Voyager Out By Katherine Frank Essays - Followers Of Jesus

Voyager Out By Katherine Frank Katherine Frank's novel A Voyager Out tells the life story of Mary Kingsley. She talks of her childhood, her young adult life, and her traveling life. She wanted to tell the world what this woman explorer did for Africa. Mary Kingsley had a famous family, many of whom were writers. Mary herself wrote two books. In her books however, she leaves out a lot about her life. A lot of what Katherine Frank had discovered came from Mary's letters to friends while traveling. Some people who were the recipients of her letters found it odd that she put so much into her correspondences. In one case, she wrote a ten-page letter to a friend. His response to her was that she was wasting many of her good stories that could be published on a letter. Her response was to write him a six-page letter. She loved writing. She also loved her voyages to Africa. Part of Mary Kingsley's reason for loving her travel abroad came from her childhood life. Mary was born the daughter of a high-class man and his cook. George Kingsley was a writer and came from a family of writers. He did not produce much however. He left a lot of his works unfinished, and many others unstarted. Because he did not do much in his lifetime, it has been said that his greatest gift to the world was his daughter. Her mother, Mary Bailey, was the innkeeper's daughter. Four days after her father and mother were married, Mary Kingsley was born. If her father had not married her mother, Mary would have been bastard child of a destitute domestic. Mary would have only been able to lead a life of servitude herself. Oddly enough though, most of her young life was lead in servitude. Mary lived a long life of isolation. During her adolescent years, her mother was her only female role model of what a woman is supposed to be. Her mother was sick most of the time and therefore Mary had to take care of her and the household chores. While her father was off on one of his many voyages, Mary Bailey had the front windows of the house bricked closed. The house was kept dark and stuffy. Growing up like this made a normal childhood almost impossible for Mary Kingsley. Part of her mother's illnesses came from constant worry about George. He went on many trips overseas and partook in many heroic adventures. He would write home to his family about his adventures and this caused his mother great grief. Because of the grief this caused Mary Bailey, George stopped writing of his heroics to her, and instead wrote of them to his daughter. Mary Kingsley had to become a self-sufficient person. With her mother being bedridden and her father being overseas, Mary grew up on her own. Being a girl, Mary was not given many opportunities at an education. The only education she had paid for her was a class in German. Most of her education came from reading her father's books. She taught herself Latin, Physics, and Chemistry, which was an ?unusual curriculum for even the most erudite governess? (24). Mary and her father had similar reading interests and were therefore constantly fighting over books to read. They were both interested in reading the same book at the same time. George had a ?volcanic temper? (27) so he was usually the victor of the fights. There was one instance when Mary decided to leave home for a small vacation. Mary had never been away from her home so this was a new experience for her. Only a short time into her trip, her mother became ill and Mary had to return to take care of her mother. After staying at her mother's bedside for quite some time, Mary Bailey's health improved so Mary decided to finish her vacation. While gone this second time, Mary Bailey had a stroke and Mary stayed home with her mother from then on. Mary was never able to leave the home for a long period of time without her mother's condition worsening. Her father became ill and was bedridden for a while as well so Mary was taking care of both of them. George did eventually recover and so Mary was back to only having to take care of her mother. One night that George was feeling particularly well, he went to bed never to awaken. A month and a half later, Mary Bailey

Modern Brazil The Narrative of Race and Inequality

Modern Brazil The Narrative of Race and Inequality Robin Sheriff’s book Dreaming Equality can give readers deep insights into the problem of interracial relations in the contemporary Brazil. The first two chapters of this work are aimed at describing the experiences of people living in favelas or shanty towns. These examples that the author provides can tell much about the challenges faced by the residents of these settlements.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Modern Brazil: The Narrative of Race and Inequality specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The main strength of this book is that the author relies not only on the statistical data, but also on the interviews given by people living in favelas. This approach makes his arguments more informative and convincing. This is why this source is worth reading. According to Peter Sheriff, Brazilian academicians avoid mentioning that nearly 75 percent of people living in slums are non-white (Sheriff 18). Furthermore, one c an speak about the existence of residential as well racial segregation. The ancestors of these people were enslaved and brought to the colonies (Sheriff 18). To a great extent, this economic inequality can be regarded as a legacy of slavery in Brazil. It seems that such a trend can be observed in other countries in which slave labor was extensively used, for example, one mention the so-called inner cities in the United States. Certainly, Peter Sheriff’s arguments cannot be generalized, but he is able to show that modern societies are still affected by the discourse of race. For instance, one can mention that some governmental officials in Brazil have a rather biased attitude toward the residents of favelas. Very often, they believe that they are rude and uncultured (Sheriff 19). Certainly, I am not directly familiar with this form of discrimination, but it seems that it is widespread in modern communities. Another aspect of this reading is that Peter Sheriff tries to give voi ce to favela residents. Judging from their responses, in Brazil the language of race is still vital for describing the identity of a person (Sheriff 39). Moreover, there is a distinct correlation between the race of an individual and his/her socio-economic status in the community. Furthermore, one should remember that in the public opinion, the word negro is often associated with ugliness, marginality, and darkness (Sheriff 39). In my opinion, by focusing on people’s experience, Robin Sheriff is able to throw a new light on the challenges that they encounter.Advertising Looking for essay on social sciences? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Nevertheless, the author’s discussion leaves many questions unanswered. Certainly, it is vital to know how people perceive race. However, one still has to determine ways of overcoming the legacies of slavery in Brazil. This issue is particularly relevant to the residen ts of favelas who struggle with poverty and crime. This is the main limitation of the writer’s analysis. However, one can argue that Robin Sheriff has successfully demonstrated that despite the emphasis on diversity and tolerance, racial rhetoric still plays an important part in the modern world. Such a country as Brazil is only one example of state in which there is a distinct relationship between race and social status. This is why this work should not be overlooked. On the whole, Peter Sheriff’s analysis is useful for understanding how colonial past and slavery can shape the development of the country. It can help people better understand various academic works examining such concepts as race and racism. Finally, by reading this book, one can get a better idea of contemporary Brazil. Sheriff, Robin. Dreaming Equality: Color, Race, and Racism in Urban Brazil, New York: Rutgers University Press, 2001. Print.

Drawing from module materials, analyzing how Fair trade consumption Essay

Drawing from module materials, analyzing how Fair trade consumption shapes the ethical experience of its users. How does this pa - Essay Example Thus, the essence of Fair Trade Consumption is not just to desire to be ethical, but to believe in the concept of ethical behavior for both the corporations and individuals, to approve of such ethical behavior and to demand that such behaviors be displayed by the business community (Simon, 2007 p18). The concepts of both demand and approval therefore shape the focus of this organizational form, where the demand of any corporate product is made based on the self-approval of the necessary ethical compliance. Fair Trade Consumption demands that we, as the ethical players should not just desire to be ethical, but that ethical behavior should be the basis of all consumptions we make and a fundamental feature of what we think as self, not just as a fair practice, but out of self-approval (Simon, 2007 p23). Fair trade consumption is an organizational form that serves to shape the ethical behaviors of both the producers and consumers, as well as that of all the organizations and agencies tha t operate in between, through creating a partnership that is based on dialogue, mutual respect for all parties and transparency (Bryant & Goodman, 2004 p344). Oxfam is an example of a firm operating under the Fair trade consumption umbrella, which has opened over 750 charity shops for selling second hand clothes, books and other items, for the mere purpose of ensuring to reach the less disadvantaged, while also enhancing the environmental conservation efforts (Clarke, et al., 2007 p585). While the organization of Fair trade consumption could be perceived as political mechanism that is not compatible with the business goals and objectives, the truth is that this organizational form has helped to shape who individuals believe they are, through a process referred to as Ethical Selving (Shreck, 2005 p18). For example, the Fair trade Movement has been working towards raising awareness among the consumers, regarding the negative effects of their non-ethical purchasing, to enable such cons umers exercise their purchasing powers responsibly and positively, through supporting the organizations, business entities and corporations that are enhancing developmental sustainability through corporate social responsibility and caring for the environment (Doherty & Clarke, 2012 p297). This campaign has been geared towards enhancing conventional international trade, which is based on the precepts of transparency, dialogue and respect for all the stakeholders in trade. The organizational form of Fair trade consumption does not seek to enhance responsible trading of the trading partners through trading activities only, but also through campaigns for raising awareness, geared towards ensuring that ethical business standards are not just a preserve of the partners within the Fair trade consumption organization, but the same should hold both locally and internationally (Williams, 2013 p17). The purchase and consumption of Fair trade products does not only serve to present the individu al buyer as one who cares about the implications of poor business practices, but to define the individual as an ethical person (Bird & Hughes, 1997 p167). Therefore, through purchasing Fair trade products, the individual purchasers tend to rebrand themselves as ethical, and that fact with time sinks

What is the impact of depression, anger and fear, on pre-school Research Paper

What is the impact of depression, anger and fear, on pre-school children of divorce in the U.S - Research Paper Example The research is purely descriptive wherein most of the data are derived from previous empirical researches. Additionally, this research looks into the impact of divorce on educational performance of preschoolers. The results of this study show that divorce greatly affects the emotional well-being of children, particularly in the way they perceive their parents and the world, in general. Thus, this research found out that there is a considerable gap between the performance of preschoolers with two parents attending to them and those whose parents are divorced. Today, the increasing trend of divorce rate poses a threat to the happy-ever-after concept of marriage wherein newly-wed couples set out in making little Susan and adorable Jake. However, as more people support the idea that mistakes may also be made even in their decisions to marry, divorce papers pile up in courts, and more children grow up as half orphans, seeing only the parent who has won their custody. In this historical perspective, Emery (1999) mentions that the divorce trend in the U.S. is attributable to different social factors, which include the age of marriage, educational attainment of either, or both parents, heightened assertion of women’s rights, and income (p. 14). Relatively, the American society, in the year 2000, saw the dissolution of millions of marital bonds of unhappy, married couples, which lead to more children experiencing the devastating, emotional effects of coping with their parents’ divorce (Amato, 2001, p. 355). Lots of studies were made with regard to the effect of divorce towards children, and some of them have shown, whether explicitly or implicitly, that children of divorce exhibit a tendency, whether separate or individual cases, of depression, anger and fear (Ablow, Measelle, P. A. Cowan, & C. P. Cowan, 2009; Amato & Keith, 1991; Amato, 2001; K. D. Pruett

CROWN CORK & SEAL IN 1989 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

CROWN CORK & SEAL IN 1989 - Essay Example When Avery assumed control of Crown in 1989 after over three decades of stewardship by Connelly, he was confronted with reviewing/changing the company strategy in view of the on-going industry challenges as mentioned above, the sluggish sales growth and declining operating margins (Bradley, 2005, HBS Case # 9-793-035). Five force analysis Porter’s Five Force Analysis tool best fits the analysis of this case. According to this tool, an industry (and by inference a unit within that industry) is under the influence of five forces that determine its competitiveness and hence, its profitability: customers, suppliers, existing competitors, substitute products and potential new entrants (Porter, 2004, p.5). Customers and suppliers can bargain over prices, spreading their options over rivals; rivals can leverage strategies to cut into market share; substitute products can compete on prices; demand-supply mismatch and/or good profitability can attract new entrants.

Learning Difficulties Encountered By Efl Students English Language Essay

Learning Difficulties Encountered By Efl Students English Language Essay Recently, listening has gained more and more attention in foreign language learning. In learning a foreign language, it is suggested that the most important step should begin with an effort to listen. (Rubin Thompson, 1994) Listening provides input for learners to make learning occur and listening exercises draw learners attention to new forms in language, such as new vocabulary items. (Rost, 1994) Listening can be regarded as a necessary skill in the diagnosing and preparation of foreign language students and can even be served as a good predictor of language achievement. In consequence, listening comprehension acts as a pivotal role in foreign language learning. (Oxford, 1993) In this essay, three issues are discussed. Issue 1 states listening difficulties in second language acquisition. Underwood (1994), Chiang and Dunkel (1992) and Rubin and Thompson (1994)s viewpoint are discussed. Issue 2 proposes taxonomies of the factors affecting listening difficulties. Boyle (1984), Yagang (1993) and Rubin (1994) s point of view of the factors affecting listening comprehension are referred to. Issue 3 mentions studies in listening difficulties of L2 listeners in foreign countries. Tauroza and Allisons (Rubin, 1994) study is about speech rate. Boyle (1984)s study is factors most frequently mentioned in listening comprehension. Lynch (1997)s study is a case study of a intermediate-level learners progress in listening comprehension. Goh (2000)s study discusses listening comprehension problems. BODY Chapter 1 Listening difficulties in second language acquisition Underwoods (1994) point of view ¼Ã… ¸ Underwood (1994) identified seven potential difficulties in listening comprehension as: (1) lack of control over the speed at which speakers speak, (2) not being able to get things repeated, (3) the listeners limited vocabulary, (4) failure to recognize the signals, (5) problems of interpretation, (6) inability to concentrate, (7) established learning habits. Many language learners believe that the greatest difficulty with listening comprehension is that the listener cannot control how quickly a speaker speaks. (p7) They feel that the utterances disappear before they can sort them out. http://nccuir.lib.nccu.edu.tw/bitstream/140.119/33414/7/95100307.pdf They are so busy working out the meaning of one part of what they hear that they miss the next part. Another difficulty is that listener is not always in a position to get the speaker to repeat an utterance. This is particularly likely to be the case when students are on the edge of conversation outside the classroom. For people listening to a foreign language, an unknown word can be like a suddenly dropped barrier causing them to stop and think about the meaning of the word and thus making them miss the next part of the speech (p 17). And students need to learn to listen for the signals in order to be able to connect the various utterances in the way the speaker intended them to be connected. (p18) Students who are unfamiliar with the context may have considerable difficulty in interpreting the words they hear even if they can understand their surface meaning. (p19). Inability to concentrate can be caused by a number of things, but in listening work it is a major problem, because ev en the shortest break in attention can seriously impair comprehension. (p19) Outside factors may well make concentration difficult, too. An inferior machine or poor recording can make it very hard for the students. As for establishing leaning habits, when the learner can more readily accept the frustrations involved, he will be more prepared to strive for a partial and incomplete understanding of what is being said. (pp16-19) Rubin and Thompsons (1994) point of view Rubin and Thompson list three common problems in learning to listen to a foreign language. The first problem is that the speaker talks too fast. If the listener can not follow the speaker, the listener can let the speaker know that he is not following. He can ask for repetition and slowing down the speed, seeks clarification, rephrase, and repeat. The listener can pay attention to intonation and tone of voice, focus on question words such as who, what and when and assume that the here and now are relevant. That is, the sentence is directly related to the subject they have just been discussing. Assume that what a person says is directly related to something he or she is experiencing at that very minute. The second problem is that the listener is not getting anything out of foreign language TV and movies. If the listener could not understand the foreign language TV and movies, they should try to take control of his listening by predicting what he was likely to hear. For example, use vi sual clues and use his background knowledge. Anticipate information in a segment by relying on your knowledge of what such a segment is likely to contain. Listeners could also use information from the segment itself and determine the genre of the segment. Knowing the genre of a segment will help you determine how best to approach it. For instance, if it is an interview, then concentrate on the questions. If it is a news report, a who, when, where strategy will work best. If it is a drama, look for the story line. Listeners could listen to familiar elements, listen to familiar-sounding words, listen to and jot down repeated words, learn to recognize numbers and learn to recognize proper names. The third problem is that the listener tends to stop listening when he hears an unfamiliar word or phrase. Many learners, particularly in the early stages of language learning, panic and lose their concentration when they hear an unfamiliar segment. As a result, they miss portions of the passag e that might have helped clarify the unfamiliar word or segment. The listener should concentrate on familiar elements and keep listening. Understanding something is better than getting nothing at all. If you continue listening, chances are that you will comprehend at least some parts of the massage. It is possible that the portions you missed were not very important after all. Chiang and Dunkels (1992) point of view Chiang and Dunkel (1992) pointed out that listeners comprehension in English may be thwarted by a number of cognitive and linguistic factors as well as academic and cultural issues, including: (a) inability or lack of opportunity to engage in communicative interaction with the second/foreign language teacher or lecture; (b) inability to detect the main points of the lecture or to grasp the usual goals of particular genres of discourse situation of which the discourse is a part; (c) unfamiliarity with the structure and type of the discourse ; (d) inability to apprehend discourse markers and logical relationships in the English lecture; (e) inability to comprehend lecture speech delivered at faster rates of speed; (f) limited short-term memory for English input; (g) failure to use appropriate cognitive or learning strategies; (h) poor inference abilities in English; (i) limited proficiency in English; (j) lack of prior knowledge about the content of the spoken or written text; and (k) inability to process L2 input devoid of speech modification such as elaborations or redundancies. Of these difficulties confronting L2 learners, Chiang and Dunkel explored the effect of three of them. The first situation was when the listeners had limited listening proficiency in English, the second situation was when they lacked prior knowledge about the topic of the L2 lecture, and the third situation was when they were not supplied with modified speech. The results revealed a significant interaction between prior knowledge and text type. Chapter 2 Taxonomy of the factors affecting L2 listening difficulties Boyles (1984) three categories of factors Boyle (1984) began with a survey of the factors most frequently mentioned in the literature on listening comprehension, including three categories of factors. The first category referred to the listener factors, including experience in listening to the target language, general background knowledge of the world, educational background and type of school, knowledge of the target language in its various aspects, memory, powers of analysis and selection and motivation and attitude of the listener to the speaker and to the message. The second categories, the speaker factors, contain language ability of the speaker: native speaker-beginning level non-native speaker. Speakers production: pronunciation, accent, variation, voice affect, too. Speed of delivery and prestige and personality of the speaker count. The third category, factors in the material and medium, comprise difficulty of content and concept, especially if the material is abstract, abstruse, highly specialized or technical, len gthy or poorly organized. Acoustic environment such as noise and interference and amount of support provided by gestures, visuals also have influence on listening comprehension. Yagangs (1993) four aspects of factors http://eca.state.gov/forum/vols/vol31/no1/p16.htm Instead of three categories, Yagang (1993) proposed that the sources of listening difficulties came mainly from the four aspects: the message, the speaker, the listener, and the physical setting. The message factors comprised content and linguistic features. In content which is not well organized, listeners cannot predict what speakers are going to say. And if listening materials are made up of everyday conversation, they may contain a lot of colloquial expressions, such as guy for man. Students who have been exposed mainly to formal or bookish English may not be familiar with these expressions. The speaker factors consists of redundant utterances, such as repetitions, false starts, re-phrasings, self-corrections, elaborations, tautologies, apparently meaningless addition such as I mean or you know and speakers personal factors such as their accents. Learners tend to be used to their teaching accent or to the standard variety of British or American English. They find it hard to und erstand speakers with other accents. The listener factors played a more important role in EFL students listening. For example, foreign language students might be not familiar enough with clichà © and collocations in English to predict a missing word or phrase. For example, they can not be expected to know that rosy often collocates with cheeks. EFL students might be lack of sociocultural, factual, and contextual knowledge of the target language.   (Anderson and Lynch 1988).It can present an obstacle to comprehension because language is used to express its culture. Factors in physical setting included noise, both background noises on the recording and environmental noises, could carry the listeners mind of the content of the listening passage. Listening material on tape or radio lacks visual and aural environmental clues. Not seeing the speakers body language and facial expressions makes it more difficult for the listener to understand the speakers meaning. Unclear sounds resultin g from poor quality equipment can interfere with the listeners comprehension. Rubins (1994) five categories of factors Rubin (1994) classified these listening factors into five categories: text, interlocutor, task, listener and process characteristics. Text characteristics referred to acoustic-temporal variables, acoustic-other variables and morphological and syntactic modifications (including restatements). Acoustic-temporal variables are speech rate, pause phenomena, and hesitation. Acoustic-other variables are level of perception, stress and rhythmic patterning perception and L1 and L2 differences. Variables of morphological and syntactic modifications are redundancy, morphological complexity, word order and discourse markers. Text characteristics referred to text type. Visual support for texts is also an important variable. Interlocutor characteristics referred to variations in the speakers personal characteristics, such as gender, pronunciation, accent, expertness and so on. Listener characteristics are listeners language proficiency level, memory, attention, affect, age, gender, learning disabi lities in L1, and background knowledge as well as aptitude, processing skills, background biases, motivation, and confidence level. Process characteristics referred to how listeners interpret input in terms of what they know or identify what they dont know. Top-down, bottom-up and parallel processing is being examined in L2 contexts. Current views of listening comprehension propose that listeners actively process language input. Two types of processing have been discerned: cognitive strategies and metacognitive strategies. Research on listening strategies includes: work on several languages; work contrasting strategy use at several proficiency levels; work with interactive or transactional listening; work with cognitive and metacognitive strategies; work considering the relation of strategy use to text, task, and setting. Chapter 3 Studies in listening difficulties of L2 listeners in foreign countries Tauroza and Allisons ( )studyspeech rate Griffiths suggests that different language have different normal rates and the rates defined in studies using English can not be applied exactly to studies of other languages. Most research quotes a normal speech rate of 165 to 180 words per minutes for native speakers of English. On the other hand, while Foulke reports a threshold (the rate at which comprehension begins to decrease rapidly) level between 250-275 w.p.m., others states that comprehension decreases as a function of mental aptitude and difficulty level. Tauroza and Allison compare normal speed of British speakers for four types of speech. They found that while the mean for radio and interview speech events lies within the range of 160 to 190 w.p.m., the means for conversation and lecture categories are outside this range. The mean rate for conversation in words per minute was 210, while for lectures, 140. They note further that thirty-three percent of their lecture data was slower than 130 w.p.m. and twenty-three percen t of the conversation data was faster than 220 w.p.m. The issue of normal speech rate is one that still needs a great deal more research that takes into account all of the variables mentioned above. (Rubin, 1994) Boyles (1984) study-factors most frequently mentioned in listening In Boyles (1984) study, 30 teachers and 60 students in Hong Kong were asked to list the six factors which they considered the most important in aiding or hampering the effectiveness of listening comprehension. It was interesting to know that the students gave much more importance to vocabulary than teachers did. It was surprising that the students mentioned two factors, memory and concentration, barely mentioned by the teachers. In addition, the students considered that there was a possible relationship between their reading habits and their listening comprehension, which was not mentioned by the teachers. On the other hand, the teacher seemed to specify the linguistic factors more sophisticatedly. The teacher would specify the factors as ability to pick up clues, complex syntactical structures, stress and intonation and interference from Chinese. On the contrary, the students just indicated that the lack of general language ability or the difficulties in English listening comprehens ion. Lynchs (1997) study-a case study of an intermediate-level learners progress Lynch (1997) conducted an ethnographic study of a Japanese student who attended English language courses at the Institute for Applied Language Studies, the only one taking an undergraduate course in economics at the University of Edinburgh. His scores on the listening tests were relatively low in comparison with his reading and grammar scores with the other students in class. A number of possible reasons were found to explain his difficulties in listening comprehension. First, he was the youngest member in his class so that he was unwilling to engage in negotiation with his seniors. Second, he was the only undergraduate student with an economic background in his English class so that he viewed himself as insufficient in some general background knowledge. Third, he joined Course 3 in the EAP program, skipping the basic class, Course 1 and 2. Therefore, he thought he needed more time to get used to negotiate with others in English. Fourth, his lowest listening score disappointed him gr eatly. The perceptions of the subject had made a substantial influence on his English learning. Gohs (2000) study-listening comprehension problems Goh (2000) investigated the comprehension problems of second language listeners in a cognitive perspective. She identified real-time listening difficulties faced by 40 Chinese undergraduates and examined their difficulties within the three-phase model of language comprehension proposed by Anderson. (1995). The data were collected from learners self-reports in their diaries, semi-structure interviews and immediate retrospective verbalizations. The data revealed 10 problems that occurred during the cognitive process phases of perception, parsing, and utilization. She also, made a comprehension between two groups, high ability listeners and low ability listeners. Each group consisted of eight students selected according to their grades in a post-instruction standardized proficiency test, the SLEP test of Educational Testing Service 1991. She found that listeners with highly ability and low ability both had a perception problem with recognizing words they knew. Another problem they both shared was parsing problem that they quickly forgot what they thought they had understood. In addition to these two problems, high ability listeners reported a utilization problem that they were often unable to extract the meaning out of the message even if they had understood all the words. On the other hand, low ability listeners reported another perception problem that they often did not hear the next part of a text because they spent too much time thinking about what they had just heard.

Essay --

Week 3: Discussion 1 – Conceptual System Design Colorado Technical University CS672: Systems Engineering Methods Pooja Kattimani Instructor: Professor John King January 20, 2014 Conceptual System Design 1. In accomplishing needs analysis in response to given deficiency, what type of information you would include? Describe the process that you would use in developing necessary information? Information required to accomplish needs analysis in response to given deficiency is statement of problem presented in specific quantitative and qualitative terms and with enough detail to justify progressing to next step. Problem statement must reflect true customer requirements Information necessary for accomplishing needs analysis is developed using the team approach process. Team approach is involving of customers, consumers, producers, suppliers as appropriate in order to identify the problem and define WHATs first. The objective of team approach process is to establish effective communication between all the parties involved in the team approach process. Among all parties involved in...

Experience of working within a social work organization Essay

Introduction Organization is a social unit of people that is structured and managed to meet a need or to pursue collective goals .All organizations have a management structure that determines relationships between the different activities and the members, and subdivides and assigned roles, responsibility and authority to carry out different task (Sorenson, 1999, p. 76). Initially I will give a brief back ground about organisation of my placement, the Primary task, Authority and issues of diversity and inter-professional working. Interpersonal skills of a mental health professional are essential for an effective multidisciplinary team member, interpersonal skills, characteristics and attitudes are key to team working. Individuals on a team should be encouraged, through reflective practice and appropriate support, to examine their own characteristics and how they might adapt to a team environment. It is also important to recognize that while mental health professionals may have well-developed skills within their own area of expertise, it should not be assumed that they have all of the skills needed to collaborate effectively with others as part of a team. There is the primary task (also referred to as functional task or work task), this corresponds with the mission of an organization. Most organizations face multiple tasks all vying to be expressed in the service of the primary task. This is the point where authority, becomes central, i.e. the person who decides what task has priority. It is the authority boundary in conjunction with the task boundary that helps the task become clear and for the work of the group to be taken on successfully. (Hayden and Molenkamp, 2002, p. 7). Absent clarity at the authority boundary, destructive chaos is likely to result and the survival of the group is in peril. While in some instances such a collapse is desirable for the new to arise and for the task to be met. Yet from the perspective of the group that dies, the loss continues to live well after the time boundary passes. The primary task of my group in the organization, include case management, analysis of social welfare policies, and Care management’ was considered to be fundamental element of the community care reforms in the 1990 Act. In 2003 one in ten of local authority social workers were employed as care managers but it is difficult to know what this meant in terms of their roles and function. In theory the core tasks included: case finding and referral; assessment and selection; care planning and service packaging; monitoring and re-assessment; and case closure. (Knapp et al, 2005: 40). Functions that team the play for society was our objectives as a team was to create a society in the next two decades in which no child lives in poverty and where all children have opportunities to realize their potential. Improving opportunities for disadvantaged children is at the heart of our strategy.   (HM Treasury 1999, p. 39). As with older people, the consistent message that disabled people have given about the services they receive is that they do not adequately meet their needs. Research by Jenny Morris in the early 1990s found that statutory services were inflexible; were only available for the most basic personal care tasks; tended to `fit the client to the service’ rather than the service to the client; were provided in a way that reduced independence; and were only available to people in their own home so they could not be helped to go out, either to social activities or to work. Authority boundaries and facilitating structures, the role of authority boundaries and structures is to provide a space or object for the anxiety and worry work to be displaced among social workers, so that the group can attend to the task realistically and appropriately. The term leader acts out as the organization’s ambivalence and splitting. Interpreting this situation through Hirschhorn’s model suggests problematic consequences. The issue groups volunteers to take up the organizational tasks and attendant risks offered and accepted authority and, using Colin’s facilitating structures, did important work; they thus entered the virtuous cycle. This process, however, reduced the authority and increased the anxiety in the top team; they were likely to be heading for a vicious cycle of anxiety, leading to social defences, and therefore dysfunctional process and inhibiting structure. Thus, there were two competing processes: one facilitating change and the other undermining it. All organizations have socially constructed defences against the anxiety which is aroused through carrying out the primary task of the organization ( Isabel Menzies 1970 p.496) These social defences may be evident in the organization structure, in its procedures, information systems, roles, in its culture, and in the gap between what the organizations says it is doing and what it is actually doing. Social defences are â€Å"created† unconsciously by members of the organization through their interactions in carrying out the primary task. Social defaces helps the top team rarely to operate in the â€Å"work group† mode; basic assumption behavior is more prevalent. The term leader, in his leadership, yet an analysis of the top team’s dynamics suggests a high degree of basic assumption dependence. Additionally, lack human diversity within any given organization if the workplace is within, to coin (Hirschhorn’s, 1988 pp.39) term, then the learning organization must account for the variety of images that obtrude from the personal histories of each member. The work of (Kets de Vries and Miller 1985, pp.239) illustrates clearly the consequences of the neurotic qualities of managers permeating the working relations within an organization. Additionally, an element of diversity is a person’s age and life stage (pp.246) .On a different front writers such as (Gilligan 1982 pp.23) and (Schachtel , 1989 pp.214)   have argued in their own ways that gender influences strongly the way in which men and women engage with their world. The learning disabilities which Senge sees connected to structural manifestations of hierarchy and segmentation may be understood more deeply as evidence of patriarchal, phallocentric modes of engagement. Yet a reading of Senge shows no consideration of neurosis, age or gender, let alone libido, in the dynamics of the learning process. Furthermore, he does not consider how any one of these affects a person’s readiness to learn, which differs substantially between people at different times. He asserts that the learning organization is one which will end the war between home and work when managers realize that effective parenting is the model for leadership. Knowlden (1998) suggested that experience impact on a social worker ability to be caring; as a student social worker I was often overwhelmed by the working environment. This could imply that it is not the amount of experience which is important, but the length of time it takes for a social work to acclimatize. Support mechanisms such as preceptorship and clinical supervision may, therefore, have a role in facilitating compassionate care. (Pearcey’s 2007 p.29) study offers some support for Wright’s views. As a social work I observed that qualified social workers mainly cared for patients’ medical needs, with the core element delegated to junior practitioners. Many years ago a ‘task-centred’ approach to organizing care was proposed as a possible defence mechanism against the anxiety that a more interpersonal style of working creates (Menzies, 1970 p.258). This may offer some insight into the behaviour of social workers who seek refuge in form filling and other activities not directly related to care. Social worker students from different health disciplines often have little idea of what each other’s roles entail. Inter-professional learning increase this knowledge, as well as giving students an understanding of the interpersonal skills needed for liaison and communication. Every professional has its own roles, skills and responsibilities making for efficient practices in curing, managing or treating particular ailments, but has this always created cohesive team working in day-to-day working life. In my social worker practice fitting in the organization hierarchy was a problem, and I was not able to question, share knowledge and learn together without professional and defensive boundaries. Often, an institutional hierarchy may obstruct the flow of communication and prevent a person from contributing and feeling valued, which ultimately can negatively affect patient care (Reynolds, 2005 p.19). More longitudinal studies are needed that follow through and beyond my undergraduate studies, along with critical observation of the learning process. Standardizing in the curricula of all health professionals can improve key skills and prepare students for their careers by driving up standards of professionalism and best practice. Sometimes, in the hierarchy of the hospital, it is hard to know what one place is as a student social worker student. When one is it the bottom of the totem pole.   No one in this hospital is lower than me. I think most of us have probably gotten that vibe at some point, even if it hasn’t been explicitly articulated.   There’s the simple fact that, in some ways, we are occasionally more of a burden to the hospital than a benefit.   It’s a constant between trying to be useful, trying to learn something and really make the most of rotation, and simply not getting in the way. For example â€Å"one of social worker will help you,† the term leader said.   Maybe he was joking?   I couldn’t tell his intonation could have gone either way. Then, the leader handed me a folder.   Ã¢â‚¬Å"Here, fan her with this,† she said.   Again joking?   Not sure.   Ã‚  And naturally, being a social worker student, my mind immediately leapt to the assumption that they would think I wasn’t a team player if I didn’t agree to fan her. So really, what else could I do?   When the staff physician walked in, I tried to be nonchalant about the fact that I was standing by the patient’s head and fanning her with a purple confidentiality. Being at the bottom of the hierarchy within a multidisciplinary asking question is also a careful balance. A friend a year ahead of me gave me some pretty phenomenal advice:   If it’s a question related to patient care or unique to a particular situation, or about management of your patient’s condition ask away.   Of course, there’s a time and a place for everything. From the view of the individual I have sketched, the important questions about groups are those devoted to the conditions that take away the factors in social environment that ordinarily keep his self-system in its normal integration. (Bion, 1961: 145-6) Bion stated that the basic assumptions are states of mind the individuals in the group get into. The awareness of the group remains in its regressed form because the group is there and so restrains further disintegration which would be tantamount to psychotic states, an eventuality that the early structuring of the self also resists desperately. The problems of group dynamics thus become those of how the normal affirmations of the self system are removed. The situations of groups in this respect are of almost infinite variety. Thus when Bion said that certain illnesses might originate as diseases of the group, he thought specific illnesses might prove to be linked to specific states of the group. Here the most prominent stem from the task. Although there may have been some nominal description such as â€Å"to study group processes,† none of the members has any clear notion of what that task involves this affected my group as I was working with. There is therefore immediately a considerable loss for the self of its ego anchorage in reality. Important also is the realization that the task, in whatever form it emerges, will involve members in some exposure of their private and even hidden self. This factor I believe to be important in the group dynamics group, although much more so in the therapeutic one. Since the origin of the secret self was its unacceptability, there is a great deal of anxious suspicion among members is that which he expresses some of his feelings about the situation. In conclusion, from my experience, I have learnt that it is important for both the student and the organization placement staff to be aware of who is going where before the placement starts. A good social worker student will contact the organization team in advance of the placement in order to check what time to turn up, and whether there is any uniform policy or other protocols they should be aware of. Likewise a good ward team and mentor will encourage the student to come on a preliminary visit just to be given the above information and to say hello. It can help enormously to reduce anxiety on a first day if the student already knows one or two faces. On a pre-placement visit the student can be introduced to their mentor and have a quick chat and any placement reading can be handed out together with the placement information pack, outlining learning opportunities and ward information, shift pattern, dress code etc. Off duty rotas can be planned together and a pre-placement visit can also be the forum for any negotiation over study days and child care needs etc., so that the anxiety over these can be managed prior to the placement. A good welcoming pre-placement visit can begin the process of socialization into the team and its culture and can give the student an early sense of belonging.    References Bion, W.R., (1961) Experiences in groups and other papers. London: Tavistock Publications [Reprinted London: Routledge, 1989; London: Brunner-Routledge, 2001.] Corbin, J. (2008) Is caring a lost art in nursing? International Journal of Nursing Studies; 45, 163-165. Gilligan, C. (1982), In a Different Voice, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, . Hayden, C. & Molenkamp, R. J. (2002). â€Å"Tavistock primer II.† Jupiter, FL: The A. K. Rice Institute for the Study of Social Systems. Hirschhorn, L. (1988), The Workplace Within: Psychodynamics of Organizational Life, MIT   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Press, Cambridge, MA, . HM Treasury (1999) Opportunity for All London. The Stationary Kets de Vries, M., Miller, D. (1985), The Neurotic Organization, Jossey Bass, London, . Knowlden, V. (1998) The Communication of Caring in Nursing. Indianapolis: Center Nursing Press. Menzies, I.E.P. (1970) The Functioning of Social Systems as a Defence Against Anxiety: Report on a Study of the Nursing Service of aGeneral Hospital. London: Tavistock Institute of Marital Studies. Pearcey, P. (2007) Tasks and routines in 21st century nursing: student nurses’ perceptions. British Journal of Nursing; 16: 5, 296-300. Reynolds F (2005) Communication and Clinical Effectiveness in Rehabilitation. Edinburgh: Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann Schachtel, Z. (1989), â€Å"Men, women, and work†, in Changing Group Relations. The Proceedings of the Ninth Scientific Meeting of the A.K. Rice Institute (Eds),New York, NY, . Senge, P.M., Roberts, C., Ross, R.B., Smith, B.J., Kleiner, A. (1994), The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook: Strategies and Tools for Building a Learning Organization, Nicholas Brealey Publishing, London, . Senge, P.M. (1990), â€Å"The leader’s new work: building learning organizations†, Sloan Management Review, Fall Reprint 3211, Sorenson, G. (1999). Taking the robes off: when leaders step down. In B. Kellerman and L. Matusak(Eds.), Cutting Edge: Leadership 2000. College Park, MD: Academy of Leadership Press, 1999. Tweddell, L. (2007) Compassion on the curriculum. Nursing Times; 103: 38, 18-19.   

Michial Jordan essays

Michial Jordan essays Michael Jordan was born on January 17, 1963 in Brooklyn, New York and was raised in Wilmington, North Carolina. He has two brothers, is married, and has three kids. He is considered by many to be the greatest basketball player of all time (Kornbluth). My focus will be on his hardships, accomplishments, and people who influenced him. First, I would like to touch on some general information about Michael. He wears number 23 on his jersey because he considered it to be half of his brother's number, 45. He had wanted 45 because it was his brother's number and he deeply admired his brother, but he was on the same team as his brother so he needed to pick a different number. His most well known superstition is that he wears his University of North Carolina basketball shorts under his game shorts. When Michael was a kid, his favorite sport was not basketball. In fact, it was baseball. He was a pitcher on a little league team. He played baseball because he was short (Kornbluth). Later in his life, he would try to leave the NBA and play major league baseball. Michael was not always rich. His parents had to work two and three jobs each to support the family. Before Michael's dad built him a basketball court in his back yard Michael shot, basketballs into a trash can Michael was not always good at basketball, either. People told Michael that he was too short to play basketball. Michael now stands six feet six inches tall. He also went to the school gym before school to shoot baskets, stayed after school to shoot baskets, and could be found in the school gym on weekends shooting baskets. He also played his brother, Larry, one-on-one in basketball. His brother was only a year older than Michael was, but he was much better and taller than Michael was. Michael would often times lose and end up getting in a fight with his brother. Thi...

Discussions of the Parts of a Speech

Discussions of the Parts of a Speech In classical rhetoric, the parts of a speech are the conventional divisions of a speech (or oration)- also known as arrangement. Roman orators recognized as many as seven parts: ExordiumNarratioDivisionProof (or Confirmation)RefutationDigressionPerorationEpilogue In contemporary public speaking, the major parts of a speech are often identified more simply as the introduction, body, transitions, and conclusion. See Examples and Observations below. (Dont confuse the parts of a speech in rhetoric with the parts of speech in grammar.) Examples and Observations From late fifth through late second century BCE, three traditions of handbooks characterized theory and instruction in rhetoric. Handbooks in the earliest tradition organized precepts in segments devoted to the parts of a speech. . . . [A] number of scholars have proposed that early handbooks in this tradition typically dealt with four speech parts: a proem that secured an attentive, intelligent, and benevolent hearing; a narration that represented facts of the judicial case favorable to the speaker; a proof that confirmed the speakers claims and refuted the arguments of the opponent; and an epilogue that summarized the speakers arguments and aroused emotions in the audience favorable to the speakers case.(Robert N. Gaines, Roman Rhetorical Handbooks, in A Companion to Roman Rhetoric, edited by William J. Dominik and Jon C. R. Hall. Wiley-Blackwell, 2007) The parts of a speech (partes orationis) are the exordium or opening, the narratio or statement of facts, the divisio or partitio, that is, the statement of the point at issue and exposition of what the orator proposes to prove, the confirmatio or exposition of arguments, the confutatio or refutation of ones opponents arguments, and finally the conclusio or peroration. This six-fold division is that given in De Inventione and Ad Herrenium, but Cicero tells us that some divided into four or five or even seven parts, and Quintilian regards partitio as contained in the third part, which he calls probatio, proof, and thus is left with a total of five.(M. L. Clarke and D. H. Berry, Rhetoric at Rome: A Historical Survey. Routledge, 1996) Classical Divisions in Prose The classical tradition of oratory was carried on for a great many centuries in oral performance. It was also carried on in written texts, most purely in written works that take the form of orations. Although they were not intended for oral performance, they translate features of oratory to the written word. Including some sense of the writer and the reader.Erasmuss Praise of Folly (1509) is a model example. It follows a form of the classical tradition, with Exordium, Narration, Partition, Confirmation, and Peroration. The orator is Folly, and she steps forward to speak to the crowded assembly that is her audienceall of us readers.(James Thorpe, The Sense of Style: Reading English Prose. Archon, 1987) The Classical Form of Jonathan Swifts A Modest Proposal The essay is organized in the manner of a classical oration, as follows: Exordium - Paragraphs 1 through 7Narration - Paragraphs 8 through 16Digression - Paragraphs 17 through 19Proof - Paragraphs 20 through 28Refutation - Paragraphs 29 through 30Peroration - Paragraphs 31 through 33 (Charles A. Beaumont, Swifts Classical Rhetoric. University of Georgia Press, 1961) Transitions in Contemporary Speeches To move from one to another of the three major parts of a speech (i.e., introduction, body, and conclusion), you can signal your audience with statements that summarize what youve said in one part and point the way to the next. For example, here is an internal summary and a transition between the body of a speech and the conclusion: Ive now explained in some detail why we need stronger educational and health programs for new immigrants. Let me close by reminding you of whats at stake. . . . Transitions are vital to effective speaking. If the introduction, body, and conclusion are the bones of a speech, the transitions are the sinews that hold the bones together. Without them, a speech may seem more like a laundry list of unconnected ideas than like a coherent whole.(Julia T. Wood, Communication in Our Lives, 6th ed. Wadsworth, 2012)

The Impact of Internships on Graduate Employability Essay

The Impact of Internships on Graduate Employability - Essay Example Thereby, employers will be able to employ people who are qualified and knowledgeable. However, some employers mistreat interns. Some organizations may not set aside budget for internship programs. By not having this program, employers are not able to teach potential employees on the competencies and skills the company wants. Introduction Internship is the period of time when students are attached to organizations where they are supervised to gain firsthand experience to the professions that they are studying. This normally comes after they have been taught about the profession in class before they are allowed to participate as interns in different organizations. While working as interns, the students are evaluated by supervisors and a report on the students’ performance is sent to their school after completion of the internship. The report combined with the course work contributes to the final score for the students (Sweitzer and King 2009). Students can either get internships through applying for the position in organizations or their college might partner with organizations in order for them to offer internship programs to their students. Internships normally vary depending on the organizations policy. Many organizations pay students who are interns in their organization. On the other hand, some organizations don’t pay interns, but rather they have incentives such as transport or lunch to motivate them. Internship period also varies on how students and the organization agree to work together. However, being an intern in a certain organization does not automatically qualify the student to get a job in the organization. However, depending on the students’ hard work, they can be considered should any vacancy arise in the organization. Students can attend internships locally or internationally so long as it is in relation to the profession that they are undertaking. In some cases, students may decide to take internship programs while they are on vacation to increase their experience on the profession (Sweitzer and King 2009). Most companies normally hire interns to equip them with the necessary skills required to perform the profession that they have specialized in. Companies also hire interns to minimize the costs required to finish some tasks. This is because companies know that when they hire interns certain tasks will be able to be accomplished with minimum expenses or with no expense at all. It is upon an individual to work hard during the internship period to acquire a range of skills and knowledge. This paper will critically analyze both the positive as well as the negative impacts of internships on graduate employability. Positive impacts of internships Internships help students to acquire knowledge. Through internships, participants get to interact with professions who guide them on how to go about the profession. During class lessons on professions that students undertake, the teaching is mostly theoretical. B ut once students are working as interns, they get to learn the practical bit of the profession thereby gaining knowledge from the different professionals they engage with. This also makes the student to gain professional knowledge on the profession that they are studying (Hergert 2009).   Internships provide students with an insight on what is required of them in order to become successful in the field.

Internal and external (domestic and foreign policies) changes in the Essay

Internal and external (domestic and foreign policies) changes in the US since 1980 - Essay Example When George bush was appointed president, he appointed an experienced team that runs all matters of foreign policy (Beisner 90). He rejected many of Clinton’s policies and adopted others that were from a unilateralist approach. In his term, several international treaties were not implemented, and new realism was adopted as the new policy. The terrorist attacks of September 2001 on the United States led to major changes in the foreign polices of the country, and adopted an overwhelming priority, which was war on terrorism (Beisner 91). The domestic policies that were in place during the cold war focused on supporting businesses and expansion of opportunities of people who fall in the middle class. As a country, the United States has a history of promoting and disregarding human rights abroad; however, it has a mixed record at home (Beisner 49). The federal branch of the government continues to support the use of abusive counterterrorism policies. The criminal justice system employs policies that are marred with racial disparities and harsh sentences (Beisner 57). The US has undergone several changes in the foreign and the domestic policies. These policies are implemented with the aim of establishing better lives and security for American citizens. This paper has been a discussion of the changes that have taken place in the domestic in addition, the foreign policies of the country since