Gabriel’s Epiphany in James Joyce’s “The Dead” Essay

In James Joyce’s â€Å"The Dead,† through an epiphany the main character, Gabriel, realizes the true relationship between him and his wife, Gretta. The epiphany Gabriel experiences is the direct effect of his wife’s confession to having a love before she met him. Not just a love, but a true love named Michael Furey. Before Gabriel had heard this story he continuously looks at his wife thinking about how much he loves her and how much he wishes they could only feel the excitement of their relationship. His emotions and feelings are shattered when he hears Gretta’s story of Michael Furey. At first he feels anger toward her. Anger at the fact that he was not her first love. He is also humiliated to feel as he did before, foolishly in love, when it was quite clear their relationship was not what he thought it was. He thinks about how she still carries so much fondness for her dead lover and he grows envious that she had found her one true love. After staring at his wife asleep on the bed, he feels deeply saddened that he will never experience a true love relationship in return from his wife. He wants her to be happy, and he knows she is actually devastated even after all these years of appearing to be content in their boring marriage. He decides then that he will make it up to her. He will be the man she always wanted and needed. Gabriel makes the decision to move to Ireland, the country he detests in the beginning of the story. This is a sacrifice he will make to show his true love to his wife, Gretta. A sacrifice which in no way would have been possible if he had not experienced the epiphany within the story.

Kindergarten-Full Day Versus Half Day Essay

The sky is the limit for children. The benefits of children attending full day kindergarten are far greater than those children that attend half day. Some parents and educators disagree; they say that children should not be forced into their educational career so young. Whether for or against full-day kindergarten, the common goal for all parents is the well being for each individual child. Every child has different needs and capabilities. Parents have to make an informed decision on full day or half day kindergarten. That decision can be a difficult one. Ultimately that decision is the starting point for the next twelve or more years of education for these young children. Connecticut does not have a law mandating all towns have full day kindergarten. The budget process has to make full day kindergarten a priority. The curriculum for kindergarten is limited during half day sessions for children. Because of the time limitations during half day, these children are getting significant amounts of homework to bring home. Before and aftercare is needed due to the short school day for the half day kindergartners, causing parents to pay for childcare. The most important point is that children’s cognitive learning is so crucial at age five. They can absorb so much information at a kindergarten level. Taking advantage of that will give them the best opportunities for the educational career and give them a head start. Kindergarten was originated in 1837 (Burkam 3). Children develop their mental, social, and emotional faculties through play, music, movement, interaction with the outdoors, and opportunities to engage in independent and creative pursuits (Burkam 3). The goal of kindergarten is to prepare children for first grade academics (Burkam 5). Children show great resilience so can therefore adapt to any formal routine, especially education. We must constructively use this critical stage in their lives to have them absorb all the information they can. Most towns in eastern Connecticut have full day kindergarten except Montville. There is no set standard in Connecticut law for all towns to have at least one full-day kindergarten. East Lyme, Niantic, Norwich, Waterford, Ledyard, and Groton have already established a full day program for kindergarten. Montville being the only town in the surrounding area that does not have a full day option available makes it very difficult to those parents in that town to make arrangements for care of their children. Planning a town budget for full day kindergarten is not as complicated as it may seem. Child care is financed primarily by families, who are estimated to be paying between $40 and $50 billion annually (Mitchell 8). Only a small percentage of those funds being spent could be used for funding all schools with full day kindergarten programs. Demonstrating better ways to increase and combine local, state, public and private sources to finance all types of programs so that they can meet higher standards and that all families can afford kindergarten and preschool education (Mitchell 12). Some educators say the biggest obstacle is hiring teachers. They would need twice the amount already staffed. Splitting up the groups of half day classes and teachers could be a solution to that issue. There would not need to be any additional teachers hired in that case. There is so much for children to learn at the age of five. A full day of learning, social interaction, and play is so beneficial. Research comparing half-day and full-day kindergarten shows those children benefit from a developmentally appropriate, full-day program, most notably in terms of early academic achievement—a foundation for school and life success (Villegas 1). Full-day kindergarten can afford children the academic learning time needed to prepare for mastery of primary-grade reading and math skills (Villegas 1) In particular, the weight of evidence shows that full-day kindergarten benefits children in these ways: contributes to increased school readiness, children that are adapted to full day kindergarten are already prepared for the transition into regular grade level schooling, most importantly, they understand rules and behavior, which leads to a higher academic achievement. Standardized tests and classroom grades find that full day students achieve higher and improve student attendance. There is better attendance in full-day kindergarten due to the parents understanding that there is so much more information and teaching provided during a longer day and does not want their child to miss, supporting a childs literacy and language development has long lasting effects that are greater in children that attend full day kindergarten (Villegas 2). One study showed higher reading achievement persisting through third grade and in some cases even seventh grade (Villegas 1). Enrolling a child in full-day kindergarten benefits them socially and emotionally. Full day gives children a balance of structured play and self play. Being with classmates for more hours in a classroom forces them to build positive relationships. Those relationships last sometimes all the way through twelfth grade. Decreases costs by reducing retention and remediation rates (Villegas 1, 2). One study, which found full day students to be more than twice as likely to remain on grade through third grade, showed that this academic benefit helped to offset 19 percent of the first year’s cost of extending the kindergarten day (Villegas 2). For those children in half-day kindergarten, they need to have before and after care in some families, especially when both parents work full time. If there were full day kindergarten, it would eliminate some of that cost of after care. Due to these children needing to go to multiple places throughout the day for care and schooling becomes the issue of transportation. During a parents work day, that child could be bused to as much as three different locations just for child care. Parents prefer longer kindergarten programs because children have to make fewer transitions within a day and they believe their children will be better prepared for first grade (Mitchell 5). Day care programs are valuable, but do not have the curriculum and equal age structure that kindergarten does. Proponents of full-day kindergarten believe that children, as a result of their various childcare and preschool experiences, are ready for more demanding and cognitively oriented educational programs (Burkam 6). Having group play with children ages 0-5 is not beneficial educationally. Children at age five are at an important learning stage in their lives. The more education they can receive in kindergarten the better prepared for school they will be. Full-day advocates suggest several advantages for the longer kindergarten day: it allows teachers more opportunity to assess children’s educational needs and individualize instruction, it makes small-group learning experiences more feasible, it engages children in a broader range of learning experiences, it provides opportunities for in-depth exploration of curriculum, it provides opportunities for closer teacher-parent relationships, it benefits working parents who may need a longer school day (Burkam 6). Reading, math, science are subjects that are the beginning fundamentals in learning Researchers found that children who attended full-day kindergarten scored higher on reading comprehension and mathematics concepts and applications (Burkam 9). Having more hours in a school day allows teachers to take a more one on one approach for the children to really delve deep into counting, the alphabet, writing, speaking, and so forth. The foundation of learning stems from kindergarten. Cognitive development is the most important issue with having children in a full-day kindergarten program. Kindergarten is more than play and social interaction with peers, this time must be used to take full advantage of a child’s potential in learning. Education should be the first priority and focus in a child’s life. The bigger picture is laying the groundwork for children’s educational experience. The younger the child the more prepared they will be for the future and the most successful in life.

Discuss whether the Australian criminal court system should be based on the Adversarial or Inquisitorial model

It has been an enduring habit among legal scholars to consider in terms of families of law: civil law families on the continent of Europe, common law families in Great Britain and her former colonies. Though differences within these systems are typically often considered as incidental, those between them are seen as necessary. From a comparative angle, the stimulating question arises whether the legal systems of continental and common law countries typically portrayed as completely opposed are gradually converging.If that is certainly the case, does this entail that both systems will ultimately adopt so many of each other's description as to become no more than deviations on a theme their differences no longer important. It is also probable that the two systems are moving towards each other, but that junction beyond a definite point is out of the question for the simple reason that there is a decisive limit at which each system would start to risk degeneration.This implies and it mig ht be particularly true in the field of criminal justice that these systems are the personification of such divergent norms and values in the field of criminal justice, in their turn reflecting reflective societal values that they can never be brought as one entirely. And there is, obviously, a third and more radical prospect. Countries with diverse legal traditions like Australia, often faces similar problems, but have usually resolved them in contrasting and sometimes outwardly incompatible ways.As knowledge of, and expertise with, other systems increases, it is alluring to seek new resolutions in the experiences of others. But the feasibility and suitability of specific mechanisms and processes might often be linked to their context the norms and standards of the system as a whole. The inquisitorial system is depicted as the investigation of an occasion and the persons concerned in that event by the state with a view to ascertaining the truth–the state particularly present in the ‘fact-collecting' prosecutor on the one hand and, on the other, an unbiased and independent judge enthusiastically involved in truth finding.The adversarial system raise images of peaceful medieval folk gatherings under holy oaks, disputes solved willingly and satisfactorily by means of expletives before the elders of the tribe. The implication of inquisitorial proceedings is very much more appalling: the sinister red robes and piercing hats of an invincible Inquisition from which there is no escape, and the institution of ‘truth' by means of confessions, taken out, if necessary, under torture.Both ideas are, of course, quite preposterous when applied to modern criminal justice, and even in their conventional (i. . ideal typical) forms, the aims of adversarial and inquisitorial justice are much closer than the classical models entail. Both systems have the finding of truth as an elemental aim: the principle that the guilty must be punished and the guiltless left alone. Yet whatever the system, it is certainly fundamental that the truth in thus far as it can be established must be established in what is considered as a fair, and therefore communally legitimate, way. It is not here that the two systems differ, but in their elemental assumptions as to the best way of going about things.Thibaut and Walker (1975, 1978) initiated a significant line of research on the nature of diverse dispute resolution procedures. This research comprises public perceptions concerning which procedures were fairer than others for determining certain disputes. Thus, the inquisitorial system, and the adversarial system are alternating methods of inquiry are predominately used to hold criminal cases. In an inquisitorial system, as one attorney who is court selected and assists the judge in investigating the case and presenting the facts for both sides. Attorneys in the inquisitorial system are unbiased and are not advocates for either side.In contrast to this, the ad versarial system employs two attorneys signifying each side of the dispute. The prosecutor serves as an advocate for the state's position and the defence attorney represents the defendant. The adversarial system is found on the premise that competition will stimulate both attorneys to conduct a thorough investigation, which will result in a more systematic and unbiased presentation of the evidence. Advocates of the adversarial system state that the lack of competition in the inquisitorial system might produce a less thorough investigation of the case than that which takes place in the adversarial system.Research has tested this assertion. Lind, Thibaut and Walker ( 1978) assigned law students to either the task of adversarial attorney or the role of inquisitorial attorney. To stimulate the students to take their task seriously, the law students were told that undergraduate students were implicated in the case as disputants and decision makers and that the outcome had real consequenc es. The law students also had an individual incentive to take the task sincerely: They were informed that the extent of their payment would depend on how well they complete the task.In addition, the researchers diverse the strength of the case against the client: Either 25, 50, or 75 percent of the confirmation supported their client. To test whether the adversarial system formed a more thorough investigation than the inquisitorial system, researchers requisite the â€Å"attorneys† to acquire facts about the case (the cost of which would be taken off from their eventual payment) and examined whether the number of facts bought speckled by the role of the attorney.Adversarial and inquisitorial attorneys did not diverge in the number of facts they collected when the evidence was ambiguous (50 percent in favour of one disputant; 50 percent in favour of the other disputant) or favoured the adversarial attorney's client. However, when the evidence was more devastating against the a dversarial client's position, the adversarial attorney bought a larger number of facts than did the inquisitorial attorney. The researchers also examined the degree of overall bias in the presentation of facts to the court whether the facts accessible in court reflected the universe of facts which the attorneys had received.Inquisitorial attorneys offered an unbiased presentation of facts for all cases as their role requisite. The adversarial system, however, produced a deformed presentation of the evidence if the case was more obvious (75 percent of the evidence favoured one disputant's position), but produced an unbiased presentation of the evidence if the case was indefinite (50 percent favoured one disputant's position and 50 percent favoured the other disputant's position).For the cases where proof devastatingly favoured one disputant, the adversarial system overrepresented the sum of evidence that favoured the disputant who had more actual facts against her, but the inquisitor ial system offered an unbiased presentation of the facts. What do these findings say concerning the accuracy of the adversarial and inquisitorial systems? First, the inquisitorial system emerges to provide as thorough an investigation and as a precise presentation of the evidence for ambiguous cases.When the evidence is devastating against one disputant, the adversarial system offers a more thorough investigation, but a presentation which disfigures the overall array of evidence against the disputant. This verdict can be judged both optimistically and pessimistically. The diligent investigation, but distorted presentation could have an affirmative benefit: â€Å"[I]t would reassure that a full investigation would be conducted even if the preliminary evidence seemed, erroneously, to designate an ‘open-and-shut case'† ( Lind and Tyler, 1988, p. 5-26).Inquisitorial attorneys, however, did not impulsively stop investigations. Moreover, other researchers have found further b iasing effects of adversarial systems. Witnesses interviewed by adversarial attorneys present the proof in a biased way that favours the side for which they are confirming. These biases are much less marked when witnesses are interviewed by inquisitorial attorneys. Within the criminal justice system, however, fundamental relationships between parties and within state institutions are varying.Concerns regarding organized crime have resulted in escalating emphasis on secret undercover operations in criminal investigation–with all the dangers of set-up, cover-ups, and inherently complex verifiability and control. These developments leave a few traces in the dossier or even no map out at all. As the police gradually more come to see themselves as a party opposing (organized) crime, doubts concerning their definite commitment to truth-finding increase, and they lay themselves open to arraign of partisanship.At the same time and simultaneous to the foregoing, the other integral gua rantee that the dossier will be ingenuous is also under pressure. There are plans to hold back the truth-finding role and equivalent powers of the investigating judge (numerous countries with inquisitorial procedures have already done so), which will provide the public prosecutor the exclusive functionary accountable for the collection of evidence, with the investigating judge simply approving the use of intrusive investigative techniques by others.This corresponds with the improvement of the prosecution service as quickly becoming the central government organization where strategy decisions are made on how to contract with crime, while destabilization the quasi-judicial and objective position of the prosecutor in continuance the due administration of substantive justice. The end result might well be a more adversarial relationship between resistance and prosecution, as the possibly deteriorating reliability of the dossier as an indication of ‘pre-trial truth' inexorably invol ves the defence more in truth-finding.There is another reason why we should expect more energetic involvement by the defence in pre-trial assessments. In an ideal-typical inquisitorial system neither side has any right to let the case rest, or to bargain concerning its outcome or about the way in which it will be tried. The Dutch system has never been completely inquisitorial in this sense prosecutors have always been capable to drop individual cases for reasons of public interest pertaining to the case.In addition, modern tendencies have resulted in various ways of settling cases out of court with or without circumstances like the payment of a lawfully fixed or negotiated sum of money. subsequently the prevalence of negotiations between defence and prosecution is on the rise; even not called plea bargaining yet, the terminology has appeared in official documents. In adversarial systems, every party is accountable for developing evidence to support its arguments. Investigation is st imulated by self-interest rather than public interest.There is no investigating judge to search for ‘truth' and, despite official oratory about fairness in prosecution, the actual legal duties of police and prosecution lawyers do not extend to seeking out exculpatory evidence. certainly what constitutes the truth is subject to conciliation by the parties. Extensive plea bargaining merely produces an agreed approximation of events on which to support conviction and sentence. It is infrequent for any judicial authority to face these agreed assertions.Procedural directive and structuring of the pre-trial process is conventionally limited. The system starts from a model of challenge linking equal and private parties and therefore the supposition that the state need simply provide an arena for the declaration of the conflict. The initial reliability of this model is maintained by confrontation to the development of a state police and the use of awful inquisitorial techniques of que stioning under detention, and to the improvement of an organized public party to the pre-trial procedure equipped with restricted powers.In the lack of these state institutions and powers, the suspect, with his right to snub to confirm or to co-operate, is in a position to retain his interests devoid of detailed pre-trial procedural rules. Indeed, with both parties accepted to develop separate and challenging accounts rather than to work from a single case file, the strengthening of a dossier with evidential significance is impractical in a system where the evidence that counts is oral evidence at trial.In contemporary times the adversarial system has gradually more adopted the instruments of inquisitorial investigation: a structured police force and overt recognition of police power to restrain and interrogate so as to generate evidence against the suspect. This makes the traditional adversarial view of two equal, private parties difficult to protract. To the inquisitorial eye this moderated status of the accused is instantaneously recognizable: the suspect as objective of truth-finding in the hands of the state.Moreover, regardless of the potentially imprecise outcomes which may result from adversarial systems in definite cases, an agreement exists in terms of public opinion. People from the United States, France, Great Britain, and Germany all have a preference on adversarial procedures more than inquisitorial dealings for handling their disputes ( Thibaut, Walker, 1978; Lind and Tyler, 1988; Lind, 1994). Thus, even in countries like France where trials follow an inquisitorial procedure, citizens favour pure adversarial procedures over the inquisitorial system (Lind and Tyler, 1988).Despite of whether respondents imagined they were the destitute party or the disputant who had the advantage, they favoured adversarial procedures. The most significant perception shaping their preference was the professed fairness of the process. Yet when respondents were unawa re of whether they had the advantage or not, respondents consigned most importance to the fairness of the procedure as compared to their perceptions concerning the likelihood of receiving a constructive outcome or their observations about the amount of power over they would have over the decision making.Thus, Public preferences might be out of line with the definite accuracy of adversarial procedures. The public prefers adversarial procedures above inquisitorial procedures because they are seen as more expected to generate a fair process which consecutively will lead to a fair outcome. What is less clear is why the public think adversarial justice is more expected to generate a fair outcome. Confidence in the adversarial mode could spring from some intrinsic distrust of state-controlled adjudication.More modern cross-cultural research with United States, Hong Kong, and Germany citizens further validates the significance accorded to procedural fairness in forming preferences, and div ulges that people place significance on procedural fairness because they value association issues (Lind, 1994). More recent research, however, has extended the procedural options presented to respondents and has found that people favour initially to handle their disputes through negotiation or urging (Lind, Huo, and Tyler, 1994). Discuss whether the Australian criminal court system should be based on the Adversarial or Inquisitorial model The system of law can be a determining factor in how the citizens of a country behave towards and show respect towards the law.Many countries are always embroiled in conflicts, civil wars, and law and order there is usually a fight for survival and protecting innocent citizens. However, in a mature and developed country like ours, law and order is respected and Australia is said to be one of the safest places in the world.Our law and order system is quite mature and strong in implementation, perhaps this is the effect of the money we pour into our system along with the strict requirements we have for people who can or cannot serve on the judiciary or any of its branches.In spite of all the good work that has gone into our judicial system, there are still calls for us to change from the Adversarial to the Inquisitorial system of justice. I will talk about the systems and give an overview of their pros and cons and then talk about if we should change the system or not, what is to be ga ined, what can be lost.The Adversarial system has its roots in the idea where two opposite sides are pitted against one another. There is one side supporting the accused and the other side trying to prove him as guilty. The main idea is that the two sides being pitted against one another are going to lead to the truth.The judge has the role of facilitating the procedure of law and pit the opposing sides against one another while maintaining decorum and respect for the law. However, it is left entirely on the sides on how they want to present their case and what they do in their research. This system is used widely across the world and is prevalent in the US, UK and Australia.In the inquisitorial system, the judge is the main person and practically the whole system is dependent on how he investigates the case. If the judge is good, he can find out the truth completely and sort out the case, while if he cannot find out the fact, then the case might never be sorted out.He can take help of the law and its branches or agencies like the police etc, but the onus of solving the case and finding the facts lies on him. This kind of system is primarily used in France. The system has its benefits as you are pitting a skilled investigator to solve the case and putting the system of the law in the hands of some hand picked highly professional and competent people.However, the first thing that comes to mind is the fact that this system is easier to manipulate as its very easy for a rich person who is accused to at least ‘try’ and pay himself out of the position, as there is only one major person that he has to corrupt. While in an adversarial system, the opposition is paid to have the accused sent to jail or punished for his or her crimes.

Article analysis Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Analysis - Article Example Ancient Roman Houses welcome their visitor through a series of unique features beginning at the level of their entrance – the domus. An indicative series of these features is presented by Hadrill: green-and red-clad porter, the golden birdcage and the watch-dog painted by the porters cell (Hadrill, 44). The reason that Hadrill refer to these features is not for emphasizing on their beautifulness or their role as decorative objects; it is rather to show their potential use for the reflection of the personal perceptions and thoughts of the houses owner. Certain aspects of the style of life of the latter would be also revealed through the objects surrounding the houses entrance – or by the format and colour of the entrance itself. In the above context, the entrance of the Ancient Roman Houses becomes for their visitor the entrance to the psychology and the style of life of people of the particular era – different assumptions could be formulated by entering various A ncient Roman Houses as this differentiation can be explained by referring to the differences in the character and the style of life of each owner. In other words, the fact that Ancient Roman Houses all refer to the same era they may have different characteristics and formats – taking into consideration the criteria mentioned above. The upper target of Hadrill by referring extensively to the features surrounding the entrance in Ancient Roman House could reflect its willingness to influence the potential visitors of these houses to participate in this effort for identifying the characteristics (perceptions, style of life) of each houses owner – also to identify the trends that characterized the particular era regarding the construction of buildings. It is for this reason that extensive reference is made in the specific article on the methods and the principles that could be used for the interpretation of Ancient Roman

ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION (easy work) Research Paper

ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION (easy work) - Research Paper Example In clearer terms, ADR refers to the processes of solving disputes outside the judicial process or formal litigation. In fact, the judicial system/process is currently encouraging and requiring conflicting parties to utilize the Alternative Dispute Resolution processes, particularly mediation, prior to taking such cases before a court of law. There are four other main types of Alternative Dispute Resolution namely negotiation, mediation, arbitration, and collaborative law (Lynch, P. 213). In fact, conciliation is also considered a type of Alternative Dispute Resolution. Except in negotiation, all the other categories of Alternative Dispute Resolution involve the presence of a neutral person who provides fair opinions while facilitating or making decision in ADR processes. However, the collaborative law processes such as collaborative divorce requires both parties to have counsels who are experts at following the details of the contracts or terms involved such issues. Among the disputes or conflicts in which ADR techniques have been particularly useful include family matters such as divorce, professional liability disputes, insurance issues/disputes, and personal injury situations. There are several advantages for which the use of Alternative Dispute Resolution has become prominent in recent times. These advantages include more efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and greater satisfaction for all parties involved. In fact, great deals of civil cases such as marital dissolutions have been settled using Alternative Dispute Resolution techniques (Lynch, P. 213). Due to the recognized effectiveness of ADR as a tool for dispute resolution, judicial systems world over have adopted the practice of providing conflicting parties and their lawyers with information about and the option of ADR, more so in civil cases. This paper explores the concept of Alternative Dispute Resolution with regard to its advantages,

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Stand up meetings in agile software development Dissertation

Stand up meetings in agile software development - Dissertation Example It involves adapting to changes continuously and delivering of software product (Strode et al., 2009). Agile software process is iterative and incremental with high communication level and customer involvement (Schwaber and Beedle, 2002). In an early paper that defined agile software methodology, it stated that the â€Å"... methodology involves modification and improving requirements through collaboration with cross functional teams to encourage organisation teams in the process of developing the software† Schwaber and Beedle, 2002). The proposition of Takeuchi and Nonaka (1986) concerning Agile Software Development involved encouraging the proximity of team members and verbal communication to create a robust quality framework. The proposition of Takeuchi and Nonaka in promoting Agile software development were based on: 1. Flexibility: A system where different software development processes can be modified to meet the new changes in the software development process. 2. Unity of Purpose: All the parties in the software development process had to be committed to a single vision and mission. And they had to get updates on a regular basis. 3. Coordination: All the different units had to work with each other to attain results at every point in the software development process. These are the main components and elements of Agile Software Development. ... Constant communication and constant interaction is a central feature of Agile Software Development approaches and systems (Fowler, 2012). Schwaber and Beedle (2002) argue that in order to maintain unity of purpose and enhance the holistic nature of the software development process requires the exchange of information and constant interaction between the team members Daily stand-up meetings are a major practice organisations used by agile teams to facilitate the regular exchange of information (Schwaber and Beedle, 2002). Stand-up meetings are daily meetings that are held to provide status updates to team members in Agile Software Development projects (Fowler, 2012). This involves quick updates and a summary of activities that were conducted in the previous day (Fowler, 2012). They are conducted on a daily basis and they last for between 5 and 15 minutes (Fowler, 2012). In agile software development, these stand up meetings are carried out to enable participants in the software develo pment process share views and information on: 1. What was accomplished the previous day. 2. What will be accomplished in the current day. 3. The obstacles faced and how the obstacles will affect the day's work (Fowler, 2012). It is a daily routine that is held at a specific time and same place. Stand-up meetings are therefore an essential part of agile software development and promote constant interaction and the holistic development of software (Stray et.al 2012). Although stand-up meetings are a commonly used practice in Agile Software development, it is not quite clear what their benefits and drawbacks are. Should teams accept the practice without knowing its actual importance and the limits of its effectiveness? This is a question that leads to the next stage of

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SPORT DEVELOPMENT IN THE COMMUNITY - Assignment Example In addition, physical activities help to encourage the youth and the disabled to attend school as it gives them something to look up to thus, increase the rate of school attendance in the community (Smith and Waddington 2004). The disabled, elderly, pre and postnatal are the greatest beneficiary of physical activities as physical activities enhances their social life, technical skills and communication skills thus, help to keep these group of people in line with the community. Hence, physical activities directly affect the community, as it is the main form of ensuring the continuity of the community, society development and regeneration (Stormann 1996). Physical activity is a branch of physical education since it has trainers and professional instructors who teach and offer instructions as a formal education. Physical activity is for people who need adaptation to participate in physical activities. Adaptation is research and practices that serve people of all ages who do not get good services offered by sport sciences and are disadvantaged in accessing opportunities provided by physical activities (Stormann 1996). It extends’ beyond disabled people and includes the aged, young and obese individuals, among other categories. Adaptation is provided in terms of appropriately modified and designed sport equipment( for example prosthesis and wheelchairs), using a different skill of instructions, modified task criteria , nonverbal instructions and increasing or decreasing court dimensions (Vail 1992). It is all about matching personal interests and strengths with the appropriate activities, to promote participation in physical acti vities. This is regardless of the population engaged in the physical activity. Leisure World Colchester is a physical activity centre, which serves the local community, students and members of

CAUSE AND EFFECT OF A DEFFINITION Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

CAUSE AND EFFECT OF A DEFFINITION - Essay Example A hazard is a wellspring of potential harm, hurt or unfriendly wellbeing impacts on something or somebody under specific conditions at work. I think this a clear definition of the word hazard. Fundamentally, a hazard can result in damage or unfriendly impacts to people as wellbeing impacts or to associations as property or gear misfortunes. More often than not, a hazard is alluded to as being the real mischief or the wellbeing impact it brought on instead of the peril. For instance, the illness tuberculosis (TB) could be known as a peril by some however when all is said in done the TB-initiating microscopic organisms might be viewed as the "danger" or "perilous biotic executor". On the other hand, risk is the probability or likelihood that an individual will be hurt or experience an unfriendly wellbeing impact if laid open to a danger. It might additionally apply to circumstances with property or gear misfortune. For instance, the danger of creating tumor from smoking smokes could be communicated as "cigarette smokers are less averse to bite the dust of lung disease than non-smokers". An alternate method for reporting danger is "a sure number, "Y", of smokers for every 100,000 smokers will probably create lung tumor" (contingent upon their age and how long they have smoked). Such dangers are communicated as a likelihood or probability of creating a malady or being harmed. Although perils allude to the conceivable outcomes for example, lung tumor, emphysema and coronary illness from smoke smoking) considers that impact the level of danger incorporate: what amount of an individual is presented to a dangerous substance or condition, how the individual is uncovered for instance taking in a vapor, skin contact), and how serious are the impacts under the states of introduction. In sum, a hazard is any wellspring of potential harm, hurt or

Cost and Decision-Making Analysis Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Cost and Decision-Making Analysis - Assignment Example The formula for calculating the contribution margin is as follows: Contribution margin= Fixed cost per unit – Variable cost per unit. This provides sufficient information to facilitate the calculation of break-even point in total sales dollars. The formula for calculating the break-even point in total sales dollars is as follows: B/E point (in total sales dollars) = Fixed Cost ? P/V ratio In a multiproduct environment the assumption is that the sales mix remains constant (Globusz n.d; unf.edu n.d.). The sales mix is referred to as the relative proportion of each product sold to the total sales value. This can be expressed in the form of a ratio or in the form of a percentage. The contribution per unit for each product is calculated as follows: Contribution = selling price – variable cost Cv = SPv – VCv = $1.65 – $1.25 = $0.40 Cm = SPm – VCm = $1.50 - $0.70 = $0.80 Cn = SPn – VCn = $0.85 - $0.25 = $0.60 The subscripts v, m and n relates to Vel cro, Metal and Nylon respectively. Contribution based on the relative weight in the sales mix = Contribution per unit x quantity. Piedmont Fasteners normally produce as total of 700,000 units of clothing fasteners consisting of 100,000 units from Velcro, 200,000 units from Metal and 400,000 units of nylon. Therefore, in this case the ratio is 1:2:4 The Weighted contribution (WC) is calculated as follows: WCv = $0.40 x (1/7 x 700,000) = $0.40 x 100,000 = $40,000 WCm = $0.80 x (2/7 x 700,000) = $0.80 x 200,000 = $160,000 WCn = $0.60 x (4/7 x 700,000) = $0.60 x 400,000 = $240,000 The quantities represent 1/7th, 2/7th and 4/7th Sales = units sold (Q) x selling price per unit (SP) Sales = Qv x SPv + Qm x SPm + Qn x SPn Sales = (100,000 x $1.65) + (200,000 x $l.50) + 400,000 x $0.85) = $165,000 + $300,000 + $340,000 = $805,000 The weighted P/V ratio is calculated as follows: P/V = ($440,000 ? $805,000) x 100 = .55 = 55% B/E = $400,000 ? .55 = $727,273 The breakeven total sales in dollars is equal to $727,273 Of this 1/7th would relate to the sale of Velcro, 2/7th to the sale of metal and 4/7th to the sale of nylon. This would be $103,896 from the sale of Velcro; $207792 from the sale of metal; and $415,585 from the sale of nylon. The weighted average was used because each product has a different selling price and a different variable cost. Additionally, the quantities of these products that are normally sold are also different. Using weights allow for the relative proportions of each product sold to be taken into consideration. Solution to Question 2 Part (a) The break-even point in units for each product can be calculated taking into consideration that certain fixed costs relate to each of these products only while a certain portion relates administration, salaries and rent. Since we do not know the proportion of these we assume that they are equal. The following formula will be used to calculate the break even point in units for the three types of fasteners. B/E i n units = Fixed cost/contribution The fixed cost for each product = specific fixed cost + proportion of common fixed cost The fixed cost for Velcro fasteners = $20,000 + (1/3 x $240,000) = $100,000 The $20,000 relates to the cost that would be avoided if Velcro fasteners are not produced. The fixed cost for Metal fasteners = $80,000 + (1/3 x $240,000) = $160,000 The $80,000 relates to additional cost incurred when metal fasteners are produced The fixed cost for Nylon fasteners = $60,000 + (1/3 x $240,000) = $140,000 The break-even for each type of fastener is as follows: B/Ev =

Social networking paper Essay Example for Free

Social networking paper Essay Today, 1.5 billion people belong to an online social network, which is one out of every nine people in the world. If you are a part of this phenomenon, just how much does it affect your daily life? People join these sites for a wide variety of reasons. With just a few clicks you can speak to friends and family that may be millions of miles away; or check up on your favorite musicians latest updates. No matter what the reason, there is no denying that social networks have become a major part of society, in the work place, at home, and around the world. Many social networking sites are made for a specific group of people, such as Facebook for college students, or MySpace for music and party people. However, they all have a common structure. Once you sign up for a particular site, you will be asked a number of questions such as your name, age, location, interests, marital status, and possibly a small section to write an â€Å"about me.† Many sites also encourage uploading a profile picture, and some allow you to add a â€Å"skin† or some type of multimedia to your profile. Creating a profile on a social network allows you to define yourself however you wish to be seen. You are able to share your views, and express your interests. Many people feel a sense of independence and self esteem from using these sites. Some people may even create a â€Å"second† life and get lost in an online world, completely losing track of reality. People become addicted to social networking, losing sleep over these sites, ignoring their work duties, or even their loved ones to update a status or check the latest â€Å"trending topics.† According to affilatenetworking.com, as of April 5th 2012, the top five social networking sites are: Facebook, with an estimated 800 million users; Twitter, with an estimated 175 million users; Linkedin, with over 115 million users; Google Plus, with an estimated 90 million users; and Pintrest, which is a brand new social networking site, but is already in the top 30 most visited websites in the USA. With these sites having so ma ny active users, it makes sense that they are prime places to advertise. These sites are users of â€Å"targeted marketing†, meaning that they use information provided by you, to decide which advertisements to show. Facebook for example, uses things you â€Å"like†Ã‚  to determine what ads to show in the sidebar. So if you liked a Facebook page for Thai food, the ad shown on your homepage may be a Thai restaurant that is close to your provided location. Along with your likes, Facebook uses your location, sexuality, and relationship status as means to advertise. ​Companies are not the only ones using the growing popularity of social networks to their advantage; celebrities and artists do as well. They do not normally place ads on the page, but rather make their own Facebook or Twitter for publicity and to share their work. Lady Gaga, for example, has 45,633,442 Facebook fans and 16,862,231 Twitter followers. She is one of the more popular celebrities in social media, but definitely not the only one. Among the rather interesting list of users are: Barack Obama, Kanye West, Megan Fox, and even Oprah Winfrey. By using these sites, public figures such as the aforementioned can communicate with their fans, and share photos and videos with them. They can also promote their latest campaign, music, or movie release. If a celebrity wants to promote a social cause, social media is also a helpful tool to gain supporters. ​Even though social media has many great characteristics and outcomes, there are also some drawbacks and concerns. For example, privacy issues. Facebook and MySpace make it very easy to retrieve personal information and harm someone. Phishing and scams occur often, by scammers who try to steal your personal information for fraud or identity theft. There are also websites that are made to look exactly like your favorite social networking site to steal your password. Once they have the password, they are able use it to send out spam, and even viruses, from your account, or destroy your profile. ​The most venerable victims of social media dangers are children. Predators can pose as children with the same likes and interests as the child, and trick that child into telling them almost anything, including where they live. The safety of a child is at risk when they are on any social networking site. Predators are the biggest danger for children, but there are also scams that affect them. There are hackers or scammers that target children to use their identity to open a credit card, since the credit of a child is always in good condition. ​The problems with social media do not end with people that we don’t know. They also cause problems with the people that are close to us. According to a survey by the American Academy of Matrimonial lawyers, one in five divorces in the United States involve Facebook, and 80 percent of divorce  lawyers have reported a spike in the number of cases that use social media for evidence of cheating (Gardner, David). The websites offer an outside source of communication that never existed in the past, allowing people to reconnect with past lovers or meet new ones. They also provide a distraction that takes away from the time that intimate couples are supposed t o share. ​Many employers also use social networks in their hiring process. If a person seeking a job has certain information, comments, or pictures on their page, it can comprise the decision of the employer. The Washington Post released an article stating that there are now background checking services that exclusively run social media background checks for companies all over the country (Duran). A reference to drugs or even inappropriate jokes in a status can completely change a company’s decision. ​There are also cases that take social media past the hiring process, and use it as a cause to fire someone that is already working for them. In Pennsylvania, a teacher posted a picture of herself dressed as a pirate, holding a plastic cup, with the caption under the picture reading â€Å"drunken pirate.† She was then fired for promoting underage drinking. Whether or not these charges were fair, the facts cannot be changed; social media is public. It’s something that anyone can see, including employers, children, students, and parent s (Duran). ​However, social media does not have to be feared or avoided. The more aware users are to the potential dangers, the better. As long as they are used correctly, social networking sites are a great way to interact. Avoiding them would just keep you from communicating and interacting in our society. They provide many useful tools, and an enjoyable way to keep in touch. ​ A social networking site is an online community in which people can connect to other with similar interests. Since their start in 1995 with Classmates.com, social networking sites have grown immensely to include huge websites such as Facebook, YouTube, hi5, and orkut.com (scribd.com). Through these sites, people can communicate, meet new friends, and share information and common values. Businesses can communicate with employees, advertise new products, speak to consumers about current products, and even get ideas for new or improved products. Social networks have changed the way we live today. They provide a means of being socially involved that never existed, and there is no telling how far they will take us, how long they will be around, or how much more they will grow. As a young adult, I can say that social media  affects my life on a daily basis, as it does millions of others’. We are living in an era of the Internet, and there is no turning back now.

March Of The Penguins | Analysis

March Of The Penguins | Analysis The emperor penguins have a unique and exhausting mating ritual, which is said to exemplify a traditional family life. While originally intended to be a simple nature documentary, March of the Penguins, turned into a phenomenon in the United States. Many people viewed the Emperor penguins dedication to their families and the mating ritual as a model for a traditional and conservative family that most Americans are lacking. Family values are a somewhat controversial issue due to its large basis in ethics. Ethics is a set of guidelines or morals that people or a culture use as a rubric for good or bad behavior and decisions. The family values promoted in March of the Penguins are ethical according to the American way of life. This film was produced by French filmmakers and narrated by Morgan Freeman. Furthermore, it was the second highest grossing film in the United States (Miller). After premiering in the United States, reviews began to circulate that raved of the conservation values pushed in the film as well as traditional family values. The documentary, March of the Penguins, was highly successful due to the interpretation of the portrayal of conservation in a non-scientific manner and the family values promoted by personifying the penguins in the film. March of the Penguins is a documentary created and produced by French filmmakers, Luc Jaquet, Michael Fessler, and Bonne Pioche, which documents the yearly journey of the emperor penguins in Antarctica. Narrating the American version of the film is by the infamous Morgan Freeman, who is notorious for his voice that can make any moment on film moving and meaningful. Utilizing him as the only human voice heard in the film gives it much more of an impact on audiences of all walks of life. The writers and producers created a film that document the incredible journey that these amazing animals make each year and their mating rituals that are unlike any other. Emperor penguins have many fine characteristics, that unless seen up close they would never be visible to the human eye. Emperors are the largest of all penguins-an average bird stands some 45 inches (115 centimeters) tall (Forsteri). Emperor penguins are the father of all penguins. Each summer the Emperor penguins hunt and feed on fish in the ocean. The penguins instinctively begin their journey seventy miles inland as a species to the mating grounds where they then find their perfect mate for the next year. While at the mating grounds, the female emperor penguin gives birth to a single egg. After she gives birth, she leaves for the ocean to feed again while the male emperor penguin remains at the mating grounds with the other males to warm and protect their egg all through the brutal winter. These penguins attain their physical features in order to survive the harsh habitat they have to reside in. The males wait until the females return in the spring when their young hatch from the ir eggs. The winter is extremely relentless and harsh in Antarctica, especially inland where the mating ground is. There are several sunless days and many more with little sunlight. The males have no food to eat and must rely on the fat they built up over the summer to feed them and keep them warm through the season. These penguins use many conservation tactics in order to survive in the worst of times. By the time the egg has hatched, emperor penguins will have fasted about 65 days through icy temperatures and they will have survived the brutal wind chills of inland Antarctica reaching as low -76ÂÂ °F (Forsteri). To help survive, the males all gather in a large huddle with their backs to the outside to keep warm. They rotate turns being on the outside where it is the coldest and being in the center where it is the warmest. By learning and utilizing how penguins conserve can only benefit everyone on a global level. Reducing our own carbon footprint will decrease the effects of Global Warming. One of the most important things we can do, as penguins do, is work in a group. Humans should help others and work with others in conserving energy, similar to the way emperor penguins work as a group to keep each other warm. Humans can cut down on the use of air conditioning and heat, for example, which will save a vast amount of energy. There are numerous ways for humans to conserve our habitat, similar to the way penguins conserve their habitat which will help our earth as a whole. The females then return in the spring just as their young are hatching so that they can feed them and relieve the males from their long months of protecting their offspring with no food. The mothers take the task of teaching the young penguin chicks about the world, because one day soon those baby chicks will have to carry on the tradition for the survival of their species (Anderson). As in traditional American families, the mother penguin is in charge of caring for their offspring after they emerge from the egg. The filming technique in March of the Penguins is impressive and gives the documentary a much more up close and personal feeling. There are many close-ups of the penguins throughout the documentary. Additionally, scenes reveal footage that have never been captured on film. One of the more touching moments occurs during the mating season, an Emperor penguin couple pose with their heads bowed down together in an almost kissing embrace. They were also able to capture the penguins as they were feeding underwater during the summer, preparing to make their amazing journey inland for the winter. Being able to see these creatures up close puts the viewers in their shoes, if they could wear any. The shots that these videographers were able to capture are breathtaking and captivating, in turn keeping the audience enthralled throughout an otherwise boring and straightforward documentary. The filming techniques in this documentary are most definitely a large part of the reason for its huge succe ss in the United States. The translation appears that the message of family values is a form of expression through the movie March of the Penguins. Let us assume that when groups of people watch or listen to a film, each individual will interpret the information differently. Peoples personal views are ethically different, depending on what he or she understands and perceives to be true and right. When interviewed by the London Times March of the Penguins director Jacquet, who has never made a film for the cinema before, is concerned that his documentary has been hijacked. For me there is no doubt about evolution. I am a scientist. The intelligent design theory is a step back to the thinking of 300 years ago. My film is not supposed to be interpreted in this way (Malvern). Yet by examining the film, its message reveals a strong suggestion of traditional family values and monogamy. For example, the films story of unswerving portrayal that penguins function in the same manner each mating season cycle. It reinforces monogamous heterosexual family makeup as a natural and necessary part of life. The story of the penguins depicts total parental sacrifice and dedication to the offspring and the traditional family structure. First, in the scenes in which the penguins are having intercourse are only implied. The director only reveals intimate shots of wings and beaks, as tender loving music plays in the background. This parallels the idea of traditional family values, rather than the actual act shown, as if the penguins intercourse is offensive. Furthermore, the film characterizes the penguin family as incomplete unless both parents and the chick are together, seeing that a single parent does not represent a traditional family structure. One scene in the film, a mother penguin loses her chick, Morgan Freeman expresses that the loss is unbearable and the film illustrate s painful flashbacks in reference to the moments that the mother cherishes with her chick. The insinuation of these scenes to many traditional families understandably personifies penguins, as if they are the perfect human. It is unspoken that mothers should only exist for the welfare of their children and family. Somehow a notion has taken root that there is a whole persona that you have to adopt to impress people and convince them you have the perfect family (Ferguson, 148). No individual is perfect, nor is any family by any means. Taking a closer look at this film assists families in evaluating their own family value system. As a scientist Jacquet realized, What I really discovered [in Antarctica] was my desire to be a storyteller, he explains. There are other people there who know the story; there are geologists and physicians and meteorologists and they experience all of this, but I felt like it was really my calling to be able to share this with the outside world (Grady). The film imitates human characteristics, such as the closeness of the family unit. The film portrays the story of the penguins as a love tale, displaying the unconditional love of the family dynamics through sacrifice, discipline, and unconditional love for their children, that we as individuals could learn from. Lastly, the documentary was not scientific in how they depicted the tale of the Emperor penguin. Richard A. Blake, co-director of the film, states You get a sense of these animals following their natural instincts are really exercising virtue that for humans would be quite admirable, he said. I could see it as a statement on monogamy or condemnation of gay marriage or whatever the current agenda is (Miller). By humanizing the story, the audience is able to effectively grasp and sympathize with the lives of the penguins, by association with their own. Conservation and family values are important subjects to Americans today. Both influence their lives in various but important ways. Having good conservation practices and being concerned with the atmosphere will help better our environment and the world for those who are yet to come in the future. Family values affect how people act and react to situations and carry themselves among their families. How a person is raised in their home as a young person up until their adulthood shapes them into who they will become. This then affects how they treat others and how they decide what is wrong or right in society once they are on their own. The documentary, March of the Penguins, is a film that inspires audiences in America to become more environmentally conscious and better their family life and values at home.

Media Literacy after The Simpsons

Media Literacy after The Simpsons Homer Simpson Explains our Postmodern Identity crisis, Whether we Prize it or not: Media Literacy after The Simpsons ABSTRACT This article suggests that The Simpsons is a sophisticated media subject about media that forces educators who teach media literacy into an encounter with postmodern judgment. The sense of postmodern judgment for media education is explored through a focus on two now themes in The Simpsons: the changing judgment of personal identity and the consequences of a relentlessly ironic worldview. Icons of habitual culture can be used to teach about philosophical constructs. From its inception The Simpsons has posed a significant challenge to educators. The program, which ridiculed all forms of influence and turned Bart Simpson into a wildly habitual anti-hero, initially provoked an intense reaction from the education citizens, in some schools influential to the banning of paraphernalia bearing Barts images and habitual denunciations of the series. As the series grew in popularity- and eventually was joined by other cartoon series that were seen to be all the more more educationally offensive, such as Beavis and Butthead and South Park-the furor died down to a now on the other artisan passive hostility toward the program, at least in the classroom. It certainly didnt facilitate the educational communitys disagreement to have Interval magazine reputation the series the best television program of the 20th century, or to have the poet laureate of the United States, Robert Pinsky, praise the series, stating that it penetrates to the existence of television itself (Owen, 2000, p. 65). Nor did it facilitate that various teachers went hab itat, turned the program on, and laughed themselves silly. All the more another abbreviate has been created between the culture of children and the culture of education, a poser that has been perhaps all the more more painful for media educators, various of whom follow Hobbs (1998) target that the texts of everyday career, when constituted as objects of social participation, provide the possibility for combining textual, historical, and ideological examination in ways that relieve students and teachers move beyond the limits of traditional disciplines and controversy areas (p. 21). To be undeniable, there have been efforts by media educators to bring The Simpsons into the classroom. Our debate of the media literacy literature and media literacy sites revealed a number of examples of proposed lessons incorporating the series, from examining The Simpsons as a virgin variant of social satire to comparing The Simpsons family to other television families. On the other hand, in almost eve ry dispute, we sensed that the unique qualities of the series eluded these efforts. The basic tools of media education and literacy as typically agreed upon by numerous media literacy communities-tools which regulate our control to basic precepts such as the meaning that the media are constructed-appear not to be enough to turn The Simpsons from renegade habitual culture into a teachable moment (Aufderheide, 1993; Media Awareness Network, 2000). Perhaps the central poser with The Simpsons is that it seems to drag the media literacy examination onto the unfamiliar and all the more foreboding terrain of postmodernism, where issues of image and replica open to fall apart, a terrain where sporadic media educators are willing or able to follow. Of line, there has been an effort to define, critique, and bring postmodern impression to bear on educational judgment and application, expressly from advocates of critical pedagogy (e.g., Aronowitz Giroux, 1992). All the more this has been a the ory-driven effort that has not reached further far into educational scholarship, and has made almost no headway into the frontlines of educational manipulate. Various teachers Studies in Media Info Literacy Education, Tome 1, Subject 1 (February 2001), 1-12 # University of Toronto Press. DOI: 10.3138/sim.1.1.002 have never heard of the label postmodernism. The same mould is equally, if not more pronounced, in the media education citizens. Our examination of media literacy literature and key media literacy web sites in the United States and Canada revealed an almost comprehensive absence of controversy and examination on postmodernism. There have been, of pathway, notable exceptions (McLaren, Hammer, Scholle, Reilly, 1995; Steinberg Kincheloe, 1997). The outcome of this empty margin is another critical abbreviate, in this dispute not between students and educators, on the other artisan between media educators and media theorists. In examining this section, we are struck by two observations. First, the gap between media education manipulate and media judgment comes precisely at the moment when teachers and media educators are finding them selves overwhelmed by strange contemporary regular cultural texts for which the unfamiliar category of postmodernism may potentially be the most fruitful interpretive handle. Second, the positions of students and media theorists stand in the succeeding relationship. Students are living inside an increasingly postmodern regular cultural participation that media theorists are attempting to label, define, and scan. The puzzle is that students dont necessarily have the vocabulary to generate meaning of their participation, and the vocabulary that theorists have developed seems to cause meaning only in graduate seminars. The Simpsons offers a promising opportunity to strategically residence these issues, highlighting the limits of conventional media literacy tools, illustrating the aesthetic examine of postmodernism, and providing some vocabulary to label that examine. In effect, it serves as an dispute of how the solution of postmodernism can be used to develop a contemporary range of c ritical interpretive skills for constructively engaging this growing trend in habitual culture. Our article presents a mini introduction to postmodernism and a grounded process of the benefits and limits of applying this judgment. Our reason is not to provide an exhaustive or all the more spread out introduction to postmodern judgment. Rather, it is to position The Simpsons as a media subject that can be used as a starting stop for exploring postmodern judgment. Fear of Postmodernism If everyone loves The Simpsons, postmodernism has its correct participation of critics. Writing in U.S. Material and Field Report, Leo (1999) argues that postmodernism has created a language that no one can understand, a language that is used to intellectually bully readers into agreeing with outlandish propositions. The academic area, on the other artisan, has offered more equivocal assessments. Hebdige (1988) argues that we are in the presence of a buzzword, a expression which, while confusing, does appropriate an influential social or cultural transition. Kellner (1995) agrees, observing that . . . the label postmodern is often a placeholder, or semiotic marker, that indicates that there are virgin phenomena that demand mapping and theorizing (p. 46). In the infrequent instances where references to postmodernism do appear in media literacy literature, its ambiguous area is emphasized. For process, Buckingham and Sefton-Green (1997), in their effort to launch charting the challenges posed by multimedia education in an increasingly digitized media area, believe that postmodernism, although glib and sweeping, offers a beneficial pathway to characterize a number of broad social and cultural transformations. Some of the changes that control Buckingham and Sefton-Green embrace the area of consumption, the blurring distinctions between production and consumption, the poaching of texts and symbols, and the rejection of the elitist and sterile oppositions between high and habitual culture (pp. 289-292). Given the slipperiness of the sense, postmodernism on the other hand marks a cr itical modern moment in the scan of media and replica. Building on the business of Buckingham and Sefton-Green (1997), we open by asking what is postmodernism and what can we do with it? With its questioning of truthfulness and its subject of the politics of media representations, postmodernism, once it is understood properly, can be a rich source of pedagogical judgment and manipulate. The Postmodern Dispute: Definitions and Symptoms What true is the label postmodernism trying to receive? There is, first, the sense of opposition to modernism. In essence, modernism states that individuals and nations, guided by rational thinking and Studies in Media Counsel Literacy Education, Tome 1, Subject 1 (February 2001), 1-12 # University of Toronto Press. DOI: 10.3138/sim.1.1.002 2 scientific achievements, are moving toward a more humane, more just, and more economically prosperous ultimate. In other contents, modernism embraces progress, viewing it as a linear and inexorable phenomenon with acceptable outcomes. Accordingly, the publish in postmodernism stands for the meaning that there is no longer any guarantee of progress. In point, there is further petty consensus as to what progress all the more wealth. Postmodernity typically is distinguished by an undermining of force, the denigration of novel by turning it into a style or evocative nostalgia, the questioning of progress, and the head to impression the ultimate as empty. Other postmodern symptoms embrace the meaning of image overload, intertextuality (the seemingly random q uoting of one subject by another), a heightened meaning of media self-reflexivity calling control to replica as a hall of mirrors, and pastiche, defined as the sense to cause disjointed images and subject fragments. Finally, the postmodern process is marked by commodification overload (the head to turn everything into a product or marketing opportunity), irony overload (the elevation of irony as the dominant rhetorical posture), and the increased questioning of the sense of personal identity brought on by viewing the self as a social construction. In short, the meaning of postmodernism calls control to the ways in which a beneficial deal of everyday regular culture is at once fully informed by, if not driven by, the basic media literacy precept that media construct social naked truth. In act, all the more of regular culture relentlessly draws carefulness to the further arbitrariness of almost every aspect of our social participation, as well as the moral and epistemological foundati ons on which social participation depends. In other contents, the curriculum of regular culture has outstripped the curriculum of the classroom, all the more the media education classroom. The vocabulary of postmodernism allows us to launch to contemplate and term the various ways in which this is taking fix, on the other share it further leaves us at a loss about how to proceed. Recognizing this disagreement, memo and educational theorists have attempted to clarify what is to be gained by drawing on the social and theoretical insights generated by the deconstructive influence of postmodern criticism. At the same interval, they have tried to demonstrate how to tame this influence in the utility of modernist values such as human rights, equality, freedom, and democracy (Aronowitz Giroux, 1991; Best Kellner, 1991; Giroux, 1997; Kellner, 1995; Rorty, 1989; Wolin, 1990). A critical postmodernism encourages us to solicit contemporary questions about all claims to influence (scientific or otherwise), about how contemporary forms of replica and contemporary inflections in the style of replica made practicable through technology and commodification exchange the quality of sense, and about how cultural dominance is produced and maintained through the patterns of contrasts used to define social and linguistic categories (Aronowitz Giroux, 1991; Scholle Denski, 1995). Postmodernism offers contemporary tools for critical interpretation and modern responsibilities for connecting media and cultural interpretation to democracy as a form of native land that enables critical reflection and activism, making us understand the ways in which our seemingly private individual identities are formed, through language and symbols, in relationship to each other and the broader social and political citizens (McKinlay, 1998, p. 481). For The Simpsons audience, an ambivalen ce toward technology and progress is guideline fare. This judgment of the ultimate as empty and without guarantees has further been associated with the core identity of Hour X, whose slogan might glance at We have seen the forthcoming and it sucks. While any aspect of postmodernism discussed above can be found in and explored within The Simpsons, two concepts in particular-irony overload and the questioning of identity-will serve as reference points in our reconsideration of the series. The puzzle of identity is a central complication for all young citizens, on the other artisan it is a puzzle that is not duration satisfactorily addressed, given the growing levels of hopelessness, cynicism, despair, and suicide among teenagers. Of particular control to us is that The Simpsons repeatedly focuses on this further subject: the puzzle of selfhood in an increasingly absurd culture pulverized with images, symbols, values, irony, commercialization, and hucksterism. What lessons does The Sim psons teach? What lessons can be learned as the characters on the demonstrate are thrust into many battles for selfhood within the postmodern terrain? Enjoy all the more postmodern Studies in Media Info Literacy Education, Manual 1, Controversy 1 (February 2001), 1-12 # University of Toronto Press. DOI: 10.3138/sim.1.1.002 3 culture, The Simpsons, is saturated with irony and obsessed with issues of absolute identity, expressly in relation to media culture. Our task is to articulate an interpretive frame of reference to facilitate media educators and viewers open to cause critical meaning of these symptoms. The Challenges of Postmodern Selfhood Gergen (1991) notes that postmodernists abbreviate version into three epochs, each of which corresponds to a particular judgment of personal identity or selfhood. These periods are labeled as the pre-modern (romantic hour), the contemporary era, and the postmodern. From the pre-modern or romantic tradition, we derive our meaning in a stable center of identity. In Gergens contents, powerful forces in the deep interior of ones duration are held to be the source of inspiration, creativity, genius, and moral courage, all the more madness (Gergen, 1992, p. 61). Modernism redefined the self, shifting the emphasis from deep, mysterious processes to human consciousness in the here and these days, always in control with such values as efficiency, stable functioning, and progress. The self in its virgin form-what Gergen calls the postmodern or relational self-is no longer viewed as a separate target, on the other artisan is increasingly understood as a rel ational construction, defined by and spread across the humanity and activity experiences each individual encounters throughout her or his field. In short, as McNamee and Gergen (1999) argue, there are no independent selves; we are each constituted by others (who are themselves similarly constituted). We are always already related by virtue of shared constitutions of the self (p. 15). Linked to this sense is the sense that a conscious understanding of ourselves as beings occurs through language, which is itself a fundamentally relational sense, and that our identity grows and develops in relationship to the endless dialogues that we have with others, with culture, and with ourselves. In this meaning, our interactions with the media become deeply significant. Moreover, this contemporary consciousness of the relational sense of the self comes at correct the moment when the relationships we enter into and which contribute to our definition of self are multiplying at an exponential rate and are duration increasingly spread over a in a superior way and in a superior way span of hour and amplitude. It is one baggage to see the sense of the relational self when we think of, claim, two friends engaged in a mutually sustaining and defining examination. In this setting, the sense of the relational self is promising, perhaps all the more reassuring. On the other hand, extending the meaning of relationship to subsume every symbolic encounter in which we willingly or unwilling participate-from intentional relationships to unintentional and forced relationship with 3,000 commercial messages per day-presents modern challenges. A critical postmodern perspective calls control to this crisis of identity, a crisis in which the media of memo and their commercial foundations are deeply implicated. Of line, thinking of the self as a relational construct not only gives insights into the crisis of the self, on the other share it further offers a means of thinking about how to residen ce that crisis. In this more hopeful and acceptable meaning, the relational self offers a glimpse of those selected aspects of human participation and identity that may be used as a moral foundation in the face of the deconstructive maelstrom of commercial postmodern culture. The relational self suggests a moral compass that is based less on the authentic truths of religion or science than in the manner by which we draw up ourselves and our community through ceaseless and inevitable physical, linguistic, and psychological dependence upon one another. Drawing on the duty of Martin Buber, Mikhail Bakhtin, Jurgen Habermas, Richard Rorty, and Jerome Bruner, McNamee and Gergen (1999) deposit elsewhere a autonomous and thoughtful introduction to what a moral ethic organized on all sides of the relational self would see enjoy. They have called it relational responsibility, defining relationally responsible actions as those that sustain and enhance forms of exchange elsewhere of which influ ential process itself is made practicable. Isolation, they argue, represents the negation of citizens (p. 19). The guideline of relational responsibility is in stark contrast to the deconstructive tendencies of postmodernism. As such, it can serve as a critical bridge linking the interpretive coercion of a critical postmodernism to the modernist values associated with progressive democracy. Studies in Media Counsel Literacy Education, Tome 1, Subject 1 (February 2001), 1-12 # University of Toronto Press. DOI: 10.3138/sim.1.1.002 4 At the same hour, it is autonomous that the deconstructive tendencies of postmodernism (as a fix of virgin conditions) have influential implications for personal identity construction. Giddens (1991), for process, warns of the looming threat of personal meaninglessness. It is this threat that directs us back to a carefulness of one of the central tropes of postmodern discourse: irony. As noted above, relentless irony is a hallmark of both The Simpsons and the postmodern era. As individuals struggle to confront postmodern challenges to identity, there is grounds to solicit whether there is any valuation in the postmodern strategy of irony. Thus, the implications of irony both for identity formation and relational responsibility must be considered. Irony, Identity, and the Disagreement of Responsibility The Simpsons is regularly celebrated for its incisive wit and social satire, for its force to manipulate irony to bell control to the absurdity of everyday social conventions and beliefs. Irony functions as a critical form that helps us to break through surface sense to examine and understand the correct area of things in a contemporary and deeper means. It is a vehicle for enhancing critical consciousness, and it represents a moral coercion of skilled in the function of eradicating conventional pathetic (Rorty, 1989). As Hutcheon (1992, 1994) notes, critical irony is intimately linked to politics. The compel of deconstructing can be a first development to political dispute, and ironys oppositional character can be a major critical compel. The subversive functioning of irony is related to its status as a self-critical and self-reflexive resources that challenges hierarchy, and this influence to undermine and overturn is said to have politically transformative coercion. On the other share this is not where the manipulate of irony ends in The Simpsons, nor does it appropriate the postmodern turn in the meaning of irony. Postmodern irony is ambiguous and its solution is contested. It can be interpreted by adherents as playful, reflexive, and liberating; opponents, on the other hand, contemplate it as frivolous, deviant, and perverse (Hutcheon, 1992, 1994; Kaufman, 1997; Thiele, 1997). In postmodern irony, clarity in moral delineation begins to disappear. For process, in virgin comedy, as in all social behavior, all actions are controversy to satire from some perspective. Besides, by reason of postmodern irony begins with the assumption that language produces all sense, a kind of emancipatory indulgence in irony is evoked-an invitation to reconceptualize language as a form of play. As Gergen (1991) writes, we neednt credit such linguistic activities with profundity, imbue them with deep significance, or fix elsewhere to interchange the nature on their novel. Rather, we might play with the truths of the hour, shake them about, try them on prize funny hats (p. 188). In other contents, postmodern irony invites us to avoid saying it straight, using linear logic, an d forming smooth, progressive narratives (p. 188). The Simpsons is saturated with this form of postmodern irony. On the other facilitate where does that leave media educators trying to duty with this enormously regular series? On the one artisan, media educators would prize to engage the series fully by practise of it raises various challenges to conventional ideas of mould and selfhood; on the other share, they are unwilling to lead students to examine media literacy as a form of deconstruction that leads only to meaninglessness or play. Some media scholars contemplate postmodern irony as a laborious challenge for teachers committed to linking media literacy with productive citizenship. Purdy, for dispute, laments that between Madonna and the fist-fight between Jesus and Santa Claus that opened the cartoon series South Park, there is less and less left in society whose flouting can elicit shock. Irony, he concludes, invites us to be self-absorbed, on the other facilitate in selves that we cannot believe to be particularly interesting or significant (p. 26). Conway and Seery (1992) are similarly concerned about the implications of postmodern irony for engaged citizenship. Although irony may equip the dispossessed with much-needed critical perspective and all the more underwrite a minimal political agenda, they draw up, it is generally regarded as irremediably parasitic and antisocial (p. 3). Hutcheon (1994) further shares this episode, noting that irony can be both political and apolitical, both conservative and radical, both repressive and democratizing in a pathway that other discursive strategies are not (p. 35). Gergen (1991) frames the challenge of postmodern irony in terms of its challenge to forming a coherent self. If all serious projects are reduced to satire, play, Studies in Media Counsel Literacy Education, Tome 1, Subject 1 (February 2001), 1-12 # University of Toronto Press. DOI: 10.3138/sim.1.1.002 5 or nonsense, all attempts at authenticity or earnest ends become empty-merely postures to be punctuated by sophisticated self-consciousness (p. 189). If this is the poser that The Simpsons raises in its manipulate of both critical and postmodern irony, to what room is it contributing to a social consciousness with a practicable for social process, as opposed to contributing to a cynical numbness founded on ironic detachment? What solutions does the series offer for resolving this disagreement? Are there any alternative solutions that acknowledge the postmodern challenge to identity? Exploration of Self in Homer to the Max With these concerns in meaning, we see an phase of The Simpsons that originally aired on February 7, 1998. The period focuses with particular vehemence on the quest for identity and asks the closest questions: †  How is the sense of the self understood in relationship to the blizzard of media images, symbols, and values? †  How does irony fit into the exploration and resolution of identity issues? †  How do we understand The Simpsons confrontations with the self and identity in terms of what has been called the postmodern process? The demonstrate begins with the principles sight gags on the couch and the Simpson familys lampooning of televisions midseason replacement series. The program that finally captures the familys carefulness is Police Cops, which becomes a present within the present. As the two Miami-Vice enjoy heroes of Police Cops subdue would-be bank thieves, one of the police detective heroes, a millionaire cop surrounded by admiring women, introduces himself as Simpson, Detective Homer Simpson. The Simpson family is shocked and Homer is exclusively overwhelmed, confusing himself with his television image. The plot then unfolds in essentially five kernels that hire up and explore Homers confusion over his own identity (Chatman, 1978). First, Homer identifies completely with the television detective hero: Wow. They captured my personality perfectly! Did you examine the means Daddy caught that bullet? In turn, the all-inclusive citizens of Springfield validates Homers contemporary pseudo-identity, treating him as if he were the television detective hero: Hey, Mr. Simpson, sir, can I purchase your autograph? Second, the Police Cops producers interchange their television detective character from glamorous hero to bumbling sidekick, launching a series of gags about Homers correct identity. The virgin characterization is truly a near perfect replication of the absolute Homer Simpson. This outrages Homer: Hey whats going on? That guys not Homer Simpson! Hes fat and stupid! The town continues to respond to Homer as the television character, only these days with ridicule rather than respect. No netheless, Homer gains some insight into the confusion between his authentic and fictional identity. As a assemblage of co-workers gathers in the hallway absent his business waiting for him to do something stupid, Homer retorts, Well, Im sorry to disappoint you gentleman, on the other artisan you seem to have me confused with a character in a fictional present. Factor of the pleasure for viewers derives from the irony of the cartoon character Homer making the state that he is the authentic Homer Simpson, as opposed to the fictional cartoon character within the cartoon. The writers of the period then continue to play with this seemingly endless hall of mirrors between absolute and fictional identity by scripting Homer to behave true in the transaction of the revised fictional detective character. Homer obliges by spilling a fondue pot on the nuclear reactor polity panel. Homers identity crisis eventually leads him to Hollywood, where he confronts the producers of the Police Cops-By the Numbers Productions-and demands that they recast the detective character: Im begging you! Im a human duration! Let me have my dignity back! The lines between Homers authentic identity and his media identity blur all the more besides when his efforts in the production business are used as grist for a contemporary gag in the later Police Cops period. Studies in Media Counsel Literacy Education, Manual 1, Controversy 1 (February 2001), 1-12 # University of Toronto Press. DOI: 10.3138/sim.1.1.002 6 In the third kernel, the plot shifts absent from Homers struggle over his identification with his media replica to his fixation on the sense that a contemporary label will give him a virgin identity. In this kernel, Homer goes to court to sue Police Cops for the improper application of his reputation. When his petition is nowadays rebuffed in the term of corporate proprietary interests, he rashly decides to transform his reputation to Max Coercion. Homers growth is nowadays transformed. His self-image improves, he becomes forceful and dynamic, and his co-workers and boss treat him with respect. Mr. Burns, remembering Homers reputation for the first interval, exclaims, Well, who could forget the reputation of a magnetic individual prize you? Keep up the acceptable profession, Max. While shopping at Costingtons for a contemporary faculty wardrobe, Homer meets a member of Springfields elite with a similarly powerful label, Trent Steele. Trent nowadays takes Homer/Max under his wing, inviting him to garden troop for Springfields young, hip force couples, an period that turns elsewhere to be the jumping off stop for an environmental reason. The critical moment in this kernel-which links the identity crisis of Police Cops with the identity theme in the Max Force parcel of the episode-occurs when Homer reveals to his contemporary best friend Trent Steele the origin of the term Max Compel. When Trent exclaims, Hey, beneficial term!, Homer replies, Yeah, isnt it? I got it off a hairdryer. Homers resolution to his identity crisis with his media self is to redefine himself in terms of the force setting of a mini household appliance. The self is these days equated with a product. At first, the results are stunningly successful. The fourth kernel leads to the denouement. In the third kernel, Homers appropriation of the identity of his hair dryer appears to have resolved his identity crisis in satisfactory transaction. On the other hand, this meaning soon falls apart. At the garden assemblage, Homer and Marge rub shoulders with celebrity environmental activists Woody Harrelson and Ed Begley, Jr., two of the various celebrities lampooned in the phase. The sense extreme these scenes is that Homer, as the buffoon celebrity Max Force, is on the same level as other equally shallow and ridiculous celebrities. Finally, Trent Steele announces that it is interval to board a bus to re ason the wanton destruction of our nations forests. This generate is relentlessly parodied: We have to protect [trees] by generate of trees cant protect themselves, except, of trail, the Mexican Fighting Trees. The partygoers travel to a stand of redwoods about to be bulldozed and are chained to the trees. The police (Chief Wiggum, Eddie, and Lou) confront Homer, attempt to swab his eyes with Hippie- Coercion mace, and stop up chasing him on all sides of his tree. His chain works prize a saw, cutting down the redwood, which in turn topples the comprehensive forest. Homer, freed at persist, throws his chain into the air, killing a bald eagle. Homer, as the phony Max Force, is rejected by the phony celebrity activists. In the fifth and final kernel, which serves as an epilogue to the phase, Marge and Homer are in bed. Marge tells Homer she is glad he changed his reputation back to Homer Simpson and Homer responds, Yes, I learned you gotta be yourself. The Phase Through a Postmodern Le ns The phase is intriguing by generate of of its insistent focus on the search for identity, and the methods by which that identity is constructed within the absurdities of the postmodern landscape. As Gergen (1992) notes, We are exposed to more opinions, values, personalities, and ways of activity than was any previous interval in novel; the number of our relationships soars, the variations are enormous: past relationships extreme (only a ring bell apart) and contemporary faces are only a channel absent (p. 58). There is, in short, an explosion in social connections. What does this explosion have to do with our meaning of selves and what we stand for, and how does it undermine beliefs in a romantic interior or in a rational center of the self ? This is precisely the controversy this period of The Simpsons takes up again and again. What is exclusively engaging in this phase is the focus on Homers identity crisis and its relationship to the media. This is not, of line, a theme unique to The Simpsons. As Caldwell (1995) observes, comedy-variety shows in the late 1940s and early 1950s were repeatedly using the conventions of intertextuality and

Sir Roger Penrose :: biographies biography bio

Sir Roger Penrose, was born in England, in Colchester, August 8, 1931. His parents were both highly educated. His mother Margaret Feathe was a doctor, and his father, Lionel Sharples Penrose, was a medical geneticist. He and his brothers Oliver and Jonathan all went into the sciences. Jonathan became a psychologist, while Oliver, the eldest, became a mathematician. Roger was groomed to be a doctor, but he swerved into another path when his school would not let him have biology, and mathematics as his focuses. He was allowed two, and he could not give up math. Needless to say, his parents were wroth with him for a time for disrupting their plans, but he went on to graduate from University College London with a bachellor of sciences in mathematics, winning First Class honors. He later became interested in physics, through the inspiration of Dirac, Turing and Godel. He attended their lectures at Cambridge and found them fascinating. However, he continued his works in mathematics, receiving a Ph.D in Algebraic Geometry. He is famous for his aperiodic tilings, his collaboration with Stephen Hawking on black holes, and especially for his books on consciousness such as The Emporer's New Mind. A less-well-known achievement on his part was the development of twistor geometry, a concept that will be explained in further depth later on. Queerly, everyone in mathematics and physics has heard of him, and every dabbler in puzzles and games has probably used his tilings. Many in England have probably even wiped with toilet paper bearing the pattern named after him. Yet he is not published in any standard biography of 20th century greats, he is known largely only by book reviews or in conjunction with Stephen Hawking. His personal life is closed off--all I found was some gossip that he had recently had a child with his wife (presumably, eh?) in his 60s, and that that wife's name was Vanessa Thomas, a consultant specializing in Mathematica teaching programs and how to use them. This after three hours searching newspapers, magazines, EBSCOhost and online resources. Yet he is regarded with awe in my circle of physics majors, his anti-AI books prompted ant anti-programming group based in Sweden to name themselves after him, and he has done research on fiundamental issues in physics today. Penrose is generally termed gentle. His handwriting is rounded and soft, similar to a childs loopy writing. An interview with him in Japan reveals a contemplative nature as he describes art that he and his wife encountered there.

Pandas Essay -- essays research papers fc

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The giant panda only exists at present in six small areas located in inland China. The habitat, suitable for the bamboo on which it survives, is a cold, damp coniferous forest. The elevation ranges from 1,200 to 3,400 meters high. In most of the areas in which they still roam wild, they must compete with farmers who farm the river valleys and the lower slopes of the mountains. It is estimated that there are somewhere around 700 and 1,000 giant pandas still alive in the wild. Because of their reliance on bamboo as their primary food, they will remain in significant danger unless their present habitat is expanded. The differing varieties of bamboo go through periodic die-offs as part of their renewal cycle. Without the ability to move to new areas which have not been affected, starvation and death will certainly occur for the giant panda. Such die-offs of the bamboo also put the giant pandas in more direct contact with farmers and poachers as the bears try to find new areas in which to feed.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Pandas have few natural enemies other than man, so the life-span of giant pandas in the wild is thought to be twenty-five years or more.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Giant pandas have forepaws which are extremely flexible. Evolution has given them an enlarged wrist bone that works in the manner of an opposable thumb. This highly functional adaptation allows the giant panda to manipulate their primary food source, bamboo stems ...