Saturday, August 31, 2019

Hr Project on Motivation

ELIJAH INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES Thrissur CERTIFICATE FROM THE COLLEGE This is to certify that the project report entitled â€Å"A STUDY ON EMPLOYEE MOTIVATION†Ã¢â‚¬â€œwith special to reference hyderbad industries limited, Thrissur, submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the award of degree of Master of Business Administration of University of Calicut was carried out by Mr. SHAHID KV. Dr. C. T. PAUL Principal CERTIFICATE FROM THE GUIDEThis is to certify that the project report entitled â€Å"A STUDY ON EMPLOYEE MOTIVATION†Ã¢â‚¬â€œwith special to reference hyderbad industries limited, submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the award of degree of Master of Business Administration of University of Calicut was carried out by Mr. SHAHID KV under my guidance. This has not been submitted to any other university or institution for award of any degree/diploma/certificate. Miss. ANITHA. A (Faculty Guide) DECLARATIONI, Shahid kv declare that the project entitled â€Å"A Study on employee motivation of Hyderabad Industries Ltd† submitted to Calicut University in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the award of the degree of master of business administration is a record of original project work done by me during my period of study in Elijah Institute of Management Studies under the able guidance of Miss. ANITHA. A (MBA). I further declare that this project report has not been submitted to any other university/institution/board for award of any degree/diplomaPlace: TrichurSHAHID KV Date: ACKNOWLEDGEMENT First and foremost let me sincerely thank ALMIGHTY for the great opportunity and blessings that he has showered up on me for the successful and timely completion of my project work. I extent my sincere gratitude to Dr. C. T. Paul, Principal, Elijah Institute of studies and Dr. Sandhya. G. nair, Head of the department of management studies, for their kind support and guidance for making my project great succes s. I very great fully wish to forward due respect and thanks to my internal faculty guide Miss. Anitha.A, able guide for the project, for the continuous, creative, valuable and informative support extended to me, without which the project would not have been efficiently completed. I am also thankful to Mrs. Jyothis Rachel and Mr. Vinod A. S [faculty of ELIMS]. I render my whole hearted thanks to all the other respected faculties of the management department, librarian, lab technician and all other office staff for their assistance and co-operation given to me in regard to this work. I am extremely indebted to the management of Hyderabad Industries Limited, Thrissur and Mr.Pradeep kumar, General Manager (works), who gave me the privilege to carry out my project in their distinguished institution. Let me take this opportunity to thank all the Hyderabad Industries Ltd’s staff for their help and co-operation. I thank my parents and all other family members for their valuable and inseparable support in completion of this project. Once again I take this opportunity to convey my sincere thanks to each and every person who helped me directly and indirectly in the successful completion of this project.SHAHID KV TABLE OF CONTENTS |CHAPTERS |CONTENTS . |PAGE NO | |CHAPTER 1 | | | | |(1. 1) INTRODUCTION |1 | | |(1. ) RESEARCH PROBLEM |2 | | |(1. 3) SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY |2 | | |(1. 4) RESEARCH OBJECTIVES |3 | | |(1. 5) RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS |4 | | |(1. ) RESEARCH METHODOLOGY |4 | | | | | |CHAPTER 2 |LITERATURE REVIEW |8 | | | | | | |(3. ) INDUSTRY PROFILE |17 | |CHAPTER 3 |(3. 2) COMPANY PROFILE |22 | | |(3. 3) DEPATMENT PROFILE |26 | | | | | |CHAPTER 4 |(4. ) DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS |32 | | |(4. 2) INFERENTIAL STATISTICS |49 | | | | | |CHAPTER 5 | | | | |(5. ) SUMMARY |53 | | |(5. 2) FINDINGS |54 | | |(5. 3) SUGGESTIONS |55 | | |(5. 4) LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY |56 | | |(5. ) CONCLUSION |57 | | |(5. 6) SCOPE FOR FURTHER RESEARCH |58 | | | | | | |BIBLI OGRAPHY |Ix |LIST OF TABLES |SL: NO: |PARTICULARS |PAGE NO: | | | | | |4. 1. |Response about the support from the HR department |32 | | | | | |4. 1. 2 |Management is interested in motivating the employees | | | | |33 | |4. 1. |The type of incentives motivates more | | | | |34 | |4. 1. 4 |Satisfaction with the present incentives provided by the organization | | | |The company’s attitude in recognizing and acknowledging your work. | |4. 1. 5 | |35 | | |Periodical increase in salary | | | | | | |4. 1. |Job Security existing in the company |36 | | | | | |4. 1. 7 |Relationship with the Co-worker |37 | | | | | |4. 1. |Effective performance appraisal system |38 | | | | | |4. 1. 9 |Effective promotional opportunities in present job | | | | |39 | |4. 0 |Good safety measures existing in the organization | | | | |40 | |4. 11 |Performance appraisal activities are helpful to get motivated. | | | |Support from the co-worker is helpful to get motivated |41 | |4. 2 | | | | |Career develo pment opportunities are helpful to get motivated | | |4. 13 |Opinion about the important factor which motivate the employees |42 | | | | | |4. 14 |The effect of incentives and other benefits in employee performance 43 | | |Involvement of employees in decision making | | |4. 15 | |44 | | | | | | | |45 | |4. 6 | | | | | | | |4. 7 | |46 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |47 | | | |48 |LIST OF CHARTS |SL: NO: |PARTICULARS |PAGE NO: | | | | | |4. 1. |Response about the support from the HR department | | | | |32 | |4. 1. 2 |Management is interested in motivating the employees | | | | | | |4. 1. |The type of incentives motivates more |33 | | | | | |4. 1. 4 |Satisfaction with the present incentives provided by the organization |34 | | |The company’s attitude in recognizing and acknowledging your work. | |4. 1. 5 | | | | |Periodical increase in salary |35 | | | | | |4. 1. |Job Security existing in the company | | | | |36 | |4. 1. 7 |Relationship with the Co-worker | | | | |37 | |4. 1. |Effective performance appraisal system | | | | |38 | |4. 1. 9 |Effective promotional opportunities in present job | | | | | | |4. 0 |Good safety measures existing in the organization |39 | | | | | |4. 11 |Performance appraisal activities are helpful to get motivated. 40 | | |Support from the co-worker is helpful to get motivated | | |4. 12 | |41 | | |Career development opportunities are helpful to get motivated | | |4. 13 Opinion about the important factor which motivate the employees | | | | |42 | |4. 14 |The effect of incentives and other benefits in employee performance | | | |Involvement of employees in decision making |43 | |4. 5 | | | | | |44 | | | | | |4. 6 | |45 | | | | | |4. 7 | | | | | |46 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |47 | | | |48 | LIST OF FIGURES |FIGURE . NO. |INDEX |PAGE NO. | |2. |Maslow’s pyramid |12 | | 3. 2. 1 |ORGANIZATION CHARTs |26-29 | LIST OF APPENDICISES |SL. NO. |INDEX |PAGE NO. | |1. |QUESTIONNAIRE |X | Bibliography BOOKS. 1. Chabra T N â€Å"H uman Resource Management† (2005) revised edition Gangan Kapur, Delhi. 2. Venugopal & Aziz Abdul â€Å"Human Resource Management† (2004) revised edition, 3. Prasad L. M, â€Å"Human Resource Management,† second edition (2005), Sultan Chand & Sons- New Delhi. 4. Kothari C.R â€Å"Research Methodology- Methods and Techniques† 2nd revised edition (2007) New Age International Publishers- New Delhi. Journals 1. HRM Review, July 2008, The ICFI University press, Page No 55-59 2. Management Research, October 2007, ICFAI University press, Page No 37-40 WEBSITE †¢ http://www. allbusiness. com/human-resources/employee-development-employee-productivity/601547-1. html †¢ www. Hil. in †¢ http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Asbestos †¢ http://www. petech. ac. za/robert/reshypoth. htm Questionnaire A STUDY ON EMPLOYEE MOTIVATION Respected madam/sir, As a part of my project I would like to gather some information from you which will help me in an in depth stu dy of project. I would be obliged if you co-operate with me in filling the questionnaire.Since the questionnaire is being used for academic purpose, the information gathered will be strictly confidential. Shahid kv Kindly fill the following: (Please put a tick mark in the appropriate box) 1. Are you satisfied with the support from the HR department? Highly satisfied Satisfied Neutral DissatisfiedHighly Dissatisfied 2. Management is really interested in motivating the employees? Strongly agree Agree Neutral DisagreeStrongly disagree 3. Which type of incentives motivates you more? Financial incentives Non-financial incentives Both 4. How far you are satisfied with the incentives provided by the organization? Highly satisfied Satisfied NeutralDissatisfiedHighly Dissatisfied 5. Please provide the following rates. (5- Strongly agree, 4- Agree, 3-Neutral, 2-Disagree, 1-Strongly disagree) | No |Factors |Rates | | |Reasonable periodical increase in salary | | | |Job security exist in the co mpany | | | |Good relationship with co-workers | | |Effective performance appraisal system | | | |Effective promotional opportunities in the organization | | | |Good safety measures adopted in the organization. | | | |Performance appraisal activities are helpful to get motivated | | | |Support from the co-worker is helpful to get motivated | | | |Company recognize and acknowledge your work | | 6. Rank the following factors which motivates you the most? (Rank 1, 2, 3, 4†¦. respectively) No |Factors |Rank | | |Salary increase | | | |Promotion | | | |Leave | | | |Motivational talks | | | |Recognition | | 7. Do you think that the incentives and other benefits will influence your performance? Influence Does not influence No opinion 8. Does the management involve you in decision making which are connected to your department? Yes NoOccasionally 9. What changes can be made to improve the work place environment? †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚ ¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. Thank you for your kind co-operation

Friday, August 30, 2019

CRM at Minitrex Essay

Implementation of CRM at Minitrex Introduction: Customer Relationship Management is a strategy to develop strong relationships with the customer and to know more about the customer needs. Stronger relationships with the customers will help in the development of the business. CRM helps in understanding the needs of the customers by gathering the information about the customers, and this helps to market and sell the company’s products. CRM makes the use of technology and human resources for the development of the business. By implementing CRM Better customer service can be provided. Sales staff can work effectively. Can discover the new customers and retain the existing ones. For the effective functioning of a CRM, first the organization should understand about their customers and should know their value for the life time. They should also know what their customer’s needs and should develop a strategy to meet those needs. The organization must look after how the information will be saved in the form of data and how it can be used. The stored information can be used for marketing purposes like mail campaigns, sales staff working for selling products, customer service calls etc. CRM links up all those details. Company analysts will look after each aspect and identifies the area that needs better services (Wailgum, 2014). CRM at Minitrex: Minitrex is a company with two major departments involving finance and insurance. George Degas is the director of sales at Minitrex. He appointed Harold Blufmen as the VP of insurance division and Mariella Hopkins as the head of the finance division. Credit administration system that works on the billing and payments of the customers and, General Management system that keeps track of the customers are the two back end systems for the insurance division. A management business centre application was developed by the Finance division in order to help the customer service representatives to track the sales and to provide support to the customers by providing online services like statements and applying for loans through online. Jon Bettman who is appointed as the VP of sales and marketing has created a customer contact system which schedules periodic calls to the customers, feeds data regarding the customers in the insurance and the finance division(Smith, H.A., et al., 2005). The problem at the Minitrex is that customers are receiving the calls multiple times from different sections of the company. In order to prevent this, Customer Relationship Management should be developed which stores all the data from different divisions. A business analyst should be appointed to look after all the data and he should look after the defects of the organization and should develop a strategy to overcome those problems. Sales man must be supported with the guidance by providing training on how to track sales and tracking the new leads of the sales. Team work should be maintained between all the members of the organization starting from the sales man to the head of the organization. All the contact information with the customers should be noted using the technological methods contact system management. Following these guidelines will help the company in implementing the CRM at Minitrex. REFERENCES: Jamalzadeh,M.M., Behravan, N.N., Markhali, A.,& Jouya, S. (2013). Customer Relationship Management Constructs Initiating Successful e- business Strategy for Service- based Companies. Journal of Applied Sciences, 13(1), 60-69. doi: 10.3923/jas.2013.60.69 Smith, H.A., and J. D. Mckeen. â€Å"CRM at Minitrex,† #9-L05-1-002. Queen’s School of Business, January 2005. Reproduced by permission of Queen’s University, School of Business, Kingston, Ontario. Wailgum, Thomas. â€Å"CRM Definition and Solutions.† CIO. Www.CIO.com, n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2014.

Thursday, August 29, 2019

Clovis lithic technology: Investigation of a stratified workshop at the Gault Site Essay

Environmental philosophies Introduction According to Martin (â€Å"Pleistocene Overkill†), what disproves the so- called â€Å"overkill hypothesis†?                  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ The loss of small animals, vertebrates, marine life, aquatic organism and plants, is not anywhere substantiated through fossil records; the records do not indicate the loss of organism mentioned above.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   2. According to Martin, what is the primary cause of mass extinctions during the Late Pleistocene?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   -Extinction is a rapid process that occurs with changing times and climatic conditions as the evolution of new species. This is evidenced by a close examination of fossil records. Partly, this was caused by the prevailing habitant which led to significant extinction of North American horses(Collin & Kay, 1999).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   3. According to the Scientific American Frontiers documentary â€Å"Coming Into America,† how old are the remains of Arlington Springs Woman?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   -In this documentary, the remains are approximately 13,000 years of age.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   4. According to the documentary film â€Å"Coming Into America,† what is the current accepted theory in archeology regarding the identity of the first Americans?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   – A study of â€Å"coming to America† opposes the notion and theory of Clovis, this documentary upholds the theory of Arlington spring. It provides more truth and is better substantiated as opposed to Clovis theory   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   5. According to the documentary film â€Å"Coming into America,† why is the Arlington Springs Woman so puzzling to archeologists?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   -The reason that made scientist to get puzzled is because they had the notion that as earlier as 50, 000 years ago, there was no way a person could have boats, as means of water transport. This is accurately true of any person, who would reflect on the nature of life that people lived 50,000 years ago.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   6. According to the documentary film â€Å"Coming Into America,† what prehistoric stone point was lethal against large animals like mammoths, horses, and bison?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   – Archeologists found an entirely new form of stone point which they named Clovis. This points were at various points located in other geographical sites. They were always found with nothing deeper. Therefore, archeologists came to perceive that the inventors of these points were the very first to be found in this land. At the current times, Dennis Stanford reveals that making of Clovis involved basic processes to be implemented. It was very efficient in hunting down large animals including mammoths and lions which at that time had very heavy teeth and were not able to effectively chew bones as it is the case today(Chapdelaine , 2012). The points had flakes on all their sides, they had characteristics which had thin bases, thus allowing the end points to be joined into the spear shaft. After the name was struck, the shaft was then removed, leaving that particular point embedded. After this, the hunters would apply another load in or der to target their next kill. This proved to be very lethal and efficient in bringing down large animals.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   7. According to archeologist Michael Collins (â€Å"Coming Into America†), what was the number one game animal of the people who lived at Gault 13,000 years ago?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   -It is certain that the people who resided, 13,000 years ago, at Gault, were very active and sophisticated game hunters. They however exploited all the resources at their disposal to ensure that they got food and lived happily. Due to the challenges that they encountered they opted to gather berries and small game animals. Therefore, turtles formed an essential part of their meal. They were normally found at the creek.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   8. According to the documentary film â€Å"Coming Into America,† which South American site has called into question the â€Å"Clovis-first† theory and why?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   – Alan learned that there were multiple discoveries which led to the questioning of the theory of Clovis first theory. There was one site called Monte Verde in Chile, which has led to so many controversies for many years. It is believed to be more than a thousand years older than Clovis. At the same time, there was a site in Topper located in South of Carolina. This site also offers powerful evidence as to why Clovis first theory does not suffice. It shows that people resided in Northern, East, and America even before the Clovis people arrived.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   9. According to archeologist Steve Holen (â€Å"Coming Into America†), what evidence is there that might allow us to push the peopling of America back to 18,000 years?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   -Holen Steve of the Museum of Denever believes that he can drive the American people further by even 18,000 years with the help of mammoth bones exposed at five sites in the US. Critics claim that the bones might have been broken by animals, but Steve shows Alan why it’s impossible.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   10. According to the documentary film â€Å"Coming Into America,† via what Alaskan land bridge is it believed that the Clovis people traveled?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   -For many years it’s assumed that Clovis people originated through Alaska using a bridge from Siberia, they traveled through the south because ice sheets were all over larger part of Canada(W2aters et al., 2011). It is this reason that archeologist have tried to locate any signs of the Clovis people in the Alaska.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   11. According to archeologist Dennis Stanford (â€Å"Coming Into America†), how might the Solutrean people of Europe have traveled to America?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   – Dennis believes that fossils jaw that is found in Chesapeake, suggest how Solutreans got their way through to the northen part of America. Around 15,000-20,000 years, ice-loving walrus could have made their way through the northern part of America. Dennis also believes that the solutreans got to Chesapeake bringing with them their boats which stretched across the waters of the ocean.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   12. According to Guthrie (â€Å"Primitive Man’s Relationship to Nature†), in what ways do primitive cultures differ from modern society?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   – The modern man seems so isolated and disconnected from nature, perhaps due to the advances in nature and evolved styles of living (Bradley et al., 2010). This unnatural attitude is a result of the notion that man, the primitive man, lived in total harmony with nature as evidenced by the Indians. Contrary the current man, there is a notion that primitive man more so the American Indian was so much attuned to nature.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   13. According to Hutchinson (â€Å"The Remaking of the Amerind†), what evidence supports the claim that the notion of Native Americans as â€Å"noble savage† in North America is a myth?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   – This concept faced a lot challenges and criticism with the reality that the Amerind was not meant to be a romantic symbol. Regardless of the brutal attacks of nearly three centuries, that were marked with ‘settler’ and ‘redskin’, the objective the Noble savage could not completely dissipate.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   14. On what bases does Hutchinson reject the claim that the pre-Columbian Amerind did not upset the delicate balance of nature?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   -The core reason is that movements of population started with early wanderers of Asia who passed through Bering Strait. The strict and harsh competition for agricultural land and hunting grounds forced some groups of communities to move to different regions. This led to exhaustion of agricultural among other natural commodities. The prevailing climatic conditions especially in the valley of upper Missouri, led to movements. Therefore the pre-Columbians did not offset nature. References Bradley, B. A., Collins, M. B., Hemmings, A., Shoberg, M., & Lohse, J. C. (2010).  Clovis technology. Ann Arbor, Mich: International Monographs in Prehistory. Chapdelaine, C., & Association des archeÃŒ ologues du QueÃŒ bec. (2012).  Late Pleistocene archaeology & ecology in the far Northeast. College Station: Texas A & M University Press. Collins, M. B., & Kay, M. (1999).  Clovis blade technology: A comparative study of the Keven Davis Cache, Texas. Austin: University of Texas Press. Waters, M. R., Pevny, C. D., & Carlson, D. L. (2011).  Clovis lithic technology: Investigation of a stratified workshop at the Gault Site, Texas. College Station: Texas A & M University Press. Source document

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

The Awakening by choplin and how women were treated in the Victorian Research Paper

The Awakening by choplin and how women were treated in the Victorian era - Research Paper Example The Victorian era can be taken as a good example of the past discrepancies that existed between the wealth of the nation, the national authority of England and its social conditions. Once one peruses the books of history, a significant amount of information can be deciphered concerning this period. One of these that best exemplify the daily life at that era is the book by Kate Chopin. Though not based in England, it gives an impression of the norms at that era; this, the author achieved by the use of the lead character, Edna Pontellier. Women were regarded differently in accordance to their social status. However, they had little overall control and rights in society. They lived in a culture that embraced women as beings of the home. Evaluation The novel by Kate Chopin endeavors to elucidate on the situation of women in the Victorian era. Throughout the novel, a number of themes are presented across that boost the author’s intention of showing the existence of male dominance, or simply depict a male favored culture (Armstrong, p. 5). The title of the novel refers to the rebirth of the main character into her true self. The Awakening contains a considerable amount of information about the nature of gender based relationships present in the Victorian era. ... Whenever this was not the case, society frowned upon the concerned women, as was the fact in Edna Pontellier’s case. Edna yearned for freedom, so as to act and do as she pleased. She yearned for artistic, sexual and monetary freedom. This, however, was not allowed in her culture at that time. This fact can best be exemplified by her choice of going out on a Tuesday rather than entertaining guests at her house (Chopin, p.51). The Victorian era was a time that had adopted a chocking and moralistic garb. The Awakening portrays marriage to have been a significant barrier to happiness, self awareness and individual fulfillment. Typical marriages, at the time, adopted a Tarzan and Jane perspective (Adams et al 2004, p. 24). This is what the lead character of the novel sought to defy. Edna wanted more than what society deemed fair for her and women in general. She frequently thought of herself as being out of place when interacting with other women (Chopin and Karma, p. 35). Rather t han, be confined to the norms of her time, Edna adopted a unique sense of individualism. She concerned herself with fulfilling her own desires rather than concentrating on her home, children and husband. Edna embodied a sense of individualism that was nonexistent in the Victorian era, which was the ambition of a majority of women. Her individuality is illustrated in a number of cases in the novel. One of these instances is at the end of the novel when she refuses to marry Robert Lebrun, a man she adores for the sake of retaining her newly found freedom. This work by Kate Chopin embodies a century old question which takes precedent between the desires of the person or that of the public as a whole. The question takes the form of whether to conform to societal

Research Proposal on Convicted Felons and Time in Prison Paper

Proposal on Convicted Felons and Time in Prison - Research Paper Example Even if a person is accused of felony, he is more likely to find the best legal representative at one of the law firm to clear their name (Saferstein, 2003). Every nation and state has his or her own regulations and laws that govern the felony crime together with their punishment. Generally, the felony crimes are considered serious infractions compared to other crime. Some of the examples of felony crimes include the rape, arson, murder, theft that reaches a given monetary threshold and assault that causes harm to a person (Morgan, M. (2000). Majority of nations and states punish the convicted individuals for lesser crimes such as jail time below one year, community service, and fines. However, for felony criminals, they receive much harsh treatment. It is not strange for a victim convicted for felony to serve long jail terms, large penalty or even both. Additionally, one might be ordered by the court to pay restitution. Restitution is when a person convicted for a given crime is financially compensated. Finally, when the law approves it and the crime is seen to be serious, there is high chance that one receives a death penalty due to co nviction of felony. Depending on the committed felony together with historical factors, a person and his attorney are allowed to reduce the punishment. Specifically, a person is more likely to undergo probation. Probation is the suspended time of jail. Sometime a person can serve a certain jail term before probation, but other times a felony victim can see probation rather than a jail time. Probation does not mean that a person is free (Petherick, Turvey, & Ferguson, 2010). There are conditions that one has to meet like maintaining job and undergoing counseling. Additionally, violating the terms of the probation can lead to severe penalties like imprisonment. For those who are charged with conviction of felony, parole is one the possibilities. Parole is defined as the condition release for

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Theatre comparison on 2 videos Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Theatre comparison on 2 videos - Essay Example In Arthur Miller’s Death of A Salesman, Willy, the main character, visits his boss, Howard, a man who happens to be the son of his prior boss. The scene radiates realism through the actors’ reaction of one another. It begins with Howard when he shows off his wire recorder: â€Å"Didn’t you ever see one of these? Wire recorder† and Willy asks, â€Å"Oh. Can we talk a minute?† but Howard ignores him: â€Å"Records things. Just got delivery yesterday. Been driving me crazy, the most terrific machine I ever saw in my life. I was up all night with it† (Miller.2.76). Howard is speaking animatedly. The pace of his delivery is quick and clipped as he is bursting with excitement, eager to explain every detail to Willy despite Willy’s need to talk to him about a business matter. In response, Willy’s tone is soft and submissive. When he supports the other actor, he is either ignored or shushed sternly like a child (Miller.2.77-78). The pac e and tone of each actor stems from a direct reaction to one another, thus implementing naturalism in the scene. Similarly in Blood Knot by Athol Fugard, Zachariah and Morris, half-brothers living together in South Africa, are brought to life through the actors’ interchange of dialogue through delivery. When they face each other discussing an imaginary woman in grey, their pace is prompt and heated. It sets up the notion that the characters are different from one another when Morris takes the lead on describing the imaginary scene in the park and Zachariah reacts without hesitation (Fugard.23:47-24:45). Zachariah supports Morris’s exhilarant play through a deep, monotone voice. This exchange on a verbal level creates realism because the scene is natural. Natural as defined by occurring in conformity with the ordinary course of nature: not marvelous or supernatural. Side-by-side, the plays incorporate the technique of tone and rhythm of delivery of text on different hei ghts. Howard’s swift pace of delivery exudes selfishness and pride. Later, it even displays boredom or disinterest when he addresses Willy: â€Å"But where am I going to put you, kid?...No, but it’s a business, kid, and everybody’s gotta pull his own weight† (Miller.2.80). However, Morris’s delivered exuberance shows impatient yearning, frustration and anger. He leans forward on the stage, directing his umbrella like an extension of his body then proceeds to stone the imaginary woman with pent up animation (Fugard.24:03-24:47). Immediately following, Morris beats his brother, making it a bizarre, but realistic twist because the previous dialogue set up the nature of the action through tone. There is similarity between the plays that transpire from delivery of speech. Willy and Zachariah are treated inferior by their counterparts, and they respond through dialect. Zachariah is â€Å"a black man who has endured prejudice and hate (â€Å"Blood Knot, † par. 3), but his brother fails to understand Zach’s struggle. During their role-playing, Zachariah commits to a slow pace that conveys eeriness. His tone is deliberately calm to show indifference, mirroring the state in which Morris treats him. There is no sympathy in the actor’s tone. Willy counteracts his opposer through rhythm and delivery as well. He pleads his case, but the desperation holds more weight during his lengthy speech (Miller.54:52-56:43) because the pace is crawling. The actor pauses throughout, which drives the point that Willy is a depressed, forlorn man at the end of his

Monday, August 26, 2019

Mmm17 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Mmm17 - Essay Example In today’s world it has become imperative for organizations to disclose information that support and complement their responsible business claims. An organization that fails to voluntarily disclose its sustainability practices is bound to suffer the consequences as in this age, the stakeholders give immense value to the ethical aspects of the business and what measures an organization takes to give back to its people and the community it operates in. a successful business not only indulges in ethical practices that safeguard the rights of the people and protect the environment, but also makes an effort to relate the information regarding the purpose of each such step taken. Feedback is welcomed and acknowledged to increase a business’s worth in the minds of the stakeholders and the consumers. The changing market dynamics in order to increase business transparency has given birth to many concepts like corporate social responsibility, green marketing, employee rights etc. Corporate social responsibility refers to an organizations voluntary actions to give back to the society it operates in. in this way, businesses ensure that every member of their value chain benefits equally from the business as they are the ones who contribute to the end profit (Jamali & Mirshak, 2007). For example, any organizations involved in dairy products ensure that the farmers are incentivized adequately, the cattle are provided with hygienic conditions and the purification centers follow strict quality standards. Businesses also tend to build the rural areas in order to increase the opportunities for the farmers to generate more crop yield, breed more animals etc. by building schools and health centers in the rural areas the farmers are able to provide their children with better education and health and believe that the business they work with cares for their well-being as well.

Sunday, August 25, 2019

Auditor at Deloitte Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Auditor at Deloitte - Research Paper Example Job security- There is fewer jobs that offer higher salaries and secured job than the job of an accountant. Any kind of business requires an accountant so the scope of landing a job as an accountant is immense. On top of that of one earns a CPA license or a master’s degree then the possibility of landing in a good job increases much further. The job of an accountant in addition to being secure is one where demand for accountants is likely to grow at a steady rate of 13% from 2012 to 2022. The pay package of an accountant is quite high and the minimum education required for being an accountant is a bachelor’s degree in accountancy. Now coming to the choice of Deloitte, Deloitte is one of the big 4 accounting firm. These accounting firms specialize in audit, and other jobs of finance. Over several years Deloitte has merged with several other firms on order to become one of the largest accounting firms on whole world. In 2013 the total annual revenue was $32.4 billion. The firm continued to grow through revision and approx annual growth in 2012 was 8%. The job at Deloitte is one of the most prestigious jobs at one of the most professional services of the world. Deloitte is one of the best places to work in the world (Deloitte). A career in audit at Deloitte is a key link in the financial reporting chain that puts one in the position of trusted advisor to different businesses across different regions. The skills required for the job are analytical skills required for the analysis of the business requirements. In addition one must be thoroughly aware of the audit practices at Deloitte. The job requires analytical skills; good grasp of subject knowledge in addition to understands the needs and requirements of the customers well so that specific solutions can be tailor made for the requirements of the clients. All these activities that need to be done are in keeping and adhering to the highest standard on independence,

Saturday, August 24, 2019

US History and Government Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

US History and Government - Essay Example In 1990, American women would only vote in four Western States (Merchant, Gratton, and Gutmann 703). However, at the end of the century women could vote in all the States in U.S. with many of them intensifying their involvement in politics. Correspondingly, Merchant and his colleagues record that only six percent women were in the paid labor force in the United States (705). At the culmination of the twentieth century, approximately sixty-four percent of women were in the paid labor force. Further, in 1900, women accounted for one percent of lawyers and six percent of doctors, percentages that rose substantially to twenty-nine percent and twenty-six percent respectively. For women who strived for independence, this was a remarkable step in their quest for political and social freedom. During the twentieth century, household income of marginalized groups such as the African Americans improved (Steele 756). As recorded by Steele the gap in earnings between the marginalized Black Americans and Whites decreased (757). In the middle and on the start of twentieth century, blacks hardly earned forty percent of white’s incomes while, at the end of the century, they received eighty percent of what Whites earned. As these elements of discrimination prevailed, the youth from both divides of discrimination suffered as the political authorities disregarded their participation in the political arena and the job market. Most importantly, as Trujillo notes, the youths from the racial minority groups faced intensified opposition in the earth 1999s as compared to the White children (81). The factors that contributed to the revolution of the social and political status of marginalized groups in the twentieth century were majorly legislative in nature. The nineteenth amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1920, guaranteed women’s rights to vote. Trujillo recognizes political change as a critical milestone in the

Friday, August 23, 2019

Are corporations persons with religious freedom rights Case Study

Are corporations persons with religious freedom rights - Case Study Example ) The court observed that the reason of extending these rights to corporations was to protect the right of employees, shareholders and officers of the corporation. Allowing these corporations to enforce RFRA claims serve to protect the religious liberty of the corporation. c) The court also reasoned that corporations would be considered persons with religious freedom rights within the meaning of the RFRA. Non profit organizations are considered persons within the meaning of the RFRA and this should be extended to for profit organizations. Although the main objective of these organizations is to make money they also undertake humanitarian and altruistic endeavors similar to those of non profit organizations. d) The court also noted that the governments mandate on contraception greatly hinders the exercise of religion. In its judgment the court noted that the government already had an existing and functional mandate that was already implemented for non profit organizations and this could be extended to corporations with religious reservations. The government would therefore use the non restrictive mandate for Hobby Lobby (Churchill 2014). a) The most likely impact the outcome in Burwell v Hobby Lobby will have will be the perceived impact on employees and employers. However, the court was quick to point out that the decision concerned the contraception mandate only. Thus the outcome cannot be applied where the employer’s religious beliefs conflict with any other requirement. b) The court also clarified that the decision only applies to closely held corporations which are operated according to the sacred beliefs of its owners. What this means is that all other for profit organizations that are closely held are exempt from providing contraception coverage for its employees (Cohen, Lynch, & Curfman 2014). c) The outcome in this case will also affect the mandate of ACA. Under the ACA, exemptions apply only if the employer qualifies as a religious employer, or

Thursday, August 22, 2019

No More Hiroshima and Slough Poem Comparision Essay Example for Free

No More Hiroshima and Slough Poem Comparision Essay There can be no doubt that â€Å"Slough† and â€Å"No More Hiroshima’s† share a large collection of differences. However, they additionally have similarities. The poem â€Å"Slough† written by John Betjeman and is expressing his hatred for the place. This becomes apparent from the beginning when he ask for â€Å"friendly bombs, come fall on slough. † The satirical humour and juxtaposition of â€Å"friendly† and â€Å"bomb† are ironic and portray a dark image of the place, and this is continued throughout the poem with words such as â€Å"Death†, and â€Å"Hell†. Moreover, the imagery of the poem is ferocious and ghastly which greats a sense of negativity towards Slough. The poem â€Å"No More Hiroshima’s† by James Kirkup shares a similarity with Slough due to the aspect of war. No More Hiroshima’s is constructed around the reconstruction of the city Hiroshima’s after having nuclear bombs released on it. Furthermore, both poets are infuriated by the cities. No More Hiroshima’s begins with the tourist arriving at the station, â€Å"At the station exit, my bundle in hand† this already creates a sense of the poet coming off the train being confused at how busy the station is and how he was expecting to see huge inspirational memorials, however he was astonished and disappointed to see no memorials and compares it to any ordinary Japanese town. The poet in Slough wishes for slough to be obliterated as it says â€Å"come bombs, and blow to smithereens† whereas the No More Hiroshima’s poem doesn’t wish for the place to be wounded as the poet still sees Hiroshima as a precious place but it has just been used in the erroneous way due to commercialization of the demolished city. Consequently I believe this portrays a sense of negativity and is extremely idiosyncratic from the poet Betjeman and this continues throughout the whole poem. In the poem No More Hiroshima’s the poet doesn’t present any characters In a clear manner. Therefore he can talk about the place in a more general manner. Conversely in Slough the poet introduces characters as he feels he has to take his emotions out on the people not the city as it says for example â€Å" and get that man with double chin, who’ll always cheat and always win, who washes his repulsive skin In women’s tears,† the poet here is vehement that the people are additionally a cause for the failure of Slough whereas the in No More Hiroshima’s there isn’t blame on the people.

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

American jail Essay Example for Free

American jail Essay Prejudice is defined as â€Å"a partiality that prevents objective consideration of an issue (â€Å"Prejudice,† 2005). † A person may assume, for example, that all individuals suffering from AIDS are filthy and must be ignored; or all Africans are unintelligent. The Nazis had similarly supposed that all Jews are worthless and stupid, and therefore must be killed. As a matter of fact, prejudice can be based on gender, religions, cultures, geographical backgrounds, as well as race. Social psychologists define it as an attitude. It could be positive as well as negative. The positive type of prejudice is understood to result in the white privilege. It may also be directed at beautiful or rich people regardless of color. The negative attitude could similarly be directed at an individual or an entire society. Regardless, our attitudes known as prejudices are usually not founded in reason. People who foster prejudices normally believe that they are right to have negative attitudes toward certain individuals or groups of people. Such people justify their prejudices by offering various examples to show that they are right. A white man who has visited an American jail may say that he knows that all African Americans are bad people because most of the people in jail are African Americans. Racism – which is a form of a prejudice – thus intellectualizes the negative attitude of people toward people. Racism is actually defined as a belief system which states that individuals can be superior to others on the basis of race. This theory has led to much violence and genocide in the world. Still, most people have preconceived notions about other people with respect to their races. It takes a high level of education, perhaps, to believe in the essential equality of mankind. References Prejudice. (2005). WordNet: Princeton University Cognitive Science Lab.

The Application Of Clinical Effectiveness In Physiotherapy

The Application Of Clinical Effectiveness In Physiotherapy SCIPS (2006) defined Physiotherapy as a science-based health care profession which emphasises the use of physical approaches in the promotion, maintenance and restoration of an individuals physical, psychological and social well-being through various interventions, supported and influenced by evidence of clinical effectiveness and practitioners may work independently or as members of the health care team. Physiotherapy and rehabilitation services in Oman is still in the young phases where most of our practices follows the traditional method, and evidence based approach involves reading international journals, research papers and attendance to seminars, conferences and postgraduate courses. The services have not been accompanied by a comparable increase in systematic evidence. Few practices have been evaluated either for their efficacy in carefully controlled circumstances or for their effectiveness in typical clinical situations, however to keep abreast with our clinical approach and to attain clinical effectiveness in our services, we need to develop strategies and audits to identify areas of improvement and ways of implementing effective and evidence based care. The essay will demonstrate the action plan by using the quotes of Graham (1996) on clinical effectiveness. The impact of guidelines, auditing and cost- effectiveness will also be discussed within sections of this essay. Clinical Effectiveness NHS Quality Improvement Scotland (NHS QIS 2005) described clinical effectiveness as the extent to which specific clinical interventions do what they are intended to do, i.e. maintain and improve the health of patients securing the greatest possible health gain from the available resources. They further described clinical effectiveness as critical thinking about actions, questioning whether it has the desired result, and about making positive changes to practice. They also continued to describe clinical effectiveness by using the same quotes as Graham 1996. National Health Service (2009) aimed to achieve clinical effectiveness strategy by developing a culture where clinical effectiveness is seen as being integral to the day-to-day provision of clinical care. Furthermore, through the development of an integrated work programme, setting out the structures, priorities, and implementing and monitoring national guidance, standards and policy. Evidence -Based Practice. Evidence-Based Medicine (EBM) is the process of systematically reviewing, appraising and using clinical research findings to aid the delivery of optimum clinical care to patients (Belsey J, Snell T(2009). Hospital management.net (2005) in their review of rehabilitating physiotherapy stated that evidence-based practice is currently becoming a basic ethical stand in physiotherapy and other fields of healthcare. The purpose of evidence-based practice is to make any decision-making on diagnosis and treatment proceeds from proven knowledge in the field concerned. Herbert R et al (2005) in their review of practical evidence-based physiotherapy pointed out that research alone is not enough, it is most effective when patients, health professionals and policy makers bring to their decisions a range of values, preferences, experiences and knowledge. Clinical effectiveness as quoted by Graham (1996) the right persons, doing the right thing, the right way, in the right place, at the right time with the right result The philosophy in this essay involves team members collecting knowledge of the available service, and then using evidence from a wide range of sources to inform the outcome, linked to the priorities facing the profession. Also develop frameworks to guide ongoing development such as competency framework, and an integrated care pathway, through implementation of patient care knowledge. The process for development will be timely and detailed, and will be actively disseminated using strategic planning to promote implementation and later will be evaluated. Success for the development of clinical effectiveness and evidence-based care would be for the team to experience a constructive and enabling process that contributes to their continuing professional development and progression of research knowledge and skills. The following sections will apply the parameters of Grahams quote to the practice of physiotherapy and rehabilitation through clinical effectiveness. The right persons-(competence) Epstein and Hundert (2002) defined professional competence as the habitual and judicious use of communication, knowledge, technical skills, clinical reasoning, emotions, values, and reflection in daily practice for the benefit of the individual and community being served The therapist has to be fully qualified and competent to be able to make decisions for therapeutic interventions, identify and analyse the patients condition, a particular clinical problem, should be able to identify and define standards relevant to clinical work, and have the knowledge of the subsequent intervention that might improve outcome. The right thing (evidence based practice resources) Graham (1996) quoted that evidence-based practice is about doing the right things right, and Muir Gray (1997) supported the emphasis on the process rather than on the result. Evidence can be gathered from a range of resources including published guidelines, journals articles, conferences, books, peer reviews, client feedbacks and other recourses from libraries. In order to attain the evidence based practice resources the social value must be identified and the impact of provider values on access to services and quality of care should be understood. Rebecca Broughton (2001) stated that clinical guidelines are systematically developed statements designed to help practitioners and patients decide on appropriate healthcare. It stated that guidelines reduce unacceptable or undesirable variations in practice and provide a focus for discussion among health professionals and patients. Furthermore, Van der Wees P and Mead J(2004) in their study on framework for clinical guideline development in physiotherapy concluded that clinical guidelines are a valuable resource for effective clinical practice and are important tools for clinical effectiveness and evidence based practice, and has the potential to improve the quality of patient care. The right way (skills and competence) The team will work collaboratively to deliver a new policy as per the needs through an evidence based approach system and evaluate new policy in the context of local and national priorities and critically review the nature of evidence in the context of the working environment. The right way to develop skills and competence and the necessary step will be observed such as; time to develop the services, required post training for the therapists, duration of training and resources such as current equipment, the evidence based researched journals and the financial implication. Protocols or specification must be developed and updated by ensuring staff development such as participation in Continuing Medical Education (CMEs) and ensuring confidence of current knowledge and skills through evidence based practice. Patients dignity and privacy must be equally maintained in all contexts of intervention. The right place (location of treatment/services) This will involve team work to audit and identify the geographical regions that need developing and observe the clinical practice, thus includes identifying priority areas of work to deliver the strategy, The performance will be audited to measure the quality of care the patient experienced including the effectiveness of implementing the best available evidence and then benchmarked against pre-set standards, changes will then be implemented where needed. The clinical audit process seeks to identify areas for service improvement, develop and carry out action plans to rectify or improve service provision and then to re-audit to ensure that these changes have an effect. (Wikipedia). The right time (provision of treatment/services) The team will determine and assess the clinical needs of care and interventions so as to develop the appropriate delivery of services as per the requirements and assess the cost effectiveness of the service delivery. The status of the current services, the type of patients, clinical intervention, time process, duration of treatment and location should be reviewed. Hurley et al (2009) in their study on effectiveness and clinical applicability of integrated rehabilitation programs for knee osteoarthritis showed that correct integrated rehabilitation programmes involving exercise and self-management are more clinically and cost effective and may be the best way of managing the large and increasing number of people suffering chronic knee pain. Another example from Santos et al (2004) in their project implementing clinical evidence in the management of coronary care provided a foundation for the development of a management strategy by using a multidisciplinary team approach, involving updating guidelines and resources. A positive outcome of the project was a reduction in hospital admission. An example in our local services was seen in a study of rehabilitation and management of elderly individuals following stroke which required an integrated approach from a multidisciplinary team. This minimised readmission of chronic cases and proved cost effective. Cost-effectiveness analysis should be done to address and ensure the efficient use of recourses and compare the financial costs of therapies whose outcomes can be measured purely in terms of health effect. (Alan Haycox 2009). Ceri. P. (2001) stated that one such method for measuring the extent of health gains is the quantity adjustment life year (QALY). The right result (clinical effectiveness/ maximising health gain) The results should be identified and reported to assess the benefits and patients satisfaction. The appraised research has to have valid and relevant information in the overall results that could be of clinical benefit safe, effective, cost beneficial and when used on the general population will make a difference. Hence health care authorities should develop appropriate use of evidence-based, standardized processes and centers of excellence to support easy reach of health care through a multidisciplinary care team of physiotherapy and rehabilitation. CONCLUSION This essay has discussed the mechanism of clinical effectiveness and evidence based practice in the context of physiotherapy and rehabilitation service. The essay has reflected on the needs and future expectations in the provision of a safe and effective care on a national scale. It has been found that in the context of providing effective rehabilitation, the implementation of up-to-date guidelines, auditing and cost evaluation are all paramount for the assessment of clinical effectiveness. In conclusion, clinical effectiveness in physiotherapy and rehabilitation services uses an integrated approach and can be thought of as the sum of the right person; as being the competent skilled therapist, backed with the right evidence, protocols and guidelines (the right way). In addition, an efficient well equipped environment. An ongoing review of such intervention and approach is required to evaluate and further improve the results of the provided service.

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Jess Martin The Theme Of The Outsiders :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Outsiders, an enthralling tale by S.E. Hinton, is an excellent story about the hardships and triumphs experienced by the Greasers and the Socs, two rival gangs. This novel suggests the stories ¹ content because the Greasers are a gang of social outcasts and misfits. This novel ¹s theme is very specific; people, no matter what their social background, strive for the same goals and experience the same disappointments. This novel shows this theme throughout a detailed story line.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The fictional novel is set in a moderate-size city, possibly near Texas, in the late 1960 ¹s. Ponyboy, the main character, lives with his brothers as a greaser. One day Ponyboy and Johnny, Ponyboy ¹s best friend, get jumped by a group of Socs. The Socs start to drown Ponyboy in a fountain. Johnny, realizing they might kill Ponyboy, kills Bob, one of the Socs with his switchblade. Johnny and Ponyboy run to a fellow Greaser, Dally, who is always in trouble with the law. Dally helps them by giving them some money, a gun, and a place to hide. They hide in a church outside of town for a week until Dally says it ¹s okay to come out. They go out to eat and when they get back to the church they find it burning. When they see that there are kids inside and the fire could have been started by their cigarettes, they run inside to save the kids. Johnny and Dally are hurt in the fire and taken to the hospital. They are hailed as heroes in the local paper. Dally breaks out of the hospital to fight in a rumble against the Socs. While the Greasers beat the Socs, Johnny dies in the hospital. When Dally finds out he goes out and robs a grocery store. When the cops pull up he pulls out an empty gun so the cops shoot him.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The theme of this novel is that all people are set back at times and they all want the same basic things. This theme is expressed in the novel several times. Disappointments are shown when Bob dies and the Socs grieve for him, when Ponyboy ¹s parents die and they are upset, and when Johnny dies and it disturbs the Greasers. It is shown that the Greasers and Socs strive for the same goals when Darry, Ponyboy ¹s older brother, tells him that he should succeed in school and make something of himself, and

Monday, August 19, 2019

Teaching Writing :: Reflective Writing Education Feminism Essays

Teaching Writing As I look back over the course of this semester, the image that I get is one of the murky variety. It is difficult to identify although I have felt its presence for almost four months now. There have been many moments when I have waited for the insights to come, for the reading and the writing to mesh. And instead, I felt like I was lost in a fog that was sometimes dense, other times only misty. The worst part is that the fog is pervading a familiar place and once it clears I will be disappointed with myself because I should have known exactly where I was. What troubles me is why I do not know where I stand, after a semester of studying concepts I believe in. My hopes for myself in this class have not been met (for which I hold myself entirely responsible). I spent the last few months searching for answers in the material, in my dialogues with my classmates and coworkers, in my writing and through my thinking. As a feminist and a critical pedagogue I thought I would surely come to some grand conclusions, with all these theories as my bedfellows. But instead I feel like I have abandoned and failed my agenda: to better learn the theory and grow because of it. This is not to say that I have not learned anything, or not grown from the experience of this class. I know and feel that I have been changed; I am just not certain how. I look back at my reaction papers and I only see doubts. Questioning the people whose projects I admire, whose goals are not so different than mine, who know so much more than I do. And yet each paper that I have written criticizes and tries to poke holes. This sense of being lost, of not knowing is my own fault. I did not allow myself to engage with the writers. It has only been at the end, by doing my research paper and reading the articles about race that I finally felt like there was a place for me this course. It has been an alienating experience to see my peers thriving with our coursework while I felt like a grumpy old dwarf, shouting à ¬What about me?!à ® And then, a couple weeks ago, when we started reading Race, Rhetoric, and Composition, I felt like the fog was beginning to shift.

Sunday, August 18, 2019

Essay --

Although the European Union consists of a large variety of institutions, the most important institution is the European Commission. Established in 1958 and based in Luxemburg and Brussels, this hybrid institution (executive and bureaucratic) â€Å"epitomizes supranationalism and lies at the center of the EU political system† (Dinan, 2010, p. 171). It has a substantial bulk of responsibilities and carries out these responsibilities with a vast number of constituents, acting as the executive for the EU. These responsibilities include anything from drafting and initiating policy to managing the financial framework of the EU, and can have a large impact on the other institutions of the EU. In order to â€Å"promote the general interests of the Union,† the Commission strives to unify the interests of the member states and is continually working for implementation and harmonization of EU law (Dinan, 2010, p. 191). Although not the most popular, in the sense that â€Å"Europeans generally view the Commission as power-hungry, insensitive to their concerns, and subversive of national political systems,† the Commission carries out responsibilities that play a key role in EU policy on a daily basis (Dinan, 2010, p. 171-172). These responsibilities include drafting and initiating policy, supervising the enforcement of the acquis communautaire and other legislation, managing the budget, and representing the interests of the EU internationally. Given its core position within the structure of the EU (kind of as an overseer of the EU as a whole), the Commission has developed active relations with the other institutions in order to carry out these responsibilities. Although other institutions also play an active role in the implementation of EU policy, no othe... ...itiate policy, supervise the enforcement of the acquis communautaire and other legislation, manage the budget, and represent the interests of the EU internationally. Although it may not have the final say in arbiting law, it has quite a lot of influence on the Council and ECJ due to its knowledge on the acquis communautaire and EU law. Due to its high volume of responsibilities, the Commission must have a large number of experts in order to fulfill them. If anything about drafting or initiating law is in question, there will always be an expert that can answer it, whether it is a DG or advisory committee. Through this network of responsibilities and experts, the Commission has become the most important institution by being able to effectively â€Å"implement a range of EU policies and programs;† one of the most prominent goals of the European Union (Dinan, 2010, p. 202).

Saturday, August 17, 2019

Responsibility in “The Great Gatsby” Essay

The character qualities of individuals has become a popular theme in literature. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s book, The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald recognizes the conflict between wealth and responsibility. In the book the narrator, Nick, describes how two of the main characters, Tom and Daisy, use their wealth to hide from what the poor must face everyday. Tom and Daisy lived on the banks of the East Egg, where they enjoyed the finer things in life. And no matter what happened they always seemed to care only of themselves. In the telling of Tom and Daisy’s actions, Nick also seems to implicate that, in general, people and society use their wealth to hide behind. Tom, Daisy, and people in society dodge responsibility and reality with the aid of their great wealth. In a quote said by Nick he states, ‘They were a careless people, Tom and Daisy–they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made†¦.’ This quote can be related to a cartoon given to us as a thought provoking reference. The cartoon is of a man and woman sitting in an all glass house and the inscription reads, ‘Of course, living in an all-glass house has its disadvantages†¦ but you should see the birds smack it.’ In a twisted way these two quotes say almost the same thing. Nick talks of Tom and Daisy who retreat to their house and money when all hell breaks loose around them and in the cartoon you can see the two people sitting comfortably watching the world around them ‘crash and burn.’ Also, in the book Tom admits that he didn’t realize his actions could be so harmful, and like the birds being hurt, the builder probably never intended to increase the number of shoe-box coffins. The cartoon refers to having ‘disadvantages’ and like the book, wealth came with a certain amount of public notice. It is a little hard to lead a wealthy life and show it without the involvement of the public; and like the glass house, with clear walls it is a little hard to find privacy. Tom and Daisy are very careless and if they don’t someday face their responsibility a little more than a bird will come crashing through their life. Tom and Daisy are the perfect examples of the ‘poor little rich kid’ syndromes. Both of them have grown up with wealth and that is all they know. Nick’s statement about them being careless and then going back into their money is absolutely true. Tom and Daisy have grown to see their wealth as a security blanket and now they can’t give it up. The biggest example of this in the book occurs right after Daisy kills Myrtle. Daisy has no idea what to do about what she did so she tries to ignore it. All she knows is wealth, so she retreats to safety and hopes everything will go away. Daisy has completely neglected her responsibility. She and Tom both act like little irresponsible little children that have no focus in life; only to continue to pamper themselves. Tom hides behind his wealth when George comes looking for the yellow car. He only cares about himself and he knows what George is going to do, yet he sent him to Gatsby anyway. Tom treats George very badly from the beginning and when he doesn’t stop to be helpful now he loses all hopes of ever joining reality and taking on a little responsibility. Nick primarily takes and jab at society when he makes his statement of the wealthy ‘hiding.’ In the writing of this book Fitzgerald probably took what he saw around him and turned it into a book. Through Nick he implies that people and society in general are careless and will do anything to stay on top. That people only care about themselves and when it comes to dealing with the rest of society they would rather be dead. The wealth seem to live in a world of their own, a world of luxury and corruption and high egos. In the book this world seemed to exsist in Jay Gatsby’s backyard. All of the wealthy would gather in his yard to have their parties, a place of security surrounded by their own kind, a place where they could forget reality and enjoy a good time. Jay Gatsby seemed to have seen this corruption among the wealthy because he stood apart from this crowd and only watched, probably more out of curiosity and fascination than from a lack of need to ‘party.’ Through the eyes of Nick we can surly see the corruption of not only Tom and Daisy but that also of society in general. In today’s time we are all taught to take responsibility for ourselves. How ever in the ‘lost generation’ most people have fallen through the cracks and  were left to teach themselves their own morals. In The Great Gatsby such a society exists, Tom and Daisy especially have been set out on their own and nobody ever removed their ‘security blanket’ and thus they have become attached to it. Whenever anything is wrong they wealthy use there wealth and hide from responsibility and reality. As did O.J. Simpson in the killing of his wife. If we could all just learn to stand up for ourselves and face the facts then perhaps this ‘could be a better place.’

Friday, August 16, 2019

Book The First Of Hard Times Essay

In book the first of Hard Times, Dickens introduces many different philosophical ideas that many believed in, in the time of Dickens’ life in England. Towns were developing around coalmines and the blast furnaces took over farming as the main employer of labour. Roads and canals were built to connect industrial areas with cities. One of these industrial areas is, in the book, Coketown. As more public buildings developed, living conditions in towns and cities decreased. Most were cramped, damp, and poorly heated and much malnutrition and disease started to spread all over the country. Dickens used his writing to show his readers what was behind the gleaming concealment of Victorian society. Behind these forces was Utilitarianism, a philosophy that emphasised the practical usefulness of things. This meant that art, imagination, play and entertainment were not valued because they had no practical use. Dickens believed that all these things that made human beings diverse, interesting, free creative, happy and warm hearted were being driven out by the values of a factory system geared only to productivity and profit. Dickens satirised abuses of the utilitarian theory. In book the first, facts and figures are introduced right at the beginning. An authoritative voice is laying down the law. ‘Teach these boys and girls nothing but facts’ The speaker’s appearance is described as his voice is ‘inflexible, dry and dictatorial’; his hair is ‘bristled’. These descriptions give us emphasis to the importance this person places on facts. The children resemble rows of: ‘†¦ and swept with their eyes the inclined plane of little vessels then and there arranged in order, ready to have imperial gallons of facts poured into them until they were full to the brim. ‘ The speaker stresses facts, but the narrator is fanciful, turning factual details into metaphors. ‘The square forehead is a wall’ ‘Eyes are curves’ ‘His hair is a plantation of firs’ These suggest that Dickens try’s to make the speaker’s appearance fanciful when the speaker’s whole life is based around facts and figures. There is much repetition that seems to mock the idea of sticking to facts in a lively way. ‘†¦ Square coat, square legs, square soldiers. ‘ Dickens is trying to suggest that his appearance as well as his personality is factual and he has no fancy in him. Much of the plot arises from the speaker’s (later we find out his name is Mr Gradgrind) determination to teach his own children according to his ‘system’ of facts and no feeling or imagination. ‘This is the principle on which I bring up my own children, and this is the principle on which I bring up these children. ‘ When he boasts about it on the first page he is ironically unaware of how much sorrow is to be reaped and garnered from this teaching. This factual life stands for a whole view of life, which the novel will condemn.

Thursday, August 15, 2019

Reasons behind Self Induced Harm in Cases of Bulimia Nervosa

Bulimia nervosa is considered as an eating disorder which is usually mentioned together with anorexia nervosa and binge eating disorders; this so due to the fact that all three pertain to abnormalities in the eating patterns or tendencies of an individual which cause considerable risk (American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2005). An eating disorder may not sound alarming, but in fact, severe disregard on over overall health may lead to dire consequences, especially in the case of bulimia.In addition, not only can malnutrition be caused by such a disorder, but cardiovascular and deadly complications may also arise (APA, 2005). Not only is bulimia referred to as a type of eating disorder, but it is also considered to be a severe mental health issue characterized by frequent events of binge eating and subsequent purging (Cooper, Todd, & Wells, 2009). This means that a massive amount of food is consumed by the individual with bulimia, and afterwards the food taken is expelled through v arious means of purging.Self-induced vomiting, misuse of laxatives, and misuse of diuretics are considered to be the three main categories of how an individual achieves purging (Mehler, 2003). Due to such actions, the condition of the body would be in a state of severe imbalance, hence causing various symptoms or different levels of severity. The symptoms of bulimia are the occurrence of a continuous case of sore throat, inflamed salivary glands, puffy cheeks, deterioration of the teeth, gastroesophageal reflux disorder, intestinal disorder, kidney disorder, and severe body dehydration (APA, 2005).Bulimia can be differentiated from anorexia and binge eating on the basis of how eating is perceived and reacted upon by the individual, thus having different sets of symptoms. Unlike individuals with anorexia who avoid eating at all costs, bulimics eat a lot of food which is taken out afterwards; its difference to basic binge eating disorder is that instead of purging, individuals with bi nge eating disorder simply reach a state of regret afterwards (Grange & Lock, 2007).It is evident that a person that suffers from bulimia does significant physical harm to their bodies. Also, one must also take into account that individuals with bulimia are also commonly diagnosed with other psychiatric conditions including cases of current and long standing psychiatric disorders; these disorders may include depression, dissociative identity disorder, substance abuse disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, post traumatic stress disorder, social phobia, and borderline personality disorder (Cooper et al. , 2009).The reason as to why they commit such acts of binge eating and purging, which does not only wear down and considerably weaken the body but also initiates fatal risks and complications, must therefore be identified. Based on statistics, out of 100,000 individuals, 26. 5 females and 0. 8 males are bulimics (Treasure, Schmidt, & Furth, 2003). The presence of such effects and sym ptoms upon an individual with bulimia makes it crucial for people to understand the core reasons so as to be able to identify peers who are currently suffering or at risk from the disorder and to provide proper aid in recovery and treatment as well.The fact that the actions done by bulimics are fueled by social, psychological, and emotional factors, especially their personal appraisal and their concept of ideal physical form, is rather becoming the common perception (Treasure et al. , 2003). However, current trends in studies also suggest genetically based explanations to eating disorders (Grice et al. , 2002). Developments in genetics and biological studies have allowed the possibility of bulimia as being directed by more than the social and behavioral factors, contrary to what was previously thought of.Given the extent of problems and risks as presented, awareness towards the details regarding bulimia nervosa is definitely beneficial. In relation to this, information regarding the causative agents as to why individuals with bulimia commit such harm towards themselves must be established. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to identify the reasons as to why individuals with bulimia nervosa cause harm towards their own bodies. Methods In order to gather sufficient information regarding bulimia nervosa, a preliminary search for basic information from the internet was done. By browsing credible medical websites such as womenshealth.gov, medicinenet. com, mentalhealth. com, and nlm. nih. gov also known as Medline plus, basic familiarization with the disease or disorder was established. It must be understood, however, that this step was merely done in order to learn the basic terms and facts regarding bulimia. It was decided that a brochure on eating disorders from the American Psychiatric Association (APA) is to be utilized as a source since the association is credible and the information is well-presented. Afterwards, a search for online journals related to bulimia nervosa was conducted in several medical, genetic, and psychiatric sites.Related journals were acquired from the databases of American Journal of Genetics (AJG), Archives of General Psychiatry (AGP), and the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM). Books on bulimia nervosa and eating disorders were provided by several peers. Examples of such books, which are generally recent releases and therefore provide updated information, are Treating Bulimia Nervosa and Binge Eating: An Integrative Metacognitive and Cognitive Therapy Manual by Cooper, Todd and Wells (2009), and Treating Bulimia in Adolescents: A Family Based Approach by Grange and Lock (2007). DiscussionBulimia nervosa is considered to be caused by interconnected aspects, including those of psychosocial and biological origins (Treasure et al. , 2003). Thus, it is possible to assess the probable reasons as to why individuals with bulimia nervosa resort into committing harm towards their own bodies. In this sense, insig hts into the reasons can be efficiently acquired through the review of factors based on psychosocial and biological sources in a separate manner. Problems during early periods of the life of an individual may cause an individual to develop bulimia later on in life.Concerns regarding weight and appearance may develop early during childhood (Keel, 2006). An example of how early cases of problems in self-appraisal arise may be observed in the association between parents and children since these are the first sources of social interactions that an individual is commonly exposed to. When a child is taken good care of by his or her parents, he or she would come to perceive that he or she is rather important or precious; in the opposite sense, a child that is neglected tends to think that he or she is unwanted for several reasons (Treasure et al. , 2003).In this sense, the child might be led to think that something about his or her physical characteristics is undesirable. Furthermore, teas ing and possible mistreatment from the peers of a child regarding his or her appearance, especially their weight, may become imprinted in their thoughts as they age and develop. Thus, early on, a child may possibly develop a desire to lose weight and improve appearance (Treasure et al. , 2003). The point of displeasure towards the current state of appearance is commonly further established during adolescence as this is the phase wherein attraction between genders become apparent.It is also during adolescence that the actions are more controlled by the individual rather than by parents or authoritative figures; adolescents become aware of their capacity to question and to refuse to follow such figures. However, due to the fact that they are still not that knowledgeable, they are considerably prone to mistakes. If an adolescent develops a problem such as bulimia nervosa, it has been connected with increased risks of developing physical as well as mental disorders upon entering early a dulthood (Johnson et al., 2002). In addition, findings of a study done in 2003 reveal that the incidence of bulimia nervosa on adolescents increases as years pass; the main reason as to why teenagers choose to commit actions of risk-related behavior is their heavy focus and attention on physical appearance including weight (Forman, 2005). As a side note, adult incidences of the disorder are very much similar to the adolescent incidences in terms of risk factors, symptoms, and development (Cooper et al. , 2009).All of this information point towards the validation of interplay between psychosocial factors as a potential cause of bulimia nervosa. As a result, it becomes evident that a major reason as to why people with bulimia nervosa harm themselves is to maintain a good physical image, possibly in order to prevent potential negative judgment from other people and to portray a positive public appraisal based on appearance. For those with bulimia nervosa, keeping the ideal physical ima ge is vital and certainly of utmost importance, even more than their own welfare in the long run.In relation to this, the concept of keeping an ideal image may be directed by culture, personal cognitive tendencies, and/or derived from stressful events (Treasure et al. , 2003). Having defined the main reason behind the harm caused by individuals towards themselves based upon psychosocial factors, it is now important to assess the biologically based reasons behind it. As with numerous diseases and disorders, there is a current trend of discovering or determining the genetic triggers which initiate the onset of such problems.As mentioned, current research has revealed that there is a genetic or biological basis in the occurrence of bulimia nervosa (APA, 2005). In areas of medicine and genetics, a complex disease is one that is considered to involve the interaction of gene-based and environmental factors. Thus, such diseases cannot be passed on simply from parent to offspring; however, the tendency to develop susceptibility can be passed on and can be induced by mutations (Treasure et al. , 2003). In this sense, a person that is susceptible to develop bulimia nervosa is depicted to have genes or alleles that allow such susceptibility.Alone, a susceptibility gene cannot cause the development of the disease, but upon the addition of additional susceptibility genes, the interaction between the collection of genes leads to disease development (Treasure et al. , 2003). In fact, a study was conducted in order to assess the specific sets of chromosomes that confer bulimia. In the said study, it was mentioned that a portion of bulimia nervosa cases does indeed have a familial bearing, suggesting that its incidence in families with members that has bulimia is observed to be rather connected in terms of successive or prior cases of bulimia in the family (Cynthia et al., 2003). Given this, the researchers opted to analyze a significantly large sample wherein genetic data was collected and analyzed in order to determine where the susceptibility gene of bulimia is located. Exactly 308 families were used as sample, wherein a linkage analysis of the families regarding heritable genetic characteristics of bulimia, such as vomiting, was conducted. The results of the study from linkage analysis have shown that a dominant linkage results was observed between D10S1430 and D10S1423, implying that the effects of chromosome 10p in families with bulimia are the common denominator (Cynthia et al., 2003). With such proof of genetic basis in developing bulimia, especially since it was proven to be heritable, it becomes evident that there is indeed a biological basis in the presence of the disorder. In this sense, an individual may cause harm to themselves due to genetic interaction between susceptibility genes which confer bulimia and its symptoms, for example when genes that code for self-induced vomiting are activated, the individual will tend to induce vomiting upo n him or herself.Since bulimia can be considered as rather hereditary, environmental implications of affected families may also cause other members with sufficient susceptibility genes to develop bulimia. In this sense, there are mainly two identified reasons behind the harm those individuals with bulimia cause upon themselves. The first reason is in order to maintain a desired physical appearance of weight as dictated by personal, cognitive, stress, or cultural factors.The second reason is that the activation of certain genes, especially those in chromosome 10p, may cause the development of symptoms related to bulimia, which in turn may cause the development of the overall disorder. These results are not surprising due to the fact that it has long been a common thought that bulimia has psychosocial roots. Also, regarding the development of a genetically based causative agent to bulimia, it is a trend today, with the vast development in genetics, that certain diseases may be trigger ed by genetic factors.However, as mentioned, pointing out these reasons directly is rather beneficial so that individuals will become aware of the possible causes of developing bulimia and continuous suffering due to the disorder. In effect, individuals can practically assess cases where bulimia can already be detected and also provide preventive support to individuals which may have a higher risk of developing the disorder. In terms of future implications and significance of such results, these data can provide further insight and proof that bulimia nervosa, resulting in self-induced harm, is not only triggered by psychosocial factors but genetic factors as well.Hence, further research may make use of the data presented in order to provide further information regarding the specific areas under psychosocial factors and/or genetic factors. Conclusion The research yielded information regarding the causative agents of self induced harm in individuals with bulimia nervosa. It has been d etermined that the causes of self-induced harm can be divided into categories: psychosocial and genetic. In terms of psychosocial, it has been assessed that the roots of the problem may start young, possibly during infancy or childhood.The development into adolescence also further increases the risk of individuals to develop bulimia as the focus towards appearance is increased. Due to various factors such as negative peer judgment and inappropriate self-concept based on behavior, cognitive, cultural, and stress-related aspects, a person may choose to maintain optimum appearance and weight as he or she may see fit through self-induced vomiting which is a form of self-induced harm.In terms of the genetic factors, it has been assessed that the symptoms of bulimia nervosa is rather heritable; hence, the occurrence of the disorder has a familial basis. Specific effects of numerous susceptibility genes, which are generally connected to chromosome 10p, provide the genetic basis of the deve lopment of the problems associated with bulimia. In addition, it was also mentioned that self-induced harm such as purging is activated by specific genetic elements.Therefore, the aim of the research to list the reasons behind self-induced harm in cases of bulimia has been completely fulfilled due to the fact that the two main reasons for self-induced harm was enumerated, one being a desire for maintaining or developing an ideal appearance and weight-based on varying criteria and the other being the interaction of genetic elements which, when triggered, can lead to the symptoms such as induced vomiting which is considered to be self-induced harm. ReferencesAmerican Psychiatric Association. (2006, November). Let’s Talk Facts About Eating Disorders. [Borchure]. Arlington, Virginia: American Psychiatric Association. Retrieved April 23, 2009 from http://www. healthyminds. org/factsheets/LTF-EatingDisorders. pdf. Cooper, M. , Todd, G. , & Wells, A. (2009). Treating Bulimia Nervosa and Binge Eating: An Integrative Metacognitive and Cognitive Therapy Manual. New York: Routledge. Cynthia, M. B. , Delvin, B. , Bacanu, S. , Thornton, L. , Klump, K. L. , Fichter, M.M. et al. (2003). Significant linkage in chromosome 10p in families with bulimia nervosa. American Journal of Human Genetics, 72 (1), 200–207. Forman, S. F. (2005). [Review of the book Clinical Handbook of Eating Disorders – An Integrated Approach]. The New England Journal of Medicine, 352 (6), 636. Retrieved April 23, 2009 from http://content. nejm. org/cgi/reprint/352/6/636. pdf. Grange, D. L. & Lock, J. (2007). Treating Bulimia in Adolescents: A Family Based Approach. New York: The Guilford Press.Grice, D. E. , Halmi, K. A. , Fichter, M. M. , Strober, M. Woodside, D. B. , Treasure, J. T. et al. (2002). Evidence for a susceptibility gene for anorexia nervosa on chromosome 1. American Journal of Human Genetics, 70, 787–792. Retrieved April 22, 2009 from http://www. pubmedcentral. n ih. gov/picrender. fcgi? artid=384957&blobtype=pdf. Johnson, J. G. , Cohen, P. , Kasen, S. , Brook, J. S. (2002). Eating disorders during adolescence and the risk for physical and mental disorders during early adulthood.Archives of General Psychiatry, 59, 545 – 552. Retrieved April 23, 2009 from http://archpsyc. ama-assn. org/cgi/reprint/59/6/545. pdf. Keel, P. K. (2006). Eating Disorders. New York: Infobase Publishing. Mehler, P. S. (2003). Clinical practice: Bulimia nervosa. The New England Journal of Medicine, 349 (9), 875–882. Retrieved April 22, 2009 from http://content. nejm. org/cgi/reprint/349/9/875. pdf. Treasure, J. , Schmidt, U. , & Furth, E. V. (2003). Handbook of Eating Disorders 2nd Edition. England: John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Market Potential for Packaged Water Industry in India

Market Demand and Market Potential in Packaged Water Industry in India Packaged water or Bottled water industry, colloquially called, the mineral water industry, is a symbol of new life style emerging in India. Use of mineral water has gradually increased in India due so widespread shortage of pure hygienic potable water. While a large segment of the population is struggling to get access to potable water supply, a new generation – especially in the urban areas – is getting accustomed to bottled water. Drinking water supplies in many parts of India are intermittent. Transmission and distribution networks for water are generally old and badly maintained, and as a result, are deteriorating. India is one of the biggest and most attractive water markets in the world. It is considered the 10th largest packaged water consumer country in the world. The boom time for Indian bottled water industry is to continue- more so because the economics are sound, the bottom line is fat and the Indian government hardly cares for what happens to the nation's water resources. Corporate control over water and water distribution in India is growing rapidly from being confined to the uppermost echelons of society, packaged water has now become a commonplace commodity and almost a necessity in metros. After witnessing historic growth in recent years, it has become a Rs 3,000-Crore industry, one that is slated to only post healthy growth rates to become a Rs 10,000-crore business in a short span of time. The market in India has grown tremendously over past decade and is said to have a humongous growth rate of 38% per annum as against an international growth rate of 7. %. Market experts observe that there are more than 1800 water brands in India, of which are most are local or regional brands which are often classified as unorganized sector. The key brands in the organised sector include Bisleri (Parle), Kinley (Coca-Cola), Oxyrich (Manikchand), Aquafina (Pepsi Foods), etc. In this industry it is popularly said DEMAND OF WATER WOULD NEVER GO DOWN†¦ & WATER WOULD NEVER BE OUT OF BUSINESS While the single largest share in the mineral water market might still belong to an Indian brand — Parle's $52 million (Rs. . 5 billion) Bisleri brand has a 40 percent share — multi-national corporations are not far behind. It has been a pioneer in launching the concept of packaged drinking water in India. It has been so popular with the masses that even today most of the people refer to mineral or packaged water as ‘Bisleri'. Nestle and Danone are vying to purchase Bisleri, and Pepsi's Aquafina and Coke's Kinley brands have been extremely successful in edging out many of the small and medium players to buy-outs and exclusive licensing deals. In less than two years since its launch, Aquafina has cornered 11 percent of the market and Kinley has almost a third of the market. News reports indicate that other MNCs like Unilever are also eying the market. Today packaged water is the fastest growing industry in the beverage sector. Western region of India – the largest market The western region, that is Maharashtra, Gujarat and Goa, accounts for a large chunk of around 35-40% of the overall domestic market. Key players in the western region such as the Manikchand Group, Coca-Cola India, Amul India, are keenly contemplating organic and inorganic growth strategies, launch of new brands, venturing into newer segments and so on. Companies in the region are using a combination of various strategies to tap business opportunities such as tie-ups with cinema halls, retail outlets, hotels, hospitals, super markets, institutions and other distribution channels, which abound in the western region of the country. Managing logistics is at the core for the success of bottled water manufacturers. Indeed, groups like Amul India are deliberating using its existing retail network to market and distribute its bottled water. This region is also poised to make a notable contribution to the great Indian bottled water growth story in terms of taking lead in launching water variants and newer sub-segments like mineral water, spring water, flavored water and so on. Here also Biseri has emerged as a market leader. Further Scope of Growth in the Industry As the purchasing power and health and hygiene consciousness of Indian consumers improves, the consumption per person is likely to grow exponentially. Not surprisingly, the market is estimated to reach the Rs 5,000 crore mark by 2010. Going a step further, more optimistic market experts anticipate a 20 fold leap from the current market size within the next 10-12 years. Apart from increasing affluence among domestic consumers, exports would provide a further trigger to the industry. Exports of natural water, particularly to US and Europe, would drive growth for domestic players. As per industry forecasts, the demand for potable water is expected to exceed supply by 2020. Not surprisingly, given the lucrative western market and robust growth prospects, many large Indian corporate houses and multinational companies are interested in acquiring strong Indian brands. The acquisition of Mount Everest Mineral Water by the Tata group is testimony to this trend under which Tata Tea plans to leverage its existing overseas network to distribute natural water, the world over. Also with the increasing international tourism demand for hygienically packaged water is expected to grow manifolds especially with the Commonwealth Games in October 2010. Thus despite recording exceptional growth rate in past, packaged water industry has a huge growth potential in terms of market size. There are still rural and semi rural areas to capture. With 19% share of the unorganized sector low priced segments are still left un captured.

Wednesday, August 14, 2019

Barrack Obama’s Speeches

ISSN 1798-4769 Journal of Language Teaching and Research, Vol. 1, No. 3, pp. 254-261, May 2010  © 2010 ACADEMY PUBLISHER Manufactured in Finland. doi:10. 4304/jltr. 1. 3. 254-261 A Critical Discourse Analysis of Barack Obama? s Speeches Junling Wang School of Foreign Languages, Northwest Normal University, Lanzhou, China Email: [email  protected] com Abstract—The Critical Discourse Analysis is often applied to analyze political discourse including the public speech, in which the speaker wins favorite response from the audience.This paper, based on Critical Discourse Analysis theory and Systematic Functional Linguistics, analyzes Barack Obama’s presidential speeches mainly from the point of transitivity and modality, in which we can learn the language how to serve the ideology and power. Moreover, we can have a better understanding of the political purpose of these speeches. Index Terms— Critical Discourse Analysis, transitivity, modalit y I. INTRODUCTION Crit ical linguistic is also called Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA).It first originated in Britain in 1980s when the work Language and Control was published. Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) is a type of discourse a nalytical research that primarily studies the way social power abuse, dominance, and inequality are enacted, reproduced, and resisted by text and talk in the social and political context. With such dissident research, critical discourse analysts take explicit position, and thus want to understand, expose, and ultimately resist social equality (Van Dijk, 1985).Michael Alexander Kirkwood Halliday (often M. A. K. Halliday), an Australian linguist, developed an internationally influential grammar model-the Systemic Functional Grammar (also called Systemic Functional Linguistics). It is the main foundation of Critical Discourse Analysis as well as other theories in pragmatics. The object of CDA is public speech, such as advertisement, newspaper, politic al propagandas, official documents, laws and regulations and so on. Its aim is to explore the relationships among language ,ideology and power.In the past twenty years, Critical Discourse Analysis developed quickly in aboard and had achieved great achievements. A large number of scholars have made contribution in the fields of critical analysis of political discourse. However, Critical Discourse Analysis is, comparatively speaking, a kind of new study in China. Only a few researchers work in this field. Since 90s of the last century, some articles about the basic theories and principles of Critical Discourse Analysis have just appeared in linguistic journals.Chen Zhongzhu, a professor in Beijing University, was the first person who introduced Critical Discourse Analysis to China. He made a review of critical linguistics and introduced its philosophical and theoretical foundations to Chinese linguists. Xin Bin is another prominent and productive scholar of Critical Discourse Analysis in China. From 1996 to 2 002, he published many articles to further the study of Critical Discourse Analysis, in which he discussed the birth, development and methods of critical linguistics (Xu Xiaoxia, 2008).Since more and more Chinese-foreign academic exchanges in the 21st century, the development of Critical Discourse Analysis has come to a new stage. We can see more and more articles about Critical Discourse Analysis appeared in academic journals. We know that every four years, hundreds of thousands of Americans will welcome the glory moment of electing a new president. They will canvass for their favorite candidates willingly. And every candidate will apply his or her rich language expressions, impassioned speeches and wholehearted attitudes to try to win more votes.The stud y of presidential addresses has not only attracted the interests of political scientists and historians, but also attained the attention of linguists. This year, Barack Obama, the first African -American president in American hi story, captured the world? s attention. In this thesis, the author will apply Halliday? s Systemic Functional Grammar, in terms of the three meta -functions: ideational function,interpersonal function and textual function, to find out the formal features of Barack Obama? s speeches.Its aim is to explore the relationships among language ,ideology and power and to find out how to use the power of speeches to persuade the public to accept and support his policies. II. THEORETICAL BASES M. A. K. Halliday? s Systemic Functional Grammar is usually considered the main foundation of Critical Discourse Analysis as well as other theories in pragmatics. Systemic Functional Grammar has two components: SYSTEMIC GRAMMAR and FUNCTIONAL GTAMMAR.  © 2010 ACADEMY PUBLISHER JOURNAL OF LANGUAGE TEACHING AND RESEARCH 55 They are two inseparable parts for an integral framework of linguistic theory. â€Å"Systemic grammar aims to explain the internal relations in language as a system network, or meanin g potential. And this network consists of subsystems from which language users make choices. Functional grammar aims to reveal that language is a means of social interaction, based on the position that language system and the forms that make it up are inescapably determined by the uses or functions which they serve† (Hu Zhuanglin, 1988: 307).Halliday thinks the procedure of stylistic analysis can be divided into three logically ordered phrases: Analysis, Interpretation and Evaluation. The limitless practical functions can be generalized into a set of highly coded and abstract functions—meta-functions, which are inherent in every language. His idea of meta -function includes the ideational function, the interpersonal function and the textual function. A. Ideational Function The first function Halliday points out is the ideational functi on. What is ideational function?It is through this function that the speaker or writer embodies in language his experience of the phenom ena of the real world; and this includes his experience of the internal world of his own consciousness: his reactions, cognitions, and perceptions, and also his linguistic acts of speaking and understanding (Halliday, 1971: 332) In other words, this function is to convey new information, to communicate a content that is unknown to the hearer. It reflects the events and experience in both objective and subjective worlds. The ideational function mainly consists of â€Å"transitivity† and â€Å"voice†.Hu Zhuanglin, a Chinese linguist, point out: â€Å"This function not only specifies the available options in meaning but also determines the nature of their structural realizations† (Hu Zhuanglin, 1988: 312). For Example, Kitty flies a kite can be analyzed as: the Actor is Kitty, the process is Material and the Goal is a kite. The Actor, Process, Goal, and their subcategories reflect our understanding of phenomena that come within our experience. The ideational functi on is mainly represented by the transitivity system in grammar.In this system,the meaningful grammatical unit is clause,which expresses what? s happening,what? s being done,what? s felt and what the state is and so on (Cheng Yumin, 2007). The transitivity system includes six processes: material proces s,mental process,relational process,behavioral process, verbal process and existential process. Material processes are those in which something is done. These processes are expressed by an action verb (e. g. eat, go, give), an Actor (logical subject) and the Goal of the action (logical direct object, usually a noun or a pronoun). Hu Zhuanglin,1988) e. g. Marry is eating a banana. Mental processes express such mental phenomena as â€Å"perception† (see, look), â€Å"reaction† (like, please) and â€Å"cognition† (know, believe, convince). A mental process involves two participants, Senser and Phenomenon. (Hu Zhuanglin, 1988) e. g. Tom likes chocolate. Relational proc esses can be classified into two types: Attributive and Identifying. The former expresses what attributes a certain object has, or what type it belongs to, for example, The temperature is high. The latter expresses the identical properties of two entities.For example, Lily is a girl; The girl is Lily. (Hu Zhuanglin, 1988) Verbal processes are those of exchanging information. Commonly used verbs are say, tell, talk, praise, boast, describe, etc. In these processes the main participants are Sayer, Receiver and Verbiage. Behavioral processes refer to physiological and psychological behavior such as breathing, coughing, smiling, laughing, crying, staring, and dreaming, etc. Generally there is only one participant—Behaver, which is often a human. This kind of processes is much like the mental process.Behavioral process may sometimes be hardly distinguished from a material process that has only one participant. This depends on whether the activity concerned is physiological or psyc hological. When Behavioral process has two participants, we may take it as material process, for example, His father beat the disobedient boy. (Hu Zhuanglin, 1988) Existential processes represent that something exists or happens. In every existential process, there is an Existent. For Example, There is a girl in the garden. Does ghost exist on earth? Here comes a bus. B. Interpersonal FunctionIn the second place, language serves as interpersonal function. As Halliday observed, The speaker is using language as the means of his own intrusion into the speech event: the expression of his comments, attitudes and evaluations, and also of the relationship that he sets up between himself and the listener —in particular, the communication role that he adopts of informing, questioning, greeting, persuading, and the like. (Halliday, 1971:333) Hu Zhuanglin (1988:313) points out: â€Å"The interpersonal function embodies all uses of language to express social and personal relations.This includes the various ways the speaker enters a speech situation and performs a speech act. † Modality and Mood are often used to express the interpersonal function. Mood shows what role the speaker selects in the speech situation and what role he assigns to the addressee. If the speaker selects the imperative mood, he assumes the role of one giving commands and puts the addressee in the role of one expected to obey orders. For exampl e, Pass  © 2010 ACADEMY PUBLISHER 256 JOURNAL OF LANGUAGE TEACHING AND RESEARCH me the book. (Hu Zhuanglin, 1988)Modality refers to the intermediate ranges between the extreme positive and the extreme negative. It is one of the most important systems in social communication. On the one hand, it can objectively express the spe aker? s judgment toward the topic. On the other hand, it can show the social role relationship, scale of formality and power relationship. In English, except modal verbs, modal adverbs, adjectives, there are also personal p ronouns, notional verbs, tense, direct and indirect speeches to express the modalization. C. Textual Function The third role of language is called textual function.Halliday described, â€Å"Language makes links between itself and the situation; and discourse becomes possible because the speaker or writer can produce a text and the listener or reader can recognize one† (Halliday, 1971:334). According to Hu Zhanglin, The textual function refers to the fact that language has mechanisms to make any stretch of spoken or written discourse into a coherent and unified text and make a living passage different from a random list of sentences. Although two sentences may have exactly the same ideational and interpersonal functions, they may be different in terms of textual coherence. Hu Zhuanglin, 1988: 315) The textual function fulfils the requirement that language should be operationally relevant, having texture in a real context of situation that distinguishes a living passage from a mere entry in a grammar book or a dictionary. It provides the remaining strands of meaning potential to be woven into the fabric of linguistic structure. Information can be clearly expressed in a discourse. It can also be implicated between the lines. Therefore, all discourses are unities of explicit and implicit message. (Halliday, 1971)Because language serves as a generalized ideational function, we are able to use it for all the specific purposes and types of context which involve the communication of experience. Because it serves a generalized interpersonal function, we are able to use it for the specific forms of personal expression and social interaction. And a prerequisite to its effective operation under both these headings what we have referred to as the textual function, whereby language becomes text, is related to itself and to its contexts of use.Without the textual component of meaning, we should be unable to make any use of language at all (Hu Zhuanglin, 1988). III. IN TRODUCTION OF SAMPLE SPEECHES A. The Introduction of Barack Obama Barack Obama, a first-term senator from Illinois, becomes the first African -American president of the United States. He was born on August 4, 1961, in Hawaii and has lived in many places, including Indonesia. His mother was from Kansas and his father from Kenya. Obama attended Columbia University in New York and earned a law degree at Harvard University in Massachusetts.He and his wife, Michelle Obama, who also worked as a lawyer and later for the University of Chicago, have two young daughters, Sasha and Malia. Serving in the Senate since 2004, Obama introduced bipartisan legislation which allows Americans to learn online how their tax dollars are spent. He also serves on the Veterans? Affairs Committee, which helps oversee the care of soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. So his approval rate on the internet is high. The most supporters of Obama are young people, African-American, poor citizens and the peop le who want to change.Facing with the economic crisis, two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Obama gave hi s campaign slogan â€Å"change has come† and hoped to rebuilt the confidence and believe of Americans. In last August, Barack Obama defeated Hillary Rodham Clinton, the former first lady, and became the presidential candidate of the Democratic Party. And during the following months in 2008, he defeated McCain, the Republican Party? s presidential candidate, and won the all three television debates held in Oxford (Mississippi), Nashville (Tennessee) and Hempstead (New York).And finally he relying on 333 electoral votes won the final success and became the 44th American president and the first African-American president in American history. Barack Obama has written two books: The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream (2006) and Dreams from my Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance (1995). B. Speeches for Analysis Sample Speech 1. Obama? s Victory Speech On November 4, 2008, Barack Obama gave a victory speech in Grant Park of Chicago to appreciate his supporters and celebrated the success of elections.About 400,000 Americans got here and witnessed the happy moment. Sample Speech 2. Obama? s Inaugural Address On January 20, 2009, the new American president Barack Obama gave his inaugural address before the Capital Rotunda in Washington. According to the official reports, population of the attendance reached about 2 ,000,000. IV. DETAIL STUDY ON SAMPLE SPEECHES From table 1, we can have a general view of the two speeches. We can see the total words of sample 1 are 2057,  © 2010 ACADEMY PUBLISHERJOURNAL OF LANGUAGE TEACHING AND RESEARCH 257 including 110 sentences. The average length of words is 4. 247 and sentence mean length is 18. 7. Sample 2 is as the same, the total words are 2396, with an average length of 4. 458. And the number of sentence is 112 with an average length of 21. 39. So here, we can find that the two sample speech es mainly use simple words and short sentences. The language is easy and colloquial. The audience of the speeches is usually various, including the rich, the poor, the black, the white and so on.In order to shorten the distance between the president and the audience, we can find Obama used a lot of spoken English. Moreover, the subject of the two speeches is extensive, which isn? t on account of one or two concrete issue. That is because the presidential speeches usually reflect the political platforms of the candidate, so the field is large, such as American history, present crisis, global issues and so on. TABLE 1 STATISTIC OF SAMPLE SPEECHES Statistical Item Statistic Words (Tokens) Words (Types) Tokens/Types Word Classification SentencesParagraphs Characters Sentence Mean Length Word Mean Length Sample 1 2057 690 2. 981 1687_114_†¦ 110 63 8736 18. 700 4. 247 Sample 2 2396 894 2. 680 1969_123_†¦ 112 35 10681 21. 393 4. 458 A. Transitivity Analysis The ideational functio n is represented in text by transitivity. It is a basic semantic system, which construes the world of experience into a manageable set of process types. Halliday divides these processes into six types: material process , mental process,relational process,behavioral process, verbal process and existential process. TABLE 2OVERVIEW OF PROCESS TYPES (PENG PINGPING, 2007) Core meaning Participants „doing? , „happening? Actor, Goal „sensing? Sensor, phenomenon „being? „saying? Sayer, Receiver, Verbiage „behaving? Behaver „existing? Existent Process types Material Mental Relational Verbal Behavioral Existential Sample Speech 1 NO. Total Number 212 % 2 NO. Material Processes 123 TABLE 3 TRANSITIVITY IN THE SAMPLE SPEECHES Metal Relational Behavioral Processes Processes Processes 18 48 8 Verbal Processes 12 Existential processes 3 58 227 % 8 23 4 6 1 141 14 52 6 10 4 62 6 23 2 4 2From table 2 and 3, we can see that material processes are used most in the speeches with a percentage of 58% and 62%. Relational process ranks the second and then is followed by mental process. So here, the author will mainly analyze the first three ones. 1 Material process Material process is a process of â€Å"doing†. The process is usually indicated by a verb expressing an action, either concrete or abstract. There are usually two participants in the process: Actor and Goal. Actor is comparable to the Subject and Goal is comparable to the Object and both of them are usually realized by noun phrases.When the participants both exist, the clause can be either in active voice or in passive voice.  © 2010 ACADEMY PUBLISHER 258 JOURNAL OF LANGUAGE TEACHING AND RESEARCH ACTOT I We/Americans/each of us/all /our TABLE 4 TRANSITIVITY ANALYSIS OF SAMPLE SPEECHES (MATERIAL PROCESS) PROCESS GOAL receive, congratulate, make, need, thank call, partner, voice, help achieve, start, get, face, share, seek, refuse, choose, money, the challenges, values, chan ge, choice, vital reject, carry, understand, use, build, meet, restore, rust, hope, journey, gift, greatness, energy, roads transform, taste, consume, send, volunteer, support, and bridge, reality, science, schools and colleges, new threats, the bitter swill, new way, world? s resource , message, From the above table (Table 4), we can see the Actors of the two sample speeches are I and we /Americans/each of us/all. Material process, as a process of doing, is a good choice in the address to demonstrate what the government has achieved, what they are doing and what they will do in different aspects of affairs, home or abroad .And it can also arouse the American people? s confidence toward the president and his government and to get their support in policies or measures in the following four years. For example, We (Actor) will begin to responsibly leave (Material Process) Iraq (Goal) to its people, and forge (Material Process) a hard-earned peace in Afghanistan (Goal). With old friends and former foes, we (Actor) will work tirelessly to lessen (Material Process) the nuclear threat (Goal), and roll back (Material Process) the specter of a warming planet (Goal).We (Actor) will not apologize(Material Process) for our way of life (Goal), nor will we (Actor) waver in its defense (Goal) , and for those who (Actor) seek to advance (Material Process) their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents (Goal), we (Actor) say(Material Process) to you (Goal) now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken (Material Process); you (Actor) cannot outlast(Material Process) us, and we (Actor) will defeat(Material Process) you (Goal). 2 Relational process Relational process is a process of being.It can be divided into two modes: attributive relation and identifying relation. The first means what properties an object possesses or what category it can be put into. And the other means that an entity and another is uniform. It is used widely in describing people and objects . Look at the following table: TABLE 5 Attributive The dream of our founders is alive. Our challenges may be new. Identifying America is a friend of each nation. A friend of each nation is America. America is a place where all things are possible. A place where all things are possible is America.Relational process, as a process of being, is appropriate to explain the complex relationships between some abstract items because it sounds definite. As a result, the process accounts for a large proportion in these addresses to elaborate the relationship between traditional ideals and their beliefs. Such an elaboration can reach the President? s aim of making the reasoning naturally and unconsciously accepted and making the required sacrifice in the speech willingly taken by the audience. (Cheng Yumin, 2007) 3 Mental process Mental process is a process of feeling, thinking and seeing.Actor is not the real subject of doing, but the feeling. It represents inner experience, such as â€Å"per ception†, â€Å"reaction† and â€Å"cognition†. We call the two participants are Senser and phenomenon. For example, (1) In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we (Senser) understand (Mental Process) that greatness is never a given. (2) As we (Senser) consider (Mental Process) the road that unfolds before us, we (Senser) remember (Mental Process) with humble gratitude those brave Americans who, at this very hour, patrol far-off deserts and distant mountains. 3) And we (Senser) know (Mental Process) the government can't solve every problem. From above examples, we can see that mental process, as a process of sensing, appeals to the audience? s inner heart to connect the political beliefs, ambitions with their expectation, hope in a c lear and emphasized way. In this way, the audience? s emotion of promotion and willingness to devotion is aroused and strengthened. Halliday declared that material, relational and mental processes are three primary ones in langua ge use since the three add up to about 90%.As an inaugural address for a newly elected American President, it must fulfill the traditionally and ritually required functions: to state facts of the domestic or worldwide situations or problems objectively and the relevant policies forcefully, to conduct reasoning related to the relationship between traditional beliefs such as freedom, democracy, justice, equality, principles, union, happiness and American dreams and citizens? participation, responsibilities, sacrifice and the needed reforms in economy, Medicare, or other fields. (Cheng Yumin, 2007) For example, 1) There are mothers and fathers who will lie awake after the children fall asleep and wonder how they’ll make the mortgage or pay their doctors’ bills or save enough for their c hild’s college education. (2) Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence t hat the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our plan et. The above two sentence are examples of showing the fact that the situation in American is not good. The economic  © 2010 ACADEMY PUBLISHER JOURNAL OF LANGUAGE TEACHING AND RESEARCH 59 crisis leaded many people lost their jobs. It is hard for them to pay the housing fee, tuitions Medicare and other heavy pays. (3) There’s new energy to harness, new jobs to be created, new schools to build, and threats to meet, alliances to repair. (4) So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism, of responsibility, where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves but each other. These two examples reveal that the government hopes the Americans can join together and rebuild their confidence and believes to defeat all the bad things.B. Modality Analysis Modality refers to a speaker? s attitudes towards or opinion about the truth of a proposition expressed by a sentence. It also extends to their attitude towards the situation or event described by a sentence. 1 Modal verbs Positive Negative TABLE 6 MODAL VERBS (ZHANG GUOLING, 2006) Low politeness Median politeness Can, may, could, might, dare Will, would, should, shall Needn? t, doesn? t/didn? t , +need to, Won? t, wouldn? t, have to shouldn? t, isn? t/wasn? t to High politeness Must, ought to, need, has/had to Mustn? t, oughtn? t to, can? couldn? t, mayn? t, mightn? t, hasn? t/hadn? t to TABLE 7 MODALITY ANALYSIS OF SAMPLE SPEECHES (MODAL VERBS) Total Number Low politeness Median politeness No. % No. % 2057 23 1. 12 23 1. 12 2396 29 1. 12 28 1. 12 Sample Speeches 1 2 High politeness No. % 3 0. 15 9 0. 38 According to the statistics, it is obvious that modal verbs are used to convey the addresser? s attitudes and judgment, with an average of 0. 8% in the whole speeches. The high percentage of the use of modal verbs is appropriate to the speaking since the addresses are delivered in spoken form.Compared wit h other verbs, modal verbs are more easily identified and understood and then accepted because at the time of listening to the speeches, there is no time for the audience to reflect. For Example, (1) †¦because they believed that this time must be different, that their voices could be that difference. (2) The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even in one term. But, America, I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there. (3) And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn, I may not have won your vote tonight, but I hear your voices.I need your help. And I will be your president, too. (4) We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology’s wonders to raise health care’s quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. All this we will do. 2 Tense Tense is the time of a clause.Halliday (1994) points out that primary t ense means past, present or future at the moment of speaking; it is the time relative to â€Å"now†. Sample Speeches 1 NO. Total Numbers 110 % 2 NO. % TABLE 8 TENSE OF SENTENCES Present Simple Perfect 72 8 Simple Past Simple Future 21 10 65. 5 112 7. 2 19. 1 9. 1 71 13 12 14 63. 4 11. 6 10. 7 12. 5 On the basis of the statistics of tenses, we can see that the tense of simple present is most frequently used in the speeches, the average percentage being 64. 45%. Simple past ranks second with an average percentage of 14. 9% and is followed by simple future with an average percentage of 10. %. The use of present perfect is slightly less than simple future and ranks the fourth. It is natural that simple present tense ranks wi th top priority since the addresses are to present the domestic and world wide situations ranging from political, economic and cultural fields at present. The use  © 2010 ACADEMY PUBLISHER 260 JOURNAL OF LANGUAGE TEACHING AND RESEARCH of the tense facilitates the creation of a close relationship between the president and his audience and the easy identification and acceptation of the validity of the assertions contained in the speaking.Simple future tense is primarily used to show the planned or expected things in the future. The tense helps the president to lay out his or his government? s following reforms or steps taken in his term to foster the buildup of the country and the corresponding change or results of these measures in the futu re. In this way, the government? s objectives are shown and at the same time, the audience? s confidence is built by the prospect of the beauty and prosperity of the future life. It will be a natural result that the American pe ople will follow the government? direction and guidance in the next four years and thus the addresses? goal of seeking support is achieved. Simple past and present perfect tenses are used to refer to the actions or things in the past. Their function lies in that the newly elected presidents usually state the achievements in the founding of the country or in the last term or recall the positive or negative experiences in the past as basis or incentive of his following actions. By this means, his respect for the past is displayed and it can also make his plans reasoning and fully grounded. Cheng Yumin, 2007) 3 Personal Pronouns TABLE 9 PERSONAL PRONOUNS Personal Pronoun First person I (me) We (us) Second person You (you) Third person He (him) She (her) It (it) They (them) Possecive pronoun My (mine) Our(ours) Your(yours) His (his) Her(hers) Its (its) Their (theirs) Obama? s victory speech 35 60 20 4 8 14 8 Obama? s victory speech 12 26 6 1 6 0 11 Sample Speeches Obama? s Inaugural Address 3 85 14 1 0 0 4 Obama? s Inaugural Address 2 69 3 0 0 0 0 From table 9, we can find out that the first person is used most.For example, the use of the first person pronoun â€Å"we† is to shorten the distance between the speaker and the audience, regardless of their disparity in age, social status and professions etc. it may include both the speaker and the listener into the same arena, and thus make the audience feel close to the speaker and his points. C. Textual Analysis The textual function refers to the fact that language has mechanisms to make any stretch of spoken or written discourse into a coherent and unified text and make a living passage different from a random list of sentences.Here, we take Sample 2 as an example. Obama? s inaugural address is the first time for him to give a formal speech as a president and also an optimal time to show himself a qualified president. As a result, to fulfill the aim of convincing the American people and the whole world that he and his team a re capable of leadership, with vigor and with vision, he must illustrate the planned policies, both domestic and foreign, in a formal, convincing and forceful way. It often contains the following information: (Cheng Yumin, 2007) 1) Salutation ) The expression of gratitude and honor 3) A review of the American history and achievement in the past 4) An analysis of the contemporary situation, at home and in the world 5) A displaying and explanation of domestic policies and/or foreign policies of the new government 6) Hopes for the beautiful and prosperous future of the country 7) Resort to God for help and blessing The whole text is coherent, organized, accurate and logical. So it can help to persuade the public to accept and support his policies. Meanwhile, we can find the strong religious content in his speech.Look at the following examples: (1) †¦the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness. (2) This i s the source of our confidence — the knowledge that God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny. (3)†¦with eyes fixed on the horizon and God’s grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations. (4) Thank you. God bless you. And God bless the United States of America.  © 2010 ACADEMY PUBLISHER JOURNAL OF LANGUAGE TEACHING AND RESEARCH 261 We know most Western people are godly Christian.These prayers, direct and indirect speeches from Bible and the Christian stories can all help the speaker to win the sympathy and supporting of audience. They make the speech full of charisma. V. CONCLUSION On the basis of the above discussion, we may come to the conclusion. According to Halliday? s Systemic Functional Grammar, we can summarize the features of Barack Obama? s speeches as follow. First, he used more simple words and short sentences instead of difficult ones. His language is easy and colloquial. Thus, it can ea sily shorten the distance between him and the audience .Second, from transitivity analysis, we can see material process, a process of doing, has been used most in his speeches. From this process, Obama showed us what the government has achieved, what they are doing and what they will do. And also we can see t hat with applying transitivity, his speeches are trying to arouse the American people? s confidence toward the president and his government in the following four years. Third, modality refers to a speaker? s attitudes towards or opinion about the truth of a proposition expressed by a sentence.Through the analysis of modality, we can find that Obama made his audience more easily to understand and accept his political speeches by means of modal verbs, tense and first person pronouns. He used simple present tense to present the domestic and world wide situations ranging from political, economic and cultural fields at present. And then depending on simple future tense, he laid out his following reforms and steps taken in his term. In this way, the government? s ob jectives are shown and at the same time, the audience? s confidence is built.Moreover, by using first person pronouns and religious belief , he successfully shortened the distance between him and the audience. So it can help him persuade the public to accept and support his policies. Critical Discourse Analysis can explore the relationships among language, ideology and power. It provides a new idea and method to analyze public addresses. So it is worth for us to pay more attention. REFERENCES Halliday, M. A. K. ( 1979). Linguistic function and literary style: an inquiry into the language of William Golding? s The Inheritors.In Linguistic Studies of Text and Discourse. ed. Jonathan J. Webster. 88-125. Peking: Peking University Press. [2] Van Dijk, (1985). A Handbook of Discourse Analysis London Academic Press Limited. Volumn 4. [3] Cheng Yumin. (2007). An Analysis of Style Features of Inaugural Speec hes Given by American Presidents Based on the Functional Theory of Han Lide. From the thesis of a master. Tai Yuan science University. [4] Dai Weihua, Gao Jun. (2002). A Critical Discourse Analysis: Theory Comment and Examples Analysis. Foreign Language Issue 6. P 85-88. [5] Hu Zhuanglin. (1988).A Course of Linguistics. Peking: Peking University Press. [6] Lin Wei,Yang Yuchen. (2007). English Discourse Analysis. Shanghai:Fu Dan University Press. [7] Luo Li. (2007). A Critical Discourse Analysis of a Political Speech. Science and Education Collection P193-194? [8] Wei Fang. (2005). Language Feature Analysis and Translation Method of Political Speeches. Journal of Peking Printing College Volumn13, issue 4. P75-78. [9] Xiong Li. (2004). A Study of Kennedy? s Writing Style from Words of His Inaugural Speech. Journal of Southwest National University, Issue 6.P 407-410. [10] Xu Xiaoxia. (2008). A Critical Discourse Analysis of Sino-American Political News Report. From the thesis of a mast er. Shan Dong Normal University. [1] Junling Wang was born in Lanzhou City, Gansu Province, China in 1963. She received her M. A degree in English language and literature from Foreign Languages Department of Northwest Normal University in Lanzhou, China in 1989. Now she is an associate professor in Northwest Normal University. Her research interests include English teaching and translation practice.  © 2010 ACADEMY PUBLISHER