Communication Theory Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Communication Theory - Essay Example All of them are important so it is not a good idea to pinpoint one communication theory as more superior to the other theories. They have their own context so they are difficult to compare. For the paper, one of the three communication theories must be chosen and as a writer, I must reflect upon it based on his experience. The choice may come from the given three theories which are symbolic interactionism, semiotics, and social penetration. I have chosen symbolic interactionism for the paper and would relate it to my personal experience. Before anything else, it would be proper to know the meaning of symbolic interactionism first before reflecting upon it. The meaning of the theory would serve as the guiding light in understanding and be applying it to real life. It would be difficult to reflect upon the experience and relate it to the theory without a thorough understanding of how the theory works. The theory of symbolic interactionism had been started informally by George Herbert Mead. He had created it based on his interests in philosophy and language. He had not created a book or a formal working theory. The theory became systematic or formulated after his death when his students like Herbert Blumer had encouraged his fellow students under Mead to collect their notes and publish a book about it. When it was published, it came out with the title Mind, Self, and Society. As the writer had viewed it, the three elements in symbolic interactionism are the ones seen in the title of the mentioned book published by the students of Mead. Probably mind is essential in the picture because it is the dynamic form of the thinking of people. One must have a mind to think, analyze and act. He can also reflect upon his actions because he can think. All thanks to the power of the mind. Self is another important concept in symbolic interactionism as the writer had viewed it.  

TV Effects on Children Essay Example for Free

TV Effects on Children Essay When researching on the effects of television towards Americans, I found quite a few published studies, articles and books that were helpful in educating me on this epidemic. The average child will spend 1,500 hours a year watching television and in those 1,500 hours they will view an average of 200,000 acts of violence by the time they graduated high school (Norman Herr, Ph.D.). By the time a person turns 18 years old they will have watched 3 years worth of television. Television has been seen to have many effects on people such as alcohol use, violence, health issues, lower moral and lack of intelligence. My goal in this paper is to show how the effects of televisions have caused a life threating epidemic in today’s generation of Americans. To achieve this goal I have organized my paper into three sections. In the first section I will discuss how the effects of too much television can be detrimental to ones health. In the second section I will reflect on the cause and effect of behavior in today’s generations of children due to the amounts of television time. Lastly, I will conclude on how television has effected and changed the overall intelligence and morality of everyday American’s. see more:essay on influence of television on students Television has carried out a great deal of impact on health over the last decade. The many appealing topics and one-sided advertisements airing daily across American’s television are luring more and more children and adults to the limitation of their living room couch. In result inactivity, health issues and obesity are a much seen statistic of this decision. â€Å"The American Medical Association, researchers combined data from eight such studies and found that for every additional two hours people spend glued to the tube on a typical day, their risk of developing type 2 diabetes increases by 20% and their risk of heart disease increases by 15%.† In addition people who were more likely to spend three hours or more a day in front of the TV, their risk of dying at a younger age jumped 13%, on average. Hours spent watching TV causes the amount of time you are unable to spend on physical activities. Lack of these activities can lead to lack of blood flow and circulation, muscle development and or lower metabolism rates. If a person were to take just half of the leisure time they spent on watching TV and replaced it with physical activities they would see a great deal of change in their health. A large amount of studies have been administrated on the effects of behavior and violence on adults and young viewers. On a child’s behavior according to the AAP, Extensive research evidence indicates that media violence can contribute to aggressive behavior, desensitization to violence, nightmares, and fear of being harmed. A child is more receptive of what they see on television rather than adults because they are more likely to mimic those actions. An adult simply has the ability to change the channel or turn the TV off. As well the mindset of an adult is far beyond a child, most know what right from wrong, and what a wise judgment is. But for a child who has been subjected to a violent program, they are more likely to act out with an aggressive behavior. The negative influence of television is causing children to absorb and retaliate what they see on a daily basis, which in part causes that same child to believe that behaving badly is justified and/or appropriate. This in the long run can cause a child to become more violent, use drugs, drink alcohol, and become more sexually active. Television in today generation has had terrible impact on emotional and intellectual wellbeing. According to reports from International Child and Youth Care Network, â€Å"the more time you spend passively watching television and receiving sensory input in a relaxed, passive and semi-hypnotic state, the more your brain will be trained to receive information that way.† It’s hard to be able to quantify the exact amount of damage and effect that this has had on today’s generation of children, but you can defiantly see the lack of creativeness and imagination in one’s mind set. Once a brain is trained to receive and respond information this way, it is then harder for a child to be inattentive in a class. A child’s attention span becomes at an all-time low and then fails them to be able to socially and emotionally be able to involve themselves with other on a personal level. Other effects have also been said to be linked such as ADHD, but no studied have directly proven television go hand in hand. â€Å"The quick pace of television shows actually rewires the brain to accept information only in short chunks, thus reducing an individuals attention span.† Finally, touching basis on morality and its influence on today’s television, it can play out in a moral way just as much as an immoral way. There are networks out there that chose to create shows on television that can still convey moral messages such as the importance of honesty, kindness, and fairness. For example some of these shows are The Cosby Show, Dora the Explorer, Sesame Street, 7th Heaven and Mister Rogers Neighborhood, but sadly to say a majority of today generation do not partake in these show any longer. Today’s children and teens prefer to partake in those shows that chose to create an immoral conveyed message that shows you drugs, violence, excessive drinking, and sexual content amongst many other negative things. The world today has become a reality TV generation and the shows only continue to get worse as the years go on. I have attempted to provide solutions for problems that exist within the realm of television viewing. The solutions lie at the heart of the viewer. It is up to them to decide what they will watch, how often they will watch, and why they will watch. Television viewers must have reasonable judgment when it comes down to their viewing habits, or else they will become a hostage of their set. Television does not act alone, but must comply with broadcasting rules, time limits, and especially advertisers that buy air time. Once TV reaches the viewer, the viewer must be aware that they are responsible for the effect that they allow television to have on them, and how they relay these effects into their personal lives. Sure, not everything on the air is one big bed of roses as I’ve pointed out, but the majority of programming affects viewers in a positive way if they permit it to. Broadcasters can shove almost anything they want through the airwaves, but the viewer must be intelligent enough to decide what programming is beneficial to himself, his family, and his children. Work Cited Herr, Norman, PhD. Television Health. Www.csun.edu. N.p., Feb. 2006. Web. 21 Nov. 2012. . Gardner, Amanda. TV Watching Raises Risk of Health Problems, Dying Young. CNN. Cable News Network, 14 June 2011. Web. 22 Nov. 2012. . TV Linked to Aggressive Behavior in Children | Psych Central News. PsychCentral.com. Ed. Rick Nauert, PhD. Psych Central, 03 Nov. 2009. Web. 24 Nov. 2012. . Boyse, Kyla, RN. University of Michigan Health System. Television (TV) and Children: Your Child:. University of Michigan Health System, Aug. 2010. Web. 25 Nov. 2012. . Langholt, Alice. Negative Health Effects of Television. Life123. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Nov. 2012. . TVs Effects on the Developing Brain. TVs Effects on the Developing Brain. INTERNATIONAL CHILD AND YOUTH CARE NETWORK, 7 Sept. 2001. Web. 25 Nov. 2012. . The Tube Attack. Song of the Sirens. N.p., 27 June 2010. Web. 25 Nov. 2012. . Davies, Taryn. The Effects of Childhood Obesity. The Effects of Childhood Obesity. N.p., 06 July 2012. Web. 25 Nov. 2012. .

Free Glass Menagerie Essays: Escape Symbolism :: Glass Menagerie essays

Escape Symbolism in The Glass Menagerie If we take a look at the different symbols used throughout the play, I think that the most important one when it comes to escape is the fire escape. It is in the center from the very beginning, when Tom makes his opening addressing to the audience from it. To understand the role of the fire escape one has to see that it serves a different purpose for each of the characters. In general we can say that it represents the borderline between freedom and imprisonment. Apart from this, the different characters see it in different ways. For Tom, the fire escape is an opportunity to get away from the apartment and his nagging mother. For Amanda, on the other hand, it's a door through which gentleman callers for Laura can come into their apartment / into their world. For Laura, even though she's been outside, it's the border between the safe and the dangerous, between the known and the unknown. Also the Dance Hall across the street can be seen as a symbol of escape. Its name, Paradise Dance Hall, is a contrast to the lives of the characters, and to the current situation in the world as seen in the play. Also, Laura spends much of her time listening to her mothers' old records, hearing the same old music over and over again. I believe that the music coming from the dance hall can be interpreted to be Laura's possibility to escape from her monotonous life, a possibility that she cannot currently utilise. The last symbol that I see as important for the theme is the father of Tom and Laura, Mr. Wingfield. He is the ultimate symbol of escape, as he has actually managed to get away. The fact that Amanda still has his picture on the wall tells us something about another way that she is attempting to escape; by keeping hold of the past, as the picture is probably there to remind of the good

Netflix Case Study Analysis Essay

â€Å"Creativity is thinking up new things. Innovation is doing new things.† — Theodore Levitt The importance of this quote comes alive after reading the first three sentences within this case study. A statement by Reed Hastings, the founder and CEO of Netflix. â€Å"Well let’s separate the market into two phases. One is the phase of DVD, which peaks in five to 10 years and last for 20 to 30 years. Then there is the phase of Internet delivery, which peaks 20 or 30 years from now and lasts for 100 years† (Cengage). From the time Hastings founded Netflix in 1997, with his initial online DVD rental business idea, there has been many factors altering the business strategy of the company within it’s internal and external environment that has allowed Netflix to grow to where it is today. Netflix took of quickly and had already achieved economies of scale in as early as 2000, which coincidently was the same year they shifted their goal from DVD rentals to streaming video. From then, Hastings knew that within time DVD’s would be a thing of the past, and onl ine instant streaming was a thing of the future. He has been creative enough to be able to gain sustainable competitive advantage with other competitors, but more importantly he has been innovative enough to stay competitive with our society’s rapidly changing expectations for technology, which is a large barrier to this industry. Society’s rising demand for instant Internet streaming is causing their demand for DVD’s to decrease. Therefore, it seems as though DVD rentals are starting to fall from its peak and in return instant Internet streaming is starting to climb to the very beginning of its peak. Throughout this report the focus will stay on Netflix’s external environment, internal environment, current strategy, and future recommendations that keep Netflix â€Å"an e-commerce success story in an ever-changing business landscape† thanks to their early start in the subscription DVD rental industry, strong distribution capabilities, and loyal customers (Cengage). When first examining a companyâ €™s Strategic Management Process it is important to evaluate their mission statement in order to recognize who they believe they are as a company as well as their vision on how they want to continue to go forward in the future. Netflix is unique for they do not have an official published mission statement, but  Hastings expressed a clear vision for the future of Netflix at a conference in 2011. These points include: â€Å"becoming the best global entertainment distribution service, licensing entertainment content around the world, creating markets that are accessible to film makers, and helping content creators around the world to find a global audience†. After establishing a good understanding of the company’s mission statement the PESTEL (political, environment, social, technological, economical, legal) model is a general guideline that helps to analyze the general environment of the industry. Political forces seem to be low except for the most recent issue of higher postage prices, which would drastically decrease the DVD rental revenue. Environmental influences on the industry are always present, but they have very little influence on this industry. Social factors are extremely high and compliment the Technological factors which are also very high in this industry. When Netflix first started, they were more focused on DVD rentals and conquered their strategy of providing convenient DVD shipping with more distribution centers and an efficient supply chain, which in return took over many brick and mortar DVD rental stores. However, with the rise of technology and the social pressures of having the latest forms of electronic devices there is an entirely new landscape of Wi-Fi ready entertainment devices that aids in Netflix’s other market, instant Internet streaming. Economic factors are very high, but this industry seems to tackle them with efficiency and ease. Even during the drastic recession in 2009, Netflix’s revenue increased to $305.7 million because of increased customer awareness and other benefits they provide. Lastly, Legal factors are low, for the biggest legal barrier for Netflix is gaining the rights from movie studios to get the first-run content as soon as possible. Once the external environment is generalized a serie s of opportunities and threats are established. â€Å"The key for any player in this marketplace is to win the digital fight† and the key factors in order to do this consist of: being first to market, having the best content, and scaling benefits (Cengage). However, there are technological threats that come with developing these key factors like illegal downloads and Internet hackers. Therefore, Netflix had to stay cautious by carefully watching for signs of hackers. On the other hand, demographic trends of increasing population and expansion into foreign customers like China and India provoke certain opportunities that give  Netflix the ability to create a competitive advantage. With that being said, there are five forces of competition within any industry that determine both competition and profitability. These forces are intertwined with each other and consist of: Rivalry among Competitors, Power of Buyers, Power of Suppliers, Threat of New Entrants, and Threat of Substitutable Products. The Power of Suppliers contains two different groups. Movie studio suppliers are associated with the DVD rental aspect of Netflix’s services and TV stations are associated with the Internet streaming aspect. The Power of Suppliers is fairly low for the DVD rental side of the industry because the suppliers rely mostly on companies such as Netflix to purchase their DVDs even though soon DVDs will be a thing of the past. However, Netflix is able to create deals with the movie studios to buy the DVDs in bulk and therefore achieving economies of scale. This then sets a high barrier for new entrants into this aspect of the industry. However, the suppliers are still able to maintain some power by setting the 28-day policy prohibiting the release of their titles to the public. The suppliers have the most power on the Internet streaming side, which lead to competitive disadvantages. At the moment Netflix, still considers a large chunk of their revenue from DVD rentals therefore suppliers will continue to be reluctant in allowing instant streaming rights without increasing licensing fees. In this situation, the industry is more dependent on the suppliers because they have to fulfill their customer ’s demands. Along with this comes the power of the buyers, which is the most constant force in the industry. Customers are in high demand for video distribution services. However, they are not loyal to the providers, they are only loyal to the content. Therefore customers tend to have a very high degree of power in this industry that is supported with the price sensitive industry and low (if any) switching costs. According to the case â€Å"Netflix may be hard pressed to convince consumers to view content from its service as opposed to one of the other many new choices available now and expected to appear† (Cengage). As for the Substitutional Products force within the industry, Netflix does not have a substantial threat to other forms of visual entertainment. However, there is a significant lack of brand loyalty and the biggest substitution threat is seen when considering alternate content providers that offer similar services of quality and cost. Therefore, Rivalry is high within the industry and since Netflix is a  middleman distributor they have to stay competitive and innovativ e. In order to maintain their advantage they must ensure high streaming quality and easy accessibility along with a fair price. Cost is typically the number one aspect in which industries compete on. Since Netflix consists of two sides to their services they are able to distribute their revenue and use it to achieve economies of scale making the threat of new entrants on the DVD rental side very small since the barriers are so high. Their efficient multitude of growing distribution centers also provide added barriers as well. However, on the other side the threat of new entrants to Internet streaming is very high with very low barriers considering the widely accepted Wi-Fi capable devices with potential streaming updates. It is stated that with disregard to many opposing factors â€Å"The company is clearly focused on streaming, but executives have long maintained that DVDs, while declining, are going to be a part of its business for years to come† (GIGAOM). Considering all of these forces, the largest problem that Netflix faces today is being a victim of their suppliers while demand for instant streaming is increasing rapidly and demand for DVD rentals is slowly but surel y decreasing. This scenario leads the Power of Suppliers to increase, therefore taking a toll on Netflix’s profit. However, since Netflix was able to develop a stable early advantage with their reputation after dominating the DVD rental side they now must figure out how to keep the sustainable competitive advantage on the instant Internet streaming side as well and make up for their diminishing DVD rental revenues. Next, it is crucial to evaluating the Internal Environment of the Industry while analyzing its resources, capabilities, and distinctive competencies in order to see if the industry creates value. Resources such as Financial, Physical, Human Resources, Innovation, Reputational, and Culture all played a role in Netflix and the Industry in general. Netflix was able to be creative and innovative enough to adapt to the changing market thanks to Hastings managerial capabilities and ideas. Therefore, many of their resources proceeded to capabilities and further to core competencies, the primary resource being innovation. Innovation altered the entire supply chain’s primary activities i n order to stay effectively and efficiently competitive, which eventually demolished blockbuster, gave Netflix an upper hand over Redbox, and more recently and finally surpassed HBO’s number of subscribers.  Netflix’s strong perseverance to innovate grew with the instant Internet streaming demand by making their services applicable with up and coming Wi-Fi devices that could essentially bring the movie theater directly to your house. Their business strategy quickly developed to be a low cost streaming service. However, this strategy is getting harder for them to achieve under the same guidelines since their DVD rental revenues are dwindling. In order to stay innovative Netflix has taken into consideration their heavy reliance on the industry’s suppliers and decided to provide its own original content that they would not have to depend on any for except themselves. Netflix has developed its own original series, House of Cards, which was a risk at the time and turned into a creative competitive advantage. Other recommendations would be to give the customers what they want by providing the customers with even more listings under their subscriptions. Netflix’s VP of innovation, Todd Yelling sated that â€Å"if you’re not testing things that fail, you’re not testing aggressively enough† (Yellin). This shows that Netflix does not always play it safe and has hence provoked more current innovation strategies. Netflix must stay innovative in order to keep their competitive edge because at this rate â€Å"Internet TV with replace Linear TV† (The Verge). Because of Hastings leadership, the company’s creative and innovative capabilities have provided maximum benefit in the industry while creating a key core competency which will remain over the years to come. Works Cited Farfan, Barbra. â€Å"NetFlix Movie Rentals Mission Statement – A Vision, A Promise and Nine Values.† About.com Retail Industry. N.p., 2013. Web. 21 Oct. 2013. . Roettgers, Janko. â€Å"The Slow but Inevitable Decline of Netflix’s DVD Business — Tech News and Analysis.† GigaOM. N.p., 21 Oct. 2013. Web. 21 Oct. 2013. . Toor, Amar. â€Å"Netflix Has Likely Overtaken HBO in Paid US Subscribers, Analysts Say.† The Verge. N.p., 21 Oct. 2013. Web. 21 Oct. 2013. . Welch, Chris. â€Å"Netflix Innovation VP Says Bonus Content and Extras May Come to Original Shows.† The Verge. N.p., 17 Oct. 2013. Web. 21 Oct. 2013. .

Do popular men’s consumer magazines represent the modern woman of today fairly and accurately?

I am using two highly popular men's magazines Zoo and Loaded in this essay to show that nowadays modern woman are being perceived in the incorrect way. It is fair to say that those magazines are popular because Zoo sells 260,000 just on a weekly basis and Loaded has an average circulation of 237,000 monthly. Combined this has a total of 497,000 consumers who are regularly being shown the opposition to a fair or accurate representation of the modern woman. Firstly the masthead Zoo implies that the women in the magazines are as pathetic as wild animals in the zoo and they have just been put there for the benefit of male consumers to have access to watch without any restrictions. Now the masthead loaded suggests money is more of an importance to men than a woman is – basically saying women should be used and then erased from memory. Neither of these mastheads represent modern women accurately or fairly because a modern woman should be more intelligent and confident to deafened themselves in they are being referred to as wild animals in the zoo or worthless possessions. The feature photos on both magazines show women; sexually available, loose and seductive. Reason why i say this is in both feature photos the models have false expressions excessive make-up, heavily exaggerated breasts and revealing clothing. The connotations of all this is these women are slapper, they are easy, not very intelligent and do not value themselves because if they did they would not sell themselves in aid to an old mans boredom. These models are artificial and rely on their body parts to make a living. In the Loaded feature photo there are three people but only two of them – which happen to be female, are dressed inappropriately yet the male gets away with having to expose his body. It seems as if they have been dolled up just to be purchased by 50 cent who has then gone and posed one on each side like a pair of watches that he owns – they may as well have price tags. Even though in the Zoo feature photo there is only one model the still message is still being sent out it is quite difficult to comment on her clothing as she is wearing next to nothing but this highlights that she is sexually available. She is giving the sort of eye contact as if she is enchanted by the consumer and that she is property of their when they buy the magazine which would give off the message that she is sexually open. So again I say that the feature photos on both magazines are poor representations of modern women because modern women have high expectations so they dress more appropriately, smartly and would not feel the need to display vast amounts of flesh to look attractive they also want t be more natural and not plastic – for having to adjust the whole of their body just to take a picture. The puffs which are included in Zoo are terribly alarming. Ne of them reads, Britain's hottest college model disrobes. These kind of remarks make the public believe even younger girls who are underage are up for sex which is a total mistruth . the target audience which these magazines are aimed at is eighteen to thirty so i do not see why they should be interested in any school girl. Another puff says ‘celeb abbess back in uniform' it baffles me that the school uniform theme is so popular in men's consumer magazines this just undermines school girls and again supposes that underage girls are sexually available. Both of these puffs do not represent modern women accurately or fairly because a modern women should be more reserved, would be more sensible in securing her sex life and would not under mime her education in that way. Finally I would like to conclude this by saying that men's consumer magazines may not represent modern women accurately, yet they do represent them fairly. I have come to realise that the models with are on the feature photos are hard working women the job they do is not compulsory, so in some ways it is an achievement and a lot of other women would aspire to be in their position and see them as roll models. They independently make a living and are self reliant. I would also like to point out that these women are courageous because they have the confidence to dress and to exactly what they want knowing that they are going to be dishonoured by some people. People do not recognize it but these women are impressive representations of modern women.

Cultural framework Essay Essays

Cultural framework Essay Essays Cultural framework Essay Essay Cultural framework Essay Essay Aside from single perceptual experiences and resources available to the person and the community. intercessions aimed at cut downing and extenuating the spread of HIV infections must take into history the being of societal support systems in the community and society where persons are located. For one. the handiness of support either from friends. household. or community community influences an individual’s determination to follow or alter his or her lifestyle to mirror the aims of wellness publicity plans. At the same clip. the behaviours and life styles of an individual’s friends. household. or community itself may be advancing values and norms that contribute to HIV hazard factors. The experiences of the HIV Prevention Planning Council of the San Francisco Health Department ( 2004 ) point to the presence of three negative influences that prevent HIV- affected persons from seeking guidance and intervention and at the same clip ease the continued transmittal of the disease to the general public. The first among these factors is the prevalence of drug usage ( p. 14 ) . which promotes both the acceptableness of substance maltreatment as a signifier of diversion and hazardous sexual behaviour. These values are peculiarly dominant among San Francisco’s homosexual communities. whose population unsurprisingly have the biggest figure of HIV infections. A 2nd factor is San Francisco’s broad civilization ( p. 13 ) . which means that society may be more permissive of and may excuse hazardous sexual behaviour that would be deemed unacceptable in other topographic points. The turning acceptableness of hazardous sexual behaviour and the diminishing popularity of rubber usage becomes a motive for persons to prosecute in activities that expose them to possible HIV infection. Furthermore. the broad civilization within San Francisco’s communities may be reenforcing the acceptableness of drug usage. particularly among poorer vicinities. Zierler and Krieger ( 1997. p. 405 ) note that hapless communities may happen substance abuse appealing. or at least happen it unoffending. since it serves both as a beginning of support and as a beginning of diversion and stimulation. On the other manus. the dry being of racialist and prejudiced attitudes within broad San Francisco ( San Francisco Health Department. 2004. p. 8 ) may deter people of colour. homosexual. and male-to-female transgendered persons from seeking aid when they become infected by HIV due to the fright that they will be double stigmatized by transporting the disease. Although San Francisco’s broad values and attitudes may hold negative effects on attempts to control the HIV epidemic. these same values besides provide a positive influence in battling HIV. For one. San Francisco’s â€Å"progressive thought and broad policies† ( San Francisco Health Department. 2004. p. 13 ) besides enables persons infected with HIV to easy derive the support of their friends. households. and communities. which could supply adequate encouragement for them to follow healthier life styles. San Francisco’s openness and diverseness besides allow persons to make and populate their ain life styles with minimum force per unit area to conform to dominant beliefs and values which could assist persons avoid popular but negative influences on lifestyle picks. Similarly. the broad civilization within many communities enables persons to seek support from equals such as the homosexual community when one’s ain household shows reluctance to supply support to the person affected by HIV. Clearly. HIV intercession plans could use the being of positive societal support constructions in a society in order to successfully battle HIV. At the same clip. these plans must be able to turn to and extenuate the negative influence of an individual’s societal support web. including the values and attitudes of friends or household members which discourage an person from altering his or her lifestyle to cut down HIV hazard and exposure. : San Francisco Department of Public Health. ( 2004 ) . 2004 San Francisco HIV bar program. Retrieved February 5. 2009. from hypertext transfer protocol: //sfhiv. org/documents/Complete2004SanFranciscoHIVPreventionPlan. pdf Zierler. S. A ; Krieger. ( 1997 ) . Reframing women’s hazard: societal inequalities and HIV infection. Annual Review of Public Health 18:401–36.

Essay on Stress Report

Essay on Stress Report Essay on Stress Report A Report into the psychological aspects of Stress and wellbeing Abstract The purpose of this report is to identify what stress is and how affects body and mind. This has been achieved by examining biological and psychological responses in detail and simplified models of both, created by Selye (1956) and Lazarus and Folkman (1984). The report includes various methods of measuring stress including the Social Readjustment Rating Scale, physiological feedback and the levels of stress hormones. Finally, the work gives examples of stress management techniques, which can only be effective when combined. Definitions ACTH adrenocorticotropic hormone Amplify - to exaggerate, to increase the strength of sound or electrical signals Anxiolytic drugs - anti-anxiety medications Atherosclerosis refers to the build up of fatty deposits called plaques in the walls of the arteries. Brandt, C. at al (2012), Atherosclerosis (arteriosclerosis – hardening of the arteries), Netdoctor, accessed 04 March 2013, netdoctor.co.uk/diseases/facts/atherosclerosis.htm Autonomic nervous system (ANS) 'regulates the functions of our internal organs such as the heart or stomach.' Neuroscience for Kids, accessed 02 March 2013 http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/auto.html Cortex, hypothalamus, pituitary-parts of the brain CRH (corticotropin-releasing hormone) GAS- General Adaptation Syndrome Homeostasis-'is the control of internal conditions, be it temperature, specific blood conditions or other variables within living organisms.' Biology Innovation, accessed 04 March 2013, biology-innovation.co.uk/pages/human-biology/homeostasis/ Hypertension - high blood pressure LCU - life change unit Neurobiological - relating to the biological study of the nervous system The Free Dictionary by Farlex, 2013, accessed 03 March 2013 thefreedictionary.com/neurobiological SSRS - the Social Readjustment Rating Scale Stimulus 1. Something causing or regarded as causing a response. An agent, action, or condition that elicits or accelerates a physiological or psychological activity or response. The Free Dictionary by Farlex, 2013, accessed 03 March 2013 thefreedictionary.com/stimulus Stress is a state of mental or emotional strain or tension resulting from adverse or demanding circumstances. Oxford Dictionaries 2013, Oxford University Press, accessed 04 March 2013, http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/stress Sympathetic nervous system (SNS) 'is part of the autonomic nervous system(ANS)', Science Daily, accessed 02 March 2013, sciencedaily.com/articles/s/sympathetic_nervous_system.htm Introduction In modern, fast-paced times the word stress is used frequently, often without deeper consideration what it actually means. In fact there are three ways of defining it. One describes stress as an internal response to a stimulus, disregarding the stimulus itself and focuses on biological and psychological reactions such as arousal of the sympathetic nervous system or emotions ranging from anger to depression. An external stimulus may be used to define stress and is understood as any external factor that requires making an emotional, physical or mental adjustment. Stimulus can be categorised into: emotional (tension in marriage), physical (starvation or extreme pain), job-related (extensive workload), catastrophic events (floods) and chronic unpleasant circumstances (living in confined, overcrowded spaces). This definition discounts the fact that the same stimulus may cause different responses. Finally, stress is viewed as a correlation between stimulus and response, depending upon the perception of the situation and one’s ability to cope with the stress. This ability may depend on factors such as: personality, culture, gender and locus of control

Veterans Day Sayings Reveal the Harsh Realities of War

Veterans Day Sayings Reveal the Harsh Realities of War Each day brings us new hope, new ideas, and new inspiration. The past is history, but the present is our treasure. We cannot hope to improve our future without learning from the past. That is why we commemorate Veterans Day. On Veterans Day, we can raise issues that concern the whole world. Are wars necessary? Can we do something to avoid them? Can the world not come together for peace and harmony? Here are some soul-stirring Veterans Day sayings that will pump enthusiasm into every patriots heart. On Veterans Day, you can use these powerful sayings to remind others that greatness is born out of true passion. Henry Ward Beecher Are they dead that yet speak louder than we can speak, and a more universal language? Are they dead that yet act? Are they dead that yet move upon society and inspire the people with nobler motives and more heroic patriotism? Gary Hart I think there is one higher office than president and I would call that patriot. Douglas MacArthur Old soldiers never die; they just fade away. William G.T. Shedd A ship is safe in harbor, but thats not what ships are for. Donald Trump Sometimes by losing a battle you find a new way to win the war. Chinese Proverb When eating bamboo sprouts, remember the man who planted them. Norman Schwarzkopf It doesnt take a hero to order men into battle. It takes a hero to be one of those men who goes into battle. Sebastian Junger, War War is life multiplied by some number that no one has ever heard of. Lisa Kleypas, Love in the Afternoon I’ll tell you what I’m fighting for. Not for England, nor her allies, nor any patriotic cause. It’s all come down to the hope of being with you. Oliver Wendell Holmes Lord, bid wars trumpet cease; Fold the whole earth in peace. Lise Hand That’s what it takes to be a hero, a little gem of innocence inside you that makes you want to believe that there still exists a right and wrong, that decency will somehow triumph in the end. Albert Camus In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer. Lucius Annaeus Seneca Brave men rejoice in adversity, just as brave soldiers triumph in war. Robert Frost Freedom lies in being bold. Curt Weldon How can faceless bureaucrats in an intelligence agency deny brave soldiers a chance to tell the truth? Winston Churchill Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts. Never give in - never, never, never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy. Dan Lipinski On this Veterans Day, let us remember the service of our veterans, and let us renew our national promise to fulfill our sacred obligations to our veterans and their families who have sacrificed so much so that we can live free. Erich Maria Remarque No soldier outlives a thousand chances. But every soldier believes in Chance and trusts his luck. Billy Graham Courage is contagious. When a brave man takes a stand, the spines of others are often stiffened. Thucydides The bravest are surely those who have the clearest vision of what is before them, glory and danger alike, and yet notwithstanding, go out to meet it. Mark Twain Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear - not absence of fear. In the beginning of a change, the patriot is a scarce man, and brave, and hated and scorned. When his cause succeeds, the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a patriot. George Henry Boker Fold him in his countrys stars. Roll the drum and fire the volley! What to him are all our wars, what but death bemocking folly? G. K. Chesterton Courage is almost a contradiction in terms. It means a strong desire to live taking the form of readiness to die. Thomas Dunn English But the freedom that they fought for, and the country grand they wrought for, Is their monument to-day, and for aye. Josà © Narosky In war, there are no unwounded soldiers. Elmer Davis This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave. Joseph Campbell As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them. John F. Kennedy Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty. Valor is stability, not of legs and arms, but of courage and the soul.

Income determination Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Income determination - Essay Example ucts.2 Though there has no other research on the study of income smoothening Greenawalt and Sinkey study has helped Bank Company to provide income smoothening to loans to avoid losses that result from loan defaulters and bad debt.3 Greenawalt and Sinkey wonder why managers would want to smooth accounting incomes using loan loss provisions.4 This makes sense as it enables businesses to balance out the income when there is a boom and for the time businesses experience burst or recession. The two author provide a regression analysis data that have an R2 value of more than 0.5%.5 Therefore, the authors provide evidence into the use and success of income smoothening among large banks. Busch and Kick examine the determinant of noninterest earnings and their effect on financial risk and performance in Germany.6 Busch and Kick find out that almost all bank that exercised risk adjustment returns on its loans had positive higher income activities.7 Moreover, their study contributes empirical evidence that bank that involved in fee generating activities do so with high risk. The authors postulate that only in risking in noninterest activities that commercial bank remain relevant in the market.8 Busch and Kick argue that the increased demand for noninterest goods and services prompt bank to abandon the traditional sources of income due to the advent of new technology in communication and other areas in the economy.9 Busch and Kick proved that the noninterest activities are generating more income for the bank more than the interest-based activities.10 For this reason, the authors are advocating commercial bank to embrace the noninterest generating activities fully becaus e they bring more income and also because they have a high demand in the market. Keynes in his analysis of income determination of a country hypothesised that income is subject to fluctuation and is characterised by boom and busts.11 He questions the classical economist theories for failing to provide an

Frequency Distribution Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Frequency Distribution - Essay Example However, the distribution looks skewed to the left with a longer tail starting at 25. There is also a second peak at 35. The frequency distribution tells us that the margin of victory is between 10-15 and occasional margin of victory at 35 above. 3. Based on the Frequency distribution and the Histogram chart, the distribution of the data has 3 peaks at 111-119, 127-135, 159-167. This means that the data may contain three types or categories because it is not normally distributed. The frequency distribution tells us that the different brands of vehicles can be categorized into three, depending on their vehicle quality ratings. The number of defects per 100 vehicles would depend on where the vehicle brand belongs. 4. Based on the Frequency distribution and the Histogram chart, the distribution of the consumer fraud complaints is centered on 30 to 49 years of age. The distribution follows a normal bell curve. This means that younger and older people has filed less consumer fraud complaints than those at the middle age. Younger people aged 19 and under files lesser complaints as shown by the negative skewness of the distribution. 5. The table was made into a chart that easily analyzes the trends in terms of investment type. Since the data is categorized into investment types, the data is color coded according to its type. Since the table is a time-series with data from 1996 to 2002, the x-axis of the graph is labeled with years. With this type of column graph, the reader can easily identify the different percentages per year as well as the different trends over

The Role of Public Relations Companies in the Wars Article

The Role of Public Relations Companies in the Wars - Article Example This essay declares that one public relations firm by the name Hill and Knowlton played a unique role in this respect. The PR firm produced several video clips that cost well beyond 500 million US dollars, and free airtime worth tens of millions of US dollars. The video news releases (VNRs) were presented to viewers by various TV stations across the world. Little was known at this time that the public relations company behind these releases was run by Kuwaitis (What Really Happened nd). Instead of real journalism, innocent viewers were actually presented with well crafted propaganda in the form of news stories and footage. It was only after the war ended that the truth behind the releases came to be revealed. In fact, it was later noted that the more the people watched these releases the less they knew the facts about the war as they were. During the public relations campaigns, the Wirthlin Group engaged members of the public daily in opinion polls with an aim of helping Hill & Knowl ton play to the highest with the people’s emotions. This paper makes a conclusion that public relations firms have been used to garner support for war or to present concerned parties in good light. In spite of the massive support some organizations receive based on the PR activities that they enjoy, some of the information provided to the public is pure propaganda and cannot face the light of truth.

Market Net as a New Approach to Providing Marketing Students with a Pl Essay

Market Net as a New Approach to Providing Marketing Students with a Place to Find All the Marketing Knowledge - Essay Example The report, in short, has provided for a clear set of ideas and options for Market Net to improve and increase the traffic to its website. MarketNet is a relatively new initiative to create a network of students and professionals related to the field of marketing and also to provide valuable resources and articles on marketing. This report analyses the target audience both in terms of demographics and psychographics, based on the users of the social network application, Facebook. Then the various strategies to drive traffic to MarketNet are discussed. As the budget is limited, the various cost-effective options and the best way to implement them are also presented. In order to add various articles and content to the site, the marketing resource websites are researched and the four websites that have been found to be potentially useful to MarketNet are listed along with the rationale behind the selection. Finally, a survey development process was undertaken to include within MarketNet , in order to monitor the performance of the website and a rationale for this is also presented. Marketing is a technique which requires being planned well to ensure that it reaches out to the right set of people, i.e., the target market (Dibb & Simkin, 1996). The target market is generally a set or group of people who have one or more common interests. In this case, the target audiences have one thing in common ‘Marketing’. The first most essential criteria for the target market are that they are Facebook users (Holzner, 2008). After which,  Market Net has a chance to reach out to a number of different groups of people. Prospective marketing students, this group will prove to be a beneficial for Market Net, as Facebook is now becoming a very important source of information for students of various courses. This group will consist of people between the age groups of 17 – 22. Market Net can prove to be a source of information for this group of people. Also, this will provide the students with a chance of getting in touch with other students, professionals, and even gain information to various articles that are available on the web to gain a better understanding if this is the correct choice for them.

From job interview to promoting a business how effective is marketing Dissertation

From job interview to promoting a business how effective is marketing yourself - Dissertation Example In both situations there are certain things that are important to do. I would like to study how effectively marketing yourself works in both situations. 2. Focus for the Study My research topic is the importance of marketing yourself in a job interview or in promoting a business. One of the first things that people say when you are reading books on this topic is that everyone should become a networker both online and offline. Tara Hunt, author of the book, The Whuffie Factor, states that online networking is essential to gaining more business or to find a job. She explains that "whuffie is the residual outcome-the currency of your reputation" (4). She goes on to say that you can build it or ruin it based on what you do in the community and what people think about you. This is one way to look at marketing yourself because you are putting yourself or your business into the public eye and you want to make sure that people see you in the best light. John Milton Fogg adds more focus to th is discussion because he tells people through a story, that networking is about building relationships. If you build solid relationships by helping others, they will in turn help you. Networking seems to be the most effective way of marketing yourself. ... The new way of networking is to know what someone needs and let them know your skills and abilities and how you can help their company (74). This method seems to be very important because you have to know your own skills and abilities before you can tell someone else about them. Networking is not the only aspect of marketing yourself. Jim Kukral states that people must understand they must think "out of the box" when marketing a business. This means that people must become very creative and find ways of marketing that others have not found (62). In other words, this will set them apart from others in their field. He continues that successful business people understand that they must get someone to react to something they do in order for them to pay attention (65). In other words, if you are opening for a job interview or creating a business, you have to do something different to get people to pay attention. Personality place a large part in marketing yourself because some people have stronger personalities than others. Paul Tieger and Barbara Barron-Tieger suggest that by understanding your own personality type, you can make better decisions about a job or a business and how it will work with your personality. Marketing yourself through your personality does have validity because people seem to hire people they like who can do their job. The Home Shopping channel is one example of how businesses market themselves in this arena. They have to do something different in order to set themselves apart from the other types of businesses like them in order for people to want to buy their product. Susan Berson, a lawyer specializing in finance, states that marketing is important to business because it helps people find current clients who can later provide

Project Management - Bubble Bee Case part 3 [sap21] Essay

Project Management - Bubble Bee Case part 3 [sap21] - Essay Example Perhaps the most significant value that understanding cash flow provided in six (6) months is in building investor confidence so that the capacity of the company to meet future operating expenses is determined. The Cash flow Bubble Bee ensures that every cash flow item happens at the acceptable seniority to items. Categories of cash flow items present Bubble Bee case with comparison of Cash flow Statement in the bubble gum Project Finance Model. Activities are budgeted depending on the needs and intensity of work. Trial procedure is more costly than logistics. During the first month, much of the cost went into product development and requirement and needs survey. The second month saw costs distributed to product development, trial and logistics. The sixth month had most of the costs going into compliance (food, drug and administration approval, product planning, protection and ramp up). The cash flow statement gives details that can be enthusiastically evaluated from an external investor’s dimension, whereas the cash flow bubble bee gives information that can be analyzed by the banks. The screenshot shows a higher level graphics of a cash flow statement. When categories are compared with the structure, the differences in costs and baselines can be identified. This ensures cash allocations are done according to item seniority and intensity. This is especially significant in scenario analysis or downside sensitivity in which the operating cash flows are highly stressed. The cash flow bubble bee also shows daily and weekly spending and calculates the net movement in the cash balance, within the project hence predicting cash closing balances. Including integrity checks to cost line signifies the possibility of Closing Cash Balance (Balance C/f) being negative. This is a critical element to project completion. Cash flows help in reinforcing integrity check which is added a project to funding by identifying negative cash balance which determines a practical

From job interview to promoting a business how effective is marketing Dissertation

From job interview to promoting a business how effective is marketing yourself - Dissertation Example In both situations there are certain things that are important to do. I would like to study how effectively marketing yourself works in both situations. 2. Focus for the Study My research topic is the importance of marketing yourself in a job interview or in promoting a business. One of the first things that people say when you are reading books on this topic is that everyone should become a networker both online and offline. Tara Hunt, author of the book, The Whuffie Factor, states that online networking is essential to gaining more business or to find a job. She explains that "whuffie is the residual outcome-the currency of your reputation" (4). She goes on to say that you can build it or ruin it based on what you do in the community and what people think about you. This is one way to look at marketing yourself because you are putting yourself or your business into the public eye and you want to make sure that people see you in the best light. John Milton Fogg adds more focus to th is discussion because he tells people through a story, that networking is about building relationships. If you build solid relationships by helping others, they will in turn help you. Networking seems to be the most effective way of marketing yourself. ... The new way of networking is to know what someone needs and let them know your skills and abilities and how you can help their company (74). This method seems to be very important because you have to know your own skills and abilities before you can tell someone else about them. Networking is not the only aspect of marketing yourself. Jim Kukral states that people must understand they must think "out of the box" when marketing a business. This means that people must become very creative and find ways of marketing that others have not found (62). In other words, this will set them apart from others in their field. He continues that successful business people understand that they must get someone to react to something they do in order for them to pay attention (65). In other words, if you are opening for a job interview or creating a business, you have to do something different to get people to pay attention. Personality place a large part in marketing yourself because some people have stronger personalities than others. Paul Tieger and Barbara Barron-Tieger suggest that by understanding your own personality type, you can make better decisions about a job or a business and how it will work with your personality. Marketing yourself through your personality does have validity because people seem to hire people they like who can do their job. The Home Shopping channel is one example of how businesses market themselves in this arena. They have to do something different in order to set themselves apart from the other types of businesses like them in order for people to want to buy their product. Susan Berson, a lawyer specializing in finance, states that marketing is important to business because it helps people find current clients who can later provide

Critically assess the rights and duties of the shipowner under a bill Essay

Critically assess the rights and duties of the shipowner under a bill of lading - Essay Example With the development of mercantilism, these bills started to be used as the label to the products, and the bill of lading was developed in much the same form as we recognise today (Wilson, 2010). The up to date rules on bills of lading were codified by the Hague Statue in 1924. Ship-owners have had and still have huge obligations with regard to this bill (Al Tamimi & Company, n.d). In order to ensure that the goods people are protected when in voyage, the bill of lading set certain rights and duties of ship-owners that should be followed. This paper will critically assess the rights and duties of ship-owners under this bill. When merchandise is transported under the bill of lading, the rights and duties of a ship-owner are recognised by fast clauses in the deed (Australian Government n.d). These are known as "express obligations". The text can also include a Paramount clause confirming that the ship-owner is subject to legislation, for instance, the United Kingdom Carriage of Goods by the Sea Act of 1971 and/or the U.S. Carriage of Goods by the Sea Act of 1936, which impose The Hague-Visby Regulations of 1968 and The Hague Regulations of 1924 respectively. In any scenario, the bill of lading itself might not be liable to legislation, but be affirmed to be liable to The Hague-Visby Regulations and/or The Hague Regulations (Wilson, 2010). The Hamburg Regulations of 1978 are not applicable to the 1991 regulations, but there is nothing to stop a nation, which has accepted these, from passing legislation requiring carriage to and/or from that nation and under bills of lading to be liable to the Hamburg Rules . The duties and responsibilities of ship-owners were put into effect internationally on November 1st, 1992. Various obligations of the ship-owner under these rules are understandable and need not be considered in any depth, for instance the

John’s Termination Essay Example for Free

John’s Termination Essay This paper is about Mr. John who has been terminated by his boss and the reason behind this termination was the unsatisfactory standard of work that he did. This was really surprising for John as no one had ever objected about the work he did and so he was taken aback when he came to know about the termination. However, it was not entirely the fault of John as he had never been corrected before due to which he did not know about his mistakes. It is always wise for the management to opt for certain steps prior to the termination and even after the termination as it can have adverse affects on the other employees working in the organization. Before terminating John, it was the duty of the management to inform and to warn him about his performance at work as it is not ethical to terminate him in this way. Since the time an employee is hired, it is the responsibility of the human resource department of an organization to look after the employees. Firstly, they must conduct an effective recruitment process and securitizing of employees should be done carefully so that the employee is able to meet the expectations of the job. Once the employee is hired, proper training must be provided, however still if any employee is not capable he should first be warned and should be asked to improve but if he does not show any progress, he must be transferred to some other department or must be given some other job that suits his qualification and experience as termination should always be the last option for the management to opt for. The reason behind this is that termination always leaves a negative impact not just on the employee who has been terminated but on the existing employees as well as they might fear that even they can also be terminated in future. (Leat, 2001).

Festivals and Holidays of India :: essays research papers fc

There are many holidays and festivals in India. In my report I will explain what the holidays of Holi, Diwali, Dussera, and Basanto commemorate. I will give details about their dates and customs. ****************************** Holi: The Fire Festival The Hindu Fire Festival, called Holi or Basaat is celebrated in India on the fifteenth day of the Light Half of the Moon, in the Hindu month of Phalguna (March). Holi is a spring festival for Hindus. It is celebrated before the monsoon, the great rainstorms which come each year. Holi is a joyous holiday and is celebrated by Hindus of all ages. Boys and girls squirt water pistols, sometimes large pumps filled with saffron or red-colored water. The Hindus favorite colors are red, crimson and saffron. In Bengal, the Holi festival is associated with the life of Krishna, a Hindu god. In Bengal the colored powders are used without the water, for the fun. Before indulging in a feast in honor of Holi, the children change out of their sporty clothes that are covered in red and put on fresh, clean garments. It is customary to exchange gifts in honor of this spring festival. ****************************** Diwali: The Festival of Lights The Hindu New Year, Diwali, is celebrated on the last night of autumn, in October or November. It is a holiday which is celebrated throughout India. It comes at the end of the monsoon rains, when the weather is nice and mild, and lasts for five days. For this holiday, daughters return to their parents' homes, houses are cleared, walls are decorated with designs drawn in white rice flour water and then colored. Business account books are closed and new ones are opened ceremoniously, new clothes are worn and friends are entertained. Before the festival, special food is prepared to be offered in the Hindu temples. In preparation and in honor of this festival of lights clay saucers are filled with mustard oil and floating cotton wicks, giving a soft, glowing light to the homes. These lights are called chirags, and are placed on the window sills and rooftops of houses; along the roads, and on the banks of rivers and streams. Women and girls who live in the sacred city of Banares, take their chirags to the banks of the Ganges River. They quietly light them and put them in the river to float along the water. They hope for their clay boats to float to the other side with the wicks still lit. If they remain lit, it is a sign of good luck. The reason for the lights is to direct Lakshmi; goddess of prosperity to every home.

America’s Prisons and Their Effects On Society Essay -- law, police, g

Every civilization in history has had rules, and citizens who break them. To this day governments struggle to figure out the best way to deal with their criminals in ways that help both society and those that commit the crimes. Imprisonment has historically been the popular solution. However, there are many instances in which people are sent to prison that would be better served for community service, rehab, or some other form of punishment. Prison affects more than just the prisoner; the families, friends, employers, and communities of the incarcerated also pay a price. Prison as a punishment has its pros and cons; although it may be necessary for some, it can be harmful for those who would be better suited for alternative means of punishment. What are prisons for? This is a question that must be asked in order to understand the problems facing prisons. Prisons serve two main functions; separation and rehabilitation. Criminals cannot be allowed to walk around with everyone else without being punished; they must be separated from society. The thought of going to prison helps deter most people from crime. Rehabilitation is the main goal of prison; making a bad person into a good person by the time they are released. These seem like cut and dry functions, but as of late some believe that prisons in the United States have failed in their attempts to separate and rehabilitate. Not only do prisons separate the criminals from the innocent, to be effective, according to Lappin and Greene, they must also separate the criminals from the worse criminals. Convicts in prison for non-violent offenses are not supposed to be housed with violent offenders. â€Å"Unfortunately, our prisons are becoming more and more overcrowded maki... ... abuse offender policy options.(The field works.). Policy & Practice, 33-34. Lappin, H. G., & Greene, J. (2006). Are prisons just? In C. Hanrahan (Ed.), Opposing Viewpoints: America’s prisons (pp. 51-98). Detroit: Bonnie Szumski. Muhlhausen, D. B., Dyer, C. C., McDonough, J. R., Nadlemann, E., & Walters, R. (2006). Do prisons protect public safety? In C. Hanrahan (Ed.), Opposing Viewpoints: America’s prisons (pp. 16-48). Detroit: Bonnie Szumski. Shaw, V. N. (1998). Productive labor: A secondary goal but primary activity. Prison Journal, (78), 186. Trachtenberg, B. (2009, February). Incarceration policy strikes out: Exploding prison population compromises the U.S. justice system. ABA Journal, 66. Young, M. G. (1998, July). Rethinking community resistance to prison siting: Results from a community impact assesment. Canadian Journal of Criminology, 323-325.

Is Liberate Art A Way of Life Essay

In many instances, individuals neglect to acknowledge the importance of school and a higher education. The individuals who view education as their number one priority see staying in school is important. Why is it important? Is staying in school going to benefit the student/individual? In this essay, I will explain why the literate arts are important and for what they are good. I will also give the opinions of others and what my views are. Richard Miller, the writer of † The Dark Night of The Soul† writes, † I have these doubts, you see, doubts silently shared by many who spend their days teaching others the liberate arts. Aside from gathering and analyzing information, aside from generating critiques and analysis that forever fall on deaf ears, what might the literate arts be said to be good for?† (424). I agree when Miller says that the doubts are silently shared by many people. Miller and Friere have specified their outlooks on specific parts of literate arts. The literate arts can be explained in a plethora of different ways. Friere explains, â€Å"Yet only through communication can human life hold meaning. The teachers’ thinking is authenticated only by the authenticity of the students’ thinking. The teacher cannot think for his/her students, nor can she impose her thoughts on them. Authentic thinking, thinking that is concerned about reality, does not take place in ivory tower isolation, but only in communication†(322). Communication allows the individual to express what could not express though other liberates. I feel that liberate arts are put to good use when expressing ones self. It teaches individuals/students different ways to get away from reality when everything is falling apart around them. To me, without literate arts, society would deteriorate. Reading, writing, and communication puts my brain to work and it puts others who think like me brains to work, which is why they are important in education. Being literate helps students efficiently analyze what they read and write. When Miller reviews Amis’ writing, â€Å"The Information,† he explains that reading makes the student smarter and writing provides access to immortality and I agree with both statements. As I try to come up with a literary form that influences my way of thinking and captures me, I seem not to be able to come up with just one. The thing that did constantly pop up in my head was my favorite television show, â€Å"The Ghost Whisperer.† You’re probably thinking, â€Å"What is The Ghost Whisperer? What does that television show have to do with your essay? How does it tie into the topic?† As it turns out, it has a lot to do with my essay because it is another type of literate art. Television influences the mind of individuals just like reading, writing and communication. In â€Å"The Ghost Whisperer,† the main character, Melinda, tries to deal with her day-to-day life while dealing with her supernatural powers and the ghosts with whom she has encounter. Although she goes through all of these things, the main point is that she is human and goes through average person problems. Among the show’s storylines, I tend to find myself relating to some of the situations that the characters face. From the show, there was a quote that captured me the most. The quote that has captured me and influences me to refer to it on a daily basis; it comes from season five; episode eleven, â€Å"If you believe in happiness the way you believe in bad things you will find it.† This quote, in my opinion, has a powerful message within its self because life tends to make people think negatively depending on what people are going through. One has to stop thinking about everything that is going wrong and acknowledge what is going right. As I read, â€Å"The Dark Night of the Soul† by Richard E. Miller, I found it to be an interesting read. He inquires, why we read, why we write and what might literate arts be said to be good for? In his essay he describes the school massacres that have occurred throughout the years. As he describes these events, he asks a deeper question, â€Å"What is the point of continuing to read, write and learn in the face of such underlying dangers. I think that with all that is happening, individuals/students should continue with education because reading, television, writing and communication makes a difference in the lives of individuals around the world. The bottom line is that literary art has a way of touching students unexpectedly one way or another and students should not just throw the art away because of society’s perception. Works Cited Miller E., Richard. â€Å"The Dark Night of the Soul†.Ways of Reading: An Anthology for Writers. 9th. David Bartholomae & Anthony Petrosky. Boston: Bedford St. Martin’s Press, 2010. 420-442. Print. â€Å"Dead Air.† The Ghost Whisperer. CBS. WWJ-TV, New York City. 8 Jan. 2010. Television.

How to raise a child Essay

Amy Chua’s article â€Å"Why Chinese Mothers are Superior† appeared in the Wall Street Journal on January 8, 2011. When this article was published the controversy began. One article in argument to Amy Chua’s was James Bernard Murphy’s article â€Å"In Defense of Being a Kid† which also appeared in the Wall Street Journal on February 9, 2011. Murphy contends by stating Amy Chua’s method of how to raise a child will do nothing but turn children into neurotic, self-absorbed and unhappy adults. James Murphy, author of â€Å"In Defense of Being a Kid† and professor of government at Dartmouth College argues that children should live childhood and enjoy childhood innocence, not be pressured or forced to prepare for their adulthood and the pressure that comes with it. â€Å"Part of the point of childhood is childhood itself. ‘ (Summers 279) Childhood takes up a quarter of one’s life and it would be nice if children enjoyed it. Murphy continues to explain what the unique blessings of childhood are. First, children have a gift of moral innocence, children are unaware of what is to come in their future and the burdens, and therefore they put their trust in us fully. Children are open to new adventures and unaware of time thus cannot be wasted. We as adults forget that most of us produced our best art, asked our deepest philosophical questions, and most readily mastered new gadgets when were children. We as parents need to take a step back from teaching our children and realize how much we can learn from them. Murphy uses emotion when he states â€Å"children are people with distinctive powers and joy. † He realizes what children are capable of if they are given space to imagine and explore ideas of the world that we have forgotten. Murphy thinks like a child and is defending their youth. It is important to know when to give a child space to allow them to become an individual. In defense Murphy argues, â€Å"most of us would like Tom’s childhood followed by Mill’s adulthood. But as parents we are stuck with trying to balance the paradoxical demands of both preparing our children for adulthood and protecting them from it. † The article seems to indicate you can’t have that childhood and young adulthood. I disagree because that is exactly how I grew up. Yes we did have responsibilities on the farm, but when chores were done we did what we wanted to do. We were taught what was right and what was wrong. I believe if you are raised with good morals, respect for yourself and others you can be very successful. I feel the drive to succeed comes from a supportive family and the want to be successful at what you love to do, not what you are forced to do. Murphy uses logic with the comparison of the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle and Jesus. Two of which did not have the same beliefs of children. I disagree with Aristotle when he said â€Å"no child is happy†, the only time a child is happy is when they have thoughts of the achievements as an adult. When a child is given space it gives them the opportunity to imagine, to think outside of the box and capable for intellectual activity. We have to encourage and embrace their uniqueness and imagination or as Jesus did praise our children. I strongly agree with Murphy’s fourth thought, â€Å"We forget that most of us produced our best art, asked our deepest philosophical questions, and most readily mastered new gadgets when we were mere children. † (Murphy 279) As children we are more carefree and have less sense of our surroundings and what people think of us. We are eager to learn and curious about adulthood but should not be rushed to become one. I believe in realizing the capacity of a child, you need to know their capabilities and their limits. Work Citied Behrens, Laurence, and Leonard J, Rosen. Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum. 12th ed. Boston: Pearson, 2013. Print

Professional Dancing

March 6, 2012 Professional Dancing â€Å"There is a bit of insanity in dancing that does everybody a great deal of good. † Edwin Denby. Dance has not left behind identifiable artifacts that prove when dance was created. It is not possible to place a date on when it became part of human culture. For billions of years people have expressed emotions and feelings through movements.Over the years dance has transformed into an art of great proportion in our daily life. Everyone dances for a different reason. Some because dance is a stress reliever and others, it’s a way for them to express themselves, but for professionals it’s because they cannot live without it. To become a professional dancer it takes hours of practice in a studio and the acceptance of not becoming a huge star with a lot of money.To embark on the journey to become a professional dancer the first decision to make is what style of dance, after the decision is made the next step is to find a dance stud io, during the training in the studio cross training will be needed to become stronger and more flexible, the finance, competitions and injuries are all ideas to consider before committing to a vigorous but rewarding schedule. Even though becoming a professional dancer has a high risk of failure and very low pay, the career can be very rewarding and enjoyable.Finding a dance studio that will push the dancer to become a professional is hard. Usually after finding a studio around where the aspiring dancer lives, research is done to make sure the studio is going to push them to be their best. Many dancers train in multiple studios and possibly even a dance school before becoming a professional. To receive a bachelor’s in dance it costs about $25,000 per year. Most aspiring dancers attempt to get scholarships and sponsors. After graduating the jobs offered for dancers are back-up for videos and concerts, teachers and, theater performances.An audition for these jobs is usually man datory. Almost all professional dancers start out at a young age in ballet classes. By the age of 18 the dancer starts to audition for jobs and begin their career. Ballet is known as the foundation of all dance styles. Ballet provides structure of almost all dance moves and control of the body to continue on in the dance style preferable. To continue on in dance the style has to be chosen by the dancer. The number of styles of dance are uncountable but the most popular are ballet, hip hop, contemporary, and ballroom.Usually those four are the styles that become a profession. Most dancers have a preferable dance style they like because of watching others dance on television or in the studio but to choose the style of dance the best way is to experiment with many. Usually after a few years of learning the foundations of dance the dancer starts to train in the style of dance they have chosen but training in the studio is not the only training a professional has to do. To become a profe ssional dancer cross training is needed to build muscle and endurance.Most advise pilates, upper body work, interval training, yoga, and tai-chi. These work outs help the dancer’s flexibility and strength to jump higher and carry out harder more complicated dance moves. With all this pressure to become a better dancer problems start to occur. An estimated amount of almost 100% of dancers has struggled with an eating disorder (Ballet Dancers). â€Å"Almost everyone credits George Balanchine, the renowned dancer, teacher, and choreographer, with the current aesthetic of ballet in the West, referred to by most as the â€Å"Balanchine body,† or the â€Å"anorexic look† (Gordon, 1983).This is one of the many down sides of aspiring dancers. If given help the dancer can usually start eating correctly and continue on in the hope to become a professional. The cost of the dancers training in the studio may cost up to $200. 00 per month. If the dancer decides to enter com petitions the cost to enter train extra and buy the attire can range around $300. 00. The profession of dancing becomes very expensive. Unless the dancer is getting paid to dance the dancer usually has another job on the outside creating the income to pay for the extra necessities of dance. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that dancers and choreographers earned a mean hourly wage of $16. 55 as of May 2010† (Dancing Care†¦). The career in dance is very risky and unpredictable. As an individual dancing everyone has their opinion of what they like and do not like. Because of this it makes the career very hard to get into and successfully have without the struggle of not having enough money. To become a known new aspiring dancer in the fierce profession entering competitions are a must.Usually a solo in a competition costs $90. 00 to enter. Before learning the routine created by a teacher reading the regulations is a smart idea to know what is allowed in the routine and what is not. If the routine was created before the regulations the dance might have to be tweaked so the dancer is not disqualified. A competition can last just a day or over a weekend. The judging is fierce and the competition makes the dancer want to strive even harder to become an amazing artist. Dance is strenuous. In fact, dancers have one of the highest rates of non-fatal on the-job injury. † The causes of most dance injuries are pushing for perfection so hard that muscles are strained, shin splints occur, plantar fasciitis happens, and stress fractures are created. When dancers have this the best way to cure it is stretching before and after dancing. If any serious injury occurs like breaking bones landing a move wrong it could ruin the dancer’s career.Most dancers retire around the age of 30 if an injury happens early the dancers career they will usually retire a teacher. Recovering could take a few weeks to years. A lot of dancers have permanent damage to their body after a vigorous career of muscles being strained and the body being pushed to its limit. Becoming a professional dancer is risky but rewarding. To become a professional dancer it takes hours of practice in a studio and the acceptance of not becoming a huge star with a lot of money.To embark on the journey to become a professional dancer the first decision to make is what style of dance, after the decision is made the next step is to find a dance studio, during the training in the studio cross training will be needed to become stronger and more flexible, the finance, competitions and injuries are all ideas to consider before committing to a vigorous but rewarding schedule. Every dancer has a different opinion of this profession but the ones who love to dance and have the passion that no one could ever take away from them are the ones who are happy and loving every second of it.

Critical, Close Reading Suzanne Collins The Hunger Games Essay

Critical, Close Reading Suzanne Collins The Hunger Games - Essay Example The major strengths of this paper is the use of examples, drawn from the novel as well as real life examples on how authoritarian rule caused rebellion. However, the area I would like to improve on is the analysis section. One of the major themes identified in the novel is power. The main source of power is the authoritarian government that is situated in the Capitol. This is because the Capitol contains majority of the wealth of Panem (Egan and Suzanne, 10). The government also uses this city to control the citizens of Panem. This is by holding the hunger games, whereby teenagers are chosen from the 12 districts and forced to fight to death. The major aim of holding these games was to thwart any form of rebellion from the people. It was also aimed at creating divisions within the districts, and infighting amongst the members of the 12 Districts in Panem (Balkind, 33). This in turn would prevent the citizens of Panem from rebelling against the government. However, these games did not succeed in preventing the citizens of Panem from rebelling. This paper takes a stand that the authoritarian use of power is a motivating factor for rebellion. It identifies circumstances where the citizens of Panem rebell ed against the authorities of the Capitol. This is through the two civil wars that occurred in Panem, and the actions of Katniss Everdeen. Originally, the country of Panem had 13 districts, but due to the authoritarian rule of the Capitol, the first civil war emerged. This was referred to as the Dark Days rebellion, and it was led by the 13th district. However, during this war, district 13 was able to gain independence, and formed its own rule. This is because its military was advanced, and it had threatened to use nuclear weapons to destroy Capitol (Collins, 7). The Capitol and the 13th district signed a secret ceasefire deal that granted district 13 independence. During

Supply chain management article Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Supply chain management article - Essay Example The article, however, argues against these approaches, arguing that they do not help in one-off, complex environments like in construction or shipbuilding (Ullrich, 2014). The main reason provided in the article is that such projects need a combination of many divergent, largely functional products configured in an innovative and unique manner. The paper selects the example of shipbuilding to argue its case. One of the main learning points is the way in which extended supply chains and individual suppliers may be managed in a more proactive manner so that they deliver better performance in the quality of the product, the time of the cycle, responsiveness or flexibility as well as the cost (Seuring, 2013). The most recognized philosophies in supply chain management are Lean Thinking and Agile thinking (Liu, 2007). Lean thinking is in most cases associated with vendor and manufacturing managed inventory namely just-in-time (JIT) and total quality management, also known as TQM. On the other hand, agile thinking involves mass customization and flexible manufacturing (Hugos, 2003). A central preoccupation decides the most appropriate instance to adopt either one of the strategies, or combine them both into one custom strategy referred to as a ‘leagile’ strategy. While the article recognizes the contribution made by several contributors to the topic, Fisher’s contribution stands out because it offers the conceptual foundation for the building of similar supply strategy models (Cantor & Macdonald, 2009). Essentially, he argues in his contribution that the firm’s nature of product offering should determine the most appropriate supply management posture. The main issue, however, is the context in which the testing of these approaches occurs, especially in Fisher’s case (Seuring, 2013). What should be considered, according to this article, is the usefulness of the models in the generation of advice for the

Concepts in Homeland Security Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Concepts in Homeland Security - Assignment Example It is evidently clear from the discussion that partnership between DHS and FBI is important to promote a â€Å"whole community† approach to ensure that every nook and corner of the homeland is safe. The partnership between DHS and FBI and many other agencies enhance the preparedness against low predictability events. This is why professionals in FBI raid jackets can be seen at every other terrorism event despite the fact that DHS is the primary homeland security agency. â€Å"Black Swan† means such a disastrous event whose predictability is very low and its consequences are extremely catastrophic. The disastrous outcomes are high. Some good examples include terrorist attacks, natural and environmental disasters of high scale, and economic failures. The terrorist attack of 9/11 was a big Black Swan event in the history of US because of its zero predictability and high catastrophic outcomes. It was a terrorist attack which could not be anticipated, and thus, preparedness was zero and zilch. So, Black Swan is related to preparedness in a sense that it helps security agencies take measures to implement such classical risk assessment and management policies that help us sort out some of the most predictable events. We can ask ourselves questions, like how predictable is a disaster? What kinds of disasters have been occurring in the neighborhoods or cities in the past? What are the chances that the disaster will become a major event? What can be the level of damage? How much will be the cost for rehabilitation? How will resilience be ensured? What plans and actions can be taken to avoid or deal with such a disaster? These questions will lead us toward preparedness.

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

Follow prompt 3 - Essay Example In the liberation era, there was marked participation of women in the collective labor, contributing to the surplus production that helped the socialist state industrialize. Nonetheless, this period was also characterized by constrained continuation of patriarchal structure that stipulated the type and value of women labor (Hairong 580). At the juncture, women liberation was realized through the participation of women in labor as opposed to the arduous housework they undertook during the earlier days, but gendered division of labor remained intact. Nonetheless, Women’s voices were vociferous in the debates on new modernization policies, as women liberation was related to the defense of the nation (Rofel 43). The women in the later cohort were however more concerned about their personal welfare. Women in the middle cohort are those who matured during the Cultural Revolution era. This group characteristically resisted authority and managerial authority in the industrial workplace. For instance, the cohort resisted younger supervisor Xiao Ma, whereby ignoring her authority was a significant political project (Rofel 222). By refusing the authority of a woman, the cohort essentially expressed its opposition to authoritarianism throughout the society. Workers rights were valued over the labor itself. Middle aged working women defied authority through activism and had extreme attitudes during labor protests. They were opposed to their management’s focus on efficiency by refusing to produce. Their refusal to remain in positions at the shop floor indicates defiance of state power; they exposed the symbolic violence in a natural economic order that is the mainstay of power in the post-socialist modernity (Rofel 19). Therefore, this cohort was against any form of authoritarian ism in factory and in the country in general. There is a similarity in the way the women

Film review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 2

Film review - Essay Example In 2012 the film won prize in the nomination for best director in Sundance and was nominated for â€Å"Oscar† as best feature-length documentary. The documentary film starts with acquaintance with the narrator Emad Burnat, who experienced many events in his life, which he could name a â€Å"hot flame†. His life once became a mix of hope and pain. He made this film to â€Å"hold onto the memories† (â€Å"Five Broken Cameras†). For these purpose he had five cameras of different size. Each camera was filming one episode of Emad`s life. He was born in Bil`in – a village surrounded by hills - and spent all his life there. In childhood he used to work the land with his strict father and, like all urchins, he was not in delight of such activity. He wanted to walk with friend in the open valleys. Once he saw the Israeli survivors, which came to build a protecting wall in the middle of his family land, and his life changed. The first days after bulldozers arrival seemed hard for him. However, Emad has happy memories from this time too – his fourth son was born. The narrator bought his first camera for this occasion. We see the episode, how Emad is filming his family, his elder sons. Emad says that each of his boys was â€Å"a phase† in his and his wife`s lives and â€Å"each boy experienced a different childhood† (â€Å"Five Broken Cameras†). He notices his first son was born in 1995 â€Å"in the time of hope after The Oslo Peace Accords†. The urbanization came closer and closer during the childhood of Emad and the birth of Gibreel, his fourth son. This process was taken more and more territory for the purpose of movement of Israeli settlers. The newest settlement rapidly doubled its population, it took only five years for this and the barrier was finished to separate the settlers. The following minute we hear the sound of gun. â€Å"Soldiers are in the village†, says Emad`s wife (â€Å"Five Broken

Lifecycle of a Plastic Product Essay Example for Free

Lifecycle of a Plastic Product Essay Our life has been full with the uses of plastic in our daily life, in food and beverages to the appliances surrounding our daily life. Plastic was made from simple chains of molecules that are linked together called as Polymers. Thus, make many types of plastics are named starting with ‘Poly’ such Polyethylene, polystyrene and polypropylene. Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) More commonly known as rubbish or garbage such as packaging products, grass clippings, furniture, clothing, bottles, food scraps, newspapers, household appliances, paint, these daily items we use then throw away, and battery. It comes from our homes, schools, hospitals, and businesses [2]. Each year, a report on the EPA Advanced Certificate Management Amendment: Facts and Figures 2013, formerly known as Municipal Solid Waste in the United States: Facts and Figures. It contains information on municipal solid waste generation, recycling, and disposal. MSW trace after 30 years, source limit reports (waste prevention) MSW and MSW tipping landfill fees for historical information, generation and demolition Additional information on the information, which has been extended to include outside the scope. The new name emphasizes the importance of sustainable content management (CM). CM refers to the use and recycling of materials in a more productive and durable manner throughout their entire lifecycle. SMM practices to conserve resources reduce waste, slow climate change, the materials we use to reduce their impact on the environment. In 2013, nearly 254 million tons of garbage, recycled and converted to US fertilizer products of 87 million tons, equivalent to 34.3 percent recycling rate was generated. On average, we recycled and 40: 40 pounds per person per day. Even from that, plastic is a very crucial part of our everyday lives, as it been used and basically can be found everywhere. Some examples of usage of plastics are in electronics and surgical instrument as plastic is lightweight, cheap and easy to build. Other than that, plastic is very useful when dealing with durability along with times, it is because plastics don’t easily be damaged by surrounding, unlike iron that can rust over time if in contact with water. Plastic also has a great impact on our today telecommunication, as the world evolves with the technology, a higher demand for internet is needed and fiber optics cable for faster communication with others is needed. The main substances used to produce fiber optic is plastic, in vehicles plastic parts is also one of the major parts needed as it used because it optimizes the power usage and makes them more efficient. The parts that used plastic in a vehicle are including seats, polycarbonate windows and interior panel. Basically, plastic has its own advantages and disadvantages that made it impossible to be ban completely as its usage in every part of daily lives. Even though, it has an important role as one of the vital resources in domestic and also industrial, because of plastics characteristics that are durable, water-resistant, lightweight and cheaper. The usage of plastic needs to supervise and handled appropriately for disposal. Not properly disposing of plastic could lead to plastic pollution due to the basic property of plastic that made it so durable and take thousands of years to decomposed [1]. The overuse of plastic and plastic pollution could give a number of effects on the environment and ecosystem. The effect to the environment is the landfills of plastic wastage due to overuse of plastic because of it cheaper and easier to be obtained. Other than that, an open burning with plastic will release dangerous chemical gasses to the air and could lead to impotence, cancer, asthma and etc. other than that, an authorized disposal of plastics to the sea or river could harm the animals live inside it. From a research, the turtles mostly die because of the plastics that they consume because turtles were mistaken plastics as jellyfish. Besides that, another effect to the animals is the entanglement of plastics to the body of turtles, dolphin and etc. that could affect the animal’s growth. There are several of ways that human can contribute to ensuring a smart usage of plastic to avoid plastic pollution. The easier ways to contribute is by shop friendly when shopping at the market to buy the needs for home, by having oneself shopping bag the usage of plastics can be reduced. Secondly, is to bring your own food container and drink bottle to reduce the usage of plastics from the packaging of your food and plastic bottle that cannot be reusable. Nonetheless, recycling is one of the vital ways that can help in reducing the usage of plastics because by recycling the plastics can be disposed of appropriately.

Vanessas Maturing Process Theme Of Entrapment English Literature Essay

Vanessas Maturing Process Theme Of Entrapment English Literature Essay The theme of entrapment is a dominant theme in Margaret Laurences A Bird in the House. This is the theme that the author uses to shape most of his characters in the literary work. Vanessa Macleod is a protagonist in this story growing as the environment around her suggests. Margaret takes a Vanessa into an observational status where she would monitor activities around her. This would in turn affect her tremendously as she grows up. At the beginning, Vanessa is only twelve and the story tells of her growth till marriage with Chris. Margaret suggests to the reader that a person is changed significantly from his or her associations with the surrounding. As the story glides on the reader sees the many forms that Vanessa assumes in a bid to attain personal freedom. It is a quest for personal freedom although no character in the work attains it. This whole nature affects the way in which Vanessa grows. Remembrance Day is the story that starts at the beginning of the Margaret literary work. Vanessa is a teenager being influenced so much by hormonal changes in the body. En route to the church she observes the nature in which her father is in. According to her she felt pity for him although she did not really understand why this should be the case. As she was taught heaven is a beautiful place, probably, hence people should enjoy in the passing of their loved one. This is not the case and the imagination makes her engage her father into a conversation; I wondered what he believed in. I did not have any real idea what it might be. It is the nature of inquisitiveness of teenager children. Her father answers some questions that she asks him but they are not satisfactory, another demonstration of curiosity. It is easily seen how observable Vanessa is; He was frowning deeply and I could see the pulse in his temple à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ When he raised his head, he did not look uplifted or anything like that. He merely looked tired. This is the observation status that Margaret puts her protagonist in the play. This characteristic will be evident all through the discussion because it is the property that makes Vanessa make choices. The past affects the future as brought out in this play. They are written as reflections or discussions in the play. At the time when Vanessa discussed religion with her father, she would not understand his answer. Later he passed away from a short illness and while she was passing through her fathers belongings she came across a love letter and picture of a young French woman pp 107. Five years down the line she had grieved her father missing the companionship but is ignited by a single discovery that brings her fathers memories with nostalgia. It is at this moment that she understands that the past still lingers in the present. Imagination also plays an important role in Vanessas life and journey to growth. She was not going to participate in the activities of Remembrance Day owing to the fact that she despised military men. She did not understand the meaning of the day not until she had a brief epiphany of what death really is. He came to understand the meaning of this day by imagining what his dad felt while he watched his brother fade away in his death. Moreover the day too was important to her grandmother and by imagination she understood the pain of a mother. It was real when she lost her father. Vanessa learned the importance of the day when she found the love letter. The reflections of the past bring about moments of truth when the departed dwelt among their loved ones. Again she learns from the past and how the past affects the future. It is her journey towards maturity. It is also important to point out the relationships that Vanessa has. Some are distant without direct associations, while some are observational and others are interactive. In addition there is that solitary part which is marked by realizations and reflection, devoid of relationship. There are plenty of examples of these four categories of relationship. In Social Learning Theory of psychology studies, there are references of child growth in cognitive abilities through relationship hence the name social. In this breathe a great deal of learning that brings about maturity in Vanessa is through relationship. Some lessons are learned earlier while others are learned immediately the relationship hits a rock bottom. The latter is the most common in Margaret Laurence book. Vanessa greatly learns from consequences rather than having the intelligence to postulate in the future the results of certain actions. As seen with the relationship with Chris, Vanessa harbors important information that is crucial to her boyfriend; Chris was twenty-one. The distance between them was still too great. For years she had wanted to be older so she might talk with him, but now she felt unready pp. 140. Day in day out she tries to figure out how to communicate with Chris. All is late when Chris is admitted to a mental hospital. From this she learns the necessity to be open when she regrets having kept secret this information from Chris. She blames herself of Chris deterioration in health. It is the communication between partners that keeps relationship work out, a good lesson she learns. Grandfather Conner is a perfectionist but they had a distant relationship with Vanessa. There was no close contact between the two. However, through observation Vanessa was able to attain knowledge on the importance of being perfect. It is entrapment in discussion but learning from a distance. She understands this during t he sale of the brick house; She wanted to tell the new owners of the Brick house to trim their hedges, to repaint the window frames, to pay heed to repairs. She had feared and fought, yet he proclaimed himself in her veins pp. 191. Another aspect that contributes very much to her growth is the escape she has to reality. She exhibits resistance to a number of things in the story. At a tender age she attended the church just as her parents required. However at the time she was already curious of what she wanted to do with her life. As a result it is evident that she is always in conflict with her relatives. The interesting part is how she dealt with the resistance. Instead of showing it clearly, she actually blocked everything out. It is an attempt to independence. In particular during Sunday school lessons, she conceived stories in her mind with her as the main characters but without meaning; I was prepared, for the question was the same each week. I rarely listened in Sunday school, finding it more entertaining to compose in my head stories of spectacular heroism in which I figured as a central character, so I never knew what the text had been.. However, they were very important in passing time. In one way Vanessa knew what was important to him. She was interested only with certain things but ignorant of unimportant and uninteresting things. This way she was able to lean on a sided kind of growth and maturity. This form of resistance does not stop there. After her fathers death they move to the brick house where they lived with her grandfather. Occasionally she would get busy writing exaggerated adventure stories as a means to fulfill her thirst for personal freedom; I wanted only to be by myself with no one else around. She was so insecure to live on her own since the brick house represents strength where she may turn to. Even when Nanuk presents her with a relationship offer, she is still reluctant to be with him. In general Vanessas journey to maturity is an amalgamated package of life experiences with those who she came in contact with. Her relationship with her father made her indecisive in many occasions. Her father was indecisive as seen from the conversation he has with her daughter Vanessa. When asked about his thoughts about heaven, he gives thoughtless answers which affect Vanessa quite a bit. Down the line in her life, Vanessa meets with Chris. She is in a state of making a decision that is supposed to affect her life. However, she is unable to make the final decision whether to talk to Chris or not. Consequently, Chris is admitted in a mental institution. Her grandfather, Conner is a firm person and a perfectionist. He used to talk with a firm voice, raised all the time in a bid to make everything perfect. On the contrary he was able to analyze situations and make firm decisions about them. When Nanuk wanted to date Vanessa, he would constantly tell her that he was not fit for her. He stood with this decision till the end. Clearly Vanessa learned from her grandfather. When they left the brick house for new owners, she gave instructions on how to maintain the windows and hedges perfectly as they were. She reacted in a manner that her grandfather would. At another instant while talking to her brother, she engages in a conversation on how to name her dog. At one point she realizes her grandfathers voice echoes in her voice. When they moved to the brick house after the death of her father, Vanessa met her aunties who were soft spoken and humble. They had a loving character just like her mother. She immediately took their side and became humble, predictable and loving. In fact the story symbolizes her as a birch of logs in the basement. She is also similar to her mother. In the work it was evident that after a quarrel her mother and aunt would go in the kitchen and speak in whispers. In actual sense they would worry perpetually. This trait was adopted by Vanessa who would go about her worrying ways whisperi ng in inaudible undertones. Her grandfather also influences her in a number of ways. While she dated Nanuk, Conner would constantly resent him since according to him he was not to be trusted. In one way these were pointers thrown in here and there by grandpa. Although she loved him, she was taught not to follow love only in a person but to search for better qualities. They turned her into a self reflecting person who would ask rhetoric questions within, just to have better understanding of relationships. It was evident with Chris. In conclusion her journey to adulthood is one that is marked by influences through relationships between her and her immediate people who would throw pointers here and there for her. They nurtured her to what she became in adulthood. Work Cited: Laurence Margaret. A Bird in the House. Berlin: McClelland Stewart,2010.