Gender roles in language acquisition Essay

We reprimand our daughters for being â€Å"bossy† and praise our son’s for showing such assertiveness. These were the sentiments expressed during Sheryl Sandburg book promotion tour in early 2013. Mrs Sandberg is largely accepted as one of the most successful female businessperson in modern society. During her many lectures and academic interviews she essentially cited her success as the result of ‘going against the gender norm’ for women. Although specifically referring to the business world, does Sheryl have a point? Are we reinforcing gender roles in the words we promote and discourage our children to use? It is largely accepted across both linguistic and psychology fields that girls develop their language skill in: understands, quantity, quality and range of vocabulary acquired at an earlier age and faster rate than their male counterparts. A very recent study by Rikard Bauman in 2010 (Stockholm University Press) explored vocabulary growth and language production in pre-school children. It is suggested that at 22 months girls have a more extensive vocabulary than boys due to capacity differences; however, at 34 months such a pattern cannot be found. Furthermore it is suggested that gender affects language production in the sense that male and female speakers will prefer to produce words that are associated with their culture’s definition of masculinity and femininity. The study on vocabulary growth is based on the assumption that TTR (type/token ratio) reflects vocabulary size and it proves that, at 22 months, girls have a more extensive vocabulary than boys; however, at 34 months such a pattern is less obvious, if any conclusion can be drawn it is that boys have a slightly larger vocabulary than girls. The study on language production is focused on verb production and it shows that boys and girls prefer verbs that are associated with common stereotypes of masculinity and femininity. It seems that these gender distinctions are not unique to the English language or the Western world as †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Found when examining the Japanese language. according to Eleanor Harz Jorden, when learning language in Japan children learn that there are some words and some grammatical constructions that are associated explicitly with men or boys, while others are associated with women or girls. Such differences are sometimes called â€Å"gendered language.† In Japanese, speech patterns associated with women are referred to as onna kotoba (â€Å"women’s words†) or joseigo , â€Å"women’s language†). In general, the words and speech patterns associated with men are seen as rough, vulgar, or abrupt, while those associated with women are considered more polite, more deferential, or â€Å"softer†. Some linguists consider the rough/soft continuum more accurate than the male/female continuum. For example, Eleanor Harz Jorden in Japanese: The Spoken Language refers to the styles as blunt/gentle, rather than male/female. There are no gender differences in written Japanese (except in quoted speech), and almost no differences in polite speech (teineigo), since males take on â€Å"softer† speech, except for the fact that women may be more likely to use polite speech in the first place. The word onnarashii , which is usually translated as â€Å"ladylike† or â€Å"feminine,† refers to the behaviour expected of a typical Japanese woman. As well as behaving in particular ways, being onnarashii means conforming to particular styles of speech. Some of the features of women’s speech include speaking in a higher register, using more polite forms and using polite speech or honorifics in more situations, and referring to themselves and those they address more formally. Some linguistic features commonly associated with women include omission of the copula da, the use of personal pronouns such as watashi or atashi among others, use of feminine sentence-final particles such as wa, na no, kashira, and mashoo, and the more frequent use of the honorific prefixes o and go. According to Katsue Akiba Reynolds, ladylike speech is instrumental in keeping Japanese women in traditional roles and reflects Japanese society’s concept of the difference between women and men.[4] For example, there is the potential for conflict for women in the workplace in that, to be onnarashii, a woman must speak politely, submissively and humbly, yet to command respect as a superior, she must be assertive, self-assured, and direct, even when dealing with male subordinates. Actual language used by Japanese-speaking women differs from these ideals. Such onnarashii speech is a norm that institutions such as education and media encourage women to adopt. Similarly, these forms may be prescribed for women learners by Japanese textbooks and other materials. There are, however various deviations from these norms in conversation. Although Japanese women may not follow the gender norm in speech, some linguistic studies indicate that Japanese women tend to use more honorific language than men do, which reinforces the idea of onnarashii and traditional gender roles.[5] Traditional characteristics of Japanese men’s speech [edit] Just as there are modes of speaking and behaviour that are considered intrinsically feminine, there are also those that are considered intrinsically masculine. In speech, being otokorashii (â€Å"manly† or â€Å"masculine†) means speaking in a lower register, using fewer polite forms and using them in fewer situations, and using intrinsically masculine words. Research on Japanese men’s speech shows greater use of â€Å"neutral† forms, forms not strongly associated with masculine or feminine speech, than is seen in Japanese women’s speech. Scholars argue that men use typically masculine forms to â€Å"assert their own authority and knowledge of themselves†. Some studies of conversation between Japanese men and women show neither gender taking a more dominant position in interaction. Men, however, tend to show a â€Å"self-oriented conversation style†, telling stories and expressing their expertise on topics being discussed, than is typical of women in these studies. Gender differences in modern society :- As women gain an increasing leadership role in Japanese society, notions of onnarashisa and otokorashisa, that is, what is deemed appropriate behaviour for men and women, have evolved over time. Although comparatively more extreme movements call for the elimination of gender differences in the Japanese language (gender-neutral language), convergence in usage is considered unlikely and may not even be desirable. Instead, trends in actual usage indicate that women are feeling more comfortable using traditional characteristics of female speech (such as wa) while still maintaining an assertive attitude on par with men. In other words, there is a gradual decoupling of language forms and traditional cultural expectations. Although the characteristics of Japanese male speech have been largely unaffected, there has been an increasing sensitivity regarding certain usages (such as changing the terms used to refer to mature women -chan) that may be considered offensive. Regional dialect may often play a role in the expression and perception masculinity or femininity of speech in Japanese. Another recent phenomenon influencing established femininity in speech is the popularity of Okama, very feminine men as popular Geinoujin (television personalities). While homosexuality and transgenderism is still a fairly taboo subject in Japan, lesbians with male traits, or cross-dressers, are referred to as onabe or tachi. Problems for Japanese learners [edit] Without the proper instruction by fluent Japanese speakers and/or teachers, non-native persons risk learning and expressing themselves inappropriately to native Japanese. Compounding the difficulty of language acquisition, formal instruction may emphasise learning the polite forms of expression (that favour female students) while glossing over informal expression (that favour male students) and honorifics (distinguishes natives from foreigners). It is important for non-natives to be instructed by members of the same sex or be aware that mere mimicry may not have the expected results. In addition to the use of pronouns to refer to oneself and others, the use of titles also is strongly influenced by gender-based overtones and is another source of potential problems for the non-native speaker. The situation is further complicated by regional variation. For example, in many regions of Japan it is common for older men to refer to themselves as boku or older women to refer to themselves as ore. How does this relate to language spoken in the Western world? Opinion is, as is often the case, divided. AGAINST 1) other major influences Mahsa Saligheh ‘Revisiting Age and GenderInfluence in Second Language Acquisition’ 2012 states, † There is no doubt that language acquisition process is a complex process which involves several factors, and that this process is highly influenced due to plasticity of the brain. Furthermore, the types of memory systems involved in females and males are also have a pivotal role that makes the genders distinct. The researchers claim, age and gender, are among the factors that run in parallel with other factors that deeply influence language acquisition process such as motivation, personality, styles, strategies, gender and age. The present study attempts to investigate the last two factors: age and gender. Given the importance placed on the role on age and gender, the researchers hold they are not the necessary conditions for second language acquisition. However, the writers claim that genetically there are some benefits that can be reaped for those who begin L2 acquisition early. Furthermore, both males and females are equipped with some predetermined tendencies that would be helpful for them to acquire some aspects of language much faster and easier. 2) biological basis Mar. 5, 2008 — Although researchers have long agreed that girls have superior language abilities than boys, until now no one has clearly provided a biological basis that may account for their differences. For the first time — and in unambiguous findings — researchers from Northwestern University and the University of Haifa show both that, areas of the brain associated with language work harder in girls than in boys during language tasks, and that boys and girls rely on different parts of the brain when performing these tasks. â€Å"Our findings which suggest that language processing is more sensory in boys and more abstract in girls could have major implications for teaching children and even provide support for advocates of single sex classrooms,† said Douglas D. Burman, research associate in Northwestern’s Roxelyn and Richard Pepper Department of Communication Sciences The researchers measured brain activity (using functional magnetic resonance imaging) in 31 boys and in 31 girls aged 9 to 15 as they performed spelling and writing language tasks. The tasks were delivered in two sensory modalities – visual and auditory. When visually presented, the children read certain words without hearing them. Presented in an auditory mode, they heard words aloud but did not see them. Using a complex statistical model, Burman and Pepper accounted for differences associated with age, gender, type of linguistic judgment, performance accuracy and the method (written or spoken) in which words were presented. The researchers found that girls still showed significantly greater activation in language areas of the brain than boys. The information in the tasks got through to girls’ language areas of the brain (areas associated with abstract thinking through language). And their performance accuracy correlated with the degree of activation in some of these language areas. To their astonishment, however, this was not the case for boys. Boys’ accurate performance when reading words depended on how hard visual areas of the brain worked. In hearing words, boys’ performance depended on how hard auditory areas of the brain worked. If that pattern extends to language processing that occurs in the classroom, it could inform teaching and testing methods. Given boys’ sensory approach, boys might be more effectively evaluated on knowledge gained from lectures via oral tests and on knowledge gained by reading via written tests. For girls, whose language processing appears more abstract in approach, these different testing methods would appear unnecessary. â€Å"One possibility is that boys have some kind of bottleneck in their sensory processes that can hold up visual or auditory information and keep it from being fed into the language areas of the brain,† Burman said. This could result simply from girls developing faster than boys, in which case the differences between the sexes might disappear by adulthood. Or, an alternative explanation is that boys create visual and auditory associations such that meanings associated with a word are brought to mind simply from seeing or hearing the word. While the second explanation puts males at a disadvantage in more abstract language function, those kinds of sensory associations may have provided an evolutionary advantage for primitive men whose survival required them to quickly recognise danger-associated sights and sounds. If the pattern of females relying on an abstract language network and of males relying on sensory areas of the brain extends into adulthood (a still unresolved question) it could explain why women often provide more context and abstract representation than men. Ask a woman for directions and you may hear something like: â€Å"Turn left on Main Street, go one block past the drug store, and then turn right, where there’s a flower shop on one corner and a cafe across the street.† Such information-laden directions may be helpful for women because all information is relevant to the abstract concept of where to turn; however, men may require only one cue and be distracted by additional information. Conclusion Alongside most if not all empirical and theoretical evidence involving human beings it is impossible to make concrete and definite conclusions. Having extrapolated the information the most obvious conclusion can only deduce Is this only evident in childhood, does the distinction disappear by adulthood or was Sandberg right in stating that the division in language between the sexes continues through life. References Burman is primary author of â€Å"Sex Differences in Neural Processing of Language Among Children.† Co-authored by James R. Booth (Northwestern University) and Tali Bitan (University of Haifa). Jorden, Eleanor Harz; Noda, Mari (1987). Japanese: The Spoken Language. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-03834-7. Siegal, Meryl; Okamoto, Shigeko (2003). â€Å"Toward reconceptualizing the teaching and learning of gendered speech styles in Japanese as a Foreign Language†. Japanese Language and Literature 37 (1): 49–66. Retrieved 2013-4-26. Kazuko, Ashizawa (1998). Mangajin’s Basic Japanese Through Comics. Weatherhill. ISBN 0-8348-0452-2. Reynolds, Katsue Akiba (1990). â€Å"Female Speakers of Japanese in Transition†. Aspects of Japanese Women’s Language (Tokyo: Kurosio). Tanaka, Lidia (2004). Gender, Language and Culture: A Study of Japanese Television Interview Discourse. John Benjamins Publishing. ISBN 978-90-272-3079-9. Sreetharan, Cindi Sturtz (2004). â€Å"Students, sarariiman (pl.), and seniors: Japanese men’s use of †²manly†² speech register†. Language in Society 33 (01). doi:10.1017/S0047404504031045. ISSN 0047-4045. ^ Itakura, Hiroko; Tsui, Amy B. M. (2004). â€Å"Gender and conversational dominance in Japanese conversation†. Language in Society 33 (02). doi:10.1017/S0047404504332033. ISSN 0047-4045.

Milk Powder in China Essay

Firstly, the customers of Milk powder market in China can be devided in to three parts.Which are high income, working-class,and low income. In China now, most of young parents pay most of their attention to children’s health. They often look foreign goods like food and clothes for children. but not everyone has ablity As mentioned above, our milk powder will be easily accepted by the young parents who are highly educated, and have high income due to its high quanlity and the suitble for asian babies in demographics. In psychographics, as we know, resently, most of Chinese milk powder has been checked out Melamine that can lead to kidney stones. Young parents have lost confidence in the manufacturing of milk powder. More and more people try to purchase foreign milk powder for baby no matter how expensive it is. But most of them buy it from internet by someone who can buy the powder derectly in the country of origin, it will pay lots attention and more money. This is a reminder that we can use this mind to develop our Chinese market. In the past , most Chinese parents buy milk powder which was advertised well, they thought the products that film star recommended would be high quantity. Facts had proved that it would not work. People have lost their confidence on advertisment. It is a problem for us how to promote our milk powder. If we over- used advertisement, it may cause resentment from parents. Some other people will buy milk powder which is recommended by friends or experts from China and other countries. According to the above analysis. We can use concentrated global marketing srtategy. As have related we must use single marketing mix to suit the customer Our milk powder is expensive, not everyone has ability r to bear the expense. So our customer groups is who have high income and highly educated and think baby’s health is the most important thing they have concerned. This part will have little family of hostility, at least they will firstly consider the needs of their baby.

Native Americans in the United States and African American Cowboys

Tenzin Dolkar APUSH, DAY-2-2 TO WHOM AND TO WHAT EXTENT WAS THE AMERICAN WEST A LAND OF OPPORTUNITY 1865 – 1890 During the year of 1865 to 1890, the American’s west land was a land of economic development for Native American, white settlers from the east across the Mississippi farmers, miners, ranchers and as well as African American cowboys and immigrants for Irish and Chines, moving west for goal of economic achievement and their position for profit.First, the Native Americans people opened the way of exploitation of the west land naturel environment. The Dawes Act, which turned Indians into landowners and farmers and distributed 160 acres for farming, designed Indians as individual rather than a group of tribes. The railroad made their trip easier, which Pacific Railroad Act was passed in 186, law allowed construction of new transportation systems.The Act also provided grants of land and limited jobs for immigrants’ worker on railroad, especially Chines immigr ants worked for a lower wage and discovered millions of gold and silvers. The immigrants worked for a wealthy white settler in the west. Moreover, the railroad opened faster access for transportation for castles, miners and all the peoples, who were making money. Including the Homestead Act was passed; its offered 160 acres of land for any settlers live on the land for five or more years with little registration fees.It helped poor people to achieve economic business and farmers who needed more land, were permitted to purchase of up to 160 acres of land for $2. 50. The farmers took advantage of Westland by doing international market, which mostly depended on railroads for shipment. Even farmers had difficulties of weather conditions, the produced the agricultural business by the Bonanza farm. The farmers were hopes to getting rich soon.Together with the African American cowboys and cattle industry turned into a new marker as well. Because of Indians on to new reservation and the rai lroad opportunities bring them easier transportation anywhere in urban markets; without the railroads the new business were take a time to make money . In brief, west land was a place of a new beginning for people who were moving for seeking life and opportunities and hoping to get rich. The wealthy white settlers made the most profit in Westland.

Apple Incorporated and the Power of Its Brands Essay

Apple Incorporated and the Power of Its Brands - Essay Example Its goal is to substantially address the needs of its customers, but not until when it discovered the advantage of creating a need for its product and service offerings. The modern marketing emphasises that marketers are good at creating needs for their offerings (Boone and Kurtz, 2006; Kotler et al., 1999). In fact, Apple is very good at creating needs for its product and service offerings, the very basic foundation of how it tries to achieve its competitive advantage. However, as it continues to grow, Apple Incorporated has become highly recognized with its brands, which brings it at the top of the competition. Porter’s theory of competitive advantage applies to Apple Incorporated and its brands. The power of its brands is very important component of differentiation strategy (Porter, 1998). People simply associate the Apple brand with standard quality, reliability, and many other intrinsic values. This is due to the fact that brands simply emphasise attributes and meanings ( Belch and Belch, 1998). In a highly capitalist world, brands have important value that could be maximised for profit making (Arvidson, 2006). Branding is a specific marketing strategy and as a way to enhance profitability, productivity and efficiency (Moor, 2007). Moor added that branding seeks to develop political message, corporate image, people, and behaviours. It is in these reasons Apple wanted to invest more in reconstructing, refining and enhancing its brands prior to becoming a cut above the other in its industry. As widely observed, the media have always been the integral parts of Apple’s success in achieving a powerful brand in the world. As a result, Apple has become an iconic brand because it came to a point of becoming a cultural icon with corresponding identity value (Holt, 2004). There are many strategies in doing this and they are integral parts of cultural branding principles. In this paper, the proponent tries to incorporate in the analysis how Apple Incorpo rated was able to successfully achieve or create the power of its brands using the media as integral parts of communication, a specific strategy in cultural branding principles (Holt, 2004). The discussion in particular includes media, brand development, and the concept of gratification of needs based on psychological perspective. Media and brand development Media are anything with spaces that have the capacity to allow marketing to take place in them (Moor, 2007). Space is very important for Moor as a specific site to develop relationships between brands and customers. She added that it is a communicative medium or opportunity for marketing to take place. Ads are specific forms of communications placed within a communicative medium (Cook, 2001). For many years, Apple Incorporated is using the media in order to promote its brands. Mac, iPod, iPhone, iPad and iTunes are the most important brands that are established by Apple with the aid of the media. In 2006, Apple’s ad budge t is $338 million, $467 million in 2007, and $486 million in 2008 (Blakely, 2008; DeWitt, 2009). In 2009, Apple spent $501 million for Ad expense (DeWitt, 2009). There seems to be an increase in the budget allocated by Apple for its ads, but it is actually decreasing based on percentage of revenue; 5 percent in 2001 and 1.17 percent in 2009 (DeWitt, 2009). This means that the higher the revenue of Apple has become, the lesser it allocated budget for its promotional activities. This

Entrepreneurship Outline Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Entrepreneurship - Outline Example The intention of this study is an entrepreneurship as one of the major activities for fostering economic growth. Entrepreneurs are essential instigators for renovation in an economy, and entrepreneurship accelerates the growth for new economic and industrial prospects and effectual resource utilization. The efficacy of an economy is improved when entrepreneurs perform to simplify trade between organizations or countries with different inclinations and resource endowments. Economic progress takes place when entrepreneurs accelerate the generation, distribution and application of pioneering thoughts. Entrepreneurship not only takes advantage of new business prospects by proper distribution of resources, but it also pursues new potentials for resource utilization and thus re-draws the limitations of economic movement. As a result, entrepreneurial activities help to reduce the unemployment rate and poverty. The association between entrepreneurship and employment is covered with uncertain ty. It can be stated that lower degree of entrepreneurship can result in low economic development which in turn can impact on the level of employment rate. Entrepreneurs can create new businesses and organizations, which generate job opportunities, therefore reducing the unemployment rate. On the other hand, new businesses and organizations are considered of having low rate of survival and growth due to huge competition in the market, thus this fact argues that entrepreneurship can lead to unemployment. ... Research Objectives The study will have the following objectives: To measure the impact of entrepreneurial activities on employment in the UK To discover the relationship between entrepreneurial activities and job creation To know the view of people in the UK towards new innovations and businesses To identify the effect of entrepreneurship in the economic development of the UK Research Question and Hypothesis The study will seek to resolve the following research question: â€Å"Does entrepreneurial activity create an impact on the employment rate in the UK?† In order to resolve the above research question, hypothesis has been developed which can help to understand the relationship between entrepreneurship and employment in the UK. The null hypothesis (H0) will be = â€Å"Entrepreneurial activity increases the employment rate in the UK† The alternate hypothesis (H1) will be = â€Å"Entrepreneurial activity does not increase the employment rate in the UK† The hypot hesis will be tested with Pearson correlation analysis by using statistical data. Background of the Study In present days, relations among new creations, new business proprietorship and economic growth have been acknowledged for substantial consideration from researchers and policy creators. The increasing unemployment rate in several countries along with inadequate economic development has prompted the policy developers to provide higher attention to entrepreneurship and self-employment. Entrepreneurship has been recommended by many researchers as a cure against higher unemployment and slow economic development. Europe and other industrial economies of the world have practiced substantial industrial reforms in last

Managing the Environment (MEWK3 DQ1) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Managing the Environment (MEWK3 DQ1) - Essay Example In other words, the bank had successfully created a holistic marketing strategy and was able to follow through. As it is building "the world's local bank" brand, the bank is very vulnerable to making that brand work. Hence, it must focus on acquiring local knowledge in each area it operates in, and put that local knowledge to customizing the bank's marketing activities to the locality's preferences and characteristics. Another vulnerability is that competitor banks might leverage on their being 'local' in designing marketing activities and compete head on with the bank's "the world's local bank" strategy. This will surely questions the integrity of such campaign - say, hw can HSBC be that area's local bank wherein the competitor bank is truly local in every sense Going forward and aligned with the company's "the world's local bank" image, a more decentralized structure with regard its marketing department should be adopted. This way the branch is given the authority to design and implement its marketing plans.

Compare Aristotle justice theory to Machiavelli's justice theory Research Paper

Compare Aristotle justice theory to Machiavelli's justice theory - Research Paper Example Therefore, this is never something of ruthless power grab, but focuses on the well-being of everyone. This expression of justice is extremely different from Aristotle’s point of view, who insists that justice is based on proportions, and anything less does not qualify to be just. Therefore, this paper supports that Aristotle’s definition of justice is more definite than Machiavelli’s definition of justice because it proves some fairness in its application and is easy to understand. According to Machiavelli, injustice is a stronger, at liberty, and more masterful than justice2. He also implies justice as a significant aspect of liberty. This perception also proves that those in positions of political power dictate justice more than the peace loving and righteous citizens do. Aristotle, on the other hand, did not only describe justice on proportions, but specified that for it to prevail, equal cases should be treated alike, and unequal cases be treated differently. Therefore, being treated differently should be in direct proportions to the inequalities between the cases. This, in other terms, is principally treating similar and t dissimilar dissimilarly3. Machiavelli, as an avid reader and follower of works of other prominent philosophers like Cicero, based his definition of justice from the early works of Cicero. He developed the definition of justice, based on Cicero’s ideas, as giving each person his or her dues4. However, ensuring everyone receives fair dues is extremely significant, and no one’s interests should ever be excluded unfairly or subjected to the self-interests of other people. According to Machiavelli, justice is based on fairness, and everyone should have equal opportunities to explain and account for their sides. Machiavelli was also a philosopher, during the renaissance period, which is a time of revamping of the economies through new means of production. There was also a great insist on religion for most phi losophers. His writing of the prince depicts the prince as a ‘Judeo-Christian man’ with absolute characteristics. It is to this that his description on justice had mixed feelings. The prince was also the overall ruler who gave all final decisions on justice based on his personal thoughts. Aristotle believed that equality is based upon everyone, and even those in power should be treated on the same grounds. The fields of stressing equality were considered in terms of relevancy or irrelevancy of the case. The Aristotelian school of thought would allow a judge to give a ruling based on religion. The best example is a court case involving a Muslim and a Christian where a judge gave a ruling in favour of the Christian on a religion basis. This verdict was based on the theory of treating similar cases similarly and the dissimilar cases dissimilarly. This aptly proves that Aristotle theory of justice was biased in some aspects because basing judgement on religion is explicitly irrelevant. Aristotle also reiterates that justice requires proportionality. This in simple terms means that every person is treated equally with respect to the distribution of benefits and rights of the society. Relevant reasons should be available for treating anyone unequal. Therefore, this justifies inequalities, which relates to claiming justice based on certain provisions. Aristotle’s works, on social justice, have insisted on radical

Time-Driven ABC and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) articles Essay

Time-Driven ABC and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) articles analysis - Essay Example After realizing that this technique consumes a lot of time, Kaplan and Anderson improved on it and developed a new method known as Time-driven Activity Based Costing (TDABC). This technique uses information from Enterprise Resource Planning System (ERP) to assign costs to products and services directly and in a less costly manner (Kaplan, & Anderson, 2005). This paper will analyze the drawbacks of ABC that made Kaplan to develop TDABC and the relationship between TDABC and ERP. The drawbacks of ABC that led to the development of TDABC include overlooking capacity, expensive, and time consuming (Gilbert, 2007). The technique consumes time because organizations have to conduct interviews to ask workers the amount of time that they take to complete each activity. Companies take time to develop questions to ask workers about all the activities that they carry out in the firm and it consumes even more time to conduct the interview sessions (Kaplan, & Anderson, 2005). This process is also expensive because companies have to acquire resources to conduct the interviews; for example, organizations spend money on developing questionnaires, paying interviewers, and analyzing the data from the interviews. This increases the expenses of a firm leading to low profits. Kaplan also argues that the traditional ABC technique ignored the role of capacity in organizations. The traditional ABC method allocated costs to products by first determining the cost of all activities in a company. This means that this technique ignored the ability of workers and machines to produce goods in a company (Kaplan, & Anderson, 2005). The other limitation of ABC is that it is inaccurate because of errors that employees make when estimating the time that they use to complete activities in an organization (Gilbert, 2007). Time-driven Activity Based Costing solves the problems of traditional ABC by using accurate data from ERP that consumes less time and takes into account the capacity of

Discussion Question 1 Week 10 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Discussion Question 1 Week 10 - Assignment Example An advantage of an equity investment is that when the business becomes unprofitable, the company does not have to pay the venture capitalist anything. 2. The financial manager was able to manage the cash flows of the company well. He was able to prioritize the financial needs of Comet Skateboards. Capital was reinvested appropriately. He controlled the expenses of the company. Outflows were properly matched with the inflows. If a large firm approached Comet Skateboards with an offer of acquisition, a major advantage is that Comet will be able to expand its business. They can target a bigger market since they have the funds to explore other markets aside from the current ones. A major drawback of this offer is that the new owners might have a different outlook from the previous owners, meaning they might not maintain the triple bottom line company that Comet is known for. Moreover, this would mean a loss of ownership and control for Salfi, its co-founder, considering that the business is very valuable to

Journey of life Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Journey of life - Essay Example Another family tradition that has been very important in my family is the weekly prayers and lunch, every Friday, we would get together and share a meal after our prayers, and this helped us understand the importance of family and spirituality. Religious Events As a Muslim, each year we have the Ramadan, this is the time we take to fast and pray, we do not eat after sunrise and after sunset we are allowed to partake in our meals. This event has taught me that one cannot be a slave to food or the desires of his body and that the spiritual life is crucial. We also have the Eid Alfeter and Eid Aladha in our calendars in addition to Alhaj when we go the Mekkah in December for one week to worship Allah; it is a time of rejuvenation for our spiritual life, this seems to echo the sociocultural theory that children master activities and add value to them just as we do with our spiritual life. Academic Events I have been very fortunate in life to have two graduations, one from college and the other from the English program and in both events my family was there to celebrate with me, they were some of my proudest moments in life. I knew that I had achieved a major milestone as is expected in my journey through life and as an interpretation of the sociocultural theory which includes learning as part of cognitive development. Having my family to be a part of it showed me that family always rejoices with one in good and in bad times. This achievement was a step into the adult life because I was now walking into the world to fend for myself and not rely on my family as I always had. Career Events After school, I got a job with a company and to celebrate, I invited my colleagues for dinner, this was a way to form a relationship with them while at the same time celebrate the blessings in my life. After a while I moved jobs and took another one as a high school teacher, this was necessary as in life one cannot stagnate in the same position, growth is expected and is a way of sh owing positive development, it is one of the steps to self actualization Relationship Events My wedding day was one of the happiest days in my life, after an year of engagement to my fiance I was happy to be taking this major step, this was the only romantic relationship I had had in my life in line with the psychosocial development theory, intimacy as compared to isolation became important in my life. Taking the marriage step was a bold move on my side, despite it being the norm, there were times I was not sure if I would make a good husband but after evaluating myself I decided that I was ready and I would become better each step of the way as we guide each other, my wife and I. Challenging Events Coming the United States was not just exciting but challenging as well, I was overwhelmed and culture shock hit me hard, I did not know how o speak English and it being the main language I knew I had a long road ahead of me. As the social cognitive theory states that people observe and a t times take up the behaviour of others, I took up the challenge and decided that I would master the language come rain or shine and I am happy that my determination bore fruits as I can now effectively communicate in English. Looking back at all the events in my

Re-engineering mngement Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Re-engineering mngement - Essay Example The city reengineered the process. Now, deprtments re given responsibility to mke ll smll purchses. Ech deprtment hs been issued bnk credit crd nd n pproved list of vendors. For ll purchses under $1,000 with these vendors, there re no requisition forms, no purchse orders, no sign-offs or hnd-offs. Stff members re ble to buy wht they need, when they need it, t competitive cost. Ech month, the bnk sends the finnce deprtment tpe of ll city trnsctions, llowing the city to reconcile purchses ginst its own generl ledger system. The result: purchses re mde promptly, equipment does not sit idle for lck of smll prts, nd the city estimtes tht it is sving thousnds of dollrs. The svings in stff time cn not even be clculted. Unfortuntely, reengineering enthusists cn be guilty of over-promising. The fct is, process reengineering is not for everyone. In mtters of policy, public involvement, nd politics, there lwys will be need for extensive consulttion nd meetings. If you stremline those processes too much, the public my perceive tht it is being left out. lso, when n orgniztion is going through crisis, BPR nd other innovtions re inpproprite, even though the crisis my force people to tke fresh look t how they do business once the crisis is over.

Personality psychology Essay Example for Free

Personality psychology Essay Carl Gustav Jung was born on July 26, 1875 to a Swiss Pastor and his wife, in Kesswil, Switzerland. He was raised in Basel and attended school in Klein-Huningen. As a young boy Carl was fascinated by language, literature and archeology but was not really interested in school. He eventually enrolled and continued his education at the Humanistisches Gymnasium in Basel, and excelled at Latin. Because of his father’s faith, Jung developed a keen interest in religious history, but settled on the study of medicine at the University of Basel. He earned his medical degree in 1902 from the University of Zurich and went Paris to study psychology. Jung entered the field of psychiatry as an intern to Eugen Bleuler at the University of Zurich where he explored the unconscious mind and its related complexes. Jung was drafted into World War I and served as an army doctor for the British. In 1903, Jung married Emma Rauschenbach, with whom he had five children. Jung traveled throughout the world to teach and influence others with his psychoanalytical theories. He published many books relating to psychology, and others that seemed outside the realm science, including Flying Saucers: A Modern Myth of Things Seen in the Skies, which examined and dissected the psychological significance of UFO sightings. Jung’s work embodied his belief that each person has a life purpose that is based in their spiritual self. Through his eastern, western and mythological studies, Jung developed a theory of transformation which he called individuation. He explained individualism as being the personal development of one’s connection between the ego and self, which was based on Freud’s three part theory of personality. He further pursued and explored the idea of individuation in Psychology and Alchemy, a book in which he detailed the relationship of alchemies in the psychoanalytical process. Jung developed the idea of introversion and extroversion type of personality. He outlined the theory of the four fundamental psychological functions of thinking, feeling, sensation and intuition. His most difficult concept deals with archetypes which are inherited predispositions to respond to the world in a certain way. Jung’s relationship with Sigmund Freud began with his Studies in Word Association, a book that he published in 1906 and sent to Freud. In 1907 Jung met with Freud and their first discussions lasted 13 hours. In 1909 Jung opened his own practice and travelled to the United States with Freud. Their friendship lasted until 1913, at which time they parted ways due to a difference in academic opinion. Jung somewhat agreed with Freud’s theory of the unconscious, but believed further in the existence of a much deeper collective unconscious and representative archetypes. He disagreed with the idea that the unconscious is motivated by sexuality. This fundamental difference caused their friendship and professional opinions to be in conflict. Carl Jung is recognized as one of the most influential psychiatrists of all time. He founded Analytical Psychology and was among the first experts in his field to explore the religious nature behind human psychology. He developed the concept of the complex and identified the parallel roles of extraversion and introversion. He deepened the meaning of the unconscious by stating the existence of the collective unconscious and all of its archetypes. Additionally, the founders of Alcoholics Anonymous were in part inspired by Jung’s belief in an evangelic cure for alcoholism. His works, theories, and schools of thought are still widely discussed in universities and psychology curriculums around the world.

Impact of Organizational Culture on Strategic Advantage

Impact of Organizational Culture on Strategic Advantage Impact of Organizational Culture on the achievement of Strategic Advantages of ERP in Pakistan ABSTRACT This study looks at the relationship that organizational culture has with the achievement of Strategic advantages from implementing Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software. A sample of 30 organizations that implemented ERP was used to test the hypotheses. A competing values approach to measuring organizational culture was used to quantitatively measure an organizations culture profile. The results show that the organizations culture is significantly related to the achievement of strategic advantages from implementing ERP 1. Introduction This paper studies the relationship between Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and organizational Culture. ERP is buzz word now days with every company implementing from different models coined by different vendors in order to stay in the competition and to ensure that its operations are efficient and effective. Through ERP the organizations are able to achieve low costs of procurement, production, inventory distribution etc hence streamlines whole value chain that includes various primary secondary activities. These are pivotal in making any organization successful and taking it ahead of competition. Furthermore higher turnovers, reduced cycle times, inventory levels and financial operations can be given a face-lift to meet the challenges of the modern global recession the world is observing. ERP refer to the integrated way of carrying out all or major / core operations of the company. Organizations now regard ERP as a vital tool for the enhancement of their business operations by implementing most of its functions if not all of their processes under a single information system in an endeavor to benefit from the strategic advantages that ERP offers. Organizational culture is a vital notion in organizational analysis. In past few years, there has been a lot of focus on the development of organizational cultures that are conducive of achieving better results and higher performance motivational levels of the employees. Organizational culture can be described as an abstract composite of assumptions, values, and artifacts shared by its members [that] can be reliably represented by the valueswhich drive its members attitudes and activities (Howard, 1998, p. 234). The model proposed in this study advocates that there is an essential connection between an organizations culture and the achievement of strategic advantages from ERP. A Competing Values approach to measuring organizational culture is used to provide an empirical measure for an organizations culture (Quin and Spreitzer, 1991). The competing values approach provides a profile of four cultural archetypes occupied by a particular organization. These archetypes are group, hierar chical, developmental and rational cultures. The combination of the archetypes describes the organizations culture profile. The primary question this study attempts to answer is how does Organizational cultural profiles affects the achievement of strategic advantages of ERP. 2. Literature review: This segment will appraise the pertinent Literature touching ERP and Organizational Culture. 2.1 Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) is relatively a new concept however now a days almost every organization ranging from small to large enterprise, devotes a major portion of its developmental budgets on the implementation of ERP software. ERP is not merely software but an approach of carrying out business operations in the modern times where technology plays a decisive role in making an organization a success story or failure. However An ERP software system can be described as a set of integrated business applications, or modules, to carry out most business functions, including inventory control, general ledger accounting, accounts payable, accounts receivable, material requirements planning, order management and human resources, among others. (Martin et al., 1999). ERP is a technique to bring all of an organizations data and IS /IT resources under a single Information system (Oliver, 1999). The author affirms that ERP systems evolved to help organizations manage their information t hrough-out the Company, from the plant to the back office, and or the front office. (Oliver, 1999, pg. 12). ERP intends to integrate its core if not all of an organizations processes under a single ERP system. The processes can be seen in terms of a value chain (Porter, 1985), which connects the suppliers to the organization to the customers. For example, imagine a system where the customer orders a product over the Internet (ecommerce). As soon as the customer places the order, it is automatically sent to the manufacturing department, while at the same time sent to the accounting department for billing- The use of materials by the manufacturing department depletes the stock, therefore a parts order is sent automatically to the supplier when reorder points are reached for replenishment of the stock. In traditional systems, time would be required for the sending of the messages between departments, for the reordering of the parts, and the billing of the customer. ERP intends to automate these systems to achieve a number of strategic advantages- Implementation of ERP software can allow an organization certain strategic advantages (Radding, 1999, Stein 1998). The literature tells us that organizations can benefit from greater flexibility, increased efficiency (Radding, 1999), improved communication, Lower operating costs, increased revenue (Oliver, 1999). Reduced cycle times, better collaboration and higher profit margins (Stein, 1998). These strategic advantages affect not only the organization, but can affect all members of an organizations value chain. ERP is a system that seeks to unite all of a value chains disparate processes. An organizations value chain represents all of the different processes that involve organizational resources and that are needed to support the organizations operations. Porter(1985) developed a model of an organizations value chain. This model of the value chain contains 9 processes; 5 primary processes, and 4 support processes. The organizations primary processes involve the production and delivery of the organizations products to the consumer (Bergeron, 1991). The processes involved in the primary activity are inbound logistics, operations, outbound logistics, marketing and sales, and customer service. The organizations secondary business processes represent the support processes for the primary activities and are, administrative coordination and support, human resource management, technology development, and procurement of resources. Implementation of ERP systems where carried a number of strategic nature of benefits, on the other hand it bears extreme risks. The growing numbers of Unsuccessful stories have compelled managers to take a deep look into the causes of it. ERP tries to push the logic that the system has which is conflicting with the Business. It may sometimes also lead to integration where decentralization fragmentation may best suite the organization. Furthermore, ERP may force the organization to go for generic processes than customization. Therefore ERP has to go along with technology and culture (Davenport, 1998). In contemporary organizations the data generation takes place at scattered places and the magnitude of the data is huge. Therefore a real time access to the data becomes imperative for the data in deal with such complex nature of information. ERP aligns all the information into various functions like finance, operations, sales, Customer relation etc subject to the nature of business an organization is into. Enterprise resource planning system (ERP), as a type III IS innovation, has strategic Significance for the organization due to their integration into the core business processes or strategies can directly impact the firms performance (Swanson 1994; Sambamurthy et al. 2003; Sample 1998). Consequently, many companies have started to develop strategy focusing on information technologies, with ERP adoption being a critical thrust (Bharadwaj 2000; Powell and Dent-Micallef 1997; Robey et al. 2002). on the other hand, whereas the firm is on the lookout for competitive advantages by adopting this sophisticated information system, the tangible experiences have reveal ambiguity – some organization are able to reap the true benefits of ERP whereas on the other hand majority of the firms face losses and failed to achieve the desired level of strategic and tactical benefits. (Scott and Vessey 2002). According to the survey conducted by Deloitte, the success rate of ERP implementation is le ss than 20%. Hence it is important for researcher to unlock the mystery of benefit realization in ERP adoption and theorize the important predictors effect on ERP implementation practice (Brown and Vessey 2003). Other than strategic benefit, ERP also contributes toward making an organizational structure more flatter flexible, enabling organization to streamline their management structures and more democratic organization. On the other hand it also involve the centralization of control over information and the standardization of processes, which are attributes more consistent with hierarchical command and control organization with uniform cultures (Davenport, 1998). 2.2 Organizational culture: Culture can be seen from a number of different levels. Of interest to business are the concepts of national culture and organizational culture. National culture is important due to a more global economy where communication technicalities have begun to evolve. It is also important to the study of information systems technology and management. For example, Watson et al. (1994) looked at national culture as king a dimension, in a study looking at Group Support Systems success. This experimental study involved looking at the differences between groups from the U.S. and Singapore. For the majority of the business Literature on culture the level of analysis has dropped to the organization. The importance of studying an organizations culture is, like ERP and BPR, a fairly new concept- An organizations culture can be defined by a number of constructs, such as the symbols, language, ideology, beliefs, rituals, and myths that affect an individuals behavior (Pettigrew, 1979). According to Pettigrew (1979), the culture constructs exist to provide some form of commitment to the established order. Hofstede et al. (1990) proposes a model of culture that is made up of values and practices. The practices reflect member beliefs about symbols, heroes and myths. In an exploratory analysis, Hofstede et aI. (1990) found three factors affecting the values, yet, the core of organizational culture was represented by six dimensions of organizational practices. The dimensions represent opposing ideologies as to what constitutes proper practices. Using the dimensions of organizational practices, Hofstede (1998) identified 3 distinct subcultures within 131 different work groups. The three subcultures represented include a professional subculture, an administrative subculture, and a cus tomer interface subculture. Quinn and Rohrbaugh (1983) developed a quantitative measure of organizational effectiveness, which was later successfully used to study organization culture (see Kalliath et al., 1999, Howard, 1998, Quinn and Spreitzer, 199 1, Zammuto and Krakower, 199 1, Yeung et al., 1991). Quinn and Rohrbaugh (1983) exploratory study revealed that organizational effectiveness cm be represented by three distinct dimensions, a focus dimension (internal vs. external point of view), a structure dimension (flexibility vs. control orientation) and a means vs. ends dimensions. The authors call the resulting approach the Competing Values Approach to measuring organizational culture. The model in figure 2 represents the competing values approach. In figure one, each quadrant represents an ideal type of culture. A particular organization need not be classified exclusively as having one type of culture, but can be considered as containing elements from the four culture types, yet one type may be dominant (Quinn and Spreitzer,1991, Cameron and Freeman, 1991, Yeung et al., 1991). Each culture type is measured using four items, which are aggregated to achieve a culture profile- The core values of the Group culture are belonging, trust and participation, which are motivated by factors of attachment, cohesiveness and membership (Denison and Spreitzer, 1991). Like the group culture, the developmental culture also emphasis flexibility but focuses its attention on the external environment. Productivity, performance, goal fulfillment and achievement are the important f actors for the rational culture. These cultures emphasize the pursuit and attainment of well-defined objectives. Finally, for the hierarchical culture, the focus is on the logic of the internal Organization and the emphasis is on stability- (Denison and Spreitzer, 1991, pg. 6) As the authors state, the motivating factors for this quadrant include security, order, rules, and regulations. A number of studies have been done, looking at and validating this framework. Quinn and Spreitzer (1991) performed a multitrait-multi-method analysis as well as multidimensional scaling on two competing values instruments (one using an ipsative scale measure, the other using a likert type scale measure), The authors found evidence for both convergent and discriminant validity. Zammuto and Krakower (1991) looked for relationships between culture and other organizational variables including, centralization, moral, administrator credibility, conflict, strategic orientation and culture strength- Authors state that evidence for construct validity exists due to the correlation of the competing values measure of cultur e and the other variables stated. Yeung et al. (1991) studied the competing values measure of culture in relation to organizational performance, culture strength and human resource practices- In a cluster analysis, the authors found that organizations from their study could be classified into 5 distinct culture types (or profiles). More recently, the competing values framework was again validated in two more studies (see Howard, 1998, Kalliath, 1999). The next section will look at some of the literature on assimilation and organizational culture change. Denison (1996) gave another perspective of culture by trying to research whether organizational culture and organizational climate were two different points of views or just a matter of perception. He further said that there are similarities differences at the time same time. Measurement of organizational culture is usually carried through qualitative analysis and deals with individuals set of beliefs, shared norms perception. Organizational climate on the other hand is measured through quantitative methods like questionnaire and print outs etc. Other factors also helped to differentiate these two topics in the literature. Culture researchers were more anxious with the progress of social systems over time (Mirvis Sales, 1990; Mohr, 1982; Pettigrew, 1979; Rohlen, 1974; Schein, 1985, 1990; Van Maanen, 1979), whereas climate researchers were generally less concerned with evolution but more concerned with the impact that organizational systems have on groups and individuals (Ekvall, 1987; Joyce Slocum, 1984; Koyes DeCotiis, 1991). The research also addressed to where does this organizational culture climate originates. Chatman (1989) says â€Å"In order for researchers to understand and predict behavior, they must consider both person and situation factors and how these factors interact. Even though organization researchers have developed interactional models, many have overemphasized either person or situation components and most have failed to consider the effects that persons have on situations. Using a Q-sort methodology, individual value profiles are compared to organizational value profiles to determine fit and to predict changes in values, norms, and behaviors†. By this we understand that both the organization individuals beliefs norms compliments each other and have an impact on over organizational environment which people and policies constitutes. Therefore the significance of any single factor can never be underestimated while evaluating the type of profile organization maintains in terms of its culture. Organizational effectiveness have long been a very vital area for the researchers to determine the causal relationship of organizational effectiveness higher level productivity with several variables. Among them organizational culture have well been under the consideration by the researchers. The increase in the research The intensification of research on organizational effectiveness has led to the formulation of theories about factors within an organization that can make a difference in performance. Organizational culture is one such variable that has received much attention in organizational behavior literature (Amsa 1986; Hofstede 1986; Hofstede, Neuijen, Ohayv and Sanders 1990; Jelinek, Smircich and Hirsch 1983; Kilman, Saxton and Serpa 1985; Ouchi 1981; Owens 1987; Schein 1990; Trice and Beyer 1984). This attention is mainly because researchers has postulated that cultural factors play a key role in determining levels of organizational outcomes. A common hypothesis about this r ole suggests that if an organization possesses strong culture by exhibiting a well-integrated and effective set of specific values, beliefs, and behavior patterns, then it will perform at a higher level of productivity (Dennison 1984). The development of theory to guide the definition of organizational culture, therefore, is of primary importance to improving organizational performance, espe- cially because the variables which comprise culture have been postulated to be under the control of organizational leaders (Deal and Kennedy 1982, Ouchi 1981, Owens 1987, Siepert and Likert 1973). Despite concern with achieving improved organizational productivity through fo- cusing on the development of cohesive organizational culture, determining the parameters of this construct has been problematic. The literature on organizational culture taps essential ideas, but the theory and technology to utilize the theory in improving organizations have remained fuzzy (Mackenzie 1986). As Trice and Be yer (1984) have argued, previous research on organizational culture has tended to focus on single, discrete elements of culture, while ignoring the multidimensional nature of culture, that is, a construct composed of several intimately interrelated variables (Schein 1990). Another problem has been that researchers are still not sure whether the association between culture and organizational performance reflects a cause-effect type of relationship (Saffold 1988). In fact, researchers have not really identified what specific variables comprise an effective organizational culture, nor have they provided convincing empirical evidence to suggest that if leaders in organizations increased the amount of time and quality of energy devoted to developing a particular type of organizational culture, then an organization would perform at a higher level of productivity (Barney 1986). There is presently little agreement, therefore, about what the concept of organizational culture means or how it should be observed and measured (Schein 1990). Because of the lack of agreement concerning theoretical formulations about organizational culture, its delineation, and its possible relationship to performance outcomes, no significant body of empirical research exists. Instead, researchers have primarily focused on defining and describing the variables of organizational culture and cautiously suggested a possible relationship between organizational culture and outcomes (Owens 1987). As Mackenzie (1986) argues, organizational culture as a concept may be a useful means of assessing the congruency of the organizations goals, strategies and task organization, and resulting outcomes. Without valid and reliable measures of the critical aspects of organizational culture, however, state- ments about its importance and effect on performance will continue to be based on speculation, personal observations, and case studies (Uttal 1983). As a consequence, management strategies and programs to cre ate organizational change through under- standing the organizations environment and strategically manipulating aspects of its culture will continue to be poorly focused and difficult to implement and evaluate.

Junk Food in Schools Essay

Junk Food in Schools Essay Ahmed ALfaraj Schools, it seems, always need more money. One way many of them found funding for things they needed was through corporate sponsorship. While there have been stories about school gymnasiums named after Pepsi, there was a much less noticeable way that corporations sponsored schools and that was through the food that schools provide for the children. The law that says schools must provide children with breakfast and lunches if the kids’ parents cannot afford to pay for them, made it so that schools had to come up with a lot of food for poor kids and that is expensive. Food corporations stepped in and offered their products to schools and schools accepted even if they were not the healthiest of foods. Now, because of things like Pizza Hut pizza, and Smucker’s Uncrustables, without meaning to, schools are contributing to the childhood obesity epidemic by including junk foods in lunches and vending machines. However, thanks to people like Michelle Obama, the unhealthy food h as started to be replaced in many schools through some innovative programs and new government rules about what kind of food can be included in school lunches have helped to keep kids healthy. Most people would agree that offering unhealthy meals to kids at school does not seem like the right thing to do. It is bad enough that many children do not get adequate nutrition at home, but to have the same type of food offered to them at school also seems like a hypocritical thing to do especially when schools are responsible for also teaching healthy life behavior such as eating a healthy diet and getting plenty of exercise. The reason a law was made that required schools to serve healthy lunches and breakfast is that lower-income children may not get enough to eat at home. Not only that with many single-parent households and working families, there may not be anyone to fix meals for children. The law was made so that children would not go hungry. It is a shame that schools then would feed children unhealthy food and allow vending machines that sell junk food. Another reason schools offer meals to children is that children who have eaten breakfast and lunch do much better in school. That has recently been proven by many studies, but that is not the only reason school lunches have been given to children. Nick Confessore of the New York Times says, â€Å"It was the U.S. military that first advanced the national-security implications of a healthful lunch. . . . Gen. Lewis B. Hershey, a former school principal . . . told the lawmakers that as many as 40 percent of rejected draftees had been turned away owing to poor diets† (Confessore). That is how the original National School Lunch program came about. During the 1980s, it was cut along with most other social services by the Reagan administration. Schools began to rely on food from corporations who were competing for the attention of schoolchildren. Of course, there were those federal laws that schools had to comply with, but one way they got around the federal law was to offer unhealth y vending machine products. â€Å"Some districts even struck deals with McDonald’s, Chick-fil-A and other fast-food chains to sell versions of their commercial products directly to school kitchens† (Confessore). That was how Pizza Hut pizza ended up on school lunch trays across the country. Some corporations even drastically reduce the cost of their products for schools. It makes healthy food like fresh fruits and vegetables difficult to serve because they cost so much more than what the corporations provide for free. To compete, the USDA subsidizes school lunch programs. In the Journal of Public Policy Marketing Bree Dority, Mary McGarvey, and Patricia Kennedy explain that the USDA compensates those schools who serve lunches through the National School Lunch Program that meet the 1995 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (205). If a school relies too heavily on corporate sponsorship, they may not get the government money and the breakfast and lunches they serve to children will not be as healthy as those that do receive the government subsidy, but they may actually spend less on food per student. The cost is that those students have a greater risk of becoming overweight or obese and of being not as healthy as children who attend schools where the lunch program is governme nt supported. Most people do not even know that some schools opt for the corporate sponsorship over government sponsorship. Most parents do not look into whether or not their children are served lunches at their school subsidized by government or corporate money. Most probably assume that if there is a free or reduced-cost lunch program that it is through the government. If a person were to ask a group of parents what they thought about the different ways that school lunch programs are funded, those parents would not know that one of the ways is through allowing corporations to provide processed, high in calorie foods for lunches and junk foods in vending machines to schools. Some if not most of those people would say that it is wrong to give children junk food and they would probably find it especially wrong that junk food should be available in schools. Even parents who prepare a lunch at home for their children are having their efforts challenged by the presence of vending machines that offer junk food to children. The presumably healthy food that children bring from home can easily be tossed out and the child can fill up his/her stomach o the empty calorie food found in vending machines. Some people like Phebe Gibson and Lily Swartz are calling for updating the policies concerning junk food at the federal level. Not every school has them because states often oversee school policy and not all states show as great as concern over the health of their children as others. Eliminating junk foods from school cafeterias makes children healthier though. Gibson and Swartz explain that many people all over the country want to remove junk foods from schools. â€Å"A recent poll in California indicates  96% of voters  support serving healthier foods and beverages in schools, and a study conducted at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln found that banning junk food from a la carte lines would result in an18% reductionin overweight or obese students† (Gibson and Swartz). Not only will children be healthier if junk foods are removed from school cafeterias and vending machines, but the childhood obesity problem may be stopped. The argument against the federal government setting guidelines about the types of food that are served in school lunches comes from people who believe the government should not intervene in the lives of people to the extent that they tell them what to eat at school or otherwise. Some say that people should be free to eat what they want even if it is unhealthy. They say that it violates a person’s freedom when the government tells people what they can and cannot eat. Parents should be the ones who decide what their kids eat. Lindsey Tanner of the Huffington Post cites many obesity experts who worry that legislating what people eat may backfire especially where schools are particularly dependent upon food corporation dollars for survival (Tanner). Yet studies show that schools that do ban junk food have fewer overweight and obese students. The same people who want government out of their food are often the ones who say that the presence of junk food in school lunches and vending machines is not the cause of the obesity epidemic. Not every child who eats junk food will become obese. Even those children whose parents are obese may not become obese from eating junk food, even if it is more of a risk for them. The school lunch funding programs that exist help to fund other activities at schools that will help to prevent overweight and obese children such as after-school sports, dance and cheerleading. Linda Gorman also notes that when things like soda are banned, then products like fruit juice, which frequently has just as much sugar as soda, is allowed. Parents and students alike think they are getting healthier foods, but they are not. Gorman says that many feel that banning junk foods will not stop the obesity epidemic (Gorman). For those who believe this, education about the dangers of junk foods is a better policy. Another argument they use is the cost of food. Jan Christensen of CNN says that schools in the more expensive districts such as San Francisco spend, on average, $2.74 per child per lunch. To serve a child a healthy lunch, most experts agree that it costs about $5 per child per lunch (Christensen). Many parents cannot afford to spend that kind of money on their kids’ lunches and many legislators do not want to give that kind of money to schools. Without the corporate sponsorship, it costs too much to provide healthy food in schools. Unfortunately, companies do not give fresh fruits and vegetables to schools. Even if they did, critics of government involvement in school lunch programs point out that the fresh food does not have a long shelf life. Fresh fruits and vegetables become inedible in just a few days. When they go bad, they must be thrown out and that wastes money. The processed food that corporations provide never goes bad, or at least not for a very long time, so there is little waste. Perhaps the real problem is the cost of healthy food and the presence of junk food everywhere in the American culture. Perhaps the regulations should be placed on corporations advertising practices instead of banning them from schools. If kids and their parents saw more promotion of healthier foods, they may be more likely to buy and consume them. Children who eat healthy at home would not develop a taste for empty-calorie food. Then kids would go to school looking for healthy foods and not junk foods and schools would have the opposite problem on their hands: that of turning down sponsorship from companies who want to promote junk foods to children. Either way, school lunches are subsidized by government dollars, and if they are, those dollars should not be adding to the obesity problem that will cost more money down the road to battle. Even if it costs more to put healthy foods in school lunches and in vending machines in schools, it is the right thing to do for the health of child ren. Works Cited Christensen, Jan. Obama Admin Bans Junk Food In Schools. 29 September 2010. CNN. Web. 11 January 2015. http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/09/29/school.food.investigation/>. Confessore, Nicholas. How School Lunch Became the Latest Political Battleground. 7 October 2014. New York Times. Web. 11 January 2015. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/12/magazine/how-school-lunch-became-the-latest-political-battleground.html?_r=0>. Dority, Bree L., Mary G. McGarvey and Patricia F. Kennedy. Marketing Foods And Beverages In Schools: The Effect Of School Food Policy On Students’ Overweight Measures. Journal Of Public Policy Marketing 29.2 (2010): 204-218. PsycINFO. Web. 11 Jan. 2015. Gibson, Phebe and Lily Swartz. Setting a New Academic Standard: Getting Junk Food Out of Schools. 2015. Prevention Institue. Web. 11 January 2015. http://www.preventioninstitute.org/about-us/lp/851-setting-a-new-academic-standard-getting-junk-food-out-of-schools.html>. Gorman, Linda. Junk Food Availability in Schools Raises Obesity. 2015. The National Bureau of Economic Research. Web. 11 January 2015. http://www.nber.org/digest/sep05/w11177.html>. Tanner, Lindsay. Do Junk Food Laws Actually Work To Fight Kids Obesity? 13 August 2012. Huffington Post. Web. 11 January 2015. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/13/study-junk-food-laws-may-_n_1771352.html>.

An Analysis of Mending Wall Essay -- Mending Wall Essays

An Analysis of Mending Wall    The speaker of Mending Wall allies himself with the insubordinate energies of spring, which yearly destroy the wall separating his property from his neighbor's: "Spring is the mischief in me," he says (CPPP 39). This alliance at first has the effect of setting the speaker against the basic conservatism of his neighbor beyond the hill, who as everybody knows never "goes behind his father's saying": "Good fences make good neighbors." But the association of the speaker with insubordinate natural forces should not be permitted to obscure an important fact, which has been often enough noticed: he, not the neighbor, initiates the yearly spring repair of the wall; moreover, it is again he, not the neighbor, who goes behind hunters who destroy the wall in other seasons and makes repairs. So if the speaker is allied with the vernal mischief of spring and its insubordinations, he is nevertheless also set against them in his efforts to make the stones of the wall balance and remain in place: "S tay where you are until our backs are turned!" he wryly says to the stones. Here, in fact, the speaker is rather like those of Frost's earlier poems "Rose Pogonias" and "October," each of whom, in imagination at least, attempts to arrest the naturally entropic and destructive forces of nature in the hope of achieving a momentary stay against confusion. In "Rose Pogonias," for example, we read: We ... ...rically and thematically balanced †¦. We might also regard "Mending Wall" in light of what Frost says in his 1934 letter to his daughter Lesley about the doctrine of Inner Form. The "neighbor beyond the hill" is all on the side of conformity, the speaker of the poem (at least by his own account) all on the side of formity. Frost himself—and here we should perhaps distinguish him from his speaker—stands at the dialectical intersection of these two opposed terms, for as he says in "The Constant Symbol" about the "discipline[s]" from "within" and from "without": "He who knows not both knows neither." Works Cited Richardson, Mark. The Ordeal of Robert Frost: The Poet and his Poetics (Illinois). 1997

Abortions Prevent Child Abuse and Poverty Essay -- Argumentative Persu

Abortion is one of the most controversial issues in America today. There are approximately 1.5 million abortions every year in this country. Abortion was made legal in the 1970s. However, pro-life activists argue that it is no different than murder. Should the government have the right to take away a women's right to make decisions regarding her own body? The main issue that pro-life people have with abortion is that they believe it causes an unborn child to suffer. However, many children who's mothers want to have an abortion have a reasonable cause and the child is better off being aborted. Most unwanted children are abused and neglected. Some are born addicted to drugs. Why should we make innocent, young children suffer with being beaten, born addicted to crack, and being raped wh...

Erickson’s development stages

Different psychologists have put forward stage theories of development which discuss that people go through many stages in definite orders, with challenges associated to diverse capacities arising from each stage and age. Erik Erikson proposed a theory of psychosocial development that happens in eight different stages over a person’s life span.He proposed that people face fresh challenges during each stage: generativity vs. self-absorption autonomy vs. shame and doubt: trust vs. mistrust initiative vs. guilt, identity vs. role industry vs. inferiority, confusion, intimacy vs. isolation, and integrity vs. despair. As Erik Erikson stated, the identity search marks an imperative step in adolescence. Adolescents may pass through an identity crisis, in which they struggle to comprehend themselves and make decisions on their future. Identity foreclosure occurs when a person hastily obligates to roles or values that others recommend.Foreclosure status is whereby a person has makes a commitment minus attempting identity examination. The sense of commitment and the quality of this commitment plus the manner in which it’s derived varies. Foreclosure status has so many characteristics. The adolescents in this status tend to assume commitments handed to them by others like their parents.They are able to put across a commitment but unable to explain how they got to that decision. Here they also tend to take for granted the recipe knowledge. They are obedient to people in authority and respect strong leadership. They also conform to the significant expectations of the other. They need strong social approval in making decisions. Moreover they are affectionate and loving when at home.They are unlikely to offer direction or leadership that is creative because of fewer analytic knowledge and rigidity in their commitment. The following is an example of a girl in a foreclosure status: Mary’s mother is a lecturer in women and gender studies and is totally involved in feminist issues. Mary admires her mum so much.She is a woman who is strong and as a single parent, has struggled to fend for her daughter while establishing her personal career. Mary believes that she, too, will be an independent and strong woman. She likes avoiding people especially men who don’t recognize her that perspective or just by attempting to bring let out her feminine personality.She undoubtedly maneuvers clear of her maternal grandmamma who is very artsy and unpleasantly very disorganized. Mary’s performance at the university is promising and the selection of her courses shows her unwaver ing interest in politics, psychology and more importantly feminine/women studies. Foreclosure comes from some sort of adversity or roadblock when a person delays commitment to an identity then an identity moratorium occurs. He or she may experiment with different roles and values. When a person is concerned in exploring varied identities and does not make any commitments, then it is in order that the person is in the moratorium state. The adolescents in this stage are the most anxious. They have well developed moral development.They are able to describe their feelings deeply. They like to exercise a socially mature influence, good debaters, socially in-depth and effective, they are good critical thinkers about everything they say and do. An example of a moratorium status is as follows. Tom has switched his college major many times that it will take him 6 years to graduate.Because his parents have incidentally refused to cater for his tuition ,room and board expenses, tom has tried so many of jobs, ranging from cleaner to shoe salesman. He likes jobs that allow him think and be alone; his friends are very much the like him .He performs well but his record has many incompletes. He has had one satisfying intimate relationship and is looking anxiously for another.  When a person lacks a clear sense of identity but still hasn’t explored issues related to identity development then identity diffusion happens. Here they engage intense immediate experiences that heighten their sense and provide an immediate pleasure.They tend to avoid making decisions with less developed moral reasoning. They always belong to the negative identity. In terms of sexual orientation, they are more experimental. Here is an example of a boy who is identity diffusion state. Dan is a freshman in the nearby university close to his former high school.He travels home almost every weekend but does not enjoy himself whenever he's there. He avoids talking to his high schoolmates friends or parents, prefers to surfing the web in his room. Occasionally he engages in impulsive shopping sprees and there after discusses elatedly over h is new electronic appliance he has purchased..He gets annoyed if his parent asks about it. Dan is registered for courses that   he has been informed that are simple, and he doesn’t have strong interest in his studies or his grades. Dan apparently has few goals and doesn’t care much about finding it  Identity achievement happens when a person considers other possibilities and commits to a certain direction in life and identity. In this case an individual has explored varied identities and made a commitment to one.The adolescents in this category are the ones that are natured by their parents well and have democratic family. They tend to be involved in occupation, political and religious belief exploration. They can think critically and have reasonable mind in that they make informed decisions. However they can be convinced to change their mind.They are the most highly adaptive and complex adolescents. They are more of future oriented and can identify things coming i n their future. Moreover they have self esteem and high level of reflective ability. They develop good relationships with their colleagues. Here is an example of identity achievement status girl. Melissa has parents who are both doctors. At the university she was a Spanish Major, spending a semester in Spain studying culture and art.During her graduation she surprised her parent that she had enrolled for medical school. She arrived at that decision after having an intimate relationship with a hospice nurse and working as a hospital volunteer during summer.Conclusion In our fast changing world, it is believed that identity crises are very many currently as compared to the Erikson's days. Exploring diverse areas of your life within your family, romantic relations and your role at work can help improve your individual identity.ReferencesErickson, H.E (1970). Reflections on the dissident of contemporary youth, international journal on psychoanalysis Marcia, E. J (1980). Identity in adol escents. In Adelson J.(Ed.), Handbook of Adolescence Psychology. Wiley: New York

Effects of Smoking

Effects of Smoking According to the Clinical Respiratory Journal an average of five million people will die globally every year from effects of tobacco smoke. The number of people that dies is shocking. Smoking has many terrible effects on the human body from effecting the lungs, heart, and even causes cancer if you did not know that already. Why do people smoke? Some people might ask. Well there is nicotine in tobacco which causes your muscles to relax and thus causing that relaxing non stressful feeling that people who smoke feels while â€Å"enjoying† a cigarette.The feeling can be eally strong for a first time smoker causing a â€Å"buzz†, since their body has not built up a tolerance to the nicotine. When people do start to build up their tolerance level, the feeling of the pleasurable â€Å"buzz† or relaxation lessens to where you must smoke more than one cigarette to feel relaxed or even a slight â€Å"buzz†. But there is a drawback nicotine is a hi ghly addictive substance. So addictive in fact that according to heart. org compares it to hardcore drug addictions like cocaine and heroin.So once people start they are caught in a trap. Heart. org states that approximately sixty-eight ercent of smokers want to quit, but are unable to stop because of the high amounts of nicotine in his/her body. But what happens to those who cannot quit? Well let me start with the place smoke gets inhaled to: The Lungs. The harmful smoke from the cigarette causes immediate life threatening damage to the lungs the second the smoke enters. According to Lung. org cigarette smoke has over 4,800 chemicals with sixty-nine known chemicals to cause cancer.Even with Just one inhale all of those chemicals will enter the lungs. Cigarette smoke has been also connected to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) such as chronic ronchitis and emphysema. On top of COPD, cigarettes also cause the lungs to shrink and turn black, thus causing inability to breath e deeply and less oxygen in the blood stream. That is way when smokers exercise they feel very light headed and out of breath, because there is not an ample supply of oxygen in the blood stream.How bad would that be to past out from lack of oxygen while playing with your grandkids? I would feel terrible to lead that kind of example of its 0k to smoke and cause that kind of harm to the lungs to where a person can't even spend quality family time with them. I have wondered why the lungs Just don't clean all of those nasty chemicals out, or why do smokers cough. I have found out that these two things are related. Everybody has these little hairs in their longs called cilia that help clean out mucus and harmful substances in the lungs.The smoke from a cigarette paralyzes these hairs causing mucus to build up in the lungs which gives people terrible coughs by trying to hack the mucus out of the lungs. Which if the person coughs for long enough and hard enough, the cough will cause major irritation in the throat making the person cough up blood. Now back to the chemicals, the cilia cannot clean the chemicals out of the lungs because it is the chemicals that immobilize them and will eventually all will die out and stop working if the smoker smokes long enough.Which if that happens the persons lungs will be almost beyond repair with all of the mucus build up, the chemicals causing harm, and the lungs not being able to clean out the natural substances that could already cause harm to the lungs. All in all t i is one highly deadly trio. The lungs are one of the part of the body that most people think get harmed when a person smoke, but people do not think about the heart. Almost twenty percent of people that pass away due to cardiovascular disease are directly related to smoking.That is saying that if a hundred people died from heart disease twenty of them died because of smoking, and not of high cholesterol or some other reason. That number is scary because of the fact of instead of harming one major organ the body the person is harming two. Smoking causes the heart to increase its rate of speed causing the resting heart beat to be considerably higher than the average nonsmoker. With each cigarette a person smokes the chances of artery disease goes up. Which means that also the chances of heart failure and having a heart attack goes up substantially.In some cases the threat of heart failure has a greater chance of happening than lung failure. Taking all of these factors into consideration people still smoke because it is their body and they are only harming themselves well may I say that statement is false. Secondhand smoke kills a number around 70,000 of nonsmokers a year. That's 70,000 people that care about their body day because of somebody else's stupidity and no awareness of how their choices impact others. Some smokers say that econdhand smoke is harmless, but that is a complete lie.Secondhand smoke can cause the same exact health concerns from the lungs, to the heart, and can even cause cancer. Yes, smokers are not the only ones who get cancer; it is also the people who they are around. Kids are extremely vulnerable to secondhand smoke from smokers. The kid's immunity system has not fully developed yet to even attempt to fight off the diseases from the smoke. Kids are already experiencing heart failure due to their parents' cigarettes. I have personally known a sweet kid who had trouble with his heart because his parents smoked.It is truly heart wrenching to watch it happen. If you are reading this please remind people to all of the health risks that smoking can impose. Such as cancer, lung disease, cardiovascular disease and along with telling them that smoking not only harms them but also their loved ones. Citations Carter, Charleata A. , Manoj Misra, and Robert R. Maronpot. â€Å"Tracheal Morphologic And Protein Alterations Following Short-Term Cigarette Mainstream Smoke Exposure To Rats. † Journal Of Toxi cologic Pathology 25. 3 (2012): 201-207. Academic Search Complete. Web. 3 Dec. 2013. ello, Francescopaolo D', et al.Question –  ALCOHOL, MARIJUANA, COCAINE, AND A WIDE VARIETY OF OTHER CHEMICAL AGENTS THAT ALTER PERCEPTIONS AND MOODS ARE CALLED?Answer at  https://donemyessay.com/unit-5-review/

Jim Porter

Discuss the character of Jimmy Porter in Look back in anger explaining how you feel about him as we move through the main action of the play. Have your ideas changed about him by the time we reach the play’s final scene? Jimmy Porter is the play's main character. He is the â€Å"Angry Young Man† who expresses his frustration for the lack of feelings in his placid domestic life. Jimmy can be understood as both a hero for his unfiltered expressions of emotion and frustration in a culture that propagated unemotional resignation.He can also be considered a villain for the ways in which his anger proves to be destructive to those in his life. All of these characteristics are shown as the play moves on. A play like  Look Back in Anger  creates a world which, in essence, is familiar to, reality, rather than an imaginative  dislocation  of reality, and it becomes easier for the mind to sidetrack onto an element which may be more pleasing to it than the main theme of the play.Constant reference is made, even by people who liked the play, to Jimmy Porter's self-pity, his  neurotic  behaviour, his  cruelty  to his wife. This makes nonsense of the play; Jimmy Porter is devoid of any neurosis or self-pity, and the play is summed up in his cry against a negative world, â€Å"Oh heavens, how I long for a little ordinary human enthusiasm. Just enthusiasm—that's all. I want to hear a warm, thrilling voice cry out Hallelujah! Hallelujah! I'm alive. †¦ Would  Look Back in Anger  have been the success it was if people had been forced to listen to this damning indictment of themselves as dead souls, instead of being allowed to stray into less dangerous channels. (pp. 45-6)Tom Milne, â€Å"The Hidden Face of Violence† (originally published in Encore,  Vol. VII, No. 1, 1960; copyright  © by  Encore),  in  Modern British Dramatists: A Collection of Critical Essays,  edited by John Russell Brown, Prentice-Hall, 1968, pp. 38-46. This criticism I find to be true, Jimmy as a character does not dwell in self pity or apathy, but instead see’s the world as unjust as a whole.His use of the term Enthusiasm is a response to his yearning for positivity, as he simply feels none from Alison. His endless efforts for discussion turn in the end into frustration, which inevitably evolves into confrontation. His endless scanning of numerous newspapers is evidence of this, as he tries to get a sense of the unjust world of his eye’s, to in all hope develop a series of discussions to exercise his mind, which is normally diverted by Alison and Cliff, which leads to his quest for confrontation.Jimmy as a character appears to be destructive to those in his life, but in contrast, there is the argument to be made that his destructiveness has its origins in Alison’s and Cliffs inability to level with his Ideas and opinions, which they rather continually ignore or shadow with Cliff’s immature comm ents, leading to Jimmy’s frustration through the lack of ability for discussion of the day’s affairs. An example of this comes in page 3, Jimmy †we’ll, she can talk, can’t she? You can talk, can’t you? You can express an opinion†¦.. This quote from the start of the play indicates Jimmy’s frustration at the quality of discussion, which evolves in his intimidating questioning of Alison’s and Cliffs ignorance towards his attempts to start discussions. Evidence of Alison’s torment of jimmy is shown straight away by her reply, â€Å" I’m sorry. I wasn’t listening properly. † This shows Alison’s ability to tease and cause Jimmy’s destructiveness as she in a phrase pokes the bear, as she is well aware of the odds being favourable for a bitter response from Jimmy, and her reliance upon Cliff to defuse any altercation between her and Jimmy. Look back in anger† was also bringing class a s an issue before British audiences. Through Jimmy as the voice of the lower-middle class, Osborne is blaming, amongst other things, the upper class for the country's miserable situation. Jimmy uses Alison's brother Nigel as a symbol for the privileged, and therefore despised, upper class's members who fill important positions regardless of whether they are talented or not but merely as a result of their connections. â€Å"He’ll end up in the cabinet one day, make no mistake.But somewhere at the back of that mind is the vague knowledge that he and his pals have been plundering and fooling everybody for generations. † Jimmy’s character is built upon his view that the world around him is unjust and his further comments on Nigel reflect this further, â€Å" the only thing he can do- seek sanctuary in his own stupidity. The only way to keep things as much like they always have been as possible, is to make any alternative too much for your poor, tiny brain to grasp. It takes some doing nowadays. It really does. Jimmy means by this that those who hold high places in society do so not through ability but through ancestral beginnings, which he fairly see’s as being inept and obsolete towards forming a society that he believes should exist. When he say’s â€Å"it really does†, he is saying that the task that Nigel takes is becoming more difficult as more of the population is becoming more and more educated by the year, which he sees as being the form of a future revolution resulting in the expulsion of Nigel’s class and ‘pals’ from guarding high positions of government from the lower class’s.It is significant that, although Jimmy studied at a university, he runs a sweet stall. This could be considered to be a sign of rebellion. But in truth it is a sign of his character that he is idle in his lack of drive to change society through his own effort, instead he prefers to be bitter and awaits other†™s to make the changes he seeks. Jimmy’s character, changes once Helena arrives, He becomes a show off but the most important change is when Alison leaves. He appears to feel free.This is because Helena is able to level with him, in conversation and confrontation. Before Alison leaves, we see Jimmy testing Helena, â€Å" I hope you won’t make the mistake of thinking for one moment that I am a gentleman†. The fact that Helena can converge in discussion with Jimmy delights him as he feels he is performing before an audience. Someone who he feels is listening to his every word with intrigue. He even say’s, â€Å"I think you and I understand one another all right. This is the first indication of Jimmy’s character showing mutual respect with another character apart from Hugh’s mother. Once Alison leaves, and Act 3 begins, it is apparent that Jimmy is in a better place. His questions once deflected by Alison are now responded to by Helena, ther e are no long rants to restore order and no raised voices enforcing his will to be heard. Helena is open to activity, unlike Alison. For example on page 83, Jimmy â€Å"†¦.I was thinking we might work it into the Act†, to which Helena replies â€Å" good idea†. The fact that Helena is open to activity show’s us a characteristic of Jimmy we did not see early on in the play when living with Alison, he appears to be happy and jubilant on occasion, because of his thoughts and ideas are being responded to positively. In the play we see many sides of Jimmy’s character at different stages of the play, at the beginning he appears as a dreamer, who see’s the world as unjust but not full of self-pity.He becomes confrontational when frustrated by his wife and friend, who he feels trapped with in a dialogue dead setting. Were he see’s no escape and feels a wasted talent. But in truth is not prepared to take action on behalf of himself. His connecti on with Helena appears first as one based on hatred on the backdrop of difference in class, but he shows characteristics towards her, that of mutual respect, and eventually one of lust. Resulting in him having a sense of freedom and dialogue he has longed for throughout the play.