Accents Speak Louder Than Speech

Accents Speak louder than Speech What is an accent? An accent is the way you pronounce words. Everyone has an accent. It is insoluble to speak without one. You might consider yourself and others not to but you do. Usually you get your ‘accent’ from how, where and when you grew up, but not everyone has the same accent as the people who live around them. It might change without you noticing from new life experiences. Why do places develop different accents? The main reason for this is human nature. Usually we have an accent, which is roughly the same as the people we live with, because we want to fit in.That is how you learn speech by picking up the way people pronounce each letter. If a group separates into two groups, ie. If half move to Island A and the other half to Island B, and they are kept isolated for centuries, the pronunciation will be so different that you could almost say they were speaking different languages. This is what happened an interminable amount of t ime ago. People had no contact with people who lived far away because there were no phones, no radio, and the only travel was by foot.Another reason is that in the places that other countries invaded such as where the Vikings settled. People were influenced by the way they pronounced the vowels, and that is how the accent adapted. In Lancashire there is a theory that when people used to work in very big noisy cotton mills they had to speak in very loud, high pitched, shrilly voices to be heard and they got used to this and influenced the people around them. There used to be a negative perception of regional accents and RP was favoured, now BBC is positively discriminating in favour of regional accents.British town centres which used to be very different are becoming uniform, but what distinguishes them, are the accents and dialects. Also London is now a big influence to accents in England, because people are commuting in and out every day for work, so accents are disappearing in pla ces such as Oxford, Surrey and Sussex. U and Non-U U stands for upper class and non-u stands for middle class. U’s used a looking glass rather than a mirror, wore spectacles rather than glasses, were richer rather than wealthy.Anyone who was not U for example people who talked about serviettes rather than napkins, would betray themselves as in a U’s view, ‘not one of us’. Toilet was actually a very smart word for Edwardians, then the servants picked it up and used it and it went out of fashion. Being marked as u or non-u is not only about your vocabulary but also about the way you pronounce things, an accent. For example butter is ‘orf’ rather than ‘off’. Also you would say that you have a very nice ‘hice’ rather than home. Today people say that a ‘gentleman’ never pushes a trolley at a supermarket but uses a basket.He never eats between meals, which are breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Received Pronunciatio n RP is the shortened name for Received Pronunciation. It is regionally described as the regional neutral accent. It is widely used as a reference point in dictionaries and as a model for teaching English as a foreign language. The meaning of Received traditionally was ‘’that which is generally accepted† or â€Å"that accepted by the best society†. When people say that someone hasn’t got an accent it is usually referring to RP.

Internet Marketing Tchibo Case

Ethics Ideas Case A Ethics idea is an innovative concept of interacting with the consumers especially for a retail company like Ethics. Usually, consumer product companies like P&G produce a wide range of consumer goods and sell their products in retail stores owned by other companies like Walter. The retailers also produce goods under private labels and sell them in their stores. But, Thatch's business model is very different. Ethics produces its own products, though it outsource production. It sells its own products and introduces new products every week.It uses Ethics ideas to produce some its products. The Ethics ideas bring in high value to Ethics as a retailer, manufacturer and brand. As a retailer, it is very important to understand the consumer and their problems and preferences. This requires expensive and extensive market research. When consumers post their needs and problems, it reflects their preferences and buying behavior. This enables Ethics to understand what customer s want and need. As mentioned in the case this would reduce the marketing and consumer research expenses by 20% to 30%.The customer feedback, comments and response to a particular Ethics idea help the company to come up tit fairly accurate sales projections. It also helps to understand where the competitors stand. The problems of consumers reflect the semiconductor gap in that particular area. It helps to understand why the competitors are not regularly producing the goods that are brought up in the Ethics ideas. Uncertainty regarding acceptance of a particular product in the market is greatly reduced by Ethics ideas.Ethics as a retailer tries to understand the market demands, and Ethics ideas help to identify much of untapped market potential. Ethics ideas are highly valuable to Ethics as a manufacturer as well. The products that serve as solutions for customers' problems are innovated and designed by professionals participating in the Ethics ideas. This greatly reduces the costs a nd efforts to develop products that would have the potential to address market problems. As Ethics refreshes its product lines every week, it requires a very dynamic innovation and development work.Ethics ideas contribute to the efforts of product development at Ethics. It leverages the creativity of general and professional people and integrates everyone's work. The large number of products that are introduced every year required the production to be fast paced. It is not easy for other companies to introduce such overgenerous number of products in such short time periods. A specific product has to be produced in small quantities compared to the products expected to run for an indefinite time period. Thus, Ethics outsource the production and can easily launch new products or change its current product lines.Ethics ideas bring a lot of value to Ethics as a brand. First, it uniquely positions the Ethics brand in market. Filling the store shelves with products that are designed by the consumers for the consumers reflects that the consumer is most important for Ethics. The customers feel that Ethics pays them unparalleled attention. This increases consumer's trust for the brand. The concept of weekly launch of new products compels the customers to visit the Ethics stores every week, whether it is due to a need for a particular product or it is the curiosity to see what is new in a Ethics store.It brings in the surprise element and enables the customers to feel excited for their next visit to Ethics. It is believed that Germans like spontaneous shopping. The Ethics ideas give the brand an image of an innovator, which is reputable for a retail company. The consumers expect Ethics to be highly innovative. It is expected to address problems that are not heard and addressed by other companies. This makes the Ethics brand relevant for almost every person. It is not like apparel or a car company that is relevant to only clothing and transportation requirements of people .This is very important in a country where people show emphasis on individualism†, as consumers get an opportunity to find products that suit their personal nature, desire and requirement. Instead, Ethics is relevant to every German who has access to Internet. The brand builds a strong relation with every consumer ND significantly increases brand loyalty. Reducing the life of a product to one week greatly reduces the risks posed by a product failure. A failed product would be easily forgotten and would not leave a dark impression of failure on the company's image.Ethics ideas enable Ethics to achieve a feat that would be eve difficult for competitors to imitate. Unless the competitors replicate the Ethics Ideas model, Ethics would enjoy competitive advantage over every other retailer. Its unique positioning in the market significantly increases Thatch's brand power. The Ethics ideas are equally, if not more, valuable for the consumers. The people have the power to express thei r problems and needs in front of other people and a company, who would work hard to solve the problems. People can now actually expect someone to think about their problem.People know that for a large corporation, it is not feasible to solve to everyone's problems. But Ethics changes this perception of a common man. The Ethics provides a place of surprise shopping and fun. Ethics changes the shopping experience completely. They can expect to be pleasantly surprised in a Ethics store as well as find something that would not be available anywhere else. It would make the consumers feel proud to buy things that were produced because they raised the issue. Apart from the intangible benefits for the consumer, Ethics ideas also have tangible benefits for the consumer.The products that are produced due to Ethics ideas are born from people's actual problems. These problems are faced by common man in every day life as well as special occasions. A market usually comes up with products at the i nterface of supply and demand. Most of the suppliers are interested to enter most profitable and high volume markets. Due to this, the consumers are compelled o be satisfied, in many instances, with whatever is available in the market. For example, traditional producers of electric extension plug boards would not be interested to produce the multi strip electric board due to small volume of demand for such boards.But, because Ethics is capable of producing goods in small quantities, the number of problems that could be addressed in the market increases significantly. This creates substantial amount of value for the consumers in the market, especially as Ethics ideas could be regarding any kind of goods. Not only are the problems solved, but also the cost of most goods is very reasonable. This compels other companies to weigh heavily on the power of customer satisfaction and come up with products that would solve people's problems.The Ethics ideas allow the common people to listen to other people's problems and think over to find a solution for them. This is not only challenging but also rewarding. The person whose idea is commercialese gets a part of earnings as well as recognition on the product's packaging. These rewards, though criticized by some, seem to be highly valuable for most of the people. It might not be even possible for many to commercialism their ideas. This could be made feasible for a large portion of the population only through Ethics ideas.It greatly diminishes the hurdles of innovating, producing and counterclaiming a product in the market. Ethics should continue with the Ethics Ideas and refine the whole process. It could, strategically, confine itself to some particular target segments and thus increase its efficiency. The market research and data gathered due to the Ethics ideas is very valuable and should be used to develop successful product lines for Thatch's own products. It is helpful to leverage people's ideas and problems to devel op maximum umber of products that could be efficiently sold in consistency with the one-week business model.The weekly regularity makes it unique and nearly impossible for the competitors to replicate the model in a profitable way. It is mentioned in the case that some people wait for particular yearly occasions for specific themed shopping. It would be helpful to develop a strategy to separate the weekly product lines from the themes repeated every year. This might prevent loss of business in weeks prior to festivals, as people might not substitute festival shopping with the weekly shopping.The themes of weekly product lines could be more focused around the core functionality of the products. A study indicates that only 26%iii of Europeans think that the home ware, food and drink and electronics sectors of E-business offer good service. Integration of Ethics Ideas and the Direct Ethics offering satisfactory online service would be welcomed by most in Europe. The Ethics ideas websit e should be designed to be more interactive than it is. Higher engagement of users would help to better understand the user as well as competitors' willingness to address the problems.The users could e asked to answer a questionnaire, which could have questions like â€Å"Have you tried to find a solution to your problem before? If yes, where and how? † or â€Å"How did you realize about the problem? † Activities like commenting and discussing the issues on Ethics websites must be encouraged. Employees related to the production and marketing department of Ethics could participate in the discussions that would make the online Ethics Ideas experience very informative and interesting. BY Mess Frankfurt (trade fair organizing firm), â€Å"Mess publishes Study Buying Behavior in Germane,

A Dirty Job Chapter 6

6 VARIABLE SPEED HEROES In the alley behind Asher's Secondhand, the Emperor of San Francisco hand-fed olive focaccia to the troops and tried to keep dog snot from fouling his breakfast. â€Å"Patience, Bummer,† the Emperor said to the Boston terrier, who was leaping at the day-old wheel of flat bread like a furry Super Ball, while Lazarus, the solemn golden retriever, stood by, waiting for his share. Bummer snorted an impatient reply (thus the dog snot). He'd worked up a furious appetite because breakfast was running late today. The Emperor had slept on a bench by the Maritime Museum, and during the night his arthritic knee had snaked out of his wool overcoat into the damp cold, making the walk to North Beach and the Italian bakery that gave them free day-old a slow and painful ordeal. The Emperor groaned and sat down on an empty milk crate. He was a great rolling bear of a man, his shoulders broad but a little broken from carrying the weight of the city. A white tangle of hair and beard wreathed his face like a storm cloud. As far as he could remember, he and the troops had patrolled the city streets forever, but upon further consideration, it might have just been since Wednesday. He wasn't entirely sure. The Emperor decided to make a proclamation to the troops about the importance of compassion in the face of the rising tide of heinous fuckery and political weaselocity in the nearby kingdom of the United States. (He found his audience was most attentive to his proclamations when the meat-laced focaccia were still nuzzled in the larder of his overcoat pockets, and presently a pepperoni and Parmesan reposed fragrant in the woolly depths, so the royal hounds were rapt.) But just as he cleared his throat to begin, a cargo van came screeching around the corner, went up on two wheels as it plowed through a row of garbage cans, and slid to a stop not fifty feet away. The driver's-side door flew open and a thin man in a suit leapt out, carrying a cane and a woman's fur coat, and made a beeline for the back door of Asher's. But before he got two steps the man fell to the concrete as if hit from behind, then rolled on his back and began flailing at the air with the cane and the coat. The Emper or, who knew most everyone, recognized Charlie Asher. Bummer erupted into a fit of yapping, but the more levelheaded Lazarus growled once and took off toward Charlie. â€Å"Lazarus!† the Emperor shouted, but the retriever charged on, followed now by his bug-eyed brother in arms. Charlie was back on his feet and swinging the cane as if he was fencing with some phantom, using the coat like a shield. Living on the street, the Emperor had seen a lot of people battling with unseen demons, but Charlie Asher was apparently scoring some hits. The cane was making a thwacking noise against what appeared to be thin air – but no, there was something there, a shadow of some sort? The Emperor climbed to his feet and limped into the fray, but before he got two steps Lazarus had leapt and appeared to be attacking Charlie, but he soared over the shopkeeper and snapped at a spot above his head – then hung there, his jaws sunk into the substantial neck of thin air. Charlie took advantage of the distraction, stepped back, and swung the cane above the levitating golden retriever. There was a smack, and Lazarus let go, but now Bummer launched himself at the invisible foe. He missed whatever was there, and ended up performing a doggy swish shot into a garbage can. Charlie made for the steel door of Asher's again, but found it locked, and as he reached for his keys, something caught him from behind. â€Å"Let go, fuckface,† the shade screeched. The fur coat Charlie was holding appeared to be swept out of his hand and was pulled straight up, over the four-story building and out of sight. Charlie turned and held the cane at ready, but whatever had been there seemed to be gone now. â€Å"Aren't you just supposed to sit above the door and nevermore and be poetic and stuff?!† he shouted at the sky. Then, for good measure, added, â€Å"You evil fuck!† Lazarus barked, then whined. A sharp and metallic yapping rose from Bummer's garbage can. â€Å"Well, you don't see that every day,† said the Emperor as he limped up to Charlie. â€Å"You could see that?† â€Å"Well, no, not really. Merely a shadow, but I could see that something was there. There was something there, wasn't there, Charlie?† Charlie nodded, trying to catch his breath. â€Å"It will be back. It followed me across the city.† He dug into his pocket for his keys. â€Å"You guys should duck into the store with me, Your Majesty.† Of course Charlie knew the Emperor. Every San Franciscan knew the Emperor. The Emperor smiled. â€Å"That's very kind of you, but we will be perfectly safe. For now I need to free my charge from his galvanized prison.† The big man tipped the garbage can and Bummer emerged snorting and tossing his head as if ready to tear the ass out of any man or beast foolhardy enough to cross him (and he would have, as long as they were knee-high or shorter). Charlie was still having trouble with the key. He knew he should have had the lock replaced, but it worked, if you finessed it a little, so he'd never made it a priority. Who the hell thought you'd ever have to get in quick to escape a giant bird? Then he heard a screech and turned to see not one, but two huge ravens coming over the roof and diving into the alley. The dogs arfed a frantic barking salvo at the avian intruders and Charlie put so much body English into wiggling the key in the lock that he felt an atrophied dancing muscle tear in his hip. â€Å"They're back. Cover me.† Charlie threw the cane to the Emperor and braced himself for the impact, but as soon as the cane touched the old man's hand the birds were gone. You could almost hear the pop of the air replacing the space they had taken up. The dogs caught themselves in mid-ruff; Bummer whimpered. â€Å"What?† the Emperor said. â€Å"What?† â€Å"They're gone.† The Emperor looked at the sky. â€Å"You're sure?† â€Å"For now.† â€Å"I saw two shadows. Really saw them this time,† the Emperor said. â€Å"Yes, there were two this time.† â€Å"What are they?† â€Å"I have no idea, but when you took the cane they – well, they disappeared. You really saw them?† â€Å"I'm sure of it. Like smoke with a purpose.† Finally the key turned in the lock and the door to Asher's back room swung open. â€Å"You should come in. Rest. I'll order something to eat.† â€Å"No, no, the men and I must be on our rounds. I've decided to make a proclamation this morning and we need to see the printer. You'll be needing this.† The Emperor presented the cane to Charlie like he was turning over a sword of the realm. Charlie started to take it, then thought better of it. â€Å"Your Majesty, I think you'd better keep that. It looks as if you might be able to use it.† Charlie nodded toward the Emperor's creaky knee. The Emperor held the cane steady. â€Å"I am not a worshiper of the material, you know?† â€Å"I understand that.† â€Å"I am a firm believer that desire is the source of most of human suffering, you're aware, and no culprit is more heinous than desire for material gain.† â€Å"I run my business based on those very principles. Still, I insist you keep the cane – as a favor to me, if you would?† Charlie found himself affecting the Emperor's formal speech patterns, as if somehow he had been transported to a royal court where a nobleman was distinguished by bread crumbs in his beard and the royal guard were not above licking their balls. â€Å"Well, as a favor, I will accept. It is a fine piece of craftsmanship.† â€Å"But more importantly, it will permit you to make your rounds in good time.† The Emperor now betrayed the desire in his heart as he let fly a wide grin and hugged the cane to his chest. â€Å"It is fine, indeed. Charlie, I must confess something to you, but I ask you to grant me the credulity due a man who has just shared witness, with a friend, of two giant, raven-shaped shades.† â€Å"Of course.† Charlie smiled, when even a moment before he would have thought his smile lost somewhere in the months past. â€Å"I hope you won't think me base, but the second I touched this, I felt as if I had been waiting for it my whole life.† Then, for no reason that he could think of, Charlie said, â€Å"I know.† A few minutes before, inside the store, Lily had been brooding. It wasn't her general brood, the reaction to a world where everyone was stupid and life was meaningless and the mere act of living was futile, especially if your mother forgot to get coffee at the store. This one was a more specific brood, that had started out when she arrived at work and Ray had pointed out that it was her turn to wear the vacuuming tiara, and insisted that if she wore the tiara, she actually vacuum the store. (In fact, she liked wearing the rhinestone tiara that Charlie, in a move of blatant bourgeois sneakiness, had designated be worn by whoever did the vacuuming and sweeping each day, and no other time. It was the vacuuming and sweeping she objected to. She felt manipulated, used, and generally taken advantage of, and not in the fun way.) But today, after she'd put the tiara and the vacuum away and had finally gotten a couple of cups of coffee in her system, the brooding had gone on, building to full -scale angst, when it began to dawn on her that she was going to have to figure out this college-career thing, because despite what The Great Big Book of Death said, she had not been chosen as a dark minion of destruction. Fuck! She stood in the back room looking at all the items that Charlie had piled there the day before: shoes, lamps, umbrellas, porcelain figures, toys, a couple of books, and an old black-and-white television and a painting of a clown on black velvet. â€Å"He said this stuff was glowing?† she asked Ray, who stood in the doorway to the store. â€Å"Yes. He made me check it all with my Geiger counter.† â€Å"Ray, why the fuck do you have a Geiger counter?† â€Å"Lily, why do you have a nose stud shaped like a bat?† Lily ignored the question and picked up the ceramic frog from the night before, which now had a note taped to it that read DO NOT SELL OR DISPLAY in Charlie's meticulous block-letter printing. â€Å"This was one of the things? This?† â€Å"That was the first one he freaked out about,† said Ray matter-of-factly. â€Å"The truant officer tried to buy it. That started it all.† Lily was shaken. She backed over to Charlie's desk and sat in the squeaky oak swivel chair. â€Å"Do you see anything glowing or pulsating, Ray? Have you ever?† Ray shook his head. â€Å"He's under a lot of stress, losing Rachel and taking care of the baby. I think maybe he needs to get some help. I know after I had to leave the force – † Ray paused. There was a commotion going on out in the alley, dogs barking and people shouting, then someone was working a key in the lock of the back door. A second later, Charlie came in, a little breathless, his clothes smudged here and there with grime, one sleeve of his jacket torn and bloodstained. â€Å"Asher,† Lily said. â€Å"You're hurt.† She quickly vacated his chair while Ray took Charlie by the shoulders and sat him down. â€Å"I'm fine,† Charlie said. â€Å"No big deal.† â€Å"I'll get the first-aid kit,† Ray said. â€Å"Get that jacket off of him, Lily.† â€Å"I'm fine,† Charlie said. â€Å"Quit talking about me like I'm not here.† â€Å"He's delirious,† Lily said, trying to pry Charlie out of his jacket. â€Å"Do you have any painkillers, Ray?† â€Å"I don't need painkillers,† Charlie said. â€Å"Shut up, Asher, they're not for you,† Lily said, automatically, then she considered the book, Ray's story, the notes on all the items in the back room, and she shuddered. It appeared that Charlie Asher might not be the hapless geek she always thought him to be. â€Å"Sorry, boss. Let us help you.† Ray came back from the front with a small plastic first-aid kit. He peeled back Charlie's sleeve and began to clean the wounds with gauze and peroxide. â€Å"What happened?† â€Å"Nothing,† Charlie said. â€Å"I slipped and fell in some gravel.† â€Å"The wound's pretty clean – no gravel in it. That must have been some fall.† â€Å"Long story.† Charlie sighed. â€Å"Ouch!† â€Å"What was all the noise in the alley?† Lily asked, needing badly to go smoke, but unable to pull herself away. She just couldn't imagine that Charlie Asher was the one. How could it be him? He was so, so, unworthy. He didn't understand the dark underbelly of life the way she did. Yet he was the one seeing the glowing objects. He was it. She was crestfallen. â€Å"Just the Emperor's dogs after a seagull in the Dumpster. No big deal. I fell off a porch in Pacific Heights.† â€Å"The estate,† Ray said. â€Å"How'd that go?† â€Å"Not well. The husband was grief-stricken and had a heart attack while I was there.† â€Å"You're kidding.† â€Å"No, he just sort of became overwhelmed thinking about his wife and collapsed. I gave him CPR until the EMTs came and took him off to the hospital.† â€Å"So,† Lily said, â€Å"did you get the – uh – did you get anything special?† â€Å"What?† Charlie's eyes went wide. â€Å"What do you mean, special? There was nothing special.† â€Å"Chill, boss, I just meant will we get the grandma's clothes?† He's it, Lily thought. The fucker. Charlie shook his head. â€Å"I don't know, it's so strange. The whole thing is so strange.† He shuddered when he said it. â€Å"Strange how?† Lily said. â€Å"Strange in a cool and dark way, or strange because you're Asher and you're out of it most of the time?† â€Å"Lily!† Ray snapped. â€Å"Go out front. Dust something.† â€Å"You're not the boss of me, Ray. I'm just showing my concern.† â€Å"It's okay, Ray.† Charlie looked like he was considering how, exactly, to define strange, and not coming up with anything that was working. Finally he said, â€Å"Well, for one thing, this woman's estate is way out of our league. The husband said he called me because we were the first secondhand store in the phone book, but he doesn't seem like the kind of man to do something like that.† â€Å"That's not that strange,† Lily said. Just confess, she thought. â€Å"You said that he was grief-stricken,† Ray said, dabbing antibiotic ointment on Charlie's cuts. â€Å"Maybe he's doing things differently.† â€Å"Yes, and he was angry at his wife, too, for the way she died.† â€Å"How?† Lily asked. â€Å"She ate silica gel,† Charlie said. Lily looked at Ray for an explanation, because silica gel sounded techno-geeky, which was Ray's particular field of geekdom. Ray said, â€Å"It's the antidesiccant that they pack with electronics and other things that are sensitive to humidity.† â€Å"The ‘Do Not Eat' stuff?!† Lily said. â€Å"Oh my God, that's so stupid. Everyone knows you don't eat the ‘Do Not Eat' stuff.† Charlie said, â€Å"Mr. Mainheart was pretty broken up.† â€Å"Well, I guess so,† Lily said. â€Å"He married a complete fucktard.† Charlie cringed. â€Å"Lily, that's not appropriate.† Lily shrugged and rolled her eyes. She hated it when Charlie dropped into Dad mode. â€Å"Okay, okay. I'm going outside to smoke.† â€Å"No!† Charlie jumped out of the chair and put himself between Lily and the back door. â€Å"Out front. From now on if you have to smoke you go out front.† â€Å"But you said that I look like a child hooker when I smoke out front.† â€Å"I've reassessed. You've matured.† Lily closed one eye to see if she could better glimpse into his soul and thus figure out his true agenda. She smoothed over her black vinyl skirt, which made a tortured, squeaking noise at the touch. â€Å"You're trying to say I have a big butt, aren't you?† â€Å"I absolutely am saying no such thing,† Charlie insisted. â€Å"I am simply saying that your presence in front of the store is an asset and will probably attract business from the tourists on the cable car.† â€Å"Oh. Okay.† Lily snatched her box of cloves off the desk and headed out past the counter and outside to brood, grieve really, because as much as she had hoped, she was not Death. The book was Charlie's. That evening Charlie was watching the store, wondering why he had lied to his employees, when he saw a flash of red passing by the front window. A second later, a strikingly pale redhead came through the door. She was wearing a short, black cocktail dress and black fuck-me pumps. She strode up the aisle like she was auditioning for a music video. Her hair cascaded in long curls around her shoulders and down her back like a great auburn veil. Her eyes were emerald green, and when she saw him looking, she smiled, and stopped, some ten feet away. Charlie felt an almost painful jolt that seemed to emanate from somewhere in the area of his groin, and after a second he recognized it as an autonomic lust response. He hadn't felt anything like that since Rachel had passed, and he felt vaguely ashamed. She was examining him, looking him over like you would examine a used car. He was sure he must be blushing. â€Å"Hi,† Charlie said. â€Å"Can I help you?† The redhead smiled again, just a little, and reached into a small black bag that he hadn't noticed she'd been carrying. â€Å"I found this,† she said, holding up a silver cigarette case. Something Charlie didn't see very often anymore, even in the secondhand business. It was glowing, pulsating like the objects in the back room. â€Å"I was in the neighborhood and something made me think that this belonged here.† She moved to the counter opposite Charlie and set the cigarette case down in front of him. Charlie could barely move. He stared at her, not even conscious that to avoid her eyes he was staring at her cleavage, and she appeared to be looking around his head and shoulders as if following the path of insects that were buzzing around him. â€Å"Touch me,† she said. â€Å"Huh?† He looked up, saw she was serious. She held out her hand; her nails were manicured and painted the same deep red as her lipstick. He took her hand. As soon as she touched him she pulled away. â€Å"You're warm.† â€Å"Thanks.† In that moment he realized that she wasn't. Her fingers had been ice-cold. â€Å"Then you're not one of us?† He tried to think of what â€Å"us† might be? Irish? Low blood pressure? Nymphomaniac? Why did he even think that? â€Å"Us? What do you mean, ‘us'?† She backed away a step. â€Å"No. You don't just take the weak and the sick, do you? You take anyone.† â€Å"Take? What do you mean, ‘take'?† â€Å"You don't even know, do you?† â€Å"Know what?† Charlie was getting very nervous. As a Beta Male, he found it difficult enough to function under the attention of a beautiful woman, but she was just plain spooky. â€Å"Wait. Can you see this thing glowing?† He held out the cigarette case. â€Å"No glow. It just felt like it belonged here,† she said. â€Å"What's your name?† â€Å"Charlie Asher. This is Asher's.† â€Å"Well, Charlie, you seem like a nice guy, and I don't know exactly what you are, and it doesn't seem like you know. You don't, do you?† â€Å"I've been going through some changes,† Charlie said, wondering why he felt compelled to share this at all. The redhead nodded, as if confirming something to herself. â€Å"Okay. I know what it's like to, uh, to find yourself thrown into a situation where forces beyond your control are changing you into someone, something you don't have an owner's manual for. I understand what it is to not know. But someone, somewhere, does know. Someone can tell you what's going on.† â€Å"What are you talking about?† But he knew what she was talking about. What he didn't know was how she could possibly know. â€Å"You make people die, don't you, Charlie?† She said it like she had worked up the courage to tell him that he had some spinach in his teeth. More of a service to him than an accusation. â€Å"How do you – ?† How did she – â€Å"Because it's what I do. Not like you, but it's what I do. Find them, Charlie. Backtrack and find whoever was there when your world changed.† Charlie looked at her, then at the cigarette case, then at the redhead again, who was no longer smiling, but was stepping backward toward the door. Trying to stay in touch with normal, he focused on the cigarette case and said, â€Å"I suppose I can do an appraisal – â€Å" He heard the bell over the door jingle, and when he looked up she was gone. He didn't see her moving by the windows on either side of the door; she was just gone. He ran to the front of the store and out the door onto the sidewalk. The Mason Street cable car was just topping the hill up by California Street and he could hear the bell, there was a thin fog coming up from the Bay that threw colorful halos around the neon signs of the other businesses, but there was no striking redhead on the street. He went to the corner and looked down Vallejo, but again no redhead, just the Emperor, sitting against the building with his dogs. â€Å"Good evening, Charlie.† â€Å"Your Majesty, did you see a redhead go by here just now?† â€Å"Oh yes. Spoke to her. I'm not sure you have a chance there, Charlie, I believe she's spoken for. And she did warn me to stay away from you.† â€Å"Why? Did she say why?† â€Å"She said that you were Death.† â€Å"I am?† Charlie said. â€Å"Am I?† His breath caught in his throat as the day played back in his head. â€Å"What if I am?† â€Å"You know, son,† the Emperor said, â€Å"I am not an expert in dealing with the fairer sex, but you might want to save that bit of information until the third date or so, after they've gotten to know you a little.†

The Punishment of Children Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Punishment of Children - Essay Example Positive approaches of child discipline should be encouraged among parent and even teachers in schools. Praising of a child’s good behavior will help in reinforcing positive behavior (Hardy, and Heyes, 47). Time outs are an effective way of disciplining since the child gets time to calm down and reflect on his or her behavior. Loss of privileges helps in disciplining a child since behavior will be modified positively among children for the fear of losing various privileges. There is a debate on whether punishment should be applied to children and type of punishment that is effective in changing behavior. There are people who argue that punishment of children should be encouraged. These people believe that issuing a punishment to a child will help in the disciplining of unruly child. Corporal punishments produced more civilized individuals who respected their elders since these children could not apply foul language when addressing their elders (Smith, Cowie, and Blades 51). Th e punishment served to scare the children on the consequences of using bad language. The proponents of corporal punishment among the children argue that in the olden times when corporal punishment was the routine of the day, using a bad language did not cross the minds of the children. The proponents try to compare the olden times and the present times where corporal punishment is being discouraged children are very unruly and that bad language is the order of the day. On ethical grounds, the proponents of child punishment argue that punishing a child can indeed help in saving the child’s future. In the past, the rate at which young people were arrested for their bad behavior was low unlike the present times where many children are being taken to prison and rehabilitation centers for their bad behavior like drug abuse. Many parents do not want to abandon corporal punishment they subject to their children because they believe that it is a God’s command that children sho uld be given a few strokes of the rod (Smith, Cowie, and Blades 56). There are opponents of corporal punishment to children especially these punishments have pronounced negative impacts on the lives of the children. Statistics shows that a corporal punishment lowers the children’s intelligence quotient (IQ). A study carried out in the United States shows that subjecting children to corporal punishments lowered their intellectual development and creativity. Corporal punishments makes a child develop fight back response system which greatly hampers a child’s creativity and imagination. Corporal punishments only serve to create an anti-social behavior and enhance violence in the society. Children who are exposed to corporal punishments develop a low self esteem since punishments strengthen a notion where the children will always view themselves as failures. Children tend to develop a rebellious behavior and develop some acts of violence as a method of self defense (Naz, e t al 14). Hardy and Heyes (52) argue that corporal punishments can cause physical damage in extreme cases where the punishment of children is termed as child abuse. The physical damage that arises from corporal punishment can be horrifying. Children suffer from broken limbs, internal hemorrhage, and the destruction of the sciatic nerves thus affecting the legs. The physical abuse of children causes unending psychological suffering and despair in life. The children can opt for bad

Analyzing the American Revolution and the American Civil War Research Paper

Analyzing the American Revolution and the American Civil War - Research Paper Example Nonetheless, after the war, the new state had run its self in immense debts (Middlekauff 96) due to the loans it had taken in order to fight the war. The Revolution was extremely vital from a social point of view also. It proved to the world that the strong and powerful armed forces of England were defenceless. It signed an agreement with France and a lot of other countries. It would furthermore be the base of America's alliance with Britain. The American revolution was not only war. It was due to this war that America gained its independence. After the Civil war, America went through a lot of changes. The change which the Civil War brought has had a permanent effect on the strength of America. It has turned the country into a superpower. The Civil War greatly affected the nation. President Lincoln had claimed that he was not going to interfere with slavery however the south had no genuine right to withdraw from the Union. So black masters continued to own slaves even when the union army was preparing to invade South Carolina in 1864 (Koger 85). South Carolina was the first state to withdraw but other states soon followed, Lincoln knew that he would have to take this issue into his own hands and enacted his power as both the Commander in Chief and the Chief Executive. In Document A South Carolina felt differently about this issue. They felt that there isn't anything written in the Constitution that says that can't secede and because the people were unhappy they had the right, as a sovereign state, to secede. The southern states seceding was the first step towards the need for reconstruction. Not for the equal rights primarily, but for the unlawful slavery that was occurring.  

Social work essay- community care and vulnerable user groups Essay

Social work - community care and vulnerable user groups - Essay Example Health care provisioning in Scotland has been integrated at both the basic primary level and the advanced secondary stage. Moreover, for ease of convenience and excellence in health services delivery, the regional boards have narrowed down to provide the services at community level. Localized subgroups of community health partnerships are very effective in health care provision at the ground level here. All classes of health workers are well represented in the healthcare framework in Scotland. Also in existence are the â€Å"extended community care teams† who work hand in hand with the system of health care and social care teams. They were introduced to ensure the effectiveness of service delivery and management of resources to ensure equitable and efficient utilization of resources at the community level. The health care provisions have been centralized as regards the funding. It is the role of the government to fund the services and as such, the public health care is free. H owever, this does not refute the existence of private sector in medical healthcare provision in Scotland. There is equally a well-pronounced private healthcare system in the country, which helps regulate the public sector and thus control monopoly. The nationals are thus not restricted to the choice of the services that are wholly offered by the public system (Gibbins, 2007, 1-5). These are strategic for those who require the hospitalization services or well too those who cannot access the community health care services when needed. Therefore, the public hospital system, the community based care system and the private sector work hand in hand to guarantee basic health care to the population of Scotland. The NHS (National Healthcare System), providers are commissioned to provide high quality services to the deserving population. By quality, the sector is expected to offer safe, efficient and patient sensitive services. According to â€Å"a Health Services

Survey of Human Resource Management db 3 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Survey of Human Resource Management db 3 - Essay Example The following discussion focuses on employee retention and how organizations can enhance upward mobility. Organizations should be able to provide a well defined career path for all positions in their organizations. As stated by Shore (2013), organizations can increase their percentage of employee retention by helping their employees envision credible rewards such as salary increment, promotion, performance rewards, and bonuses. This should be available for the junior staff, supervisors, line managers and the top management of an organization. It is important to note that the line managers and top management are the most often affected and may be at risk of leaving because they may feel that their careers have stalled at the present organizations. Well defined career paths can be provided through effective performance management practices where you talk to your employees about their goals and aspirations. Employees inputs serves as a point of departure upon which human resource managers can brainstorm ways to structure job descriptions not only to accommodate employees’ goals and aspirations but also to advance them in a well structured career path. In this regard, attention should be given to alternative career paths that define a more personal employee aspiration since most career paths do not reflect employees’ personal goals. This is not only important in fostering career retention but also important in creating a work environment which promote growth and development (Chhabra & Mishra, 2008). The second strategy for enhancing upward mobility and promoting retention is by fostering skill building through education assistance and cross-training for all employees. Cross training is an important strategy since it helps employees acquire new skills, stay motivated and become more interested in their job. Employees often value opportunities that are available to them

Ational Geographic photographers videos and responses Assignment

Ational Geographic photographers videos and responses - Assignment Example He has a specially improved camera Obscura helping him to reveal iconic landscapes from the unique perspective. He says his pictures are dreamlike and surreal, but are products of camera in recording, which is like a dream in the physical wake (National Geographic 1). He uses photography to reflect the influence of global warming. His time-lapse cameras have captured evidence of reducing glaciers and changing snow patterns across the world. He maintains that camera gives a language to communicate to the world because the pictorial language can penetrate people’s hearts and minds. He insists that the photographer’s highest calling is to challenge and alter the inherited wisdom (National Geographic 1). Professor Kashi describes the highs and the lows of the working as a photojournalist. During the interview, Kashi shares his beliefs that a photographer’s great work comes from the issues he or she genuinely cares. He maintains that a photojournalist has to examine the world and himself because of the challenges and risks involved to accomplish the mission (National Geographic 1). He gained access to North Korea where he stresses on seeing life from you because of the different passions possessed by various people. In his viewpoint, the lives of the photographers are not normal life. He expresses interest in the photos of people taking the bus, couple crying at the Pyongyang airport and kids throwing snowballs at each other (National Geographic 1). Brian Skerry has been diving with the camera for over 30 years capturing the unseen world below the water’s surface. The passion of protecting the planet for the future motivated his underwater photography. He says that photography is a discovery process as he spends time with different kinds of sea creatures underwater from the biggest to smallest (National Geographic 1). He photographed human rights abuses and conflicts in the Democratic Republic of Congo. He captured the lives of citizens in the

Customer relationship Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Customer relationship - Essay Example All the environmental factors along with the target market must be properly analyzed in order to determine the strategic plans so that the company can reach every customer easily. When wants and needs are very clearly understood, a company can therefore find the spot which is also known as the sweet spot and thus can easily address it on the particular target. The ESSENTIAL PHONES basically defines a market by clearly focusing on the services and also on the products that are currently meeting the customer needs and wants. (Hennig, 2000, pp. 459-500) In order to pinpoint the customers wants and needs, ESSENTIAL PHONES is trying to look at the bigger picture and is trying to obtain the key data such as geographic, population, cost of living, and languages which are spoken in the particular areas that may help in driving the wants and needs of the customers. ESSENTIAL PHONES is obtaining this information by doing simple observation and by the local knowledge. When people buy different things, they are therefore engage in a special kind of process known as the decision making process. Same is the case with the ESSENTIAL PHONES. People when try to buy the goods or the products of this company, they first pass the decision making process that whether to buy or not. (Paul, 2003, pp. 300-382) The decision making process or also known as the consumer decision making process is the process through which the consumers go through when they decide to purchase or to buy something. The very first step in this process when consumers are trying to buy the cell phones from the ESSENTIAL PHONES is to recognize that they actually need a new and a branded cell phone. Though they may have an idea that which cell phone they would like to buy or to purchase, therefore they probably want to do some kind of research in order to know and also to narrow down a few

Wind Power Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Wind Power - Essay Example History of Wind Power The term windmill came from the invention of early machines used by farmers for milling grain. Wind was the main source of power for the machines hence the name windmill. These machines were first used in Persia and China around 500 AD according to Ollholf (6). Windmills were also used in Netherlands for pumping water from the ground. The United States in 1870’s had its farmers using the power of the wind through windmills in pumping water. In the 1980’s electricity could be generated through the use of windmills. The first individual to use wind turbine in the generation of electricity was Charles Brush according to Sharman (10). However the invention of the power grid which used fossil fuels overcame the use of windmills in generating electricity. In 1931, the first commercial power plant using the wind turbines in generation of electricity was established in Russia. In the 1970’s with the rise in the price of oil, wind turbines which were stronger and lighter were invented as a source of power. The largest wind power farm established in the United States was built at Altamont pass, California. The Use of Wind Power Today With the many challenges facing the use of fossil fuels such as increased globalization, wind power is regaining its importance as source of energy. Wind power today is regarded as the most rapidly growing source of renewable energy. The wind power produces about one percent of the United States energy with Europe producing and using more than this. Wind power in Denmark produces around twenty percent of the countries electricity. More developed windmills have been established which are made up of three parts; the tower, blades and the box. These windmills have equipment used for converting wind motion into electricity according to Ollholf (8). The modern wind power through wind pumps is used in different ways. For instance it is used in pumping underground water which used for various purposes such as drinking, watering crops, and cooking. The windmills are still used today in grinding grains into flour. The use of wind power today has improved the lives of people living in dry and hot areas as it ensures water is pumped from underground to the surface or places of need. Small wind turbines which are capable of running generators help create electricity for powering televisions, lights and radios in areas where there in rural areas. The wind turbines sometimes form part of a hybrid system for generating power together with solar energy which is reliable and affordable for villagers not connected to the national grid. Floating wind turbines have been established today which are more economical in shipping and installation activities. Wind power turbines which possess contra-rotating rotors have been used today in aircrafts, marines for improving propulsion. The contra-rotating rotor is also used in offsetting of system reactive torques. How Wind Power can be used To Impact the Society As the use of wind power as source of energy continues to grow, more developed and newer applications are appearing in the society. Wind turbines which are able to ride offshore have been envisioned. The use of wind powered electric cars has also been envisioned to apply in the future as suggested by Gipe (390). With the increased global warming due to the use of fossil fuels, a future where communities are powered by the use of wind turbines has been envisioned. Another development that could improve the use of wind power in future is integration of the current windmill with installation. This will involve selling and installing of windmills in the homes like any other appliance used in the house. The enhancements of wind power machines will make

Transactional Communication Essay Example for Free

Transactional Communication Essay Conversations   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   They are talking simultaneously, each seeming to carry on a conversation with themselves more so than with each other. She is talking fast, looking at the air, her hand gestures extravagant and facial expressions flamboyant. He is leaned back, sunken into the chair comfortably, talking lowly, nodding his head in agreement at regular intervals, his voice running alongside hers. She is excited. He looks amused.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   They sit close to each other in the corner of the cafà ©. Sounds from conversations hum in the air around them, the clinking and bustling of a busy cafà © a background to this conversation. Despite the multidimensional setting—the music playing in the speakers above, the couple to their left discussing baby names, the loud ring of the nearby telephone and the even louder server who answered it—these two talk as if they were alone at home, as if none of the loudness existed. They are celebrating. Crumbled remains of a chocolate fudge cake occupy the table space they share, and two large mugs of coffee sit pushed to the side, ready to be taken away.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   This is where a server makes it big or loses out completely on a tip. Time is a factor in everything, and as a server you have to be willing to divide your time evenly among your tables so that you don’t fall in the weeds later. If you see one of your tables finished with their plates and cups, it’s your job to pick it up, and fast. It’s an opportunity to offer them anything else, and one more chance to make an impression, to make them like you. They’ve finished eating, and more importantly, she’s just eaten chocolate cake.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   So I bustle over and say, â€Å"Hey folks, can I get this out of your way?† Smiling, of course. You have to smile.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   She looks up at me, blinking, cross, brow furrowed. He moves forward, sitting up aggressively, brow furrowing, â€Å"What, man?†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   â€Å"Can I get this out of your way?† I ask, cautiously, not sure what just happened here. I even lean in a little, my hands crossed behind my back so I look more servant-ly, less threatening.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The mood cracks. She laughs. He smiles goofily in relief. He shakes his head. She puts her hand over her eyes. â€Å"We thought you said something else,† they both seem to say at the same time.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   When they leave, I find my tip—a measly $3—under the saltshaker. Apparently, noise is a factor, too. The external part of it, all those people’s voices charging the air around us, music swirling in between conversation, me asking to clear the plates; they thought I was hitting on her. Maybe I was smiling too much.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   But he must have that internal part of it, the voices in his head that tell him she’s cheating on him with every guy that sees her. Why is that, I wonder? They were having such a nice conversation, and then I got there, and everything changed. What were they talking about? Being a server is about the closest thing you can be to a fly on the wall. They almost ignore you completely, until you buzz around them and ask if it’s okay to pick up their plates. Next time, I shouldn’t say anything, I should just pick it up.

Technical Developments Essay Example for Free

Technical Developments Essay With the increase in the success of record sales came the need to introduce methods to diminish manufacturing costs in order to increase profit margins. Nowhere was this need more prevalent than with the independent record companies in the industry for they had the most to gain let alone survive. After the demise of Germany, German technology made its way across the Atlantic to America. One of these technical break through was the ability to store audio information on magnetic tape. Magnetic tape was a process where Iron Oxide embedded on plastic tape could be magnetized by amplified electrical impulses for the purpose of recording and playing back audio information. It offered editing of performances, portability, and better audio quality and was significally cheaper than the existing technologies. In the USA a company that made Scotch tape called 3M improved the abilities of magnetic tape, allowing recording speeds of 30 ips to be brought down to 15 ips and 71/2 ips with little quality loss but significantly longer recording times. In 1948 Bell laboratories introduced the Transistor to America. Transistor technology could do everything the Vacuum tube at a reduced cost. It required less power, was smaller in size and more durable. Soon the recording studio became portable and could easily be torn down and set-up if the need arisen. Most importantly, the AM radio was created and could be found in the private confines of a teenagers bedroom. It might be hard to believe, but parents would warn their kids about the evils of listening to new music all by oneself. This new advent in technical breakthroughs sparked interest with the major players in the industry like CBS and RCA. Over at CBS the laboratories invented High Fidelity, a new method of improving the record. The Long-Playing record was invented that increased the number of grooves for the playing speed was lowered from 78 rpm to 33 rpm. Because the speed was lowered and the grooves now smaller, the smaller diamond stylus replaced the larger sapphire stylus. The new stylus needed to use lesser pressure allowing the LPs to last a lot longer. Over at RCA, engineers were developing similar technology. They invented a smaller sized record that revolved at 45 rpm. The size of the 45 and the fact that they only played one song worked very well for the jukebox owners. The 33-rpm LP worked well for playing records that offered more than one song and could sell for more money. With the new technical advances, records emerged as a relatively inexpensive medium compared to the overall production costs of Radio, film and Television, With this new trend, smaller independent record companies could compete with the larger companies and naturally they grew in stature and power. Records soon became the mainstay of radio and by 1952 record sales surpassed sheet music sales as a source of revenue in the music business. No longer was the jukebox the main resource for record promotion, radio with its new personalities would make sure of that. The main broadcasting format was AM amplitude modulation, even though FM frequency modulation had been around for a while. FM was in conflict with the introduction of TV for it existed in the VHF bandwidth that TV also shared, and had to take a back seat to AM even though its broadcasting quality was better. It was obvious to the broadcasting companies that the future lied in TV and radio would always be secondary. A compromise was made with Fm broadcasters and TV when TV allowed FM to operate on channel 1 on the TV station dial. It was later shifted to a bandwidth between 88-108 megacycles (between channels 6 and 7 where in now lives today. This proved to be devastating for FM broadcasters for not too many people were interested in buying an FM radio. In 1946 there were almost 7 million AM radios and less than 75,000 FM radios, and it would be a long time until TV was thoroughly entrenched that FM would start to emerge as a broadcaster for classical radio. With the development of TV came the fatal blow to network radio, for the large advertisers were much more interested in sponsoring TV programming than radio. But radio managed to survive via the Independent broadcasters that could rely on local advertisers for revenues, what we call today Retail verses the Corporate advertising of the major broadcasters. It is amazing to acknowledge the efforts and the luck of the independents in their pursuit of good music.

Study of the Structural Functional Paradigm

Study of the Structural Functional Paradigm The structural-functional paradigm is a framework for the structure of society. The structural-functional approach tells that all parts in the society works together in order to form a harmonious, sensible and stable society. This approach sees the society as a macro-level orientation. Each and every component is interrelated and it is concerns with broad patterns that shape society as a whole. The larger social institutions of the society such as population, education, economy, government play very important roles on shaping our lives. The family is considered as the most favourable body composition of the social organization because family is the most elementary and closest social structure which every individual attached to. For example, assume that if the students are not present, the teachers would not exist as well. Because there is an interrelated relationship between the students and teachers which represents that the society is a complex system where parts coordinate togethe r to balance and stabilize the civilization. Auguste Comte, the Father of Sociology said that it is very important to keep the society together because many traditions were weakened due to the rapid change of the humanity. Herbert Spencer linked the society to the human body. For example, a society is composed by a large number of individuals as a complete functional group.  In human body, many cells and tissues form the organs of the organism, such as hands, eyes, nose, mouth, ears, etc. Various organs of the organism have its unique features to meet the needs of the organism and to maintain its survival.  Similarly, various social structures have its unique features to meet the needs of the community and provide a stable and balance society.   Case Study of Structural-Functional Paradigm The social structures of marriage and family create deep social and emotional bonds that give individuals in depth systems of support and generate expectations of  social responsibility  within their members, achieving the function of creating social cohesion. Basically, spouses support each other financially, socially, emotionally and physically and are driven to achieve by socially defined expected standards of married life. Families provide the same systems of support for all of their family members, providing healthy settings and opportunities for individual growth for the children.   The structural functionalism perspective sees the family doing its part by preparing its members in a way that will benefit the society. The family is like a body or system and each member performs vitally important functions. Similarly, the heart is dependent on the lungs and brain for the body to function properly. If one part or a person is not doing its or his/her part then it is said to be dysfunctional. The family is said to be not functioning as a whole and something is wrong with that family. Social-Conflict Paradigm The social-conflict paradigm is also a macro-oriented paradigm. The social-conflict paradigm is one of the ideas of Karl Marx. He believes that social-conflict is unavoidable. It is the driving force to improve and progress to a better society.  Human beings compete with each other to acquire the maximum benefits. The social-conflict theory opposes with the structural-functional theory where the social components work together to stabilize the society. A person who poses powers and resources tend to oppress other groups which are lower social class and this resulting in social-conflict. One will also be able to force others to accept his/her views if they have the authority.   Social-conflict not only happens between different classes, it can also occur in various religious, ethnics, cultural, etc. The demand of human beings is endless, when the most basic desires are met, new needs will then emerge. For example, pacers want to have a bike; bicyclists want to have a motorbike; mo torcyclists plan to buy a car  The needs and desires of humans are endless caused humans have to work hard every day to fulfil their desires. However, this phenomenon eventually leads to a progressive society because everyone strives to achieve their needs. Case Study of Social-Conflict Paradigm A conflict theorist might ask, Who benefits from the current higher educational system? The answer, for a conflict theorist attuned to unequal distributions of wealth, is the wealthy. The educational system often screens out poorer individuals, not because they are unable to compete academically, but because they cannot afford to pay for their education. Because the poor are unable to obtain higher education, they are generally also unable to get higher paying jobs, thus they remain poor. The functionalist might say that the function of education is to educate the employees, a conflict theorist might point out that it also has an element of conflict and inequality, favouring one group (the wealthy) over other groups (the poor). Thinking about education in this way helps illustrate why both functionalist and conflict theories are helpful in understanding how society works. Symbolic-interaction Paradigm Symbolic-interaction theory focuses on the study of the relationship between the individual and others. It is a micro-level orientation which emphasizes the social interactions between the individuals in some specific situations. As people interact with each other, a persons self-awareness is the result of the judgement from the surrounding people. The symbolic-interaction theory advocate humans have their own self, and because of this self people play a role of others, and they gain the ability to look at themselves through the eyes of others.  If one does not have the ability to interact with the people and society, the social stability cannot be maintained.  Because of the shared reality that human created, the human social interaction can be stable, expand and maintained. George Herbert Mead says that symbolic-interaction has three characteristics: It has an explanation on the behaviour of others; there is a definite process, which means one is ready to tell others when they do something; have a prediction on others reaction, which is able to predict what they do will cause what responses from others. This depends on the interaction between two individuals have a shared meaning of the symbol system.  Mead sees society as an organized interaction between different individuals, this interactive form of organization depends on the role of the spirit, but also to establish an internal communication process on the basis of the use of meaningful symbols. Case Study of Symbolic-Interaction Paradigm Consider applying symbolic interactionism to the marriage. The things such as, commitments between spouses, a white bridal dress, a wedding cake, a wedding ceremony, a wedding band and flowers are the symbols of marriage. People relate some general meanings to these symbols. For certain individuals, they maintain their own perceptions of what meaning are these symbols carrying. For instance, one of the spouses may see their wedding rings as a symbol of endless love while the other may just see them as a simple financial expense. Much faulty communication can result from the perceptions of different people on the same events and symbols. Besides, the people choose to marry symbolizes that human beings need a companion for their life. It symbolizes that every individual needs financially, socially, emotionally and physically supports to lead a balanced and steady lifetime.

Death Penalty Essay -- essays research papers fc

I.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  After spending ten long years on death row, he is escorted today by the warden down the dimly lit white hallway to the room in which judgement day will finally arrive. As he moves closer, he begins to regret having led a violent life of crime and murder that had caused him to be sentenced to death so long ago. The door finally opens, and there he stands face to face with â€Å"old sparky†, a.k.a. the electric chair. He is strapped in and a leather helmet containing a wet sponge is placed over his head along with a brass liner that functions as an entry electrode through which nearly 2500 volts of electricity will pass. The exit electrode- a band of brass also with a soaked sponge- is attached to the prisoner’s shaved calf. As a final preparation, a leather hood is placed over his face.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The switch is then pulled and 2,350 volts strike though the inmate’s body for eight seconds, followed by 22 seconds of one thousand volts. The cycle is repeated immediately. This high-voltage electrocution raises the temperature of his brain to 140 degrees Fahrenheit, and fries his internal organs (Freedberg 2).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The passage above describes a typical criminal execution by the electric chair, one of the various methods of capital punishment, otherwise known as the death penalty. The sentence of death has long been an accepted form of justice, yet today, capital punishment has remained a hotly debated issue. Some believe this punishment to be cruel and unusual and therefore violating the United States Constitution, while in reality the death penalty is fair and just punishment for murder and other extremely violent crimes. With these clashing viewpoints, there are also differences in the policies of various states, with some states supporting the death penalty, and others not. This serves as an injustice because murderers convicted in states such as Texas or Florida, which support the death penalty, will truly be brought to justice, while murderers in states such as North Dakota or Wisconsin will not (Staletovich 5-6). It is with this reasoning that the death penalty should undoubtedly be implemented in all fifty United States and the District of Columbia. II.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the United States today, capital punishment is an integral part of the criminal justice system, and has... ...red of paying for their care. In addition, the cost of executing versus jailing a prisoner for life cannot be measured exclusively in dollars. Capital punishment has moral value for society and emotional value for families of victims- both unquantifiable (Smith 11). VI.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The death penalty, as you can see, should not be viewed as an act of killing people who kill people just to show that killing people is wrong, but as an act of safeguarding our society from potential or previous murderers and delivering justice to those who kill. Works Cited Barry, John. Is the Death Penalty Cruel and Unusual? 4 Dec. 2000 Brown, David L. The Bible’s Teaching on Capital Punishment. 5 Dec. 2000 Freedberg, Sydney. â€Å"Bloody Execution Leads to Stay for 2nd Inmate.† St. Petersburg Times. 9 Jul. 1999, Newsbank. CD-ROM. Smith, Sharon C. Capital Punishment in the United States. 6 Dec. 2000 Staletovich, Jenny. â€Å"The Electric Chair Power Struggle.† Palm Beach Post. 2 Jan. 2000, SIRS Researcher. CD-ROM. Winter 2000.

Religion and Belief in Bless Me Ultima Essay -- Bless Me Ultima

Religion and Belief in Bless Me Ultima   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  After reading the book, Bless Me Ultima, I realized the integral importance of religion and need for religion and answers to life’s questions. At first, while reading this book, I thought it was just about relationships and the meaning in them but as the plot progressed I realized the book, is more than that, it questions the structures that decide the rules, morals and values that society is composed of. There were three types of religion that I identified in the book that young Anthony chose to pursue. The first was the paganistic rituals of Ultima. Ultima came into the life of Tony at a very young age and had great influence n the child. Ultima saved the life of Lucas through Tony’s strength. Physical pain was brought unto Anthony because of Ultima's ritual, showing actual validity of the rituals themselves, that they were had tangibility. She brought torment on the Tenorio’s family (he was the antagonist in the book-the bad guy) saving Luc as though using ritualistic dolls and chants. This showed her magic was not only good but bad as well. Ultima guided Anthony through all of the mental and social torment during his early years of grade school. So in away Ultima was a guide for Tony through his early years to make sense of all of the storms in his early life, but also was an instrument of religion to base his life on. But in the end of the book Ultima ultimately dies and the strength he once found in her is destroyed. She is ...

I Didnt Choose Home Schooling :: Personal Narrative, education

I Didn't Choose Home Schooling I didn't choose to be taught at home; my parents decided for me. I was four, and my toddler priorities lay elsewhere. Little did I know that I was volunteering for an educational experiment. Every September my parents and I had our annual discussion about continuing home schooling versus sending me to "regular" school. I don't know if I thought school would be a bit boring or if I was afraid of change, but I always chose to stay home. I did go to school for a few classes and for violin lessons, but much of my time there was spent explaining my sporadic attendance to teachers and classmates. I grew accustomed to giving both rote and wry answers to questions like, "Do you watch TV all day?" The rote answer was "No, of course not. I do the same things you do in school." The wry answer was "Yes, from nine to noon," watching their faces form into expressions of disbelief. I didn't tell them I was watching Massachusetts Educational Television on PBS. When discussing home schooling with strangers or skeptical parents, the first question usually concerns "socialization", often posed bluntly as "Do you have any friends?" Sports and orchestra brought me into contact with kids my age, but even then it was a common interest rather than a common age that drew us together. Over the years, I found wonderful friends in Mendelssohn, O. Henry, a German woman on my paper route who was a World War II refugee, Newsweek, a paralyzed basketball coach who couldn't walk but still coached me as if he could, history books, and a range of musical instruments from viola to tinwhistle. People are always relieved to discover that I'm not a hermit. Home schooling gave me the freedom to explore and experiment. We Traded houses with an Irish family and lived in Galway for a month. I was never given actual lessons on "how to write a sentence"; I learned as I wrote history essays. Few schools would have allowed me to research the sinking of the Titanic, but my parents let me read about it, build models of it and learn about watertight bulkheads. (I even managed to finish my math book that year, too.) As I got older, people started to ask if being taught at home was going to hinder me in college.

Ethical Issues on Confidentiality Essay

Ethical Issues on Confidentiality: Research and Medical Procedures A guiding principle followed by most administrators and health care providers is the concept that ethical principles must match the values of the whole organization. This belief should serve as a continuous teaching to all staff so that the organization’s goals may be uniformly achieved. Healthcare administrators must be fully competent in adhering to the ethical principles of patient and employee confidentiality in order to promote trust, respect, and the protection of individual’s rights concerning health information. This is one of the main objectives of the Privacy Rule or HIPAA, and a breach to this rule is one of the most common ethical issues. When administrators demonstrate capable ethical decisions in guiding the flow of services in the organization, there may only be a few disorders that will be encountered in the operations as a result of ethical perplexities. In the article, Ethics of Stem Cell Research (Siegel, A., Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Spring2013), the ethical dilemma of confidentiality in research pales in comparison to the dilemma posed in destroying human embryonic cells. A great dispute is presented on the use of human embryos and whether researchers are dealing with a human being or not. The question on the permissibility or the impermissibility to destroy human embryos is fully explored without the full ethical answer being presented. Confidentiality, research, and medical procedures all impart ethical dilemmas that complicate organizational activities. Problems of the Affected Population: Patients and Participants In the procurement of embryotic cells for example, research subjects are not considered the same way as patients and regarded differently in terms of confidentiality and privacy issues. According to the article, HIPAA, the Privacy Rule, and Its Application to Health Research (2009), â€Å"Health research is not the focus of HIPAA.† and, â€Å"Because a great deal of health research in the United States is also subject to the Common Rule- the federal rule that governs most federally funded research conducted on human beings and aims to ensure  that the rights of human subjects are protected during the course of a research project, historically focusing on protection from physical and mental harm by stressing autonomy and consent.† (HIPAA and Research, Beyond the HIPAA Privacy Rule: Enhancing Privacy, Improving Health Through Research, 2009). Many research institutions are not considered covered entities and therefore the subjects are not covered by the Privacy law. Nevertheless, all subjects must submit personally identifiable health information and in the course of research or procedure, a subject may be harmed. This is an uneven application of confidentiality and the Privacy law that gives more benefit to a patient than a research subject. Medical research in particular has a participant and some experimental procedures are accomplished with the patient as the subject in the belief that the experiment could bring positive results to the patient specially, when there is no definite answer to a needed treatment. According to Fremgen B.F. (2009), ethical issues arise when there is harmful effect to the patient from experimental procedures. Lack of understanding and communication remains a big barrier to ethical issues. Somehow the creation of the Privacy Law did not consider the welfare of the research subject, yet they are likened to a patient who undergoes procedures, submits identifiable health information, and when procedures are not perfect, may also suffer harmful consequences. The other bothersome issue is when the bodily parts contributed by the participant are sold, reused or endorsed to other institutions for other purposes. Other issues pertain to the interest of the researcher placed above the interest of the patient (B.F.Fremgen2009). Informed and voluntary consent from participants are used as shield in order to further the research activities, but privacy and confidentiality are both compromised on research participants and must also be incorporated. Proposed Solutions In California, where the biggest budget for stem cell research is allocated, the California Institute of Regenerative medicine (CIRM) in their objectives has encouraged institutions and researchers on the development of best practices in hSC projects. Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) at each research institution must be responsible for the proper review of projects involving human participants. The regulations of the CIRM implies that donor  consent must be understood fully by the participant, maintain a clear record of every embryo, strict accounting of donated cells, and must always be consistent with existing laws. In fairness to the donor, any medical complication must be treated fully, and the donor must not bear any cost for any treatment (G.P Lomax, Z. Hall, B. Lo, Responsible Oversight of Human Stem Cell Research: The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, 2007) The foundation for all procurement of biological materials can be summed in informed consent. Authorizations and voluntary consent must be explicitly understood by the donor and must be presented with choices they can understand including the information regarding the destruction of the cells, commercial application and sharing (L. P Knowles, Issues in Procurement of Embryonic Stem Cells: Informed Consent and Conflict of Interest, n.d.) Information management system must be in place for protection of confidentiality. In most instances, the system must protect the anonymity of the donor to safeguard privacy. There will always be people who would donate biological materials for their own reasons beyond ones understanding. These individuals must be informed fully of the consequences and possible risks. In some places, inducement of monetary consideration is prohibited. However, there are instances when the donor sincerely commits to help in exchange for some requirements like burial assistance when deemed terminally ill. Ethical issues and personal choice of the donor must be taken into consideration at all times and the option to donate must be free from pressure. In some parts of the globe, there are ads roaming related to procurement of organs from individuals who are impoverished and destitute. The government and the public must be vigilant in exposing this black market trade of organ trafficking so as to safeguard the dignity, confidentiality, and humanity in general. The mainstream media must be cooperative in relaying to the public not only the positive implications of medical research but also the contrary, so that that knowledge and understanding of present scientific advancement and problems may be learned. The Administrator and Ethical Issues An administrator who is engaged in a healthcare institution where research activities are occurring commits to a heavier burden of maintaining the place for it to be free of ethical issues. Aside from the issue of  patient care, privacy, lack of resources, maintaining regulations, and promoting goodwill, the needed knowledge on the requirements or regulations on research must be understood. The administrator must be adept at ethical analysis and organizational policies. Many have not been through a lot of experience related to research institutions but according to Fremgen B. F. (2009), â€Å"Adherence to bioethical principles involves the entire healthcare team, not just the physicians† (pg. 251). The ethics of the institution must be in accord with the staff and conflicting values should not prevail. The administrator must know how to initiate educational sessions and communicate the ethical values even with the integration of research and experimental procedures. References Siegel, A. Ethics of Stem Cell Research, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, rev. Jan 28,2013 Retrieved from: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/stemcells/#EthDesHumEmbForRes Knowles, L.P. Issues in Procurement of Embryonic Stem Cell: Informed Consent and Conflicts of Interest, Retrieved::http://www.stemcellnetwork.ca/uploads/File/whitepapers/Inf Consent-and-Conflicts-of-Interest.pdf Institute of Medicine (US) Committee on Health Research and the Privacy of Health Information: The HIPAA Privacy Rule; Nass SJ, Levit LA, Gostin LO, editors. Washington (DC): National Academies Press (US); 2009.Retrieved from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK9573/ Lomax GP, Hall ZW, Lo B (2007) Responsible Oversight of Human Stem Cell Research: The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine’s Medical and Ethical Standards.Retrieved http://www.plosmedicine.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pmed.0040114 B.F. Fremgen, Medical Law and Ethics (Third Ed. 2009)

Is Social Media Helping Bullying to Get Worse Than Ever? Essay

We can find many types of aggression in the society in which we live in. Bullying is one. Not only exists physical bullying but also emotional, verbal and even cyber-bullying. According to the website www.stopbullying.org, â€Å"Bullying is unwanted, aggressive behavior among school aged children that involves a real or perceived power imbalance†1. Nowadays, many people do not know that social media exposes children to these aggressions. Bullying does not only happen in real world. It can also arise in the virtual world where many children and adolescents spend a lot of time. Although it was not known by this name, bullying is not a new phenomenon. Today, Social networks are helping to its expansion. Although social media is blameless, through it bullying can reach everyone. The use of social networks ricochets and magnifies bullying because, as the website â€Å"Stop Bullying† argues, cyberbullied children have a harder time getting away from the aggressors. Likewise, this type of aggression â€Å"can happen 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and reach children even when they are alone†2. As said before, the problem is the inappropriate use of social media. While social networks can be used for positive activities, such as finding friends and chatting with them, looking for and sharing information, many children and adolescents use them to harm others. Numerous people think that social networks are harmless for children only chat with their friends and share information. However, this is false. Through social media, they are really exposed to cruelty and they can easily become cyberbullies themselves. A research done by â€Å"internetsafety101.org† pointed out that in 2011, one million children were harassed, threatened or subjected to other forms of cyberbullying via Facebook3. Social media exposes many children and adolescents to cyberbullying, even after school hours. Cyberbullying can  Ã¢â‚¬Å"take place using electronic technology such as computers, cell phones, communication tools including social media sites, text messages, chat and websites†4. According to the article quoted before, Stop Bullying, â€Å"examples of cyberbullying include mean text messages or emails, rumors sent by email or posted on social networking sites, and embarrassing pictures, videos, websites, or fake profiles†5. Children and adolescents are very cruel and see humiliation as a means of entertainment. Differently from physical bullying, cyberbullying messages and images can be posted anonymously and can reach a massive audience almost immediately. Thus, social networks are advantageous for bullies. Due to anonymity, they can be hurtful without being caught and even crueler than in face-to-face situations. As the website www.dosometing.org claims, â€Å"81% of young people think bullying online is easier to get away with than bullying in person†6. According to the National Crime Prevention Council (NCPC), â€Å"victims of cyberbullying may experience many of the same effects as children who are bullied in person†. However, cyberbullying may seem more dangerous to its victims on account of several aspects7. NCPC argues that through cyberbullying, children are a target for bullies at home, the safest place for them. Besides, this type of bullying seems to be severer than in person, being far reaching, anonymous and inescapable. All these factors make cyberbullying an increasingly complicated issue that needs greater attention. So, does social media make bullying go far beyond the limits? The answer is: YES! Social networks are a huge and complex world that need guidance and considerable concern from adults. This virtual new world exposes children and adolescents to malice, without people’s awareness of the dangers of that exposure. References: Enough is Enough SM. â€Å"Cyberbullying Statistics†. Internetsafety101.org. 12 June 2014. Do Something. â€Å"11 Facts about Cyber Bullying†. Dosomething.org. 12 June 2014. National Crime Prevention Council. â€Å"What is Cyberbullying?† NCPC.org. 12 June 2014. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. â€Å"Cyberbullying†. Stopbullying.gov. Federal government. 12 June 2014. http://www.stopbullying.gov/cyberbullying/index.html > U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. â€Å"What is Bullying?† Stopbullying.gov. Federal government. 12 June 2014. Argumentative Essay Rubric

Victims And Crime Evaluation

There are many roles in the courtroom that each person plays and each role has its benefit for the criminal justice system as a whole. It is understandable that each role plays a part in the sentencing with the hope that justice is being served but with much intentions and seen all too well that everyone is not satisfied with the sentencing phase and may feel that justice has not been served and some may feel that it has. In the courtroom the roles of each person happens to be a part of case and the prosecutor, defense attorney, criminal, and victim all play a role.There are others that are a part of the role in the court room who also play a valuable role and it is the judge, courtroom recorder, jury, and witnesses. It is understood the focus of the sentencing and who it may affect the most is the prosecutor, defense attorney, criminal and the victim. The role of the prosecutor is to make sure that there is enough evidence for the criminal to be convicted and with evidence the prose cutor takes the approach to convict the criminal and to bring closure for the victim.It may seem as if this phase would be the easiest for the prosecutor but it’s not an easy task and to deliver a sentence that would be fair to the victim, society, and the community by asking for a sentence that would be for the crime that the criminal had committed, in all cases for the prosecutor it is not true that the criminal will get the amount time that they intend for them to get, in a case dealing with rape when there is a victim involved and the criminal has all evidence against them and the victim testifies as well and the prosecutor ask for a mandatory 30 years and when it’s all over the defense attorney ask for a minimum of 15 years and the defense attorney wins.And it leaves the victim as if no justice has been served and the prosecutor may feel as if he failed the victim but the role of the prosecutor is to convict the criminal but they have no guarantee that the sentenc e would be fair for the victim, the criminal, society and the community. The prosecutor always must keep in mind of the alternative sanctions in which the defense attorney will definitely try to get the best interest for the criminal.The defense attorney role is to try and make the criminal innocent and with much effort even when there is substantial evidence against the criminal the defense attorney is looking for the best well-being for the client and all alternative sanctions that may be in place for the criminal and if all else fails the defense attorney is looking for the less sentence as possible for the criminal and not to say that the defense attorney has no remorse for the victim but still feels that the criminal should have alternative sanctions when it comes to the sentence such as possible parole in five years if convicted, probation, or register as a sex offender and it all depends on the case that is being tried at the time and with most cases that involves victims.The defense attorney has the right to cross examine the victim and it makes them relive the torture or it may cause the case to go into another direction that may make the criminal look guilty. In all cases when it comes to sentencing the defense attorney looks for the best interest for the criminal and without failure if it means that the criminal agrees to a plea from the prosecutor and if it is the best interest for the criminal the defense attorney is more than willing to cooperate with the prosecutor. The criminal will go as far as they can go in the sentencing phase to either be found not guilty, guilty, or to even be offered an amount of time if found guilty and sometimes is willing to take the sentence that is given.Once the criminal is found guilty and sometimes will be asked to speak and they may ask forgiveness to the victim and family members of victims but they probably will not change the sentence for the criminal no matter how much compassion that they show. The criminal usually hope for alternative sanctions when they see that they be found guilty and will be willing to take a sentence of 20 years with possible parole than a sentence that gives them life without the possibility of parole. It all depends on the prosecutor, defense attorney, and the evidence that will determine the sentence for the criminal. The victim with any case just want justice to be served and may have to go through counseling in order to get their own life back together, they in turn want the max sentence for the criminal and see no alternative sanction for the criminal.They may believe that if the criminal is sentenced to the max then they will never be able to hurt or bring harm to anyone else and they are looking for the role of the prosecutor to make it be a known fact of their grief, pain, and there suffering after the criminal has done all that they could to destroy them, the victim is very emotional and whenever the sentence is not what they want for the victim they f eel as if justice has not been served. The goal of the sanctions for the criminal is see that they can be productive members of society and that they can be rehabilitated even if found guilty of all charges, they still see hope in alternative sanctions.The victim doesn’t see hope in alternative sanctions, the prosecutor may agree to alternative sanctions and the defense attorney is willing to fight for the alternative sanction for the criminal. The recommendations for victim’s right is that they continue to seek counselling and that the victim advocates continue to follow up on victims and that they have a 24 hour around the clock to be at the aid of victims in order for them to be able to go and live their normal lives without fear and pain of every day if they are the victim or if they are the victim of a loved one that they have lost by the hands of the criminal so that they choose not to seek revenge for themselves.

Letter to Jane Austen

Dear Miss Austen: I have recently had the pleasure of reading your new novel Pride and Prejudice, and am moved to make a few comments, which I feel to be of moment. I would first like to congratulate you on a remarkable literary accomplishment, which I feel will endure the test of time. I can assure you that the novel is being read and discussed in the learned and genteel society of London with much interest. It is my opinion that it will continue to be read with as much avidity at the turn of the millennium, such is its lasting appeal. Why I feel so positive about your works I will try to explain as follows. I greatly enjoyed the dialogue that you employ in your novels. Such dialogue is a whiff of fresh air to the English novel. It is short, crisp and vibrant, such as the readership of the English novel have never experienced before. It delineates character accurately, and yet at the same time carries the plot forward at a vibrant pace. It is never dull, for it is always laced with irony, sarcasm and humor. The characters are drawn with a subtle pen, and yet always seem to have a strong and distinct presence. Somehow you make it seem as if the ordinary day-to-day life in a country parish is as exciting as the tales brought back by travelers of the wild seas. How this is so, it is hard to analyze. On this point, I assure you, I have entered into heated discussions with some companions of mine. It is a bone of contention as to what philosophy you represent. As you know, this is the age of new ideas. The revolution that has taken place in Paris and on the continent testifies that we are indeed entering a brave new world, one that promises freedom for all. The French writers and philosophers revive the virtues of the classical world, and in doing so they represent the philosophy of order and reason. On the other hand the poets of Germany, mistrusting reason, and rejecting its excesses, are glorifying passion instead. Goethe and Schiller are great writers who compose novels and plays in which inner man is far more important than intellectual outer self. They are classified as the Romanticists, and our own Isles boast the likes of Wordsworth, Southey and Coleridge, who are writing in this vein. Both these philosophies are worthy of respect, for they both promise freedom. The French philosophers of the Enlightenment promise freedom from the age old clutches of superstition. The Romanticists promise a world in which our passions have fulfillment. But so far we are not able to agree on your specific philosophy. I feel that in Sense and Sensibility you have brought these two philosophies to a head. Of the two Dashwood sisters that it may concern, Elinor Dashwood you make the preserve of sense, therefore of the classical virtues of order, restraint and reason. She proceeds with caution, and does not let herself be known easily. On the other hand her younger sister Marianne Dashwood is clearly the protagonist of sensibility, impulsive and careless. However, the outcome of both sisters is happy, for they are matched in the end. Both sisters suffer tribulations, of different sorts, through the novel. On the whole, we cannot judge that one path is better than the other, solely on the evidence given to us. Yet the message that I am able to read from the novel is that the middle road is the best. Those who judge Elinor and Marianne by categories of philosophy fail to take into account their development throughout the novel. In the end it is Elinor’s feeling, which overcomes her restraint, that helps her in her choice. On the other hand Marianne’s experiences teach her restraint, without which her match would have eluded her. The same kind of truth is inherent, I feel, in the opening to your novel Pride and Prejudice, which reads: â€Å"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife† (Austen 1). Whether it is your intention or not, such an opening speaks to me of a precious truth, and this is that universal truth can only be found in the mundane world. Beyond all the elevated ideas of Classicism and Romanticism there is the simple matter of life, of finding a suitable partner, of homemaking and the raising of children, so that the wheel of life may turn in its eternal way. In all your novels the utmost importance in put on the function of finding one’s ideal match. Many might construe your novels to be about scheming women, cynically extracting the greatest advantage from marriage. I, however, see it in a different light. In my opinion, your novels are celebrating mundane life. This is why they seem so fresh and exhilarating. The men of ideas have over-emphasized thinking. Yes, even Romanticism is a philosophy in the end. Because we live in an age of ideas, thinking tends to surfeit all fields, even such a popular art as novel writing. Authentic life is forgotten in the process. Put in another way, the world has become too over-burdened with the male perspective. The woman’s perspective is needed to bring the balance back. This is what you provide, and it indeed meets the call of the age. Many would compare your novels to those of the great epistolary novelist Samuel Richardson. Like yours, his heroines are concerned with finding matches above their station. But the similarities do not proceed much further than this. Pamela is a one dimensional morality tale. The full title bears this out better, for it bears the subtle â€Å"Virtue Rewarded†. In it the heroine Pamela is shown to resist all the evil advances of her master, Mr. B., which includes rape, imprisonment, and torture. The reward for protecting her virtue, in the end, is that her master consents to marry her, vowing to be a reformed man. The plot is crude, cynical and unrealistic. It is open to satire, and all know how Henry Fielding satirizes Pamela twice, first in Shamela, then in Joseph Andrews. But it is not so easy to satirize Elizabeth Bennett, or Elinor Dashwood. This is because such characters are drawn with subtle nuances, and thus are far closer to life. Many of your female protagonists are aiming to secure social status, prestige and privilege through marriage, just as is Pamela. But those who harbor only cynical motives are shown come to bad passes. The message we read from your novels is that such social aspirations are only normal. But the suitability of match is equally important. And indeed the affections of the courting couple must not be ignored. This is so because marriage is a defining moment of life. On the whole, we learn that marriage and family life are of overriding importance. These are some of my thoughts on reading your novels Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice. Yours truly, â€Å"Admirer† Works Cited Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice. London: Pan Books, 1978.