Morpheus the God

The Greek god, Morpheus, also known as ‘He who forms', is the Greek god of dreams. The Greeks believed that he shaped and formed dreams for mortals. Morpheus played an important role as a god; he was the leader of the Oneriroi tribe. The tribe was made up of himself and his three brothers, Icelus, Phobetor and Phantos. The Oneriroi were a well-known tribe and had the duty of creating dreams for humans. They were often asked to create dreams to warn mortals of danger and future experiences.This was especially important in the case of kings, queens, heroes and heroines, such as Queen Penelope and Agamemnon. Icelus was the creator of dreams of reality and truth. Phobetor represented fearsome and alarming dream, playing a role in dreams in the form of an animal. Phantos, as you may notice by his name, created dreams of fantasy; these were often the most strange and unrealistic dreams of all. He would appear in dreams as inanimate objects, such as earth, rocks, water and plants. Mor pheus, the leader of the tribe, was the vital dream creator, appearing as humans in a dream.Unlike his brothers however, Morpheus could simply send thoughts and objects into dreams, without having to play a role in them himself. The Oneriroi lived at the coast, on the seashores. Morpheus, during his lifetime, is said to have lived in a dark cave, filled with poppy flowers. Morphine, a well-known painkilling drug, which is derived from poppy flowers and induces a dream-like state, is named after Morpheus, the Greek god of dreams. Morpheus’s uncle is Thanatos, the God of Death. His grandparents are Nyx, Goddess of Night and Erebus, God of Darkness.Morpheus was said to be romantically involved with Iris, the Goddess of the Rainbow. As a god, Morpheus possesses the natural powers & abilities of an Olympian god such as immortality, omnipresence, vast strength, and the potential to do magic such as the ability to shape-shift, to teleport and to manifest objects. As the God of Sleep he makes mortals and other gods fall asleep in his â€Å"sleep blanket†. However, even he is not immune to falling asleep in this blanket, as seen in the episode Hercules and the All-Nighter. Morpheus also appears to bring the night by dragging his blanket across the sky.

Emerald City

Most people are pursuing a dream. The â€Å"American Dream† is the ideal of freedom and opportunity of achieving success and wealth; the belief that every individual can rise from rags to riches with a little grit, imagination and hard work. A dream could just as well be about personal fulfilment. We might not even need the success and glamour if we meet these personal dreams. Nevertheless we pursue opportunities in desire and expectation of living a better life, a life more glamorous and prosperous than our present. In Emerald City by Jennifer Egan, the main character Rory, an ambitious guy from Chicago, is seeking the â€Å"American Dream†.He has moved to New York in hope of reaching the glitter and success he expects the city to offer. Rory has built up expectations and ideas about New York through reading novels and envisioned the glamorous New York life he might be living even before arriving in the big city. In the beginning of the story Rory appears rather vain a nd irrational. He strives towards fitting into his own idea of the New York jet set, therefore he changes his behaviour: â€Å"†¦But no matter how much Rory ate, he stayed exactly the same. He took up smoking instead, although it burned his throat†1.He is pretending to be someone he is not, believing this change of behaviour will make him successful – â€Å"Fake it till you make it†. To emphasize this, Egan uses the Elmer’s glue as a catalyst to get Rory to reflect on his artificial life: the glue might look more appealing, but it is useless and fake as milk2. In the same manner Rory is misusing himself – he is not true to himself. â€Å"Rory had found this disturbing in a way he still didn’t quite understand†3. On a subconscious level he might be aware of this. Yet, it is not until the end of the story Rory realizes this.As one of the world’s largest cities New York, â€Å"The Big Apple†, is the epitome of a metrop olitan, emanating glory, greatness, opportunities as well as temptations. The immensity and diversity of the city makes the individual seem insignificant. Consequently you tend to get lost in the sea of people, feeling unimportant. New York represents today’s civilization of people trying to fit in. Like Rory and Stacey, everybody is reflecting themselves in other people in hope of being recognized and acknowledged. In addition the role of New York has a great importanceregarding the relationship between Rory and Stacey. â€Å"And it struck him that this was New York: a place that glittered from a distance even when you reached it†4. In this sudden revelation Rory realizes that New York always will be full of temptations and achievable success, and he understands that Stacey for him is the true glittering matter, he has been searching for. â€Å"He searched the dark shopfronts for something, some final thing at the core of everything else, but he found just his own re flection and Stacey’s†5. The relationship between Rory and Stacey seems to be the only deep matter in the story.Rory has the option of choosing one of the successful models. Nevertheless, he chooses Stacey: â€Å"†¦a failing model whom he adored against all reason†6. The narrator is a third-person narrator limited to Rory. As a reader you are not acquainted with Stacey’s feelings for Rory. It is implied that Stacey and Rory do not prioritize getting to know each other deeply. They are both too busy in their search of fulfilling their individual dreams. Yet, this changes in the end where Stacey realizes and accepts that her dream in New York presumably never will come true.Rory believed he had the power to crush Stacey by telling her she was not good enough succeeding as a model: â€Å"†¦ it would take so little, he thought, to crush her†7. But when he tells her this in the end she reveals an inner strength and ability to see new possibilit ies: â€Å"Rory held his breath, watching in alarmed amazement as the slender wand of her body swayed against the yellow sky. She had no trouble balancing [†¦] â€Å"If it doesn’t work†, she said, â€Å"then I’ll see the world some other way†8. Stacey is letting go of her dream, and she is able to see the world from a different angle.She may not know what will happen, but for the first time in the story she is showing heartfelt affection towards Rory: â€Å"She took Rory’s face in her hands and kissed him on the mouth – hard, with the fierce, tender urgency of someone about to board a train†9. This tells the reader that she does have feelings for Rory after all. The title â€Å"Emerald city† could be interpreted in several ways. The reflections in an emerald could represent how the people in New York are mirroring themselves in their unattainable conceptions of what it is like to be successful. That everybody is trying to be someone else, someone more successful.The title could moreover relate to the famous children’s novel â€Å"The wonderful wizard of Oz†, where everyone who enters the beautiful capital â€Å"Emerald City† has to wear green-tinted eyeglasses in order to protect themselves from the glory of the city. The city is not a special city, but the glasses make the city look green, although the city is no greener than every other city. Emerald City would in this allegory be New York, and clarify that New York is like any other big city. This would additionally explain why Rory disappointingly does not feel more successful than other people in New York.In â€Å"Emerald City† Rory and Stacey are pursuing their dreams of making it in New York. It is not until the end they realize that their hopes of succeeding is insignificant, as their dreams of a better life in fact are personal needs of acknowledgement and love. We are taught to believe that being successful will make us feel happier – that is what today’s society tells us. We rarely consider what could happen if our hopes of being successful do not live up to our expectations, if our life of chasing success does not make us happy or if being successful does not make us feel any more special.

An Evaluation of Academic Performance of Grade Essay Example for Free

An Evaluation of Academic Performance of Grade Essay Introduction â€Å"Bright minds make bright future! † Preparatory children nowadays are far  Ã‚  better than before they are more advanced in teaching and more capable of absorbing the methods of learning that used with them. Modern teaching accompanied with modules and analytical measures develop the  preschooler’s memory retention that serves as the foundation of their education. Kids today  are more willing and not afraid to  try to discover new ways and methods of learning. The value of preschool is a  hot topic these days. A small but growing number of  studies link enrolment in preschool or child care  centers (which typically include a  preschool curriculum) to higher cognitive and language scores on kindergarten-entry tests The early childhood stage is a  permanent learning stage. Whatever they learn now, they will take home. This preschool education is the provision of education for  children  before the commencement of statutory education, usually between the ages of three and five, dependent on the jurisdiction. The institutional arrangements for preschool education vary widely around the world, as do the names  applied to the institutions. Effective preschool education can help make all children ready to learn the day they start school and, more importantly, help close the  enormous gap facing children in  poverty. Preschool gives our kids the strong  foundation they need to be  successful in school and in life. Children who attend pre-kindergarten programs have bigger  vocabularies and increased math  skills, know more letters and more letter-sound associations, and are more familiar with words and book concepts, according to a number  of studies (Patson P. Opido 2010). The child is the ultimate concern in all educational processes. He is the beginning at the end of all educational efforts. The goal of education is to help every child grow up well-rounded; physically well-developed, mentally healthy, intelligently alert, emotionally secure and socially well adjusted. These can be truly achieved by giving attention to the child’s foundation. The first day of the children in school is a unique experience. It may be their first contact with big group of children. The difference among first grade pupils in their level of preparedness to grade one work may vary. The grade I teacher should be aware of the differences in the children’s readiness; some readiness is the springboard to do actions. Knowing pupil’s differences will guide the teacher on what to do to develop them to the fullest ( Lindberg and Swedo, 1995). A child born of a healthy, responsible and emotionally mature parents has a good foundation. His parents, especially the mother, guide him through the proper habits of eating, sleeping and cleanliness. An individual’s attitude toward himself and others, his behaviour either at work or at play, and his emotional roots in his early childhood experiences. What he learns at home constitutes the basis for future learning and adjustment. As the child develops social awareness, he needs to experience association with a larger group outside his home. Parents send their children to school simply because they want them to develop basic health habits and self sufficiency. Furthermore, this also includes the ability to use language patterns for simple and correct social attitudes in relation to the company of people around him, whether adults or other children and the appreciation of the aesthetic attributes of his immediate surroundings. Modern teaching accompanied with modules and analytical measures develop the preschooler’s memory retention serving as the foundation of their education. Kids today are more willing and not afraid to try to discover new ways and methods of learning. The value of preschool is a hot topic these days. A small but growing number of studies link enrolment in preschool or child care centers (which typically include a preschool curriculum) to higher cognitive and language scores on kindergarten-entry tests. The early childhood stage is a permanent learning stage. Whatever they learn now, they will take home. This preschool education is the provision of education for children before the commencement of statutory education, usually between the ages of three and five, dependent on the jurisdiction. Parents on the other hand, play a vital role in educating their children because they are their first teachers, which is the greatest contribution before a child ever begins his formal education in school. When a child enters the formal school, he carries out with him the acquired values from his parents. Just like the teacher’s task, if parents fail to perform their responsibilities, it may bring misbehaviour on their children which may directly or indirectly affect the child’s academic performance. In the Philippine public elementary schools today, inner tensions have been continuously affecting the learners going to grade one level, especially those who had never gone to any kind of schooling before. These learners entering grade one have many apprehensions. Most of them have no experiences in going to school. Parents are not capable of sending them to school especially those in remote and slum areas. Instead of giving their children a chance to study in Day Care Centers and Kindergarten in some public elementary schools, they ended up waiting for their to be accepted in Grade One. With these scenarios the pupils encounter difficulties in catching up with different skills like numeracy and literacy which are now the basic skills necessary in the first grade level of formal schooling. These children also suffer in relating themselves to their new environment, the school. In order to have a smooth transition from home to school and to prepare them socially and psychologically, the curriculum on the Early Childhood Experiences was recommended for adoption in all public elementary schools as included in Every Child A Reader Program ( ECARP). It aims to developing the reading readiness and developmental reading in Grade one as launched by the Department of Education. One of the major goals of the 2015 Education for All (EFA) is the expansion of the coverage and improvement of the quality of the Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) programs in the country. The present government administration in its Ten-Point Agenda has declared a policy calling for the standardization of preschool and day care centers. The Department of Education (DepEd) in support of this thrust will administer School Readiness Assessment Test to All Grade One Entrants, effective SY 2005-2006. The School Readiness Assessment (SRA) is a tool to determine the readiness of Grade One entrants in tackling formal Grade One work. The School Readiness Assessment Tool will be administered by Grade One teachers assisted by the Grade Two and Three teachers one week before opening of classes. The assessment shall not be treated as an entrance test or examination. No child shall be refused entry to Grade 1 based on the results neither of this assessment nor without preschool experience. To continuously determine the school readiness of all Grade One Entrants, the School Readiness Assessment (SReA) was administered. One of the objectives of SReA is to assess pupils’ readiness across the different developmental domains – gross and fine motor, receptive/ expressive language, cognitive domain and socio- economic domain. The result obtained was the basis for grouping the Grade One entrants. It was also used to guide Grade One teachers in providing appropriate instruction and assistance to address specific needs of the pupils. The result of the School Readiness Test in May 2011 identified that there were at least forty two point ninety eight percent of the school population of Grade One entrants were not ready. Children with No Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) has low average in pupils’ readiness across the different developmental domains – gross and fine motor, receptive/ expressive language, cognitive domain and socio- economic domain. Background of the Study The researcher is motivated by the above mentioned situation and this led to the conceptualization of this study. As an educator, the researcher is faced with the fact that there is an imperative need to strengthen and streamline the internal management of educational arrangements in order to achieve efficiency and responsiveness to trends and challenges of the next millennium. It is therefore the aim of this study to empower parents and positively influence them on affirmative effects of pre-school education in the holistic development of their children particularly on the advancement of their academic performance. The value of preschool is a  hot topic these days. A small but growing number of  studies link enrolment in preschool or child care  centers (which typically include a  preschool curriculum) to higher cognitive and language scores on kindergarten-entry tests. The early childhood stage is a  permanent learning stage. Whatever they learn now, they will take home. This preschool education is the provision of education for  children  before the commencement of statutory education, usually between the ages of three and five, dependent on the jurisdiction. The institutional arrangements for preschool education vary widely around the world, as do the names  applied to the institutions ( Bustos Alicia and Espiritu 1985). The Early Childhood Experiences Curriculum, hence all Grade One teachers are expected to implement it. Teachers are also encouraged to make use of local songs, games, dances and indigenous materials to enrich the curriculum. It is hoped that the Early Childhood Experience for Grade One will greatly benefit the children and strengthen efforts to make the schools child-friendly. Theoretical Framework This study is anchored on Edward Thorndike’s, Jerome Bruner’s, and B. F. Skinner’s Theories of Learning. These theories enabled the researcher in the conceptualization of this work. The Law of Readiness as advocated by Thorndike is associated with mind set. It states that when an organism is prepared to respond to a stimulus, allowing doing so would be satisfying while preventing him would be annoying. This law works well in this study because the children is mentally ready to learn. The Law of Exercise states that the constant repetition of response strengthens its connection with the stimulus, while disuse of response weakens it. The exercises given to the children using a modifiable connection like instructional materials enables them to acquire the learning easier and faster because the responses will be utilized, the stronger the connection to be developed. Thus, when a modifiable between a stimulus and a response has been made, it is strengthened if its results in satisfaction as the Law of effect proves. Jerome Bruner’s (1915) theory of Instrumental conceptualization is also applied as it involves (3) three simultaneous processes as: Acquisition, Transformation and Evaluation. This theory of learning believes that the acquisition of whatever form of knowledge acquisition, who selects structures, retains and transforms information. Teaching without the use of proper strategic plans will result to failure. Through School Readiness Assessment Test (SReA), pupils will acquire knowledge through different techniques used by the researchers. Hence, learning to read is facilitated by Skinner’s Theory. Conceptual Framework This study focused on the evaluation of academic performance of Grade One pupils with and without Early Childhood Experience of Sto. Nino Elementary School. The independent variable consist of School Readiness Assessment Test (SReA) for children with and without Early Childhood Experience while the dependent variable is the academic performance of the respondents in terms of the following: Sensory Discrimination, Concept Formation, Numeracy, Reading Readiness and Construction and Visual Motor Integration. Research Paradigm Independent Variable Dependent Variable Figure 1 The above figure shows the relationship of independent variables to dependent variables of the study. Statement of the Problem This study intended to evaluate the academic performance of Grade One pupils with and without Early Childhood Experience (ECE) at Sto. Nino Elementary School, Division of San Pablo City. Specifically, this study sought to answer the following questions: 1. What are the mean pre-test scores of the two groups of pupils in terms of the following: a) Sensory, b) Concept Formation, c) Numeracy, d) Reading Readiness and e) Construction and Visual- Motor Integration? 2. What are the mean post-test scores of the two groups of pupils in terms of the following: a) Sensory Discrimination, b) Concept Formation, c) Numeracy, d) Reading Readiness and e) Construction and Visual Motor- Integration? 3. Is there a significant difference in the mean scores between the pupils with and without Early Childhood Experience (ECE) and their performance? Hypothesis The hypothesis stated below was tested in this study. There is no significant difference in the mean scores between the pupils with Early Childhood Experience (ECE) and those without Early Childhood Experience (ECE) and their performance in terms of the following: i. Sensory Discrimination, ii. Concept Formation, iii. Numeracy, iv. Reading Readiness and a. Construction and Visual- Motor Integration? Significance of the Study This study is of importance to the pupils, teachers, principals, parents and other researcher for the following reasons: Pupils are primary group which the study would benefit. They are the central point to be given much consideration because they are the recipients of this study. They will be assessed and it would be a big help for them to improve their academic performance. Teachers are the facilitators of learning. They may be able to undertake possible teaching alternatives that may be facilitate, enhance and improve their teaching skills to cater the needs of the pupils with and without Early Childhood Experience in order to improve their academic performance. They will specifically take cognizance of their status at present in terms of the problem arising in their own classroom. Likewise, they could assess definitely where the problem lie and thus, make remediation to solve them. Therefore the learners’ needs would be taken into considerations. The results of this investigation will also help other teacher in the field since the problems raised here may have also help them to improve the academic performance of their pupils. Principals are the ones who initiate support for every change that happens in the school. Good management and supervision of the school and the teachers, respectively, are the responsibility of the principals. Results which this study reveal may enable the school heads to plan out better and more effective ways to evaluate the academic performance of Grade One pupils with and without Early Childhood Experience. It is very important to take in consideration the needs of Grade One pupils because it is the foundation year for them. In that case the principal ought to have a plan to cater the individual needs of the learner to improve their academic performance to elevate the quality of education in the country. Parents are stakeholders of the school. The findings of this study are important to parents because they need to be informed about the performance of their school children in school. Through this, they will know the importance of Early Childhood Experience (ECE) for their children. For this reason, they will send them in preschool. So that their children will not be shocked with their new environment. The parents will work hand and hand with the teacher in facilitating strategies to evaluate the academic performance of the learners. They may also help influencing their children to have a good study habits. Their support to their children and school is important so that the goals will be attained. Other researchers who would be interested with this problem may gain further insights in developing their own research work. The data that will be revealed by this study may be used by other researcher to enhance their own studies. They may also use it as related study or augment data that they have to come up with a more comprehensive knowledge about the problem presented here into. Scope and Limitation of the Study The focus of the study to be conducted is An Evaluation of Academic Performance of Sto. Nino Elementary School, Dapdapan, District, Division of San Pablo City. It limits its coverage on the result of School Readiness Assessment (SReA) which includes the following areas – Sensory Discrimination, Concept Formation, Numeracy, Reading Readiness, and Construction and Visual Integration; the Pre test and Post test of School Readiness Assessment (SReA) and the instructional module being devised to answer the needs of Grade One pupils. The respondents of the study will be eighty (80) pupils of Sto. Nino Elementary School, forty (40) pupils with Early Childhood Experience (ECE) and forty (40) pupils without Early Childhood Experience (ECE). Definition of Terms For the interpretation of the study, the terms used are defined in order to avoid vagueness or ambiguousness meaning. Therefore, provide the reader a common point of reference. Public Elementary SchoolsThese are school managed, operated and maintained by the national government. It offers curricular programs for Grade One to Six children. Sensory Discrimination These refer to exercises in discriminating simplest form of mental operation that was clearly intellective. It includes exercises on identifying same and different shapes. Concept FormationThese refer to exercises that requires the learner to construct the properties of the object from the definition. It includes exercises on completing statements showing simple analogy. Numeracy The term refers the ability to learn the specific tasks in Mathematics like counting, arranging, sequencing sets of objects. The numeracy skills are designed to help with the more advanced levels of mathematics that pupils will encounter during the school lives and also into their adulthood. It includes exercises pointing out which has more or less sets. In this study, it pertains to the level of achievement of the Grade One pupils in different learning skills in Mathematics as perceived by their Grade One teachers. Construction and Visual-Motor Integration These skills refer to the smooth coordination of the eyes and hands working together. Sto. Nino Elementary School Public Elementary school situated in Brgy. Sto. Nino, San Pablo City where the present study is being conducted. Grade One Pupils. Refer to children entering the formal school in the primary grades as prescribed by the Department of Education, whose ages ranges from six (6) years old and above. Chapter II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES This chapter presents literature and studies which are related to the problem. The materials found in local and foreign books, educational journals and magazines, documents, guidelines and reports by Department of Education provided references. Related Literature Philosophy and Goals of Elementary Education. Philosophy of pre-school education as stated in DECS Memo no. 107 s. 1989 considers the child, the school and the teacher with the support of the family in the maximizing the child’s potential. Pre-school education is based on the knowledge that each child is unique individual with his own biological make up, interest, capacities, and ways of viewing the world. He has a tremendous capacity for learning. He is active and understands the world differently from adult. His language has developed with acquisition of wide vocabulary making him capable of communicating his ideas and feelings. A pre-school child is always on the process of becoming, and therefore if properly developed can become a critical thinker and a socially sensitive, directed, creative, responsible and caring individual. Pre-school education must aim to develop children in all aspects physical, social, emotional and cognitive so that they will be better prepared to adjust and cope with life situations and the demands of formal schooling. By doing so, learning gaps and dropouts may be reduced or avoided to the maximum. Objectives of Pre-School education is founded on the following objectives; (Inc.DECS Memo No. 45 1995). They are as follows: To develop the child in all aspects ( physical, social, emotional and cognitive) so that they may be better prepared to adjust and cope with the life situations within the context of his experience. To maximize the child’s potential through a variety of carefully selected and meaningful experiences considering his interests and capabilities, and; To develop the child in all aspects so that he becomes a self- propelling, thinking and contributing individual able to make decisions which all prepare him more complex demands for future life. DepEd Order No. 10, s. 2004 is the legal basis in the implementation of the Enhanced Eight-Week Early Experiences for Grade One. Its main thrust is development of academic skills among learners. It is because most Grade One entrants have not gone through pre-school experiences. Hence, the Early Childhood Experience has been enriched and aligned with the BEC making it’s integral part of the Grade 1 Curriculum. In 1995, Early Childhood Experiences for Grade One was institutionalized at the same time as the official age for entry into the primary school was dropped to six years of age. All Grade One teachers were requested to implement the Eight-Week Curriculum and gradually move to the regular Grade One curriculum. Pursuant to DepEd Order No. 15, s. 2005, which calls for the administration of School Readiness Assessment for All Grade One Entrants, all incoming Grade 1 shall undergo a school readiness assessment using the revised tool. The School Readiness Assessment (SRA) will be administered by Grade 1 teachers to be assisted by Grade II, III and master teachers of their respective schools. This assessment shall be administered twice. The first assessment given on May. The second shall be administered after the children have undergone 8-week curriculum, focusing on the competencies not manifested by the child during the first assessment. The SRA will determine the level of progress of Grade 1 entrants across different developmental domains that are critical in tracking Grade 1 learning competencies. The result shall be the basis for grouping the Grade 1 entrants. It will be also used to guide Grade 1 teachers in providing appropriate instruction and assistance to address specific needs of the pupils through the utilization of the 8-week curriculum. The assessment shall not be treated as an entrance test or examination as children may be anxious about passing or failing. No child shall be refused entry to Grade 1 based on the results of this assessment. â€Å" Educating our children at an early stage will give more chance for young Filipinos in the future to compete for jobs and opportunities in the new world order in which better educated and highly skilled persons have become the most valued resources. † Giving access to free quality early childhood education will bridge the gap between the rich and the poor that will give our less privileged countrymen a strong foundation for the challenges in the next millennium. (Eduardo J. Angara, 1997) The Early Childhood Care and Development ( ECCD ) Law, enacted in 2000, recognizes the importance of early childhood and its special needs, affirms parents as primary caregivers and the child’s first teachers, and establishes parent effectiveness, seminars and nutrition counselling for pregnant and lactating mothers. The law requires the establishment of a National Coordinating Council for the Welfare of Children which: (a) establishes guidelines, standards, and culturally relevant practices for ECCD programs; (b) develops a national system for the recruitment, training, and accrediting of caregivers; (c) monitors the delivery of ECCD services and the impact of beneficiaries; (d) provides additional resources to poor and disadvantaged communities in order to increase the supply of ECCD programs; (e) encourages the development of private sector initiatives the Republic Act 6972 known as â€Å" Barangay (village) Level Total Protection of Childen Act† has a provision that requires all local government units to establish a day-care centre in every village ; the law institutionalized the features of day-care programme that provide for young children’s learning needs aside from their health and psychosocial needs. The universalization of early childhood education and standardization of preschool and day care centers was established though the Executive Order No. 658 of 2008 (Expanding the Pre-School Coverage to Include Children Enrolled in Day Care Centers). (PTFE 2008). According to Clark (2002), in her article First Grade Readiness, there are signs one can look for, to know if a child is a ready for first grade. In the physical realm, the first grade child’s limbs are now proportion with the body and head . There is a loss of baby far and greater definition in the face. In the emotional realm, the young child who once expressed strong emotions through sudden outburst now has a feelings that begin to deepen. A child will talk of â€Å"hurt feelings† and being sad. Socially, the first grade ready child begins to form friendships which go deeper than before. The child feels loyalty for friends and often expresses the desire to be with them. In the mental realm, there is the birth of free memory. This is different than the memory of a four year old. The younger child’s memory must be triggered by a sight, smell, or rhythmic verse when the memory and recall it will. Kagan (2000) stated that the concept of school readiness has been defined and redefined over the years resulting in differing viewpoints. Several theories of child development and learning have been used to explain the term. In fact, there appears to be two types of readiness: readiness to learn, which involves a level of development at which the child has the capacity to learn specific materials, and readiness for school and readiness for school which involve specific set of cognitive, linguistic, social and motor skills that enable a child to assimilate the school’s curriculum. According to Quinto (2001) the lowering of entrance to six years old for grade one pupils in the Philippines public elementary schools have created inner tensions, especially to those who had never gone to any kind of school before. So, in order to have a smooth transition from home to school and to prepare them socially, psychologically, the curriculum on the Early Childhood Experiences was recommended for adoption in all public elementary schools. Studies show that child’s mind is almost full developed before he reaches the age of five. This presents a need for an organized early childhood education. Pre-elementary or preschool education is one of the latest trends in childhood education which gives equal opportunities to all children at the lowest step of educational ladder. Preschool education holds a prominent place, being that level in the school system wherein children are trained to be better prepared for grade one. For the development of the child, the curriculum focuses on these areas of development: physical ( gross and fine motor coordination through play and manipulated activities like games, simple work); cognitive ( communication skills, sensory-perceptual concepts, numeracy skills); personal social (health habits and independence in dressing, eating, sleeping, toileting; relating with teachers, peers and other people through group play and interaction; follow rules and routine. Groark (2006) stresses that the school and district administrators, as well as policymakers are increasingly recognizing that early education and intervention services for young children have a direct and positive impact on later school performance and quality. Soliven (1999) stated that an authority on child development, underscores the significance of pre-primary education to the mental development of children citing the results of research which showed that pre-primary education is important to the child, she pointed out the intellectual capacity of the child is most susceptible to reaches a substantially higher rate of intellectual development of Early Childhood especially in a favourable environment. It is apparent that intelligence is best developed in the first six years of life, if the child is exposed to a favourable environment for development during this formative period. Vittetow (1994) former Education Expert of International Cooperation Administration (ICA) in his Educational Series Bulletin for the Bureau of Public Schools gave growth characteristics of Pre-school Filipino children, which are true to all children at this level of growth and development. Said development and growth includes: 1) Physical Characteristics, 2) Mental Characteristics, 3) Social Characteristics, 4) Emotional Characteristics, 5) Spiritual and Moral Characteristics and 6) Aesthetic Characteristics. According to Kats (2001) what the children learn, how they learn, and how much they learn depend on many factors. Among the most important factor’s are the child’s physical well-being, and his emotional and cognitive relationships with those who care for him. The school readiness goal reflects two concerns about the education of young children. The first is that the increasing numbers of young children in poverty, in single-parent households have limited proficiency in English are affected by the drug abuse of their parents have poor nutrition, and receive inadequate health care. The second area of concern involves such matters as the high rates of retention in kindergarten and primary grades, delayed school entry in some districts, segregated transition in classes in others and the increasing use of standardized tests to determine children’s readiness to enter school. Standardized tests used to deny children entrance to school or place them in special classes are inappropriate for children younger than six. These trends are due largely to the fact that an academic curriculum and direct instruction teaching practices that are appropriate for the upper grades have gradually been moved down to the kindergarten and first grade. These two areas of concern suggest that reaching the school readiness goal will require a twofold strategy: one part focused on supporting families in their efforts to help their children get ready for school, and the second on helping the schools to be responsive to the wide range of development levels, backgrounds, experiences, and needs of children to bring them in school. Watson (1985) pointed out that groups of children of higher economic status have higher level of intelligence than those favored economic status, the higher their average IQ’s on Standford – Binet or similar verbal test. The mismatch between the schools and children from low income working class families had led to concerted attempts to involve parents from these families in the schools. When the school can involve low-income parents, their children’s school attendance increases, the children are less disruptive in class and less aggressive on the playground, their classwork improves, and they are more likely to complete their homework. If they are raised in emotionally secured homes they tend to be emotionally secured children. If they are raised in homes which lack happiness and have little emotionally security they may in time tend to be unhappy and insecure. However, these differences between higher and lower socio-economic groups may be due to non-intellectual factors. Some of these factors serving to depress intelligence test scores among the lower socio-economic groups could be greater resistance to taking test, the effect of nutritional deficiencies, different attitudes towards education, suspicion, lack of support and the like. Although any or all of these factors seem reasonable, there are no definite research to establish the answer conclusively. It has been observed that most elementary teachers do not have the necessary educational background to teach visual arts. University of Hawaii’s Professor, Dr. Stephanie Feeny (1986); stresses the importance of the arts in the development of the thinking process in children. An Evaluation of Academic Performance of Grade. (2016, Oct 06).

Paper on oxycodone Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

On oxycodone - Research Paper Example Oxycodone mechanism of action, entails stimulation of opioid-receptors inside an individual brain. Notably, it does not purge sensation of pain, but minimizes discomfort through increasing tolerance for pain. It also results in sedation plus respiratory depression (MedlinePlus, 2012). The key therapeutic intention of Oxycodone is to alleviate modest to relentless pain, and to enhance effectiveness of particular anesthesia drugs. It offers pain relief through binding to receptors located in spinal cord and brain, specifically the opiate receptors. Therefore, once the opiate receptors are blocked, it triggers discharge of dopamine from the brain (Portenoy & et al, 2007). Oxycodone is highly addictive, and can result in abuse plus dependency. Repeated use can result in the development of tolerance, and the prescribed dose will no longer be effective in creating intended results. Unintended use mostly involves managing respiratory depression, by trying to experience a sense of euphoria, in addition to to holding back withdrawal symptoms, and as such, many of its abusers turn to heroin (Roth & etal, 2000). Users seek its euphoric, but relentless withdrawal effects together with its sedative property, since its high opioid content makes it to be absorbed over an extensive period. They then become mentally and physically reliant on it. The sensation sought by users, especially those with chronic disruptive pulmonary ailments and respiratory depression, involves decreasing their respiratory impel, and this simply results in apnea. It also causes severe hypotension, since it compromises the capacity to maintain blood pressure, while producing orthostatic hypotension (Riley & et al, 2008). Thus, vasodilatation generated by Oxycodone further diminishes cardiac output along with blood pressure. Consequences of prolonged use include reduced levels of testosterone and enlargement of prostate. Other long term effects include

International Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words - 1

International Law - Essay Example International law is based on expediency between nations and contracts, as in treaties or trade agreements that operate formally on an international level between countries and their citizens mutually. In addition to these types of expedient agreements, there exists also a corpus of idealistic international law that is best represented by international organizations and their membership charters, as well as the declarations of human rights and other specific rights of women, children, and minorities that these constituencies have produced. When asking whether or not international law is really law, the question revolves around the actual legitimacy of the process through which these agreements were created, via legislature or counsel of a minority of representatives from a select group of nations, but more specifically, as to whether any legitimate structures exist that can comply adherence to the standards of international law through enforcement measures. In summary, the main aspec t of the question goes to the heart of enforceability in international law, and whether the sovereignty of the nation-state as it relates to domestic autonomy can ever be overcome by organizations like the UN. As M.W. Janis wrote in Introduction to International Law, â€Å"There is a root problem faced by those who practice international law. The problem is so fundamental that it is often assumed rather than analyzed. It stems from the fact that the world is broken up into tens of independent nation-states, each purporting to provide certain essential human services - e.g. defense-education, law, more or less exclusively to the people living within that state's boundaries. Insofar as a nation-state is thought to alone provide such services, we think of it as sovereign. The nation-state political system and the notion of sovereignty impact on most every aspect of human activity. Look at their effect on the idea of law. Taken to an absolute point, the notion of sovereignty might impl y that the only extant laws were those of nation-states.†1 In simplest terms, the violation of the borders of one nation-state by another is considered an act of war. International law governs the legality of invasions and self-defence among nations based in agreement such as the Geneva Conventions and other treaties on the use of weapons. It is regarded as paradoxical to apply law to war, even in the conduct of armies, as technically war is a state emergency and a fight for survival where both sides may be expected to do anything to win militarily. As history recognizes that the victor will determine the way the terms of the battle are recorded for posterity, it also acknowledges that the winning side in war will dictate the terms of the peace to the defeated. Furthermore, political regimes change domestically, and international law is as full of broken treaties as civil law is of broken contracts. Yet, people rarely ask if contract law really exists in the same manner that t hey question international law. For the most part, this is due to the fact that civil courts are recognized authorities in society, and their ability to enforce contract law is taken for granted, or understood within an expectation of risk management. The lack of supra-national authority with the powers of

How far can conceptual tools such as carrying capacity, limits of Assignment

How far can conceptual tools such as carrying capacity, limits of acceptable change and environmental impact assessment actually - Assignment Example The WTO, World Tourism Organization, defines tourists as people who "travel to and stay in places outside their usual environment for more than twenty-four (24) hours and not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes not related to the exercise of an activity remunerated from within the place visited"(emoiz.com). Thus, mankind’s fascination with experiencing the unknown, coupled with improvements in technology and rising standards of living around the world have ensured that tourism has percolated into every strata of society, and resulted in rapid growth of that industry. However, tourism to view and admire natural environment and natural wonders (apart from the man-made ones) has started having major negative impacts on the natural environments, even leading to sizable destructions. These destructions not only damages those natural wonders, but also wide range of flora and fauna, whose habitats get destroyed in the process. Thus, with the positi ve activity of tourism turning into a nightmarish activity, there have been calls for sustainable form of tourism. As stated by Hens and Ni (cited in Nath, 1999) no form of tourism exists that does not cause environmental stress, and so the challenge is to find a ways towards sustainable tourism development that harmonises economic benefits importantly with the protection of natural diversity. Implementing sustainability in tourism involves a series of steps that has to be taken by various stakeholders. To actualize that, few conceptual tools can be used particularly â€Å"Carrying Capacity†, limits of acceptable change and environmental impact assessment. Each of these tools can protect the environment and its habitants, even while allowing human exploration of the environment in the form of tourism. So, this paper will discuss how these conceptual tools can be optimally utilized to create sustainable forms of tourism. â€Å"Carrying Capacity† and how it can help to c reate sustainable form of tourism The term or concept â€Å"â€Å"Carrying Capacity†Ã¢â‚¬  can be used in various contexts, however it basically â€Å"refers to the number of individuals who can be supported in a given area within natural resource limits, and without degrading the natural social, cultural and economic environment for present and future generations.† (gdrc.org). Every environment including a tourist environment or spot can have a limit on how many people and how much of their activities, it can support and sustain. If that limit is breached and more people enter that particular area, it could lead to instability and could cause repercussions to the already existing people. Although, the â€Å"Carrying Capacity† for any specified area is not a fixed one, and it can be altered through various means including technology, it is not a positive step. Because any alteration or modification of the â€Å"Carrying Capacity† will always result in p roblems to both the existing people as well as the entering people. Any restriction in the resources, when the â€Å"Carrying Capacity† increases beyond limit will lead to dearth of land, shortage of food, or decline in water quality and availability, which will quickly put the brakes on both types of growth. (Chant 2011). Thus, the tourist department and the authorities can come up with a tentative â€Å"Carrying Capacit

Whole food study case Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Whole food - Case Study Example gh it recovered and has started increasing its profits from an average of $300 million to $500 million, it has yet to clear its debts of over $700 million which were accumulated during the period mentioned above. There are several ways to solve this problem and ensure that even if the economy plunges again, they will have no debts accumulating on top of what they have now. The first way is to dispose of some of their assets which are not helping them much through selling them. This is bound to bring in a bit of money to offset the debt. The other way is to increase the number of shares to the public and this will raise money. It can also increase gradually the prices of their commodities especially now that people like the natural and organic products they sell. Even if the money will not repay all the debt, it will at least offset a large sum of money and the rest can be paid off slowly through the proceeds from the company. Thompson, Arthur, Margaret Peteraf, John Gamble and A. J. Strickland. Crafting & Executing Strategy: The Quest for Competitive Advantage: Concepts and Cases. New York: McGraw-Hill Education, 2011.

Investigate the possible implications of inclusivity and exclusivity Essay

Investigate the possible implications of inclusivity and exclusivity of ICT within UK schools - Essay Example l Communications and Technology Agency)1 that have researched this issue of impacts of ICT in schools within the United Kingdom in the last two decades. Their study-ImpaCT1 and ImpaCT2 had analysed the statistical relationship between ICT use and education standards, pupil’s performances and in different ages and subjects UK being a developed country, the use of ICT has been very much advanced and most of the schools are now applying ICT in most of their learning practices. Focus has shifted from learning about ICT to learning through ICT. It is widely accepted that ICT has the following benefits as seen from studies here in the UK. At present, students are developing skills on range of technologies that have in the past made little impacts on the schools. There are several strategies that are being used to incorporate them into educational experiences of these pupils. (Garnham, 2000). An example of such technologies in the UK and other developed countries is the use of mobile phones to compile when students are away from home and with some modifications can be used as personal response systems. In the UK radio broadcast are day to day learning procedures not only in the junior levels but also at the university level. BBC broadcast is usually the favourite for most schools since it is being seen as the best media house with proper research structures. Such school radio programs as ‘Who wants to be a Millionaire?’ broadcasts directly to an MP3 which store the information immediately to be retrieved later by the user. Recent studies have looked at how interactive whiteboards influences learning and teaching processes in schools. It suggests that whiteboards offer visual display that go in line with the explanations offered by the teacher thus helps students to understand better. It further explains that it has a motivational effect especially when used at the primary school level. ICT technicians are the most useful people in the information society and

International Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

International Paper - Essay Example In economic terms the GDP is defined as the, "total market value of all the goods and services produced in a country in a given year, equal to total consumer, investment and government spending, plus the value of exports, minus the value of imports." In a layman's terms the GDP is the sum total of all the goods and services produced in a country in a given year. It's relevance to the business planning of the Big Auto Drive is that, it will give the company an idea on how it faired in comparison to the other similar companies and what kind of a role did it play in contributing to the GDP of the country. Another significance of the GDP is that it shows the position of the sellers and their products. Inflation is the, "persistent increase in the level of consumer prices or a persistent decline in the purchasing power of money, caused by an increase in available currency and credit beyond the proportion of available goods and services." (Robinson K., April 2007) In simple terms inflation is the rise in the value of commodity and fall in the value of money. The selection of Inflation as one of the macroeconomic measure of output and prices for the planning of the Big Auto Drive can be justified in many ways. Inflation has a direct impact on variables like consumption, savings and investment. Inflation affects the economic growth of the country and is the cause of higher levels of inequity in income. Relationship between macroeconomic variables and Big Auto Drive The sales data of the different commodities of Big Drive Auto shows a kind of uniform trend. The margin of disparity in sales from 98' to 07' is pretty much on an average level. For instance, table one illustrating the vehicle sales unit, shows that in the year 1998 the company sold 139 units followed by 160 in 99' then 145 in 00' and 133 in 01'. The highest number of unit sales achieved by the company was in the year 2003, the number of sold units accounting to 167. 2001 was the year the company sold the lowest number of units, 133. This shows that the difference between the maximum and the minimum number of sales in the span of 8 years from 98' to 07' is not very much. But one thing to be noted here is that from the year 03' on the sales have been on the higher side, in the 160's line. So the relevance of this data to the U.S GDP is that, the highest contribution made by the company to the country's economy in terms of vehicles' sale was in the year 2003. The data of an organizatio n also helps to map the growth rate of the GDP of a country. The fact that inflation leads to the rise in prices of goods and commodities is known to everyone. But the core knowledge of the effect of inflation on

Compare the ways Old Man, Old Man and Warning Deal with the theme of old age Essay Example for Free

Compare the ways Old Man, Old Man and Warning Deal with the theme of old age Essay The U.A. Fanthorpe poem, Old Man, Old Man and J Josephs Warning, deal with the theme of old age in very contrasting ways. Both deal with similar issues, yet come out with very different views. The first thing we see in both poems is the immediate tone portrayed. Old Man, Old Man, starts talking of someone who lives in a world of small recalcitrant / Things in bottles, with tacky labels, while Warning begins with the colourful image that When I am an old woman I shall wear purple / With a red hat which doesnt go, and doesnt suit me. Purple and red tend to suggest a vivid and lurid tone, and the immediate contrast between the two sets the character in Old Man, Old Man as being reclusive and isolated, living in his own confined world, while in Warning we see the author looking forward to old age, seeing it a time for enjoyment of life. Old Man, Old Man continues to explain to the reader how old age brings deterioration and isolation to people, talking of how small things distress and having his hands shamble among clues, implying that old age brings more constraint and misery to a person, while we see that in Warning the coming of old age will give the author an excuse to break societys constraints, such as dressing strangely and wasting money on brandy and summer glovesand say weve no money for butter. A strong sense of bitterness and melancholy is created in Old Man, Old Man as the author describes a regimented, authoritarian past world, which has gradually worsened into a narrow, emotionless one. The man is seen to be upset by small incidents, have a deteriorating sense of humour and vision, and, despite his age, is still attempting to impose order on his world with his timetabled cigarette. The mans previous interests are belittled by using sarcastic phrases such as Lord once of shed, garage and garden, showing us that this man used to only be able to control his environment, and now he has lost the hammer, he cannot even do this. The traditional view of eccentricity is portrayed in both poems, however, Joseph also adds an element of freedom, showing her rebellion against taste and sobriety. Her excitement is shown in the language with the excessive use of the word and as well as the enjamberment, which stress the enthusiasm she has, and showing her to be breaking free of the rules of language in the same way she will break free from the rules of society. Further rebellion is shown as she talks of running her stick along the public railings and learn to spit. Sprawling sentences such as You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat / And eat three pounds of sausages at a go portray her excitement, as well as anticipation. Use of words such as I, and shall give a sense of force and individuality. Both poems have a similar structure, as they move from past to present in their tense. In Old Man, Old Man, we see a move to the present as Fanthorpe writes Now television has no power to arouse / Your surliness; your wife could replace on the walls / Those picture of disinherited children. This not only suggests the man has rage pent up inside, but also poses the question as to why the children have been disinherited their fathers love. The description continues as Fanthorpe says Now you ramble / In your talkfretting / At how to find your way. We see here that the man is slipping into a loss of control, and a change of personality. In contrast to this, we see Warning describing a present of constraints while she remains in the sobriety ofyouth. Joseph describes to us the way in which Now we must have clothes that keep us dry / And pay our rent and not swear in the street. The word must shows a lack of freedom and constraint in present existence. This verse is designed as a contrast to the previous verse, which had concentrated on the promises of old age. A sense of restraint is portrayed as Joseph lists all the constraints she has in her life. While Old Man, Old Man had showed a deterioration from a more happy existence to a worthless one, Warning tends to show one that has begun with constraint and will end with happiness and freedom. In the final verses of Old Man, Old Man, we see a turning points, where the daughter (and author) intervenes, showing that he has literally and metaphorically lost his way in the world with the phrase Where is Drury Lane? In the final verse, we see a slight raise of the grim tone, as we can see Fanthorpe prefers her father in this softer, less threatening manner, as the two have become more equal in terms of power. This is shown with the phrase I love / Your helplessness and Let me find your hammer. Let me / Walk with you to Drury Lane. This marks a point in the poem where the theme is now the relationship with the daughter and father rather than just the father. In a similar way, Warning changes in its theme towards the end, but not for the same tone. We see in the final verse Josephs confidence wane slightly, as she says Maybe I out to practise a little nowSo people who know me are not too shocked and surprised / When suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple. This provides a relatively quiet ending, almost an anticlimax, to a colourful, liberated poem, as the tone becomes more restrained and the drive of her dream starts to lose pace. Circularity is also shown as the first and last lines of the poem both talk of wearing purple. In conclusion, both poems take different views in addressing old age, and even though some elements in structure are similar, both contain inherently different views, as Old Man, Old Man is a melancholy remainder of the deterioration the old go through, while Warning shows a more bright outlook, explaining the opportunities and liberation that will follow with the coming of old age. This may be to do with the fact that in Old Man, Old Man, Fanthorpe describes what she has previously seen, while in Warning Joseph is merely hypothesising what life may be like in the future.

How Firms Decide Between Risk Retention And Transfer Finance Essay

How Firms Decide Between Risk Retention And Transfer Finance Essay Generally, the purpose of risk management is value maximization for a for-profit organization. In other words, risk management aims to maximize value by minimizing the cost of risk. Total costs of pure risk include costs of control and costs of financing. This essay focuses on risk financing. There are two broad methods of risk financing: risk retention and risk transfer. Risk transfer contains insurance and other contractual risk transfers. At the beginning of this assay, I am going to introduce the concept of retention, insurance, and contractual risk transfers, and their advantages and disadvantages. Then I will discuss how a firm should decide between risk retention and risk transfer, if a captive insurer is not to be employed. Finally, I will discuss how a firm, having a captive insurer, should finance its pure risk losses. With retention, a business retains the obligation to pay for part or all of the losses. When coupled with a formal plan to fund losses for medium-to-large businesses, retention often is called self-insurance. (Harrington and Niehaus 1999 Page 12) Retention can be financed via a captive insurance company (an insurance company owned by a non-insurance company which is also its customer), a risk retention group, cash flows from ongoing activities, and general working capital (the excess of the firms liquid assets over its short-term liabilities). In addition, firms can also obtain funds by borrowing, loans, issuing new stock and selling other business asset, such as buildings and cars. Funds to pay retained losses should be large so that there is enough money to pay retained losses. In addition, the retained losses are unpredictable, and they may be large or small. However, there is an opportunity cost for a fund. The opportunity cost is the difference between the return on the fund and the firms normal rate of return. As a result of this, if funds are large, the opportunity costs will be large; if funds are small, they may fail to pay all losses. In addition, there may also be costs incurred in converting non-liquid assets into cash for settling losses. (Dr. David Ayling 2009) Risk transfer includes insurance and contractual risk transfers. Insurance is a form of risk management primarily. A firm could purchase insurance contacts to cover risk losses. Insurance is defined as the equitable transfer of the risk of a loss, from one entity to another, in exchange for a premium, and can be thought of as a guaranteed and known small loss to prevent a large, possibly devastating loss. An insurer is a company selling the insurance; an insured or policyholder is the person or entity buying the insurance. (Web 1) Firms can transfer some of risk losses to insurance company by insurance contracts. According to Dr. David Ayling (2009), the benefits of insurance include reduction of uncertainty, loss control advice, liquidity of company protected, long term planning mire feasible, and access to large risk combination services. On the other hands, insurance does not cover loss of goodwill, loss of market share, lost customers and suppliers, and so no. In addition, some r isks are not insurable, such as risk losses are too large, risks are not measurable, risks are not predictable, and so on. Firms can also use some contractual risk transfers to transfer risk to another party. For example, if a firm wants to build a house, and hire a construction company to build the house, it could perform some task routinely into contracts, such as if workers or pedestrians are injured by accidence when the house is building, the construction company pay for these losses; and if the house crashes after it is completed, the construction company will be responsible for it. Having introduced risk retention and risk transfer, the following will discuss how a firm should decide between risk retention and risk transfer, if a captive insurer is not to be employed. Both risk retention and risk transfer is important and primary methods for risk financing. How should a firm decide the methods of risk management? The severity and frequency probability of risk losses determine which method should be used to finance risk losses. According to Dr. David Ayling (2009), when the frequency probabilities of pure risks are low and their severities are high, then the method of risk transfer would be better to finance the risk losses, because the severities are high, which means the risk losses may be large. If using risk retention, they need large funds to finance the risk losses so that the opportunity costs of the funds will be large. As a result, the risks could be transferred to insurer or another party by buying insurance or making contracts. However, risk retention may be better, if the frequency probabilities of pure risks are low and their severities are low. Because they need only small funds to cover the risks as both frequency probabilities and s everities are low. In addition, the insurance may be expensive; commonly the price of the insurance is high than the opportunity cost of retention. Even more, the risk losses may not be covered by insurance. When the frequency probabilities of risk losses are high, both retention and insurance are not better methods, because the risk losses will continually happen. As a result, if the severities of the risk losses are high, we should avoid these risks. In the other words, we should abandon these businesses, because they are too dangerous; if the severities of the risk losses are low, we should control it by increasing precautions and limits on risk activity designed to reduce the frequency and severity of accidents. (Harrington and Niehaus 1999 Page 23) There is an important factor that may affect firms decision between retention and insurance. The factor is tax. When calculating its taxable income, a noninsurance company can only deduct losses that were paid during the year. In contrast, an insurer can deduct the discounted value of incurred losses, which equals losses paid during the year plus the change during the year in the discounted value of its liability for unpaid claims. This distinction essentially allows insurers to deduct losses earlier than noninsurance companies, which all else equal increases the present value of expected tax deductions if a loss exposure is insured. Although the tax break is granted to insurers, competition among insurers for business will cause most or even the entire tax break to be given to policyholders through lower premiums. (Harrington and Niehaus 1999 Page 218) In practice, many large companies have established captive insurance companies. These companies make payment to their captive insurers, which then pay losses to the large companies. It is an important method of financing losses for large firms, and can be viewed as a special type of retention and self-insurance. If a firm has a captive insurer, the firm should finance risk losses by buy insurance from its captive insurer. A firm could benefit a lot by using a captive insurer. To begin with, the parent company could reduce expected tax payments relative to retention. As I have discussed before, insurance has a tax advantage compared with retention. In addition, Dr. David Ayling (2009) mentioned that the parent company could access to the reinsurance markets through its captive. The parent first buys insurance through its captive, which then purchases reinsurance. Finally, Harrington and Niehaus (1999) said captive also can be used to reduce risk. The parents risk exposures will be poo led with other unrelated companies exposures, if its captive sells insurance or reinsurance to other unrelated companies. Consequently, a large firm will benefit from its captive insurer in reducing expected tax payments, accessing to the reinsurance markets, and reducing risk through the captives transaction. In conclusion, as retention and insurance have their own advantages and disadvantages, the frequency probabilities and severities of risks determine which methods of risk financing should be used. Insurance is a good risk financing method for a low frequency and high severity risk; in contrast, retention is a good risk financing method for a low frequency and low severity risk. For many large companies, using a captive insurer becomes an important method of financing losses. Captives could benefit their parent company from reducing expected tax payments, accessing to the reinsurance markets, and reducing risk through the captives transaction. However, according to Dr. David Ayling (2009), if risk losses could be transferred to someone other than an insurer at a cheaper cost, or can be prevented or reduced at a cost cheaper than insurance, insurance and retention are not the best methods of risk losses financing, because risk management aims to maximize value by minimizing the cost of risk. Bibliography and Reference Dr. David Ayling (2009) Corporate Risk Managements handout, Bangor University. Harrington, S. E, Niehaus, G. R, (1999) Risk Management and Insurance, Boston: Irwin/McGraw-Hill. Web 1: Wikipedia (2009) Insurance (Online) Wikimedia Foundations, Inc: USA. Available from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insurance (Accessed 8/12/09)

Why we no longer need the traditional calendar :: essays papers

Why we no longer need the traditional calendar For over a century North American students have been following a traditional calendar, nine months in school, followed by three months out of school. In more recent times, many schools have been converting to a year-round calendar. Reasons for this include a wide variety of things, ranging from helping the overcrowding in schools, to increasing learning, as well as for the simple reason that we no longer need the traditional calendar. In the article, Effects of school calendars on student achievement and retention, Woodward states how early on, â€Å"farming was the primary source of income for families, and everyone in the family was obligated to help†¦school calendars were scheduled to revolve around the harvesting and planting of crops.†(1). These days, farming is no longer the main occupation in North America, and therefore there is no need to continue to use the traditional calendar if this is not the best way to increase education. The question asked here is, i s it the best way? If so, why are so many schools turning to year-round education? In Vital Speeches of the Day, Charles Ballinger suggests, â€Å"The growth continues because parents and educators question the wisdom of using a school calendar that interrupts formal education for three months at a time, is not educationally-sound, and was designed for yesterday's society.† In this paper, traditional calendars and year-round calendars will be looked at, and discussed, with quotes, by people who have been directly affected by both. The purpose of this research paper is to compare the effectiveness of year-round education and traditional schooling with respect to student learning, knowledge retention and development. What exactly does year-round education entail? Advocates for year-round schooling are convinced that, yes, this is the way to better education in this country, but typically people do not understand what year-round education is. People are quick to assume that this means spending more days in school, but the actual term in the thesaurus notes that year-round schools are, â€Å"schools that operate year-round but have no increased the number of days students must attend† (ERIC database). â€Å"Year-round calendars often begin the academic year in early August†¦45 days in school, followed by 15 days of vacation time (Shields and Oberg 4). Notice, the authors said often, because there are many slight variations of the year-round calendar.

The Dark Side of Humanity Exposed in Robert Frosts Poetry Essay

The Dark Side of Humanity Exposed in Robert Frost's Poetry Robert Frost is often referred to as a poet of nature. Words and phrases such as fire and ice, flowers in bloom, apple orchards and rolling hills, are all important elements of Frost's work. These ‘benign' objects provide an alternative way to look at the world and are often used as metaphors to describe a darker view of nature and humans. In Frost's poetry, the depth is as important as the surface. The darker aspects of Frost's poetry are often portrayed through the use of symbolism, vivid imagery, and selective word choice. Frost's poems appear to be simple on the surface, yet upon further scrutiny the poems reveal themselves as elusive. Frost utilizes ordinary objects to create a deeper meaning. For example, the poem "Mending Wall", appears to be about the differences between two neighbors and their ideas on rebuilding a wall. On the other hand, the wall may be viewed, in a more general sense, as a symbol to represent all the antagonistic or mistrustful barriers that divide man from man. "The gaps I mean / No one has seen them made or heard them made / But at spring mending-time we find them there" (lines 9-11), illustrates the point that people become separated without even realizing it because we become so caught up in what is happening in our own lives. The darkness, held within the afore mentioned quotation, is the feeling of sadness. The fact that we do not take notice of one another creates a place that becomes more and more divided by differences. Likewise, the poem "Nothing Gold Can Stay" seems to represent the change of seasons. But further analysis reveals that the speaker is also paralleling the cycles of life with the change in seasons. "So dawn... ... light to the darker side of humanity in an extremely subtle way. Dark complexities are not obvious on the surface, however they are hidden throughout his poems in the form of symbols, imagery, and careful word choice. Frost's poetry acts as a metaphor for life. Upon first glance things look nice and orderly, but once the surface has been scratched the darker side becomes more apparent. Works Cited: Frost, Robert. "Mending Wall." The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Ed. Julia Reidhead. 5th ed. 2 vols. New York: Norton, 1998. 1119. Frost, Robert. "Nothing Gold Can Stay." The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Ed. Julia Reidhead. 5th ed. 2 vols. New York: Norton, 1998. 1132. Frost, Robert. "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening." The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Ed. Julia Reidhead. 5th ed. 2 vols. New York: Norton, 1998. 1133.

Macbeth...Tragic Hero? Essays -- essays research papers

Macbeth is a butcher.† Discuss this statement exploring the ideas of Macbeth as a tragic hero and that the murder may or may not be entirely his fault. In your answer consider the role of the witches, Lady Macbeth, Macbeth’s indecision and his fatal flaw, ambition. You must support your answer with specific reference to and quotes from the play. The play, â€Å"Macbeth† by Shakespeare is entirely focused on the main character, Macbeth. In this play there are many complex themes and symbols that ties in with Macbeth’s character. One particular debate is on whether Macbeth’s a tragic hero or a â€Å"butcher†. This is a particularly difficult topic to discuss as Macbeth’s character constantly fluctuates as the play progresses. Despite many actions taken by Macbeth are seen as tyrannical and evil, he is nevertheless a typical Shakespearean hero. He is courageous, sympathetic, trapped by his own imagination and guilt, has a weakness that leads to his downfall and is driven by forces beyond his control. Macbeth embodies all the characteristics of a tragic hero. At the beginning of the play, Macbeth is seen as a â€Å"brave†, â€Å"noble† and â€Å"valiant† man. He was described as â€Å"Bellona’s bridegroom† (ACT 1 SCENE 2) He fought hard in the battle for Duncan and has earned many people’s respect. He was seen as a hero. Later on, he meets the three witches who hail Macbeth as the â€Å"Thane of Glamis† whom he is at the present, â€Å"Thane of Cawdor† and â€Å"who shall be king thereafter† (ACT 1 SCENE 3). Macbet...

A Study of the Badu Mangrove Community Essay

Abstract A investigation took place at a large mangrove community called the ‘Badu Mangroves’. The interactions of organisms and the Badu Mangrove ecosystem were observed. While experiments were carried out to determine the abiotic ( e.g. temperature, humidity, soil pH ) and biotic ( e.g. number of seedlings distributed throughout a certain area, adaptations of animals ) features in the Badu Mangrove community. Aim The aim of this report was to explore the abiotic and biotic features concerning the growth and placement of grey mangroves (Avicennia Marina ) in the Badu Mangrove community at Sydney Olympic Park. The surface area of the Badu Mangroves is approximately 38 hectares, its location is Latitude: 33Ëš51’48.7†³S Longitude: 151Ëš04’32.07†³E Factors that influence the mangroves’ lifestyle were also investigated. Method Abiotic factors The air and water temperature of the Mangrove site was measured by using a thermometer. A thermometer was obtained and it was held in the air for a few minutes until the reading became stable. The temperature was then recorded. When measuring humidity, a psychrometer was used, along with a information chart. The psychrometer contained a wet bulb which measured the wet temperature while the normal thermometer on the psychrometer measured the air temperature. The dry temperature was subtracted from the wet temperature. The result of this subtraction was then interpreted by using a table and this determined the humidity. The light was measured in a spot where there were vegetation which had leaves and long trunks. This was done to observe how much light could penetrate through the vegetation. A light meter was obtained and it was turned face down in a spot were there was moderate light to ensure a fair result. The light meter then showed the light intensity in units of flux. The results were recorded. Wind velocity was recorded by using a wind meter. The meter was placed high up in the air to prevent and sources that could generate or block wind movement. The reading produced on the meter was recorded. A sample of water was taken from a creek. A thermometer was then obtained and placed immediately into the water to prevent any heat loss or transfer of heat from the water. The thermometer was left there until a reading was steady and the temperature was recorded. Turbidity was measured by using a turbidity tube. This tube measures the cloudiness of the water. The sample of creek water was obtained and it was placed into the tube until the lines at the bottom of the tube was no longer visible. The reading of the water level was then recorded, it was interpreted by using a table which determines the turbidity of the water, the units were recorded in NTU ( Nephelometric Turbidity Unit ) The amount of dissolved oxygen in the water was measured by using an Aqua dissolved energy meter. The wire which connected the measuring tube was placed into the water until there was an even reading, the results were recorded. The units of dissolved oxygen were measured in ppM ( parts per million ) . The salinity of the water was measured by using a WP-83 conductivity salinity meter. The wire which connected the measuring tube was placed into the water until there was an even reading, the results were recorded. The units of the salinity was measured in ppK ( parts per thousand). The pH of the soil was measured through the use of a universal indicator. A  small sample of soil was taken and it was placed in a small petri dish, barium sulfate was then added to the soil and then the universal indicator was then added. The colour observed was then interpreted by using a colour pH chart, where the colour observed is matched with the colours on the pH. The pH was then recorded. A soil thermometer was obtained to measure the soil temperature. The apparatus had a metal needle which was placed 5cms into the ground. The apparatus was allowed to stay there for a few minutes until a stable reading was seen on the thermometer. The temperature was then recorded. Soil moisture was measured by using a moisture meter. The meter had a metal needle which was placed 5cms into the ground. The meter was allowed to stay there for a few minutes until a stable reading was seen on the meter. The scaled used were on a scale of 1-10. 1 being the driest and 10 being the wettest. Biotic Factors At the boardwalk. Ten quadrats were randomly placed along the side of the boardwalk. The number of mangroves seedlings and crabholes were counted and recorded. Along the boardwalk, some mangroves and pneumatophores were observed. The underneath of a mangrove leaf was licked. The taste was recorded. Then a pneumatophore was obtained, it as plugged into a pipette. The pipette was then placed into a plastic cup filled with water. The air in the pipette was squeezed and the observations were recorded. A ruler was used to measure the height of pneumatophores at intervals of one metre, when the distance reached ten metres measuring was stopped. The pneumatophores were measured first from the creek and it was then measure on outwards till the distance reached ten metres. This was done to prove if  pneumatophores are longer near creeks and they start to get short as they grow further from the creek. Transect At the FSC Bund there were ten metre intervals which were marked out by poles. At each of these intervals, the height of the mangroves were estimated and sketched out as a transect. This was done until eighty-metres of mangrove forests were covered. Observations of flora and fauna were also noted down. Results Abiotic factors (Air, water and soil factors) Factor Mangrove Forest (10:00am) Dry Forest (1:00pm) Air temperature 26.5ËšC 34ËšC Humidity 64.5% 42% Light Intensity 3300 lux 2710 lux Wind Velocity 0.0m/s 0.5m/s Water Temperature 23.4ËšC n/a Turbidity 40 NTU n/a Dissolved oxygen 33.8 ppm n/a pH (Water) 7 n/a Salinity 23.7 ppk n/a pH (Soil) 6 5.5 Soil Temperature 20ËšC 22ËšC Soil Moisture Wet – 10 Dry – 1 Biotic Factors (Abundance) Quadrats of Mangrove Seedlings and Crab Holes (11:00am) Quadrat 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Distance from Creek (m) 25 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 Number of seedlings 52 72 38 58 29 36 19 38 1 0 Number of crab holes 0 0 0 0 4 7 13 13 3 25 Biotic Factors (Adaptation) Mangrove Leaf: When the mangrove was licked, it tasted salty. Pneumatophores: When the pipette was squeezed little, tiny air bubbles started to come out from the little lenticals on the surface of the pneumatophore.. Do pneumatophores grow longer as they reach the creek? Distance from Creek (m) 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Pneumatophore 1 (cm) 31 24 21 21 13 10 13 7 10 7 5 Pneumatophore 2 (cm) 28 16 12 19 10 8 11 7 7 5 7 Transect Discussion Abiotic Factors The places which contained more light had more flora growing there, because the light allows photosynthesis, while the spots where light couldn’t penetrate to the forest floor due to the overhead leaves blocking the sunlight out there were little vegetation growing. This shows that vegetation grow more efficiently in spots that allow photosynthesis to occur. Spots that were more humid made no difference to the placement of mangroves. The spots that have more leaves and less sunlight seems to effect the humidity levels. The mangroves and its leaves acts as a cover to stop all the water vapour from evaporating, while in spots that had less leaves and cover they were less humid. Wind speed could be affected the mangroves act as a barrier and they block all the wind from travelling efficiently throughout the forest, while in places were there were less trees there was a big difference in wind speed. Soil Temperature and Soil Moisture is affected by how close the site is to a water source. In the mangrove forest, the soil temperature is lower because the sunlight is blocked from heating up the soil, and the forest is very close to a creek which could cool down the soil. While in the Dry Forest the soil temperature is higher because it has a direct contact with the sunlight and is no where near a water source. This call also affect the distribution of flora because some vegetations need to have water to grow. This could be affected by the temperature the day before, so this could alter the results into the wrong direction. To improve this we have to find a day  which as a moderate temperature so we can try our best to find the closest possible results. pH of the Soil and Water can effect how the distribution of vegetation occurs. Some plants need a specific pH to live and thrive, if it is to acidic or alkalic the plant will die off. So the pH of Soil and Water is a very important thing concerning the growth of vegetation. Some errors of this experiment is that the soil seemed to be alkalic but with the past tests the soil was neutral so this must have been an error. To improve this it is a good idea to use a good quality indicator that allows us to have an accurate result everytime. Biotic Factors The results of the Mangrove Seedlings shows that in quadrat ten there is no mangrove seedlings while in quadrat two there are seventy-two mangrove seedlings. The tenth quadrat is the closest to the river while the second quadrat is 72 metres away from the quadrat. This relation shows the mangrove seedlings only thrive when they are far away fro the river. This means that mangrove seedlings grow away from the river because the tide is too strong and they don’t have time to root themselves down and be stable. The nutrients found on the soil could be washed away by the current and leaving the seedlings close to the creek without a source of food and they will soon die off, while when they grow farther away from the creek there is no current to wash away the nutrients. In quadrats one to four there are zero Crab Holes while in quadrat ten there are twenty-five crab holes, and once again quadrat ten is the closest to the river. This suggests that the crabs like to be closer to the creek because their food source is there, they eat decaying matter called detritus which is decaying mangrove leaves, they are deposited on the mud flats as the tide pushes it out. Also a possibility is that the crab like the water and it helps them cool down. Quadrat nine is underwater so we are forced to make an estimate the could alter the results. The transect drawn shows that the mangrove grew higher and bigger when the were close to a source of water. Then they started to grow shorter. This information shows that mangroves will live better and grow bigger and taller near the water. This could be used to explain that mangroves need water to thrive, and as the mangroves distant themselves from a water source they will not be able to grow. The water source observed seemed to be the end of the a river, so when the tide comes in they bring in lots of nutrients and many seedlings that have been washed away before. At this point the mangroves closest to the water can use this to their advantage because the can take up all the nutrients and not share it with the other trees, and the nutrients cannot be transported to the other trees because there is no water current. Also the washed away seedlings have a second chance to root themselves down and grow. The Mangrove Leaf which had a salty taste under its leaf is an adaption used by the mangroves. The mangroves live in a salty environment so they have to find ways to exert this unneeded salt. The salt can be removed from the mangrove by the tree sweating out the unneeded salt through under it leaves. Pneumatophores are little sticks that stick out of the ground, these are the roots of the tree. The pneumatophores sucks in oxygen through its tiny lenticals and transfers it throughout the plant. This was proven through the pipette experiment, as tiny air bubbles show that air can be transferred. This is useful because when there is a flood and oxygen is not allowed to the roots of the mangrove the pneumatophores can come in handy as they stick out of the water and take in all the oxygen. Pneumatophores can also act as a filter, they can filter out unneeded salts. Do pneumatophores grow longer as they reach the creek? As the pneumatophores travel further away from the creek there size decreases in height. This happens because the pneumatophores has to be higher than the depth of the water because it needs to suck in the oxygen available and if its under the  water it is useless. As the height of the water decreases as it moves out from the creek the height of the pneumatophores also decreases. There are some examples of commensalism in the Badu Mangrove community. A dew drop spider and a golden orbweavers are an example of commensalism. A dew drop spider lives in the golden orbweavers nest without the orbweaver realising it, because the dew drop spider is very tiny and looks like a normal dew drop hence the name. The dewdrop is the commensal because it uses the host’s ( golden orbweaver) nest and eats the food collected by the orbweaver and doesn’t harm the orbweaver in any way. An example of mutualism in the Badu Mangrove community is lichen which consists of algae and fungi. The algae produces photosynthesis while the fungi provides a place to live. An example of allelopathy is the casuarina (she-oak). It produces chemicals in the soil which are poisonous to other plants and this prevents anything from growing near it, also it has stem and leaves which give off these aromas that detract plants from growing near it. This allows the casuarina to nutrients to itself. Conclusion It can be concluded that the biotic and abiotic features of an ecosystem can effect distribution and population of organisms such as mangroves because they determine where they live and where they cannot live. The biotic and abiotic features of an ecosystem is very important to the many species that depend on it, if it is removed it can cause a chain of detrimental effects.

Social Darwinism

This began in the nineteenth century as a way of supporting natural selection and the basis that the species best suited to survive any given situation would prevail over the lesser beings. The actual concept of Social Darwinism was not the idea Charles Darwin presented, but the confirmation people needed. The main issues relevant to this theory are business, sexism and racism. From generation to generation, all species change slightly over time.Organisms of very type share similarities with their ancestors. Sometimes children will show similarities from their grandparents, great-grandparents or ever further back. If a certain individual has a superior trait which will help them survive more effectively, that individual's offspring is more likely to also show that trait. Variations in the traits are on a genetic level and these variations happen randomly at different intervals in time. These beneficial traits will prosper but most mutations don't show up in offspring and will not be passed to future generations.Social Darwinism pass the philosophical beliefs into business practices in modern day. The survival of the fittest concept is proven if one takes a look in Fortune magazine. The best businesses will move on through monetary success and popularity and those businesses who fail will not be passed on. Each generation produces new and better ideas. As business progresses, people will have more information available to them whenever, wherever they need it. Andrew Carnegie states, â€Å"The law of competition may be sometimes hard for the individual, [but] it is best for the race in every department. The Gospel of Wealth, 1889) The adaptation theory in Social Darwinism encourages those in business to work harder to be on top to show greater success. When we think about business and success, many people think of males. In our history, the woman's role is mainly in the home, providing for their husbands and being a fertile ground. Social Darwinism shows that me n are the more fit sex and women are weak. Although physically women as a whole are generally weaker than men, this theory has some imperfections. But, what this theory does not show is the ntelligence of women.More recently, success is defined regarding intelligence as opposed to physical strength, so the survival of the fittest theory does not exclude women. Looking deeper, the sexist theory does not always ring true. The greatest influence in the sudden development of racism in the 19th century Europe was the replacement of the Christian belief that â€Å"God created all people equal† by â€Å"Darwinism†. By suggesting that man had evolved from more primitive creatures, and that some races had evolved further than others, it provided racism ith a scientific side.The element of Darwinism which appeared most appliable to the development of society was the belief that the excess of population over the means of support was a constant struggle for survival in which it wa s the strongest or think that some races were morally better than others In conclusion, people can take parts of the Social Darwinism theory to apply to modern day ideas such as business. sexism and racism. Charles Darwin's ideas may not always be seen as true but for now, it shows many possibilities.

Critical Response on “Society”

â€Å"If all of this influence that this part of the country has and this musical scene has- if it doesn’t do anything with it, that would be the tragedy. † That’s Eddie Vedder talking about Seattle and the way of thinking that arose in a place laden with culture by the subgenre Grunge at that time, 1996. Moreover, the quote explains the critical stance taken in the song â€Å"Society† written by Jerry Hanan but performed by Vedder and Hanan in 2007 for the soundtrack of the movie â€Å"Into the wild† directed by Sean Penn.The context of the song formed it’s theme as, in a different time or place or language or for a different audience, the outcome would most likely have differed. â€Å"Society† echoes the values of Jon Krakauer, protagonist of â€Å"Into the wild, whose diary entries are the basis of the film. These are transcendalist views on a society that is incapable of working in harmony with nature and thereby giving one no opt ion but to exile oneself to freedom in nature. Both Hanan and Vedder have a tendency to reflect on these ideals making the song all the more suiting to the film, whose viewers are also the primary audience for the track.The English language and free speech in the USA allowed Vedder to write as he wished without constraints. â€Å"We have a greed with which we have agreed† is wordplay at its finest, which could not have been expressed so poetically and still loaded with meaning in a language like German, which often just isn’t as viable for musical purposes. The time and place were also vital in the use of language as it is clearly critical: â€Å"Society, you’re a crazy breed. In a country with censorship or where opposing the governmental system is punishable like in Soviet Russia of the mid-20th century, a lyricist would not have been able to express oneself so openly and would have had to rely more on symbols, imagery and metaphors to get their message acros s. Even though limited in quantity, literary devices were used with quality like in â€Å"Your thoughts begin to bleed† which is a metaphor for the disability of his society to think of the consequences of their ignorant behaviour and at the same time is a hyperbole with personification.If the song hadn’t been written in a country currently plagued by consumerism and greed, the theme discussed would not have the contemporary relevance it does to listeners in the Anglophonic world. Just the way the USA is famed for its decadence, it is also a well-known place for critics of this behaviour. Had this been written in the 1960’s or now, as long as still in America or Western Europe, the final result wouldn’t have varied much.The stance taken in the text is one that’s already visible in texts like â€Å"Walking† by Henry David Thoreau in 1854, who happened to also be an inspiration to Jon Krakauer. A quote from â€Å"Walking† that effective ly portrays these values is â€Å"In Wilderness is the preservation of the World†. Proven by this is, that time does play a role even though at numerous times in the past of the USA, when a social class shared such views, like the Beat Generation, a similar text could have been written.Those who chose to indulge in the movie also had a certain expectation of the soundtrack, that of it fitting in and expressing the same views. This gave Vedder’s song on the soundtrack a certain expectation from the audience he had to fulfil, which he clearly did. The point being though, had this been a movie created to portray different ideals like the life of a banker who is pleased with capitalism, then the author would have had to adapt accordingly if he still wanted his piece accompanying the images fed to the viewer and being accepted.Even though the song is only an adaptation of Vedder, its message isn’t open to a wide-range of interpretations and only the perception of it will vary from reader to reader. The general beliefs presented can’t be seen as something different, no matter what one’s background may be, than what is portrayed but the reaction might affect the understanding of the text. A dismissive attitude is taken by the singer (in first-person) who later on in the song isolates himself by referring to society first as â€Å"we† and later on as â€Å"you† and singing â€Å"I hope you’re not lonely without me† in the chorus.Even though this song has clear values of anti-commercialism: â€Å"When you want more than you have†, it explains itself and isn’t meant to be offensive to anyone: â€Å"I hope you’re not angry if I disagree† but still carries the intention to open our eyes making it all the more effective. The text would have been written differently in another place or time because the theme might have been irrelevant; in a different language it may have been limited in its poetical depth or by censorship and another audience with other expectations could have also created a completely different song.This shows the extent to which language and cultural context have moulded this text to make it what it is. Variance in one of the factors, place, time, language and audience, could have produced different lyrics with other values but as some places share similar beliefs around the same time, a piece like this could be produced elsewhere at some other time for a different audience too. ——————————————– [ 1 ]. Vedder, Eddie. Interview for Hype! Magazine (1996) [ 2 ]. Vedder, Eddie. â€Å"Society†(2007) [ 3 ]. http://www. britannica. com/EBchecked/topic/593225/Henry-David-Thoreau [ 4 ]. Thoreau, Henry David