Analyse article Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Analyse article - Essay Example Evidently, the nutrient cycles have been changed, the biomass has reduced considerably and a lot of carbon dioxide is being emitted (Passary 1). In the coming years, Passary writes that the impacts on the environment are expected to worsen, especially if nothing is done to reverse these statistics (1). The plant and animal species have greatly reduced (Passary 1). In line with this thought, it is only fair that humans put much efforts towards reclaiming the lost lives and even the habitats that would have otherwise been home to animals and humans. Among the major improvements that humans can adopt is to adopt safer forms of agricultural practices. It is also recommended that the urban designers adopt a more efficient approaches such as using the landscape corridors (Passary 1). These approaches will help improve and sustain the existing ecosystems. These approaches will also lead to higher biodiversity. Passary, Anu. Dwindling Forest Habitats Threatening Worlds Ecosystems Says Study. Tech Times, 23 Mar. 2014. Web. 24 Mar. 2015.

Testimony of personal connection with god Essay Example for Free

Testimony of personal connection with god Essay When we talk about a church leader having a testimony, it proofs that God is with the leader and leader is with God. A church leader seeks a leadership ministry in Gods service and discusses his personal experience in the Christ. Sharing of a Christian testimony with others in public is the result of that personal experience. â€Å"The LORD was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian† (Genesis 39:2) Private and public life of a church leader, as a Christian, supports his testimony and influences others to become Christian. People expect church leader to be person who follows words and prayers of God. A church leader demonstrates people by giving example of personal closeness to God in his private and public. People judge their weaknesses with the help of purposeful Christian testimony of the leader. A church leader witnesses for Christ through his hands, lips, works and entire life. STRONG CERTAINTY AS A CHURCH LEADER Certainty represents freedom and surety of fact from doubt. It means a church leader is ahead of all other people sent by God. A church leader has a sense of call to be Gods leader so it gives him a special desire for leadership ministry. It also gives him a deep faith that God has His hands in his progress. It helps in making him sure that God wants him to be a church leader. â€Å"†¦. God sent me ahead of you†¦.. to preserve for you a remnant on earth †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. it was not you who sent me here, but God† (Gen 45. 5,7,8). His firm belief gives him inner faith and courage and helps him to go through hard times in his work by staying firmly on the job until finish it according to God’s order. He does his job with dignity and proud character and blessings of the God who asked him to lead and serve. â€Å"Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God† (Romans 1). The ministry requires church leaders to be certain of their calling as Gods leaders. INTEGRITY BEING A PART OF PERSONALITY Integrity is being truthful and honest. It also refers moral excellence and living and doing in a right manner. A church leader is true to him-self and keeps him-self pure and honorable. He knows the importance to keep integrity in front of God and people. Integrity as a needed quality for church leaders, and a church leader is free from any blame. He stands for God before his group and the people inside and outside of the church. A church planter makes a new church healthy when he has integrity in his private and public life. He knows how important it is for him to have authority as a leader, not only for just leadership but a church leader shows it in daily life. People need church leaders having integrity in their personality to teach them the difference between the right and wrong and help them choosing the right. DISTINCT CAPABILITIES. When we talk about capabilities it represents fitness or ability. Distinct capability of a church leader enables him to do his job in a good manner wherever he serves people. Church leaders are good mentors they are wise and trusted persons who give advices. A church leader keeps on improving his talent by using his mentor and measuring obtaining results. People think that the greatest ability of a church leader is that, he depends only on God to avoid making mistakes in delivering his services to both God and people. Ability for church leading or planting is one of the parts of learnt talents of a church leader. USE OF AUTHORITY A church leader should use his authority properly which is given by the God and community. A church leader is not a good leader if no one is following him. People obey him because of his owning authority and their trust on his authority. Church leaders know above all else, that their power as a leader came from God. They receive authority and become God’s witnesses when the Holy Spirit appears on them. A church leader understands that his leadership power comes from the God and understands that those, whom he serves, give him authority as a leader. â€Å"A Christian does not forget that his leadership depends on responsibility that goes with authority† (2-corinthians-5:9) A church leader uses these blessings for establishing of the groups or churches, his position as a leader is to achieve success in carrying out Gods purpose. If a church leader uses his authority in a wrong or bad use then he will definitely suffer for his doings. The church leaders should not forget that their leaderships depend on responsibility and their authority goes with equal responsibility. It means they should be able to believe and precede these authorities in a reasonable manner. ACCOUNTABLE. A church leader is responsible for using church assets and other resources in an appropriate manner – he should be accountable for himself. So Pharaoh said to Joseph, Im putting you in charge of the whole land of Egypt’ (Genesis 41:41). They trusted Joseph because of his self accountability. People who follow and support a church leader do not question about his plans for them. He opens his books for others to see and believes that honesty is a good policy. Church leaders spend their life on good and respected principles, the God and people expect that every church leader must have all of the qualities of Abraham, Noah, etc. A Church leader in leadership position is believed accountable and honest Christian leader. He needs to love the God’s messenger’s reports or reviews and do what they do. The reports or reviews help him to improve from good to a better leader. A church leader makes decisions according to religious possibilities; he accepts responsibility for the obtaining result of his decisions. People usually do not consider religious aspects in their routine they read religious books like open letters. A church leader knows how to make good decisions, he then lives with the decisions that he has made and accepts responsibility for his works.

Macbeth -schizophrenia In Macbeth :: essays research papers

In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth both show signs of what would today be diagnosed as symptoms of schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is defined as "a psychotic disorder characterized by loss of contact with the environment, by noticeable deterioration in the level of functioning in everyday life, and by disintegration of personality expressed as disorder of feeling, thought, and conduct." There are three major symptoms of the disorder; not being able to distinguish the difference between fantasy and reality, incoherent conversations, and withdrawal physically and emotionally. The most common and most well known symptom of schizophrenia is when people cannot distinguish between what is real and what is not. Schizophrenics often suffer from delusions and hallucinations. A delusion is a false belief or idea and a hallucination is seeing, hearing, or sensing something that is not really there. Some people diagnosed with the illness may speak with disjointed co nversations. They often utter vague statements that are strung together in an incoherent way. Lastly, some schizophrenics withdraw emotionally, for example, their outlook on life is deadened and they show little or no warmth, and also physically, such as their movements become jerky and robot-like. What causes people to become schizophrenic? One possibility, in Macbeth and his wife’s case is guilt. Macbeth, in trying to become king, kills some people he knew very well and was loyal to at one time. He really did not want to have to Banquo, but he felt he had to so that he could become king. He said to his wife, "We will proceed no further in this business: He hath honored me of late." (I.7.31-32) Lady Macbeth feels guilty, too. For example, after she smeared the King’s blood on one of the drunken attendants to frame him, she says, "My hands are of your color, but I shame to wear a heart so white." (II.2.63-64) Their conscience could be condemning them so loudly that it drove them crazy, literally. Or, another cause of their schizophrenia could be their passion. They strove so hard to make Macbeth king that they became totally obsessed with it. It became all they thought about and their whole being revolved around it. When Lady Macbeth finds that Macbeth has been prophesized to be king, she does not believe he is capable of fulfilling the prophecy alone. So, she says to herself, " Hie thee hither, that I may pour my spirits in thine ear, and chastise with the valor of my tongue which fate and metaphysical aid doth seem to have thee crowned withal.

Inclusive Learning

Contents Contents1 Introduction2 Findings3 What is Inclusive Learning? 3 Learning Environment4 Access for all4 Inclusive Learning in Initial Assessment6 Inclusive learning in the classroom6 Assessment9 Conclusion10 Bibliography12 ? A critical evaluation of the principles and practice of Inclusive Learning within XXXXXX XXXXXX. Introduction XXXXXX XXXXXX is a registered charity offering work based learning programmes to young adults.Within my role as Advanced Teaching Practitioner, I am responsible for curriculum design, monitoring teaching, staff training and mentoring, quality assurance and learner achievement in addition to my role as a Basic Skills Tutor. Before analysing current practices, I have gained the consent from those directly involved. In order to assess current inclusive learning principles and practices of the organisation, I need to increase my understanding of inclusive learning for my own Continued Professional Development (CPD).I need to reflect of my own practices and the practices of others and evaluate the service provided. Findings What is Inclusive Learning? Inclusive learning can be defined as ‘the greatest degree of match or fit between the individual learners’ requirements and the provision that is made for them’ (FEFC, 1996, p2). Inclusive teaching means recognising, accommodating and meeting the learning needs of all students and being aware of their individual needs. It is about identifying the reasonable adjustment that can be made without it having a negative impact of the teaching and learning of others.Open University Press (2006) defines inclusive learning as ‘acknowledging your students have a range of individual needs and are members of diverse communities. Inclusive teaching avoids pigeonholing students into specific groups with predictable and fixed approaches to learning’. It is important to consider the need to be proactive as opposed to being reactive. To practice inclusive learning, act ions need to be taken prior to students commencing the process.The Tomlinson report 1996 states: ‘Re-designing learning, assessment and organisations to fit objectives and learning styles may mean introducing new content to courses, adapting access or both. This approach is quite different from offering courses and then giving students with difficulties some additional human or physical aids to participate. ’ Under the Special Education Needs and Disability Act (SENDA) 2001, all educational establishments must not treat students less favourably than others and make reasonable adjustments to ensure that their learners are not substantially disadvantaged.Learning Environment An accessible and safe learning environment is vital for inclusive learning to take place. The premises that XXXXXX XXXXXX occupy are located on the second and third floor of a listed building. There are no lifts and there is a staircase leading up to the main reception. Under the Disability Discrimin ation Act, there is a requirement to make reasonable adjustment to be able to ensure those students with a mobility disability are not excluded. XXXXXXhave made contingency plans whereby they use the premises within a local college as and when required.SENDA 2001 states that students should be able to access all services provided for other students. In this case, the local college offers all the facilities and services we offer our students. Taking this into consideration, reasonable adjustments have been made. Access for all In order to give strategic direction to inclusive learning, Smith and Armstrong (2005, p1) state ‘providers need to adopt a co-ordinated approach to inclusive learning, working with different groups, genders and levels of learners’. These is achieved ongoing within XXXXXX XXXXX.There is no discrimination on the grounds of gender or sexual orientation within XXXXXX XXXXXX and therefore XXXXXXcomply with all aspects of the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 . Our learners come from mixed race, religion and in order to ensure that we accommodate these learners, all staff receive multifaith calendars to ensure that they can manage their learning over religious or cultural holidays. As we are funded for a 14-19 age provision, we cannot offer learning to anyone outside this age range. This is a limitation by DCELLS.Should anyone outside this age range require the same type of education and training, there are other training providers where they can be signposted. McGivney (2003) guidelines suggest that people with disabilities, ex-offenders, low paid unqualified workers, male manual workers, unemployed groups, rural residents, women with young children, homeless and those from ethnic minority groups may have problems in participating in organised learning activities. (DCSF, 2008) states ‘9% of young people aged 16-19 are Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET).As part of the ‘Every Child Matters Agenda’ their aim is to break down the barriers to achievement and provide opportunities for those disengaged from learning. This agenda intends to ensure that programmes have been set up to identify children and young adults at risk and promote early intervention. According to the 14-19 Education and Skills White Paper ‘those with learning difficulties are twice as likely to become NEET’. XXXXXX XXXXXX have recently established street based youth work teams; across communities in south Wales, working with partner organisations to engage some of the hardest to reach young people; nd to progress them onto positive development opportunities in their own communities. The current teams are a pilot and are hoping to expand the project into other geographic and sector communities. XXXXXX XXXXXX are also establishing links to deliver full and part time extended curriculum services in schools for 14-18 year olds across Wales, providing support for young people in the youth justice system; estab lishing a youth drop in facilities at many centres and expanding the street based youth work.XXXXXXare also in community cohesion work particularly in areas with a large European migrant youth communities and those with a migrant non-welsh speaking community within Welsh speaking indigenous communities. XXXXXXis piloting development of youth volunteering in under-represented groups. Taking all this into consideration, it shows the effort that is being made in order to provide inclusive learning to those students who are at risk of becoming NEET. Inclusive Learning in Initial Assessment According to Green and Bartram 1998, p7) ‘Early and effective assessment of students’ requirements is critical to the concept of inclusive learning.There are three stages to the initial assessment process within the organisation. Prior to a learner joining they go through an initial assessment process. This begins with an informal interview following an endorsement from Careers Wales. In this interview, it allows the organisation time to carry out an informal assessment and identify individual learning needs. On entry, basic skills initial assessments and a VARK learning styles questionnaire are completed. From this process, an Individual Learning Plan (ILP) is written that is specific to the needs of the learner which will identify individual goals.Green and Bartram (1998. p10) outline that in order to achieve best practice; there should be ‘a common and shared understanding of the purpose of initial assessment’. Through discussion with staff and observations of the initial assessment process, it is evident that this there is a thorough initial assessment process which allows many opportunities to identify any individual needs and preferences. Following this process, if a learner is identified as having a literacy or numeracy need, diagnostic assessment is carried out.Learners have the opportunity to do these either by paper based methods or using Info rmation Technology (IT). The results of this assessment then produce an Individual Learning Plan that is specific to the learners literacy and/or numeracy needs and takes into consideration any special arrangements that may be required. Inclusive learning in the classroom If there has been an individual need identified through initial assessment, it is at this point XXXXXX XXXXXX are reactive as appose to being proactive. For those with physical disabilities, arrangements are made to support them.As previously discussed there is a lack of facilities within the centres to support learners with a disability affecting mobility and this is taken into consideration when careers signpost learners. Apart from this, Rooms are bright, well ventilated and are small enough to be able to accommodate those with minor hearing or visual impairments. When considering students who are deaf and hard of hearing, XXXXXXdo not have a strategy in place for dealing with those who require specialist suppor t including lip speakers, sign language interpreters and speech to text reporters.Although many learners who require this support often plan their own support requirements. To ensure inclusion in the classroom, it should be considered when planning lessons. Once the aims and objectives have been decided, it is then important to consider the needs and previous experiences of the learners’. At this stage, you can consider if there are any adjustments that can be made to ensure that the lesson is inclusive Open University Press (2006). This could be large print handouts, varied teaching strategies, practical tasks as appose to written, aural or visual methods and where possible, taking into account multi sensory learning.When carrying out questioning in the classroom, there was very good use of reinforcement techniques to consolidate learning. Although tutors encouraged all members of the group to participate, this was done in such a way that no learners felt uncomfortable. When this was necessary (e. g. a speaking and listening task) it was managed in a positive way to recognise individual needs. If learners need support with basic skills, subject specific tutors (NVQ, Key Skills) liaise with the Basic Skills Tutor to organise extra support in addition to their literacy and/or numeracy classes.If the learner has a learning difficulty that affects concentration, extra comfort breaks can be given and short activities should also be planned that vary in teaching strategy to keep learners engaged. At present, DCELLS are working towards converged basic and key skills. This initiative should have encourage a more standard approach as qualifications will be delivered in a different training and staff will be required to update their CPD. Practices vary depending on the experience of individual tutors within XXXXXX XXXXXX.When observing a key skills session, a tutor suggested to her group that it would be advantage to take notes whilst completing practical activi ties. On her lesson plan, she had shown inclusive practices by suggesting a Basic Skills Tutor could offer support with both reading and note taking if required. In terms of the use of classroom assistants or support workers, this is the only instance that in class support is offered due to staffing levels within the organisation. The majority of tutors promote equal opportunities practices by having notes available at the end of the lesson for all learners.Others show inclusive learning techniques by issuing gapped handouts at the beginning of the lesson to support those with individual needs. This later method allows those learners who have lack of confidence in groups, those with hearing difficulties or partial sight a greater chance of achieving the objectives set from the lesson. Experienced staff uses assistive technology in the classroom such as coloured acetate, worksheets on coloured paper or magnifying equipment to support learners when reading books, but once again staff training is needed to ensure consistency throughout the organisation.Smith and Armstrong (2005) suggest providers should make sure that CPD and staff training supports structures and systems implemented to deliver the inclusive learning agenda. Through discussion with staff, it is evident that staff members have little knowledge of how to support learners with Dyslexia, Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) and other learning and behavioural needs. Therefore staff CPD needs to be updated and staff training offered. Having observed a selection of basic skills sessions, I have seen differentiation being managed very well within the classroom.There are isolated cases where worksheets have been the main teaching strategy due to the diverse nature of the group but the main reason for this is the need for staff development and training. Within sessions, individuals show good inclusive learning techniques when giving feedback. They are constructive and give praise for what has been done well and avoid being negative to learners. For those who have physical disabilities, there is IT equipment available such as specialist mouse and the ability to increase the font size on the majority of programmes used.If there is a need for out of class support, this is also available from the training assessors responsible for the individual learners. Individual training assessors are encouraged to spend time with all learners to build a rapport and encourage them to discuss any individual learning needs. These persons are trained to signpost for guidance and counselling if required. Assessment Once learning has taken place, there are various methods of assessment that are used. Within basic skills, learners are given a choice of completing assignments which are paper based or tests that can be taken using IT.For those who have to submit a portfolio, they are given the option of using IT to produce their work. There are also dictaphones avai lable to record case studies, professional discussions or oral questioning as appose to written questions. These strategies in place show differentiation for individual needs are being considered. As well as the usual methods of assessment, learners also get a review which is carried out every four weeks. In this review, their progress is monitored and feedback is given on their performance.The Tomlinson Report (1996) shows us that monitoring progress and providing effective feedback contributes to effective inclusive teaching. Within their basic skills support sessions, further feedback is also given as part of their literacy/numeracy ILP. All learners at the end of their visits are given a Training And Support Log (TASL) which gives them feedback on any work produced. Conclusion Following this investigation, I have reached the conclusion that the organisation is reactive as appose to proactive with regard to inclusive learning.As a training provider, XXXXXX XXXXXX are genuinely no n-selective about the learners who complete a programme. Many of the learners face a number of obstacles to engaging in learning including low educational attainment, a lack of basic and/or personal skills, caring obligations, homelessness, lack of self belief, confidence and self worth. Despite this, over 70% of the young people that are supported leave with a positive outcome. The 14-19 Education and Skills White Paper state that 12. 5% of the NEET group have learning difficulties and/or disabilities.If XXXXXXtraining wishes to continue aiming to offer inclusive learning and reduce this NEET cohort, there is a need to train staff by offering CPD in inclusive learning and ways of developing an inclusive learning strategy within the learner process. There are different teaching approaches within the organisation. (Tilstone et al. ,1998, p. 6) states ‘a key issue in promoting inclusive practice must be a reappraisal of the training provided to teachers and other professionalsâ €™ From my observations, I feel that this is an accurate assumption to make.I have been able to observe many sessions over a period of time and have seen that tutors need training on how to incorporate inclusive learning strategies within their lesson plan. Smith and Armstrong (2005) also discuss how providers should establish a strategy for sharing best practice within an organisation. XXXXXXhave meetings for every subject route on a quarterly basis. Although this is an excellent way of sharing best practice, inclusive learning should be listed as an agenda item to ensure that it gets the attention it requires.Although everything is done during the learner process to ensure that equal opportunities and diversity are managed, XXXXXXhave a bullying and harassment procedure in place and also a grievance procedure that prospective, current and past learners can instigate if they wish. From carrying out research into inclusive learning within XXXXXX XXXXXX, it has been shown that on the whole, a lot of work goes in to meeting the individual needs of the learner and offering a positive learner experience.Having now completed this research, it has made me aware of the financial restraints of the organisation. I feel that I will carry out my role as ATP differently when training staff and mentoring. When working towards curriculum design, I will also ask myself the question â€Å" How can I make it more inclusive? † and from this, I feel that this has played a big part in my CPD. Bibliography †¢ACCESS UNIT. (2006, December 18). Access Unit – Making Information Accessible to Disabled Students. Retrieved December 8, 2008, from University of Bristol: http://www. ristol. ac. uk/accessunit/disabilityinfo/accessible33. html †¢ADAMS, M. , & BROWN, S. (2006). Towards Inclusive Learning in Higher Education. London: Routledge . †¢BLOOMER, M. , & HODKINSON, P. (1997). Moving into FE: The voice of the learner. London: Further Education Developmen t Agency (FEDA). †¢CLOUGH, P. (1998). Managing Inclusive Education. From Policy to Experience. London: Sage. †¢CSIE. (2008, April 30). About Inclusion. Retrieved December 15, 2008, from Centre For Studies On Inclusive Education: http://inclusion. uwe. ac. uk/csie/csiefaqs. htm †¢DCSF . 2008, July 02). Education, Training, Employment. Retrieved December 10, 2008, from Department for Children, Schools and Families. http://www. dcsf. gov. uk/14-19/index. cfm? go=home&sid=26 †¢Every Child Matters: (2008, July 02) Change for children: Retrieved December 15, 2008, from Every Child Matters http://www. everychildmatters. gov. uk/ete/ †¢FEFC. (1996). Inclusive FE: Report of the Further Education Funding Council Learning Difficulties and/or Disabilities Committee CSIE Summary. Bristol: Centre for Studies on Inclusive Education (CSIE). †¢GREEN, M. . (1998). Initial Assessment To Identify Learning Needs. London: Further Education Development Agency (FEDA). †¢L EARNING AND SKILLS DEVELOPMENT AGENCY. (2002). Access For All. London: DFES. †¢MCGIVNEY, V. (2003). Working With Excluded Groups. Leicester: National Institute of Adult Continuing Education. †¢OPEN UNIVERSITY PRESS . (2006, December 30). Inclusive Teaching. Retrieved December 12, 2008, from Open University Press: http://www. open. ac. uk/inclusiveteaching †¢SMITH, V. , & ARMSTRONG, A. (2005). Beyond Prejudice; Inclusive Learning in Practice.London: Learning and Skills Development Agency. †¢TILSTONE, C. , FLORIAN, L. , & ROSE, R. (1998). Promoting Inclusive Practice. London: Routledge Falmer. †¢WELSH ASSEMBLY GOVERNMENT. (2008, September 29). Delivering Skills that Work for Wales: A new approach to adult community learning. Consultation Document 057/2008 . Caerphilly: Department for Children, Education, Lifelong Learning and Skills. †¢What is SENDA 2001? (2007, January 22). Retrieved December 13, 2008, from Hobo: http://www. hobo-web. co. uk/tips/12. htm

Reflection on Cognitive Development Essay

This reflective essay speaks about Educational Psychology, a good teacher, general principles of development, the brain and cognitive development, Piaget’s theory of cognitive development and Lev Vygotsky’s sociocultural perspective. Educational Psychology plays a very important role in our daily lives as it helps us to understand and develop strategies to improve the learning process. An effective teacher is one who is organized, not biased, patient, and flexible and knows how to teach medium and slow paced learners. The essay also speaks about Development; persons develop physically, socially and also personally. It also speaks about the different ways in which development takes place. The brain begins to lateralize soon after birth and therefore have specific functions to carry out. Piaget’s theory of cognitive development speaks about the four stages while Lev Vygotsky educates us on his sociocultural perspective. Educational Psychology is important to me as a teacher in training as it helps me to understand my students’ behaviour and the strategies that I can use to help them. Life is a process and therefore we go through changes from conception to death. This process is called development. We develop physically, socially, and also cognitively .The changes that occur early in our lives, are generally assumed to be for the better and to result in behaviour that is more adaptive, more organized, more effective and more complex (Mussen, Kogner, Kagan, 1984).I also learnt that development takes place at different rates and that is persons may be more coordinated than others and also be more mature in their thinking. Secondly, development takes place orderly as we learn to babble before we talk and the final one is that development takes place gradually, that is you know the letters of the alphabet before you can spell words. Finally, the one that stands out to me most is maturation. Maturation deals with the natural changes that take place in our bodies. The changes in the climate don’t affect the natural changes that will take place in our body only severe sickness or malnutrition. The brain is also important in cognitive development as each part is given a specific function to carry out. However, the different parts of the brain combine in order to perform human activities and construct  understanding. There are some terms that are associated with the brain and the first is synapses, as the word suggests they are tiny spaces between neurons and that chemical messages are sent across the gaps. Hippocampus really took me by surprise as the first syllable â€Å"hippo† is the name of an animal. However it means recalling new information and recent experiences. Myelination is also very new to me and it means influencing thinking and hearing. The basic tendencies in thinking help us to organize our thoughts and behaviours into coherent systems. Our thinking process and knowledge is now developed through adaptation and this is adjusting ourselves to the environment. Assimilation, accommodation also takes place. Sometimes it seems as if I am searching for some balance in my thinking and this is known as equilibration. Piaget’s theory of cognitive development is not foreign to me as I did in Introduction to Psychology. I know that there are four stages and each stage has a different age group. The fist stage is the sensorimotor stage and children at this stage are usually zero to two years of age. The most significant things that occur at this stage are: the children develop object permanence, perform goal directed activities, use there senses and also uses imitation. The pre-operational stage is age two to seven years. Children are able to use symbolic function for example taking a broom and riding it saying that it is a donkey. There motor skills are being developed and therefore they would want to feed themselves. In the concrete operational stage children are able to think logically, can engage in a conversation and reversibility, classification and seriation takes place. The final stage is the formal operational stage and they are able to reason well and they also develop adult egocentrism and that is the heightened self consciousness that is reflected in adolescents and the belief that others are interested in their thoughts as they do. It also speaks about them having a sense of uniqueness and wants to be noticed by others. However some students will develop reckless behaviour including suicidal thoughts and drug abuse. In my opinion Vygotsky’s theory is much better than Piaget’s. He placed more  emphasis on the development of language than Piaget. He also states that language is the most important symbol in the development of language. As a child I use to talk to myself and now I know that it is private speech. I really believe that private speech guides an individual into making the right decisions and also into problem solving. The most important part of his theory is the zone of proximal development. My understanding of it is that at a particular stage in one’s life given guidance and support will help me as an individual to master something. Children first learn pronounciation and they shy away from those words that are hard to pronounce. For example my three year old son says ‘begetable’ instead of vegetable. I also believe that adults should use language in the child’s learning experience and don’t use high flown words because the child should be able to relate to what is being said. Vocabulary, grammar and syntax are developed at around age five. However parents can buy books, read to their children, take them on a nature walks and also answer their questions so as to develop their language.

Battle of Wauhatchie in the Civil War

Battle of Wauhatchie in the Civil War fBattle of Wauhatchie - Conflict Dates: The Battle of Wauhatchie was fought October 28-29, 1863, during the American Civil War (1861-1865).   Armies Commanders: Union Major General Joseph HookerBrigadier General John W. Geary3 divisions Confederate Lieutenant General James Longstreet1 division Battle of Wauhatchie - Background: Following the defeat at the Battle of Chickamauga, the Army of the Cumberland retreated north to Chattanooga.  There Major General William S. Rosecrans and his command were besieged by General Braxton Braggs Army of Tennessee.  With the situation deteriorating, the Union XI and XII Corps were detached from the Army of the Potomac in Virginia and sent west under the leadership of Major General Joseph Hooker.  In addition, Major General Ulysses S. Grant received orders to come east from Vicksburg with part of his army and assume command over all Union troops around Chattanooga.  Overseeing the newly-created Military Division of the Mississippi, Grant relieved Rosecrans and replaced him with Major General George H. Thomas.   Battle of Wauhatchie - Cracker Line: Assessing the situation, Grant implemented a plan devised by Brigadier General William F. Baldy Smith for reopening a supply line to Chattanooga.  Dubbed the Cracker Line, this called for Union supply boats to land cargo at Kelleys Ferry on the Tennessee River.  It would then move east to Wauhatchie Station and up Lookout Valley to Browns Ferry.  From there goods would re-cross the river and move over Moccasin Point to Chattanooga.  To secure this route, Smith would establish a bridgehead at Browns Ferry while Hooker moved overland from Bridgeport to the west (Map).   Though Bragg was unaware of the Union plan, he directed Lieutenant General James Longstreet, whose men held the Confederate left, to occupy Lookout Valley.  This directive was ignored by Longstreet whose men remained on Lookout Mountain to the east.  Before dawn on October 27, Smith successfully secured Browns Ferry with two brigades led by Brigadier Generals William B. Hazen and John B. Turchin.  Alerted to their arrival, Colonel William B. Oates of the 15th Alabama attempted a counterattack but was unable to dislodge the Union troops.  Advancing with three divisions from his command, Hooker reached Lookout Valley on October 28.  Their arrival surprised Bragg and Longstreet who were having a conference on Lookout Mountain.  Ã‚   Battle of Wauhatchie - The Confederate Plan: Reaching Wauhatchie Station on the Nashville Chattanooga Railroad, Hooker detached Brigadier General John W. Gearys division and proceeded north to encamp at Browns Ferry.  Due to a shortage of rolling stock, Gearys division had been reduced by a brigade and was only supported by the four guns of Knaps Battery (Battery E, Pennsylvania Light Artillery).  Recognizing the threat posed by Union forces in the valley, Bragg directed Longstreet to attack.  After assessing the Hookers deployments, Longstreet determined to move against Gearys isolated force at Wauhatchie.  To accomplish this, he ordered Brigadier General Micah Jenkins division to strike after dark.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Moving out, Jenkins sent the brigades of Brigadier Generals Evander Law and Jerome Robertson to occupy high ground south of Browns Ferry.  This force was tasked with preventing Hooker from marching south to aid Geary.  To the south, Brigadier General Henry Bennings brigade of Georgians was directed to hold a bridge over Lookout Creek and act as a reserve force.  For the assault against the Union position at Wauhatchie, Jenkins assigned Colonel John Brattons brigade of South Carolinians.  At Wauhatchie, Geary, concerned about being isolated, posted Knaps Battery on a small knoll and ordered his men to sleep with their weapons at hand.  The 29th Pennsylvania from Colonel George Cobhams brigade provided pickets for the entire division. Battle of Wauhatchie - First Contact: Around 10:30 PM, the lead elements of Brattons brigade engaged the Union pickets.  Approaching Wauhatchie, Bratton ordered the Palmetto Sharpshooters to move east of the railroad embankment in an attempt to flank Gearys line.  The 2nd, 1st, and 5th South Carolinas extended the Confederate line west of the tracks.  These movements took time in the darkness and it was not until 12:30 AM that Bratton commenced his assault.  Slowing the enemy, the pickets from the 29th Pennsylvania bought Geary time to form his lines.  While the 149th and 78th New Yorks from Brigadier General George S. Greenes brigade took a position along the railroad embankment facing east, Cobhams remaining two regiments, the 111th and 109th Pennsylvanias, extended the line west from the tracks (Map).  Ã‚   Battle of Wauhatchie - Fighting in the Dark: Attacking, the 2nd South Carolina quickly sustained heavy losses from both the Union infantry and Knaps Battery.  Hampered by the darkness, both sides were often reduced firing at the muzzle flashes of the enemy.  Finding some success on the right, Bratton attempted to slip the 5th South Carolina around Gearys flank.  This movement was blocked by the arrival of Colonel David Irelands 137th New York.  While pushing this regiment forward, Greene fell wounded when a bullet shattered his jaw.  As a result, Ireland assumed command of the brigade.  Seeking to press his attack against the Union center, Bratton slid the battered 2nd South Carolina to the left and threw forward the 6th South Carolina.   In addition, Colonel Martin Garys Hampton Legion was ordered to the far Confederate right.  This caused the 137th New York to refuse its left to prevent being flanked.  Support for the New Yorkers soon arrived as the 29th Pennsylvania, having re-formed from picket duty, took a position on their left.  As the infantry adjusted to each Confederate thrust, Knaps Battery took heavy casualties.  As the battle progressed both battery commander Captain Charles Atwell and Lieutenant Edward Geary, the generals eldest son, fell dead.  Hearing the fighting to the south, Hooker mobilized the XI Corps divisions of Brigadier Generals Adolph von Steinwehr and Carl Schurz.  Moving out, Colonel Orland Smiths brigade from von Steinwehrs division soon came under fire from Law.   Veering east, Smith began a series of assaults on Law and Robertson.  Drawing in Union troops, this engagement saw the Confederates hold their position on the heights.  Having repulsed Smith several times, Law received erroneous intelligence and ordered both brigades to withdraw.  As they departed, Smiths men attacked again and overran their position.  At Wauhatchie, Gearys men were running low on ammunition as Bratton prepared another assault.  Before this moved forward, Bratton received word that Law had withdrawn and that Union reinforcements were approaching.  Unable to maintain his position in these circumstances, he repositioned the 6th South Carolina and Palmetto Sharpshooters to cover his withdraw and began retreating from the field. Battle of Wauhatchie - Aftermath:  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In the fighting at the Battle of Wauhatchie, Union forces sustained 78 killed, 327 wounded, and 15 missing while Confederate losses numbered 34 killed, 305 wounded, and 69 missing.  One of the few Civil War battles fought entirely at night, the engagement saw the Confederates fail to close the Cracker Line to Chattanooga.  Over the coming days, supplies began to flow to the Army of the Cumberland.  Following the battle, a rumor circulated that Union mules had been stampeded during the battle leading the enemy to believe that they were being attacked by cavalry and ultimately their causing their retreat.  Though a stampede may have occurred, it was not the cause of the Confederate withdrawal.  Over the next month, Union strength grew and in late November Grant commenced the Battle of Chattanooga which drove Bragg from the area. Selected Sources Civil War Trust: Battle of WauhatchieCWSAC Battle Summaries: Battle WauhatchieHistory of War: Battle of Wauhatchie

How to Sign Up for the ACT Tricks and Tips

How to Sign Up for the ACT Tricks and Tips SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Registering for the ACT seems like a pretty straightforward part of the testing process. But the signup process is much more convoluted than you think, and some things matter a lot more than others. You also want to make sure to avoid important mistakes that can be costly. In this article, we’ll discuss step-by-step how to sign up for the ACT. In the half-hour long process, we’ll discuss which sections matter a lot, and which ones not at all. Finally, we’ll share helpful tips to choose the best location and save money. How to Register for the ACT Step 1: The first step is to log into your ACT account here.If you don't have an ACT account, you'll be asked to create one.Next, click on Register on the left. Step 2: The first section, â€Å"Your Personal Profile,† has only one important page. The rest is just information the ACT is collecting for research purposes and has zero impact on your score or college admissions. The important page is the first one: â€Å"Your Information.† Make sure all of this information is accurate because this is what they’re using to track your tests. Step 3: Every other page in this section is irrelevant to your ACT score. The ACT is collecting this information from you for two purposes: 1) to conduct research about how different types of students perform on the ACT, 2) to give your information to colleges who can then send you spam mail based on your interests.Colleges will NOT be using this information as part of their admissions decisions – they’ll instead be reading your application. If you’re not sure yet which colleges you might want to apply to and want schools to contact you, then take the time to fill this out accurately. Otherwise, feel free to breeze through it and submit blank answers. This page and the following pages in this section aren't important. Step 4:The next major section is â€Å"Your Interest Inventory.† Much like the previous section, this is purely optional. The ACT uses this to try to recommend career choices for you, but few students really see this as helpful. Step 5: Next, we move to â€Å"Your Test Selection.† This is where your choices really start to matter.First, you have to agree to Terms and Conditions. These basically forbid you from cheating and sharing the questions and answers with others.Next, choose your test date and any other options you want. Step 6: The next page goes over the requirements of the photo of yourself you must upload in order to complete your registration.This photo will be used on test day for identification purposes. On this page are all the requirements the photo must meet, such as being a picture of only you, showing your full face, and having a plain background. You won't be uploading the photo just yet; instead you'll do that after you finish the registration process. You have to upload your photo by the photo deadline (eight days before your test date) or your registration will be canceled. Step 7:Next, the ACT asks for the high school courses you’ve taken, and then it asks you to enter grades for each course. The ACT says they’ll send your colleges the GPA with your score report. Note that most colleges don’t actually take this as your record – they’d much rather use your transcript directly. But you might as well take the time to take this seriously, lest the college wonders why your ACT reported GPA differs so much from your transcript. Step 8: Next, you’ll have a chance to add Score Report choices. At this point, you get the ability to send four free score reports to colleges of your choice. This is a $48 value for free! If you know which schools you’re applying to, I recommend that you fill this out as it can be a major cost savings (read here for more about why). If you’re worried that your college will see an unfavorable score, realize that they actually don’t really care how many times you took the test – they just care about your highest score. Step 9: Next, you’ll have the ability to fill out Future Plans (this isn’t important and is just given to colleges to try to match your interests). Step 10:Finally, you get to choose your Test Center. At this point, I heavily recommend that you search by ZIP code. This will show you the test centers closest to you, and the best location to take your test might not be your high school. If you search by ZIP code, you get to see all the available test centers near you. If you're registering right now, I recommend you read our guide to the best ACT test locations. This will help you make sure you're maximizing your chance at a great score. Don't forget to upload your registration photo when you're done, and that’s the whole process! Now you know which parts really matter and which don’t. Tips for Signing Up for the ACT Now that you know how to sign up for ACT tests, here are some important tips: Choose the best location. This isn’t an automatic decision – many students take it at their high school, but this might not be the best location! Read this guide for more. Register early, well before the deadline. Put a note on your calendar to register at least six weeks before your test date. If you don’t do this in time, you’ll be subject to fees, or worse, you won’t be able to take your exam at all. Apply for a fee waiver if you qualify. Read here for more details. What's Next? Now that you know how to register, you should know WHEN to register. Read our guide to the best ACT test dates. How high of an ACT score do you need? What's a good ACT score? Click here to find out. Want to improve by 4 points or more on the ACT? Get our free must-read guide to the top tips you need to use to improve your ACT score:

Free sample - Nazi Holocaust Stages. translation missing

Nazi Holocaust Stages. Nazi Holocaust StagesThe Nazi Holocaust was the genocide of about six million Jews during the period of World War II. The central principle of Nazi ideology was represented by the prosecution of the Jews and Antisemitism. The members of the Nazi party openly declared their intent to segregate Jews off the â€Å"Aryan† society and do away Jews’ civil, legal, political rights, as published within their 25-point party program in 1920 (Spiegelman, Maus I, 20). This paper presents the stages of the Nazi Holocaust illustrated by various examples. Nazi leaders started fulfilling their pledge of prosecuting German Jews immediately after they assumed power. During the initial six years under the dictatorship of Adolf Hitler, from 1933 up until the war broke in 1939, Jews felt experienced very difficult times with over 400 orders marred restrictions and regulations in all aspects of their private and public lives. Most of the laws were national, initiated by the German administration and had an effect on all Jews (Spiegelman, Maus II, 40). Furthermore, municipal, regional and state officials also propagated a storm of exclusionary orders within their own communities on their own. Consequently, many individuals in all ranks within the government participated in the Jews’ prosecution through regarding, discussing, planning, adopting, imposing, and promoting anti-Jewish legislation. The first stage was definition that involved Jews being forced to put on the Star of David. They were seen as an international threat and also impure. As a result, Hitler had no reason of incorporating them in his plan of the pure and perfect â€Å"master plan.† According to Spiegelman (Maus II, 90), Stripping of rights was the second stage of. The year 1938 saw Jews being evicted from economic life of Germany. The Jews were denied the right to own property, they were denied German citizenship, and they were forced to carry identification papers. Other rights that were stripped of the Jews include; their lawyers being deprived of the right to practice law, denied voting rights, their businessmen had to be registered. Jewish doctors were also not to be found treating Aryan patients. Many laws aimed at separating Jews from German by limiting them their involvement in public life. The initial main law to infringe the rights of Jews was the â€Å"Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service† enacted on 7th April, 1933 which allowed for exclusion of Jews and â€Å"politically unreliable† employees and civil servants from state service (Spiegelman, Maus II, 89). The third stage was segregation and here rural Jews forced to occupy ghettos within large cities. His intention to put them into ghettos was deadly, confining them as they awaited extermination. Most notable among all these ghettos were those in Lodz, Poland which by the end of 1941 accommodated a total of 200, 000 Jews together with 5000 Gypsies (Spiegelman, Maus I, 48). Here individuals frequently died of starvation and diseases. On average, there were 15.1 persons in every apartment and 6-7 persons in every room. Concentration camps constituted another stage of the Nazi holocaust.   The first concentration camp was instituted in 1933 at Dachau to accommodate Nazi regime’s opponent. The figure of Jewish prisoners remarkably augmented after the broken glass’s night. Individuals were forced to there to provide free slave labour. The next stage was Extermination camps.   In this camps gas chambers were cloaked as showers and by 1945, a total of six million were already dead through such means as starvation, mass executions and slave labor within concentration camps. Extermination regions were isolated to prevent civilian population from unnecessarily witnessing the scene. Approximately 2 million Jews were killed through being gassed between 1942 and 1944, November (Spiegelman, Maus II, 78). Lastly it was the aftermath where camps were set free event though the dying, the weak and the sick were left there. A total of 250, 000 Jews were freed from the camps. They were however homeless, poor and left with nothing.   Spiegelman, Art. Maus I: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History. Rome: Pantheon 1986. Pp 1-160 Spiegelman, Art.   Maus II: A Survivor's Tale: And Here My Troubles Began. Rome: Pantheon. 1992. Pp 1-144

Museum of natural history Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Museum of natural history - Essay Example An enormous component of my fascination with them is their use of sword like items which have great meaning to their culture. My specific choice of swords is the Phurba. Some say that they were in use during the time of Shakyamuni Buddha, over 2500 years ago, particularly in the indigenous communities of Tibet. Others speculate even earlier origins. Padmasambhava is credited with the invention of the phurba. During the struggle against the demons that were fighting the establishment of Buddhism in Tibet, he is said to have pulled out a peg from the tent of a non-believer and, using the peg to nail down evil spirits, consecrated the ground on which the Samye Monastery was established in the eighth century. This simple peg became the Phurba, an important tool of religious practice that is used to this day. The Khadga is known as the fire sword which is paired with phurba. The Bodhisattva Manjursi, who is the embodiment of wisdom, is shown wielding the symbol of enlightenment. The fire is used to destroy the darkness of ignorance by the fiery rays which burst from the end of the sword. Wisdom is the sword that slices away illusion and wisdom is the final symbol of awareness. The first cut of the sword of wisdom is the decisive one, which is the dawn of enlightenment.

STRATEGIC MARKETING MANAGEMENT Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

STRATEGIC MARKETING MANAGEMENT - Assignment Example In consideration to the importance of technology in our daily lives, the industry, I have selected for Marketing Research and Planning is ‘Education IT products’. The company that has been selected is Lenovo. Lenovo is a manufacturer of PCs, laptops, desktops and other computer accessories. The history of Lenovo dates back to 1980s (Lenovo Website). Lenovo is operating in UK as well and it is considered as one of the top manufacturers of notebooks in the UK market (Schofield, 2010). The annual report 2009/2010 of Lenovo has revealed that shares of company in the mature markets including UK have declined as compared to its shares in China. Therefore, in this report strategic management analysis of Lenovo has been done and a new product plan has been proposed based on chosen future growth strategy. 2.0 CORPORATE OBJECTIVES The mission statement of Lenovo has been given below: â€Å"Lenovo strives to be a new world company that makes award-winning PCs for our customers. We operate as a company uninhibited by walls or organizational structures using world-sourcing to harness the power of innovation across our global team. We design innovative and exciting products and services to meet our customers’ needs.†(Lenovo Website) As mentioned in the annual report 2009 of Lenovo, the future corporate objectives of Lenovo are given below (Lenovo Website, 2010): Focus on maintaining its growth momentum in its core PC business whereas, exploring new opportunities. Reducing costs and increasing operational efficiency is another corporate objective and to achieve this objective, company has announced a global resource restructuring plan. To expand leadership position in China and to improve profitability in China To return to profitability and maintain and grow shares in the mature markets like UK, US etc To ensure faster end-to-end management in the mature and emerging markets To simplify the business model for global commercial accounts To explore n ew opportunities in mobile interest by coming up new products and through Lenovo Mobile unit 3.0 MARKET OVERVIEW 3.1 Products The current products of Lenovo have been classified into three categories including Professional Grade products, Lifestyle products and Accessories. Professional Grade Lifestyle Accessories ThinkPad Laptops IdeaPad Laptops Monitors ThinkCentre Desktops IdeaCentre Desktops Batteries & Power ThinkStation Workstations Essential Laptop/Desktop Storage ThinkServer Systems All Accessories Source: Lenovo Website The following figure shows sales of Lenovo’s products in 2009 and 2010. Figure shows that notebook computers contribute to the major chunk of the sales with 58 percent and 63 percent in 2009 and 2010 respectively. Figure 1: Sales Analysis by Product, 2009 Source: Lenovo Annual Report 2009/2010 3.2 Target Markets The company has categorised its markets into three groups including China, Mature Markets and Emerging Markets. The Executive Headquarter of Lenovo is in Morrisville, USA whereas, the Principal Operations are in Morrisville (targeting mature markets), Beijing (targeting China) and

Market Entry Stratagies Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Market Entry Stratagies - Research Paper Example The article selected for market choice strategies denotes how in the past years China struggled and to set its entry into the international markets. The articles refer to it as zou chuqu, which means â€Å"go global†. It highlights how Chinese companies have ventured into the international market in various capacities and categories. The countries companies found a competitive edge with regards to getting business contracts, and the articles notes of the Sony and sum sang setting up a state whereby some of their subsequent products would be coming from China. Meanwhile, the article on market Expansion Strategies, highlights on the impacts of the prevailing or business environment in the foreign country. The article asserts that companies with international business experience are most likely to have less sensitivity to the discouraging effect of unpredictable policy environments with regards to investment. The two articles relate to one another by recognizing the essence of the international market as the sole center of the market growth and expansion. The article by Market Choice Strategies explains and elaborates how the Chinese have geared itself for the international market. The Chinese firms like ZTE (telecoms sections) are equally fighting for major just like companies. The article indicates that China has derived a mechanism and strategy for contesting new markets and playing to their maximum strengths. The article on Market Expansion Strategies equally highlights on regards of lenient international or foreign policies to conquer new investment destinations. The article notes that global expansion mainly in an outlined stages model has an inherent process that is well rooted in uncertainty reduction that is well undertaken through the accumulation of pertinent types of knowledge and entailed experience. Having experience in any particular country gives very vital information re garding its

Resistance to Organizational Strategic Change Essay

Resistance to Organizational Strategic Change - Essay Example However the effects of the resistance to organizational change, various ways have been adopted to overcome the resistance. This essay puts into perspective various methods of managing resistance to change through aspects of education, participation, negotiation, facilitation, and coercion. It will further engage in identifying the best strategy to use at a given time, how it is supposed to be used, some of their advantages, as well as the limitations. Opposition to change usually begins with an individual and then spreads to create a faction in the organization (Kavanagh and Ashkanasy 2006). This essay attempts to answer the following questions: 1. What are the strategic developments that BMW has adopted and how can resistance to change be overcome? 2. How can the strategic developments in company be analyzed using the example of BMW? 3. What recommendations can be made in regard to the case scenario of BMW’s strategic developments? BMW is an international motor company that h as engaged in a plan to keep the company top in the industry by making appropriate and timely changes in the organization. The company has gone to the heights of making changes in its operations, staffing as well as in the management to ensure that they conform to the changing trends. Such changes have confronted opposition directly or indirectly. Resistance to organizational change can be overcome through proper policies that involve adequate preparedness and thorough sensitization of all the involved personnel. When confronted with the need for change, there are factors that organizations need to consider before the change is effected. Firstly, the organization should have a prospect of the resistance that is expected from the employees and the organizational system. The organization is composite and therefore, all its facets should be put into consideration before a change can be made. Secondly, it is important to consider the agency of the change in order to plan on how to handl e resistance. Decisions that are urgent and need immediate intervention are supposed to be handled with caution and the resistance handled immediately it immerges. In contrary, long term changes may take more time to implement and may involve extensive consultations. Thirdly, the most accurate information should be available about the change. This facilitates ease adoption and casts any doubt and suspicion. Lastly, it is important to consider the mover of the change relative to the position in the organization (Potter and Schlesinger 2008, pg 1). This is because a junior staff pushing a change alone without the support of the senior staff can be an overwhelming task, it is important that all the employees collaborate in effecting the change. Resistance from the high cadres of the organizational management or indifference can result to failure of the change. Apart from analyzing factors relating to the situation of the change, the rate of the adoption of the change is determined. It is important to analyze the situation carefully if it extensive and is deep. In addition, if the change proves to involve many people and some good amount of information, then it means it will have to be implemented in slow phases. For example, BMW’s change of the board of management structure in 2012 involved extensive consultations across the managers and the stakeholders. The aim of the change was to incorporate a

Comparative analysis of food retailers growth strategies in the UK Research Paper

Comparative analysis of food retailers growth strategies in the UK - Research Paper Example Traill (1998) asserts that the food retail sector is characterized by competitive and innovative retailers who have remain resilient despite economic downturns. There are high stable street independent retailers, but most of them struggle to survive due to the rapidly changing business environment and changes in consumer behaviour (Henry, 2011). There is evidence of high concentration of economic power by the industries in the food retail chain between the primary producers and consumers (Henry, 2011). The supermarket model in the UK is characterized by self-service shopping with various departments that handle the production and distribution of the food grocery items. The sector has made savings through elimination of the traditional wholesaler, and ensuring direct supply from the manufacturing industries to regional distribution centers, and finally to the superstores that are conveniently located near the customers (Department of Trade and Industry, 2004). The lower unit costs and high net margins associated with supermarkets have increased their market share and contributed to ‘spiral growth’. Some of the features that are evident in the spiral growth of the leading supermarket retailers such as Tesco and Wal-Mart include the high costs of market entry due to the lower prices. For instance, Wal-Mart’ s ‘Every Day Low pricing model’ ensures savings made in the supply chain activities are passed on to consumers through price reductions thus contributing to high sales volumes and significant market growth. Accordingly, the spiral growth is characterized by own labeling that return the highest contribution margins to the retailers. The retailers’ brands are capable of competing effectively with the manufacturer’s brands through packaging and shelf placement. The own labels do not only enhance the revenues, but also improve the retailer brand

Vincent van Gogh Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Vincent van Gogh - Essay Example Vincent van Gogh lived in the period 1853-1890 and died after shooting himself in the chest at the young age of 37. In spite of the fact that he was a late starter (as aforementioned, he commenced his career as an artist at the age of 27), he was highly prolific and produced more than 2000 paintings in the last 10 years of his life. The style of Vincent van Gogh is very unique but it can be best described as post-impressionist [3]. This style was initiated as an extension of impressionism but, at the same time, a rebellion against its limitations. The use of vibrant colors, thick brushstrokes and real-life subjects were features shared with impressionism. Conversely, the emphasis of geometric forms, the distortion of reality to create an emotional effect and the unnatural use of color were novel and innovative features that allowed the subsequent development of this style into expressionism, of which van Gogh was a pioneer [4, 5]. "Looking at the stars always makes me dream . Why, I ask myself, shouldn't the shining dots of the sky be as accessible as the black dots on the map of France ...., we take death to reach a star" [5]. It was perhaps this kind of thought that urged van Gogh to paint "the Starry Night" (Saint Rmy, June 1889), one of his most iconic paintings. It is oil on canvas and it is currently housed (since 1941 it is part of the permanent collection) in the Museum of Modern Art of New York (New York, USA) [5]. The tree in the painting is a cypress, a species generally associated with cemeteries and mourning. It is in the shape of a flame and helps connect heaven, represented by a lively, striking and vibrant sky, with earth, represented by the little village at the bottom of the painting. At the same time, the village identifies order, while the stars in the sky are a explosion of colour and energy. Although some critics maintain that the village depicted in the painting is not real, others believe it represents views of Saint Rmy (Provence, France) from the neighbourhood of the asylum Van Gogh was confined to at the time the painting was made. This period is often referred to as "the Saint Rmy period". It is characterised by the use of thick, sweeping brushstrokes to create a sea of swirls and spirals, which revealed the mental turmoil he was suffering. The mental hospital was housed in a former monastery a mile and a half out of town, in a area of cornfields, olive trees and vineyards. His time at the hospital gave him the opportunity to reflect about his childhood and the values and beliefs from this time of his life. The church spire is an addition that is believed to be a reference to his childhood and his native land, the Netherlands [6]. The painting favours feeling, emotion and energy and puts aside the impressionist doctrine of truth to nature. However, Van Gogh was never very happy with the painting as he considered it a study, not a finished piece. As he

Comparative analysis of food retailers growth strategies in the UK Research Paper

Comparative analysis of food retailers growth strategies in the UK - Research Paper Example Traill (1998) asserts that the food retail sector is characterized by competitive and innovative retailers who have remain resilient despite economic downturns. There are high stable street independent retailers, but most of them struggle to survive due to the rapidly changing business environment and changes in consumer behaviour (Henry, 2011). There is evidence of high concentration of economic power by the industries in the food retail chain between the primary producers and consumers (Henry, 2011). The supermarket model in the UK is characterized by self-service shopping with various departments that handle the production and distribution of the food grocery items. The sector has made savings through elimination of the traditional wholesaler, and ensuring direct supply from the manufacturing industries to regional distribution centers, and finally to the superstores that are conveniently located near the customers (Department of Trade and Industry, 2004). The lower unit costs and high net margins associated with supermarkets have increased their market share and contributed to ‘spiral growth’. Some of the features that are evident in the spiral growth of the leading supermarket retailers such as Tesco and Wal-Mart include the high costs of market entry due to the lower prices. For instance, Wal-Mart’ s ‘Every Day Low pricing model’ ensures savings made in the supply chain activities are passed on to consumers through price reductions thus contributing to high sales volumes and significant market growth. Accordingly, the spiral growth is characterized by own labeling that return the highest contribution margins to the retailers. The retailers’ brands are capable of competing effectively with the manufacturer’s brands through packaging and shelf placement. The own labels do not only enhance the revenues, but also improve the retailer brand

Significance of Belonging in Young Peoples Lives. Belongingness and Essay

Significance of Belonging in Young Peoples Lives. Belongingness and Identity - Essay Example Belongingness is a phenomenon that is characterized with a central feature called identity - be it a individualized or community based, but identity is the core factor governing the sense of belongingness. Identity attributes the exaggeration of outsider versus insider barriers due to polarization, so is happened with nationalism to the larger extent. Identification with one's own ethnic group occurs at the cost of estrangement from the larger societal framework. Belongingness as a manifested form of identity influences the fundamental structure of personal identification at its basic level, whereas, at its most complex level, it articulates the complex involvement with other individuals within the social network, featuring a range of potentially contradictory identity factors contributing to adherence such as gender factor, attitudinal factors, sexual orientation factor, ethnicity factors, ethnic preference factor and so on. When the development of the sense of belongingness is depr ived, it may result in increased anxiety, stress and emotional distress along with various forms of psychopathology and physiological malfunctioning (Baumeister & Leary, 1995; Anderman, 2002). Need for Belongingness As stated in Sociometer theory proposed by Leary and Baumeister (2000), there is a strong correlation between one's relational value and perceived self-esteem. If an individual perceives that his or her relational value is at risk, it may lower his or her self-esteem to quite a further. This threat is central to the need for belongingness that educes reflection about the problematic condition and potential solutions, as described by rumination theory proposed by Martin and Tesser (1996). Hence, if the perceived threat of relational inadequacy is continuing through the human system, the distorted self-esteem may cause the threat to repetitively turn out to be the individual's focus of awareness by interfering reflection over the barren goal, namely, the satisfaction of the need for belongingness. Aligned to this fact, rumination theory proposes that the perceived threat to the contentment of a basic need is one of the central factors educing and maintaining reflection (Gold & Wegner, 1995). Forms of Belongingness In order to develop an understanding about the relationship of belongingness to a young's life in terms of their living style, historical context of their existing condition, as well as present contextual framework, a thorough approach in considering the forms of belongingness needs to be assessed. There are essentially two forms of belongingness that influence an individual's life especially a young individual's life to quite a greater extent: belonging to place, inclusive of nationality and neighbourhood and a blend of these two aspects and belonging to sexual community. Belonging to Place In several times, various researchers conducted studies in order to find out the implication of belongingness in an individual's life in relation to the social location the individual belong to. It has been found that the sense of belongingness is shaped by the social location in which an individual belonging into (Rutherford, 1990). Hence, the essential contributing factors shaping a young individual's sense of belongingness include locality, gender, ethnicity, religion and social class. In such a study called Inventing Adulthood Study (London South Bank University, 2006) conducted to find out the sense of national identity among young individuals suggests that the national identity seems to be invisible with an

Narration of Chpt 7 Essay Example for Free

Narration of Chpt 7 Essay THE NARRATIVE IN THIS CHAPTER OPENS WITH HASSAN’S DREAM, IN WHICH WE SEE A POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE OMEN. IN THE DREAM, AMIR AND HASSAN ARE CELEBRATED AS HEROES WHICH IS A POSITIVE FORECAST FOR THE UPCOMING COMPETITION; HOWEVER, THE MONSTER â€Å"SWIMMING AT THE BOTTOM (OF THE LAKE), WAITING† FORESHADOWS THE MONSTROUS EVENT THAT IS ABOUT TO HAPPEN. THE DREAM JUXTAPOSES THE NIGHTMARE AMIR WILL WATCH AND HASSAN WILL EXPERI- ENCE LATER ON IN THE CHAPTER, THERE ARE MANY EXAMPLES OF JUXTAPOSITION IN THIS CHAPTER. THE BEAUTY OF THE DAY IS TARNISHED WITH THE UGLY INCIDENT, WINNING THE COMPETITION IS CONTRASTED WITH LOSING HIS FRIEND, THE SUN SHINING ON THE SNOW-WHITE DAY CLASHES WITH THE DARKNESS OF THE ALLEY, WHICH MEANS THE AUTHOR HERE IS ALSO USING PATHETIC FALLACY TO FURTHER INCREASE THE CONTRAST; ALL THE JUXTAPOSITION MAKES THE EVENT MORE DARK AND DIS- TURBING. WHEN HASSAN IS SHARING HIS DREAM WITH AMIR, AMIR IS ABRUPT TOWARDS HIM AND INTER- RUPTS HIS STORY, HE â€Å"ALMOST APOLOGISED, THEN DIDN’T. HASSAN UNDERSTOOD†, THIS IS AN INDI- CATOR OF THE SOCIETY AND CULTURE THEY LIVED IN, WHERE PASHTUN SUPERIORITY WAS THE AC- CEPTED NORM AND HAZARAS WERE CONSIDERED TO BE AN INFERIOR RACE. HASSAN KNOWS HIS PLACE AS THE SERVANT. LATER ON IN THE CHAPTER HASSAN BECOMES THE â€Å"SACRIFICIAL LAMB†, AMIR SAYS â€Å"I RAN BECAUSE I WAS A COWARD† BUT THEN TRIES TO CONVINCE HIMSELF HASSAN IS THE PRICE HE HAS TO PAY FOR BABA’S LOVE. AMIR’S DISMISSAL OF THE SITUATION IS UNUSUAL AS HE IS TYPICALLY MORE OPEN MINDED ABOUT HASSAN’S RACE, BUT IN THIS SITUATION HE THINKS TO HIMSELF â€Å"HE WAS JUST A HAZARA, WASN’T HE? †, THIS SHOWS HOW DEEP RACISM RUNS IN THE CULTURE. HOWEVER IT IS WORTH NOTING AMIR’S THOUGHTS ARE INTERTWINED WITH HIS NOW ADULT PERSPECTIVE AS HE IS TELLING THE STORY IN RETROSPECT AFTER HE HAS LIVED WITH THE CONSTANT GUILT OF THIS EVENT; THIS IS AN EXAMPLE OF POSTMODERNISM AS THE NARRATIVE IS FRAGMENTED AND THERE IS MEANING CREATED IN THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE NARRATIVES, AMIR’S NARRA- TIVE OF HASSAN’S RAPE IS A GOOD EXAMPLE OF THIS AS THE MEANING OF IT DEEPENS BY ADULT AMIR’S REASONING. AMIR’S ACTIONS HERE MEANS ‘THE KITE RUNNER’ IS A BILDUNGSROMAN, WHERE THE PROTAGONIST OF THE STORY’S ACTIONS ARE NOT HEROIC. DURING THE RAPE, AMIR’S NARRATIVE BREAKS OFF INTO MEMORIES RATHER THAN SPEAKING ABOUT THE EVENTS ACTUALLY TAKING PLACE. HE DIGRESSES INTO PAST MEMORIES AND EVENTS FROM HIS EARLIER CHILDHOOD, THIS INDICATES THE NARRATOR’S DIFFICULTY IN DEALING WITH WHAT’S HAPPENING IN FRONT OF HIM. IT’S ALMOST AS IF THERE ARE GAPS IN HIS ADULT MEMORY AS A RESULT OF HIS CHILDHOOD SELF DISTANCING HIMSELF FROM THE SITUATION. BY HAVING THE EVENTS TAKING PLACE IN AN ALLEY IS REPRESENTATIVE OF THE DARK NATURE OF THE EVENTS AND THE FACT THAT AMIR FAILS TO ENTER THE ALLEY SHOWS HIS UNWILLINGNESS TO DEAL WITH THE DARKER THINGS IN LIFE, IT ALSO AL- LOWS THE RAPE TO BECOME A SIDE EVENT, SOMETHING EASILY IGNORED AND NOT A PART OF MAIN- STREAM LIFE. CHAPTER 7 IS THE CLIMAX THE READER HAS BEEN WAITING FOR SINCE THE BEGINNING OF THE NOVEL. HOWEVER WHEN THE EVENT OCCURS WE REALISE IT IS A THIRD OF THE WAY THROUGH THE NOVEL AND IT ISN’T THE EVENT ITSELF BUT THE AFTERMATH OF IT THAT HAUNTS AMIR AS THE EVENTS ARE FAR FROM OVER. DESPITE FROM THIS, WE KNOW THAT CHAPTER 7 IS THE PIVOTAL CHAPTER AS Micaela Mossop WITHOUT THE EVENTS THAT TAKE PLACE HERE WOULD BE NO STORY TO TELL. THE IDEA THAT THE REPERCUSSION OF AMIR’S ACTIONS WILL AFFECT THE REST OF THE NOVEL IS REINFORCED AT THE END OF THE CHAPTER WHEN HE SOBS IN BABA’S ARMS WHICH INDICATES THE GAIN OF HIS FATHER’S AFFEC- TION WILL BE TAINTED BY HASSAN’S SACRIFICE.

Treating diabetic foot ulcers

Treating diabetic foot ulcers The aspect of professional practice I choose related to my role as an adult nurse was diabetic foot ulcers. I choose this topic because it is often seen and treated by nurses and so understanding the treatments available and the effect living with diabetic foot ulcers has on individuals in very important. The first article I am going to discuss and evaluate is the ‘short report: the effect of topical phenytoin in healing diabetic foot ulcers: a randomised control trial’. This was located from the Diabetes UK website. This article explores how the use of a topical treatment for treating diabetic foot ulcers may be more conducive for the healing process as it contradicts the need for medical intervention as well as minimising patient caused to the individual. This study concludes that there were no changes in the diabetic foot ulcers being assessed between the two trail groups. This implies that the study doesn’t support the use of phenytoin in the treatment of diabetic foot ulcers. In relation to the hierarchy of evidence, this article falls under randomized controlled trials, which is the second from the top on the hierarchy. The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) defines a randomized control study as ‘A study in which a number of similar people are randomly assigned to two (or more) groups to test a specific drug or treatment. One group (the experimental group) receives the treatment being tested; the other (the comparison orcontrol group) receives an alternative treatment, a dummy treatment (placebo) or no treatment at all. The groups are followed up to see how effective theexperimental treatmentwas. Outcomesare measured at specific times and any difference in response between the groups is assessed statistically. This method is also used to reducebias.’ (NICE 2013). According to the British Medical Journal (BMJ), randomised controlled trails are the most thorough and precise technique of assessing if the participant is reacting p ositively to the treatment they have been administered. This also contributes towards managing the monetary value of the study and its effectiveness. The BMJ states that this method of evidence can come with some ethical issues one being, ‘exposing patients to intervention believed to be inferior to current treatment.’ (1998). They also express that although not all studies conducted by this means may be unethical, the validity of using this method may be unreliable, one of the main reason for this is due to the struggle to get the population to sign up to be a participant in the trail. In a case study directed by Wootton R. (2000), it can be argued that although treatment offered in RCTs may be inferior to current treatment, it can work for the benefit of the participant and when it does the results are more desirable than what was seen from current treatment. The second article I am going to discuss and evaluate is ‘debridement of diabetic foot ulcers’. This article was located in the Cochrane library. This article studies the debridement of foot ulcers and what impact it has on healing the diabetic foot ulcer. It also explores the use of dressings on the wound and what dressings apart from the standard gauze had a positive impact on the healing process. The findings of this study showed that the dressing that was being trailed had a positive impact on healing DFU and in an increased time compared to the standard gauze. From this article it Is clear that debridement as well as the other dressing which was trailed has a profound effect on the healing of DFU’s which may have a direct impact on the variations of dressings nurses have to treat diabetic patients. In accordance to the hierarchy of evidence, this article is a systematic review which comes at the very top of the hierarchy. The Cochrane Collaboration agree syst ematic reviews are the most reliable if they are carried out correctly because ‘Researchers conducting systematic reviews use explicit methods aimed at minimizing bias, in order to produce more reliable findings that can be used to inform decision making.’ (2013). This definition has been demonstarted in the article which has been chosen as they have managed to keep to the strict methods used to eliminate bias. One of them being randomised controlled trails. This type of trial ensures that all participants are randomly put in control groups where they would receive a placebo or the actual drug. This trail is strictly confidential as only those people conducting the study not assisting know which group is receiving what drug. All results obtained from the trail are ‘assessed by rigorous comparison of rates of disease, death, recovery, or other appropriate outcome in the study and control groups.’ (The Centre For Evidence Based Medicine. 2013). Leibovici L an d Reeves D also hold systematic review in high esteem describing it as a ‘powerful tool deployed in the pursuit of evidence based practice.’ (2005). They argue that systematic reviews do not just focus on the drug or treatment in question but highlight questions which are important to patients from the point of view that the patients well -being is the primary outcome of the study. Whereas in some clinical trails the primary outcome would reflect the need to save resources or to attempt to claim that certain treatments have an advantage which isn’t always the case. Despite systematic reviews appearing to cover all areas, some researchers have conflicting views on the expenses involved to run a study using individual patient data (IPD). According to Stern and Simmes (1997) IPD is much more expensive and time consuming than other research methods. However it is argued that due to the advancement of technology obtaining patient data is not as time consuming or expensive than in the 90’s. The final article I am going to discuss and evaluate is â€Å"Whatever I do is a lost cause.’ The emotional and behavioural experiences of individuals who are ulcer free living with the threat of developing further diabetic foot ulcers’. I obtained this article from the online Wiley Library. The article is relevant to my discipline as nurses treat many patients who currently have or have had diabetic foot ulcers in the past. This article gives and in depth picture of the fears of those who have had successful treatment for their DFU but are afraid of them returning. This article homes in on the feelings of the patients and how different aspects of DFU and the possible consequences affect their lives and how they approach the condition. However it doesn’t acknowledge how beneficial the treatments they received were. And the effects it had on them emotionally and physically if any. This article is qualitative study which according to the hierarchy comes at the bottom under the heading expert opinion. The Office of National Statistics use Ritchie and Lewis (2003) definition of qualitative study which is, ‘a naturalistic, interpretative approach concerned with understanding the meanings which people attach to actions, decisions, beliefs, values and the like within their social world, and understanding the mental mapping process that respondents use to make sense of and interpret the world around them’. The National office for statistics continues on the say that qualitative research offers an extended understanding of the subject and information related to it. Moreover it explains reasons for certain findings, evaluate how effective the study was and how it would aid their research. According to Ewe Flick the need for qualitative research has increased in the last few decades due to the rapid changes of society. He refers to it as a means to keep up to date with the current situations. Although qualitative research has been a fundamental study for the past couple decades, there are many defects in this method. Becker and Geer (1960) highlighted the fact that although the interviewer and participant speak the same language, there may be some discrepancies with the interpretation, which in effect may leave the interviewer without information he needs/ wanted. According to Beaker and Geer another reason it may be difficult for the participant to open up about certain issues which are bought up. This again may be another factor which prevents the researcher getting all the information they need. There also positives to this research method. Qualitative research is also known as going out on the field because the researcher has to find the participants and in some ca ses has to meet in an environment that suits them. The advantage of this is that if a participant who is being interviewed about a sensitive subject is in the comfort of their own home then they may feel more able to talk about the issues raised as Crabtree and Miller (1991) suggested. References Leibovici L Reeves D. (2005) Systematic reviews and meta- analysis. Journal of antimicrobial chemotherapy. Page 803. Volume 56. The Cochrane Library. (2013) http://www.thecochranelibrary.com/view/0/AboutCochraneSystematicReviews.html Last accessed 12th January 2014 Sage Publications (2002) http://ehp.sagepub.com/content/25/1/76.full.pdf+html Last accessed 11th Janurary 2014 Flick U. (2009). Introduction to Qualitative Research. 4th edition. London. Sage Publications Office for National Statistics- http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/guide-method/method-quality/general-methodology/data-collection-methodology/what-is-qualitative-research-/index.html last accessed 12th January 2014 National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (2011) http://www.nice.org.uk/website/glossary/glossary.jsp?alpha=R Last accessed 12th January 2014 British Medical Journal (1998) http://www.bmj.com/content/316/7126/201 Last accessed 12th January 2014 British medical Journal (2000) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC27370/ Last accessed 12th January 2014

The Death of Ivan Ilyich: Spiritual Awakening Essay -- Tolstoy Death I

The Death of Ivan Ilyich: Spiritual Awakening He went to his study, lay down, and once again was left alone with it. Face to face with It, unable to do anything with It. Simply look at It and grow numb with horror" (Tolstoy, 97). Death takes on an insidious persona as it eats away at Ivan Ilyich, a man horrified at the prospect of losing his life. Even more horrifying is the realization that despite his prominence and prosperity as a Russian high court judge, Ilyich has done nothing to make his life worth saving. The Death of Ivan Ilyich begins at the end, with his associates receiving the news of his passing. Here, Tolstoy emphasizes the diffident attitude the living often have toward the dead and their unintended insensitivity to what they can't comprehend. His colleagues are more preoccupied with what kind of personnel changes his death causes and getting in a game of whist than the loss of this individual. Even his wife, while playing up her bereaved widow status, considers how she can profit from his passing. Aside from the realistic portrayal of his truly devastated son, those who survive the dead man seem to consider him an inconvenient corpse. The story then flashes back to develop Ivan Ilyich as a living man. At first, the indifferent attitude of his loved ones seemed justified, since he leads a rather empty, superficial life common to the late 1800's. It appears that if someone else died, his first thoughts would turn to whist as well. Propriety, not morality, dictates his actions and he relishes power and glory. He is a consummately impervious individual, impervious to conscience, empathy, and understanding. This does not make him an evil man. More i... ...back the family has. Both of them suffer from false expectation brought on by their commitment to propriety over conscience or morality. As Ilyich's condition worsens, he begins to notice the hypocrisy upon which he has based his life. At first, he sees those around him as perpetrators of a "great lie," insisting that he will get better and making light of his condition. Later, he comes to accept that in the past he has lied to himself, and forgives his family of all his petty grudges. His realization and spiritual awakening in the moments before his death ultimately draw the greatest audience sympathy. We feel his denial and fear, his unending physical pains and emotional misery, and are able to accept, as Ilyich does, the unalterable course of our lives. Tolstoy, Leo. The Death of Ivan Ilyich. Translated by Lynn Solotaroff. Bantam Books:New York, 1981.

Critical study of how music uniquely expands our understanding of experience Essay

Music has long existed in our society as a form of culture, entertainment and the like. In fact every civilization known to exist had had a great deal of benefits from music. There are lots of people who see music as nothing more than plain entertainment however there are those who holds in the claim that music gives us something more than entertainment per se. There are claims that music could affect us in a number of ways. Music has considerable effects on one’s mind, body and emotions. Music that are abundant in beats in a way could fuel one’s body, music carried out with feelings could affect one’s emotional status and could either make one cry with misery or laugh with joy, classical music could stimulate the mind, and so on and so forth. There are people who are greatly aware of the effects music could wrought on a person and this could greatly be seen on our everyday experiences. Movies, films, news, see the importance and know the effects music could have on every individual and thus music is key parts in every movie made nowadays. Have you ever seen a movie that doesn’t have an original sound track or a movie that did not make use of background music? Ever seen a documentary and the like who did not use music in the background while portraying the videos or documents they have? Having seen some of the uses music could have it may now suffice to say that music is indeed an important aspect in our lives and it plays fundamental role in today’s society (as well as on societies which existed thousand of years ago). As was stated music is an essential part of every culture, of every society and thus it is of no surprise that music is seen as a part of our everyday routines. Music could have fundamental effects on one’s emotion. Think of an instance wherein certain music affected you emotionally. Say you heard a certain song and it evoke within you some sort of emotions like pain, happiness and the like. I remember for an instance a conversation I have had with a friend of mine. He always loves to listen to the lyrics of Ever After of Bonnie Bailey and Come Around by Rhett Miller. He told me that he love listening to Ever After because that used to be their theme song (of his ex girlfriend) and he loves singing Come around because he can relate to that particular song. Thus, seemingly music indeed has certain effects on our emotions. I even remember claiming that my friend is such a masochist because he loves listening to sad songs such as Come Around when he has a choice to do otherwise. Similarly music has certain ways of affecting one’s mood. However it is not really known how do music affects a person physiologically and psychologically as well. Thus, a question may arise as to how do certain music affects a person’s mood. In order to determine how music affects a person’s mood one must first know the root as to how music inspires a person’s emotion. There are two contrasting viewpoints who tried to answer this particular puzzle. These views are called emotivist and cognitivist. For an emotivist they believe in the notion that we feel certain emotions as a form of response everytime we hear certain music. The cognitivist on the other hand believes otherwise. The cognitivists believes that there is more to humans than emotions and thus they believe that we get to decode certain musical emotions on a rational level, thus it shows that the cognitivists do not really believe that we really get to experience musical emotions. In order to see whether the beliefs of the emotivists are correct or not an experiment needs to be conducted in order to see if there are certain music models which could draw out coherent physiological reactions from different kinds of people. This experiment is needed in order for us to see if we really do experience emotions when exposed to a particular music. It is in this regard that a study had been conducted by Krumhansl wherein two groups of student were used. These particular groups of students each partake different activities. The activity went as follow: One group of 40 students dynamically rated the levels of sadness, fear, happiness, and tension in six sample pieces intended to evoke sadness, fear, or happiness. They did so by adjusting a slider on a computer while the music was playing. A separate group, consisting of 38 college students, was hooked up to physiological sensors monitoring a variety of cardiovascular, electrodermal, and respiratory responses which recorded their change over time. Both groups heard the six musical samples with a 90-second pause in between each. The physiological measures taken from the second group were compared with the degree of sadness, fear, happiness, and tension reported by the first group. Both the physiological measures and emotional ratings were recorded as they changed during the course of the piece. Therefore, correlations could be drawn between the intensity of certain emotions and physiological symptoms. (Boswell) The results shown by the experiment was in accordance to the side of the emotivists. Each of the musical selections was rated as having the intended emotion, and consistent physiological responses were found for each measured emotion: sad music was correlated with a decreased heart rate, lowered finger temperature, increased blood pressure, and decreased skin conductance level; happy music with faster and shallower breathing, and fear-invoking music with a slower pulse, faster breathing, and decreased finger temperature. These effects were consistent during the duration of the pieces. (Boswell) This is further proof that the emotivists position was indeed supported by the said experiment. The fact that there was a coherent physiological modification that was produced by the different music used in the said experiment were behavioral evidence enough that those college students indeed experienced certain emotions all throughout the time they were exposed to the music used. This result contradicted the claim that emotions could only be transmitted once a person gets to recognize a certain passage present within a particular music. Another study was made by Sloboda. Sloboda attempted to identify the exact musical composition which brings about definite physical emotional responses. Examples of the said responses are tears, trembling, and the like. The study made use of questionnaire which was dispersed to five hundred British citizens. However, only eighty-three persons send back the survey. It is an important thing to know that those eighty-three persons who answered the survey were experts in terms of music, particularly classical music. The said survey had went on as follow: Participants were instructed to indicate the frequency with which they experienced certain physical responses as an effect of music within the last five years, as well as the piece of music and, if possible, the specific part of the piece or musical event that provoked it. In addition, they were asked to say whether the response was consistently evoked. (Boswell) A huge number of the partakers claimed that they were able to experience certain physical emotional responses such as mirth, trembling, tears, lump in their throats and the like for the last five years of their lives. However the survey showed that women are more prone to experiencing tears as compared to men. Men on the other hand, especially those already on their thirties, claimed that they experienced more laughter than compared to other age. Just as was the case on the experiment conducted by Krumhansl, the survey conducted by Sloboda also showed a great deal of consistency to each piece of music they were exposed to. This particular survey also showed the extent of the consistency in that the reactions remained consistent even though they have heard the certain musical piece for more than fifty times. A further point of interest is that there are particular melodic constructions which showed to have consistent effects upon the partakers of the said survey. Appogiaturas for one were consistent in bringing tears into surface. The experiment also showed that a series of changes in terms of harmony incite trembling, whereas quickening brought about faster heart beats. However, if there is a certain drawback in the said study is the fact that it was conducted with the use of questionnaires. We could have no way of knowing if the person who answered it had answered truthfully or if s/he is merely bluffing. Thus, in a way we have no way of making sure that the partakers of the said survey indeed experienced the particular emotions and physical responses they reported they have experienced for the past five years. Another factor is the fact that those who participated in the survey were all expert on the field of music and thus we could not really deduct from this survey alone that the rest of the world would also act or feel the same way. However there are certain studies which had been conducted which show that very little difference exists between those who have musical expertise and those who have none. In addition, the records stated by the partakers of the said survey regarding their experiences of physical signs of emotions are not really unusual. Thus, in a way we could say that the study conducted by Sloboda also supported the position held by the emotivists. We should also take into account the fact that the physical responses reported by the survey partakers are in fact common in all human beings since we all share the same autonomic response system. However, we should also take note of the fact that our capability to utilize the said system in order for us to feel or experience certain emotions brought about by music is in a way, a learned process. This particular claim is supported by the fact that very young children do not really get to experience the said responses. Even those adults who have different kinds of music as compared to ours are not likely capable to experience the said responses brought about by the music we listen into. Thus, Sloboda claimed that the link between musical compositions and emotions is a learned process which is also dependent on one’s culture. However, this does not necessitate that we do not really get to experience or fell certain emotions from listening to certain music. It only tells us that we may not be able to relate nor are we likely to experience certain emotions from listening to other music that are completely different from ours. Fact is, Sloboda even claimed that if we are to be exposed to music completely different from ours we could still get to relate to that music although it would take time. Therefore even though the link between musical compositions and emotions is a learned process, evidences and studies still show the stand held by the emotivists that we are indeed capable of feeling or experiencing certain emotions simply by listening to a particular music. Thus those who participated in the studies conducted have steadily testified that they have indeed experienced true emotions when they listened to certain music. The researches conducted also accounted for the fact that very little difference in terms of recognizing emotions could be seen between those who have musical expertise and those who have none. Thus this accounted for the emotivists view that we could indeed experience certain emotions simply by listening to certain music, although it is still not clear what inclines us to be affected in certain ways. Research conducted claims that there is really no ground in saying that somewhere in our brains there could be located a region dedicated mainly to process musical data. In contrary, the errand of musical processing is extended to the whole region of our brains. Thus whereas the right brain is responsible for the emotions evoked while listening to music, the left brain is quite responsible for looking at music in a more rational ground thus it tends to critically examine music. There are even proofs which show that the primeval region within our mid brain is the one responsible for our emotions we experience while listening to music. Thus a primeval region within our midbrain engages itself with the task of realizing and appreciating music in an emotional way. However, the specific region wherein music is being developed (if ever there is one) is yet to be known. A study which involves this particular interest was conducted by Schmidt and Trainor. Schmidt and Trainor studied whether or not frontal brain electrical activity correlated with intensity and positivity or negativity, or valence, of emotion. The study showed that the left frontal brain is the one responsible for experiencing positive emotions whereas the right frontal brain is the one responsible for experiencing negative emotions. Thus, emotions such as happiness, interests and the like are product of the left frontal brain whereas emotions such as horror, revulsion, pain and the like were made by the right frontal brain. Therefore it would suffice for us to say that when listening to happy tunes our left frontal brain is likely to be triggered whereas listening to desolate songs would trigger our right frontal brain. It also follows that the intensity of music could affect the intensity of the frontal activity. The hypothesis stated above had already been confirmed. A careful selection of music which would likely draw out positive emotions triggered the left frontal brain whereas a careful selection of music which would likely draw negative emotions triggered the right frontal brain. Thus, the frontal activity of the brain increases every time the intensity of certain music also increases. Thus in a way this is also another proof which supports the emotivist view that listening to certain music could make a person experience certain emotions. Thus a similarity between music and language could be seen. Both language and music alike is inclined to be interpreted subconsciously. Thus, this seems to show that humans have a biological structure which enables music to draw emotions from each of us. And though this particular structure is yet to be known, researchers concluded that the said structure is not composed of a single area on the brain. On the contrary, researchers believe that such structure is made up of an interaction of the different systems which could be found within our brain. It is due to music’s many uses that music is also deemed to have considerable effects on the field of medicine. There are certain accounts taken from the Bible, artifacts, as well as studies that show that music could have considerable effects on a person’s health and well-being. In fact, there are historical inscriptions taken from Egypt, Greek, China and other known civilizations which praise music’s ability in medical matters. Music is widely considered to have medical importance and it is in this regard that music even such a term such as music therapy. After World War II the United States of America even see to it that music therapy would be used on wounded soldiers who were tormented by physical as well as emotional traumas taken from the war. Physicians and nurses alike saw how music helped alleviate some of the soldiers or veterans pain by merely engaging themselves on musical activities. It is on this regard that hospitals started employing musicians to help better their patients’ status. Music had been very helpful in bettering the patient’s emotional as well as psychological status and as many people learned of these certain benefits derived from music, National Association for Musical Therapy came to existence. The need for musical therapy became wide range to the point that the National Association for Musical Therapy or NAMT allied themselves to other musical organizations which in turn resulted into the foundation of the American Music Therapy Association or AMTA. The ranges of music therapy vary widely in that it not only caters to emotional sickness since it also proved to be beneficial in sickness suffered under physical injuries. Music therapy helped people in terms of their perceiving pains. There are a number of reasons why they consider music as an effectual means in limiting perceived pains. First, music could divert a person’s mind from the pain at hand or from the pain a person perceives. Second, music could help in terms of giving a person some kind of control. Thirdly, music could help counter pain since it could help a person in releasing endorphins which are necessary in giving a person some sense of well-being. Fourth, slow music could help a person in terms of relaxation in that it slows a person’s breathing. Take a person with leukemia for an example. Let’s say Person A needs to undergo a certain surgery necessary to cure his leukemia. One should admit that surgical procedures are indeed frightening and thus Person A could not help but be afraid of what’s on store for him and thus Person A’s blood pressure continues to rise and this in turn has a crucial effect on Person A’s healing process. This particular thing could also heighten Person A’s awareness or perception of pain. One’s pain could not be measure by anyone and thus there is no standard in terms of the amount of pain a person could have. It is in this manner that music therapy comes into the picture. We have already enumerated the reasons why music therapy is considered beneficial in medicine and thus in this manner one could be lead to speculate that music therapy could indeed lessen one’s pain perception because it could work in certain ways in order to lessen a person’s perceived pain. Disturbance or diversion could help in certain ways in lessening one’s sense perception and thus it could help moderate the pain a person undergoes. This pain moderation could be redirected to the cognitive section which could be seen in the Gate-Control Theory of Pain. Pleasant music naturally applies or concentrates on a person’s pleasant stimulus which in turn concerns the capability of the information processing system. Since the music would be busy attending to the pleasant stimulus of a person it naturally follows that the person’s occupation would be diverted from the pain-causing stimulus. It is ion this regard that music is considered important in distracting a person because distraction presents a person with an escape by means of imagination which in turn is a crucial means in lessening stress, nervousness and fear which are important factors which constitutes pain. Thus enjoyable imagination could promote some sense of control to a person which could decrease a person’s nervousness and feeling of being powerless. Thus since music helps transfer our attention away from painful experiences it provides us with a strategy we could use when we undergo painful experiences, may it be physically or emotionally.