Introduction to Issues in Literature and Culture Essay

Course Description and Objectives This course critically examines various literary themes in twentieth and early twenty first century novels, plays and poetry. These texts are fictionalized representations of circumstances in which fear, ignorance, and misunderstanding have shaped our sense of modern history and contemporary culture. They give voice and offer claims of identity to those in society who have traditionally remained socially and often economically marginalized, mostly women, the poor, and people of colour. You also will learn the methods of developing an effective thesis and supporting evidence for a literary analysis essay. Required Texts Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart. Choy, Wayson. The Jade Peony Headrick, Paul. A Method for Writing Essays about Literature Yousafzai, Malala. I Am Malala. Douglas, Frederick. Narrative of the Life Steinbeck, John. Of Mice and Men Course Notes for ENGL 101 Important: Notes about the course literature and class weekly reading questions will be posted on the Weekly Outline section of Moodle on FIC’s website, http://learning.fraseric.ca. This material must be reviewed before coming to class. You must log in using your FIC username and password. Assessment 15% Reading Quizzes 10%Proposal and First Draft of Literary Analysis Essay (1250-1500 words) 20% Revised Draft of Literary Analysis Essay 20%Mid-Term Exam 25%Final Exam 10%Attendance and Participation Grading Scale// A+ = 95-100% A = 90-94% A- = 85-89% B+ = 80-84% B = 75-79% B- = 70-74% C+ = 65-69% C = 60-64% C- = 55-59% D = 50-54% F = 0-49% Reading Quizzes Completing all assigned reading is essential to being successful in the course. There will be a short reading quiz after the completion of certain works of literature. These quizzes will be straightforward for students who have completed the reading assignments and have participated in class activities and discussions. Missed quizzes cannot be made up. Essay Proposals and Outlines An essay proposal outline must be submitted before essays are due. These proposals, about one page in length, should summarize the stance of your essay, and present a detailed outline of the essay’s structure (details TBA). Feedback will be offered to help ensure successful completion of the essays. Essays Much of your grade depends on the successful completion of your literary analysis papers, which should be original scholarly interpretations of the assigned literature. All essays must be typed, using correct English grammar and MLA format. E-mail submissions of essays will not be accepted unless they are prearranged with the instructor, and a printed copy also must be submitted at the next class meeting. Late essays may be marked down by at least one letter grade. Essays more than one week late may not be accepted. You will be given extensive comments on your first draft of your essays and essay proposals, and you are expected to incorporate the instructor’s feedback into your final drafts. Exams The mid-term and final exams for this course will be administered in class and will consist of short questions, passage analyses, and short essays. You will be given more information about these exams throughout the semester. Attendance and Participation You are expected to attend all class meetings. You will spend a great deal of the class in response groups or work teams with peers, and the absence of one member can make progress on projects difficult. A number of activities conducted in response groups must be submitted as homework. Attendance records will be kept; students are required to maintain at least an 80% attendance rate. If you fail to attend class in the first week of the semester, this will count as a double absence on your participation grade. Plagiarism and Academic Honesty The ideas put into your written assignments must be your own. The ideas of others must be documented in MLA style. Plagiarized work will be failed and can even result in an F for the entire course. Issue of plagiarism and academic honesty as well as methods of MLA documentation will be covered during the early weeks of the semester. Academic Advising FIC provides academic advising to all students, free of charge. FIC runs study skills tutorials and peer review to help students become more effective writers, from planning and organizing a paper, to writing and proofreading it. These tutorials and reviews are a valuable resource for any student, and you are encouraged to attend these sessions. Scheduling for academic advice and weekly peer tutoring will be posted on the FIC student portal during the first two weeks of the semester. Class Schedule (subject to change) Week One: Tues, May 6/ Thurs, May 8 Course Introduction Read: Begin Jade Peony Read: Method For, Chapt.1 Week Two: Tues, May 13/ Thurs, May 15 Read: Continue Jade Peony Read: Method For Writing, Chapt. 2 Week Three: Tues, May 20/ Thurs, May 22 Read: Complete Jade Peony Read: Begin The Narrative (Douglas) Read: Method For Writing, Chapt. 3 (pp. 27-33 and 40-43) Sample Essay #1 (p.98-100) Week Four: Tues, May 27/ Thurs, May 29 Read: Continue The Narrative Read: Method For Writing, Chapt. 4 Sample Essay #2 (pp.106.109) Week Five: Tues, June 3/ Thurs, June 5 Read: Complete The Narrative Week Six: Tues, June 10 / Thurs, June 12 Read: Begin I Am Malala Plan for Literary Analysis Essay due Week Seven: Tues, June 17 Thurs, June 19 Read: Continue I Am Malala Mid-Term Exam Week Eight: Tues, June 24/ Thurs, June 26 Read: Complete I Am Malala First draft of Literary Analysis Essay due Week Nine: Tues, July 1 / Thurs, July 3 Read: Begin Of Mice Week Ten: Tues, July 8/ Thurs, July 10 Read: Complete Of Mice Week Eleven: Tues, July 15/ Thurs, July 17 Read: Things Fall Apart Week Twelve: Tues, July 22/ Thurs, July 24 Read: Continue Things Fall Apart Revised draft of Literary Analysis Essay due Week Thirteen: Tues, July 29 /Thurs, July 31 Read: Complete Things Fall Apart Course Review Final Exam (date TBA)

Different Thinking Between Generations Essay

Young people usually think differently than older people. Each generation doesn’t think the same way in their values, their goals, their fears, or their hopes. I always have to argue with my parents when we have different thinking. It seems that older people always think negatively about young people’s ideas. They don’t want to change because they have never experienced those ideas in their young life. I sometimes feel uncomfortable and misunderstand my parents’ thinking. In my idea, each generation has their own thinking about the subject as living together without marriage, studying at school, and living style. Older people are very strict about the topic: living together without marriage, but young people think that is the way to find out the best spouse for their life. For example, a woman was punished if she was caught that living with a man who wasn’t her husband. My parents think that is the bad girl. Everybody stayed away from her because she did the worst things ever in the social’ standards. Now is different because I think that is normal. Most of my friends are living with their boy/girl-friends in the same house nowadays. In the modern world, young people are more concentrating on finding their perfect half, so they live together before getting married to know each other well. I heard most couples were getting married with people arranged for them in the past. Now, we have freedom in thinking, so young people want to find their best spouses more than living with the person arranged from their parents. The difference in thinking about this subject always makes me to f eel argumentative with my parents. In the past, older people concentrated on studying at school, but young people don’t think they will successful in future by going to school only. For example, my parents and I always have differences in thinking about my studying. They always want me to finish my college quickly and get good grades to find a good job. I tried to convince them that most companies nowadays require more experience than a degree from college. I know the importance of getting business degree which will give me a shot to apply for a large corporation. If I don’t have any experiences in business, I can’t pass the job interview even I have good grade at school. In my parents’ time, the economy was stable and developed, so most of the companies wanted to hire more people. They cared about quantity more than quality, so they didn’t put many requirements for hiring employers. Now, time changes because the economic is going down to the lowest level. All of the companies are hiring only experienced and skilled employers. That is the reason for me to work and study half and half. My parents don’t realize that and they keep expecting me to finish my study to get a job. That is their only thinking, and we always have a fight every time when my parents talk about this subject, because of the difference in thinking between my parents and me. The biggest difference between young people and older people is living style. My parents and I have different thinking about using money for living. In my parents’ past, my country had a war and has just gotten independence since 1975. Everybody was poor and starveling, my parents worked hard to earn money when they were very young. They learnt that saving money is very important because they needed to survive during the country’s hard time. At my time, the country is developing and the society was improved. People make more money than before, but my parents still keep their own thinking that they should save money as much as they can. When I spend money on shopping, hanging out, or playing games, they blame me that I am wasting money. I explained many times that the country is developing, and my parents should spend more money to enjoy their life. They don’t think that is good idea and keep saying to me that I need to save money. In contrast, each generation has difference in thinking from each other in any subject. My parents always remind me to get a good wife and shouldn’t live with other girls if I don’t plan to marry her. They usually complain me that I should study hard and finish my study, and they often warn me to save money. In my opinion, I think differently because my parents’ thoughts are no longer suitable to the modern world.

How to Write the University of Delaware Essays 2018-2019

The University of Delaware is a large public research institution that offers a high-quality and affordable education to a diverse population of students. In 2013, Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Magazine rated UD as one of the best values in public higher education thanks to a â€Å"high four-year graduation rate, low average student debt at graduation, abundant financial aid, a low sticker price, and overall great value.† The University encourages its students to give back to the community as volunteers, and expand their horizons by studying abroad (UD piloted the United States’ first study-abroad program in 1923, and to this day, 30% of UD students study abroad). Because UD is increasingly recognized as offering high-quality and affordable education at a time when many students are worried about accumulating debt, the University of Delaware is also increasingly competitive. Receiving about 28,000 applicants a year, the university admits around 60% of them. The middle 50% of enrolled students have SAT reading scores from 580 to 660, SAT math scores from 570 to 670, and ACT composite scores between 25 and 29. While all UD students fill out the Common App, the school does have a rather distinctive set of short-response essay questions that can potentially push you into some uncomfortable territory. In order to navigate these questions and help you present your best self, the team at has composed the following guide. While this essay asks you to â€Å"anticipate† what you will be like as a student at UD, that does not mean they are asking for idle speculation. A strong response to this essay will show how your projection connects back to your experiences. Once you start thinking about the question in these terms, then you can use your 200 words to start sharing some things with the admissions committee that they may not have been able to learn from reviewing your grades and test scores. For example, you might say that you will be excited to start participating in small seminar discussions about literature because all throughout high school one of your favorite activities was going to the science fiction and fantasy book club. Nothing makes you happier than getting into an argument about the racial politics of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings (are the orcs really bad guys who can be killed with impunity?). Maybe outside the classroom, you will want to continue volunteering as a reading coach at a local elementary school in preparation for your intended career as a teacher. As you talk about what excites you inside and outside the classroom, you will want to try to make sure that those two things are related. In the example I’ve been discussing, there is a common theme: a love of reading . On the whole, you will want to stick to talking about academic and community-service topics. This is not the time to say that you are excited about going to parties and experimenting with alcohol. If the social aspects of college really are part of what quickens your pulse, you can talk about that in a more wholesome manner. Maybe event-planning has always been your passion in high school, and you look forward to organizing student days for UD’s Athletics program. But there is one more part in this question that adds a considerable amount of depth. UD not only wants to know where you will expect to thrive, but also what kinds of challenges you will expect to face. Here, it is okay to be a little bit vulnerable. It can often seem like the college admissions process is asking you to trumpet an endless line of success stories, but this part of the essay wants to see if you are good at recognizing your own limitations and figuring out ways to manage them. Maybe you are really close to your family, and you know you will miss being able to spend time with your brothers around the house. Whenever you talk about areas where you will have to stretch yourself, you will probably also want to offer a sentence softening the blow and saying that, even if you know you will be challenged, you are still looking forward to facing that challenge. If you know you are going to miss your family, you can also say that you are looking forward to sharing your college experiences with your little brothers and encouraging them to attend college as well. Like the previous question, this one is also asking you to be a little bit vulnerable. This question is asking you to both talk about one of your accomplishments at the same time that you talk about a challenge that you encountered. The first thing to recognize is that this question is asking you to dig a little bit deeper than your activities list. The admissions committee probably already knows that you have won your high school’s community service award or made the varsity baseball team in your sophomore year. The trick is to focus on one accomplishment in particular, a challenge where you pushed yourself outside of your comfort zone, even if it does not appear on your activities list. For example, maybe you were already a competent trumpet player, but you decided to learn a new instrument and audition for your district orchestra on the french horn. You might talk about putting in extra hours while practicing in the basement and how you had to muffle your sound, or putting in an extra shift at work on the weekends in order to afford French horn lessons. Maybe you made the district orchestra in the end, in which case you can finish your essay on a happy note. It’s also possible that you didn’t make the district orchestra, but you can still say that you are proud of the time you put into trying something new, and that the extra effort made you a better musician. The point of this prompt is not to add another â€Å"achievement† to your activity list, but rather to give the admissions committee a sense of how you challenge yourself and what you do when things get difficult. One especially important aspect of this prompt is addressing â€Å"who or what you turned to for support.† As you probably recognize, your accomplishments are probably not solely the result of your own individual effort. Maybe you had parents who clothed you, maybe a good teacher offered some especially useful feedback, or maybe your friends were there to commiserate when you faced a setback. One of the most important marks of maturity that this prompt is looking for is this: Do you have the capacity to reach out for help and support when you need it? Submit your essay and we’ll get back to you with helpful edits. This is probably the hardest prompt to address because it can be very easy to sound bitter. Everyone suffers setbacks, and we sometimes need to vent when we are just talking amongst our friends. Also, sometimes â€Å"anger† might be the appropriate response to injustice. As Audre Lorde says, â€Å"Anger is loaded with information and energy.† But as you answer this question, you should try to put the emphasis on what you did after you were denied an opportunity or were treated unfairly. Maybe you were passed over for a promotion at work, and you needed to go home and blow off some steam so that you could come back the next day and continue to do your job. Or maybe you went home, did some research, and found that your workplace had a history of not promoting people who look like you. However, when responding to this prompt, you want to put the emphasis not on the moment of suffering and grievance, but rather on what you did to regain your own sense of agency and dignity in the aftermath. You might also interpret this prompt in a slightly more banal way: Maybe you received a bad grade on a paper. You thought you deserved better, but then at home you took a few moments to really look at your essay and realized that there really were some logical gaps. As with the previous example, you want to put the emphasis on what you did after the moment when you thought you were being treated unfairly. Maybe before handing in your next paper, you made sure to ask a friend to read it, and you offered to read their paper in exchange. At UD, you might talk about how you hope to take advantage of the writing center in order to get a fresh perspective on your paper before you turn it in. It’s also possible that you do not feel like you have ever been treated particularly unfairly. Or maybe you feel like the few moments of unfair treatment you might have received pale in comparison to the injustices suffered by others in your community. If that is the case, you should feel free to talk about the injustice that you see in your own community and what you have done or hope to continue doing to fight it. Only answer if there really are unique circumstances. This is not the place to air your grievances about a chemistry teacher who â€Å"had it out for you† — even if that’s true, you don’t want to draw attention to interpersonal conflicts in your personal essays. An example of situations in which you want to write a response to this question might include: Your grades were unusually low the fall of your sophomore year because you suffered an especially serious illness that made you miss class for three months. Hopefully after you recovered, your grades did as well. Also, note that while you have 500 words to respond to this question, you should not feel compelled to use all of that space if you do not need it to give a straightforward account of your situation. If you only have one grade to explain, and you can do so in two brief sentences, you should stop there. With all of your other essays being less than 200 words, a 500-word essay on the special circumstances that led you to get a C in Spanish 2, but an A in Spanish 1 and Spanish 3 will sound strange. You want to minimize the amount that your admissions officers spend focusing on your lower grades. In this short question, UD is asking you why you would want to attend the school in particular. Though there are only two sentences, you do not want to say something generic like â€Å"I am excited about UD because I will get to learn from experienced professors.† The same could be said for just about any university. One way to approach this question is to focus in on a specific event or club that UD offers. Maybe you are interested in studying urban planning and were excited to learn that the Department of Energy and Environmental Policy recently held a symposium on â€Å" Smart Cities and Sustainable Energy .† Maybe your older brother went to the University of Delaware, and you remember hearing stories about Twilight Induction . Whatever you say in these two sentences, you want to show the admissions committee that you have taken the time to research UD and that you are not just checking the boxes on one more application (even if you really are applying to a number of different schools).

The Filipino Culture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Filipino Culture - Essay Example The Filipino characteristic is a mix of various cultures put together although it is basically of Malay stock. The spirit of kinship and camaraderie is inherited from the Malays, the close family relations from the Chinese, and the piousness from the Spaniards. The Filipinos have distinguishing characteristics of hospitality. They are divided geographically and culturally and their traits and dialects differ accordingly. They are easily distinguished by their fair color, tall structure and fairly formed nose structure. The main religion is Christianity (Roman Catholics). About 80 percent of the population is Catholic Christians while 15 percent are Muslims. The rest are Buddhists. The Filipinos refer to themselves as ‘God-fearing’ people. Rice is the main food eaten thrice a day. Fish and seafood are the principal source of protein. The food had minimal cooking and they either steamed, boiled or roasted their food. The ethnic food is Chinese cuisine which includes noodles and soy products. It is known as the Filipino-Chinese food. Gradually local ingredients were added to suit the local taste. The cuisine was given Spanish name for the convenience of the clients. The Spaniards too brought food influence from Spain and Mexico. After independence, there was a severe recession in Philippines and the economy shrunk by more than 10%. The Asian financial crisis added to the grim situation. It is now experiencing a very fast economic growth. It is now making a steady growth and meeting all government targets. Its growth rate is amongst the fastest in the Asian region. The Filipino language known as Tagalog, contains many Spanish words. Amongst their customs the most noticeable is the "fiesta" or the celebration of a towns patron saints feast day. This is an annual event and is celebrated with street parade, church ceremonies, fireworks and a grand feast. They

Prepare a brief summary report on 3 key employment relations issues Essay - 1

Prepare a brief summary report on 3 key employment relations issues for an Australian company about to expand its operations into a country in Europe or Asia - Essay Example Such expansion is usually a resultant of continuous profit making and can either be within or without the business host country. When looking to expand a business into another country, it is vital to take into contemplation numerous factors. The employment relation issue is one key factor including others such as the costs of operations in that business and the trade market exchange prevailing in the country. All these factors are taken into account prior to such ventures in preparation for all and any situations that might arise (Dascalova, 2008: p.82). In an instance like this where an enterprise is venturing all the way into another continent, it is of upmost importance that research and such preparations conducted. This highly attributes to the fact that such places depict remarkably different environments and operational responsibilities, laws and regulations. Employment relations issues mainly deal with the pertinent issues between a business or employer and its employees. The management of employee relations is paramount in ensuring that the business ideals and goals are upheld while also catering for the rights of employees. It advocates for a win-win position on both sides of the business and employees. The business may, for example, may manage this relation by establishing of regulations regarding discipline, performance, conflict of interests and conduct. Employees, on the other hand, are safeguarded labor laws and regulations, employee unions and rights groups among others (Walters, 2011:42). India, a country in Asia is well known for its large involvement in commercial and technological development. It is also highly densely populated and developed thus making it a significant target market for most companies. Due to this, the country has stipulated substantial labor laws that are as a hindrance for the current slow pace in developmental growth (McNair, 2009: p.2). There are various employment relation issues in the country that would have

Analysis of an Advertisement Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Analysis of an Advertisement - Essay Example It has been observed for a long period of time that there is more information that audience derives from the advertisements presented by the media than the common outward message that is displayed to the casual eye. Advertisements, similar to any other forms of communication, functions best when they strike the desires of the audience. The general ambience of the advert is that which triggers excitement from the audience. The advert exhibits a world of happiness that eliminates technological strain with the introduction of a multitasking device (Barnet and Bedau 138). The mood created by the advert is majorly depicted through the use of a variety of colors which may be attributed to the universality of the device. The employment of a variety of colors in the advert draws the attention and feelings of a majority of the audience who may have different tastes and preferences as regards colors (Barnet and Bedau 143). The advert also creates a mood of acceptance of the product on display by exposing much more than the customers may have in their expectations. This has been achieved through revealing a number of features besides the primary ones that appear on the screen. This paints an image of an extra ability of the device to perform much more operations in a better and a more efficient manner. In addition to the use of colors to attain the attention of the audience to the appealing product, there is also the use of many symbols and signs which depict or make communications to the target audience (Barnet and Bedau 165). ... for a long period of time that there is more information that audience derives from the advertisements presented by the media than the common outward message that is displayed to the casual eye. Advertisements, similar to any other forms of communication, functions best when they strike the desires of the audience. The general ambience of the advert is that which triggers excitement from the audience. The advert exhibits a world of happiness that eliminates technological strain with the introduction of a multitasking device (Barnet and Bedau 138). The mood created by the advert is majorly depicted through the use of a variety of colors which may be attributed to the universality of the device. The employment of a variety of colors in the advert draws the attention and feelings of a majority of the audience who may have different tastes and preferences as regards colors (Barnet and Bedau 143). The advert also creates a mood of acceptance of the product on display by exposing much more than the customers may have in their expectations. This has been achieved through revealing a number of features besides the primary ones that appear on the screen. This paints an image of an extra ability of the device to perform much more operations in a better and a more efficient manner. In addition to the use of colors to attain the attention of the audience to the appealing product, there is also the use of many symbols and signs which depict or make communications to the target audience (Barnet and Bedau 165). With the roles these symbols and signs play in the advert, they have a remarkable impact on the general perception of the product on advert. Such symbols include those standing for the feature like facebook (f), yahoo (Y!), Google (g), the image of an envelope for text and

The role of women performers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

The role of women performers - Essay Example In addition, both articles address the way music has undergone transformation through age and artists with Nicky Minaj being the current mc while the likes of missy Eliot in the 1990’s (Article 2). While article 1 discusses the form of music which hulls abuses at women which is the gangster rap since this environment is considered a masculine performance environment; article 2 discusses a form of music where women and their growth in the music industry is highly appreciated. On the other hand, article 1 talks about the topic "Unladylike Divas": Language, Gender, and Female Gangsta Rappers† while article two talks about, â€Å"The return of the Femcee: New female rappers shake up the game† hence, the first article is quite retrogressive while the second article is progressive. It is true and quite clear that women have today cropped into majority of the fields that were previously known to be purely for men such as in the music industry where women today can perform genres of music, which only men performed. Hence, women have experienced progressive growth hence renegotiation of femininity as expressed through their prowess in both gangster rap and hip-hop music (Lengel, Laura and John

Intercultural Communication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Intercultural Communication - Essay Example Although in public it seems that Western women are separated by tradition, in their private lives, every woman is just a woman like any other. They are by means of their needs, interests and being, simply a woman. A woman has always been regarded as the weaker sex, to be controlled and guided by a man. Many western countries have tried to break the biases, but even the most liberated countries such as the United States, is left with prejudice. Discrimination is created not by religion, but by the culture and belief, as instigated in every man from the day they were born. It is the lack of education that creates a certain form of prejudice that is quite hard to break. On 1995 the United Nations hosted the Fourth World Conference for Women in Beijing. A platform was created, focusing mainly on implementations which require a change in attitude, values and practices around the world that perpetuate practices that promoted inequality and discrimination against women. Women’s right s are more protected than that of a man’s rights because of the inequality that is prevalent in the world and the lack of respect that is given to women. You will not hear a story of a man being abused or rape; unless he was discriminated upon such as if he was gay. But as numerous U.N.

Main idea and themes of Simon Schama's Caravaggio Essay

Main idea and themes of Simon Schama's Caravaggio - Essay Example One of the themes represented is breaching of Renaissance art. Caravaggio went against the rules of Renaissance that is sticking to religious subjects, capturing reality, and depicting mythology in most of their work. He settled for his own style of art; capturing what he saw in real time, and translating it directly onto canvas. The other theme of the video is the use of paintings in the Roman Catholic Church. The [Catholic] church used paintings to seduce people, or â€Å"win souls†. The paintings depicted Christian themes of the Virgin and baby Jesus, and were used to decorate churches. The final theme appearing in the video is the standoff that existed between the Roman Catholic Church and the emerging Protestant Christians. The Protestants were advocating for the destruction of all catholic paintings saying that the Bible is what should guide a Christian, and not paintings. Additionally, the Protestants were attacking the Catholic’s obsession with painting, terming it as idolatry and a misguided

The view that assisted suicide is an act of compassion Essay Example for Free

The view that assisted suicide is an act of compassion Essay Assisted suicide can be an act of compassion because it relieves immense suffering both for the patient and the family. Thinking that it is purely about pain is naà ¯ve, in reality terminally ill patients fear the loss of independence, dignity and function more than pain. Pain can be managed, but other regressive symptoms cannot. When considering this issue, utilitarianists think about quality of life as well as quantity of life. Sometimes assisted dying may be necessary to produce the greatest amount of happiness. There is little to be gained from keeping someone alive when they are dependent on machines to carry out basic functions. Ultimately suicide is a tragic but conscientious moral choice. For some patients euthanasia will be seen as the ultimate expression of autonomy in that they determine the time and mode of their dying. It may be the only thing left they are able to control. If we have the right to life it follows that we should also have the right to die in our own terms. To force someone to continue living against their will could be considered torture. Society’s views are changing regarding assisted suicide, which is demonstrated even by the change in language used. The media now refers to it as assisted dying, or mercy killing. Although it remains illegal in the UK, the public opinion is gradually changing. Even some Christians believe that it can be a charitable act. Paul Badham, an Anglican priest, wrote a book in favour of assisted suicide for both social and economic reasons. However, the Christian Medical Fellowship dismissed it: â€Å"The highly selective and infrequent use of the Bible, the pick n mix theology, the fundamentalist view of human autonomy, and the slapdash use of Church history do not constitute a Christian case at all.† On the other hand, many believe that assisted suicide is not an act of compassion. These views are usually influenced by Christian teaching. The Bible speaks much about God’s control of when we die, such as Job 14:5: â€Å"Since his days are determined, The number of his months is with You; And his limits You have set so that he cannot pass.† There are cases of people seeking assisted suicide in the Old Testament, but these requests tend to come from disobedient characters such as Saul. Furthermore, just because the Bible records an event does not mean God approves of it. Christians would instead promote palliative care as a better option. Furthermore, opponents of assisted suicide often cite the slippery slope argument. We are descending into a culture of death. Many opponents would fear that even the strictest of legislation would gradually be opened up until assisted suicide is available on demand. This has already been witnessed with abortion. Legislation that was supposed to only allow it in exceptional cases has been revised to a point where it is available on demand. Finally, assisted suicide is not an act of compassion because it breaks down professional and legal norms. Doctors are supposed to be preservers of life, not bringers of death. It would transform the job description of a doctor. Assisted suicide is contrary to the Hippocratic oath, which sets forth certain ethical standards for doctors – including, â€Å"you will exercise your art purely for the cure of your patients.† To conclude, our opinion on any form of suicide will depend on how we see our own bodies. Are they mere disposable tools, or do they have a higher, divinely ordained purpose? To quote Dignity in Dying, â€Å"An assisted dying law would not result in more people dying, but in fewer people suffering.†

Disability students learning in South Africa education essay

Disability students learning in South Africa education essay Abstract Disability students in many societies are facing debilitating quandaries, including physical, emotional and physiological degradation. As a result, empowering disabilities students to realize their self-esteem as well as to enhance their skills and employability represents an interesting and challenging task to government, industry, interest groups and individuals worldwide. In this research we propose to determine the Impact of Assistive Technology (AT) on disabilities students learning in South African Higher Institutions, from a students voice perspective. As a case study, we will validate our experimental design on randomly selected students with disabilities from University of Pretoria and Tshwane University of Technology, due to their closeness to the researcher, it makes the study cost-effective. The reasons for involving students in this research have its origins from two related subjects: (a) Participatory Research and (b) Participatory Study. The data collection tools that this research will use are; (a) questionnaire and (b) focus groups which will be used in phase two of this study. The results of this study will enable the understanding of various unresolved issues brought about by the disability students needs for assistive technologies in South African Higher Institutions. We are hopeful that our design will be systemic enough to be easily extrapolated into other institutions. Introduction People with disabilities account for four (4) million of the total population of South Africa (SA) as contained in the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) report (reporter, 2009). This latest statistics significantly outgrows the previous Statistics of about 2 million in 2001 (Statistics South Africa, 2001) of the total population of about 40 million. With the vast growth of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in SA and the governments initiatives to have more people with disabilities empowered, particularly with education, implementing Assistive Technology (AT) in academic institutions is a necessity with no option. With careful planning and guidance, the vast number of AT devices and softwares can be beneficial to students with disabilities (Duhaney Duhaney, 2000). In South Africa, the Ministry of Education emphasise that South African schools have to provide AT services and equipments for a students with disabilities to enable a free and appropriate ( balanced) public education. An Assistive Technology (AT) is technology used by individuals with disabilities in order to perform functions that might otherwise be difficult or impossible (Mirenda, 2001). Assistive technology can include mobility devices such as walkers and wheelchairs, as well as hardware, software, and peripherals that assist people with disabilities in accessing computers or other information technologies. For example, people with limited hand function may use a keyboard with large keys or a special mouse to operate a computer, people who are blind may use software that reads text on the screen in a computer-generated voice, people with low vision may use software that enlarges screen content, people who are deaf may use a TTY (text telephone), or people with speech impairments may use a device that speaks out loud as they enter text via a keyboard. With this in mind, the standard of education for these students will greatfull improve since there will be sustained information flow that all st udents will receive with much alteration onto the educational information. Majority of universities in SA use online learning such as; (a) virtual learning environments, (b) discussion lists, (c) e-mail, (d) podcasts and (e) library information databases to provide information to their students. Students of today are being classified as digital native of the net generation Oblinger (2003), so they expect technology to be integrated into their learning environments. Oblinger (2003) argues that, this would need for the universities stakeholders to analyse just how well they know about the new students that are being enrolled into their universities. Most of the literature that is available about the impact of ATs on students with disabilities in Universities comes from three sources; Literature and Case Studies that have been developed from publicly funded studies; Research studies that have explored the general education experiences of disabled students ; Research studies that have explored the specific ICT (e-learning) experiences of disabled students. What the conclusions from the studies have not made clear though, are whether their findings are true for all students, especially the students with disabilities who may need ATs to enable them to access learning materials that may be provided online or digitally or may need other forms of technology to access them? The impacts of the use of ATs on students with disability in SA are enormous. Not only are ATs beneficial in classroom environments, disabilities students social lives have also changed as well as improved with better communication between the disabilities students and their non-disabled peers. Life is all about communicating and interacting with ones environment. However, many issues and barriers impact on the successful use of ATs such as lack of AT knowledge, training, funding, poor coordination between service providers, technology developers and fear/avoidance of these technologies. With the use of ATs, opportunities for students with disabilities are better enhanced. Some of the most significant changes in the education of disabilities students in South Africa has been the initiative to adapt the inclusive education theory into their education system (Patton, 1992). This form of initiative is mainly a collaborative setting which includes a content specialist paired with a learning specialist and then leads to sharing of the teaching responsibilities which will later benefit the education of both general and disability students. The use of inclusive education may change from institution to institution but it clearly indicates that it is extremely important in enabling those students archive their educational goals. Problem Statement and Research Questions Today, the greatest challenge confronting the South African disabilities students is to smoothly integrate into academics and at large the society, participate in a competitive educational system and be equipped for the professional economic world. A number of emerging technologies: assistive and adaptive technologies have been developed to cater for these students. However, very little literature has been written about these novel technologies and their impact on the students with disabilities from a students voice . Moreover, the evaluation of their impact on the end-users has also not been widely researched and reported in the academic publications. One way to ensure best outcomes for disabilities students learning in South Africa would be to evaluate the effective usage of ATs on these groups of students. To do so, different types of ATs would have to be indentified and opinions of these students need to be sampled on the use of these emerging technologies. Thus, a participatory research is necessary to determine the impact of ATs on disability students learning in South Africa from the students perspective because we need to listen to students; with disabilities views and ensure that technology meets their needs. The main research question we are addressing in this proposed study is: How does AT usage impact disability students learning in South Africa Higher Educational Institutions? To answer this question satisfactorily, first it is important to identify various ATs available and determine their contributions towards improving the academic performance of disabilities students learning in South Africa. As result, the following research sub-questions will be squarely addressed in order to solve the main research question. What are the different types of ATs available to disability students learning in South Africa Higher Educational Institutions? How do disability students feel about using AT to help them learn? What support do disabilities students receive while use AT in their learning? How compatible are the ATs provided to disability students to their needs? What problems do disability students encounter while using AT and how is each solved? How has the use of AT enhanced the academic performance of disabilities students? 1.2. Goals and Objectives of the Study Linked to the problem statement, this research has an overarching objective which is to promote the development of user-centred methodologies for studying the impacts of technology on disability students and to expose these widely so as to encourage a participatory approach to studying and designing disability students use of technologies in South Africa Higher Institutions. This goal will be accomplished by implementing the following primary objectives. To identify different types of ATs available to disability students learning in South African higher institutions. To determine how disability students feel about using AT to help them learn. To determine what support disability students receive while use AT in their learning. This can be from University, friends and family. To determine whether the AT the disability students are using is compatible with their needs. To determine what problems disability students encounter while using AT and how they are solved. To determine whether the use of the AT improves academic performance of disability students learning in South African higher institutions. 1.3. Expected Deliverables Within a 2 year project leading to an award of MTec degree, it is important to ensure that there are clear expectations for what can be delivered in these time-scales. We hope to deliver the following outcomes. A comprehensive account of disabled students learning experiences and a clear documentation of the impact of AT on disabled students. A set of recommendations for practitioners, support staff, institutional managers and program developers on ways to manage the challenges of disability students. A summary report detailing how the research questions have been addressed and drawing out lessons learned from the particular institutional context. 1.3 Hypothesis The hypothesis underpinning this study is that certain aspects of students with disabilities academic performance (if not all) will and has improved due to the utilisations of ATs. With the main research question as a basis, this studys hypothesis implies that ATs create value addition. With this in mind, it must be said that only through the creation of general awareness can this be possible in South African Higher Institutions. Students that are fortunate enough to attend institutions that have existing ATs in place score higher percentages, as a result of both, ATs and hard work. At the same time, AT users would report less difficulties in self-care, mobility issues. 1.4 Limitations of the Study This study is not intended to develop nor replicate any existing models, policies, schemes or plans pertaining to ATs usage, but merely evaluate, analyse and where possible critique their implication on students with disabilities learning in south African Higher Educational Institutions. Thus this research will not go into too much detailed studies nor delve into discussions around the elements of the main or sub-disciplines that it straddles and elected to engage. Furthermore, it is not the intention of this research to seek, to isolate nor to discuss in detail all the factors negating the full scope of ATs, but merely to highlight some of the impacts of ATs and the effects they have on those that are directly affected by them. This research will therefore be limited to South African tertiary institutions namely, University of Pretoria and Tshwane University of Technology. Because of this, the research results cannot be generalised to other institutions. In addition, the study has got its own limitations and areas of potential bias as described hereunder. Many questionnaires will be distributed to a number of students with disabilities. Data will be primarily gathered by use of questionnaires, this study notes that not all are expected to be answered and returned. During interviews, interviewees might not be as expressive as hoped. Furthermore ATs are a new trend in South Africa Higher Educational Institutions and thus the lack of knowledge by people concerned i.e. teachers and bodies that regulate students with special needs within the institution might pose another limitation. Thus, in respect of the limitations discussed above the findings in this study should not be concluded as absolute but guidelines for ATs usage improvement. 1.6 Assumptions This study is underpinned by assumptions that ATs do exist and are somewhat effective. However these fail to achieve desired outputs due to lack of general awareness inherit among the directly involved. All principles and policies of ATs should therefore be improved. Any initiative that fails to do so should thus be subject to scrutiny. 1.7 Significance of the Study With the latter sections of this study explaining some of the aims of this study, it should be deduced that this study attempts to extremely explore the different forms of Assistive Technology and their impact on students with disabilities in south African learning institution, so as to increase understanding of the many complex issues and interactions introduced by disabled students requirements for better learning environments. With disabled people in South Africa accommodating a fair share of the population, recognising that disabled students are not a minority group. Students with a wide range of disabilities and access to Assistive technologies in South Africa schools were included in the study in order to: Explore and describe how disabled students participate in learning in Technology-rich environments with the use of Assistive Technology; Investigate the strategies, beliefs and intentions of disabled students who are effective in learning in this rich ICT world and identity factors that enable or inhibit effective use of Assistive Technology in learning. Make recommendations to those stakeholders involved in designing Technology for disabled students based on our understanding of their preferences, experiences and diverse needs. By this study exploring the issues relating to experience, this study hopes to develop a greater perspective and understanding of the skill levels of disabled students. For example, whether there is a relationship between a highly skilled Technologies based students without disabilities and a highly skilled Assistive Technology user; how disabled learners use technologies e.g. how they are involving some of the personal Assistive technologies in their learning and what disabled students experiences of interactions between Assistive and education technologies are. By this study focusing on issues relating to strategies, this study sought to identify the choices disabled students make regarding how they use technologies to support their learning environments. By this study seeking to understand issues relating to beliefs intentions, this study hopes to develop an understanding of the impact that Technology use has on disabled students in terms of their feelings regarding the value and difficulties of using these kinds of Technology to support their learning and other aspects of their livelihood. 2. Literature Review Most of the recent literature focusing on the impact of ATs on students in Universities across the world can be classified into three sources: Literature and case studies that have been developed from publicly funded studies to determine the impact of AT in higher education exist in academic domains and are mostly inform of case studies (Shelvin, 2004) Research studies that have explored the general education experiences of students with learning disabilities exist in both academic and non-academic domains. (Mortimer Crosier, 2006), Shelving et al. 2004 and (Fuller et al. 2004). Research studies that have explored the specific e-learning experiences o f disabilities students have generally been conducted in the UK, an example of this is Draffan et al. (2007) in a survey of the use of and satisfaction with AT by disabled students in UK higher institutions. Another survey by Cobham et al. (2001) also tried to explain the specific experiences of students with learning disabilities when using AT. The important conclusion from these studies is whether their findings are true for all students, most especially the students with learning disabilities who may need emerging technology such as AT for effective learning. The uniqueness and novelty of this study in relation to previous studies is positively different. With the use of participatory research methods, this study shall be a voice for all the students with disabilities who may need emerging technology such as AT effective learning. This enables us to answer the paradigm of nothing about me, without me since the users will be involved in every phase of this study. Meaning that the deliverables of this study will be hands-on on what the impact of AT is on students with disabilities rather than assuming these outcomes or guessing. 3. Research Methodology In this section we will describe how each objective was tackled, and then we will define participatory research in the context of this study; provide an overview of the participatory phases of this study and of the data collection tools and data analysis process. The first objective of identifying different types of ATs that are available to disability students learning in South African higher institutions, we will design a template of various ATs from the literature. This AT template will be presented to research participants to choose which AT is relevant to them or write down in case we havent listed what they are using. The second objective to determine how disability students feel about using AT to help them learn, this study shall ask the students to explain their feelings about using technology to help them learn. Would the disability students sustain without the use of ATs? The third objective to determine whether disability students get any support while using AT will be achieved by integrating questions in the interview that will ask. How the students are supported with regard to their on-line learning and if this different when compared to the support they have for the use of ATs? (E.g. university, friends, and family).The students will also be able to answer what support provides most help and what kind of support would they like that is not currently available? The fourth objective to determine if the AT they are using is compatible to their disability, a question will be asked to the disabilities students to explain in detail if this is true for them. This is done so as to determine if what they are using is what is needed. Under many circumstances, people in general life have tended to employ technology that isnt really necessary to their needs. So this objective will clarify that. The fifth objective to determine if the disabilities students encounter any problems while using them. A question will be asked in the questionnaire that will ask the research participant to clearly identify that problem, explain what it is and also state if that problem was solved, they will also be asked to explain how that particular problem(s) was solved. The sixth objective to determine whether the use of the AT improves academic performance, this study shall get records from the disability unit where academic performance of students with learning disabilities will be compared to non-disabled students using ratio of those who graduated (success rate). This method of comparison will normalize the dominance effect of performance of non-disabled students. For example suppose we have total enrolment of 20 students for ICT programme in a given year and 5 are disability students. If 3 of the students with learning disability graduated, then since 3/5 is greater than 5/15 students with learning disabilities of ICT perform better than their non disabled colleagues of that year. We can study this for all years considered and the ratio of drop-out to determine the overall performance comparison 3.1. Defining participatory research in the context of this study Using the objectives of using participatory design and participatory research, students with disability participation in this study will be defined as: Involving students with disabilities as partners and consultants and not just as research subjects. This is where students with disabilities students help to identify and (re)frame the research objectives and questions; work with this study so as to achieve a collective analysis of the research issues and bring the results of the study to the respective universities that they represent. This helps to reflect the principle of nothing about me, without me (Nightingale, 2006; Nelson et al. 1998) and this principle involves: Working directly with students with disabilities (research participants) in the evaluation of the impact of AT on their learning environments; Continual participation of students with disabilities in order to produce improved teaching and support practices; Engaging students with disabilities in the analysis conduct and design this research. In analysing the participatory nature of this study like this, this study will map its approach against a methodology offered by Radermacher (2006) which defines six major types of student involvement in this study that range from non-involvement to participant-initiated, shared decisions with researcher of this study. This studys methodology falls into the type classified by Radermacher as researcher-initiated, shared decisions with participants where this studys researcher has the initial idea for the study, but students with disabilities (participants) are involved in all phases of the study. 3.1.1 Overview of the participatory phases of this study. With regards to the participation of disability students in this study, there will be three key phases of participation: Phase One (July-August): Consultation with the relevant research participants and stakeholders regarding proposed research questions and research methods, writing of the proposal; Phase Two (September): Opportunity for the research participants (students with disabilities) to contribute own experiences of using AT to help them learn; Phase Three (September-October): Opportunity for both the researcher of this study and the research participants and stakeholders to validate and interpret the results of the study and to contribute to the design, content and dissemination of project deliverables and outcomes. In the first phase of this study, the research participants will be contacted and consulted to attain the relevance of the proposed research questions and the proposed data collection methods that this study intends to use, this is of course done after ethical approval has been granted. In the second phase of this study, participants will be interviewed and allowed to contribute their own feelings and experiences of using AT. In the third phase of this study, participants will be invited to validate and advice on the analysis of the data collected from phase two. Each of these phases is will be described and evaluated in more detail in this study Methodology report. In addition to developing approaches that enabled the participation of disability students within the University of Pretoria and Tshwane University Of technology, this study will employ a range of approaches that will enable the participation of a wider group of stakeholders. These included: Using the Student Support Services of the respective universities in the recruitment of participants; The setting up of a project advisory group (mostly involving research participants teachers, the researcher and the coordinators) so as to deal with any distress that might be involved during phase two; Involvement of senior members of the proposed universities during the life of the research. 3.2 Overview of data collection tools The data collection tools that will be used in this study consist of (a) questionnaire and (b) focus groups. Most research studies that employ a participatory approach use these tools. The benefit of using these data collection tools in this study is that participants (students with disabilities) will influence the way each tool is used. 3.2.1 Questionnaire The questionnaire will consist of both demographic and questions related to this study. The research participant will be able to answer open and closed ended questions. Using the appropriate data collection tool, this study will be able to capture responses to these questions approprioately. 3.2.2 The focus group A focus group will be held in phase three to which all the participants will be invited. During these focus group meetings, the researcher will explain to the participants the purpose of the focus group, which is to share with the research participants in this study the initial interpretations of the data that has been collected in earlier phases of participation. The main findings in phase one and two will be summarised and presented to the research participants. For each of the findings, this study will ask the participants whether they expressed their own views and personal experiences and if this study misrepresented the findings or leaving out important contributions that they made in earlier phases of this study. Though there are other data collection tools like observationnaire, case-studies and content analysis, though some of these methods are used in a brief extent in this study, they are not extensively used due to the fact that participatory researches dont usually employ them and the results obtained from them are what this study is trying to get away from. Making the data collection tools this study has taken far more appropriate when undertaking a participatory form of research. 3.3. Research Data Analysis In the phase two of this study; interviews and an Olympus recorder will be used to record the interviews with the participants. The resulting Windows Media Video (WMA) files will be transcribed into Word documents. For some of the interviews, speech recognition software will be used to assist transcription (e.g. a researcher plays the audio files into their head phones and verbally repeats what they hear from the files so that a speech recognition application can capture their words and convert it into written text). Once these transcripts are typed, this study will email the participants to read through and find out if there any corrections or additions that should be noted. These transcripts will then provide the basis from which issues are noted and strategies developed into artefacts. For those students who can write directly onto the interview sheet, the data from the interview sheet will be analysed and a methodological report of each of the accounts will be drawn out of those accounts. In the phase three focus group, an Olympus recorder will be used to record the discussion. The resulting WMA file will be transcribed into a Word document. These discussions will be mainly to determine if all the students voices have been collected correctly. 4. Ethical Considerations. Formal ethical approval for this project will be received through the Ethics Committee of the respective Universities. Four key ethical issues will be identified as needing addressing: Issues relating to gaining access to the students; finding out which students in the university are disabled in order to contact them directly about the project, without breaking confidentiality and data protection rules. There is however key gate-keepers in the University, who are able to facilitate indirect access to disability students across the whole institution. Issues relating to potential psychological distress; there is a very slight risk in this research that participants might experience distress if they chose to recount a particularly negative technology experience. There is also a potential that some participants might be stressed if they felt they are being excluded from taking part and prevented having their say. For this reason this study will deliberately make phase one all-inclusive in that this study will accept collated responses from any and all students who wished to contribute. For phase two, this study anticipate that, depending on how many replies we receive for the participation of this research, this study might need to be selective in order to get a spread of case studies. Issues relating to anonymity and confidentiality are considered. Participants in phase one of the this study which aims to gain feedback on the relevance of our questions, are guaranteed full anonymity. For phase two of the this study, which aims to solicit accounts of the disability students, this study will negotiate with the students, whether or not they wish to be publicly identified; with the condition that if the participants choose for their contributions not be anonymous, those contributions must not publicly identify the identity of other. 5. Recruitment After receiving ethical approval from the respective university departments. With the help the disabilities departments of the respective universities, an information sheet will be sent out to the students with disabilities about the existence of this study and asking for their willingness to participate in this study. There after interview dates are set between the research prospective research participants and the researcher so as to collect the data necessary. 6. Project Plan Work packages March April May June July August September October November Startup/Project Planning Communication Questionnaire Student recruitment Phase 1 all inclusive Phase 2 purposive Data collection Data Analysis Phase 3-Evaluation /Reporting Table 1:Project Plan

To Tell Or To Lie :: essays research papers

To Tell or to Lie Maral Frendjian For modern students, a training in rhetoric such as that offered by Gorgias is more preferable, rather than learning how to distinguish truth from falsehood. It is the art of forceful language, emphasizing figures of speech and focusing on devices for swaying and persuading an audience, that would be most beneficial for students lives today. Despite the fact that it is simply ornamented language to make a good facade, the rhetoric by Gorgias is necessary for the success of students, especially those who would like to "sell" their ideas, products or beliefs to the people (the larger population). In the world we live in, there are many ways of getting the things that we want. The way most people would like to believe that their accomplishments were achieved is through hard work and sweat. However, that is not how it works, because most people around the world lie to get things to go their way. A perfect example of a group of people that use the rhetoric are politicians. Politicians will say and do anything to convince the citizens that they are right, and that they will do all they promise to do, if you vote for him or her. They try to convince us all the time, and often succeed, that they will make changes. Just think about the many times we've heard, "If you vote for me, I will lower the taxes." Gorgias makes a very clear point regarding the power of the rhetoric. The following quote from Gorgias expresses the impact that rhetoric can have on those listening. I mean the ability to convince by means of speech a jury in a court of justice, members of the Council in their Chamber, voters at a meeting of the Assembly, and any other gathering of citizens whatever it may be. By the exercise of this ability you will have the doctor and the trainer as your slaves, and your man of business will turn out to be making money not for himself but for another; for you, in fact, who have the ability to speak and to convince the masses. (Gorgias, p.28 sec. 453) What Gorgias is saying in the preceding quote is about the amazing power of persuasion. He is saying that if you have the ability to convince, you have the power to sway anyone listening by your ideas. He demonstrates the diverse situations in which the "ability to convince" can help the persuader, by giving him the power so that the control will be in his or her hands. Convincing is not only a form of speech, it is a form of twisting the truth,

Harper Lees To Kill A Mockingbird Essay -- Racism Race Kill Mockingbi

Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird The United States has been dealing with the issue of racism ever since Columbus landed on Plymouth Rock. The Indians were the first to endure harsh racism in this country. Pilgrims moving west ran them off their land wiping out many tribes and destroying many resources in their path. However, when many think of racism today, the issue of blacks and whites is the first to come to mind. African Americans have come a long way in today’s society as compared to the society their ancestors had to overcome. But just as far as we have come, there is still a long way we must go. Harper Lee, author of To Kill A Mockingbird, clearly depicts racism and what it was like in the nineteen-thirties through the trial of Tom Robinson and the only white man that supports him, Atticus Finch. The whole town of Mycomb becomes overwhelmed by a crime that a poor, â€Å"white trash† young woman named Mayella Ewell, accuses Tom Robinson, a black field laborer, of committing. This is very similar to the case of the Scottsboro Boys where nine black men were also wrongfully accused of a crime only because of the color of their skin. The fictional story, To Kill A Mockingbird, seems to depict actual events that happened throughout the nineteen-thirties in the south, during a time when whites dominated the legal system and blacks had no rights. The nineteen-thirties was a time of great hardship for many Americans in the south and around the country. The great depression was in full effect and was especially hard on those Americans who were involved in agriculture. The south played host to a higher degree of segregation than any other region of the country at this time. Many states and cities reinforced segregat... ...as usually taken care of outside of the courtroom, left dangling from a tree or beaten to death by angry mobs. â€Å"White Justice,† was the only thing that mattered to the white southerners during the nineteen-thirties. And that was the only thing that the blacks would get. Works Cited Braziel, Jana. History of Lynching in the United States. Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1992. Lee, Harper. To Kill A Mockingbird. New York: Warner Books, 1982. Linder, Douglas. The Trials of â€Å"The Scottsboro Boys.† http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/FTrials/scottsboro/SB_acct.html Martin Luther King, Jr., National Historic Site Interpretive Staff. â€Å"Jim Crow† Laws.† January 5, 1998. http://www.nps.gov/malu/documents/jim_crow_laws.htm. Stewart E. Tolnay and E.M. Beck, A Festival of Violence: An Analysis of Southern Lynchings, 1882-1930.

Recent Studies Concerning Violent Tendencies and the Confusion that Arises :: Violence Murder Papers

Recent Studies Concerning Violent Tendencies and the Confusion that Arises "It was an urge. . . . . A strong urge, and the longer I let it go the stronger it got, to where I was taking risks to go out and kill people-risks that normally, according to my little rules of operation, I wouldn't take because they could lead to arrest." -Edmund Kemper (6) Ted Bundy. Charles Manson. Timothy McVeigh. Bundy murdered pretty women. Manson had followers who killed on his command. McVeigh is responsible for one of the most horrendous terrorist attacks on America, the Oklahoma State bombing. While these three serial killers had different methods for their acts, the one thing they have in common is that they are killers. Murderers who took a number of innocent lives. Perhaps to not the same extent, but sadly enough the world is full of Charles Manson's and Ted Bundy's. Violence has become a common and prevalent occurrence in society today. Everyday on the news one hears stories of crimes-murder, robbery, rape, assault, extortion, kidnapping, homicide, an endless list. Law enforcement works day and night protecting neighborhoods and cities from crimes and violence, but the truth of the matter is that crime still exists and all one can do is ask himself why. Why do such treacherous violent acts exist in society? In essence, one must ask himself whether or not these violent tendencies have any biological relation whatsoever. Do violent tendencies occur as an affect of disruptions or damage to the brain? Is there a genetic correlation? Is violence brought about by some other factor, such as economic difficulties or social or cultural differences? All these questions remain unanswered. But one even significant, broader question that one must cons ider is whether or not these factors, biologically related and non, effect the occurrence of violent tendencies in individuals. In 1848, a railroad worker, Phineas Gage, was working when an explosion caused an iron rod to impale his skull, damaging the front part of his brain. Although Gage miraculously survived, his behavior severely changed in that the intelligent and respectful man everyone knew suddenly because fitful, impulsive, and rude (2). This is one of the first dated cases insinuating that violence may be related to some kind of damage or abnormality in the brain.

Cohesion in English Essay

The study of cohesion in English is concerned with a relatively neglected part of the linguistic system, which is the formal understanding of text construction and the ways in which parts of the text are interrelated so that meaning can be understood as one in relation to another. It is an interesting way to see the ways in which the sentences are constructed in order to avoid ambiguity and turbidity of the conveyance of meaning (Halliday and Hasan 1976; Taboada 2004). A principal component of the study of ‘cohesion’ is that which arise from semantic relations between sentences. Reference from one to the other, repetition of word meanings, the conjunctive force of ‘but’, ‘so’, ‘then’ and the like are considered. The work describes a method for analysing and coding sentences, which is applied to specimen texts (Halliday and Hasan 1976; Taboada 2004). According to the work of Hasan and Halliday (1976) about the heuristic and semantic study of language, in terms of how the texts cohere, there are five devices of cohesion that govern the unity of a passage, sentence or an idea. The five categories of the devices of cohesion in English are namely: reference, which can be anaphoric, cataphoric and exophoric; substitution, ellipses, conjunction and lexical cohesion. These types or rules are inherent in most of the ways compositions are constructed in order that they will achieve a certain degree of unity and fluidity. In many ways, the models of cohesion, the devices and rules, allow for a mathematically tautological description of text with regards to its natural relation to some of its other parts contained within the same (Halliday and Hasan 1976). In the text provided below for analysis, the five types of cohesion occur several times if not in a lot of occasions. However, prior to dissecting the passage into any of these tools of cohesion, it is important to understand what the text is entirely about in order that the main idea is revealed to serve as guide to the discovery of the aforementioned categories of cohesion. It would appear that the passage is an autobiographical account of someone’s experiences and observations of previous visits and stay in Birmingham. On this particular occasion the author confides his own impression of the kind of hustle and bustle the city is known for and how he relates it to the image of teenager’s bedroom. Along with descriptions of disarray yet harmonic organization of the city, he recalls one of the times he has been in the city. At that point, he starts to talk about the meeting with a friend. He moves then from a general view of Birmingham into a more specific locale of the city: the neighborhood of his friend Mike Walter. Through this, the author was able to explain more of what Birmingham is like by going in-depth. Furthermore, the author tells us about the kind of culture they have in Birmingham, for instance, how the locals are ‘affectionately’ called—the ‘Brummies’, and likewise, their love for autos and highways. It is obvious the author tries to keep within his central idea or thesis in the entire narrative. He did not stray far afield his main topic, albeit some of his digressions were a bit lengthy and varied. Instead, each side-note and anecdotes only improves and completes the image of what we have about Birmingham city thus far. To go into technicalities, we now look at the model of cohesion in English. There are five devices in the model. The first device of cohesion is called reference, which has three subcategories, namely the 1) anaphoric, 2) cataphoric, 3) exophoric references. The first can be characterized as the device of reference which occurs when the writer points back to an already named or identified object with another word to avoid repetition. Instead of saying the particular term over and over, another word is used in the next phrases to mean the very same thing or object. For example, the author’s view of Birmingham is referenced by the word ‘that’ – ramshackle of factories, warehouses, container yards, transport depots, workshops, chunneys, tower blocks, offices – which are ‘all’ thrown together as if by accident. The word ‘that’ referred to the view of Birmingham, likewise, the word ‘all’ referred to the images concomitant to such a view. The second is quite like the reverse of the first where the object that is being referred to comes after the use of the word that refers it. The use of cataphoric reference is seldom used. It is usually employed to achieve a dramatic effect as if the purposeful delay in disclosing the information would heighten the feeling of suspense and intrigue (Hoey 1991). The object is introduced by a word that is general and later is clarified by naming the object itself. At the first paragraph, the sentence employs the same cataphoric effect in withholding whatever that ‘it’ means. Later on, its reference is revealed at the end of the paragraph whereby the ‘it’ becomes the â€Å"train† (the turn of phrase is therefore imbued with an enhanced degree of dramatic delay). The third type of reference cohesion is the exophoric—literally meaning ‘coming from the outside’. In other words, the reference is neither contained in the passage nor will the reader ever find out for certain what, who, when and where the reference word is referring to. Although the third bears some similarities with the cataphoric reference cohesion, it is largely set apart and differentiated to such by the very fact that in this device of cohesion, the reference is usually general and broad in character. Unlike cataphoric reference, exophoric takes the intrigue, so to speak, to another level by using abstract and vague terms that practically would mean anything or everyone, as the case may be. The reader will never be able to identify the object being referred to in so far as an exact name or category is not given (Hoey 1991). The phrase â€Å"there were very few of us there† in the subsequent paragraphs is a good example of exophoric reference. While the reader may infer that the word ‘us’ refers to the people whom the author met in an assembly called the Birmingham Rep—where ‘they’ exchanged casual chit-chat and intellectual ruminations to pass the time, it is never sure what sort of bunch the word ‘us’ is actually composed of. With only the exception of author himself and his friend Mike Walters, ‘us’ could virtually mean any group of two or more persons with varying and distinct personalities and localities, and perhaps hailing from across different parts of the country. All of which the author fails to mention in exact details. Another device of cohesion is called an ellipsis. It is a device that could either enhance the reader’s understanding of the text or it could perhaps confuse it. Ellipsis occurs when after a more specific mention some words are stricken off when the phrase needs to be repeated. Accordingly, long lists of the same class to describe an object may be stopped short or left to hang in the middle of the sentence thereby suspending the train of the thought of the reader and allowing him to imagine for himself the next logical addition (Hoey 1991). Following the ellipsis is the device cohesion that is a bit similar to the ellipsis but instead of leaving out the word completely, a substitute word is used. Take for instance the phrase â€Å"cities are cities, and in this one there is a lot to see†. The word ‘one’ effectively substitutes the word city and that city would refer to Birmingham. Notice that ‘one’ is general yet it still is able to represent Birmingham by means of the preceding information about cities being cities. Substitute cohesion is a double reflection of a general reference of a specific object. Put differently, substitution is two degrees away from the original object as it only substitutes, perhaps, the anaphoric reference cohesion, for example, in a text. The fourth device of cohesion is conjunction, or words that connect or divide phrase by relating them to one another through a temporal, causal, coordinating, adversative, additive or discourse markers. These are the points of the texts which prompts the reader that the following passages are merely continuation of or branches to the previous statements (Hoey 1991). Even with the usage of punctuation marks and sentence gaps, the reader is guided through the next sentences or paragraphs because of the conjunction markers. Furthermore, conjunctions are used to make sure that the sentences cohere and are not left a stranger of sorts to the other. Conjunctions connect them all in one unified piece (Hoey 1991). Conjunction occurs often times in any text. In the particular text that is to be analyzed here, the words ‘before’, ‘always’, ‘and’, ‘also’, ‘first’, ‘just as’ and so on are used generously in the entire narrative. This is so because the entire text does not disassemble itself with loosely or unconnected thoughts and ideas. Otherwise, some of the digressions would be seen as impertinent and meaningless. And lastly is the lexical device of cohesion. This is the repetition of words throughout a text, or even in a single sentence, that are ejusdem generis or under the same class or category. It can form relational patterns through the entire passage which would help the reader clearly perceive a singular theme that the author wishes to present. In most cases, this construction of the text is akin to the ideas of rhetorical parallelism, wherein repeated or similar words are said in a way that will sound naturally cohesive and unified (Hoey 1991). This device is used well in the assigned text wherein the ‘view of Birmingham city’ is referred to repeatedly as an image, example and representation. It becomes clear that the whole passage revolves around Birmingham city, and it does not lack in describing in full detail how it looks and what it is like to the author. Lexemes, in the manner it was used, made the passage appear as a solid and complete whole without insufficiencies or other facts that beg further clarification. All in all, the five devices of cohesion in the English language are excellent tools for both the writer and the reader to come up with a crystal clear understanding and appreciation of any composition with the proper use of logical connectives and semantic devices as those discussed. These rules of cohesions also help in correcting certain logical errors and clarifying ambiguities, on top of making sure that the text is readable and understandable. What is to be avoided are entire sentences and paragraphs that do not appear to belong together simply because they do not cohere. In other words, cohesion in English will prevent nonsensical and shoddy writing above and beyond anything else. However, there is the question of whether or not these devices of cohesion may be able to account for the different idioms and the modern slang of English. While it is true that the puritans have a point in preserving the formal qualities of the language, it is inevitable that certain phrases and sentence construction will evolve into strange forms of communication, conveyance and presentation which could well probably be just as comprehensible and clear as its regular counterpart in formal composition. The slang and idiom are major limitations to the model of cohesion in English precisely because they do not follow a strict logical pattern. Moreover, their usages vary from across different subcultures and multi-contexts. It would be interesting indeed to find out how these devices and categories will still be able to keep up with the ever-changing rules on grammar and semantics. Perhaps other additions to the categories would be necessary in the future to make for a better way to read and write in English. Just as other languages like Russian, German, French, Spanish (Taboada 2004) or even Chinese do not possess all of the inherent idiosyncrasies of the five categories of cohesion and may even employ other styles not mentioned by the work of Halliday and Hasan (1976), English slang may have its own nuances and jargon that must also be respected and welcomed in formal, modern rhetoric. It now remains a novel and intriguing question how this is to be achieved.

Ky School for the Deaf Changes Essay

No one is sure exactly what will become of Kentucky School for the Deaf campus. The school is rich in history of Danville and even houses its own museum in one of the buildings. Kentucky School for the Deaf was first established in 1823 and although it is not the first school for the deaf in the United States it is the first state funded school for the deaf. Several books have been written about the history of KSD. The entire book, A Centennial History of the Kentucky School for the Deaf by Charles Paxton, can be viewed online through the Kentuckiana Digital Library. Another book, published in 1973, is the History of the Kentucky School for the Deaf, 1923-1973, written by James B. Beauchamp and published by the KSD Alumni Association. In the late 70’s and early 80’s Kentucky School for the Deaf was thriving when enrollment reached its high at 440 students. Most of these students lived on campus and only went home once a month. There was a staff of 220 at that time. Today’s enrollment is about 130 students, of which approximately 75 are dorm who live on campus during the week. The remaining are day students bused in from surrounding counties. Many deaf students who once attended KSD are now mainstreamed into public schools in their home counties. Staff has been cut to 150. KSD has a campus of approximately 166 acres near the center of Danville. Some of this land was declared surplus land by the Kentucky Board of Education several years ago. The proposal was made to reduce campus size to 50 acres and to demolish several buildings. The campus at one time had 14 buildings. These include Argo-McClure Hall, built in 1964. It houses Technology classes for middle and high school students. Kerr Hall houses high school and middle school classes and Walker Hall is a self contained elementary school. Middleton Hall is the boy’s dormitory while Brady Hall is the girl’s dorm as well as where the infirmary and office are located. Grow Hall is the cafeteria for high school and middle school. Thomas Hall is the high school gymnasium as well as containing the Student Grille, Swimming pool and Athletic offices Jacobs Hall is KSD’s historical museum and is one of the oldest buildings on campus. It is listed as a National historic Landmark (Bill Macentire, Kentucky Landmarks) and shows student dorms and classrooms from the 1850’s. Because of this it can not be sold or demolished. Beauchamp Hall and Fosdick Hall are empty buildings that once housed boys and girls dorms. Bruce Hall is currently being used as an alternative learning school by the Danville Independent and Boyle County Schools. Barbee Hall has been rented to Danville Independent Schools for offices for several years. Old Lee Hall, facing South Third Street was built in 1958 and used for girls vocational classes. It was razed in 2010. It had sat empty for many years and fallen into disrepair. It had become very much an eyesore to the community but was in such bad shape it could not be renovated. The newer Lee Hall, facing South Second Street, once housed the middle school. It has sat empty for many years after mold was discovered growing in the basement. Some say the building was cleaned and repairs made to heating and air conditioning system and that the third floor apartments are now used to house dignitaries who visit. But one never sees any activity happening at the building. There was some talk that the building may one day be renovated to use as the elementary school. In 2004 a Master Plan was developed for KSD. The plan recommended the number of buildings be reduced from 17 to seven. The new campus would include Argo-McClure, Brady, Jacobs, Kerr, Middleton and Thomas halls and a new elementary school would be built at a cost of 6. 5 million. Beauchamp, Fosdick and Grow Halls would be torn down. Barbee, Bruce, Lee, Rogers and Walker Halls, the laundry and power plant and engineers home would be sold and the proceeds used to fund future needs for the campus. Last week Rogers Hall demolition began. Rogers Hall has been closed for many years having been declared unsafe by the state. It was the elementary school gymnasium. Currently the elementary school does not have a gym and uses a large classroom as its gymnasium. Also last week asbestos was discovered at Grow Hall. Now the middle and high school students are having to walk half a mile to Walker Hall to eat their meals in the cafeteria there. Many are complaining about the long walk in the cold and icy conditions. No one is sure when Grow Hall will reopen. Although the state at one time had money set aside for the building of the new school this has not happened. Now they are looking to save money. A better solution might be to use the newer Brady Hall. It already contains dorms, classrooms, a large kitchen area, a gymnasium, offices, even an infirmary. It is quite a large building and would easily accommodate the 130 students currently enrolled at KSD. KSD future seems uncertain but there is always hope for a better tomorrow. Works Cited Fosdick, Charles P. Centennial. History of the Kentucky School for the Deaf, Danville, Kentucky. 1923. Web. 8 Feb2011 Hudson, John W. Jr. Special collections-Kentucky School for the Deaf. Grace Daughtery Library. Centre College. 2002. 8 Feb 2011 MacEntire, Bill. Kentucky Landmarks. 2009. 8 Web. 2011.

How Can We Help Promote tourism in Malaysia Essay

Malaysia has been visited by thousands of tourist from all over the world every year. But tourism in Malaysia can be further developed by promoting many aspects that the country has. Malaysia is a land that has been bestowed with greenery, mountains, beaches and rivers. Its natural landscape itself is a great attraction for foreigners. The sandy beaches in Penang Island, Port Dickson and Morib are holiday retreats for Westerners who are deprived of the sun and sea due to the cold weather in their countries. The wind whispering through the tall shady casuarinas and lapping sea waves are ideal places for visitors in search of peace and tranquility. There are natural places which have special attractions for the foreigners to look and enjoy. The Kuala Selangor fireflies is a must to visit. The fireflies in Kuala Selangor are the largest colony in the world. Visitors have to take a boat ride in late evenings to see the fireflies, which lit up the trees in the dark. The nocturnal tours in the boats would be a unique experience for any traveler. This unique attraction can be highlighted in the brochures and the websites in the Internet. World- class theme parks like the Sunway Lagoon and Mines Wonderland must be highlighted also. The Sunway Lagoon, which was once a tin mine, has been transformed into a recreational park. There are also five-star hotels in these places where visitors could enjoy their stay there. Kuala Lumpur the capital city is the ideal place to shop because it promises variety , value and convenience all in one place. Malaysian items like pewter and batik can be found at various places for different levels of budget. Names of places and malls so that the visitors have and idea where to go for shopping for certain items. All these aspects can be highlighted in the media especially in the Internet so that visitors can get the right information about Malaysia and would want to visit our country.

Ethics Paper Essay

The role of ethics and social responsibility are vital to the success of business. This also is very important to the stakeholders and should be even more important to management executives who have to make the decisions on whether to be ethical or unethical. This seems like a no brainer, but top level officials have the daunting task of making difficult decisions that affects groups involved in the success of the company. This paper will bring into focus the ethics and social responsibility in creating a strategic plan while taking in consideration stakeholder needs and agendas. Business Ethics is a form of ethics, which examines the ethical principles, and moral problems that occur in a business today. Ethics plays an important role in business today by establishing policies, procedures, and practices when creating a strategic plan. One such policy to have as a driving force for the company is a code of ethics, which outlines how an employee should behave while on the job. Having a code of ethics in place will not only help employee’s behavior, but the implementation of strategic plan of guidelines that will take in consideration for stakeholder needs and agendas. Social responsibilities are the responsibilities of private corporations to society that goes beyond that of making a profit. When implementing a new strategic plan you have to take in account the affects it will have on society as well as the organization. Strategic decisions influence other entities internally and externally. For instance, a decision to down size by closing some distribution centers and discontinuing manufactured goods, affects not only the employees, but also the neighborhoods where the plants are located. This also hinders the consumers and suppliers with having no other source for the discontinued products (Wheelen & Hunger, 2010). These types of decisions bring forth questions as to regarding, the appropriateness of certain missions, objectives, and strategies of businesses. Management must be able to come to compromise the difference in interests in an ethical manner to formulate a realistic strategic plan to meet the needs of the stakeholders. To answer this question, the corporation may need to engineer a strategy, which can explicitly articulate the organization with the role of ethics with stakeholders. This requires not only that management a clear picture of the organization key ethical approach but also that it understands the organization societal context, and undertakes stakeholder analysis to identify the issues and duties of each stakeholder (Wheelen & Hunger, 2010, pg.76). While researching an industry that continues to overstep it’s boundaries for stakeholder agendas. Pfizer, the world largest pharmaceutical company has been continually marketing and selling drugs with unapproved uses. In 2004 Pfizer plead guilty to two felony counts of marketing a drug for unapproved uses and paid 430 million in fines and penalties (Evans, 2009). United States attorney’s office was assured by Pfizer lawyers that they will stop promoting drugs for unauthorized purposes. Five years later Pfizer plead guilty again for directing over 100 salespeople to promote Bextra, another unapproved medication. The fine this time was an America’s highest recorded fine ever of 1.19 billion. Since May 2004, Pfizer, Eli Lilly & Co., Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. and four other pharmaceutical companies have paid a total of $7 billion in fines and penalties for marketing drug for unapproved uses (Evans, 2009). This shows that not only Pfizer, but other pharmaceutical companies are taking the approach of maximizing profits for the sake of stakeholders. In the readings it states that shareholders were unmoved by the actions of the company because each time the company had to pay out billions in penalties the share price went up (Evans, 2009). This practice of marketing and selling unapproved medications have shown how irresponsible, unethical, and socially unaware these companies are. Lives are being lost or changed forever because of some of the side effects of these medications that are being push by these organizations for a buck. To prevent such heinous acts we need only one of the pharmaceutical giants to step up and implement a strategic plan using more of an ethical approach in producing new drugs to the market. This can be attain by having the research done well in advance, publically documenting their finding, have more transparent marketing strategies, and making sure that all medications are FDA approve first before any distribution of a single pill. Another strategy to improving the industry is by using the input of the stakeholders which can give other alternatives to what route can the industry can use to maximize the benefits for all. In conclusion we can clearly see the importance of roles of ethics and social responsibilities are within an organization’s strategic plans. Once a company has put itself in a position to use ethics and society to govern it duties to make sure business is held to a standard higher values. Only then will organizations such as Pfizer will understand that it’s more about the people than the profit. Stakeholders have a pivotal role in the advance of business because each company that have taken notice continues to thrive today even in a recession.