Math Studies Sl Internal Assessment

Dependency of a Boxer’s Win rate on Reach and Gender Antonio Paolo Gomez Candidate No. 003902-006 Northbridge International School Cambodia Math Studies Internal Assessment Word Count: 1655 Statement of Task3 Plan3 Data4 Math Processes5 Simple math processes:5 Pearson’s Correlation Coefficient r:7 Chi-Square8 Discussion/Validity10 Conclusion10 Works Cited11 Statement of Task Boxing is a very well known sport around the world, where two disciplined athletes face off in a ring, trading blows until one of them submits or until judges decide a winner.The sport revolves around throwing blows with their fists, and to organize said athletes, their characteristics are measured, and their accomplishments are recorded. Before a fight is held, a fighter’s profile is summarized, mentioning the person’s height, weight, reach, and their win/loss record. All of what is mentioned is said to play a big part in the flow of the match. The purpose of this investigation is to determine if there is a relationship between a boxer’s reach and his winning rate. The data that will be taken will be professional boxers’ measured reach and their counts of wins and losses for winning rate.The measurement of a boxer’s reach is used to determine how far he can extend his punch. The measure of boxers’ reaches and their records of wins and losses will be used to determine if reach is one of the larger factors that affect an athlete’s chances in a match. Plan The investigation will include data gathered from professional boxers, which are their reach and their counts of wins and losses. The data that will be collected can be collected from official sites online, which have brief profiles of athletes’ measurements. I will be using official sites since they tend to be up to date and have accurate and legit information.The amount of data collected will consist of 30 athletes, half of whom are male and half are female. The data wi ll be collected from official boxing sites such as BoxRec. com, which contains the profiles of numerous official boxers and their measurements, which includes their reach and wins and losses. The data for one athlete will consist of his reach and his win/loss record. I will attempt to avoid any professional athletes that are relatively new to the professional stage, so I will be looking at boxers with around at least five years of experience.Once the data has been acquired, the data will be analyzed using different mathematical processes. A scatter plot will be used to plot out said data. The correlation coefficient r will be calculated. The   test of independence will be used to determine if there is a dependency between a boxer’s gender and winning rate. Data | Males| | Boxer| Reach (cm)| Win Rate (%)| 1| 170| 90. 00| 2| 173| 96. 77| 3| 183| 96. 88| 4| 194| 88. 57| 5| 183| 87. 88| 6| 207| 92. 31| 7| 177| 94. 29| 8| 183| 72. 34| 9| 201| 100. 00| 10| 198| 95. 24| 11| 198| 8 0. 77| 2| 179| 86. 21| 13| 179| 89. 29| 14| 183| 87. 88| 15| 180| 89. 66| | Females| | Boxer| Reach (cm)| Win Rate (%)| 1| 165| 89. 47| 2| 161| 86. 67| 3| 167| 66. 04| 4| 166| 75. 00| 5| 162| 81. 25| 6| 168| 93. 33| 7| 163| 76. 47| 8| 162| 75. 00| 9| 159| 88. 46| 10| 167| 86. 21| 11| 176| 80. 95| 12| 171| 83. 87| 13| 168| 82. 61| 14| 166| 78. 95| 15| 169| 90. 48| From the scatter plot using both male and female sets of data, we can predict that the calculated correlation would be weak and that a boxer’s win rate weakly correlates with his/her reach.This can be seen as the data points are spread and plotted quite far from the line of best fit. Math Processes Simple math processes: Average: Males * Reach in centimeters: 170+173+183+194+183+207+177+183+201+198+198+179+179+183+180=2788 2788/15= 185. 8666667 cm * Win rate in percentage: 90. 00+96. 77+96. 88+88. 57+87. 88+92. 31+94. 29+72. 34+100+95. 24+80. 77+86. 21+89. 29+87. 88+89. 66= 1348. 09 1348. 09/15= 89. 87% Average: Fema les * Reach in centimeters: 165+161+167+166+162+168+163+162+159+167+176+171+168+166+169= 2490 2490/15= 166 cm * Win rate in percentage: 89. 7+86. 67+66. 04+75+81. 25+93. 33+76. 47+75+88. 46+86. 21+80. 95+83. 87+82. 61+78. 95+90. 48=1234. 76 1234. 76/15=82. 32 Average: both genders * Reach in centimeters: 2788+2490=5278 5278/30=175. 93 cm * Win rate in percentage: 1348. 09+1234. 76= 2582. 85 2582. 85/30= 86. 095% We can see a small difference in win rate between the genders, with male boxers having a higher win rate by about 7%. We can see a bigger difference between the reach of the two genders but this would most likely be because men tend to grow and develop their bodies naturally larger than women.Standard Deviation: Reach: Males: Sx=170-185. 872+173-185. 872+183-185. 872+194-185. 872†¦180-185. 87215 Sx=10. 626 Females: Sx=165-1662+161-1662+167-1662+166-1662+162-1662†¦169-166215 Sx=4. 163 Both Genders: Sx=170-175. 932+173-175. 932+183-175. 932+194-175. 932†¦169-175 . 93230 Sx=12. 798 We are able to see that the standard deviation is greater for the male boxers female boxers. We can assume that the pieces of data from the men are spread farther from the mean as compared to the data from the women. This means that in regards to the data collected, female boxers seem to be closer n their measured reach as compared to the males. The standard deviation for both groups surpasses the calculated standard deviation for the separate male and female groups, meaning that as a whole range of data, the reaches recorded altogether are even more spread out from the average as compared to the genders separately. Standard Deviation: Win rate: Males: Sx=90-89. 872+96. 77-89. 872+96. 88-89. 872+88. 57-89. 872†¦89. 66-89. 87215 Sx=6. 67 Females: Sx=89. 47-82. 322+86. 67-82. 322+66. 04-82. 322+75-82. 322†¦90. 48-82. 32215 Sx=6. 995 Both Genders: Sy=90. 00-86. 0952+96. 7-86. 0952+96. 88-86. 0952+88. 57-86. 0952†¦90. 48-86. 095230 Sy = 7. 8087 We can s ee from the calculated standard deviations that the standard deviation for the win rate of males and females are close to each other, meaning that both have pieces of data that are similarly far from the calculated mean. In regards to all data recorded regardless of gender, the standard deviation is found to be slightly higher, meaning that the pieces of data for both genders are slightly farther from the mean as compared to the separate gender groups of data. Subject| Reach| Win Rate| xy| | 170| 90| 15300| 2| 173| 96. 77| 16741. 21| 3| 183| 96. 88| 17729. 04| 4| 194| 88. 57| 17182. 58| 5| 183| 87. 88| 16082. 04| 6| 207| 92. 31| 19108. 17| 7| 177| 94. 29| 16689. 33| 8| 183| 72. 34| 13238. 22| 9| 201| 100| 20100| 10| 198| 95. 24| 18857. 52| 11| 198| 80. 77| 15992. 46| 12| 179| 86. 21| 15431. 59| 13| 179| 89. 29| 15982. 91| 14| 183| 87. 88| 16082. 04| 15| 180| 89. 66| 16138. 8| 16| 165| 89. 47| 14762. 55| 17| 161| 86. 67| 13953. 87| 18| 167| 66. 04| 11028. 68| 19| 166| 75| 12450| 20| 162| 81. 25| 13162. 5| 21| 168| 93. 33| 15679. 44| 22| 163| 76. 47| 12464. 1| 23| 162| 75| 12150| 24| 159| 88. 46| 14065. 14| 25| 167| 86. 21| 14397. 07| 26| 176| 80. 95| 14247. 2| 27| 171| 83. 87| 14341. 77| 28| 168| 82. 61| 13878. 48| 29| 166| 78. 95| 13105. 7| 30| 169| 90. 48| 15291. 12| sum| 5278| 2582. 85| 455634| average| 175. 9333| 86. 1| 15187. 8| Pearson’s Correlation Coefficient r: Covariance: x-x(y-y)n or xyn-x y x=175. 93 y=86. 095 xy=455634. 04 455634. 0430=15187. 80133 15187. 80133-175. 9386. 095=41. 10789 Correlation: r=SxySxSy Sxy=41. 10789 Sx=12. 798 Sy=7. 8087 41. 1078912. 798(7. 8087)=. 411344119 r=. 411344119 r2=. 1692039842Correlation coefficient r is calculated to be very weak, meaning that reach and win rate show very little correlation and that a boxer’s reach is not a big factor of his or her chances of victory. With low correlation between a boxer’s reach and win rate, I will now see if gender is a factor of an athlete’s win rate by calculating chi squared. Chi-Square Observed Values | Numerical| Numerical| Total| Category| A| B| A+B| Category| C| D| C+D| Total| A+C| B+D| N| Calculating Expected Values | Numerical| Numerical| Total| Category| (A+B)(A+C)/30| (A+B)(B+D)/30| A+B| Category| (C+D)(A+C)/30| (C+D)(B+D)/30| C+D|Total| A+C| B+D| N| Intervals have been decided by average of the winning rates of the two genders. (82. 32+89. 87)/2=86. 095 Observed Data Values | Win rate > 86%| Win rate ? 86%| Total| Male| 2| 13| 15| Female| 9| 6| 15| Total| 11| 19| 30| Calculated Expected Data Values | Win rate > 86%| Win rate ? 86%| Total| Male| 5. 5| 9. 5| 15| Female| 5. 5| 9. 5| 15| Total| 11| 19| 30| Degrees of Freedom Df=(Rows-1) (Columns-1) (2-1)(2-1) = 1 ?2=fo-fe2fe fo = Observed Frequency fe = Expected Frequency ?2=1-323+7-7. 527. 5+7-4. 524. 5+5-323+8-7. 527. 5+2-4. 524. 5 Chi Square Value Table o| fe| fo-fe| (fe-fe)^2| (fo-fe)^2/fe| 2| 5. 5| 3. 5| 12. 25| 2. 227272727| 13| 9. 5| -3. 5| 12. 25| 1. 289473684| 9 | 5. 5| -3. 5| 12. 25| 2. 227272727| 6| 9. 5| 3. 5| 12. 25| 1. 289473684| | | | sum:| 7. 033492823| ?2= 7. 033 Degrees of freedom= 1 Significance level= 5% 5% significance is used because it is the most common level of significance used. HO= Gender and win rate are independent of each other H1= Gender and win rate are dependent of each other The ? 2 critical value at 5% significance with 1 degrees freedom is found to be 3. 841. The ? 2 value is greater than the critical value: 7. 33>3. 841, the null hypothesis is rejected and it can therefore be assumed that a boxer’s win rate is dependent of his or her gender. Discussion/Validity The investigation carried out to observe the correlation of Win rate and reach and win rate and gender has a few limitations that have affected the outcome of the results. One limitation is that although it is taken into account the reach of each boxer, their size and weight places them in different classes for professional fights. This means that f ighters would normally be fighting people that have similar size, and theoretically, similar reach.With similar reach between two fighting boxers, the outcome of an athlete’s history of fights really could have been affected by other factors such as tactics and strength. Another limitation would be the fact that all of the collected pieces of data are all of high win rates. In boxing records and leagues, if there is a boxer who has won 90% of his matches, there should also be a boxer who has lost that many of his matches as well. The collected data covers 30 pieces. This is done to supply a large amount of data, enough to give reasonably accurate results.Half of the data gathered covered male boxers and the other half covered female for the purpose of investigating the dependency of win rate on gender with chi squared. One limitation in regards to the genders, is that there is no co-ed boxing, meaning that females and males do not compete with each other and are separated int o two genders for boxing matches. Although there is no specified threshold for winning rates in boxing, the intervals decided in the chi squared tables can be justified as the below and above averages for the average win rates of the two genders.Conclusion The found ? 2 value of 7. 033 rejects the null hypothesis, that Win rate for boxers is independent of their gender and accepts the alternative hypothesis, that a boxer’s win rate is dependent of a boxer’s gender. The extent of this calculation is affected by the nature of the data collected. The data that was collected for males and females consisted of high win rate percentages, and in boxing, when there is an individual who has won 70% of his matches, there is sure to be an athlete who has lost 70% of his matches as well.The investigation shows that there is a very low correlation between reaches and win rate for boxers regardless of their gender. This outcome could have been affected because of one of the mentione d limitations above, where boxers of similar size and weight are placed in the same class and fight, so reach becomes less of a factor for victory as compared to strength, speed, and tactics. Works Cited Boxrec Boxing Records Ratings. 4 November 2012 . Boxrec. Boxrec Boxing Records.

Histroy of English Language Essay

History of English language will explain, why learning English as a second language is difficult without proper instruction, even though basic components are same. Throughout its history English has been influenced by the varieties of language. Living languages never remain static. Every language is the product of change and continues to change as long as it is spoken. Only dead languages like Latin or Sanskrit change no longer, since no one speaks them now. The changes, while they do occur are gradual and slow and hence almost imperceptible. Over a span of centuries, however, their cumulative effect is appreciable. Shakespeare English is difficult for modern readers; Chaucer’s is almost is incomprehensible without formal instruction. The History of the English language: The origin During the Roman invasion, the inhabitants of Britain spoke a Celtic language. English belongs, in all its stages, to the Indo European family of languages, formerly called Indo-Germanic, and still earlier Aryan. Indo European is the name given to the set of linguistic forms from which nearly all European languages as well as those of Persia and very large part of India can be shewn to descend. The historians have used the word Indo-European because it merely suggests that the languages it comprises cover most of the Europe and India mark the length of its confines. The predominance and pioneering s of the position of the German Philologist English is one of the most important languages in the world today. More the an 350 million people in Great Britain are native speakers. In addition 150 million non-native speakers of English are there. English however is not spoken by large number of people in the world . Chinese, for instance spoken by more than 880 million people in China alone. Among the western languages English has the advantage in numbers. Spanish in spoken by about 210 million people. Russian is spoken about 200 million people Portuguese is spoken about 105 million people etc . Importance of a language is associated with political role played by the nations using it and their influence in the international affairs. Several reasons may be adduced for current importance and popularity of English. Historically the colonial expansion of the British Empire over which the sun never sets, was responsible for the imposition of the English on aspiring natives. Even after achieving independence many countries like Nigeria, India, Ghana continue to use English as official language for several reasons. The nature of the English language and its tolerance to change has made it very popular. One of the major assets of the English language is the mixed character or its vocabulary. English being the Germanic descent has many words from the Germanic languages viz, German Dutch, Flemish, Danish, Scandinavian, Swedish, Norwegian. It also shares a large number of words with the European languages derived from Latin viz,French Italian, Spanish and Portuguese. Hence English seems very familiar to anyone who speaks a Germanic and Roman language. Instead of making new words chiefly by the combination of existing elements, English has shown the marked tendency to go outside its own linguistic resources and borrow from other languages. These words have been so well assimilated into English the no one ever remembers or recognizes that they have been borrowed. Any etymological dictionary will show that English has borrowed from almost every language of the world; Hebrew Arabic Hindi Tamil,Malay,WestAfrica,Chinese,Brazil etc. This is the reason why we call English a cosmopolitan vocabulary which is an asset to any language which seeks to attain international use. Modern linguists therefore accept the dynamic nature of language. One of their axioms is that there are no pure forms of language, for language, for languages keep changing all the time. If English had remained pure over the centuries, we should still be speaking the language of Chaucer. Throughout the history, the English language has accepted with comparative equanimity words from other languages with which it has been in contact. There have been periods in which speakers and writers have indulged in large-scale use of foreign words. In general, most people will agree that the foreign contribution to English has been useful. Some languages avoid as far as possible the use of alien terms; instead they substitute new words made up of native elements. English however, has always accepted foreign words. Many hundreds of words of non-English origin are now part and parcel of the English vocabulary, indistinguishable from the native stock except to those with some knowledge of etymology. Of all the world languages, English has probably the vocabulary which is the most copious, heterogeneous and varied, at the same time this also one of the reason that learning English as second language becomes difficult. All the people, with whom its speakers have come in contact during more than thirteen centuries of its growth, have left permanent marks on the language. Some of the contacts have been deep and lasting like Greek, French and Latin. A study of the history of the English language, therefore, unfolds the panorama of English history-both social and political. With an empire over which sun never sets, the English language has been particularly open to foreign influences. The Romans with whom the ancient Germanic tribes had dealings, the Romanized Britons, the Latin fathers of the church who were once eagerly studied the Danish and Norwegian invaders, the Norman French conquerors, the revival of ancient Latin and Greek classics at Renaissance, the Italian artists and men of letters of the 16th century the colonizing nations of the same century—all these have made their contributions to the English language. Arab mathematicians from Spain have enriched the language: so have American Redskins and Indian sepoys. The Italianate Englishman of Queen Elizabeth’s time of whom Shakespeare made fun and famous writers like Dryden, Alexander Pope, Jonathan Swift have left something of value in the English word—hoard. It is no doubt, that such statement might fairly be made about other language and their history; but what stands out so remarkably about English is the abundance, the unparalleled variety and the length of the time during which foreign influences have been effective. Further, no other language has so much copious and heterogeneous material. In historical linguistics the contribution of particular foreign language to another is referred to as borrowing . In common parlance, ‘borrowing’ means getting something form somebody on the understanding that it is to be returned. Luckily, this definition does not apply to words which are borrowed, never to be returned. Linguists wonder whether ‘stealing’ might be a more appropriate term for this phenomenon. As Haugen says† The borrowing takes place without the lender’s consent or even awareness and the borrower is under no obligation to repay the loan. One might as well call it stealing, were it is not the owner is deprived of nothing and feels no urge to recover his goods. The process might be called adoption, for the speaker does adopt element from a second language into its own. Even though English language has adopted variety of languages into it, the basic structure of the English language has not changed. English language’s basic structure is, it has fixed word order. Due to more than two hundred years of English rule, Tamil has borrowed copiously from English. Now these words are not recognized as foreign at all. One hears an uneducated Tamil speaker use words like office school, ticket, gate, bus etc. In fact, practically no one remembers the Tamil equivalent of these words. The problem arises for the second language learners only when they were asked to use the language or reproducing it. Tamil is Dravidian language spoken by more than 65 million people. It is the official language of Tamil nadu state in India and one of the official languages of Srilanka also. Large Tamil-speaking communities also reside in South Africa,Singapore, Malaysia and the other Indian ocean islands. The earliest Tamil inscriptions dates from 200B. C. The literature in the language have a 2,000-year history. There are 247 letters in the Tamil alphabet. The 247 letters in the Tamil alphabet can be divided into 12 vowels 18 consonants, 216 vowel consonants and 1 special letter. The vowel consonants are formed by combining the vowel letters and consonants letters. The vowel-consonants letters also have long and short sounds. The History of English is divided into three ages. Old English, Middle English and Modern English. There are 26 letters and 44 sounds, in that there 6 pure vowels and 18 diphthongs and 20 consonants in English language. Compared to Tamil language English has less number of letters ,but ironically language that has 247 letters(Tamil) has limited in terms of vocabulary, but English language that has 26 letters has million words. According THE HINDU newspaper which published an article duirng 2006, The department of Tamil language in the University of Madras has benn revising, enlarging and updating the Tamil lexicon. During 1924-39, the University of Madras had Published the Tamil Lexicon in seven volumes comprising 124,405 entries. Such a dictionary was pioneering venture in the pre-independence period. Prof. Vaiyapuri Pillai had played a huge role in the complication and publication. There have been persistent demands for updating and expanding the lexicon. The many social, political and technological changes in the six-decade period have direct bearing on the Tamil language. It is in this background that the Department of Tamil language of the Madras University had out forth its plan to revise enlarge and update the lexicon. The present Tamil lexicon, under preparation ,will come out in 10 volumes, comprising atleast 500,000 entries ,will be bilingual in nature and at the same time render the meaning chronologically. On top of the vast difference in the number of letters in their alphabet, the Tamil language also differs in many grammatical items compared to the English language. The earliest period of English was formerly called as ANGLO SAXON. The history of English language is divided into three main periods . They are old English (from earliest writings till 1100) Middle English extends from about 1100A. D- 1450A. D, from 1450A. D till date its Modern English. The English language is spoken or read by the largest number of people in the world, for historical, political and economic reasons. First and foremost feature of English language is its extraordinary receptive and adaptable heterogeneousness-the varied ease and readiness with which it has taken to itself material from almost everywhere in the world and has made the new elements of language its own. Throughout its history English has accepted with equinamity words from other languages with which it has been in contact. Foreign elements with ease and assimilated them all to its character. Though it is copiousness of vocabulary is outstanding. A second outstanding characteristic of English is simplicity of inflexion-the ease with which it indicates the relationship of words in a sentence with only the minimum of change in their shapes or variation of endings. A third quality of English is its relatively fixed-word order. An inflected language like Latin or Russian can afford to be fairly free in the arrangement of its words, since the inflexions show clearly the proper relationship in the sentence and ambiguity is unlikely. Of all world languages, English has probably the vocabulary which is most copious, heterogeneous and varied. All the peoples with whom its speakers have come into contact during more than thirteen centuries of the growth, have left permanent marks on the language. Some of the contacts have been deep and lasting like those of ancient Rome and France. Others have been casual like those of Spain or Czechoslovakia. During the Roman invasion, the inhabitants of Britain spoke a Celtic language. While the Roman soldiers in town used Latin, the Britons in the countryside spoke Celtic. Later this was replaced by English. The history of the English language in Britain begins with the settlement of the Angels, Saxons and Jutes in Brtian. These three tribes came from the plains near Schelswing Holstein in North Germany. They had to encounter varying degrees of hostility from the Celts. For mutual protection the tribes combined into small kingdoms. The most important among these were: Northumbria, Mercia. East Anglia, Wessex, Sussex, Essex and Kent. Under King Alfred Wessex enjoyed the leadership in learning. The English language of today reflects many centuries of developments. The political and social history of England has exerted a considerable impact on the language. The Christianizing of Britain in 597 brought English into contact with Latin civilization and many Latin words were added to the English vocabulary. Then the Scandinavian invasion resulted in considerable two people and their languages. For two centuries after the Norman Conquest English remained the language of the lower classes. When English once more gained importance, it had been considerably changed from what it was in 1066. In a similar way the Hundred Years’ War, the rise of an important middle class, the Renaissance the development of the British empire, the growth of commerce and industry, science and literature have all contributed to make the English language what it is today. In short the English language reflects in its entire development the political, social and cultural history of the English people.

Monetary theory Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Monetary theory - Research Paper Example Its value differs in different regions and parts of the world when compared. However, it is a common accepted and standard means of exchange by people within a boundary; that is why an individual from outside a nation will find himself with either few or more money after currency change in a foreign land that does not share similar currency. According to Leyshon and Thrift, there exist several forms of money, â€Å"namely; pre-modern money; commodity money; money of account; state money and virtue money† (3). Money exists as paper (certified currency notes), metallic coins, made of kinds of metals and credit money which is easily convertible and highly appreciated through cheques. In the past, a variety of commodities ranging from iron, gold, copper, silver, shells and animals served as a medium of exchange in various locations and times. The history of money can be traced back from the act of exchange; however, barter trade was not able to handle the complexity of life dealin gs and so had to be replaced with a common medium. Money must be easy to transport and identify, durable, difficult to duplicate, divisible and widely accepted (â€Å"the measure of money,† boj.org). Money supply in the economy: This is simply the amount of money circulating in an economy. Several methods have been put across to measure money supply in an economy. However, the measures differ from nation to nation, in time and the intention. According to Dwivedi, â€Å"(i) money supply is a stock variable and measure of money supply refers to the stock of money at of point in time; (ii) by measure of money supply is meant the measure of stock of money available to the public as a means of payments and store of value and (iii) the term ‘public’ means all economic units including household, firms and institution† (212) excluding some areas like commercial and main central banks where money is in circulation. To quantify money, various policy makers and econo mists use M0, M1, M2 and M3 methods. â€Å"M1includes money in circulation, checkable deposits and traveler’s checks while M2 adds savings deposits, time deposits held in depository information and money market mutual funds share on top of M1†( Gwartney, Stroup, Sobel, and Macpherson 266). M0 is the monetary base from which other measures build on while M3 is a broader measure including items that would be termed to be close substitutes for money. Money value is affected by its supply in the market; when its supply is limited comparing with its demand, its value is high at the time, but when unlimited in circulation, it looses its value; that is, one uses a lot of it to buy few items. Money supply is a very central issue in any nation; in most countries, it is handled by the government through central banks and treasury, other involved groups are credit unions and depository institutions among others with regard to a nation. Money supply in an economy will always affec t interest rates; with increase in supply, the GDP increases too in the short run while price level in the long run, otherwise they both decrease in the same manner respectively. Money supply is important to GDP calculation and its increase bids bond prices up as it slows down the interest rate to affect investments which in turn influences total output in an economy. Suppose money supply generates faster than real output, inflation tends

Prediction of Stall Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Prediction of Stall - Essay Example The phenomenon of stall is shown in the figure below:- Stall occur due to a number of reasons and can thus be divided into a number of types1 like power off stalls (also called approach-to-landing stalls, practiced by pilots to simulate normal approach-to-landing conditions and configuration), Power-on stalls (also known as departure stalls, practiced by pilots to simulate takeoff and climb-out conditions) and Accelerated stalls (experienced at higher-than normal airspeeds due to applying abrupt or excessive controls to aircraft and may occur in steep turns, pullups or other abrupt changes in your flight path.). Many aircraft in Flight Sim use a stall indicator to alert you when the airflow over the wing(s) approaches a point that lift cannot be sustained. The stall indicator is part of aircraft for a reason so no one should ignore it. Setup a numerical optimization procedure that can be useful to the aerodynamicist in the rapid design and development of high-lift system configurations and that can also provide derivative information regarding the influence of various design parameters (gap, overlap, slat and flap deflection angles, etc.) on the performance of the system. The variables that describe the relative elem... His aircraft experiences buffeting, uncontrollable pitching or vibrations that begin just before the stall occurs. Many aircraft in Flight Sim use a stall indicator to alert you when the airflow over the wing(s) approaches a point that lift cannot be sustained. The stall indicator is part of aircraft for a reason so no one should ignore it. Design Procedure The design calculation is an important procedure that solves two purposes as under:- Improve the take-off and landing performance of existing high-lift systems using an adjoint formulation. Setup a numerical optimization procedure that can be useful to the aerodynamicist in the rapid design and development of high-lift system configurations and that can also provide derivative information regarding the influence of various design parameters (gap, overlap, slat and flap deflection angles, etc.) on the performance of the system. Flow diagram of the above procedure is depicted as under:- Figure 3: Flow diagram of the design calculation procedure The variables that describe the relative element positioning can be used as design variables. These variables include flap and slat deflection angles, gaps, overlap, shapes of each of the elements and many more depending on method used2. Like in Continuous Adjoint Method, variables are flow-field variables and the physical location of the boundary. Then the governing equation which expresses the dependence of these variables can be written in flow field domain in form of partial differential equations. After introducing a Lagrange Multiplier and solving adjoint equations and applying boundary conditions we get gradient equation3. An active transparent stall control system utilizing sensors, actuators, and a closed-loop controller was designed and tested on a NACA 0020

The Influence of Social Media on Activism and Revolution on the World Essay

The Influence of Social Media on Activism and Revolution on the World Stage - Essay Example Occupy Wall Street was a protest movement where individuals conducted a large-scale sit-in at a park near Wall Street. The widespread popularity of this movement was made possible through social media, most notably Facebook. In these regards, it’s noted that, â€Å"The best way to get people away from their computer is through the computer; you cant organize thousands of people in New York City without the web† (Kannally). Ultimately, then social media directed facilitated the Occupy Wall Street protest. Social media has also had a profound impact on revolution. Undoubtedly the most prominent recent example of this is through the Arab Spring. The Arab Spring revolts emerged in Tunisia when an individual committed suicide after an injustice was committed against him by the government. Rapidly individuals over social media were able to share their experiences of oppression and organize widespread revolts throughout the Middle East. It’s noted, â€Å"The movements throughout the Arab world appeared to have imbued social media with an irrevocable sense of legitimacy as a tool for fomenting change† (Killinger). In this way social media allowed forms of organization to occur in this region that previously had not been possible under the stringent governmental oppression.

Using Facebook at Work Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Using Facebook at Work - Essay Example People tend to spend hours and hours of their time stocking other profiles, uploading photos, commenting on photos, updating their statuses and catching up with their numerous friends. Social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, Tagged, etc. although prove beneficial in building up your social network and strengthening relations its use has many adverse effects as well particularly when you are using Facebook while you are at your workplace. Using Facebook at work place has a very few advantages and benefits in comparison to the great many drawbacks and threats it poses to its users as well as the security of the office or the company. Though the use of Facebook is permitted in some companies but many companies have banned the use of Facebook during work hours or limited the access for its users. Advancements in technologies and introduction of smartphones and other multi-purpose devices have made the access to such networking very easy and have brought about problems fo r the offices and companies who do not allow its use. These sites may be of great use if used domestically or at home because it helps you to keep you linked to all your family members, friends, colleagues, workmates and to build new acquaintances but it certainly is not of much use while used during office hours (Sutherland 2011). Executives and managers of many different offices and companies do not allow the use of Facebook to their employees during the office hours. The offices have mentioned in their policy that it is strictly prohibited to use Facebook while at work and can have serious implications if found using in the office. The major reason why the officials are against of using Facebook is that they are major attention diverters. When you get yourself logged into Facebook and start navigating through the page it seems as if the world has stopped behind you and you do not realize how much you have spent just scrolling through pages, visiting

Business Statistics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Business Statistics - Essay Example Principal Component Analysis helps us in identifying the factors which appear in the items and also helps in determining which items contribute to each of these factors. The main assumption of PCA is that there is no error in the data. KMO and Bartlett's Test helps in determining whether it is appropriate to apply Factor Analysis and Principal Component Analysis to the given data set. The value of KMO should be greater than 0.5. Here the value is almost 0.5 and it may be appropriate to apply Principal Component Analysis to this data. Further the Chi-Square statistic is 14.312 with 6 degrees of freedom which is significant at 5 % level of significance. Thus Factor analysis may be considered for analyzing the data. The next out put is the Communalities. These values are inserted in the diagonal of the correlation matrix which help in identifying the underlying dimensions and common variance. In this table the column " initial ", the communality for the variables is 1.000 which were inserted in the diagonal of the correlation matrix. The next out put is " Total Variance Explained" gives the "eigen values". The eigen values are in decreasing order of magnitude for the component 1 to 4. the eigen value for a component indicates the total variance attributed to that factor. The total variance accounted for by all the four factors is 4 which is equal to the number of variables. Factor 1 accounts for 34.5% of the total variance. The second component accounts for 24.85% of the total variance and so on. Total Variance Explained Component Initial Eigenvalues Extraction Sums of Squared Loadings Total % of Variance Cumulative % Total % of Variance Cumulative % 1 1.381 34.536 34.536 1.381 34.536 34.536 2 .994 24.852 59.388 3 .977 24.415 83.803 4 .648 16.197 100.000 Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis. In order to determine the number of factors based on eigen values, the value greater than one is considered. For the component 1, the eigen value is greater than one. And for the components 2 and 3 it is almost equal to 1. But the total percentage is greater than

Identify and give the significance of the east Asia history words Essay - 2

Identify and give the significance of the east Asia history words - Essay Example Kawapata was born to a family of dactor and lost his both parents when he was four he went to be with his grandparents (Holcombe 2011). Burakumin were a oucast group of people that were considered low in the society. Their occupations were considered tainted and therefore were relegated to the lower social class status. by being at the bottom of social class they were discriminated at all aspects of participation in the public. Nixon shock was an economic policy by president Nixon of united states that lead to the end of conversion of American dollar to gold. In the proposal there had also to be 90 days wage freeze for all the Americans and import surch. Japan prime minister realized how weighty the matter was and the toll it took on its people. It puts japan in awkward position in terms of international trade and its people were irritated. This is the description of the non linear relationship between oil prices and the gdp growth. Oil prices have effect on everything and the more the price the more the cost of every unit of production. Oil prices increase affect the economy while decrease does not (Holcombe 2011). Minimata disease was first discovered in minamata city japan. it is caused by severe mercury poisoning. It results when one eat a lot of fish that breeds in water polluted with industrial waste full of methyl mercury. Minimata cause numbness in the feet general muscle weakness and norrowing in field of vision. In its extreme it causes insanity. Animà © are Japanese animated productions both hand drawn and computer drawn. Anime is short form of animation and it started in 1917 in Japan and currently involve, short animated films and movies

Homework assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 3

Homework - Assignment Example Indeed, they are paying a price for it. This hallucinationation about has seen a boom in market manipulation such as the â€Å"$33 billion a year diet industry, the $20 billion a year cosmetics industry, the $300 million cosmetic surgery industry for instance.† Thus, a critical analysis of the excerpt by wolf shows that the contemporary woman is trapped in the myth of beauty. Their life is centred on material beauty that is used to define new role in society. The modern women believe that beauty and sexuality are complementary to each other. This point is important because women tend to view themselves from another dimension apart from their natural physique. The modern women are more concerned about their appearance in the eyes of the other people who see them. Women think that if they look attractive especially to men, they are in a position to assert their power since they will be in a position to the best men envied by many people. Personally, I think the constant denial by women to accept themselves as they are is a source of weakness as they tend to believe that they are inferior if they are not beautiful. Women find themselves in a trap due to the fact that they want to create the world of their own that is centred on the notion of beauty. Unlike the patriarchal system where women were stereotyped to domestic roles, it can be seen that their desire to look beautiful is a source of imprisonment since they are finding the emerging cosmetic industry irresistible. A lot of women spend a fortune on cosmetics in order to beautify themselves. To a certain extent, this shows that women are not confident in themselves since they are driven by the desire to impress people around them and they use beauty as a weapon to achieve this

Price, Consumer Behaviour and Marketing Activities Essay Example for Free

Price, Consumer Behaviour and Marketing Activities Essay Ferraris are a luxury good, known for their performance and prestige with prices of up to  £500,000. In this study there will be an effort to evaluate if a Ferrari would still be as desirable if it was available at  £20,000. To do this we must examine the relationship between the behaviours of consumers and price with a further examination of marketing activities. Firstly we need to define what consumer behaviour, price and marketing activities are, by understanding the consumer we can then create products that meets their wishes and needs which is vital in achieving success. An investigation of the Utilitarian (rational) consumption model will follow allowing the identification of driving factors that affect consumer’s decisions. This allows the introduction of Pricing, viewing towards perceived quality and value. The contrasting Hedonic view allows the introduction of socio-psychological factors on consumer behaviour such as personality and social class. We must appreciate our level of involvement with the product and what factors this may cause. This will allow us to fully appreciate whether the change in price will result in the Ferrari still being as desirable as when it was at a higher price. The study of consumer behaviour â€Å"is the study of the processes involved when individuals or groups select, purchase, use or dispose of products, service, ideas or experiences to satisfy needs and desires† (Soloman et al, 2002, p4). Therefore by studying what factors affect how and why consumers make these consumption decisions, marketers may be able to understand and therefore adapt to these decisions. Consumer behaviour incorporates ideas from many different disciplines such as psychology, sociology and economics. (Schiffman and Kanuk, 2000), in a marketing context we take note of all these concepts and try to come to a balanced answer. A full examination of consumer behaviour looks at how consumers maximise their utility (satisfaction) based on a cost-benefit analysis of price and product scarcity, this was thought of the Utilitarian or rational way of behaviour. (Baines et al, 2011). The key determinant is that the functional benefits must be greater than the costs exp ended. Very often we would class the cost expended as being the price paid for an item, this is a difficult term to classify but is best explained by Baines, Fill and Page (2011), (p331) â€Å"we consider price as the amount the customer has to pay or exchange to receive a good or service†. This however fails to mention that how consumers â€Å"perceive a price-as high, as low, as fair- has a strong influence on both purchase intentions and purchase satisfaction.† (Schiffman and Kanuk, 2000, p 144). For example a passenger who paid  £1 for his Ryanair flight will feel more satisfied one who paid  £71 due to purchasing at a later date. Here we look at whether a Ferrari is still as desirable at a lower price, to do this we must examine how customers affect to a change in prices, known in economic terms as the elasticity of demand. This measure how much demand will shift as a result of a change in price. To do this we can look at how in rational thinking consumers wish the be nefits to outweigh the costs, the benefits of buying a new Ferrari may be the quality and value you get for the price you paid. However as each person has a different wished level of quality we use the term ‘perceived quality’, often based on â€Å"informational cues that they associate with the product† (Schiffman and Kanuk, 2000, p145). Looking at the relationship between the perceived qualities and pricing often it is thought that price reflects quality (Baines et al, 2011). This is challenged by the aspect we take our perceived quality from many cues, not just price, such as more extrinsic values such as brand image. Therefore it can be classes that â€Å"consumers use price as a surrogate indicator of quality if they have little or no information to go on† (Schiffman and Kanuk, 2000, p150). The idea of brand image as a cue introduces the more hedonic concept of feelings, desires and perceptions into the consumer’s decision. As already discussed prices and quality are not measured in purely rational terms they encompass our perceptions of the product, price and measure of quality. Our perceptions are personal to us and it is vital for marketers to understand what factors may affect these perceptions. To do this we must understand how consumption may be irrational (hedonic) involving the â€Å"multi-sensory, fantasy and emotional aspects of consumers’ interaction with products† (Soloman et al, 2002, p37). This view stresses that we purchase products because of how they make us feel or look to others. This is sometimes classed as emotional or socio-psychological buying (Baines et al, 2011). The stark difference between utilitarian and hedonic consumption can be seen in the process of proposition acquisition. We draw up a motive for acquiring the product; this may be out of functional (rational) or desire (irrational) means. We then gather information on the product drawing up a shortlist of brands, followed by an evaluation of the proposition. When it comes to the purchase of the item it is important to consider â€Å"the personal importance a person attaches to a given communication message† (Baines et al, 2011, p 90) this is classes as the person’s involvement. As discussed in Fill (2009, p174) the characteristics involved with involvement can be seen in three phases, that of contextual elements, the influencers and the outcomes. Our level of involvement with a product can play a role in the price fairness we perceive for this product. At states of low involvement where â€Å"the purchase suggests little risk to the consumer† (Fill, 2009, p176) we require little information and use past experiences to make our decisions. However at high levels of involvement where, â€Å"a consumer perceives an expected purchase that is not only of high personal relevance but also represents a high level of perceived risk† (Fill, 2009, p 176), consumers will invest a great deal of time researching the item to reduce the perceived risk and will draw on extrinsic information and may draw more on hedonic terms. The relationship between price and involvement can be seen at both levels, at low levels price allows individuals to discriminate between low-involvement purchase decisions as â€Å"price, packaging, and point of purchase displays and promotion’s work together to cue and stimulate an individual into trying a product.† (Fill, 2009, p 180) At high levels of involvement price is not such a determining factor, with other factors playing a more significant role. Involvement does not juts affect the importance placed on price it also affects how a product is marketed to the consumer. This raises Ratchfords (1987) thoughts of involvement being linked with feeling and thinking. He sought to think how people thought about products and class them as high/low involvement and whether they were a product you bought rationally, what you thought of the product, or irrationally, how the product made you feel. In this instance the purchase of a Ferrari which would have been a high involvement/feeling product there is â€Å"a need for emotional advertising† (Baines et al, 2011, p91). With the shift in price it can be argued that the product has now became a high involvement/thinking product so more informative advertising is needed. Further links between price, consumer behaviour and price can be seen in Fill (2009, p 181) arguing that at low levels of involvement consumers will â€Å"decide upon their usual brand until they notice a price promotion† ,this then may be become there habitual buying pattern. As discussed earlier at high levels of involvement, more emotional and informative advertising is used there are many reasons for this including that factors such as lifestyle, social class and personality can all affect our hedonic consumption. In the sphere of personality there are three main approaches. Firstly the psychoanalytic approach Freud outlined how we are driven by subconscious drives in three parts our ID, Ego and Superego. It is argued that certain products are bought to fulfil our needs and urges such as the purchase of a Ferrari. The reduction of price may then not allow us to fulfil this urge. A differing approach is that of Trait theory, where we are classified by our types of personality. The purchase of a  £500,000 car may be seen as fulfilling one personality type, by reducing the price to  £20,000 the market segment may change and as â€Å"car manufacturers market products on the basis of personality types† (Baines et al, 2011, p96) this may change th e whole marketing process and the way this process is presented. The final school of thought is the Self Concept Approach that we â€Å"buy goods†¦ for the brand they represent and its relation to the buyer’s perception of their own self-concept or personality.†(Baines et al, 2011, p96). In this model it may be argued that price is a determinant factor as we may buy to show we can pay high prices to others. Added to this is the idea that the brand gives you a self-image therefore a change in the price can affect the branding and may lead you to a different purchase decision. The price change may also change what reference group a Ferrari would belong to it may no longer be an aspiration so may become less desirable. The change in price may however be beneficial when looking at consumer behaviour in relation to lifecycle and social class. Focussing on lifecycle â€Å"we hypothesize that people in the same stages of life purchase and consume similar kinds of products† (Baines et al, 2011, p108), a £500,000 Ferrari may fall into the stage of empty nest 1, where there is large disposable income, the shift downwards in price will allow a Ferrari to become more accessible to different stages of the lifecycle, thus making it more desirable to these groups. To conclude pricing, consumer behaviour and marketing activities are all linked. By determining whether the consumption is either rational or irrational we can investigate the level of involvement one may have with that product. This then allows us to look at how perceived values, price and quality link with the way the consumer behaves. As consumer behaviour study evolves from â€Å"early emphasis on rational choice†¦to a focus on apparently irrational buying needs† (Holbrook and Hirschman, 1982, p132) we are able to investigate other factors that may relate to consumer behaviour such as lifestyle, social class and what level of involvement is involved. As we can see in rational decisions there is a link between price and behaviour, with the benefits outweighing the costs, the same can be said at decisions of low involvement. However other extrinsic factors have to be considered when making higher involvement decisions. The decrease in price therefore may make the Ferrari more desirable if you are making the purchase at a low involvement level however at a higher level other factors need to be considered to give a true representation of its desirability. Reference List Books and Ebooks Baines, P. Fill, C. Page, A., (2011), Marketing, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press Fill, C. (2009), Marketing Communications : Interactivity, Communities And Content., 5th ed., Harlow: Pearson Education Limited Schiffman, L,G. and Kanuk, L,L. (2000), Consumer Behaviour, 7th ed., London: Prentice Hall International (UK) Limited Solomon, M., Bamossy, G., Askegaard, S. and Hogg, M. K. (2006) Consumer behaviour: a European perspective, 3rd ed., Harlow: Financial Times. Lecture Notes C18FM1 2012/2013 Online Journals Holbrook, M, Hirschman, E (1982),. The Experiential Aspects of Consumption: Consumer Fantasies, Feelings, and Fun, Journal Of Consumer Research, 9, 2, pp. 132-140, Business Source Premier, EBSCOhost, viewed 22 October 2012.

Accidental And Malicious Association: Wireless Networking

Accidental And Malicious Association: Wireless Networking Wireless network is a wireless communication between two interconnect nodes without the use of wires. Mobility lifts the requirement for a fixed point of connection to the network which allows users to move physically while using their devices. Mobiles computers such as laptops computer and personal digital assistants (PDAs), are the growing sector in computer industry 1. Wireless networks have many uses. A common is the portable office. Wireless networks are the common, both for organisations and individuals. Many notebooks computer have wireless card that allow connecting to a wireless network. However, wireless networking has many security issues, wireless has fewer physical assets to protect but at the same time there is no locked door on the airwaves so it is far easy to hack 2. Therefore, hacker found wireless network much more easily to break into. Wireless Security Wireless technology users security threat has been increased as the service become more popular. There are numbers of security threats with the current wireless protocols and encryption methods has been grown due to the carelessness and ignorance of the users and at corporate IT levels. Cracking has become easier with user-friendly Windows or Linux-based tool due to the easily availability on the web at no charge. Types of unauthorised access 1. Accidental association Violation of the security of a corporate network can come from a number of different methods. One of these referred to as accidental association. When a user turns on a computer and it latches on to a wireless network or wireless access point of a neighbouring firms overlapping network, the user may not even know that this is occurred. However this is the breach in security in that proprietary firm information is exposed and now there could exist a link from one company to the other and there might be a chance when a data is been transferred within a firm it can be at a risk and its integrity might have been compromised. 2. Malicious association Malicious association are when wireless network of a company is accessed by a wireless device such as cracking laptop instead of a company access point (AP). These types of laptops are known as soft APs. When thief gained accessed to the wireless network they can steal password or can plant a Trojans. 3. Ad-hoc networks Ad-hoc networks can pose a security threats, this network are defined as peer to peer networks between wireless computers which do not have an access point between them. Ad-hoc networks provide a bridge into other networks. In a company network environment its provided a bridge into other organisation network through unsecured ad-hoc connection. Ad-hoc network are defaults setting in most version of Microsoft Windows, it is turned on unless explicitly disable. There are basically two types of Bridging in Ad-hoc network. A direct bridge and a indirect bridge, direct bridge is created by a user who configure a bridge between two connections whereas indirect bridge has two security hazards. The first hazards is that important company data is been obtained via the secured network on the users end node computer drive, which exposed to discovery via the unsecured Ad-hoc network. The second hazards is that a virus was placed on the users computer via the unsecured Ad-hoc connection which make way to the company secured network. 4. Identity theft (MAC spoofing) When a hacker is able to listen into network traffic and identify the MAC address of a computer is called MAC spoofing. Some program has the sniffing capability which combines software that permits a computer to pretend it has any address that the hacker wished for. Wireless network system allow MAC filtering to some extend so that only authorised with specific MAC IDs can only access the network. When the wireless device is switch off or is off the air then only MAC filtering is effective. Any wireless devices (802.11) on the air transmit its unencrypted MAC address, which required no specific equipment or software to detect it. With any 802.11 receiver such as laptop and a freeware packet analyser can get the MAC address of any transmitting 802.11 device within range. In a company network where most of the wireless devices are on the air, MAC filtering provides security only to prevent unauthorised connection to the company infrastructure and does nothing to prevent a direct attack. 5. Man-in-the middle attacks. In this type of attack, attacker incites computers to log into a computer which is set up as a soft AP (Access point). After this hacker connects to a real Access point through another wireless device which maintains a steady flow of traffic through the transparent hacking computer to the real network which provide hacker to sniff the traffic. This attack usually disrupt the real connection and reconnecting with the hackers soft AP, these attacks are enhanced by software such as LANjack and AIRjack. Online books http://books.google.com/books?id=Ic6Ai8Y7LoACprintsec=frontcoverdq=wireless+networkshl=enei=UpbQTOfLF4HIswbozazNCAsa=Xoi=book_resultct=resultresnum=1ved=0CDUQ6AEwAA#v=onepageqf=true date 2/11/10 http://books.google.com/books?id=XO5VjslHLasCprintsec=frontcoverdq=wireless+securityhl=enei=fZ3QTOSpAYORswbMurzNCAsa=Xoi=book_resultct=resultresnum=1ved=0CDUQ6AEwAA#v=onepageqf=true date 2/11/10

Essay on the Setting in Curtain of Green -- Curtain of Green Essays

The Setting in Curtain of Green      Place is one of the most distinctive factors in the development of Eudora Welty's writing and in her own evaluation of fiction in general. Welty considers setting to be a powerful tool for a writer of fiction. She sees setting as a way to provide roots for her characters and a realistic basis for her stories (Vande Kieft 8). In more general terms, Welty feels that place is so inherently important to the writing and receiving of fiction as a whole because of the set of feelings that are often associated with various places and the added realism that is gained by characters who are defined by their place (9). Welty's attitudes toward her settings are also important. Raised in Mississippi, the setting for nearly all of her stories, Welty possesses an understanding of the region, built through experience, that flourishes in her writing. Welty views setting as a vehicle through which she can provide roots for her characters (8). The union between setting and characters allows the reader to see the character in his setting, which ad...

Aborting a Child isnt the Right Choice :: essays research papers

Abortion to the Webster dictionary is the term used to describe the premature expulsion of the fetus from the womb, or the operation to cause this. It is when a pregnant woman intentionally gets rid of her child before it is fully developed.Why do people do it? Is it killing a human life? What are the benefits for having an abortion? Should it be made illegal? I tell you my side how I feel about it. Abortion is the killing of a child before the birth. They usually take a needle and put it into the mothers womb, and kill it.It comes out of the womb half way, then they kill it. To me that is just sick. I think that it is in humane to kill a live child.Just think, it is alive. It needs oxygen to breath. It needs food to live. And if you don't take care of the baby, it wouldn't come out. Abortion should be illegal.There are certain exceptions where it may be acceptable to perform abortions.For example,if a woman’s life is threatened by her giving birth,then an abortion should be performed to save her life.Another example is if a woman is raped and she becomes pregnant as a consequence of that rape,then it is understandable that she would not want to give birth and care for that child,because it will always bring back memories of the horrible incident.Other than those two exceptions, I don’t see how anybody can do abortion.I think women who want to have abortion s imply don’t understand the circumstances or haven’t been told what it does.When they find out what abortion really does and what it’s all about, I think that they will be few who would want to do it.Just think you come home from work one day, and all of the sudden your kid gives you a great big hug. That shows love. And after a long days work, wouldn't anybody want some love from a child. Offcourse when they are little they scream, and kick, but they also give love, and affection, and can be the cutest thing. And if you abort a it, you won’t get those affections,you won’t even get the chance to see she or he. I think people also just want to make apology for what they have done.

Call of the Wild :: Free Essay Writer

Call of the Wild I recently read a really good book. It is called Call of the Wild, by Jack London. It has 104 pages and is a fiction book. The Call of the Wild has a very interesting plot. It is centered around a St. Bernard and Scotch Shepard mix, named Buck. At home, which was a large house called Judge Millers Place, in the sun kissed Sanata Clara Valley, he ruled over all dogs. Buck was Judge Miller's inseperable companion, until a man named Manuel, who was the one of the gardener's helpers, commited a treacherous act. Manuel, to cover his Chinese lottery gambling debts, stole Buck from his sound sleep and brought him to a flag station called College Park. There, the exchanging of money took place. It was simple. Manuel needed money to pay off his gambling debts, and Buck was a prime candidate. Buck was loaded onto an express car to Seattle. When he got there, he was bought by two men named Perrault and Francois. He was loaded onto a ship called the Narwhal and tooken to the Yukon, where he was to be trained as a sled dog. There were other sled dogs that Buck came to know well, each with their own unique personality. After only a short time of training, Buck was a sled dog, traveling with the team of huskys and mix breeds from Dyea Beach, to the town of Dawson. After several trips with Perrault and Francois, Buck was traded to a know nothing, gold seeking family. they knew nothing, or hardly nothing, about managing a sled team. There trip began with a very bad start. The family had loaded up their wagon with too much unneded baggage, and it was top heavy. as the dogs began to pull away and pull around a curve, the baggage tipped over along with the sled and thus the unnecessary baggage was discarded, and the trip was barely completed because of harsh weather, inadequate supplies, and poor management skills of the dog handlers. All except a man that went by the name of John Thornton, perhaps the only sane one in the group. After on e of the men repeatedly beat on a dog, Thornton became enraged. He threatened to kill the man, and shortly after, he unhooked the beaten Buck from the sled, the rest of the family left John Thornton.

A Doll House Vs The Piano Lesson

Writers of the eighteenth and nineteenth century were the voice of the people and from their words; one can feel the smell of revolution against prejudices of the contemporary society.They embossed real life in their words, which they had seen and experienced and showed the majestic human spirit who always find themselves in the midst of conflicts arising partly from the Society and partly from the inner self and consciousness. In the nineteenth century was born among the many writers, a play writer that broke the shackles of the dominant Patriarchy society of the eighteenth century to give voice to the women behind the four walls of their Doll House.A father of modern realistic drama, Henrik Ibsen, was a Norwegian play writer who was charged of being scandalous only because he had examined the realities of life that lay behind many facades and social obequities.Another of the same genere was Wilson who won the Pulitzer Prize of 1992 due to his enduring words that raised the consciou sness of the Blacks. Spent his childhood also in poverty in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, where he lived with his parents and five siblings, he made his goal to shed the light on the sufferings that their ancestors had to go through among younger generations of blacks.Wilson himself realized this fact that his parents had withheld from them the knowledge of even greater hardships that they had endured themselves. He once told New York Times in 1984, â€Å"My generation of blacks knew very little about the past of our parents, they shielded us from the indignities they suffered.† (Gale Research, Autobiography of Wilson, Para.7). His Piano Lesson was one among his many works that eludes us to the greater revelations- the revelations of ourselves, and our association with our golden heritage.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Both Ibsen and Wilson were the mouthpieces of the suppressed and subjugated. In 1871 before Ibsen even started his play, a real incident touched his s oul. One day Ibsen got infatuated by a Norwegian girl named Laura Petersen, whom he called skylark. But in 1872 Laura married a Danish schoolmaster, Victor Kieler, but as soon as she married, her husband Victor contracted tuberculosis, but as they were poor they could not manage to go, so without her husband’s knowledge Laura arranged a loan. With this money they went to Italy and Victor soon recovered. But later the humiliation that Laura suffered was unbearable.When she was forced to tell the truth to her husband regarding the loan, she was abused and Victor straightforwardly found her unfit to be his wife. Laura could not tolerate and she had a nervous breakdown, but in return Victor admitted her in a public asylum.This incident prompted Ibsen to show the Society its true face. Thus emerged from his immense delicate soul, the master the most beautiful play, A Doll House; a play which is a struggle against the tyrannical and dehumanizing oppression of women in a society whi ch frowned upon the women who asserted themselves for individuality.Nora is suppressed in number of ways by her husband Torvald and tyrannical social conventions. Torvald is a smug bank manager and with his job he has number of responsibilities. He treats his wife as if she is her responsibility and a mere product. Torvald is more worried about his reputation but he least cares about her.Though Nora is financial well off yet there is not a single incidence in her life when she does not face rebuke by her husband. On the onset their marriage life seems to be satisfied, yet time and again Nora’s heart was burning like fire seeking Independence from the subjugation of her husband. Yet she fulfills her duty as a wife, and here is the hidden irony. Nora also took loan to save her husband’s life, but instead of credit she gets only rebuke from her husband.As the play moves forward, she realizes how she has to remain subjugated in her parents house and now as a wife too, and how her marriage is only a mere game of a Doll, so unrealistic. So when Helmer tells Nora, â€Å"Because such an atmosphere of lies infects and poisons the whole life of a home.Each breath the children take in such a house is full of the germs of evil,† Nora decides to discontinue her inauthentic role of a doll and closed the doors of domesticity to seek out her individuality, but that too she could attain at the cost of her children.She has to leave her children behind so that they do not get corrupted. In the end of the play, her assertion comes straightaway from her mouth   when she says, â€Å"I've been your wife-doll here, just as at home I was Papa's doll-child.†(1608).This is Nora and theare are Boy Willie and his sister, Bernice in the Piano Lessons who learned to cherish their heritage and assert their rights as human beings. Piano Lesson has a quintessential plot that revolves around a conflict.It appears on the surface that the conflict that is going on is between Boy Willie and his sister, Bernice, but hidden beneath lies the conflict for preserving their heritage and culture, which is in the form of Piano. Boy Willie wants to sell Piano to buy a land for good fortune. What he was visualizing was the future which is the dream of Westernized world of younger generations, whereas Bernice wants to stay firm to her roots, and declines to part with the heritage.The piano was reminder of her past. It was her father’s piano, who died retrieving it from the Sutter’s home. The unique thing about Piano are the engravings of the history of Charles family on it and for Bernice the souls of their ancestors reside in the Piano. It is the Piano only that joins them to their ancestors.The story of Piano dates back to the middle of the nineteenth century, when the Charles family were slaves, their owners Sutters sold two members of the family for a piano. Sutters then got the Charles pictures of Charles family engraved on Piano, but th e carpenter carved whole history of the family into it. This instrument was then stolen by their father who was later killed by the Sutters in retribution.With this piano, August Wilson firmly evokes into the heart of the today’s generation the reality of the   black people in American Society and how they assimilate into the White people, it simply means to give up their black culture and adopt the Westernized ways.When the Doll House was staged in 1879, the spirit of revolution was ravaging like a fire in Europe and writers inculcated in their writings new thoughts and new perceptions of life which totally defied the old conventions. Wth his colloquial language, Ibsen inserts the burning passion of Independent thoughts which allows the A Doll’s house to achieve laurels inspite of criticism.On the other hand, The Piano Lesson was set in Pittsburgh in 1930 when there was Great Depression which became historical background for the play. At that time, the black migrati on was also at the peak. They were migratinog from south to north in search of better life.This all inspired Wilson but inspiration of the play, he got from Romare Bearden painting by the same name. In the painting was shown a teacher and a student in a form of an an allegory which means that how African Americans should associate themselves with their past.Thus in their writings, inconsequent streams   of thoughts, longings, apprehensions, and musings pour out as they arise in the mind of all and thus emerge the consciousness of Individuality, Freedom, and Independence.WORKS CITED1. Gale, â€Å"Biography of August Wilson† Internet (Last Updated: Available: http://www.dartmouth.edu/~awilson/bio.html, May 11, 20072.  Ã‚   Spark Notes, â€Å"The Piano Lesson by August Wilson† Internet Available:http://www.sparknotes.com/drama/piano/context.html, May 11, 20073. Templeton, Joan. Ibsen's Women. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 19974. Wikipedia, â€Å"A Doll's Hou se† Internet (Last Updated May 08, 2007) Available:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Doll's_House, May 11, 2007    A Doll House Vs The Piano Lesson Words from the writers’ literary artifacts touches rhythm of the complexities of life and make us realize what we are and where we stand in this world and in the Society around us.From the words of the Writers, immerses the rich flavor of the real meaning of the life and the voice of the repressed and subjugated. Ibsen and Wilson reveal the majestic human spirit in their capacity of striving and suffering.. On one hand, Doll house is in reality a Doll House for women subjugated and repressed in the Patriarchy society of 18th century and on the other hand is the Piano lesson which is a voice of the Blacks who in the eighteenth century were kept as emotionless and subjugated slaves.In A Doll’s House, Ibsen paints the sacrificial role that woman has to play and the way protagonist of the play has to exert her feeling. In Piano lesson, the real conflict lies in the efforts of the Protagonists to maintain their family, heritage and exploration in the back drop of all the har dships their ancestors have to undergo.The piano is a representative of the culture and heritage and is a center of conflict for the protagonist whether to sell it for buying land previously worked by their slave ancestors or remains in the family’s possession as a heritage.Ibsen presented â€Å"A Doll house† in 1879 in the backdrop of the Victorian Society, the society wherein woman has to subjugate her according to the husband’s will.For the nineteenth century audience, the mere idea of woman leaving aside her marriage wows was considered as sacrilegious and, women abandoning her children were against the basic concepts of womanhood. In the end of the play Society won, as Ibsen was forced to write alternative ending of the play when it was staged in Germany.Nora as a wife of a banker has to maintain her relationship with her kids and her husband who both tries to control the family.In the play, Nora is a financially well off as compared to the other female cha racters in the play, but she leads a very difficult life because society demands dominant partner in Torvald, who issues decrees and condescends to Nora.On the other hand, in their hard times in order to save her husband’s life, she goes to the extent of forging her father’s name on the document for money but hides it from him. When the truth unfolds, he reacts with disgust and horror. He is only worried about his reputation but refuses to accept the fact it was her love that prompted her to do so. And due to this reason, Nora is considered as a cheat and her deception, left vulnerable to Krogstad’s blackmail.It was the real incident in Ibsen’s life that prompted him to write a play. It was 1871, eight years before Henrik Ibsen wrote A Doll’s House, Ibsen met a Norwegian girl named Laura Petersen, whom he called skylark and was infatuated by her.In 1872, Laura married a Danish schoolmaster, Victor Kieler, and her nightmares started. Victor contract ed tuberculosis, and his doctors prescribed warmer climate for him but as they were poor, Victor became hysterical. At this Laura arranged a loan without her husband's knowledge. With this money they went to Italy and Victor soon recovered. When the time came for Laura to repay the loan, they did not have the money to pay and Laura tried to send forged check but it was discovered and Laura finally had to tell the truth to her husband, who found her unfit as a wife.She had nervous breakdown, and in return Victor admitted her in a public asylum. Touched by this story, in the notes to The Dolls house, he said, â€Å"A woman cannot be herself in modern society, with laws made by men and with prosecutors and judges who assess female conduct from a male standpoint†. (Yurgaitis, A Doll’s House Synopsis, Para. 15).The indifferent attitude of Nora’s husband destroyed her illusions and decides to leave him, her children and house in search of truth. She has realized that he is not the noble man she has supposed him. In the words of Isben â€Å"Depressed and confused by her faith in authority, she loses faith in her moral right and ability to bring up her children. A mother in contemporary society, just as certain insects go away and die when she has done her duty in the propagation of the race.† (Wikipedia, Para 5)August Wilson, was himself a black man and as a black man he realized what hardships the blacks had to endure in their lives and as slaves. As Pulitzer Prize winner, he confided in his students at Dartmouth University, â€Å"My generation of blacks knew very little about the past of our parents.They shielded us from the indignities they suffered,† (Dartmouth, Biography of August Wilson, Sidelights Para1) and in a quest to impart the knowledge to the unspoken African American people, he gave to the world â€Å"The Piano Lesson† and many other plays.The characters Berniece and Boy Willie in the Piano Lessons struggle amo ng themselves, Willie wants to sell a Piano to buy a land but Berniece refuses because she had an attachment towards the piano. It was her father’s piano, who died retrieving it from the Sutter’s home. On the piano is engraved the history of Charles family and is only there ancestral property.The incident happened in the middle of the nineteenth century, when the Charles family was slave, their owners Sutters sold two members of the family for a piano. Sutters then called upon master-carpenter in the Charles family and ordered him to carve out the only faces of the sold slaves into the piano, but the carpenter carved whole history of the family into the piano. This instrument was then stolen by Berniece and Boy Willie's father, but was later killed by the Sutters in retribution.For Berneice, this piano is a â€Å"sacred altar†, considered by ancient African tribes as a crossroad between the living and the dead. It was her belief that by selling Piano, they will loose all the connection with her ancestors and also their protection, which may give the way to Sutter’s ghost to haunt them. Michael Morales too argues that this piano serves as a direct link to the past and is both a â€Å"sacred ancestral altar† and a tool to â€Å"transmit† oral history.Through the songs in a Piano, carvings and the words of Willie, August Wilson makes the audience have a deeper look at their forgotten past. At the end of the play Willie reminds Berniece to continue playing the piano and warns her about the worst consequences if she neglects her past again. And along with that Willie left his mark on the piano, by inscribing on it the history of the family's in readable language with the sole purpose of preservation and continuation of the family's legacy.

Symbolism in William Golding’s ‘Lord of the Flies’

Symbolism in William Golding’s ‘Lord of the Flies’ Definition: A symbol is something that is itself as well as something else. In literature it means literal or objective sense coupled with abstract meaning. Symbolism refers to serious and extensive use of symbols in a work of literature. Symbolism in Lord of the Flies: The novel is rich in symbolism. A host of different interpretations of the novel’s symbolism – political, psychological and religious – exists. We will look at some of the prominent symbols employed by Golding and try harmonizing the different interpretations. Since symbolism is an evocative device to communicate the theme of a literary piece, we must first agree on the theme of Lord of the Flies. Theme: Evil inherent in man seems to be the central idea of the novel. It may recall the Christian notion of the ‘original sin’ or the idea of the failure of civilization as seen during the Nazi Holocaust or a general pessimistic view of human nature. It may be all the three combined. A group of boys aged 6 to 12 find themselves alone on an island, without adult supervision. At first they try to organize themselves on the pattern of the civilized world they have known. The attempt fails and most of them regress into savagery and animal existence. The novel was deliberately patterned on the children’s classic ‘The Coral Island’ by R. M. Ballantyne. Only, it turns Ballantyne’s theme on its head. Whereas Ballantyne made the children’s isolation on the island a pleasant interlude in a continued life of civilized existence, Golding shows how thin the veneer of civilization really is and how the animal nature of man breaks through in just a few weeks. It is not so much moral judgment as recognition of the essential tragedy of mankind – its intellectual and spiritual nature losing out to its animal nature again and again. Important Symbols: 1. The Scar: The novel starts with the mention of a scar in the jungle. We learn (or rather, surmise) later that it is a swath cut by the falling ‘passenger tube’ in which the children were travelling. The word scar appears in the text without this preliminary information and serves to create atmosphere. The metaphor prepares us for the horrible things to come. In itself it is also the symbol of man’s disruptive influence on his world. 2. The Conch: It makes its appearance as an accidental find of Ralph and Piggy on the beach. It soon assumes importance as Ralph, on Piggy’s advice, blows it to gather the survivors. Ralph is elected leader of the group mainly because he was the one in possession of the conch. From here onwards the conch becomes a symbol of law and order. At meetings the speaker has to hold it in his hands. It gives him the privilege of being heard uninterrupted. Order starts breaking down in the fifth chapter when Jack speaks without holding it. Later, breakdown of order is signalled by Jack snatching it from Ralph in the eighth chapter. In the tenth chapter Jack raids the shelter occupied by Ralph and Piggy to rob Piggy of his glasses. But he does not bother to take the conch away. It is no longer important. In the eleventh chapter the conch is destroyed, symbolizing the complete rout of order at the hands of chaos. 3. The Man with the Megaphone (Grown-ups): When Piggy meets Ralph, his first question is, â€Å"Where is the man with the megaphone? A few pages later the question is repeated by Jack, â€Å"Where is the man with the trumpet? † This, we can assume, was the man in charge of the boys in the aeroplane He stands for authority and control which has suddenly been removed by the crash. A grown-up appears again only at the end in the form of the naval officer who saves the life of Ralph without realizing the fact and brings an e nd to the chaos. But conversely, the adult is the cause of the boys being there in the first place. The war raging outside is nothing but the conflict on the island on a much grander scale. The appearance of the naval officer at close suggests that civilization has been given another chance, despite the bleak outlook. 4. Beast from Air: In the sixth chapter another adult appears on the scene – a dead parachutist. He has apparently evacuated himself from a warplane that has been hit. The man crashes to his death at the top of the hill on the island. He, with his parachute, is taken to be a mysterious supernatural beast by the boys among whom the talk of a snake-like beast of the jungle is already rampant. The dead parachutist is not, however, just an extension of the ghost metaphor. He also represents the historical past intruding on the scene and influencing it in a profound manner. For the boys the historical past is the war they left behind. For humanity it would be the past of man as an insidious influence in his present. 5. The Beast – Lord of the Flies: The title of the novel is itself symbolic. The phrase is a literal translation of the Hebrew ‘Beelzebub’, one of the demons named after a philistine god. Later the term was often used in Christianity as a name for the Devil. The metaphor is one of regression (in its original sense of paganism) and evil (in its later meaning of the Devil). In the novel one of the younger boys, who is referred to as ‘the boy with the birthmark on his face’, tells the others about having seen a snake-like beast on the trees. Though Ralph tries to allay their fears as unfounded, the belief in the beast persists. It is strengthened by the unexplained disappearance of the boy with the birthmark. It is reinforced by the ‘beast from air’ mentioned above, so mush so that even Ralph and Piggy start entertaining the possibility of a beast. Jack, half believing himself, uses the fear cleverly to keep his followers under control. He makes the ritual sacrifice of a wild sow to the beast and lets the head of the animal hang on a stick, ostensibly to appease the beast. Only Simon does not believe in the existence of a beast. In his wanderings in the forest he comes across the head of the sow and the entrails of the animal which have attracted a lot of flies by now. He has a hallucination in which the head appears to him as lord of the flies and speaks to him. The symbolism of the beast is also stated in this imaginary conversation in so many words, as follows: â€Å"You knew, didn’t you? I am part of you?†¦ I am the reason why it’s no go? Why things are what they are? † The beast is within man, not without. It is the darkness in men’s hearts. It is their primitive nature, hidden behind a thin layer of civilization. 6. The Signal Fire and the Shelters on the Beach: The signal fire and the shelters symbolize ordered society, civilization and hope. They are contrasted with the barbaric and blood-thirsty hunts. The signal fire is Ralph’s idea. He believes that the children will be rescued soon and therefore there should be a smoke signal going all the time for a passing ship to spot. Piggy, who is more of a realist, realizes that those who were expected to know about the children are all dead and it may be a long time before rescue comes. So he suggests the building of shelters. Though both symbols together stand for civilization against barbarism, there is this subtle difference between them, arising as they do from their originators’ differing perceptions of the situation. 7. The Hunts and Mock Hunts: Together with painted faces and long hair the hunts and mock hunts symbolize regression into primitive savagery. The hunters not only seem to have lost all hope of returning to civilization, but they seem to actually enjoy the prospect and neglect to keep the signal fire burning. The hunts can be interpreted as symbolizing the boys' primal urges or even anarchy. Soon after the hunts start, they cease to be a necessary activity aimed at gathering food. The lust for blood becomes more important. Ceremonies and chants invented by the hunters similarly denote regression. The mock hunts of Chapters 4 and 7 are manifestations of regression too. The mock hunts serve another purpose. In Chapter 4 the mock hunt is a mild affair, performed largely for fun. In the seventh chapter it turns into a violent affair in which the boy playing the hunted animal suffers injuries. Thus the mock hunts define the regression of the hunters as civilized humans. The scene in Chapter 7 also shows the good and sensible Ralph feeling the excitement of the mock hunt, thus showing how evil can take hold of any human, unless resisted. 8. Painted Faces and Long Hair: This is the heading of Chapter 4. The degeneration of the boys' way of life is symbolized by clay-and- charcoal masks and long hair. When concealed by masks, the hunters, especially Ralph, seem to have new personalities as they forget the taboos of society that once restrained them from giving in to their natural urges. When Jack first paints his face to his satisfaction, he suddenly becomes a new, savage person. â€Å"He began to dance and his laughter became a bloodthirsty snarling. He capered toward Bill, and the mask was a thing of its own, behind which Jack hid, liberated from shame and self-consciousness†. The feeling of liberation that results from wearing the masks allows many of the boys to participate in the barbaric pig hunts, the savage ceremonies and the mock hunts. 9. The Island: Those who incline towards a religious interpretation of the novel’s symbolism maintain that the island is the symbol for the Garden of Eden, which is touched by original sin on contact with the human race. This interpretation may have some merit. But the symbolism can be equally validly interpreted as the state of nature to which the civilized children have been returned. It provides the setting for the opening up of their fundamental urges. 10. The Characters: The principal characters – Ralph, Piggy, Simon, Jack and Roger – symbolize certain attitudes and qualities. Ralph and Piggy are on the side pf law and order. Jack and Roger represent primitive urges and tyranny. Simon is a mystic who has clearer view of reality than the intellectual Piggy, the sensible Jack or the manipulative Jack. But we have to be careful not to over-emphasize the point. Otherwise the realistic and believable quality of the characters will be compromised. The symbolism lies more in how the characters grow or regress rather than in their basic make-up. Jack’s character is the most significant from this point of view. From the leader of a choir group he regresses into the leader of a violent and primitive group which calls itself a ‘tribe’. The above list of symbols is by no means exhaustive. The novel is replete with metaphors and symbols. Lord of the Flies is called a twentieth century allegory. It is also one of the most carefully crafted novels of the century. In consequence the careful reader can find a symbol on almost every page. s

Assertive Discipline

â€Å"Miss Collin was a nasty teacher that I had when I was 6 or 7 years old and, as a result of the psychotherapy I underwent in later years, I am now able to say that this teacher is responsible for most of the psychological damage I suffered with resulting suicidal tendencies. She used terror and humiliation to keep order in the classroom and did not hesitate to use the strap as her method of control† (Warnes 1). School children shouldn†t be afraid to attend their school because the teachers humiliate students, are mean and have strict rules. The overall purpose of public schools is to provide a simple learning environment so a student can obtain a good education. All students should be treated equally no matter where they are and should have the same rights as adults so they can reach their goal of graduating. Discipline is more than keeping a group of children or young people quiet while being talked to. Preserving good behavior is certainly one aspect to discipline, for learning it in an atmosphere of confusion is difficult. Children have to learn to conform to the rules of behavior needed in a classroom. Teachers have the right to ask for a quiet class, keep the students in their seats, and have the right to discipline them if they do not cooperate. When a teacher expresses his or her thoughts, feelings, and beliefs in direct, honest, and appropriate ways that do not violate the right of others, and when the message does not humiliate, degrade, or dominate the one being talked to, he or she is using Assertive Discipline. In order for a teacher to maintain control of his or her class they must use Assertive Discipline. In order for a teacher to have his or her needs met, they can influence the behavior of the children. Without influence a teacher is â€Å"powerless† and will become â€Å"burned out. † (Canter, 2) There is no simple answer to why this happens. A number of complex factors have combined to create an environment in which teachers are having trouble in getting personal and professional needs met. Until the past decade, the teacher was looked at as the main person in the classroom by students and parents. The teacher, simply because of their role status, had respect and authority. Thus, the teacher was a â€Å"powerful† figure in the eyes of the students and could easily influence the student's behavior, often with just a look, smile, or a threat. All of that is now changed. Today, a teacher has to earn the respect of both the students and their parents. A teacher's basic techniques of influence, or discipline, is no longer as effective as getting the desired results. The discipline approaches of the 1950's and 1960's do not work with the students of the 1990's. In addition, the teacher cannot rely on the strong support of the parents anymore. Many parents are openly questioning, the education that their children are receiving, and do not feel they want to support the needs of their child's teachers. Teachers cannot get their needs met in a classroom unless they have an effective method of discipline in which they thoroughly understand and comfortable utilize. An assertive teacher is: â€Å"One who clearly and firmly communicates his or her wants and needs to his or her students, and is prepared to reinforce their words with appropriate actions. † (Canter,9) When a teacher is assertive, and clearly and firmly communicates their wants and feelings to a child, they send a clear message. This message simply states: â€Å"I mean what I say and say what I mean. (Collins, 155) Lee Canter, a child guidance specialist, has found that while most teachers make lesson plans as a routine matter, very few make discipline plans. Planning is essential to teaching well. Lesson planning is second nature to teachers. Lesson plans are part of a professional routine, and are done almost automatically when the need arises. However, planning for discipline is an entirely different story. The vast majority of teachers have learned or have been exposed to the steps involved in planning discipline programs, especially those to be used specifically with disruptive students. Because of teachers' frustrations, all we often hear is their complaining about how difficult the students really are. Such complaining may help to relieve the strain of dealing with difficult students, but it in no way helps to solve the problem. Planning your discipline efforts, and utilizing assertive principles, are as essential to teaching as a lesson plan. (Charles,128) Discipline planning will structure and guide classroom management efforts the same as lesson planning for academic efforts. Discipline plans are important and helpful to all teachers. Charles, urges to make discipline plans according to the following steps: Identify any existing or potential discipline problems, specify the behaviors you want the students to eliminate or engage in, decide on negative and positive consequences appropriate to the student and situation, and decide how to execute the negative and positive consequences. (Charles, 129) Discipline planning is the systematic applications of the assertive principles the teacher exhibits. It involves focusing your attention on any existing or potential discipline problems you may have. These discipline problems may involve an individual student, or a group of students, or an entire class. Having good discipline enables the teacher to deal assertively with their students. He or she will know how to maximize their potential influence to get their needs met, with more difficult situations it may be useful for the teacher to engage in problem-solving and discipline planning with peers, school psychologist, principle or anyone who may be familiar with the students or have successfully managed similar problems. One final area needed for discipline planning are special activities. Special activities are those activities the students do not consistently engage in, for example, field trips or assemblies. A day or so before such an activity, the teacher must have some basic discipline planning. Once again, the teacher must determine the behavior wanted and not wanted, the limit – setting and positive consequences, and how the program will be started. The assertive teacher recognizes the fact that he or she has wants and needs and has the right to get them met in the classroom. The teacher is also aware of the limitations and realizes that they have the right to ask for assistance, whether it is from the principle, parents, or peers. (Charles,37) The assertive teacher should be aware of the child's need for warmth and support. An assertive teacher is aware that a limit setting response must be delivered in as effective a manner as possible. Eye contact is very important when trying to get a point made. Whenever necessary, the teacher plans how to back up their limit setting statement with appropriate consequences. This is done in order to maximize the influence that his or her response can have on the behavior of the child. (Canter, 28) Whenever required, teachers should be prepared to back up their words with consequences in order to motivate the behavior of more difficult children. He or she is aware some children need more support than others and is prepared to give that child as much as they can. (Canter, 32). The children learn to trust and respect an assertive teacher. The children clearly know the parameters of acceptable and unacceptable behavior. This gives them an opportunity to choose how they want to behave while knowing fully what the consequences will be for their behaviors. This does not mean that every child will like an assertive teacher, and does not mean that every child will behave. Some children may still decide not behave for any reason. All that an assertive teacher can do by his or her behavior is try to establish an atmosphere where he or she maximizes the potential for a positive teacher – child relationship. The major area where being an assertive teacher helps a child is when the student has special needs or problems. This when a teacher needs to step things up a notch and become more assertive. Some teachers may lose track of their assertive potential, but they have to teach the child how to behave in the appropriate manner. (Canter, 46) One problem area where a child needs assertive discipline is when he or she is confronted with peer pressure. This is when the student's fellow peers force him or her to do something, like throw spit balls or make funny noises to win the approval of others. This problem can be solved by confronting the child and telling him what he or she is doing wrong. This problem can also be solved by giving out a punishment like, writing on the chalkboard or may be standing in the corner with his or her back turned to the rest of the class. If all else fails, the teacher may want to call the child's home and plan a conference with the student's parents. Though most teachers feel threatened and overwhelmed by parents, especially if they are pushy or manipulative, they need to take a stand and thoroughly explain the situation going on with their child. (Rich, 145) The teacher has to be assertive with the parents and the child. The teacher should not down grade the problems they are having with their child. Instead they should tell the parents the way things are. For instance a teacher should not call the child's parents and say, â€Å"we have a little problem with your son,† when in actuality, the child had a violent tantrum. The teacher should let the parents know that they need their cooperation to discipline the child at home for his tantrum. If the teacher does not tell the parents what they truly feel then the child's tantrum will be even worse the next time. The corner stone of assertive discipline is the potential positive influence teachers can have on the behavior of their students. † Hand in hand with influence goes responsibility. † (Canter, 57) When teachers accept the consequences of their potential influence they accept the consequences of their potential influence they accept the responsibility to choose, or not to choose, to utilize this potential for the best interest of both themselves and the students. Assertive teachers recognize the responsibilities they have for the children. They know they cannot assert themselves and get their needs and the children needs met. They know they can have the impact on their classrooms if they choose to do so. Other teachers choose not to accept the reality of their potential influence. Thus, they are confronted with the following situations: they place themselves in a powerless position. They view themselves as a helpless victim at the mercy of the students, their parents, the principle, and the school system. Such teachers become the complainers. They complain about everyone and everything that â€Å"victimize† them. Charles, 120) They end up blaming all of their problems on others, and never on themselves. Mandatory uniforms is an answer that some give to stop the recent and alarming rise in violence and drop out rates in our public schools. Those that support uniforms argue that uniforms disguise economic and ethnic backgrounds, so students are no longer jealous of others. The financial burden on parents is lifted. But do uniforms really give all of these benefits? Can just one change in public schools make them so much better? The wearing of uniforms in more of the nation's public schools has been a much-talked about issue recently, with President Clinton and several members of Congress voicing their support. Supporters of school uniforms say social and economic classes would no longer be revealed by students' clothing, schools will have more of a sense of community, and students' self-esteem will improve. Some gang members have hurt or murdered innocent people because of a colored item of clothing they chose to wear. Proponents assert that uniforms will reduce this type of violence in schools and, therefore, make classes safe and orderly. Uniforms have been shown to reduce absentee rates as well. In situations where there are several different financial backgrounds attending the same school students may be under pressure, and possibly ridiculed because of failure to conform to the latest fashion trends. Everybody wearing the same styles of clothes might eliminate that. In response to growing levels of violence in our schools, many parents, teachers, and school officials have come to see school uniforms as one positive and creative way to reduce discipline problems and increase school safety. They observed that the adoption of school uniform policies can promote school safety, improve discipline, and enhance the learning environment. As a result, many local communities are deciding to adopt school uniform policies as part of an overall program to improve school safety and discipline. California, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Louisiana, Maryland, New York, Tennessee, Utah and Virginia have enacted school uniform regulations. Even though social and economic barriers can be torn down, some schools have not had as much success. In fact, implementing mandatory school uniforms can be dangerous because it provides the community with a false sense of security. It is like putting a small bandage on an enormous wound, instead of attempting to find ways to truly deal with the bleeding. Although this can happen, uniforms prove to continue to be a success. In a recent study of uniforms in Georgia Schools, eighty percent of students stated that they did not feel that the uniforms reduced fights and 68. % felt that uniforms did not help to make them feel a part of school. I myself would not feel at any way individually squashed if I were made to wear a uniform. Everyone must look at the main issue pertaining to this topic. Our lives, without our individuality is meaningless. I would be more than willing to wear a uniform to school and be safe and let my personality express my individualism, and be judged for what I am than to be judged and be put into a life threatening situation for what color I was wearing.