Loneliness and outsiders Essay

An outsider like crippled Crooks has no one to protect him, all he has is his American Civil Law book which defends his rights as a individual living in the U. S. A and seems to give him a certain comfort knowing that not anyone can argue against his tattered old book. Just as all of his feelings are exposed, Curley’s wife threatens him and once again, he withdraws himself back to the liniment which seems to be the only thing in the world that makes Crooks feels better, even if he is ostracised from the rest. Curley’s wife is one of the most significant characters to the novel because she shows loneliness on different levels. Because of being married to Curley she has a high status in the ranch, but this is exactly why she has no one but herself. Workers are afraid of getting too close to her in case innocent talking turns into more which could cost them their jobs†¦ or even lives. Nevertheless she is led to seek solace with the other men even if they are at the bottom of the social hierarchy on the ranch. And due to all the isolation, the only way to get noticed by the other men is to be a charmer, but this is what makes her so misunderstood. She expresses her true feelings about what could have been to Lennie while he sits on the hay and absorbs absolutely nothing but reflects on the poor little pup that he unintentionally killed. Curley’s wife reminisces about how she could have been a Hollywood star and had all the superficial items that so many celebrities buy. Throughout her time on the ranch she has always thought her mother was the reason why Hollywood never became a reality for her, she said, ‘I never got that letter, I always thought my old lady stole it. So I married Curley. ‘ This was her dream while on the ranch and like so many others, it shows how much of an outsider and a gullible person she was. In her life there had always been dominant figures like her mother and then Curley. So she has no real idea about how to be autonomous and become more of an independent woman. It could be said that she doesn’t know how to interact correctly with people, persistently asking sympathetic rhetorical questions and also being very manipulative and discerning. These virtues are what make Curley’s wife such a great character, she has no official name but is possibly one of the most complex characters to depict. Lennie is a simple person, mentally and literally. No one actually understands what he is saying most of the time because the ranch workers have never seen anyone so perplexed and bewildered as he. Without George he would be lost in life, Lennie relies on him to eat and to get him out of trouble whenever it’s needed most. Even though he blows arguments out of proportion by saying things like, ‘I wouldn’t eat no ketchup if it was right here beside me’ although he really does want the ketchup and is just playing on his own innocence. In one perspective Lennie is quite clever because if there is an opportunity where he can get George to take pity on him, then he will take it, but the majority of the time he is just retarded through no fault of his own. In the book sometimes Lennie is compared to an animal, like when he didn’t want to give the mouse to George but then handed it over and started to sulk, ‘Slowly, like a terrier who doesn’t want to bring a ball back to its master, Lennie approached. ‘ And another time was when he was walking along the dusty road with George, ‘He walked heavily, dragging his feet a little, the way a bear drags his paws. ‘ Steinbeck chooses to describe him as an animal to symbolise the title, ‘Of Mice and Men’, maybe Lennie is the mouse and George is the man or the other way round. That’s how Lennie is an outsider, because he’s an amoral animal who doesn’t know his own strength, which is sometimes practical, but when he handles creatures and humans too ruthlessly, he does not know when to stop and that is when the exertion begins for George and Lennie. Lennie and George stick together through thick and thin, even when times get complicated, George seems to find a way out for the pair of them. ‘Circular narrative’ is when something happens in a story and after a while it occurs again. Throughout the novel Lennie repeats phrases and quotes to George that they have already talked about previously, like the whole ketchup scenario, tending the rabbits, owning and living off the fat of the land etc. This shows that Lennie knows George so well that he assumes all there is to talk about is rabbits and land. That is what makes him a lonesome man because all the conversation is about the same thing and whatever he wants to talk about. All the characters in ‘Of Mice and Men’ go through a form of loneliness and a feeling of not belonging. At times they can be self-centred which is mainly when two characters are in discussion which each other but not paying attention to the other. Maybe this is one of the reasons that loneliness strikes them, as they do not listen and are all wrapped up in their own impenetrable worlds. But this is what makes the book ‘Of Mice and Men’ so fascinating to read, all the people have their own problems and dreams because they all share the strong emotions of loneliness and individuality, and even though they may think that they are all diverse, the audience can grasp that each person is more and more like the other.

Homosexuality: Disorder or Innate

Is homosexuality an innate, normal sexual orientation or something one becomes through life’s trials? Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Francis Bacon, Herman Melville and Fredrick the Great all had one thing common, other than their famous personas. Every one of these men were homosexuals. In today’s society, homosexuality has grown to be labeled as a â€Å"sin† and/or something that one chooses to be rather born with.From religious leaders to medical doctors, homosexuality is thought to be a â€Å"disease† in society. Many even believe that homosexuality is a sexual orientation caused by how one was raised. I, on the other hand, believe otherwise. I believe that sexual orientation, or more specifically homosexuality, is something one is born with and not a disorder or choice. Charles Socarides, M. D. founder of NARTH (National Association for Research & Therapy of homosexuality wrote: By declaring a condition [homosexuality] a ‘non-condition,' a group of practitioners had removed it from our list of serious psychosexual disorders. The action was all the more remarkable when one considers that it involved the out-of-hand and peremptory disregard and dismissal not only of hundreds of psychiatric and psychoanalytic research papers and reports, but also of a number of other serious studies by groups of psychiatrists, psychologists, and educators over the past seventy years†¦In essence, this movement within the American Psychiatric Association has accomplished what every other society, with rare exceptions, would have trembled to tamper with–a revision of a basic code and concept of life and biology; that men and women normally mate with the opposite sex and not with each other. (Socradies) More generally, Dr. Socarides believes that for the medical world to remove homosexuality from the list of mental disorders is astounding. He believes that there is something mentally wrong with humans that prefer same sex partner s.I, on the other hand, believe sexual orientation is something one is born with, or is innate. The APA, American Psychological Association, agrees that homosexuality is not a mental disorder and has made revisions in their way of thought and practices. The APA states on its website â€Å"Psychologists, psychiatrists and other mental health professionals agree that homosexuality is not an illness, mental disorder or an emotional problem. Over 35 years of objective, well-designed scientific research has shown that homosexuality, in and [of] itself, is not associated with mental disorders or emotional or social problems.When researchers examined data about these people who were not in therapy, the idea that homosexuality was a mental illness was quickly found to be untrue† (American Psychiatric Association). Ruling out the belief, that homosexuality is not a disorder can help by not having to seek â€Å"treatment† because it is curable. However, this leads some to think that if it homosexuality isn’t due to a disorder it must be the parents who raise them that way. The opposing viewpoint generally believes that children raised by lesbian co-parents should and do seem to grow up more open to homoerotic relationships.This may be partly due to genetic and family socialization processes. Judith Stacey, Ph. D. agrees with this notion. In a 2001 article Stacey stated, â€Å"The sexual orientation of parents appears to have a unique (although not large) effect on children in the politically sensitive domain of sexuality. The evidence, while scanty and under analyzed, hints that parental sexual orientation is positively associated with the possibility that children will be more likely to attain a similar orientation-and theory and common sense also support such a view† (Stacey PhD). I disagree with Ms. Stacey.The gender identity of preadolescent children raised by lesbian mothers has been found consistently to be in line with their biological gender. None of more than 500 children studied have shown evidence of gender-identity confusion, wished to be the other gender, or consistently engaged in cross-gender behavior. No differences have been found in the toy, game, activity, dress, or friendship preferences of boys or girls who had lesbian mothers, compared with those who had heterosexual mothers. James G. Pawelski, M. D. supports my viewpoint. Using data from a national sample of adolescents, Dr.Pawelski finds â€Å"no difference on the basis of whether the parents were the same or different genders in the proportion of adolescents who reported having had sexual intercourse, nor was a difference found in the number who reported having a ‘romantic relationship' within the past 18 months† [ (Pawelski MD) ]. Agreeing with this view and observation may bring less scrutiny about same-sex couples adopting and/or raising a child. Unfortunately, it doesn’t help with the people who believe homosexuality is a result of same-sex sexual abuse. There is no universal definition of child sexual abuse. However, a central haracteristic of any abuse is the dominant position of an adult that allows him or her to force or coerce a child into sexual activity. Child sexual abuse is not solely restricted to physical contact; such abuse could include non-contact abuse, such as exposure, voyeurism, and child pornography. Timothy J. Dailey, Ph. D. , wrote that â€Å"[M]en who sexually molest boys all too often lead their victims into homosexuality and pedophilia. The evidence indicates that a high percentage of homosexuals and pedophiles were themselves sexually abused as children† [ (Dailey PhD) ]. This situation has been occurring in the Catholic Church lately.Many male priests are molesting young children, most of them being male themselves. To hold Dr. Dailey’s theory/assumption to be truth may add more controversy to this already intense situation. It also may cause people to further assume that just being raised by a male can â€Å"turn† someone gay. However, I do not agree with Dr. Dailey’s assumption and neither does the American Psychiatric Association who stated in a May 2000 website fact sheet that â€Å"[N]o specific psychosocial or family dynamic cause for homosexuality has been identified, including histories of childhood sexual abuse.Sexual abuse does not appear to be more prevalent in children who grow up to identify as gay, lesbian, or bisexual, than in children who identify as heterosexual† [ (American Psychiatric Association) ]. Just because some adults who were molested as children are gay, does not mean that the molestation was the cause of the sexual orientation. As, the American Psychiatric Association found, there are no more cases of children being gay after being molested by the same-sex then the cases of children who are heterosexual. It is incorrect to assume that homosexuality is something that life situations make o ccur.This brings us to the last major â€Å"excuse† for being homosexual which arises from various religious beliefs. Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam and Judaism are all religions that have negative views on homosexuality, but the one that speaks the loudest against it is Christianity, or more specifically the Catholic Church. Many Christians believe that homosexual activity is inherently sinful, irrespective of the relationship between the two persons. Many biblical passages condemn all forms of homosexual behaviors, using inclusive terms such as â€Å"sodomite† or â€Å"homosexual. â€Å". Same-sex practices are uniquely offensive to God.After all, God destroyed Sodom and its inhabitants because of their homosexual activity. All the men in the town wanted to have homosexual sex with the visiting angels. Homosexual behavior is one of a small group of behaviors that will prevent a person from attaining salvation and going to heaven. 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 says that â€Å"â € ¦ neither†¦ effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind†¦ shall inherit the kingdom of God. † Other English translators substitute the term â€Å"homosexuals† here. Christians believe and were taught to believe that homosexuality is something that is chosen; an act against God and his law.Where the Bible mentions homosexual behavior at all, it clearly condemns it. I freely grant that. The issue is precisely whether that Biblical judgment is correct. The Bible sanctioned slavery as well and nowhere attacked it as unjust. Are we prepared to argue today that slavery is biblically justified? If you are a heterosexual†¦ can you explain why you are attracted to the opposite sex? Being a heterosexual, I can say that the first thing that comes to mind when asked that question is that it is just a feeling. It is hard to explain but I just have a drive towards males.However, what if the social norm was different? What if the social norm was to be homosex ual and people were scolding you for â€Å"choosing† to be heterosexual? Do you think being heterosexual is something you just â€Å"decided† to be one day? Most, if not all, heterosexuals would answer â€Å"No, I was born straight†. Well, then why is it so hard to grasp that homosexuals are born with the drive to be homosexual innately? If we can be heterosexual at birth, why can they not be homosexual at birth? Society and Religion has branded our minds to think that homosexuality is a chosen path†¦ I disagree.I did not â€Å"choose† to be â€Å"straight†; therefore, I do not and cannot believe that homosexuals â€Å"choose† to be gay. To join my belief means that one agrees that they themselves were born with their own drive for the opposite or same sex. Homosexuality is not a â€Å"disorder†. Homosexuality is not the affect of a prior incident in life. Homosexuality is not a preference that one day someone woke up and said, à ¢â‚¬Å"Hey I feel like being different so I am going to be gay. † As funny as that sounds, it is how many heterosexuals think about homosexuality; that it was something one just chose to be one day to â€Å"rebel†, like getting a tattoo or a piercing.Society and Religion have made their own assumptions about homosexuality because it is not a norm. Today’s world is afraid of anything different. People hate change and fear it. Thus, many come up with wild stories and assumptions to explain things that are different and normally they are not good ones. Being â€Å"gay† or â€Å"lesbian† is different from what society tells us to be, but why does that mean that it is something we chose to be or just become? I was born with an attraction to the opposite-sex. Many, if not all, heterosexuals can and would claim the same thing.So why is it so hard to believe that statement if the word â€Å"homosexual† replaced â€Å"heterosexual†? Does it not make sense? Do not be afraid of difference. Do not be ignorant. Be open and accepting that some people’s sexual orientation is homosexual just as you may be open to the belief that there are people that are heterosexual.

The federal reserve system Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The federal reserve system - Essay Example The Federal Reserve, or the central bank, is among the most powerful economic institution in the United States of America. The Federal Reserve was given the power over regulation of the value of money by congress. In simple terms, the Federal Reserve came into being by enactment of the Congress. Consequently, the Congress has the obligation of overseeing the monetary policy and the Federal Reserve. This paper analyzes the importance of the Federal Reserve and strategy in stabilizing the economy of the country. The Fed System consists of a board of Directors, 12 regional bank branches in major US cities, and the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), the decision making unit of the Fed (Wells 19). The functions of the Fed are vital to the economy of the US as they play a major role in management aggregate demand, total spending, and most importantly, inflation. In the management of aggregate demand, the Fed applies relatively accurate counter-cyclical monetary policy to manage economic activities or aggregate demand. This translates to the essence of monetary policy in the business cycle; the recessions and booms are direct effects of monetary policy set in place. Ultimately, the stability economic activities depend on the stability of the monetary policies. The monetary policy upheld by the Fed also determines the inflation rate in the country. The government at times uses inflation to increase tax revenues thus reducing its debts. On the negative side, inflation disrupts the price system, thus affecting the free market economy. From these deductions, the lasting solution to inflation is stabilizing prices. This can be made one of the monetary policies of FOMC by the Congress. Another important role played by the Fed is that of being the lender of last resort. During crises, the Fed may increase the reserve or liquidity demand requirements thus automatically preventing liquidity shortages and stabilizing the economy. These liquidity reserves need to be adequate and available in economic crises. The Fed also influences the interest rates of major economic sector like automobiles, investments, and housing. The Fed, through its Federal open Market Committee (FOMC) unit, controls the economy of the nation through its monetary policy. Monetary policy is the strategy of either decreasing or increasing the supply of money to enhance a stable growth of the economy. The Fed, with the authority installed upon it in the Monetary Control Act of 1980, may influence the economy through its three main tools; reserve requirements, open market operation or interest rates (Wells 4). On the reserve requirement, the Fed may impose a reserve requirement ratio that is either lower or higher than the prevailing ratio, depending on the nature of the crisis. This rule applies to all the operational banks regardless of their membership to the Fed. An increase in the reserve ratio requirement decreases the supply of money in the economy, and vice versa. To understan d this concept, let us assume that the Fed has imposed a 10% reserve requirement on banks. This translates to 10% of all deposits made. Some calculations translate to ten times the amount of money created, or in general, 1/R, where R is the reserve requirement ratio. Since the banks require only 10% of the amount deposited by their clients for reserve, the actual deposit equals 10% of the number of loans the bank can create. Therefore, the number of total loans a bank can create equals to the actual deposit divided by the reserve requirement. The reserve requirement ratio is very powerful tool, and has only been used twenty two times in a period of 40 years. Nevertheless, the reserve ratio has been maintained at 50% since 1974. The discount rate is also biased by the FOMC for stability of the economy. Discount window is an economical term that refers to the Feds when it lends out money to banks, and the interest rate is known as the discount rate (as the banks turned assets in excha nge for cash). For

West High School in Denver, Colorado Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

West High School in Denver, Colorado - Essay Example West High School or New Denver West High School Home of the Cowboys was pioneered by Owen J. Goldrick. His school opened in 1859 in a log cabin with 13 students. West High School was organized in 1883 and in January, 1884 moved to Colfax Ave.West High School in Denver, Colorado Abstract â€Å"We turn dreams into futures.† This is the motto of the Denver High School, the topic of my research. I went to Denver West High School and examined the school’s environment, teachers, students, and academic and extra-curricular flow of activities. I went to Mr. Jorge Loera, principal Denver West High School and asked permission to visit and observed at least three classes to feature in my essay. Mr. Loera gave me the class of Ms. Anderson, Mr. Clymo, and Ms. Headrick. West Denver High School was described in general and in three specific classes. The feature includes Denver West High School’s history, academic programs, the qualities of the teachers’ selected and clas s interaction, and the students’ viewpoint. The teacher-parent-students’ relationship were also discussed as West Denver High School includes parents in the child’s learning. Brief History West High School or New Denver West High School Home of the Cowboys was pioneered by Owen J. Goldrick. His school opened in 1859 in a log cabin with 13 students. West High School was organized in 1883 and in January, 1884 moved to a wonderful new building on Colfax Ave. and Mariposa St. called the Franklin School. For years, the name of Franklin School and West High School were synonymous. On June 13, 1884, at 2:00PM, Charles McDonough, Effie Hallam, Lelia Williams, Frances Brandt, Laura Duccy, and Morrison Stillwell became the first graduates of West High School. On a cold January morning in 1926, 1000 students and teachers said "goodbye" to their school of 33 years and marched from 5th and Fox to the new West High School at 9th and Elati. After 83 years, it is still the Home of the Cowboys. The Academic Program Denver’s West High School serves grades 9-12 in the Denver Country 1 School District. The school is dedicated to the academic success of the student. West High School creates partnership with parents in building the character and academic performance of the students. Math, Language Arts, Science, Social Studies, World Languages, Fine Arts, Music, Physical Education, and Career Technical Education are the subjects being taught in Denver West High School. The only teachers in Career Technical Education are Mr. Clayton, Ms. Pegues, and Mr. Mascarenas. Math subject focuses on Algebra, Geometry, Probability and Statistics, and Pre-calculus. English program entails American Hispanic, British, and World Literature, and College Preparation Reading and Writing. Science covers the topic related to Advance Placement Biology, Chemistry, Earth Science, and Physics. Social studies include topics such as Advance Placement Government and United States Hi story, Civics, Psychology, Geography, Hispanic History and Student Council. World Languages that are being taught by teachers are German, French, and Spanish. Fine Arts offered activities related to Band, Computer Arts, Video/Film Production, Chorus, Dance, Photography, Ceramics/Sculpture, Drawing/Painting, and Theater/Drama. Academic Calendar Plan for Music, Physical Education, and Career Technical Education are not yet available so related subjects/topics under this academic program were not yet posted. The extra-curricular activity that this school is best known for is Radio/Video/Multimedia. Extra-curricular activities are heavily encouraged by the school and most of the students are involved in the activity. West High School also offers programs for children with learning differences or disabilities. The administration, as well as the teachers makes sure that every student are aware of the academic program and calendar to inform the students and the parents about the subjects b eing taught everyday in the class. Based on GreatSchool’s Rating Criteria, Denver High School has 1 out of 10 rating criteria. The GreatSchool rating criteria is based on the comparison of test results in different states. The school also has an average Community Rating of 3 out of 5 stars, based on reviews from 20 school community members. The Teachers There is 1

Discuss the main causes and effects of gun crime in the USA Essay - 3

Discuss the main causes and effects of gun crime in the USA - Essay Example Given that it is a constitutional right to protect one’s self from harm and attacks, many citizens take advantage of these factors to assault others (Boseley, 2013). In this case, many criminals use guns in their activities, knowing the constitutional frameworks are in place to protect them against receiving serious jail terms because of the atrocities they perform. In addition to the need for self-defense, the large number of civilian gun holders in the country also explains the reason why many gun crimes exist in the U.S. The notion according to the creators of this act was that more guns available in the country would translate into less numbers or incidents of crime in that country. Private gun holders often use their emotional distress to carry out crimes, hence questioning the necessity of private gun holders in the presence of a tight police service. The current gun control laws in the United States make it easier for people to acquire, own, and carry firearms (Spano & Bolland, 2010). These laws specify the role of the firearm as to protect the holder. However, this exposes the citizens who do not have firearms, as they are subject to constant threat and manipulation from their partners who have licenses to hold guns. In addition to this, the gun related cases are handled at the state courts, which have softer penalties for the perpetrators of gun violence. Such penalties do not stifle the act of crime using guns, instead instigating criminals to use guns more in their operations. The existence of drug lords and drug cartels in the United States leads to the rise in various vicious gangs that sell or traffic drugs across the borders. The increased intake of drugs in the USA indicates more business for the drug cartels, which often compete to attract more customers (Gius, 2014). These competitions have made the demand for guns in the US very high, with many

Trend analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Trend analysis - Essay Example After that period, they secured a merger with Twentieth Century Pictures which was established by Joseph Schenck and Darryl F. Zanuck in the year of 1933. The merger took place in 1935 which resulted in the formation of Twentieth Century Fox. 20th Century Fox Film Corporation is an established name in motion picture industry. It has established itself as one of the major company in their industry not only in America but also throughout the world. The main products of the company are films and television production oriented work. In the early period i.e. in late 1930s as well as in 1940s of the establishment of the company, their business model concentrated mainly on producing westerns, religious epics, screen featured biographies, and also musical films. In the early period of their business endeavor, they attached themselves mainly with quite a few of the then famous directors like John Ford, e.g. well recognized films like ‘The Grapes of Wrath (1940)’. From then on, they went on producing quite a few important and landmark films in the subsequent years. They were the first to bring in innovation in their business model by bringing in cinemascope. Cinemascope is a mechanism which helped pictures to be proje cted on screen at a ratio of two and a half times wider than normal. Their business environment was always been quite competitive in nature. They have been a pioneer in quite a few new innovations in their business environment and business model like cinemascope. The Robe in 1953 was companies’ inaugural wide screen viewable feature film. Thus, they were the trendsetter in the utilization of wide screen as a method of displaying films in the theatres featuring motion pictures. Twentieth Century Fox can be credited with the fact that they were the studio which brought presently renowned Marilyn Monroe in to the limelight and stardom in the period of 1950s. The studio also brought into forefront two of the most famous and successful

Leadership credibility Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Leadership credibility - Essay Example An overview of the four characteristics described in Kouzes and Posner Being honest This is the first among the characteristic of effective leadership as described by in Kouzes and Posner, which requires that a leader should always be truthful (Kouzes & Posner, 2012). According to Kouzes and Posner, leadership is all about relationships, and no one can possibly do it alone. Therefore, it requires the ability to inspire others to take up the challenge of realizing a common goal that an organization or a group of people have set to achieve. However, without being honest and truthful, there is no way that a leader can inspire others, because honesty does not only come in the form of acting and telling the truth, but also living the truth, demonstrated through following a set of ethical standards and principles (Kouzes & Posner, 2012). Therefore, it is through the consistency of the leader to say, to act and live what is truthful, through adhering to ethical principles and set standards, that motivates the other subordinates within the organization to join in the challenge of achieving what the organization has set to achieve. Forward-Looking This fundamental principle of great leadership provides that leaders must have a vision for the organization that they lead, but most importantly is that the vision should be well aligned with the aspirations of the organizational stakeholders (Kouzes & Posner, 2012).... on, and this way, makes it easy for the people to rally behind the leader, simply because they all know the direction they, and the organization is headed (Kouzes & Posner, 2012). Inspiring Maintaining a positive attitude has always been the fundamental principal of achieving, on the face of numerous existing challenges (Kouzes & Posner, 2012). Therefore, the only way through which an organization can succeed is through having employees and a management team that shares a positive attitude, which then gives them a commitment to continue striving towards realizing the future objectives of an organization. Motivation, therefore, forms the basis of good leadership, where great leadership does not seek to castigate the subordinates or continuously point at their weakness and failures, but on the contrary, it entails seeking for their areas of strength and motivating them to enhance it, with genuineness and interest in their positive achievement (Kouzes & Posner, 2012). A great leader alw ays shares the excitement of future organizational possibilities, and then shares the excitement with the team that works through him/her, through motivating them to put on a positive attitude and brace to overcome all obstacles towards realizing the organizational vision. Competent The greatest achievement that any leader can ever have is the ability to get things done. How better then it is, to have things done, through instilling a positive attitude on the team that works towards realizing the set objectives (Kouzes & Posner, 2012). Therefore, competency is an essential characteristic of any great leader, since it entails the application of both leadership and behavioral skills, to rally the workforce behind an established organizational course, and motivate them towards realizing the

Literary analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Literary analysis - Essay Example When reading a poem such as â€Å"A Song on the End of the World† by Czeslaw Milosz, one has the option of learning the history behind the poem since the poem makes sense either way, but a great deal more meaning can be gleaned from it when history is taken into account. The poem presents a picture of what seems to be a very peaceful day. The author shows his readers the insects drifting over the flowers, the daily peaceful activities of the people as they mend nets, take leisurely walks, sell vegetables, consider napping on a green lawn, tend to their gardens and play music that greets the night time sky. Animals are present too as the birds play in some remnant rain water, a snake moves through the area and â€Å"happy porpoises jump in the sea† (4). There is nothing overly aggressive or threatening in the scene presented other than the author’s assertion that this is the day the world ended. In presenting these descriptions, the author works to use as few abstract terms as possible, giving the reader a sense that he is being very specific as to his subject. However, this is somewhat misleading as it becomes clear that none of these actions, each an indication of a quiet, small-town lifestyle, provide any specific detail as to where these actions are taking place. The closest he comes to providing actual specifics as to location is when he points to a â€Å"yellow-sailed boat† that â€Å"comes nearer the island† (11). The porpoises are ‘happy’, the bee ‘circles’ and the people are ‘disappointed’, but each of these abstract terms are given specific definition by their context within the poem. This confines the reader on the page and within the vision the author is bringing forward. The way in which Milosz wrote this poem seems to discourage people from looking beyond the text of the poem itself for meaning. Although some abstract terms are used, as has been discussed, they are used in specific ways that seem to

Rephrase Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Rephrase - Essay Example The world is changing is changing more rapidly than ever before, to be able to succeed, managers and employees need to perform at a higher level. Most organizations have discovered that to be able to reach and remain in the top of the competitive environment, they need to build a competitive advantage. Competitive advantage is the ability of organizations to perform better than other organizations because they are producing desired goods and services more effectively and efficiently than its competitors. The main items that help in building a competitive advantage is quality, innovation, efficiency, and responsiveness to customers’ changing needs. In the today’s competitive environment, organizations look for new ways to improve themselves (BECERRA-FERNANDEZ, 2008). This shows that knowledge is crucial to the success of an organization. This paper looks at how organizations in the UAE can succeed if they develop proper knowledge management, organizational trust, creativ ity, and innovation and how these elements are related. Knowledge management is a crucial aspect in gaining insights over the competitive edge in the framework of the EAU economy. Knowledge has proved to be beneficial in helping organizations gain an advantage over other competitors in the market. The concept of efficiency and effective management of knowledge is a crucial aspect in all organizations. When knowledge is managed, organizations get ways to take advantage of opportunities and are able to reduce the chances of errors. Knowledge management goes through some steps which include; identification of need, knowledge acquisition, and sharing. Knowledge acquisition is the process that a company tries to obtain information from internal and external sources. External knowledge sources include customers, suppliers, partners, competitors, and external experts. This is the process of extracting knowledge

Critique of King's theory of the goal of attainment Research Paper

Critique of King's theory of the goal of attainment - Research Paper Example This extensive work in the nursing field contributed greatly in the theory because of her experience in the nursing field research (King, 2007). The Theory of Goal Attainment describes the relationship between people working together to attain a certain goal. In this case, a patient and a nurse, communicate when working together, to achieve a goal, the patient’s health. The theory looks at interpersonal systems, personal systems and social systems, how human beings use these aspects in their daily life while trying to attain their goals. The theory uses concepts to show how each system works. The concepts are defined in both theoretical and operational terms describing the systems and their application. The concepts for personal system are; growth and development, body image, space, time, self, and perception. The concepts for interpersonal system are; transaction, role, interaction, communication and stress. The social system concepts are; Authority, power, organization and status and decision making (King, 1991). The theory enlists the explicit and implicit assumptions underlying it: the nursing focus, its goal, the goal of nurses, nursing process, plan, implementing and evaluating nursing care. Nurses and patients communicate, set goals mutually, and then work to attain those goals. In life situation, people interact, perceive and enter into situations and in the process, each participant is changed (King, 2007). The theory also describes the four Metaparadigm concepts of nursing, which are: a human being, health, environment and nursing. The theory reflect clarity of thought process in that a human being is rational, perceive, think, feel, choose, set goals, select means to achieve goals and make decisions. The theory explains the logical congruence of the internal structure of the theory by showing how the systems come together and the attainment of goals. The theory does not give an indication that help predict or control

The influence of presentation format on sentence processing Essay Example for Free

The influence of presentation format on sentence processing Essay This study investigates the effect of sentence presentation format for optimal processing and takes into account previous research on the way in which people/readers/parsers parse and comprehend sentences. The study included 29 native speakers of English, who were presented with a cohort of sentences each comprising a verb that could be transitive or intransitive but designed as Late Closure sentences to elicit transitive readings or Early Closure sentences to elicit intransitive readings. Results initially adhered to Late Closure in that Late Closure sentences were read faster than Early Closure sentences but further analysis proved that page presentation and line breaks had an impact on the Early and Late Closure sentences which impacted on the readers comprehension and thus posits that initial parsing is not based solely on syntactic rules but includes other factors such as punctuation, which in this case is represented by line break presentation. Introduction Language is complex and sentences in natural languages are usually highly ambiguous and can be interpreted in many ways, but despite this complexity sentence comprehension seems to be easily and quickly achieved. When reading a sentence the sounds (or letters) have to be grouped into words or morphemes and meaning needs to be retrieved for those words or morphemes, syntactic information must be sought, analysed and integrated into syntactic structure, and semantic interpretation also needs to be designated; this process is called parsing, and it is the way in which parsing is undertaken that is of particular interest to researchers. In other words how do people parse? Mitchell (1994:375) tells us that although a great deal of research questions on the issue of sentence interpretation have been derived from an assortment of conceptual classifications, the chief inspiration has been Chomsky’s generative linguistics and his use of tree diagrams and phrase structure rules, which provide a basis from where to determine the different roles of people and objects within the sentence. The main problem however, â€Å"is to determine how people convert a string of words into something like a tree diagram to represent the structure of the sentence† (Mitchell, 1994:376). Do they make an immediate guess about where the current word goes, even if it turns out to be wrong or do they wait until they know for sure before they decide on the syntactic structure of the whole sentence? Parker and Riley (2005:252) tell us that much â€Å"of the research in language processing has been concerned with how people resolve syntactic ambiguity† and that ambiguity can be observed in a ‘garden path sentence,† wherein the sentence appears to have one structure but later it turns out to have another. As in the Garden Path Model adopted by Frazier (1987), many researchers suggest or take for granted that when confronted with structural ambiguity readers cope by following one analysis or interpretation. Frazier (1987) also adopted the core principles – Minimal Attachment and Right Attachment from Frazier and Fodor’s (1978, 1980) Sausage Machine approach to explaining parsing preferences. Frazier (1987:9-10), however, reformulated these principles, wherein Minimal Attachment accounts for the strategy used when putting new words into syntactic trees by using as simple a syntactic structure as possible, and Late Closure strategy replaces Right Attachment and accounts for continually adding new words to a syntactic constituent instead of locating another place for them if they are grammatically acceptable, while prolonging the closure of that syntactic constituent (clause or phrase). Thus, as in Frazier and Fodor’s Sausage Machine, Minimal Attachment makes sure the parser establishes the most straightforward structure in the first analysis of ambiguous sentences and Late Closure certifies that new elements are directly fixed to preceding data, thereby curtailing the likelihood of excessive workloads on memory. It is the fact that the Garden Path Theory (Frazier, 1987) regards syntactic processing as modular – automatic and based purely on the basis of structural information that has been the most controversial issue for researchers. Other researchers provide evidence that other factors such as referential pragmatics (Crain and Steedman, 1985), lexical semantics and plausibility (Mitchell 1987), lexical preference (Holmes, 1987), lexical frequency and combinatory idiosyncrasy (MacDonald, Pearlmutter and Seidenberg, 1994), and prosody (Warren, 1996) have a quantifying outcome on sentence comprehension and determining sentence ambiguity. Clifton, Frazier, and Connine (1984) conducted a study wherein sentences containing only verbs that are optionally transitive (some where a transitive reading and others where an intransitive reading is preferred) were presented to subjects, stopping after the first word following the verb for them to make lexical choices. Results showed that subjects acted more quickly when the word following the verb complemented its preferred argument than when it did not; thus giving proof for Clifton, Frazier and Connine that lexical information is accessed and used very quickly. Holmes (1987), Kennedy et al. (1989) and Ferreira and Henderson (1990), all investigated the issue of another kind of ambiguity. They tried to account for ambiguity in sentences where the verb can take a direct object or a complement and found that different verbs possess lexical preferences and thus prefer different kinds of complements and an NP following a verb could be taken as a direct object which could lead to a Garden Path when the second verb is read, or as a subject of the complement. In 1987 Mitchell conducted a study, results of which he interpreted as support for two stages in processing – a syntactic structure is built on the basis of major category information only – in the first stage and then more lexical information is used in the second stage to eliminate any incorrect attachments. Mitchell’s (1987) experiment gained support from an imitative study undertaken by Stowe (1989), using the same subject-paced word-by-word reading and an eye-tracking technique but results appear to contradict Mitchell’s findings and suggest that lexical information is used in the initial stage of parsing. Thus we find that research undertaken to determine how people parse is far from conclusive and there remains differing viewpoints as to whether other factors other than syntactic factors influence the comprehension of a text when parsing. This study sets out to investigate whether page format – presentation of sentences has any impact on time taken to parse and understand a sentence, in order to establish the best presentation for optimal processing, which would be relevant in advertising and education.

Risk for depression and suicide in servicemen

Risk for depression and suicide in servicemen Depressive Disorder:Â  The Struggle of Our Nation’s Sons Abstract This paper discusses the causes and risk of depressive disorder developing amongst Full-Time National Servicemen and the possible risk of suicide ideation. The predicted outcome was that the cause of depressive disorder developing amongst Full-Time National Servicemen is associated with the influence their upbringing have in relation to how they cope with hardship. Survey result have proved that minor symptoms of depression is developing amongst most of the Full-Time National Servicemen but do not show signs of suicide ideation. In the discussion segment, several psychological theories will explain and validate the reasons to why Full-Time National Servicemen who are facing hardship have developed minor to even severe symptoms of depressive disorder. In conclusion, the causes are associated with the upbringing of an individual and the lack of fulfilment in various needs. Depressive Disorder: The struggle of our nation’s sons Singapore, minuscular yet strong and striving country that has gained recognition amongst the colossal shadow of nations with history dating far beyond what our young nation has. How did a nation so young acquire such stability in less than a century? The answer, ‘Military Force’ and no, it does not just refer to military prowess but also the transition of boys to men. Singaporeans are familiar with the term ‘National Service’, to serve as a Full Time National Servicemen (NSFs) in the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF), Singapore Police Force (SPF) or the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) for two year service period at the age of eighteen. It is a fearful yet enlightening process for the young sons of the nation, being given the responsibility to serve and protect the nation is no easy feat. As such, they are provided vigorous training that puts their mind and body to the test, pushing them to their limits to promote growth in both physical and mental capabilit y. For most, the process of going through National Service are filled with obstacles surpassing anything they have experienced, having to cope with their physical training, their mental aptitude being tested while juggling responsibilities of their individual roles amongst their friends, family and loved ones. Depressive Disorder has been a serious health problem all around the world; this does not exclude Singapore, as one in 17 people in Singapore having suffered with Major Depressive Disorder at least once in their lifetime. In the recent years, there has been several suicide cases involving Full-Time National Servicemen and with depressive disorder and suicide rates on the rise, extra attention should also be given to our nation’s sons who are going through hardships in order to keep the nation safe. Depressive Disorder In the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (APA, 2013), Depressive Disorder is as described: Depression comes in various forms but one common feature is that they share similar features such as presence of sadness, emptiness, irritable mood while having significant cognitive changes that affects a person’s ability to function. The only difference is the duration, timing, and the cause of it. (pp. 155). During the fifty fourth World Health Assembly held by the World Health Organization and the ministers of health, it is stated in the report that depression is in the fourth position amongst the ten leading causes of global burden of disease and is expected to rise to the second place by the year 2020, World Health Organisation (WHO, 2001). This report reflects how common depression is and the seriousness of this mental disorder is not something to be taken lightly, considering that most of the people who commit suicide are also clinically depressed, (WHO, 2001). A study conducted by the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) shows that Major Depressive Disorder emerged as one of the top three mental illnesses along with Alcohol abuse and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, with one in 17 people in Singapore have suffered from Major Depressive Disorder at some point in their lifetime and majority of it occurred by the age of 29 while most of those who were affected weren’t seeking help, (IMH, 2013). Suicide In a recent statistical report retrieved from the Samaritans of Singapore (SOS) for National suicide rate reflected that in the year 2012, the total suicide rate was at the all-time high rate since 1992, hitting the total of 467 and 298 of them were males, (SOS, 2013). Having more than half of the fatality being males also reflects how vulnerable Full-Time National Servicemen are to suicide ideation and the steadily increasing suicidal rate in Singapore as well as on the global scale. During a Parliament Question and Answer segment in the year 2013, it is reported that a based on a local research study from the year 2000 to 2004 showed that a third of the total suicide population because of relationship problems and another third was associated with financial or employment concerns, (Ministry of Health (MOH) Singapore, 2013) Gender According to research study, based on gender, females are more likely to develop depression as compared to males, in the ratio of two females to one male; the male population has a higher percentile of completing suicide as compared to females. (Kua EH, Mahendran R, Fung D, 2002), Risk Factors Several of the risk factors for depression could be triggered by challenging life events such as relationship issues, financial difficulties, physical illnesses, unemployment, lack of support and loss of loved one, all which can be associated with Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Maslow’s theory revolves around human motivation and the Hierarchy of Needs is made up of a pyramid that is divided into several segments such as Physiological, Safety, Love/Belonging, Esteem and Self-Actualization needs, (Maslow, 1943). With the lack of fulfilment or rather, a lack of motivation, one could result in a state of depression. Due to the limited case study, literature review and research study of depressive disorder amongst Full-Time National Servicemen in Singapore, the purpose of the research study is to create awareness to the general public about depressive disorder amongst Full-Time National Servicemen as well as identifying the causes amongst the servicemen population. This would then hope to result in a reduced number of suicidal cases amongst our Nation’s sons. I predicted that this research study will be able to validate my assumption that the causes of depression amongst Full-Time National Servicemen is due to the environment they grew up in and their inability to cope with various roles and issues while going through the tough changes in environment during National Service. Full-Time National Servicemen are also not receiving enough attention in regards to mental health care even though they are significantly more vulnerable to developing depressive disorder whilst going through National Service which also relates to the increased risk of possible suicidal cases in the future. Methods Participants There are a total of 16 participants, all whom are male and were either still in their Full-Time National Service period or have recently completed their national service. Design An online survey was conducted using SurveyFace, an online survey tool. The survey is structured in a way that majority of the questions being closed ended, whereas the open ended questions are meant for participants to provide qualitative information in relevance to the question. The link was then shared through online social networking , Facebook. The topic of the survey was omitted to prevent participants from being hesitant towards a potentially sensitive subject such as depression. Procedure Participants consist of netizens, who had met the criteria stated on the survey link volunteered to participate in the survey by clicking the link posted on social networking site, Facebook. There are a total of 14 questions and responses are available as either individual forms or overall summary of responses. The survey takes approximately 10 minutes depending on individuals. Not all answers were required to answer and open ended answers vary in length depending on the participant. Results According to the results, slightly more than half of the participants had their expectation met about how National Service is going to be and majority of the total respondents found that their experience as a Full-Time National Servicemen is positive and beneficial. Results also indicates that more than half of the respondents associate the toughness of National Service with how they were brought while almost half of the respondents found it easier to cope with issues during National Service as compared to life as a civilian. More than two handfuls of respondents had negative past experiences that would manifest itself during times of hardship yet only a handful of the respondent’s issue were recurrent. Based on the Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, respondents attributed that the lack Self-Actualization is the leading cause of issues during National Service whereas Love and belonging needs and Esteem needs are tied at second. Based on the results, Majority of the respondents had also indicated to have at least one of the mild symptoms of depression and of the ten, eight also showed moderate symptoms of depression while five of them also have severe symptoms of depression. Results also reflected that majority of the respondents felt that the Singapore Armed Forces should provide more attention to Full-Time National Servicemen’s mental health. Half of the total respondents were provided by the SAF with means to cope with emotional distress while the other half did not. Less than a third of the respondents received mental health state evaluation from their superiors while almost all of the respondents felt that it is recommended that superiors conduct a mental assessment of Full-Time National Servicemen on a daily basis. Discussion According to Freud’s psychoanalytic theory in regards to the causes behind ‘melancholia’ or presently known as clinical depression, is the result of a surplus of pleasure in the society and the state of civilization itself (Freud, 1929). When a state of pleasure is prolonged, it would only produce a feeling of mild contentment, in other words with Singapore being one of the safest country, providing quality living for most, individuals have the tendency to be complacent about how privileged they are. They who grew up having what they want most of their life and not having gone through hardships during their early childhood developmental stage will have a hard time in the future, especially during National Service when one has to leave their comfort zone, experiencing hardships surpassing what most have gone through. For most part of the hypothesis was supported that majority of the Full-Time National Servicemen found that their upbringing contributed to how they perceive National Service and the intensity of the toughness that they experience as well as finding it harder to cope with issues while doing their National Service as compared to as when they were civilians. This could be explained through Bowlby’s Attachment theory which states that one’s early childhood experience has a significant amount of influence on the behaviour and development in the future (Bowlby, 1988) Most of the male population in Singapore have heard of stories about National Service, comparing how tough National Service used to be for the older generation and how blessed the younger generations are because of the vast improvement to the system and facilities. The younger generation are indeed having it easy now, even having the opportunity to bring along smart phones into their respective camps. Superiors are also more humane as compared to the olden days where punishment seemed to have no limits, from kissing the tree to having an endless march into the late night, pushing individuals to their physical and mental limit. Through all the hardships, there will be moments when individuals are put into a depressive state, feeling empty, sad, having irritable mood, accompanied by changes in the thinking process that could influence one’s ability to function. These are all common experience which everyone goes through at some point of their life but most do not know that these are also few of the various symptoms of depressive disorder which are stated in the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, (APA, 2013). Because of this reason, people often overlook the severity of early identification of individuals who may be well on the way at developing a full fledge clinical depression. Freud’s concept of overexposure, based on the pleasure principle, can offer one explanation for the prevalence of depression in developed countries. According to this theory, pleasure is, on one hand, omnipresent, and on the other, unattainable, as we have become almost deadened to the experience Problems of daily life does not simply vanish during times of hardship, instead, to those going through National Service, it may seem to blow out of proportion. Not having time to rectify the issues of their life outside of National Service due to the intense trainings, and the freedom of going home daily is something only a few are privileged with. Many NSF are burdened with the responsibility of their various role as an individual, be it as a son, brother, friend, boyfriend or even spouse to others while going through their National Service. With depression on the rise, the increased suicide rate would increase as well. Though there aren’t many recorded cases of suicide amongst National Servicemen, it does not mean that the intentions aren’t there. When an individual has suicidal thought, it only requires a moment of impulse to attempt suicide and in the worst case scenario, it may lead to death. Providing necessary care to individuals who are showing early symptoms o f depression is important as to prevent it from escalating into a more serious condition. Full-Time National Servicemen has also acknowledged that they are not receiving enough mental health concern as compared to physical health due to the lack of systems that look into individuals who may be emotional distress. This could be because as a member of the military force, they would expect soldiers to be able to have the physical capacity that allows them to perform task needed for survival during times of war but due to the intensity of the training, many may have failed to cope with the stress that comes along with it hence resulting in a state of emotional vulnerability. Only a few have stated that buddy systems are introduced during Basic Military Training (BMT) which offers individuals at least a partner to confide in when facing emotional distress but as soon as they get posted into their units, there seem to be a complete lack of system that could offer Full-Time National Servicemen the means to cope with emotional distress such as counselling service, suicide hotline and even the buddy system isn’t implemented. With the lack of such system, Full-Time National Servicemen have a higher risk of having their depressive symptoms overlook and may develop depressive disorder and in the worst case scenario, result in suicidal attempts. Conclusion In conclusion, the overall results has supported my prediction that an individual’s upbringing has significant impact on how they would perceive experiences in the future and their ability to cope with issues were negatively affected during their national service as compared their life as civilians. However, contrary to what I have predicted, results have shown the lack of support in regards to Full-Time National Servicemen having any form of suicide intention or ideation. This may have been because regardless of how tough National Service is to most, they would still regard it as a positive experience and a necessary phase in their life. Depression may still be on the rise and results have also reflected on how common depression is amongst the Full-Time National Servicemen, they do not show sign of suicide ideation which shows that it is still not too late to provide preventive measures in assuring that Full-Time National Servicemen are receiving sufficient attention to their mental health. By implementing a system that seeks to assure that Full-Time National Servicemen are receiving ample attention in regards to their mental health, it could greatly reduce the risk of depressive disorder from developing and would result in the vast improvement in the overall performance by the servicemen protecting our nation. Limitations The research has several limitations. Due to having past experience as a Full-Time National Servicemen, several questions may have contained biasedness and prediction was made with the aid of my past experience. The research study did not include participant’s ethnic group and religion hence losing out precious viewpoints in that aspect as Singapore is a multiracial country. Future Research A personal interview would have provided greater depth in information and may have contributed crucial information which the survey question could not gather. Personal interview would also allow participants to voice out areas of improvement in relevance to the topic that may have been omitted during the progress of study. Implications If there was a system that allowed superiors to conduct a daily check on Full-Time National Servicemen mental condition, it could greatly reduce the risk of depression from developing further and could save many lives just by identifying the individuals with early symptoms and providing them with therapy. Reference American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition. Bowlby, J. (1988). A Secure Base: Parent-child development and healthy human development. Kua, E.H., Fung, D., Mahendran, R. (n.d.). Mind Matters. Freud, S. (1929). Civilization and its Discontents. Institute of Mental Health. (10 October, 2013). Institute of Mental Health. Retrieved 28 January, 2014, from Institute of Mental Health Web Site: http://www.imh.com.sg/uploadedFiles/Newsroom/News_Releases/SMHS news release.pdf Maslow, A. H. (1943). A Theory of Human Motivation. Psychological Review. Mental Health: A Call for Action by World Health Ministers: Ministerial Round Tables 2001, 54th World Health Assembly. (2001). World Health Organisation. Ministry of Health (MOH) Singapore. (16 September, 2013). Retrieved 29 January, 2014, from Ministry of Health Web site: http://www.moh.gov.sg/content/moh_web/home/pressRoom/Parliamentary_QA/2013/suicides-in-singapore-.html Samaritans of Singapore. (July, 2013). Retrieved 28 January, 2014, from Samaritans of Singapore Web site: http://www.samaritans.org.sg/National-Statistics.pdf

Analysis of Information Technology Role for Global Retailer

Analysis of Information Technology Role for Global Retailer PART 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Purpose of report: This report has been requested by Mr Frank Hedge, the CEO of Myer Department Stores- Australia. The reports purpose is to investigate and analyse the strategic role of information technology (IT) to Myers business, including an IT infrastructure audit. Cloud computing is evaluated, and recommendations made for its partial adoption. 1.2 Limitations: This report is limited by the lack of IT infrastructure details provided by Myer. Assumptions were made when required, to enable completion of the report. 1.3 Scope of the report: This report focuses on Myer and the potential use of cloud computing within its IT infrastructure. Divided into four main sections, the report covers Myer; IT infrastructure challenges; cloud computing costs/ benefits and recommendations for cloud computing adoption. It has been compiled from research literature and phone/email interviews with two Myer store managers. 1.4) Myer and its industry Homepage URL; http://www.myer.com.au/ Myer is Australias largest department store group with 65 stores and approximately 14,000 employees. It is present in 25 of Australias top 30 retail centres and attracted 185 million customers in 2009 (Myer 2010). Myer generated net profits of $106.8 million for the first half of the 2011 financial year (AAP 2011). Myer operates across major segments of the Australian non-food retail industry as a department store chain. This industry consists of four segments; household goods, clothing soft goods, department stores and other (eg newspapers, books) (Myer 2010). Myer competes with other department stores, discount department stores, and single store operators as well as internet retailers and direct retailers. Within the department store segment, David Jones is Myers main competition though the former targets a slightly higher income group (Myer 2010). Competition exists with other retailers on price, store location, product range and customer service. Additionally, consumer demand hinges on factors such as disposable income which are sensitive to macroeconomic conditions eg interest rate rises (Myer 2010). The industry has struggled recently, due to weak consumer confidence and increased competition from cheaper overseas internet retailers (GST free and strong Australian Dollar) (Brooks 2010). 1.5) Myers products services: Myer offers approximately 600 000 product lines from 800 suppliers globally including categories such as; clothing; beauty and cosmetics; electrical and homewares (Myer 2010). Myer provides additional products and services such as; Myer One customer loyalty program, over 3 million members. Gift cards Myer corporate sales- eg corporate gifts, office fit outs, VIP nights Insurance (home, contents, travel, car) Bridal gift registry Myer Visa Card (Myer 2010). 1.6) Myers corporate mission corporate structure: ‘At Myer we strive to offer customers a wide and relevant choice of brands, rewards and ideas in a way that makes them feel both welcome and inspired, (Myer 2010, p.3). Myers corporate structure is shown in Figure 1.1. Head office operates under a hybrid of divisional (eg apparel, electrical division) and functional groups (Finance, marketing etc). A national retail store manager oversees regional store managers, who oversee individual store managers. Head office functional groups, directly manage their particular function (eg HR) in the individual stores (Myer 2010; S Johnson 2011, pers. comm., 20 April). (Adapted from: Myer 2010, pp. 25-7). 1.7) Myers major business processes: Laudon and Laudon (2010), note business processes are sets of activities to produce a product or service. Due to its variety of offer, Myer has many business processes such as; Sourcing product to offer in store. Automating administrative processes. Reducing stock theft. Creating visual merchandise displays. Analysing potential sites for new stores. Refurbishing existing stores. Making sales (Myer 2010). 1.8) Myers business strategy Myer has invested substantially in its business since 2006 ($500 million) realizing a world class supply chain, improved retail execution and focused customer service (competitive advantages) (Myer 2010). Myer aims for additional margin and sales growth using specific strategies of; Opening 15 new stores in next five years. Revitalizing instore environments for a better customer experience. Expanding the Myer One program. Implementing a new point of sale system (POS) improving productivity customer service. Implementing a CCTV system to reduce losses (Myer 2010). 1.9) Myers relationships with external entities: Myer has significant relationships with a variety of entities which include; Its 800 global suppliers (Myer 2010). Global sourcing offices in Hong Kong and Shanghai (Algar 2011). Partnership with Melbourne Institute of Technology for paid internship for students (RMIT 2011). Myers involved with philanthropic and community programs including children and womens charities and Melbourne Christmas Carols (Myer 2010). PART 2: IT INFRASTRUCTURE: ISSUES AND CHALLENGES(727 words) 2.1) Description of Myers IT infrastructure: Laudon and Laudon (2010 p. 191) describe IT infrastructure as, ‘the shared technology resources that provide the platform for the firms specific information system applications. It includes investment in hardware, software, and services†¦that are shared across the entire firm†¦. Myers IT infrastructure was analysed according to Laudon and Laudons (2010 p. 203) model which comprises of seven components. The required information was obtained from Myers Head Office IT department and interviews with two store managers (Appendix 1). A summary of each component is presented in Table 2.1. The IT infrastructure differs between head office and individual stores, due to centralization (Slotty 2009). TABLE 2.1 Summary of Myers IT infrastructure ecosystem. (Adapted: Myer IT department; Interview with two Myer Store managers 2011). The key findings from the analysis of Myers IT infrastructure presented above, are as follows; Computer hardware platforms: Client machines (desktops) are not standardized across Myer. A small number of servers exist at multiple locations (65 stores) doing replicated tasks (localized data storage, networking etc). Operating system platforms: Client and server machine software is licensed per computer with Windows variability on client machines. Large information asymmetry exists between managers and sales staff due to their limited access to software (Laudon Laudon 2010). Enterprise software applications: While an intranet portal exists to link to Myers applications, only newer applications (eg Mymerch- merchandising, POS) are fully integrated. Many legacy systems remain isolated and not integrated. Networking/Telecommunications: Myer operates both analog (phone system) and digital (data) networks using two providers (Telstra and IBM). While Myer accesses the internet, it also operates private networks (intranet) in the form of LANs and WANs. Networking is not possible between individual stores. Consultants System Integrators: Integration and implementation of new IT infrastructure is outsourced to IBM, including training. Data management storage: While the majority of Myers data is stored with a third party vendor, localized data storage occurs at individual stores (65). Internet platforms: Physical infrastructure and maintenance of Myers website is outsourced to third parties. Information asymmetry exists, with very limited access to internet for individual stores. Myers network infrastructure is further illustrated in Figure 2.1, which outlines information flows. Note information does not flow between stores, only between stores and head office. (Adapted: Myer IT department; Interview with two Myer Store managers 2011). 2.2) The issues and challenges of managing Myers IT infrastructure: Myer faces several challenges and issues in managing its IT infrastructure. Laudon and Laudon (2010) identify challenges arising from platform and technology change, management and governance and investing in infrastructure prudently. These challenges are also influenced by the strategic role of IT to the business and the impact of the industry in which the organization operates. By revisiting section 1.8 it can be seen that IT plays an important strategic role in achieving Myers medium term goals of increased operating margins and sales growth by; Facilitating increased supplier and sales volumes from new store initiatives (eg hardware and software required). Optimizing productivity, cost savings and customer satisfaction via implementation of new applications (POS system and CCTV loss prevention system). Catering for an expanded Myer One loyalty program (increased data storage and analysis needs for targeted marketing) (Myer 2010). As a result of ITs important strategic role, the challenges of managing Myers IT infrastructure are intensified. This is best demonstrated by specific examples; The challenge of platform and infrastructure change: To best accommodate expected future growth, improved productivity, cost efficiencies and increased data needs, infrastructure components need to be easily scalable (Armbrust et al 2010). This will be particularly true with regards to Myers hardware software platforms, its enterprise software applications and its networking, internet and data storage platforms. Currently, significant pressures exist within Myers industry. Consumer spending is down and offshore internet retailers are offering cheaper prices due to the strong Australian dollar and absence of GST (Brooks 2010). This poses further challenges to Myer to adjust components of its IT infrastructure quickly to generate database driven marketing programs or improve its operating efficiencies (Myer 2010). If cloud computing platforms are considered as future components of Myers infrastructure, then appropriate use guidelines and practices will be needed. Service level agreements (SLAs) for example would commit cloud computing vendors to minimum levels of performance and reliability for Myers systems (Hinchcliffe 2009). The challenge of management and governance: The management and governance of Myers IT infrastructure is significant, considering its strategic role, further evidenced by the commitment of $500 million to its IT program since 2006 (Myer 2010). Aspects to be considered include the location of IT control (centralized or decentralized model), the allocation of IT costs to functional groups or stores, the strategies and policies for using IT and measuring effective return on IT investments (Laudon Laudon 2010). The challenge of investing in IT infrastructure prudently: Considering the significance of IT infrastructure for Myer as it seeks its business goals, this is a crucial challenge. Whether Myer should rent or buy its infrastructure components will be further investigated in section 4 of this report. (Laudon Laudon 2010) PART 3: CLOUD COMPUTING ITS BUSINESS BENEFITS COSTS(986 words) 3.1)An overview of Cloud Computing: Zhang et al. (2010) note cloud computing is not a new idea. While many definitions abound, from an organizations perspective, ‘Cloud computing is an architecture in which companies consume technology resources as an internet service rather than as an owned system (Brandel 2009, p. 1). Most people have already experienced cloud computing through the use of Hotmail, Gmail or Facebook (Wyld 2009). Recent improvements in internet bandwidth, virtualization of servers and storage, open source software, adoption of Web 2.0 standards, has pushed cloud computing strongly into the business sphere (Kennedy 2011). Mell and Grance (2011) claim that cloud computing consists of five crucial characteristics, three service models (software, platform and infrastructure as services) and four deployment models (private, community, public and hybrid clouds) which are outlined in Tables 3.1 and 3.2. Potentially cloud computing can deliver to a business most of its IT needs (from computing power to collaboration tools to software) as an on demand service, wherever and whenever required. As long as an internet connection exists, computing becomes location and device independent (Agger 2009). TABLE3.1 The crucial characteristics, and service models of cloud computing. (Adapted from: Mell Grance 2011, pp. 2-3; Department of Finance Deregulation 2011, pp. 12-3) TABLE3.2 The deployment models of cloud computing. (Adapted from: Mell Grance 2011, pp. 2-3; Department of Finance Deregulation 2011, pp. 12-3) 3.2) Current trends in Cloud Computing: Present studies suggest, ‘†¦the number of organizations using cloud computing to rise to 43% within four years as they continue to cut their costs (Cross 2011 p. 1). In addition to greater cloud computing use in general, there are several trends within cloud computing concerning areas such as; User type deployment models- ONeill (2011), notes small to medium enterprises using cloud computing are typically accessing public clouds for cost savings compared with private clouds. Alternatively larger enterprises use private clouds (third party or onsite) for greater control. Governments (federal level) are trialing SaaS and Ouellette (2011) believes state and local governments will soon follow. Purposes for using cloud services- Its principal use remains as a testing/developing environment and/or as a platform for less critical services and applications (Knorr Gruman 2010). Synder (in The Australian 2010) believes moving core applications to the cloud is still to come. ITs changing role- Hakala (2009) believes the need for IT workers performing maintenance tasks will contract as cloud computing is embraced and employees can ‘self serve directly from the cloud. Innovation- Cloud computing will continue to be a conduit for business innovation due to its low costs and rapid scalability of IT resources (Kennedy 2011; Information Age 2011) Pricing- Cloud computing pricing (especially commodity) continues to become cheaper and simpler for users. Thibodeau (2009) suggests models utilizing a set number of hours for a range of cloud services. SLAs improved security- Improving cloud computing reliability via strong service level agreements (SLAs) continues (Hinchcliffe 2009). Colley (2011) Violino (2010) expect most businesses will demand independent certification of cloud providers reliability in next few years. Cloud providers are targeting improved security to allay user concerns. Working groups such as the Cloud Security Alliance are focusing on this issue (Thibodeau 2009). Violino (2010) noted a need for better access control and identity management within and across clouds. Improved performance and service- The performance of cloud services rises, as more managed service providers enter the market (Ouellette 2011) and performance monitoring standardises (Thibodeau 2009). Typically IT staff connect cloud services individually, though cloud aggregators and integrators are emerging to smooth this barrier (Knorr Gruman 2010). 3.3) The business benefits of Cloud Computing: Cloud computing offers many benefits to business. Leighton (2009 p. 5) asserts, cloud computing will ‘transform the way IT is consumed and managed, promising improved cost efficiencies, accelerated innovation, faster time-to-market, and the ability to scale applications on demand. Sagari (c. 2010) notes the level of benefits cloud computing brings to an organization will vary dependant on the types of services utilized, the business processes evident and the degree of integration achieved. Major business benefits can include; Reduced costs (set up ongoing) * Increased flexibility response times Scalability increased efficiencies * Increased business focus. Increased innovation * Improved mobility Armbrust et al (2010) maintains, one of the most impressive benefits of cloud computing is scalability (elasticity of resources). The business pays for its hardware needs (servers, storage) on demand with the cloud providing great elasticity. Business needs can be scaled up or down as required, saving time, money and improving revenue in peak periods (Zhang et al. 2006; Waxer n.d.). Additional business benefits offered by cloud computing include; Smoothed cash flow * Increased strategic role for IT Reduced business risk * Improved sustainability. Greater computation power * Improved business continuity These benefits are further expanded in Appendix 2 with business examples and their references. 3.4) Cloud computing solutions for Myer: Section 4 details specific cloud computing recommendations to be adopted by Myer. In contrast, Table 3.3, outlines cloud computing solutions best suited to Myer for the aspect identified in column one. The reasons for these choices are as follows; Servers for serving applications- Amazon EC2 has been the market leader in this area and for good reason (Huang 2010). It exceeds Microsoft Azures new offering and it has a superior range of operating systems to use (eg Linux, Myer using), compared with Googles App Engine (Amazon 2011). Servers for storage- Amazon S3 was preferred over Microsoft Azure and Nirvanix for the reasons noted in Table 3.3 eg a price leader, very easy to use and highly reliable, SLA exceeding 99.99% (Huang 2010). Client productivity software- Microsofts new Office 365 retains the known office layout of which Myer staff are familiar. Additionally it incorporates email, calendar collaboration tools. Superior in features to Google Docs or Zoho (McAllister 2010). Private cloud- If recommended to Myer, Amazons virtual private cloud is a good solution. It integrates easily with a firms existing IT infrastructure, including firewalls and security systems (Amazon 2011). Applications- As an application development platform, Force.com has been suggested for its long history of business application development. Furthermore, to use this environment, subscription to Salesforce.com CRM applications are required, which may be beneficial to Myer (Force.com c.2011). TABLE 3.3Most suitable cloud computing solutions for Myer. (Adapted from: Amazon 2011;Force.com c. 2011; Microsoft 2011) 3.5) Costs of cloud computing to Myer: Typically the IT industry uses ‘Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) to determine the total cost of a technology implementation (Laudon Laudon 2010). Table 3.4 provides an estimate of the costs to Myer in implementing the cloud computing solutions listed in Table 3.3. As can be seen, support, maintenance, space and energy costs pass to the cloud provider and hardware and software acquisition costs are essentially avoided. Some training costs of the IT staff involved in implementing and/or the staff using the cloud services would be incurred (Aggarwal McCabe 2009). A small amount of ongoing support to Office 365 users may also be required. Integration issues and costs are not expected, as the servers and software to be sourced via the cloud will not be critical systems. Additional infrastructure costs (eg bandwidth) resulting from cloud computings greater internet reliance, may occur. Downtime estimates from providers SLAs are less than typical IT departments of large companies ie 44hrs/yr (Mann 2010). Moving data into and out of Amazon S3 storage, will incur costs (Amazon 2011). Finally, Aggarwal and McCabe (2009), reported TCO savings of some 50% over four years, for medium sized businesses implementing CRM software from the cloud, compared with on-premise deployment. TABLE 3.4 Total cost of ownership (TCO) for Myers cloud computing solutions. (Adapted from: Laudon Laudon 2010, p. 224; Amazon 2011; Microsoft 2011; Force.com c.2011 ) PART 4: RECOMMENDATION OF CLOUD COMPUTING ADOPTION/ ADAPTION(785 words) 4.1) Competitive forces model for IT infrastructure Investment: Specific recommendations for the adoption of a cloud computing strategy by Myer will soon be made. These recommendations will be based on the preceding analysis and also take into account the ‘competitive forces model for IT infrastructure as described in Laudon and Laudon (2010 pp. 222-3). Table 4.1 summarises the main points of this model as it relates to Myer. TABLE 4.1: Competitive forces model for IT infrastructure investment of Myer Model components Outcome 1) Market demand for Myers services (eg customer, supplier enterprise): Myers point of sale (POS) system supply chain improvements are based on extensive research of their services. These systems improved efficiency speed, and are satisfying customers, suppliers staff (Tindal 2010) Information asymmetry especially with sales staff is affecting performance.

Bullying in Schools Essay -- Violence Crime Essays Education Kids Pape

Bullying in Schools Many people feel that some of the major issues that plague our schools are drug/alcohol use or violence, yet no one recognizes the significance of school bullying. For the victims of bullying, they go to school everyday facing harassment, taunting, and humiliation. For all potential educators, it is very important to realize that bullying is a problem, so that they can work to prevent it in the future. Since being at Middle School, I have realized how prevalent bullying is on a daily basis. In addition to reading various sources, I decided to ask some of my students about the bullying they experience or witness in their own school environment. I felt learning about bullying directly from the students would be an invaluable experience. Bullying is most common in middle school, with 6th graders on the receiving end the most and 8th graders handing out the most bullying. In a study of 15,686 students in 6th through 10th grade in private and public schools, it was found that 13-23% of boys and 4-11% of girls experience some sort of bullying. (Nansel 2003). Nearly one in six children in that age range fall victim to bullying each year, which means about 3.2 million children being bullied. Whereas, 3.7 million children are acting as bullies (Kerlikowske 2003). Six out ten children witness some form of bullying on a daily basis. In schools, bullying most likely takes place on the playground, followed by the classroom, then the hallways (Drake 2003). For the students at Dunn Middle School, a lot of the bullying occurs out of school. If it occurs in school, most students said bullying occurs in the hallways or in the lunchroom. One student even mentioned a fight that took place during an as... ...ee of bullies can accomplish many things. All children can benefit from lessons about treating each other with respect. Bullying is one childhood memory no youngster should have. References Bullies and their Victims. Harvard Mental Health Letter. 2001, 4-7. Drake, J. Teacher preparation and practices regarding school bullying. Journal of School Health. 2003, 347-356. Espelage, D. Schoolroom torment. People. 2/05/2001, 91-92. Feldman, S. Bullying prevention. Teaching PreK-8. 2004, 6. Kerlikowske, G. One in six students fall prey to bullies. Inside School Safety. 2003,6-9. Nansel, T. Bullies found to be at risk for violent behavior. Inside School Safety. 2003, 1-4. Rubin, R. Study: Bullies and their victims ten to be more violent. USA Today. 4/15/03 Svoboda, E. Everyone loves a bully. Psychology Today. 2004, 1-20.

Adolf Hitler Essays -- Papers

Adolf Hitler When And Where He Was Born Adolf Hitler was born in Braunau, Austria, on April 20 1889. Adolf was the son of Klara and Alois Hitler. He was very hostile towards his father who was a minor customs officer on the Austro-German border, and deeply attached to his housewife mother. Adolf's father Alois used to beat on Adolf's half brother Alois Jr, but when Alois reached the age of 14 and had had enough of the beating, he ran away from home never to see his father again. This put Adolf next in line, and his discontent father then beat him. Hitler was a good student in the younger ranks of school gaining good grades with little effort. Eventually the time came when he had to take the next step up and choose which high school he wanted to attend. Hitler was very interested in art and so he wanted to go to a classical school. However, his father was eager for Adolf to follow in his footsteps as a civil servant and sent him to the Technical high school in the city of Linz in 1900. The city kids looked down upon Hitler, as he was only a country kid, Hitler's work began to slump due to his unhappiness. He did poorly in the first year getting kept back. Hitler hoped that if his father saw how little progress he was making at the technical school, that his father would allow him to go to a classical school, but this didn't work as the thought of Hitler becoming an artist in the eyes of his father were ridiculous. Hitler began his second year in high school as the oldest boy in his class as he was held back for the extra year. He had an advantage over the other boys and his grades did improve, but he still failed mathematics. Ge... ...rial for treason in a trial he had total advantage in. Hitler had the right to use the courtroom as a propaganda platform from which he could speak at any length on his own behalf, interrupt others at any time and even cross examine witnesses. Hitler admitted everything, however, put himself over as a German patriot wanting to take over Germany to do the right thing and not give in against the Treaty Of Versailles. Hitler accused the German politicians of being the guilty party because they where the people who stabbed the whole of Germany in the back by ending World War 1 and signing the Treaty Of Versailles. Hitlers tactics did and didn't work at the same time. He was found guilty however, where he could have had life imprisonment for what he did, he only got a 5 year sentence and was eligible for parole in 6 months.

Film Autuerism Essay -- essays papers

Film Autuerism Auteurism is a term first coined by Francois Truffaut to describe the mark of a film director on his films. A director can be considered an auteur if about five of his film depict a certain style that is definitely his own. In other words, much like one can look at a painting and tell if it is a Monet, a Renoir, or a Degas, if a film director is an auteur, one can look at his film and tell by style and recurring themes that it was made by a certain director. In auteur films, the director is many times what brings an audience to the theater, instead of the actors or storyline. I am going to take a look at three of the most noted auteurs: Frederico Fellini, Satyajit Ray, and Alfred Hitchcock. I watched five of Frederico Fellini’s films: La Dolce Vita, 8-1/2, Juliet of the Spirits, La Strada, and City of Women. In all of these films, I noticed Fellini’s enormous use of imagery, which of course he is most noted for. However, I also noticed a recurring set of character archetypes. These archetypes are the sex object, the wife, and the typical man. First, we see the use of the sex object in 8-1/2. The young boy and his friends encounter the whore. With this encounter we see that a mixed batch of emotions, delight, cruelty, wonder, scaredness, and finally guilt. This scene is a perfect example of sexual awakening. The whore’s sexuality and the boy’s responses to it are shown with crosscuts between her suggestive motions and their shock and ultimate joy. When she invites the boy to come closer, he has mixed feelings, but is ultimately pressured by his friends. Fellini finishes this episode perfectly- the boys are caught red-handed by adults. In City of Women similar experience is portrayed. This time it is with a loving maternal figure. The young boy is confused when returning her affections- he has a mix of sexual excitement and shameless affection. The camera angle is that of a child’s view, and he looks at her exposed cleavage and her open skirt crossed with cuts of her strong arms and her continuing mate rnal household duties and her embrace. In La Dolce Vita, the sexual object is in a more complex relationship with the man. She is not only an object of desire, and sexual partner, but she is also a friend and confidant of the main character. The second character type that Fellini portrays in several of his films is the wife. In 8-1... ...pless when she puts herself in harms way. Stylistically, this movie was one of Hitchcock’s famous experiments. Almost the entire movie is shot in the main character’s apartment and out of his apartment window. Finally, I watch North by Northwest. In this film as with many of his others including Vertigo and Rear Window, Hitchcock sets up his hero as being the only one who knows the truth, that way he is the sane one and the audience sympathizes. Also very Hitchcockian is that the main character becomes the detective. Stylistically, the audience stays with the main character, only knowing as much as he does. As with both Frederico Fellini and Satyajit Ray, there is no denying Hitchcock's autuerism. When a movie of his begins, there is no doubt from the very beginning as to who may have directed it. Auteurism is a very important aspect to analyzing film. When a director is an auteur, he not only has films that are easily recognized as his, but also he has left his mark on film history. Three important auteurs are Frederico Fellini, Satyajit Ray, and Alfred Hitchcock. All three of these directors have specific styles and recurring themes that they have made their trademark.

American Culture and Women

The fact that American culture positively recognizes single motherhood and not single fatherhood is wrong and in my opinion untrue. Single mothers do not in any circumstance have an advantage over single fathers. Especially in today’s society, when there are a lot of stay-at-home fathers, due to the economic recession, and the divorce rate being higher than ever this gives fathers an equal opportunity to be the primary caregiver in the child’s upbringing.Most Americans positively recognize single motherhood and not single fatherhood. The question I would ask those people is, â€Å"Have you been raised by a single father? † Most likely the answer will be no. Those individuals probably were raised in a dual parent environment and don’t even know what it’s like to be raised by a single parent. I would then proceed to tell them that single fathers have the same ability as mothers to raise quality sons or daughters. There truly is no so called â€Å"adv antage† when it comes to parenting.There is a wide range of skills required in raising a child, from codling them as small infants to disciplining them as adolescents. Either parent, mother or father, can posses those skills, who’s to say a mother is better at coddling and a father is better at disciplining. Single parents, whether a mother or a father can have the qualities needed to raise a confident, well-mannered, and respectful child. Neither one has an advantage over the other, they are both equal. If either one is willing to put the effort into being a parent then they should be successful.

Different types of play spaces Essay

There are four different types of play spaces availible. These are affective, transient, physical and permanent.These can be provided within a play setting or created by the children.Different types of play spaces will be more challenging and stimulating for children and they will be less likely to get bored or restless. Affective – An affect play space is a space that pays attention to the moods and feelings that children and young people bring, these are usaually calming play spaces. For example: music, sensory and art. Transient – A transient play space is a space that can be changed, adapted or moved about. These objects range from wooden blocks to basketball nets. E.g. basketball nets can be moved from outside to inside etc†¦ Examples of a transient play space would be: making dens, moving furniture and creating imaginative play spaces. Physical – A physical play space is a space that children can be physically active. Thesespaces are ideal for anything from running to fine motor skills. Examples of physical play are: running, wrestling, skipping, dancing and sliding. Permanent – A permanent play space is a space that can not be moved or changed in any way. For example: parks, swimming pools, football picthes and adventure playgrounds.sdf Outline how to idenify when children and young people need support within the play space. One of our roles as a playworker is to support children in their play. This means we should stand back and observe the play unless someone is going to  get hurt. We should let the children play without intervening but joining in if you are asked to or given play cues is totally fine. identifying when children and young people need support within the play space is usaually straight forward but sometimes it can be a little bit tricky. The best way to do this to watch out for any play cues you might be given, then step back when you are no longer needed. Another way of supporting the play is if you see a play space not being played with, go and play with a activity and sooner or later you will attract attention and children will start to get intrested. When two or more children start to play with this activity you should move away and go back to observing. How a playworker can support, without taking control, children and you people to adapt a play space. There are many ways a playworker can support children and young people to adapt a play space without taking control. Most of the ways to support children without taking over are mentioned above but they differ slightly. The ones that apply are: don’t intervene unless asked, respond to play cues with a playful reponses and dont intervene unless you see a hazard. If the children want to adapt the play space and seem to be having trouble wait until they give you play cues or come and ask you to help. If they do ask you for help ask the children what they want help with or tell ask them to tell you what to do and you’ll do it. This way it is still the children adapting they play space you are just giving them a helping hand. How to bring play to an end in a way that is sensitive to the children and young people and their level of development and involvement. I am aware of plenty of ways to bring play to an end, some of these methods include: using a bell, using an egg timer or counting down. In my placement we tell the children we’ll stop playing to get tuck shop 5 minutes before the tuck shop opens after the children get their tuck they are free to go back to playing. 10 minutes before the end of the play session we tell the  children they have 5 minutes to play with the toys then we will do a group game for the last 5 minute until the childrens session is over. Why is it important to reflect on all aspects of your own playwork practice, including relationships with other people. It is important to reflect on all aspects of your own playwork practise quite regularly (at least once or twice a month). The reason you should do this often is so you can see how to improve or adapt your playwork practise as soon as possible. Looking back on your playwork practise and self-evaluating it allows you to see the things that work and the things that don’t so you can concentrate on the things that you need to improve. It is also important to reflect on your relationships with other people so you can build on them to create a successful relationship where both people are happy and content. What is meant by reflective practice? The definition of reflective practice is â€Å"the capacity to reflect on action so as to engage in a process of continuous learning†. This means it allows us to constantly learn by reflecting on what we already know and working towards being better playworkers. what is meant by constructive feedback? The definition of constructive feedback is â€Å"letting people know in a helpful way how they are doing, and how their performance is being perceived†. Constructive feedback can be positive or negative this means giving someone praise if they did something really good or tell someone in a very nice way that they didnt do very good and ways they could to improve. For example: â€Å"you did well in that but why dont you try this next time to make it even better†. Constructive feedback is important because it lets you learn from your mistakes in a positive way and better yourself. How to gather and handle constructive feedback from others, for example colleagues and parents. Gathering constructive feedback from colleagues and parents is important because it allows you to look back on what you have done good and what you could do slightly better next time. You could ask colleagues what you did well or how you could of done it better or do a questionarie with colleagues and parents to find out how you can improve and remember never react badly to constructive feedback beacause people are are just trying to help you be better at what you do. How to use observations and feedback to adapt your own playwork practice. Using observations and feedback allows you to adapt your playwork practise so you can concentrate on what needs to be improved whilst keeping your practice up to the highest standard possible. As I said above the to do this is to ask questions about your polaywork pratcise and ask them if they have any opinions or feedback that may help you improve at what you do.