Saturday, August 31, 2019

Foreshadowing In “The Lottery” Essay

Shirley Jackson depicts a special day, June 27, in the lives of the inhabitants of a small, apparently serene village. The use of foreshadowing is applied extensively to hint to the reader that despite the seemingly festive occasion, there is something morbid about the lottery that causes the people of the town to be uneasy. Jackson foreshadows the ironic conclusion with specific examples and both ominous and tense diction. The earliest indication of the peculiarity of the day’s lottery is the little boys had â€Å"already stuffed [their] pockets full of stones† (422). One knows that a lottery in modern societies definitely does not involve rocks, so the idea that the town’s lottery is much different than the ones known in today’s world is introduced. The fact that the men who begin to gather for the lottery stand â€Å"away from the pile of stones† shows that the stones are not a jovial part of the day’s events (422). These examples give the reader the idea that there is something important, yet shady about the pile of rocks. And although the men told jokes, â€Å"they smiled rather than laughed† (422). If the lottery was a carefree event, the men would have had no problem with laughing. The description of the actions of the group of men creates the impression that the lottery is a serious event which is not about laughing matters. During the lottery, after most of the men had chosen and drawn their scrap of paper, they sat â€Å"turning them over and over nervously† (425). If the lottery was being conducted to give out some sort of reward or prize, they would have seemed eager, not nervous. Jackson also describes the way Mr. Summers and Mr. Adams grin at each other as â€Å"nervously† (425). The repetition of the word nervous reinforces that the lottery is not one of fun and games. In addition, Mrs. Dunbar’s anticipation for Mr. Summers to â€Å"hurry† shows that the lottery is not the type of occasion the people enjoy participating in and would rather get over with quickly (425). Therefore it is obvious that the lottery would not have a pleasant outcome. Instead, the lottery must have some sort of negative outcome that is serious enough to make the entire town nervous. The most significant sign of the abnormal nature of the lottery is the introduction of the â€Å"black box† (422). In most people’s minds the color black is associated with death. When it is revealed that there are scraps of paper in the box, the reader is also exposed to what the box is used for: to hold the papers which the villagers will draw. In essence, the connotation of the color black creates the impression that when the villagers draw from the box, they are drawing for a chance at death. This example foreshadows exactly what will happen when the story concludes. Next Jackson describes the lottery as being a â€Å"ritual† that once involved a â€Å"chant† (423). The connotation of these words also supports the idea that the lottery revolves around death. When one thinks of a ritual, pictures of Ancient Aztec or Mayan sacrifices come to mind. And when one thinks of chanting, images of hooded figures preparing someone for a sacrifice surface. So through the use of ominous nouns and adjectives, Jackson is explicitly stating what is going to happen as a result of the lottery; a human sacrifice is going to take place. Although as the story progresses there is more and more of a feeling of doom, the reader does not become acutely aware of what takes place after the lottery until Mrs. Hutchinson cowers in a corner with the mob approaching her. If one analyzes the color of the box and its purpose, it is possible to predict the outcome of the lottery, but otherwise all other methods of foreshadowing provide the reader with a strong feeling that something disturbing is going to occur.

Friday, August 30, 2019

Not My Business and ‘District 6’ compared Essay

The poem ‘Not My Business’ is written by a Nigerian poet Niyi Osundare. This poem is a dramatic monologue and uses a fictional narrator to reflect upon how the Nigerian society is affected by the political and military misuse of power and authority in addition to the people’s rejection to revolt against injustice. The poet uses the narrator’s ignorant and selfish personality to display the abuse of power not only in Nigeria but also around the globe. The title ‘Not My Business’ is short and simple to communicate the idea that South Africa’s socio-political status has not changed since the end of apartheid. The tone is very direct and shows the narrator to be ignorant and selfish. In addition to this, the structure of the poem emphasises his detachment with the people; the lines in which the narrator talks about himself are kept separate by the poet to stress his feeling of superiority over others. However, the narrator suffers the same fate at the end of the poem. The first stanza consists of Akanni being kidnapped. ‘They picked up Akanni one morning’. The poet uses the kidnapping to emphasise how the government’s attitude towards the public is like. The use of ‘they’ is an obvious indication of the military to the audience but is kept vague to engage the reader’s mind to the poem. Furthermore the poet uses ‘stuffed him down the belly’ to make the reader feel as though the government are like predators waiting to leap at anyone who opposes them. Osundare also uses this stanza to elaborate on the soldiers’ relentlessness towards the people, ‘beat him soft like clay.’ He uses this line to show the cruelty and injustice laid upon the people, because of the abuse of power and violence used to discourage individuals who resist them. The word ‘clay’ helps to describe the methods of torture used to punish attempts at what the government calls transgression. The poet goes on to show the ignorance of some of the people, ‘What business of mine is it so long they don’t take the yam from my savouring mouth.’ The narrator’s selfishness is shown by the mention of ‘yam’ which represents his food, comfortable home and self-occupied lifestyle, despite mentioning what happened to Akanni. Also, the poet uses the narrator’s eccentric personality to reach out to people who share a similar attitude. Additionally, the word ‘savouring’ helps to illustrate the greediness and materialism of the narrator in the reader’s mind. The second stanza begins by showing the mysteriousness of the military, ‘They came one night’. This implies that the army can come at anytime and the people are never safe. The narrator further goes on to show the brutality of the military, ‘booted the whole house awake’, which suggests that the army has injected fear in the minds of people. An abrupt feeling is formed with the use of ‘booted’ creating a sudden sentiment of fear. Furthermore vague terminology is used by the narrator to describe what happened to Danladi. ‘Then off to a lengthy absence.’ This emphasises the narrator’s desire to distance himself from reality. The poet uses the phrase ‘lengthy absence’ to show the narrator’s unwillingness to acknowledge that a threat is eminent from the government. Therefore the narrator regardless, lives with the atrocities that surround his society. In the third stanza Chinwe is fired from her job. ‘Her job was gone.’ The poet once again shows the government can strike at anytime any day. Osundare uses the repetition of ‘no’ to emphasise that Chinwe was sacked without legitimate reason. He does this further with ‘a stainless record’. This shows the influence and injustice of the government in the society as well due to the incident occurring in spite of Chinwe’s innocence. The refrain is used to make the reader feel that the narrator doesn’t have any remorse or guilt for not caring about the other people around him. The last stanza involves the narrator himself being taken away, ‘And then one evening as I sat down to eat my yam a knock on the door froze my hungry hand.’ The narrator’s tone is fearful and surprised. His ‘hungry hand’ shows his selfishness and greed. The poet uses alliteration to put emphasis on this. Furthermore, the repetition of ‘waiting’ creates tension in the reader’s mind and stresses the helplessness of the narrator when his own words come back to haunt him. It also coincides with the second stanza where the jeep is also ‘waiting’ for danladi. Lastly, the structure of the stanza shows the irony of the narrator’s situation, that he also suffers the same fate as his neighbours. The poem District 6 is written after apartheid by Tatamkhulu Afrika who is a white South African poet and is a dramatic monologue. Afrika amplifies his anger at the situation of South Africa by using a black South African narrator to show that discrimination is still widely active. The narrator feels the post-apartheid period should have been different. Throughout the poem the poet voices his disappointment with the racism and discrimination. The poet’s attitude consists of anger and frustration which is reflected and emphasised at the end of the poem where the narrator want to resort to violence. District 6 is shown to now be a run-down levelled place, ‘Small round hard stones’. This quote displays to a certain extent how District 6 has not changed since the apartheid government destroyed the area. In addition, the poet uses the consonance in ‘small round hard’ to depict the hostile and unpleasant environment. Furthermore, he uses a bitter tone, ‘seeding grasses thrust bearded seeds’. This is shown by ‘thrust’ which carries an aggressive attitude making the statement resentful. This is emphasised by the continuous repetition of ‘sss’ sounds used in this stanza. The narrator continues to stress District 6’s destruction, ‘trodden on, crunch in tall, purple-flowering amiable weeds’. He repeats the same idea twice using ‘trodden on’ and ‘crunch’ for emphasis showing the unchanged situation of district 6. The poet further uses the narrator to show a sense of belonging to District 6 in the second stanza, ‘my feet†¦my hands†¦my lungs†¦my eyes.’ Throughout the stanza the narrator emphasises his recognition and ownership of District 6 as if he grew up there. His defiant tone suggests that he is demanding back what is his and continues to do this with the repetition of ‘my’. At the end of the stanza anger is shown which shows his connection with District 6. The poet goes on to emphasise his anger at the contrast between races. ‘Brash with glass, name flaring like a flag, it squats’. He uses an aggressive tone to display his fury at the existence of a structure with thrives on racism. The rhyming ‘ss’ sounds at the end of ‘brash’ and ‘glass’ help to fuel the effect of anger in the reader’s mind. Also, the narrator shows how active and unopposed racism thrives through, ‘name flaring like a flag’. This shows the freedom of racism specifically because the inn is located in District 6 due to its significance in South African history. Furthermore, a mocking tone is used for emphasis with ‘it squats’, suggesting the white are occupying the inn illegally. Tatamkhulu relates to the title in the fourth stanza, ‘No sign says it is, but we know where we belong.’ The narrator conveys a mocking tone which echoes the idea and base of the poem, coming from the title ‘Nothing’s Changed’, that the situation of District 6 has been constant due to whites still occupying it since apartheid. The stanza is used to remind the reader of the cause of the destruction of District 6 which happened due to racism and discrimination. Furthermore, the poet uses the narrator to how his exclusion and separation from the white society, ‘I press my nose to the clear panes.’ This shows the narrator’s curiosity, but also suggests the existence of an invisible barrier, ‘clear panes’, between him and the whites. In addition, the narrator anticipates and emphasises the lavish lifestyle, ‘know before, I see them, there will be crushed ice white glass, linen falls, the single rose.’ The poet creates an atmosphere of luxury and beauty in the reader’s imagination. The use of ‘single rose’ at the end of the stanza suggests an upper-class influence. The reader is made to feel anger and disposition to antagonism towards the unfairness and discrimination directed from the white society. The next stanza leans towards the inequality still overshadowing the non-white society, ‘working man cafe sells bunny shows, take it with you, eat it at a plastic table’s top.’ The blacks are shown to be a lower class which contrasts to the upper-class whites in the previous stanza, despite the end of apartheid. The narrator also uses ‘plastic top’ to show the difference and neediness between blacks and whites. The last stanza reverts to the main picture of the poem, ‘boy again†¦hands burn, for a stone, a bomb to shiver down the glass’. The use of ‘boy again’ suggests that nothing has changed since the narrator was a boy and the word ‘shiver’ reflects the frustration in the narrator’s mind. Furthermore, the use of ‘stone†¦bomb’ helps the reader to understand the possible causes of violence throughout South Africa to be like calls of anger against racism. To conclude, the poem ‘Not My Business’ was written because the Nigerian public has no motivation to rebel and fight against injustice or tyranny enforced by the government. The narrator is shown as an example of what will happen to the people if they refuse to repel the injustice laid upon others and that they will eventually succumb to the same fate if they continue to be ignorant. In the second poem, ‘Nothing’s Changed’ summarises that South Africa has not yet managed to overcome its issues of racism, injustice and inequality despite being in the post-apartheid era. The poem acts as a plea to all South Africans to come together and unite to create a civilised society with equal rights. In my opinion, both poems share the idea that the people should unite and act against injustice and oppression, though in different ways; the message is universal: Unity will bring peace and harmony amongst the people.

Thursday, August 29, 2019

CASE STUDY ABDOMINAL AORTIC ANEURYSM Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

CASE STUDY ABDOMINAL AORTIC ANEURYSM - Essay Example The initial observations showed. The patient was very cold, tachycardia with a pulse rate 100-105beats/minute, respiration 24-30/min, in respiratory distress and cyanosed. On auscultation had wheeze on both sides 4liters of oxygen was given. BP Systolic 84-80mmHg, dystolic65-62mmHg. He was complaining of back pain left side but no chest pain. The GP had been in to see him and thought it was abdominal pain and prescribed cocodamol. The patient was cachexic and pale. The working diagnosis for the ambulance crew was Dysphonic. ACCIDENT AND EMERGENCY DEPARTIMENT:- On arival vital signs 35 degree centrgrade,pulse122/min,respiration2/min, BP120/81mmHg. Blood sugar20.3mmol/L saturating oxygen 97%. On examination femoral pulse was absent. Rectal examination bowel was soft. The chest x-ray showed no focal mass. ECG showed ischemic changes of the heart. Blood gas was within normal. Abdominal x-ray showed partial gas with mega colon. Full blood count, urea and electrolyte and coagulation study were done. Urinalysis showed protein presence. NaCl 0.9% was given for low blood pressure. Morphine 10mg IV was given stat CT scan abdomen showed ruptured aortic and vascular atherosclerosis. Diagnosis of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm was made. The patient was explained the findings, consent obtained for surgery and he was prepared for Theatre. A preoperative check list was done and he was taken to theatre with all the documents. OPERATING THEATRE:-The surgeon inserted stent graft, which is a tube of conventional graft fabric containing two stent. Because the aneurysm was ruptured the patient received 470mls cell saver blood, 11units RCC, 1000mls gelofusine, 3000mls 0.9%normal saline, 1000mls20%mannitol, 1unit platelet. OPEN AND CLOSE SURGERY ANDVANTAGES AND DISADVATAGES Abdominal aortic aneurysm is the swelling of the aorta. Aorta is the body's largest artery (the blood vessel that carries oxygen-rich blood). This artery extends from the heart down through the chest and abdominal region, where it divides into a blood vessel that supplies each leg. Although an aneurysm can develop anywhere along the aorta, most occur in the section running through the abdomen (abdominal aneurysms). Abdominal Aortic Aorta (AAA) can be treated by means of open surgery and the close or endovascular surgery. Open surgery The most common and widely used treatment for aneurysm is the open surgery. This includes the replacement of the swollen part of the aorta with artificial graft. The graft is made of material that does not wear out. It is sawn in place with a permanent suture material. The open surgery is done by making an incision depending on the location of the aneurysm. If the aneurysm is confined to the abdomen, then an incision either in the abdomen or on the side or flank may be used. The open surgery may cause a severe blood loss, greater trauma to the aorta and patient must stay in the intensive care for a longer time. This procedure is not recommended to patients who have high risk of complications. The surgery must be determined by the medical team before proceeding into the operation. Endovascular surgery or closed surgery In recent years, a treatment has been developed to repair an aneurysm without major surgery or an

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Economic Growth Experience Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Economic Growth Experience - Essay Example Therefore, real GDP is preferable as it gives a more accurate view of the economy. Per capita GDP is the most preferred measure because it shows and compares relative performances of each given country. There are problems that may arise when comparing the growth rate of different countries; this may be due to components that are used in one country in calculating their GDP may be omitted in the other country. In additional to that the economies of the two countries may not be equal or homogeneously comparable. However in any country whereby there is a constant increase in per –capita GDP may signify improvement in welfare and living standards. Other statistics that can be used in analyzing economic growth of a country include income distribution analysis, household consumption and wealth analysis. These statistics are not widely used in all countries compared to GDP, but they work efficiently giving the same results. Year GDP GROWTH Growth rate (%) Mean rate Deviation from mea n(?) 1990 544.7 1991 533.8 -10.9 -2 1.78 -3.78 14.2884 1992 531.1 -2.7 -0.5 1.78 -2.28 5.1984 1993 542 10.9 2 1.78 0.22 0.0484 1994 565.4 23.4 4.3 1.78 2.52 6.3504 1995 581.2 15.8 2.7 1.78 0.92 0.8464 1996 593.7 12.5 2.2 1.78 0.42 0.1764 1997 614.4 20.3 3.4 1.78 1.62 2.6244 1998 628.6 14.2 2.3 1.78 0.52 0.2704 1999 635.7 7.1 1.1 1.78 -0.68 0.4624 2000 650.4 14.7 2.3 1.78 0.52 0.2704 ?=17.8 ?=30.536 a) The growth rate is given in column 4 above and the overall growth rate is; {(650.4-544.7) ?544.7} ?100 =19.4% b) The average growth rate shall be; (-2+-0.5+2+4.3+2.7+2.2+3.4+2.3+1.1+2.3)?10 =1.78 c) The standard deviation shall be; vn; where n is the number of years. Therefore; v30.536/10 = v3.0536 = 1.75 The GDP growth rate has been relatively stable over the years. Q.3 (a) Alpha Beta Gamma Growth Rate 0.05% 2% 6% 2001 $1,000.00 $1,000.00 $1,000.00 2002 $1,005.00 $1,020.00 $1,060.00 2003 $1,010.03 $1,040.40 $1,123.60 2004 $1,015.08 $1,061.21 $1,191.02 2005 $1,020.15 $1,082.43 $1,264. 48 2006 $1,025.25 $1,104.08 $1,338.23 2007 $1,030.38 $1,126.16 $1,418.52 2008 $1,035.53 $1,148.69 $1,503.63 2009 $1,040.71 $1,171.65 $1,593.85 2010 $1,045.91 $1,195.08 $1,689.48 2011 $1,051.14 $1,218.98 $1,790.85 2012 $1,056.40 $1,243.36 $1,898.30 2013 $1,061.68 $1,268.23 $2,012.20 2014 $1,067.00 $1,298.60 $2,132.93 2015 $1,072.32 $1,319.47 $2,260.90 2016 $1,077.68 $1,345.86 $2,396.56 2017 $1,083.07 $1,372.77 $2,540.35 2018 $1,088.49 $1,400.24 $2,692.77 2019 $1,093.93 $1,428.24 $2,854.34 2020 $1,099.40 $1,456.81 $3,025.60 2021 $1,104.90 $1,485.94 $3,207.14 2022 $1,110.42 $1,515.66 $3,399.56 2023 $1,115.97 $1,545.97 $3,603.54 2024 $1,121.55 $1,576.89 $3,819.75 2025 $1,127.16 $1,608.43 $4,048.94 2026 $1,132.80 $1,640.59 $4,291.87 2027 $1,138.46 $1,673.41 $4,549.38 2028 $1,144.15 $1,706.87 $4,822.34 2029 $1,149.87 $1,741.01 $5,111.68 2030 $1,155.62 $1,775.84 $5,418.38 2031 $1,161.40 $1,811.35 $5,743.49 With a growth rate of 0.5% the GDP of alpha is expected to rise to $1161, beta $1811 , and gamma $5743 by 2031. Q. 3bSmall differences in growth rate could have a big impact on countries’ economy Q.3c.The per capita GDP at a future year, (tn) shall be given by; Vtn = Vt0*(1+CAGR) n 1. Where; CAGR is the compound annual growth rate 2. Vtn is the GDP at time n 3. Vt0 is the initial GDP at the beginning Q.4 a. 1960 2000 Minimum GDP per capita $456.2411 $515.0736 Maximum GDP per capit

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

The role of legal systems in corporate governance Essay

The role of legal systems in corporate governance - Essay Example A Legal system is composed of a constitution, the different types of legislative bodies and legislation that is done by subsidiary law-making bodies like county authorities that carry out legislative duties such as the creation of by-laws (Brealy et al, 2007). Most legal systems in the world have two different branches that include civil law that deals with the law of torts, divorce law and the common law branch that deals with the commission of crimes and felonies. The judiciary is used for the determination of cases that fall in both civil and criminal law. The laws that deal with the collection of taxes and the administration of the tax laws fall under tax laws. Corporate governance has the stewardship approach where management is viewed as the stewards of the organization in terms of the asset management and employment as well as deployment of such assets in a manner that is consistent with the overall strategy of the organization (Enneking, 2012). It also sets out the accountability of the company towards the relevant authorities. Most companies are required to have a document setting out the corporate governance structure and policy. Corporate governance also entails the management of challenges that arise from separation of an entity’s ownership and its control. This discussion will focus on various issues; to begin with it will provide elaborate information in regard to the impacts of legal systems on corporate governance. Moreover, it will attempt to describe the effects of these systems on monitory unions and MNE firms. Background information shall also be provided that delve with legal systems as well as corporate governance. Legal systems affect almost every aspect of the society; one of the societal aspects that is affected by these systems is corporate governance. It is therefore crucial to research and determine the effects of legal systems on corporate governance

Monday, August 26, 2019

THE LOTTERY Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

THE LOTTERY - Essay Example The purpose of the lottery is not explicitly stated in the story though a more detailed analysis of the story would reveal that the lottery is done to ensure a good harvest the next year. The villagers believed that they have to sacrifice one of their members to ensure enough rain: thus, a good corn crop next June (Tibbett, par.2). In the beginning of the story, there seems to be a very festive mood. It was a sunny day when the lottery was held. Again, Jackson makes use of irony here. A sunny day implies something happy will happen but readers are again misled into believing so (Cummings, par.11). Community members, the old and the young ones all gather together in the town square. The reader gets the impression that this is a grand town activity that is being looked forward to every year. All family members need to be present that the reader begins to wonder what is so special about this event. The kids are innocently gathering stones and having the time of their lives. Who would ha ve thought that the stones gathered by the kids would play an important part in the gruesome ending of the story? The black box used in the lottery is full of symbolism. Jackson could have chosen another color to describe the box, but why black? Black is symbolic of death. It is a premonition of the horrible event that will befall on one of the community members. â€Å"The black box grew shabbier each year †¦Ã¢â‚¬  Again, Jackson uses the box to represent the community’s adherence to tradition. The lottery began seventy-seven years ago and it became a tradition passed on to several generations. Though the tradition is outdated, the community did not want to make any changes symbolized by their refusal to change the box no matter how deteriorated it is (Blaylock, 2003). Although Mr. Summers talk of changing the box every year, no one really took it seriously. Here we can see that Mr. Summers is caught between tradition and the changing times. The readers may perceive hi m as someone with a weak personality. He represents people who are afraid to break tradition for fear of being criticized and unacceptable to the community members. Since he has no family to be proud of, he values his reputation in the community as shown in his dedication to civic activities. This lottery is of utmost importance to him as it shows his authority over the other members of the town. The name of Mr. Summers implies something sunny or cheerful but is actually the exact opposite of his being evil, him being the leader in this horrible tradition. Another character in the story which shows how the elderly are reluctant to change is Old Man Warner (Byemonday, 1). He even calls the young as a â€Å"pack of crazy fools†. Jackson uses the name â€Å"Warner† to depict someone who â€Å"warns† others not to change, to stick to tradition (Cummings, par. 12). Aside from the black box, another character which foretells of things to come is the postmaster, Mr. Gr aves. The name â€Å"Graves† shows how Jackson puts importance even in the names of the characters that she uses in her stories. The postmaster is a person in-charge of delivering mails. Mr. Graves is portrayed as someone who together with Mr. Summers is part of this conspiracy of â€Å"delivering† someone to his grave. He is the one who prepares the slips of paper and he also brings the stool where the black box is placed. Another symbolic character in the

Sunday, August 25, 2019

Much Ado About Nothing Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Much Ado About Nothing - Assignment Example As Boggs and Dennis (46) said â€Å"Much Ado about Nothing† is an interesting film that mirrors Shakespeare’s poetic and an all-encompassing entertaining prowess. I would recommend the film to any individual who wants to have a view of the 16th century literature redone with modern aesthetics and presented as film. As Landrum (751) said, Dogberry  is the constable manning the Watch. The chief law enforcement officer of Messina is relatively honest and demonstrates a high level of seriousness in executing his policing tasks. However, his habit of employing incorrect terms to communicate is what differentiates his portrayal in the script and in the film. In the text his actions are not well defined, but with Nathan Fillion acting as Dogberry, viewers are effectively treated to a great drama surrounding the character’s â€Å"wrongful† choice of words. The film actor is known for turning his rather distracting approach (in the text) to an elaborate sense of parody in the film. In Act II, Scene III, the garden scene features the practice of a new ploy that can only be captured in film and not any other forms of art. Don Pedro, Leonato and Claudio persuade Benedick that Beatrice loves him. The romanticist trickery seems to be bearing a fruit when Benedick buys the idea. The character is of the opinion that he is spying on his comrades, but, because his presence is no longer a secret, they intentionally raise their voices to be heard. The romanticist drama created by Leonato, Don Pedro, and Claudio as they attempt to suppress their laughter about the possibility of Beatrice breaking down under the weight of her emotional attachment to Benedick depicts blind romance between the two characters, which unlike other forms of art, filmic trickery helps to connect (Landrum 785). In the subsequent Act III, scene I, Hero and Ursula pull a trick upon Beatrice, which surprisingly blinds her just the same way as Claudio and Don

Saturday, August 24, 2019

End of Life Choices Research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

End of Life Choices - Research Proposal Example In addition, the practice would lessen the urgency to develop new medicines designed to prolong life. Those who oppose the practice on religious grounds argue that it is ‘playing God’ therefore sinful. Health care professionals cite the Hippocratic Oath which forbids them from carrying out this procedure. This paper will examine the moral and ethical concerns surrounding euthanasia, clarify the meaning of the term, present arguments for the practice and conclude with a recommendation to resolve the issue. Euthanasia describes a situation in which a terminally ill patient is administered a lethal dose of medication, is removed from a life-support system or is simply allowed to die without active participation such as by resuscitation. A doctor’s involvement in the procedure could be to either prescribe a lethal dose of drugs with the express intent of ending a life or by intravenously inserting a needle into the terminal patient who then activates a switch that administers the fatal dose (Naji et al, 2005). Assisted suicide by physicians and non-physicians has been legal in Switzerland since WWII. In addition, three organizations within the country have been established to aid terminally ill patients. They provide patient counseling as well as the drugs for use in the procedure. Lethal injections, however, are not allowed. The unusual situation in Switzerland holds that assisted suicide is allowed as long as a physician is not a part of the process (Hurst & Mauron, 2003). Eutha nasia has been legal in Belgium since 2002. Each case must be reviewed by two physicians before the procedure is carried out by either ingestion or injection. In The Netherlands, euthanasia has been legal for four years but has been tolerated for two decades.

Affordable Care Act Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Affordable Care Act - Essay Example This memo will investigate the impact of ACA on Employer-Sponsored Insurance (ESI) and will specifically examine various aspects of the Act that can discourage large employers’ to offer healthcare coverage to their employees. This can ultimately result in reduced access and quality of the healthcare services and increased costs. ACA is a law of primary importance for the people of United States because it aims to address many long standing issues with our health insurance policies including the coverage of children on parental policy, cessation of ‘donut hole’ for seniors, elimination of lifetime dollar limit on coverage, free preventive care and many other provisions with an aim to cover every segment of the society to maximum possible limit of coverage, even the uninsured people with a program to extend access to insurance and more funds to states to help them in extending Medicare facilities to low-income seniors. In essence, the program is a tremendous effort to fill the gaps of insurance coverage while safeguarding the rights of stakeholders. Still, there are areas which required attention of the legislators to device some amendments in the program in order to ensure and extend its impact on access, cost and quality of health care services. The employer sponsored insurance coverage is the hottest among the controversial issues associated with provisions of ACA that are supposed to be in effect by 2014. There are two major aspects of the ACA provisions, firstly the impact of Tax Credits to small businesses and its impact on coverage offers by the employer to low and medium salaried employees and secondly the impact on large employers after 2014 when the law will be in effect with all its provisions. The employer-sponsored insurance (ESI) is of immense importance to the American people because larger employers plays an important role in overall health insurance coverage and if these firms decided to drop the coverage its impact will certa inly deplore the positivity of the ACA. However, there is a clear divide among the experts and analyst over the estimates of large firms’ response in 2014. Some forecast a big drop in ESI and other estimate it to be stable. â€Å" While the overall ESI market is likely to remain fairly stable, modelers and other experts agree that some firm types and covered subgroups are likely to experience changes in coverage soon after 2014.† (Avalere, 2011). Although most of the surveys and analysis project a stable ESI market in post-2014 scenario, there are experts, firms and analyst who oppose with some valuable reasoning and proclaim that ACA provisions can cause a major shift in employers’ policy of health insurance offerings. â€Å"Overall, 30 percent of employers will definitely or probably stop offering ESI in the years after 2014.† (Singhal, Jeris, & Drew, 2011). This is certainly an alarming statement because of heavy reliance of nonelderly Americans on emp loyer-sponsored health services and no real solution of increased healthcare access and quality can prove beneficial unless it addresses this sector correctly and U.S. Department of Healthcare and Human Services is aware of the fact, â€Å"The U.S. employer-based health insurance market provides insurance coverage to nearly two-thirds of the population under 65. In addition, nearly 80 percent of the uninsured live in a family where at least one adult is employed. Therefore, building on these programs might be an attractive component of any

Friday, August 23, 2019

Final Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 3

Final - Essay Example It impacts the reserves held by banks and other institutions to lend money to corporations and households. On a larger scale, it affects the supply of reserves in the banking system, and thus the interest rates and overall growth in the economy. a) If central bank sells government bond, it takes money in exchange for the bonds. This reduces the reserves of private sector banks, and their capacity to make loans to households and corporations and thus cause money growth to decline through money multiplier mechanism. The central bank usually targets a certain level of bank reserves or a particular interest rate for these reserves. OMO allows Fed to affect the supply of reserve balances in the banking system and therefore influence short term interest rates. Given that Fed sold 1 million dollars’ worth of government securities, and that the money multiplier is 5. The reserves of banks and lending institutions to go down by $1 million, this money could have been used to give out lo ans worth $5 million (Amount X Multiplier). This is part of Fed’s tightened the monetary policy. The graph below shows how a change in the supply of money influences interest rates. The supply curve of money shows the quantity of money supplied, with all other things remaining constant. As the quantity of reserves is determined by the Fed’s monetary policy, the supply curve of money is assumed to be vertical line. ... The components of GDP include: Consumption (C) Investment (I) Government Expenditure (G) Net exports (X - M) These components are easily influenced by changes in interest rates. When interest rates are high, people do not want to borrow money through loans as it is more expensive to repay. This reduces the demand for most of the products such as cars, new houses or house renovation, large appliances, luxury goods etc. which causes the overall consumption in the economy to fall. Businesses also avoid raising money for expansion or start up through loans because the interest rates are higher. Similar is the case for government borrowing. As interest rates increase, the foreign investment will tend to rise because foreigners will get a large return on their investment. This drives up the demand for dollar and causes exchange rate to rise. As exchange rates surge, our imports will become cheaper and their demand will rise; exports will be more expensive for foreigners, so their demand wi ll fall. The graph below depicts how a change in the aggregate demand will impact price level and real GDP of the economy. The graph above shows a shift in aggregate demand curve from AD to AD’, it shows the impact on price level as prices have reduced from P to P’; the real GDP in the economy has fallen from Y to Y’. As we know that the demand for labor is a derived demand, that is, it is required only when a higher quantity of other goods is required. If the aggregate demand for goods and services in the economy goes down, a lower quantity of labor will be required to produce these goods. People who are willing and able to work will not find jobs,

Thursday, August 22, 2019

Production And Operation Essay Example for Free

Production And Operation Essay 1(a). The word measure is defined as the process of approximating or estimating the magnitude of an object in relation with some units of measurement. I t usually involves the assignment of nun-negative real numbers to the subsets The term productivity is also defined as the measure of the production process output divided by the number of unit of input. For instant, labor productivity is usually measured as the ratio of the labor output per hour and input. Therefore, the quantitative aspects of the input and output are put into consideration (Christopher Voss (1984). Generally, productivity of higher education is defined in terms of how much individuals and the society as a whole are gaining from the educational sector, considering the resources that they employ. It also shows whether the system is wasteful in any way as well. The issue of productivity is looked at in two dimensions. That is, the efficiency perspective and the effectiveness perspective. Efficiency looks at the level as well as the quality of the education services obtained from the available resources. A sector that produces higher quality or greater quantity of outputs using the same resources, then it said to have improved efficiency. On the other hand, effectiveness focuses on the extent which the needs and demands of the customers are met by the providers. The stakeholders in this case include the students, local communities, faculty, the state governments and the nation at large. Therefore, it’s clear that productivity improvement is a multidimensional process which depends on the goals and missions of the particular system at hand. Under measure productivity, the general approach that is employed mostly is the development of measures of both the effectiveness and efficiency. These measures are then employed together so that productivity improvement is measured. Through the use of input and output measures, there could be either the technical efficiency ratios used to measure the physical output per unit input, or the use of economical efficiency ratios that compare and contrast the outcomes to the inputs. However, the present problems that hinder the measure of the input and the output do not make easy for the creation of these measures. Therefore, it is necessary to rely on direct measures where the resources employed by the industry are put across together with the outcome and the quality of the services. In situations where the industry produces multiple outputs, these outputs are always weighted using some criterion and then summed. b). Looking at the relationship between strategy and operations management, we first define the terms. The word strategy refers to the long term plan of actions that is designed to meet the set aims and goals. On the other hand, operations management refers to the process of ensuring that all the activities that are meant to be carried on in the industry are carried on in to achieve the set up goals and regulations. For the operation management process to be successful there has to be the long term goals that must be strategically set. These goals are the key drives of all the processes that take place in the entire industry. Therefore, the strategy used should be the one that is achievable and relevant to the operations at hand. The production management process should also be in line with the long term action plans that are set so that it will be easier to meet the set goals. The process should be handled in a formal manner in order to promote or make the whole production process easier. These set goals as well as the long term actions should be made known to the employees of the company and the public as well so that they can contribute towards the achievement of the same. For instant, in a higher education industry, they should set long term actions to produce the best students or to be the best research institutions. The goals set should be those that are achievable and the community as well as the students, the lecturers and the non teaching staff should all be informed about all these. c). The terms Cost of Poor Quality (COPQ) refers to the costs that are generated due to the production of defective materials. These include those costs that are used in bridging the gap between the desired and actual service quality and products. It also consists of the costs of losses in terms of the opportunities caused by the loss of recourses that are later used to correct the defects. COPQ includes all the labor costs, the rework costs, material costs and the disposition costs. However, it does not include the detection as well as the prevention cost. For instant, in the tourism industry can have the COPQ whereby the services offered to the tourists are not to the standard due to lack of enough accommodation or workers. Hence, to rectify this, they employ more workers and build up or renovate their buildings in order to improve there services. On the other hand the term cost of quality is widely used but mostly misunderstood. It is defined as the cost of not creating a quality product or services. This cost increases every time work is redone. For instant, in the tourism industry, they incur this cost when their workers fail to offer perfect services to the tourists as they may end up being discouraged from visiting the country again. d). A toy market that is ready to sell its new products has to follow different procedures in order to reduce the time that it will re quire to sell these products. First, there will be need for a massive advertisement either in the papers, televisions and live shows so that they can inform the consumers on the products. This in tern will keep the potential customers aware of the products in a manner that they will be encouraged to purchase these products that they will need to purchase. Another main point that the toy manufacturing company should take into consideration is the quality of the toys that they produce and sell to the customers. The toys that of good quality will definitely take less time as compared to the toys of bad quality. The price of the products, that is the price which the toys are disposed at will also affect the time that the products will take in the market. Cheap or affordable products will take short time in the market as compared to the expensive products or unaffordable products. When the company that is manufacturing the toys plans the type of toys that they produce, they should take into consideration the technology at hand and the age that they are targeting. For instant, toys are basically meaningful to the young children hence should be designed in a manner that they will be attractive to the children and can be handled by them as well. This will definitely reduce the marketing time for the new products. 2). The three basic capacity expansion strategies include the process focused strategy, the repetitive focused strategy, and the product focused strategy. These are all aimed at improving the production management and control systems as a whole. Under the process focused strategy, the available facilities are organized by the process itself and all the similar processes are put together. There is also the presence of a low volume, but high variety products, as well as the presence of a jumbled flow. This strategy has its merits and demerits in general. The advantages of this strategy are: Availability of great product flexibility that ensures that the products are modified incase of any need. Availability of more general equipment that are used to handle many tasks at a time. And there is room for low capital investment thus even the poor can afford to invest in the business. The disadvantages are: Need for very highly trained personnel which expensive to higher and fire. Availability of more difficulty production planning control process that needs a lot of money to run and consumes a lot of time. And poor equipment control process hence more expense to organization since these equipments may spoil any time or get lost. Under the repetitive focused strategy, the facilities are often organized by the use of assembly lines. It is mainly characterized by the use modules which are combined for many output options (Philip E. Hicks (1919). The advantages of this strategy are that it is seen to be more structured than the process focused strategy and enables Quasi-customization. It also enjoys economical advantage of a continuous process since it makes maximum use of modules. The product focused strategy has facilities that are organized by the products (Jay Hezier (1996). There is also room for high volume, low variety products and is usually found in the discrete unit manufacturing company and the continuous process of manufacturing.The advantages of this strategy include: Lower variable costs per unit which reduce the production costs in general leading to reduction in selling prices. Availability of lower but more specialized labor skills hence production is efficient and meets the demands of the consumer. Possibility of easier production planning and control hence saves time and reduces production cost as well. And the presence of equipment utilization and maintenance. The disadvantages are: High probability of lower product flexibility Need for more specialized equipments that are expensive And need for a very high capital investment thus closes doors for the poor in the society. 3). It is not easy for the jobs to be designed as well as be incorporated in order to meet all the characteristics in the principles. However, it is important to note that jobs should form a coherent whole independently or through involving the related jobs. The whole performance of the job should ensure that there is a significant contribution to the completion the services and the products (Meric S. Gertler (2004). It should also ensure that there is provision of a variety of pace, location, method and skills that are necessary. It should also provide feedback of the performance to the other people directly. Discretion and time control should be given chance as well as the sequence and the pace of work efforts. The job should also ensure that some responsibility for outcomes is included; there is room for learning and problem solving within the competence of the individual. It should also be done in a way that it leads towards a desirable future. The individuals should be free to develop in a way that they find relevant. Job specialization is defined as the process of separation of the organizational activities into tasks that are distinct and involves the process of assigning different tasks to different people. On the other hand, job enrichment is seen as the motivation of employees by giving opportunities to them in order to range heir abilities. For instant, in an institution that deals with learning, there are different departments that deal with different things at a time. Each department has its heads that are the key decision makers. A job that is enriched has a variety of tasks as well as varying challenges in difficulties, a meaningful work, has a feedback, encouragement and good communication. Â  Job enrichment includes the process of turning the employees’ efforts into performance, links the employee’s performance to the rewards directly, and makes sure that the employees are interested in the reward. For instant, in an organization, employees who have performed well in their work are given promotions at the end of a certain period of time in order to motivate them. On the other hand, job specialization ensures that the employees are good in a particular section as compared to the other sections hence can work best when given the chance of working there. In most cases, it does not involve rewards but takes into consideration the ability of the employee and the experiences at hand (Richard B. Chase (1998). Job specialization also ensures that there is decentralization of activities and powers. Decisions here are made at the different levels depending on who is in charge of the area affected. This does not apply to the case of job enrichment since the main aim here is to motivate the employees References Richard B. Chase (1998). Production and Operation Management. McGraw-Hill College, ISBN007517102 Jay Hezier (1996). Production and Operation Management. Prentice Hall PTR, ISBN0132444844. Meric S. Gertler (2004). Manufacturing Culture: The Institutional Geography of Industrial Practice. Oxford University Press, ISBN0198233825. The Encyclopedia Americana: A Library of Universal Knowledge, page 484. Philip E. Hicks (1919). Industrial Engineering and Management. McGraw-Hill, ISBN0070288070. Christopher Voss (1984). Research in Production/Operations Management. Gower Pub. Co., U.S.A, ISBN 0566007592

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

The Importance And Significance Of Self Awareness Social Work Essay

The Importance And Significance Of Self Awareness Social Work Essay Self awareness, according to Wong (2003), means recognition of our personality, strengths and weaknesses and likes and dislikes. As a social worker, self awareness is an essential element to prepare oneself to encounter the clients personal matter, their attitudes, thoughts, etc. The essay is going to discuss the importance and significance of self awareness. Then talk about what I have learnt about myself, in terms of my personalities, attitudes, strengths, limitations and how my past experiences affect me. Finally correlate how self awareness can help my professional development as a social worker. According to Rothman (1999), everyone has its own attitudes or viewpoints towards something. Our thoughts and values are shaped during the time of infancy, childhood, adolescence and adulthood. These thinking may be based on our own experiences, education received or society influences. It is clear that our past experiences, social norms, values from the others, characteristics, prejudices or stereotypes shape Knowing how my past experiences influence my own values helps me to be more aware of my own self. Having an uncle who committed suicide that made my family, especially my grandmother, sad and miserable, I personally hate people who have the intention to end up their lives. However, this hatred may make me unable to make the most appropriate decision when a client who has the will to commit suicide seeks help from me. Moreover, as suggested by Biestek (1961), the relationship between the social worker and the client has been called the soul of casework. It may be hard for me to develop appropriate relationship with the client. It is possible that I will have uncontrolled emotional involvement and judgmental attitudes towards the client. Without self awareness and knowing what experiences shape my thoughts, I will experience difficulty in providing sensitive and skillful services to the clients. I may also unknowingly reject the client and avoid talking too much about death unconscious ly. However, by knowing what experiences are affecting my values and thoughts, Rothman (1999) suggested that it assists the worker to work with clients, and to control and minimize the influences of personal attitudes and beliefs that may be harmful and prejudicial toward clients. Prejudices, biases and stereotypes may be great barriers on my professional development. It is common that when come to minorities such as prostitutes, homosexuals or the street sleepers, people may regard their behaviors as unethical. It may due to their personal values, cultural, religious and other beliefs which people take for granted to adopt when facing these issues. I also have prejudices and stereotypes on them and they may be expressed in conversations, acts or behaviours since they are hidden in the subconscious as suggested by Rothman (1999). I may unknowingly have words that harm them and make them defensive or not trust in me. Thus making it hard to develop good relationship with the client and hard to have intervention processes. For example, I have been exposed to a strong heterosexual bias and may incorporate some homophobic reactions such as discomfort or hatred of homosexual people. Without self-awareness and knowledge, I may not be able to provide skillful services to gay or lesbian clients. If a worker has religious belief, he or she may even have a strong belief that homosexuality is a sin. According to Sheafor and Morales (2007), one of the competences required for social work practice is the capacity to engage in ethnic-, gender- and age-sensitive practice. In order to achieve this, it is essential for a worker to find ways and methods to separate their personal belief system from their professional values, ethics and roles. Knowing my strengths and weaknesses also helps me with my professional development. I am glad and patient to listen to others. At the same time, I am also empathetic to others experiences and difficulties. It makes the clients feel being respected and thus it is easier to develop a proper client-worker relationship. It is of utmost importance that the client trust you Reflecting on our own experiences and developmental stages helps when working with clients. For example, I was shy and not willing to express my care towards others in my childhood. And I would have no opportunity to show my love to my grandmother who died years ago. The losses in my life make me re-think the way I used to be and strive for a change, that is, be more outgoing and caring to others. I can thus draw on my personal experience when working with young people and guide them in the changing process. However, it also makes me consider my limitations, that is, when working with elderly clients. I can relate my experience that is similar to a teenagers, however, it is impossible for me to have certain difficulties faced by elderly clients such as the aging process. As suggested by Berman-Rossi(2001), a social worker thus must develop aging relevant knowledge, self awareness, sensitivity and skill. Knowledge about aging demographics, age-related changes and developmental tasks i s essential. Although there are limitations to my service provided, there are ways to minimize the inadequacy. Increased openness to other ways of thinking My family is a blissful one, sometimes having some conflicts but still harmonious on the whole. I once thought that it is normal to have the kind of family like mine, and at least most of the families are alike. However, it is wrong as there are diversities in family structure. Some families are single-parented, while some may have huge communication problems among family members or having family members that are drug addicts that greatly affects the family. Sharing own feelings and thoughts among a group of peers helps to make up ones own viewpoint towards the population. By listening and sharing, one can know more about the peers attitudes on the issue, to examine their own attitudes and to exchange opinions in an overview. One can also have a broader view on an issue and Social workers must confront their own prejudices and stereotypes about minorities. Making myself known about losses in my own life helps me to understand what past experiences or feelings are affecting my own values and thoughts today.

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Waterfall Model Vs Prototyping Model

Waterfall Model Vs Prototyping Model Software products developed in todays era are mostly customer oriented. It is either drives the market or it driver by market. Customer Satisfaction was the main aim in the 1980s. Customer Delight is todays logo. Market needs more customers oriented and less emphasizes on the technology. Though the technology factor is always the prime factor behind the deliverables, the product should always satisfy the customer needs. The product development should start focusing on the customer requirements in case of both the retail based products and products developed based on pre-defined specifications. The software products like other engineering products have various types of development or manufacturing strategies to obtain the final output. The most famous software development strategies are as follows: Waterfall Model Evolutionary Model or Prototyping Model Incremental Model Spiral Model The most used models are Waterfall models used for generally small scale projects and single release based software products, whereas the Prototyping Model is used for developing large scale products generally developed in multiple parts rather than single release also called version of release. The software developments strategy I prefer is Prototyping Model. The reason for selecting the Prototyping Model encourages progressive strategic development with course of time. With prototyping model, I am also using non-agile approach and USDP methodology as active part of the development process. The usage of the prototyping non-agile approach and USDP methodology is justified below to be the best choice for my Project. WATERFALL MODEL vs. PROTOTYPING MODEL Waterfall Model is a flow based model which consist of following phases:- 1. System/Information Engineering and Modeling 2. Software Requirements Analysis 3. Systems Analysis and Design 4. Code Generation 5. Testing 6. Maintenance A Waterfall method of software development has to pass through every phase once, and not meant to go back to previous phase again. Once the requirements request made freeze, changes cant be done during any phase. That is why, it is used rarely now a days. Due to this If there is any change in requirements, and then it becomes difficult as well as costly affair. Apart from this each phase takes a lot of time to produce solution for its consecutive next phase as it is irreversible process the solution should be well optimized and satisfactory. If one phase result goes wrong means subsequent phases get effected. Prototyping Model is a technique that uses the technique of replication of few aspects or feature of expected product and it is then developed upon it to obtain the full software. It can be called designing of software prototypes or temporary versions of software program being developed for full edition deliverables. The main theme behind the prototyping is to allow users to evaluate developers proposal for the design of expected product based on real time analysis by user rather than interpreting by the developers themselves. So it is also referred as an efficient way of controlling the prototype that act as a key factor in the commercial relationship between clients and respective solution provider. The client and the contractor can compare if the software made matches the software specification, according to which the software program is built. In Prototype strategy of development as we create a number of Prototypes of the product, before the release of final one. We release number of Prototypes with some differences between them just as versions, and take client opinion, and modify the final Product, as per client suggestions. Prototype is developed by keeping currently known requirements in the mind. Development of prototype undergoes design, coding, testing like phases which give client an actual feel of the system. Prototype is a model which looks exactly like Software development life cycle (SDLC). AGILE MODELvs NON-AGILE MODEL Agile software development is mainly based on iterative development in which solutions are generated from the collaboration between the phases and functional teams of development. The agile software development approach has taken the software developing industry by storm. Agile software development has been en vogue in this decade. It started with the popularity of Extreme Programming (XP) and Kent Becks series of books on the topic. Somewhere it creates a misleading impression that agile is not formal and hence maintenance cost is reduced or controlled by spending more on up-front design. Of course, traditional (non-agile) methods shine in other areas. Agile methods are counter indicated, for example, where there are no system experts, so that only exhaustive study can possibly reveal whats truly needed. Most agile methods are, of course, informal, and so will not work unaltered in a problem area where formality is one of the requirements; but enough agile methods have been formally documented that for any formal project where exhaustive study is NOT a requirement, there should be precedent for using a (formal) agile method. Non-Agile software development provides a traditional simple way to develop software. It reduces the whole cost as well as time consumed in the development. It is less affected from the type of resources. Management information system (MIS) A management information system (MIS) is a process that provides the information which are essential to run an organization professionally. MIS are totally different from regular information systems in that they are used to analyze other information systems applied in operational activities in the organization. Academically, the term is commonly used to refer to the group of information management methods tied to the automation or support of human decision making. MIS are computer-based system that provides managers with the tools for organizing, evaluating and efficiently running their departments. In order to provide past, present and prediction information, an MIS can include software that helps in decision making, data resources such as databases, the hardware resources of a system, decision support systems, people management and project management applications, and any computerized processes that enable the department to run efficiently. MIS are designed for ease of any type of business or organization. Now almost every kind of organization has its own MIS. It is a suite of software applications that together make it possible for people or businesses to store, modify, and extract information from a database. There are many MIS places in your everyday life like in banks, hospitals, hotels; colleges and universities have their own management system. MIS are helpful for organizations and institutes. Universities have their own managements systems. There are many departments in a university like examination, admission, registration, administration, hostel, finance. All these are required a proper and complete management, so for this reason MIS are designed to manage these departments. Every department has its own MIS which is specifically designed to handle its operation like data retrieval, storage and modification. Whenever the internet came every organization and institute is try to provide the better facilities through making their MIS online to satisfy their client. Todays every company and organization is moving on internet and building database in such a way that provided the better facilities and interaction to their clients as compare to past. Library information system (LIS) LIS are designed to record and maintain the information related books and activities of library. LIS plays unavoidable role in a university library because it provides the information about all types of books in a better organized manner. LIS keeps the track of all the books in a university. It contains records of each and every book and the members who borrowed the book. In other aspects LIS also serves as an accounts manager for library. It tracks and calculates possible fines, takes care for member securities and when required provide monetary calculation related to library to the university accounts office which manages university financial resources. The LIS is always ready to share data with the university central accounting system [1]. Traditionally manual file based systems serve as LIS in universities. Registers and note books are used to maintain records for available and borrowed books. A university having multiple departments normally has requirement to maintain a separate register for each department and sometimes for each session a department may demand to have a separate register. This builds a large register set which is very difficult to maintain and is highly error prone. In such scenarios to issue book needs much effort whereas at the same time to calculate and report monetary issues, and perform other managerial tasks may sometimes take days or even weeks. The library user pool is mainly the students and the university staff. Library cards are issued to each of them. When Students or staff members borrow books from library, the librarian needs to search for the relevant register and enter the information of borrower and the borrowed book on relevant page. At the same time he needs to assure that the member should be clear from library issues, the book can be borrowed and it is also his responsibility to provide the member with his time to possess the book. Sometimes members are not known to timings or forget to return the book in time even when they want to return it. In manual management of LIS it is not possible to regulate to process of warnings for library members when their returning dates are near to come. On the very other side where student are staff also feel very difficult to integrate with such system because the most irritating part of this system for them is the time took on any process, either to borrow book or to search book or most irritating when they need their clearance from the library and it take a day to just get a single signature. The only solution to these drawbacks of manual LIS lies in automation of the library information system by computerizing it and integrating with other management systems of a university. By automation of LIS it means to develop a fully computerized system that serves to enable the complete library operations through computers. Automations have some traditional advantages over manual systems like no paper work required and easy to backup, higher consistency of data and it is possible to schedule those tasks which are somewhat impossible in manual systems. Similarly, in context of LIS automation results in ease of library administration, control and tracking processes. The convenience of both librarians and members who use library is increased due to higher decrease of time. It becomes a matter of minutes to perform managerial tasks and estimating monetary matters and many other issues which are never resolved in manual systems. It all becomes wonderful when automation also occurs in making the system online, because through this the system becomes available for 24 hours 7 days a week. It means the student has no need to go through so many book racks to find a book and does not need to go to library to reserve a book. He just needs to go there and get his reserved book. He must not be worried to remember the returning date because he knows that he will be sent an alert indicating the return date of the book he has borrowed. So all this becomes more and more convenient with the increased automation in the process of LIS. LIS Automation for university means to develop a fully computerized system that enables the complete library functions through computers. The system provides the basic set of features to add/update/delete member, add/update/ delete books, search for books, and manage check-in / checkout processes. Automated LIS is designed to meet the needs of libraries both large and small, not only to meet the traditional requirements of a resource centre, but also able to keep track on borrowed books in university. This system is very helpful for university staff, student members and librarians because this system is also interact with the bar code reader and magnetic card reader. When the student and staff members are registered in university they are issued library cards from library. Through this card they can borrow books from the library. When they enter in library their cards are identified through the magnetic card reader and barcode reader is helpful for them in searching the books. The automation of LIS lessens human efforts in university. The maintenance of the records is made efficient, as all the records are stored in the database, through which data can be update, delete and retrieved easily. It also reduced the chance of frauds and errors because all things are computerized. Existing solution EXISTING SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE The existing LIS in university is completely manual and file based. It contains the records of all books and members of the university so this builds a large register set which is very difficult to maintain. In this situation to issue book, return book, fine management, catalog management and member registration verification need much effort whereas at the same time to perform other managerial tasks may sometimes take days or even weeks. C:Documents and SettingsATIFADesktopuntitled.JPG Figure 1: Manual Library System In this system, it is also very difficult to control the process of warnings for library members (student and staff) when their returning dates are near to come. Student and staff members are also faced the problem of book search and borrow. And when they need their clearance from the library, it also takes a day to just get a single signature. In existing manual system all the library members (librarian, staff and students) are faced a lot of difficulties when they are going to issue book, return book, fine management, book catalog management and member registration verification. Issue Book To issue a book in an existing system is a big matter because when student and staff members borrow books from library, the librarian needs to search for the relevant register and enter the information of borrower and the borrowed book on relevant page. At the same time the book can be borrowed when librarian is assured that the member should be clear from library issues. Return Book To return a book process is also very irritating and time consuming as well as the issue book process. Sometimes members are not known to timings or forget to return the book in time even when they want to return it. In this system it is not possible to regulate the process of warnings for library members when their returning dates are near to come because this system is completely manual. Fine Management Because the existing LIS in university is completely manual so the fine management is also a tuff and time consuming task. It is very complicated to tracks and calculates possible fines, takes care for member securities and when required provide monetary calculation related to library to the university accounts office which manages university financial resources. Book Catalog Management University central library contains the records of all books related to its every department and its LIS is manual so the book catalog management is not easy. When members returned the borrowed books then there is no proper management to see is the book is placed at right location or not. To add, delete and search the required book is time consuming process because librarian needs to arrange the proper registers for this. Member Registration Files and registers are used in university for member registration, so that all the student and staff members records are saved on them. When the members information are added, deleted and updated the entries in associated registers are also updated which required a large amount of time. Student and staff members registration information is also required to LIS to issue the library cards of each of them. Library staff adds all these information in registers to keep the track of members of LIS so this is also required enough time. The complete functions of existing system are shown in figure. It represents the overall functionality of library in university. Proposed System Architecture Scope of Proposed System Library System is a library information and knowledge management system. This application is used to support a librarian in managing a book library in university. The system is designed to provide the basic set of to add, delete or update members, add, delete or update books, and search for books processes. The main focus of this system is to reduce human efforts. The maintenance of the records is made efficient, as all the records are stored in the database, through which data can be retrieved easily. Some of the other specific objectives of the Library System are as following: Minimum amount of work should be required. Special hardware such as bar code reader and magnetic card reader should be used with this system for security and efficiency. Permanent storage of data should be done easily by using the database instead of the registers. It provides the interface for librarians to interact with the backend library database. It provides the interface to add, delete or update new student and staff member in the database. It also provides the interface to add, delete or update book information in the book database. GUI to search for a book based on user inputs. It provides the interface to check out of books which are issued by student and staff member. It also checks in the books which are returned by student and staff member. Calculate and manage the record for fine. Provide a facility to automatically send reminders to university members when required. Product Perspective The Library System is developed for the library to help the staff members, students and Librarians to search and borrow books. The system provides information related to books to the members of the library. The Librarian can keep the tracks of books updated all the time so that the student and the staff members get the up to date information all the time. This system is developed to interact with its users like librarian students and staff members of the university. The system has to interact with other systems like: Library System, Member Registration System, Catalog Management System, Accounting System, Email System, Fine and Reminder Bot System, Purchase Management System, and Online Client System of university. Software Requirment specifications Introduction The library system provides the information about the books available in the Library. It provides different type of services for its users, such as reserve book, renew book, check items, and check fines and view hold requests in the account. The following requirements specifications and required functions of the Library System are given below: Library members The Library has university staff and students as its members. All members must be registered with the library and issued with Username and Password for accessing their account in Library System. Book issue and return When a library member login via his account he can issue books. The system restricts the borrow limits as this a staff member can borrow up to 4 books up to 4 weeks and a student can borrow up to 2 books for up to 2 weeks. When a book is borrowed or returned by the library member, the information should be captured in the system and the account of the member should be updated. Only book items can be issued in library, currently journals and magazines should only be read in the library. Fine calculation and send late book reminders The system is able to calculate fines and send reminders to members automatically. When a return date is overdue, information about overdue items, overdue days and accumulated fines is sent to the user via email. Adding and deleting books Librarian is responsible to maintain the information about catalogues and library members. He can add, update and delete books in database. Querying to find books The system provides search functions to library members they can search a book through online catalogue. All book items in library are searched either by ISBN No or Author. Report generation Library system generates reports for the system administration automatically. User characteristics The main users of the system are student and staff members, librarian of the university who maintain the system. It is assumed that the members and librarian have the basic knowledge of internet and computers. This system ensures that the system administrator have enough knowledge of the internals of the system such as he is able to correct the small problems like disk crashes and power failure. The proper GUI, users manual, online help and the guide to install and maintain the system must be provided with the system to educate the users. System Constraints All the users information must be stored in a database that is accessible by the library system. The library system is connected to the university server and that is available 24 hours. The library system is accessible for the users who have internet connection with their computers in university. The Member Registration System, Catalog Management System, Accounting System, Email System, Fine and Reminder Bot System, Purchase Management System, and Online Client System are connected to the Library System and the database used by these systems must be compatible with the interface of the System. The users login into Library System through their username and password which they are assigned. System Assumptions and Dependencies Enough knowledge of computers should be required. To access the system online in university internet connection should be required. Library system can access the university student database. Microsoft SQL Management studio 2005 to store the database. To developed the product by using ASP.Net and C #.Net. Requirements For the Online Table Booking system following features will be provided to the customers related to table reservation. Students/Staff Requirements Search Books Search Issue Book by Student/Staff ID Search Reserve Book by Student/Staff ID Get Fine by Student/Staff Get Total Fine for Student/Staff Analysis Models Design Models The Physical design of the system is developed from logical design, which is completely based on logical design [9]. It is completely based upon the relationship among the data rather than the storage structures. The systematic organization of data which is used in automated system makes a database different form of record keeping [10]. While designing the database for the system, theses facts such as data integration, data sharing, no redundancy and data consistency have been taken care. Physical design consists of Table Design and Specifications. Database Physical Schema Tools and Technologies Tools and technologies refer to the text which describes the used and required technical specifications of the designed system. The system is a kind of information system which is targeted to be an n-tier application without losing desktop application style. The requirement to be n-tier and also to have a desktop application demands for a technology combination where following areas can be integrated to build up the system. Centralized data source Interoperability Ease of use Integrity Availability Integrating with the existing system Rapid development All these areas have their own constraints, some of which make it difficult to introduce them in a single system. While our technology study our team was working to find a solution that can help us in such a situation. In earlier stages we had an idea to provide a client server application where the data source will be centralized server and clients will call that for data services. This idea could have worked if the available time was not very short, so we left this option. Later we found a better solution to design a web application that provides the required services and we started working upon that but soon our team found a complete solution that had solved our problems. Creating a web application has some constraints which are number 2 and 3 in the above list. These constraints were removed by the new solution where we shifted to service oriented architecture and used a protocol based approach to provide data to our client application; this architecture is named as SOAP Service Oriented Architecture Protocol. Deciding finally on our system architecture we decided to use the same database management system, which is used by the university website. This decision was to support to integration of the new product with the old system and for the same reason we had used the web technology used by the website. One of the targets of the system design was to lower the cost for the deployment of the developed system, because it will only add up with the existing system and no changed will be required. On the other side no need to buy or manage or maintain any new server. It will just require simple system with required software packages installed and the system will start providing its services. Normally there will be no need to configure the client side application. The coming text will describe the software technologies which were used to design the software with their justification to use them. Server Side: Server side was build with following technologies: ASP.NET The reason to use this web technology is already described above. The website for University of Sargodha is designed using ASP.NET and is currently active and working. So to support integration with the existing web application our team decided that we must use the same technology there are using. It is very famous Microsoft technology and is used to build any kind of web solutions from simple personal websites to n-tire enterprise level web application. In comparison with other similar technologies like PHP and Java Server Pages it focuses on development of quality products rapidly. MSSQL Server 2005 MSSQL server is a database management system which is a product of Microsoft. It is very famous with medium scaled data driven business solutions. It supports client server architecture and at the same time it also provides parallel user access to the databases. Such kind of DBMS also sounds good for web technologies. In normal practice MYSQL another DBMS is used more frequent on web due to the compatibility of MYSQL with LINUX / UNIX based operating systems. MSSQL is only compatible with Windows based operating systems. Similar is the case with ASP.NET, from the introduction of MSSQL 2005 and ASP.NET both are known to be the best for each other for web technologies. The university website is also using the same combination and that is why we also are using the same technology. Web Services Web Services are a technology which is derived to provide a central source not only to provide data but also to receive data. There are many pros when we talk about this technology. Its expandability is inherited from web. Similar to a website a web service can also have unlimited number of clients, only constrained by the hosting server of the web service. This was the biggest reason to use web services in the designed solution. It does not cause change in the existing architecture of the system, but just add to the existing system. This kind of integration ability was very useful for the designed system. Web service use a protocol named SOAP which uses xml to transfer data to/from the clients of the web service. The global nature of xml enables another option in web services, that they do not restrict their clients to be the one kind of system. Any system, which can generate the kind of xml schema required for a web service and can receive and interpret the returned xml document from the web service, can call it. Another reason that made us to use the web services was the ease to call them, we called them from our desktop application where they worked just like normal routine calls, and it made it easier to proceed with the same system. Crystal Reports This technology refers to generating reports from vast data to support business decision; in our system we used crystal reports to generate several reports which are help full in providing the results regarding the library information to higher management. The reason to use this technology was to make it easier to generate reports. We concluded the ease with crystal reports from there automatic database interpretation and retrieving objects from the database schema to design reports. Reports designed in crystal reports are also not very specific to IT; their design can be modified by any designer so university is not constrained to us for required change after the deployment. Client Side: .NET The name Dot Net refers to a Microsoft technology framework which is intended to design managed and secure applications. The reason we used this framework was the ease and speed of development which is supported by .NET. The application, build on .NET assemblies needs .NET to be installed on the system where the application has to run. Our client application requires pre installation of .NET on the hosting system to run on it. The application was built using .NET 2.0 so at least .NET 2.0 or any newer version can support the application. Visual C# It is a programming language with is supported by .NET development environments. The reason to choose this language was to focus on the functionality of the system rather than bug fixing. Communication Method The server side of the system has to be deployed on a web server with the existing website. So considering this the system uses Ethernet as the communication medium to send and receive data from web services. To call/discover the web services the system uses HTTP protocol to send and receive requests to web services. Browser Technology While developing the web based interface, we have tried to make it well formed on most famous browsers which are IE6, Firefox 3.0 and Chrome 1.0. In all of these browsers it has almost similar and well formed look and feel. Another browser is targeted theoretically, which is safari. But this browser is not tested. Regarding to studied problems most of the layout is static which has a complete compatibility in all browsers. No layout uses absolute or relative positioning. System Evaluation introduction The library information management system is designed and developed using the client server architecture and is implemented

Monday, August 19, 2019

Blakes View on Oppression of Children by Adults Essay -- William Blak

Blake's View on Oppression of Children by Adults Blake was a poet who wrote in the Romantic period. He had idealistic views about life, and believed that the traditional country way of life was the best way to live. He despised the industry that was establishing itself in England because it was the opposite of the ideal country lifestyle that Blake idealised. The idea that Blake believed that children were oppressed is an interesting one, because, there are a number of poems which suggest different ideas about this topic. The poems that I will be using to address this issue are ‘The Echoing Green,’ ‘Nurses Song,’ from innocence and the ‘Nurses Song,’ from experience. ‘The Echoing green,’ is quite a positive poem. The image of the sun rising: ‘The sun does rise,’ on the first line symbolises new life beginning and immediately establishes a positive tone to the poem. In the second stanza Blake writes, ‘Such, such were the joys When we were all, girls and boys, In our youth time were seen On the echoing green.’ This image shows that the memories of the old people when they were children are of the ‘joys†¦On the echoing green.’ This doesn’t suggest that they as children were oppressed. The use of the word ‘joy,’ shows that people were happy to see them playing, and that they were happy too. Blake uses an image of children sitting about their mother’s knee, he writes, ‘Round the laps of their mothers Many sisters and brothers.’ This image of children around their mother’s knee is an image of security and safety. The fact that they feel they can sit about the knee of their mother, in this stereotypical image of a happy family doesn’t suggest that the children in this poem are oppressed... ...y has a negative view of the childish desire for play which clearly has an effect on the children. The fact that they the are whispering shows that they are afraid of the nurse, and that they cannot express their true thoughts and desires freely, which is why they whisper, and therefore shows that Blake feels that children are oppressed. I feel that the two poems from innocence which are ‘The Echoing Green,’ and ‘The Nurses Song,’ display Blake’s ideological view of country life which I referred to in my introduction, and show his desire for childhood to be enjoyed. But the ‘Nurses Song,’ form experience shows the reality of life: that it is hard, and people, like the nurse in the song aren’t happy and full of joy, like the memories of the old people in ‘The Echoing Green,’ and therefore, Blake’s poetry confirms the view that children are oppressed by

Sunday, August 18, 2019

The American-European Culture Issues in Fitzgerald, Wharton, Faulkner and Hurston :: Fitzgerald Wharton Faulkner Hurston Essays

The American-European Culture Issues in Fitzgerald, Wharton, Faulkner and Hurston In both F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Tender is the Night and Edith Wharton’s The Age of Innocence, the relationship between American culture and European culture is explored. By focusing on rocky relationships and love triangles, both authors are able to study the allegories of American and European life, and their effect on young lovers and their families. Although Tender is the Night and The Age of Innocence take place largely on separate continents, the ideas of human desire, aging and privilege are prevalent in both works. The characters in Wharton’s work are initially defined by their social status. Behind every one of their actions and interactions are the underlying themes of wealth, old money and the protocol of the affluent. Because of the influence of families like the Van Der Luydens, Archer is unable to pursue Ellen Olenska once he has become engaged to May Welland. His ultimate pursuit of happiness is limited as much by the people surrounding him as personal hesitance, and because of this Archer comes close to losing the American dream promised to him because of his bloodlines. Ultimately, Archer finds himself an unwanted visitor in Paris, a harbinger of pain and unfulfilled promises who can only wonder how his life could have been different. Though his life has fit the expectations of the American dream without Madame Olenska, it is the society he ascribes himself to that keeps Archer from realizing a different dream—to follow the forbidden love he develops for Olenska. Wharton shows the false construction of the American dream in the chapter in which Newland and May host their first dinner party. The couple has been trained to assume certain roles in the marriage. Because of their upbringing in such a deliberate and critical high society, the Newland Archers are expected to entertain guests with the same tradition and in the same manner as did their parents, and thus the dinner is revered as a milestone for the couple. â€Å"It was always an interesting occasion when a young pair launched their first invitations in the third person, and their summons was seldom refused even by the seasoned and sought-after† (328). The Archers’ ability to ignore the underlying problems they refrain from discussing in order to earn acceptance in the wealthy community speaks to the expectations and pressure placed upon them by their ancestors and friends.

Comparing the Treatment of Death in the Movie Antz and Antony and Cleop

Comparing the Treatment of Death in the Movie Antz and Antony and Cleopatra At first sight, Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra and the movie Antz seem to bear little resemblance to each other. Not only does a time period of almost 400 years separate the publication of Antony and Cleopatra from the first broadcast of Antz, but the very species of the characters differ as well. Yet, in the two stories the characters’ thoughts and actions are surprisingly similar, especially in regard to the thematic elements of war and death. Antony, the middle-aged Roman general in Antony and Cleopatra, and General Mandible, the unfeeling commander in Antz, both share the opinion that the life of an individual soldier does not matter. Instead of trying to ensure the safety of their soldiers, they endanger them by taking great risks. Antony persists in fighting Caesar at sea although Enobarbus warns him that a fight at sea would mean to â€Å"throw away the absolute soldiership [he] has by land â€Å" and to â€Å"give [himself up] merely to chance and hazard.† Similarly, General Mandible declares war on the termite colony and remains indifferent when Cutter, one of the soldiers, objects that a battle against the termites is suicide. Antony and Cleopatra presents large-scale death in a more distant way than Antz. Shakespeare’s play does not contain bloody war scenes displaying slain men. Death in Antony and Cleopatra retains a certain nobleness and dignity because the audience does not see unpleasant moments of suffering nor disfigured war victims. Antz, by contrast, shows the brutality of war and the disfigured corpses of the ants and termites after the battle. Barbados, who saves Z’s life during the battle, is dismembered -- at the neck -- by the ter... ...mes most horrible at the end when General Mandible, in a sudden uncontrolled rage against Cutter, reveals his whole cruelty and shouts: â€Å"I am the colony.† At first sight one might expect that in Antony and Cleopatra war would be the predominant theme, for the Romans are well-known as warriors throughout their early history. It may therefore be surprising to find that Shakespeare’s play focuses less on detailed battle scenes than Antz, especially since the latter is a children’s movie. But maybe the emphasis on war in the movie is not a contradiction to the fact that it is primarily intended for a very young audience. Are not the children of today the voters and politicians of tomorrow and would it not be beneficiary for the future of mankind if before agreeing to a war those voters and politicians reminded themselves of Barbados’ last words â€Å"Think for yourself†?

Saturday, August 17, 2019

At Mornington and Father and Child Essay

Gwen Harwood’s poetry explores ideas of the rejuvenating powers of memory, the inexorable nature of time and the adversity of advancing through various stages of human psychological development and the extent of life and death. â€Å"At Mornington† and â€Å"Father and Child† are poems which both demonstrate Harwood’s distinctive voice that transcends the barriers of time and examine universal issues that are pertinent to all. Moreover, the ability for these two poems to provide different interpretations makes them relevant to differing contexts with differing values. This is seen with two variant readings, a psychoanalytical reading and a post-modern reading. ‘At Mornington’ is a reminiscence of the persona’s life, evaluating the extent of life and death through memories, as shown by the first person point of view and past tense. It contains â€Å"memories of early childhood† that are described as â€Å"light in a sea-wet shell†, fragile and fleeting. The persona also continues to explore a collection of other memories and meandering thoughts, which the persona draws strength from in order to cope, understand and make sense of the present and the inevitability of her future death. The idea of memories in turn leads the poems into a psychoanalytical reading, in conjunction with a post-modern interpretation. The poem starts with the persona stating: ‘They told me that when I was taken to the sea’s edge’, implying that her memories are dependant on what ‘they’, her authoritative figures have told her, implying how they are dictated by that of authority. However memories can sometimes be unreliable as there are points of doubt where the persona ‘seem to remember my father fully clothed’. A post-modern view also shows authority losing power and individuals challenging them, as when the persona â€Å"leapt from my father’s arms† after being â€Å"taken to the sea’s edge. † The scene is a metaphor for an individual escaping from the passive grasps of authority, represented in the father, and acting upon their own interests. The fact that the persona was taken to their current position illustrates their lack of control over the situation, however, the persona later asserts control, breaking free of the authoritative figure and is controlling her own life. The inexorable nature of time is contemplated by the persona to make sense of her life. Through language and the lifecycle of the pumpkin as a metaphor of her own life, the persona defines herself in order to gain solace. The ‘pumpkin’ presented an image of the persona’s youth and innocence. She refers to â€Å"fine pumpkins grown on a trellis† at her friend’s house as a â€Å"parable of myself† as she ages, rising â€Å"in airy defiance of nature† towards the sun before returning to earth. The metaphor of the pumpkins striving to reach â€Å"the light† comments on both the physical and metaphysical aspirations of humans, and the confrontation and acceptance of death. It shows that she too has grown above her ‘humble station’ – not necessarily external success but bridging the gap between the conscious and unconscious. However, this metaphor alone is insufficient to make sense of her existence, and it is this gap between reality and the naming of it which is a key element of psychoanalytical theory. The need and desire of human beings to locate a sense of unity of self is also integral to the psychoanalytic theory, and Harwood achieves this through the circular structure of the poem. Emotive words such as ‘peace’, ‘shine’ and ‘forever’ create a serene image of death, while the symbolic ‘light’ and ‘water’ interlink with the first stanza. The use of water as a motif throughout the poem connects the important people and moments in her life such as in her childhood with her father ‘water soaked’ and with her friend in the Brisbane Gardens ‘pitcher of water’ and finally she uses the line ‘waters that bear me away for ever’ to show her acceptance of death. By drawing threads of the poem together, just as the persona draws together her dreams, thoughts and memories are used to establish her sense of unity and wholeness. Harwood creates a serene image of death, allowing the persona to reach a conclusion about its inevitability and the relevance of her experiences and dreams to it. Harwood’s poem ‘Father and Child’ is a parallel to ‘At Mornington’ as it investigates the advancement of human psyche, from the innocence of childhood to the frailty of old age. The poem also observes the human psyche’s attempt to rationalise and resist the inescapable nature of time. Harwood explores the change in human psyche in this poem and suggests that experiences undergone in childhood shape lives and morality in the future. The juxtaposition of settings and syntax is used to convey the evolution of the human psyche and morality. â€Å"Father and Child† is separated into two sections, â€Å"Part I Barn Owl†, which takes place in the persona’s childhood, and â€Å"Part II Nightfall† which is set when the persona has presumably reached middle age, as the father is now 80, blind and dying. The adversity of advancing through various stages of human psychological development is prevalent in ‘Barn Owl’. Harwood has used vivid descriptions to portray the callousness and cruelty of the situation where a little girl attempts to shoot a barn owl but fails and harms it dreadfully, causing the owl having had ‘dribbled through loose straw tangling in bowels’. For the responders this is strong imagery and portrays the unusual situation. The young girl is empowered because the owl is blinded by the light but later there is a role reversal as her father enters and becomes ‘owl-blind in early sun’, like the owl was initially. The killing of the owl demonstrates aspects of a post-modern interpretation where the girl revolts against authority by defying her father, the authoritative figure, and sneaks out with his gun – a representation of the father’s power and authority. The owl is a representation of wisdom or authority, thus, the child is destroying, in her mind, authority. The metaphoric imagery surrounding the death of the owl supports the psychoanalytical view that, dramatic moments such as these impact upon the psyche and have an everlasting effect on the individual. The girl comes to a realization of â€Å"those eyes that†¦ mirror my cruelty† and is now aware of the consequences of her actions, yet it is too late to change the result. The transition has been made and forever she will remain in the world of pain while ironically the bird has escaped it. The role of light is important in this poem as it differentiates between the ideas of life and death. In Part II, Harwood has challenged the responders by portraying light as a metaphor for life by making it set in the latter part of the day, at dusk, when the sun is setting. This shows the transition from life to death. Neither has the power to control the inevitability of death as the ‘sunset exalts its known symbols of transience’, personifying sunset – as the day becomes night the sun has the power because it brings about the process of change and deterioration. By doing this Harwood is exploring the concept of death being associated with darkness. In stanza 6, the atmosphere is saddened as direct speech is used and the poem nears the end. ‘Your night and day are one’ describes how death is a blur of both light and dark because it is a transition between the two. ‘Father and Child’ can also be read from a postmodernist perspective where it draws attention to the number of intertextual connections that are made between the poem and other texts, which focuses on both the extent of life/death and memories. The most apparent allusions are concerned with Shakespeare’s ‘King Lear’ and the line in Nightfall â€Å"Be your tears wet† creating a link between the child persona and the character of Lear’s daughter Cordelia, which examines the fact that she is confronting the death of her father. It’s as if a string of tenderness was touched by him inside of her which led to the tears. She had learnt a lot of concepts in regards to life from her father and is thanking him for teaching her. However, tears cannot mend the facts of life and death, since everybody has to come to the end of a journey at some stage. She relies on her father’s ‘white stick’ to take her back to her memories of her father and the lessons learnt – showing how memories can overcome tears at this last sorrow. The allusion of her father as ‘King’ is a reference to King Lear, showing her admiration and love for her father and how she still sees him as someone that she can rely on. The use of contrasting tones of the two parts reinforces the ideas of memory and life/death, that after many life experiences, her perspective of her father changes from â€Å"an old No Sayer† when the girl is young, to a â€Å"stick thin comforter†. By valuing texts in different perspectives, responders are able to react to a text on a variety of ways, making them relevant to differing contexts with differing values. â€Å"At Mornington† and â€Å"Father and Child† are texts which transcend the barriers of time and examine universal issues that are applicable to all.