Child Observation Case Study

Child Observation Case Study Care has been taken to ensure the provisioning of adequate information to the mother of the child to be placed under observation. I have informed the mother of my reasons for conducting the exercise. I have reassured her on the protection of confidentiality of all my observations and have informed her that I will use a pseudonym for referring to her daughter in all my written work. I have accordingly asked her to chose a pseudonym for her daughter and have accepted her suggestion for calling the child Kirsty. Kirstys mother, Jane, has been informed that the child will not be influenced or pressurised in any way. She will be free to answer or not to answer questions and even to withdraw from the exercise at any time she so desires. I have obtained her consent to the conducting of the observation exercise in writing. The signed consent statement is available in Appendix 1. Whilst Kirstys father was not at home at the time of the study, Jane informed me that he was aware of the exercise and had agreed to the same. 1.3. Observation Process The exercise was conducted at the garden of Kirstys house. Kirsty lives with her parents in a small cottage near the beach. The house has a small fenced garden. It was quiet and sunny when the observation was conducted in the presence of Jane, and her neighbour, Priya, a young woman in her mid-twenties. Whilst it is recommended that the observation was conducted in the presence of the childs mother, care should be taken to ensure that she does not actively participate in the observation process. I carried the Sheridan Scale for 5 year olds for the exercise and noted my observations in the appropriate boxes during the observation process. The observation began at 11 am and continued for a couple of hours, wherein I observed Kirstys behaviour in the course of some small games that she played, first with her dolls and then with her set of building blocks. 1.4 Views of Family Jane informed me about Kirstys mild asthma, which had first surfaced when she was three and continued to trouble her even today. She was under medical treatment and her GP had advised her that most children outgrew childhood asthma by the time they were 15 or 16 years old. Jane informed me happily about the childs excessive attachment to her father, who had a travelling job and was out of the home for more than two weeks each month. Whilst both parents loved their daughter, the father absolutely doted on her and showered her with gifts when he was home. The child had of late begun to act wilfully and was apt to become very upset and show signs of aggressive behaviour if her wishes were not met immediately. Her school teacher had also spoken to Jane about Kirstys wilful behaviour athatupset once in a while. 1.5. Summarisation of use of Sheridan Scale and Assessment Framework Triangle Asthma, even if it is mild, is known to adversely affect the development of children. Janes information on the whole reinforced my findings from the application of the Sheridan scale for 5 year olds. I had carefully applied the Sheridan test for various parameters, including posture and large movements, vision and fine movements, hearing and speech, and, to some extent, social behaviour and play. Whilst the child responded positively to the various facets of the test, and was particularly proficient in dancing with me to tapping of feet, skipping, sketching and painting, she appeared to have trouble in skipping and in participating in more strenuous forms of physical activity. Her mother also became apprehensive if the child engaged in dancing and running. I also found her to be more wilful and apt to become upset if she did not find what she was looking for, or if her smaller wishes, like asking for a glass of water were not immediately fulfilled. She appeared to miss her father, who had to constantly go on business trips. The Common Assessment Framework triangle helped me in understanding the developmental needs of the child from three perspectives a) the developmental needs of the child b) family and environment factors and c) parenting capacity. Use of the CAF triangle helped me in realising that whilst the parents were taking good care of her various physical, health and educational needs, their overprotective nature was resulting in slowing down of her self care skills as well as her emotional and behavioural development. 2. Psychological Theories and Life Span Development Cognitive development is a process whereby a childs conception of the world alters with respect to age and experience. Cognitive psychology, primarily known as the developmental stage theory, seeks to explain the quantitative and qualitative intellectual abilities that occur during a childs developmental years. The work of Piaget is important in understanding human development. Piaget suggests that the idea of cognitive development is intrinsic to the human organism and language is contingent on cognitive development. Piaget proposed that reality is essentially a dynamic structure of continuous change, one that involves transformations and states. Whilst transformations refer to the various changes that a person/thing undergoes, states refer to periods in between transformations. A childs cognitive development is primarily dependent on his/her ability to adapt to various situations. Therefore, if human intelligence is to be adaptive, it must be able to represent both the transformational and static aspects of reality. He suggested that whilst operative intelligence directs dynamic or transformational aspects of reality, figurative intelligence represents static periods in between. In understanding cognitive development, Piaget essentially focuses on accommodation and assimilation. Whilst the former focuses on absorbing ones environment by altering pre existing schemas in order to fit the new information, the latter concentrates on assimilating new information by fitting it into pre existing cognitive schemas. Whilst placing Kirstys development within the context of Piagets stages of development in it recognises that children adopt particular types of behaviour and actions during each stage I feel that she was adequately well developed, both operatively and figuratively. Moreover, she was able to assimilate and accommodate to the environment with equal ease. Her enthusiasm to play Introduction Community care essentially aims to provide individuals in need with social, medical and health support in their own homes, as far as possible, rather than in residential establishments or in long-stay institutions. The enactment of the NHS and Community Care Act in 1990 marked a watershed in the evolution of community care practice in the UK (Means, et al, 2002, p 71). Implemented after years of discussion on the social and financial viability of maintaining people in institutions and homes, the NHS and Community Care Act, initiated by Margaret Thatcher, showcased her desire to radically change the practice and delivery of social and health care in the UK (Means, et al, 2002, p 71). The years following the passing of the Act have witnessed significant developments in the practice and delivery of social work in the country. This short essay attempts to investigate the basic reasons for the enactment of the NHS and the Community Care Act, its basic ideology and thrust, and its impact on the social work sector of the country. The essay also studies the developments in social care that have occurred in the years following the act, with particular focus on direct payments for people with learning disabilities, social care provisions for carers and the contemporary emphasis on personalisation. NHS and Community Care Act 1990 Whilst the initiation of the policy of community care in the UK is by and large attributed to Margaret Thatchers conservative government, the concept of community care, even at that time, was not exactly new (Borzaga Defourny, 2001, p 43). The need for community care existed from the beginning of the 1950s. It aimed to provide a better and more cost effective way to help individuals with mental health concerns and physical disabilities by removing them from impersonal, old, and often harsh institutional environments, and taking care of them in their home environments (Borzaga Defourny, 2001, p 43). Although various governments, since the 1950s, supported the need to introduce community care and tried to bring in appropriate changes, lack of concrete action on the issue resulted in constant increase of the number of people in residential establishments and large institutions during the 1960s, 70s and 80s (Borzaga Defourny, 2001, p 43). With numerous negative stories coming out in the media on the difficult conditions in such establishments, Sir Roy Griffiths was invited by Margaret Thatcher to investigate the issue of community care for the residents of such establishments and make appropriate recommendations (Harris, 2002, p 11). The Griffiths, (1988), Report named Community Care: Agenda for Action, followed by the publication of a White Paper Caring for People: Community Care in the Next Decade and Beyond in 1989 led to the enactment of the NHS and Community Care Act 1990 (Cass, 2007, p 241). Apart from being a strong attempt to improve the lives of people in long term institutions and residential establishments, the law was also an outcome of the conservative governments desire to bring market reforms into the public sector and stimulate the private sector to enter the social services, as well as its conviction that competitive markets would be better able to provide more economic services than a bureaucratised public sector (Harris, 2009, p 3). With social services being among the highest revenue spending departments at the local authority level and domiciliary and residential services for older people consuming the bulk of social service funds, community care for older people presented an obvious area for introduction and implementation of market principles (Harris, 2009, p 3). The act split the role of local and health authorities by altering their internal structures, so that local authority departments were required to ascertain the needs of individuals and thereafter purchase required services from providers (Lewis, et al, 1994, p 28). Health organisations, in order to become providers of such services, became NHS trusts that competed with each other. The act also required local social service and health authorities to jointly agree to community care plans for the local implementation of individual care plans for long term and vulnerable psychiatric patients (Lewis, et al, 1994, p 28). The act has however come in for varying degrees of criticism from service users, observers and experts, with some observers claiming the altered care conditions to be unresponsive, inefficient and offering little choice or equity (Malin, et al, 2002, p 17). Other experts, who were not so pessimistic, stated that whilst the system was based upon an excellent idea, it was little better in practice than the previous systems of bureaucratic resource allocation and received little commitment from social services; the lead community care agency (Malin, et al, 2002, p 17). The commitment of local authorities was diluted by the service legacies of the past and vested professional interest, even as social services and health services workers were unable to work well together (Malin, et al, 2002, p 17). Little collaboration took place between social and health services and the impact of the reforms was undermined by chronic government underfunding. The voluntary sector became the main benefici ary of this thrust for the development of a mixed economy of care (Malin, et al, 2002, p 17). Developments after the Enactment of the NHS and Community Care Act The assumption of government by the labour party in 1997 resulted in the progressive adoption of numerous forward looking policies in various areas of social care. The publication of a white paper in 1998 reinforced the governments commitment to promotion of community based care and peoples independence (Means, et al, 2002, p 79). The paper focused on assisting people to achieve and maintain independence through prevention and rehabilitation strategies, with specific grants being introduced to facilitate their implementation. The Health Act of 1999 removed obstacles to the joint working of health and social services departments through provisions for pooling of budgets and merging of services (Means, et al, 2002, p 79). The formulation of the NHS plan aimed to improve partnership between health and social care, the development of intermediate care and the construction of capacity for care through cash for change grants for development of capacity across social and health care systems (Means, et al, 2002, p 79). Direct Payments for Individuals with Learning Disabilities The Community Care (Direct Payments) Act 1996, which came into operation in April 1997, marked a radical change in the provision of community care for people with disabilities, including those with learning difficulties (Tucker, et al, 2008, p 210). It was illegal, prior to the implementation of the act, for local authorities to support people with disabilities by making cash payments in lieu of providing community care services. Policymakers however realised that many local authorities were successfully supporting independent living schemes, centres for independent living and personal assistance schemes (Tucker, et al, 2008, p 210). Such schemes handled community care payments for disabled people and provided them with help to organise assistance or support. The Community Care (Direct Payments) Act built on this situation, allowing direct payments to be made to replace care services, which otherwise would be given by social service departments (Tucker, et al, 2008, p 210). Direct payments provide flexibility in the way services are provided to eligible people. The giving of money, in lieu of social care services, helps people to achieve greater control and choice over their lives and enables them to decide on the time and mode of delivery of services (Tucker, et al, 2008, p 210). Direct payments can not only be used for services to satisfy the needs of children or their families but also enables carers to purchase the services they need to sustain them in their roles. Research conducted in 1997 in the utilisation of direct payments by people with learning difficulties revealed that whilst utilisation of direct payments by people with learning disabilities was increasing, such utilisation was low among women and individuals from minority or black ethnic groups (Tucker, et al, 2008, p 210). Research also revealed the presence of wide differences in the interpretation of the capacity of persons for consenting to direct payments by local authorities. Whils t some local authorities felt that direct payments could be sanctioned to all persons with learning difficulties who were able, with assistance, to successfully control and use direct payments, other authorities did not heed the fact that such people could indeed be assisted to communicate decisions and consequently assumed their inability to consent to direct payments. Such interpretations, it was felt, could debar many people in need from obtaining the facility for direct payments (Tucker, et al, 2008, p 211). Assistance for Carers Recent years have seen a number of social care initiatives for easing the condition of carers. Carers are people who provide assistance and support, without payment, to family members or friends, who are unable to manage without such assistance, on account of illness, frailty or disability (Government Equalities Office, 2010, p 1). Carers can include adults who care for other adults, parents who care for disabled or ill children, or young people who care for other family members. The governments social care policies for carers include supporting people with caring responsibilities for (a) identifying themselves at early stages, (b) recognising the worth of their contribution, and (c) involving them from the beginning in designing and planning individual care (Government Equalities Office, 2010, p 1). Such policies aim to enable carers to (a) satisfy their educational needs and employment potential, and (b) provide personalised support, both for carers and the people they support, to enjoy family and community life and remain physically and mentally well. Whilst the NHS and community care Act 1990 looked at carers as valued resources because of their ability to provide support, it did not refer to their rights; relying instead on rhetoric to deliver the message of their value to society (Government Equalities Office, 2010, p 2). Succeeding years have however witnessed greater focus on the needs of carers and to progressive introduction of suitable laws and appropriate policies. The passing of the Carers (Recognition and Services) Act 1995 drew attention to the needs of carers. This was followed by the passing of the Carers and Disabled Children Act 2000 and the Carers (Equal Opportunities) Act 2004 (Government Equalities Office, 2010, p 2). These acts entitle carers for (a) assess ment of their needs, (b) services in their own right and support in accessing education training, employment and leisure opportunities. The proposed equality bill introduces four new opportunities for carers. It (a) requires public authorities to give due consideration to socio-economic disadvantages, whilst exercising strategic planning functions, (b) takes account of associative discrimination with regard to disabled people, (c) provides for prevention of indirect discrimination, and (d) calls upon public bodies to ensure that their policies are designed to eliminate harassment and discrimination and further equality of opportunity (Government Equalities Office, 2010, p 2). Personalisation The concept of personalisation in social care, whilst discussed for some years, was formally inducted into social care practice in the UK with the publication of Putting People First in 2007. The concordat outlined the concept of a personalised adult social care system, where individuals will have extensive control and choice over the services received by them. The government committed that social services would progressively be tailored to meet the preferences of citizens, with person centred planning along with self directed support becoming mainstream activities, assisted by personal budgets for maximising control and choice (Aldred, 2008, p 31). Whilst personal budgets and direct payments form an important aspect of personalisation, the idea concerns fitting services to the needs of people, focusing on outcomes, and recognising the worth of the opinions of service users assessing their own needs, planning their service, and producing their outcomes (Aldred, 2008, p 31). Conclusions and the Way Forward This essay investigates the reasons behind the enactment of the NHS and the Community Care Act and studies the developments in social care that have occurred in the years following the act, especially in areas of direct payments for people with learning disabilities, social care for carers and personalisation. It is obvious from the results of the study that social care in the UK has experienced significant change and metamorphosis since the enactment of the 1990 act. Whilst significant progress has been made a consensus s growing that the British social care system is facing a crisis because of drivers like increasing demographic pressures, alterations in family and social structures, rising public expectations, increasing desire for greater choice and control, and eligibility for services (Glasby, et al, 2010, p 11). The need to move people out of local accommodation because of rising rents exemplifies the challenges faced by the social care system. With the financial system becoming more challenging, the social care system will have to find ways of improving efficiencies without diluting the quality of care (Glasby, et al, 2010, p 11). The next round of social reforms, whilst attempting to achieve better delivery efficiencies will have to renew its commitment to satisfying social expectations and basic human rights, reducing costs, preventing future needs, helping people to regain independence, freeing individuals to contribute, and supporting carers to care and contribute to society (Glasby, et al, 2010, p 11).

Video Game Player Dynamics Essay -- Video Gaming Psychology

In the article â€Å"The Individual and the Group in Console Gaming† the authors identify several facets of group dynamics in the gaming environment. Most notably is the way in which players can compete while collaborating, and collaborate while competing. Ultimately there are three types of play identified: Competitive: the goals of each player is directly in contradiction to the goals of other players. The goal of the game is to defeat the other opponents in some way. It is important to note that this does not necessarily mean that the players are directly affecting each other, they may be attempting to navigate a challenge the computer represents in a better manor than the other players, with the victor being identified by a score or some kind of timer. Cooperative: the goals of each player is not necessarily contradictory to the goals of other players. In cooperative games the players may find it beneficial to aid each other, but their goals are ultimately distinct. At times collaboration will help one player more than another, and they may turn on each other at a given time. These types of games can transform into competitive at key moments, most often when the score is shown. Collaborative: this is a newer dynamic that is appearing more and more often in gaming. In collaborative type play the goals of all players is completely aligned and the outcomes rely on the group as a whole. There is no benefit to striking out on ones own while your erstwhile allies fail, the outcome being that the entire group loses. This type of play often requires the most collaboration amongst the group and stratagems that require everyone to succeed, at times with the support of the rest of the group. These dynamic... ...oercion, control: cs*w or how policy mediates mass participation Proceedings of the 2007 international ACM SIGGROUP conference on Supporting group work (GROUP'07) 167-176. Kittur, Suh, Pendleton and Chi (2007) He says, she says: conflict and coordination in Wikipedia Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on Human factors in computing systems (CHI'07) 453-462. Konstan, Miller, Maltz, Herlocker, Gordon and Riedl (1997) GroupLens: Applying Collaborative Filtering to Usenet News. Communications of the ACM, 40 (3). 77-87. Vieweg, Hughes, Starbird and Palen (2010) Microblogging during two natural hazards events: what twitter may contribute to situational awareness Proceedings of the 28th international conference on Human factors in computing systems (CHI'10) 1079-1088. Angier (2002) Why We're So Nice: We're Wired to Cooperate. The New York Times, July 23, 2002.

History/Summary of Barcelona Wine Bar & Restaurant Essay

When Andy Pforzheimer was in college, he took a road trip to New Orleans that would change his life. While discussing the city’s eclectic dining with locals, a chef challenged Pforzheimer to go to France to discover what cooking is all about. Decades after listen to the chef’s word, Andy Pforzheimer is a renowned chef cause he has been a restaurant professional for over 30 years. He owned his own catering and consulting business. After that he opened the first Barcelona Wine bar & Restaurant become Co-founder, a collection of seven wine and snack bars in Connecticut and Atlanta. A graduate of Harvard University, he is responsible for the company’s overall growth and execution. Barcelona Restaurant Group proud itself on being â€Å"anti chain,† means different place different foods and serves. When customers dine at any Barcelona Restaurants, they will experience the local color and personal touch of neighborhood eatery in Milan, SoHo and so on. At Barcelona, life is all about authentic cuisine, excellent service and good time. In order to delivering the special dining experience, Barcelona Restaurant Group realizes requires a unique approach to restaurant management. Barcelona Restaurant Group gives employees the freedom and control they need to imprint customers. The mutual trust Barcelona places in workers is obvious during weekly staff meetings. They will share the info/knowledge or argue with someone like employees argue with managers during weekly staff meetings. Andy Pforzheimer always mixes it up with employees, and the dialogue gets touchy at times. He said that he interested in having other people’s opinions thrown at him, like managers who talk back, and like people who self start. Besides, Scott Lawton, Barcelona’s chief operating officer(COO) that joined In 2006. With its corporate office based in South Norwalk, CT, Scott helps oversee the development, day to day operations and personnel recruitment for the restaurant’s seven locations. He underscores that Barcelona’s success depend on the mature initiative of employees. It was because, we just give some basic guideline as to what our philosophy is what our beliefs are, but we have to trust the employees to work within those limit and make the correct choice. In refusing to micromanage every single behavior of employees, Barcelona willing to take risk to give power to the employees and allowed them to make decision that other restaurant establishment would rather prevent. Lawton known that you are actually limiting your ability to get better because they might not always make the choice that I would make, but sometimes they will make the better one. To give the employees a right answer to every question is impossible. While the Barcelona’s concern about the wait staff, they make the staff clear customer is the primary concern, everything else is secondary to that. Lawton agrees and he adds that Barcelona’s insistence on service rarity leads to high contentment among employees. In conclusion, if we can empower employees to make guest satisfaction, they are going to earn money, the vibe of restaurant is going to be a ton of fun, everybody’s going to enjoy the work, and they are happy, because that is a byproduct.

The Choosing by Liz Lochhead Analysis Essays

The Choosing by Liz Lochhead Analysis Essays The Choosing by Liz Lochhead Analysis Paper The Choosing by Liz Lochhead Analysis Paper ‘The Choosing’ by Liz Lochhead is a poem which depicts the importance of the choices one makes in early phases of life. In this specific poem the main theme revolves around how wealth, family, different opinions about life and where a girl stood in the 80s influenced one’s choice; hence the title of the poem is ‘The Choosing’. In the poem the author compares her life to her best friend’s life. In their childhood days they were equal in almost anything they did including their appearance, behaviour at school, level in education and even houses because they were expected to be like that. As life moved on different decisions were made and the two girls had developed totally different characters. As the persona exposes the options that were available to the author it seems that she is purposely trying to ignore them in many different ways. Knowing that the girls did not embrace these characters themselves the persona becomes aware of the importance of one’s ability to make a decision independently. The author reveals her message using a variety of poetic devices including visual imagery, stereotyping, tone, paradox, poem structure, figurative language and also made use of framing. This could also have been all a matter of ‘choosing’. In the first stanza the author mainly compares her childhood days to her best friend’s. She used a number of poetic techniques including visual imagery and stereotyping to make a clear comparison. Such use of techniques stimulates the reader’s senses by evoking their own childhood memories because it has been presented in a way the reader can easily relate back to. For example in the line, â€Å"we were first equal Mary and I†, this creates a sense of equality, friendship and friendly rivalry. Further on in the stanza, the composer writes â€Å"with same coloured ribbons in mouse-coloured hair and with equal shyness†, it is a stereotype used to enforce the fact that they are equal or same. The author makes use of such imagery and stereotyping to relate it to the main theme and show that girls in the 80s were generally ‘programmed’ and did as convention said rather than choosing their own ways. The use of visual imagery and stereotyping encourage the reader to develop and understanding in their mind about how girls in the 80s were overpowered by the opposing gender. Stanza two elaborates more on the similarities between the two girls. The author changes the tone of the poem towards the end of the stanza to emphasize a change in life. Verse one of stanza two reassures of their friendship, â€Å"best friend too Mary and I†. It reassures of their friendship because by now the persona had begun to doubt their friendship due to the fact that they were rivals. Up to this point in the poem, the tone is peaceful, calm and friendly as it symbolises how the young girls are joyfully progressing and are unaware of the difficulties and challenges which are yet to come. The tone of the poem changes as the reader approaches verse six and seven, â€Å"and my terrible fear of her superiority at sums†. The author changes the tone to a fiercer and more fearful one as it reflects on the theme how the young girls are changing, and supports it with her selection of language. The reader can see a clear change in the young girl’s lives when looking at the fact that primary aged students who are still learning about ‘sums’ are using words such as ‘superiority’. This change gives a clue to the reader on how they are developing, changing and facing new challenges in life. The third stanza informs the reader how the girls came from families with different beliefs and notions towards life. The author demonstrates this through the use of paradox. A statement which seems contradictory but has a deeper meaning, in the case of this poem it allows the reader to quickly differentiate between the two girls. The author looks back at their childhood memories and remembers where they used to live and described it as, â€Å"the same houses, different homes, where the choices were made†. This line is an example of a paradox and is the most significant and meaningful line of the whole poem as it gives the reader an insight on how the choices were made. They lived in the same ‘houses’, another meaning for house is camera and we can associate that meaning with the fact that on the outside everything seemed to be the same just like looking at a picture. However, different homes meant that they were brought up and influenced by different people with different notions about life. So linking the two statements, â€Å"same houses, different homes†, it is known that the families of the two girls decided their future, â€Å"where the decisions were made†. This enables the reader to easily link back to the main theme and know that girls in the 80s usually did not have control over their lives. Moving towards stanza four, the author shows how wealth and different opinions about life influence ones choice. This stanza also highlights the fact that in the 80s decisions were made by the most dominant person in the family, a male or it can be known as modern type of patriarchy. The author uses a stereotype to emphasise on how her friend’s father was a typical ‘backward’ thinking man. The author was not sure why her friend had to leave, but had a clue that her father moved to a place where it was more affordable to live. We know that by the line, â€Å"I don’t know exactly why they moved, but any way they went. Something about a three-apartment and a cheaper rent†. This line refers back to the main theme as it shows how money influenced the family’s choice. It also indicates of the idea how females at that time were usually unaware of what is happening in the house as it was the male’s role, the reader knows it by the fact the author’s best friend did not tell her where or why she is leaving maybe because she did know at all. The author described Marys father as, â€Å"Mary’s father, mufflered, contrasting strangely, with the elegant greyhounds by his side. He didn’t believe in high school education, especially for girls, or in forking out for uniforms†. The author used a stereotype to create an understanding in the reader’s mind of how Mary’s father was the very ‘harsh’ and ‘tough’ kind of man back in the 80s. She then states that he did not believe in high school education for girls or spending on worthless uniforms which emphasises how different notions about life influenced one’s choice. The fourth stanza leads to the understanding how a modern type of patriarchy was still practised back in the 80s which left the women without a choice of their own. Up till this point in the poem we know that the girls with similar childhoods had separated due to the family’s decisions’. In stanza five and six the author sees Mary and starts to compare herself again and tries to blissfully ignore the reality. The author makes use of figurative speech such as metaphors and a lot of descriptive language to emphasise on the results of the decisions which were made in the early phases of life. The second line of stanza five, â€Å"I am coming from the library-†, suggests that the author’s parents had chosen a scholastic path for her. Whereas Mary’s parents had chosen a ‘family’ life for her and we know that when the author describes her as, â€Å"her arms around the full-shaped vase that is her body†. This is an example of a metaphor, it indicates that Mary is pregnant and therefore has a husband. It is clearly visible as to how the author might have preferred a different path than what she has now but she is blissfully ignoring it, by her choice of words there is a slight indication that the author wanted to live like Mary and have what convention called a ‘family’ but then she blissfully ignores that and says, â€Å"not that I envy her really†. At the beginning of stanza six she reinforces the idea that she is ‘ok’ with her life or more like she has to live with it now anyway because she didn’t have control over her life at the very beginning. Through-out the poem author used free verse and created a frame to convey her theme through to the readers along with the indications within the stanzas. The author used free verse to highlight on the fact that girls in the 80s didn’t have their own planned out life which they knew about, rather someone else was controlling them and everything was unexpected. We can also see this within stanza four where Mary didn’t know she was going to leave but when time came she vanished without knowing. The author framed the poem so that her main theme stays very clear, looking at the title ‘the choosing’ it is expected that the poem is about someone make important decisions in life. Within the poem that is proved correct to a certain extent but as the reader approaches the last two lines, â€Å"and wonder when the choices got made we don’t remember making†, it shows how the poem is about modern patriarchy. Where back in the 80s women were controlled by men and how those choices influenced their lives.

West Side Story Anaylsis essays

West Side Story Anaylsis essays As a contemporary musical, West Side Story differs from Romeo and Juliet in form and detail, but stays true to the tragedy of innocent love caught in a complex social web that predestines its demise. In West Side Story, love at first sight between Tony and Maria set off a tragic chain of events which bring the story to its heartbreaking conclusion. Maria is Puerto Rican, Tony, Polish-American; they are young, innocent, rebellious-indifferent to the societal boundaries which they are trespassing. Like Romeo and Juliet, love is all that matters to. Inevitably, social reality intrudes upon the inter-racial lovers idealized world. Instead of the warring Montagues and Capulets, West Side Story revolves around two street gangs, the Sharks and the Jets. At this point in time, the impoverished white immigrant culture, which Tony represents, is being hreatened by the influx of new immigrant populations, especially the Puerto Ricans, who are beginning new lives in America. The young street gangs that arise from these ghettos demonstrate their frustrations and tensions through turf wars and street fights. Tony is a member of the Jets, the American gang. Maria's brother, Bernardo, and her Puerto Rican suitor, Chino, are members of the Sharks. Gangs are one of the results of poverty, discrimination and urban deterioration. Some experts believe that young people, undereducated and without access to good jobs, become frustrated with their lives and join gangs as an alternative to boredom, hopelessness and devastating poverty. Studies have attempted to determine why gangs plague some communities but there has been no definitive answer. As a result, people working to solve gang problems have great difficulty. They find the situation overwhelming, and the violence continues. The reason for some of this vilolence has to deal with the differences in culture between the two gangs and there ethinicity. As we have learned in socilogy cultur...

Nike Case Study Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Nike Case Study Analysis - Essay Example According to Jeff Ballinger, a key Nike critic, he argued that Nike’s policy of competing on the basis of cost reduction by outsourcing manufacturing to countries where production cost were low encouraged contractors to mistreat their workers. He believed that, Nike contractors flouted labor laws by paying below subsistence wages that did not enable the workers meet daily needs. The contractors bribed their way out. Ballinger also found Nike’s attitude at the height of these labor practices galling. In 1992, August issue of Harper’s magazine, Ballinger published an annotated pay-stub, comparing workers’ wages with Michael Jordan’s endorsement contract. He noted that it would take an Indonesian worker 44,492 years to make an equivalent of Michael Jordan’s endorsement contract. Other critics, Newspapers (The Portland Oregonian), Protestors, ran critical articles and were vocal at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics where they charged Nike with exploitation of factory workers. On July 1996, Life magazine, ran a story of a Pakistan boy stitching a Nike ball a concern about child labor, this prompted calls to endorsers such as Michael Jordan to investigate the source of the products before endorsing them. Critics, such as Ballinger, goals were to draw worldwide attention to the exploitation of third world factory workers by using Nike as the ideal target. Nike responded to the allegations through several ways, through the intervention of President Clinton, Nike was the first company to join the Apparel Industry Partnership (AIP), a taskforce of leaders of apparel and footwear industries whose role was to develop acceptable labor standards for US firms in foreign countries. This committee also included members of activist, labor and religious groups. It was meant to be collaboration between the industry and its most outspoken critics. Nike also set up a labor practices department; this was meant to promoting fair

Hacking for Dummies Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Hacking for Dummies - Assignment Example Other alternatives include 1password, LastPass, KeePass, Roboform, Password Keeper and Norton Identity Safe (Beaver 108). Â  It is vital to note that the use of a password safe or the other alternative tools offers immense pros to an organization or individual. Firstly, this tool plays a huge role in ensuring that all user passwords are encrypted in a safe area free from any third party access. It also provides a backup area for one to recover a forgotten password, along with ensuring that it encourages users to create strong passwords that are always very hard to crack. Lastly but certainly not the least, a password safe provides a convenient way for one to organize the passwords (Beaver 2). Â  In contrast to the pros, is a significant set of cons that are brought about by the use of a software password safe. This includes loss of all passwords particularly when a computer is unused. Additionally, a software password safe is always an obvious target by most hackers thus, when one accidentally breaks (gets the master password) into the software, then all-vital information about a user can get lost.