The Debate Over Social Security Today Research Paper

The Debate Over Social Security Today - Research Paper Example The program created to aid those who are unemployed in US is still functional and the program that was created to assist the families that have dependant children has been transformed into a program created to aid the needy ones. The era of the Great Depression led to the creation of Social Security Act but the same idea existed even before this time period. For example: during the 1880s a program to aid the old aged people, pregnant women and ill people was functional in Germany. These programs are said to be developed due to the urbanization of Germany. Similarly, the program of social insurance is said to have developed due to the urbanization in US. During the period of 1880s the number of people working in industries and number of people working in farms and agricultural arena were equal. By the 1930s, the number of people working in farms decreased to 21% of the total workforce and people started gaining wage based employment in the industrial sector. Further states that the wa ges earned by people working in industrialized areas were variable in nature even before the Great Depression. Before the Great Depression, the unemployment rate between the eras of 1905 to 109 fluctuated from as low as 3.9% to 16.4% and the unemployment rate during the era of 1920 to 1924 fluctuated from 4.1% to 19.5% (Kennedy, 1999). When ever economic downtrend took place in US, the category of people who took most of the burden were the old aged people, other side effects of downtrend included loss of income due to impairments and death. These effects gained the attention of the policy makers and during the Great Depression these issues gained more strength as during this era the unemployment rate in non agricultural sectors elevated to 34%. Increase in the degree of these issues made the policy makers create the Social security program (Green, 2003). The early developed program of Social Security was not designed in a way to provide fast relief from the effects of the Great dep ression. The early program was somewhat like the Townsend plan according to which individuals aging 60 and above were provided with an old age pension of $200. This amount was only provided to those individuals who were not employed or could not work and they had to spend the entire amount in one particular months time period. This program never became a part of the US constitution but gained tremendous popularity because it focused on wiping of poverty and to obtain economic success. Body Several features of the Social Security Act of 1935 are still available in the current Social security system, over the years the system has experienced various changes. The changes made to the act during the era of 1939 have now become a part of debate. The Act in its true shape was created with the purpose of providing retirement funds to those who were no longer employed and were aging over 65 years. The formulation of the benefits that were to be offered to old aged people under this act was b ased on the income earned by these old aged people since 1937 and the benefits were offered to people coming from limited kinds of jobs. The first formulation of benefits offered very low benefits to the old aged people as compared to the wages earned by an average worker during that time period (Livingston, 2008). These benefits were never applied to the Social Security Act; the only features applied from this Social Security A

Heartsaver EAD Personal Statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Heartsaver EAD - Personal Statement Example My goals in taking this training were to learn basic lifesaving skills. These included CPR techniques for both adults and children, using barrier devices to conduct CPR, and how to stop someone from choking. I also wished to learn the signs of severe medical emergencies such as cardiac arrest, choking, heart attack, and stroke. I also wanted to learn about the Heartsaver AED, which is also known as an automated external defibrillator. I learned that it delivers a shock to the heart and can save the life of someone who is suffering from a heart attack, as well as learning how to use it. I wanted to be fully prepared to use the device in case I am ever in a situation where someone's life around me depends on it. Also, I wanted to polish my CPR skills. Learning these things was, to me, a way to show my community that I care about their safety and health and want to do my part to help protect it. It is difficult to pick a principle or two that stands out from the others, because they are all equally important to me. It does not matter if a person is having a heart attack or if they are choking: they still need someone fully trained to step in and save their life. I liked this course since I found that it taught me first aid on the four major life-threatening emergencies. References Heartsaver AED. (2008). American Heart Association. Retrieved February 18, 2008, from

Organized Crime and Transnational Corporate Crime

Organized Crime and Transnational Corporate Crime Crime is taken to mean a criminal offence and transnational organized crimes therefore refer to criminal deeds planned and implemented by a group of people emanating in 2 or more countries (Edwards Gill 2006). A different form of transnational crime is known as the transnational corporate crime which is legally attributed to a corporate entity or persons acting on its behalf. The contrast between organized crime and corporate crime is not well defined; however the two are still quite different. Transnational corporate crime majorly takes place within the context of renowned multinational organizations (Viano Bridel, 2003). Corporate lawbreaking covers quite a wide range of misbehavior, such are accounting malpractices like false statement of assets, unjust labor treatment, and production of hazardous products, misleading advertisements, environmental violations, illegal domestic political involvement and corrupt foreign deals. In the last two decades or so transnational corporations have largely expanded operations into developing world (Berdal, 2002). On the other hand transnational organized crimes involve undertaking of illicit business activities by people working in several countries, such gangs execute crimes such as drug smuggling, human trafficking, trading of illegal goods such as wildlife products and money laundering (Madsen, 2009). These groups of people tend to be so systematic in their operations, making the crime a complicated dilemma for the security and governmental policies to catch up with them. Transnational criminal rings keep becoming more and more powerful and universal, and their mobility growing each day. This is a clear indication that resources of any state are not enough to seriously harm them including the rich countries-those with supposedly good governance.( Reichel, 2004) As much as both transnational organized crime and transnational corporate crime accomplish fraud across the international boundaries, a critical view shows that corporate crime has been largely perpetuated by inefficient policies while organized crime is purely cartels based (Scherer, 2009). For instance United Nations has attempted to redefine corporate crime by coming up with codes of conduct for international business but Unites States efforts to resist this codes is an example of inconsistence of policies on the matter (United Nations, 2010). One can therefore rightfully argue that the study of organizational transgression by transnational corporate can legitimately encourage violations of international codes and other illicit actions that form a significant source of violations of the codes stated. Mafia is a term meant to describe a criminal organization; however some of these organizations are so well structured across the world to be place under the term mafia (Jones, 2004). These organizations involve themselves in criminal activities known as racketeering, in other words the work of the mob. (Mueller Edward, 2011) This is the basic functioning of the drug cartels in MÃ ©xico and therefore its a clear indication of how the fight against drugs remains a mission impromptu. For quite some time, the transnational organized crime (TOC) has been appreciated in two perspectives by people around the world. Some view organized crime in terms of large hierarchical groups with a structure close to transnational corporation while others see organized crime groups as less structured but highly flexible and adaptable (Leong, 2007). However critical perspective indicates the transnational organized criminals have an us-versus-them mentality from the fact that a small section of citizens from different countries collude to threaten welfare of legitimate citizens. Crime can be categorized into three classes namely ordinary/conventional, occupational and organizational. Conventional crimes are mostly done by the lower class and mainly involve property crimes. Occupational crimes involve people of middle class n the crimes are mainly centered in breaking laws in legitimate missions. However, organizational crime is committed by large entities in the aim of gaining financial benefits (Mishra Shanty, 2007). The latter is the class where transnational criminality falls and involves a chain of people from CEOs to supervisors; the big question now arises on how these well established criminal activities prevail while the former two classes are well catered for. Security organizations have found the diversity in the issue a big challenge especially on the structure of the two forms of transnational crimes. For instance, organized crimes could involve top officials like it happened in Peru where till today Vladimiro Montesinos, former head of Peru Nat ional Intelligence and Anti-Narcotics is still imprisoned for running a huge international drug and money laundering gang. On the other hand, transnational corporate crimes may not be directly connected to an individual but they are owned by influential persons especially from the rich countries making them just as complicated as the organized crimes for security organizations. Both transnational organized criminals and transnational corporate could execute fraudulent activities of the same magnitude. A case study on the operations and manner of execution brings out some striking contrasts that may not be well understood on a general view. For instance, money laundering has been a consistent crime for decades across Europe and seems to be on the rise rather than to diminish. Money laundering takes three sequential phases namely, placement, layering and integration- according to a report by Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. Placement is the conversion or movement of money from illegal deals to a form or place less suspicious to law enforcement authorities. Then follows layering where the money is alienated from the illegal sources through a series of complex transactions (e.g. wire transfers and monetary instruments) in the aim of breaking the audit trail. Finally the integration comes in where the illegal proceeds are made into legitimate bu siness profits by ordinary financial operations (Siegel Nelen, 2008). However not all international money laundering transactions involve all three phases, the described stages of money laundering process are just but conventional, they differ among the two forms of transnational crime; transnational organized and transnational corporate (van Duyne, 2003). Transnational corporate may require fewer steps in money laundering as compared to transnational organized criminals; this is because of their legal existence (Mahncke, Thompson, 2004). A transnational Corporate may not require placement step since they already handle some sums of money during their transactions and any illegal proceeds may not be easily identified from the legal financial assets. Many people may feel that organized criminals such as terrorist and drug cartel are the most dangerous but critically, transnational corporate crime posses more danger since their size and legality comfortably hides lots of information (Rush Ryan, 1997). Transnational crime is evidently a social and legal challenge worth of attention; many have tried to document it in the aim of dismissing it as a journalistic sensationalism (Andreas Friman, 1999). It is however not clear who is most affected by this forms of criminality; is it the poor countries who have less established legal systems or the rich nations where most transnational corporate seem to be based? The answer lies on either, the form of criminal activity in question or the form of transnational crime. Transnational corporate crime affects any country where a branch of the corporate exists whereas the effects of transnational organized crime are highly felt in countries with rich market and opportunities of their line of operation (Athanassopoulou, 2005). For instance, international drug cartels aim countries such as the USA and UK where they have a broad ready market for their product. The above contrast on transnational organized crimes and transnational corporate crimes i ndicates that transnational corporate crimes are in a way an advancement of the transnational organized crimes.

Computer Science at the University of Arizona :: essays research papers

The University of Arizona's Computer Science Department is a quality research program. The most recent National Research Council rankings place the department 33rd out of 108 PhD-granting institutions nationwide, despite the fact that we are a comparatively small department. In addition, we are the best Computer Science department of our size among publicly funded Universities, with the highest in number of citations (references) per faculty, and 17th overall in the number of publications per faculty. Another measure of our research productivity includes awards of external research funding in excess of $2.5 million from such prestigious sources as DARPA, INTEL, and NSF, including our fourth 5-year Research Infrastructure awarded in 2000. Our faculty serve on the editorial boards of a variety of journals, serve on program committees, publish books, and serve as fellows and chairs of organizations within the ACM and IEEE. In terms of teaching, our undergraduate and graduate curriculum provides a timely and well-rounded view of the field, with special emphasis on the practical aspects of building useful software. Our strengths lie in the traditional mainstream of areas of computer science: algorithms, programming languages, operating systems, distributed computing, networks, databases and theory of computing. We also offer courses in some subfields: graphics, artificial intelligence and the software aspects of computer architecture. The department's programs prepare students for positions in the design and development of computer systems and applications, in business and industry, and for scientific positions in industrial or academic computing research. The Computer Science department was established in 1973 as a graduate department offering masters and doctoral degrees. An undergraduate program was initiated in 1989. We currently have 15 faculty members, 3 lecturers, 5 technical support staff, and 4 research programmers affiliated with specific funding. The graduate program contains 61 MS students, 22 PhD candidates: the undergraduate program has 205 bachelors students and 400+ pre-majors. There are currently three Computing Laboratories available: Harvill 332b (houses a 31-station Pentium III based Windows 2000 instructional lab), Gould-Simpson 228 (contains a 50-station Xterm & Pentium III based Windows 2000 instructional lab), and the Research Lab in Gould-Simpson 748/756. Students receive accounts on both the main instructional machine, Lectura, (a multiprocessor, Sun SparcServer running the Solaris operating system), and on the Windows 2000 network. All systems have access to 100Mb switched Ethernet connections and direct Internet connectivity. The Gould-Simpson Research Lab contains numerous Pentium III Windows 2000/Linux OS systems, specialized printers, graphics devices, and PC clusters.

Total Quality Management in Higher Education

TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT IN HIGHER EDUCATION Ranjana, Lecturer Doaba College of Education ABSTRACT In this world of ever-growing competition, rapid changes of technology, privatization and internalization in education have led to the use of the concept of TQM in higher education. Student is nowadays considered as a customer and the system of education needs to be according to the needs of the customer (Student). In India, inspite of a large number of Universities, deemed universities, medical, engineering, arts and science colleges the quality of higher education leaves much to be desired. Therein lays the need of applying TQM in higher education. The paper answers to the question as how to apply TQM in higher education. PAPER Excellence-Whether in a National Endeavour, a Company, an Athletic competition or a Personal Goal-Comes from the Never Ending Pursuit of Improvement. Introduction In this world of ever increasing competition, rapid changes of technology, declining quality, changing demographics, privatization and internalization in education have led to the use of the concept of TQM in education. The student nowadays is considered as customer and the system of education needs to be according to the requirement of the customer (student). India has 350- plus Universities and deemed universities and over 14,000 medical, engineering and arts and science colleges. Despite this the quality of higher education in India has left much to be desired. All this highlights the need for TQM in higher education. In this paper I intend to throw light on the application of TQM in higher education, simultaneously highlighting the benefits of applying TQM and the Accreditation agencies in India. For this, I surveyed the relevant literature on the topic. Conceptual background of TQM The three major figures in the TQM movement are: W. Edwards Deming, originator of fourteen points of TQM, Dr. J. M. Juran, author of the Juran Trilogy and Philip B. Cresby, who outlined the four Absolutes of Quality Management. Dr. W. Edwards Deming, an American by origin is known as the â€Å"Father of the concept of TQM†. He framed the concept of TQM in 1946 after World War II for production of goods and services in consumer sector. It was intended to satisfy the quest by customers for quality in products The Americans didn’t realize its importance but the Japanese embraced the concept. As a result, Japanese secondary markets were rebuilded and its Tertiary economy also nurtured. This led the American Industrialists in 1980’s to adopt TQM as a vital component in their operations. TQM: Meaning Total Quality Management or TQM is a management strategy aimed at embedding awareness of quality in all organizational processes. Everyone in organization strives and creates customer satisfaction continually at lower real costs. Quality assurance through statistical methods is a key component. TQM aims to do things right the first time, rather than need to fix problems after they emerge. Higher education: Meaning Higher education is the education beyond secondary school level. It includes the colleges and the Universities. TQM in Higher Education TQM has been recently introduced and experimented in higher education. Many Universities and Colleges enhance the quality of higher education by applying Total Quality Management as a tool. We can understand the meaning of TQM in higher education in light of a definition given by Tulsi (2001) TQM in higher education means improving the quality of courses, input, instructional process, resource management processes and structure as well as student support service output and linkages with world of work and other organizations. † As the definition embraces a vast area of educational activity, therefore the support and cooperation of Faculty and Staff members are needed for quality improvement. Participatory team work of all occupies a critical place in the practice of TQM. TQM is total in 3 senses:- 1) Customer focus 2) Involvement of staff members ) Continuous Quality Improvement( CQI) The student is the customer, who buys the study course, thus he has a right to get the relevant course material, fairness, congenial learning environment, access and expertise of the teacher and also access to course material (Sytsma, 1996). It involves the combined and continuous efforts of all those involved with system of education, directly or indirectly: may they be the College Board, superintendent, principal, students, faculty, administrative staff, Universities and Accrediting agencies in India. In India we have Accrediting Agencies like NAAC and ISO (The International Organization for Standardization Accreditation) which are enforcing standards of TQM in higher Education institutions. Benefits of Applying TQM Application of TQM in Higher education Institutions ensures improved communications, increased involvement, improved quality and efficiency in a general context, and increased potential for productivity. How to Apply TQM in Higher Education The essential elements of TQM in higher education may be summed up as:- †¢ Awareness and commitment for everyone To promote an al-round development of the student in terms of his linguistic, kinesthetic, visual and mathematical talents every participant in the teaching-learning process needs to put his/her best efforts to promote the highest possible quality at each step of the developmental process. For this everyone should be made aware of TQM. For this a staff meeting between the staff parents and college management should be held where the overview of TQM elements should be given and a clear commitment from the College Board, principal should be made for applying TQM in their system of education. A clear mission There should be a clear customer-focussed mission statement accompanied by necessary programmes to achieve it. The programmes should be set according to local, state and employer needs. In other words they should enable the students to face the problems of real life rather than mere memorization of subject matter. †¢ A Systems Planning Approach Instead of compartmentalizing kno wledge into separate subjects, it should be provided as an integrated whole so that a student can use his scientific or mathematical knowledge effectively by combining it with the communication skills of English. For this, there should be an Inter-department planning. †¢ Teaming Replacing Hierarchy The administrators, supervisors and department chairpersons should extend full support towards the Task improvement teams so as to make TQM a success. They should insist on clear missions and should coordinate between the task improvement teams †¢ Enablement and empowerment replacing fear Instead of generating fear among the members of improvement teams, they should be given opportunities to become experts by giving them authority to take informed decisions. This will eventually motivate them to work with dedication. Focus on Mastery-Learning In traditional classrooms, teachers often follow the sequence:- As a result many students fail to learn up to the highest possible level. The TQM alternative is In â€Å"Check† step, formative (Not-for-grade) testing is used to determine which learning some students missed. Then that portion is taught to students in some other styles. The chec king and revised teaching can be repeated if it is needed. The students who have mastered the material either move to enrichment learning or assist other students with their instructions. This ensures complete mastery over learning material for most of the students. Management by measurement The teacher should measure the data in Steps#3 and Step#4 to study the relationship of the remedial program and final learning result. This recorded data results in improved learning and cost effectiveness. †¢ Development of student TQM Skills The college staff should integrate TQM in the learning courses of students or provide it as a separate course. †¢ A Humanistic Focus on learning environment William Glasser has given some conditions for quality work based upon his translation of TQM principles as:- o Give a warm, supportive environment. Ask students to do useful, best possible work and to evaluate their own work. o Quality work should feel good and should be constructive. Conclus ion In the end we can say that Total quality Management in Higher education is the need of the hour. It would motivate teachers to contribute to educational standards and development of academic culture. It would inculcate a team spirit among teachers and administrators to promote harmonious development of students, so as to make them befitting citizens of tomorrow. REFERENCES Herzler, Elizabeth, TQM in Higher Education: What does the Literature say? , www. google. com P. S. Mohan Kumar, Total Quality Management in Higher Education and Relevance of Accreditation, www. google. com Hardik Vachhrajani, TQM in Education: Renewing the Research Agenda, University News P. K. Tulsi (2001), Total Quality in Higher Education, Reforms and Innovations in Higher Education, AIU, New Delhi. Deming’s Rules, Higher Education in India . ———————– PLAN TEACH TEST PLAN TEACH (Do) CHECK REVISED TEACHING (ACT) TEST

‘I Am Not That Woman’ by ‘Kishwar Naheed’ and ‘The Bridegroom’ by Liz Lochead Essay

The two poems I will be comparing and contrasting the two poems called ‘I Am Not That Woman’ by ‘Kishwar Naheed’ and ‘The Bridegroom’ by ‘Liz Lochead’. I will be comparing the themes used and the poetic devices with the similarities and differences both writers use in these similar but not so similar poems. Both these poems have been written in the 21st century which are new but they talk about customs and traditions which are dated very old. In ‘The Bridegroom’ ‘Liz Lochead’ writes in a traditional humorous style. She talks about her wedding and how it should be laid out. She describes the perfect bridegroom that’s fit for her. She thinks that the bridegroom spoils the look in the wedding but after the marriage it he is the most important thing for the woman. In ‘I Am Not That Woman’ ‘Kishwar Naheed’ looks at a more cultural and serious issue on the poem. She writes a much longer poem and has a set pattern/ structure all throughout the verses. She talks about her past and how she was used into thinking that her husband loved her and how suddenly she got bounded off by the weight of custom and traditions. Her chastity, her motherhood, her loyalty was bought and sold like a product in the market. ‘Kishwar Naheed’ uses the past tense to write her poem so it shows that she was talking about the past as if it just happened a while ago. There are a lot of similarities between ‘I Am Not That Woman’ and ‘The Bridegroom’ the two traditional and cultural themes which have been used. Both the writers ‘Kishwar Naheed’ and ‘Liz Lochead’ are females so the impression you get in both the poems is that the man in not the important person and the poem is slightly biased. When they talk about their husbands in both poems they criticise them a lot. ‘The Bridegroom is a necessary accessory if often irrelevant’ from ‘The Bridegroom’ and ‘I am the one you crushed with the weight of customs and traditions’ from ‘I Am Not That Woman’. They criticise their husbands because in both poems it seem that the man had the control over the women and he is the dominant one. ‘tower over her in her highest high heels’ from ‘The Bridegroom’. This infers that the woman is the victim and is treated badly ‘you picked flowers and planted thorns’ in ‘The Bridegroom’. Both the women in the poems speak out for themselves in defence for what is going on. ‘Kishwar Naheed’ uses ‘not knowing that I can walk on water when I am drowning.’ This is an oxymoron which is used at the end of the verse showing she is defending and is also speaking out for herself. ‘-the brides the star’ she says as if the husband does not matter because she says the bridegroom always take over the wedding in ‘The Bridegroom’. Both ‘Liz Lochead’ and ‘Kishwar Naheed’ use the poetic devices metaphors and similes to describe things. The writer’s use of objects and nature makes you picture the scene very well. ‘The Bridegroom †¦ a bit of a white elephant’ is a metaphor in ‘The Bridegroom’ meaning the bridegroom is an expensive burden at the marriage and in ‘I Am Not That Woman’ uses similes to describe how her husband roamed ‘free as the breeze’. They both use repetition and alliteration to make the poem even more interesting not dull. In ‘The Bridegroom’ she uses ‘tall’ and ‘highest high heels’ to emphasise the meaning of things. In ‘I Am Not That Woman’ she uses ‘flower free’ and ‘I am not that woman selling you socks and shoes’ as repetition through out the poem. Both ‘Liz Locked’ and ‘Kishwar Naheed’ use objects and nature to describe things in similes, alliteration, metaphors, repetition and rhyme. ‘Liz Locked’ uses ‘more than a penny stick of liquorice’ to show that the bridegroom is not worth anything. Here she uses a metaphor. ‘Kishwar Naheed’ ‘†¦ you hid in your walls of stone while you roamed as free as the breeze†¦ smothered by stone’. Here she uses alliteration. She means that the man is free whilst he has confined her from the outside world. When is comes to the end of both the poems they are both outspoken and end with an exclamation mark (!) to show their feelings. ‘Liz Locked’ uses ‘don’t forget is ha! another matter and ‘Kishwar Naheed’ uses ‘No, No, I am not that woman!.’ There are many differences in these two poems firstly the main theme looks at marriages at two different angles. ‘The Bridegroom’ looks at a more hysterical and funny side to Marriage which is more positive. This is shown by her saying ‘to her sixpence worth of candy floss’ ‘I Am Not That Woman’ looks at a more sober and emotional side to marriage which is negative which is shown to us by her saying ‘whom you bought and sold of my own chastity’ Because the poem ‘I Am Not That Woman’ has been translated from Urdu so there is no rhyme where as in ‘The Bridegroom’ there is lots of rhyme but that rhyme does not have a pattern eg: ABAB but instead it had been placed anywhere thought the poem. This has a rhyme pattern because it has been written in English and not in any other language. ‘Liz Locked’ writes in a formal style throughout most of the poem ‘He should, at the risk of being banal’ but at the end she writes in informal language ‘the role of the bridegroom as they scatter the confetti’s’ and ‘Kishwar Naheed’ keeps her writing formal all the time ‘I am not that woman selling you socks and shoes’. In ‘The Bridegroom’ ‘Liz Locked’ writes her poem so it is set out on the day of the wedding because it says ‘The Bridegroom is a necessary accessory-†¦ a bit of a white elephant after the event.’ where as in ‘I Am Not That Woman’ it is after the wedding but we do not know how long it has been. ‘I am the woman you married off’ ‘Liz Locked’ uses a whole range of poetic devices, more that ‘Kishwar Naheed’ uses. This makes ‘The Bridegroom’ seem more lively and funny. ‘He should be tall, but not too tall- the ideal’s tall enough†¦ tower over her in her highest high heels,’ here there lots of use of alliteration and repetition. ‘I Am Not That Woman’ uses ‘that I can walk on water when I am drowning’ here she cleverly uses an oxymoron to show that even though she is in trouble in a difficult situation she still has her head up high and will not let her down. In ‘I Am Not That Woman’ she gets treated like an outcast ‘I am the commodity you traded in, my chastity, my mother hood, my loyalty’ where as in ‘The Bridegroom, she doesn’t get treated like an outcast ‘- the bride’s the star!’ In my opinion I think that I liked ‘The Bridegroom’ better because the way ‘Liz Locked’ writes her poem. It is very amusing and it makes a marriage sound like a joke. ‘Kishwar Naheed’s’ poem was also good which made me see the more serious side to traditional marriages in an Asian background. This poem was more difficult to understand because there were many ways you could put the poem. She could have been talking about her past because it uses the past tense ‘whom you’ or you could adapt it as she is saying it in the present tense where she has just been married and thrown out of her house on to the streets ‘The woman on that poster, half- naked, selling socks and shoes- No, no, I am not that woman’ Overall I think that she is talking about her long gone past and that she is a beggar woman at the present time. She doesn’t want to tell anyone because she is too ashamed of herself and keeps on saying ‘I am not that woman selling you socks and shoes’ which again uses repetition.

Free Essays on Robert Blake

â€Å"The Chimney Sweeper,† from Robert Blake’s Songs of Innocence, is a poem typical of the themes present in the Songs of Innocence and Experience. The main character is pathetically unfortunate, and yet diligently fulfills his societal obligations. This poem has a severely ironic tone, and is clearly a mockery of a society that would perpetuate the inhumane use of its weaker members. The speaker of â€Å"The Chimney Sweeper† is a young boy who is himself a chimney sweeper. He shares with a fellow child-chimney sweeper named Tom Dacre, the focus of the poem. The poem is addressed, essentially, to whom it may concern, and as such the poem seems to be a vehicle for the boy to declare who he is. He seems to be decrying his position, perhaps to a passerby. His mother died when he was very young, and although it says his father sold him, this probably means simply that he works as a chimney sweeper, in order to help support his family. Then the reader begins to learn about little Tom Dacre, who had to have his head shaved. The narrator, despite his own horrible situation, finds the ability to comfort Tom. Tom has a dream in which thousands of chimney sweepers are trapped in coffins, and what must be the angel of death comes along and lets them out of the coffins and into gorgeous, â€Å"heavenly,† meadows and streams. Then, after cleaning the soot off of themselves in a river, the chimney sweepers ascend into heaven upon clouds. In his dream, the angel directly addresses Tom, and tells him that if he continues to dutifully sweep chimneys, God will smile upon him. The speaker relates that following the dream, all of the chimney sweepers got up and went to work. In the final lines, the speaker first describes Tom as being comforted by his dream, and then makes the direct philosophical statement that â€Å"if all do their duty, they need not feel harm.† This poem is clearly written sarcastically by Blake, and thi... Free Essays on Robert Blake Free Essays on Robert Blake â€Å"The Chimney Sweeper,† from Robert Blake’s Songs of Innocence, is a poem typical of the themes present in the Songs of Innocence and Experience. The main character is pathetically unfortunate, and yet diligently fulfills his societal obligations. This poem has a severely ironic tone, and is clearly a mockery of a society that would perpetuate the inhumane use of its weaker members. The speaker of â€Å"The Chimney Sweeper† is a young boy who is himself a chimney sweeper. He shares with a fellow child-chimney sweeper named Tom Dacre, the focus of the poem. The poem is addressed, essentially, to whom it may concern, and as such the poem seems to be a vehicle for the boy to declare who he is. He seems to be decrying his position, perhaps to a passerby. His mother died when he was very young, and although it says his father sold him, this probably means simply that he works as a chimney sweeper, in order to help support his family. Then the reader begins to learn about little Tom Dacre, who had to have his head shaved. The narrator, despite his own horrible situation, finds the ability to comfort Tom. Tom has a dream in which thousands of chimney sweepers are trapped in coffins, and what must be the angel of death comes along and lets them out of the coffins and into gorgeous, â€Å"heavenly,† meadows and streams. Then, after cleaning the soot off of themselves in a river, the chimney sweepers ascend into heaven upon clouds. In his dream, the angel directly addresses Tom, and tells him that if he continues to dutifully sweep chimneys, God will smile upon him. The speaker relates that following the dream, all of the chimney sweepers got up and went to work. In the final lines, the speaker first describes Tom as being comforted by his dream, and then makes the direct philosophical statement that â€Å"if all do their duty, they need not feel harm.† This poem is clearly written sarcastically by Blake, and thi...

How impetuously Essays

How impetuously Essays How impetuously Paper How impetuously Paper Rationality, oppose to impetuosity, means that before one makes a decision, one would deliberate over the decision and forethought about the outcome to make sure he decision is reasonable and wise. Shakespearean play of Romeo Juliet, conveys the message of how that tiny spark of impetuosity during ones teenage years can lead to negative and devastating consequences, of which changed ones life forever in a not favorable way. Romeo, the protagonist of the play, is a perfect example of a teenager whose decisions and actions are based on impetuosity. Take Romeos love affair between Rosalie and Juliet for Instance. In the beginning of the play, Romeo was lamenting to Benevolent how he loved Rosalie, how Roseanne Is the only live of his life, and how he could not live without her. One fairer than my love? The all-seeing sun Newer saw her match since first world begun ( Act 1, Scene 2, 94-95) However, he abandoned the love for Rosalie instantly upon seeing Juliet for the first time. Now, Rosalie was a sworn maiden, so Romeos surrender of his love to her does not affect her. But Juliet is not, imagine how would Juliet react to the same situation had Romeo done the same thing to her? Would not she be devastated and scarred? This shows that during ones teenage years, one can be very fickle about love, which may result in someone getting hurt physically and mentally. Another good demonstration of Romeos impetuousness is the marriage to Juliet. Romeo had only known Juliet for an extremely short amount of time. But Romeo still decides to marry Juliet within hours of seeing her for the first time. This Decision was completely unnecessary and Impetuous for first, he knows minimal Information about Juliet, and second, Juliet Is a Caplet. He sworn enemy of his family. This decision would Likely cause outrage and a feeling of shame and dishonor among the two families, therefore originating inevitable feud and fights between the two families which can cause furthermore trouble as the Prince of Verona is not very kind towards feud and fights. Also because Romeo know minimal information about Juliet, he is likely to find himself stranded in a unhappy marriage as bad marriage often happens if one does not know his or her partner well. In addition to Romeos impetuousness, upon seeing Gullets fake-death, he decides to kill himself, despite the fact he noticed obvious signs of life in the face of Juliet. O my love, my wife! Death, that hath sucked the honey of thy breath. Hath had no power yet upon thy beauty. Thou art not conquered. Beauty Is ensign yet Is crimson In thy lips and In thy cheeks. And deaths pale flag Is not advanced there. (Act 5, scene 3, 91-96)The tragic death of Romeo In the end was also expected Tort teens AT Nils age are Kelly to De Impetuous, also Decease en Knows nothing about Juliet. The impetuousness is in the end what killed him. Likewise to Romeo, another character who exemplifies how impetuous decision can cause negative consequences would be Juliet. Which likewise to Romeo, also ended with a tragic death. Juliet had made many impetuous decisions throughout the play, some of which were very similar to Romeos decisions. Such as proposing the idea of marriage to Romeo, in spite of the fact the she knew Rome was a Montague, the sworn enemy of her family. My only love sprung from my only hate. (Act 1, Scene 5, 136) This can lead to greater feud between the two families and bring trouble upon her family as explained in Paragraph one. Furthermore, Juliet let Romeo into her room the night before Romeos banishment, it is extremely impetuous, for anyone could have walked in on the couple any moment and they would find themselves in a very tangled situation where Romeo could find himself killed because back then it loud be considered a dishonor upon the female side fam ilys reputation. Finally, upon finding Romeo dead, Juliet also decides to end herself by stabbing herself in the chest. She did not even contemplate any other choices or ideas. Mime, Noise? Then I will be brief. O happy dagger, this is thy sheath, there rust and let me die. (Act 5, Scene 3, 169-171) Does this scene not seem familiar? As Romeo reacted the same way when he saw her? This further approves that teenagers are impetuous by nature therefore can cause negative consequences such as death. Shown from previous example, Romeo and Juliet are very impetuous. However, the most impetuous character in the play can only be no other but Table. Known for his tyrannous temper and impetuous attitude, Tables impetuousness is beyond any characters in the play. Which also likewise to other impetuous characters, ended with a tragic death. For instance, at Lord Caplets party, he has to be restrained from attempting to duel with Romeo and killing him even though Lord Caplet, his uncle, told him not to. This, by his voice, should be a Montague. Fetch me my Rapier, boy. What, dares the slave come hither, covered with an antic face, to fleer and scorn at our solemnity? Now by the stock and honor of my kin, to strike him dead I hold it not a sin! (Act 1, Scene 5, 51-57) Moreover to his impetuosity at the party he also decides that he would accept the duel with Meretricious, despite acknowledging the fact that he would be severely punished by the Prince of Verna. Whats even more impetuous is that, after killing Meretricious; he also accepted the duel with Romeo, instead of running away, now he have 2 guild on him which would cost him his life even if he did sly Romeo. Thou wretched boy, you hung out with him here, and youre going to go to heaven with him. Act 3, scene 1, 126-127) This final act of impetuosity in the end cost him his life, for Romeo slays him. From the paradigms of bloodshed and death caused by the characters impetuous decision. Shakespeare was clear about how teenagers can end up in negative consequences if he or she were to act impetuously. Had Romeo, Juliet, or Table even Just contemplated those decisions for a second, they would have not end up dead. Just as the saying goes Few things are brought to a successful issue by impetuous desire, but most by calm and prudent forethought. Discusses, Greek Historian, and Athenian General

Despite Is Not a Conjunction

Despite Is Not a Conjunction Despite Is Not a Conjunction Despite Is Not a Conjunction By Maeve Maddox The error of using despite to introduce a noun clause may be more common with ESL speakers, but plenty of examples can be discovered in the writing of native English speakers. Here are some examples of incorrect use: Many middle-class individuals find that they cannot obtain good medical attention, despite they  need it badly. Furthermore, this is the first evidence showing that ANP and VNP exert different effects in fish despite they share the same receptor, NPR-A. Our data show that OA is quite neglected by Italian allergists, despite they have a pivotal role both in early identification and in primary prevention of OA. Indian PM Modi will not address the General Assembly despite he will be in New York for the occasion. This is mainly due to the fact that intra-technique solutions are considered as independent despite they are derived from identical observation data. All this has led Houdini to become the most recognized name in magic despite he has been gone since 1926. In each of these examples, despite is being used as if it were a conjunction, to introduce a noun clause. The function word despite is a preposition. The preposition despite is followed by a noun or a noun phrase, never a clause. Here are examples of correct use: Despite his objections, Gov. LePage lets budget fix take effect without his signature Court Says Man Owes $30K Child Support  Despite Proof Hes Not The Father. An art exhibit was opened in Fukushima, Japan,  despite the fact that no one can see it without donning a hazmat suit. In each of these examples, despite governs a noun: objections, proof, fact. The erroneous examples given above may be corrected by following each use of despite with â€Å"the fact†: â€Å"despite the fact they  need it badly,† â€Å"despite the fact they share the same receptor,† etc. Another way to correct the incorrect sentences would be to use a true conjunction like although: â€Å"although they  need it badly,† â€Å"although they share the same receptor,† â€Å"although they have a pivotal role,† etc. Note: The word despite also functions as a noun and as a verb, but this post is about its prepositional use. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Grammar category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:12 Greek Words You Should KnowProved vs. ProvenContinue and "Continue on"

Steriods in sports Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Steriods in sports - Essay Example Anabolic steroids are always considered illegal to be used in sporting activities and can only be provided under the prescription of a doctor. They are imperative in the treatment of muscle related abnormalities especially in men; correcting lean muscle growth in men. The non-medical utilization of anabolic steroids is considered illegal and has been banned by variety of sports organizations. In 2005, two major acts geared towards the controlling use of anabolic steroids were amended: The Controlled Substance Act as well as the Anabolic Steroids Control Act (Clinical Aspects) The Controlled Substance Act included the anabolic steroids on the list of other prohibited drugs however some sports men and women continue to use them illegally. The Controlled Substance Act declared that any person found in possession or using anabolic steroids will be charged with committing Federal Crime. The most common anabolic steroids illegally used include; androstenedione, primobolan, tetrahydrogestrinone and clenbuteral (Clinical Aspects) Since the introduction of steroids in the medicinal filed in the early 1950’s to treat various body abnormalities such as the hypogonadism which is a condition associated with very low testosterone production in the human body (males), the application of steroids in various sporting activities have been increasing rapidly among men and women (Clinical Aspects) Steroids use ha been rampant especially in the athletics for men and women; in sports like Bodybuilding the use of steroids has become more accepted to enhance muscle growth and strength. In the early years, other sports such as weight lifting as well as power lifters also encouraged the use steroids, however, the use steroids began rising in most colleges in sports like American Football and also among non-athlete college students. This seen the use of steroids going to level of lower grades in high school up to the Seventh grade

Terrorist Group Profile Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Terrorist Group Profile - Research Paper Example Lashkar-e-Tayyiba was formed in the 1990s, being the military wing of Markaz-ud-Dawa-wal-Irshad, a Pakistan-based Islamic fundamentalist missionary organization which had been founded in the 1980s to oppose the Soviets in Afghanistan and which fought against the Taliban against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan (American Foreign Policy Council, 2011). The Pakistan government banned it in 2002 after it was designated as an international terrorist organization. Beginning from the year 1993, Lashkar- e – Tayyiba has conducted many attacks many attacks against Indian security forces and civilian dwellings and targets in the areas of Kashmir and Jammu, which have been internationally designated as a disputed area between India and Pakistan. The terrorist organization has continued to operate, despite being banned and its assets frozen by the Pakistan Government in the year 2002 and sanctions imposed upon its four senior leaders in the year 2008 (South Asia Terrorism Portal, 2001). In the recent past, the movement has become more international in its agenda, advocating terrorism and propaganda against the United States, Israel and other of what it terms as its enemies, according to the United States department. In 2008, for example, there were coordinated terror attacks against locations known to be frequented by western tourists in Mumbai India, whereby 170people were killed, and 300 were injured (American Foreign Policy Council, 2011) . Even though Lashkar- e – Tayyiba did not admit its responsibility for the attacks, one of the terrorists captured admitted to being a member of the terrorist organization and having being trained for the attack in Pakistan camps. An American citizen known to have links with the terrorist organization, David Coleman Headley, also admitted having done surveillance of targeted locations in Mumbai and sent the surveillance pictures and videos to the terrorist group. India’s National Investigation agency

Assignment One Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Assignment One - Essay Example However, in order to improve the safety standard at the workplace, necessary legislation pertaining to health in the workplace had to be introduced to ensure that safety standards are maintained. This is what led to the enactment of Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970. The act established the Occupational Safety and Health administration (OSHA) under the command of the US department of Labor to publicize and enforce safety and health standards so as to protect employees at work. It is reported that more than two hundred local OSHA offices have so far been established in the US to enforce protective standards and implement outreach programs to employees and their employers. Rial-Gonzalez et al., (2005) notes that OSH mainly focuses on the maintenance and promotion of health and working capacity of workers; enhancing working environment and work to be conducive for workers, and to develop work organization and cultures in a manner that supports safety and heath at work. This hel ps in promoting positive social climate that allows for smooth operation, which enhances productivity of the undertaking. Nevertheless, the question that one may ask ism, â€Å"What are the factors that might have influenced the development of OSH at the international, Federal and state level?† This paper will discuss the factors argued to have contributed to the development of Occupational Safety and Health at the international, federal and state level. Data obtained from ILO, in 1919 estimates that the global fatality level from work-related diseases and injuries stand at approximately 2 million annually. The statistics also showed that annual rates of such diseases and injuries are on a decline in most industrialized nations while increasing in less-developed countries. In overall, the yearly rate of fatal and non-fatal accidents is projected at 270 million with close to 160 million workers having been found to suffer from work-related diseases. What is worrying to

METHODS OF RESEARCH Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

METHODS OF RESEARCH - Assignment Example Answer to Question 5: Non-parametric methods make fewer assumptions; this shows why their applicability is more than the other parametric methods. They can be used in situations in which the purpose being researched has little information (Kothari, 2005). Answer to Question 7: The teacher will use inferential  statistical procedures. This means that the teacher will collect some students from each group and use them as a sample for the study and not necessarily the whole group (Kothari, 2005). The discussion also allows the researcher speculates on what he or she thinks the data is stating. In the method and results sections of the research, the presentation is limited to the project. In the Discussion part, the researcher makes what is like a conversation with the reader about the ideas. Critical research consumers read about and understand investigations on research. They determine of how much value the obtained data is. They also determine how adequate the research design is and if any other explanation exists for the obtained results. They also assess how adequate the conclusions

The evaluation of Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust Coursework

The evaluation of Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust - Coursework Example Using post-investigation developments, this essay will attempt to draw lessons from this experience in the light of strategic business management principles in health care. The Trust Case MSNHSFT provides healthcare for 300,000 residents and targeted to deliver high level and culture of care by following regulations and aiding its staff to perform their duties responsibly and accountability. However, the last four years proved the institution’s failure to exhibit these themes and the increasing death toll of patients was appalling. A full independent investigation of MSNHSFT was done to hear, review, appraise and evaluate the capacity of administrators and its human resource about poor professional services, how it negatively impact to patients and eroded the institution’s credibility (Francis, 2010). Investigating team were mandated to look into the culture, systems, processes, or the general performance of management to understand how it miserably failed to meet the e xpectation of excellent service. The investigation gathered 966 persons and 82 staff of the Trust as respondents. Such encouraged review of the Department of Health (DoH) too and periodic monitoring since then. Recommendations were thereafter formulated for immediate actions (Francis, 2010 & Care Quality Commission, 2010). Investigation and recommendations The investigation covered reports relating to diagnoses and medication, health and sanitation, patients’ care and management, safety and risk mitigation in its facilities, nutrition and patients diet, cleanliness and infection prevention, reporting and documentation, as well as on its flow of communication (Francis, 2010 & CQC, N. and Care Quality Commission, 2010). The investigation’s results summarily pointed: failure in operations management, failures in business processes and failure in customer/patient handling aspects. a. Failures in Operations management—is illustrated with issues on (a) administrationà ¢â‚¬â„¢s so much focus on processes but not on outcomes; (b) gaps between management and staff which resulted to the latter’s exclusion in management; and (c) negligence to increasing figure of mortality rate of patients (Francis, 2010 & CQC, N. and Care Quality Commission, 2010). b. Failures in Business processes -- The institution failed to maintain professional standard in the absence of genuine performance appraisal, supervision assessment and professional development. MSNHSFT has weak management decisions and was not transparent on its accountability. It also relied on false guarantees from external assessments. (Francis, 2010 & and Care Quality Commission, 2010). c. Failures in Customer/patient handling aspects—The hospital staff failed to maintain professional standard as depicted in their (a) inability to fully listen diligently to patients’ complaints; (b) failure to respond to challenges on geriatrics care; and (c) absence of concern to increasing stat istics of patients’ who died while under care (Francis, 2010 & Care Quality Commission, 2010). Considering all of these problems, the investigating team and the DoH made 18 recommendations, on top of which is for the Secretary of Health to consider asking the Monitor to enforce its de-authorization over MSNHSFT, or if it will be sustained of its operation, to enforce professional standard managing this hospital foremost. Recommendations also demanded from the institution to live out professional leadership

Mandatory vaccinations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Mandatory vaccinations - Essay Example On one hand, proponents of mandatory vaccination call it medicine’s greatest achievement while, on the other hand, concerned professionals and parents believe the application and theory of this policy is flawed and are not willing to comply with this goal. This paper seeks to argue that vaccinations should not be mandatory because it violates the rights of parents, it could be dangerous to the health of many children, and some are just plain unnecessary. Mandatory vaccinations are controversial for a number of reasons. First, they deprive the rights of parents to choose. Although there is no consent required by federal guidelines before vaccination, 1986’s Childhood Vaccine Injury Act requires doctors to present a Vaccine Information Statement to the recipients representatives (Staver 11). Some states have legislated specific consent laws. This sort of consent is both ethical and appropriate for parents to possess better information on vaccines. In the United States, forty-eight states allow exemption to vaccinations to serve both public health concern and religious freedom. A parent’s right to make a voluntary and free decision regarding the child’s vaccination schedule must be treated as a human right since it involves a risk where the product’s after-effects are concerned (Staver 12). While no evidence exists that, these vaccines can cause grievous harm or death no guarantee exists that the mandatory vaccine will not cause complications that could lead to a serious injury. Mandatory vaccines are wrong because they involve the government taking away the right of a parent to consent or refuse a pharmaceutical product that they may not prefer. Another argument against mandatory vaccinations is the fact that these vaccines could actually be hazardous to the health of the child. First, these vaccines contain chemicals that may be harmful to the

The evaluation of Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust Coursework

The evaluation of Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust - Coursework Example Using post-investigation developments, this essay will attempt to draw lessons from this experience in the light of strategic business management principles in health care. The Trust Case MSNHSFT provides healthcare for 300,000 residents and targeted to deliver high level and culture of care by following regulations and aiding its staff to perform their duties responsibly and accountability. However, the last four years proved the institution’s failure to exhibit these themes and the increasing death toll of patients was appalling. A full independent investigation of MSNHSFT was done to hear, review, appraise and evaluate the capacity of administrators and its human resource about poor professional services, how it negatively impact to patients and eroded the institution’s credibility (Francis, 2010). Investigating team were mandated to look into the culture, systems, processes, or the general performance of management to understand how it miserably failed to meet the e xpectation of excellent service. The investigation gathered 966 persons and 82 staff of the Trust as respondents. Such encouraged review of the Department of Health (DoH) too and periodic monitoring since then. Recommendations were thereafter formulated for immediate actions (Francis, 2010 & Care Quality Commission, 2010). Investigation and recommendations The investigation covered reports relating to diagnoses and medication, health and sanitation, patients’ care and management, safety and risk mitigation in its facilities, nutrition and patients diet, cleanliness and infection prevention, reporting and documentation, as well as on its flow of communication (Francis, 2010 & CQC, N. and Care Quality Commission, 2010). The investigation’s results summarily pointed: failure in operations management, failures in business processes and failure in customer/patient handling aspects. a. Failures in Operations management—is illustrated with issues on (a) administrationà ¢â‚¬â„¢s so much focus on processes but not on outcomes; (b) gaps between management and staff which resulted to the latter’s exclusion in management; and (c) negligence to increasing figure of mortality rate of patients (Francis, 2010 & CQC, N. and Care Quality Commission, 2010). b. Failures in Business processes -- The institution failed to maintain professional standard in the absence of genuine performance appraisal, supervision assessment and professional development. MSNHSFT has weak management decisions and was not transparent on its accountability. It also relied on false guarantees from external assessments. (Francis, 2010 & and Care Quality Commission, 2010). c. Failures in Customer/patient handling aspects—The hospital staff failed to maintain professional standard as depicted in their (a) inability to fully listen diligently to patients’ complaints; (b) failure to respond to challenges on geriatrics care; and (c) absence of concern to increasing stat istics of patients’ who died while under care (Francis, 2010 & Care Quality Commission, 2010). Considering all of these problems, the investigating team and the DoH made 18 recommendations, on top of which is for the Secretary of Health to consider asking the Monitor to enforce its de-authorization over MSNHSFT, or if it will be sustained of its operation, to enforce professional standard managing this hospital foremost. Recommendations also demanded from the institution to live out professional leadership

Leadership of General George S. Patton Essay Example for Free

Leadership of General George S. Patton Essay Leadership of General George S. Patton by Eugene V. Struzik III May 23, 2011 Abstract The purpose of this research paper is to explore the different leadership styles that General George S. Patton Jr. used throughout his life, (November 11, 1885 until December 21, 1945). General Patton is often thought of as one of the most controversial generals in history. This paper will concentrate on events that happened in his life and how his determination, will and hard work helped him overcome and became a better leader. It is evident that in a review of the research General Patton was able to achieve many his success by determination and hard work to be the best in everything that he set his mind to accomplish. He was never happy, except when he was given the challenge of commanding men into battle. General Patton was a leader, a warrior and the most feared General by the Germans. General George S. Patton was a man who is often referred to as a great general, and leader of men who was equally just as controversial. His career in the Army was often a struggle for him to advance and receive the recognition that he deserved. This paper will cover the leadership styles of General Patton during the early, then during World War I. Next it will cover World War II and finally I will give my opinion on the subject. George S. Patton, who was sometime called Georgie, was an average child with the hopes and dreams of becoming a great military leader like his Grandfather, Great-Grandfather and many of his other relatives (Regan, 1960). He worked hard with his academic career to tried to get into West Point the United States Military Academy, but he was not accepted at first. Not deterred by this set back, he went to Virginia Military Institute (VMI) for a year (Reda, 2004). Even though he was going to VMI, he continued tirelessly to get accepted into West Point. Finally Patton was accepted into West Point, but he found it far more challenging then he imagined it would. The major reason that he had difficulty with the studies was because he was suffering from dyslexia, a disorder that caused everything to look backwards (Reda, 2004). Although faced with these difficulties, George never gave up, even when he was forced to repeat his plebe year, due to poor academic performance. However this failure to progress only strengthened his resolve and determination to better. In an effort of almost memorizing everything from his textbooks, he was able to achieve an appointed Cadet Adjutant. Another area that he had an interest in was sports. He encourage the introduction of sports into the school as a way for men to stay focused on studies as appose to getting in trouble (Regan, 1960). His efforts lead to the creation of the first football team and the fencing team. He felt that sport would help him and his classmate overcome the boredom of every day life at West point. In addition, it would help them overcome physical challenges through determination and it would teach them sportsmanship. In an amazing testament to hard work and preservation, George Patton graduated from West Point. Although he did not graduate at the top of his class, he was ranked number 46 out of 103, which is amazing considering the fact that he failed his first year in the Academy. He was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant and assigned to the US Calvery. It was also during this time in Pattons life that he would marry his beautiful and wealthy wife, Beatrice Ayer. Her father was not fond of her marring a military man, because he felt that this would keep his daughter far away from her family. In fact her father, Frederick Ayer, offered George a job in the family business if he would just resign his commission in the Army. However, that was not something that George Patton, was able to do. He was living his dream of being an officer in the United States Army. Georges determination and hard work would reach a high point when he participated in the 1912 Olympics. Although George was not a natural athlete, he simply did what he always did work twice as hard as everyone else in an effort to be better than everyone else. It was his will and his desire to be the best that propelled him into getting fifth place during the Olympics. This raw determination to achieve a goal and accomplish the task ahead would become his trademark. Once again George Pattons determination and desire to excel paid off. Lieutenant Patton was able to get a position as an aide to General Blackjack Pershing during the Punitive Expedition. The interesting thing about this appointment was General Pershing was not taking people to his staff. In fact, it was a letter that Lieutenant Patton wrote to General Pershing requesting to be considered for an appointment to the Generals staff that gave George the opportunity of a lifetime. Here he would learn what it took to be a good Calvary Officer and he would make important contact that would serve him well in the future. This leads into the second main point of this paper, which is Patton emerging into a leader. It is 1917, and the United States has just declared war on Germany. Patton got another chance to serve under General Blackjack Pershing. Pershing gave Patton a promotion to the rank of Captain and appointed him the Tank commander for the American troops. This was not an easy task for Captain Patton, since he had to develop a training program, and tactics for the new technological advancement of the tank. This was Pattons first leadership challenge that would set the tone for how he dealt with all of the other challenges in his life. He was the first tank commander (Reagan, 1960), with this job he took on the daunting task of creating the first Tank Command in Europe. Patton single-handedly created the, the AEF Tank Training Center. He created the, the ideas, the tactics, the design, the uniforms, the procedures. Virtually, everything that was done came from Patton (Reda, 2004). Patton realized the need for training and the benefit that he would get on the battle field. Drawing from his own experience, Patton viewed the tank as the calvary of the future. It would be during this First World War that he would develop many of his leadership skills. As was pointed out by Captain VonShell, Instill a sense of security in the men, by so doing you will help them overcome their fears (1933, p. 17). Patton exemplified this behavior, by being the first person to ride on a tank for in combat even though there was machine gun fire raining down on him (Reda,

EU’s Adoption of IFRS

EU’s Adoption of IFRS Introduction From 1st January 2005, all European countries are required under EU law to use the IFRS[1]standards for their financial reporting statements, which includes corporations domiciled within the UK (Nobes and Parker, 2006, p.103). This applies to all year-ends that complete after that date. In addition to this requirement, it is a requirement of the standards that, for comparison purposes, the previous year financial included within the statements must be recomputed to reflect a true IFRS position. The main proposals for these standards and their first year usage are contained within IFRS 1. The change of standards has had a significant impact upon financial reporting in the UK. Therefore the intention of this paper is to discuss why the EU felt it necessary to adopt the IFRS; provide an understand of the IFRS main goals and to ascertain the areas in which this has affected the UK reporting methods, outlining the key areas of change by comparing them to the previous financial reporting methods used. Adoption of IFRS by the EU In previous books (published in 1998 and before), Nobes and Parker (2006) discussed the Varity of different standards that were being operated within the member states of Europe, including those that have converted to capitalism from the former communist bloc, which included countries such as Poland and Romania. These differences have been determined by the political and capitalist attitudes of individual nations and can be separated into two main groups, those where markets and reporting is driven by the state, with weak equity markets, and those driven by business, where the equity market is strong. It has long been accepted that the differing financial reporting standards that have existed in the past has led to difficulties, particular in terms of international trade and financing (Gregoriou and Gaber 2006, p.460). The EU recognised that, within its own region, this was affecting the flow of capital and finance between member states. In an attempt to address this issue, the commission sought to achieve harmonisation through raising legislation and regulations. However, when these failed to work, somewhat reluctantly the commission then changed its position and became an active supporter of the US dominated IFRS standards (Nobes and Parker 2006, p.105). IFRS standards have become increasing accepted as an international method of financial reporting, primarily because of its benefits in improving the globalisation of trade and financial activities, which will become less complex. In addition to the US, an ever-increasing number of countries have adopted IFRS, thus it was only a matter of time before the EU acquiesced. The intention is to move towards a system of fairer values (Bruce 2004), and to make the EU as a regional and international trading bloc far more competitive. However, the EU adoption of the standards, intended to be relatively straightforward, was not without difficulties (Bruce 2004). In the initial stages there were areas of dispute and, in particular, parts of the standards that the EU would not accept, for example IFRS 39 the standard that deals with â€Å"fair value†, although this has recently been adopted in a limited form. Furthermore, despite IFRS, differences between the financial reporting methods used in Europe still exist (Nobes and Parker (2006, p.19). Nevertheless, in view of the pressure from a number of stakeholders, it is inevitable that the impact of individual national standards will continue to be eroded in favour of a globally recognised system (Nobes and Parker 2006, p.13) Executive summary of IFRS IFRS 1, the mainstay of the standards has seen two amendments, the latest implemented in January 2007, although most of these have not affected the underlying core focus of the standards. Whilst each standard has a defined objective, there are a number of overall goals embodied within the process. Objectives The key focus and goal of the International Financial Reporting Standards is to achieve a position where, globally, one system will be seen to be the norm and form the basis upon which all trade, capital and financially motivated decisions in the international marketplace will be relied upon. The intention is that, through the acceptance of these standards, existing investment barriers will cease to exist as well, which will improve capital market performance. Furthermore, it is intended to promote reliable system of universal accuracy and comparability, together with a method that will ensure a standard model for corporate governance that can be referred to equally by all stakeholders, whether they are involved with the corporation or not. It is stated that the improvement to the reporting processes will also develop management data and lead to reduction of risk Individually, the standards have their own goals. For example, IAS 1.7 focuses on the presentation of the financial statements and Cash Flow in a manner that is understandable to everyone. Similarly, the objective of IFRS 7 are to ensure that corporate management discloses all information that has had an impact upon the business during the year covered within the financial statements. In particularly, emphasis is placed upon the accuracy of the corporate balance sheets, cash flows, as these are the areas where historically, as has been evidenced in cases such as Enron, and WorldCom, significant issues of financial stability arose, causing the loss of millions of jobs and investment monies. Achieving reliability within these areas is one of the fundamental goals of IFRS. Once of the main difficulties that arose with previous standards was the method of accounting for value, particularly with respect to assets and other balance sheet items. This situation was exacerbated in situations of the increasing incidence of mergers and acquisitions. Where a corporation takes over or merges with another, the cost of such a move, known as the goodwill payment, under the â€Å"historical cost convention† would be reflected in the balance sheet as the current value. However, goodwill is not a tangible asset in the sense that one can physically touch or use it. Its value will fluctuate in accordance with market determinates. Under the IFRS system items such as goodwill have to be accounted for in respect of the â€Å"fair value† at the time of the statements. Therefore, the core objective is that the statements reflect a realisable value rather than one that may have been eroded over time. To ensure that the financial statements of individual corporations reflected these objectives, IFRS also requires officers of the company and external experts to warrant that all the statements made, and financial information provided within the statements have been prepared in accordance with those objectives. The process of measurement is another key factor within the reporting standards. Here again, concentrating upon the relationship to the â€Å"current fair value,† the individual standards set our prescribed rules and guidelines as to how each item contained within the financial statement should be measured and what will be recognised as an acceptable method. Meticulous attention is paid to the valuation of assets, which apart from the year of acquisition when cost can be used, should have been based upon current realisable value as certified from a reliable and expert source, unless there is a justifiable reason for not doing so. These measurement guidelines are also extended to debts, other liabilities and equity items contained in the financial statements. Requirements for presentation and disclosure in financial statements feature prominently within the IFRS standards. The presentation requirements in particular determine the way in which the financial data should be analysed within each segment of the corporation’s main financial statements and supporting notes. The purpose of this is to ensure that relevant information cannot be, either deliberately or inadvertently, concealed from interested stakeholders. For example, IAS 1.68 identifies the minimum requirement for information analysis in the business balance sheet, and there are similar instructions in IAS 1.81 that relate to the revenue statements, which identify how revenue, finance costs, and profit or loss distribution should be displayed. As indicated earlier, the IFR standards include numerous requirements in respect of the information that corporations are expected to disclose, as can be evidenced from the information checklist that has been prepared by Deloitte (2005), one of the â€Å"big four† auditing firms. In addition to all of the factors already discussed within this papers, further disclosures are expected to be made in relation to the how the business has complied with corporate governance rules and regulations and the assessment of risk. Despite the arguments that have arisen in various circles in respect of individual aspects of the IFRS system, it is generally accepted that they do provide a framework which, when fully implemented and adopted internationally, will be of benefit in relation to the globalisation of trade. A case study of the IFRS impact on a UK corporation The financial statement of every UK Corporation has been affected by the implementation of IFRS and it has impacted upon the resultant financial information. To provide an example of these changes British Telecom is being used as an example. The 2006 statements in support of this analysis are attached in the appendix of this paper. As is allowable under IFRS 1, BT has availed itself of some of the exemptions and exceptions that are provided for in the preparation of the accounts. The exceptions applicable in this case are defined as follows: Business combinations. Employee benefits Share payments Cumulative translation differences Financial Instruments In the main, these exceptions relate to the retrospective treatment of the above items together with other aspects of the treatment of these items at the date of transition. For example, IFRS 3 is not being applied in a retrospective manner to business combinations. Pages 111 and 112 of British Telecom’s annual report for 2006 outlines the major areas of change that have impacted on the financials: Equity. The most important change relates to the reduction in equity. Brought about mainly by the change in employee benefits and adjustment to leases, this has seen a reduction of  £3.9 billion. Profit. As can be seen from the pages referred to, there was little impact from IFRS on the returned profit earned by the business during the year, with the debit and credit amounts cancelling themselves out. Except for an addition of  £8 million. Under the UK GAAP system, firma were allowed to account for divided provisions within the profit and loss account. IFRS standards state that this should not be the case, and that the dividends can only be included within the year that they are payable, therefore these has been excluded. Assets and Liabilities. In terms of the Individual items heading, as can be seen, there have been a number of significant changes, for example with the reorganisation and re-evaluation of the various assets. However, overall the net reduction of the equity format of the balance sheet was only just over  £200 million. In terms of the cash flow statement, there has been no change to the cash flow that has been generated by the business during the year. In essence, this shows that whilst UK business have been concerned with the impact of IFRS, when one takes into account that all competitors are likewise affected, these changes make little or no difference to the market position of BT. Bibliography Whittington, Geoffrey (2005). The adoption of International Accounting Standards in the European Union. European Accounting Review, Vol. 14, issue 1, pages 127-153. Nobes, C. and Parker, R. (2006). Comparative International Accounting. 9th Edition. FT Prentice Hall. UK. Deloitte (2005). IFRS 7: A disclosure checklist. Retrieved 1 May 2007 from http://www.iasplus.com/fs/0510ifrs7checklist.pdf Gregoriou, Greg N and Gaber, Mohamed (2006). International Accounting: Standards, Regulations, Financial Reporting. Butterworth-Heinemann Ltd. Oxford, UK. Blake, John and Amat, Oriol (1993). European Accounting. FT Prentice Hall. Perry Michelle (2005). IFRS – The Next Steps. Accountancy Age. London, UK. Flower, John (2004). European Financial Reporting: Adapting to a changing World. Palgrave Macmillan. London, UK. Bruce, Robert (2004). Setting a new standard. Financial Times. London, UK. IFRS (2007). Summary of reporting standards. IFRS. Delaware, US. Retrieved 1 May 2007 from http://www.iasb.org/NR/rdonlyres/8177F9A2-EB2F-45A3-BBF3-3DE7DCB13E1A/0/IFRS7.pdf Footnotes [1] International Financial Reporting Standards

Position Paper On Heroes -- Argumentative Persuasive Hero

Position Paper on Heroes On September 11th 2001, New York City, Washington D.C., and Somerset County, Pennsylvania all came face to face with an unthinkable tragedy. When the emergency response teams were sent out to the sites, they had no idea what they were going to experience. They helped others to safety and then turned right back around to help someone else. These are America’s real heroes. As The United States changes because of these tragic events, the focus of our heroes should be placed on everyday people and not sports and movie stars.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   â€Å"A hero should be someone who unselfishly does something for someone else, regardless of danger.† Marylyn Schwartz wrote this in the Houston Chronicle on Monday, October 8, 2001. Do sports stars face much danger to make a touchdown, goal, homerun, etc.? Not really. They may face the danger of breaking bones or getting some pretty nasty bruises, but that’s about it. All too often these are the people that children look to as a heroic figure. Little boys think Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, and Barry Bonds are some of the greatest people ever born. Granted that they all performed an amazing feat, but that makes them no more qualified to obtain the status of heroic. Little girls are looking to Britney Spears, Jennifer Lopez, and Christina Alguilera as role models and sources of encouragement. They should be looking at the women who put their life on the line as police officers and peacekeepers. A local hero died early Saturday ...

An Account of Racial Inequality in Langston Hughes Freedom Train :: Hughes Freedom Train Essays

An Account of Racial Inequality in Langston Hughes' Freedom Train "Freedom Train" by Langston Hughes is a powerful and eye-opening account of racial inequality in the early Twentieth century. Hughes poem is filled with a sense of irony but also hope towards the future. This tongue-in-cheek look at the so-called "Freedom" Train is a powerful image. Langston Hughes included important ideas in a simple and original way. Hughes was writing at the height of the Harlem Renaissance and his focus remained on issues faced by African Americans, but he did not dwell on the injustices. "Freedom Train" and other writings of Langston Hughes had a very hopeful tone. The poem, written in 1947, was produced in a time surrounded by war, patriotism, and also racism in America. World War II was ending and patriotism was at a high. The title, "Freedom Train" was coined from a locomotive that carried the Constitution, Declaration of Independence, and other important American documents on a tour across the United States. People were free to visit this train when it arrived in their town. This was one example of growing patriotism after World War II. The irony of this poem is, as Hughes points out, the fact that the American people were celebrating this Freedom Train and documents assuring our freedom, while African Americans were still not even considered equal citizens by most white Americans. Racism was still common and blacks were still treated as inferiors. These injustices are what Hughes is concerned with. Hughes cannot fathom this as the "Freedom" Train because he has no real sense of freedom, but he is hopeful and looks to the future. Hugh asks, "How can this be a Freedom Train?" He remarks that he cannot even sit in the white man's railroad car that, at the same time, is encouraging freedom. The irony is unbelievable. Hughes is, in a sense, waiting for his own freedom train in a much deeper sense. By taking this poem one section at a time, and looking at the historical significance, one discovers these important links and u nderlying messages conveyed by Langston Hughes. Langston Hughes gives us an African American view on many issues that were important during this time. He writes in a very sarcastic manner when speaking of the Freedom Train.

Rekj

Additionally, if the slower receipt of payments impacts the organization's ability to quickly pay its own operational expenses then you might also see an increase in the accounts payable liability account. Conversely, on the Income Statement, one would expect to see an increase in the patient revenue account since the deal was that the NCO had longer to pay in trade for a HIGHER reimbursement rate. Also, on the Income Statement as the receivables account increases then you would also see an increase in the Provision for Doubtful Accounts.How might negotiating an NCO contract affect financial statements? The accounts that will be impacted on the Balance Sheet (which was the nature Of my question) are as follows. How does the Provision for Doubtful Accounts work? Posted by ROBERT ADAMS atlas 16, 2015, 8:09 PM If a hospital such as FCC renegotiated an NCO contract that allowed the NCO to take longer to pay in exchange for a higher reimbursement rate, this would increase patient revenue on the Income Statement because the NCO is paying at a higher rate.However, since the NCO has longer to pay then the Patient Accounts Receivable (A/R) on the Balance Sheet would also increase. As this A/R account increases, the amount booked as Provision for Doubtful Accounts would also increase since this expense is often simply a percentage of the A/R account. OR a more real world response: In the case of FCC, they treat the Provision of Doubtful Accounts as an expense account. This is an account that is used to ‘book† the projected losses associated with carrying a receivables account on the Balance Sheet for patient revenue.You might ask why an organization would need to do this. Well anytime you have a receivables account there is some likelihood that some of that account will go uncollected. Generally, an organization can use historical data to project what percentage of a receivable account might not be collected. Regarding this assignment, FCC renegotiated a prim ary managed care contract which allowed the NCO longer to pay in exchange for a higher reimbursement rate. The impact of the NCO having longer to pay means that the receivables account would grow.If FCC applies its historical percentage for uncorrectable to a growing receivables account then the Provision for Doubtful Accounts would naturally increase as well. How does purchasing extra inventory change financial statements? As FCC purchases inventory it is placed on the Balance Sheet as an asset. It is VERY important for you all to understand that the supplies expense will not increase on the Income Statement UNTIL the supplies are actually used by FCC. For instance, if FCC purchased $1 of extra inventory this loud be listed as an asset on the Balance Sheet.

The Moths

Through the use of Symbolism and Characterization In the short story â€Å"The Moths† by Helena Maria Viramontes, the author uses symbolism and characterization to paint the scene of a girl in a literary fiction that has lost her way and ends up finding herself within her Grandmother through the cycles of life.Through the eyes of an unnamed girl we relive a past that has both a traumatic ending and a new leash on life; however, we do not get there without first being shown the way, enter â€Å"The Moths†. The author utilizes opposite ends of the light spectrum to signify beginnings and endings by painting a vivid picture for the reader: â€Å"There comes a time when the sun is defiant.Just about the time when moods change, inevitable seasons of a day, transitions from one color to another, that hour or minute or second when the sun is finally defeated, finally sinks into the realization that it cannot with all its power to heal or burn, exist forever, there comes an il lumination where the sun and earth meet, a final burst of burning red orange fury reminding us that although endings are inevitable, they are necessary for rebirths, and when the time came, just when I switched on the light in the kitchen to open Abuelita’s soup, it was probably then that she died† (Viramontes 4).She explains to the reader why the sun causes different shades of red and orange throughout the day, the shades themselves represent a life span of different ages, which turn different colors with the coming seasons â€Å"of the day†, as opposed to the year, at the end of that day the sun dies and a new moon is born in place of that sun, and when a moon dies the sun is reborn the next day, and so goes the cycle of life. With this the narrator also states that â€Å"endings are inevitable† and so when we look at the Grandmother we already know that she will die because her end is, as the narrator says â€Å"inevitable†.The final line in the excerpt is perhaps the single most important piece that ties all of the usage of symbolism together. When the narrator turns the light on, a new day has started in the form of a rebirth caused by her Grandmothers death, you see, the moon in the story is not as present as the sun, however, we know that the Grandmother’s name is â€Å"Luna†, which translated in the narrators native tongue of Spanish is â€Å"moon†, we know her language is Spanish because of the consistent use of Latin terms like; â€Å"Placa†, â€Å"Menudo†, or even â€Å"Heliotrope†, which is a native plant of Peru.Since the moon is the polar opposite of the sun we can say that, in the human element of the story there is Grandma Luna which is currently at the ending of her â€Å"moon life† and at the beginning of her rebirth towards a new day as the â€Å"sun†, the light bulb, as a symbol of rebirth representing the sun, appears one more time in the story, where in the wake of her Grandmothers death, the narrator is watching the moths â€Å"fluttering to light†, carrying her Grandmother’s soul to a place were it can become reborn.I believe that the author’s carefully chosen name of â€Å"Luna† for the Grandmother was in fact to show the reader that our death is inevitable but our rebirth in terms of happiness is changeable.Equally important in the story is the use of characterization to show the reader exactly who the protagonist in the story is and what kind of life she is living, we first read of her sisters and how they act in contrast to the protagonist: â€Å"I [the narrator] wasn't even pretty or nice like my older sisters and I just couldn't do the girl things they could do†, the narrator first bluntly tells the reader that she is different from her sisters and then shows the reader exactly how they are not the same through the use of characterization, â€Å"My hands were too big to handle the fin eries of crocheting or embroidery and I always pricked my fingers or knotted my colored threads time and time again while my sisters laughed and called me bull hands with their cute waterlike voices. †. With all of this information we can tell that the narrator is having difficulty in her own path and does not feel comfortable in her own body, it seems that she is more of a boy then a girl according to the standards set forth by her mother and father. But why is it that the narrator should conform to these standards? At this point we already know that they are in contrast to each other but the reason as to why is deep rooted through yet another mean, conformity.Her father is very devoted to his religious beliefs and wants his family to conform, â€Å"He would pound his hands on the table, rocking the sugar dish or spilling a cup of coffee and scream that if I didn't go to mass every Sunday to save my goddamn sinning soul, then I had no reason to go out of the house, period. P unto final. †, the narrator has issues with this because she does not want to conform to something she does not herself believe in. The reader knows she feels uncomfortable in a church because she says â€Å"I was alone. I know why I had never returned† when she went to the chapel, therefore we are left to the conclusion that the narrator has a free spirit that yearns to become free of the beliefs that have been bestowed upon her. In other words she is completely opposite of her entire family, or so we see thus far.Grandma Luna is an interesting character, she does not have many lines in the story but the presentation of her character plays a very important role as to who exactly she is, where she came from, where she is going, but even more important, where she is leading the narrator. The Grandmother’s life parallels that of the narrator in the respect that sometime during her life she was also defiant, â€Å"The scars on her back which were as thick as the li fe lines on the palms of her hands made me realize how little I really knew of Abuelita†. This line is informative to the narrator, for the first time she realizes that she is not alone in her personal beliefs.She also wants to become free like her Grandmother is, â€Å"I liked her porch because it was shielded by the vines of the chayotes and I could get a good look at the people and car traffic on Evergreen without them knowing†, she likes the porch because the vines are growing in and around her Grandmothers home, she also feels protected by the vines. We also know she cares for her Grandmother, because of the way she talks about her, â€Å"Really, I told my Ama it was only fair†. Even before her realization of Grandma Luna’s defiance the narrator felt a strong connection to her, but seeing the scars she has a great sense of why it is that she gets along so well with her Grandmother. They are both very much alike, and she feels â€Å"safe† around her, â€Å"I [the narrator] always felt her gray eye on me.It made me feel, in a strange sort of way, safe and guarded and not alone. Like God was supposed to make you feel†, the authors choice of the word â€Å"was†, tells us that god does not make her feel safe, instead it is her Grandmother whom she confides in. The narrator herself is defiant and even disrespectful at times, however her defiance is not done without reason; it is done because of her personal beliefs. Her mother and father have strong religious beliefs and try to force those beliefs upon her, when she does not want to conform she fakes going to church and instead, goes over to her Grandmother’s home where she finds comfort in helping her Grandmother with her daily chores.Viramontes chooses to keep the narrator unnamed so that the reader feels like they are taking on the role of the narrator, if she had named her â€Å"Alice† or â€Å"Lisa† then the audience might not have felt a strong connection with the narrator and the message of rebirth and changing your own mental status to achieve a form of enlightenment, may not have been accomplished. In the end we realize the purpose of the story, it tells about the rebirth any individual can make by changing the way they see the world. The narrator saw the world brand new for the first time in a different light because of her Grandmother’s death and subsequent rebirth through the moths, carrying her soul to â€Å"new light†. It’s not in a literal sense that the narrator is born again; instead it’s more of a mental status change that the narrator has undergone, and because of that she is at peace with herself. The Moths Through the use of Symbolism and Characterization In the short story â€Å"The Moths† by Helena Maria Viramontes, the author uses symbolism and characterization to paint the scene of a girl in a literary fiction that has lost her way and ends up finding herself within her Grandmother through the cycles of life.Through the eyes of an unnamed girl we relive a past that has both a traumatic ending and a new leash on life; however, we do not get there without first being shown the way, enter â€Å"The Moths†. The author utilizes opposite ends of the light spectrum to signify beginnings and endings by painting a vivid picture for the reader: â€Å"There comes a time when the sun is defiant.Just about the time when moods change, inevitable seasons of a day, transitions from one color to another, that hour or minute or second when the sun is finally defeated, finally sinks into the realization that it cannot with all its power to heal or burn, exist forever, there comes an il lumination where the sun and earth meet, a final burst of burning red orange fury reminding us that although endings are inevitable, they are necessary for rebirths, and when the time came, just when I switched on the light in the kitchen to open Abuelita’s soup, it was probably then that she died† (Viramontes 4).She explains to the reader why the sun causes different shades of red and orange throughout the day, the shades themselves represent a life span of different ages, which turn different colors with the coming seasons â€Å"of the day†, as opposed to the year, at the end of that day the sun dies and a new moon is born in place of that sun, and when a moon dies the sun is reborn the next day, and so goes the cycle of life. With this the narrator also states that â€Å"endings are inevitable† and so when we look at the Grandmother we already know that she will die because her end is, as the narrator says â€Å"inevitable†.The final line in the excerpt is perhaps the single most important piece that ties all of the usage of symbolism together. When the narrator turns the light on, a new day has started in the form of a rebirth caused by her Grandmothers death, you see, the moon in the story is not as present as the sun, however, we know that the Grandmother’s name is â€Å"Luna†, which translated in the narrators native tongue of Spanish is â€Å"moon†, we know her language is Spanish because of the consistent use of Latin terms like; â€Å"Placa†, â€Å"Menudo†, or even â€Å"Heliotrope†, which is a native plant of Peru.Since the moon is the polar opposite of the sun we can say that, in the human element of the story there is Grandma Luna which is currently at the ending of her â€Å"moon life† and at the beginning of her rebirth towards a new day as the â€Å"sun†, the light bulb, as a symbol of rebirth representing the sun, appears one more time in the story, where in the wake of her Grandmothers death, the narrator is watching the moths â€Å"fluttering to light†, carrying her Grandmother’s soul to a place were it can become reborn.I believe that the author’s carefully chosen name of â€Å"Luna† for the Grandmother was in fact to show the reader that our death is inevitable but our rebirth in terms of happiness is changeable.Equally important in the story is the use of characterization to show the reader exactly who the protagonist in the story is and what kind of life she is living, we first read of her sisters and how they act in contrast to the protagonist: â€Å"I [the narrator] wasn't even pretty or nice like my older sisters and I just couldn't do the girl things they could do†, the narrator first bluntly tells the reader that she is different from her sisters and then shows the reader exactly how they are not the same through the use of characterization, â€Å"My hands were too big to handle the fin eries of crocheting or embroidery and I always pricked my fingers or knotted my colored threads time and time again while my sisters laughed and called me bull hands with their cute waterlike voices. †. With all of this information we can tell that the narrator is having difficulty in her own path and does not feel comfortable in her own body, it seems that she is more of a boy then a girl according to the standards set forth by her mother and father. But why is it that the narrator should conform to these standards? At this point we already know that they are in contrast to each other but the reason as to why is deep rooted through yet another mean, conformity.Her father is very devoted to his religious beliefs and wants his family to conform, â€Å"He would pound his hands on the table, rocking the sugar dish or spilling a cup of coffee and scream that if I didn't go to mass every Sunday to save my goddamn sinning soul, then I had no reason to go out of the house, period. P unto final. †, the narrator has issues with this because she does not want to conform to something she does not herself believe in. The reader knows she feels uncomfortable in a church because she says â€Å"I was alone. I know why I had never returned† when she went to the chapel, therefore we are left to the conclusion that the narrator has a free spirit that yearns to become free of the beliefs that have been bestowed upon her. In other words she is completely opposite of her entire family, or so we see thus far.Grandma Luna is an interesting character, she does not have many lines in the story but the presentation of her character plays a very important role as to who exactly she is, where she came from, where she is going, but even more important, where she is leading the narrator. The Grandmother’s life parallels that of the narrator in the respect that sometime during her life she was also defiant, â€Å"The scars on her back which were as thick as the li fe lines on the palms of her hands made me realize how little I really knew of Abuelita†. This line is informative to the narrator, for the first time she realizes that she is not alone in her personal beliefs.She also wants to become free like her Grandmother is, â€Å"I liked her porch because it was shielded by the vines of the chayotes and I could get a good look at the people and car traffic on Evergreen without them knowing†, she likes the porch because the vines are growing in and around her Grandmothers home, she also feels protected by the vines. We also know she cares for her Grandmother, because of the way she talks about her, â€Å"Really, I told my Ama it was only fair†. Even before her realization of Grandma Luna’s defiance the narrator felt a strong connection to her, but seeing the scars she has a great sense of why it is that she gets along so well with her Grandmother. They are both very much alike, and she feels â€Å"safe† around her, â€Å"I [the narrator] always felt her gray eye on me.It made me feel, in a strange sort of way, safe and guarded and not alone. Like God was supposed to make you feel†, the authors choice of the word â€Å"was†, tells us that god does not make her feel safe, instead it is her Grandmother whom she confides in. The narrator herself is defiant and even disrespectful at times, however her defiance is not done without reason; it is done because of her personal beliefs. Her mother and father have strong religious beliefs and try to force those beliefs upon her, when she does not want to conform she fakes going to church and instead, goes over to her Grandmother’s home where she finds comfort in helping her Grandmother with her daily chores.Viramontes chooses to keep the narrator unnamed so that the reader feels like they are taking on the role of the narrator, if she had named her â€Å"Alice† or â€Å"Lisa† then the audience might not have felt a strong connection with the narrator and the message of rebirth and changing your own mental status to achieve a form of enlightenment, may not have been accomplished. In the end we realize the purpose of the story, it tells about the rebirth any individual can make by changing the way they see the world. The narrator saw the world brand new for the first time in a different light because of her Grandmother’s death and subsequent rebirth through the moths, carrying her soul to â€Å"new light†. It’s not in a literal sense that the narrator is born again; instead it’s more of a mental status change that the narrator has undergone, and because of that she is at peace with herself.