Problems and Issues in Implementing of Ra 9344 of Isabela

PROBLEMS AND ISSUES IN IMPLEMENTING OF RA 9344 OF ISABELA Chapter I INTRODUCTION I.BACKGROUND OF STUDY Children often test the limits and boundaries set by their parents and other authority figures. Among adolescents, some rebelliousness and experimentation is common. However, a few children consistently participate in problematic behaviors that negatively affect their family, academic, social, and personal functioning. These children present great concern to parents and the community at large. The prevention of delinquency requires identifying at-risk individuals and their environments before delinquent activity and behavior occur, and then removing such risk factors or strengthening resistance to the risk factors already present.†¦show more content†¦The diminished influence of peers after men marry has also been cited as a factor in desisting from offending. There is strong evidence that young people with criminal friends are more likely to commit crimes themselves. However it may be the case that offenders prefer to associate with one another, rather than delinquent peers causing someone to start offending. Furthermore there is the question of how the delinquent peer group became delinquent initially. In Social disorganization Current positivist approaches generally focus on the culture. A type of criminological theory attributing variation in crime and delinquency over time and among territories to the absence or breakdown of communal institutions (e.g. family, school, church and social groups.) and communal relationships that traditionally encouraged cooperative relationships among people. Mertons suggests five adaptations to this dilemma: 1. Innovation: individuals who accept socially approved goals, but not necessarily the socially approved means. 2. Retreatism: those who reject socially approved goals and the means for acquiring them. 3. Ritualism: those who buy into a system of socially approved means, but lose sight of the goals. Merton believed that drug users are in this category. 4. Conformity: those who conform to the systems means and goals. 5. Rebellion: people who negate socially

Revenge Conventions In Hamlet Essay - 1182 Words

Hamlet is a play written by William Shakespeare that very closely follows the dramatic conventions of revenge in Elizabethan theater. All revenge tragedies originally stemmed from the Greeks, who wrote and performed the first plays. After the Greeks came Seneca who was very influential to all Elizabethan tragedy writers. Seneca who was Roman, basically set all of the ideas and the norms for all revenge play writers in the Renaissance era including William Shakespeare. The two most famous English revenge tragedies written in the Elizabethan era were Hamlet, written by Shakespeare and The Spanish Tragedy, written by Thomas Kyd. These two plays used mostly all of the Elizabethan conventions for revenge tragedies in their plays. Hamlet†¦show more content†¦Seneca s influence formed part of a developing tradition of tragedies whose plots hinge on political power, forbidden sexuality, family honor and private revenge. There was no author who exercised a wider or deeper influence u pon the Elizabethan mind or upon the Elizabethan form of tragedy than did Seneca. For the dramatists of Renaissance Italy, France and England, classical tragedy meant only the ten Latin plays of Seneca and not Euripides, Aeschylus and Sophocles. Hamlet is certainly not much like any play of Seneca s one can name, but Seneca is undoubtedly one of the effective ingredients in the emotional charge of Hamlet. Hamlet without Seneca is inconceivable. During the time of Elizabethan theater, plays about tragedy and revenge were very common and a regular convention seemed to be formed on what aspects should be put into a typical revenge tragedy. In all revenge tragedies first and foremost, a crime is committed and for various reasons laws and justice cannot punish the crime so the individual who is the main character, goes through with the revenge in spite of everything. The main character then usually had a period of doubt , where he tries to decide whether or not to go through with the rev enge, which usually involves tough and complex planning. Other features that were typical were the appearance of a ghost, to get the revenger to go through with the deed. TheShow MoreRelatedHamlet Is Not Like Any Tragedy1142 Words   |  5 Pages10/30/17 Project: Shakespeare Essay Hamlet is not like any tragedy. Hamlet is a classic revenge tragedy. All the revenge tragedies were popular in England during the late 16th and early 17th. A Shakespearean tragedy is built upon a central conflict which runs through from the beginning to the end of the tragedy until the conflict is finally resolved. The play is built upon the long, tragic conflict between Hamlet and Claudius and the conflict is built upon the figure of revenge. The Driving points thatRead MoreHamlet as So Much More Than a Traditional Revenge Tragedy Essay1713 Words   |  7 PagesHamlet as So Much More Than a Traditional Revenge Tragedy Although Shakespeare wrote Hamlet closely following the conventions of a traditional revenge tragedy, he goes far beyond this form in his development of Hamlets character. Shakespeares exploration of Hamlets complex thoughts and emotions is perhaps more the focus of the play rather than that of revenge, thus in Hamlet Shakespeare greatly develops and enhances the form of the traditional revenge tragedy. Read MoreWilliam Shakespeare s The Spanish Tragedy 2479 Words   |  10 Pagesset of rules and conventions if they want their piece of writing to fall into a particular genre with a certain theme. Throughout my essay, I will look into how Thomas Kyd’s ‘The Spanish Tragedy’ follows the traditional techniques we typically assume will be in a revenge tragedy, and how Shakespeare’s ‘Hamlet’ follows these conventions as well as how Hamlet sometimes challenges the typical conventions of revenge tragedy plays and pushes them. I will also discuss the notion of revenge, as well as discussRead MoreAnalysis Of Shakespeare s Hamlet 886 Words   |  4 Pages â€Å"The play’s the thing†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Hamlet 2.2 .581) The meta-theatrical play The Mousetrap is central to Hamlet. The play-within-a play is a catalyst to the plot and works to illuminate character. This essay will argue that the scene places Hamlet into the role of a playwright who employs theatrical conventions in order to manipulate his audience rather than entertain. Hamlet transforms The Mousetrap play into an accusatory analogy of King Claudius. This scene also largely contrasts the playwright ShakespeareRead More Significance of the Ghost to William Shakespeares Hamlet Essay1580 Words   |  7 PagesGhost to William Shakespeares Hamlet In Shakespeares Hamlet, the ghost plays a key role in influencing the destinies of the other characters. The ghost is important to the play as it symbolizes both fate and catalyses the plot. It also brings the play into the revenge tragedy genre, which allows foreshadowing to occur and helps the audience, both Elizabethan and contemporary to better understand the play and appreciate it. The late King Hamlet is forced to roam theRead MoreHamlet Essay Holly Silm1491 Words   |  6 Pagesï » ¿Hamlet Essay Holly Silm ‘Explore how time and place are used in Shakespeare’s Hamlet to shape the audience’s understanding of corruption’ The attribution of universality to a particular text is a prerogative of literary criticism that is fraught with the responsibility of contriving reconciliatory persuasions in preservation of the fundamental textual integrity of that text. William Shakespeare’s Hamlet has inspired diverse interpretations regarding its authorial preoccupations, structure andRead MoreWilliam Shakespeare s Hamlet : A Critical Analysis1511 Words   |  7 Pagess Hamlet: A Critical Analysis of Act V Regarded widely as an immutable element of classical literature, Shakespeare s Hamlet broke the proverbial bindings of dramatic convention in its time and hitherto continues to provoke careful consideration of the dramatic issues explored therein. As varied as they are extreme, the themes that Shakespeare s Hamlet explore continue to spur intense debate due to the ambiguity of dramatic elements present in-throughout. Act V as the denouement of Hamlet isRead More The Relationship between Hamlet and the Bible. Essay2412 Words   |  10 PagesThe Relationship between Hamlet and the Bible.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚        Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It may appear that anything could be twisted into a typological pattern. Such interpretations appear to suffer from the structuralist faults of skating too lightly over actual texts, ignoring details that cannot be forced into a preconceived mold, and robbing narratives of their concrete shapes through abstraction. I would stress that there is more to Shakespeare than typology, but I would also insist that typology is often anRead More Revenge and Vengeance in Shakespeares Hamlet - Pure Revenge Tragedy?1932 Words   |  8 PagesHamlet – the Revenge Tragedy?  Ã‚        Ã‚  Ã‚   A baffling array of considerations relevant to the revenge aspect of Shakespeare’s tragic drama Hamlet make an essay on this topic an interesting experience.    Ruth Nevo in â€Å"Acts III and IV: Problems of Text and Staging† explains the uncertain place which revenge occupies within the hero’s most famous soliloquy:    And conversely, because self-slaughter is the ostensible subject of the whole disquisition, we cannot read the speech simplyRead More Shakespeares Hamlet - A Clear Revenge Tragedy? Essay1974 Words   |  8 PagesHamlet – a Revenge Tragedy?  Ã‚        Ã‚   Most of the revenge-tragic aspect of the Shakespearean play Hamlet is explicitly presented. Some is disguised as straight tragedy, for example, Ophelia’s insanity and death; and some is implied tragedy found in the history of verbal allusions.    In the essay â€Å"An Explication of the Player’s Speech,† Harry Levin discusses the implied tragic dimension of the â€Å"Hecuba† soliloquy:    But the lyrical note can prevail no more than the epical, since

Evolution of tribal culture Essay Example For Students

Evolution of tribal culture Essay The arrival of Mr Brown as a harmless missionary is the first hand experience the people of Umuofia have with the white men. Mr Brown is a gentle unthreatening man who treats the Umuofians with respect. He even becomes accepted by the elders of the clan. They may not agree with his beliefs and customs but they find him amusing and like him as a person. The way the elders accept Mr Brown as a person and dont heavily discriminate against him because of his beliefs shows how civilized they are. Achebe shows that the Ibo are willing to respect Mr Browns beliefs and make no real effort to restrain his religious practise. The Ibo treat Mr brown the same way that he treats them again showing a civilized attitude. Some Ibo people such as Okokwo and his friend Obierika do not approve of this and forsee the destruction of the clan. We were amused at his foolishness and allowed him to stay. Now he has won our brothers, and our clan no longer act like one. He has put a knife on the things that held us together and we have fallen apart  This is possibly the most famous quotation of the novel and underlines their thoughts and fears. Achebe shows how the white men penetrate the clan from within and begin to crack its foundations.  The departure of Mr Brown is a turning point and is where Okonwos fears begin to come true. Despite this it could be said that the clan evolved rather than eroded. There were many men and women in Umuofia who did not feel as strongly as Okonkwo  This shows that many people didnt feel threatened by the white men and felt they could benefit from the arrival of the white man.  He had also built a trading store and for the first time palm oil and kernel became things of great price.  The arrival of the Reverend James Smith is a turning point in the novel. He has no respect for the Ibo beliefs and openly condemns them in public. This disrespect for the Ibo culture along with the actions of his most fanatical follower Enoch, provoke the Egwugwu to burn down his church. This in turn leads to the District Commissioners punishment of the Egwugwu. They are deceived and humiliated. Okonkwo swore revenge. The fine set by the District Commisioner is increased by the court messengers and shows the corruption of the white men which never existed on such a scale in Umuofia. Achebe is highlighting yet again that in some respects the Ibo culture is purer and more civilized. After this incident it is clear to foresee the end of the novel and what happens to Okonkwo. He ends the novel as a martyr. On the other hand, depending on the reader, he could also be seen as a casualty of evolution. During the novel Achebe does his best to show the destruction of a civilization. He spends a large proportion of the novel establishing the civilization to create the feeling and sympathy within the reader. He uses emotion to sway the reader into feeling that the white men destroy a pure and natural civilisation. He does this very effectively as shown during this essay and creates sympathy. However I cannot but help feel that the novel could also be interpreted as a fiction of the evolution of tribal culture. This is emphasized by the fact that both sides commit crimes towards one another. It is true to say that the white men disturbed and invaded the Africans for reasons of greed that are completely unjustified. However the story is only told through the eyes of a strong rooted Ibo idealist (Okonkwo) whose views are in places somewhat extreme. Achebe successfully gives a good account of colonialisation and its casualties and through this effectively portays the influence the white men had on traditional Ibo society.

Othello Essays (1364 words) - Othello, Iago, Emilia, Michael Cassio

Othello Othello, written by William Shakespeare is the story of Othello, the protagonist and tragic hero of the play. A Moor commanding the armies of Venice, he is a celebrated general and heroic figure whose "free and open nature" will enable Iago to twist his love for his wife Desdemona into a powerful jealousy. Iago is Othello's ensign, and Shakespeare's greatest villain. His public face of bravery and honesty conceals a Satanic delight in manipulation and destruction. Passed over for a promotion by his commander, he vows to destroy the Moor. If Iago is an artist of evil, then this scene is the finest canvas he paints. This is the crucial moment in the play, the scene where he, , deceives Othello and induces him to fall. He does so by expanding on the tactics used in prior scenes. Once the seed of doubt is planted in the Moor's mind with a quick "Ha! I like not that" (III.iii.35) (when they come upon Desdemona and Cassio) and a few probing questions about the ex-lieutenant's relationship to Othello's wife, Iago retreats into the guise he has adopted. He becomes "honest Iago," again, as in the brawl in Act II, scene ii--the reluctant truth-teller who must have unpleasant news dragged from him by a determined Othello. The honesty suggested by his reluctance to speak is reinforced by the moralizing tone that he takes with his commander. Iago actually lectures Othello, warning him against jealousy ("the green-eyed monster") and insisting that he will not speak slander: "he that filches from me my good name / Robs of that which not enriches him / And makes me poor indeed" (III.iii.158-61). At the same time, he plays upon the insecurities of the honest, noble African in sophisticated, decadent Venice by lecturing Othello on how Venetian women are deceitful and treacherous by nature. The overall effect is to pour verbal poison in his master's ear--not by lying, but by flavoring truth with innuendo. Othello will later declare that he is "not easily jealous," and that assessment of his character seems to be shared by most of the figures around him in the play. The critical response is mixed--some critics insist that his claims to be innocent of jealousy are merely self-justifying, and certainly he slips easily into assuming his wife to be unfaithful. Other critics make the distinction between an inner, self-created jealousy, which he seems to lack, and a deep insecurity and "trusting nature," as Iago puts it, which allow a clever manipulator to plant seeds of doubt. Behind his insecurity lies a man uneasy with his place in Venetian society: he may have married a white woman, a daughter of a Senator, but can he keep her? The seizure of the handkerchief is a great coup for Iago in his quest to destroy Othello, and he is aided by his wife, who apparently has no scruples about betraying her mistress in small matters. Shakespeare will eventually transform Emilia into a voice of moral outrage, and by the final scene the audience will applaud her role in Iago's destruction, but for now it is worth noticing that she is only Iago's accomplice. It will take a great shock to inspire outrage against him--a shock which comes too late. The scene ends with Iago triumphant, named as lieutenant (the rank to which he aspired from the beginning) to a man bent on destruction, and ready to join in that destruction himself--because in killing Cassio and Desdemona, Othello is killing himself. And that, of course, has been Iago's goal from the beginning. Othello's wild, violent behavior in front of Lodovico, in which he strikes his wife and abuses her for no apparent reason, demonstrate the perversion of order that Iago has brought about. There is no one to halt Othello's lawlessness, because he himself is the law in Cyprus. Othello's accusations and refusal to accept Desdemona's denials are brutal and unfair, but his language recovers some of the nobility that it had lost in previous scenes. Iago-like curses are replaced by sorrowful laments for what has been lost, and the audience is reminded the heroism and dignity that Othello possessed at the beginning of the play. His cry "O, thou weed, / Who art so lovely fair, and smell'st so sweet, / That the sense aches at thee--would thou hadst ne'er / been born!" (IV.ii.69-72) is a powerful expression of the love that he still holds for his wife, which has been ruined for ever by Iago's poisons. Othello is wrong, terribly wrong, but Shakespeare demands that

Mark Twains Western Adventures essays

Mark Twains Western Adventures essays Mark Twains Western Adventures Samuel Clemens began a 57- year habit of traveling around the world in 1953 at the age of seventeen when he first left his home in Hannibal, Missouri. It was not until 1861 that he began his western adventures when he accompanied his brother Orion to Nevada. The adventures that he experienced during this trip and other trips to the West became the basis of some of Mark Twains future writings. Samuel Clemens actually adopted the pen name of Mark Twain in 1963 between his Nevada adventures and the California experiences. Clemens had decided to make the trip with his brother who had newly been appointed as Secretary of the Territory of Nevada because, as he explained later in life, he regarded himself quite a rich man from his earnings as a steamboat pilot for the previous couple of years and was paying his brothers passage for him. As long as he was paying, he decided to go too and see if he could find some work on the frontier especially since the rivers were now closed to navigation. The daily events of the Nevada trip were actually chronicled by Clemens brother who kept a detailed journal. The two brothers traveled by steamboat up the Missouri River to St. Joseph and from there took a 20 day stage coach trip, traveling over 1700 miles to Carson City, Nevada. The cost of this trip was about $200 each. When they got to Nevada, silver fever had already gripped the area and Clemens was not immune. Records show that he purchased two mines; one for $500 in the Black Warrior Ledge, and the other for $200 in the Farnum Lode. There is also a record of a stock certificate for five shares in the Sonora Silver Mining Company. The experiences of the trip to Nevada and his upcoming trip to California were later to be used to his book Roughing It. After a short return to Virginia City, Clemens moved to San Francisco. He took a job working as reporter for ...

Nature of Intervention essays

Nature of Intervention essays An ancient Roman expression states, Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum; Therefore whoever wishes for peace, let him prepare for war. Throughout much of the twentieth century, nations have attempted to resolve conflicts and ensure peace. The most preeminent conflicts include the First World War, the Second World War, and the War in Vietnam. The underlying causes of these conflicts were national, cultural, and religious. Current conflicts around the world are the result of demands for self-determination, unification, and political rivalries. Intervention by developed countries, since the beginning of the twentieth century, has created the very factors which could lead to war. Intervention is defined as interfering with political situations by governments of nations. This could be mean the employment of military force, or the act of colonization in developing nations. There are many examples of such actions spread throughout the course of the twentieth century. A few examples include the First World War, the Second World War, the Cold War, and the conflict in Vietnam. Specifically, this paper will deal with intervention in Vietnam, Germany, and the Middle Eastern nations. The insecurity of Vietnam was shown through the actions of the French early in the twentieth century. The Hanoi Exposition was Frances attempt to implement imperial rule in its colonies, and to solidify French rule in Indochina. During the Hanoi Exposition, France made numerous decisions that greatly affected Vietnams economics, government, and political position. Paul Doumer, the founder of the Hanoi Exposition explains: Its purpose was to forge a united and coherent political and economic entity out of the five French possessions in Indochina (Doumer 140, 1930). This meant that France was attempting to secure Indochina for its own economic, and political purposes. The Exposition was mutually beneficial in t...

Assessment and Accountability Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Assessment and Accountability Assignment - Essay Example To answer these questions, there is the need for one, as the teacher to assist the students in examining their performance and progress in the whole process of learning. They also need to offer them with descriptive and explicit responses which are certain to the task of learning. According to Coffey (2009), some of the learning activities which would help the students in achieving the goals of formative assessment would include: Students, with the help of the teacher setting short-term goals so as to be able to monitor their progress and create a big picture of the subject. As the teacher, one should identify and communicate the goals of the course for achievement of the supposed results. There is need to communicate these objectives in a language which is learner-friendly for the learners to comprehend and take part in completing their obligations. One needs to introduce self and peer-assessment which are crucial in offering the students with a chance to consider their learning. This would make the students have responsibility of their work and examine their own performance. Opportunities which model the students to take part in the learning process actively for constructive and meaningful response would be included.

Should people be afraid of government or the opposite Essay

Should people be afraid of government or the opposite - Essay Example It therefore will be contradictory that such delegates will then stop being answerable to the assigning authority and furthermore go ahead to intimidate the authority to an extent that the authority becomes afraid of them. It is simply absurd and violates the basic principles of democracy. This report will demonstrate that people have full authority over government because they elect government officials, they fund government activities and they can bring down any government which is in place and therefore it goes that people should not be afraid of the government. People should not be afraid of the government It was Thomas Jefferson who said â€Å"When governments fear the people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny† (Monticello 1). It is the people who put a government in place. The legitimacy of a government is derived from the process of being elected into office. Government officials therefore can be simply viewed as agents of the peopl e. These agents are empowered to run the nation on behalf of the people. It is worth clarifying that the nation that these agents run does not belong to them in any way – it belongs to the people. It further should be noted that these agents of the people should periodically report to the people on how they are progressing in running the property they are entrusted to run. From this perspective, it becomes absurd to think that these agents will grow so powerful to the extent of intimidating the people. It is simply absurd and there is no logical way of reconciling such a thought. It is not possible that a master will to become afraid of his servant. Further arguing on why it is the government that should be afraid of the people, the question of funding the activities of the government comes in. It is the people who fund all the activities of the government including salaries to government officials. The government cannot operate without the money that it collects from the peo ple in various ways. It is the people who fund what the government does and the government inherently depends on the people to run its affairs (Tax Policy Center 1). A point to note is that the people are not afraid to fund the government because the affairs that the government runs are on behalf of the people. The absurdity again comes in if the people are to be afraid of the government. The people sustain the government and therefore it will not be logical for the people to be afraid of the same government. It is the government that is at the mercy of the people and not the other way round. In the same manner that people delegate duties to the government, they can also strip away the government of the responsibility to run the nation. This can be done through elections or even through a people led coup. Libya, Tunisia, and Egypt are just examples of nations whose people took up arms against governments they felt were not doing what they were mandated to do. The people are supreme over the government and if they feel a government has overstepped its boundaries, they have the duty to oust such a government and appoint other officials who will run the nation in the expected manner (Carlton 1). This further strengthens the stand on why people should not be afraid of government. However, there are two factors which may make people to fear a government. These factors are pluralistic ignorance and bystander effect. These factors can be said to be due to uninformed citizenry. In a pluralistic ignorance situation, citizens may be reluctant to stand up to the government when it oversteps its boundaries. They may form the opinion that it is not a big deal and that being the government there is

Of Mice and Men English language Essay Example for Free

Of Mice and Men English language Essay Many of the characters in of Mice and Men are lonely and some have dreams to sustain them. Write about 2-3 of them and explain why we feel sympathetic toward them. The book of Mice and Men was written by an American writer called John Steinbeck. He was born in Salinas, California and wrote this book from the theme The Great Depression. The title of this book got its name from a Scottish poet Rabbi Burns in one of his poems called To a Mouse; which means most plans from man or animal dont work out in the end. When I say the Great Depression, this was a significant world event which started on 29 October 1929, this day was-from then on-nicknamed black Tuesday because on that very same day the stock markets crashed, which meant that the money in there lost its value. Due to this, 9 million banks closed, which meant that about 86,000 businesses failed; for 2 reasons: firstly the businesses didnt have the money to keep them going. Secondly people didnt have the money to buy the things the businesses were selling. Because businesses closed, unemployment rate increased, in 1929, the percentage of unemployment was 3%. However in 1934, the unemployment rate was 26%+. This shows that there was a big rise for people losing jobs. By saying this, you must be honoured to keep your job (most people lost their jobs), although if your job was secure, your wages would decrease by approximately 60%, if you walked out on that job, it would be hard for you to find another job, the employer wouldnt have to worry much since there were lines of people queuing up for jobs. At 1 point, estimates say 34 million people had no income at all, thus meant that people lived in shanty towns. This not only was in the small cities, but developed in the major states such as New York and Washington D.C. People nicknamed these shanty towns as Hoovervilles, because it was nicknamed after the American president at that time, Herbert Hoover. So how would this recession affect people? Some people couldnt cope with it so they committed suicide. Marriages broke down due to the financial pressure. People became itinery/migrant workers. This means travelling round the country looking for work, if they did find work, it would be short term, unskilled, insecure and labouring. Most jobs were in California (farming area), 1000s of families lost their homes due to failing to pay mortgages, so people had to live in shanty towns. So soup kitchens were set up, and there would be queues of 1000s (maybe more) of mixtures of people in dirty clothes to people in business suits. If these people were moving around they wouldnt be able to stay with their families/friends. Because of this, people got lonely because they were looking for jobs, so they wouldnt have any time for relationships, and as George says: we ask no questions on the ranch which means that you keep your self to yourself. No-one knows who you are or where youve come from, or what theyre planning to do next. If you knew these things about a specific person (or any person), they would tell you off for nosing around. All of the things I have mentioned all come in the theme of the Great Depression, which is the thing behind the story that John Steinbeck is trying to tell. For example, most characters in of Mice and Men were migrant workers and before Lennie and George came to the ranch in Soledad. Candy tells Lennie about a blacksmith called Whitey, who came, got his money and left, why he just quit, just wanted to move, didnt give no other reason but the food just say gimme my time, the way any guy would. Although George and Lennie travel around together, it would have been highly unusual for this to happen in a time like this, most men travelled alone. We see this in the novel like Slim, Crooks, and Candy, but I must say it is highly unusual that men travel around together, Slim says this in section 2. This novel is set in California, which is situated in the southern state of the USA. If you were working in a place where Lennie and George were working- your friends and family is miles- maybe further- away. Your only alternative is to make friends otherwise you are walking a lonely road. Also a thing that you would have to take into consideration is the size of the place, the place that they (Lennie and George) were working was on a ranch. A ranch is the equivalent for a farm in England, but however, a ranch is much bigger than a farm that we refer to in England. The distance, as Ive mentioned is pretty far- not to mention being cut off from your family and friends, theyd have to walk miles to the ranch, otherwise youd have to hitch a ride from a passing truck. From the way they live that I learned from chapter 2, firstly I learn that they are violent, I know this from when they let crooks- the black person- come into the bunk house for Christmas, sounds nice doesnt it? Letting the black man come into the bunk house on this festive occasion, but from what I learn they only let him in to batter him black and blue! And enjoy it! Yes sir, we had fun. They let the nigger come in that night. Little skinner the name of smitty took after the nigger. I personally think that its horrible, but its true. Secondly I learn that they have very little privacy and basic living condition. For example, they have straws for mattresses and apple crates for bedside desks. They have little comfort- like the bunk house isnt well presented, no paint on the walls, crates for chairs table in the middle and a deck of cards for daily entertainment, nothing compared to the entertainment that we have today, like PS3s and Xbox 360s etc. also, anonymity, the way people keep themselves to themselves, how people dont know where youre from. Finally, how migrant workers move from place to place- as this is what migrant workers do. We see this in the novel from the beginning when Lennie got in trouble and they had to flee when Lennie sexually harassed a girl in weed. Dreams help people achieve things in life, no matter what scenario you are in. they give people power and confidence. Although I state in the title of this essay and have dreams to sustain them; the dream that they are referring to is the American dream. Before John Steinbeck wrote this book, he was interested in finding out about power, ownership and control and what it did on normal people. Due to the Great Depression, most people didnt have jobs, so they relied on bosses to permit them to a job; but they manage to put all that stress aside towards a dream that they have. Most of who dream of a dream called the American dream. These dreams tell us about the life people are living. Most characters in the novel have dreams to. But Lennie and Georges dream are the most important because they tell us about the culture that has been created. America has always been seen as the land of opportunity, freedom, a place to live and most importantly, a new life. A place for wealth and a place for real possibilities, this was referred to as the American dream. Immigrants moved to over America because they believed in this dream. So how was America founded? In 1607, people from Britain went to America to find gold; these people were known as the Virginia colony. Because the island they first found they named after the Queen Elizabeth, who of course, was a Virgin Queen. But of instead finding gold, they found tobacco (which was known a black gold in Britain-very popular.) and brought it back to England to sell. In 1620 a group of English Protestants who detested against the Church of England moved to America looking for religious freedom, these were known as the Plymouth colony or Pilgrims. In the Harsh Winter of 1620-1621, half of the Plymouth colony died due the coldness of the weather, when they arrived to America, it was full of wilderness and red Indians/Native Americans. In 1630 1000 more arrived to establish more colonies. In 1642, the Plymouth colony had 12000 settlers from Europe, again searching for religious freedom. By 1776, the colonies in America were fed up of the British monarchs ruling them and wanted their own independence, because the monarch of England was the monarch of America, and they had enough of this. In Britain the law was only set up for the landowners, if you wasnt a landowner then you didnt count. So 4th July 1776, the American colonies set up a universal declaration of independence. Here is an extract from it. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by the creator with certain unalienable rights. Rights that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The statue of liberty was a present from the French man Gustave Eiffel, due to the French revolution happening in France he set up the statue of liberty to symbolise this dream, because the American dream was similar in France. If you were an immigrant coming into America by boat, the statue of liberty would be the first thing that you saw. However, this American dream inspired many people. By 1929, the Great Depression spoilt these dreams for many people since they didnt have the money to live happily. As stated in the novel, George and Lennie- and Candy aim to get a ranch to themselves and Lennie wants to pet the rabbits. Some elements of the dream include: material comforts and financial security- not being in debt and having everything you need. Being in control of your destiny- you making the choices in your own life, not people telling you what to do. Gaining the respect of others- living in a peaceful society. Companionship and sharing good fortune- having friends and keeping each other happy. And last but not least; making your mark-something to be proud of- achieving things in life; getting the best in life. The American dream today isnt all about freedom; its about money and fame. For example, if you look at Hollywood; actors and actresses etc. When an author writes a book, they must make some important choices. For example, whether to base the story involving letters or e-mails or telling the story as a flash back/ flash forward. People write book for various reasons: to inform the reader- this might be something that has happened previously, or presently. Some people write books to persuade or entertain you-it might encourage you to change your life. John Steinbeck written this book to inform-recalling what life was like in the Great Depression for migrant workers. He also creates a description; he lets the action sink in for the reader, also he helps create a physical appearance in your mind, by using a wide range of onomatopoeia and so crisp that a lizard makes a great skittering if he runs among them skittering is the sound that is being made. Another thing that the writer must consider is to select whether to write in 1st or 3rd person. If you wrote in first person, you can fully understand what that person, what goes on in that particular persons mind. But the down side is that you can only see what is happening when that person is present. If John Steinbeck chose to write this novel in the 1st person, we wouldnt see what would happen to George if Lennie wasnt there etc. however if you chose to write in the 3rd person, you can see the minds of all the characters in the book. Unfortunately 3rd person isnt always in the full depths of understanding- meaning that although you can read everybodys mind, it doesnt provide in depth detail. John Steinbeck chose 3rd person; this is a good choice because you can see in everybodys mind and John Steinbeck described the novel in full understanding in 3rd person, also he has put the plot in Great detail and has used a lot of wide range of vocabulary slowly, like a terrier who doesnt want to bring a ball to his master, Lennie approached, drew back, and approached again. Another interesting technique John Steinbeck has chosen to use is starting and ending the story in the same setting. He also set this novel in a rural location (in the countryside) and used adjectives, careful words and descriptions to this novel create an exact physical location. As well as this, the time scale of this novel is described for 1 week- this shows that George and Lennie havent moved very far in their lives, they havent moved forward. Finally one of the things that you need to consider is how much direct speech you use, not too much or you will slow down the plot, too less will not move the plot forward. So it is essential that you use the right amount. In this novel there is a lot of blasphemy Jesus he said hes jes like a kid aint he- and swearing listen here you crazy bastard- and racist comments Jesus how that nigger can pitch shoes- Steinbeck used a wide range of direct speech, thus helps us understand the characters more. This kind of language is found in most aspects of this novel- it is commonly asked why its studied in schools- racism, blasphemy and swearing is the kind of language that was used in the Great Depression, this was because the characters were migrant workers and they were uneducated, manual workers and non intellectual. Some of the characters in of Mice and Men are lonely; I am going to talk about 3 of them. The first character I am going to look at is Candy. Candy is an old swamper living at the ranch George and Lennie worked at. He is an old man with a missing wrist the wooden hatch raised. The door opened and a tall, stoop shouldered man came in. he was dressed in blue jeans and he carried a push broom in his left hand and out of the sleeve came a round stick like wrist , but no hand. Also he has a really old dog that evidently he has had since he was a pup and at is heels there walked a drag footed sheep dog he also has no relatives cause I aint got no relatives or nothing I find that Candy is lonely; he is lonely in several ways. Firstly his disability, he lost his hand I aint much good with ony one hand, I lost my hand right here on this ranch thats why they give me a job swamping an they give me two hundred and fifty dollars cause I los my hand this makes you think that it was their fault that Candy has lost his hand; because if it wasnt then they wouldnt give an old folk money if they could avoid it! Especially in a depression! So he cannot go out to buck barley like the rest of the men because he hasnt got the energy or strength like the other men have which means that he is lonely all day and has to wait for them to come back. He cant go down to Soledad because he is too old after that the guys went down to Soledad and raised hell, I didnt go there, I aint got the poop no more Candy was very close to that dog, he had him since he was a puppy, and so that dog is important to him. Firstly, he spends all of his day with that dog. Also that dog is a link to all the memories he has yeah I had him since he was a pup, god he was a damn good sheep dog when he was younger. When the dog gets shot Candy is desperate to leave the ranch, he hasnt got any body to keep him there (since his dog was his only companion) now the dog has been shot he hasnt got a friend anymore, which is why he is so desperate to leave the ranch. And follow Lennie and George with this dream that they have. Candy has become so desperate to be part of Lennie and Georges dream that he is prepared to give all of his savings to them spose I went in with you guys, thats three hundred and fifty bucks Id put in. that is three hundred and fifty dollars that Candy is prepared to give- $50 a month- so he is prepared to give 7 months wages to two guys that he has met on that very same day! This shows that he is desperate. Candy sees no hope on the ranch when they can me I wisht somebodyd shoot me hed rather be dead than stay on the ranch now his dog has been shot. He desperately wants something to look forward to, something to be happy about, and somewhere to belong to. The idea of this dream gives him hope. He wants to join the dream because his dog has been shot. Lennie and George accept him because he has got the money. Because Lennie and George have accepted Candy into this dream, he begins to change. Firstly Candy has gained the ability to be self critical. He can see that he should have shot his dog himself I ought to have shot that dog myself, George, I shouldnt ought to have let no stranger shoot my dog this shows that he has got over his dog being shot. Secondly Candy has gained the confidence to join in with the other men, like when he joins into the attack with Curley (glove fulla Vaseline Candy said disgustingly). This shows that he isnt scared to join in when everybody is cheeking Candy. He wouldnt have done this before because he would have been sacked, but now he fells more confident and feels more part of the group; he only used to say things behind peoples backs, not to their faces (the swamper stood up from his box know what I think George did not answer well I think hes married a tart) he only used to say things like that behind peoples back. Now he feels more confident, he will say it to their faces. Thirdly, he starts to plan and look forward I tell ya what Lennie, Ive been figuring about them rabbits he knows what his future going to be, he is looking forward to it. He wasnt like this before because he couldnt see any future, he had nothing to look forward to. His future seemed horrible theyll can me purty soon as I cant swamp out no bunk houses theyll put me on the county he tells Lennie and George that hes going to a county, no friends, no family, no entertainment, simple life, horrible experience. Finally I found out that has got more confident when talking to Curleys wife when he backs up Crooks if you was to do that, wed tell wed tell you up about you framing Crooks he wouldnt have done this before because it is the bosses sons wife that he is talking to and he would be sacked- and he cannot afford that to happen because he hasnt got no place else to go, he had to rely on his boss to permit him to work on the ranch and he is quite confident that he his future is going to happen, so now he doesnt care about being sacked, the fear of being sacked has left him. When Lennie kills Curleys wife the dream that Candy was looking forward to have come to an end, Candy was really relying on that dream, its made him more lively, its helped him join in with the other people (glove fulla Vaseline) now Curleys wifes death has caused this dream to fail. I know this from when he says to Curleys wifes corpse you done it dint you? I spose youre glad. Everbody knowed youd mess things up. You wasnt no good, you aint no good now, you lousy tart to say something like this to a dead body is highly disrespectful, like stealing candy from a baby it isnt acceptable because it is impolite. But all of his anger has caused him to strengthen up; become more confident, when he says if they was a circus or a baseball game we would of went to her jus said ta hell with work, an went to her. Never ast nobody say so. An theyd of been a pig and chickens an in the winter the little fat stove an the rain comin and jus us settin there. The dots between his speeches are called ellipses; these indicate that Candy is angry that his dream has been taken from him. And the ellipsis shows that Candy is trying to control his emotions, until he breaks down -his eyes blinded with tears. After this incident , Candy isnt just back to how he was before, I think that he would be more broken than he was because hew has lost his dog. When the dream was mentioned to him-it was like giving a child a sweet and taking it from him- he had his hopes up, now it looked like it was all over as if it had never begun. So his future seems quite dull for an old man. I think that he would be worse off. The next person I would like to observe is Crooks. Crooks is a stable buck who also lives at the ranch where Lennie and George once worked. A stable buck is someone who looks after the horses and the mules; he is also a black man. He lives not in the bunk house where all the other guys live; he lives in a shed of a barn. The job of the stable buck is very important because it is vital for the horses and the mules to be kept in good condition due to that being the only transport, meaning that the horses and the mules must be kept well looked after. The reason why he is called Crooks is because he is disabled; this shows that he cannot work with the other men. He has a permanent Job looking after the mules and horses; this is a semi-skilled job because it requires skill to do this job. There are several reasons why Crooks is lonely. Firstly he is black, the only black on the ranch and now there aint no coloured guy on the ranch he grew up as the only black family in Soledad there wasnt another coloured family for miles around. There is only one coloured family in Soledad an theres jus one family in Soledad. This makes him lonely because he hasnt got anybody like him, nobody black like him. He is the only one. Segregation means separation, separated from the others, this is what happens to Crooks. He isnt allowed in the bunk house, he lives in a little shed led off the barn a little shed led off the barn since he been separated from the others, he feels that white people have no right in his room you got no right to come in my room. This heres my room; nobody got any right in here but me. From this, Crooks feels rejected I cant play cards because Im black. They say I stink, well, I tell you, you stink too Crooks is a victim of institutional racism- this means that the law cannot protect him. I know this from when Curleys wife says to him I can get you strung up so easy it aint even funny The word nigger can be said in two ways-to describe sure, ya see, the stable bucks a nigger this shows ignorance, this shows that people do not know that it is an offensive word- and hurtful then you keep your place then nigger, I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it aint even funny what she said was true backthen, if a black man looked at a white woman funny then (no matter what personality she is) she can get him strung up and the law cannot protect him. Crooks is isolated, no-one comes into his room except for Slim and the boss guys like you dont come into a coloured mans room very much. Nobody been in here but Slim, Slim and the boss. Experts say that being isolated can affect your mental health, which evidently it has done to Crooks. He is quiet, aloof (keep yourself to yourself) and depressed. He was not always like this. In his youth he was part of a loving family remember when I was a little kid on my old mans chicken ranch. Had two brothers, they was always with me, always there this makes Crooks lonelier than he is now because he had a family, he had a life, he had a future, but now it has been taken from him. America was a far more racist community than it was now. I know this from the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) this was (and still is) a white supremacist organisation, which has an aim of striking fear and intimidation into black people. The KKK believed that blacks were like animals and had little rights due to the fact that they are black-terrible, but true- black people were routinely dragged out of their homes and beaten, raped, castrated (cutting off penis and testicles) or possibly murdered. Slavery was abolished in America; it was very strong in the southern states. This is why Crooks says that he isnt a southern Negro I aint a southern negro this shows that Crooks was born a free black. Crooks (as far as we know) hasnt suffered from the KKK but it could still effect him because he know in theory what will happen to him. Being isolated is not good for people. As Ive said earlier, isolation can affect your mental health. He is also the only character in this novel that knows what loneliness does to you- Steinbecks message has been put into Crookss mouth a guy goes nuts if he aint got nobody. From suffering from isolation Crooks begins to get his own back and scare Lennie want me ta tell ya whatll happen? Theyll take ya to the booby hatch. Theyll tie ya up with a collar, like a dog. From this he has become cynical (this means that you believe things will always go wrong, what ever the scenario) and pessimistic (always looking on the down side of things youll talk abut it a hell of a lot, but you wont get no land. Yet he may be black, but he is brighter than all the other men in the novel And he had a book too; a tattered dictionary and a mauled copy of the California civil code for 1905 he hasnt got the right to fulfil his intelligence, this shows what racism was like and what it did. When Lennie and Candy mention the dream to Crooks he offers to join it immediately if youguys would want to work for nothing-just his keep, why Id come an lend a hand. I aint so crippled I cant work like a son-of-a-bitch when I want to. The way he asked it was to hint to them, try not to give them an excuse to punish him. He really wants to be part of the dream, we never hear Crooks speak of his dreams, when Lennie and Candy talk about their dream, Crooks springs up and wants to become part of it. Crooks has the same dream, but he never shows it, because hes black. In the ellipsis he is trying to hint to them for them to accept him. We want Crooks to be accepted because it would be a better life, possibly a better ending. When Crooks wants to be part of Lennie and Candys dream, he has his hopes up, but when Curleys wife enters the scene and threatens him I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it aint even funny he changes his mind- not as if he wants to- but for protection. What Curleys wife said was true, so Crooks loses all of his confidence, and backs out of this dream. So what will happen to him is that he will be exactly how he was before lonely, aloof, intimidated. We will feel sorry for him because now he has ended up worse than he was before, now he knows that things will always go wrong for him In a Depression everybody suffers. If you were black or disabled you suffer even more because nobody would want to employ you. Employers want white, fit and young workers, if they were fit to get that job, it would be low payed, you would suffer either way, but if you was black or disabled you would be less likely to get that job, Candy only got that job because he lost his hand under their behalf. Crooks only got that job because hes been there a long time and hes got skill. If Crooks and Candy were kicked and had to start again, it wouldnt be easy for them to get another job. The final character I am going to look at is Curleys wife. Curleys wife is the recent bosses sons wife on the ranch lennie and George worked at- so the men on the ranc will look at her as the new kid. whit picked uphis cards and examined them seen the new kid yet. She looks probally 16-17 years old. I know this from when an actor said she could go with them. She says that she is only 15. he says I could gowith him on that show. But my ol lady wouldnt let me. She says because I was ony 15. Also she is pretty but in an artificial way- this means that she pretends to be beautiful a girl was standing there looking in. she had full rouged lips and wide spaced eyes, heavily made up. Her finger nails were red.her hair hung in little rolled clusters like sausages. She wore a cotton house dressand red mules, on the insteps of which were little bouquettes of red ostrich feathers back then respectable women didnt wear make up how she does, this is why the men refer her to as a tart I think Curleys married a tart she is never refered to as a name- just an individual. Also she can provokes strong feelings in both readers and characters (sympathy and hostility) to lennie, who thinks shes georgeous- shes purty- and George- who thinks discustingly of her- dont you even take a look at that bitch- the readers feel the same more-or-less. Steinbeck had a more sympathetic view of the character of Curleys wife- I know this from the Miss Luce letter. When Steinbeck adapted this novel into a play, the actor playing Curleys wife wrote to him because he did not know how to play her. So Steinbeck wrote a sympathetic letter back to Miss Luce explaining that her character in more detail. There are a number of reasons why Curleys wife is lonely. A womans role at that time was far different than today. Women those days had to stay in the home; cook meals and look after the kids- Curleys wife cant do this because she is living with Curleys father, she cant cook there is a cook that cooks all the meals on the ranch. Today women own companies, go to work etc. Curleys wife cannot get a job because in a depression, all the jobs would go to the men, plus women werent seen as workers, their job was to stay in the home. Also respectable women didnt wear make up, if you did then the men would think bad of you. Yet also there isnt another woman on the ranch for or nearby-so she hasnt got any support, girls and boys like the company of people their age, girls share make up, clothes, talk to each other, and chat about life. Curleys wife cant chat with other girls since there isnt anybody; Curleys mother seems evidently dead or doesnt live with them, so she cant talk to her. She cannot go into town to meet other girls because she cannot travel alone, if she does then society will disrespect her. She is treated by Curley as a sex object, as a possession- a perfect example of this is when she dies, Curleys reaction to her death, there is no weeping, no remorse, Curley goes straight for revenge Im gonna get him. Im going for my shotgun. Ill kill the big son-of-a-bitch myself. Ill shoot him in the guts. Come on, you guys he only goes for revenge for Lennie because he hates big guys. Curley sees his wife as a sex object from when he brags about his glove fulla Vaseline Curley says this because when the men ask him why he is wearing a glove full of Vaseline, he says he is keeping it soft for his wife. He only says this to make the other guys jealous. As for the other men on the ranch, they see her as someone who is dangerous, she is judged by her first appearance well aint she a looloo? they say this because she doesnt fit into the mens category as normal, respectable women didnt wear make up- she wears make up- respectable women didnt leave the house- shes in their faces. When Whit says I bet she even gives the stable buck the eye when he says this, it is a major insult to a woman. For a woman to sleep with a black man is seen as the taboo, it just wasnt right back then. They refer her to a tart (prostitute); however they talk about the actual tarts at the cathouse with real warmth and pleasure we go to old susys place. Hell of a nice place. Old susys a laugh- always cracking jokes. They talk about tarts as if they like them. But they dont like Curleys wife and call her a tart, when she isnt one. It seems as if she cannot win. When you are a married man, you work and look after your wife. Curley has only been married for two weeks and hes going to the cathouse! Curleys wife hasnt done anything. This does not pass unnoticed; Curleys wife tells Lennie how she feels about it I get lonely she said you can talk to people, but I cant talk to nobody but Curley. Else he gets mad. Howd you like not to talk to anybody? So what has loneliness done to her? Its made her desperate; she ignores the voice inside her head that something is wrong. She took Lennies hand and put it on her head. This shows that she is desperate for company. She also has become cruel listen nigger she said you know what I can do to you if you open your trap this shows that she feels as if she can get her own back on them, she feels as if- for the first time in a long time I suppose- she can take control. Eventually it kills her. She got that desperate for company that she stayed in that room with Lennie; and got herself killed. Many people have dreams, Curleys wife has a dream, and this dream means a lot to her. Curleys wife wants to be a movie star; this was because the film industry was just starting. This was a dream for most young girls back then. Like of how girls of 16-17 want to become models. Evidently this was a realistic dream for young girls back then. She got this dream from when she was 15; an actor said that she could be in the movies nother time I met a guy an he was in pitchers. Went out to the riverside dance palace with him. He says he was going to put me in the movies. Says I was a natural. Soons he got back to Hollywood he was going to write to me about it what this man really wanted to was to sleep with her. I dont think he was in the movies at all, I think he was just claiming, it would be highly unnatural for a Hollywood film producer to turn up in a small place like Soledad, like a famous person turning up in Bloxwitch, it wouldnt happen on an everyday basis. This is why her mother wouldnt let her my ol lady wouldnt let me her mother wouldnt let her go with him because he wanted to protect her. This shows that Curleys wife is shallow- cares about her appearance, gullible- believes everything that she is told, and naà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ve- meaning that she is too trusting to people. She hasnt got any real talent because we havent really seen her act out before, so the probability of this dream becoming true is highly unlikely. But she doesnt want to be in the movies to act. No, she wants to be famous; she wants to be admired and to wear flashy clothes. The affect of this is that she wants to be like how the actresses are, trying to impress the men- just the sad thing is that the men dont refer her as an actresses, they refer her to as a tart and vow to keep a distance form her. The effect of this is the total opposite of what she wants (of how they look at her as a tart) she doesnt want that, she wants to be respected by them. She wants to make something of herself well I wasnt gonna stay no place where I couldnt get nowhere or make something of myself this ties up with the American Dream. This is great proof that the dream actually exists. When Curleys wife dies, Steinbeck presents her death in a sympathetic and descriptive manner- now her rouged cheeks and her reddened lips made her seem alive and sleeping very lightly when he presents her death, we- us and the characters- see the real woman. We see her no more than a tool to be polished and maimed, never to be respected nor confided in. And when she described her dream beforehand, this is a sympathetic ending to her life. For the final part of this essay I will talk about who I personally think is the loneliest. I think that the loneliest character is Curleys wife because she is the only woman on the ranch and everybody looks down upon her as something disgustingly on a lavatory seat. She is also the loneliest because even her own husband doesnt particularly respect her. I think this text of Mice and Men was an interesting and mind bending book with a gripping and plot. There are some things that I know now that I didnt now before, for instance the Great Depression, I knew roughly what it was but I never knew that this book had the theme of it. Also, loneliness, the other theme, also happens today. Like how it drives people crazy. Like the message John Steinbeck is trying to put out.

Hardships Of Southern Sharecroppers :: essays research papers

For many people in the 1930’s living conditions were not as adequate as they needed to be. The stock market had just crashed in 1928, and the US was in the midst of the Great Depression. Many people suffered from lack of money, and many others suffered from lack of food. One group of people who suffered greatly during this time period were the southern share croppers. Factors that caused the substandard living conditions of the southern share croppers in the 1930’s include lack of education, poor health care, and inadequate living facilities. The first factor that caused the substandard living conditions of the southern share croppers was their lack of education. There were several reasons the share croppers didn’t get the education they needed. One main reason was because many children didn’t go to school. Harold Walker writes that Southern cotton states ranked lower in rate of attendance for each student enrolled than any of the other states in the natio n (4). A factor that contributed to this was their excessive mobility, which inhibited many children from going to school (Corder 27). It is common knowledge that any child who constantly moves around will not be able to attend school on a regular basis, and even if they go to a school when they get a chance they will be so far behind they would have a difficult time catching up. Another factor that impeded on a child’s attendance at school was the fact that they never went to school when there was cotton to be picked (Walker 8). This may not seem like a large task, but some times it could take weeks to pick all the cotton. These few weeks that a child spent picking cotton was valuable learning time, and missing it could put a child too far behind to catch up. Another reason share croppers didn’t get the education they needed was because many southern rural schools had short terms (Gentry 21). Because of this teachers would not be able to cover all of the material that they needed to cover, or they would have to rush through the material they did cover. A final reason the education of the southern cotton states was not as good as other states was because their teachers were not as good. This was reflected in the fact that the salaries of Southern teachers were not as high as the salaries of other teachers (Mckeon 98).

Nash v. Auburn University

Statement of Facts:   Nash v. Auburn University involved a challenge by two first-year graduate students to a one year suspension imposed for cheating on examinations.   At the suspension hearing the students sought to examine the school’s witnesses directly rather than through an intermediary hearing panel member, who would pose the students questions to the witnesses. Questions: Mid-State says that Landry enrolled at the university and therefore has waived any further protections than those granted him in the rules and regulations.   Is this position well taken?   Yes it is the school’s argument is that the penal code and an academic â€Å"criminal† code differ crucially in a way bearing directly on the right of confrontation.   Penal code enforcement rests upon well trained professionals such as police officers and public prosecutors. Landry asserts that he is entitled to have his lawyer present during any procedures designed to expect him.   Is this position reasonable?   Yes, to be charged with cheating on a final examination seems little different from being charged with defrauding one’s creditor.   Any conviction of the offense may lead to grievous sanctions such as suspension or expulsion for the student, jail time for the criminal defendant. Landry states that he has the right to cross examine the witnesses against him.   Is he correct?   No, in rejecting their constitutional claim that this indirect process denied them their right to confront opposing witnesses, the trial court repeated that the Dixon standards did not require this opportunity and that the Supreme Court did not expand the rule of Dixon, indeed the students had received â€Å"more than the Constitution requires† even though â€Å"in almost every setting where important decisions turn on questions of fact, due process requires an opportunity to confront and cross-examine adverse witnesses†. The Eleventh Circuit in its decisions repeated the District Court’s â€Å"explanation† for restricting the right of cross-examination. Landry maintains that the dean of students is biased against him because of   Ã‚  statements the dean has made to the effect that Landry is a menace and should be removed from the university.   Is Landry’s objection allowable?   Yes, familiarity may breed contempt rather than friendship, in a closed environment, in which accuser and accused are very often acquainted; cross-examination is the best way to expose bias or enmity, if either exists. Knowing that he may face tough questioning a potential accuser may hesitate to report misconduct on mere suspicion.   Such caution can only improve the reliability of any accusation and as with any other procedural safeguards that have generated plausible concerns, the right of confrontation seems not to have caused systemic breakdown at the numerous schools permitting cross-examination. Put simply, the accused student fails to receive fair treatment when members of the panel alone are allowed to confront the witness.   The civil law parallel of the inquiring magistrate assumes an experienced examiner, who is already well-informed about the matter from the investigatory report.   The typical disciplinary panel consists of students and faculty members, usually their first attendance at a hearing and unfamiliar with the events triggering the charge, and unlikely to have within the group a trained interrogator. Would it make any difference to Landry if the university in question were a private rather than a public university?   Yes, in private school cases, courts have refused to venture beyond these narrow constitutional bounds.   In the few reported decisions assessing the student’s right to confront an opposing witness, the courts have denied that the right existed. For reasoning the schools lead off their argument by asserting that discipline is an integral part of the learning experience and that teachers, not courts, should determine how best to design a student’s education.   This is kind of a throwback to the in loco parentis view of higher education.   Absent of excessive physical force or neglect, parents may discipline children in any way the thing will be effective, even if experts would strongly disagree with their choice. By analogy, colleges as surrogate parents should enjoy the same latitude in deciding how to impose discipline upon their student, â€Å"Children†.   Even if modern educators no longer accept such a surrogate role, many teachers still view the goal of the disciplinary process as enlightening and inducing better conduct by the accused student, not as requiring the accuser to prove that misconduct occurred.   Adherents of this position contend that once the disciplinary procedure become â€Å"confrontational†, it loses its educational value. Works Cited: Carper, Donald L., et al.   Understanding the Law 5th. Ed.   Mason, Ohio: Thomson/West,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   2008.

Motivation Essay

Motivation and the Brain – The Desire to Exercise and Be Physically Fit Motivation and the Brain – The Desire to Exercise and Be Physically Fit The motivation that drives people to engage in physical activities like exercise can be analyzed as a result of many contributing factors. Theories exist regarding whether desire can be attributed to extrinsic or intrinsic factors. The brain structures and functions responsible for this type of motivation are complex and unique. Each individual will have his or her own reasons, but ultimately, some key factors can be noted. The role of Extrinsic and Intrinsic Motivators The motivational factors that drive people to engage in physical activities like working out at a fitness club, or running, appear to be mostly intrinsic. Heredity does not seem to be a prominent motivator; however, one’s environment will indeed have some effect. Children raised by athletes will obviously more inclined and motivated to participate in physical activities as an athlete would likely push his or her son or daughter to be athletic like them. Another increasingly popular source of motivation to work out is the desire to maintain good health, including keeping a healthy body weight. Another possible motivation is the desire one may have to prove to their own selves, the extent of their capacity. The term â€Å"self-efficacy† can be summarized with an individual asking himself or herself the following two questions: â€Å"Am I capable of doing this activity? † and â€Å"Will I be successful in achieving my goals if I engage in this behavior? † The internal question specific to this article would be â€Å"Am I capable of successfully participating in an ongoing diet and exercise program? Self-efficacy can also be described as situation-specific self-confidence (Grogan, Connor, & Smithson,  2006). Another possible explanation for the motivation to diet and exercise is the Protection Motivation Theory, which suggests that people are motivated to protect themselves from harmful or stressful life events ( Deci, 2004). In other words, an individual who maintains his or herself at peak physical condition can develop a sense that he or she is prepared for any disease or threat that may cross his or her path. Some may become paranoid and overly cautious in considering every possible harm that could fall upon them; this fear is drives them in the relentless pursuit of physical health. Perhaps the most gratifying benefit of exercising is the change it will bring to one’s physique. The tone and definition, weight loss and strength are obvious and can be noticed fairly quickly and easily. Along with these changes come the encouragement and positive feedback from one’s peers; this is a huge motivator. Research shows that Acknowledgment, Positive Feedback and Encouragement for self-initiation tend to increase intrinsic motivation (Deci, 2004). It does seem the motivation for maintaining physical health is largely intrinsic, previous family medical history, such as inherent life-threatening diabetes could be considered an extrinsic motivator. Pressure placed on individuals by family members and medical professionals regarding the risks of an unhealthy diet and lethargic behavior can be significant motivating factors that would drive one to take action to improve their health. Both intrinsic motivation and integrated extrinsic motivation are facilitated in situations that are interpersonally supportive, that is, here parents, teachers, managers, health care providers, and coaches understand and acknowledge the perspectives of their children, students, employees, patients, and athletes, respectively, and encourage them to experiment, allow them to try their own solutions to problems, provide them with choices, and respond to their initiations (Deci, 2004). Brain Structures and functions associated with the motivation to work out An important thing to note the brain structures and functions associated with this type of motivation. The feeling a person experiences in the aftermath of a long training session can be extremely euphoric. One hypothesis revolves around a set of opioid neurotransmitters of which endorphins are a special case. The term endorphin refers to internal morphine. Endorphins are primarily located in the pain pathways and are responsible for reducing the negative effects of pain stimuli and stressors (Deckers, 2010). Another argument that could be made would be that the gender aspect related to the concern about weight and appearance. It has been suggested that gay men and heterosexual women are under significantly more acute social pressure to attain the culturally valued slender body type (Grogan, Connor, & Smithson,  2006).

Forensic Linguistics Definition and Examples

Forensic Linguistics Definition and Examples The application of linguistic research and methods to the law, including evaluation of written evidence and the language of legislation. The term forensic linguistics was coined in 1968 by linguistics professor Jan Svartvik. Example: The pioneer of forensic linguistics is widely considered to be Roger Shuy, a retired Georgetown University professor and the author of such fundamental textbooks as [Creating] Language Crimes. The field’s more recent origins might be traced to an airplane flight in 1979, when Shuy found himself talking to the lawyer sitting next to him. By the end of the flight, Shuy had a recommendation as an expert witness in his first murder case. Since then, he’s been involved in numerous cases in which forensic analysis revealed how meaning had been distorted by the process of writing or recording. In recent years, following Shuy’s lead, a growing number of linguists have applied their techniques in regular criminal cases . . ..(Jack Hitt, Words on Trial. The New Yorker, July 23, 2012) Applications of Forensic Linguistics Applications of forensic linguistics include voice identification, interpretation of expressed meaning in laws and legal writings, analysis of discourse in legal settings, interpretation of intended meaning in oral and written statements (e.g., confessions), authorship identification, the language of the law (e.g., plain language), analysis of courtroom language used by trial participants (i.e., judges, lawyers, and witnesses), trademark law, and interpretation and translation when more than one language must be used in a legal context. (Gerald R. McMenamin, Forensic Linguistics: Advances in Forensic Stylistics. CRC Press, 2002)On some occasions the linguist is asked to provide investigative assistance or expert evidence for use in Court. Within the linguistics literature there has been considerable focus on the rules for admission of authorship identification evidence to criminal prosecutions, but the role of the linguist in providing evidence is broader than this. Much of the evide nce provided by linguists does not involve authorship identification, and the assistance a linguist may offer is not restricted to only providing evidence for criminal prosecution. Investigative linguists can be considered that portion of forensic linguistics which provides advice and opinions for investigative and evidential purposes. (Malcolm Coulhard, Tim Grant, and Krzystof Kredens, Forensic Linguistics. The SAGE Handbook of Sociolinguistics, ed. by Ruth Wodak, Barbara Johnstone, and Paul Kerswill. SAGE, 2011) Problems Facing Forensic Linguists [There are] certain problems facing an insider forensic linguist. Eight such problems are: 1. short time limits imposed by a law case, as opposed to the more familiar time limits enjoyed in everyday academic pursuits;2. an audience almost totally unfamiliar with our field;3. restrictions on what we can say and when we can say it;4. restrictions on what we can write;5. restrictions on how to write;6. the need to represent complex technical knowledge in ways that can be understood by people who know nothing of our field while maintaining our role as experts who have deep knowledge of these complex technical ideas;7. constant changes or jurisdictional differences in the field of law itself; and8. maintaining an objective, non-advocacy stance in a field in which advocacy is the major form of presentation. Since forensic linguists deal in probabilities, not certainties, it is all the more essential to further refine this field of study, experts say. â€Å"There have been cases where it was my impression that the evidence on which people were freed or convicted was iffy in one way or another,† says Edward Finegan, president of the International Association of Forensic Linguists. Vanderbilt law professor Edward Cheng, an expert on the reliability of forensic evidence, says that linguistic analysis is best used when only a handful of people could have written a given text. (David Zax, How Did Computers Uncover J.K. Rowling’s Pseudonym? Smithsonian, March 2014) Language as a Fingerprint What [Robert A. Leonard] thinks about of late is forensic linguistics, which he describes as the newest arrow in the quiver of law enforcement and lawyers.In a nutshell, just think of language as a fingerprint to be studied and analyzed, he enthuses. The point to be made here is that language can help you solve crimes and language can help you prevent crimes. There is a tremendous pent-up demand for this kind of training. This can be the difference between someone going to jail over a confession he didn’t actually write.His consultation on the murder of Charlene Hummert, a 48-year-old Pennsylvania woman who was strangled in 2004, helped put her killer in prison. Mr. Leonard determined, through the quirky punctuation in two letters of confession by a supposed stalker and a self-described serial killer, that the actual author was Ms. Hummert’s spouse. When I studied the writings and made the connection, it made the hair on my arms stand up. (Robin Finn, A Graduate of Sha Na Na, Now a Linguistics Professor. The New York Times, June 15, 2008) The linguistic fingerprint is a notion put forward by some scholars that each human being uses language differently, and that this difference between people can be observed just as easily and surely as a fingerprint. According to this view, the linguistic fingerprint is the collection of markers, which stamps a speaker/writer as unique. . . .[N]obody has yet demonstrated the existence of such a thing as a linguistic fingerprint: how then can people write about it in this unexamined, regurgitated way, as though it were a fact of forensic life?Perhaps it is this word forensic that is responsible. The very fact that it collocates so regularly with words like expert and science means that it cannot but raise expectations. In our minds we associate it with the ability to single out the perpetrator from the crowd to a high degree of precision, and so when we put forensic next to linguistics as in the title of this book we are effectively saying forensic linguistics is a genuine science jus t like forensic chemistry, forensic toxicology, and so on. Of course, insofar as a science is a field of endeavour in which we seek to obtain reliable, even predictable results, by the application of a methodology, then forensic linguistics is a science. However, we should avoid giving the impression that it can unfailingly - or even nearly unfailingly - provide precise identification about individuals from small samples of speech or text. (John Olsson, Forensic Source Linguistics: An Introduction to Language, Crime, and the Law. Continuum, 2004) Roger W. Shuy, Breaking Into Language and Law: The Trials of the Insider-Linguist. Round Table on Language and Linguistics: Linguistics, Language and the Professions, ed. by James E. Alatis, Heidi E. Hamilton, and Ai-Hui Tan. Georgetown University Press, 2002

Differing Cultural Beliefs in Funny Boy essays

Differing Cultural Beliefs in Funny Boy essays Differing Cultural Beliefs in Funny Boy Between four to ten percent of the general population is homosexual. However, openly admitting to this preference is very uncommon. It is difficult for society to come to terms with the idea of homosexuality because it is different. Being different is looked upon as shameful, especially when it relates to ones sexual preference. One of the biggest reasons for keeping this subject a secret is because most people feel that their families will reject them. Today, we are living in a world that is supposed to favour diversity, yet all that we seem to be doing is mocking the way others choose to live their lives. Shyam Selvadurai, the author of Funny Boy, felt the necessity to write about this issue because it is kept in the dark, especially in Sri Lanka. In addition, Sri Lanka is faced with many cultural problems. The Tamils and Singhalese are in constant conflict because of their different moral values. Selvadurai grew up in this type of atmosphere, he was homosexual and was raised in an environment where fighting took place regularly. Selvadurai decided to write this book not only as therapy for himself but also to lend a voice to those who still have trouble expressing themselves about both of these issues especially children. Selvadurai writes as sensitively about the emotional intensity of adolescence as he does about the wonder of childhood (Hower, 22). Arjie Chelvaratnam, the protagonist in Selvadurais novel, finds himself going through similar problems. He feels lost because his attitudes towards life differ greatly from those around him. In his novel, Funny Boy, Shyam Selvadurai uses character and plot to show how conflicting cultural beliefs can lead to confusion and alienation. The theme of clashing cultural values is brought out through the character of Arjies father, Appa. As Arjie was growing up, he often enjoyed spending his days playin...

Theories Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Theories - Essay Example 2. Neo-Realists would not buy in to the idea that treaties or other laws could actually do a great deal to control the spread of nuclear weapons. Neo-realism essentially states that there are states that succeed and states that fail based on their behavior, and that a state will do whatever it can to survive, often emulating successful states. As nuclear weapons can be seen as an impregnable defense against invasion, as one could always use it to utterly dismantle an invading country as a last result, countries will obviously seek this course. There is very little incentive to abide by international law, and a great incentive to fail to do so (or simply opt out). 3. Liberals pay much greater attention to the economic side of things than other political theorists, basing a great deal of weight of international relations on what happens economically. A liberal would argue that the best way to assure a lasting peace is twofold: to promote economic development in countries to give them fewer reasons to go to war or have strife, and to create stronger international trade agreements, because countries that are close trading partners both stand to suffer a great deal should they go to war with each other. 4. This article demonstrates that terrorism is largely in the eyes of the beholder. The tactics that he has supposedly undertaken, if allegations are to be believed, would certainly constitute terrorism in almost anyone’s mind: he killed civilians with a tube of toothpaste. Yet, he was also a CIA operative. This makes one think that many of the terrorists in Iraq and Afghanistan might be considered freedom fighters if one were to shift one’s perspective slightly. This shows that terrorism can be very subjective in nature. 5. A realist would believe that emerging economies have a chance at creating world peace, because the more stable a country is the less likely it is to engage in

Reflection Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 36

Reflection - Essay Example sense of developing the human capital of a leader’s subjects, most of the internal responsibilities of change become left with the leader alone to do, making it impossible for him to fit in well the tasks at hand. Another fault that was identified with the leader was that he did not value the need to give feedback to his subjects. In often cases, this leader would implement a plan or take a decision without letting the subjects under him know the outcome or results of such programs. Due to these faults, there was generally lack of cooperation on the part of subjects under the leader. I suggest that there should be a special meeting to put opinions for the development of various fields in this school. A development plan for the leadership of the school should therefore be generally focused on the need to bringing about a change in the leadership style used by the leader of the school. By change in leadership style, an advocacy is being made for the introduction of a democratic leadership style in which the leader learns to share the task of decision making with all other subordinates and subjects. The meeting should therefore address the assignment of roles to other members of staff so that the leader will not be left to do all things by himself. Secondly, the plan should clearly outline various ways by which the human capital of the staff is going to be developed. Specifically, there should be skills development and training for the staff to make them highly effective in their assigned roles. Finally, there should be a mechanism of evaluating and assessing the p erformances and outputs of the staff in accordance with the roles that are given to them. This way, it will be possible for the staff to identify their shortfalls and how these can be empowered for growth. My future job is the principle of school, so Im I developing myself by reading about leadership in the fields of education. This means that learning and knowledge acquisition have been an important

UNIT MATH DB Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

UNIT MATH DB - Essay Example However, this approach of teaching is some times lacks as students are not motivated to remember (formulas) and it does not connect geometry to real life in the â€Å"real world†. There are different ways by which teaching of geometry, specifically surface area and volumes can be made more interesting. One way by giving students different types of shapes (cube, prism, cone, etc.) and asking them for calculating surface area and volume, or asking them how they will calculate. In another way, asking every student of class to explain calculating of surface area and volume of specific objects and let them choose the objects or it can be given to them by lottery systems. The most important aspect of teaching is to explain students how they can derive the formula they use for calculation. If a student knows, the basic idea behind the formula they use and how they are derived, than it will be lot easier for student to calculate surface area and volume of any other shapes or objects for which there is no formula given in textbook. Sometime we see different types of shapes that cannot be fit in any specific shapes such as cube, sphere, pyramid, or any other shape. Now , for calculating surface area and volume of these types of shapes (which do not have any specific shape), one must know the basic understanding of the subjects not just only remembering of formulas. In conclusion, there should be more emphasis on basic of the formula that are derived should be taught to students. In addition, students should be encouraged to find new shapes and study them and later discuss them with other classmates, whatever findings they come across. In addition, some types of projects should be given to students in which they make any specific types of shapes with the help of paper, cardboard, etc. and later calculate the surface area and volume of

Porter Generic Stratey Essay Example for Free

Porter Generic Stratey Essay The key drivers of competitive advantage are cost leadership and differentiation product †¢COMPETITIVE STRATEGY- the means by which an organisation seeks to achieve and sustain a competitive advantage†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Porter suggests that competitive strategy means taking an offensive or defensive action to create a defendable position to cope with the competitive forces- this would lead to greater returns †¢Porter suggests that a firm’s strengths fall into two headngs; cost advantage and differentiation. By applying these strengths in a broad or narrow focus, three generic strategies result: COST LEADERSHIP, DIFFERENTIATION AND FOCUS†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦they are generic because they are not specific to a firm or industry. †¢4 strategies to gain a competitive advantage: COST LEADERSHIP-(superior profits through lower costs), DIFFERENTIATION-(higher profits by adding value the products areas that are of real significance for customers who are willing to pay a premium price), FOCUS STRATEGY-(concentrate on a specific area on the market) †¢COST LEADERSHIP- concentrates on becoming the lowest cost producer through economies of scale. With this, the organisation can compete on price with the potential to earn higher unit profits. Cost reduction provides the focus for the orgaisations strategy. Competitive advantage is achieved by driving costs down. There is room for only one cost leader †¢Firms that succeed in cost leadership have the following strengths: access to capital to make big investment, design skills, high level of expertise in manufacturing process, efficient distribution channels †¦. EXAMPLES- RYANAIR, TOYOTA, TESCO, AND WALMART †¢Cost leadership is often seen as a strategy that aims to attract customers with low prices made by low costs†¦.. ut this doesn’t necessarily mean the lowest selling price, but due to low costs, the profit margins are higher †¢DIFFERENTIATION- this strategy calls for a development of a product or service that offers unique and valued attribute by customers. The customers believe that the product is different than rivals. the uniqueness gives a product added value which enables companies to charge a higher price premium. Successful differentiation- differentiating products from competitiors, charging a higher price†¦. an base differentiation on omage, durability, after-sales customer service/ needs strong RD †¢HOWEVER, adding value increases a firms cost base for a product which reduces the unit profit margin- these costs can only be recouped if the consumer is willing to pay the premium price. Also, customers must recognise these differences†¦. EXAMPLES: BMW, MIELE (HIGHER QUALITY DOMESTIC APPLIANCES), BANG AND OLUFSEN, MERC, ETC †¢Benefit a chance of charging a premium price, demand for differentiated less elastic, above average profits, additional barriers to entry? Risks difficult to sustain, higher costs, risk of creating differences, comsumers may become too price sensitive, compititors who attain a focus strategy may achieve greater differentiation. †¢FOCUS STRATEGY- Like differentiation, but organisation concentrates on one or more segments of the market, this may offer the firm more security for achieving its competitive advantage†¦. However there are specific requirements for the focus strategy†¦. Firms benefit form specialisation, differentiation on a lower scale, so the costs are lower than full scale differentiation

Hatred in Notes of a Native Son Essay -- James Baldwin

The Destructive Nature of Hatred Hatred for white society was a common sentiment among the black community during the 1950s. These feelings were expressed through different mediums, ranging from music and art, to the written word. But James Baldwin, a popular black writer during this time period, does not harp on this subject. Instead of preaching about his hatred for white America, Baldwin utilizes his narrative and analysis techniques to illustrate the destructive nature of the black society’s hatred for white society in â€Å"Notes of a Native Son†. The hatred many African Americans possessed during the 1950s caused multiple riots. Baldwin touches on this in â€Å"Notes of a Native Son†, by mentioning the Harlem riots that broke out during the time of his father’s death. Baldwin states that â€Å"it would have been better to have left the plate glass as it had been and the goods lying in the stores† (Baldwin 82), but â€Å"it would have also been intolerable, for Harlem had needed something to smash† (82). The black community, infuriated by improper police action, exploded into a fury of anger. While Baldwin does not argue against the riots, he points out their futility. The riots, as Baldwin points out, did not cross the ghetto lines. Instead of wreaking havoc in white neighborhoods, the black mob simply destroyed its own area. The mob had succumbed to its hatred for white society, but in doing so, destroyed its own neighborhood. Thus, Baldwin points out the self-destructive nature of the black community’s hatred. Instead of causing damage to white society, or even white property, the black community ended up inflicting wounds on its own people. Baldwin does not stop with this event to illustrate the irony of the black commun... ... and from it learns two key lessons to prevent a similar destruction of his own life. Baldwin first states that one must accept that â€Å"injustice is commonplace† (84). Prejudice, according to Baldwin, will always exist in life, whether it is against race, color or creed. But while prejudice is ever-present, Baldwin concludes â€Å"one must never†¦accept these injustices as commonplace but must fight them with all one’s strength† (84). In order to succeed in this fight, one must keep his â€Å"own heart free of hatred† (84). Thus according to Baldwin, the real fight is not black society versus white society, but rather man versus himself. It is only by winning this battle that one can avoid the path of destruction. Works Cited Baldwin, James. â€Å"Notes of a Native Son.† 1955. James Baldwin: Collected Essays. Ed. Toni Morrison. New York: Library of America, 1998. 63-84.

Padini Holding Berhad Essay

1.1 Background of the company Padini is a Malaysian-domiciled investment-holding company headquartered in HicomGlenmarie Industrial Park, Shah Alam. Incorporated in 1971 as proprietorship under the trade name Hwayo Garments Manufacturers Company, Padini was initially engaged in the manufacture and wholesale of ladies wear. The company subsequently added men’s and children’s lines to its offerings when it established its first three brands from 1975 – 1987. In 1988, Padini discarded its role as wholesaler to take up the role of consignor. Thereafter, the first single-brand store distributing Seed was opened in 1992 in Sungei Wang Plaza, Kuala Lumpur. The company has nine labels in its family of brands and retail in 330 freestanding stores, franchised outlets and consignment counters in Malaysia and around the world. The company’s subsidiaries include Vincci Ladies’ Specialties Centre Sdn. Bhd., which is engaged in dealing of ladies’ shoes and accessories; Padini C orporation Sdn Bhd., Seed Corporation Sdn. Bhd., Yee Fong Hung (Malaysia) SendirianBerhad (Yee Fong Hung) and Padini International Limited, which is engaged in dealing of garments and ancillary products; Padini Dot Com Sdn. Bhd. (Padini Dot Com), which is engaged in provision of management services, and Mikihouse Children’s Wear Sdn. Bhd. (Mikihouse), which is engaged in dealing of children’s garments, maternity wear and accessories. Tizio was introduced to the public with the opening of its first outlet in Mid Valley Megamall in Nov 2012 and subsequently in Paradigm Mall on 23 May 2013. Like almost all of the Group’s Brands, Tizio was developed in  -house by, and is registered to the group. Anticipate more presence from Tizio in the coming years as the brand has been slated to become an addition to the group’s portfolio of core brands.  On 5 March 1998, the group was listed on the Second Board of Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad (Bursa) and thereafter, transferred to the Main Board on 4 August 2004. The Main and Second Boards merged on 3 August 2009. Major shareholders of the group as at 8 July 2013 are Pang Chaun Yong with 44% and Skim Amanah Saham Bumiputera with 5.0%.

Bench Strength

Any thriving business is cognizant of the fact that their success hinges significantly upon the services and loyalty of key personnel, as well as the ability to attract, retain and motivate qualified staff. Of course it does not stop with hiring and retention, the most important aspect of human resources is to be able to recognize potential leaders and train them accordingly so as to prepare them for more responsibilities and leadership roles as they grow with the company. The term bench strength refers to the depth of any given company’s pool of qualified and potential executives and managers.These short-listed people are being groomed to go up the corporate ladder, in a seamless succession of leadership that will bring stability and increased growth for the company. To make sure that the potential leaders will be up to the task, every company must invest in the training and development of their personnel. This training and development program is so designed in such a way tha t will harness the skills and strengths of these people, in the hopes that they will be able to steer the company through rough waters and towards higher grounds.Potential leaders must be identified, mentored, and exposed to all levels of the company’s operations. This way, these people are able to gain a broader and deeper insight of how the business functions, and as such, be able to contribute in all the levels of operation of the business. According to Conger (2004), â€Å"Succession management must be a flexible system that is oriented toward developmental activities, and not just a rigid list of high-potential employees and the slots they might possibly fill.† An effective bench strength strategy is to create a program that successfully marries succession planning and leadership training and development. This way, the company knows the skills required for leadership positions, and training will be aligned in such a way that these skills are successfully developed . Conger (2004) further maintains that the companies that have the most success in bench strengthening programs are â€Å"those that merge succession planning and leadership development in order to create a long-term process for managing the talent roster across their organizations. †Of course a company cannot develop a succession program if its fails to institute a hiring and retention program that would ensure the appropriate fit of employees to their respective job responsibilities. Human resources must be able to attract and hire the right people the first time. If a company fails in this regard, staffing will eat into the company’s resources, and cause disruption in the business because there is frequent change in personnel, leaving the business without any real sense of succession. (Burkholder, 2003, p. 150) In such cases, some companies are forced to hire outsiders for leadership roles.While this is not necessarily bad, personnel who have been groomed for sensit ive and executive positions are will require less adjustment both from subordinates and higher-ups alike. Companies must first look within and find potential leaders among the ranks. The sense of opportunity and career growth will inspire people and motivate them to work harder and give their best performance in every endeavor. Employees who know that their efforts are noticed and recognized have no reason to leave in search of greener pastures and better opportunities.A company with loyal and hard-working personnel will also have the pool of leaders that they need for a seamless succession of leaders. This internal development program not only saves on cots in terms of cost in time and additional compensation to attract and hiring outside people, but more importantly, boosts the morale of the personnel and ensures the stability of the company in terms of human resources. Therefore before any successful succession and leadership development can be designed, an effective staffing pro gram must first be put in place.Burkholder (2003, 151) maintains that staffing â€Å"must be aligned with the rest of the organization. † This means that staffing must take a proactive role in the company, and not just act on a need basis. There are many techniques to ensure an effective staffing program. One method is called the Baldridge process. This program requires a company to take self-assessment. This self-assessment is designed to help companies align their business processes and operations with fluctuating business needs and with the highly fickle labor market. By so doing, this recognizes the strategic role of the staffing group in the business.(Burkholder, 2003, 152) The main advantage of using the Baldridge process is that it empowers the staffing group and acknowledges their value in the business. Knowing that they have full support of the company, an empowered staffing group is thus able to create better and more efficient hiring and recruitment programs that w ill ensure the best matching of people to their spheres of responsibility. The entire business must operate as a single entity, with each department geared towards forwarding the business’ core values and achieving financial success for the company.When designing or implementing any type of staffing and retention programs, it is important to involve all the employees. It is a good idea to solicit their ideas and feedback. A cross-section of all departments must give their suggestions, this is to ensure that staffing and retention practices will be highly aligned with the needs of the company. After the programs have been implemented, there must be a system that will regularly monitor and evaluate the programs.Such a system allows dfor continued improvement; buttressing the good points and working on the not-so-good aspects of the program. (Harris & Brannick, 1999, p. 206) Every organization, regardless of its size will benefit from competent people. The issue that every compa ny must address is how to invite these people and keep them once they have been hired. The next step once you have retained these leaders, is to provide them with growth opportunities that would harness their skills and competencies to the benefit of the entire business.As the company grows, your key personnel should be made capable to handle decision-making responsibilities. To achieve this, your staffing group must be explicitly involved in the planning and implementation of the company’s business plan. By being aware of the objectives of the company, the staffing group has a framework by which to design its own hiring and retention procedures and programs in such a way that contributes to the realization of these goals. (Becker, 2001, p.29) Indeed when a department knows what is expected of them and how they can help the organization, all their energies will be focused towards the attainment of that common goal. Every company must endeavor to encourage a sense of community and participation across all levels of the organization. Only then can a business ever have a chance at carving a niche for itself in the highly competitive world of the free market. References: Becker, B. E. , Huselid, M. A. (2001). The HR Scorecard: Linking People, Strategy, and Performance.Harvard Business School Press. Brannick, J. & Harris, J (1999). Finding & Keeping Great Employees. NJ: AMACOM Div American Management Association. Burkholder, N. C. , Edwards, P. J. , Sartain, L. (2003). On Staffing: Advice and Perspectives from HR Leaders. NJ: John Wiley and Sons. Conger, J. A. & Fulmer, R. M. , (2003). Bench Strength: Grooming Your Next CEO. Developing Your Leadership Pipeline. Harvard Business Review. Vol. 81, No. 12. Retrieved on August 5, 2007 from http://hbswk. hbs. edu/archive/3855. html