Blindness by Jose Saramago

If an attempt is made to describe Jose Saramago’s Blindness in a single sentence, it will be justified to say that the novel is a product of the author’s extraordinary vision. Primarily an allegorical piece of fiction, Blindness is a literary masterpiece in terms of its subtle delineation of ironic humor and bleakness of existence. Numerous thematic constructs are interwoven into the plot of the novel. Post-modern literary techniques such as long sentences without punctuation marks, indefinite usage of proper nouns and so on are incorporated for illustrating the themes adequately.The haunting prose style is beautifully supplemented by the sparse imageries of man’s worst appetites and weaknesses. The socialistic approach to the novel is as significant as the internal representations. This essay is going to elaborate on the arguments that connect the thematic devices of the novel. It might be noted that there are quite a few themes to be taken within the periphery of discussion in order to substantiate the author’s argumentative claims and subclaims.As the novel nears its end, one of the characters remark during the process of getting his vision back: â€Å"I don't think we did go blind, I think we are blind, Blind but seeing, Blind people who can see, but do not see. † (Saramago 292) This statement highlights the political and philosophical essence of the novel. The story of Blindness centers round a nightmarish vision of disorientation and loss. A city the identity of which is kept undisclosed is struck by a sudden epidemic, leaving its inmates blind. Nobody is able to find any apparent reason behind such a contagion.The general tenor of panic and disorientation triggers a social breakdown. The camps set up by the civic administrative body to cater to the disaster are ill-governed. A sense of hopelessness and loss of direction runs through each individual’s psyche. In the wake of the epidemic, the initial government res ponse involves setting up of large quarantine areas to accommodate the infected people. However, the filthy and overcrowded centers turn out to be grossly unhygienic to stand any chance of the inmates recovering. Soon, living conditions deteriorate rapidly, spreading a wave of nervousness and anxiety outside.As far as the thematic significance is concerned, this anxiety plays a steering role through the length of the novel. Anxiety over inadequacy of food and medicine, anxiety over future and last but not the least, anxiety over administrative laxity collectively bring out the central theme of Blindness – of social system failure and mankind’s inane incapacity to care for strangers. As Bob Corbett points out, â€Å"How are we to imagine a world in which some central part of our meaning system suddenly disappears? † (Corbett 1997) A summoning of horror in the uncertain context of the twentieth century is what Saramago pens down in the novel.The disappearance of t his central part can be understood right from the opening chapter when a man stuck in the traffic light loses his vision. The oxymoronic element present here is quite significant. The fact that this man loses his sight while standing in the traffic light and not in any dark corridor sums up the bitter irony of situation. The following course of events, all in a swift motion, underlines humankind’s perpetual struggle to cope with unexpected changes in habitual infrastructures. As soon as the first man goes blind, a series of misfortunes befalls the city. The person who takes him to an eye doctor also goes blind.The entire plot is unfolded around the doctor and his wife, who eventually suffers the same fate as of others. The mysterious blindness doesn’t spare anybody in the unnamed city. A horrifying vision of the apocalypse, like in William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, can be felt at every turn of a city that has gone berserk. The government’s disorganized attempt to restore sanity into proceedings falls short of its intended result as a gang of opportunists assume control of the chaotic surroundings. The political turmoil is juxtaposed against the psychological despair to address the theme of unexpected changes in known order.In fact Saramago is well known for coalescing myth, fiction and history in his works in order to depict abrupt changes. The setting of Blindness allows the readers to embark on a timeless voyage back to the mysterious historical times associated with myths and legends. Modern technological advancements have been satirized by the author to undermine their inadequacy in dealing with unexpected blows: â€Å"[There] must be some mechanical fault, a loose accelerator pedal, a gear lever that has struck,† but none of these technical problems are the cause of the car's prolonged halt.The driver inside starts shouting and â€Å"to judge by the movement of his mouth he appears to be repeating some words, not one word but three, as turns out to be the case when someone finally manages to open the door, I am blind. † (Saramago 1) A group of central characters in Blindness, united as a family in the wake of such an unprecedented disaster, play a crucial role. The characterization is done in a deliberate manner to serve the purpose of the plot. In other words, the storyline doesn’t discriminate between characters that are common in one aspect – they are all blind.The doctor, his wife, the girl with dark glasses, the boy with the squint, the man with the black eye patch and the dog of tears are representative of the small world of struggling survivors in the face of seemingly incurable adversity. It is worth spotting that none of these characters has been given any proper name by the novelist. Blindness doesn’t need any nomenclature – this is perhaps the argument Saramago wants to advocate. They are called according to their position in the society and relation with each other.The literary device deployed by Saramago to support his argument behind characterization involves continuous sentence structuring. Some of the sentences run half the length of a page, without any hyphenation or semi colon. Only commas and periods are used sparsely: â€Å"The amber light came on. Two of the cars ahead accelerated before the red light appeared. At the pedestrian crossing the sign of a green man lit up. The people who were waiting began to cross the road, stepping on the white stripes painted on the black surface of the asphalt, there is nothing less like a zebra, however, that is what it is called.The motorists kept an impatient foot on the clutch, leaving their cars at the ready, advancing, retreating like nervous horses that can sense the whiplash about to be inflicted. The pedestrians have just finished crossing but the sign allowing the cars to go will be delayed for some seconds, some people maintain that this delay, while apparently so insignif icant, has only to be multiplied by the thousands of traffic lights that†¦ †. (Saramago 3) Such writing style may immediately recall the stream-of-consciousness technique which is prolifically used in James Joyce’s masterpiece Ulysses.Separated by almost a century with regards to dates of publication, there isn’t much difference in the treatment of themes between these two novels. This technique is normally adopted to do away with editing of thought processes as the writer writes. In Blindness, the apparent mystery of the situation and the resultant uncertainties require a technique or writing style that can conform to the inner vacuum the characters feel while expressing their thoughts. At the same time, the narrative must also synchronize with the dialogues. Hence, quotation is non-existent in Blindness.Speeches merge onto one another in a continual maze of words. As a reader, one feels how difficult it is to broaden the viewpoint of observation. As if, a blind spot is generated in the actual reading of the novel, which puts interpretive constraints. As some critics have argued, Saramago’s profuse adaptation of allegorical means may have been inspired by his intent to emphasize more on human factors than on fatalistic elements. Although there are a few distinctive references to the contemporary technological aspects, Blindness doesn’t specify any timeframe.Readers are not given any clear perception about the time the novel portrays. Thus, Blindness reflects a universality of creation, a ubiquitous presence upon human realms of perception. However, there are a few speculations made regarding the probable cultural setting of the novel. Tracing the nature of language spoken by the characters and their food habits, it has been argued that the country shown in the novel is likely to be Saramago’s homeland Portugal. The theme of timelessness is relevant in more than just one aspect of this discussion.As is the case wit h Albert Camus’ The Plague, Blindness too is a novel which symbolically represents a widespread affliction, regardless of space or time. The predicament of humanity in the midst of social, political and ethical degeneration is not a theme that should not be kept bound under a constrained timeframe or spatial margin. Moreover, the way a group of people start fishing in troubled waters, exploiting the helpless condition of others, goes beyond the borderline of time and geographic barriers, echoing the universality of man’s futile but stubborn attempt to cope with disasters.Apart from Albert Camus’ The Plague and Jose Saramago’s Blindness, John Wyndham’s The Day of the Triffids and P. D. James’ The Children of Men also showcase characteristics of human nature as they emerge in a crisis situation marked by rapid and uncontrollable epidemics. Blindness, however, is distinguishable from other novels in one crucial aspect. It reflects the deep-seat ed humanity of those who are compelled to depend on each other for the sake of survival.This yearning for survival doesn’t seem to fit the category of existentialism or other post-modern philosophical doctrines since it is hampered by the loss of external senses of vision. So the vision must come from within. The message of hope in a situation which is least congenial to breeding of hope is conveyed through the character of doctor’s wife. She is the only person who manages to regain sight. When she and other group members flee from the asylum, the plot takes a turn toward the recreation of a world which is not robbed of all hopes.Since she has vision, she can at least guide her companions in finding food and shelter. The argument Saramago’s seeks to put forth through this episode involves that of restoration of orderliness in a world which is blind. It might be noted, however, that only physical blindness is not the construct of the proposed argument. The spirit ual blindness associated with chaos, opportunism and moral degradation is the fundamental base upon which the plot is built. As mentioned earlier, when the central system starts malfunctioning, human beings tend to cling onto each other in search of a helping hand.A sudden change in the known world makes for a total loss of faith and triggers disorientation in the society. Doctor’s wife metaphorically symbolizes the dependable constant around which other variables revolve. But what does Jose Saramago want to tell in Blindness, especially through the thematic inclusion of ‘one person who is not blind’? Since the novel is widely accepted as an allegory, the question remains: It is an allegory of what? Finding a plausible answer to the question stated above is not an easy task in that multiple layers of interpretation can be made to it.The main problem with an allegorical novel such as Blindness is that it accords too much freedom to the reader. It grants the room f or too many interpretations. On one hand, the allegorical literary device helps reveal the basic needs of a social system – the need for food, shelter and most importantly, for fraternity. Hence the thematic concept of allegory refers to the interdependency of individuals within a system which threatens to go astray. But despite this interpretation, Blindness can be approached from a different viewpoint as well.The novel can be studied as an allegory of human damnation. The novelist criticizes the so-called established norms of civilization in a staunch manner. He observes how human beings, when pitted against a failing central system of order, can indulge in brutal acts of cruelty among one another. This is manifested in the events occurring at quarantine centers where no law and order exists whatsoever. Even the military takes an indifferent stance and refuses to supply basic medication. Consequently, a simple infection assumes a deathly proportion, destroying the lives of many.Timely food deliveries are hindered due to the illegal intervention of a gang of opportunists who unleash lethal torture on the hapless inmates. Thus the allegory of the novel can be explicated from a twofold perspective – firstly, it is a literary device which serves the purpose of underlying the fundamental social requirements for a smooth functioning, and secondly, it brings out the condemnable elements of a society devoid of any order or discipline. Corbett argues that the theory of allegory can also be done away with.Blindness can be seen as a masterful piece of author’s logical reasoning of a world which lacks imaginative sensibility. This point of view insists on interpreting the major themes of the novel from a matter-of-fact perspective. There is nothing beyond what is literally apparent. The logical qualities prompt the readers to investigate into a city’s condition when everyone except a single lady goes blind all on a sudden. The only sighted pe rson acts as a vehicle of hope and good fortune in a time when survival seems impossible.According to Corbett, this methodology of explanation is also applicable to two other novels of Saramago, The Gospel According to Jesus Christ and The Stone Raft. (Corbett 1997) The larger social picture painted by Blindness is of worth consideration. The collective physical loss of vision is used by the author as a metaphor for both ‘personal misfortune and social catastrophe’. (Snedeker 1997) The succession of events initiating from a single, odd instance of just one man getting blind while waiting at a traffic signal underscores the broader social context.As the entire population goes blind, the social system starts to crumble under pressure. Public health officials working under the aegis of the government panic and mayhem descend over the city. The disintegration of faith and reliability is apparent as soldiers guarding the asylum premises threaten to kill anyone who attempts t o flee. The disease of blindness is used metaphorically as a limitation from a personal context extending to collective domain. Finding themselves in a society which no longer functions as it should do, the blind men reach the breaking limits of despair and trauma.Due to lack of food and other essential commodities for a healthy survival, the general ways of living begin deteriorating rapidly. Taking a cue out of the broader social significance of blindness, one can critically observe that the metaphor is not restrained to any uni-dimensional mode of interpretation. If approached logically, the sudden onset of the epidemic is nothing but an unfortunate incident that befalls a city, making the lives of its dwellers difficult. So this explanation follows a ‘real’ course.But the symbolic implication becomes apparent when one takes into account the cultural impact of vision impairment that the author leaves ambiguous, arguably in an advertent manner. Hence, the epidemic, no matter whichever way the readers look at it, leads more to the notion of being a realistic literary device. An unnamed city, completely disintegrated by the sudden attack of an epidemic, struggles to combat not just the disease, but also the virtues that make up of human society.A small group of people, led by a woman, find themselves in the squalid and terrifying spectacle of people scrounging for food and shelter. Such visions present a bleak and dreary setting of a post-modern novel. The abrupt ending, nearly as shocking as the beginning itself, goes to show how Saramago eluded the enticement of telling more than what is already indicated. Hence, the construct of allegory, even though it can be discarded from a ‘realistic’ approach, comes back once again. As the blind community of the city gets their vision back, everything seems to fall in pace for the city.The veil of clouds is lifted over from a diseased and desperate existence of the city as if by some mysteriou s power, much to the relief of its inmates. It is apparent that the thematic constructs of change, human coping, the inevitability of disease and the undying spirit to overcome every adversity are extremely well manifested by the literary techniques adapted by the novelist in Blindness. This is particularly true in case of the profuse usage of long, unbroken sentences without too many punctuation marks.Moreover, the speeches without quotation too act as a potent literary device to represent the internal crisis of the characters. Again, the use of descriptive appellation in naming of characters is self-explanatory of its intended purpose. It establishes the interconnection between various characters who are mutually dependent on each other for the sake of surviving in a blind world that does not distinguish between masses. So it can be concluded that characterization, setting and plot work as a cohesive unit in perfect synchronization with the thematic aspects.It is virtually impossi ble to single out any particular argumentative theme if one attempts to focus on the novel in its entirety, especially if that focus takes into consideration the key literary devices. Works cited Saramago, Jose. Blindness: a novel. London: Harvill Press, 1997. Corbett, Bob. â€Å"BLINDNESS. † 1997. 10 March 2009 Snedeker, George. â€Å"BLINDNESS. † 1997. 10 March 2009

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Summarize the importance of a business impact analysis across the Assignment

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The relationship between internal and external customer service - Essay Example For instance, if the firm is a shoe production line, external customers are individuals that may include retailers and suppliers who enters the firm’s store and buys merchandise. On the converse, internal customers entail individuals or any member of the firm who depends on the assistance from others to accomplish her routine duties. They include individuals such as marketing and sales agents who needs help from a customer service envoy to place an order. Thus the internal customers ensure that the shoes produced are up to external customer’s satisfaction. Whilst, the external (buyers, suppliers, etc.) and internal customers (employees) may execute dissimilar roles; both customers are critical to the feasibility of an organisation. Traditionally, companies may have a natural propensity on only focus on the relationship with their external customers, since they are the ones that buy the firms products and services. However, it has become necessary of late and with increasing recognition of the need to give internal customers the same degree of reliance, for good internal customers’ relationship fosters a healthy working environment. Among the simple initiatives that an organisation can invoke in improving internal customer relations would include changing the culture in an organisation for all employees to think of fellow workers in the same manner as with external customers. The top management should always set an example by appreciating workers’ endeavours and encourage their criticism (PAWAR, n.d.). Such proactive initiatives are crucial to boosting employee’s morale and leading to the flourish of the business. Various relations experts have made commendable opinions of the significance of this relationship. The objective of this essay is decisively to appraise the role played by internal customer service in the delivery of external customer service excellence For few decades now up

Who Is Alan Turing Essay Example for Free

Who Is Alan Turing Essay Alan Turing (1912 1954) was a British mathematician, logician, and cryptographer considered by many to be the father of computer science. His contributions to breaking the German Nazi Enigma code during WWII were considered pivotal to the Allied war effort. Alan Turing formulated multiple ideas that now lie at the foundations of computer science and computability theory, such as the idea of a Turing machine or the Church-Turing thesis. Contributions  Computer designer In 1945, Turing was recruited to the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) in London to design and develop an electronic computer. His design for the Automatic Computing Engine (ACE) was the first relatively complete specification of an electronic stored-program general-purpose digital computer. Had Turing’s ACE been built as planned, it would have had considerably more memory than any of the other early computers, as well as being faster. However, his colleagues at NPL thought the engineering too difficult to attempt, and a much simpler machine was built, the Pilot Model ACE. In the end, NPL lost the race to build the world’s first working electronic stored-program digital computer—an honour that went to the Royal Society Computing Machine Laboratory at the University of Manchester in June 1948. Discouraged by the delays at NPL, Turing took up the deputy directorship of the Computing Machine Laboratory in that year (there was no director). His earlier theoretical concept of a universal Turing machine had been a fundamental influence on the Manchester computer project from its inception. Turing’s principal practical contribution after his arrival at Manchester was to design the programming system of the Ferranti Mark I, the world’s first commercially available electronic digital computer. Artificial intelligence pioneer Turing was a founding father of modern cognitive science and a leading early exponent of the hypothesis that the human brain is in large part a digital computing machine. He theorized that the cortex at birth is an â€Å"unorganised machine† that through â€Å"training† becomes organized â€Å"into a universal machine or something like it. † A pioneer of artificial intelligence, Turing proposed (1950) what subsequently became known as the Turing test as a criterion for whether a machine thinks.

Causes of conflict in romantic relationships

Causes of conflict in romantic relationships As long as people have gotten romantically involved with one another, there has been conflict within those relationships. Some people argue that conflict is bad for the relationship and will ultimately lead to the demise of that relationship. Others argue that the conflict is good for the relationship and will help it to flourish. Conflict can be both positive and negative for a relationship. It can both help and hinder the relationship. No matter what stage the relationship is in and whether or not the relationship is being helped or hurt, conflict is always happening in different contexts. Conflict is also caused by numerous reasons. These reasons include a lack of interpersonal communication skills, low levels of trust, physical abuse, an individuals past history in relationships, and many others. Not many people in the world can say that they have had a 100% successful romantic relationship. Looking at the high divorce rate in the United States can prove this. However, there are those couples that have remained together for numerous years. As I am sure that conflict played a big part in ending a large number of relationships, I am also sure that the successful relationships have had their fair share of conflict and have even been helped by that conflict. In this paper, I have constructed nine propositions relating conflict to certain behaviors within romantic relationships. Each one will be defined, summarized, and supported according to the available research. P1- Women that have been abused in the past are more likely to remain in an abusive relationship. Unfortunately, thousands of women are abused everyday in the United States. This abuse can be physical, verbal, or psychological. Women, by nature, seem to hold a higher sense of personal worth when involved in a relationship. From birth, women are taught by society to conform to certain expectations and definitions of what it means to be a female. Growing up, women always here phrases such as Thats not lady like or You should be treated like a lady. What does it mean to be a lady? According to most societies, it means that women are the weaker sex and are always in need of a man to take care of them. Men are taught, from birth, what it means to be a man. This definition is usually one of dominance and control. This is shown in phrases such as I am the man of the house. When a woman is abused earlier in life she is trained in that frame of mind that women are the conformists and men are the dictators. Violence by men is a major component of the larger social hierarchy of gender. (Woods, 1999, p. 481). The abuse in these relationships usually instills feelings of inferiority, which goes along with their societal learning from childhood. Not only does this abuse give feelings of inferiority but also feelings of shame which lead to a sense of obligation to conserve the relationship to the best of her ability. According to a study done by K.M.Landenburger (1988), most women in these instances gave up on themselves before they gave up on their partners. If giving up on themselves, the logical conclusion is that they will eventually see the abuse as a social norm and will expect that in future relationships, thus repeating the cycle over and over again. P2- Women who have had more sexual partners increase their likelihood of abuse in a romantic relationship. Again, in this proposition, abuse is defined as physical, verbal, or psychological. As in any situation, the more exposure that a person has to a certain element, the more risk is involved pertaining to that element. In this case, women who have more sexual partners are exposing themselves to a greater risk factor of being intimate with that one that will engage in some sort of abusive behavior. With the increased exposure to a number of intimate partners, there comes a decreased sense of control for the women involved in these relationships. (Neufeld, McNamara, Ertl, 1999). When a person loses their sense of control, they become vulnerable and susceptible to incidence of abuse. According to the Abusive Behavior Inventory, (Shephard and Campbell, 1992 shown in Neufield, McNamara, Ertl 1999) the instance of abuse with a high number of partners went up significannot ly in all aspects of the definition. However it seemed that the highest level of abuse occurred psychologically. The ABI also indicated that 5% of undergraduate females had over seven sexual partners in a six-month period. This group showed the highest incidence of abuse within those relationships. It seems to me that any people who expose themselves to a high number such as this are going to put themselves in a situation where the abuse would be expected, to an outside observer. P3- High levels of insecurity cause high levels of dependency on romantic relationships. Dependency is defined as the reliance of an individual on another person for the satisfaction of his/her needs. (Attridge, Berscheid, Sprecher, 1998). In this case, insecurity can be defined as relational meaning a person will have doubts and uncertainties about the relationship that he/she is in. Insecurity is a sign that a person is lacking a perceived need in their life. Insecurity would then be the counterpart of dependency as w person would be lacking something therefore depending on something else. This is explained as Theory views the degree to which a person is dependent on a specific relationship as a function, not only of the number and importance of the needs the relationship currently satisfies for the individual, but also as a function of the extent to which those needs cannot be satisfied by alternative means. (Attridge, Berscheid, Sprecher, 1998, p. 33). When a person believes both that a relationship fills specific needs and that there are a lack of alternatives to fulfilling those needs a greater level of dependence is going to occur. Different factors that may lead to insecurity include the appearance of another person that the partner appears to have an attraction to, or a perceived lack of interest from the partner. Whatever the cause for the insecurity, it seems to always lead to a further dependence on that relationship. The reason for this is a fear of losing the relationship, therefore resulting in a further need for the counterpart to preserve the relationship. P4- Women are more likely than men to want a higher level of closeness in a romantic relationship. Closeness in any relationship is important in order for the relationship to flourish. I believe that most people involved in romantic relationships feel this way and desire that closeness. However, it is my contention that women perceive that closeness as playing a much bigger role than men do. As previously stated in Proposition 1, men and women are taught different things about gender roles from the time they are born. Women are supposed to be the caretakers of the relationships and men are supposed to be the hunter and gatherers that are independent and dont need to always have that closeness. (Feeney, 1999). In regards to closeness in romantic relationships, the partner that is more likely to initiate conversation about issues affecting the relationship is more likely to be the one who puts more value on closeness. In contrast, the partner who puts less value on closeness is more likely to avoid these conversations. In a study done by Judith Feeney, 37 out of 72 couples that were interviewed revealed that there was a difference of opinion when it came to the issues of closeness and distance. This doesnt necessarily show that these women felt that the closeness factor was more important than the men did. As one man interviewed stated: She didnt seem to really want me to much of a part of her life. Because of that, because I hate being neglected, I tended to react by neglecting her. Like I was trying to find faults within her so I could make myself feel better. I was always trying to find faults with her. (cf. Feeney, 1999). This man clearly felt that closeness was more important to the relationship than his female counterpart. Despite this mans view on closeness, 26 out of the 37 that reported different ideas about closeness and distance, said that the female in the relationship held a higher view of importance on closeness than the man did in their romantic relationship. P5- People with a high level of distrust in their partners feelings towards them, are more likely to have unstable romantic relationships. All relationships need to be based on trust if they are going to succeed. If you dont trust the partner you are with or vice-versa, then that relationship will never have the strong foundation that relationships need in order to succeed. Distrust in a partners feelings will form an emotional barrier between the two participants that are involved with each other. This barrier will eventually become the main focus of the relationship thereby halting all opportunities to focus on other aspects of that relationship. (Simpson, Grich, Ickes, 1999). For example, if a man distrusts his significannot other, he may always ask if she is happy, or if anything is bothering her. She always says that she is happy and nothing is wrong, but she doesnt understand why he keeps asking. This eventually becomes more than an annoyance to her and she finally starts telling him to stop asking. The man then thinks that she is mad and has further distrust in her feelings. This whole scenario demonstrates how the focus shifts from the relationship to his constant distrust in her feelings. P6- People with low self-esteem are more likely to experience feelings of jealousy in romantic relationships. Jealousy is one of the most powerful and dangerous feelings when dealing with conflict within romantic relationships. (Guerrero, 1998). Jealousy can cause depression, distrust, and /or anger, all of which are very harmful to relationships. When one person in a relationship has a low level of self-esteem, that person has feelings of inadequacy about him/herself in some aspect of his life. The inadequacies that the person feels causes him/her to feel like his partner can get something from someone or something else that he/she cant give. (Guerrero, 1998). Therefore, when the partner shows interest in something else (e.g. another potential mate, a job, or a new found friend), the other half of that relationship is consumed with threatening feelings that his partner is getting something, that he/she perceives as something that he/she cant give, from a source outside of their relationship. These feelings will cause conflict within him/her as well as within the relationship. Because one person in the relationship has low self-esteem, he/she believes that he needs the relationship but his/her partner doesnt necessarily need him/her. (Attridge, Berscheid, Sprecher, 1998). This will also cause the person to feel threatened when he/she thinks that there is a potential threat to that security blanket. This threat will be shown in the form of jealousy. P7- Men who are controlling to their partners are more likely to become physically abusive. In many romantic relationships, one of the partners feels the need to be controlling. They usually do this by restricting their partners social interactions, monitoring their activities, and reducing their decision-making power. (Ehrensaft Vivian, 1999, p. 251). Men, by nature, have the need to feel that they are always in control. This is especially evident in romantic relationships. Some men however take it to the extreme. They feel the need to watch and control their partners every move. Sometimes this controlling behavior can turn into violent behavior. If a man, who is controlling, feels like he is losing that control, he will many times move to more extreme measures to gain that control back. A survey done on battered women showed that most women reported their partner to be controlling and restrictive before the physical abuse began. Furthermore, most battering men reported that before they became physically abusive to their intimate partners, they made excessive attempts to limit the independence, decision making power, and social networks of their partner, in some cases they even felt entitled to control them. (Ehrensaft Vivian, 1999, p. 253). P8- Couples that express empathy in conflict are more likely to develop a stable romantic relationship. When in conflict it is always important to express empathy in order for the conflict to be constructive. Empathy can be explained as having a basic understanding of what the other person is thinking and feeling. Empathy, in my opinion, is one of the key ingredients to having successful communication. It is seen as being so important in romantic relationships that people have developed empathy-training workshops for people involved in romantic relationships. Many scholars have reported that the two main components of empathy are listening and suspending ones own thoughts and feelings. (Long, Angera, Carter, Nakamoto, Kalso, 1999). Both of these components are essential to developing and maintaining a stable and healthy romantic relationship. Listening can be explained as a conscious attempt to listen to all information that a partner is trying to communicate to their counterpart. If one partner never listens to the other, it is impossible to know and understand what the other person is thinking or feeling unless that person is a mind reader. Without that willingness to listen it is therefor impossible to be empathic. Suspending ones own thoughts and feelings is of equal importance. A person cannot shown any signs of empathy if that person is overly focused upon his/her self. (Long, Angera, Carter, Nakamoto, Kalso, 1999, p. 236). For example if a woman is expressing her concerns to her male partner about his lack of interest in going to the ballet, it is impossible for the man to be empathic if he is only focused on how much he hates the ballet. This then leads to conflict. However, if the man understands her wants and puts his aside, it will show empathy and promote better levels of communication. This will in turn result in a more stable relationship. This can also work in the exact opposite context where the woman understands how much the man dislikes the ballet and puts her feelings aside. This to will develop better communication practice. P9- Men are more likely to withdraw from a serious discussion in a romantic relationship than women are. Men are always said to be the ones in the relationship who want to avoid conflict. This is why I believe that men are more likely to avoid serious discussions about the relationship with their partner. Most of the time when there is a conflict between a couple that is romantically involved with each other, it is the sign that there is a problem in some aspect of the relationship. Most men learn throughout life to be problem solvers. This comes to be a problem if the conflict or serious discussion involves a problem that the man is unable to solve. If this is the case, the man is more likely to withdraw from that serious discussion than the woman is. (Vogel, Wester, Heesacker, 1999). This male withdraw pattern can also be explained by the fact that women are many times seen as having less control in a relationship and are therefore looking to change it. This has to start by discussing the relationship. Males on the other hand are many times seen as having more control in the relationship and therefore less open to the idea of change. This starts by withdrawing from the discussion about the relationship. (Vogel, Wester, Heesacker, 1999). As you can see, conflict happens in all aspects of romantic relationships. Like I stated earlier in this paper, sometimes it is helpful such as the use of empathy. It is also sometimes hurtful as in the case where a more controlling male is more likely to become physically abusive. However, whether it is good or bad, it is unavoidable. In these nine propositions I have shown a small fraction of a small percent of the different contexts that conflicts can occur in romantic relationships. Whether or not you agree with my propositions, the main goal of this was to study them. As there will always be romantic relationships in existence, there will also be conflict within those relationships. If other conflicts are studied, it is conceivable that methods can be developed to make all conflicts within romantic relationships positive that will result in positive outcomes.

Developmental Psychology: Research Methods

Developmental Psychology: Research Methods BOTTE Christopher Louis Cellio Outline and evaluate the research methods employed by developmental psychologists. Developmental psychology is defined by Muir Slater(2003) as the discipline that attempts to describe and explain the changes that occur over time in thoughts, behavior, reasoning and functioning of an individual due to biological, individual and environmental influences. Any developmental psychologist, in its way to try to describe and explain the changes in an individual over time, need to find out what research design combined with research method will be best to gather information to be able to effectively carry its research. In the following paragraphs I will start by explaining the different research methods that are currently used by developmental psychologist. Lastly I will take some question asked by some psychologist from past studies that have been made and try to evaluate the research methods used in it. Research methods can be broken into two parts: qualitative research method and quantitative research method. The distinction between those two types of research methodologies is that qualitative methods are essentially used for exploratory researches, using unstructured or semi-structured techniques such as naturalistic observation and clinical interviews. Exploratory research, defined by Wikipedia is, â€Å"research conducted for a problem that has not been clearly defined.† The quantitative methods are used to quantify the gathered information by generating numeral data so that the data can be statistically used for description and interpretation of information from a large population. Structured observation, structured interviews and tests are some examples of quantitative research methods. As said in the preceding paragraphs, there are different types of research methods. Let us now outline and evaluate the different research methods by using past psychological studies so that we can see those research methods in a real context. Descriptive Methods It is in the human nature to observe others and to draw conclusion about their behaviour. We have to admit that we often judge people by their body language. In fact, scientist like psychologist also draw conclusion from people behaviours by observing them. There is a lot to learn just by observing people. The difference between a simple individual’s observation of an event and the observation of a psychologist is that, the scientific observation is done under precisely defined conditions, it is done systematically and objectively. In addition, the event they are observing is carefully recorded. As it is very difficult to study all behaviours and large population at a time, a representative sample of behaviour should be chosen accordingly to the study they are carrying. The sample should be as good as possible for the external validity of the study. External validity means the extent to which the findings from the observations can be generalized. Other than a good representative sample, psychologist have to choose a good time sampling as it enable psychologist to be exposed to the behaviour of interest at different period of the day. For instance, while observing a group of workers to assess their stress level (in work place), they should be observed for the whole day in order to generalize their findings. They cannot be observed only in the morning, where they are still fresh. Instead, they should be observed at different periods of the day or of the week, where under pressure of work, they express different behaviours. Another important factor to make a good observation is situation sampling. Situation sampling is choosing another sample, in another place and under different conditions and circumstances. Situation sampling enhances the external validity of the research findings. There are two distinct types of observation. One is naturalistic or direct observation. It can be both qualitative and quantitative research method. In this type of observation, the researcher is on field, observes and records (written) its subjects in their natural setting. The strength of this method is that, when observing on field the researcher can see the everyday behavior that the subjects expresses. The subject’s behaviours are not biased by the fact that they are being observed by the researcher because they do not know that they are being observed. The drawback is that the researcher is not in control of the situation, therefore he may fail to see the behaviour he is interested in. Also naturalistic observation is often time consuming. Example of naturalistic observation are work of (Farver Branstetter, 1994) in which they observed preschooler prosocial response to their peers’ distress. Another example is the study of (Matsumoto Willingham, 2006) where the observed athletes in their natural setting of an olympic judo competition. The second type of observation also can be both quantitative and qualitative research method. It is the structured observation. This kind of observation is done in laboratory setting, where the researcher reproduce as much as possible real life setting in order to facilitate the occurrence of the behaviour of interest. The laboratory is also set in a way in which every participants can equally display this desired behaviour. The advantages of this research method is that the experimenter can control the laboratory experiment to get the desirable behaviour from the subjects. The drawback is that, very often the subjects will show an admirable and unnatural behavior to impress the researcher because they know that they are being studied. Garner (2003) set a laboratory observation to study the emotional reactions, to harm that two-year-old children thought they had caused. Self-Reports There are three common types of self-report procedures that developmental researcher uses to ask research participants to give information on their perception, thought, abilities, feeling, attitudes and past experiences. These types of self-report methods can be relatively unstructured interviews such as clinical interviews to highly structured interviews and questionnaires. Clinical interview is a type of self-report method. The researcher, which is also the interviewer and the research participant engage in a conversation for a given period of time where the participant give his point of view of the subject in discussion. The advantages of this method is that the researcher can see the way the participant expresses its thought in its everyday life and also a lot of information can be gathered in a session. The disadvantages is that the participant can distort the way the use to think just to please the interviewer. Also when participants are asked questions about past events in their life, they do not remember things. In addition, as the clinical interview is based on conversation, one of the major problem that occurs is the fact that very often the participants has difficulty to put their thoughts into word. An example of clinical interview is the interview of Piaget to a 5-year-old child about dreams. (Piaget, 192611930, pp. 97-98) Structured interview can be both qualitative and quantitative research method in which each and every participants are ask the same set of question. It allows psychologist to gain time during the session as the questions are already prepared in advance. In this methods the psychologist has to prepare an interview schedule and has to stick to this schedule even if the participant is deviating from the focus of the interview. The questions set in the structured interview can be either open-ended or close-ended. The advantage is that this method is not time consuming as the questions are already pre-set but its drawback is that the answers that will result from the participants may still be affected by miscommunication of thought. Structured interview does not provide information in detail as clinical interview does. Questionnaires is a research method where a series of questions are asked for the purpose of obtaining information from respondent. It is considered as a written interview. Again, in this type of self-report interview the questions is set the same way for each participants/respondent. The outcome of this type of research may be very useful in statistical comparison. Questionnaire can be used for large populations at low cost and sometime this method can be quick if the questions asked are close ended. The limitations of this method is that it show little details about the respondents. Also, respondents may not be true in the expression of the feelings and thoughts even though questionnaires are confidential. Clinical or Case Study Method Case study method can provide a full range information on a subject. It is often used to study specific and interesting rare phenomena such as the case of Henry Gustav Molaison (Wikipedia 2015) who was an American memory disorder patient. This method analyses every event in the life the subject so as to give cues about how and why a subject is behaving like it is. Do women have better memories than men? Research suggest that women are better than men when there is a verbal material to remember. For example a list of words. Galea and Kimura (1993) did a laboratory experiment to test the hypothesis that woman have better memory than men. They tried to make an experiment to find if women were also better than men for remembering visual material. They showed the participants, women and men a series of simple and familiar images such as car, table and pen to remember. After that they had to recognise the remembered images in a second series of images. After the experiment, the results were in the advantage of the women. Indeed women remembered more images than men. But is this result true? It is not simple as that to interpret the results directly as they did. It is possible that the women encoded the simple images into simple words so that they were more likely to remember after. This experiment is not valid if the women stored the images as words. The experiment does not show that wome n are better than men in memorising simple images. Therefore we conclude that experiment should be done using specific methods. Do children think an object that is out of sight is out of mind? Jean Piaget is the pioneer of cognitive development in children. He started by observing children’s behaviours and study their responses to his questions. He therefore, develop his theoretical framework to show that every children pass through a series of cognitive stages. In each different stages, a new cognitive ability were acquired. One important milestone in his theory is the object permanence. Object permanence means knowing that when an object is out of sight does not mean out of existence. In the first stage of his theory, the sensorimotor stage starts from birth to the age of two. This stage is said to be the object concept. When doing the search A not B error test, children age around five months cease to search for an interesting object when the experimenter hid it. Piaget concluded that for the children the object has ceased to exist. For older children aged around nine months, they did search for the hidden object but made errors which he called place error, or AB error. The experiment procedure was like that, there were two cloth in front of the children. Let us name it cloth A and cloth B. The interesting object was shown to the child, then place under cloth A. The child successfully retrieved it. Just after the child has retrieved the object, the experimenter places the object under under cloth A and the child was able to retrieve the object again. Now the experimenter places the object under cloth B and this time the child ceases to search for the object. Piaget says that the 5 months old children cease to search because they lack cognitive abilities and they believe that when object disappears, it is just vanished and non-existent anymore. For the nine months old children, Piaget would argue that they have a better understanding of the world but the subjective, egocentrism perspective of the child dominates. How far can we rely on these observation made by Piaget? What are possible alternative explanation of such behaviour? Do children of five months really think that object cease to exist when they are out of their sight? A possible alternative explanation could be that five months children could not retrieve the object under the cloth because they lack motor skills to do it. They simply cannot hold themselves, they cannot bend forward and lift the cloth. If the reason that they do not search for the object when hidden is due to the lack of motor skills, then their cognition abilities has nothing to do with this experiment. Bower and Wishart (1982) did a laboratory experiment to test that 1 to 4 months children did not have object permanence. They tested if the heart rate of the children would rise when they saw an object disappear and then come back again. They hypotheses that if children age from 1 to 4 month did not have object permanence they would not react to the object when its reappears and their heart rate would not change. The result was that when the hidden object reappeared their heart rate did not rose. Therefore Bowen and Wishart concluded that the child had an expectation that the objec t was still there and did not disappeared. However, the moment when the object disappeared their heart rate rose showing their concern about the disappearance of the object. They have an understanding that the object is hidden by an obstacle (the cloth) but it is still there and eventually continues to exist. We have seen from the examples that one methods cannot fully explain some behaviours. Sometimes researcher should use different methods to get out the best from research. Criticism and critical evaluation of their methods and results help in getting reliable and valid research pieces. To conclude, the different methods works for specific event and time. The developmental psychologist should be careful when choosing their research method and designs. The psychologist in their way to describe and explain behaviour should ask themselves a good research question to correctly theorise their ideas and also they should take care of all variables that can interfere with their results. After the handling of those enumerated conditions, then their research results can be accepted and generalized. Reference list: Bower, T., Wishart, J. (1972). The effects of motor skill on object permanence.Cognition,1(2-3), 165-172. doi:10.1016/0010-0277(72)90017-0 Farver, J. M., Branstetter, W. H. (1994). Preschooler prosocial response to their peers distress.Developmental Psychology, 30,334-341. Galea, L., Kimura, D. (1993). Sex differences in route-learning.Personality And Individual Differences,14(1), 53-65. doi:10.1016/0191-8869(93)90174-2 Garner, P. (2003). Child and family correlates of toddlers emotional and behavioral responses to a mishap.Infant Mental Health Journal,24(6), 580-596. doi:10.1002/imhj.10076 Matsumoto, D., Willingham, B. (2006). The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat: Spontaneous expressions of medal winners of the 2004 Athens Olympic games.Journal Of Personality And Social Psychology,91(3), 568-581. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.91.3.568 Slater, A., Bremner, J. (2003).Introduction to developmental psychology. Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub. Wikipedia,. (2015).Henry Molaison. Retrieved 8 February 2015, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Molaison 1

Essay --

Autism spectrum disorders are considered to be some of the most serious conditions in mental health of children. Many children diagnosed with Autism disorder also have intellectual disabilities. Research has shown that children diagnosed with both Autism disorder and intellectual disability often display self-injurious behaviors. (Matson & LoVullo, 2008) Self-injurious behaviors (SIB) are one of the most harmful behaviors displayed by people with various developmental disabilities. Because SIB is a major concern for children with ASD, early intervention is suggested to prevent additional damaging behaviors as the child gets older. The first step in preventing harmful behavior is to assess its function. The most common forms of these behaviors include: head banging, biting, and extreme self-rubbing and scratching. (Corte, Wolf & Locke, 1971) Self-injurious behaviors can be seen as "a class of behaviors, often highly repetitive and rhythmic, that result in physical harm to the individual displaying the behavior.† (Fee & Matson, 1992) Excessive self-rubbing or scratching may severe form of self-stimulation. The child may not be feeling normal levels of physical stimulation. The child may hurt their skin in order to obtain stimulation or increase arousal (Edelson, 1984). Self-injury is a major clinical problem that can result in s ignificant injury and even death (Hastings, 2002). Self-injurious behaviors are common in children with ASD according to research by Baghdadli, Pascal, Grisi, and Aussilloux (2003). Their findings show that 50% of children in the study experienced SIB, with 14.6% at severe levels. There are many possible reasons why a person may engage in self-injurious behavior, ranging from biochemical to the social envir... ...or change is also socially significant in their regular daily environment as well. Some behaviors are considered socially inappropriate and may even become stigmatizing to a child. Serious injurious behaviors in particular can have short and long term detrimental effects on a child and can impact their entire family. The concept of the social validity of treatments has, however, also been an important issue in behavior analysis for years. Reinforcement-based interventions, like differential reinforcement, and interventions that are relatively less intrusive are considered more traditional, and the acceptability of invasive interventions increases as problem severity increases. (Jones, K. M., & Lungaro, C. J., 2000) An important question for the present discussion is whether clients perceive interventions based on functional assessment as more socially acceptable.

The Devil Of Tom Walker And Th Essay -- essays research papers

Despite the evidence that Washington Irving uses to show his love for America in his stories, he portrays some characters in the Devil and Tom Walker and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow as greedy. Irving shows concern for America by placing stories in uniquely American moments. In this essay I will prove through passages and quotes from Irving's stories that he shows his love for America in his stories and portrays some characters as greedy in the two stories. The historical settings of these stories is made apparent by the use of elements common to the revolutionary era. In The Devil and Tom Walker when Irving is describing the setting he gives an impression that it took place in America. In describing the setting he says, "It had been the stronghold of the Indians during their war with the colonists." Since the war took place in America this is one evidence of his love for America. Another is when Irving is describing the devil and he makes the point that he a particularly American devil. When the devil first meets Tom and the devil is telling him about himself he says, "I amuse myself by presiding at the persecutions of Quakers and Anabaptists; I am the great patron and prompter of slave dealers and the grandmaster of the Salem witches." In The Legend of Sleepy Hollow there are many American traits in the description of the setting. It is said by some to be the ghost of a Hessian trooper, whose head had been car ried away by a...

Affirmative Action Essay -- Affirmative Action Essays

After the United States Congress passed the Civil Rights Act in 1964, it became apparent that certain business traditions, such as seniority status and aptitude tests, prevented total equality in employment. Then President, Lyndon B. Johnson, decided something needed to be done to remedy these flaws. On September 24, 1965, he issued Executive Order #11246 at Howard University that required federal contractors â€Å"to take Affirmative Action to ensure that applicants are employed . . . without regard to their race, creed, color, or national origin (Civil Rights).† With the signing of that order, and without knowing it, President Johnson created reverse discrimination.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Affirmative Action was created in an effort to help minorities leap the discriminative barriers that were ever so present when the bill was first enacted, in 1965. At this time, the country was in the wake of nationwide civil- rights demonstrations, and racial tension was at an all time high. Most of the corporate executive and managerial positions were occupied by White Males, who controlled the hiring and firing of employees. The U.S. government, in 1965, believed that these employers were discriminating against Minorities and believed that there was no better time than the present to bring about change. This action, that started with good intentions, would later lead to a different and more complex form of discrimination.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When the Civil Rights Law passed, Minorities, especially African- Americans, believed that they should receive retribution for the earlier years of discrimination they endured. The government responded by passing laws to aide them in attaining better employment as reprieve for the previous two hundred years of suffering their race endured at the hands of the White Man. To many people the passing of these laws was an effort in the right direction. Supporters of Affirmative Action asked, †why not let the government help them get better jobs?† After all, the White Man was responsible for their suffering. While this may all be true, there is another question to be asked. Are we truly responsible for the years of persecution that the African Americans and other Minorities were submitted to? I am not so sure.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It is true that past generations of White Men are p... ..., and other policies benefiting families with young children. Widely supported programs that promote the interests of both lower and middle class Americans that deliver benefits to Minorities and Whites on the basis of their economic status, and not their race or ethnicity, will do more to reduce Minority poverty than the current, narrowly based, poorly supported policies that single out Minority groups. However, if this, or another remedy is not taken sometime in the near future, and Affirmative Action continues to separate Minority groups from Whites, we can be sure to see racial tension reach points that our history has never seen. Works Cited â€Å"Affirmative Action at the University of California at Berkeley† Online. http://pwa.acusd.edu/~e_cook/ucb-95.html â€Å"Civil Rights† Compton's Interactive Encyclopedia. (1996). [Computer Program] SoftKey Multimedia International Corporation. United States. Commission on Civil Rights. Affirmative Action in the 1980's: Dismantling the Process of Discrimination. Washington: 1981. United States. Nebraska Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. Private Sector Affirmative Action: Omaha. Washington: 1979.

Immigration Reformation

Mexico’s immigration policies comprise single, streamlined laws that ensure that foreign visitors and immigrants are regimented. For a better picture, these include stern rules that these immigrants are in the country legally, that they are able to sustain themselves economically, that they do not become burdens to the society, that they are of good character and have no criminal records, and are contributors to the general wellbeing of the nation.In fact, immigration authorities compile records of each foreign visitor and assure that these visitors do not violate their visa status. They are also banned from meddling with internal politics and those who violate the terms of their entry and who enter under false pretenses are imprisoned or deported (Lillpop). Indeed, the Mexican constitution strictly defines the rights of its citizens and as one may put it, the denial of may fundamental rights to non-citizens, legal or illegal.Though its law makes perfect sense, Mexico is pushi ng the United States to water down the latter’s immigration rules, when, in the first place, its own immigration restrictions are the toughest in the continent. However, also looking at Mexico’s points, El Paso asks the US government to stop raids and dividing American families insisting, â€Å"We are not the Enemy, We are Part of the Solution† (Garcia & Camargo).The rally down in El Paso has emphasized the need for new immigration policies that provide means for immigrants residing in the United States to attain permanent residency. Some say Mexican leaders demanding from the United States immigration laws, which contradict its own. Some even say the agenda of Mexico for such demand is clear: to have a one-way immigration relationship with the United States. However, looking at a broader perspective, I believe Mexico only wants to impose stern rules with regards to foreigners to protect its citizens and the well being of its nations.United States, on the other hand, are trying to impose the same, now with opposition from the Mexicans. Who are directly affected here are those Southerners who live in US soil and vice versa. To avoid stepping on each other’s flags and more importantly to avoid misunderstanding between the neighboring countries, each much provide room for adjustments and meet halfway so as to grant the its citizens, foreign or not, just and humane rights even if they live in a soil foreign to their true nation.Works Cited Lillpop, John. â€Å"Immigration Reform? Lets Try Mexico’s Immigration Law. † 27 February 2007. Canada Free Press. 19 October 2007. . Garcia, Fernando & Camargo, Betty. â€Å"El Paso and Southern New Mexico Communities March and Rally for Just, Humane and Comprehensive Immigration Reform NOW! †. 6 April 2007. Border Network and Human Rights. 19 October 2007. .

Plight of U.S. Farmers and Workers

The structure and style of politics in the late nineteenth century were evolving based on what party held power in our government. Social, religious, ethnic and regional factors determined party ties but third parties were emerging. Consider the conditions In America on the eve of the 20th Century.Write a minimum of two paragraphs for the following discussion prompt: What problems did U. S. Farmers and workers face In the sass and how did they try to solve them? The prices of the crops were falling and were at an low and there wasn't end in sight due to things as of the weather and other death rising factors like materials being over produced in the North and the East while the West and the South struggled. Goldfield, 2014) This added so much hardship for so many farmers that most could not afford to pay for the cost for using the railroad to ship their goods and as crops failed, It made It Impossible for the farmers to pay off their debts and many farmers lost their farms, lands, cr ops and all other sources of income forcing many onto sharecropping, (Goldfield, 2014) This led a need for change and people started looking for other options.They pleaded for help from the Government, but showing that they cared little to none and by doing nothing to help the people left planning and coming up with their own solution, â€Å"Farmers Alliance† (Goldfield, 2014) This was a big playoff with so much against such Like many to most people were still separated by race and neither could grow past the pettiness to try to think of even helping each there with such preformed alliance and even with such like economic and political reform smoothly for most more deeper separation based on race.Made this a long sighted has black farmers, including the leaders that were colored and section of the Farmers Alliance were killed an of the Farmers Alliance that came followed by depression and it was one out for themselves. The Government had no control with more violence that rul ed the people and the streets. The railroad had over expended, hundreds of banks closed, along with thousands of businesses. (Goldfield, 2014) Since o much money stopped flowing at one time there was no way for the economy to come back to life.In order for the depression to end, the people needed jobs and they needed farms that could support the Nation. They had to have banks that could provide lines of credit to get the Nation Jump started. With the fall of the economy In other Nations only added to our turmoil and they cost too much to use as export markets. Which Is reason exporting trade system came right with or after. References Goldfield, D. , Abbot, C. Anderson, V. Reselling,J. Argentines, P, Barney (2014).

William Stokoe Timeline

1919- William C. Stokoe Jr. was born on July 21 in New Hampshire. 2 1937- He attended Wells College with the in the intention to study physical chemistry, but he decided that it consumed too much time and money and decided to study English instead. 1946- William Stokoe receives his Ph. D. in English and teaches at Wells College for seven years. 2 1955- William Stokoe is hired as the head of the Department of English at Gallaudet College. It was a year later he was first exposed to deaf people signing.Stokoe decides to research signing because, unlike the opinions of many of his colleagues, he viewed signing as its own distinctive language. 2 1957- Stokoe receives a research grant from the American Council of Learned Societies to begin analyzing ASL as a language. Two years later, The National Science Foundation continued the funding for his study. 1-2 1960- Stokoe publishes his first book on the research he conducted on signing, titled Sign Language Structure: An Outline of the Visua l Communication Systems of the American Deaf. -2 1965- Stokoe, along with Carl Croneberge and Dorothy Casterline, published his second book A Dictionary of American Sign Language on Linguistic Principles. This book includes Stokoe’s development of a written notation for ASL. This book also helped Stokoe’s ideas gain wide acceptance and prove the legitimacy of sign language as an independent, fully developed language. 1-2 1971- Gallaudet University established a Linguistic Research Lab with Stokoe as the director until 1984.In the same year, he starts the publication of the newsletter, â€Å"Signs of Our Times†. 1-2 – The first presentation of information about ASL takes place at the conference held by James Woodward, at the Linguistics Society of America. Two years later, the Linguistic Society of America creates a section for sign languages to be included in their conference. 1 1975- The Communicative Skills program of NAD (National Association of the De af) established for the sign language teachers, called Sign Instructors Guidance Network (SIGN). Read also  Summary : Love Is Never SilentA year later, SIGN begins to certify sign language teachers at the NAD convention. 1 1979- Gallaudet’s faculty recognizes ASL as a means of communication to be used in classes. Gallaudet offers its faculty and staff the first course on the Structure of ASL. 1 1980- Stokoe is finally honored for his research 20 years after the publishing of his first book. 1 1984- Stokoe retires from Gallaudet University. Four years later, he receives an onorary doctorate from Gallaudet. 2 2000- William Stokoe dies of Myeloma on April 4 in Chevy Chase, Maryland. 2 References: 1. ASL Timeline. (2006, May 15). Linguistics and Dialects of American Sign Language. Retrieved September 29, 2012, from http://buaslbutterfly. tripod. com/id7. html 2. William C. Stokoe Jr. (n. d. ). Angelfire: Welcome to Angelfire. Retrieved September 29, 2012, from http://www. angelfire. come/ut/stelok/Stokoe. html

Marketing Evaluation Essay

Recommend the position in the market. â€Å"Research undertaken by the Tourism Satellite Accounting (TSA) predicts that demand for travel and tourism in India will by an appreciable 8.1 per cent p.a. in the coming decade making it the third fastest growing travel destination in the world† (Bharwani & Mathews, Risk Identification and analysis in the hospitality industry, 2012). India has emerged as an ideal location to embark on a global expansion in the hospitality industry. According to Line and Runyan, in the hospitality segment there have been countless studies that argue that customer service has a direct correlation to employee job satisfaction and productivity, the same is said in the international arena for hospitality (Line & Runyan, 2012, p. 478). As with many of the international hospitality emergent, customer and employee interaction defines the profitability and sustainability of the company. World travelers look for impeccable service with all of the attributes of a bed and breakfast (Olsen, Chathoth, & Sharma, 2001). According to Bhawarni and Butts, â€Å"guests actively seek superior quality, customized yet consistent hospitality experiences which integrate a subtle culture specific novelty with a certain acceptable level of service and product quality† (Bharwani & Butt, Challenges for the global hospitality industry: an HR perspective, 2012, p. 155). This sets the standards high for employees and management. In accordance with the standards of the international hospitality brands, Bollman is recommended to pursue a luxury branding for their entry into India. This will entail in depth training and qualification standards. Conduct a market evaluation by researching what companies in the relevant market are providing to employees from a total compensation perspective. Currently India does not have minimum wage set by the government, although this is expected to change in the near future, it does present a challenge for companies wishing to expand into the area. Due to the changes in the international travelers and hospitality consumers into the region India has a shortage of trained and efficient employees. The area is also being impacted due to the aging population, which shrinks the current labor force. This means that the training costs and employee turnover rate is a significant factor in the India market. According to Bharwani and Butt, competitors of this region have begun to put set company policies for minimum wage standards. International companies have implemented  competitive pay standards, incentive and benefit programs, productive and safe work environments, and the ability to advance within the company (Bharwani & Butt, Challenges for the global hospitality industry: an HR perspective, 2012, p. 158). Training has also been a key determinant in the success and customer satisfaction with international hospitality companies. The ability of the employees to deliver a luxury and home-like experience to the consumer is the foundation for s uccess in the international arena. References Bharwani, S., & Butt, N. (2012). Challenges for the global hospitality industry: an HR perspective. Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes, 4(2), 150-162. Bharwani, S., & Mathews, D. (2012). Risk Identification and analysis in the hospitality industry. Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes, 4(5), 420-427. Jauhari, V., & Rishi, M. (2012). Challenges faced by the hospitality industry in India: an introduction. Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes, 4(2), 110-117. Line, N. D., & Runyan, R. C. (2012). Hospitality marketing research: Recent trends and future directions. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 31, 477-488. Olsen, M. D., Chathoth, P., & Sharma, A. (2001, April-September). Forces Driving Change in the Hospitality Industry in India. Journal of Services Research, 1(1), 3-21.a

Finance questions Speech or Presentation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Finance questions - Speech or Presentation Example ou have deposited $10,000 at your local savings and loan and have been offered an annual interest rate of 3% and the option of annual, semi-annual, or quarterly compounding. Which one will you choose and what is the dollar difference between the three options? 6. Your athletic department needs to purchase three passenger vans in three years. They project the cost at that time to be $120,000. Currently you have $98,000 set aside for the vans. What return on your money must you receive to be able to purchase the vans in three years? 7. To entice a new coaching hire, you have promised her that you would deposit $10,000 each year for the next thirty years in a retirement account that will pay 6% interest. How much will be waiting for the coach at the end of thirty years? 8. You have decided to build a new strength and conditioning center. The total cost of the project is $4 million. You have $1.5 million and will be borrowing the balance for ten years at 6% interest. What are your MONTHLY payments? 9. A prominent athletic booster has promised you a $500,000 gift in five years. You were informed by your local bank that they would be willing to give you that $500,000, discounted at 8% today. How much will they give

Leadership Assessment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Leadership Assessment - Essay Example Hence it is pivotal for a manager to have the leadership ability and to possess the salient attributes of leadership. For in the current global environment, leadership is of immense importance in the sense that it is eventually the leadership skills inherent in the organizations that imbue them with a competitive advantage. So as to assure an optimal organizational efficiency, it is a must for the managers deployed at varied levels in an organization to possess leadership abilities (Storey, 2007, p. 73). Q1: Analyze the leadership style(s) of a senior executive (CEO, CFO, COO, Director, etc.) in your current or previous organization who made a positive or negative impact on you. It is a known fact that organizations simply cannot succeed unless they are endowed with teams that are skilled, motivated and competent. In that context, as group effort and team work are imperative for organizational success, thereby the role of leadership becomes of prime relevance in organizations. Throug h good leadership, managers can motivate the employees to give way to a wholesome and supportive work environment that stimulates most of the employees to work to the best of their ability. The Chief Executive Officer is the organization I work is predominantly affiliated to a participative or democratic leadership style. Though it is he who takes the final decisions pertaining to the important issues impacting the organization, he does make it a point to invite the staff members associated with specific projects to extend their inputs and ideas (Keohane, 2010, p. 233). This approach not only extends to the staff a sense of participation, but also encourages them to perform to the best of their ability (Keohane, 2010). Besides, the participation of the concerned employees in the overall decision making process brought in a spirit of creativity and ingenuity in the overall decision making process Our CEO makes it a point to aptly reward the employees with economic and non-economic be nefits. Not only has he played a guiding role for his subordinates, but going by his participative style, he makes it a point to extend to his subordinates the opportunities for skill acquisition and growth. This not only makes the employees feel cherished and wanted, but also imparts to them a sense of control over their future. No wonder, this motivates the employees to work hard and to contribute to the best of their ability. Though, owing to the democratic leadership of our CEO, things sometimes tend to move at a slow pace, but overall it leads to better results and outcomes. Q2: Analyze the organizational structure and culture of the company for which you work (or would like to work) to determine its approach to team development, and whether that approach helped to enhance your relationship skills in the workplace. In a simplistic sense, an organization tends to be a shared platform over which individuals and employees from diverse backgrounds tend to work in cohesion to achiev e the aspired for organizational goals. Hence, each and every organization tends to have some peculiar values, rules, guidelines and policies that not only collectively constitute the organizational culture, but also determine to a large extent the eventual success and efficiency