Wednesday, July 31, 2019

Homeschooling: An option to choose or refuse? Essay

Schooling is considered as a major step in a child’s development towards becoming a good citizen and a good human being in this global world. Every parent wants the best for their children and they seek for the best education option available. No matter how good or disciplined a school is, the worries and anxieties respective to child’s development, remains constant for the parents. Due to increasing concerns and lack of satisfaction with public schools, new options are being sought after. Homeschooling is one such option that is rapidly emerging as a favorite amongst worried parents. Homeschooling is a way of education, wherein a child, instead of studying by traditional means of going to a public or private school, learns at home, with the help of a private tutor or the parents themselves. Homeschooling is being preferred over traditional methods in this growing world, where the number of students in class, are increasing day by day. Considering the facts, homeschooling looks like a good option for parents who can be assured of individual attention and good educational facilities, right at their homes. The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition, defines homeschooling as, â€Å"home schooling the practice of teaching children in the home as an alternative to attending public or private elementary or high school. In most cases, one or both of the children’s parents serve as the teachers. Like the charter school movement, home schooling usually arises from religious or other disenchantment with conventional public schools. Home schooling may also include full-time education at home by hired tutors. † The most important benefit of homeschooling is the fact that parents can themselves teach the children at their home and not worry about their children being given due attention in school or not. Homeschooling is said to be first noted in the year 1997, when Rebecca Sealfon, a thirteen year old girl, won the national spelling bee. Rebecca was being schooled in her home and this brought waves among the society (Anderson). Hettinger, in her article, â€Å"Trend to go home for school is on the rise across Indiana, nation† states that parents report dissatisfaction over not being given individual attention in public or private schools and the number of students in a class are increasing. Hettinger also states that, In the United States, an estimated 1. 5 million children were home schooled in 2007, an increase of 74 percent since 1999, according to a press release from Indiana University School of Education. The latest numbers in Indiana were 23,455 students in 2005-06, a 429 percent increase from 10 years earlier, according to the Indiana Department of Education. Lloyd from USA today reports that the number of home schooled kids have reached to 1. 5 million in the year 2007, risen up 74% from when the Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics started keeping track in 1999, and up 36% since 2003. Lloyd states that the reasons are mostly religious for homeschooling. The traditional means of schooling does not give the liberty to the parents for being watchful. In homeschooling, even with private tutors, parents can keep an eye on the quality of education and teaching strategies given to their children. The basic positive point about homeschooling is freedom. Children have the freedom to flexible hours of study and they do not have to go by strict schedules (Shaw). Families that move constantly from one town to another, face difficulties in changing schools again and again. Homeschooling gives them full freedom in that respect. Another reason that can be studied for homeschooling being preferred over traditional teaching methods is that no matter how good the school is, parents are still worried about their child’s safety (Davis, 27). The school may be secure enough, but it is not their home. Public schools are dissatisfactory and private schools are highly expensive. Some parents prefer homeschooling because they like to pass on their moral values to their children. Many parents have religious beliefs and they like to pass on their beliefs to their children as a means of their education (Davis, 37). The disadvantages of homeschooling can be simply put by a single word, ‘Isolation’. Schools highly serve as a means of communication and socializing for children with the outer world. In homeschooling, this channel for communication is blocked. Isabel Shaw says that, â€Å"Depending on where you live, homeschoolers may or may not be welcome to participate on teams with their public-schooled peers. Several parents did mention that a few families overcame this problem by creating their own teams. † Tara Hettinger, in her article, states that socializing, though it may seem as a hindrance in homeschooling, isn’t really much of a problem. One of the parents she interviewed, states that, in her opinion, children socialize more outside the school in their play groups rather than in schools. Other disadvantage mainly seen in homeschooling is that the level of education, often provided by the parents, may not live up to high standards. Homeschooled children may not live up to high grades, just like the rest. Davis argues that all students cannot perform with good grades (Davis, 56). There could be more reasons to this argument. The parent acting as a tutor, which is mostly common in homeschooling, should be qualified and educated to tutor the child with proper standards. If the child doesn’t reach proper standards due to the lack of knowledge or efficiency on the part of the tutor, the child is not to be blamed. As a conclusion, it is seen that most parents resort to homeschooling for their children, to get freed from worries and anxieties and to impart better educational facilities to their children in front of their eyes. Even after being aware of its disadvantages, homeschooling seems to be a better resort for parents who want their children to have more than just the average, with respect to education. Homeschooling is becoming more preferred amongst parents, due to its advantages of flexibility, more individual attention, security and variable teaching methodologies over the traditional public or private schooling. Works Cited â€Å"Homeschooling† The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition 2008 Encyclopedia. com 16 Mar 2009 Anderson, Brian C. â€Å"An A for Home Schooling† City Journal Summer 2000. < http://www. city-journal. org/html/10_3_an_a_for_home. html>. Hettinger, Tara â€Å"Trend to go home for school is on the rise across Indiana, nation† The Evening News & The Tribune 10 January 2009. Lloyd, Janice â€Å"Home schooling grows† USA Today 1 January 2009. Shaw, Isabel â€Å"The Pros and Cons of Homeschooling† FamilyEducation. com 16 March 2009 Davis, Mimi. So – Why Do You Homeschool?. Xulon Press, 2005.

Tuesday, July 30, 2019

Conflict & Stress Management Essay

1.0 INTRODUCTION Stress and conflict are two major issues any organisation faces. They are inevitable in all facets of life, be individual or organisational. If not handled well they can be a hindrance for the company performance. Conflict and stress both varies according to the organisation and its culture. But both need to be managed well to avoid unnecessary problems. Conflict is a perception. Surveys show that employees spend as much as 42% of their time engaging in or attempting to resolve conflicts and 20% of managers’ time is taken up by conflict related issues (Gupta, Boyd, Kuzmits, 2011). This valuable time can be utilised in making the organisation a more efficient and an effective one. Organisations which fail to address conflict have the risk of losing their competitive advantage. Conflict can be viewed in many ways and there are different management styles which can deal with conflict. The leadership of the organisation must be involved in dealing with conflict as they would have to negotiate and bargain in order to overcome conflict. Stress is a major concern with today’s working people. This is because the world is developing in a faster pace which requires constant adaptation. Stress not only affects ones work-life balance, but also their personal life which creates chaos for individuals. According to some estimation, humankind losses 100 million workdays every year due to the aftermath of stress (Treven & Potocan, 2005). Work stress needs to be managed well so it can actually improve the well being of the individuals as well as the organisation. Both of these factors will be viewed in the context of Nippon Lanka and will be analysed thoroughly on how they overcome these issues to maintain a healthy relationship with employees. Improvements and recommendations for the current methods will also be discussed. 2.0 OVERVIEW Nippon Lanka Pvt Ltd (NPLK) is a joint venture (JV) between the Nippon PLC Japan (NPJ) and Silicone Coatings Pvt Ltd (SC) Sri Lanka where the NPJ brought over 60% of Silicone’s shares. This joint venture is advantageous to both parties where NPJ is able to use this as an entry method and SC as an opportunity to be a part of a global industry. Formation of this JV took almost a year where Nippon Lanka studied SC and the relevant industry as whole to get an idea of the present market conditions. It was found that there was no better time to enter the Sri Lankan market due to the post war era development. Therefore SC was considered due to their strong presence in the market. Today after about three months from successfully forming the JV the company is going through a transition period. There aren’t any major changes to positions in the hierarchy but there are role changes and employees are finding it difficult to adapt to their new roles. Example: – The Managing Director (MD) of the company who was the owner of the company still is the MD how ever to day the person is a salaried employee. – The General Manager who was reporting directly to MD today has to report to the Board of directors where MD is just one out of the five directors. When examining the company culture towards conflict, the company culture and the value system which has been there for 35 years from the date of the establishment is now being changed. SC was established in 1979, as a small scale manufacture and a distributer of paint related ancillaries. By the time Nippon approached SC it had grown into the largest local player in the market where it was second only to the global giant Akzonobal by a 3% margin. It is evident that SC has been a one man show up to the time of the JV, the full value system and the operational procedures were laid down by the founder himself and not most of the managers found it enticing to be part of. Therefore the HR turnover was such that on average about six key resources left the company. In this back ground let’s see how the conflict and stress management function takes place within the organization. 3.0 CONFLICT AND CONFLICT MANAGEMENT 3.1 Conflict Management Styles Conflict can be defined as the process that begins when one party perceives that another party has negatively affected, or is about to negatively affect, something the first party cares about (Robbins S., Judge T. & Vohra N., 2011:441). It is that point in an ongoing activity when an interaction crosses over to become an interparty conflict. Conflict can be seen as good and bad with corresponding positive and negative outcomes where this would all depend on how one views conflict. There are three basics views of conflict. These are the Traditional view, the Interactionist view and Managed conflict view. The traditional view sees conflict as bad and something that must be eliminated through the use of authority. Poor communication, lack of openness and failure to respond to employee needs could be seen as few of the causes. The interactionist view is that conflict is desirable, necessary for high performance teams and should be encouraged. The contemporary view is that conflict is inevitable and it may be positive or negative but it must be managed to be beneficial. Nippon Lanka follows a more interactionist view where conflict is encouraged and the company is of the view that a perfectly cooperative, harmonious group would hinder dynamism, creativity and innovation where a minimal level of conflict is needed to prevent a lacklustre, uninterested attitude among the group. As mentioned earlier, not all conflicts are good, and this view only supports functional conflict. Functional conflict is a constructive form of conflict that supports the goals of the group and improves performance. The type of conflict at hand would distinguish a functional conflict from a dysfunctional conflict. Although these are distinct types of conflict, the occurrence of one type of conflict can lead to a conflict of another type taking place. For example, the process of costing has been kept confidential, and this has led to the tension between the sales team and the costing team. 3.2TYPES OF CONFLICT PRESENT IN NIPPON LANKA 3.2.1Relationship conflict Conflicts between two people are known as relationship conflicts. These conflicts arise as a result of miscommunication, disagreements or misunderstandings between people. One such situation at Nippon Lanka arose between the Brand Manager and the Marketing Manager. The Brand manager has been with the company for 5 years and has previously worked with two Heads of marketing. Once the new marketing manager was appointed, it was found that the latter was less experienced and was not willing to corporate with the Marketing Head. This triggered huge problems for the new comer. The management was aware of this, but wasn’t able to remove him from the position due to the valuable connections the customers. However, the Marketing Manager understood this inferiority complex of the Brand Manager. Having gone through the initial hardships the new marketing manager somehow managed to win the trust of the Brand manager. Now they are working harmoniously, directing all their efforts towards the benefit of the company. 3.2.2.Data Conflict This occurs when decisions are made without adequate information. At Nippon Lanka, the costing department works in isolation. They do not consult the sales and marketing team when arriving at the costs, so more often than not, the cost of the product is either too high, depriving them of valuable orders and potential growth, or at times its too low depriving the opportunity for the company to charge a premium price on an innovative product or to achieve efficiency through specialisation. 3.2.3Interest Conflict Conflicts of interest mainly deal with psychological issues, where an individual or organisation behaves in a certain manner, with the aim of meeting a particular interest which is not shared by everyone else. The JV with the Japanese company was not disclosed or made public, even though doing so would have been acting in the best interests of the company. The MD did not like the idea of publicising the 60:40 JV that was taking place, as it would be viewed as a takeover. However, the rest of the company felt that some amount of public awareness would have positively impacted the company’s future performance. Another example would be when the HR department wanted to minimise the over time cost they imposed a rule where all sales vehicle needs to be back at the HO by 5 pm. As an example what the Sales representatives would do is when they need to deliver goods up to Negombo, covering Wattala, Ja-ela, Seeduwa and Negombo. They would turn back from Seeduwa at 3.30 pm in order to make it back to office by 5 pm, without covering their full distance to Negombo. What followed was a delay in the delivery and travelling additional mileage, having to revisit incomplete routes taking the same path. 3.2.4 Structural Conflict Structural conflict arises from unclear and undefined roles and reporting lines. The R&D and the production manger are directly reporting to the MD. The other managers report to the GM, where the GM reports to the MD. Currently when a sales representative needs to develop a sample for a particular customer, the sales representative will not have the adequate support since the request from the sales rep will not be taken seriously from the R&D manager and the GM cannot question them for not doing it right. Only 10 out of 1 samples are successful and yet the R&D manager has managed to survive, distracting the control and supervisory system of the top management since there is no clear reporting structure. 3.2.5 Value Conflict A value conflict comes about when two people or groups have dissenting views on morality–that basic understanding of what is naturally right or wrong. As mentioned earlier, the cost manager considered himself and his department superior than the other departments, with the notion that the information handled need not be disclosed to anyone else. At present, the cost manager is in prison, facing charges of fraud. Although the environment helped the person to carry out fraud, this is a clear example of conflicting values. 3.3 THE CONFLICT PROCESS Figure 1: The Conflict Process (Source: Robbins S., Judge T. & Vohra N., 2005:444) 3.3.1Stage I: Potential opposition or incompatibility The first stage talks about the conditions that are needed for conflict to arise. They may not directly lead to conflict, but they need to be present for conflict to surface. They can be referred to as the causes of conflict and can be condensed into three general categories, namely communications, structure and personal variables. Communication, either too much or too little information passed between members can result in potential opportunities for conflict to arise. At Nippon Lanka, the manner in which the costing of the products is carried out is not communicated to the members in the other dept and this has been the initiating factor for conflict to set in. Structure includes several variables such as size, degree of specialization in the tasks assigned to the group members, role clarity, member-goal compatibility, leadership styles, reward systems, and the degree of dependence among groups. The sales and promotions manager at Nippon Paints follow an aggressive, predator style of leadership where excuses were not tolerated and was only interested in the achievement of results and targets. An example would be, the samples taken from the production team that is used for sales and promotion does not meet the required standards of quality where 9 out of 10 samples would fail. Same time, the Sales and promotions manager would also be very demanding of the sales representatives in terms of getting the desired targets. In some cases, employees have resigned due this demanding nature. Personal variables are mainly due to differences in personal traits of individuals. Diverse issues such as prejudice and disagreements over one’s contribution to the group, as well as the rewards one deserves. For example, at Nippon Paints, the General Manager is prepared to hire new trainees at Rs. 15,000/=, whereas the Sales and Promotions Manager feels that the market rate of Rs. 30,000/= should be paid to them. The low salaries have deterred attracting the talented individuals and therefore not achieving the fullest potential. 3.3.2Stage II: Cognition and Personalization If the conditions mentioned in stage I negatively affect something one party cares about, then the potential for opposition or incompatibility surfaces in the second stage. One or both parties must be aware and perceive that these conditions exist. However, just because it is perceived does not make the conflict personalized. It may not have an effect on either or both parties. The conflict has to be felt, for individuals become emotionally involved, leading to anxiety, tension, frustration or hostility. 3.3.3Stage III: Intentions Intentions get in the way of people’s perceptions and emotions and act as decisions for them to react the way they do to the situation at hand. They are important, as one has to make inferences of the other party’s intentions to know and understand the reason behind that party’s behavior and to respond accordingly. Conflicts tend to escalate at this point merely because of the wrong inferences being made. Sometimes a behavior might erroneously reflect the person’s intentions. Two dimensions are used, namely cooperativeness (the degree to which one party attempts to satisfy the other party’s concerns) and assertiveness (the degree to which one party attempt to satisfy his or her own concerns) to identify five conflict handling intentions. This has been attached to Appendix 1 with the styles explained. 3.3.4Stage IV: Behavior This stage includes actions, statements and reactions made by the conflicting parties. Intentions of each party are implemented through these behaviors and can be seen as a dynamic process of interaction. Conflicts usually start slow; characterized by indirect rather subtle forms of tension and escalate as the tension builds. At this latter stage things could become highly destructive where such conflicts are almost always dysfunctional. 3.3.5Stage V: Outcomes Behavior would lead to outcomes, where some are functional in that the conflict results in an improvement in the group’s performance or it may also be dysfunctional in that it hinders group performance. Functional conflict can be beneficial for the company as it provides a medium through which problems can be aired and tensions released. This improves the quality of decisions, stimulates creativity and innovation, encourages interest and curiosity among group members and it forces and environment of self-evaluation and change. Some companies discourage conflict as they prefer â€Å"yes-men†, loyal to the higher ups to the point of never questioning company actions. As for dysfunctional conflict it would reduce group effectiveness and group cohesiveness. At the extreme, conflict can bring group functioning to a halt and potentially threaten the group’s survival. Refer Appendix II for the example of a conflict Process at Nippon paints. 3.3 NEGOTIATING AND BARGAINING Before the organisation starts negotiating they should be aware of the nature of the conflict. There is a certain process that needs to be followed in negotiation. Negotiation is by definition the management of crossed demands, where each one of us expresses requests hoping the other will try to fulfil them (Lempereur, A. 2012). As it is said â€Å"Everything is negotiation in life†, so every party involved in the process would like to take the best out of it. 3.3.1 Bargaining Strategies There are two bargaining strategies that could be discussed. Distributive bargaining and integrative bargaining. In the current context what is more obvious is integrative bargaining which makes both the parties involved satisfied creating a win-win situation. An example for this was when a sales representative requests for a personal vehicle they need to achieve a certain level of sales targets. If they maintain the sales targets for a sustainable period they will be given a personal vehicle. But by any chance if they do not keep up to the said targets their salaries will be reduced in accordance with the cost of maintaining the vehicle by the company. Through a situation like this, what is created is a long term positive relationship for the company. As a company, they increase the sales levels and the employees will also be satisfied as their needs are also met. 3.3.2 Negotiation Process Negotiation can happen in 5 steps; these are preparation and planning, definition and ground rules, clarification and justification, bargaining and problem solving and closure and implementation. Some do not have a positive ending or a closure. But negotiations that have an effect for the organisation will go through a process. An example of this would be when the company needs to host certain function in hotels they would negotiate with them for the best bargain. As they have cost constraints, there are certain limitations and getting the best bargain with the best outcome would be the perfect scenario. Before the start of the negotiation with the relevant hoteliers the in-charge person will prepare the list of things that need to be discussed. These would be the pricing, menu items, additional services that are required and assess what the other party goals and prepare well for them. In this instance a budget per person would be Rs. 3,000. But the relevant hotels cost was higher. Then the menus for these relevant amounts will be compared. In the Sri Lankan context rather than a 4 or 5 course meal, action stations with koththu and hoppers have a vibrant feeling and also cost less. So in the negotiation table the other alternatives will be put across. Since information is all gathered, the representative will develop a strategy. The person will also determine the Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement (BATNA). So here the BATNA will be to get cost per person at Rs. 3,000 having action stations with cocktail menu. The person will determine when and where to have the appointment. The ideal place would be at hotel premises because then the ambiance where service capacity can also be viewed. The meeting would be planned in the best time where both parties are not strained with other commitments and can concentrate for a best outcome. Once the initial stance is made then there will be further clarifications and explanations. Then both parties will try to come up with concessions in order to make a decision. Once both parties are satisfied they will formalize the agreement. In this process Nippon Lanka representatives will stress on the fact that if one event is made a success; then the hotel is winning a long term corporate client. This enhances their business. 3.3.3 Third Party Negotiation This is crucial for Nippon Lanka as they deal with lot of suppliers and customers. Advertising is a crucial part for this organisation and dealing with media is important to get a good advertising deal. Earlier they were dealing with the television and radio stations by themselves and it was quite strenuous. Getting a good deal that is worth their money was tough and time consuming, having deal with different organisations, so they decided to obtain third party involvement. The outcome was to get a consultant to act on media buying for the organisation. A consultant is a skilled and impartial third party who attempts to facilitate problem solving through communication and analysis (Robbins S., Judge T. & Vohra N., 2011:457). They are there to improve the current status and to get a win-win solution for both parties. When Nippon started using a third party advertising firm to do media buying, they were able to get good deals from media as they have a high bargaining power. 4.0 WORK STRESS & STRESS MANAGEMENT Stress is a dynamic condition in which an individual is confronted with an opportunity, demand, or resource related to what the individual desires and for which the outcome is perceived to be both uncertain and important (Robbins, Judge & Vohrs, 554). Most of the time stress is discussed in the negative contest but this is not true at all times. Stress can be taken into the system as an advantage. In the current organisation stress factor is not talked openly even though people are put under stress levels it is not considered as value adding option for the organisation. In the organisation currently what is seen is the challenge stresses but sometimes these same factors do become hindrance stressors for the employees. 4.1 Sources of stress The main sources of stress in the organisation comes from environmental and organisation factors. When it comes to environmental factors; the three types of uncertainties are economic, political and technological. These play a minimal role compared to organisational and personal factors. In considering environment factors; the workers are stressed on the technological aspect. Research and development team is always under pressure in getting a new product development before their competitors. Organisation heads are concerned about the Political uncertainty. Whenever a new rule or regulation is passed by government with regard to the consumer protection or protecting environment this takes a toll in the organisation activities. They must be aware of the new laws and how to tackle them, this adds a lot of strain in the management as they need to alter or change certain decisions according to political scenarios. Change in economic policies and recessions or booms in the economic cycle create stress on the organisation. Current economic down turn have made a toll in the sales teams as consumers are spending less and government projects have considerably reduced. At the same time government is not paying their debt and collections have become harder. Organisational factors are the ones that are created by the organisation which creates stress on employees. Task demands such as collecting debts in 90 days have a strain on the employee. This increases the job pressure. Role demands relate to pressure that occurs due to the job role. Managers and above have high role related pressures compared to subordinates due to the heavy work load which needs to be performed in less time. Most employees complain that they are given more work than they can handle and it stresses them out a lot. At the same time many complain the targets given are not practical. There is a minimal level of interpersonal demands where other employees are not supportive. Personal factors which increase stress are different to every individual. But this does create a hindrance in the organisation performance. All or some of these factors create a high turnover or absenteeism, reduction in productivity and decrease in job satisfaction. Sadly Nippon Lanka has not recognised the importance of stress management in order to curb it or cure it. The main organisational stress come comes from the current management change, this is because the task and role demands have changed and employees need to adjust to the new roles. Personal factors too trigger stress level of the employees. 4.2 Managing Stress at Nippon Lanka Pvt Ltd Based on the study, it is visible that Nippon Lanka uses stress as a positive motivator, but at some points it goes out of hand where it depletes the collaboration and coordination amongst the teams and also inter department. Based on the job roles, the department heads can think of the stress levels which can be imposed on the team members to get results and to meet targets. However the stress levels should be correctly managed so that it motivates results and not deplete and impede the team building and performance drive within the teams. As it is observed, some amount of stress comes from the non-alignment of the reporting lines. Therefore the suggestion is to relook at the reporting lines so that stress does not occur due to incorrect alignment of the business structure which has a negative impact and which creates unnecessary types of stress within teams. Together with the Job role enrichment, reporting lines should also be re-aligned so that the company will only be left with stress which causes the company to perform and not to impede. 5.0 CONCLUSION In conclusion conflict, negotiation and stress are all visible in Nippon Paint. Conflict is unavoidable at the organisation due to the dealings they have among the departments and the third parties. To overcome conflict certain understanding among employees and stakeholders must be implemented. It can be seen that conflict, negotiation and stress are interlinked with each other on some level. Organisational conflict styles may shape an organisation’s social environment, affecting the level of ongoing conflict and thus the level of stress among employees. Nippon Lanka to a great extent follows an integrative style of conflict management which leads to lower task conflict, reducing relationship conflict, which reduces stress. However, there are many instances where the management has not come up with a solution to the conflict at hand, where they are not willing to step in and the employees are left to resolve the matter, which at most times remains unresolved. The recommended improvements with regard to this has been discussed in Section 3.4. It is important that with the JV taking place, the new management plays an active role in resolving these long running issues so that the organisation and its performance does not get affected. The current JV could also trigger new conflicts and stress levels within the organisation where it is crucial that these issues are identified and resolved. The new management must take this opportunity to place greater prominence of recognizing the on-going stress levels within the organisation and deal with them appropriately. Improved management of conflict, negotiations and stress would benefit the individuals and the organisation in terms of high performing, content, dedicated employees who deliver results.

Monday, July 29, 2019

Birmingham Letter Illusions

Letter from Birmingham Jail Allusions in Section 3 Martin Luther King’s Letter from Birmingham Jail is one of the most well known documents in American history. King’s profound ability to articulate important ideas, values, concepts and Biblical perspectives made for some of the most powerful and inspirational pieces of American literature ever produced. One technique that King used in his public speeches and letters was his allusions to historical figures, the Bible and opposing congressmen. During the 60’s when cultural prejudice still held strong roots in Congress, it was King’s talent to inspire the public that revolutionized America’s racial injustices. King’s frequent use of allusions in his famous Letter from Birmingham Jail proved his intelligence and greatly attributed to his success and popularity during the 1960’s. His allusions demonstrated his referential capabilities while also making his messages readily relatable to the public. It was often said that it was not King’s intelligence that made him seem so acumen, but that he was â€Å"well read†(knew much from reading). His frequent allusions to major documents and famous statements in contest to his adversaries ultimately lead to his dominance in public speech. In the paragraphs 12 through 14 when king references the election of mayor Albert Boutwell, he states, â€Å"We are sadly mistaken if we feel that the election of Albert Boutwell as mayor will bring the millennium to Birmingham† in paragraph twelve. The millennium is an allusion to a specific verse from the Bible’s book of Revelation interpreted as the 1,000 years in which Jesus comes back to earth to restore peace. He made many correlations to the Bible and major public documents, such as the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights to make his arguments accurate and mainly understandable by restating vital rules and quotes that even the illiterate could comprehend. In these paragraphs he quoted the Bible by using phrases like â€Å"moral light, â€Å"abyss of despair† and â€Å" unjust posture. † King used the word â€Å"wait† in this section of the letter multiple times as a allusion to the current denial of rights to African Americans that had been going on for the last 340 years. He also stated that â€Å"justice too long delayed is justice denied† in correlation to the current racial dilemma in America at the time. All of these direct references made for some of the most significant and powerful American literature ever created and made Martin Luther King one of the most successful authors in this period of civil revolution. By reinforcing his argument with allusions that the public could relate to, King was able to greatly impact the civil rights movement of the 1960’s and ultimately bring around the social turning point of the century that provided racial equality to all and smother prejudice in America thereafter.

Sunday, July 28, 2019

Film music Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Film music - Essay Example The sounds of chirping birds, barking dog, a man cutting grass with a lawn mower, water being sprinkled from a hose, a man fixing the roof with a hammer making thudding sound are very clear. The sound of Bogs’ brisk footsteps across the zigzag path, carrying her blue bag marks the start of her busy day. The moment she rings the bell of Helen’s house a buzzing sound coming from inside the house disappears. Helen opens the door and Pegg gives her pitch in a bright cheerful tone. The next scene shows a plumber’s van parked outside the house of a lonely housewife, Joyce. There is music in the background. The song is romantic and it seems odd with the morning time. The plumber complains that she didn’t even have to call him to ‘fix’ the dishwasher; she could have taken care of it herself. The woman talks in a very slow sleazy voice as if to seduce the man who is appearing very professional in his tone and voice. The ring of the doorbell ruins her mood as she exclaims ‘who could that be?’ The music keeps playing. The moment she opens the door the sound birds chirping becomes clear again and Pegg starts pitching her Avon products. Joyce continues in her breathy sleepy voice that she isn’t supposed to be there as she was busy. The tapping of her fingernails on the wooden frame of the door is also very clear as she taps it impatiently waiting for Pegg to leave. And the Joyce’s slamming of door stops the song and the scene changes. The grim music from organ piano is played by a lady in one house and Pegg loses her heart and moves towards her car. In the background two children pass on bicycles singing ‘ding dong the Avon Lady!’ to mock Pegg. She gets in her car but the grim organ music keeps playing. She writes off the names of people on her list with a very loud scratching off pen. The moment she adjusts her mirror and sees the castle in it a very grim sounding piano is played in the background, accompanied by strings

Medicare Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Medicare - Research Paper Example It is a program being implemented by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Medicare is divided into four parts. The first part is the Hospital insurance (Part A). This helps to pay for inpatient care in a hospital or skilled nursing facility, (after hospital stay), home health care and hospice care (Social Security Online, 2010). Medicare insurance (Part B) covers doctors’ services and other medical services and supplies which are not covered by hospital insurance (Social Security Online, 2010). Medicare Advantage (Part C) can be availed of in many areas. Those under Medicare Parts A and B can opt to receive all their health care services through the provider organizations under Part C (Social Security Online, 2010). Finally, drug coverage (Part D) assists in the payment of medications for which doctors prescribe for the treatment of their ailments (Social Security Online, 2010). Medicare is different from Medicaid. Medicaid is a program which provides aid for those who cannot afford medical services. Different states have different rules on eligibility and coverage; and in some cases, these programs do overlap and some individuals may qualify for coverage under both programs (Social Security Online, 2010). This Medicare program is significant for public health because it helps ensure that all people receive quality health care and are entitled to improved outcomes (DeWalt, Oberlander, Carey, and Roper, 2006). Some studies also point out that Medicare programs help control the cost of health care as it improves health outcomes of the people covered. It also helps prevent illnesses and reduce waiting times with doctors; and through the coordinated efforts of the Medicare programs, many states are able to encourage practices which â€Å"improve the timelessness of care and also†¦reduce the rate of no-shows to clinic appointments† (DeWalt, Oberlander, Carey, and

Saturday, July 27, 2019

The Challenge In The Community IPE Event, Supported By The Management Essay

The Challenge In The Community IPE Event, Supported By The Management And Sociology Workshop - Essay Example Its components include descriptive, feelings and analysis. First, it is important to understand that Gibbs model as a reflective practice has been associated with leaning based on the experiences and in its entirety, has always played a very significant role as a strategy used by professionals as a lifelong learning. The practice is also credited for being a process that promotes quality of care and catalyzes professional and personal growth and thus bridges the gap between practice and theory. To this end, the paper will examine the IPE challenge and relate it with the Gibbs model. Inter-professional education (IPE) involves students from different health disciplines engaging in practice learning through mentorship and collaborative activities. It plays a vital role in educating and developing healthcare professionals (Carpenter, & Dickinson, 2008).This reflective writing is based on the challenge in the community IPE event and it is supported by the sociology and management workshop. Gibbs reflective cycle will be used in this paper. Gibbs cycle involves six stage approaches to learning, this include description, feelings, evaluation, analysis, conclusion and action plan. Description On 31st of March, as an audiologist, I attended the IPE event challenge in the community together with different healthcare professionals such as Social workers, Nurses, Pharmacists, physiotherapists and respiratory technicians. The aims was to work as professionals in our own fields and identify the best professional relationships to ensure that service users get the desired quality services.

Friday, July 26, 2019

The Life Cycles of Failed Projects Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Life Cycles of Failed Projects - Essay Example From this discussion it is clear that  the aforementioned article was developed by the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers. According to the article, it is rare for an IT project to experience failure all at once. To be precise, the author of the article says that failure in IT projects starts in a particular project segment and then escalates over time.This study highlights that  as the project development time goes on, the definition of success of an IT goes starts becoming prone to mutation. In essence, it is during this time that failure of an IT project slowly becomes open to the development team or other project stakeholders. As the authors put it, â€Å"deadlines gets pushed back and budgets increase†. In other words these two factors are some key signs of failure in an IT project.  Pushing back of the project development has proved to be a key sign of failure. The article states that most the IT projects start ahead of schedule. In fact, others have had to start three years ahead of schedule. Another constraint is that of changes in budget where in most cases the project budget has had to be increased. These two features have been very critical to the failure of IT project.  In order to provide a clear view of the evolution of most IT projects towards failure, this article has laid shed light on The U.S. Air Forces Expeditionary Combat Support System. The authors have reconstructed the budget and deadline history of the system to aid in providing a bird’s eye of the aforementioned failures.  

Thursday, July 25, 2019

Justification Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Justification Report - Essay Example It is my hope and faith that this report will be useful in your decision making and that it will lead to useful development. Wal-Mart should invest in the African market and make an early entry. This will help the firm to establish itself in the market which will facilitate its future growth strategies. The African market is growing at a much higher rate than most developed economies around the world. It has also shown a thirst for retail outlets, as indicated by the massive growth of world class shopping malls. Africa is becoming the next hub of business in the global market. Although most of the countries in Africa are still underdeveloped, the rate of economic growth as well as the economic potential that these nations have are commendable (Westen, 2014). At the rate at which the African and the global economy are growing, Africa will be the next big market in the global economy (Larsen et al, 2010). The BRICS provide a good market and an opportunity for firms to grow and expand their business, unfortunately there is high competition there and they may not provide enough market for global development. Looking at most African cities indicate that there is a boom in the retail sector. For instance, many Cities in the African nations such as Nairobi are seeing massive grown in the construction of retail centers such as shopping malls. Nairobi for instance has witnessed the construction of over ten new shopping malls in the last five years. Being a retail organization, this is a massive opportunity for Wal-Mart and it should take it in time not to lose to competitors. African economies are growing at a commendable rate. Most African economies such as Kenya, Rwanda and Nigeria are growing at a rate that is much higher than most European nations. Soon, these nations will provide the best opportunity for multinationals like Wal-Mart. Getting in the market as early as possible will be a great advantage for the firm. Those firms which will be able to enter

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

Airline industry and leadership Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Airline industry and leadership - Essay Example The airlines industry is one which constantly faced with considerable global challenges and competition. Constantly turbulence in their business conditions leaves the fortunes of these companies in the hands of global conditions and conditions of the economy. The co-evolutionary process of industry development and leadership is evident in many of the airlines companies across the world. Leaders have played the dynamic role of developing new business models with the aim to revitalize and rebuild the industry. Some of the greatest airlines in the world, such as the South West Airlines and British Airways have been successful in overcoming hard times and driven towards success by the initiative, zeal and enthusiasm of their leadership teams. It would explain the general theories of leadership providing evidence from another industry (Gilbert, 2009). Section 1 Effective leadership has been particularly responsible for bringing about dramatic organizational transformations. However, the leadership styles and types have differed between organizations. The most important ones which are worth mentioning in the context of bringing out organizational changes or transformation of organizations are situational leadership and contingency theory. According to Bass (1990), situational leadership takes into consideration the leaders and the followers as well as the situation. This is complemented with the elaboration of the circumstances, time and place as well (Martin, 2006, p.45).The fundamental underpinning of situational leadership theory is that it does not consider any single or best style of leadership. It is rather relevant to the task to be performed and the most success successful of all leaders is those who can adapt their leadership styles to the needs of the situation.

Tuesday, July 23, 2019

Structure of Secondary Schooling Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Structure of Secondary Schooling - Essay Example This essay approves that the basics start at school and slowly as they become mature they realize learning is a long process and helps them to be disciplined. The importance of learning is to share with others and make them educated. Studying at colleges and universities is totally a different ball game compared to schools. In colleges and universities the curriculum will be based on practical assumptions. Courses offering at universities and colleges are termed as professional courses and inclined towards engineering, management and political careers. The students will be trained accordingly to fulfill the immediate requirements. The most important thing is to realize the responsibilities towards the society and taking up those responsibilities, which is an indication of a good citizen. Education is an important tool that makes every citizen to know their responsibilities and utilize them properly. This report makes a conclusion that one of the main reasons of learning disabilities is the lack of concentration. Student’s thoughts divert very easily. They could not keep up their concentration level up to the mark. Short-term memory is also one of the reasons. Some of them were unable to remember previous days lessons or unable to grasp Assessing student’s abilities and disabilities is the major factor and teachers should strive to identify these issues. By identifying their strengths and weaknesses one can easily work on these issues. Self-confidence plays an important role in everyone’s lives. It is the deciding factor that decides a winner and a loser.

Egyptian king Essay Example for Free

Egyptian king Essay The two sculptures that I chose to compare and contrast were the Cycladic Woman Figure and the Menkaure and Khamerernebty sculpture. Though each is from a distinctly different culture and historical time period, each depicts the female form in a unique and positive light, utilizing characteristic artistic details from the time period in which it was created to highlight the beauty of the female figure and her role in society. The Cycladic Woman Figure was sculpted from marble around 2600 and stands just over 24 inches high. At this height it is less than realistic life size, yet the statue embodies many feminine characteristics that seem to bring it to life. The lines of the statue are straight and the figure has a straight posture and rigidly folded arms. Horizontal lines are used to indicate the bends of her knees, while diagonal lines are used to outline her pubic area. In contrast, curved lines emphasize the rounded sides of her head and the most emphasized part of her physique, the curve of her hips. More subtle curves outline her breasts and abdomen. Her hips stand out from her otherwise straight posture, giving her wider dimension in this area. Her breasts and abdomen, in contrast, smoothly integrate with her straight figure and are more subtle representations of her femininity. This subtlety provides a pleasant balance to her straight posture. The color and texture are both smooth, with the marble being smoothed carefully to create a smooth composition from head to toes. The texture helps to create a balance between the straight lines at the top of her head, her arms and her feet and the curves of her chin, breasts and thighs. The visual rhythm of the statue is very vertical, and the eye is drawn up and down. Her legs are only very slightly parted, allowing for some light to come through. There is little shadow to the figure because her curves and arms are so subtly formed against the rest of her figure. All use of positive and negative space is done within the rigid posture of the figure and lends itself to an organic, human shape. Menkaure and Khamerernebty, sculpted around 2540 BC, stands over four feet tall, making it twice as large as the Cycladic Woman Figure. It depicts Egyptian king Menkaure and his queen, Khamerernebty. In both figures in the sculpture, similar smooth textures contrasting with sharp lines and straight postures mirror those of the previous statue. The pose of each figure is slightly different. Menkaure is seen in a more authoritative pose, one typical for figures of kings. His foot is forward, indicating authority, and his arms are straight at his sides with his hands clenched. Definition in his arm and chest muscles along with his prominent jaw line give him a sense of maturity and power while also giving depth to the overall sculpture. His physique lends itself to creating light and shadow in the sculpture and there is a sense of depth achieved in his foot being placed forward and his beard extending from his face. Next to Menkaure stands his queen, Khamerernebty. There is evident repetition in their facial features, as well as in the angular shapes of their feet. Her posture is as stiff as his, but her legs are together and straight. There is also repetition in detail and texture between his headdress and her hair, with both extending to the same length on each of their shoulders. There is movement and rhythm incorporated into the statue by her arm holding on to his in a gesture that is both feminine and strong. The lines of her arm are straight, but the softness of her hand both on his arm and around his side suggests love. Her breasts and pubic area are defined with soft, rounded lines. This emphasizes her femininity and serves to balance his rigid authority. The curves of her pubic area and breasts also create shadow in the statue. This shadow along with the shadow created by Menkaure’s extended foot take the eye away from the negative space created between the two figures. Both statues represent an important cultural relationship between the sculptor and the subjects. The Cycladic Woman Figure represented a reverence for the female form and an understanding of the importance of the role of the female in society. Woman’s ability to reproduce and create new life is praised in the softness of her abdomen and breasts. In contrast, the figure of Khamerernebty suggests not fertility, but female power. She is posed alongside her king, holding on to him, and several prominent details place her at the same height and stature as him, indicating her role in the kingdom. She is seen as a powerful and influential figure. Her curves suggest strength rather than fertility and her main role is that of ruler. Both figures represent the female form and concepts of femininity and strength that were important aspects of their culture. In each, the sculptor represented the essence of female beauty that was most important to that culture at the time, and created examples of two of the many aspects of women that make them strong, beautiful creatures that are vital to any civilization.

Monday, July 22, 2019

The digital stop clock Essay Example for Free

The digital stop clock Essay It is accurate because, it measures to 100ml 1. Pipette -To make sure the volume of acid used was as accurate as possible. The way we measured the acid was at eye level from the bottom of the meniscus. 1. gas syringe -To measure the volume of carbon dioxide gas produced. The syringe was precise because it measured volume in 1ml divisions. Throughout this reaction the carbon dioxide is colourless so without it I would have problems measuring and observing the reaction, so if a substance is added to give the carbon dioxide a colour, my final results might not be reliable. I have researched that using a gas syringe is a lot more efficient than using a measuring cylinder as problems occur with the air bubbles.. 1. The electronic balance We used to measure the amount of calcium carbonate we would need for each experiment. The balance is measured in grams (g) We used also used this equipment to ensure the experiment is precise because the electronic balance is measured to 3 decimal places which are helpful as I am using a mass of 0. 5grams. 1. The digital stop clock. -We used the stop clock to time how long the experiment would last for and to make sure that we didn’t go over the amount of time set to do each repeat. There is a start and reset button to start the timer and a stop button to stop the timer this makes it more easy to use. The digital stop watch is also precise because it measures to hundredth seconds which helped us accurately record the volumes of gas at our set intervals and making the experiment a fair test as every measurement was taken at certain time. 1. Stand clamp: The reason why we used this is because the stand clamp for safety reasons as we must ensure that ga syringe and the flask with the acid that are connected to each other are stable so they do not tip over, this is because it may affect the results, and if the acid spills it could be expensive to replace a new one. Same goes with the gas syringe. The reason we used a stand clamp is because the equipment were held steadily to increase the gas flow through the tubing. This will help the gas access the syringe to read the results more accurately. 1. Spatula: We used the spatula to take out the calcium carbonate from the jar because it was the only equipment small enough to fit through the jar. Using another piece of equipment, for example a spoon, would be too large to fit through. 1. Weighing Boat: We placed the calcium carbonate in the weighing boat after we measured it. The weighing boat is light, so it will not affect how we measure the calcium carbonate. 1. Goggles: We wore goggles as part of our health and safety rules that we had to follow to stop any injuries from happening. An example for when we need goggles is when we need to prevent acid from getting into your eyes as it may damage your eyes for the long term. 1. Conical flask with bung: We used this piece of equipment because we needed to put in the reactants (calcium carbonate and hydrochloric acid) that we used when measuring the amount of gas being produced. It attached onto the gas syringe so the gas that was produced in the reaction could pass through the tube to be measured. The bung is there to make sure that the gas being produced, does not escape from the conical flask. The method consists of several steps: 1. Put on your lab coat and goggles. 2. Gather all the equipment that you need e. g. gas cylinder with chronicle flask, two clamp stands, measuring boat, measuring cylinder, and stop watch. 3. Set your equipment up e. g. clamp the gas cylinder into one clamp stand, and clamp the chronicle flask into the other clamp stand, making sure they are at the same height 4. Measure the hydrochloric acid with a measuring cylinder. 5. Pour the acid into the chronicle flask 6. Weigh out the calcium carbonate with the electronic balance. 7. Pour the calcium carbonate into the chronicle flask 8. Place the bung on straight away, and start the digital stop watch 9. Take readings from the gas cylinder every 10 seconds. Main experiment – changing the surface area. The equipment we used was pipette. We used this to make sure the volume of acid used was as accurate as possible. The way we measured the acid was at eye level from the bottom of the meniscus. We used the gas syringe to measure the volume of carbon dioxide gas produced. The syringe was precise because it measured volume in 1ml divisions. We used the electronic balance to ensure the experiment is precise because the electronic balance is measured to 2 decimal places and we also used the stop clock as it is precise because it measured to hundredth seconds. This helped us accurately record the volumes of gas at our set intervals. In the surface area we made sure that we kept the 2M of the hydrochloric acid for each experiment of the surface area. We also used a mercury thermometer as it gives us a better precise reading and allows us to see whether the temperature of the hydrochloric acid makes a difference to the results. The method of the experiment of surface area was on the first experiment we used small calcium chips with the mass of 1. 5g. We measured this by using an electronic balance and we used 2M of hydrochloric acid of a volume of 30ml, by using a measuring cylinder which allowed us to measure the volume accurately. The second experiment we used medium calcium chips with the mass of 1. 5. We measured this by using an electronic balance and we used 2M of hydrochloric acid of a volume of 30ml by using a measuring cylinder which allowed us to measure the volume accurately. For the third experiment we used large calcium chips with the mass of 1. 5g. We measured this by using an electronic balance and we used 2M of hydrochloric acid of a volume of 30ml by using a measuring cylinder which allowed us to measure the volume accurately. For every experiment for the surface area we poured the hydrochloric acid into the conical flask, and then added the calcium chips as fast as possible to ensure the gas does not escape into the air, and not in the gas cylinder. As soon as we placed the bung inside the conical flask, we immediately started the stop watch and timed it up to 120 seconds. For every 10 seconds the person in role of the stop watch would shout at every 10 seconds, and the other person reading the gas cylinder will shout how fast the rubber, tubing is moving out of the gas cylinder. Then we would record the results in the table and repeat the same experiment 5 times to make the results precise and reliable. Results for surface area. We first started off with calcium carbonate powder (1. 5g)with hydrochloric acid (30ml) but the reaction took place within 5 seconds and immediately reacted. Therefore it was very fast and it was impossible for us to take any readings. Because of this we decided to use calcium carbonate chips so it is easier to take the reading. Table 4. Results for small chips of calcium carbonate Calcium Small Chips 1. 5g Hydrochloric Acid 2M 30ml Volume Of Gas Produced (ml) Time Repeat1 (ml) Repeat 2 (ml) Repeat 3 (ml) Repeat 4 (ml) Repeat5 (ml) Averages Evaluating the results for small chips of calcium carbonate Table 4 shows the surface area of small calcium chips. We did this by using 1. 5g of small calcium chips and 30ml of volume of 2M hydrochloric acid. There does not seem to be any outliers; a good start for the first results. As you can see we repeated the experiment 5 times to result precision. From the Table 4, we can see that the volume of gas produced increased fast towards the average of 110. From this we were keen to find out if the medium calcium chips made a more noticeable difference. Table 5. Evaluating results for medium chips of calcium carbonate Calcium Medium Chips 1. 5g Hydrochloric Acid 2M 30ml Volume Of Gas Produced (ml) Time Repeat1 (ml) Repeat 2 (ml) Repeat 3 (ml) Repeat 4 (ml) Repeat 5(ml) Averages   Outliers Evaluating results for medium chips of calcium carbonate. In Table 5, we show the surface area of medium calcium chips. We did this by using 1. 5g of medium calcium chips and 30ml of volume of 2M hydrochloric acid. In this graph there seems to be an outliner which is highlighted in blue. For the averages we did not include the outlier to give us a more reliable and precise average. As you can see we repeated the experiment 5 times to assure result precision. From Table 5 we can see that the volume of gas produced has gradually increased towards the time of 120 seconds. This shows that medium chips are the best results so far. To make sure we have concluded the right decision we wanted to check if large calcium chips would make a stronger difference. Table 6. Evaluating results for large chips Calcium Large Chips 1. 5g Hydrochloric Acid 2M 30ml Volume Of Gas Produced (ml) Time Repeat 1 (ml) Repeat 2 (ml) Repeat 3(ml) Repeat 4 (ml) Repeat 5 (ml) Averages Outliers Evaluating results for large chips of calcium carbonate. In Table 6 we show the surface area of large calcium chips. We did this by using 1. 5g of large calcium chips and 30ml of volume of 2M hydrochloric acid. In this graph there seems to be an outliner which is highlighted in blue. In the outlier the temperature on the hydrochloric acid was 23EC, which is an inconvenience and the rest of the results that don’t have an outlier have all got 24EC. This tells us the that the change in temperature may be a reason why there may be an outlier. For the averages we did not include the outlier to give us a more reliable and precise average. As you can see we repeated the experiment 5 times to assure precision in results. From the Table 6 we can see that the volume of gas produced has gradually increased towards the time of 120 seconds. This shows that large chips results are also reliable. Graphs for surface area. In the graph I can see that small chips used in the reaction releases more volume of gas in (ml) is better as it increases the amount of carbon dioxide produced till 100 seconds so the amount of carbon dioxide produced from 100 – 120 seconds becomes constant. The medium chips starts releasing gas at 10 seconds at a volume of 9ml. The volume of gas then increases up to 120 at a volume of 83ml. The large chips starts releasing gas at 10 seconds at a volume of 9ml and the volume of gas then increases up to 120 seconds at a volume of 85ml. Because we did not carry on timing the experiment we do not know if the rate of reaction decreases at 120 seconds and more because both large and medium chips seem to be increasing the volume of gas. As you can see from these results in the graph.large and medium chips release almost the same amount of carbon dioxide. This means that both the differences between large and medium are insignificant. as the range bars overlap. Conclusion for surface area In the surface area there was more area available for collisions to take place. If the reactant is a solid it is necessary to break it into smaller pieces to increase surface area. In the surface area results, we found out that as the mass of the calcium chips are larger; it increases the speed of the particles. The faster the particles move, the greater the number of collisions, and therefore the rate of the reaction increases. Chemical reactions take place by chance. Particles need to collide with enough velocity so that they react. As surface area is increased the particles move faster since they have more energy. This means that they are colliding more often and most of the collisions have enough velocity to cause a reaction. Since there are more collisions the chemical reaction takes place faster. Main experiment – changing concentration. The equipment we used was pipette. We used this to make sure the volume of acid used was as accurate as possible. The way we measured the acid was at eye level from the bottom of the meniscus. We used the gas syringe to measure the volume of carbon dioxide gas produced. The syringe was precise because it measured volume in 1ml divisions. We used the electronic balance to ensure the experiment is precise because the electronic balance is measured to 2 decimal places. Qe also used the stop clock as it is precise because it measured to hundredth seconds which helped us accurately record the volumes of gas at our set intervals. In the concentration we made sure that we kept the calcium carbonate small chips of 1. 5g and the hydrochloric acid 30ml but just changed the M to 0. 5M, 1M, 1. 5M, 2M for each experiment for the concentration. We also used a mercury thermometer as it gives us a more precise reading and allows us to see whether the temperature of the hydrochloric acid makes a difference in the results. The method of the experiment for the concentration was on the first experiment as we used small calcium chips with the mass of 1. 5g. We measured this by using an electronic balance and we used 0.5M of hydrochloric acid of a volume of 30ml by using a measuring cylinder which allowed us to measure the volume accurately. In the second experiment we used small calcium chips with the mass of 1. 5. We measured this by using an electronic balance and we used 1M of hydrochloric acid of a volume of 30ml by using a measuring cylinder which allowed us to measure the volume accurately. For the third experiment we used small calcium chips with the mass of 1. 5g. We measured this by using an electronic balance and we used 1. 5.

Sunday, July 21, 2019

Social interaction and how we rapidly forms impressions

Social interaction and how we rapidly forms impressions Human beings are social creatures. Our interaction with another is important as it provides us with a vast amount of information necessary to carry out daily activities. With the amount of information that is available to us at one time, the human mind has naturally developed shortcuts that allow us to function more efficiently in a social world. One function of human interaction is the ability to make rapid assessments about other people. We often form impressions about people within seconds of meeting them. Impressions of personality form quickly and easily. It is quite hard to forget our impression of a person once it has been formed in our minds. These impressions form automatically and instantly provide us with important information about others. Then, this information provides us with a foundation on which we make additionally judgments and effects future attitudes about an individual. This ability to form rapid impressions of people is neither bad nor good. According to Asch (1946), it is simply a precondition of social life. Concerning social psychologists in particular are questions regarding the manner in which our impressions of other people are established, and what are the principles that regulate the formation of these impressions. It has been found in social psychological research, that impressions of personality can be influenced by certain cognitive biases. An excellent example of a cognitive bias that influences our perception of personality of others is the halo effect. The halo effect is a cognitive bias that occurs when the perception of one trait of a person or object influences the perception of another trait or multiple traits. Thorndike (1920) was the first to support the theory of the halo effect using empirical research. Commanding officers were asked to use a rating scale to assess traits of their soldiers. The results of his study showed a high cross-correlation between positive and negative traits (Thorndike, 1920), which suggests that people do not think of others in mixed terms, but rather as generally good or bad across different categories of measurement. Primarily, the halo effect biases our perception with a tendency to focus mainly on the good. A classic example would be judging a good-looking person as more sociable or more intelligent. Another example would be perceiving an individuals personality differently based on information given about that person. This includes influencing expectations of another person through the use of interchangeable adjectives. An overwhelming amount of research supports the notion that describing a strangers personality using particular words can significantly affect the way that person is perceived by others (Asche, 1946; Mensh Wishner; 1947; Kelley, 1950; Biggs McAllaster; 1981; Widmeyer Loy, 1988). A strangers disposition can be perceived to match up to the personality traits previously stated, despite the actual nature of the person. Influential Social Psychological Research Over sixty years ago, Asch (1946) demonstrated that certain labels can affect the entire impression of a person. Asch read a list of adjectives which were supposed to describe a hypothetical person. His subjects who were all college students (mostly women) were then asked to characterize that person. Asch found that by simply using interchangeable adjectives representing central qualities, such as warm and cold, he could influence the descriptions given by subjects about the personality of a hypothetical person. However, it was also found that including words to describe peripheral qualities, including terms such as polite or blunt, did not have a significant effect on subjects perceptions of the personality of the hypothetical person. A number of the Asch experiments were replicated by Mensh and Wishner (1947) to determine if the results of Aschs experiment were population specific. In their study, they used subjects that were a mix of both male and female students. Furthermore, they took measures to make sure that subjects were graduate and undergraduate students, and they also selected subjects from different geographical locations. Despite Mensh and Wishners modifications to Aschs experiments, the findings in Aschs study were effectively confirmed and reinforced by Mensh and Wishner (1947). Aschs experimental work was also extended by Kelley (1950) who demonstrated that the warm/cold manipulation extends to actual people, as well. That is, Kelley found that this warm/cold manipulation effected subjects perception of a person with whom they had actually encountered, instead of just a hypothetical person whom they had never met. In Kelleys study, a man posing as guest lecturer was introduced to subjects in a neutral manner. Later, one of two notes about the stimulus person were randomly distributed to subjects. One note contained a description of him as being rather warm, while the other note described him as rather cold. Then, the guest lecturer proceeded to give a 20-min discussion to the subjects, while the verbal interaction that between the subjects and the stimulus person was recorded. The recording of the subjects interaction with the instructor was novel, because according to Kelley (1950), no previous studies reported had dealt with the importance of first impres sions for behavior (Kelley, 1950). After the discussion, subjects were asked to rate the personality of the stimulus person on 15 different scales that were predetermined. In addition to rating the stimulus person, subjects were also asked to write free descriptions of him, as well. It was by observing the interaction between the subjects and the stimulus person that Kelley found support for the autistic hostility hypothesis (Newcomb, 1947). The autistic hostility hypothesis states that when someone perceives another individual as cold, that person will limit his or her interactions with the cold person. It was observed by Kelley that students who were in the warm group engaged in discussions more freely and more frequently than those in the cold group (Kelley, 1950). Like Asch, Kelley found that subjects total impression of a person is significantly influenced by the attribution of a central quality such as warmth. Kelleys results showed that subjects who were given preinformation describing him as warm, gave him consistently better ratings on multiple personal attributes than did those who were given preinformation describing the stimulus person as cold. Furthermore, Kelly found that 56% of the warm subjects actively participated in the discussion, as opposed to only 32% of the cold subjects. These studies conducted by Kelley (1950) and Asch (1946) are important because they were both novel and influential. Their early studies stimulated a considerable amount of research concerning the perception of people, specifically a study by Widmeyer Loy (1988). They designed their study with the primary intent to determine whether or not Kelleys warm/cold effect could be replicated in a classroom setting 35 years later. More specifically, they examined the effects of warm/cold manipulation on first impressions of individuals and their teaching ability. In Widmeyer Loys study (1988), a man posing as a guest lecturer gave a neutral lecture to 140 male and 100 female college students. Before the lecture, as in Kelleys study, forms were randomly distributed to subjects describing the instructor. One half of the group received information describing him as rather cold, while the other group received information describing him as rather warm. To half of each of these groups, the stimulus person was said to teach physical education, while the other half of these groups were told that he taught social psychology classes. Following the stimulus persons 40-min lecture, subjects evaluated his personality and teaching ability though a Likert scale and through additional written comments. Results showed that subjects who were told the stimulus person was rather warm rated his personality and his teaching ability more positively than did subjects who were told he was rather cold. Additionally, it was found that the manipulations of both discipl inary status of the instructor and the sex of the subjects had no significant influence on subjects ratings of the stimulus persons teaching ability. Research done by Asch, Kelley, and others is strongly supported by the findings of a similar study conducted by Biggs McAllaster using warm/cold manipulation (1981). In this study, it was found that subjects who were told that a guest lecturer was warm tended to evaluate that person as more favorable than subjects who were led to believe he or she was cold. Additionally, the use of the neutral group (one that was told that the speaker was neither warm nor cold) also helped to reinforce the findings of Asch (Biggs McAllaster, 1981), which will be discussed in further depth along with some interesting novel occurrences within the experiment. Critical Review of Research The studies conducted by Asch, Mensh Wishner, Kelley, Biggs McAllaster, and Widmeyer Loy are similar in ways that link them together and give them the ability to use modifications in order to add to existing research. It is because of these modifications that they all contain important differences that extend the level of research to a new level. One important similarity is that they use all warm/cold modification to discover if subjects total impression of a person is influenced by the attribution of a central quality such as warmth or coldness. All studies found that this modification of adjectives did affect the way the stimulus person was perceived by subjects. Additionally, four out of the five studies use a male as a stimulus person. Interestingly, Biggs McAllister (1981) intentionally uses him or her when discussing the stimulus person. This raises an important question regarding the sex of the stimulus person. Would subjects rating across multiple characteristics such as personality and teaching ability differ if the stimulus person used was a female? It might be interesting to see how a female instructor might be rated by female subjects, and also by male subjects, as well. Another variation of this experiment might seek to investigate the length of the description of the instructor provided to the subjects. It might be interesting to examine whether a longer description would increase or decrease the differences between the cold ratings and the warm ratings. In a longer description, for example, the word warm or cold might be glossed over given the larger amount of information being provided or ultimately missed all together. It is possible, however, that people might accidently read only certain words that help them to form an impression of the stimulus person due to an overload of too much information. Varying the length of the description could be another possible modification of these experiments. It should also be noted that while the study conducted by Asch (1946) found that the use of interchangeable adjectives could influence the descriptions given by subjects about the personality of a hypothetical person, Kelley (1950) found that this warm/cold manipulation effected subjects perception of a person with whom they had actually encountered, instead of just a hypothetical person. Furthermore, as mentioned earlier, no previous studies reported had dealt with the importance of first impressions for behavior according to Kelley (1950). This made Kelleys recording of the subjects interaction with the instructor quite novel, as it had not been reported to have been done by a previous study. Widmeyer Loy (1988) sought to modify and extend Kelleys work in three specific ways which will be discussed below. Since Kelleys study only examined teaching performance indirectly by looking at whether the observers expectation of the instructor was favorable or not, Widmeyer Loy tried to determine whether warm/cold manipulation would affect subjects impression of the instructors teaching ability specifically. Secondly, according to Wilson (1968), an instructors perceived status has an influence on subjects perception of an instructor. For example, physical education is likely to be seen as being less academically prestigious than other disciplines that are more traditional (Seater Jacobson, 1976). These finding were of particular interest to Widmeyer Loy who wanted to determine whether the labels of physical education professor and social psychology professor would have different influences on subjects judgments on an instructors teaching performance, and on their central and peripheral personality traits, respectively. They found, however, that the disciplinary status of the instructor had no significant effect on subjects ratings of the stimulus person. Thirdly, based on evidence that suggests male and female college students assess college-level instructors differently (Lombardo Tocci, 1979), Widmeyer Loy were interested in the sex of the subjects. The subjects in Aschs study were mostly female college students, while Kelleys study included only male college students. Just as Biggs McAllister intentionally used gender-neutral terms when discussing the stimulus person, the sex of the subjects was also went unreported. Widmeyer Loy specifically made efforts to determine if male and female subjects were influenced differently by the preinformation given about the instructor, in regards to the warm/cold variable, by using a mixture of both male and female college students as subjects. It should be noted that Mensh Wishner (1947), seeking to extend on the original research of Asch, also used subjects that were a mix of both male and female students, but despite their modifications to Aschs experiments, the findings in Mensh Wishne r showed that subject sex had significant influence on subjects impression of the stimulus person. Despite the finding that the manipulations of disciplinary status and the sex of subjects has no significant effect on subject ratings (Widmeyer Loy, 1988), effects were found in regard to perceptions of personality and perceptions of teaching ability. In regard to the warm/cold manipulation, significant effects were reported. More specifically, subjects who were told that the stimulus person was warm, perceived him (with regard to personality) as less unpleasant, more sociable, less irritable, less ruthless, more humorous, less formal, and more human compared to subjects to were led to believe that has was a cold person (Widmeyer Loy, 1988). Additionally, in regard to perceptions of teaching ability, it was found that subjects who were told that the stimulus person was rather warm perceived him to be more intelligent, more interesting, more considerate of the class, and more knowledgeable of his material than subjects who were given information that the instructor was cold. These findings strongly support previous research in a number of ways. First, they confirm the hypothesis that the attribution of the central quality of warmth greatly influences the overall impression of subjects on the personality of the instructor. These results also lend support to Kelleys observation that the size of this effect seems to depend upon the closeness of relation between the specific dimension of any given rating scale and the central quality of warmth or coldness' (Kelley, 1950). In other words, it was asserted by Kelley that the warm/cold manipulation does not have an equal influence on all variables. In the studies conducted by Asch, Kelly, Biggs McAllastar, and Widmeyer Loy found that being sociable, humorous and considerate were positively related to warmth, while being proud ruthless and irritable were negatively related to warmth. It was also found that being proud, self-assured and dominant were not related to warmth at all. The discovery that the warm/cold manipulation affects the ratings of some characteristics more than others supports an assertion made by Kelley concerning the extent of the halos effects influence. Kelley states that, the effect cannot be explained altogether on the basis of a simple halo effect (Kelley, 1950). The pattern found by Widmeyer Loy with regard to the differential effects across 12 common scales is similar to the patterns found by both Asch Kelley. This pattern lends support to the explanation given by Kelley of how the effect is dependent on the closeness of the characteristic being rated to the quality of warmth (Kelley, 1950). Any discrepancies in the findings of Widmeyer Loy that do not parallel the patterns in the other studies, lend support to an idea asserted by Mensh Wishners (1947) that depending on the context, the strength of the effect of the warm/cold manipulation can vary. For example, formality was not related to warmth in Widmeyer Loy, while it was related in Kelleys investigation. Biggs McAllister (1981). Using warm/cold manipulation, subjects who were told that a guest lecturer was warm tended to evaluate that person as more favorable than subjects who were led to believe he or she was cold. Additionally, the use of the neutral group (one that was told that the speaker was neither warm nor cold) also helped to reinforce the findings of Asch (Biggs McAllister, 1981). More specifically, the warm/cold comparison made it possible for Biggs McAllister to replicate Kelleys experiment, while the addition of the neutral group allowed them to make sure that other words in the biography were not contributing to differences in the evaluations between the warm and cold groups, as Asch did in his study. Something else that should be taken into consideration is the lecture or discussion led by the stimulus person. In Asch and Mensh Wishners experiments the person described was merely hypothetical, so there was no lecture or discussion. In Biggs McAllisters (1981) study, the stimulus person used was real as opposed to hypothetical. This stimulus person gave a lecture as opposed to an interactive discussion, but not amount of time was reported regarding the length of the lecture given. In Kelleys experiment, the stimulus person led the class in a 20-min discussion and subject verbal interaction was recorded. In Widmeyer Loys experiment, however, the stimulus person gave a 40-min lecture to the subjects, and there was no reported subject interaction with the lecturer. Discussions can vary in formality and the comfort-level of the atmosphere can be influenced, while lectures do not tend to vary as much in these respects. It could be possible that one of these conditions could be easie r or harder for the stimulus to demonstrate intelligence and knowledge of the subject. Also, it may be the case that subject interaction with the instructor could provide a different foundation on which subjects base personality ratings and ratings regarding teaching ability. As previously mention, there were some interesting occurrences within the Biggs McAllaster (1981) experiment. There were two occurrences in particular that should be noted. First, some students realized later, after talking to each other, that some descriptions of the instructor contained the world warm, while others contained the word cold. What was interesting, though, was that one subject later told the instructor that the cold groups description of contained words such as vicious and unforgiving, as well as other negative thing that were not included in the description. It seems that in the perception of the instructors personality, the word cold became combined with extra negative characteristics. The second occurrence to be noted is that one individual from the class felt that she did not have sufficient information to rate the instructor. Her refusal to finish the questionnaire was turned into a positive point of discussion in this study because it demonstrated that her decis ion regarding the personality of the instructor did not have to be made based solely on the information that was provided. Conclusion Each of these studies replicates, modifies, and/or extends the original Asch study pertaining to warm/cold manipulation in a variety of ways. They all lend support to hypothesis that a subject who is told that another person, whether real or hypothetical, is warm will tend to evaluate the stimulus person more favorably than another person who is led to believe he or she is cold. These studies demonstrate how easily first impressions are formed despite limited or even invalid information. Additionally, the experiments can be used to discuss trait theories of personality perhaps and why it would be important to be careful when make predictions based on single traits. Furthermore, the error in cognition referred to as the halo effect can be pointed out since the evaluator is making generalizations about a person from a single personality trait. It is noteworthy that personality characteristics as well as teaching abilities can be influenced by the halo effect. By being perceived as a wa rm person, an instructor would be able to influence students rating of his or her personality as well as teaching abilities. When considering the role that students evaluations of their instructors play in regard to tenure and promotions, these findings have considerable implications within the educations system. Teachers who would like to get ahead, for example, should present themselves being warm. It is possible that students expectations of professors can be influenced by student ratings. These expectations can, in turn, have an influence on the attitude and behavior of the instructor. Thus, these studies have significant educational implications.

Saturday, July 20, 2019

The Meditations by Rene Descartes Essay examples -- Rene Descartes, 20

In Descartes’ Meditations, his goal to prove the existence of things could only be accomplished if he was logical, clear, and correct in his thoughts and writings. The most important issues he noted were the threat of being deceived and the potential of being incorrect in his judgments, both of which would lead him into error. Error exists as a problem that individuals encounter on a regular basis, and it also exists as a focal point in Descartes’ Meditations. Descartes defines error as â€Å"a privation or lack of some knowledge which somehow should be in me.† As a â€Å"thinking thing†, which he defines as â€Å"a thing that doubts, understands, affirms, denies, is willing, is unwilling, and also imagines and has sensory perceptions†Ã‚ ¹, Descartes must use his knowledge to the best of his ability. In the mind, knowledge is dealt with in the faculty of judgment. This faculty is comprised of the faculties of intellect and will, and it is limited by knowledge yet pushed forward by will (Descartes, 41). Because of this conflict, we are able to make mistakes – or come to err. The first component of knowledge that must be examined is the faculty of intellect. Intellect allows one to think. Thought consists of the ability to understand, imagine, and perceive. Perception encompasses the ability to use the senses to form ideas of some object, whereas imagination allows one to fabricate ideas and form new thoughts. When one imagines, he simply invents ideas that exist to be judged by the mind. Ideas do not necessarily need to be true, and because of this they cannot be wrong. One can have the idea of some entity that does not exist, such as a satyr or siren, and this does not pose any issue. Simply holding an untrue idea is not an error. In the same s... ... can be free of errors as long as no judgments are made on subjects that are not completely understood. As the intellect merely presents ideas in the mind, the errors made are in their judgments, and the incorrect use of free will. It is important to be aware of the distinction between the faculty of free will and the actual use of free will, as the faculty is perfect yet error may exist in its use. Error is shown as a result of the incorrect use of the tools granted to us, and it stands that error can be eliminated when these tools are only used to the best of their ability; any further use is clearly how we come to err (p. 43). Work Cited Rene Descartes, The Meditations, tr. John Cottingham, in The Philosophical Writings of Descartes Vol. 2, ed. John Cottingham, Robert Stoofhoff, Dugald Murdock (New York: University of Cambridge Press, 1984), p. 19. The Meditations by Rene Descartes Essay examples -- Rene Descartes, 20 In Descartes’ Meditations, his goal to prove the existence of things could only be accomplished if he was logical, clear, and correct in his thoughts and writings. The most important issues he noted were the threat of being deceived and the potential of being incorrect in his judgments, both of which would lead him into error. Error exists as a problem that individuals encounter on a regular basis, and it also exists as a focal point in Descartes’ Meditations. Descartes defines error as â€Å"a privation or lack of some knowledge which somehow should be in me.† As a â€Å"thinking thing†, which he defines as â€Å"a thing that doubts, understands, affirms, denies, is willing, is unwilling, and also imagines and has sensory perceptions†Ã‚ ¹, Descartes must use his knowledge to the best of his ability. In the mind, knowledge is dealt with in the faculty of judgment. This faculty is comprised of the faculties of intellect and will, and it is limited by knowledge yet pushed forward by will (Descartes, 41). Because of this conflict, we are able to make mistakes – or come to err. The first component of knowledge that must be examined is the faculty of intellect. Intellect allows one to think. Thought consists of the ability to understand, imagine, and perceive. Perception encompasses the ability to use the senses to form ideas of some object, whereas imagination allows one to fabricate ideas and form new thoughts. When one imagines, he simply invents ideas that exist to be judged by the mind. Ideas do not necessarily need to be true, and because of this they cannot be wrong. One can have the idea of some entity that does not exist, such as a satyr or siren, and this does not pose any issue. Simply holding an untrue idea is not an error. In the same s... ... can be free of errors as long as no judgments are made on subjects that are not completely understood. As the intellect merely presents ideas in the mind, the errors made are in their judgments, and the incorrect use of free will. It is important to be aware of the distinction between the faculty of free will and the actual use of free will, as the faculty is perfect yet error may exist in its use. Error is shown as a result of the incorrect use of the tools granted to us, and it stands that error can be eliminated when these tools are only used to the best of their ability; any further use is clearly how we come to err (p. 43). Work Cited Rene Descartes, The Meditations, tr. John Cottingham, in The Philosophical Writings of Descartes Vol. 2, ed. John Cottingham, Robert Stoofhoff, Dugald Murdock (New York: University of Cambridge Press, 1984), p. 19.

Gangs and Violence in The Prison System Essay -- Criminal Justice

Gangs and Violence in the Prison System Introduction Gang violence is nationwide and is one of the most prominent problems in the prison system today. Gangs are known to attempt to control the prisons/jails, instill fear within the prison system and throughout the society, and bring negative attention to the system. â€Å"Gang affiliated inmates comprise about 18 percent of the 18000 inmate population.†(Seabrook) A growing numbers of inmates and a large amount of them serving longer sentences for violent crimes suggest a notable increase in gangs and violence in the prison system in the upcoming future. History â€Å"Prisons began to bulge with gang members when states enacted tougher laws for gang-related crime in the mid to late 1980s.†(Martinez) On one hand the laws enacted helped get gang members off the street, but in another way it backfired by not stopping the gangs’ activity. â€Å"In many ways their number and power grew even more in prison.†(Martinez) The problem of gangs and violence has been addressed many times throughout the years by the United States Correctional Board but the board has yet to take the problem seriously. Background Most gang members in prisons are introduced to the â€Å"gang life† at an early age and enter prison a member, but some become a member once behind bars mainly for the protection the gangs are known to provide. Gangs are known to purposely intimidate other inmates, thus reinforcing the reason why â€Å"one out of every ten male inmates† becomes a member once behind bars. (Knox) Most of the people who enter prison a member were sentenced for drug offenses. Prison gangs are well known for the handling of illegal substances, alcohol, or tobacco inside the correctional facilities, this is only a ... ... of Gangs and Security Threat Groups." National Gang Crime Research Center. 2005. Web. 28 Jan. 2012. . Martinez, Pila. "Novel Attempt to Curb Prison Gang Violence." The Christian Science Monitor. The Christian Science Monitor, 1 July 1999. Web. 28 Jan. 2012. . "Prison Gangs -- Gangs and Security Threat Group Awareness." Florida Department of Corrections. Florida Department of Corrections. Web. 28 Jan. 2012. . Seabrook, Norman. "Prison Violence on the Rise." USA Today. Buisness Library, Sept. 2005. Web. 28 Jan. 2012. . Yanez, Dominick. â€Å"Security Threat Group’s in the Correctional System Overview.† Sam Houston State University, Huntsville. 13 April. 2012. Lecture.

Friday, July 19, 2019

Comparing Stereotypes and Stereotyping in Measuring My Blood and The Ar

Conformity and Stereotypes in Measuring My Blood and The Artificial Nigger    Adults frequently make conscious attempts to pass on their values and judgments concerning a number of matters to younger generations by sharing their own views. Generally, the advice they pass on is helpful for one to become a successful, productive member of the general population; however, this process of indoctrination can be harmful if the views shared by the elder are racist. Gerald Vizenor's "Measuring My Blood" and Flannery O'Connor's "The Artificial Nigger" explore the circumstances in which racist individuals try to induce others into following stereotypical ideas and how their influence can lead to a negative outcome.    One reason older people project their negative, racist attitudes is so that they may boost their own self-image. For example, in O'Connor's "The Artificial Nigger," Mr. Head acts as if he were the world's foremost authority on African-American issues since he has interacted with them during several brief occasions in the past. In Nelson's uncultured opinion, his grandfather's seemingly unendless knowledge about black people is impressive, and "for the first time in his life, he understood that his grandfather was indispensable to him" (257). The elderly grandfather enjoys the rare occurrence of having Nelson look up to him and respect his authority. Generally, Nelson merely looks at his caretaker as just another poor, unsophisticated country redneck incapable of furthering his own well-being; however, when the issue of black people is brought to attention, he is finally taken seriously. Otherwise, Mr. Head is just an unsophisticated man who gains his sense of self-worth b y abusing minorities. ... ...is the transfer of racist ideas through the use of indoctrination. While the main difference between the two stories lies in the way a seemingly trustworthy source shares its stereotypical ideas with either a single individual or a large group, indoctrination, as evidenced in both stories, can be hurtful and damaging. Some individuals, such as Gerald Vizenor are able to see the racism often associated with the sharing of ideas, but other, less intelligent or caring people simply accept other people's opinions as their own.    Works Cited    O'Connor, Flannery. "The Artificial Nigger." The Complete Stories of Flannery O'Connor. New York: Farrar, Strauss and Giroux, 1971. 249-70. Vizenor, Gerald. "Measuring My Blood." Native American Literature: A Brief Introduction and Anthology. Ed. Gerald Vizenor. New York: Harper Collins, 1996. 69-74.