Drama: Daydreams and nightmares

The issue we were set to explore in the lessons was daydreams and nightmares. I enjoyed doing this topic because it allows you to act out scenes that are not real and what normal people think about in their everyday life. It also allows you to express your own thoughts. I think that nightmare chair is a very effective way of putting across to the audience what has happened during the course of the play. We started the topic off with nightmare chair. In groups of six we had to make up a play with the second scene as nightmare chair. Our group found it very hard to think of a nightmare to do. So we ended up with our story being about a boy called Jack, who dared his friend, Paul, to walk across the railway track. However while Paul was walking back a train crushed him. This meant that Jack, who dared his friend, was having the nightmare. Jack had to sit in the middle and everyone else in a circle around him. We were chanting things like ‘ You shouldn't have done that', ‘you killed my best friend' and ‘you killed my son'. We then had to develop our plays so that they had the beginning of the story, then the nightmare chair, and then the end of the story. We had to have a monologue at the beginning of the story, but it could not tell the whole story. I found that making up the beginning and the end was harder to make up then the nightmares was. This was probably because we had the middle of the play and had to work around that. We then began the daydream part of the topic. We started off by reading a few pages of a play, Ernie's Great Hallucinations. This play was about a boy who used to daydream a lot however in his hallucinations they actual came true. The part we read was when Ernie and his Auntie May had gone to a fair, and the go to see a boxing match. The boxer want to win loses and the winner challenges anyone from the audience to go and fight him. No one from the audience goes so Auntie May goes in. that's when Ernie starts to daydream that his Auntie becomes the world unofficial champion and she does. We got to read the play once and then had to make our own interpretation of it from memory. This helped us to give us an idea of how we could do our next task. In different groups of six we had to make up our own versions of Ernie's hallucinations. We had two choice of how to do our plays. We could either have the daydream affect real life or just have it as a normal daydream. We chose to have the daydream affect real life. The play was about a girl called Edwina who wanted to become a super model. One day she was in her maths class and she started to daydream about being a world famous model and winning an award for being the worlds most beautiful model. Then the next day at school teacher asks for Edwina's homework and tells him she did not do it because she was modelling we then realise that her daydream was not actually a dream but did actually happened. When we first started doing the play no one liked it. NIGHTMARE CHAIR. In the nightmare chair play I did not have a very big part. I was the passer-by at the railway station. When Paul gets crushed I offer Jack my mobile to call the ambulance. When Jack is having a nightmare I walk around him saying ‘you shouldn't have done that.' My character thought that the boys should have had more sense than to play near the railway tracks. She was always looking up from her paper as she thought they were up to no good whish they were. When I offered Jack my phone I had to make my voice sound panicky and had to rush my words to show that she was thinking quickly about what to do next. When doing the nightmare chair I had to make my voice sound flat and cold, so that it sounded like we were all blaming Jack for killing Paul. I think my performance as an individual could have been improved by me learning my words correctly and knowing when and how to say them. I think I could have also improved my performance by making my actions clear and confident, because I was not sure what I should have been doing all the time. As a group our performance could have been improved by making sure everyone knew exactly what they were saying and when they should be saying it, so that we did not have so many pauses. We have made our actions more confident. DAYDREAMS. In our play about Ernie's hallucinations I played the part of Eddie Edwards. I was the boxer that lost. My character Eddie was a boxer and probably thought of himself as a tough and very good boxer. However he was not because he got knock out during the first round. In this play I did not have to speak, so I did not have to change my voice to suit the part I was playing. However I was mainly acting, so my actions had to good. I had to keep my hands in a tight ball, and close to my head. I also have my back slightly bent in order to give the affect that I was boxing. For our main play I played the part of a clever girl in Edwina's class, and I was a person watching Edwina's fashion show. My character in Edwina' s class always had her hand up to answer a question. She was a very clever and liked to show off she was not a very interesting person. As a little girl in Edwina's class I had to make my voice hi pitched and sound child like. When I has to recite my two times table I had to make my voice quite loud and make my mouth movement bigger like a young girls would. As the person watching the fashion show I did not have to say much. My actions as the little girl had to be different too. When I was sitting down I hard to sit up straight and place my hand straight up in the air when a question was asked. When I was playing the person watching the fashion show I had try to act posh. I tried to put this across when I clapped at Edwina. I had to clap very delicately and with my tips of my fingers. Making my voice louder and not being so self-conscience could have improved my individual performance. I could have also made my actions more precise and confident. I think everyone learning their lines so they do not stutter and leave long pauses could have improved the whole groups performance. CONCLUSION. When we were first trying to make up the play no one really like it, and we had a lot of problems acting it. No one could put in the effort to make the play look and sound good, but after we listened to everyone's ideas and thought of better ways to end it I think we made a very well acted performance.

Pavlov vis-à-vis Piaget Essay

Looking at the history, many names flourished in the area of psychology in the desire to learn about man and behavior.   These names have contributions that are of significance even to the present-day studies in the field of psychology. This paper deals with two of the notable names in this realm – Ivan Pavlov and Jean Piaget. Ivan Pavlov was a Russian psychologist, physician, and physiologist. He had substantial contributions to the various fields of neurology and physiology. His researches were mostly focused on conditioning, temperament and involuntary reflex actions. He bagged the 1904 Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine for his researchers and experiments on digestion which became the foundation of a more extensive research on the digestive system. In his work on involuntary reactions to stress and pain, he broadened the description of the four temperament types: phlegmatic, choleric, sanguine, and melancholic. The study of TMI or transmarginal inhibition was also started by Pavlov and his researchers. TMI is the body’s instinctive reaction of shutting down when exposed to overwhelming stress or pain. Of his contributions, Pavlov is widely recognized for his demonstration of classical conditioning or Pavlovian conditioning. Pavlov’s theory of classical conditioning started while he was working on his study of the digestive process in dogs. He observed that the dogs salivated before they received their food. Even just at the sight of the lab attendant, the dogs salivated. He called this phenomenon ‘psychic secretion.’ He made an experiment on this and used a bell and meat powder. He hit the bell and followed the ring with the meat powder. At the onset, only the meat powder made the dog salivate, but after repeating the practice, the ring of the bell made the dog salivate. Even when the meat powder was eliminated, the dog continued to salivate at the ring of the bell. In this theory, a living being learns to correlate one stimulus with one another. It is learned that the first stimulus is an indicator for the second stimulus. In the above experiment, the ring of the bell cued the dog that food might be coming. The following are the key concepts of Classical Conditioning:  · Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS) – a stimulus that can already elicits a response, like the food in the experiment.  · Unconditioned Response (UR) – response that is elicited by the unconditioned stimulus, like the salivation of the dog in the experiment.  · Conditioned Stimulus (CS) – a new and neutral stimulus that when matched up with a UCS elicits a similar response, like the bell in the experiment.  · Condition Response (CR) – the learned response when the neutral CS is paired with the UCS, like the salivation of the dog to the ring of the bell after repeated pairing of it with the food. (www.niu.edu) Although many evaluators criticize Pavlov’s theory as being tested only to animals, classical conditioning can actually be observed to a person’s behavior, even without the purpose. A person who experienced a traumatic vehicular accident would be frantic about the sound of screeching tires even at a normal situation. That person’s mind was condition that screeching tires mean accident. Jean Piaget was a biologist who was born in Neuchatel, Switzerland in 1896. He originally was studying mollusks but shifted to the study of developmental psychology and human intelligence from which he became a significant experimenter and theorist. At the age of 10 he published his first paper and at the young age of 22 he received his Ph.D. in science from the University of Neuchatel. Although he was technically a biologist and a philosopher, he regarded himself as a â€Å"genetic epistemologist.’ His interest was mainly focused on how an individual comes to know things. The thought process that lies beneath reasoning was his interest, particularly in the development of thinking.   Piaget believed that children have different way in responding compared to adults because of the difference in reasoning.   He started observing children of various ages and began working on his theory on the process of cognitive development. According to his theory, the development of children’s thinking is not a smooth process.   Before children learn new areas and abilities, there are particular stages at which it â€Å"takes off† and move to those new learning. These transitions transpire at about 18 months, 7 years and 11 or 12 years. Piaget’s key ideas include: schema, assimilation, accommodation, adaptation, egocentrism, and equilibrium. Schema are the set of sensori-motor skills which dictate the manner in which an infant discover his environment resulting to gaining more information of the world and more complicated exploratory skills.   These are the â€Å"representation in the mind of a set of perceptions, ideas, and/or actions, which go together.† (www.learningandteaching.info) Assimilation is â€Å"the process by which a person takes material into their mind from the environment, which may mean changing the evidence of their senses to make it fit.† (www.learningandteaching.info) Accommodation is â€Å"the difference made to one’s mind or concepts by the process of assimilation.† (www.learningandteaching.info) Adaptation is â€Å"learning† in layman’s term. Piaget believed that adaptation or learning is a biological process from which the two sides are assimilation and accommodation. Egocentrism is a part of the early stage of psychological development. It is a â€Å"belief that you are the center of the universe and everything revolves around you: the corresponding inability to see the world as someone else does and adapt to it.† (www.learningandteaching.info) According to his theory, there are four stages of cognitive development: sensori-motor stage, pre-operational stage, concrete operational stage, and the formal operational stage. The first stage, sensori-motor stage, lasts from birth to about 2 years of age. In this stage, the infant makes use of his motor abilities and senses to grasp his environment. During the end of this stage, the infant develops more complicated combinations of his sensori-motor skills. The second stage, pre-operational stage, lasts from about 2 until about seven years old. Because of the child’s new abilities, this is a short step to symbol usage. The child now has a clear idea of past and future. This is the stage, though, that a child is egocentric, seeing things only from his point of view. The third stage, concrete operational, lasts from about 7 to about 11. Aside from the representational use of symbols, a child already has the ability to manipulate those symbols sensibly in the context of tangible situations. In this stage is also where a child develops the skill to conserve length, number and liquid volume. The fourth stage, formal operations stage, takes place from about 12 and up. This is the stage where a child develops hypothetical thinking, or the use of logical operations in the abstract, instead of the concrete. Both of these theories talk about learning. Basically, Pavlov and Piaget believe that learning can be directly influenced by the stimuli found in the environment of an individual. Both of them also imply that an individual has an innate and natural response to a stimulus, the unconditioned response (UR) for Pavlov and the schema for Piaget. What differs one from another is the processes and methods of how an individual learns. In Pavlov’s theory, a new learning is acquired through mind conditioning. A normal response of an individual to a normal stimulus can be altered through introduction of another stimulus from which the normal stimulus can be associated to, like what transpire to his experiment with the dog. In Piaget’s theory, on the other hand, learning can also be acquired through exposure to the environment, but at a certain stage, especially to children. A child, for example, won’t have an idea of what is past and future until he reaches the age of around 2, which is called the pre-operational stage. Piaget’s theory implies that the extent of a child’s learning is restricted to the stage or the age of the child. During the early stage of a child, he is said to be egocentric. Having this characteristic, a child’s health and physical condition is put at risk. The schema of grab and thrust is applied by a child to any object, oblivious of any harm that it may cause. He may be used to grabbing his rattle and thrusting it in his mouth, but once he came across a new object, he may use this schema to it, like a small animal or a pointed thing. These two theories are bases of more comprehensive studies of human behavior. Both of them are true in the sense that they can be observed and applied. It is proper to say that these theories are two of the most significant concepts in the world of psychology.

Issue of Immigrant child in Canada Essay

During the recent years, there has been extraordinary raise in the number of immigrants in Canada. Asians cover the largest group of the recent arrivals to Canada. During 1986 and 1991, there were 819,000 immigrants in Canada of whom 19 percent of them were children under the age of 12 years . (New Canadian children). At present, Asians are the fastest growing population in Canada. Asian immigrants include Indians, Chinese etc. , of whom Chinese make the greatest number of Asian immigrants in Canada over the past 20 years. (Asian Canada). In 2003, Chinese comprise of 17. 3 percent of Canada’s immigrants. The Government of Canada is providing many facilities for such immigrant children. Despite of the facilities and the help given by the government of Canada, the Chinese immigrant children in Canada are facing many problems which include language problem, family income, school learning system, food style, living environment, cultural change, etc. , The teaching style in the Asian nations and Canada are quite different from each other. (Researcher debunks) Chinese immigrant children in Canada face many problems in the school due to the teaching style and the language problem. Because Chinese value traditional ways of schooling, power imbalance occurs in between the teachers and the immigrant parents. Parental involvement is very important to the children whose native language is not English. (Parental involvement). Chinese immigrants who came to Canada recently are facing barriers to communicate effectively with the school personnel. Chinese parents communicated with the teachers or school personnel only two to four times a year where as the non-immigrant parents communicated once in a month and even once in a week. (Home school communication). This happens because of one of the common reason that the Chinese parents cannot speak English and need to rely on the interpreters. The other reasons include non-availability of the school letters, school programme schedule and also with the lack of time. The immigrant children feels much pressure on the new education system. When the home language is Chinese and English being the medium of instruction in the school, the child finds it very difficult to adjust and could not understand the concept when compared with the non-immigrant child. The children because of the language problem to communicate with other people, could not mingle with other children and find hard to make friends. If the immigrant child has friends in the school, it makes the child to develop communication skills as well as the interpersonal skills. This effects the child’s mental development. When the child is physically and mentally happy and supported by the parents and the society, then that child becomes successful in the future. There are several reasons which leads to the vulnerability of new immigrant groups in Canada. Some of them are inability to speak dominant language, separation from community, negative public attitudes, and lack of knowledge of the health care systems. Poverty can be calculated using product of education and occupation but this may not be true with the immigrant situation. Most of the immigrants have more formal education when compared to Canadians, they often face underemployment and unemployment. Due to the instability in the income, their children are affected. The parents cannot provide them with good educational facilities, quality food, and all other necessities as compared with the non-immigrant children. Due to the low functioning capacity of the family, the children suffer from the mental disorder, stress, conduct disorder, hyperactivity etc. These children are psychiatrically disordered. These affect the education, games and other activities of children when compared with the non-immigrant children. The immigrant children also includes the children of the single parent family status. These families are usually accompanied by low education, low income, and there is a high risk of mental and physical health problems. The development of the child completely depends on the parents and the society. Children of alcoholic parents have high risk of developing psychiatric disorder. However, according to the report by Offord and Lipman, the disorder rates among the new immigrant children are lower. (Growing up Canadian) Immigrants start their adaptation to the new country through a process called acculturation. (Acculturation/adaptation). An individual who is a participant in culture contact situation and when a person is being experienced by the external culture directly, it is known as psychological acculturation. The result or conclusion of acculturation is adaptation but this method includes stress which affects both immigrated parents and children. Expectations of both the new and old culture on the immigrant children show much burden. The acculturation affects the Chinese immigrant children in internal domains such as aspirations and values and external domains such as social experience and the living environment. The meeting of the two cultures takes place in several levels to the immigrant Chinese children. The fore most level would be the cultural practices and beliefs, social experience and the parental expectations. Chinese culture is completely different from that of the western culture. Asians give importance to the needs and rights of the group of people and they believe in interdependence. But these principles are incompatible with the western culture where they believe in the individualism, personal growth and individual achievement. Certain amount of discontinuity concerning cultural contexts and values of their new and previous homelands are shown on the recently immigrated Chinese children. By the cultural discrepancy, the immigrant Chinese children feel acculturative pressure from both sources like schooling and peers. The immigrated Chinese children will be unwilling to stick to the parental norms due to the pressures of the new culture. The cultural values to which the immigrant children are used to in their homes would conflict with those of the values and beliefs of the western culture. However, the immigrant children stay different from the non-immigrant children in their values. The immigrant children have their own norms and values which are important in the practise of daily life. The immigrant Chinese Children experience discrepancy in the food they eat usually because the food which Chinese eat is completely different from that of the western nations. The immigrant Asian children have been found to achieve higher academic performances and the parental aspirations are high when compared to non-immigrant parents. Chinese immigrant children may thus locate themselves between the parent’s high expectations and comparative poorer aspirations of the new culture. A source of concern over the Chinese-Canadian community is the racial discrimination. According to the leaders of the Chinese-Canadian community, the immigrant Chinese children have not only been ostracized but also they have been subjected to physical and verbal attacks. These attacks were unacknowledged by the schools and the teachers. Adolescents and the immigrant Chinese children have been the unknowing sufferers of violence. The immigrant Chinese children were the targets of different forms of discrimination. Due to this the immigrant Chinese children experienced complicated social relationships even in the school where the children feel alienated and isolated. The immigrant high school Chinese students feel much difficult and socially isolated in their English classes. Encounters with discrimination and racism are very common among the immigrant Chinese children. Thus the difference between the parental expectations, cultural beliefs of their country and the new host country would confuse the immigrant children regarding their aspirations and personal values. The Chinese immigrant children experience bias based on race and so they have diminished sense of belonging to their school communities. In Canada, the immigrant disabled child is not treated properly. Canada is violating Rights of the child as well as the seven articles of the united nations conventions. The disabled immigrant children in Canada are not guaranteed social and basic educational services. Canada is violating the rights of the immigrants by refusing the children with disabilities. Disability is understood as a political issue rather than the personal issue. The provisions under immigration and refugee protection act (IRPA) and the original immigration is best known to the poor treatment of people which was later enacted to replace in 2002. Canada’s system of immigration does not recognise children with disabilities but rather gives importance to the economically desirable workers. The immigration of a disabled child depends on the how independent the children could be when they grow up. Even now, the Government of Canada is admitting disabled immigrant children only in some of the cases. If the government does not give permission for the disabled child to get immigrated, the child goes through tough times which spoils his career. The Government of Canada is providing certain programs which help the immigrant children to build up English language and adjust with the school environment. These programs include ESL, LINC etc. , ESL stands for English as a Second language. (ESL in Canada directory). ESL means teaching English to a person whose primary or native language is not English. Education laws in Canada provide that ESL should be provided to all of the students who have been enrolled in the schools and whose primary language is not English. ESL programs in secondary and elementary schools are designed in such a way to meet the needs of the children to meet the proficiency standards. It focuses on English alphabet and phonetics to the children of all ages. In cooperation with the local school boards and colleges, community and immigrant organisations, the Government of Canada offers French and English language training programmes. This is known as LINC. LINC stands for Language Instructions to Newcomers to Canada. (LINC programs) Intergovernmental cooperation helps territorial and provincial governments to put forward to members of official-language minority communities to provide education in their own language. (Intergovernmental Cooperation) British Columbia literacy program for the immigrant families/children have been released for the immigrant families with young children. The immigrant PALS (Parents As Literacy Supporters) is made for the for the pre-school children and the parents living in Canada for at least three years. The Government of Canada provide education to the immigrant children through the language schools. Language schools are the schools where foreign languages are studied. Language schools offers certain specific programs to the people wishing to prepare for internationally recognised language exams such as TOEIC, TOEFL, University of Cambridge ESOL examinations, DELE etc. The immigrant Chinese people comprises most of the population in Canada. The immigrant Chinese children are facing many problems in the society, school etc. , and they are often confused with the culture and customs of the new and previous homelands. They are also experiencing bias based on race, language and food and they stand socially isolated. Despite of these problems, the immigrated Chinese children are achieving higher academic performances. The Government of Canada should provide more schemes and facilities to the immigrated Chinese children and should help them to get better in their studies. REFERENCES: 1. Morton Beiser, New Canadian children and youth study, Health Canada, March 31, 1999. http://ceris. metropolis. net/Virtual%20Library/health/beiser1. html 2. Marc Star, Asian Canada, http://www. goldsea. com/Features/Canada/canada. html 3. Guofang Li, Researcher Debunks â€Å"Myth† that Asians Are, by Nature, More Academically Successful than Other Minorities, December 4, 2002. http://www. buffalo. edu/news/5975 4. Simich-Dudgeon, Carmen, Parent Involvement and the Education of Limited-English-Proficient Students. ERIC Digest. 1986-12-00. http://www. ericdigests. org/pre-925/parent. htm 5. Lily L. Dyson, Home-school communication and

How is this artefact the product of a particular historical and Essay - 2

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Composing self Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Composing self - Research Paper Example The Peace Corps is a volunteer program that facilitates cultural exchange and understanding and provides technical assistance and support to Americans and people from other countries. The Peace Corps is a ubiquitous aspect of American culture, having been founded 54 years ago by President John F. Kennedy, following the enactment of the Peace Corps Act (Pub.L. 87–293) (Brown, 2014). The group’s role revolves around social and economic progress, making it an intrinsic part American society. Since its establishment, the program, through its chapters in different cities and states, has played a vital role in bridging the socio-economic and cultural gap between the United States and other countries. It frequently collaborates with other government departments (e.g., healthcare and homeland security) to provide support when necessary (Rogers & Haggerty, 2013). For example, during the September 11th terrorist attacks, members of the New York group made a significant contributi on to search and rescue, firefighting, counseling, public safety and policing, and public awareness efforts. Currently, the group influences community mobilization, healthcare development and provision, and emergency relief efforts in the United States and other countries. In summary, the group has socially existed for decades; it is recognized by many Americans, non-Americans (Watkins, 2012). As socio-cultural and economic challenges become more prevalent in and outside the United States, the Peace Corps become more socially relevant. This is evident in the number of initiatives that its members are increasingly required to support (Rogers & Haggerty, 2013). In developing countries, the group has been instrumental in nurturing good relations between the United States and other nations and improving the lives of millions of people. Members must be American citizens and, in most cases, college graduates with knowledge, skills, and experience in different disciplines. All

Organic versus Inorganic Farming Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Organic versus Inorganic Farming - Research Paper Example This paper presents a critique of organic versus in-organic farming. It focuses on the costs and benefits in relation to health and meeting the nutritional needs of the global populace. People are becoming aware of the problems associated with pesticides and foods that are grown using in-organic farming. For example, Gabriel and Tscharntke (2007) observe that pesticides that contain heavy metals such as lead can get into the body system by feeding on food that has traces of chemicals. Tomatoes are among the farmed fruits that the European Union has restricted entry into the market due to traces in the chemicals. Such foods that may gradually lead to cancer as the chemicals build up in the body. Apart from plants, livestock is also produced organically through avoidance of the use of synthetic chemicals to control pests. In-organic farmers also apply phytohormones that include chemicals that regulate the growth of plants. The growth enhancers facilitate the development of leaves, ripening of fruits as well as the strengthening of stems. These developments are desirable especially for the early maturity of the plants. However, they have dire health implications. Some of the hormones may affect cellular activity leading to the death of cells as well as stress in plants. On the other hand, they also have an impact on humans consuming the plants. The hormones may facilitate the development of cancer. Leukemia, prostate, and breast cancer are among the problems that are associated with hormones for growth enhancement in plants. One of the hormones that are understood to affect cancer cells in humans is Sodium salicylate and methyl jasmonate among others (Avery, 2006). In essence, organic farming maintains soil fertility; it is environmentally friendly and also does not endanger the lives of humans.

Anything of Van Morrison Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Anything of Van Morrison - Research Paper Example His dynamism in composing and singing different song genres boosted his music career by ensuring that he stayed relevant to the changing times. Among his greatest albums was A sense of wonder, released in 1985, the album became a hit and among the songs that sold the album was one which he used to name the album. The rock genre piece is a classical of all times owing to the level of creativity that Van Morrison employed in its composition. He personally directed the first version of the song bring it out as a soft rock. Morrison carried out his research effectively before writing and composing a song. The themes he addressed in this piece earned him a direct entry into the market by being relevant to the issues affecting his target market. Among these included the social issues affecting the youths of the time. The early 19th century youth craved for change and revolution. Morrison epitomized this in his rock genre release of the song and the manner in which he addresses the issue in a musical composition. The track A sense of wonder has to this day been performed by a number of secondary artists most of who change the beats in order for the piece to fit other music genres thereby expanding its market base. Among such artists are The Chieftains, an Irish band with which he later performed a number of Grammy winning sets and John Lee Hooker who tried converting the piece into the Blues genres in 1991. Morrison’s original piece of the song is a soft rock; the band setting gives it the natural aura of such. He succeeds in creating a holistic piece by developing a harmonious set in which the entire beats are in unison with the lyrics of the song. He composed the song in a structure of a poem. This made it easier to sing owing to the fact that poem structures easily fuse with the beats. In his composition of the piece, he uses a number of composition styles to achieve the rhyme and rhythm that later sold the track. He uses refrain extensively, this is the rep etition of a phrase or a word in the piece in order to create a rhythm. The chorus is one such collection of sentence he repeats after every successful stanza (Hindemith and Arthur 22). A number of subsequent rock artists composed songs without choruses but Van Morrison in most of his tracks used choruses. Choruses break the monotony presented by a plain rap or narration in a stanza; it reminds the audience of the underlying theme in the song and has often served as the central point in the entire song. Van Morrison’s chorus in this song is therefore served to create the thematic statement and the kind of fusion it earns with the instruments and the beats sells the piece. During the chorus, he changes his voices to a near alto finish thereby interacting with the female voices in the set. This gives the song a twist from the previous straight, tough and dry voice in the previous stanzas. Additionally, by the chorus the beat changes seamlessly in accordance with the flow of the previous stanza, an audience does not automatically feel the change in the beats that serve to create the rhythm and unity in the entire piece by giving an adequate consideration of the difference that the chorus ought to convey. Additionally, Van Morrison achieves rhythm by using with rhymes extensively in the near poetic piece. Rhymes are a series of similarly sounding words that the songwriter uses at the end of every

Physical Abuse to Children Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Physical Abuse to Children - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that children need to be protected from any and all forms of abuse. It is evident from research carried out by different studies that most children are often exposed to one form of abuse or another at some point in their lives. In order to safeguard and protect the growth and development of a child, it is crucial to ensure that the environment in which they are exposed to is free from any and all forms of abuse. This may make it possible for them to grow and develop into individuals who are keen on helping shape society, rather than destroy it. Physical abuse is just one form of abuse that a child may experience growing up, and in some cases, may lead to the child’s death. It is not correct or fair to insinuate that among all the forms of abuse known, physical abuse may be the most dangerous. This is because all forms of abuse leave the child scarred and mentally afflicted for life. There are legislations that are in place that try a nd ensure children are protected and their rights safeguarded against any form of abuse. However, this has not stopped carers, parents, siblings, or guardians from physically abusing children. Working Together to Safeguard Children identifies physical abuse of children as poisoning, shaking, burning, scalding, and even drowning them. The distress caused by such actions often show up later in children as they tend to act out or carry out similar actions against others.

Cloud Computing Models Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Cloud Computing Models - Research Paper Example As such, my analysis will be based on reading Addressing Export Control in the Age of Cloud Computing and recommending the best path for the company to take. Export Control in the United States plays a critical role in ensuring that the national interests and foreign policy regulations are adhered to. United States places restriction on the export of some software, items and technology. The Departments of Commerce, Defense, Interior, Energy and other US agencies control the flow of software out of United States. Cloud computing is a new and emerging concept. One of the most fascinating aspects of cloud computing is the autonomy it offers. Though it has been with us not for long, it is undisputable it has proven to be a major commercial and SME success catalyst and hopefully will continue for the next decades. Clouds are of particular interest not only with expanding tendency to outsource IT to cut on management overheads and to widen existing limited IT infrastructures, but even more notably, they reduce the entrance barrier for new players to deliver their respective goods and services to a wider market with minimal entry and exit costs and infrastructure. The lack of term or volume commitments, pay as you go pricing model, and unrestricted entry and exit seem to offer a license to behave impulsively. Tempting as it may be to shift deployment to the cloud, IT manager realize that their business depend on thoughtful planning (Lorna Uden, 2012). The key policy questions that the company is likely to face include privacy, jurisdiction, and security. The concept of jurisdiction is applicable where data originates from one location i.e. US and find itself in another location i.e. Europe. Because export control primarily concerns movement of data, then the question of whether the company will satisfy expose control regulations when it adopts the cloud need to be answered (Villasenor, 2011). The products

Enterprise Systems Essay Example for Free

Enterprise Systems Essay Enterprise systems, according to the text, are: a set of integrated software modules and a central database that enables data to be shared by many different business processes and functional areas throughout the enterprise. (Laudon Laudon, 2011)Let’s say, for example, the financial department of an organization needs to audit all of the orders fulfilled by the Sales and Marketing department. With an integrated enterprise system, there is no need to request the information and wait for it to be sent to the financial department from the distribution center. Both departments are linked by a central database that they can both access at any given time. This reduces the time between requesting the data and utilizing it for the department’s needs. If the Sales and Marketing department does not keep the Distribution department aware of what is being sold, then prompt delivery of the product cannot be guaranteed. These enterprise systems also increase the security of the database. Having separate databases for each department will increase the chance for lost data. The needs of each department can be considered separate, but when looking at it from an organizational perspective, each department is a part of a larger entity. This entity cannot survive without the cooperation of each of its departments working together. †¢How does effectively implementing and using enterprise systems contribute to achieving operational excellence? As stated in the above answer, a properly implemented enterprise system creates a more accessible, secure, and usable database. An organization that allows each department to access the information needed to run smoothly and effectively can save time and productivity. If compared to a system of separate departments and databases, we can see the benefits of the enterprise system. Any department, with the proper access, can get the information they need to do the work that they need to do. Without this, we would see an information system with the possibility of lost data due to poor communication between departments. This relates to the question of security. It is easier for a database specialist to keep one large database secure and safe than it would be to work with several separate databases. The question of who can access what data from what department is easily controlled within the database itself, which allows for easier backup of data as well. A unified database can also benefit each separate department by easily allowing them to access only the information they need, this boosts the security of not only the database, but all information in that database. All of these contribute to the ease of use of the database and a smoother running operation. †¢What challenges are posed by enterprise applications? There are many different challenges that arise when implementing an enterprise system. Accessibility is one of the biggest. What department can access what data? How can this data be used by the departments that have access to the data? The information used by the enterprise applications are the core of the database. Without it, there would be no need for the database to exist. Each department must have the proper applications that can communicate the data between the other departments. I have seen many instances where improper implementation was due to each department not complying with the software or hardware requirements of the enterprise system. This results in not only loss of productivity, but money wasted on applications not compatible with the base system. This also lowers the security of the enterprise system, which can result in the loss of data. Having a secure database, as I have said before, can also benefit the ease of use and better productivity not only for the IT department who keeps the database and systems running properly, but for the end user in the offices of each separate department. Only by working in concert and by having the appropriate applications for each separate department can an enterprise system work for the betterment of not only the organizations, but their customers or clients.

TATA Consultancy Services (TCS): Organisation Culture

TATA Consultancy Services (TCS): Organisation Culture Understanding an organizations culture from an employee as well as management point of view is as important as understanding ones own job profile and responsibilities to perform well in any structural setup. Given the continuously changing environment, employee insights on his or her work culture is very important for an organization to best define and upgrade its role and objectives. To call for successful implementation of these objectives, it is pertinent to emphasize the importance of culture in motivating and maximizing the value of its human and intellectual assets. Organizational culture can be defined as the pattern of shared values, beliefs, and assumptions considered being the appropriate way to think and act within an organization. Seven key characteristics of what the organization values capture the essence of culture: (1) Innovation and risk taking, (2) Attention to detail, (3) Outcome orientation, (4) People orientation, (5) Team orientation, (6) Aggressiveness, and (7) Stability. Organization TATA Consultancy Services (TCS) Culture of TCS relevant from the employees perspective: The Culture of TCS is observed to be highly ethical as is the case with most TATA Group Companies. The culture according to the various interviews was found to be highly networked although the job responsibilities and positions of employees were clearly defined. This helped the employees settle down in the organization quickly and effectively along with giving providing them the autonomy to bring out the best in themselves due to highly networked nature of the environment. This is well exemplified by the fact that even the CEO of the company is addressed by his first name. The culture of TCS is also the one that supports growth and learning by providing and facilitating platforms for individuals to innovate and experiment even if that is not a direct requirement of their project. One of the most striking feature of this company is that employees are referred to as associates and not employees. This reflects the pride the company wants to experience in being associated with the concer ned individuals and holds them as important and superior as the company itself. However since TCS is huge organization with approximately 170,000 employees, many-a-times underutilization of human resources is observed before the project allocation. Hence periods of inactivity is observed in such cases. The size of the company and its well defined hierarchy is centralized at higher management level and localized at domain or vertical level. The company is also studied to be too customer driven even when its not a part of the customer requirement or specification. TCS overall is an employee driven company, The Company provides the best in the class facilities to work and learn. TCS has a separate learning and development cell, which encourages the associates (yes the employees are called associates) to learn and develop their technical, managerial, interpersonal communication and other skills. The company provides a good mix of talent and challenging work which appeals to the associates. In the interviews, we didnt find one thing that was low on culture practices at TCS. The employees are well paid, well satisfied and love the culture. The company has the lowest attrition ration of 9% for the last 4 quarters is a proof of the culture that prevails there. Apart from the learning and growth prospects, TCS also provides timely work review, assessments, various bonuses, leaves and also growth opportunities. The boundary of management and associates is low and the management is easily assessable. The level of respect for every employee is very high and is maintained with the high to low management and associates. Interview Guidelines:- The interviews should be conducted along different levels of hierarchy. The interviews should be conducted from equal participants from male/female employees The interviews should be conducted in such a way that there should be equal participation from both the freshers and experienced. Avoid conducting the interviews during peak working hours, to avoid any responses based on immediate happenings. Try and accommodate the interview on different days of the week and at different timings. Interview Transcripts Participant: Vanshika Shrivastva Designation: Asst. System Engg. Working with TCS for: 2 Yrs Q: How do you define the work culture at TCS? R: The work culture at TCS is bifurcated in two aspects; there is the organization work culture which follows the Tata Group ethics and beliefs, good learning atmosphere and also a healthy place to work at. The other is the project specific work culture, as there are different client, the project culture varies according to the client and the work needs. But the overall culture is filled with learning and growth option. Q: Can you elaborate with examples what are the learning and growth examples provided to you by TCS? R: TCS has the work evaluation process twice a year, once for the appraisal and once for the review, which helps employees assess their working capabilities, There are timely seminars, webinars, trainings, workshops and other such events to promote learning. TCS also encourages its employees for continuous learning and certification drives to promote a more competitive and better working atmosphere. Q: Are there any specific training program or department taking care of these? R: Yes, there are various training programs available for the associates; we have a learning and Development cell which conducts trainings across various technological platforms, also around better working skills, communications skills, managerial skills, work life balance etc. Plus apart from this, the HR department of every project keeps a [emailprotected] event once every month to promote a healthy working culture. Q: What are the most striking features you find in the workplace at TCS? R: TCS is my first organisation and I dont have any plans to change it in the near future. This is basically for the ethics and culture of work that we find with the company. We do not call anyone sir/mam even the CEO is called by the first name. Also TCS does not call its employees as employees they call us associates. Plus the timely review process at various levels, the apt compensation and the services at the disposal are really good at TCS. Q: What is the hierarchy like at TCS, in terms of working? R: The hierarchy is very well defined at this organisation. Apart from the technical associates like me, there are managerial hierarchies. I report to my team lead, he reports to the project lead, the project lead reports to the project manager and the project manager reports to the group manager. But the best part is, all the managers for the project/domain are present at the same location and are accessible to everyone. So the hierarchy is put across well and is also easily accessible. Participant: Ashish Rustagi Designation: IT Analyst Working with TCS for past: 4 yrs (onsite at US for past 1 yr) Q: How do you like the work culture at TCS? R: TCS is my second employer, I found the work atmosphere here challenging and refreshing at the same time. Q: How would you rate the work ethics at TCS? R: TCS is very high on work ethics, like any other Tata group company. Q: Throw some light on your relation with peers, seniors and juniors. R: At TCS there are no seniors, juniors when it comes to work, everyone is asked to make a contribution to every work, the team work is the driving force here. A team comprises of a good mix of people. So its always challenging and fun as I mentioned. Q: How does TCS help you shape your career? R: TCS provides you immense opportunities to learn and develop your skills. As TCS serves a number of varied clients, so learning in every field is encouraged. The managers are given some technical training so that they can understand the associates better and the associates are given managerial training to maintain small management at work. Q: How do you find TCS in providing learning and development opportunities? R: TCS has a rich culture with learning, the learning and development cell has their weekly and monthly trainings. These trainings are conducted by industry specialist and sometime in house faculty. Even the initial learning program was a fantastic builder for confidence and learning platforms. Q: How does the organisation looks towards the employees? R: TCS believes that their best assets are their employees; Employees are given all sought of comforts to help them shape their future and also help the organisation grow. With good services, Timely appraisals, proper work review, other team building activities makes you come to office with a smile. Q: What is your take on the overall organisational structure at TCS? R: TCS is divided into various segments, with multinational presence the company is divided into service segments called verticals. Apart from this, the various departments work hand in hand and with strength of over 170,000 associates is still one of the best places to work. Participant: Siddharth Khetawat Designation: Associate Consultant Worked with TCS for: 6 yrs (recently left TCS) Q: Why did you leave TCS? R: TCS was the first company I worked for; I had to move on to higher studies. Q: Do you have plans to get back to TCS after your studies? R: I would love to do that, if I get an opportunity. Q: How did you find the culture at TCS? R: TCS game me the perfect ground to work and provided great facilities to sharpen my skills. The infrastructure was well established, and it always felt good when you know everything is in place where you work. Q: How was the management at TCS? R: The management was very well established at TCS, they had a clear goal and mission stated and in my 6 years I learned that the long term plans were very well implemented. Q: Do you have anything that you thought was lacking at TCS culture? R: Its like answering one of the things for apple; you never know what you need till the time they give it to you. Same is the case with TCS, I always thought TCS gave the best work place for associates, Till they included the quarterly appraisal and reviews, then I thought its the best possible thing, till they gave the TCS social service Maitri wing. Finally even before leaving, TCS gave me an opportunity to sign a 6 months working deal and sponsor me a big amount of money for my education. Its a great place to work and I am glad I was associated with them Q: Did TCS provide sufficient learning grounds? R: Indeed, TCS gave a great variety of learning platforms. I did 4 certifications from TCS including an auditors certificate for 6 sigma. Now being an engg. Where can I get such an opportunity? It just reflects the amount of diversity TCS offers someone who is willing to learn. Participant: Ragini Mishra Designation: Group Lead (BFS2.2 domain) Worked with TCS for: Past 14 yrs Q: Such a long time with TCS? R: I worked initially for 6 years with TCS, when I was posted in London for the project. The client that I was working for gave me an offer and looking at the better prospects then I decided to join. But only 18 months into the job I realised that the money might be better but the culture was something that was not what I was used to. So I came back to TCS and since then have been climbing up the ladder. Q: You started your career at TCS as asst. System engg trainee. And now a group lead.. So from technology to management . How was the journey? R: Firstly the journey still continues, I joined TCS as a programmer like everyone else. Then climbing the ladder was easy. As TCS gives opportunities to learn and do everything that one wishes, I was inclined towards management, so after a few years as a technical associate I walked up to my manager and asked told him about it. He advised me to take up the training sessions from the LD department for managerial skills. And since then it was a great transformation. Q: How did TCS help you shape your career? R: TCS provided an excellent ground for me to build my career. When I moved into lower management in the project, I was invited to learning sessions with mid level and upper level management to sharpen my skills and learn. And it proved a great experience and the participants were from the same league as me and all started with experience with TCS as an associate. Q: Does TCS stand by the Experience Certainty tag? R: Oh hi bet we do it better than anyone else in the industry. We stand tall to our mission, vision and practices. And ensure that the client in projects experience certainty in our work and commitment. We believe in providing services of top most quality to our clients so that in turn they can provide better services to their clients. Q: How does the work culture appeals to you at TCS? R: TCS is an employee driven company. Here we believe in putting the Clients and employee first. The company ensures the best possible working environment with challenging and target driven associates. I was personally touched by the company culture when I was given a 3 months maternity leave and my Husband who also is a TCS employee was given a 1 month leave. No other organisation can understand you as good as TCS does. Functional and Dysfunctional aspects of TCS culture/organizations culture in the light of its mission: To help customers achieve their business objectives by providing innovative, best-in-class consulting, IT solutions and services To make it a joy for all stakeholders to work with us Functional Aspects Well Defined Job Responsibility Clear Hierarchy High Values and Ethics Employee Focus Customer Driven Highly open and networked culture Learning Environment Dysfunctional Aspects Stress Under-Resource Utilization Inflexible Project Allocation Regional Bias Allocation of Base Branch Action Plan Stress Management at TCS the workplace has become a high stress environment in many organizations cutting across industries. Employees are experiencing high level of stress due to various factors such as high workload, tight deadlines, high targets, type of work, lack of job satisfaction, long working hours, pressure to perform, etc. Interpersonal conflicts at the workplace, such as boss-subordinate relationships and relationships with peers, are also a source of stress. Experts believed that the dysfunctional aspects of stress could directly impact an organizations performance and also affect the well-being of its employees. Stress at the workplace is linked to absenteeism, higher attrition, and decreased productivity. Stress lead to fatigue, irritability, poor communication, and quality problems/errors. High stress levels also affected the morale and motivation of the employees. Prolonged exposure to stress without effective coping mechanisms could lead to a host of physical and mental problems. For instance, stress could lead to stress-induced gastrointestinal problems, irritable bowel syndrome, acidity, acid reflux, insomnia, depression, heart disease, etc. Moreover; stress could push the victim toward high risk behavior such as smoking, drinking, and substance abuse. Stress-related illness leads to increase in absenteeism and attrition affecting the profitability of the organizations. Organizations cutting across industries are gearing up to provide employees with a stress-free healthy environment. The efforts to address this issue are more pronounced in some industries than others. Experts felt that, though stress at the workplace is a global phenomenon, professionals in some industries are more susceptible to stress than others. For instance, surveys conducted in 2006 and 2007 in the UK and the US respectively, found that employees in Information Technology (IT) industry (including the ITeS outsourcing industry) are the most stressed. Accordingly, these organizations had started implementing various unconventional methods to decrease stress at the workplace. Even in India, organizations had woken up to this menace and were resorting to novel methods including teaching the employees dancing and music, trekking, etc, to reduce stress at the workplace. For instance, Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. had started different clubs like Theatre Club, Bibliophile Club, Adventure Trekking Club, Fitness Club, Sanctuary Club, Music Club and Community Services Club, etc. TCS should focus on increasing self-awareness and provided the employees with guidance on how to cope with stress through a series of workshops by experts. In addition to conducting stress management workshops, TCS should also conduct off-site picnics, games, and inter-departmental competitions. Some companies were also using a system of mentors and promoted open communication to improve interactions and camaraderie at the workplace. Employees in most of the established companies had access to in-house counseling centers. It can also employ nutritionists to provide healthy food at the office canteens and counsel the employees on healthy eating habits and lifestyle. TCS can also consider employing psychologists to counsel their employees. Experts felt that organizations are resorting to creative methods to address the issue of stress at the workplace, but more action was required on this front, both in terms of assessment of the situation and implementation of concrete steps to tackle the problem. Under-Resource Utilization When new employees join TCS they are put on bench cause of lack of projects availability. It creates a lot of tension amongst them because they are mostly freshers. The duration of the bench time usually varies from a month to even a year. Keeping the resource idle for such a long time makes them unproductive. TCS has around 170000 employees and substantial amount of people on bench. TCS should be leaner they should focus on recruiting people as per requirement of the projects. TCS should also engage people in internal projects and trainings so that people have enough stuff to do at home and they should not be idle. Inflexible Project Allocation After the allocation of Projects to employees its really hard for employees to get release from the projects. They also have hard time dealing with lower management. It finally leads to employee dissatisfaction. The Project Allocation Process should be more transparent and employees should not have hard time to choose/change their projects as per company norms and employee interest. Regional Bias There is a regional bias especially in some office locations of TCS wherein people perform conversation in their local languages at office and people from other regions of the country find it really awkward to adjust in the office environment. It happens majorly because majority of the people at office are from local region and they have bias towards conversations in their local languages. HR of the respective locations should conduct regular sessions to let employees know about the company policies and ethics to be followed in the company. Allocation of Base Branch The issue with the allocation of base branch is also a major problem at TCS wherein employees find it difficult to find a transfer request being accepted. Even the female employees are the victims wherein they dont have option to choose Base Branch of their choice. The Allocation of Base Branch should be done after taking options from the employees and there should be guidelines to let employees decide the base branch and change after serving after certain duration at the respective location.

Sakis Stories and the Impression they Create about Adult-Child Relatio

Saki's Stories and the Impression they Create about Adult-Child Relationships In order to answer this question I am going to be focusing on three of Saki?s stories; the story-teller, the lumber room and the open window. Children at the time Hector Munro (Saki) was writing these stories would have had very vivid imagination; this is shown in Saki's story 'The Open Window' when the niece makes up the saga of Mr Sappleton's death, illustrates how imaginative children can be, and that adults are very easily fooled. Fooling adults is a key theme in Saki's stories; another time when it occurs is in the story 'The Lumber Room' when Nicholas dupes his aunt into believing that he is somehow trying to get into the gooseberry garden, but instead has no intention of doing so but does sn...

Essay --

American Eel Gatlin Edge WFB- 440, Feb 11, 2014, Rodriguez The American Eel (Anguilla rostrata) is South Carolinas only catadromous species. Unlike anadromous species that migrate into the rivers of South Carolina from the ocean to spawn and then return to sea, the American Eel does just the opposite. It is naturally found in rivers and streams along the Atlantic coast and migrates to the open ocean to spawn. Little work has been done on this species which leaves much to be discovered about this unique specimen. Generally females are larger in size and can grow up to two times the size of males and also grow at a faster rate (Geographic effects on American eel 323). The American Eel has become a species of interest on the east coast of America due to its new found economic importance. Due to the decline of the European Eel (Anguilla Anguilla) oversea markets have begun to take interest in buying eels from the United States (Georgia Tidal Creek 821). Studies have shown that the average home range for these eels is 1.04 hectares (Georgia Tidal Creek 823). Most age classes of eels wi...

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Essay -- Psychology, Mental Health

Everyone has experienced emotions such as anxiety, fear, and worry; they are a part of everyday life. These reactions are normal and healthy; they typically don't come too often, and when they do, they don't last very long. However, the United States Health and Human Services Department (1998) estimates there is about 3.2 million Americans that suffer from a psychological anxiety disorder called obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Those who suffer from this condition have frequent upsetting and unreasonable thoughts, worries, or fears. The Harvard Mental Health Letter (1998) notes that: â€Å"The most common obsessional theme is cleanliness (dirt and germs), followed by aggression and sex, safety, and order or symmetry. Obsessions may take the form of doubts (has something happened to my child?); fears (something might happen to the child); images (I see the child drowning); or impulses (I fear that I am going to harm the child)† (para. 13). In an attempt to control these obsessional themes, they perform one or more ritualistic behaviors or mental acts called compulsions. Unfortunately, these behaviors only relieve the intrusive thoughts and feelings for a short time, before coming back and ultimately, trapping those with this condition in a pattern of repetitive obsessions and senseless compulsions. Symptoms of OCD are numerous, they include: Repeated touching, checking or counting; avoidance or adherence to certain numbers; excessive washing or cleaning; and hoarding. Karno (1998) found that â€Å"At some time during their lives, often during their late teens or twenties, 2 to 3 percent of people cross [the] line from normal preoccupations and fussiness to debilitating disorder† (as cited in Myers, 2011, p. 463-464). Many individuals ... ... their thoughts to a point where they can tolerate behavioral therapy and live somewhat of a normal life'† (Kato, 1992). Obsessive-compulsive disorder is a difficult condition to overcome. â€Å"A 40-year follow-up study of 144 Swedish people diagnosed with the disorder found that, for most, the obsessions and compulsions had gradually lessened, though only 1 in 5 had completely recovered (Skoog & Skoog, 1999)† (as cited in Myers). It can take months or years, to get OCD under control and in fact, it may never go away. However, celebrities such as Howard Hughes, Howie Mandel, and David Beckham all suffer from this disorder, and are able to keep it under control and happen to maintain successful careers and live a relatively normal life. They are proof to the millions of OCD stricken Americans that the counting, the cleaning, the hoarding, can eventually be controlled.

Lust

Tana Broadway Mrs. Thomas EN 2000 Intro to Literature March 14, 2013 The Theme of Susan Minot’s â€Å"Lust† The theme of Susan Minot’s story â€Å"Lust† illustrates that in a space where love should be, there is emptiness and overwhelming sadness. Even though the girl realizes that happiness doesn’t come from sexual relationships, she continues to have sex with the boys anyway. Minot’s protagonists, mostly women, are in search of love. Romantic love is her aim. The young girl in this short story tries to fulfill that hole by having sex with multiple boys, in hopes of them caring and loving her.Minot was born in Massachusetts. Minot got her education at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. She found love, and then was married six weeks after they meet and are now separated. So she is also looking for someone to love. At the beginning of the story she is just experimenting with sex, as the story goes on she starts not remembering the b oys names and progresses into an even deeper sadness and emptiness. To begin with, Susan Minot portrays the girl in the story as someone trying to find herself, but doesn’t know how.The boys show her attention that makes her feel good and that feeling only last for the time she is with them. This becomes a cycle with many boys. She gets so involved with boys that she put them before her own interests, as stated in the story,† I could do some things well. Some things I was good at, like math or painting or even sports, but the second a boy put his arm around me, I forgot about wanting to do anything else, which I felt like a relief at first until it became like sinking into muck. (Minot 230). Her sexual appetite left her feeling empty inside. She wondered if there was something wrong with her. When a guy would ask her to sleep with them, instead of saying no, she would do it because she didn’t have anything else to say. The girl would keep having sex just to pleas e the guy. In the story, she says, â€Å"So I’d go because I couldn’t think of something to say back that wouldn’t be obvious, and if you go out with them, you sort of have to do something. †(Minot 231)As stated in Minot’s biography, in â€Å"Lust†, the characters are wistful; they can’t quite understand what it is they stand to gain from their sexual relationships, even though they need them like bodies need water. Women pursue and are pursued by men in a fast- whirling social environment that includes cocaine-snorting and glamorous careers in film and journalism. Minot’s sure rhythms capture the hard-boiled verities of this party life. Susan Minot grew up in Manchester, Mass. , was in college when her mother was killed in an automobile accident.She kept a journal from the age of 13, and after graduating from Brown, moved to New York in 1980 so she could write. She waitressed while completing her master’s of fine arts d egree at Columbia University’s Writing Division. WORK CITED McCLURG, JOCELYN, AND Book E. Courant. â€Å"A Leap from Love and Lust to World of Repressed Love Susan Minot’s Variations on Theme of Love. â€Å"Hartford Courant: 0. Proquest. Nov 04 1992. Web. 11 Mar. 2013 Minot, Susan. â€Å"Lust† Literature to Go. Ed. Michael Meyer. Boston: Bedford/ St. Martin’s, 2011. 229-236. Print. â€Å"Susan (Anderson) Minot Biography. † – Love, York, Lust, and Walter. N. p. , n. d. Web. 21 Mar. 2013.

A theatre review of Les Miserables Essay

We went to see a performance of Les Miserables on Thursday 19th October 2000, which was directed by Trevor Nunn and John Caid and written by Victor Hugo and was staged at the Palace Theatre. Brief The performance is set in France after the French revolution, a woman had given birth to a young girl out of wedlock which was unacceptable at the time. She sends her daughter to live with a married couple with a daughter of similar age. The mother sends every last bit of money she gets to the family looking after her daughter to pay for her upbringing. At one point she gets so desperate for money that she turns to prostitution and sells her teeth and hair for money. Whilst all the above is happening a very strong and young man is in prison for stealing a loaf of bread for his starving sister. He broke his bail because he was fed up of being just a number and starts a new life under his original name Jean Valjean. He stayed in a church over night and the bishop gave him a meal and a place to sleep, in the night Jean Valjean stole a pair of silver candle sticks and run off with them. The police brought him back and confronted the bishop, but to everyone’s surprise the bishop said that he gave the silver to Valjean. After the police left the bishop told Valjean to keep the sticks and use them to start a new life. A young dying woman tells him about her daughter and where she is staying. He makes a pledge to find her daughter and bring her up as his own. He goes and finds her and pays the family she is staying with so he can take her away. Jean Valjean becomes a mayor of a town even though he is still on the run from the police. One policeman catches on and realises that he is an exconvict that has broken his bail and tries to find a way to take him back to prison. The students of the village he is in charge of starts a rebellion and builds barricades to protest against the French army. Jean Valjean’s daughter falls in love with a man that goes into the barricades. Jean Valjean also goes into the barricades, cossets (the girl that he has raised) boyfriend gets shot. Jean Valjean carries him out of the barricades and through the sewers, he saves his life. The main issues of the performance where poverty, rebellion, death and love because the play was set in times of great poverty, the town goes into the barricades and makes a stand for what they believe in. The whole plot starts when Cossets mother dies and Jean Valjean pledges to look after his daughter and love her like his own. The performance is set in France in the early 1830’s, the French government at the time didn’t rally care about the lower class citizens and didn’t put a lot of money into the community, this is when people started to make a stand for their rights. The director tried and succeeded to produce a very dark and unhappy time of life. Most of the poorer people where all dressed in dark and dingy colours which was a lot like the backgrounds and the lighting which in times where shades of browns and dirty yellows. The songs also where a very good example of the mood and atmosphere because most of them where to a steady beat which shows that there life was always the same and never changed they kept to the beat. I had very high expectations of this play as I had heard a lot of good points about this performance. It is not just a run of the mill play, it was a historic master piece that has been a hit in many different countries, such as England, America and France. My initial response was that I was very excited as soon as the safety curtain rose up from the floor of the stage. The first thing I saw was a group of criminals in a chain gang who where singing the song â€Å"look down† which in my opinion is probably the most powerful songs in the whole performance. Main Body of The Review The Performance Space Les Miserables was staged in a Proscenium Arch with a rotating plate in the centre of it that is essential because of several scenes that definitely revolved around the rotating plate. I think that the director chose to use this technique because it gave the audience quite a wide view of what was going on around them. Even though the staging was done very well I didn’t feel very involved except for the marching scene when it felt like the actors where marching right towards us. I think the director wanted to stage the production in this way to make the audience feel involved. The Set The set was fairly large with a rotating plate in the middle, the plate was very symbolic in this performance because it symbolised the lives of the characters because they seemed to be going round in circles. The set also had moving barricades, which were very realistic for the barricade scenes. There is only one set in the whole performance but there are a number of props that come on and off of the stage to set the scene. The barricades are made up of mainly woods such as beds and chairs which shows that the citizens didn’t really have anything but they would put all there household goods up for use if it was going to get them even the slightest bit of respect. The space that was available for the actors was used very well because the performance overall was spread out and wasn’t just crammed into one corner. In my opinion the best use of space and levels was in the scene when Javert jumped off the bridge he didn’t actually move but the bridge rose very quickly giving the impression of him jumping, this scene would only work if the timing was exactly right. The marching scene also relied a great deal on levels because the people would step forward and lean down at the same time which created the illusion of the actors moving forward even though they where just moving backwards and forwards. The Actor And His/Her Performance Jean Valjean Hans Peter Jonssens played Jean Valjean. Jean Valjean was imprisoned for stealing a loaf of bread for his poor and dying sister, he was sent to work in the chain gangs he was no longer a person but just a number which was 24601. He broke his bail when he was released from the chain gangs and started a new life. He is physically an exceptionally strong man and a lot of people comment on it. He speaks very firmly to adult men especially Javert and stands upright to show his strength and authority, but when he speaks to women and children he speaks very softly and seems to lean over as if they are equal in authority, he seems to be a true gentleman. Jean Valjean seemed to be a very proud man we can tell this by his body language because he stands upright at all times other than when he speaks to children. I liked the character Jean Valjean which in my opinion meant that it was a successful character. Javert Peter Corry played Javert. He was the good guy but the way he portrayed the character made us hate him. He is a police officer and was in charge of the chain gang that Jean Valjean was in. he remembered him because he was so strong. Javert comes across as a very straight man that will always speak his mind and if he didn’t like you then he would make it quite clear. He is a gentleman and is very religious, he does every thing by the book and treats everybody the same. Javert didn’t really give anything away with his facial expressions, as it was always the same. His posture and body language shows us that he is proud of his authority and is pleased that he is enforcing the law.

Lunenburg, Fred C. Organizational Structure Mintzberg Framework

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SCHOLARLY, ACADEMIC, INTELLECTUAL DIVERSITY VOLUME 14, NUMBER 1, 2011 Organizational Structure: Mintzberg’s Framework Fred C. Lunenburg Sam Houston State UniversityABSTRACT Henry Mintzberg suggests that organizations can be differentiated along three basic dimensions: (1) the key part of the organization, that is, the part of the organization that plays the major role in determining its success or failure; (2) the prime coordinating mechanism, that is, the major method the organization uses to coordinate its activities; and (3) the type of decentralization used, that is, the extent to which the organization involves subordinates in the decision-making process.Using the three basic dimensions —key part of the organization, prime coordinating mechanism, and type of decentralization—Mintzberg suggests that the strategy an organization adopts and the extent to which it practices that strategy result in five structural configurations: simple s tructure, machine bureaucracy, professional bureaucracy, divisionalized form, and adhocracy. Organizations exist to achieve goals. These goals are broken down into tasks as the basis for jobs. Jobs are grouped into departments. Departments in organizations may be characterized by marketing, sales, advertising, manufacturing, and so on.Within each department, even more distinctions can be found between the jobs people perform. Departments are linked to form the organizational structure. The organization’s structure gives it the form to fulfill its function in the environment (Nelson & Quick, 2011). The term organizational structure refers to the formal configuration between individuals and groups regarding the allocation of tasks, responsibilities, and authority within the organization (Galbraith, 1987; Greenberg, 2011) Very early organizational structures were often based either on product or function (Oliveira & Takahashi, 2012).The matrix organization structure crossed thes e two ways of organizing (Galbraith, 2009; Kuprenas, 2003). Others moved beyond these early approaches and examined the relationship between organizational strategy and structure (Brickley, Smith, Zimmerman, & Willett, 2002). This approach began with the landmark work of Alfred Chandler (1962, 2003), who traced the historical development of such large American corporations as DuPont, Sears, and General Motors. He concluded from his study that an organization’s strategy tends to influence its structure.He suggests that strategy indirectly determines such variables as the organization’s tasks, technology, and environments, and each of these influences the structure of the organization. More recently, social scientists have augmented Chandler’s thesis by contending that an organization’s strategy determines its environment, technology, and tasks. These variables, coupled with growth rates and power distribution, affect organizational 1 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SCHOLARLY, ACADEMIC, INTELLECTUAL DIVERSITY 2_____________________________________________________________________________________ tructure (Hall & Tolbert, 2009; Miles, Snow, Meyer, & Coleman, 2011). Henry Mintzberg (1992, 2009) suggests that organizations can be differentiated along three basic dimensions: (1) the key part of the organization, that is, the part of the organization that plays the major role in determining its success or failure; (2) the prime coordinating mechanism, that is, the major method the organization uses to coordinate its activities; and (3) the type of decentralization used, that is, the extent to which the organization involves subordinates in the decision-making process.The key parts of an organization are shown in Figure 1 and include the following. Strategic Apex Technostructure Middle Line Support Staff Operative Core Figure 1. The key parts of an organization. ? ? ? ? The strategic apex is top management and its support staff. In school districts , this is the superintendent of schools and the administrative cabinet. The operative core are the workers who actually carry out the organization’s tasks. Teachers constitute the operative core in school districts. The middle line is middle- and lower-level management. Principals are the middlelevel managers in school districts.The technostructure are analysts such as engineers, accountants, planners, researchers, and personnel managers. In school districts, divisions such as instruction, business, personnel, public relations, research and development, and the like constitute the technostructure. The support staff are the people who provide indirect services. In school districts, similar services include maintenance, clerical, food service, busing, legal counsel, and consulting to provide support. ? The second basic dimension of an organization is its prime coordinating mechanism. This includes the following: FRED C.LUNENBURG _________________________________________________ ____________________________________3 ? ? ? ? ? Direct supervision means that one individual is responsible of the work of others. This concept refers to the unity of command and scalar principles. Standardization of work process exists when the content of work is specified or programmed. In school districts, this refers to job descriptions that govern the work performance of educators. Standardization of skills exists when the kind of training necessary to do the work is specified. In school systems, this refers to state certificates required for the various ccupants of a school district’s hierarchy. Standardization of output exists when the results of the work are specified. Because the â€Å"raw material† that is processed by the operative core (teachers) consists of people (students), not things, standardization of output is more difficult to measure in schools than in other nonservice organizations. Nevertheless, a movement toward the standardization of output in schools in recent years has occurred. Examples include competency testing of teachers, state-mandated testing of students, state-mandated curricula, prescriptive learning objectives, and other efforts toward legislated learning.Mutual adjustment exists when work is coordinated through informal communication. Mutual adjustment or coordination is the major thrust of Likert’s (1987) â€Å"linking-pin† concept. The third basic dimension of an organization is the type of decentralization it employs. The three types of decentralization are the following: ? ? ? Vertical decentralization is the distribution of power down the chain of command, or shared authority between superordinates and subordinates in any organization. Horizontal decentralization is the extent to which non administrators (including staff) make decisions, or shared authority between line and staff.Selective decentralization is the extent to which decision-making power is delegated to different units within t he organization. In school districts, these units might include instruction, business, personnel, public relations, and research and development divisions. Using the three basic dimensions—key part of the organization, prime coordinating mechanism, and type of decentralization—Mintzberg suggests that the strategy an organization adopts and the extent to which it practices that strategy result in five structural configurations: simple structure, machine bureaucracy, professional bureaucracy, divisionalized form, and adhocracy.Table 1 summarizes the three basic dimensions associated with each of the five structural configurations. Each organizational form is discussed in turn. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SCHOLARLY, ACADEMIC, INTELLECTUAL DIVERSITY 4_____________________________________________________________________________________ Table 1. Mintzberg’s Five Organizational StructuresStructural Configuration Simple structure Machine bureaucracy Professional bureaucrac y Divisionalized form Adhocracy Prime Coordinating Mechanism Direct supervision Standardization of work processes Standardization of skills Standardization of outputs Mutual adjustment Key Part of Organization Strategic apex Technostructure Operating core Middle line Support staff Type of Decentralization Vertical and horizontal centralization Limited horizontal decentralization Vertical and horizontal decentralization Limited vertical decentralization Selective decentralizationSimple Structure The simple structure has as its key part the strategic apex, uses direct supervision, and employs vertical and horizontal centralization. Examples of simple structures are relatively small corporations, new government departments, medium-sized retail stores, and small elementary school districts. The organization consists of the top manager and a few workers in the operative core. There is no technostructure, and the support staff is small; workers perform overlapping tasks.For example, teach ers and administrators in small elementary school districts must assume many of the duties that the technostructure and support staff perform in larger districts. Frequently, however, small elementary school districts are members of cooperatives that provide many services (i. e. , counselors, social workers) to a number of small school districts in one region of the county or state. In small school districts, the superintendent may function as both superintendent of the district and principal of a single school. Superintendents in such school districts must be entrepreneurs.Because the organization is small, coordination is informal and maintained through direct supervision. Moreover, this organization can adapt to environmental changes rapidly. Goals stress innovation and long-term survival, although innovation may be difficult for very small rural school districts because of the lack of resources. Machine Bureaucracy Machine bureaucracy has the technostructure as its key part, use s standardization of work processes as its prime coordinating mechanism, and employs limited horizontal decentralization.Machine bureaucracy has many of the characteristics of Weber’s (1947) ideal bureaucracy and resembles Hage’s (1965) mechanistic organization. It has a high degree of formalization and work specialization. Decisions are centralized. The span of management is narrow, and the organization is tall—that is, many levels exist in the chain of command from top management to the bottom of the organization. Little horizontal or lateral coordination is needed. Furthermore, machine bureaucracy has a large technostruture and support staff. FRED C.LUNENBURG _____________________________________________________________________________________5 Examples of machine bureaucracy are automobile manufacturers, steel companies, and large government organizations. The environment for a machine bureaucracy is typically stable, and the goal is to achieve internal effi ciency. Public schools possess many characteristics of machine bureaucracy, but most schools are not machine bureaucracies in the pure sense. However, large urban school districts (New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago) are closer to machine bureaucracies than other medium-size or small school districts.Professional Bureaucracy Professional bureaucracy has the operating core as its key part, uses standardization of skills as its prime coordinating mechanism, and employs vertical and horizontal decentralization. The organization is relatively formalized but decentralized to provide autonomy to professionals. Highly trained professionals provide nonroutine services to clients. Top management is small; there are few middle managers; and the technostructure is generally small. However, the support staff is typically large to provide clerical and maintenance support for the professional operating core.The goals of professional bureaucracies are to innovate and provide high-quality services. Existing in complex but stable environments, they are generally moderate to large in size. Coordination problems are common. Examples of this form of organization include universities, hospitals, and large law firms. Some public school districts have many characteristics of the professional bureaucracy, particularly its aspects of professionalism, teacher autonomy, and structural looseness. For example, schools are formal organizations, which provide complex services through highly trained professionals in an atmosphere of structural looseness.These characteristics tend to broaden the limits of individual discretion and performance. Like attorneys, physicians, and university professors, teachers perform in classroom settings in relative isolation from colleagues and superiors, while remaining in close contact with their students. Furthermore, teachers are highly trained professionals who provide information to their students in accordance with their own style, and they are usually flexible in the delivery of content even within the constraints of the state- and district-mandated curriculum.Moreover, like some staff administrators, teachers, tend to identify more with their professions than with the organization. Divisionalized Form The divisionalized form has the middle line as its key part, uses standardization of output as it prime coordinating mechanism, and employs limited vertical decentralization. Decision making is decentralized at the divisional level. There is little coordination among the separate divisions. Corporate-level personnel provide some coordination. Thus, each division itself is relatively centralized and tends to resemble a machine bureaucracy.The technostructure is located at corporate headquarters to provide services INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SCHOLARLY, ACADEMIC, INTELLECTUAL DIVERSITY 6_____________________________________________________________________________________ to all divisions; support staff is located within each division. L arge corporations are likely to adopt the divisionalized form. Most school districts typically do not fit the divisionalized form. The exceptions are those very large school districts that have diversified service divisions distinctly separated into individual units or schools. For example, a school istrict may resemble the divisionalized form when it has separate schools for the physically handicapped, emotionally disturbed, and learning disabled; a skills center for the potential dropout; a special school for art and music students; and so on. The identifying feature of these school districts is that they have separate schools within a single school district, which have separate administrative staffs, budgets, and so on. Elementary and secondary school districts that have consolidated but retained separate administrative structures with one school board are also examples of the divisionalized form.As might be expected, the primary reason for a school district to adopt this form of structure is service diversity while retaining separate administrative structures. Adhocracy The adhocracy has the support staff as its key part, uses mutual adjustment as a means of coordination, and maintains selective patterns of decentralization. The structure tends to be low in formalization and decentralization. The technostucture is small because technical specialists are involved in the organization’s operative core. The support staff is large to support the complex structure.Adhocracies engage in nonroutine tasks and use sophisticated technology. The primary goal is innovation and rapid adaptation to changing environments. Adhocracies typically are medium sized, must be adaptable, and use resources efficiently. Examples of adhocracies include aerospace and electronics industries, research and development firms, and very innovative school districts. No school districts are pure adhocracies, but medium-sized school districts in very wealthy communities may have some o f the characteristics of an adhocracy. The adhocracy is somewhat similar to Hage’s (1965) organic organization.Strategy and Structure The work begun by Chandler and extended by Mintzberg has laid the groundwork for an understanding of the relationship between an organization’s strategy and its structure. The link between strategy and structure is still in its infancy stage. Further research in this area, particularly in service organizations like schools, will enhance school administrators’ understanding of school organizations (Lunenburg & Ornstein, 2012). In the meantime, school leaders must recognize that organization strategy and structure are related. FRED C.LUNENBURG _____________________________________________________________________________________7 Conclusion Henry Mintzberg (1992, 2009) suggests that organizations can be differentiated along three basic dimensions: (1) the key part of the organization, that is, the part of the organization that plays the major role in determining its success or failure; (2) the prime coordinating mechanism, that is, the major method the organization uses to coordinate its activities; and (3) the type of decentralization used, that is, the extent to which the organization involves subordinates in the decision-making process.Using the three basic dimensions—key part of the organization, prime coordinating mechanism, and type of decentralization—Mintzberg suggests that the strategy an organization adopts and the extent to which it practices that strategy result in five structural configurations: simple structure, machine bureaucracy, professional bureaucracy, divisionalized form, and adhocracy. 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