teacher written feedback from students perspective How teacher written feedback in writing skill is delivered at CSSH is reflected in the first part of the questionnaire to students. IV.1.1. Frequency of teacher written feedback The first question asked students how many times their teacher responded to each of their writing assignment in written form. As can be seen from Figure 1, nearly one forth of the respondents stated that their teachers gave feedback to their writing twice per one assignment. This means after getting teacher written comments, students were required to revise and hand in the next versions for further feedback and evaluation. This level of frequency was believed to be appropriate, since it could encourage students to revise and to enhance their writing performance. The majority of students (77%), however, received teacher written feedback only once per assignment. Since the teachers did not require students to revise and hand in the writing after they received teacher written feedback, it is likely that few students had enough motivation to revise their paper. This, in turn, might reduce the usefulness of teacher written feedback. IV.1.2. General evaluation of teacher written feedback It is clear from Figure 2 that the majority of students (75%) got fairly detailed feedback, that is, comments and suggestions/corrections to major mistakes. This way of giving feedback is supported by many researchers who claim that teachers should focus on some typical problems at a time (Ur, 1996; Sommer, 1982). The number of students stating that their teacher feedback was very general, e.g., feedback with only some words like excellent, good or bad was 8, accounting for 10% of all students. There was no student receiving NO written comments from their teachers at all, which means no teacher felt into the trap of being non-corrector. These numbers indicate that the practice of giving feedback at CSSH was fairly adequate. IV.1.3. Content of teacher written feedback Figure 3 shows different categories of teacher written feedback from the view of students. Strikingly, there were very few students who NEVER received teacher written feedback on these categories (except for that on format). The levels often accounted for the highest numbers of students, from the lowest 25 students to the highest of 45. These figures indicate that teachers at CSSH have paid attention to both form and content, though the levels of attention may vary from one teacher to another. Noticeably, the percentage of students who RARELY received feedback on ideas, organization of ideas and format was higher than that on grammar, vocabulary and mechanics. For the level ALWAYS, the highest number of students chose grammar, that is, 42 over 80 students and next-coming was expression, 31 over 80 students. This is predictable since mistakes of surface level (grammar, vocabulary and mechanics) are more identifiable than those of organization and ideas (Ur, 1996; Fathman Whalley, 1990). However, that teachers rarely gave feedback on content may, in the long run, have negative impacts on the students because writing is, in the final analysis, about communicating and presenting thoughts. In summary, two major features of teacher written feedback interpreted from this bar chart are: (1) teachers did pay attention to both the form and the content of students writings and (2) teachers were more likely to respond to surface-level mistakes. IV.1.4. Types of teacher written feedback Concerning types of teacher written feedback (Figure 4), the majority of teachers at CSSH used both positive feedback (i.e., praise) and negative one (i.e., criticism) when responding to students writings. The overall number of students who always, or often received teachers positive feedback far outnumbered that of negative one, that is, 91% to 59%. This reality was an indication that teachers at CSSH preferred giving feedback in an encouraging tone to negative one. Regarding marginal and end feedback, there still existed 16% of students who rarely received end feedback and the other 20% who rarely received marginal feedback. Though the numbers were not high, it was still an indication that some teachers still did not pay enough attention to these two must-have feedback. As can be seen from Figure 4, both direct and indirect feedback was used and the levels of frequency were nearly the same. It is inferable that teachers paid equal attention to both types. It can be concluded that teachers at CSSH employed a wide variety of types of feedback to respond to students writings. However, in order to have accurate judgment of the effectiveness of the types used, in-depth interviews with the teachers are needed. This will be discussed in later part of this study. IV.1.1.5. Comprehensibility of teacher written feedback The last question in the first part of the questionnaire asked about the comprehensibility of students of teacher written feedback. The majority of respondents, 90%, answered that generally, they did. However, there were still 10% (8 students) stating that they were not able to understand teacher feedback. The most common reasons for this were teachers too general feedback (6 respondents) and new words/structures in their feedback (6 respondents). Correction codes, which are initially aimed at systematizing and simplifying teacher written feedback, turned out to make it incomprehensible to understand to a number of students (4 respondents). IV.2. Current situation of teacher written feedback from teachers perspective Emphatically, this study aims at finding out how written feedback is delivered from different perspectives, both of teachers and students. This part will present information on firstly, the way teachers give feedback to students (via analyzing student writings with teacher feedback on them) and secondly, teachers reasoning for the way they give feedback to students (via interviews with the teachers). However, in order to make it easy to follow, the information will be discussed according to the frame of the interviews with the presentation of student writings analysis integrated in it. The following section will be discussed in two different categories, namely, aspects of teacher written feedback and types of teacher written feedback. 21The following table compares the two major aspects form content that have been responded by teachers. The dark columns present the number of mistakes identified by the researcher and then double-checked by a native speaker, and the other columns the numbers of mistakes pointed out, suggested or corrected by the teachers. The ratios of mistakes pointed out by teachers to those by the native speaker gives the researcher an overall assessment of the frequency level of teacher written feedback at CSSH. As can be seen from the table, all the teachers at CSSH paid attention to both content and form of student writing papers, though the level of attention may differ. In order to make the information easy to follow, it was then re-illustrated in the form of bar-chart as follows: While Teacher 1 (T1) seemingly put more focus on feedback on form, Teacher 2 (T2) and Teacher 3 (T3) paid fairly equal attention to both the content and form of the writings. The reason for their emphasis on both form and content was they are equally important (T3). In greater details, If I dont correct mistakes on form (like grammar, word choice, etc), students will be likely to repeat the mistakes, even the simple ones, in the future and they are used to the teaching and learning method at High school where a lot of emphasis is put on grammar that If I dont orient them towards the content of a writing paper, they will perhaps stop at language accuracy only (T3). Explaining her way of giving feedback, T1 responded that the possibility of students making mistakes on content was quite small since students normally get suggestions on idea organization either from the teacher or from the course-book within prewriting stage (T1). Noticeably, though T1 acknowledged the importance of content, she did not manage to treat it equal to form. Concerning the treatments of mistakes, it was notable while mistakes on form were usually corrected by teachers right away; those on content just received suggestions for revision from teachers. Reasoning this, T2 answered its difficult to correct the content directly on their papers and I dont want them to think thats the only way (when I give correction) to go about that. In the same line with this were feedbacks on content, as I said earlier, are suggestive only, theres no one correct way of organizing ideas (T3). In short, all the teachers participating in this study were well aware of the importance of content over form, which helped them avoid being mistake-hunters. However, how much teachers focus on either form or content vary. IV.2.2. Types of teacher written feedback Type of teacher written feedback was also a field marking the differences between the teachers participating in the study. In terms of marginal and end feedback, it was notable that while T1 preferred using marginal to end feedback, T2 tended to enjoy the other way round. T1 stated that her in-text comments were enough for students to revise their papers. Furthermore, the teacher normally did not feel content with her student writings: if I gave an overall comment to my students, that comment would be very negative and it may make them feel discouraged. T2, in contrast, used more end feedback as she wanted to comment on students overall performance. According to T2, the focus of the 2nd semester was free writing, which meant more personal feelings and less teacher intervention. Adopting both marginal and end feedback when responding to student writings, T3 explained they serve different purposes. Marginal feedbacks were handy and suitable with minor mistakes; while end feedbacks were given for general comments. As a consequence, the lack of either marginal or end feedback led to incomprehensive feedback. Relating to the use of negative and positive feedback, it was notable that except from T1, the other two teachers frequently resorted to both types of feedback when responding to student writings. According to these teachers, feedback should, apart from helping students aware of the mistakes they make, be able to motivate students. This idea agreed with what Coffin et al. (2003) listed as the features of good teacher written feedback, that is, positive comment, criticism and suggestion for improvement. T1, who seemed not in favor of the ideas, stated it very much depends on the quality of the writing to decide what to include in the feedback. According to T1, teachers should not just praise students so that they feel at ease when receiving feedback because that may do more harm than good: students may feel that Oh, the teacher says that my writing is good, so why should I revise it or they may feel hurt when the feedback is positive while the mark is actually low (T1). This idea, whi ch had some merits in itself, should be taken into consideration. The types of feedback used have, to a certain extent, reflected the tone to teacher written feedback. While T2 and T3 preferred giving feedback in a friendly, encouraging tone, T1 turned to more serious feedback which was, according to the teacher, more beneficial to students. In short, the data achieved from the interviews, which do conform to those from student que

Free Essays - Asides in Hamlet :: Shakespeare Hamlet Essays

Free Essays - Asides in Hamlet   Asides... what is an asides?   Unlike a soliloquy that is spoken when the speaker is the only actor onstage, an aside is spoken by an actor when there are other actors present on the stage.   The aside is also meant for the audience, but sometimes an aside is spoken to an actor(s) on the stage, but not to all of the actors on the stage.   How   do the asides in   â€Å"Hamlet† by William Shakespeare effect the dynamics of the play?   The asides in â€Å"Hamlet† have several different   dramatic functions; Some of the asides are used to add a bit of irony to the play, others are premonitions of what is going to happen in the play (one is even an ironic premonition), and yet others (most importantly) can be used to look into the character of the actor by what he says of others or   what he says of himself (or too himself), and finally all of the asides have the function of helping to set the plot of the play.   (I use the male gender because I did not encounter an aside from a female).

The Group-Oriented Japanese :: Essays Papers

The Group-Oriented Japanese In contrast to American individualism, Japanese are group-oriented. Japanese do not like to be alone or to do things differently from others. They stick together: eating, working, or traveling in a group. Following others and being part of a group gives them a kind of carefreeness and joy. Why are Japanese group-oriented? The reasons originate from their geography, history, and culture. Geographical location and climate play a key role in promoting this group-orientedness. Japan is isolated from other countries. Japan is composed of four main islands which are surrounded by sea and located far from America, Europe, or Australia. Thus, Japan is isolated from other countries. In the past, this geographical location make it difficult to communicate with other countries, so this isolation reinforced their tendency to stick together. Furthermore, the climate of Japan has created a rice-producing country based on collective work. Japan is located in a part of the monsoon area which stretches from Siberia in the north to Indonesia in the south. In summer, seasonal winds blow from the tropical south seas and bring heavy rainfall to Japan. With the temperate climate and plenty of rainfall, Japan has become one of the most favorable countries for rice farming. Rice-farming involves rice-planting, cultivation, and irrigation works in large fields, so it requires a lot of workers. Rice-farming is collective labor or group work, and this collective labor encourages group rather than individual. In Japanese geography, the isolationism and the favorable climate for rice-farming have created their group-orientedness. In Japanese history, homogeneousness and the SAKOKU policy also helped to create the group-orientedness. Japan is a homogeneous country. The islands of Japan were first inhabited 5,000 years ago by some people from China. For 2,000 years since the founding of the country, Japan has been a racially homogeneous nation. No major invasion by other racial or cultural groups has occurred. In addition, the SAKOKU or "closed country" policy contributed to the formation of group-orientedness. In the beginning of the 17th century, many foreign Catholic missionaries began to visit Japan and were considered harmful to Japanese Buddhism. In 1639, a series of measures called the SOKOKU were enacted to prohibit Christianity in Japan. The SAKOKU prohibited Japanese from leaving the country, Catholic groups from entering the country, and all foreign trade and diplomacy. Due to this police, Japan was closed to the world for over two hundred years.

The Death of Indian Culture Exposed in The Jewel In the Crown Essay

The Death of Indian Culture Exposed in The Jewel In the Crown      Ã‚   The Jewel in the Crown, by Paul Scott, is a postcolonial novel about the realism of the interracial love affair between Daphne Manners and Hari Kumar, the subsequent rape of Daphne Manners, and the after effects on British and Indian relations. At a time when British and Indian affairs were strained, at best, the rape of Miss Manners is significantly metaphoric of the British rape of Indian land and culture. British colonial sentiment became a primary influence in India, when the revolt of 1857 led to the reorganization of British influence. The British felt that India could not rule itself, that they (the British) would govern India as its benefactor, bringing modernization to an inferior culture. The Indian economy was transformed into a colonial economy, whose nature and structure was determined primarily by the needs of the British economy. Britain's policies, in effect, ruined India's urban and rural industries, which caused a great pressure on the land, as the developm ent of India's industry could not keep up with British needs.    The Jewel in the Crown focuses on how British colonialism affected the relations between native Indians and the British English, and the affects on Indian culture seen through the tragedy of the unique triangle formed by Hari Kumar and Ronald Merrick, at two opposing points (English vs. India), and Daphne Manners (the catalyst) connecting them both. The story is significant in understanding the historical aspects of British colonial rule, and the subsequent destruction and transformation of Indian culture. Through the eyes of the characters, we get several very distinct and personal stories about the values and custo... ...e history unfolds itself, as the personal lives intertwine with social and historical attitudes of British India and its ideology of benevolent governance. In a metaphorical sense, the personal tragedies of Hari Kumar and Daphne Manners represent the inability of two clashing distinctly different cultures to mix in creating an atmosphere of modern unity. The fact that Daphne Manners dies in childbirth, a birth that would have represented such a unity between these two cultures, idealizes the very nature of the problems associated with the rights and wrongs of colonialism, and represents perhaps the very death of native Indian ideology and culture.    Works Cited Agatucci, Cora. "Jewel in the Crown Study Guide Timeline" English 103, Spring 2001. Scott, Paul. The Jewel in the Crown: The Raj Quartet:1. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL. C. 1998.

Can digital art be considered fine art Essay

The debate between traditional art and digital art has been going on for some time. People argue that art is art so long as it involves universal expression of imagination creativity and storytelling. Whether it is through painting, music, painting or sculpting so long as it delivers the intended purpose. These people suggest that the medium does not matter and all that matters is the content. Some people argue that Digital art is not art, it is basically a collection of photo shops for people who don’t know how to draw. Digital art does not involve talent emotion and insight. Anyone who can take a photo can do this. Digital painters simply bash together real painters works and other various photos to form images. These people argue that digital art is computer generated therefore not real as there are infinite copies since there is no original. This notion and perception is entirely right. Digital art is not real art because it contains less aspects of creativity of art and d esign. Unlike like the traditional art and paintings digital works show less emotions and creativity of the artist. Before camera invention artist had the main role off depicting the real world. Art has been changing in the subject it shows though every time it’s a window to real world. The invention of camera and other digital machines has redefined art. The digital artists are not really talented artists because they simply rely on the computers to produce their work. Without the computers, such artists are rendered useless. The digitalized art is not as deep and moving as the traditional art. It does not show much emotion like the one done using paint and brush (Horowitz, Hill & Hayes, 2009). Traditional painting depicts more originality and authenticity. It brings out the artists true ability of creativity and imagination. On the contrary, digital art does not reveal the true capacity of the artist. The artists have just taken shortcuts. They do not cover greater depth of creating and forming the images. Digital art does not show imagination or real creativity. Anyone with the knowledge of a computer and the camera can merge the pictures and painting on a computer to come up with digital art. One does not really have to be talented to make digital art but with traditional painting it is only for the talented who are able to reach out to the audience in a more natural way. Traditional art is more effective in conveying the artist’s message. The fact that the audience can see and even feel the piece of art gives traditional painting an upper hand than the digitalized art. No printer or computer can paint in impasto. For fine art, thick and textured paint is what makes the painting unique and special. The digital print is less unique because of the uniform surface. Traditional art is more is more involving than the digital one, the artist has to pay attention to details in order to bring out the message or reach out to the audience. This gives traditional art more value. Traditional art has a special unique effect to the audience it feels more real and easy to relate to. Research shows that people have a better understanding and connection to things they can see touch and smell than things, which they just see. Digital art is not an artist’s inventiveness but rather it is it is modification and merging of different pictures. Digital art like music, is a computerized copy mere fabrication and modification of true art programs and numerical cord. It has less to do with creativity. Traditional art is rarely replicated but digital art is replicated in many ways. This dilutes the aspect of art since fine art is supposed to be original. In digital art, a person has anonymity from construction and immunity to error. Clicking ‘print’ and ‘undo’ cannot be considered equal to brush work. Digital art is a mere manipulation of the real and traditional art. It is just meant for convenience in terms of accessibility and ease . An artist is able to create many pieces of art in a shorter time using the digital medium. People prefer accessing the arts through the digitalized devices but a person who appreciates real arts goes to the galleries and exhibition stores just to feel and acknowledge the real thrill. Digital art is meant for people who have less interest in fine art. The interested people and artist who value art prefer the traditional art as they can relate and derive better meaning from it compared to the digital art (Quora, 2014). Conclusion As much as art is art, detail and degree of authenticity matters. Art is all about originality and creativity and digital art depict less of these qualities. This makes digital art to be considered irrelevant when compared to traditional art. Traditional art involves pure talent while digital art is merely the duplication and merging of different arts that already existed. Traditional art is easier to connect and relate to because they can be touched and seen at the same time. References Horowitz, P., Hill, W., & Hayes, T. C. (2009). The art of electronics (Vol. 2, p. 658). Cambridge: Cambridge university press. Quora. Is digital really art?:- December 2014. 10 Dec.2014 http://www.quora.com/Is-digital-art-really-art Source document

Network Assignments

Kim Doe Jung is a commercial attachà © in the Korean embassy. She works as an investment and financial consultant providing useful information and data to those interested to invest in Korea. Prior to the interview we had met at a luncheon organized in our college by the Korean Embassy. The luncheon was targeting students wishing to take their post graduate studies in a foreign country. Also invited along with students were business persons with an interest of investing in the expanding economy of Korea. Kim Doe Jung was a guest speaker and I was able to secure an interview through the help of one of my father’s friend who works in the embassy. She is an MBA graduate from a Korean University specializing in financial matters. The mere thought of interviewing was exciting and inspiring too. She had been able to accomplish what I have always looked forward to; she has my dream career. The interview took place inside the Korean Embassy’s expansive offices. She has a beautiful office facing the oval offices from afar. I was taken right up to her 3rd floor office by a security officer and she received me cordially which was rather flattering as I believed she had to be a very busy person. I had a large interest in knowing what her work duties and responsibilities entail. A commercial attachà © she told me was generally an agent of her own country, sent to a foreign land to represent her country’s commercial and financial affairs in that foreign land, I was hoping for a more specific answer and to get it I asked her to describe her typical average day to me. She arrives early in the morning, the first thing she does is to update the ambassador on any developments in her field. Then businessmen and women start coming in with all manner of issues. Some would wish to enquire on the likely trend that the inflation in Korea is taking and what the government is doing about it, how their investments are doing, any viable investment opportunities available. Koreans also drop by just for a casual visit, others have solid reasons like wishing the Korean government to negotiate for   trading concessions and low export duties for their goods. This is her typical day. Day in day out she is supposed to have answers to these questions as well as be able to analyze the recommendations she receives from the public. Her answers enabled me to have an idea of what to expect in my career dreams and was able to get from her responsibilities the enormity of the challenges a career diplomat goes through. To her, being a diplomat job is quite a challenge and ideal candidates for the job have to exercise diligence and good work ethics. One has to have high analytical and communication skills, be a team player, have a willingness to learn new things, physical stamina to withstand long working hours and ability to cope and interact with persons of diverse communities. This was very helpful, and this being my dream career, I was able to know the areas I needed to improve on as well as appreciating my strengths (Zachary Bromer, n.d). The working conditions are just marvelous as I could discern from what I could see: her office was smart and exotically furnished with expensive Korean rugs, she was also expensively dressed. She told me that her job is well paying as one has to be well compensated for accepting to work overseas away from her family. This interview, I must say, was an eye opener. It was my first interview with a person of such a high social standing and who represents interest of a far away state. Her confidence and intelligence were equally inspiring. Now I have a strong conviction to follow my intended career path, armed with the information that she gave to me.I have to act with reasonable diligence, work to improve on my strengths and weaknesses to achieve my life time goal of a career diplomat. Reference: Zachary Bromer, Salary.com contributor; Dream job: diplomat Available online at http://www.salary.com/careers/layouthtmls/crel-display-cat10-ser136-par236.html Accessed

Is Technology Making Us Crazy Essay

We strongly accept the author’s view that technology is making us crazy. This is because, there are many negative effects in human daily lives. Negative effects are exposing the youth to the elements outside or yellow culture which does not benefit the youth themselves. The internet is an endless ocean of information, entertainment and social media, and combined together, the three form a compelling and near irresistible to use the internet and make it an integral part of our daily lives. Is technology making us crazy? †. Technology and internet also can make us feel lonely and depressed both of which effects the mental aspect of an individual. For example, they do not giving pay full attention when people talk to them. In addition, they surf the internet for long periods of time which can invite people to mental health problems as well as physically. For example, it may worsen eye quality, have back pain and have a permanent effect on our body posture. We also agree with the statement from the writer who claims that research done showed that use technology appears that excessive could rewire our brains in a negative way if kept unchecked. In a nutshell, we fully agree with the author’s that technology is making us crazy. We always spend a lot more hours looking at the screen than doing anything else over 24 hours in daily lives. Hence, we should be worried about the state of our mental health. Lastly, as they say, every good thing is complemented by something bad. I strongly agree with the author’s view that more phones than books in the hands of the young. This is because owning a mobile phone is like a basic right for teens these days. Teens now also cannot live without new gadgets in their life. For example, they are interested to get new gadgets such as tablets, androids, iPad and others. So, they spend their time more with the handphones and gadgets than books. Besides that, there are more phones than books in hands of the young now because the latest mobile phones are very trendy and stylish looking, which grabs the attention of the youngsters. For example, mobile phones also have an exceptional camera with large megapixels, that enable them to listen to music, watch movies, and communicate or surf the web. Teens like mobile phones because it more than books that have hundred pages for them to read. On the other hand, we also agree with the author that the world is changing including young children. This is because more young children nowadays have their own phones than books. Most of their time are spend with their phones rather than books. They like to play with their phones as phones are interesting, attractive and fun. This is because phones are compiled with games and many cool applications. This bring to the neglect of more beneficial activities such as reading books. Information from books can be obtained through phones as well, especially if teens have wifi in their phones. They are not interested to read books. Beside that, they will get more information quickly through their phones. Such as, facebook, twitter, yahoo messenger, blog and so on only at finger tips. So that, books become a little boring to read for them. If they read through phones, they can listen to music while reading and studying at the same time. It makes they feel more relaxed to read too. In addition, the young now think owning mobile phones can increase their studies without using books. When they need to review books, they do not have to go to the library to find and read books because it is a waste time. They just have to surf the web through their phones to find the information. The latest technology now makes them feel like want to get own gadgets like mobile phones rather than books.

Economic abuse Essay

In Charles Chesnutt’s The Conjure Woman, Uncle Julius—a character who might be quite at home as a trickster figure in another story—uses humorous tales which are meant to question the narrator’s notions about race. It is important that these critiques are often couched in humor: not only does this help the narrator receive unpalatable or unflattering information, but it allows racial matters to be turned on their ears for white audiences that may find themselves too busy laughing to be upset. One of the primary texts used to question racial assumptions is the story of â€Å"Po’ Sandy. † This story concentrates on a man who is turned into a tree by a powerful goopher, and the revelation of the information prevents the narrator and his wife from using the lumber in the old school house. Of course, the humorous ending shows that Julius had an intent to use the schoolhouse all along, and strongly implies that the entirety of his tale was bent towards this purpose. To a casual reader enjoying this story for the first time, it may seem that Julius holds the real power over the unsuspecting narrator. However, the story functions well as a critique of black/white power relations in a post-Civil War South: Julius, ostensibly made equal in the eyes of the law, is still in a severe economic disadvantage compared to the narrator. Since wealth is equivalent to power in the brutal economic realities of the time, the only way for Julius to attain power is to concern himself with the redistribution of the narrator’s wealth. In short: he is still effectively beholden to white culture, despite being emancipated. As a racial critique, however, the conclusion of â€Å"Mars Jeems’ Nightmare† proves much more potent. According to Julius, Mars Jeems is actually turned into a black man, which explains how well he treats slaves. The ostensible moral is simply for white masters to not be overly cruel, but the implications seem much more sinister: that the only way that whites will have true empathy with blacks is to be physically transformed into blacks. Otherwise, blacks are characterized by whites as an unknown and unknowable other, beyond any actual understanding. However, this text posits that the transformation necessary to understanding is open to any willing person—that the institution of slavery and racism can be undone brick by brick. This message is certainly positive, but the symbolism should not be overlooked—it takes an act of powerful magic to transform Mars Jeems, as opposed to a sentimental change of heart. Magic serves as an intermediary between two diametrically opposed forces, highlighting the impossibility of individual race relations improving of their own accord. There is also an overt call for political action in the nature and source of the magic: Aunt Peggy. As the titular conjure woman, she provides the magic necessary to transform whites: through her, Chesnutt embeds a call for blacks to be the change they wish to see in the world, and transform the Jeems in their own life through the â€Å"magic† of solidarity, persuasion, and rhetoric.The topic of maternity is viewed quite differently by Jacobs, Wilson, and Harper, though there are certainly familiar threads linking all three stories. Jacob’s Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl is arguably the view of maternity most recognizable by contemporary society—all of the suffering that she describes is mere background information to the immediate reality of her attempt to raise a family. This is hammered home when she laments being separated from her grandmother and children, and when she is unable to free her daughter. She also invites the reader to look at how her own maternal identity is threatened by constant sexual abuse, and later, economic abuse at the hands of cruel whites. In this sense, her text is closer, thematically, to Wilson’s Our Nig: each one points out that legitimate attempts at maternity are actually thwarted by the very structure of institutionalized slavery, which is designed to break up families and highlights the ultimate Catch-22: white critics who decry black families as some kind of unknowable Other due to their differences, when many of those differences were effectively foisted on them by white culture. Jacob’s straightforward story is in striking contrast to Francis Harper’s convoluted Iola Leroy, which places dramatic irony, miscegenation, and the Civil War into a strange soup. For Harper, maternity is linked more to a discovery of femininity, which in turn is linked to the discovery of the truth; by mending wounded soldiers, Leroy is able to come to terms with her own blackness. It is worth noting that for Harper, maternity is also a political decision: racial solidarity plays a part in Leroy’s choice of a mate, because (consciously or unconsciously) she feels a need to recreate the black family in a traditional dynamic, untainted by any aspects of slavery. This is important because it emphasizes the need to create and celebrate a unique black culture, not for the nature of its exclusivity, but for its ability to stand proudly apart from the white hands that, not too long ago, were holding shackles. In this sense, â€Å"home† is identified in the novel not as a specific place, but a state of mind—an integration with one’s true identity. It serves as a kind of invitation for other blacks to discover who they are, and form bonds for solidarity; to do otherwise is to foster an ongoing cultural Diaspora that never really goes away. Harriet Wilson’s Our Nig is unique because it seemingly defines maternity through negation—that is, it is easier to see the shape of maternity in its absence through the novel, rather than through its presence. Specifically, Frado being abandoned by Tom illustrates Wilson’s larger point: that blacks were often denied reciprocal maternal identities because the nature of slavery and the nation that condoned it was not conducive to the formation of traditional families, and the bonds that came with them. The final invocation to purchase her book points to the cyclical nature of everything: it is through a kind of monetary reparations that slavery is not forgiven, but that black society can be set up in a way that supports the nuclear family. She desires a world in which she can make a living as an author, and have a safe relationship with people she can trust. However, Wilson has realized that she, herself, will have to create this world; it will not come about on its own.

Stock Market and Economy of Nigeria Research Paper

Stock Market and Economy of Nigeria - Research Paper Example Several effects of financial and stock market development on gross National product, Gross domestic development and Employment rate shall be used to establish the relationship. Excluding South Africa, Nigeria has the largest economy in sub-Sahara Africa. In the last two decades ,there has been no progress made in alleviating poverty, expanding and enhancing economic development despite the massive effort made and the many programmes established for that purpose's growth pattern of the Nigerian economy has been quite sluggish over the last two decades. The level of poverty is further exuberated by the pandemic of inequality. The economic performance has had a mixture as the macro-economy environment has witnessed positive and negative influences. Even though several programmes have been aimed at consolidating the arrangement for private sector -led economic growth and government demonstrated a commitment to implementing the privatization programme and improving major infrastructure, the realization of this goal could be met because of the disparity in monetary and fiscal policies. There has been marked improvement in power supply and the privatization of the telecommunications sector among, stimulated economic activities. But the economy has been unable to take fuel advantage of the development, as interest rate and inflation have continued to raise in response to high government spending and subsequent liquidity control measures. High interest rates during a period of time have attracted funs away from the stock market and constrained corporate access to working capital. Nevertheless the exchange rate has been relatively stable facilitating, planning and budget control for companies with high import content. For some time now, the Nigeria stock Exchange has recorded a major turnover growth, in 2001,the market turnover increasing by 104.9% from N28.1billion in 2000 to N57.6billion.In value terms, this is by for highest annual turnover growth of the exchange since also have increased both in primary and secondary market has been realized. In the stock capitalization in the total market value of 261 securities listed on the Nigeria stock Exchange appreciated by 40% to the end of 2001 at N662.6 billon. A combination of supplementary issue and price appreciation in the equities sector accounted for much of the growth in market capitalization. By the end of 2001 the Nigeria Stock Exchange share index grew by 35.2% to close the year at 10,963.11.Remarkably,the index had on 10th may 2001 crossed the 10000 points mark, And on 17th October 2001 reached all time high of 11,339.67 before dropping to its year end position. In lieu of the ever increasing favorable condition bestowed on the Nigeria economy, since the inception of democracy in May 1999, foreign investors continued to invest in Nigeria through the Nigerian stock exchange. The returns of the foreign portfolio transaction are soaring higher. The Nigerian stock exchange has remained focused on improving market infrastructure, expanding market investor base, and consolidating the global

Discuss a contemporary problem in penolog Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Discuss a contemporary problem in penolog - Essay Example According to Pollock (2005), the Big House was depicted as a world inhabited by individuals who appeared deceased than alive. This maximum-security prison emerged in 1920s as well as 1930s. This system developed as an uncomfortable transition following the collapse of â€Å"factory† prison, which dominated the last part of 1800s. The Big House prison being a walled institution often contained several thousand inmates who were idle from decreased industrial work (Johnson, n.d). From plantation prisons, which were agrarian comparable to industrial prisons, emerged the Big House to offer discipline to inmates unable to work in the road works and in the fields. Plantation prisons had gross population of black prisoners since they were newly emancipated and were prone to being arrested for the flimsiest pretext to work in hard labour in prisons usually called chain gangs. The shackled prisoners were used to construct several public works like railroads and roads (Pollock, 2005). The Big House gave way to correctional Institution, which was the new prison system that first emerged in 1940s as well as 1950s. These prisons were typically large cell blocks with shops and a yard as well as industrial workstations. About 2,500 prisoners from rural and urban areas spend their time in every institution (Pollock, 2005). During the 1960s and 1970s, treatment programs were established in the correctional institution with the aim of establishing security, order, and discipline. As the number of offenders increased in the last 30 years, so was the prison population. The number of inmates from urban and rural areas greatly increased with many of them engaging in violent offenses. The shift from crime control that emphasized on the significance of incarceration in the previous establishments meant an increase of inmates in the correctional institutions (Cole, Smith &

HIstory Mu Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

HIstory Mu - Essay Example Many critics however argue that there was a power war between Hamilton and Jefferson. Jefferson was fighting for the rights of the general farmer on taking loans from the bank while Hamilton view was that the establishment of a National Bank would specifically benefit the business class and the government (Banning). Theory In February 1791, the bank bill was signed into law by Washington after reviewing Hamilton’s opinions on the constitutionality of the National Bank. Hamilton, who was a key contributor into signing of the Bank Bill into law, presented his opinions to president washing on public funding systems which were later incorporated into the Bank law (Hefner 52-59). According to a letter written by Jefferson to Washington, Jefferson presents his arguments on the formation of a national Bank and is opposed to the public funding system proposed by Hamilton. Before the Bank bill was signed into law by Washington, Jefferson had been among the first legislators to oppose t he bill. In a letter to Washington in 1791, Jefferson tries to discuss each clause in the national Bank bill and the effects it was going to have to the economy`. In 1791, Jefferson wrote a series of letters to Washington criticizing the Bank Bill which was about to be signed into law by the president. ... According to his letter to Washington in 1791, Jefferson argues that the constitution does give the give the government of united states the powers to incorporate a bank. He further argues that the powers of the bank bill were not delegated to United States by the constitution. He argues that not all powers are delegated to United States by the constitution but rather some institutions formed under the constitution should be given the powers to operate independent from the influence of the government. Jefferson, who was the head of the Department of State, was neutral during the initial stages of preparing for the formation of a National Bank. This position of being neutral did not last since the after the issue of formation of a nation bank sprout, Jefferson developed an interest to offer his opinion, which was a direct opposite of Hamilton proposals. According to his letters to Washington in 1790, Jefferson views American economy as one driven by agriculture with limited Industrial isation and manufacturing. The bank bill was created in the view that the banks would be essential for operations of United States since they would aid in the collection of revenues, dispensing debts payments, giving out loans and being used as saving point by the federal government. The constitution of the United States however, denied the government to form such an institution, which formed the basis of Jefferson’s arguments in his letters to Washington. Jefferson in his letter dated march 1790, argues that, if the government was to form a bank, it would be disobeying the constitution and that would make it worse that the government guided by the articles of confederation. Jefferson was one of the cabinet members consulted by President