Saving Natural Resources Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Saving Natural Resources - Essay Example Likewise, the contemporary lifestyle of people all over the world can not be thought to exist without oil. Oil is used for fuelling the vehicles and airplanes. The modern lifestyle is shaped according to these. We can not think to continue the business in the modern age without having vehicles, which in turn, require oil to be driven. â€Å"A litre of petrol produces about 2.5kg (5 lbs) of greenhouse gases, while a US gallon produces nearly 15 lbs of greenhouse gases† (Viator.com). Gas is an alternative to oil, but that does not solve the problem of unsustainable development because that too is a natural resource and depletes as more and more of it is being used. The contemporary lifestyle is an outcome of heavy reliance on natural resources, thus it will diminish along with the natural resources. In light of the rapidly depleting natural resources, we need to change our living practices so that we can enjoy the pleasures of life for a longer period of time. Of all the natural resources, the one that concerns us the most is oil. If we stop depending upon oil, we will have done much to make the life style sustainable. In order to achieve that, what needs to be looked into is the purposes we need oil for in general. We generally need oil for fuelling cars and making electricity. Both of these purposes can be achieved without depending upon oil. Most of the oil that is extracted from Earth is used for fuelling vehicles. â€Å"Transportation is the second leading contributor to greenhouse gases in the country† (Shahan). The potential solution to this problem lies in the use of bicycles. Bicycles offer a solution not only to this, but to various other problems of the contemporary age as well like obesity. Bicycles do not need any fuel to be driven and yet, the wheels on which it runs make the journey less time consuming. In order to drive a bicycle, the rider needs to peddle constantly. This is a very good exercise for the thighs. In addition to making us smart and healthy, use of bicycles also reduces the chances of dreadful road accidents. The collision of a bicycle rider with a man on foot is least likely to result into a life taking accident, unless there were some other factors involved in it. Thus, by replacing vehicles with bicycles, man can not only make himself indifferent to the oil reserves, but it will also make our living practices environment friendly and the life style sustainable. Natural resources not only include what is hidden under the surface of Earth; they also constitute all plants and animals as they are the fundamental source of food and nutrition for the humans. Polar bears are dying in large numbers as a result of the global warming. The point here is not that they are food for humans, but â€Å"[i]f people want a more people-centered reason to save polar bears, it surely exists in the way lack of polar bears could ultimately affect human food supply and commercial fishing industries† (Ellis-Chri stensen). This takes the discussion of saving natural resources to the level of global warming. The two phenomena are linked with each other. As the temperature of Earth is rising, more and more animals are dying. They can not sustain the effect of heat. Therefore, we also need to take measures to reduce global warming in our attempt to save natural resources. Built environment happens

Narrative Techniques Used by Fitzgerald Essay Example for Free

Narrative Techniques Used by Fitzgerald Essay Fitzgerald uses a variety of techniques throughout the novel to draw in the reader into the story, in Chapter 2 there is a lot of evidence of these techniques being used and the way Fitzgerald uses them in exploring the chapter, such as pathetic fallacy, symbolism, narrative technique and shock. Also, the theme that runs throughout the novel is contrasts of class in society, which is clearly shown to reader in the example of Wilson being manipulated and controlled Tom Buchanans supercilious manner, this is shown by the action of which Tom attacked Myrtle, his mistress, at the end of the chapter. Fitzgerald uses pathetic fallacy at the very start of the chapter to portray the narrators mood and emotions at the time, such as grey land, bleak dust, dimmed, paint less days, small foul river and dismal scene. Fitzgerald possibly uses this to reflect Nicks mood in having to have lunch with Tom Buchanan who he clearly shows to the reader is dislike towards this character, or even indicating to the reader the unwanted meeting with Toms mistress, Myrtle Wilson. Fitzgerald perhaps uses this to interest the reader into questioning the reference to the weather and the setting at the start of the chapter in relation to Nicks emotions and asks why does Nick feel so grey, bleak and just generally gloomy and negative towards this event as an introduction to Chapter 2. Another technique Fitzgerald uses in Chapter 2 is symbolism; he uses the character, Doctor T.J. Eckleburg, to symbolise a respected person looking down at society, or even an object always present in some of the scenes throughout the novel, witnessing the events that occur; the eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg are blue and gigantic. His role isnt an actual character in the story but more of an object, however, Fitzgerald must find his role relevant to mention Doctor Eckleburg in the book therefore indicating to the reader his importance in the novel. A different way in which Fitzgerald uses to tell the story in Chapter 2 is of how Fitzgerald tells the event of which Tom Buchanan hits Myrtle, it  generates shock and surprise to the reader, especially how Fitzgerald decides to tell of this event through the narrator Nick. Making a short deft movement, Tom Buchanan broke her nose with his open hand. This sentence is structured as short because it describes a huge shocking action that is much of a unthinkable situation: a man abusing a woman. So Fitzgerald manipulates the surprising action by making impact on the sharpness of the short description of this, contrasting to Fitzgeralds other descriptions to events and settings which he tells to the reader in great amounts of detail with poetic and romantic language, in order to contribute in creating a great impact of horror/tragedy felt by the reader of this event. A different narrative technique the author uses to tell the story in this chapter is that the narrator is drunk and attempts to remember his movements. However, Fitzgerald uses the fact of which Nick is intoxicated by manipulating the narration. For example, I was standing beside his bed and he was sitting up between the sheets clad in his underwear, with a great portfolio in his hands. This description is a quite unique way of narrating the story, even ending the chapter; however it makes Nicks story more realistic and authentic by telling it in this way, the reader can clearly imagine Nicks night in their head by how Fitzgerald decides to tell this event.

Imagination :: essays research papers

The human imagination is a very powerful thing. It sets humanity apart from the rest of the creatures that roam the planet by giving them the ability to make creative choices. The imaginary world is unavoidably intertwined with the real world and there are many ways by which to illustrate this through literature, either realistically or exaggerated. Almost everything people surround themselves with is based on the unreal. Everything from the food we eat to the books we read had to have been thought of by someone and their imagination. The imagination empowers humans.^1 It allows people to speculate or to see into the future. It allows artists to create, inventors to invent, and even scientists and mathematicians to solve problems. J.R. Tolken wrote â€Å"Lord of the Rings† by sitting in his backyard and imagining everything coming to life.^2 He thought about all the â€Å"what if† possibilities. But this method of storytelling can be used in much more subtle and/or soph isticated ways than in science fiction or fantasy novels. Through such works as the short story Dreams and the novel â€Å"Headhunter† by Timothy Findley, the film â€Å"the Matrix†, and the short story the Telltale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe, one can see how a writer can use the concept of the imaginary invading reality to write their story.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In Dreams, by Timothy Findley, the main characters, two married psychiatrists named â€Å"the doctors Marlo†, have a fairly normal marriage. But they are both dealing with professional cases that are invading their personal lives. Mrs. Marlo specializes in autistic children. One case she is working on is that of a little boy who won’t talk, eat or sleep. She grows attached to this child and thinks of him as almost her own son. Meanwhile, Everett Marlo, her husband, is plagued by nightmares caused by one of his more puzzling cases, which results in insomnia. He begins to share his patient’s nightmares and dreams that he is looking through his patient’s dreaming eyes and is committing savage and bloody murders. Findley uses his character’s dreams to show that the imaginary dreams that Everett is having affects his normal, day to day reality. This makes for many plot possibilities that the author could have chosen. But Findley chose to have Everett fall asleep and have Mrs. Marlo discover her husband covered head to toe in someone else’s blood in the bathroom.

Maria Full of Grace

Marà ­a à lvarez, a 17-year-old Colombian girl (played by Catalina Sandino Moreno), works in sweat shop-like conditions at a flower plantation to help support her family. However, after finding herself pregnant by her boyfriend, whom she does not love, and being unjustly treated by her boss, she quits and decides to find another job, despite her family's disapproval. On her way to Bogotà ¡ to find a new job, she gets offered a position as a mule — one who smuggles drugs by swallowing drug-filled pellets.Desperate, she accepts the risky offer and swallows 62 wrapped pellets of cocaine and flies to New York City. After a close call at the US Customs (she was about to be X-rayed, until customs found out she was pregnant), she is set free and sent to a hotel where she is to remove the pellets from her body. The traffickers arrive to take the drugs. To retrieve the pellets from Lucy, a fellow mule who had died when one of the pellets ruptured inside her, the traffickers had cut open her stomach, then disposed of her body.After seeing this ruthless world firsthand, Maria decides to escape the drug-trafficking cartel. Her story becomes one of determination and survival like that of many other immigrants in the United States, although she knows nothing about the country and had originally planned to go back to Colombia. The economic hardships of Colombia and the working environment for illegals in the US are both accurately represented. Eventually realizing that her choices affect other people, she emerges with the grace that will carry her forward into a new life. In the end Maria lives her life in the United States.

Aging Literature

This literature review addresses several issues related to the study of aging. Theoretical perspectives, research methods, and current controversies are reviewed. One issue that has beset the development of research on aging is a definition of old age (Scanzoni & Scanzoni, 1988, p. 549). Research in the United Kingdom and the United States has found that the older a person is in a chronological sense, the later is the chronological age at which that person tends to think old age begins. The concept of old age also is affected by social stratum: lower-status persons, as an example tend to think that old age begins in the fifties, while higher-status persons tend to think that old age begins around age 65. Advances in medical science and technology have led to increased life spans for an increasing proportion of the population; however, social development has not kept pace (Scanzoni & Scanzoni, 1988, p. 549). Thus, many among the growing numbers of older people lead increasingly less rewarding lives. Further, the increasing numbers of persons in the population aged 65 or older demand that research into aging develop methods that address the differences among age groupings within the 65 and over classification. There also is a subjective context to aging (Scanzoni & Scanzoni, 1988, p. 550). Younger people tend to perceiving old age differently from older people, at a general level, and at a specific level all persons do not age . . . ehavior will be evaluated in the context of one's basic beliefs. If these basic beliefs are unrealistic or irrational, one's expectancies will likely also tend to be unrealistic and irrational. Adaptation enables an individual to understand the surrounding environment (McDougall, 1995, pp. 26-27). Adaptation occurs through the functioning of the mental processes of assimilation and accommodation. Assimilation involves the perception and interpretation of new information within the context of existing knowledge and understanding. Accommodation is a more advanced process that involves the restructuring of mental organization in order to include new nformation. The ecological approach to psychology is a functional approach. In this approach, psychological problems are construed as instances of adaptation. Ecological science defines perception as an awareness of one's environment. The focus in on a being's vertical experience. Vertical experience implies that an environment permits a being to both live and reproduce. The environment is integral to thi s definition of perception, because varieties of meaningful experience cannot be studied as instances of perception unless an environmental component is integral to the being

Tourism in Japan Today Essays

Tourism in Japan Today Essays Tourism in Japan Today Essay Tourism in Japan Today Essay Tourism is a major foreign exchange earner for many countries. Most of them are keen on creating an environment that is conducive and attractive for tourists. Governments and the private sector the world over market the tourist attractions within their jurisdictions to ensure they get a share of internationaltravelers. Local tourist destinations are also increasingly becoming popular with citizens of the country which the attractions are located being charged lower prices by the relevant entities to encourage them to visit and promote their tourism sites. People are usually interested in visiting new places, beautiful landscapes, sunny beaches, primitive societies and historical monuments among others. Asia as a continent prides itself in being the home to a significant proportion of international tourists. Japan is one of the biggest beneficiaries. The country is home to about nineteen world heritage sites. Japan has managed to keep intact key aspects of its culture, a factor that h as for years ensured it continuously attract tourists whoareinterested in learning more about the way of life of its people (McDowell 2015). Japans tourism industry is headed for great growth with current trends and future the government future targets set to see inbound visitors making sector become the countrys main source of employment. .The countrys tourism sector is recording steady growth. The number of tourists in Japan has been increasing in the recent years. The year 2016 has seen the number of foreign tourists visiting Japan rise to 2.3 million in the month of July alone (Japan National Tourism Organization 2016). The figure represents a 19.7 percent increase in terms of proportion compared to July of 2015. The figure surpassed that recorded in the month of April 2016 that initially had the highest figures for the year 2016 with the excess figure standing at 215000 visitors. The government had placed its estimates on inbound visitors at 20 million visitors by the year 2020 with last year missing the target by less than half a million with the figure standing at 19.7 million. The figure represents a 47.1% rise compared to that of the year 2014. The growth rate for the year 2016 is the highest since 1964 when the countrys national tourism organization started collecting data. Given the momentumwithwhich the tou rism sector is growing, the country is set to not only achieve the year 2020 target but also surpass it by ahugemargin. The success has got the government to start considering reviewing the target and setting a higher one. The composition of inbound visitors has also changed. Chinese visitors constituted the largest proportion of the visitors for the first time Japans tourism history. Such an event was unexpected. There are several factors that can explain the change. One of them is the growing middle-class in China. The economic growth in China has been accompanied by an increase in the number of people joining the countrys middle-class category who have greater amounts of disposable income that they can spend on luxury. Another reason for the large number of Chinese visiting is the weakening of Yen (Japans currency) against the Chinese currency (World Travel Tourism Council 2015). The depreciation of the Yen makes inbound visitors find the cost of visiting Japan as holiday destination cheaper than before. The third factor in growth is relaxing of Japans visa requirement. The Chinese tourists were also the largest spenders. Their total expenditure accounted for about 40.8% of the 3.5 trillion Yen spe nt bytouristsin 2015. The spending was so much and popular that it resulted in the coining of the term bakugai which means explosive buying, to refer to the shopping sprees associated with the Chinese tourists. Even though China ranks at the top in terms of inbound tourist to Japan, factoring in the population shows a lot of potential for growth (Research Co 2016). For instance, even though Taiwan and Hong Kong are much smaller in comparison to China their proportionate tourist numbers are far much than those of China. In view of the growth potential, Japan can look forward to a greater number of inbound Chinese tourists than before.Japan also still has more room for deregulation, a factor that is bound to lead to a surge in the number of tourists from its three biggest inbound tourists that include Chinese, Taiwanese and Koreans. However, a reversal in the weakening of the Yen may lead toa countereffect that may see the numbers become more unpredictable. Inbound tourism is one of the most promising businesses in Japan. Holiday and travelisthe new employment platform and economic driver for the population. Its contribution currently rivals that of the auto industry that is a major employer. The sector currently employs more than 3% of the countrys total population (Japan Macro Advisors 2016). After the winning the bid to host the 2020 Olympics, the government intensified its efforts aimed at promoting tourism. The private sector was not let behind. Various stakeholders began taking advantage of the measures set in place by the government in promoting tourism to offer complementary services that would help create enabling conditions. One of suchinitiativeswas by NTT Docomo Inc that launched a wireless internet service to cater for foreign tourist some of whom had initially complainedaboutthe lack of wifi in the country (Kodera 2014). Such kinds of initiatives by both the government and the private have created more employment opportuni ties especially in the service industry. Clearly, Japans tourism industry is headed for great growth given the current trends and future the government future targets that might see the inbound visitors become the main source of employment. The countrys tourism sector is recording steady growth. Inbound tourist numbers in Japan have been increasing at an unprecedented rate in the recent years, helping it set new records in its tourism sector (Business Monitor International Ltd. 2016). The composition of inbound visitors has also changed. This year, Chinese visitors constituted the largest proportion of the visitors for the first time in Japans tourism history. Factors such as deregulation, a weakening Yen and a surge in the middle-class are the main contributors to this new trend. Despite the fact that China ranks at the top in terms of inbound tourist to Japan, factoring in the population size shows a lot of potential for growth. Japan can take advantage of the opportunity to do more in terms of deregulation and creating a more conducive environment for tourists.Inbound tourism is one of the most promising businesses and the various stakeholders in Japans tourism industry should do their best to maximize their income. Bibliography Business Monitor International Ltd. (2016).Japan tourism report. London, Business Monitor International. Japan Macro Advisors, (2016).Number of Visitors to Japan|Foreign visitors|Tourism. [online] japanmacroadvisors.com. Available at: https://www.japanmacroadvisors.com/page/category/economic-indicators/gdp-and-business-activity/number-of-visitors-to-japan/ [Accessed 19 Sep. Japan National Tourism Organization (2016)Welcome to the Japan national tourism organization website. Available at: seejapan.co.uk/jnto_consumer/index (Accessed: 19 September 2016). Kodera, A. (2014)Tourism emerges asneweconomic driver for Japan | the Japan times. Available at: japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/08/25/reference/tourism-emerges-new-economic-driver-japan/#.V-AIjTVJR-8 (Accessed: 19 September 2016). McDowell, P. (2015).Japan, Sage, London Research, J.T. and Co, C. (2016)Japan tourism marketing Co. Available at: tourism.jp/en/statistics/ (Accessed: 19 September 2016). World Travel Tourism Council (2015)Economic Impact 2015 Japan. Available at: https://www.wttc.org/-/media/files/reports/economic%20impact%20research/countries%202015/japan2015.pdf (Accessed: 19 September 2016).

“the Apple-Tree” by John Galsworthy Essays

â€Å"the Apple-Tree† by John Galsworthy Essays â€Å"the Apple-Tree† by John Galsworthy Paper â€Å"the Apple-Tree† by John Galsworthy Paper The extract under consideration is a piece of a third person narration. However, it is not just a matter-of-fact account of events. You can find not a few pieces of description throughout the story. Thereby the finely wrought delineation of the characters and scenery is gained. Also there are quite a lot of dialogues in the story which are important in revealing a person’s inner state and overall atmosphere. On the whole, the prevailing tone of the extract appears to be rather romantic and elevated. This effect is caused by the description of the two friends Frank Ashurst and Robert Garton. The former is an idealistic and romantic young man full of absence. And the latter stands in contrast to his friend, being too practical. The author depicts him in a rather amusing way which can’t but evoke a smile on the reader’s face which adds to the gay atmosphere. Yet there is a suggestive symbol – a cuckoo which is a kind of warning of imminent tragedy. The author uses such stylistic device as foreshadowing. He drops a clue about what is to come in the story, which builds tension throughout the book. Thus the plot development is suggested by the word â€Å"pity†. It appears all of a sudden in the very first utterance and is very eloquent as well as its second repetition in Megan’s speech. All that creates a dramatic sense, In sum the plot of the story centres around two friends Frank Ashurst and Robert Garton who are on a tramp. They are on a rest and are about to set off and find some farm to put p but suddenly they see a girl coming down to them. The fiends ask her to put them up and she agrees to lead them to the farm she lives at. There they meet her aunt, she allows the young man to stay for the night and they go to a stream to bathe. The story proves to be very symbolic. The two friends are on a trip. Apart from its literal meaning it represents the life’s journey. Frank and Robert are at the beginning of it, what is to come in store for the men? Let’s take a closer look at them. Ashurst is romantic and idealistic young man. The scene in which the action takes place reveals his inner state as the author uses somewhat high-flown style in depicting it: â€Å"he had plucked a blue foweret, and was twiddling it against the sky†. As if opposed to his friend, Robert is matter-of-fact and barren of imagination. There is a remarkable peculiarity about the way Garton’s appearance and actions are depicted. I mean metaphors and similes of which the author is lavish. They are sharp and facetious and can’t but evoke an ironic smile, for example: â€Å"Garton queer, round-the-corner, knotted, curly, like some primeval beast†, â€Å"Gartons was a kind of dark unfathomed mop†, â€Å"Robert was talking through his hat! † As to Megan, her portrayal is very laconic. She doesn’t appear to be beautiful but her eyes are wonderful. Their delineation is symbolic – they are the reflection of her soul dewy as if opened for the first time that day. And girl looks at Ashurst without shyness in an open manner, she is inartificial and naive. Megan feels pity for Ashurst because of his knee, and her attention pleases him. Once again this feeling is recurrent in the story and it definitely has symbolic significance. It creates the mood of the approaching disaster. And Megan’s aunt seems to forebode it. The author portrays her by several sharp strokes. Mrs. Narracombe had a quick, dark eye, like a mother wild-ducks, and something of the same snaky turn about her neck. † She appears to be very strict and acute woman and distrusts the strangers but finally Ashurst gains her confidence by a jesting remark. As the extract ends we find the two friends at the stream. Frank is sitting under the apple-tree waiting for Robert. And this is another symbol used by the author – the apple-tree – so expressive and meaningful that it becomes the title of the story. Now it is in leaf, and all but in flower – its crimson buds just bursting. It stands for the feeling which is about to burst between Ashurst and Megan in a little while. What is in store for them? Frank doesn’t think about it, his feelings and meditations are ambiguous and idle and he feels absurdly happy. We can only guess what is to happen with them but for the time being â€Å"every bough is swinging in the wind, every spring bird calling, and a slanting sunlight dapples the grass†. The story afforded great pleasure to me, I enjoyed every minute of it. I give the author his due for brilliance of style. The foundation of Galsworthys talent lies in a remarkable power of ironic insight combined with an extremely keen and faithful eye for all the phenomena on the surface of the life he observes. Galsworthys realism lies in his capacity for making his hero part and parcel of his surroundings and convincing the reader of his typicality: he is a fine artist in reproducing the individual workings of his characters mind.

A Brief Overview of British Literary Periods

A Brief Overview of British Literary Periods Although historians have delineated the eras of British literature in different ways over time, common divisions are outlined below.   Old English (Anglo-Saxon) Period (450–1066) The term Anglo-Saxon comes from two Germanic tribes, the Angles and the Saxons. This period of literature dates back to their invasion (along with the Jutes) of Celtic England circa 450. The era ends in 1066, when Norman France, under William, conquered England. Much of the first half of this period, prior to the seventh century, at least, had oral literature. A lot of the prose during this time was a translation of something else or legal, medical, or religious in nature; however, some works, such as Beowulf,  and those by period poets Caedmon and Cynewulf, are important. Middle English Period (1066–1500) The Middle English period sees a huge transition in the language, culture, and lifestyle of England and results in what we can recognize today as a form of â€Å"modern† (recognizable) English. The era extends to around 1500. As with the Old English period, much of the Middle English writings were religious in nature; however, from about 1350 onward, secular literature began to rise. This period is home to the likes of Chaucer, Thomas Malory, and Robert Henryson. Notable works include Piers Plowman and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.   The Renaissance (1500–1660) Recently, critics and literary historians have begun to call this the â€Å"Early Modern† period, but here we retain the historically familiar term â€Å"Renaissance.† This period is often subdivided into four parts, including the Elizabethan Age (1558–1603), the Jacobean Age (1603–1625), the Caroline Age (1625–1649), and the Commonwealth Period (1649–1660).   The Elizabethan Age was the golden age of English drama. Some of its noteworthy figures include Christopher Marlowe, Francis Bacon, Edmund Spenser, Sir Walter Raleigh, and, of course, William Shakespeare.  The Jacobean Age is named for the reign of James I. It includes the works of John Donne, Shakespeare, Michael Drayton, John Webster, Elizabeth Cary, Ben Jonson, and Lady Mary Wroth. The King James translation of the Bible also appeared during the Jacobean Age.  The Caroline Age covers the reign of Charles I (â€Å"Carolus†). John Milton, Robert Burton, and George Herbert are some of the notable figures. Finally, the Commonwealth Age was so named for the period between the end of the English Civil War and the restoration of the Stuart monarchy. This is the time when Oliver Cromwell, a Puritan, led Parliament, who ruled the nation. At this time, public theaters were closed (for nearly two decades) to prevent public assembly and to combat moral and religious transgressions. John Milton and Thomas Hobbes’ political writings appeared and, while drama suffered, prose writers such as Thomas Fuller, Abraham Cowley, and Andrew Marvell published prolifically. The Neoclassical Period (1600–1785) The Neoclassical period is also subdivided into ages, including The Restoration (1660–1700), The Augustan Age (1700–1745), and The Age of Sensibility (1745–1785). The Restoration period sees some response to the puritanical age, especially in the theater. Restoration comedies (comedies of manner) developed during this time under the talent of playwrights such as William Congreve and John Dryden. Satire, too, became quite popular, as evidenced by the success of Samuel Butler. Other notable writers of the age include Aphra Behn, John Bunyan, and John Locke. The Augustan Age was the time of Alexander Pope and Jonathan Swift, who imitated those first Augustans and even drew parallels between themselves and the first set. Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, a poet, was prolific at this time and noted for challenging stereotypically female roles. Daniel Defoe was also popular.   The Age of Sensibility  (sometimes referred to as the Age of Johnson) was the time of Edmund Burke, Edward Gibbon, Hester Lynch Thrale, James Boswell, and, of course, Samuel Johnson. Ideas such as neoclassicism, a critical and literary mode, and the Enlightenment, a particular worldview shared by many intellectuals, were championed during this age. Novelists to explore include Henry Fielding, Samuel Richardson, Tobias Smollett, and Laurence Sterne, as well as the poets William Cowper and Thomas Percy. The Romantic Period (1785–1832) The beginning date for the Romantic period is often debated. Some claim it is 1785, immediately following the Age of Sensibility. Others say it began in 1789 with the start of the French Revolution, and still, others believe that 1798, the publication year for William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s book Lyrical Ballads, is its true beginning. The time period ends with the passage of the Reform Bill (which signaled the Victorian Era) and with the death of Sir Walter Scott. American literature has its own Romantic period, but typically when one speaks of Romanticism, one is referring to this great and diverse age of British literature, perhaps the most popular and well-known of all literary ages. This era includes the works of such juggernauts as Wordsworth, Coleridge, William Blake, Lord Byron, John Keats, Charles Lamb, Mary Wollstonecraft, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Thomas De Quincey, Jane Austen, and Mary Shelley. There is also a minor period, also quite popular (between 1786–1800), called the Gothic era.   Writers of note for this period include Matthew Lewis, Anne Radcliffe, and William Beckford. The Victorian Period (1832–1901) This period is named for the reign of Queen Victoria, who ascended to the throne in 1837,  and it lasts until her death in 1901.  It was a time of great social, religious, intellectual, and economic issues, heralded by the passage of the Reform Bill, which expanded voting rights. The period has often been divided into â€Å"Early† (1832–1848), â€Å"Mid† (1848–1870) and â€Å"Late† (1870–1901) periods or into two phases, that of the Pre-Raphaelites (1848–1860) and that of Aestheticism and Decadence (1880–1901). This period is in strong contention with the Romantic period for being the most popular, influential, and prolific period in all of English (and world) literature. Poets of this time include Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Christina Rossetti, Alfred Lord Tennyson, and Matthew Arnold, among others. Thomas Carlyle, John Ruskin, and Walter Pater were advancing the essay form at this time.  Finally, prose fiction truly found its place under the auspices of Charles Dickens, Charlotte and Emily Bronte, Elizabeth Gaskell, George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans), Anthony Trollope, Thomas Hardy, William Makepeace Thackeray, and Samuel Butler.    The Edwardian Period (1901–1914) This period is named for King Edward VII and covers the period between Victoria’s death and the outbreak of World War I. Although a short period (and a short reign for Edward VII), the era includes incredible classic novelists such as Joseph Conrad, Ford Madox Ford, Rudyard Kipling, H.G. Wells, and Henry James (who was born in America but who spent most of his writing career in England), notable poets such as Alfred Noyes and William Butler Yeats, as well as dramatists such as James Barrie, George Bernard Shaw, and John Galsworthy. The Georgian Period (1910–1936) The Georgian period usually refers to the reign of George V (1910–1936) but sometimes also includes the reigns of the four successive Georges from 1714–1830. Here, we refer to the former description as it applies chronologically and covers, for example, the Georgian poets, such as Ralph Hodgson, John Masefield, W.H. Davies, and Rupert Brooke. Georgian poetry today is typically considered to be the works of minor poets anthologized by Edward Marsh. The themes and subject matter tended to be rural or pastoral in nature, treated delicately and traditionally rather than with passion (like was found in the previous periods) or with experimentation (as would be seen in the upcoming modern period).   The Modern Period (1914–?) The modern period traditionally applies to works written after the start of World War I. Common features include bold experimentation with subject matter, style, and form, encompassing narrative, verse, and drama. W.B. Yeats’ words, â€Å"Things fall apart; the center cannot hold† are often referred to when describing the core tenet or â€Å"feeling† of modernist concerns. Some of the most notable writers of this period, among many, include the novelists James Joyce, Virginia Woolf, Aldous Huxley, D.H. Lawrence, Joseph Conrad, Dorothy Richardson, Graham Greene, E.M. Forster, and Doris Lessing; the poets W.B. Yeats, T.S. Eliot, W.H. Auden, Seamus Heaney, Wilfred Owens, Dylan Thomas, and Robert Graves; and the dramatists Tom Stoppard, George Bernard Shaw, Samuel Beckett, Frank McGuinness, Harold Pinter, and Caryl Churchill. New Criticism also appeared at this time, led by the likes of Woolf, Eliot, William Empson, and others, which reinvigorated literary criticism in general. It is difficult to say whether modernism has ended, though we know that postmodernism has developed after and from it; for now, the genre remains ongoing. The Postmodern Period (1945–?) The postmodern period begins about the time that World War II ended. Many believe it is a direct response to modernism. Some say the period ended about 1990, but it is likely too soon to declare this period closed.  Poststructuralist literary theory and criticism developed during this time. Some notable writers of the period include Samuel Beckett, Joseph Heller, Anthony Burgess, John Fowles, Penelope M. Lively, and Iain Banks. Many postmodern authors wrote during the modern period as well.

Employment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Employment - Essay Example This is considered to be undesirable as the company will have to incur high training costs and will be left with inexperienced employees. In order to avoid this, the company should keep their employees motivated and give them additional benefits like bonuses, holidays etc. staff turnover is calculated by dividing the number of employees leaving the company by the current employees and then multiplying by hundred. Different types of staff turnover include internal, external, voluntary and involuntary. 2. Turnover can be internal or external. Internal turnover is when employees leave their current jobs to take over new positions in the same company. This can be a due to a number of positive and negative reasons. The employees might like the way the management treats its employees and therefore, they want to work in the same organization. Internal turnover is as important for the company as an external one. External turnover happens when the employees leave their jobs to work in other c ompanies or organizations. The employees might be unhappy with the way the employees are treated or the environment of the organization. The management should consider both these turnovers because a high staff turnover is not healthy for any organization. 3. The hospitality industry includes jobs in hotels, resorts etc. where the employees have to make the guests feel at home. This industry has a high turnover because of a number of reasons. One reason is its nature of seasonality. It is hard for the employees in off-the-peak season and therefore, the turnover is high. Also the work environment of this industry might not be good and the employees might not be treated in a good way. Another main factor is that dealing with customers is also not an easy task. Pay rates are often really low and along with less benefits, employees working in this industry get de-motivated. Therefore, the staff turnover of this industry is really high. 4. The costs of high turnover can have negative effe cts on the financial statements of a company. There are a number of techniques or tools which they can use in order to reduce their turnover rate. One tool is to provide a better working environment for the employees and to treat them well. To make their organization an employee oriented one which would keep the employees motivated. Another technique is to hire the right people suitable for the organization and provide them with adequate training facilities. Building loyal relationships with employees is also another tool which the organization can use. The organization can provide positive reinforcement to the employees by giving them incentives such as compensation, bonus, non-cash rewards and other benefits as well 5. Employee retention is extremely important for the success of an organization. High turnover rates are very costly for the company and therefore, they need to find ways to retain as many employees as possible. The costs of high turnover rates include training costs, recruiting costs and can have a negative affect on the financial position of an organization. The management needs to keep their employees motivated in order to have a high retention rate. Also that with high retention rates, experienced workers remains with the organization and continue to provide their advice so that the goals of the company are met. An effective employee retention program can help the reputation of the company and also improves employee morale. It also makes sure that the productivity and performance of the employees are maintained. 6. A high turnover rate can prove to be costly for the company. The costs are both direct and indirect. The direct costs include recruitment cost, the cost the company incurs when an employee leaves

You will write a critical analysis on Johnathan Swift's A Modest Essay

You will write a critical analysis on Johnathan Swift's A Modest Proposal - Essay Example To develop this thesis he goes into details about how much it will cost to rear a child, how this cost can be saved if the child is sold as food and what portion of the population will be affected. He even gives specific details about the number of servings a child can provide. This is what Swift (1729) has to say, â€Å"I have already computed the charge of nursing a beggars child†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. to be about two shillings per annum, rags included; and I believe no gentleman would repine to give ten shillings for the carcass of a good fat child, which, as I have said, will make four dishes of excellent nutritive meat†. According to him the meat of the children of Ireland will be a delicacy for the English and the Irish landowners. Here Swift (1729) writes, â€Å"...a young healthy child well nursed is at a year old a most delicious, nourishing, and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled†. A satire has always been considered as a piece of art and A Modest Proposal, is a masterpiece belonging to this genre. Swift uses satire to give solutions to the Irish people. He argues that the Irish should either starve or take recourse to cannibalism by fattening up children and selling them in the meat markets. Swifts "modest proposal" is ironic and satirical and succeeds in pointing out the unfair and hypocritical way England had dealt with the famine in Ireland. Swifts satire is sometimes oblique and sometimes direct. For example in one place he says while the meat of children cannot be preserved in salt for long sea voyages, he â€Å"could name a country which would be glad to eat up our whole nation without it.† (Swift, 1729) Here he alludes to England. The satire in some places is directed at Protestant-Catholic divisions. He ridicules the Irish for their Roman Catholic religious practice which discourages birth control and encourages people to have more children.. . This is what he says his proposal would do,

HRM Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 2

HRM - Assignment Example Similar to its UK hotels, service provision to guests in France must be excellent. Further, guests at the hotels in France must enjoy a clean and comfortable environment. Staff recruited and retained in France must be of exceptional competence levels. As a strategy to help the staff realize their full potential, the management plans to support and develop them. Similar to the operations in the UK hotels, the staff should ensure a proper maintenance of fittings and fixtures at the hotels in France. Training and development at the organization should focus on three vital aspects of expansion from local to international scope of operations. First, it should feature concerns of cross-cultural differences. Second, training and development at Melrose Hotels should address the processes of centralization and decentralization of human resource that may emanate from expanded operations. Third, it is fundamental to address initiatives for workplace diversity and equality at Melrose Hotels. Because some of the employees have been serving in the UK, relocation to France shall necessitate training on cross-cultural differences. Training should inform employees of the basic differences between cultures in the UK and France that may influence their service delivery or customer care. It should prepare them through enhancing knowledge of the realities of working under the new cultures in France. The training should initiate, among employees formerly serving in the UK, the urge to learn and adopt the host country’s (France) cultures that define customer satisfaction. Further, the training should exceed mere dos and don’ts as defined by the host country’s cultures but expand the staff’s understanding of the justification of the cultural differences. It should promote interaction and communication among staff from diverse cultures in multicultural organizations (Rozkwitalska 2013,

Market entry plan for Walmart Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Market entry plan for Walmart - Essay Example The firm that is analyzed in the paper is Walmart that was founded in 1962 by Sam Walton. Over the years, it has expanded to become one the US’ largest chain of retail stores, growing into almost 300 stores by the end of the 1970s, and now with over 10,000 stores globally. Its first foray into the international market was in the early 90s, when it entered into a joint venture with Mexico’s largest retailer Cifra to operate Sam’s Club. This move was to be considered its most successful entry into foreign trade, having conquered the Mexican market and contributing approximately 30% of all food sales in the local market. To date, it has not really matched its tremendous success in Mexico. Walmart now has global presence in Mexico, Germany, China and the United Kingdom, among others. It has 5,651 stores and approximately 780,000 associates in 26 countries outside the continental US. It has acquired stores, co-branded or actually brought the Walmart brands into these new locations. However, its market entry strategy has always been perceived as weak, primarily because the company has applied the same market entry strategies in majority of the locations it ventured into. Management failed to take into consider the idiosyncrasies of each country that the company has tried to penetrate, and understand the unique market needs within each culture and social setup per location. (This is not America. Why Walmart left Germany 2012). In fact, Walmart was even described as among the several retailers that have â€Å"underestimated the role of conducting cultural due diligence prior to foreign market entry†, resulting to massive pullouts in strategic locations such as Germany and South Korea, and losing of billions of dollars in the process (Retail Internationalization 2012). Taking into consideration historical hits and misses in global market penetration, this paper aims to discuss and recommend appropriate market entry strategies to ensure that t he company’s next international venture will promise more success than failure. II. MARKET ENTRY STRATEGY Australia is considered to be one of the strongest economies in the world. The country has been highly praised by various international organizations like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for its ‘brilliant macroeconomic management and consistent economic reform’. The Australian government has created a stable and strong base for economic growth. Its current GDP growth rate is 3.8% with an inflation rate of 2.5%. It is considered to be the second easiest economy for new businessmen and the third easiest place to get credit for a business, and has few restrictions in the field of Trade and Investment (Australia Business and Economy 2012). Australia has a reliable banking system and has fast and friendly regulatory procedures. It is known for having little restriction of product markets. This country is best fit as venue for global expansion as far as Walm art is concerned. Walmart entered various locations through several entry strategies. The company entered the Mexican market through a 50-50 joint venture with Cifra, Mexico’s strongest retail company. It counted on home grown Cifra to provide operational expertise, something that is needed by Walmart considering the cultural difference between the two countries, and the economic and political situation of Mexico. This bold move to partner with a local company proved to be highly successful for Walmart considering that this is their most successful foreign partnership to date. In Canada, Walmart acquired local company Woolco to be able to penetrate the Canadian market. This decision is brought about by the fact that the Canadian mark

Math and the paraprofessional teaching fractions Essay

Math and the paraprofessional teaching fractions - Essay Example As a teacher, I need to address all the three models in well-designed instructional activities so that Bonnie and Emanuel can develop a rich concept of fractions, which they can use to make sense of measurement, numbers, and operations. To give them the concept of 1/2, I will fold the red sheet into half and will ask them how much reds would be required to cover the yellow part completely. Like this, they will understand that two reds would be required to cover the yellow means one red would be required to cover 1/2 of the yellow sheet. After this, to make them aware with the idea of 1/4, with the help of my students I will fold the blue sheet twice to create fourths. Leaving the paper folded, I will ask the students about the number of blue that would be using to cover the yellow sheet. In this way, they will come to know that four blues would be required to cover the yellow means that each part of the blue is 1/4 of the yellow. For this model, we would be using a linking cube train. We will join the four cubes of the train together; at one end put the signboard of zero and at the other use the signboard written ‘one’ on it. Then to give them the concept of 1/4, I will put the board with question mark after the first cube. Then I will ask them about the number of cubes that are dividing the train. As the answer would be four, likewise I will try to explain them that the whole train is divided into four parts and one cube of the train represents 1/4 of the train. With the same concept, in order to give them the idea of 1/2, I will make the train of two cubes and will put the question mark signboard after the first cube. In this way, I will tell them that since the train is divided into two halves. Therefore, in denominator, we will write the total division that is two and in numerator, we will write the block number that is before

Personal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Personal - Essay Example Secondly, one has to ensure that the business they are operating abides with the law. Dealing with un-licensed and illegal businesses has been one crime that the government has been fighting for many years. Those arrested due to operation of such businesses have always faced harsh penalties, in accordance with the set laws. Therefore, this paper seeks to answer some of the life questions that working adults have to resolve in their lives. What keeps me awake at night every day are my goals and priorities. Every night, I have to ensure that my day’s plans are accomplished. This is to ensure that I start my day without carrying forward any unaccomplished tasks. I have set my daily goals in which they have to be accomplished. Failure to accomplish them is an indication that my work is lagging behind. That is another indicator of laziness and lack of focus in life. This is the reason I have to ensure that a day’s target is achieved. Planning next day’s targets is another reason to stay up late at night. As the manager of my life, it’s my duty to ensure that I have outlined the things that am supposed to do and what I have to achieve on that day (Todd, 25-34). Therefore, no matter how engaging my day may have been, I must plan the next day’s targets and the way to achieve them. I believe in the slogan that says â€Å"failure to plan is planning to fail.† I have come to realize tha t those who go to bed without analyzing their accomplishments and their failures do not move forward. Therefore, I have made it a habit to analyze all that I have accomplished daily and what I have not. In addition, I have to get a reason for my failure to accomplish a certain task so that I may not repeat the mistake in future. Looking around my friends and those close to me, I get scared since I realize they do not have plans for the future. By future I mean plans for the next second, minute or day. Many of them

Math and the paraprofessional teaching fractions Essay

Math and the paraprofessional teaching fractions - Essay Example As a teacher, I need to address all the three models in well-designed instructional activities so that Bonnie and Emanuel can develop a rich concept of fractions, which they can use to make sense of measurement, numbers, and operations. To give them the concept of 1/2, I will fold the red sheet into half and will ask them how much reds would be required to cover the yellow part completely. Like this, they will understand that two reds would be required to cover the yellow means one red would be required to cover 1/2 of the yellow sheet. After this, to make them aware with the idea of 1/4, with the help of my students I will fold the blue sheet twice to create fourths. Leaving the paper folded, I will ask the students about the number of blue that would be using to cover the yellow sheet. In this way, they will come to know that four blues would be required to cover the yellow means that each part of the blue is 1/4 of the yellow. For this model, we would be using a linking cube train. We will join the four cubes of the train together; at one end put the signboard of zero and at the other use the signboard written ‘one’ on it. Then to give them the concept of 1/4, I will put the board with question mark after the first cube. Then I will ask them about the number of cubes that are dividing the train. As the answer would be four, likewise I will try to explain them that the whole train is divided into four parts and one cube of the train represents 1/4 of the train. With the same concept, in order to give them the idea of 1/2, I will make the train of two cubes and will put the question mark signboard after the first cube. In this way, I will tell them that since the train is divided into two halves. Therefore, in denominator, we will write the total division that is two and in numerator, we will write the block number that is before

Case study analysis and continuous professional development Essay

Case study analysis and continuous professional development - Essay Example Organizational contextual factors Sonoco Products Company is a global packaging company that was developed in 1899 in Hartsville, South Carolina. Major James Coker established the company and his main target was to make paper cone used to hold yarn in the textile industry. The company kept on making paper cones till it became a leading paper cone industry, experiencing competition from other cone producing companies. This led to its expansion and it started manufacturing packages till it became the largest packing industry in the world (Thomas, Groysberg, and Reavis, 2008). The company proposed a new organizational restructuring that would suit the function cost by at least 20%, this is for the reason that, the company had been highly taxed due to the high cost it was experiencing, so the company managed to increase the sales by 14% by reducing expenses with the increase in shareholders. The organization established a new organizational model; this was to improve the top growth in im proving the company’s sales to compete with companies around the world. The consumer packaging department was to check the packaging style to meet the demands of the customers around the world. This strategy was a rethinking strategy of certain company structures like the human resources. Under the HR every manager managed talents within each of her or his division (Kotelnikov, 2006). The managing director developed policies for performance, management, compensation, development and successful management. These polices advocated for the HR to increase general manager accountability for talent management, to distribute HR talent management and to distribute more, to optimize HR talent ability to give customized ability to the customers. These strategies are only effective if implemented by serious working staff members within the organization (Fort and Salin, 2001). The Sonoco Company established in 1889 in California was a textual industry and gradually developed into a consu mer packaging consumer industry. This growth occurred manly through acquisition in 1990 where the company made 60% acquisition around the world. The company occupied two segments the packaging segments and the consumer packaging. The industrial segment which served as the textile industry paper industry and film industry employed around 11000 employees and made 55% revenue to the company. The consumer packaging had a range of 6000 employees and made high revenue to the company with its products. Some of the company’s products are Gillette, Krafts, Nestle and Procter as well as Gamble. The cultural background of the company is friendly, collaborative, and ethical and team oriented. Most of these employees have been in the organization for over twenty years and enjoyed working with the members of the community. During the late 1990s there was a fall in the stock and change was a required in the structure of the organization to solve the problem (Mission statement - Sonoco, 2009 ). In the early 1990, the packaging companies generated around 40 billion and the consumer industry represented about 70% countrywide distribution. Paper industry accounted for 30% and film industry accounte

Remind yourself of the opening passage Essay Example for Free

Remind yourself of the opening passage Essay Of course, Marlow is the only one we really need be concerned with, as it is he who goes on to co-narrate the rest of the book. The Director of Companies doubles as the captain and the host. This shows how they generally look upon him with affection, trust and respect. The Lawyer is older than the rest and possesses many virtues. The Accountant is toying with dominoes, trying to start a game. This possibly shows his views are childish and not generally considered with a lot of respect by his associates, or by Conrad himself. All of them already have the bond of the sea. and they are tolerant of one another. However, there is then Marlow. He has a rather withered appearance He had sunken cheeks, a yellow complexion He is a man who doesnt really characterize his class: although he is a seaman, he is also a wanderer, which is rather strange, since most seamen live inactive lives aboard the ship. These ideas can be read into by just taking into account the first description of Marlow. The sallow skin and sunken cheeks dont give the impression that he is healthy or happy. He is certainly different from everyone else on the boat. It doesnt seem coincidental that hes the only person on the s boat who is named too. He is distinct from them because he has no category that fits him. This could be part of Conrad giving the reader an idea of Marlows unreliability throughout his whole narration. It is certainly explored as the book continues. This is Conrads way of arranging the overall structure of the novel. People do realise that it is going to be a remembrance of a story, and this story accounts for Marlows presently shaky, impenetrable state. Yet, it is out of the ordinary that he does also say that Marlow resembled an idol. The fact he put this in may suggest that he is being looked up to, and the fact he survived Africa and back is impressive. After the crews descriptions, the whole passage focuses on again describing the setting, and then bringing historic recollection of the surroundings. Conrad mentions Sir Francis Drake to Sir John Franklin, two of the famous explorers that travelled down the same river. During this same passage he then talks about feelings of the British people the germs of empires, who manipulated other human beings and resources. This goes a long way to revealing Conrads view on the slavery and demolition. Despite all the mention of it in Heart of Darkness, it is noticeable how Conrad assumes peoples knowledge of colonialism. The resentment of Marlows recollection makes obvious Conrads own strong bias against colonialism, which he does wants to pass on to the reader. Overall, the introduction serves as a good beginning to the book. In the passage, Conrad manages to introduce most of his main themes. There is darkness, which is very large topic, and how it can serve/be viewed in different contexts. We are made aware of Marlow himself and his unreliability/madness (caused due to the voyage ). Also, there is already a brief introduction into his views on colonialism/imperialism too. Due to this, you get an impression of his views early on, and as a result almost get ready to view the rest of the book in the way he may of intended you to. Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE Joseph Conrad section.

Ict Utilisation And Integration In The Classroom Education Essay

Ict Utilisation And Integration In The Classroom Education Essay Technology can be used to strengthen student learning and enhance pedagogy and can be used effectively as a cognitive tool for teaching and learning in the classroom (Bruce Levin, 2001; Bransford, Brown Cocking, 2000). Teachers use technology for a variety of reasons and these include record keeping, writing lesson plans, creating worksheets and communicating with parents. However, despite the widespread use of technology in schools, it seems that teachers are more inclined to use technology to support their existing practices (such as providing practice drills, demonstration).Previous studies revealed how and why individuals adopt new information technologies (Venkatesh, Morris, Davis Davis, 2003), but it is not known what influences teachers to use technology in their classroom; we need a better understanding of the beliefs that inform these decisions. Previous studies have shown various attributes that can be associated with the utilisation and integration of ICT in the classro om. For instance, teachers attributes is variously grouped into personal characteristics, one of such characteristics: Self-efficacy, perceptions and ease of use(Albion, 2001; Enochs, Riggs, Ellis, 1993; Kellenberger, 1996; Riggs Enochs, 1993; Wang, Ertmer, Newby, 2004a). When a teacher perceives that he or she can effectively use technology in the process of teaching and learning, it will impact that teachers ability to use technology in the classroom. However, the factors that influence self-efficacy beliefs towards technology integration remain largely ambiguous, particularly when examining the possible influences of students attitudes towards technology. These beliefs are likely to be related to each other and they interact dynamically in influencing teachers decisions about the use of technology in the classrooms. Bandura (1997) describes perceived self-efficacy as beliefs in ones capabilities to organise and execute the courses of action required to produce given attainments. As this applies to the integration of technology into education, self-efficacy beliefs toward technology integration have been theorized to be a determining factor in how well a teacher is able to effectively use technology to improve teaching and learning. Given that teachers act as change agents for technology integration in schools, it is critical to understand the factors that facilitate and those that act as barriers to teachers use of technology in schools. Research has found that teachers belief on the use of technology is influenced by many factors, such as environment, funds, availability of required technologies etc. (Leggett, Persichitte, 1998). The factors can be classified as either arising from the external environments where the teachers work in or the personal characteristics of the teachers (Chai Khine, 2006). While both internal and external conditions affect technology use in classrooms, (Ertmer 2005) argues that although environmental conditions in terms of technological infrastructures have improved, factors pertaining to teachers beliefs are yet to be resolved. . In Nigeria, there are some cultural factors such as religion, belief, age, that can contribute to teachers inability to integrate technology in the clas sroom (can you support this claim with a literature?). In addition, an issue that arises from Nigeria is that only well-trained teachers have enough confidence to actually use ICT as a teaching mechanism in the classroom teaching (Forster,2008). Before the emergence of ICT, pre service teachers were not expose to new modern channels of information, which and will develop in them self-guided learning materials, placing more focus on learning rather than teaching. Insufficient access to computers is one of the main obstacles for ICT programmes. This is particularly relevant for educational institutions located in rural areas where the school or training institution is the only access point for computers. Swarts(2002) noted that government cooperation is necessary for ICT programmes to be sustainable. Its cooperation is needed in order to support the education curriculum system, which is vital for the survival of ICT utilization and classrooms integration (Kozma, 2008). Purpose This study will therefore look into teachers beliefs about technology usage in the classroom among secondary school teachers in Lagos state, the integration of technology into teaching and its teachers influence on the students attitudes toward technology. Significance of study This study will be significant to the following individuals as stated below: Teachers will be aware 0f the key concern driving policy and interest in the pedagogical integration of ICT and the premise that ICT is important for bringing changes to classroom teaching and learning so as to foster the development of students 21st-century skills. It is important because it will help to build up teachers confidence in using technology in general, which would hence increase their intention and willingness to use technology in the future (Yuen Ma, 2008). It is also useful because it will help to develop a school environment which enables teachers to have more hands-on experience in new technologies (Allan, 2007; Fleming et al., 2007), Students may acquire special, these skills include the ability to become lifelong learners within a context of collaborative inquiry and the ability to work and learn from experts and peers in a connected global community (Law, Pelgrum Plomp, 2008;121) Researchers This study would contribute to the limited research in this area and add clarity to the relationships among these beliefs and will help to them suggest ways of convincing teachers to use ICTs in their classrooms because they are indispensable in this technologically globalised era. Question How do teachers beliefs relate to their instructional technology practices in classroom? 2 How do the environmental conditions affect ICTs use in classroom? What obstructs teachers positive belief about ICT integration in the classroom? Literature Review A major gap has always existed between affluent people living in developed societies with access to modern information technology and underprivileged people living in impoverished and rural communities in developing and least developed countries. Even today, an unequal adoption of technology excludes many from harvesting the fruits of the digital economy (Giri,2002). To investigate the factors hindering teachers readiness and confidence in using ICTs, Tella, Tella,Toyobo, Adika Adeyinka (2007) examined Nigerian secondary school teachersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¸ uses of ICTs and implications for further development of ICT use in schools using a census of 700 teachers. They found that inadequate knowledge to evaluate the role of ICT in teaching and learning, lack of skills in the use of ICT equipment and software had resulted in a lack of confidence in utilizing ICT tools. This is consistent with Preston (2000) who concluded that lack of technical support to be the key inhibitor to the use of ICT in classroom. As indicated by Bradley and Russell (1997), recurring faults, and the expectation of faults occurring during teaching sessions have reduced teachers confidence and caused teachers to avoid using technology. In addition, obstacles such as access to equipment, time pressures, lack of mentor and opportunities for apprenticeship of observation also have a n impact on teachers ability to use ICT (Slaouti Barton, 2007). Further, teachers workload and time management was found to be inhibiting the implementation of computer instruction in classroom (Guha, 2000). While there is a great deal of studies about how ICT is being used in developed countries, there is not much information on how ICT is being integrated into schools in developing countries (Beukes-Amiss and Chiware, 2006). Investments in ICT for educational innovations and improvements purposes have been continuing, but the need for teachers who will employ it in the classroom as a staple part of the curriculum is disregarded (Niederhauser and Stoddart, 2001; Vacc and Bright, 1999). ICT does not have an educational value in itself, but it becomes precious when teachers use it in the learning and teaching process effectively. As Shakeshaft (1999, p. 4) notes, just because ICT is present does not mean that students are using it. The impact of ICT is strongest when used in a particular content area and further supported by use across the curriculum (Ward and Parr, 2010). Since teachers are the key figures to utilize ICT in educational settings productively and to help integrate ICT into the curriculum, there is every need for them to develop and have positive attitude towards its utilization and efficacy in the classrooms. . ICT promotes a positive attitude towards information technology as an essential p art of a lifelong interest in learning. Teachers also perceive the use of ICT as enhancing recall of previous learning, providing new stimuli, activating the learnerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¸s response, and providing systematic and steady feedback. It is further perceived as sequencing learning appropriately, and providing access to a rich source of information(Hennessy, Harrison and Wamakote, 2010). For example, Tella et al. (2007) found that computer use by teachers was driven by intentions to use it, and that perceived usefulness was also strongly linked to those intentions. The implication is that teachers will be inclined to use technology if they perceive it to be useful. Furthermore, ICT needs to be linked to specific needs of learners, desisting from the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¾one size fits allà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¸ approach (Leach, 2005, p. 112). It is most effectively used as a learner-centred tool, instead of within a more traditional pedagogy. The real challenge for educationists is, therefore, h ow to harness the potential of ICT to complement the role of a teacher in the teaching and learning process. Roblyer (2002) found that many pre-service teachers are still entering universities with little knowledge of computers and appropriate skills as well as lacking positive attitudes toward ICT use in the classroom. Again, Gunter (2001) states that many higher education institutions are still failing to prepare pre-service teachers for positive technological experiences and utilisation. This will make it difficult for teachers to be able to transfer their ICT skills to their students and encourage them to implement ICT when they themselves have negative belief toward ICT integration in the classrooms (YÄ ±ldÄ ±rÄ ±m, 2000). Many studies indicate that it is teachersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¸ attitudes, expertise, lack of autonomy and lack of knowledge to evaluate the use and role of ICT in teaching (or technophobia in teachers) that are the prominent factors hindering teachersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¸ readiness and confidence in using ICT support(Hennessy, Harrison Wamakote, 2010). In orde r for ICT to be effectively used in education, a sense of its value needs to exist as well as the expectation that its use will lead to success. Teachers education requires instructional design, and a belief about computers needs to be present if all teachers are to use ICT in their classrooms. Classroom practices need to change in order for ICT to be fully effective, and attitudes of some who may be unwilling to move away from the traditional way of teaching, need to be taken into consideration when training teachers for ICT use (Tella, Tella, Toyobo, Adika Adeyinka,2007). Therefore, teachers perceptions of ICT integration and utilization in the classrooms are somewhat related to the technology acceptance model (TAM) which was originated by Davis in 1986 (Davis, 1989). The model indicates that perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use are two specific determinants of a users acceptance of a technology. Perceived usefulness indicates the users perception of the extent that the technology will develop and improve his job performance positively. This includes decreasing the time for performing the job, more productivity and accuracy. Perceived ease of use refers to the users perception of amount of the effort necessary for using the system or the extent to which a user believes that employing a specific technology will be easy. Summers (1990) found that the lack of knowledge and experience in the computing area is one of the most common beliefs for teachers negative attitudes towards computers. Selwyn (1997) found that a major deterent to the use of computers by teachers was computer phobia. These teacher anxieties could be caused by psychological factors such as having little or no control over the activity, thinking that they might damage the computer, and feeling that ones self esteem is threatened; sociological factors such as ICT being regarded as a solitary activity, needing to be clever to use one, and being replaced by the computer; and operational factors such as being beyond ones abilities, having to cope with unfriendly jargon, and the likelihood of the technology going wrong. Teachers should be provided with adequate and appropriate support in their classrooms, and be guided by professional standards that incorporate a code of conduct (Semenov,2005). The successful use of computers in the classroom depends on the teachers belief and attitudes towards computers (Lawton Gerschner, 1982). By means of survey and data collection using questionnaire, the study will also explore factors impeding both qualified and prospective secondary school teachers positive beliefs and their future expectations related to utilization and integration of ICTs in the classrooms during teaching and learning. Research design The design adopted in this study is a descriptive survey method. This will allow the researchers to have a complete description of the impact of teachers belief on utilization and integration of ICTs in the classrooms. Population and Sample The population of the study comprised all public and private secondary schools in Lagos state Nigeria. Three hundred secondary school students from both Twenty five percent public and private schools were purposefully selected because it will not be convenient for the researchers to use all the schools in the Lagos state, again they make a good representation of the schools in the state. Then, a number of teachers in each schools were taken.This gives a total of - which their ages ranged between 25years 45 with a mean age of 35 years ( NB we will get the exact fig. from data collection/questionnaire) They consist of -males and -females. Instrument An instrument named Teachers Belief on Utilization and Integration of ICTs in the Classrooms was developed by the researchers and used for data collection. The instruments consists two sections. Section one requested demographic information from the respondents. The second section contains ten questions on likert type response format and the respondents are requested to choose from strongly agree, agree, disagree and strongly disagree. The instrument was administered on thirty respondents to ascertain its reliability after modification. Procedure All the 250 teachers used for the study were given questionnaires in their respective schools with permission granted by the various authorities of the schools. The administration took place after the school hour in each school. Before then, the entire respondents were informed about the date of the exercise.A day was allocated for two schools. This mean that 15 days was used to cover all the 30 schools selected in which the respondents were selected.(NB pls note how many questionnaires were administered and no. that were valid) Method of data analysis Data collected were analyzed using chi square and why?/? Recommendation( this is just a guess and to know whether it is in line with how it is beig written) The findings showed that most teachers perceived ICT as very useful and as making teaching and learning easier but still do not believe in utilization and integrating them during teaching and learning especially in Nigerian situation where there is no steady power supply, cost of the equipment, unavailability of the ICTs in most schools,lack of expertertise especially in public schools, etc. It was recommended that professional development policies should support ICT-related teaching models, in particular those that encourage both students and teachers to play an active role in teaching activities. Additionally, emphasis should be placed on the pedagogy underlying the use of ICTs for teaching and learning.

Robert and the Dog :: Essays Papers

Robert and the Dog Ken Saro-Wiwa's short story "Robert and the Dog" tells about a steward and his master and mistress, the main character is the steward: Robert. To understand the character Robert, one must look a bit at his background. Ken Saro-Wiwa has left several clues in the text that can tell us a lot about this. Before Robert was employed by the young medical doctor, he had worked for several different households. It is indicated in the text that these had not been as pleasant a workplace as with the young doctor. It seems that Robert had been used to his employers' shouting and losing their tempers. And never calling him by his first name. Also the gratitude Robert feels towards his new employer, for his mere politeness, indicates that Robert is not accustomed to gestures of this sort. All this shows how Robert probably has been degraded and suppressed throughout his whole life. Later in the story Saro-Wiwa tells that Robert never misses a chance to exercise the power he has over his family. This type of pathological behaviour is common among people with an inferiority complex, something Robert is very likely to have attained, due to the treatment he has received. Later when the dog is introduced to the story, Robert has enlightenment and reveals to us and to himself his place in the hierarchy. He had always thought himself above them, but now discovers he is down with the dogs. This shattering blow to his self-image makes him aware of his own feelings and features. When his master throws him a treat or a kind word, he "wags his tail" and feels indefinite gratitude, just like a dog. He does his master's bidding with a heartfelt glee, just like a dog. And he loves his master above all else, just like Bingo, the dog. The revelation causes hatred to swell his servant mind, at length resulting in Robert taking a step up the hierarchical ladder, and the tragic pr emature death of Bingo, the dog. Ken Saro-Wiwa's short story about Robert and the dog Bingo also portrays a culture clash that not everybody thinks about, the view of the pets. In our rich western world pets are not uncommon. A lot of people have them, and among the most popular are dogs. Pets or "house animals" are nothing new, man has for the last 15 000 years kept animals as companions.

My Finial Project Reflection

DRAFT COPY Reflective Essay, Group Project & Discussion Question Guidelines for Effective Writing Peace Studies 1050, Introduction to Peace StudiesSpring, 2009 FOR ALL ASSIGNMENTS: Be sure to have your name AND lab section (A,B,C,D,E, or F) at the top of the assignment! One reflective essay (four to six pages), one Group Project, one final essay and fourteen discussion questions ( ? to ? page each—may be longer) will be assigned at various times throughout the term (see the Syllabus, the Readings & Assignments Calendar and the Blackboard website for due dates).They are an opportunity for you, the student, to pose your own sociological questions about the assigned topic or reading material. You might want to think of these essays/questions as conversations with me in which you can develop your own line of sociological reasoning and critical thinking about peace studies. Keep in mind that critical analysis = thoughtful, academically grounded questioning rather than making a nega tive attack. Write in the first person and use active voice for all assignments. **Note: be sure to include appropriate citations!! *** The essay and/or discussion question cluster should be based on the following outline: 1) Begin by framing a question about the assigned reading— keep in mind that this question will form the basis of our classroom discussion. Some of the themes from which questions might be drawn include— a. Ethics, comparisons among readings (e. g. , if Johnson makes one claim about social justice, but Nibert makes another claim then you might ask why they are different); b. Personal experience (e. g. if you have ever joined a student protest (or not) and your observations about the experience are different from Johnson’s then you might ask why he sees things in a different way—first trying to see things from his point of view as a sociologist! ); c. Suggestions for how things might be different (e. g. , questions about how the public c an be made aware of issues that you think are being kept under wraps—e. g. how economic development in Africa relates to increased poverty and war—see Tola Pearce article); d. How power and policies relate to socially constructing norms and values (e. g. asking why the media covers college student stories or animal abuse cases with a particular slant†¦you could ask who controls the media and how do they do it? ). 2) Explain why you are asking the question (e. g. , your experience might contradict what you are reading or you think that the author may have missed something and you wonder why) and be sure to relate the question to our readings and discussions. Do NOT simply repeat the question(s) that the author is asking!!!! Show me that you are thinking sociologically and critically about the reading. For the ESSAY ONLY you will also complete items 3-10: ) Give your own reflective response to a question you have asked about the assigned reading(s). Either use one o f your already completed Discussion Questions OR create a new Discussion Question. Elaborate on how you developed your response. In other words, what most influences your thinking (e. g. , parents, peers, religion, other classes, or ? )? Explain how others are (or are not) able to influence your thinking. 4) Support your sociological line of reasoning with material from classroom discussions, course texts, at least one (1) professional journal article from the field of sociology, and your own empirical observations.While there is no specific requirement about the number of citations needed for each assignment, academic work of a high quality is marked by the way all knowledge claims are supported with full citations. (remember that you must cite readings along with discussions, lectures and primary source documents such as letters) 5) If you feel limited in your ability to answer the question then explain how and why you feel limited. Maybe you have never before considered the issue and feel as if your worldview has been shaken. What do you think would help you to better answer the question?Perhaps you will think that having more work experience in a particular organization would give you a better insight into the matter. You might also want to speculate about interviewing people affected by conflict(s) or interviewing so-called experts. What would you ask them? Would interviewing the author help? 6) Keep in mind that I am not asking you to tell me your opinion of the reading (that it is good or bad—easy or hard). I am asking you to reflect on how the material pertains to the academic discipline of sociology as it relates to peace studies.Be a sociologist and ask questions a sociologist would ask. It is important for you to use sociological language and footnotes/bibliography where appropriate. Here are a couple of very brief examples of sociological questions (for more examples see the questions posted on our Blackboard website—I expect YOUR que stions to be much longer than my examples! ): a. If there is enough food to feed the entire planet then why are there conflicts over humanitarian aid? Why are people anywhere dying of hunger related illnesses? How is the media involved in peace processes that could help feed the hungry?Through what social processes other than the media do people attach meanings to peace? b. If peace is valued in a society, then why are Peace Studies classes and academic programs considered controversial? Who benefits from questioning the value of peace studies? Who loses? Whose voice is silenced? For the Essay AND the Small Group Poster/Essay/Abstract Exhibition complete items 7-10— 7) The Revision Process (applies only to the Reflective Essay and Small Group Essay Exhibition—not the abstract)—you will be given one week after the individual graded reflective essay and small group essay are returned to complete revisions.NOTE: You will not be given a grade on your first draft. We want you read the comments of the grader and make appropriate revisions. Revisions should focus on the following: 1) course content; 2) the quality of critical analysis; 3) consistency and parsimony in your line of reasoning; 4) quality of sources cited; 5) grammar; 6) syntax; 7) spelling; 8) composition; and 9) any other suggestions made by the person grading your essay. ) The Grading Rubric (posted on Blackboard Course Documents page) provides specific guidelines for your revisions; however, revisions should not involve the following: 1) the submission of a completely new essay; 2) simply making the essay longer without attention to the comments of the grader; and/or 3) making only cosmetic changes. 9) NOTE: You must submit the original copy of your individual essay AND Small Group Essay WITH the revised copy! Attach them with a staple or a paper clip. Also, it is entirely possible that your revisions will not be sufficient to merit a superior grade.You will not lose points in th e revision process, but you may not gain points either. Quality of effort matters! 10) About those citations—the graders will be checking to make sure that the sources you cite include (but are not limited to): course readings, classroom discussions, Blackboard posts, professional academic journals, and primary source documents. You do NOT need to use all of these sources in each assignment (although you will need to cite at least one journal article in your reflective essay). Simply make sure that you fully support your line of reasoning.NOTE: Wikipedia is NOT an acceptable source of information, and it will not count as a citation—use of Wikipedia may even have negative consequences. It is also important that you use a sociology dictionary rather than a standard dictionary when trying to define key concepts such as peace, freedom and liberty. I want to reiterate that there is NO SET NUMBER of citations required for any assignment. It is quality and not quantity that matters! SECOND REMINDER: FOR ALL ASSIGNMENTS: Be sure to have your name AND lab section (A,B,C,D,E, or F) at the top of the assignment!

In many ways the ideas in this dystopian novel are more important than the characters – with the exception of Offred and Moira

In many ways the ideas in this dystopian novel are more important than the characters – with the exception of Offred and Moira. The other characters tend to function as members of groups or as representatives of certain ideological positions. However, as Offred insists, every individual is significant, whatever Gilead decrees, and her narrative weaves in particularities: she continually writes in other voices in sections of dialogue, in embedded stories and in remembered episodes. It is a feature of Atwood's realism, even within a fabricated futuristic world, that she pays dose attention not only to location but to people and relationships. OFFRED Offred, the main protagonist and narrator, is trapped in Gilead as a Handmaid, one of the ‘two-legged wombs' valued only for her potential as a surrogate mother. Denied all her individual rights, she is known only by the patronymic Of-Fred, derived from the name of her current Commander. Most of the time she is isolated and afraid. Virtually imprisoned in the domestic spaces of the home, she is allowed out only with a shopping partner and for Handmaids' official excursions like Prayvaganzas and Salvagings. At the age of thirty-three and potentially still fertile, she is a victim of Gileadean sexist ideology which equates ‘male' with power and sexual potency, and ‘female' with reproduction and submission to the point where individuality is effaced. Offred's narrative, however, does not possess such diagrammatic simplicity, for she resists such reductiveness by a variety of stratagems that allow her to retain a sense of her own individuality and psychological freedom. She refuses to forget her past or her own name when she was a daughter, lover, wife and working mother; she refuses to believe in biological reductionism; and she refuses to give up hope of getting out of her present situation. She knows what she needs to pay attention to: What I need is perspective. The illusion of depth †¦ Otherwise you live in the moment. Which is not where I want to be' (Chapter 24). Offred's greatest psychological resource is her faculty of double vision, for she is a survivor from the past, and it is her power to remember which enables her to survive in the present. It is not only through flashbacks that she reconstructs the past (though these are her most effective escape routes from isolation, loneliness and boredom), but even when she walks down the road she sees everything through a double exposure, with the past superimposed upon the present, or to use her own layered image from Chapter 1, as a ‘palimpsest' where the past gives depth to the present. She has perfected the technique of simultaneously inhabiting two spaces: her Handmaid's space (or lack of it) and the freer, happier spaces of memory. Though she is forbidden to use her own name, she keeps it like a buried treasure, as guarantee of her other identity (‘I keep the knowledge of this name like something hidden, some treasure I'll come back to dig up, one day – Chapter 14). She gives her real name as a love token to Nick, and he in turn uses it as an exchange of faith when he comes for her with the black truck (‘He calls me by my real name. Why should this mean anything?' Chapter 46). Offred does not trust the reader with her real name, however, which is a sign of her wariness in a precarious situation, though there is a fascinating essay by a Canadian critic, Constance Rooke, which argues that it is coded into the text and that Offred's real name is June. What is most attractive about Offred is her lively responsiveness to the world around her. She is sharply observant of physical details in her surroundings, she is curious and likes to explore, and she has a very lyrical response to the Commander's Wife's beautiful garden. She observes its seasonal changes closely, for that garden represents for her all the natural fecundity and beauty that are denied by the regime but which flourish unchecked outside the window. It is also a silent testimonial to her own resistance: ‘There is something subversive about this garden of Serena's, a sense of buried things bursting upwards, wordlessly, into the light' (Chapter 25). Her response to the moonlight is equally imaginative, though noticeably tinged with irony, which is one of her most distinctive characteristics: ‘a wishing moon, a sliver of ancient rock, a goddess, a wink. The moon is a stone and the sky is full of deadly hardware, but A God, how beautiful anyway' (Chapter 17). Offred consistently refuses to be bamboozled by the rhetoric of Gilead, for she believes in the principle of making distinctions between things and in the precise use of words, just as she continues to believe in the value of every individual. Of the men in her life she says: ‘Each one remains unique, there is no way of joining them together. They cannot be exchanged, one for the other. They cannot replace each other' (Chapter 30). It is this sharpness of mind which informs her wittily critical view of her present situation, as in the satisfaction she gets out of teasing the young guard at the gate. ‘I enjoy the power; power of a dog bone, passive but there' (Chapter 4). Her attitude is discreetly subversive but never openly rebellious. She watches for those moments of instability which she calls ‘tiny peepholes' when human responses break through official surfaces. Offred is mischievous, but, more seriously, she yearns for communication and trust between people instead of mutual suspicion and isolation. Ironically enough, her fullest human relationship in Gilead is her ,arrangement' with the Commander. This provides her with a ‘forbidden oasis', for it is in their Scrabble games that Offred is at her liveliest and hermost conventionally feminine. In his study, Offred and the Commander relate to each other by old familiar social and sexual codes, which alleviates the loneliness both feel. It is after her first evening that Offred does something she has never done before in the novel: she laughs out loud, partly at the absurdity of it all, but partly out of a reawakening of her own high spirits. Yet she is too intelligent ever to forget that it is only a game or a replay of the past in parodic form, and her outing to Jezebel's confirms this. For all its glitter, her purple sequined costume, like the evening, is a shabby masquerade, and in the clear light of day she is left sitting with ‘a handful of crumpled stars' in her lap (Chapter 46). Living in a terrorist state, Offred is always alert to the glint of danger, as in her first unexpected encounter with Nick in the dark where fear and sexual risk exert a powerful charge which runs through the novel to its end. Their love represents the forbidden combination of desire and rebellion, and it is through that relationship that Offred manages to find new hope for the future and even to accommodate herself to reduced circumstances in the present, like a pioneer who has given up the Old World and come to the wilderness of a new one: ‘I said, I have made a life for myself, here, of a sort. That must have been what the settlers' wives thought' (Chapter 41). Offred shows through her detailed psychological narrative how she can survive traumas of loss and bereavement and how she manages to elude the constraints of absolute authority. We know little about her physical appearance because the only time she ever mentions it is when she is at her most bizarre, in her red habit with her white winged cap or in her purple sequined costume at Jezebel's. But we know a great deal about her mind and feelings and her sense of wry humour. We also know that she is a highly selfconscious narrator and that she is aware of contradictions and failings within herself She knows that she lacks Moira's flamboyant courage, and she accuses herself of cowardice and unreliability, just as at the end she feels guilty for having betrayed the household who imprisoned her. Yet, despite her own self-doubts, Offred manages to convince us of her integrity. She survives with dignity and she embraces the possibility of her escape with hope. Her narrative remains a witness t o the freedom and resilience of the human spirit. Offred and Moira are the two main examples of feminist positions in the novel (unlike the older women Serena Joy and the Aunts). Yet they are very different from each other, for Offred's resistance always works surreptitiously and through compromise, whereas Moira is more confrontational. Offred represents Atwood's version of a moderate heterosexual feminism in contrast to Moira's separatist feminism. MOIRA Moira, always known by her own name because she never becomes a Handmaid, is strongly individual, although she is also a type of the female rebel. This is a position which can be viewed in two ways, and both of them are illustrated here. From Offred's point of view Moira is the embodiment of female heroism, though from the Gileadean authorities' point of view she is a ‘loose woman', a criminal element, and her story follows the conventional fictional pattern of such rebellious figures: when Offred last sees her she is working as a prostitute in Jezebel's. Even here, Moira manages to express her dissidence, for she remains a declared lesbian and her costume is a deliberate travesty of feminine sexual allure, as Offred notices when she meets her again on her night out with the Commander. Moira's own wryly comic comment on it is, ‘I guess they thought it was me' (Chapter 38). Moira, too, is a survivor of the American permissive society, a trendy college student who wears purple overalls and leaves her unfinished paper on ‘Date Rape' to go for a beer. Much more astute about sexual politics than Offred, she is an activist in the Gay Rights movement, working for a women's collective at the time of the Gilead coup. When she is brought into the Rachel and Leah Centre she is still wearing jeans and declares that the place is a ‘loony bin' (Chapter 13). She cannot be terrorised into even outward conformity-, instead she tries to escape and succeeds on her second attempt. She manages to escape disguised as an Aunt. Always funny and ironic, to the other women at the Centre she represents all that they would like to do but would not dare: ‘Moira was our fantasy. We hugged her to us, she was with us in secret, a giggle; she was lava beneath the crust of daily life. In the light of Moira, the Aunts were less fearsome and more absurd' (Chapter 22). Moira continues to surface in Offred's narrative, bobbing up in memory, until her devastatingly fimny final appearance at Jezebel's. Behind the comedy, however, is the fact that Moira has not managed to escape after all, and as an unregenerate has been consigned to the brothel, where she tells Offred that she has ‘three or four good years' ahead of her, drinkingand smoking as a Jezebel hostess, before she is sent to the Colonies. Our last view of Moira is on that evening: ‘I'd like her to end with something daring and spectacular, some outrage, something that would befit her. But as far as I know that didn't happen' (Chapter 38). Moira is one of the spirited feminist heroines, like Offred's mother and Offred's predecessor in the Commander's house who left the message scrawled in the closet. The sad fact is these women do get sent off to the Colonies or commit suicide, which Offred herself refuses to do. Offred and Moira are both feminist heroines, showing women's energetic resistance to the Gilead system, but there are no winners. Neither compromise nor rebellion wins freedom, though it is likely that Offred is rescued by Nick. However, their value lies in their speaking out against the imposition of silence, challenging tyranny and oppression. Their stories highlight the actions of two individual women whose very different private assertions become exemplary or symbolic. Their voices survive as images of hope and defiance to be vindicated by history. SERENA JOY Serena Joy, the Commander's Wife, is the most powerful female presence in Offred's daily life in Gilead, and as Offred has plenty of opportunity to observe her at close quarters she appears in the narrative as more than just a member of a class in the hierarchy of Gileadean women. As an elderly childless woman she has to agree to the grotesque system of polygamy practised in Gilead and to shelter a Handmaid in her home, but it is plain that she resents this arrangement keenly as a violation of her marriage, and a continual reminder of her own crippled condition and fading feminine charms. The irony of the situation is made clear when Offred remembers Serena Joys past history, first as a child singing star on a gospel television show, and later as a media personality speaking up for ultra-conservative domestic policies and the sanctity of the home. Now, as Offred maliciously remarks, Serena is trapped in the very ideology on which she had based her popularity: ‘She stays in her home, but it doesn't seem to agree with her' (Chapter 8). Serena's present life is a parody of the Virtuous Woman: her only place of power is her own living room, she is estranged from her husband, jealous of her Handmaid, and has nothing to do except knit scarves for soldiers and gossip with her cronies or listen to her young voice on the gramophone. The only space for Serena's self-expression is her garden, and even that she cannot tend without the help of her husband's chauffeur. If flowers are important to Offred, so are they too to Serena, and she often sits alone in her ‘subversive garden', knitting or smoking. To see the world from Serena's perspective is to shift the emphasis of Offred's narrative, for these two women might be seen not as opposites but as doubles. They both want a child, and the attention of them both focuses on the Commander of whom Serena is very possessive: ‘As for my husband, she said, he's just that. My husband. I want that to be perfectly clear. Till death do us part. It's final' (Chapter 3). Offred seldom knows what Serena is thinking, though there are indications of her attitudes and tastes in the jewels and the perfume she wears and in the furnishings of her house: ‘hard lust for quality, soft sentimental cravings' as Offred uncharitably puts it (Chapter 14). There is also evidence of a certain toughness in Serena's cigarette-smoking and her use of slang, not to mention her suggestion that Offred, unknown to the Commander, should sleep with Nick in order to conceive the child she is supposed to produce: ‘She's actually smiling, coquettishly even; there's a hint of her former small-screen mannequin's allure, flickering over her face like momentary static' (Chapter 31). But Serena has her revenges too: she has deliberately withheld from Offred the news of her lost daughter and her photograph which Offred has been longing for. By a curious twist, Serena occupies the role of the wife in a very conventional plot about marital infidelity, as well as in the privileged Gileadean sense. She is one of the points in the triangular relationship which develops between Offred and the Commander: ‘The fact is that I'm his mistress †¦ Sometimes I think she knows' (Chapter 26). Actually, she does not know until she finds the purple costume and the lipstick on her cloak. It is a clich6-like situation, but Serena's own pain of loss goes beyond this conventional pattern: †¦ Behind my back,† she says. â€Å"You could have left me something.†Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ Offred wonders, ‘Does she love him, after all?' (Chapter 45). Serena is still there in her house, standing anxiously beside the Commander at the end as Offred is led out through the door. Her farewell to Offred is wifely in an old-fashioned sense which has none of the pieties of Gilead: †¦ Bitch,† she says. â€Å"After all he did for you (Chapter 46). THE OTHER COMMANDERS' WIVES These merely exist as a gaggle of gossips in blue, for Offred knows nothing of their lives apart from overhearing snatches of their conversation at Birth Days, Prayvaganzas or social visits, when they make scandalous comments about their Handmaids. Only the Wife of Warren achieves a moment of grotesque individuality when she is seen sitting on the Birth Stool behind Janine, ‘wearing white cotton socks, and bedroom slippers, blue ones made of fuzzy material, like toilet-seat covers' (Chapter 21). There is also one other unfortunate Wife who is hanged at the Salvaging, but Offred does not know what her crime was. Was it murder? Was it adultery? ‘It could always be that. Or attempted escape' (Chapter 42). THE AUNTS Like the Wives, the Marthas, the Econowives and most of the Handmaids, these are presented as members of a class or group, every group representing a different female role within Gilead. With their names derived from preGileadean women's products, the Aunts are the older women who act as female collaborators on the orders of the patriarchy to train and police Handmaids. They are a paramilitary organisation, as is signified by their khaki uniforms and their cattle prods, and, as propagandists of the regime, they tell distorted tales of women's lives in the pre-Gileadean past. The villainesses of the novel, they are responsible for the most gruesome cruelties, like the female Salvagings and the Particicutions, as well as for individual punishments at the Rachel and Leah Centre. Only Aunt Lydia is individuated, and that is by her peculiar viciousness masquerading under a genteel feminine exterior: ‘Aunt Lydia thought she was very good at feeling f6r other people' (Chapter 8). A particularly sadistic tormentor, Aunt Lydia is an awful warning that a women's culture is no guarantee of sisterhood as Offred's mother's generation of feminists had optimistically assumed, but that it is also necessary to take account of some women's pathological inclinations towards violence and vindictiveness. OFGLEN AND OFWARREN Only two of the Handmaids, Ofglen and Ofwarren Ganine), emerge as individuals, one because of her courage and rebelliousness and the other because she is the conventional female victim figure. Both are casualties of the Gileadean system. Ofglen has no past life that Offred knows about, but she does have a secret life as a member of the Mayday resistance movement which she confides to Offred after weeks as her shopping partner. There is nothing exceptional about her appearance except her mechanical quality which Offred notices, ‘as if she's voice- activated, as if she's on little oiled wheels' (Chapter 8). Offred is proved right in her suspicions, for under the disguise of Handmaid, Ofglen is a sturdy resistance fighter. She identifies the alleged rapist as ‘one of ours' and knocks him out before the horrible Particicution begins. She also dies as a fighter, preferring to commit suicide when she sees the black truck coming rather than betray her friends under torture. Offred learns this from her replacement, the ‘new, treacherous Ofglen', who whispers the news to her on their shopping expedition. Janine is a female victim in both her lives: before Gilead when she worked as a waitress and was raped by a gang of thugs, then as a Handmaid. At the Rachel and Leah Centre she is a craven figure on the edge of nervous collapse, and consequently one of Aunt Lydia's pets. Though she has her moment of triumph as the ‘vastly pregnant' Handmaid Ofwarren in Chapter 5, she is also a victim of the system with which she has tried so hard to curry favour. Even at the Birth Day she is neglected as soon as the baby is born and left ‘crying helplessly, burnt-out miserable tears' when her baby is taken away and given to the Wife (Chapter 21). There is no reward for Janine. Her baby is declared an Unbaby and destroyed because it is deformed; Janine becomes a pale shadow overwhelmed with guilt; finally, after the Particicution, when Offred sees her again, she has slipped over into madness. OFFRED'S MOTHER Offred's mother and her life belong to the history of feminism which is being recorded in this novel, for she joined the Women's Liberation Movement of the 1960s and 1970s, campaigning for women's sexual and social freedom. As an older woman she continued to be a political activist, and at the time of the Gileadean take-over she disappeared. Only much later does Offred learn that she has been condemned as an Unwoman and sent to the Colonies. Like Moira, and possessing the same kind of energy, Offred's mother resists classification. In an odd way she even resists being dead, for she makes two startling appearances in the present, both times on film at the Rachel and Leah Centre. On one occasion Offred is shocked to see her as a young woman marching toward her in a pro-abortion march, and later Moira reports seeing her as an old woman working as slave labour in the Colonies. Offred's mother is, however, more than a feminist icon. She haunts her daughter's memory, and gradually Offred comes to understand her mother's independence of mind and to admire her courage. Her mother is evoked in a series of kaleidoscopic images: at a feminist pornographic book burning (Chapter 7), with a bruised face after an abortion riot (Chapter 28), and as an elderly woman proudly defending her position as a single parent to Offred's husband, while accusing her daughter of naivet6 and political irresponsibility. It is her jaunty language which Offred remembers as distinguishing her mother: A man is just a woman's strategy for making other women. Not that your father wasn't a nice guy and all, but he wasn't up to fatherhood. Not that I expected it of him. Just do the job, then you can bugger off, 1 said, I make a decent salary, I can afford daycare. So he went to the coast and sent Christmas cards. He had beautiful blue eyes though. (Chapter 20) An embarrassing but heroic figure, this is the woman whom her daughter misses when it is all too late, though Offred continues her dialogue with her mother in her own mind as a way of keeping her alive: ‘Mother, I think. Wherever you may be. Can you hear me? You wanted a women's culture. Well, now there is one. It isn't what you meant, but it exists. Be thankful for small mercies' (Chapter 21). Finally Offred tries to lay her mother to rest, but without success: ‘I've mourned for her already. But I will do it again, and again' (Chapter 39). Deprived of the freedoms which her mother fought for, Offred learns to admire her mother's courage and to value her memory as a vital link with her own lost identity. Her elegy to her mother underlines the thematic motif of Missing Persons, and particularly lost mothers and daughters, which runs through the novel. MALE CHARACTERS The few male characters in this novel seem little more than functionaries of the patriarchal state or functional to the workings of the plot. Most of them have no names but only group identities like ‘Angels' or ‘Eyes' or ‘the doctor', while Professor Pieixoto is a satirical sketch of a male academic. Only three male characters are given any individuating characteristics. They are Offred's Commander, her lover Nick, and her absent, vanished husband Luke. THE COMMANDER The Commander is the most powerful authority figure in Offred's world. He is a high-ranking government official, and he is head of the household to which Offred is assigned. It is his first name which she takes, though whether as a slave or as a parody of the marriage service is never made clear. Yet he is an ambiguous figure, substantial but shadowy, whose motivations, like his career in Gilead, remain unclear to Offred; even in the ‘Historical Notes' his identity remains uncertain. As a Commander he wears a black uniform and is driven in a prestige car, a Whirlwind. He is an elderly man with ‘straight neatly brushed silver hair' and a moustache and blue eyes. He is slightly stooped and his manner is mild (Chapter 15). As Offred observes him with his gold-rimmed glasses on his nose reading from the Bible before the monthly Ceremony, she thinks he looks ‘like a midwestern bank president', an astute judgement, as he tells her much later that before Gilead he was in market research (Chapter 29). The image he presents is that of male power, isolated and benignly indifferent to domestic matters, which include his Wife and his Handmaid. This is, however, not entirely true, for Offred has seen him earlier on the day of the Ceremony, a figure lurking in the shadows outside her room, who tried to peer at her as she passed: ‘Something has been shown to me, but what is it?' (Chapter 8). It is only after the official Ceremony, performed by the Commander in full dress uniform and with his eyes shut, that Offred has the chance to get to know him a little and his stereotypical male power image begins to break down. It is he who asks her to visit him ‘after hours' in his study, for he is a lonely man who desires friendship and intimacy with his Handmaid and not the serviceable monthly sex for which she has been allocated to him. In his Bluebeard's chamber, what he has to offer is not ‘kinky sex' but Scrabble games and an appearance of ‘normal life', with conversation and books and magazines, all of which he knows are forbidden to Handmaids. On his own private territory the Commander is an old-fashioned gentleman with an attractive sheepish smile, who treats Offred in a genially patronising way and gradually becomes quite fond of her. ‘In fact he is positively daddyish' (Chapter 29). He seems to have the ability to compartmentalise his life (in a w ay that Offred cannot manage) so that he can separate her official role as sexual slave from her unofficial role as his companion. In many ways the Commander's motives and needs remain obscure to Offred, though they do manage to develop an amiable relationship, which from one point of view is bizarre and from another is entirely banal: ‘The fact is that I'm his mistress' (Chapter 26). Yet their relationship is still a game of sexual power politics in which the Commander holds most of the cards, as Offred never allows herself to forget. For all his gallantry, he remains totally trapped in traditional patriarchal assumptions, believing that these are ‘Nature's norm' (Chapter 34) and allow exploitation of women, as his comments and conduct at Jezebel's suggest. Their private sexual encounter there ends in ‘futility and bathos' and is strongly contrasted with Offred's meeting with Nick later that same evening. As she leaves his house for the last time, Offred sees the Commander standing at the living-room door, looking old, worried and helpless. Possibly he is expecting his own downfall, for nobody is invulnerable in Gilead. Offred has her revenge, for the balance of power between them has shifted: ‘Possibly he will be a security risk, now. I am above him, looking down; he is shrinking' (Chapter 46). The academics go to some trouble later to establish the Commander's identity: he may have been ‘Frederick R. Waterford' or ‘B. Frederick Judd'. Waterford, it is revealed, had a background in market research (which seems most likely), while the more sinister Judd was a military strategist who worked for the CIA. Both of them ‘met their ends, probably soon after the events our author describes'. NICK Nick is presented as the central figure of Offred's romantic fantasy, for he is the mysterious dark stranger who is her rescuer through love. He also hasa place in her real world, of course, as the Commander's chauffeur and the Commander's Wife's gardener. He ‘has a French face, lean, whimsical, all planes and angles, with creases around the mouth where he smiles' (Chapter 4) and a general air of irreverence, wearing his cap at a jaunty angle, whistling while he polishes the car, and winking at Offred the first day he sees her. At the household prayers he presses his foot against hers, and she feels a surge of sensual warmth which she dare not acknowledge. In the daytime he is rather a comic figure but at night he is transformed into Offred's romantic lover, the embodiment of sexual desire. This transformation is made all the more piquant because he is always acting under orders, either as the Commander's messenger or as the lover chosen for Offred by the Commander's Wife. From their first unexpected encounter in the dark living room (Chapter 17) theirs is a silent exchange which carries an unmistakable erotic charge. It is Nicles hands which make his declaration: ‘His fingers move, feeling my arm under the night-gown sleeve, as if his hand won't listen to reason. It's so good, to be touched by someone, to be felt so greedily, to feel so greedy (Chapter 17). As a subordinate, Nick, like Offred, has to remain passive until ordered by the Commander's Wife to go to bed with Offred. On that occasion his attitude is not directly described but veiled by Offred's three different versions of that meeting. Certainly she falls in love with him, and in defiance of danger she returns many times to his room across the dark lawn on her own. Towards the end, she tells him that she is pregnant. Nevertheless, her description of their love-making is suggestive rather than explicitly erotic, and Nick tends to remain a mysterious figure. Even at the end when he appears with the Eyes to take her away, Offred really knows so little about him that she almost accuses him of having betrayed her, until he calls her by her real name and begs her to trust him. Ever elusive, he is the only member of the household not there to see her depart. We want to believe that Nick was in love with Offred, and we must assume from the ‘Historical Notes' that he did rescue her and that he was a member of Mayday resistance. However, as a character he is very lightly sketched and it is his function as romantic lover which is most significant. LUKE Luke, Offred's husband, is one of the Missing Persons in this novel. Probably dead before the narrative begins, he haunts Offred's memory until he fades like a ghost as her love affair with Nick develops. He is the one person Offred leaves out when she tells the story of her past life to Nick (Chapter 41), though she is still worrying about him at the end (Chapter 44). He is also the most fragmented character in the text, appearing briefly as a name in Chapter 2, and then gradually taking on an identity as Offred's lover, husband and the father of her child. He is a figure whose life story stopped for Offred at a traumatic point in the past: ‘Stopped dead in time, in mid-air, among the trees back there, in the act of falling' (Chapter 35). Through her reconstruction Luke appears as a late twentieth-century ‘liberated man', full of courage and humour and remembered by Offred entirely in his domestic relations with her. He is an older man who has been married before, so that there is an ironic parallel drawn between him and the Commander. Offred remembers their affair when she goes with the Commander to Jezebel's, for it is the hotel where she and Luke used to go (Chapter 37). She retains the memory of a strong loving partner, and her detailed recollections are of Luke cooking and joking with her mother, of lying in bed with her before their daughter was born, of collecting their daughter from school. We never know what Luke's job was, but Offred recalls his supportive behaviour when she lost her job at the time of the Gileadean take-over and her resentment against him for being a man (Chapter 28). Luke figures insistently in Offred's recurring nightmare of their failed escape attempt, not only in that final image of him lying shot face down in the snow, but also in her recollections of his careful preparations and his coolly courageous attempt to take his family to freedom over the Canadian border. His afterlife in the novel is very much the result of Offred's anxieties about what might have happened to him. Is he dead, or in prison? Did he escape? Will he send her a message and help her to escape back into their old family life? ‘It's this message, which may never arrive, that keeps me alive. I believe in the message' (Chapter 18). It is also her hope of this message which keeps the image of Luke alive. The anxieties we may feel for his fate are projections of Offred's own.