Managing Motivation at Technocraft

Managing Motivation at Technocraft Lea Darrigade Ines Gyselinck Mary Sagala Benjamin Seban Intercultural Management BS 1 Christophoros Lambridis I. Introduction This report talks about the working motivational problem shown by the workers in a small factory named Technocraft, located in the South East of England. It had slowed down the company’s function in producing high-quality sound recording equipment. The problem has risen to high labor turnover and difficulties in recruiting new employees. It led George Orwell Newell, the company chairman, to hire a consultant named Helen McKiernan to figure out the sources of the problems.In order to help figuring out the problem, George Orwell told Helen about his hypothesis of the lack of motivation in workers is because company’s location which is in the below-average national unemployment are, therefore most of the women workers, who work on the wiring, had no real reason to work since they already have husbands who can earn adequate wages to fulfill living necessities. However, Helen did not want to conclude the problem there. When Helen had done her research, she found out that the workers actually enjoyed their work, but hate to work for the company.In other words, the problem that halted the working motivation in workers is the management itself. II. Forms of inefficient management that leads to the lack of working motivation. a) Uncomforting regulation on working performance In a company, it is important to keep the relationship among the workers, including the manager and chairman, to be good so that they can have comfort in doing their jobs. However this failed to happen in Technocraft. This problem occurred since George elected Robert as the wiring Department supervisor.In order to boost the company’s production, Robert ended all informal working practices and excessive talking among the women workers on the shopfloor. Since then, all the wiring workers have resented his presence. This ma de the workers to be depressed working for the company. Moreover there was lack of honesty in Robert, when he did mistake in recognizing two women workers, who were late to work, with Elena and Veronica, who were hardworking workers in the company. Even though, he knew his mistake afterwards, his ego was too high to accept his mistake and apologize to Elena and Veronica.This caused the intense relation between workers and their advisors, which then lead to the slow growth of working production in the company. b) Productivity rise vs. Worker’s rewards From this report, we can see how productivity and motivation show their positive relation. Therefore company would do anything to increase the worker’s motivation. For example, in Technocraft, to increase their productivity, George initiated a program called â€Å"employee morale-boosting† to intensify worker’s motivation to do their jobs.To achieve a long-term progress in their work, there should be fairness and sincerity in all the effort that the manager do to boost the motivation in workers. For example, when George told the workers that they would obtain rewards if they work hard until they can achieve the production target of the year, however when the target was achieved, all the worker got was just tee-shirt. This shows no fairness to the workers. It showed no equality between the reward and the hard works that had been done. George doesn’t want to increase the production cost by giving them more bonus or other reward that are more equal to the workers’ hard works.III. What Helen & George should do a) Build good relationship among the low-skilled workers, their advisors and chairman In order to start a better future working expectation, George should apologize for the inconvenience and unfairness that happened to the workers. Therefore, workers can be more convinced for a better working condition that would happen in the future. This should be the initial step to b e done by George. On the other hand, Helen can help to convince the workers, by telling them that her research would help convey their burdens to the managers so they can be solved immediately. ) Enact a better management system 1) Be more understanding with employees behavior In order to improve the motivation in working, regulation established within the company should emphasize the comfort of workers. For example, there is no need to stop the out-of-work conversations among the workers while they are working because it would make the workers less comfortable in doing their works. It becomes more unnecessary if the works are easy to do. In addition, advisors need to listen more to the workers’ excuse for doing their mistakes.This is the only way to separate forgivable mistakes from the unforgivable ones. It becomes a forgivable mistake, if it cannot be avoided or there is logical reason behind it. This would help build a better relation between the workers and their advisor s, which create comfort to workers to do their jobs. 2) Pay the employees who work over time Last but not least, the company should pay an appropriate bonus wage the overtime workers. This has a big contribution to grow their motivation since there is an equivalent reward to achieve with the right amount of hard works to do.This policy would bring profit not only to the workers, but also to the company because it can obtain more productivity from the workers. Some people may think that this would increase the short-term cost of production. However the long-term profit would outweigh the short-term cost. Moreover the higher cost of production can be covered by higher price of the products. These higher price would then lead more profit, since the products would be produced more cause by the increase in worker’s motivation. Therefore, this idea would bring benefit to the company in the long term. IV.Effects of the solutions a) Do nothing By doing nothing, the problem remains an d the company may lose profits and portrays a weak image of him to his co-workers. But by doing nothing can give positives ways such as cheap in the short- term and avoiding the risks of making bigger mistakes b) There would be no more labor turnover & difficulties in recruiting new employees. After all, these solutions would bring more comfort to the working condition in the company. There is would less reason for worker willing resign. Moreover, it could lead to a competition for people to work there.Hence, managers or chairman need to keep a management that benefits both the workers and the company. c) Find a new management system The good management would automatically lead to better relation among workers, which then brings a better working atmosphere to work better. If this could happen, the productivity of the company would increase. On the other side, we don’t know if the new manager will be better than the other one: nicer, understanding and skilled. If we take this risk, it will take a lot of time and costs and at the end we are sure of nothing. If the manager d).Pay the employees working overtime. It could drive the employees and would out perform themselves, and also bring a long term financial investment for the company but could get more costs in short-term too. V. Theory and Conclusion We can see that the way George ‘s running his company would correspond to the Mc Clelland’s 3 needs theory. He wants to exercise influence and control others (Npower). He is looking for success and he fears of failure (Nachievement). Nonetheless he does not take care of his employees; he does not pay attention to his social group.In conclusion George does not follow the right way, he should follow the Frederick Herzberg ‘s theory, which means motivate his employees to do well job , respects hygiene in order to obtain job satisfaction from the employees. So finally the best solution for George and his company would be to pay more attention to the employees, make them feel good in the company, show that George is involved in the production process and moreover give to people the money they deserve. So it is a combination of the solution two and three.

Progressive Insurance Company

1. 1 Progressive Insurance Company offers its services to over 10 million people, making it one of the largest auto insurance companies in the U. S. A. There are various initiatives devised by Progressive to improve service quality under the five dimensions of service quality which are following. Reliability: a. Progressive offers a high-tech method for calculating auto insurance premiums on a pay-as-you-go basis to perform the promised, customized and differentiated services. b.Progressive group introduced Comparison Quotes: 1-800-AUTO-PRO, a technologically advanced auto insurance rate comparison-shopping service. c. A major innovation is Progressive’s implementation of fast service. With immediate response, Progressive could do their things better and reduce cost in business. Responsiveness: a. Progressive’s auto insurance policy is loaded with special features such as local response claims service, 24/7 live support and concierge level of claims service, without any additional fees. b. Progressive furnishes attractive discounts to their customers.These discounts can largely benefit people, who are good students, mature drivers or have a good driving record. c. Progressive’s innovative Gold Card could be broken in half, facilitating the exchange of information between drivers after an accident. Assurance: Progressive group offers auto insurance to all types of drivers. It respected for the customers and had effective communication with customers. Customers choose Progressive automobile insurance for its extensive coverage options, competitive rates and specialized claims service.Empathy: a. Since its inception, Progressive has followed an innovative approach to auto insurance. For customers who were unable to pay one annual payment, it allowed them to pay their premiums in monthly installments. b. Drivers who signed up for Autograph were offered an additional set of services that were unrelated to insurance. These service features, which included theft recovery, remote door unlocking, travel directions, low-battery detection, and emergency assistance help, were caring and sympathy to customers. Tangibles: . Progressive owned 350 local claims offices, which shared the information on the accident and customer through a centralized database, and 1400 IRV used for immediate response service. b. Progressive used Immediate Response Vehicles which were Ford vans outfitted with a desk, file cabinet, drapes, cell phones, generator, computer and printer, chairs, fax machine, and small refrigerator. The white vans, with the Progressive name emblazoned in blue, are tangible evidence of the care and service exhibited by Progressive. c.In the Houston office, a team consisted of ten persons with five in the field doing Immediate Response and five in the office answering phones , dispatching agents, and processing long-term claims. 1. 2 There exist two initiatives which either address the service dimensions not tackled by Progress ive or may further enhance the initiatives they have devised. a. Progressive could set up a department of service quality which is responsible for supervising the process of offering services, collecting the complaints of customers, and improving products and services from high quality perspective. . Progressive could attach more importance on human resource management through a comprehensive set of training, evaluation and incentive mechanism. Therefore, it is significant that stimulating claim representatives to work actively and newer reps to grow faster. 1. 3 a. Autograph relied on GPS satellites, mapping technology, and internal computers to determine when and how much a vehicle was driven. This information was uploaded monthly to Progressive’s database. b.Progressive’s ability to segment depended upon its sophisticated underwriting software, which allowed agents to set rates at finer levels than its competition. c. Advances in technology, particularly wireless te chnology and cell phones, made Progressive’s leap into 24/7 service possible. d. IR system facilitated the seamless flow of information and enabled Progressive claims representatives to work up estimates immediately. e. Progressive’s price segmenting consisted of data mining and extensive statistical analysis of customer behavior. f.Claims representatives relied on their cell phones in the early days of IR calling dispatchers to relay data and retrieve coverage information from the claims center and the company’s mainframe. 1. 4 Progressive Insurance has been selling reasonably-priced car insurance since 1937. They started by offering car insurance policies through independent insurance brokers. These brokers sold a variety of car insurance policies from various insurance companies. The initial policies were designed to provide insurance to consumers who were considered high-risk because of their driving record.The company has grown significantly since 1937 and now offers a wide variety of car insurance policies to all consumers. Progressive Insurance’s service oriented strategy has recreated the standard for how car insurance is sold and how claims are handled. –External customer Actions: Progressive enhanced customer satisfaction through various service manners. First, Progressive was one of the first insurers to enter the non-standard market, in which it quickly became a dominant player. , to offer their services for high-risk customers.Progressive’s strength lay in its ability to finely segment its customer base. Second, a major innovation was Progressive’s implementation of Immediate Response, which is one of the best ways to enhance customer satisfaction. Their mobile claims offices and Immediate Response Vehicles could verify information, soothe policyholders and expedite the claims process at the site of an accident. Third, Progressive’s Comparison Quotes provided prospective customers who called Progressive’s toll-free number with rates from Progressive and up to three competitors.In such way, they provided the multiply choice for consumer to compare different insurers. Measurements: The amount of complaints and advices collected from customers should be seriously considered. Besides, questionnaires could help Progressive know the first-hand information about the degree of customer satisfaction. –Financial Actions: Progressive set aside portion of the premiums collected from policyholders to cover losses. They invested funds set aside for loss reserves, unearned premium reserves, policyholders’ surplus, and shareholders’ equity.According to the Exhibit 2 table of Auto Insurance Costs and Profits,Progressive focus on cost reduction in several aspects including commissions fees, costs of operations, state premium taxes, and dividends to policyholders. Measurements: From Exhibit 5 table of Progressive Selected Financials, loss ratio, expense ratio, combined ratio could be necessary measurements for Progressive Insurance to understand the cost problems. –Internal business operations Actions: Progressive’s auto insurance was sold through both dedicated and independent agents as well as directly to the consumer via telephone and Internet.Meanwhile, Progressive made efforts on shortening the process of dealing with the customer request of car accident and other claims. Measurements: Progressive consequently se out to encourage policyholders to report accidents immediately. It instituted a Claims Reporting Index (CRI) that monitored how long it took a customer to report an accident. –Learning and growth Actions: Progressive had two simple operating principles: â€Å"hire the best† and â€Å"pay the most† for expressing employee satisfaction. They put their employees through crucible that is a highly competitive and challenging place to work.What’s more, Progressive was willing to train new representatives to help them grow faster to be more experienced ones. Measurements: Progressive had the best people in the industry as measured by education, intelligence, initiative, work ethic, and work record. Progressive could also utilize Employee Satisfaction Index including data from employee survey, focus groups, absenteeism, and voluntary terminations. 1. 5 The company is customer-oriented and has developed new business practices that use information technology with a customer focus.These IT practices are designed to provide high quality customer service and to create an environment in which the customer can quickly and easily purchase car insurance and handle their insurance claims. –Customer For external customer, purchase a boat or motorcycle policy on the Progressive website, customers can cut through the time and paperwork usually required to insure these vehicles. File a claim or manage the policy on Progressive website, customers can file your claim and monito r the settlement without having to phone or write to a claims representative.For internal customer, Progressive’s claims representatives relied on advanced technology, particularly wireless technology and cell phones to shorten turnaround time in responding to urgent accidents. –Financial For IT services provided to external and internal customers, Progressive focused on both revenue and cost. Progressive absorbed the cost of installing in the policyholder’s automobiles a GPS transponder, cellular communication system, and small computer as well as cabling and connectors (roughly $500 per vehicle). Besides, IT services provided by Progressive attracted more customers and increased revenue. -Internal IT operations Progressive should focus on how to optimize IT operation. The seamless flow of information facilitated by the Immediate Response system enabled Progressive to work up estimates immediately. Progressive could take actions to reduce downtime through bette r database capacity planning. –Learning and growth Progressive was committed to technological leadership in an industry that was growing increasingly excited about employing technologies such as GPS and cellular modems for enterprise growth. Progressive should provide more technical trainings to administrators.

Application Of The Behaviourist Perspective Psychology Essay

Application Of The Behaviourist Perspective Psychology Essay Operant conditioning is a process of learning, it was found by Burrhus Frederic Skinner BF Skinner. Skinner invented the operant conditioning chamber, also known as the Skinner Box. He innovated his own philosophy of science called radical behaviorism, and founded his own school of experimental research psychology – the experimental analysis of behavior. His analysis of human behavior culminated in his work Verbal Behavior, which has recently seen enormous increase in interest experimentally and in applied settings. Operant conditioning is a type of learning in which an individual’s behavior is modified by its consequences; the behavior may change in form, frequency, or strength. Operant conditioning is distinguished from classical conditioning in that operant conditioning deals with the modification of voluntary behavior or operant behavior. Operant behavior operates on the environment and is maintained by its consequences. Classical conditioning (also Pavlovian condi tioning or respondent conditioning) is a form of learning in which the conditioned stimulus (CS), comes to signal the occurrence of a second stimulus, the unconditioned stimulus (US). (A stimulus is a factor that causes a response in an organism.) The conditioned response is the learned response to the previously neutral stimulus. The US is usually a biologically significant stimulus such as food or pain that elicits a response from the start; this is called the unconditioned response (UR). The CS usually produces no particular response at first, but after conditioning it elicits the conditioned response (CR). Classical conditioning differs from operant or instrumental conditioning, in which behavior emitted by the subject is strengthened or weakened by its consequences (reward or punishment). This perspective is most useful in explaining our different ‘Learned’ behaviours. It lets us look at a specific behaviour and see where we got it from and how we got it. Changing behaviour is where we change our behaviour sometimes because of maybe a fear or phobia. Classical conditioning is used for explaining these but it is also good for helping us change these behaviours. There is a method to change phobic behaviour, this is called ‘Systematic Desensitisation’. You would put together a list of things that relate to the fear, and relax to the point where you are comfortable enough to look at the thing without being scared. Then you would move up to the next level of it. For example, if you were afraid of spiders, you would get comfortable with seeing a picture of a spider, then the next level would be having a spider in the room with you but in a cage, and this could progress up to you being able to hold the spider. This is called a ‘Hierarchy Of Fear’. Classical conditioning has also been used to treat other things like alcoholism, they are given a drug, when that drug is mixed with alcohol it causes them to feel sick and be sic k. They then associate alcohol with sick and unpleasantness. Application of the Social Learning Theory Social Learning Theory suggests that many things can influence our behaviour. This could be things like; Peers, Siblings, Parents, Television, Sports, Personalities and celebrities. If we see someone we admire behaving in a certain way, we are more likely to imitate them. Albert Bandura is a famous Psychologist at Stanford University. For almost six decades, he has been responsible for contributions to many fields of psychology, including social cognitive theory, therapy and personality psychology, and was also influential in the transition between behaviorism and cognitive psychology. He is known as the originator of social learning theory and the theory of self-efficacy, and is also responsible for the influential 1961 Bobo doll experiment. He felt that learning did not have to be conditioned or reinforced all the time. New behaviour could be could be learnt by observing others. Observational Theory refers to learning of a new behaviour through watching someone else perform the behaviour. This behaviour can be learnt but does not have to be reproduced unless the individual is motivated to perform the new behaviour. Role Theory suggests that because we live in a certain culture, come from a certain religion or are friends with certain types of groups, we adopt certain roles as we are expected to live up to certain expectations. It also suggests we change our roles to suit our environment. Bandura also thinks that our behaviour is influenced by the presence of others.

Foreign Market Entry and Diversification Research Paper - 3

Foreign Market Entry and Diversification - Research Paper Example y diversify for better opportunities, to leverage the competencies as well as capabilities by way of expanding into business where the firm’s resources can be used as competitive assets. Also to some extend diversifying will help the company to minimize the risk but as pointed earlier the risk involved is high. There is no guarantee that the business will succeed (Rao, et al, 2009, 228). The publishing company which deals with books and other publishing items should continue with its business and go for related diversification. The publishing company should opt for related diversification strategy and involve into acquisition of business which are related in terms of technology, products or markets. Related diversification also termed as concentric diversification occurs when combined profit tends to increase the opportunities and strengths and thereby minimizes the threats and weakness (Orcullo, 2008, 76). Thus the publishing firm may search for new business whose product, market, distribution is similar to that of its own and where acquisition would result in â€Å"synergy.† Thus the company in order to create synergy should enter into related diversification and share resources and capabilities with its existing business unit. With the growth of online and digital media, the publishing business has been undergoing significant changes. Thus considering the current situation the publishing business should diversify its business into emerging and developing countries and at the same time follows the emerging trends in the publishing industry which are like eBooks, blogs, mobile publishing along with self publishing (ICMR, 2007). While diversifying the business the publishing company can opt for strategic alliance. Strategic alliances are formed through partnership between the firms and combining the resources, capabilities and core competencies and pursue a mutual interest to develop, manufacture and also manufacture goods (KAZMI, 2008. 187). The alliance is a

Do economist matter Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Do economist matter - Assignment Example He points out that the public is uneducated in economic theories. Moreover, people and institutions of influence tend to muddle up these economic laws in order to server their own vested interest. Ultimately, the public is not only uneducated, they are also miseducated in the theories of economics and even refuse to be educated in these areas. In addition, even economists themselves rarely adhere to the economic theories that they themselves preach as they take into account external factors such as family security, pride, and societal acceptance. As such, economists end up sending messages that the public would be more comfortable to hear. This dilemma is further aggravated by the fact that economic theories have been, and may be, tested out on very limited platforms. Thus, economists usually have their hands tied and their tongues curled in defense of economic theories that may or may not work. Overall, Stigler illustrates that economists are almost always torn between being an academic who incessantly explains theories to an unaccepting public and an implementor whose proposals are periodically squashed by an unbelieving society. Either way, an economist’s quest for popularity and for influence will, in Stigler’s view, most likely lead him to parallel

High rate of STI in Juveniles can patient teaching decrease Essay

High rate of STI in Juveniles can patient teaching decrease reoccurance - Essay Example e increased risks of contracting the disease from the street and the GLBT and African-American population have higher chances of getting syphilis, gonorrhea and other STIs than the rest of the US population. It has been estimated that as much as 71 percent of the black juvenile population had gonorrhea in 2008, while 21 percent of homeless youth were identified with STIs (CDC, 2009). To change the present scenario and educate these youth about the risks and prevalence of STI, it is proposed that not only should this problem be addressed in schools and town hall meetings- giving information about these diseases, risk factors and how to avoid contracting them- but also by starting free clinics where these STIs can be reported confidentially and cured through conventional means. STIs should be viewed as a social problem that affects certain populations more than others, but being aware of the risk factors and taking adequate precautions can prevent their occurrence and reoccurrence, rather than having to deal with their symptoms at a later stage. The benefits to the healthcare environment would be profound. By educating not only the youth and adolescents but also part of the adult population that consist of their family members and friends though lectures and pamphlets, we can help decrease both the prevalence and reoccurrence of STIs in the local community. Taking our clinics to the streets to help homeless and runaway juveniles will also help reduce prevalence and reoccurrence and educate them in making better life choices. It is better not to have sex than risk contracting STIs due to unprotected sex, sharing needles and so

Business Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 13

Business Law - Essay Example à ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ½Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¾Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿ à ¾Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿ ï ¾ ¤ ï ¾ µ ï ¾ § ‑  ­ ! " # $ % & ( ) * + , - . / à ¾Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿1 à ¾Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿ à ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿R o o t E n t r y à ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿ à ¾Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿ à ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿ à ¾Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿ à ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿ à ¾Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿ à ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿ à ¾Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿ à ¾Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¾Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿ ï ¾ ¤ ï ¾ µ ï ¾ § ‑  ­ à ¾Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿! " # à ¾Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿Ãƒ ¿%

Theoretical explanation of Environmental Biology Essay

Theoretical explanation of Environmental Biology - Essay Example We should also plant more trees each time we cut one for an essential usage. Biodiversity should be extremely high in our surrounding. When done with books of a lower level, we should donate them to libraries so as to avoid over exploitation of more trees being brought down for paper. Animals and plants, humans included, all rely on each other and the environment for survival. Some even share vital resources and when some of these resources become scarce, some end up migrating, changing feeding habits, dropping in population and even becoming extinct. There are predator-prey relationships, parasitism, mutualism and commensalism. A predator-prey relationship is whereby the predator relies on the prey as food while the prey relies on other preys like birds as an alert system in case of danger. In parasitism, a certain organism relies on another by living in or on it and feeding on it. The host is harmed while the parasite benefits. Mutualism is where everyone benefits through unintentional exploitation of each other. In commensalism, one organism benefits from another without affecting the other. Therefore, we should always use the gifts of the environment sparingly to avoid unnecessary ecological succession. Overconsumption of the earth’s resources has cont ributed to extreme ecological growth and consequent exhaustion of resources, environmental damage as well as declined ecological wellbeing.... s with all ranges of benefits such as vital goods such as timber and medicinal products, and essential services such as carbon cycling, clean water and pollination. Our daily bread, fish, meat, flowers, books and building timber materials are all gifts of nature. I think building from stone bricks and not timber will be a big step in saving our environment. We should also plant more trees each time we cut one for an essential usage. Biodiversity should be extremely high in our surrounding. When done with books of a lower level, we should donate them to libraries so as to avoid over exploitation of more trees being brought down for paper. Animals and plants, humans included, all rely on each other and the environment for survival. Some even share vital resources and when some of these resources become scarce, some end up migrating, changing feeding habits, dropping in population and even becoming extinct. There are predator-prey relationships, parasitism, mutualism and commensalism. A predator-prey relationship is whereby the predator relies on the prey as food while the prey relies on other preys like birds as an alert system in case of danger. In parasitism, a certain organism relies on another by living in or on it and feeding on it. The host is harmed while the parasite benefits. Mutualism is where everyone benefits through unintentional exploitation of each other. In commensalism, one organism benefits from another without affecting the other. Therefore, we should always use the gifts of the environment sparingly to avoid unnecessary ecological succession. Overconsumption of the earth’s resources has contributed to extreme ecological growth and consequent exhaustion of resources, environmental damage as well as declined ecological wellbeing. Ecological footprint,

Implementation of the Final Solution Research Paper

Implementation of the Final Solution - Research Paper Example The uniqueness of the Holocaust lies in its motivation - in the fact that for Nazi regime the removal of the Jews was a sine qua non of the survival of mankind, a matter of global, if not cosmic, importance, and not an ordinary political matter.2 The Final Solution and the Holocaust were unique genocides of the Jewish people, unique for its magnitude and the "rationality" of their processes. To achieve its goals of Jews' elimination, the Final Solution "rationally" targeted nation's most vulnerable and vital members - women and children. On 20 January 1942, Chaired by Reinhard Heydrich, the Wannsee Conference played host to nine high-ranking officials, five senior SS chiefs, and local party bureaucrats from across the Third Reich. Serving as the chief dignitary and ranking member of the SS, Heydrich explained that "in view of the extreme importance of the subject, a consensus of opinion is reached regarding the "'Final Solution.'"3 From the historical perspective, there is an ongoing historical debate as to when the decision was made for the "Final Solution." Many historians argue that when Hitler made his "prophecy" speech of January 30th, 1939, he had already decided on the "Final Solution." Christian Gerlach has argued for a different timeframe, however, suggesting the decision was made by Hitler on December 12, 1941, when he addressed a meeting of the Nazi Party and of regional party leaders.4 In addition, Gerlach argued that Hitler had not decided on what the true "Final Solution" was until the euphoria of vict ory swept over the German leadership in the summer of 1942 in the wake of the anticipated victory over Russia. Historians on the Holocaust largely agree that the policies and strategies of the Final Solution has been prepared and practically tested some time before the year 1942. They took the form of deportations, ghettos, and euthanasia programs. Although the deportations and the ghettos can be called murderous solutions in their own right, they were not the Final Solution. The ghettos themselves were just temporary holding pens until a more "permanent solution" was developed. The development of the "permanent solution" started with the Einsatzgruppen. The Einsatzgruppen were squads composed primarily of German SS and police personnel. Under the command of the German Security Police (Sicherheitspolizei or Sipo) and Security Service (Sicherheitsdienst or SD) officers, the Einsatzgruppen had among their primary objectives the elimination of those considered to be racial or political enemies found the occupied zones, Soviet Union territories particularly. These victims included Jews, Roma (Gyp sies), and officials of the Soviet state and the Soviet Communist party. The Einsatzgruppen also murdered thousands of residents of institutions for the mentally and physically disabled. Many scholars believe that the systematic killing of Jews in the occupied Soviet Union by Einsatzgruppen and Order Police (Ordnungspolizei) battalions was the first step of the "Final Solution," the Nazi program to murder all European Jews. However, some scholars such as Dina Port contend that the Final

Congressional Earmarks Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Congressional Earmarks - Research Paper Example Soft earmarks are those earmarking processes that allow the congressmen to be able to allocate this money, without having to conform to any legal binding. This leaves a big loophole in the budgeting process, and the congressmen are able to take advantage of this and therefore make it difficult for any process to be utilized to hinder this. As Williamson (2009) argues, since the main problem as seen is the fact that there is no clear legislation regarding the issue, the only solution that would offer a firm solution, would be one that would make it possible for this process to be controlled by the law. Having another body to control this process, will only add another layer of corruption and inconvenience, and will therefore never help. Since the American democracy is built around the constitution and the rule of law, embedding this issue in the law would be the only way to have a successful system, which will be able to make sure that earmarking is not abused by the members of

Thomas Jefferson and Slavery in Virginia Essay Example for Free

Thomas Jefferson and Slavery in Virginia Essay At the bottom it was slavery that divided Virginia along the Blue Ridge Mountains. Most members of the convention have agreed with the opinion of the distinguishing delegate, James Monroe, that â€Å"if no such thing as slavery existed.. the people of our Atlantic border, would meet their brethren of the west, upon the basis of a majority, of the free white population.† But slavery existed, largely as an eastern institution; and it demanded protection from mere numbers both in the state and in the federal government. By-passed in the convention, the dreaded issue, swollen by the hopes and fears of a terrible torrent, soon locked Virginia in another great debate that ripped wide the seams Jeffersonian heritage. In the year 1831, a fanatical slave preacher, Nat Turner, and his band massacred about sixty white people, where most of them were women and children. This was by far the bloodiest events in the annals of American history. Jefferson once said, â€Å"And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only form basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are the gifts of God? That they are not to be violated but with his wrath? In deed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that his justice cannot sleep forever.† Converting crisis to opportunity, many Virginians hoped for the realization of Jefferson’s cherished goal of gradual emancipation, trusting as well that Virginia’s lead would â€Å"impart a resistless impulse† to the whole South. Once again, Jefferson provided the moral justification for western interests, which coincided with emancipation. The House of Delegates referred the slavery question to a special committee dominated by the eastern conservatives. But before the committee could submit its report, debate erupted in the House on two resolutions which instructed the committee to contradictory courses of action. Thomas Jefferson Tandoph, for the liberals, asked the committee to report on the expediency of placing before the electorate a plan of gradual emancipation. Children of slaves born on or after July 4, 1840 would become the property of the state when they came of age, and would be colonized outside the United States when the return from their labor met the expenses of their removal. This was, in essence, â€Å"the plan of Mr. Jefferson,† as everyone recognized; the plan broached by him in the Notes of Virginia slavery debate was also a debate on Jefferson. Standing on the natural rights philosophy, the reformers argued that slavery was both an injustice to the Negroes land a curse to the whites. The principles of American liberty, they said, embraced the whole of humanity. Let the master debase the slave’s humanity, pervert his feelings, muffle his reason, still â€Å"the idea that he was born to be free will survive it all. It is.. a torch lit up in his soul by the hand of the Deity and never meant to be extinguished by the had of man.† The slave system weakened the moral restraints of Christianity. It made industry dishonorable. It retarded popular education and free inquiry. This was another example of how Jefferson’s striking language became â€Å"stereotyped in the public voice.† No other words from his pen, or perhaps from any pen, were more often quoted as gospel by anti-slavery men. Jefferson’s â€Å"false picture† of Virginia society, â€Å"has gone forth to the world as our true character as Benjamin W. Leigh complained in the press. The defender of slavery worked mainly with the ideas of their conservative predecessors in the convention of 1829; however, they introduced not important modification. They were forced to contend now not only for the supremacy of the master race. Defending racial inequality and slavery as laws of nature, attested by all history, the eastern delegates superimposed a still nebulous ideology of white supremacy upon the older conservative ideology of property. The slaves, they said, were happy with their lot, and the whites were more equal and more republican because of this labor system. Increasingly, throughout the South, racial inequalities would be substituted for economic ones, color would become the badge of aristocracy, and class issues would be smothered by the blanket appeal to racial solidarity. Pro-slavery ideology divided society not between the rich and the poor but between the whites and the black. Having assailed the natural rights premises of the reformers, the conservatives went on to argue that emancipation was impractical. What better proof was wanted that Jefferson’s own conduct – he never liberated his slaves, but â€Å"perpetuated their condition by the last solemn act of his life; which is sufficient.. to put to flight all the conclusions that have been drawn from the expressions of his abstract opinions.† His scheme of emancipation was only a day dream. He never went before the public as its advocate. Posterity could not venture what he dared not attempt: â€Å"The fragments of a great man’s thoughts are not only valueless but dangerous. The same genius which conceived them is necessary to fill up their details.. When Hercules died, there was no man left to left his club.† Many things foredoomed the Jeffersonian plan to failure; none, however, was as significant for Jefferson’s place in the southern imagination as the doctrine of state rights. Jefferson, as its champion, had often condemned federal intervention of any sort with slavery in the states. Finally realizing in 1824 that Virginia could never bear the financial burden of compensation and colonization, he put aside his constitutional scruples and proposed the diversion to the states of federal revenue from the public lands in order to effect emancipation. According to Thomas R. Dew wrote in his influential Review of the slavery debate the whole movement of emancipation, â€Å"is but too well calculated to furnish the political lever by which Virginia is to be prised out of her natural and honorable position in the Union..† The reformers hoped that the flood of light turned upon slavery in 1832 would result in its early extinction. But Carolina Nullification, not emancipation, was the absorbing issue of the succeeding session of the legislature, and from this state rights crisis the promising onto-slavery movement never recovered.

The Racial Relationship Between the Americans Essay Example for Free

The Racial Relationship Between the Americans Essay Agenda: The racial relationship between the American Whites and Blacks has always been an important issue in American society and a hot-discussed topic in modern literature. What we are doing today is to show you the racial relationship between the Whites and Blacks reflected from three famous black authors’ works we’ve learned this semester: Selection from Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave by Frederick Douglass, The Negro Speaks of Rivers by Langston Hughes, and How It Feels to Be Colored Me by Zora Neal Hurston. Then we will carry on a comparison between the different recognitions of the relationships from the three works by the three black writers. We will analyze it in aspects of the authors’ era, life background, and finally point out that background and education level is enormously important in changing black people’s view in their relationship with white people. Conclusion Now that my partners have shown you a clear picture of our research, I would like to recap it and give our conclusions. Let’s start by answering these questions: What do they think of the black people? For Frederick Douglass, he thinks that all men should be equal, and due to his personal experience of being a slave (referring to the Narrative we have learned in class), he firmly thinks that black people are suffering greatly. And they should fight against white people for freedom. He also points out that education is the key for African Americans to improve their lives. For Langston Hughes, he holds the view that Black people have also been through civilization and everything which makes them strong and beautiful, thus black people should be proud of their identity. For Zora, she puts optimistic tone in describing black people’s life. She thinks there’s peace and prosperity in black people’s life. There shouldn’t any racial problems. Then let’s see what do they think of white people? For Frederick, white people are cruel slave owners who neglect the rights of black people and restrict their freedom. So he fights with the whites in the  Narrative, and get freedom. For Langston, he comes from a family of a mix race, and his grandmother has always instilled in her grandson a lasting sense of racial pride, to be proud of the black identity. For Zora, whites are not generalized as cruel racists and beasts. Hurston transcends the boundary of race and depicts them on the premise that they are humans who are specific and of differences, not that they are whites. What do they think of the relationships of the blacks and the whites? * For Frederick Douglass: contradictory, enemies, afraid of white * For Langston Hughes: unharmonious, should be respect and self-proud * For Zora Neal Hurston: just human, praise black identities, Finally we can come to the conclusion that different era and education background plays an important role in the three authors’ view of relationships between blacks and whites.

The Related Literature And Studies English Language Essay

The Related Literature And Studies English Language Essay Communication is an integral part of human existence and development. Engaging in it is inevitable particularly in a business setting as it is relative to promoting an idea, product, service, or organization to create value or make a sale (Khan). Successful businesses recognize the value of communication in the workplace which requires proficiency in oral and written communication skills. The latter is engineered to display information effectively on the page in order to get results, to inform, to request, to entertain, or to persuade (Holloway). In fact, 90% of all business transactions involve written communications (DePompa). Hence effective business communication demands ideas, thoughts, and concepts to be expressed and presented in an orderly, formal, and effective manner. English as Second Language (ESL) learners perceive business writing skill as far more challenging than that of oral business communication. The former requires the use of written English based on standards set by prescriptive authorities associated with publishing houses and schools (www.wikipedia.com). Teachers, like the researcher, are faced with the challenge of addressing students lack of business writing skills which emanates from their confusion and difficulty in understanding the concepts governing business writing. Business writing is a highly demanding process that necessitates an organization in the development of thoughts, ideas, and accuracy in word choices. The most common problem that confronts teachers of the writing class does not lie so much on what to ask students to write about; the difficulty is more on how to motivate the students to write interesting and effective materials. Writing for its own sake is a drag, and produces boring output (Ikeguchi). Writing only becomes an interesting activity when the teacher knows how to go about teaching it. One very important point the teacher can consider to increase motivation is to actually become a very good supporter and facilitator in the entire writing process. In this regard, the use of newspaper articles as intervention in the improvement of business writing is can be considered. The use of newspaper articles can be an effective intervention to implement in the writing-learning process because it can easily be adapted in Business Communication and Writing class. Newspaper articles offer situations that students are likely to encounter in real life. Through newspaper articles, they can use their experiences and prior knowledge to respond appropriately, and even creatively. This intervention can also help students with low English proficiency to arouse interest so they can actively participate in the class activities. The use of newspaper articles motivates students to write what they want, what they need, and what they feel. Because of the increased responsibility to participate through a variety of writing exercises, students may gain confidence in using the target language in general. Students are more responsible managers of their own learning (Larsen Freeman). This paper intends to find out whether the use of newspaper articles as intervention in the improvement of business writing skills of iACADEMY students is effective. Background of the Study Having the mindset of directly addressing the need for ready-to-hire graduates/applicants of both the information technology (IT) and business industries, Mr. Mitch Andaya, former Dean of the College of Computer Studies in DLSU and Vice-President of STI Colleges Head Office, together with the other founders, established the Information and Communications Technology Academy, now better known as iACADEMY, in March of 2002. The school acquired the first and third floors of the PhilCare Building in Ayala Avenue corner Dela Rosa Street in Makati City. At present, the school occupies the third to the fifth floor of the building that has been renamed iACADEMY. iACADEMY offers Bachelor of Science in Computer Science (BSCS) with Specialization in Software Engineering, Bachelor of Science in Information Technology (BSIT) with Specialization in Digital Arts, and Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (BSBA) with Specialization in Marketing and Advertising Management, Bachelor of Science in Animation (BSA), Bachelor of Science in Game Development (BSGD), Bachelor of Arts in Multimedia Arts and Design (AB MMA), and Bachelor of Arts in Fashion Design (ABFD). iACADEMYs library houses a good selection of hard-to-find and imported books, a generous number of local text books and reference materials, and half a dozen desktop computers equipped with the internet, the latest software for IT-related courses and electronic books (e-books) encompassing a variety of subjects to address the needs of its students across all degrees. It also has been on daily subscription with two of the more prominent Philippine broadsheets, the Manila Bulletin and the Philippine Star. Several copies of the daily issues of these broadsheets are accessible to everyone who works for or studies in the institution. However, based upon the school librarians personal observation, only a handful of individuals, most of whom are faculty members, take the time to read these newspapers. Students become interested with these learning materials only when the need arises, like when assignments necessitate them to read and photocopy articles in these newspapers. This study, which aims to improve the students business writing skills, also hopes to make students become active newspaper readers after they discover the real-life learning opportunities it can offer. The advent of computer and internet technology may have invited people to forgo handwritten letters, but definitely not letter writing itself. The existence of the computer and internet in fact has revolutionized letter writing, particularly its speed in creation, transmission, and feedback. And, with the development of electronic mailing system (e-mail), people probably write more than they actually used to. The internet may have decreased the interest of people to perform the task of hand writing but it has also increased peoples preference for written communication (Bly). Two decades or so ago, most managers dictated letters which their secretaries typed. Today, more professionals personally transcribe their letters as computer literacy, including a working knowledge on MS Word and Excel has become a basic managerial requirement (Bly). This goes to show that there is an increase in the number of individuals who are actively performing the skill of writing everyday; therefore, a call for more emphasis on teaching and learning writing skills is an imperative. Majority of iACADEMYs student population comes from the upper-middle to the high-class members of the society. Most of them are graduates of private or exclusive high schools. However, this alone cannot be taken as a guarantee of their English proficiency, both in oral and written communication. Business Communication and Writing course falls under the umbrella of English for Specific Purpose (ESP) course; therefore, it requires a higher level of English proficiency. This is why the course is set as the third English course to be taken by students while the first two English courses are its prerequisites. iACADEMY English faculty are alarmed with their students poor writing performance. These students barely pass or even fail their English subjects because they exhibit below average level of competency, particularly in writing; and when asked why they performed rather poorly, they blamed their very little exposure to the language and uninteresting English subjects as the culprits. English language educators have to admit that ensuring the students improvement in writing performance is in their hands. Writing only becomes an interesting activity when the language educator knows how to go about teaching it and by increasing students motivation in engaging students in the writing process. In this regard, the use of newspaper articles as intervention in the improvement of business writing of iACADEMY students is recommended for consideration. In the Philippines, there are very limited studies related to the topic. The researcher would therefore attempt to make a modest contribution to this area through a different approach by the use of newspaper articles as intervention in the improvement of business writing. https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4Wgp6FI9eqoZrrfs3-n2g5Cn2m5h61E5MTQhOJYnQbVyEfqqIwZH5tbpOECVOt8qJmbYaxnU35CHfLWPPenONHHV6U2-w33lmT4IegMAdpJerH__qVWnz7ZT8-cy7rT1AXjweTY34N527/s1600/iACADEMY.jpg Map of the Location of Information and Communications Technology Academy Figure 1 Theoretical Framework The framework of this research is anchored on two approaches. First is Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) or Communicative Approach (CA) or in its earlier stage, Notional Functional Approach; and second is the Craftsmanship approach in Business Communication. The CLT approach is the result of the works of educators and linguists known as the Council of Europe language experts (Bryam) in the early 1970s and was further developed by David Wilkins, a prominent linguist who used the term communicative approach in 1974 (Wilkins). It can be further traced to the work of Chomsky in the 1960s, when he advanced the two notions of competence and performance as a reaction against the prevalent audio-lingual method of the time. The central theoretical concept and goal of the CLT approach is communicative competence, a term introduced into discussions of language use and second or foreign language learning together with communicative language teaching in the early 1970s (Savignon). Communicative competence can be defined in terms of the expression, interpretation, and negotiation of meaning and looks to both psycholinguistic and socio-cultural perspectives in Second Language Acquisition (SLA) research to account for its development (Savignon). Teaching writing in the SLA context is one of the main objectives of foreign language teaching and learning. It involves a preparatory phase known as the decision-making phase. This phase entails defining the rhetorical problem: establishing a purpose for writing, determining the audience and a topic. Secondly, the ensuing writing processes are then determined and established. These processes involve the planning, transcribing, and reviewing of the composed work (Lee). The CLT approach to writing is an effective approach because it allows students to draw from their prior knowledge, actively navigate their way through the various writing processes with the appropriate scaffolding, and finally present their understanding of the content. One application of CLT approach is the use of authentic materials. Proponents of CLT have advocated the use of authentic real-life materials in the classroom which include language-based such as newspapers, magazines, advertisements, or graphic and visual sources in which communicative activities can be built (Jin, Application of Communicative Approach in College English Teaching). The range of exercise types and activities compatible with CLT is unlimited. Moreover, it is not assumed in this approach that the teacher is the center of all classroom activities (Al-Mutawa); therefore, the CLT is a learner-centered approach to language learning; and that the teachers and learners motivation and positive attitude are crucial for effective teaching and learning. Finally, as each classroom is different and is composed of different types of learners, several techniques and strategies may be used to address individual learner differences within the SLA environment (Lee). The second theory that this study will use as framework is the Rhetorical Theory in Business Communication. This theory declares that the communication process is neither a single nor a linear process; but is rather continuous making the entire communication process clear to all parties involved. One of the major approaches that the rhetorical theory offers to business communication is the Craftsmanship approach, which is based upon the well-crafted sales letter. It posits that the purpose of the letter is to convince, inform, and arouse its readers interest; therefore, it should be written with the you attitude, wherein the writer attempts to identify with the readers needs, perspective, language, and desires. This then becomes the master strategy for planning means of stimulating the readers faculties in various letter situations (Brooks). The you attitude is given due attention and emphasis by George Burton Hotchkiss. He says that what is true of sales letters is equally true of all other kinds of business letters. He further suggests that the first thing the writer must do is to form the habit of looking at the subject of his message from the readers viewpoint and language; and more importantly, he must get what is called the you attitude. The ideas and concepts in a letter should be expressed from the point of view of the reader. Whatever is said must be expressed in language directed at the reader himself (Hotchkiss and Kilduff). Aside from the you attitude, principle, Hotchkiss also adds five concepts that should always be observed when writing a business letter correctness, clearness, conciseness, courteousness, and character (Hotchkiss and Kilduff). These concepts are known as the, 5 Cs of business writing, should be evident in any type of business letter. Conceptual Framework The researcher has come up with a conceptual framework (see Fig. 1) based upon the theoretical framework of this study. Experimental (treatment) and control groups are included in the framework design. The process to be used for the experimental (treatment) group will be from a pretest to the use of newspaper articles to the posttest that will provide data for the validation of the hypotheses. The control group will undergo the process of a pretest to the conventional pedagogy to the posttest that will provide data for validation of hypotheses. The teaching methodology to be applied for this group is lecture-discussions. Experimental Group Control Group Pretest Pretest Conventional Teaching Conventional Teaching Posttest Use of Newspaper Articles as Intervention Posttest Improved Business Writing Skills Research Paradigm Figure 2 Statement of the Problem The main purpose of the study was to look into the effectiveness of using newspaper articles as intervention in the improvement of business writing performance in the Business Communication and Writing class of iACADEMY during the third trimester of school year 2011-2012. More specifically, the study aimed to answer the following sub-problems: Based on the 5 Cs of writing, what were the writing performances of the experimental and control groups in the following: Pretest Posttest Was there any significant difference between the pretest and the posttest writing performance of the two groups: Experimental group Control group Was there any significant difference in the pretest writing performance of the two groups: Experimental group Control group Was there any significant difference in the posttest writing performance of the two groups: Experimental group Control group Hypotheses: There is no significant difference between the pretest and the posttest writing performance of the experimental group. There is no significant difference between the pretest and the posttest writing performance of the control group. There is no significant difference in the pretest writing performance of the experimental and control groups. There is no significant difference in the posttest writing performance of the experimental and control groups. Scopes and Limitations This study focused on determining the effects of using newspaper articles as intervention in the improvement of business writing performance of iACADEMY students. The research subjects were taken from two heterogeneous groups of students enrolled at the Information and Communications Technology Academy (iACADEMY) in Makati City during the third semester of school year 2011-2012 and who were officially enrolled in ENG103 Business Communication and Writing course. The lecture-discussions for this study were based on the ENG103 (Business Communication and Writing) syllabus designed by the researcher three weeks prior to the start of the third trimester. The institution where he teaches allows members of the faculty to modify the course syllabus provided that such modifications are geared towards better delivery of the much needed learning of the students. Both experimental and control group were provided with the same lectures but with differences in the pedagogical approach. The control group was given only the lecture presentations and practice drills while the experimental group had newspapers articles integrated in the class activities in addition to the usual lecture presentations and practice drills. The newspaper articles chosen by the researcher typified the following principles of CLT approach (Jin, Application of Communicative Approach in College English Teaching): (1) Communicative Principle; (2) Task Principle; and (3) Meaningfulness Principle. Significance of the Study The individuals, who can benefit from this study, include the students, the language and the literature instructors, the curriculum designers, and future researchers. Students. The implementation of the study will benefit college students since newspapers can help them develop not only their reading and speaking skills, grammar, and vocabulary, but also their writing skill. Newspaper articles are considered to be authentic learning materials that provide real-life learning that motivates students to utilize previous life experiences and prior knowledge of a given topic. It can also serve as a model for proper execution of the writing tasks. Language Arts Instructors. The use of newspaper articles as intervention in the improvement of the business writing skills of students gives English instructors more up-to-date teaching materials that are readily accessible to them and their students. Newspaper articles can also serve as good examples for students to improve their writing skills. Curriculum Designers. Inevitably, academicians who focus on innovating designs of the English curriculum would need to find better if not pioneering approaches to teaching English as a second language. It is in this light that such professionals might want to consider including and utilizing newspaper articles in developing curricula that would focus on both language and literature. Other researchers. This study can open new doors for researchers to investigate the effects of the use of newspaper articles in the improvement of the writing performance of students in the English classes, and probably in other disciplines as well, such as in science, history, and values education. Definition of Terms The following terms are defined operationally and conceptually in the study: Authentic Materials. These are materials which involve language naturally occurring as communication in native-speaker contexts of use, or those selected contexts where Standard English is the norm. Business Communication. This is sharing of information between people within an enterprise that is performed for the commercial benefit of the organization. In addition, business communication can also refer to how a company shares information to promote its product or services to potential consumers. Business Communication Skill. This is the ability to convey information to another effectively and efficiently. Business managers with good verbal, non-verbal and written communication skills help facilitate the sharing of information between people within a company for its commercial benefit. Character. This is both an intellectual and emotional quality of the business letter that expresses the writers unique personality in a very natural way, with due regard for his subject and his reader, making the letter a more adequate substitute for personal representative. Clearness. This is an intellectual quality of the business letter that shows its quality of impression and is therefore always to be judged from the readers viewpoint. The writer always knows what he means if he means anything at all. If the reader, however, does not know what a statement means, such a statement lacks this quality of clarity. Communication. This is the two-way process by which information is being conveyed between two individuals, a sender and a receiver, through a common system of symbols, signs, or behavior in order to reach mutual understanding and create a shared meaning. Communicative Competence. It is a situational ability to set realistic and appropriate goals and to maximize their achievement by using knowledge of self, other, context, and thereby to generate adaptive communication performances. Communicative Principle. This principle uses activities that involve real communication situations that promote learning. Conciseness. This is an intellectual quality of the business letter that demands as little as possible of the readers time and gives the kind of service that builds goodwill. Control group. This is a group of students to be used as standard comparison in a control experiment. Conventional Pedagogy. This is the standard way of providing learning to the students at iACADEMY, which incorporates PowerPoint presentations with lecture-discussions. Correctness. This is both an intellectual and emotional quality of the business letter. It is an intellectual quality because the words, spelling, grammar, and punctuation must all be in conformity with established usage. It is also an emotional quality because incorrectness distracts and irritates, and arouses contempt because it gives a bad suggestion of ignorance, carelessness, or haste on the part of the writer. Courteousness. This is an emotional quality of the business letter that is based upon consideration for the readers feelings and personality by the studious avoidance of any idea that would offend. A writer should have no difficulty in securing this quality if he has a genuine recognition of the readers equality with himself. ENG 103. This is the course code of Business Communication and Writing, which is the third English subject needed to be taken by the students after accomplishing the prerequisite English courses Communication Arts 101 and Oral Communications with Public Speaking. Experimental group. This is a group of students that will under study to determine the effects of using newspaper articles as intervention in business writing performance Learner-centered Approach. This is an approach to education focusing on the needs, abilities, interests, and learning styles of the students with the teacher as a facilitator of learning, rather than those of others involved in the educational process, such as teachers and administrators. Lecture-Discussion. This is a teaching model that uses what students already know by building their own background; presents information in a systematic manner; and uses teacher questioning to involve students actively in the learning process. Meaningfulness Principle. This involves language that is meaningful to the learner supports the learning process. Newspaper Article. This is a written work published in print for the purpose of propagating the news, research results, academic analysis, or debate in a scheduled publication such as the broadsheets. Posttest. This is an achievement test that will be used to identify the students level of improvement in their writing skills upon attainment of learning in the given lecture-discussions and activities performed in class. Pretest. This is a diagnostic test which aims to determine the students preparedness in beginning a new course of study. The test helps in the assessment of the student needs in learning the topics to be covered in the instructional design. Proficiency. It is mastery of a specific behavior or skill demonstrated by consistently superior performance, measured against established or popular standards. Second Language Acquisition (SLA). This is the process by which people of a first language learn a second language in addition to their native language. Task principle. This principle involves activities in which language is used to carry out meaningful tasks to promote learning. Writing rubric. This is an assessment tool that attempts to communicate particular level of expected qualities in writing performance areas specifically based upon the 5 Cs of Business Writing. Chapter 2 REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES Presented in this chapter are the foreign and local literatures and studies which are relevant to the present study because such contain written reviews or commentaries of other researchers, theorists, and professionals with regard to the use of newspaper articles as intervention in the improvement of business writing. As a result of some limitations, the researcher acknowledges the fact that there is a possibility that other relevant literatures are still unread, either due to time constraint or distance issues of the location of the resource materials. Despite this discrepancy, the researcher tries to exhaust, to its fullest capabilities, the internet that seems to augment and provide sufficient information to supplement the library materials available. Foreign Literature J.C. Richards (2006) states that the ever-growing demand for good communication skills in the English language has created a huge demand for teaching English and an enormous demand for quality language teaching materials and resources. Learners today set themselves the demanding goal of being able to master English on a high proficiency level. Even employers demand that members of the workforce exhibit good English language skills, both oral and written. The demand for an appropriate teaching methodology is therefore an imperative (J. C. Richards). According to Carol Rzadkiewicz, communication is vital in an organization because it not only connects members within a specific department but also connects them to those from other departments, from other branches, and, in todays global economy, from around the world. Moreover, communication can make the difference between success and failure for a company. Good communication helps ensure the efficient operation of all levels of an organization, from the lowest to the highest, whereas poor communication often results in inefficiency; and as successful business leaders know, inefficiency equals a loss of productivity and, consequently, a loss of profits (Rzadkiewicz). Lee believes that writing must first be given a clear definition so that a philosophy or an approach to teaching writing in SLA classroom maybe utilized. Writing as communication may be defined as how learners put thoughts down on paper and develop them into some kind of coherent text (p.245) (Lee). Writing skill is a difficult task for it requires prior knowledge of the language components such as morphology, phonology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics. These components serve as broader aspects of language for the underlying foundation of language skills like vocabulary, capitalization, syllabification, punctuation, sentence structure, sequential order, and initiation and maintenance of thoughts (Brice). Beare (2012) revealed that for many ESL learners, learning to write fluently in English is much more challenging than learning to speak fluently. Even for advanced level learners, written communications can come much more slowly in English than spoken communications because written communication is more formal; spoken communication allows for more mistakes; less reflection goes into spoken English than written English; and expectations are much higher for formal written English. It is important when teaching written English skills especially for business English to be aware of the challenges that learners face when learning to function in a written English environment and considerations should be given to achieve this. One such consideration is that acquiring speech is an unconscious act, whereas learning to write takes a conscious effort on the part of the learner. Another is that written language must be filtered through a system, which can be phonemic, structural or representative, etc. The individual must not only learn to recognize the meaning of words orally, but also go through a process of transcribing these sounds. Lastly, the process of transcribing requires the learning of other rules and structures thereby cognizing a previously unconscious process (Beare). Widdowson ¼Ã‹â€ 1978 ¼Ã¢â‚¬ °enumenrates two aspects in language; one is rules, such as grammar, that determine correctness, and the other is the performative ability that allows people to undertake meaningful communication. He labels the correctness as usage and the performance as use. Since the language functions systematically and communicatively, both spoken and written modes of language cannot leave out either the grammatical and communicative aspects (Widdowson). Communicative writing can be described as the act of corresponding. Of course, as Widdowson ¼Ã‹â€ 1978 ¼Ã¢â‚¬ °acknowledges, the socially reciprocal setting of the written mode is different from that of the spoken mode because, unlike listeners, readers are not always available for immediate responses or, even worse, for any form of interactions whatsoever. However, communicative writing entails the presence of readers as target audience. The important point is that one can write following grammatical rules, and one can compose in order to communicate with others through writing, yet, if the one does not write with the target audience in mind, composition cannot be an act of communication. According to Richards and Rodgers (1986), the theory of CLT approach is holistic rather than behavioristic. It starts with a theory of language as communication which implies knowledge of the grammatical system as well as performance (Richards and Rodgers). Widdowson (1984) stated that in other words, such competence includes both the usage and use of the language (Widdowson). Richards, J. C. (2006) explains that communicative competence embraces three fundamental dimensions: first, the ability to use linguistic means to realize a variety of language functions; second, the ability to use language appropriately with due consideration of the social context in which communication takes place; and third is the ability to develop strategies to manage the negotiation of meaning. This specification of communicative competence is the hallmark of the CLT approach because it cannot be founding the theoretical framework of any other method of or approach to language teaching (J. C. Richards). The CLT approach to teaching writing in the second language acquisition (SLA) context introduces two essential phases: first, a decision-making phase and a second phase whereby the ensuing writing processes are determined and established (Lee). The decision-making phase entails defining the rhetorical problem. It involves establishing a purpose for writing, determining an audience and a topic, ac

Capital Punishment :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Each year there about 250 people added to death row and only 35 of them are even executed. The death penalty is the harshest form of punishment actually enforced by the United States government. Once the jury has convicted a criminal offense they go to the second part of the trial, the punishment part. If then the jury considers the death penalty, then the judge agrees that the criminal will have to face a form of execution. Lethal injection is the most widely used by todays death row criminals. For a period between 1972 to ‘76, capital punishment was ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. There are many reasons for why they thought that. The death penalty was looked at a cruel and unusual punishment under the eighth amendment. This decision was switched when a new method of execution was formed. Capital punishment is a difficult issue and there are many opinions as there are people on this earth.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Since the beginning of the United States there has been over 13,000 legal executions. Texas has executed the most people since the death penalty has been reinstated in 1976. There are only about 30-60 prisoners killed yearly. â€Å"The Bible requires the death penalty for a wide variety of crimes, including sex before marriage, adultery, homosexual behavior, doing work on Saturday, and murder. It even calls for some criminals to be tortured to death by burning them alive†(SOURCE 1). Some of the things stated in the last quote were a little morbid, and made me question in what I truly believe in. John Stuart Mill once stated, â€Å" When there has been brought home to any one, by conclusive evidence, the greatest crime known to law; and when the attendant circumstances suggest no palliation of guilt, no hope that the culprit may even yet not be unworthy to live among mankind, nothing to make it probable that the crime was an exception to general character rather than a consequence of it, then I confess it appears to me that to deprive the criminal of the life which he has proved himself to be unworthy--solemnly to blot him out from the fellowship of mankind and from the catalogue of the living-- is the most appropriate as it is certainly the most impressive, mode in which society can attach to so great a crime the penal consequences which for the security of life it is indispensable to annex to it†, this was stated before Parliament on April 21, 1868. I find that in this passage a lot of good is said.

Confucianism And Raise The Red :: essays research papers

What has happened to Confucianism. For a long time, Confucian was accepted as the idea that a healthy society depended on a solid traditional family. Confucius himself, for example, called for people to put principle above selfish desires. People supported hierarchy. The rulers moral example would inspire the people to live good lives. But one begins to detect a new theme emerging in society especially amongst the Chinese reformers: the theme of individualism oppose to familialism. Today, would the Confucian family be more and more aware of abuse to women and children? The rituals and traditions can be seen as both positive and negative. The ways in which women suffered affirm that some rituals were abusive. There are multiple signs indeed that something has gone badly wrong with the Chinese family traditions that led to family instability.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  To begin with, one of the major problems that hindered the Chinese family is customs and rituals. On the other hand, some of these family traditions allowed the family to flourish as a group. In the movie Raise the Red Lantern, many types of customs and rituals were shown. For example, according to the master’s tradition, lanterns are lit outside the house of which the master chooses to join for the night. Each night the wives wait to be honored with his presence, bowing in resignation when they aren’t chosen, often scheming to be noticed next time. The women soon begin to compete for the lanterns. They are jealous of one another and double cross one another. This brings out a darker side of the women capable of anything in order that their needs are met. This example shows a negative aspect. It is a humiliation of the neglected mistresses. The positive aspect may be the power of the wife who gets chosen. Her needs are being met and she gets to pick the meal for the night.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are documents that show actual life in the Confucian family in late traditional times in China before the advent of modern Western ways. In the last sixteen century by one of the elders of the Miu lineage made a set of practical instructions. These help people run their household. The main purpose of these rules is to protect individual family members and help united the family. One very important rule of the Confucian family is that under no circumstances should birthdays become pretext for heavy drinking (Document 2 p.

Two Marxist Objections to Exploitation :: Economy Economics Papers

Two Marxist Objections to Exploitation ABSTRACT: I argue that we can find in Marx two objections to exploitation: (i) an entitlement objection according to which it is wrongful because of the unjust distribution of benefits and burdens it generates; and (ii) an expressivist objection according to which it is objectionable because of the kind of social relation it is. The expressivist objection is predicated on a communitarian strand in Marx's thought, whereas the entitlement objection is grounded in a more liberal account of the wrongfulness of capitalist exploitation. I conclude by connecting my analysis to the current debate between proponents and critics of market socialism. While market socialism could be a vehicle for realizing the values associated with the entitlement objection, this is not true for the expressivist objection. Furthermore, because the entitlement objection does not depend on a thick conception of the human good, it is in accord with the liberal ideal of political neutrality whereas the expressivist objection is not. In what follows I argue that we can find in Marx's work two objections to exploitation and that distinguishing these objections helps clarify current issues facing socialist political philosophy. The first is an entitlement objection according to which exploitation is wrongful because of the unjust distribution of benefits and burdens it generates. The second is an expressivist objection according to which exploitation is wrongful because of the kind of social relation it is, viz., one in which agents view the needs, vulnerabilities, and capacities of others primarily as a means to their own private gain. (1) The expressivist objection suggests a normatively thicker, communitarian strand in Marx's thought, whereas the entitlement objection relies on a thinner, more liberal normative account. I conclude by connecting my analysis to the current debate between proponents and critics of market socialism. While market socialism could be a vehicle for realizing the values associated with t he entitlement objection, this is unlikely the case for the expressivist objection. Furthermore, because the entitlement objection does not depend on a thick conception of the human good it fits with the emphasis on political neutrality that is central to liberal thought. Let me provide some context for my account by briefly describing the place of exploitation in Marx's theory of history, the connection between the normative and explanatory roles of exploitation, and the relevance of Marx's theory of exploitation for contemporary social philosophy. For Marx exploitation is a concept of historical generality, applying not only to capitalism, but to feudal and ancient modes of production.

Canterville Ghost Summary Essay

The next morning, when the Otis family met at breakfast, they discussed the ghost at some length. The United States Minister was naturally a little annoyed to find that his present had not been accepted. â€Å"I have no wish,† he said, â€Å"to do the ghost any personal injury, and I must say that, considering the length of time he has been in the house, I don’t think it is at all polite to throw pillows at him,†Ã¢â‚¬â€œa very just remark, at which, I am sorry to say, the twins burst into shouts of laughter. â€Å"Upon the other hand,† he continued, â€Å"if he really declines to use the Rising Sun Lubricator, we shall have to take his chains from him. It would be quite impossible to sleep, with such a noise going on outside the bedrooms.† For the rest of the week, however, they were undisturbed, the only thing that excited any attention being the continual renewal of the blood-stain on the library floor. This certainly was very strange, as the door was always locked at night by Mr. Otis, and the windows kept closely barred. The chameleon-like colour, also, of the stain excited a good deal of comment. Some mornings it was a dull (almost Indian) red, then it would be vermilion, then a rich purple, and once when they came down for family prayers, according to the simple rites of the Free American Reformed Episcopalian Church, they found it a bright emerald-green. These kaleidoscopic changes naturally amused the party very much, and bets on the subject were freely made every evening. The only person who did not enter into the joke was little Virginia, who, for some unexplained reason, was always a good deal distressed at the sight of the blood-stain, and very nearly cried the morning it was emerald-green. The second appearance of the ghost was on Sunday night. Shortly after they had gone to bed they were suddenly alarmed by a fearful crash in the hall. Rushing down-stairs, they found that a large suit of old armour had become detached from its stand, and had fallen on the stone floor, while seated in a high-backed chair was the Canterville ghost, rubbing his knees with an expression of acute agony on his face. The twins, having brought their pea-shooters with them, at once discharged two pellets on him, with that accuracy of aim which can only be attained by long and careful practice on a writing-master, while the United States Minister covered him with his revolver, and called upon him, in accordance with Californian etiquette, to hold up his hands! The ghost started up with a wild shriek of rage, and swept through them like a mist, extinguishing Washington Otis’s candle as he passed, and so leaving them all in total darkness. On reaching the top of the staircase he recovered himself, and determined to give his celebrated peal of demoniac laughter. This he had on more than one occasion found extremely useful. It was said to have turned Lord Raker’s wig grey in a single night, and had certainly made three of Lady Canterville’s French governesses give warning before their month was up. He accordingly laughed his most horrible laugh, till the old vaulted roof rang and rang again, but hardly had the fearful echo died away when a door opened, and Mrs. Otis came out in a light blue dressing-gown. â€Å"I am afraid you are far from well,† she said, â€Å"and have brought you a bottle of Doctor Dobell’s tincture. If it is indigestion, you will find it a most excellent remedy.† The ghost glared at her in fury, and began at once to make preparations for turning himself into a large black dog, an accomplishment for which he was justly renowned, and to which the family doctor always attributed the permanent idiocy of Lord Canterville’s uncle, the Hon. Thomas Horton. The sound of approaching footsteps, however, made him hesitate in his fell purpose, so he contented himself with becoming faintly phosphorescent, and vanished with a deep churchyard groan, just as the twins had come up to him. On reaching his room he entirely broke down, and became a prey to the most violent agitation. The vulgarity of the twins, and the gross materialism of Mrs. Otis, were naturally extremely annoying, but what really distressed him most was that he had been unable to wear the suit of mail. He had hoped that even modern Americans would be thrilled by the sight of a Spectre in armour, if for no more sensible reason, at least out of respect for their natural poet Longfellow, over whose graceful and attractive poetry he himself had whiled away many a weary hour when the Cantervilles were up in town. Besides it was his own suit. He had worn it with great success at the Kenilworth tournament, and had been highly complimented on it by no less a person than the Virgin Queen herself. Yet when he had put it on, he had been completely overpowered by the weight of the huge breastplate and steel casque, and had fallen heavily on the stone pavement, barking both his knees severely, and bruising the kn uckles of his right hand. For some days after this he was extremely ill, and hardly stirred out of his room at all, except to keep the blood-stain in proper repair. However, by taking great care of himself, he recovered, and resolved to make a third attempt to frighten the United States Minister and his family. He selected Friday, August 17th, for his appearance, and spent most of that day in looking over his wardrobe, ultimately deciding in favour of a large slouched hat with a red feather, a winding-sheet frilled at the wrists and neck, and a rusty dagger. Towards evening a violent storm of rain came on, and the wind was so high that all the windows and doors in the old house shook and rattled. In fact, it was just such weather as he loved. His plan of action was this. He was to make his way quietly to Washington Otis’s room, gibber at him from the foot of the bed, and stab himself three times in the throat to the sound of low music. He bore Washington a special grudge, being quite aware that it was he who was in the habit of removing the famous Canterville blood-stain by means of Pinkerton’s Paragon Detergent. Having reduced the reckless and foolhardy youth to a condition of abject terror, he was then to proceed to the room occupied by the United States Minister and his wife, and there to place a clammy hand on Mrs. Otis’s forehead, while he hissed into her trembling husband’s ear the awful secrets of the charnel-house. With regard to little Virginia, he had not quite made up his mind. She had never insulted him in any way, and was pretty and gentle. A few hollow groans from the wardrobe, he thought, would be more than sufficient, or, if that failed to wake her, he might grabble at the counterpane with palsy-twitching fingers. As for the twins, he was quite determined to teach them a lesson. The first thing to be done was, of course, to sit upon their chests, so as to produce the stifling sensation of nightmare. Then, as their beds were quite close to each other, to stand between them in the form of a green, icy-cold corpse, till they became paralyzed with fear, and finally, to throw off the winding-sheet, and crawl round the room, with white, bleached bones and one rolling eyeball, in the character of â€Å"Dumb Daniel, or the Suicide’s Skeleton,† a _rà ´le_ in which he had on more than one occasion produced a great effect, and which he considered quite equal to his famous part of â€Å"Martin the Maniac, or the Masked Mystery.† At half-past ten he heard the family going to bed. For some time he was disturbed by wild shrieks of laughter from the twins, who, with the light-hearted gaiety of schoolboys, were evidently amusing themselves before they retired to rest, but at a quarter-past eleven all was still, and, as midnight sounded, he sallied forth. The owl beat against the window-panes, the raven croaked from the old yew-tree, and the wind wandered moaning round the house like a lost soul; but the Otis family slept unconscious of their doom, and high above the rain and storm he could hear the steady snoring of the Minister for the United States. He stepped stealthily out of the wainscoting, with an evil smile on his cruel, wrinkled mouth, and the moon hid her face in a cloud as he stole past the great oriel window, where his own arms and those of his murdered wife were blazoned in azure and gold. On and on he glided, like an evil shadow, the very darkness seeming to loathe him as he passed. Once he thought he heard something call, and stopped; but it was only the baying of a dog from the Red Farm, and he went on, muttering strange sixteenth-century curses, and ever and anon brandishing the rusty dagger in the midnight air. Finally he reached the corner of the passage that led to luckless Washington’s room. For a moment he paused there, the wind blowing his long grey locks about his head, and twisting into grotesque and fantastic folds the nameless horror of the dead man’s shroud. Then the clock struck the quarter, and he felt the time was come. He chuckled to himself, and turned the corner; but no sooner had he done so than, with a piteous wail of terror, he fell back, and hid his blanched face in his long, bony hands. Right in front of him was standing a horrible spectre, motionless as a carven image, and monstrous as a madman’s dream! Its head was bald and burnished; its face round, and fat, and white; and hideous laughter seemed to have writhed i ts features into an eternal grin. From the eyes streamed rays of scarlet light, the mouth was a wide well of fire, and a hideous garment, like to his own, swathed with its silent snows the Titan form. On its breast was a placard with strange writing in antique characters, some scroll of shame it seemed, some record of wild sins, some awful calendar of crime, and, with its right hand, it bore aloft a falchion of gleaming steel. Never having seen a ghost before, he naturally was terribly frightened, and, after a second hasty glance at the awful phantom, he fled back to his room, tripping up in his long winding-sheet as he sped down the corridor, and finally dropping the rusty dagger into the Minister’s jack-boots, where it was found in the morning by the butler. Once in the privacy of his own apartment, he flung himself down on a small pallet-bed, and hid his face under the clothes. After a time, however, the brave old Canterville spirit asserted itself, and he determined to go and speak to the other ghost as so on as it was daylight. Accordingly, just as the dawn was touching the hills with silver, he returned towards the spot where he had first laid eyes on the grisly phantom, feeling that, after all, two ghosts were better than one, and that, by the aid of his new friend, he might safely grapple with the twins. On reaching the spot, however, a terrible sight met his gaze. Something had evidently happened to the spectre, for the light had entirely faded from its hollow eyes, the gleaming falchion had fallen from its hand, and it was leaning up against the wall in a strained and uncomfortable attitude. He rushed forward and seized it in his arms, when, to his horror, the head slipped off and rolled on the floor, the body assumed a recumbent posture, and he found himself clasping a white dimity bed-curtain, with a sweeping-brush, a kitchen cleaver, and a hollow turnip lying at his feet! Unable to understand this curious The whole thing flashed across him. He had been tricked, foiled, and out-witted! The old Canterville look came into his eyes; he ground his toothless gums together; and, raising his withered hands high above his head, swore according to the picturesque phraseology of the antique school, that, when Chanticleer had sounded twice his merry horn, deeds of blood would be wrought, and murder walk abroad with silent feet. Hardly had he finished this awful oath when, from the red-tiled roof of a distant homestead, a cock crew. He laughed a long, low, bitter laugh, and waited. Hour after hour he waited, but the cock, for some strange reason, did not crow again. Finally, at half-past seven, the arrival of the housemaids made him give up his fearful vigil, and he stalked back to his room, thinking of his vain oath and baffled purpose. There he consulted several books of ancient chivalry, of which he was exceedingly fond, and found that, on every occasion on which this oath had been used, Chanticleer had always crowed a second time. â€Å"Perdition seize the naughty fowl,† he muttered, â€Å"I have seen the day when, with my stout spear, I would have run him through the gorge, and made him crow for me an ’twere in death!† He then retired to a comfortable lead coffin, and stayed there till evening.