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Humans first sustained themselves as hunters & gatherers ; Hunters were responsible for killing and capturing animal and using their hung t for food, clothing, or tools; Gatherers were learned how to tell which plants or fruits we re edible ; Early technology consisted of shaping stones into tools and weapons for hunt ; Mostly nomadic societies that had a migration pattern depending on the movement of game and/ or the seasonal growth of plants Major Migrations: 1.East Africa-. Australia-. Middle East-?. Europe-. Asia 2. Asia AL and Bridge) *The Americas The Neolithic Revolution: The Revolution- ; In 8000 B. C. E. Human beings began to develop settled communities Settling was based on successful cultivation of crops and domestication of ann. malls ; the revolution itself occurred independently , in various locations, over a large time period Each agricultural hearth developed different farming practices that worked WI the their own land features Revolution Outcomes: 1.There was more c onstant food supply now that people started controlling food production and animal domestication. . With greater availability and easier access to food sources, much more people were able to eat. This resulted in longer life spans, and an I increasing population 3. Specialized jobs such as priests, traders, and builders are created considering not everyone is needed for food production 4.Women became responsible for raising children, cooking and cleaning while men controlled agricultural production and worked. This resulted into patriarchal systems , where males became dominant in family life, the economy, and the government. 5. Settled peoples considered themselves superior when compared to the remain inning hunters and gatherers, creating social distinctions between the two groups.Vegetative Planting-? ; first form of plant cultivation (according to Carl Saucer) ; plants are produced from direct cloning by cutting stems & dividing roots ; originated in Southeast Asia ; settled peo ple participated in a lot of fishing and hunting ; first domesticated plants/crops include taro, yam, banana, and palm ; first domesticated animals were most likely dogs, pigs, and chickens ; other vegetative planting hearths were West Africa and Northwestern South A America Vegetative planting Diffusion from Southeast Asia:Seed Agriculture-? Eastern Hemisphere: Carl Saucer identified 3 hearths which included western India, northern China, and Ethiopia In SW Asia, wheat & barley were domesticated, along with cattle, sheep, & ago TTS ; Herding animals were used for plowing, meat, skins, and milk ; Millet diffused from the northern China hearth ; Both millet and sorghum were domesticated in Ethiopia Diffusion of in Eastern Hemisphere: 1. SW Asia *Europe *North Africa *India *Indus River Valley 2.NW China ;South Asia -9 SE Asia Western Hemisphere: ; Two identified hearths: southern Mexico & northern Peru Mexico was the origin point for squash and corn (maize) ; Per was the origin point for beans, cotton, and squash ; The Europeans coming to the Western Hemisphere in the 1 5th century create d widespread diffusion in agriculture Innovations: Irrigation allowed water to be channeled to fields ; Fields were plowed to loosen soil Fences kept animals from entering agricultural fields.

Ethics and Human Resources

Why is it important for companies to conduct Ethics Training? Conduct Ethics Training is important for companies because it not only involves doing what is right and proper, but it is also good for business. Ethical conduct is the basis for long-term success in any organization. Here are some of the many advantages to ethical conduct at work: * Ethical conduct promotes a strong public image for the organization. People respect an organization that makes ethical choices. Customers like doing business with an organization they can trust. * Ethical conduct makes the best use of resources. Money, time, and effort are put into productive activities rather than diverted for questionable purposes or personal gain. * Ethical conduct on the part of all employees also helps maintain quality and productivity. When employees follow ethical standards, they do not cut corners or short-change the company or its customers. * Ethical conduct assists the organization to comply with laws and regulations. What is ethical is also legal. * Ethical conduct ensures good and proper relationships with customers and vendors. * Ethical conduct boosts morale and promotes teamwork. When employees can trust one another and management, they can work together more harmoniously and effectively. Week two: What are the most critical steps to successful implement high-performance work systems? First, work flows are organized around key business processes, and people are often grouped into teams to carry out those processes. Second, high performance work systems include a number of human resource policies and practices: staffing, training, performance management, compensation, etc. , that are intended to enhance employee skills, knowledge, motivation, and flexibility. These practices take different forms, but are based on the belief that people are a critical competitive asset of the organization. Third, most high performance work systems rely on new approaches to leading employees. Often this means fewer levels of management and new roles for managers. Managers become facilitators and integrators and share responsibility for decision making and results with their employees. Discussion Board: * Discuss how would you go about diagnosing poor performance problems If I find the problem, I can work in the solution. To figure out what's causing the performance issue, you have to get to the root of the problem. In my opinion, performances depend of the ability and the motivation of the employee. Someone with 100% motivation and 75% ability can often achieve above-average performance. If an employee is not making enough effort is necessary increase pressure to see if performance increase. If the problem is the ability; for example over -difficult tasks, increase the pressure can aggravate the problem. The ability can be lower when the employee was promoted to a position that is to demanding for him or maybe they no longer have the motivation to realize a good performance. * Suggest ways in which the motivating value of merit raises may be increased. Ethics and Human Resources Policy In the consulting industry, ethics play a very important role. Ethics are the baseline for every business decision that is made. For this reason, all employees of the AJ Consulting firm are required to adhere to our strict ethics policy. AJ Consulting’s ethics policy is based on three areas. These areas are as follows. People AJ Consulting’s employees are the most important asset that we have. All employees will be treated with the highest respect and trust. Management is expected to lead by example and set the tone for our ethics program.They are expected to act and behave in the highest ethical manner. Through these actions they will enforce ethical decision making and guide subordinates through the development process. Open and honest communication is key to providing an environment that supports the development of people and business. All managers have an open door policy for employees to voice any concerns regarding violations of company policy. The Employee s are the eyes and ears of AJ Consulting and should be comfortable bringing any violations to the attention of management without fear of retaliation.All reported concerns of unethical behavior will be addressed and investigated in a timely manner, and the findings of the investigation will be shared company wide. The report of findings will be nonspecific to protect the privacy of our employees. We are an equal opportunity employer and take a zero tolerance stance against retaliation and discrimination. This includes all behaviors that are deemed harassing, abusive (both verbal and physical), and offensive. AJ Consulting is dedicated to providing an environment where every employee can unlock and reach their potential.All opportunities for advancement and self-improvement will be offered to all qualified personnel equally, thus allowing the employees of AJ Consulting to reach their full potential. Allowing employees to reach their full potential directly contributes to the success of our business. Employees should contact their manager or human resources if they feel that they have been harassed or discriminated against. Place (community) AJ Consulting is dedicated to improving the community in which we operate.To fulfill our obligation to improve our community, and to better understand our nonprofit customers, all employees will be required to volunteer eight hours per calendar year. Volunteer time can be during business hours and regular wages will be paid by AJ Consulting for this time. We will build trust in the community through our actions and credibility. To gain the public’s trust we will follow through on our commitments and operate with honesty and integrity. Under no circumstances will an employee of AJ Consulting act unethically or immorally without disciplinary action.If questions arise when considering a certain action or business deal consider the following questions. Will this action be perceived favorably by the public? Can AJ Consulti ng fulfill this commitment? Will this action help build trust within the community? Is this action legal? If you cannot answer yes to these questions, seek guidance from management. Profit AJ Consulting is not in business to make a profit. We make a profit to stay in business. A portion of our profits will be reinvested into our people and our community, thus reinforcing our commitment to the community and our people.No business should be done and profit made thereof, by violating our code of ethics or our high standards of integrity and honesty. Any violation or possible violations should be reported to a member of management. Ethics in Business Dealings While we strive to be competitive in the market; we will offer our services based on quality and ethical business decisions. AJ Consulting will not coordinate any of business decisions with our competitors to create an unfair and unethical advantage in the marketplace.We will also not accept gratuities or gifts from our customers o r competitors to gain an advantage. All of our services will be competitively priced based on company guidelines and not outside influences. AJ Consulting will conduct its business in accordance with all applicable laws, regulations, and company policies. To ensure that employees are familiar with and understand these laws and regulations; employees will be required to attend regular update meetings on a quarterly basis. It is every employee’s obligation to see that we are in compliance with governing law and regulations.Managers should be made aware of any violations or possible violations of laws, regulations, or company policies. Managers are then in turn, responsible for investigating any concerns brought to their attention in a timely manner. If the suggested violations are substantiated the manger is then required to take the appropriate steps to correct the violation. Gifts While negotiating a contract with a potential customer, no gifts or gratuities shall be given or received. Business dinners are permissible as long as they do not present the appearance of favoritism or any attempt to influence business decisions.We need to reinforce our reputation as a fair and ethical business and the appearance of favoritism can severely tarnish our reputation. Under no circumstances may an employee of AJ Consulting solicit gifts from their customers. After a contract is awarded, small gifts may be given or received if they are unsolicited and are of menial value. If you have any questions regarding whether or not a gift is appropriate contact a member of the management team to verify if accepting the gift violates company policy.Confidential Customer Information Our customer’s confidentiality is of the upmost importance to AJ Consulting. In order to build a trusting relationship; employees of AJ consulting will under no circumstances, use any information about our customers for the purpose of personal or financial gain. To avoid a conflict of intere st, no employee with a vested interest shall make recommendations or consult the organization in which they have stake in. Nor shall any employee divulge any sensitive or confidential information to anyone outside of the company.Our customer’s sensitive information shall be kept secure, and be used for the sole purpose of making recommendations for process improvement. We shall also ensure recommendations do not include our customer’s sensitive information to minimize the risk of leaking such information to the public. Ethics Training Program Within the first 90 days of employment, all new hires will attend an initial ethics training. This training will be facilitated by the Human Resources Department with the support of the employee’s first line supervisor.During the initial training the President and Chief Operating Officer of AJ Consulting will discuss the importance of ethics in the consulting industry. The human resources department will inform the new hire of the policies and procedures of AJ Consulting’s ethics program. Included in this training will be an overview of the laws and regulations that govern the consulting industry, AJ Consulting’s position on ethics, proper use and disposal of sensitive information, how to file an ethics complaint, resources available for ethics questions, and the disciplinary consequences of ethics violations.After the initial ethics training employees will be given and annual refresher training. The annual refresher training will cover all ethics violations or potential violations and how they affected the company and its reputation. Role playing will be used to evaluate how well employees understand the ethics program and how they use this knowledge in real life situations. The training will also update the employee on new rules and regulations governing the consulting industry. It will also review the disciplinary actions that may result from ethics violations.The violation reporting procedures and resources for ethics questions will be updated and passed on during the annual refresher training. Reporting Suspected Ethics Violations AJ Consulting takes the issue of ethics very seriously. That is why it is the responsibility of every employee of AJ Consulting to report all actual and suspected ethics violations in a timely manner. The likelihood of diverting a crisis is dramatically increased if we can respond to potential violations quickly. We have developed a quick and anonymous way for our employees to report ethics violations.If you wish to report an ethics violation anonymously we have set up an ethics hotline. The number for the ethics hotline is (800)ajethics. This hotline will direct you to our ethics officer during business hours. If you are calling outside regular business hours you will be directed to their voicemail. We have also setup an email account for those personnel who prefer to report ethics violations this way. The email address is [email  protected]consulting. com. You will receive a response within 48 hours of submitting a violation.The third way of reporting is by contacting any member of management or any member of the ethics compliance committee. Remember when reporting a violation, supply us with as detailed information as you can. This information should include dates, times, names, and companies. While all of this information is not required to file a complaint, it will help us investigate the issue. We do understand that ethics can be confusing, so if you have any questions about ethics or how ethics is applied in a given situation please reach out to our ethics officer who is also our human resources manager.If they cannot provide you with an answer they will research the situation and respond as quickly as possible. Monitoring the Ethics Program AJ Consulting is dedicated to providing the most efficient and stable work environment possible. Since a solid ethics program is the basis for our core values it i s very important for us to monitor and evaluate how effective this program is. Monitoring and auditing our ethics program allows us to become proactive in preventing ethical and illegal misconduct whereby the public’s trust and the company’s reputation may be damaged beyond repair.To fulfill this requirement AJ Consulting has implemented a compliance committee. The committee will consist of the president, chairman of the board of directors, human resources manager, and the accounting manager. They will be in charge of evaluating all aspects of this program. Quarterly first line supervisors will observe 10% of their employees. During the observation the supervisor should note any behaviors or decisions that could be seen as unethical. The observation should be documented and turned into the human resources department.Semiannually they will review all financial documents to ensure they are complete and accurate. They will look for any anomalies in the financial documents and investigate any discrepancies. The compliance committee will also verify that all financial reports are filed on time and give an accurate view of our company. Under no circumstance is it permissible to file reports that are misleading or false. Annually the committee will send out a workplace survey to gain the employee’s perspective.These surveys will be anonymous in order to allow employees to question or comment on any decision making or instances that they feel may be unethical. No place on this survey shall it ask for any information that may identify the person filling out the survey. This will allow honest and open feedback without the fear of retaliation. The compliance committee will review the annual training attendance, roll playing, supervisor observations, financial reports, and employee surveys and compile a state of ethics report that will be kept on record.This will allow AJ Consulting to look for trends in our ethical behavior and ensure that we are on the path to success and allow us to reevaluate and adjust our program as necessary. Biannually AJ Consulting will contract an outside agency to audit and evaluate our ethics program. They will look at our financial records, ethics reports, and reported violations to provide an unbiased assessment of our ethics program. AJ Consulting will use our internal audits and external audits to improve the ethics program and align our values, mission statement, and direction with ethics.Summary While every manager is responsible for the day to day ethics at AJ Consulting, every employee is responsible for doing business in an ethical manner every time. Under no circumstance is it permissible to conduct yourself in an unethical manner. We have assembled an ethics compliance committee that consists of the president, chairman of the board of directors, accounting manager, and human resources manager. The human resources manager is also the ethics officer for AJ Consulting. If you have any questio ns about ethics please contact one of these members.

Development of an internet based housing demand database system for Dissertation

Development of an internet based housing demand database system for the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Human Settlements - Dissertation Example The paper tells that the use of information systems across all business enterprises, governance structures and institutions has become an accepted reality. A number of researchers and academicians have focused on the potential benefits, applications and challenges faced in the incorporation of these systems. The implementation of such systems in e-governance bodies have helped immensely in streamlining work processes and improving the overall efficiency of departments in delivering the desired outcomes. A study on developing a land information system for the local government in Naga City Philippines by Rizalino Cruz highlights the significance of intelligent systems in aligning departmental responsibilities, strengthening collaborative efforts, and streamlining the flow of information across various units and stakeholders. The focus of the study was on analysing the key requirements of the local government body involved in land use planning and designing an effective information syst em that helps in achieving departmental goals and long term vision of the local governing bodies. A recent study by PriceWaterHouseCoopers on the role and efficacy of information systems in Department of Housing and Urban Planning observes that an internet based system can help the urban planning and housing department realize their goals and objectives. The primary benefit of such a system lies in its ability to integrate and streamline the flow of vital information within departments, provide its stakeholders with immediate access to relevant details. , and enable managers to take prompt decisions based on the readily accessible data and facts. A legislative audit report on information systems for housing by the State of Montana (2004) highlights the role of such systems in determining the accuracy and reliability of such systems. The information processing capabilities offered by an effective information system cannot be undermined in the face of rapidly advancing technology tool s and applications. The use of internet and communication technologies has greatly enhanced the potentials to receive and process information at the click of a button. Similar studies and implementation of such systems across different countries illustrate the benefits and challenges associated with its effective performance and outcomes. The housing and urban planning department in Thailand benefited immensely from the implementation of

Internet Addiction and College students Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Internet Addiction and College students - Essay Example Tan (2001) said that the Internet use plays a major role in education for students as well as for the professionals to make things easier; it greatly enhances the learning and practices of individuals and that it is meant to cause students learning and their performance at their performance at the higher-level Mayer (2000). However, there are reports that reveal, there are negative effects brought by heavy Internet use on one's psychological wellbeing (Young, 2004). Anderson (2000) explained that, internet dependent students' average use reached about 29 minutes per day. These users utilize synchronous communication internet application nearly ten times more than the non-dependent students, who only spent an average of 3 minutes per day doing the same activities due to the fact that, users are able to get quality information from internet facilities (Asemi 2005). However, there are reports that reveal, there are negative effects brought by heavy Internet use on one's psychological wellbeing (Young, 2004), with 8% - 13% of undergraduates allegedly addicted to internet use. The said uses have resulted to impairment among individuals' psychological well-being, academic performance and peer and family interactions (Scherer, 1997 Young, 1998). Moreover, this phenomenon of extreme use has been known as "Internet addiction (Young, 2004) and "problematic Internet use" (Caplan, 2002 & Shapira, et. al. 2003).The American Psychologist Association has prescribed criteria as basis whether or not a person be diagnosed for internet addiction disorder, and these are as follows: (1) Tolerance, which refers to individual's need for increasing quantity of time consumed on the Internet for satisfaction purposes; (2) Two or more withdrawal symptoms that develop in days until one a month or even after; (3) Use of the Internet in order to alleviate or avoid withdr awal symptoms; (4) The Internet is repeatedly accessed more often; if not, for longer periods that the intended time; (5) The individual loss of an important relationship, or still at risk of losing; loss of job, educational or career opportunity due to the excessive use of the Internet, and several other reasons.Bratter and Forest (cited by Freeman, 1992) characterized addiction as "a behavior pattern of obsessive drug use due to overwhelming involvement. Psychologist Kimberly S. Young, investigation nearly 500 heavy Internet users by compared their behaviors. Using the clinical criteria formulated by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-IV and was also published by the American Psychiatric Association; results showed that, eighty percent (80%) of the participants were dependent Internet users. She further elaborated that, "internet use can disrupt an individual's social, academic, financial, and professional life just as the same with other well-documented add ictions" (Young, 1996). Psychodynamic and personality perspectives can be accounted for addiction during early childhood traumas, relationship with certain personality traits/disorders, as well as inherited psychological dispositions (Sue,

Queer Theory Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Queer Theory - Essay Example Queer Theory presumes that sexual characteristics that are a function of representations. It assumes that representations pre-exist and define, as well as complicate and disrupt sexual identities. Queer theory results in an effort to speak from and to the differences and silences that have been suppressed by the homo-hetero binary, an effort to unpack the monolithic identities 'lesbian' and 'gay' including the intricate ways lesbian and gay sexualities are inflected by heterosexuality, race, gender and ethnicity.' Queer theory allows us to examine Western culture and problematize its approach to attributing everyone to not only certain behaviour's but identities and its tendency to label, box and categorise. Queer theory also seeks to not only break down gender roles, sexual order and dichotomies but break down the very thoughts around sexuality in regard to biology and reproduction. Much discussion in queer theory has been cantered on the issue of spectatorship. In her frequently quoted and highly influential essay 'Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema,' Laura Mulvey (1975) described how dominant cinema codes have been constructed by a patriarchal system of looking and the desire to obtain and consume. The gaze championed by Mulvey (p.11) is assumed to be male, white and heterosexual, and therefore endowed with the power and privilege enjoyed by white and heterosexual men in a patriarchal society. In essence, she contends that in a classic narrative film, the subject of the narrative and the gaze, is male; woman functions as spectacle, the object of the gaze. In terms of spectatorship, the viewer is split between these two positions - the male subject and the female object of the gaze. Hence, being the spectator - identifying with the subject of the narrative and the gaze, presents a difficulty for female viewers (Mulvey, p.11). However, when Mulvey penned this article, she seemed to have neglected the presence of queer audience; her account of the sexual hierarchy of narrative cinema has been challenged by many critics who have insisted that identification can also occur across gender and sexual demarcations (Smyth, 1995, p.125) As Doty (p.151) argues, all texts are open to multiple interpretations; queer readings of texts are not alternative or sub-cultural readings, but readings to position side by side to normatively straight readings. "Boys Don't Cry" is arguable the earliest mainstream movie that is based on a real life story, to scrutinize the female to male transvestism. The 'gender as performance' notion is explicitly depicted in Boys Don't Cry; in the opening sequence, Brandon (Hilary Swank) is seen grooming and gearing up for her date. The idea of performance in this sequence seem to have a dual connotation, besides performance as in portraying a male role, I see performance here also as theatrical presentation where the socks for her crotch and the cowboy hat are seen as her props, and her cousin Lonny (Matt McGrath), and spectators of the film are the audience. Further into the film, when admiring Brandon's facial features, Lana (Chloe Sevigny)'s mum (Jeannetta Arnette) commented that Brandon looks like 'like a movie star', further emphasizing the performative nature of her gender to the

Personnel Guidance in Research and Development Essay

Personnel Guidance in Research and Development - Essay Example A research involving a creation of a new technology may be termed as a high level research. A highly critical issue usually involves a team and each team member contributes in his way towards the research. Research involves discovery of a truth and therefore it should taken seriously and with immediate attention. It does not involve only the searching; rather it is one's effort to find the truth using a series of trials involving various aspect of the issue. A research must be taken with a positive frame of mind and should never be a matter of fun. Before one is ready for research, he must have an objective and should be fully focused on it (Gredler and Shields, 2008). A research involves deep and thorough knowledge of the subject and therefore, the researcher must be aware of the various factors that can affect the scope of the research. A researcher must always start by finding a person who has a deeper knowledge of the subject and with whom he can discuss the various outcomes and the possibilities and the scope of the research. Generally, this person should be much higher in experience and knowledge than the researcher. This person can then be termed as a Research Guide. Performing a research under a guide boosts up the confidence of the researcher and provides a better way to proceed in the work. 2) A Research Plan The researcher must have a plan in order to proceed with the research. One must completely have theoretical as well as a practical approach for the subject. The availability of a research lab helps in attaining better results. It also provides the practical approach where in a real time issues can be simulated. These simulations provide a clear picture of the subject. This helps in better judgement of the subject and therefore a practical approach to deal with it. 3) Finance Another big constraint involving a research can be finances. Sometimes, research may involve high finances. Like a research in the field of automobile engine and emissions may involve a multiple changes in design of the component. Thus manufacturing a new component such as an engine part, with course of the research, involves a lot of resources which will prove costly. Therefore, a researcher must look for funding options if available. To get funding for a research, one must put together all the authentic and genuine facts for the research that must convince the funding authority. Available funds can prove very crucial as these when utilised in an efficient manner can several times get the researcher the best he wants. The researcher then has full freedom to take care of the aspects which he might overlook due to lack of resources. 4) Available facts and figures Another area that needs to be taken care of is the updates that are connected to the field of your research. One

Classroom Management In The Early Childhood Setting Research Paper

Classroom Management In The Early Childhood Setting - Research Paper Example The topic of Classroom Management In The Early Childhood Setting covers the issues of dealing with behavior problems of preschoolers. This topic is relevant to the author, being a preschool teacher of four and five year old children. With only two years of teaching experience, the author believes this paper will be able to help her, as well as other new teachers in their challenges in managing their early childhood classes. It will derive wisdom from the thorough literature review as well as surveying other more experienced teachers on their classroom management styles. Statement of Problem This paper will deal with factors that contribute to an effective classroom management plan. Specifically, the problem is stated as thus: â€Å"How do beginning teachers achieve a well-managed class in an early childhood education setting?† Purpose of the Study This study purports to study various factors that contribute to effective classroom management techniques that early childhood educators should consider in order to manage their classes better. It hopes to educate new teachers with the possible reasons why children may misbehave in classrooms and what can be done to dispel such misbehavior and encourage a smoother flow of activities in the early childhood classroom. This would result in a more conducive learning environment where the children ‘s learning potentials are maximized.... Importance of the study Knowledge and eventually, mastery of effective classroom management strategies are essential skills teachers need to be successful in their careers. Hence, this study will prove relevant in helping teachers, especially those with little experience, in handling very young children. Empowering teachers with information from this study is believed to derive positive outcomes which will benefit their young students, as they will be more able to learn from and with each other. Definition of Terms Classroom Management- management of the class during class hours including preparation for the class day and what transpires during the day and even up to when the students leave (Crosser, 2002). Positive Student-Teacher Relationships- warm, nurturing relationships between students and teachers that positively influence the discipline and education of children (Maddox & Prinz, 2003). Physical environment- the place where children learn, equipped with furnishings, equipment and learning materials Routines- activities that usually happen within the school day scheduled in a predictable manner. Procedure Aside from learning from research done on classroom management from previous studies, this study will be using a portion of the Evaluation of Quality Teaching taken from Shalaway (1998) (see Appendix 1), specifically on Classroom Management. The instrument proposed for evaluation of teacher effectiveness is based on a general philosophy of how effective teaching should be. It has three main components: classroom management, active teaching and instructional techniques and teacher-student interaction. This study will only take the component on classroom management. However, the survey will include

High School Student Obesity and Fitnessgram Assessments Essay - 1

High School Student Obesity and Fitnessgram Assessments - Essay Example The surveyed students had an overall positive experience. Some teachers had positive experience while some had mixed opinions concerning the Fitnessgrams effectiveness of improving students’ BMI. Obesity is a serious problem that is becoming more prevalent among school aged children in America. The Centers for Disease Control revealed that approximately one in three American children and teenagers are obese or overweight (CDC Press Release, 2008). This is three times the number of obese children in America in the 1960s. Childhood obesity now surpasses smoking and drug use as the foremost concern of parents and the Georgia State Board of Education. The CDC suggested that the objective of all programs dealing with childhood obesity is to find ways of reducing the child’s weight while monitoring their lipid profile and blood pressure (CDC Press Release, 2008). The CDC also suggested that strong social support systems should be instituted to encourage a healthy weight among children. Parental involvement in programs created to check the development of obesity is one way this can be accomplished. According to the CDC and Krebs, Jacobson, and the American Academy of Pediatr ics Committee on Nutrition (2003), schools can also be part of the support system by providing only healthy meals for students during the day (CDC Press Release, 2008). According to the CDC, Georgia has the distinction of having the second highest rate of obesity among school aged children in America (CDC Press Release, 2008). This motivated the Georgia State Board of Education in 2011 to endorse programs like the Presidential Fitness Award to impact the obesity trends among children (Georgia Department of Education, 2011). However, according to Hirschmann and Zaphiropoulos (2012) there are still students who become obese in Georgia every month and 40% of Georgia’s school aged children are said to be obese. In 2008, Governor

Symbolism in the swimmer by John Cheever Research Paper

Symbolism in the swimmer by John Cheever - Research Paper Example The real meaning of the story is revealed through the use of symbolic elements. The Story starts with couples gathered near a pool to get rid of the weariness of the cocktail party which they attended the previous night. Neddy Merril is an athlete who wishes to do extraordinary things. The youthfulness in him leads to do adventurous things like reaching his home by swimming in fifteen pools to the south. As he changes pools his total experiences also change. The story begins with realistic note. The energy of the youth, his power etc adds to the initial exhilaration of the story. The pleasant time and mood of the couples symbolizes the optimism, the swimmer has in his mind at the beginning of the journey. â€Å" It was one of those midsummer Sundays when everyone sits around saying â€Å" I drank too much last night â€Å" (Cheever 1) . Thus the story begins with a realistic note. With the paces of the ‘swimmer’, the mood of the story also changes. In the third paragr aph we see the lovely mood again. â€Å"...the day was lovely, and that he lived in a world so generously supplied with water seemed like a clemency , a beneficence. His heart was high and he ran across the grass (Cheever 515). The readers feel the pleasant mood of the writer and also that of Neddy. The’ light green water ‘waiting for such a swimmer symbolizes the freshness of his mind when he started the journey. The swimming pools that Neddy has to go through stand for the journey of life itself. It is essential for him to be adventurous to ‘swim the country ‘. The destiny of man to complete his life journey to reach the end is very effectively symbolized with the phrase â€Å"‘swimming the country’. Neddy expresses the high level of optimism that he considers himself as a legendary figure. Neddy is running from pool to pool. At Graham’s pool he was a guest to whom they want to give drink and share their mind. The image of happiness a nd blissfulness slowly disappears, and Neddy meets emptiness at Welcher’s house.† the pool furniture was folded, stacked, and covered with tarpaulin. The bath house was locked. All the windows of the house were shut , and when we went around to the driveway in front he saw a For Sale sign nailed to a tree† ( (Cheever 518) . The protagonist begins to feel the loss. It is a fact that he is addicted to alcohol and is living in an imaginary world. But now he slowly faces the reality. He sees the board ‘For Sale ‘. Neddy slowly deteriorates. Cheever uses weak dictions to convey the plight of Neddy. Neddy’s arms were lame â€Å". His legs felt rubbery and ached at the joints ( Cheever 520). The slow movement of the time and the resultant transformation occurs to Neddy, is shown in the words. The mind of the readers also moves with Neddy. The weakness in body and mind is the symbol of his social decline. In the words of Hal Blythe and Charlie Sweet; à ¢â‚¬Ëœa montage of Neddy Merrill’s physical and social decline’ is carefully drawn by the writer. Neddy denies the universal fact that disability, both physical and mental, is part of growing old. He is swimming to his own home. But the journey through water symbolizes a kind of escape from the realities he meets in the land. Thus water, in other term alcohol itself, keeps him away from his family and his friends. The different pools he swims across symbolize the

Theories of Addiction Explanations for Continuing Drug Use and Relapse Essay Example for Free

Theories of Addiction Explanations for Continuing Drug Use and Relapse Essay Theories of addiction, many have been proposed and a variety of preclinical models have been constructed. several theories were utilized in this study to better understand the basis of addiction. The first theory, negative reinforcement, suggests that the continued use of the psychoactive substance is to avoid withdrawal dysphoria. The next theory subject to research during this study was positive reinforcement. The positive reinforcement theory of addiction suggests the subject continues use of the psychoactive substance simply because they enjoy it. These theories, positive reinforcement the more familiar of the preclinical models of addiction, stem from the associative learning theory. Either of these preclinical models are a perfect example of operant conditioning. Both subjects have associated their use of the psychoactive substance with consequences, reinforcing the behavior. Operant conditioning is the easiest form of associative learning and the hardest to correct once behavior is learned in this manner. There have been several studies done to understand operant conditioning. The most prominent was the operant chamber, a Skinner box. It was built in the mid sixties by B. F. Skinner and brought modern behaviorism to the forefront of psychology. Though a very controversial study much was learned in behavior control and was called the law of effect, stating that rewarding behavior is likely to recur. Another crucial model in understanding addiction is stimulus response learning. This model suggests, unlike that of associative learning where the response follows the stimulus, the stimulus itself creates a habitual response. This this occurs through classical conditioning and is a conditioned response. This conditioned response is developed through conditioned reinforcement. When the subject comes in to contact with paraphernalia, like the light in the skinner box, they know they are going to receive their primary reinforcer. This can easier be illustrated with Pavlovs studies on classical conditioning. Pavlov began to notice that dogs salivating whenever he w ould present the with a bowl of food. This is an example of an unconditioned stimulus eliciting an unconditioned response. When you introduce a neutral stimulus with an unconditioned stimulus. In this case the paraphernalia, you receive the unconditioned response. Eventually, if this is repeated over time the once neutral stimulus elicits the same response as the unconditioned stimulus. The once unconditioned response is now a conditioned response and can be controlled with exposure to the conditioned stimulus. When the subject is exposed to the paraphernalia the body begins adjusting for the use of the psychoactive substance and causes the cravings associated with addiction. The next model researched in the study was incentive salience. This is a motivational attribute given by the brain to reward predicting stimuli, causing the craving for the psychoactive substance. For example, if the subjects addictive behavior is extinguished and is then exposed to an illustration once associated with the stimulus, the craving can return. Cravings can also return through spontaneous recovery. This is when the subjects addictive behavior is extinguish and, without stimuli exposure, the subjects craving for the substance returns briefly. This is believed to be cause of relapse in some subjects battling this disorder. The final model to be discussed is the inhibitory control dysfunction model. Inhibitory control consists of neural impulses that act to dampen or stop a specific activity. The area of the brain that this function occurs is in\the pre-frontal cortex. This area of the brain is in control of personality, decision making, and other functions. If damage or a dysfunction is present in this area of the brain it could alter the subjects personality and decision making abilities. Other symptoms of this is impulsiveness and altered judgment. As a result if the subject has a dysfunction in this area they are more likely to begin, continue, and possibly relapse use of a psychoactive substance. The study was comprised of seventy-three non-treatment seeking Methamphetamine u sers both men and women. They were given a survey with questions of self perceived reasons why a methamphetamine user would continue use or relapse. They found that fifty-six percent of the participants use psychoactive substances due to positive reinforcement, forty-four percent would relapse for the same. This theory was rated the highest next was inhibitory control dysfunction at twenty- seven percent, stimulus response learning at twenty-five percent, negative reinforcement at twenty- three percent, and incentive salience at nineteen percent. Most of the participants that rated positive reinforcement high also had correlations in there answers. They rated incentive salience, stimulus response learning and inhibitory control dysfunction. This suggests that other concepts of theories of addiction are needed for a better understanding of addiction. This study also shows that not all methamphetamine users are alike, treatment should be further focused in subtypes. If treatment were focused and developed in subtypes it may be more effective. By issuing the survey to non-treatment seeking methamphetamine users they were able to identify possible patient subtypes. Thus bringing the treatment to the subject instead of the disorder.

Cognitive Development and Language Development

Cognitive Development and Language Development What roles do nature and nurture play in children’s language development? Within this essay I am going to be looking at whether I think, nature or nurture has the greatest impact on human development, referring to cognitive development and language development. By looking at what different theorists from the human development field have discovered, I will come to the conclusion whether nature or nurture wins this debate. I will start off by explaining some of the key terms that I will be using, making it easier for myself to reference back to when needed. I will then move onto my first area of human development, which is cognitive development, and discuss the nature/nativist theories and the nurture/empiricist theories. By talking about a few different key issues, I will then focus on one main theorist for each. Then, moving on to the second area of human development; language development, I will do the same thing again. By starting off looking at the different nativist theories, and then focusing on one main theorist, and then looking into the empiricist theories, and focusing on one main theorist. After having looked at all the different views I will be able to conclude on whether I think nature or nurture has the greatest impact on human development. Some of the key terms which will assist me in this essay are: Cognition is basically the mental activities that are associated with thinking, knowing and remembering; any ideas and thoughts that a person has, or memories that are stored are all different types of cognitive processes. Reading and learning is also a type of cognition. Development can either be qualitative or quantitative. It can be qualitative in the sense that you cant measure the change, but the change is still noticeable. You can develop quantitatively by an increase in height or weight etc. Patterns of change over time which begin at conception and continue throughout the life span (Keenan, 2006). Cognitive Developmental Theory, which consists of many different theories, but I will start off by referring to Piagets Cognitive Development Theory. In Piagets theory of cognitive development, is a stage theory which consists of different stages of development. Within each stage of development, children are put before challenging situations which they must then deal with and overcome through their own abilities. After completing the challenge the child is then able to move on to the next stage of cognitive development. Learningis when there is a change in behaviour or knowledge which has developed from previous experiences or training. The learning process could be innate, meaning that we are born with the knowledge, or it has been obtained through daily life. Hence, any knowledge or behaviour that we are now in hold of that we were not born with, was somehow learned. This has been studied by psychologists in many ways, Pavlov with his associative learning; he examined the salivation of dogs in response to meat powder; to Skinner with his reinforcement theory, that a learner will only repeat the desired behaviour if the behaviour is followed by positive reinforcement; rats press a lever in the quest of gaining some kind of reward. Language is something that we use in everyday lives. Theoretically, language is a formal system of communication which involves a combination of words and/or symbols, whether written or spoken. It is not necessary for another organism to comprehend the language, for it to actually be a language just that it meets the description given. Language Development is a process which starts early in human life, that begins when a person starts to acquire language by learning as it is spoken or by mimicking the person. By four months of age, babies are able to read lips and distinguish between different speech sounds. Language usually starts off as meaningless words by simply recalling what others are saying, but as a child grows, the words begin to acquire meaning creating connections between words being formed. As a person gets older, new meanings and new associations are created and vocabulary increases as more words are learned. Nature is the genetics you receive, its something you have ever since you were born, e.g. eye colour. It is something that cannot be influenced by others. Nurture is the effect that the people in your life have on you, and the environment you are in. It is things that have influenced you whilst growing up, e.g. the media or values taught by your parents. Nature-Nurture is known to be one of the longest running debates; whether its or genes (nature) or our experiences (nurture) that make us who we are? E.g. If a person commits a violent crime, did they do so because of their genetic makeup (they are genetically pre-wired to be violent) or because of their experiences (e.g., growing up in an impoverished area, not getting a good education, no parental guidance or some other experience)? This is the nature-nurture debate. Child development is a discipline which aims to identify, to describe and to predict patterns in childrens growth where growth includes intellectual (or cognitive), linguistic, physical, social, behavioural and emotional development. (Smidt, 2006), (ARU, 2009) The key theories that are mainly acknowledged within cognitive development include The Stage Theory, carried out by Piaget (nativist), and Scaffolding by Bruner (empiricist). Piaget (1896-1980) researched into childrens learning and believed that they go through stages and learn in sequences when growing up. He thought that children were active learners and that they used their past experiences as their knowledge for the world and how to deal with previously experienced situations. Piagets theory was first published in 1952, which came from his observation of children, including his own, whom he observed in a natural environment. He imagined that a childs knowledge was composed of schemas; knowledge which is used to organise previous experiences, which is referred back to when trying to understand new ones. Piagets theory states that cognitive development occurs in four stages, in which when they begin to take place, they follow the same order; you are only able to move onto the next stage once the previous stage has been completed. The four stages are: Researchers have found that the advanced memory skills in children, mainly in the Formal Operational Stage, are due to memorisation techniques, such as repeating things in hope of memorising them, or categorising them, making it easier to pick out the information in future. Vygotsky (1978) states: Every function in the childs cultural development appears twice: first, on the social level, and later, on the individual level; first, between people (interpsychological) and then inside the child (intrapsychological). This applies equally to voluntary attention, to logical memory, and to the formation of concepts. All the higher functions originate as actual relationships between individuals. His theories were a mix of both nativist and empiricist views. One of Vygotskys central ideas was the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD), which is the difference between the level of potential development and the actual development in a child. He emphasised how social interaction was vital for develo pment from the beginning of their lives. He declared that before becoming internal, a function must go through a social stage when developing. Therefore, it is initially social, and then becomes an internal function which is known as internalisation (Vygotsky, 1962). The empiricist views would include Vygotskys theory on the role of culture and social interaction. He stated that socio-cultural environment was important for cognitive development. Being able to experience different contexts creates different forms of development; cognitive processes such as thoughts and your imagination develop through social interaction. The matter of social interaction relates back to ZPD, as communicating with other people develops your knowledge further. Bruner (1915- ) developed further on Vygotskys early work, and came up with Scaffolding, which was outlining how an adult assists a child in learning. Adults can aid children to move from where they are, to where they want to go. This is only possible if the child is interested in the situation initially, then they are able to be supported by the adult to further their learning. This is demonstrated in 5 stages, shown in the table below: (ARU, 2009) When an adult is assisting a child they are using previous experiences as their knowledge to do so. This is known as the Socio-Cognitive Stage Theory, in which recall is processed in 3 ways. The Enactive Mode, is when things are represented by doing them, the process used to get to the end product. The Iconic Mode is when children are encouraged to record their experiences, therefore making them more memorable. Lastly, the Symbolic Mode, which is where children use symbols and codes to represent and specify the meaning of what they are trying to represent. E.g. writing the number 5 instead of writing five; its a symbol representing the number. Skinner (1905-1990) is another example, who has practiced the importance of empirical learning in development. According to him, learning is characterised by the way a person processes their behaviour, which is then shaped into an experience. He doesnt completely eliminate the role of innate factors, but does argue that the external environment has a higher influence on development. Skinner suggested that if a person is positively reinforced (rewarded) for carrying out a certain action, they are more likely to repeat it again and recall it as a good experience. If a child was to be negatively reinforced (punished) they are highly likely not to repeat the behaviour again as they dont want to be punished, therefore remembering it as a bad experience. I believe that a person has to experience an event physically for them to be able to remember it better and recall it. Therefore, the environment plays a crucial role in cognitive development as it gives you knowledge of whether something is right or wrong, and then this experience is moved into the innate as a memory. Like Skinner suggested, before carrying out an action the child will remember the last time they carried it out, how they had approached the task set ahead of them then, what they have learnt since then, and how they can improve on it now with their recent learning; hence the social interaction has led the child to think back using their innate memory. Cognitive development requires both nativist and empiricist approaches to help a child develop their learning. The key theories that are mainly acknowledged within language development include Chomskys Language Acquisition Device, Skinners Reinforcement and Banduras Social Learning Theory (SLT). The nativist theory deals with language being an innate feature of a child. Chomsky (1928- ) promotes this theory and came up with his own Language Acquisition Device (LAD). He declared that the ability to learn language is inborn, suggesting that nature is more important than nurture. His work contributed to the thought that childrens language development is more complex than what is declared by behaviourists, who believe that children can learn language by being rewarded for imitating. However, Chomskys theory does not take into account the influence that cognition and language have on each others development. Nativists believe that if children surrounded by poverty, and brought up in a poverty constricted environment, children are still learning to speak due to their language acquisition device. Th is leads them to believe that the study of learning focuses on events that can be observed and measured. Empiricist views of Skinner and Watson, shows that they believed that children come into this world as a blank slate. Therefore, meaning that when a child is born, they have no knowledge at all, and are incapable of doing or knowing anything. They believe that this theory applies to all species. Behaviourist views like this suggest that the role of the environment is vital, and that the process of learning is only successful if there has been a change in behaviour. Moving onto Banduras (1924- ) Social Learning Theory, which suggests people learn from one another by observing their actions and imitating them. This theory is known to be a link between nativist and empiricist views as nativist learning is needed when trying to memorise what you are seeing and embarking on motivation. Most human behaviour is learned observationally through modelling: from observing others, one forms an idea of how new behaviours are performed, and on later occasions this coded information serves as a gui de for action (Bandura). The conditions which are necessary for this model to take place include, Attention, there are various points which will either increase or decrease the amount of attention you are paying to a situation. This could relate back to Skinner and his Reinforcement theory. Retention, being the second condition, is remembering what you were paying attention to. This can be remembered in different ways such as, images, symbols, coding, or just rehearsing. Reproduction, is being able to reproduce the image, which then leads to Motivation, which occurs when you have a good reason to imitate the previous sequence. Other reasons for this motivation may be incentives, or the speculation enforced by the reinforcement theory. Skinner suggested that the associations between a stimuli and the response could explain the behaviour and interaction of a being. He tried to apply his Operant Conditioning to the way language is learnt. The probability of a verbal response was contin gent on four things: reinforcement, stimulus control, deprivation, and aversive stimulation. The interaction of these things in a childs environment would lead to particular associations, the basis of all language (Skinner 1957). I believe that nurture, is a more effective form of language development. This is because language is a gradual process; you need to go through various stages of development until you are at a level of individual learning. By watching what an adult is doing, at a young age you observe them and imitate them. Its like watching a carer and a baby having a conversation; CARER: Hello, what are you doing? BABY: (babbles) When talking to the baby, theyll try and converse back, and as they grow older they learn words and their meanings and are able to create sentences. This all comes from some form of social interaction. The nature side of things is important in this matter too as; once a child has learnt a word, it needs to be stored and recalled again when needed to. Therefore, both nature and nurture work together in an effort to create language development. To conclude overall, I believe that both nature and nurture play a vital role in the development of cognitive and language development. The nurture may come first at times to experience the situation or process, which you then will remember and will store it, and then when needed to use again the experience becomes innate and is remembered through the cognition of your brain, becoming your nature. There are many studies that have been carried out to prove that nurture is more vital in the development of these processes, but from my point of view, I dont think there is as much information available on the nature side of things as there is on nurture. There are well known nature theorists out known, taking Piaget for example, but nature theories need to be backed up more strongly with more research being carried out. Reinforcement plays a big role in no matter what you do, if you are negatively reinforced towards a situation, you are likely to not want to go through it again and put th at experience at the back of your mind; but still have it in your memory for you to be reminded to not recreate the scenario. The nature-nurture debate has been studied over for many years, and will probably continue to be for many more years to come; but this is strong debate which I believe works together as a pair, and the one needs the other for it to be able to function appropriately. REFERENCES: http://www.alleydog.com/glossary/definition.php www.learning-theories.com/classical-conditioning-pavlov.html http://www.brookes.ac.uk/services/ocsd/2_learntch/theories.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Language_development (2009). Theory of Cognitive Development. Available: http://www.answers.com/topic/cognitive-development. Last accessed 13 December 2009. (2008). Stage Theory of Cognitive Development (Piaget). Available: http://www.learning-theories.com/piagets-stage-theory-of-cognitive-development.html. Last accessed 13 December 2009. (2004). Cognitive Development In Children. Available: http://allpsych.com/psychology101/development.html. Last accessed 13 December 2009. Verenikina,A. Understanding Scaffolding and the ZPD in Educational Research. Available: http://www.aare.edu.au/03pap/ver03682.pdf. Last accessed 13 December 2009. Wertsch, J.V. (1985). Cultural, Communication, and Cognition: Vygotskian Perspectives. Cambridge University Press. The Nativist Theory. Available: http://language11.tripod.com/id9.html. Last accessed 13 December 2009. (2009). Developing language for life. Available: http://www.literacytrust.org.uk/talktoyourbaby/theories.html. Last accessed 13 December 2009. (2009). Nature Versus Nurture. Available: http://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/1913/Developmental-Theory.html. Last accessed 13 December 2009. Bandura, A. (1977). Social Learning Theory. New York: General Learning Press. (2008). Social Learning Theory (Bandura). Available: http://www.learning-theories.com/social-learning-theory-bandura.html. Last accessed 13 December 2009. Oates,J Grayson,A. 2004. Cognitive and language development in children. Open University : Blackwell BF Skinner, Behavioralism, Language Behavior. Available: http://www3.niu.edu/acad/psych/Millis/History/2003/cogrev_skinner.htm. Last accessed 14 December 2009.

Forget My Face :: essays research papers

Forget my face. I belong in London. Forget my name and take this as goodbye. No, I will not put a fight, my will for living has died. I've been living a lie. I am a lie. I'm trite and cheap. I have five dollars and a couple coins with me. If I continue living a lie, then I might as well be paralyzed. Lies are truths never born. So when I board the plane take it as my rebirth. A twelve hour flight in the womb over lonely seas and if by chance this plane was to go down I'd curl up in my polyester seat and turn as white as a premature baby. But if luck goes my way I'll be delivered safely into England as healthy as a new born baby boy. The airport's bustling and my feet are moving faster than I'm thinking. Through heavy metal doors I step into the streets slick with rain. As I smell the cool air, my lungs transpire London. With each sense intruiged I'm reborn and anxious for what comes next. I'm as healthy as I've ever been, I'm alive as Las Vegas night-life and it's only ten AM. Alone I walk down a road with green scenery. A sky so plain and trees so green. Arriving at the house I took for rent I've realized I'll never miss my bed. Too many nights it's caught my tears and it's caving in from memories of you and me. A new bed will provide new comfort in a new city I'd like to call my home. Out in town I'm not a forienger, I'm like a local and I'm more light hearted than I've ever felt. It's been six months and I've seen Big Ben and I sat upon the London Eye where I met this beautiful boy. He was gentle as he told me his name and he took a seat next to me. On our 4th time revolving over the sea he'd asked me out for coffee. This boy was clever. As we reached our 3rd cup of coffee we sat and learned about eachother. As time when on each coffee kept us awake and we sat until the early morning talking about English history. The Virgin Queen was recognized and pilgrimage was condoned. We went through all of Shakespeares plays and recited our favorite lines.

Biography of Wyatt Earp :: essays research papers

Wyatt Earp was born in Monmouth, Illinois Monday, March 19, 1848 and died Friday January 13, 1929 in Los Angeles, California of the flu. Wyatt Earp is mostly famous for his gun fight at the OK Corral in Tombstone, Arizona 1881. But, there are more interesting facts about his life and you will hear them today. In 1876 Wyatt Earp was hired as an assistant Marshall in Dodge City, Kansas, one of the worst places in America at the time. In Dodge City daylight muggings and nighttime shootings were an everyday thing. When Wyatt became a lawman there he was able to stop the crimes without killing anybody, he put them in jail. One of his techniques was called ?buffaloing? where he would knock a criminal on the head with his favorite weapon, the Colt 45. In 1878 Wyatt met Doc Holliday. They became friends when Doc shot a man who was aiming at Wyatt?s back. Doc was also involved in the battle at the OK Corral. Doc suffered from Tuberculosis and went from 200 pounds to 122 pounds in the year after the gunfight. He died in 1883. The gunfight at the ok Corral started and ended in thirty violent seconds, but, it must have felt like thirty minutes to the fighters. Eight people were ready to fight. On one side were Wyatt, his brothers and Doc Holliday. On the other side were the Clantons and their gang of Cowboys (horse thieves and cattle rustlers of the time). They all had no intention of being disarmed. Frank McLaury, a Cowboy, had the best aim of the group. He was shot by Wyatt and was the first to die. Everybody started fighting. In the end, almost all the cowboys died, Ike Clanton begged for his life and was thrown in jail. Morgan Earp was shot in the shoulder. Virgil Earp was shot in the leg. Doc was shot in the hip. Only Wyatt came out unharmed.

Nick Carraways Epiphany in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby Essa

Nick’s Epiphany in The Great Gatsby A soft breeze lifts off the Sound and brushes Nick Carraway’s face as he emerges from the shadows into the moonlight. His eyes first gaze across the bay to the house of Tom and Daisy where Nick sees past the walls to people who â€Å"...smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back to their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together...† (Fitzgerald: 187- 188). Nick’s head then turns to his side where he views Gatsby’ s mansion. His heart swells for the man who was unable to let go of the past, and move toward his future. With the two houses juxtaposed in his mind’s eye, Nick ponders his experiences in the East, and enters the car to take him home with a new perspective on life. Nick’s maturity becomes evident as his perspective of society becomes more realistic as a result of his observing the consequences which occur in unhealthy relationships. Nick observes many relationships during his stay in New York, and looks upon these relationships with a perceptive eye. He sees that relationships which lack mutual feelings are destined for failure. Nick watches as Tom Buchanan meets with his mistress, Myrtle, and Nick notices the disparity in the respect that Tom and Myrtle have for each other. Myrtle appears to follow Tom’ s each and every demand, as if she were at the end of a tightly held rope, which Nick compares to the â€Å"...small expensive dog leash made of leather and braided silver† (166) which was found in Myrtle’ s drawer at her house. Myrtle’ s leash, one that could be used to control and manipulate every action of a person’s pet, is representative of Myrtle’ s willingness to subordinate her will to accommodate Tom’s demands. Myrtle’ s absolute de... ...e Novel, The   Critics, The Background.   Ed. Henry D. Piper.   Charles Schribner's Sons, New York: 1970. Fitzgerald, F. Scott.   The Great Gatsby.   Simon and Schuster Inc., New York: 1991. Hooper, Osman C.   "Fitzgerald's ‘The Great Gatsby'," The Critical Reputation of F. Scott   Fitzgerald.   Article A353.   Ed. Jackson Bryer.   Archon Books, Maryland: 1967. Samuels, Charles T.   "The Greatness of ‘Gatsby'." Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby: The Novel,   The Critics, The Background.   Ed. Henry D. Piper. Charles Schribner's Sons, New York: 1970. Trask, David F.   "The End of the American Dream," Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby: The Novel, The Critics, The Background.   Ed. Henry D. Piper. Charles Schribner's Sons, New York: 1970. Trilling, Lionel. "F. Scott Fitzgerald." Critical Essays on Scott Fitzgerald's "Great Gatsby." Ed. Scott Donaldson. Boston: Hall, 1984. 13-20.

Ways Language To Create Meaning In Dubliners English Literature Essay

The cliches meaning and value as cliche depends on our acknowledging both its perfect imitation, its exact repeat, of the old happenings of its ain words ( to be a cliche , it must be quotable word for word ) and its difference from other possible words that could replace it[ 1 ] Harold F. Mosher Jr defines the importance of cliches and the importance of repeat in a similar manner. He highlights the importance of cliches to ‘perfectly copy ‘ predating events through the usage of repeat. The utilizations of repeat and the significance of words and phrases to copy these predating events will be explored in this essay. The subject of flight is shown in assorted narratives in Dubliners. In ‘The Sisters ‘ , the priest foresees he is ‘not long for this universe ‘ and this persists in Eliza ‘s statement: ‘he ‘s gone to a better universe ‘ and the male childs uncle ‘s recollection that the priest ‘had a great wish ‘ for the male child. In ‘The Dead ‘ , Gabriel wants to go forth ‘on his journey due west ‘ . The repeat of the noun ‘world ‘ suggests an alternate universe the characters wish they can get away to when they die. This alternate universe can be seen as Eden, which the priest ‘wishes ‘ for the male child through priesthood in ‘The Sisters ‘ . The noun ‘journey ‘ in ‘The Dead ‘ may be interpreted to intend a ‘journey ‘ in the way of decease. Escape through matrimony is satirised in ‘A Small Cloud ‘ by Gallaher ‘s statement to Chandler for holding ‘tasted the joys of continual cloud nine ‘ . Gallaher ‘s statement is sarcastic as his passion in life is clear in his comment: ‘I mean to get married money ‘ . The vowel rhyme in this short sentence makes it memorable. Gallaher advises Chandler to ‘go away ‘ ‘to London or Paris ‘ . Here, the flight is non to an alternate universe but to another portion of the universe where he can review and happen amusement in the ‘Moulin Rouge ‘ or ‘Bohemian coffeehouse ‘ . However, Chandler does non experience comfy in come ining Corless ‘s saloon as he feels an ‘agitation ‘ about ‘overmaster [ ing ] ‘ him for the ‘adventure of run intoing Gallaher ‘ or to ‘escape from his small house ‘ or ‘to unrecorded courageously like Gallaher. Ã¢â‚¬Ë œ The contrast of the adjectives ‘little ‘ and ‘bravely ‘ reflect the difference of provinces of head of the two characters. Chandler views himself as ‘little ‘ look up toing Gallaher ‘s bravery but feels ‘agitation ‘ because of the ‘adventure ‘ . This agitation reveals the battle a individual must see in order to get away the province they are in. Irony is shown in Chandler ‘s flight to London with ‘his travelled air, his well-cut tweed suit and unafraid speech pattern ‘ in contrast to the ‘signs of future illustriousness ‘ through his imbibing and borrowing money. The positive linguistic communication ‘well-cut ‘ ‘fearless ‘ and ‘greatness ‘ creates a dark tone to the narrative as the contrast highlights the darkness of his province. One of the most prevailing and well-known motives in Dubliners is the empty promise of flight with its subsequent defeat. Though this motive is frequently repeated in many different signifiers, the act of get awaying the Dublin status in an effort to alter one ‘s life is rarely, if of all time, accomplished by the chief characters. ( Bosinelli and Mosher, p54 ) Irony is besides shown in the cultural cliche ‘s in Dubliners. Gallagher ‘s advice to Chandler to get away ennui is through ‘rich Jewesses ‘ in the signifier of ‘dark Oriental eyesaˆÂ ¦fullaˆÂ ¦of passion, of juicy hankering ‘ . The attractive adult female at the saloon in ‘Counterparts ‘ has ‘large dark brown eyes ‘ and Micheal Furey in ‘The Dead ‘ has ‘big dark eyes ‘ . The perennial adjectival ‘dark ‘ emphasises the enigma of ‘Oriental ‘ adult females and ‘big ‘ is besides repeated to reflect the size of difference between the metropolis of Dublin and the flight of an ‘Oriental ‘ topographic point, off from Dublin. The words ‘full ‘ and ‘passion ‘ contrast the empty, passionless life Chandler lives and its attractive force is further emphasised by his ‘longing ‘ for a ‘voluptuous ‘ adult female . Besides, it is dry Chandler wishes his name was more ‘Irish-looking ‘ or if he could do a ‘melancholy tone ‘ or ‘The Gaelic note ‘ which is repeated, but admires the English poet, Lord Byron ‘s verse form ‘ ‘Hushed are the winds'-whose romantic melancholy and linguistic communication have surely become cliches in early twentieth-century Dublin. ‘ ( Bosinelli and Mosher p.56 ) Assorted subjects in Dubliners show cliched linguistic communication. The subject of faith is shown in ‘The Sisters ‘ : ‘God have mercy on his psyche ‘ and ‘he ‘s gone to a better universe ‘ . God is believed to be merciful for the psyche of the dead and the ‘better universe ‘ refers to heaven. The subject of money is shown in different manners in ‘After the Race ‘ : ‘to drama fast and loose ‘ and ‘pots of money ‘ . To play ‘fast and loose ‘ refers to the insignificance of losing money as it is done with velocity and without vacillation while the high significance of money is shown by the sum described through the hyperbole ‘pots ‘ . The subject of drink is shown in different ways in ‘Counterparts ‘ : ‘naming their toxicants ‘ and ‘one small tincture ‘ Drink is shown as ‘poison ‘ which is deadly to a human organic structure but it is contrasted with the undistinguished ‘little tincture ‘ shown in another portion of the narrative. The action in the narratives mirror well-known cliches. In ‘An Encounter, ‘ the male child ‘s fancy for the coloring material green articulation with the empty field mirrors the phrase ‘greener grazing lands over yonder. ‘ In ‘After the Race, ‘ Jimmy ‘s hard place in the back place of the auto and his eventual persecution reflects the look ‘to be taken for a drive. ‘ In ‘The Boarding House, ‘ seductive Polly and persecuted Mr. Doran ‘s prevarication in bed implies ‘you ‘ve made your bed ; now lie in it. ‘ In ‘A Painful Case, ‘ Mr. Duffy ‘s delayed guilt for enduring the loss of Mrs. Sinico might be thought to be an dry dramatisation of the cliched phrase ‘absence makes the bosom grow fonder. ‘ The exasperation of Mrs. Kearney at the terminal of ‘A Mother ‘ could be the dry effect of the stating ‘mother knows best. ‘ ‘The more one thinks of the action of the narratives, the more easy cliches come to mind, merely as the more closely one examines the text of Dubliners, the more apparent go the cliches. ‘ ( Bosinelli and Mosher, p.56 ) The rubric ‘A Little Cloud ‘ is connected to the cliche ‘every cloud has a Ag liner ‘ . This ‘silver run alonging ‘ represents hope of flight of the province Chandler is in by going every bit celebrated as a poet. The word ‘silver ‘ indicates money. The sarcasm of both Chandler ‘s and Gallaher ‘s state of affairss is truly a perennial sarcasm as the significance of the cliche evolves into a dual sarcasm from what appears to be an original metaphor, to the empty cliche , to a new significance created by the cliche become metaphor in its context. ( Bosinelli and Mosher, p.57 ) Therefore, the significance of cliche ‘s enhances the readers apprehension of the action of the narratives which reflect mundane life. We learn of Chandler ‘s character that he is a down pessimist: He watched the scene and idea of life ; and ( as ever happened when he thought of life ) he became sad. A soft melancholy took ownership of him. He felt how useless it was to fight against luck, this being the load of wisdom which the ages had bequeathed him. The image of Chandler watching the scene and reflecting brings a arrest to the action of the narrative. The words ‘always ‘ and ‘ages ‘ imply his depression is insistent merely as the look ‘thought of life ‘ is repeated. The adjectival ‘sad ‘ is besides repeated through the adjectival ‘melancholy ‘ to underscore his life ‘s dull modus operandi. The adjectival ‘gentle ‘ is dry as his ‘melancholy ‘ is rough because it takes ‘possession of him ‘ . The noun ‘possession ‘ is striking as it implies his province of depression takes entire control over him and the uninterrupted depression is hard to interrupt out of as he feels how ‘useless it was to fight against luck ‘ . The noun ‘wisdom ‘ is satirised as it is normally understood that wisdom is helpful in life but in his instance it is a ‘burden ‘ . On the other manus, Chandler ‘s character can be seen as optimistic at times. Chandler says about his authorship that it is ‘a melancholy tempered by returns of religion and surrender and simple joy ‘ . His unhappiness is toned down by positive emotions such as ‘faith ‘ and ‘joy ‘ . The adjectival ‘melancholy ‘ is repeated three times in the same paragraph and twice at the terminal of the narrative when Chandler reflects on Byron ‘s poesy. However, when Chandler hears the kid ‘s weeping, his pessimism returns. The word ‘useless ‘ is repeated three times in three lines and the statement ‘He was a captive for life ‘ is flooring. Chandler ‘s idea turns from desperation to a hope in authorship and back once more to desperation, but throughout, banal linguistic communication and repeat render his committedness to any stance unconvincing. This ultimate deficiency of dedication is the increase of significance that the permeant cliche and repeat spread in retrospect, if non at first, over all the action. The drawn-out metaphor of desperation is shown through the repeating deficiency of assurance in Chandler. His imbalanced province is revealed in this uninterrupted cliched rhythm of hope, deficiency of hope so trust once more. There is a dual sarcasm in Gallaher ‘s assorted mentalities. He uses cliched linguistic communication: ‘I ‘m traveling to hold my crack foremost and see a spot of life and the universe before I put my caput in the poke ‘ . The sarcasm is shown when Gallaher repeatedly congratulates Chandler for ‘putting his caput in the poke ‘ , guaranting Chandler that Gallaher ‘s ‘best wants ‘ are those of a ‘sincere friend ‘ . The look ‘head in the poke ‘ creates an image of suffocation- Gallaher ‘s metaphor for matrimony. Chandler ‘s state of affairs is mocked through Gallaher ‘s bogus ‘best wants ‘ . ‘Gallaher ‘s impermanent enthusiasm for ( Chandler ‘s ) married life is so made to look insincere by his naming that life ‘stale'aˆÂ ¦The words are filled with significance and so emptied by contradictory 1s or banal linguistic communication in one dry bend after a nother. ‘ ( Bosinelli and Mosher p.58 ) Cliched linguistic communication can be made undistinguished by dry irony. The subject of money takes a darker tone in Chandlers position. He calls the furniture ‘mean ‘ and ‘pretty ‘ connoting money is attractive but unkind. He repeats these adjectives in depicting his married woman ‘s eyes. Chandler ‘s emptiness is emphasised as he reads poetry more than writes it. Chandler ‘repeated lines to himself and this consoled him. ‘ The ‘repeated lines ‘ mirror the repeated ‘sobbing ‘ in the narrative through the equivalent word ‘cry ‘ and ‘scream ‘ and the adjectival ‘little ‘ is repeated in the rubric ‘A Little Cloud ‘ and Chandlers name has the label ‘Little ‘ . The adjective is besides repeated in ‘Ivy Day in the Committee Room ‘ 14 times. But Chandler ‘s name, we recall, carries with it the epithet ‘Little ‘ , and his littleness of spirit and achievement and defeated promise for the hereafter are reiterated like a chorus at the terminal of the narrative by the married woman ‘s application of the adjectival both literally and figuratively ( therefore in consequence duplicating the repeat ) to the little and unfortunate kid, making an dry comparing to the male parent. ( Bosinelli and Mosher, p. 59 ) Repeats of words carry significance of actual and nonliteral significances. There are repeats in Dubliners which have topical worth. For illustration, in ‘Counterparts ‘ , the subject of choler is transferred from ‘furiously ‘ to ‘furious ‘ to ‘Blast him ‘ to ‘rage ‘ , to ‘Blast it ‘ to ‘enraged ‘ to ‘revel in force ‘ to ‘bitter and violent ‘ and at the terminal ‘fury ‘ and ‘furiously ‘ . The short and long words create a musical balance with the sound of the words changing. The perennial adverb ‘furiously ‘ contrasts the short words ‘furious ‘ and ‘fury ‘ adding to the beat of the three syllable sentences ‘revel in force ‘ and ‘bitter and violent ‘ . The noun ‘thirst ‘ is besides repeated to reflect his imbibing wonts. Here, so, is a series of perennial words and equivalent word that turns back upon itself, leads nowhere, and as such is a metonymy for Farrington ‘s repetitive occupation and the barbarous disk shape of his life: he works at copying and recopying the same words in order to gain money to still his thirst ( that is, acquire rummy ) but is still thirsty ( that is, he does non acquire rummy ) and must get down all over once more the following twenty-four hours to copy in order to gain money in order to acquire rummy. ( Bosinelli and Mosher, p. 60 ) The repeat of words mirrors the characters insistent life style. The subject of choler connects to the subject of darkness as Farrington is described as ‘dark wine-coloured ‘ and the noun ‘darkness ‘ is repeated in the narrative. Darkness is shown in other narratives in Dubliners such as ‘The Sisters ‘ through the 'empty hearth ‘ . The apposition of ‘dark wine-coloured ‘ high spots the darkness of Farrington ‘s alcoholic job. Besides, the emptiness of the hearth in ‘The Sisters ‘ mirrors the darkness of the narrative. Harold F. Mosher Jr describes darkness ‘as a scene and general status in the universe of DublinersaˆÂ ¦ ‘ ( Bosinelli and Mosher, p.60 ) Again, the repeat of words mirrors the drawn-out metaphor which runs throughout Dubliners. The subject of visible radiation is shown in ‘The Dead ‘ as Gabriel ‘s ‘tender fires ‘ is repeated as ‘tender fire ‘ and ‘tender joy ‘ . Besides, Gabriel ‘s ‘dull fires of his lecherousness [ which ] began to turn angrily ‘ reverberations Farrington ‘s state of affairs as the ‘dull fire ‘ could be interpreted as alcohol- a fire he ‘lusts ‘ for which ‘grows angrily ‘ into a dull stoping. Light is shown in a different manner through the character of Gretta as she is described with ‘colour on her cheeks ‘ , ‘rich bronze of her hair ‘ and ‘shining ‘ eyes. Light is shown through the adjectives of the Sun such as ‘bronze ‘ and ‘shining ‘ . The images of light present new hope for their Gabriel and Gretta ‘s relation. Ironically, Gabriel moves from this visible radiation to the darkness outside to the muted visible radiation of the hotel room with his dull lecherousness and choler at the minute when, eventually, visible radiation in a nonliteral sense mornings on him about his relation to Gretta ( as visible radiation mornings partly on Jimmy in ‘After the Race ‘ after the dark of losing money. Subjects are repeated in different signifiers to reflect the state of affairs ‘s of the narratives. There are many contrasts in ‘A Little Cloud ‘ as Chandler feels ‘acutely the contrast between his ain life and his friend ‘s ‘ . Contrasts are besides seen in the scene of the narrative: ‘kindly aureate dust, ‘ ‘gentle melancholy ‘ and ‘golden sundown ‘ . The contrast ‘golden dust ‘ mirrors the apposition ‘dull fire ‘ seen in ‘The Dead ‘ . Here ‘kindly ‘ and ‘gentle ‘ brace away, as does the repeat of ‘golden, ‘ and therefore ‘dust, ‘ ‘melancholy, ‘ and ‘sunset ‘ associate with each other and with the other repeats of ‘melancholy ‘ later in the narrative as indexs of Chandler ‘s province of head and peculiarly of his attitude toward poesy and the possibility it offers for flight from his ‘sober unartistic life ‘ . ( Bosinelli and Mosher, p.61 ) The map of repeat and contrasts has topical significance to exhibit the characters aggravated state of affairs and the emphatic want to fly from their exasperation. The map of cliche ‘s augments the reader ‘s cognition of the action of the narratives which mirror day-to-day life. Cliched words can be made unimportant by dry irony. Repeats of words bear importance of factual and metaphorical significances. The repeat of words reflects the characters repeating life style.

Beowulf Paper Essay

â€Å"Time and again, foul things attacked me, lurking and stalking, but I lashed out, gave as good as I got with my sword. My flesh was not for feasting on, there would be no monsters gnawing and gloating over their banquet at the bottom of the sea. Instead, in the morning, mangled and sleeping the sleep of the sword, lay slopped and floated like the ocean’s leavings. From now on sailors would be safe, the deep-sea raids were over for good. Light came from the east, bright guarantee of God, and the waves went quiet; I could see headlands and buffeted cliffs. Often, for undaunted courage, fate spares the man it has not already marked. However it occurred, my sword had killed nine sea-monsters. Such night-dangers and hard ordeals I have never heard of nor of a man more desolate in surging waves. But worn out as I was, I survived, came through with my life. The ocean lifted and laid me ashore, I landed safe on the coast of Finland.† * Seamus Heaney, Beowulf: A new Transla tion, Lines 559-581 The epic poem, Beowulf, is an old classic hero tale. The author tells throughout the poem how Beowulf is an archetypal hero through different characteristics, good and bad combined. He usually portrays health, skill, consideration, honor, loyalty, respect and the quality of a protagonist, and then at times he also is an antagonist. He sticks to what the king asked him to do, and fought off Grendel, then he stayed around to fight off Grendel’s mother and the dragon to keep the town out of danger and terror, showing loyalty, honor, skill, respect, and health. But he was an antagonist when he taunted Grendel to get him to battle him. (Lines 301-709) He also showed consideration when he fought off Grendel’s mother after she wanted vengeance for Grendel (Lines 710-1007), and when he fought off the dragon (2211-2512). In the particular passage above Beowulf is perceived as Healthy, Skillful and Educated. He comes off as healthy because he says that he fought monsters time and time again, which requires a healthy system to uphold against the constant fighting. He comes off as Skillful because he said that no monsters were gloating over him at the bottom of the sea, instead he was lying on top of the sea, still living and then landed on shore. He also is skillful because he killed nine sea-monsters and protected the sailors from all of the sea monsters that they were once terrorized and killed by. Then Beowulf comes off as Educated because of all the sailors and men that passed through that part of the sea, he was the only one that had the education and skill to kill off the monsters that were dangerous and a hard ordeal. And it’s not only in this passage that the author shows that Beowulf is healthy, it’s all the way up until the very last battle where his health pretty much crashes and burns because he can’t withstand the wound. But even with all the good, Beowulf is also bad, he doesn’t have the best moral quality, being in a Christian poem. He boasts about how he killed Grendel, and still takes money from the people in the town even when they don’t have the most money in the world (Lines 1925-2210). Any person with any moral uphold wouldn’t accept the money, gold and horses from the town people and he wouldn’t boast about killing someone, he would boast that he protected the town from danger. The author successfully proved Beowulf to be the great hero he was said to be through his depiction of Beowulf as the skillful, educated epic hero and the way he told the story. Works Cited: Heaney, S. (n.d.). Beowulf: The New Translation.

Beneath and Beyond the Crisis of the Humanities Essay

Course review Introduction                   The primary focus of the humanities class was the exploration of the vast array of issues and topics, especially those related to the culture of humans. In particular, the course exposed the learners to knowledge of the world, and the ways in which the members of society have developed the knowledge and ideologies. The areas of study that were explored during the course of the class included: human history, the politics of society, the world as a whole, and the philosophies developed by different groups and communities (Hariton 178). The class also explored a variety of focal areas, including those used as social lenses for the fashioning of the phenomena studied during the course. The fields that were explored as the lenses used for studying the human world and culture include religion, the channels utilized for communication and the literatures that are used as vehicles of knowledge (Harpham 21).                   The class in humanities has demonstrated its importance for all students in many ways. Firstly, the exposure and knowledge communicated to the humanities’ class was an essential ingredient in widening the analytical abilities needed to navigate other subjects and areas of study. For example, as a scholar of the humanities, it became easier to operate efficiently, as a member of a multicultural team. The scope of the humanities course was important in expanding the skills of communication, both in the areas of written and oral exchange. Through the exposure and the dissection of different studies and phenomena, students were able to conceive the interconnectedness of various knowledge areas. Examples of the practical skills learned included the importance of communication in all other circles of society. The study of global corporations and cultures was very helpful (Harpham 32). The uses of the knowledge included that it fostered the understanding of the various perspectives and knowledge systems studied and encountered in school and society. Through the knowledge developed from other cultures and corporations, learners developed more appreciation for other cultures, their arts, and literature. These constructions are a significant aspect to develop a global understanding of society and its workings. The exposure gained from the humanities class increased the student’s abilities of engaging in value clarification, which deepens the knowledge and wisdom acquired. Examples of the skills learned included those of overcoming failures and difficulties, towards victory – from the information obtained from the lives, experiences of others, and groups. For example, many lessons came from the lives of historical people like Plato and politicians like Abraham Lincoln. More importantly, the class offered the platform needed to cultivate the exchange with great minds like Plato, among others.                   The exposure to the class changed my perspective in a variety of ways. The change of view and outlook, as we navigated through the class included that there is a unique aspect of the nature of all societies. However, the fundamentals of organizations are almost exact copies from one to another. During the beginning of the course, it was easy to reach unfounded conclusions about the Islamic world, from the nature of modernization insurgences. The unwarranted conclusions included that Islam was anti-modernization, due to the attention accorded to normative issues and religious principles. However, after learning about the plurality of societies, it became apparent that the west defined Islam using Western stereotypes and Islam also did the same. The outcomes included the radicalism expressed by people like Ayattulah Khumeini (Hariton 178). The willingness of the East to participate in the modernization has been evidenced by the development of multicultural metros, including Dubai among others. The experience and the dissection of the core of the problems and the criticism channeled against Islam made the topic in Islam a imperative revelation. The themes that appealed to my zeal for knowledge included the fundamentalism of the Islamic world, traditions, and social systems. The emergence of Islam-fashioned modernism is another area that calls for more personal study (Hariton 178). References Hariton, Leon. Humanities 101. Bloomington, IN: iUniverse LLC, 2013. Print. Harpham, Geoffrey. â€Å"Beneath and Beyond the Crisis of the Humanities.† New Literary History, 36 (2005): 21-36. Source document

How McDonalds use motivational theories Essay

To what extent do McDonalds use motivational theories to enhance the performance of their employees and hence increase efficiency/productivity? Are these methods effective? Introduction McDonalds is a large multinational company that supplies millions of people with fast food. It is important for them to ensure that the workforce they employ is working to their full potential. McDonalds are very customer/ market orientated. They depend on a reputation for customer service. If employees are not motivated then this will suffer. If workers aren’t motivated costs rise. E.g. training costs increase in proportion to staff turnover. â€Å"When an employee is given a task to do and it is not carried out satisfactorily, this failure may well be due to a lack of motivation, rather than a lack of ability†. With this in mind McDonalds must ensure that their workforce is motivated. Motivation can be linked to a number of factors such as pay, working hours, working environment etc. (see appendix p1 for full list). As well as these the corporate culture and management styles can play a part influencing the motivation of the employees. Well-motivated employees achieve more. They are more committed, vigorous and productive. Over the years various strategies for motivating employees have been developed. These are known as motivational theories. Many different and often contrasting theories have been put forward by a number of different theorists (see appendix p1, p2). I am going to look into the extent that McDonalds, Hertford, use these. Hypothesis/theories Employees who are poorly motivated often score badly on at least one of the factors influencing motivation: an undemanding job, unpleasant working conditions and low pay. (see appendix p1) A lack of motivation- either limited to one area or department, or spread throughout the firm- cause employee dissatisfaction. This results in a higher labour turnover leading to a waste of time and money (see appendix p2) increased incidents of absenteeism and/ or sickness, poor timekeeping, and more disputes between both formal and informal groups within the firm. Motivational problems are not easily overcome. Normally if one person in a whole workforce is unmotivated they will start moaning to the other employees. This can then cause the problems to spread as those that have heard the moaning may also start to moan (low motivation and moaning become contagious). The problems become very hard to stop dead. I feel that an organisation such as McDonalds will try to prevent them arising in the first place. Also according to V.H Room the greater the motivation of an employee the greater the chance of them performing a set task providing they have the ability. He put this into an equation: Performance = Ability x Motivation (people need the ability to do a task but they also need the motivation to do it) This equation leads me to think that McDonalds will use a lot of motivational theories as the equation shows that motivation is a very important factor influencing a person’s performance so McDonalds will try to increase it in as many ways as they possible can. Method Primary research To find the information that I needed I constructed a questionnaire table that gave me a lot of information in as little a time as possible. One table told me what McDonalds were doing to motivate the staff and which of these motivation techniques they found effective. (See appendix for method on the  questionnaire and data collection) Secondary research I used data collected by the key skills group in my year. They constructed a questionnaire to pupils in year twelve to find out â€Å"what factors motivate them in their paid work and how this information could be useful to employers†. Then I took particular questions from this for my work and they gave me the results for these. The questions that I used were 5,6 and 7. (See appendix for copy of this questionnaire Pages 6,7). This was relevant to me as some of the question lead to answers that could be related to motivational theories and motivation in general. Analysis The results collected showed that McDonalds used a lot of factors to motivate their workforce and the results showed that the factors the employees found the most important in motivating them were the ones that McDonalds had satisfied well. (The results table in the appendix p4,p5 shows this where the two columns both have the number three in them) It seems that rather than use one single motivational theory McDonalds have taken all of them and tried to combine as shown on the bottom of the back page in the appendix where I have linked factors from my questionnaire table to specific theories. (See appendix p5 for evidence) McDonalds has a democratic leadership style and a task culture (see appendix for definitions/explanations p1) both of which are associated with McGregors theory Y worker (see McGregor in the appendix p1). This increases motivation according to the survey that was carried out by the key skill group. (See appendix p8 for results proving this) There is group working associated with Elton Mayo yet there is a performance related pay scheme that would be linked to F.W Taylor. They have even taken into account the work done by Fredrick Hertzberg which says that an  employees needs can be put broadly into two categories of motivators and Hygiene factors (see appendix p1 Hertzberg). He says that although hygiene factors should be present- motivation falls if they are ignored- they themselves do not motivate employees. His theory suggests that managers must provide motivators in the form of job enrichment and job rotation schemes. As you can see from the table of results (appendix p5) McDonalds staff have said that this is important to them and have said that job rotation schemes have been used and used well. The Questionnaire that the key skills group constructed showed that most of the students were given training in their job and that the vast majority thought that they should have been trained. It is suggested that if proper training were given it would motivate the employees. However I feel that whether an employee is given training or not is better linked to Hertzberg’s motivators and hygiene factors because he says that a hygiene factor alone will not motivate a person however if the factor is neglected then it will cause a lack of motivation. This seems to be the case with training as shown by Question 6 of the key skill questionnaire. Evaluation My prediction that McDonalds would use a lot of motivational theories seems to be correct, as they do not just use one of the theories they have integrated all of them And they have a democratic leadership style. However despite all this they still have quite a lot of labour turnover. â€Å"We do everything we can to ensure that the staff are motivated. We give them proper training and a 4 week trial period yet myself and my colleagues still find ourselves short due to employees not staying with us for that long† said the store manager when I was conducting my research. One view (a) could that this could be down to the fact that most of the employees are young and still at school, college or university. Therefore they may quit the job when they have to start revising for exams, when they go home from their universities or when they finish school and go in search of a permanent higher paid job or career. All of this leads to higher recruitment and training costs. Showing that although the staff they have stated they are motivated they are still losing employees thus showing that they are not being as efficient as they would like. They are making their employees more productive and efficient but are not being efficient in keeping them. (See problems of labour turnover in the appendix p2). Another view (b) could be that staff do not see McDonalds offering a long term career. Alternative jobs are available to the staff and the pay is about the same (Evidence from results of Q5 in the key skills survey). This indicates that their staff retention problems are more likely down to the factors outlined in view (a) above. Conclusion From the data collected I can conclude that McDonalds in Hertford uses motivational theories to a very large extent. My research showed that they have tried to take all of the theories, put together by all of the theorists, and combine them as well as adopting a democratic leadership to make sure that they benefit from a hard working, motivated and therefore productive workforce. The company appears to have the correct type of management as the results of the key skills survey question 7 (See appendix p8) suggests that the workers are McGregors theory Y workers (appendix McGregor p1) I feel that the company is being effective in motivating the employees and my research proves this. This shows that they are using all of the motivational theories to their advantage shown in the appendix where the motivational factors are linked to theory. One of the reasons for motivating the workforce was to increase productivity and I think that they have done this as my questionnaire showed that the employees were motivated. This motivation will increase their productivity and performance according to the manager and V.H Rooms equation. (See appendix p2) I conclude that McDonalds have increased their efficiency to a small extent just by increasing staff productivity because if each worker is producing faster then they are cutting costs in the form of time. However my research showed that McDonalds, Hertford, are not being as efficient as possible as they are still suffering from labour turnover but this may be nothing to do with lack of motivation but simply that the predominantly young staff do not regard it as long term employment option although they do tend to be employed for 1 to 2 years as part time staff.