Semi- Detailed Lesson Plan

SOCIAL DIMENSIONOF EDUCATION ARTICLE21: SOCIAL SCIENCE THEORIES OF EDUCATION Education is one of the major institutions that constitute society. There are various various social science theories that relate to education. These are; consensus, conflict, structural functionalist and interactionist theories. Conflict theory deals with the emergence of conflict within a particular human society and the larger issue for this theory is the role the education plays in maintaining the prestige, power and economic and social position of the dominant group in society.The conflict theorists are interested in how society’s institution like –family, government, religion, education, and the media may help to maintain the privileges of some groups and keep others in subservient position. The Consensus theory is seen as the equilibrium state of society based on a general or widespread agreement among all members of a particular society. This theory in which social order and stability/ social regulation form the base emphasis. It emerged out of the society of social order and social stability / social regulation.The consensus and conflict theories are reflected in the works of certain dominant social theorist such as Karl Marx, Emile Durkheim, Max Weber and other social theorist. Structural functionalism is concerned with the functions of schooling in the maintenance of social order. It asserts the society is made up of different institutions or organizations that work together in cooperation to achieve orderly relationship and to maintain social order and social stability.It has four functional imperatives for all â€Å"action† system- ADAPTATION,GOAL ATTAINMENT, INTERGRATION, LATENCY- to be used at all levels of theoretical system ( includes action system, personality system social system and cultural system). Interactionist theory about the relation of school and society are critiques and extension of the functionalist and perspectives. Symbolic interact ionism is interested not simply in socialization but in interactions between students and students and between students and teachers. All types of interactions refine our ability to think.It views the self as socially constructed in relation to social forces and structures. The learners are necessary to examine individual decisions in the context of a set of needs, preferences an individual has and values they seek. The critical decision process must be regarded as a continuous process integrated in the interaction with the environment. The analysis of individual decisions is concerned with the logic of decision making and rationality and the invariant choice it leads to. [2]Structural Functionalism makes 7 main assumptions. These assumptions focus on several levels of analysis [society, community, individual, social unit (e. . family, organizations)]: †¢Systems have a property of order and an interdependence of parts oSocieties and social units are held together by cooperation and orderliness †¢Systems tend toward self-maintaining order, or equilibrium oSocieties and social units work best when they function smoothly as an organism, with all parts working toward the â€Å"natural† or smooth working of the system †¢The system may be static or involved in an ordered process of change †¢The nature of one part of the system has an impact on the form that the other parts can take †¢Systems maintain boundaries within their environments Natural (external) environments are separate but adapt to each other.The same dynamic occurs within societies and/or social units – if one or more parts significantly conflicts with others, others must adapt †¢Allocation and integration are two fundamental processes necessary for a gives state of equilibrium within a system oDivision of labor and positions help maintain balance; each part interrelates to create efficiency and harmony; the most capable individuals must be motivated to fill t he most important roles/positions †¢Systems tend toward self-maintenance involving control of boundaries and relationships of parts to the whole, control of the environment, and control of tendencies to change the system from within You, the Teacher, as a Person in Society To become a teacher is no joke; your influence on your students and on the people with whom you work and live depends a great deal on your philosophy as a person and as a teacher.The teacher philosophy in life and our philosophy of education serve as your window to the world and compass in the sea of life. The teacher teaches the basic knowledge, skills and attitudes (KSA)-paragon of values. Why teach? 1. Reshape the society in an instant 2. Education in charge of change 3. Reformed the people through education 4. Transmit the traditional moral values and intellectual knowledge 5. Teach the children to become model in the community 6. Teachers are loco-parentis of the students. Teaching may not be a laucratic position. It cannot guarantee financial security. It even means investing your personal time, energy, and resources.Sometimes it means disappointments, heartaches and pains. But touching the hearts of people and opening minds of children can give you joy and contentment which money could not buy. These are the moments we teach for. These are the moments we live for. â€Å"A teacher is a facilitator of learning and of the development of the youth. He shall, therefore, render the best services by providing environment conducive to such learning and growth† quoted by: Code of Ethics of Professional Teacher Article 3. These Pillars of Education are crucial to peace and mutual understanding. They emphasize the value of education as a manifestation of the spirit of unity.These stern from the will to live together as active members of a global village and contribute to attainment of a culture of peace. LEARNING TO KNOW- that is acquiring the instruments of understanding. It implies learning how learn by developing one’s concentration, memory skills, and ability to think. If the teacher has been helping students to develop their skills that would make them independent learners, you are doing well on the first pillar of education because you have prepared them for life in the knowledge society in which we all now live. A truly educated person nowadays needs a broad general education and opportunity to study a small number of subjects in depth. LEARNING TO DO- represents the skillful, creative and discerning application of knowledge.One must learn how to think creatively, critically, and how to deeply understand the information that is presented. LEARNING TO LIVE-together in peace and harmony requires that quality of relationship at all levels is committed peace, human rights, democracy, and social justice in the ecology sustainable environment. LEARNING TO BE- refers to the role of Education in developing all dimensions of complete parson: the physical, intellectual, and ethical integration of individual into a complete man. Why teach? So that students will understand that they are unique person who are willing to accept responsibility based on their thoughts, feelings, and aspiration. What to teach?Open to wide option, let explore by giving activities, they have unique personality, provide students vicarious experiment, to unleash their own creativity and self-expression, they have focus upon the actions of historical individual, they encourage vocational courses, learning is self-paced, self-directed and values clarification. Addressing Students' Needs: Students of Different Backgrounds quoted in Adapted with permission from Shari Saunders and Diana Kardia; Center for Research on Learning and Teaching, University of Michigan, adapted from Chism et al. , 1992. â€Å"It is vital that you view every student as a unique individual regardless of the student's cultural background, while at the same time respecting multiple cultural he ritages and their impact on learning styles and classroom expectations.This is not a simple task, and there is no simple way to accomplish it. You cannot be prepared for every possible situation that might arise. Instead, focus on being open to different perspectives, being aware of stereotypes and prejudiced behavior in your class, and being ready to help every student in your class become engaged in the material and learn. For instance, you would do well to try incorporating the achievements of Latino scientists into your curriculum to encourage and inspire Latino students. However, if the approach appears to be an act of tokenism, some of your students might feel as if they are being singled out or patronized.A better approach is to try and make the material relevant to students of many backgrounds whenever possible – even if your class does not contain every single demographic. Such an approach will benefit all of your students in expanding their knowledge and perspective . You also should remember that the fact that a student is African American does not mean she or he will be able to or desire to speak about famous African Americans in science. Allowing students to express their views is beneficial whenever possible, but you should never expect someone to â€Å"speak for their people. † Every student is a different person, and should only be asked to speak for him or herself. † Factors Affecting Social Development TERM PAPER IN PROF.ED 3 IN PARTIAL FULLFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE COURSE SOCIAL DIMENSIONS IN EDUCATION SY: 2012-2013 (2ND SEMESTER) Presented to Mrs. Consuelo C. Abadiez Instructor By Patrocinio Cael Gamboa Jr. There are cultural changes that influence the behavior and ways of life of the people in different countries throughout the world such as Multiculturalism and students subcultures. Teachers one of the best position to understand and recognize that students have diverse cultural backgrounds and can adapt their instruction to meet these diverse learning needs Factors Affecting Social Development By C. Seefeldt Pearson. Allyn Bacon Prentice Hall Children’s development of social skills is affected by the nature of their family and early educational experiences (NRC, 2001).Whether in a nuclear, blended, or extended family; a communal arrangement; or a single-parent family, the child learns social patterns and skills within this context. Children find love and security and form attachments with people who protect and care for them. In the family, children become socialized through interactions with parents, siblings, relatives, and neighbors; once in a school setting, they need new ways of acting, relating, and socializing. Children who have had a strong attachment to a nurturing figure and see themselves as separate from this nurturing figure are ready for a group situation. Children who have not fully developed strong attachments to another person may have a more difficult time adjus ting to the complexity of the social system of the school.

Confessions of an Application Reader Essay

A HIGHLY qualified student, with a 3. 95 unweighted grade point average and 2300 on the SAT, was not among the top-ranked engineering applicants to the University of California, Berkeley. He had perfect 800s on his subject tests in math and chemistry, a score of 5 on five Advanced Placement exams, musical talent and, in one of two personal statements, had written a loving tribute to his parents, who had emigrated from India. Enlarge This Image Brian Cronin for The New York Times Related Go to Education Life  » Enlarge This Image Peg Skorpinski Sather Gate, a literal and symbolic portal on Berkeley’s campus. Readers’ Comments Readers shared their thoughts on this article. Read All Comments (250)  » Why was he not top-ranked by the â€Å"world’s premier public university,† as Berkeley calls itself? Perhaps others had perfect grades and scores? They did indeed. Were they ranked higher? Not necessarily. What kind of student was ranked higher? Every case is different. The reason our budding engineer was a 2 on a 1-to-5 scale (1 being highest) has to do with Berkeley’s holistic, or comprehensive, review, an admissions policy adopted by most selective colleges and universities. In holistic review, institutions look beyond grades and scores to determine academic potential, drive and leadership abilities. Apparently, our Indian-American student needed more extracurricular activities and engineering awards to be ranked a 1. Now consider a second engineering applicant, a Mexican-American student with a moving, well-written essay but a 3. 4 G. P. A. and SATs below 1800. His school offered no A. P. He competed in track when not at his after-school job, working the fields with his parents. His score? 2. 5. Both students were among â€Å"typical† applicants used as norms to train application readers like myself. And their different credentials yet remarkably close rankings illustrate the challenges, the ambiguities and the agenda of admissions at a major public research university in a post-affirmative-action world. WHILE teaching ethics at the University of San Francisco, I signed on as an â€Å"external reader† at Berkeley for the fall 2011 admissions cycle. I was one of about 70 outside readers — some high school counselors, some private admissions consultants — who helped rank the nearly 53,000 applications that year, giving each about eight minutes of attention. An applicant scoring a 4 or 5 was probably going to be disappointed; a 3 might be deferred to a January entry; students with a 1, 2 or 2. 5 went to the top of the pile, but that didn’t mean they were in. Berkeley might accept 21 percent of freshman applicants over all but only 12 percent in engineering. My job was to help sort the pool. We were to assess each piece of information — grades, courses, standardized test scores, activities, leadership potential and character — in an additive fashion, looking for ways to advance the student to the next level, as opposed to counting any factor as a negative. External readers are only the first read. Every one of our applications was scored by an experienced lead reader before being passed on to an inner committee of admissions officers for the selection phase. My new position required two days of intensive training at the Berkeley Alumni House as well as eight three-hour norming sessions. There, we practiced ranking under the supervision of lead readers and admissions officers to ensure our decisions conformed to the criteria outlined by the admissions office, with the intent of giving applicants as close to equal treatment as possible. The process, however, turned out very differently. In principle, a broader examination of candidates is a great idea; some might say it is an ethical imperative to look at the â€Å"bigger picture† of an applicant’s life, as our mission was described. Considering the bigger picture has aided Berkeley’s pursuit of diversity after Proposition 209, which in 1996 amended California’s constitution to prohibit consideration of race, ethnicity or gender in admissions to public institutions. In Fisher v.  the University of Texas, the Supreme Court, too, endorsed race-neutral processes aimed at promoting educational diversity and, on throwing the case back to lower courts, challenged public institutions to justify race as a factor in the holistic process. In practice, holistic admissions raises many questions about who gets selected, how and why. I could see the fundamental unevenness in this process both in the norming Webinars and when alone in a dark room at home with my Berkeley-issued netbook, reading assigned applications away from enormously curious family members. First and foremost, the process is confusingly subjective, despite all the objective criteria I was trained to examine. In norming sessions, I remember how lead readers would raise a candidate’s ranking because he or she â€Å"helped build the class. † I never quite grasped how to build a class of freshmen from California — the priority, it was explained in the first day’s pep talk — while seeming to prize the high-paying out-of-state students who are so attractive during times of a growing budget gap. (A special team handled international applications. ) In one norming session, puzzled readers questioned why a student who resembled a throng of applicants and had only a 3. 5 G. P. A. should rank so highly. Could it be because he was a nonresident and had wealthy parents? (He had taken one of the expensive volunteer trips to Africa that we were told should not impress us. ) Income, an optional item on the application, would appear on the very first screen we saw, along with applicant name, address and family information. We also saw the high school’s state performance ranking. All this can be revealing. Admissions officials were careful not to mention gender, ethnicity and race during our training sessions. Norming examples were our guide. Privately, I asked an officer point-blank: â€Å"What are we doing about race? † She nodded sympathetically at my confusion but warned that it would be illegal to consider: we’re looking at — again, that phrase — the â€Å"bigger picture† of the applicant’s life. After the next training session, when I asked about an Asian student who I thought was a 2 but had only received a 3, the officer noted: â€Å"Oh, you’ll get a lot of them. † She said the same when I asked why a low-income student with top grades and scores, and who had served in the Israeli army, was a 3. Which them? I had wondered. Did she mean I’d see a lot of 4. 0 G. P. A. ’s, or a lot of applicants whose bigger picture would fail to advance them, or a lot of Jewish and Asian applicants (Berkeley is 43 percent Asian, 11 percent Latino and 3 percent black)? The idea behind multiple readers is to prevent any single reader from making an outlier decision. And some of the rankings I gave actual applicants were overturned up the reading hierarchy. I received an e-mail from the assistant director suggesting I was not with the program: â€Å"You’ve got 15 outlier, which is quite a lot. Mainly you gave 4’s and the final scores were 2’s and 2. 5’s. † As I continued reading, I should keep an eye on the â€Å"percentile report on the e-viewer† and adjust my rankings accordingly. In a second e-mail, I was told I needed more 1’s and referrals. A referral is a flag that a student’s grades and scores do not make the cut but the application merits a special read because of â€Å"stressors† — socioeconomic disadvantages that admissions offices can use to increase diversity. Officially, like all readers, I was to exclude minority background from my consideration. I was simply to notice whether the student came from a non-English-speaking household. I was not told what to do with this information — except that it may be a stressor if the personal statement revealed the student was having trouble adjusting to coursework in English. In such a case, I could refer the applicant for a special read. Why did I hear so many times from the assistant director? I think I got lost in the unspoken directives. Some things can’t be spelled out, but they have to be known. Application readers must simply pick it up by osmosis, so that the process of detecting objective factors of disadvantage becomes tricky. It’s an extreme version of the American non-conversation about race. I scoured applications for stressors. To better understand stressors, I was trained to look for the â€Å"helpful† personal statement that elevates a candidate. Here I encountered through-the-looking-glass moments: an inspiring account of achievements may be less â€Å"helpful† than a report of the hardships that prevented the student from achieving better grades, test scores and honors. Should I value consistent excellence or better results at the end of a personal struggle? I applied both, depending on race. An underrepresented minority could be the phoenix, I decided. We were not to hold a lack of Advanced Placement courses against applicants. Highest attention was to be paid to the unweighted G. P. A. , as schools in low-income neighborhoods may not offer A. P. courses, which are given more weight in G. P. A. calculation. Yet readers also want to know if a student has taken challenging courses, and will consider A. P. ’s along with key college-prep subjects, known as a-g courses, required by the U. C. system. Even such objective information was open to interpretation. During training Webinars, we argued over transcripts. I scribbled this exchange in my notes: A reader ranks an applicant low because she sees an â€Å"overcount† in the student’s a-g courses. She thinks the courses were miscounted or perhaps counted higher than they should have been. Another reader sees an undercount and charges the first reader with â€Å"trying to cut this girl down. † The lead reader corrects: â€Å"We’re not here to cut down a student. † We’re here to find factors that advance the student to a higher ranking. Another reader thinks the student is â€Å"good† but we have so many of â€Å"these kids. † She doesn’t see any leadership beyond the student’s own projects. Listening to these conversations, I had to wonder exactly how elite institutions define leadership. I was supposed to find this major criterion holistically in the application. Some students took leadership courses. Most often, it was demonstrated in extracurricular activities.

Offshore structures Essay

A well structure situated at the sea, some distance from the shore is known as an offshore well. This well is normally drilled at the seabed using specially designed drilling equipments and different drilling techniques are used. What are deviated wells, doglegs? A deviated well is a horizontal well drilled at an angle usually greater than 80 degrees to the vertical. It involves drilling horizontal and slant-hole wells which enhance better intersection of vertical structures in tight formations. Deviated well is essential since it prevents the fracture of vertical lines, which enhance the permeability of natural gas much higher than the unfractured rock. They increase production rate and minimize cost of ecological damage. Deviated wells can be grouped as unintentionally deviated and intentionally deviated. Unintentionally deviated implies that the well lies on a vertical or near a vertical plane. A dogleg is a sharp deviation or bend in a well’s direction or inclination. They are characterized by being abrupt, decreasing or increasing, excessive long and permissible. It can also referred to as an elbow . . Include a section on offshore well structure /design explaining how it is designed Offshore well structures are designed to bear up all foreseeable conditions which may be weather related as well as environmental loading factors such as earthquake induced loads. Accidental loads such as collisions, fires and explosions are also considered when designing a well structure . In designing this, a floating offshore structure which is polygon shaped and used for drilling or production purpose is used. It contains apertures on its sides meant for reducing the movement of the structure as a result of undersea currents. The structure further consists of a production platform extending above the water surface, and a series of buoyancy tanks which provide the structure with the ability to float. Apertures, surrounded by coamings, is located on each side of the structure to allow ocean currents to flow laterally through the center of the structure. It also makes it possible and easy for oil and gas can dissipate from the center of the structure if a rupture occurs. A fluid retention tank and ballast in the structure lowers the center of gravity of the structure and make it more stable, and a centerwell running through the longitudinal center of the structure allows one or more risers to run from the ocean floor to the operating platform. The structure can then be moored to the sea floor through the use of a catenary mooring system. . Bibliography Chow F I (Houston, TX), Freedman G W (Kingwood, TX), Kemper J H (The Woodlands, TX), Devlin P V (Pearland, TX), Polygon floating offshore structure, 1999, retrieved 23 August 2008, Graff W, J, Introduction to offshore structures: Design, Fabrication, Installation. Gulf publication company, 1981, ISBN 0872016943 Lyons W,C , Standard Handbook on Petroleum Gas Engineering. Gulf Professional publishing, 2005, ISBN 0750677856 Wilson H,W, Applied Science and Technology Index. H. W Wilson Co. publishers, 2006

The Impact of Sentencing Guidelines Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Impact of Sentencing Guidelines - Essay Example Since the year 1966 when such guidelines began to be established, different forms of sentencing guidelines have come up, owing to their formulation and implementation. The last couple of years have had a significant increase in the formulation, implementation and use of these sentencing guidelines. Presumptive and voluntary sentencing guidelines have been used since the time sentencing guidelines began operation (Lubitz, 2001). This paper intensively assesses the impacts of the sentencing guidelines to the justice system and to the society at large. This is in the view point that laws are set up to regulate and control the behavior of the society prior to the rights and freedoms of individuals. In the light of sentencing guidelines, this paper will also consider the goals of sentencing, the different types of sentences, constitutional rights in the context of sentencing and the overall impact of these sentencing guidelines. Goals of Sentencing A sentence refers to a formal and legal judgment pronouncing a specific punishment imposition following a crime conviction (Barlow, 2000). Different sentences are meant to achieve different results. In this regard, the goals of sentencing may vary from time to time. However, there are basic goals that sentencing is purposed to achieve. Deterrence is one of the goals of sentencing. In this case, people are afraid to commit crime in order to avoid punishments that have been experienced by those who have committed crime. They therefore refrain from crime (Siegel, 2005). Deterrence can be both general and specific. The aforementioned is a general case. A specific case involves an act of not committing crime as a result of a punishment previously suffered. Sentencing is also tailored towards rehabilitating offenders. The basic underlying principle is to reform the convict. In rehabilitation, a crime has already been committed and a sentence passed. The aim of the sentence is to promote a conscience, and this goal has led to an intensive sentencing guidelines structuring (Siegel, 2005). Rehabilitation strives to change the behavior of offenders. In this regard, as much as it regarded a punishment, the sentencing guidelines aims at promoting uniform sentencing for similar incidents of injustice against an individual, community or the society at large. Retribution is another goal of sentencing. In this case, punishment is imposed on offenders given the crime that each offender commits. The offender is linked to the crime committed, making it legal for an offender to deserve the punishment imposed prior to the crime committed. Offenders convicted of the same crime are treated equally (Barlow, 2000). Sentencing also seeks to achieve incapacitation. Incapacitation is defined as the punishment that reduces the chances of having a crime committed (Siegel, 2005). This goal is based on the idea that offenders convicted of various crimes are locked up in prisons. These prisoners are not bound to commit any crime in the outside society since their movement and actions are restricted, monitored and controlled. Types of Sentences Different types of sentences are imposed to offenders depending on the magnitude of the crime committed, rights and freedoms violated and the effect of such crimes to the society, economy and the state at large. These sentences vary and a number of them include: Life

Case Study for Chipolte Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

For Chipolte - Case Study Example It also thrives by having smaller entities which immensely subsidize on the labor costs. As part of achieving high output, the company adopted solar panels for its peak period operations. This has also ensured high degree of environmental friendliness. The first part of this study involves carrying out a value chain analysis for Chipotle. Value chain analysis is the instrument for assessing the competitive advantage in relation to the market trends. The aim is to help a company achieve the greatest possible significance over its competitors. It also makes the company more appealing to win the people being served, that is, the whole idea is customer-focus (Bischoff 5). And for Chipotle, this is in line with its mission, which is to deliver high quality output at a low cost and a considerable shorter duration of time. The rapid development and substantial revenue of Chipotle saw it attract many investors. Also, with the steady increase of clients preferring the good quality food it offers, it became successful expanding into a big corporation. But the decision to increase the food prices affected its stock significantly. This was coupled with the stiff competition from other restaurants resulting into a 4 percent decline of output. To address this, Chipotle should continue with its gourmet ingredients at relatively lower prices, since its competitors do not offer organic components as it does. This will make it thrive since its marketing strategy is also through promotional events and verbal advertising of which none of its competitors uses. This makes it more outstanding than other businesses because it is able to stay in touch with its clients, thereby can get immediate feedback concerning the quality of services. Chipotle must continue to major on showcasing its value ingredients, i.e. displaying the quality of its products. This is because of the stiff competition and rivalry that exists in the restaurant industry, which

General Electric Medical Systems Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

General Electric Medical Systems - Essay Example PEST Analysis Political UK offers stable political conditions and a favorable business environment. The laws, rules, and regulations are also favorable for any company to establish its business operations in the region. It is said to provide a very politically friendly environment for conducting businesses. This has made it one of the leading destinations of investments by companies expanding their global operations. The country also maintains consular relationships with other countries. This would provide a favorable place for the growth of the healthcare sector (Coleman, 2010, p.12). Economic The open economy of UK enhances the facilities if international trade and also provides opportunities for conducting overseas businesses. The gross domestic product or the GDP rate is as high as $2,345 billion. According to forecasts, it is expected to develop the â€Å"strongest business environment of all major European economies for the period 2007 to 2011† (Coleman, 2010, p.12). It is also blessed with a strong workforce which is a basic requirement for the establishment of any enterprise. This implies that the company would not confront with problems in finding manpower. Socio-Cultural The most favorable aspect is the absence of any adverse cultural or religious influences on ways in which businesses are conducted. Also, the general business hours start from 9 am and runs till 5.30, which demonstrates very flexible timings of work. The number of working hours in a week is 37.5 (Coleman, 2010, p.12). The media sector is also predominant and flourishing which would provide greater facilities of communication for business and the general public. Technological It has a number of development agencies which look into the promotion of the economic growth of their respective regions. One of the main sectors that come under the purview of these agencies is healthcare technologies. It tries to identify the business needs and prospects of the industry (Coleman, 2010, p. 17). The nation has been showing immense productivity growth and has been outperforming most other nations. This can be attributed to the technological innovation of the nation. Competitive Analysis The healthcare system in the UK is highly competitive. The government has been making extensive efforts in â€Å"extending choice and competition† in the healthcare sector to enhance productivity. This has also been done in favor of improving the healthcare services as per the needs of patients. The result has been improved healthcare services at low costs (Propper, 2010, p.6). â€Å"UK Healthcare† is one of the best providers of medical services in the nation. â€Å"The UK Albert B. Chandler Hospital† is considered to be one of the best hospitals in the nation. It is also said to be the best academic medical center. The nation has also witnessed the growth of a number of online medical facilities (UK Healthcare, 2007, p.1). There are numerous numbers of suppliers of medical services. Some of the well-known names are â€Å"Baxter Healthcare Limited†, â€Å"Bayer PLC†, â€Å"Beckman Coulter UK Limited† (Burton Hospitals, 2008, p.1), etc.

A market follower company Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

A market follower company - Essay Example They with the passage time become market strugglers. It is therefore imperative for all the firms in the competitive market environment to make sure they design an appropriate strategy which is in a perfect fit the external and internal environments of a company so that no conflicts occur in the firm's business operations and smooth business operations are conducted. The marketing strategy that we can adopt is by increasing the frequency by which people use our product. This can be done by either making it convenient for the consumers to use the product or by encouraging people to use it more often. This can be done by making a more tempting ad campaign in which people are asked to use the product more often. Another important thing that can be done to encourage people to use it more often is by telling the consumer that it what they need. Similarly, more persuasive ad making can be done for tempting the consumers. Another marketing strategy could be offering promotional discount that is if the product is bough frequently a certain percentage of discounts can be given. This will encourage people and target consumers to buy the product more often, the one aspect in which our country is lagging behind.

Assess the future prospects for British banks Essay

Assess the future prospects for British banks - Essay Example banks provide extremely good value for customers unlike in other countries where customers pay both to have bank account and for the services they use whereas in U.K. banks, they provide free banking including access to free debit card, free access to ATM’S, free use of cheques, internet banking etc. Their charges are transparent and are advised to customers when they open the account. Banks generally publish their tariff charges also. London is both home to the world headquarters of the major British banks, and the host to major trading activities of both US and Continental European banks. London today is with 264 foreign banks and has 20 % of international bank lending. So it becomes the largest center for cross border banking. British banks account for 5 of the worlds top 20 by market capitalization, while there are 7 in the rest of Europe, 6 in America, and the remaining 2 are Japanese (Smallwood, 2005). The development of a number of world-class British-based banks successes is based on their own competitiveness, and not on any degree of government subvention or protection. A consequence of this is that London is, and is likely to remain for at least some appreciable time, the most international of capital market centers. The UK accounts for 60 per cent of primary international bond trading, and 70 per cent of secondary. There are more companies listed on the London Stock Exchange than on either the New York or Tokyo exchanges. In the OTC derivatives market, the UK accounts for over 40 per cent of global trade, compared with 24 per cent for the US, 10 per cent for France, and 3 per cent for Germany. Our fund management and insurance industries are both the third largest in the world, behind those of the US and Japan. The good news is the present strength of banks: a high level of profitability, strong levels of capital, and risk management, which has

The Rise and Influence of Nationalism in Japan around WWII Essay

The Rise and Influence of Nationalism in Japan around WWII - Essay Example WWII strengthened such ideologies as Bushido (the way of the warrior) and religious ideology of Shinto, ideas of the "New Structure’ and "Consensus State†. These different forms of nationalism were mutually acceptable. The â€Å"New Structure† was a necessary component of nationalism, and new institutions had to be imported as a means of linking all Japanese to one national bureaucracy for political and economic centralization. The very act of importing these institutions, the values upon which they were based on a direct support to the social and cultural traditions formed the essence of the Japanese nation. In contrast to other states preached individualism, Japanese nationalism was based on the idea of collective identity and objectives which helped to unite the nation against ‘outside’ world. The emperor did not play a dominant role in political and social life. Critics suppose that control over the countries and its political strategies were esta blished by the military, formed by the Emperor and Government. During the WWII, Japanese practiced kamikaze as one of the main national traditions. They had special kamikaze units in the Japanese Fleet who made a great damage to enemies. Because Japanese believe that the world in which they lived and the political world were two separate entities, it was difficult to get the public to identify with the state and political institutions. The social system had a higher importance in Japan than the political system, and political institutions had very little cultural meaning to Japanese. As occurred in the Meiji period, Japan's defeat led to a wholesale rejection of prewar institutions and a wholehearted adoption of most of the occupation reforms as a means of ridding Japan of its inferior status.

Highlights of my study project at CSU Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Highlights of my study project at CSU - Essay Example Additionally, the total cost for semester one will amount to $27,288. This will be financed by the Kuwait government, who is my main sponsor as a result of the educational scholarship that they gave to me. Moreover, my parents will also assist me by paying for my monthly rent as well as providing the necessary support during my time in Bathurst. The relevant plan and total cost of the projects assessment relating to this course was facilitated by Microsoft Project 2013. Specifically, Microsoft Project 2013 facilitated the incorporation of a Gantt chart, recourses sheets as well as the relevant cash flow sheets that depict exactly the total costs for this course during semester one. The introduction to the study plan at SCU will mainly assess and discuss the main project goals, assumptions of the project, the main project’s scope as well as an analysis of the relevant stakeholders that are critical in the attainment of the overall goal of the project. There is a need to communi cate the project, for it is critical (Kloppenborg T, 2012). Therefore the management aspect of it is necessary. Stakeholder management is critical to project success (Reeder, 2013). Considering that there is a management aspect of it, the inclusion of goals is necessary. Goals are important to projects (Mashman, 2013). The reason why they are important is because they serve as the point by which the management should achieve. Goals are necessary because they could stand as guiding points to somewhere the management wants to situate itself both in the short and long-term run.

Multicultural Britain Essay Example for Free

Multicultural Britain Essay My task is to explain why people chose to immigrate to Britain, with reference to the period 1880 to the present day. Britain has been Multicultural for hundreds of years. There are the diverse cultures and languages of the people of Scotland, Wales, Ireland and England. Britains links with the commonwealth countries of the Caribbean, Anglophone Africa, Cyprus, Australia, New Zealand and the Indian subcontinent were established through trade and subsequent conquest and colonization. Around five per cent of Britains present population are from ethnic minorities. Multicultural can be a controversial term, associated with various ideas about racial and cultural identities, cultural, diversity and difference, and policies and practices in schools and local government authorities. Since ancient times people have been moving to Britain and settling there. These immigrants have all made a change to Britain as a whole. There are many reasons for immigration, some of which being wars, famine, draught, economic changes, lack of facilities, religious restraints, prejudice, discrimination or even as refugees. Since the seventeenth century Jews had lived in Britain and had soon become a vital part of British life, including the social, political and economic life of Britain. Throughout the nineteenth century a minority of Jews continued to migrate to Britain, with many Jews even being born there. However after the welcoming of 1880, the minority of Jews already living there (Anglo-Jewish) experienced a sudden flood of Jews into Britain. In 1881 the Russian Jews were held responsible for the assassination of Tsar Alexander II. Many Jews now became certain that it was time to leave and start a new life in a Western country. Many moved to Britain knowingly there was already a secure successful community of Jews there. The Jewish immigrants were condemned by some English Jews whilst others welcomed them with open arms. On the other hand the English people blamed the Jews for the overcrowding in Britain and also for making it difficult to look for jobs and work. The Jews settled in the large cities of London, Leeds and Manchester. These cities had a large population of Jews who were hoped to be supported by the Russian Jews, there was also a great opportunity of work here. However the Jews had to live in the poorer, overcrowding areas of these cities. Despite the overcrowding and poor living conditions, the house rent was high due to the shortage of housing. The rent along with lack of jobs and living conditions were all causes of racism and injustice against the Jews. However most Jews lived in the poorer areas, as this was all they could afford. Some wealthy Jews took action and built blocks of flats. Due to the immigration of the Jews, before 1881 British inhabitants expanded at a rate of 4% per year, after 1881 the population increased 10% every year. However the Jews that had come all settled in the East end, thus making this area concentrated with the number of Jews. This worried some of the Anglo-Jewish community for many reasons. It made the Jews very visible; the Jewish people already living in England were disturbed regarding the influence that so many Jews would have on the good interaction built up by the Jews already living in England with the English people. The Jews were already very different in their traditions, etiquettes and political affairs than that of the British Jews. Soon the Jews became news. The type of work the Jews chose to do in tailoring and footwear they chose to do it with Jews who could speak Yiddish (a Jewish language), and who understood their religious needs. The work they chose relied on their existing skills or involved skills that could be learned quickly and had a number of simple recurring procedures. All the work could be done in small grounds, such as houses, cellars e.t.c. The work was done by a small number of people. The situation in such work areas was objectionable. Work hours could also be varied according to the religious calendar. The Jews entered England at a time of rising redundancy and therefore were held responsible by the legislator of challenging with the English taking into account the few jobs which were obtainable. The idea of the immigrant Jews and sweating (the practice of overworking and underpaying workers in cramped, ill-lit and unhealthy conditions), became associated in the minds of many English people. The people of England had many views of the Jews. A negative impression of the Jewish immigrants is that they caused overcrowding, working in unhygienic conditions and breathing an atmosphere of wool particles containing dangerous dyes. The flush was also so outlandish to the laypeople that they had not yet learnt how to pull the chain so as to wash out and clear the toilet. However a positive impression is gained by other inhabitants that they soon became successful and praised them of their intelligence. Most British people commiserated with the Jews but because of the numbers and celebrity of Russian Jewish immigrants, the attitude of people to the Jewish immigrants began to revolutionize. The alien question, soon became the subject in the British politics. The Alien question was of three parts being that some individuals sensed that a law was essential to determine who could colonize in Britain, The aliens became a factor to the sweating matter, and some also reasoned that it was the aliens who pushed up the rents of houses. Soon later a pressure group, the British Brothers league was structured, which was to confine alien immigrants. With all these pressures the Conservative Government allotted a Royal Commission on Alien immigration. A new law was soon primed on the Royal Commissions work. The Bill of 1904 would eliminate as undesirable, persons of extremely bad character, or without perceptible means of support or likely to become a public charge. However the shipping companies who transported the immigrants also promoted the Government to gain their support and the liberals also strongly opposed this bill being passed. Due to such opposition the bill was withdrawn. However the Conservatives that the new law would promote voters especially at a time when the next general election was in a years time, so the Aliens Bill was put back into the Parliament in 1905, and this time the Liberals also never stood in its way as they knew a new law be popular. On 10 August 1905 the bill became law, however if the immigrant is seeking admission to avoid prosecution or punishment on religious or political grounds, permission to enter shall not be refused on the ground that he does not have enough money or will be a burden on others. An extract from the Aliens Act (1905) The conservatives lost the election in 1906, and so the Liberal Home Secretaries operated the law. To start with many immigrants were sent back as they failed to state things which would grant them entry, therefore the number of Jews coming to Britain fell until 1909. However after 1909 the figure of immigrants returned back to the normal figure of 5000 a year. Many Jews welcomed the act or refused to condemn it. The Jews who had just immigrated t6o the East End of London reacted in much the same way as they feared overcrowding and competition of work. The Anglo-Jewish community had stated that the Jews settling in one place would bring attention to their dress, language and manner. They also warned that in fifteen years time the progeny of todays refugees would be the great bulk of Englands population, and therefore bring shame to the community. To deal with this prospect the education of the children of the Immigrated Jews was encouraged. The leaders of the Jewish community were very anxious and supportive in the fist world war. In the last ten years of the nineteenth century a new movement was put into action called Zionism, this was in favour to gain a Jewish homeland. The favoured place for this was in the ancestral Jewish home, Palestine. However the Anglo-Jewish community opposed the idea of a homeland as they never wanted all their relationships with the British to be gone down the drain. They wanted to be seen as a community loyal to the British and religious not as a people without a homeland. In 1917 the British army invaded Palestine which was then under Turkish rule. The British government issued a statement that broadly supported the creation of a homeland. At t6he same time the British issued another statement which promised the Arabs inde3pendence from the Turks. This was to win the support of the Jews in America and to involve America in the war. Empty promises were also made to the Arabs to involve them in the war too on Britains side. From 1914, the anti-German hysteria that swept the country did not distinguish between Jew and German. Criticism to the Jewish immigrants centred on how many of the new immigrants joined up to fight. The Anglo-Jewish wanted to fight for their new country. Press reports of Russian Jews moving from London to the countryside to avoid the Zeppelin raids added to prejudice towards the Jews. The Balfour Declaration brought attention to Zionism in Britain which made people believe that the Jews were ungrateful to their adapted country Britain. The Russian Revolution also helped form the views of the British against the Jewish immigrants and were portrayed by the newspaper as communists. The Aliens Restrictions Act was passed in 1914 which as a result had a huge influence on Jewish immigrants. Zionism was too now weakened whilst prejudice against the Jews increased. Using the powers of 1919 almost all the poor working-class immigrants went to decline. In the 1920s many Jews had now gained a higher position within the British society and were a more prosperous community. Due to this prosperity the Jews now started to move out of the East end of London. As Britain saw the beginning of the Depression years one Labour Politician was Sir Oswald Mosley. He resigned from Labour in 1930 as many of his ideas of how to solve the problem of unemployment were rejected. He set up his own new party in 1931 known as the New Party. Mosley, in 1932 created the British Union Fascists (BUF). Mosley saw the socialists and the communists as a danger. Mosley also enjoyed support from the Daily Mirror owner, Lord Rothermere, through which he made sure that it reported favourably of the BUF. In the beginning the BUF were not anti-Semitic, but later in 1934 the BUF policy changed and now Jewish people were no longer allowed to be members of the BUF. Throughout the year 1934 Jewish people were attacked and provoked. The Jews were all advised not to do anything against the law thus not to be seen as lawbreakers. On 4 October 1936 the BUF planned a march through the East End of London and planned to listen to Mosley speak at intervals. Jewish Trade Unionists and communists arranged a blockade to the march with barricades. As a result the BUF had to abandon the march from the Tower of London to Victoria Park in Hackney. Immediately after the event of Cable Street, support for the BUF grew. However in the long term the BUF were in decline. Mosleys attempts to try and stir up violence towards the Jews were much criticised. The Government tried to stop this by passing the Incitement to Disaffection Act in November 1934 and a new public Order Act in 1936 which affected the holding of marches. However the BUF did not win any local or general election seats and as a result Mosley was imprisoned from 1940 to 1943. The event of Cable Street showed that there were divisions among the Jews themselves as thousands of working-class Jews rejected the calls of their leaders to stay off the streets. This event also proved that extreme parties were also a threat to law and order, and as a result was acted quickly to in order to stop their influence. In 1945 when the Second World War ended, Europe had changed. Millions of people had lost their homes etc. Towns and cities were devastated. Countries in Eastern Europe were taken over by the communist government with very different ideas about equality and freedom to those governments in the West. Many people in Eastern Europe did not want to live under a communist government. As a result of these wars millions of people became refugees. Many people were already in Britain when the war ended. After Hitler invaded Poland many Poles left Poland and many came to Britain, and some came to Britain only to fight against Germany. When Poland became communist in 1945, many of the Poles decided to stay in Britain. Some of the refugees from Europe came to Britain in search of a new life and were welcomed by the British as Britain needed to be re-built after the devastation of the war. Large numbers of workers were needed especially in mining, engineering, agriculture, transport and building. This was due to many British men and women being killed, injured etc. During the war many women were encouraged to work but after were encouraged to stay at home. This meant that more workers were needed to replace them. Britain was made worse by many British people moving to the Old Common Wealth countries. During the Second World War the British Empire was very important in the war, as these people had raw materials, people industries etc. After the Second World War, these people from British colonies were encouraged to come to settle in Britain. This was because Britains post war labour shortage could not be solved by refugees alone. British companies advertised in the New Commonwealth Countries for workers. All citizens of the British colonies were given the right to settle in Britain. Almost one quarter of the worlds population was allowed to settle in Britain due to its great empire. In 1948 the British Nationality Act was passed which gave citizens of the British colonies and of the commonwealth equal rights of citizenship in Britain as those people who had been born and bread in Britain. After the second World War many Caribbeans emigrated to Britain. This was partly because they had fought for this country and others were just curious to see the land they had fought for. At first immigration from the Caribbean to Britain was slow but soon after a hurricane in Jamaica in 1951 immigration increased. Another cause of the rise in immigration was that the USA had set strict rules on immigration from the Caribbean and so people who wanted to migrate had to look for other options of where to migrate to. Many people who lived in cities were well paid and did not want to do jobs like cleaning etc and so immigrants from the colonies were encouraged to do this type of work. Many West Indians were welcomed as nurses and the Caribbeans settled in Britain and so the later arrivals were mainly wives, children and parents of those people who had settled in Britain. Britain was portrayed to these people who migrated to Britain as being the mother-country, kind, caring and powerful. Upon migrating, many of these people were surprised to see the amount of filth and dirt in Britain. Britain was not as wealthy as they had expected. However people who had come to Britain to fight in the Second World War were welcomed warm heartedly, but on the other hand when these people returned to Britain due to labour shortages, the treatment they received was completely contradictory to what they had received at the Second World War. When Queen Victoria came to throne, Britain had the smallest empire with the least territory. Queen Victorias death however, left behind a greater territory approximately ruling 500 million people. British ideas were of being superior to any other race, thus inferior. Britain used adverts to target many people and to spread its ideas of unity and loyalty to the people of Britain. Between 1945 and 1968, important changes were made to who had the right of citizenship in Britain. The rights of citizenship had been restricted by 1968. The changes happened partly because of racist attitudes and partly due to changing economic changes. Since the Second World War the pattern of migration into and out of Britain has changed. This has been due to changes in the law, wars, abuses of human rights, poverty, famine, and the formation of the European Union. Since 1990 the rights of refugees and asylum seekers in Britain have also changed and become a controversial political issue. There was less immigration after the Second World War of the British citizenships had been born in the colonies of commonwealth. The British Nationality Act and the immigration Laws made it difficult to enter Britain. However immigration from the European Union was allowed however immigration from poor undeveloped countries such as the Caribbean were not allowed to set work permits in Britain. Overtime people had come to Britain as refugees and also left in search of refuge such as the Jews. Nevertheless, people have migrated to Britain due top wars in their own countries leaving millions of people homeless, in search of jobs, famine in their homelands, in search of a better life, education, medication, for marriage purposes, persecution in their country and some have also come to Britain as refugees and even as asylum seekers. In conclusion, the reasons for the entry of millions of people into Britain during the years from 1880 to the recent day are extremely complicated, revolving around a complex of economic, political. Short term, underlying and personal push and pull factors. The immigration of any individual minority includes a set of factors peculiar to itself. In some cases, such as the mid-nineteenth century, Irish push factors played an overwhelming role, as the famine literally forced the people off the land. However the geographical proximity of Britain and the open door policy towards immigration played a fundamental role in attracting the Irish. The potato crop failed completely and one million Irish died of disease starvation. As a result about 200,000 people emigrated, about half of them to Britain. Between 1870 and 1914 over 200,000 Jewish people arrived in Britain. Most of these Jews lived in East London where living conditions were bad. It was easy for them to fin d work (for untrained people e.g. clothing and furniture) but were low paid and worked long hours. Yet many Jews visited the synagogue and were free to practice their religion. The entry of immigrants to Britain did not happen steadily but in waves. Some periods had more immigrants flooding into Britain than others. The media have recognised that Britain has become a multi society and presents some positive images of Blacks and Asians. People of Asian origin have become the most successful businessmen in Britain. In short, there have been both continuities and new developments in the history of immigrant minorities in Britain before and after 1945. Because of the more complete documentation after 1945, we can form a fuller picture of the contemporary situation. However, we can make the following assertions for the whole course of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. First, Britain has witnessed for a complex of reasons, the constant entry of a wide variety of immigrants, who have played an important role in the development of the economy. Second, these groups have varied in size, social composition, and gender make-up, but they are part of British capitalist class society, not distinct from it. Finally, ethnicity has developed to a great extent, especially amongst larger minorities. However, as a different view, in conclusion, I also say that social scientists have found it very difficult to explain one of the most popular methods of explanation is to use a push pull model which distinguishes between the push of economic necessity in the migrants home society and the pull of opportunity from abroad. The difficulty with this approach is that it obscures the inherent complexity of population movements and, as some critics have pointed out, it often treats the subjects as if they were automatons reacting to forces beyond their control. Ceri Peach, in his study of West Indian migration to Britain (1968), warns against relying too much on push determinism. The movements he describes did not take place during periods of economic depression in the Caribbean and they were not correlated to high rates of population growth. Peach concludes that there is strong evidence for the view that (West Indian) migration was reacting not to internal conditions, but to a sing external stimulus namely the demand for labour in Britain (1968:93). This conclusion might be satisfactory if one wishes to leave the analysis of the highest levels of abstraction, but the migrants themselves rarely accept generalisations of this nature. Furthermore, other Historians have clearly demonstrated that it is impossible to categorise all of the relevant factors as either push or pull.

The Daffodils by W.Wordsworth and Miracle on St.Davids Day by G.Clarke Essay Example for Free

The Daffodils by W.Wordsworth and Miracle on St.Davids Day by G.Clarke Essay Form and meaning of The Daffodils by W.Wordsworth and Miracle on St.Davids Day by G.Clarke. Pre and Post C20th Poetry Comparison. William Wordsworth wrote the poem The Daffodils in 1804, two years later after his experience with the Daffodils. The poem Miracle on St. Davids Day was written by Gillian Clarke around 1980. Miracle on St. Davids Day was written one hundred and seventy-six years after The Daffodils was. The poems are very similar in the way that they both look like poems, having a regular structure. In Miracle on St. Davids Day each stanza apart from the last one has five lines that are all about the same length. In The Daffodils each stanza has six lines that are all about the same length. The poems are different in the way that Miracle on St. Davids Day was written like a story, sentences starting in one stanza and finishing in another. Also this poem does not rhyme, it looks like a poem but sounds like prose. The Daffodils is written as a poem with a regular rhyming pattern. Line one and line three rhyme, line two and line four, and line five and six are a rhyming couplet. This is regular throughout the poem. Both poems are similar as they are true experiences of the writers, and they are written in Modern English. Also the poems are both narrative poems. William Wordsworth was born in 1770, an eighteenth century romantic poet. He described his poetry as emotion recollected in tranquillity, and that remembering is the key. Gillian Clarke was born in the twentieth century and is still alive today. G. Clarke is modern contemporary poet. Wordsworths inspiration for The Daffodils was spring itself, the sense and feeling of spring around him with so many numerous daffodils. Wordsworth allowed himself to be inspired by the beauty of nature and the magic of every year nature dying and freezing over and then coming to life and being re-born again. Wordsworth became caught up in the moment of his real life experience and wanted to savour and treasure it, so he wrote and feelings down on paper. In Wordsworths time you were either poor and hard working, or wealthy with not much to do. Wordsworth had not much to do, so he opened his imagination to write poetry to fill his spare time. With having spare time and no need to be anywhere at a certain time, he explored nature and learnt more about the happenings of nature, which as a poet he respected, and he recorded his discoveries and emotions on paper. Clarkes inspiration for writing Miracle on St. Davids Day, was her personal experience when visiting a mental institution. She was reading poetry to the insane, which happened to awaken a long, repressed memory in one of the patients, whom recites a poem from the days of his youth, forty years ago in a valley school, the class recited poetry by rote. This experience impressed so strongly on Clarkes mind that she wanted to keep her memory of the experience alive, telling the story for ten years to people before writing it in a poem. Clarkes inspiration was the power of memory and the power of poetry. The sounds of her reading poetry to someone triggered a memory so hidden from long ago that I think she was shocked that it could have happened, and inspired her to write it in a poem. Wordsworths purpose in The Daffodils is to express his emotion to the reader, and make the reader feel the daffodils and become lost in a magical world of the beauty of spring just like he himself did. Wordsworth appreciated nature already but wanted to get it across to the reader the moment of tranquillity and peace of mind he had, surrounded by the beautiful daffodils. Clarkes purpose in writing Miracle on St. Davids Day is to tell people about the incident that she witnessed and to show the power of poetry and memory. Clarke wanted people to see that no matter how old the memory was or whether the person had a mental illness or not, as long as there was no memory loss, a memory hidden deep in the back of the mind can be awoken. Any small insignificant thing such as touch, sight, smell, sound or taste can awake it, and that memory is a very powerful thing. Wordsworths The Daffodils has four stanzas in it. The content of stanza one tells us that Wordsworth is walking alone and how he comes across the daffodils and where. Beside the lake, beneath the trees, they were blowing in the wind. Stanza two is where Wordsworth makes a comparison of the beautiful sparkling daffodils to the stars on the Milky Way, which means that there were too many daffodils to count like the millions of stars in the sky, And twinkle on the Milky Way, they stretched in never-ending line. Stanza three explains how content a poet can be amongst these daffodils appreciating their natural sparkling beauty for a poet clearly respects natural beauty and The Daffodils being a true experience for Wordsworth made it a more significant experience in his life. Also Wordsworth describes how the daffodils stand out from anything around them and that only the daffodils are in focus, stopping any thought of any other matter in his head. A poet could not but be gay, in such jocund company. Wordsworth did not realise what effect the sight of the daffodils had brought on him and I do not think he realised that he would be writing about them two years later. Obviously the daffodils stuck in his mind and frequently reminded him of his experience because he was writing about them two years later, and to write about them obviously satisfied his need to express to others the joy the daffodils brought to him. Stanza four is a memory of Wordsworth. He describes his situation of telling the reader in stanza one, two and three of the moment of the experience and stanza four is thinking about the impact of the experience. For oft, when on my couch I lie in vacant or pensive mood G. Clarkes Miracle on St. Davids Day, has nine stanzas in it. The content of stanza one is a quote from the daffodils by W. Wordsworth. At first glance the reader is confused and thinks that it is a misprint on the poem, but then realises that is it connected with the poem in some later stage which makes the reader inquisitive and want to read on. They flash upon that inward eye, which is the bliss of solitude. Stanza two is an introduction to the mental institution but the reader does not know this yet, the reader just absorbs the information described to them in a detailed picture which already mentions daffodils, giving a connection between this poem and The Daffodils. An afternoon yellow and open-mouthed with daffodils. A picture is already in the readers head of a warm, sunny afternoon in spring somewhere in a forest where there is a lot of greenery and a large country house hidden from view, peaceful and graceful. Stanza three is the writer and the narrative voice, Gillian Clarke, describing what she is doing. She tells the reader that she is reading poetry to insane, so we assume that she is in an asylum and not the beautiful, tranquil country house the reader first thought it was. Clarke in stanza three also starts to describe a few of the patients there to the reader. A beautiful chestnut haired boy listens Stanza four is an extension of stanza three. It carries on to describe another patient, a woman at the institution, who is not mad or disturbed as people might think you would be in a mental hospital. She is just mildly mentally absent. She does not dream, or think, or feel, the woman is absent in mind but present physically. In her neat clothes, the woman is absent. Stanza five is also a continuation of stanza four; these three stanzas are all connected. It goes into detail about a certain patient, described as a labouring man. By going into more detail about this patient, the reader thinks that he is a main character or will play quite a large role in the rest of the poem. This poem interests the reader to read further. Stanza six tells us that this patient has never spoken. The huge and mild man stands up to recite The Daffodils. This is where stanza one is linked with the poem. This stanza tells us about the miracle that happens. The miracle is that a man in a mental institution, who has not spoken for a long, long time, is suddenly forced to speak by the power of an awakened memory. To the staff it does not seem such a miracle, as they know that he is an elective mute. Stanza seven is about the nurses and the residents at the institution and the whole of natures reactions. It also describes the man who is reciting The Daffodils and how well he recites it after years of not speaking. The nurses are frozen, alert; the patients seem to listen. Stanza eight is an explanation of how he came to know the poem The Daffodils and why he needed to speak it. It is a trip back in time and a reason for his being in a mental institution. The man came to know the poem, forty years ago, in a Valleys school, the class recited poetry by rote. His reason for being in the asylum is, since the dumbness of misery fell he has remembered there was a music of speech and that once he had something to say. This also explains why he spoke. He had a memory woken inside of him by the narrative voice reading to the insane. Stanza nine finishes off the poem, as so does the man. There is a silent, still moment throughout nature and from the listeners at the mental institution, before the applause, we observe the flowers silence. There is a moment of silent appreciation throughout nature and humanity. The structure of The Daffodils by William Wordsworth is in four equal stanzas. They each have six lines of similar length. The stanzas all look like each other. This is a regular structure. Stanzas one and two have complete sentences but stanza three and four have lines linked with a break in the middle. The rhyming pattern of the Daffodils is that line one and line three rhyme and line two and line four rhyme, and line five and six are a rhyming couplet. This is the regular rhyming pattern that continues throughout the rest of the poem. The poem looks even and neat on the page and has straightforward understanding looking language. The regular rhyming pattern fits in with the simplicity of the event and is a common experience shared by all. Wordsworth has shortened words to make to make them fit in with the flowing of the poem. This brings the structure together and neatens it to make it more readable. For oft, when on my couch I lie oft is the shortened version of often. The structure of The Miracle on St. Davids Day by G. Clarke also has a regular structure but is quite different from the Daffodils. It has eight stanzas all equal in size. They all contain five lines all of similar length, apart from the very last stanza that has only three lines containing the conclusion. When hes done, before the applause, we observe The poem is non-rhyming but flows, by one sentence starting on one line and running onto finish on the next line, such as, A big, mild man is tenderly ledto his chair. This pattern helps to reveal the stages of the miracle because it flows and looks like a poem but sound like prose. This poem is a narrative poem. The narrative voice is Gillian Clarke as it is revealed to the reader that she is there herself telling the readers about her experience. I am reading poetry to the insane. The final stanza leads up to Clarkes final meaning of how a distant memory can be triggered by anything small or large, showing the power of memory. Forty years ago, in a Valleys school, the class recited poetry by rote. William Wordsworth is the narrative voice of The Daffodils as it is revealed to the reader instantly, I wandered lonely as a cloud. This tells the reader that Worsworth is telling the reader about his experience. The style of The Daffodils is peaceful and tranquil. The mood is set dreamily straight away with an image of floating. I wandered lonely as a cloud that floats on high oer vales and hills. It has a romantic style for Wordsworth was a romantic poet, emotion recollected in tranquillity. Wordsworths words flow and run like a song with many images being displayed in front of the readers eyes all at once. Beside the lake, beneath the trees, fluttering and dancing in the breeze. This rhyming style sounds like a song and creates a summer picture of sun glittering on a lake with a soft patch of shade over it from the trees that are gently waving about in the soft and warm breeze in the readers mind. The style of The Miracle on St. Davids Day is completely different to the one of The Daffodils. It changes rapidly. At first it is warm and welcoming, the setting of the poem. First the reader is outside the building admiring the scenery, then the quickly moves to the inside of the building to discover the buildings true nature. The mood is then changed, slightly tense. The poem style is confusing, as there is a lot of a contrast used. Clarke contrasts the look of the patients to their mental illnesses. She has already referred to them as the insane. A beautiful chestnut-haired boy listens entirely absorbed. A schizophrenic. This contrast is quite strong and obvious. The reader imagines a beautiful boy in every way, a good child, normal, content and happy. Then it instantly changes, he is a schizophrenic which changes the readers perspective of the child, as on the outside he is a perfect boy, almost angelic, then we see the inside, corrupted and destroyed of any normality. The language of The Daffodils is in Modern English although some words have been shortened to fit in with the rest of the poem. For example; Oer , means over. That floats on high oer vales and hills. Antiquated vocabulary is also used such as glee and jocund. The English is very straightforward, using both modern and antiquated vocabulary. Stanza one begins with a simile. Wordsworth likens himself to a cloud that is driven by the wind over which the cloud has no control. Here he is telling the reader about his mood and feelings and behaviour in that present moment. His mood is aimless as his feet were driving him in a directionless manner. He just felt a force taking him and a need to wander. I wandered lonely as a cloud. The simile creates a drifting mood. There is then a strong sense of immediacy, all at once. Wordsworth draws the reader in with at once and the readers attention is riveted. There is a great deal of imagery in the first stanza. Crowd and host, both convey a very large number or a numerous amount. In the next line the reader discovers what the crowd is. It is described vividly to the reader with a rich, luxurious and vibrant feel, golden. There is also a religious quality in a host of golden daffodils. A picture is created in the readers head of the golden daffodils glowing and highlighted to stand out from the rest of the world, as if from the heavens. It is like a host of angels. There is a strong assonance in stanza one, the repetition of the vowel sounds ee creates a sense of movement; beside, beneath, trees, breeze. The reader hears a beat, a rhythm creating a sense of the flow of movement and swaying of the daffodils. There is also an ing sound in stanza one that creates a more bouncing effect; fluttering and dancing. This gives stanza one a song like quality. Stanza two opens with a simile and a comparison. Wordsworth compares the daffodils to stars, which stretch endlessly to the human eye. Wordsworth compares the numbers of the daffodils to the vast amount of stars. Continuous as the stars that shine, this means that the daffodils continued beyond the reach of his own eyesight so that there must have been thousands of daffodils or more. They stretched in never-ending line. This conveys an infinite number, enthralling the reader. Wordsworth then gives elevated imagery, stars that shine and twinkle on the Milky Way. This gives the imagery of the daffodils releasing a ray of golden light around them, giving a magical feel. Wordsworth then makes a personification, Tossing their heads in sprightly dance. Only something that is alive could dance or toss their heads, so he points out the amount of life in these daffodils. He makes them full of life with vivid movement, sprightly. This is a lovely word to describe the behaviour of the daffodils, and conveys that they are full of movement and spring. The mood is warm, relaxed and light with a romantic atmosphere. In stanza three an image of the whole of Nature alive is presented to the reader, the waves beside them danced. This is the waves of the lake beside the daffodils, leaping about driven by the wind as if dancing to compete with the beauty of the daffodils. This is also a personification of the waves dancing. The mood then changes by the word but, making the reader expect something. After all the describing of the magical and romantic atmosphere, the reader feels pessimistic that something is going to change the whole mood of the poem. The reader then discovers that nothing terrible happens but the but was only to shame the waves, as the daffodils were more effective than the waves out-did the sparkling waves in glee. This means that the daffodils bettered the waves. The atmosphere is now light and fantastic again, glee meaning merriment and cheerfulness. There is a colon in the middle of stanza three indicating a pause, which continues with Wordsworth commenting on his feelings and actions at the present moment. I gazed- and gazed- but little thought. The hyphens slow the line down by breaking it up gradually, this gives the impression of thought to the reader. By doing this Wordsworth indicates the end of the description of the daffodils. There is also a metaphor in this stanza, what wealth to me the show had brought. The wealth in this stanza is a metaphor for the lasting measure of the experience gained by the sight of the daffodils and the emotions that they brought. Stanza four is at a later time, indicating that the poem was a memory flashback. The reader knows this from the first line of the stanza. For oft, when on my couch I lie. It is a reflection of the experience by saying oft which means frequently. The next line creates an empty mood, far away, drifting and dreaming. This tells the reader of Wordsworths longing to be back in that experience. The mood and atmosphere is quite strongly put forward to the reader with vacant or in pensive mood. This means absent and dreaming, inattentive and expressionless but with a thoughtful frame of mind. This shows Wordsworths mood of leaving the world far behind him and trying to enter an ageing memory of an uplifting experience. Stanza four has a special meaning. It is a time in Wordsworths life when he is having a retrospective view of his experience, which is so emotionally overwhelming to him that it has created an extremely long lasting impression in his mind. Wordsworth sums up his feelings from the experience in the last stanza they flash upon that inward eye, here he is saying that the vision of the crowd of daffodils is branded on his imagination for the rest of his life. This brings great happiness to him, which is the bliss of solitude. By using the word bliss, Wordsworth expresses his emotion of complete happiness. It is a religious and holy sounding word making the experience sound even more unreal and magical. solitude, meaning being alone completely with no-one near you at all, tells the reader that this experience was completely personal to him and special, and only he will ever know the true wonder of it even if he describes is as best as he can to others and then my heart with pleasure fills. This is a personification as there is an image of a vase being filled to the brim with pure joy. Also there is another personification in the last stanza, and dances with the daffodils. It is a further personification of a lively person who dances. In this last line Wordsworth is saying that his heart is dancing with the daffodils. Daffodils do not dance, but to Wordsworth they exude life, joy and radiant beauty. Wordsworth is deeply moved by the sight of them and he feels that his heart has gained a new lease of life and that he will look on everything about life and living in a new manner now. The last three lines of stanza four create an angelic and heavenly mood. In The Daffodils Wordsworth is trying to teach the reader to appreciate the beauty of nature and to understand the power of memory. I also think that he is trying to teach the reader about how the effect of just one experience in your life can be so strong and powerful that it can be remembered as vividly as it was the day of the experience many years later. From the title Miracle on St. Davids Day it is revealed to the reader what this poem is about. It is obvious that a miracle is the main point of the poem, meaning something holy yet unexpected. We also find out that it happens on St.Davids Day, which might be of some sort of significance later on in the poem. Underneath the poem is an extract of a well-known poem. To the reader this is some sort of a misprint or mistake, but the author and title of the extract are given also, signifying no mistake. After a read through the reader finds out that it is linked with the fifth stanza, the labourers voice recites The Daffodils. The language of this poem is in Modern English. It is descriptive, non-antiquated, meaning more modernised and less formal, and contemporary. It also has a narrative style. The vocabulary evokes spring, the asylum and re-birth. Examples of vocabulary evoking spring are used in the first stanza to set the scene. An afternoon yellow and open mouthed with daffodils, this gives the reader an impression of freshness, newness and spring, clear and open to the world. Growth and life is suggested in the description of a garden, among cedars and enormous oaks. Nursery shrubs, also suggests this. The vocabulary evoking the asylum is mainly in stanzas two, three, four and six. Immediately it is evoked in stanza two with the words insane and a schizophrenic. In stanza six the impression of the asylum is presented quite clearly with the nurses are frozen, alert; the patients seem to listen. From this the reader learns that the place is some sort of hospital. The vocabulary that evokes rebirth is in stanzas one, five and eight with the reference to the daffodils, which are connected to spring and being reborn. The Miracle on St. Davids Day is in poetic prose to prove that it is a descriptive piece. In stanza one, line one, there is a personification, yellow and open-mouthed. This suggests that the sun creates an image of a bell shaped flower telling the reader of the afternoon speaking of spring. There is another personification in this stanza of sunlight appearing to walk along a path. the path treads the sun among cedars. A country setting where nature dominates is evoked in lines four and five. it might be a country house, guests strolling, the rumps of gardeners between nursery shrubs. The language and arrangement of it gives the reader an image of a place of contentment and relaxation. might be, strongly suggests that they are not guests strolling and it is not a country house setting. This interests the reader to read on further to discover the true nature of the guests. In stanza two images are created of the two characters presented to the reader. The first line of stanza two is a strong contrast to the harmonious setting created in stanza one I am reading poetry to the insane, is an extreme change of tone destroying the peaceful atmosphere. It is a short one line sentence, blunt and sharply in focus. It is what G. Clarke, the narrative voice is doing, proving that what she has written is from personal experience similarly to Wordsworth. G. Clarkes technique is contrast. She contrasts the look of the patients to their mental illnesses. In lines seven and eight an old woman is described as interrupting. Lines nine and ten describe a boy as beautiful and chestnut-haired and then further on as a schizophrenic. Stanza three describes a woman in her neat clothes but mentally absent. The womans description repeats the word not three times to emphasise her mental absence meaning her state of mind is not entirely there, sits not listening, not seeing, not feeling. It is key word emphasising the effect of the illness on the human psyche. There is a total lack of response to the poetry from the woman. The next two lines describe a man as a big, mild man is tenderly led, suggesting he is either dumb or bovine or ox-like, lumbering but good-natured. Line eleven continues from line ten fitting in with G. Clarkes narrative purpose. By mentioning herself, the focus of the reader is brought back to the story telling mode. Line twelve contains a metaphor, in a cage of first March sun a woman. The woman is surrounded by a spotlight of sunlight. She is caught in a cage, which is the asylum and her mental illness. This is three different ways of being trapped emphasising her situation. In the last line of stanza three, the subject of the miracle is introduced although the reader does not know this yet. The sentence is unfinished naturally leading the reader on to stanza four and on with the story. Stanza four continues the sentence begun in stanza three. Imagery is created by the big, dumb labouring man as he rocks. A large imapct is presented to the reader with big and dumb is a large impact conveying contrast of his mental and physical state. In the first line of stanza four the reader discovers that this patient has never spoken, but later we find out that he can and is therefore an elective mute. Line twenty has blunt, shorter words that describe him very well. His psychotic behaviour is presented to the reader with a rocking rhythm created throughout the stanza, repeated. He seems content with the rhythms of the poem, by the image of rocking. His labourers hands on his knees, he rocks. ..to the big, dumb labouring man as he rocks. Rocks is repeated twice in the stanza so that a movement is created in the stanza and to emphasise his mental condition. There is also an oxymoron in this stanza, I read to their presences, absences.It is two opposite things put together. Here t he patients are there in physical state but not in a mental state. Stanza five introduces the beginnings of the miracle with an alliteration. He is suddenly standing, silently. These are quiet but powerful words giving the thought to the readers head that something of extreme importance to the poem is going to happen. The reader has already heard of the man as big and mild but now he is huge and mild, now that he has stood up. He is quite a presence, but from the repeated word mild, we know that he is really a gentle giant. Although he sounds a gentle giant his presence is intimidating. The impact of him standing evokes a sense of fear in the poet, but I feel afraid. Huge and mild are straight forward language but give a large impact. There are two similes in stanza five, Like slow movement of spring water, creating the image of after winter, snow and ice have almost all melted and it is slow and heavy, trickling down a hill side. Images of light and dark are created with the first bird of the year in the breaking darkness. This tells the reader tha t the mans voice is coming out of the darkness. His voice is being reborn or regenerated symbolising the whole newness of spring. Stanza six is the response or reaction to the reaction of the poem, from the staff, the patients and the whole of nature. The nurses are frozen, the nurses are shocked and in amazement to the reaction that this man had to the poem. The nurses are also alert, because this is a very unusual occurrence and they have to be alert and ready to act in any medical capacity needed. The other patients also seem to listen for once, being attentive and showing recognition of the miracle. There are two halves to the poem from different sides of the reaction, the patients reaction and the staff. He is hoarse but word-perfect, this tells the reader that he has obviously not spoken for a very long time although there must be some reason for this. His voice is croaky from the lack of use of it, but his memory is very powerful and he has not yet forgotten any of it from his days of youth. Nature outside also seems to listen to the mans recital, outside the daffodils are as still as wax, they are awake, attentive and listening, but somehow they look like they have been carved, awakening daffodils from long ago. Their syllables unspoken, show that nature waits for the recital of the poem to end. The daffodils symbolise spring and rebirth, in many forms. The rebirth of the mans voice. There is one personification at the end of the stanza, their syllables unspoken, suggesting that the daffodils can speak. There is a reference to The Daffodils in stanza six ten thousand, stating the amount of daffodils outside there are, which are the exact words used in The Daffodils by Wordsworth. Stanza seven is a flashback of the mans youth and how he came to learn the poem that he recites. The flash back offers an insight or explanation of how he is able to stand up and recite the poetry. There is one metaphor in this stanza, a music of speech. A music of speech is a voice inside of him with a very strong force and the power of memory needing to get out and tell others of this force. Music is symbolic for harmony and now once more the man is in harmony with himself, between his vocal chords and his intellect. The inner harmony within him shows the importance of poetry on the soul. This stanza emphasises the effect of nature on us all and the power of nature on the human psyche. Stanza eight is when the silence, stillness and attentiveness throughout stanza six, seven and eight, breaks. The man finishes the recital and the patients and the staff firstly observe natures attentiveness and then the applause comes telling the reader that the change in nature during the recital did not go unnoticed. When hes done, before the applause, we observe the flowers silence. The end of this line is a personification of the flowers being able to listen and change their mood by choice, the flowers silence. A thrush sings, tells the reader of how the atmosphere changes and nature goes back to normal. It also suggests to the reader that this was the expected miracle, permanently changing the mans life for the better. It seems that the mans illness has either been taken away by some angel of nature or has taken a new extremely unexpected turn. The last line contains a metaphor, the daffodils are flame, giving the reader an image of heat, power, intensity and life. The daffodils are alive and have awoken from the dream or other life whilst they were listening, just like the mans mental state. Clarke was trying to teach the reader that the power of voice and poetry can be forever lasting in a strong memory, even if the memory is very distant it can be triggered. Learning a piece by heart, once engraved on the brain may never be lost. Many things can unlock this memory but in particular the power of nature, voice and poetry can recall it most strongly. Even if mentally ill a memory can be recovered and even sometimes a memory lost long ago with the help of nature, can even cure an illness bringing the person back with their mental and physical state. I have learnt a lot from studying these two poems. The poems are completely different and contrast in many ways, but they also link with each other also. I had not heard of either of the two poems before, although The Daffodils by William Wordsworth is quite a well-known poem. Both poems being new to me they were fresh and interesting. Studying these poems has taught me to appreciate the wonder of nature more and recognise the power of memory. I cannot say which poem I prefer as they are entirely different, but I probably enjoyed reading The Daffodils more, because it was light and dreamy with a bouncy rhythm to it. It also seemed more unrealistic which appeals to me more. My profound experience with nature happened last summer. I go out horse riding every weekend with a friend of mine in Brockenhurst. We spend the whole day exercising the horses and exploring the forest. One weekend we were walking along a track in the forest, we turned round to the right at the end of the track, into a clearing and we stopped straight away. In front of us, at the bottom of a wide decreasing slope was a herd of deer. Right at the front of the herd was a white stag. He was proud, wise, noble and valiant looking with the golden sun adoring him, giving him a halo effect. Everything seemed to be silent as if time had been stopped, we were in a moment all of our own. The sun was beating down on us from behind us, as if to illuminate the stag and his herd. We just stared at the stag and he seemed to stare back. The stag held our gazes, which seemed to last forever. He then proudly turned around and walked through the centre of the herd into the dark and shaded forest. He did not turn his head, but the rest of the herd walked behind him as if trying to match noble quality but none succeeded. I will never forget that, as I had never seen a white stag before and probably will never again.

The Taboo Subject Of Death

The Taboo Subject Of Death The Oxford English Dictionary defines Taboo as being a social or religious custom placing a ban or restriction on a particular thing or topic. The Adjective added to that definition was banned or restricted by social custom ( Oxford University Press 2001, 2002, 2005, 2006). For many people, death is a taboo subject in spite of the fact that it is of universal concern, but is this statement necessarily true across cultures and countries? This essay will explore both the topical statement and the question. We will look at death from a brief historical context and how, if at all, the passage of time has altered the perception and the acceptance of death. We will take a look at two research studies undertaken in the United Kingdom and in the United States and then look at New Zealands diverse multi cultural society. Does a different cultural perspective of death change when absorbed into a western culture? We will also show that whilst death is still a taboo subject in some cultures, i t is more the inability of people to be comfortable in dealing with the terminally ill and our awkwardness in accepting that death is the inevitable end to our physical life as we know it. Coupled with this, is the fear of the great unknown and these three factors combine to contribute to our unwillingness to talk about of death, rather than death being a taboo subject per say. The fact is, is that we just dont know how. Space is often described as the final frontier. But could death be defined within the same context? Often, the subject of death is easier to discuss in general terms rather than on a personal level. Some of the factors that may give reason to this are as follows: Death in the media may often be portrayed as being violent, traumatic or speedy. This image usually involves some disaster or trauma in order to become newsworthy. In contrast, most real-life deaths are usually un-newsworthy, but this may lead to the developing of a stereotyped view of death that relates to the media image, rather than reality. Today death is not usually encountered on a personal level as frequently as history portrays, or in some other cultures outside of our western world. Science has reduced the incidence of infant mortality and there is a greater perception that technology will also prolong our life as well. There is a reduction in the spiritual belief of an afterlife. Death may now be seen as a final event and hence, becomes a more difficult subject to discuss. Families now tend to be separated and there are not the same support systems as in the past. Different bereavements and factors can affect a persons acceptance. Denial protects the individual from the initial impact of the loss. Not just the individual, but whole groups and societies deny. From a historical perspective, one can begin to see how patterns of Denial within societies changes over time and influences the present. * Lendrum, S. Syme, G. Gift of Tears, (second edition, 2004). During the period of the great Roman Empire, death was common place and more often than not, a public spectacle. The question was not of when they would die; it was more one of how. Would it be through natural causes, or, if their crime was worthy of such a death, crucifixion or rotting in some Roman dungeon. Maybe they would be promoted to the position of Gladiator. At least then they would only have to face war chariots, lions, or the choice of a blood thirsty crowd if they survived at all. And the Roman Legion was not much better. In Medieval times, death was perceived as a much greater presence than in todays societies. Not surprisingly, life expectancy was about half of that today. People had to be prepared to face death. And death was more likely to be violent, cruel and extremely painful. *Lendrum, S. Syme, G. Gift of Tears, (second edition, 2004). Death was unpredictable and uncontrollable. People had to live with a greater awareness of death around them and of their own mortality. There was always the constant reminder of death in the midst of life. One could not deny the existence of death and were forced to be more prepared to meet their deaths than today. In the last century death crossed over two distinct boundaries. With the occurrence of World Wars 1 2, Vietnam, Korea, China, Afghanistan and China, you had the violent deaths of both combatants and civilians alike. Civilians had to try and carry on with their lives as best they could and at the same time, knowing that this day could be their last. And for those left at home, it wasnt overly better. Not that they were openly threatened with death, but had, to a certain extent, live with a living death. trying to live a reasonably normal life, yet constantly living in the fear of whether or not their loved one would return. Admittedly, death within the context of the above is portrayed in somewhat violent and uncertain terms but throughout, there are three poignant observations that arise: 1/ There are those that live with death face to face on a daily basis. 2/ There are those that live in a somewhat removed position from the turmoil of what is happening. Not isolated but knowing that at some stage they will have to face reality. 3/ Death is something that we will all face head on. The question is, do we acknowledge our mortality and learn to be open about it, or do we hide from the reality and repress our innermost fears? In their book Awareness of dying, Glaser and Strauss (2005), researched the average Americans attitude to death and dying. One key point that they found was the strangely paradoxical attitude that revealed itself. Whilst Americans were seemingly able to accept that death was an everyday affair in that on a daily basis, newspapers confronted the brutal fact of death directly (from front page headlines to back page funeral notices, someone was always dying somewhere), they generally seemed to prefer to talk about a particular death rather than about death in the abstract. Characteristically, Americans are unwilling to talk openly about the process of dying itself and also prone to not telling a dying person that they are dying. This, in part, is a moral attitude life is preferable to whatever may follow it. One should not look forward to death. Feifel, H. Death, (as cited in Farberow, N.L., 1963). Social and Psychological problems involved in terminality are perhaps most acute when the dying person knows that they are dying. For this reason, Physicians in America are quite reluctant to disclose impending death to their patients. Fieifel, H. Death, (1961, p 17). The problem of awareness is crucial as to what happens both to the dying patient and to the people who give medical and nursing care, as well as those supporting the patient. Whilst one view of awareness is a technical one: should the patient be told they are dying and what is to be done if they dont know or only suspect, there is also a moral one involving professional ethics, social issues, and personal values. Should a dying person be denied the opportunity to make peace with their conscience and with their God, and to settle their affairs and provide for the future of their family? Do they have the right to control their style of dying, much as they controlled their style of living? Does anyone have the right to withhold such information? Fulton, R. Death and Self, (July 1964) In their article titled Dying Conversation Death remains a taboo subject among Brits (25th Sept. 2002), Norwich Union wrote the following: Death is a taboo subject when it comes to conversation. The topic is the most avoided conversation item for around 1 in 5 people nationwide. Women feel more at ease discussing the subject than men. Research also revealed that: .Death is seen as less of a taboo by the youngest (16 24) and oldest (65+), than all other age groups, while religion was the biggest conversational taboo among the 30 something group. .Both death and sex are considered equally taboo subjects by woman. .Death is seen as the biggest taboo by 24% of Londoners far more than anywhere else in Britain. .People in the Northwest are the most likely to openly discuss death only 12% of people asked described death as the biggest taboo. Forty eight percent of people questioned also said that they were treated differently by others after their friend or loved one died and nearly 54% said advice on how to support someone who has suffered bereavement would be useful. Research showed that 2 out of every 3 people in the UK have lost either a close family member or a friend in the last 3 years yet as a nation, we still find it extremely difficult to discuss death and to cope with bereavement. Does culture have any direct influence on how people handle death? In many cultures, there are taboos surrounding death do not touch a dead body least you inherit the disease; do not cremate the body as then the spirit will not rest and will return to persecute (the family). But are these taboos about openly discussing death or merely cultural beliefs as to how to treat the deceased. And what happens to such culture when absorbed into another, larger culture? Such is the case within New Zealand where the country boosts one of the highest cross cultural populations in the western world. For example and from a Maori perspective, serious illness, dying, death and grieving are among the most sacred and important in Maori life. Sanctity (tapu), Ceremony (kawa) and Language (reo), are intertwined in all of Maori life and traditions, and held in the highest regard. Unity, harmony and balance are central to their culture and are maintained through the systems of customary practices and the law of Tapu. For the Maori, serious illness or the process for a terminally ill person is very much a living, family (Whanau) affair. Relatives and friends gather daily beside the patient, either at home or at the hospital, each providing spiritual, moral, emotional and physical support for the patient and for the family. The interests of the patient and family are of paramount concern. Karakia (prayers and incantations) are an integral part and often both traditional Maori and modern Christian believes are combined and whilst traditional healing practices are still practiced, acknowledgement is given for the place and role of scientific medicine. Without great expansion on Maori culture and even given the current cultural climate, Maori traditions and practices continue to be an integral part of Maori life and will undoubtedly continue to be so. It is, perhaps, one of the truly sacred and time honoured cultures that have withstood the test of time in what is basically, a strong western culture. Maori do not appear to have any taboos when it comes to the overall aspect of sickness and Death. In fact, they seem to embrace and encompass it within their Tapu and Kawa. Keene, L. A race nearly lost, (1989, June). Ngata, N.P. Death, dying and grief: a Maori perspective, (1986). Other cultural groups within New Zealand have very similar views and practices in their attitude towards death and dying. In the case of either serious illness and/or in dealing with the terminally ill, it is very much a strong family time with both practical and spiritual/moral support being on constant avail. Of one major exception is that of the Niueans. For them, death is regarded as taboo. Discussion of death amongst themselves or with the dying is forbidden unless the dying raises their impending death. However though, within the same context, the family and friends of the dying/seriously ill person will maintain a constant bedside vidual. People have always grappled with the meaning of death. This was probably mitigated during the Middle Ages by a belief in an afterlife a belief that death was not the end and that the soul moved to another place. Christianity and other faiths expand on this belief. This discomfort about death has lead to shame and embarrassment and an avoidance of talking or writing about death. Euphemisms are often used, especially when talking to children. Such euphemisms as: Snuffed it; Kicked the bucket; Passed away/on; Pushing up daisies; all serve to distance ourselves from the effects of death. We experience great uncomfortableness in attempting to talk to the terminally ill, even if they are family. Out of shear awkwardness, we may say nothing at all and in doing so deprive both ourselves and the dying person of physical touch, words of comfort, and the recognition and emotional connectedness that we all desire. The very words and the valuable proof of our affection and tenderness go unsaid. Hockey, J. (1990, as cited in Lendrum, S. Syme, G., 2004). Freud et al, (as cited in Lendrum, S. Syme, G. 2004), pointed out the connection between the fear of death and the feeling of guilt. Putting into a simple example, Adam and Eve were immortal in Paradise but once they had sinned, became mortal and were condemned to die. That death was punishment for evil committed. The notion that death is a punishment could be used as a way of trying to make sense of death. This same notion could also have contributed to our fear of death and in turn, our guilt. Guilt is a strong emotion that is almost always experienced both by the dying and by those who survive. Not only are the feelings of if only I had.., I only wish that I .., experienced, but even in death, the deceased can be tainted with guilt by those who can find no better way of dealing with their own guilt and fears..Aids is caused by promiscuity..serves them right! An awareness of this might allow us to understand the value of confession and forgiveness. As a personal comment, I have experienced more than 15 deaths in my 53 years of life. These include both of my birth Parents (I was adopted at birth), My Parents, My first real girlfriend (as a result of a plane crash), and numerous motor vehicle accidents involving death where I just happened to be first on the scene. In particular, I recall the deaths of my Father and Mother. My Father died as a result of lung cancer, at home in 1968. I was 12 years old. Throughout the period of 8 months including major lung surgery, my Mother never once said anything to myself or my brother about Dads impending death. In fact we didnt really comprehend it until the day that Dad wasnt at home anymore and the house was totally silent. My mother died from cancer in a Hospice at Lower Hutt. I was 34 and in my first marriage. Mum had been living with my then wife and me for 6 months prior and when she finally died, I wasnt even present. I had struggled to talk to her or even my wife of her death and took solace in alcohol big time. In conclusion, throughout the research of this topic I have found that there are certainly some situations and circumstances in which the subject of death is taboo. However, I am personally of the belief that it is not that the subject is taboo per say; it is more the case of that we just dont know how to speak of, let alone handle death. Society is slowly changing in both the dialogue of, and the acceptance of death on deaths terms, but in saying that, I firmly believe that we, as New Zealand Europeans, can learn a lot from the vast array of other cultures within our country. The question is..Do we want to