The Story of Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut - 641 Words

The story of Slaughterhouse Five is about a man named Billy Pilgrim who goes through a series of strange events throughout his life time. And it all starts when he is in a war in Germany. Billy is resentful towards the war and he makes it clear that he does not want to be there. During the war, he becomes captured by Germans. Before Billy is captured, he meets Roland Weary. When captured, the Germans took everything from Weary, including his shoes so they gave him clogs as a substitute. Eventually, he dies from gangrene caused by the clogs. Right before Weary dies, he manages to convince another soldier; Paul Lazzaro that it was Billy’s fault that he was dying so Lazzaro vows to avenge the death of Weary by killing Billy. At the time Billy is captured, he becomes â€Å"unstuck in time,† and he sees various moments of his life occur. Later, Billy experiences a nervous breakdown so the other prisoners give him a shot of morphine which sends him time-tripping once more. Afterwards, he and the other prisoners are sent to the city of Dresden which remains untouched y the war. Here, they work in an abandoned slaughterhouse which carries the name of â€Å"Slaughterhouse Five.† One of the nights of their stay, enemies of the Germans bomb the city to compose a firestorm which consequently incinerates roughly 130,000 people. Billy and his allies manage to survive in an airtight meat locker. When they depart the locker, they are introduced to the wreckage and destruction that is left of theShow MoreRelatedSlaughterhouse by Kurt Vonnegut819 Words   |  3 PagesKurt Vonnegut followed many principles in his writings. He claimed that â€Å"people do not realize that they are happy† (PBS NOW Tr anscript). Feeling that people had the wrong view on war, he felt that he needed to get the facts straight. Vonnegut believed that art can come from awful situations, and that the truth is not always easy to look at. Kurt Vonnegut wrote Slaughterhouse – Five to tell of his experience in the bombing of Dresden, as a prisoner in war and the atrocities that occurred. VonnegutRead MoreKurt Vonnegut : A Hybrid Of Science Fiction And Satire1716 Words   |  7 PagesLeanne Arata English 11 Mrs. Wheeler 5/8/2016 Kurt Vonnegut The idea of making a work that does not fit into a single category of work is how Kurt Vonnegut has become such a phenomenon. Kurt Vonnegut has a hybrid writing style which allows him to critique human nature and this is evident in his work. A hybrid writer is someone who makes something by combining two different genres to create something new. Vonnegut’s work is a hybrid of science fiction and satire. Satire is an author’s way of sayingRead MoreEssay about Slaughterhouse-Five: A Peace Novel1419 Words   |  6 Pagesinspired to write stories, poems, or songs about war. Many of these examples tend to reflect feelings against war. Kurt Vonnegut is no different and his experience with war inspired him to write a series of novels starting with Slaughter-House Five. It is a unique novel expressing Vonneguts feelings about war. These strong feeling can be seen in the similarities between characters, information about the Tralfamadorians, dark humor, and the structur e of the novel. Kurt Vonnegut is an AmericanRead More The Mind of Kurt Vonnegut946 Words   |  4 PagesThe Mind of Kurt Vonnegut Kurt Vonnegut is one of the preeminent writers of the later half of the twentieth century. His works are all windows into his mind, a literary psychoanalysis. He examines himself as a cog in the corporate machine in Deer in the Works; as a writer through the eyes of Kilgore Trout in several works; and most importantly, as a prisoner of war in Slaughterhouse-Five. Vonnegut created short stories and novels that dealt with events in his life.Read MoreSlaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut Essay821 Words   |  4 PagesIn an interview on Slaughterhouse Five, Kurt Vonnegut states, â€Å"I worked as a miner of corpses, breaking into cellars where over a hundred thousand Hansel and Gretels were baked like gingerbread men† (â€Å"Vonnegut†). Vonnegut Jr. (1922-2007), born during the Modern Age, wrote his first story in 1947, known as the Contemporary Period. The Modern Age was different from the Contemporary Period because of its focus on art while trying to connect with traditions in the world due to their desire to have aRead MoreSlaughterhouse Five By Kurt Vonnegut1242 Words   |  5 PagesSlaughterhouse Five, a novel written by Kurt Vonnegut, depicts unchronological and sometimes nonsensical moments of the life of Billy Pilgrim as he â€Å"become[s] unstuck in time†(Vonnegut S. Five 23) Billy has no control over where he will end up next. â€Å"He has seen his birth and death many times, and he pays random visits to all the events in between†, and â€Å"is in a constant state of fright, ... because he never knows which part of his life he is going to have to act out next.†(Vonnegut S. Five 23)Read MoreMany Writers In History Have Written Science Fiction Novels1055 Words   |  5 Pageshave been as enduring over time as Kurt Vonnegut s Slaughterhouse-Five. Slaughterhouse-Five is a personal novel which draws upon Vonnegut s experience s as a scout in World War Two, his capture and becoming a prisoner of war, and his witnessing of the fire-bombing of Dresden in February of 1945 (the greatest man-caused massacre in history). The novel is about the life and times of a World War Two veteran named Billy Pilgrim. In Slaughterhouse-Five, Kurt Vonnegut uses structure and point of viewRead MoreStyle Analysis of Kurt Vonnegut on Slaughterhouse Five1623 Words   |  7 Pagesbrilliant piece of literature. One example, for instance, is Kurt Vonnegut who may have been stimulated by the war, thus writing Slaughterhouse Ââ€" Five. Though one may categorize this piece as science fiction or even auto - biographical, it can also be interpreted as an anti Ââ€" war piece. Because Vonnegut is classified as a post modernist, one can take into account all the details, such as the similarities between the main character and Vonnegut, the Tralfamadorians, and the style and themes of the novelRead More The Theme of Time in Slaughterhouse-Five Essay1065 Words   |  5 PagesThe Theme of Time in Slaughterhouse-Five Many writers in history have written science fiction novels and had great success with them, but only a few have been as enduring over time as Kurt Vonneguts Slaughterhouse-Five. Slaughterhouse-Five is a personal novel which draws upon Vonneguts experiences as a scout in World War Two, his capture and becoming a prisoner of war, and his witnessing of the fire bombing of Dresden in February of 1945 (the greatest man-caused massacre in history). TheRead MoreEssay on Anti-War Sentiments in Cats Cradle and Slaughterhouse Five1173 Words   |  5 Pagessurface, Kurt Vonneguts Cats Cradle and Slaughterhouse Five are vastly dissimilar works of literature, each with its own creative style and plot. However, when the texts are examined with a discerning eye one can notice multiple thematic undercurrents such as war fate,time and suffering hidden in plain sight. Overwhelmingly common in Cats Cradle and Slaughterhouse Five are strong anti-war sentiments which show all the ways war is deleteriou s towards the human condition.(Marvin) Vonnegut shows how

Quality Insurance Free Essays

Quality Improvement Plan: Part III – Managing and Improving Quality In today’s health care environment, competition remains high and many organizations are seeking new ways to improve their quality of care, as well as remain competitive with other health care organizations in the process. Various methods exist today for organizations to integrate quality improvement strategies to help in the measurement of performance improvements. This paper will discuss:1) several methodologies, the pros and cons that exist with these methods, 2) describe information technology applications, how they may be used to improve patient falls, 3)discuss how benchmarking and milestones are involved in managing the use of quality indicators, and finally,4) describe how performance and quality measures are aligned to an organization’s mission, vision, and strategic plan, and how these measurements align with Self-Regional Hospital’s mission, vision, and strategic plan for improvement. We will write a custom essay sample on Quality Insurance or any similar topic only for you Order Now Methods for Quality Improvement Strategies Accidental Falls have become the most commonly reported incident in hospitals today, and Self-Regional Hospital is no exception. Recently, Self-Regional researched and gathered specific fall data that included â€Å"mobility/gait, lower-extremity strength, history in fractures, visual, or auditory impairments, dizziness, dehydration, depression, stroke, ischemic attacks, and cardiac arrhythmias† and the role they play with patient falls in the organization (The Joint Commission, 2007, p. 26). They are now in the process of researching various methodologies to help manage and improve this area of concern. Several concepts that concern total quality management (TQM), and quality improvement (QI) are offering health care organizations and their administrators the opportunity to decide which methodology would be most successful in improving quality care for their patients. There are three methodologies Self-Regional is considering: 1) Six Sigma, 2) Lean, and 3) Customer Inspired Quality (CIQ). â€Å"One of the key components of quality improvement is the technology that gathers and compares the data that the quality improvement measure produces† (Dlugacz, 2006). Once this information has been gathered, the organization can benchmark with other comparable organizations. The Six Sigma model, pioneered by Motorola, is used to improve the quality of process outputs by identifying, and removing defects through a problem-solving approach that works to improve quality outputs. The Six Sigma methodology achieves this by using a process known as the DMAIC process (define, measure, analyze, improve, and control), for existing quality processes that are below specifications, and are in need of improvement in increments. There are features with Six Sigma that separates it from other initiatives of quality improvement: * Clear focus on achieving measurable and quantifiable financial returns * Increased emphasis on strong leadership and support * Special Infrastructure of â€Å"Champions,† to lead and implement the Six Sigma approach * Clear commitment to making decisions based on verifiable data, rather than assuming or guess work (Harry, 2000). The second model is Lean, which played a key role for Toyota’s success. This method is used to help reduce or alleviate waste, while working to improve an organization’s performance through their workflow processes. Organization’s that use Lean have a clear understanding of consumer value, and continuously will focus on the key processes to improve it. Their goal is to provide excellent value to the consumer, by developing an excellent value process that has zero waste. Lean offers the organization the opportunity to identify steps in a quality improvement process, and then identify the steps that are valuable and non-valuable. Once the non-valued steps have been identified they will be removed to prevent waste in the process (Lean Enterprise Institute, 2009). The Customer Inspired Quality method is the last method for quality improvement that Self-Regional is considering. In 1992, Shaw Resources patented this methodology to focus on work processes that have direct impact on the care and services that hospitals provide. The Customer Inspired Quality methodology identifies, defines, analyzes, and improves the quality and effectiveness of processes in the health care environment with an emphasis on the following work process evaluating components: Integrates department services that are related to defined systems concerning care * Improves productivity and efficiency, while reducing unneeded work processes and costs * Can be implemented as short-term or long-term quality improvement processes * Patient loyalty and satisfaction is enhanced (Shaw Resources, n. d. ). Pros and Cons of Quality Improvement Methodol ogies There are always pros and cons to any quality improvement methodology. For instance, the pros of Six Sigma tend to place extreme importance on leadership and its support for the success of the project. Another pro is the integration of different human elements, which include cultural change, and focus on the customer and their needs. â€Å"By using the concept of statistical thinking, Six Sigma encourages applications of statistical tools and techniques that reduce variability† (Harry, 2000). The cons of Six Sigma include, not having the quality data available, especially when a new process has been implemented without having the data available. Often the solutions that Six Sigma proposes can be costly and only a small portion of the solution can be implemented. When using Six Sigma the choosing of the right project is critical to its success. The pros for Lean include: * Minimizing overhead cost to thirty percent * Eliminates most waste, if not all * Can improve productivity by eighty percent * Eliminates negative behaviors and employees have a clear objective of the organization’s expectations The Lean methodology’s cons include: * Can be difficult to attain support from all employees, due to resistance of change * Personality clashes can occur if some individuals do not take orders well from their co-workers Lean training is ongoing and in the beginning is time-consuming (Businessknowledgesource. com, 2010). The pros of the Customer Inspired Quality methodology include: * Quality improvement efforts are prioritized based on the customer’s needs * Friendly and encourages input from employees The main con with the Customer Inspired Quality method is that is structured primarily for health care organizations. Information Technologies for Quality Improvements Information technology plays a major role when it comes to quality improvement methods used by health care organizations. Self-Regional Hospital has implemented software known as Business Objects. The components of Business Objects â€Å"provide performance management, planning, reporting, query and analysis, and enterprise information management† (Sap. com, 2008). The Business Objects Enterprise offers the organization the ability to track report instances by triggering alerts. The reports have parameters that can be modified to perform analysis on the data and the organization also has the ability set alerts that trigger when certain conditions are met or not met. The data can be customized to show in charts and can be customized to allow the organization the opportunity to drill down into the data. Information technology allows data to also be displayed in a dashboard or a scorecard. A dashboard is a tool that monitors the ongoing performance of a process and its data in real time. Whereas, scorecards report on past performances and generally focuses on outcomes rather than processes. All of these applications can be used by administrators to track quality improvement processes of the organization. Administrators also have the ability to design the scorecards or dashboards to display only information that is pertinent to the process. These processes would also give Self-Regional the ability to examine data that pertains to patient falls within their organization. Benchmarks and Milestones Benchmarking is a process that gives an organization the ability to compare their performance metrics and processes to other organization’s best practices. In other words, benchmarking is the process of an organization comparing itself to their competitors and defines how the competition performs better. In health care, when an organization has a clear understanding of how their competitor/s meets their standards, they can set goals for quality improvements within their own organization. Benchmarking is beneficial for improving customer satisfaction, as well as improve core measurements set by the Joint Commission. Self-Regional Hospital can use benchmarking as a means to compare how hospitals rate on patient falls and what processes they have set in place to improve in this area. The hospital would benefit by using the website â€Å"hospitalcompare. hs. gov to research on patient satisfaction, quality improvement outcomes, and where they rate in these areas as well. Potential benchmarks Self-regional will strive for improved core measures at 90% for patient falls. Another area the organization will strive for is to improve patient safety. In order for the hospital to do this they will need to continue to implement the processes that support the Joint Commission’s National Pa tient Safety Goals, and implement quality improvement processes that will involve the organization as a whole. Self-Regional will also implement computerized provider order entry (CPOE), and will also begin the process of extending the goals to the emergency department and critical care areas. The third bench mark will be to enhance the patient’s experience by using the DMAIC model to understand and support the emotional, spiritual, and clinical needs of the patients. Self-Regional Hospital will use the Customer Inspired Quality Methodology for implementing their performance improvement processes with patient falls. Data will be comprised from Crystal reports to display balanced scorecards and dashboards. The organization will divide the dashboards into the Extending Elements, team, clinical, service, market, and finance. This information will be used in conjunction with information from benchmarking data to monitor the quality improvement plan. Health care organization’s use performance and quality measures to align their products and service activities with their mission, vision, and strategic planning to help improve their internal and external communications, as well as monitor the organization performance against their strategic goals. Self-Regional Hospital’s mission, vision, and strategic planning is aligned with their performance and quality measures to provide continuous advanced quality care that will improve their patient outcomes, while focusing on patient satisfaction in the process. APA References Dlugacz, Y. D. (2006). Measuring Health Care Using Data for Operational, Financial, and Clinical Improvement, San Francisco, CA: Josey-Bass Publications Harry, Mikel J. (2000). The Nature of Six Sigma Quality. Rolling Meadows, Illinois: Motorola University Press. p. 25 Lean Enterprise Institute, (2009). What is Lean? Retrieved on September 26, 2011 from http://www. lean. org/WhatsLean/ Shaw Resources, (n. d. ). Customer Inspired Quality: Health Care Operational Improvements, Retrieved on September 26, 2011 from http://shawresources. com/ customer-inspired-quality-and-processes-improvement. htm Sap. com (2008). Retrieved on September 26, 2011, from http://www. sap. com/ solutions/sapbusinessobjects/index. epx How to cite Quality Insurance, Essay examples

Economic History of Sierra Leone free essay sample

People of African descent were fewer in numbers in England in the days before the American Revolution and generally better treated. Most of the Black people of England at that time had been brought there as personal servant-slaves from the North American colonies or the British Caribbean possessions. A court ruled in 1772 that slavery in England was illegal and immediately there was a substantial number of free Black men in the cities of England. The story of the declaration of the illegality of slavery in Britain is an interesting one. In England at that time there was a religious sect called the Evangelicals but popularly known as the Saints. The Evangelicals were morally strict, being against alcoholic beverages, swearing, overeating and lewdness. They required also strict adherence to the sanctity of the Sabbath. They also opposed slavery and several prominent Evangelicals devoted their lives to the abolition of slavery. One of these, William Wilberforce, was instrumental in getting England to suppress the Atlantic slave trade. Another Evangelical or Saint was Granville Sharp. Granville Sharp was a key figure in the court decision which made slavery illegal in England. He was thrust in that role by chance. Granville Sharp One of Granville Sharps brothers was a surgeon. One day Granville Sharp was visiting his surgeon brother and literally bumped into a slave, Jonathan Strong, who had been beaten by his owner so severely that it affected his eyesight. That owner had deemed Jonathan Strong worthless, beat him in the face and threw him into the street. Sharp and his brother put Strong into a hospital and when he recovered his health they gave him clothing and got him a job as a servant. Two years later the legal owner of Strong, a lawyer from Barbados, saw Strong working as a servant and sought to reclaim him as his property. The owner had Strong arrested, who fearing for his life, got a message sent to Granville Sharp. Sharp sought legal help but no lawyer was willing to take the case. Sharp had no legal training but in desperation he studied the law enough to argue the case himself. Sharp prepared a brief that argued that any slave who entered England automatically became free. His case was so well prepared that Jonathan Strongs former owner dropped is suit to recover possession of Strong. Sharp, however, was not content with obtaining just Strongs freedom. Sharp spent five years pursuing the issue until in 1772 he won the case of James Somerset before the High Court of England and obtained the judgement that slavery was illegal in England. Granville Sharp was not a rich man. All the while he was pleading the case against slavery he had to support himself as a cle rk in the Ordnance Office of the British Government. Later his two brothers, who were more affluent than he was, offered to support him so that he could carry on his good work. After 1772 the problem of poverty among the freed Blacks replaced the abolition of slavery in the minds of Granville Sharp and the other Saints. The Saints started thinking of a settlement in Africa and by 1786 West Africa and in particular the territory of Sierra Leone had become the focus of their attention. Henry Smeathman presented a proposal before the Committee for the Black Poor for the establishment of such a colony in Sierra Leone. Smeathman died however in July of 1786 and the Committee consider a number of other locales for a settlement. The other places considered were the Brahamas Islands, the Gambia in Africa and New Brunswick in what is now Canada. The Black people who were interested in the scheme thought Sierra Leone was far superior to the other alternatives, although they did not know much about Sierra Leone. The Treasury of the British Government favored the plan and arranged for the Navy to provide transportation. There were as many as 500 Black people interested in the scheme, but only 300 who actually joined the expedition. The Navy Board decided to round up any Black vagrants from London and include them by force in the settlement scheme. The expeditions ships left London in December of 1786 intending to reach Sierra Leone before the rainy season which starts in May. But the ships were held up until April in Portmouth, England due to bad weather. During this delay fifty passengers died of fever and several others were put off the ships. The final count for the settlement voyage was 411, of which about 300 were Black men, 40 Black women, a few white officials and 70 White women who were probably wives and girl friends of the Black men but who were alleged to have been London prostitutes. On May 15th of 1787 the settlers put ashore at what is now Freetown. Their number had been reduced by about another score of deaths on the voyage. The leaders attempted to buy land from the local tribal chief, but although the chief took the payment and put his mark on the agreement it was clear he did not understand it and consequently would not abide by it. The town the settlers established was initially named not Freetown but Granville Town and the name they gave to the region was The Province of Freedom. The first months of the settlement were traumatic. The torrential rains began soon after the settlers arrival. They could not grow food and soon they were starving. Some of the settlers left the town and worked for the slavers in the region. Some of these eventually became prosperous slavers on their own, including one whom Sharp had once personally rescued from kidnappers in England who would have sold him into slavery. By early in 1788 there were only 130 people left in the settlement. Sharp was not discouraged and raised funds to send 39 more settlers, most of whom were White. These reenforcements only followed their predecessors into the slave trade. To make matters worse there was a new tribal chief who wanted gifts in order to permit the settlers to remain. When the settlers did not comply the new chief ordered Granville town burned. Sharp took a different approach in the face of all these calamatities. He and his Saint collaborators formed a company, later named the Sierra Leone Company. This company provided the finances for building a new settlers town two miles to the east of the original. The Company also provided weapons for its future defense. An arrangement was made for the settlement land with a higher-level chief than the one who had burned the original town. While the settlers in Sierra Leone were struggling to create a community political events were occurring elsewhere which would affect the future of Sierra Leone. At the end of the American Revolution there were 3,000 Blacks who went with the 25,000 loyalist Whites to Nova Scotia. These Black people had to work for the Nova Scotian farmers and found the climate of Nova Scotia inhospitable. They petitioned the British Government for land or to arrange for them to be located elsewhere. An Evangelical served as the advocate for the Nova Scotian Blacks and over one thousand chose to move to the settlement in Sierra Leone. They arrived in February 1791 and built a settlement on the original Granville Town site and named the new settlement Freetown. Many of the Nova Scotian migrants were carpenters. The Sierra Leone Company set up a plantation to raise cotton, sugar and rice using paid, native labor. Some of the settlers established their own farms. The settlement was definitely developing. This progress was set back in September of 1794 when seven ships under the control of revolutionary French sailors beseiged the settlement and wreaked havoc on the town. The sailors did not just loot the town but vandalized it as well. But the settlement did recover. In 1800 there was a new wave of immigrants. These came indirectly from Jamaica. Their history was complex. In 1655, when the English were about to take control from the Spanish in Jamaica, the Spanish plantation owners released their slaves rather than allow them to fall into the hands of the English. These freed slaves, later joined by runaway slaves, were called Maroons, from the Spanish word for wild,cimaron. They survived in the back country and maintained their independence. The British reached an accomodation with the Maroons in 1739; they could maintain their independence if they helped capture any newly-escaped plantation slaves. The British paid the Maroons a bounty of ? 3 a head for these escaped slaves. This bounty provided the Maroons with money for buying those things they wanted, such as tea and sugar, but could not produce themselves. The Maroons prospered until the bounty for returned slaves was reduced to ? 2. Resentful at this loss of income and angered by other British treatment the Maroons rebelled. When the rebellion was put down the Jamaican authorities exiled the Maroons to Nova Scotia, a singularly unsuitable place for Jamaicans. In Nova Scotia the Maroons petitioned the British Government to transport them to Sierra Leone. Five hundred and fifty Maroons arrived in Sierra Leone at the time of a local rebellion over taxes. The Maroons had a military tradition and were soon enlisted in the suppression of the rebellion. The Maroons overwhelmed one rebel outpost with a bayonet charge which prompted one rebel survivor to say to the Maroons, You dont fight fair. You dont kill em and be done with it; you pokeem, pokeem, pokeem! Nevertheless the Maroons became an integral part of the community and provided defense against the native tribes of the area. The largest source of settlers to Sierra Leone came from captured slave ships. When the British Navy began suppressing the Atlantic slave trade in 1808 there was a problem of what to do with the liberated slaves. It was not feasible to return them to their homelands. On the other hand there was no place for them in the European countries. Sierra Leone was the solution. These liberated Africans were called recaptured slaves. The captains of the ships that captured slave ships received as a reward the value of the slaves on board. This reward was paid by the British Government and the process required the legal adjudication of the guilt of the ships owners and the assessment of the value of the slaves on board. The Government chose to have this process carried out at Freetown and the liberated slaves settled in Sierra Leone. The flood of recaptured slaves raised the population of Sierra Leone from about two thousand before 1808 to fifty thousand by 1850. Early Freetown The British suppression of the slave trade did not always make things better for the Africans. Since the legal process required slaves as evidence of guilt, the crews on the slave ships in danger of capture had an incentive to throw the slaves overboard to destroy the evidence. Without slaves on the ship there would be no reward for the capturing ship. The bounty hunting ships would be faced with capturing and escorting a bountyless ship to Freetown or seeking another capture elsewhere on the high seas. Thus a slave ship devoid of any bounty might be allowed to escape. Even the capture of the slaves by the British Navy was traumatic for them. The Portuguese told the slaves that the British were capturing slaves only to sell them to cannibals. Also the journey of the slaves in the British ships may have been just as uncomfortable as on the slave ships. Freetown survived and the coastal area was made a British colony in 1808. In 1896 the British took control of the interior grass lands of what is now the Republic of Sierra Leone.