The Impact of Culture on Best Practice Production Management Essay

The Impact of Culture on Best Practice Production Management - Essay Example Services industry is the fastest growing segment in the world economy and the biggest challenge is customer satisfaction which depends upon service quality (Bick, Abratt & Moller, 2010). Customer service excellence becomes essential to achieve customer satisfaction which in turn translates into customer loyalty. Organisations are convinced that customer service delivers benefits and hence quality management programmes have been created that relate the service attributes to how customers would evaluate quality (Bolton & Drew, 1991). This implies that people skills are essential for personal and organisational success. Customer service excellence is based on customer insight, segmentation and leadership (CSE, n.d.). Segmentation helps to understand the needs of the customers which differ across cultures. Segmentation is implemented through the process of identifying and differentiating between groups that have similar needs or wants. By focusing on their needs, motivation and choices, the organisation can achieve customer service excellence as they realize that one-size-fit-all approach in not applicable in the service industry. Customer service excellence operates at three distinct levels – as a driver of continuous improvement, as a skills development tool and as an independent validation of achievement. Culture, according to Hofstede, â€Å"is the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one group or category from another† (Hope & Muhlemann, 2001). It has also been defined as the â€Å"software of the mind...† and culture is the way that a group of people solve problems and reconcile dilemmas (Lorenzoni & Lewis, 2004). Moreover, customers from different backgrounds also have differing levels of literacy which influences the evaluation of performance standards (Pizam & Eliss, 1999).Cultural difference cause differences in expectations, goals, values and proposed course of action. Cultural differences impact the belongingness, love and esteem needs of individuals and these principles reverse the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory. Subtle cultural differences cannot be ignored as the direct impact can be observed in decisions, outcomes and delivery of service (Korac-Kakabadse & Kouzmin, 1999). To achieve service excellence organisations would have to ensure that employees are adequately trained in the different elements of culture that manifest in many ways. Manifestation of cultural differences can be found in language and communication styles, in expression of emotions and body language, in social customs and eating habits. The deepest and the most ingrained manifestation of culture is the cultural assumptions from which stem the norms and values (Lorenzoni & Lewis, 2004). The most visible manifestation of culture is everyday behavioural standards. Hofstede has identified four different dimensions on which culture can be measured. These include the power distance, individualism, unc ertainty avoidance and masculinity. Cultures distinguish people in how they behave, maintain relationships and relate to each other in a variety of ways. It also influences the attitude towards time and the attitude towards the environment. All these factors heighten the importance of ensuring that employees are trained in understanding the nuances of different cultural backgrounds before customer service excellence can be expected. The hospitality industry is diverse in nature and each customer is individual in his/her needs and wants. The same customer may have different needs and demands in different situations (Baum & Nickson, 1998). Cultural differences impact the outcome of business because according to Hofstede different cultures imply different mental programming (Gilbert & Tsao, 2000).

Structure And Culture Ikea And Lego Commerce Essay

Structure And Culture Ikea And Lego Commerce Essay In this assignment I am meant to be working for an organization holding a trainee management consultant and at the end of my training I have to submit a report. My report will be about two private organizations where I discuss their structure and culture, how it affects the business performance. I also need to research how each company deals with their employees and problems faced with employees. An important figure is picked for each company and have discussed the leadership style used by both. In addition I explore the classical approaches which are being used in the companys and the different techniques to management used by each organization. In my PowerPoint presentation, I offer a consultation to my client organization on motivational theories and effective teamwork. Acknowledgement I Sayarah Saleem confirm and acknowledge the fact that this assignment was done by me alone. I have researched and studied the tasks given and have given the references from where I have obtained the information. Executive Summary The two private organizations that I have chosen are IKEA and LEGO in my report because I think its they are good examples of describing the structure and culture of each organization. They are both different in their own way , with how they deal with employee issues and how the organization is run. One is family oriented and the other , which got an outsider as a CEO in 2004 in order to change the company around. Table of Contents Task 1 1.Report 1.1 Analyze the structure and culture if the two organizations. In your analysis you have to engage in a comparison and contrasting of their structure and culture. 1.2 Further clearly evaluate how the structure of each company supports its culture and how this relationship effects business performance. 1.3 Explore and state what each company does in order to identify and solve employee behavioral problems. 2. Understand different approaches to management and leadership. 2.1 Select a prominent figure one from each company and compare the effectiveness of their leadership styles. 2.2 How to the two companies practice the classical approach to management. 2.3 Evaluate the different approaches to management used by the two organizations. In discussing your answer you have to use your knowledge on contingency approach to management. Task 2 Presentation References Bibliography Task 1 Task 1:Report Understand the relationship between organizational structure and culture IKEA LEGO 1.1 Lego began in the early 1930s by a gentleman named Ole Kirk Kristiansen and till date kept with the family, passed on by generation to the next generation. Lego has been named twice the toy of the century and has maintained the toy, the building brick. The organizational structure that Lego uses which best suits them is the functional structure, this structure is most widely used by companies. Basically the company has different departments to which they have delegated people to, and heads of that department according to the function. Some of these departments are Sales, Accounts, product development etc. Using this structure allows them to show the pyramid of hierarchy. It gives a clear view of the organizational chart and who are at the highest rank. Lego being based in so many countries uses a divisional structure which consists of three segments, and these are market, product and geographical. The other company which I have chosen to analyze is IKEA. IKEA was founded in 1943 by Ingvar Kamprad . IKEA is the worlds biggest furniture company that concentrates on innovative, fashionable furniture at inexpensive prices. Mr. Kamprad didnt want any normal organizational structure for the company, instead he formed a complex system of foundations, holding companies and trusts. The companys structure then divided into three for each of his son. The reason he did this was to prevent taxs and also to make sure that the company would not be divided due to family dispute. In actual fact IKEA is being held by a foundation which has a group under them that controls the companies that runs IKEAs individual operations. Between the two companies it is evident that while one has a typical corporate structure , the other is so committed in creating equality amongst the family and a fool proof method to ensure that the company will not be divided in the future. 1.2 The same way that Ikea has created their organizational structure they have also supported the company culture by sharing that they not just want to hire people but have a chance of bringing in unique individuals to share the same values of the company. To make them feel as they are all associates in the company. Not only does IKEA evaluate the person based on skills and expertise but also if they have the same culture as IKEA themselves. The assumption is that skills are easier to develop than personality traits, attitudes and values This in return promises happier employees who feel as if they are working for their own. Employees who like, themselves want to buy furniture, take it home and assemble at home will also make the customers feel the same. Lego on the other hand concentrated on their Danish values of hard work , modesty and teamwork. They look after their employees with respect and high standards, also incorporating global principles for those working overseas. Lego has always been strict about following all laws, rules and regulations in the countries they are in. Their employees in return offer their company which is so largely respected , great service, hard work and offer nothing but the best to their customers. 1.3 There are several different leadership methods which companies take on, IKEA however have not confined themselves to one particular method, instead taken the best parts of each method and combined their own. There is the Autocratic style, which is the basic team and supervisor style, Democratic , which allows the employee to think and make decisions on behalf of the company. Laissez Faire , where employees are given few guidelines and limits to carry out activities , which gives them freedom but may result in less productive work. Consultative is like the democratic style, very alike. Finally we have paternalistic where the manager , supervisor has tough ideas where he will require input and ideas for developing the business from the employees. By doing this IKEA has been able to avoid large scale employee behavioral problems. This is not to say that they dont have employees who have been disappointed either by not keeping their promise on pay raises and not even considering thei r opinions. IWAY which is IKEAs code of conduct, assures their employees the right to organize and order all overtime be voluntary. They also ensure wages are paid on time and not be withheld. Employees are entitled to medical, social insurance and pension. This way IKEA allows their co-workers their freedom and benefit all legal rights. IKEA hires a law firm called Jackson Lewis to encourage workers to attend meetings in order to discourage unions. One of Legos important rules was to maintain employees safety, therefore they set a goal to reach the top ten safe places to work for employees by 2015. Their main concern was to improve and maintain the work-life balance; this is basically to retain the employees motivation and satisfaction with their position at Lego. Lego has their system of flexible work hours, work from home option which are all ideal mainly for a working mother has made themselves enter Working Mother Magazine 100 best companies list . Lego involve themselves in providing wellness programs and leave entitlement for the mother up to 26 weeks of leave with their job assured of. Families looking to adopt are entitled to $5000 and fertility treatments are fully covered. Task 2 2.1 Lego Jorgen Vig Knudstorp is a leading and most prominent figure at lego, he has had the most challenging role of having revive Lego as the company had taken a turn for the worst. Mr. Knudstorp knew that in order to change things around he needed to be trusted and relied on. Doing so Mr. Knudstorp would be able to incorporate new methods to revive Lego from its low. He was an intelligent man to believe that for things to be done he needed to managing at eye level which meant liaising with the production workers, engineers , discussing to reduce sales declining with the sales and marketing department. Jorgen Vig Knudstorp reminded the management that they were there to maximize the firms value, this would be identififying why till date the lego group exists. He wanted their to be a less strict structure and a more free management style from the bottom to the top, empowering employees to make decisions at all levels. Jorgen Vig Knudstorp used the strategic leadership style, this which made employees share values,visons and goals, strengthening them to make decisions with minimum monitoring. It is defined that a strategic leader persuades for change and looks for new ways ideas, and improvement to better the company in order to allow the company to move onward. IKEA Ingvar Kamprad the founder of ikea, being a school dropout and began making furniture at the age of 17 uses the democratic style of leadership to run his company. Mr. Kamprad encouraged parallel management so that each can manage their purpose effectively. The reason for this same level management was so that employees opinion and feedback will help them feel like they are required in the company. This in return makes the employees want to work harder and feel as if they are working for their own. Mr. Kamprad however did have many things under his control like the financial details and of the companys structure. He encouraged his employees to work hard with stern business beliefs however to still have fun whilst working for IKEA, he preferred giving guidelines, showing methods of how things should be done instead of revealing authority and giving out orders. 2.2 Since the classical approach is purely based on acknowledging the idea that only the economical and physical needs of the employee are important and that their personal life and job satisfaction are irrelevant, Lego however believes strongly in allowing their employees to work freely within the organization. It is a place where all share the same value, of empowering children to learn. Lego wanted to strive to be the best toy company instead of being the biggest. The classical approach includes scientific, administrative and bureaucratic management. The scientific management theory was developed by Frederik Taylor (1856-1915). This theory had 4 steps, firstly by sorting the job into smaller pieces, then to pick the most capable employees to perform the job and train them, finally supervisors are used to monitor them. This theory came about at the time that organizations were large and industrialized to increase productivity to its maximum. Henri Fayol ( 1841-1925) developed a fourteen principles of management. These principles were: Division of Labor: to increase production and quality through specialization Authority and Responsibility: Where authority is shown, responsibility must be given and this works both ways. Discipline; Respect and order for the agreements between the company and their workers. Line of Authority: Clear view of the company hierarchy Centralization: Authority is given only to the highest in command. Unity of Direction: All are on the same track to lead the organization. Unity of command: Employee receives instructions from only one supervisor/manager. Order: Every employee is placed where they would contribute the most. Initiative: Creating action plans and carrying it out. Equity: Take care of all employees fairly with respect. Remuneration of personnel: Payment of salaries to employees accordingly. Stability of Tenure: to provide long term employment. General interest over individual interest: the companys priority will be before the employees. Esprit de corps: Harmony of the employees brings a strong union. Mr. Kamprad of IKEA believed that the workplace should be like everyday life, being free and at ease, instead wearing formal work attire, addressing colleagues in a personal manner. The company arranges once a year for at least week for the managers to work in the showrooms and warehouses. New ideas and innovations were always welcome at IKEA, the employees were always encouraged to come up with creative solutions. How did the concept of customers picking up their purchases arise? This is when they realized in order to cost cut and provide quick service, to engage in customers in self-selection. The customers choose their items, write them down and go down to the warehouse to collect their items. IKEA has a mission of spreading the companies philosophies and practices throughout the organization by assigning IKEA ambassadors that had been specifically trained and placed strategically within the company. They would in turn train their subordinates and act as role models. In my report it is evident that both IKEA and Lego do not have a strict list of management procedures which have brought them to where they are today. Bearing in mind that in 2004, when Lego CEO Jorgen Vig Knudstorp joined the organization he needed to save the company from the dire state that it was in. This required that whichever practices that were taking place needed to be evaluated and changed in order to revive the company. IKEA being a family oriented company, is not particularly head by the founders sons. Instead created a holdings company that managed the IKEA organization which was run by Mr. Kamprads sons. By studying and researching both companies it is safe to say that there is no exact approach to management followed by each. The contingency approach also known as situational approach supports the thought that there is no one best way to management. Each organization just like humans and conditions can change and differ from time to time. Therefore by studying the current situation of the organization, will the management of the company know what practices to enforce. Management had to think of environmental factors, for example weather, technology that could alter the organizations productivity.

Computer Culture :: Technology Internet Essays

Computer Culture I registered for this capstone course simply because its description in the English Department course guide intrigued me. I never imagined that the central issues of the course would intersect so often and so dynamically with the postmodern ideas of truth and representation in which I was already immersed. I first articulated (for myself) the differences between oral and literate culture in a post to our class listserv on November 15, 2001. The major difference between oral and literate cultures is the primacy of the word itself. In oral culture, the words are everything; they are performance, they are meaning, and they are central to all understanding and memory. In literate culture, the words have been once removed by the representation of written language; they are now letters on a page. The sounds and actions are lost and the interpretation of language becomes more private and individual. Instead of being experienced, as in oral culture, words are simply absorbed in literate culture. These ideas are further illustrated by referring to Metaphors We Live By, by George Lakoff and Mark Johnson. An obvious focal point of the book, and the idea that my first summary for this class explored, is the notion that the title implies: we live by certain dominant metaphors. This is a function of oral culture despite the fact that we live in a predominantly literate culture. After certain metaphors become commonplace to speak in and with, they begin to transcend speech; they enter thought processes and allow people to not only speak, but also think, in the dominant metaphorical concepts of the culture. The concept love, for example, is structured mostly in metaphorical terms: love is a journey, love is a patient, love is a physical force, love is madness, love is war, etc. The concept of love has a core that is minimally structured by the subcategorization love is an emotion and by links to other emotions, e.g., liking. This is typical of emotional concepts, which are not clearly delineated in our experience in any direct fashion and therefore must be comprehended primarily indirectly, via metaphor. (85) This excerpt from Metaphors We Live By aptly supports the idea that people think in terms of metaphor, and thereby experience metaphor in the structures of oral culture as much as (if not more than) literate culture.

Becoming an Alpha Male

Does this sound like you? Are you the guy that women just want to be friends with? Do you have lots of women pals but not lovers? Do women try to push you around, control you or make all the decisions in your relationship? Do you wish you had the confidence and authoritative presence to be in charge of social and business situations?Do your own insecurities keep you from achieving your own potential? Do you wish your sex life was more creative, exotic and fulfilling? This is the plight of what nature calls the beta male – the lesser man.The beta male shrinks into the background and rarely exerts any type of control. He allows himself to be the fallback guy for women, to be controlled by them, and relegated only to asexual pals. He gets very little sex, and what he does get is uncreative and boring. He is not able to assert himself with women or men and has very little chance of achieving his dream in life and love. Beta males do everything in their power to try to please a wom an, but no matter how hard they try, women just push them away and push them around.Beta males are taken advantage of by their friends and by their female companions. Beta males are the â€Å"nice guys† who get caught up in the web of deceitful games that women play and end up losing out in all ways possible while their friends, the alpha males, get all the hot women and all the sex they can handle. After a while, these beta males fall out of reality and become even less attractive to women. Shake off the beta male image now! Learn how to be the alpha male! Be the first guy to get this hot new guide on how to command attention from women by learning the techniques of the alpha male!The alpha male always gets the first pick of woman because of the skills that you will learn in this exciting new guide. Be the master of sexual experiences and social opportunities beyond your wildest dreams. The alpha male gets what he wants, and that guy can be and will be you! You can and will be an alpha male. Forget what you have ever thought about relating to women as a beta male. This informative and innovative new book, Becoming an Alpha Male, will retrain you in how to be dominant, aggressive and completely irresistible to women. That beta male attitude will be gone forever!Beta males are frequently the subject of abuse by hot women. How many times have you wined and dined a woman, only to take her back to your place to find out that she doesn’t want to have an intimate relationship with you because she sees you as just a â€Å"friend†. And how many times does it seem to you that the harder you tried to please a woman, the more she regards you as a just that – a nice friend and does not want to take the relationship with you further. These situations happen because hot women have learned the benefits of preying on what they believe to be men’s motives – desiring them for sex or dating!.In many situations, beta males always cede pow er to the hot women who then become bored with being regarded as superior by these very guys. She is actually looking for the guy who will be a challenge to her. This guy will treat her as just an equal or less and be confident of his ability to attract her without resorting to giving expensive gifts, performing favors, or excessively lowering himself to win her approval. This is the behavior that she finds attractive. The guy who is able to do this exudes an inner belief that he thinks he is able to attract women, and women are attracted to this quiet self-confidence.Consequently, alphas are irresistible to women. The betas who do everything they can to win over a woman’s approval are sabotaging their own efforts, and the more they try, the more women are turned off by them. – How does one shed off the beta male image to move into the alpha male zone, or – How does one cultivate and manifest all the qualities of an alpha male that will quietly attract women, ag ainst their subconscious will and beyond their own awareness? These will be among the major challenges addressed in this book, which you will learn after going over the tips in detail.This article offers only a skeletal preview of the tactics and techniques involved. Get a complete and FREE COPY of the book now for a thorough explanation on the tips. Also, it is no myth that hot women are frequently given their power by beta males, who are willing to accept compromises and even self-abuses in order to get these women. This behavior makes hot women unusually arrogant and ready to walk over you if you are seen to be the next guy that is going after her. Thus betas find getting these women to date them to be nearly impossible.If you do not wish to settle for less, however, this book is for you. It will teach you how to re-establish the playing field, how to become the dominant party in the relationship, how to get hot women to relinquish those powers that they have been given by the be tas, and get them to instinctively surrender to you. Tips to enable you to avoid playing into a hot woman’s games, to avoid being abused by her like the betas who inadvertently became her victims, will be covered in depth in the book, as will the tips on how to lower a hot woman’s esteem and ego, or arrogance.All these will turn you from being a predator to the target and make you that much more different and harder-to-get than other men, and you can turn from being the hunter to the hunted. While betas yearn to sleep with a hot woman, but fail to get her attention, you would be able to sleep with many as you wish and make hot women accept compromises in order to be with you, if you learn how to develop the Alpha Male combination of inner self-confidence and masculine dominance that attracts women. In other words, you can even have hot women tolerate abuses and mistreatments from you, and they will still yearn to sleep with you.Therefore, this book teaches you the tips on how to move quickly through transition phase from being a beta into a hot, confident, but also dominant alpha male that attracts hot women and makes them pursue you. Maintaining their threshold of power, alpha males attract hot women to them, but do not have to accept any compromises themselves and can even have their own picks and selections of any hot women they wish. Hot women simply cannot interfere and block their decisions! Have you ever seen how easily jerks discard their choices of beautiful babes and get themselves new ones almost effortlessly?Jerks are one extreme example of males who attract with dominance and self-confidence. But alpha males can achieve the same thing without being as abusive as jerks. The similarity, however, is that by being an alpha male, you will get women, especially hot women, with success, and not get tossed over by arrogant hotties! Those days will be history pretty soon. And all these and more will be precipitated into realities, but only if you learn how to transform yourself from being a beta male today into an dominant, alpha male, which is the intended purpose for this ebook.

How is horror created in ‘The Pit and the Pendulum’? Essay

In the short story ‘The Pit and the Pendulum’ by Edgar Allan Poe, he uses many different techniques to create horror. Poe starts off by stating that the narrator was ‘sick – sick unto death’. The repetition of the word sick here emphasis how bad he feels, also ‘sick unto death’ suggests that he already feels like he is dead. Death is emphasised more with ‘the dread sentence of death’. This emphasis on death is telling us that he is metaphorically already dead. Poe then describes the expressions on the black robed judge’s face as ‘stern contempt of human torture’. This description suggests a grotesque look upon their face. The word torture also gives a sense of capture, which is also emphasised by ‘permitted to sit’ as permitted gives a feeling that someone is keeping authority over him at all time. Death is once again emphasised as he describes the darkness as a soul descending ‘into Hades’. With Hades being the Greek God of the underworld it is like the narrator has been enveloped by death. Again it is emphasised by, ‘How at least shall we distinguish its shadows from those of the tomb?’, this description tells us that the narrator is not sure whether or not he is dead or alive. Or this could suggest that he is coming to accept the fact that this place is going to be his tomb as there is no escape in sight. The narrator describes how he dares ‘not to employ my vision’. This shows us that he is afraid to open his eyes as he is afraid that he will either see some terrible sights before him. Or that he will open his eyes and there will be nothing and he will be dead. When he opens his eyes he describes it as ‘the blackness of eternal night encompassed me’. This shows us that his surroundings completely and utterly black, there is nothing to be seen. This suggests horror as many people are scared of what lurks in the dark. He then goes on to say ‘Yet not for a moment did I suppose myself actually dead’, this description tells us that, while he did not actually think he was dead, he had to have felt like that. Poe uses real life locations that had places of torture during the Spanish inquisition as a description, ‘as well as the condemned cells at Toledo’. This use of real life locations gives an insight to how gruesome the torturing that the narrator is going through even more gruesome as they really exsisted. The theme of light plays a large part in creating horror. The narrator first describes how he is desperate ‘in the hope of catching some faint ray of light’ this shows he is starting to get slightly crazy in the hope of seeing light. He also describes it as a ‘subterranean world of darkness’, which is effective as the dungeon was described as ‘damp’ earlier in the story. When the narrator is exploring the inside of the prison, he describes the one of the smells as ‘decayed fungus.’ This is effective as the decaying is the plant dying and it foreshadows the fact that he will also be dying in the dungeon. Foreshadowing is used again with ‘a sullen plunge into water’, which gives horror as we can tell that this is going to be his fate. Sound then comes into play in his story, ‘loud echoes’ shows us the enormous size of the pit and the dungeon in general. It also comes into play as he ‘trembled at the sound’ of his own voice. This shows that the dungeon is normally extremely quiet, or that he is extremely scared to the point that even his own voice will scare him. Poe once again starts to describe the feeling of death, and how the narrator is starting to accept his fate. He does this by describing how he is ‘resolving there to perish rather than risk the terrors of the wells,’ this not only shows us that is has no problem with dying in there anymore, but it also shows us that the dungeon is absolutely terrifying if the narrator decides that he would rather die than venture through it anymore. This is also shown a little later as he describes his sleep as ‘a sleep like that of death’, showing that there is no escape and that even in sleep he still feels like death is upon him. One great use of description is the ‘painted figure of time’ that resides on the roof. This symbolism is showing us that the narrator’s time is up and he will soon die. He then goes on to describe that there is a ‘scythe’ with the painting of time. This adds to the fact that he will soon die as a scythe is commonly represented with the sign of death, as death is usually depicted as a skeleton, which the figures were described to have ‘skeleton forms’, with a black robe, which was also seen on the judges, and a scythe. This constant symbolism of death shows us greatly that the narrator has no other choice and he will die. The narrator also describes that he saw ‘enormous rats’ traversing the floors. The fact that they are enormous also tells us that there were probably people in the dungeons either alongside the narrator or before him, as for them to be big they must have eaten. This theory is slightly hinted upon as the narrator described their eyes as ‘ravenous’ which suggests that they have eaten human before and recognize him as food. The narrator realises this is but one more of the many things here that could kill him. While Poe referenced to Hades and the underworld earlier, he does something similar as he described the pit ‘typical of hell’. This description of the pit, referring it to the afterlife, once again adds to this looming fear of death that has been present throughout the entirety of the story. He also describes it as the ‘Ultima Thule of all their punishments’. This means that it is the worst possible thing that they could ever do to anybody, and the fact that the narrator just merely misses it is complete luck. But, as in a place like that there is no luck, it is obvious that it is going to be his fate in the end. The narrator seems to start losing his sanity as he starts ‘smiling at the glittering death’ of the pendulum coming towards him. But from his point of view he can see the pendulum coming towards his as a source of definite death, and not aimless wandering around the same corridor for an undetermined amount of time. Poe starts describing the pendulum through personification. He describes how its ‘acrid breath’ found its way into the narrators nose, and how, as it was descending, it was ‘hissing’. These things make you feel like the pendulum itself is alive and wants to kill the narrator. The narrator describes how he had a ‘frenzied pleasure’ in watching the pendulum come down. Poe reflects this in his writing, ‘Down — steadily down’, ‘Down — certainly and relentlessly down!’, ‘Down — still unceasingly — still inevitably down’. The repetition of ‘down’ is showing us how all the narrator can see is the gleaming of the pendulum coming ever so slightly towards him with every swing. The words used in describing the movement of the pendulum downwards are also effective. ‘Unceasingly’ and ‘inevitably’ tell us that the narrator is starting to get worried at the downward movement of the pendulum. Poe takes advantage of the fears of the readers in order to make the story full of horror. This was easily achieved when he writes that the narrator’s ‘every motion was being undoubtedly watched. This works greatly as it makes it more relatable to the reader as nearly everybody has had the feeling that they are being watched and knows how terrifying it feels. He describes being watched later on as well as he describes that ‘demon eyes’ were glaring upon him ‘in a thousand directions’. This adds to the readers fears and makes them uneasy while reading the rest of the story. Once again the narrator is starting to come to terms with the fact that he is going to die as even after escaping from the threat of the pendulum he says that he had ‘but escaped death in one form of agony, to be delivered unto worse than death in some other.’ This shows us that he has given up trying to escape as he knows that he will just be given an even worse punishment in the end. Then it is described when the thought of being crushed by the metal walls as ‘fiery destruction’ is in contrast to the description in the ‘coolness of the well’. These descriptions used make the option of the pit seem like the worse of two evils, like the coolness of the pit will relieve him from the fiery destruction of the enclosing walls. This shows how desperate the narrator is to survive. Many of the different techniques that Poe used to create horror so that the reader feels more involved in the story. He uses real places so we feel more drawn into the story. He uses great description of the surroundings so we feel more involved and he gives us the inner monologue of the character so we can feel more involved and it keeps us wanting more.

Gustave Caillebottes The Orange Trees essays

Gustave Caillebottes The Orange Trees essays The work chosen for evaluation in this essay is Gustave Caillebottes 1878 oil on canvas painting titled The Orange Trees, a 61 x 46 work in which two central human figures are positioned in a formal garden in which orange trees are planted in sculpted boxes. The male figure in the foreground is the artists brother, Marital; he wears a straw hat and purple shoes and is depicted reading a newspaper or magazine, his back to the artist, and his head bent over the reading material. In the background is the artists cousin, Zoe, who wears a striped dress and red boots and who is bending over one of the boxed orange trees in a very formal garden. Also present in the picture are formal, wrought iron garden chairs and a winding path surrounded by formal plantings. According to the Museum of Fine Arts of Houston (MFAH) Web site (1), Capturing the specific light effects of midday, Gustave Caillebotte contrasts the cool colors of shade with the dazzling, flattening effects of direct sunlight. The painting by Caillebotte employs a diagonal line moving from the lower left side of the canvas as one views it to the upper right side, creating a fairly geometric shape that is nevertheless organic in its flow (a feature made possible by the winding path that moves through the garden, balanced by a patch of brightly colored flowers). The texture is typical of the Impressionists, employing alternating patches of depth and surface paint to create variations in tone and in the interplay of light and shadow. Balance is achieved through an asymmetrical placement of the two human figures and the winding path, juxtaposed against the darker boxed orange trees. The focal point at the foreground of the painting is the artists seated brother; the focal point in the rear is the artists standing cousin, but the curving path creates movement from the bottom to the top of the canvas. This curve also emphasize ...

The Civil War and the Complexities of the Abolition essays

The Civil War and the Complexities of the Abolition essays There were many conflicts, reasons, and struggles that brought about the American Civil War, but there is no question that one of the hottest, most debated issues at that time was the issue of slavery. Should it be abolished? Should it be tolerated? Was it a state issue, or a federal one? Many questions arose about freedom, economics, consequences of abolition, and moralities of slavery. The people that supported the emancipation of slaves and the abolition of slavery had a united purpose, but did they have common incentives? Was the anti-slavery movement a movement towards racial equality, or did the push for abolition coexist with white supremacy? This paper seeks to look further into those who supported abolition before the Civil War and to examine their motives to see the complexities of the time in the areas of society and politics. First, a new wave of thinking was arising within society. The thought that slavery was oppression, sinful and contradictory began to take root. It started with David Walker, a black man who was born free, who wrote the first anti-slavery protest published in 1829 entitled "An Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World..." It discussed slavery as a product of American greed that contradicted the core of the nation and advocated violence as self-defense. This appeal has been shown to encourage slave revolts throughout the slave communities, and in 1831 Nat Turner led 70 other slaves into the largest, bloodiest slave rebellion moving from plantation to plantation, killing white families, totaling 60 people. This sudden violence led to the establishment of the Colonizationists, who were comprised mostly of southern, white plantation owners. Fearing for their lives, these members were for the abolition of slavery, and to "recolonize" all blacks back to Africa, for their safety, not fo r the benefit of the slaves. In 1832, William Lloyd Garrison established the American Anti-Slavery Society and furthe...

8 Expressions with the Word Quick

8 Expressions with the Word Quick 8 Expressions with the Word Quick 8 Expressions with the Word Quick By Maeve Maddox The English word quick is related to Latin vivus, â€Å"alive.† The version of the Apostle’s Creed I grew up with contains this sentence: â€Å"Thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead.† The line echoes 1 Peter 4:5 (KJV): ‘Who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead.† The â€Å"quick and the dead† are the â€Å"living and the dead.† When a fetus begins to move in the womb, it is said to quicken, that is, â€Å"show signs of life.† Because motion is an attribute of being alive, quick has come to have the additional meaning of â€Å"rapidity of movement.† The OED entry for quick offers numerous definitions, but this post is limited to eight idioms that employ the word in its senses of â€Å"living† and â€Å"rapid.† 1. quickie In the 1920s, quickie was Hollywood slang for a Grade B movie because such a film was made quickly, often in a few days. By the 1930s, the term was being used to mean â€Å"a quick act of coitus.† Nowadays, the sexual connotation seems to be the most common for the noun, but attributively, the word quickie is used to indicate that something took place quickly or was of brief duration, for example, â€Å"a quickie divorce,† â€Å"a quickie interview,† â€Å"a quickie nap,† etc. 2. quick and dirty The OED entry shows that quick-and-dirty was in use at the turn of the 19th century in reference to a restaurant or diner that served cheap, quick meals: â€Å"I was far too proud to ever think of becoming a house maid or a waitress in one of those quick and dirty lunch places† (1896). In modern usage, the phrase means â€Å"done or produced hastily but effectively; makeshift†- a meaning similar to that of â€Å"jerry-rigged.† 3. quick fix Although in use in the 1960s, the expression’s popularity began to rise in the 1980s. A â€Å"quick fix† is â€Å"a quick and easy remedy or solution.† Such a remedy is often expedient but temporary and fails to address underlying problems. 4. quick on the draw The stereotype of the Western gunslinger is that of a man who could draw his gun from its holster instantly. Another idiom that references the quickness of the gunslinger is â€Å"quick on the trigger.† Both mean â€Å"quick to act or react.† 5. quicksand Quicksand is a bed of sand usually saturated with water. Because it is semi-liquid, it tends to suck down objects that rest on its surface. The name derives from the fact that the bed shifts as if it were alive and breathing. Figuratively, quicksand implies something treacherous, dangerous, and difficult to get out of. For example: â€Å"It may be the only policy that can save us, long-term, from sinking into the  quicksand  of endless  war  and bankruptcy or nuclear Armageddon.† 6. quickset Stories set in the English countryside frequently include mention of quickset. Farmers separate fields with fences and hedges. Fences are made of dead wood. Quickset is a living hedge. Plants with thorns are preferred for this use, usually hawthorn. 7. quicksilver Anyone who has ever broken a thermometer and played with mercury can understand why the element is also known as quicksilver. Shiny silver in appearance, the substance moves as if it were alive. Figuratively, quicksilver is used in the sense of very fast or mercurial. It’s often used as an adjective. For example, â€Å"Colbert was as  quicksilver with  his  wit  as Fred [Astaire] was  with  his feet.†Ã‚   8. cut to the quick If in trimming your nails you cut too far, the pain informs you that you have cut yourself â€Å"to the quick.† This quick is the flesh below the nails or skin that hurts when it is cut. Figuratively, this kind of quick represents the essence of one’s being. The expression â€Å"to be cut to the quick† means, â€Å"to be deeply hurt.† For example, â€Å"His remark cut her to the quick.† Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Expressions category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Congratulations on or for?Rules for Capitalization in TitlesStarting a Business Letter with Dear Mr.

Bronx Elderly Care Charity Organization Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Bronx Elderly Care Charity Organization - Essay Example This essay discusses that the mission of the organization is â€Å"Providing care for the elderly for better lives†. The senior citizens deserve to have a comfortable life. Most of the elderly people are poor while the others are lonely due to busy family members. Lack of food and proper living conditions make the elderly people vulnerable to different diseases. Providing food and other essential needs helps them live a longer more comfortable life. The people cannot afford any medical care because of the poverty conditions. The organization thus goes ahead and helps the people settle their medical bills in case any of them falls sick.As the study highlights  the organization has workers always working round the clock. Different teams work together to ensure the senior citizens get the help they need. The people are in different teams of five people whose responsibilities go from accounting to managing to fieldwork. The employees with social science skills are sent to ensure the elderly are comfortable and also to discover new homeless, elderly people that could require help. There is a consistent reminder from the leaders about the importance of teamwork in performing our duties. The importance of collaboration is ensuring the organization gets its goals and fast results from the employees.  There is a team whose purpose is to look for sponsors and people who are to help the organization help the needy. The marketing team consists of people from different ethnicity groups.

Smoking Cessation Esay Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Smoking Cessation Esay - Essay Example In a population of 45 million adults in U.S. 21% are cigarette smokers (Gerhardt and Stuart, 2009). Major component of cigarette; nicotine is extremely addictive and it increases the level of dopamine in brain creating feelings of satisfaction and contentment. Cessation of smoking causes withdrawal symptoms. Smoking cessation ensures a better health quality of life by reducing the risks of coronary artery disease, stroke and COPD. According to Pignone and Salazar (2009), smoking cessation can increase life expectancy of up to 3 years in women smokers and 2 years in men. In other researches, the life expectancy of a non-smoker is 13-14 years higher than a smoker (Chandler and Rennard, 2010). Studies have confirmed that smoking cessation has inflicts immediate health benefits to the individual. Several interventions are successful in smoking cessation which includes counseling, pharmacotherapy or a combination of both. In this respect, the most important factor is client’s self chosen health goal to quit smoking and both pharmacotherapy and counseling prove to be useful for such patients, however, in patients with unwilling behavior to quit pharmacotherapy is ineffective. Medical counseling approach should emphasize on health and economic benefits of cessation, motivational interviews, patient education on disease risk factors, community/family support and relapse prevention. Pharmacological therapies consist of nicotine replacement therapy which includes nicotine patch, gums, lozenges, nasal sprays, inhalers etc. (Pignone and Salazar, 2009). All of these have shown to be equally effective in smoking cessation. In addition, anti-depressant therapy with drugs such as Bupropion, varenicline and Clonidine have been proven as effective smoking cessation agents. Several studies have suggested that a combination of these pharmacological therapies is quite effective i.e. nicotine gum with nicotine patch etc. (Chandler and Rennard, 2010). Non-pharmacological inter ventions include practices such as hypnosis, acupuncture, herbal supplement, support groups etc. Several studies have been conducted over the past few decades to relate smoking cessation and health promotion in individuals. Two of these are discussed below. Ellerbeck et al., (2009), studied the varying levels of disease management in randomized trials. The research divided the clients into three treatment groups i.e. pharmacotherapy alone (nicotine replacement and anti-depressant therapy i.e. bupropion), combined pharmacotherapy with moderate intensity disease management and high intensity disease management comprising of counseling and provider feedback on smokers with or without the desire to quit. For pharmacotherapy with moderate intensity disease management, 2 counseling calls were made in every 6 months whereas in high intensity disease management 6 counseling calls were made in 6 months. Results demonstrated that self reported abstinence rates were much better in moderate and high intensity disease management than in pharmacotherapy alone. 23.5% and 27.9% abstinence rates were reported respectively for these groups. This group (37-60% patients) reported to have discussed smoking cessation and its potential benefits with their physicians. Also, free

Collegeaged Drinking in USA Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Collegeaged Drinking in USA - Essay Example These figures, which are quite staggering, stand as a testament to the magnitude of the problem and underscore the importance of asking and answering the following question: what are the factors which drive college students to drink and can university policy annihilate this problem. Available evidence suggests that the primary factors are immaturity, lack of self-control and peer pressure, further suggesting that a well-designed policy response can stem the problem. There is strong evidence to suggest that heavy and binge drinking among college students are the outcome of psychosocial immaturity. Professors Fischer, Firthum, Pidock and Dowd, undertook an extensive study to identify alcohol drinking patterns amongst college students and their causes. Following a thorough review of the literature on the causes of binge and heavy drinking among college students, Fischer et al. surveyed 1,592 students (915). The research findings clearly indicated that the primary cause of heavy and binge drinking was psychosocial immaturity. This is itself, according to the researchers, was a problematic finding as the root causes of the said immaturity were traced back to the relationship the respondents had with their parents (915). Those who had experienced a less than healthy relationship with their parents or who had not benefited from a stable family environment, exhibited signs of psychosocial immaturity. This made them vulnerable to alcoholism (915-916). T he implication here is that family environment proved the most important predicator of susceptibility to alcohol abuse. While psychosocial immatirity has been identified as an important predictor of alcohol abuse among college students, lack of control is another. Psychology professors, Leeman, Fenton and Volpicelli contend that empirical evidence strongly suggests that heavy and binge drinking among college students is symptomatic of "impaired control" (42). Impaired control, which may be defined as "a breakdown of an intention to limit consumption in a particular situation" (42) has been identified as a trait common to the majority of college students who engage in binge and heavy drinking. These students may not have a prior intention to heavily drink in a particular situation and, indeed, need not have an alcohol abuse problem but they most certainly have a self-control problem. Their inability to control their drinking in a particular situation is indicative of their inability to control their own selves. In fact, the survey study conducted by Leeman, Fenton and Volpicelli shows that in many inst ances, students did not have any prior intention to engage in binge drinking and, quite importantly, had a contrary intention. Nevertheless, when finding themselves in a situation where alcohol is available and those around them are encouraging them to drink, they embark upon heavy drinking (44-45). While their inability to stop themselves or adhere to their original intent not to drink heavily may be construed as symptomatic of alcoholism, it is not necessarily so. Instead, it is symptomatic of an "impaired control" problem which may later escalate into a substance abuse problem (45-46). Therefore, a leading cause of binge and heavy drinking amongst college students may be identified as lack of

Social movements Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Social movements - Essay Example Marxism is defined by Wikipedia as the philosophical, social theory and political practice based on the works of Karl Marx, a known proponent of a social revolution to achieve full transformation of the state from capitalism to socialism. Its aim is to achieve equal distribution of wealth to all members of the society. This is totally opposite to the theory of capitalism that is often the system observed in western countries. Here, the labor force is treated as the major factor in the production of wealth rather than capital which is held only by a few. Existentialism on the other hand is a philosophical movement that gives meaning to human's existence in this world and seeks to value one's existence. Here, the meaning of life is given paramount consideration over other aspects such as politics, economy and sciences. It is opposed to the western's ideology on rationalism. Its core idea is that reality is not the consciousness but "being in this world." The first three principles are somehow related to each other in the sense that nationalism is the moving force behind the pursuit to industrialization and Marxism. Thus, it is nationalism that justifies the continued attempts to fully industrialize the economy and to distribute the wealth of the nation.

Scope management Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Scope management - Research Paper Example The study has successfully described certain issues related to project management such as just-in-time training of the employees, the leadership skills of the project managers and their leadership traits, the control system of the management, etc. These are important factors and proper regulation and control of these aspects shows significant results. This is what we see told in shape of Burj Khalifa. It not only represents human intelligence and masterpiece but also excellent skills and hard work of all those people who are being its existence. Burj Khalifa is the tallest building in the world. The year of completion of this project was in 2010. The entire site area of Burj Khalifa is about 104,201 sq m. The project area is about 454,249 sq m. The height of the building is about 828 m. The design of this building involves the use of cutting edge technology. William F. Baker is the structural designer of the building. It consists of about 30000 homes, 9 hotels, 3 hectares of parking land, about 19 residential towers, a mall, and a manmade lake of about 12 hectares. The construction of this project began on September 2004 and the construction of the exterior was completed by 2009. The building was officially opened on January 2010 (Burj Khalifa, 2009). The name of the architect was Adrian Smith. The name of the developer is Emaar Properties. Extensive planning was done before the building was constructed. The Y shape of the building was planned so that the effect of the wind on the building could be reduced. The Y shape of the building was easy to make and would foster constructability. The structural design which was planned for the building was "buttressed" core. Each wing consists of perimeter columns and concrete core of high performance. The result of this was that the tower became torsion ally very stiff. All the geometry was applied that helped

Do Moral Rights Adequately Protect the Author's Work against a Research Proposal

Do Moral Rights Adequately Protect the Author's Work against a Derogatory Treatment - Research Proposal Example It is important to address this issue, in order to arrive at some recommendations on how statutory limitations can be improved such that the integrity of original works is not compromised, especially within a digital environment. This research proposal, therefore, poses the question: â€Å"Do moral rights adequately protect the author’s work against a derogatory treatment?† This research proposal examines existing statutes to find out whether they provide adequate protection for an author’s moral rights. The preservation of these rights, which are the personal rights of the author, is vital to ensure that creators of original works of value and merit are not discouraged in their creative pursuits by the distortion of their works through the production of derogatory adaptations of their work. In order to adequately address the research question, this proposal includes an examination of case law and how the courts have addressed the issue of moral rights. Some comparisons are also made with international laws. Based upon the literature review and case law, it appears that UK statutory provisions are inadequate to protect an author’s moral rights and enhanced protection for moral rights is necessary, especially in a digital environment. The Copyrights, Designs and Patents Act of 1988 was framed to protect the rights of an author or original creator of a creative work.1 The CDPA protects copyright and rights of authors/creators for original work where there is a high level of human skill and labor that is involved in the production of the work2, with the objective of ensuring that the creator is rewarded for his innovative efforts and hard labor by acquiring the exclusive right to economic exploitation of his work.  

Scope management Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Scope management - Research Paper Example The study has successfully described certain issues related to project management such as just-in-time training of the employees, the leadership skills of the project managers and their leadership traits, the control system of the management, etc. These are important factors and proper regulation and control of these aspects shows significant results. This is what we see told in shape of Burj Khalifa. It not only represents human intelligence and masterpiece but also excellent skills and hard work of all those people who are being its existence. Burj Khalifa is the tallest building in the world. The year of completion of this project was in 2010. The entire site area of Burj Khalifa is about 104,201 sq m. The project area is about 454,249 sq m. The height of the building is about 828 m. The design of this building involves the use of cutting edge technology. William F. Baker is the structural designer of the building. It consists of about 30000 homes, 9 hotels, 3 hectares of parking land, about 19 residential towers, a mall, and a manmade lake of about 12 hectares. The construction of this project began on September 2004 and the construction of the exterior was completed by 2009. The building was officially opened on January 2010 (Burj Khalifa, 2009). The name of the architect was Adrian Smith. The name of the developer is Emaar Properties. Extensive planning was done before the building was constructed. The Y shape of the building was planned so that the effect of the wind on the building could be reduced. The Y shape of the building was easy to make and would foster constructability. The structural design which was planned for the building was "buttressed" core. Each wing consists of perimeter columns and concrete core of high performance. The result of this was that the tower became torsion ally very stiff. All the geometry was applied that helped

Ponzi Scheme of Bernard Madoff Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Ponzi Scheme of Bernard Madoff - Case Study Example The SEC embarked on an investigation in 2006 but concluded it in 2007 based on the finding that there were no proofs of fraud found. Nevertheless, Madoff was arrested on December 2008 and on March 2009 he officially confessed taking part in various crimes. He was sentenced to a 150-year imprisonment. The ethical issues in the Madoff case obviously concern fraud, defined as â€Å"any purposeful communication that deceives, manipulates, or conceals facts in order to create a false impression.† Apparently, Madoff offered false hopes to potential investors and gave fabricated investment reports or financial statements. He encouraged large investors to put money in his investment machine by using his established image as a reliable, esteemed, and successful businessman. Madoff is, particularly, guilty of consumer fraud, marketing fraud, and accounting fraud. He deceived potential investors for personal gain or, according to the investigators, to sustain the lavish lifestyle of his family, which is suggestive of consumer fraud. He committed marketing fraud by exaggerating possible returns on investment, which can also be called ‘puffery’, or implied falsity since he told potential investors that his investment machine will generate a steady source of profit but in fact, the returns come from the money of new investors which was risky. Lastly, he committed an accounting fraud by manipulating the financial statements of his company to avoid any detection of his wrongdoings. Madoff implicated educational, nonprofit, and charitable organizations by giving a contribution to them. Several of these organizations put money into the company of Madoff as a return of favor. His fraud forced a number of these organizations to shut down. The scandal also negatively influenced the public’s perception of investment companies.  

What Can We Expect From Input Enhancement?

What Can We Expect From Input Enhancement? Introduction Today, it is generally accepted that target grammatical form of L2 (second language) must be noticed to make acquisition happens and that SLA (second language acquisition) instruction must be integrated into language teaching by which the grammatical forms are presented to learners in meaningful context. IE (Input Enhancement), coined by Sharwood Smith (1991), is a deliberate manipulation to make specific grammatical features of L2 more salient. First of foremost, this technique underscores the fundamental role of input in language teaching. Likewise, the purpose of IE is to draw learners attention to target linguistic form in L2 input. According to Sharwood Smith (1991), learners could be led to noticing target form in two ways: Input Flood (IF) and Textual Enhancement (TE). Through IF, Sharwood Smith (1991) demonstrated the basic idea that the more frequent the exemplars of the target form appear in the input, the more likely the learners will notice the form. In other words, IF manipulates input by saturating L2 linguistic data with target form to draw learners attention. On the other hand, TE is a technique of manipulating the typographical features of a written text to increase the perceptual salience of target grammatical form. The typographical cues such as changing the font style, enlarging the character size, underlining, bolding, capitalizing, and highlighting with colours could be used. However, the question underpins the concept of IE is: Is it sufficient by exposing L2 manipulated input to learners? This question leads to further investigation as learners might not necessary parse the linguistic structure or make form-meaning connection. Therefore, a more specific question emerges: How effective is IE? Based on above discussion, this essay will argue that IE plays facilitative role in L2 learning. The purpose of this essay is to depict what aspects of IE could be fruitfully applied to design a language teaching activity. Review on the key empirical studies of IE will be presented in this essay. Throughout, advantages and limitations of IE will be identified within theoretical frameworks which underpin the stance. Then, we will describe how to overcome the shortfalls of IE by integrating IE with other interventions into classroom language teaching. Finally, IE implications and limitation on language teaching will be reiterated as conclusion. Before discussing the findings and implication of IE, we will first examine several input and noticing issues in SLA field. Input and Noticing Issues in SLA Research Wong (2005) defines of input as samples of language that learners are exposed to in a communicative context or setting (Wong, 2005:119). At the same time, VanPatten (2003) describes input as the language that a learner hears (or reads) that has some kind of communicative intent (VanPatten, 2003: 25). It is clearly to note that both definitions emphasise the terms of communicative. As claimed by VanPatten (2003), learners play communicative role to extract the meaning encoded in the meaning-bearing utterance or sentence. Through these interpretations, we could come to a understanding that L2 learning process engages learners as active participants in a communicative language classroom when they are exposed to L2 input. Despite of communicative value of input, it is generally agreed that input is prerequisite for L2 acquisition. However, there is a need to explore whether manipulation is essential to mediate input into intake. Perceivably, the distinction between input and intake has been drawn in SLA literature. For example, Sharwood Smith (1993) defines input as the potentially processable language data which are made available by chance or by design, to the language learner whereas intake as that part of input that has actually been processed and turned to knowledge of some kind (pp.167). This interpretation leads to ongoing debate about the role of consciousness and unconsciousness mechanism in learning process. Despite extensive research, it still remains controversial as to what type of cognitive mechanism is necessary for acquisition to occur (Svalberg, 2007: 289). Firstly, Krashen (1982) draws a distinction between learning and acquisition. Learning is the result of conscious process whereas acquisition is the product of subconscious process. According to Krashens (1982) strong Input Hypothesis, acquisition takes place when learners are exposed to comprehensible input which is a step more advanced than their current proficiency level. This perception not only implies that input is prerequisite for acquisition process, subconscious process also plays superior role compared to conscious process. In such a case, grammar instruction plays no role in L2 acquisition (Krashen, 1982). Comprehensible Input Hypothesis has thus provokes considerable debate in SLA domain. Among the researchers, Schmidt (1990), contrary to Krashens (1982) hypothesis, postulates that conscious awareness is crucial and necessary for L2 acquisition (p.27). According to Schmidt (1995: 20), only input noticed by learners will be mediated into intake. In contrast, disagree with Schmidts (1990) strong Noticing Hypothesis, Tomlin Villa (1994) posit that unconscious detection is the key process whereas conscious awareness only play facilitative role in L2 learning. Schmidt (1990) outlines six factors influencing noticing when learners process the input, including perceptual saliency of input, frequency of input, instruction, task demands, readiness of learner and processing capacity of learner. During the ongoing debates between the two positions, Sharwood Smith (1993) proposes IE techniques which are linked to Schmidts Noticing Hypothesis. IE techniques emphasise on the qualities of input, namely TE (related to input saliency) and IF (related to input frequency). Hereby, we could claim that the rationale for Sharwood Smiths (1993) IE is driven by Schmidts (1990, 1995) Noticing Hypothesis. That is, Noticing Hypothesis is the theoretical basis for IE. From this point, the debate has indubitably shifted away from general question of Is noticing necessary? to more specific questions of How noticing influence the learning outcome? and How intervention facilitate constrained grammar acquisition process? However, before we claim that IE is efficacy to facilitate L2 acquisition, we need to examine major empirical evidences in SLA research to justify our view on Sharwood Smiths notion. 2 Empirical Evidence of IE As mentioned before, the underpinning theoretical framework for IE is Schmidts (1990, 1995) Noticing Hypothesis. Although Noticing Hypothesis remains controversial, linguists (e.g. Alanen, 1995; Lee, 2002; Shook, 1994; White, 1998; Wong, 2001) has accumulated evidence over the last decade due to its important role in shedding light on how salient input can contribute to the acquisition of L2 target form. In this section, we will discuss the advantages and limitations of IE by reviewing empirical SLA studies on IF and TE. Various perspective of effectiveness such as degree of noticing, intake of forms, accurate production of forms and content comprehension will be examined along the discussion. Input Flood Empirical Evidence: Input Flood has positive effects Lee (2002) investigated the effects of input frequency on the incidental acquisition of Spanish future tense morphology. The subjects were 283 university students with different L1 backgrounds. The frequency of target form appeared in the input passages were 6, 10 and 16 exposures. In immediate post-test, he found frequency has positive effects on the comprehension and intake. In both immediate and delayed post-tests, 16F group outperformed 10F and 6F group significantly. White (1998) investigated the comparison effects of IF and TE on the acquisition of English possessive determiners (PD). 86 French children were divided into 3 treatment groups: textual enhanced input flood (IF-TE group), textual enhanced input flood plus extensive reading and listening (IF-TE+ group) and input flood without enhancement (IF group). In oral picture description task, all subjects experienced improvement. For the frequency of grammatical use, IF-TE+ significantly outperformed the IF-TE and IF group. However, there is no significant difference between IF-TE group and IF group. Empirical Evidence: Input flood has limited effects Trahey White (1993) investigated the effects of IF (positive evidence) on the acquisition of English adverb placement. Subjects were divided into 3 groups: IF group was given flooded positive evidence; IF-EI (A) group received flooded positive evidence and explicit instruction; IF-EI (Q) group received explicit instruction on question formation. They found IF group and IF-EI (A) group performed significantly better than IF-EI (Q) group on using correct word order. However, the results also revealed that IF group and IF-EI (Q) group used incorrect word order more than the IF-EI (A) group. Williams Evans (1998) examined the effects of IF (positive evidence) and explicit instruction on two English target forms: participial adjectives and the passive construction. The university students were divided into 3 groups: IF group received IF with no explicit instruction; IF-EI group received IF and explicit instruction on the forms, rules instruction and corrective feedback; and control group. For the participial adjective, both IF and IF-EI groups showed improvement. However, IF-EI group had significant higher score than IF group. This suggested that explicit instruction had greater effects than IF on this form. For the passive construction, both IF-EI and IF groups made greater improvement than the control group. However, there was no significant difference between IF-EI and IF groups. This suggested that explicit instruction has no greater effect than IF on this target form. Advantages of Input Flood Firstly, Sharwood Smith (1993, 2006) claims that the main purpose of IE is to enforce noticing. Studies show that IF increases learners attention on target forms without any explicit guidance. This incidental-driven technique provides linguistic materials that are essential for learning problem solution (Doughty William, 1998: 236). This statement is validated by Lees (2002) and Whites (1998) study. The findings supports the basic idea of IF that the more exemplars in a flood the better. Secondly, IF enhances content comprehension. The major advantage of IF is that it provides a lot of meaning-bearing input (Wong 2005: 42). With the availability of meaning-bearing input, learners are provided opportunities to capture the meaning embedded in words, syntax or morphology. In both immediate and delayed post-test, Lee (2002) found that input frequency has significant positive effects on the comprehension. Thus it could be noticed that through the exemplar-based and implicit learning method, learners could perform form-meaning connection and manage to penetrate the meaning of the message. Thirdly, IF fosters the intake of the target form. Lees (2002) study reported 16F group outperformed 10F and 6F group significantly in post-test. For recall task, 16F and 10F groups performed significantly better than 6F group. Results of oral picture description task in Whites (1998) study also revealed that all subjects experienced improvement in the use of English PD. However, there was no significant difference between IF-TE group and IF group, indicating that IF alone was sufficient to bring improvement whereas TE played no significant role on the correct use of the target form. Limitation of Input Flood First of all, studies reported that IF is a volatile technique. Findings from Williams Evans (1998) study suggested that forms did not behaviour uniformly in IF technique. Different form types can weaken or strengthen the effect of IF through their mutual interaction, as well as the interaction with other variables such as task requirement, individual differences, content complexity, and pragmatic information in the context (Han, Park Combs, 2008). Thus further investigation on how to eliminate or reduce the effect of the variables when using IF is worthwhile. Secondly, IF does not provide negative evidence. Trahey Whites (1993) study revealed the limitation of IF that the flood was not effective in helping learners to be aware of impossible positions or incorrect grammar (Wong, 2005) and explicit instruction such as negative evidence might be necessary. This situation was also demonstrated in White (1998) study, as subjects frequency use of English PD was increased by TE, but both IF and TE did not have help learners to use the grammatical form correctly. That is, no significant difference was found for the accuracy ratio between IF group, IF-TE group and IF-TE plus extensive reading and listening group. However, when measuring the frequency of grammatical use, IF-TE plus extensive reading and listening group significantly outperformed the IF-TE and IF group. These findings suggest that comprehensible input might be more effective than IE in the acquisition of English PD agreement rules. Again, this issue still remains controversial and is worth further investigation as Krashens Comprehensible Input Hypothesis is refuted by mostly SLA researchers. Nevertheless, this phenomenon might be explained by the statement that comprehension precedes production (Lightbown et al, 2002; Krashen, 1982). Wong (2005: 94) cautions that acquisition is slow and complex hence we could not expect learners to use target form correctly immediately after IE treatment. Thirdly, Input Flood is an implicit technique where no effort is done to direct learners to the embedded forms in the input (Wong, 2005). Whites (1998) study reported that a third of learners were confused about the purpose of the textual enhancement. The textually enhanced input failed to help the learners to figure out the English PD agreement rule. As seen from empirical evidence, IF is an easy-to-use technique. It could be modified and incorporated easily in the classrooms to emphasize specific target form (Cowan, 2008). However, IF imposes some limitations on language teaching pedagogy which is not as effective as other focus-on-form activities. The discussion of how to apply this technique in language teaching will be demonstrated in next section of this essay. Textual Enhancement Like IF, SLA studies on TE also report mixed results. Researchers found that TE has positive effects, has partial effects, and has no effect on L2 acquisition of grammatical features. While Leow (2001) and Leow at al. (2003) have only manipulated the input by TE as an independent variable, the other studies investigated effects of TE in the combination with other intervention . Empirical Evidence: Textual enhancement has positive effects Studies conducted by Jourdenais et al. (1995), Shook (1994), Wong (2001) revealed that TE had not only helps learners to notice the target forms in input, but it is also very effective for enhancing learners intake new grammatical forms. Shook (1994) investigated the effects of TE on Spanish present perfect tense and relative pronouns (quen/quein). The subjects were 125 university students. The results revealed that the two experimental groups who received the passages with TE performed significantly better than the control group in all tests. However, there was no significant difference between TE group and TE plus focus on form group, revealing that focus on form information played no role in L2 acquisition. Jourdenais et al.s (1995) investigated the effects of TE on the acquisition of Spanish preterite and imperfect past tense forms. Both enhanced and unenhanced versions came with pictures depicting the events of the story. Think-aloud protocols and a picture-based written narration task were used to collect data. Results indicated that TE increased noticing of target L2 form and had a significant positive effect on learners output. Empirical Evidence: Textual enhancement has limited effects Alanen (1995) examined the effects of TE and explicit information on the acquisition of semi-artificial Finnish locative suffixes and consonant changes. 36 English subjects were divided into 4 groups: unenhanced passages (UE group), unenhanced passages plus explicit information (UE-EI group), enhanced passages (TE group) and enhanced passages plus explicit information (TE-EI group). On the sentence completion test, TE group performed better than UE group. However, Alanen (1995) found that both EI groups performed significantly better than non-EI groups on both target forms. The result, contradict with Shooks (1994) study, indicated that explicit grammar instruction had greater positive impact than TE. Results from Whites (1998) study, discussed in the previous section of IF, revealed that TE increased the grammatical use of possessive determiners. However, its impact was not as significant as IF which brought greater improvement. White (1998) concluded that benefits resulting from the experimental treatment conditions were due to increased exposure through IF of target forms and not to any other kinds of enhancement (White, 1998: 103). This claim means IF is the only effective tool to enhance L2 acquisition in her study is. Izumi (2002) investigated the comparative effects of TE and output on the acquisition of English relative clause. Subjects were 61 adults with different L1 backgrounds. Explicit information was given to the subjects to attend to the highlighted form. The results found that output-input task brought measurable gains in target form acquisition. Those who received TE treatment failed to show significant gains in acquisition. Wong (2001) examined the effects of TE, simplified input and exposure to reading on the acquisition of French gender agreement of past participles. 81 English university learners were respectively exposed to four conditions: enhanced and simplified passages (TE-S group), enhanced and unsimplified passages (TE-US group), unenhanced and simplified passages (UE-S group), and unenhanced and unsimplified passages (UE-US group). It is found that TE and simplification had no significant effects on the intake of the target forms. However, TE had significant positive effects on the content comprehension. Empirical Evidence: Textual Enhancement has no (or negative) effects In Leows (1997) study the effects of textual length and TE were examined. 84 college learners were divided into 4 groups and were accordingly given an unenhanced long passage, an unenhanced short passage, an enhanced long passage and an enhanced short passage. Results revealed that TE has no effects on either comprehension or intake of the targeted form. Shorter text length improved comprehension but not the intake. Overstreet (1998) replicated Jourdenais et al.s (1995) study and found negative effects of TE. He combined two factors, namely TE (bolded, underlined, increased font size, different font types and shadowed) and topic familiarity on the acquisition of Spanish preterite and imperfect past tense forms. 50 university learners were given one story each, either enhanced or unenhanced. Neither factor significantly affected learners intake. Moreover, Overstreet (1998) found that TE negatively affected comprehension, mainly due to numerous types of enhancements (Lee Benati, 2007: 25). Leow (2001), after a few years of his study in 1997, conducted another study to investigate effect of TE on the acquisition and comprehension of Spanish formal imperative. He did not apply other invention but only TE in this study. The results once again revealed TE has no effects on intake and comprehension. Leow et al. (2003) examined the effects of TE on the acquisition of Spanish present perfect tense and present subjunctive mood. 72 university learners were divided into two groups. One group was given 2 enhanced passages and another group was given 2 unenhanced passages. Results showed that although subjects noticed the target forms when reading, TE did not enhance the intake of the target forms. S.Lee (2007), similar to Overstreets (1998) study, examined the effects of TE ( ±TE) and topic familiarity ( ±F) on English passive construction. 259 Korean subjects were divided to 4 groups: +E/+F group, -E/-F group, -E/+F group and +E/à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢F group. The results revealed that TE was beneficial for the intake of target form, but interestingly, negatively affected the comprehension. Advantages and Limitations of TE Some of above studies demonstrated that TE has significant impact on SLA, either in positive or negative ways. First of all, TE increases noticing. This technique offers more salient target form in written input that learners may easily miss (Wong, 2005: 49). Jourdenais et al. (1995) stated that typographical modification can be used as an effective technique for enhancing salience of language features (Jourdenais et al., 1995: 208). As evidence, both Leow et al. (2003) and Jourdenais et al. (1995) used think aloud protocols and reported that subjects noticed the typographically enhanced target forms when reading. Second, TE is effective to enhance intake of forms. For example, Alanen (1995)s study reported that TE group performed better than UE group in sentence completion test. This indicates the positive role of TE on the acquisition of L2 grammar. Jourdenais et al. (1995) also reported that TE had a significant effect on learners output. By contrast, TE failed to demonstrate positive impact on learners comprehension and intake in Leows (1997, 2001) and Overstreets (1998) studies. These studies demonstrated that implicit noticing is not as effective as explicit instruction and that, clearly, learners needed more help than the input provided (White, 1998: 102). Also, although subjects in both Leow et al.s (2003) and Jourdenais et al.s (1995) studies noticed the enhanced target forms, they performed differently in production. Jourdenais et al. (1995) found positive effect of TE on the intake of the target forms whereas Leow et al. (2003) reported that TE did not enhance the intake of the target forms. In addition, Izumi (2002) found that subjects who received TE treatment failed to show significant gains in acquisition, despite the positive impact on the noticing of the target form. More interestingly, output played significant role in his study. These findings are contradicted to Ellis (1997) claim that TE is effective to induce learners to undertake a kind of form function analysis of the structure, as this is exemplified in input that has been specially contrived to illustrate it (Ellis, 1997: 87). Therefore Polio (2007) states that Sharwood Smiths focus was what had been done to the input, rather than what happened in learners mind (Polio, 2007, cited in Gass Selinker, 2008: 388). However, this notion is inaccurate that Sharwood Smith (1991, 1993) has alerted that we should not rely solely on TE to increase learners attention. Noticing triggered artificially by TE might not result in intake. Although learners may notice the signals, the input may nevertheless be non-salient to their learning mechanism (Sharwood Smith, 1991: 21). As Ellis (1997) describes the use of TE focuses learners attention on specific linguistic features and assists them to encode the meaning embedded in the features, it is suggested here that TE should be integrated with other interventions for better result. Third, TE enhances comprehension. In Wong (2001)s study, TE had significant positive effects on the content comprehension, namely it enhanced the recall of the idea units that corresponded to the target forms. However, evidence from Overstreets (1998) and S.Lees (2007) studies suggested TE distracted learners attention from meaning. The results indicated that TE has negatively affected learners comprehension on the content of the passages. In spite of increasing evidence suggesting that TE can promote noticing of certain linguistic features, it remains a matter a debate whether or not it has simultaneously created a trade-off between intake and comprehension (Han, Park Combs, 2008). Also, Simard (2009) cautioned that selection and combination of different typographical cues lead to different impacts on the intakes. His study reported that the use of capital letters and a combination of 3 typographical cues promote the intake of the forms. Overstreets (1998) use of numerous types of typographical cues might lead to distraction and confusion thus did not enhance the acquisition. Therefore, in order to ensure the quality of instructional material, language teachers should select cues carefully. Fourth, TE is a volatile and changeable technique. In other words, external variables may affect the effectiveness of TE. For example, with no prior knowledge about the target forms, the technique is not beneficial to learners (e.g. Leow, 1997, 2001; Leow et al. 2003). Alanens (1995) study also reported that TE had different effects on different target grammatical forms. Age and puberty are other factors that might mitigate the effects of TE. In Whites (1998) study, the children who are still developing their L2 may have encountered a cognitive overload problem (Doughty William, 1998) and therefore constrained the learning process. Clearly, conflicting results on the impact of IE on acquisition, whether positive, limited or negative, are noticeable from previous studies. Several questions emerged subsequently from the review: are these mixed results attributed to different methodological designs that provide learners different degree of input quality and quantity? Or is it due to different grammatical forms targeted in different studies? If so, does this mean that different target forms are vulnerable variable that correspond to IE techniques in different ways? These insights are meaningful and important for the implication of IE in language pedagogy and will be discussed in following section. 3 Pedagogical Implications Nowadays it is common for language teachers to use IE techniques to enhance specific features of L2 in order to draw learners attention to target linguistic aspects. Although IE does not provide full and consistent picture to SLA pedagogy, it offers valuable information on how to deliberately draw learners attention to target forms. As shown, uncertainties still exist on the facilitative role of IF and TE in SLA research. The debate on Noticing Hypothesis still remains open while previous studies failed to show conclusive and consistent results on IE effectiveness. However, fortunately, the field has moved from the debate on the necessity of conscious noticing to the mixed results of IE efficacy. That is, the theoretical development has now provided a clearer window to take a glimpse and imply IE techniques more effectively to language pedagogy with underpinning SLA issues. In contrast with UG, IE is a sub-field of cognitive models which emphasis on how learners process and decode the input. It should be borne in mind that noticing triggered artificially by IE might not result in intake. This implies that one cannot be assured if the enhanced input will become comprehensible and that the effects of IE vary from case to case. In terms of Input Hypothesis (Krashen, 1982), we argues that input play roles in L2 acquisition with the aids of noticing. As stated by Wong (2005), once target form is noticed, learners need to make form-meaning connection to encode underlies linguistic rules correctly (p.90-91). This notion is in line with VanPattens (1996, 2003) input processing theory where intake is equalised to form-meaning connection. Thus IE and other focus on forms tasks such as processing instruction (VanPatten, 1996, 2003) and consciousness-raising tasks might be combined in language teaching for better results. Also, it is reckoned that output tasks might be integrated into SLA instruction when applying IE concept. Long (1996) distinguishes two types of input: positive evidence and negative evidence. In coherence with Longs notion, Sharwood Smith (1993) proposed both positive and negative IE techniques. IE and TE are positive IE whereas negative IE is basically feedback or negative evidence. When there is a gap between learners perception of L2 grammar and evidence in the input, then positive evidence (input) may triggers to change the grammar (Sharwood Smith, 1991: 122-123). On the other hand, when learners are being confronted with their own production (output), negative IE signals that given forms are incorrect, thus warns learners that they have violated the grammatical rules (Sharwood Smith, 1993: 177). This notion implies that IE approach not only adopts Schmidts Noticing Hypothesis as major foundation, but has also implies Longs Interaction Hypothesis as well as Swains (1995) Output Hypothesis. Apparently, Sharwood Smith proposal of negative evidence has been generally neglected by SLA researchers. Therefore, it would be beneficial if language teachers reckon that input (positive evidence) and output (negative evidence) are both important to promote acquisition with the aid of noticing. Particularly, Ellis (1997: 109) asserts that comprehensible input is derived from both input and interactional (output) modifications makes specific linguistic features more salient and facilitates the development of L2. Negotiate for meaning is thus beneficial to promote acquisition. It directs learners attention to focus on the form that initially caused understanding problems and also helps learners to modify their interlanguage production whenever the gap is being identified (Long, 1983; Pica, 1992). Likewise, Wong (2005) suggested that input should not be one-way instruction, namely simply giving input to L2 learners. Learners may be instructed to respond to the input through activities such as quiz, answering questions, story reconstructing, drawing based on oral directions and games. Hereby, interaction has been stressed in order to make the IF more meaningful to the learners. As pointed out by Wong (2005: 46, 60-61), instructors must always keep meaning communication as primary goal of language in attempts of enhancing the input. Attending to both meaning and form is important to make form-meaning connections possible. By this way, respond to the input is a crucial compartment for language learning. This insight is compatible to Ellis (1997) claim that input-based interpretation grammar instruction mediates input into intake. Accordingly, Lee VanPattens (1995: 51) proposal to use learners and classroom setting for language teaching could be combined with IE in a communicative language classroom. Instructors might integrate grammar teaching into authentic context. For example, input could be presented to learners through IF visually and verbally in a natural classroom setting. It will be beneficial if simple scenarios could be constructed. In addition, name of learners could be addressed in the sentence to promote further noticing, such as below: à §Ã… ½Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃƒ ¨Ã… ½Ã¢â‚¬ °Ãƒ ¦Ã…  Ã…  Ãƒ ©- ¨Ãƒ ¥Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã‚ ³Ãƒ ¤Ã‚ ¸Ã…  Ãƒ £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡ Mary BA door close up. à ¥Ã‚ ¤Ãƒ ¥Ã‚ Ã‚ «Ãƒ ¦Ã…  Ã…  Ãƒ ©Ã… ¾Ã¢â‚¬ ¹Ãƒ ¥Ã‚ ­Ã‚ Ãƒ §Ã‚ ©Ã‚ ¿Ãƒ ¤Ã‚ ¸Ã…  Ãƒ £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡ David BA shoes put on. à §Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¦Ãƒ §Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ °Ãƒ ¦Ã…  Ã…  Ãƒ ¦Ã‚ ¤Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ãƒ ¥Ã‚ ­Ã‚ Ãƒ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¹Ã‚ ¿Ãƒ ¥Ã‚ ¼Ã¢â€š ¬Ãƒ £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡ John BA chair move away.

History of Solar Advancements Essay -- History Historical Energy Sun E

History of Solar Advancements Our sun provides us with a virtually unlimited resource that we have used for centuries in a multiple of ways. We use it to keep us warm, to grow our food and generate millions if kilowatts of electricity. Everyday the sun showers the earth with more potential energy that we produce in that day or even that week. According to the Go Solar Company (1999-2003), †on an acre of land with the sun overhead is receiving more the four thousand horsepower, which is equivalent to a large railroad locomotive, and in less than three days of the same intensity will match the estimated total of all fossil fuels on the earth†. Many of the visionaries I will be talking about explored almost all the renewable energy options familiar today, and in less than 50 year they (independent and jointly) developed an impressive array of technologies for harnessing solar radiation and converting it to energy in the way of steam to power the machines of their respective eras. You will see that p rior to World War 1, they were using all of the solar thermal conversion methods now being considered, but after the War and for a better part of 50 years their work was nearly forgotten in the rush to develop fossil fuels for an â€Å"energy-hungery† world (Smith , 1995). When the term â€Å"solar energy† is mentioned the common thought is of recent technologies, or rather a young approach to energy production, this in fact is not entirely true. What is true is that since the dawning of the space age solar-conversion used for energy production has grown with leaps and bounds but this technology has been around for some time. In fact the first documented usages of solar-conversion are found in the writings of Homer (Iliad and the... ...e energy needs. As Frank Shuman declared more than 80 years ago, it is "the most rational source of power." Work Cited: History of Solar Energy. Broadcast on Sun. 16/12/00. Reported by Alexandra de Blas: Interview of John Perlin. Internet: Online Sept.16, 03. Bailey Howe lib. UVM Available: www.abc.net/ â€Å"History of Solar Power†. Go Solar Company. L.A. California. Copyright 1999-2003. Internet: Online Sept. 27, 03. Bailey Howe lib. UVM. Available: www.solarexpert.com Smith, C. History of Solar Energy: Revisiting Solar Power’s Past. Tech. Review. July 95. Internet: Online Sept. 16, 03. Bailey Howe lib. UVM. Available: www.solarenergy.com â€Å"The History of Solar Energy†.The Solar Energy Science Project. Environmental Portfolio. Penn State. 1999. Internet. Online Sept. 27, 03. Bailey Howe lib. UVM. Available: www.personal.psu.edu

Search for Identity in It’s Hard Enough Being Me :: Synthesis Essays

Search for Identity in It’s Hard Enough Being Me  Ã‚     Ã‚   In the essay "It’s Hard Enough Being Me," Anna Lisa Raya relates her experiences as a multicultural American at Columbia University in New York and the confusion she felt about her identity. She grew up in L.A. and mostly identified with her Mexican background, but occasionally with her Puerto Rican background as well. Upon arriving to New York however, she discovered that to everyone else, she was considered "Latina." She points out that a typical "Latina" must salsa dance, know Mexican history, and most importantly, speak Spanish. Raya argues that she doesn’t know any of these things, so how could this label apply to her? She’s caught between being a "sell-out" to her heritage, and at the same time a "spic" to Americans. She adds that trying to cope with college life and the confusion of searching for an identity is a burden. Anna Raya closes her essay by presenting a piece of advice she was given on how to deal with her identity. She was told that she should try to satisfy herself and not worry about other people’s opinions. Anna Lisa Raya’s essay is an informative account of life for a multicultural American as well as an important insight into how people of multicultural backgrounds handle the labels that are placed upon them, and the confusion it leads to in the attempt to find an identity. Searching for an identity in a society that seeks to place a label on each individual is a difficult task, especially for people of multicultural ancestry. Raya’s essay is an informative account of life for a multicultural American, because it is told from an actual multicultural author’s viewpoint. It gives the reader a sense that the information is accurate. It would be harder to accept the viewpoint if the author were for example, a white male writing about how a Mexican, Puerto Rican woman feels. As Connie Young Yu points out, information retold by someone who didn’t live the experiences is most often falsely perceived. Yu uses the example of white American historians writing about the lives of Chinese immigrants. Yu says that there is no accurate account for the lives of the immigrants, because they didn’t document their lives themselves. The little information that there is in history books only tells about their obvious accomplishments. There is no official understanding of their personal lives or feelings (Yu 30).