Movie Response: Zora Neale Hurston Essay

The movie entitled ‘Zora Neale Hurston’ refers to the life of a female African American writer who struggled towards finding her worth in American society during the time that segregation and racism continues to be practiced in U. S. culture. Specifically, this movie presents her biography from how she struggled to belong as a woman and how she sought to achieve her passion of writing and anthropology. In particular, the film showcased her life as a student, an anthropologists and a writer for several different newspapers. It is through this that viewers are presented by a character that continues to grow and develop through the years until her death in 1960. Analyzing the film, it can be seen that it presents readers on how Zora Neale Hurston evolved and adapted to American society. Her period was particularly critical because racism and bias against women continue to be practiced within American society during her time. It was also during this period that the issue of race became an important consideration especially among minority groups. Regardless of these realities, Zora Hurston continued to fight over these common boundaries and seek to fulfill her dream of becoming educated and understanding African American culture further. Similarly, the movie also has shown how Zora Neale Hurston sought to provide her readers about African American culture. As much as possible, her literary compositions stayed away from political issues and the clash between the Whites and Negroes. Rather, she sought to provide a better understanding of the rich culture and practices that African American has. This viewpoint remains crucial for she believed that this can serve as a bridge in making Whites understand the complexity of the African American culture. In the end, the film does not only cultivate the value of Zora Neal Hurston’s contribution to African American literature. Rather, she also provides empowerment among women and sought to create opportunities for change in a different perspective. Here, she provides a purpose of co-existence and influencing patterns of increased interaction. It is through this that she sought to identify herself in history and provide her legacy in the field of literature and anthropology.

Exploring and Sharing Youth Work Practice

Exploring the Values and Principles of Youth Work â€Å"Youth work, enables, helps, encourages and celebrates young people’s achievements and efforts. It walks beside a young person on their journey to transition to the adult world. It does not judge but rather provides an open ended support at times and in places where no other service can. † Professor Ted Milburn, CBE President YMCA Scotland Youth work is a process of engaging and building relationships with young people and providing a safe, secure and fun environment where young people feel supported and valued.Young people are central to the planning and delivery of youth work as it responds to youth issues. This offers a range of opportunities and programmes that reflect the many different requirements such as age difference, gender, special needs and race enabling young people to fulfil their potential. The purpose of youth work is well defined in the Youth Work Manifesto 2011, and is as follows: †¢ build se lf-esteem and self-confidence †¢ develop the ability to manage personal and social relationships †¢ create learning and develop new skills encourage positive group atmospheres †¢ build the capacity of young people to consider risk, make reasoned decisions and take control of their lives †¢ develop a ‘world view’ which widens horizons and invites social commitment †¢ build the capacity of young people to influence local and national decision makers The values and principles that underpin youth work are: Young people choose to participate The young person takes part voluntarily. She/he chooses to be involved, not least because they want to relax, meet friends and have fun.The young person decides whether to engage or to walk away. The work must build from where young people are Youth Work operates on young people’s own personal and recreational territory – within both their geographic and interest communities. The young personâ€℠¢s life experience is respected and forms the basis for shaping the agenda in negotiation with peers and youth workers. Youth Work recognises the young person as a partner in a learning process It complements formal education, promoting young people access to learning opportunities which enable them to fulfil their potential.Youth Work safeguards the welfare of young people It provides young people with a safe environment in which to explore their values, beliefs, ideas and issues. Youth Work treats young people with respect It values each individual and their differences, and promoting the acceptance and understanding of others, whilst challenging oppressive behaviour and ideas. Youth Work is concerned with facilitating and empowering the voice of young people It encourages and enables young people to influence the environment in which they live.Youth Work respects and values individual differences It supports and strengthens young people’s belief in themselves, and their ca pacity to grow and to change through a supportive group environment. Youth Work is underpinned by the principles of equity, diversity and interdependence Effective Communication in Youth Work â€Å"We all use language to communicate, to express ourselves, to get our ideas across, and to connect with the person to whom we are speaking. When a relationship is working, the act of communicating seems to flow relatively effortlessly.When a relationship is deteriorating, the act of communicating can be as frustrating as climbing a hill of sand. † Chip Rose, attorney and mediator The act of communicating involves verbal and nonverbal components. The verbal component refers to the content of our message‚ the choice and arrangement of our words. The nonverbal component refers to the message we send through our body language. Some of the methods used to communicate are: Non Verbal CommunicationVerbal Communication †¢ Facial Expression (e. g. frown)†¢ Dialogue †¢ Bo dy Posture†¢ Presentation Hand Gestures†¢ Tone of voice †¢ Pictorial representations†¢ Written word †¢ Appearance (e. g. untidiness)†¢ Pacing and volume of voice Exchanging ideas and thoughts verbally with others is the most common form of communication. However, there can be barriers with this, especially within a youth work setting. Some of these barriers are: Language It is important not to use overly-formal language and jargon, which young people might not understand. Also be aware of the language young people might use, i. e. slang. Stereotypes and generalizationsYouth workers must be sensitive to the complexities of certain situations and should be open to different opinions and views and not see the world as black and white. Jumping to conclusions Youth workers should not assume to know the reasons behind events. It is important to have all the information. Dysfunctional responses Ignoring or not responding to a comment or question quickly underm ines effective communication with a young person. Also, responding with an irrelevant comment or interrupting others while they are speaking also creates a poor environment.Lacking Confidence Whether it is the youth worker or young person, lacking confidence can be a major barrier to effective communication. Shyness, difficulty being assertive, or lack of self-worth can hinder your ability to make your needs and opinions known to others Nonverbal Cues Nonverbal cues can block verbal communication. The wrong facial expressions or body language from a youth worker might put off a young person from opening up or continuing a conversation. Not ListeningNot listening constitutes a major barrier in verbal communication. If a young person thinks that you are not listening then they will not speak with you. Inconsistency Inconsistency can also blocks verbal communication. If you say one thing and then later change your stance, it might confuse or frustrate a young person. Verbal communicati on barriers can put a serious strain on relationships that ultimately need to be collaborative in order to most effectively meet the needs of our young people.Use of these â€Å"communication errors† results in increased emotional distancing between youth worker and young person and can result in conflict and a negative environment for everyone involved. Albert Mehrabian, a US Educational Psychologist, has developed a famous formula for how verbal communication works. The formula is: 7% of meaning is in the words that are spoken. 38% of meaning is in the way that the words are said. 55% of meaning is in facial expression and body language. The key message here is simple – It's not what you say, it's the way that you say it. Nonverbal Communication tableGesture | Common Interpretation | Hair Twirling | Flirting, nervous, uncertainty, incompetence| Placing your hand in front of your mouth | Insecurity, uncertainty| Rubbing your arm or leg | Nervous, uncertainty| Slumped posture | Can’t be bothered, low self-esteem, boredom, alienation| Open palms | Open, honest| Palms down | Serious, domination| Clenched fist | Angry, frustrated, aggression| Holding hands behind back | Hiding something, defensive| Wringing hands | Nervousness, anxious| Arms folded over chest | Annoyed, bored, uninterested, low self-esteem| Too little eye contact | Shy, dishonest, nervous, no confidence|Gesture | Common Interpretation | When exaggerated| Forward Lean | Interested, concern, affection| Troubled| Direct eye contact | Interested | Aggressive| Unique dress/hairstyle | Confident, creative | Attention seeking, confused| Upright posture | Confident | Feeling uneasy| Handshake | Friendly | Intrusive, eccentric, aggressiveAn assertive person has the ability to express the needs, wants and emotions in a controlled manner without violating the rights of others or being aggressive. Characteristics of an assertive person might include: †¢ Knowledge of their own right s †¢ Ability to initiate and sustain comfortable relationships with a variety of people †¢ Willingness to compromise †¢ Ability to discuss things in a controlled manner The difference between an assertive person and an aggressive person are as follows: Assertive =â€Å"Win, win† †¢ Expresses feelings and thoughts honestly and appropriately †¢ Shows respect for themselves and others †¢ Considers the rights and needs of others Can effectively influence, listen and negotiate so others co-operate willingly Aggressive = â€Å"winner, loser† †¢ Expresses feelings and thoughts in a way which violates the rights of others †¢ Shows disrespect for themselves and others †¢ Puts own needs above others and denies people choice †¢ Can negatively influence, not listen and not negotiate and make others do what they don’t want to do †¢ Puts own needs above others and denies people choice Interpersonal skills are the skills u sed when interacting with other people. In a challenging situation, effective interpersonal skills are essential. In a youth work setting, some of the skills a worker should have are: An ability to ‘read’ other people and build rapport †¢ Being able to ask useful questions †¢ You can more easily influence people †¢ You can handle conflict and challenging situations in constructive ways †¢ Show understanding With good interpersonal skills communication and relationships between young people and workers are enhanced. Building Relationships in Youth Work â€Å"The flexibility and skills of youth work staff enable them to get trust from young people†¦ in many instances for the first time that a young person has been able to trust an adult. I never cease to be amazed at how the youth work process can transform some of our most vulnerable young people and change their view of self and society in such a positive fashion. †Alex Linkston, CBE, Pri nce’s Trust Volunteer, retired CEO West Lothian Council and Chair of YouthLink Scotland. It is important to promote positive relationships with young people in youth work to: †¢ Provide learning and encourage success †¢ Ensure everyone is given a voice and feels heard †¢ Empower those with conflict to resolve it for themselves †¢ Preserve a sense of belonging and create positivity †¢ Develop and maintain mutual respect †¢ Build and repair relationships †¢ Develop world view and broaden horizons †¢ Build social skills and provide Life Skills Five qualities, which constitute a positive personal relationship, are: †¢ Trust †¢ Mutual respect †¢ Communication †¢ Understanding †¢ Familiarity/Common groundFive qualities, which constitute positive youth work relationships, are: †¢ Trust †¢ Approachable †¢ Non judgemental †¢ Good listener/empowering †¢ Respect So what are the differences between a personal relationship and a youth work relationship? – Even though the words used above to describe the two different types of relationships tend to be different they are quite similar in that they involve helpfulness and working together. In a professional relationship you often motivated by a task/goal (i. e. the young person’s learning, etc. ) that you are working together to complete and achieve. In a personal relationship the ultimate goal is happiness and building true trust.There are two main themes that emerge with some regularity when reading about relationships in youth work. These themes detail why positive relationships in youth work are important and are stated below: Education for relationship The ability to develop good and satisfying interpersonal relationships is seen as the main, or a major reason for fostering learning. This has been one of the main themes lying behind many informal educators concern with social education. Education through relatio nship Our relationships are a fundamental source of learning. By paying attention to the nature of the relationship between educators and learners, it is argues, we can make a significant difference.In particular, the quality of the relationship deeply influences the hopefulness required to remain curious and open to new experiences, and the capacity to see connections and discover meanings (Salzberger-Whittenberg et al. 1983: ix). Introduction to Planning and Evaluating Youth Work Plan (Needs & Aims) †¢ Describe why the youth work group/programme is needed by the young person and/or the community †¢ State who has identified the need for the group. (I. e. young person/Social work/ groups/partner organisations) †¢ Describe what the project is about in â€Å"broad terms†. State what the group is aiming to achieve. The need for a group can be identified through: †¢ Discussions †¢ Formal consultation †¢ Social Network surveys †¢ Partnership meet ings †¢ Community lead steering groups †¢ Statistics †¢ Government Policies Outline (Objectives/Implementations) List the objectives (specific aims) of the group and make a series of actions that will be put in place to ensure each of the stated objectives is achieved †¢ Describe how the objectives will be carried out/delivered How many beneficiaries/Age group/gender †¢ List who will benefit from the group (i. e. young person/social work/parents) †¢ List any information about the target group Resources (Funding, staff, etc. ) †¢ List any resources required such as money, staffing requirements, equipment, area, time and transport, etc. Partners Involved †¢ List any other agencies/partners that may be involved with the group/project such as police/SW/school/NHS Intended Experiences & Outcomes Describe how the group relates to the CfE capacities (Confident Individuals, Responsible Citizens, Successful Learners and Effective Contributors) †¢ Highlight the importance of the quality and nature of the participant’s experiences †¢ Describe the outcome of the group (i. e. what is to be achieved) †¢ Assess the progress in the learning plan and look at next steps Intended Impact (Data Definitions) †¢ Describe the purpose/point of the group. †¢ Describe how the group will have a positive effect on the all-round development and life chances of the young people involved Evaluation †¢ State how the group will be evaluated (i. e. participant feedback)

Emotional Physical and Mental Benefit of Horseback Riding

†¢ Overall sense of wellbeing: Horseback riding is a great combination of cardiovascular and muscle-strengthening exercise. As we have discussed in previous articles, regular exercise imparts various psychological benefits. †¢ Increased self-confidence: The idea of being able to control an animal much larger than ourselves improves our self-confidence. Adding a new skill to our repertoire also increases our sense of self worth. †¢ Decreased stress: When you engage in horseback riding, you need to focus on the nuances of the entire ritual and process.This helps take your mind off mundane worries, which in turn relieves stress. †¢ Improved focus: For me, the most eye-opening aspects of horseback riding are the subtle details that are involved in every step of the process, from preparing the horse for the ride all the way to dismounting the horse. All of this not only requires significant focus but also helps cultivate better focus. †¢ Improved self-discipline: The art of horse care and horseback riding is a great example of inter-species communication. Every nuance of our behavior affects the horse’s behavior.Therefore, in order to be a good rider, you must cultivate the self-discipline to modulate your own behavior e. g. : smooth breathing, overall calmness, etc. †¢ Improved patience: Horseback riding requires learning a whole new set of skills which takes time. And getting to understand the psychology of horses is a process too. So, by riding horses regularly, we can learn to be more patient which is a desirable quality. †¢ A sense of freedom and elation: I can tell you from my own experience that being able to ride a horse, a much bigger and powerful creature, gives me a sense of elation and freedom.I know of many people who have had the same experience. †¢ A sense of teamwork, responsibility and social networking: Working with a group of people (e. g. : trainers, fellow riders, etc. ) towards the same goal teache s us the value of teamwork and responsibility. This is especially important for children. Additionally, children enjoy the opportunity to develop a healthier social network which is less likely to lead them to troubles. †¢ Development of respect for animals: I believe every human should show respect for our fellow animals.Horseback riding definitely makes us aware of the amazing abilities and sensibilities of horses thus creating a renewed respect for animals. †¢ Improved risk-taking abilities: Since riding is clearly a risk sport, the process of becoming an accomplished rider teaches us how to manage potential risks judiciously. †¢ Therapeutic riding: Horseback riding has been used since the 50? s, with much success, in helping physically disabled people to improve their physical and emotional health. This is described as therapeutic riding. Emotionally disabled people are also known to benefit from therapeutic riding.For example, autistic children are known to focus better and even utter their first spoken words while on the back of a horse. †¢ Safety comes first: Please be careful in choosing a training farm and/or a trainer. Attention to the safety of people and animals is paramount; and wearing a helmet is a must. (http://medinagazette. northcoastnow. com/2010/07/21/the-psychology-of-horseback-riding/) Psychological Benefits * General sense of well-being. Exercise in the fresh air of a ranch, away from hospitals, doctors office, therapy rooms, or home help to promote a sense of well-being. Improved self-confidence Confidence is gained by mastering a skill normally performed by able-bodied people. The ability to control an animal much larger and stronger than oneself is a great confidence builder. Participating in events such as shows and play days add to the sense of achievement. * Increased interest in the outside world. For those confined by a disability, the world tends to shrink in size. Riding increases interest in what is happeni ng around the rider, as the rider explores the world from the back of a horse. Even exercising becomes interesting when done on horseback. Increased interest in one's own life. The excitement of riding and the experiences involved stimulate the rider, encouraging the rider to speak and communicate about it. * Improved risk-taking abilities. Riding is a risk sport. The rider learns to master fears though the act of staying on the horse, as well as attempting new skills and positions on the horse. * Development of patience. Since the horse has a mind of it's own, the rider learns patience as he or she attempts to perform skills on the horse when the horse is not cooperating.Repetition of basic riding principles also helps to develop patience. * Emotional control and self-discipline. The rider quickly learns that an out-of-control rider means an out-of-control horse. Shouting, crying, and emotional outbursts upset the horse, which in turn frightens the rider. Riders learn to control th ese emotions and appropriately express them. * Sense of normality. By being able to master a skill considered difficult by the able population, the rider experiences him/herself as being normal. * Expansion of the locus of control.The rider begins to view him/herself as having control over his/her world as control over a powerful animal increases. (http://www. strides. org/psycho. html) * Friendship. Although riding can be a solitary activity, it is normally performed in groups. Riders share a common love of horses and a common experience of riding — a good foundation on which to build a friendship. * Development of respect and love for animals. Horses require a great deal of care and attention. Riders find themselves bonding with the animals. They develop an interest in them and learn to care for them.They learn to put the needs of the horse first. * Increased experiences. The variety of experiences involved in riding are endless. From tacking and grooming to trail riding, f rom going to horse shows to learning the parts of a horse, the rider is constantly experiencing and growing. The horse also provides the rider with the ability to go places otherwise inaccessible due to the disability. * Enjoyment. There is no doubt about it, riding a horse is fun. Riders experience excitement and pleasure every time they come for a lesson. (http://www. strides. org/social. html) Physical Benefits * Improved balance.As the horse moves, the rider is constantly thrown off-balance, requiring that the rider's muscles contract and relax in an attempt to rebalance. This exercise reaches deep muscles not accessible in conventional physical therapy. The three-dimensional rhythmical movement of the horse is similar to the motion of walking, teaching rhythmical patterns to the muscles of the legs and trunk. By placing the rider in different positions on the horse (therapeutic vaulting), we can work different sets of muscles. Stopping and starting the horse, changing speed and changing direction increase the benefits. Strengthened muscles. Muscles are strengthened by the increased use involved in riding. Even though riding is exercise, it is perceived as enjoyment, and therefore the rider has increased tolerance and motivation to lengthen the period of exercise. * Improved coordination, faster reflexes, and better motor planning. Riding a horse requires a great deal of coordination in order to get the desired response from the horse. Since the horse provides instant feedback to every action by the rider, it is easy to know when you have given the correct cue.Repetition of patterned movements required in controlling a horse quickens the reflexes and aids in motor planning. * Stretching of tight or spastic muscles. Sitting on a horse requires stretching of the adductor muscles of the thighs. This is accomplished by pre-stretching prior to mounting the horse, and starting the rider off on a narrow horse, gradually working to wider and wider horses. Gravity helps to stretch the muscles in front of the leg as the rider sits on the horse without stirrups. Riding with stirrups with heels level or down helps to stretch the heel cords and calf muscles.Stomach and back muscles are stretched as the rider is encouraged to maintain an upright posture against the movement of the horse. Arm and hand muscles are stretched as part of routine exercises on the horse and by the act of holding and using the reins. * Decreased spasticity. Spasticity is reduced by the rhythmic motion of the horse. The warmth of the horse may aid in relaxation, especially of the legs. Sitting astride a horse helps to break up extensor spasms of the lower limbs. Holding the reins helps to break flexor spasm patterns of the upper limbs.Many of the developmental vaulting positions are also designed to break up or reduce spasticity. Fatigue also helps to decrease spasticity by producing relaxation. * Increased range of motion of the joints. As spasticity is reduced, range of motion increases. Range of motion is also improved by the act of mounting and dismounting, tacking up, grooming, and exercises during lessons. * Reduction of abnormal movement patterns. If spasticity is reduced and range of motion increased, it follows that abnormal movements will be inhibited.Relaxation techniques while riding also help to inhibit abnormal movement. * Improved respiration and circulation. Although riding is not normally considered a cardiovascular exercise, trotting and cantering do increase both respiration and circulation. * Improved appetite and digestion. Like all forms of exercise, riding stimulates the appetite. The digestive tract is also stimulated, increasing the efficiency of digestion. * Sensory integration. Riding stimulates the tactile senses both through touch and environmental stimuli.The vestibular system is also stimulated by the movement of the horse, changes in direction and speed. The olfactory system responds to the many smells involved in a st able and ranch environment. Vision is used in control of the horse. The many sounds of a ranch help to involve the auditory system. All of these senses work together and are integrated in the act of riding. In addition, proprioceptors ( receptors that give information from our muscles, tendons, ligaments and joints) are activated, resulting in improved proprioception. (http://www. strides. org/physical. html)

MIS COMPARISON Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

MIS COMPARISON - Coursework Example The need and demand of the Management Information System (MIS) for Human Resource in Tesco is increased due to the increasing focus of management on Human Resource (HR) in the multinational organizations. The functionality of Management Information System (MIS) for Human Resource provides services in a layered form. Initially, the core and basic activities of Human Recourse Management (HRM) are covered under the services given by Management Information System for Human Resource include as the automated attendance system, and maintenance of employee’s record in Tesco. The tools, procedures and software’s are provided by MIS system. MIS is minimizes some issues of traditional management work of Human Resource. Tripathi (2011) stated that function of sales and marketing was a significant part of growth for national as well as multinational organizations. Therefore, use of Management Information System (MIS) for Sales and marketing obviously results positively for the manag ement of sales processes at Apple Inc. According to Zhang and Zhang (2007) MIS used for sales reduced the stages involved in sales process as compared to a traditional method of sales contained. The MIS includes features like sales analysis, decision predictions, effective for sales managers to handle sales, and online e- marketing and e-sales. The system covers the financial activities regarding the sales management. The system provides ease to e-clients and the labor cost of sales. The Management Information System (MIS) for Human Resource in Tesco totally depends upon the information systems. The information system is used to manage the internal operations and also helps in decision making process in the organization regarding the management activities of Human Resource. The information system is a collection of hardware, software, network, internet and specific tools or software’s working to facilitate the user (Tripathi,

Business Writing week one discussion Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Business Writing week one discussion - Assignment Example Listening with an open mind isnt always easy, but its the only way to make sure you really hear what people are telling you† (Bovee 38). Rather than approaching the communication situation with an open mind, they brought in preconceived notions. The conversation advanced with them continuing to advance the narrative that they had devised in their minds. The text indicates that communication prominently involves listening, as it is impossible to properly disseminate information without having a back and forth discussion. Ultimately, the communication event would have been more successful if my supervisor had been a more active listener and constructed her knowledge based on the conversation. My name is Birgit. I have a large number of hobbies. Undoubtedly, one of my most frequent hobbies is personal fitness. Throughout high school, I participated in a number of team sports and sort of got in the habit of being physically active. Since graduating from high school, I’ve kept up my physical activity through running every day. I also occasionally play basketball and volleyball with friends. In addition to physical activity, I am an active reader. I recently purchased an iPad so I would have to stop buying so many print books; so far I’ve read the Hunger Games trilogy and the latest Harry Potter novel. I also regularly enjoy cooking, particularly pasta. My greatest communication challenge would definitely have to be public speaking. While in front of certain audiences I am able to be engaging, in most instances I find that I am incredibly shy and slightly anxious. Another communication challenge I face is verbal tests; similar to my fear of public speaking, these instances make me highly nervous. The most effective communicator I know is my uncle. Currently, he is the general manager of a hotel in Los Angeles, California. I have visited him and witnessed how he interacts

Harlem Renaissance poets Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Harlem Renaissance poets - Assignment Example Harlem Renaissance Poets Project Paper Significance of Jean Toomer’s and Langston Hughes’ Roles in the Harlem Renaissance A mere fact will suffice to encompass a man’s life. In Jean Toomer’s case, that fact pertains to P. B. S. Pinchback, Toomer’s maternal grandmother who served as acting governor of Louisiana (Ramsey, 2003). In Langston Hughes’ case, the fact pertains to Hughes’ stint as a bellhop in a Washington, D.C. hotel where he managed to persuade a prominent, literary hotel guest to read three of his’ poems which led to the inauguration of Hughes’ literary career (Lewis, 1994, p. xxv). What can we infer from these facts? The obvious inferences are that Toomer was rich and Hughes was poor. The not so obvious inferences are that their names are remembered, and they are remembered on the strength of the experimental novel Cane, in Toomer’s case; and speaking for myself, in Hughes’ case, for bold pronoun cements such as â€Å"If white people are pleased we are glad†¦If colored people are pleased we are glad. If they are not, their displeasure doesn’t matter either (Lewis, 1994, p. xxx).† Toomer, who wasn’t as outspoken as Hughes, would’ve applauded Hughes’ for Hughes’ was alluding to artistic freedom which bows to no ideology, political agenda, nor common goal. Alas, artistic freedom will only get you so far, for what is required is talent and, when the going gets tough, genius. It goes without saying that Toomer and Hughes had talent. Let’s see where it took them—artistically.... It goes without saying that Toomer and Hughes had talent. Let’s see where it took them—artistically. ‘Double-consciousness’ in the Poems of Toomer and Hughes In the poem â€Å"Cotton Song,† Jean Toomer introduces a syntactical shift in the third stanza, going from Standard American English to American dialect of the Deep South. This is a manifestation of ‘double-consciousness.’ How do we explain it? We don’t. What we do is read the line â€Å"We ain’t agwine t wait until the Judgment Day (Toomer,1993, p. 9),† and let the words do their magic. I doubt a five hundred page biography, describing the hardscrabble life of an American Negro cotton picker at the turn of the 20th century could do as well and as much in evoking the feel and texture of a time and place, which no longer exists, than this one extraordinary, singular line of verse that flouts all convention of Standard American English, and gets away with it. And Toomer gets away with it because his English is otherwise prim, neat, and familiar. Consider the last four lines of his poem the â€Å"November Cotton Flower:† â€Å"Superstition saw/ Something it had never seen before:/ Brown eyes that loved without a trace of fear,/ Beauty so sudden for that time of year (Toomer, 1993, p. 4). In â€Å"November Cotton Flower,† the ‘double-consciousness’ is semantic, the miraculous transformation of a cold, drought stricken land to a blooming field of cotton. In Langston Hughes’ poem â€Å"The Negro speaks of Rivers,† a Negro speaks in the first person while invoking the poem. The ‘double-consciousness’ is evident in the use of the third person in the title. It’s as if the poet has split himself in two and the older, wiser version of

The Subculture of Nerds and Their Rise to Stardom Research Paper

The Subculture of Nerds and Their Rise to Stardom - Research Paper Example Cultural divisions between nerds and popular culture a) The fact that there is certain music, movies, and other interests that are viewed as being solely for nerds. The Treatment of Nerds 1. Bullying Nerds a) The lack of effectiveness in the solutions for picking on nerds that the educational system ash offered and reasons why their actions continue to ineffective. The Nerds’ Status Change 1. Cause of the increased popularity of nerds a) The appearance of the sexy, rich nerd and explanations for the growth in popularity of the nerd subculture Conclusion The Subculture of Nerds and Their Rise to Stardom Introduction Subcultures define the state of high school society. While the identification with a set subculture often fades from a person’s definition of themselves after high school, some people stay members of their groups. Subcultures themselves have a continuation past the school years and emerge in mainstream society. While for some subcultures there is no particula r judgment of being good or bad, there are many subcultures to which many would hesitantly subscribe because of the negative way people in that group are perceived. Nerds, in particular, are a subculture to which the members often have been assigned without their choosing. On the opposite side of judgment stands the popular crowd. Usually, it is the popular subculture that is responsible for the many social ills from which those deemed nerds suffer. Being considered good, they judge against all that are not like them. It is members of this group that give labels to the others. Many who are called nerds would rather not be called thusly. Nerd has been a term used in teasing and still persists in modern bullying. Yet, even with all the persecution that those who are considered nerds must bear, this subculture has received some promotion in today’s society. Being once only a group to be despised, the nerds have actually won fans and there are some who now enjoy being members of this subculture, proudly wearing the label that they have been ascribed. An investigation into the nerds as a subculture cannot effectively be completed without defining just what a nerd is. There are actually many different meanings of the word. For some, a nerd is a special group which is set apart from others whose members display a greater than normal intelligence. Yet, for others it is a name that can be used interchangeably with others. In explaining the stereotype of the nerd, it has been said, â€Å"The stock character nerd is typically depicted as a white male with glasses and large sets of obscure data committed to memory† (Stauffer, 2009). Indeed, media would depict a nerd the same. The controversy lies in making the distinction between the nerds and a similar subculture called ‘geeks’. For many it seems ridiculous to make a distinction between a geek and a nerd, as it has been stated, â€Å"They are called â€Å"nerds,† â€Å"dweebs,† à ¢â‚¬Å"dorks,† â€Å"geeks,† â€Å"brainiacs,† and â€Å"computer jocks† (Kinney, 1993: p.21). All of these names are generally meant to imply someone who is socially inapt and has an above average interest in things like science, math, science fiction, computers, and the like. However, there has been some distinction made. For example, from an interview performed it was quoted, " 'Nerd' is a stickier term that is applied to people in a more negative way," Kendall said. â€Å"

Making a Difference through Nursing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Making a Difference through Nursing - Essay Example Since hepatitis C was first recognized in 1989, it has gained increasing significance. More than half the number of individuals exposed to HCV develop chronic infection; and among them around 20% to 30% develop liver cirrhosis and/ or hepatocellular carcinoma within twenty to thirty years. Improved diagnostic techniques and possibilities of therapeutic intervention have brought out the role of HCV infection in acute and chronic liver disease (Hentiges & Wands, 1997: 521). This paper proposes to examine the hepatitis C virus (HCV), its pathophysiology and various other dimensions of the infection including the public health implications, the importance of raising public awareness, clinical governance and surveillance. Hepatitis C infection has been found worldwide, especially in the southeast Asian countries, in northern African and Arabian countries, and with highest prevalences in the Ukraine and in the central African countries of Gabon and Cameroon, as well as in Egypt where up to 14.5% of the population is infected with the Hepatitis C virus. Size of the Problem: HCV infection in Hong Kong is associated predominantly with multiple blood transfusions (67% to 87% anti-HCV positive) and intravenous drug abuse (56% anti-HCV positive). However, the source of infection is unidentified in a large number of HCV carriers (Ho & Wu, 1995: 15). The world-wide prevalence of hepatitis C is estimated at 170 million people or 3% of the global population, with a disease spectrum ranging from mild to severe chronic hepatitis, cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Most people infected with HCV are unaware of their clinical status, due to which the actual prevalence of the infection may be under-reported. Around 85% of infected persons are chronically infected by the virus, and 70% of the infected develop chronic hepatitis, cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma

Philosophy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 7

Philosophy - Essay Example However, if the actions of people are determined, it seems they fail to have free will, therefore, the can never be blamed or failed for their actions. There are five areas of philosophy, which cluster together in standard ways, though they overlap between the areas, even in section in various clusters is rate, and there can experience slight differences in their clusters. This area studies the major philosophers like Aristotle, Descartes, Nietzsche, and Hume, together with the entire periods in philosophy development (Jaspers, 16). This area is divided into various periods such as modern, medieval, 19th century, and 20th century. It tends to comprehend great figures, their influence, and their importance on the contemporary issues. The study includes area such as existentialism, deconstruction, structuralism, phenomenology, critical theory, post-structuralism, and hermeneutics. The principal figures include Badiou, Adorno, Husserl, Hegel, Sartre, and Derrida. This area consists of philosophy of mind, philosophy of science, formal epistemology, and philosophy of mathematics. Some of the areas have their own sub-branches. For instance, the philosophy of mind includes the emotions philosophy, science philosophy, special sciences philosophy, and social science philosophies. The philosophy involves studying the consequence relations and their related notions. Among the logic sub-areas are higher order logic, classical first-order, and the non-classical logics like relevance, many-valued logics, intuitionistic, and modal. This section comprises the aesthetics, ethics, political philosophy, and social areas. The ethics involves the areas of metaethics and ethics. Normative ethics addresses issues of right conduct, while metaethics is concerned with the epistemological and metaphysical commitments of ethical theories or the moral discourse. Studying philosophy is very important. It enables the learners to know how to carry out things

Arab Culture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Arab Culture - Essay Example Arabic culture traces its roots from the Arabian Peninsula next to the Sabaens where they ended up migrating the near east that consists of the ancient cities of Mesopotamia and Lavant. In order to understand better the Arabic culture, it is important to look at several key factors that define the great culture. Language factors, religious viewpoint and practices, fashion and architecture are some vital areas that shape the great Arabic culture. My essay analyses the Arab culture in depth looking at the very important factors that drives its existence. Arabic language having a close relation to Aramaic and Hebrew is evidently the chief language in the Semitic category of Afro-Asiatic language (Young). All the Arabian nations including some Islamic communities have adopted the Arabic language as their own making it the vernacular language and the most holy in their life. Qur’an, the Islamic holy book, written in Arabic shows this great culture’s contribution to the Islamic religion where they find it difficult to translate it into any other language and fail to lose the teachings of the Holy book. Classical Arabic is the name given to the language that is used in The Holy Qur’an, having some distinction from the modern day Arabic language. The book contains chapters and verses written in various parables, verses and narratives that are an inspiration by Allah. This holy book is the major source of inspiration and teachings among the Islam religion, guiding their morals and behavior in the larger society. Most Arabs are Muslims embracing the Islamic religion. Islam being the second most popular world religion Christianity coming first is a monotheist type of religion believing in the existence of one God whom they refer to as Allah (Mikenola). The scriptures that govern the Islamic religion are all included in the holy Qur’an that was revealed to the Muslim faith through their prophet Muhammad.

Corporate governance Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 10000 words

Corporate governance - Dissertation Example It is evident from the work of various research scholars that people felt the importance of â€Å"Corporate Governance† at least 100 years ago. For example, research scholars such as Tinbergen (1962) have raised their concern over effectiveness of corporate governance. In recent times, corporate accounting scandals in companies like Cirio, Enron, Vivendi, Ansett, Parmalat, and Pan Pharmaceuticals have forced business leaders to think about the issues like corporate accountability and corporate governance. Above mentioned corporate accounting scandals were the results of managerial misconduct and corporate failures. Business leaders became aware of the fact that they need to take some serious measures in order to address the pertaining issues of corporate governance. ... Various research scholars have stated situation-specific definition of corporate governance and so it is difficult to find one universal definition of corporate governance. Majority of the research scholars have given importance on the relational aspect of corporate governance. According to them corporate governance is guided by the relationship between shareholders and managers. Tricker (1984) has revealed that corporate governance is different from management due to the fact that management deals with running the organization while corporate governance deals with running the organization in a proper manner. Keasey and Wright (1993) have stated that business leaders can use different tools of management, such as controlling; accountability, in order to monitor activities of agents and motivation to make them act in accordance with the expectation of the internal and external stakeholders. Various research scholars such as Markusen and Venables (1999) have stated that there is a dire ct relationship between foreign direct investment (FDI) and corporate governance. According to them FDI policies of government plays a significant role on motivating foreign players to design sustainable corporate governance policy. Markusen and Maskus (2001) have stated that companies need to align their business strategy in a foreign country in accordance with the FDI policy of government of that country, in order to address the key issues of corporate governance. In many cases it has been observed that companies manipulate their corporate governance policy in order to achieve competitive advantage in foreign countries, such as superior technology, economies of scale, managerial expertise etc over

Globalization or inter-nationalization Essay Example for Free

Globalization or inter-nationalization Essay Whether we call it globalization or inter-nationalization, very few people, organizations or states stand to benefit To what extent do you agree with this statement? Globalization is without doubt it is a buzz word of the time it is a word that seems to be constantly mentioned in the news on the television or radio. But what does living in a globalized world really mean? As a starting point this essay will attempt to interpret its meaning by applying four main theories and using these theories to discuss the impact of globalization on individuals, organisations and states. It will go on to explore three different perspectives on global change and how each perspective might view its effects including identifying possible weaknesses in their arguments. This will enable a decision to be made as to what extent the question whether we call it globalization or inter-nationalization, very few people, organisations or states stand to benefit can be agreed with. Globalization can be characterized by four distinctive features. First it involves a stretching of social, political and economic activities across nation-state boundaries. What is happening on what might be geographically the other side of the world, affects the other and specific local developments can have considerable global consequences. Examples of this would be global climate change, environmental issues such as pollution into the atmosphere and oceans, poverty etc. We are all losers in terms of global problems such as pollution acid rain, toxic waste etc and it extremely daunting to think that we are totally limitless in our control of them. For example, in April 1986 an accident occurred at the Chernobyl nuclear power station in the USSR. This caused a cloud carrying radioactive particles to hit Britain. Ten years on, as a result of the fall-out, 70,000 sheep in Cumbria remained contaminated (Cochrane, A. and Pain, K. (2004), p.18). Second, it is marked by the intensification of flows of trade. Technological developments have accelerated over the past 20 years the introduction of mobile phones, the internet, satellite television means that communication across the planet is virtually instantaneous. There are hundreds of satellites floating above the earth, each one carrying a huge amount of information. Physical distance is no longer an issue we are being brought much closer to news/issues/events from around the world this could be seen as good or bad although for the ones that have it, access to much more information has to be a good thing. Losers would undoubtedly be people without internet access and organisations with a less developed communication infrastructure. The way people work is changing working from home is now much more viable and this has to be a good thing for individuals and companies because it provides more flexibility all round. Third, it can be linked to increasing interpenetration or the bringing together distant cultures and societies face to face with each other at local level, good examples of this would be Microsoft, Coca Cola, McDonalds and Starbucks. This could be seen as good or bad, many people dont like the fact that these huge companies put smaller privately owned companies out of business and that everything is becoming so uniformed local places with character are being lost. Global trade on the whole is increasing which may mean more jobs, better employment prospects for some but on the down sound it may also mean many home communities are devastated when local companies are bought out by multinational ones that cut wages and benefits and/or moves production overseas. This could lead to the inequality gap widening further which will ultimately cause conflict and potentially from this point of view we are all losers here too. And forth, the development of a global infrastructure the authority of nations is territorially bound therefore international organisations such as The United Nationals, The World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the World Trade Organisation all play a part in regulating and governing the global system and are new forms of agency brought about because of globalization. It could be argued that in this borderless economy, nation states have no option but to accommodate global market forces due to their power, limiting their options. Furthermore, a growth in international trade (often due to lower trade barriers) will encourage more competition. This could be seen as having winners and losers but reducing trade barriers in particular may reduce the role of governments which, in turn, could encourage corruption. There is no doubt that many developing countries have increased their share of world trade as a result of globalization although this may be at the detriment of the poorer countries. There are three positions which all have a different perspective on the term globalization; these are the globalist, inter-nationalist and transformationalist and all three have strengths and weaknesses to their arguments. Globalists on the whole see Globalisation as something that is real and is happening that changes are happening socially and economically and that it is an inevitable, irreversible development that should not be resisted. But globalists themselves fall into two categories optimistic/positive globalists and pessimistic globalists. Optimistic/positive Globalists view it as a process that is beneficial. They would probably disagree with the statement that very few people, organizations or states stand to benefit because they welcome the changes that it brings such as improvement on the quality of life, raising living standards and the bringing together of societies and cultures promoting a better understanding of each other. They acknowledge that globalisation is not all good news, that with it issues such as global environmental pollution, for example, but want citizens to take responsibility for their actions, to look for ways of minimising the damage through their own actions and through the use of new technologies. They may have overlooked however, that local Governments/authorities may be limited in their actions in relation to worldwide/global issues and that globalization is certainly not developing in an even handed way. In Tony Giddens Reith Lecture he quotes Globalisation some argue creates a world of winners and losers, a few on the fast track to prosperity, the majority condemned to a life of misery and despair and indeed the statistics are daunting. The share of the poorest 5th of the worlds population in global income has dropped from 2.3% to 1.4% over the past 10 years. The proportion taken by the richest 5th on the other hand has risen (Tony Gidden Reith Lecture Runaway World 1999). Pessimistic globalists regard it with hostility, believing that it increases inequality between nations, threatens employment and hinders social progress. Moreover they believe that globalization is making the world become more homogeneous with the demise of sovereignty and national identities as well as the demise of politicians capabilities to influence events. A pessimistic view would probably be that only the giant multi-national companies (usually American) stand to benefit since the US has a dominant economic, cultural and military position in the global scheme of things. They would probably view globalization as nothing more than corporate hegemony and would definitely agree with the statement about very few people, organizations or states benefiting. A weakness of the pessimistic globalist view is that they dont seem to have a clear solution to the problem, its like they want to reverse time and go back to how it was. They undermine the existing structure but have no idea abo ut any clear alternatives. According to the inter-nationalists all the talk about globalization is exactly that just talk. They believe that the world carries on much the same as it ever did that it isnt especially different from that which existed in previous periods and that increases in global trade across the world is just progression based on world trading links that have been established for many years a continuation of the past. They argue that a good deal of economic exchange is between regions rather than being truly worldwide, for example countries of the European Union mostly trade among themselves. This whole view seems unrealistic. World financial flows have grown exponentially since the 1970s and advances in technology have undoubtedly helped with transactions becoming instantaneous with 24 hour global financial markets. International trade has also grown to unprecedented levels and involves a much wider range of goods and services. As a result a weakness of theirs would be that underestimate the power of nation states and possibly put too much faith in the capabilities of national governments. The third transformationslists is somewhere in between the two. They believe that something is happening, that changes are taking place and that the effects of globalisation should not be underestimated. Unlike the globalists they believe that nothing is pre-determined or inevitable and that national, local and other agencies still have room for manoeuvre and that maybe new solutions may have to be found. A strength of the transformationalist is that they see sovereignty as having to be shared among other private and public agencies. They would probably sit on the fence as to whether people, organizations or states stand to benefit from globalization. Some people do benefit, some dont. Some organisations benefit, some dont, and so on. It might depend on who you are, what you are, where you live etc. A weakness of the transformationalist would be that they are somewhat blinded by the scale of global inequalities that are developing as a result of rationalisation as they tend to have more of a regional focus. The word globalization seems to have come from no where to be almost everywhere. Globalisation is political, technological, cultural and economic, it affects everyone and its effects can be seen everywhere. There are winners and losers but with reference to the original question in the introductory paragraph personally it would have to be a disagreement with this statement. Globalization is not something that should be shirked but the challenges it presents need to be controlled because it is now part of the way we live and its not going to go away. Metaphorically speaking it may mean a shrinking world but it is creating something that has never existed before and it is without doubt changing our world, for better or worse, no matter where or whom we happen to be. References Cochrane, A. and Pain, K, A globalizing society in Held, D. (ed) (2004) Gidden Reith, A. Lecture Runaway World (1999) Held, D. A globalizing world? Culture, economics, politics, London, Routledge/The Open University

Analysis of E-Grocery System in Tesco and Sainsburys

Analysis of E-Grocery System in Tesco and Sainsburys Strategic and Economic Analysis of E-Grocery System in Tesco and Sainsbury ABSTRACT Online shopping and home delivery systems become most famous in recent decades. Online grocers have been testing various business models with altering results. This research study is carried out in two main grocers of the UK (Tesco and Sainsbury). This research study conducted Case study and historical data, and meta-analysis to identify current strategies and business models of e-grocery which contributed to their success. Both companies management styles, expansions strategy, market selections strategy, order-processing and picking methods, home delivery methods, website design and different strategies for customer relationship management are explored and evidenced the successful factors. The findings reveal that online grocery knowledge and experience in grocery business play a significant role in E-grocery success. Using slow and steady expansion with careful investment helps online grocers to stay in game. The In-store picking method is more profitable and suitable for e-grocery business. Understanding customers, wants and needs will provide tremendous opportunity for business expansion. CHAPTER 1 1.1. INTRODUCTION: This chapter provides general background, problem statement, purpose of study, research objectives, major research questions and structure of dissertation. 1.2. General background: From many decades many groceries and also many manufacturing companies are providing delivery services to customers. Home delivery of household goods is not a recent concept in grocery retailing sector. However, until 1990s e-grocery was not potentially recognisable business channel, when grocers introduced internet based online ordering facility it revolutionised whole grocery industry (Papiernik, 2000). Nowadays, not only pure-play industries offer e-grocery services but also many more supermarkets offering e-grocery service. E-grocerys continuous and fast growth is capturing market share from traditional retailers. Many of grocers have tried online unit and some of them are successful and some of them have failed in the history of grocery retail sector. For example, online grocery business is judged to show sales figure. The estimation shows that, about 0.3% to 0.7% of total sales in UK and 0.2% of sales in USA. (Kumar, 2001). The e-grocery market value is estimated at â‚ ¬450 to â‚ ¬1,000 million and $900 million in United States. 1.3. Problem statement:- On one hand, many customers are interested to do online shopping for their household goods, but yet they are not interest to abandon shopping in-store in traditional way. Most of the people still believed that, online shopping is too expensive. On the other hand, many more industries also have made their effort to build online stores by providing this extra service to the customers. Organisations are continuously striving hard to build different strategic approaches for fulfilment of orders in profitable way. However, online unit business will add extra expenditure to grocers with or without some nominal charges. The profit margin is comparably very low in e-grocery to traditional one. Many grocers have undertaken to provide online shopping experience for their customers with different strategies. Profit margin is very low and sustainability in this industry is difficult. In the history of grocery sector many more companies have introduced online shopping and home delivery units and have failed. 1.4. Purpose of the study:- The online shopping and home delivery is still in an emergent phase. E-grocery business is very challenging field and it provides an extraordinary opportunities for business. E-groceries have made many more efforts to implement various strategies and service concepts, there is no much research carried out in this area. This research study provides insight of e-grocery methods in retail sector, identifies operating strategies and strategic and economic analysis of home delivery methods in Sainsbury and Tesco. 1.5. Research objectives and significance of the study:- This research study will be carried out to analyse the current strategies and economic implications of e-grocery sector in Tesco and Sainsbury. The main objective of the study is to determine whether home delivery is strategic and economic contributor to company or not. The research also seeks to perform business models of the e-grocery system. The dissertation will provide the best strategic implementation method for online grocery systems in companies which will result in profit. Another objective is to determine business model for order processing. This study will focus on order picking and home delivery of the goods. 1.6. Structure of dissertation:- The dissertation is structured into five chapters. Chapter 1: This chapter provides general background of online grocery shopping and home delivery system, problem statement, purpose of study, research objectives and significance of the study, and outline of dissertation structure. Chapter 2 This chapter provides literature background for e-grocery system. The literature describes customer base critiqued on the basis of different characteristics, online market share and trends and customer relationship management. Chapter 3: This chapter presents research methods used to analyse the research aim and objectives. The research is carried out with qualitative analysis. Analysis is carried out using two methods, firstly case study and historical analysis, and secondly Meta analysis. Both are used to identify strategies, models, and success and failure levels of industries. Chapter 4: The fourth chapter confers finding of research, analyses the data and shows the results. Chapter 5: The final chapter draws the conclusion for overall report and also proposes possible future research in online grocery field. CHAPTER 2 2. LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1. Introduction:- The literature reviews the operational and strategic analysis of E-grocery systems. There are many business models in E-grocery business. To make E-business model a sustainable one, they are using different strategies in different targeted markets. Each individual model varies from the other in various dimensions such as placing of order, assembling and delivering the goods. The first part of the literature provides statistical description of online grocery industry in various geographical areas and measures. The second part provides review of the E-grocery industrys market and its customer base. The final part offers previous studies, opinions and factors about various outcomes of e-grocery business. 2.2. Industry overview:- Over last five decades grocery business has transformed into new sector of supermarkets in UK. Many of the supermarkets have changed the grocery field dramatically. These champions of consumers have brought vast choices in product and price to improve their business sector. Online grocery shopping and Home delivery system has become one of major aspects in grocery industries. The revolution of technology advancement in internet has promoted grocery industries to embark on new methods in retailing industry. However, many grocers have been unsuccessful to consider the advantages of how it can support grocery business. These developments have lead to dismissal of complete-online supermarkets such as Web-Van, HomeGrocer, Shoplink and homeruns (Ramus and Nielsen, 2005). These results demonstrate the necessity of careful crafting of e-grocery strategies which exploits internet technologys potential of increasing company profit and also customer service (porter, 2001). On one hand, strategy conceptualisation is difficult for pure-play grocery stores since companies have not tried business models before. On the other hand, formulation of strategies for clicks and bricks grocery shops requires strategies which will combine both existing retail practice and internet based shopping processes (Teo, 2002). Online shopping or e-grocery retailing service involves customers online buying behaviour and practices, order fulfilment and delivery of order, development and maintenance of online websites to facilitate customers to enter their orders (Hong and Kim, 2004). This literature provides insight of into e-groceries and their strategic methods. 2.3. Development of home deliveries in the UK:- In United Kingdom, from centuries home delivery of goods has been taking place. During 20th century some local door to door field sales and home deliveries went down due to rise large number of retail centres and also availability of cheap cars. However, some of the home delivery business still in existence such as milk and catalogue distribution etc. The innovation of large consumer products such as washing machines, dishwashers, refrigerators, televisions etc resulted in certain type of delivery methods after mid-twentieth century. (Spufford, 1994) The recent development of information technology has contributed many new methods to retailing sector over the internet which has drastically increased the demand of home deliveries. Online shopping and home delivery has become an ideal path or approach in a society where people themselves believe they are cash-rich and time-poor for grocery or household goods. E-commerce along with some other forms offers the opportunity for consumers to buy household goods from their homes and also to receive deliveries at their flexible timings rather than travelling to stores. (ibid) 2.4. Grocery and grocery industry:- Groceries and other food retailers function each and every day, yet it is fundamental and permanent industry sectors in the business world. Everybody requires food, thus everyone must and should purchase food from one or another retail outlet. Therefore, the grocery industry is a vast, fragmented and tremendously competitive environment (Kelly Delaney et al, 2003 pp 187). â€Å"In Great Britain, food retailing industry constitutes 36 percent of overall retail turnover annually (Central Statistical Office, 1990). In United Kingdom the largest individual category of family expenditure and along with some other groups, which are partially sold in supermarkets, like household goods, tobacco and alcohols, clothing and leisure goods for a considerably large share of customer shopping (Central Statistical Office, 1991). (Russell Aylott et al, 1998, Pp.363) 2.5. Customer base and market trends:- According to Verdict (2006a), 80% of the online shoppers were of 29 to50 age group in 2002. Majority of responded shoppers were females. There are three groups of online shoppers: firstly rich and busy people who are pressed for time, secondly families with one or more young children and thirdly people who find difficulty to get into stores. The first group of people are those who have higher income and less time to shop. These people are normally high internet users, technology comprehend or family with dual income. These rich and busy people prefer someone to shop behalf of them. The second group are those who have got young children in their families. They constitute higher number of e-grocery shoppers. The age group of e-grocery shoppers is 29 to 50 years old with at least one young child under five years of age. This group of people usually spend their time in cooking dinners for their family. Therefore they prefer shop online for regular household groceries. This category of pe ople wants to avoid hassle situation at stores by dragging kids along with them for shopping. The final group is comparably small to other two categories. This group of people are those who find difficulty to access the store environment due to several reasons like age or physical disability etc. Peoples average life span has increased in recent decades comparing to 1950s and 1960s. Peoples average life span has increased from 67.8 to 77.2 in 2007 and the estimated life span is 82.4 for 2015.Aged people and physically challenged people may need little more extra help while doing shopping. They may found it as difficult to drive to supermarkets and to carry heavy household goods back to home. Online shopping will be the good alternative source of grocery shopping for them. 2.6. Estimation of home delivery shopping market and market share:- In the year 1999 the total home shopping market worth was figured at  £12.36bn in the UK market. The projected view for 2004 was  £24.12bn. All sectors have experienced by considerable growth. Constant increase has been expected for following 5 years as customers accept different new channels for purchasing of goods. Traditional grocery shopping is a matured market. However, recent developments and growth predicts that, it has been generated by potential e-commerce and majority of grocers have converted a part of their business into e-grocers. UK e-shopping was  £581m worth in the year 1999 and estimated growth of  £1.53bn in 2000. Verdict research predicted that there will be huge growth of 3.36% of total sales in online market and it was estimated as  £8.84bn by 2004(Nielsen, 2000). 2.7. Market trends in home shopping:- E-commerce growth in recent decades (excluding some declined cases) has transformed old traditional companies into technology implemented new companies. Moreover, now companies are in better position to exploit and implement new technologies to business models to grow their sales and profit. In the starting days of internet technology there were comments from academic commentators that most of incumbent businesses were unwilling to try internet for sales channel. There was lack of internet knowledge and also uneven distribution of amount for physical distribution. These companies distribution infrastructures have their brand names and customer base which will help them to command and access the funding, and provide stronger position to embrace e-commerce (Anderson consulting, 2000). If we consider present situation, majority of internet user are males compare to females. This socio-economic difference in internet profile user also affects online shopping. Along with these higher proportion of society contains children and youth who currently own their own computer systems and access internet more than older generation. However, research depicts that some of these variations may diminish over the growth of technology. For example, the prediction of women internet user by the 2005 will increase by sixty percent of total UK online users. (Tesco 2000a; Tesco Annual Report, 2000). Many more established retailers are likely to adopt a new approach, Multichannel retail sector implementation and development, in future. Already there are alternative channel development methods by many large retailers. It will also permit retailers to create alternative channels to draw supply chains and resources from their existence channels. For manufacturing companies it will provide good opportunity to access customers directly and to formulate new methods of delivering service or product. There is an expectation of launching of new niche catalogues from major drivers in UK as growth rate penetrates. (Webb, 2000). 2.8. Geographical characteristics:- Sandoval (2002) mentioned analyst Robert Rubin said that average population density in UK is high compared to ones US. The US (31 per sq.km) population density is one-eighth of the UK (248 per sq.km) in 2004 (world population prospectus). Tesco and Sainsbury have become successful e-grocers in the UK. These grocers target highly populated urban areas for more potential consumers. Urban areas are densely populated, people reside very close. In large cities there are less people who own cars. There are other factors which influence online grocery shopping in urban areas such as busy lifestyle, highly crowded shopping malls, public transport dependence for transportation and higher income. According to Mclaughlin (2005) cities are highly populated with internet users and considerable residents with disposable income. It is difficult expand online shopping to system to all geographic areas instead it could be done from one urban area to another, expanding business like this will make company delivery truck to achieve high number of deliveries at every trip. 2.9. Psychographic characteristics:- Punakivi, M., Saranen, J. (2001) mentioned five major decision elements for online shopping (price, convenience, product variety, ambiance and service). He also stated several reasons to increase online shopping chances such as changing family structure, busy work schedule with increased working hours, less free time and time consuming traditional shopping methods. This social system transformation result in search of alternative independent grocery shopping methods. Customer with different disability made their interest towards e-shopping rather than traditional one. Woodside, Arch G. and Randolph J. Trappey (1992) mentioned that time and conveniences are the two major factors for people to switch from traditional shopping methods to electronic shopping methods. Technology should provide complete product description to satisfy different types of customer base. It may depends on several criteria such as different food preferences such as organic, religious, ethnic origin etc 2.10. Technological characteristics:- Punakivi, M., Saranen, J. (2001) states that, the food marketing institute indicates US consumers are highest internet users with eighty-six percent in that seventy percent will shop online daily. Whereas in the UK, broadband user are in fifth position in world and second position in Europe. E-commerce research 2007 shows 15.9 percent respondents brought groceries once in a week, 2.7 percent shops twice or thrice a month, largest group shops once or twice in a year. Increased internet users likely contribute the growth of online shopping. Online shoppers will make more shopping than in-store shoppers. â€Å"As the economy and society have changed, so retailers have responded and shopping as an activity has altered enormously. (Dawson and Broadbridge, 1988). Online shopping is comparatively a recent phenomenon, which provides an opportunity to consumers to carry out at least one part of buying process online. â€Å"Electronic grocery shopping has been defined as shopping when at least part of transaction is started electronically via third party services or the Internet, but paying and logistics are not necessarily performed digitally. (Carl Lewis, 2003-pp.207) E-shop business model represents one class of e-commerce where buyers and sellers interact electronically with each other, except for deliveries. Burke suggests many reasons web marketing of food. As an example, everybody has to eat, and in store shopping consumes considerable time to purchase and majority people do not like grocery shopping. Daily household goods are difficult to move physically from one place to another. Continuous growth of e-commerce enlightens many traditional grocery retailers to use internet channel to sell their goods. The development leads to many more conventional retails to enter into e-grocery field (Boedeker.M, 1997). 2.11. E-Customer Relationship Management (E-CRM):- Smith believed that, customers thinking about the shopping are predetermined in means of preference to products, price and accessibility. Satisfying such conditions and preferences thorough online process is carried out through designing e-commerce website. Online shopping store should focus on creating e-loyalty. Customer relationship management (CRM) programmes are the most effective way to incorporate loyalty. Customer service is one of the major aspects of business which includes customer assistant in sales, maintenance of customer policies, providing customised services, after-sales maintenance etc. Due to the different type and nature of products which are purchased at e-grocery shops there should be complete product description. Some websites provide procedures for return of product or reporting problems as a part of after-sales service. Some stores allow unsatisfied customer to return their product, some websites provide vast description about their products such as ripeness of their tomatoes (smith, 2000). All online shopping websites provide some customer rules and policies. According to Australian legislation, all online websites should maintain privacy policy (Australian Federal Government, 2000). 2.12. Success and failure factors from previous studies:- Friends of Earth (2005) believed that e-grocery method is the best way to promote industrys brand image. However, Punakivi, M., Saranen, J. (2001) and Kotler (1996) stated conversely; brand image of company will help to promote online grocery business. They also believed that industrys business experience and its infrastructure will be added advantage for promotion. One more factor is people ability to spend money for long duration household goods. Pachauri, Moneesha 2002 stated that competition in e-grocery retail sector remains the same until company stay in game. If any child companys online business started down falling then parental company may not let it to happen for longer duration because they are inter-related in means of profit sharing. Without the demand, services of online business company will lead to business failure. Retention of existing customer is one of the main aspects of business. To gain customer loyalty, companies should provide reward to regular shopper. Customers can also gain loyalty points for their spending and it will convert into reward coupons or vouchers. Brick and mortar stores utilises their existing business infrastructure to click and mortar stores to save on costs. Delaney-Klinger, Boyer, and Frohlich (2003) mentioned Tescos success and Webvan failure because of its marketing strategy for online business. Webvan marketed its online sales with value-added service and extra delivery charges to cope up with online ordering cost. Tescos pricing strategy is little higher than the Webvan and it most suitable one for lower volume sales. Smith, Howard (2004) stated that online-only business spent heavy money for their highly automated warehouses. The operating costs for these warehouses are high and order volumes for those companies are not more than half of their capacity. High initial start up cost for online division, although pricing strategy can able to reduce cost for internal order picking and delivery methods. However, Delaney-Klinger et al (2003) believed that the expenditure for short run will increase business cost for warehouse methods and decrease for existing store picking methods comparably. High initial start-up cost will results at higher risk for any organisation. Another aspect for failure will be lack of online business management knowledge and experience. Blythman, Joanna (2005) stated that, companies are not concentrating much on customer relation management for stabilising business consistently. Traditional grocers have more advantage over online grocers in this area. 2.13. Conclusion:- Online shopping and home delivery service is one of the critical aspects of e-grocery business. E-grocery business should have to understand the variable cost affecting structures and service concepts in order to turn online grocery business into profitable one. The different strategies were discussed. Analysing and adopting best strategy for e-grocery business is most important. This literature provides insight of e-groceries. In a service context, as with product marketing, getting and keeping customers is of utmost importance. With service, in particular, someone within the organization will interact with customers; hence they should be viewed as customer relationships not just customers. Customer relationships have to be built and a useful way of viewing these developments as a life cycle. The marketing objective will change as the customer proceeds through the cycle. Understanding service marketing is becoming increasingly important for all organizations as more firms seek to di fferentiate their product or services through their service offering. Interaction and customer relationship concepts are the two key areas of service marketing are said to be of even greater importance to all firms in the future. CHAPTER 3 3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 3.1. Research topic: Strategic and Economic analysis of E-grocery system in Tesco and Sainsbury (Online shopping and home delivery methods). 3.2. Background of home delivery system and its characteristics- Home delivery is generally defined as delivering of all types of goods to customers homes (or any different location opted by customer example workplace) regardless whether online or any other order forms such as traditional mailing, telephone-based ordering (phone order), internet, fax or order made in person by consumer in store premises. The study is carried out in business to customer order delivery system rather than business to business. Home delivery system refers to all household goods delivered to consumers house (the destination may change such as work place on customers selection). Hence in online shopping and home delivery method the purchased physical household goods are carried out to customers destination by specialised home delivery unit or companies instead of customers themselves. There are some reasons for home deliveries like (i) may be the retail outlet itself would provide an additional service to their customers or ( ii) may be customer do not like to carry the shopped goods at that instance or the required product may be out-of-stock at that moment or (iii) due to goods weight or size ( if it became difficulty to customer to transport by themselves) or (iv) because the seller itself does not have any physical store and may be its complete operation depends on the virtual online store. Thus customer may face impossible situation to collect the goods in store by themselves. (Farahmand and Young, 1998; Nielsen, 2000) 3.3. Research aim and objectives:- 3.3.1. Aim: To analyse the strategic and economic factors of e- grocery system in Tesco and Sainsbury. Hypothesis: Home delivery system is neither a profitable nor a strategic contributor to Tesco and Sainsbury. 3.3.2. Research objectives:- The objective of this study is to find out and explain empirically the above mentioned research issue by using various research methods. Our approach is comparative in nature. The steps adopted in our study are as follows: (1) Identification of the industries under study; (2) Study of background of the industries; (3) Interpretation of appropriateness of strategies and methods of individual firm; (4) Analysis of home delivery methods impact on organisational performance from individual firm. Research questions:- This research study is carried out to understand the factors of e-grocery success by trying to find answer to following research questions. What are Tescos and Sainsburys online units strategies to its success? What are the business models they are following? How are they processing their order? Should they use warehouse system or in-store picking system? Whether home delivery system is profitable or not? How should online unit function to achieve operational efficiency and how they are managing customer relationship? 3.4. Research Approach and methodology:- Research data collection is carried out both quantitatively and qualitatively. It will become difficult to distinguish between these two methods. Generally quantitative research method means collecting numerical data or coded information for objective analysis, data will be later interpreted. Qualitative research method is data collection by observations by peoples activity generally and they are noted in coded description. However, this codified information can be used for later analysis. The important form of this method is often reporting and interpretations by researcher by timely observation. A semi structured interview will be carried out during research which consists of analysis of Sainsbury and Tesco stores for data collection about home delivery. Interviews will be carried out with key persons like grocery manager, online delivery driver, and duty manager etc in each store to collect the quantitative and qualitative data. The quantitative data will be gathered for analysis. And results will be drawn from the following methods. This study uses semi-structured quantitative primary analysis (interview for data collection) and majorly uses qualitative method (secondary source) to identify UK grocery sector and to focus to answer research questions stated. Interviews will provide large amount of information which is main source of information and key pathway for time-constrained studies such as this (Esterberg, 2002). 3.4.1. Case study and historical analysis method:- According to Yin (1989), there are mainly five major investigating methods in social science research namely surveys, archival analysis, case studies, experiments and historical analysis. He also distinguishes them on the basis of three criteria; those are i) what kind of research question will be asked, ii) what will the degree of control over present behavioural consequences and iii) present emphasis compared to past events. Case studies and historical analysis are desirable approaches to evaluate strategies of organisations. These methods are useful to describe and answer the â€Å"how and/or â€Å"why scenario when events happen beyond researcher control and also while researching present phenomenon in real-life time. Inductive and deductive approaches will be used for analysis of research data. Inductive way means drawing the general conclusions from researcher based on empirical grounds. Deductive approach means drawing the conclusions from researchers logical reasoning (Ghauri, et.Al,. 1995). This study focus on collecting information regarding operational strategies of Tesco and Sainsbury and to understand, why they are providing online shopping facility to customers while many of the supermarket failed to stay in game. During the process of study, the companies actions or strategic implementations from them are beyond the control of researcher, case study and historical analysis methods will be best, for a part of research. 3.4.2. Meta-Analysis:- On this part, research study is carried out through qualitative meta-analysis for selected e-grocery organisations. Answers to main research questions will be collected qualitatively for each individual case (Lyons, 2003). The collected data will be analysed and possible relationships between business models and various out comes will be fetched out. This method is used to compare operations characteristics and strategies of Tesco and Sainsbury from the gathered data. This is the systematic approach for cross comparison of business models. There are few draw backs in meta-analysis such as, since data collected from various sources, hence, results quality is directly depends on the quality of source. Another, may companies may use similar strategic approach to achieve their goals which may be rarely identical. There is no unique approach to analyse data for meta-analysis. This effort is made to reveal answers from confirmed information from various sources (Graney and Engle, 1990). 3.5. Significance and limitations:-

The interactional nature of suspended clause constructions in Japanese

In spoken Japanese, subordinate clauses often occur without their main clauses. Ohori (1995; 1997) called them suspended clause constructions (SCCs) and formulated that a SCC occurs when â€Å"the intended message is either contextually inferable or conventionalized.† However, it is not very clear when and how the conversational participants know whether the intended message is contextually inferable (or conventionalized) or not, since a SCC and a â€Å"non-suspended version† of subordinate clause are not totally distinct category. Therefore, in order to consider the motivation for SCCs, we need to look carefully at the details of the process of producing SCCs. Based on the corpus analysis on naturally occurring conversational recordings, I propose to modify Ohori’s formulation from the Interactional Linguistic point of view. 1 Introduction It has been widely known that, in spoken Japanese, subordinate clauses (e.g. kedo- /kara- /node- /noni- clauses) often occur without their main clauses (Martin, 1975; Hinds, 1986). While they are syntactically incomplete, they comprise a complete utterance. For example, in (1), speaker A uses a kedo (‘though,’ ‘but’) clause without its main clause. Ohori (1995; 1997) argued that such patterns can be seen as independent grammatical constructions in the sense of Fillmore et al. (1988) and called them suspended clause constructions (SCCs). Answering to a question of â€Å"under what conditions can a clause ‘marked for subordination’ not be accompanied by a following main clause?† (pp.201-202), Ohori (1995) formulated that a SCC occurs when â€Å"the intended message is either contextually inferable or conventionalized† (p.213). From the Construction Grammarians’ point of view, Ohori (1995:216) argued tha... ...r when and how the conversational participants know whether the intended message is contextually inferable (or conventionalized) or not, since a SCC and a â€Å"non-suspended version† of subordinate clause are not totally distinct category. Therefore, in order to consider the motivation for SCCs, we need to look carefully at the details of the process of producing SCCs. Based on the corpus analysis on naturally occurring conversational recordings, I found that it cannot be predetermined whether an subordinate clause is a SCC or not. Rather, SCCs are realized retrospectively as a result of interactive negotiation among conversational participants. Thus, I propose to modify Ohori’s formulation as follows: a SCC occurs when the fact that the intended message is either contextually inferable or conventionalized is interactionally observable by the participants’ behavior.

Comparing In Search of Our Mothers Gardens and I Know Why the Caged Bi

In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens and I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings      Ã‚  Ã‚   Alice Walker and Maya Angelou are two contemporary African-American writers.   Although almost a generation apart in age, both women display a remarkable similarity in their lives.   Each has written about her experiences growing up in the rural South, Ms. Walker through her essays and Ms. Angelou in her autobiographies.   Though they share similar backgrounds, each has a unique style which gives to us, the readers, the gift of their exquisite humanity, with all of its frailties and strengths, joys and sorrows.    Tragedy struck both of these women at the age of eight.   Ms. Walker lost her sight in one eye.   Ms. Angelou was raped.   Each described the incident as part of a larger work.   Ms. Walker related her experience in the body of an essay published in her book, In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens.   Ms. Angelou told her story as a chapter in her autobiography, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.   Although both wrote about their traumatic experience, the way each depicted the incident was distinct and seemed to be told for very different purposes.    Alice Walker reports the facts to the reader with short sentences written in the present tense.   She chooses words which elicit a forceful emotional response from her audience.   For example, in telling how her brothers were given BB guns and she was not, Ms. Walker writes, "Because I am a girl, I do not get a gun.   Instantly, I am relegated to the position of Indian."   The word "relegated" causes the reader to be irate and indignant.   Most people do not like being "relegated" to anything.   Another illustration of Ms. Walker's use of dynamic words can be found in her descrip... ...e with their help.    Alice Walker and Maya Angelou are both extremely courageous writers.   From each we receive a rare and poignant gift.   As her book suggests, Alice Walker challenges us to search for resolution in the face of loneliness and despair.   Maya Angelou, who "knows why the caged bird sings," reminds us that loneliness and despair never have the last word.   She gently points us to a window of hope.   Both women bless us with shades of being human. Works Cited: Angelou, Maya. I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings. New York: Bantam, 1993. Draper, James P., ed., et al. Contemporary Literary Criticism, Vol. 77. Detroit: Gale Research Inc., 1993. Walker, Alice.   "In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens." Major Modern Essayists. Second Edition.   Ed. Gilbert H. Muller with Alan F. Crooks.   Englewood Cliffs:   Prentice Hall, 1994. 329-337.   

Creating a Modern-day Movie Adaptation of The Glass Menagerie Essay exa

Creating a Modern-day Movie Adaptation of The Glass Menagerie Dysfunctional. Codependent. Enmeshed. Low self-esteem. Personal struggles of the twenty-first century or those of the past? In his play, The Glass Menagerie, Tennessee Williams portrays a southern family of the 1940’s attempting to cope with life’s pressures, and each of their own conflicts, after they have been deserted by their father and husband. In attempting to create a modern-day movie adaptation of The Glass Menagerie from the original play, a parallel element would still be conveyed to the audience- inner and intra personal struggles of the past continue to be those of the present. If produced in the present day, the new version would have seemingly subtle changes such as new speaking styles, characters, and sets that will allow it to become modernized. Some original parts of the play such as â€Å"dated† dialogue, character traits, and settings will be discarded, but the original vision of Tennessee Williams will remain intact by keeping elements essential to recounting the Wingfield Family struggles.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As director of the updated production of The Glass Menagerie, one would first have to look at the type of speaking style and dialogue as a means to modernize the original content. In the play, Amanda, the mother, is characteristic of a southern belle. Her language reflects the stereotypical tradition and the polite nature of a southern woman. Tom and Laura, in keeping with their...

Black American Music History Essay

First of all, there is many different types of African American music but im going to talk about three in particular which are slave spirituals, blues, and the more common rap/hip-hop. First slave spirituals is a type of religious song originating among black slaves in the American south. It was famous for the reason that the lyrics of negro spirituals were tightly linked with the lives of their authors†¦. slaves! While work songs only dealt with their daily life, spirituals were inspired by the message of Jesus Christ and his Good News (Gospel) of the Bible, â€Å"You can be saved†! They are different from hymns and psalms, because they were a way of sharing the hard condition of being a slave. Another type of music there is are the blues. Blues is a type of folk song devised by Black Americans at the beginning of the 20th century. Blues was so important to the African Slaves because it was a sort of code, how they told stories that had things to do with their owner and everyday life. Lastly is the most common now in time some people know it as rap others as hip hop but it is the style and fashion of African American music. Hip hop is important to African American culture because it originated from it all started when blues and jazz crossed over and musicians started making beats which were call bebop. (Well maybe not the kids but the adults call it that). All music we know today it was all based on African American music many people do not know the importance of music was to the slaves some say it was the only thing that gave them hope. Why is music important to our culture? There is no objective answer to this question. The importance of music is different in every individual’s life. It inspires people and allows us to get in touch with our emotions in a way that is unique. For those amongst us who find it difficult to express ourselves, music can evoke reactions. Your mood can change from dark and depressed to elated and delirious happiness with just the selection of the right track and a hit of the play button. Music works wonders on creating a certain atmosphere. You can use music to liven up a boring party or to create a romantic ambiance. Music is important to all of us and some fail to realize the importance music is to the history of everybody not just one race but to everybody. Who knew music was so important from rock to classical music is all around us. In Conclusion, did Elvis Presley steal African American music and is Eminem doing the same? There has been people that believe that Elvis stole black music. But, there have been other people that say that he was inspired but black music but never stole it. There has also been rumors about Eminem is stealing black music. But he mentioned in interview that rapping isn’t meant just for one race is for everybody. Ha ha, and he’s basically right! Music it lives in all of us.

Diderot

I have come to a point in life that many people have not. I have made a firm decision to recommit myself to pursuing my dreams. While there are those who believe that with an ounce of luck and a ton of persistence anything can be accomplished, I believe that there is no reason to expend so much energy and rely on luck. I believe in taking hold of my destiny and carving out a future for myself based on the decisions that I make in life. Life is simply too short and too precious to be left to luck alone.I have many very special characteristics that make this profession one that I will not only excel at, but one that I know will provide me with great opportunity to meet and treat my community. Although an excellent student, my ability to listen to people has helped me to excel both professionally and personally. Too often people are misdiagnosed, misheard and not heard at all because of the time constraints forced on the profession by the high number of patients and insurance constraint s.This was not always a characteristic I would consider my strongest, but after realizing the importance of listening to people I decided to change my own behavior, and even change my small part of the world. The ability to hear people, to really listen, has transformed my life in a positive and crucial way. This experience of working with those who are less fortunate in life has opened my eyes to the possibilities of pursuing a career that revolves around helping others. I realize that there is a lot that I am grateful for in life and that there is also so much that I can give to others.By devoting my life to the service of others I am confident that I too can benefit by having the opportunity to learn more about myself and others. Growing up we lived in a middle income neighborhood, at best, and I was very fortunate to be surrounded with not only many cultures, but many income levels. My friends were as diverse as the neighborhood we lived in, a melting pot. I learned early on not to pass judgments on people based on their wealth, lack of it, color, religious background or anything that may make my friends different from me.Some of my best memories are of all of sharing what we did on the holidays. I was grateful for such loyal friends and will never forget how they helped me become the adult I am today. These, I believe, are the main characteristics that one needs to possess for social work practice. While I may not have the qualifications as others, I am confident that my determination to succeed in the pursuit of a career in social work will help me in the future. From the point of view of personal growth, I must admit that there is so much for me to gain from doing voluntary service at the elderly home.One important aspect of personal growth is the understanding and the lessons that I can learn from the elderly. The youth, such as me, must learn how to acknowledge the achievements of the older generation and respect their experience. The older generation has a hard time teaching the youth how to avoid the same mistakes that they made when they were young because all they see is wasted and reckless youth but I see that my exposure at a home for the elderly will give me the unique opportunity to learn from them and perhaps avoid the same mistakes.I have found that my experiences with the older generation have inspired in me the joys of learning. As previously mentioned, there is so much that I can learn from them and so much knowledge and wisdom that they can impart. As such, this also creates a certain excitement for me for I know that as I grow as a person there lies so much for me in the world. Unique opportunities that are available to those who are prepared and ready to make a contribution to the world. Pursuing my career in this course is just the first step in my plan. My main philosophy in life is to lead by setting an example.I cannot expect others to do what I myself would be willing to do but that does not mean that I cann ot hope that others will see the example that I have shown them. This philosophy is one of the many forces that drive me to pursue my dream of pursuing this career and of becoming so much more in life. The chance to help those who are less fortunate in life, the chance to help those in need, the opportunity to be of service to humanity; these are the reasons why I have selected this as the profession that I will pursue; for, as Eleanor Roosevelt once said, â€Å"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams†¦Ã¢â‚¬ 