Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet - 700 Words

Set in the turmoil of WW2, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet is a love of bitterness and sweetness book involving a Japanese girl, Keiko, and a Chinese boy, Henry. They strives to keep their relationship and deal with the consequences inflicted upon them by their parents and the war. As the story rolls along, many thoughts occurred that Henry and Keiko would be able to marry, but a twist happens, which results in their separation; unquestionably, Henry and Keiko moves on to have their own family.Therefore, does Henry gives up on Keiko too easily? Yes, Henry give up on Keiko too easily. Henry has his chance of going back to Keiko, but he let it slips by. He tries to forget about Keiko and moves on with his life. Henry thought that his†¦show more content†¦Even though he knows that later on, the problem can not be fixed. As Henry was talking to Marty and Samantha, he says: â€Å"You look at what you have, not what you miss, and you moved forward† (Ford 268). After Henry found the record, he went to talk to Bud about fixing the record but Henry knew that: â€Å"Somethings just can’t be put back together. Some things can never be fixed. Two broken pieces can’t make a lot of anything anymore† (Ford 275). Henry, making the decisions he did, think it is better not to bring up the past. Obviously, Henry wants to fix the broken record, but in fact he knew that the broken record, like Henry’s and Keiko’s relationship, can never be fixed. The best is to forget and move forward with life. Despite Marty’s nagging and the circumstances, Henry never told Marty about Keiko and never seem to thought of seeing Keiko after letting her go for so long. Although it May Seem True, But it is Not Finally, Reuniting with someone after a long period of time shows that separation can not stop one’s from pursuing its loved ones. Certainly many readers seem to consider that Henry does not give up on Keiko too easily because they reconvene at the end. However, in the first place, Henry never wanted to go, as he genuinely believes that there are no benefit and that it is the only alternative way. On the way home from Camp Harmony, Henry reflected about what his father says: â€Å"His father said once that the hardestShow MoreRelatedHotel On The Corner Of Bitter And Sweet1528 Words   |  7 PagesThe historical fiction Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford is an almost quintessential illustration of the idea that love can exist anywhere without parameters. Clearly, this idea is seen with the relationship between Henry Lee, a Chinese American boy residing in Seattle, and Keiko Okabe, a Japanese American girl who falls v ictim to the atrocious Japanese American internment policy put forth by the United States government during World War 2. Despite the clashes and deep-seatedRead MoreHotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet2605 Words   |  11 PagesHotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet Book Review Summary of Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet is a story that explores the experiences of Chinese and Japanese Americans during World War II with both insight and compassion. The story begins in 1986 with Henry, an elderly Chinese-American man walking past the Panama hotel in Seattle, which has been boarded up since the war. Memorabilia within the basement of the hotel take Henry backRead MoreAnalysis Of Hotel On The Corner Of Bitter And Sweet ``1404 Words   |  6 PagesOnce in a blue moon there is someone who knows it all, someone who knows and accepts you unconditionally, and someone who is there for life†. McCorkle’s description of a â€Å"gold friend† reminds me of a novel I recently read called â€Å"Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet† where friendship is universal and described as a bridge that connect all social gaps including gender, race and differences in abilities. Throughout the book, author Jamie Ford has succeeded to show readers that frien dship is theRead MoreAnalysis Of Hotel On The Corner Of Bitter And Sweet934 Words   |  4 PagesHotel on the Corner of Bitter and sweet Jamie Ford writes â€Å"Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and sweet† and the publisher of the book is Ballantine Books. They published the book in English on 1st February 2009. â€Å"Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet† story sets during one of the most conflicted and volatile times in American history. The time period of the story is after the Pearl Harbor boomed and the internment of American-Japanese families during the World War II. â€Å"Hotel of the corner bitterRead MoreHotel On The Corner Of Bitter And Sweet Analysis949 Words   |  4 Pagesâ€Å"True love is like ghosts, which everyone talks about and few have seen†. This is a quote said by Francois de La Rochefoucauld, which explains the rarity of true love. In Jamie Ford’s novel, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, the record of Oscar Holden symbolizes the relationship between Henry and Keiko, which is sensed as true love. Throughout the book, Henry and Keiko experience many ups and downs in their relationships which can be reflected by the treatment and condition of the record.Read MoreAnalysis Of Hotel On The Corner Of Bitter And Sweet1404 Words   |  6 Pagesthroughout these years we had fights and good moments and this is what forms this strong â€Å"interpersonal bond† also known as friendship. In our novel Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet Henry and his friends faces different challenges throughout the story whic h strengthens their ties. In Jamie Ford’s novel Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, Ford communicates the theme that friendship is needed especially during difficult times through the character’s actions in the books. Ford shows us oneRead MoreAnalysis Of Hotel On The Corner Of Bitter And Sweet2326 Words   |  10 Pages Jamie Ford’s book Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, is a story about the experiences and hardships that Japanese-Americans suffered during World War II. The protagonist Henry, a twelve-year old Chinese-American boy at the time of the war, reacted with more than just curiosity. The story opens with the news that belongings of several families who were interned is more than just curiosity; he had a deep personal connection to the events of the past and the story uncovers his memories. HenryRead MoreHotel On The Corner Of Bitter And Sweet By Jamie Ford1031 Words   |  5 Pagesreduced by it.† This quote encompasses the idea that change is inevitable. A person is involved in numerous relationships during their lifetime and what happens within them can change who they become in the future. Within the novel, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford, t he relationships that Henry Lee has developed throughout his lifetime have shaped him into the person he is today. To begin, the relationship between Henry and his father has a huge impact on who he is today. HenryRead MoreAnalysis Of Hotel On The Corner Of Bitter And Sweet, By Jamie Ford986 Words   |  4 PagesThe novel â€Å"Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet,† written by Jamie Ford is a compelling novel about a young Chinese American boy name Henry. Henry is growing up after the Pearl Harbor incident and the start of the internment camps for Japanese Americans. Henry’s ethnicity as a Chinese American affects his childhood in being bulled in school, having a distant relationship with his parents, and causes issues with his first love Keiko, a Japanese American girl. First, by looking at the way Henry’sRead MoreAnalysis Of Hotel On The Corner Of Bitter And Sweet, Henry And Keiko1098 Words   |  5 Pagesenjoyable when having someone to share good and bad memories. It is always best to keep the most important relationships closest to the heart. By doing this, dealing with life struggles can become a much more easy ordeal. In the book, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, Henry and Keiko were always there for each other. Jamie Ford, the author, was able to portray two best friends that shared an ordinary yet unique childhood. Henry is a young Chinese boy living in the heart of a town where whites

Relective Essay - 1074 Words

I will be reflecting on my experience as a student nurse on my participation in patient-centred care. I will be focusing on how communication is a key factor to ensuring the comfort of your patient during their journey in hospital. My reflection will be based on my practice learning experience in a neurology ward. I have chosen a particular example for ineffective communication. The aim of this essay will be to use the framework of Gibbs reflective Cycle (1988) to allow me to reflect in a written and clear way, this will gives me the chance to look at communication from different angles and allows me to explore areas of practice which could be changed in the future (Jasper, 2003). As a nurse I feel that we learn a lot of our skills†¦show more content†¦If I were to evaluate my experience as in Gibbs (1988).This was an ideal example of why inter professional communication is very essential. As a nurse we communicated to the theatre staff through the paperwork and by phoning them and when they told her that she couldn’t get the procedure, we communicated that this was their fault and stood up for our patient. Analysis: Using Gibbss reflective cycle has assisted me in making sense of the situation and to put things into perspective, recognizing how I can put this learning experience to positive use in my future practice as a Nursing professional. If this situation were to arise again I know I would be as assertive and if I feel the needs of a patient are not being met, my first consideration should be to protect the interests and safety of patients, in line with the NMC (2002) Code of Professional Conduct, (clause 8). This reflection has highlighted the need to increase my knowledge and understanding of the process of communicating with patients who are vulnerable; I will address these issues by always making sure that the patients allergies are highlighted. Conclusion In conclusion it can be seen that the nurse has a very important role in communicating with patients through their treatment. When a patient is admitted to hospital, professional staff could have been prevented. Overall, through this reflection I have learnt thatShow MoreRelatedEssay on Relective Case Study3542 Words   |  15 Pagesï » ¿ AMB240 MARKETING PLANNING MANAGEMENT Assessment Item 3 Reflective Case Study Report Student Name: Brenda Pham Student Number: N8024642 Tutor: Mr Naseer Choudhry Due Date: 27th October, 2013 Word Count: 2130 Executive summary This case analysis summarizes the outcomes of the performance, problems, possible solutions and recommendations for Spring Princess based on the results in the Qutopian Market days on the 28th September and 12th October, 2013. Spring Princess made

Media Law and Ethics for Legal System- MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about theMedia Law and Ethicsfor Malaysian Legal System. Answer: The Malaysian legal system is primarily based on the common Law legal system. The Constitution of Malaysia is considered as the supreme law of the land that outlines the legal structure and the rights of the citizens of Malaysia (Tan 2016). Malaysia follows parliamentary democracy under the administration of a constitutional monarchy with His Majesty Yang Di-Pertuan Agong as the head of the state. The legislative authority is the power to legislate laws that are applicable to the Federation under Article 66(1) of Federal Constitution. At the Federal level, the legislative power is vested in a bicameral Parliament that is led by the Yang Di-pertuan Agong and include the Dewan Negara (House of Senate) and Dewan Rakyat (House of Representatives). The Parliament exercises its power to enact Law by passing Bills in both the Houses. A bill is originated in either House except for Money Bill which must be originated in the House of Representatives and a Minister can only introduce the Bill as laid down under Article 67 of the Federal Constitution. When a bill is introduced in a House, it shall be sent it to the other House after the bill is passed by the house where it was initially introduced. After the Bill is passed by both the houses, it shall be presented before Yang Di-Pertuan Agong for his assent as stipulated under Article 66(3) of the Federal Constitution. In both the Houses of Parliament, a Bill has to go through several stages of Reading before it is finally passed. During the First reading stage, the Minister introduces the bill in Dewan Rakyat by giving a reading on the short title of the Bill (Shin and Aslam 2015). During the second reading stage, the contents of the Bill are discussed in detail and are debated at length by all the members of the Dewan Rakyat. Thereafter, the Bill goes through a committee stage where the committee members discuss the technical details of the content of the Bill. During this stage, the committee members shall examine the Bill and consider any amendment if it is necessary. The report of amendment shall be circulated to all the members of the Dewan Rakyat. At the stage of the third reading, the Bill shall be sent to the Dewan Negara where the Bill shall go through the same process before it is passed by the house and sent to the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong for his assent. After the bill is sent to the Dewa n Negara, it may recommend necessary recommendations and send the same to the Dewan Rakyat for consideration of the recommended amendments. The House of Representatives may accept or reject such recommendations made the House of Senates (Mokhtar 2017). According to Article 66(4) of the Federal Constitution, the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong (YDPA) must give his assent to the Bill by affixing a pubic seal thereto. However, under Article 66(4) and 4 A of the Federal Constitution, the YDPA must assent the Bill within 30 days from the date the Bill is presented before him. After the expiry of the 30 days, it shall be deemed that the YDOA has assented to the Bill and it will automatically become a Law. The Bills assented by the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong becomes law, however, no bill shall be deemed to be a legislation unless the same has been gazette and published under Article 66(5) of the Federal Constitution. Further, at the time of emergency, the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong may frame laws by way of issuing emergency ordinances and in order to enact the laws during the time of emergency, the YDPA need not follow the legal procedure to enact law (Ariffin et al. 2014). Reference List Ariffin, M.Y.M., Liaw, J.O.H., Abdullah, M.R.T. and Husin, W.N.W., 2014. The Practices of Protocol in Malaysian Society. Mokhtar, K.A., 2017. Institutions and mechanisms for internal conflict resolution: legal and non-legal means in resolving dispute and attaining justice in Malaysia.Jurnal Media Hukum,23(2), pp.171-185. Shin, T.Y. and Aslam, M., 2015. MALAYSIA: MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT AND THE BUDGET PLAN.Journal of Southeast Asian Studies,18(1). Tan, K.Y., 2016. 4 Judicial review of elections in Malaysia.Judicial Review of Elections in Asia, p.57.

Solar Energy And Its Social Consequences Essays - Energy Economics

Solar Energy and Its Social Consequences To understand the social consequences of solar energy, one must be aware of what solar energy is. Solar energy is a radiant energy produced in the sun as a result of nuclear fusion reactions. It is transmitted to the earth through space in quanta of energy called photons, which interact with the earth's atmosphere and surface. The strength of solar radiation at the outer edge of the earth's atmosphere when the earth is at its average distance from the sun is called the solar constant. The intensity of energy actually available at the earth's surface is less than the solar constant because of the absorption and scattering of radiant energy as photons interact with the earth's atmosphere (Thorsen, 1997, Encarta). The amount and strength of the solar energy available at any point on the earth depends on the day of the year, time of day, the latitude of the collection point, and the orientation of the object used in collection. The earth is rich in abundant natural resources. However, the earth's natural resources are being consumed at an astronomical rate. It will only be a matter of time before those resources are depleted and we are forced to consider other alternatives. We can wait until every resource has been consumed and go back to living the way mankind did a century ago, or we can continue to move forward and explore the possibilities of harnessing the power of something that remains constant in our lives?the sun. Mankind has been using the natural energy of the sun for ages. Interactions between the sun's energy, the oceans, and the atmosphere produce winds that have been used for centuries to turn windmills. Modern applications of wind energy, when attached to generators, produce electricity. Through photosynthesis, solar energy contributes to the growth of plant life masses that can be used as fuel, such as alcohol or methane. Solar energy is a clean and safe source of natural energy that should be considered as an alternative energy source for the future. The sun is not indigenous to any one country. It is a resource that can be utilized globally. Individuals and countries could possibly become more self sufficient in energy resources (Alcorn, 1997, p. 212). An idea that has been proposed to produce power on a large scale would involve placing giant solar modules in earth's orbit where energy generated from sunlight would be converted to microwaves and beamed to antennas on earth to be converted to electric power (Thorsen, 1997, Encarta). To produce as much power a five nuclear power plants, ten million pounds and several square miles of solar collectors would have to be assembled in orbit and an earth based antenna five miles in diameter would be required. This vision requires an exorbitant amount of money. To my knowledge, there isn't a government on earth that is willing, thus far, to fund such a project. The potential future uses of solar energy are confronted with opposition. So far, the cost of constructing devices that would be able to harness a free energy source is at the top of the list. I realize there is a lot of money involved, but I really can't think of any technological discovery that was free to begin with. Every invention has come about through scientific research, and research requires money. Some have expressed concern regarding certain industries having to change their products to supply the new needs of society (Alcorn, 1997, p. 213). Due to new and expected futures advances in technology, the world will always be forever changing. Some industries will initially absorb some monetary and opportunity costs, but it is the price they will have to pay for progression. Another public concern is Mother Nature. If we experience too many cloudy days in a row; then we will need a backup source of energy. Perhaps it would be a good idea to explore the possibilities and fund th e research for solar energy before we deplete our backup resources.

Free Essays on Muslim Society

â€Å"Muslim society had a sophistication matched at that time only by the Tang Empire of China.† (Mcdougal Littell, 242) The Muslim society was very advanced in many ways compared to the societies of other major civilizations. They made great advancements in the blending of cultures, math and science, and arts and literature. All this made possible the a semblance of the House of Wisdom, a combination library academy, and translation center. Muslim culture was centered around its four social classes. It included the born Muslims at the top. Converts were in the next class and had to pay higher taxes than the born Muslims. Next came the non-Muslim people who paid the most taxes of them all. The lowest class were the slaves, all of whom were non-Muslim. Muslims believed that math was the basis of all knowledge. A Muslim first described â€Å"al-jabr†, which we still use today as Algebra. Many of the Muslim’s researched of math lead to scientific discoveries. Astronomy and Optics were two fields in which the Muslims greatly excelled in. Ibn Haytham was the person to discover that rays pass from object to eyes. Literature was a strong tradition to the culture All literature stemmed from things such as bravery, love, generosity, and hospitality. All the culture’s literature was based on the sacred Qur’an. Muslims also had a deep interest in art, though they had to come up with inter esting ways to do it. Islam forbid the painting of humans. So artist came up with creative ways to do it, for example using calligraphy. But the most beautiful thing from their culture was the architecture. Though Muslims are now regarded as back-wards in their ways of women. In this particular time period Muslim women had more rights than most women. Poor women could work along side their husbands and the rich ones overlooked servants and could even get an education.... Free Essays on Muslim Society Free Essays on Muslim Society â€Å"Muslim society had a sophistication matched at that time only by the Tang Empire of China.† (Mcdougal Littell, 242) The Muslim society was very advanced in many ways compared to the societies of other major civilizations. They made great advancements in the blending of cultures, math and science, and arts and literature. All this made possible the a semblance of the House of Wisdom, a combination library academy, and translation center. Muslim culture was centered around its four social classes. It included the born Muslims at the top. Converts were in the next class and had to pay higher taxes than the born Muslims. Next came the non-Muslim people who paid the most taxes of them all. The lowest class were the slaves, all of whom were non-Muslim. Muslims believed that math was the basis of all knowledge. A Muslim first described â€Å"al-jabr†, which we still use today as Algebra. Many of the Muslim’s researched of math lead to scientific discoveries. Astronomy and Optics were two fields in which the Muslims greatly excelled in. Ibn Haytham was the person to discover that rays pass from object to eyes. Literature was a strong tradition to the culture All literature stemmed from things such as bravery, love, generosity, and hospitality. All the culture’s literature was based on the sacred Qur’an. Muslims also had a deep interest in art, though they had to come up with inter esting ways to do it. Islam forbid the painting of humans. So artist came up with creative ways to do it, for example using calligraphy. But the most beautiful thing from their culture was the architecture. Though Muslims are now regarded as back-wards in their ways of women. In this particular time period Muslim women had more rights than most women. Poor women could work along side their husbands and the rich ones overlooked servants and could even get an education....

Pigment Definition and Chemistry

Pigment Definition and Chemistry A pigment is a substance that appears a certain color because it selectively absorbs wavelength of light. While many materials possess this property, pigments with practical applications are stable at normal temperatures and have a high tinting strength so only a small amount is needed to see the color when its used on objects or mixed with a carrier. Both pigments and dyes absorb light to appear a certain color. In contrast, luminescence is a process by which a material emits light. examples of luminescence include phosphorescence, fluorescence, chemiluminescence, and bioluminescence. Pigments that either fade or else blacken over time or with extended exposure to light are called fugitive pigments. The earliest pigments came from natural sources, such as charcoal and ground minerals. Paleolithic and Neolithic cave paintings indicate carbon black, red ochre (iron oxide, Fe2O3), and yellow ochre (hydrated iron oxide, Fe2O3 ·H2O) were known to prehistoric man. Synthetic pigments came into use as early as the 2000 BCE. White lead was made by mixing lead and vinegar in the presence of carbon dioxide. Egyptian blue (calcium copper silicate) came from glass colored using malachite or another copper ore. As more and more pigments were developed, it became impossible to keep track of their composition. In the 20th century, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) developed standards for characteristics and testing of pigments. The Colour Index International (CII) is a published standard index that identifies each pigment according to its chemical composition. Over 27,000 pigments are indexed in the CII schema. Pigment Versus Dye A pigment is a substance that is either dry or else insoluble in its liquid carrier. A pigment in liquid forms a suspension. In contrast, a dye is either a liquid colorant or else dissolves in a liquid to form a solution. Sometimes a soluble dye may be precipitated into a metal salt pigment. A pigment made from a dye in this manner is called a lake pigment (e.g., aluminum lake, indigo lake). Pigment Definition in the Life Sciences In biology, the term pigment is defined somewhat differently, where a pigment refers to any colored molecule found in a cell, regardless of whether or not it is soluble. So, although hemoglobin, chlorophyll, melanin, and bilirubin (as examples) dont fit the narrow definition of pigment in science, they are biological pigments. In animal and plant cells, structural color also occurs. An example may be seen in butterfly wings or peacock feathers. Pigments are the same color no matter how they are viewed, while structural color depends on the viewing angle. While pigments are colored by selective absorption, structural color results from selective reflection. How Pigments Work Pigments selectively absorb wavelengths of light. When white light strikes a pigment molecule, there are different processes that can lead to absorption. Conjugated systems of double bonds  absorb light in some organic pigments. Inorganic pigments may absorb light by electron transfer. For example, vermilion absorbs light, transferring an electron from the sulfur anion (S2-) to a metal cation (Hg2). The charge-transfer complexes remove most colors of white light, reflecting or scattering back the remainder to appear as a certain color. Pigments absorb or subtract wavelengths and do not add to them like luminescent materials do. The spectrum of the incident light affects the appearance of a pigment. So, for example, a pigment wont appear quite the same color under sunlight as it would under fluorescent lighting because a different range of wavelengths are left to be reflected or scattered. When the color of a pigment is represented, the lab light color used to take the measurement must be stated. Usually this is 6500 K (D65), which corresponds to the color temperature of sunlight. The hue, saturation, and other properties of a pigment depend on other compounds that accompany it in products, such as binders or fillers. For example, if you purchase a color of paint, it will appear different depending on the formulation of the mixture. A pigment will look different depending on whether its final surface is glossy, matte, etc. The toxicity and stability of a pigment are also affected by other chemicals in a pigment suspension. This is of concern for tattoo inks and their carriers, among other applications. Many pigments are highly toxic in their own right (e.g., lead white, chrome green, molybdate orange, antimony white). List of Important Pigments Pigments may be classified according to whether they are organic or inorganic. Inorganic pigments may or may not be metal-based. Here is a list of some key pigments: Metallic Pigments cadmium pigments -  cadmium red, cadmium yellow, cadmium orange, cadmium green, cadmium sulfoselenidechromium pigments -  chrome yellow, viridian (chrome green)cobalt pigments -  cobalt blue, cobalt violet, cerulean blue,  aureolin  (cobalt yellow)copper pigments -  azurite, Egyptian blue, malachite, Paris green, Han purple, Han blue,  verigris, phthalocyanine green G, phthalocyanine blue BNiron oxide pigments -  red ochre, Venetian red, Prussian blue, sanguine, caput mortuum, oxide redlead pigments -  red lead, lead white,  cremnitz  white, Naples yellow, lead-tin yellowmanganese pigment -  manganese violetmercury pigment -  vermilliontitanium pigments -  titanium white, titanium black, titanium yellow, titanium beigezinc pigments -  zinc white, zinc ferrite Other Inorganic Pigments carbon pigments -  carbon black, ivory blackclay  earths  (iron oxides)ultramarine pigments (lapis lazuli) -  ultramarine, ultramarine green Organic Pigments biological pigments -  alizarin, alizarin crimson, gamboge, cochineal red, rose madder, indigo, Indian yellow, Tyrian purplenonbiological organic pigments -  quinacridone, magenta,  diarylide  yellow, phthalo blue, phthalo green, red 170

MANAGING IN A MIXED ECONOMY Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

MANAGING IN A MIXED ECONOMY - Essay Example In today’s mixed economy, governments belonging to diverse nations have been dealing with private organisations through PPP as it provides three major facilities. First, PPP is quite efficient in assisting government to react with increasing demand of infrastructure based services. The second facility is that PPP assists government to exploit the public resources that would be utilised for making infrastructure development, hence shifting the liability of capital outlay to the private segment. PPP permits government to allocate resources for other admirable improvement related expenditures. And the third facility is that PPP supports government in terms of effective supply of services. The corporate pattern of private segment provides improved effectiveness and also offers higher returns on investment in comparison to government possession. The root of so called PPP is considered to be originated from the United States and the United Kingdom correspondingly. Denationalisation of public services and deregulation are few key aspects which has characterised the new era of management reorganisation and restructure of governmental activities (Bovaird & Loffler, 2009). With respect to PPP, the UK is considered as the leader. UK has first presented large scale PPPs in the economy. From the years 1987 to 2004, the government of the UK has contracted about 677 PPPs that valued nearly about  £43 billion. ?43 billion. The amount of PPPs in the UK has increased considerably from the year 2000 due to increased pressure from the citizens to provide as well as to develop essential infrastructures for them (McQuaid & Scherrer, 2008). PPP is the tag for standard modification in public management which is applied mainly for innovative improvements. PPP has its derivation from established business administration concept which is overwhe lming the incompetent distribution of resources in public authorities and delivery of public services. Public establishments are found to suffer from several economic disasters because of inherent faults in functional and operational management. PPP therefore attempts to gain substantial profit from the improvement of public segments by a greater level (Richards & Smith, 2002). It has been apparently observed that the governments belonging to dissimilar nations established PPP in order to encourage privatisation and support private entrepreneurs. However, it is worth mentioning that PPP is basically regarded as a set of institutional association between government and several actors of private segment. PPP is viewed to be neither an improvement strategy nor an unattached collaboration between different representatives; rather it is continuing set of dealings to accomplish certain predetermined objectives (McCartney & Stittle, 2008). The government of the UK believes PPP as a variety of business structures and partnership arrangements. The government of the UK has developed three major types of PPP which are proprietorship, endowment of services and sales of public services. Furthermore, PPP has corresponding role in allowing organisations to provide mutual basis between public and private segment in order to encou

The Rational Consumer Personal Statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

The Rational Consumer - Personal Statement Example The alternative I have for buying gasoline is use of other types of fuels and public means of transport. However, in substituting these alternatives with buying gasoline, I must incur an opportunity cost. According to Hussain (2010), an opportunity cost is the cost incurred when one turns from using a product to using its best alternative. In this particular case, the opportunity cost for buying gasoline is the inconvenience of using public means of transport and engine malfunctions due to use of other fuels. Due to this opportunity cost, I will not be able to turn to zero consumption in the short run. However, I might later turn to zero consumption by acquiring an engine specifically made to use other fuels. In the short run, when the price of gasoline increases, the expenses on other goods will increase especially for substitute of gasoline. The reason for this is substitution effect. Substitution effect is the relative change in consumption of a product as consumers substitute it with cheaper substitutes (Hirschey, 2008). As the price of gasoline increases, I would substitute it with its cheaper alternatives and thus the income I spend on those other goods would

Principles of diversity equality Essay Example for Free

Principles of diversity equality Essay Outcome 1: Understand the importance of diversity, equality and inclusion. 1.1 Define what is meant by: Diversity:- Is that right of each individual to be different and to have differences from others. Equality:- the state of being equal, especially in status, rights or opportunities. Inclusion:- the action or state of including or being included within a group or structure. Discrimination:- the unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people, especially on the grounds of race, age or sex. 1.2 Describe how direct or indirect discrimination may occur in the work setting. Direct discrimination: Institutional/Company: different pay levels offered for the same job, promotion offers to only a select group of employees; job offers and training opportunities being offered to individuals of a certain race or age; bullying, excluding others, provocations of colleagues or clients on the basis of their gender, age, religious beliefs, ethnicity, language, social class, sexual orientation. Indirect discrimination: Inadequate facilities put in place for those with disabilities, making demands on workforce which they deem as being disadvantageous to employees of a certain group; using overly complex terminology when providing information either members of staff or the clients Read more: Describe the potential effects of discrimination essay 1.3 Explain how practices that support diversity, equality and inclusion reduce the likelihood of discrimination. Mixing groups of individuals in situations like; training sessions encourages cohesion and fosters the opportunities for individuals to work well with each other in partnership. Introducing facilities that aid mobility as this encourages the involvement of individuals who are less mobile and makes them feel included as their needs are being taken into account. Putting in place polices that empower employees and show the individuals value to the company such as; employee of the month awards and bonuses given for consistent good work. This will increase the employees confidence in carrying out their job and want to  continue their employment contract with the company. Outcome 2: Know how to work in an inclusive way. 2.1 List key legislations and codes of practice relating to diversity, equality, inclusion and discrimination in adult social care settings. Equalities Act (2001). The Employment Act (2008). Health and Social Care Act (2012). Human Rights Act (1998). Mental Capacity Act (2005). Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act (2006). 2.2 Describe how to interact with individuals in an inclusive way. Being empathetic towards the clients situation and showing a genuine interest in their concerns and needs. Allowing and encouraging a two-way dialogue to occur between the care worker and the client using techniques such as; active listening to aid communication. Respecting individuals cultural and/or religious differences and working with them in a way that doesnt go against their beliefs or morals. 2.3 Describe ways in which discrimination may be challenged in adult social care settings. Putting in place a company policy of zero-tolerance regarding discrimination. Informing all members of staff and clients about how and when to make complaints regarding any issues of concern including discrimination. Encouraging others to challenge discrimination. Maintaining a record of discriminatory behaviour and resorting to disciplinary actions to deal with such behaviour. Routinely updating policies and procedures of organisation in relation to discrimination. Using previous discriminatory cases to aid the continuous professional development of the members of staff as they can act as an example of how they can respond and handle similar situations if and when they occur in their future working life with the company. Outcome 3: Know how to access information, advice and support about diversity, equality, inclusion and discrimination. 3.1 Identify sources of  information, advice and support about diversity, equality, inclusion and discrimination. Company care worker handbook. Skills for care website. Heath Social Care Information Centre website. NHS website. Healthcare Diversity Council website. 3.2 Describe how and when to access information, advice and support about diversity, equality, inclusion and discrimination. An individual should access information, advice and support about diversity, equality, inclusion and discrimination in instances where they believe that either them or the client who they are assisting being treated unfairly due to factors like an individuals race or ethnicity; having access to the relevant legislative rules and regulations such as; the Equalities Act (2001) or The Employment Act (2008) and the companys policies and procedures regarding diversity, equality, inclusion and discrimination so that they know exactly what their employer is legally required to put into place in order to foster diversity, equality, inclusion and prevent discrimination. This information especially the companys policies and procedures will also inform the care worker of the proper procedure that needs to occur when the care worker experiences issues regarding diversity, equality, inclusion and discrimination.

Analysis of Sonic Corporation Essay -- Sonic Corporation Fast Food Ess

Analysis of Sonic Corporation In 1953 Sonic Corporation was founded by Tony Smith in Shawnee, Oklahoma under a different name of the Top Hat. Tony Smith started the company as a drive-in restaurant featuring hot dogs, hamburgers, and french-fried onion rings. In the mid-50s Smith was asked by Charles Pappe for assistance in establishing a similar restaurant in a rural town also located in Oklahoma. This was the beginning of a partnership between the two men . CURRENT INFORMATION In 1991 Sonic Corporation was the fifth largest chain in the fast-food industry, servicing in the hamburger segment, behind McDonald's, Burger King, Hardee's, and Wendy's. Sonic has and is still carrying the tradition of being a high-quality franchise-based organization in the Sunbelt states. The following case will be broke down into five different stages beginning with early strategies, problems, new strategies, a ratio analysis, and a recommendation. EARLY STRATEGIES UNDER TONY SMITH Tony Smith introduced the Top Hat as a drive-in restaurant that reduced start up cost by not having eat-in space. This new restaurant featured drive-in stalls for automobiles, that were equipped with a two-way intercom enabling customers to order as soon as they drove in, opposed to conventional practices of waiting for a carhop to take an order. Delivery of the fresh fast-quality products was do to the unique design of the kitchen, and the use of carhops. Sonic Corporation preferred to do things as easy as possible and avoid sophistication. Another strategy Smith implemented was a collection of franchise royalties. This was done in a way such that Sonic franchise holders were required to purchase printed bags at an additional fee that Smith arranged through a paper-goods supplier. Pyramid-type selling arrangements were formed by franchisees in money making efforts by starting other franchises through friends. This lead to original store managers having a percentage of their own store earnings and a portion of the new operation of the recruited friend manager. This idea further developed to multi-ownership of almost all Sonic operations as store managers were also part owners. This concept of pyramid-type selling carried Sonic forward with rapid growth. PROBLEMS RAPID GROWTH In the later-70's almost one new Sonic store... ...the past year. This ratio also measures the risk that a company has in financing its debt. RESEARCH IN 1992 Research in 1992 shows that Sonics typical customer is female between the age of 18-24 with an average income between $10,000-$15,000. Forty-six percent of Sonics business was done during lunch hours, and 44 percent done during supper. Sonic's average meal price was $2.25. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION Sonic Corporation is an ever improving company that is striving for efficiency, freshness, and quality. Over the life of the company management has always been trying to increase profits and taking steps into the future. Sonic Corporation also learned that in maximizing profits one must incorporate all the ingredients from attitudes of the mangers and owners to the products they offer their customers. In looking at the ratio's Sonic Corporation is looking stronger every year. I would recommend to keep management minds striving to new and better innovations that could again revolutionize the company as it had under the leadership of Mr. Lynn. In doing so the company assure itself and ever lasting life in the fast-food drive-in industry.

GCSE statistics coursework

In this coursework I am going to investigate the affect that age has on the car. I am going to look at price, engine size, mileage, and age of the car. By the end of the coursework I am aiming to have a set of results about how the cars are affected by the age, price and mileage. My prediction should show that * As the car increases its price will decrease * The higher the mileage the price will decrease. Plan I am going to be collecting a sample of 100 cars. I will find mean, median, mode and range for some certain makes of cars, from the data I have been given. I will then represent my data by the following diagrams * Bar charts * Tally charts * Pie charts * Standard deviation (mean and mean deviation) * Scatter diagrams. The reason why I am doing so many diagrams is to give a clear understanding and also to give the reader a pictorial view about what is happening, and also I must say to get more accurate results. The diagrams would maintain a clear understanding and show what is happening to the cars and what people prefer according to their engine size. After each of the diagram I would explain how I did the diagram and what people prefer and why. I would compare the mean, median and mode to support my hypothesis. At the end of the coursework I would be doing a conclusion explaining what has happened and why. I am going to calculate the number of each type of car according to its age and mileage. I would provide my entire hypothesis to get more accurate results and also to include my prediction. I would provide me working on computer to avoid biased results and also to get more accurate results. I think doing my investigation on computer would give a better pictorial view than by hand. I predict that as the age of car increases the mileage would increase. I think that this is because an older car would have been driven more than a new car and therefore

Obesity and Pregnancy Essay

Have you ever leisurely walked down an isle at Target and noticed a pregnant women waddling from side to side and thought to yourself man she is fat? Well she really is. Obesity is a medical condition in which excess body fat has accumulated to the extent that it may have an adverse effect on health, leading to reduced life expectancy and increased health problems. Maternal obesity is a major risk factor in short term for both maternal and fetal complications, including maternal and fetal mortality, miscarriages, gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), pregnancy-induced hypertensive disorders, marcrosomia and caesarean sections. A baby could be affected by these tragic events up until the age of 18. This rise of the obesity rate has a devastating impact on implications for the nation’s health care system and the population’s future quality of life. The normal weight for women is (BMI 19. 8– 25. 9), (BMI 26– 29) for overweight women and a BMI over 30 is considered obese. BMI is known as Body Mass Index, which is a number calculated based on weight and height. Pregnant women gain excess weight due to the lack of exercise. The majority of women do not know that they can continue exercising at least three times per week during pregnancy. Women should be more informed about everything they should and should not do during their pregnancy. The most common type of exercise for pregnant women is walking. Gardening, aerobics, and usage of exercise machines are also means of exercising. Exercise also has many other beneficial health effects such as reduced incidence of type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and certain cancers as well as improved quality of life and emotional status1. If you conceived the child then why not exercise instead of a chance at miscarrying it? A pregnant woman’s diet is an essential part of her pregnancy. times out of 10, a pregnant woman constantly hears from her peers that she needs to eat more since she is eating for two. We forget the fact that she could potentially become obese. From a doctor’s standpoint, he should take the initiative to urge the mother not to go overboard with eating. Both mother and baby need a balanced diet full of varied fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, unsaturated plant-based fats, fiber and calcium. Refined grains, most processed foods and foods high in sugar and saturated fats should be avoided. The development of the baby’s organs and bones depend on obtaining sufficient nutrients from the mother. Despite the fact that pregnant women do not need to become obese they also do not need to diet during pregnancy. Maternal obesity is associated with an overall higher rate of labor induction, which requires higher oxytocin and prostaglandin doses than for women of normal BMI. Oxytocin is responsible for stimulation of milk ejection (milk letdown) and for stimulation of uterine smooth muscle contraction at birth. Prostaglandins are important mediators of uterine activity. It is very common for an obese woman to have a cesarean section instead of a natural pregnancy. Obese women are two to three times more likely to have an emergency cesarean due to factors such as a large baby or failure to progress. Why would you want to go through the agony of getting cut open like a dissected pig when it isn’t necessary? Maternal overweight and diabetes (gestational and type 2) has repeatedly been associated with a number of delivery complications, which includes prolonged birth, birth asphyxia, shoulder dystocia, injuries to the baby and the mother, increased use of instrumental vaginal deliveries and cesarean sections, and postpartum hemorrhaging2. Some long-term effects are also associated with obesity in pregnancy such as an increased risk of having diabetes and cardiovascular disease later in life. During pregnancy, serum markers of inflammation are raised in overweight and obese women when compared with their normal BMI counterparts2. Other problems during pregnancy also link with chronic inflammation. Cord blood from babies born to obese mothers also has lower mean vitamin D concentrations when compared to those born of women with normal BMI. A fetus depends on maternal skin exposure for activation of vitamin D, but if the mother is obese then it is likely that she is vitamin D deficient. There is consequently significant scientific evidence to support the requirement for maternal vitamin D sufficiency in pregnancy for normal development of the fetal brain and skeleton. Folate deficiency is also common in obese pregnant women. Folate deficiency in the general pregnant population is associated with an increased risk for fetal neural tube defect, and this risk is reduced by the use of pre-conceptual folate2. Data from the National Maternal and Infant Health Survey showed that among the women who gained more than the recommended weight during pregnancy, greater than 30% retained an average of 2. 5 kgs at 10 to 18 months postpartum as opposed to retention of 1 kg among women who gained at the recommended level1. If women are encouraged to keep weight off during their pregnancy then they won’t have to face obesity postpartum. Researchers are still in the process of finding other ways to prevent obesity during pregnancy such as efficient ways to diet. Provision of weight management services to advise and educate regarding obesity-associated obstetric risk and weight optimization prior to conception is strongly recommended2. One thing that women would not normally categorize as such a big issue is regularly monitoring their blood pressure, which would be a start of becoming a healthy mother. Screening for gestational diabetes, using a 75 g OGTT, should be undertaken in all women with BMI 30 kg/m 2 between 24 and 28 weeks gestation2. No women should want to look and feel as fat as an elephant. Therefore, it is beneficial to continue physical activity after having a baby. The measurement of psychosocial attributes in the postpartum period has largely focused on postpartum depression and social support, with little attention to the role these and other psychosocial factors may play in health behaviors associated with weight retention and activity3. During pregnancy, some women are distressed about their weight and think they have a negative body image. Some say that they feel as if they are as big as a house. Postpartum depression has received much attention among clinicians because 10-16% of women meet diagnostic criteria for major depression. Women with excessive pregnancy weight gain (>20? kg) gain up to 10. Â ±2. 1? kg of adipose tissue4. If a woman plans on having another child after being obese during the first pregnancy then she will most likely be obese during her second pregnancy. One would not believe something so detrimental to your health, such as a smoker continuing to smoke during pregnancy would produce no weight gain. It is astounding that those who don’t smoke could gain more than those who do. The Stockholm Pregnancy and Weight Development Study on 1423 women concluded that, apart from pregnancy weight gain, only smoking cessation can be considered as a predictor for persistent weight gain after 1 year postpartum4. Lactation is known as something to facilitate weight loss after pregnancy. Production of milk is an energy-requiring process and has been calculated to increase energy requirements by ~ 500? kcal per day4. This is due to the fact that the net efficiency of milk synthesis in women is high. Weight changes after delivery are dependent on factors other than lactation status. Sarah Leigh, a 30-year-old obese pregnant mother, found out she had gestational diabetes. Sarah was very self-conscious about this situation and does not wish to report anything other than her name and age. She describes the daunting changes she had to make in her day-to-day lifestyle. Sarah Leigh had to check her blood sugar levels up to six times a day. The sugary sweets that Sarah Leigh usually enjoyed would now have to be cut out altogether. There would be no chocolate and fruit even had to be eaten in moderation. Even though Sarah Leigh made the changes to her diet, her blood levels were still high and she had to be put on medication to control the diabetes. Sarah Leigh explained how even though she felt deprived of all her favorite foods she feels healthier. Sarah enjoys her new lifestyle of eating a wide variety of foods. As long as she eats in moderation then her blood sugars remain balanced. Sarah talked about how there were times when she just wanted to taste a chocolate bar, but she knew that she and the baby were better off without it. Sarah would like to express to everyone that if they feel they have a slight chance of having gestational diabetes to go to your doctor immediately. The sooner it is treated then mother and the child are in better shape. Behavioral interventions, such as advising women of the recommended weight gain ranges, and promoting healthy dietary intake and regular exercise during the prenatal and postpartum periods may prove important in preventing obesity and the related health problems later in life. People should keep in mind that body weight tends to increase with age, irrespective of whether women have children or not. A pregnancy should be carefully planned. Two lives are at stake instead of one.

How to Write a Deductive Essay on Emma Larkin’s #8220;Finding George Orwell in Burma#8221;

How to Write a Deductive Essay on Emma Larkin’s #8220;Finding George Orwell in Burma#8221; Deductive essay writing is a form of essay writing which evaluates your knowledge of concepts. When writing such an essay, your piece must be based on the idea that a single concept in the form of a set of circumstances or a single concept in the form of different premises can be used from which to draw a reasonable assumption about what the current state of that situation is (for your deductive essay you can select a great topic by flicking trough the list based on â€Å"Finding Orwell in Burma† by E. Larkin). This is, essentially, a type of puzzle that has to be solved by the reader by giving them enough information. For Example: If your goal in the work is to show that the Burmese government committed human rights violations, you would want to take individual factors about the actions of the Burmese government and present them to the reader so that the reader can weigh each individual factor and their knowledge about each factor as an individual set of events or actions, then add the group of events or actions together, and from that, find a conclusion. The use of surveillance, torture, imprisonment, and death might be separate events or acts which the reader uses to conclude that the human rights violations took place. For a deductive essay there are three main components: 1) Premise The premise is the first component. It is a basic belief or a basic fact which you use as the foundation from which the reader will draw conclusions. You might present more than one premise in your argument. This is perfectly acceptable. You can get some facts from the suggested ones on â€Å"Finding Orwell in Burma† by E. Larkin. 2) Evidence The evidence you present functions as the second component. The evidence is what support you have for your premise. This can be a story you have analyzed, information that has been collected, or something that was observed. For Example: If your goal in the work is to show that the Burmese government committed human rights violations, you would want to use the observations presented in the book as your evidence. 3) Conclusion The conclusion is the third and final element contained in the essay. This is where you present your final analysis of the situation which you have presented. The final analysis has to be based on your different premises and the evidence you have collected. For Example: Premise: All horses are animals. Evidence: Mary Lou is a Horse. Conclusion: Mary Lou is an animal. Obviously this example is rudimentary, but it nonetheless offers great insight into the process and helps to simplify it for the sake of learning. Deductive reasoning is something founded on the most local deduction you can make with all of the pieces of evidence you have at your disposal. It must also focus on the most likely or the most reasonable outcome. Your conclusion may not be the only one, but it should be the most likely. Your essay should be clear and remain focused with each paragraph reserved for a particular point or aspect and its supporting details and examples. The more support you have in terms of evidence, the stronger your conclusion will be. The opposite is also true: if you have weak evidence your conclusion will be weak.

10 Types of Transitions

10 Types of Transitions 10 Types of Transitions 10 Types of Transitions By Mark Nichol Writing is simply a matter of expressing ideas, but as we all know, it’s not so simple after all. One challenge is to coherently connect those ideas. This post lists ten categories of words and phrases one can employ to signal a transition, with several examples for each type. These words and phrases can be used within a sentence as well as at the beginning. Note, too, that many can apply to more than one category. (These groupings are arbitrary, created for the sake of presentation; transitional terms can be organized in various ways.) 1. Addition â€Å"Also, I have to stop at the store on the way home.† â€Å"Besides, it would give me great satisfaction to help you.† â€Å"First, I’d like to thank you for inviting me to speak tonight.† 2. Comparison â€Å"In the same way, the author foreshadows a conflict between two minor characters.† â€Å"Likewise, the sequel was very successful.† â€Å"Similarly, we observed no differences in response rate.† 3. Concession â€Å"Granted, you did not ask ahead of time.† â€Å"Naturally, the final decision is up to her.† â€Å"Of course, he will want to examine the documents himself.† 4. Contrast â€Å"At the same time, what she said has some truth to it.† â€Å"However, I don’t see what that has to do with anything.† â€Å"Otherwise, how can they expect us to comply?† 5. Consequence â€Å"Accordingly, I have consulted with him for a second opinion.† â€Å"As a result, I’m not sure what to do.† â€Å"For this reason, we have decided to halt the project.† 6. Emphasis â€Å"Above all, we must exercise discretion.† â€Å"Certainly, he’ll find out for himself in time.† â€Å"In fact, they’re on their way right now.† 7. Example â€Å"For example, he could have asked for advice first.† â€Å"In particular, I draw your attention to the stain on the carpet.† â€Å"Namely, consider the consequences of your decision.† 8. Sequence â€Å"Earlier, you had mentioned a report.† â€Å"Eventually, we’ll see some improvement.† â€Å"Meanwhile, I’ve been waiting for you.† 9. Space â€Å"Below, you’ll find instructions for assembling the shelf.† â€Å"In the distance, he could see the approaching figure.† Off to one side, a package wrapped in plain paper caught her attention. 10. Summary â€Å"In conclusion, I see no reason to delay any longer.† â€Å"In other words, they’re incompetent.† â€Å"Therefore, your decision leaves me no choice.† Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Style category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:100 Mostly Small But Expressive InterjectionsThe Letter "Z" Will Be Removed from the English AlphabetQuiet or Quite?

An Annotated Bibliography on Child Abuse in America Coursework

An Annotated Bibliography on Child Abuse in America - Coursework Example There is dire need to reduce the number of divorces. Sexual abuse deprives children of their childhood. Society assumes immense responsibility to do what it can to prevent child sexual abuse and rescue them from further abuse in case prevention fails. Issues in the adjudication of cases of child sexual abuse include children’s competence to take an oath and to testify it, the believability of children’s testimony, and the accommodation of young witnesses in the courtroom. Despite the lack of ability of law to solve the issue of child abuse, law does play a cardinal role in the efforts of child protection. Courts need to coordinate to address such issues. Child abuse costs about $220 million daily and affects over a million children in a year. The direct cost of child abuse in 2012 was $33,333,619,510 whereas the indirect cost was $46,926,791,578. Sources of direct cost include acute medical treatment of children, mental health care system, child welfare system, and law enforcement. Sources of indirect cost include special education, early intervention, emergency housing, mental health care, juvenile delinquency, adult criminal justice costs, and lower worker productivity. With proper planning and implementation, it is possible to prevent the child abuse and neglect and accordingly, save all the costs associated with it. Childhood abuse and trauma have serious consequences. It causes numerous psychiatric disorders and symptoms in childhood and adulthood including post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, borderline personality disorder, learning disorders, somatization, substance use, sexual behavior problems, and dissociative disorders. Child abuse is also a cause of criminal behavior, and difficulties of general health. The family structure and maltreatment of children are related to each other. The immense impact of child abuse on the behavior and emotional

Article Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Article - Research Paper Example The most common environmental factors are toxins and exposure to pesticides. Toxic chemicals like MPTP, Toluene, Carbon Disulphide, and cyanide; and certain pesticides like rotenone and paraquat affect significant changes in vital neural components. Exposure to toxic chemicals and pesticides are found to cause damage and loss of â€Å"dopaminergic neurons and clinical Parkinsonism† (Chao et al.). Pesticides like paraquat and rotenone has also been observed to depreciate both dopaminergic neurons and typical Parkinsonism. Furthermore, these chemicals inspire contact with genetic expression thereby curbing genetic mutations. As a result, genetics have been particularly considered in the continuing research on Parkinson’s disease. There is no known cure for Parkinson’s disease so far; and most of the treatments available today are used to either prevent or contain the degeneration of the disease. According to Chao et al (2012), current treatments for Parkinsonâ€⠄¢s disease are categorized into two main subgroups: symptom-relieving drugs and surgical treatments. Common symptom-relieving drugs include L-dopa, dopamine agonists, bromocriptine, ropinirole, cabergoline, and pergolide among others. Examples of surgical treatments for Parkinson’s disease patients are â€Å"deep brain stimulation, implantation of embryonic dopaminergic cells, and gene therapy† (Chao et al.). These surgical treatments generally aim for tempering motor and non-motor symptoms. Recently, the use of nutraceuticals has been widely employed as an alternative to treating degenerative symptoms of Parkinson’s disease. One example of nutraceuticals – essentially refers to â€Å"food or food products† (Chao et al.) that are scientifically found to provide medical and health benefits, and which exhibit potential preventive capabilities against certain diseases – are antioxidants like Vitamins C and E. According to Anderson et al., consuming foods

Hispanic American Diversity Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 4

Hispanic American Diversity - Research Paper Example Mexican Americans have been living for a very long time in the United States and have adapted accordingly to the demands of the culture and society. In 2006 it was found that 14 percent of the documented immigrants in the United States belonged to Mexico. These Americans are diverse when it comes to their language. Twenty-six percent of the Mexican Americans can talk in both Spanish and English, 23 percent of them talk English whereas 51 percent speak Spanish. The political stance of Mexican American remains the same as the other Hispanic groups as they have been long ignored in the political arena because of their language differences. However, their voting rights were established long back and they are able to vote easily. It has also been realized that they form a great portion of the voters and they have been specifically targeted by many leaders. Although their political strength is increasing with every passing day it can be still seen that injustice prevails against these immi grants in terms of education, testing and immigration reforms. The Mexican Americans follow the principles of Catholicism accordingly. The economic condition of these Americans has not become any better as there still remains a huge gap between the born Americans and the immigrants. The rate of poverty, unemployment is higher in this group if compared with the Whites (Schaefer 2010; Keedle 2010). Puerto Ricans form another major group of Hispanics in the United States. These Americans tend to be more oriented towards the English Language as they have been a part of the US history. These people have known to be undergoing a phenomenon known as neocolonialism as they are not able to accept the American identity as a whole. The economic stance of the Puerto Ricans is not as good as the whites and they are known to suffer from a higher rate of unemployment too.     

Relationship Between Childhood Well-being and Poverty

Relationship Between Childhood Well-being and Poverty Introduction This paper explores the relationship between childhood well-being and poverty. Using structural equation modelling a multidimensional picture of child well-being is developed which is linked to previous work on multidimensional poverty indicators at household level (Tomlinson et al. forthcoming). Following a brief literature review of childhood poverty and well-being research, there follows an analysis of several waves of the British Household Panel Study – a valuable source of data collected directly from children as well as adults in the same households. The paper attempts to map the experience of poverty at household level and relate it to the child’s well-being. Rather than seeing poverty as a facet of child well-being, as other researchers often do, this work conceptually distinguishes between the two and shows how they are linked. Following the literature review various structural equation models are estimated that measure different dimensions of child well-being. These dimensions are then related to other aspects of the child’s life including the experience of poverty, age and gender, household composition, income, parental education and employment status. The effects of poverty are broken down into more detailed dimensions and the relative impact of each dimension is discussed. Finally, the models are used to inform targeting strategies with respect to child welfare policy. Crucially the differential impact of various potential policy instruments is assessed through the models. Mainstream child poverty research Since New Labour took office and pledged to eliminate child poverty by 2020 a myriad of policy changes and political statements has been issued to address the problems associated with poverty and deprivation during childhood. Indeed the costs of child poverty and its immediate and future effects are becoming increasingly alarming. For instance, recent research has found that poor children are more likely to get into trouble inside and outside school and more likely to be involved in drug abuse (ONS 2002). The direct costs of this are estimated to be considerable. For example:  £6000 for a 6 month non-custodial sentence  £21000 for a custodial sentence of 6 months Cost of attending pupil referral unit:  £10000/year Drug programmes cost on average  £15000/person over a 4 year period (Source: Godfrey et al. 2004) Much of the literature relating to child poverty in the UK has focussed around two areas: first the identification of households where risk is greatest and second, the so-called ‘scarring’ of children and the transmission of disadvantage into adulthood. With respect to the former it is now well known that poor children in particular are more likely to come from the following types of household: Workless households Benefit dependent households Lone parent families Low income households Families with younger children are more likely to be poor Large families Ethnic minority households Those in rented accommodation See, for example, Hirsch (2006a), Lloyd (2006). In addition Bradshaw (2006a) has extensive breakdowns of poverty rates for different social groups with children; Platt (2007) has an analysis of ethnicity, employment and child poverty; large families are extensively discussed in Iavacou and Berthoud (2006) and so on. In other words it is no longer an issue of identifying which types of environment – from a household perspective – are important, but rather moving towards a measurement model that can assess the impacts of the various dimensions associated with poverty on the child and its well-being. This is the approach taken in this paper. With respect to the second set of literature on scarring and transmission, the impact of poverty on a child’s future life-chances has also been extensively researched. Moreover, these impacts appear to have increased as child poverty increased during the 1980s and 1990s (Fahmy, 2006). Gregg and Wadsworth (2001) have noted the increased polarisation of working versus non-working households and the effects that this has had on poverty rates. That is the growth of dual-earner versus no-earner households. Using cohort studies such as the British Cohort Study (BCS) and National Child Development Study (NCDS), a series of papers has shown that low income in childhood leads to poor educational attainment in later life. For example, see Blanden and Gregg (2004) which also provides a useful review of the US literature on this topic. Gregg and Machin (2000) and Glennester (1995) come to similar conclusions. Fahmy has also reviewed the literature with respect to youth poverty (youth being defined as being aged 16-25). The consequences of poverty identified for this group, referred to as ‘hazardous transitions’ into adulthood, include: A high probability of becoming a ‘NEET’ (not in employment, education or training – see Istance et al 1994 for an earlier study) A bad career track (Craine 1997) A reduced level of citizenship and civic participation (Dean 1997) A higher risk of homelessness (Smith 1999, see also Flouri and Buchanan, 2004) Stewart has also documented various consequences of child poverty in later life. Adding low self-esteem, low expectations, reduced educational attainment, benefit dependency and poor labour market outcomes to the list. See Stewart, (2005) and also Hobcraft (1998) and Ermisch et al. (2001). While all this work is very convincing and commendable there is relatively little literature relating child poverty in the here and now and its immediate impact on the life and environment of the child. It is almost as if this were less important than the future costs. However, there is also a growing interest in the current well-being of children and its measurement. Early literature on this is extensively reviewed in Pollard and Lee (2002). This covers definitions of well-being, the indicators developed and instruments used in the measurement process. Moreover, two recent special issues of Social Indicators Research (SIR, 2007a, 2007b) have already been devoted exclusively to the topic (and a third issue is on the way). Interestingly, one strand of this work relates to human rights which shows the level of importance now being attached to these issues. Bradshaw et al. (2007) discuss concepts of well-being which are predicated on the UN convention on the rights of the child (UNCRC). Essentially this accepts the multi-dimensional nature of well-being from at least four perspectives: first that it is non-discriminatory, second that it is in the best interests of the child, third that it relates to the child’s survival and development, and fourth that it respects the views of the child (Bradshaw et al 2007: 134). The link to poverty and deprivation is sometimes made explicit in this literature: for example, ‘child well-being and deprivation represent different sides of the same coin’, Bradshaw et al. (2007). On the other hand, US, and very recent British, research shows well-being to be related to, but not the same as childhood poverty (Land et al., 2006; Bradshaw and Mayhew, 2005) for reasons that are not well-understood, but which probably include protective behaviour by parents (e.g., Flouri, 2004) and individual resilience (e.g., Masten and Coatsworth, 1998, Masten, 2001). Thus there is confusion about the relationship between well-being and poverty. Sometimes poverty is cited as a specific dimension of well-being, and sometimes as a separate concept entirely. For example, Bradshaw et al. (2007) have developed an eightfold classification of child well-being and generated one composite summary indicator from internationally comparable data. The eight dimensions being: Material well-being Housing Health Subjective well-being Education Relationships Civic participation Risk and safety These are measured by standardised scores which are added together to form the individual indices and an overall summary index which is then used for international comparison. There is then no accepted or uncontroversial measure of child well-being. The general thrust of the debate is that child well-being must be measured along several dimensions and poverty (or particular dimensions of poverty such as material deprivation) is sometimes included and sometimes not. The approach taken in this paper is somewhat different in that the two concepts are kept completely distinct as explained in more detail below. The measurement of poverty and well-being The approach here uses two sets of measures reflecting two aspects of the situation of children living in British households. First of all we measure poverty at the household level using structural equation models. This is done along several dimensions using data from the British Household Panel Study (BHPS) and is discussed in Tomlinson et al. (forthcoming). The dimensions are: financial strain, material deprivation, the environment, psycho-social strain, civic participation and social isolation. These are combined into an overall weighted index referred to as the Poverty Index (PI). Second we use structural equation models to measure various dimensions of childhood well-being. We are restricted in the questions that are asked and cannot include all the dimensions listed by Bradshaw et al. (2007). However, we measure four different aspects of child well-being including ‘home life’ which relates to family relationships and parental control (similar to Bradshaw’s ‘relationships’ dimension), ‘educational orientation’ (again similar to Bradshaw et al.), ‘anxiety’ (based in part on Bradshaw’s subjective well-being indicator) and ‘delinquency’ (which also relates to risk and safety). However, a crucial difference with our approach is that we treat dimensions such as material well-being and housing as aspects of household level poverty rather than childhood well-being. Thus we keep poverty and well-being conceptually distinct and analyse the relations between the two. It is the association between these four measures of child well-being and the numerous measures of poverty already developed that is the ultimate focus of the paper. In summation we take a multidimensional approach to both well-being and poverty and we examine the correlates of poverty with a child’s current well-being. In this way we can assess the impacts of poverty on the child’s immediate social environment and state of mind rather than what the future might hold. Models which can link together different aspects of poverty with various aspects of children’s livelihoods will assist in developing strategies to alleviate some of these problems. In other words we identify which aspects of poverty have the most serious impacts on the child (and hence will probably affect their future life chances to the greatest extent). Using structural equation models (SEM) There are now many academics using more advanced statistical techniques to measure poverty from a multi-dimensional perspective (e.g., Jenkins and Cappellari, 2007, Tomlinson et al., forthcoming, Whelan et al. 2007a, 2007b). These techniques, such as item response theory, structural equation modelling and latent class analysis, can be used not only to analyse which families with children are actually in poverty, but also which particular aspects of this poverty are more intense (such as bad housing, material deprivation, financial strain and so on). This is the approach taken in this paper with respect to the measurement of poverty and the measurement of child well-being the two being linked together within a coherent methodological framework and then related specifically to policy and policy targeting. Like the more traditional method of factor analysis, a SEM reduces a large number of observed variables to a smaller number of factors. However, in a SEM the variables are conceptualised as observed manifestations of an underlying or ‘latent’ dimension. Each observed variable in a SEM also has an error term associated with it, allowing measurement error to be isolated and controlled for in a way that is impossible with factor analysis. But, most importantly, a SEM requires a strong theoretical justification before the model is specified. Thus the researcher decides which variables are to be associated with which latent unobserved factors in advance. There are two fundamental types of SEM used to measure or test the validity of latent concepts – first and second order confirmatory factor analysis models (CFAs). We use first order CFAs below to measure child well-being. A first order CFA simply attempts to measure preordained underlying latent concepts. The left side of figure 1 shows a simple CFA which has two latent unobserved variables: L1, material deprivation; and L2, financial strain. L1 is measured by the observed variables V1 to V4 and L2 is measured by variables V5 to V7. The single headed arrows represent coefficients or loadings in the model and are usually shown in standardised form much like beta coefficients in regression analysis. The covariance between material deprivation (L1) and financial strain (L2) is represented by the double headed arrow. The associated error terms are shown as the circles labelled e1 to e7. Using statistical techniques such as maximum likelihood estimation and making assumptions abou t the distributions of the variables and error terms in the model, the coefficients and covariances can be estimated. In all SEMs a variety of fit statistics is available to assess the validity of the models constructed (see Klein, 2005, Byrne, 2001). Usually it is assumed that the observed variables in the model are continuous and that the distribution of the variables is multivariate normal. More recently available software is beginning to allow the explicit modelling of categorical, binary and censored variables (such as MPlus which is used in this study). Models of this kind can be made as complex as necessary to describe real-world situations and employ many latent variables and various interactions between them. Covariates or controls can also be applied to the overall measurement models to assess differences between groups or to assess the impact of a particular variable on the latent concepts under consideration. Furthermore, scores can be generated for the unobserved latent variables. These scores are analogous to the factor scores obtained using factor analysis. The BHPS and the measurement of childhood well-being The analysis that follows utilizes data from the British Household Panel Study (BHPS) and follows the methods discussed in Tomlinson et al. (forthcoming). The BHPS commenced in 1991 with an initial sample of around 10,000 individuals resident in some 5,000 households. These individuals have subsequently been re-interviewed each year and the sample has also been extended to include more households from Scotland and Wales and to embrace Northern Ireland (although Northern Ireland is excluded from this analysis). The data can be weighted to provide an accurate picture of life in Great Britain at different points in time. The analysis here covers the period 1997, 1999 and 2001 (i.e. BHPS waves 7, 9 and 11) and draws on information concerning the following topics for the measurement of poverty: income, finances and benefits; stress; material deprivation; general housing and neighbourhood characteristics and social exclusion and civic participation. The level of poverty at household level is measured by the responses given by the head of household and calculated as detailed in Tomlinson et al. (forthcoming). Each individual dimension of poverty as well as an overall score (the Poverty Index) is computed via a SEM for each household with children. Households with heads under 18 years of age or over 64 years of age are excluded from the sample analysed to calculate poverty scores. We also use a unique data resource available within the BHPS and consistently applied across the three waves. Children aged between 11 and 15 within these households were also asked to complete a separate questionnaire which forms the basis for the measurement models of child well-being. Questions included relate to home life, schooling, anxiety and psychological aspects of life, social isolation and delinquent behaviour. Estimating a structural equation model of childhood well-being As with the measurement of our multi-dimensional poverty index we attempted to create measures of multidimensional childhood well-being using 1st order CFAs based on the responses given by the 11 to 15 year olds in the BHPS panel for the years 1997, 1999 and 2001. The models have been estimated separately for all three waves. Questions change significantly in other available waves and these waves have not been included in the present analysis. The four dimensions of well-being are estimated using the following variables (which are all measured as ordinal scales except the variable relating to suspension from school which is binary): 1. Home life is a measure of the children’s relations to their parents and family and how much control the parents have over them: How much children talk to their parents How much control parents exercise over TV How much the family share meals together 2. Educational orientation is a measure of how well the child is doing at school and their attitudes to teachers and so on: How much the child likes his/her teachers Whether the teachers ‘get at me’ General feelings about school Whether the child is doing well at school 3. Anxiety is a measure of the child’s psychological health and feeling of self-worth Whether the child feels unhappy Whether the child has lost sleep How useless the child feels How much of a failure the child feels Whether the child feels no good The extent to which the child feels lonely The extent to which the child is left out of activities 4. Delinquency is an attempt to measure aspects of criminal tendencies or anti-social behaviour: Whether the child has ever been suspended from school How often the child plays truant How much experience the child has with smoking cigarettes Whether the child vandalises property Whether the child has friends that use illegal drugs (there is no direct question about the respondent’s own drug use) A first order confirmatory factor analysis model was estimated to measure the four dimensions (see figure 2 for an example from wave 11) and further models developed with controls for gender and age of the child and the overall Poverty Index of the head of household. We attempted this with each of the three waves of the BHPS, but all three models gave similar results and good fit indices. The model estimation was done using MPlus 4 with the observed variables being treated as ordinal rather than continuous where appropriate. Results and discussion of the basic model The first order models produce a good fit to the data (see Table 1) and the coefficients on the observed variables are all in the expected direction and all statistically significant at the 1% level. Some error terms were allowed to co-vary as illustrated in the figure based on very high modification indices in the initial modelling attempts. Examining the latent constructs themselves and the correlations between them reveals the relationships between the various dimensions of well-being. That is educational orientation is strongly associated with parental influence and negatively associated with anxiety and delinquency. Delinquency is also positively associated with anxiety etc. (Table 1). Table 1Fit statistics and correlations for the simple models (wave 11) Fit statistics: (N=1201) Without controlsWith controls Chi-square 426.959 (79 d.f.)639.104 (130 d.f.) CFI0.9370.902 TLI0.9550.921 RMSEA0.0570.057 Correlations between latent variables in controlled model (all significant at 1%):   Home life Educational Orientation Anxiety Educational Orientation +.54 Anxiety -.18 -.36 Delinquency –.63 -.54 +.22 The controlling variables are also salient. Girls are more anxious than boys, but have better educational orientation and relations with their parents. There is no significant difference between girls and boys with respect to delinquency. The age controls show that home life diminishes with age, while delinquency increases. Children of 11 and 12 also have stronger educational orientation than their older peers. However, the most striking result is that poverty (measured by our composite multidimensional index) has a highly significant and detrimental effect on all four of the well-being dimensions. That is it contributes to anxiety and delinquency and detracts from educational orientation and home life. Thus we can show that poverty has a serious debilitating effect on child well-being in the here and now. The relative importance of poverty for each dimension of well-being is also evident. The strongest effect appears to be on home life (–0.22) followed by educational orientat ion (–0.13). The impact on anxiety and delinquency is less strong (both at 0.10), but still highly significant. Thus we can show that the overall impact of the experience of poverty appears to affect home life and education the most while still having an effect on anxiety and anti-social behaviour. However, one of the issues we wish to deal with (not least from a policy targeting perspective) is to see which sub-dimensions of poverty are the most salient with respect to child well-being. For example, as we have measured poverty in a multidimensional way, which particular dimensions have the biggest impact? In our previous measurement work we developed several indicators of multidimensional poverty. Namely the poverty index is a weighted summation of several sub-indices: financial strain based on bad finances and missed housing payments material deprivation based on the levels of material possessions in the household and whether the household could afford to do certain things the environment which is based on a combination of housing and neighbourhood characteristics social isolation based on lack of social support civic participation based on participation in civic life psycho-social strain based on stress, mental health and anxiety The most desirable way to test the effects of the various dimensions on well-being would be to include them all as covariates in a measurement model similar to that shown in figure 2. However, because the various dimensions of poverty are highly correlated with each other this presents problems for the estimation (that is there is a multicollinearity issue). Rather than attempt to do this, individual models have been estimated with each sub-dimension of poverty included by itself in place of the overall poverty index in a similar fashion to the model in Figure 2. The relative sizes and significance of the coefficients relating to the individual sub-dimensions of poverty will allow an assessment to be made as to which elements of poverty are the most serious with respect to the child’s welfare. The results are summarised in figure 3 (this is a diagrammatic summary of results from wave 11 (2001) and shows only the significant effects). The results show that different aspects of poverty have different effects on the various aspects of well-being. For example, the financial dimension affects all the aspects of well-being whereas material deprivation only affects two (being detrimental to home life and increasing delinquency). A poor environment in terms of bad housing or neighbourhood results in reduced quality of home life, increased anxiety and delinquency. By using these results it becomes clear that policy aimed at poverty reduction could in principle be targeted in particular ways that would have different benefits as far as the diverse dimensions of child well-being are concerned. Improving the environment of children – both within and outside the household – may well have a greater overall impact on well-being than improving material deprivation. On the other hand if educational performance is the main criterion then financial strain, and civic participation of the household become the key areas. If home life is seen to be the main issue then finance, material deprivation, the stress of the parents, the environment and civic participation would be the key foci. This policy dimension is returned to below. It is also interesting to note that social isolation (a measure of social exclusion) of the head of household has no bearing on the four well-being indicators. However, there are also other controlling factors that can be incorporated in the models determining child well-being besides poverty, age and gender. Using the structural equation framework with covariates allows several alternative model specifications to take into account different offsetting factors with respect to child welfare. There is already evidence from the UK that certain situations in childhood can ‘buck the trend’ in reducing the negative outcomes of child poverty. For example, Blanden (2006) has shown that parental interest (mainly the father for boys and the mother for girls) has a positive impact on adult educational outcomes. She also shows that higher educational attainment early in the child’s life has a positive impact later on as does the school’s characteristics and the social mix of the child’s school. So research has shown that there may be mediating effects (such as parenting or living in a good neighbourhood) that offset the deleterious impact of poverty and deprivation. For example, McCulloch and Joshi (2001) found using the National Child Development Survey that although poverty and living in disadvantaged neighbourhoods does correlate with lower test scores at school, the family environment and family support can offset this effect. In the US the extensive work of Aber and his colleagues has also shown that there are negative effects on child specific outcomes from poverty and material hardship and that cognitive and emotional outcomes are affected by low income and material hardship (e.g., Gershoff et al, n.d.), but that this is mediated by parental characteristics. With this idea of mediation in mind several alternative models have thus been estimated to take account of the following factors which are included as further controls in the models: Household composition (such as the presence of other children and single versus multiple adult households) Educational attainment of the household head Employment status of the head of household Income rather than multidimensional poverty indices The household composition model will enable an assessment of family relations and its impact on well-being. The education model will assess the impact of parental human capital irrespective of other considerations. While the employment and income models can be usefully compared with the Poverty Index model (in other words can income or employment status merely substitute for poverty)? These results are summarised in table 3 for wave 11 (2001). The models were essentially the same as shown in figure 2, but without including the Poverty Index as a control which confounded the income and employment status models (again because of multicollinearity). Household composition was tested by including a variable indicating whether the household was a single adult household (versus other types) and dummy variables representing the number of children in different age categories. The results show clearly the influence of adults is significant when it comes to home life and delinquency (whereas being a single adult household has no effect on anxiety or educational orientation). Single parent households are therefore at a possible disadvantage when it comes to controlling their children. Even when a control for income is included in this model in an attempt to separate out the impact of low income from single parenthood the single adult variable is still significant in the same way. The presence of other children or siblings appears to have no impact on the child respondent’s well-being. Education of the head of household also has an impact on home life and educational orientation of the child, but only where the household head is educated to a higher educational level (that is degree level). The models for employment status included variables for self-employed status, unemployed and non-employed (i.e. not working and not actively looking for a job). Clearly the household head not having a job has an effect on the child’s well-being (although this is also correlated with the Poverty Index). In the case of being non-employed (which includes housewives, the disabled, and other economically inactive people) this has an impact on all four well-being dimensions to the detriment of the child whereas being unemployed only affects home life and delinquency. Self-employment has no effect. One possible explanation for the difference between unemployed and non-employed effects might be a reflection of the impact of long-term poverty and deprivation on children. That is t hose household heads that are not economically active for one reason or another and classed as non-employed rather than unemployed may well suffer from longer periods of chronic financial hardship, whereas the unemployed may be intermittently working and thus have experienced periods where they were no longer poor. Table 3Effects of various controls on the basic well-being model with various controls in addition to age and gender of the child (wave 11). Significance level is 1%. Standardised coefficients shown.

Popes An Essay on Criticism -- Religion Essays Papers

Pope's An Essay on Criticism When Samuel Johnson ascribed to a new work "such extent of comprehension, such nicety of distinction, such acquaintance with mankind, and such knowledge both of both ancient and modern learning as not often attained by the maturest age and longest experience," he was speaking of young Alexander Pope's An Essay on Criticism (1711), written when he was about twenty, and published when he was only twenty-three years old (in Mack 177).1 Others have not been as generous in their comments about the prodigy's efforts. One history of criticism textbook describes the work rather ingloriously: "There are repetitions and inconsistencies, some conventional pronouncements along with injunctions of lasting value; but nowhere . . . are the principles organized into a coherent whole, and no cut-and-dried theory [of criticism] therefore emerges" (in Morris 145).2 Despite this harsher pronouncement, Alexander Pope's An Essay on Criticism 1 Johnson's evaluation of Pope's Essay has been upheld if f or no other reason than that so many of the work's bon mots have established noteworthy careers in daily household English. As Mack observed (177), "Pope will sometimes manage a verbal maneuver so simple in appearance, so breathtaking on reflection, that the common sense of mankind has plucked it out of the poem and made it a part of speech: 'A little Learning is a dang'rous Thing' (205); 'To err is Humane; to Forgive, Divine’ (525); `For Fools rush in where Angels fear to tread' (625). And several more. Next to Shakespeare, we may recall, Pope has contributed more to our common language than any other poet. It is a gift not lightly to be dismissed." One primary complaint against the work is that it plagiarized the ... ...he Scriptures and in Pope, the goals of cosmic and poetic restoration are ones for which we can and must give thanks. Works Cited Clark, Donald B. Alexander Pope. Twayne's English Author Series. New York: Twayne Publishers, Inc., 1967. Isles, Duncan. "Pope and Criticism," in Alexander Pope, edited by Peter Dixon. Writers and their Backgrounds. Athens, Ohio: Ohio University Press, 1972. Mack, Maynard. Alexander Pope: A Life. New York: W. W. Norton and Company in association with New Haven: Yale University Press, 1985. Morris, David B. "Civilized Reading: The Act of Judgment in An Essay on Criticism," in Alexander Pope, edited and with an introduction by Harold Bloom. Modern Critical Reviews. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1986. Williams, E. Audra and Aubrey, eds. Pastoral Poetry and An Essay on Criticism. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1961.

Football Accident

Period 5 11/1/12 Unthinkable When I look at my life, and I think about the hardest things for me to overcome, I would have to say, the ultimate being, telling my mother and father that I would be sitting out of football my senior year of high school. Most would say how could this possibly be something that you would find challenging, but then you don’t know my mother and father. I started playing sports, football, in particular, at the age of 7. I was kind of a chunky little kid, even had a funny gait when I ran, but you couldn’t tell that if you talked to my parents. To my mom and dad, I was a superstar.I started playing flag football through the YMCA program, and then moved up to Pop Warner. Here’s the crazy part. My mom or dad came to every practice, and every game, rain or shine. I think I was the only kid that knew one of my parents would be on the sidelines, whether at practice or a game. Now to be honest, those were tough years for me, as most times, my pa rents would be watching me sitting on the bench, because I did not get to play very often. During those years, I put on a brave face and never let my parents know how embarrassed I was and how I felt I let them down.The crazy part was, when my parents met with other player’s parents, they talked about me like I was the star of the team, never made me feel bad for not playing in a game. Again, come rain or shine, they were always there for me. Those were tough years for me. Every coach found a reason why I just wasn’t ready to be a starting player. Then something really incredible happened during my 7th grade year. This didn’t start off incredible, in fact, it was quite humiliating. Everyone that wanted to try out for the 7th grade football team met after school one day.Here were all the players and parents that I had been playing with for the last six years, and as the kid that sat on the bench most of the time, you can imagine, I was the odd man out. All these parents bragging about their own kids, the great plays, the touchdowns, but there stood my mom and dad, proud as ever. They were with their superstar. As the three of us stood there together, my father later told me that it was one of the most intimidating days he’d had in a long time, looking at the parents of the kids that got to play. My mother told me to do the best I could do, and my day would come.My dad always said because he wasn’t a coach or assistant coach on these teams, I didn’t get a fair chance, but in my heart, I just didn’t think I was a great player. Good, yes, but not great. Tryouts came and went, and once again, I assumed I would be a bench warmer. As I said earlier, this turned out to be an incredible year, and something happened that I never expected. Now that I look back, I still have to ask myself, â€Å"Did that really happen? †   Ã‚   All of the kids I played football with throughout the years were, of course, picked for the starting positions.Some of these very kids have made headlines in the last couple of years, but let’s get back to me. One cold dark evening, my Hedrick team was playing the Talent Bulldogs and one of the kids that normally played the wide receiver position was sick that day. The coach asked me to step in and give it a try. I can’t describe the butterflies in my stomach. My hands and knees shook and my heart began to race. I finally was given a chance and I was terrified. Well, guess what? Not only did I catch the ball and run it in for an 80 touchdown yard touchdown, but I did this game and game again.After gaining the starting wide receiver position, I gained the starting linebacker position and proved my dominance once again on the field. At the end of the season, I was voted Most Valuable Player for both offense and defense for not only junior varsity but for varsity as well. Now, with that said, you can only imagine my parents. Their son going from a bench play er to the number one player on both teams. My parents would run down the sidelines, whooping it up as I ran the ball. They finally had the superstar they’d been waiting for. Over the next few years, my playing improved, and I had moved to high school ball.Playing varsity for north as a freshman, and just like before, my parents did not miss a practice or game, even if it meant driving a few hundred miles. My parents and especially my dad kept waiting for my next big break, my time to shine. Then in my junior year, I found myself transferred to a new school, tried out and actually made the Varsity football team. My parents were so proud of me, and I was proud of myself. I don’t know who was more excited, me or my parents. My parents were on Cloud Nine, talking about nothing but football and Friday Night Lights.It was an exciting time of my life. The coach tried me out at Outside Linebacker, because of my speed, strength, and my ability to get around the offensive line. Then the unthinkable happened at practice. I was sent in on a blitz, and hit the offensive lineman with my shoulder. It felt like my arm had been ripped from its socket as I writhed on the ground in pain. The trainers ran over and rushed me to the hospital. I never would have guessed in a million years what a fateful day that would be. My shoulder was completely out of its socket, the tendons and ligaments torn.The most important year of my life had just been stripped away from me. Not only was surgery required, but months of physical therapy. My orthopedic doctor told me I could no longer play football without risking irreparable damage. I never told my parents this, and the doctor never told them. I kept that dream of Friday night lights in my parent’s hearts until I should have been signing up for football camp. This is when I had to tell them what the doctor said, and there would be no football in my life, no letter, no photos, and no glory. To me, this was the hardest da y of my life.On this day, I knew I was breaking my parent’s hearts. Everything they had looked forward to for my senior year of football was gone. I played the game, but they had lived the sport. Something died this day, maybe just a dream of mine, but it seemed so much more. Like a part of me was left on the field that sad day that I suffered my injury. To this day I day dream of the achievements I could have over came if I had no suffered that injury. Maybe one day when I have kids I will be able to live my football career through my future son†¦ but until that day comes I’m stuck watching in the stands