Essay on The Role of Women in Sir Gawain and the Green...

The Role of Women in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight In the Fourteenth Century, Feudalism and its offspring, chivalry, were in decline due to drastic social and economic changes. In this light, _Sir Gawain and the Green Knight_ presents both a nostalgic support of the feudal hierarchies and an implicit criticism of changes, which, if left unchecked will lead to its ultimate destruction. I would suggest that the women in the story are the Gawain poets primary instruments in this critique and reinforcement of Feudalism. By positioning The Virgin Mary (as the singular female archetype representing spiritual love, obedience, chastity, and life) against Morgan and Bertilaks wife (who represent the traditional female archetypes of courtly†¦show more content†¦Given the Churchs mistrust of women and the flesh, the contradiction seems clear. Hamilton tells us there was a mass of clerical writings in the Fourteenth Century that were critical of chivalry and show the split between chivalry and the church during that time. Given this mistrust of women by the church, the placement of the women in the story must be a critical medium for delivering this message. Interestingly, the women appear to wield great power. Bertilaks wife is operating unassisted against Gawain in the bedroom as the hunter and aggressor. Morgan is the instigator of the plot which begins the story, and she is strong enough to move into Bertilaks castle, turn him green and order him to walk and talk with a severed head. However, the poet never intends to present a world where women are powerful; rather, these women constitute a metaphor for other anti-social forces and dangers outside the control of feudalism and chivalry which a medieval world genders female because of a set of biblical and classical models which establish anything subversive as feminine. Much of the identification of women with subversion is accomplished through the operation of the major medieval archetypes. Lady Bertilak is clearly seen in the Biblical role of temptress. The Biblical archetype began with Eve and as Maureen Fries shows Eve becameShow MoreRelatedSir Gawain and the Green Knight: the Role of Women2398 Words   |  10 Pagesresources due to a drop in population caused by plague epidemics and the emergence of a mercantile middle class, the Gawain author perceived a loss of religious values as the cause of its decline. Gawain and the Green Knight presents both a support of the old feudal hierarchies and an implicit criticism of changes by recalling chivalry in its idealized state in the court of King Arthur. The women in the story are the poets primary instruments in this critique and reinforcement of feudalism. The poet usesRead More The Role of Women in Sir Gawain and The Green Knight Essay1612 Words   |  7 PagesThe Role of Women in Sir Gawain and The Green Knight Sir Gawain and The Green Knight is an example of medieval misogyny. Throughout Medieval literature, specifically Arthurian legends like Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the female characters, Guinevere, the Lady, and Morgan leFay are not portrayed as individuals but social constructs of what a woman should be. Guinevere plays a passive woman, a mere token of Arthur. The Lady is also a tool, but has an added role of temptress and adulteressRead MoreRole of Women in Sir Gawain and The Green Knight and The Wife of Bath’s Tale1651 Words   |  7 PagesIn the Middle Ages, the roles of women became less restricted and confined and women became more opinionated and vocal. Sir Gawain and The Green Knight presents Lady Bertilak, the wife of Sir Bertilak, as a woman who seems to possess some supernatural powers who seduces Sir Gawain, and Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Wife of Bath Prologue and Tale, present women who are determined to have power and gain sovereignty over the men in the ir lives. The female characters are very openly sensual and honest aboutRead MoreThe Role of Lady Bertilak in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Essay1665 Words   |  7 PagesThe Role of Lady Bertilak in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight The role of women was a key role in medieval times. In the poem of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, two women represent this role. They are Lady Bertilak, who is Lord Bertilak’s wife, and Morgan La Faye. It all starts when Sir Gawain is welcomed to Lord Bertilak’s castle and then he meets these two women living there. At all times, Bertilak requests Gawain to feel at home and socialize with these women without problems. Bertilak trustsRead MoreAnalysis Of Sir Gawain And The Green Knight940 Words   |  4 Pages In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the men and women appear to have different roles in the society. The men attempt to live a more noble life while emasculating the power of the women. Throughout the poem, women display hints of their potential through manipulation and trickery, traits that are uneasily recognized by men as growing power. Morgan la Fay manipulates the Lord Bercilak to assume the role of the Green Knight, and she uses him for revenge against Queen Guenevere. She engineered a planRead MoreCompare And Contrast Beowulf And Sir Gawain And The Green Knight761 Words   |  4 PagesBeowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, an admirable warrior and knight are depicted. Although Sir Gawain and Beowulf both possess such characteristics as bravery and strength, readers can observe differences in other traits that make them heroes of their own time that is attributable to the societal mindset in which the poems were written. The goal of this essay is to compare and contrast how Beowulf, which was written in the early eleventh century, and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, which wasRead MoreThe Heroic Code Of Sir Gawain841 Words   |  4 Pagescontinue that counts (Winston Churchill).† Sir Gawain displayed these action and emotion during the fight to defeat the Green Knight. Sir Gawain was faced with man y trials and tribulations through his journey that forced him to stay true to his Heroic Code. The principles that Sir Gawain demonstrated in the pursuit of the Green Knight are respecting women, service to the king with bravery, honor, and faith, and staying committed to his religious practices. Sir Gawain kept these guidelines true to his heartRead MoreWomen Roles in My Big Fat Greek Wedding and Sir Gawain1370 Words   |  6 Pagesthe breadwinners with their main role consisting of providing for their families. On the other hand, as stated in the comedy My Big Fat Greek Wedding, women act as the neck of the household, therefore they have the ability to turn the â€Å"head†, or their husbands, in any direction they choose. Women had no ways of expressing their feelings directly in society, but instead expressed them through manipulation of their husbands. The ladies in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight exercise control in many momentousRead MoreAspects Of The Arthurian Romanc e In Sir Gawain And The Green Knight1335 Words   |  6 Pagesof feminism when juxtaposed with Sir Gawain and the green knight, transform the perception of Arthurian Romance especially in context of the portrayal of the feminine figure. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a late 14th-century Middle English alliterative romance that outlines an adventure of Sir Gawain, a knight of the round table of King Arthur. In the tale, the challenge from a mysterious warrior is accepted by sir Gawain. The warrior looks completely green from his clothes and hair to his beardsRead MoreThe Canterbury Tales, written by Chaucer, and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, written by an1600 Words   |  7 PagesThe Canterbury Tales, written by Chaucer, and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, written by an anonymous author, are both sophisticated fourteenth-century examples of medieval romance. Medieval romances captured the heart of their audiences as narratives and stories that featured a protagonist, often a knight, and dealt with religious allegories, chivalry, courtly love, and heroic epics. The concept of the knight emerged from the remnants of the Anglo-saxon literature and ideals and influence of the

Military Service Should Be Mandatory For All American...

Mandatory Military Service Military service should be mandatory for all American citizens. In lighter terms we could refer to it as the All American Selective Service Act, which will require all Americans to register for Selective Service as equal partners in the defense of America (Rangel). The average person, at one point or another, considers what they are going to do with their lives. The military has something to offer everyone. Deciding what to do with your life can be filled with uncertainty and procrastination. Selective service offers invaluable experiences, improves character, teach much needed skills and increase patriotism or appreciation for freedom. Due to recent increase in riots regarding black lives matter and our new president elect it demonstrates that the average American citizens needs to experience the entire aspect of how America operates. It would be helpful for citizens to see another side of life instead of what they have been subjected to possibly their entire life. Some may say that Selective service violates our freedom, destroys voluntarism and diverts youth from college education or career pursuit but destroying our America by violent demonstrations and turning on one another should not be the American way (NYLN). So maybe by having the enriched military experience it will bring the American people together for a common goal which is to make American great. The military provides invaluable experiences for the youth of America. Those whoShow MoreRelatedMilitary Should Be Mandatory Essay1137 Words   |  5 Pages In current times, roughly 99.5% of American citizens don’t serve in the military in their lifetime. But is something that needs to be changed by force? Some people could argue that service in the United States military should be mandatory for everyone–in reality, though, that is an impossible and overall disastrous idea. Military service is something that only some people can do–not all people can deal with the lasting effects of war, including many mental illnesses and Post-Traumatic Stress DisorderRead MoreEssay about Our America: Your Duty1516 Words   |  7 Pagesare two classes of people, Civilians and Citizens. What are the differences? Citizens are the men and women, rich or poor that serve in the Federal Service; service guarantees citizenship. This is a short period in which a person serves in the military. A universal service that requires young (Americans) citizen, men and females: healthy and the disable, to obligatory serve an allotment of time. Basically, you have to earn the right to be called a citizen; this sounds like a good idea. CiviliansRead MoreShould Military Service Be Mandatory?1426 Words   |  6 PagesShould Military Service be Mandatory in the United States? In the world today, there is approximately fifty percent of countries that mandate their citizens to serve in their military for an extended period of time. Those countries that do require their citizens to serve base it on the simple fact that they need to be ready for war at a moments notice and if all their citizens know how to fight they will succeed in any battle in which they are placed. Israel, Brazil, South Korea, Mexico, GermanyRead MoreShould the United States have Mandatory Military Conscription?816 Words   |  4 PagesThe price of freedom should be borne by all, rich or poor. I learned this first hand as a United States Army Recruiter and a volunteer soldier who fought in two wars representing my country. As a military recruiter from 1971 to 1991, I was tasked with soliciting men and women who were high school graduates to enlist into the United States Army. Often times I would call a home to speak to a graduate about joining the army, and a mother would answer; I would tell her the purpose of my call, and oftenRead MoreLiterature And Law : The Military Draft1102 Words   |  5 PagesAnthony Appiah Mr. Skardal Literature and Law The military draft would require compulsory military service instead of voluntary service. It started in 1940 when volunteering personnel were not enough for the USA army. Thus, men were compulsorily drafted to join the army. Now, the USA no longer compulsorily drafts men to join the army. However, countries such as Switzerland do still draft its men. Conscription in US, also known as the draft, starts after Congress passed a legislation, which hasRead MoreUnited States Adopt A Similar Type Of Policy Of Mandatory Conscription1578 Words   |  7 Pagespeople to serve two years of military service, and as we continue to have military conflicts across the world, some people have proposed that the united states adopt a similar type of policy of mandatory conscription. I believe that a two-year period of national service should be obligatory for all 18 year olds. It’ll help strengthen the character of youth, and will help increase the collective conscience of a nation and the rest raint of leaders when considering military action. As we have 18 yearRead MoreThe Art of War by Sun Tzu Essay1256 Words   |  6 Pagesis evident: military service. Mandatory military service in the United States for individuals 18 years of age for a period of two years would have numerous benefits, as well as alleviate many problems facing America. Compulsory military service gives a second chance to high school dropouts. StatisticBrain.com reports that 90% of jobs in the States are not available to dropouts. These dropouts more than likely will end up on the streets, wreaking havoc and harm upon law-abiding citizens. 75% of U.SRead MoreMandatory Military Conscription and Its Effect on Society Essay1213 Words   |  5 Pagesserve. However these men and women only make up a small percentage of the United States population. Should all men and women be required to serve in the U.S. armed forces when they graduate from high school or should the United States require mandatory military service? Mandatory military service, or conscription, may be as old as mankind itself. Conscription says that during a time of war all able bodied men and women must serve to defend their country. Many people commonly know conscriptionRead MoreEssay on Military Service Should be Mandatory822 Words   |  4 PagesMilitary Service Should be Mandatory Americans, especially baby boomers, should be ashamed of themselves. How can the worlds richest population let its military go begging for recruits? Each year, the military services -- Air Force, Army, Marines, Navy -- establish recruiting goals to maintain adequate numbers of personnel. The numbers change annually depending on, among other factors, service needs, recruitment figures the year before and retention of current troops. Most informed folksRead MoreMandatory Military Service in the United States Essay1952 Words   |  8 PagesMandatory Military Service in the United States The idea that members of a community have the duty to defend it, is as old as civilization itself (Ruschmann 10). The United States has an extensive history, starting with the original thirteen States of involuntary conscription in time of conflict. Citizen’s service is a standard principle of American military service, which places the obligation of service upon citizens to serve and to ensure that the state require those citizens to serve (Dalehite

Into the Dark Free Essays

Into the Dark A tunnel of light paraded across the ceiling of the dark room then widened as the painted wooden door creaked open. A pitch-colored shadow briskly swept across the Invading gleam then without a moments hesitation disappeared Into the swallowing blackness of the small room. A small girl asleep In her princess pink canopy bed was awoken by the loud sound of heavy breathing. We will write a custom essay sample on Into the Dark or any similar topic only for you Order Now The dog like pant sent a furious chill down her spine, slowly streaking throughout her bones Like tiny pins and needles. Her heart pounded with the heavy beat of a base drum. As she looked up her dark eyes filled with fear. She slammed her eyes shut convinced that It was her Imagination and burled her face into her fluffy, soft, cased pillow, determined to shut out the constant nagging of a disembodied voice. Harshly whispering,it said, â€Å"Come with me, come with me Elena,† The voice retreated to the back of her mind. â€Å"l mean you no harm. † She slowly opened her dry mouth to say something but the words wouldn’t come out. â€Å"The clock has almost run out† whispered the snake like voice. â€Å"Just jump off the bed, I’m in your head but I won’t hurt you. â€Å"Yeah right! Yelled Elena, â€Å"l should Just Jump off my bed for no reason! † â€Å"Just jump,† said the now soothing voice of someone else. Elena knew it was a trick but before she could resist she closed her eyes shut and Jumped. Instead of hitting the floor she kept falling. She snapped her eyes open and didn’t quite proces s what she saw. Darkness rushed past her then opened into a new scene. Bright rays of glittering light streamed through the air coming from an unknown source. Dark grey rock pillars protruded from thin air in unruly shapes and formations. Elena didn’t know whether to be scared or in awe of the beauty. Welcome to my world† whispered the voice In a hushed tone â€Å"Oh goody. † said Elena In her most sarcastic voice,’The snake Is back! † Her voice cracked on the last word for she was still in shock. Frustrated about the embarrassing stutter, she tried to run but found herself moving faster than anyone could sprint. She was flying. A robin’s egg blue cloud burst out from behind one of the stone pillars causing Elena to to a double back In shock of TLS brightness and vibrancy. When she looked closer she saw that the cloud was not in fact a weird looking, unusually colored luster of evaporated water, but a giant wave of beautiful blue settlers jays. One bird landed on her. It opened up its mouth. Instead of letting out the beautiful song that she was expecting, it started screeching, â€Å"BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP†. The dark room then widened as the painted wooden door creaked open. A pitch- colored shadow briskly swept across the invading gleam then without a moments hesitation disappeared into the swallowing blackness of the small room. The lights flicked on and her mom said â€Å"Get out of bed you’re going to miss the bus! â€Å" How to cite Into the Dark, Papers

Facilities Management Theory and Practice Assurance

Question: Discuss about the Facilities Management for Theory and Practice Assurance. Answer: Introduction: The current report intends to depict the pertinent failure related to Kingsley Read in arriving at the definite value of Plummet Travel Limited. Therefore, it covers whether due care has been properly exercised in the audit of Plummet Travel. In addition, the report portrays a vivid description of the contribution of Plummet Travel to the entire negligence. The focus of the case study is on due care and the person responsible for negligence has been identified. Thus, it enables the organisation to adopt pertinent measures, which might help in minimising the ramifications resulting in illegal or unethical actions. Thus, the measure utilised in due care primarily allows the firm to undertake pertinent actions for preventing illicit actions conducted on the part of its staffs. After careful investigation of the provided case study, it has been found that due care has not been properly utilised on the part of Kingsley Read while it has conducted the audit work of Plummet Travel. This is because the former has been appointed as an independent expert for carrying out its role. In addition, Kingsley Read has arranged program of standard work for testing the operating controls within the system. The motive behind undertaking these measures is to assure pertinent due care in the auditing procedure. However, Kingsley Read could not comprehend certain difficulties, which have been aroused after Plummet Travel has implemented the computer accounting system. Despite such unanticipated complexities, Kingsley Read has managed to conduct rightful audit adjustment and thus, the correct value of the audit report has been depicted. As commented by Alexander (2013), the due care negligence primarily prevents the organisations from unscrupulous measures taken on the part of its staffs along with limiting the legal actions on them. Thus, the organisations not practising due care are vulnerable to illicit actions, in case, their staffs are engaged in unscrupulous actions. Hence, it could be stated that Kingsley Read has exercised considerable due care while conducting the audit work of Plummet Travel. Thus, Kingsley Read could not be held liable for the issues encountered in the audit report. Contributory negligence: Based on the above evaluation, it has been found that Plummet Travel could not be blamed for the audit report negligence, since they have appointed a consultant for accurate file changeover. Moreover, the organisation primarily uses the computing system for enhancing its entire measures of accounting leading to unscrupulous actions. Therefore, the person to be blamed for the entire negligence is the appointed consultancy, since it has failed to transfer data into the computer system in an effective fashion. As laid out by Dennis (2015), the data conversion from one location to another requires concentration and consistency, which the competent professionals could achieve. However, from the case study, it has been found that the firm mainly appoints a consultancy that has incorrectly depicted the value of inventory. As a result, it has lead to unethical share value price of $1.10. Plummet Travel utilises consultancy and auditors for dissecting its methods of accounting. However, the organisation needs to incorporate new staffs for the utilisation of measures pertaining to accounting, which could have minimised the misstatement probability. However, the consultant utilisation has primarily enhanced the misstatement probability of related to auditing, since the firm has not accommodated a partner of audit for reviewing the conversion of data (Hardy, 2014). Hence, it could be inferred that Plummet Travel has been unaware of the entire misstatement related to inventory and it could not be held liable for the overall negligence. Duty of care: From the overall case evaluation, it has been found that Kingsley Read is not liable to provide duty of care to the parent company of New Zealand, since it has adopted all the pertinent steps. In accordance with the Duty of Care Act, the organisations not undertaking sufficient steps in minimising the unscrupulous process of the actions of the staffs need to be held liable. On the other hand, Kingsley Read has adopted all the necessary actions like considering an independent expert, gathering knowledge and continuing test on new system. However, Plummet Travel has appointed a consultant, which has been negligent in nature and thus, Kingsley Read could not be held responsible for any sort of due care. As mentioned by Stewart Shamdasani (2014), as per the duty of care act, the organisations following all the pertinent acts to restrict unscrupulous actions on the part of the staffs are not liable for any sort of negligence. However, the entire case study evaluation primarily depicts that Kingsley Read has not shown any sort of negligence related to due care to the parent company of New Zealand. Along with this, Kingsley Read has undertaken measures effectively such as providing training to the staffs and appointing an independent expert. As a result, it would help in nullifying the unethical practices conducted on the part of the parent company of New Zealand. Conclusion: The entire report has concentrated on determining that Kingsley Read could be held liable for the duty of care and hence, it could be sued on the part of the parent company of New Zealand. However, after the conduction of evaluation, it has been found that the parent company of New Zealand could not blame Plummet Travel in preparing its audit report. In addition to this, Plummet Travel is not liable for any negligence in misstatement, as the organisation has appointed a consultant that has misstated the valuation of inventory. In accordance with the Duty of Care Act, the organisations not undertaking sufficient steps in minimising the unscrupulous process of the actions of the staffs need to be held liable. On the other hand, Kingsley Read has adopted all the necessary actions like considering an independent expert, gathering knowledge and continuing test on new system. With the adoption of new technology, both Plummet Travel and Kingsley Read have not been able to gain an insight related to the conversion of data. Finally due negligence in relation to case law has primarily indicated that the organisation could be held partly liable for the problems arising out of unscrupulous conducts. References: Alexander, K. (2013).Facilities management: theory and practice. Routledge. Dennis, I. (2015).Auditing Theory. Routledge. Hardy, C. A. (2014). The messy matters of continuous assurance: Findings from exploratory research in Australia.Journal of Information Systems,28(2), 357-377. Stewart, D. W., Shamdasani, P. N. (2014).Focus groups: Theory and practice(Vol. 20). Sage publications.

Midsummer Nights Dream Essays (582 words) - Hermia, Demetrius

Midsummer Nights Dream Throughout the book, A Midsummer Night's Dream, William Shakespeare depicts the theme of lawless love through the actions and personalities of his characters. The way he portrays Hermia's relationship with Lysander and the results their eternal love, as well as the portrayal of Helena and her devotion to Demetrius are two prevalent examples of lawless love. Helena exemplifies lawless love with her lack of concern about consequences that she could have brought upon herself. She was deeply in love with the person that was engaged to her best friend. Helena talks with Hermia about her love for Demetrius in the quote below. : "Helena- ?O, teach me how you look and with what art you sway the motion of Demetrius' heart' Hermia- ?I frown upon him, yet he still loves me.' Helena- ?O, that your frowns would teach my smiles such skill!' Hermia- ?I give him curses, yet he gives me love.' Helena- ?O, that my prayers could such affection move!' Hermia- ?The more I hate, the more that he follows me.' Helena- ?The more I love, the more he hateth me.' " page 20-21 In the quote above, Hermia and Helena are having an in-depth conversation about Demetrius and his love interests. Helena would do anything to have the man she loved, Demetrius notice her. Helena's love knows no boundaries; she refuses to accept the fact that her one true love is to be married to her best friend Hermia. All this is soon changed by the infamous Puck and his potent flower. Puck's flower was created when Cupid was aiming his bow, and missed he struck a flower in the woods. When the dew is placed on the eyes of any living animal during their sleep, they will fall in love with the next animal that they see when they wake. Puck observes all of the problems that Hermia, Helena, Lysander, and Demetrius have created and comes up with a plan to fix them by using cupids flower to make Demetrius fall in love with Helena. Puck makes more of a problem when he puts dew on both of the men. They both awake and fall madly in love with Helena.Helena thinks that they are playing a joke on her and she is confused. The quote below shows an excerpt from the book in which Helena is confused and thinks that the men are teasing her. : "Helena- ?Wherefore was I to this keen mockery born? When at your hands did I deserve this scorn? Is ?t not enough, is ?t not enough, young man, That I did never, no, nor never can Deserve a sweet look from Demetrius' eye, But you must flout my insufficiency?' " Helena, left completely confused by Lysander and Demetrius, believes that they are playing a cruel joke her. She does not think that it is cupid's flower causing this situation. Hermia, who Lysander was head over heels in love with, cannot believe he had fallen out of love with her. Hermia is determined to win back her sweet Lysander no matter what. Puck sees how hurt and confused Hermia is and again alters Lysander's emotions by the use of cupid's flower. Hermia and Helena both loved someone so much that they were blinded by their love for that person. They did whatever they had to do to keep their true loves. This is what lawless love is Love that has no boundaries, love that is not defined by words. Emotions and actions run lawless love not rules. The characters of Helena and Hermia are what lawless love is all about which is blinded love and actions driven by emotions and devotion for their loved one.

Free Essays on Short Story

The motivation of short story characters, as well as the theme, is revealed by authors through dialogue, setting and symbolism. These three stories stress the need for this kind of writing. In a ‘Worn Path’ Eudora Welty introduces Phoenix through settings to show she’s goal oriented. On the other hand, Edgar Poe in ‘The Masque of the Red Death’ stresses symbolism to show life and death. Meanwhile, ‘A&P’ by John Updike presents Sammy through dialogue for the need of individualism. The path in a ‘Worn Path’ reveals the goal setting for Phoenix’s natural setting. It shows her sense of determination and fearlessness. For example, The rugged path, dying trees, barbed wire fences, thorny bushes and wild animals that Phoenix had to encounter with, was the author’s way of showing these characteristics. For instance, when her dress got caught in the bush she admitted that, had she known it was thorns she would have avoided the contact. Phoenix knows the capability of a thorn and accepts her experience as a challenge. The story presents an obstacle in each section of the path that Phoenix has to surmount. Yet, she accepts the obstacles as a part of the process in achieving her goal. But the story also reveals the necessity for her goal in the man made setting. This is clearly seen when she reaches the clinic and is looking at the gold seal. She seems not to remember the purpose of her travel. The atmosphere at the clinic was cold and everything appears to be at a fast pace. It seems hard for her to adjust to the new environment since she is accustoming to being alone. On her departure she purchases a windmill so as to give her a new goal for the reverse journey. From her speech Phoenix does not seem to have much education and her impoverished condition makes me feel pity for her. Unlike Welty, Poe in the ‘Masque of the Red Death’ uses the castles and its contents as a symbol to reveal his... Free Essays on Short Story Free Essays on Short Story The motivation of short story characters, as well as the theme, is revealed by authors through dialogue, setting and symbolism. These three stories stress the need for this kind of writing. In a ‘Worn Path’ Eudora Welty introduces Phoenix through settings to show she’s goal oriented. On the other hand, Edgar Poe in ‘The Masque of the Red Death’ stresses symbolism to show life and death. Meanwhile, ‘A&P’ by John Updike presents Sammy through dialogue for the need of individualism. The path in a ‘Worn Path’ reveals the goal setting for Phoenix’s natural setting. It shows her sense of determination and fearlessness. For example, The rugged path, dying trees, barbed wire fences, thorny bushes and wild animals that Phoenix had to encounter with, was the author’s way of showing these characteristics. For instance, when her dress got caught in the bush she admitted that, had she known it was thorns she would have avoided the contact. Phoenix knows the capability of a thorn and accepts her experience as a challenge. The story presents an obstacle in each section of the path that Phoenix has to surmount. Yet, she accepts the obstacles as a part of the process in achieving her goal. But the story also reveals the necessity for her goal in the man made setting. This is clearly seen when she reaches the clinic and is looking at the gold seal. She seems not to remember the purpose of her travel. The atmosphere at the clinic was cold and everything appears to be at a fast pace. It seems hard for her to adjust to the new environment since she is accustoming to being alone. On her departure she purchases a windmill so as to give her a new goal for the reverse journey. From her speech Phoenix does not seem to have much education and her impoverished condition makes me feel pity for her. Unlike Welty, Poe in the ‘Masque of the Red Death’ uses the castles and its contents as a symbol to reveal his...

Separation of Classes on Gender Basis Research Paper

Separation of Classes on Gender Basis - Research Paper Example This essay "Separation of Classes on Gender Basis" aims to analyze the pros and cons of the separate classes for boys and girls. Supporters of the movement argue that the learning ability of boys and girls are different. The recent research has clearly indicated natural differences in how male and female understand and learn their lessons at class and society at large. It is very necessary to impart education to the pupil based on the gender, as their understanding ability differs with respect to their sex. When the necessity of single sex education is debated it includes the issues of socio-economic, political, civil rights and legal concerns which are very important in terms of practical perspective. Leonardo Sax (2005) states in his book that the behavior of girls and boys when they are together reflects the larger society to which they belong. His opinions that the girls are most expressive in a single sex school than in a co-ed school. Because of less or no pressure they tend to react instantly and actively in a single sex school. In a coed school the boys came forward with an attitude to put up and spoke on any given topic with ease, while the girls were forced to talk a very few words. He even noticed a considerable change in the courage of the single sex school and co-ed students. The teacher enthusiastically praised, corrected, helped, and criticized the boldly spoken boys who could speak voraciously on any topic given and with the girls who were soft spoken with less courage he nodded his head and would hardly help them overcome their mistakes. But the girls in the single sex school could easily dare to speak on any given topic without pressure, where the teacher could correct the students and also inculcate new teaching techniques based on the gender for better understanding. This in turn would help the students to enhance their learning capabilities. The doctrine of Single Sex Public Education (SSPE) is a good example of the above. SSPE informs teachers in male classrooms to move constantly in the classroom with a pitch of loud voice, even to the point of shouting. But the teachers in the female classes are asked to be still and use a soothing tone to talk to the pupil. This was introduced as the young males thrive on competition and confrontation, while the young females expect care and co-operation in a learning environment. This was the ideology of SSPE (Datnow and Lea, 2002). Few researches have pointed that the single sex schools can foster each gender to excel in

Nursing research community assessment paper Essay

Nursing research community assessment paper - Essay Example Community health nursing aims at ensuring that the individual, families and community can assess high standards of holistic health care services. This is viable through promoting health care lifestyles through education, public awareness and community activities (Clark, M.J.2003). This paper is inclined towards exposing a critical review of community nursing with a bias in Clearfield County. The community of study is Clearfield County the fourth largest county in the state of Pennsylvania .Clearfield covers an area of 1,143 square miles situated in the centre of Pennsylvania on the western slopes of Allegheny Mountains. According to 2000 population census it had a population of 83,382. Clearfield has a total population of 83,382 consisting of 41,741 male and 41,462 female. Majority who live in rural areas. The average household income is $30,176 and 12.5 percent of this population lives below the poverty line majority of who are between the ages of 18-64. Population distributed according to racial grounds but mainly speak English language. Largely the population consists of white that covers 97.4 percent, then other race like the Africa America covers 1.5%, American Indian 0.1%, Asian 0.3%, Latino 0.6%, and other races take up to 0.3%. The main economic activities consist of farming, lumbering, mining clay and coal, forestry, wildlife and railroading. There are a variet y of occupations in Clearfield. For instance many are involve in management sector covering 23.1%, sales and office 15.3%, forestry/ fishing0.9%, construction 11.7%, production 24.1% and service industry 15.3% (US. Census Bureau. 2004). Majority of the population live in the rural areas and practice lumbering and farming. In 1920 lumbering reduced and Clearfield residents engaged in mining of coal and clay. Unemployment and birth rate are very high for example, in 2000 alone it 9.9 and 9.6 respectively. Whereas the death rate was 11.3 in every 1000 people (Clark,

Law for social work Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Law for social work - Essay Example unity care involves providing respite care, day services, accommodations, home help and carer and family support for persons with learning disabilities. The same kind of help is also available under community care for persons with physical disabilities and the elderly together with their carers. The latter groups are provided with additional means of support. For instances persons with physical disabilities are provided with direct payments, employment assistance, ‘self-management living schemes’ and equipment such as wheel chairs. The elderly are provided with ‘home care services, delivered meals, day care and lunch clubs.’ Similar services are provided for individuals with mental disabilities.2 Under children and family’s social work, social workers undertake a large variety of responsibilities. They provide childcare services and are involved in the education and social development of the child. Social workers are actively involved in the adoption process and make provision for protective services for children in danger.3 The social worker’s duties in respect of the Criminal Justice system are multifaceted and can be onerous. The social worker is involved in an exhaustive list of tasks from the sentencing and probation of offenders to ‘supervision and support for released prisoners.’4 The variety of roles required of the social worker and the importance of their relationship with the community at large requires the imposition of a professional duty of care. As such, the social worker is not only required to be familiar with the law, they are also required to uphold the law in an appropriate case. This paper looks at the legal obligations of the social worker and the importance of the law in the context of the various duties and obligations already mentioned. Social work is regulated in the United Kingdom by a professional organization known as the British Association of Social Workers. The Association is charged with the duty of

The Ultimate Goal Of JIT

The Ultimate Goal Of JIT JIT is a Japanese concept. Also called the Toyota production system, it aims at producing the necessary parts in quantities needed, at the time they are required. The ultimate goal of JIT is to eliminate inventory, to have minimal work in process inventory monitored by reduction in working capital. JIT considers 7 types of wastes. Overproduction producing more than the customer needs Transportation Anywhere where goods are moved within a process Waiting where waiting time occurs, traditionally where one process waits for another to finish before it can start. Inventory typified by stock or materials that are not being used in the process or current activity. Motion Poor planning and organizational layout often cause motion waste Over processing where steps occur in the production process that do not add value to the end customer this is termed overproduction Defects The process results in an error or requires rework JIT divides all works into value adding and non-value adding activities and then eliminates all non value adding activities. Kanban is one means through which JIT is achieved. It is a scheduling system that tells you what to produce, when to produce it, and how much to produce Poka-yoke is a Japanese term that means fail-safing or mistake-proofing. Its purpose is to eliminate product defects by preventing, correcting, or drawing attention to human errors as they occur. Autonomation describes a feature of machine design to affect the principle of jidoka. At Toyota this usually means that if an abnormal situation arises the machine stops and the worker will stop the production line. Kaizen refers to the philosophy or practices that focus upon continuous improvement of processes in manufacturing, engineering, supporting business processes, and management. Literature review Weiters (1984) in one of the first literatures on this topic states that Financial justification of JIT in service industries is less likely but in service industries JIT offers intangible benefits in terms of improved service quality and customer satisfaction.(cited by Inman and Mehra 1990) Benson (1986) was the first to point out Service operations are organised systems of production processes with the same potential of improvement through implementation of JIT precepts as manufacturing operations Cited by Duclos et. al. 1995 Berling and Geppi (1989) studied the supply chain of healthcare sector and offered JIT as an approach to hospitals in order to reduce inventory. They suggested closer relationships between hospitals and distributors. Billesbach and Schniederjans (1989) present a case study on JIT application in an administration setting. The case was on a big corporation and JIT programme was implemented in the headquarters of this corporation. Their approach was based on examining activities and the ones not contributing to result to be eliminated. Inman and Mehra (1990) had worked on FedEx. This package delivery company implements JIT to reduce their inventory of quasi-MRO goods (mainly packaging, labelling supplies).aimed at improving their service quality and competitiveness through implementation of JIT and anticipated that inventories would be reduced as a result. Lee (1990) presents a case study of a small bank. Study is focused on this banks loan approval process. Bank follows a two phase process and first evaluates the applications and makes the decision of lending in second phase. This process usually takes 12 days. Applying JIT approach whole process is redesigned and several tasks are unified. New approval process takes 4-5 days. Wasco et. al.( 1991) presents a case Kodaks quality assurance division. This division provides services to worldwide chain of Kodak. An MRP II system is implemented with JIT approach and conclusion of the study is JIT techniques enhance the potential of MRP application. One of the most radical case studies is presented by Barlow (2002). He investigates the applicability of JIT techniques to hotel industry. Weakness of this study is it concentrates on liquor stocks of these hotels and draws conclusions on if statements and these hotels actually do not adopt any JIT techniques. Ruiz (2003 pp.1) JIT focuses on the process, not product. Therefore it can be applied (in theory) to any group of processes, whether manufacturing or service. Ultimate goal of JIT is to produce a good and a service without waste Literature on the matter quite confidently states that JIT can be applied in services and through reported case studies evidence is provided. JIT applications in service industries are vague in some sense. There are no empirical studies and reported case usually resembles manufacturing setting. Service operations management evolution How to implement JIT in services? A philosophy of manufacturing excellence based on pursuit of the planned elimination of all waste and consistent improvement of productivity. It encompasses the successful execution of all manufacturing activities required to produce a final product from design engineering to delivery and including all stages from conversion of raw material onward (APICS, 1992). Total visibility of equipment, people, material and processes; Synchronization and balance of production to sales and supply to production; Respect for people Line operators is responsible for production, problem solving and improvement; Flexibility adapt production to customer needs; Continuous improvement never satisfied with the process; Responsibility for the operations environment those who design, manage and operate the processes are responsible for the outcome; Holistic approach companywide philosophy of elimination of waste; Each of these JIT themes may be applicable to service organizations; Synchronization and balance of information and work flow matching output with customer demand one of the important aspects of service operations often cannot inventory the output of their processes making balance even more vital Semantodontics, a direct marketing company selling nationwide by catalogue to dentists, also found JIT an appropriate approach for reducing the time to process paperwork (Conant, 1988) and, hence, the time required for a dentist to receive an order. The idea of making lot sizes as small as possible was implemented by decreasing the batch size in which telephone orders were aggregated. As a result, telephone orders were moved to the second stage of the process three times daily rather than once a day, as was the previous norm. Set-up time for entering new customer records was reduced by moving the process to the original telephone operation where the data were first gathered. The decrease in order batch size had a behavioural impact on employees as well. From the sense of satisfaction gained on completion of multiple small batches, employees tended to work faster and more efficiently. Atlantic Envelope Company uses kanban trays at its Atlanta facility to move documents within the order entry department. Order entry time fell to under a day from a previous uncertain number of days. Total visibility of all components of the process Northern Telecom Inc.s (NTI) Customer Service Centre borders the traditional manufacturing environment (Savage-Moore, 1988) and the implementation is a good example of providing visibility through the use of work cells. This unit of NTI has the labour-intensive responsibility of repairing printed circuit packs (PCPs). For an individual PCP, it is difficult to predefine the specific repair process required, not unlike a job shop environment. The work cell concept was applied to keep all work on a PCP performed within a single cell and by one team of employees. This provided all employees repairing a PCP with visibility as to the repair needs and processes used to repair the product. Additionally, employees were cross-trained to staff the cells and jobs were redefined to recognize employee training efforts. Over a two-year period, NTI saw customer service levels increase from 85 per cent to 100 per cent and quality levels significantly improved. Work-in-progress inventory was reduced b y 75 per cent and repair cycle times reduced from one week to less than 48 hours. Continuous improvement of the process The Manufacturing Quality Assurance Organization at Kodak in Rochester, New York provides specialized services in the form of sample testing of photographic film, chemical and environmental testing, equipment development and calibration control. JIT precepts were introduced to provide a framework for involving the entire organization in continuous improvement (Wasco et al., 1991). Fifty JIT cells were established to start the JIT delivery of products or services based on functional precepts. JIT activities were used to reduce work-handling steps and run times. Improvements through JIT techniques saved an average of $33,000 per month in 1990. Holistic approach to elimination of waste suppliers Few suppliers; Nearby suppliers; Repeat business with same suppliers; Active use of analysis to enable desirable suppliers to become/stay price-competitive; Clusters of remote suppliers, competitive bidding mostly limited to new part numbers; Buyer plant resists vertical integration and subsequent wipe-out of supplier business; Suppliers are encouraged to extend JIT buying to their suppliers; Quantities: Steady output rate (a desirable prerequisite); Frequent delivery in small quantities; Long-term contract agreements; Minimal release paperwork; Delivery quantities variable from release to release, but fixed for whole contract term; Little or no permissible overage or underage of receipts; Suppliers encouraged to package in exact quantities; Suppliers encouraged reducing their production lot sizes (or store unreleased material); Quality: Minimal product specifications imposed on supplier; Help suppliers to meet quality requirements; Close relationships between buyers and suppliers quality assurance people; Suppliers encouraged to use process control charts instead of lot sampling inspection; shipping: Scheduling of inbound freight; Gain control by use of company-owned or contract shipping, contract warehousing, and trailers for freight consolidation/storage where possible instead of using common carriers. Flexibility in the use of resources Bookbinder and Locke (1986) present a model to determine if JIT distribution methodology is a feasible alternative to traditional distribution methods. They investigated the behaviour of two different distribution models for JIT organizations. In the first, a factory-warehouse-retailer distribution system, the warehouse holds stock. In the second, stock moves from factory directly to retailers. The models were compared using statistical tests, and the second model was determined to be the superior distribution system because it furnished essentially the same service level to retailers while carrying one less echelon of stock. Another mathematical model is offered by Ramasesh (1990) for the implementation of JIT techniques in purchasing systems that have not yet advanced to the ultimate level of JIT purchasing (lot size of one). He treated the fixed costs associated with the adoption of JIT as investment, and justified it based on the savings generated using any of the techniques of investment analysis. He modified the traditional economic order quantity model to include explicitly the costs of small-lot shipments. He also provided guidelines and formulae for determining the order quantity and the optimal number of shipments. Case studies DHL- impact of JIT The founders began to personally ship papers by airline from San Francisco to Honolulu, beginning customs clearance of the ships cargo before the actual arrival of the ship and dramatically reducing waiting time in the harbour. With this concept, a new industry was born: international air express, the rapid delivery of documents and shipments by airplane. DHL network continued to grow at an incredible pace. The company expanded westward from Hawaii into the Far East and Pacific Rim, then the Middle East, Africa and Europe. By 1988, DHL was already present in 170 countries and had 16,000 employees. The different business units of the company are DHL Express DHL Freight DHL Global Forwarding DHL Exel Supply DHL Global Mail The process above mentioned was improved using JIT with following ways Inventory Management Concerning Services For instance, in the case of DHL, vehicles, bicycles and other assets that facilitate service delivery must be accounted for, serviced, ready and available to be used for work purpose. Quality Management Concerning Services Tangibles Reliability Responsiveness Competence Courtesy Access Supplier Relations Concerning Services Human Resource Management Concerning Services JIT in retail The key principles of JIT in any system are: No wastage, Total visibility, and Flexibility in the use of human and material resources In any environment these principles translate into three simple rules: dont start any work unless the demand signal indicates a need for more material; if the demand signal indicates a need, work to fill that need; and, never exceed the queue-size limit Automatic Replenishment Systems (ARS) is also an example of application of JIT in retail. JIT in Indian service industry A survey was done on the Indian service industry. The data was collected from the selected service industries and analyzed. The results of degree of importance are given in the table The most important element recognized by the Service industries was waste reduction (mean=0.8929). The least important element was JIDOKA (mean=0.5625). The elements of the study are mentioned in appendix table 1 JIT in hospitals Most research in the health care industry has been directed toward process and information system improvements. Generally, service environments such as health care are likely candidates for JIT if their operations are repetitive, have reasonably high volume, and deal with tangible items such as mail, checks, bills or letters. In hospitals, there is a vital department named CSSD (Centre for Sterilization Service department), the functions of which include materials management, instruments reception, washing, packing and sterilization, sterile store, instruments distribution As an illustration a previous supplier model can be analysed And compared with an improved model, which centralises and streamlines the supply chain JIT in administrative setting JIT practices and their effect on quality can be analysed Human elements of JIT Steps in implementation of JIT in service industry Eliminate disruptions in work of the employees and make the service system flexible and train the workers to handle more variety. reduce set-up time and eliminate waste including errors and duplicate work and minimise work-in process e.g. Packages waiting to be delivered, calls waiting to be answered, pending orders to be processed, trucks waiting to be loaded/unloaded Generally, service environment may benefit from jit system if the operations are repetitive, have high volume, and deal with tangible items e.g. Sandwiches, mail or bills services must involve manufacturing like operation Consistently high quality service employees can be taught the value of providing defect free services uniform facility loading reservation systems and differential pricing are ways to level the load on the facilities standardised work methods high efficiencies achieved by analysing work methods and standardising Close supplier ties volume services such as fast-food joints and mass merchandisers require close supplier contacts to ensure frequent short lead time and high quality shipment of supplies Flexible work force greater the customisation in the service, greater is the need for a multi-skilled workforce e.g. Electronic repair shops needing wider experienced workforce to diagnose the problems and repair the defects Line flow strategy mangers can recognise their employees and equipment to provide uniform flows through the system, and eliminate wasted employee time e.g. Banks use this system in their cheque processing operations Process improvement and problem solving can contribute to streamlining a system, resulting in increased customer satisfaction, and higher productivity e.g. Self service system including retail operations, ATM, vending machines, service stations etc which is the ability to provide services when required simplify the process, especially when customers are part of the system jit services , if achieved , can be a major competitive advantage for companies A Framework Appendix Table 1:

Clyde Edgerton: Vietnam Vet, Jet Pilot, and . . . Small Town Housewife

Clyde Edgerton: Vietnam Vet, Jet Pilot, and . . . Small Town Housewife Few men have attempted to write using a woman's voice. Those who do choose to use the persona of a woman often fail in their effort, creating a character who does not quite sound authentic. Critics usually note the author's inadequacies and point out difficulties when an author tries to capture the voice of a person of the opposite gender. One exception is Clyde Edgerton in his first novel, Raney. The voice of Raney seems genuine and Edgerton received great acclaim for his novel. Public acceptance of Edgerton speaking as a young woman may be attributed to a number of factors involving the attitudes of the author, of the character, and of critics. Those who have interviewed Edgerton and reviewed his books are nearly all men. The one notable exception is author Barbara Kingsolver, who reviewed The Floatplane Notebooks in the New York Times Book Review. Not only does she neglect to take Edgerton to task for his use of a woman narrator in part of that novel, but she praises him generously and compares him to Jane Austen. Kingsolver obviously feels Edgerton can speak creditably as a woman, and she goes so far as to feel he is worthy to keep company with highly respected woman authors. Another consideration may be that most critics have not yet found Edgerton. Raney was his first novel and he has not written another entirely from a womanà ¾s point of view. His later works usually rotate among a large number of narrators, from a delinquent teenage boy to a wisteria vine in a family cemetery to a determined dog. If he had persisted in focusing upon women narrators as he became better known, he might have attracted more attention for that aspect of his work. .. ...ete with blind spots and inconsistencies, and so is her male counterpart, Charles, who just might flush a cabbage core down the toilet, causing expensive plumbing problems. No one individual or gender is portrayed as perfection; all the characters are feeling their way down life's corridors. That seems to make Raney a good example of the human race rather than a representative of a gender issue. Works Cited Edgerton, Clyde. Raney. New York: Ballantine, 1985. Kingsolver, Barbara. 'The Floatplane Notebooks." Rev. of The Floatplane Notebooks by Clyde Edgerton. New York Times Book Review. 9 Oct. 1988:10. Kozikowski, Thomas. "Clyde Edgerton." Contemporary Authors. Ed. Susan Trotsky. Vol. 134. Detroit: Dale Research, 1992. Robbins, Kenn. "A Conversation with Clyde Edgerton." The Southern Quarterly: A Journal of the Arts in the South. 30.1 (1991): 58-69.

NTUC Management Restructuring

NTUC Chief Lim Boon Heng has urged the management of companies undergoing restructuring to take union leaders into confidence, so that the legitimate concerns of workers can be addressed in good time. Citing the restructuring of the Public Utilities Board as an example, he said the exercise was carried out smoothly because of the close cooperation between the management and the union. Speaking at the first triennial delegates conference of the Union of Power and Gas Employees (UPAGE), Mr Lim said that companies responded to challenges in various ways – some through restructuring to meet new market demands, and others through mergers. For wokers, these changes can be unsettling, and restructuring sometimes leads to retrenchments. But in the case of Singapore Power's restructuring, the NTUC Chief noted that the PUB management had taken the company's union leaders into confidence even before the news was made public; it showed that openess between management and union was the better policy. â€Å"When management are open with the union leaders, the legitimate concerns of workers can be addressed, leading to a smooth transition,† Mr Lim said. Unfortunately for us, there are many management that adopt a different approach, informing the union only at the last moment, giving union leaders little time to respond and no time to address workers concerns. † Mr Lim also announced that the union's present general secretary, Nithinandhan, would now become its executive secretary, so that he could represent workers from all unions formed under Singapore Power or its subsidiary companies. We made some changes to our constitution handing the powers to the executive secretary to deal with all collective agreements, and to negotiate on behalf of major grievances with management and be the main person corresponding with all employers and external agencies and work out policies for all branches on industrial relations,† Mr Nithinandhan said. He said the union's relations with the management had been excellent and plans were underway for joint committees on training and workplace environment to better look into the needs of workers.

ICT Strategy Essay Example

ICT Strategy Essay Example ICT Strategy Essay ICT Strategy Essay Abstract Information technology has indeed established itself as a significant component of business over the past two decades which provided one of the most functional competitive advantages. This is due to the fact of the vast utilities it offers and thus becomes available anywhere around the world. However, Nicholas Carr suggested that as information technology has grown in power and ubiquity, its competitive advantages have lost and thus it doesnt matter anymore. In this paper, it is argued that IT does indeed matter due to its wide use and necessity in contrast to Cars view. Also, it is further urge that competitive advantage has always been temporal in technological innovations and this is explained with the view of IT as multiple technologies and as a single type of technology which points out obsolete technology like IT still exists with competitive advantage and matters. Lastly, the discussion reveals that the degree of innovativeness in the IT realm is so far greater than other classification of technologies that we could not make an assumption whether or not IT will be less of a competitive advantage in the years to come. The next discussions ill be focusing on the analysis of these ideas as expressed by Nicholas Carr, and will be applied to analyzing further certain projects in a given company scenario. Introduction IT is the latest series of broadly adopted technologies, after the railroad. Due to their usefulnesss, the commonalities between the two are primarily observed in the manner that people have invested in them. A deeper look at these types of commodities will reveal that the pattern by which the similarity is competitive advantages, making us able to argue that they have the same level of supply, demand ND necessity in the market. Gradually, many companies will try to possess the same technology and provision of the same service which will eventually lead to the decline of the prices that can be offered since everybody already has it. This way, the investment made for the possession of that technology becomes a question of whether or not in truly IT provides a significant return on investment since it is now hard to Justify that the revenue company earned was in fact due to IT function, or that it has rather only become a necessity due to its pervasive use. In other word, has IT got competitive advantage or does it matter? (Carr, 2003) Cars Article Cars articles centers on the fact that to some extent, certain technologies such as IT has become less of a competitive advantage, making it a not what it had seemed when it came out as a new product. The eventual wide spread of the technology soon led to the possession of it by everyone, making the perception of its competitive advantage an obsolete thing. There are many fundamental issues in this argument which we will be tackling in the following discussions. . The widespread of technology may entail necessity. Although it is true that trains and railroads have now ceased to become a competitive advantage as compared to when it was first utilized several decades ago, this can be attributed to many factors. The functionality that is derived from trains has been already established as a useful and necessary component of businesses, especially businesses may range from those that provide shipping services of different cargo materials that needed to be transported from one place to another or the remonstration of people as done in major subways around cities as it provides a cheaper cost of transportation compared to using automobile vehicles. Thereby, we can argue that train ceased to become a competitive advantage truly because it has become so common place and thus cheaper. However, what we point out here is that the widespread nature of any technologies does not say anything about whether it matters or not. It only tells us that it has become popular, thus increasing demand because of its proven usefulness, and that points towards the argument that it does ended matter, since people now see it as a necessity that cannot be ignored since it has become so integrated with the lifestyle of human being that to ignore the necessary functions it provides is Just going to bring even more disadvantage. What Carr has only argued is that competitive advantage has diminished, but this should not in any ways lead to the conclusion that one should cease to invest in IT because the issue is not that IT has become obsolete, and therefore has lost its competitive advantage, but because it has become too necessary, that it has lost its competitive advantage. 2. Competitive advantage has always been temporal in technological innovations It is important to point out that, technology especially at the rate that it progresses today, is always an issue of determining how long it will provide competitive advantage since there is always a chance that newer and better technologies that may render that technology obsolete . This is not a new thing, and as a result, certain technologies are set aside when they have become less useful. The IT field, however is a large classification of many technologies that within homeless compete against each other. Better systems are adopted against others for their efficiency, user friendliness, and lower cost. In theory, if we view IT as multiple technologies, there are always competitive advantages in which faster and newer systems are more competitive than obsolete technologies (Millard and Porter, 1985). However, if we view IT as a whole, competitive advantage is dwindling due to ubiquity. This should not always lead to the conclusion that IT no longer matters because it is not an obsolete technology, and the answer lies in our previous argument: IT as a whole has proven to be so useful that it has become so commonplace and necessary (Meant, 2007) 3. The innovativeness in the IT realm is massive Unlike the railroad, the possibilities in the IT industry are infinite. The areas of application for an IT staff may range from creating applications for word processing, designing performance management systems for companies to implement on their operations, accounting software may be useful for accounting departments, internet utilities such as Google Docs, Google Drive, file conversion tools, social media and any other thousands of other uses. What we argue here is that the degree of usability in IT field is so huge that it has not yet fully explored to assume that it will be less competitive in the future. While Carr has successfully showed data to support his argument, it is yet early to dismiss it Project analysis The initial observations of the proposals to close down the information service department are the following: outsourcing puts the company at higher risk of losing the current information service team rather than outsourcing. 1. Project management yester The purpose of a custom developed management system is to produce a system that is fitted to the perceived needs of a particular project based on the nature of the business. Adopting an outsourced project management system may include functionalities that are not required, and hence entails cost on the company for additional IT features. What should the company do here is to re-design the project management system to add features that the company prefers to have, such as due date and resource tracker. 2. Marketing analysis system It is similar to saying that electricity has ceased to matter Just because it is now widely used. Actually, electricity has been less of a competitive advantage because no corporation nowadays can function without it. And the same argument can be made for IT. IT is slowly becoming electricity, something that organizations will always need because of its proven necessity. IT may be decreasing in its capability to provide competitive advantage, but it is certainly something, like electricity, that inevitably matters. Broader, G. (2012, 1, 19).

Abortion the Pope and Peter Singer essays

Abortion the Pope and Peter Singer essays Abortion is one of the most controversial issues today. It has become a question of not only ethics, but morals. In the 1973 case of Roe v Wade the Supreme Court ruled that a woman has the right to terminate a pregnancy by abortion within the first six months of the pregnancy. However, conservative Presidents have changed the legislation enough to allow states to restrict abortion in various ways (Practical Ethics, Peter Singer). In the following paper, I will summarize the views on abortion of Pope John Paul II and philosopher, Peter Singer. These two men have very conflicting opinions This argument is very adamantly against abortion. It is also a religiously based argument. He uses exerts from the Bible and other religious documents and quotes many different clergymen and priests to help defend his position. He starts by explaining how you must follow the ten commandments to live a good life and have eternal life. Jesus replied, If you would enter life, keep the commandments (Mt 19:17). The first of these ten commandments is You shall not kill. On the contrary, you should love respect and promote life (The Gospel of Life, Paul II). In order to do this, one must carry out Gods plan of procreation with love and intentions to multiply. By having an abortion, one is doing the exact opposite. Not only are they killing an innocent human being, but they are killing a child of God. Also, man is not the final judge in matters such as life and death, he is only a minister of Gods plan (Humanae Vitae, Paul VI). Paul II goes on to explain how human life is sacred and inviolable. Life is sacred because it is a gift from God and man was created in the image of God. God overlooks our lives from birth to death, and no one else has the right to destroy an innocent human being, especially one as inno...

Islamic aesthetics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Islamic aesthetics - Essay Example As art is meant to be within the limits set by traditional norms, there is very little room for being radical. As a result, artists rarely tried to produce something totally new and original. Instead, they continued relying heavily on their culture, and art mainly involved interpreting and commenting on each other’s work. Thus, until very recently, critical discourse on art in the Islamic world was not explicit as is the case with the Western art. Instead, the criticism lied within the art work. In other words, â€Å"one thinks or comments about an artwork through another art work† (Erzen 69). The reason, according to Erzen, is that in cultures where tradition is dominating, artists fail to introduce new and radical innovations. Instead, they continue interpreting the same norms and knowledge of tradition in different ways through their art. The underlying claim is that one can see the expression of Islamic culture and tradition in Islamic art and that they are not mere decorative pieces. In fact, as a result of this heavy dependence on tradition, the Islamic world failed to analyze its own arts and aesthetic approaches, and even when tried, the studies were descriptive, not analytical or conceptual. In order to support this claim, the scholar points out the fact that until early twentieth century, there was no effort to document Turkish architecture and its history. Though the Orientalists tried to understand the cultural meaning of Islamic aesthetics and art, the effort was in vain, as they tried to interpret the same using Western values and concepts. Most of the time, the efforts involved comparing Islamic art with Western art for similarities and dissimilarities and analyzing the narrative or figurative content. Thus, they failed to analyze or understand the cultural meaning of Islamic art and ended up focusing entirely on history, style and technique. The article is rather

Questions and Answers on Family and Consumer Science Assignment

Questions and Answers on Family and Consumer Science - Assignment Example 2. What are assumptions in the scientific sense? An assumption, in the scientific sense, is a working hypothesis. Before going on with the experimentation, people usually make assumptions first to form a specific structure of an idea. Assumptions are usually several before an experiment begins, and gets reduced towards or by the end of the experiment. Fewer assumptions by the end of an experiment means that there is an increased understanding on the matter. 3. Briefly explain the goals or functions of science. The primary goals of science are description, understanding, prediction, and control. Description is where the phenomena is defined, while understanding is where the occurrence of the phenomena is determined. Prediction is done by forecasting or through hypotheses. Finally, the aim to control a phenomena follows after truly understanding it. The function of science, on the other hand, is to provide a factual reasoning regarding an idea. 4. What is meant by the term â€Å"cumul ative nature of science†? Discoveries in science are interconnected and, to some extent, confirmation of its fundamental principles. This means that rejecting these fundamentals is synonymous to rejecting, and going through another process to understand, several previous successful researches and experiments. This is the cumulative nature of science. 5. Explain the importance of research having a theoretical base? It is impossible to do a research from all perspectives even on a single idea or matter. The theoretical base helps in establishing a standpoint, position, and a procedure on which the experiment will be based (Bryman, 2008, p.17). This means that creating a theoretical base is a step towards a clearer and narrowed research --- excluding other perspectives that might affect the research, while having the rationale for refusing to include these other perspectives. 6. Explain the basic ideas behind Wallace's Wheel. Wallace's Wheel is a good illustration of the concept of how the knowledge base of science develops and grows. It points out how scientific theories and scientific experiments and researches continuously form and mold each other. 7. List and briefly define the categories, or â€Å"parts† of the research process. A typical research process has an introduction, a literature review, methodology, findings, and conclusion. The introduction should include information regarding the research such as primary objectives, benefits of the research, and even the researcher's background on the topic. The literature review is an overview of past researches related to the current one. The methodology is where the explanation of the procedure for the research is done. Findings discusses the analysis of the gathered date, and the conclusion is the summary of the whole project. The conclusion also discusses whether the primary objectives were met, and if further researches are suggested (Bryman, 2008, p.33). 8. Explain the difference between basic research and applied research. A basic research is a product of the researcher's interest or curiosity in a concept or idea. The main goal of this type of research is to expand the knowledge. On the other hand, applied research is a product of the need to answer the practical problems about almost anything. The main goal of this type of research is to improve human conditions (Bryman, 2008, p.26). 9. In a nutshell, explain human ecology theory.

Increae productivity and safety at night shift Research Paper

Increae productivity and safety at night shift - Research Paper Example Running head: INCREASE PRODUCTIVITY AND SAFETY AT NIGHT SHIFT Increase productivity and safety at night shift [Name] [Course] [Professor’s name] [Date Contents Page No Abstract Acknowledgement 1. Introduction 12-14 2. Literature review 14-21 3. Methodology 21-25 4. Result 25- 54 5. Discussion 54-60 6. ... iew on general first aid 41 Figure:-32- Male worker’ view on night arrangement of first aid 42 Figure:-33- Female worker’ view on night arrangement Of first aid 42 Figure:-34-Medical interventions in emergencies 43 Figure:-35- percentage male (>2yrs) regarding Job security 44 Figure: 36- percentage female (>2yrs) regarding Job security 44 Figure: 37- percentage male (2yrs) workers 47 Figure: 42- Monthly remuneration of male (2yrs) satisfied with Remuneration 49 Figure: 47- percentage Male workers (2yrs) witnessing Job deprivation 51 Figure: 52- percentage male workers (

Certain chemicals Essay Example for Free

Certain chemicals Essay If the process of plate tectonics were to completely stop then the ability of the Earth to create mountains through the collisions of two different plates would stop as well. This would mean that erosion would eventually abrade these mountains and the amount of sediment created by this activity would eventually reach the numerous oceans and seas. The end result would be a rise in sea level that would eventually swallow up the entire land mass of the Earth and sort of global ocean would be created as a result (Life in the universe 2001). This would of course mean the extinction of all the land based species on the surface of the planet. B. ) Weathering helps initiate the erosion of rocks, topsoil or other exposed surfaces of the Earth through either changes in the climate or weather conditions while erosion on the other hands deals in the transport of small rocky material after weathering has broken it down (Boardsman 2002). These two processes help to release valuable minerals in the soil which can be carried off to the sea to nourish it or to create land suitable for plant life (Boardsman 2002). Not only that but it is these two processes that help to regulate the landmass on the planet brought about by plate tectonics which creates new land masse. If erosions and weathering stopped the seas and oceans would not be able to get the valuable nutrients they need to support life and the surface of the Earth would be filled with massive mountains that would make it hard to live on. 2. Evaluate the following statements: A. We should not get worried about exposure to toxic chemicals because almost any chemical at a high dosage can cause harm. This statement is false. Certain chemicals at even low dosages can be fatal to human beings. For example if ingested even in tiny drops arsenic is fatal to most people and can cause an extremely painful death within hours (Gilbere 2008). Another example is sulfuric acid which can kill a person if splashed on the wrong area of the body. There is actually a wide variety of chemicals in the world today that dont rely on volume to kill as such a person should take caution when they handle, are near to or have been splashed by any sort of chemical (Gilbere 2008). B. We should not worry about exposure to UV light and toxic chemicals because though genetic adaptation, we can develop immunity to such chemicals/UV light. Genetic adaptation takes millions of years to accomplish as such overexposure today for a person without proper protection can lead to skin cancer, a variety of skin diseases, a bad sunburn, heat stroke or a variety of other maladies that affect a persons health (Guhl 2005). As such the present generation or even the next 10 generations would not be able to benefit from any developments in genetic adaptation due to the time evolve. Due to this people should be wary of their exposure to UV light and must take precautions in order not develop any skin related problems. C. We should not worry about exposure to toxic chemicals because we can use genetic engineering to reduce our susceptibility to the effects of toxic chemicals. Genetic engineering can only do so much when it comes to developing resistance to certain types of chemicals. Not only that since the process would take an incredibly long period of time due to the current level of technology but the present generation or even the one after that would not be able to benefit from it. Genetic engineering can only do so much to build up a natural resistance to an artificial substance for example strong acids can even melt rock imagine what it could do to flesh no matter how genetically improved it may be. Artificial substances and natural substances by their very nature are polar opposites as such there will always be an artificial substance that can harm a natural one no matter the level of improvement it has undergone (Gilbere 2008). Part 2: 1. Which is a better choice at the grocery store: paper bag? Plastic bag? Or tissue bag? Explain your answer None of the choices given are better choices. Paper, plastic or even tissue bags still represent the use of materials that will eventually fill up landfills and cause pollution. Paper bags are sources from trees as such their use and production means that trees which could have absorbed the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere or provided support for loose top soil to prevent landslides are instead used to hold groceries. Not only that but paper bags are easily destroyed through either physical force or liquid substances. As such their reusability is rather unreliable under the best of circumstances. One recurring myth is that recycled paper bags actually help the environment unfortunately this is not true as it may seem. The trucks used to transport paper to the recycling centers, the chemicals used to remove the respective dyes from the paper as well as to sanitize it combined with the process of boiling, processing and drying actually uses up more resources and leaves a larger carbon and chemical footprint than processing an average tree into paper. Plastic bags on the other hand are more durable than paper bags and are easily reused for other purposes such as trash bags, holders or covers unfortunately though in the end they are still thrown away and unlike their paper counterparts do not break down in the environment as easily and when it comes to recycling also uses up more resources to produce than the average plastic bag. Tissue bags on the other hand are just as easily destroyed as paper bags and are just as expensive to recycle. The best choice would be to bring a cloth bag. The are sold or even given away for free at most department stores, they can be used for several years at a time and not only that they are more easily broken down in the environment as compared to plastic bags. 2. Explain how fossil fuels are formed? Fossil fuels are formed when organisms such as algae zooplankton, phytoplankton as well other organisms die settle on the sea floor. Overtime when clusters of these organisms are covered by sand and silt and the conditions are just right their organic structure starts to break down after several million years the end result is a dark liquid material that is processed by refineries and turned into modern day gasoline. The reason its called fossil fuels is due to the fact that a fossil, by definition, is the remains of a dead organism and that is what fossil fuels are. 3. Is it ever possible to be completely healthy? While it is possible through a healthy diet and adequate exercise to attain a healthy body for an extended period of time there are setbacks that happen that prevent people from being completely healthy. For example a person who tried his/ her best to be healthy through dieting or exercise can never prevent his/herself from contracting a disease, virus, sickness etc. No matter who the person is they will get sick several times over the course of their life and as such can never be classified as completely healthy (Brian 2009). 4. Can we design buildings or houses that save energy? Explain your answer Yes buildings that can save energy can be designed to saved energy can be made and are actually in existence. A lot of houses these days have an insulating material installed in-between the outer and inner wall of the house. When winter comes along this insulating material helps to keep heat in and cold out thus saving on heating bills. Another example is the use of solar panels on the roofs of houses. These days the use of solar energy panels has been advertised as a means to save electricity and to even make money off of since any excess energy produced can be sent into the local power grid and the homeowners of the solar powered house can make money off of the power company while saving energy at the same time (Flin 2006). List of References Life in the Universe. (2001). Platetectonics. Retrieved on May 19, 2010 from http://www. lifeinuniverse. org/Platetectonics-05-02-01. html Gilbere, Gloria. TOTAL HEALTH MANAGEMENT Requires Conscious LivingNot Getting-by on Auto-pilot. Total Health 30. 2 (2008): 48-50 Flin, David. Hot shots [solar powered home]. Power Engineer 20. 3 (2006): 16-19. Brian, Sarah Jane. making a of difference. Scholastic Parent Child 16. 7 (2009): 38-42. Guhl, Sven, et al. Bivalent Effect of UV Light on Human Skin Mast Cells—Low-Level Mediator Release at Baseline but Potent Suppression Upon Mast Cell Triggering. Journal of Investigative Dermatology 124. 2 (2005): 453-456 Boardman, John. The need for soil conservation in Britain – revisited. Area 34. 4 (2002): 419-427.

Evaluation Of Fountas And Pinnell Benchmark

Evaluation Of Fountas And Pinnell Benchmark The Fountas and Pinnell Benchmark Assessment System, created by Irene Fountas and Gay Su Pinnell, is designed to place students appropriately into a guided reading program, show the gains in student achievement, progress monitoring and identify students in need of intervention (those who are not meeting the districts proficiency levels). In short, it relates reading ability. The sub-contents addressed include: Word Analysis Skills, Reading Strategies, Comprehending Reading Materials, Literary Elements and Techniques and Literary Works. The test consists primarily of running records, in which the teacher records oral fluency, reading errors and self-correction ratios. In addition, it is followed by a retelling and comprehension conversation between the student and teacher. Finally a writing prompt (optional) is given to the student. In the setting where I am directly working with the Fountas and Pinnell Benchmark, we are requiring all students to complete the writing prompt. I have addressed the reason for the issue below in the evaluation portion. The test is administered in kindergarten through eighth grade at the end of each quarter. The assessment usually takes twenty to thirty minutes. This could take longer if more than one assessment is needed to find the appropriate benchmark level. Specific features of the Fountas and Pinnell Benchmark Assessment System allows you to determine your students independent and instructional reading levels, group students for reading instruction, select texts that will be produc tive for a students instruction, assess the outcomes of teaching, assess a new students reading level for independent reading and instruction, identify students who need intervention and extra help, document student progress across a school year and across grade levels, create class profiles and inform parents. (Heinemann, 2011) In addition to an accuracy percentage, reading rate, self-correction rate and fluency score, the assessment has a Comprehension Conversation that completes the assessment procedures. Students are required to read a text and to have this comprehension conversation, with specific prompts to obtain key understandings for three kinds of thinking- Thinking Within the Text (getting the literal meaning by processing words and stated ideas), Thinking Beyond the Text (getting the implied meaning and synthesizing information) and Thinking About the Text (responding to the authors craft). (Placeholder1) The content that is covered in the benchmark includes reading accuracy, reading comprehension, reading fluency and self-correction ratio. This is similar to the informal assessments being given to students through- out a literacy block in a reading workshop approach. This assessment can be used both formatively and summatively. It is a standardized, teacher-administered, one-on-one assessment; it is hand-scored by the teacher. The assessment should be administered by classroom teacher after they have been trained to administer the test. A video is provided to view for staff development or individual teacher viewing. This can help to ensure that the assessment is delivered in a standardized way. The BAS (Benchmark Assessment System) is based on research in language development, vocabulary expansion, reading acquisition, and reading difficulties. Five areas addressed by the National Reading Panel as fundamental to student success in literacy acquisition are assessed in the BAS. These are: phonological awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension. The assessment also addresses student motivation and interest in overall reading. According to the official field study document of the assessment: The field data were collected systematically and analyzed on an ongoing basis to determine the programs achievement of its objectives. Reports were developed and used as a basis for determining the soundness, complexities, and utility of the program. Due to the process incorporating ongoing feedback gathered by field-test examiners, the program authors and developers were able to make informed decisions regarding adjustments and refinements. At the conclusion of the field study, an independent data-analysis team was brought in to evaluate the programs reliability and validity. This formative research was conducted in two phases. Phase I of the study addressed research questions 1 and 2; Phase II addressed research question 3. Prior to the formative evaluation, an editorial process was used to establish the text leveling. Field testing included a total of 497 students spanning grades K-8. Field testing of System 1 included 252 students and System 2 included 245 students. School sites from which these students were drawn were socioeconomically, ethnically, and geographically diverse. The research goal was to identify typical students. Accordingly, students were selected on the basis of their ability to read and understand texts that were written approximately at grade level or above. Participants were also proficient speakers of English. Each field test examiner determined an individual students eligibility after discussing his or her reading profile with their respective teachers. Thirteen field-test examiners were selected. All field-test examiners were educators who had extensive training in administering running records and in using other forms of benchmark assessments to assess students reading levels. Field-test examiners were not affiliated with the field sites and therefore could be objective in both identifying students and in administering assessments. Prior to the beginning of the field testing, a two-day intensive training session led by the authors, guided the field-test examiners in the formative evaluations protocols and procedures. A total of 22 different schools participated in field testing of either System 1 or System 2 (some schools participated in both field tests). Field testing took place across the following geographic regions of the United States: Boston Metropolitan area 1 examiner; 1 school / Providence, Rhode Island 1 examiner; 2 schools / Houston Metropolitan area 2 examiners; 5 schools / Los Angeles area 4 examiners; 6 schools / Columbus, OH, area 3 examiners; 5 schools / Orlando, FL, area 2 examiners; 3 schools. (Field Study of Reliability and Validity of the Fountas and Pinnell Benchmark Assessment Systems 1 and 2). (Fountas and Pinnell, 2011, pp. 2-3) Assessment Appearance and Content The assessment includes two options of books for each level- System 1 (Grades K-2, Levels A-N) contains 28 Books (14 Fiction and 14 Nonfiction) and System 2 (Grades 3-8, Levels L-Z) contains 30 Books (15 Fiction and 15 Nonfiction). The Fountas and Pinnell levels gradient is a defined continuum of characteristics related to the level of support and challenges that a reader meets in a text. At each level (A to Z) texts are analyzed using ten characteristics: (1) genre/form; (2) text structure; (3) content; (4) themes and ideas; (5) language and literary features; (6) sentence complexity; (7) vocabulary; (8) word difficulty; (9) illustrations/graphics; and (10) book and print features. Texts are leveled using a highly reliable process in which teams of trained teachers, working independently and then through consensus, assign a level to books after analyzing them according to the ten factors. They are then analyzed by Fountas and Pinnell. The benchmark books were actually created to pre cisely match the gradient, and they were independently analyzed using the same process. (Heinemann, 2011) The Assessment Guide to the BAS describes the administration of the assessment as follows: The students appropriate reading level for the assessment to be administered is based in the students current guided reading level, or can be determined by a Where to Start word list that was developed by the authors to assist examiners in quickly placing a student at his or her appropriate reading level. Next, the administer is to assess the students ability to read and comprehend three levels of books. They are to determine one book that is easy the students independent reading level; one book that offered just enough difficult vocabulary and/or concepts to make the reading interesting and challenging , the students instructional reading level; and a third book that was too challenging the students hard reading level. Accuracy of reading guidelines, consistent with Fountas and Pinnells framework (2006b), is as follows: independent level (95-100 percent accuracy); instructional level (90-94 percent accuracy), and hard level (below 90 percent accuracy). (Fountas Pinnell, pp. 180- 181) The assessment should be given in the classroom or other familiar setting. A reasonably quiet and comfortable environment is necessary so that distractions do not interfere with the assessment. All materials should be ready to go accessible to the teacher, so that the assessment may run smoothly with few distractions. If the student seems to be getting frustrated after reading one or two texts, it may be necessary to stop the assessment and begin at a later time. Each of the areas assessed relates to the content and sub-content (in various levels) taught to kindergarten through eighth grade students during their literacy block. The BAS lets the administrator think about, assess and identify a variety of different skills and strategies the reader may have strengths or deficits in. It is designed to measure progress in each of the sub-skills in a way that informs instruction. It is linked to a continuum of observable behaviors to assess and teach for at every level. (Heinemann, 2011) Each teacher in grades kindergarten through eighth grade has a copy of the continuum. The assessment format is similar to the informal assessments (running records and conferring with readers) used in the classroom. These informal assessments are used periodically throughout the quarter. The Fountas and Pinnell Benchmark Assessment System does require a more in-depth conversation than traditional classroom conferences. The students fluency level is also assessed using the following criteria: Readers phrase or group words, through intonation, stress, and pauses. They emphasize the beginnings and endings of phrases by the rising and falling of pitch or by pausing. Students adhere to the authors syntax or sentence structure, reflecting their comprehension. Readers are expressive; their reading reflects feeling, anticipation, and character development. Once a students instructional reading level is determined, the student is engaged in a comprehension conversation about that particular book. If students are unresponsive or give an incomplete response, educators may prompt them according to a predetermined set of questions. Next, the teacher rates the students understanding of a text using the Fountas and Pinnell comprehension guidelines. The areas are rated on a scale from 0-3: Thinking within the text, thinking beyond the text and thinking about the text. Evaluating the Fountas and Pinnell Benchmark Assessment System A review of the benchmark assessment shows no bias towards individuals or groups based on race, ethnicity, gender or disabilities. Students with disabilities are given the assessment that aligns with their individual progress along the literacy continuum and text gradient for the reader. At times, when the fluency level is timed, an educator may note on the side specific speech issues. All other accommodations as mandated by their IEPs are allowed. The assessment is used to determine reading ability, therefore, students with IEPs requiring that test be read for certain circumstance are not allowed this accommodation for the benchmark. The wording and content of the benchmark assessment is predominately age and grade appropriate. However, for students reading extremely below their age or grade level peers, the text may seem immature for their age. The gradient levels of difficulty of the text chosen for the assessment were carefully thought out and field tested. I feel the content validity of the Fountas and Pinnell Benchmark Assessment System can be improved by adding a more rigorous requirement in the writing about reading area. I do not feel that one prompt adequately show how a student can write about reading. In addition, I feel that as students move into the older grades, that comprehension should be judged more on the students writing about the text than a comprehension conversation. One other area of the assessment could be improved. There are only two books, one fiction and one nonfiction, at each level. This does not give educators much room for error or special education teachers room to reassess at a similar level, identifying strengths in a particular sub-content and not just text level gradient. There is at least one item per target, with some items having more than one item per target. Some of the sub-content areas did not have a target for each taxonomy level, but with further investigation (into the upper grade Benchmark Assessment, possibly) it would most likely cover each taxonomy level. In addition, each item does belong on the assessment and relates to a specific sub-content area/taxonomy level. The Illinois Reading Standards addressed include: 1.A.1b Comprehend unfamiliar words using context clues and prior knowledge; verify meanings with resource materials, 1.B.1c Continuously check and clarify for understanding (e.g., reread, read ahead, use visual and context clues, ask questions, retell, use meaningful substitutions), 1.B.2d Read age-appropriate material aloud with fluency and accuracy, 1.C.2b Make and support inferences and form interpretations about main themes and topics, 1.C.2d Summarize and make generalizations from content and relate to purpose of material, 1.C.2e Explain how authors and illustrators use text and art to express their ideas (e.g., points of view, design hues, metaphor), 1.C.1f Use information presented in simple tables, maps and charts to form an interpretation, 2.A.2b Describe how literary elements (e.g., theme, character, setting, plot, tone, conflict) are used in literature to create meaning and 2.B.1a Respond to literary materials by connecting them to their own experience and communicate those responses to others. Classroom Assessment Blueprint and Learning Targets The classroom assessment blueprint and the list of learning targets appear below. Assessment items and the number of the associated learning target are included in the blueprint. Remembering Understanding Applying Analyzing Evaluating Creating Total Targets Word Analysis Skills 1. Identify the meaning of unfamiliar words using prior knowledge 2. Discover the meaning of unfamiliar words using context clues. 22. Monitors own understanding and accuracy. 20. Constructs literal meaning of the text through solving words. 4 Reading Strategies 4. Reads primarily in larger, meaningful phrases or word groups. 23. Predicts information about the text. 5. Demonstrates fluency by reading using mostly smooth, expressive interpretation and pausing guided by authors meaning and punctuation. 3. Assess and clarify for understanding (e.g., reread, read ahead, use visual and context clues, ask questions, retell, and use meaningful substitutions). 4 Comprehend Reading Materials 6. Recall ideas by reference to details in the text. 18. Identify the main ideas and supporting details of a story or fiction passage. 9. Summarize a story or non-fiction passage. 19. Demonstrate excellent understanding of the text through summarizing. (Includes almost all important information and main ideas.) 10. Demonstrate understanding of characters in a story or non-fiction passage (i.e. through retell). 11. Identify connections with prior knowledge or personal experiences. 25. Infers what is implied but not stated in the text. 22. Monitors own understanding and accuracy. ** Two places** 17. Tell the main idea of a non-fiction paragraph. 27. Write a response about the reading (from given prompt). 10 Literary Elements and Techniques 7. Define setting in a story or fiction passage. 8. Recall sequence of events. 12. Summarize the major events in a narrative. 29. Demonstrate an understanding of the craft and structure of a text (literary language, story structure, perspective, etc.). 16. Distinguish elements of the authors craft. 30. Support knowledge and ideas (and act on them) to include ones thinking by writing in response to text 15. Construct chronological sequence of events after reading a story or fiction passage. 7 Literary Works 24. Identify key details when summarizing a story or non-fiction passage. 28. Remember and report key ideas and details from texts, including understanding characters. 13. Point out the authors purpose. 14. Interpret how the authors purpose affects the interpretation of the reading selection. 26. Tells new information by synthesizing and changing own ideas. 5 Learning Targets Students will be able to: 1. Identify the meaning of unfamiliar words using prior knowledge. 2. Discover the meaning of unfamiliar words using context clues. 3. Assess and clarify for understanding (e.g., reread, read ahead, use visual and context clues, ask questions, retell, and use meaningful substitutions). 4. Reads primarily in larger, meaningful phrases or word groups. 5. Demonstrates fluency by reading using mostly smooth, expressive interpretation and pausing guided by authors meaning and punctuation. 6. Recall ideas by reference to details in the text. 7. Define setting in a story or fiction passage. 8. Recall sequence of events. 9. Summarize a story or non-fiction passage. 10. Demonstrate understanding of characters in a story or non-fiction passage (i.e. through retell). 11. Identify connections with prior knowledge or personal experiences. 12. Summarize the major events in a narrative. 13. Point out the authors purpose. 14. Interpret how the authors purpose affects the interpretation of the reading selection. 15. Construct chronological sequence of events after reading a story or fiction passage. 16. Distinguish elements of the authors craft. 17. Tell the main idea of a non-fiction paragraph. 18. Identify the main ideas and supporting details of a story or fiction passage. 19. Demonstrate excellent understanding of the text through summarizing. (Includes almost all important information and main ideas.) 20. Constructs literal meaning of the text through solving words. 22. Monitors own understanding and accuracy. 23. Predicts information about the text. 24. Identify key details when summarizing a story or non-fiction passage. 25. Infers what is implied but not stated in the text. 26. Tells new information by synthesizing and changing own ideas. 27. Write a response about the reading (from given prompt). 28. Remember and report key ideas and details from texts, including understanding characters. 29. Demonstrate an understanding of the craft and structure of a text (literary language, story structure, perspective, etc.). 30. Support knowledge and ideas (and act on them) to include ones thinking by writing in response to text.