Learning Mechanisms Associated with Referent Selection and Retention in 18-24 Month Old Children Essays

Learning Mechanisms Associated with Referent Selection and Retention in 18-24 Month Old Children Essays Learning Mechanisms Associated with Referent Selection and Retention in 18-24 Month Old Children Essay Learning Mechanisms Associated with Referent Selection and Retention in 18-24 Month Old Children Essay Learning Mechanisms Associated with Referent Selection and Retention in 18-24 Month Old Children Youngsters are not the same as the grown-ups particularly in the manner they imagine and conceptualize thoughts and integrate complex data when contrasted with grown-ups. The learning condition in which a youngster is raised directs how quick the kid can coordinate into the conventional school arrangement. In investigating and concentrating how a youngster orchestrates data, it gives a lot of knowledge into what are the qualities and shortcomings of the kid as the person develops, and furthermore it uncovered a specialty in the advancement of the kid and particularly on the off chance that one focuses on the formal and created learning situations and arrangements where kids develop in. Learning Mechanisms Theories A few scientists have defined hypotheses proposing that small kids have complex psychological faculties that are utilized by the little youngsters to understand what is around them (Piaget, 1920). Swiss therapist contended that the intellectual structures of the little youngsters grew steadily through different stages. He inferred that the outside and interior condition encompassing the kid prompts the progressive scholarly advancement of the youngster and generally relies upon the coordination of childs faculties of hearing and contact (Gibson, 1973). Numerous researchers explored the childs feeling of sight and hearing and a few analysts, for instance, Gibson (1973) noticed that a childs learning capacity was so fast since the youngster had the option to conceptualize the items that were around them, and this made a few researchers propose that the psyche of a kid works like a PC since the brain forms data rapidly Garner (1970) did an exploration on the social foundation of a kid and how it affected the childs thinking and the ability to secure different things that were in the childs encompassing. He was additionally keen on comprehension on how individuals and culture affected advancement thinking about a kid and he found that there was a zone of proximal improvement where there is a transmission capacity of skill (Brown Reeve, 1987). It proposes that whatever a youngster can do with help of grown-ups should likewise be possible by a kid with no help, supporting the fast improvement of a childs cerebrum (Dore, Franklin, Miller Ramer, 1976). A Standard View: Acquiring Lexical Knowledge In this idea, word learning is quick creating (Bloom, 2000). Nazzi and Bertoncini (2003) portrayed kids as proficient students. Despite the fact that kids being productive students, the primary impediment is that individuals in the general public utilize uncertain words to allude to an article or individual simply present creation it hard for the kid to appreciate the new word. In spite of the kids experiencing every one of these difficulties, it is to some degree seen as the beginning of social abilities that upgrade word learning Learning Mechanisms Used for Teaching Children Youngsters and network where the kid develops, assume an extraordinary job in the advancement of the kid. This enormously impacts the childs conduct and knowledge consequently causing them to procure the different conduct that is available in the general public. In spite of the fact that some conduct may affect the kids emphatically or adversely. The physical world likewise impacts the learning of kids. They comprehend that objects helpless against fall are bolstered, relentless articles are moved with utilization of power and that the kids gaze longer to abnormal happenings in the encompassing indicating that they are aware of their physical condition as much as the grown-ups are aware of their condition (Behl-Chadha, 1996). The early number idea shows that the human cerebrum perceives portrayal of the arrangement of pictures and numbers. In an examination done by Gibson (1973) a few youngsters matured from 6 to 8 months were exposed to the review of photographic slides which were gathered into a few pictures for every slide. As the kids saw the photos, the enthusiasm of the youngsters in survey the photographs fell by 50% and as the photographs continued being rehashed, the enthusiasm of the kids fell further. Regardless, when another photograph not recently saw sprung up, the enthusiasm of the youngsters towards the photograph developed and they got keen on survey it. This shows the youngsters can process what they see either pictures or numbers (Garner, 1970). Early consideration ought to be paid to a language a kid can learn and create as indicated by where the person in question has been raised. They can separate among phonetic and non-semantic dialects and furthermore they can separate various dialects and sounds. Some examination indicated that a 2-month-old American conceived youngster responded to some English articulations in more dynamic manner than to the Spanish expressions. Likewise, the youngster had the option to see the inflections in the expressions and this guaranteed the kid saw well the language verbally expressed and the response and importance of the announcement made. The significance of picking up limit, methodologies, and information which guarantees that youngsters are progressively astute and skillful as they develop and develop (Behl-Chadha, 1996) As the kids grow up they can settle on increasingly complex choices and therefore grown up kids can perform complex assignments in an increasingly successful and effective manner and this guarantees the restricted existence they have are utilized in a proficient manner to create better outcomes (Behl-Chadha, 1996)There are likewise more approaches to guarantee that there is maintenance of data for simpler recognition and anxiety of a thought. Metacognition is another learning component that guarantees referent choice and maintenance to youngsters in the time of somewhere in the range of 18 and two years. This is where an individual has a more elevated level of reasoning limit. It likewise incorporates self-remedy, controlling of ones brain, arranging and execution of one own arrangement for productive learning and the constant picking up of information (Bereiter ; Scardamalia, 1989). On the off chance that youngsters are not acquainted with self-thinking and to restraint of their activities and choices, in future they will be poor implementers of significant choices and undertakings along these lines imperiling the compelling running of their own issues. Despite the fact that this marvel develops step by step as one grows up, a few parts of self-dynamic ought to be presented before in a childs life. Different techniques or procedure decisions ought to be successfully improved for kids to begin thinking and unraveling different testing undertakings as ahead of schedule as could be expected under the circumstances. This combined with different insight which to a great extent manages the sensible, semantic and relational knowledge (Gardner, 1997). This ought to be supported at a beginning period of development of the childs life to guarantee adaptability of the childs dynamic. Youngsters ought to be roused to learn, read and recount stories. This will guarantee the development and simpler comprehension of a language by the youngster. Perusing of the imagined story books empower youngsters to shape mental representations in their brain to improve fixation. To guarantee that the book is intelligible to the youngster, inquiries might be posed all through the book and in the event that the kid experiences any hitches, the grown-up may help with it guaranteeing that the kid can successfully address the inquiry. For instance, asking the kid the inquiry what occurred straightaway? will build up the story abilities of the youngster at a beginning period. Social varieties in correspondence are critical in how a youngster develops and creates and it additionally impacts a childs learning society (Newell, Shaw Simon, 1958). Despite the fact that every general public has its own exceptional path by they way it imparts, youngsters ought to have the option to see how to convey in any event one language since this will teach different sorts of information and communication between the kid and others in the general public. Bantering and perception are another way that learning can be upgraded in a kid. In various connections with the individuals in the general public, kids watch and respond what they see the grown-ups doing in the general public. For instance, the Pueblo youngsters are allowed to encounter the grown-up life and they are permitted to pick what and whom to connect with (Gibson, 1973). In different networks, kids are not permitted to straightforwardly speak with grown-ups and when the grown-up talks, the kid should better tune in, since talking when the grown-up talks is evil as per their way of life. End Youngsters conduct and language are constantly impacted by the network that they have experienced childhood in. Youngsters can appreciate what's going on around them and their mind grows quickly as the kid propels in age. Youngsters are effectively occupied with settling on their own choices that will in the long run shape their future predetermination. Their enthusiasm and will to realize something cause them to have the option to comprehend and appreciate the different viewpoints that life offers them in plain view. Youngsters have the thinking limit yet they do not have the information and experience of life and that is the reason kids can stick to the order ingrained by grown-ups on them. References Behl-Chadha, G. (1996). Fundamental level and superordinate-like straight out portrayals in early earliest stages. _Cognition, 60_ (2), 105-141. Bereiter, C. Scardamalia, M. (1989). Purposeful learning as an objective of guidance. In L. B. Resnick (Ed.), Knowing, learning, and guidance: Essays to pay tribute to Robert Glaser (pp. 361-392). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Er

Benjamin Franklin :: American History

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin has impacted American innovation, and in a roundabout way, ways of life by utilizing his proficiencies and knowledge to lead various tests, show up at hypotheses, and produce a few creations. Franklin's logical and systematic psyche empowered him to produce many dependable accomplishments which added to the turn of events and refinement of present day innovation. Scarcely any national legends, including George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, assumed a progressively noteworthy job in forming the American lifestyle than Franklin. As indicated by Fowler, He represented the perfect of the independent man, and his ascent from lack of clarity to distinction exemplified the American dream (32). Looby includes, The investigation of Franklin's picture for as far back as two centuries shows that his heritage had an unmistakable spot in American culture (85). It has been felt by numerous individuals throughout the years that there was no United States designer as extraordinary as Franklin until the hour of Thomas A. Edison (Blow 24). Franklin's words to a companion in Pennsylvania, Joseph Huey, best clarify his mentality not just toward what he thought about his urban obligations, yet additionally his examinations as a researcher or savant. He made the absolute generally popular and positively the most reasonable revelations of his time. For my own part, when I am utilized in serving others, I don't view myself as giving favors, however as paying obligations. In my movements, and since my settlement, I have gotten a lot of consideration from men, to whom I will never have any chance of making the least immediate return . . . I can hence just profit for their kindred men; and I can just show my appreciation for these leniencies from God, by a preparation to support his other youngsters and my Brethren (Dineen 6). Wright cites Franklin as saying, As we appreciate extraordinary favorable circumstances from the developments of others, and, we ought to be happy of a chance to serve others by any creation of our own (1 9). Franklin sums up his demeanor toward his developments by posing the inquiry, What connotes Philosophy that doesn't have any significant bearing to some utilization? (Fleming 21). Some other time Franklin is cited as saying, Utility is as I would like to think the basic analysis in issues of innovation, and that a revelation which can be applied to no utilization, or isn't useful for something is worthless (Burlingame 39). Franklin never guaranteed a penny for any of his innovations, gadgets or analyses. He even circulated point by point plans of a portion of his creations so anybody could possess them.

5 Strategies for Discovering How to Forgive

5 Strategies for Discovering How to Forgive January 21, 2020 Cultura/Attia-Fotografie/Riser/Getty Images More in Stress Management Relationship Stress Effects on Health Management Techniques Situational Stress Job Stress Household Stress Although forgiveness brings many benefits, particularly to the ‘forgiver,’ to forgive is not always easy. In fact, many people who would like to let go of anger and forgive are stumped with the question of how to forgive. While everyone may have a unique perspective on how to forgive, the following strategies have been proven effective for a variety of people. Express Yourself In contemplating how to forgive someone, it may or may not help to express your feelings to the other person. If the relationship is important to you and you would like to maintain it, it may be very useful for you to tell the other personâ€"in non-threatening languageâ€"how their actions affected you (see this article on conflict resolution for tips). If the person is no longer in your life, if you want to cut off the relationship, or if you have reason to believe that things will get much worse if you address the situation directly, you may want to just write a letter and tear it up (or burn it) and move on. It still may help to put your feelings into words as part of letting go. People don’t need to know that you’ve forgiven them; forgiveness is more for you than for the other person. Effective Conflict Resolution Skills Look for the Positive Journaling about a situation where you were hurt or wronged can help you process what happened and move on; however, the way you write about it and what you choose to focus on can make all the difference in how easy it becomes to forgive. Research shows that journaling about the benefits you’ve gotten from a negative situationâ€"rather than focusing on the emotions you have surrounding the event, or writing about something unrelatedâ€"can actually help you to forgive and move on more easily.?? So pick up a pen and start journaling about the silver lining next time you find someone raining on your parade, or keep an ongoing gratitude journal and forgive a little every day. Journaling as an Effective Stress Management Tool Cultivate Empathy While you don’t have to agree with what the other person did to you, when working on how to forgive, it often helps to put yourself in the other person’s shoes. Research has shown that empathy, particularly with men, is associated with forgiveness, and can make the process easier.?? Instead of seeing them as the enemy, try to understand the factors that they were dealing with. Were they going through a particularly difficult time in their lives? Have you ever made similar mistakes? Try to remember the other person’s good qualities, assume that their motives were not to purposely cause you pain (unless you have clear indicators otherwise), and you may find it easier to forgive. Protect Yourself and Move On Youve likely heard the saying: First time, shame on you; second time, shame on me. Sometimes it’s difficult to forgive if you feel that forgiveness leaves you open to future repeats of the same negative treatment. It’s important to understand that forgiveness is not the same as condoning the offending action, and it’s OK (and sometimes vital) to include self-protective plans for the future as part of your forgiveness process. For example, if you have a co-worker who continually steals your ideas, belittles you in front of the group, or gossips about you, such ongoing negative behavior can be difficult to forgive. However, you can make a plan to address the behavior with human resources, move to another department, or switch jobs to get out of the negative situation. Blanket forgiveness of someone who is continuing to hurt you isn’t necessarily a good idea for your emotional health. Letting go of your anger and trying to forgive will bring the benefits of forgiveness without opening you up to further abuse. You don’t need to hold a grudge in order to protect yourself. Get Help If You Need It Sometimes it can be difficult to forget about the past and forgive, particularly if the offending acts were ongoing or traumatic. If you’re still having difficulty knowing how to forgive someone who’s wronged you in a significant way, you may have better success working with a therapist who can help you work through your feelings on a deeper level and personally support you through the process. A Word From Verywell When you’ve been hurt, figuring out how to forgive can be difficult. These strategies should be helpful in your journey of letting go and releasing the stress of the past.

How to Talk About the Parts of the Body in Italian

While chatting about body parts isn’t something that’s often a part of small talk, the necessity of knowing body part of Italian vocabulary pops at the most unexpected times. Besides the typical doctor situation, it comes up in many Italian proverbs, when describing physical characteristics of a person, and in famous children’s songs. Head, Shoulders, Knees Toes Below you’ll find an extensive list of body parts in the singular form along with examples to demonstrate the various ways to use your newfound vocabulary in real life. ankle la caviglia arm il braccio armpit lascella artery larteria body il corpo bone losso brain il cervello calf il polpaccio chest il torace collarbone la clavicola elbow il gomito finger il dito foot il piede hand la mano heart il cuore heel il calcagno hip lanca index finger lindice knee il ginocchio larynx la laringe leg la gamba middle finger il medio muscle il muscolo nail lunghia nerve il nervo pinkie il mignolo rib la costola ring finger lanulare shoulder la spalla skin la pelle spine la spina dorsale stomach lo stomaco thumb il pollice vein la vena wrist il polso When you change some of the body parts from the singular into the plural form, they might seem strange at first because they don’t follow the regular rules of the ending of a feminine, plural word ending in the letter -e or a masculine, plural word ending in the letter -i. Per esempio L’orecchio (ear) becomes le orecchie (ears)Il braccio (arm) becomes le braccia (arms)Il dito (finger) becomes le dita (fingers)Il ginocchio (knee) becomes le ginocchia (knees) Esempi Mi fa male lo stomaco. - My stomach hurts.Ho mal di testa. - I have a headache.Ho la testa altrove. - My head is somewhere else; I’m not focused.Siamo nelle tue mani. - We’re in your hands; We’re trusting you.L’hai visto? Ha gli addominali a tartaruga! - Did you see him? He has six-pack abs!Devo farmi le unghie. - I need to do my nails; I need to get a manicure.Sei cosà ¬ rosso in viso! - You’re so red in the face!; You’re blushing.Ho un ginocchio messo male. - I have a bad knee. Finally, here are a few proverbs with body parts: Alzarsi con il piede sbagliato – To get up with the wrong foot; idiomatic meaning: to get up on the wrong side of the bed Stamattina, mi sono svegliato/a con il piede sbagliato e finora ho avuto una giornataccia! - This morning I got up with the wrong foot and since then I’ve had such a bad day! Non avere peli sulla lingua – To have no hairs on the tongue; idiomatic meaning: to speak frankly Lui sempre dice cose sprezzanti, non ha davvero peli sulla lingua! - He always says rude things, he truly doesn’t have any hair on the tongue! Essere una persona in gamba/essere in gamba – To be a person in leg; idiomatic meaning: to be a really great, upstanding person Lei mi ha sempre aiutato, à ¨ veramente una persona in gamba. – She’s always helped me, she’s really a good person.

Violent Video Games Have Blamed For School Shootings

A casual day turned into a tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut. The Sandy Hook shooting in 2012 was â€Å"the second deadliest shooting in U.S history† where Adam Lanza went on a killing spree shooting 20 first graders and 6 adults; he even took his own life as well. There was no clear indication why Lanza committed this mass killing at the elementary school. Reports have said that video games influence is motive to the killings because â€Å"he was so enormously isolated† that he would shut â€Å"himself in the bedroom and play violent video games all day† (Smith). He would create videos depicting gunshot suicides and pictures of himself pointing guns at his own head like he had seen in videos games. The violent video games had deeply brainwashed his mind making Americans believe that violent video games are a factor in contributing violence in people. Violent video games have been blamed for school shootings, increase in bullying and violence towards women, thus making many consider that games creates criminals. Steven Kirsh, author of the article â€Å"Seeing The World Through Mortal Combat Colored Glasses: Violent Video Games and Hostile Attribution Bias† believes that these types of video games desensitize players to violence, reward them for performing violence, and teaches the youth that violence is an acceptable way to resolve conflicts. Due to the graphic nature of violent video games, researchers have maintained a focus on them as a possible source of aggression. Video games advocatesShow MoreRelatedThe Effects of Violent Video Games on the Young1575 Words   |  6 Pagesrock and roll music could have on their children. Much like the bad reputation rock and roll music received in the 1950’s, violent video games have been questioned and looked down upon as a newer form of influential media. 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The article is written by Dan OBrien and Betty Stanton, who are both professional writers with great amount of knowledge about the issues in gun control. Dan OBrien is a currently a Director of Safety and Environmental Health for San Antonio Water System, Certified Safety Professional, and Certi fied in Homeland Security. Betty Stanton is aRead MoreThe Virginia Tech Shooting928 Words   |  4 Pagesusage of firearms in two separate attacks. This incident is considered the deadliest shooting incident by a single gunman in the history of America. While people still mourn and pray for the victims, this shooting also led to many controversies. Till this day, Cho’s access to firearm and Virginia Tech’s security hazard remains to be controversial. The motive and cause of Cho’s action and what the school could have done in order to prevent this tragic incident will be addressed. 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So many people argue that because video games played a part in the lives of the two teenagers who planned and executed the event, video games are to be blamed as their motive. Although video games have often glamorize graphic violence, people should not cast blame upon them for an increase in violent behavior in those who play them (especially teens) because those who make these accusationsRead MoreViolent Video Games Should Not Be Banned784 Words   |  3 Pagessubject, violent video games. Concerned parents influenced by the media have been trying for years to get all violent video games banned from the United States market. However, many scientists have proven that there is no correlation of violent games to violence, the media exaggerates isolated events and puts the blame for these events on violent games, and violent video games can actually have a positive effect on people of all ages. The media often suggests that violent video games have a consistent

Alfred Binet and His Life Free Essays

string(40) " simply called the Binet–Simon scale\." Binet attended law school in Paris, and received his degree in 1878. He also studied Natural Sciences at the Sorbonne. His first formal job was as a researcher at a neurological clinic, Salpetriere Hospital, in Paris from 1883 – 1889. We will write a custom essay sample on Alfred Binet and His Life or any similar topic only for you Order Now From there, Binet went on to being a researcher and associate director of the Laboratory of Experimental Psychology at the Sorbonne from 1891 – 1894. In 1894, he was promoted to being the director of the laboratory until 1911 (his death). After receiving his law degree in 1878, Alfred Binet began to study science at the Sorbonne.However, he was not overly interested in his formal schooling, and started educating himself by reading psychology texts at the National Library in Paris. He soon became fascinated with the ideas of John Stuart Mill, who believed that the operations of intelligence could be explained by the laws of associationism. Binet eventually realized the limitations of this theory, but Mill’s ideas continued to influence his work. In 1883, years of unaccompanied study ended when Binet was introduced to Charles Fere, who introduced him to Jean Charcot, the director of a clinic called La Salpetriere. Charcot became his mentor and in turn, Binet accepted a job offer at the clinic. During his seven years there, any and every of Charcot’s views were accepted unconditionally by Binet. This of course, was where he could have used the interactions with others and training in critical thinking that a University education provided. In 1883, Binet began to work in Jean-Martin Charcot’s neurological laboratory at the Salpetriere Hospital in Paris. At the time of Binet’s tenure, Charcot was experimenting with hypnotism. Binet was strongly influenced by this great man, and published four articles about his work in this area. Unfortunately, Charcot’s conclusions did not hold up under professional scrutiny, and Binet was forced to make an embarrassing public admission that he had been wrong in supporting his teacher. When his intrigue with hypnosis waned as a result of failure to establish professional acceptance, he turned to the study of development spurred on by the birth of his two daughters, Madeleine and Alice (born in 1885 and 1887, respectively). In the 21 year period following his shift in career interests, Binet â€Å"published more than 200 books, articles, and reviews in what now would be called experimental, developmental, educational, social, nd differential psychology† (Siegler, 1992). Bergin and Cizek (2001) suggest that this work may have influenced Jean Piaget, who later studied with Binet’s collaborator Theodore Simon in 1920. Binet’s research with his daughters helped him to further refine his developing conception of intelligence, especially the importance of attention span and suggestibility in intellectual development. Despite Binet’s extensive research interests and wide breadth of publications, today he is most widely known for his contributions to intelligence. Wolf (1973) postulates that this is the result of his not being affiliation with a major university. Because Binet did not have any formalized graduate study in psychology, he did not hold a professorship with a prestigious institution where students and funds would be sure to perpetuate his work (Siegler, 1992). Additionally, his more progressive theories did not provide the practical utility that his intelligence scale would evoke. Binet and his coworker Fere discovered what they called transfer and they also recognized perceptual and emotional polarization. Binet and Fere thought their findings were a phenomenon and of utmost importance. After investigations by many, the two men were forced to admit that they were wrong about their concepts of transfer and polarization. Basically, their patients had known what was expected, what was supposed to happen, and so they simply assented. Binet had risked everything on his experiment and its results, and this failure took a toll on him. In 1890, Binet resigned from La Salpetriere and never mentioned the place or its director again. His interests then turned toward the development of his children, Madeleine and Alice, who were two years apart. This research corresponds with that done by Jean Piaget just a short time later, regarding the development of cognition in children. A job presented itself for Binet in 1891 at the Laboratory of Physiological Psychology at the Sorbonne. He worked for a year without pay and by 1894, he took over as the director. This was a position that Binet held until his death, and it enabled him to pursue his studies on mental processes. While directing the Laboratory, Theodore Simon applied to do doctoral research under Binet’s supervision. This was the beginning of their long, fruitful collaboration. During this time he also co-founded the French journal of psychology, L’Annee psychologique, serving as the director and editor-in-chief. n 1899, Binet was asked to be a member of the Free Society for the Psychological Study of the Child. French education changed profusely during the end of the nineteenth century, because of a law that passed which made it mandatory for children ages six to fourteen to attend school. This group to which Binet became a member hoped to begin studying children in a scientific manner. Binet and many other members of the society were appointed to the Commission for the Retarded. The question became â€Å"What should be the test given to children thought to possibly have learning disabilities, that might place them in a special classroom? † Binet made it his problem to establish the differences that separate the normal child from the abnormal, and to measure such differences. L’Etude experimentale de l’intelligence (Experimental Studies of Intelligence) was the book he used to describe his methods and it was published in 1903. Development of more tests and investigations began soon after the book, with the help of a young medical student named Theodore Simon. Simon had nominated himself a few years before as Binet’s research assistant and worked with him on the intelligence tests that Binet is known for, which share Simon’s name as well. In 1905, a new test for measuring intelligence was introduced and simply called the Binet–Simon scale. You read "Alfred Binet and His Life" in category "Essay examples" In 1908, they revised the scale, dropping, modifying, and adding tests and also arranging them according to age levels from three to thirteen. In 1904 a French professional group for child psychology, La Societe Libre pour l’Etude Psychologique de l’Enfant, was called upon by the French government to appoint a commission on the education of retarded children. The commission was asked to create a mechanism for identifying students in need of alternative education. Binet, being an active member of this group, found the impetus for the development of his mental scale. Binet and Simon, in creating what historically is known as the Binet-Simon Scale, comprised a variety of tasks they thought were representative of typical children’s abilities at various ages. This task-selection process was based on their many years of observing children in natural settings. They then tested their measurement on a sample of fifty children, ten children per five age groups. The children selected for their study were identified by their school teachers as being average for their age. The purpose of this scale of normal functioning, which would later be revised twice using more stringent standards, was to compare children’s mental abilities relative to those of their normal peers (Siegler, 1992). The scale consisted of thirty tasks of increasing complexity. The easiest of these could be accomplished by all children, even those who were severely retarded. Some of the simplest test items assessed whether or not a child could follow a lighted match with his eyes or shake hands with the examiner. Slightly harder tasks required children to point to various named body parts, repeat back a series of 3 digits, repeat simple sentences, and to define words like house, fork or mama. More difficult test items required children to state the difference between pairs of things, reproduce drawings from memory or to construct sentences from three given words such as â€Å"Paris, river and fortune. † The hardest test items included asking children to repeat back 7 random digits, find three rhymes for the French word obeisance and to answer questions such as â€Å"My neighbor has been receiving strange visitors. He has received in turn a doctor, a lawyer, and then a priest. What is taking place? † (Fancher, 1985). For the practical use of determining educational placement, the score on the Binet-Simon scale would reveal the child’s mental age. For example, a 6 year-old child who passed all the tasks usually passed by 6 year-olds–but nothing beyond–would have a mental age that exactly matched his chronological age, 6. 0. (Fancher, 1985). Binet was forthright about the limitations of his scale. He stressed the remarkable diversity of intelligence and the subsequent need to study it using qualitative, as opposed to quantitative, measures. Binet also stressed that intellectual development progressed at variable rates and could be influenced by the environment; therefore, intelligence was not based solely on genetics, was malleable rather than fixed, and could only be found in children with comparable backgrounds (Siegler, 1992). Given Binet’s stance that intelligence testing was subject to variability and was not generalizable, it is important to look at the metamorphosis that mental testing took on as it made its way to the U. S. While Binet was developing his mental scale, the business, civic, and educational leaders in the U.  S. were facing issues of how to accommodate the needs of a diversifying population, while continuing to meet the demands of society. There arose the call to form a society based on meritocracy (Siegler,1992) while continuing to underline the ideals of the upper class. In 1908, H. H. Goddard, a champion of the eugenics movement, found utility in mental testing as a way to evidence the superiority of the white race. After studying abroad, Goddard brought the Binet-Simon Scale to the United States and translated it into English. Following Goddard in the U. S. ental testing movement was Lewis Terman who took the Simon-Binet Scale and standardized it using a large American sample. The new Standford-Binet scale was no longer used solely for advocating education for all children, as was Binet’s objective. A new objective of intelligence testing was illustrated in the Stanford-Binet manual with testing ultimately resulting in â€Å"curtailing the reproduction of feeble-mindedness and in the elimination of an enormous amount of crime, pauperism, and industrial inefficiency (p. 7)† Terman, L. , Lyman, G. , Ordahl, G. , Ordahl, L. , Galbreath, N. ; Talbert, W. (1916). The Stanford Revision and Extension of the Binet-Simon Scale for Measuring Intelligence. Baltimore: Warwick ; York. (White, 2000). It follows that we should question why Binet did not speak out concerning the newfound uses of his measure. Siegler (1992) pointed out that Binet was somewhat of an isolationist in that he never traveled outside of France and he barely participated in professional organizations. Additionally, his mental scale was not adopted in his own country during his lifetime and therefore was not subjected to the same fate. Finally, when Binet did become aware of the â€Å"foreign ideas being grafted on his instrument† he condemned those who with ‘brutal pessimism’ and ‘deplorable verdicts’ were promoting the concept of intelligence as a single, unitary construct (White, 2000). From 1905 to 1908, Binet and Simon developed a test primarily for kids ages 3 to 15 that would compare their intellectual capabilities to other children of the same age. He did a lot of trial and error testing with students from his area. Binet studied groups of â€Å"normal† children, and also children who were mentally challenged. He had to figure out which tasks each group of students was able to complete, and what would be considered standard in the groups. The tests were held between one interviewer and one student, and determined what level of intellectual thinking the student had achieved. The invention of the intelligence test was extremely important to the field of education. Binet published the third version of the Binet-Simon scale right before he died in 1911, but it was still unfinished. If it were not for his early death, Binet surely would have continued to revise the scale. Still, the Binet-Simon scale was and is hugely popular around the world, mainly because it is easy to give and fairly brief. Since his death, many people in many ways have honored Binet, but two of these stand out. In 1917, the Free Society for the Psychological Study of the Child, to whom Binet became a member in 1899 and which prompted his development of the intelligence tests, changed their name to La Societe Alfred Binet, in memory of the renowned psychologist. The second honor was not until 1984, when the journal Science 84 picked the Binet-Simon scale, as one of twenty of this century’s most significant developments or discoveries. He studied sexual behavior, coining the term erotic fetishism to describe individuals whose sexual interests in nonhuman objects, such as articles of clothing. He also studied abilities of Valentine Dencausse, the most famous chiromancer in Paris in those days. References http://www.mhhe.com/mayfieldpub/psychtesting/profiles/binet.htm http://www.indiana.edu/~intell/binet.shtml How to cite Alfred Binet and His Life, Essay examples

Presentation Calamansi as a stain remover free essay sample

The Calamansi is a fruit known for its usefulness, as well as its amazing use in the field of medicine; however it’s proved to be more than just a food and medicine. It was in fact, also a fruit for household purposes, and through our various digging of information, some researchers found out that calamansi is also beneficial in a lot of things. Such as: Useful for food recipes, Eliminates bad smell of fish, Skin lightening, Take away stains on clothes, Washes body dirt, Can be us as deodorizer, Eliminates itching, Helps cough, Good source of Vitamin C, Helps hair growth. With the citric acid found in the citrus family, it was not deemed impossible. And so we went to the existence of this project. Hypothesis: The created Eco-friendly cleaning solution from fruit pulp can be used as a cloth stain remover. And there will be no significant different on the effect of our product from the commercial cleaning product solution. We will write a custom essay sample on Presentation Calamansi as a stain remover or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Significance of the Study: In our present time, the condition of the world we are living is getting worse, most especially our ozone layer, which is getting thinner. According to our research, one of the factors that cause ozone layer in continuing to be thinner is the chemicals and substances that are present in cleaning solutions. Cleaning solutions contains ammonium hydrogen bifluoride and hydrofluoric acid that are hazardous. So we have decided to use natural stain remover. Our main focus and goal is to make a better cleaning solution using calamansi pulp. We choose to produce this to lessen the use of hazardous chemicals that is in the cleaning solution. And as it is used every day. We find our project truly amazing if not important. CHAPTER TWO RESEARCH LITERATURE: Calamondin or calamansi is a fruit tree in the family Rutaceae native Asia. Its cultivation has Spread throughout Southeast Asia, India, Hawaii, the West Indies and Central and North America. The plant is characterized by wing-like appendages on the leaf stalks and white or Purplish flowers. The fruit is indigenous and widely cultivated in the Philippines It is available Year-round in the Philippines and is usually seen in its unripened green state. When left to ripen It turns a tangerine orange. Other famous members of which, includes lemon, orange and lime, Today, calamansi is the most versatile fruit, not only for its usefulness but also for its nutritional Value. It‘s also rich source of vitamin C or ascorbic acid. Besides it’s also contains a significant Amount of minerals like potassium salt, calcium, copper etc. cholesterol and fats. I can be immersing help in many ailments like cough, cold and also runny nose. It contains antioxidants, which are effective in protecting the body free radicals. Citrus fruits like lemon and oranges have citric acid are weak organic acid found in citrus fruits. It is a natural preservative and is also used to add acid taste to foods and soft drinks. It also serves as an environmentally benign cleaning agent and acts as an antioxidant. Citric acid exist in a variety of fruits and vegetables but it is most concentrated in lemons and limes, where it can completes as much as eight percent of the dry weight of the fruit. Researchers on cleaning products were concentrated on the safety of the users and as well as the environment ease of use and lower production costs. Based on this research, cleaning solutions are often hazardous and as well as corrosive. The group found an alternative cleaning solution from calamansi pulp that contain citric acid that fight both germs and odor.

The Troubled Succession of Charles V of Spain

The Troubled Succession of Charles V of Spain By the time he was 20, in 1520, Charles V ruled the largest collection of European land since Charlemagne over 700 years earlier. Charles was Duke of Burgundy, King of the Spanish Empire and the Habsburg territories, which included Austria and Hungary, as well as Holy Roman Emperor; he continued to acquire more land throughout his life. Problematically for Charles, but interestingly for historians, he acquired these lands piecemeal - there was no one single inheritance - and many of the territories were independent countries with their own systems of government and little common interest. This empire, or monarchia, may have brought Charles power, but it also caused him great problems. The Succession to Spain Charles inherited the Spanish Empire in 1516; this included peninsular Spain, Naples, several islands in the Mediterranean and large tracts of America. Although Charles had a clear right to inherit, the manner in which he did so caused upset: in 1516 Charles became regent of the Spanish Empire on his mentally ill mother’s behalf. Just a few months later, with his mother still alive, Charles declared himself king. Charles Causes Problems The manner of Charles’ rise to the throne caused upset, with some Spaniards wishing for his mother to remain in power; others supported Charles’ infant brother as heir. On the other hand, there were many who flocked to the court of the new king. Charles caused more problems in the manner in which he initially governed the kingdom: some feared he was inexperienced, and some Spaniards feared Charles would focus on his other lands, such as those he stood to inherit from Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian. These fears were exacerbated by the time it took Charles to put aside his other business and travel to Spain for the very first time: eighteen months. Charles caused other, much more tangible, problems when he arrived in 1517. He promised a gathering of towns called the Cortes that he wouldn’t appoint foreigners to important positions; he then issued letters naturalizing certain foreigners and appointed them to important positions. Furthermore, having been granted a large subsidy to the crown by the Cortes of Castile in 1517, Charles broke with tradition and asked for another large payment while the first was being paid. He’d so far spent little time in Castile and the money was to finance his claim to the Holy Roman throne, a foreign adventure feared by Castilians. This, and his weakness when it came to resolving internal conflicts between the towns and nobles, caused great upset. The Revolt of the Comuneros 1520-1 During the years 1520 - 21, Spain experienced a major rebellion within its Castilian kingdom, an uprising that has been described as the largest urban revolt in early modern Europe. (Bonney, The European Dynastic States, Longman, 1991, p. 414) Although certainly true, this statement obscures a later, but still significant, rural component. There is still debate on how close the revolt came to succeeding, but this rebellion of Castilian towns - who formed their own local councils, or communes - included a true mix of contemporary mismanagement, historical rivalry, and political self-interest. Charles wasn’t completely to blame, as pressure had grown over the last half-century when towns felt themselves increasingly losing power versus the nobility and the crown. The Rise of the Holy League Riots against Charles had begun before he had even left Spain in 1520, and as the riots spread, towns began rejecting his government and forming their own: councils called comuneros. In June 1520, as nobles remained quiet, hoping to profit from the chaos, the comuneros met and formed themselves together in the Santa Junta (Holy League). Charles’ regent sent an army to deal with the rebellion, but this lost the propaganda war when it started a fire that gutted Medina del Campo. More towns then joined the Santa Junta. As the rebellion spread in the north of Spain, the Santa Junta initially tried to get Charles V’s mother, the old queen, on their  side for support. When this failed, the Santa Junta sent a list of demands to Charles, a list intended to keep him king and moderate his actions and make him more Spanish. The demands included Charles returning to Spain and giving the Cortes a much greater role in government. Rural Rebellion and Failure As the rebellion grew larger, cracks appeared in the alliance of towns as each had their own agenda. The pressure of supplying troops also began to tell. The rebellion spread into the countryside, where people directed their violence against the nobility as well as the king. This was a mistake, as the nobles who had been content to let the revolt carry on now reacted against the new threat. It was the nobles who exploited Charles to negotiate a  settlement and a noble led army which crushed the comuneros  in battle. The revolt was effectively over after the Santa Junta was defeated in battle at Villalar in April 1521, although pockets remained until early 1522. The reaction of Charles wasn’t harsh given the standards of the day, and the towns kept many of their privileges.  However, the Cortes was never to gain any further power and became a glorified bank for the king. The Germania Charles faced another rebellion which occurred at the same time as the Comunero Revolt, in a smaller and less financially important region of Spain. This was the Germania, born out of a militia created to fight Barbary pirates, a council which wanted to create a Venice like city-state, and class anger as much as a dislike of Charles. The rebellion was crushed by the nobility without much crown help. 1522: Charles Returns Charles returned to Spain in 1522 to find royal power restored. Over the next few  years, he worked to change the relationship between himself and the Spaniards, learning Castilian, marrying an Iberian woman and calling Spain the heart of his empire. The towns were bowed and could be reminded of what they had done if ever they opposed Charles, and the nobles had fought their way to a closer relationship with him.

The 10 Best Fashion Schools What Makes Them Great

The 10 Best Fashion Schools What Makes Them Great SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Thinking about entering the fashion industry? You’re in for a fun, challenging career path. If you want to be well-prepared to enter any area of fashion - whether it’s the design side or the business side - an education at a well-reputed school will definitely be helpful. Before getting into the list of bestfashion schools, I’ll talk a bit about why you might want to attend a fashion school and how I compiled these rankings. What Is a Fashion School? A fashion school offers degrees that are specialized for students who plan on pursuing a career in the fashion industry. They often offer several different majors or specializations. The most popular thing to do with a fashion degree is design, but there are many other careers you can pursue with a degree in this field, including: Fashion merchandising and fashion buying Fashion marketing and PR Fashion production and management Fashion journalism and publishing Advertising Fashion technology A great fashion program will provide hands-on experience in the classroom and the field, as well as plenty of opportunities for internships and jobs for both students and graduates. The Ranking System Ranking lists can be really great if you want to get a general idea of what schools are out there and whether they fit your interests and criteria. The problem with many lists is that there’s no standardized ranking process or criteria, and they’re not always transparent about the ranking process. Although this particular ranking list should also just be used as a starting point for your own college research, I want to be much more clear about the process I used to determine the best fashion schools. First, I started by searching for colleges and universities that have a dedicated fashion major for undergraduates. After that, I took these major criteria into account: General School Reputation - The fashion industry is incredibly competitive to break into (check out The Devil Wears Prada for a very tiny, very dramatized taste of what I mean). It’s important that undergraduate students have access to the resources that come with a school that’s well-regarded by the industry. As you’ll see when you go through the rankings list, many fashion icons have visited or even lectured these schools for educational classes and seminars - this is a sign that these schools are taken seriously by those in fashion. Strength of Related Graduate Programs - Although I only listed schools here with dedicated undergraduate programs in fashion, schools got points if they have well-respected graduate programs in fashion or other related design fields. Undergraduate students studying fashion tend to benefit from faculty and resources in these graduate departments. Alumni - When a school boasts many notable alumni, this signals a couple of important things: the program itself produces strong graduates, and the school’s alumni network is strong and well-connected. Successful alumni boost a school’s reputation and make it easier for you to find a job later on. Location - The best internship and job opportunities (as well as galleries and design studios) are going to be in big fashion capitals: places like NYC, Paris, Milan, London, and even Hong Kong. Many of the schools listed below are located in these cities or have satellite campuses or programs there. Schools got bonus points if they give students options to study in a variety of locations. The 10 Top Fashion Schools, Ranked Although I was clear about the criteria used to compile this list, you should use it primarily as a jumping-off point for your own research - not an ultimate guide to the quality of a school’s program. I encourage you to focus less on the strict order of rankings (which is pretty subjective to begin with) and more on the individual characteristics of each school. Let’s get into the good stuff - the list of bestfashion schools. #1 Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT), New York, NY FIT is perhaps the most famous school for those aspiring to enter the world of fashion. Its programs focus on preparing students for professional excellence in design and business. FIT offers an incredibly wide range of undergraduate degree programs, including Accessories Design, Fabric Styling, Fashion Business Management, and Jewelry Design. In total, the school offers 48 degree programs in fashion and other creative and business professions. The school apparently takes full advantage of its NYC location, taking students on frequent field trips to corporate headquarters, design studios, galleries, and museums. Finally, many alumni are particularly successful in the business side of fashion and act as VPs, presidents, and CEOs. Fashion degrees offered: BFA, BS Read more about the program Attending any fashion school in NY will come with some important advantages, including ease of access to the fashion industry. #2 Parsons The New School, New York, NY The New School takes a more focused approach to fashion, offering only a BFA in fashion design for fashion-minded undergraduates. There are many others strong programs offered through the school, however - The New School is a well-respected school in all sorts of design fields, including Fine Arts and Interior Design. The fashion design program is housed in Parson’s School of Fashion, which has some strong fashion Master’s programs. Students complete a senior thesis as a capstone to their studies, which is great for developing a portfolio. Students can take advantage of the many professional opportunities available in NYC, especially with the school’s list of notable alumni (including Isaac Mizrahi and Donna Karan). Fashion degrees offered: BFA Read more about the program #3 Pratt Institute, New York, NY It’s no surprise that the top three schools on this list are located in NYC. Fashion design students at the Pratt Institute have access to some great resources, in part due to the school’s location - for one, guest lecturers from all areas of the industry often give talks and seminars. Students here also end up with some great internships (at companies like Rag Bone, for example). The school also has strong design programs in other areas, including industrial and interior design. All students seem to benefit from strong career support from Pratt’s Center for Career and Professional Development, which presented more than 80 programs last year on topics such as career prep and innovation. Fashion degrees offered: BFA Read more about the program #4 Savannah College of Art and Design, Savannah, GA SCAD, which offers a BFA in fashion design (in addition to an MA and MFA), is a very well-reputed, high-ranked design school with many other strong design programs. The school prides itself in staying on top of the latest design technology, which may be why it’s so successful at attracting top names in fashion for guest lectures, panel discussions, and student critiques. Some of these past fashion experts include Karl Lagerfeld, Tom Ford, Diane von Furstenberg, and Vera Wang. It’s no surprise that SCAD hosts one of the top student fashion shows in the country to showcase student work. You may not think of Savannah as a fashion capital, but you don’t have to. Fashion design students Students have the opportunity to study in Atlanta and Hong Kong. Fashion degrees offered: BFA Read more about the program #5 Kent State University, Kent, OH Kent State has a few more options for students who are interested in the business side of the fashion industry - you can choose from a BA or BFA in Fashion Design or a BS in Fashion Merchandising. One unique option is a combined BS/MBA program in Fashion Merchandising. The school has its own satellite campus in NYC, which is definitely important considering that Kent, OH isn’t exactly a fashion capital. About 45 students a year head off to Florence, Italy to study at the school’s Palazzo campus. Kent State also has a partnership with The Paris Academy in Paris, France - overall, students seem to have lots of options when it comes to off-campus experiences. Finally, the school claims that their placement rate in the fashion industry for graduates of the Fashion School is over 90%. Fashion degrees offered: BA, BFA, BS/MBA Read more about the program If you’re more interested in merchandising than design, you may want to check out Kent State. #6 Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA Drexel, which offers a bachelor’s in fashion design, prepares students for careers in design, styling, advertising, and computer-aided and technical design. The school encourages hands-on experiences in the industry by requiring students to submit designs to national and international competitions. Drexel has a couple of interesting programs for fashion-minded students. First, there’s a unique six month â€Å"co-op† program - an extended internship of sorts - where students work at different companies around the country to develop their skills. Second, there’s a study abroad program at the College of London. There are many complementary undergraduate programs, including Design Merchandising and Entertainment Art. Fashion degrees offered: BFA Read more about the program #7 Otis College of Art and Design, Los Angeles, CA Otis is an interesting option for fashion-minded students for a few reasons. First, fashion design students have the option to choose a Costume Design emphasis track within their major - a unique program of study that I haven’t seen at any of these other schools. Students have the opportunity to work in teams through junior and senior year to create unique designs, which is a great experience for when you transition to working in the actual industry. The school is also committed to sustainability in fashion - students can opt for a minor in sustainability if it’s something they’re particularly interested in. Current designers serve as mentors for fashion students, and recent upperclassmen mentor companies include places like Anthropologie, Nike, BCBG, Roxy, and more. The school has a lot of successful alumni living and working in NYC. Although LA isn’t quite the fashion capital that NY is, there are still quite a few designers based in the city whoare known for their trendy and unique work. Fashion degrees offered: BFA Read more about the program LA offers a great mix of â€Å"high fashion† and more casual, trendy design. #8 Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), Providence, RI RISD is a very well-known and well-respected art and design institution for both undergraduate and graduate students. Undergrads here have the option to get a BFA in â€Å"Apparel Design.† The apparel design program emphasizes (perhaps a bit more than other top programs) the development of advanced technical skills like superior design sketching, pattern cutting, and 3D draping. The school requires students to participate in internships and competitive opportunities, which thrusts you into the fashion industry fairly early on. The program’s senior thesis project is described as a â€Å"unified body of work that expresses personal design sensibility and showcases professional-grade conceptual and technical skills.† Students regularly visit NYC’s fashion district, which is fairly close. Providence itself may not seem like a fashion capital, but it has a very high number of artists per capita. It’s small but concentrated! Fashion degrees offered: BFA Read more about the program #9 Columbus College of Art and Design, Columbus, OH Students here who choose to pursue a BFA in Fashion Design go on to do any number of things in the fashion industry, including working as fashion forecasters and costume designers. The school also offers an MFA in fashion design. Columbus has six large studios open to student access in addition to other labs (for example, a dye lab and pattern/draping lab). Notable alumni include people like Bruno Grizzo (who worked for Calvin Klein and Lanvin) and Genoveva Christoff (who has her own successful company). Fashion degrees offered: BFA Read more about the program #10Iowa State University, Ames, IA Fashion students here get a degree in Apparel, Merchandising, and Design, which is a bit broader than some of the options at other top fashion schools. A broad degree means broad career opportunities, including things like public relations director or fashion journalism. The school offers some impressive high-tech equipment, like a 3-D body scanner and industrial digital printer. Special classes help students find and research internships in the field. Fashion degrees offered: BS Read more about the program How to Choose the Right Fashion School for You Although there are fewer fashion program choices out there than say, liberal BA program choices, you still have to sift through a lot of information to pick a school that's right for you. Hopefully, this list of schools has given you a good place to start - but there are other things to keep in mind before committing to a particular school. There are few more things to consider here than when you’re deciding what to wear to that party tonight. Decide Betweenan Arts-Focused School anda More Traditional College Most of the schools listed here are dedicated solely to fashion or a combination of fashion, design, and arts. This may be great for you if you’re not interested in a liberal arts education or fulfilling general education requirements. If you’re looking for a more â€Å"traditional† college experience, however, you may want to look into liberal arts colleges that may not be 100% dedicated to arts, design, and fashion, but still offer great fashion programs for undergrads. Choose a School That Offers a Degree You Want Many of the schools on the above list focus on fashion design. If you’re sure that you’re interested in the design side of fashion, then this sort of program is a good fit. There are so many other options, though, especially at powerhouses like FIT. There’s much more to the fashion industry than design, so make sure to check out other programs and majors before making a decision. Consider Whether You Want a Flexible or Focused Program Some of the programs above offer plenty of room for students to explore their artistic and design interests, and boast dozens of degree options and specializations. Others are more focused and narrow, and may be good fits for students who already know what interests they want to pursue. Spend some time exploring the programs' websites to get a better feel for your options. Finda Program With Portfolio Requirements That You'll Be Able to Meet You'll have to submit a portfolio as part of the application process for the schools listed above. Some of these portfolio requirements may seem reasonable, whereas others might be tough to meet. Explore each program's portfolio requirements well ahead of any application deadlines. Think About the School More Generally Granted, many of the schools on this list are design- or arts-focused, but your college experience will depend on more than just what you’ll experience through your program. Other, more practical student life concerns will definitely affect how happy you may be at a particular school. What do you think of the student housing options? The dining plans? The student groups on campus? The general location? Once you consider all these factors, you'll be better able to choose a fashion program that's right for you. The better the fit, the more successful you're likely to be in school and your career. What’s Next? Choosing where you’ll end up for college is a stressful decision for many students. Read more about if it matters, and why the college you select may impact your future. Once you have an idea of where you’d like to end up, boost your chances of success by learning about how to get into your top choice schools. When you have several options to choose from, read about how to choose which college to actually attend. Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or your ACT score by 4 points?We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

Jhumpa Lahiri And Local Colors Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Jhumpa Lahiri And Local Colors - Essay Example Her collection of short stories, The Interpreter of Maladies, won the 2000 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. It drew criticism especially from the Indians because they said that India was not painted in a more positive light. However, it still managed to become a bestseller. Lahiri writes nonfiction, sometimes published in The New Yorker, like Cooking Lessons, which talks about the importance of food in her relationship with her mother. Her writing style is actually simple. She uses simple words and plain language. Her characters are usually Indian-American, or Indians, by default. The setting is mostly America in which her characters have to navigate their native values into their new adopted home. Sometimes, one might think that her work is autobiographical, which is true because she says, she draws from her experiences. Of course, she also draws from the experiences of her friends and family, and this makes her literature more accessible and familiar to her readers. Her work is a good r eference to find the nuances of immigrant life, especially the Indian-American life. Her literature is also heavy on the use of local color. Of course, since her work is largely regionalistic, it can’t be helped if she uses local color to demonstrate the customs or other cultural artifacts native to her own land. It is both romantic and realistic; Romantic in a sense that it invokes nostalgia and sentimentality but also romantic since it involves realism, as in the realistic struggles of some folks in the stories. Local color stories tend to focus more on the details of the character and setting rather than the individual character itself. They can sometimes be stereotyped rather than be identified as a special character in the story. The characters are important because they are the ones who demonstrate the culture and the other cultural artifacts that the author is writing about. They also give away the values and the customs, as well as their adherence to tradition and tha t is directly related to the regional context of the author. The setting is also important. Unlike the character, details of the setting can be heavily detailed as to provide the necessary mood in the story. Sometimes, the setting is not the motherland, especially if they are talking about disconnect. Although Lahiri’s stories are fiction, she uses the first person point of view. This lends the story a personal touch. The narrator in her stories acts as a tour guide in the world that she paints. This first person point of view is quite refreshing because the readers feel extra special because they think that they are entering a secret world with the author. This makes Lahiri’s works exceptional. Another thing that makes Lahiri’s works exceptional is the fact that she uses food, language and religion as tools that mark her ethnic identity. These â€Å"little† details provide the necessary atmosphere in order for the story to be successful in portraying the local colors. In the story When Mr. Pirzada Came To Dine, Lahiri’s persona takes as a character of the narrator, who happens to be a little girl named Lilia. At one point of her life, a certain Mr. Pirzada from Dacca came to their house regularly for dinners. This was the time when Pakistan and India were fighting around 1965 (Indian-Pakistani War). Mr. Pirzada came to their house for the food, because he was not at all well-off as an immigrant, and of course, as someone from their own race/culture, even if they are Indians and Mr. Pirzada is a Pakistani, they welcomed him because they understood his plight as an

Education & Assessment of English Language Learners Assignment

Education & Assessment of English Language Learners - Assignment Example If children from poor families are having difficulty in learning the school curricula, it is because maybe it is not tailored to incorporate their culture. They have lifestyles, resources, or belief systems that different from those found in the curricula. Because it has been pointed out in the article that the type of English a pupil uses is largely dependent on what is done in their community, the best way to make pupils learn more is to tailor the language so that it fits the culture of the student. The references, allusions and stories should be derived from the culture of the pupil. However, this poses the challenge of what the children would like to aspire to; let’s face it, the children are in school so that they can be able to improve their lives and join the middleclass; if their literature ,material is to be modified so as to fit their cultures, it is likely to discourage them. Employers are also not looking for people who speak â€Å"Black† English or a diffe rent dialect that is not standard; they want Standard English. This problem is rather difficult to address because people already believe the stereotypes. In my opinion, poor people just need to conform and teach their children better English; it is the easier option than changing the curriculum to something the children are working hard to get out

Sainsburys Company Analysis

Sainsburys Company Analysis The food retailing Industry is a huge and fast growing industry in UK .It is a complex and diverse market dominated by various big companies such as Tesco, ASDA, J Sainsburys. Price and quality of goods are the two key elements which the companies keep in mind to increase their sales and defend their position in this competitive market. In the year 2009, food retailing recorded sales figures of GBP 297,478.9 million, along with providing employment to 11.6% of the workforce in UK (Euro monitor). It is forecasted, by the year 2014 the sales would cross GBP 350,000 million. (Euro monitor) This assignment focuses on the third largest food retailer store in UK, i.e. J Sainsbury. Sainsbury is a super market which will operates its business in retail sector from the year 1869. Sainsbury is started by James and Mary Ann Sainsburys. Sainsbury today operates a total of 827 stores comprising 537 supermarkets and 335 convenience stores(J Sainsbury 2010) .With their presence in various other markets such as financial services and Property management, grocery retailing remains their core business. In an industry which employs over 3,335,000 people and with sales figure of GBP 137,590 million (Euro Monitor), Sainsbury enjoys a market share of 16% and serving 19 million customers weekly with a product offering of 30,000. (J Sainsbury 2010) QUESTION-1 Using suitable models identify the customer perceived value for the customers for a product/division/company of your choice. ANSWER- PART 1 Customer value Difference between what a  customers  gets from a  product, and what he or she has to give in  order  to get it. http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/customer-value.html#ixzz16OyFiRFr Customer value proposition A  business  or marketing statement that summarizes why a consumer should  buy a product or use a service. This statement should convince a potential consumer that  one particular  product or service will add more  value or better solve a problem than other similar offerings. http://www.investopedia.com/terms/v/valueproposition.asp Types of CVP 1. All Benefits- benefits that an organization brings to its target customers. It tends to suffer from a lack of credibility when the value proposition is not distinguished from competitors or focused precisely on the unique needs of the customer. 2. Favourable Points of Differentiation- it mainly emphasizes the key differences between a firms offerings and those of competitors at the customer interface. It takes into account the notion that the buyer has substitutes. Like the all benefits value proposition it lacks specificity relative to the buyer. 3. Resonating Focus- Resonating focus highlights one or two critical differences between the firms offerings and those of competitors with the forethought that these differences represent those areas that are most vital in the mind of the customer. While most effective, this value proposition takes considerable time to develop as it is strongly rooted in a deep understanding of customer needs. http://www.edbarrows.com/Resources/briefs/valueProposition.pdf IMPORTANCE OF CUSTOMER VALUE   A good customer value proposition is a technique why a customer should buy a product and also distinguish your product from competitors. Gaining a customers attention will help in growing sales faster and more profitable, as well as increasing its market share. Understanding customer needs is important because it helps promote the product. A brand is the perception of a product or service that is designed to stay in the minds of targeted consumers. It is desirable to build a strong and positive brand association with your offering. Three key dimensions: Extrinsic vs. intrinsic value Self-orientated vs. other-orientated value Active vs. reactive value PART 2 VALUE PROPOSITION FOR SAINSBURY Sainsbury maintain high quality of its services by keeping up high quality product at a fair price, through well-kept rooms with an attractive appearance to fast service and a friendly staff. Sainsbury ensures that all suppliers have been evaluated by Quality Attribute System (QAS) in order to provide quality product to the customer. It has different prices which are suited to different kinds of customer. Through the execution of high quality product Sainsbury has high price. However to adjust to the needs of less wealthy clients it also offers a wide selection of basic product at a low price. Sainsbury speed is moderately-high. Sainsbury team is trying to reduce queues through recent introduction of basket tills, self-checkouts as well as introduction of newest scan and pack system. Sainsbury also offers home delivery which can be obtained the very next day. Dependability is keeping a word to customers. Sainsbury provides customers quality product at a fair prices, fulfilling custom er expectation for fresh, safe, healthy and tasty food. Sainsbury respects environment by using environmentally friendly packaging. Queuing time is reasonable and deliveries are on time. Online Shopping at Sainsburys is also a great advantage. All the above provide a  high level of dependability  and are the reason why the Sainsburys brand remains on the market for 141 years, and this makes the Sainsbury differs from its competitors. Sainsbury started a new range taste the difference that aims to provide consumers desire to treat themselves at home, rather than spending money in buying expensive takeaways or eating outside. Sainsburys continuously investing in their clothing and home decor items to accelerate the growth in non-food sector so that they can reach to more customers so as to increase its market share and sales. (Euro monitor) Sainsburys continued launching innovate products, 1% fat milk was launched which was consumed by 2.5 million households due to which its sales for basics were up by 60%. (Euro monitor) QUESTION 2 Critically evaluating value proposition of Sainsburys VALUE PROPOSITION Sainsbury supermarkets follow the mission of being the customers first choice by its service and quality. Through the method of working simpler, together and faster it delivers an outstanding good service and quality. Sainsbury accelerating its growth in non-food sector so as to reach more customers. Online facility provides its customers to shop online for non-food items also. The company has a solid brand value although discriminating competitive advantage is clearly missing. It is difficult to slot them in a particular category from a customer point of view. The company is not able to create a good market which will make them distinguish from other supermarkets with concerns to price, quality, customer service and access to variety or inventory. Sainsburys was critised by the city for allowing Tesco in getting ahead in the market in terms of customer service, loyalty and price competitiveness. Sainsburys was also criminated for not promoting itself up to its standards and also running the same type of initiatives which was running by Tesco. So the Sainsbury has failed to promote its products and services. In the process to reconstruct its mission, company has changed its marketing strategy and sold successfully the home based products in the chain of UK market and its business in Egypt. This changes the company to focus on food retailing and related activities. Sainsbury maintains 100% service level as the online business is growing rapidly. Even so, there are some issue that need to be developed for example; delivering orders in full and on time. The online business is developing at a rapid speed gaining growth in overall market. During hectic periods picking large orders from stores could become an issue. (http://www.oracle.com/us/corporate/analystreports/corporate/ovum-sainsbury-cs-170835.pdf) MARKETING MIX The marketing mix used by Sainsbury to gain its competitive advantage in its retailing sector -. Product Sainsburys mainly focused in developing new product and its food quality which will be healthier to the customers. It provides more than 350 variety range of foods product which is produced to protect its natural flavour and taste of the product. Currently it has achieved to developed more than 600 organic lines to provide best range of food and major growth in groceries, bakery, and frozen foods. It has also launched a product called Blue carrot Calf known for the clear labelling of kid products which mention clear details of the products. The Sainsburys continuously concentrating on development of its product by launching a new programme every year. Price Price is the important component of the marketing mix for Sainsburys. Now a day Sainsburys is presenting its customers in UK the value for money. A lot of investment is made in improving quality and productivity in order to reduce the overall cost. For the customers in UK Sainsbury is offering, exceptional value for the money and the aim of the company is to lead the quality and become the favoured in term for the customers all through the market. If the price is cut it is not easy to get back again to the previous level without dissatisfying the customer. This is not decent for the business. Hence in short term price gain the store will be less affected where as in long term it would gain less positive. Sainsbury implemented a new strategy value for money after realising its price war in the market. A lot of investment is made in improving quality and productivity what it provides and efficiency of its activity in order to reduce the overall cost. The purpose of implementing a new s trategy is to achieve trust and value from the customer and continue its leadership. Promotion -   Sainsbury gain to build up its solid brand image among the customers through various promotions. It mainly focuses on its own brand rather than the promoting other brands which they sell in the stores to form the greater wealth by its overall retail brand. Sainsbury uses different media for its promotion whereas TV, radio and advertising in cinemas to grow the company image. Sales promotions, merchandising and packing are also the key element for the promotion of the Sainsbury. Sainsbury launched Nectar Card as a main weapon for its promotion. This card is free for customers and gives discount points if customer used it in store at the time of shopping. Many other retailers are also using same type of promotions by issuing the card to customers and giving them free points for their money as these free points can be used automatically for discounts. Sainsbury store staff wears named T-shirt of the supermarket to defer as a worker to serve people. Place As per the Sainsbury it has 872 stores across UK whereas 837 super markets and 335 convenience stores. Various set up of stores are established across the country according to the needs and satisfaction of the customers and area. Sum stores are opened 24 hours a day for the satisfaction of the customers. Sainsbury is making large chain stores in different locations to create a world class distribution of groceries and work more effectively. Sainsburys uses marketing mix to improve and implement its plans by using market mix. It fulfils the needs of customers by improving its strategies which will satisfy customer. Sainsburys study on the market to the customer needs who will buy the products. It continues to implement the market division to progress its business strategies which shows the progress of a business. To increase its overall sales Sainsburys uses the market segmentation to display various varieties of products and sells it to different group of people. It offers a large number of products in a supermarket or convenience store and opens the store for long hours. It also offers easy cash option through debit or credit card and cash back facility to customers on their purchases. http://katamaneni12.blogspot.com/2010/09/macro-environment-and-marketing-mix.html Competitor Analysis TESCO- Competitor Company Profile Tesco is started by Jack Cohen in 1919. Tesco is biggest food retailer in the world, having 2318 stores and giving employment to more than 470000 people who serve millions of customer around the world. Tesco has a largest market in UK, where it operates under signs of Extra, Superstore, Metro and Express. Tesco offers more than 40000 products to customers including clothing and other non-food lines. Tesco vs. Sainsburys TESCO MISSION TESCO is to provide superior technical representation and to add value to a focused group of leading-edge, corporations by offering synergistic, valuable and highly innovate solutions for our customer design, procurement and manufacturing needs with continuous improvement of our quality, service and productivity to a completive advantage. TESCO VISSION What sets TESCO apart from other distributors is our commitment to customers success, by bringing an in-depth knowledge of their technology and the value added services needed to truly support the customer. The result is cost-efficient, rapidly delivered technical superior products that the customers take pride in. (http://www.tescoinc.co.kr/tesco/ecompany1.php) MISSION STATEMENT Sainsburys mission statement Our mission is to be the consumers first choice for food, delivering products of outstanding quality and great service at a competitive cost through working faster, simpler and together. Source: Sainsbury Web site Sainsburys companys vision for growth Sainsbury plcs present focus is to improve the performance of the core UK supermarket chain. Whilst doing so we will continue to explore and develop growth opportunities in other markets. Through implementing Managing for Value we will stretch our ambitions and challenge the conventional wisdom within the Company, thereby unlocking our potential and delivering value. Source: Sainsbury Web site DIFFERENCE STRATEGIES SAINSBURY STRATEGY: Sainsbury aims to provide quality products and good service at a competitive price through working faster, simpler, together and aimed to be the consumer first choice for food. Through a balance in sales growth, reduction cost and on-going margin improvements, Sainsbury look forward to progress growth. The company is dedicated to achieving industry leading margins within a dynamic, competitive market and to delivering strong double digit necessary profit growth in each year of its business programme. TESCO STRATEGY: Tesco has made a good progress with its strategy which consists of five elements reflecting its four established areas of motivation and Tescos long term promises on environment and community. The ideas of the strategy are: To be a successful international retailer To develop the core UK business To be as strong in non-food as in food. To develop retailing services such as Tesco Personal Finance, Telecoms and Tesco.com To put community at the heart of what we do. The market share of Tesco is 31.6% in the retail market and they also capture 50% of the grocery market share while Sainsbury has 16% and 22% of the market share respectively. Tesco sells massive products range and buy in big volume and sell it in cheap while Sainsbury buys product that are popular and their own branded product. 1/3 of the retail market is acquired by Tesco but Sainsbury is enabling to have this power. Tesco achieved its success by selling varieties of products; it is located within UK as well as overseas, they target every people. With this strategy Sainsburys have a difficult to keep up with Tesco. Sainsburys generally attract the middle class people with low class prices whereas Tesco attract all kind of people from all classes. Sainsburys is more concerned about the quality of the food they provide their customers while Tesco is concerned about reducing prices to attract their customers. Tescos main advertising approach is money saving Every little help and Sainsburys Taste the difference however during the crisis time they are one of the same. Sainsburys slip its second position in 2008, losing to Asda. Leader Tesco enlarged its market share in the year, moving ahead of Sainsburys. Sainsburys has less variety of non-food items as compared to Tesco. At the end of the evaluation period, non-food items were the reason for growth for the major supermarkets. ( http://www.oracle.com/us/corporate/analystreports/corporate/ovum-sainsbury-cs-170835.pdf) MANAGEMENT Sainsbury CEO Justin king has done a great job in strengthening the brand, improved turnover at a rate of 5.5% a year and profit increases by 6.7%. king main focus was on UK store expansion rather than overseas and total number of store has been increased from 583 in 2004 to 827 today. Tesco CEO Sir Terry Leahy has different approach as compare to Sainsburys CEO Justin King. In his fourteen year term he has heavily invested in overseas expansion. In 1999, within UK Tesco generated 90% of its turnover and now its less than 70%. GROWTH POTENTIAL Tesco has its setups in 14 countries but that doesnt mean Sainsburys lack growth opportunities. Sainsburys results in past years in the proof of this and continuing achieving high growth rate without international expansions. To exist in this competitive market Sainsburys has done well by opening new stores across UK, adding new non-food products and banking services to existing stores. Tesco on the other hand, have more growth opportunities in Asia and other countries. Tesco is a big player than Sainsburys, for example: if we compare past twelve months results Tesco has  £56.9 billion turnover versus Sainsburys  £19.9 billion. (http://www.fool.co.uk/news/investing/company-comment/2010/07/16/a-foolish-fracas-sainsbury-vs-tesco.aspx) CUSTOMER OUTCOME AND EXPECTATION Brand image and relationship building in a business to company market depends on how well company satisfies its customers. Sainsbury keep high quality of its services by providing high quality products to customers at a fair price. It has different prices which are suited to different kinds of customer. It provide basic product at low price to customer with low income. Sainsbury want to make it easier for customer to shop ethically and sustainably so they making every effort to live up to their expectations. Therefore from the above model, which explains between the company service and quality Sainsbury can be placed into high quality as well as service offered by the company and received by customers. Question 3 http://www.universityessays.com/example-essays/global-markets-sainsburys.php Mission statement serves a dual purpose by helping employees to remain dedicated on jobs as well as boosting them to find innovative ways of achieving company objectives so that productivity can be increased. It is common that large companies spend years and millions of dollars developing and refining their mission statement. NEW MISSION STATEMENT OF SAINSBURYS To become the UK best retailer company and earn customer lifetime reliability. NEW VISSION STATEMENT OF SAINSBURYS NEW VALUE PROPOSITION Source: Barnes, C. et. al., 2009 Creating and Delivering your value proposition p 31 Market: Sainsbury already caters to the middle class customers by providing products at affordable prices, but since Sainsbury maintains high quality amongst its products, the cost somewhat becomes high (in a comparative sense to its competitors). Sainsbury needs to provide these products at a more reasonable price to cater to the working class as well and thereby expand its existing customer base. Value experience: Benefits should include high quality at reasonable price. To reduce the travel costs Sainsbury needs to focus on locations of its stores so that they are effortlessly within the reach of its customers. Online sales should also be made easy. Complaints should be minimised by providing a good after sales service and monitoring customer feedback. Offerings: Place should include a focus on central locations. Product should include highest possible quality at affordable prices, new and innovative products could also be introduced to increase sales. Since the financial downturn of 2008 had drastic effects on the economy, consumers are trying to save as much as possible hence Sainsbury needs to keep the prices of its products as low as possible. Promotion should involve promotion of sales through discount vouchers or limited offers (e.g. buy 2 get 1 free) and continuous advertising through all available media types. Benefits: products need to be provided at the lowest possible price maintaining high quality. Constant customer feedback should be facilitated in order to keep track of its customers satisfaction. Alternatives and differentiation: Since Sainsbury focuses on quality more than the price of its products. The quality of Sainsburys products is higher than most of its competitors, but this phenomenon is not the same when it comes to price. Sainsbury needs to balance between its price and quality since its competitors such as Tesco are providing products at a lower price that is offered by Sainsbury. Proof: IMPLEMENTATION PLAN By using Ansoff Matrix tool for strategic marketing planning help to improve the position of J. Sainsbury. It accelerate to do best strategic direction depending upon the need/desire to penetrate existing or new markets with existing or new products. (http://www.emp.ac.uk/linspdfs/marketi2.pdf) If Sainsbury need to reconstruct their values, strengths and beliefs they need to split up their position in the existing market. They facing extreme competition in the real market they must modernize and create in new markets with their present product offering. Partnership is a necessity in the domestic market since this is the basis of the business and its primary values. It will help the Sainsbury to rebuild its image and the connection with existing customer by confirming them the best quality, best product offers at competitive pricing. Sainsburys need to improve in its Information Technology system so that information can be processed faster and stocks can be reloaded at a faster pace. The shelfs are always stocked well and the customers keep getting informed about the available varieties. All these hard work make the shopping experience enjoyable and satisfying for the customers. As the world faced recession almost globally, Sainsbury should avoid price related conflicts and must follow specific price strategy. Since customer will not be willing to pay high prices even for the best quality products hence low pricing should be planned for the quality product. Identify problems and in time solving them as quickly as possible so that they build strong communication at every step of the channel. To introduce some products this will give a comparative advantage over their rivals. Sainsbury should open local stores in the city rather than on the outskirts of the city. Customer generally chooses to purchase in local shop rather than supermarkets to save time and money. Introduction of pay point or post office to the store would be a good idea to attract customers. The customer immediately after purchase can pay their bills without wasting time to reach these places elsewhere in the city. Sainsburys need to increase its online shopping service in non-food items, so that customer can shop online more comfortably. I would recommend Sainsburys to deliver every little helps to make it a healthier place for shop. Use simple processes so that shopping is better for customers, simpler for staff and cheaper for Sainsburys.

Gary Paulsen Biography Essay

The 1990’s was a time known as the â€Å"Digital Decade†. A time when the Stock Market rocketed and the internet took off. Along with technology becoming popular, Gary Paulsen was writing one of his two hundred novels, The River. It showed how the U.S. Government wanted young Brian to go back in the wilderness and reenact his survival skills he used a few years back, after he was involved in a plane crash. Gary Paulsen is a great novel and short story writer for people of all ages. He is one of America’s most popular writers for young people, including adults and children (About). His life was full of interesting things. Many of the things he did, including working on a farm over the summer in his youthful years, and jobs such as being an engineer, construction worker, sailor, truck driver, and ranch hand gave him lots of material to work with from which he created his great stories (About). Throughout his life, since he started writing, he has written over 100 b ooks and short stories and many have became very popular. Gary Paulsen was born May 17, 1939 in Minneapolis, Minnesota (About). His parents were Oscar and Eunice Paulsen (Gary). In his youth he was never a â€Å"dedicated† student in school but he had a passion for reading ever since he was very young (About). On a cold, wintery day, he walked into a library to warm up with nothing to do. On the way out he had himself his own library card and a book to read. From then on he was hooked to reading and writing (Gary). He spent many hours alone in the basement of his apartment building, reading book after book after book. Soon after he acquired a taste for adventure when he ran away from his home to travel with the carnival at the age of 14 (About). Yates 2 In 1959, he attended Bemidji College in Minnesota, and he worked as a trapper to pay off tuition fees. He quit college two years after and joined the Army, working for the missiles department (Biography). In 1966, Paulsen began to write and has completed well over 100 books and short stories. He has written fiction, nonfiction, and drama for adults and children. He still continues to write to this day. Many of his nonfiction books relate to his jobs and interests. He has written books about farming, hiking, football, tennis, skiing, and canoeing (Gary). Gary Paulsen says its his overwhelming belief in young people that drives him to write (About). A few of his best sellers are: Lawn Boy, The River, Brian’s Winter, Brian’s Hunt, The Rifle, Soldier’s Heart, Tracker, The Crossing, Sentries, and Brain’s Return (Biography). Three of his novels- Hatchet, Dogsong, and the Winter Room were Newberry Honor Books. They often appear along with his other books on the best books list of the American Library Association (About). One thing Gary loves to do most was dog-sled racing. He took part in the famous 1,180 mile long dog-sled race known as the Iditarod twice, once in 1983 and again in 1985. His third attempt was shattered when he was diagnosed with a serious heart disease called angina (Gary). After he was forced to give up dog-sled racing, he started to focus more on writing with the same energy and effort that he used on h is dogs while training them for the race. He worked 18-20 hour days every day staying committed to writing the way he would with his dogs. He said all he does is work, he doesn’t have time to drink or fool around. He has always been that way and the end result is a lot of books being published out to the world (About). His wife, Ruth Wright Paulsen is an artist. In fact she has illustrated several books of his. They divide their time up writing and drawing between a home in La Luz, New Mexico and a boat out in the Pacific Ocean (About). Gary Paulsen has written many books during his life. A few have won special awards and honors. Others are liked by many young adults and children. His writing, especially his nonfiction Yates 3 books reflect his interests and past jobs that he had acquired. An example would be his book â€Å"Harris and Me†. About a young boy who works on farm one summer with his cousin, is full of funny and adventurous events. This book is related to Paulsen because he also worked on a farm over the summer doing chores during his youth years. He also likes to write about survival, which you can see in his books Hatchet, Brian’s Winter, and The River. Although Gary Paulsen has written many books, over two hundred of them, one of his books called The River, was written and published in the 1990’s. The 1990’s is a time also known as â€Å"The Digital Decade†. The pace of life quickly sped up in this technology-driven decade (Digital Front Flap). At the beginning of the decade, it seemed that the economy was going to be sluggish. Instead, the Stock Market sky rocketed and the internet took off. From then on it has been a fast pace through life (Digital 79). Mr. Bill Clinton was the president at the time. He had an enthusiasm for people and wanted to help them fulfill their dreams (Digital 63). When Clinton was a boy at age 16, he met with President John F. Kennedy in the Rose Garden and shook his hand. After that day his life changed and he had a strong desire to become the president of the United States of America. Bill Clinton was just 46 years old when he became the nation’s 42nd chief executive. Clinton attempted to fulfill a campaign promise to disable the ban on homosexuals in the military. His decision ended in the â€Å"Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell† compromise that didn’t satisfy commanders of the military or the gay community (Digital 66). After a humanitarian effort was launched in Somalia, and after Clinton’s best decisions to handle the situation, thirty American Servicemen died. Ever since that happened, Clinton refused to come in contact with Rwanda, despite widespread genocide that happened there, and caused over one million deaths. More than thirty million American citizens did not have medical insurance in the earl 90’s. Candidate Bill Clinton promised to expand coverage and affordable healthcare for every person in America (Digital 66). He named Hilary Clinton to lead the drive to recreate the health insurance Yates 4 industry. This is why critics accused him of nepotism (Digital 66-67). By the end of his first year in office, many Americans were wondering just how ineffective and unpopular he could become (Digital 67). Laptops and cell phones became popular in offices, airports, and in pants pockets. Huge SUV’s were found all over the road and fashion became as wild and weird as the world wide web itself. Children began spending time with the latest Pokemon cards or playing the latest video game. The 90’s was a time of almost unlimited choices and personal freedom. The 1990’s was summed up by the word â€Å"whatever† (Digital 79). Electronic-game industries had a growth rate twice that of the movie industry and brought in an annual revenue of about 6.3 billion dollars. Even though console based games such as the Playstation and Nintendo became much more faster and complicated than they u sed to be, the real reason behind the game industries huge growth came from the personal-computer games. A new kind of athlete called adrenaline junkies were on the lookout for new and exciting, but often physically dangerous challenges. This created a subculture called â€Å"extreme sports† in the 90’s (Digital 80). Some extreme sports such as sky surfing and street luge were viewed by the people as mostly lunatics, and not athletes. But snowboarding, mountain biking, and climbing became very popular to most people. In 1995, ESPN gave extreme sports some help by creating and airing the X Games. It showed athletes competing in summer and winter competitions (Digital 80). On August 2, 1990, infantry, armor, and tanks of the Iraqi Republican Guard invaded Kuwait and seized control. United States responded with operation DESERT SHIELD to stop invasion of Kuwait’s neighbor, Saudi Arabia (Operation). On August 7, deployment of U.S. Forces began. The U.S. Objectives included immediate, complete, and unconditional withdrawal of all Iraqi forces from Kuwait. If Iraqi dictat or Saddam Hussein did not remove his troops from Kuwait by January 15, 1991, U.S. led troops were to force them out. On January 17, the U.S. Coalition launched air attacks on Iraqi targets. On February 24, ground forces began their attack. On February 27, Kuwait City was declared Yates 5 liberated. This was known as the Gulf War (Operation). The field of medical science and the advances made in the late 90’s will most likely have the biggest impact on our society (History). The two advances found will leave us with political and moral questions in the future. Cloning and Stem Cell Research are the major medical science advances. The 90’s also saw the development and growth of Genetic Engineering. Genetic Engineering is used to help make plants resistant to herbicides and insecticides. Over 60% of products on U.S. Grocery store shelves have genetic engineering in them (History). The 1990’s was a decade of electronics. The computer and internet were huge inventions in the 90’s. The pace of life was sped up dramatically in this decade. Overall this would have been a great d ecade to choose to live in. With all of the technology and internet setting in, authors were still writing books on paper. One of those authors was Gary Paulsen. He wrote the novel The River in the 1990’s and it is about true survival. The River has a few themes in its story, but the biggest one is true survival versus role playing. After Brian’s survival story when a plane crashed and left him stranded in the woods for fifty-four days, he was asked to reenact it. A psychologist named Derek joins him in what he calls Brian’s reenactment, an â€Å"experiment†. Brian insists that Derek leave behind all of his equipment he is wanting to bring with them (Paulsen 23). He thinks that Derek doesn’t truly understand the spirit of the â€Å"experiment†. Brian’s ability to convince Derek leaves them with a briefcase, and emergency radio, and a few other small things. Brian tells Derek that the only way to teach survival is to physically put a person in a real life or death situation (Paulsen 34). Derek wants Brian to think out loud so he can write down his every thought and move. Then all of the sudden t he so called experiment turned too real way too fast. That night a terrible storm had moved in, and it wasn’t just any storm, it was a storm that Brian had never experienced before. Derek Yates 6 reached for his radio and briefcase and was struck by lightening (Paulsen 52). This is when the experiment turned from role playing to true survival. Brian woke up from the storm and saw Derek laying in a weird position. He was scared that Derek was dead but found out he was only unconscious. He panicked and grabbed the radio to try and get help but the radio was destroyed by the lightening strike. When Brian tries giving Derek water, he chokes immediately (Paulsen 65). Brian fears the worst and knows that Derek won’t be able to get water until someone rescues them. He reaches for Derek’s briefcase and finds only a map inside, but on the map he sees a river. He studies it and finds that a trader’s post is one hundred miles down along the river (Paulsen 73). Brian decides to take Derek with him instead of leaving him alone and coming back for him. This brings us into the symbol of nature and the river. All throughout the novel, nature is a huge part. From the beginning when Brian and Derek first leave for the Canadian wilderness, to camping out and surviving. The whole novel is about surviving the wilderness. Paulsen also shows nature at it’s best when Brian and Derek were attacked by swarms of mosquitoes multiple times while rafting down the river (Paulsen 86). Another point in the novel, they were faced with a dangerous waterfall in the river. The main inspiration for writing this book came from Paulsen’s award winning book Hatchet. So many of his fans loved reading it that they sent Paulsen letters saying they wanted him to write a sequel. After reading the letters, Paulsen came up with the idea to write The River. A perfect sequel to Hatchet, Brian, the main character of the book, is asked to reenact his survival skills by the government when a plane crashed in the Canadian woods and left him stranded for fifty-four days. I think Gary Paulsen wrote this book for the same reason he wrote many of his books, for hi s love of nature. He has always loved nature and survival. Another reason he wrote this book is because he loves to travel. After reading The River, I realized the whole story was about survival. I wasn’t surprised though, as I read many other books from Gary Paulsen including Hatchet, Brian’s Hunt, Brian’s Yates 7 Winter, and Dogsong. All of those books are similar to The River in that they all have a story based off of adventure, survival, and nature. They are all very well written books and I enjoyed them a lot. If you are into books about a realistic, intense, and interesting survival story packed full of adventures, Gary Paulsen is one other you can turn too. I would highly recommend his books, especially The River. Yates 8 Works Cited â€Å"About Gary.† www.RandomHouse.com. Random House, Inc., 2004. Web. 29 Nov 2011. . â€Å"Biography of Gary Paulsen.† usa-people-search.com. USA People Search, 2011. Web. 29 Nov 2011.