Consider the theme in Of mice and men Essay

* The book Of Mice and Men was set in the time of the great depression of the 1930’s in California in a place called Soledad. Men travelled around looking for any work they could find, they had to leave families and homes just to make money. Even firms and companies went bankrupt, these were depressing and desperate times, no hope and no future. * During this period of time there was a depression in America. Unemployment was high, so men moved from ranch to ranch looking for work, never staying in one place long enough to firm any real relationships, so this was a very lonely existence. * John Steinbeck’s inspiration from came from him at an earlier age working as a migrant farm worker and so he understood completely about the conditions and life around him so he could really create an atmospheric story. * It is based on two men, George and Lennie, who travelled from ranch to ranch. George is a small and fairly intelligent man while Lennie is a large man of very little intelligence. They had travelled together for a long time. * In my opinion, the most obvious point made throughout the book about the world of migrant workers is that it is lonely. George tells that â€Å"†¦guys like us†¦are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no family. They don’t belong no place†¦Ã¢â‚¬ . This is also shown when Slim comments that he â€Å"†¦hardly never seen two guys travel together†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Most migrant workers travel on their own and this is why George and Lennie face some fairly intrusive questions from their new boss when they first arrive at the ranch. This boss even finds it so unusual that he asks George, referring to Lennie, â€Å"†¦what stake you got in this guy?†¦Ã¢â‚¬ . He also again refers to this being unusual by saying â€Å"†¦I never seen one guy take so much trouble for another guy†¦Ã¢â‚¬ . * They are many characters in the novel that are also lonely and this is due to sexism, ageism, but mainly racism. One perfect example is Crooks†¦Crooks, the black stable buck is forever being picked on by the other men at the ranch, mostly because of his colour. In the time in which the book was set, black people in America were thought of as lower than white people. At the ranch, Crooks cannot live in the bunk – house with all the other men, but he has to sleep in the harness room, at the back of the barn. Crooks is given no privacy, and gets quite cross because he is not allowed to enter the bunk-house but the other men can just walk into his room. In the book he says to Lennie, â€Å"You’ve no right to come into my room, nobody got any right in here but me.† * Another reason is because of your age. Candy is lonely because he is old, and is different from the other hands. His only comfort is his old dog, which keeps him company and reminds him of days when he was young and whole.He has no relatives, and once his dog is killed is totally alone. He eagerly clutches at the idea of buying a farm with George and Lennie, but of course this all comes to nothing.Candy’s disappointment is expressed in the bitter words he utters to the body of Curley’s wife, whom he blames for spoiling his dream. Paragraph 1 * George is a kind man. He travels with Lennie and helps him to survive although Lennie is more of a burden than a help, and creates many problems for him. He is also friendly, and almost immediately makes friends with Candy, Carlson, Slim, and the other ranch hands.He has matured a lot since the incident he relates to Slim where he made Lennie jump into a river just for fun. He realises that Lennie depends on him, and needs him to survive.George often insults Lennie and ‘gives him hell’, but he doesn’t really mean it. Although he often talks about how well off he could be without Lennie he secretly doesn’t want Lennie to leave, and when Lennie offers to do so in the first chapter, George virtually pleads with him to stay, ‘ Ive got you an you’ve got me’. This is because George also depends on Lennie to a certain extent for his unconditional friendship. George is intelligent, as Slim points out in chapter three, but also modest in denying being smart. He expresses his desire to be different from other ranch hands who merely work for a month and then spend all of their money, but also realistically realises that his dream of owning a house with Lennie (or anyone else) is unlikely to ever come true. Overall, George is an intelligent and kind character. He is thoughtful enough to realise that the best thing for Lennie is to shoot him, for the alternatives are even worse, and compassionate enough to kill Lennie himself. * Lennie is a massive, extremely strong man, who has no living relatives. He travels about the country searching for work with his companion, George. Lennie’s Aunt Clara had asked George to take care of Lennie if she ever died. The most obvious feature of Lennie’s character is that he seems retarded. He is a man who has the mind of a child. Slim is one of the first characters to notice this, remarking that Lennie is ‘Jes’ like a kid’ and Curley’s wife also comments on how he is ‘Jus’ like a big baby’. Lennie doesn’t know his own strength, and this is one of the things which lead to his eventual downfall. He realises that he is, ‘strong as a bull’, but he can’t judge how much force to use for certain actions. That is why he kills his pets, when he only intends to pet them and play with them. It is this inability to judge his strength, combined with his desire to pet things and Curley’s wife’s desire to be petted and admired which leads to Lennie’s inevitable death. The ability to judge one’s own strength is one of the first signs of maturity, and it is important that Lennie doesn’t have this ability. Despite the major flaws in his character he is amiable and ‘friendly ‘, and doesn’t do any of the bad things he does on purpose.He has a poor memory, and has to repeat things to himself many times to remember them. Even then, he still forgets them. He has a blind faith in George, trusting in him to protect and look after his welfare. For example, remember the incident George describes to Slim when he told Lennie to â€Å"jump in the river† and Lennie obeyed, without a thought to his own well being. This illustrates Lennie’s trust in George, and also his immaturity.However, it must be noted that Lennie can still be quite crafty, as when he cunningly persuades George to tell him the story about the rabbits by threatening to leave him. Paragraph 2 * Because of Lennie’s handicap George has established a personality around his companion to make it easier to live around him. George has found a way of coping with Lennie which is to shout at him†¦. † God a’ mighty, if I was alone I could live so easy.† He supports him in the way he needs although when he is angry he does criticize him â€Å"As dum as a horse†. * George thinks of Lennie as a companion as he doesn’t have any family. On the other hand he finds him as a pain. Lennie feel the same way to a certain extent but also fears George as he is in control and orders and protects Lennie. They travel together searching for work on ranches and so never settle, and so don’t establish true friendships with others, but since they have each other they seem secure, but Lennie gets into a lot of trouble and so needs George so really George doesn’t have time for himself, which is why they do almost everything together. * Others see this relationship as different:- Slim comments † Aint many guys travel around toghther†¦.Maybe ever’body in the whole damn world is scared of each other†. George and Lennie are different as Lennie says † I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you† * Dreams are significant when considering how these men as one of the ways in which the characters combat the loneliness and hopelessness of their existence. For example the â€Å"dream farm†, a dream shared at first only by George and Lennie, later spreads to include Candy and Crooks, as they are all desperate to escape their lonely lives Crooks reveals that it is the favourite dream of the itinerant ranch hands: ‘Seems like ever’ guy got land in his head.’ It is a powerful dream, however, and even Crooks falls for this, for a short time.To Lennie, the dream is a cure for â€Å"disappointment and loneliness†, and he often asks George to recite the description of the farm to him. Paragraph 4 * Crooks is an even lonelier character than Candy, because not only is he old and a cripple, like Candy, but he is also black. Most of the men have a lot of prejudice against Crooks, referring to him with derogatory terms such as â€Å"nigger†. (Prejudice around slavery wasn’t rare) * He lives in the shed at the other end of the ranch, isolated from the rest of the workers there. * Crooks is a victim. We are told by Candy that the Boss takes his anger out on Crooks, though Crooks does nothing wrong. * Crooks spends his time alone reading and is a fairly knowledgeable person, as he owns a copy of the California civil code for 1905 He also plays horseshoes until dark. This shows us that Crooks is interested in reading as is most likely one of the smartest of the crowd. This also suggests that he has found reading as an â€Å"escape route† from the ‘terrible world’ around him. * Crooks reveals that it is the favourite dream of the itinerant ranch hands: * As a result of the discrimination against him, Crooks has become bitter and cynical. This is why when Lennie and Candy tell him about their plan to buy a house he reacts with scorn and disbelief. ‘Seems like ever’ guy got land in his head.’ It is a powerful dream, however, and even the cynical Crooks falls under its spell for a short time. Paragraph 5 * Curley’s wife is described as having full rouged lips and wide spaced eyes, heavily made up. Her fingernails painted and her hair hung in little rolled clusters. * Most of the ranch hands except for Slim brand Curley’s wife as ‘tart’. In fact, she is portrayed as such whenever she appears, obviously playing up to and teasing the men. We can definitely say that she is lonely. John Steinbeck illustrates how lonely Curleys wife is when she says † I never get to talk to nobody. I get awful lonely† She says so several times, and that is to be expected since she is stuck on a ranch with men who dislike her and rarely talk to her, as they fear getting into any sort of trouble with her husband Curley, ‘stay away from her’. However, she attempts to overcome her loneliness in the wrong way. George immediately realises that she means trouble when she first turns up in the bunkhouse, and it is hardly surprising that her actions lead her new husband to be fiercely jealous. She is so cruel because of her unhappiness, her isolation and the failure of her dreams. She dreamt of being â€Å"in the movies† or even in a â€Å"show†. She is disappointed and marries Curley to spite her mother only to find out â€Å"he aint a nice fella†. She wishes she could have made something of her life. She walks around the ranch, dressed inappropriately and seductively. and she has only been married a couple of weeks. She admits to Lennie that she doesn’t like her husband and regrets marrying him. She seems to be of limited intelligence, as this shows her how desperate she is to escape. It is partly her desire to be petted and admired which leads her to allow Lennie to stroke her hair, which in turn leads to her death at Lennie’s hands. She is only ever known as ‘Curley’s wife’ which indicates that the author viewed her as a possession of Curley’s rather than a human being. I pity her as she made a mistake into leading herself into these problems with Curley and this is making her bored ill. Paragraph 6 * The next afternoon, Lennie is in the barn. All of the other men are outside playing a game of horseshoes, and Lennie’s only company is his dead puppy. Lennie had accidentally killed it. He fears that George will not let him tend and feed the rabbits if George knows that he killed the puppy. While Lennie wonders what to do, Curley’s wife appears. She tries to get Lennie to talk to her, but Lennie is reluctant, since George had threatened to forbid him from tending his rabbits if Lennie ever did so. When she directs Lennie’s attention to his puppy, though, Lennie forgets about not talking to her. He explains everything to her. Curley’s wife listens sympathetically, and she tells Lennie about her aspirations of being an actress, and how she believes her mother deliberately thwarted her plans. She becomes angered by Lennie’s continual references to rabbits, and asks him what his attraction to them is. Lennie explains that he likes to touch and pet soft things, like rabbit fur. * Curley’s wife allows Lennie to stroke her hair, but panics when he won’t let go. She begins to struggle and scream, and Lennie, also in a state of panic, shakes her to make her stop saying, ‘ I don’t want you to yell. You gonna get me in trouble jus’ like George says you will’, and he covered her rouged lipped mouth with his large palms. She continued to scream and struggle and now the fully nervous Lennie shouted angrily at her, ‘ Don’t you go yellin’ , and shook her; and her body flopped like a fish ‘he shakes her so violently that her neck broke and she died instantly. Lennie knows that he has done another bad thing and remembers that George told him to go and hide in the brush down by the river, so he quickly runs there. Sometime later, Candy enters the barn and discovers the body of Curley’s wife. He runs and fetches George. George realises what has happened, and says that he has to tell the others. Candy protests, rightly pointing out that Curley would deliver no mercy to anyone who had killed his wife. Candy is in favour of letting Lennie escape. He asks George if it is still possible to buy the house, but his dreams are shattered when George says it isn’t. When George tells the labourers the news, they all go into a frenzy, and seem affected by blood lust. Curley is furious and vows to kill Lennie. Carlson rushes off to get his gun, and even Whit wants to join in the hunt. Carlson reports that his gun has been stolen, and everyone thinks that Lennie is responsible. George begs Curley to have mercy on his companion, but Curley says he can’t because Lennie has a gun. All of the men run off except for Candy, who lies down in despair. * The relationship between George, Lennie and Candy was now destroyed. * This relates to the â€Å"theme of dreams† as they couldn’t get their own place and so their dream had crumbled as well. Paragraph 7 * Loneliness affects many of the characters, and Steinbeck seems to show that it is a natural and inevitable result of the kind of life they are forced to lead. The itinerant workers are caught in a trap of loneliness – they never stay in one place long enough to form permanent relationships. Even if such relationships existed, they would probably be destroyed by the demands of the itinerant life. Candy is lonely because he is old, and is different from the other hands. His only comfort is his old dog, which keeps him company and reminds him of days when he was young and whole. He has no relatives, and once his dog is killed is totally alone. He eagerly clutches at the idea of buying a farm with George and Lennie, but of course this all comes to nothing. Candy’s disappointment is expressed in the bitter words he utters to the body of Curley’s wife, whom he blames for spoiling his dream. George is also caught in the trap of loneliness. Just as Candy has his dog for company, George has Lennie (who is often described in animal-like terms). Continuing the parallel, George too is left completely alone when Lennie is killed. The dream farm is his idea, and he says ‘We’d belong there †¦ no more runnin’ around the country†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢. Another lonely character is Curley’s wife. Newly married and in a strange place, she is forbidden by Curley to talk to anyone but him. To counter this, she constantly approaches the ranch hands on the excuse of looking for Curley. The only result is that the men regard her as a slut, and Curley becomes even more intensely jealous. Finally, her loneliness leads to her death as she makes the ‘ serious error of trying to overcome it by playing the tease with Lennie. Curley himself is lonely. His new wife hates him as do all the ranch hands who despise him for his cowardice. He has married in an attempt to overcome his loneliness, but has blindly chosen a wife totally inappropriate for the kind of life he leads. His feelings are all channelled into aggressive behaviour which further isolates his wife and leads to the incident with Lennie where his hand is crushed. Crooks is another who is isolated because he is different. He copes with it by keeping a distance between himself and the other hands. When he does allow himself to be drawn into the dream of working on George and Lennie’s dream farm, he is immediately shut out by George’s anger. * The conclusion, in my opinion is that people are brought together though loneliness and separated as they grow hostile (Crooks). It is like an endless game which has to be played by someone before someone gets eager and makes it worse by instigating. This is fate†¦what will happen will happen†¦. Just like a game †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. someone always wins†¦..and someone always loses†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..!

Developing Reflective Practice Essay

This essay will focus on developing reflective practice through exploring a critical incident in the workplace. It will explore different methods of reflection and use one particular method to reflect on the critical incident (appendix 1) and explain why this individual method was chosen. It will evaluate individual career development by reviewing past practice and the skills that have been gained throughout time, for example teamwork, group roles and experience gained, which will be ways to measure how development has progressed. It will illustrate a critical understanding of assessing personal capability within the workplace. It will identify a range of personal and interpersonal skills that contribute to effective professional practice and different types of work methods and will also reflect on practice and develop action plans to meet personal goals for the future. It is important to reflect on practice to help us grow as people, find faults and work on issues to better ourselve s. Wigens (2003:1) states ‘reflective practice has been identified as one of the key ways in which we can learn from our experiences’, however Atherton (2003) cited in Johnston and Nahmad-Williams (2009:367) ‘questions whether reflection can really bring together the practical and theoretical’. Paige- Smith and Craft (2008) puts forward that it is important to reflect on how we interact with children and observe their peer interactions; this helps us to reflect on how important interactions are. After looking at Different methods of reflection, I investigated and considered a few, for example Gibbs and Kolbs. Gibbs is quite similar to De Bono’s as you are able to explore the different stages in depth, but found that Kolbs does not have a clear cut off between each phase of the cycle, therefore I found it difficult to pull the case study apart using this method. Johnston and Nahmad-Williams (2009:365) writes ‘Although Kolbs model is useful to see wh ere reflection fits into the learning cycle, it does not provide detail about what reflection is and the processes in which it is achieved’ The model of reflection that has been chosen is De Bono’s six thinking hats. This method struck to be the most interesting to myself as it can be quite a visual tool. The hats are referred to by their colour at all times as opposed to their function (De Bono 2000), the reason for this is as De Bono (2000:14) states ‘If you ask someone to give his or her emotional reaction to something, you are unlikely to get an honest answer because people think it is wrong to be emotional’.  Lindon (2012) puts forward that De Bono’s method is a parallel way of thinking, meaning that you are looking and thinking in the same direction yet the direction changes. It helps to give a more rounded viewpoint and helps see things from a different perspective. Dreyer (2012) illustrates this by imagining a house with four people around it, one facing the front, one facing the back and one at either side; All may argue that their viewpoint is the best, but until you walk around and view the house from all four angles you will not be able to have an understanding of different perspectives. Johnston and Nahmad-Williams (2009:365) state that ‘Dewey (1859-1952) was an influential figure in education and viewed reflection as a way of purposeful thinking that is systematic and raises questions and answers’. De Bono (2000) suggests that thinking is imperative in everyday life and no matter how good we think we are we should always strive to be better. De Bono’s six hat model has six aspects the first being the white hat which suggests that you first examine the data you have available, the facts and the figures, in this case Child L’s mum wants to be able to bring her child into nursery earlier than 8:00am as she has to be in work, but thinks it is too expensive to pay for the early sessions, after being told to not come in early, mum still persisted in arriving prior to 8:00am. The second aspect is the red hat which is your intuition, emotions and reaction, in this case feelings were frustration that mum did not want to pay like others, annoyed that she was ignoring me, aggravated she kept bringing child L early, infuriated at the fact that she was not communicating with staff, uncooperative as did not want to help mum and nervous to keep having to tell her repetitively. The third aspect is the black hat which is the negative points of the situation, De Bono (2000) states that this is the most valuable of all of the hats and should not be seen as a bad hat, it is only to highlight possible risks and potential problems, in this case it is unfair to parents that are paying for the early start and not fair on staff members setting the room up. The fourth aspect is the yellow hat which is the positive aspects of the situation, in this case it is good for parents to test staff members patience as it helps deal with things in future calmly and confidently, having gained knowledge and experience, also that the manager and parent were able to meet half way and come to a conclusion of a joint decision. The fifth aspect is the green hat which summarises and  concludes of events, helping to decide what has been learned and what you will take forward into future practice. In this case it has shown that parents are going to get upset at times and practitioners have to deal with it as effective as possible. In future I would try and resolve the situation myself by coming to a resolution without involving the manager if possible, this way it may have not escalated as quickly as it did. The final aspect is the blue hat which is the evaluation to put the green hat into action. In this case make sure there are parent comment boxes wher e if a parent is unhappy they are able to voice their opinion and feel listened to instead of getting worked up. If it is possible to find an alternative and affordable way to engage struggling parents for example to be able to drop their child off early maybe just five minutes. You may then imagine you were the complete opposite and ask yourself how you would now feel. By going through these different thought processes you are allowing your brain to take a journey to come to a fair conclusion. Having worked through the above reflective model it has highlighted some personal strengths and weaknesses which have been useful to reflect on professional development. Writing a timeline of career progression (appendix 2) has enabled me to look at past practice and focus on the skills gained throughout years of training. This has been a useful method of looking at personal progression. The most enjoyable experience had to be when I worked in Majorca as a children’s representative. Whilst here learnt to tone down my expressive personality, after a hurricane struck I panicked and scared the holiday makers, my manager pulled me into the office and explained that it was very unprofessional and that I needed to control my emotions. Another experience was after returning home, a family that used to attend my previous nursery had informed me of some very upsetting news. They told me that the mother of a 1 month old baby had died. The father asked if I would be interested in becoming their private nanny, after working on the other side of child care in a home environment I was able to see things from a different perspective and can relate to parents in current practice. Many times in life the opportunity have arisen for me to develop and grow as a practitioner. Since being a child my career path has been quite clear and after leaving school I began to study child care, alongside working with children. Looking back it was quite a vulnerable decision as the importance o f childcare was not as  great as now, and after working in several nurseries, learnt that it is hard work. The chance finally came for a promotion to be third in charge of a nursery, after being successful in the position I realised that it was going to be a difficult journey. The job was very rewarding, although the time spent with the children had been halved due to paperwork and other duties, and other practitioners that used to work alongside me were now taking instructions from me. Through this time I began to deal with confrontation, at first the thought was quite daunting but after lots of practice feel very comfortable to approach this. The next step in my career development was a job that I happen to stumble across. I quickly arranged an interview as the money was greater yet the responsibilities cut. The setting was not like one I have worked in, or heard of before as there were lots of deprived children and chance to delve into the social work side of things. In the past my experience has been in upper class nurseries with highly qualified parents such as Lawyers and Doctors. I quickly learned that this was going to bring me lots of experience and after working there for a year and a half I got promoted to a room leader, this is my current situation and have now been working there for four years. Every day I feel I learn something new in my job role and am one of the few people who love my job. Within my duties I attend core group meetings and case conferences, liaise with social workers and other professionals, as well as support the staff in my room with their daily duties and most importantly care for the children within my setting. The team we have is a highly qualified group of people who have all worked there for a long time and enjoy working together. Each staff member has a different personality which helps the nursery see things from different perspectives. Miller (2005) proposes that teams get together by different personalities balancing out so everybody has an input. I have a very bubbly and confident personality yet a colleague of mine is qui te the opposite. It is this balance that helps the staff and parents to feel comfortable and be able to approach individual members of the team with ease to support their personal preference. Manktelow (1995) illustrates you are able to solve different problems using numerous approaches such as ambition, sensitivity, creativity etc. As staff we are able to approach difficulties within our working hours and overcome them giving each other great support. Like Lindon (2012) we work effectively as a team even though there is a hierarchy  everyone is allowed to have their own opinion and are listened to which helps everybody feel positive. All members of the team enjoy attending regular training courses to make sure we are up to date with current practice and procedures. Miller (2005) puts forward that it is important for practitioners to take a critical look at theory and practice when working with children. Regular staff meetings are held and staff appraisals. It is important to be able to give and receive constructive criticism. I recently have started to give the 4 practitioners underneath me appraisals. I find it to be quite difficult to explain that they need to work o n different parts of their practice. This is an area that I need to work on. The praise sandwich is a tactic that my manager explained to me, when you have something negative that you need to discuss with a member of the team, you should start and end by saying something positive. This helps the person to realise that they are acknowledged for the good practice as well as the bad. She also told me to be more of a ‘Swan’ which was explained to me like this. A swan is a beautiful creature who is relaxed above water, however below the water her feet are going very fast. My manager explained for me to stay calm on the outside in situations even if underneath I am struggling. After researching more about this found a good self reflection tool called SWAN. Jagusiak (2013) writes that it stands for Strength, Weakness, Ambition and Need. She explains that it involves witnessing and examining one’s own practice, although you are watching someone else, this will help to analyse and critique any weaknesses. I am proud to be part of the team and feel that we are at the performing stage in our career. Tuckman (1965) cited by Smith (2005) argues that when groups of people come together they go through four separate stages as they meet and establish. These phases are called forming, storming, norming and performing. Forming is when the people in the group are meeting and accepting each other, they tend to test boundaries and figure interpersonal behaviours out. Storming is when they are a bit more comfortable and are able to speak out, question and criti cize one another, they feel more comfortable to form conflict. Norming is when the group is established, they have overcome resistance and able to express personal opinions. Performing is the fourth stage where a team work well together, almost complement each other and help one another, roles are well established and performance is high. This is where my team are at the moment. Tuckman later in 1977 proposed an update and added a fifth phase adjourning. This is the stage where tasks are complete, people go their separate ways and group members can disengage. This can be due to retirement or the setting closes. After conducting some individual experiments to see how I work and how I fit into my team, I found that an auditory learning style suits best as the spoken word seems to digest better personally. The Belbin Team Inventory test showed that the implementer stuck out from the rest. I find this to be true as am a very positive person and am motivated and self disciplined. My favourite questionnaire had to be the Honey and Mumford’s learning style. After completing this it was found to be quite evenly distributed between all of the aspects, which are the activist, the theorist, the pragmatist and the reflector. My scores were slightly higher in reflector and pragmatist. I am in agreement with this as am very enthusiastic about trying new things out in practice, yet able to stand back and view the whole picture before jumping in head first. Lindon (2012) writes once we have highlighted our preferred learning style using many questionnaires there are a number of ways to put these into practice. Completing these self-reflection tests has enabled me to understand more about the person that I am, how I work and what I need to strive to achieve in the near future. Taking this into consideration I have planned for some future development. I thought it would be useful to look at the early year’s standards and aim to develop some aspects of these. With this in mind I have chosen 2.5 Develop and sustain respectful relationships with children and their families. I have chosen this one linking back to my critical incident. It is important to sustain respectful relationships with parents as you have to work in partnership with them on a daily basis. Through these professional relationships comes trust allowing us to fulfil our parents as partner’s ethos. The second aspect I would like to develop is 7.2 take a lead in establishing and sustaining a culture of cooperative working between colleagues and wider professionals. I have chosen this one due to the fact I actively engage with outside agencies and other professionals on a daily basis and would like to make sure that I am continuing this cooperative behaviour. In conclusion I feel that I am a very reflective person. I enjoy receiving constructive criticism, as I like to have goals to work towards and always strive to better myself. I have enjoyed completing this essay as it has highlighted many things about myself I had forgotten along the way, such as how I used to behave and react to problems. By illustrating this it has stated the fact that without knowing I have been learning and developing from the start. I have discovered ways for me and my team to find out more about how we work as practitioners and ways to overcome certain situations like my critical incident. I am proud of my personal achievement and would encourage anyone to work with children as it is a very rewarding path in life. Dreyer, L Arts Forward, Munch Club #1: Edward deBono’s Six Thinking Hats Sep 10th 2012; http://artsfwd.org/munch-club-1-edward-debonos-six-thinking-hats/ On-Line-UK [Accessed 20.11.13] De Bono, E (2000) Six Thinking Hats, Penguin Books; Great Britain Jagusiak, C (2013)SWAN technique; http://www.satyaliveyoga.com.au/2013/04/16/swan-technique/ On-Line-UK[Accessed 10.12.13] Johnston, J and Nahmad- Williams (2009) Early Childhood Studies, Pearson Education Ltd; England Lindon, J (2012) Reflective Practice and Early Years Professionalism, 2nd edition, Bookpoint LTD; Oxon Manktelow, J (1995) Mind Tools Essential Skills for an excellent career, Mind Tools, UK; Blackwell Miller, L (2005) Developing Early Years Practice, Oxon; David Fulton Publishers Paige-Smith, A and Craft, A (2008) Developing Reflective Practice in the Early Years, Berkshire; Open University Press Reed, M and Natalie, C (2010) Reflective Practice in the Early Years, SAGE Publications LTD; London Smith, M. K. (2005). ‘Bruce W. Tuckman – forming, storming, norming and performing in groups, the encyclopedia of informal education. [http://infed.org/mobi/bruce-w-tuckman-forming-storming-norming-and-performing-in-groups/. Accessed: [02.12.13]. Wigens, L (2003) Beginning Reflective Practice, Cheltenham; Nelson thornes Ltd

Helen Burns in Jane Eyre

Though Helen Burns is a short- lived character, her appearance in the book is significant on a symbolic level. In the novel, Helen epitomizes religious devotion and Christian principles, with the idea of ‘love your enemies’ summarizing her beliefs.Helen’s religious beliefs define her character and are referenced to help demonstrate the missing relationships in her and Jane’s life, as a result of being orphaned. Her religious conduct provides a comfort to her, and later on a comfort to Jane when confronted with her dying friend.The friendship formed with Helen greatly affects Jane and teaches her a lot, including how to mask her passion. Helen is the first person we see Jane form a friendly and intimate relationship with, increasing the impact and significance of Helen’s death scene; which can be viewed as a pivotal moment in Jane’s life, and a possible symbol of the death of her passion. Helen’s references to religious teaching can be u sed in the novel to demonstrate missing relationship dynamics in the girl’s life and help explore the friendship that they form.For example, Helen refers to God as ‘maker, father, friend, universal parent. ’ It is significant that God has these roles, as they are foundation figures in life that the girl’s have fallen short of. It is possible that part of the appeal of God to Helena, and soon to Jane, is because these individuals are not present in their life.This would demonstrate and explain the importance of religion in Helen’s life and the comfort God brings to her. Similarly, Helen suggests that one of the appeals to God and religion is the opportunity it provides to create a relationship.When Helen tells Jane ‘I love him, I believe he loves me,’ she is presenting ides of reciprocity and balance in a relationship. These ideas are contrasted in the relationships Jane and Helen have experienced in Mrs Reed’s house, the orphanag e and at Lowood.However, this can be a reminder to us that these ideas are seen with in the relationship between Helen and Jane; emphasizing the importance of their friendship to each other and further increasing the heartbreak of her death for Jane. Helen represents a model of Christianity that stresses tolerance and acceptance.Helen’s compliant attitude to life is center to her character and is significant in the story as it has a great impact on Jane. Helen Burns is a character incapable of anger or vengeance. This can be seen through the bullying of Helen by Mrs. Scratcherd.As Jane observes Mrs. Sctratcherd continually ‘make her an object of constant notice’ she finally lashes out at Helen for not having cleaned her nails. Helen ‘without being told, unloosened her pinafore,’ and Mrs Scratcheard striked her a dozen times. Helen is unresponsive.Jane is confused by Helena’s patient response to mistreatment and later tells Helen that ‘If I were in your place, I should dislike her, I should resist her. ’ However, her ability to remain graceful and calm even in the face of (what Jane Sees as) unjustified punishment makes a great impression on Jane who ‘heard her with wonder’ as Helen explained the way she conducts herself. It is possibly through Helen Burn’s example that Jane learns to ‘mask’ her passion. As well as being an ideal for the Christian ethos, it could be said that the character of Helen Burns possesses Christ like characteristics.Helen’s suffering of rejection at Lowood can be compared to Jesus’ suffering of persecution. Furthermore, her response to suffering can be said to mirror those of Jesus. The idea of ‘Love your neighbor,’ summarizes Helen’s beliefs; she never passes judgment or rebels, and she seeks to forgive those who hurt her.This view of Helen should be noted as it links to and can emphasize the idea of Helen being a â €˜teacher’ to Jane, and the large impact that Helen will make on Jane’s life. While Jane and Helen are very dieeferent character’s, Jane very much feels she can relate to Helen and learns from her influence.Like Jane, Helen is an orphan who longs for a home. In the scene before her death, Helen tells Jane she is ‘going to my long home- my last home. ’ This is one example of the difference in the two girls beliefs. Helen believes that she will find her home in heaven rather than England.This conversation about life after death contrasts what adult’s in Jane’s life have taught her and similarly goes against Jane’s previous fears regarding ghosts, death and the supernatural. In this moment, however, we as the reader see Jane is  comfortable literally next to death, a concept she feared when living with the reads.This is the first intimate moment we see Jane experiencing- Jane is nestled in close to her friend, whose arm is aro und her. In this moment we feel Jane is contempt and comfortable. It is possible that Jane’s attitude to death was a fear of the unknown, which now Helen has made more familiar, therefor providing her with the strength to cope so close to death. Helen’s death can be seen symbolically on many levels.One interpretation of Helen’s death is that it symbolizes the death of Jane’s passion. The name ‘Helen Burns’ itself implies destruction, fire and burning. Fire is a recurring theme throughout the beginning of the book, which is referred to to represent the fiery and passionate nature of Jane’s character.As well as this, during the short friendship between Helen and Jane, we can notice the awe in which Jane has for the levelheaded attitude that Helena carries. Therefore, on both a literary and symbolic term, the death of Helen burns suggests death or destruction to Jane’s passion.

Company Research of Wal-Mart Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Company Research of Wal-Mart - Essay Example This means that 537 new international stores have been added to Wal-Mart's retail space. To enhance its international operations, the company has also experienced switch in leadership roles. Mr John Menzer is now in charge of US operations and several other divisions, while Mr Mike Dune currently heads international operations. In view of the recent developments, it can be seen that the company is seeking to grow externally as it focuses on its international operations. Moreover, Wal-Mart continues to have a positive outlook as it remains committed to the improvement of merchandise mix by constantly offering new products that target a wide market range. The firm also continues to control expenses as it implements various cost-cutting measures such as the recruiting of younger and healthier workers to save on healthcare cost. Given the company's strategy, I believe that continuous growth may be expected as Wal-Mart focuses on expanding internationally. With the firm's established brand equity not only in the US but throughout the world as well, it could easily capture a fair share of the overseas retail market. Accompanied by an appropriate financial strategy, the company's expansion binge may have a positive effect on the value of its shares. This conclusion is further supported by the firm's financial prudence.

Laboratory Scenarios Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Laboratory Scenarios - Essay Example According to the National Institute for Occupational safety and Health (2006), anyone entering or using the lab has to have detailed knowledge of the dangers and risks involved, and the risks presented by each of the reagents in the laboratory. This knowledge is important in helping the lab users to indentify potential risks and take the appropriate measures to prevent these risks from occurring. Below is a detailed analysis of three laboratory situations that clearly do not follow the safety procedures and that put lab users at great danger. In Scenario 2, there are deliberate safety procedures that were overlooked. The student was working in the lab late night. This means that the lab might not be well lit and since it was late night, the student might have been fatigued thus placing the bottle wrongly at the counter making it to shutter and spill the contents. The student had no safety clothing or lab protective gear, making the contents to spill on her clothing. The bottle was wrongly used for unintended purpose, since it originally contained chloroform and the label canceled out. In addition, the student was cleaning the floor with bare hands without the use of gloves, which is a great health risk. She was cut in the process, and decided to ignore the first aid criteria by only applying a simple bandage. Moreover, she found it not necessary to alert others and especially reporting to the lab supervisors concerning the case. One of the relevant authorities that are concerned with such cases is the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute that sets and writes guidelines and safety procedures to be followed in the laboratory, as would be suited to the case above (Merrick et al, 2006). The body designs and outlines documents that contain quality clinical practices that have to be followed in such chemistry labs. This lab seems not to comply with any of the lab practices and guidelines and as Hampton (2011)

Texas Judiciary Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Texas Judiciary - Assignment Example The police detective, Roberts, went beyond the normal limit when interrogating a murder suspect, Mr. Wilson. The detective used falsified records to show that the appellant had been involved in the murder through a fingerprints report. According to the detective, the prints were found on the magazine of the murder weapon. In this way, the detective lured the appellant into the confession that he indeed shot the victim. The trial judge refused to drop the evidence and denied the appellant request to recant the confession. The appellant court found out that the detective was in violation of the Texas Penal Code section 37.09 that inhibit the officers from using fabricated reports to get confessions from suspects. In addition, the court found out that the trial judge erred in admitting the evidence since it was inadmissible under clause 38.23 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Despite the decision, several judges dissented on the opinion that detectives are faced with a hard task of bal ancing the societal concerns and the rights granted by the Constitution The fact that the appellant confessed the murder is enough to convict him otherwise the state would risk setting the guilty free due to the interrogation methods. If I were a judge, I would concur with the dissenters since the fact that the appellant confessed to a murder could be a starting point to get the reliability of the evidence. Fingerprints are unique and thus the appellant could not have confessed if he was pretty sure that he had not used the murder weapon.

Enron Corporation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Enron Corporation - Essay Example Apparently, companies in the present day scenario emphasise more on developing themselves as an improved unit both in an ethical and legal manner. Observably, business focuses more on confirming that their operational activities cause minimal negative impact on people of the external business environment (Jennings, 2010; Blythe & Zimmerman, 2005). However, with the emergence of high profile corporate breakdowns in the recent years, questions have been raised on the present rules and frameworks along with the effectiveness of the corporate governance practices amid the companies. In this regard, the corporate collapse of Enron is one of the prime example where the ineffectiveness of corporate governance practices is largely visible (KPMG, 2010; Baijal, n.d.). In order to acquire a comprehensive understanding with regard to the failure of the company i.e. Enron, this essay will highlight the corporate issues and gaps of the company prior to its downfall which ultimately resulted in its total collapse. The essay will also ensure a thorough discussion about how the laws of corporate governance have strengthened aftermath of the Enron downfall. As depicted above corporate governance is one of the most vital aspects that are associated with the operations of the business units in the modem day business context. In today’s scenario the reputation of any business is largely determined by its ability to assure appreciative performance in the domain of corporate governance. However, with the increasing number of accounting fraud and failures of companies to adhere to particular legal and ethical standards in conducting business, the aspect of corporate governance has emerged as one of the major issue in the business sector today. The issue of corporate governance has mostly gathered strength especially after the collapse of Enron owing to accounting frauds in the year 2001. However, in order to depict the actual reason

A New Zealand Automotive Workshop Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

A New Zealand Automotive Workshop - Assignment Example This paper will discuss the eight core areas and will give examples of the areas in terms of how they operate in reality. Introduction There is a wide variety of approaches to having an automotive shop in New Zealand. There are independently owned shops, franchise owned shops, and franchise shops that are independently owned and shops tied into automotive dealerships. There are also those who perform automotive repair on the side out of a person’s home. There are many options for those looking to enter into the automotive repair industry and looking for an automotive shop in which to get their repairs completed. Some examples of franchise automotive repair shops in New Zealand are Midas and Sears Automotive. While independently owned shops include Bell Automotive and Automotive Solutions. Franchise shops are those that can be found in multiple locations and often in multiple countries. They tend to have the same policies from location to location and operate in the same manner . Independently owned businesses tend to only have one or maybe two locations and are usually unique to the town or city in which they are located. The policies vary greatly from shop to shop and the services and procedures followed by each shop will differ. It is important for the consumer to find out the policies of each shop they are considering prior to selecting a shop to perform their repairs. Examples of policies that automotive workshops will develop that could vary from shop to shop are the time limit that a consumer has to bring their vehicle back if they are not satisfied with the repair work, the procedures for dropping off or picking up a vehicle and the refund policy. Automotive business owners will want to have these policies clear in both writing and practice and consumers should ensure that they are aware of the policies prior to determining who will perform their repairs. There are also specific options available in terms of the type of automotive repair business. A person can choose to open a shop specializing in a specific type of car, such as only working on Volkswagens, or foreign cars. Someone can also choose to only perform specific work such as brakes, repairing body damage or transmissions. There are also those that specialize in aftermarket products such as accessories for four wheel drives, tires or paint. Again, consumers must determine where they would prefer to get their repairs done based on their personal needs and beliefs about auto repair. Whatever a person may choose in terms of operating their automotive business, there are eight core areas that must be considered and well planned prior to taking on the start of an automotive repair shop and continuing on throughout the life of the business. These areas are banking/finance, accounting, insurance, advertisement, out sourcing, supplying, buildings and council regulations. Core Areas Bank and Finance Anyone operating a business of any kind must have a plan for their financing. An automotive workshop requires tools and specialized equipment so having the business finances in order is especially important. Equipment for the automotive repair business can be quite costly, so banking and financing is an important area to have in order. There are many options for financing including credit unions,

MSc International Marketing Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

MSc International Marketing Management - Essay Example The central component is still people. All the expertise and products in the world can never substitute that one precious human resource. The Export Marketing Research has undergone a sea change in the last few decades. Since the advent of globalisation markets both domestic and international have made information gathering a vital process in establishing a business. The proposed research dissertation would analyse the differences that exists in the domestic marketing research and the international marketing research through Export Marketing Research. Export marketing research has covered a number of theoretical and practical matters such as calibration and customisation, export growth processes, barriers to exporting, export operation, etc. Rapid changes in technology, institutionalised, parliamentary, economic and attitudes throughout the globe present challenges for the future growth of export marketing enquiry. The appearance of churning and ultra-competitive business environs calls for exporters to regard the bases and sustainability of their competitive benefit to overseas markets. Specifically, future research has to concentrate on the recognition of the exact export marketing capacities that firms should build up or gain, the capacity to purchase or channelise them across markets, and the talent to continuously upgrade the aspects by using appropriate organisational learning routines. Of significant magnitude are the procedures utilised to formulate capacity-based strategies and to supervise relationships with internation al customers. The literature review of the different authors pertaining to international marketing management through export marketing research includes Bentley (1986) who defines information as "being data that are meaningful, useful to the user and which, ideally, should be comprehensive, yet concise, accurate, applicable, timely and available." As such information is rarely available in such a readily digestible form, organizations have had to develop either formal or informal methods to collect, analyse and disseminate it. Though there have undoubtedly been many successful management decisions based on experience of the management which has an inner feeling of what can be good for an organisation, the consensus among marketing theorists (Deshpande and Zaltman, 1982; Kast and Rosenzweig, 1979; Stoner, 1978), is that objective information is a prerequisite basis on which to found management decisions which will reduce risk and uncertainty. The types of marketing research information used by comp anies have been covered by Luck and Rubin (1987), Kinnear and Taylor (1991) and Churchill (1987) among others. Whilst these authors willingly prescribe the types of information which should be sought, they are not so forthcoming when discussing the types of information that companies actually collect. Similarly the international marketing research textbook by Douglas and Craig (1983) takes more of a prescriptive, rather than a

Coca-Cola financial statements Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Coca-Cola financial statements - Essay Example Coca-Cola’s largest assets are property, plant and equipment that amount to a net worth of 9,052 million dollars based on the December 2014 yearly financial reports (The Coca-Cola Company, 2015). Their second largest asset is goodwill that amounted to 12,100million dollars as at December 2014. Their total asset worth is 92,023 million dollars. Based on the 2014 financial reports, the company’s total liabilities amount to 32,374 million dollars while their total equity amounts to 30561 million dollars (The Coca-Cola Company, 2015). At the end of the year, the company’s’ cash and its equivalents amounted to 8,958 million dollars. The company’s largest expenses were on purchase of investments and payments of debts. Purchase of investments amounted to 17800 million dollars while payment of debts amounted to 36,962 million dollars. Despite having many debts and incurring a lot of money on investments, Coca-Cola realized a gross profit of 28,109,000 dolla rs. How the financial statements are linked The income statement described how assets and liabilities were used during the year. The cash flow statement explained how the company got cash and how they spend it, and it gave a figure on the company’s cash at hand Example 1: The net income calculated in the income statement ($7,098,000) is used as the first item in the cash flow statements ($7,098,000) (NASDAQ, 2015). Example 2: The retained earnings of the company amounted to 63,408,000 dollars.

Adopting Children by Same Sex Parent Essay Example for Free

Adopting Children by Same Sex Parent Essay People in society say that everyone is equal, they have equal right and freedom. However in case of adopting children, people believe that same sex parents are abnormal to adopting children. Some people in society against them to adopting but there are many same sex couples who are seeking to adopt children. The researcher of homosexuality found that many people still do not reveal their sexual orientation to others. Also, same sex couples are not acceptable from some people in society, according to www. gay-adoption. s. On the contrast, some people believe that same sex adoption is normal and it should be acceptable, according to the right human campaign, a national gay and lesbian advocacy group. Although there are many people against same sex couple to adopting children, same sex couples should be allowed to adopt children because they have equal rights and they can be good parents for a child who lacks love and home. Moreover, children in the United State of America and many countries around the world are waiting for adoption. There are about 520,000 children in welfare, according to the North American Council on Adoptable Children in St. Paul. In addition there have 120,000 are available for adoption, but only 50,000 find permanent homes each year. However, although same sex couples want to adopt children, they are against by heterosexual parents for several reasons including it is unnatural to allowed same sex to be a parent, same sex parents cannot give stability to children and most people believed that only heterosexual parents can be good parents. Firstly, it is unnatural to allow homosexual couples to be a parent. They cannot be good parents. Also, it is not safe for children to live with same sex parents. The best environment for well-being of children is a household with a mother and father because children should have a role model. Adopting by same sex parents can effects to children. For instance, children who is raised in a homosexual household are significantly more likely to be homosexual themselves because they have only one role model in one gender, and get involved in homosexual behavior than children raised in heterosexual households, according to a research in the US (University of Illinois Law Review, 1997). In a study published in the January 1996 issue of Developmental Psychology, London researchers Susan Golombok and Fiona Tasker found that it danger for children that live with same sex parents. However, the sexual orientation of parents has no influence on the sexual orientation of their children and that children of lesbian and same sex parents are not more likely than any other children to grow up to be homosexual, according to Children of gay fathers, Gay and Lesbian Parents (p. 9-57) In addition, children can manage their life to be what they want to be by themselves, however they are raised by homosexual parents but it is not determine that they may have the same behavior as their same sex parents. Moreover, same sex parents can give a responsibility and love to children as well as a heterosexual because they are a human who can teach and give love to a child. As such, it would be wrong to deny same sex parents to adopt children. Also, good parenting is not controlled by sexual orientation, same sex parents can support children and give love to them that show they can be a good parent same as a heterosexual. Secondly, the reason why people believe same sex parents should not be allowed to adopt is stability, so it is important in raising an emotionally and mentally healthy child. The way to children grow up happily may need a role model, so children need a role model of both genders that are male and female in order to develop a properly. If children raise in homosexual household, it influence to children will lacks information of other gender. Children’s primary role models are his or her parents that cause bringing a heterosexual up in a homosexual household can gives children a misrepresented view of sexuality. Homosexual couples simply cannot give the stability that heterosexual parents can give to children. Although most people believe that bringing a heterosexual child up by same sex parents give them a distorted view of sexuality, some babies are born with a predisposition to homosexuality and their upbringing will not affect their sexuality. Almost of homosexuals couples do not want to force children to be homosexual like them. According to Major associations of mental health professionals in the United stated of America, same sex parents are not an unfit and capable as heterosexual parents that they lead children are as happily, healthy and well adjusted as a child who is raised by heterosexual parents. In addition, a studies shows that children raised by single heterosexual parents have more difficulties than children who have same sex parents. Moreover the study shows that children did better in moderation, self-esteem, and had less psychosocial difficulties at home and at school, according to the study of Same-Sex Parents Raise Well-Adjusted Kids. The last reason is widely agreed that only heterosexual parents can be a good parent and they are appropriate to give love, warm, and home to children. Children should have opportunities to thrive in heterosexual parents with a mother and father based family. Heterosexual parents are the best because a child should be raised in loving, well-disciplined homes where children have good role models from their heterosexual parents, also avoiding children grow up to be a homosexual, according to study of gender identity disorder and psychosexual problems in children and adolescents. In addition, avoiding from criminal because homosexuals are more likely to molest children, such as rape them. It is danger to children’s life and causes many troubles to society. However, there are about 500,000 children in welfare nationally in the United state and about 100,000 children need to be adopted. So it is shows thousands of children lacks a permanent home and lacks love from parents, according to the statistics of the study of critical shortage of adoptive and foster parents in the United States. If they are only allowed heterosexual parents in adoption, the child who lives in foster care will lacks family and as in Florida more than 2,000 children in welfare are waiting for adoption according to the state of Florida’s statistics. In addition, there are not enough heterosexual parents who are interested in adoption and foster care. There are some arguments of adopting children by same sex parents because most people feel that only traditional homes with a father and a mother are appropriate and have equal right as heterosexual parents to adopt children, according to issue about facts on gay adoption. However, society is change that leads everyone has equal rights. Therefore same sex parents are human being who should be allowed to adopt children. All people should have equal rights because the child in same sex family appear to be normal, and also same sex parents are not appear to harm child, according to Homosexuality and Family Relations. If homosexual parents can support their children, same sex couples can be as good parents as heterosexual parents. As such, same sex parents are the same as other people who can support children, such as, they give love to children, pay taxes, go to work. It shows that being homosexual is not a mental disorder. In addition, nowadays there are thousands children have no permanent homes, and they are waiting for adoption. It is shows that same sex parents are one of those who help children to have love and home. Therefore, people should not determine only about sexuality of those who want to adopt children. As Mary Bonauto of Boston-based same sex couples Avocates and defenders said that, â€Å" Sexual orientation is not the issue, ability of parent is issue. †

Violence enforcement of City Urban Management officers Essay Example for Free

Violence enforcement of City Urban Management officers Essay City Urban Management Enforcement Bureau is a local government agency in mainland China that is in charge of maintaining the order of daily business activities of markets and streets in cities. This Bureau was established to deal with the increasing problems when China is in the process of rapid urbanization in these years. However, it’s notorious for abusing power and violent enforcement. Reported by Feng(2008), â€Å"on January 7, a man was beaten to death by a group of city administrators for filming their violent enforcement of an expired contract in Wanba Village in central Chinas Tianmen City, Hubei Province†( ¶ 1). This kind of conflict occasionally happens everywhere in mainland china in these years for more and more rural people come to cities to find more jobs and opportunities. The City Urban Management Enforcement Bureau which is set up to handle cases with vendors and the environment of cities now becomes a violator of human right. As mentioned in â€Å"Killing sparks protests in China†(2008) â€Å"This para-police force, equipped with steel helmets and stab-proof vests, is often used by local officials as trouble-shooters†( ¶ 13). How can law enforcement professionals become lawbreakers? The investigation combining with the living experience in mainland China shows that the three common causes for this problem are are poor communication, profit driven and lack of regulations. These have led to the bad behavior of those officers. The first cause of violence enforcement is the poor communication because of low education level. The officers are responsible for cracking done on no-license vendors and tackle with some low-level criminals so that they mainly deal with the low-income group of people who are mainly formed by the rural migrant workers or villagers in a city. Those people usually don’t have a very high education level. According to the 2009 migrant workers monitoring survey report (2009), over 75% migrant workers only have junior high school education or below(n.p.). While the communication skills and education level of the officers are also low. From the report of Ramzy  (2009), â€Å"officers were often drawn from the ranks of laid-off workers from state-owned enterprises and given little training in law enforcement†( ¶ 10). So the only way they can complete their mission is to treat the vendors violently to warn them not to break the rules again. Both sides in this conflict have difficulties to understand each other and when either of them is irritable and impulsive, violent confrontations may happen. The second cause of abusing of power and violence enforcement is the officers can earn profit from punish those poor guys, which drive them beat defenseless people on the street and take all they have without any mercy or sympathy. Li (2006) observed that â€Å"those peddlers who are a little slow often suffer, as the law enforcers snatch away their merchandise, tools and handcarts. The peddlers are made to pay fines, which the law enforcers have the right to levy for a series of misdemeanors† ( ¶ 8). For the people who are too poor to afford the fines, the officer some time ruin the handcarts and tools of the vendors and divide misdemeanors with their colleagues. It is more or less similar to the triad threatening for protection fees on the street. This profit drives the officer in chasing the vendors and use violence to force them to surrender without any respect to human right. The senior level of the government is also responsible for such violate events because they indulge their staff and do not come up with any strict regulations to restrict their behaviors. Though those two causes mentioned above truly have effect on the behavior of the Urban Management Officers, the third one is the most obvious and serious cause of abusing of power and violence enforcement. Some indirect evidences show that some of the violate enforcement events even happens with the acquiescence of the senior government. A common situation is that the leaders of the Bureau only want their officers to clean out all the vendors on the street no matter what they do to achieve it. Just like Ramzy said (2009), â€Å"Its precisely because the Chinese bureaucracys idea of an ideal city doesnt include peddlers and street vendors that the [urban management officers] developed into such a powerful institution† ( ¶ 8). And when the violence enforcement event is exposed, they are always shifting the responsibility to their staff or some one else and do not consider their responsibility of regulation. The events  of abusing of power and violence enforcement will continue happening unless the local government set up strict regulations and punish the officers who break the law. The abusing of power and violent enforcement of urban management officers is a tough problem with several causes and complex background, but it is not impossible to solve as long as the government takes effective actions such as providing necessary training to the officers and restricting their behavior. Though the vendors or villagers break the law first, it can not be the reason to abuse someone and violate his human right. Every one participating in dealing with such troubles should remember that consideration and respect are the best solutions but not violation and conflict. Reference: Killing sparks protests in China. (2008 January 9). BBC News. Retrieved 29 September 29, 2011 from World Wide Web: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7178382.stm Feng Yiran. (January 12, 2008). Man Beaten to Death for Filming City Administrators Brutality. The Epoch Times. Retrieved 29 September 29, 2011 from World Wide Web: http://en.epochtimes.com/news/8-1-12/63964.html Austin Ramzy. (May 21, 2009). Above the Law? Chinas Bully Law-Enforcement Officers. Time magazine. Retrieved 29 September 29, 2011 from World Wide Web: http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1899773,00.html Li Xing. (17 August 2006). Services must be improved for better law enforcement. China Daily. Retrieved 29 September 29, 2011 from World Wide Web: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/opinion/2006-08/17/content_666765.htm Guo Shipeng and Benjamin Kang Lim. (April 10, 2007). Chinese sausage seller spared execution. Sign on San Diego. Retrieved 29 September 29, 2011 from World Wide Web: http://legacy.signonsandiego.com/news/world/20070410-0229-china-crime-.html

Is Language Innate or Learned?

Is Language Innate or Learned? How do we learn language? Is it an innate ability or do we have to learn language? Can we find an absolute definition for language? These questions has been asked and investigated by many psychologists, but to date I have not been able to find any concrete evidence put forward to support any of the findings. Using the language acquisition theories of Chomsky and Skinner, as a base, I was able to compare of their findings by applying the theories to actual situations to determine the practicality of the results. As a result of making these comparisons, I was able to determine that each theory on its own had limitations, but I believe that if we took aspects of each and made one compilation, it is possible that we could eventually determine whether language is in fact an innate ability or whether it is developed through learning. Language is an innate ability and is not developed through learning To say that language is an innate ability and is not developed through learning, we need to look at the theorist arguments on language acquisition. One theorist argued that language is an innate ability, (Chomsky,1959), another argued that it is acquired by reinforcement and repetition (Skinner, 1957), another argued that it was part of the overall development (Piaget, 1969) and yet another argued that it is learned through interaction (Bruner, 1975). Although each theorist produced differing views on language acquisition, the debate still remains as to whether language is an innate ability or it is learned. I will be focusing on Skinners (1957) Behaviourist Theory and Chomksys (1959) Innate Theory as the base on this paper. Let us first look at the definition of language. Language, as defined by the Websters online dictionary states that it is a systematic means of communicating, by the use of sounds or convectional symbols. The idea is that language is facilitated and understood by the use of structured elements. These elements are not limited to auditory but also encompass the use of convectional symbols. What therefore are convectional symbols? Throughout the evolutionary process, countries have developed their own method of documentation using unique letters or numerals. They have also created signs which have no alphanumeric symbols but effectively communicate necessary information, for example, a single arrow pointing to the left could mean, left turn only or keep left. Similarly the outline of a man or woman on the doors of washrooms communicate the gender allowed to use the washroom. The symbol may have a definitive meaning, but the interpretation of the symbol will determine the appropriate act ion. Another definition found in the Oxford online dictionary, we see where language is defined as the method of human communication, either spoken or written, consisting of the use of words in a structured and convectional way. It is interesting to note the disparity in the two definitions. Whilst the Websters definition appears generic to any specie, the Oxford definition seems to be specific to communication in humans. Does the Oxford dictionary imply that communication is unique to humans? Based on the research done by the theorists we recongnise that humans talk and all other living species have their own unique method of communicating with each other. It is therefore not appropriate to disregard non-human communication abilities. Looking at the human interaction and how we are able to understand each other, especially as it relates language development in newborn babies, has encouraged many theories. De Villiers J. G. P. A. (1978), in their book, Language Acquisition, the question is asked, What does a child bring into the world with him by way of inherited knowledge or behaviour, and what is the product of the experience? (p.2). It is clear that both genetics and experience play an important part in language development, but the underlying question remains debatable. The arguments continue with Osherson, D. N., Gleitman L. R., Liberman M, (1995) in their book, An Invitation to Cognitive Science: Language, they state that some parts of the capacity to learn language must be innate. At the same time, it is equally clear that language is learned (Gleitman and Newport, chapter 1,p.1) The hierarchy of language, however complex, is influenced by the environment and experiences. In babies we recognise that there is no experience, therefore the development can only be linked or associated with their environment. The direct links that babies have in their early stages are only with their parents or other close family members who interact with them on a daily basis. Babies do not have the capacity to make audible sounds which constitute sentences; however they do have to capacity to make other sounds which can be interpreted as immediate needs or wants. As the child develops, the verbal interaction increases and depending on the appropriateness or the effectiveness of the interaction, the development progress will be determined. This means that how the parent speaks to the child or how often word or sentences are used will determine how quickly the childs language is developed. The comparisons between nature versus nurture have been debated for a long time. The story has been written about the Egyptian King Psammethichus, who in an attempt to determine which race was more ancient, the Egyptian or the Phrygians, took two newborn babies and placed them in isolation. They were kept by themselves in a lonely cottage and no-one was allowed to utter words around them. After two years in isolation the caregiver of the children heard them say the word becos and he eventually reported this to the King. King Psametichus researched the word and found out that the origin of the language was Phrygian for bread. The discovery made the Egyptians yield their position of antiquity and conceded that the Phrygians were more ancient than they were. (Herodotus, De SÃ ©lincourt A., Marincola J. 2003), The Histories). The fact that these children had no verbal interaction at all makes you want to believe that babies are born with some innate ability for language development. Although this story is very old, we can also look at more recent language developments in children who are kept in isolated conditions. Feral children, commonly known as wild children, are children who have been brought up in total isolation. They may have some human contact but they are denied any kind of social interaction with other people. These children have been known to develop their own language as in the case of Genie, who was kept in isolation until she was 13 years old. This is a recent example of language development without guidance. She was not taught to speak and was denied any human interaction whilst in isolation and when she was found and tested (Curtis, 1977), it was discovered that Genie would never be able to master the rules of grammar. Although she had good semantic ability, she could not learn syntax and therefore was not able to form complete sentences. Going back to the theorist arguments, did Genies lack of communicative ability give credence to Skinners (1957) proposal that language can be acquired through a series of habit forming tasks? The experiments he performed were conducted on rats and birds, which were taught to perform various tasks successfully. This theory, known as the Behaviourist Theory, proposes that through repetition and subsequent rewards children learn how to communicate. In his 1957 book, Verbal Behaviour, Skinner argued that language was like any other form of behaviour which is acquired through conditioning. Rewards were given once the appropriate behaviour was achieved. However looking again at feral children, even with repetition and rewards they still were not able to master the rules of grammar. The common diagnosis was that these children had passed the critical period hypothesis, which is the stage before puberty before the brain becomes specialized in it functions. Language functions are assigned to the left brain, however before puberty the language function moves from one side to the next and after puberty this function is assigned to the left brain. Chomsky (1959) published a criticism of this theory. Chomsky believed that a childs brain contained special language learning abilities at birth which enabled them to communicate from birth the Innate Theory. He argued that a child was naturally predisposed to learn a language. This was possible by hearing speech which is interpreted by the brain using its natural ability to apply structures and principles. Chomskys view is that a child is held to be born with the entire set of linguistic universals plus evaluation procedures, built in, and that he somehow uses this set as a grid through which he filters the particular language he happens to hear around him (1968a, p.76). After reading the review it was interesting to note that Chomsky critised Skinner because he used only animals as the test subjects, and as a result the theory was silent on specie restrictions. Ironically, Chomskys innate theory was based on no test subject (human or animal). If we are to accept the innateness of language acquisition then we would have to somehow get into the mind of the child from birth to determine how the brain interpreted the speech it heard. Using the feral children Kamala and Amala, the two Indian girls that were said to be raised by wolves can we apply the innate theory? The missionary who found and adopted them (Singh) tried to rehabilitate them back to their human form. Unfortunately Amala died shortly after being found. Progress was slow and after three years, Kamala had only mastered about a dozen words. The question then is; where does the innate ability surface? Based on the innate theory, these children should have had some ability to understand human language, despite the fact that they were socialized by wolves in the early stages of development. It was several years later that Kamalas vocabulary increased to forty words. Gesell (1940) in his book, Wolf Child and Human Child, stated that Kamalas situation demonstrated just how mentally naked humans are when born and how much we rely on society to shape us. Conclusion After looking at the two theories I am still left to determine which one has more credence than the other. I am almost tempted to conduct my own research, similar to King Psammethichus, the only risk with doing that would be the impending prison time I may have to serve for offences committed against a minor. I am however able to give my opinion on the theories. I do not agree that language acquisition is solely dependent on an innate ability; there must be some learning which takes place during the early developmental stages. Humans may be born with a pre-disposition for language, however there has to be some social interaction that defines the language, grammar and speech. We teach our children language by using a variety of methods, such as visual aids and verbal reinforcements. If we only show them the visual aids, without explaining what they are seeing, they will ultimately create their own description and possibly create their own language. The feral children did not necessarily create their own language, instead they adapted to their environment. In the case of Genie, she had limited human interaction; therefore it is possible that her language development was only based on the few words spoken to her during her isolation. The meals she was served may have just been shoved at her with harsh accompanying words of eat this or here. Applying Skinners theory, the reinforcement may have been the harsh words heard regularly but not enough to develop the syntax needed to form sentences. Here Chomskys theory may have been more appropriate, in that there was some amount of innate understanding of human communication; Genie responded to human speech althou gh she was not taught. In the case of Kamala, who was raised by wolves, the innate theory is not possible. She had to be taught everything as she did not understand anything her adoptive parent said. Skinners theory here is more believable. It was through constant repetition and reinforcement that she was able to develop some kind of vocabulary database to eventually communicate. What is interesting is the length of time it took for her to grasp a dozen words. In a normal three year old child, you will find that they are most communicative and speaking constantly at this age. In conclusion, I believe that the two theories go hand in hand. You cannot have one without the other. We may be born with some amount of innate ability, but it is through repetition and reinforcement that we are able to communicate effectively. The necessary grammar and syntax ability requires practice and this can only be achieved with being taught. It is my opinion that both Skinner and Chomsky were on the right path but they needed to work together to get the language acquisition theory more credence.

A Comparison of the Flood of Genesis and Gilgamesh :: comparison compare contrast essays

A Comparison of the Flood of Genesis and Gilgamesh A good number of people know the famous story of the Genesis flood, but do they know how it resembles to the Gilgamesh flood story? It is mind bending how the main stories are so alike. The main theme is the biggest similarity between the two. They also differ greatly in the smaller details in the events that take place. In both stories the number of days for events are different, but the same basic event takes place. Along with many other similarities and differences. The stories are very much the same, but when comparing the details within they are very different. The flood of Gilgamesh was written before 2000 B.C, while the Genesis story was written in 400 BC Which was much later then the Gilgamesh flood. Biblical writers probably knew of the much older flood but revised it so that it fit with their own history and worldview. They most likely intended the original story with their own mythology. Despite the many similarities between the two stories, the differences are revealed in a number of different topics that distinguish the biblical version of the story from the ancient version. In both versions of the flood story something angers God (in Genesis) and the gods (in Gilgamesh). "The uproar of mankind is intolerable and sleep is no longer possible by reasons of the babel" (Gilgamesh 12). The Gilgamesh reason seems very illogical. The Gods decide to destroy mankind because they are making too much noise. It seems that the gods didn't think over their decision wisely. They are gods, wouldn't they have the power to block out the sound? One would think so, but obviously that was not the case. This is the first major difference between the two stories. In Genesis there is a much more acceptable reason for God to eliminate mankind. The humans are so wicked and evil that "It repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart" (Gen. 6:6). He says: "I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth. . . " (Gen.

Tibetan Meditative Transformation Essay -- Buddhism Religion Papers

Tibetan Meditative Transformation When one hears the word "Tibet," several pop-culture images come to mind; these might include the often seen "Free Tibet!" bumper sticker, the perpetual smile of the fourteenth Dalai Lama, or the mental image of orange clad monks with shaved heads, chanting in unison. American culture has embraced many aspects of Tibetan culture in a rather superficial manner, but upon further inspection, it becomes apparent that these particular aspects have been embraced because they represent what is most important to Tibetans: their seemingly endless struggle for political freedom from an oppressive Chinese rule, the religious and political role of their charismatic leader, Tenzin Gyatso, and the role of religion in everyday life. One particular Tibetan practice which Americans seem to have latched onto is the idea of meditation. Many Westerners see it as a way to improve their lives; and yet meditation, while helpful, may not be all that unique in terms of its effects on occasional practitioners . Meditation is an essential part of Buddhism, the religion which pervades every aspect of the traditional Tibetan life; it was in part this central, unifying ideology that allowed the Tibetans to be almost completely self-contained, with little or no contact to the outside world, for most of their history prior to the twentieth century. The Dalai Lama and other religious figures lead the country; Buddhism is an inseparable part of Tibetan culture, to the extent that traditional Tibetans sometimes find themselves unable to relate to outsiders, and for this reason strove in the past to sustain themselves without trade or contact with other cultures. Prior to Chinese occupation, an extremely large percent of the ... ... Rehabilitation, 12, 117-125. Piburn, S. (1993). The Dalai Lama, a policy of kindness: An anthology of writings by and about the Dalai Lama. Ithaca, NY, USA: Snow Lion Publications. Stoyva, J., & Anderson, C. (1982). A coping-rest model of relaxation and stress management. In L. Goldberger & S. Breznitz (Eds.), Handbook of stress: Theoretical and clinical aspects (pp. 745-763). London: Collier Macmillan Publishers. Teasdale, J. D., Segal, Z. V., Williams, J. M. G., Ridgeway, V. A., Soulsby, J. M., & Lau, M. A. (2000). Prevention of relapse/recurrence in major depression by mindfulness-based cognitive therapy. Journal of Consulting & Clinical Psychology, 68, 615-623. West, M. A. (1987). Traditional and psychological perspectives on meditation. In M. West (Ed.), The psychology of meditation (pp. 5-22). New York: Clarendon Press/Oxford University Press. Tibetan Meditative Transformation Essay -- Buddhism Religion Papers Tibetan Meditative Transformation When one hears the word "Tibet," several pop-culture images come to mind; these might include the often seen "Free Tibet!" bumper sticker, the perpetual smile of the fourteenth Dalai Lama, or the mental image of orange clad monks with shaved heads, chanting in unison. American culture has embraced many aspects of Tibetan culture in a rather superficial manner, but upon further inspection, it becomes apparent that these particular aspects have been embraced because they represent what is most important to Tibetans: their seemingly endless struggle for political freedom from an oppressive Chinese rule, the religious and political role of their charismatic leader, Tenzin Gyatso, and the role of religion in everyday life. One particular Tibetan practice which Americans seem to have latched onto is the idea of meditation. Many Westerners see it as a way to improve their lives; and yet meditation, while helpful, may not be all that unique in terms of its effects on occasional practitioners . Meditation is an essential part of Buddhism, the religion which pervades every aspect of the traditional Tibetan life; it was in part this central, unifying ideology that allowed the Tibetans to be almost completely self-contained, with little or no contact to the outside world, for most of their history prior to the twentieth century. The Dalai Lama and other religious figures lead the country; Buddhism is an inseparable part of Tibetan culture, to the extent that traditional Tibetans sometimes find themselves unable to relate to outsiders, and for this reason strove in the past to sustain themselves without trade or contact with other cultures. Prior to Chinese occupation, an extremely large percent of the ... ... Rehabilitation, 12, 117-125. Piburn, S. (1993). The Dalai Lama, a policy of kindness: An anthology of writings by and about the Dalai Lama. Ithaca, NY, USA: Snow Lion Publications. Stoyva, J., & Anderson, C. (1982). A coping-rest model of relaxation and stress management. In L. Goldberger & S. Breznitz (Eds.), Handbook of stress: Theoretical and clinical aspects (pp. 745-763). London: Collier Macmillan Publishers. Teasdale, J. D., Segal, Z. V., Williams, J. M. G., Ridgeway, V. A., Soulsby, J. M., & Lau, M. A. (2000). Prevention of relapse/recurrence in major depression by mindfulness-based cognitive therapy. Journal of Consulting & Clinical Psychology, 68, 615-623. West, M. A. (1987). Traditional and psychological perspectives on meditation. In M. West (Ed.), The psychology of meditation (pp. 5-22). New York: Clarendon Press/Oxford University Press.

Patriarchal Society and the Feminine Self in Kate Chopins Story of an

Patriarchal Society and the Erasure of the Feminine Self in The Story of an Hour  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚        Ã‚     Ã‚   Critical readings of Chopin’s works often note the tension between female characters and the society that surrounds them.   Margaret Bauer suggests that Chopin is concerned with exploring the â€Å"dynamic interrelation between women and men, women and patriarchy, even women and women† (146).   Often, critics focus on the importance of conflict in these works and the way in which Chopin uses gender constraints on two levels, to open an avenue for the discussion of feminine identity and, at the same time, to critique the patriarchal society that denies that identity.   Kay Butler suggests that â€Å"entrapment, not freedom, is the source of Chopin’s inspiration, for she is primarily concerned with exploring the way in which gender roles deny identity†;   she continues:   â€Å"yet without the entrapment, the question of identity, even the inspiration to write about identity, wouldn’t exist† (18).   Chopin’s â€Å"The Story of an Hour† most poignantly balances the dual focus of her work, describing the incipient awakening of Mrs. Mallard, and thus exploring the possibility of feminine identity, even while, ultimately, denying the fruition of such an experience.   Like all of her works, this short story reacts to a specific historical framework, the Cult of True Womanhood, in its indictment of patriarchal culture.   As Barbara Welter notes, in the nineteenth century, â€Å"a women judged herself and was judged by her husband, her neighbors, and society† by the attributes of a True Woman which included, especially, â€Å"purity† and â€Å"domesticity† (372).   The concept of purity, because it suggested that women must maintain their virtue, also, paradoxically, denied the... ... Story of an Hour.’†Ã‚   CLA Journal 16 (November 1994):   59-64.   Bauer, Margaret.   Chopin in Her Times:   Critical Essays on Patriarchy and Feminine Identity.   Durham:   Duke UP, 1997.   Butler, Kay.   â€Å"Freedom and Desire:   The Theme of Awakening in the Works of Kate Chopin.†Ã‚   Critical Interpretations:   Kate Chopin.   Ed. Harold Blooming.   New York:   Chelsea House, 1989.   14-32.   Chopin, Kate.   â€Å"The Story of an Hour.†Ã‚   The Heath Anthology of American Literature.   Ed. Paul Lauter, et al. 2nd ed. Vol. 2.   Lexington:   Heath, 1994.   644-46.   Papke, Mary E.   Verging on the Abyss:   The Social Fiction of Kate Chopin and Edith Wharton.   New York:   Greenwood P, 1990.   Welter, Barbara.   â€Å"The Cult of True Womanhood:   1820-1860.†Ã‚   The American Family in the Social Historical Perspective.   Ed. Michael Gordon.   New York:   St. Martin’s P, 1978.   372-92.        

Identifying the Aspects of My Self-Picture Essay

Identifying The Aspects Of My Self-Picture Rachelle Spahr RX1020 Pharmacy Technician August 15, 2013 Professor Broome Identifying the Aspects of My Self-Picture Identifying the aspects of my self-picture that are not working for me wasn’t hard to  accomplish. The things that do work for me on the other hand, are a little more difficult toidentify. I am however, learning how to diminish the negative thinking, to make room for the  positive. Negativity plays havoc on your mindset. I would think things like; I am not smart enough to succeed in furthering my education and I will never amount to anything. Once I failed at something I’d stop trying, believing I can’t fail if I don’t try. Thoughts like these were crippling, keeping me from bettering myself. I have learned quite a bit from reading the Think Build Live Success books. Using the techniques; Challenging negative judgments and replacing destructive judgments, I feel I now have the power to change this self-destructive pattern. I have a lot of past failures and disappointments to learn from. Instead of destructive thinking when I do fail, I will think about what didn’t work and how I can change it for a  successful outcome the next time. In life you have to be open to change, the world changes all the time. Making adjustments in my thinking, will give me the power to make my life how I want it. My failures will strengthen me, but I will no longer allow negative thoughts play their caustic role in my life.

Racism, Responsibility and Death Essay

Set in the late 1950s, the play Fences portrays the life of a fifty-year old Black named Troy, depicting his life as a husband, a father, a friend, and an individual set in the time where racism was highly dominant in America. Beyond cultural discrimination, themes like death, duty, friendship, and lost opportunities are also being seen in the play. Thesis: Real- life conditions are the backdrop of Wilson’s Fences as reflected through the story’s salient themes like racism, responsibility, and death. Topic Sentence1: Racism happening towards Black Americans during Wilson’s time is the backbone of the playwright’s story. Being an African- American himself, Wilson easily relates in his story the actual situation that was happening during that time in America where Blacks were being seen differently from White Americans. He was able to create a story depicting this theme, which I believe is very intriguing and crucial on that time since the issue was given a new angle at the mark of the industrialization age in the country. This claim was clearly seen through Wilson’s use of biases in Troy’s workplace. The main character noticed that it was only the Whites who were being promoted to drivers. On the first scene, he complained on the biases he has observed Quote 1: â€Å" †¦ what’s the matter, don’t I count? You think only white fellows got sense enough driving a truck? † (p. 2). Topic sentence 2: Family responsibilities are commonly perceived as burden in economically- ill families. Issue on responsibility, I can say, is still related with Troy’s race. Since he is a Black, his chances of getting promoted were affected. Troy assumes many responsibilities in the story: a husband, a father, and a brother to his disabled brother Gabriel. Although surrounded by such duties, Troy was trying to keep everyone satisfied with what he is giving. With this, his relationship to another woman, Alberta, was his escape from the burden he was carrying since for him the woman is not his responsibility, not until they found out that she was pregnant. Although Troy was earning not enough money, he was still brave for not abandoning his child. Instead of ducking it, he accepted the consequences of his actions. Quote 2: â€Å" I ain’t ducking the responsibility of it. As long as it sets right in my heart†¦ then I’m okay. † ( p. 63). Topic sentence 3: Death was presented in the play as an idea one should face bravely. In some stories, death is being portrayed as an aloof, mysterious thing. However, in the Fences, death was portrayed as something that one should face and battle with. Troy once told his story about how he wrestled and won against death. However, when he and his Cory had a major dispute causing for the latter to leave the house, Troy was left calling for death to come and defeat him. Quote 3: â€Å" †¦ I can’t taste nothing no more. ( Troy assumes a batting position and begins to taunt Death†¦ ) †. ( p. 89). Sticking to the conventional and traditional approach of writing a play, August Wilson has able to weave and combine dynamic characters , plausible plot, creative language, sophisticated style, and timeless themes all in a life-reflecting yet unusual and genius work of art. Work Cited Wilson, August. Fences. New York: Penguin Books, 1987