How childhood is socially constructed Essay

When asking ourselves the question ‘what is childhood? ’ and reading around the subject, it can be seen that there is no exact definition which can pinpoint an exact answer, this is because childhood is seen as socially constructed (McDowell, 2010). Continual varying ideas about children which has led to claims that childhood is a social construction highlights that childhoods are not the same everywhere and that while all societies acknowledge that children are different from adults, how they are different and what expectations are placed on them, change accordingly to the society in which they live (Greene et al, 2005). This highlights that it is not possible for childhood to be a biological state but is culturally specific and varies across time and location including taking into account economic factors (McDowell, 2010). This can be seen here in the contrast of how children are portrayed and look in western society compared to non-western. Children in Africa (non-western) Let the children play (Western) This view of social construction is supported in Bronfenbrenner’s sociocultural model of development which highlights how different environmental systems impact human development. The interrelated systems help us recognise the different contexts which impact on childhood (McDowell. 2010) Aries (1962) claimed that in medieval society the idea of childhood did not exist as the child did not occupy a social status (Green et al, 2005). This is argued by Archard (1993) as cited in Green et al (2005) who had the belief that they just had different ideas about it. This contrasts with the western society view of today which places children at centre stage taking on the romantic discourse that children are and have always been pure and innocent and entitled to nurturing (Newman, 2004). A loving family This picture highlights how the western perspective sees childhood, placing the child as central importance. Ideas about children and childhood also differ between different sectors in society, professional bodies and government departments which have come to be manifested in social policies. An example of this is age restraints. Legal classification of childhood is the main way in which society attempts to regulate and define childhood (McDowell, 2010). Age restraints for events in life such as marriage, the right to vote or drink, the school leaving age, ages in which you are criminally responsible and the age of sexual consent have developed over time but various legal constraints give children or young people different levels of responsibilities or how they should control their own actions which vary globally (Greene et al, 2005). Cunningham (2006) believes that a child can cease to be one over time which relates to age limits and laws but we are always a child to our parents. Western society, in particular its social policies, tends to focus on what children will become, rather than children’s being. The focus is on what they will become in the future rather than the here? and? now of childhood (Morrow, 2011). In many developing world countries however, children’s roles are very different. There is more crucial importance of children’s labour to many household economies (Morrow,2011). In some countries, child labour is prevalent and, for many children, education has to fit around work commitments. This contrasts with the developed West, where children’s work has to fit around their education commitments. The priorities for children are different, and thus their ‘childhoods’ are different. (Morrow, 2011). Overall it can be seen that there is no agreed definition of childhood without reference to the social perceptions within which it is experienced.

Seamus Heaney

Write a close analysis of ‘Death of a Naturalist’ explaining how the poet uses natural imagery and the structure of the poem to convey the themes of the loss of childhood innocence and the formulation of adult identities. How typical is it of the collection ‘Death of a Naturalist’ in terms of the representation of these themes? Seamus Heaney was born in Northern Ireland in 1939. Heaney’s father was a farmer, and a cattle dealer, he was also very popular within the community. It can be said that Seamus Heaney’s reference to farming and love of nature can be due to his upbringing, as well as his regular mention of love and pride for Northern Ireland. Seamus Heaney’s feelings towards Ireland’s cultural controversies are addressed in the majority of his poems, this brings Irish and English literary traditions to attention, and many critics have praised him for the particular attribute. Natural imagery conveys the theme of childhood innocence in ‘Death of a Naturalist’ with the use of ‘childish’ language for example ‘bubbles gargled delicately’, has a paradox effect as the statement is contradictory, it also carries the sense of childhood innocence as playing with bubbles is an activity associated with children. Also, ‘gargled’ is onomatopoeic and pleasant sounding. The quote emphasises children’s innocence and naive outlook on the world and nature. The use of ‘swimming tadpoles’, ‘daddy frog’, ‘mammy frog and ‘little eggs’, all depict an image of childhood innocence, through the basic ‘childlike’ language used as well as the family links, for example ‘mammy’ and ‘daddy’ depict the happy-go-lucky ideology that many young children have, again suggesting that the speaker is a naive, young child. ‘But best of all was the warm thick slobber’, the unattractive, slime is something that appeals to children, conveying further the theme of childhood innocence. The structure also plays a role in conveying the theme of childhood innocence. The whole first stanza has an ignorant tone to it, with the message that nature is amazing, and so problem free, ‘there were dragon-flies, spotted butterflies, but best of all was the warm thick slobber’ the tone being so simple minded, as although the speaker is describing the most beautiful aspects of nature, they are fascinated with the thick slobber that appeals to children. The fact that they describe it as ‘best of all’ shows the simplicity of a child’s innocence, and what little it takes to amuse them. It also creates the image of a beautiful appy natural world that appeals to children. There is also a tone that carries a sense of fascination, ‘for they were yellow in the sun and brown in rain. ’ Because speaker is quite interested in, or fascinated by the frog spawn, and we know this due to the tone of the poem ‘best of all’ etc, we are introduced to the fetish by the constant positive description of nature. This coul d reflect to the phase that many children go through, or it could by symbolic of when a child learns something new, so applies it to all aspects of life. The use of enjambment ‘here, every spring I would full jampotfuls of the jellied specks†¦ ’ creates a sense of excitement, the disability to pause, due to the thorough interest emphasises a childlike fetish and innocence. Natural imagery conveys the theme of adult identities emerging, the second stanza starts off with ‘Then’ this appears as though the speaker is reminiscing on their childhood, which suggests the formulation of adult identity. The speaker suggests that as a child they were blind or unaware to the reality of the frogspawn, ‘To a coarse croaking that I had not heard before. ’ The alliteration of ‘coarse croaking’ contrasts to the positive tone used in the first stanza, the quote appears to suggest that the speaker has experienced realisation, or reality, as they have suddenly realised that the frogspawn have a ‘coarse’ sound and that they are now aware that the frogspawn is not as amazing as they first believed. Also there is a line break and the word ‘Before’ appears on the next line starting with a capital letter, this could be symbolic of the fact that the ‘coarse croaking’ had always been around, yet the speaker has just acknowledged it, or realised it was there, emphasising the point of realisation, creating a further image of the formulation of adult identity. Gross-bellied frogs’ suggests that the frogs seem ugly to the speaker now, which contrasts to the description of frogs made in the first stanza ‘but best of all was the warm thick slobber of frogspawn’ the contrast indicates the change in mind, or the loss of childhood innocence, and the formulation of adult identities. ‘I sickened turned and ran’ implies that the speaker felt repulsed by the nature whereas as a child they loved the nature so much that they would ‘wait and watch’ this appears to be a child changing as adult identities are introduced. That if I dipped my hand the spawn would clutch it,’ expresses the speakers feelings; if they played around with nature again bad would come from it. This forms the idea that as an adult the speaker has learnt their lesson and will not be childish and play with it anymore. The second stanza carries army connotations, implying that the frogs are going to get revenge or attack the speaker, this is suggested with the use of ‘rank,’, ‘angry,’ , ‘obscene threats,’ ‘poised like mud grenades,’, ‘great slime kings,’ and ‘vengeance,’. These words and phrases suggest that the frogs are there to take revenge in a war like manner, for the fact that the speaker stole the spawn as a child, the words all describe the frogs in a harsh, aggressive way, which again contrasts to the description made in the 1st stanza ‘nimble swimming tadpoles,’. However, the use of the word ‘kings’ in the second stanza indicates that the speaker may still admire the frogs, despite all the negative feelings they have towards them. vThe speaker is suggesting that frogs are everywhere and they are ugly, ‘gross-bellied', pictured with assonance in the phrase ‘cocked on sods'. Their flabby necks are described by Heaney with the simile ‘pulsed like sails'. The sound of their movements is expressed by onomatopoeia: ‘slap and plop', which obviously disgusted Heaney who felt that these were ‘obscene threats'. In line thirty their stance is described by the simile ‘Poised like mud grenades', an image that echoes the war-like connotation of the word ‘invaded' in line twenty-four. Heaney again voices his distaste for the sound of the frogs in the phrase ‘their blunt heads farting'. This negative description indicates the speaker’s annoyance at the realisation of the frogs, as the adult identity is introduced. The structure of the 2nd stanza contrasts to the 1st stanza. Where the 1st stanza has a loving, fascinated tone, the 2nd stanza carries an angry, hateful tone, ‘obscene threats. ’ The fact that the first stanza is almost double the length of the second, connotes that the speaker had an enjoyable childhood, and the second stanza resembling the adult identities came too quickly and brought along realisation that nature wasn’t what it seemed and also the annoyance that the speaker learnt so late that what they loved as a child wasn’t at all reality. The use of alliteration and assonance emphasise the hatred and annoyance felt towards nature, for not being what they thought it was. This can suggest the adult identity being formed, learning new things and realising childhood was innocent and naive. It can be a metaphor for life, thinking, as a child that life is amazing yet when you grow up, and are an adult you realise that life isn’t as great as what you first thought. Blackberry-Picking is poem that resembles Death of a Naturalist, its use of structure and natural imagery to convey the themes of loss of childhood innocence and formulation of adult identities. Natural imagery and structure convey the theme of loss of childhood innocence with basic language such as ‘big dark blobs’ to describe the blackberries and with the description of lust for the berries connotes a childish fetish or fascination for picking and eating the berries ‘Leaving stains upon the tongue and lust for picking. Summer’s blood ‘connotes the hard work and effort put into picking the berries during the school holidays, which conveys the theme of childhood innocence. Structure conveys the loss of childhood innocence in this poem with the only rhyming couplet signifying the child’s enjoyment of berry picking, ‘glossy purple know among others, red, green, hard as a knot. ’ The half rhyme that goes through the poem also conveys a child like tone; it carries a playful, fun message. Natural imagery and structure also convey the theme of formulation of adult identities. ‘A rat grey fungus glutting on our cache. ’ The inclusion of the word ‘rat' in the metaphor emphasizes the distaste of this deterioration. Also ‘the sweet flesh would turn sour. ’ As well as ‘the lovely canfuls smelt of rot. ’ These quotes all suggest a positive object turned negative, which could metaphorically resemble the speaker’s life; as a child it was lovely and fun, and then as an adult it changed to difficult and bitter. The structure also conveys the theme of the formulation of adult identities with the use of the half rhyme representing berries that could have been sweet, and ‘right’ but instead being sour and ‘wrong’. The last two lines of the poem have a rhyming couplet, ‘lovely canfuls smelt of rot. Each year I hoped they’d keep, knew they would not. ’ This could signify the continuation of hope through the adult life, metaphorically speaking; hope that life would go back to being youthful and fun. To conclude I would say that it is typical of Heaney’s styl e of writing to convey the themes of adult life and child innocence through natural imagery and structure. Heaney uses natural imagery in many of his poems and as well as symbolising the themes we have looked at he also uses natural imagery and structure to convey the message of his Northern Irish roots. The use of natural imagery and structure conveys the themes of loss childhood innocence and formulation of adult identities and is typical through many of Heaney’s poems.

Auditing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 9

Auditing - Essay Example The accountants ensure that this system has all components and that it functions efficiently. This paper will study risk-based auditing and assess the objectives and elements of internal control system while making reference to Emerald Fitness Studios. Risk-based auditing is a review whereby the auditor concentrates on the risky areas of a business (Gray, & Manson, 2011). The auditor uses more resources to assess the risky areas more than the non-risky areas of a business. This form of auditing takes place in three stages that include: comprehending of an organization’s environment and processes, identifying risks and their impacts, and then concluding on those risks. The first stage of risk-based auditing involves understanding the environment of a business. The environment includes the daily activities and processes that take place in the organization (Ricchiute, 2003); for example, selling is a process that takes place in an organization on a daily basis. The auditor studies this activity from when a customer orders a product to the time that client receives that good and pays for it. In the case of Emerald Fitness Studios, the auditor should spend the day understanding the activities that the accountant, technicians, instructors, and the manager undertake. This means that the auditor has to spend some evenings in the office to relate with the accountant’s duties because the accountant works at night at the back office. The second stage of risk-based assessment involves identifying risks and their impacts to the organization’s records and going concern (Ricchiute, 2003). This is because all organizations operate in a setting that is filled with uncertainties. The statutory auditor of EFS should identify the uncertainties that the organization faces; for example, the organization faces compliance, operational, and financial uncertainties. The statutory accountant should then determine the effects of the occurrence of these risks on the

Reflection Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 2

Reflection - Essay Example The accent has to be on what one has learnt measured against the outcomes for that particular course. This forms the basis for the paper and what I have learnt as far as the requirements for the degree are concerned. As I reflect on the learning’s and the way in which the course has been taught, I feel that the course has equipped me with several skills that can be used in any real world setting. Apart from the theoretical foundations of what I have learnt, the practical skills that I have picked up would stand me in good stead. The course outcomes are geared towards preparing us for positions of leadership in educational and non-profit sectors with the expectation that we would be able to fulfill the roles in these sectors to the satisfaction of the stakeholders. As with any program that prepares students for managerial roles, the learning outcomes for this degree are tailored in such a way so as to equip us with analytical and problem solving skills. That is the bottom line requirement for this course and one that I hope I have mastered to a certain extent. This particular outcome relates to the analysis and use of data about the student community in decision making and its subsequent use by the teachers in forming opinions and perceptions of the students that they teach. The outcomes from this course for me have been training in researching data about students and applying them to aid in decision making. I have benefited enormously from this particular outcome as the course taught me to bridge the gap between theory and practical application. The gap between theory and practice has to be bridged and one can aspire to be a leader in any field only when they have successfully mastered the art of applying theory to real world scenarios. I have learnt to use several models of decision making and the inputs that go into each of them along with the necessary tools that aid them. As I have mentioned before, applying research data to real world models

Colour Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Colour - Essay Example This research investigates the complex meaning of the color red, considering the ways its meaning can vary amongst individuals, cultures, and subcultures. In examining the colour red, one of the most overarching considerations is establishing an epistemological framework between cultures. Friedman & Miyake (2004) investigated the extent language shapes human perception. This study primarily revealed that cultures with more complex vocabularies for designating colour subsequently perceived colour in different ways. In terms of red, this is significant as it is difficult to speak of a singular ‘red’ throughout world culture, but rather a series of approximating notions of ‘redness’ that are at best pragmatically linked. This notion of redness has assumed symbolic recognition in global society. One of the most prominent such instances is the notion of red as embodying revolutionary ideas, or more specifically socialism and communism. Earl (1996) examined this thematic implementation of red in a variety of 20th century social contexts. Undoubtedly influenced by the Red Star communist symbol, as well as the Russian semantic linkage between red and ‘beautiful’, red came to acquire such prominent symbolic properties that countries with communist regimes were even referred to as ‘red’ countries. This symbolism extended to specific social movements; for instance, the perceived intrusion of communism into the United Kingdom and United States was referred to as the Red Scare. While there is the distinct possibility that these political notions of redness were influenced by deeper human instinctual perceptions of red, the symbolic perception of red also varies across cultures. In this way, rather than ‘red’ purely embodying revolutionary ideology, the color also connotes passion and virility. For instance, from a comprehensive qualitative approach, red roses, hearts, or even candy harkens these essential qualities. Ball (2001, p. 43)

Deforestation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Deforestation - Essay Example Also, the reasons for deforestation are largely economic. Softwoods from areas under boreal forest are used in the paper and construction industries, while tropical hardwoods are used in the manufacture of furniture and for construction purposes. In South American countries, forest and woodland areas are also heavily exploited for wood-fuel, which is the main source of energy. Following Ehrhardt-Martinez (1998): "Deforestation in developed countries has reached very low levels, it accounts for the loss of 16.3 million hectares of forest per year in developing countries -- an area approximately twice the size of Portugal. An estimated 15.4 million hectares of forest loss occurs each year in tropical regions, with the worst losses occurring in Latin America and the Caribbean (7.4 million ha) (568) Clearly, the exploitative decline in forest and woodland resources is not sustainable in the long term and a number of environmental problems, including soil erosion and biodiversity losses, have developed as a result. Improved road access into deforested areas is likely to encourage population influx and increased shifting cultivation (Margulis 39). Farmers are then encouraged to trans... These strategies are very successful helping to establish a special culture of forest management and land use (Ehrhardt-Martinez, 569). For the highlands, this meant more emphasis on cattle-ranching, generating meat and dairy products for the growing urban markets, and less importance for traditional subsistence crops like corn, wheat and barley. The establishment of all-weather routes meant that areas which had only been accessible during the dry season could now be used for continuous product extraction, promoting permanent settlement which in turn also increased the demand for local food products. it should be noted that forests, while not the only, are still the main source of 'reserve land areas' to be gradually included in the pool of cultivated areas (WRM 1998). Due to the low commercial scale of remaining valuable timber species, it is usually not worthwhile to open a new road in a mountainous region just for the sake of timber extraction; this thus eliminates any prospective 'indirect' impact. The extraction of logs here may rather be a by-product of forest-clearing implemented for general purposes of colonization (Margulis 89). According to road distance and market requirements, either all types of firewood are cut and used across the board for conversion, or hard species with a high energy content are selected. In the case of across-the-board utilization, charcoal-burning would indeed be a candidate as a cause of deforestation, provided that the once-and-for-all rent from clearing and charcoal conversion is in fact the decisive motivation within the landowner's resource-use strategy. The problem of deforestation needs complex solutions and

Assess the impact of re-introducing rent control on the market for Essay

Assess the impact of re-introducing rent control on the market for housing - Essay Example However, these challenges did not last for long as the abolishment of the controls and execution of short-hold tenancy resulted to a rejuvenation of the private rented sector that continues to develop even today. Essentially, critics such as George Osborne and Assar have a rational foundation to their arguments, as most people would agree that setting prices lower than those the property owners would charge could make the economy less appealing, especially for the investors (Sloman&Garrat, 2012). However, the are other influences of rent control different from the common observation and conception that elimination of the controls is more efficient as it could provide a more desirable housing market for potential investors. Rent controls and any adjustments to the tenure legislations could influence the housing market in multiple ways but there is always a risk of overlooking other essential aspects that also have considerable effects on the development of the economy. Relative to a glance on history, instigated rent controls in the United Kingdom varied from a straightforward freeze during the world wars to fair rents regimes in the sixties aimed at removing the impact of scarcity in the ren tal market. The initial step was an increase of Rent and Mortgage Interest Act of 1915 limiting rents for unfurnished homes (for the working class) to specific levels at the beginning of the war in 1914(Glaeser&Luttmer, 2003). Typically, the regulation of rent in the United Kingdom has had vast challenges in the past even with the main objective revolving around ideas such as advocating for affordability. Moreover, the short-range act introduced prior to the World War 1, mysteriously managed to be in place up to the late 1980s making people more alert of proposals such as the one by the Labor Party. Resolutely, this essay focuses on explicating effects of re-introducing rent control on the market for housing based

Care Quality and Implementation of the Chronic Care Model Essay

Care Quality and Implementation of the Chronic Care Model - Essay Example Because of the finding that acute-care model was ineffective, numerous legislators and healthcare practitioners suggested other or additional models to deal with its weaknesses, like broadening managed care and setting up case- and disease-management initiatives, yet they by no means basically resolved the issue of healthcare provision. Wagner and associates recommended a different method of enhancing chronic illness care that included delivery of healthcare, founded on the paradigm they referred to as ‘Chronic Care Model (CCM).’ CCM was a wide-ranging reform to the quality of healthcare delivery to people with chronic illnesses. This paper chooses the topic of CCM because of its great relevance to contemporary nursing practice. It primarily puts emphasis on quite a few features of healthcare management. The provision of healthcare would shift from a traditional patient-physician relationship, where the latter entirely determines what needs to be done, to a more concerted effort between an equipped, enthusiastic healthcare group and an involved patient. The healthcare group operates within a planned environment, where care- and disease-management is evidence-based, processes are primed to monitor and assess progress, and information is communicated to doctors and patients. In this process clients/patients are actively involved, motivated to independently manage their illness and the healthcare organisation collaborates with its immediate community. The key terms used in this paper are Chronic Care Model (CCM) and the Assessment of Chronic Illness Care (ACIC). CCM states that a significant percentage of chron ic care does not occur within an organised health delivery contexts. CCM has been applied productively in some healthcare settings (Bernstein 2008). Nevertheless, according to Larsen and Lubkin (2008), there are hardly any healthcare settings that are completely equipped to implement CCM. This is the primary issue that the study of Solberg and colleagues (2006) tries to resolve. The Assessment of Chronic Illness Care (ACIC), the primary instrument used by Solberg and colleagues, was formulated to support organisational groups in determining weaknesses in their chronic illness care approach, and to assess the nature and extent of developments within their structure. The six important components of ACIC are (1) delivery system, (2) clinical information system, (3) decision support, (4) self-management support, (5) health care organisation, and (6) community linkages (Solberg et al. 2006). Even though the ACIC was designed as a handy instrument to aid healthcare organisations in upgrad ing the quality of chronic illness care, it has been applied to empirical studies as well. Method of Selecting the Article The article chosen by the author for the analysis is Solberg and colleague’s (2006) Care Quality and Implementation of the Chronic Care Model: a Quantitative Study. In finding the most appropriate article for this analysis the author used the following keywords: quantitative methodology, nursing research, and chronic illness care. The author used the databases JSTOR, Questia, ProQuest, Sage Journal, and EBSCOhost. In order to narrow the search the author tried looking for the concepts chronic care model, quality of care, enhanced care continuity, clinical outcomes, and for issues like curtailed healthcare costs and the growing financial trouble of healthcare. Numerous earlier solutions have been suggested to mitigate the healthcare challenge but they have not endured rigid assessment (Richardson 2008). The study of Solberg and colleagues (2006) shows us t hat we should be capable of presenting substantiation of the efficacy and value of these interventions instead of simply putting them into practice on the basis of assumptions. The author chose the abovementioned article due to the obvious nature of the

Isolation of a lectin from apple pollen. Lectins are present in plants Dissertation

Isolation of a lectin from apple pollen. Lectins are present in plants (and animals), they are proteins that that bind to carboh - Dissertation Example So a study on biochemical, physiological and molecular levels is required to explore the importance of Lectin in the plant cell. Lectin is present in many forms in the plant cells. The pollen grains of the apple are found to have some group of Lectin. These Lectin are heterodimers and have a great affinity for the glycopeptides with a molecular weight of 30,000 Daltons and have two subunits with N-acetyl glucosamine residues. Arabinose is found linked to the polypeptide chain as ?-L-arabinofuranosides through the hydroxylproline residues. (Sharon and Lis, 2007). The glycopeptides are found to contain lesser amount of serine, S-carboxyl methyl cysteine and other amino acids such as glycine as major amino acids. Cysteine (16%), Hydroxyproline (11%) and Glycine (12%) is the major amino acid composition of lectin. Lectin agglutinates the cells and precipitates the complex carbohydrates. The lectin has Arabinose monosachharide (93%) and Galactose (7.5%) of the total 37% carbohydrate conte nt of lectin. (Sharon and Lis, 2007). ... Second thing to look upon is whether it is bound to any organelle or free protein. The Ammonium sulfate precipitation can be carried out after cell lysis. The cell disruption can be performed in many ways. Using mortar and pestle, sonication are some of the simple steps that can be easily practiced in lab. (Scopes, 1994).The cells are crushed using the saline buffer in order to maintain the pH. The protein extraction procedures are carried out in a cold room usually at 4 Â °C, in order to preserve the active part of the protein. The Ammonium sulfate precipitation is then carried out. Ammonium sulfate precipitation is a salting out process where the proteins are precipitated by adding ammonium sulfate at saturation constant. The saturation level varies for every protein and hence this phenomenon is widely used for the separation of the protein from the cell debris. The percentage of purification achieved at this stage is around 30 – 40%. Ammonium sulfate precipitation method i s repeated to increase the concentration of the protein in the sample. After ammonium sulfate precipitation, the ammonium sulfate salt is removed from the protein by using the neutralizing buffer. The dialysis is the next downstream processing step. Dialysis is done using a semi-permeable membrane bag that has a very small pore size of 20 Â µm. Dialysis is done overnight in the saline to concentrate the protein. For further purification of the protein, chromatographic techniques are used. Affinity chromatography, anion exchange chromatography, gel permeation chromatography are some of the most commonly used chromatographic techniques for this protein. Same type of lectin is present in seeds and pollen grains hence the same procedure for the seed lectin extraction can be followed for the pollen

Adolescene Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Adolescene - Essay Example And the particular situation they are in and how they react to it helps them mature morally. Roger was in a hurry to get a pair of shoes. For him end was more important than the means. But the lady he was trying to rob very sternly and warmly handled his situation and he did learn that means of achieving the end goal matter too. Kostya is not afraid to take up any kind of work. Young people dare to face any situation and they dare to dream. Kostya too, with her ‘What a one man can do, another man can do’ attitude was ready to face life without scared of consequences. And TJ was internalizing all conflicts within and trying to cope up with a shroud of sense of maturity and responsibility. Young people are smart warrior and they carry on even if caught on a wrong foot like Roger. The dilemma of adolescents is different. Their budding personalities, both intellectually and physically maturing and this makes their case very interesting. They seek importance like of an adult but they are financially dependent trying to be independent. They need extra food and sleep. They are often self conscious of their physical changes. Young people tend to spend more time in front of the mirror. A little care needs to be taken in handling their emotions. Young people need correction but not punishment to know what is wrong and what is right. Their paths have many crossroads and they are forever confused about which path to take. A little guidance and support will make them matured adults. Negative vibes will force them to make impulsive decisions and they tend to have a reactionary attitude in life. Roger, Kostya and TJ signify varies aspects of young people; their urgency to become financially independent, their attitude to take every adversity in stride and their silent maturity which come as a surprise. Young people tend form ambition, friends and their general philosophy of life

How Do Artists Use Symbols in the Meaning of Their Work Essay Example for Free

How Do Artists Use Symbols in the Meaning of Their Work Essay Artists use symbols in different ways in their works to define their true feelings and to illustrate ideas and experiences. The three artists I will use to demonstrate how symbols can be used to gain different meanings are, Joseph Cornell, Salvador Dali and Rosalie Gascoigne. Cornell uses symbols to represent his fantasies and dreams, Dali also uses surrealist symbols to represent his desires and dreams and Gascoigne uses symbols to represent the landscape where she lived and decay. Joseph Cornell is an American sculptor and filmmaker. He was born on the 24th of December 1903 and died on the 29th of December 1972. Bebe Marie was created in the early 1940’s. It is made from a papered and painted wooden box that contains a doll in a dress made of cloth and a flower made also of cloth. If you look closely you will notice the intricate detail on the doll that has been placed behind the cluster of twigs. Because there is a doll in this sculpture, it perhaps has something to do with childhood and the numerous dark twigs suggests that the childhood portrayed was not a very delightful or happy one. Cornell likes to depict fantasy inspired and illusory images in his works, like in his work The Hotel Eden. Because Cornell lived in New York, he found many interesting and strange objects. He was also interested in second-hand bookstores, so he found a way to incorporate that in his work. Salvador Dali is a Spanish painter, sculptor and filmmaker. He was born on May 11th 1904 and he died on January the 23rd 1989. The Persistence of Memory was made in 1931. It was created by using oil on canvas. The work mainly features melted clocks and sky above the horizon. The clocks in this particular work are what give it a meaning. These symbols represent the facts that dreams can change and become strange and distorted. This work revolves around dreams and personal psychological fantasies. In fact, all of Dali’s work is based around dreams and psychological fantasies and generally things that simply do not occur in reality. For example, Dali’s work Dream Caused by the Flight of a Bumblebee around a Pomegranate a Moment Before Awakening. This work also goes back to the idea of reality and fantasy because of the tigers attacking the nude woman and the elephant hovering above the ocean. Rosalie Gascoigne is an Australian artist and sculptor. She was born on the 25th January 1917 and had died on the 23rd of October 1999. Regimental Colours was started in 1990 and finished in 1991. It was made using sawn soft drink crates on plywood. The work features various brands of soft drinks such as Schweppes. The main symbol in this work is the worn down surface. Many of her works are created around her interest in her surroundings. She likes to use older, worn down materials and signs that show age and have a history. Just like show has shown in Regimental Colours and also her work Sweet Lovers, she does this to show the memories and experiences through the aging material. In conclusion, symbols used in artworks are a very great way to express your inner feelings and emotions. Artists use this to their advantage so they can make their works more interesting and in depth.

Critique of how to fix financial reporting

Critique of how to fix financial reporting This report has been taken from businessweek and is written by David Bogoslaw. He is a graduate form the University of Columbia. His main field of research and reporting includes energy, chemical industry, science and culture. The basic aim of this report is to identify the loopholes in financial reporting and find solutions to improve the transparency in it. In the wake of current crisis the report has much importance as some of the causes of this recent turmoil I context of financial reporting are discussed. The report suggests that a major overhaul of the global financial reporting frame work is required. Although many reforms and some basic structural make over are needed but main focus of the report remains the transparency and accuracy in financial information. Bogoslaw claims that one of the major fact behind this financial crisis is the risky investments which has forced the paper based financial derivative economy to collapse. Banks and mortgage landing companies are the worst victim of this current financial crisis as they have failed to recognise the risk in their products because of the complex nature of the products. The report also tells that some confusing accounting practices have misled the investor by giving wrong and biased information. Most of the financial annalists are regulators are agreed on the basic principle to get the investors confidence back all the financial institutions will have to improve transparency in their reporting structure. The author has focused in four major areas where he believes that the financial management of any firm have to look for loopholes and work out the possible solutions to fix them. According to Professor Paul Miller who teaches accounting at the University of Colorado, its time for companies to change their view about capital markets. In the past three decades they have successfully identified some of the major elements for their growth and success but they have failed to recognise the importance of one very important factor. They have managed to build customer loyalty and employee support through better care and incentives. They have also adopted just-in-time supply chain management and effective use of information technology has developed good communication with their suppliers. But he thinks that most of the companies have failed to recognise the importance the forth factor which is capital market. Miller argues that a firm must inform capital market about prospective cash flow and intended use of the gained capital. He argues that little or biased information will have negative effect of firms reputation. In his views managers in the capital markets are competent enough to figure out any doubtful financial information provided by the company and are in a better position to take decision about the investment. William Isaac who has been chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation in mid 1980s blames FABSs 15 years old rule which requires assets to be valued at their current market value. He believes that this rule puts companies in a difficult position to use this rule when the value of their assets has a temporary decline. This further forces the company to write down their asset values and thus equity is destroyed. But SEC and FASB have developed a new way to over come this by allowing companys top management to use their own financial models to value assets when their value has a huge decline in the market. Miller also focuses on making derivatives more transparent. He argues that its time to regain the investors confidence for financial stability. He believes that some of the financial reporting practices have to be reformed. Off -balance-sheet financing and pension fund accounting practices under U.S GAAP have to be reformed. IASB and FASB are working together to improve the qualitative characteristics of financial reports, they have successful in the formation of FAS 158 under which pension fund assets and liabilities are shown on the firms balance sheet as net amount instead of in footnotes. In his views, banks now have to introduce plain-vanilla investment products. Kenneth Scott who is a professor at Stanford University thinks that trust for securitized assets like CMO,s can only be gained by improving transparency among these assets as the current structure of these assets is very complex e.g;CMO,s CDO,s and CDO squared mixed up and they confuse the investor. The complex structure almost made it impossible for asset managers to calculate the losses in all these assets. Scotts suggests that to improve the transparency for these complex structured securitized asset there is need of a basic data bank. He thinks that this is the time for us to realise the need of an electronic financial reporting system. A data base which get all the related financial information and process it to make information more accurate and useful, this will further reduce the uncertainty. To achieve this, credit rating agencies can contribute much as they already have data collected which they use to identify the amount of risk associated with individuals and companies when it comes to financial decision making process. Philip Moyer who is chief executive of EDGAR online, emphasis the use of electronic data base formats. According to him this will give analyst and regulators more time and freedom to analyze the data. XBRL is one the most successful software used by many countries to analyze and compare companys financial data with much ease. One the other hand Cindy Fornelli, who is executive director of the Washington based Centre for Audit Quality, says that investors need to get more access to tools which can help them to understand deeply the financial statements of any company before making any investment decision. CQA has recently completed a year and half long study which was focused on the possible ways to improve the financial reporting structure. The key participants were investors, company officials former chairman of SEC and a state Attorney General. They suggests that financial reports should identify the key performance indicators for the industry in which the firm is trading. This will enable the investor to compare this with other companies and the overall condition of the industry. Introduction I have been asked to write a critique on David Bogoslaw report how to fix financial reporting. This report has been published in Business Week Online and is important in context of recent financial crisis. Bogoslaw has carefully presented the views of some of the major finance and accounting professionals. Almost 95% of the report is based on the views of these professionals. This report is also a study in the financial crisis and the role of financial reporting in this regard. First I will analyze the key substantive issues raised by the article and then will check the overall reliability of the stated facts and criticism about financial reporting. Substantive Issues The report How to Fix Financial Reporting has four main substantive issue to look at and they are as follows: Complexity in derivatives Capital market ignorance Role of electronic financial reporting Off balance sheet financing Complexity in derivatives One of the major element which has shaken the investors trust in the capital market is the complexity which lies in the derivatives. They confuse the investor and it becomes almost impossible for an investor to judge the risk involve in these products. On the other hand Kenneth Scott who is a professor at Stanford University thinks that trust for securitized assets like CMO,s can only be gained by improving transparency among these assets. The current structure of these assets is very complex as CMO,s CDO,s and CDO squared are pooled together. The complex structure almost made it impossible for asset managers to calculate the losses in all these assets. Bogle et al (2009),suggests that in a risk aware culture banks and other lending or mortgage originators must consider the creditworthiness of the borrower. Transparency enables investors to have a reasonable basis for their views and reveals existing and potential conflicts of interest. It is suggested by the report that to get the investors back on track banks now have to introduce plain-vanilla investment products for a short period of time. This seems obvious as banks are mostly hit by this global economics slow down. According to Derman (2009), banks now have to take time to consider the risk involve with any kind of decision. This can be achieved by reducing the complexity in the financial products. As plain vanilla products are less complex so the investors are more attracted to less complex products as they believe that they are well aware of the risk involved in these products. Scotts suggests that to improve the transparency for all these complex structured securitized asset there is need of basic data bank. To get such a data bank which have all the information regarding all these asset pools is very difficult. Capital Market Ignorance The report suggests that companies have failed to recognise the real importance of the capital market. The relationship between firms financial management and the capital market is very important for the success of any firm. According to Professor Paul Miller who teaches accounting at the University of Colorado, its time for companies to change their view about capital markets. In the past three decades they have successfully identified some of the major elements for their growth and success but they have failed to recognise the importance of one very important factor. They have managed to build customer loyalty and employee support through better care and incentives. They have also adopted just-in-time supply chain management and effective use of information technology has developed good communication with their suppliers. But he thinks that most of the companies have failed to recognise the importance the forth factor which is capital market. Miller argues that a firm must inform c apital market about prospective cash flow and intended use of the gained capital. He argues that little or biased information will have negative effect of firms reputation. In his views managers in the capital markets are competent enough to figure out any doubtful financial information provided by the company and are in a better position to take decision about the investment. Role of electronic financial reporting This has been suggested in the report by Scotts that one of the possible way to achieve transparency in some complex structured securitized assets is by using a basic data bank. He thinks that this is the time for us to realise the need of an electronic financial reporting system. A data base which get all the related financial information and process it to make information more accurate and useful, this will further reduce the uncertainty. To achieve this, credit rating agencies can contribute much as they already have data collected which they use to identify the amount of risk associated with individuals and companies when it comes to financial decision making process. Philip Moyer who is chief executive of EDGAR online, emphasis the use of electronic data base formats. According to him this will give analyst and regulators more time and freedom to analyze the data. XBRL is one the most successful software used by many countries to analyze and compare companys financial data with much ease .most finance executive accepted the Sec mandate on XBRL. Although this software is really helpful in representation of financial data but company has to consider some critical issues in using these products. According to Stuart(2009), its companys own responsibility to validate data. Finance staff should make sure that the tags in XBRL should match taxonomy and the underlying 10-Q or 10-K before it goes off to SEC. XBRL has a framework which guides companies to prepare financial statements according International Accounting Standard. This has been shown in the fig1. source: http://www.xbrl.org/taxonomy/int/fr/ias/ Off-balance sheet financing and operating lease Off-balance-sheet financing has been criticised by Miller in this report. He believes that companies take advantage of the current GAAP rules when it comes to the operating lease. He believes that some of the financial reporting practices have to be reformed. Off -balance-sheet financing and pension fund accounting practices under U.S GAAP have to be reformed. IASB and FASB are working together to improve the qualitative characteristics of financial reports, they have successful in the formation of FAS 158 under which pension fund assets and liabilities are shown on the firms balance sheet as net amount instead of in footnotes. Finance directors prefer operating lease as it makes their balance sheet shrink. As a general rule-of-thumb a lease does not have to be capitalised so long as the net present value of the lease liabilities amounts to less than 90% of the actual value of the asset. According to Andrew Lennard of Britians Accounting Board the distinction between operating lease and finance lease is a fine line. If a lease is giving the company control like of ownership then the accounts should reflect that. So all the lease should be on the balance sheet. This can misled the investors and other stake holders like credit companies as if they capitalise their operating lease their gearing ratios will shoot up. But off-balance-sheet financing can be a useful tool. This compels the investors to look deeply into the some kind of off-the-book deals. But many companies are reluctant to provide such kind of information. So the key issue remains the disclosure (Feldman, Amy 2002). Validity of the implied criticism of corporate financial reporting To validate any of the criticism made in this article we have to look into the related literature and some the regulation which govern the financial practices in the market. The most important things to consider in this regard is the conceptual framework and qualitative characteristics of financial information. The qualitative characteristics of financial information defines four main characteristics in any financial information namely; reliability, comparability, understanding and relevance. The reports says that investors confidence in markets can only be regained by improving the financial transparency. So basically the author suggests that reliability of the financial information has to be achieved. For financial information to be reliable it must be free from errors. The presentation should be faithful and neutral. It has to be prudent and complete(Elliott Elliott 2008). The author believes that many companies have failed to provide accurate and complete information about their financial standing which is against the qualitative characteristics of financial information. The report also discuss the off-balance sheet finance and operating leases as the current structure of financial reporting makes it hard for a common investor to recognise and understand the firms real financial position. We again look this fact from the perspective of qualitative characteristics of financial reporting and come up with the answer that these practices reduce the understandbility of the information. The report emphasis that it is basic responsibility of firms management to keep capital markets informed about their financial standing. Deliberately biased information will effect the companys reputation and will have a negative effect on their over all performance. This comes under the objectives of financial reporting as governments and other agencies like capital markets are also the come under one the main user group of firms financial information in the form of financial statements(Elliott Elliott 2008) Conclusions: Although finance has never been a previous reporting filed for David Bogoslaw but he has produced a very good and comprehensive report on a very complex subject with the help of professional approach. The major part of the report consists of financial and accounting personalities of decent repute which makes this report more attractive. The report basically emphasis the need of more transparency in financial reporting structure. The four major areas of concern in this report are short shrift to capital markets, restructuring of complex derivatives, need for electronic financial reporting and some basic changes in accounting techniques. The author has been successful in sending his message out about the role of financial reporting in current financial crisis. Need for a basic financial data base has been conveyed in the report. This data base will not only speed up the process of financial reporting but also make this information more timely and reliable.

Challenges In A Teenage Marriage Young People Essay

Challenges In A Teenage Marriage Young People Essay In announcing on Monday that her daughter Bristol was five months pregnant, Sarah Palin, John McCains choice for a running mate, added a quick qualification that might, in another era, have eliminated the potential for embarrassment: The 17-year-old girl was to be married to the 18-year-old father of the baby. (Kershaw, 2008) He would be the gentleman, she would be the lady, and with the backing of a strong family they would do what was expected of them. Since Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin announced her daughter is pregnant, teen marriage and teen pregnancy have been hot topics among parents. But it is teenage marriage today, not teenage pregnancy that is the rarity. Why am I writing paper on such a topic? Well I will tell you why. I chose to write my paper on teen marriages because I am very interested in how the teens get themselves early into the institution of marriage and face problems later. Im also interested in why they divorce at such an early time in their marriage. The age and the reason of marrying today have changed dramatically over the years. Many young people today are starting to get married at a very young ages and they are doing it all for wrong reasons. Young generations today rush into marriage without even understanding what they are getting into. Marriage is a lifetime commitment which the teenagers dont take seriously. Todays teenagers dont believe in the name of trust, faith and love. Teenage marriage has become a challenge in the todays era. Instead of just talking about how much fun it will be to live together, talk about the aspects of daily life that wont be so much fun, and how you will deal with that. Some teens want to get married because they feel that it will give them more control over their partner to crush a lot of jealousy issues. One should understand that marriage is a partnership, its not about control. Various reasons leading to teen marriage would be pregnancy, freedom, ensuring relationship, religion, living in together, etc. As a consequence of which, teen marriage serves to be a problem when a couple has disagreements over money, over children and also physical or mental abuse. Todays youngsters are married young, but their marriage doesnt last as long. For example, my friends, Mehraze and his ex wife Khushnaz, married at the age of 17, but they are divorced at the age of 19. Their marriage lasted for just 2 years after they realized that their love for each other was just a toss. According to me, they should not have thought of marriage at that age and that time of their life. Both of them were busy in their own lives and both had decided their future goals. Neither of them had thought of getting married at 17. They took such a step because they thought that they were in love and should just go ahead and take an extra step to get married. I am not saying that getting married at such a young age is wrong. What I am against are the reasons which one chooses to get married. Reasons mentioned earlier are not enough. People take love as a reason for granted, on which most of the marriages are based on. But, unfortunately, its not. Oh no, theres a baby on the way. We have to get married. This is one of the topmost reasons for getting married. Teen pregnancy rate is very high in U.S. Christie Silvers wrote in her article Can a teen marriage last? that in the U.S there are 1.3 million babies born out-of-wedlock each year. Of course this doesnt include all of the babies born in a teen marriage. Overall, 71.5 pregnancies per 1000 women aged 15-19 occurred in 2006. (Facts on American Teens Sexual and Reproductive Health, 2010). Guys normally think that if they get their girlfriend pregnant, then its their responsibility to marry and take care of her, which should never be the case. If you are not ready enough to take the big step of getting married and supporting each other, the feeling of taking care of your child should not come to mind. This will only cause confusion for the child and may in turn lead the child to hate their parents. Marriage is not a solution to an unplanned pregnancy. In the book called Teens at risk, Isabel Sawhill argues that encouraging teenage parents to marry will not solve the problems associated with teen pregnancy. She grants that children fare better when their parents are married than when they are not married, but notes that teenage marriages have an extremely high failure rate. In addition, she claims that by focusing their efforts on getting teen parents to wed, government programs fail to address why teenagers get pregnant in the first place. The best way to reduce the problems associated with teenage pregnancy, according to Sawhill, is to encourage abstinence, but also to teach teens about birth control. Births to teens have increased in recent years. 10% (Ten percent) of all U.S. births are to teens. (Facts on American Teens Sexual and Reproductive Health, 2010). According to the data from the Natality Data Sets, National Vital Statistics System, Teenagers accounted for 23% of nonmarital births in 2007. Another most common reason for the teens to consider marriage is freedom. They want to get out of their parents home. Most teens do not like listening to their parents and feel they know more than their parents. Teenagers dont like the rules set by our parents. They have a feeling that parents expect a lot from them. If parents have denial for certain person, they might have their own reasons why they think that way. However, many teenagers fail to understand that their parents are really trying to help them. They think that parents are making their life miserable and not giving them enough freedom. Unfortunately, they dont understand the importance of parents. Being married is definitely not about freedom. A person has a lot of responsibility including household work, paying bills, etc. and most importantly responsibility and commitment to another person. If couple argues, none can just walk away and leave home. You wont have the liberty to go in and out as you did before because other person will also be involved in his/her decisions. Some teens may also want to marry to ensure their relationship. They may feel that marriage would not lead the other person to ditch them. Well, that is not the case. The high divorce rates are sufficient enough to nullify this assumption. Figures released from the National Center for Health Statistics found nearly half of marriages in which the bride is 18 or younger end in separation or divorce within 10 years. (Chan, 2002) Eleanor H. Ayers writes in her book, Teen Marriage, that: A girl married at 17 is twice as likely to be divorced as a girl 18 or 19. If a girl waits until she is 25 the chances that her marriage will last are 4 times better. Another reason why people marry so young may be because of religious reasons. This means having sex the right way. They figure out that if they are going to have sex then they might do it the right way by getting married. This should not be the reason for getting married. Marriage should be based on how much you love each other and not expecting something from each other. Marriages dont succeed this way. Another different reason for teen marriage would be of living in together. Teen may want to live in together before marriage but their parents may not agree to the same. This reason would sometimes encourage their parents to sign the papers for their children to get married because they fear the teens will live together anyway. Tradition and cultures in some countries have also led to teen marriage. For example, the Brahmin community in India is known to practice early marriages. In this community, a girl is searched for a suitable suitor the moment she is born. The girls family negotiates for dowry and once the girl is eleven or twelve, she is forced into early marriages to perhaps a man of forty of fifty years. This trend is however on a decline with the government passing The Child Marriage Restrain Act, 1929. Some marriages work and some dont. Todays generation live their lives differently. Many marriages between the ages of 16-21 usually dont last very long. The reason is nothing but the rush for marriage without realizing the outcomes of it. For example: When teenagers under the age of 18 get married, they are just leaving their parents care and are not accustomed t taking care of themselves such as paying bills, groceries, car insurance, etc. Money is the most common which leads to divorce among young adults. Things change when one gets married. Never rush into marriage if you are not ready otherwise the worst is the future. The happiness of the marriage may not last longer when one understands and recognizes the consequences of it. The first and the main problem that shakes a teen marriage are over money. Marriage consumes money and time of both the partners. According to an old saying, Money does not buy happiness but the fact cant be ignored that tight monetary situations could create tensions between couples. Youngsters will have to set up a home of their own and bear all the costs of running the house and taking care of the family. They generally do not like to take help from their parents as they have decided to venture out on their own. It is not easy for teens to bear all the financial expenses at such an early age, as they are not so educated to earn a lot of money. As a consequence of which teen marriage turns out to be a costly affair. Also, if one person is frugal and the other is free-spending, the conflict that arises can be extremely difficult to manage. Financial problems in a teen marriage would often lead to them staying in poverty. Living in poverty would affect the future offspring of the teenage couple. The health and psychological states of the children of teen couples would be affected. It is important to think carefully before getting into an early relationship so that such monetary problems cant destroy what could otherwise be a very beautiful relationship. Unplanned pregnancy is the most common problem that the teenagers face. Teens body is not ready for pregnancy at such a young age which may be dangerous for the mother. Brides of early marriage are at an extremely high risk for fistulas and they have a higher risk of being infected with sexually transmitted diseases and at an increased risk of chronic anemia and obesity. Francis Hosein states in his article, Relationship Teen Marriages that Some teens are having sex at an early age of 12 and becoming pregnant and having kids. He further states to imagine kids having kids and they (many of them) are having difficulty in taking responsibility for raising their children. Lack of experience in bringing up children could generate ill-feelings towards each other. Having to live on their own and with no guidance from adults can cause much strain on the young couple, who have to handle children at an early age. Young women dont do very well when raising a family. The responsibility that comes in with the birth of a new life is not tolerated by the teens. How can they be responsible for their child if they are not settled in their own lives? Another problem faced by the teenagers is that of physical and mental abuse. Physical abuse in the context of dating relationships includes punching, biting, slapping, stabbing, and any other method that one person can use to physically harm another with or without the aid of a weapon. Teens at this age are not mature enough. Immaturity often becomes a cause for a broken marriage. Lack of personal maturity can make it difficult for teenagers to handle situations. They often quarrel over petty issues, and sometimes end up in an early divorce. Lack of maturity or self confidence and trust may also lead to jealousy and anger. Jealousy becomes a sufficient reason for broken marriage. Trust is the key in any relationship. Young teen brains are still maturing and they are working through the different steps of growth. Household problems may often lead to physical abuse, which may in turn lead to an unsuccessful marriage. The next issue that they are likely to face is the problem of housing. Where are they going to live? Will they have enough money to buy or rent a house? Then the realization comes that marriage in their teens would involve the taking up of adult responsibilities and giving up the joys of youth. Teenagers lose out on fun and play by marrying early. Since they have to shoulder responsibility at an early age, they do not have time for leisure and relaxation. Emotional and psychological stress due to inexperience can create disharmony between the young couple. Handling everything on own at such an early age can be difficult and demanding. Another important problem arising out of teenage marriage is that the teens have to give up on their education after marriage. They are unable to get the time to devote for studies. They miss out on many opportunities in life on account of this. The added responsibilities of family budget deprive them of focusing on their education. Lack of education also doesnt provide teenagers with good employment opportunities. The partners would have a hard time looking for a well-paying job to support a family because of the absence of a diploma. They are not offered with high paid jobs, since their education level is low. Teenagers should take into consideration that marriage comes in with lots of responsibilities and that handling these responsibilities is not easy. Teenagers feel very grown up and decide their life on their own. They often feel marriage can strengthen their relationship and solve the problem of teenage pregnancy. It all sounds very cool, but definitely there are many problems to be faced. They would be an added burden to the society if they do not consider the implications of such an early marriage. Involving into marriage is a real adjustment and even a significant challenge for many couples. Think about yourself at 15. How much had you changed by 18? By 21? By 25? Those 10 years between 15 and 25 are so critical to learning, to development of ones self, and to life success. It is easy to see why those who attempt the giant step of marriage in the same time period may well be in for a rough road ahead. The Department of Health and Human Services is showing efforts to reduce teen pregnancies through abstinence from sex. The department initiated programs such as the abstinence education program, grants for community-based abstinence education, adolescent family life program, community coalition prevention demonstrations, and school-based prevention work groups, among others (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2002). According to Christie Silvers, teens should consider some premarital counseling. This would help them take an important decision whether they should be married or not. She also states that the prospective bride and the groom should talk to other experienced teens. This would give them insight on what consequences would their marriage have. She also suggests reading teenage books as a handy solution. Teenagers do become responsible with time. They do eventually grow and change. Some will grow apart once they are older. Some will learn that they really did not love their spouse as much as they thought they did. Some may also regret the decision of getting married. The best way to deal with this problem is to wait until you are older, mature and more established in life. One doesnt want to regret the feeling of lost teen days. One should consider all the fun things that one gets to do if one marries few years later in life. Marrying young wont make one feel what its like to live by oneself or to do things with friends that one wont do as a couple. Its not necessary that teen marriage has to fail. But getting married is not a game. As a stated fact, life is tough for married teens. So its a wise decision to be taken in the end. If you enter this phase of life slowly and know what to expect, then teen marriages can be as successful as other marriages.

Camera Techniques in Film Making :: Cinematography Movies Essays Papers Producing

Camera Techniques in Film Making What do you think about when watching a film? Do you focus on the characters' good looks or the dialogue? Or do you go behind the scenes and think about what made the film? Maybe, it's even a combination of all three. No matter what comes to mind first, an important part of any good movie will be what you see. A camera and good director or cinematographer is needed to make that possible. Different directors and cinematographers will use different camera techniques to make you focus on what you see. Camera techniques show emphasis in films, because they make you focus more on situations and people. They are especially important in Darren Aronofsky’s Requiem for a Dream. One popular camera technique used in films is panning. Camera panning can emphasize emotion in films. According to a writer on camera techniques, "Following the subject's gaze down to the floor may symbolize rejection or desperation and loss. The moves work because they are related to your story" (Stevenson). In the movie Requiemfor a Dream, panning came into play in a particularly important scene. Marion, a main character, was walking down a hallway. She just had sex with someone she didn't like to get some money for drugs. The camera was right in front of her face, and portrayed the emptiness in her eyes. She was glancing towards the floor and looked like she was going to throw up. The camera also followed her face so closely, that you could tell how fast she was walking. The panning portrayed her feelings and actions so well, that it made the scene more interesting. It was a lot better than just seeing a view of someone head-on. Another good camera technique used in Requiem for a Dream were split screens. The split screens used by Aronofsky were perfectly split in the middle. The screens used maintained a good balance of your attention on both sides. The split screens allowed you to see two characters at once, making it easy to see what each one was doing at the same time. For example, there was a scene where Harry and Marion were talking to each other. Both of their faces and bodies were shown at the same time. Each character's response to each other was shown while they were talking or touching. It emphasized each character’s love for the other, making it feel like you were in the room watching what was taking place.

The Evolution and Duties of Teaching :: essays research papers fc

The Evolution and Duties of Teaching   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Most people think that the only thing you need to do to be a teacher is to teach children. There are plenty of other tasks that follow. In the year of 1829, Samuel R. Hall in his Lectures on School Keeping maintained that many of the deplorable conditions in schools that were due to poor teaching, even going so far as to quote from a writer in the Journal of Education who claimed that â€Å"every person who is conscious of his imbecility in other business, esteems himself fully competent to train the ignorance and weakness of infancy, into all the virtue and power and wisdom of maturer years.† Hall started the first normal school to prepare teachers at Concord, Vt. in 1823. On July 3, 1839 the first state supported normal school started in Lexington, Mass. Training was progressed very slowly before 1850. During the next 100 Years the teacher education progressed rapidly. By 1890, there were 204 state, city, and private normal schools. Courses for teachers were offered in 114 colleges and universities. In 1950, there were 1,093 institutions preparing teachers; 432 were public, and 661 were private. In 1900 there were 172 public normal schools in the United States. Elementary teachers are also known as primary school teachers. They teach children from Kindergarten to sixth grade. Teachers introduce things like numbers, language, science, and social studies. They also teach the children how to develop into confident healthy young children. Teachers work real close with parents to help the children develop their full potential.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Elementary school teachers often teach a wide variety of subjects. Some teachers specialize in a couple of subjects and teach many different classes. They are very busy at all times. The stand in front of the students and teach. When they are not in the front of the classroom teaching they are putting together lesson plans for the upcoming days and correcting papers. Other parts of their job includes figuring out interesting and innovative ways to approach educational topics including; lectures, group discussions, hands-on activities, computer research, etc.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Teachers pass on academic subjects certain values and morals. Teachers watch children’s social skills and try to resolve any problems they see. They are also looking for accidents, signs of illness or any learning problems. They also look for any abuse areas that the child might face at home or any other place.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Teachers meet with other teachers to discuss things and to do

Siberian Husky :: essays research papers

Siberian Huskies are thought to have come from Siberia when there was a land bridge between Alaska and Siberia. The Siberian Husky has some very unusual characteristics. Some of the characteristics are behavioral and some are physical. Overall the Siberian Husky is a beautiful, trustworthy and loyal companion to its master and family. Some of the Siberian Huskies unusual physical traits can be found in their eyes. The Siberian Husky can have blue eyes or brown eyes or one of eye of each color (to have one of each color is a physical flaw). It also has a strong compact body which help them trap and kill their pray; strong straight legs, which enable them to run with long hopping strides; a deep chest, which allows them to knock their pray off their feet; and a curved bushy tail, such as a fox. (Sled Dogs, 21-2). The Siberian Husky has two layers of fur; an under-coat and an outer-coat. The under-coat is designed to protect them from the rain and snow and keeps them warm in the winter, therefore, allowing them to be able to be sled dogs. The outer-coat is to protect them from stinging bugs, ticks, thorny bushes and ice. (Compton's). Some of the unusual behavioral traits that Huskies are known to have are their relationship with their masters is one that must be built over time. The Husky does not trust immediately, their trust must be earned. The Husky likes to explore new areas and are curious animals by nature. They wonder from their domain in order to conquer new territory. The Huskies are strong-willed and stubborn dogs. They are very territorial but also remain gentle and friendly with their master and family. If their master abuses them they will become very aggressive and are likely to turn and attack their owner. They are very good family dogs, they are especially good with children. (Animal Behavior 82-5). This particular dog is used for dog sledding because it is strong, can run long distances and their bodies can withstand the bitter cold weather. In addition, the Husky is used for hunting and as a watch dog. Huskies have keen senses, they can hunt well and can run fast. (Compton's) The Siberian Husky is a hunter by nature. They hunt for their meals, and eat a variety of different wild meets and weeds. Some of the most common foods of the Husky are snow rabbits, deer and raw meats, unless they are domesticated. A domesticated Husky will eat processed dog food and/or table scraps; which ever the master desires to feed them. Some accomplishments of the Siberian Husky are that in

The Ethics of Belief

Argumentative Essay on â€Å"The Ethics of Belief† PHIL 2641 Online – Section 001 February 13, 2008 William K. Clifford sets out to show in â€Å"The Ethics of Belief† that â€Å"it is wrong always, everywhere, and for anyone, to believe anything upon insufficient evidence†¦Ã¢â‚¬  In this paper, I will show that his argument lacks key definitions needed in order to found his inference upon and that it begs the question as to what qualifies as â€Å"insufficient† evidence. Furthermore, I will show that the primary issue is not the belief but the results of the belief that is important and that all judgment and interpretation should be based upon said results. Clifford introduces his argument by using the example of a shipbuilder who allows his ship to be used on a transoceanic voyage despite its age and the supposed need for repair. The vessel sinks and Clifford asserts that the ship owner is guilty of the death of the passengers because his belief in the ship’s seaworthiness was unsupported and ill-founded. However, there are several problems with his conclusion. First, Clifford ignores the ship owner’s reliance on the vessel’s past sailing history as being sufficient evidence as to its stable condition. The fact that the vessel had made many a voyage without incident can be viewed as sufficient proof of its ability to set sail safely. This begs the question, â€Å"How can one determine what constitutes sufficient evidence? † The ship owner by relying on the history of the ship alone could have met his obligation. A second problem with Clifford’s argument is that he likely oversimplified the cause of the ship’s sinking. Perhaps the ship sank because there was a collision with another ship. Perhaps it sank because it struck an iceberg in the water. It may have sunk because of human error. In all of these scenarios no amount of fortification of the ship’s structure would have Argumentative Essay on â€Å"The Ethics of Belief† Page 2 of 3 prevented the demise of the voyage. Any one or combination of these causes could have been responsible for the ship’s fate, yet the ship’s age and need for repair is identified as the sole cause of the ship’s sinkage. Finally, Clifford fails to address the source of the ship owner’s doubt and therefore leaves a multitude of unanswered questions. If the question of right or wrong has to do with the origin of belief and whether or not one has the right to believe in the first place, then would the ship owner have been culpable had the doubts about the ship’s condition not been introduced? Is a person required to investigate EVERY doubt or question that is raised by another, which directly or indirectly impacts their belief? What if the source of doubt is unreliable? Without properly addressing these questions it is difficult to determine what the ship owner’s (or anyone else’s) responsibility was in the first place. This, I assert, is the fundamental problem with Clifford’s argument. To implicitly assume that one is guilty for simply believing without â€Å"sufficient† evidence can not be easily determined because the standards and thus the determination for â€Å"right† and â€Å"wrong† are too vague. The solution follows immediately. Since a person can have a different belief at any given point in time and there is no metric by which to determine the sufficiency of evidence upon which they are based, it is not the belief that is to be judged, but rather the action and the positive or negative impact upon society that results from it. Clifford’s primary concern was how beliefs impact humanity, and the impact can only be determined by assessing actions, not beliefs. Argumentative Essay on â€Å"The Ethics of Belief† Page 3 of 3 We can now see that Clifford’s uncogent argument is the result of a lack of clarity as to how one could determine whether or not given evidence was sufficient and the vagueness surrounding the definitions of â€Å"right† and â€Å"wrong†. In its amended form, however, the argument is valid and can serve as a useful tool to determine and measure the overall impact beliefs have on society. My central argument is an inductive argument. Here are the premises and the conclusion: Premise 1: Premise 2: Conclusion: There are no clear metrics to measure the sufficiency of evidence from which a person’s beliefs are derived. Actions and their impacts on society are definite and measurable. Therefore, people should probably be judged based upon their actions and not their beliefs. My argument is cogent because my premises are true and it is improbable that my conclusion is false. Furthermore, no evidence which would have rendered a different conclusion has been ignored.

The Disadvantages of Smoking

10/12/2012 How many times have you said this to yourself? I must stop smoking. This essay will detail the disadvantages holding you back while you continue to smoke, as well as the benefits of quitting. Darrael Robinson How many times have you said this to yourself? I must stop smoking. This essay will detail the disadvantages holding you back while you continue to smoke, as well as the benefits of quitting. Darrael Robinson The Disadvantages of Smoking Cigarettes and the Advantages of Quitting The Disadvantages of Smoking Cigarettes and the Advantages of QuittingOne of the largest health disputes right now and for a prolonged period of time, has been smoking. No one seems to be doing much about the issue and the people who don’t care the most and should, are the smokers. The smokers are the ones who need to know how bad it really is. It seems the non-smokers are the people who oppose against this topic because they are affected by it too. Everyday 3,000 children start smoking , most them between the ages of 10 and 18. These kids account for 90 percent of all new smokers.In fact, 90 percent of all adult smokers said that they first started smoking as teenagers. These statistics clearly show that young people are the prime target in the tobacco wars. (Smoking Facts, 2012) The dangers of smoking are many, but still cigarettes have become common; every third person, smokes these days. As elders smoke, young people also learn that there is no harm by smoking, so they do it at a very early age, which is called underage smoking. And it becomes a tradition parents do it, so children also do it.Apart from getting this habit from elders, some people smoke just because they want to show off or they just want to show that they are grown enough to do anything. (Maddox, 2011) Besides tradition and showing off, people smoke to release tension, but it’s useless as inhaling carbon dioxide cannot release tension. Science has also proved that smoking cause’s lung cancer, cardiovascular disease, and tongue cancer just to name a few. These types of diseases do not occur in a day or two, but it requires smoking for many years. People who engage in underage smoking; would end up with diseases ery early in life and would have a very short life. Smoking for women is most harmful when they are pregnant the child takes the oxygen, and the child who is not born yet starts breathing carbon dioxide. It also slows the flow of blood which in return slows nutrients to a baby. Smoking not only damages lungs but it also causes breathing problems which remain permanent. (Admin, 2007) Tobacco use; remains the leading preventable cause of death in the United States, causing more than 400,000 deaths each year and resulting in an annual cost of more than $50 billion dollars.Passive smoke, or second hand smoke, affects the non-smokers too. Tobacco smoke contains about 4,000 chemicals, including 200 known poisons. Every time someone smokes, poisons such as be nzene, formaldehyde, and carbon monoxide are released into the air, which means that not only is the smoker inhaling them but so is everyone else around him. Many studies now show that this secondhand smoke can have harmful effects on nonsmokers and even cause them to develop diseases such as lung cancer and heart disease. Secondhand smoke has an especially bad effect on infants and children whose parents smoke.A number of studies show that in their first two years of life, babies of parents who smoke at home have a much higher rate of lung diseases such as bronchitis and pneumonia than babies with nonsmoking parents. (Smoking Facts, 2012) Now we have electronic cigarettes, better known as E-Cigarettes which contains three essential components: A plastic cartridge that serves as a mouthpiece and a reservoir for liquid; an â€Å"atomizer† that vaporizes the liquid and a battery. It’s supposedly healthier then smoking a regular cigarette.However E-Cigarettes also carries the same risk as smoking a regular nicotine cigarette. The FDA did some research on the E-Cigarette and found that: * E-Cigarettes can increase nicotine addiction among young people and may lead kids to try other tobacco products, including conventional cigarettes, which are known to cause disease and lead to premature death * The products may contain ingredients that are known to be toxic to humans (FDA, 2010) Despite these statements, the advantages and disadvantages are very easy to compare.Some of the purported advantages include a sense of calm and relaxation during and immediately after smoking a cigarette. Smokers also frequently receive a number of short breaks throughout the work day to indulge their habit. Some argue that smoking cigarettes makes one look cool, sexy and mature. Finally, many smokers find that smoking cigarettes gives them something to do with their hands. (Wikipedia, 2012) However the disadvantages fairly outweigh the advantages. There are health disadvan tages which links the connection between smoking and early death is irrefutable and well documented.There is an increased risk of a number of cancers, including cancers of the lungs, mouth, throat, cervix, kidneys, stomach, bladder and uterus, as well as leukemia. In addition, smoking increases the risk of emphysema, heart disease and peripheral vascular disease. The last of these causes complications such as gangrene and tissue loss. Even if you don't develop any of these diseases, you will suffer from shortness of breath. Some men even suffer from impotence due to smoking. There are social disadvantages; one being, smoking has become increasingly unpopular in American society, so smokers face social difficulties.People seek to avoid smokers due to the health risks posed by secondhand smoke. Further, smokers often have to leave social situations to go outside to feed their habit, interrupting social interactions. Some people, wishing to avoid secondhand smoke and its attendant heal th risks, may choose not to go to your house if you smoke indoors. Finally there are financial disadvantages; one being smoking is an expensive habit. The website CostOfSmoking. com estimates that the average cost of a smoker's habit in 2010 is $1,500 a year. This is money that could be spent on healthy habits or even hobbies.Instead, smokers literally pay this much money every year for an early death. There are a number of other indirect costs, such as higher cost of health, homeowner's and life insurance. Smokers also earn between 4 and 11 percent less than nonsmokers, according to the same website. Smokers also on average pay more for the following: * Life Insurance * Health Insurance * Health Care * Home Owner's Insurance * Value of the House * Earn Less Money * Less Social Security / Pension Benefits * Cost of Cleaning * Dental Care (Savingadvice. com, 2012)One of the advantages of quitting is the physical benefits. After 20 minutes of not smoking, your blood pressure returns t o normal. After 48 hours, nerve endings regrow and smell and taste start to become enhanced. The long term benefit include: Five years after quitting, your chances of dying from lung cancer decrease by almost half. After 15 years, your risk of getting heart disease is the same as that of a non-smoker. (Smoking Facts, 2012) As you can see, many peoples’ bodies become damaged by their addiction to cigarettes, but most people smoke indirectly.The passive smokers receive damage by people who smoke next to them. In many cases passive smokers have many diseases’ produced by smokers. Smokers suffer financial hardships every day. Smoking is not only a bad habit, but it will most likely end in certain death. Smoking is like a slow death, which can take a hard toll on one’s family so if you are smoker, you are at risk, you are dying, so be careful with that. Bibliography Admin. (2007). Can smoking relieve tensions. Ygoy. Retrieved October 10, 2012, from http://smoking. yg oy. com/can-smoking-relieve-tension FDA, U.D. (2010). E-Cigarettes: Questions and Answers. http://www. fda. gov/NewsEvents/PublicHealthFocus/ucm172906. htm. Maddox, N. (2011). Smoking Peer Pressure Facts. http://www. livestrong. com/article/245384-smoking-peer-pressure-facts. Savingadvice. com. (2012). The Cost of Smoking. http://www. savingadvice. com/articles/2005/11/17/10182_the-cost-of-smoking. html. Smoking Facts. (2012). Smoking Facts. http://www. smoking-facts. net/Teen-Smoking-Facts. html. Wikipedia. (2012). Smoking. http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Tobacco_smoking.

A critical appreciation of Keats’ “Ode to a Nightingale” Essay

John Keats, a poet of the romantic era, composed this poem in the spring of 1819. Being a poet of the Romantic era, he was a Nature lover, but instead of looking at Nature as a guide or teacher, he was in pursuit of beauty within Nature. The romantic poets emphasized on emotions, they believed in the power of imagination and experimented with new ideas and concepts. Keats is generally considered the most tragic of the Romantic poets as he was faced by a series of sad experiences in his life. The poem was written a few months after the death of the poet’s brother. Ode to a Nightingale is one of the five â€Å"spring ode’s † composed by Keats. He emphasized on sensuousness, that is, his works appealed to all the five senses of sight, sound, touch, smell and taste. An ode is a lyric, which is lofty in style and is usually addressed formally to its subject. Greek and Roman mythology were inspiration for his poetry. Medieval elements and romances and Arthurian legends were incorporated into his poetry. He had the gift of a vivid and picturesque imagination that fills his poetry with a brilliant sense of imagery. The poet begins by explaining the nature and cause of the sadness he is experiencing. This sadness is converted into physical ache and â€Å"drowsy numbness†. He feels as if he might have consumed some sort of drug to ease his pain, this resembles the qualities of the Lethe, a river in Hades, the underworld, where the dead drank and went into total oblivion and lost all senses. The feeling is a result of the deep awareness of happiness of the nightingale he hears singing; his resulting pleasure is so intense it has become painful. The nightingale is referred to the â€Å"light winged Drayad of the trees†, implying that it is a tree nymph. Dwelling amidst the darkness of the trees in a forest, it sings unconstrained. The poem shows the contrast between the poet, who is earthbound and the nightingale, which is free and possesses seemingly ethereal qualities. The poet uses alliterative sounds produced by the repetition of ‘d’ (‘drowsy’, ‘dull’, ‘drunk’ and ‘drains’), ‘m’ (‘my, ‘dumb’, ‘hemlock and ‘minute’) and ‘p’ (‘pains’, ’emptied’, ‘opiate’, ‘past’). In the second stanza, Keats longs for some intoxicant, â€Å"a draught of vintage†, which will help him to achieve a union with the nightingale, allowing him to forget his suffering and despair which will take him out of the mutability of all experiences in the mortal world. To him, a glass of this wine will transport him into that joyous world of the nightingale. He says that this red wine, will inspire him more than the colourless waters of the Hippocrene, which is the fountain of the muses, a source of poetic inspiration. He desires to be completely absorbed in the bird’s song. He wants to â€Å"fade away† with the nightingale, to drown all his sorrows and miseries and forget the unhappiness, the unhappiness that the nightingale has never experienced. The nightingale, according to the poet has not been tainted by the ‘ weariness’ ‘the fever ‘ and ‘ the fret’ and therefore would not be accustomed to human suffering or unhappiness. In the line â€Å"to think is to be full of sorrow†, Keats seems to imply that if a being has any perception of itself or its surroundings, then it would certainly be habituated to misery. Keats then goes on to explain another cause of sadness that beauty is transient and it gradually loses its lustre. He also explains that separation is inevitable and one will invariably have to be separated from his or her loved ones. His desire to die is not because he wanted to be extinct but that he wanted to be in a world that is closed by contentment, that is, the bird’s world. Keats decides against relying on Bacchus, the Greek god of wine and instead hopes to rely on the â€Å"viewless wings of Poesy’. This shows that he still wants to escape from the misery but instead of drinking he would rather escape through the world of fantasy and imagination. For him, the outlet to his pent up emotions is poetry. He says that whatever light or happiness that penetrates through the thick foliage in the forest, he will bask in its glory and accept with all humility. The fifth stanza continues with paradoxical ideas, although the natural beauty of his environment is physically denied from him, it is not withheld from his mind’s eye. The â€Å"embalmed darkness† signifies that darkness is  soothing when one does not want to be disturbed and wishes peace. He says that the vegetation is so thick and he cannot see, but he is still able to describe the â€Å"grass†, â€Å"the thicket† and the â€Å"fruit-tree wild† as if they were commonly found in the material world. He says that the smell of the flowers was so sweet and so invigorating that the flies were intoxicated by their fragrance. Keats refers to the nightingale as a â€Å"darkling † this signifies the dark and sad feeling represented by the nightingale. The poet realises that the ultimate form of escape from the troubles of life would be death. He realises that death will take away his pain and put and end to all his tribulations. He calls to death like a lover as he says, â€Å"I have been half in love with easeful death†. Death at such a moment, listening to the nightingale pouring forth its soul in ecstasy, would be an ultimate ending to his life. Keats, being a master of paradox, speaks of the natural art of the bird’s song which is associated with the high requiem which indicates mortality and the plaintive anthem is associated with mortality. In stanza seven, he says that although all humans must die, the nightingale is in a sense eternal through its song. He says that human life dies, but the beauty of something as special as the nightingale’s song will live forever. Keats thinks about the classical world of emperors and of Ruth, and considers how the song has been heard for many centuries. Keats also talks of â€Å"Charm’d magic casements, opening on the foam/ of perilous seas, in faery lands forlorn†. This signifies that the song, a thing of beauty lasts forever and perhaps possesses the power of introducing one to a world of fantasy. With the use of the word â€Å"forlorn â€Å", the poet is transported back into the world of reality. The phrase â€Å"the fancy cannot cheat so well/ as she is famed to do, deceiving elf† shows that the power of perception and imagination stimulated by the bird has cheated him and that it cannot take him away from the world that he is a part of. The same music, which instigated him to take his own life, now brings him back to the realm of reality. The song gradually fades out and is now â€Å"buried deep /In the next  valley -glades†. Keats is unable to decipher the real world from the illusionary and wonders if the song was a â€Å"vision† or a â€Å"waking dream†. The monotonous song is not a part of his world any longer and he is away from that world of stupor. The ode to a nightingale according to me is an amalgamation of an attempt to escape from the sorrows of life and an acceptance of the human conditions accompanied by human suffering. It showcases Keats’s path to realisation and his transition beyond the mundane world which is full of â€Å"sorrow / And leaden-eyed despairs† to the mystical universe of Nature.