Decision Making Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Decision Making - Term Paper Example Although different concepts on the theoretical framework for decision making have emerged, the standard decision-making model used in organizations focus on the rational model involving â€Å"a cognitive process where each step follows in a logical order from the one before†¦ (and) it is based on thinking through and weighing up the alternatives to come up with the best potential result† (decision-making-confidence.com 1). On the other hand, authors Ticha, Hron and Fiedler wrote an article entitled â€Å"Managerial decision making – importance of intuition in the rational process† published in the Agricultural Economics Journal which aimed to determine the role of intuition in the decision making process (Ticha, Hron and Fiedler). In this regard, the purpose of the paper is to choose a real life problem that have either been noted or where one has been a part of and analyze it using one of the theories or ideas discussed in the text or in class. The discours e would analyze the decision making process by linking it to theories and concepts discussed to derive a deeper understanding of both the problem and potential solutions through increased knowledge of administrative behavior in organizations. Organizational Problem One has learned from a friend previously employed in a health care organization of a decision making process that involved both the rational model and intuition. By intuition, Ticha, et al. ... involves the manifested difficulties of nurses managers to comply with their responsibilities that involve not only patient care but complying with documentation and reportorial obligations. According to nurse managers, the need to do some administrative and clerical tasks divide their focus on patient care, causing lower productivity and performance. Other symptoms of confounding problems are exemplified through back-logs in complying with monthly reports on status of medical equipment and supplies under their jurisdiction, performance evaluations of nurses, and scheduling vacation leaves and trainings for nurses. Alternative Courses of Action and Analysis of Options Using the rational model of decision making, since the problem has already been identified, the alternative courses of action were enumerated by department managers for presentation to the Vice President of Nursing and to be forwarded to the President and CEO for approval. The different options presented were as follows : (1) Status quo or do nothing, by forcing the nurse managers to comply with both adminstrative obligations and patient care. The advantage of this option is that there would not be any displacement or changes that could possible be met by resistance and difficulties in implementation. The disadvantage of this alternative is contined backlog in reports that could be significantly detrimental in the long run since the accuracy in information for performance of personnel, inventories of equipment and supplies and scheduling of vacation leaves are lacking, there are strong possibilities for insufficient supplies, demotivated staff and delayed promotions. In addition, patient care, which is of utmost importance would likely suffer as well. (2) Review the responsibilities of the nurse managers

Compare the ways in which 3 poets write about relationships Essay Example for Free

Compare the ways in which 3 poets write about relationships Essay Introduction To his coy mistress, Remember and Since theres no help are all poems about relationships, the difference is the interpretation of the poets message, structure and other various aspects of the poems. To his coy mistress by Andrew Marvell and Since theres no help by Michael Drayton were both written around the 16th and 17th centuries and explain very different characteristics of love. Drayton wrote a poem about the end of a relationship with a partner expressing that the love between them is dying. On the other hand Marvell writes, in a poetical way, someones argument to a lover trying to persuade them to have sex with them. This poem captivates your attention with the extremes a man would go to have sex with a young virgin, unlike the other poems that are about two partners love for each other. Similarly to Draytons poem, about love in a relationship, Christina Rossetti wrote a poem in the late 19th century to her partner telling him what to remember about their time together. Themes/subject The poem To his coy mistress starts with Marvell addressing the young lady, whom he wishes to be his lover that there is no time for her to be coy. Straight away this gives the impression that hes an intimidating and powerful man. Had we but world enough, and time, this coyness, lady, were no crime Marvell tells the lady that being coy is alright when you have time but implies their time is limited and therefore she has no time to be coy, in effect he is pressurising her to do something that she is uncomfortable with. Through the repetition of time in the above sentences you may have guessed that it plays an important role in the poem. Marvell refers to time regularly in the poem as part of his persuasion techniques. The way in which he uses time pressurises the woman into doing what he wants. For example Times winged chariot hurrying near implies that she cant live forever so must make the most of the time she has. He uses time again in the concluding lines of the poem as a last persuasion to get his way Thus, though we cannot make our sun stand still, yet we will make him run Here Marvell explains to the lady that they cannot make time stand still completely but they can make the most of the time they have. When you feel bored and upset your time seems to go slowly compared to when you are happy and this quote uses this to say that their time will be running if they are together due to the good times they will have. Similarly to Marvell, personifying time, Drayton uses the same technique by personifying love Now, if thou wouldst, when all have given him over, from death to life thou mightst him yet recover Here Drayton has personified love by saying it is dying but may come back to life. I feel this is a good method by which the poet can get his message across with ease. In this case Drayton has personified love as a person on the verge of death. When comparing the two poems it becomes clear that this technique is also useful in distinguishing the message from a speech or letter into a poem. Images A positive image in the love poem Remember is where Rossetti writes Better by far you should forget and smile than you should remember and be sad. She is expressing that she would rather be forgotten if that is the way to make her husband remain happy as she doesnt want to be remembered if it will make him sad. Rossetti symbolises her love for her husband because she couldnt bare him being sad by remembering her, therefore giving an optimistic image of their relationship. Rossetti also expresses sorrow images Gone far away into the silent land. When you can no more hold me by the hand portrays that when she dies she will go to a silent land where she will be all alone, in comparison to when she is alive she can hold her husbands hand, this reminding him that when she dies they will be separated forever. This is a sad image because it implies that their close bond will be split for eternity. The sadness is emphasised further because their relationship together was obviously true love yet now it is near its end. Marvell uses death in his persuasion, Times winged chariot hurrying near A downbeat quote persuading the young lady that if they do not have sex that soon times winged chariot will collect them. He is implying it will be too late if they wait as eventually they will get old and die. Marvell personifies time as a chariot and I think his meaning is that a chariot collects people once they die and as they age the chariot gets nearer and so tries to put across this image to the woman. Marvell attempts to persuade the young lady that he will spend an age to admire each part of her and at the very end of the admiration she will love him back. He then says that she deserves no less than this and that he will never give her less than what she deserves. An age at least to every part and the last age should show your heart: for lady, you do not deserve this state; nor would I love at lower rate this quote is not intimidating, like most of the poem I think he says it so the young lady thinks he is a good man. I dont think Marvell wrote the poem because of his love for her, even though in some parts of the poem he tries to re-assure her that he does love her, instead I think he uses it to take advantage of her naivety quote gives a pleasant image but has malicious intentions. I feel he says this only because writing about love is a good method when trying to lure her into bed and even though this quote may be deceiving she will probably not realise due to her young age. At the end of the poem Marvell tells the young lady that he would rather die than be without her Rather at once our time devour than languish in its slow-chapped power Lines 39-40. This gives an image that he would rather all his time go, and would prefer to die than be without her because he would have to suffer in times power as his life would seem to be going slower if he wasnt with her. As this quote is written in the concluding lines of the poem it continues to lead your thoughts to think he uses love as a means of enticing her into doing what he wants and to trick her into believing that hed rather die than be without her. In the poem Since theres no help there are a lot of negative images with few positive ones. This is due to the fact that love is dying out compared to Marvells poem in which the man wants the lady to believe he is in love with her, so if he expresses too many negative images then she would be less likely to believe him, different in that of Rossettis poem in which the relationship is very strong but the circumstances are of the person dying and not the love and by this she portrays how much love she has for him. In the opening lines Drayton tells the lady he wants nothing more to do with her you get no more of me even the phrase itself gives you the image that he doesnt want them to be together any longer. He continues to feel bitter and depressed and he reflects his mood in the negative images he gives in the poem. I am glad, yea, glad with all my heart, that thus so cleanly I myself can free Drayton is almost trying to persuade her and himself that he doesnt love her anymore and that he can be free of her, if their relationship ends. I dont think Drayton does want the relationship to end but says this because he feels that he has no choice and doesnt want to give his partner the impression that he would forgive her, whatever she does, otherwise she will take him for granted. Structure Marvell, Drayton and Rossetti all use rhyming couplets in the structure of their poems and this makes the poem easy and interesting to read. If it excluded the rhyming couplets reading the poem would be dull and the poets message would probably be lost in what would sound more like a speech. Drayton and Rossetti both wrote traditional love poems, the differences being that Rossetti wrote about the great amount of love between a couple and Drayton wrote about the lack of love in the relationship. Both poems include only 14 lines as opposed to the 46 of Marvells poem, however, all three poems work well. I felt Marvell chose to write a longer poem so he could properly express the argument and message it contained whereas I felt Rossetti and Drayton chose the shorter structure would be the most efficient way to explain what they wanted as they may have felt that choosing a longer structured poem to end a relationship or to express someones feelings would make the poem dull and boring. The difference between Rossettis and Draytons traditional love poems is that Rossetti split the poem into two stanzas; one with 6 lines and the other with 8 and thus uses the structure of a Petrachan sonnet whereas Drayton used the Shakespearean Iambic Pentameter which contains what would now be 10 syllables per line. Rossetti and Drayton writing a sonnet is evidence that they must love their partner. To write a sonnet to someone puts across the fact that you love them through the structure alone because of it being a traditional love poem. Language / Tone Marvell wrote his poem with persuasive and argumentative language. He tries to pressurise the person it is written for by consistently using death in his argument. At the beginning he says that there is no time to be coy but later says the opposite by saying if you please, refuse till the conversion of the Jews. As Jews are renowned for the pride they have in their religion he may feel there is not much chance of his succeeding with the young lady unless he poses this argument to change her opinion. Marvell tries to allure the young woman into having sex by using shock tactics Then worms shall try that long-preserved virginity and your quaint honour turn to dust and into ashes all my lust Notice the language that he uses, as opposed to saying that someone else will take her virginity he gives her the image of her losing it to worms once she dies. This is a horrific image and using this destructive image it is far more effective because of the message behind it. Rather than using kindness to persuade his mistress into having sex he tries to scare her and in using such a forceful phrase on someone he claims to love further confirms his intimidation of this poor innocent girl. In comparison Rossetti wrote her poem in a more relaxed way but still with an important point to make. This is because she was writing it to someone who she has loved for most her life, however, she still wanted to persuade him not to grieve. Remember is repeated throughout the poem, this is because she wants to be remembered but doesnt want to be mourned. Her message is expressed when she writes Only remember me; you understand and and afterwards remember, do not grieve both these quotes found in the second stanza of her poem prove that she doesnt want him to forget her nor grieve. Rossetti, unlike Marvell, didnt write on her own behalf as Rossetti wrote solely for her husband and mentioned herself rarely in the poem, I felt this was sad as she is the one dying but she didnt want to meake her husband feel more upset so she couldnt tell him how she was really feeling. You can tell she loved her partner and that the poem was written with good intentions. Drayton wrote his poem in such a way that it seemed that he was trying to persuade himself that he would be better off ending the relationship as well as telling his partner that their relationship had finished. Draytons intitial message to his partner is that their relationship is worth nothing, however, at the end begins to realise the love he has for her and so tells her the love may come back and as he does this the message at the end is very similar to the message expressed by Rossetti when all have given him over, from death to life thou mightst him yet recover Drayton, talking about love personifying, hints that the love may come back to their relationship and may this happen his relationship could be similar to Rossettis loving relationship with her husband. My response to the poems My feelings about each poem differ; I feel the poem by Rossetti is sad as you can tell the relationship was strong and the poem was written to give her husband strength to go on after her death and remember the good things once shes dead. It is effective as you know they had a good relationship because information such as their planned future together can be taken from the poem no more day by day you tell me of the future that you planned. It is also sad because she showed no self pity and so makes you feel sorry for her husband who wouldnt know how his wife felt about her nearing death. My feelings about Marvells poem are completely different. I think this poem is quite threatening and harsh. He tells the young lady in the poem that she has to make her decision before she is old and ugly as he will no longer love her. I think he is also mean to write a poem in the persuasive language he does because she is young and naà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ve and he uses this to his advantage. The horrific images he portrays further prove that he uses love falsely because if he did love her he wouldnt scare her into having sex against her will. Then worms shall try that long-preserved virginity and your quaint honour turn to dust and into ashes all my lust This illustrates the extremes the speaker is prepared to go to in order to get what he wants, he is trying to give her negative thoughts of what will happen if she rejects him. As mentioned before, the poem was written in the 17th century in an era which girls normally married as virgins and usually at a very young age. Marvell uses this to his advantage by continuing to express, what I think, is false love because by getting her to believe he is in love with her he feels he stands a greater chance of her losing her virginity to him. I felt sorry for Drayton after reading his poem because I felt he wrote it after finding out about his partners affair and this would account for his harsh way of ending their relationship and angry tone used when ending it. However, to tell his partner that he can be free without her is surprising, especially when at the end of the poem he says the love may come back. I think Drayton wrote this poem on the back of an affair his partner had been having, Now at the last gasp of loves latest breath, when, his pulse failing, passion speechless lies, when faith is kneeling by his bed of death. The phrase speechless lies could be a reflection of the times she lied to him while having the affair and faith kneeling by deaths bed shows that along with the love, faith had also left the relationship giving further reason to think she had an affair. Aswell as this Drayton lets his partner know that the love in their relationship is dying and has nearly gone completely, by saying that it is taking its last gasp of breath. Shortly after, Drayton gives his partner the impression that the love may come back. Now, if thou wouldst, when all have given him over, from death to life thou mightst him yet recover. This quote gave me the feeling that the relationship could come back giving reason to believe that the poem was written as retaliation after finding out about an affair. Understandably he would be distraught and so uses the harsh images mentioned in the early stages of the poem but finally ending by realising the amount of love he has for his partner and so says that they might be able to overcome this and love each other again. The poem I preferred Overall the poem that I most preferred was Draytons poem Since theres no help This is because unlike Marvells poem it isnt as long and is kept to a simple 14 line structure. I feel that this made it easier to understand as opposed to Marvells longer poem. Even though the longer length may have added more detail I found this made it far easier to lose interest. Rossettis poem, like Draytons, was short, however, I liked the way Drayton personified love throughout his poem by expressing loves life in his relationship. I disliked the overuse of remember in Rossettis poem, even though it was obviously intentional, I thought it made the poem repetitive with Rossetti continually telling her husband what to remember and remember what not to do. However, I did think that Marvells poem was strong in its persuasiveness and thought it would probably be successful in taking advantage of the young girl, which was the purpose of him writing it. Another reason for my preference of Draytons poem is that it questions the strength of the relationship and whether feelings can be turned off so easily.

Critical Discussion of Corporate Social responsibility (CSR)

Critical Discussion of Corporate Social responsibility (CSR) Corporate Social Responsibility Defined Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is when a corporation exceeds statutory business standards (Johnson and Scholes 2008). CSR policies are relevant because they state what a company intends to achieve, in addition, to its statutory obligations. A corporation has to comply with legal standards such as employment contracts. However, a company can exceed those principles if it chooses to pay a living wage rather than the minimum wage (Bloomer 2014). Introduction to the Critical Discussion The discussion will examine a traditional criticism of corporate social responsibility through the work of Friedman. This is a view which proponents of CSR will need to refute. The essay will then discuss how social and environmental responsibility can be reconciled, with profitability, using the work of Porter. The example of Hewlett Packard is discussed at length. This is because its policies emphasise how a multi-national company can achieve both environmental and social responsibility together with corporate profitability. The work of Handy is then considered. This argues that companies should have corporate objectives which are broader than just profitability and consider the purpose of the business. Friedmans View of Corporate Social Responsibility Friedmans view is a non-interventionist or laissez-faire vision of commerce. In his view business should aim to earn money while complying with the basic rules of the society such as paying taxes (Friedman 1970:1). It assumes that consumers are sovereign and are able to significantly influence corporate decision-making. This view of commercial organisations underplays the significance of consumer market failure. It is assumed that consumers can take their business elsewhere as Friedman believed that consumers can transfer their business to other producers (Friedman 1970). However, this is not possible if the consumer is unable to pay for another competitor firms products. This is the case if a consumer were unable to pay for the safety features, offered by a car manufacturer such as Volvo, as discussed below. To summarise, socially responsible polices, can be seen as unrealistic if consumers are unwilling to pay for them. Friedman argued that socially responsible business policies, such as promoting equality, can harm company performance. For example, Ben and Jerrys adopted a payment scheme where the highest paid employee could only earn no more than five times the income of the lowest paid firm employee (Barney and Hesterly 2010:7). This payment scheme made it difficult to recruit senior managerial talent to make sure that the company grew and remained profitable (Barney and Hesterly 2010). A More Progressive View of Corporate Social Responsibility There is an increasingly an expectation that companies will contribute to society to a greater extent than when Friedman was writing in the early 1970s. Companies operate in a social environment as well as an economic environment (Grant 2008). A firms ability to survive depends upon its acceptability among consumers who give the firm social legitimacy (Grant 2008:446). Examples of social awareness, such as a demand for safer cars, suggest that companies are wise to respond to consumer concerns (Grant 2008).Corporations have come under increasing pressure to contribute to the societies in which they operate and to adopt more socially responsible business practices (Christodoulou and Patel 2013:467). The corporate setting of voluntary objectives can be seen as an adequate response to the needs of society. Companies can set voluntary standards: to reduce the extent to which their actions cause negative externalities or side-effects (Barney and Hesterly 2010). For example, if a car manufacturer builds a car with a large number of safety features which more than comply with legal requirements. Volvo has promoted the benefits of a relatively safe car which adds value that the customer is willing to pay a premium for (Thompson and Martin 2005:95). However, this approach can also be seen as merely serving a premium segment of the market, rather than being particularly socially responsible. In this case, Volvo is taking a marketing position which conforms to sales objectives while offering better safety to the motorist (Johnson and Scholes 2008). Corporate social responsibility is only conforming to financial requirements. Porters View on Corporate Social Responsibility and the Environment The concept of CSR is useful as it can help reconcile the financial needs of business with say the safety needs of society. Porter argues that it is a mistake for business to see environmental legislation as a threat to be resisted (Porter and van de Linde 1995). Rather, socially responsible businesses can view regulation in a positive manner; that environmental regulation can be built upon to utilise resources more effectively. It is argued, that there are costs incurred with the elimination of environmental problems but that these are outweighed by the benefits, including financial savings and improvements to product quality (Thompson and Martin 2005). Therefore, it is possible for corporations to be socially responsible without compromising the financial status of the organisation. Porters argument is useful. It has allowed thoughtful companies, such as Hewlett Packard, to reconcile investment in environmental initiatives with corporate profitability. The Hewlett Packard Report Hewlett Packard has a strong reputation in terms of corporate social responsibility (thecro.com 2010). The companys CSR policies are detailed and indicate a high level of social responsibility. For example, the company presents environmental information, in a proactive manner, with evidence of wanting to improve recycling programmes. It aims to improve environmental programs to reduce the waste from its production operations (Hewlett Packard 2011). Through these environmental initiatives, the company can help reduce business costs. Hewlett Packards CSR report discusses how it aims to extract value from products which are at the end of their product life (Hewlett Packard 2011). An example is the companys commitment to re-manufacture its printer cartridges so that they can be used again. The company is attempting to promote a strong corporate responsibility through proactive environmental investment. Hewlett Packard has demonstrated strong social responsibility policies. This suggests that such policies can be implemented on a large scale. The company has provided a significant amount of disclosure on a wide range of corporate areas from the environment to human resource management. The detail provided by Hewlett Packard is superior to other companies given that online trade publications have viewed Hewlett Packards performance favourably (thecro.com 2013). Given that Hewlett Packard was assessed favourably then the information provided, in its CSR report, can be interpreted as thorough and accurate. The company attempts to improve the wider business community with measures to develop its external supply chain. The company aims for strong standards of behaviour outside the companys core business. This suggests that it is attempting to improve working relationships with its component suppliers (Hewlett Packard 2011). Hewlett Packards CSR document conveys that the company is enabling social responsibility to be addressed. The company suggests that it has a grievance procedure so that different stakeholders can report social or ethical problems to senior management (Hewlett Packard 2011). The company is clearly investing in a responsible approach as it describes legal observance as an absolute minimum which it expects of different stakeholders (Hewlett Packard 2011:82). They argue that their decision making achieves better employment standards, than laws in the different countries in which the company operates (Hewlett Packard 2011). Concerns over Hewlett Packards Stated Policies Hewlett Packard attempts to make the company accountable, to external industry scrutiny. Procedures have been outlined which should make sure that ethical labour standards are achieved (Hewlett Packard 2011). The concern is that ethical objectives could be difficult to implement. There does not appear to be a specific example of how this guidance statement could be delivered in practice. However, there is a well structured diagram which outlines how the company will provide a governance structure so that the company can comply with ethical challenges (Hewlett Packard 2011:82). Some of Hewlett Packards environmental statements can be interpreted as platitudes. The company claims that that it wants to conserve more resources than it consumes (Hewlett Packard 2011). The concern is that it is easy to provide such statements. However, it is more difficult to assess how they are going to conserve more than they consume. This is because environmentally acceptable re-manufacturing programmes will still require energy consumption despite the conservation of the materials. Hewlett Packard may have worse polices, in practice, than those conveyed by its report. This is because suppliers could be forced to comply with the companys standards. There are power relationships between dominant multi-national companies, such as Hewlett Packard, and their suppliers (Locke et. al. 2012). The international sourcing of computer components has left suppliers vulnerable to the dominant buying policies at Hewlett Packard (Wetherly et. al. 2011). These power relationships will tend to be overlooked, in corporate social responsibility reports, because companies will want to portray themselves in a favourable light. Corporate social responsibility policies have been criticised. The development of CSR policies have been difficult to implement for many firms (Birchall and Cook 2006). However, these criticisms should, generally, not be directed at Hewlett Packard due to the level of detail contained in its CSR report. Arguably, they have made an honest corporate attempt to contribute to society (Porter and Kramer 2002). The report goes beyond the legal compliance advocated by Friedman. The detail provided is of a superior standard when compared to a minimum level of legal compliance. The Business and Ethical Concepts of Handy The work of Handy, arguably, goes beyond the corporate responsibility work of writers such as Porter. This is because Handy emphasises the importance of mission statements and the purpose of the organisation. Handy argues that the purpose of a business . . . is not to make a profit, full stop. It is to make a profit so that the business can do something more or better. That something becomes the real justification for the business (Sage Publications 2015:15). Handy argues that a firms profit should be the means to a larger end (Sage Publications 2015). There are companies which adhere to a deeper purpose than merely profit. Tradecraft, in the UK, would be a good example as the companys purpose is to operate life-changing development projects (Traidcraft 2015). However, Traidcraft operates in a niche area of the retail market where affluent consumers, who are willing to pay higher prices, contribute to international development. Therefore Handys ideas may have limited application to businesses throughout the whole of the United Kingdom. However, his ideas are useful where they can be applied. Tradecrafts mission moves beyond immediate stakeholders, such as owners and clearly considers the needs of the broader society (Dess et. al. 2010). The company is an excellent example of a company which incorporates social and environmental, as well as financial factors, into its decision making (Dess et. al. 2010). The challenge for proponents of social responsibility is that many retailers only undertake social and environmental policies which do not damage their sales and profits. Many retailers will concentrate on environmental responsibility in their stores, where they can achieve resource efficiency targets (Jones et. al. 2009). Many retailers social responsibilities are guided by what they can achieve within their financial imperatives (Jones et. al. 2009). However, such corporate policies could lead to accusations of greenwashing. In other words, that the retailers commitment to the environment is limited and that social responsibility reports can play a public relations role rather than a social responsibility role. Many firms are engaging in greenwashing to mislead consumers about the extent of their environmental activities (Delmas and Burbano 2011). Conclusion There is evidence of improvements to companies social responsibility polices. This is because firms have realised that it is financially prudent to use environment resources wisely. It is also necessary for business to be sustainable and to invest in good employment practices and proper labour standards. However, there is a concern that corporate social responsibility is limited by what the consumer is willing, or able, to pay for more ethical approaches. There are few examples of businesses which are willing to adopt socially responsible policies which affect their profitability. Ben and Jerrys is one example before its takeover by Unilever. References Barney, J. and Hesterly, W., (2010), Strategic Management and Competitive Advantage: Concepts and Cases, Third Edition, Boston: Prentice Hall Burchell, J. and Cook, J. (2006), Confronting the corporate citizen: Shaping the discourse of corporate social responsibility, International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, Vol. 26, No. 3/4, 2006, p. 121-137 Bloomer, E. (2014), Local action on health inequalities: Health inequalities and the living wage, Public Health England. Retrieved from  https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/357407/Review6_Living_wage_health_inequalities.pdf Christodoulou, I and Patel, Z. (2013), Strategic Perspectives, Westminster Business School, University of Westminster, New York: McGraw Hill Dess, G., Lumpkin G. and Eisner, A. (2010), Strategic Management: Creating Competitive Advantages, Fourth Edition, Boston: McGraw Hill Delmas, M. and Burbano, V. (2011), The Drivers of Greenwashing, UCLA, California Management Review. Retrieved from  http://www.ioe.ucla.edu/media/files/Delmas-Burbano-CMR-2011-gd-ldh.pdf Friedman, M. (1970), The Social Responsibility of Business is to Increase its Profits, The New York Times Magazine, September 13, 1970. Retrieved from  http://www.umich.edu/~thecore/doc/Friedman.pdf Grant, R. (2008), Contemporary Strategy Analysis, Sixth Edition, Oxford: Blackwell Publishing. Hewlett Packard, (2011), HP 2011 Global Citizenship Report. Retrieved from  http://www8.hp.com/us/en/pdf/hp_fy11_gcr_tcm_245_1357670.pdf Johnson G. and Scholes, K., (2008), Exploring Corporate Strategy: Eighth Edition, Harlow: Pearson Education Jones, P., Comfort, D. and Hillier, D. (2009), Marketing Sustainable Consumption within Stores: A Case Study of the UKs Leading Food Retailers, Sustainability 2009, 1, 815-826. Retrieved from  http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/1/4/815 Locke, R, Distelhorst ,G., Pal, T. and Hiram M. S., Production Goes Global, Standards Stay Local: Private Labor Regulation in the Global Electronics Industry, Retrieved from  http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1978908 Porter, M. and Kramer M., (2002), The Competitive Advantage of Corporate Philanthropy, Harvard Business Review, December 2002. , Retrieved from  http://www.expert2business.com/itson/Porter%20HBR%20Corporate%20philantropy.pdf Porter, M. and van de Linde, C. (1995), Towards a New Conception of the Environment-Competitiveness Relationship, The Journal Of Economic Perspectives, Vol. 9, No. 4. Retrieved from  http://www.conservationeducation.org/uploads/6/2/0/1/6201942/porter_-_environment__competitiveness_1995.pdf Sage Publications (2014), What is CSR. Retrieved from  http://www.sagepub.com/upm-data/34698_Chapter1.pdf Thecro.com, (2010), CRs 100 Best Corporate Citizens 2010. Retrieved from  http://www.thecro.com/files/CR100Best.pdf Thompson, J. and Martin, F. (2005), Strategic Management: Awareness and Change, Fifth Edition, London: Thomson Learning Traidcraft, (2015), Traidcraft: Fighting Poverty Through Trade. Retrieved from  http://www.traidcraft.co.uk/ Wetherly, P. and Otter, D. (2011), The Business Environment: Themes and Issues, Second Edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press

My Brother Sam Is Dead :: essays research papers

In the novel, My Brother Sam is Dead, the author demonstrates the effects of war on families, on towns, and even on the children. The author makes it clear that war tears up families more than anything else. As a result of families getting ruined, it affects the children of the family, in this case, by making Tim grow up in a short amount of time. War affects towns, too. Soldiers, some from both sides, raid houses and kill people therefore splitting up towns and communities. War has many bad effects, just like Tim’s father said: â€Å"In war the dead pay the debts of the living.†.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  War affects families more than anything else. An example of this is when Tim’s mother drinks rum a lot when she finds out that her husband and son are dead or are going to get killed. Once she starts to drink, she does not care about Tim or Sam. So in this case, war caused her to drink and it killed half of her family, both of which ruined the Meeker family. One of war’s worst by-products is ruining families. Even though war affects families the most, there are still other bad effects on children and on towns.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The second bad by-product of war is the effect on children. First, war sometimes kills children’s parents or older siblings, throwing their responsibility on to the younger children’s shoulders. The children will never have a normal life of playing with others because they are too busy taking care of things. In the novel, MBSID, Tim had to grow up fast. The reason for this is that his father got killed and his brother, Sam, got killed. So Tim had to do all of the man work around the tavern.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There is one last main effect from war. It is the effect on towns and communities. It ruins towns and communities by ruining families and children. You can think of it as a link chain: the families and children are the links of the chain, and the town is the whole chain. If one family gets ruined, the link is gone, making it an incomplete chain or town.

Checkin’ Out Me History Essay

Toussaint L’Ouverture, Mary Seacole, Shaka the Zulu. Have you ever heard of them? If not, it is probably because from a young age, we have all been taught history but were we given all the facts or just being ignorant? Many of the historic and inspirational figures we have learnt about are based in the culture of England but what about the black historic figures because some of these made a huge difference to our lives. John Agard is a poet from Guyana who writes passionately but often and politically and seriously. In one of his poems-â€Å"Checkin’ out me history† he questions why some of these great black historic leading figures were pushed away when they truly deserve our respect. In this essay, I will investigate the following question-â€Å"How does Agard use language and structure to convey his feelings in ‘Checkin’ out me history’? † In Agard’s use of language, he has purposely written some of the words in phonetic spelling. For instance he has said â€Å"dem† instead of â€Å"them† and when you are reading the poem out loud, no matter how hard you try not to, you will hear a Caribbean accent because writing in phonetics will force the reader into the accent even if they don’t want to. I think he wants them to speak in this way because the poem is based on how his heritage is being pushed away and since he is black, he wants to show who he really is and he wants to bring back his heritage by speaking in a black dialect. In addition to this he uses structure to portray his feelings in relation to his heritage. For instance he has made the stanzas on the black historic figures very thin in comparison to the other stanzas because they are quite wide. I think he has made the lay out this way because of how black historic figures are being pushed aside and it isn’t fair. Another way to look at this is that the other stanzas are wide because they are told more often and more widely over the world because of the historic figures mentioned in it. But a more positive way to look at it is that, Agard has put the stanzas this way because the black figures are more unique. Also Agard shows his annoyance by repeating the line ‘dem tell me’, I think he is repeating this line so he can show that his heritage being pushed away isn’t fair and he is serious about the topic he is talking about. Also by repeating the line, it is as if he is protesting against the fact that his heritage is being pushed away. When he is repeating the line, you can tell he is serious and won’t stop until justice is done. I personally think that he is quite accurate in what he is saying because where is the logic in shoving away some of the best historic figures just because they are black. It just isn’t fair on the people who come from a black heritage. Agard is really accurate in the way he describes the black historic figures included in this poem because of the way the description links with the real historic facts. For example: â€Å"Toussaint de thorn to de French†-this is really accurate because Toussaint was a great general who defended his country Saint Dominique against the French Colonies. Also the word choice suggests this because a thorn protects a rose and when Agard is referring to Toussaint as the thorn, it links with how he protected his country (the rose in this metaphor) from the hands of the French. Another point to be made is that by referring to Toussaint as a thorn can also suggest that he didn’t cause extreme damage, he only pricked them and when you get pricked by a thorn, you get annoyed which is how the French must have felt because they were a huge empire and they couldn’t drive the small island of Saint Dominique into submission so I’m sure they must have been feeling irritated. Now lets move on to the loving and caring Mary Seacole who was brave and skilled with medicine as she set off to the Crimean war even though people warned her not to go but she didn’t care because she wanted to save those soldiers lives and she would risk her own life to do it and even her own money but still many people have pushed her away from history. So lets have a look at the way Agard describes her in ‘Checkin’ out me history’-‘A healing star among the wounded’-Mary Seacole is referred to as a ‘healing star’ and a star is very high up in the sky so it forces the people to look up at it and when you look up at someone, it means you respect them, what it can also mean is that they can be your idol because you look for their guidance and follow in their footsteps. A biblical reference to this quote be that the three kings followed the bright star to get to baby Jesus. Also a star is known to link magic, which is like when people make a wish upon a star, they believe it to be magical. The soldiers involved in the Crimean war were also probably trying to make a wish because they thought they were going to die but then Mary Seacole came ready to help, the soldiers’ faith changed and their wish was granted. Another thing to be mentioned is that star can only be seen when it is dark like when you are walking in daytime, you can not see the stars at all because the sun light will block them out so you don’t notice them, but when you are camping in the woods and you look up in the night sky, you see they are all shining brightly. Since the Crimean war was going on, lots of people were dying and wounded every day and it truly was a really dark time. Then when all hope was lost, Mary Seacole appeared. Lastly ‘healing would suggest that she mended he wounded After having that long discussion about Mary Seacole, lets move on to another great women that took part in this poem. Nanny of the Maroons, a woman who had a great dream and lead many slaves to freedom. Lets explore the way Agard describes in this quote-‘see-far woman of mountain dream’-this shows that she is very strong and rugged just like a mountain. Also a mountain has a sharp point, which can link with her being smart. Mountain dream could also suggest a dream of freedom from slavery. My last point to be made is that since she built a town upon a mountain, she would look down upon people who are selfish and people would look up to her and respect her. Now that we have looked at the historical figures, lets have a look at John Agard himself and his personal feelings towards his heritage being pushed away. Here lets look at the evidence-‘ Bandage up me eye with me own history’- Agard must be feeling restricted, helpless and maybe even angry because he is from the Caribbean and from a young age he has learnt about English history but not his own black history. He must be feeling restricted because he probably feels that other people are stopping him from seeing his own heritage and history. Another point to be made is that most of the historic figures we learn about today are white, we should really be more considerate and learn about the black historic figures as well because there were many great historic leaders and figures who were black. Also if you were really blinded you would be unaware of where you are going and you would stress and be quite scared. To conclude this questionable topic by telling you my personal feelings on this poem, John Agard’s poem is very accurate in the message it is sending out because it is quite true in that we are actually pushing away black culture and learning more about our own (English) history instead of being diverse, we are still learning about the same things. I feel that this poem is written in a very entertaining way but also gets the message out to the audience very nicely. I also agree with the message being sent.

Organizational Chart Essay

Staff Training Crew Crew Members Crew Members Website Designers Website Designers Delivery Staff Delivery Staff Customer Service Customer Service Cleaners Cleaners An organisational chart shows the main parts of the organisation, and the relationship between the various parts. McDonalds’ organisational chart is hierarchal. It’s also tall because it has more than 3 levels. The reason why this is a tall structure is because McDonald’s is a big company with restaurants all over the world, so they need people in every country to make sure that the businesses is making profit and progress. Organisational structure Organisational structure set out important aspects of how communication will take place. For example: managers, supervisors and assistants would report to senior managers where they would report to board of directors. Also board of directors sets out the strategy, then senior managers are giving targets to staff that works in McDonald’s so they can achieve them. The purpose of organisational structure is to share the work so everyone knows what they are doing and to establish lines of control and communication. McDonald’s divided people into: managers, team leaders, staff training crew, cleaners, customer service, restaurant manager, etc. It helps to control organisational activities. Types of organisational structure: * Geographical area: McDonald’s has its restaurants all over the world. In order to make it work they had to hire people to run the business in every country that they operate. * Function: Span of control Span control is the amount of employees a manager has direct line authority over. Organisational chart- MacMillan Cancer Support

Selfie and Other Words Ending with -ie

Selfie and Other Words Ending with -ie Selfie and Other Words Ending with -ie Selfie and Other Words Ending with -ie By Mark Nichol Selfie is the latest addition to a small family of English words using the diminutive suffix -ie as an informal marker. Purely diminutive forms have been around for hundreds of years; puppy, likely borrowed from the Middle French word poupà ©e, meaning â€Å"doll† or â€Å"toy† (and cognate with puppet), dates from the fourteenth century, as does baby, a diminutive (as is babi, and along with babe) of the Middle English word baban, and hypocorisms, or pet names in diminutive form (such as Johnny), were first seen in the early fifteenth century in Scotland. Scottish was also the inspiration for the -ie ending, first seen in laddie, meaning â€Å"young boy,† in the mid-sixteenth century. Adoption of this form into English followed the popularity of Scotsman Robert Burns’s poems, which he wrote in the late 1700s and which feature such terms as laddie and its female equivalent, lassie. The latter word was the name of a heroic collie dog in an 1859 novel that probably inspired a similar character in a series of stories and novels written throughout the twentieth century, as well as films and television series. And speaking of dogs, doggie (also spelled doggy) was first attested around the same time as laddie and lassie appeared. The first common modern word utilizing the -ie diminutive is movie, first attested in 1911, just after the dawn of the cinematic age; it is so engrained in our vocabulary that few of us give any thought to its origin as a slang diminutive of â€Å"moving picture.† Two decades later, technological developments that enabled films to be produced with sound prompted the short-lived term talkie. (Within a few years, virtually all films were talkies, so the word soon became obsolete.) At about the same time, British writer Aldous Huxley expanded on that breakthrough in filmmaking by alluding in his novel Brave New World to feelies, films that incorporate touch and smell in the moviegoing experience. (The term later referred to facsimiles or models of objects featured in a computer game that are packaged with the game.) In the 1940s, the term hippie was coined as a pejorative diminutive of hipster, meaning â€Å"one who is self-consciously trendy† (first attested in 1941 but enjoying a resurgence over the last decade or so); a decade later, it (and the alternate spelling hippy) was appropriated to refer to people adopting a countercultural appearance and attitude. Also during the late 1960s, a radical group called the Youth International Party, inspired by hippie and alluding to the acronym of the name, dubbed themselves Yippies. The next -ie slang word to come along was foodie, referring to a person with gourmet tastes; it first appeared in the early 1980s. About twenty years after that, people began to refer to photographs they took of themselves as â€Å"selfies.† Though the practice dates back to the dawn of photography, the advent of cell phones with photographic capabilities made it unusually convenient for anyone to take selfies; a development that in hindsight seems to have been inevitable is the selfie stick, a pole used as an extension of the arm to provide a greater range when taking a selfie. Selfie and its similarly constructed antecedents are exhibits in the case for the introduction of new vocabulary as a democratic process: Anyone can coin a word. With the ubiquity of social media, it’s much easier than before for such neologisms to go viral, but they can easily get lost in the signal-to-noise clutter. But selfie and many other new words have thrived because they fill a need; how else can we concisely refer to photographs one takes of oneself (and other people and/or a background)? If you find yourself at a loss for words, create one of your own and see whether it has leggies. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Spelling category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:50 Rhetorical Devices for Rational WritingLatin Plural Endings90 Verbs Starting with â€Å"Ex-†

10 Famous American Authors and Their Best Essays †Pro-Academic-Writers.com

10 Famous American Authors and Their Best Essays What comes to your mind when you try to recall famous American writers? The country has introduced several unique genres and interesting topics to the world, stressing the important role of revolution in the history of every nation. We have developed the list of 10 famous American authors, including their famous essays and lessons learned from their writing. GET YOUR PERFECT ESSAY NOW Writing is not a piece of cake. If you have troubles with your school or college homework, do not hesitate to contact professional academic writers online! How to Create Powerful Essays: 10 Famous American Writers List! Charles D’Ambrosio Charles D’ambrosio does not specialize in novels or fiction/non-fiction books; he always positioned himself as a short story essay writer. It was his Portland State University's MFA Program in Creative Writing,  which helped one of the famous American writers develop his essential reading writing skills. Oberlin College was his second place of education. D’Ambrosio never gives up studying English Language, Philosophy (discover how a Philosophy degree may be helpful), History, Literature, and other related humanitarian disciplines. If you want to become popular one day to see your essays published in The New Yorker, Orphans, The Stranger, or A Public Space, observe the works written by Charles D’Ambrosio to absorb valuable lessons. We would recommend starting from â€Å"Documents† and â€Å"Loitering† essays. Lessons learned: Loss and hardships are worth writing about. When you focus on things that make people sad (hate, injustice, depression, war, death), the readers would appreciate your short story/essay for stressing the value of life. Point to the importance of past events in the life of every human. Do not hesitate to share your personal notes, essays, and documents (in this context, documents mean diaries and other important outtakes, which reveals the nature of their owners. Do you need more hints? Ask these expert writers from the field of academic, creative, business writing to help by creating an inspiring literary piece! Benjamin Franklin Every second American President was a great artist. In most cases, the representatives of the US government dedicate their free time to sharing American values, customs, traditions through writing manuals. Franklin is not an exception. One of the most famous American authors is a known historical figure – a Co-Founding Father of the United States depicted on $100 banknote. His activities cover a broad range of different fields, including literature, publishing, politics, science, inventions, civic activity, diplomacy, etc. Benjamin Franklin belongs to the category of the famous American writers with democratic views. He did not release many novels or books; Franklin has established a lot of short stories and essays dedicated to the free, independent land. Since 1776, the moods of the American authors changed to more optimistic and confident. The main purpose of Franklin in his essays was to utilize economic benefits and flee oppressive governmental regimes. Do you need the most distinguished works of Franklin? They contain â€Å"Advice on the Choice of a Mistress†,  Ã¢â‚¬Å"The Art of Procuring Pleasant Dreams,† and â€Å"The Temple of Learning,  The Whistle.† Lessons learned: Democratic sensibility remains a popular thing to discuss. The American nation is an exceptional ethnic group made of every nationality in the world, all possible customs traditions, and based on the equality, justice, and freedom. The Constitution of the United States is a powerful weapon to discuss. The topic of the changing generations will never lose its relevance. Cynthia Ozick After his death, another representative of the most famous American writers living today, David Foster Wallace, was disqualified because he committed suicide and his latest works were full of pessimistic notes. He has listed local authors who could continue his activity. Wallace mentioned Cynthia Ozick among the most budding and promising contemporary writers, capable of continuing his contribution to the literature world. Along with Cormac McCarthy Don DeLillo, the woman is the US best living fiction story author. By today, Cynthia Ozick has published seven essay collections. She created several works of short fiction and inspiring novels. She does not have a certain field of interest. Ozick likes talking about love, hate, life, death, the American nation, future, and other things preferred by the modern famous American writers, but she covers different topics, without limiting her interests. There is one subject we can frequently notice in her stories. Ozick loves the idea of the Jewish American lens. The best essays of all time include her â€Å"Portrait of the  Essay as a Warm Body,† â€Å"The Shawl,† and Envy† on the list, and students can learn the following lessons: The tendency to favor the Jewish American lens instead of attacking it. Creating a short story with the next characteristics: self-consciousness, sharpness, wittiness, clarity, and life wisdom. Don’t be afraid to seem smarter than people around! If you need more examples of great essays to study, the best place to visit is the online writing service, which offers FREE paper samples. Roger Ebert Another interesting man from the list of the famous American authors. Roger Ebert has an ability to criticize other written works and movies fairly brought his world recognition. Ebert specialized on movie directing, cinematography, history of the world and US in particular, journalism, and screenwriting. He worked in Chicago Sun-Times until 2013. Roger Ebert became the first film critic to win the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism. If you have a passion for writing argumentative, persuasive, or critical essays/book reviews, you should find and read the best critical works of Roger Ebert. Watch the popular TV show â€Å"Sneak Previews†. Roger Ebert is different from many contemporary American fellow-writers who focus on the dark sides of our world, often praising the depressive moods. Ebert prefers courage, erudition, humor, and humanism. This enthusiastic writer is capable of reflecting the matter of life death in the most optimistic light. To understand the writer better, read three critical essay collections. The names are â€Å"The Great Movies†Ã‚  (2002),  Ã¢â‚¬Å"The Great Movies II†Ã‚  (2005), and  Ã¢â‚¬Å"The Great Movies III†Ã‚  (2010); pay attention to his most popular work titled â€Å"Go Gentle into That Good Night.† Lessons learned: Never give up; there is always a way out! Ebert’s works full of life optimism can be described in a known phrase said by John Keating in â€Å"Dead Poets Society:† â€Å"Carpe, carpe diem, seize the day boys, make your lives extraordinary.† It is important to write more critical essays to become interesting to people. Watch more movie to have several inspiring ideas to discuss in your literary works. Try to cover the never-ending topic of death from the different perspective. Never stop praising this life by pointing to its main values! Zadie Smith Hey, how about including a female essay writer from the United Kingdom on our promising list of the contemporary short story novel authors? We believe the woman who appears in the list of 20 most influential people in British culture deserves to appear on our list of famous writers, even though she is not American. British culture had affected the United States for centuries. Her primary achievement, which predetermined Smith’s further faith as an author, was the degree from the New York University’s Creative Writing Program. She became the professor of the University. In the United States, the novel written by Zadie Smith, â€Å"White Teeth,† joined the Time magazine’s list of the 100 best English-language novels created since 1923. Smith is a brave author. She may condemn things like disrespect of literature, treatment of art in the modern world, and criticize authors who do not fulfill their literary obligations. This extraordinary female author prefers writing novels. Her most famous essay is â€Å"Fail Better,† full of the following lessons: Never generalize things with the help of â€Å"all† or similar words – narrow down, take a part of the topic to make up a specific subject. There is no such thing as a perfect novel. A writing style is the result of the unique personality of each writer + the way this person views and understands the world. Avoid clichà © – breathe a new life into your writing! HELP WITH MY WRITING F. Scott Fitzgerald â€Å"And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow in fast movies, I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer.† F. Scott Fitzgerald, â€Å"The Great Gatsby† Who else but The Great Gatsby, a good old fellow who tried to show the world the importance of love, life, and family values, and who was rejected for being too humanistic? Fitzgerald knew how important love is from his personal experience. â€Å"The Great Gatsby† appeared in the result of the feelings one of the most famous American writers shared with the love of his life, Zelda. Fitzgerald blamed the American people for underestimating the beauty of this life. He tried to recall the significant values in his novels, short stories essays. In Hollywood, Fitzgerald did his best. He developed scenarios scripts for the future films. His popular â€Å"Gatsby† has been filmed several times, having the brilliant modern version starring Leo DiCaprio as the last successful attempt to interpret the way Fitzgerald viewed our world. Not all of his works were good; â€Å"Tender Is the Night† did not obtain wide recognition. The author became overwhelmed and depressed during the last years of life. The most known list of his essays includes "The Diamond as Big as the Ritz," "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," and "The Camel's Back." Lessons Learned: Love is the only thing, which matters in the life of each person. American society is full of snobs who underestimate the role of love, undervalue the significance of friendship, and do not appreciate this life the way they should. Money has no value when you are lonely. Edward Hoagland Another man who wrote several famous essays is Edward Hoagland. He was born in 1932; this enthusiastic young man from New York revealed his passion for reading writing since the early age. He stated he would like to become a world’s known novelist to his parents. The two preferred genres were a novel and a short story; the two favorite topics he discussed were traveling nature. Hoagland did not want to cover dirty, filthy topics, so he decided to focus on describing the beauty of nature instead of discussing the way society changes and its never-ending conflicts. The list of top famous essays written by Edward Hoagland includes â€Å"The Big Cats,† â€Å"The Soul of the Tiger,† â€Å"Why This Extra Violence,† and â€Å"A World Worth Saving and Christmas Observed.† Lessons learned: Focus on depicting the beauty of nature. If you write about the human qualities, develop one short story dedicated to two strongest feelings that make us humans – love friendship. The world is full of violence; avoid going deep into this topic to give people hope. Ernest Hemingway The list of the most famous American authors of all time has a name of Ernest Hemingway no matter which genre of literature is discussed. Teachers do not find his works suitable for the school/college program. Spend some time on reading his top works to learn valuable life writing lessons from this distinguished man with the rich history. He was curious about studying the way people behave under pressure, the way their moods change. Children will misunderstand the words of the author. It is better to start reading his literary works at the teen or grown-up age to understand Hemingway’s main ideas. Hemingway did not focus on the complicated, strange topics. He wrote about the things men love (e.g., bullfighting, fishing, hunting, and friendship). Papa Hemingway’s list of famous essays is made of the following titles: â€Å"The Old Man and the Sea,† â€Å"The Sun Also Rises,† and â€Å"For Whom the Bell Tolls.† Lessons learned: Symbolism is the best way to interpret your philosophical thoughts. Try establishing such features as the lean writing style, original sense of humor, and try showing the life based on your personal experience. Avoid literary allusions. Virginia Woolf A little is known about this mysterious female writer. She is another female author on the list coming from the United Kingdom. Woolf is the foremost modernist of the XX century + a pioneer in the stream of consciousness (a narrative tool). The girl visited the King’s College London and became the early reformer of women’s higher education. The top short stories created by this known female essayist involve â€Å"Death of the Moth,† â€Å"Eclipse of the Heart,† and â€Å"Devil in False Colors.† You may have watched a film â€Å"Hours† based on Woolf’s story. Her essays teach several lessons. Write how important the life is through the lens of survival evanescence. Apply simple comparisons to make the writing style lucid. Do not hesitate to change from the optimistic voice to melancholic moods in the middle of your essay; the life is black-and-white, and it makes no sense sharing only positive/negative moments. Edgar Allan Poe Who loves detective stories? During the romantic period in the US history literature, a world’s known Edgar Allan Poe appeared with his mystic stories. The man was a writer, editor, and literary critic in one face. Poe is listed among the cofounders developers of the short story essay genres, providing innovative ideas such as making stories gloomy, dark, and mysterious. He developed many popular detective/science fiction works. Poe focused on the things like spirit, organic development, the significance of art, and motivation/inspiration. Start reading his â€Å"Philosophy of Furniture,† â€Å"The Raven,† or â€Å"The Black Cat† to be acquainted with his works. Lessons learned: There is nothing scary about being gloomy in your writing. People like reading about things they find dark and mysterious; it makes them value life more and start believing in the things they can’t see with the naked eye. How to Become the Author of World’s Famous Essays? We hope this list of the best American authors, their top preferred literary works, and the lessons shared between the lines of their stories would help with your writing career. Do you have any questions? If you need a professional writing help, the best thing you can do is to place an order with the time-tested and trusted US/UK academic service, which offers affordable prices!

A play written by J. B. Priestly Essay Example for Free

A play written by J. B. Priestly Essay ? An Inspector Calls, a play written by J. B. Priestly in 1945. He set his play in 1912 just before the First World War. It is a story of the visit by an Inspector to an apparently normal family, the Birlings. The Birlings are celebrating their daughter Shelia’s engagement to Gerald Croft. Mr. Birling a successful factory owner gets the ball rolling with a speech, which he gives to his son Eric, and Gerald Croft. J. B Priestly makes good use of dramatic irony in this speech because many events took place after 1912, which we the modern audience, know about but Mr. Mr. Birling mentioned that the miners came out on a strike and there would be possible labour trouble in the near future. He said that there wouldn’t be any more worries about the strikes. But in 1926 we know that there was a General Strike in Britain. He talks about the Titanic being a spectacular ship with every luxury and it is absolutely unsinkable. But as we know in 1912 the Titanic sunk on maiden voyage and 1,513 lives were lost. He also mentioned about the wars not happening. He said that the Germans don’t want war. But in 1914 the First World War broke out. He said that there would peace and prosperity and rapid progress everywhere but in 1917 there was revolution in Russia. In 1939 the Second World War broke out and in 1945 the atomic bombs were dropped on Japan. This makes the audience doubt Mr Birling early on in the play. When Mr. Birling finishes his speech the Inspector enters into the scene. The Inspector is at the Birling’s because there was a death of a woman Eva Smith and he had come to ask questions about her. Mr. Birling was the first person that we were led to believe started off the train of events that ultimately led to the death of Eva Smith. Mr. Birling had sacked Eva Smith from his factory after she started to cause trouble demanding higher wages. Mr Birling says that any man in his position would have done the same. She was making trouble as Mr. Birling said, ‘She had a lot to say – far too much so she had to goi. But the only thing that Mr. Birling cared about was his family and the progress of his business. He didn’t care about his workers and he didn’t know them. As he says in Act 1 â€Å"I have a couple of hundred workers under me, who keep changing†. So there wasn’t a personal relationship between these two until after the workers came back from their holidays that they were asking for a pay rise. As Mr. Birling wouldn’t, he sacked the ringleaders and one of them was Eva Smith. Now that Eva was sacked she was out of work for two months. She had no money and she was half starved. She had no one to help her. Her parents had died so they couldn’t offer any help and her friends had nothing to offer her. But then again it wasn’t the end of the world and she was capable of getting another job as we find out. A play written by J. B. Priestly. (2017, Nov 02).

BRJ SUMMARY Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

BRJ SUMMARY - Essay Example ALJCI today have various programs under the below mentioned categories- Art and Cultural Initiatives Education and Training Health & Social Programs Job Creation Poverty Allevation ALJCI functions majorly in Middle East countries apart from London, Turkey, Bangladesh and USA. Some of the major programs currently in operation are: Abdul Latif Jameel Toyota Endowed Scholarship – USA Al Nada Center for Social Care – Hail – Saudi Arabia ALJ Hospital – Saudi Arabia BRJ - Saudi Arabia BRJ Turkiye – Turkey Family Day Initiative for Prisoners – Middle East Grameen Jameel for poverty allevation – Middle East Jameel Gallery of Islamic Art – London Prince Salman Disability Research Center – Middle East Tanweer - Orphans Supporting Initiative – Middle East BRJ Program – Introduction ALJCI’s one of the major intiative is Bab Rizq Jameel (BRJ). This program directly focuses on job creation in Saudia Arabia. This pr ogram helps in transforming females from aid receivers to producers in Saudi society (BRJ, 2009 p 17). BRJ BRJ is considered to be one of 3 programs subsumed under the ALJCSI. The number of BRJ branches increased to 18 throughout the Kingdom (BRJ, 2010 p 3). There is an increase of 27% in job creation in 2009 which is more than 41,284 jobs when compared to 30,115 jobs created in 2008. The total jobs created reached by ALJCSP reached 113,855 in the year 2009 (Appendix 1). Given the rising and already high unemployment rates amongst women in Saudi which touched 19% in 2009 up from 13% in 2008 (ILO), BRJ was created to tackle the pressing issue of poverty caused by these high unemployment. BRJ mainly aims at creating job opportunities for young females and males through the following diversified programs: 1. Direct employment program: It mainly matches job seekers directly to vacancies in the private sector companies. In 2009 the program created 7,493 jobs of which 4,074 for males and 3,419 for females which is 11:9 ratio (BRJ, 2010 p 7). 2. Training ending with employment program: It focuses on vocational and craft training in areas required by the job market, and ends with employment of females and males, in the age group of 18-25 years, in companies within the private sector companies. In 2009, the program created 2,825 new jobs throughout the Kingdom and several training programs were conducted for both females and males (BRJ, 2010 p 7). Examples of training ending with employment courses include: For males: hotel services, cable-laying technician, restaurant services For females only: nursing assistant, make-up technician For both males and females: cashier, on-phone customer services, photography technician, nursing assistant, medical secretary However, BRJ job creation efforts are not limited to employment or training ending with employment, but they expand to include the following programs: A. Small Projects Program: This program finances owners of small projects through interest-free loans up to SR 200,000 which is equivalent to ?35,000 (Qard Hassan, zero-return loan for both males and females). In 2009 5,110 small projects have been financed which includes medical clinics, bakeries, female student transportation vehicles, sheep sales, sales of electronic appliances, vegetable and fruits, design and decor, etc. Repayment percentages in the above projects reached 97%

Texts 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Texts 2 - Essay Example The model somehow mixes the inner and outer sings as well as many disciplines which can be seen by explaining that sociology, psychology and economics are major disciplines whereas parks and recreation, agriculture and transport are not the fields of study but are included as major disciplines in the model. The model actually is a puzzle between major and minor disciplines (Tribe, 1999) Also, we can say that marketing and business represent themselves as a problem. Marketing in general is considered a business function, it uses principles and guidelines from sociology and psychology as well as uses some of the business principles. Marketing is studied as a sub major in business and also, law is included in the business studies. So we can include these two as sub majors in the major discipline of business. "techniques required in business studies are derivative partly from the disciplines that contribute to them and partly from the world of business practice." Henkel’s analysis clearly explains aforementioned theories and states that in an alternate form that the validation of a part of its knowledge is outside of its academy (tribe, 1999). Tourism and business studies are the two emerging fields of studies and both of these fields collide or cooperate with each other in one way or the other. Hence, Tribe forces on the fact that there needs to be a new formulation of re interpretation of the model presented by Ritchie and Jafari since we need to incorporate business and marketing in the their model.Accommodating all the disciplines and departments under one heading of tourism studies is rather confusing and very difficult. We can say that we now need to divide the field of tourism studies into multiple fields, at least two and one of these two fields can be called tourism business studies whereas rest are still to be identified or incorporated into other fields of tourism studies. A tourism business study is a field of study mainly inspired from business

NURSING AND SOCIAL WORK SKILLS Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

NURSING AND SOCIAL WORK SKILLS - Essay Example Through science, nurses obtain the skills and technology they rely on to achieve each patients optimal health (Dougherty, L & Lister, S. 2004). In this essay I will illustrate how I worked and established a working relationship with service user TJ during my 100-day statutory placement at a primary care community setting for people with learning disabilities and mental health problems. I will consider the interactions and interventions embarked upon with the patient, critically analyzing my work practice by linking theory to practice. My work with this patient involved helping and supporting him to develop new skills and more importantly to lower his aggression towards others in the day centre. The assignment will look at the rationale for utilizing a holistic philosophy of care and employing an anti-discriminatory and anti-oppressive practice in nursing. I will also discuss how developed a close relationship. I will divide the essay into five sections. The first will discuss the des cription of the work. The second section will analyse how relationship was established. The third section will identify anticipated and actual barriers in the relationship. The fourth will talk in depth how the relationship was brought to a close. Reflecting upon my interactions with the patient I will analyze the influence of the reflective process. Following guidance from the NMC code of professional conduct and the GSCC Codes of Practice, the names of the patients have been changed to ensure confidentiality. The placement will remain unidentified and referred to as Edwardian Day Centre. The final section will provide an evaluation of my success (if any) in establishing the relationship with TJ. The essay will than be concluded.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Established with the aim to enable people with learning disability to live independently in the society, Edwardian Day Centre considers its members (aged 18-65) as students rather than service users as this prevents labelling (Cynthia, B.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of a staycation to tourists Essay

What are the advantages and disadvantages of a staycation to tourists - Essay Example It is also simple to plan because it does not require complicated logistical process such as packing, travelling, and waiting at the airport. In addition, it does not involve hotel booking (Coles, 2013, pg 35). Staycation allows tourists to be flexible in setting their schedule for the staycation and they can organize and arrange their own touring activities and accomplish them within their time frame (Carr, 2013). According to Munday (2013) staycation promotes a county’s economy by encouraging internal tourism. Botteril & Maitland (2014) argues that staycation tourism is convenient as it involves travelling in short distances and its preparations minimal. He also state that staycationers can run their business and take care of their home as their have much fun elsewhere. A staycation have a positive impact on local businesses (Williams & Fidgeon, 2000). This is so because staycationers buy products from these businesses while on visit to various sites. In other words they becomes customers to these businesses. Staycation may be less thrilling and adventurous (Coles, 2013). Most of them leads to boredom as most of the activities take place in one location (Carr, 2013). It is also a challenge that a tourist would spend more than expected with the impression that they have saved a lot of money by cutting on traveling cost (Botterill & Maitland 2014). As a matter of fact staycationers are close to their home and place of work. They may be tempted to go to work part of the day and go for a staycation for the rest of the day. This unpopular balance between leisure and work may have severe and dire consequences on ones work performance (Dolnicar & Leisch, 2003). As tourism product increases rapidly in the global market, one need to understand clearly the factors that affect tourism destination selection (Godfrey, 1999). One need to comprehend the fact that product choice is imperative. Tourist

The Current Conflict Between Russia and Ukraine Case Study

The Current Conflict Between Russia and Ukraine - Case Study Example The audience of this article can be students, college instructors, lawyers, political leaders, and everyone else that is keen on international relations. In order to attract and keep the audience, the author of this article should be objective and attempt to provide possible solutions to this issue, as this issue has the potential of impacting the world economy in a negative manner. The major argument that the author of this article makes is that Russia is wrong in its invasion of Ukraine and that the international fraternity should intervene in this issue, as this has not attempted to deter Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Most importantly, the author acknowledges the fact that the United States has not been instrumental in controlling this conflict, even though this is the current world superpower. The author, therefore, holds the assumption that the United States, as the world superpower has a leading role to play in ensuring the peaceful co-existence between Russia and Ukrain e. The author also holds the assumption that by invading Ukraine, Mr. Putin is out to satisfy his personal and political interests. The values of the author of this article that are evident include peace, justice, and fairness. This is evident in the way the author is opposed to the conflict and acknowledges the fact that Russia is wrong in invading Ukraine. The author goes ahead to propose various strategies that could be put in place to effectively stop the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Identifying Ukraine as the victim in this conflict, the author recommends that different sanctions be imposed on Russia and military aid be provided for Ukraine. This is all aimed at stopping the conflict, hence fostering healthy relations between the two countries. In laying out their argument, the author has not made use hard facts but only based on the different events that have unfolded in the conflict.

NURSING AND SOCIAL WORK SKILLS Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

NURSING AND SOCIAL WORK SKILLS - Essay Example Through science, nurses obtain the skills and technology they rely on to achieve each patients optimal health (Dougherty, L & Lister, S. 2004). In this essay I will illustrate how I worked and established a working relationship with service user TJ during my 100-day statutory placement at a primary care community setting for people with learning disabilities and mental health problems. I will consider the interactions and interventions embarked upon with the patient, critically analyzing my work practice by linking theory to practice. My work with this patient involved helping and supporting him to develop new skills and more importantly to lower his aggression towards others in the day centre. The assignment will look at the rationale for utilizing a holistic philosophy of care and employing an anti-discriminatory and anti-oppressive practice in nursing. I will also discuss how developed a close relationship. I will divide the essay into five sections. The first will discuss the des cription of the work. The second section will analyse how relationship was established. The third section will identify anticipated and actual barriers in the relationship. The fourth will talk in depth how the relationship was brought to a close. Reflecting upon my interactions with the patient I will analyze the influence of the reflective process. Following guidance from the NMC code of professional conduct and the GSCC Codes of Practice, the names of the patients have been changed to ensure confidentiality. The placement will remain unidentified and referred to as Edwardian Day Centre. The final section will provide an evaluation of my success (if any) in establishing the relationship with TJ. The essay will than be concluded.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Established with the aim to enable people with learning disability to live independently in the society, Edwardian Day Centre considers its members (aged 18-65) as students rather than service users as this prevents labelling (Cynthia, B.

The Current Conflict Between Russia and Ukraine Case Study

The Current Conflict Between Russia and Ukraine - Case Study Example The audience of this article can be students, college instructors, lawyers, political leaders, and everyone else that is keen on international relations. In order to attract and keep the audience, the author of this article should be objective and attempt to provide possible solutions to this issue, as this issue has the potential of impacting the world economy in a negative manner. The major argument that the author of this article makes is that Russia is wrong in its invasion of Ukraine and that the international fraternity should intervene in this issue, as this has not attempted to deter Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Most importantly, the author acknowledges the fact that the United States has not been instrumental in controlling this conflict, even though this is the current world superpower. The author, therefore, holds the assumption that the United States, as the world superpower has a leading role to play in ensuring the peaceful co-existence between Russia and Ukrain e. The author also holds the assumption that by invading Ukraine, Mr. Putin is out to satisfy his personal and political interests. The values of the author of this article that are evident include peace, justice, and fairness. This is evident in the way the author is opposed to the conflict and acknowledges the fact that Russia is wrong in invading Ukraine. The author goes ahead to propose various strategies that could be put in place to effectively stop the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Identifying Ukraine as the victim in this conflict, the author recommends that different sanctions be imposed on Russia and military aid be provided for Ukraine. This is all aimed at stopping the conflict, hence fostering healthy relations between the two countries. In laying out their argument, the author has not made use hard facts but only based on the different events that have unfolded in the conflict.

Reality of Teaching and Learning Pronunciation Essay Example for Free

Reality of Teaching and Learning Pronunciation Essay Rationale of the study Nowadays, with the rapid pace of integration and globalization, English becomes a golden key to open the door of many fields such as commerce, communication, science and technology throughout the world. Therefore, to meet the demand of the society, it is very necessary to teach English in schools at all levels. And the highest target is to get well in communication. If one wants to get successful in communication, he must be good at pronunciation: â€Å"a threshold level of pronunciation in English such that if a given non-native speakers pronunciation falls below this level, he or she will not be able to communicate orally no matter how good his or her control of English grammar and vocabulary might be† (Celce-Murcia, 1987:5). In the field of language teaching, the role of pronunciation has varied widely from having virtually no role in the grammar-translation method to being the central focus in the audio-lingual method where emphasis is on the traditional notions of pronunciation, minimal pairs, drills and short conversations. The growing emphasis on communicative approaches for the teaching of English has placed higher demands for correct pronunciation. Despite this fact, at the upper-secondary school level in Vietnam, in language teaching and learning, compared with vocabulary, grammar and language skills, pronunciation has so far been paid less attention to. In the official textbooks used for teaching English at high school level, there are a few exercises for pronunciation practice. To make the matter worse, all important English exams at schools as well as the entrance exam to universities are always in written form so most teachers as well as students have little motivation to teach and to learn pronunciation. As a result, students are often shy and unconfident to speak in English. And that is the reason why the effectiveness of teaching pronunciation still remains one of the most widely problematic subjects in the field of language teaching. Coping with this pressing fact, as a language teacher teaching English at Quynh Coi high school (QCHS), the author always thinks of some burning questions: in language teaching and learning, what is the present situation of teaching and learning pronunciation at high school level in QCHS? What are the problems teachers and students face in teaching and learning pronunciation? How to find suitab le methods to teach pronunciation? What should teachers do to teach pronunciation effectively? How should teachers make students become interested in learning pronunciation? The answers to these questions will help language teachers improve their students’ pronunciation as well as help them make progress in effective communication. For the above reasons, the author decides to carry out the study entitled: â€Å"The reality of teaching and learning pronunciation at Quynh Coi high school: problems and solutions†. 1. 2 Aims of the study The main purpose of this study is to discover the reality of teaching and learning pronunciation at Quynh Coi high school, especially to find out problems that teachers and students often have in pronunciation lessons. The writer also hopes to make some feasible solutions that can help the English teachers overcome those problems and improve students’ pronunciation. 1. 3 Research questions The above aims of the study can be realized by answering the following research questions: (1) What is the present situation of teaching and learning pronunciation at QCHS? (2) Which problems do the teachers and students at QCHS face in pronunciation lessons? (3) What teaching techniques can be used to improve teaching pronunciation for students at QCHS? 1. 4 Scope of the study As a case study, this study focuses on the reality of teaching and learning two aspects of English pronunciation: stress and intonation for the 12th form students at Quynh Coi high school. The subjects of the study are 12th form students those are familiar with learning pronunciation for two years at high school. Moreover, stress and intonation are two major aspects of pronunciation introduced in the official textbook used by the 12th form students. Other characteristics of English pronunciation would not be deeply investigated in this research. . 5 Methods of the study In order to fulfill the tasks mentioned above, both qualitative and quantitative methods are selected for this case study, involving the following instruments: survey questionnaires, classroom observations and interviews. Firstly, the survey questionnaires were delivered to both teachers and students to investigate the reality of teaching and learning pronunciation at QCHS. Then, some classroom observations and interv iews with some English teachers have been also conducted to get supplementary information. Finally, the results obtained from questionnaires, observations and interviews have been discussed and analyzed to with a hope for providing language teacher with some feasible teaching techniques to work successfully with their students. 1. 6 Significance of the study This study hopes to make contribution to teaching pronunciation at high school level in Vietnam and the result of the study is considered to be useful for teachers and students at school. Thus, this study will be an interesting reference material for any high school language teachers in Vietnam, especially for those who are in favor of improving their students pronunciation. This research will help teachers and students identify their problems in teaching and learning pronunciation and self- improve their pronunciation. 1. 7 Design of the study This thesis consists of six main chapters: Chapter one is the INTRODUCTION including the rationales, the aims, the scope, the research questions, the methods, and the design of the research. In the book â€Å"Pronunciation† published in 1994, Christiane Dalton and Barbara Seidlhofer (1994:3) consider pronunciation â€Å"as the production of significant sound†. They look at the word in two senses. First, it is used as part of a code of a particular language. That is the reason why English sounds are distinguished from sounds of other languages. In this sense, pronunciation can be told as the production and reception of sounds of speech. Second, sound is used to achieve meaning in contexts of use. Here the code combines with other factors to make communication possible. In this sense pronunciation is referred with reference to acts of speaking. In the scope of this study, the concept of pronunciation can be described as â€Å"a way of speaking a word, especially a way that is accepted or generally understood† (American Heritage Dictionary, 1992) or â€Å"may be said to conclude the sounds of the language or phonology; stress and rhythm; intonation; combination sounds; linkage of sound† (Ur, 1996). 2. 2 Features of pronunciation Gerald Kelly (2000) points out main features of pronunciation including phonemes and suprasegmental features, in which consonants and vowels belong to phonemes, intonation and stress are two main parts of suprasegmental. Phonemes are units of sound, they are known as segments. Suprasegmental features are features of speech which apply to groups of segments, or phonemes. The features which are important in English are stress, intonation, and how sounds change in connected speech. The following diagram shows a breakdown of the main features of pronunciation: Features of pronunciation (Kelly, 2000:1) As seen from the diagram, pronunciation is a broad subject with the boundaries of various items such as consonants, vowels, stress, and intonation. This study is intended to focus on two major features of pronunciation: intonation and stress are deeply investigated. According to Quirk R. and Greenbaun S. (1973:450), stress is the prominence with one part of a word or of a longer utterance is distinguished from other parts. This can be understood like this: when an English word consists of more than one syllable, one of these syllables is made to stand out more than the others. This is done by saying the syllable louder. For instance, in such words as â€Å"English†, â€Å"teacher†, and â€Å"student† the first syllables are stressed. Intonation is an important part that most teachers have to deal with when teaching connected speech, it refers to the way the voice â€Å"goes up and down in pitch† (Kelly, 2000: 86) when we are speaking. It plays a vital role in helping people express their opinions, and understanding thought of others. In short, the word â€Å"pronunciation† is like a big umbrella covering various sub-items as consonants, vowels, intonations, stress, etc. With such big boundaries of items, language teachers and learners have to think of how to master these key aspects, especially stress and intonation, to be successful in teaching and learning pronunciation. 2. 3 Teaching pronunciation 2. 3. 1 The importance of teaching/ learning pronunciation and a â€Å"paradox† 2. 3. 1. 1 The importance of teaching and learning pronunciation Pronunciation is as important as any other aspects of language like syntax and vocabulary. Some people may argue that speech is obviously much more significant than pronunciation. However, speech cannot exist without pronunciation. Correct pronunciation, in fact, is considered to be a prerequisite to develop the speaking skill. That is why teaching pronunciation should occupy an important place in the study of any language. According to Gerald Kelly (2000), pronunciation â€Å"involves far more than individual sounds† including word stress, sentence stress, intonation, and word linking. All of these influence the sound of spoken English. Sound is the core of the language. When teaching a language, the first and foremost thing teachers should do is to let learners have chances to expose themselves to the sounds of that language. That is the reason why more and more teachers pay much attention to teaching pronunciation to their students. Considering the importance of communication in general and pronunciation in particular, Gerald Kelly confirms â€Å"a learner who constantly mispronounces a range of phonemes can be extremely difficult for a speaker from another language community to understand. A consideration of learners’ pronunciation errors and of how these can inhibit successful communication is a useful basis on which to assess why it is important to deal with pronunciation in the class† (2000:11). Sharing the same ideas with Kelly, Martin Hewings (2004:10) adds â€Å"difficulties with pronunciation might mean that students fail to get their message across, even when the correct words are being used, or they might fail to understand what is said to them. † The inaccurate use of suprasegmetal elements, such as tress or intonation, can also cause problems. Errors in pronunciation can lead to a problem of reception, or comprehension of the meaning or function of an utterance, even worse, they can affect the perceived tone or mood of an utterance. Moreover, it is obvious that good pronunciation serves as a strong motivation for language learners. Most language learners show considerable enthusiasm for pronunciation as they consider it as a good way to show that they are competent in the language. Once they have obtained adequate pronunciation competence, they gradually build up strong confidence for themselves and are ready to learn new things without hesitation. 2. 3. 1. 2 A â€Å"paradox† As the matter of fact, the role of pronunciation in English learning process could not be negated. Regrettably, teaching and learning pronunciation has not received appropriate attention as expected and Gerald Kelly call this fact a name â€Å"a paradox† (Kelly, 2000: 1). It tends to suffer from being neglected. This may not be teachers’ lack of interest or motivation in pronunciation. The main reason comes from their teaching experience and confidence, â€Å"feeling of doubt as to hoe to teach† (Kelly, 2000:13). In spite of the fact that both teacher and students are keen on pronunciation, they often take grammar or vocabulary precedence over pronunciation for granted. If it is not neglected, â€Å"it tends to be reactive to a particular problem that has arisen in the classroom rather than being strategically planned† (Kelly, 2000:13). This is the most popular problem is pronunciation lessons. Teachers only deal with pronunciation when it comes to be problematic. There is no lesson plan, no strategy in teaching and learning pronunciation. Most teachers often prepare lesson plan for teaching grammar, vocabulary, but pronunciation. Yet pronunciation work can, and should, be planned for, too. Teachers should regard features of pronunciation as integral to language analysis and lesson planning. This paradox arises from both the nature of pronunciation itself, from the teaching staff as well as from the learners themselves. However, to deal with this problem, as language teachers, teachers need to have a good grounding in theoretical knowledge. Furthermore, in order to teach pronunciation successfully, teachers should be practically skilled in classrooms, and they need to have good ideas, approaches, techniques, as well as classroom activities. 2. 3. 2 Teachers’ roles in teaching pronunciation Mastering a foreign language pronunciation is not something impossible as far as the student and the teacher participate together in the total learning process. Thus, to succeed in a pronunciation program, the teacher plays an essential role. Kenworthy (1987), Nguyen Bang and Nguyen Ba Ngoc (2001), and Hoang Van Van, et al. (2006) shared the similar ideas about teachers’ roles in the teaching and learning pronunciation process, in which, teachers are responsible for: †¢Helping learners to hear: The teacher has a mission to provide appropriate input of the target sounds for learners to hear. Teacher needs to check that their students are hearing sounds according to the appropriate categories and help them develop new categories if necessary. †¢Helping learners to make sounds: It is true that some English sounds do not exist in the learners’ mother tongue. Some learners may be able to imitate the target sounds if they are provided models. However, for those who lack such an ability, it is teachers’ duty to explain the way those difficult sounds are made and provide aids to help learners produce correct sounds. †¢Providing feedback: Students need to be told where they are standing, how much they have gained and what they need to improve because sometimes, students themselves can not know whether they are making mistakes or not. The teacher must provide them with feedbacks on their performance. †¢Pointing out what is going on: In many cases, learners fail to realize what and how they are speaking, as speaking is for most parts unconsciously controlled, learners may sometimes make mistakes in the way they produce a particular sequence of sounds, or put stress in an incorrect place, leading to misunderstanding. It is the teachers’ role to specify the area that learners have to pay attention to so as not to cause miscomprehension. †¢Establishing priorities: Native-like pronunciation is not easy to achieve. Therefore, learners need a guide to tell them about what aspects they should master, what aspects they not need to be â€Å"perfect†. Inevitably, when learning a foreign language, it is dealt if learners master every aspect of it. However, as this is somehow unrealistic, learners should learn to satisfy at an accepted level of those aspects which are not vital. The level at which learners can feel satisfied at depends on different situations for different individuals. †¢Devising activities: It is not easy for teachers to cover all activities in a limited time. Thus, teachers need to identify what exercises will be suitable for their learners, what activities would bring them the best effect. In devising them, however, it should be accepted that certain activities are more suitable to some students than others. †¢Assessing progress: An important role of teacher is to assess progress. Learners need to know at what level they are in pronunciation. Tests allocated at appropriate times will serve as a strong motivation for students. When they look at their marks, they have a clear sense of how much they have gained. Judging learners’ pronunciation performance is very complicated. However, this should be done accordingly. 2. 3. 3. Approaches, techniques and activities in teaching pronunciation 2. 3. 3. 1 Approaches in teaching pronunciation In the book â€Å"Teaching pronunciation† (Celce-Murcia M. , et al. 1996: 2), the authors point out two general approaches to the teaching of pronunciation in the modern time, namely intuitive-imitative approach and analytic-linguistic approach. An intuitive-imitative approach depends on â€Å"the learners’ ability to listen to and imitate the rhythms and sounds of the target language without the intervention of any explicit information†. This means the teaching of pronunciation depends largely on the teacher’s turning on and rewinding a cassette player (or another instrument), and the main activities in the class are listening and repeating. In this approach, the teacher has no responsibility to explain how sounds are formed or produced and the learners do their main task of listening and imitating, and it is expected that learners will gradually gain pronunciation competence. Meanwhile, an analytic-linguistic approach â€Å"utilizes information and tools such as a phonetic alphabet, articulator descriptions, charts of the vocal apparatus and other aids to supplement listening, imitation, and production† (Celce-Murcia M. , et al. , 1996: 2). In this approach, learners are given explanation as well as training on how to form particular sounds of the target language. Between these two approaches, there is no scale on whether which one is better. Choosing to apply which approach into teaching pronunciation depends on teachers themselves and the level of learners. To do well with these two approaches, it is a need for both teachers and learners to fulfill knowledge of articulator system such as consonants, vowels, stress, and intonation, etc. In this study, the author considers the use of both approaches to gain best effect in teaching and learning pronunciation. 2. 3. 3. 2 Techniques and activities Pronunciation is never an end in itself, thus to receive expected result in teaching and learning pronunciation, teachers have made use of a great deal of techniques. It may be taught in isolation or in combination with language skills of speaking, listening, reading or writing. Supported by Kelly (2000:16); and Celce, et al (1996:8), some common techniques are: †¢Drilling: One of the main ways in which pronunciation is practiced in the classroom is through drilling. In its most basic form, drilling simply involves the teacher saying a word or a structure, and getting class to repeat it. †¢Listen and imitate† The pronunciation of the target language is provided by the teacher or tape recorders, language labs, etc. students are to listen to a sequence of sounds or sentences and repeat it. †¢Chaining: This can be used for sentences which prove difficult for students to pronounce, either because they are long, or because they include difficult words and sounds The above mentioned techniques are nearly similar; they usually take two forms, which are either all-class or individual. These two forms are actually the two phase of the same techniques. Normally, at first, the whole class repeats after certain sound and phrases. After a certain amount of class-drilling, individual students take turns and pronounce those items themselves. †¢Phonetic chaining: This technique makes use of articulator descriptions, articulator diagrams and a phonetic alphabet. Learners are provided with basic theoretical knowledge about how sounds are formed. They are also aided by the teacher to make genuine sound production. †¢Minimal pair drills: These relate to words which differ from each other only one phoneme. Normally, students are allowed to listen to the tape and distinguish between the two sounds. This type of activities is particularly useful to teach sounds which causes difficulties for learners or sounds that are mismatched. †¢Contextualized minimal pair: In this technique, the teacher establishes the setting and present key vocabulary; students are then trained to respond to a sentence stem with the appropriate meaningful response. When minimal pair drills seem a bit boring and too theoretical with separated sounds, the contextualization seems to be more useful because it is more practical. †¢Tongue Twisters: This technique rooted from speech correction strategies for native speakers. When other techniques look serious and sometimes put learners under pressure, tongue twisters provide a more delighting way to learn pronunciation. Sounds which are difficult to differentiate are put together to make meaningful sentences. †¢Reading aloud/recitation: Students are provided with a passage or scripts and then read aloud, focusing on stress, timing and intonation. This activity is often done with texts such as poems, rhymes, song lyrics, etc. †¢Recording of learners’ production. This technique can use audio-tape, video-tapes of rehearsed and spontaneous speeches, free conversations, and role plays. It needs the feedbacks of teachers as well as self-evaluation. †¢Practice of vowel shifts and stress shifts related by affixation: Base on rule of generative phonology, used with intermediate or advanced learners. The teachers point out the rule-based nature of vowel and stress shifts in etymologically related words to raise awareness; sentences and short texts that contain both number of a pair may be provide as oral practice material such as:PHOtograph And phoTOgraphy 2. 4 Learning pronunciation 2. 4. 1 Factors affecting learning pronunciation According to Joane Kenworthy (1987), there are many factors affecting learning pronunciation, including the native language, the age factor, the amount of exposure, phonetic ability, attitude and identity. The native language: it is inevitable that learners’ native language has a great impact on their ability of pronouncing English. The â€Å"foreign accent† is therefore easy to identity. The age factor: it is often assumed that the younger a person starts learning a foreign language, the better he is at pronouncing it and he has a greater chance of having a native-like accent. The amount of exposure: people who live in the country where the target language is spoken and is surrounded by an English-speaking environment may have some advantages over some who do not. Phonetic ability: researches have shown that some people naturally have a â€Å"better ear† for a foreign language than others. Attitude and identity: results from many studies have shown that learners who have a positive attitude towards speakers of a foreign language tend to have a more native-like pronunciation. 2. 4. 2 Students’ roles in learning pronunciation It is essential that in order to learn a language, motivation plays a vital role. The same thing happens to learning pronunciation. If students really care much about their pronunciation, they will become more cautious about their speaking, and gradually build up good pronunciation. In teaching and learning pronunciation, if teachers play the roles of a â€Å"speech coach†, students themselves need to involve in this process as much as possible in order to get good results. According to Nguyen Bang and Nguyen Ba Ngoc (2001), students need to satisfy some demands. Firstly, they need to perceive the model as exactly as they can. Secondly, they need to response as much as and as well as possible to the recognition, the imitation and repetition activities. Lastly, beside the help of the teachers, students should do self-correction of their pronunciation mistakes. 2. 5 Teachers’ and students’ problems in teaching and learning pronunciation Both teachers and students encounter various problems in the process of teaching and learning pronunciation. These problems do not only arise from the nature of pronunciation itself, but from various subjective and objective factors. In the light of the previous and current studies, some major problems that teachers and learners face in teaching and learning pronunciation are:. The nature of pronunciation According to Nunan (1991), the problem of acquiring the phonology of a second or a foreign language presents a formidable challenge to any theory of second language acquisition. In teaching and learning pronunciation, the biggest problem that most of the English teachers and students complain come from nature of pronunciation. English pronunciation itself contains so many complicated factors and invisible rules. In the light of this problem, Doff A. (1988) listed some common problems that learners often make when they speak English. The first is difficulties in pronouncing sounds which do not exist in the students’ own language. The second is the problems with similar sounds that often cause learners’ confusion. The third is difficulties in pronouncing consonant clusters. And the last problem mainly comes from English stress and intonation. Students seem to have a tendency to give all syllables equal stress and â€Å"flat† intonation. Class setting A lot of problems in teaching and learning pronunciation come from class setting such as classroom size, quality of the teaching staff, teaching and learning equipment. Firstly, a large class causes difficulty in teaching pronunciation. At high school, on average, there are over 50 students per class. With such a high student-teacher ratio, it is impossible to make sure that the teacher could carry out successful teaching techniques and activities, and the learner is not able to listen and receive what the teacher is saying. The quality of teaching staff is also a big problem. Most teachers of English are non-native speakers, and a few of them can have a native-like pronunciation. As a result, the language input that students receive every day is from non-native people. Therefore, it is impossible to require students to achieve perfect pronunciation. Teaching model According to Kelly (2000), in the past, the model of teaching English pronunciation was â€Å"received pronunciation†, the pronounciation of people in the southwest England. Today, there are a vast number of English: American English, Australian English, etc. Thus, it is difficult for teachers to choose what model to teach. In fact, each teacher often cannot produce a â€Å"perfect† accent without being affected by his own language. This fact sometimes causes both teachers and students problems in teaching and learning pronunciation. Some teachers do not feel confident with their own voice and students do not know what input language is perfect to receive. Intelligibility Beside factors from the nature of pronunciation, class setting, etc, teaching and learning pronunciation involves in its own problem that Kenworthy (1987) calls it as â€Å"intelligibility†. He defines â€Å"intelligibility† as â€Å"being understood by a listener at a given time in a given situation†. This means that intelligibility is affected by a number of factors: the speaker, the listener, the time, and the situation. This also means that teaching and learning pronunciation depends on many factors, causing many problems for both teachers and students. In conclusion, in this chapter, some theoretical backgrounds relating to teaching and learning pronunciation have been pointed out. These factors are the pronunciation concepts and their features. Factors relating to pronunciation teaching and learning as the importance, the problems, techniques and activities have been also given. It cannot be denied that pronunciation and teaching pronunciation is an important part to conduct in any language course. It is even more important for those who are or will be teachers of the language. Methods of teaching pronunciation are various with different elements of pronunciation. What are the attitudes of teachers and learners towards teaching and learning pronunciation? The school has 36 classes with 90 teachers and 1,800 students. Each year, the school enrolls more than 600 new comers. 3. 1. 2 Description of the course At school, all students when pass the entrance exam to the school have to study English as one of the compulsory subjects. During the process of learning English at school, students use three English textbooks (English 10, English 11, English 12) focusing on four skills including reading, speaking, listening, writing and language focus part. The language focus comprises two major parts: pronunciation and grammar. Normally, students start learning pronunciation when they study English 10. However, at grade 10th, students only learn some vowels and simple consonants. At grade 11th, students continue to study complex consonants. And at grade 12th, students start to be familiar with stress and intonation exercises. That is the reason why stress and intonation are two major aspects of pronunciation chosen in this investigation. 3. 2 Subjects The subjects of this study comprised 10 teachers and 55 12th-form students at QCHS. All English teachers were invited to participate in this study. They are from 27 to 60 years old, and have taught English for more than 2 years. They graduated from both regular and in-service training. With those teachers who have taught English for many years, they have teaching experience, but were not well trained. They mainly graduated from colleges, even in-service training. With younger teachers, they graduated from many different universities: state and non-state universities. They are full of motivation, but lack of teaching experience. In general, these teachers are good at teaching grammar and do not feel confident to deal with speaking, listening, and pronunciation lessons. Thus, they often focus their lesson on grammar but the speaking and pronunciation. The class that the author chose to study consists of fifty-five 12th-form students. These students have had at least 6 years of academic English experience by the time they reach this course. However, their English proficiency is not good, especially at pronunciation. They may be good at grammar and can do these grammar exercises quickly, but can not speak fluently. Most of them do not feel confident to speak in class and express their ideas in English. These students have studied at high school for more than two years. Therefore, they have been getting similar with the teaching and studying methods, the conditions and the teaching environment, so it easy for the author to get their consent to participate in the research. 3. 3 Research methods As mentioned previously, the researcher chose a mixed-method approach to data collection, utilizing triangulation to measure a broad variety of variables in the research. Necessary data was gathered directly from the teachers and students participating in the research in several ways: Questionnaires: In order to collect reliable and comprehensive data, two questionnaires were designed: one for teachers and one for students. They are both open-ended and close-ended questions. Teacher questionnaire (Appendix 1): one survey questionnaire with 8 questions was designed for the teachers to get their ideas of pronunciation teaching and learning reality, problems faced by their students and some recommendations to improve learning pronunciation reality at school. To get this aim, the questionnaire is categorized into the following groups: †¢Teachers’ attitude towards present situation of teaching and learning pronunciation at QCHS; †¢Approaches, techniques and classroom activities used by teachers in teaching pronunciation; †¢Problems faced by teachers in teaching pronunciation; and †¢Teachers’ recommendations of techniques to improve students’ pronunciation. Student questionnaire Appendix 2): another survey questionnaire with 8 questions was designed for students including the following categories: †¢Students’ attitude towards learning pronunciation, especially stress and intonation; †¢Students’ problems in learning pronunciation; and †¢Students’ expectations in learning pronunciation. In-depth classroom observations: Six informal classroom observations during regular classroom sessions were used as an additional data source. The observations were carried out for two weeks during the course of the study to get more practical information about teachers’ and students’ attitudes towards teaching and learning pronunciation, and difficulties as well as techniques used in pronunciation lessons. During the process of observations, the author focused on some aspects taking in class as: †¢Teaching and learning materials used in class; †¢Students’ activities and their mistakes in producing pronunciation; and †¢Teachers’ approaches and techniques used in teaching pronunciation. Interviews and discussions (Appendix 3): after collecting data from the survey questionnaires and classroom observations, the author used the post interview in order to get the in-depth discussion about techniques used to improve students’ pronunciation. Because it is too difficult for the researcher to conduct long interviews with all teachers, the researcher randomly selected 5/10 teachers for interviews. They were willing to express deeply their opinions, and ideas about teaching techniques. 3. 2. Data collection procedures The study was conducted in the first term of the school year 2010-2011 (from September 2010 to December, 2010). At the beginning of the first term, two sets of questionnaires were given to the teachers and the students who agreed to participate in the research. After two days, these questionnaires were collected. The information from these questionnaires were then summarized and presented in the form of statistics. For the following two weeks, the autho r carried out some classroom observations. The observations during six English lessons including one in reading, one in writing, one in listening, one in speaking and two in language focus periods. At each session, the researcher took field notes on what happened when the students learned pronunciation. Finally, when the information from the survey questionnaires and classroom observations were collected and analyzed, structured interviews were carried out. The data collected from three different resources were read through to obtain a sense of the overall data. They were then analyzed both descriptively and interpretatively. The initial sorting-out process was writing findings in the form of reflective notes and summaries of field notes. The information was then displayed in forms of tables and figures while qualitative data from the open-ended questionnaire items, classroom observations and interviews were presented by quoting relevant responses from the respondents. CHAPTER FOUR: PRESENTATION OF THE DATA This part, the information from collected data was presented in accordance with the category of data collection instruments. 4. 1 Survey questionnaires 4. 1. Teachers’ and students’ attitudes towards teaching and learning pronunciation Assuming that the consideration of the teachers’ and students’ attitude towards teaching and learning pronunciation would be beneficial to the research, at the outset, these factors were surveyed. The results, shown in below, reflect that grammar is the most concerning aspect in learning English at high school. Surprisingly, only 10% of the t eachers think that pronunciation is the most necessary for their students. They always pay much attention and time and energy on grammar. In contrast, teaching and learning pronunciation as well as developing listening, speaking or reading skills do not receive enough attention to. 4. 1. 2 Students’ pronunciation level From the chart 2, we can see an optimistic reality of students’ level in learning pronunciation at Quynh Coi high school. Being asked about this, all the teachers said that students’ level is not equal, however; it is not good as expected. 60% teachers said that their students’ level at pronunciation is at average; and even 30% of the students get under average level. None of the teachers evaluate their students’ level at pronunciation is good or excellent. . 1. 3 Pronunciation teaching and learning time Chart 3 presents time that teachers and students spend on teaching and learning pronunciation. One more time teachers and students share the same ideas about the fact that too little time is on pronunciation. 80% of the teachers and 43% of the students said that they di d not have time to spend on teaching and learning pronunciation in one teaching session (45 minutes); 20% of the teachers and 32% of the students spend less than 20 minutes on teaching pronunciation. None of the teachers and a very small number of the students teach and learn pronunciation for more than 20 minutes. The overall results indicate that the reality of teaching and learning pronunciation at Quynh Coi high school is not positive as expected. Although both teachers and students are very optimistic towards teaching and learning pronunciation, students’ level is not good as well as time spent on teaching pronunciation is limited during one normal teaching session. 4. 1. 4 Teachers and students’ problems in teaching and learning pronunciation Chart 4 shows that both the teachers and the students face many problems during the process of teaching and learning pronunciation. The biggest problem that both teachers and students face comes from the nature of pronunciation. The next two factors preventing students from gaining good pronunciation are teaching time and students’ competence. 27% of the teachers and 22% of the students said that they do not have enough time on pronunciation. 20% of the teachers considered that their students’ competence in pronunciation is too low. 22% students also agreed with that idea. Class setting is the next factor that 20% teachers chose. It is clear that quality of teaching staff is not good enough to come over all the difficulties in teaching pronunciation. In contrast, only 1% of the students agreed with this. The smallest factor that both teachers and students think that causing problem in teaching and learning pronunciation is students’ motivation. 4. 1. 5 Teachers’ and students’ problems in teaching and learning intonation and stress From the chart above, most of the teachers (50%) and students (43%) think that stress is the most difficulty in teaching and learning pronunciation. the second is intonation: 30% of the teachers and 14% of the students think that intonation causes trouble. Meanwhile, none of the teachers meet any difficulties in teaching consonants and vowels. Particularly, chart 6 shows that 43% of the students cannot know the place of stress in a word; 20% said they cannot pronounce stress though they may be know place of stress in those words. Surprisingly, 27% of the students said that they do not know anything of stress. From the above chart, we can see that the reality of learning intonation is even worse than learning stress. 56% of all surveyed students understand nothing about intonation, causing a lot of difficulties in teaching and learning pronunciation.