Conformity And Exclusion In Los Cachorros - 908 Words

Many of Mario Vargas Llosa’s younger literary publications were laced with Marxist critiques of a transitioning Latin American society in the 20th century, and though on the surface, â€Å"Los Cachorros† may seem little more than a fictional coming of age narrative, the allegorical short story is no exception. Told through an encyclopaedic tour of Lima’s urban spaces, a pack of boys’ transition into young men and their interactions with the city reflect both the rigidity and fragmentation of the Peruvian community as a whole. With particular reference to chapter five, this essay will explore the cities implicit influence on the characters’ fulfilment of heteronomous social identities, and Vargas Llosa’a use of specific literary devices to†¦show more content†¦Continuing in the theme of conformity; if the boys are united by their heteronomy, Cuellar’s castration, in contrast, is the source of his ostracism. His unfortunate acci dent is a wound that ‘time opens instead of closes’, and as the story progresses, Vargas Llosa juxtaposes the boys socially inclusive youthful pastimes of football and studying mentioned earlier in the novel with his comparatively solitary penchant for the ocean and surfing â€Å"a puro pecho o con colchà ³n† (94) in chapter five. In this passage, his distance from the others is symbolised by the isolation of the sea; the narrator says the water â€Å"se lo tragà ³Ã¢â‚¬  (95) and later, the boys state that â€Å"se perdià ³Ã¢â‚¬  (96). Clearly, Cuellar’s failure to partake in the testosterone fuelled rituals of sexual maturity in the city has seen him shunned from the rest of the boys and resigned to hanging out with â€Å"rosquetes, cafichos y pichicateros† (96) instead – the modern, metropolitan outcasts. Evidently, Cuellar is incapacitated by this highly heteronormative lifestyle, as the inherent masculinity of the city is a fixed identity that will perpetually exclude him, or anyone else who cannot fulfil Peruvian societies idea of gender appropriate behaviour. Interestingly however, this notion of appropriate behaviour is recurrently brought to question throughout the story of Los Cachorros, as through the maturity of the story, the boys venture further astray from their safe haven Miraflores

What People Had For Lunch - 923 Words

Recollect what people had for lunch. Did any of their lunch things have a nourishment facts name on the back of them? Provided that this is true, and in the event that people observed the sustenance s protein, sugar, or fat substance, they might as of now be acquainted with a few sorts of vast organic particles, which are going to be discussed in this paper. Therefore, everyone will also be viewed the four major biological macromolecules as are carbohydrates (such as sugars), lipids (such as fats), proteins and nucleic acids (such as RNA and DNA), which all are fundamental forever. A large portion of these molecules is shaped from monomers and polymers. Monomers are small molecules that can be joined by a condensation reaction, in which water is removed to form the bond between two monomers. Whereas polymers are huge molecules, can be degraded by a hydrolysis reaction in which water is added to break the bond between polymers. That’s how the large molecules are formed due to condensation and hydrolysis reaction. First of all, let’s discuss the carbohydrate molecule, which contains carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen atoms. Carbohydrates are the most important source of energy for our body and our digestive system changes carbohydrates into glucose (sugar). Carbohydrates contain monosaccharides (one simple sugar), disaccharides (two simple sugars), and polysaccharides (many simple sugars). These simple sugars are joined by glycosidic bonds to formShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Paper: Ethical Dilemma1737 Words   |  7 PagesAnalysis Paper: Ethical Dilemma Last summer I had an opportunity to intern for a regional public accounting firm just outside of Philadelphia. During the internship, I encountered my first real on the job ethical dilemma. I had been working at the firm for probably 3 weeks before the incident occurred. It happened on a Friday in late June. This was no ordinary Friday, as all of the partners of the firm were out of the office on an annual retreat. Furthermore, on this Friday, many ofRead MoreShould Open Lunches Be Banned?1023 Words   |  5 PagesThroughout high school, I had always thought my experience would’ve been more enjoyable if I had the choice of open lunch. Every day I had despised walking to the lunch room knowing I would be served a food that I disliked. Now what If we were all able to pick the food of our choice? I think Wood County Schools should allow students to have off campus lunches, therefore the students could leave the campus to get the food of their choice. In this case, students can choose their lunch without having theRead MoreShould School Lunches Be Banned?1565 Words   |  7 Pagesof their childhood in a school. In schools, students acquire the academic knowledge and life skills that they need to carry out a successful life—ranging from learning basic math to how to tie their shoes. Another big part of school is the lunch hour. Lunch is a period in which students can get a break from classes, socialize, and refuel their minds to tackle the rest of the day. But school lunches have been known for being unhealthy and bad for students to consume. Washington has tried to combatRead MoreOutside/ Inside vs. Lunch Money Carol Diggory Shields1267 Words   |  6 Pagesâ€Å"Outside/Inside† Vs. â€Å"Lunch Money† Two. Two What? Two artistic, meaningful, and melodic poems dummy. The cleverly crafted poem entitled â€Å"Outside/Inside† by Carol Diggory Shields describe a young child in elementary school who wants to play outside in the rain, but is not allowed to and has to color in geography maps with other classmates. The witty poem entitled â€Å"Lunch Money† Carol Diggory Shields describes a child who has asked every single one of his elders for lunch money and can only relyRead MoreDescriptive Essay About My Favorite Food1054 Words   |  5 Pagesrice. But, if you ask me what is my favorite food among all these delicacies, the only answer that I can give to you is, â€Å"My mom’s cooking.† Every morning, opening my lunch bag, the water vapor inside my lunch box lid starts my copacetic day. During lunch time, the ‘ding’ sound of microwave after one minute and thirty seconds determined my attitude over the whole day. Lunch, my mom’s handmade food, is my passion. Maybe you are thinking that I’m exaggerating about ‘lunch’, but every grain ofRead MoreCollege Is An Exciting Time For Any Student1513 Words   |  7 Pagesdecisions. The idea of going to college and deciding what career you want to pursue is very exciting because you finally get to pursue your interests and determine if that is in fact what you want to do for the rest of your life. However despite graduating high school many of those fears and stigmas are still embedded in our minds and follow us to college. 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From my personal experience, after just graduating high school, I could see the healthier changes trying to be made in lunches. Breads were being turned to whole grain, kids had to have a vegetable or fruit, i could tell the people in the lunchroom really tried to enforce these rules andRead MoreCase Study : School Canteen Management System1521 Words   |  7 Pagesthen make decisions. I will be asking the person that in running t he canteen system for a weeks’ worth of data for their food including the sales, the number of customers that used the canteen over the week and brought food over breakfast, break and lunch. Also I will collect the information which shows us the cost for the meals and the price which it is being sold at. I will then use this information and would then analyse it by using the Microsoft excel software. By looking at the system I will needRead MoreThe Tour Of Your Life1269 Words   |  6 PagesPalm Valley School District. It was a pretty normal life here for James Miles, who was currently attending eighth grade at Palm Valley Middle School. He had a few friends, had pretty good grades, and was enjoying his life quite fine as it was. At the time, he was sitting on the walkway during recess, thinking intriguing things while waiting for lunch. â€Å"Yo, James! Come ‘ere!† knocked James out of my train of thought. ‘Dad gum it, Robert, always interrupting my thoughts†¦ Ugh...’ James thought to himself

American Parkour Movement Free Essays

The start of Parkour started with a French naval officer named Gorges Hebert. During World War I Herbert when on a trip to Africa. While he was there he was rather impressed with one of the native tribes. We will write a custom essay sample on American Parkour Movement or any similar topic only for you Order Now â€Å"Their bodies were splendid, flexible, nimble, skillful, enduring, and resistant but yet they had no other tutor in gymnastics but their lives in nature. †Ã¢â‚¬â€Georges Hebert. This was the beginning of his idea that physical fitness combined with mental creativity are fundamental necessities for a living person. While Hebert was stationed in Saint Pierre, Martinique, he was placed in charge of an evacuation of around seven hundred people because of the erupting of Mount Pelee. This event forwarded his new idea and he then began to apply it to his career. He started to incorporate this new idea to the training of French soldiers since World War II. One soldier that took a particular interest to this training was Raymond Belle. He continued with his training because it also later helped in become skilled within the Paris fire department. He also began to teach his soon about this philosophy, that one must achieve strength and dexterity in order to be useful in life and that you must be able to see beyond society’s ideas of objects. Just because a group of people have place a permanent purpose for a particular object. For instance, most people are stuck to the idea that a rail or wall is a barrier. Others who can see around this could use these as vaults or ladders. David took this idea to heart and created Parkour, which rapidly spread throughout France. Eventually this traveled to other surrounding countries and even America. For a while Parkour had no real definition, it was just a wondering lifestyle heard by ear but the American Parkour committee, along with members outside of the committee, gathered together to discuss the definition based of it original philosophy and this is what was finally created: Parkour is the physical discipline of training to overcome any obstacle within one’s path by adapting one’s movements to the environment. Parkour requires†¦ consistent, disciplined training with an emphasis on functional strength, physical conditioning, balance, creativity, fluidity, control, precision, spatial awareness, and looking beyond the traditional use of objects. * Parkour movements typically include†¦ running, jumping, vaulting, climbing, balancing, and quadrupedal movement. Movements from other physical disciplines are often incorporated, but acrobatics or tricking alone do not constitute parkour. Parkour training focuses on†¦ safety, longevity, personal responsibility, and self-improvement. It discourages reckless behavior, showing off, and dangerous stunts. * Parkour practitioners value†¦ community, humility, positive collaboration, sharing of knowledge, and the importance of play in human life, while demonstrating respect for all people, places, and spaces. How to cite American Parkour Movement, Papers

The Canterbury Tales and the Medieval Church free essay sample

This paper discusses Chaucers bitter description of the medieval church as a thoroughly corrupt institution. This essay looks at Geoffrey Chaucers take on the Middle Ages in The Canterbury Tales. The author discusses how Chaucer views the medieval church, the clergy, and the corruption through his writings, particularly through his characters of the monk, the pardoner, and the prioress. The paper focuses a great deal on the workings of the Christian church during medieval times. In The Canterbury Tales, Chaucer paints an interesting picture of the medieval church. The Christian Church provided leadership for the people of Western Europe . Saint Augustine was not the most diplomatic of men, and managed to antagonize many people of power who had never been particularly eager to save the souls of the Anglo-Saxons who had brought such bitter times to their people. When Augustine died, Christianity had only an unstable hold on Anglo-Saxon England. We will write a custom essay sample on The Canterbury Tales and the Medieval Church or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The Roman Empire had fallen, and although the people of Europe no longer honored one ruler, they gradually began to worship the same God.

Microsoft marketing Essay Example

Microsoft marketing Essay Task 1 1 . a The various elements of Marketing Process ORGANIZATION CULTURE Organizational culture is the sum of values and ritudals which serve as glue to integrate the members of the organization. † Richard Perrin page 4by Michael Watkins May 15, 2013 Culture is a carrier of meaning. Cultures provide not only a shared view of what is but also of why is. In this view, culture is about the story in which people in the organization are embedded, and the values and rituals that reinforce that narrative. It also focuses attention on the importance of symbols and he need to understand them † including the idiosyncratic languages used in organizations † in order to culture understand. Organizational culture is the values and behaviors that contribute to the unique social and psychological environment of an organization culture includes the organization values, visions, norms, working language, systems, symbols, beliefs and habits. It is also the pattern of such collective behaviors and assumptions that are taught to new organizational members as a way of perceiving, and even thinking and feeling. The definition of culture implies three things: perception, shared and descriptive. ORGANIZATION CULTURE ISSUES Let see Apple company how they represent current issues in organization culture. Organizational Culture at Apple, Apple Inc. is a global computer manufacturing company that is going through major changes in its organizational culture and it is organizational structure due to several events of the past few years. This is a company that grew extremely fast in little time, that their management found themselves not being able to keep their operations and finances under control. Apple Inc. as been forced to reevaluate and redesign culture and organizational structure to avoid bankruptcy. The organizational culture of Apple is one of change; with the drive to outperform and succeed as their major objectives. The culture of Apple was based on an ideal that self-motivated individuals will work harder if they do not have a boss micromanaging every action. The unique structure of Ap ple had allowed it to grow and react more quickly to changes than its competitors. The reason for the quick responsiveness is simple; it is much easier to get a project started if there are only a few people to obtain approval from. We will write a custom essay sample on Microsoft marketing specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Microsoft marketing specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Microsoft marketing specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Apple initially grew fast, because decisions were made at the lowest possible level. Corporate headquarters made olicy and oversaw all activities, but the local employees made the day-to-day decisions on the ground in countries all over the world. This type of top-down philosophy allowed for quick responsiveness and resolutions to situations without involving the corporate headquarters, thus avoiding corporate red tape (Mc Shane and Travgltone, 2005, pp 89-290) ORGANIZATION STRUCTURE Organization structure is the formal arrangement of Jobs within an organization. This structure which can be shown visually in an organization chart, also serve many purpose. When manager create or change the structure, they are engaged in rganization design, a process that involves decisions about six key elements, work specialization, departmentalization, chain of command, span of control, centralization, ana decentrallzatlon, ana Tormallzatlon. I nus, every managerial decision is a best-effort compromise made in an environment of uncertainty, its follow these steps: 1. Defining / Identifying the managerial problem, 2. Analyzing the problem 3. Developing alternative solutions, 4. Selecting the best solution out of the available alternatives 5. Converting the decision into action Fifgurel : Decision making process l. b Organizational Chart Figure 2: Company Organization Chart Departmentalization is the basis by which Jobs are grouped together. Organizations may be departmentalized by function, product, geography, process, or customer. So for this company the departmentalization functional having: Administrative Division, Investigate Division, Support Division and Uniform Division The chain of command is an unbroken line of authority that extends from the top of the organization to the lowest level and clarifies who reports to whom. The unity-of-command principle states that a person should have only one supervisor to whom he or she is directly responsible. Bellow of Administrative have profile, planning lnvestigate, family protect, task force, specialist detail. Under Support service have record, information, security office, maintain service, system administrative. Final is Uniform, their chain includes special operation, patrol selection and traffic selection Span of control refers to the number of employees that can be directed by one manager. Narrow spans of control allow for close control, while wider spans of control reduce costs, speed up decision making, increase flexibility, and empower employees. That company let talk about chain of employee, one department is controlled by one anager and must be follow him. The ideal span of control will Decentralized organizations allow lower-level personnel or provide input or actually make decisions. The recent trend has been towards decentralization and this trend design for this company. Because this a big company, they cannot come one by one to ask the chef. For instance, when company met problem about vehicle maintain, if it is not so heavy, the supervisor of that department can solve or maybe can ask for security office support them Task 2 Green Fashion The Brilliant Business Model Behind HMs Clothes Recycling Plan From Business small on June 24 This story is what I mention about managerial decision and what let them to this decision. Last of part is what can I study from this story. H M is The worlds second-biggest retailer, and they want make environment become Green. In fact it is not easy to do but it can geta lots profit. By that idea they Degln to make plan ana ao It I ney give some promotlon ana nave a Tasclnatlng new plan to cut waste in the fast-fashion business. HM sustainability manager Henrik Lampa told Bloomberg: We dont want clothes to become waste, we want them to become a resource indeed. He want the clothes become a resource indeed. By the time it next reports earning, H may have recycled a bunch of ratty old skinny Jeans into revenue. If the recycling program functions correctly, it could help turn around Hs same-store sales, which fell another 4 percent in the three months through May So WHAT IS DICISION from this story, we can analysis: It is GREEN said by manager Henrik Lampa told Bloomberg: We dont want clothes to become waste, we want them to become a resource indeed WHAT LED TO THAT DECISION: Because he dont want waste clothes and he want to recycle its, he want to make it become esources for new product From this innovation and strategies what was happened? For next reports earning, HM may have recycled a bunch of ratty old skinny Jeans May. The most important they can earn from this decision is customer satisfaction, almost customers feel company is generous and company get a good impression, they also bring a lots customer from this decision What bring to my mind from this story? Before answer this question, Just ask yourself, Do you like the clean environment, a green life? As we see from results we will know Green decision get good business for company and effect to customers. Meaning before I want to give any decision I must be get acknowledge what is important to focuses, and it is need, and what is the best ways to do it. Like H M they no need to buy a system to make Green, by the simple ways to use old product to recycle become new product. Is it environment of human and they was point at customer psychology. And the second point is that decision is easier to drive buy a nee but you must be flexible in creating 2. b Leadership style Leadership style is the manner and approach of providing direction, implementing plans, and motivating people. Kurt Lewin (1939) led a group of researchers to identify different styles of leadership. This early study has been very influential and established three major leadership styles: (Lewin, Llippit, White 1939, U. S. Army Handbook, 1973) autocratic or authoritarian participative or democratic delegative or laissez-fair. As we know, no leadership style is the best and appropriate for all situations. Instead a manager can adopt the leadership style depend on the situation. There is a need for matching leaders and Job situations to achieve organizational effectiveness. Often, your technical skills can only take you so far. To help you move forward in your career, you need soft skills such as the ability to be a good leader. Therefore, leadership skills are considered to be important traits which can help you get to the top of your career field. Youre more likely to be hired or get a promotion if youve been successful in leadership roles in your professional or personal life. Few people are born to be leaders. Most of us need to practice being a good leader, and thats why leadership development is so important. There are many different types of leadership, and there are many skillsets that can help you become a successful leader. In my view if I want become a true leader I will think about Demographic style. It sounds easy enough. Instead of one defined leader, the group leads ItselT. Egalltarlan to tne core, democratic leaders are Trustratea Dy tne enormous effort required to build consensus for even the most mundane decisions as well as the glacial pace required to lead a group by fiat. The potential for poor decision-making and weak execution is significant here. The biggest problem with democratic leadership is its underlying assumptions that everyone has an equal stake in an outcome as well as shared levels of expertise with regard to decisions. Thats rarely the case. While democratic leadership sounds good in theory, it often is bogged down in its own slow process, and workable results usually require an enormous amount of effort. This style involves the leader including one or more employees in the decision making process (determining what to do and how to do it). However, the leader maintains the final decision making authority. Using this style is not a sign of weakness, rather it is a sign of strength that your employees will respect. This is normally used when you have part of the information, and your mployees have other parts. A leader is not expected to know everything†this is why you employ knowledgeable and skillful employees. Using this style is of mutual benefit as it allows them to become part of the team and allows you to make better decisions. So the first I will be taking initiative. Most bosses will assign their employees tasks that the employees have proven to be adept at. Therefore, dont wait to take on more responsibilities. Go above and beyond at your current position. A good way to develop your skills is to take on extra projects outside of your Job description. How to improve my leadership style? In my view, the first, the more work you do, the more you are learning. Beside that you also must be critical thinking, you can hire for a high-profile Job, you will need to be a critical thinker. Good leaders are able to foresee potential problems before they happen. They can then develop ways to prevent the problems from happening. Good leaders are also aware of potential opportunities and take advantage of them to benefit the company and employees. Listening effectively, as we know one of the most important skills for a leader is listening. Without listening skills, you are not able to get feedback from others and get a sense of what team members like about the projects they work on. Feedback is a key. To listen effectively, you need to maintain eye contact, avoid distractions and respond appropriately. Keep in mind, communication is not only about verbal communication. Be aware of body language and gestures to determine what people are really saying. Motivate others if your actions inspire to another person, to them dream more, they want learn more, do more and become more, you will be a leader. A true leader should be affected people. When employees or coworkers lose their ambitions and passions, a true leader can analyze and motivate them. How do leaders motivate people? First, they know what people need and want. Sometimes, they are facing difficulties, tired of doing the same repetitive tasks or disappointed, they will lose their motivation because they are not being asked to get involved. As a plan to become a leader on two years future, I will talk to them whats going on, and share your personal stories with them to encourage them to get energy and power to be strength. I will be strictly and make fun on time. Especially I will make them respect me by my knowledge and my ways management Task 3 3. a Employee recognition example Before I came to Singapore, I worked V- Freight Ltd. My company sale furnisher and transTer to European market. At tnat time I worked as customer service, ana my manager want to offering an extra week of paid vacation for employees that reach their five-year service anniversary can be part of a package that improves employee retention. Employees that exhibit good attendance each quarter can be rewarded with an extra paid personal day off. Time-off rewards packages can be as simple as llowing the person voted employee of the month to take one half-day off each week during the month I am honored. Beside that another sale department giving the 50 chairs, Paris trip awards, it means who can sale 50 wood chairs one month will get the trip to Paris. Of course all of staffs try to persuade and find cooperation partner. And one things specially was happened. One of staff in Sale Department got it. She reach the target and company was recognition her achievement. Some of my friend they worked at 69 Pizza Restaurant, their restaurant awards is not eally big, they only can get weekend party if they received good comments from customers. But to them it is enough energy and motivation to perform their goals . Another example is about Viet Travel Tourist company, their program called New way it means if any staff, tour guide can pass the l am the best tour guide Contest will be promote to upper position. To me I really like this incentive of Viet Travel. All tour guide try to learn soft skill and hard skill to past this contest. And what was happened? So surprised all of them was performed really good, but the assistant of Marketing Department was recognition. She was become the best tour guide, and promote to marketing manager, every people must be recognition her ability Page 175 chapter seven Motivating Employee Organization and Behaviour of Stephen P. Robins Mary Coulter, one excited example is about managers at Yum Brands Inc. were looking ways to reduce employee turnover. They found a successful customer service program involving peer recognition at the firm s KFC restaurants in Australia. Workers there spontanrously rewarded fellow workers with Champs cards, an acronym for attributes such as cleanliness, hospitality, and accuracy. Yum implemented the program in other restaurants around the word and credits the peer recognition with reducing hourly employee turnover from 181 percent to 109 percent. From five examples above we know there are a lots ways to encourage workers, employee.. it can be money, prizes, plaques, travel and public commendations. The payouts of sales contests are usually called awards. All of the methods to incentive also get benefit, by others way they also want to complete duties, tasks and goals. We cannot say this method is good or another is not good, because it depend on every eople requirements, purposes and targets. Task 4 4. a Group Conflict What is group conflict? Group conflict is always on the edge of any team project or organization. Knowing that group conflict can potentially reveal itself at any moment, can help managers and team leaders deal with potential issue and thus deal with group conTllct DeTore It arises. Group conTllct can De separated Into two sun- categories of conflict: inter-group conflict (in which distinct groups of individuals are at odds with one another), and intra-group conflict (in which select individuals a part of the same group clash with one another). Although both forms of conflict have the ability to spiral upward in severity, it has been noted that conflict present at the group level (i. e. , inter-group rivalries) is generally considered to be more powerful than conflict present at an individual level a phenomenon known as the discontinuity effect. When is conflict functional and when is it dysfunctional? According to researcher it depends on type of conflict. There are three kinds of conflict, task conflict, relationship conflict and process conflict. The first is Task Conflict, that conflict means over content and goals of work . Task conflict arises when intra-group members disagree on issues that are relevant to meeting shared goals. Second is Process Conflict, that conflict happen when over how work gets done which refers to disagreement over the methods or procedures the group should use in order to complete its tasks. It occurs when strategies, policies, and procedures clash. Relationship Conflict it means conflict base on interpersonal relationship, it is also known as affective conflicts, personality conflicts, emotional conflicts, or relationship conflicts, are conflicts that occur when group members dislike one another. One study of high level corporate executives revealed that 40% of disputes were due to individual enmity between the principals without specific reference to other issues (Morrill, 1995, p. 69). Criticism, when one person evaluates another, or his/her work negatively, is one common cause of personal conflict. When your work at a team, a group and you see the conflict arise, how do you handle it? If a team member has a conflict with the team leader, the first step is to identify the type of conflict. The most conflict happen is Relationship conflict and how to handle it. It means discussed rivately between the team leader and team member, or between member to member. Lets talk about conflict between team member and team leader. In my opinion the team member should explain for leader that there appears to be conflict and how he or she wants to resolve it, team leader should be gather them and talk together, slowly analysis and solve problem. Team leader need to understand team member and after that he can make an event, for example, do a gamble mean Leader. It means every team member can become the team leader, and then all team members can understand difficulties of team leader. In conclusion, team conflict is n important and integral part of any team that exists. As we have outlined it in this chapter, conflict, if approached effectively and managed appropriately, can exponentially work in the favor of any team. In my opinion appropriate management of the relative type of team conflict at hand is critical for teams to be successful. These concepts will help teams improve their functionality and dynamic effectiveness in an effort to reach their ultimate goals in reaching to be a high performing team. 4. b Control Measure for employee and organization At this part I will manager of a customer call for time share vacation. The question is how to control to see efficient and effective an employee Control measure for employee: I believe individual employees should be measured as to how many calls he or she handles in a day, the number of time shares they have sold, positive or negative survey TeeaoacK In tne areas 0T Trlenallness ana Knowledge 0T products or services offered. Then I want to add control measures to monitor the knowledge of products or services of each individual in relation to set targets. I would like to evaluate methods being used by the individual to make their sales, so I can control measure by monthly sale. The end of the day, whether in the private, public or voluntary sector, it is all about adding value. Employee satisfaction and customer satisfaction are always a means to an ends, in some higher purpose. Measuring contribution towards that higher purpose is surely the ultimate measure of success. Control measure for organization: For the call center as a whole, I would like to measure the total number of calls received in a day, the number of dropped calls or missed sales in a day, whether calls are being dispersed evenly amongst representatives working in a given day and how many calls each person takes on average in a day. After that I will implement stronger controls in measuring the total sales on a daily basis, to compare historical data year over year for profit and call history data. So last year total sale will be control measure. Another solutions is depending on index, It means when the index rate goes up, it means that your financial measurement in case of financial index is satisfactory and no immediate action required even if one of its indicator is not doing well and so on if index goes down.. With further drill down to its indicator you can point the reason that affects this drop that will give you a focus and quick win olution technique to raise the performance in limited time. Feedback control refers to the control that concentrates on the post organizational performance. So for this situation I will use feedback control to assess the performance. Range goal means standards that set a balance between the short range and long range goals. 1 . Task la and 1b 1 Task 4a and 4b References.. 86 Appendix 97 Table of contents List of references 2. Task 2a and 2b . 3 3. Task 3. 7 5. List of 1. Richard Perrin page 4by Michael Watkins May 15, 2013 2. Decision Making Process In Management Problem Solving. 2013. Decision Making Process In Management Problem Solving. [ONLINE] Available at: http://kalyan- city. blogspot. com/2010/06/decision-making-process-in-management. html 3. The Brilliant Business Model Behind HMs Clothes Recycling Plan Businessweek. 2013. The Brilliant Business Model Behind Hs Clothes Recycling Plan Businessweek. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www. businessweek. com/articles/2013-06-24/the- brilliant-business-model-behind-h-and-ms-clothes-recycling-plan.

Dolphins Essays - Oceanic Dolphins, Dolphin, Animal Welfare

Dolphins Essays - Oceanic Dolphins, Dolphin, Animal Welfare Dolphins Dolphins are playful and cleverness make them fascinating to watch . Dolphins are not fish they are mammals that live in the sea . They have to come to the top of the water every half minute , so they can breathe . But dolphins can stay under the water for six or seven minutes ,if he holds his breath . The dolphin breathes in his head because he has a blow hole in his head that allows him to breathe . Dolphins have a lot of teeth to help them eat. Each dolphin has almost one hundred teeth in his mouth all the same size and shape . The only work the teeths have is catching food , but not chewing it. First the dolphin catches a fish then he swallows it . A dolphin has a good eye . But sometimes he can't see very well in the water because is so full of shadows , and mud , and plantsthat grow at he bottom . The dolphin uses his ears so much it is hard to see his hears . They are located in the sides of his heads and are two tiny pin holes . The dolphin can hear very well . A dolphin sleeps a foot or two below the top of the water . He takes little naps every half minute or so he moves his tail up and down .This brings him up for a breath of air . Then he drifts down and sleeps some more . Some dolphins stay together they play and learn and grow up . One reason they stay together is the enemies in the sea . The Shark is their enemy and so is the Killer Whale .If a killer whale comes close , the dolphins make a circle . The female dolphins and their babies are in the middle of the circle . The male dolphins swim around the outside of the cicle . It is hard to attack when there is a bunch of dolphins . But sometimes the enemy attacks and the dolphins attack back . When a dolphin cries for help the other dolphin comes to help . One day some dolphins were playing around a big boat they did flips in the water and jumped high in the air . But one dolphin was jumping too high and was to close to a boat . That fell against the hard side of the boat and was hurt . Then the dolphins heard the whistle for help they swam over their hurt friend . But was sinking in the water that the two friends started to push him up for a breathe air . Then he took a big breath of air and he swam away with his friends .That shows that the Dolphins stay together and are friendly . Dolphins are among the most playful of all animals , even as adults .They play with each other , with whatever the may find , and with the fish they are about to eat . They even like to play with people , wich maybe people enjoy dolphins so much . Dolphins learn humans games quickly , and they alsomake up their own games and teach them mto people . Dolphins will almost play with anything balls, feathers , and many other things . They can play basketball ,play toss the ring , jump up high , fetch a stick in the water , ring a bell when he is jumping and other varieties . Sometimes dolphins are shy when they swim close to shore . If people are gentle to the dolphins get over their shyness

American Identity Construction In Raising Victor Vargas English Literature Essay

American Identity Construction In Raising Victor Vargas English Literature Essay Peter Sollet’s 2002 movie â€Å"Raising Victor Vargas†, is a fascinating piece of cinematic work because it has the incredible ability to transport an audience member from the movie theatre and place him or her behind main character Victor, thus becoming an eye witness of his daily actions in the barrio. By taking this approach, Sollet gives the audience the opportunity to analyze the negotiation and construction of Dominican self-identification in the United States. The movie is set in New York City’s Lower East Side and a majority of the main characters are members of the working class Vargas family. The head of the household is grandmother Anna Guzman, who is a first generation immigrant from the Dominican Republic. She has the responsibility to raise her three grandchildren named Victor, Vicki and Nino. Victor is a real ladies’ man and the central narrative of the movie revolves around his attempts to seduce popular neighborhood girl Judy Ramirez. His involvement with Judy is a desperate effort to rescue his reputation as Victor’s friends assume that he has slept with â€Å"Fat Donna.† Over the course of his seduction process, Victor gets both his brother and sister tangled up in his actions which makes raising victor vargas a mission impossible for his traditional grandmother. Both the general audience and critics appreciate the movie. It faired well at the box office and it received many positive critical reviews, including one from popular Chicago-Sun Times critic Roger Ebert who gave it three and a half stars out of four. â€Å"Raising Victor Vargas† also won several prizes including the Grand Special Prize at Deauville Film Festival and the Made in Spanish award at San Sebastian International Film Festival. Reasons for its success may lie in the fact that it is not a typical teenage comedy, since it not merely touches upon teens’ experiences with relationships. It also raises issues concerning th e search for an Dominican-American identity, the defining of race through language, the acceptance of generational tensions and the existence of cultural differences. All of these issues give a glimpse of how ethnic-racial identities are played out in New York City’s Lower East Side. By analyzing the construction of an ethnic-racial identity in â€Å"Raising Victor Vargas† by means of the previously listed topics, this paper will demonstrate how the existence of fluid identities encompasses feelings of inclusion and exclusion that are able to dominate lives within an urban minority community. The academic discussion on identity construction in Latino communities in New York City mostly focuses on the existence of panethnicity among Latinos and how this affects integration into American society. According to scholars Josà © Itzigsohn and Carlos Dore-Carbal, the existence of panethnicity â€Å"refers to the expansion of ethnic group boundaries to include different nati onal or ethnic groups that share a common language, a common culture, or a common regional origin into an encompassing identity.† This panethnicity has been examined as a secondary identity that coexists with national identifications. In addition, the link between America’s racial classification system and panethnic identity has also been researched extensively. Overall, research has drawn the conclusion that separate racial and ethnic categories are able to construct panethnic identities, yet they can also create panethnic identities together.

Roles of Psychiatric Nurses in Mental Health Nursing Essay

Roles of Psychiatric Nurses in Mental Health Nursing - Essay Example At the same time, some contemporary cultures are more tolerant, and their beliefs suggest that family and community members are keys to the care and treatment of the mentally ill. The impact of longstanding beliefs and values on care provision: Mental health nurses are from the population, and before being mental health nurses, they were lay people. Therefore, it is very likely that the beliefs and values about mental health deeply ingrained in societies would be carried forward in the nurses, unless they acquire mental health literacy. It is ironical that while amongst the nurses, the importance of health literacy in terms of physical health is well recognised, even among them, the area of mental health literacy is comparatively ignored. Prejudice, stereotyping, and stigma of the healthcare professionals in the psychological health field has influenced care traditionally, mainly because of the fact that those are difficult to change, and if this occurs in the mental health nurses, would influence the care outcome. When nurses understand different cultures as they relate to individual feelings and motivations, they will be better equipped to adapt mental health care to the backgrounds and lifestyles of their clients. It is a matter of growing concern and an important issue in delivery of mental health care in the Australian Healthcare System. According to the DHS (1998) one of the roles of the psychiatric nurse is to have an awareness of stigma and the ability to challenge their beliefs, thoughts, attitudes, and bias about mental disorder. It is required by the standards of practice to implement this changing "attitude" of the nurses into practice to eliminate discrimination in practice, and therefore, "Reflecting on practice, feelings and beliefs and the consequences of these for individuals/groups is an important professional benchmark" (ANMC, 2006). Nursing care of people with psychiatric illnesses and emotional problems very frequently are more complex because of cultural differences between the nurses' and patients' backgrounds and cultural heritages. It is important for nurses to understand clearly the thinking and perspectives of other cultures and groups, especially to which their clients belong. Because treating mental disorders is intertwined with peoples' attitudes about themselves, their beliefs, values, and ways of interacting with their families and communities, it is crucial that psychiatric nurses be culturally competent in their practice. The awareness about these factors leads to knowledge and alteration of beliefs about mental disorders in nurses, and this alteration would aid the recognition, better management, and efficient prevention of these disorders. This awareness has several components including the ability to recognise specific disorders or different types of psychological distress, knowledge and beliefs about risk factors and causes, knowledge and beliefs about interventions, and attitudes that facilitate recognition and offer help. Poor knowledge about mental illness and negative attitude towards patients suffering from mental illness is widespread among the mental health workers including nurses. Educational interventions can reduce stigma, and as noted earlier, stigmatizing opinions are not related to knowledge. Mental health

Competitive Strategy in Lighthouse Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Competitive Strategy in Lighthouse - Article Example The analyses highlighted that the hybrid competitive strategy was the most appropriate strategy to follow, and recommendations were made to work closely with other key players in the industry if it was to become a dominant force. Lighthouse is a mobile phone marketing company that seeks to address the needs of advertisers seeking to increase their response rates in the ever more lucrative yet increasingly more competitive task of customer acquisition and retention. Lighthouse will enable subscribers in the region to access government services, maps, directions, tourist attractions and tips, restaurants, museums, entertainment events, news and stock prices from their wireless devices. This enables the local population and tourists alike to utilize technology to enhance the service needs. This technology is also particularly beneficial to the local population, as ownership of devices such as personal computers is low but that of mobile devices is high. This means that the services which the internet offers to other parts of the world are not easily accessible or widely available in the UAE. By providing this service on a mobile device, Lighthouse is making the internet available in the first instance, and it i s removing the need to go to a fixed location to access this information. Lighthouse's target market is primarily based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) which is considered to have a customer base of 10-15% of the 4.5 million local mobile users. In addition to this, the UAE is a popular tourist destination with approximately 7 million tourists annually, who represent a potential market, especially for tourist related services (Business Plan - appendix I). Therefore the objectives of Lighthouse are to build a platform that enables better response rates to their marketing campaigns, to create a management system and secure funding to expand the business. It is clear that Lighthouse intend to be a dominant force in the market, but in order to do this, it is necessary to conduct a full environmental analysis, so as to determine their options for growth and expansion. External Analysis of Lighthouse An analysis of the external environment helps an organization to understand the environment they currently operate in and how it can change (Johnson and Scholes 1993). An understanding of the environment enables an organization to develop strategies that will ensure their survival within the market place. For instance, Lighthouse is going to clearly take advantage of the tourist numbers; however they also need to consider current external factors that will contribute to the reduction of tourist numbers and subscribers. Likewise, Lighthouse is also capitalizing on the low distribution of personal computers for internet access, another factor which could change in the near future. An analysis of the external environmental is known as a PESTLE analysis and this involves analyzing the political, economic and competitive, social and cultural, technological, legal and environmental/institutional factors that affect an organization (Johnson and Scho

University education Essay Example for Free

University education Essay Summary: This article is about the various different ideas to influence college students to attend class. Several professors feel that by using the students’ attendance and their class participation as part of their grade that more students would attend class. Studies show that students who attend class are more likely to get higher graduation rates. Some students feel that the information taught in class should also be available online, which results in students not coming to class. The researchers are saying that by the professors pleasing the students, has led to easier classes where students don’t learn as much as they used to. Ultimately, the choice is the students and the ones that show up to class are the ones getting the most information, and higher success rates. Essay: College attendance rates are going down as well as graduation rates. College students wonder why there not graduating or passing their classes. I’ll tell you why several students are failing. Students have a responsibility to show up to class to learn the information taught so they can pass, but if students don’t show up they can’t receive that information. So with students not going to class they don’t receive all the information needed to pass test, exams, and complete homework assignments. Should attendance be a part of the students’ grade? I feel that if the students’ attendance is incorporated into their grade that more students are going to get lower grades. The students are there to better themselves and if they don’t want to show up to class then they are only hurting themselves. The students know that if they don’t attend class then they won’t receive all the information to do well and pass the class. I agree with researcher Marcus Crede that mandatory attendance at the college level is the wrong approach. Professors should influence their students to come to class in other ways than using attendance as part of their grade. The easiest solution to this problem is for the students to attend class. All college students shouldn’t have to be told this because they know what is expected of them and what they have to do to pass. Graduation rates should increase as long as the students attend class and pay attention. Students’ attendance shouldn’t have to be a percentage of their grade, but if that’s what it takes to increase graduation rates then that’s what will have to happen. So if you want to be a successful college student you need to attend class, pay attention, and study for your test and exams. Reflection: I feel that I did a good job explaining the key points of the article in my own words. Also I think that I put all the key points in the correct paragraphs. My weaknesses are repeating myself in different words. Also not explaining my thoughts clearly and easily understood. I used too many of my own thoughts without any examples from the text to explain my thoughts.

The Role of Mrs. Hammond and Emily in Rebecca Rushs Novel Kelroy Essay

The Role of Mrs. Hammond and Emily in Rebecca Rush's Novel Kelroy In this day and age, women have liberties that are often taken for granted. Women have the freedom to choose which university they will attend (if they plan on attending college), what career they wish to pursue, and also whom their mate in marriage will be. In early American days, liberties of women were looked upon from society as being wealthy and holding high social status. Many did not have the opportunity to pursue a career, much less decide what university they preferred to attend. They were fortunate to even have the opportunity receive a higher education beyond reading! Choosing the right men for their futures ensured them the luxuries they wished to maintain. If they were not already included in "upper society," their chances of upward mobility were slim to none. If the family lost their fortune, their only salvation was to be married back into wealth, another slim to none chance. This is the reality Rebecca Rush clearly paints in Kelroy. Rush projects her jud gment on early American society and the role of women and marriage. Using the creation of two main characters, Mrs. Hammond and Emily Hammond, Rush is able to project her disapproval of society's ways through their opposing views and personalities. The opening of the novel begins with a transparency of American society. Rush quickly illustrates how "the good natured world" orchestrates. The reader is not disillusioned to the reality of the Hammond's society. A reality Mrs. Hammond herself is fully conscious of. "Still she retained an unabated relish for show and dissipation, which her knowledge of the world, on which she prided herself much, taught her could only be o... ... They are viewed as gossips only concerned with the display of proper mannerisms and fashions. Rush is able to enlighten readers to see that even though women were allowed little liberties, they could still provide a higher level of human nature. Something that neither liberty nor education can provide. Through Mrs. Hammond, she displays the outlook of society's views on women and how many women perceived it as their only reality. Through Emily, Rush is able to challenge society in all its vanity and selfishness. Emily represents the future aspiration of women and the mark they will leave for following what they know to be true, their hearts. Work Cited Murray, Judith Sargent. "On the Equality of the Sexes." Ed. Paul Lauter.The Heath Anthology of American Literature, third edition. Volume 1. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 1992. 1058-1064.

Muslim, Islam and American culture Essay

The main purpose of this paper is to explore the current experience of Muslims in America and the quest for clues as to the future interaction between Islam and American culture. In particular, I will concentrate on three areas: Islamic influence on the culture of Americans with emphasis on how it has affected political and social development; the interaction between Islamic traditions and American culture on the establishment of American Muslim Organization; and the social, cultural and educational trends among the Muslim youth in America. Introduction Whatever is happening to the Muslim culture in the American society and the American society as it interacts with the Islamic culture can only be comprehended by the conception of culture as a fluid entity that interacts and borrow from each other. It is important that any study of Islam in the United States must not ignore the interplay between religion and culture neither should it assume that one overwhelms the other. The experience of American Muslims puts into sharp relief matters of identity and assimilation and how they must be distinguished from the concept of values. Even with movements such as the Nation of Islam rejecting identification with the broader culture including some of the then dominant values, it accepted other values such as the work ethic and entrepreneurship. My argument is that this selective acceptance of American values was a result of a confrontation between Islamic values and American culture seen from the perspective of an alienated minority group robbed of its identity. The past few decades have witnessed the evolution of American Muslim organizations. The majority of these organizations until 1980s were mosques and even these were in few numbers. Today, there exists a number of formal Muslim organizations in various areas of endeavor. The complexity of their organizations and the extent of their influence are increasing. These organizations are increasingly fitting into the weave of American culture rather than become a bulwark against it. They in effect influence the ambient culture around them. The Muslim Student association is normally the root of Islamic organization among the immigrant population. The association’s alumni are in most cases found in leadership positions of the current wave of immigrant dominated organizations (Ahmad, 2003). The only Muslim organization with an immigrant composition until the formation of the Muslim Student’s Association in the 1960s was the Federation of Islamic Associations. This was basically an Arab-American organization founded on traditional culture rather than religion. The histories of Muslims in United States is varied with diverse and changing identities. The followers of this major world religion are not surprised at the processes of individual and community identity formation and change such as the ones that are being experienced in the United States. There were contending interpretations, social groups, and sources of legal authority within a century of the birth of Islam in seventh century Arabia. Yet, an identifiable fundamental Islamic way of thinking and acting, founded on the example and teachings of Muhammad developed over time. This core consists of the five pillars of Islam. With its expansion to new places and the subsequent confrontation of older religions, Muslim conquered or coexisted with such religions. Such regional interactions have influenced the ways in which this decentralized and non-hierarchical religion is practiced throughout the world. The religion lacks a centralized clergy and mosques operate independently of each other. With this regard, Muslims in the United States comprehend and practice Islam in ways strongly shaped by the American historical context. The universal Muslim community may be the goal sought by Muslims but the reality is that their everyday lives are shaped by group solidarity and experience. The United States Muslim community has been defined and redefined by voices both internal and external to Muslim communities. Those definitions reflect the complex relations among members of the ruling class and those being ruled in the American political context among other things. It is important to place Muslim communities in the socioeconomic structure of the United States when any analysis of the community is being done. Tracing their transnational networks and affiliations is also crucial. Muslims now comprises an important part of the United States society. It may be the fastest growing religion in the United States, poised to displace Judaism and become second only to Christianity in the number of adherents. This growth can be attributed to the rapid influx of immigrants and their relatively high birthrate. However, it is difficult to know exactly the number of Muslims in the United States. Distinctions An important distinction is made in Islamic law between the basics of fundamentals of jurisprudence upon which disagreement is not condoned, known as usul al-fiqh, and the branches or subdivisions in which disagreements and new and original problems and cases are permitted. There has however been disagreement concerning what usul is and what furu is in the long history of disputation, debate, and disagreement among jurists since the classical period of Islam (Elkholy, 2005).. The historical debate has often been about the use, authority, and interpretation of different sources of knowledge. In the United States today, the trend among the emerging spokespeople is to assign positive commandments of the law to one or other category even though they seem to assign more and more laws to usul and to disallow disagreement about usul, thereby restricting the scope for legitimate disagreement and discussion. There is also distinction between culture and religion. This distinction is frequently invoked as Muslims debate beliefs and practices that are accepted or unaccepted in Islam. There have been arguments among lay Muslims concerning the beliefs and practices that are fundamental to the religion and those that have accrued to it because of culture in one or another region. This issue has also been raised elsewhere by those individuals who see culture as having absorbed the function of religion such that religious difference now symbolizes basically cultural difference for the majority of Americans. Interaction between culture and religion occurs in every realm of American Muslim world. With regard to Islamic identity, America has come to be an arena for competing self images where religious authority and cultural preferences are mostly conflated if not displaced and de-territorialized altogether. Just as some scholars have identified the conflict over usul and furu, the conflict over religion and culture in the United States mainly centers on issues involving women (Waugh, Abu-Laban & Qureshi, 1983). Shared culture is more important than religious or ethnic diversity in determining gender roles. The conflict between parents and children, and men and women has been heightened up by migration thereby producing a rising rate of divorce. Alterations in traditional conceptions of the role of women is taking place faster in women than in men. The issue of dating is the most serious hindrance to the integration of Islamic religion and American culture. Personal relationships are considered highly by all human beings. To young adults, sexual relationships are extremely important and they are natural. Islam has never approved of sexual activity, always confining it to marriage. The American culture on the other hand has never been comfortable with the notion of sex. The notion of adolescence is one of the most serious flaws in American culture. The American society identifies as children individuals that previous cultures characterize as young adults (Haddad, 2004). Because of the role played by extended schooling in training young individuals for their place in the industrial system, young people of marrying age in the United States are discouraged from marriage. This denial of natural institution has resulted in fornication and unwanted mothers. The majority of Muslims have abandoned the marriage traditions of their homelands without embracing the American system, putting children in a difficult position at the time when their hormones are raging. Contributions The strength of the American culture lies in its respect for the individual, the flexibility of its civil society, and the restraints it seeks to place on the arrogance of political power. Its weakness lies in its vulnerability to sacrifice family and personal morality to the appetites of commerce. The religion of Islam, founded on the willing submission of the individual to the divine will can be an appropriate religion for such a society. The divine will reveals the principles by which the welfare of the individual and the community are harmonized. Muslims should therefore be able to find an important place in the American society using the framework of institution building and for individual advancement to make use of the strengths of the American culture and to help overcome its weaknesses. The major challenge to the integration of Islam with American culture is managing to disentangle scriptural commandments from cultural accretions (Leonard, 2003). This may be achieved by Muslims owing to their diverse community, race, ethnicity and national origin that makes untenable the confusion of culture and religion that has marked the stagnation of much of the Muslim world. Beyond this, the rising number of Muslims that are born in America implies that it is only a matter of time before the Muslim community becomes dominated by indigenous Muslims who are already integrated into the American culture. As such, they are likely to have an American understanding of Islam in which case they will further its integration into and influence the American culture or they will lack good understanding of Islam at all in which case they will become secularized as the majority of Christians, Muslims and Jews before them. Summary The American society has to some degree been influenced by Islam just as the Muslim society has been influenced by the American values. However, there are no particular aspects of the holistic American culture that can be said to be adversely influenced by Islam owing to the communal nature of American Muslims. The influence of Islam on the Americans can also be analyzed looking at the various Muslim organizations within the United States as it is through this organizations that thoughts and convictions become shaped thereby infiltrating the general American society. References Ahmad, I. (2003). Islamic Religion and American Culture. Freedom Institute Elkholy, A. (2005). The Arab Moslems in the United States: Religion and Assimilation. New Haven: College University Press Haddad, Y. (2004). Not quite American? the shaping of Arab and Muslim identity in the United States. Baylor University Press Leonard, K. (2003). Muslims in the United States: the state of research. Russell Sage Foundation Waugh, E. , Abu-Laban, B. & Qureshi, R. (1983). The Muslim community in North America. University of Alberta

Article Critique on Video Game Play and Aggressive Thoughts and Behavior Essay

The study by Vincent Cicchirillo and Rebecca M. Chory-Assad (2005) entitled Effects of Affective Orientation and Video Game Play on Aggressive Thoughts and Behavior investigates the effect of violent video game on aggressive thoughts and behavior and the mediating role of affective orientation on this relationship. This study is prompted by the scarcity of research examining the role played by an individual’s personality in the processing of media effects. The underlying concept which frames the study is that of priming which is the idea that a certain stimulus will activate similar stimulus present in the mind of an individual, thus enabling a reproduction of the outside or presentation stimulus to occur (Cicchirillo & Chory-Assad, 2005). Media effect is based on this concept. It also supported by the neoassociatve perspective on cognition. In the neoassociative model, the mind is a network of nodes that corresponds to certain emotions, behaviors and thoughts. These nodes are connected by pathways that are strengthened by frequency of use and relatedness. When a particular node is activated, related nodes will be activated as well through the networks, resulting to production of other emotions, behaviors or thoughts which were not directly stimulated. Researches found that media such as video game can activate cognitive nodes (Cicchirillo & Chory-Assad, 2005). According to Cicchirillo and Chory-Assad (2005), personality traits such as affective orientation play a part in the processing of media effects. They define affective orientation as the tendency of an individual to utilize his emotions as a guide for behavior and decision-making (Cicchirillo & Chory-Assad, 2005). A person with a high affective orientation will respond to emotional cues and act accordingly, while one with a low affective orientation will act based on factual variables. The independent variable in the study is the administration of video game varying in content. The first video involved violence and the other involved non-violence. A second independent variable is the level of affective orientation of the participants. The dependent variables in the study are aggressive thoughts and aggressive behavior. Each dependent variable is measured with an appropriate scale to determine its interaction with the independent variables. Cicchirillo and Chory-Assad (2005) make two hypotheses in the study. First, participants who played violent video games will exhibit more aggressive thoughts and behavior than those who played non-violent games. This hypothesis is based on the gathered research supporting it and the concept of priming (Cicchirillo & Chory-Assad, 2005). Second, participants with high affective orientation who played violent video games will exhibit more aggressive thoughts and behavior than participants with low affective orientation who played the similar game and participants who played non-violent games (Cicchirillo & Chory-Assad, 2005). This hypothesis is based on the assumption that affective orientation mediates on the effect of violent video games on thought and behavior. To test the hypothesis, the researcher randomly asked 80 communication students at the beginning of the semester to answer questionnaires measuring their affective orientation. This was the first phase of the methodology. Thereafter, the second phase which is a laboratory test was initiated. The students who participated in the first phase were called back to participate in the second phase which involves the actual playing of video games. The students were divided randomly into two groups. One group was assigned to play a violent video game; the other group assigned to play a non-violent game. After playing for ten minutes, the students were asked to take a word completion test for three minutes to measure aggressive thoughts. Upon completion of the test, the students were told to evaluate the researcher on the pretext that this evaluation will be the basis for a research grant which the researcher was applying for. The evaluation form asked the students to assess the researcher’s courtesy, competence and deservedness of a financial support. The test was designed to measure the students’ aggressive behavior after playing the video game. A debriefing about the whole research was conducted after the students completed the evaluation. The results show that violent video games do not directly prime aggressive thought but it does prime aggressive behavior. They further conclude that some other process other than aggressive thoughts mediates the relationship between violent video games and aggressive behavior (Cicchirillo & Chory-Assad, 2005). In addition, the study also shows that affective orientation does not mediate between video games and affective behavior, but between affective behavior and aggressive affect (Cicchirillo & Chory-Assad, 2005). In other words, video games stimulate the aggressive affect which may increase aggressive behavior depending on the level of affective orientation. A participant with a high affective orientation is more likely to exhibit aggressive though and behavior after playing violent video games than one who is otherwise. The methodology designed by the researchers is experimental to test both hypotheses. In the first hypotheses, they measured relationship between the independent variable (violent video game play) and dependent variable (aggressive cognition and aggressive behavior). In the second hypotheses, they measured the correlation between affective orientation and video game play in predicting the level of aggressive cognition and behavior. In measuring affective orientation, student participants were asked to answer Booth-Butterfield Affective Orientation 15 scale which was used in previous studies about the influence of affective orientation in behavior(Cicchirillo & Chory-Assad, 2005). To measure aggressive cognition, mean scores from the word completion task were analyzed, while scores obtained from the evaluation of the researchers were used to measure aggressive behavior. The researchers decided to separate the scores obtained from three items in the evaluation of aggressive behavior because the correlation is low and the alpha reliability is unacceptable (Cicchirillo & Chory-Assad, 2005). The psychometric tools used by the researchers in measuring the variables of the study were culled from previous investigations of similar nature to ensure reliability and validity (Cicchirillo & Chory-Assad, 2005). Thus, the tools can be considered appropriate for the variables present in the hypotheses. There is a concern though about the nature of video games used in the experiment. From what Cicchirillo & Chory-Assad (2005) related, it can be observed that the violent video game [Grand Theft Auto] is relatively more complex than the non-violent game [etris)] As such, the researchers took a longer time in explaining the mechanics of the violent video game which may have affected the students’ evaluation of the researchers in the last phase of the experiment (Cicchirillo & Chory-Assad, 2005). The length of playing time and number of video games used may also have affected the correlative scores between variables. In previous studies, participants were allowed longer exposure to a number of media compared to the exposure used in this study (Anderson cited in Cicchirillo & Chory-Assad, 2005). A significant result may have arisen if this method was appropriated. In addition, the instrument used in measuring aggressive condition, a word completion task, may also have influenced, or more specifically, limited the responses of students. According to the recommendations of the researchers, an alternative instrument, such as thought listing, may record accurate and significant results obtained during the actual playing of the game; a less constricted instrument may allow for a precise mapping of aggressive thoughts (Cicchirillo & Chory-Assad, 2005). Moreover, the method of word completion is a novel psychometric method in that only two studies have used it (Cicchirillo & Chory-Assad, 2005). The researchers reported that during the period between the first and second phase of the test, some of the student participants who answered the affective orientation questionnaire did not show up during the lab test (Cicchirillo & Chory-Assad, 2005). The original sample of 80 students was cut down to 59 and an additional 5 students who were not present during the first phase participated in the lab test. This significantly affected the results of the study. According to Kazdin (2003), in terms of sample selection, attrition, or the difference in the number of participant drop-outs in the groups, has significant effect on the result. He further suggested that to avoid attrition, researchers should select participants who are not likely to pull out of the experiment (2003). Considering that the experiment was done in a school setting, which is relatively easier to supervise than a broader setting such as a community, the researchers could have avoided the huge drop out of participants. The number of sample is crucial in arriving at a more definitive result as demonstrated in a similar study involving a sample of 65 participants (Anderson, C. ited in Cicchirillo & Chory-Assad, 2005). The partial validation of both hypotheses in the study may be different if the following changes are adapted in the study. As mentioned, an increase of sample size will yield to a significant relationship between aggressive thought and aggressive behavior. A close (but not intrusive) monitoring of participants may enable researchers to avoid the occurrence of attrition. In addition, utilizing a more naturalistic setting for the lab tes t may result to significant changes. According to Kazdin (2003), one factor influencing the external validity of a research design is the level of a participant’s awareness that he or she is undertaking an experiment. The â€Å"reactivity to experimental arrangements† may be lowered if the researchers utilized non-artificial and informal setting. Another improvement applicable to the study is the distribution of sample. According to the researchers, there was a random uneven distribution of the participants in terms of gender and number, and this may have affected the results. Increasing the sample size and close monitoring of the participants will resolve this discrepancy. The statistical analyses used to measure the relationship of the variable are appropriate for testing the hypotheses. The impact of violent video-game play to aggressive thought and behavior, which is the first hypothesis, was determined using a one-tailed t-test. This test determines the relationship of two groups—in the studies case, the players of violent video games and players of non-violent video games—to a single variable. Cicchirillo & Chorry-Assad (2005) reports that violent video-game play influences aggressive behavior, but not aggressive thought. Since the second hypothesis involved a the relationship of two independent variables—that is, level of affective orientation and video-game play—the researchers appropriately used regression analyses to determine the closest fit in this relationship. The results show that high scores on affective orientation and playing violent video games influence some aggressive behavior, but, similar to the first hypothesis, not aggressive thoughts (Cicchirill & Chorry-Assad, 2005). Because of the numerous variables present in the study, an alternative method may present more disadvantage than otherwise. However, to accommodate the use of a more naturalistic set-up, the study may require a longer methodology in terms of time. The researchers may involve a sample of much younger participants—for instance, high school students. To measure their affective orientation, school departments such as the guidance office may be utilized to administer tests at the beginning of the school year. Instead of a laboratory test for the second phase, a survey may be done to gather data on violent video game use of the specific sample chosen for the test. Methods to measure aggressive thought and behavior may be similar to the Cicchirill & Chorry-Assad study, but may include observation of actual behavior of the participants in a natural school setting. The disadvantages of this method involve the constraints on time and money resources inherent in a longer experimentation, and the bigger probability of attrition also due to time element. The research may be extended by exploring cultural factors involved in determining affective orientation. According to Zimbardo et al (2005), personality types, such as thinking versus feeling, are influenced by cultural affiliations. For instance, some cultures do not distinguish thought and emotions as much as Americans do (Zimbardo et al, 2005). Further research such as this may enlighten recent issues involving mass killings in US associated with violent behavior adapted by young people from media. It may also explore the role of gender differences in determining affective orientation, the results of which may establish empirical grounds for gender associated aggression.

How to Change Your Habits and Improve Your Grades

How to Change Your Habits and Improve Your Grades Its disappointing to receive low scores on a big test or a homework assignment, but you dont need to let small setbacks get you down. There is always time to make things better. Steps to Take If It Isnt Over Yet If youve received a few low grades on assignments throughout the year and youre facing a big final, then you still have time to bring up your final grade.   Sometimes, a good grade on the final project or exam can increase your final grade dramatically. Especially if the teacher knows youre really trying. Gather all your work assignments to determine exactly how and why you earned the low grades. Identify your weak points. Did your grades suffer because of careless grammar or poor writing habits? If so, be more mindful of grammar and structure during the final.Visit the teacher and ask her to go over your assignments with you. Ask her what you could have done differently.Ask what can you do for extra credit. By trying to take charge of your destiny, you are showing responsibility. Teachers will appreciate this.Ask for advice from the teacher. Teachers can direct you to resources that are topic-specific.Put all your energy into the final test or project. Find a tutor to help you. Ask the teacher to explain the format of the test. Will it be an essay exam or a multiple choice test? Target your study accordingly.Join a study group. Discuss the final exam with other students. They may have notes that you missed or they may have better insight into the teachers preferences when it comes to test questions and answers. Improve memory skills. There are many techniques to improve your memory. Find one that is best for you and the material youre studying.Get serious. Dont be late to class. Get some sleep. Turn off the TV. Talk to your Parents If you know a bad grade is imminent, then it might be wise to talk to your parents first. Let them know that you are trying to make a change and improve your performance. Get them involved. You may want to discuss creating a homework contract with your parents. The contract should address time commitments, homework help, supplies, and other issues that affect grades. Looking Toward the Future If you have just received your end-of-year grades and youre looking forward to improving your performance next year, there are plenty of things you can do. Get organized. Keep a journal of assignments to identify strengths and weaknesses. Organize your supplies and establish a good study space.Try to use color-coded supplies to stay organized.Identify your personal learning style. This is critical to improving your study habits. Dont waste valuable study time using ineffective study methods.Talk to your counselor about your schedule or your diploma program. You may be enrolled in a program that isnt right for you. Are you taking courses that are too difficult because your diploma program requires it?Review your schedule. Cut out extracurricular activities that dont help you reach your true goals. If youre involved with that team or club just for fun- then you may need to make some tough decisions.Improve your writing skills. Students sometimes complain because they are penalized for poor writing in courses other than English. Teachers dont have much patience for this complaint! Good writing skills are critical for every class.Join a stu dy group. Be Realistic If you are stressing out about a possible B grade, you should know that perfect grades arent everything, and expecting them isnt very realistic, either. While it is true that some colleges place a lot of value in grades, it is also true that they are interested in recruiting humans, not machines.If you are hoping to get into a specific, highly competitive college and you are worried about getting a B, then you are smart enough to make yourself stand out in another way. For instance, you could use your creativity to craft an essay that stands out.Give yourself credit if youre doing your best. If you have tried everything, but you just cant become the perfect student you want to be, perhaps you should give yourself a break. Identify your own strong points and make the best of them.Dont give yourself a bad reputation. If you arent happy with a grade or a report card, you can discuss this with a teacher. However, if you make a habit out of visiting your teacher to complain, then you may be making a pest of yourself.

Media Portfolio Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Media Portfolio - Assignment Example The three critical issues in this market present the major pillars of human resource in the country. It is important to note that the Saudi Arabian labor market was not celebrated much in the past due to some unwanted practices including alleged mistreatment of employees. Therefore, during this time that the market in undergoing transformation, revitalization and healing, employee safety and the roles of supervisors in the workplace come in handy. That notwithstanding, saudization is also critical to the healing of this market because of its relation to the replacement of foreign employees in the Saudi Arabian labor market with Saudi nationals especially in the private sector. The Saudi Arabian labor market has not been able to achieve its economic competitiveness in the recent past. This situation has been associated with a number of factors including the most recent being saudization. The employees in this market have also experienced unfavorable working conditions that have deterred them from achieving their maximum potentials at their respective workplaces (Avery, 2005). In addition to that, these employees have not been well motivated to offer their best towards achieving organizational goals and it is for this reason that reports have indicated that Saudi Arabia has been declining in its global economic competitiveness over the last few years. However, there have been efforts to thwart the dangers accompanied by these economic conditions in the labor market. For example, Saudi Arabia has formulated and implemented a number of health, safety and security protocols for its employees in a bid to enhance their motivation and satisfaction and subsequently harness the most out of them. The roles of supervisors, who were previously in the limelight for perpetrating employee frustrations, have been completely overhauled. Saudization can be described as the process

United States school reform model Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

United States school reform model - Essay Example Public schools in the US are long overdue for reform. The pedagogy, governance, and organization are archaic, as are the methods of teaching and day to day operations. Yet it is no small task to overhaul a system that has been in place for well over one hundred years. There have been several attempts to change the way schools were run, yet each one has failed, or has affected change on only a few schools. Few would argue that America's public schools are no longer meeting the needs of the families they serve, much less reaching their potential as ideal environments for children to grow and learn in. Schools are essential to society, but they must grow and change to meet the needs of the people that reside within that society. To change schools, it is necessary to look at change to the way schools are run, both at a micro and a macro level or organization. It is necessary to look at how the school should interact within the community, and how it should create its' own community. And f inally, it is necessary to look at the pedagogy, and how it works and is assessed within the schools.Current school government is convoluted, and is micro-managed at far too many levels. Each school has government, then each district, then each county, each state, each region, and finally, on a country-wide level. This overabundance of government comes also with very little organization. Tyack looks at governance as a definite place of difficulty in education. Citing the New York City schools as an example, he points out that when control is de-centralized, people demand centralized governance; yet when the governance is centralized, the people want governance back at the local level. When it returns, the cycle repeats itself (Tyack 76-77). It is clear that governance of schools needs to be clear about hierarchy of power, and also with regard to who is in charge of what areas of education. Because American's are an ever changing population characterized by the constant shifting and movement of groups from one area to another, it stands to reason that public schools should be run on a country wide level, and not on a state run level. Goodlad, author of A Place Called School, recommends similar changes, only at a state level. He explains "State officials, including the governor, should be held accountable for articulating a comprehensive, consistent set of educational goals for schools (Goodlad 275). He suggests that it is not reasonable, nor logical to place the blame for not following educational mandates upon schools; that it is the responsibility of the state to pass on these new mandates, and to ensure that the schools are funded for the changes (Goodlad 274). His recommendations are reasonable, although they do not account for the need to maintain standards country-wide, which would be better served by one organization rather than several. By limiting governance to one major organization, all schools would be subject to the same rules and tests, allowing c hildren to move from school to school with regular uniformity. Health codes and nutrition could also be met at a federal level, ensuring the health of America's children over the long term. Clearly, in addition to federal level government there needs to be local organization also, to provide support and to ensure all schools are accounted for. This can be met by having state level governance, removing the need for district level altogether. With-in schools, current governance allows for the handling of discipline and day to day operations. The principal of each school should have power over the daily operations of the school, but should also be a part of the staffing decisions and possibly a member of a state advisory board, that would help suggest curriculum or other changes to a state committee. School governance needs to take into account American Society, and the changes that take place yearly. Community involvement is also a necessary component of school success. Goodlad suggests that in

Enthusiasm and Ability to Motivate People Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Enthusiasm and Ability to Motivate People - Essay Example Looking back on the recent past, I find that my years in the U.S. as an undergraduate have had a profound impact on my thinking and my approach to life. I have been particularly struck by the contrast between the cultures of America and the Bahamas. While my heart will always bask in the warmth of the community life and the love of close-knit families back home, I am eternally grateful for my exposure to the ‘Great American Dream.’ The gift America has given me is the belief that change is possible and the confidence that the power to bring about this change lies within the reach of every individual. My first love is people. From being a Youth Leader in the church to throwing myself into my Sorority’s community services, such as ‘Meals on Wheels’ and workshops for children, I have learnt that there is nothing that can compare to the happiness which comes from having made a positive difference, however small, in another person’s life. I have als o become increasingly aware of the chasms which separate people of different social and economic backgrounds and have witnessed the struggle of people striving to better their lives and failing only through the lack of opportunity, or the lack of education and awareness. I consider my basic strength to be my enthusiasm and ability to motivate people and push them into giving their best. I am passionate about immigration, human rights and, above all, the empowerment of women and children. I owe this legacy to my mother who, as a single parent and self-made entrepreneur in the Bahamas, pushed me and my three siblings to excel, to be independent and never ceased to emphasize the importance of education as the path to success.

Taking Middle School Kids Back to the Adventurous World of Literature Essay Example for Free

Taking Middle School Kids Back to the Adventurous World of Literature Essay The problem is that middle school students in Texas do not practice leisure reading creating a deficit in their reading skills as measured by the National Center for Education Statistics. Texas students showed an upsetting lack of improvement in reading on the Nation’s Report Card. In 2011, the average score of eighth-grade students in Texas was 261. This was lower than the average score of 264 for public school students in the nation (National Center for Education Statistics, 2011). The purpose of this review of literature was to examine reading interventions to promote positive attitudes towards leisure reading. The need is to improve reading skills as reflected reading scores on the Nation’s Report Card. Students who do not take time to read tend to have poor reading skills and sadly many students in middle school choose not to read. The transition from elementary to middle school makes an impact to the student’s interests and pastimes. Middle school students read less due to time spent with peers, participation in sports activities and other after-school activities, and to a growing lack of interest in textual materials (Johnson, Mckenzie, Miranda Williams-Rossi, 2011). Once the students stop practicing leisure reading, they start struggling with reading. Studies confirm a decline in reading scores on standardized tests, a decline in attitudes towards reading and a growing number of students who have good reading abilities, but choose not to read (Rodriguez Lira, 1998). When students stop practicing leisure reading they stop exercising their vocabulary affecting their reading comprehension. â€Å"The goal of comprehending text is not easily attainable for many adolescents, who demonstrate consistent and persistent difficulties with reading for understanding. † (Vaughn, Klingner, Swanson, Boardman, Roberts, Mohammed, Stillman Spisak, 2011). According to rate and accuracy scores, middle school students have shown a tendency in declining grades. One of the reasons might be because decoding to reading comprehension drops in adolescence and older students have more highly developed strategies that reduce their confidence on word identification skills (Reed, 2010). Middle school students in Texas struggle with their reading skills because most of them do not practice leisure reading. Both qualitative and quantitative studies demonstrate a connection between success in school and the amount of leisure reading students do (Allington McGill-Franzen, 2003; Krashen, 1993, as cited in Hughes- TAKING KIDS BACK TO THE WORLD OF LITERATURE 2 Hassell Pradnya Rodge, 2007). The purpose of this literature review is to recognize the problem of students who choose not to read and find a possible solution to motivate them in devoting leisure reading time. There are a numerous of experimental, quantitative, qualitative, descriptive, correlational, and causal-comparative research studies done in the State of Texas and outside of Texas that have identified this problem and gathered data, important information, and suggested interventions to create possible solutions. According to Knulst Kraaykamp (1998), leisure reading is the reading students choose to do for pleasure; is the reading done for a hubby or fun, it is a non-school recreational activity. Students in elementary schools do practice leisure reading, but once students get to middle school this practice declines. For some reason many students who are good readers simply choose not to read (Beers, 1998). Students Do Not Comprehend What They Read One of the reasons students choose not to read it is due to the lack of reading comprehension making them lose interest in literature. In the article â€Å"Understanding the Cause of Intermediate and Middle School Comprehension Problems†, the authors were able to conduct a qualitative study by conducting a causal-comparative research. They determined the reasons of middle school students who struggle with reading is due to the lack of comprehension in specific vocabulary knowledge, background knowledge, or an understanding of subjects’ metaphors. They stressed students do not necessarily understand the meaning of words they are able to pronounce (Palumbo Loiacono, 2009). After analyzing their findings they describe data where it shows students in kinder garden were more exposed to narrative reading than to comprehension skills. They indicate that once the students get to middle school, it is now the teacher’s task to teach reading skills, comprehension strategies, vocabulary, and the multifaceted problems of subject matter text by using a variety of activities, supports, and scaffolds (Palumbo Loiacono, 2009). As a possible solution, they suggest using a strategy that has being used in the past since 1980 called Instructional Cloze (a story summary where every fifth word is deleted to be filled in the blank so students can be engaged in subject matter knowledge) to improve subject matter comprehension (Palumbo Loiacono, 2009). TAKING KIDS BACK TO THE WORLD OF LITERATURE 3 Many students don’t understand what they read, but comprehension is not the only reason they choose not to read for pleasure. Skills Alone Do Not Produce Readers On the other hand, Beers, the author of the article â€Å"Choosing Not to Read: Understanding Why Some Middle Schoolers Just Say No†, conducted a qualitative research and found out that skills alone do not produce readers. Reading experts recognize that some students leave school with the ability to read, but without the desire (Beers, 1998). Competency tests force many teachers to think they should focus more on reading skills than on reading pleasure (Maracek ,1978, as cited in Beers, 1998). According to Beers, reading can become a desired activity or an undesirable one. One of the great disasters of present-day education is not so much that many students leave school unable to read and to write, but that others graduate disliking reading even with the abilities they might have. Some of the reasons that indicates as to why students dislike reading is too much television, too little parental modeling, and too much emphasis on a skills approach to reading (Beers, 1998). In order to identify the different kind of readers in middle school, Beers gathered data by conducting interviews to reluctant reading students with openended questions on attitudes towards reading. After this, she provided descriptive data that displays characteristics of uncommitted, unmotivated and unskilled readers. With this data, she was able to see patterns of responses and understood students choose not to read for great number of reasons. Those patterns helped her to categorize types of aliteracy (Beers, 1998). In the Merriam-Webster dictionary, aliteracy is stated as the quality or state of being able to read but uninterested in doing so (hacker, 2012). Beers was able to observed devoted and inactive readers want to choose their own books, have teachers read aloud a few pages, meet the author, buy books at a book fair, keep a reading journal, go to the library, participate in panel debates, small group discussions or share books with friends. While uncommitted and unmotivated readers do want to choose their own books from a narrowed choice, have teacher read aloud entire book, compare movie to book, read illustrated books, do art activities based on books, read nonfiction material such as comic, sports, drawing, cars, fashion, make-up magazines (Beers, 1998). Beers TAKING KIDS BACK TO THE WORLD OF LITERATURE 4 did not give treatments to students in order to determine which reasons causes the distaste in reading, instead she conducted a survey to students about their feelings towards reading to gather qualitative data. Parents Modeling Leisure Reading According to the survey Beers conducted, parental modeling takes a big role in encouraging adolescents to literature practice. Devoted and inactive readers talked about their childhood where they remember seeing their parents reading to them at all times of the days and also remember their parents reading books in front of them, everywhere they were. On the other hand, many of the unmotivated students said their parents don’t read and they explain their parents used to read to them when they were kids but only before going to bed, it was an activity meant to keep them quiet and make them go to sleep. So they would see reading as a boring activity (Beers, 1998). This statement was also observed by researchers Hamston and Love, who conducted a quantitative and qualitative study at a private school. Their article is titled: â€Å"Voicing Resistance: Adolescent Boys and the Cultural Practice of Leisure Reading†. In this research the authors decided to focus on boys, leisure reading, and family reading dispositions due to the concerns raised in the literature regarding boys and literacy (Hamston Love, 2005). The study was conducted in a three year period at a private boy’s school. There were two stages in this research. In the first stage, Hamston and Love focused on 91 boys identified as good and committed leisure time readers. In the second stage, the researchers focused on 75 boys identified as mostly able readers who choose not to read. In both stages of the research, quantitative and qualitative data was gathered from each student through questionnaires about their reading practices, their parents, and the ways their parents share reading with their sons (Hamston Love, 2005). After observing and analyzing the questionnaires, researchers gathered quantitative and qualitative data where they were able to identify a similar culture for committed readers in the study; their parents guided them and facilitated them with leisure time reading. While reluctant readers show several acts of resistance and they lack enthusiasm to engage in the reading practices due to communication and relationships between these boys and their parents (Hamston Love, 2005). The TAKING KIDS BACK TO THE WORLD OF LITERATURE 5  research shows reluctant readers resist to reading novels since they are not highly motivated, they consider these privileged text. However, they are engaging in reading and interacting with multi-media, electronic and complex visual texts that relate to their lives as adolescents, but they still lack the passion in engagement to textual practice. (Hamston Love, 2005). The Leisure Reading Habits In a quantitative and descriptive research done at an urban middle school, Hughes-Hassell and Rodge (2007) found an interesting fact about the leisure reading habits. In this particular school, a study was conducted to collect data by administering a 5-page, 20-item questionnaire. It was focused on factors related to reading by choice. For example, whether or not adolescents read in their leisure time; if so, what, when and why do they read? The questionnaire contained multiple-choice and open-ended questions (Hughes-Hassell, Rodge, 2007). Seventy-two percent of the students indicated that they engaged in reading as a leisure activity, a finding that is consistent with other studies of adolescent reading. Twenty-two percent said they read â€Å"constantly†, and 50% indicated they â€Å"read when they get a chance. † Six percent of the adolescents indicated that they do not read; the other 22% said they read only for school (Hughes-Hassell, Rodge, 2007, p. 23-24). These descriptive data exposes good percentage of students who are engaged in leisure reading. However it also raises a question: Why do these adolescents’ reading scores at this particular school remain low when they reported that they engage in leisure reading? (Hughes-Hassell, Rodge, 2007). It has been proven that â€Å"students who read in their spare time become better readers, score higher on achievement tests in all subject areas, and have more content knowledge that those who do not† (Cunningham Stanovich, 1991; Krashen, 1993, as cited in Hughes-Hassell, Rodge, 2007). But why is the survey showing otherwise? Hughes-Hassell and Rodge suggest a possible explanation that it involves the type of reading they are doing. In their survey it displays that â€Å"books† are not the preferred leisure reading material for both male and female students. In the data gathered it shows 72% read magazines about sports, video games, and music. Forty four TAKING KIDS BACK TO THE WORLD OF LITERATURE 6 percent of the students liked reading comic books, 37% choose internet reading material and only 30% of the students read books for pleasure (Hughes-Hassell, Rodge, 2007). Reading magazines, comic books and internet material is considered light reading and according to Hafner, Palmer and Tullos (1986), light reading does not automatically result in an ability to read advanced material, it only provides motivation for more reading (Hughes-Hassell, Rodge, 2007). After the research was conducted and observations were made, the authors provided these are following suggestions for teachers and librarians. 1. Teachers and librarian should provide the types of materials students prefer, including magazines, comic books, and the Internet. 2. Students’ culture and heritage need to be respected by providing multicultural resources that are relevant to students’ lives, as well as resources in their first language. 3. It is important to talk to students to find out what they are passionate about. of them don’t have time to read after school. 5. Adequate fund must be provided for school and classroom libraries in low-income urban communities. 6. Summer reading must be encouraged because it is critical to summer learning. for â€Å"parents play a significant role in developing and sustaining the leisure reading habits of children and adolescents† (Kim, 2004; Strommen Mates, 2004, as cited in Hughes-Hassell, Rodge, 2007). 8. Teachers and librarians have to be passionate about the love of reading and display the books currently reading by the teacher or librarian. (Hughes-Hassell, Rodge, 2007). 4. Students must be provided with time during the school day to read, because some 7. It is imperative to partner with parents to promote and encourage leisure reading Struggling Readers and Silent Reading In the experimental research: â€Å"Silent Reading Manifestations of Adolescent Struggling Readers† conducted by the researchers Gilliam, Dykis, Gerla, and Wright, vital facts were found about the importance of adolescents practicing silent reading. TAKING KIDS BACK TO THE WORLD OF LITERATURE 7. Many struggling adolescents’ readers have not fully developed the skill to read silently, discouraging them from finding a passion for reading (Gilliam, Dykis, Gerla Wright, 2011). According to Miller (1972), efficient silent reading implies a strong correlation between a rapid reading rate and a high level of comprehension (Gilliam, Dykis, Gerla Wright, 2011). Reading silently is developmental; students start first grade by reading out loud, but at the end of the school year 50% of these students read silently with correct understanding. Students who could not read silently either vocalized or moved their lips as they read to themselves, slowing down their reading rate (Gilliam, Dykis, Gerla Wright, 2011). The purpose of this case study was to discover the connection between speech and reading to oneself among struggling readers in secondary schools. Ninety-five struggling readers in the middle and high school students were chosen as the target population in which they received a treatment for an individual administration of a norm-referenced measure of reading along with direct observations (Gilliam, Dykis, Gerla Wright, 2011). During the test administrations, examiners observed the students in order to determine whether they read silently or whether they moved their lips, mumbled, or whispered as they read, or whether they read aloud. The exam had reading comprehension passages to observe the recorded student’s reading comprehension (Gilliam, Dykis, Gerla Wright, 2011). After making observations, the researchers found that less than half of the secondary struggling readers read silently when reading to themselves. In other words, the majority of struggling readers do not practice silent reading which is a fundamental aspect of comprehension and rate of comprehension. The authors propose silent reading to be taught to struggling readers, the study demonstrated that it will improve their reading rate and comprehension; this might also encourage them to practice leisure reading. (Gilliam, Dykis, Gerla Wright, 2011). Reading Interventions in the Middle Grades In the qualitative article titled: â€Å"Reading Intervention in the Middle Grades†, Allington offers five principles to help middle school struggling readers to succeed. After comparing and contrasting different interventions used in the past without success, TAKING KIDS BACK TO THE WORLD OF LITERATURE 8 his first principle suggests all students need high-quality instruction all day long. He proposes teachers to find appropriate lesson materials, because students need books they can actually read (Allington, 2011). It has been confirmed students cannot learn much from books they cannot read accurately, fluently, and with understanding (Allington, 2007). The second principle is to expand the volume of reading that struggling readers do every day, but do it with a book that they can both read and enjoy. With reading practice matters, struggling readers need to dramatically expand their reading activity (Allington, 2011). It may take years of remediation in which the struggling reader will get better than the achieving peers (Torgeson, 2005). If expanding reading activity among struggling readers is the goal, then the third principle is to provide students with books they can read and books they are interested in reading (Allington, 2011). In the fourth principle, Allington advices not to use decoding instruction for middle school struggling readers because this instruction is rarely useful for older struggling readers. Even when decoding lessons bring struggling older readers’ word recognition up to grade level, there is usually no improvement in their reading comprehension (Torgeson Hudson, 2006). In the fifth and last principle, Allington points out that it is teachers who present the problem that needs to be solved, more than the students do. In other words, it becomes clearer that many of the struggling readers’ problems are caused by teachers, especially when they don’t take action in providing appropriate instruction. In order to help struggling readers, teacher must provide reading material that is to the student’s interest, books they can read and understand to expand their reading time along with reading comprehension (Allington, 2011). Substantial supportive facts with Allington’s fourth principle are found in the article, â€Å"Efficacy of a Reading Intervention for Middle School Students with Learning Disabilities†. Wanzek, Vaughn, Roberts and Fletcher (2011) conducted a one year experimental study which included sixth to eighth grade students with learning disabilities from seven middle schools. In this study, researchers conducted a reading intervention by providing 50 minutes of phonemic decoding instruction to middle school students compared with similar students who did not receive the intervention. No significant differences were found for phonemic decoding fluency and passage comprehension (Wanzek, Vaughn, Roberts, Fletcher, 2011). Since no major effect TAKING KIDS BACK TO THE WORLD OF LITERATURE. 9 was encountered in this experimental study, Allington’s suggestion is correct, teachers should focus more on training struggling readers with reading comprehension by providing time and students’ centered interest reading materials which at the same time it promotes leisure reading (Allington, 2011). Efficacy of Collaborative Strategic Reading Collaborative strategic reading (CSR) is one of the effective solutions found in reading comprehension for struggling readers. Collaborative strategic reading is defined as follows: Collaborative Strategic Reading (CSR) is a set of four strategies. CSR integrates word identification, reciprocal reading, and cooperative learning. CSR teaches students how to monitor their comprehension and also how to use procedures for clarifying understanding when difficulties arise. Students also learn main idea and questioning practices that assist them on text while reading and guiding group responses to text after reading (Vaughn, Klingner, Swanson, Boardman, Roberts, Mohammed Stillman-Spisak, 2011, p. 940). The authors Mohammed, Swanson, Roberts, Vaughn, Klingner, Boardman, SREEA (2010) conducted experimental studies to test the CSR effectiveness for struggling readers. In their article, â€Å"The Effects of Collaborative Strategic Reading Instruction on the Reading Comprehension of Middle School Students: Year 1†, they explained the experimental study conducted to diverse students who were identified as struggling readers. After their study analysis and the positive impact made on the intervened students, they concluded CSR is an effective practice that should be used as a reading intervention (Mohammed, Swanson, Roberts, Vaughn, Klingner, Boardman, SREEA, 2010). A year later, another experimental study was conducted by the authors: Vaughn, Klingner, Swanson, Boardman, Roberts, Mohammed and Stillman-Spisak (2011), to examine the effects of collaborative strategic reading and metacognitive strategic learning on the reading comprehension of students. The title of the article is â€Å"Efficacy of Collaborative Strategic Reading with Middle School Students†. In this study, students were selected from three school districts from seventh and eighth grade. After they were TAKING KIDS BACK TO THE WORLD OF LITERATURE 10 randomly assigned to class, there were 27 comparison classes and 34 treatment classes. Students in the treatment classes received the intervention and students in the comparison classes received typical instruction (Vaughn, Klingner, Swanson, Boardman, Roberts, Mohammed Stillman-Spisak, 2011). Students in the treatment classes outperformed students in the comparison classes on a standardized reading comprehension exam. After the study findings, authors reassure CSR is an achievable and effective practice that can be integrated into reading and language arts instruction to make a positive impact (Vaughn, Klingner, Swanson, Boardman, Roberts, Mohammed Stillman-Spisak, 2011). Even though these two experimental studies about CSR effectiveness were completed in the same states, Texas and Colorado, the researchers had different designs and questions with diversity students. In the first study: â€Å"The Effects of Collaborative Strategic Reading Instruction on the Reading Comprehension of Middle School Students: Year 1†, the authors targeted identified struggling students and used CSR as a reading intervention to experiment reading comprehension (Mohammed, Swanson, Roberts, Vaughn, Klingner, Boardman, SREEA, 2010). In the second study: â€Å"Efficacy of Collaborative Strategic Reading With Middle School Students†, the researchers focused on the effectiveness of CSR with adolescent readers when applied by well trained and supported CSR teachers (Vaughn, Klingner, Swanson, Boardman, Roberts, Mohammed Stillman-Spisak, 2011). Reading Time Provided for self-selected books In order to promote leisure reading, one of the many suggestions made by researchers is to provide reading material that will target the adolescents’ interest and give them time during school to read. To test these recommendations and see students’ attitudes towards reading, Rodriguez and Lira (1998) conducted an experimental study at a middle school in South Texas. The study consisted of providing 30-minute periods five times a week for eight months to 41 eighth grade students. The students’ assignment was to read from self-selected books (books which did not have more than five unknown words on any given page), keep a reading log, take home their books and participate in the reading club (Rodriguez Lira, 1998). This experimental design was combined with TAKING KIDS BACK TO THE WORLD OF LITERATURE 11 a descriptive and a group pretest-posttest to determine if there was a significant difference with students’ scores before and after the experiment. Rodriguez and Lira (1998) also made observations on students who participated in this study observing for positive attitudes towards reading. The results point out that most of the students enjoyed the required reading and felt they had improved with their reading skills, specifically their vocabulary and fluency. Even though the study did not reveal significant improvements in reading achievement for the 41 students, however, the study showed greater gains in reading achievement for students with low to average reading abilities than it did with students with better reading abilities (Rodriguez Lira, 1998). In other words, struggling readers improved their reading abilities, and this fact proves a statement mentioned earlier; it may take years of remediation in which the struggling reader will get better than the achieving peers (Torgeson, 2005). Successful Engagement with Text Using the E-reader Making technology part of a motivational reading tool can encourage reluctant students to engage in literature. Johnson, Mckenzie, Miranda Williams-Rossi (2011) conducted an experimental study in a middle school where 199 students were given 1525 minutes to read high interest chapter books and stories on the Amazon Kindle ® reader. This was done to study the attitudes and response to reading using e-books by reluctant students. After making qualitative observations, the authors found reluctant readers demonstrated motivation in reading, engagement and expressed high levels of satisfaction with the e-readers. Researchers were very satisfied with the reluctant attitudes towards reading after this study, that they recommend e-readers to be used in reading improvement classes as another choice for reading material (Johnson, Mckenzie, Miranda Williams-Rossi, 2011). Conclusion The problem is that middle school students in Texas do not practice leisure reading creating a deficit in their reading skills as measured by the National Center for TAKING KIDS BACK TO THE WORLD OF LITERATURE 12 Education Statistics. Texas students showed an upsetting lack of improvement in reading on the Nation’s Report Card. In 2011, the average score of eighth-grade students in Texas was 261. This was lower than the average score of 264 for public school students in the nation (National Center for Education Statistics, 2011). The purpose of this review of literature was to examine reading interventions to promote positive attitudes towards leisure reading. The need is to improve reading skills as reflected reading scores on the Nation’s Report Card. It has been demonstrated that students who practice leisure reading perform better in many subject areas (Hughes-Hassell Pradnya Rodge, 2007). Leisure reading is the key to help students improve the standardized test scores. After examining experimental and nonexperimental studies conducted in and out of the state of Texas, it is alarming to know students in the middle schools choose not to read for numerous reasons. In schools, students are not being motivated to read for pleasure, instead teachers focus more on reading skills to pass standardized tests so teenagers are being forced to read lacking the passion to literature (Beers, 1998). Many reading materials offered to students are out of their interest and most of the time these books are filled with unknown vocabulary words causing the student to struggle by not comprehending the reading (Palumbo Loiacono, 2009). There have been several reading interventions done to help students with vocabulary decoding and reading skills, but researches show the most important of all is reading comprehension; and this can only be obtained when teenagers self-select the reading material (Rodriguez and Lira, 1998). Researches show silent reading is a great way for students to better comprehend text and it helps read at a faster rate, but most of them have not developed this skill (Gilliam, Dykis, Gerla Wright, 2011). When students enter middle school, their reading habits start declining because they start getting involved in after school activities or just hang out with friends. Time must be provided during school hours for them to dedicate leisure time (Allington, 2011). Parents take a big role in influencing their kids in leisure reading by practicing reading themselves and motivating their kids to practice reading at home (Hamston Love, 2005). A research study shows teenagers are fascinated with technology and using electronic devices such as e-readers has made a positive impact on reluctant readers with their attitudes towards reading (Miranda Williams-Rossi, 2011). Both qualitative and TAKING KIDS BACK TO THE WORLD OF LITERATURE 13 quantitative studies demonstrate a connection between success in school and the amount of leisure reading students do (Allington McGill-Franzen, 2003; Krashen, 1993, as cited in Hughes-Hassell Pradnya Rodge, 2007). 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