Australian Institute Of Health And Welfare - 1819 Words

According to the Australian institute of health and welfare ‘Good health is an important element in a child’s quality of life as it can influence participation in many aspects of the life, including school and physical education’. A poor start to a child’s life increases the outcome to a poor adult life, with 24.9% of children aged from 5-17years already overweight or obese. These statistics are based on The International Obesity Task Force (IOTF), who have developed a standard age and sex-specific Body Mass Index (BMI) cut off point. Australian children are consuming less nutritional food, and instead eating more food and drinks that fall under the ‘red food’ category and foods that are not advised for daily intake on the Australian†¦show more content†¦It launched multiple actions amongst international organisations, national government and local communities to achieve the goal of â€Å"health for all’’ and better heal th promotion. The Ottawa charter consists of 5 action areas for health promotion: o Building healthy public policy o Create supportive environments o Strengthen community actions o Develop personal skills o Reorient health services According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) The Ottawa charter aims to ‘Reduce differences in current health status and ensuring equal opportunities and resources to enable all people to achieve their fullest health potential.’ The Ottawa charter provides the framework to identify what we can do at a; local community level, state level, national government level and international organisation level (WHO). In this report the Ottawa charter will be used to demonstrate what action areas can be addressed to improve the nutrition, health and wellbeing of young children and adolesces. This report will focus on strengthening and developing each individual student’s personal skills, to help strengthen childhood and adolesces nutrition, h ealth and wellbeing. According Better Health Victoria to Enabling developing personal schools allows ‘people to learn (throughout life) to prepare themselves for all of its stages and to cope with chronic illness and injuries is essential. This has to be facilitated in school, home, work and community

Analysis of Chocolat Free Essays

Analysis of Chocolat In this extract from Chocolat by Joanne Harris, a mother and her young daughter, Anouk, have just arrived at Lansquenet-sous-Tannes, a small village in France. The story is told from the mother’s point of view in the first person. Only at the end of the scene – when a man asks â€Å"On holiday, Madame? † – we discover that the narrator is a woman. We will write a custom essay sample on Analysis of Chocolat or any similar topic only for you Order Now It is carnival time. The narrator describes the excitement of the participants using the senses. For example, the atmosphere is full of smells of foods which sound really good; â€Å"pancakes and sausages and powdery-sweet waffles† contrast with the cold of the winter. In the same way, the woman appeals to the sense of sight to describe the decorated carts which remind to some fairy tales; for instance, â€Å"a gingerbread house all icing and gilded cardboard† calls to mind Hansel and Gretel. Then, she compares the carnival with others that both she and her daughter have seen. â€Å"A procession of two hundred and fifty of the decorated chars in Paris last Mardi Gras, a hundred and eighty in New York, [†¦] drum majorettes with batons spinning and sparkling† tells us that the carnival itself is something typical of their lives. In this case, it can represent the new beginning in the new town. It also means that they have travelled a lot. Moreover, when Anouk asks her mother â€Å"Are we staying? † we understand that the child likes so much the new village that she wants to stay there. In contrast with the carts of the carnival, which are colourful and expressive, the houses of Lansquenet-sous-Tannes â€Å"leaning secretively together†. Only people have secrets, not the houses, so the author uses a metaphor to suggest something sinister about the place and probably to stimulate the interest of the readers. The small village looks apparently perfect. â€Å"There is no police station at Lansquenet-sous-Tannes, therefore no crime† means that people think that there are no crimes, but this does not convince the woman. â€Å"But for now everything is blurred†. There is also a strong presence of the church and of the religion in general. For example, the church is described as â€Å"aggressively whitewashed†; similarly, the priest is seen as â€Å"a black figure† who is compared to the Plague Doctor. The priest is also described with a â€Å"rigid stance† and â€Å"pale eyes† which confirms the idea of an unfriendly person. All the other residents are characterized in two different ways. On the one hand, there are the adults, who look suspiciously and with curiosity to the two protagonists. As the text says, â€Å"tourists are a rarity†. The sentence â€Å"I feel their eyes upon us† emphasizes the fact that the woman and her daughter are observed. On the other hand, the children transmit colour and vitality. For instance, the clothing of the adults are â€Å"brown, black or grey†; the children, instead, â€Å"flying colours of red and lime-green and yellow, seem like a different race†. The author uses a lot of adjectives, which add many details to the descriptions. For example, when the woman talks about her daughter, she says â€Å"her eyes, which are the blue-green of the Earth seen from a great height, shining†. This also helps us to understand the close relationship between the two characters. How to cite Analysis of Chocolat, Essay examples

The Negro Speaks of Rivers free essay sample

The Negro Speaks of Rivers. The perpetual hardships of African American people constantly fueled by the soul-searching and identity complexities have always been an integral part of the African American mental concept troubled by the eternal quest for complacency and inner peace. Nevertheless,it was not always easy to articulate this quest for ones own identity due to the perpetual influences of the dominant white cultural which efficiently managed to subdue all the minor voices which unsuccessfully attempted to emerge from the darkness and shadows of identity entrapment. Subsequently, it took a long time for particular voices to emerge and to overpower the mental obstacles and chains of ignorance which disabled the spiritual African-American voices to celebrate their own culture,history,identity and consequently existence. The emergence of the Harlem Renaissance symbolize the dawn of a new era which opened up the gates of liberation through celebration of African-American past and and the present. We will write a custom essay sample on The Negro Speaks of Rivers or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page One of the most prominent examples of this tendency to expose the cultural darkness can be found in Langston Hughes poem The Negro Speaks of Rivers,which delineates a compelling and yet honest poetic structure nurtured in the deepest corners of human soul. Hughes, one of the most prominent characters of The Harlem Renaissance, writes a short poem which seemingly depicts his knowledge of rivers and his tendency to praise them. Nevertheless,the the truth of this poem lies much more deeper and it is driven by the empathy and compassion in the purest of all forms. The dark history of African American people has always been inevitably associated with the concept of river,and Hughes,uses this symbol to illuminate certain historical facts about his people which were evident, rarely discussed and often suffocated which was a characteristic of his era,as well as those centuries before him. Langston Hughes masterfully uses his voice to compensate for the history of subdued and never heard African -American voices,which were destined to drown in oblivion and escape a meaningful articulation. Ive known rivers ancient as the world and older than the flow of human blood in human veins introduces us with the notion that the author is fully capable of identifying and personifying the history of the African American storyline with the concept of river. The author denotes that he is fully aware of the painful heritage of his people and incessant quest for the definition of culture and identity. The African American people who were classified as a river wer e engaged in the struggle for self definition in perpetual motion since their very emergence. Nevertheless, their struggle was always circular and disabled from reaching the peak of fully defining their own self, the same way the flow of blood in the veins is circular and never clearly defined,indicating that the African American roots were always perplexed and prevented from fully realizing their potential while thriving along the rivers of this world. Rivers which are older than the flow of human blood symbolize the struggle which is older than the life itself. Struggle to find peace and knowledge of self. When the speaker says that his soul has grown deep like the rivers, he indicates the journey into the depths of his soul and the most powerful analogy can be found with the river which foreshadows and personifies this personal abyss of development and his ability to grow together with his roots and its legacy. It also indicates that the rivers of his roots inspired him and shaped him into an individual he is today. Rivers give life and the struggle of his ancestors defined his character and illuminated his soul. Speaker states that he bathed in the Euphrates , built his hut near the Congo, And that he looked upon the Nile and raised pyramids above it which, of course,is physically impossible. It is clear that he gives voice to different types of hardships his ancestors endured in different areas around the world. Nevertheless, the bloody fields of African -American suffer and slavery were still placed near the rivers which symbolize life and give power to dreams, consequently impacting and compounding to the speakers sense of pride and celebratory validation of his peoples roots and history. Still the bumpy road of his roots blossomed when Abe Lincoln went down to New Orleans and witnessed firsthand the horrors of slavery enabling the speaker to see its muddy bossom, turn all golden in the sunset depicting the abolition of slavery and the beginning of African-American transformation from the depths and darkness of slavery into the light of liberation basked in the rays of hope.

Saskatchewan Essays - Saskatchewan, Saskatoon,

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a land of resources, wealth, and beauty. It's name is derived from a Cree word meaning "rapid river". Land Saskatchewan is 651,900 sq. km. in area, half of it is forests, and one third of it is cultivated lands. In southern Saskatchewan average temperatures range from 0-65 degrees farenheight. In Northern Saskatchewan temperatures range from 23-57 degrees farenheight. Grayling, trout, pike, and pickeral are found in the northern lakes, while mule, deer, elk, moose, and long tail deer are found in the north. People Saskatchewan has a population of about one million people. It's largest cities are Moose Jaw, Prince Albert, Regina, and Saskatoon. Saskatchewan is the only province that doesn't have a majority of French or British background. There are large segements of Scandanavian, German, and Ukrainian. Plus about 70,000 natives live in the province. Saskatchewan's largest religious groups are the Lutheran, the Anglican denominations, and the Roman catholic. Government Saskatchewan's government consists of a lieutenant govener (Sylvia O. Fedoruk), a premier (Roy Romanow and New Democratic party), a parliament (6 senate members, 10 new democrats, and 4 conservatives), and a provincial legistator (64 members). Saskatchewan was admitted to the confederation on Sept.1, 1905 with Alberta, the eighth and ninth provinces. Saskatchewan politics were dominated by the liberal party from 1905 to 1944, when the CCF defeated them, they ruled until 1964, when the liberals were returned to power. The new democratic party won, the Progressive Conservatives defeated CCF in 1982, but regained power in 1991. History Tribes of Algonquin, Siouan, and Athapaskan were the first known people in Saskatchewan. Charles 11 gave Prince Rupert's Land to the Hudson Bay Company in 1670. About 1690 the first European visitor came to the area, his name was Henery Kelsey. Homesteading was encouraged by the transfer of Prince Rupert's Land and the completion of a rail link to central Canada in the 1880s. Rapid growth associated with agricultual settlement led to the creation of Saskatchewan. In 1921 Saskatchewan's population was ranked just behind Quebec and Ontario. The Saskatchewan Wheat Pool, started in 1924, is still in business and continues to dominate farm marketing there. Natural Resources Saskatchewan has many natural resources. Petroleum and coal are being developed rapidly, Saskatchewan's potash reserves are among the world's largest. The rivers have abundent hydro-electric power, and the rich soils and northern forests are major resources for the province. The province has 14,000 oil wells that produce 12% of Canada's oil output. Saskatchewan mainly produces oil, uranium, potash, coal, and lumber.

Soliloquies of Hamlet

Soliloquies of Hamlet The Soliloquies of HamletAuthors use various literary elements to give insightinto the mental composition of their characters. InShakespeare's "Hamlet, Prince of Denmark," we can traceHamlet's mental process through his soliloquies.Hamlet's first soliloquy reveals him to be thoroughlydisgusted with Gertrude, Claudius, and the world in general."How weary, stale, flat and unprofitable, seem to me all theuses of this world" (1284), he said. He is saddened by thedeath of his father, who he admired as a king and husband tohis mother. His grief over his father's death iscompounded by his mother's hasty marriage to Claudius.Hamlet protests, "a beast, that wants discourse of reason,would have mourn'd longer" (1285). The worst part is thathe cannot tell them how he feels.In his second soliloquy, Hamlet becomes curious andsuspicious after hearing of the ghost. "My father's spiritin arms! All is not well; I doubt some foul play" (1287),he said.HamletHamlet feels that the presence of the ghostin dicates that his father died due to dubious circumstance.After talking with his father's ghost, in the 3rdSoliloquy Hamlet is angered by the news that Claudius hadmurdered his father. Hamlet assures that he will think ofnothing but revenge. "I'll wipe away all trivial fondrecords...and thy commandment all alone shall live withinthe book and volume of my brain" (1296), he proclaims.In Hamlet's fourth soliloquy, his mental state showssigns of declination. He castigates himself for not takingaction to avenge his father. He realizes that he has causeto kill Claudius, but cannot muster the chutzpah to gothrough with it. He said, "Why, what an ass am I! This ismost brave, that I...must, like a whore, unpack my heart...

Acids and Bases - Calculating pH of a Strong Base

Acids and Bases - Calculating pH of a Strong Base KOH is an example of a strong base, which means it dissociates into its ions in aqueous solution. Although the pH of KOH or potassium hydroxide is extremely high (usually ranging from 10 to 13 in typical solutions), the exact value depends on the concentration of this strong base in water. So, its important to know how to perform the pH calculation. Strong Base pH Question What is the pH of a 0.05 M solution of Potassium Hydroxide? Solution Potassium Hydroxide or KOH, is a strong base and will dissociate completely in water to K and OH-. For every mole of KOH, there will be 1 mole of OH-, so the concentration of OH- will be the same as the concentration of KOH. Therefore, [OH-] 0.05 M. Since the concentration of OH- is known, the pOH value is more useful. pOH is calculated by the formula pOH - log [OH-] Enter the concentration found before pOH - log (0.05)pOH -(-1.3)pOH 1.3 The value for pH is needed and the relationship between pH and pOH is given by pH pOH 14 pH 14 - pOHpH 14 - 1.3pH 12.7 Answer The pH of a 0.05 M solution of Potassium Hydroxide is 12.7.

Global economy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 1

Global economy - Essay Example Nevertheless, the end of 2010 was marked with the U.S.’s decision to throw additional money into the domestic economy, to encourage economic growth and slow down the economic downturn. Controversial and radical, the decision to apply to quantitative easing became one of the most actively discussed issues in economics. That quantitative easing has far-reaching implications for the domestic and global economy cannot be denied, but its role in the development and expansion of the positive economic growth is yet to be defined. At the end of 2010, the Central Bank of America announced its decision to pump up additional $600bn into the domestic economy (Elliott & Inman 2010). The decision to use quantitative easing mechanisms was justified by the failure of the American federal authorities and the Fed to accelerate economic growth, encourage lending, and reduce unemployment (Elliott & Inman 2010). It should be noted, that the past recession became the worst economic downturn in Amer ica and the rest of the world since the Great Depression (Elliott & Inman 2010). As a result, traditional instruments of economic recovery failed to improve the situation. Quantitative decision for the U.S. was similar to the instrument of last resort, when there is nothing else the Fed can do to alleviate the burden of economic problems within the country. As part of its strategy, the Fed would purchase long-term Treasury bills every month, until the middle of the year, totaling to $75bn (Elliott & Inman 2010). The United States claims that quantitative easing is simply inevitable, when the state wants to preserve â€Å"ultra-low† interest rates for an extended period, thus keeping the amount of the borrowing costs unchanged for at least two years (Elliott & Inman 2010). The principal intentions of quantitative easing are but positive. The reality, however, is not as bright as economic theory tries to create it. Even if quantitative easing has a potential to support relative stability in the U.S., it may have damaging and even fracturing effects on the global economy. It should be noted, that economic theory treats quantitative easing as â€Å"the central bank’s asset purchases that are designed to inject money directly into the economy to raise asset prices, boost spending and so keep inflation on track to meet the 2% target† (Ganley 2010). The most probable sources of additional assets for the Central Bank include â€Å"insurance companies, banks and non-financial institutions, pension funds and firms† (Ganley 2010). Such injections directly into the economy are justified by the rapid contractions in the amount of spending that follow global financial crises (Ganley 2010). More often than not, quantitative easing is used to stop price deflation and encourage real output (Ganley 2010). The history of quantitative easing dates back to the beginning of the 1990s, when Japan found itself in the midst of a deep economic and financial crisis (Kurihara 2006). â€Å"The development and implementation of the zero interest policy had to encourage economic recovery but did not produce any real effect on the economic development in the country† (Kurihara 2006). Quantitative easing was introduced to initiate long-term economic growth in Japan. Unfortunately, and after so many years of economic recovery and growth in Japan, whether quantitative easi

Evaluation of Design and Administration of a Questionnaire Essay

Evaluation of Design and Administration of a Questionnaire - Essay Example Generally, the working party was disappointed by the results and had a different pattern of response from those at school. Why the Working Party Members Were Disappointed With the Results The working party members were disappointed with the results because the results did not reflect the actual objectives of the survey. Indeed, the survey was only able to satisfy the objective of what the town’s youth did in their leisure time but failed in satisfying the other objectives. Because of the survey or else the responses to address the objectives, the group’s quest to find out what would capture the interest of the youths in Littlebury town and reduce their boredom was not satisfied. The different pattern of response from the working respondents that suggested that their interests were very different from their counterparts at school only proved challenging to the working party members who aimed at certain objectives different from the working respondents. ... This is because the survey was supposed to define in clarity the activities held at the leisure centre that were patronised by young people in line with the objectives. The time, resources spent on the survey did not rally with the results which is also another source of dissapointment by the working party members. Indeed, the results did notv address the interests of the working respondents as well as the the interests of the working party members on this Littlebury Leisure Survey. A table showing which objective(s) addressed by respective questions in the questionnaire Question Number Objective (s) Question 1 To find out what the people in Littlebury town did in their spare time To find out the frequency of using the available leisure centres in Littlebury town Question 2 To compare leisure activities and preferences for different age groups To assertain the gender and age group attending available leisure clubs Question 3 To find out the most popular sporting activity for the peop le of Littlebury town Question 4 To find out the out the most popular club or society activity in Littlebury town Question 5 To find out the most popular leisure activity amongst all age groups Question 6 To establish what leisure activities they would like to have in town To establish additional leisure activities that people in Littlebury town have Question 7 To establish their potential interest in some of the ideas proposed by the working party Question 8 To establish what leisure activities different people would like to have in town Question 9 To compare leisure activities and preferences of different age groups Question 10 To establish the contact of the respondent Additional Questions That

Philosophy of Education Essay Example for Free

Philosophy of Education Essay Philosophy of education is sometimes referred to as the immediate objectives of education. Immediate objectives on the other hand are purposes which a subject at a given time must aim to achieve through the courses of study or the curriculum. Its aims constitute a very important aspect of the total education. They are more specific and they can be accomplished in a shorter period of time, maybe a day or a week. These, too, are considered goals of specialization. Educational aims cannot be determined apart from the purpose of society which maintains the school. The purpose of any society is determined by the life value which the people prize. As a nation, we have been striving always for the values which constitute the democratic way of life (Demiashkevich, 2003). Theory and practice in modern education have been influenced greatly by the educational philosophy in successive interpretations of the fundamental purpose of education. Since the aims and objectives of education embody the democratic ideal to which we as a nation are committed, they cannot be achieved through a rigid system of indoctrination and control. The application of the principles of teaching and learning always has definite goals. If the teacher wants to obtain desired results, he should know what those goals or objectives are. The usefulness of the principles themselves can best be determined by their appropriateness to the aims and objectives sought. Our primary need, therefore, is to present and develop the philosophical and psychological aims of education (Peterson, 2000). The philosophical aims of education require all public and private schools in this country to pursue, in the development of every child, regardless of color, creed, or social status. All educational institutions shall aim to inculcate love of country, teach the duties of citizenship, and develop moral character, personal discipline, and scientific, technological, and vocational efficiency. The study of the Constitution shall be part of the curricula in all schools (Peterson, 2000). The State shall provide citizenship and vocational training to adult citizens and out-of-school youth, and create and maintain scholarship for poor and deserving students. Moreover, religion shall be taught to their children or wards, in public elementary and high schools as may be provided by law. The State shall provide scientific research and invention. The advancement of science and technology shall have priority in the national development. Furthermore, education shall aim to develop moral character, personal discipline and civic conscience, and develop the attitudes among our youth and strength moral and ethical standards. It must also impart the skills, instill the attitudes and spread the values that are essential to rapid and sustained economic growth. The curriculum of public and private schools will emphasize scientific and technical professions, managerial and vocational skills, and the dignity of labor and standards of excellence (Demiashkevich, 2003). It can be said that the above resolution called for the restructuring of our educational system, public or private, to enhance nationalism or love of country and to achieve social goals.

Anorexia Essay -- essays research papers

INTRODUCTION Anorexia Nervosa is a mental condition which affects one’s both physical and mental health. It is a condition that causes one to have a distorted self-image and forces themselves to starve even if their body weight is already dangerously low. They often restrict their food intake to the point where they are extremely thin. Anorexia is found to occur most often in women, especially those who are aged 15 to 35. There have been cases reported as early as the age of 7 and as late as the age of 80. Researchers believe that about 5 to 10 percent of women overall have a distorted body image but approximately 1 to 2 percent of those women suffer from anorexia nervosa. Often at times anorexia can begin during the early teen years. Over 90 percent of the victims of anorexia are found to be women but yet many cases go unnoticed or unreported. The definition of one who is anorexic is that they are approximately about 15 percent underweight for their age and height, yet still refuses to gain the weight required to be at the minimal standard. They have an intense fear of gaining weight and often starve themselves to the point where there are not receiving the proper nutrients and intake required for a healthy diet. Often anorexics restrict themselves to fewer than 1000 calories per day and may even go as low as 100 calories a day. CAUSES   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Anorexia Nervosa has often been associated with both being a physical and mental disease. The number one ca...

A book review of `Bias` by Bernard Goldberg

The book Bias by Bernard Goldberg is statement by its author that network news (CBS, NBC, ABC, and CNN), has failed in its mission by presenting the liberal position on issues as the baseline, of reasonableness and that any variation from that position is controversial or a deviation from should be.   Reasonable minds, in other words, do not differ.The book asserts the claim that the News is packed with the views of liberal advocacy groups and rarely includes the views of conservative thinkers.   In his nearly thirty years at CBS News, Emmy Award- winner Bernard Goldberg earned a reputation as one of the finest reporters in television news. When he looked at his own business, however, he saw that the media far too often ignored their primary mission: objective, disinterested reporting.Time and time over and over he saw that they slanted the news to the left. For years Goldberg appealed to reporters, producers, and network executives for more balanced reporting, but no one listene d. The liberal bias has continued for some time. Now, in BIAS, he blows the whistle on the news business, showing exactly how the media slant their reporting while insisting that they're just giving the basic facts (Regency, 2001).One of the main points in the book deals with how CBS Evening News dealt with the flat tax proposal of the Republican presidential candidate Steve Forbes.   The story as reported by Eric Engberg was one-sided.   There was no time given to flat tax supporters.   In point of fact, the report was actually a mocking of Steve Forbes’ plan.   The only critics were a small number of right-of-center sources.In the book Goldberg shows: ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   how media bias has twisted the facts of some of the biggest stories of the last two decades, ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   the facts that prove that conservatives   and liberals in politics are treated radically different by the news media, ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   how the news is knowingly â€Å"manufactured,†Ã‚ ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   why certain key facts are omitted from news stories if they make a case a or a cause seem less compelling ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   that the news media feels free to heap criticism on just about anyone or anything but is absolutely intolerant of any criticism of its own work, and ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   a behind-the-camera tour to witness scenes of jaw-dropping arrogance and â€Å"spin-cycle† journalism (Regency Publishing, 2001)The resulting furor was all started by an editorial published on February 13, 1996 by Goldberg in The Wall Street Journal entitled â€Å"Networks Need a Reality Check.†Ã‚   The premise of the editorial was 1) there was a liberal bias on the part of television news reporters that 2) got in the way of their reporting.This was not an earthshaking revelation, in that most people knew of this, without being told.   However, this had not been stated or publishe d before by an admitted liberal.   For that exactly what Goldberg had thought of him as.   But, he was also then a typical network newsman.Another example of liberal bias is during the Clarence Thomas-Anita Hill hearings, NBC News actually brought Catherine MacKinnon in as an ‘expert’ to bring perspective to the hearings.   MacKinnon is the feminist who famously implied that all sexual intercourse is rape (Wilson, 2001).This editorial was a very public announcement of the unpardonable sin of publicly mentioning the issue of the liberal bias in the media.   In the editorial, Goldberg called the offending reporter and his own network employer to task (Hartlaub, 2001).The resulting outcry from reporters and anchors on all three networks including cold shoulders from coworkers help to confirm his suspicions that bias in the new media was real.That editorial, as well as subsequent ones printed on February 15, 1996 and May 24, 2001 all caused extensive, but revealing problems for Goldberg.   It was a reaction not to the comments, whether they were true or false, but to the fact that the statements were made at all.

John Locke Questions Essay

1. John Locke describes the â€Å"state of nature† as a sort of equality between men. No man has any rights over the other, and they can be free in doing what they want. All being able to use the same faculties. Locke also explains that although they are free it does not give them the right to hurt one another because the â€Å"natural law† still exists even through the â€Å"state of nature†. Locke defines the state of nature as political power. This â€Å"state of nature† is basically where humans can exist without a government or social contract. And that people would follow this â€Å"law of nature† and would protect it against anyone who did not follow it. â€Å"The execution of the law of Nature is in that state put into every man’s hands, whereby everyone has a right to punish the transgressors of that law to such a degree as may hinder its violation. † Locke also mentions that eventually people would try to form a government to try to protect their rights further. The â€Å"state of nature† is more of a thought rather than something that actually happened in history. 2. John Locke explains that the reason why people leave this â€Å"state of nature† is because this â€Å"paradise† is uncertain and insecure. There is no guarantee that people will always go along with the â€Å"laws of nature† and everyone will think of others as equals. So it makes it harder for individuals to enjoy this â€Å"paradise† because they fear something might go wrong so they want to quit and become part of a political society where someone can tell them what to do with there freedom. This feeling is because of the â€Å"mutual preservation† of their lives, estates, liberties and a big part, property. Men want to join a government to protect their properties; it says that they would want a known law that is a standard for right and wrong. Also another issue with the â€Å"laws of nature† is the judging system it would cause a lot of anarchy within the people because if everything was so â€Å"equal† then wouldn’t you be equal with the judge and not have to abide by their rules and regulations? In addition Locke also states â€Å" there often wants power to back and support the sentence when right, and to give it due execution. † With this being said, if something were to go wrong they would not know what the consequence would be. Overall the â€Å"state of nature† system has a lot of flaws and would cause many conflicts. 3. The social contract that is laid out by john Locke is a contract between the legislature and the people. The people’s side of the contract Is that they follow the rules and regulations that the legislature creates. In addition the legislatures part of the contract is separated into four different promises. One of the promises they make is to make the laws apply to every class, rich and poor. Another promise that they made was not to raise taxes without having the consent of the people. The people must be fully aware of the tax changes. Thirdly all the laws have to be beneficial to everyone, not just one class or group of people. Lastly the legislature promises that only they can create laws for the good of the people. They decided this because if everyone was allowed to voice there own opinion about what the laws would be nothing would actually get established and there would be nothing but chaos among the people. Above all the contract is just to be for the good of everyone. 4. The government can be dissolved if the social contract is breached in certain scenarios. The basis of the society is the constitution. The constitutions purpose is to protect the ones within the society. When a member of the legislature goes against any of the four agreements that were made the people have a right to protest, peacefully that is. And if its serious enough fight against the legislative, thus â€Å"dissolving† the government. So basically the people have a right to â€Å"cancel ties† and create a new legislative that they feel will be more beneficial for the people, since the legislative before were not doing things that were fair or went out of their rights of being in the legislature. Since the people were the ones who were in control and ultimately chose them to be in power, they have the right to dissolve the government if there choices aren’t for the good of the people. 5. Locke’s philosophy is remarkably similar to the Declaration of Independence. Both articles have the same ideas of everything being for the people, and things being equal. It states â€Å"of the people, for the people, and by the people. † I believe that Thomas Jefferson made what he put in the Declaration with similar viewpoints that’s in â€Å"The Second Treatise of Civil Government. † Both talk about government and the society in the same way. The government was made to â€Å"secure natural rights†. If the government goes against their rights the people have a right to rebel in a certain way. And express how they feel about the matter at hand, to make a difference and change it. You can tell that Locke’s ideas influenced Thomas Jefferson, and that both go hand in hand when the Declaration of Independence was created. One similarity between the two is when Locke’s main ideas were â€Å"life, liberty, and property. † But Jefferson states â€Å"life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness†. These statements are almost identical, with a minor change.

Free Essays on Tragic Heros

A hero today is seen as a person who is idolized. Nowadays, a hero does not have to have wealth or certain political beliefs, but instead can be regarded as a hero for his/her actions and inner strength. However, in the plays of Shakespeare, the tragic hero is always a noble man who enjoys some status and prosperity in society but possesses some moral weakness or flaw, which leads to his downfall (Fyre). External circumstances such as fate also play a part in the hero's fall (Bradley). Evil agents often act upon the hero and the forces of good, causing the hero to make wrong decisions. Readers may see this proven in Shakespeare ¡Ã‚ ¦s most famous tragedies: King Lear, Hamlet, Othello, and Macbeth. William Shakespeare started writing tragedies because he thought the tragic plots used by other English writers were lacking artistic purpose and form (Bradley). He used the fall of a notable person as the main focus in his tragedies. Suspense and climax were an added attraction for the audience. His work was extraordinary in that it was not of the norm for the time (Rurr). A reader with even little knowledge of his work would recognize one of the tragedies as a work of Shakespeare (Bradley). Shakespeare was born at Stratford-upon-Avon, the son of a tradesman and Alderman of Stratford, John Shakespeare in 1564. William, the eldest son, and third child (of eight) was baptised on 26th April 1564, and probably educated at Stratford Grammar School, but little is known of his life up to his eighteenth year (Hamlyn). He did not go to university and his younger contemporary and fellow-dramatist, Ben Johnson, would later speak disparagingly of his "small Latin, and less Greek" in the eulogy prefaced to the Firs Folio (Hill). However the Grammar School curriculum would have provided a formidable linguistic, and to some extent literary, education (Rurr). In 1575 when he was eleven, there was a great plague in the country and Queen Elizabeth journeye... Free Essays on Tragic Heros Free Essays on Tragic Heros A hero today is seen as a person who is idolized. Nowadays, a hero does not have to have wealth or certain political beliefs, but instead can be regarded as a hero for his/her actions and inner strength. However, in the plays of Shakespeare, the tragic hero is always a noble man who enjoys some status and prosperity in society but possesses some moral weakness or flaw, which leads to his downfall (Fyre). External circumstances such as fate also play a part in the hero's fall (Bradley). Evil agents often act upon the hero and the forces of good, causing the hero to make wrong decisions. Readers may see this proven in Shakespeare ¡Ã‚ ¦s most famous tragedies: King Lear, Hamlet, Othello, and Macbeth. William Shakespeare started writing tragedies because he thought the tragic plots used by other English writers were lacking artistic purpose and form (Bradley). He used the fall of a notable person as the main focus in his tragedies. Suspense and climax were an added attraction for the audience. His work was extraordinary in that it was not of the norm for the time (Rurr). A reader with even little knowledge of his work would recognize one of the tragedies as a work of Shakespeare (Bradley). Shakespeare was born at Stratford-upon-Avon, the son of a tradesman and Alderman of Stratford, John Shakespeare in 1564. William, the eldest son, and third child (of eight) was baptised on 26th April 1564, and probably educated at Stratford Grammar School, but little is known of his life up to his eighteenth year (Hamlyn). He did not go to university and his younger contemporary and fellow-dramatist, Ben Johnson, would later speak disparagingly of his "small Latin, and less Greek" in the eulogy prefaced to the Firs Folio (Hill). However the Grammar School curriculum would have provided a formidable linguistic, and to some extent literary, education (Rurr). In 1575 when he was eleven, there was a great plague in the country and Queen Elizabeth journeye...

Cancer affecting life

It wasn’t the summer I hoped it would be. Just before my senior year of high school, my mother and grandmother both were diagnosed with cancer, my mother with colon cancer and my grandmother with pancreatic cancer. That summer, I did what I could to help out my mom. I drove her to the Cancer Center in Oconomowoc or would pick her up from there. I did chores, made her food, and did anything else I could to me her feel comfortable. Sure, I wasn’t the perfect child. I still got on her nerves, but I did mean good and I didn’t want her to be angry. I just wanted to he be happy, healthy, strong and everything to go back to how it was. At the age of 46, having cancer was a tremendous shock to my mom and my family. I can remember when my parents told the results of the test done on the tumor the doctors found. I was in my mom’s hospital room visiting. My dad sat my brother and me down. Then he said it the word no one ever wants to hear â€Å"cancer†. Given she had cancer she pushed through it. She still went to work, and did what she could to help around the house. It didn’t go unnoticed by my dad and brothers. My dad would tell me â€Å"yeah that’s your mother for you, she’s a trooper.† And I would agree and nod my head. Now my grandmother is a whole different story. She, like my mom, is a tough girl. But unlike my mom, she was diagnosed with breast cancer in February of 2002. She was more reserved when it came to her needing help with things. She is one of those people who never asks for help and doesn’t want people to feel sorry for her. She just wants the family to be happy and not have to worry about her. I look up to her in that way—being able to handle things by myself without the help of others. But I also understand the importance of help from others because I don’t know everything there is to know about life†¦ not yet. It wasn’t the summer I hoped it would be. But I feel like I learned a lot from my summer. Not everything will go perfect forever and when it doesn’t you have to realize it and take action to help support the ones you love and make what they are going through easier and stress-free.

Analysis Music Project Chopin Nocturne Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Analysis Music Project Chopin Nocturne - Essay Example â€Å"Music is what feelings sound like,† this quotation from an unknown author says it all. Just as Gustav Mahler once said, â€Å"If a composer could say what he had to say in words he would not bother trying to say it in music.† One of the most distinguished composers of the 19th century is Frà ©dà ©ric Chopin. Chopin was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist, and is considered by many as the epitome of the Romantic style in classical music. Regarded as a child prodigy pianist, I look up to him, as my model and inspiration, since I too, play the piano. Chopin’s works are masterpieces and mainstays of the Romanticism in the 19th century. One of the major innovations in forms of music that he was responsible for is the nocturne. The nocturne is basically a work of art dealing with evening or night, usually a dreamy pensive piano composition. Having written 21 of these, Chopin’s nocturnes are written in a somewhat melancholy style, with an expressive dreamy melody, over broken-chord accompaniment. The major of Chopin’s nocturnes adopt a simple A-B-A form, wherein the A part is usually in a dreamy style, and the B style is a part of a more dramatic content. Considering the melody, harmony, and originality of piano style, Chopin’s nocturnes leave other composers behind, although his style is very much similar with Bellini’s cavatina.

Intoduction to HRM 3 Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Intoduction to HRM 3 - Coursework Example The emphasis is on improving performance and retention for the employee as well as improving the performance of the company according to the new vision statement of Nowhere else makes you feel this good. Cafe Company wants to regain market share and believes that the way to do that is to provide tools to the person who is in direct contact with the customer – the barista (Green and Duncan n.d.). The overall aim and learning objectives (Green and Duncan n.d.; Noe, Hollenbeck, Gerhart, and Wright 2003) The barista will see clearly how significant their value is in creating the ultimate experience as a barista around the globe at Cafe Company (Oakland and Oakland 1998); Each new barista will adopt the vision statement that Cafe Company creates the best coffee experience in the world by stating, Nowhere else makes you feel this good; Each new barista will have the skills and the coffee know-how to do prepare basic coffees per customer request. The barista will adopt the skills as taught at the two-day session ensuring the barista will be able to provide the ultimate coffee experience for the customer; By providing the ultimate coffee experience for the customer, the barista will be capable of retaining the existing customers and win over new customers. How this training programme will improve the performance of the employees Mathis and Jackson (1991); Noe et al. ... This is referred to as a systems approach to training. Previously, there has been nothing formal. The new employee was essentially left to their own devices or if they lucked out and happened to get partnered with an experienced barista they may succeed. To deter the level of turnover in the locations, this training programme will provide a solid jumping off spot for all new colleagues to ensure they have the basic tools of a professional barista. Creating an experience for a customer is not the same as simply making a cup of coffee. Learning the difference and creating that experience is what this training is all about. Timetable for Two Days Programme, Timing and Resources The timetable is outlined using the tables for each day below. The resources needed will be a formal training area such as a classroom size room large enough to fit 12 – 16 people comfortably. Based on the training model provided the class will need access to an area to make coffees that is not a live coff ee house at the time the training takes place (Mathis and Jackson 1991). The training is structured over two days and includes a multitude of alternate speakers rather than residing solely on Human Resources or Training and Development personnel. Access to these staff and agreement from the authorities these staff report to that they will be present and available and focused on the new Baristas will be vital for the success of this model. This model also requires that a Barista training manual be designed with the core components of customer service, quality, cleanliness and coffee know-how. This manual may be a hard copy, but could be purely electronic as well. This will serve as a ready reference for information provided in this session as well as future training

Dawson v. Hanson,et al Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Dawson v. Hanson,et al - Essay Example There have been three main occasions when Mr. Hanson was to deliver the mail and Archie lunged at him, barked and growled, while he put the mail in the mail slot. From this day onwards, Mrs. Hanson, Archie’s owner decided to keep the dog in the backyard during the time of delivery of the mail in order to keep the dog from lunging at Mr. Dawson. Brock Mason failed to reply to a written complaint made by Mr. William’s regarding the dog’s atrocious behaviour and need to bark and growl at him all the time even though he never stepped onto the property rented by Mrs. Hanson. However, upon entering the very house of Mrs. Hanson, Mr. Dawson was bitten by her dog, Archie on the 15th of August, 2009. The dog lunged because it was able to escape from the backyard due to the negligence of Mrs. Hanson’s son, Joshua Hanson, not having been able to close the door properly in order to prevent the dog from escaping, despite knowing that it was ferocious and had a habit of growling at the neighbours and anyone else who happened to chance upon the property. Mrs. Hanson came forward and tried to get the dog to let go but her son was forced to switch on the hose pipe and finally make the dog leave Mr. Dawson’s leg. The main witness that noticed the entire injury take place was Ms LaVerne Coles. The paramedics were immediately called by her, and Mr. Dawson was rushed to the hospital arriving upon which he received 33 stitches as well as proper follow up care from Dr Jackson Ellis. Dr. Ellis further asked him to visit Dr Ivan Gomez for checking his torn rotator which had suffered damages during the fall when the dog bit him. Mr. Dawson was also made to attend a physical therapy session for the next eight weeks following the accident. Not only did the entire episode cost Mr. Dawson a heavy amount to recover fully from the damages and injuries caused by the dog, but the entire process also caused Mr. Dawson to reduce his earnings due to a pay cut fro m $55,700 to $53,500 on an annual basis. Law and Argument: In California statutes, ordinances and case law address the regulation of dogs and their owners, and the bases for compensation in the case of injury. For example, in cases involving certain types of dogs, i.e., dangerous dogs (dogs with a "dangerous propensity" or "vicious propensity") the owner of the dog may be liable for injury, without regard to fault (strict liability). In other situations, owners, landlords or other persons who "keep" or "harbor" dangerous dogs may be liable when the dogs attack. The facts of each case will often determine the outcome of that particular case. California is a strict liability state, meaning that a dog owner is liable for injuries inflicted by his dog upon a human being, even if the owner was not negligent and the dog had never bitten anyone before. California is one of the states that has a dog bite statute, meaning a law that repudiates in whole or part the common law's requirement of "scienter" (i.e., knowledge that the animal had previously injured a person in the same manner, such as by a bite). California Civil Code section 3342 provides as follows: 3342.   (a) The owner of any dog is liable for the damages suffered by any person who is bitten by the dog while in a public place or lawfully in a private place, including the property of the owner of the dog, regardless of the former viciousness of the dog or the owner's knowledge of

Leadership in healthcare

Leadership in healthcare Student Number: 3226029 AHP_6_011 Leadership for Allied Health Professionals At the opening ceremony of the Singapore Healthcare Management Congress 2013, Singapore Health Minister Gan Kim Yong said that strong management capabilities and leadership quality in the healthcare sector are extremely crucial to lead the growing healthcare needs of an ageing population, constant threat of global pandemics and rising non-communicable diseases. There is a need to constantly innovate and find ways to keep the population healthy and deliver the healthcare services more effectively (Gan, 2013). â€Å"One of the things that a leader needs to learn is that the traditional models of leading change are not very effective.† (Kent, 2014). The context for healthcare is changing due to changing expectations, changing disease profile and greater emphasis on ‘predict and prevent’ (Hartley, et al., 2008). Definition of Leadership Leadership in healthcare can be viewed in many different ways. Clinical leadership can come from hands-on care, from maintaining clinical expertise and may sometimes be separated from management with the goal of leading staff through transformational change to develop better services for the local community (Bishop, 2009). In the recent years, leadership is seen as something to be used by all but at different levels (National Leadership Council (NLC) Clinical Leadership workstream, 2011). It can be described to be a team effort (The Kings Fund, 2012) or also known as â€Å"sharedness† of leadership processes (Wang, et al., 2013) in an organisation. Shared leadership is displayed in terms of mutual influence, shared responsibility among the staff and leading each other towards the goal achievements. Shared leadership expands the extent of leader prototypicality (Wang, et al., 2013) as team members are given a chance to take on decision-making process and leadership role. â€Å"Gone is the heroic individual with a monopoly on the vision; it is replaced by a commitment to building shared visions with a range of stakeholders.† (The Kings Fund, 2012). Wang, et al., (2013) divided shared leadership into 3 categories which are shared traditional leadership, shared new-genre leadership and cumulative, overall shared leadership. The subgroups on the types of leadership under each category such as transactional, visionary and transformational leadership can be seen in Appendix A. Shared traditional leadership is where the leader uses methods such as contingent rewards towards staff to achieve team goals and satisfy staff’s needs (Wang, et al., 2013). Shared new-genre leadership emphasizes transformational, visionary and charismatic leadership which empowers the staff towards development and change (Wang, et al., 2013). Cumulative, overall shared leadership is displayed within the team level, in which each individual team member demonstrate a degree of leadership. Importance of leadership Leadership is important as it can determine the functionality of a basic team unit as it strongly influences key team processes. It can determine and clarify the objectives of the team, giving the team a clear view on the goals and the pathways to take to achieve the goals (Hartley, et al., 2008) such as improving patient experience and outcome (NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement, 2011). Having leadership can encourage participation from the staff, allowing the staff to contribute and pool great ideas, supporting innovation in the team. It also enhances the commitment to quality, as having a leader ensures primary quality objectives are met in the day to day workings within the staff (Hartley, et al., 2008). Guidance to the changes in the healthcare in many aspects There are many aspects of healthcare that are constantly changing such as new techniques and technologies in healthcare. As such, there is a constant need to find new ways of working within and across teams, and with patients (Hartley, et al., 2008). Therefore, strong leadership that support a vision for change with a clear articulation of what needs to be achieved, by whom and with what, would likely to succeed in healthcare organisations (Gifford, et al., 2013). Leadership is also crucial when it comes to finding new approaches to continuous improvement which rely a lot on ‘people management’ (Hartley, et al., 2008). Bishop, (2009, p. 83) stated that leadership in Allied Health is no longer just about ‘managing’ the service and being a ‘therapy lead’, it is about leading the staff and the service to a new position. To achieve this, clinical leaders such as nurse educators, clinical nurse specialist and practice developers are to influence research use through their roles in mentoring, providing information and assisting in the development of policies and procedures to support professional practice (Gifford, et al., 2013). Leaders have to constantly think of methods to support staff so as to make and sustain improvement efforts in order to improve service to the patient. This is important because patient’s expectations have increased as the healthcare industry develops over the years. Future-looking system There are new challenges in healthcare such as the kinds of illnesses or even trends are changing (Hartley, et al., 2008). Leadership is important to anticipate rather than just react to changes in demographic and disease profiles (Hartley, et al., 2008). Leaders have to anticipate the multiple diseases associated with a larger elderly population and chronic diseases due to lifestyle choices such as obesity. For example, the rising numbers of cancer cases in Singapore as reported in The Straits Times (Lai, 2014) was made known to awareness among the public. Networking Gantz, et al., (2012) stated that collective leadership complements healthcare globalisation. They recognised healthcare globalisation as a way to close disparity gaps and improve public health on a global scale through resource and information sharing. There are new health goals where ‘treatment’ is not the only goal now but also ‘predict and prevent’ illnesses for the public health (Hartley, et al., 2008). As such, there are more hospitals that network with each other and disseminate evidence-based practices throughout their regional and local communities (MacPhee, et al., 2013). Therefore, leadership is important to shape these new goals and to ensure that there is a close link between ideas and practice on the front-line and between different partners. Clinical decision making According to Hartley, et al., (2008), leadership clarity is associated with better team processes, and with actual innovation – and ambiguity about leadership was associated with low levels of innovation. This corroborates the view of the role of leadership in helping to create compelling direction and ensure participation of team members in decision-making (Hartley, et al., 2008). One of the thing that a leader needs to do is to make good decision based on in-depth understanding of all the constituent parts, all the tradition and cultures that accompany the existing professional structures and values (Bishop, 2009, p. 83). Therefore, it is important for a leader to have good decision-making skill so as to have a smooth efficient workflow and quality service. In Singapore’s healthcare setting, although the decisions made are largely based on the patients’ choice, their family members still exercise significant influence over the level of revelation of prognosis information and final action taken (Foo, et al., 2012). Familial-centred approach is common in Asian setting especially if it involves poor prognosis. As such, a leader in this situation has to consider the various views and make a final decision that gives the best outcomes for the patient and family, even if it means that they have to withhold information about patient’s expected poor clinical outcomes to the patients (Foo, et al., 2012). Good decision-making is achieved based on the good understanding of the culture and tradition of the context. The need for decision-making may arise at any one point while in a clinical setting. For example, the below anecdotal incident (see Appendix B) about clinical decision-making is analysed using Gibb’s reflective cycle (Waugh, 2013) (see Appendix C). The incident is about a disagreement I had with a senior colleague about him deviating from the treatment protocol regarding the verification of the treatment area. I felt frustrated that I was the only one wanting to do the right thing and find a solution despite voicing out my concerns. After the incident, I felt sad and unjust that my colleague was angry at me for refusing to proceed with the treatment. The positive experience was that my decision prevented an incident report and an inaccurate delivery of radiation dose. I stepped out of my comfort zone and voiced out my concerns to the oncologists. Conversely, my long decision-making time resulted in a queue of patients and delayed appointments. According to the Fielder’s contingency model (see Appendix D), I am a task-oriented leader, and the incident calls for a leader with a low Least-Preferred Co-Worker (LPC). As such, I’m a fitting leader for the task as I handled the situation which prevented errors from being made in the treatment. On the whole, I took a long time to make my decision waiting for my colleague to share his opinions, which turned out to be fruitless. Such disagreements can be avoided if there are mutual understanding and better treatment protocol knowledge. I should have sought assistance from the other seniors right away. After the incident, we had a discussion on the treatment protocols, directing more focus on the importance of protocols and the adherence to them should any similar incidents occur in the future. Future leadership Nobody stays stagnant in the workforce. For example, a radiation therapist from North Carolina realised that he needed more leadership skills when he progressed from the treatment aspect to administration and then managing (Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 2013). The King’s Fund (2012) refers to leadership as a ‘cognitive catalyst’, where the leader’s choice of actions and ideas are focused on as learning points in order to spur learning in the work place by the other team members. In order to change an organisation, leaders need to change themselves first and be open to changes. â€Å"If our leaders grow and help others to grow, our organisation will not only succeed in their changes efforts- they will be an example for other leaders and organisations around the world.† (Kent, 2014). More leaders are required in Singapore because the healthcare service is expanding rapidly so as to cater for the aging population (Bishop, 2009). As such, the Ministry Of Health Singapore has launched a SingHealth Graduate Diploma in Healthcare Management and Leadership programme in Singapore Management University. It aims to groom a new generation of healthcare professionals who excel in both healthcare management and business leadership which is a skill that is high in demand in today’s evolving healthcare industry (Gan, 2013). Additionally, the Ministry Of Healthcare has also provide sponsorships such as the Healthcare Administration Scholarship (HAS) where outstanding scholars will be given opportunities to be developed for top leadership position within the public healthcare sector (MOH Holdings Pte Ltd, 2013). Competency frameworks have also become a widely used approach to thinking about the skills of leadership. For example, the healthcare in UK are using the NHS Leadership Qualities Framework (see Appendix E) (National Leadership Council (NLC) Clinical Leadership workstream, 2011). It sets out the key skills or competencies for leaders in healthcare (Hartley, et al., 2008). Leadership skills are seen to be very important in the healthcare industry worldwide so much so there are many studies and programmes to train future leaders to meet the demands of the ever changing and growing industry. 1

Crohns Disease Essay examples -- Health, Chronic Inflammation

When someone first finds out they have Crohn’s disease, they will probably feel overwhelmed. There are so many questions. Will I be able to work, travel and exercise? Should I be on a special diet? Could my medications have side effects? How will Crohn’s disease change my life? The better informed they can become, the more equipped they will be to be an active member in your healthcare (Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America, 2009). Crohn’s disease is a chronic disorder of the digestive system. I can affect any area of the gastrointestinal system from the mouth to the anus. Its inflammatory process may spread to include skin, eyes, joints, mouth and sometimes the liver (Chang, 2008). Males and females appear to be affected proportionately. Crohn’s disease can occur in people of any age, but it is mostly a disease of adolescents and young adults. However, Crohn’s disease may occur in people over 70 years old and in young children (Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America, 2009). â€Å"Crohn’s disease appears to be caused by a dysfunctional inflammatory response in the gastrointestinal tract† (U. S. News, 2009). Inflammation is the body’s natural way to heal by sending immune cells to the site of the injury or invader. Researchers think that this immune system response may be triggered by bacteria or viruses, material in the intestinal contents, or a defective signal from the body’s own cells, called an autoimmune response. Inflammation results in pain, heat, redness, and swelling of the tissue. Chronic inflammation can harm the function of tissues and organs (U.S. News, 2009). Crohn’s disease also appears to affect certain ethnic groups more than others. American Jews of European descent are four to five times more likely to de... ...rica, 2009). Florida Gator P/ David Lerner was just recently diagnosed with Crohn’s disease. He was ready to start practice season when he was diagnosed. Lerner was about to become the starting punter for the Gators and he thought this would probably derail him. After consist treatment the disease was under control, but not gone. He was able to start for the team, and earn a scholarship. Lerner states, â€Å"Maybe I can’t eat a couple of things here and there that I want to eat, but at the end of the day, it’s really not the worst thing in the world†(Washington Post, 2011). People with Crohn’s disease accept their condition differently. Each person with the disease must adjust in their own way, but they must adjust. Even though there is no cure at this time, research is ongoing and promises to improve the health and quality of life for those with Crohn’s disease.

Managing Change in Organisations †Improved HR onboarding process Essay

The main goal of this change initiative is to improve the financial results of the company by improving the engagement and performance of the new HR employees at Mars, Inc. It’s aimed to be achieved by introducing a new, globally aligned, best-in-class 1-year-long induction process with supporting tools and learning events. The target group of new HR associates1 includes those who joined HR at Mars less than 12 month ago, either from externally (from other company) or internally (from other department). As Mars,Inc. is a large family-owned business with over 100 years of history and globally well known brands. It has unique and mature company culture which is driven by its 5 principles: Quality, Responsibility, Mutuality, Effectiveness and Freedom. These principles drive the behaviour of the employees at all level of the hierarchy and have been shaping the characteristics of the organisation. Mars, Inc. fits well to ‘elaboration of structure phase’ (Granier 1972) of the organisational life-cycle: the company is led by a team of professional managers and is very much decentralised with a small headquarter. The business units of the countries therefore enjoy a lot of freedom and responsibility to drive the local business effectively. This approach reflects also in the way they shape the processes within the company: the global process standards are mainly just broadly defined with limited (if any) written documentation about them, which lets the local teams shape it and use it as best fits to their needs. As it has the advantage to allow tailor-made solutions to best assist local business objectives, it also has disadvantages. It is not uncommon that extra local resources are needed to shape the process, and when the process has changed too much, it becomes difficult to compare the practices and results of different units. It also often happens that local units come up with very similar best practices after investing significant resources locally in process development, which resources could have been reduced if globally – or at least regionally – someone would have co-ordinated these development initiatives. As part of the company culture, Mars, Inc. refers to employees as associates, therefore in my paper I will use both terms to reflect the same concept. Realising the potential of this kind of centralisation led the business leaders to setting up global functional centres of expertise, like the Mars University (Mars U) is for learning and development within Mars, Inc. The Mars U is responsible for designing and deploying world-class learning programs, which enable the competency building of employees, so they can achieve their full potential in contributing to the business to achieve its goals. It has matrix structure and its smaller teams are set up by functions (named â€Å"Colleges† of HR, finance, supply, etc.), regions (they coordinate the deployment of functional development programs in a region) and special learning and development related areas (like learning technology). Mars U therefore faces the challenge of balancing between centralisation and decentralisation by providing centrally defined and globally aligned learning solutions in a matrix organisation with decentralised leadership. That is the same challenge in case of the new induction process initiative. In the near past an introductory training program existed for new HR employees, which was similar in all the regions, but inconsistent in content, so it gave a lot of space for local solutions to flower. Moving from this decentralised approach to a more centralised one may cause push backs from the associates in these local units, thus careful change management is essential. Nature of change By assessing the nature of change based on the description above, this change can be categorised with the terms of Ackerman (1997) as ‘transitional’ as the intention is to â€Å"achieve (†¦) a desired state† by setting up a globally aligned world-class induction process for new HR associates, which is a significant difference from the current decentralised approach. One can argue whether it is not defined as ‘transformational change’ as it can result a difference in an organisational process and change in the culture, but as it won’t change fundamentally neither areas, the definition of ‘transitional change’ fits better in this case. To give a full picture about the nature of change, it need to be emphasised that after finishing this particular change project, the change itself will not stop, it will continue as ‘developmental change’ by continuously improving the set up induction process. From another perspective, using the categories of Mintzberg and Waters (1985) this change initiative can be identified as ‘determined’ or planned change as the goal, that need to be achieved, is clearly set, as well as the process how to get there. It does not mean though, that ‘emergent’ changes will not come up during the project, as it may happen that a locally designed induction process which works well will have an improving effect on the globally designed process and tools to ensure the implementation of the best possible practices. Drivers of the change This change initiative has mainly internal triggers. First and foremost, improve the productivity of every new HR associates by providing them all the essential knowledge, competencies and network they need in their new role. Improving their engagement level is also an important trigger, as engaged associates have usually better performance and they less likely to leave the business (Buckingham and Coffman, 2005). In case of HR department, better performance of associates, among other things, could lead to better internal and external customer satisfaction or decrease of costs by effective ways of working, while improved retention cut the costs and time invested in recruitment and training of a new employee. Although the internal triggers are more relevant in this case, the external drivers also need to be mentioned. Mars, Inc. had several acquisitions in the last few years which led to an incoherent culture in the different business segments. To enable exchangeability of human resources and best practices, setting up centrally aligned processes is a key. Also, considering that Mars, Inc. operates in a quickly changing market (FMCG), being innovative and best-in-class in its processes could ensure competitive advantage and retention of employees. Nonetheless, the change needs to be done in a global environment fitting to the expectations of different cultures in different regions. Key Stakeholders As in case of most major changes in an organisation, winning the support of top level management is essential. In this case the management means the Global HR Leadership Team of Mars, Inc. who also plays the role of sponsor of the project and expected to play a key role by being role model in using the new induction process. Their influence is very high as they could stop or change this initiative any time. Their attitude toward the change to be expected very positive, still, contracting with them is critical as many priority projects are currently going on in the business so need to ensure proper focus. Driving the change process requires change agents to ensure smooth implementation: the Mars U associates in the regions and other (local) learning or talent development specialists. As the project aligns well with their general purpose of their roles – to improve associates capabilities, – their attitude is expected to be positive. As they will play the role of connecting the project leaders with associates in their regions or units, their influence is also very high, but mainly only in their area of responsibility. The communication and deployment of the change will focus mainly on the HR managers as they will be the most affected by the change, as they need to change their ways of working the most. Thus, 5 their attitude can be either positive or negative depending how valuable the new process seems to them. Their influence can be high in the area of their responsibility – so the more senior the manager is the higher is the influence. Also important stakeholders, but less influential, are the new HR associates. The new process is all about them, but from change management perspective they play a smaller role, as their attitude to be expected very positive. In any case, careful communication toward them needs to be planned to ensure their full involvement in the process and gain feedback from them to identify potential areas for improvements. There are also some other key stakeholders, like the trainers of the courses, whose contribution to the success can be very important, but as they are interchangeable in the roles, their influence on the process can be categorised as moderate. Furthermore, there are some other subject matter experts (e.g. learning technology or global communication specialists), who will be involved during the design and communication phases, but their influence is rather small and their attitude is expected to be supportive. Management objectives To summarise the main objective, the goal is to implement in all business segments and units of Mars, Inc. a newly designed, globally aligned, efficient and engaging functional induction process with its supporting tools (guides and learning modules) for every new HR employees, which supports their development in the first 12 months after joining in their new role and covers the essential Mars specific knowledge and provides network needed for achieving high performance. The new process and tools should be used by mid of 2013 in all business units. Task 2 For a successful change project it’s not only important to see where we would like to go, but to be able to define how we will get there, we need a careful and detailed analysis on where we are at the moment. Besides a general process overview in the organisation (e.g. by the support of models like ‘McKinsey 7S’ (Waterman et al. 1980) or ‘Burke-Litwin Causal model’ (Burke & Litwin, 1992)), we also need to understand why do we have the problem in our organisation. For this we may use problem analysis models, like the ‘Fishbone diagram’ or the ‘5 Whys?’ (Taiichi 1988) model. Input-Transformation-Output model To better understand the functional induction process, by the ‘Input-Transformation-Output model’ (RDI, 2012a) the main elements can be summarised visually: This model can support the planning process in several ways. It is easier for the change leaders to identify the key stakeholders (see the detailed stakeholder analysis above), to keep objectives always in mind and focus on the processes which need to be changed in order to be able to achieve the desired output. Furthermore, it gives a great overview about who shall be involved in reviewing and developing the process by providing feedback before, during and after the change. Nonetheless, it is essential to be clear on both the transformed and transforming resources required for the whole process to avoid disturbance due to the lack of them. Cause-and-Effect Analysis After having a broader overview of the issue, before taking any actions, a thorough problem analysis is a must. Even though having an initial idea about what can improve the current situation, in a complex organisation with a huge overall impact of the topic, the change leader need to ensure addressing the right issues and providing the right solutions based on that. In defining all the relevant causes of a problem can help the Cause-and-Effect Analysis (Ishikawa, 1968) or Fishbone diagram. In case of our described example, the model looks like this: After defining the list of important causes, the major ones to be selected by the analysing team then the potential actions can be planned. When it’s presented to the management team, their duty is then to decide on which topics to focus on the actions. In this example case, a globally aligned process with supporting tools and metrics are very much missing. When it’s designed and ready to be deployed, then these should be available to all HR managers to be able to drive the induction processes locally and measure their own efficiency. Plan the change After the green light of the management team concerning the project initiative, can start the proper, detailed planning: the development of the change strategy, in which the desired outcome, key actions, milestones, action owners and resources needs are defined. Winning the commitment of the key stakeholders also need to be carefully planned with a supporting communication plan. As unexpected situations are likely to disturb the planned flow of actions, to minimise the potential disturbance, a risk analysis in advance of doing actions can help the project management team to prepare for these scenarios or totally avoid them. Also, a continuous review of the change project is highly recommended to ensure the project execution is on track to achieve the project goal (see the 8 potential feedback sources in the Input-Output model) – this also can be part of the change strategy plan. The next step is then to execute the plan. When unexpected situations happen, continuous adjustments of the plan may be required to ensure proper improvement and keep the progress to achieve the final goal. After all planned actions are executed, the project leader should control that the project goal has been achieved as defined. If no, the project still continues. If yes, the project shall be formally closed with the involvement of the project sponsors and the success should be feed back to the key stakeholders. Task 3 Business Process Transformation Although Mars, Inc. in this situation chose to go on with a change project concentrating on only one function (HR) to improve its induction process, using the Business Process Transformation (BPT), i.e. Business Process Re-engineering model could have led to better results. By talking generally about the BPT model, one can say that improving the customer engagement and cutting the operational costs by improving and simplifying processes (cross-functional) within the company, is in the heart of this approach (Hammer 1990). Let use the definition of re-engineering by Hammer and Champy (1993) to show the key characteristics of this model: â€Å"†¦ the fundamental rethinking and radical redesign of business processes to achieve dramatic improvements in critical contemporary modern measures of performance, such as cost, quality, service, and speed.† This approach is one of the favourites currently in change management, as it promises â€Å"dramatic improvements† in business performance and customer satisfaction, even though it has its own challenges. The most important is that it requires a holistic view from the business leaders to face the issues within an organisation. It needs broad perspective to be able to come out of functional silos and to view the process as a whole, from the very beginning till the very end. If the change project happens only within a single function, there is high probability of missing some important opportunities of improvement. By using the example of Mars, a cross-functional approach could lead to a different, although very thorough solution – like implementing a standardised, world-class induction experience in every part of the company, during which the new employees can learn the most important functional and business knowledge to best support the customer focused processes. Based on its holistic view, the BPT approach requires more complexity from change management perspective as well as total alignment and drive from the top management team. The process improvement strategy should be aligned with the vision, mission and business strategy of the company, while the desired behaviours and key performance indicators should be also clearly defined and communicated to support the process and the measure of success (RDI 2012b). The process improvement initiative should start with a company-wide analysis of the current situation, keeping in mind not only how the processes can be simplified, but also what could be the benefits for the customers by the change initiative. The analysis then will be followed by the definition of the detailed plan: to where and how the company would like to get. To achieve great improvement in company results, increasing the amount of invested efforts and resources and high risk taking is unavoidable – although most probably in mid- and long-term the investment of these extra resources will pay. All these mentioned characteristics of the model lead to the fact that this model can’t be used without a heavy top down and centralised approach due to its holistic nature and complexity. Starting a process improvement initiative from any other level of the organisation without the full support and involvement of the company top leaders can lead to only a temporary and restricted (to a region or function) solution. Managing the implementation of the change at Mars, Inc. Although the change project defined by Mars also intends to improve the measures mentioned in the re-engineering definition, the main difference lies in the adjectives used by the authors: dramatic, fundamental and radical. So in this case we can’t really talk about BPT approach, as it would rather mean taking the whole on-boarding and induction process in all functions of the company and use that to work on, even though it could be very beneficial for the company. Also, without winning the top management support for a holistic change approach, the project leader of this initiative better use a general Change management (RDI 2012c), or preferably, the Total Quality Management (TQM) 2 methodology with using some holistic OD models – like the ‘Burke-Litwin model’ (Burke & Litwin 1992) or the ‘McKinsey 7S model’ (Waterman et al. 1980) – for analysing the potential areas of change interventions. Definition of TQM by Kanji (1990): â€Å"TQM is the way of life of an organization committed to customer satisfaction through continuous improvement. This way of life varies from organisation to organisation and from one country to another but has certain principles which can be implemented to secure market share, increase profits and reduce costs.† The principles of the TQM approach fits well to the culture of Mars, Inc. by focusing on continuous improvement opportunities, on customer needs and motivating employees at all level of the organisation to take part of this and drive innovations. It also reflects in all of the 5 principles of the company3. The management style also resonates well with the principles of TQM, as it engages the collaborative company culture with empowering and motivating the employees to drive continuous improvement for achieving better quality in everything within the business. Although a lot of things fit well to use this model for the change case at Mars, to fully benefit of the TQM methodology, the project leader and the participants shall be skilled to use all its principles to achieve the best possible result, which is currently not yet the case. Task 4 Measure of Success – Processes There are certain elements of the change process, which we can check and measure during and after the project to evaluate the success. Firstly, it is inevitable to set with involvement and communicate to the key stakeholders a clear vision, a well defined ‘S.M.A.R.T. objective’ (Doran, 1981) and some key performance indicators regarding the desired end result of the change initiative. Additionally, it is also important element of the second success factor, which is the level of commitment to the change of the key stakeholders. During the implementation phase, the success of the process can be measured at the key milestones: whether they were achieved on time by providing good quality results within the allocated resource limits. In this phase, the ability of flexible to any disturbance and opportunities through the process is also essential, to keep or even improve the result quality of the change, or to use less resources to achieve the original goal. It may be measured by reaction the quickness of the response or the amount of extra resources needed to keep the good progress. In connection to this, reviewing the key challenges and capturing the lessons learnt for the future also shows the efficiency of the process. Last, but not least, a clear project closure can also indicate how well the project went. Measure of Success – Outcomes If we have a closer look on the change initiative of Mars, Inc., the desired outcome which we wish to measure lies in the main objective4. The company’s main goal is to improve the efficiency and Quality, Mutuality, Responsibility, Effectiveness and Freedom For details see the Management Objective paragraph performance of the new HR employees. As HR is a support department with less direct impact on financial results and the quality of end products than other areas in the business, measuring these goals may be difficult, especially if we need to focus on only the new employee. So it’s advised to define other measures, like the individual performance or future career potential of the new employee, which can be measured by the company globally standardized performance evaluation system. Although the improved employee performance is difficult to be described with exact figures, we can also use historical data to compare the past and the present, and measure factors which can influence performance (e.g. the Line Manager’s evaluation of the performance or the engagement level of the new associate). Besides the employee performance, the efficiency of the new process shall be measured as well (e.g. could we involve everybody we intended to use the new process). Furthermore, as in case of all change projects, defining the return on investment can show the level of success. For example the cost of resource investment of the change project may be compared with the amount of money were saved by better retention of the new associates. By measuring the outcome of a new process we also need to investigate the resource needs of sustaining the process efficiently on long term. 1References: Ackerman, L., 1997, Development, transition or transformation: the question of change in organisations. In: Van Eynde, D., Hoy, J and Van Eynde, D (eds) Organisation Development Classics. San Francisco, Jossey Bass. Buckingham, M. and Coffman, C., 2005. First, Break All The Rules: What the World’s Great Managers Do Differently. Simon & Schuster. Burke, W. W. and Litwin, G. H., 1992. A causal model of organizational performance and change. Journal of Management, 18 (3), 523-545. Doran, G. T., 1981. There’s a S.M.A.R.T. way to write management’s goals and objectives. Management Review, Volume 70, Issue 11, pp. 35-36.

Go Tell It on the Mountain

Twenty years after the book, John views on racism, religion, society, personal relationships, and sex will be different from twenty years before. John gains more experiences and knowledge, so he will have better understanding of these issues. Most organizations and movements are form in the 1950s. John will become a civil rights activist to fight for equal rights. He will also be fighting for gay rights. The religion awakening occurs in the 1950s. John might form his own religion or becomes agnostic.He will form organizations and charities to help African American communities. He will rebuild relationships with those that he hates in the past. Racism in 1950s still remained strong, but this issue was heating up. There were many civil unrest at that time. It was the beginning of civil rights movement. Blacks were frustrated the fact that they still haven’t got the equal rights the government promise. John’s past experiences will guide to him the forefront of the movement . In the past, He thought the blacks were inherently inferior than the whites.For example, he was happy when the white school principle told him that he was a very bright boy, but when his colored neighbor told him he would be a great leader, he was unmoved. If he was able to enroll into college after the book, he probably changed views on blacks. The knowledge that he gain and personal experiences should helped him to piece everything together. In his 34th birthday, he is no longer ignorant. He knows that his race is not inferior than the whites. Poverty, lack of education, limited rights and other obstacles are what stop blacks from moving on and be successful.This will motivate him to become a civil rights activist to fight for equality. In the book, he didn’t seem to have any negative feelings against his whites. As he grows older, he might develop hatred for whites, because he will suffer more prejudice and racism from whites when he starts to work in the outside world. Religion becomes popular again in the 1950s. Interest in religion was suddenly so high that, a new awakening was born. According to the book, John seems to have interest in religion. He falls asleep and does not concentrate on his religious studies.He doesn’t want to be a preacher like his dad, Gabriel. He questions the church, because it does things that contradict the ideal beliefs. For example Gabriel is Christian, but he beats his own wife and children. He even stole money from his wife. He’s a hypocrite just like the other ministers in church. During the twenty-four elders meeting revival meeting, the ministers are well-dress, well-fed, and full of themselves more than the holy spirit. The ministers are supposed to be messengers of god that forsaken worldly pleasures to serve the god and people. They even mocked Deborah of her rape.John will most likely become agnostic, or form his own religion that base on ideal beliefs. Agnosticism is a view that humans currentl y do not have enough knowledge to justify if beliefs of deities exist or not. If John has kids, he will teach his kids the knowledge of religion, but he will give them the choice to believe it or not. He will not force his kids to believe it like Gabriel did to John. Many religious parents are like Gabriel that only give their kids one-sided views and brainwash them when they are young. They constantly say terms, such as â€Å"Christian child†, â€Å"Muslim child† or whatever child.Those child are just kids, of course they will just listen to their parents blindly. The parents already make the decisions for them. John will give his kids the best resources, spent time with each of them, and put all his heart to raise them. Even though he hates his dad, but he will respect some qualities of his dad. He will forgive him, because he realizes that the environment is what creates the monster inside his dad. Gabriel spent his lifetime full with hate, hostility, unfulfilled am bitions and dreams, unrealized hopes and expectations, heartbreak, humiliation, and being demeaned and devalued.All these factors created all those negative traits. Gabriel could have been successful, but his path was paved by the white authorities and systems. John will visit his dad, and build a better relationship with his dad. Many blacks are in similar situations like John. They are poor, live in ghetto, don’t have enough food, have to deal with whites and many other problems. John will form organizations and charities to donate resources to black communities or other colored communities. He will set up schools for colored people too. He encourages kids to go to school, be who they want to be.He knows blacks need education in order for them to break the system and pull themselves out of poverty. They can’t change the system if they don’t know how the system works. Schools strengthen the new generations on fighting for equal rights. John wants students to de cide who they want to be, instead of letting their parents make the choices for them. Programs will be set up to teach parents how to deal with their kids efficiently and prevent child abuse. LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender community) rights movements were the most notable in 1950s. It took place all over the world, not just America.John acknowledges himself as a homosexual, but may not openly admit it. He didn’t accept his homosexual feelings when he was young. The society caused him to be ashamed of his homosexual feelings. Homosexual was forbidden in communities all over America regardless of what community you live in except gay communities. Discrimination against homosexuals is heating up in 1950s similar to civil rights movement. John may not able to join the gay organizations, because homosexual whites may not accept him. He will form his own colored gay organizations. He loved Elisha; he masturbated in school lavatories thinking of Elisha and older boys.He m ight confess his love for him even though he knows Elisha is not gay. John’s life revolves around a society that is full with racism, sexism, and other types of discrimination. He has to go though one of the crucial times of US history. The fact that he is black and gay already has a huge impact on his life during 1950s. The 50s were the time of minorities, such as colored people, and LGBT communities dealing with issues that US government ignored before that time period. He will be at the center of the movement guiding those that are in the similar situations as him.

Automobile Has Improved Life Essays

Automobile Has Improved Life Essays Automobile Has Improved Life Paper Automobile Has Improved Life Paper Some people think that the automobile has improved modern life. Others think that the automobile has caused serious problems. What is your opinion? Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer. The invention and proliferation of the automobile has improved the human lives considerably. In modern days, complete transportation of men and material is carried out with the help of automobiles. Automobiles in the modern era, for us are not luxury, but a necessity rather. We think nothing while jumping in the car and driving many a miles on a trip or for our jobs. But looking to the future, researchers are constantly trying to find better ways of transporting with more fuel efficient and environment friendly vehicles redesigning the engines and appearance. For going to school or college, attending office or business, shopping or socializing and numerous daily activities we are dependent on automobiles. Automobiles we use in the shape of a car, scooter or motorbike depending upon our need, nature of work and affordability. While the life has become very fast and time is extremely scarce we have to cope up with the work or the business and keep pace with time with the help of our automobile. Very large tankers transport oil and gas for the use of end users. All projects ranging from small or gigantic need cranes, trucks, lifters, elevators, excavators, dumpers, road rollers, tractors and what not. And all those are the development from automobiles. No doubt automobiles do cause some air pollution in environment by way of exhaust of carbon-mono-oxide and carbon-di-oxide. However to overcome pollution problem oil companies as well as automobile manufacturers do a great deal of research and develop products that are environment friendly. We can neither discard automobiles nor can we imagine our life without automobiles. In nutshell invention and proliferation of automobiles has improved the human lives. We can’t imagine of a life without automobiles today. (287 Words)

buy custom The Wingfields, A Case of a Dysfunctional Family essay

buy custom The Wingfields, A Case of a Dysfunctional Family essay Authors of fiction works are known for their creative in taking the reader to a world of their own where reality does not abode. However, this phenomenon is not common to all literary works as some allude so much to reality that the reader is tempted to take the work as non-fictional were it not for the eminent features of fictitiousness. Take for instance when a playwright writes a play that is almost a replica of his or her autobiography. In this case, many are left wondering where to classify this work; is it fictional or a nonfictional. Such is the case with a play written by Tennessee Williams in 1937. This play, The Glass Menagerie is a representation of the type of life Williams led. This essay however is not interested with the auto fictiveness of the play but what it addresses. From a careful study of this play, one theme is very dominant; the state of a dysfunctional family. This paper is based on my thesis that; The Glass Menagerie is a critic of a dysfunctional family. This is a memory play narrated by one of the characters, Tom who doubles as a narrator and an actor. Tom is an ambitious poet who works in a shoe warehouse. Other characters in the play include Amanda, Toms mother, Laura, sister to Tom, Mr. Winfield, husband to Amanda and father to Tom and Laura and finally Tim OConnor, a friend to Tom. Such a simple family and one wonder what goes wrong in the play to warrant it a prototype of a dysfunctional family. The conflict in the story is set from the beginning by the description of the setting. I am alluding to the postcard portraying Mr. Wingfields picture on the wall of the living room, which also serves as the bedroom for Laura. Mr. Wingfield as we learn from the play ran off years ago and his role in this play is made manifest by the postcard. This is the first evidence that the text provides for a dysfunctional family. Mrs. Wingfield and her children have grown knowing Mr. Wingfield as passive figure in the background of their every day endeavors. This is in contrast to what a typical family man should be regardless of whatever society one hails from. How can a father who is supposed to be the breadwinner of the family flee away leaving the family in desperation? Whatever reasons Mr. Wingfield may have had for his flight, they are altogether unjustified by whatever means. This single act of a man of a man apparently fleeing his duties has numerous repercussions to the characters left behind as the whole play revolves around all the anomalies a family without a father-figure to serve as a mentor possesses. This paper will single each of these repercussions. This will be achieved by examining the misery life led by each of the characters left behind. If there is any one who was primarily affected by the fleeing of Mr., Winfield, then it must be her wife, Amanda. Amanda has been forced to double roles as a caring mother, disciplinarian and role model to her two children. This as led to a life of conflict in opinions between her and the children. This apparently has overburdened her and she sometimes goes overboard to overdo her roles. The results of this have been more damaging than constructive. Take for instance Laura, her daughter who suffers from pleurosis and has a crippled leg. Amanda goes out of way her to enroll Laura in a college to expose her to social life and hence fight her shyness. Does this work? Unfortunately, no! Laura ends up dropping out of the college and goes for movies and adventure tours to avoid being discovered she is not in college. How is her father to blame for this? Laura testifies that her father was so caring to her and thus we can deduce on this ground that her self-esteem would have been boosted if her father being around. After all, girls are believed to be more close to their fathers than to their mothers. Maybe if Mr. Wingfield had devised this plan, it might have worked given the amount of confidence Laura had bestowed upon him. When this plan of enrolling Laura to a college failed, Amanda came up with a lasting solution to the shyness of her daughter. She determined to get her married. To this, she enquired from Tom if Laura had any suitors. The answer was obvious given the nature of her daughter. Amanda once again was not short of options. She portrays a character of willingness to sacrifice for her daughter, a phenomenon unparalleled elsewhere in the play. She subjects herself to humiliation by engaging in subscription sales in a magazine to see through Lauras marriage prospects. This she does with no word of complaint (Tennessee, p 1432). This may be regarded as an act of a caring mother concerned about the future of daughter. On the other hand, it is depiction of Amandas over-protective measures against her children. All this boils down to a missing link in the childrens upbringing especially given that Amanda is bringing them up single-handedly. Another flaw that taints this family and makes it a dysfunctional is the frequent mother-son quarrels that are characteristic of Amanda and Tom. Though the blame may fall on Amanda for her nagging attitude, Tom has his part to play too. The play states categorically that Tom has an indifferent attitude towards his mother and sister. He does not, at any particular scene of the play, portray kindness to her sister or mother, not even when he has broken the formers glass menagerie. Like father like son, the old adage goes. Tom, just like his father is an alcoholic who apparently withdraws to alcoholism to escape his worries. His father, as evident from the fact that he escaped his family, is a perfect example of an escapist. Therefore, Toms plans of leaving his family may have stemmed from his father. This is because of the burden Tom has of parenting. His mother bestows the task of taking care of his sister with him after which Tom may go his ways. This is a phenomenon common with alcoholic families in whiich the older child is charged with the duty of parenting (Parker p.143). In this context, Tom, although not the older of the two had to take the place of his fled-father. This was attributed to the fact that Laura wads handicapped and thus could not take that role. This causes an outburst between Tom and his mother. Another characteristic which was evident in this dysfunctional family and which has its root in the absentee father is the lack of emotion and love obviously evident here. Once again as with the case of child parenting, this is a phenomenon not peculiar in alcoholic families. This is caused primarily by the amount of pressure amounted to the parent who is non-alcoholic. The latter is so much stressed that he or she has no time for the children. This in return, results to feelings of anger, resentment, guilt and blame. There is no better example like the one depicted by Amanda in every conversation he had with her son Tom. The frequent outbursts can be attributed to this pressure. In an effort to cover this disposition, Amanda adopted an attitude of over-protecting her children, a strategy that worked against her. In order to survive this entire trauma, children of dysfunctional homes use escapism strategies to cope with the chaos and pain ever-present in the family. This is evident in the play in the case of Toms alcoholism. Laura is also not left behind. She spends hours with her menagerie, identifying with the unicorn and listening to her old records. Such an environment provides refuge for her while alcoholism on the other hand soothes Tom. Just like their father, the two do not face the reality and find escape in different ways. Williams succeeds in painting to us the true picture of a dysfunctional family. Traits common to this family and to extension all the other families of its kind are attitudes of rigidity, repressed, and twisted emotions. Another trait common with such families is reverence for past traditions that prove detrimental in the present contexts. For instance, the efforts of Amanda to raise money for the marriage arrangements of her daughter are futile. She thinks that just like her time, she should have attracted many suitors by now and therefore she goes out of her way to make efforts on her behalf to have some. All these coping attitudes are adopted with the sole aim of maintaining integrity, cohesion and a degree of sanity in the family. Nevertheless, this does not bind them. The thread of it is well; creating fantasies, making excuses and a general avoidance cement such families. In conclusion, this play apart from painting the picture of a dysfunctional family also gives as an intrigue in the life of William. In fact, it is considered by critics as the most autobiographical of his work. Having grown in an alcoholic family, he had first hand experience with what it meant to hail from such backgrounds, a phenomenon he has successfully represented in The Glass Menagerie. Buy custom The Wingfields, A Case of a Dysfunctional Family essay