Males and females

Much research studies had focused on the behavior of male delinquency. However, there has been a steady rise of juvenile female offenders as well as on the criminal justice system. Media has sensationalized the account of female violence. The rise in number of arrests however, can also be attributed to changes in policies in police practices, rather than a drastic change in women’s behavior. Most of these arrests were assault-related. While former juvenile offenses were once labeled as non-criminal offenses such as a girl being hit by a mother shoves her in self-defense and runs away from home. Whereas such an offense would be labeled before as â€Å"runaway† offense, today this might cause her to be charged of assault, which is a criminal offense. However, in criminal offenses such as robbery, female youths had been seen as becoming more involved in what used to be a predominantly male offense. Youth status, especially among urban girls is a causal factor for most of such crime. Pop culture among adolescents places great importance on high-end branded clothes, latest electronic gadgets, ‘looks’ that try to imitate Hollywood celebrities and fashion models, which had placed greater pressure on growing adolescents for peer acceptance. Youth pop culture has greatly caused an obvious division among differences in economic status, and the desire to â€Å"keep up the Joneses’† breeds the environment for some youths to victimize their own peers in order to buy the â€Å"desirable† goods which they would not have been able to afford otherwise. Other studies had also attributed thrill and excitement as robbery-causing factors among youths who were inclined to ‘show-off’. Although there are less occurrences of female robberies than among males, both has expressed the same motivation for committing the crime, and that is to acquire more money in order to have goods that bestow high status among peers. Female youth offenders were less likely to use weapons compared to males, and is much more characterized by harassing and hijacking youths of lesser age for petty amounts of cash and in some cases, jewelry. It has also been found that there is also a high correlation between poor relationships with mother-daughter which causes an increase among female adolescents to seek peer reputation which in turn becomes a contributing factor for female delinquency (Kerperlman & Smith-Adcock. â€Å"Female Adolescents’ Delinquent Activity†) A comparative study between male and female offenses however has shown that there is a significant difference between their criminal activities. Young men were more likely to resort to use weapons (guns) than girls. Knives were more of girls’ choice of weapon if they do resort to using one. Female offenders were more likely to commit murder because of conflict rather than during the act of other crime such as robbery. Assaults done by girls are more frequently done against one’s own family members. Males are more often arrested for more serious crimes such as rape, homicide, or burglary than young females. While there is a growing belief that female behavior has greatly changed among offenders today, suggesting that girls are taking over more masculine-related crimes, the offenses of male and female youth delinquency had both risen; therefore change of behavior cannot solely be blamed on changes of female youth behavior but changes on the over-all young population in ge neral. There is also no evidence that female offenders gained an increase of status among male peers since such offenses were done mostly among female younger victims (J. Weiler. â€Å"Girls and Violence†). Reference: 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Kerpelman, J & Smith-Adcock S.   â€Å"Female Adolescents’ Delinquent Activity†. Vol. 37, No. 2, 176-200. 2005 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Chesney-Lind M, Paramore V. â€Å"Are Girls Getting More Violent?: Exploring Juvenile Robbery Trends†. 1998 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Cited by Weiler, J. â€Å"Girls and Violence†. ERIC Digest, No. 143. http://www.ericdigests.org/1999-4/girls.htm         

John Fante Ask the Dust

In the novel Ask the Dust by John Faint, the mall character, Arturo Banding, lacks the ability to have a true and sincere Identity. He traveled to California In hopes of becoming a successful writer. Rotator's journey to become a successful white American male fuels his hypocritical and contradicting lifestyle. His move to California influenced his self attitude, racial viewpoints, and perspective towards love. Arturo has a very strange relationship with women, whether It be Vera, Camilla, or a random women on the streets.Arturo develops an attraction towards Camilla, a Mexican-American women who he finds faintly attractive, â€Å"With a Amman nose, flat with large nostrils. Her lips were heavily rouged, with the thickness of a Negroes' lips. She was a racial type, and as such she was beautiful, but she was too strange for me† (Faint 34). Arturo starts off saying how lovely she is but then contradicts himself by saying she is too strange. One minute Arturo is happy with Camill a and the next his Is cursing her off under his breath. Foe call me beautiful at home, then you are ashamed to be seen with me In public. You are ashamed of beauty you recognize hat no one else does. You are ashamed to love me! † (Faint) Camilla recognizes that Arturo is unaware of how he feels and she confronts him about it. He hates the feeling of lust that she gives him so he runs to church to â€Å"cleanse† himself. Arturo is incapability of having true feelings towards a women stems from the fact that he is unsure of what love is. â€Å"By the all desire that had not come a while before†¦ T pounded my skull and tingled my fingers. I threw myself on the bed and tore the pillow†. (Faint) Arturo can not control the way he feels and due to that he becomes hypocritical and introduction to love. â€Å"She was forcing it with her scorn, the kiss she gave me, the hard curl of her lips, the mockery of her eyes, until I was like a man made of wood and there was no feeling within me except terror and a fear of her, a sense that her beauty was too much, that she was so much more beautiful than l, deeper rooted than l.She made me a stranger unto myself, she was all of those calm nights and tall eucalyptus trees, the desert stars, that land and sky, that fog outside, and I had come there with no purpose save to be a mere writer, to get money, to make a name for yeses and all that piffle. She was so much finer than l, so much more honest, that I was sick of myself and I could not look at her warm eyes, I suppressed the shiver brought on by her brown arms around my neck and the long fingers In my hair. I did not kiss her. She kissed me, author of The Little Dog Laughed. Then she took my wrist with her two hands.She pressed her lips Into the palm of my hand. She placed my hand upon her bosom between her breasts. She turned her lips towards my face and waited. And Arturo Banding, the great author dipped deep into his colorful imagination, romantic Arturo Banding, Just chock-full of clever phrases, and he said, weakly, kittenishly, ‘Hello. † (Faint) Throughout the whole novel Arturo talks to himself and contradicts all of the feelings he has towards love or Camilla and also towards himself. Sadly due to Rotator's lack of understand meet he ruins anything he could Arturo Banding thinks very highly of himself.Arturo likes to put on â€Å"performances† to show that he is better than everyone else. He is very arrogant with his performances and proclamations. Arturo will walk around with copies of his published story; The Little Dog Laughed. He goes around thinking that he is a well known writer and everyone should worship him like he worships his editor; Hackett. Arturo can not seem to find himself and who he really is until the end of the novel. When Arturo gets money his whole attitude and â€Å"performance† changes, he acts like a rich white American male.He starts to walk around with his head held hi gh and Just throwing money away like it is no big deal. Arturo wanted an expensive beer and he orders one from Camilla. Camilla says â€Å"it's expensive, forty cents† (Faint, 61) and she seems to have concern for him. She knows that he doesn't make a lot of money and if he does it is Just a lucky check from Hackett. He blows right through the money and Camilla evens warns him saying he should not spend his money like that after buying the two bartenders forty cent beers.He seems to not ever believe in a god or religion but he will go and write a letter to his mother telling her to pray for him and that he is praying for her. â€Å"Remember me to Him and give all and shiniest in the skies† (Faint 104) Arturo sends in the letter to his mother and we know that this is not the way Arturo acts. Arturo strives to be meeting he is not, a famous rich writer that everyone knows. Sadly that will not happen for him due to his hypocritical attitudes and unsure attitude towards hi mself.Deep down we can tell that he is not satisfied with his life and contradicts everything he says. Arturo bashes on anyone who is not full blooded American, like Camilla. Arturo is not even a full blooded American, he is Italian. Arturo enters the hotel he wants to live at and the lady at the desk is also very racist and makes sure that he is neither â€Å"a Mexican or a Jew'. Not even Just Arturo has his racial Judgments, everyone in the own does. â€Å"A cop won't pick you up for vagrancy in Los Angels if you wear a fancy polo shirt and a pair of sunglasses.But if there is dust on your shoes and that sweater you wear is thick like the sweaters they wear in the snow countries, he'll grab you. So get yourself a polo shirt boys, and a pair of sunglasses, and white shoes, if you can† is advise Arturo is giving anybody who is not of American decent. When he was younger he was called a â€Å"spice and greaser† and did not like it, but then he goes and calls Camilla th e same thing. â€Å"And Camilla, when I said â€Å"greaser† to you, it was to my heart that spoke, but the quivering of an old wound. And I am ashamed of the terrible thing I have done. (Faint 7) Deep down Arturo knows that what he had said was horrible and he should not have said that because he has true feelings for her even though she is Mexican. â€Å"When I was a kid, back in Colorado, it was Smith, Parker and Jones who hurt me with their hideous names. Who called me whop and Dagon and greaser, and their children hurt me. Just as I hurt you. They hurt me so much, I could never become one of them. Drove me to books, drove me within myself. Drove me to UN away from that town in Colorado, into your home and into your life.And sometimes, when I see their faces out here, the same faces, the same sad, hard mouths from my hometown. I'm glad they're here fulfilling the emptiness of their lives and dying in the sun. And they hate me, and my father and my father's father. Times. † Arturo loves being American and would not want to be anything else. He soon understands that Camilla wants to be American Just as much as he wants to be a famous writer. What he did was contradict himself by calling Camilla all those horrible names he was called when he was younger.Hypocrisy and contradiction plays a huge role in Arturo Banding's life and attitude towards whether it be towards love, himself, or other races. He struggles to realize that his actions are hurting him and the others around him. His desire to be a writer fueled his energy to become negative towards most of his peers. All he really wanted was to get famous and become rich, but he found out the true meanings of life and what is more important. Rotator's dreams of becoming a rich and famous writer in California did not fully come true. He found what love is, who he really is, and how it feels to not be American.

Brain Drain In The Philippine Education

Developing nations are grappling with a phenomenon that started taking shape in the 1960s and in the 70s. A look at most countries in Asia indicates increased levels of influx towards the developed western nations. According to a report released by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Asia is losing billions of dollars in terms of brain drain as its highly skilled workforce and professionals are leaving their countries in droves towards the developed countries for a more rewarding pay. India has lost IT professionals renowned for their computing intelligence.China too has lost people of expertise with almost two thirds of students studying abroad failing to return to their motherland. The list of countries suffering from brain drain runs long, the causes are deep-seated and the implications are inadvertently detrimental to the nation’s economies. Of special concern in this paper is the case of Philippines whose education sector has had adverse effects due to the in creased rate of brain drain amongst teachers. A look at the pattern of labor movement from Philippines to other nations reveals that it has undergone interesting metamorphosis with progressive adverse effects on the economy.Brain drain is a phenomenon that started in the early seventies though not in large droves experienced today. Before then however as Florian and Danilo (2003) note, ‘the movement of highly skilled Filipino professionals though significant was principally a private initiative among workers and their placement abroad. † In the early seventies and the 80s, majority of the Philippines were heading to the Middle East at a mere number of 36, 035 in 1975. This figure however would rise significantly to 214,590 in 1980 and to over 791 000 contract workers in 1998 (Florian & Danilo, 2003).The influx of teachers abroad is as a resultant effect of the push and pull factors between the immigration and the emigration countries. These push factors may range from la ck of employment opportunities as well as the pursuit of a better life and career progression. The unemployment rate in the recent years has ranged between 7 and 11 % and has been the force behind the massive brain drain. Philippines economy is based on a rocky foundation fuelled by agriculture, remittances from abroad and industries that are still in their formative stage. Unemployment is rife and the influx experienced is in the bid to escape this.Philippines economy possesses a limited capacity to absorb less than a million people in terms of employment. This is a small number compared to the high number of graduates and semi skilled personnel it is producing annually. The prospects of employment in foreign lands are a comforting respite to many. A look at the recent educational trends reveals that the country pool of trained professionals and graduates has been on the rise. The country produced over three million graduates in the 90s ranging from different professions although t he bulk of this was in the business related courses.A significant proportion of this comprised of teachers which has been of the most affected profession in terms of brain drain. According to the officials in the education sector, education in Philippines is undergoing a crisis as a direct consequence of brain drain. This is not a problem that affect schools at the formative level but according to J. Florendo B. , even the universities where â€Å"compensation packages and school environment are considered competitive enough by Philippines standards are not exempt from the lure of overseas employment.† (2008) A look at the influx of teachers from Philippines reveals a worrisome trend. It is a clear indication of the situation on the ground. According to the figures released by the Philippine Overseas Employment Statistics, there were as few as 112 teachers that emigrated in search for greener pastures in 1992. This figure was however to increase rapidly in the coming ten year s. J. Florendo B. L. notes that between 1992 and 2002 â€Å"2289 teachers were deployed abroad. † A significant portion of this went to the United States at 45. 2 %.These figures however refer to contract workers and fail to capture the total number of teachers that emigrated. According to the commission on Filipino overseas, there was â€Å"a total of 9,608 emigrant teachers from 1988 to 2001. † (J. Florendo, 2008. ) Over 75% of these teachers moved to the United States. 20 % of all emigrants are trained teachers which leaves Philippines with no sources of teachers to replace those that are moving. Unemployment rates apart, the meager wage awarded to many even in lucrative professions is a lead cause to the emigration.In private schools, teachers earn less than 400 us dollars while their counterparts in the public schools at an entry level take home close to 230 US dollars a month. This is a meager amount compared to over four thousand dollars a month in the United St ates (J. Florendo B. , 2008). The working conditions of the public schools have also exacerbated the need to search for greener pastures. Public schools in Philippine are in a sorry state, largely overcrowded and the inherent corruption across the bureaucracy hinders the emergence of any chance for career progression.The inability of the Philippine’s economy to absorb trained graduate teachers in the public school has not helped either. Philippine produces over 30 thousand teachers at the elementary and secondary level but only a quarter of this number is a absorbed into the public schools. With the huge percentage increase in graduates, the government has only been able to increase its rate by a mere 1. 7 percent creating an oversupply in eligible teachers and hence the emigration Remuneration prospects apart, the proficiency of most Filipinos in English makes them attractive in overseas markets.According to Robert et al â€Å"English continues to dominate the Philippines e ducational system. † He also notes that English â€Å"language has been seriously cultivated for non literary academic purposes since the bilingual education policy of 1974. † The fluency in English hence places Philippines professions at a higher competitive level compared to their counterparts across Asia. (1999) Brain drain across all the professions though it has had some positive contributions, is has adversely affected Philippines economy. The most affected is the education sector. Brain drain in the long run is detrimental to the economy in general.As Michel et al (2001) notes, â€Å"migration of people endowed with a high level of human capital-the so called â€Å"brain drain† is detrimental for the country of emigration. † This has been the case of Philippines especially in some of the selected sectors. Ronald Meinarchs points out clearly that â€Å"the more and better educated a people the greater the chances of economic development. † Whe reas Philippines may be producing professionals through its elaborate system of training and education, the bulk of this population is not directly beneficial to its economy as it immediately emigrates in search of jobs and greener pastures(2003).As a fore mentioned, Philippines is grappling with an acute shortage of qualified and effective teachers. The best teachers in the sector have all fled the country towards the developed nations. This has led to a decline in the quality of education. It is to be noted that most of the teachers that emigrate to north America are the best in the market considering that recruitment standards in the United States are elaborate and require high credentials. High schools are the most affected as the teachers there have a mastery of what they teach.It becomes hard for the department of education in Philippines to fill such posts with suitable replacements in a country where almost all professionals are on the run. It is important to note that there is an undeniable fact on the positive attributes of brain drain in Philippines especially the remittances that have contributed immensely to the economy. These remittances from abroad amount to over us $ 8. 5 billion annually which is almost 10 % of the whole Philippines GDP.It is not however clear how much of this amount is from teachers that work in North America but it is apparent that their remittances are not channeled towards improving the quality of education at home. There are a number of steps that should be taken to address the detrimental impact of brain drain in the educational sector. While it is not possible to restrict the emigration of labor in this age of globalization, the government should lump teachers together with pilots terming them as possessing ‘critical skills. † This will hence require them to work in the country for a certain period of time before they emigrate.This will give the government ample time to train replacements. It is a major conc ern to note that Philippine, though brain drain subsidizes the developed countries’ cost of educating and training professionals. Philippine spends colossal amount of resources to nurture personnel only for them to emigrate at the nick of time. To improve education, the government should spend a considerable amount of the remittances to improve the education system as well as providing tax incentives to encourage remittances.ReferencesRobert B. Kaplan, Richard B. Baldauf, 1999. Language Planning in Malawi, Mozambique and the Philippines. Multilingual Matters Jo. Florendo B. Lontoc, A May-June 2008. Situation on Philippine Education University of the Philippines. Volume 9 Number 3. http://www. up. edu. ph/upforum. php? i=94 Ronald Meinardus, June 30, 2003. The Crisis of Public Education in the Philippines Business World Internet Edition: http://www. fnf. org. ph/liberalopinion/crisis-public-education-philippines. htm Cecil Morella, April 23, 2005. Medical brain drain threat to Philippines The Standard. http://www. thestandard. com. hk/stdn/std/World/GD23Wd04. htmlMigration and the Labour Market in Asia: Recent Trends and Policies Organisation for Nihon Rodo Kyokai, 2003. Economic Co-Operation and Development, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, OECD Publishing. Florian A. Albura, Danilo I Abella, 2003. Developing countries: study on Philippines. International Programme. International Labor Office Geneva. Michel Beine, Frederic Docquier and Hilel Rapport, 2001. Brain drain and economic growth: Theory and evidence. Journal of development Economics. Vol 64 (275-289) Andrew Mountford, 1997. Can a brain drain be good for growth in the source economy? Journal o

International Standards and Information Systems Quality Management Essay

International Standards and Information Systems Quality Management - Essay Example Quality Management System is defined as a â€Å"set of coordinated activities to direct and control an organization in order to continually improve effectiveness and efficiency of its performance.† These activities are well integrated and synchronized that the understanding of one would not lead to understanding of the entire system as a whole (Gitlow, 2001). The basic purpose is not to detect the defective products after production rather than focusing in producing quality products free of any defects. Implementation of an effective quality management system would benefit an organization whether in manufacturing, service industry or public sector. These companies generally employ some information system to communicate within the organization and to supplier and customers external to the organization. The underlying concept is customer, supplier and the organization working together for their mutual interest. To implement said concept, efforts are required to integrate and str engthen interfaces not only between immediate customers and suppliers but also beyond that are linked to any organization. An efficient and effective quality management system would help in building customer’s confidence on organization’s ability to produce quality products and services, and deliver desired objectives while meeting their wants, needs and expectations. In similar way, quality management system enables an organization to achieve its objectives defined in its policy and strategy with minimum and effective utilization of resources at an optimum cost. Quality management system interfaces all activities of the organization in a coordinated manner starting from identification of customer requirements to meeting customer’s satisfaction at every step of the process. It can be compared to a wedge that ensures consistency of gains along the quality journey by preventing good practices from sliding back as shown below (Business Balls, 2008). An effective qu ality management system would improve process control, reduce waste, decrease costs, increase market share and help to meet customer’s expectations. Quality and Evaluation of Information Systems Evaluation of information systems is a crucial subject for the researchers and practitioners aiming for improvements in the processes of designing and developing the information systems (Checkland & Holwell, 1998). The evaluation of an information system

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Global Political Economy Question - Research Paper Example Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, the Cuba Assets Control Regulations of 1963, the Cuban Democracy Act of 1992, the Helms-Burton Act of 1996, and the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 20001. When the embargo reached its fiftieth anniversary, there are arguments both in favor of and against it. While some people claim that it is the only way for the U.S to bring Cuba to respect democracy and human rights, some others think that it only hinders Cuba from converting to democracy. This paper argues that lifting the embargo would promote democracy and free trade markets in Cuba. When Batista was overthrown in Cuba in the Cuban Revolution, the new revolutionary government, under the leadership of Castro, started seizing U.S properties in the island and nationalizing them. As a response, the U.S reduced the Cuban import quota of brown sugar through the Sugar Act of 1948. However, the revolutionary government of Cuba gained support from the Soviet Union, which offered to purchase sugar from Cuba2. The situation grew worse when Cuba supported the Soviet Union in the Cold War. Infuriated, the Kennedy government extended the embargo measures. During the Cuban Missile Crisis, travel restrictions to Cuba came into force in 1963 and as a response to the Cuban hosting of Soviet nuclear weapons, Cuban Assets Control Regulations came into force, freezing Cuban properties in the U.S. Though the restriction on the U.S citizens from visiting Cuba expired in 1977, it is still illegal for U.S citizens to spend money or receive gifts in Cuba without a U.S government issued license. That is, it is not possible for the U.S citizens to pay airfare ticket taxes at a Cuban airport. In essence, though the travel restriction was removed, it is not possible for U.S citizens to visit Cuba without breaking the monetary transaction rule. However, by the year 2009, a change came as the Obama administration eased the ban, allowing Cuban-Americans to travel freely to Cuba3. The

Strategic problems facing HRM operating in multi-national companies Essay

Strategic problems facing HRM operating in multi-national companies - Essay Example This paper will talk about the possible strategic problems faced HR managers while working in multinational organizations. The three key problems discussed here are ‘Compensation and Reward Systems’, ‘Training and Development’, and ‘Job Expectations and Motivation Policies’. The symptoms are that HR departments are getting ready to take full advantage of their capital as well as staff when businesses need to progress. One of the most frequently talked about criticisms regarding HR is that several experts do not have the progressive thinking and strategic counseling focus considered necessary to be an successful business partner (Ulrich, 2013, p. 22). They do not use the time to know the business they sustain as well as concentrate additional on transactional HR activities that do not have the influence the business needs. HR managers have to be trusted consultants to the organizations as well as to the leaders they work with. They have to be effectual coaches and are responsive to their vital part as to successfully review workforce abilities and facilitate scheduling for potential requirements (Becker & Huselid, 2006, p. 899). HR should concentrate on turning into a trusted mentor to their business with the aim of give power to managers to drive better organizational performance. Human resources departments are in front of major problems as their responsibilities turn out to be broader as well as more strategic in the recent times. HR is â€Å"more than a basic function† (Dowling et al, 2008, p. 32) that includes appointment, development and retention of workforce. It is a main factor in developing a workforce that focuses on the objectives of the business. With bigger significance comes bigger hindrances - according to a study by Shipton et al (2006), the major problems faced by HRM are compensation and reward systems; training and

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Strategies for assessing skills and competencies - Essay Example The main difference between the retail sales and B2B sales is in terms of the volume. B2B deals in large volumes of sales order and therefore, becomes important ingredient of sales strategy. Hence, while the basic competency and skills of the present sales staff is adequate, the new group from within the sales team would need to undergo 4 months training and development program. They would also be required to explore B2B market for 1 month to evaluate their requirements and how the company can meet them. The in-house training by the external consultants and senior management staff would on the following modules would greatly enhance existing skills and provide them with wide scope of expanding their knowledge area: B2B market is focused on bulk orders therefore sales executives must be skilled in knowing what the investment parameters are going to be so that the objections arising due to money, time and resources are already made clear before making their sales presentations. The training module would prepare the sales team to evaluate these parameters for its different business partners. The encouraging and incentive driven work environment promotes retention of employees and gives the organization better leverage to compete with their rivals. The experienced and motivated workforce is conducive to higher degree of creative inputs and innovative approach. Commitment to work and loyalty towards employers is considerably increased when the employees are given opportunity to improve and improvise their professional skills and competencies through in-house training and development. Zapata-Cantu et al. have also asserted that professional growth and self improvement, through human resource development practices, greatly enhance organization’s advantage (Zapata-Cantu et al., 2007). In the highly competitive environment of recessive economy, upgrading the skills of the existing sales executives would be the best option. Indeed, HR’s

Financial Report Analysis of Goodrington Plc Essay

Financial Report Analysis of Goodrington Plc - Essay Example INTRODUCTION Company Background Goodrington group plc belong to fashion retailing industry in the United Kingdom. It comprises three popular brands of retailing in the country that are Goodrington, Newton, and Churston. These three bands provide several retail products to different target groups of the consumers in United Kingdom. Activities Goodrington caters to customers ranging from the young-to-middle aged consumers by providing different items such fashion clothing, footwear and home ware. Newton has its own target market catering to the female consumers aged 45 and over by selling clothing items to them. Churston caters to the consumers with an instinct for fine fragrances and perfumes. It attracts its target consumers with the help of brightly lit and decorated store interior that is highly appealing to the people with artistic sense. Significant Changes The most significant change concerning the company's operations as reflected in the company's annual report is the acquisition of subsidiary costing the company 4,350,000 in the year 2005. ANALYSIS Profitability 2005 2004 Gross Profit Ratio 20.25% 20.56% Net Profit Ratio 5.99% 6.61% Gross Profit Ratio The Gross Profit ratio analyses the company's profit margin before accounting for various operating costs (Mcmenamin Jim, 1999). The gross profit ratio for Goodrington plc shows that the company is earning about 20% out of the total sales revenue after having accounted for the cost of sales. This also shows that the company loses almost 80% of the total sales revenue on production and distribution expenses. The company's gross profit ratio has been stable over the last two years. Net Profit Ratio The net profit ratio analyses a...This paper utilises only books for the purpose of formulas and interpretation of the given ratios. Goodrington group plc belong to fashion retailing industry in the United Kingdom. It comprises three popular brands of retailing in the country that are Goodrington, Newton, and Churston. These three bands provide several retail products to different target groups of the consumers in United Kingdom. Churston caters to the consumers with an instinct for fine fragrances and perfumes. It attracts its target consumers with the help of brightly lit and decorated store interior that is highly appealing to the people with artistic sense. The Gross Profit ratio analyses the company's profit margin before accounting for various operating costs (Mcmenamin Jim, 1999). The gross profit ratio for Goodrington plc shows that the company is earning about 20% out of the total sales revenue after having accounted for the cost of sales. This also shows that the company loses almost 80% of the total sales revenue on production and distribution expenses. The company's gross profit ratio has been stable over the last two years. The net profit ratio analyses a company's profitability after taking into account all the operating costs and interest expense etc (Mcmenamin Jim, 1999)

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- HR - Case Study Example This project report would deal with a UK based growing company, Vitamond which manufacturers a range of non alcoholic drinks which has positioned as a healthy life style. The company has decided to set up a manufacturing plant in France. Therefore the report would deal with the HR practises and policies of France as compared to UK. The HRM practises usually vary to a great extend between different nationality and it was mainly due to the changing practise of HR policies and practises due to acquisition or expansion. To a great extent, HRM penetration reflects the complex interaction between the difference in between the culture and globalization (Price, 2007, p.593). There exists a huge difference between the human resource practise in UK and that of France. The regulatory factors in UK and France differ in number on aspects. France ranks high in terms of employment protection legislation among the OECD countries. UK employers tend to face minimum legal restriction on firing of an employee and hiring of an employee. A high rate of difference exists between the two countries is in the area of employee representation and performance pay (See Appendix A). It can be seen that performance pay is 19.9% in UK whereas in France it is 72.6% (Lorenz, et.al, n.d, p.5). In UK, additional incentives from the standard pay scales are paid to the employees based on the performance of the individual, but however gender gaps still prevails in UK. However in case of France, the French are the champions for individualisations of compensation which might turn equity into key issues. France has the willingness to increase its compensation flexibility taking into consideration the important and necessary benefits. Therefore the HR professionals experience difficulty in linking the design and implementing its compensation with the structure of the organisation (ÄÅ'esynienÄâ€", 2008,

Peer Evaluations in Enhancing Written and Oral Communication Essay Example for Free

Peer Evaluations in Enhancing Written and Oral Communication Essay Communicative practices such as writing and reading are important components in the facilitation of education and learning. For educators, they must realize the relative importance of these communication practices for they are vital in the enhancement of learning. One way to address this is by creating peer review mechanisms. Though such may prove to be an important component in the facilitation of education, there are cultural impediments that continue to surround the facilitation of peer evaluations. â€Å"When we deal with English-as-a-second-language students, cultural factors may influence both the operation and outcomes of peer response groups. † (Nelson, 1997, p. 78) By being constantly aware of these issues, one can create effective peer evaluation mechanism that is free from cultural bias and prejudice. A collective action and approach must be created by instructors and teachers to address such problem. â€Å"To maintain the group cohesion and harmonious interpersonal communications interpersonal relations valued by collectivist cultures, collectivists use indirect means of communicating messages that may otherwise be disruptive to the group. † (Nelson, 1997, p. 82) Thus, giving of vital information is an important tool and component in the overall facilitation of peer evaluations in enhancing communication practices. â€Å"By being informed of cultural differences in communication, they may be better able to interpret the feedback they receive from the English-as-the-second-language students and also better able to provide these students with effective feedback. † (Nelson, 1997, p. 83) Enhancing the Writing Skills Effectiveness in writing is one facet that students must acquire in school as it is vital in the overall communication process not only in the educational sector but in different aspects of society. By enhancing such skills, an international student can be fit and remained at level with native speakers of the language. The main barrier and impediment in such scenario is the lack of expertise in the local and native language. The study of Koffolt and Holt showcases several important mechanisms that can improve writing skills of international students. The article seeks to showcase how teachers can be a vital part in the overall facilitation of efficient writing among students. By doing these, students can get the development in the realm of writing. â€Å"Teachers who play a more active role in guiding their students through the entire writing process of gathering ideas, organizing, drafting, and revising can help students produce writing that is thoughtful, coherent, and polished. † (Koffolt and Holt, 1997, p. 53) By providing several important measures that a teacher must consider is an important process to guide students in the overall facilitation of improving writing capabilities. One important method is by creating feedbacks on writing works by international students. By doing this, the student can actively assess his/her standing as far as competency in writing is concerned. The creation of a feedback system â€Å"gives them the opportunity to correct deficiencies in content, language and style. † (Koffolt and Holt, 1997, p. 54) For the part of instructors, there must be an active collaboration with an international student as far as writing is concerned. The instructor must recognize the relative challenges that an international student may face during the course of writing. That is why it is essential for the teacher to actively create writing strategies that will help improve the overall capacity of the student to write. However, the teacher must recognize that the process of such endeavor is not easy. â€Å"Writing is seldom a linear activity, and it is common for writers to go back and forth among different steps of the writing process as they complete a major writing task. † (Koffolt and Holt, 1997, p. 56)

Drama Essay English 102 Essay Example for Free

Drama Essay English 102 Essay In A Dolls House by Henrik Ibsen Nora (protagonist), lives a lifestyle that complies with the social standards of a typical wife during the late nineteenth century. She follows a patriarchal lifestyle in which her husband, Torvald Helmer (antagonist) is dominant. Furthermore, she doesnt see that her marriage to Mr. Helmer is an illusion. Tarvold belittles and disempowers her throughout the play. However, at the end of the play she is no longer blind and sees that Mr. Helmer only cares for himself. Ibsen provides a clear example of Noras disempowerment in her lifestyle as a woman during the late 19th century. In 1879 women were not allowed to sign a contract for a loan without a male cosigner. Mrs. Helmer needed to take out a loan to pay for Tarvolds trip to Italy due to is illness at the time. Nora didnt want her father to know about the loan because he was on his death bed (840). She didnt want Mr. Helmer to know about the loan, because he wouldnt take the money, he didnt want to be in debt to a woman. Therefore she took the contract and forged her dieing fathers signature Another example of Noras disempowerment that Ibsen provides the audience with is Noras marriage to Torvald. First, he constantly belittles her by calling her pet names of insignificant animals such as squirrel or songbird (823). Another example is Mr. Helmer not allowing Mrs. Helmer to eat macaroons, which he claims are bad for her teeth. In Tkatchev 2 addition, when he suspects her of eating a macaroon he treats her as if she was a child (825). An example of Tarvolds feeding off of Noras helplessness is when she practices the Tarantella but she acts as if she doesnt know what she is doing and desperately asks Tarvold to teach her. However in reality she was stalling him from checking his mailbox in which lies the letter from Krogstad stating the details of Noras forgery (859-860).. Although Nora is constantly disempowered and belittled by Tarvold, she is very submissive to Tarvold and believes that her marriage is a success. Although Nora is constantly disempowered and belittled by Tarvold, she is very submissive to Tarvold and believes that her marriage is a success. Although Nora is blind, because she doesnt see that her marriage to Torvald is an illusion. At the end of the play Nora finds out what kind of person Mr. Helmer really is. After Torvald opens and reads the first letter from Krogstad he is astonished and the first words that came out of Noras mouth after Tarvold flings open the door I wont let you save me (870). She is expecting for him to defend her because she committed a crime. However, it is the opposite he belligerently insults her and continually carries on about himself and his reputation. In addition, even when she implies suicide When Im gone from the world youll be free (871), Tarvold implies if it was beneficial to him, he would let her do it; however, it doesnt so she shouldnt. After Tavold reads the second letter he quickly forgives Nora because the letter states that Krogstad will disregard the fraud and he will not file any charges. The second letter was written thanks to Mrs. Linde, who suggested that he still keep the letter stating the forgery and write a letter stating that he will disregard the forgery. The reason that she wanted the first letter to Tkatchev 3 reach Mr. Helmer is because she wanted the truth to be known. However its too late because Nora finally opened her eyes. After seeing Torvalds reaction the blind, submissive, powerless, Nora understood that Mr. Helmer only cares about himself. Therefore, she opened her eyes and changed to the complete opposite of the Nora that the audience met in the beginning of the play. Nora went from being submissive to unyielding. Instead of keeping to herself she began to voice her opinion. For example For eight whole years longer in fact since we first met, we have never talked seriously to each other about a single serious thing. (873) Not only does Nora finally see what her marriage is really about, she also decided to leave Torvald forever. Clearly showing power and independence Tarvold begs her to stay and use the children as an excuse. However Nora responds by stating that the maid knows the house and the children better then she ever did. After reading this play I believe that the second translation (A Dolls House) is better then the first (A Dolls House). Because, the first translation means singular, in reference to Nora. However, the second translation means plural in reference to both Nora and Tarvold. In my opinion both Nora and Tarvold are both, being dolls, victims of society and social standards. They followed a patriarchal rule within their family, which met with the social norms during that time period. Where Tarvold is the dominant, bread winner, husband and Nora is the submissive, entertainment, wife. If their social standard of society during that era, are now looked upon as immoral and wrong, does that mean that the people of the next era will look at our social standards of society and social norms and as immoral and wrong?

Extra Judicial Killing in Bangladesh

Extra Judicial Killing in Bangladesh How interesting it is that in Bangladesh the elite force named as Rapid Action Battalion [RAB] kills the arrested persons by the name of cross-fire and name them the criminals. Extra-judicial, thus the term is used to state the killings. It is called extra judicial because of its type, which works as a process outside the judiciary system of Bangladesh. Farid Ahmed in a non periodical web journal (2010), Such killings are often described in police reports as involving crime suspects who resisted arrests or attacked the police. Many of the victims, human rights groups charge, were killed while in police custody. But in their official statements, police said they were killed in the crossfire during violent incidents in prison facilities. The police were compelled to open fire at those attacking them, they said.  [1]   According to the Human Rights Watch (2006): One of the first publicized RAB killings was of the wanted criminal suspect Pichchi Hannan in Dhaka on August 6, 2004. This is when the era of extra judicial killing has started and still going on. Not only the RAB but also some other armed forces are involved in this kind of activity.  [2]   Whether extrajudicial killing is a myth or is it a reality is the main motive for me to conduct this research. A lot of people are being killed by the armed force, often named as elite force, but is it truly extra judicial killing or is the crossfire the reality, which one is true? We see a lot of incidents addressing the extra-judicial killings everyday when looking at the newspaper. Theres hardly any day with no crossfire news, and thus I think people should be clear about the extra judicial killing matter and to reveal the original fact as I conduct the research. My research will give a clear cut idea about the extra judicial killing and the scenario of our countrys perspective. However, it is often said by the authority and also by the political leaders that these so called extra-judicial killings are only the unfortunate deaths of the suspected criminals in the cross-fire. According to the Bangladesh Media article No extrajudicial executions carried out: RAB DG (2010): The director-general of the RAB, Hasan Mahmud Khandakar, addressing the media at the sixth anniversary of the elite law enforcement body in its headquarters on Sunday, told newsmen, A total of 622 suspected criminals were killed in by the RAB in crossfire across the country in the last six years, including 14 suspected criminals who were killed in the last three months. The RAB chief, however, claimed that no extra-judicial killing was carried out by the battalions personnel in the last six years.  [3]   The issue of extra-judicial killing is one of the big concerns for a country like Bangladesh where the chance of misuse of the theme, under the name of crossfire is highly possible for a 3rd world country like us. The concern of different human right organizations have argued about the extrajudicial killings and raised a lot of questions. My report will reveal whether the extra-judicial killing under the name of crossfire is true or just a myth. The History of Extra Judicial Killing As its name suggest, it is done outside the framework of the judiciary system of Bangladesh, which is the killings of a suspected criminal under the custody of the armed force, often using the term self protection or accusing the suspected criminal to escape; which is a violation of the rule of law. From the very beginning of Bangladeshs birth in 1971, different political parties used their political power to impetus the killings by the armed forces and used these forces in in violation of the law to consolidate power and maintain control. The continuous process started during the time period of BNP led govt. after forming coalition with three smaller parties: Jamaat-e-Islami (which won 4.3 percent), Jatiya Party-Naziur (1.1 percent), and Islamic Okye Jote (0.7 percent) in 0ctober, 2001. After taking power, to fulfill the one election agenda to fight against crime, and to tackle criticism from people, the govt. then deployed fourty thousand military personal to fight crime under the name of Operation Clean Heart. Thousands of people were arrested and at least 50 people were reported to be dead under their custody. Due to the failure of the operation, the government then decided to form an elite force group with a special unit of police with commando training called the Rapid Act ion Team, or RAT, which is now known as Rapid Action Battalion or RAB. As stated by the law, The main tasks of the RAB, according to the law, are to: Provide internal security Conduct intelligence into criminal activity Recover illegal arms Arrest criminals and members of armed gangs Assist other law enforcement agencies Investigate any offense as ordered by the government.  [4]   According to the Asian Human Rights Commission: The army killed 58 people in custody. See Asian Legal Resource Center and Asian Human Rights Commission, Lawless Law-enforcement the Parody of Judiciary in Bangladesh, August 2006.According to the Bangladesh NGO Forum for Secular Bangladesh, the army killed 53 people in custody and physically abused 7,000. See Forum for Secular Bangladesh, Violation of Human Rights by the Coalition Government of Bangladesh, September 2006.  [5]   However, the Operation Clean Heart did not succeed in bringing crime under adequate control, and vigilantism against so-called criminals continued. Hence the special police force proved unsuccessful in combating crime due to the lack of trained professionals, disorganization, and corruption in the force. Structuring from the experience from Operation Clean Heart, the government took steps to give the military a law enforcement role. Then, later on the RAB was created with the motto to fight criminals and reduce crime. According to a human rights lawyer: Critics complained that, rather than building a new crime-fighting force, the government should undertake efforts to reform law enforcement and the courts. Creating RAB, they feared, would undermine the police. With Operation Clean Heart in mind, some worried about using the military for civilian policing. They saw RAB as a way for the government to deploy the army for policing tasks, with one lawyer even calling it martial law in disguise. Other Facts Various human right watchdogs claimed that 1,142 victims have so far been slain in extrajudicial killings since 24 June, 2004 when the RAB began its journey by killing people in crossfire. Among the 1,142 victims, 149 were killed in 2004, 340 in 2005, 290 in 2006, 130 in 2007, 136 in 2008 and 97 in 2009. During the immediate-past emergency regime which continued for about two years, 322 people were killed in an extrajudicial manner. On the other hand, DG of RAB claimed that no extra-judicial killing is carried out but some criminals were caught in crossfire during the battle. He also claimed that 6,931 firearms have been seized by the RAB in the last six years 580 in 2004, 909 in 2005, 889 in 2006, 1,416 in 2007, 1,374 in 2008, 1,338 in 2009 and 425 in the last three months. The RAB arrested a total of 64,664 suspected criminals, after conducting drives throughout the country, on charges of various crimes including murder, kidnapping, extortion, tender manipulation, militancy and possession of illegal firearms. Of them 2569 in 2004, 4929 in 2005, 7277 in 2006, 13569 in 2007, 13378 in 2008, 16730 in 2009 and 4012 in last three months of 2010.  [6]   The attitude of people in law enforcement agencies has not changed, at least on the issue of extra judicial killings despite the judiciary ordering them to stop killing people under the guise of crossfire, encounter, and gunfight. Although much of such action has stopped, it is not a sustainable solution. But the decision has been hailed an eye-opener by many including human rights organizations. The High Court issued the suo motto order over extra judicial killings on November 17. It gave the government two weeks, initially, to explain why the killing of two brothers, Lutfor and Khairul Khalasi by law enforcement agencies in Madaripur on Nov.16 should not be declared extrajudicial. The government has yet to reply and the Attorney General has sought more time, presumably until the court resumes on January 3, 2010. During the year although there were some positive activities by the government, most sectors in the country were devoid of any human rights, the rule of law and good governance. Religious minorities were oppressed and press freedoms were violated almost every other day.  [7]   Only a few human rights organizations have long been asking the government to stop the killings, terming them extrajudicial. Moreover, the High Court of Bangladesh, on June 29, 2009, High Court of Bangladesh asked the government to explain why killing people without a trial, in the form of extrajudicial killings, is not being declared as illegal, and why measures are not being taken against the perpetrators. After this ruling, we still havent seen anything happen. However in recent times, after the Awami League came to power, many thought the Awami govt. will abolish the RAB. But, in march 2006, Seikh Hasina said, But we will not do so. Rather Rab will be given a special assignment to capture corrupt people.  [8]   Extrajudicial killings continue even in violation of the High Courts ruling. How can they continue? Its very alarming for human rights, democracy and the right to life. And why is the High Court silent regarding this gross human rights violation? Both governmental and nongovernmental sources have said that the death toll has reached 133 from such extrajudicial killings labeled as crossfire killings, encounter killings or gunfight killings by the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and the police since Jan. 6, when the Awami League-led government assumed office. In Bangladesh, we have a so-called democracy, but there is no rule of law if we consider extra judicial killing. Every day sees more killings of citizens by the state machinery, killings which are both well-planned and covered up. However, RAB never said that its extrajudicial killing. In contrast, Rab Director General (DG) Hassan Mahmood Khandker recently stated that, A total of 633 persons were killed in encounters with its members while 750 RAB men were punished for their unlawful acts. Among the 750 punished RAB members, 350 were sacked while the rest 400 suffered imprisonment in different tenures. Also RAB intelligence personnel are only on duty to tackle the criminal activities.  [9]   However, on contrary, extrajudicial killing have been going on very rapidly of violating the highest court ruling order, the Constitution and the Universal Declaration by law enforcers. The term extrajudicial killing means execution without justice. This is a grave human rights violation. Its both a violation of Bangladeshs constitution and of the UNs Universal Declaration of Human Rights.  [10]  But these types of killings still occur frequently in Bangladesh. The government of Bangladesh has been violating the constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights day after day since 2002 (including operation clean heart). In 2004, the BNP-Jamaat government made a decision about extrajudicial killings and formed the RAB. From March 26, 2004 until January 31, 2009, around 1,600 people (including 58 58 killed peoples in operation clean heart of 2002) have been killed without justice. The government of Bangladesh has sided with the extrajudicial killings. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has also said, in an indirect way, that extrajudicial killings will continue. She spoke clearly, upholding crossfire killings. What was said by our popular Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in New York is very unfortunate for the rule of law, democracy, the constitution, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as well as the people of Bangladesh. According to the Bdnews24.com, Sheikh Hasina talked with journalists in New York on Sept. 27, 2009. Referring to crossfire killings at the time, she said, I do not believe in extrajudicial killings. But if anyone launches an armed attack (against a law enforcer), then they shouldnt be allowed to kill them like sitting ducks.  [11]   Bangladeshs elite Rapid Action Battalion continues to engage in extrajudicial killings despite Supreme Court directives to halt it. Although the court is handling the issue of extrajudicial killings, RAB does not seem to be bothered either about the judiciary or the countrys laws. The assertions of responsible people in the present government are shocking. Home minister Sahara Khatun recently said that, there was no crossfire. It seems, either directly or indirectly, the home minister and other ministers are defending the perpetrators of such crossfire killings. Finally we can say that, in Bangladesh has no rule of law. We want to say that the reports of so-called crossfire killings, encounter killings or gunfight killings that are made by the RAB and the police are totally false. We believe that terrorism should never be combated or controlled through state killings. It is the establishment of the rule of law that is essential to control terrorism. Conclusion Finally we can say that, numerous killings are being carried out extra-judicially; the perpetrators remain above the law; and the victims have no recourse to protection or redress under the law. This represents a violation of Article 31 of the Constitution, which reads: To enjoy the protection of the law, and to be treated in accordance with law, and only in accordance with law, is the inalienable right of every citizen, wherever he may be, and of every other person for the time being within Bangladesh, and in particular no action detrimental to the life, liberty, body, reputation or property of any person shall be taken except in accordance with law.  [12]   However, beyond impunity, those responsible for such killings are being rewarded for their actions. Torture and the threat of extra-judicial killing are used by the police and the RAB to extract money from persons that they arrest. Furthermore, the RAB was even awarded the prized Independence Award to the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) on March 23, 2006, as part of Bangladeshs 35th Independence Day celebrations, for its activities. Therefore, it is revealed that this kind of activities by the RAB is clearly a false ideology to name the extrajudicial killing under the name of crossfire, is just only to eye wash the general public, and some day it may have negative effect on the society and country as a whole. So the govt. and the people of Bangladesh should raise its voice against it and it should be stopped soon.

Merciless Dogs :: essays research papers

Ever wonder why politicians are merciless dogs? Of course you have. Well, here's the answer. Machiavelli's classic text on acquiring and maintaining political power laid the foundation for modern politics, for better or for worse, and remains its bedrock. Machiavelli was an Italian patriot and a long-time member of the Italian hierarchy as a sort of political consultant, having been recently ejected from his position when he wrote this manual. Italy was then in a turbulent political situation, seemingly under attack from all quarters, and very unstable. The author wrote this treatise and sent it to Lorenzo Medici -- the Prince, as it were, who was ultimately responsible for Machiavelli's dispension. Such a loyal patriot was our good author that he actually wrote this book and sent it to him as a gift. Well, what does it contain? Just about everything that anyone would want to know about how to acquire political power, and how to keep it. Machiavelli covers just about every conceivable situation: how to rule a brand new land colonly, or one that has been taken over; how a Prince should bear him or herself; how they should keep faith; how to maintain their army; how to keep tabs on the commoners and the nobles, and much more. He includes many maxims and principles that have been taken up time and time again in the nearly 500 years since the publication of this slim volume. One need only look at the current political landscape to see just how inudated these principles have become in the political philosophies of our world leaders, e.g., Machiavelli's idea that it is better to go to war on your enemy's turf before they come to your own, in order to minimize losses, and his famous statement that it is better to be feared than to be loved -- but try your best not to be hated. Many have condemned the ideas and principles contained herein because they eschew moral and ethical standards in deference to pragmatic political gain. Well, wake up, folks. Politics is a dirty game and always has been. It is viscious, ruthless, and takes no prisoners -- a truly dog-eat-dog world. It is not for the faint of heart. Machiavelli tried to tell us this 500 years ago; it's about damn time we started listening. The writing style used in the book is very, very simple, and it is extremely short. Merciless Dogs :: essays research papers Ever wonder why politicians are merciless dogs? Of course you have. Well, here's the answer. Machiavelli's classic text on acquiring and maintaining political power laid the foundation for modern politics, for better or for worse, and remains its bedrock. Machiavelli was an Italian patriot and a long-time member of the Italian hierarchy as a sort of political consultant, having been recently ejected from his position when he wrote this manual. Italy was then in a turbulent political situation, seemingly under attack from all quarters, and very unstable. The author wrote this treatise and sent it to Lorenzo Medici -- the Prince, as it were, who was ultimately responsible for Machiavelli's dispension. Such a loyal patriot was our good author that he actually wrote this book and sent it to him as a gift. Well, what does it contain? Just about everything that anyone would want to know about how to acquire political power, and how to keep it. Machiavelli covers just about every conceivable situation: how to rule a brand new land colonly, or one that has been taken over; how a Prince should bear him or herself; how they should keep faith; how to maintain their army; how to keep tabs on the commoners and the nobles, and much more. He includes many maxims and principles that have been taken up time and time again in the nearly 500 years since the publication of this slim volume. One need only look at the current political landscape to see just how inudated these principles have become in the political philosophies of our world leaders, e.g., Machiavelli's idea that it is better to go to war on your enemy's turf before they come to your own, in order to minimize losses, and his famous statement that it is better to be feared than to be loved -- but try your best not to be hated. Many have condemned the ideas and principles contained herein because they eschew moral and ethical standards in deference to pragmatic political gain. Well, wake up, folks. Politics is a dirty game and always has been. It is viscious, ruthless, and takes no prisoners -- a truly dog-eat-dog world. It is not for the faint of heart. Machiavelli tried to tell us this 500 years ago; it's about damn time we started listening. The writing style used in the book is very, very simple, and it is extremely short.

Martin Luther King Jrs Impact on the Civil Rights Movement Essay

Martin Luther King Jr's Impact on the Civil Rights Movement Martin Luther King's 'I Have a Dream' speech directly contributed to the Civil Rights movement. While delivering his speech at a kairotic moment, King tells us how blacks have been serving an injustice and that they should be treated equally. Much had transpired before the speech was delivered. As civil rights protests spread throughout the nation, King continued to combine peaceful methods of protest and his theological training to work towards the hope of equal rights for blacks (Kauffeld and Lefrd, 1989). During this time, blacks were not treated equally and were often denied service. King was trying to get the merchants and the government officials to negotiate on their terms which would allow blacks to be allowed in all facilities that white people were and to be hired on a non-discriminatory basis (King, 1969). For example, in Birmingham, Alabama, black men and women held sit-ins and kneel-ins where they were denied service at lunch counters and attendance at church. Many demonstrators were fined and arrested for these acts. In 1963, King, Reverend Shuttlesworth, and Reverend Abernathy lead a protest in Birmingham. They were then arrested and taken to Southside Jail. Society treated blacks and whites differe ntly, like they didn't matter. King was raised to treat others in the same manner no matter what the circumstances, which lead to his speech that contributed to the civil rights movement and helped change blacks rights (Dyson, 2000). On August 28th, 1963, on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C., the African-American civil-rights movement reached its high potential when Martin Luther King spoke to over 250,000 people attending h... ... our nation became one and is a better place because of it. The ?I Have a Dream? speech not only contributed to the civil rights movement, but it is the most influential speech in history. Works Cited Bond, Julian. "Kings 1963 I Have a Dream Speech." Seattle Times 4 April 1993. Dyson, Michael. I May Not Get There With You: The True Martin Luther King Jr. New York: Free Press, 2000. King, Corretta. "My Life with Martin Luther King Jr." Holt Rinehart and Winston: Canada. 1969 King, Corretta S. The Words of Martin Luther King Jr. New York: Newmarket Press,1987. Kauffeld, Fred and Lefrd, Michael. Texts in Context: Critique dialogues on Significant Episodes in American Public Rhetoric. Davis: Hemagoras Press, 1989. Rappaport, Dorreen. Martins Big Words: The Life of Martin Luther King Jr. New York: Scholastic Inc., 2002.

Reduced Poaching Incidents due to Increased Poaching Laws :: Argumentative Persuasive Essays

Reduced Poaching Incidents due to Increased Poaching Laws While driving down and old dump road, Curly, as we will call him, spotted some deer just off the road. Slowing down he realized that the few deer that he had seen were all exceptionally fine bucks. Driving off he ponders whether he should go back and take these exceptional deer. Screech!!!! He flipped a 180 and headed back. Arriving back he picks out the nicest one of the bunch and reaches for his gun. Resting the gun in the door, he takes aim and shoots. The deer falls and the rest run for fear of being shot too. Curly pulls away knowing he had just taken a very fine deer. Later that night Curly returned with his friend Moe, his name for the time being, to retrieve the antlers from the deer he had shot earlier. They both exit the vehicle and walk over to the deer. Taking the saw, they slowly cut off the horns. About two months later the two boys were stopped by a wildlife official and were questioned about the shooting. They told the truth and now they both face huge fines, communit y service, possible jail time and felony charges. Poaching has been done ever since the first regular hunting season was formed. Most at that time poached to stay alive by using the meat and hides. In the present day some people still poach just to stay alive but the main concern is the taking of trophy size animals. The horns of and big buck or bull sell for exceptionally high prices. This is a big concern for the animals and for the people who depend on their existence for survival. Colorado has had one of the biggest problems with poaching. Well, they did for a while. Since a magnificent bull elk named Sampson was killed in Estes Park in the 1990's, Colorado has increased laws on poaching a great deal (Taking aim). This incident gave hunting a new name. People began to believe that hunters were only killing to "stuff a trophy" or "get a wall hanger" (Taking aim). The Sampson Law Some people think that those who poach have their own rights because the game is on their property or they are in need. In some cases this is true, but only to a certain extent. They state that if the person who owns the property stocks the lake or creek, or has problems with excessive game animals on his or her property, then this will fall into play.

What Is Sucess?

We, mostly referring to those, especially the young who have treaded the path filled with enigma and decisions to be made must eventually come to a halt, where the paths to success and failure lie. The fruits of success lay right before our eyes but yet out of reach. However, the devastation of failure seems so far away but is no further than a stone’s throw away. And what is success? Many of us, mainly those who are working see success as having great wealth and power, however, some see success in different ways.For example, some see having a good relationship with someone as success, some see success in helping the needy, some see success as being happy, and some even see it in having time to enjoy the little things. Considering the fact that I’m still a teenager and have not any plans for building up a family, success in my eyes is obtaining a relatively good status in society. It is better in my view to aim high initially because we will not be able to return to the past with our mea culpa. The road to success is like a busy highway, if you stop suddenly, you might get involved in an accident.Just like our lives, everything is fast paced and many of us find it painfully difficult to adapt to this kind of life. Some are not audacious enough to attempt and therefore discouraged by the stress and adversity that is to be faced in the future. Besides that, many of us happen to be victims of indolence and having the ‘Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’ personality. Our unwilling and pious actions constantly draw us away from our goals. Think of our lives as a game of soccer, only without the goal posts.We would be like dogs without a leash, and sheep without a Sheppard, wandering aimlessly with no purpose at all. Now a game of soccer with the goal posts, on reflection to our lives, we set goals easily just as a soccer player sees the goal posts, but it requires lots of effort and discipline to score a goal as well as to succeed. Everything has pros and cons but not success, success is a like a rose without thorns, nothing but pure delight. In other words, success is the sobriquet for overcoming obstacles and to ameliorate an individual’s all in all performance. How then do we achieve success?There are many ways we can obtain it, and one of the ways is by giving a concentrated focus on an action we are working on. Concentration can give us an advantage in magnifying our efficiency on something that usually only produces a limited amount of result to a more augmented one. Take for an example, a student who gives a full concentration in class can well understand and absorb what is being taught than one who gives less concentration and understands less. Focused concentration on a field where we are naturally talented will also give us a head start that can gradually lead us to achieve success.A talent that we know can be practiced on and can be improved should be used to grant us opportunities that can be beneficial an d rewarding, well begun is half done, bringing us a step closer to our goals. Parents should understand and know what are their children talents are so that they could start at an early age to work on it and use them to good use and plan their way to success. As said by Winston Churchill â€Å"Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm. † We should learn through our failures to obtain an experience that will lead us to success.There is a very small chance that anyone of us can get something or to do something at the first try and get it right without failure. What about the disappointments? Failing is not always the villainy of our improvidence much can be learned from failure. By failing, we will train ourselves to work harder and execute things correctly the next time we try. Success is obtained through failure too! For example, as an athlete, winning a competition is not an easy task as there are many others who also compete, thus if failu re occurs, he or she should learn from their mistakes and get the proper techniques to perform better.Learning through failures also enables us to identify the failures and makes them easily detected by us. This will save us precious time to complete a task and move on to the next one without ingeminating a mistake and with progression, we will succeed in it. On that account, failure is just like a bump on the road, that we have to overcome to move on and not to be discouraged by it so that there are no boundaries to the success we need. But we shouldn't always expect things to go our way, failing never assures that we would get up and finish strong.Failure is devastation, we must try as hard as possible to avoid this chimera, this illusion that depicts a so called ‘necessary' step to success. Let failure look for us and not the other way round, and of course we shouldn't let failure find us, unless we are noddy or face some home-grown entropy such as laziness and being highly dependent on others. Does hypocrisy have a say? I'm sure it does. As the saying goes ‘actions speak louder than words’ we should always put in all our effort on the thing that we are doing rather than talk about something we have yet to complete.This means we have to use all our energy physically or mentally to make sure all out capability is put to use with concentration to fulfil something. It is a fact that most of the successful people in the world take these steps in their lives. World renowned athletes such as Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan, singers like Celine Dion, actors like Samuel L Jackson and writers like JK Rowling have spent years putting in their effort at what their good in and gave it their all to achieve different type of success such as status, wealth and power.We should also plan our actions before starting on something so that we have the steps to finish them without holding back to change or repeat something that can be avoided. By putting enough effort and planning into a work, it will be completed quickly and efficiently hence more work can be done. Factory workers who work in assembly lines can be taken as examples where they work in lines that resemble the steps and all the workers have to put effort so that they can maintain the production and once a worker stops, the whole production line will be ruined thus there will be no product or result.Another way success can be obtained is by being passionate about our goals and have a drive to achieve them. We should have an unprecedented passion and a drive on something that we are working on based truly on our love towards it. It will turn out bad for someone if they do not have the passion and drive on a job and could not contribute anything regarding to the job. Being passionate and to be driven also motivates us to give the best that we can offer to complete a task by reminding us to not give up on our goals.When situations get tough and cannot be handled, we should alwa ys remember the passion that is within everyone which motivates us to get back into reality and solve any circumstances that we face in our lives to ultimately drive us to our successes, no pain no gain. After going through the sweat and blood of achieving success, cupidity starts to kick in. The desire for more is nothing but natural for most humans. Forgetting the importance of everything while in pursuit of wealth is a common issue that occurs in the world. This is ineluctable in the eyes of the wealthy. So are there actually dangers behind it?Yes, in the world today anything to do with money involves parlous activities, hidden and ready to spring out at those with narcosis about what goes on in the world today. The amount of theft and murder are constantly rising mainly due to the need of money. Tycoons are now being targeted and robbed despite having state of the art security technology. Thieves of the 21st century today have come out with more trenchant ways to rob and pilfer from any desired locations such as banks and bungalows. They have become increasingly ferocious and posses a high tendency for murder.Success doesn't just appear in the form of money, happiness seems to be another form of success. If an individual is unhappy with his or herself, no proven amount of external things can alter that fact. I for instance, consider happiness to be the prime and inimitable importance of my life. Is it not better to be able to walk safely in public with only few cents in your pocket than to be carrying thousands and be afraid of being robbed? Is it also not better to be able to have a friendly match of soccer just for the fun of it than to get castigated upon the failure to score the match-winning goal?It is hard to decide what makes a happy life because it can be very bemusing. We cannot agree on a definition of happiness that is consentaneously similar to everyone’s opinion. One man’s idea of a happy life will not be incisively exact to anot her man and what a third man considers to be a happy may or may not be acceptable neither to the first nor to the second. The attempt to decide what a happy life reminds me of the five blind men who tried to find the shape of an elephant. One man's rubbish is another man's treasure. The idea of happiness differs among people.Happiness is a state of the mind which depends entirely on the individuals concern. Someone may find certain conditions conductive to a happy life, while the same condition may fail to make someone else happy. Where lays the difference? Perhaps in the mental state of the two, the former found happiness because he was able to feel contented with those conditions, the latter failed concerned is satisfied with those conditions , it seems fairly reasonable to find happiness because the same conditions fell short of his expectations, he was discontented.What about materialistic goods? This depends on each and everyone’s personal mind-sets of satisfaction. Mate rialistic items alone are probably unable to produce happiness, like a Stour between right and wrong, there must be a limit to these materialistic needs to ensure life can go on happily. So, before we try to decide what makes a happy life, we have to be quite definite what sort of happiness we are aimed to achieve to prevent an inner eristic situation.Recessions have occurred, natural disasters too. Are there any other crises that we face? What about our relationships? The world as we know it apparently faces increasing rate of divorce, could this be caused by the lack of symbiotically trust? Are we neglecting the values of a relationship? I don't find it surprising to see success in having a good relationship. In fact we could carry a portmanteau filled with the importance of maintaining a relationship. So what makes relationships deemed as success?I see success not only intimately between a specific being but also the relationship formed between friends and others. We could be jan issaries to our friends, supporting encouraging them when they need us most. The problem is, how do we obtain this successful relationship? After many ‘attempts', I find that knowing yourself and knowing what you and another person wants as well as having the willingness to change, are key factors in determining the permanence of your relationship.Besides that, relationships which are successful can be created through many different ways of desirability including resemblance of inters, differences that are corresponding, mutual attraction, competence, self-disclosure, and closeness. Successful relationships begins with your relationship with everyone you meet, start from the people on the street till the person you love , and even everyone amongst us , such as the person you pay at the counter , the people you study with , your friends and your family.Other than that, there are many essentials that assist in determining and creating a successful relationships and one of which is communication. Communication is the basic in relationship especially where relationships which involve love are concerned. Love relationships often require a deeper understanding of just how vital communication is to the success of that relationship. Maintaining and developing successful relationships rely on the person’s ability to communicate their needs, wants, and goals within the relationship.Besides that, we need to love and to be loved . This is the mutual way we were put together, and our essential need after food and shelter. It's what holds the bonds of family together so strongly, parent to child, child to parent and siblings to siblings. It is the reason that society has developed marriage in one form because marriage is the ultimate expression of loving and being loved. Perhaps the dernier cri on the meaning of success today speaks of wealth? In this era, money is the first craze, people are becoming more avaricious.Sometimes it is the only thing that determin es success in people’s life. Most people say that money can buy power, money can buy fame, money can buy time and sometimes money can even buy ‘life'. It is said that money has become the first common goal for everybody. As the contrarian speaks, there is something else that can be measured as success. For instance, if an individual observes his or her career and feels satisfied and happy with the status, he would consider it a very successful life.On the other hand, if he looks back and realizes he could have accomplished much more and feels disappointed, he will not be so successful in his own eyes. Success is directly in proportion to happiness and wealth. Without it, there will not be success. Success can also be attained by achieving goals. In order to require a goal, one must accomplish smaller goals that show up to the main achievement, every journey starts with a small step, slowly but surely making our way up the ladder of hard work and finally standing on the hedonistic platform of success.For example, if a football team achieved its aim to win their district and the state championship, they would be successful. On the contrary, if the team had set out to have a winning record and fail to do so, the season would not be considered successful. One vital thing that defines success is our careers. With different careers, we will have different goals and measurements of our success. If you are a major scientist, success will depend on the research you do.A formula that can prove your theory is true can be the greatest success in your life. If you are a writer, you will probably succeed if your book gets on the best-selling in the bookstore or if your works get published in a magazine. So we can see that measure of success in your life as the effort you have devoted and all the sacrifice made. As the years go by, the wick of the candle now adust by the flame of our busy lives begin to shorten and we are left with little time to direct ourselve s towards our goals.As mentioned there are no specific meanings of success, we shouldn't let our time be purloined trying to comprehend another person’s idea of success. We should do what we feel is right and follow our conscience. This is my thoughts on what success is. No arguments about success have yet to occur with me, but we can all agree that to succeed, the time to start is now. The working field is only getting more competitive, and if we do not put in effort now, there might not be a secure future for us.

Nvq Level 2 Essay

Unit 2 1. Understand what is required for competence in own work role 1.1 Describe the duties and responsibilities of own role. My duties are to assisted whilst promoting independence to elderly people with day to day tasks such as personal hygiene care, toileting, getting dressed a and undressed, serving at meal times with some clients needing to be assisted to feed. 1.2 Identify standards that influence the way the role is carried out. The standards that influence the way my role is carried out are Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, Manuel Handling Operations Regulations 1992 and Codes of Practice. 1.3 Describe ways to ensure personal attitudes or beliefs do not obstruct the quality of work. Ways to ensure personal attitudes or beliefs do not obstruct the quality of work is being aware of own personal attitudes and beliefs, being open and understanding to others attitudes and beliefs and respecting the difference between own and others. Enquire for knowledge and understanding of needs, culture and background of individuals. 2. Be able to reflect on own work activities. 2.1 Explain why reflecting on practice is an important way to develop knowledge, skills and practice. Reflecting on practice is an important way to develop knowledge, skills and practice as helps make sense of and learn from experiences, develop skills and techniques, understanding what works and what doesn’t work, considering what could have been done differently. 2.2 Assess how well own knowledge, skills and understanding meets standards. 2.3 Demonstrate the ability to reflect on work activities. 3.Be able to agree a personal development plan. 3.1 Identify sources of support for own learning and development. Sources of support for own learning and development are my line manager, manager and my assessor. 3.2 Describe the process for agreeing a personal development plan and who should be involved. The process for agreeing a personal development plan is through appraisal with my line manager, back to work interviews with my manager and meetings with my assessor. 3.3 Contribute to drawing up own development plan. I contribute to drawing up own development plan by agreeing to objectives for development, understanding needs for specific , measurable, achievable, realistic and timed targets. 4. Be able to develop own knowledge, skills and understanding 4.1 Show how a learning activity has improved own knowledge, skills and understanding. I have done a dementia in house training and this has improved my knowledge, skills and understanding through this learning activity. It shows me how to deal with people with dementia and how it can affects a person. 4.2 Show how reflecting on a situation has improved own knowledge, skills and understand. I find reflecting on a situation helps to look at the situation from different views, which gives me a better knowledge and understanding. 4.3 Show how feedback from others has developed own knowledge, skills and understanding. My manager has received feedback from residents about my level of care I provide which is discussed in my appraisals, we also discuss i f any further training is required and if I have any problem. 4.4 Show how to record progress in relation to personal development. When I have an appraisal all topics discussed is record including any personal developments.

A Character Analysis of Kerima Polotan Tuvera’s The Virgin Essay

A Character Analysis of Kerima Polotan Tuvera’s The Virgin Kerima Polotan-Tuvera’s â€Å"The Virgin† is a short story that is centered on two characters namely Miss Mijares and The Carpenter. The title â€Å"The Virgin† reflects the subject virginity which is an important and cherished value for Filipinos. A Filipina should be proud to have maintained her virginity but in the case of the thirty-four-year-old Miss Mijares, she is ashamed of it. In her thirty-four years of existence, she had never been committed in a relationship. When she was younger, there had been other things to do and she never put love on top of her priorities. She had college to finish, a niece to put through school, and a mother to take care. Her duties became hindrances for her to be in a relationship. Miss Mijares’ childhood experiences and duties affected her personality. Miss Mijares is a thirty-four-year-old woman who works at a job placement agency. The first encounter of the two characters is at the job interview. The way Miss Mijares treat him is as aloof and cold just like the way she treated her other interviewees. She looks at herself as superior which explains the impolite language she uses to communicate with them. According to the text â€Å"When she was younger, there had been other things to do-college to finish, a niece to put through school, a mother to care for.† Her childhood experiences affected the way she is now, it greatly affected her personality. According to the theory of Sigmund Freud namely Psychoanalytic Theory of Freud, a person’s childhood experience and unconscious mind contributes to his or her personality (Cherry). The way Miss Mijares keep her distance from other people and the way she talk to them serve as a defense mechanism. Her unsociable manners coupled with frank and abrupt way of speech is a disguise for her loneliness. For nine years she dutifully looks out for the needs of her mother. For nine years she doesn’t think about her own happiness for she prioritizes her duty to take care of her parent. According to the text â€Å"But it had taken her parent many years to die. Towards the end, it had become a thankless chore, kneading her mother’s loose flesh, hour after hour, struggling to awaken the cold, sluggish blood in her dying body. In the end, she had died-her toothless, thin-haired,  flabby-fleshed mother-and Miss Mijares had pushed against the bed in grief and also gratitude.† We can infer from the way she dedicated her early years to take care of her mother that she valued her family more than herself. She was really affected by the death of her mother whom she loved so much and it triggered the change in her personality. She exemplified her superiority as a woman. â€Å"Miss Mijares did not look 34. She was slight, almost bony, but she had learned early how to dress herself to achieve an illusion hips and bosom. She liked poufs and shirrings and little girlish pastel colors.† According to this text, Miss Mijares knows how to make her look appealing to opposite gender. This is her way to deal with her loneliness. For thirty-four years she has not even touched a man. The way she behaves and deal with other people acts as a defense mechanism. According to the Behavioral Theory, personality is based on the interaction between the individual and the environment which can be learned and unlearned (Cherry). Her bossy and indistinct manner of speech coupled with the way she dress acts as a defense mechanism to hide her depression. The â€Å"girlish pastel color† as stated in the story is also a way to hide her true feelings. She is ashamed of herself for still being a virgin at the age of thirty-four. â€Å"And yet Miss Mijares did think of love.† It is stated in the text that Miss Mijares had short lived fantasies. She is still hoping that love will come her way someday. It suddenly happened when he met the carpenter. She is cold and distant at first but suddenly she is drawn to the man. It all started at the moment she saw the man holding her paperweight. It is a wooden block with a bird poised to flight. The paperweight was damaged with one wing tilted unevenly so the carpenter decided to fix it. The bird symbolizes freedom; it symbolizes the freedom of Miss Mijares. She lived in a system where virginity is something important and should be taken care of. The problem is she is trapped in this system because at the age of thirty-four she is still a virgin who never touched a man. This will change because of the carpenter. She will be free like the bird in her paperweight fixed by the carpenter. She will be unwittingly attracted to the carpenter. She doesn’t like the way he talk without permission but it won’t change her  feelings toward the man. When she learned that the foreman has only given him three peso but he is filling in for a four-peso job, she confronted the foreman right away. It not expected for her to be concerned because of her cold and distant way of treating him. A change in her personality can be seen and it is because of the carpenter. Miss Mijares was emotionally attached to the carpenter. She was surprised and angry when she learned that the carpenter has a son. She thought the he is single and not committed. After learning that he was raising a child by a woman he is not married to, she notice everything else that is wrong with him-his crooked grin and defective front teeth. Her reaction proved that she is really in love with the carpenter. She doesn’t even notice his grin and tooth because of her infatuation. Miss Mijares rode again a jeepney that detoured again to avoid traffic but this time he is with the carpenter. It was raining and all of them were asked to get down the jeepney. She noticed that there are no other people in sight but the two of them. Her emotion has gone wild for her young dreams have suddenly come to life. She turned to him with her ruffles wet and wilted. Out of her free-will, Miss Mijares has grabbed the opportunity for love. According to the Humanist Theory, a person’s free will and individual experience contribute to personality development (Cherry). Her feelings for him have changed her personality. She suddenly becomes more caring and concerned. Her personal emotion is the factor for the change in her personality. The Virgin deals with the life of Miss Mijares. A daughter bounded by her duty. She lived in a society where virginity is something to take care of but at the age of thirty-four she is ashamed that she is still a virgin. Miss Mijares’ childhood experiences and duties affected her personality. The cold and distant personality coupled with a frank and abrupt manner of speech can be traced back in her early years. All of these serve as a defense mechanism to hide her depression. She developed a certain superior mentality that can be seen in the way she talks during interviews but all of these changed when the carpenter came into her life. The paperweight with a bird on it symbolizes freedom. Miss Mijares was now free from all her anxieties because of the carpenter who brought order in her life just like  how he fixed the paperweight. Her loved for the carpenter brought the change in her life.

Comparison of Mark Twain and F. Scott Fitzgerald Essay

Mark Twain and F. Scott Fitzgerald are two widely known American authors who wrote great novels, but differ in many ways. They both wrote stories on life journeys, however; Twain used pre-adolescent characters to show how an individual should behave in society. Whereas, Fitzgerald uses adult characters to show how an individual is harmed by society. Mark TwainA? a‚ ¬a„? s characters have many dreams in all TwainA? a‚ ¬a„? s stories. On the other hand, FitzgeraldA? a‚ ¬a„? s older, adult characters who still have dreams allow the larger community to affect them from pursuing his or her aspirations. The community doesnA? a‚ ¬a„? t put a lot of pressure on TwainA? a‚ ¬a„? s characters because most of them are just children. But on the contrary, F. Scott FitzgeraldA? a‚ ¬a„? s characters are expected to fit in and do whatever the crowd does. So in the long run, Mark TwainA? a‚ ¬a„? s characters benefit from society by pursuing their individual goals, and F. Scott Fitzgerald characters falter because they let society affect their dreams. Mark Twain was born on November 30, 1835. His birthplace was in Florida and he grew up in a relatively small town. Mark TwainA? a‚ ¬a„? s original name was Samuel Langhorne Clemens. Mark TwainA? a‚ ¬a„? s father was John Marshall and his mother was Jane Lampton Clemens. Samuel’s father, John, was a judge. When little Samuel was four years of age he moved to Hannibal with his family. His parents enrolled him in a private school there. Samuel had many health problems as a child. Therefore, they had to keep him indoors for the first half of his childhood. Although, when he was around ten years he joined the rest of the town’s children outside. He grew up in a two-story house at 206 Hill Street. One of SamuelA? a‚ ¬a„? s major life events was when his father died of pneumonia. Because of his fatherA? a‚ ¬a„? s death, Samuel left school and became a printerA? a‚ ¬a„? s apprentice. Samuel found his first love of writing after two years as a printerA? a‚ ¬a„? s apprentice. He became an editorial assistant with his older brother and really found writing fascinating. When Samuel Clemens tuned 17 years old he left Hannibal. He found a printerA? a‚ ¬a„? s job in St. Louis. There, Clemens became a river pilot assistant and got his license in 1858. This was a very important time for Samuel because itA?  a‚ ¬a„? s where he got his writerA? a‚ ¬a„? s name, Mark Twain. In piloting the expression â€Å"Mark Twain† means that is safe to navigate. Many authors use other names when they write books and Samuel decided on Mark Twain because of his piloting experiences. Later in his life, Mark Twain began working as a newspaper reporter for several newspapers all over the United States. Mark Twain married Olivia Langdon in 1870. Together, they had four children. Unfortunately, one died as an infant and the others died in their 20A? a‚ ¬a„? s. Clara was their only child who lived a long life. She lived to be 88 years old and had one daughter. Mark TwainA? a‚ ¬a„? s first successful writing was â€Å"The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calavaras County. † It gave him a lot of fame and the critics really liked it. Twain’s first book was â€Å"The Innocents Abroad,A? a‚ ¬A? and was published in 1869. The arch of his fame was probably when he wrote â€Å"The Adventures of Tom Sawyer† in 1876 and A? a‚ ¬Aâ€Å"The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,A? a‚ ¬A? in 1885. He has a long list of stories, books, and newspaper article. He wrote 28 well know ones in all. Mark Twain passed away on April 21, 1910. He leaves a big legacy of childhood stories and many people still read his books. He is a very respectable American author and his books are brilliant. Scott Fitzgerald was born on September 24th, 1896. His father was Edward Fitzgerald. He grew up in St. Paul, Minnesota. As a child he was brought up as a devote Catholic. The first School he attended was St. Paul Academy. When he graduated he went to Princeton and was part of the class of 1917. ScottA? a‚ ¬a„? s first engagement was to Zelda Sayre. She later broke their engagement. One of his major life events is when he went to St. Paul to write, A? a‚ ¬Aâ€Å"This Side of Paradise. A? a‚ ¬A? The critics loved this story and got many sales. Another major life event is when Zelda Sayre took him back and they got married. They took a trip to Europe where is wife had their first child. The first time he wrote something he was in a school newspaper club. The first thing that got published was the A? a‚ ¬Aâ€Å"Romantic Egotist. A? a‚ ¬A? He had immediate success at the age of 24. The subject he wrote on was young love. His style was life journeys of adults. He wrote his journey stories with clarity, with color, and with music. His style changed a little when he started to drink in 1923. His best book got great reviews, but not many sales. The A? a‚ ¬Aâ€Å"Great GatsbyA? a‚ ¬A? written in 1924 probably marked his arch of fame and all the critics fell in love with it. When Scott ran out of money he would write short stories. Most of his income came from his short stories because his novels didnA? a‚ ¬a„? t have many sales until after his death. Some of his most popular works were: A? a‚ ¬Aâ€Å"The Vegetable,A? a‚ ¬A? A? a‚ ¬Aâ€Å"The Offshore Piddle,A? a‚ ¬A? A? a‚ ¬Aâ€Å"Bernice Bobs,A? a‚ ¬A? A? a‚ ¬Aâ€Å"Her Hair,A? a‚ ¬A? A? a‚ ¬Aâ€Å"May Day,A? a‚ ¬A? and A? a‚ ¬Aâ€Å"The Beautiful and Damned. A? a‚ ¬A? Many things influenced Scott Fitzgerald. Aspiration, literature, Princeton, Zelda Fitzgerald, and alcohol are some of them. All of these things explain why he writes more about adults and their journeys instead of children. Scott Fitzgerald leaves us a legacy of one of the greatest American authors in history. He was a great man who became friends with another great author, Hemmingway. In a strange way they fed off each otherA? a‚ ¬a„? s stories. Scott Fitzgerald pasted away on December 21st, 1940 of a heart attack.