Macbeth and the Jacobean Scot

In Macbeth, the Jacobean Scot, and the Politics of the Union, Sharon Alker and Holly Faith Nelson demonstrate a well-informed opinion of the relation between the idea of the Jacobian Scot and it’s arguable relation, or lack thereof, to William Shakespeare’s Elizabethan play, Macbeth. Though many scholars find it easy to draw a connection between the traditional Jacobian Scot that was typically presented in Elizabethan plays during the Jacobian era, Alker and Nelson seek to highlight the ambiguous nature of the play by demonstrating the various ways in which it can be read and/or interpreted. Not only this, but Alker and Nelson also manage to shed light on the conflicting aspects of Macbeth in relation to it’s connection with Jacobean ideas and portrayals of Scots at the time. At the time that Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth, is thought to have been performed in 1606, a huge change was making it’s way across what we now refer to as Great Britain. During this time, the former king of Scotland, James VI, became the king of England as a result of the Union of Crowns, following the death of his cousin, Queen Elizabeth I of England. This union caused much friction between Scotland and England, as many English felt imposed upon and thought the Scottish to be inferior and somewhat barbaric in their ways. Due to the attitudes of many English people towards the Scottish during the Elizabethan era, the Scottish were most often characterized as people who were opposed to what was thought to be â€Å"legitimate† authority by the English, along with being represented as lesser than and in need of subordination to the English. The typical ‘stage Scot’ was often portrayed as dualistic, lacking in loyalty, and intrusive of other’s property in their relentless ambitions for power. However, there were three different views regarding the union of England and Scotland. One English view thought that English systems and such should be most prevalent across Britain, while another view (mainly called for by Scots) looked to equality by maintaining political and religious institutions separately. The third view, held mostly by those who supported King James, sought for a unity â€Å"in the hearts and minds of the two peoples. Due to the fact that Macbeth is thought to have been performed in the time between the proposal of these 3 policies and the actual implementation of any new policies, many critics believe that the play is a direct representation of English views of the ‘Jacobian Scot’. In contrast to this idea, Alker and Nelson would like to â€Å"demonstrate that Shakespeareâ €™s Macbeth does not present a particular position on the Anglo-Scottish politics that defines itself in relation to the belief system of one small political body†. Instead, Alker and Nelson did a more flexible reading of the play that consisted of possible relations to any of the three models of the union. First of all, Alker and Nelson bring the character of Macbeth into consideration, as he is not only the main character of the play, but also natively Scottish. Although Macbeth does seem to maintain all the traditional characteristics of a Jacobian Scot: disloyal, subordinate, and barbaric, Alker and Nelson point out the characteristics of Macbeth that stand in complete contrast to this traditional model. To begin with, the traditional stage Scot would never possess noble values such as loyalty, kinship, and hospitality. However, in Shakespeare’s play the Scottish character of Macbeth, though troubled and duplicitous, is read to possess such qualities somewhere in the make-up of his conscious. This is apparent in Macbeth’s back-and-forth notions of whether or not to kill the king and gain power or preserve his loyalty to the king and maintain his integrity as one of Duncan’s kin. Although Macbeth ultimately proves to allow evil and selfishness to rule his decisions, the agonizing consideration of right and wrong that Macbeth struggles through prior to murdering Duncan shows that Macbeth is not simply a barbaric creature driven solely by greed and desire. Rather, Macbeth is seen working through his conflicting desire for power and his code of honor and sense of respect for the king. The typical stage Scot normally would not embody such qualities as guilt and/or remorse. Also, there is a hint that Macbeth may not fully understand his own desires and actions, as he was not initially driven by the idea of power when the witches first prophesized his coming kinghood. Instead, it was Banquo who first displayed excitement and anxiousness at the witches’ prophecy and spurred later excitement and ambition in Macbeth. Along with Banquo, Lady Macbeth is portrayed to having been more ambitious towards ideas of power and kingship than Macbeth originally was. This aspect of the play hints at the fact that Macbeth was aided, or led to his violent ways, rather than singularly contriving an evil murder plan against the king. The traditional portrayal of the stage Scot would be that of stubborn, insistent, uncivilized, and unconcerned with duties or issues of loyalty. In the case of Macbeth, he was more or less guided into such characteristics as he was governed by his wife’s unrelenting desire for power in order to first summon up such murderous notions and ideas. The typical stage Scot would have possessed these qualities initially, without the need of any sort of encouragement. In conclusion, the character of Macbeth in Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth, as Alker and Nelson would argue, stand in contrast to the role of the typical Jacobian Scot that was predominately presented in Elizabethan plays. Though Macbeth ultimately possessed many of the characteristics that the traditional Jacobian Scot would possess, he also held many contradictory characteristics. Where Scots were typically portrayed as immoral and barbaric, lacking any sense of guilt and/or consideration for others, Macbeth is portrayed as a less-stubborn, remorseful character that is filled with anxiety and logical dualism over any sort of misdeed or wrong doing he considers. Therefore, although Macbeth may be read as a villainous and selfish character driven by greed and other characteristics thought to have been attributed to Scottishness, he can also be read as a regretful and conscious-stricken man whose inner-turmoil is the result of conflicting instincts of morality and of power.

Optimal Alarm Sound Design

Optimal alarm sound design: New design process for noticeable, but pleasant sounds Author 193 Track 3: what the beep? ABSTRACT The goal of this research is improving alarm sound design, focusing on the paradox of noticeable versus pleasant sounds. The characteristics of annoying sounds correspond in large extend to the characteristics of noticeable sounds. Therefore it is difficult to design an alarm sound, which is noticeable, but not annoying. A lot of studies are conducted along aspects which make sounds annoying and several guidelines are described for designing noticeable alarm sounds.However, no data is conveyed about the combination of these characteristics linked to sound design. In this study an existing design process for alarm sounds is adjusted regarding to pleasantness and noticeability of sounds. Hereby methods to analyze and test pleasantness and noticeability of sounds are added to the process. As a result this paper suggests a new design process which can be used to design an alarm sound considering these aspects. Keywords product sound design; alarm sound; annoying sounds; noticeable sounds; design processes INTRODUCTIONMost of the time alarm sounds are not optimal designed, because in the majority of cases the context of the user is not taken into account. Edworthy (2006) found that in consequence alarms are often too badly designed resulting in annoying, not effective sounds. Schmidt & Baysinger (1986) pointed out that a pleasant sound to report a complication can be more effective during an emergency. However, the alarm sound should still be clearly noticeable, so that it cannot be missed. Annoying sounds The perception of annoyance may be very personal and subjective, but research as shown that there are some characteristics of sounds that influence this perceived annoyance. (Steele & Chon, 2007). The research of Steele & Chon (2007) found that loudness is the most important determinant of annoyance in respect to sound. They also revealed that the wider the bandwidth, the more annoying the sound is perceived. Higher frequencies and modulations increase the perception of annoyance as well (Genuit, 2001). A modulation is a change from one tone to another. Besides the type of sound, there are a many other factors that influence the perception of annoyance. One of these factors, revealed by Maris et al. 2007), is the ability to influence the sound. Another study posited that age is also an important aspect for determining the perception of annoyance. (Botteldooren & Verkeyn, 2002). Noticeable sounds Obviously, the noticeability of an alarm sound is better when the volume of the sound is higher. Edworthy (2006) pointed out some other characteristics of clearly noticeable alarms sounds, like high and low frequencies, harmonics and discontinuous sounds. Hereby alarm sounds are respectively easier to localize, more resistant to masking by other sounds and less presumable to interfere with communication.Harmonics are sounds w ith frequencies that are a multiple of the fundamental frequency. Another component which makes a sound more clearly noticeable, is the variation in more than only pitch (Edworthy & Meredith, 1997). Namely, if a sound alters in more than just tone, for instance frequency, the ability to distinguish it from other sounds increases. Besides that, environmental sounds and auditory icons are easier to learn and retain (Leung, 1997; Ulfvengren, 2003). Similarities annoying and noticeable soundsThere is a lot of literature written about designing noticeable alarm sounds and about annoying sounds. However, there is barely literature which compares these two characteristics of sounds. Nevertheless, a lot of characteristics of annoying sounds are identical to the characteristics of noticeable sounds, see figure 1. Figure 1. Characteristics which make sounds annoying as well as noticeable. As you can see in this figure, loudness is an important characteristic of annoyance as well as noticeabil ity of sound. The same is true for high and low frequencies which are linked to a wide bandwidth and a high frequency.High frequency is also linked with harmonics, because a harmonic is a sound whose frequency is higher than the keynote of that sound observed by the ear. Furthermore, modulations contribute to an annoying sound, while discontinuous sounds provide a noticeable sound. This is conflicting, because if a sound has modulations it is not discontinuous as a result of the changes in tone. So most of the characteristics of annoying and noticeable sounds are similar, whereby it is hard to design an alarm sound that is noticeable, but not annoying. All the corresponding characteristics are focused on type of sound.However, there are other factors which can influence the perception of annoyance and the noticeability of sound. These factors are particularly related to the context. Research of Philip (2009) also showed the relationship between the annoyance and noticeability of sou nd. She showed a significant correlation between the urgency rating and the annoyance rating of alarm sounds. The urgency rating can be linked to the noticeability of the alarm sound, which in essence points towards a relationship between the annoyance and noticeability of a sound. Yet, there are no papers with guidelines or methods to deal with this problem.Purpose The overall goal of this research is improving alarm sound design, focusing on the balance between noticeable and pleasant sounds. The aim of this research is suggesting a design method/process which helps to create a balance between the noticeability and annoyance of sounds. In this paper will be focused on a wide range of alarm sounds. Every sound with a warning function is taken into account. Hereby the outcome is usable for a variety of alarm sound designs, see figure 2. The IC is a relevant example, because noticeability is very important in this place, but if an alarm is too annoying it is often turned off.Another example is an alarm clock. It is imported that the product helps you to wake up in time, but if the sound is not pleasant you may have a bad start to the day. Figure 2. Examples of products with alarm sound. For this research a literature study is done about existing methods which can be used to design alarm sounds. With these inputs and information about the annoyance and noticeability of sounds a new method is defined. EXISTING METHODS Design processes are most of the time iterative and consisting of different stages (Roozenburg & Eekels, 1995).Often, a design process starts with a problem definition, followed by ideas to solve this problem. Then a concept is developed to meet the determined requirements and satisfy the user. (Rouse, 1991). Design process alarm sounds Edworthy and Stanton (1995) came up with a user-centered method to design alarm sounds, see figure 3. In this method, especially the noticeability of the sound is taken into account. In the method nothing is stated a bout the annoyance of sounds, though. From this process some stages which are also usable to design a pleasant, noticeable alarm can be derived.Important stages regarding these aspects are establish the need for warning, appropriate ranking test, learning and confusion test, urgency mapping test, recognition and matching test and operation test. Figure 3. Edworthy and Stanton’s design process to design alarm sounds. The mentioned stages are particularly useful to design a noticeable sound. Therefore some stages that focus on the pleasantness of sound can be added. Besides that, the context of the users is not taken into account. However, this is very relevant to design an alarm sound, since most characteristics which are not conflicting are related to the context.Context Another method which can be used to design alarm sounds is etnography. Ethnography is a method to define the context by revealing the user’s environment and interactions between the product, user and t heir own physical environment (Leonard & Rayport, 1997). This is useful for alarm sound design, since it is important to take the environment of the user, including other sounds, into account. Pleasantness There are some known techniques for eliciting verbal attributes of product sounds, which can be used to identify the importance of pleasantness of a sound.One of these methods is the Repertory Grid Technique, succesfully applied by Berg & Rumsey (1999) for eliciting descriptions of the sound of a product. Another procedure to evoke important attributes of sounds is the Quantitative Descriptive Analysis (Stone et al. , 1974), whereby a descriptive language will be developed by participants accompanied by a facilitator. While applying these techniques no real sound examples are used, but products are presented to recall the attributes of sound connected to that product. Later in the design process eliciting can be used to rank the different sound designs by annoyance.This can be don e by deriving verbal attributes through a survey. Gabrielsson (1979) used this method by conducting an extensive experiment, where the participants were asked to rate the sounds according to their suitability. Another method to test the pleasantness of a sound is a model made by Aures (1985). This model calculates the pleasantness considering sharpness, roughness, tonalness and loudness, with an accuracy of more than 90%. NEW METHOD Based on the design process of Edworthy & Stanton (1995) a new design process can be suggested for designing pleasant, but noticeable alarm sounds, see figure 4.Establish need for warning As the process of Edworthy & Stanton, the new design process will start with establishing the need for warning by identifying the alert functions of the product. This will be done to clarify the importance of noticeability of the sound, which can be used to create an optimal balance between noticeability and annoyance. For instance, when noticeability is very essential, the annoyance of a sound may be less important. Identify context Then, the context will be identified by using ethnography. Hereby the physical environment of the user and the corresponding sounds are taken into account.Factors of the context can influence the annoyance and pleasantness of a sound. Therefore it is important to be aware of the context and use this during designing. Elicitation The last step of the analyis is elicitation of sounds, whereof users think they fit the product. By means of this method the importance of a pleasant sound can be revealed. There are two procedures which may be appropriate to do so. The Repertory Grid Technique can be used to elicit descriptions of the sound of a product. The more the word pleasant is called as description, the more important this characteristic will be.Besides that, the Quantitative Descriptive Analysis is useful to develop a descriptive language which describes the desired attributes of a product. The outcome of this techniq ue can be compared with those of The Reportory Grid Technique. The difference is in the way the descriptions are elicit. The Reportory Grid Technique uses product sounds and the Quantitative Descriptive Analysis uses no real sounds, but only products. Figure 4. Suggested design process regarding pleasant, but noticeable alarm sounds Designing sounds The design of the sound can be done exactly the same as Edworthy and Stanton escribed in their process. First, existing alerting sounds and user suggestions will be considered. After that soundimagery studies can be used. Testing pleasantness/annoyance After designing different concept sounds, the sounds can be tested in terms of annoyance or pleasantness. To do so two methods are suggested. The first procedure consists of a questionairre or survey, whereby the participants should rank the sounds by annoyance. The other technique is a model developed by Aures (1985) which calculates the sensory euphony(pleasantness) of a sound regarding loudness, sharpness, tonalness and roughness.According to these tests the sound can be modified considering pleasantness. Testing noticeability The noticeability of sounds can be tested by procedures Edworthy & Stanton (1995) described in their design process. Using these techniques the sounds can be tested concerning different aspects, like learning & confusion, urgency and recogniton & matching. The learning & confusion test is ideally performed in the real context, so it will become clear if the sound can be confused with other sounds in the environment.The urgency mapping test shows if the mapping between the signal and situation is suitable in terms of urgency using existent guidelines. In the recognition & matching test participants are asked to assign the sounds to the appropriate warning function. According to these tests the sound can be improved and optimized considering noticeability. DISCUSSION The adjustments of the suggested design process are really focused on the ana lysis and testing of pleasantness and noticeability. Consequently, the designing itself is not taken into account, but is indeed very important.Further research for this phase of the design process can be useful to improve the suggested design process. Besides that, the design process is not tested, whereby there is not been evaluated how useful the process might be. To validate the suggested process an experiment with a couple sound designers should be done. Furthermore two procedures who explore roughly the same are recommended for the elicitation phase, but only one technique is necessary in this phase. Therefore more research about these methods in regarding to pleasantness and noticeability is preferred to choose the most appropriate technique.CONCLUSION Due to the fact that most characteristics of noticeable sounds are conflicting with the characteristics of pleasant sounds, it is difficult to design a sound which is both noticeable and pleasant. However, if the designer will focus on this during the whole design process, it should be possible to find a good balance between these two aspects. Hereby it is essential to look at the context of the user and the need for warning and a pleasant sound. Furthermore the sound should be tested on these aspects, since the characteristics are subjective and therefore defined by the user.The suggested design process can be used for a wide range of alarm sounds, which requires a noticeable as well as a pleasant sound. Some examples of such alarms are alarm clocks, microwaves and alarms in intensive care units. REFERENCES 1. Aures, W. (1985). Berechnungsverfahren fur den sensorischen Wohlklang beliebiger Schallsignale. Acustica, 59: 130-141 2. Berg J. and Rumsey, F. (1999). Spatial Attribute Identification and Scaling by Repertory Grid Technique and other Methods. Proc. AES 16th International Conference 3. Botteldooren, D. and Verkeyn, A. (2002).Fuzzy models for Accumulation of reported community noise annoyance from c ombined sources, Journal of Acoustic Society of America, 112(4): 1496 – 1508 4. Edworthy, J. and Stanton, N. (1995) A user-centered approach to the design and evaluation of auditory warning signals: 1, Methodology, Ergonomics, 38(11): 2262-2280. 5. Edworthy J. and Meredith C. (1997). Influence of verbal labelling and acoustic quality on the learning and retention of medical alarms. Int J Cogn Ergon; 1: 229–43 6. Edworthy, J. and Hellier, E. (2006). Alarms and human behaviour: implications for medical alarms.British Journal of Anaesthesia, 97(1): 12–17 7. Gabrielsson, A. (1979). Dimension analyses of perceived sound quality of sound-reproducing systems. Scand. J. Psychol. 20: 159-169 8. Genuit, K. (2001). The problem of predicting noise annoyance as a function of distance. Internoise, Rome, Italy. 9. Leung YK, Smith S, Parker S, Martin R. (1997). Learning and retention of auditory warnings. In: Frysinger S, Kramer G, eds. Proceedings of the Third International Co nference on Auditory Display (ICAD), Palo Alto, CA, USA. Available from http://www. santafe. edu/_icad__ 10.Maris E. , Pieter J. , Stallen, P. J. , Vermunt R. , Steensma H. (2007). Noise within the social context: Annoyance reduction through fair procedures, Journal of Acoustic Society of America, 121(4): 2000 – 2010 11. Philip, E. (2009). Evaluation of medical alarm sounds. Doctoral thesis, New Jersey Institute of Technology. 12. Roozenburg, N. F. M. and Eekels, J. (1995). Product Design, fundamentals and methods. (Lemma BV, Den Haag. ) 13. Rouse, W. B. (1991). Design for success- A Human-Centered Approach To Designing Successful Products and Systems, John Wiley & Sons Inc.ISBN 0-471-52483-2. 14. Schmidt S. I. , Baysinger C. L. (1986). Alarms: help or hindrance? Anesthesiology, 64: 654–5 15. Steele, D. L. & Chon, S. H. (2007) A Perceptual Study of Sound Annoyance. Proceedings of the 2nd Audio Mostly Conference. pp. 19-24 16. Stone, H. , Sidel, J. , Oliver, S. , Woolse y, A. , Singleton, R. C. (1974). Sensory evaluation by quantitative descriptive analysis. Food Technology, 24-34 17. Ulfvengren P. (2003). Design of natural warning sounds in human-machine systems. Doctoral thesis, Stockholm Institute of Technology.

Balloon Car

Jesse Pinkman Balloon Car Project DESIGN COMPANY INFORMATION Well our business company is comprised of Nick Wilson and I, Thomas Kinley. Our Company’s name is That Company ®. I am the President, The CFO, and the Director of all Operations of That Company. My engineering experience will really enhance our chances of winning this and making even more cars. I’ve worked for many toy companies to get cars running. I think our idea will help Iowa’s kid have fun and save the world because of the recycled materials. This will benefit students by giving them something to play within their free time instead of watching TV. PROJECT STATEMENT The project that is at hand is very simple it is making a balloon powered car out of simply recycled materials. This will help kids of Iowa learn about wheels and axles. It will also teach them how to make the most out of materials that could be recycled. This will also teach the kids about the Laws of Motion, friction, and acceleration. Basically our project will be distributed to teach kids about many different things in science. PRELIMINARY DESIGN My design will start with an empty pop can, and then I will screw holes for the axles (pencils) to go into. Then I will shave the pencils for the least amount friction, and then I will stick the milk carton caps on as my wheels. I will spray WD-40 on to really loosen up the axle. I am going to cut some of the can off for aerodynamics. My car will win because it will be aerodynamic, little friction, but still a lot of acceleration.

Organism Physiology Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Organism Physiology Paper - Essay Example There is an oral sucker around the mouth region and a ventral sucker which is present in the middle of the body and is used for adhering to the host organisms. There is no definitive body cavity and the organs are present embedded in a matrix composed of connective tissue. Somatic muscles pass through the tissue and attach to the outer tegument. The alimentary canal along with a muscular pharynx and esophagus is well-developed in flukes. The intestine is a branched tubular organ which may contain secondary and tertiary branches. The main branch however, leads to the excretory vesicle which also collects the two lateral collecting ducts of the excretory system. In the process of digestion food enters the sac-like gut from the mouth and gets digested. The undigested food then comes out from the mouth as the excretory system is not very specialized. As most trematodes are hermaphrodites with the exception of the blood flukes, they carry the male and female reproductive organs in the sam e body. The male organ is composed of two testes along with accessory glands and ducts that leads to the cirrus, which is equivalent to the penis. The penis then enters the common genital tract. The female reproductive organ contains a single ovary with a seminal receptacle and yolk glands which connect to the oviduct and later expands into the oocyte. The female uterus extends from the oocyte and enters the common genital tract. The fertilization is through self or cross-fertilization. The eggs of the female assemble in the oocyte and then pass through the uterus via the genital tract into the genital pores where fertilization occurs. In the case of the blood flukes, the general body structure remains and the male and female remain in close association within the fold of the tegument on the ventral surface of the male (Castro, 1996). The characteristic flat shape of the flukes is the physiological response of the organism with regard to

Communication Learning Portfolio Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Communication Learning Portfolio - Essay Example The audience for this particular exercise is a prospective employer. The job description that will be chosen for this exercise involves a specific company, and the talk will be aimed at that company regarding the specific position. My talk will begin with an attention-getter. I will use my vast amount of experience to accomplish this. An introduction of myself, my purpose in getting the job I have chosen, and an overview of the skills I possess will be addressed. Have you ever been asked the following during an interview: 'Tell me about yourself." Response: I gave a brief synopsis of my professional growth and education, trying to leave out details from my personal life or opinions that could be offensive. Good-quality focus statements are simple, bottom-line, easy-to-follow, and extremely focused. They tell recruiters what you want them to know about you, they sell yourself, they offer opportunities for networking, they help you realize who you are and what you can offer a prospective employer, and they help you to sound organized and articulate. The bottom line is that recruiters like it best when someone can sell themselves quickly, honestly, and precisely. There is a formula to the focus statement. ... There is a formula to the focus statement. It tells where you have been (growing up, high school, college, and your major), where you are now (academics, work experience, and industry knowledge), and where you are planning on going (what job, what industry) MBTI Discussion According to the Myers and Briggs Foundation (2009, pg. 1), "The purpose of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) personality inventory is to make the theory of psychological types described by C. G. Jung understandable and useful in people's lives. The essence of the theory is that much seemingly random variation in the behavior is actually quite orderly and consistent, being due to basic differences in the ways individuals perceive and in how they reach conclusions, then it is only reasonable for them to differ correspondingly in their interests." Brigg's four dichotomies are present in the instrument. These are as follows: Favorite world Information Decisions Structure There are also16 dichotomies or personality types associated with the Myers-Brigg Type Indicator instrument. These are often included in a 'type table' and are as follows: ISTJ, ISTP, ESTP, ESTJ, ISFJ, ISFP, ESFP, ESFJ, INFJ, INFP, ENFP, ENFJ, INTJ, INTP, ENTP, and ENTJ. Resume/Cover Letter The objectives of the cover letter and resume exercise are to develop strategic communication skills, demonstrate audience-analysis skills, and practice creating persuasive messages. The following is the resume that was used: Address 1 Telephone/Message: Address 2 SUMMARY Multimedia / Graphic Arts / 3D Accident Reconstruction Specialist Strengths: Outstanding ability to integrate business and digital design environments seamlessly: MBA in Business and Finance Professional Studies in

Analysis of Henr'sy V life Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Analysis of Henr'sy V life - Essay Example Henry shows his military discipline in approving, without hesitation, the execution of Bardolph for stealing from a church: "We would have all such offenders so cut off". Yet there is no moment of compunction, no recognition of past ties between him and his Eastcheap companion, even though Fluellen makes a point of identifying Bardolph by his carbuncled complexion and nose "like a coal of fire". It is only retroactively linked with Henry's spontaneous and understandable anger over the massacre of the luggage attendants, an anger that then reaches excess in Henry's threat to cut more throats. If temperance is a cardinal virtue of the ruler, Henry has failed again. His behavior on the battlefield veers confusingly between coldblooded practicality and barely restrained fury. Henry is convinced that the course of the war is providentially arranged and that human intervention counts for little: "We are in God's hand, brother" ((Henry V (ed.), 1954, III. vi. 177) and "how thou pleasest, God, dispose the day!" (IV. iii. 133). Often, though, the dramatic context overlays Henry's religious assertions with irony. Henry determines that the campaign against the French "lies within the will of God," but only after declaring his intention to make the Dauphin pay dearly for his ill-advised gift of tennis balls. The favorable portrait of Henry is continually subject to ironic qualification without being totally undercut. Henry's possible chicanery or question the decency and fairness of his tactics modify the portrait of him as a hero without turning him into an antihero. Henry V is shown to us as a great leader, but not an infallible one." Henry Strong leadership shows imperialism that Shakespeare implies, requires cunning as... Henry has completely appropriated the persona of the soldier, calling it "A name that in my thoughts becomes me best". His threatening speech is thus predicated on a total divorce between the sensitive mortal who is bound to feel "pity" for violated women and butchered babies and the hardened military leader who would fatalistically let his soldiers run amok. If Henry actually allowed this brutality to take place, could he remain a respected ruler, full of "king-becoming graces"? Again there is a tenuous balance between the monarch's ruthlessness and "mercy." It is possible, though not certain, that the blood-chilling threats are merely a clever tactic to coerce surrender, so that once the Governor has capitulated Henry can "Use mercy to them all". There is a similar conflict between the King's "lenity" and "cruelty" toward an individual when Henry, while insisting on treating the French with respect and not stealing from their land because "the gentler gamester is the soonest winner ," nevertheless approves Bardolph's execution. He reveals no regret over the death of an old comrade for theft. The expedient military leader clearly cannot afford to be sentimental.

Terrorist Attacks Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Terrorist Attacks - Essay Example ulations, government, domestic intelligence collection and also the exchange of information collected by foreign and domestic agencies was determined by a strict and rigid set of rules. These strict and rigid set of rules prevented intelligence information from being collected for the purpose of law enforcement. As a result, this created difficulties in sharing of the criminal justice –derived data and information with other agencies (Lebovic, 2006). When terrorist were captured either in US soil or overseas they were accorded rights and treatment like any other criminal defendant (Rockmore, 2011). This system which was adopted to deal with terrorist activities was weak and inadequate in addressing the Americas needs to have a strong system to prevent terrorist attack in its soil. This was evident in 2001, September 11 attack and the consequent vague investigations that followed. It was the inability to coordinate information collected that led to failure to identify patterns of behavior that might have indicated the early warnings of attack. Also, due to those strict rules that were to be followed in courtroom made, it hard for the government to detain a terrorist even after identifying him. In the wake of September 11 attacks, by then president Bush administration worked day and night to update some of the rules that governed terrorism approach by the U.S.A. The government formed homeland security project to inform the public and policy makers about the complex challenges related to responding and preventing domestic terrorism. Secondly, the government allowed the revision of electronic surveillance rules to allow permission to intercept individuals even in case they changed phones frequently. They also implemented rules to allow routine collection of traveler’s financial information. They implemented U.S visit program that captures fingerprint from all foreign travelers entering Unite States. The government also exercised its right under the Chicago

Interpretation of koan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Interpretation of koan - Essay Example We must realize that every being that exists has come to be, because the Universal Power willed it to. So every living being is unique and important. The power that created it will also provide for it and nurture it. Therefore, there is no need to be overly anxious about the future, and our sustenance. Our Creator will provide for us. There are many among us who are overanxious about unimportant things like how we should clothe ourselves, in order perhaps to create a favorable impression on others. We forget that being natural and simple has a greater appeal to the esthetic sense than being ostentatious. The flowers in nature in their natural simplicity are as attractive-or even more-than a king decked out in all his finery. If we are mindful of our own true natures, and remain as close to them as our Creator willed us to be, then we need no embellishment. All we need is trust and faith in the Lord that we shall be provided for. If we seek the Lord with sincerity we shall find him. Think of this-if we seek anything in life and seek it with single mindedness and in humility, we shall have what we seek. And remember the virtue of sharing. What we have is to be shared with others. We need not be greedy and crave more than our due. And if we share, so will others share with us, and our needs will be met. In Buddhism the value of poverty should not be underesti

Enterprise and Entrepreneurial Management Assignment - 2

Enterprise and Entrepreneurial Management - Assignment Example The business planning process consists of different interdependent elements; each element geared for the ‘creation of a successful entrepreneurial venture.’ Since precious time is allocated for the completion of each element, it is necessary to evaluate their value in terms of successfully creating a business venture. Thus, the first part of this paper will provide a critique of each of the business planning process’ elements to determine and validate its inherent value. Elements: The Introduction Idea Generation. The first step of every business venture spawns from two personal views: the perceived market needs or wants and the manner by which these two can be met. The latter is commonly characterized by the prime planner’s personal capability, hobby, or any activity that has the potential economic value as a product or service commodity. These two views are the product of the prime planner’s idea generation and serve as the supporting backbone of t he whole business plan. The next set of ideas will then root from these two views. This being the case, it is essential to keep the main ideas valid, consistent and applicable to all other components to assure a sturdy framework for the whole business plan. Strategic Objectives. These are the types of objectives that are safeguarded by a unifying strategy (Robert, 1998). These objectives, which were set by the planner to secure both market and post its position as a reputable provider of services or products, have to be realistically realized; thus, the use of strategies. However, objectives are ever-changing and are periodically divided by the short-term and long-term goals. Objectives may come in the form of profit, equipment or service upgrades, advancement in market position against competitors, and other visions of business progress. Market Analysis and Research. Apart from building the foundations of the business plan through ideas and objectives, it is essential that relevant information about the market environment is incorporated. This element, amongst all the other, has the most potential of adding realistic facts and procures necessary strategies. The result of this research and analysis may specifically point the current and the target position of the business in terms of its industry. By realizing this position, the planner will have an inclination of what destination the business should take and importantly, how to get there. Understanding the Competition. Knowledge of the market environment introduces the presence of the business competitors. This element focuses on acknowledging the threats and opportunities these competitors present and serve to be part of the factors in designing the marketing strategies (Harvard Business School Press, 2010). In business, ignorance of the business’ competitors can be one of the most costly errors. Competition can be in several forms such as a strategic location (upon close proximity with clients), indu stry position, product or service bundle, et cetera. Financial Projections. Most helpful in delegating potential business investments are the financial information which consisted of cash flow, profit and loss forecast, and balance sheet projections. These proforma of figures immediately relate to potential financial returns - the investors’ gain (or loss) in joining a business venture (Parker, 2006). The investors also eye on the financial forecasts of cash flow as well as the profit and loss since these two

How did the war on drugs affect the African American Community Term Paper

How did the war on drugs affect the African American Community - Term Paper Example Thesis statement: The war on drugs initiated by the US government affect the African American Community because it leads to further problems in the society. The war on drugs The war on drugs is initiated by the US government, aiming to conduct campaigns against production, supply and abuse of harmful drugs. Friman opines that â€Å"Among developed countries, the United States has adopted the strictest national control measures against illicit drugs and has played the most active role in international enforcement† (4). The war on drugs includes providing military support to reduce international level illegal drug trade. The National Prohibition Act of 1920, which prohibited the usage of alcohol, is to be considered as the initial step against the influence of harmful beverages. One can easily identify that this Act led to implementation of the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970 in USA. The establishment of Drug Enforcement Administration in the year 197 3 was another innovative step taken by the US government against drug abuse. In addition, the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970 paved the way for the the  National Narcotics Leadership Act of 1988, which created the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) under the US government. The ONDCP conducts a number of media campaigns among the youngsters to create awareness against drug abuse. In short, the war on drugs is a continuation of drug policy in the US. How did drugs affect the African American Community? Almost all the racial groups in the US face the problem of drug addiction and related issues. Comparing to other racial groups, the African American Communities face more problem from drugs.... The history of the African American Communities and their growth and development from slavery to freedom, gaining political, social and economic progress did not help much to fight against drugs. Besides, an individual’s gender, age and economic status are considerable factors which lead to drug addiction. From a different angle of view, the socioeconomic status is to be considered as a vital factor which leads an individual towards drug addiction. When this idea is superimposed into the context of drug addiction among the African American Communities, one can easily identify that poverty originating from socioeconomic disparity is the most important factor which leads to drug addiction. The war on drugs resulted in rapid increase of prison population because the law enforcement department became more active and vigilant. Within this context, more African Americans were imprisoned and it resulted in further problems. For instance, the law enforcement agencies targeted the low income communities (say, the African American Communities) in the lower strata of the society. Roberts opines that â€Å" Though whites, given their numerical superiority in the population, make up the majority of drug users, African Americans have been the chief targets by police† (30). The initiative undertaken by the US government reduced the negative influence of harmful drugs among the people but it affected the African American Communities. The grass root level cause of drug abuse or addiction among the African Americans is interconnected with their socio-economic status in the society. For instance, some of the African Americans consider drug abuse as an easy way to escape from the economic problems

How Obtaining My Degree Essay Example for Free

How Obtaining My Degree Essay Deciding to go continue my education and further learning is one of the best decisions I’ve made only because it’s what will benefit my future living, financially and mentally as well. We all have an idea of what we want in life, but we end up doing the opposite and resulting in being miserable. A person like me, a black man, is pretty lucky to have come this far 39 years without going to prison. With a degree, I would be more knowledgeable and socially accepted. I haven’t always chosen the right friends. Luckily, I haven’t been in any trouble. Although college is a privilege but I see it more as a necessity in life in order to expand my horizons and life’s possibilities. Attending school will teach me useful tips I’ll use for the rest of my life, whether its time management, not procrastinating with anything and pushing myself to the highest possible limit. Earning a degree will change my life, and my child’s life in many ways. A degree would help us in this economic downturn. I have been working as a hairdresser for over 10 years now, and while it pays the bills, there is no room to go on vacation. There are no emergency funds set aside. Our economy may be getting better; however I do not believe I can get a head. I will continue skating by, or worse, an emergency may happen and I will not have the funds to cover it. A degree would give me pride in myself. I’ve always wanted to go to college, however I could never find the right time. A degree would help me accomplish a better life for myself, and my daughter. It will also set a huge example for my child. You never want your children to experience your downfalls. People want the best for their children. I believe my daughter will be more inclined to go to college if I were to graduate and earn my degree. She has seen the jobs I’ve had in the past, the trials, tribulations, financial hardships, stress, the many times we’ve had to move, and she can compare it to how stable we can live once I’ve earned a successful living because of Higher Education. I would like to study Business Administration with an emphasis on human resources management I love the training aspects and seeing people up to win at there job with proper training and instruction My profession in business would make my daughter and immediate family so proud of me. Not one person in my immediate family went to college. I would love to make new history, and set a new trend within my family. At the end of the day college is not something to not take seriously; it requires dedication, patience, social skills, etc. College is something provided for adults of all ages that offer the opportunity to become a more advanced educated citizen. It’s something with great value and credibility in the real world when it comes to seeking for a salary paid job, with any college experience comes an automatic gain especially if completed and exited with a degree. At the end of the day college is not for everyone to attend is what I have always been told, but I now know that it is for me!

The Bill of Rights Essay Example for Free

The Bill of Rights Essay The Bill of Rights practically became part of American constitution with the endorsement of the first ten amendments to the Constitution. When constitution was formally framed it contained Bill of rights in the form of charter of rights and liberties. But it was felt there were many things left to allow government to operate with full force. The name Bill of Rights was at once applied to these ten amendments, but in a truly national sense it was a misnomer. The restraints contained in them were imposed solely upon the federal government: the states were untouched by these prohibitory mandates. That seemed of little moment at the time, since most of the states had their own bills of rights and citizens of those states had varying degrees of double protection. Bill of Rights A new national responsibility had to be assumed, and one aspect of it was the expansion of the existing Bill of Rights to make its provisions effective against violation by the states as well as by the national government. Half a century later another amendment, the Nineteenth, wiped out a remaining inequality by extending the right of suffrage to women, and in 1964 the Twenty-Fourth Amendment struck down the poll tax as a device to restrict the right to vote. Thus, by subsequent growth as well as by antecedent beginnings, the identification of the first ten amendments as the American Bill of Rights became grossly inadequate. The American Bill of Rights as it exists today has to be brought together from all its sources, a compendium derived from the original Constitution, the first ten amendments and the subsequent amendments. Design and harmony emerge. In the entire worlds history there is nothing to compare with the pledges of human rights and freedom that have been worked into our charter of government at the great moments of national history. The swift ratification of the anti-poll-tax amendment, and the awakening of Congress revealed by passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, provided the first evidence of a relinking of freedom with justice in American public opinion. But the continuing assaults on the Supreme Court, for decisions deserving the highest praise, produced no general uprising in defense of the liberties implanted in the Constitution in the period of its adoption. Apathy due to ignorance, interacting with ignorance due to apathy, continued to be the outstanding feature of the popular reaction. On July 4, 1951, the Madison, Wisconsin, Capital-Times sent out two reporters to ask people encountered at random to sign a petition saying that they believed in the Declaration of Independence. Fear has to be combined with ignorance to produce such a state of mind, which allows active play to an equal ignorance inflamed by passion. Far fewer than half of the American people have the remotest idea of what their personal and political rights embrace. Still less do they know their neighbors rights. People will answer yes, when asked if they believe in a certain form of liberty guaranteed by the Constitution. What, then, is the Bill of Rights? Other reference works, histories and libertarian books consulted by him disclosed no adequate compilation of constitutional rights, liberties, privileges and immunities. Hamiltons argument was not wholly flawless, when he disparaged the impotent shoulds and ought tos of existing state declarations of rights. But there was a basic rightness in his assertion that such ethical aphorisms did less to secure recognition of popular rights than the Preamble to the Federal Constitution, whose wording he capitalized and italicized: Constitutional guarantees of liberty have been enormously enlarged. But the fundamental protection remains what it was in the beginningthe action of the People in ordaining and establishing the Constitution. In other words, the first and foremost element in the American Bill of Rights is the fact that we have a written Constitution, enforceable as it stands, and unchangeable by ordinary acts of legislation. Conclusion For the real significance of that fact, compare the American Bill of Rights with Englands great document, Magna Carta, of which its leading analyst, McKechnie, wrote: The great weakness of the Charter lay in this, that no adequate sanction was attached to it, in order to ensure the enforcement of its provisions. There could be no adequate sanction, because the Charter was not a constitution enforceable against king and parliament. Edward I repeated the restoring operation in 1297. Again and again, as century followed century, the Commons and Lords affirmed and English kings acknowledged that Magna Carta was the law of the land. Thirty-two times, wrote Sir Edward Coke in his Second Institute, the Charter had been enacted into law. Also, it is only fair to point out that between 1950 and 1960, certain written guarantees of the American Bill of Rights went in and out of the United States Constitution with an ease and frequency that made some Englishmen and Americans gasp, due chiefly to changes in the personnel of the Supreme Court. In England, all acts of Parliament are the validly enforceable law of the country, binding on the courts. A British law may play havoc with the British Constitution, and it is still a valid law. The great need of the present day is to cast off fear of freedom, and recapture the courage and vision of those who first erected the standard of American liberty. pity checks in government employment, extending far beyond the legitimate needs connected with national defense. Stalin robbed the Soviet treasury if he paid Chambers twenty rubles for them. WORKS CITED Kramer, Daniel C. The Price of Rights: The Courts, Government Largesse, and Fundamental Liberties. New York: Peter Lang, 2004. Martin, Rex. A System of Rights. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1997. Van Kley, Dale, ed. The French Idea of Freedom: The Old Regime and the Declaration of Rights of 1789. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1994. Wood, James E. , ed. The First Freedom: Religion the Bill of Rights. Waco, TX: J. M.

Crohns Disease And Modulen IBD

Crohns Disease And Modulen IBD Crohns disease and Modulen IBD Crohns disease is a chronic disease associated with inflammations of the digestive tract. However, most often the lower part of the intestine (the ileum) is affected. Crohns disease is characterized by periods of remission and exacerbations. Currently, there is no remedy for Crohns disease; inducing and maintaining remission of disease activity, addressing complications and correcting malnutrition are the most predominant objectives of treatment. Nestles Modulen IBD is especially composed for patients with Crohns disease. Modulen IBD is a casein-based formula that is rich in transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-B2). This nutritionally complete polymeric formula can be given either by the nasogastric route or orally as the sole source of nutrition or as a supplement. According to Nestle, Modulen IBD is suitable for patients over five years of age and can be reconstituted to a variety of caloric densities. Evaluation of Modulen IBD based on evidence in literature Both corticosteroids as enteral nutrition (EN) are used in the treatment of Crohns disease. However, the effectiveness of EN compared to the use of conventional steroids is controversial. Both the effectiveness of exclusive EN therapy as primary therapy to induce remission in Crohns disease as well as the efficacy of EN for the maintenance of remission in Crohns disease are recently evaluated. In a Cochrane meta-analysis of six trails including 192 patients in the EN group and 160 patients in the steroid group, it was concluded that EN can induce remission of active Crohns disease. However, this effect was found to be inferior to steroids. These findings are in line with past meta-analyses. In contrary, it is indicated that the effectiveness of EN diverges between adults and children; two pediatric trials (of which one was an abstract) with a total of 58 patients and a previous meta-analysis with 147 children demonstrated that EN equals the efficacy of steroids in the induction of remission in pediatric Crohns disease. Moreover, no dissimilarities in the effectiveness of elemental nutrition and non-elemental nutrition can be found based on 10 trials including 344 patients. A recent review of Akobeng and Thomas (2007) showed that supplementary EN can be effective for maintenance of remission in Crohns disease. Data is based on two recent randomized clinical trials, however, sample sizes were too small to provide statistical power. Recommendations It is strongly indicated that steroids are more effective in inducing remission in Crohns disease compared to EN. Additionally, compliance might be less for exclusive nutritional intervention compared to the use of steroids; several studies demonstrated a higher withdrawal rate in patients that were treated with EN compared to patients receiving steroids. Nonetheless, the use of steroids as a first line treatment in children should be carefully considered for several reasons. First, it is shown that EN in children is equally effective as steroids in the induction of remission. Moreover, the use of steroids is often associated with side effects in children such as impaired growth and bone mineral density [1; 3]; the use of EN is regarded as safe. A long-term randomized pediatric trial of 37 patients demonstrated that withdrawal rates were comparable in the group of children receiving EN as well as in the group receiving steroid treatment; withdrawal rates in the EN group were even inf erior to those observed in adult studies. Accordingly, it is recommended to use EN to induce clinical remission in the growing child suffering from Crohns disease. Additionally, adults can be treated with EN as an alternative for conventional steroid use if they suffer from intolerances to steroids or if they (strongly) denote to prefer the use of EN above steroids. Since it is suggested that elemental and non-elemental diets are equally effective, it is advisable to treat patients with a polymeric diet such as Modulen IBD since polymeric diets have a higher palatability and compliance is expected to be improved. Although the current evidence suggests that supplementary EN may be effective for maintenance of remission in Crohns disease, evidence is not indisputable and it is indicated that more research is needed to confirm these findings. Furthermore, studies should be performed to elucidate the daily amount of EN required to maintain clinical remission in Crohns disease patients as well as the cost-effectiveness of supplementation as the impact on the quality of life for the patient. Moreover, the compliance of supplementation is expected to be low since the end-point for patients is unclear. In conclusion, EN is advisable in children during a remission to avoid steroid side-effects such as an impaired growth and development. In special cases, Modulen IBD can be prescribed to adults. For the time being, Modulen IBD supplementation for the maintenance of remission is not advised. The additional benefits for mucosal healing, growth, nutritional status and quality of life strengthens the argument for considering its use as primary therapy. Kosten, Compliance. polymeric nutrition is more palatable than elemental nutrition; polymeric diets are less expensive and more palatable than elemental diets, and therefore it would seem reasonable to suggest that there is no place for the elemental diet. Improvement quality of life? Improvement nutritional status? Module ibd is a naturally complete powdered feed, designed to meet the specific nutritional needs of people with Crohns disease. It is free from gluten, lactose and is suitable for vegetarians. EN by means of a polymeric diet can be given via the nasogastric or per oral route. Module IBD is designed for patients with Crohns disease, can be used as the sole source iof nutrition or as an oral supplement. The specific polymeric diet selected was a highly palatable, casein-based formula rich in TGF-B2 (transforming growth factor) which can be taken by mouth. Crohns disease is a chronic inflammatory disease of the intestines. Crohns disease frequently occurs in the lower part of the small intestine (the ileum), however, it can affect any part of the digestive tract, from the mouth tot the anus. Crohns disease is a cgronic relapsing consition with a high morbidity. There is no cure for Crohns disease. Treatment is aomed at inducing and maintaining remission of disease activity, correcting malnutrition, addressing complications, and thereby improving the quality of life of patients. The relative merits of corticosteroids and enteral nutrition in the treatment of Crohns disease remains an area of controversy. There was a cumulative withdrawal rate of 26% in those receiving enteral nutrition compared to zero in the steroid group. .. there was a 39% withdrawal rate in the enteral group compared to only 9% in the steroid group. In the pediatric study, the majority took the feed orally, but if they failed adequate oral consumption, NG feeds were administered (in 23.5% of subjects). The withdrawal rates were similar in both the neteral nutrition (10.5%) as in the steroid arm (11.1%). The mild active subjects were allowed to take the feeds orally, while those with moderate to severe disease received the diet nasogastrically. Although polymeric diets are more palatable, failure can occur if inadequate oral administration occurs, and the nasogastric route should then be used to optimize compliance and effectiveness. Although exclusion of a normal diet/and or the nasogastric route of administration mey be viewed as barriers to enteral nutritional therapy, even young children can learn to insert the tube for overnight feeds. may suggest that the benefits of enteral nutrition differ between adults and children. Although the majority of data suggests that patients treated with corticosteroids more often achieve clinical remission, it is well established that corticosteroids fail to induce mucosal healing. Studies demonstrate a substantial higher drop-out rate for continuing enteral nutritional theraphy, whether given orally or by overnight nasogastric intubation. Enteral nutrition has important growth and developmental benefits and continues to be a recommended therapy for children with Crohns disease. The sample sizes of both included studies were small and the studies lacked statistical power. It is therefore difficult to draw any definite conclusions from these data. Future studies should be well-powered and should also investigate the amount of enteral nutritional supplements that will produce optimal benefits. These studies should also assess cost-effectiveness and the impact of supplementation on patientsquality of life. The optimal daily amount of enteral nutrition that needs to be consumed is unknown. In individual cases, EN can be provided to adults: steroid intolerance, patient refusal of steroids or undernourished individuals. Treatment can take 4-8 weeks, depending on the patients characteristics.

The Relationship Between Social Class and Educational Achievement Essay

The Relationship Between Social Class and Educational Achievement Many sociologists have tried to explore the link between social class and educational achievement, measuring the effects of one element upon the other. In order to maintain a definite correlation between the two, there are a number of views, explanations, social statistics and perspectives which must be taken into account. The initial idea would be to define the key terms which are associated with how "social class" affects "educational achievement." "Social class" is the identity of people, according to the work they do and the community in which they live in."Educational achievement" is the tendency for some groups to do better or worse in terms of educational success. Research reveals that the higher the social class, the higher the levels of educational achievement are likely to be. The children of parents in higher social classes are more likely to stay on in post compulsory education, more likely to achieve examination passes when at school, and more likely to gain university entrance. These features painted a true picture of British education in the twentieth century and can be argued to follow this trend today. However, whether there has been any reduction in the inequalities is more debatable, but some research suggests that these inequalities are as great as ever, despite the overall improvements within the education system. Many researchers argue that IQ tests are biased in favour of the middle class, since members of this group largely construct them. If it is accepted that social classes and other groups have distinctive subcultures and that this affe... ... to reject school and school values (such as academic success). This has its roots outside of school in the nature of the fathers and elder brothers' in manual work. They look up to these figures and see school as "sissy", un-masculine, unlike the "real" masculine work that their fathers, brothers etc do. Overall, in conclusion there can be no definite correlation identified between "social class" and "educational achievement" in that there is much research into this and many sociologists suggest their own theories, and have yet not decided whether there is a link or not. However, there does seem to be correlation of some kind as sociologists either favour it or not. It can be still said that the main relationship between these factors is the higher the social class; the more likely the pupil is going to succeed.

Alzheimer’s Disease Essay -- Alzheimers Disease Essays

Alzheimer’s disease is a neurodegenerative disorder, meaning it attacks the neurons within the brain. Neurons are the areas of the brain that allow for chemical messages, or neurotransmitters, to be transmitted. These neurons are necessary for connections with other nerve cells, and without them, the neuronS ultimately die. Alzheimer’s is a form of, and the most common cause of, dementia, or loss of intellectual capacity and personality. ("Dementia.") Alzheimer’s disease, or AD, is not a normal part of aging, although risk of developing the illness increases with age. The onset behavior of the disease normally doesn’t appear until age sixty and older. Though symptoms that appear before age sixty have occurred, it is less common and tends to run in families; these early onset also tend to progress more rapidly. (â€Å"Alzheimer’s Disease†) AD is one of the top ten most leading causes of death in America. In fact, estimates say that as many as 5.1 million people in the U.S. may have Alzheimer’s; that number steadily increasing with the growing elderly population. (â€Å"About Alzheimer’s†) In the last forty years, AD has become a prevalent topic amongst the medical and non-medical communities affecting lives and families; giving us motive for further our understanding of the brain. Alzheimer’s disease has been known since the turn of the century but was not a prevalent concern until the 1970s. In 1907, Alois Alzheimer, a German physician, documented a case of a fifty-one-year-old woman who was suffering from severe cognitive disabilities. She exhibited difficulties in areas such as memory, language, and social interactions. (Reger 1) After death, Alzheimer performed a brain autopsy using silver staining techniques. This allowed him to ... ...int. â€Å"Dementia.† Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House, Inc. 02 May. 2015. Reger, Beth. "Alzheimer's Disease: A Brief History and Avenues for Current Research." Journal of Young Investigators: Undergraduate, Peer-Reviewed Science Journal 6.2 (2002): 1-3. Web. 29 Apr. 2015. Robinson, Lawrence, Joanna Saisan, and Jeanne Segal. "Alzheimer’s Disease: Signs, Symptoms, and Stages of Alzheimer’s." Helpguide.org: Expert, Ad-free Articles Help Empower You with Knowledge, Support & Hope. HelpGuide, Mar. 2011. Web. 29 Apr. 2015. "Studies Demonstrate Link Among Alzheimer's Disease, Down Syndrome and Atherosclerosis." ScienceDaily, 15 Jan. 2010. Web. 3 May 2015. Wattamwar, Pandurang, and P. Mathuranath. â€Å"An Overview of Biomarkers in Alzheimer’s Disease.† Annals of Indian Academy of Neurology 13.6 (2010): 116. ProQuest Research Library. Web. 12 April 2015.

Schizophrenia Essay -- Schizophrenia Essays

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  During the 1950s, mentally disordered people who were harmful to society and themselves could be treated with medications and were able to return safely to their communities. During the 1980s, the cost of health care increased more than any other cost in our national economy. As a result, strategic planning has been made to reduce costs. â€Å"The political decision made to deinstitutionalize chronic mental patients started with the appearance of phenothiazine medications. Dramatically reducing the instability influenced by psychosis, these medications were of great significance to many individuals with serious mental disorders. At both the state and federal levels, legislators looked at the high cost of long-term psychiatric hospitalization. Social scientists guaranteed them that community-based care would be in the best interests of all concerned: the mentally ill and the general, tax-paying public (Barry 13).† It was believed that a social breakdown syndrome would develop in chronically mentally ill persons who were institutionalized. The characteristics of this syndrome were submission to authority, withdrawal, lack of initiative, and excessive dependence on the institution.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  While deinstitutionalization was kindhearted in its primary logic, the actual execution of the concept has been greatly undermined by the lack of good community alternatives. At this time a large amount of the individuals using community mental health treatment services are the homeless. Nearly half of the homeless are chronically mental ill. These individuals are often separated from their families and all alone on the dangerous street. These homeless schizophrenics stay away from social structures such as community health treatment centers. Since they start a new life of independence they often stop taking their medications, become psychotic and out of place, and begin to live on the street. Since the schizophrenics are deinstitutionalized they are thrown into a whole new world of independence. Since their brain functions different than the usual human being they can't cope with the problems of life. The schizophrenics drive themselves crazy wanting to kill themselves and others in order to escape from this perplexing world.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Schizophrenia is the most common psychoses i... ...around because states are closing their mental institutes for financial reasons. Even though the cost of mental institutes are high, the schizophrenics are better off being kept in them because they could cause a huge uproar on the streets. Without the mental institutes the schizophrenics will get worse because they are unable to live independently. Many schizophrenics might even be harmful to society because their brain is out of control. The paranoid schizophrenics could go on a rampage and try to kill everyone in sight because they think that everyone is out to hurt them. This could be the future of our world if we don't take time to treat these schizophrenics who desperately need it no matter what the cost. Works Cited Barry, Patricia D. Mental Health and Mental Illness. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1994. Coon, Dennis. Introduction to Psychology. New York: West Publishing Company, 1995 McCuen, Gary E. Treating the Mentally Disabled. Hudson, Wisconsin: Gary E.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  McCuen, 1988. Varcarolis, Elizabeth M. Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing. Philadelphia: W. B.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Saunders, 1990.

Private Sector Approaches Essay

Since the advent of new public management reforms, private sector managerial approaches are fast gaining attention in various public sectors. This is due to the belief that on-going global economic constraints and fiscal crises are demanding for more organisational effectiveness with minimal cost, and private sector practices are believed to be more efficient than its public sector counterpart. It is within this context that human resource management practices are being transferred into the public sector for better performance. However, several literatures have debated the numerous differences between the public and private sector and often concluded that effectiveness of privately transferred human resource practices into the public sector are likely to be strained (Rainey et. al., 1976). One argument is that public sector goals as opposed to its private counterpart, are unclear and intangible and therefore, outcome becomes difficult to measure towards performance. Moreover it is also argued that public sector workers are inherently motivated and as such cannot be monetarily motivated towards performance. Also, managers in the public sectors are often argued to have limited autonomy posed by politicians leading to a strain on the performance process. And finally, the constant financial deficit in the public sector has also been argued to limit its performance and reward systems. The case of the NHS as a public sector in the UK will be used to answer the above question. It will first start with a brief description of the NHS, and then provide an overview of what human resource management means and what its practices are. The effects of these practices (performance management, appraisals, and rewards) would then be reviewed in specific NHS examples in relation to the contrasting public environmental differences. Overall, due to the overwhelming literature demonstrating the ineffectiveness of HRM practices in the NHS or rather the inability of HRM and supporting studies empirically demonstrating the link between HRM practices and performance, this essay holds the opinion that the private sector practices of HRM should not be directly transferred into the public sector or at least should be cautiously transferred in its adaptation into the public sector. THE NHS The UK NHS was created for a comprehensive (quality), universal (equity) and free health delivery at its point of use. The search for effective delivery of services in the UK NHS prompted the NHS marketisation via the 1990 NHS and community care act. Markets divided the purchasing power from the providing power of health services thereby making Trusts (self-governing hospital) accountable for their performances. Perhaps, this division occurred because the effective management of human resources out of many other organisational assets was widely viewed as a better tool to address financial crises via organisational performance improvement (Huselid, 1995). HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT Due to the rapid rise of considerable interest in Human resource management over the last decade, there has been varying definition ascribed to its definition. This essay agrees with the Harvard definition in which Human resource management is viewed to encompass all managerial decisions that influences the relationship between the human resources of an organisation (it’s employees) and the organisation itself (Beer et. al., 1985, p. 1). Though, its practices have been grouped into various models, it is beyond the scope of this essay to discuss them. However, the general concept of its practices can be understood as the use of various strategies which includes amongst many others, performance management, appraisals and reward to effectively manage employee attitudes towards the organisation’s goal and performance (Armstrong, 2002, p. 3). PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT Performance management and appraisal as described by Bratton and Gold (2007, p. 274) is a process used to assess a team or individual’s abilities towards performance development and improvement. This process involves setting a goal towards an outcome, monitoring and evaluating via performance indicators, and rewards as well as penalties as the case may be. However, in the public sector, arguments have ensued that performance management often contradicts the blue print of public services or is rather strategically used by politicians to assert some form of control over the sectors and not to perform its intended purpose. Performance indicators albeit is fast becoming popular both in the public and private sectors, has a measurability often argued to be complex in the public sector as opposed to the private sector where only monetary values and profits are measured. Even though, the ultimate goal of this HR tool is to drive performance either in the private or public sector, the role of targets in the public sector is often debated as many studies have demonstrated their obscurity by questioning whether ratings or indicators can actually measure performance accurately. However, over the last decades, some studies have agreed that HRM tools have to a certain extent a drive on organisational performance both in the public and private sectors (Carter and Robinson, 2000, Boxall, 2003). In the NHS, the labour government has initiated performance management via the NHS STAR RATING as a tool to drive performance and accountability. A balanced score card which consist of both financial and non-financial measures of HRM measures is used as a multidimensional goal and target in assessing hospital performances. That is, the NHS star rating evaluates hospital performance across dimensions like patient satisfaction, clinical output, waiting times and deliver ing capacity of hospitals (Healthcare Commission , 2004). Hospitals are ascribed ratings of zero, one, two or three stars based on their performances in the score calculation. As a result, higher star rating hospitals acquire greater autonomy whilst managers in lower star rating hospitals are been threatened of their dismissal (Givan, 2005). Some researchers have tried to demonstrate its efficacy, however, other researchers have demonstrated that the associated indicators, targets, star ratings, rewards and punishment are unfair and unreal in the public sector and consequently destroy the blue print of NHS which is fairness, equity, quality and universality. Givan (2005, p. 636) argues that the supposed intention of the NHS star ratings to improve performance and to increase public awareness to quality of delivered health services is only rhetorical. She argues that, in practice, HR performance indicators have not been generated from fair, accurate and transparent data, and as such; the indicators have not fulfilled their primary goals as m any HR directors have expressed their lack of confidence in the quality of data used towards the ratings. She further notes that the public has used the rating as an opportunity to criticise hospitals instead of understanding and appropriately accessing the facilities. The ratings therefore affected how patients patronize hospitals. It was noticed that more patients patronize the highly rated hospitals whilst, the poorly rated ones were less visited with subsequent difficulty on how to restore their image. Another point, Givan (2005) highlighted, is the negative effect the media plays in the association of the public sector performance and the effect of HRM performance measurement. She explained how the NHS publication of hospital ratings has led to the demoralisation of hospital staffs resulting in poorer performance. She argues that the media took advantage of these publications by constantly publicising the negative aspect of health service delivery even though according to her the best rated hospitals are not necessarily the best performing as items measured are sometimes intangible and those not measured becomes insignificant. Bevan (2006) has also highlighted how HRM practices have led to the loss of one of NHS blue print, which is the quality of services provided to patients. He argued that, due to the fact that rewards and punishment have been perceived to be unfair as a result of unfair indicators and ratings, pretence and gaming has ensued amongst practitioners because measurement and ratings are perceived to be presently more weighted than quality of services being rendered. As a result, practitioners have devised means of being measured well as opposed to the focus on quality of service given. Indeed, waiting times have reduced just for hospital recurrences to increase. Moreover, the measurement of service quality within the NHS has been highlighted and argued to represent a form of professional distrust from the government and seen as a breach of professional idealism where a nurse or a doctor can be expected to perform maximally without supervision (Morgan & Potter, 1995). In the same vein, public service employees have been argued to have public service ethos where staffs perform maximally without strict supervision or even any form of incentives (Public Administration Select Committee, 2002). Indeed, to some extent, these researchers have believed that performance management via NHS star rating is a political gimmick for politicians to shift blames of underperformances on professionals who work in the public sector or at least to control the public sector which still perhaps, point to the fact that the public sector is different from the private sector within politicians’ control devices. This is also in line with the notion of Propper and Wilson (2003) who have noted that performance management and NPM are strategic methods used by politicians to assert control over the public and not for its intended purpose for performance improvement as in the private sector. However, although the NHS star rating and the balanced score card have met some form of resistance from professionals and hospitals in the public sector, Aidemark & Funck (2009) have been able to positively demonstrate their effect on practitioners and NHS services. In their study, they explained how competition for efficiency ensued amongst practitioners towards becoming best performing hospital and consequently seen to improve availability of health care services. The balanced score card which consist of most practices from HRM was able to help practitioners work more efficiently by helping them compare more numbers of patient parameters in one unit. For example, comparing patient need, treatment and feedback simultaneously facilitated cost efficiency and reducing waiting times. PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL Moving away from the view of government and NHS institutions, and looking at performance appraisals within organisations, that is, between organisational leaders and employees, HRM practices seem also not to be applauded. The argument is that due to the measurement of intangible goals within the public sector, many of the performance appraisals conducted by senior managers or supervisors would result into a low quality appraisal. Within this context, low quality appraisals are faults generated during performance management processes, which often lead to wrong evaluation/judgments of appraisal either from employee or supervisory perspectives. This notion follows Murphy and Cleveland (1995)’s argument that public sector performance appraisal is a complex process because services are unquantifiable and would most likely result into bias and subjective judgment by the management supervisor. They noticed that these biases often result from the way a supervisor perceives and judges the outcome of the management process. Moreover, the judgment of any managerial appraisal in the public sector can be influenced by so many factors such as emotion, government policy, structures or even the appearance of the person appraised. Treadway et al. (2007, pp. 48-55) further emphasised on the progressive increase in appraisal bias and subjectivity within the public sector. The argument is that supervisors are often noticed to exhibit negative attitudes towards appraisal processes, perhaps due to the reason that they feel uncomfortable giving negative feedbacks to staffs. Therefore, in the public sector, they conduct this process more for the purpose of accountability or just for the reason to be seen conducting it. In the NHS, various studies have been carried out to determine the effectiveness of appraisal systems. It appears that many have not supported their effectiveness. In the study of personnel functions within the NHS by Guest and Peccei (1992), the effectiveness of performance appraisal was ranked 14th out of 17 personnel practices in view. Wilson and Cole (1990) have blamed the lack of sustainability of appraisal system within the NHS to the highly and complex politicized nature of health care. Redman et al. (2000), in their study on the effectiveness of appraisal within an NHS hospital also concluded that the process has not been proven to be fair and effective, perhaps due to lack of time, resources and results ambiguity that makes the process difficult within the health system. REWARD The effectiveness of HRM reward systems in the public sector is another practice that is keenly contested. Bratton and Gold (2007, p. 358) define reward as, the financial and non-financial payment given to an employee by an organization for a successful work done. It is often in form of promotion, recognition, benefits or pay. This new approach of rewarding public sector employees seems more flexible as opposed to the old reward system in which rewards automatically comes after years of service or hierarchy. This new approach may be argued to motivate employees towards work performance since employees are not promoted or rewarded if they do not perform well at work. However, some researchers have viewed this approach to be unethical within the public sector since it goes against the public service ethos of equity, equality and fairness. Some also have demonstrated the paradox and tensions between the pay methods. That is, where an employee perceives the method to be dissatisfactory even though it may be fair, it may cause more harm than good. Some even argue whether public sector staffs that are often seen to be intrinsically motivated are extrinsically motivated. Extrinsic reward within this context is a pay, benefit or promotion rewarded from an equivalently rendered service whilst intrinsic reward is the satisfaction derived psychologically from doing a job without an equivalent pay. Crewson (1997), in his empirical study carried out on public employee to determine to what extent pay incentives will affect motivation to work found out that the majority of staffs were not motivated to do more than how they have often been used to perform. Some were even noticed to demonstrate a demotivation. In fact, the overall notion is that rewards have not been actually effective within the public sector, perhaps, due to the complex and unquantifiable service rendered in public sector, which are often difficult to measure as opposed to the private sector where financial outcome is the basis for performance measurement. The quality and outcome framework of the NHS is an example of an institution that provides financial incentives to its employees (clinical team). It awards points to levels of targeted achievements of care processes and indicators of clinical outcomes. Rewards are directly linked to the number of points achieved. Though Doran et al. (2008) noticed that the framework achieved some changes in employee behaviour and concluded that the process was costly. Campbell et al. (2009), also questioned the relationship between some of its performance targets and the health improvement of its population and concluded that the setting of standard for one aspect of health care have reduced health performance elsewhere. The overall notion is that even though incentives may have seemed to be beneficial, its costly nature within the NHS may not be able to justify its implementation and subsequently its sustainability may not be guaranteed. CONCLUSION The effectiveness of private practices including Human resource management practices in the public sector is still unclear; yet, these practices are continuously utilised in the public sector. Perhaps, this is due to the wide belief that private sector tools are better than its public counterpart in resolving the on-going financial and fiscal deficit. Tools used by the human resource management are performance management, appraisal and rewards. The NHS is no exception to public sectors that greatly depends on these human resource management tools presently in the UK. The NHS having its blue print in fairness, equity and quality has been widely criticised to lose its originality after the initiation of new public management and human resource management. To drive performance within the NHS, the government adopted the NHS star rating which paved the way for various studies to be carried out on its fairness and effectiveness. Many researchers as discussed above have demonstrated the process to be unfair and highly politicized especially whilst questioning the indicators and targets used during this process. Appraisals have also not been applauded by many studies as it is seen to lead to a low quality appraisal via supervisory subjectivity and bias. It has also been viewed as contradictory to public service ethos and has led to distrust between employees with subsequent underperformance of staffs. Rewards in the quality and outcome framework of the NHS have also not been perceived to be effective and where it is, it was described to be costly and lack sustainability within the public sector or at least in the NHS. Overall, this essay holds the opinion that the success in transferring private human resource management practices into the public sector is yet unclear at least in the NHS. Perhaps, this is due to the effect of public sector peculiarity such as intangible measures, lack of resources and political powers as opposed to its private counterpart. As such, practices from the private sector should not be directly transferred but cautiously or modified to the corresponding institution. Bibliography Wilson, J. & Cole, G. (1990). A healthy approach to performance appraisal. Personel Management , 46-49. Aidemark, L.-G. & Funck, E. K. (2009). Measurement and Health Care Management. Financial Accountability & Management , 25 (2), 253-276. Armstrong, M. (2002). Employee Reward, 3rd ed. London: CIPD. Bevan, G. (2006). Setting targets for health care performance: lessons from a case study of the English NHS. National Institute economic review , 197 (1), 67-79. Beer, M.; Lawrence, P.; Spector, B.; Mills, D. & Walton, R. (1985). Human resource management: a general manager’s perspective. New York: The Free Press. Boxall, P. (2003). HR strategy and competitive advantage in the service sector. Human Resource Management Journal , 13 (3), 5-20. Bratton, J. & Gold, J. (2007). Human Resource Management: Theory and Practice. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillian. Campbell, S. M.; Reeves, D.; Kontopantelis, E.; Sibbald, B. & Roland, M. (2009). Effects of Pay for Performance on the Quality of P rimary Care in England. The new england journal of medicine , 361, 368-378. Carter, A. & Robinson, D. (2002). Employee Returns: Linking HR Performance Indicators to Business Strategy. Report 365. Brighton: Institute for Employment Studies. Crewson, P. E. (1997). Public-Service Motivation: Building Empirical Evidence of Incidence and Effect. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory , 7 (4), 499-518. Doran, T.; Kontopantelis, E.; Fullwood, C. & David Reeves. (2008). Effect of financial incentives on inequalities in the delivery of primary clinical care in England: analysis of clinical activity indicators for the quality and outcomes framework. The Lancet , 372 (9640), 728-736. Guest, D. E. & Peccei, R. (1992). The Effectiveness of Personnel Management in the NHS. London: NHS Personnel Development Division. Givan, R. K. (2005). Seeing stars: human resources performance indicators in the National Health Service. Personel Review , 34 (6), 634-647. Huselid, M. (1995). The impact of human resource management practices on turnover, productivity, and corporate finan cial performance. Academy of Management Journal , 38 (3), 635-672. Healthcare Commission . (2004). NHS performance ratings 2003/2004. Commission for Healthcare Audit and Inspection. London: The Healthcare Commission. Murphy, K. R. & Cleveland, J. (1995). Understanding performance appraisal: Social, organizational, and goal-based perspectives. California: Sage. Morgan, P. & Potter, C. (1995). 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Literary Analysis Battle Royal by Ralph Ellison

The society is mainly composed of different individuals with their own unique sense of personality, idealism and characteristics. Each of these factors symbolizes the critically means of becoming an individual significantly apart from the group of humanity as an existent being. In relation to this concept that the aspect of socio-cultural identity is established wherein different individuals bind themselves together through developing their cultural identity and anthropological affinity into groups. Thus, the cultural and race identity factor became a part of the social development of the people. As each cultural and race background was developed unique to the social group that harbors an affinity to this factor, society developed a disparity barrier surrounding each socio-cultural groups based on their anthropological development and historical relationship with the general community. The historical development of each social group indeed played a significant factor in the present identity of that particular division. These differences in the cultural factor and historical background breed in one of the most alarming ethical issue in the present global community, the issue of discrimination. Discrimination is mainly the oppressive social view towards a certain socio-cultural division. This problem is mainly a threat to the ideal vision of social equality across the general human community. The negative problem of discrimination hinders the unification of the people because of the inferior views and opinion of the dominant social community towards a particular division regarding them as an inferior social breed.   For the American society, this oppressive social issue became a significant problem for their people particularly the Negroes. The historical development of American society breeds an oppressive segregation view based mainly on the factors of race and color. This negative issue has resulted to great detrimental perspective towards the established inferior class in this social perception namely the Blacks. As their historical background denotes them as once slave to the white people, the latter continuously perceived the former as such even after the liberation. This means that freedom did not prevail over the social impact of the historical stature of the Black society. Thus, the freedom of the Blacks from the issue of slavery did not entitled them to gain an equal stand in the American society where they still have been discriminated as the inferior race to be ruled over by the Whites. This concept of discrimination is particularly the main theme of the short literary story written by Ralph Ellison entitled â€Å"Battle Royal†. This story was a clear depiction of the detrimental effects that the concept of discrimination posts on development of the lives of the Black people. This literary story focuses on the issue of the struggles of a boy to get a proper education over the obstacles that the issue of discrimination posts on his path to reach his goal. Analysis of the Elements in the Story The story of â€Å"Battle Royal† is mainly centralized on the struggle of a particular boy over the discriminative views of the general society towards his racial background. It is emphasized on the story that eventhough he displayed a series of potential and capability to become intellectually triumphant, he was still held back by the factor of his personal background. This concept is presented in the story through a series of encounters and elements symbolizing a significant issue to the struggles of the character over the oppression and the discrimination he must endure to realize his dream. The story takes place mainly through one particular character who narrates the story, as he perceives it. This boy was clearly depicted as an individual who has a potential to excel on his academic affairs as he once displayed through becoming on top of his class. This character was shown to be on his path towards achieving his dream of becoming a properly educated individual and become successful on a socio-economic perspective. Indeed, this boy has an ideal view and perspective towards his life cultivating his passion to undermine the obstacles he must endure. His awareness towards the adverse issue of discrimination comes from the dying words of his grandfather who displayed a significant passion of remorse on his final moments. He expressed his views of betraying his kind for the sole reward of gaining the favor of their social counterparts who he used to view as the superior ones. He denounced that he has betrayed his people to become a member of the society he once adored though they only rejected him on the end. Thus, he confessed that he sacrificed his racial identity to gain the image of something, which is clearly not him. He shared these opinions to his family on his dying moments as a legacy of advice for them not to follow what he claims as his mistakes. These dying words of his grandfather took a significant toll on the views and social perception of the narrator. At first he has not yet clearly realize the effects of racial discrimination and the obstacles they posts on the path of his dreams. He continuously pounded on the words of his grandfather searching an applicable reality into such concepts while his family members shrugged off these words from his mentality. Then the moment came, when the boy was given a chance to stand before an audience of elite and highly viewed white people to display his intellectual abilities and gain support for his struggle towards gaining proper education. One of his first obstacles was to endure the event of the â€Å"Battle Royal†. The Battle Royal is mainly an event where a group of black boys fights and brawls against each other to gain the dominant position in their group. Symbolically, this event is rooted on the similarly experiences during the period of the African American’s slavery. Battle Royal is particularly where African Americans fight against each other to gain money, prominence, social position among their society though the winner is still segregated from their racial counterparts. This is an approach of the White slave masters to prevent unity among the African American thus delimiting their capacity to fight for their freedom through a unified spirit. As history always tells, people can make significant changes through having a unified hearts and spirit. Indeed, battle royal fosters only infighting and hatred inside the racial community of the African American to delimit their capacity ideal capacities thus, rendering them further as slaves to their counterparts. In this event, the narrator witnessed the negative impact of the segregation issue from the horrified and scared eyes of his fellow African Americans. He saw their kind as a weak and helpless group in front of the prominent and elite white community. He became part of this group and continued struggling in the event, as he perceived it as part of the challenges in his path towards the attainment of his desired education. He was brutally beaten by one of the boys sustaining physical damages on the bout yet, he remained strong and ideal on his conviction. The payment portion afterwards was more oppressive and humiliating than the previous brawl wherein the boys must compete against each other for money while sustaining significant electrocution for the entertainment of their audience. The narrator pit against his group in this process as he waits for the moment of his stand before this elite and prominent audience. He sustained and endured the physical electrocution of his body and personal dignity regarding them again as part of his struggles until finally he was called and recognized to give his speech His speech was the one he delivered on his graduation where he ended top of his class. His prominent society applauded this accomplishment. However, the moment, which the narrator long aspired for, became his personal testament of the oppressive views towards his racial identity. The audience clearly displayed disinterested and unenthusiastic presence during the delivery regardless of the ideal values that the speech depicts. The narrator was only able to grasp strongly the attention of his audience at the point when he unintentionally highlighted the concept of social equality. The audience immediately dissuaded this concept form the narrator as a mere illusion, which the later succumbed into. Finally, he was rewarded with a gift symbolizing the recognition of his intellectual triumph and potentials. He was rewarded with the strong tool for the realization and accomplishment of his aspiration for a proper education, which he viewed as a payment for his struggles. Indeed, the narrator was satisfied. The story ended with the symbolical encounter of the narrator with his grandfather, which is highlighted as the narrator’s chance to answer back the argument given by the later of his deathbed. The narrator proudly displayed his accomplishment of gaining his ticket for his desired education however, this was reprimanded by the laughter of his grandfather. In this part of the story that the author’s accomplishment was regarded as an illusion perpetuated by the white society to hide the racial segregation and discrimination in the general society which the narrator falls victim into. Indeed, the symbol of the grandfather’s character questioned the integrity of the accomplishment of the narrator and the motives behind the said triumph. This reaction implied the fact that the author must not be drowned with the illusion of him being honored by the white people through their material gifts as they were mere cover for the oppressive and discriminative opinion they still hold towards him as an African American. Conclusion In general, the story entitled â€Å"Battle Royal† depicts a series of contradiction presented through the views and perception of the narrator. In the story, the boy endured several challenges of social and racial relevance to gain his ticket for achieving the education he desires with. Based from the personal opinion of the author, he perceives this education as his ticket towards alleviating him and his family through life and society With this ambition, he strongly hold on to this dream enabling him to endure the certain obstacles presented in this path including the discriminative and oppressive views towards his race. Indeed, one of the most significant issues presented in the story as the primary to the dreams and aspirations of the narrator is the oppressive segregation that the society has for his race. Indeed, because of his racial background, he was viewed as an inferior individual regardless of his previous intellectual accomplishment and the abilities he possessed. Though the society represented by the narrator’s audience in the story realizes this potential, their appreciation displayed through the scholarship award is still influenced by the segregation concept in their society. This idea is presented through the events needed prior to the award, the reaction of the audience to the mere mention of the word social equality, and the title presented in the scholarship in particular. In addition, the oppressive and humiliating nature of the event he must first participate with to gain an audience with the prominent and elite individuals of their society also manifests as a significant challenge on his path. Indeed, events and social views such as the â€Å"Battle Royal† which are all rooted on the concept of racial discrimination and segregation become part of the challenges and hindrances that the author must endure to achieve a decent education and a successful individual as an African American in their society. As what his grandfather has expressed in his dying moments, to become successfully greater than their social counterparts, an African American must live in the territory of the white people and endure their oppressive perception, from it, shrugged off the hindrances and rise far greater than the oppressive dominant race.