Impediments Of A Person With Severe Mental Illness

IMPEDIMENTS ON THE ROAD TO RECOVERY: A CASE STUDY OF A PERSON WITH SEVERE MENT AL ILLNESS Authors: Saswati Chakraborti Jahanara M. Gajendragad Department of Psychiatric Social Work Institute of Human Behaviour Allied Sciences(IHBAS) Dilshad Garden, Delhi-110095. Presenting Author: Saswati Chakraborti Impediments on the road to recovery: A case study of a person with severe mental illness Saswati Chakraborti* and Jahanara Gajendragad Abstract: Key Words: Impediments, Recovery, Psychiatric rehabilitation Mental health professionals often encounter challenging situations when it comes to providing comprehensive treatment and rehabilitative care for persons with severe mental illness. These difficulties also stem from the fact that there is significant cognitive and/or behavioural dysfunction that results from mental illness in the clients we deal with. The provision of long term mental health care for persons with severe mental illness has been and still is, one of the major challenges for those involved in mental health service delivery for various reasons. Several barriers exist in the form of limited availability and accessibility of treatmentShow MoreRelatedThe Problem Of Mental Illness1412 Words   |  6 Pagesgainsaying as to the fact that the problem of providing adequate mental care for mentally ill citizens is not new (Turnquist, n.d). As a matter of fact, according to the Center for Social Studies Associate Laboratory (2010), mental illness has always necessitated a challenge with regard to the society’s capacity to not only integrate such individuals, but also provide care to them. One key impediment surrounding the matter of mental illness, according to Unite for Sight.org (2013), is culture. As UniteRead MoreMedicine As A Body Of Knowledge1730 Words   |  7 Pagesgeneration to generation. Treatments included herbs, spices, oils, foods, body treatments and manipulations, mediation and many other items through trial and error and believe. Medicine, in the broadest of terms came to mean something different for each person, based on his or her personal beliefs and philosophies. Throughout the centuries these ideas, treatments and philosophies ultimately gave rise to the many different streams of modern day medicine. In the 21st century, medicine is classified into twoRead MoreCauses And Effects Of Bullying1297 Words   |  6 Pages Low self-esteem is a common reason why someone would want to bully a person. Low self-esteem is the lack of pride a person feels in themselves. Often times a bully feels like they are less than others and the only way for them to feel better about themselves is to try to bring others down. A lot of bullies aren’t trying to hurt someone physically, they use words and certain remarks to torture a person, making that person feel just as less as them just to uplift their own self-esteem. AlthoughRead MoreBackground Information . Cheltenham High School (Chs) Serves1546 Words   |  7 Pagessystems, there’s not much information regarding mental health that’s available to teachers and students. This underlying need that has been brewing at Cheltenham High School since the start of the academic school year. Each week at practicum, there are stories of a crisis that had already occurred in relation to mental health. Upon consultation with teachers, staff and school nurse, the theme that consistently popped up was the lack of mental health knowledge or awareness and training to appropriatelyRead MoreWhy Do We as a Society Need a Criminal Justice System?1179 Words   |  5 Pagesepidemic of violence against one another. Although the system has evolved over the years to adjust and accommodate people of different status, class and provide a multicultural aspect to society, just as any other system there will always be some impediments and inconsistencies such as, financial restraints, inequality, selective law enforcement and public influence such as media ideas and images of crime. Why we need a criminal justice system It would be unrealistic of people in society to believeRead MoreWhat are Anxiety Disorders?1593 Words   |  6 Pages ANXIETY DISORDERS Introduction: Anxiety disorders are a constellation of mental disorders which is marked by extreme feelings of apprehension and trepidation. It is a syndrome which has both physical and psychological modules. Psychological symptoms include anxiety that is beyond the control of the subject, impatience, disturbed sleep patterns, difficulty in staying focused, and hypervigilance. Physical symptoms include sweating, palpitations and dry mouth. Although a bit of apprehension isRead MoreA Research Study On Mental Disorders1754 Words   |  8 PagesAbstract People suffering from gender dysphoria, according to the most recent DSM-5(Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders), experience a discrepancy between the assign gender and the expressed one. Even though not every person experience the same degree, for many people who suffer from it the depression and anxiety is so overwhelming that they may need a gender reassignment surgery to feel a real sense of identity. A continued hormonal therapy together with surgery can offer an importantRead MoreNormality And Pathology Of A Christian Therapist2586 Words   |  11 Pagestherapist needs to take into account is the presence of bias and attribution errors. Bias and attribution errors may compromise the perceiver’s objectivity and lead to an incorrect evaluation of normal or abnormal behavior (Butcher, 2007). A major impediment to objectivity is the Fundamental Attribution Error (FAE). This error, which is considered a strong human characteristic, is the tendency of an obse rver to underestimate situational factors and to overestimate the influence of dispositional factorsRead MoreA Brief History Of United States Mental Health Care Essay1896 Words   |  8 PagesPRELIMINARY LITERATURE REVIEW A brief history of the United States’ mental health care The United States has never had an official federal-centered approach for mental health care facilities, entrusting its responsibility to the states throughout the history. The earliest initiatives in this field took place in the 18th century, when Virginia built its first asylum and Pennsylvania Hospital reserved its basement to house individuals with mental disorders (Sundararaman, 2009). During the 19th century, otherRead MoreMental Illness : Mental Health Illness2108 Words   |  9 PagesMerriam-Webster, mental health illness is described as a broad range of medical conditions (such as major depression, schizophrenia, obsessive compulsive disorder, or panic disorder) that are marked primarily by sufficient disorganization of personality, mind, or emotions to impair normal psychological functioning and cause noticeable grief or disability and that are usually related with a disruption in standard judgement, feeling, mood, behavior, interpersonal interactions, or daily functioning . Mental health

Entrepreneur Interview - 1887 Words

INTRODUCTION Richard Branson, an English business tycoon and the founder of Virgin Airlines once said, Business opportunities are like buses, theres always another one coming. This quote signifies that there are always an opportunity in entrepreneurship in life if there is a will to take the risk and motivated to do so. Entrepreneurship roots from the word entrepreneur, which according to www.wikipedia.com, it can be defined as one who undertakes innovations, finance and business acumen in an effort to transform innovations into economic goods. Entrepreneurs are risk takers, willing to roll the dice with their money or reputation on the line in support of an idea or enterprise. They willingly assume responsibility for the success or†¦show more content†¦The process may take between three weeks and one month for one piece. Added to the problem, there are also other factors that contributed to the company’s lost, including the company’s financial crisis and Malaysian economic uncertainty. In order to save the family business, Mr. Ashaari took over the company and makes a huge step in the history of BRM Batik. He moved the company to a small location around his house in Kuantan, Pahang and shut all the factories and showrooms in Kuala Lumpur. He then builds a small sized batik factory on his land, which worth RM4000. He also changed the factory name from BRM Batik to RM Batik. RM Batik has developed so well and stays stable until today. RM Batik still active in batik manufacturing, alongside other goods such as craft products and local souvenirs. This company is also the proud uniform supplier for Club Med Cherating, Pahang. With the current eight workers and RM250, 000 sales turnover per year, RM Batik keep on striving to be the best batik manufacturer in Malaysia while preserve the Malaysian batik as it is rapidly vanishing nowadays. FOUNDING STORY Mr Asyaari chooses this venture because he just finished his high school back in the 1980’s. After his beloved brother passed away, he can’t find any other way besides saving their family business. Plus, he was jobless and moneyless. He sees this as the only opportunity for him to keep the brother’s memory. He chose this business on that particular time as it was fated.Show MoreRelatedInterview With An Entrepreneur Interview2328 Words   |  10 PagesEntrepreneur Interview Name of the student: Name of the university: Author’s Note:â€Æ' Table of Contents An interview with an Entrepreneur: 3 Report: 7 â€Æ' An interview with an Entrepreneur: In this report, an interview is conducted with the Founder, Jane Lu of the company Showpo. This online female fashion store, which was launched in 2010. Founder of the company is interrogated on her experiences and steps that she has taken in order to escalate business of the company. The startup company hasRead MoreA Interview With The Entrepreneur1386 Words   |  6 Pages Report: From the meeting with the entrepreneur Jane Lu, I found that being an entrepreneur is not an easy task. The person has to face a lot of toil and hardship. Within an entrepreneur, there is a need of perseverance, confidence, passion and communication skills in order to achieve the goal. This holds true for a small business like a departmental store. 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Born in 1963, this woman has spent more than 10 years in the Tourist industry and has since then been an inspirational model for many young adults inRead MoreAn Interview With An Entrepreneur1356 Words   |  6 PagesAn interview with an Entrepreneur: In this report, an interview is conducted with Jane Lu the Founder of the company Showpo. This company is an online female fashion store, which was launched in 2010. Founder of the company is interviewed on her experiences and the steps she has taken in order to enhance the business of the company. Since its inception, the company has made excellent growth. Interviewer: What was it that made you start this venture? Jane Lu: Interesting question. Well the main reasonRead MoreInterview an Entrepreneur1429 Words   |  6 Pagesâ€Å"An entrepreneur tends to bite off a little more than he can chew hoping he’ll quickly learn how to chew it.† (Roy Ash) Thirty-two years ago, Steve Celar embarked on the journey of starting up his first business. After many years of struggle and hard work, his business has expanded into different areas other than what he had originally intended, all of those businesses are centered on cars but mainly, Hot Rods. Steve is the founder and sole-proprietor of Kalamity Kars, and Kalamity Krash RepairRead MoreNotes of an Interview with an Entrepreneur958 Words   |  4 PagesInterview Entrepreneur The type and nature of the business (products / services offered) and the scope of the business (whether it is local in nature, national, or international in scope) The nature of the business is retail electronics. A few of the most notable products that are sold include: computers, MP 3 players, i pods / pads / phones, cell phones, televisions and parts. The business is a national franchise that is taking more of a local focus. 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It is highly competitive with respect to price, value and promotions, service, location, and food quality.   There are a substantial number of restaurant operations that compete for customer traffic, some of which have significantly

Theories of Early Learning Free Essays

This paper consists of early theories of learning and development. It starts out with the basics of learning and development and ends with the theories of a few scientists. The first theory is ACT, introduced by John Anderson. We will write a custom essay sample on Theories of Early Learning or any similar topic only for you Order Now ACT is an acronym for Adaptive Character of Thought. The second theory is The Elaboration Theory, introduced by Charles Reigeluth. Jean Piaget’s Genetic Epistemology appears in this paper, along with the Gestalt Theory, introduced by Max Wertheimer. B. F Skinner’s well known Operant Conditioning is covered. Lastly, but not least, is Albert Bandura’s Social Learning Theory. All of these theories are different, and shows how each individual scientist believes the children in their community learned and developed. Theories of Early Learning People may learn in many different ways. Many scientists have their own thoughts of how children learn, develop, and perceive the world around them. There are a few basic principles to learning that most people and scientists would agree on, though. The first is that a person can learn through the context of what he or she is reading or experiencing (Driscoll, 2006). When a person reads a sentence by itself, it may not make as much sense as it would if it had other sentences around it or if the person knew background information. People will try to make sense of such sentences with other experiences in their lives or understandings they have made about something else that could pertain to the sentence they just read. The conclusions they come up with could be completely different from the true meaning of the sentence. People need other information to make sense of what they are reading and learn what they should be learning. The second principle is that people learn by being active in what they are learning. If a person tells a child something, the child will most likely forget it. If a person shows a child something, the child is more likely to remember it. If a person involves a child, however, the child will understand it (Driscoll, 2006). The third principle is that people learn by working in groups. It tends to be easier for a child to work through something if that child has someone else’s perspective. Different strengths can be brought to the activity because each child has a different point of view and a different thought about what is happening with the activity. The fourth and final principle is that learning is reflective. Students do better the second time a situation is revealed to them if they get feedback from the first time they encountered the situation. If students know they spelled a word wrong on a spelling test, they most likely will not repeat the same mistake (Driscoll, 2006). Scientists have been studying the way they believe children and students learn. A scientist named John Anderson introduced ACT (Kearsley, 2011). ACT suggests that learning comes from three types of memory. The declarative memory stores information that is factual and what the child associated with that information. The procedural memory reminds children of how they behaved to the conditions or actions that they have stored in the declarative memory. The child’s mind thinks that if something happens, there is something specific to be done because of what happened. The working memory is the memory that the child uses every day. In this learning theory, children are generalized, making them use the responses in their procedural memory in other events or experiences. The responses are discriminated, to make them more specialized. The responses are later strengthened, to make it easier for the child to recall them. Research shows that facts are retrieved more easily and quickly if the responses are repeated many times (Cooper, 2009). A scientist known as Charles Reigeluth introduced The Elaboration Theory (Kearsley, 2011). The Elaboration Theory suggests that a child most easily learns a subject if the subject is broken down into smaller subjects that are less complex. This theory suggests that a person must teach a child to add before the child can be taught to multiply because the child must understand that multiplication is adding numerous times. The Elaboration Theory is a step-by-step process (University of South Alabama, 2009). Jean Piaget is a scientist who introduced Genetic Epistemology (Kearsley, 2011). Genetic Epistemology suggests that an infant has specific skills, known as schemas, which guide the child through the child’s environment. An example of a schema is that children know how to pick up their rattle and stick it to their mouth. When a child finds a parent’s watch, that child will transfer the schema to the new object. This is assimilation. When the child finds something too large to fit inside the child’s mouth it will develop a new schema. This is called accommodation. All these actions put together signify adaptation. When a child can adapt to its environment, it is easier for the child to understand it (Boeree, 2006). The next theory is the Gestalt Theory, introduced by Max Wertheimer (Kearsley, 2011). The Gestalt Theory revolves around shapes, patterns, and whole pictures. Wertheimer believed that for people to learn, they must use their brain intensely. He made pictures that were actually two pictures meshed into one. It made the brain of the person look more deeply into the picture to find each picture inside. These activities made it easier for children to problem solve in school (Atherton, 2010). B. F. Skinner introduced Operant Conditioning (Kearsley, 2011). Skinner believed that everything a person learned was from experience. Skinner thought that he could change the way a baby reacted to a rat, and it worked. He showed the baby a rat. The baby played with the rat and did not fear it. When Skinner gave the baby the rat a second time, he produced a loud noise that startled the baby. When Skinner showed the baby the rat once more, the baby was scared of it because the baby had associated the rat with the noise that startled him (Levine, 1999). Albert Bandura proposed the Social Learning Theory (Kearsley, 2011). Bandura thought children learned by observing, imitating, and modeling what other children do. He tested his theory by placing a child in a room alone, with toys and games in the room. He told the child he could play with anything that was in there. When he left the child did not move. Later he sent another child in the room. That child began to play with the toys and the games. When the second child left, the first child began to play with the toys. The first child observed the second, and then imitated his actions (Learning Theories, 2008). Many people have different ideas and perspectives about how people learn, develop, and behave. Everyone is involved with other people. Everyone spends time observing other people. People develop their own thoughts as to why the human race acts the way it does. All these theories are common because they all suggest that people’s environment, peers, and resources are the main contributions to how they learn and understand what is going on around them. References http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/piaget.html http://www.ericdigests.org/2003-3/learn.htm How to cite Theories of Early Learning, Essay examples

Ib Chemistry Ia - Oxidizing Magnesium free essay sample

When a mass of magnesium is burnt in air, it combines with the oxygen molecules to form magnesium oxide. The graph doesn’t completely verify the empirical formula of magnesium oxide. There is a slight difference in the literature value of the empirical formula, MgO and the formula obtained from the graph. There are two points on the graph which do not fit into the trend line at all indicating an error during the procedure of the experiment. The gradient of the graph is 1. 3. The uncertainty calculated from the steepest and least steep lines is EVALUATION: In the graph, there are two points that lie away from the trend line. This might have happened due to human error or a limitation in the experiment. One of the limitations was that the experiment required us to lift the lid of the crucible from time to time to check and see if the reaction was finished. We will write a custom essay sample on Ib Chemistry Ia Oxidizing Magnesium or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page When this was done, it was observed that some white smoke escaped. This was the product, Magnesium Oxide. Any escape of the product would bring about a different set of results. Another limitation was that the crucible was weighed while it was still warm, which caused the product, magnesium oxide to weigh more. Also, the ceramic crucible might have reacted with the magnesium ribbon when exposed to such high amounts of energy. Another drawback was that the magnesium was burnt in air and not in proper oxygen. The magnesium might have reacted with other gases in the air, like nitrogen to magnesium nitride. In the allotted time, there were six different values taken. The time given was sufficient to carry out the whole experiment properly LIMITATION: The magnesium could be completely cleaned with sand paper to remove the layer of magnesium oxide on the surface. This would allow the magnesium to completely react with the oxygen in the air. Also to keep the mass of the magnesium oxide obtained as accurate as possible, we should wait for the crucible to fully cool. Pure oxygen could also be used to oxidize magnesium for better results. A wider range of results should be taken and the experiment could be repeated again in order to get a value similar to the literature value of magnesium oxide. A better method of passing air into the crucible should also be adopted. There should be a change in the structure of the apparatus so that only a little amount of magnesium oxide is lost

How do block/unblock a website using command prompt Essays

How do block/unblock a website using command prompt In Windows XP/ Windows 7 u have must to do Below Steps 1. Click Start->All Programs->Accessories->Command Prompt2. Click Command Prompt This will open a DOS command window. 3. Type: notepad C:/Windows/System32/drivers/etc/hosts 4. Locate the line 127.0.0.1 localhost 5. To block the website google.com for example, just add this text under 127.0.0.1 localhost: 127.0.0.1 google.com 127.0.0.1 www.google.com You can add as many sites any site, However you will need to prefix it with "127.0.0.1". 6. Save the file Google will now be blocked in all web browser. This is an advanced but easy method on how to blow a website. TO UNBLOCK: 1st Trick 1- Open the command prompt 2- Ping the website you want to unblock by typing "ping www.website.com" without the "" 3- Copy the IP next to "Reply From" 4- Paste the IP into your address bar. 2nd Trick 1- Open command prompt and notepad. 2- Write "ping localhost" without the "" into the command prompt. 3- Copy the IP into the notepad file, hit tab and write localhost 4- Ping the website you want to unblock in the command prompt, as in "ping www.website.com" without the "" 5- Copy the IP of the site into the notepad file, hit tab and write the link to the site, without http://, as in "www.google.com" 6- Hit enter and repeat step 5, should look like this 00.00.0.00 localhost 000.000.00.00 www.website.com 000.000.00.00 www.website.com 7- Save the notepad file into your desktop as "host." with the "", if it wont let you just leave it as host. with the "." 8-Go to My Computer>Your Hardrive>WINDOWS>system32>drivers>ect and drag the notepad file into that folder

Top 10 most stressful jobs of 2018

Top 10 most stressful jobs of 2018 All jobs have components that make them stressful- even the ones that don’t seem like very high-stakes occupations. Certain scenarios or times of the year come up and it’s a mad sprint requiring late nights and all hands on deck. Then there are the jobs that just don’t seem to ever let up. Here 10 of the most stressful jobs out there for 2018- based on deadline demands, public scrutiny, required travel, physical risk, physical demands, environmental conditions, hazards, and public interaction. See if any of them call out to you- maybe you crave a life of pressure! Or†¦ maybe a career in a cubicle sounds just lovely to you. It takes all kinds to make up the workforce!1. Enlisted military personnelWith an average salary of $30k, constantly putting your life at risk, all over the world, makes the military one of the most stressful careers out there.2. FirefighterYour job is starting to look pretty cushy, when you consider that for less than $50k a year, on aver age, some people have to run into burning buildings on the regular. And you thought that big project was really making you stressed!3. Airline pilotWith a median income of just about $105K per year, airline pilots are well compensated for the stress of ferrying hundreds upon hundreds of souls around the globe.4. Police officerMaking about $60K per year, just a bit more than a firefighter based on median income, police officers are also under a great deal of stress and risk their lives on a daily basis.5. Event coordinatorEvent coordinators may not risk their  lives or limbs, but they are still the people  left holding the bag when anything- major or minor- goes wrong. If the hors d’oeuvres come out five minutes late- or early- or if the band has the wrong cord to connect their amp, or if there is a typo in the invitations†¦ You name it, they  bear the brunt of the yelling. These aren’t life threatening stakes, but the stress is almost always at a high.6. PR execPublic relations executives are responsible for the reputations and the fame-level of their clients. They don’t just have to manage logistics, they have to manage perception and public opinion. And that takes a lot of nail biting. Especially when their clients do something that requires the putting out of fires (albeit, of course, not literal fires).7. Senior corporate execIf you’ve made it to the top of your company tree, it’s not all big bonuses and stock options. With every rung up the ladder comes a great deal more pressure. And with pressure comes†¦ you guessed it, stress.8. BroadcasterFor a surprisingly low annual median salary of less than $40k per year, a broadcaster is required to clearly and calmly read the news from a teleprompter often riddled with typos. She must be poised and in control at all times, as all of   the action unfolds live. You think public speaking is hard? Try doing it every day on television.9. Newspaper reporterYou wonâ €™t make a lot of money, and you’ll have to run headlong into potentially dangerous or volatile situations to get a story. And once you get it, you have to race to get it published first. On top of that, if you make one mistake you’ll have lost your reputation.10. Taxi driverThis gig is perhaps the least well-paid of the top 10, with a median pay of $24K per year. Taxi drivers have to deal with rude people, drunk people, and people in a rush- not to mention other lunatic drivers, rush hour traffic, accidents, and weather. Plus they’re stuck in a car. Imagine trying to find a parking space in NYC every time you had to pee! It’s also a field that is getting extra pressure from rideshare companies like Uber and Lyft, so being a taxi driver is more stressful than ever these days.

Performance measurement system Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Performance measurement system - Research Paper Example (Franceschini, Galetto, & Maisano, 2007) A statistical model needs to be developed to get results of performance and a full picture can never be measured directly and sometimes observation is the only way of coming to a conclusion about performance and you do not get figures to assess with. The main aim behind a performance management system is to better the performance of an organization. Communicating better in an organization and having a trustful relationship with your peers and bosses is not something that is directly linked to bettering performance than perhaps training individuals but they are indirect measures that will in the long run help to get to the final purpose of the organization. Some reasons to use PMS are to assess how an organization is performing; for this the managers in an organization need to determine what the organization was supposed to achieve. This means that the mission and vision statement of the organization should be clear. For this performance also, data is obtained from not only the observable performance but also the environmental hazards and also looking at the companies the organization had benchmarked itself against and seeing them as a comparative database. Ideally, the organization needs to be using the best practice which is the most efficient and cost effective process even in regards of health, safety and environment. Benchmark could also be the same organizations past and present performance with the same or different processes used. PMS also helps to keep the organization’s functions under control by making sure that managers and subordinates are doing what they are supposed to be doing. Managers do not have the hierarchical control that they used to have before however, taking space into account, they still use certain measures to control their business. Everyone must comply with these

Finance Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Finance - Assignment Example This affects the interest rates. An interest rate is at the very basic the cost money. It’s how much you pay to receive money and how much you earn to sell money. Banks basically help determine the interest rate. While each bank may offer different interest rates to customers, the basic rate or the discount rate is determined by the Central Bank (Mathieu, 1995, p. 64). This is the rate at which the central bank lends to all other banks. And the central bank sets this rate by considering factors such as the demand and supply of money, interest rates, exchange rates, balance of payments and the growth rate. The financial sectors set the interest rate which affects the exchange rate of a currency. A high interest rate means that the currency essentially â€Å"costs† more. It also means that if foreign investors put their money in local accounts they will get higher returns. This is known as hot money inflow. As more investors buy the local currency, the currency appreciates. While high interest rates lead to hot money inflows it also means that the country’s exports are now more expensive for foreigners. This means that if previously an American had to pay $1 for PKR 80, now they might have to pay $80/70 since $1 is now equal to PKR 70 and not PKR 80. This means that if previously an item in Pakistan cost PKR 800, the American had to pay $800/80=$10. But now since PKR has appreciated he has to pay $800/70=$11.43. So it costs him more now and depending on the elasticity of demand, he might buy less or not buy at all. So an appreciation of currency is not necessarily a good thing. On the other hand imports become cheaper. E.g. if a barrel of oil cost $100, a Pakistani importer had to pay PKR 100x80=PKR 8000 per barrel. But now he has to pay PKR 100x70= PKR 7000 per barrel. However as imports increase this can create inflationary pressures in the economy and on the balance of payments. If exports are greater than imports, all things held

Marketing Plan - Echeverry Vodka Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Marketing Plan - Echeverry Vodka - Essay Example The company understands the significance of retaining customers therefore, it will work on the principle that marketing strategy will aim to satisfy its customers by making a reputable name in the market. Mission The Echeverry Vodka mission is to lead the best quality and innovative production of wine in the American market. The company will keep very close and excellent relationships with the consumers to fulfill their needs and requirements. Company will satisfy consumers at any place or time with the best quality product. The Echeverry Vodka will also keep satisfactory profit margins from its business to maintain the company’s growth and financial stability. The vodka company will maintain a friendly and healthy working environment by adding value to the people and implement innovative marketing strategies to strengthen market position by introducing innovative, new, and best quality products in the existing competitive market. Marketing Objectives The marketing objectives for the vodka company that they will follow to maintain its growth and position in the market are: Every month, the company will sustain its positive growth and stability. Each quarter, company will show increasing market penetration. The company will design marketing strategies with huge campaigns for awareness of its product through the trade shows, which will be figured out by the consumer’s responses and feedbacks on quality of the product. The company will use different modes of advertising to market their product through media, home programs and special shows, through direct mails, hotel guides and different charity events. Market Needs To determine the need of market is the most significant management activity for companies because it is useful for making or developing the new product (Morey, Maybury, & Thuraisingham, 2002). The company will provide tasteful wine to its customers and taste of Echeverry Vodka will be different from the competitors wine. Most of the peop le in Virginia are experiencing similar taste of wine therefore, it is the need of the market to introduce new wine different from others, and people will be able to get a different feeling when experiencing that wine. Echeverry Vodka seeks to provide high quality wine to its customer for making them satisfy and enticing them to drink this wine again. Market Analysis and Competitors: Due to the economic downturn of 2008, the Virginia wine industry has seen a decline, because people became hesitant of buying the product for their luxury. Due to this reason, the competitors have cut down their prices because they do not want to lose their market share (Full Glass Research, 2011). However, Echeverry Vodka has decided to launch itself because it is predicted that the wine industry will increase by 11% in the year 2013, and revenues of this industry will increase up to $49 billion. The popularity of mixed drinks is rapidly increasing in the market and consumer’s spending for non-d urable goods has increased more than 6% therefore, company has an opportunity to launch itself at this stage. The main competitors of Echeverry Vodka are Absolut Vodka and Smirnoff because the rates these competitors are offering is similar to the rates of Echeverry Vodka (ABC, 2012). Financial Objective The Financial Objectives that Echeverry Vodka Company will follow are as follows: Every quarter the company

Dyscalculia Wheres The Difficulty Education Essay

Dyscalculia Wheres The Difficulty Education Essay Mathematics is a subject that is challenging for almost every learner, during all the years of education. However, there are a great number of pupils that experience this challenge, in an even worse degree. These learners have to deal with a difficulty called, dyscalculia. Dyscalculia is a specific learning difficulty, which characterises a number of people, who face severe difficulties in mathematics, and it is caused by a combination of biological, environmental and cognitive factors. The focus of this essay, will be on explaining in more detail, two specific difficulties that are related to dyscalculia. These difficulties are, the numerosity difficulties, which are basically difficulties in understanding the most basic principles of mathematics, and the difficulties with number processing and calculation, which are related to the way individuals, process the numbers, in order to make mathematical calculations and solve arithmetical tasks. A new phenomenon has drawn the attention of researchers in the area of learning difficulties, the last few years. This phenomenon is associated to the area of mathematics, and specifically, to the difficulties that learners have in the particular area. A great number of pupils have difficulties in understanding the complex concept of mathematics, something that does not necessarily mean that these difficulties are caused by a learning disability. However, there are several learners that have an extreme difficulty in Mathematics (Reid, 2003, p. 252), a difficulty that is related to a specific type of learning difficulties, which is called dyscalculia. Dyscalculia can be defined as a condition that affects the ability to acquire arithmetical skills. Dyscalculic learners may have difficulty understanding simple number concepts, lack an intuitive grasp of numbers, and have problems learning number facts and procedures. Even if they produce a correct answer or use a correct method, they may do so mechanically and without confidence (DfES, 2001). In other words, learners, that are dyscalculic, may have difficulties, not only in the procedures that are important in solving a maths problem, but also they may have difficulties in understanding the basic notions of mathematics, such as what does the magnitude of a number represents or what the maths symbols signify. Therefore, the difficulties that dyscalculic learners face, in the area of mathematics, can be rightly considered as more severe than the difficulties that pupils, who dont have a specific learning difficulty, face in maths. Regarding the causes of dyscalculia, there seems to be a variety of biological, environmental and cognitive factors that lead to this learning difficulty. In particular, a study by Shalev et al. (2001) revealed, that children, who have siblings with dyscalculia, are at a very high risk of becoming dyscalculic, in comparison with the general population. This study supports the idea that was firstly introduced by Kosc (1974), which proposes that dyscalculia is related to genetic factors. This idea is also supported, by a research with monozygotic and dizygotic twins, which revealed a percentage of 58% and 39% respectively, between the siblings, in the emergence of dyscalculia (Alarcon et al., 1997). In addition to this, there also seem to be some differences between dyscalculic individuals and individuals who dont have a difficulty in maths, in the way their brain functions, during mathematical procedures (Shalev and Gross Tsur, 2001). According to several researchers (Levin et al., 1996; Levy, Levy Reis and Grafman, 1999), who studied the brain activity of two dyscalculic adults during arithmetic processing (Shalev and Gross Tsur, 2001, p. 339), there seems to be a unilateral activation of the frontal and parietal areas of the left hemisphere of the brain and also a deficiency in the parietotemporal region of the specific brain hemisphere, in dyscalculic individuals. On the contrary, individuals, who dont have a specific learning difficulty, during mathematical procedures, have a bilateral activity on their prefrontal and inferior parietal cortices (Rueckert et al., 1996 in Shalev and Gross Tsur, 2001, p. 339) rather than a unilateral activation. One cannot be sure though ho w accurate is this fact about dyscalculic individuals, because the studies, that took place in order to examine the brain differences of dyscalculic individuals in comparison with the general population, had a sample of only two people with dyscalculia, who were adults. This small sample may not be very representative of the dyscalculic population in general, and therefore the suggestion that there are differences in the brain activity of dyscalculic individuals, in comparison with individuals without maths difficulties, during mathematical procedures, may not be factual and may need further examination. Furthermore, there are several researchers, who dont believe that dyscalculia, is a learning difficulty that has a biological basis. They consider a number of environmental factors to be more accurate in explaining the nature of dyscalculia (Shalev and Gross Tsur, 2001). Specifically, they believe that factors, like not having the opportunity for a proper education (Miller and Mercer, 1997; Gifford, 2005) or not being confident about your mathematical skills (Gifford, 2005), is the reason why several learners have dyscalculia. However, one cannot be absolutely sure that the difficulties, an individual has in maths, because of these factors, could truly cause dyscalculia or if they just characterise an average person, who has several difficulties in maths which can be reduced by improving these factors. Maybe further research, which will examine if dyscalculia stays persistent even after improving these factors, could solve this reflection. Another environmental factor, which may lead to dyscalculia, is the anxiety that is generated to the learner, because of maths (Ashcraft, 1995). According to Ashcraft (1995), maths anxiety can cause dyscalculia, because learners with this type of anxiety tend to feel really nervous when they have to deal with maths, something that makes them to do mathematical calculations really quickly. Therefore, the learners, because of their hastiness in making mathematic tasks, they may have low performance and inaccurate results in mathematics, something that could be considered as dyscalculia or it could make the situation for a dyscalculic learner even worse (Ashcraft, 1995). Also, maths anxiety could lead to low self confidence. Still, it is more possible that maths anxiety worsens and not causes dyscalculia or math difficulties in general, because if dyscalculic learners are forced to make arithmetical procedures hastily, then they probably will make more mistakes or they wont be able to solve a maths problem at all, because of the pressure they might feel. Furthermore, maths anxiety is something that all students and not only dyscalculic students may experience at some point, as a result of the complex nature of mathematics, and therefore its causal role for dyscalculia is questionable. Overall, one may assume that maths anxiety is not necessarily a causal factor for dyscalculia, but it is a characteristic that a dyscalculic learner could present. Regarding the cognitive factors that are responsible for dyscalculia, there seems to be a belief that a dysfunction on the visuospatial abilities or the verbal and auditory comprehension abilities, of an individual, can cause dyscalculia, as well as other cognitive disabilities (Rourke, 1993). In addition, several other researchers (Geary, 1993; Koontz and Berch, 1996) believe that problems with the working memory, can also lead to dyscalculia, because it affects the effort of learners in performing mathematical procedures. According to a research by Temple and Sherwood (2002) though, children with dyscalculia didnt have any differences in comparison with children without dyscalculia, in any of the tasks that measured their working memory, and also a correlation between the working memory and the arithmetic ability measures, was not found. Therefore, it is not certain if working memory difficulties have a causal role in dyscalculia or if they appear at the same time with the difficul ties that are linked to dyscalculia (Butterworth, 2005). Overall, a combination of all the factors, that are considered to play a causal role in the development of dyscalculia, may clarify in a better way the concept of dyscalculia. This is because, dyscalculia seems to be a disability that is more possible to be generated by a great number of factors, just like dyslexia (Frith, 1997), rather than by only one, and therefore, it could be better understood if it was seen as whole. That is, to be seen from all the aspects that could generate it, rather than from one aspect only. A better understanding of dyscalculia may also arise by examining the difficulties that are linked to it, and not only be examining the causes of it. Specifically, there appear to be several difficulties that can be identified on dyscalculic learners, difficulties, which in a way, are connected with each other. These difficulties have to do, with the way learners comprehend mathematics from their simplest form to their most complicated one. In particular, they have difficulties with understanding arithmetical concepts, like the numerosity of a number that refers to understanding the magnitude of a number, with the processing of mathematical facts and the calculation of them, which refers to how a learner processes the numbers and the maths symbols that he sees in order to solve a task, and also with difficulties that may be associated with other learning difficulties, such as dyslexia and ADHD, because of the high co morbidity there is between dyscalculia and these two learning difficulties (Shalev and Gross Tsur, 2001; von Aster and Shalev, 2007). For example, in the case of co existence of dyscalculia and dyslexia, the learner has maths difficulties that are related to language, such as reading mathematical problems and solving maths exercises following the correct sequence (Reid, 2003; Bennett, 2006). In the case of dyscalculia and ADHD, a possible difficulty that a learner may have, is not being able to finish a maths task, because of the lack of concentration he may present, something that usually characterises learners with ADHD. This difficulty may also be present to dyslexic learners as well, because of the high co morbidity there is between dyslexia and ADHD, and therefore a learner may have dyscalculia, dyslexia and ADHD concurrently (von Aster and Shalev, 2007). From this, one can assume that there are four categories of dyscalculic learners; learners with dyscalculia alone, learners with dyscalculia and dyslexia, learners with dyscalculia and ADHD, and learners with dyscalculia, dyslexia and ADHD. Even though the issue of the difficulties that a learner may present, because of the co morbidity between dyscalculia and these two other specific learning difficulties, seems to be really exciting and interesting, this essay will focus on the difficulties that characterise learners with dyscalculia alone. Specifically, it will focus on the difficulties that dyscalculic learners have with numerosity, number processing and calculation of mathematical procedures, rather than on the difficulties that result from this co morbidity. In particular, the first difficulty mentioned above, which is numerosity, refers to the abstract form of numbers, which reveals their magnitude (Butterworth, 2005), and it should be the first thing that learners should learn, in order to be able to understand mathematics. As Butterworth (2005, p. 3) indicated, numerosity can be the basis of arithmetic. The numerosity refers to an abstract type of numbers, because it is possible for numbers to be arranged in different sets that can be represented by different parts, which may have abstract or concrete substance, like straws, sticks, sounds etc. (Butterworth, 2005, p. 3). In addition, when several parts are being put in a specific set to form a number, something that represents the numerosity of this set, the learners can easily understand them, in comparison when they see these parts (e.g. dots on dice) in a different order (Mandler and Shebo, 1982). Therefore, numerosity is significant in learning and understanding the numbers, and w hat these numbers represent, especially when it is presented in specific groups. According to Butterworth (1999), there are four principles that a learner should follow in order to comprehend what numerosity is. Firstly, he must know the one to one correspondence principle (Butterworth, 1999 in Butterworth, 2005, p. 4), which refers to the ability of a learner to recognise when the numerosity of two sets of numbers is the same, by examining the parts of each set which must correspond to each other (Butterworth, 2005). In other words, in order for two sets to have the same numerosity, they must be constituted by exactly the same number of parts. Secondly, it is important for the learner to understand that numerosity is a variable and not a fixed concept and that different sets may have different or the same numerosity. Thirdly, the learner must have in mind that numerosity can be abstract, and therefore the sets may be represented not only by concrete things but by invisible, abstract things (Butterworth, 1999 in Butterworth, 2005, p. 4) as well. Finally, it is i mportant for a learner to be able to identify numerosities of sets of four objects the most, without needing to count them verbally. One can suppose that these principles are truly essential in order for a learner to be able to understand the complex meaning of numerosity, because in fact, these principles compose the concept of numerosity. Therefore, by being able to comprehend these aspects, a learner will be able to understand numerosity as well. Regarding the abilities that a learner must have, in order to have an appropriate understanding of numerosity, Piaget (1952) talked about three basic abilities. The ability to reason transitively, the ability to understand the stability of the number of items in a set, and the ability to recognise the abstract nature of the items that form a set despite their personal characteristics, like their colour or shape (Piaget, 1952 in Butterworth, 2005, p. 4). Specifically, the first ability refers to logical calculations that a learner can make, after examining several facts. For example, if there are three items, from which the two have the same size and the third is smaller, then the learner must be in position to identify that the third item will be smaller not only from the first item, but from the second item as well. The second skill that should characterise a learner, in order to possess the idea of numerosity, is to know that the number of items in a set will not change if there is a modification in their sequence, except if an item is removed or added to the set. The third ability, is relevant to the suggestion made by Butterworth (2005) regarding the abstract character of numerosity and also the one to one correspondence principle, because it has to do with the fact that the characteristics of the items of a set cannot affect its numerosity, and therefore it is possible, two sets that are structured by different items, to have the same numerosity. The principles, mentioned by Butterworth (2005), and the abilities, mentioned by Piaget (1952), about the comprehension of the concept of numerosity, may be affected in dyscalculic children, because these children have already problems in understanding the general idea of numerosity (Butterworth, 2005). Specifically, children with dyscalculia seem to have difficulties in comparing the magnitudes of several numbers (Geary, Hamson and Hoard, 2000) and also in counting tasks (Koontz and Berch, 1996), something that could lead to the conclusion, that these children have numerosity difficulties, as numerosity is the basis of this type of abilities. Regarding the counting skill, in order for a child to be able to count, he must firstly know the counting words, then he must connect each counting word with only one object, and finally he must have the awareness that, the last counting word he says, is the total number of all the things in a group that he counted, something that basically is the numerosity of the group (Butterworth, 2005). These three characteristics represent the three principles, which were suggested by Gelman and Gallistel (1978) to be essential for the ability to count, and they are called, the stable order principle, the one to one principle and the cardinal principle, respectively (Gelman and Gallistel, 1978 in Butterworth, 2005, p. 7). Two other principles were indicated by Gelman and Gallistel (1978 in Butterworth, 2005, p. 7) as well, which are the abstractness and the order irrelevance, and refer to the ability to recognise the abstract nature of numbers, something which was noticed by Piaget (1952) as well, and the awareness that the order, in which a learner starts to count the items in a group, is not important, as long as he counts each item only once. The principles indicated by Gelman and Gallistel (1978), depend on the principles of numerosity and therefore, in order for a learner to encompass these principles, he must first encompass the idea of numerosity (Butterworth, 2005) A dyscalculic learner may have difficulties with counting, because as it was noticed by Geary (1993) and Koontz and Berch (1996), dyscalculic children may have several difficulties with their working memory, and therefore they will find it difficult to count a large amount of objects. This is because, they probably wont be able to maintain in their memory the number of the items that they have already counted, in order to count the rest of them and therefore to find the total number of the items. This difficulty seems to be associated with the third principle, which was indicated by Gelman and Gallistel (1978), because if a learner is not able to remember the items that he counted until one point, he may then consider as the last number of a set, which will represent the total of the items as well, an incorrect number. In addition, sequential and visuospatial difficulties (Bennett, 2006; Rourke, 1993), that usually characterise dyscalculic learners, may also affect a dyscalculic lear ners skill to count, because he may find it difficult to count an item only once, following the one to one principle (Gelman and Gallistel, 1978 in Butterworth, 2005, p. 7), because of the confusion he may have about the sequence of the items. Therefore, one can assume that this kind of difficulties, affect not only the ability of a dyscalculic learner to count, but his knowledge about numerosities as well, as numerosity is essential for counting. These particular difficulties, can lead to the appearance of other maths difficulties as well. These difficulties have to do with the number processing and calculation abilities. According to McCloskey, Caramazza and Basili (1985, p. 173), the number processing skills, have to do with the ability of a learner to understand and produce numbers, and the calculation skills, refer to the facts and procedures that are necessary in making mathematical calculations. In particular, McCloskey et al. (1985, p. 173) referred to two different systems that are related to these skills, which are the number processing system and the calculation system. The number processing system, is composed by two subsystems, the number comprehension subsystem, and the number production subsystem (McCloskey et al., 1985, p. 174). These subsystems include two units, the Arabic numbers unit and the verbal numbers unit, which have to do with the appearance in which the numbers are presented, either in digit or in oral / written form correspondingly. Each of these units is divided into a lexical processing and a syntactic processing element (McCloskey et al., 1985, p. 173). These two elements are associated to the ability, to recognise each part of a number (lexical processing) and to the ability to recognise, according to its elements, the specific number (syntactic processing). For example, if the number 516 is presented to a learner, either in Arabic or verbal form, he must be able to recognise the meaning of each number of the set, something that has to do with the lexical element, and to understand that, with this order, the specific numbe r, will have five hundreds, one tens and six units, a procedure that depends on the syntactic element (McCloskey et al., 1985). Dyscalculic learners may present difficulties on one of the subsystems of the number processing system and consequently, on one of the units or the elements that these two subsystems include. Specifically, a research by Benson and Denckla (1969) with one dyscalculic individual, revealed a difficulty in the production of numbers of both forms and in the lexical processing of numbers, whereas the individuals comprehension and syntactic processing components, were fine. In addition, McCloskey et al. (1985) noticed in two dyscalculic individuals, that one of them had difficulties in distinguishing the magnitude of two numbers when those numbers were presented verbally, and the other individual had difficulties when the numbers were presented digitally. Even though the difficulties indicated by Benson and Denckla (1969) and McCloskey et al. (1985) are difficulties that a person could notice in dyscalculic learners, one cannot be sure about the reliability of the results of the specific studies, because the sample they used was really small and because the studies took place several years ago, and consequently the particular results, may not be adequate for today. However, some of these difficulties, like in the case were the individual had to compare two numbers about their magnitude, seem to be associated to the concept of numerosity mentioned above, and therefore these difficulties, may be sufficient in characterising dyscalculic learners. Regarding the calculation system that was indicated by McCloskey et al. (1985), it is constituted by three units and it depends in some point on the number processing system. These three units, work independently from each other, and have to do, with the way the maths symbols, or words, are processed, with the arithmetic facts, and with the calculation procedures (McCloskey et al., 1985, p. 179). The first unit refers to the ability of a person to understand what calculation he must do, in relation to the maths symbol or word that is presented to him (McCloskey et al., 1985). For example, when a person sees the symbol x or hears the word multiply, he knows that the operation he must do, is multiplication. However, a dyscalculic learner may confuse the arithmetic symbols and, even though he may know the right answer, he may answer incorrectly. Something similar happens when the arithmetic symbols are presented with words, but with the difference that when maths problems are related to language, there is a belief by several researchers (Reid, 2003; Bennett, 2006) that these problems are more associated to maths dyslexia rather than to dyscalculia, and therefore this suggestion is more related to the co existence of dyscalculia and dyslexia, rather than to dyscalculia itself. Overall, difficulties with the arithmetic symbols or words may be generated by visuospatial (Rourke, 19 93) or language difficulties (Reid, 2003; Bennett, 2006) that sometimes characterise dyscalculic learners, thus dyscalculia can be characterised by difficulties with the operational symbols as well. The second unit is related to the ability of an individual to maintain and retrieve from his long term memory, the correct answers of specific mathematical facts (McCloskey et al., 1985). An example of arithmetic facts, is the knowledge of a learner about the times tables. This unit is independent from the first one, because a learner may have difficulties in recognising the operational symbol, but his answer may be correct when another symbol is used, or he may do the right operation but retrieve the incorrect arithmetical fact. For example, Ferro and Botelho (1980), noticed in a dyscalculic learner, that instead of adding two numbers when she saw the symbol +, like for example 9 + 2, she multiplied them and answered 18 instead of 11. In addition, McCloskey et al. (1985) observed that a dyscalculic individual couldnt retrieve the correct answer in a case of multiplication, even though he understood the concept of multiplication adequately. Several dyscalculic learners may face diff iculties in learning or in retrieving arithmetical facts (Russell and Ginsburg, 1984; Kirby and Becker, 1988; Geary, 1993; Temple, 1994; Ginsburg, 1997; Jordan and Montani, 1997; Geary and Hoard, 2001; Shalev and Gross Tsur, 2001), and a reason for this may be the fact, that some dyscalculic individuals have difficulties with their working memory (Geary, 1993) or with their long term memory, as well (Reid, 2003). This, may limit the ability of a learner to maintain or to retrieve a mathematical fact from his long term memory, and therefore to cause him difficulties that characterise dyscalculia. The third unit of the calculation system refers to the abilities that learners have in making mathematical calculations (McCloskey et al., 1985). These abilities are related to the way learners comprehend and learn the procedures of executing math calculations, something that in dyscalculic learners is usually impaired (McCloskey et al., 1985; Temple, 1994; Butterworth, 2005). For example, dyscalculics may have difficulties in completing procedures in which they have to carry a number, whilst doing a maths operation, because of the fact that they may put the number on the wrong place, something that leads to wrong calculations. Also, they may have difficulties with procedures, in which they must do two different mathematical operations at the same time. Both of these difficulties, may be the result of sequential difficulties (Bennett, 2006), or again of memory difficulties (Geary, 1993; Reid, 2003), that are considered to be related to dyscalculia, and therefore dyscalculics may face this kind of difficulties, as well. The specific model for number processing and calculation abilities, even though it was created several years ago, is in general lines, sufficient in explaining this type of abilities, in relation to dyscalculia. In addition, the aspects described in the model, seem to be have a common ground with the numerosity, described above, regarding the causes of the difficulties that dyscalculics may present. Therefore, one can assume that similar methods can be used, in order to help a dyscalculic learner to limit his difficulties with numerosity and with number processing and calculation abilities. Specifically, several researchers suggest that multi sensory methods (Bennett, 2006) in combination with the learners learning styles (Chinn, 2001; Marolda and Davidson, 2000; Sharma, 1989) can be vital in teaching and helping dyscalculic learners. This is because, by focusing on the way that an individual learns the best, one can help this individual to grasp the concepts of numerosity and of nu mber processing and calculation, in the greatest extent, and by using multi sensory methods, he will make the learning for the individual to be fun, less stressing and more motivating. With this way, the learner will probably feel more confident, and therefore more determined to improve his difficulties in mathematics. In conclusion, dyscalculia is a very recent issue in the area of learning difficulties, and

Attempting to Cheat Fate :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Would it ever seem reasonable for a winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature to be associated with a king who murders his father and procreates with his mother? It is possible because of one quotation by the 1921 Nobel Prize Literature winner Anatole France, that he is connected to the notorious king Oedipus from Sophocles’ famous play, ‘Oedipus Rex’. â€Å"It is only human nature to think wisely and act foolishly† (Anatole France) best exemplifies the theme in Sophocles’ ‘Oedipus Rex’: fate cannot be cheated nor altered. It is human to try and change fate, which is a foolish act because it is impossible to do. This can be seen in many aspects of the play including the context and characters of the story and the hubris of the royal family; Jocasta, Lauis and Oedipus. Within each of these components many different literary devices can be used to further explain how the theme of the story relates to the quote by Anatole France.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   A prime example can be seen in the 2nd Episode where Oedipus confesses everything to Jocasta from the prophecy to the incident when he killed a man similar to Lauis’ description. The parts of his monologue that best illustrate changing fate and being foolish are when Oedipus says, â€Å" And so unknown to mother and father I set out for Delphi†¦he [the oracle] flashed before my eyes a future great with pain, terror†¦I can hear him cry, ‘You are fated to couple with your mother†¦you will kill your father, the man who gave you life!’ I heard all that and ran†¦Now, Jocasta, I will tell you all. Making my way toward this triple crossroad I began to see a herald, then a brace of colts drawing a wagon, and mounted on the bench†¦a man, just as you’ve described him†¦I strike him in anger! †¦ I killed them all- every mother’s son!† This exemplifies the statement that trying to change fate is fooli sh because in attempting to avoid his awful destiny, he kills his own father. One might argue that this is not a well thought out example because Oedipus had no idea that one of the men he killed on the crossroads was his father. On the other hand, Oedipus did not have to kill anyone; he let his anger control him. This in turn always leads a person to tragedy. Descriptive diction is used to enhance the episode because in ancient Greek theatre, imagination was the only outlet for visual depictions of the most gruesome of scenes.

Declaration of Independence from Ap Homework

When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one student to dissolve the burden of excessive and unnecessary work, and to assume, among the powers of the earth to which the laws of nature entitle them, the right to freedom of arbitrary busy work requires that they should state the reasons which impel them to the dissolution. We hold these truths to be apparent: that students are expected by the law and society to attend school in order to prepare them for the world and their future careers. That school they are expected to complete the work assigned to them. That the work assigned in school is intended to better the students in their study of that particular subject. But when this work that is intended to be beneficial is so excessive that it is actually detrimental, it is the right and the duty of the students to speak out and declare this flaw in the school system. Such has been the patient sufferance of students afflicted by the homework assigned in AP classes. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world. It has caused me to lose countless hours of sleep, therefore causing me to be less attentive, preventing me from reaching my full potential in school, which it exactly what it is meant not to do. It has disregarded the fact that I have many other stresses weighing on me and deliberately adds to it tremendously. It has deprived me of the majority of my free time outside of school. It has prevented me from completing the entirety of my homework almost every single day, affecting my grades and my overall GPA. It has forced me to care more about the minimum amount of work I need to complete than the actual subject itself. It has kept me from completing the tasks I am responsible for at home. A system that is the cause of all these consequences listed is not a pragmatic system, and therefore the students have a right to demand change for the well-being of their future. We call attention to the teachers who assign such homework. We have countless times pleaded for teachers to decrease the amount of homework they assign, with valid reasons for doing so. Yet they disregard us and assign excessive and unnecessary homework. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of rationality. Therefore, until there is change, we the students declare complete separation from AP homework, and the teachers that assign it as well. We, therefore, the representatives of the future of our world, the students, by the authority of the right to our own future, declare the complete and total dissolution of excessive and unnecessary AP homework. We the students have the right to the freedom of such work by the fact that we determine the future and we have a duty to protect it.

The Beatles2 essays

The Beatles2 essays There has been more books published about one 20th-century icon than any other, this band that is said to have broken down barriers in all ways, is the Beatles. Their music was said to have driven that younger generation mad. Perhaps it was because they were one of the first bands ever play real rock and roll music. Or maybe it was just because they were foreigners in the world of music, yet seemed to fit right in with the young people. Whatever reason was, the Beatles were a band that shaped a generation and ones soon to come. The Beatles were more than just a rock and roll band, they were a group of young men who wanted to go a new direction in music. John Lennon, one of lead vocalists, basically started with the intention of moving away from the "Skiffle Boom Era" which was dominating the time (Buskin 110). In his doing so, he began to lay the foundation for what would later be the most famous rock band ever. The original band members were as follows : John Lennon, vocals and guitar ; Paul McCartney, vocals ; George Harrison, guitar ; Pete Best, drums ; Stuart In March of 1961, the Beatles began to play at the club that would later be nicknamed "The Home of the Beatles". The Cavern Club, which's premises comprised a small group of cellars below a seven story warehouse which had originally been used as an air raid shelter during the war. Later, Alan Sytner, a jazz fan decided to open it up as a new jazz club. After a few years, he sold it to Ray McFall another jazz fan. The club was originally strictly jazz and no rock. Luckily for the Beatles, the times were changing and McFall quickly changed the policy the Beatles soon became regulars. This would be the club that would make them famous.(Davies 78) News of the band's Liverpool popularity soon became know throughout England and later a large part of Europe. Shortly after their first tour of Hamburg, ...

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Deconstruction of a Kerrang Double Page Spread Essays Deconstruction of a Kerrang Double Page Spread Essay Deconstruction of a Kerrang Double Page Spread Essay There is only one image on this double page spread, which is of Oli Sykes from the band Bring Me The Horizon , and it takes up only one page, the left side, of the spread. The camera shot shows the singer from just above the waist sitting at a reflective table. He is wearing what I presume to be a black jacket with a white top. The image has been shot in black and white so it gives the effect that this interview is a formal, serious one and it takes up one whole page of the double page spread. There is nothing bright on both pages so the whiteness of his top really stands out.Oli s expression is serious and his lips are slightly pursed. You can see on the table that he s sitting at, a wine glass but it has been blurred so that the reader automatically focuses on him. The lighting looks as though its coming from a the left of him as there are shadows on the right side of his face. Use of Layout: Each page of Kerrang! is just shorter than an A4 page. There is a little dead space on this double page spread and there are three columns that take up just over half of the right page. The page is text-led as the interview takes up more space.The only pull-out quote from the interview acts as the title and is in bold, white font. The subheading is yellow and all of the text is on a black background so that it stands out. The limited colour palette mainly consists of 3 colours, black, white and grey, but there is the odd splash of yellow text. Again, the whole interview has been placed on a black background because the text is mainly white and small, so this makes it easier to be read. On this double page spread there are 3 different fonts. The title of the interview ir and the star instead of actually being between the interviewer and interviewee.The caption used to anchor the main image is Facing the Future which is appropriate as Oli feels as though his bands reputation, as well as his own, will change after what has happened. There are quite a few screamers within the interview as he makes argues his point to the interviewer and the reader. The sentences aren t really that long but they re not short either. There have been 11 questions asked in the interview but only 5 of them have been answered with 1 to 4 word sentences. The average paragraph in the interview is about 6 or 7 sentences long.The sentence construction is compound, not too simple and not too hard to understand even though the subject is a complicated one. Brand Identity: The magazines brand identity is about rock music and anything related. News Articles such as this one wouldn t be shown on world wide news like the BBC. In the music industry, rock star incidents aren t really that important to broadcast on TV whereas news such as Britney Spears losing custody of her children is, because of the fact that she s more famous and more people know who she is.The target audience of this article must consist of people who are actually interested in the band Bring Me The Horizon , the true fans and those who idolise Oli Sykes for his musical talent and character. I think that if someone who didn t know who this band was or the lead singer, picked up this issue of Kerrang! and read this article, they would quickly misjudge him for what he was accused of doing and stereotype every other person in rock to be a trouble maker.

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Reserach utilization project proposal - Research Paper Example With more nurses opting to work elsewhere, newly graduate nurses are absorbed readily in hospital institutions. Ironically, they account for higher turnover events, in a rate of 35% to 60%, compared with senior nurses (Weng, Huang, Tsai, Chang, & Lin, 2010). As new nurses are fresh from school room settings, they need to cope with â€Å"issues of...organizational structure, and group work that may be new to them† (Santucci, 2004, p. 274). Due to lack of professional confidence and excessive work pressures, 30% leave their posts a year after entering the job (Lavoie-Tremblay, Lecler, Marchionni, & Drevniok, 2010). Despite excessive occupational stress, nurses in transition still seek work stability through promotion of â€Å"autonomy and...collegiality among nurse peers† (Altier & Krsek, 2006, p. 70). Yet, older and younger generations of nurses are conflicted by varying work ethics, compounding problems on personnel retention. Thus, occupational pressures and intragener ational conflicts are plausible sources job dissatisfaction and shift in careers -- accounting for higher turnovers in nurses. As shortages continue, serious implications are observed. There is said to be a direct correlation between higher number of patient load with the risk of client death--with 7% increment in probability of death in surgical wards. Quality care is greatly reduced with unequal nurse-patient ratio. Mediocre services mean lower admissions, reducing profits and financially straining institutional operation. Not only are nurses placed at critical professional points, their actions threaten lives of clients, and discredit reputation of affiliated institutions; these manifest severe outcomes of nursing shortage on overall condition of citizens dependent on effective and reliable health provisions--in strict societal terms. In remedy, addressing crucial aspects of job satisfaction in work environment can serve profound effect in health care organizations. Prior to this, a

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Renault-Nissan Strategic Analysis - Case Study Example Statement of Problem The strategic alliance that was signed in 1999 between Renault and Nissan saw the formation of our company. The company has managed to enjoy economies of scale and this has made significant contributions in our company becoming competitive in the market for cars and spare parts. However, our company has been recording poor financial results and this has led to the raising of concerns by shareholders and potential investors (Ramaswamy, 2009, p. 3). Analysis 1. SWOT Analysis The rationale behind the use of SWOT analysis was to identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats relative to our company. The analysis on strengths and weaknesses was to identify the internal factors of the company whereas the analysis on threats and opportunities was aimed at identifying the external conditions that influence the performance of the business. Strengths refer to the factors that have enabled the company create competitive advantages in the market whereas the weaknesses refer to the factors that hinder the company from making progress (Ramaswamy, 2009, p. 11). On the other hand, opportunities factors that our company may explore to remain competitive and threats represent the factors that may hinder the company from recording positive performances. ... Europe and North America account for more than 60 percent of the market share for motor vehicles whereas Asia accounts for 21 percent. Our company also enjoys a diverse management team that consists of managers from both Nissan and Renault. The strategic alliance has also proven to be instrumental in driving sales and enhancing economies of scales that allow the company to operate at efficient levels. The company Chief Executive Officer has vast experience in the motor industry and has managed to record positive results in almost all of his former positions including Michelin. The company has been recording increasing sales from its subsidiary, Nissan. b. Weakness Nissan has been facing quality problems in its Ohio plant and this has created a bad publicity for the company. The company has also been recording fading profits since 2007 and this was compounded by the fact that the company has been missing its sales targets since 2009 (Ramaswamy, 2009, p. 9). Nissan has also recorded a decrease in its operating margins with its domestic market recording reductions in sales levels. Generally, the company has lost a significant share of the market. In the case of Renault, we have not managed to improve our product line which has led to the ageing of the product line. We also have poor human resource management structures that have led to the company facing increasing demands from unions. c. Opportunity There is a market gap for the production of hybrid vehicles that are environment friendly. In recent times, there has been an increase in the price of fuel and gas hence creating demand for fuel efficient vehicles. Market statistics indicate that the common influencing factor on consumer purchases in fuel efficiency. An increasing number of

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BHS 420 Mod 1 CBT (Quantitative Reasoning) - Essay Example 52). I agree with this statement and feel that it is important to learn critical thinking. Secondly, I would like to learn to understand the research process whereby accurate data can be obtained to support or disprove any particular hypothesis. Finally, I think that the ability to combine both qualitative and quantitative processes to achieve the answer to a research question is a superior approach. While both methods have their independent strengths, I believe that they are best used in combination to balance the data and increase understanding of the results. From a personal standpoint, i.e., outside of my professional career, I think that the knowledge gained from this course will allow me to perceive aspects in my daily life with a more accurate view because I will be constantly thinking about why events have happened. I will be considering possible explanations and will be equipped to analyze the information I encounter in a logical and reasonable manner; and I think this is applicable to all aspects of life. In writing about sports statistics, Guthrie (1994) stated that people â€Å"who are otherwise averse to quantitative reasoning will often become expert analysts when the subject being analyzed is of interest to them. A statistical argument presented in a context of ones experience is far more likely to be retained than one presented in the context of a hypothetical situation† (p. 1064). I think this validates my perception that critical thinking is not solely for professionals; it has application across all spectrums of hu man experience. History has revealed many people who have been considered geniuses in their field such as Beethoven in music or Earnest Hemingway in literature. Many of these individuals, however, were also known to suffer from manic-depression or what today is called Bipolar disorder. The health-related research

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The story 0f Mice and Men by John Steinbeck Essay The story 0f Mice and Men was written by John Steinbeck and set in America in the late 1920s early 1930s, in California near Soledad. The story is based around migrant workers in California usually male with no roots a very solitary existence. Migrant workers life was hard. It was gruelling, challenging, and often unrewarding. Just as George and Lennie dream of a better life on their own farm, the other migrant farm workers dreamed of finding a better life in California. The states mild climate promised a longer growing season and, with soil favourable to a wider range of crops. Very few found it to be the land of opportunity and land of plenty which they dreamed about. Steinbeck s themes within this story are loneliness and relationships, the migrant workers usually travel alone moving from job to job as season and circumstances dictated an almost thankless existence having no place to call their own or families to go home too. Most of the characters admit, at one time or another, to having a deep sense of loneliness and isolation. . George sets the tone for these confessions on page 15 Guys like us, that work on the ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no family. They dont belong no place. When he reminds Lennie that the life of a ranch hand is the loneliest of lives. Men like George and Lennie who migrate from farm to farm rarely have anyone to look to for companionship and protection. Each wishes for the comfort of a friend or a partner or lover, but many will have settled for a stranger rather than no one.. Curleys wife admits to Lennie that she is unhappily married on page 87 , and Crooks tells Lennie that life is no good without a companion to turn to in times of confusion and need on page 72 he say A guy goes nuts if he aint got nobody. Dont make no difference who the guy is, longs hes with you. They are all helpless in their isolation, and yet, even at their weakest, they seek to destroy those who are even weaker than they. Crooks shows this cruel and nasty tendency when he criticizes Lennies dependence on George and their dream of the homestead, their farm where they can work or not work just as they please, be their own boss. Having just admitted his own vulnerabilities-he is a black man with a crooked back who longs for companionship-Crooks homes in on Lennies own weaknesses, I think this mainly was to make him feel better and less of a failure somehow. Being alone and lonely and pushed out has made him bitter and mean in some ways. Everybody needs some kind of relationship, someone to call their own in some way whether it is a platonic, sexual or for instance a relationship between man and pet. This makes the difference between merely surviving and thriving and flourishing everyone needs some form of love and care in their lives. Candy had a relationship with his dog, George with Lennie, Curley with his wife but still Curly and his wifes relationship is pretty dysfunctional, there is no comradeship between them no love or trust no affection. Candy is keeping his dog alive for purely selfish reasons so that he isnt left alone even though the dog is old infirmed, in pain, unable to eat, and Lennie and Georges relationship is not an equal relationship either. Since Lennie cannot offer an equal adult relationship he needs a father figure, a caretaker where as George needs a friend a mate as such. The main characters in the book are George Milton and Lennie Small. George has a much stronger character hes portrayed as more of a smaller wiry type of man strong fit body and a quick thinker, lives by his wits almost, which comes across on pages 23-24 when he is talking to the boss he lies about distanced walked saying We hadda walk 10 miles to cover them not arriving until late when they only walked 4 miles and they had arrived at the pool the night before. He is short-tempered but a devoted friend, whose frequent protests against life with Lennie never weakens his commitment to protecting his friend. George at some point early on in their relationship used to abuse and make Lennie a laughing stock and seems to be atoning for his sins ever since. He mentions his earlier bad treatment of Lennie on pages (40-41) telling Slim Funny said George. I used to have a hell of a lot of fun with im. Used to play jokes on im cause he was too dumb to take care of imself He did this because it Made me seem so god damn smart alongside of himP41. So George definitely is no angel and can be petty and nasty as much as the next person, but he genuinely cares for Lennie. Georges first words, a stern warning to Lennie not to drink so much lest he get sick on page 5, set the tone of their relationship. George may be snappy and impatient at times, but he never strays from protecting Lennie. Lennie is a large, lumbering, childlike migrant worker. A huge bear of a man in looks, A huge man, shapeless of face, with large, pale eyes, with wide, sloping shoulders; (p2). Steinbeck thinks Lennie is quite animalistic in his looks and ways comparing him to a bear when he was swishing his hand in the water as if it was a paw on page 4 then a horse on page 4 also when he is drinking water and later he is likened to a terrier on page 10 who doesnt want to bring a ball back to his Master. Due to his learning disabilities, Lennie completely depends upon George, his friend and travelling companion, for guidance and protection. Lennie nevertheless does not understand his own strength. His love of petting soft things, such as small animals, dresses, and peoples hair, leads to disaster. Lennie is very childlike; he has a naà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ve childlike innocence usually found in the very young which is shown in his utter helplessness in the face of the events that unfold. Lennie is totally defenceless. He cannot avoid the dangers presented by Curley, Curleys wife, or the world at large. The two men share a vision of a farm that they will own together, a vision that Lennie believes in wholeheartedly. Despite his hardened, sometimes harsh exterior George also wants to believes in the story of their future farm that he tells and retells to Lennie, but I think deep down he knows it all just a dream. He longs for the day when he can enjoy the freedom to leave work and see a ball game. More important than a ball game, however, is the thought of living in safety and comfort with Lennie, free from the people like Curley and Curleys wife, who seem to exist only to cause trouble for them. Lennie is largely responsible for Georges belief in this safe haven, George needs to feel needed too and that he has somebody close to him. Lennie gives George a purpose to carry on. In their relationship they are both intensely loyal to one another, dangerously so in Lennies part as he could harm someone because of his obsession with George and his need for him to be around, George is more like the protector, the father figure, he pretends hes put out by it but he knows exactly how lonely his life would be without Lennie, Lennie also knows this, the way he tried to manipulate George when he got angry over the mouse shows this. Lennie being there stops George living the life the way other ranch hands do, he points this out in anger at Lennie when he was whinging about ketchup on page 12 saying If I was alone I could live so easy, I could go get a job an work, an no trouble But later feels guilty because he knows Lennie would never manage to live alone without him to watch his back and care for him. They both need each other for their own various reasons Lennie needs George as a protector, father figure, carer and George needs Lennie because he needs someone to care for, someone to be there in a sense to step in for the absence of family, making Lennie his family, he is Georges reason for not going out getting drunk and going to whore houses he keeps him a step above the rest. This relationship fulfils their immediate needs for companionship, they both need someone else there on the long lonely road they travel for work, and through life but the relationship can never be equal or enough since Lennies intelligence cannot match Georges he would hardly get intelligent stimulating conversation from Lennie, Lennie couldnt look after George if the need arose and where as George would survive without Lennie albeit a lot lonelier, Lennie could never survive without George. George would then just be a plain old ranch hand like the rest without Lennie and the need to keep him safe and out of harms way. George would eventually need someone else in his life to provide what Lennie cant but I dont think Lennie would have the same problem since he would always need a father figure to protect him and care for him and his needs. If they went their separate ways George would drink, go to the whore houses with the rest of them and spend his $50 at the end of the month; he would end up with no hopes and dreams with no one else beside him to help keep them alive, just another lost and lonely soul existing from day to day. Lennie on the other hand would end up in an institute at best or hounded and lynched eventually at the worst, he couldnt survive without George, he doesnt even have the basic survival skills to keep him alive. He would pet someone or something he shouldnt and be lynched for it, people didnt understand simple learning disabilities in those days, feeling it was better to lock them away out of harms way or sight than actually dealing with the problem at hand. There just wasnt the care and attention given to people with learning disabilities in the 1920 1930s people didnt want to know, was much easier if they pretended they didnt exist or where got rid of in the institutes. The other person in the novel to have an alleged caring relationship is Candy The old swamper, aging and left with only one hand as the result of an accident, worries that the boss will soon decide he is useless and demand that he leave the ranch. Candy has a dog, once an impressive sheep herder but now toothless, foul smelling, and rheumatic through age. He was very proud of his dog, it was The best damn sheepdog I ever seen page 45. The dog just shuffles through the day barely existing too ill to eat even, yet, Candy still keeps him alive when it would be a kindness to have had him put down years ago and spared the dog the pain and suffering he now felt. It is a needful relationship in as much as the dog needs caring for and feeding etc and Candy needs something or someone in his life and in this case the dog is it, the dog can hear whatever Candy says but cannot have a conversation with him, he can nuzzle Candy and follow him around offering what form of love and attention a dog c an, but he cannot substitute for another human being. By the time we meet Candys dog in the story it is purely selfishness on Candys part that has kept the dog alive and I think fright, Candy is scared to be utterly alone and in that the dog is better than nobody. Candy needed people this showed in his eagerness to become part of George and Lennies dream they way he tried to buy himself in, in a way not daring to rely on a blossoming friendship between them, he was hedging his bets knowing money might swing things his way. Making it quicker for them to realise their dream as well. Candy seems to be ignoring the fact that you cannot buy friendship, they are generally built up over time and experiences together, but he is a weak lonely old man frightened of his future or lack of one and he thinks investing his lifesavings to secure him a future and friends into the bargain. On page 59 he says I aint much good with ony one hand. I lost my hand right here on this ranch. Thats why they give me a job swampin. An they give me two hundred an fifty dollars cause I los my hand. Then he proceeds to ask if he could come in with them by trying to bribe them with his lifesavings. Candy is too weak to put his dog down and out of his misery, to offer his faithful companion even this last final kindness, so Carlson has to do it, Carlson comes across almost heartless and devoid of feeling when he does this, Candy seems to shrink in on himself feeling very sad lying in his bunk turning his face away from prying eyes. On the other hand Carlson may seem cruel and heartless but I think in his own strange way he was doing a kindness based on selfishness in a way, he couldnt stand the sight or smell of the old dog, but a kindness non the less, since no one else was willing to put the old dog out of his misery. It was the right action but for all the wrong reasons. The bosss son, Curley wears high-heeled boots to distinguish himself from the field hands. Rumoured to be a champion prize-fighter (p54), he is a confrontational, nasty minded and aggressive man who compensates for his smallness of body and mind by picking fights with larger men. Recently married, Curley is plagued with jealousy perhaps because he himself is incapable of faithfulness and doesnt really love or know his wife, she is more of a trophy to him, and he is extremely possessive of his flirtatious young wife. Curleys wife is never given a name and is only referred to in reference to her husband. The men on the farm refer to her as a tramp, a tart, and a looloo.(P51) Dressed in fancy, feathered red shoes, she represents the temptation of female sexuality in a male-dominated world. Curleys wife is not a bad person, but rather a victim. Like the ranch-hands, she is desperately lonely and has broken dreams of a better life. It seems to me that Steinbeck comes across with the opini on woman are just there to serve men and are devious temptresses. Neither trusts each other and Curly has no respect for her, telling the other ranch hands about their sex life. Curlys wife confronts Lennie, Candy, and Crooks in the stable, she admits to feeling a kind frustration with her life. Her vulnerability at this moment and later when she admits to Lennie her dream of becoming a movie star makes her much more human not just a hussy in red shoes. Shes just a young girl married too early to a man she doesnt even like let alone love she tells this to Lennie on p87 when she tells him of her dreams of the movies, and Hollywood and her dislike of Curly and his nasty ways. Perhaps she felt she didnt have any other way out, but marriage to this stranger, she felt trapped at home by her mother and totally unhappy with her life and simply jumped out of the fat straight into the fire since her relationship with Curly just wasnt in anyway what she dreamed marriage would be like. In the 1930s there was not a lot of work offered to woman and single woman didnt have the same social standing as married women, many may have felt it was better to be married and married to anyone than being on their own and struggling to survive, women didnt have the resources they now have, and where never encouraged to feel on equal terms to men as they are now.. I think Steinbeck also tries to depict woman as low, flighty people corrupting men with their sexuality, they where either merely caretakers of men there just too look after them or sexual objects, not human beings in their own rights. Steinbeck had nothing nice to say about this girl, when really she is just a poor misguided young girl, who thought marriage would be the answers to her prayers, and that she would have a handsome attentive young husband, when in reality she got the aggressive nasty bully whom no one really liked, and whom she found she didnt like either. I think she was flirtatious because she needed company and since there was just men on the ranch she flirted, probably not knowing how to have any other kind of relationship with a man, and too young to work out that if she had just been friendly without flirting she might have made a few friends, that is if Curlys jealousy allowed it. Although the men think it is wrong of her to flaunt herself sexually and flirt, the men all visit a whorehouse for sexual gratification and momentary companionship. Another lonely character was Crooks the stable buck. Crooks is an even lonelier character than Candy, because not only is he a cripple, like Candy, but he is also black. Most of the men have a lot of prejudice against Crooks, referring to him with derogatory terms such as nigger. And because he is a different colour, he has to stay in a room on his own. Crooks is yet another victim of the times. We are told by Candy that the Boss takes his anger out on Crooks, though Crooks does nothing wrong. And Candy also relates an incident in the past when one of the ranch hands picked a fight with Crooks. It is to Crooks credit that he won the fight, although the other man did have his feet tied. He is very lonely and bitter, Lennie seemingly unaware of the politics of daily living for black people tries to go in Crooks room(p67) and make friends and chat with him , he doesnt realise that white people in the 1930s didnt integrate with black people in their leisure time as they looked down on them. On page 68 Crook says They play cards in there, but I cant play because I am black. They say I stink. Well, I tell you, you all of you stink to me. This goes right over Lennies head he just doesnt get the point. Lennie just wants to chat and make friends. Crooks tries to rile him saying Well spose, jus spose he dont come back page 71-72, he was trying to frighten Lennie and it nearly backfired, it shows Lennie becoming dangerously quiet and centred when he thinks George might be in any sort of danger when George is all Lennie has in the world and he doesnt want to lose him, his loyalty to George could prove fatal to someone else. Crooks was so desperate for a relationship anybody would do on page 78 he says A guy goes nuts if he aint got nobody. Dont make no difference who the guy is, longs hes with you. Crooks realises being friendless and having nobody leaves people lonely and embittered, he says on page 72 I tell ya a guy gets too lonely an he gets sick. I think Crooks wants more than anything else a sense of belonging, to enjoy simple pleasures such as the right to enter the bunkhouse or to play cards with the other men. This desire would explain why, even though he has reason to doubt George and Lennies talk about the farm that they want to own, Crooks cannot help but ask if there might be room for him to come along and hoe in the garden. On page 76 he offers to work for nothing even just to be allowed in. Anything it seems would be better than the loneliness of his present life, until Curlys wife comes in and in promptly makes him feel his place in the world yet again, bursting his bubble his notion of just being a man amongst men instead of a black man. Carlson a ranch hand, who complains bitterly about Candys old, smelly dog. He convinces Candy to put the dog out of its misery. Carlson says he wont be causing the animal any suffering. Carlson comes across quite heartless. If something or someone isnt useful get rid of it, everything has to have a function. He has a lack of concern for other peoples feelings and doesnt take time to understand them. He is an insensitive person who cares nothing for others. Carlson is the type of man George hopes to avoid becoming. The death of Candys dog testifies to the shameless and pitiful way by which the strong attack and eliminate the weak. Candys dog, although no longer useful at corralling sheep, is of great importance to the old swamper. Candys emotional attachment to the dog is clear. Despite this, allowing the animal to live out its days is not an option in this cruel environment. Carlson insists that the animals frailty makes it unworthy of such devotion. The most comfort he can offer is to assure Candy that he will kill the dog mercifully and quickly. Carlson has no attachments to anyone or anything and possibly feels happy enough without them, I think he sees emotional attachment as a weakness he can do without. Even at the end after George shoots Lennie Carlson cannot understand what all the fuss is about, why George should be upset in anyway, George had put down Lennie like he Carlson had put down the dog both animal and man as useless as each other in Carlsons eyes. None of the relationships in the book seem complete and fully functional. Nearly all of the characters in Of Mice and Men are disempowered in some way. Whether because of a physical or mental handicap, age, class, race, or gender, almost everyone finds themselves outside the structures of social power, and each suffers because of it. All seem lacking in some way. Lennie cannot offer George all he will need from a relationship although George probably offers Lennie all and more. Candy is too old and disillusioned with life, and his loneliness and fright of the future, to be much use in a relationship, and Curly is to into himself and proving himself a big man to ever have a proper fulfilling relation, his own insecurities would forever mess up a relationship. Curleys wife is too young and has the selfishness of youth, and is unable to cope with the likes of Curly she needed an uncomplicated young man really who would love and idolise her how she needs to loved. After Lennie killed Curleys wife, George was faced with a terrible choice, let Curley find Lennie and kill him, or kill Lennie himself. Unlike Candy, he will not let someone else shoot his best friend. He would not subject his best friend to unnecessary fear anxiety and pain. George does what he has to do, in his own way, the act of killing Lennie himself, is doing Lennie a kindness, putting him down, the lesser of the two evils, since if Curley got hold of him it would be horrendous. When George suggests they find Lennie and lock him up instead of shooting him, Slim has to remind George how terrible it would be if Lennie were locked in a cage, or strapped to a bed. Like the painful life of Candys arthritic sheepdog, life in prison or an asylum would be no better for Lennie. Just as Candy had to realize that his sheepdog would be better off dead than alive, so did George with Lennie. George by killing Lennie surrendered his dream for survival Slims sympathetic response is best showing his understanding. Slim is the only one who does not seem to need a fantasy to shield him from the harsh realities of the world. His skill at his work and mastery of the ranch bring him peace and contentment, these emotions and feelings are unknown to his fellow ranch hands. . Slim is both respected and admired. Everyone looks for his approval, even Curley, who seems to have contempt for everyone else on the ranch. The others give into Slim because his word is the law. He is the voice of reason and understanding, and he consoles George after he has killed Lennie. Slim is the kind of man that George hopes to become one day. I think Slim has more chance of a normal relationship if he ever has one since hes the only one at peace with himself and his life. Of Mice and Men is about the struggle of the weak in society and loneliness in or out of a relationship. Loneliness is an inevitable fact of life that not even the strongest can avoid, Crooks, Candy and Curleys wife all suffer through loneliness and isolation and lack of a viable relationship. George and Lennie are unique in that they have each other. Their companionship contrasts the loneliness that surrounds them, the loneliness of the outcast black man, the loneliness of the scarlet woman, the loneliness of the old, helpless crippled swamper. People need relationships even though it is difficult keeping a good relationship going since no two people are the same or have the exact same thoughts and beliefs. To keep a relationship flourishing you must have things in common, you must be able to disagree or agree without fear of the relationship ending, you must be caring of one another and respect each other, and some people do not have the social skills to keep a relationship fruitful. Quite often a person suffering through isolation will forever be trying to fulfil a friendship like Candy trying to become part of the dream with Lennie and George; he was trying to buy into a relationship. I do not think Steinbeck had a high regard for woman either, I think that was a sign of the times though and the era they lived in, woman had a place and that was to serve man. Curleys wife was in a relationship yet was the loneliest of all, she was married yet still was alone, still felt unloved and unwanted, and thats why she flirted to ease her hurting. I think Steinbeck had a very bleak view of relationships and woman in general, all the relationships seemed dysfunctional. People were made to live in society and it a natural instinct to seek friendship and companionship. When they find it, they are content within themselves. Friendship and interaction are two very necessary things; we all need them to combat loneliness.