Shopping Trends in Leeds UK Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Shopping Trends in Leeds UK - Essay Example It is an important marketing aspect for any firm since consumer behavior and response to certain products is fundamental to the firm’s success and survival in the market (Jackson, 2005). The decision process undertaken by a consumer to determine whether to purchase a product or not, involves several stages. Apparently, the actual purchasing is only one step among several others. These stages begin with the actual recognition of need or desire for a certain product. This desire can be stimulated by different factors ranging from hunger to an advertisement. The consumer then proceeds to do a search of the available options whilst doing comparisons and seeking referrals. Evaluation of the available alternatives then follows, with the buyer establishing a personalized criterion according to tastes and preferences. This is normally followed by the purchase decision and the actual purchase of the product. Post-purchase evaluation is also an important aspect of consumer behavior. It involves the outcome and post-consumption analysis of the buyer (Dobson, 2007). As noted earlier, consumer behavior can be influenced by word-of-mouth and referrals from friends and/or family. This is evident in cases where students are great determinants when it comes to triggering of new trends that are later adopted by the rest of the society. Students, and other youth, influence the choice of products amongst themselves and other peers. Most young people like to be involved in purchases of newest trends. This factor, therefore, makes this age group (18-25) the best to study on consumer behaviors. Task 1 This paper seeks to identify and analyze the internal influences that affect the consumer behavior of young people aged between 18 and 25. The importance of the investigation done by this paper has far reaching implications. First, there is the interest to inform consumers about environmentalism aspects when purchasing products. In the United Kingdom, the most prominent pressure groups fro consumer behavior have been friends, consumer groups and the government. Literature review This section aims at providing a review of literature that discusses the factors influencing buyer behavior, especially among the young people. Jackson (2005) provides a comprehensive literature review on the behavior of consumers and the corresponding behavior change. He recommends that policy makers in the consumer sector should encourage lifestyles that depict sustainability. Consumer behavior researchers attribute a lot of importance to the factors that influence consumer behaviors especially among peer groups. According to Dobson (2007), consumer behavior that is oriented towards sustainable development by observing environmentalism lasts longer than consumer behavior motivated by financial incentives. The environmental policy in the United Kingdom is strategized for sustainable development. Harrison et al (2005) discusses some ethical practices by the consumer that may influen ce the seller or product. On the other hand, De Pelsmacker et al (2005) argue that there are some factors contributing towards reduced consumption of green products. These factors include lack of information among consumers and their increasing disbelief in green product campaigns. Apparently, the information given to the consumers is complex and sometimes conflicting, and this overwhelms them

Feminism and Cultural Identity Essay Example for Free

Feminism and Cultural Identity Essay Barbie, a worldwide viral doll known for her interest in adult-fashioned roles, indirectly constitutes the way American girls should grow up to be. With the creation of this doll came the thirst and need to sell it. Therefore, just one version of the Barbie doll is not sufficient. Mattel Inc., famous for its numerous toy creations yet infamous for its many controversies, has made Barbie’s boyfriend, sister, cousin and even her dog. Consequently, Mattel created Barbie collectibles that included the â€Å"Barbie Dolls of the World†. In this collection, the creation â€Å"the notorious PR Barbie† as Frances Negrà ³n-Muntaner states in Barbie’s Hair: Selling Out Puerto Rican Identity in the Global Market, has developed confusion, furiousness and also indifference in the Puerto Rican society. In Sandra Cisneros’ essay, Barbie Q, Barbie’s values are as she physically is, merely plastic. She is a â€Å"mean-eyed† fashionista boyfriend stealer with emphasis on the stealing part. Barbie has made society assume that girls and women’s interests are only based on their looks and men. At the same time, girls around the world are getting brainwashed into thinking that is what they were made to do and how they are meant to be. Because Barbie dolls are used by young girls who may be in the process finding who they are, these girls may grow up with these sexist values in their lives. With this being said, young girls are offered a very superficial way of life, the life of a Barbie, which may be pretty and cute from the outside but it’s a very fake one. With this, society has created a twisted way of how a girl or woman should be like. On this essay’s last paragraphs describes where the protagonists dolls come from; a flea market. The doll she had probably was damaged by a fire, but as she describes the damages it shows that in a way the child accepts not only the doll’s flaws, but her own. With this, she will not let society define perfection. And the search for perfection will be her own, not what society has taught. Another essay that embarks the same issue with Barbie dolls is the previously mentioned by Frances Negrà ³n-Muntaner. In this essay, Negrà ³n, states that when Mattel brought the new Boricua personage to the â€Å"Barbie Dolls of the World† collection, Puerto Rican people from both the island and migrants in the United States had distinct yet connected opinions of the doll. Island intellectuals criticized the doll’s Americanized ideal of what a Puerto Rican should be and is like, this being a wavy-haired mulatta. Still, Puerto Ricans living on the island bought the doll and made it one of the most sold. On the other hand, Islanders now living in the United States considered the doll â€Å"straight-haired and white†. The Puerto Rican Barbie offers young girls a misconception of what a Puerto Rican really is. The Puerto Rican Barbie was conceived almost in the 21st century with the mannerisms of a 19th century jà ­bara (a country-side woman). The idea behind â€Å"Barbie Dolls of the World† was that American girls learned about different cultures in the world. Since Barbie’s are sold worldwide, there is an issue that is developed instantly. The American corporation Mattel has a big dilemma: making sure that the conception of the dolls is loyal to the culture it corresponds, an issue that they did not pay attention with proximity for the Puerto Rican Barbie doll. Thanks to this doll, people from around the world perceive Puerto Rican identity as country mulatto men and women. When in reality, Puerto Rico’s race is a mix of African, Spanish and Taà ­no (natives): â€Å"The lingering impression that the Puerto Rican Barbie was essentially white and that its â€Å"mulattoness† was a cultural masquerade was reinforced by the box’s ethnic â€Å"origin† story for Puerto Ricans: ‘My country was discovered in 1493 by Christopher Columbus who claimed it for Spain.’ In only mentioning that the island was discovered by Columbus, Mattel and its allies connote that all Puerto Ricans are fundamentally Europeans and banish the influence of Natives and Africans to the back of the bus.† The doll’s box, to a certain point, limits the explanation of the Puerto Rican race and the consumer to his or her understanding and knowledge of the Puerto Rican culture, or any culture for that matter. The owner of the Barbie doll, or society passes to believe what the box primarily says. Usually, stereotypes are a general knowledge of a country or a culture. This not being the case on the Puerto Rican conception of the Barbie doll, she is put as an olive skinned, jà ­bara with a bomba dress, that in reality looks like a European dress with encaje (lace). If the doll was a jà ­bara (low class countryside woman) with a bomba dress, why did it have lace when it is a sign of a high-class European wardrobe? â€Å"The doll’s main concern is for you to ‘like the special white dress I am wearing. It is very typical of a dress I might wear to a festival of a party.’† states Frances Negrà ³n-Muntaner. The Puerto Rican doll is a complete stereotype of what a Puerto Rican is. If the box said that the doll is wearing a traditional outfit, or explained how our culture developed, it would be a different story. Nevertheless, the doll is put in a 19th century context when it was almost created within the new millennium. Clearly, Puerto Ricans must have passed through modernization or what Puerto Rican intellectuals call â€Å"Americanization†. Also, the doll’s features are the ones of a mulatto, when Puerto Ricans have a mixture of African, Taà ­no and Spanish. Puerto Rican’s ethnic background is omitted with this doll. However, the most controversial issue with this doll wasn’t its skin color or its â€Å"fiesta† wardrobe, it was its hair, as the essay’s title says: â€Å"Barbie’s Hair†. Frances Negrà ³n-Muntaner shows various Puerto Rican opinions on the doll’s hair but the most outrageous states as follows: â€Å"Lourdes Pà ©rez, a Puerto Rican Chicago-based, San Juan-raised interior decorator, was horrified at what she saw: ‘I don’t care that she’s white. Puerto Ricans come in all colors. But when I saw that hair, I thought ‘Dios mà ­o’, we just passed a terrible legacy to the next generation.â⠂¬â„¢ Despite exasperated responses from some Puerto Rico-based (white) men- â€Å"[t]his woman is saying that the prevalent lack of respect, the lawlessness, drugs, driving conditions, domestic and child abuse aren’t as terrible a legacy as a straight-haired Barbie† Lourdes Pà ©rez then was pointed out by Louis Aguilar as a Puerto Rican woman who probably spent countless hours straightening her hair before going to the office or school. She was described as a woman ashamed of her griferà ­a. Pà ©rez contradicts herself in the previous quote because she emphasized, â€Å"Puerto Ricans come in all colors† and yet criticized what big hair the doll had. Puerto Ricans, as previously informed, are a mix of 3 bloods: Taà ­no, Spanish and African. Therefore, the issue that the Puerto Rican Barbie’s hair provoked is illogical. What Mattel should have worked on better, were its features and the box historical background. Because Barbie is a globalized toy, it is impo rtant that the company portrays the culture correctly so people won’t generalize when in contact with another culture. The representation of Barbies as women helps re-create stereotypes because girls that play with these dolls are in the stage of life where they are in the process of formation as a human being. The doll’s profession or wardrobe will be what the child wants to grow up and be or know. Barbies as women are key to generalization and dolls should be what a kid wants it to be, not what a company wants women to be. In a way, Negrà ³n-Muntaner suggests in â€Å"Barbie’s Hair† that cultural stereotypes affect not only how people around the world view Puerto Ricans but also how Puerto Ricans view themselves. A sort of indifference has been created with this doll. Puerto Rican folk know that the doll’s historical background is completely disfigured yet they still go out and buy the collectible Barbie. That is to say, Puerto Ricans have passed to not care about how other people view them. People around the world see Puerto Ricans like the doll; peasants wearing bomba dresses with European lace, that meant the person is in a higher social class. It’s a bad combination of what we are. By reading these materials it has been clearly learned that it is very important that people know have a deep sense of they are and where they come from. Also, not to generalize a culture with a doll meant for a specific country. It is essential that we, as Puerto Ricans, become proud of our roots and get to know where we come from. We cannot limit our knowledge of what a Puerto Rican is and where he or she comes from to a doll. It is also necessary that girls own up to a Barbie, not the other way around. A Barbie is not a paradigm of what a girl should grow up to be. We are not perfect or plastic and we are not meant to be it either. This is where society fails. Most people don’t let their children know that they are perfect in their own way. It is most important that we let others know the wrongs that come from generalization and stereotypes. These, along with prejudice, paralyze and deactivate intelligence because people won’t let it flow or let he or she get influenced by other cultures and learn. [ 1 ]. Mulatto is the race mix of Spanish and Taà ­no. [ 2 ]. African-Puerto Rican dance that the lower class performed. [ 3 ]. Known as big kinky hair passed African folk.

Is Jay Gatsby Tragic? :: essays research papers

The Tragic Jay Gatsby   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Many characters in novels may be considered to be tragic. These characters are considered tragic because of one character trait they possess that leads to their eventual demise. Jay Gatsby is a tragic character in a unique way. That is, he has many negative traits, but only one of these traits leads to his eventual downfall. Of all the character traits that Jay Gatsby possessed, his excessiveness in everything he did was what led him to his ultimate downfall.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Jay Gatsby was excessive in every spectrum of his life. One example of his excessive lifestyle is his view of the â€Å"good life†. Gatsby’s parties were frequent, humongous, and extravagant. â€Å" Every Friday five crates of oranges and lemons arrived from a fruiter in New York†¦ every Monday these same oranges and lemons left his back door in a pyramid of pulp less halves†¦ By seven o’clock the orchestra has arrived. No thin five piece affair, but a whole pit full of oboes and trombones and saxophones and violas and†¦Ã¢â‚¬  These examples are only a little slice of the essentials for a â€Å"Gatsby† party. All of this excessiveness is way beyond rational, and reason. Another example of his excessive parties is the fact that people would be so trashed that in one event, a couple guests are in a car accident and do not even realize it. After it happens, they just walk away looking for another drink. The simple fact is that if any serious injuries or accidents occurred during his parties, Gatsby would not have to worry about liability. His extreme wealth permitted him the option of purchasing a â€Å"get out of jail free† card. Gatsby’s biggest concerns were about his guests having a good time. Gatsby is so rich that the penalties or fines that could be imposed for this behavior would not affect him in any way. This kind of wealth allows for the imagination to run wild and excessively spend time, and money in unimportant ways.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Gatsby did not only excessively spend his money on parties. He also spent a myriad of money on clothing, cars, and a plethora of other toys. â€Å"†¦He opened for us two hulking patent cabinets which held his massed suits and dressing gowns and ties, and shirts piled like bricks in stacks a dozen high. ‘I’ve got a man in England who buys me clothes. Is Jay Gatsby Tragic? :: essays research papers The Tragic Jay Gatsby   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Many characters in novels may be considered to be tragic. These characters are considered tragic because of one character trait they possess that leads to their eventual demise. Jay Gatsby is a tragic character in a unique way. That is, he has many negative traits, but only one of these traits leads to his eventual downfall. Of all the character traits that Jay Gatsby possessed, his excessiveness in everything he did was what led him to his ultimate downfall.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Jay Gatsby was excessive in every spectrum of his life. One example of his excessive lifestyle is his view of the â€Å"good life†. Gatsby’s parties were frequent, humongous, and extravagant. â€Å" Every Friday five crates of oranges and lemons arrived from a fruiter in New York†¦ every Monday these same oranges and lemons left his back door in a pyramid of pulp less halves†¦ By seven o’clock the orchestra has arrived. No thin five piece affair, but a whole pit full of oboes and trombones and saxophones and violas and†¦Ã¢â‚¬  These examples are only a little slice of the essentials for a â€Å"Gatsby† party. All of this excessiveness is way beyond rational, and reason. Another example of his excessive parties is the fact that people would be so trashed that in one event, a couple guests are in a car accident and do not even realize it. After it happens, they just walk away looking for another drink. The simple fact is that if any serious injuries or accidents occurred during his parties, Gatsby would not have to worry about liability. His extreme wealth permitted him the option of purchasing a â€Å"get out of jail free† card. Gatsby’s biggest concerns were about his guests having a good time. Gatsby is so rich that the penalties or fines that could be imposed for this behavior would not affect him in any way. This kind of wealth allows for the imagination to run wild and excessively spend time, and money in unimportant ways.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Gatsby did not only excessively spend his money on parties. He also spent a myriad of money on clothing, cars, and a plethora of other toys. â€Å"†¦He opened for us two hulking patent cabinets which held his massed suits and dressing gowns and ties, and shirts piled like bricks in stacks a dozen high. ‘I’ve got a man in England who buys me clothes.

Of Mice And Men: A Critical Look At Curley?s Wife :: essays research papers

‘Of Mice and Men’, a novel by John Steinbeck, tells a story of friendship, loneliness and aspirations. Two itinerants named George and Lennie go to work on a farm as labourers in a place named Soledad. The story then ends when George takes Lennie’s life. Almost everyone on the farm is lonely and the person that represents this the most is Curley’s (the boss’s son) wife, one of the most pivotal characters in the book. When Lennie and George arrive on the farm and are shown their quarters Curley’s wife, on one of her ‘looking for Curley’ routines, sees them both and immediately starts flirting with them. George gets angry when Lennie takes a shine to her and tell him to stay away and calls her a ‘bitch’ and a ‘rat-trap’ This view is also held by many of the workers on the farm. Curley instantly takes a dislike to Lennie when he firsts meets him just because he his much considerably larger that himself. Thi s attitude towards Lennie results in him getting into a fight with him but he loses when Lennie crushes his hand with his own fist. Curley’s wife knows Lennie did this even though Curly was told to say he had caught his hand in a machine. Curley’s wife pursuit of company leads her to seek solace with Lennie. She pours out her pent up frustration of her unrealised dreams and ambitions. When she realises Lennie isn’t taking much interest she lets him feel her hair. Lennie being Lennie strokes harder and harder even though Curley’s wife begs him to stop. As she struggled to get out of his grasp he accidentally broke her neck. Lennie then ran off to his hiding place where he was told to go if he ever did a ‘bad thing.’ When Curley discovers his wife’s body he runs after Lennie with a mob including George. This leads to George pulling a trigger on Lennie. I feel Curley’s wife is the most despairing and lonely character in the book. She has no friends, no future, no respect; she doesn’t even deserve a name. I really feel sorry for her, all she wants is someone to talk to, to converse with but in her mind the only way she can do this is by flaunting herself to the men just to get noticed. This leads her to be perceived as a ‘floosy’ by the men.

Our Culture Today Essay

Personal Beliefs, Attitudes, Values, Basic Assumptions, these values are universal to every human being living today, in the past and in our future. These values shaping our behavior relate to cultural context. Today our Societal attitudes toward homosexuality widely range in different cultures, historical periods, and locations, as do attitudes toward sexual desire, activity and relationships in general. In general many cultures have their own values regarding appropriate and unsuitable sexuality; some sanction same-sex love and sexuality, while others may condemn of such activities in part. Our culture today has changed a lot especially how we view the human body. In my first paragraph I will discuss personal beliefs and how it a tremdous effect on homosexuality community, including social attitudes in general. The issue on Gay sex in religion will have a variety of different views, but you will see the more firm believers that homo’s is a bad thing will be among the older generations, and they will be the ones that also have a harder time accepting it into their lives. Religions such as Judaism, Islam, and various regions of Christianity, are old school and forbid any type of sexual interactions between people of the same sex and preach highly that such an act is to be deemed sinful and that you will burn in hell. The reasoning behind this is very simple like stated above, those religions follow the bible very closely and if you search for it you will find this in the Old testament and New testament, which talks about their beliefs on that topic. Unlike our western religions Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism, homosexuality is barely discussed although it may not be brought up as often these religions frown on this type of intercourse between two people to be considered a sin as well. Further In addition to the religions of East Asia, along with Chinese religion that passionate homosexual love is most often discouraged because it is believed to not lead to human satisfaction, and that human satisfaction can only come from opposite sex’s  In early religions it’s been said that since early middle age times, people who had sex with the same type of sex were blamed for bringing a deadly plague upon the land, and that their pleasures with each other were blamed for the frequent epidemics of disease which dramatically decreased the population. Crops were dying people didn’t have food, and people were falling over dead for no reason at all. The only thing they thought that was causing this was the â€Å"Homo’s. People were frightened and they thought the only way in order to rid their lands of this disease would be by being cleansed by fire, as a result homosexuals paid a drastic price from the people of the towns in which numerous individuals were tied down and burned at the stake or if they got somewhat lucky just had to have white-hot iron rods ran through them because they thought that this would cleanse the souls and stop the disease. Although the staking and hot ironing ended in the late 1980s similar thoughts have been made, inspired by the AIDS epidemic. In the years since, the epidemic has spread and now has many more heterosexual victims than homosexual. In the next paragraph I will further discuss the Values and basic assumption of play another key role into how our culture views the human body. Off the top of your head when you hear the word gay males, what’s the first thing your brain processes? Most often gay males are viewed as being effeminate. Or maybe you the first thing that comes to mind is that gay males are viewed as showing an interest in women’s fashion such as fashion design or hairdressing, which a lot are. Or perhaps when you think of a gay male it would be a guy would having a huge group of friends consisting females, Sadly we categorize â€Å"homo’s† like this in our culture today What would comes to mind when the word lesbians is thrown out there? Our culture society usually views them as having more of the manly features or what we call â€Å"Tomboy/ Dyke. † When then word Tomboy is thrown out there are society already has them categorized. The typical thought of a tomboy is one having a preference for short haircuts, tattoos and male clothing. Then of course we have both bisexual men and women. What pops in mind when you think of a Bi person? Some people might be seeing them as being sexually immoral, controlling, insincere or undecided. Male bisexuals and female bisexuals are usually on the down low about the choice they have made. Although the cause for most Bi’s is that because our culture is so rough and doesn’t welcome the gay community very well they have a hard time accepting it themselves an call themselves as Bi’s for the fear of how much we demand perfection. Another basic assumption about homosexuals is association with pedophilia. This is the major thing that always pops up and which as a result, some people fear exposing their children to homosexuals in unsupervised settings. This fear assuming that about all â€Å"Gay’s† had led them into making and assumption that their children might be molested, or converted to be gay themselves which in our culture that would just ruin families. Today in our society that is true many Homo’s that finally come out and tell their families just only ends up destroying them. As a result many homosexuals have committed suicide for the fear of judge-ment. What has left a bitter taste in the mouth about â€Å"gay† community and made an impact on how their viewed is that everyone is familiar with the publicity about the Catholic sex abuse cases, which in result has heightened these concerns for many parents. A group of establishments focus on these dawning concerns, drawing linking relations between homosexuality and pedophilia. Recently a number of small scale studies where done and shown that they have not found evidence that homosexuals are more likely to molest children than heterosexuals. Tests done showing that male homosexuals with a preference for adults; are no more attracted to adolescent or younger boys than male heterosexuals with a preference for adults are to adolescent or younger girls. Other research also suggest men who molest boys prefer adult women rather than men as sexual partners.

How to Recognize Common Figures of Speech

How to Recognize Common Figures of Speech Of the hundreds of figures of speech, many have similar or overlapping meanings. Here we offer simple definitions and examples of 30 common figures, drawing some basic distinctions between related terms. How to Recognize Common Figures of Speech For additional examples and more detailed discussions of each figurative device, click on the term to visit the entry in our glossary. Whats the difference between a metaphor and a simile?Both metaphors and similes express comparisons between two things that arent obviously alike. In a simile, the comparison is stated explicitly with the help of a word such as like or as: My love is like a red, red rose / Thats newly sprung in June. In a metaphor, the two things are linked or equated without using like or as: Love is a rose, but you better not pick it. Whats the difference between metaphor and metonymy?Put simply, metaphors make comparisons while metonyms make associations or substitutions. The place name Hollywood, for example, has become a metonym for the American film industry (and all the glitz and greed that go with it). Whats the difference between metaphor and personification?Personification is a particular type of metaphor that assigns the characteristics of a person to something non-human, as in this observation from Douglas Adams: He turned on the wipers again, but they still refused to feel that the exercise was worthwhile, and scraped and squeaked in protest. Whats the difference between personification and apostrophe?A rhetorical apostrophe not only animates something absent or non-living (as in personification) but also addresses it directly. For instance, in Johnny Mercers song Moon River, the river is apostrophized: Wherever youre going, Im going your way. Whats the difference between hyperbole and understatement?Both are attention-getting devices: hyperbole exaggerates the truth for emphasis while understatement says less and means more. To say that Uncle Wheezer is older than dirt is an example of hyperbole. To say that hes a bit long in the tooth is probably an understatement. Whats the difference between understatement and litotes?Litotes is a type of understatement in which an affirmative is expressed by negating its opposite. We might say litotically that Uncle Wheezer is no spring chicken and not as young as he used to be. Whats the difference between alliteration and assonance?Both create sound effects: alliteration through the repetition of an initial consonant sound (as in a peck of pickled peppers), and assonance through the repetition of similar vowel sounds in neighboring words (It beats . . . as it sweeps . . . as it cleans!). Whats the difference between onomatopoeia and homoioteleuton?Dont be put off by the fancy terms. They refer to some very familiar sound effects. Onomatopoeia (pronounced ON-a-MAT-a-PEE-a) refers to words (such as bow-wow and hiss) that imitate the sounds associated with the objects or actions they refer to. Homoioteleuton (pronounced ho-moi-o-te-LOO-ton) refers to similar sounds at the endings of words, phrases, or sentences (The quicker picker upper). Whats the difference between anaphora and epistrophe?Both involve the repetition of words or phrases. With anaphora, the repetition is at the beginning of successive clauses (as in the famous refrain in the final part of Dr. Kings I Have a Dream speech). With epistrophe (also known as epiphora), the repetition is at the end of successive clauses (When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child). Whats the difference between antithesis and chiasmus?Both are rhetorical balancing acts. In an antithesis, contrasting ideas are juxtaposed in balanced phrases or clauses (Love is an ideal thing, marriage a real thing). A chiasmus (also known as antimetabole) is a type of antithesis in which the second half of an expression is balanced against the first with the parts reversed (The first shall be last, and the last shall be first). Whats the difference between asyndeton and polysyndeton?These terms refer to contrasting ways of linking items in a series. An asyndetic style omits all conjunctions and separates the items with commas (They dove, splashed, floated, splashed, swam, snorted). A polysyndetic style places a conjunction after every item in the list.Whats the difference between a paradox and an oxymoron?Both involve apparent contradictions. A paradoxical statement appears to contradict itself (If you wish to preserve your secret, wrap it up in frankness). An oxymoron is a compressed paradox in which incongruous or contradictory terms appear side by side (a real phony).Whats the difference between a euphemism and a dysphemism?A euphemism involves the substitution of an inoffensive expression (such as passed away) for one that might be considered offensively explicit (died). In contrast, a dysphemism substitutes a harsher phrase (took a dirt nap) for a comparatively inoffensive one. Though often meant to sh ock or offend, dysphemisms may also serve as in-group markers to show camaraderie. Whats the difference between diacope and epizeuxis?Both involve the repetition of a word or phrase for emphasis. With diacope, the repetition is usually broken up by one or more intervening words: Youre not fully clean until youre Zestfully clean. In the case of epizeuxis, there are no interruptions: Im shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here! Whats the difference between verbal irony and sarcasm?In both, words are used to convey the opposite of their literal meanings. Linguist John Haiman has drawn this key distinction between the two devices: [P]eople may be unintentionally ironic, but sarcasm requires intention. What is essential to sarcasm is that it is overt irony intentionally used by the speaker as a form of verbal aggression (Talk Is Cheap, 1998). Whats the difference between a tricolon and a tetracolon climax?Both refer to a series of words, phrases, or clauses in parallel form. A tricolon is a series of three members: Eye it, try it, buy it! A tetracolon climax is a series of four: He and we were a party of men walking together, seeing, hearing, feeling, understanding the same world.Whats the difference between a rhetorical question and epiplexis?A rhetorical question is asked merely for effect with no answer expected: Marriage is a wonderful institution, but who would want to live in an institution? Epiplexis is a type of rhetorical question whose purpose is to rebuke or reproach: Have you no shame?

Free Essays on World Wars

Wars of the 20th Century Wars of the 20th century were fought for many reasons. Some for land, some for political power, and some to save a country from being overran. Wars are fought on many fronts. These can include terrain’s such as jungle, island, forests, cities, deserts, and in some cases even arctic climates. In the following paragraphs you will read about World War II (WWII), the Vietnam War, and Operation Desert Storm. They were fought for different reasons, but in the end it only comes down to one thing, the more powerful will emerge. World War II started off because of Adolf Hitler’s need for power and hunger for more land. It started with him taking over Austria, then Czechoslovakia, and onto Poland. When Poland was attacked France and Great Britain declared war on Germany. This however led to France, Denmark, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Norway being overran by the nazis by 1940. Great Britain on the other hand was not about to let Germany over run there country. Even with the countless air raids on English towns know as Blitz’s. by 1941 the U.S. still had not entered the war but that didn’t them from sending supplies to Allied countries to aid in the fighting. The U.S. was trying to stay out of the war but that all changed on December 7, 1941 when a horde of Japanese fighter planes bombed the Pacific Fleet in Pearl Harbor. The next day the U.S. along with Canada and Great Britain declared war on Japan. Throughout the next few years the fighting turned in favor of the allies a nd on May 2, 1945 Germany surrendered. Only one problem Japan was being stubborn and would not surrender. The U.S. then resorted to a mass bomb they had been testing called the Atomic Bomb. This was used in august of 1945 on the cities of Hiroshima and then on Nagasaki, thus ending World War II. The Vietnam War started in 1959 and was very different from World War II. Do to the fact that the U.S. did not send in full force.... Free Essays on World Wars Free Essays on World Wars Wars of the 20th Century Wars of the 20th century were fought for many reasons. Some for land, some for political power, and some to save a country from being overran. Wars are fought on many fronts. These can include terrain’s such as jungle, island, forests, cities, deserts, and in some cases even arctic climates. In the following paragraphs you will read about World War II (WWII), the Vietnam War, and Operation Desert Storm. They were fought for different reasons, but in the end it only comes down to one thing, the more powerful will emerge. World War II started off because of Adolf Hitler’s need for power and hunger for more land. It started with him taking over Austria, then Czechoslovakia, and onto Poland. When Poland was attacked France and Great Britain declared war on Germany. This however led to France, Denmark, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Norway being overran by the nazis by 1940. Great Britain on the other hand was not about to let Germany over run there country. Even with the countless air raids on English towns know as Blitz’s. by 1941 the U.S. still had not entered the war but that didn’t them from sending supplies to Allied countries to aid in the fighting. The U.S. was trying to stay out of the war but that all changed on December 7, 1941 when a horde of Japanese fighter planes bombed the Pacific Fleet in Pearl Harbor. The next day the U.S. along with Canada and Great Britain declared war on Japan. Throughout the next few years the fighting turned in favor of the allies a nd on May 2, 1945 Germany surrendered. Only one problem Japan was being stubborn and would not surrender. The U.S. then resorted to a mass bomb they had been testing called the Atomic Bomb. This was used in august of 1945 on the cities of Hiroshima and then on Nagasaki, thus ending World War II. The Vietnam War started in 1959 and was very different from World War II. Do to the fact that the U.S. did not send in full force....

The Physics of a Car Collision

The Physics of a Car Collision During a car crash, energy is transferred from the vehicle to whatever it hits, be it another vehicle or a stationary object. This transfer of energy, depending on variables that alter states of motion, can cause injuries and damage cars and property. The object that was struck will either absorb the energy thrust upon it or possibly transfer that energy back to the vehicle that struck it. Focusing on the distinction between  force  and  energy  can help explain the physics involved. Force: Colliding With a Wall Car crashes are clear examples of how Newtons Laws of Motion work. His first law of motion, also referred to as the law of inertia, asserts that an object in motion will stay in motion unless an external force acts upon it. Conversely, if an object is at rest, it will remain at rest until an unbalanced force acts upon it.   Consider a situation in which car A collides with a static, unbreakable wall. The situation begins with car A traveling at a velocity (v) and, upon colliding with the wall, ending with a velocity of 0. The force of this situation is defined by Newtons second law of motion, which uses the equation of force equals mass times acceleration. In this case, the acceleration is (v - 0)/t, where t is whatever time it takes car A to come to a stop. The car exerts this force in the direction of the wall, but the wall, which is static and unbreakable, exerts an equal force back on the car, per Newtons third law of motion. This equal force is what causes cars to accordion up during collisions. Its important to note that this is an idealized model. In the case of car A, if it slams into the wall and comes to an immediate stop, that would be a perfectly inelastic collision. Since the wall doesnt break or move at all, the full force of the car into the wall has to go somewhere. Either the wall is so massive that it accelerates, or moves an imperceptible amount, or it doesnt move at all, in which case the force of the collision acts on the car and the entire planet, the latter of which is, obviously, so massive that the effects are negligible. Force: Colliding With a Car In a situation where car B collides with car C, we have different force considerations. Assuming that car B and car C are complete mirrors of each other (again, this is a highly idealized situation), they would collide with each other going at precisely the same speed but in opposite directions. From conservation of momentum, we know that they must both come to rest. The mass is the same, therefore, the force experienced by car B and car C is identical, and also identical to that acting on the car in case A in the previous example. This explains the force of the collision, but there is a second part of the question: the energy within the collision. Energy Force is a vector quantity while kinetic energy is a scalar quantity, calculated with the formula K 0.5mv2. In the second situation above, each car has kinetic energy K directly before the collision. At the end of the collision, both cars are at rest, and the total kinetic energy of the system is 0. Since these are inelastic collisions, the kinetic energy is not conserved, but total energy is always conserved, so the kinetic energy lost in the collision has to convert into some other form, such as heat, sound, etc. In the first example where only one car is moving, the energy released during the collision is K. In the second example, however, two are cars moving, so the total energy released during the collision is 2K. So the crash in case B is clearly more energetic than the case A crash. From Cars to Particles Consider the major differences between the two situations. At the quantum level of particles, energy and matter can basically swap between states. The physics of a car collision will never, no matter how energetic, emit a completely new car. The car would experience exactly the same force in both cases. The only force that acts on the car is the sudden deceleration from v to 0 velocity in a brief period of time, due to the collision with another object. However, when viewing the total system, the collision in the situation with two cars releases twice as much energy as the collision with a wall. Its louder, hotter, and likely messier. In all likelihood, the cars have fused into each other, pieces flying off in random directions. This is why physicists accelerate particles in a collider to study high-energy physics. The act of colliding two beams of particles is useful because in particle collisions you dont really care about the force of the particles (which you never really measure); you care instead about the energy of the particles. A particle accelerator speeds up particles but does so with a very real speed limitation dictated by the speed of light barrier from Einsteins theory of relativity. To squeeze some extra energy out of the collisions, instead of colliding a beam of near-light-speed particles with a stationary object, its better to collide it with another beam of near-light-speed particles going the opposite direction. From the particles standpoint, they dont so much shatter more, but when the two particles collide, more energy is released. In collisions of particles, this energy can take the form of other particles, and the more energy you pull out of the collision, the more exotic the particles are.

Implementing Code of ethics Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Implementing Code of ethics - Assignment Example The management has the duty to promote the code and lead the rest of the staff in the implementation and practice of the provisions of the code. For an organization to begin the process of implementing a code of conduct, several questions have to be satisfied. One such question is the method used in the implementation. Once this has been settled upon, there is need to find out how the code will be publicised to all stakeholders within and outside the organization. The time at which this code will also be communicated and publicized is also an important issue. Another important question is what is needed to be done to ensure that the values as stipulated in the organization’s code of conduct are reflected in the practices and policies of a business nature that are relevant to the organization (Mamic, 2004). An organization gets its motivation from the mission and vision statement. They clearly and briefly state the purpose for the organization being in business. Therefore, in the formulation of a code of ethics, the overriding factor considered is the relationship that the provisions of the code will have with the vision statement and the vision statement. The management has to ensure that the code of conduct is relevant and in cohesion to the vision and mission statements of the organization. This will have the effect of strengthening the resolve of all the employees to work towards the goals of the organization. In the course of its operations, an organization comes up with policy statements to provide further guidelines to the employees of the company and other stakeholders, both within the organization and outside (Barth, 2003). These policy papers are essential in determining the way the company will relate with other organizations in the course of its operations, as well as providing specific guidelines that will serve to determine interactions between the employees of the organization. Policy statements are more of a boost to the rules and

It has been argued that end-user development has been driven by a Essay

It has been argued that end-user development has been driven by a failure of central information systems departments to develop - Essay Example These nonprofessional software developers would be using new writing formulas, queries, databases and spreadsheets to help them in their work. Another research in 2011 foretold the possibility of nonprofessional developers having created twenty five percent business applications by the end of 2014. As for a fact, the number of computer users has increased, and so has the uses for which they need computers. The software needs of these increasing number of computer users are dynamic, complex and diverse. Professional software developers’ limited knowledge and slow development process hamper their capacity to beat the ever-growing applications backlog. This sparked a desire in computer users to look for ways of modifying, creating and extending software artifact on their own without involving professional software developers. This is what end-user development (EUD) is about (Barrie 2002, p.31). Using end-user development, computer users customize or come up with their own unique interfaces and functionality for their software. An advantage with this is the fact that end users have adequate knowledge of the contexts, needs and change in their individual domains. Besides, allowing end-users to tune software to meet required needs, end-user development has another advantage. Clearly, end-users outnumber professional software developers by far. ... Many end-users who engage in end-user development lack sufficient training in professional programming languages, modeling, diagramming notations, and formal processes of software development (Clarker 2008, p.71). Their short-term and medium-term goals do not give them enough motivation to learn this traditional knowledge. This poses several challenges to those devoted to the course of supporting the end-user development. End-users need to develop processes that have ease of use, easy to learn, and that allows easy integration into end-users’ individual domains. End-user development goes hand in hand with tailoring, end-user software engineering, and end-user programming. An end-user who modifies a computer application to suit his or her contextual need does tailoring. Tailoring allows users to change their interaction with an application together with its functionality. This entails changing the behavior of an application by resetting the parameters of an application so as to change the level of detail of its set of data. Tailoring encompasses end-user programming when an individual manipulates an application so much so as to come up with a complete program (Mahmood 2003, p.43). For example, a person can come up with macros that can help him or her to change set graphical user interface items borne in an application. This can serve to either increase the usability of an application or extend it to have new functionalities. There is research that demonstrates the possibility of frameworks that are component-based, and that would allow easy application tailoring. Professional programming seeks to come up with programs and sell them out to people. End-user programming, on the other hand, seeks to create programs to satisfy the developers’ needs. End-user

Research Proposal Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Proposal - Research Paper Example This is because the combination ensures very high level of empirical representation of data as well as consolidates the validity and reliability of data collection and analysis. It is estimated that the present research will cost USD 900 and span for a period of 2 months. It would however become the hub of comprehensive information for Al Waseet to identify its market base and rightly strategize on both short term and long term to take advantage of this market. Background Al Waseet enters the Daily New Paper market as a new entrant who is faced with a number of critical competitions, which if not addressed could affect and undermine the success of the business (Project Management Institute, 2008). But to address the issues effectively, it is important to have a comprehensive marketing research that identifies key opportunities, threats, strengths and weaknesses of the company (Alexis, 2007). It is against this background that the present marketing research proposal is necessary. It w ould be observed that access to information is fast becoming a necessity for the ordinary person on the streets of Bahrain (McClain, 2002). This is partly because the world is shrinking in terms of access to information and becoming closed up under the wheels of globalization. The Daiky Newpaper industry has therefore become competitive in Bahrain. This notwithstanding, Al Waseet is in a position to creating its own competitive advantage that would make it not just a local force in the business but a company with international repute (Perry, 2008). Problem Definition/ Objectives of the Research There exists a well formulated Newspaper industry in Bahrain (Gabby, 2009). This however does not mean that the door is closed to new entrants. The only problem is that new entrants would have to have their own competitive advantages and marketing strategies that would help them win new lines of customers. The objective of the research is therefore to come out with both short term and long te rm strategic marketing plan that would ensure that Al Waseet gains a competitive advantage as a new entrant on the Bahrain market. Approach to the problem As a marketing research, it is highly important that the proposed research have qualities that make it possible to have tangential access to information (Tawiah, 2009). More to this, it is important that data collected can be ascribed to both qualitative and quantitative scrutiny. In light of this, there shall be a mixed approach towards the research whereby the researcher shall use a mixed approach made up of qualitative and quantitative research approaches. Research Design The selection of research design is directly linked to the research approach because the research design should be selected in a way that makes it possible to achieve the provisions of the research approach, which is proposed to be a mixed approach. To this end, the researcher proposes the use of survey research design for the present study. With a survey rese arch design, the researcher will be offered the opportunity to use a number of data collection instruments to collect a combination of qualitative and quantitative data from both the field and from existing literature (Alpha, 2005). Fieldwork/ Data Collection The fieldwork is going to constitute an important component of primary data collection. What this means is that the researcher is going to use fieldwork to collect

Cultural Diversity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Cultural Diversity - Essay Example The Bia people, for instance, form a basis of tourists attraction through their cultural art products and cultural festivals.The Dia, like other cultures such as the Mosou, also enrich the Chinese tourism industry by adding to diverse cultural values. However, tourism management is significantly decentralized to the different cultural groups, governmental institutions together with the private sector have been keen on stimulating efforts to promote culture based tourism. This means that cultural diversity has been embraced in the country and used to promote tourism (Wale, 2011, p. 57- 68). Managing cultural diversityDiversity is a common occurrence in every society. In the United States, for example, immigration has infiltrated the job market with a diverse mix of people from different countries and cultures. This has created barriers to communication and operations in organizations. In order to harmonize potential threats of cultural differences, the American Management Association proposes a management approach that identifies different cultures in an organization. This can be achieved through statistical surveys within organizations. The identified cultures should then be publicized and embraced in the organization (AMA, 2006, P. 1). This theory of managing diversity is consistent with Greek’s approach to managing cultural diversity in its tourism. The approach has been successful in promoting the country’s tourism to international standards (Wale, 2011, p. 57- 68).

Layers of Physical Security Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Layers of Physical Security - Essay Example The traditional security system is continuously being improved by technology and civilization. Further, the rise of new threats, for example, the risk of fear assaults and terrorism, raises the issue of upgrading existing frameworks of physical security. In the meantime, viable physical security ought to be in view of central standards which minimize the risk of dangers to physical security (Modi, Patel, Borisaniya, Patel, & Rajarajan, 2012). Since the traditional means of securing territories no longer hold, there must be an advancement in the forms of security with the utilization of technology. Since physical security takes various layers, the advancement of cutting-edge physical security ought to incorporate these layers which entail building security, grounds security, access control frameworks, and border security (Newman, 2001). The present-day physical security is inconceivable without the wide usage of technological advancements, which has been found to increase significantly the dependability of advanced security frameworks and minimize threats to the physical security framework. Then again, innovations frequently confront new dangers that fortify the more extensive implementation of new technologies, but the primary point in the advancement of a powerful physical security framework is the improvement of numerous layers of physical security (Modi et al., 2012).

Cultural Diversity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Cultural Diversity - Essay Example The Bia people, for instance, form a basis of tourists attraction through their cultural art products and cultural festivals.The Dia, like other cultures such as the Mosou, also enrich the Chinese tourism industry by adding to diverse cultural values. However, tourism management is significantly decentralized to the different cultural groups, governmental institutions together with the private sector have been keen on stimulating efforts to promote culture based tourism. This means that cultural diversity has been embraced in the country and used to promote tourism (Wale, 2011, p. 57- 68). Managing cultural diversityDiversity is a common occurrence in every society. In the United States, for example, immigration has infiltrated the job market with a diverse mix of people from different countries and cultures. This has created barriers to communication and operations in organizations. In order to harmonize potential threats of cultural differences, the American Management Association proposes a management approach that identifies different cultures in an organization. This can be achieved through statistical surveys within organizations. The identified cultures should then be publicized and embraced in the organization (AMA, 2006, P. 1). This theory of managing diversity is consistent with Greek’s approach to managing cultural diversity in its tourism. The approach has been successful in promoting the country’s tourism to international standards (Wale, 2011, p. 57- 68).

Report nokia company from 2003 -2008 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Report nokia company from 2003 -2008 - Essay Example Importance is given to teamwork and mutual respect (Nokia-b, 2010). In the beginning of 2008 the company announced a new â€Å"company structure†. It aims at aligning the opportunities in the company with future growth prospects. Nokia also plans to increase the efficiency of the working ways across the company. According to the Articles of the company and Finnish Companies Act the management and control of the company is divided between the company shareholders, the Board of Directors,, President and Group Executive Board headed by the CEO. The Board gives decisions relating to the activities of the Group including crucial investment decisions, approval of plans and divestments. The Group Executive Board of the company is in charge of managing company operations (Nokia-c, 2010). The competitors of the company are LM Ericsson Telephone Company, Motorola Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. Nokia has the highest market capitalization out of all the above mentioned competitors. In terms of sales the company ranks first among its competitors. Nokia has operations across China, Finland, India and Germany. In these countries the company offers Networks Technology. Nokia offers â€Å"mobile devices and technology† services in China, Brazil, Great Britain, Finland, India, Hungary, Mexico, South Korea and Romania (Nokia-d, 2010). The devices unit of the company is in charge of managing and developing its mobile services portfolio. Nokia Siemens Network offers fixed network infrastructure, wireless, networks and communications service platforms and professional services to service providers and operators. NAVTEQ is a major provider of â€Å"digital map data† for mobile navigation devices, internet based applications and business & government solutions. The map data of NAVTEQ is a significant part of the map services of Nokia which provide downloadable maps and voice-based navigation (Nokia-f, 2009). The vision of the company is based on the

Whistle Blowing Essay Example for Free

Whistle Blowing Essay Write a report explaining the importance of ensuring children and young peoples safety and protection in the work setting. The report needs to cover the following sections:Section 1: InductionExplain why it is important to ensure children and young people are protected from harm in the work setting. As part of the Working Together to Safeguard children, organisations and individuals have a responsibility to work together to safeguard the well-being and welfare of all children and young people in their care. This of course, includes looking after the health, well-being and welfare while they are in the school environment. Everyone who works within a setting and cares for children and young people have clear responsibilities to; Protect children and young people from harm.  Help children to build tools to protect, understand and have the knowledge to some extent safeguard themselves and others. Promote the welfare of all children and young people they work with. The policies and procedures that are in place help train, guide and allow everyone who works with children and young people to help ensure that they are not put at risk from things such as neglect, abuse or bullying. Policies and procedures are also in place to protect the health and safety of everyone in a school setting, this can be for example staff carrying out risk assessments for activities in school. Every member of staff working in a setting can help children and young people to gain knowledge and achieve some level of understanding in how to protect themselves. This can be done through daily teaching, assemblies and play and break times. Section 2: Describe the policies and procedures that are in place to protect children and young people and the adults who work with them. There are many policies and procedures in place to protect children and young people and also the adults who work with them. Here are some examples; Safeguarding The Childrens Act 2004 is in place to make the UK a safer and better place for children and young people. Everyone who works within a setting  should know what to do if a child or young person makes a disclosure or they have a suspicion about the behaviour/general well being of someone in their care. Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 was introduced to make sure that staff in working environments know and understand the requirements and responsibilities in making sure that the working environment is a safe place to be. This Act covers things such as; Teaching children how to use sports and play equipment correctly. Ensuring that the children know, for example, what the correct clothing is when using apparatus. Explaining and practising a Fire Drill. Teaching children and young people to move through the school in a safe manner, e.g. to run and not to run. This Act also covers areas such as COSSH, Manual Handling Regulations And Workplace Safety. Risk Assessments It would be impossible to make every area of the school completely safe and never expect anything to happen. Risk assessing activities and experiences in school is incredibly important and all school settings will carry out risk assessments on activities in school, equipment used in school, for example PE Equipment, Art and Craft tools and even on trips outside of the school environment. Anti-bullying Every school will have an anti-bullying policy in place. Children maybe involved in things such as school council or drawing and putting up anti-bullying posters around the school. Children can be rewarded for offering friendship to others and some settings have a friendship bench or area for children or young people to go to if they feel lonely or upset. Food and Hygiene Teaching and reminding children and young people to wash their hands after using the toilet. This will help to reduce chance of illnesses and  infections being passed on. Washing hands before being included in cookery lessons. Having a policy in place for how soon a child or adult can return to school after a bout of sickness and diarrhoea. Having a dental nurse or dentist visit the school to teach the children about cleaning teeth properly. The school, headteacher and governing board are legally responsible for making sure all of the policies and procedures are in place and followed by staff, visitors and volunteers. For example, all Risk Assessments are signed by the Headteacher and also by the Governors. Annual Reports and Audits are carried out by the Headteacher and passed to the governing board and the Local Authority. The Local Authority will also carry out their own reports, visits and audits annually. Section 3:Explain how practitioners can take steps to protect themselves within their everyday practice in the work setting during both on-site and off-site visits.When working in a school setting it is an important part of any employee’s job to read and be familiar with the policies and procedures in place to protect themselves and the children and young people in their care. Adequate training should also be provided by the Headteacher, Governing Board and Local Authority to ensure the messages from these policies and procedures are clear and followed. When working at school, you can help to protect yourself by following theses steps; Read, understand and always follow your schools policies and procedures. If you do not understand any of them in place, ask your direct line manager or Headteacher for advice.   Always sign into school on arrival and again on departure. At Barnham Primary, sign in and sign out books are stored by reception and must be filled in every time staff or visitors enter or leave the building. All children and young people at school should have their registers arrival and departure times recorded in the class registers. Always wear a clear name badge and ensure all visitors, volunteers also do the same.   Always avoid, if you can being alone in a classroom with one child. Sometimes in school, you may find yourself working one to one with a child. It is important to consider how to work safely whilst carrying out this work. You should try and keep yourself in a visible position, for example in the corner of the classroom or in view of a witness. If you are working in an empty classroom, chose a space near an open door and in view of anyone walking past. Keep an eye on your body language, position and closeness to the child. If a child or young person is late at school and delayed in going home, two members of staff must remain at school and with them until their parent or carer collects them. If an incident or accident occurs at school they should be written up on the appropriate paperwork and stored in the correct folder. At Barnham Primary the paperwork for accidents is kept in the staff room and must be filled in by the person who witnessed the accident and then signed by the class teacher. A detachable part of the form is then sent home with the child and this is especially important for any head injuries. Any behaviour incidents that require writing up and recording need to be seen by the class teacher and the headteacher.   If you are ever involved in an off-site visit you need to protect yourself by; Always follow the policies and procedures for off site visits set up by your school. The class teacher will have completed a risk assessment for the trip so make sure that you are familiar with key points and anything that you may need to be extra vigilant about. An off site trip may include, using seatbelts on a coach, planning for toilet stops, dealing with a sick child and walking with large groups of children outside. All of these will be included on the risk assessment. Always ensure that the off site trip has been agreed with the Headteacher. Over night stays will need to have the approval of the governing board also.  Parental consent must also be given by parents and carers for all school trips. Any children who are not permitted on off site trips have to remain in school and adequate cover must be provided in school to ensure that they are looked after. It will be the job of the Headteacher to ensure that any off site trip is covered by adequate insurance. There is no legal requirement for staff to pupil ratio on off site trips. However it is important to stay within the guidance of Ofsted. They recommend a ratio of 1 adult to every 15 primary school age children. Often on off site trips, parent helpers and volunteers are encouraged and with this help this ratio is greatly reduced and therefore helps increase the safety of the trip. When the trip is taking place, ensure that a fully stocked first aid kit is taken. At Barnham Primary a First Aid bum-bag is provided and carried on all trips. A current and up to date list of all children and their emergency contacts and any medical issues is also taken on every trip. This must be taken in case of any injury, accident or illness so parents and carers can be contacted quickly. Section 4:Research, evaluate and explain ways in which concerns about poor practice can be reported, including protective measures for whistle blowers and those whose practice or behaviour is being questioned. At every school or setting there should be policies and procedures for everyone to follow on whistle-blowing. A whistle blower can be defined as a person who tells the public or someone in authority about an alleged incident or illegal activity. Whistle-blowing policies and procedures are in place to provide some level of protection for the person in the work place who raises the concern. They aim to protect the person from victimisation or any form of other punishment  when they have only raised their genuine concerns. Once a whistle-blower has raised their concerns and from that do suffer from Victimisation, then that person maybe able to take their case further and go to an Employment Tribunal. However this is only in more serious cases. At Barnham Primary school if there are any concerns about an alleged incident, misconduct or malpractice then it should in he first instance, it should be reported to the persons line manager or supervisor. It is important to remember that anything reported under these circumstances will be treated with confidentiality. To be protected as a whistle-blower they need to make a ‘qualifying disclosure’ about an alleged incident, misconduct or malpractice. For example this could be; Criminal offences Failure to comply with a legal obligation Miscarriages of justice Threats to an individual’s health and safety Damage to the environment A deliberate attempt to cover up any of the above. A qualifying whistle-blower will be protected only if they report their concern to the appropriate person and in the correct way. If an employee or whistle-blower wishes to raise a genuine concern, this is the procedure that must be followed; Staff need to act in good faith when they suspect any level of misconduct or malpractice. The whistle-blower needs to really think through what their concern and think through why the issue is worrying them and why. It is a serious procedure to follow so it should not be taken lightly. Their concerns will in the first instance, report their concerns to their line manager or supervisor. This could be a teacher, senior teacher, head of year or Headteacher. It is important to pick a time of day where time can be given to discuss the issue, so it is a good idea to chose a time carefully.   Before talking to a senior member of staff, the whistle-blower should take the time to write their concerns down. Ti could for example include a detailed report or diary of events. It should include as much detail as possible, for example; background details history names dates and times witnesses places and locations. If the concerns raised are deemed as genuine and there is cause for concern, then an investigation into the alleged incident will begin.   During an investigation period, both the whistle-blower and the accused will be continually supported and informed of the any progress that has been made. The investigation, depending on its level of severity may be carried out by a senior member of staff or someone from the local authority. A Barnham Primary, the SDP (Senior Designated Person) and the Headteacher will be the main contacts to go to if any allegations against a staff member are made.   A time-scale should always be put in place and shard with both the whistle-blower and the accused should have a full understanding of how long the process will be.   During the time of the investigation, both parties should be offered support and opportunity to discuss confidentiality any issues that may have arisen since the incident was disclosed and the investigation began. This would be time for either party to discuss if they have been treated any  differently or unfairly since it began. It is also important to make both parties aware that they have the right to be accompanied at any interview by a trade union representative or work colleague. As well as the whistle-blower being able to give their version of events, it is only fair that the accused can also defend any complaints and give a detailed version of their version of events. Under the Data Protection Act, all information given by both parties involved must be kept confidentially and the investigation must be reflect this and be carried out discreetly.   If a whistle-blower feels as if nothing happens about their concerns then they have the right to contact further services for help. This could be the local school authority of Ofsted.   If the accused is found guilty of the misconduct, incident or malpractice, plans would need to be put in place. In some more serious case the person maybe dismissed from their job, but in other cases support maybe put in place to improve areas of concern. For example, this could be retraining in the area of concern or providing more support in their job role. On the other hand if there is no substance to the allegation, support will also need to be given. This maybe dealing with the emotional stress of being accused of something they did not do, being socially excluded again for something they didn’t do. It may be necessary to offer counselling or mediation between the whistle-blower and the accused to try and re-build the working relationship after the investigation has finished. As serious as this process is, it is very important that whistle-blowers are protected. To be able to provide a safe, healthy environment for education, any malpractice, incidents or misconduct must be taken seriously and people must feel the need to speak out and raise their concerns.

Importance of Effective Communication in Construction

Importance of Effective Communication in Construction Introduction Civil engineering works are not just the building of structures, but they provide a livable and safe environment for society. To make it all work, the disciplines involved must be in constant communication. They cannot work in isolation and must communicate with other civil engineers and professions and also be able to communicate with society. When communication fails it will have a negative effect on the works. Defining communication In the Oxford Dictionary the word communication is defined as to share or exchange information, and the word effective is defined as producing an intended result. For a civil project, effective communication can be defined as communication between inter-disciplines, which produces a structure that is designed to be safe, serviceable and economic, and constructed to be on budget, time and to the customers satisfaction. In order for communication to be effective a common language must be used which is understood well by the various disciplines. In communication between two parties, there are four key components involved: Transmitter: person with information Receiver: person to whom information is directed Medium (nature of information): words (written and spoken), drawings, figures, symbols, codes, graphs, diagrams, charts, etc Channel (method of communicating information): meetings, documents, email, telephone, video link, projector slides, etc For communication to be effective, information should flow in both directions because the receiver may not be listening to or reading what is being communicated. There must be a response from them to know that the person has both received the message and understood it2. The nature of Civil Engineering works Compared with products manufactured in factories, where most if not all the design and production stages are carried out by a single company and the end products are the same, civil engineering works are manufactured on site with a number of different disciplines involved in the process at different stages of design and construction. These works are always made to the customers specifications, making them unique for each project. With so many different disciplines3 involved, there is an important need for effective communication between them for any project to be successful. For example, the customer must communicate their needs to the consultant engineers. The consultant engineers must understand the customers needs and interpret them into a design. Then, once the plans have been developed and a bid has been taken, the contractor must understand the plans and communicate the plans to the sub-contractors. The importance of effective communication during civil works As said by Peter Rogers How many projects go wrong because somebody has a vision at the top and the people beneath destroy it because they either do not believe in what is being created or the ambition has not been communicated to them?4 Effective communication is a means to an end, which is fundamentally a project delivered on time, on budget and to an agreed quality. So, where there is a breakdown in communication the opposite is likely to occur. In the UK this has left a bad reputation of the construction industry with the client and as has lead to an increase in disputes with many of cases ending up in court. In 1992 this increasing trend prompted the Conservative government to assign Sir Michael Latham, a former MP with experience of the construction industry to investigate. In 1994 he published his report called Constructing the Team5. One of the recommendations he made was the need for improved team-working, which highlights a need for improved communication between team members. A few years later when the Labour government came into office in 1997 they set up The Construction Task Force. It was made up of a team of ten industry clients6 who were to advise on ways of improving the quality and efficiency of housebuilding. They mentioned seeing the industry typically dealing with the project process as a series of sequential and largely separate operations undertaken by individual designers7. In 1998 the Construction Task Force presented their report (commonly known as The Egan Report). Based on their findings they recommended five key changes that were needed for improvement in the construction industry: Committed leadership A focus on the customer Integrated processes and teams A quality driven agenda Commitment to people It can be seen from their recommendations that a crucial element for any of them to be successful is the ability to communicate and listen effectively and although the Task Force looked specifically at housebuilding, their findings can be applied to civil works as well. It has been over ten years (currently 2009) since the Construction Task Forces recommendations. Looking at the performance of the construction industry in last 5 years, it can be seen that there has been improvement but a lot is still needed. A summary of the performance of the construction industry from 2004 to 2008 is shown in Table 1.1. Client product satisfaction has been at 80% or above for the last five years, but this also means that 1 in 5 clients have not been mostly satisfied with the final outcome of their project. Also the figures for defects last year show that approximately one third of defects had a negative impact on the client. Case Study 1: Wembley Stadium The Wembley stadium project is an example of how clients, contractors and sub-contractors can fall out due to poor communication or the lack thereof, which can cause the project to go over budget and time. The client who is Wembley National Stadium Ltd originally selected Bovis Lend Lease and Multiplex to both design and construct the stadium, but negotiations broke down over costs. Multiplex then independently offered a cheaper tender to the client for a fixed price of  £326 million, which in September 2000 was accepted by the client10. However, the price gradually increased to  £445 million after detailed specifications were made. Bovis believed the client had broken the public sector procurement guidelines and that the project should have been retendered. The government commissioned a report to investigate the issue and concluded that retendering would have harmed the project even further in respect to time and money and believed it was not practical to have retendered. But the report also stated that the client: Failed to follow a formal procurement process, including creating proper documentation Carried out two procurement processes at the same time, making it difficult to have competitive procurement Had meetings and conversations with Multiplex before a formal procurement process There were also other problems. Multiplex complained that the client had made 600 design changes to the contract and there were disputes such as the definition of practical completion. There were delays with the raising into position of the arch. Multiplex said that the delays and other troubles were the result of the subcontractor Cleveland Bridges late and defective design of fabrication work. Cleveland Bridge said that the delays and other troubles were because of too many variations or the late supply of information by Multiplex or by the structural engineer, Mott MacDonald Limited. Case study 2: Heathrow Airport Terminal 5 On 27 March 2008 BAA opened Terminal 5 after six years of work, costing  £4.3 billion. The project was a success in terms of being built on time and within budget. However, on the first day of opening there were problems with the baggage system. The baggage system failed and so over 23,000 pieces of luggage needed to be sorted manually. At a press conference just two weeks earlier, BAAs strategy director said We have a world-class baggage system that is going to work perfectly on day one. An investigation into why these problems occurred was undertaken by the House of Commons Transport committee. They found that most of these problems were caused two main factors: Insufficient communication between owner and operator, and Poor staff training and system testing During their inquiry the national secretary for aviation, told the committee: members and shop stewards locally had been raising concerns both within BAA and BA for a considerable period in relation to the opening of Terminal 5, but that no consideration was given to the response from the trade union side. 11 A shop steward working for BAA said that union representatives: said to the company that the way it was going would not work. Based on our own experience having worked there for years no technology can take that away. we said that they must listen to what we said and do it this way, but we were told that, no, it was a state-of-the-art building and everything would work and be all right.12 The Chief executive of Heathrow BAA said that if he could rewind time, he would focus resolutely and determinedly on keeping British Airways and BAA in the same room tightly together. 13 Methods to achieve effective communication According to research carried out by Court, Culley and McMahon14, the method of communication has an effect on the richness of the information received and processed. Table 1.2 shows the various methods of communication and the levels of richness of each. Table 1.2 shows that the best method of communication is verbal, such as in meetings. With verbal communication immediate feedback is received. Information flows in both directions and new issues may be introduced by either party. Meetings are an essential part of effective teamwork and are probably the most important time where designers and constructors work together. They can be said to have two main functions: A social purpose where team members become familiar with one another and one anothers ways of working, A business purpose for communicating information and agreeing actions. For meetings to be successful each must take time to listen to the other, and remove prejudices. We are all individuals and have our own ways of working and communicating with others. What is needed is the desire to communicate and the passion to build something that is good. By sharing information between members, a team is able to make best use of its combined knowledge. Good communication in meetings also depends on individuals being able to understand what is being said. The use of terminology which is not understood by others outside the profession risks poor communication and misunderstanding. A language must be found which is understood well by all parties. Integrated teams An integrated team which was one of the recommendations of the Construction Task Force is another effective method of having team members talking to each other. Multidisciplinary companies like Arup or Amec have the advantage of the different disciplines working for the same company and in the same building. Typically the members of the project work on the same floor in an open plan office making it easy for communication and ideas to be exchanged between the different team members. Computer programmes As the old saying goes A picture is worth a thousand words, in the same way computer programmes such as CAD can be used to produce 2D and 3D drawings, which can then be communicated to other project members. There is industry standards in terms of symbols and legends used on drawings so that everyone is able to understand what is being communicated. CAD drawings can also be sent electronically to the other team members so that they are able to view the same information and develop their information onto the design. They are also able to analyse the structure and its connection with other structural elements and make any adjustments if necessary. Case Study 3: MidCity Place, London MidCity Place, an office development in London took 57 weeks to construct, which according to the developers Stanhope Plc is half the industry average build time and at a cost 20% lower than the market average for a building of its quality15. The project was completed in December 2001, eleven weeks ahead of schedule and within budget. The contractors Bovis Lend Lease and Stanhope developed a logistics process based on experience in the car industry. The logistics programmes scheduled all the components in their sequence in the construction and put this information into 3D modelling software. The programme modelled the building and its assembly and also allowed them to find glitches in the delivery and construction sequence. The techniques used on MidCity Place are now being used on other Stanhope/Bovis Lend Lease projects, where they are being developed further. Education Educating students at an early stage is important in order to allow them to enact the roles they will need to fill when entering the industry. From experience, this is currently being achieved by methods such as group projects, presentations and subjects such as Civil Engineering Management. Although these methods do improve the personal skills of an individual there does not seem to be any formal subject in developing communication skills. It seems that communicating ideas is left more as an art that needs to be developed individually by students, than something that can be learnt academically. There are postgraduate courses such as Interdisciplinary Design for the Built Environment (IDBE) run at Cambridge University or the Project Team Leadership Programme run by Design Build Foundations and Henley Management College, which broaden the education of graduates to getting the industry communicating and working together. Conclusions Communicating information is just as important as the information that is being communicated, without which no progress can be made and ideas will remain just that. A lot of time is spent communicating during civil projects. It is in the interest of all those participating in a project to develop effective forms of communication, as a breakdown in communication can have not only time delays and cost overruns, but also harm a companys reputation and/or even bring financial ruin. References 1. Payne, A.C, Chelsom J.V and Reavill L.R.P (1996), Management for Engineers, John Wiley Sons, England, Pg 192. 2. Ibid, Pg 193. 3. These professions are typically the Client, Civil Engineer, Contractor, Sub-contractor, Manufacturer, and also the general public. 4. Spence R, Macmillan S Kirby P. (2001), Interdisciplinary design in practice, Thomas Telford, London, Pg 28. 5. Latham, M. (1994), Constructing the Team, HMSO, London. 6. The members of the Construction Task Force (circa 1998): Sir John Egan (Chairman), Chief Executive, BAA plc, Mike Raycraft, Property Services Director, Tesco Stores Ltd, Ian Gibson, Managing Director, Nissan UK Ltd, Sir Brian Moffatt, Chief Executive, British Steel plc, Alan Parker, Managing Director, Whitbread Hotels, Anthony Mayer, Chief Executive, Housing Corporation, Sir Nigel Mobbs, Chairman, Slough Estates and Chief Executive, Bovis Homes, Professor Daniel Jones, Director of the Lean Enterprise Centre, Cardiff Business School, David Gye, Director, Morgan Stanley Co Ltd, David Warburton, GMB Union. 7. DETR (1998) Rethinking Construction: the report of the Construction Task Force July 1998, Pg 13. 8. Ibid, Pg 12. 9. Ibid, Pg 4. 10. Morton R, revised by Ross A (2008), Construction UK, Introduction to the Industry, Blackwell, Pg 145. 11. House of Commons Transport Committee (2008), The opening of Heathrow Terminal 5, The Stationery Office Limited, Pg 74. 12. Ibid. 13. Ibid. 14. Court AW, Culley SJ and McMahon CA. (1997), The Influence of information technology in new product development. International Journal of information Management, Vol. 17 N0.5, Elsevier, Pg 359-379. 15. www.stanhopeplc.com, MidCity Place (2009). 16. Office for National statistics (2008), Construction Statistics Annual No.9, Palgrave.

Brave New World-A Sterile Society :: essays research papers

â€Å"Cleanliness is next to Fordliness†, was an attitude impressed upon the people of Aldous Huxley’s, Brave New World. A society free of disease and suffering was achieved through a technique of conditioning called hynopaedia. â€Å"Civilization is sterilization†, was a hynopaedic slogan used to achieve the ideal society. This idea was manifested through the anesthetizing people’s emotions, the sterilization of humans and the cleanliness of society. The Brave New World sterilized people of emotions through the elimination of families and the promotion of soma. To eliminate close bonds between two people promiscuity was advocated. This was achieved through hynopaedia during childhood. Through this technique intimate relationships between people were eliminated. People of Brave New World did not know what a family was. At the mention of the words mother and father, during a tour of the London Hatchery, the students became silent and many began to blush. Soma was another devise used by citizens of Brave New World to let them escape and forget their emotions. It was a tranquilizer widely used in Brave New World. It allowed people to go into a trance whenever they wanted to escape their surroundings. This was shown when Lenina Crowne and Bernard Marx were visiting the reservation. During the Warden’s speech to the couple, Lenina Crowne swallowed half a gramme of soma to escape the boredom of the Warden’s speech. The som a allowed her to seemingly be paying attention when in reality she wasn’t listening or thinking of anything. The attitude of civilization is sterilization was also achieved through the sterilization of the female population. Bokanovsky’s Process made it possible for the Brave New World to control the amount of fertile women in society. Even with the advancement of scientific technology human ovaries were still needed for the manufacturing of embryos. Fertile women were encouraged to undergo a hysterectomy. In return for selling their ovaries, women received six months pay. Around seventy percent of the women in Brave New World were infertile. These women were called freemartins. Freemartins were produced through injecting female embryos with a dose of a male sex-hormone. The society of Brave New World believed civilization should be composed of clean and robust people. The nurses in the Neo-Pavlovian Conditioning Rooms were described as, â€Å"trousered and jacketed in the regulation white viscose-linen uniform, their hair aseptically hidden under white caps.† This image expressed how everything was done in a systematic and sterile way.

Puerto Rico and the United States Essay -- American History Puerto Ric

Puerto Rico and the United States Since Puerto Rico was first discovered by Christopher Columbus on November 19, 1493, and Spanish colonization ensued in 1508, Puerto Rico has experienced all of these pressures of identity and culture. When Columbus first arrived he found the island populated by thousands of Taino Indians who made the mistake of showing Columbus gold nuggets in the river. This was all Spain needed to finance its crown. Differences between the Spaniards and the Taints began around two years later when Diego Salcedo was killed by the Indians. The Taino Indians revolt against the Spaniards was met with no success and many left the island or fled into the mountains where they began new lives. Though living in the secluded mountains, the Tainos were still colonists of Spain, but at heart were Borinquens. Even though they were a part of the "State" of Spain, i.e. a legal and political organization, with the power to require obedience and loyalty from its citizens. (Morris, p.12) the Tainos were a Nation or "a self defined community of people who share a sense of solidarity based on a belief in a common heritage and who claim political rights that may include self determination, history, language, culture and territory". (Morris, p. 12) This was the beginning of the Foundation of the four storeyed building. In Jose Luis Gonzalez's article Puerto Rico, The Four Storeyed Country and Other Essays he too uses the metaphor of floors, stairs or foundation. Gonzalez saw that Puerto Rico's foundation though has grown more and more obscure over time, either by Puerto Ricans or other people who have transferred or erased the first and second floors. (Prof. Figueroa, lecture notes of 9/15/98) In Rosario Fe... ...tality and their way of life. The question is how much longer will it going on being this way? Bibliography: Fernandez, Ronald. The Disenchanted Island: Puerto Rico and the U.S. in the Twentieth Century. 2d. ed. (Westport, Conn.: Praeger, 1996). Ferre, Rosario. The House on the Lagoon. (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1995). Glasser, Ruth. My Music is My Flag: Puerto Rican Musicians in New York and their Communities, 1917-1940. (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1996). Gonzalez, Jose Luis. "The Four-Storey Country," in The Four-Storey Country and Other Essays. (Princeton: Marcus Weinner, 1993). Morris, Nancy. , Puerto Rico: Culture, Politics, and Identity. (Westport, Conn.: Praeger, 1995). Rigau, Jorge. Puerto Rico 1900. Santiago, Roberto (ed.), Boricuas: Influential Writings—An anthology. (New York: Ballantine Books, 1995). Puerto Rico and the United States Essay -- American History Puerto Ric Puerto Rico and the United States Since Puerto Rico was first discovered by Christopher Columbus on November 19, 1493, and Spanish colonization ensued in 1508, Puerto Rico has experienced all of these pressures of identity and culture. When Columbus first arrived he found the island populated by thousands of Taino Indians who made the mistake of showing Columbus gold nuggets in the river. This was all Spain needed to finance its crown. Differences between the Spaniards and the Taints began around two years later when Diego Salcedo was killed by the Indians. The Taino Indians revolt against the Spaniards was met with no success and many left the island or fled into the mountains where they began new lives. Though living in the secluded mountains, the Tainos were still colonists of Spain, but at heart were Borinquens. Even though they were a part of the "State" of Spain, i.e. a legal and political organization, with the power to require obedience and loyalty from its citizens. (Morris, p.12) the Tainos were a Nation or "a self defined community of people who share a sense of solidarity based on a belief in a common heritage and who claim political rights that may include self determination, history, language, culture and territory". (Morris, p. 12) This was the beginning of the Foundation of the four storeyed building. In Jose Luis Gonzalez's article Puerto Rico, The Four Storeyed Country and Other Essays he too uses the metaphor of floors, stairs or foundation. Gonzalez saw that Puerto Rico's foundation though has grown more and more obscure over time, either by Puerto Ricans or other people who have transferred or erased the first and second floors. (Prof. Figueroa, lecture notes of 9/15/98) In Rosario Fe... ...tality and their way of life. The question is how much longer will it going on being this way? Bibliography: Fernandez, Ronald. The Disenchanted Island: Puerto Rico and the U.S. in the Twentieth Century. 2d. ed. (Westport, Conn.: Praeger, 1996). Ferre, Rosario. The House on the Lagoon. (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1995). Glasser, Ruth. My Music is My Flag: Puerto Rican Musicians in New York and their Communities, 1917-1940. (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1996). Gonzalez, Jose Luis. "The Four-Storey Country," in The Four-Storey Country and Other Essays. (Princeton: Marcus Weinner, 1993). Morris, Nancy. , Puerto Rico: Culture, Politics, and Identity. (Westport, Conn.: Praeger, 1995). Rigau, Jorge. Puerto Rico 1900. Santiago, Roberto (ed.), Boricuas: Influential Writings—An anthology. (New York: Ballantine Books, 1995).

Frankenstein Summary Essay

Frankenstein opens with a preface, signed by Mary Shelley but commonly supposed to have been written by her husband, Percy Bysshe Shelley. It states that the novel was begun during a summer vacation in the Swiss Alps, when unseasonably rainy weather and nights spent reading German ghost stories inspired the author and her literary companions to engage in a ghost story writing contest, of which this work is the only completed product. Summary: Letter 1 The novel itself begins with a series of letters from the explorer Robert Walton to his sister, Margaret Saville. Walton, a well-to-do Englishman with a passion for seafaring, is the captain of a ship headed on a dangerous voyage to the North Pole. In the first letter, he tells his sister of the preparations leading up to his departure and of the desire burning in him to accomplish â€Å"some great purpose†Ã¢â‚¬â€discovering a northern passage to the Pacific, revealing the source of the Earth’s magnetism, or simply setting foot on undiscovered territory. Summary: Letters 2–3 In the second letter, Walton bemoans his lack of friends. He feels lonely and isolated, too sophisticated to find comfort in his shipmates and too uneducated to find a sensitive soul with whom to share his dreams. In the brief third letter, Walton tells his sister that his ship has set sail and that he has full confidence that he will achieve his aim. Summary: Letter 4 In the fourth letter, the ship stalls between huge sheets of ice, and Walton and his men spot a sledge guided by a gigantic creature about half a mile away. The next morning, they encounter another sledge stranded on an ice floe. All but one of the dogs drawing the sledge is dead, and the man on the sledge—not the man seen the night before—is emaciated, weak, and starving. Despite his condition, the man refuses to board the ship until Walton tells him that it is heading north. The stranger spends two days recovering, nursed by the crew, before he can speak. The crew is burning with curiosity, but Walton, aware of the man’s still-fragile state, prevents his men from burdening the stranger with questions. As time passes, Walton and the stranger become friends, and the stranger eventually consents to tell Walton his story. At the end of the fourth letter, Walton states that the visitor will commence his narrative the next day; Walton’s framing narrative ends and the stranger’s begins. Summary: Chapter 1 The stranger, who the reader soon learns is Victor Frankenstein, begins his narration. He starts with his family background, birth, and early childhood, telling Walton about his father, Alphonse, and his mother, Caroline. Alphonse became Caroline’s protector when her father died in poverty. They married two years later, and Victor was born soon after. Frankenstein then describes how his childhood companion, Elizabeth Lavenza, entered his family. Elizabeth was discovered by his mother, Caroline, on a trip to Italy, when Victor is about five years old. While visiting a poor Italian family, Caroline notices a beautiful blonde girl among the dark-haired Italian children; upon discovering that Elizabeth is the orphaned daughter of a Milanese nobleman and a German woman and that the Italian family can barely afford to feed her, Caroline adopts Elizabeth and brings her back to Geneva. Victor’s mother decides at the moment of the adoption that Elizabeth and Victor should someda y marry. Summary: Chapter 2 Elizabeth and Victor grow up together as best friends. Victor’s friendship with Henry Clerval, a schoolmate and only child, flourishes as well, and he spends his childhood happily surrounded by this close domestic circle. As a teenager, Victor becomes increasingly fascinated by the mysteries of the natural world. He chances upon a book by Cornelius Agrippa, a sixteenth-century scholar of the occult sciences, and becomes interested in natural philosophy. He studies the outdated findings of the alchemists Agrippa, Paracelsus, and Albertus Magnus with enthusiasm. He witnesses the destructive power of nature when, during a raging storm, lightning destroys a tree near his house. A modern natural philosopher accompanying the Frankenstein family explains to Victor the workings of electricity, making the ideas of the alchemists seem outdated and worthless. Summary: Chapter 3 At the age of seventeen, Victor leaves his family in Geneva to attend the university at Ingolstadt. Just before Victor departs, his mother catches scarlet fever from Elizabeth, whom she has been nursing back to health, and dies. On her deathbed, she begs Elizabeth and Victor to marry. Several weeks later, still grieving, Victor goes off to Ingolstadt. Arriving at the university, he finds quarters in the town and sets up a meeting with a professor of natural philosophy, M. Krempe. Krempe tells Victor that all the time that Victor has spent studying the alchemists has been wasted, further souring Victor on the study of natural philosophy. He then attends a lecture in chemistry by a professor named Waldman. This lecture, along with a subsequent meeting with the professor, convinces Victor to pursue his studies in the sciences. Analysis: Preface and Letters 1–4 The preface to Frankenstein sets up the novel as entertainment, but with a serious twist—a science fiction that nonetheless captures â€Å"the truth of the elementary principles of human nature.† The works of Homer, Shakespeare, and Milton are held up as shining examples of the kind of work Frankenstein aspires to be. Incidentally, the reference to â€Å"Dr. Darwin† in the first sentence is not to the famous evolutionist Charles Darwin, who was seven years old at the time the novel was written, but to his grandfather, the biologist Erasmus Darwin. In addition to setting the scene for the telling of the stranger’s narrative, Walton’s letters introduce an important character—Walton himself—whose story parallels Frankenstein’s. The second letter introduces the idea of loss and loneliness, as Walton complains that he has no friends with whom to share his triumphs and failures, no sensitive ear to listen to his dreams and ambitions. Walton turns to the stranger as the friend he has always wanted; his search for companionship, and his attempt to find it in the stranger, parallels the monster’s desire for a friend and mate later in the novel. This parallel between man and monster, still hidden in these early letters but increasingly clear as the novel progresses, suggests that the two may not be as different as they seem. Another theme that Walton’s letters introduce is the danger of knowledge. The stranger tells Walton, â€Å"You seek for knowledge and wisdom, as I once did; and I ardently hope that the gratification of your wishes may not be a serpent to sting you, as mine has been.† The theme of destructive knowledge is developed throughout the novel as the tragic consequences of the stranger’s obsessive search for understanding are revealed. Walton, like the stranger, is entranced by the opportunity to know what no one else knows, to delve into nature’s secrets: â€Å"What may not be expected in a country of eternal light?† he asks. Walton’s is only the first of many voices in Frankenstein. His letters set up a frame narrative that encloses the main narrative—the stranger’s—and provides the context in which it is told. Nested within the stranger’s narrative are even more voices. The use of multiple frame narratives calls attention to the telling of the story, adding new layers of complexity to the already intricate relationship between author and reader: as the reader listens to Victor’s story, so does Walton; as Walton listens, so does his sister. By focusing the reader’s attention on narration, on the importance of the storyteller and his or her audience, Shelley may have been trying to link her novel to the oral tradition to which the ghost stories that inspired her tale belong. Within each framed narrative, the reader receives constant reminders of the presence of other authors and audiences, and of perspective shifts, as Victor breaks out of his narrative to address Walton directly and as Walton signs off each of his letters to his sister. Analysis: Chapters 1–2 The picture that Victor draws of his childhood is an idyllic one. Though loss abounds—the poverty of Beaufort and the orphaning of Elizabeth, for instance—it is always quickly alleviated by the presence of a close, loving family. Nonetheless, the reader senses, even in these early passages, that the stability and comfort of family are about to be exploded. Shining through Victor’s narration of a joyful childhood and an eccentric adolescence is a glimmer of the great tragedy that will soon overtake him. Women in Frankenstein fit into few roles: the loving, sacrificial mother; the innocent, sensitive child; and the concerned, confused, abandoned lover. Throughout the novel, they are universally passive, rising only at the most extreme moments to demand action from the men around them. The language Victor uses to describe the relationship between his mother and father supports this image of women’s passivity: in reference to his mother, he says that his fathe r â€Å"came as a protecting spirit to the poor girl, who committed herself to his care.† Elizabeth, Justine Moritz, and Caroline Beaufort all fit into this mold of the passive woman.Various metanarrative comments (i.e., remarks that pertain not to the content of the narrative but rather to the telling of the narrative) remind the reader of the fact that Victor’s narrative is contained within Walton’s. Victor interrupts his story to relate how Elizabeth became a part of his family, prefacing the digression with the comment, â€Å"But before I continue my narrative, I must record an incident.† Such guiding statements structure Victor’s narrative and remind the reader that Victor is telling his story to a specific audience—Walton. Foreshadowing is ubiquitous in these chapters and, in fact, throughout the novel. Even Walton’s letters prepare the way for the tragic events that Victor will recount. Victor constantly alludes to his imminent doom; for example, he calls his interest in natural philosophy â€Å"the genius that has regulated my fate† and â€Å"the fatal impulse that led to my ruin.† Victor’s narrative is rife with nostalgia for a happier time; he dwells on the fuzzy memories of his blissful childhood with Elizabeth, his father and mother, and Henry Clerval. But even in the midst of these tranquil childhood recollections, he cannot ignore the signs of the tragedy that lies in his imminent future; he sees that each event, such as the death of his mother, is nothing but â€Å"an omen, as it were, of [his] future misery.† This heavy use of foreshadowing has a dual effect. On the one hand, it adds to the suspense of the novel, leaving the reader wondering about the nature of the awful tragedy that has caused Victor so much grief. On the other hand, it drains away some of the suspense—the reader knows far ahead of time that Victor has no hope, that all is doomed. Words like â€Å"fate,† â€Å"fatal,† and â€Å"omen† reinforce the inevitability of Victor’s tragedy, suggesting not only a sense of resignation but also, perhaps, an attempt by Victor to deny responsibility for his own misfortune. Describing his decision to study chemistry, he says, â€Å"Thus ended a day memorable to me; it decided my future destiny.† Summary: Chapter 4 Victor attacks his studies with enthusiasm and, ignoring his social life and his family far away in Geneva, makes rapid progress. Fascinated by the mystery of the creation of life, he begins to study how the human body is built (anatomy) and how it falls apart (death and decay). After several years of tireless work, he masters all that his professors have to teach him, and he goes one step further: discovering the secret of life. Privately, hidden away in his apartment where no one can see him work, he decides to begin the construction of an animate creature, envisioning the creation of a new race of wonderful beings. Zealously devoting himself to this labor, he neglects everything else—family, friends, studies, and social life—and grows increasingly pale, lonely, and obsessed. Summary: Chapter 5 One stormy night, after months of labor, Victor completes his creation. But when he brings it to life, its awful appearance horrifies him. He rushes to the next room and tries to sleep, but he is troubled by nightmares about Elizabeth and his mother’s corpse. He wakes to discover the monster looming over his bed with a grotesque smile and rushes out of the house. He spends the night pacing in his courtyard. The next morning, he goes walking in the town of Ingolstadt, frantically avoiding a return to his now-haunted apartment. As he walks by the town inn, Victor comes across his friend Henry Clerval, who has just arrived to begin studying at the university. Delighted to see Henry—a breath of fresh air and a reminder of his family after so many months of isolation and ill health—he brings him back to his apartment. Victor enters first and is relieved to find no sign of the monster. But, weakened by months of work and shock at the horrific being he has created, he immediately falls ill with a nervous fever that lasts several months. Henry nurses him back to health and, when Victor has recovered, gives him a letter from Elizabeth that had arrived during his illness. Analysis: Chapters 3–5 Whereas the first two chapters give the reader a mere sense of impending doom, these chapters depict Victor irrevocably on the way to tragedy. The creation of the monster is a grotesque act, far removed from the triumph of scientific knowledge for which Victor had hoped. His nightmares reflect his horror at what he has done and also serve to foreshadow future events in the novel. The images of Elizabeth â€Å"livid with the hue of death† prepare the reader for Elizabeth’s eventual death and connect it, however indirectly, to the creation of the monster. Victor’s pursuit of scientific knowledge reveals a great deal about his perceptions of science in general. He views science as the only true route to new knowledge: â€Å"In other studies you go as far as others have gone before you, and there is nothing more to know; but in scientific pursuit there is continual food for discovery and wonder.† Walton’s journey to the North Pole is likewise a search f or â€Å"food for discovery and wonder,† a step into the tantalizing, dark unknown. The symbol of light, introduced in Walton’s first letter (â€Å"What may not be expected in a country of eternal light?†), appears again in Victor’s narrative, this time in a scientific context. â€Å"From the midst of this darkness,† Victor says when describing his discovery of the secret of life, â€Å"a sudden light broke in upon me—a light so brilliant and wondrous.† Light reveals, illuminates, clarifies; it is essential for seeing, and seeing is the way to knowledge. Just as light can illuminate, however, so can it blind; pleasantly warm at moderate levels, it ignites dangerous flames at higher ones. Immediately after his first metaphorical use of light as a symbol of knowledge, Victor retreats into secrecy and warns Walton of â€Å"how dangerous is the acquirement of knowledge.† Thus, light is balanced always by fire, the promise of new discovery by the danger of unpredictable—and perhaps tragic—consequences. The theme of secrecy manifests itself in these chapters, as Victor’s studies draw him farther and farther away from those who love and advise him. He conducts his experiments alone, following the example of the ancient alchemists, who jealously guarded their secrets, and rejecting the openness of the new sciences. Victor displays an unhealthy obsession with all of his endeavors, and the labor of creating the monster takes its toll on him. It drags him into charnel houses in search of old body parts and, even more important, isolates him from the world of open social institutions. Though Henry’s presence makes Victor become conscious of his gradual loss of touch with humanity, Victor is nonetheless unwilling to tell Henry anything about the monster. The theme of secrecy transforms itself, now linked to Victor’s shame an d regret for having ever hoped to create a new life. Victor’s reaction to his creation initiates a haunting theme that persists throughout the novel—the sense that the monster is inescapable, ever present, liable to appear at any moment and wreak havoc. When Victor arrives at his apartment with Henry, he opens the door â€Å"as children are accustomed to do when they expect a specter to stand in waiting for them on the other side,† a seeming echo of the tension-filled German ghost stories read by Mary Shelley and her vacationing companions. As in the first three chapters, Victor repeatedly addresses Walton, his immediate audience, reminding the reader of the frame narrative and of the multiple layers of storytellers and listeners. Structuring comments such as â€Å"I fear, my friend, that I shall render myself tedious by dwelling on these preliminary circumstances† both remind the reader of the target audience (Walton) and help indicate the relative importance of each passage. Shelley employs other literary devices from time to time, including apostrophe, in which the speaker addresses an inanimate object, absent person, or abstract idea. Victor occasionally addresses some of the figures from his past as if they were with him on board Walton’s ship. â€Å"Excellent friend!† he exclaims, referring to Henry. â€Å"How sincerely did you love me, and endeavor to elevate my mind, until it was on a level with your own.† Apostrophe was a favorite of Mary Shelley’s husband, Percy Bysshe Shelley, who used it often in his poetry; its occurrence here might reflect some degree of Percy’s influence on Mary’s writing.