Monday, September 30, 2019

Classical and Contemporary Management

International Information Technology University| Classical and Contemporary Management |   Introduction The world of managing people and processes continues to change dramatically. Managers are faced with the conflicting challenges of understanding and motivating an increasingly diverse workforce, being open and accountable to a wide variety of stakeholders, planning for the future in an increasingly changing environment and considering the ethical implications of decision-making.Nevertheless there is a basis of knowledge that was experienced in the years of production boom which is called classical theory of management. In this paper I will describe them both and provide advantages and drawbacks of each. The Classical School of Management The classical school is the oldest formal school of management. Its begins to develop from the 20th century. The classical school of management generally concerns ways to manage work and organizations more efficiently. Three areas of study that c an be grouped under the classical school are: scientific management, administrative management, and bureaucratic management.The classical school of management has sought to define the essence of management in the form of universal fundamental functions. These, it was hoped, would form the cognitive basis for a set of relevant skills to be acquired, by all would-be managers through formal education. Body of the classical school's management thought was based on the belief that employees have only economical and physical needs, and that social needs and need for job-satisfaction either don't exist or are unimportant.Accordingly, this school advocates high specialization of labor, centralized decision making, and profit maximization. See also behavioral school of management, contingency school of management, quantitative school of management, and systems school of management. The classical management theory is a school of management in which theorists delved into how to find the best p ossible way for workers to perform their tasks. The classical management theory is divided into two branches, the classical scientific and the classical administrative. Also consider reading this: Advantages and Disadvantages of Administrative ManagementThe classical scientific branch comes from the scientific mindset of attempting to increase productivity. During the height of the classical scientific theory, theorists would use almost mechanical methods towards labor and organization to achieve goals of productivity and efficiency. Some of the basic techniques of the classical scientific theory include creating standardized methods for a task and dividing work between employees equally. On the other hand, the classical administrative theory focuses on how management can be organized to achieve productivity.Henri Fayol, a leading figure in management theory, devised several management theories geared towards efficiency, such as creating a unified direction among managers, centralization, and discipline. Other management theories focused on building team confidence, such as establishing teamwork, using initiative, and equity. Strengths of Classical Management Theory Current management organization and structure can find much of its roots from the classical management theory. One of the main advantages of the classical management theory was to devise a methodology for how management should operate.Management principles devised during this period can be seen as a foundation for current management behavior today, such as serving as a force of authority and responsibility. In addition, another benefit of the classical management theory is the focus on division of labor. By dividing labor, tasks could be completed more quickly and efficiently, thus allowing productivity to increase. Division of labor can be seen in many applications today, ranging from fast food restaurants to large production facilities.In addition, the classical management theory also gave rise to an autocratic leadership style, allowing employees to take direction and command from their managers. Weaknesses of the Classical Management Theories Classical theories and the principles derived from them continue to be popular today with some modifications. Many criticisms have been directed at the classicists. Several major ones are discussed here. Reliance on experience – many of the writers in the classical school of management developed their ideas on the basis of their experiences as managers or consultants with only certain types of organizations.For instance, Taylor's and Fayol's work came primarily from their experiences with large manufacturing firms that were experiencing stable environments. It may be unwise to generalize from those situations to others especially to young, high-technology firms of today that are confronted daily with changes in their competitors' products. Untested assumptions – Many of the assumptions made by classical writers were based not on scientific tests but on value judgments that expressed what they believed to be proper life-styles, moral codes, and attitudes toward success.For instance, the classical approaches seem to view the life of a worker as beginning and ending at the plant door. Their basic assumption is that workers are primarily motivated by money and that they work only for more money. They also assume that productivity is the best measure of how well a firm is performing. These assumptions fail to recognize that employees may have wants and needs unrelated to the workplace or may view their jobs only as a necessary evil. Failure of considering the informal organization.In their stress on formal relationships in the organization, classical approaches tend to ignore informal relations as characterized by social interchange among workers, the emergence of group leaders apart from those specified by the formal organization, and so forth. When such things are not considered, it is likely that many important factors affecting satisfaction and performance, such as letting employees participate in decision making and task planning, will never be explored or tried.U nintended consequences – classical approaches aim at achieving high productivity, at making behaviors predictable, and at achieving fairness among workers and between managers and workers; yet they fail to recognize that several unintended consequences can occur in practice. For instance, a heavy emphasis on rules and regulations may cause people to obey rules blindly without remembering their original intent. Oftentimes, since rules establish a minimum level of performance expected of employees, a minimum level is all they achieve. Perhaps much more could be achieved if the rules were not so explicit.Human machinery classical theories leave the impression that the organization is a machine and that workers are simply parts to be fitted into the machine to make it run efficiently. Thus, many of the principles are concerned first with making the organization efficient, with the assumption that workers will conform to the work setting if the financial incentives are agreeable. Static conditions – organizations are influenced by external conditions that often fluctuate over time, yet classical management, theory presents an image of an organization that is not shaped by external influences.Since many of these criticisms of the classical school are harsh, several points need to be made in defense of writers during this period. First, the work force was not highly educated or trained to perform many of the jobs that existed at the time. It was not common for workers to think in terms of what â€Å"career† they were going to pursue. Rather, for many, the opportunity to obtain a secure job and a level of wages to provide for their families was all they demanded from the work setting. Second, much of the writing took place when technology was undergoing a rapid transformation, particularly in the area of manufacturing.Indeed, for many writers, technology was the driving force behind organizational and social change. Thus, their focus was on findin g ways to increase efficiency. It was assumed that all humankind could do was to adapt to the rapidly changing conditions. Finally, very little had been done previously in terms of generating a coherent and useful body of management theory. Many of the classical theorists were writing from scratch, obliged for the most part to rely on their own experience and observations. Thus their focus is understandably narrow.The Classical School of Management was effectively the first coherent set of theoretical perspectives about organization and management covering Scientific Management, Administrative Management and Structuralized Management. As we know, F. W. Taylor, Henri Fayol, and Max Weber are outstanding contributors of Classical School of management thought who made great contribution and laid a foundation for contemporary management. Contemporary Management The world of managing people and processes continues to change dramatically.Managers are faced with the conflicting challenges of understanding and motivating an increasingly diverse workforce, being open and accountable to a wide variety of stakeholders, planning for the future in an increasingly changing environment and considering the ethical implications of decision-making. Contemporary Management  offers a fresh and integrative view of the manager in the workplace in line with this changing environment. It views the manager as a person, working with people and within an organization, and holding values and ethics.As such, modern issues such as diversity, cultural change and global management are given careful attention. Management is an integrated and sometimes intricate balance of dealing with people within an organizational context. The year that the modern management theory was born was 1911. This year was the year that Frederick Winslow Taylor published his book  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Principles of Scientific Management†,  where he describes the theory of scientific management which is the use of the scientific method to define the â€Å"one best way† for a job to be done.Taylor is known as the father of scientific management. He was a mechanical engineer with a Quaker Puritan background and was appalled at the inefficiency of workers. Employees used different techniques to do the same job. Taylor set out to correct the situation by applying the scientific method to jobs on the shop floor. Organizations can be viewed as two or more people coordinate and combine in use of their knowledge as well as technique for the purpose of accomplishing common objectives that transform resources into goods and service which are needed by consumers.Organizational behavior refers to the systematic study that primarily access influence of individuals, groups and structure on interior organizational conducts in order that organizational effectiveness can be improved and perceived. Taylor wanted to create a mental revolution among the workers and management by defining clear guidelines for improving production efficiency. He defined four principles of management which are: 1. Develop a science for each element of an individual's work, which replaces the old rule of thumb method. . Scientifically select and the train, teach, and develop the worker. 3. Heartily cooperate with the workers so as to ensure that all work is done according to the principles of the science that has been developed. 4. Divide work and responsibility almost equally between management and workers. Management takes over all work for which it is better fitted than the workers. Taylor argued that following these principles would benefit both management and workers. Workers would earn more pay, and management more profits.Using scientific management techniques, Taylor was able to define the one best way for doing each job. Then, he could select the right people for the job and train them to do it precisely in this one best way. TO motivate workers, he favored incentive wage plans. Overall, Taylor ach ieved improvements in productivity of 200 per cent or more. He stated that the role of managers is to plan and control, and that of workers to perform as they were instructed. On the other hand, the classical administrative theory focuses on how management can be organized to achieve productivity.Henri Fayol, a leading figure in management theory, devised several management theories geared towards efficiency, such as creating a unified direction among managers, centralization, and discipline. Other management theories focused on building team confidence, such as establishing teamwork, using initiative, and equity. General administrative theorists are writers who developed general theories of what managers do and what constitutes good management practice. For example, the functional view of the manager's job owes its origin to Henry Fayol. They became a frame of reference against which many current concepts have evolved.Conclusion In this paper I have described both schools of manage ment and their advantages and disadvantages, as well as their features and fields of use. Some of them are not used in modern days, some are still actual for us. Anyway those fields of science are developing dramatically from day to day, so may be in next 10 years the modern school of management would be considered as classical. References: http://www. businessdictionary. com/definition/classical-school-of-management. html http://www. businessdictionary. com/definition/classical-school-of-management. tml â€Å"Realist Perspectives on Management and Organisations† by Stephen Ackroyd, Steve Fleetwood http://www. en. articlesgratuits. com/weaknesses-of-the-classical-management-theories-id1592. php http://blog. sina. com. cn/s/blog_4a9ea3cc0100085l. html http://www. enotes. com/management-encyclopedia/management-thought Organisation and Management of Health Care, April 2002, Version 2. 0 , Main Contributor: Katie Enock, Public Health Specialist, Harrow Primary Care Trust www. hea lthknowledge. org. uk Henri Rayol Industrial and General Administration, J. A. Caubrough, trans. (Geneva nternational Management Institute, 1930)

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Business Leadership in Enron Essay

During the expansion plan, the debt acquired by Enron had increased substantially. The reason for this was that by issuing additional debt it would increase the company’s leverage and harm its credit rating. The alternative solution was to seek cash from external investors willing to invest in specific entities. When these entity was created, it could then borrow the capital separately from the sponsor company whilst maintaining Enron’s debt ratio and avoiding it being recorded in the balance sheet. 2. 3The Special Purpose Entities (SPEs) In order to cope with its growing volume of business, Enron needed a mechanism that could borrow an ever increasing amount of money but yet maintained an acceptable debt/equity ratio. Enron succeeded in hiding its debt by resorting to off-balance sheet financing. (Journal of Management Research, 2003a. ). Enron saw a creative use of special-purpose entities (SPEs) similar as that to the â€Å"GasBank†. Enron exploited this immature accounting area which used the SPE as on off-balance sheet item, to keep liabilities and assets of the entities separated from Enron’s statements. The SPEs became a convenient vehicle to unload losing trading contracts and to borrow money from outside for Enron. According to (GAO,2002) â€Å" A business may utilize a SPE for accounting purpose, but these transactions must still be subjected to certain regulations†. (Journal of Management Research, 2003b. ) This was initially a temporary solution for temporary cash flow problems. Enron later used SPE partnership under 3% rule to hide had bets it had made on speculative assets of the partnerships in return for IOU’s backed by Enron stock as collateral (more than $1billion by 2002). In November 1997, Calpers wanted to cash out of JEDI and in order to keep JEDI afloat, Enron needed a new 3% partner. It then created another partnership Chewco to buy out Calper’s stake in JEDI for $383million. (Deakin & Konzelmann, 2004) Enron plans to give back short term loan to Chewco to permit tit to to buy out Calper’s stake. <

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Response to Lanston Hughes Salvation Essay

I have never read a book by Langston Hughes prior to reading part of the book â€Å"Salvation† in my English class. My first thought of the part I read was that it was very interesting and very exciting and very shocking that I can be so into Mr. Langston Hughes feelings and writing. As I read paragraph by paragraph I could feel the hairs standing up in the back of my head with thrill and excitement. The paragraph in which he describes his feeling of why he was crying and his doubt for Jesus was all too familiar in my younger years of life. I was very interested in this part because I felt his pain and confusion for having such high expectations and beliefs from what people explained what would happen when he was saved and it becoming a big disappointment and caused doubts when nothing happened. There are many people that have the same exact reactions and feelings that Langston Hughes character had felt when Jesus never appeared and the peer pressure of everyone waiting for him to stand up and say he seen him was forced upon him to lie. Not only did his character stand there and wait with excitement and curiosity, he also held up the service refusing to lie that he had seen Jesus and was saved. When you read that particular part of the story when he was waiting you can tell that he was refusing to be like his friend and lie, he rather had wait to see if Jesus would come and everyone would be right about what should have happened. Since this did not happen the way it was told to him since he was small it causes major doubt not only in his family and his fellow church members but in his religion and his self. Langston Hughes Character can change to be a different person in the future because of disappointment, doubt and having to fall into peer pressure to lie at such a young age. He may never find his Belief in Jesus again, He may never believe in his Church again, He may have self-doubt and believe he was not worthy enough to be saved, He may think everything that was told to him was all made up or he may even believe it’s alright to lie because he got away with it that day in church. In my opinion, The morale of the story is that Langston Hughes character fell into a belief told by many so many times that when the story did not come true he didn’t know what to believe in anymore. I was very impressed with this part of the book that I read, I have decided to go out and by the book to read the whole book. I am always very excited about reading a good book that I feel I would either be able to relate to or that is very realistic and exciting to read. I will go to the library and look up all Langston Hughes books and glimpse through them and see if they are all similar and then maybe I will start a collection of his books. I am very glad My professor chose for us to read the part of â€Å"Salvation† cause it open my eyes to a new author I will be looking forward to read his books.

Friday, September 27, 2019

Education and Organizational change Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Education and Organizational change - Essay Example The current demands in the labor market require a decisive approach. The changes in the labor market necessitate proportional alternations in the education systems and curriculum1. The process of measuring the educational disparities must take into consideration the socio-economic implications and the needs of the labor market. Productive employment calls for investment in human resources and the requisite competences. This calls for educational system change. This can be attributed the central role that education plays in social equity and economic productivity. Increasing the number of schooling years is perceived to be one of the strategies of ensuring that education grows to meet the changing demands of the labor markets. The education system has been blamed for being discriminatory. Children from poor background have minimal access to education. This makes the labor market a preserve of the wealthy in the society. The inequalities in the education system have had a negative impa ct on the poor in the developed and developing countries. Access to training skills and improving access to early childhood have a profound effect of the learning in the schools and job market2. This has also led to the evolution of wage gaps and stratification of the society based on the economic well being. The labor market is keen to have qualified personnel while to education system is ready to offer quality education at expensive fees. The current labor market is segmented along low and high education levels. This has also created an exclusive club of the highly paid with multiple benefits against the lowly paid with minimal benefits. Chapter 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Labor market and human capital Addressing education is a complex affair. It must address the various levels of education and the necessary changes at each level. There is an insufficiency in terms of supply for the qualified or specialized personnel. Most of the trained young workers tend to lack the competencies t hat accompany their workplace job prescriptions. Employers blame the education systems from producing half-baked graduates. There is an urgent need to drastically change the education system of the public sector in order to improve quality. This can inject a level of equality into the education system and introduce the expected changes into the labor market. Organizations believe that productivity is closely related to the quality of employees and competencies3. The needs and the standards of the labor market have been growing and evolving over the decades. This has been attributed to the emerging wave of globalization and technological turbulence over the years. However, the education system has remained unchanged and unresponsive to the changing demands of the labor market. The tertiary education and post-secondary systems have need been customized to meet the expectation of the labor markets4. This has affected organizational performance and the national productivity in many econ omies. Universities are basing education on commercial rather that competence ideologies5. This has caused a reduction of

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Communications Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Communications - Assignment Example As such, the person has to be always right: politically, socially, diplomatically and morally. No tainted stories or backgrounds will be entertained where the reputation of this highly coveted position is considered. Clean past, with an ideological bent of mind and innovative ideas to resolve burning issues of the present are the requirements of this position. Thus, I have chosen to delve into the probable thinking and working of the mind of the most powerful man on earth, that is the President of the United States.I will be analyzing pictures of him that had appeared in papers before he was elected the President of the U.S and pictures that appeared in the media after he was elected the President of the U.S. There have been Presidents of the U.S: Jefferson, Lincoln, Roosevelt, Carter, George Washington, Kennedy and some more who left their imprints on the sands of time. These Presidents were either elected during global crisis of some kind or the other or worked with the sole aim of alleviating the masses form their miseries. There have also been Presidents like Clinton and George Bush who were in the news for the wrong reasons. Then, there have been Presidents who were neither newsmakers nor harbingers of change. The question here is to examine the possibility of the current President in creating a place for himself in world history by undertaking something extraordinary. Does the president have this kind of charisma and dedication? As Bakhtin suggests that even in the most free, the most unconstrained conversation, we cast our speech in definite generic forms, sometimes rigid and tight ones and sometimes more flexible, plastic and creative ones. In the first caricature, posted on 26-10-06, by Mike Keefe in The Denver Post, President Obama is seen as a potential candidate for the 2008 Presidential elections. The cartoon shows him delivering the keynote

JWD Consulting wrote a business case before officially initiating the Essay

JWD Consulting wrote a business case before officially initiating the Project Management Intranet Site project - Essay Example There is a need to justify invest in IT project, if at all, it emerges to make sense in the field of IT. In case it does not make sense, then one should look for other alternatives, because you cannot automate everything. Feasibility study is therefore used to reveal this project justification, where it makes the project appear proactive and effective in tackling issues in the field of IT. Feasibility study identifies project associated risks, and the risk management efforts required. There are a number of things indicated in the feasibility study (â€Å"Justifying a software development project,† 2006). The first one is identifying potential implementation alternative. In case things go contrary to popular opinion, there always exist a number of options for implementation. The second one is determining economic feasibility where the IT project should meet the question of whether it is of financial sense. Economic feasibility is determined by conducting a cost or benefit analy sis which compares the full costs of the project to its full financial benefits. If the benefits exceed the cost, the IT project definitely turns to be more proactive and effective. The third one is determining technical feasibility of the IT project. The real question that needs to be answered is whether a technology can actually be built. To achieve this, investigation should be done on the technologies suitable for the project. All technologies seem to work well on marketing slide, but the main problem experienced is that of choice. It is therefore important to identify alternatives for each technology as well as their advantages and disadvantages (â€Å"Justifying a software development project,† 2006). Finally, we have operational feasibility where IT project is not only required to make technical and economic sense, but also make operational sense as well. The basic question answered, in this case, is

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Research skills assignment one Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Research skills assignment one - Essay Example ill be discussed in this paper to identify the most suitable and appropriate methods and techniques that help to get the desired results and offer the public the much required information. Political surveys are also commonly known as the opinion polls. They are at times simply referred to as polls. They are conducted in the form of polls or public opinions that are obtained from a particular sample. These political surveys or opinion polls are common in a majority of the countries all over the world. They are mainly witnessed during the national elections or in rare cases when there are votes to be taken in the different corporate organizations. The main purpose of the political surveys is that they are designed to act as a representation of the opinions of an entire population through the conduct of a series of questions. They are in this case conducted to reflect the actual results of the true operations. Anderson and Pickup (2010, p. 243) illustrate that these are followed by the extrapolating generalities of ratios that are done within the present confidence intervals. Thus, the research methods that are used to conduct the opinion polls must be as suitable and re liable as possible in such a way that they minimize the rate of bias and can reduce the disparity between the results collected during the opinion polls and those that are obtained on the actual performance of the voting process. During the conduction of opinion polls, there are a number of methods and techniques that are used. These are meant to ensure that the results obtained in the surveys are as accurate as possible. In addition, they provide the ability to get precise results. Over the years, the various opinion polls have been maintained through telecommunications or through contacts between one person and another. Thus, there are varied methods and techniques. However, they are acceptable from region to region. Some of them include the ballots, verbal and processing forms which are commonly

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Organ Donation Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Organ Donation - Assignment Example Apart from this, the assignment will also highlight the Catechism belief and other religious belief regarding organ donation. In accordance with Paul II (2000), Catechism of the Catholic Church assumed that by donating organs human can save the life of other human beings. In this regard, Catholic believers have shown their respect for the human life (Paul II, 2000). It also defines their dignity for each human life. Moreover, as per Catholic believe it has been observed that organ donation is completely acceptable if the donor in this context does not bear any risk regarding his/ her life. On the other hand, it is apparent that organ donation is treated as a noble act in Catholic culture, thus donating organs after death is completely acceptable and legal in case of Catholic culture (Paul II, 2000). As per the observation it has been revealed that organ donation is considered as a gift in case of a Hindu culture. Moreover, it is perceived that Hindu culture usually donate their organs only after the death. Apart from this, it has been evident that thousands of Hindus have saved human life every year by donating or transplanting organs to others (NHS Blood and Transplant, 2012). On the contrary, in case of Islamic culture, it has been observed that in the Islamic religious book there is nothing specifically mentioned about organ transplantation. However, in order to identify the reason behind the issue, it has been recognized that organ donation and transplantation are the modern developments of medicine science, thus it has not been written on the Quran (The Ministry of Health Malaysia, 2011). According to Bresnahan et al., (2010), spiritual values and beliefs are the major barriers, which can pose obligations for families in case of organ donation (Bresnahan et al., 2010). It was observed that the United States and China have developed their medical science in order to reduce the mortality rate of human being by

Monday, September 23, 2019

Registered Nurses Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Registered Nurses - Research Paper Example More than 60 percent of their jobs are in hospital set-ups. Their scope of work depends from country to country and state to state and is guided by various Nurse Practice Acts. The 3 most important paths of education to becoming registered nurses are, In this essay, the role and scope of practice of diploma from any approved nursing programs, associate degree and bachelors degree. following these degrees, the job opportunities for registered nurses is excellent, but is dependent on the nature of employment setting and geographic setting (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2010). The main role of registered nurses in any work setting regardless of the speciality they are employed in is to "treat patients, educate patients and the public about various medical conditions, and provide advice and emotional support to patients family members† (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2010). The registered nurses record the medical histories and clinical presentation of the patients, help in the performance of diagnostic tests as advised by the physicians, analyze the results of the diagnostic tests, operate medical and surgical machinery, administer various medications to the patients as instructed by physicians and help the patient with follow-up and rehabilitation. The registered nurses have a very important role to play in the education of the patients, their family members and public. They educate about the management of injuries and illnesses, explain about various home-are needs in the post-treatment phase, advise about, nutrition, diet and exercise and provide in formation on self-medication and physiotherapy (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2010). In some conditions, the registered nurses also work in collaboration with other health professionals to educate the public about various warning sings and symptoms of particular disease, like, for example, swine flu. In the process of caring for patients, registered nurses contribute to

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Marked or Unmarked Essay Example for Free

Marked or Unmarked Essay Marked or Unmarked status for both men and women still remains to be an indirect type of cultural norm practiced by different societies. This type of connotation often is a manifestation of collective practices, actions, and norms promoted by a certain society. This is one of the facets that separate us from every other specie in the world – our ability to create meanings out of something. With this, one can clearly just say that there could be no such thing as an unmarked woman. But, for it to hold ground there must be sufficient explanations and arguments that would justify the particular claim. It is thus important for an elaboration the difficulty of creating an unmarked woman. The first important thing is to establish the real meaning of the concept. One can see that the real debate concerns again the inequality of achieving a marked or unmarked status between male and female. Tannen argues in the article that marked â€Å"refers to the way language alters the base meaning of a word by adding a linguistic particle that has no meaning on its own† (p. 1). On one hand we see again the way man has created meaning over symbols to the extent of even creating one over nothingness. This argument goes to show that only men are subject to be unmarked. Tannen mentions that â€Å"the unmarked forms of most English words also convey male† (p. 1). Seeing such definition, there is a sexual distinction to people who are unmarked (male) and those who are â€Å"marked† (female). Though there seems to be no problem with such sexual distinction, problems often arises when different interpretations go into the picture. Tannen points out several important characteristics on as to why such distinctions became so eminent among women. The tendency of women to be criticized for their every action subjects them to the notion that they are indeed marked. Tannen elaborates this claim by pursuing the way people perceive women’s hairstyle. According to (Tannen) â€Å"the range of women’s hair styles are staggering, but women whose hair has no particular style is perceived as not caring about how she looks, which can disqualify her for many positions, and will subtly diminish her as a person in the eyes of some† (p. 1). Such example only proves one thing for women; it is indeed difficult for women to be unmarked since the continuous knots are in place for marked perceptions, actions, and ideas. It is like a continued cycle of being ‘marked’ and curtailed with only several moves that will also still connote the same thing – being ‘marked’. This is one argument as to why women cannot be considered or classified as unmarked. However, thinkers who see such scenario often attest and complain about the particular setup of things. Though it may be wrong to associate them to feminist, but somehow these people are often pointed toward such orientation due to its overall principle – equality for both men and women. It is through this that several people sought to argue that ‘unmarking’ of women in society is possible. The article points out several scholars who argue how men have and society continued to tolerate such status of women. Tannen stresses in her article that â€Å"language and culture are particularly unfair in treating women as the marked case because biologically it is the male that is marked† (p. 1) He cited several works of Fasold who advocated an alternative approach in explaining that indeed men are the ones who are ‘marked’ contrary to the original notion. One example cited by Tannen in Fasold’s study includes the notion concerning genetics and says that biologically males are the ones that are really ‘marked’. Tannen says that â€Å"while two X chromosomes make a female, two Y chromosomes make nothing. Like the linguistic markers s, es or ess, the Y chromosome doesnt mean anything unless it is attached to a root form an X chromosome† (p. 1) Pursuing Fasold’s ideas further, he again pointed several important reasons as to why women should not be considered ‘marked’. Tannen stipulated that â€Å"Fasold points out that girls are born with fully female bodies, while boys are born with modified female bodies. † (p. 1) Lastly, Fasold points out his argument by making establishing a possible relationship with biology and language. Tannen points out that â€Å"if language reflected biology, grammar books would direct us to use she to include males and females and he only for specifically male referents. † (p. 1) Arguing on this matter, Tannen clearly dismisses the claim of Fasold’s due to his inability to strike a relationship between his study in biological makeup of man and man’s sociological makeup. Yes, it can be argued that Fasold’s argument may hold water, however there is a huge differences in perspective on how to view the issue. Biological makeup/component for that matter is more standardized with a definitive value for everything. However, with regards to sociology and gender, there is a diverse and multiple levels of interpretations that can be made to ascertain an occurrence of something. Establishing such difference, Tannen contends with the argument of Fasold’s by focusing that the parameters of biology differ in scope compared to language particularly in the realm of using the term ‘he’ or ‘she’. Tannen points out that â€Å"use of he as the sex-indefinite pronoun is an innovation introduced into English by grammarians in the 18th and 19th centuries, according to Peter Muhlhausler and Rom Harre in Pronouns and People† (p. 1) By establishing such argument, it was mentioned that the ‘she’ word again is marked. It is through this that the argument pertaining to women can be unmarked remains to be bleak and difficult to achieve. However, I am not saying that it is unattainable, but it will take a radical effort for women to achieve such status. Even the author attests the difficulty. If ever you fight for something that will challenge the status quo, labeling shall be given to you – feminist, male basher, etc. This in turn again promotes the process of being ‘marked’ for women. In the end, after careful analysis of arguments, it can be justified that there are no unmarked women. Women may strive for such status, however such endeavor may only be futile since even the author of the article attested its relative difficulty and grasp among females. Tannen said that â€Å"I felt sad to think that we women didnt have the freedom to be unmarked that the men sitting next to us had. † (p. 1) In the end, the only scenario is accepting the fact that women shall be subject to being ‘marked’. The only thing that they can do is create an environment where their ‘mark’ is more on the positive side compared to a degenerative idea. Work Cited Tannen, Deborah. Marked Women, Unmarked Men in The New York Times Magazine 1993 accessed 14 April 2008

Saturday, September 21, 2019

The advance of feminism into the workplace

The advance of feminism into the workplace From the beginning of the first wave of feminism following through to the third wave of feminism women in the workforce has changed substantially overtime. From the beginning roles of women staying at home being housewives and there high expectations from men, to the current times of the working mom. With help from legislation a woman entering the workforce has increased. As women entering the workforce started to evolve so did the laws. It started with women gaining the right to vote which increased the education and job opportunity. As times pass the Equal Pay Act was passed that improved economic status of women. There were some barriers such as the glass ceiling act that effected the advancement of women. The most recent law that has affected the working women is the Lilly Ledbetter fair play act. I choose this topic because I think women have came a long way and have gained a lot more independence to go out and work a job with the barriers that were faced. Beginning in the first wave of feminism and moving forward times have changed. Women went from being house wives to entering the work force. After the 19th amendment was passed giving the women the right to vote, may have been the opening door to end discrimination. Male politicians were enthusiastic about womens right to vote and allowing them to hold public office and service or juries. Following the pass of the amendment there was still many struggles to come to gain equality. The ideal role of women was to get married, have children and stay at home to keep things in order for the family. In another words they were considered a house wife. Betty Friedan who is considered the god mother of equality feminism stated that the statement of being a house wife can create a sense of emptiness, non existence, and nothing less in women (Iannone). She felt that the aspect of a housewife role was what made it impossible for women of adult intelligence to retain a sense of human identity and the firm care of herself (Iannone). While the women stayed home the men were responsible for running the country, being head of corporations and being the main provider to the household. There was fear that working women would compete for the mens job. Women who did work had low paying occupations. Even the females who held the same occupations as men were paid less for doing the same job. Beginning the 19th century there was and increase in the required educational preparation focusing on the study of medicine. In 1890, women constituted about 5 percent of the total doctors in the US. Not only were more women involved in the study of medicine they also focused on the teaching profession. During the first wave, and focusing on the 1920s is when things started to happen with women rights. During the 1920s, 1 in 4 women over the ago of 16 were part of the work force. The number of working women increased by 50.1 percent. As working women continued out in the workforce, they gained little opportunity to advance. They showed there success by demonstrating they were capable of economic independence. (Womens History in America) As the times progress and we move through the years into the second wave of feminism women entering the work force seems to increase. Since 1960 more women with children have been forced to work . For women with children under the age of 6, 12 percent worked in 1950, 45 percent in 1980 and by 1987 the amount increase to 57 percent. Over half of the mothers with children under the age of three were in the work force by 1987. During this time from 1950-1980 it was envisioned that women will educate themselves, pick a career path, and eliminate there dependencies on men. Women constituted more than 45 percent of employment in the US by 1989,and only a small share of those decisions making jobs. The numbers for women working as managers, officials, and other administrative has increase in 1989 they were out numbered by 1.5 to 1 by men. Women in 1970 were paid about 45 percent less than men for the same job. In 1988 the percentage for pay decreased to 33 percent less. Professional women d id not get the important assignments and promotions given to the male (Womens History in America). Women who are not able to pursue a career or who do not earn enough money to have and adequate standard of living are dependent on the government agencies or their husbands for support. In the glass ceiling during the period from 1985- 1986, one out of every four women earned less than 10,000 per year these earnings are less than adequate wages for single mothers. On average women have a lower income even with a degree or certificate than men who have comparable years of work experience without a high school diploma (as sighted in Rhoodie, 1989). The equal pay act of 1963 is the United States federal law amending the fair labor standards act. This law was aimed to eliminate wage level based on sex. It was signed into law on June 10, 1963 by John F. Kennedy. The law provided that no employers having employees subject to any provision of this section shall discriminate within any establishment where employees are employed, between employees on the basis of sex and paying wages to employees at a rate less than the rate that employees are paid of the opposite sex for equal work on the job (Wikipedia). By passing the equal pay act the congressional intent was the first step towards and adjustment of balance in pay for women. The Equal Pay Act should be a starting point for establishing pay for women. The impact that this law provided according to the bureau of labor statistics, womens salaries have increased from 62 percent of mens earning in 1970 to 80 percent in 2004 (Wikipedia). In 1991 the United States Department of labor used a term called the glass ceiling. The glass ceiling refers to a situation where the advancement of a qualified person within the organization is stopped at a lower level because of some form of discrimination, most commonly sexism or racism. This situation refers to the ceiling as there is a limitation blocking upward advancement and glass as transparent because the limitation is not immediately apparent and is normally an written and unofficial policy. This ceiling tends to affect working women the most. This barrier makes many women feel as they are not worthy enough to have high ranking positions, or that their bosses do not take them seriously or believe that they could be candidates for growth potential within the work place (Wikipedia). As we move forward into the more current times, the amount of women in the work place have increased. Today over 46 percent of the work force is women, over 37 percent of business managerial positions and held by women. The economy cant run with 46 percent of its workforce staying at home. All companies large and small recognize the value that women bring to their companies, and some have proven to run more successfully with working women (Pile). In addition, the average household needs two wages to meet todays financial needs. Women are following right behind the men with there salaries (U.S. Department of labor). In 2004 women earned 80 percent of there males salaries compared to the 63 percent in 1963 (U.S. Department of labor). The economy can not run with 45 percent of its work force staying at home (U.S. Department of labor). All companies, big and small, recognize the value that women bring to their companies, and some have proven to run more successfully (Pile). The existence of anti discrimination laws and the high cost of litigation have paved the way for many women to be promoted, and it is rare to find large established companies without written policies that help promote women to managerial positions. But even with the help of plan and anti- discrimination laws, women still run into a glass ceiling. One example is Deloitte and Touche, an accounting firm with a strategic plan to promote women. The firm found out that, although they had been hiring a workforce composed of 33 percent to 50 percent of women out of college annually, they retained a much lesser percentage a decade later. They found that only 14 percent of their partners were women. In the end they found out that women were not leaving because they were not happy with their jobs, they were leaving because the male managers had been favoring the male subordinates, and this frustrated women who were competing for these top assignments (Sommers). On January 29, 2009, Barack Obama signed into law the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. This law is intended for fair pay of individual workers regardless of their gender, age, race, ethnicity, religion or disability. This bill is for the women across the country that still are earning 78 cents to every dollar men earn, and women of a different race even less. This means today that women are still losing thousands of dollars in salary, income and retirement savings over the course of a lifetime. This bill was a simple step to fundamental fairness to American workers. (Obama Signs Lilly Ledbetter Act) Women starting it the first wave had a very rough life starting out. They were confined to the house to raise the children and take care of the men. Women were not allowed to go out and make their own livings. They were to be there for the men and the family. Things starting out like this made it hard for women to enter the work force. Education levels of women were lower than men so therefore there pay was lower and that was something that escalated over time. Fair pay is still something that women face today. With the legislative rights such as the right to vote, equal pay act, and the fair pay act things have came a long way. Women are entering the work force now and making a living.

Friday, September 20, 2019

Normal Occlusion And Its Characteristics

Normal Occlusion And Its Characteristics The development of human dentition from adolescence to adulthood has been the subject of extensive study by numerous dentists, orthodontists and other experts in the past. While prevention and cure of dental diseases, surgical reconstitution to address teeth anomalies and research studies on teeth and development of the dental arch during the growing up years has been the main concerns across the past decades, in recent years, substantial effort has been evident in the field of mathematical analysis of the dental arch curve, particularly of children from varied age groups and diverse ethnic and national origins. The proper care and development of the primary dentition into permanent dentition is of major importance and the dental arch curvature, whose study has been related intimately by a growing number of dentists and orthodontists to the prospective achievement of ideal occlusion and normal permanent dentition, has eluded a proper definition of form and shape. Many eminent authors have put forth mathematical models to describe the teeth arch curve in humans. Some have imagined it as a parabola, ellipse or conic while others have viewed the same as a cubic spline. Still others have viewed the beta function as best describing the actual shape of the dental arch curve. Both finite mathematical functions as also polynomials ranging from 2nd order to 6th order have been cited as appropriate definitions of the arch in various studies by eminent authors. Each such model had advantages and disadvantages, but none could exactly define the shape of the human dental arch curvature and factor in its features like shape, spacing and symmetry/asymmetry. Recent advances in imaging techniques and computer-aided simulation have added to the attempts to determine dental arch form in children in normal occlusion. This paper presents key mathematical models compares them through some secondary research study. Keywords: Dental Arch,Normal Occlussion,Mixed Dentition INTRODUCTION Primary dentition in children needs to be as close as possible to the ideal in order that during future adulthood, the children may exhibit normal dental features like normal mastication and appearance, space and occlusion for proper and healthy functioning of permanent dentition. Physical appearance does directly impact on the self-esteem and inter-personal behaviour of the human individual, while dental health challenges like malocclusions, dental caries, gum disease and tooth loss do require preventive and curative interventions right from childhood so that permanent dentition may be normal in later years. Prabhakaran, S., et al, (2006) maintain that the various parts of the dental arch during childhood, viz., canine, incisor and molar play a vital role in shaping space and occlusion characteristics during permanent dentition and also stress the importance of the arch dimensions in properly aligning teeth, stabilizing the form, alleviating arch crowding, and providing for a normal overbite and over jet, stable occlusion and a balanced facial profile. Both research aims and clinical diagnosis and treatment have long required the study of dental arch forms, shape, size and other parameters like over jet and overbite, as also the spacing in deciduous dentition. In fact, arch size has been seen to be more important than even teeth size (Facal-Garcia et al., 2001). While various efforts have been made to formulate a mathematical model for the dental arch in humans, the earliest description of the arch was via terms like elliptic, parabolic, etc and, also, in terms of measurement, the arch circumference, width and depth were some of the previous methods for measuring the dental arch curve. Various experts have defined the dental arch curvature through use of biometry by measurement of angles, linear distances ratios (Brader, 1972; Ferrario et al., 1997, 1999, 2001; Harris, 1997; Braun et al., 1998; Burris and Harris, 2000; Noroozi et al., 2001). Such analysis, ho wever, has some limitations in describing a three-dimensional (3D) structure like the dental arch (Poggio et al., 2000). Whereas, there are numerous mathematical models and geometrical forms that have been put forth by various experts, no two models appear to be clearly defined by means of a single parameter (Noroozi, H., et al, 2001). DEFINING THE DENTAL ARCH Models for describing the dental arch curvature include conic sections (Biggerstaff, 1972; Sampson, 1981), parabolas (Jones Richmond, 1989), cubic spline curves (BeGole, E.A., 1980), catenary curves (Battagel, J.M., 1996), and polynomials of second to eight degree (Pepe, S.H., 1975), mixed models and the beta function (Braun, et al, 1998). The definitions differ as because of differences in objectives, dissimilarity of samples studied and diverse methodologies adopted and uniform results in defining and arriving at a generalized model factoring in all symmetries and asymmetries of curvature elude experts even today. Some model may be suitable in one case while others may be more so in another situation. In this respect, conic sections which are 2nd order curves, can only be applied to specific shapes like hyperbolas, eclipse, etc and their efficiency as ideal fit to any shape of the dental arch is thus limited (AlHarbi, S, et al, 2006). The beta function, although superior, consider s only the parameters of molar width and arch depth and does not factor in other dental landmarks. Nor does it consider asymmetrical forms. In contrast, the 4th order polynomial functions are better effective in defining the dental arch than either cubic spline or the beta function (AlHarbi, et al, 2006). AlHadi and others (2006) also maintain that important considerations in defining the human dental arch through mathematical modelling like symmetry or asymmetry, objective, landmarks used and required level of accuracy do influence the actual choice of model made. OCCLUSION AND ITS TYPES Occlusion is the manner in which the lower and upper teeth intercuspate between each other in all mandibular positions or movements. Ash Ramfjord (1982) state that it is a result of neuromuscular control of the components of the mastication systems viz., teeth, maxilla mandibular, periodontal structures, temporomandibular joints and their related muscles and ligaments. Ross (1970) also differentiated between physiological and pathological occlusion, in which the various components function smoothly and without any pain, and also remain in good health. Furthermore, occlusion is a phenomenon that has been generally classified by experts into three types, namely, normal occlusion, ideal occlusion and malocclusion. Ideal Occlusion Ideal occlusion is a hypothetical state, an ideal situation. McDonald Ireland (1998) defined ideal occlusions as a condition when maxilla and mandible have their skeletal bases of correct size relative to one another, and the teeth are in correct relationship in the three spatial planes at rest. Houston et al (1992) has also given various other concepts relating to ideal occlusion in permanent dentition and these concern ideal mesiodistal buccolingual inclinations, correct approximal relationships of teeth, exact overlapping of upper and lower arch both laterally and anteriorly, existence of mandible in position of centric relation, and also presence of correct functional relationship during mandibular excursions. Normal Occlusion and its Characteristics Normal occlusion was first clearly defined by Angle (1899) which was the occlusion when upper and lower molars were in relationship such that the mesiobuccal cusp of upper molar occluded in buccal cavity of lower molar and teeth were all arranged in a smoothly curving line. Houston et al, (1992) defined normal occlusion as an occlusion within accepted definition of the ideal and which caused no functional or aesthetic problems. Andrews (1972) had previously also mentioned of six distinct characteristics observed consistently in orthodontic patients having normal occlusion, viz., molar relationship, correct crown angulation inclination, absence of undesirable teeth rotations, tightness of proximal points, and flat occlusal plane (the curve of Spee having no more than a slight arch and deepest curve being 1.5 mm). To this, Roth (1981) added some more characteristics as being features of normal occlusion, viz., coincidence of centric occlusion and relationship, exclusion of posterior t eeth during protrusion, inclusion of canine teeth solely during lateral excursions of the mandible and prevalence of even bilateral contacts in buccal segments during centric excursion of teeth. Oltramari, PVP et al (2007) maintain that success of orthodontic treatments can be achieved when all static functional objectives of occlusion exist and achieving stable centric relation with all teeth in Maxim intercuspal position is the main criteria for a functional occlusion MATHEMATICAL MODELS FOR MEASURING THE DENTAL ARCH CURVE Whether for detecting future orthodontic problems, or for ensuring normal occlusion, a study of the dental arch characteristics becomes essential. Additionally, intra-arch spacing also needs to be studied so as to help the dentist forecast and prevent ectopic or premature teeth eruption. While studies in the past on dentition in children and young adults have shown significant variations among diverse populations (Prabhakaran et al, 2006), dentists are continuously seized of the need to generalize their research findings and arrive at a uniform mathematical model for defining the human dental arch and assessing the generalizations, if any, in the dental shape, size, spacing and other characteristics. Prabhakaran et al (2006) also maintain that such mathematical modelling and analysis during primary dentition is very important in assessing the arch dimensions and spacing as also for helping ensure a proper alignment in permanent dentition during the crucial period which follows the co mplete eruption of primary dentition in children. They are also of the view that proper prediction of arch variations and state of occlusion during this period can be crucial for establishing ideal desired esthetic and functional occlusion in later years. While all dentists and orthodontists seem to be more or less unanimous in perceiving as important the mathematical analysis of the dental arch in children in normal occlusion, no two experts seem agreeable in defining the dental arch by means of a single generalized model. A single model eludes the foremost dental practitioners owing to the differences in samples studied with regard to their origins, size, features, ages, etc. Thus while one author may have studied and derived his results from studying some Brazilian children under some previously defined test conditions, another author may have studied Afro-American children of another age group, sample size or geographical origins. Also, within the same set of samples studied, there are also marked variations in dental arch shapes, sizes and spacing as found out by leading experts in the field. Shapes are also unpredictable as to the symmetry or asymmetry and this is another obstacle to the theoretical generalization that could evo lve a single uniform mathematical model. However, some notable studies in the past decades do stand out and may be singled out as the most relevant and significant developments in the field till date. The earliest models were necessarily qualitative, rather than quantitative. Dentists talked of ellipse, parabola, conic section, etc when describing the human dental arch. Earlier authors like Hayashi (1962) and Lu (1966) did attempt to explain mathematically the human dental arch in terms of polynomial equations of different orders. However, their theory could not explain asymmetrical features or predict fully all forms of the arch. Later on, authors like Pepe (1975), Biggerstaff (1972), Jones Richmond (1989), Hayashi (1976), BeGole (1980) made their valuable contributions to the literature in the dental field through their pioneering studies on teeth of various sample populations of children in general, and a mathematical analysis of the dental arch in particular. While authors like Pepe and Biggerstaff relied on symmetrical features of dental curvature, BeGole was a pioneer in the field in that he utilized the asymmetrical cubic splines to describe the dental arch. His model assu med that the arch could not be symmetrical and he tried to evolve a mathematical best fit for defining and assessing the arch curve by using the cubic splines. BeGole developed a FORTRAN program on the computer that he used for interpolating different cubic splines for each subject studied and essentially tried to substantiate a radical view of many experts that the arch curve defied geometrical definition and such perfect geometrical shapes like the parabola or ellipse could not satisfactorily define the same. He was of the view that the cubic spline appropriately represented the general maxillary arch form of persons in normal occlusion. His work directly contrasted efforts by Biggerstaff (1972) who defined the dental arch form through a set of quadratic equations and Pepe who used polynomial equations of degree less than eight to fit on the dental arch curve (1975). In Pepes view, there could be supposed to exist, at least in theory, a unique polynomial equation having degree (n + 1) or less (n was number of data points) that would ensure exact data fit of points on the dental arch curve. An example would be the polynomial equation based on Le-Granges interpolation formula viz., Y = n Ã¢â‚¬Å"i=1yi Ã‚ [j ¹i](x-xj)/xi-xj), where xi, yi were data points. In 1989, Jones Richmond used the parabolic curve to explain the form of the dental arch quite effectively. Their effort did contribute to both pre and post treatment benefits based on research on the dental arch. However, Battagel (1996) used the catenary curves as a fit for the arch curvature and published the findings in the popular British Journal of Orthodontics, proving that the British researchers were not far behind their American counterparts. Then, Harris (1997) made a longitudinal study on the arch form while the next year (1998), Braun and others put forth their famous beta function model for defining the dental arch. Braun expressed the beta function by means of a mathematical equation thus: In the Braun equation, W was molar width in mm and denoted the measured distance between right and left 2nd molar distobuccal cusp points and D the depth of the arch. A notable thing was that the beta function was a symmetrical function and did not explain observed variations in form and shape in actual human samples studied by others. Although it was observed by Pepe (1975) that 4th order polynomials were actually a better fit than the splines, in later analyses in the 1990s, it appeared that these were even better than the beta (AlHarbi et al, 2006). In the latter part of the 1990s, Ferrario et al (1999) expressed the dental curve as a 3-D structure. These experts conducted some diverse studies on the dental arch in getting to know the 3-D inclinations of the dental axes, assessing arch curves of both adolescents and adults and statistically analysing the Monsons sphere in healthy human permanent dentition. Other key authors like Burris et al (2000), who studied the maxillary arch sizes and shapes in American whites and blacks, Poggio et al (2000) who pointed out the deficiencies in using biometrical methods in describing the dental arch curvature, and Noroozi et al (2001) who showed that the beta function was solely insufficient to describe an expanded square dental arch form, perhaps, constitute some of the most relevant mathematical analyses of recent years. Most recently, one of the most relevant analyses seems to have been carried out by AlHarbi ad others (2006) who essentially studied the dental arch curvature of individuals in normal occlusion. They studied 40 sets of plaster dental casts both upper and lower of male and female subjects from ages 18 to 25 years. Although their samples were from adults, they considered four most relevant functions, namely, the beta function, the polynomial functions, the natural cubic splines, and the Hermite cubic splines. They found that, whereas the polynomials of 4th order best fit the dental arch exhibiting symmetrical form, the Hermite cubic splines best described those dental arch curves which were irregular in shape, and particularly useful in tracking treatment variations. They formed the opinion at the end of their study of subjects all sourced, incidentally, from nationals of Saudi Arabia that the 4th order polynomials could be effectively used to define a smooth dental arch curve which could further be applied into fabricating custom arch wires or a fixed orthodontic apparatus, which could substantially aid in dental arch reconstruction or even in enhancement of esthetic beauty in patients. COMPARISON OF DIFFERENT MODELS FOR ANALYSING THE DENTAL ARCH The dental arch has emerged as an important part of modern dentistry for a variety reasons. The need for an early detection and prevention of malocclusion is one important reason whereby dentists hope to ensure a normal and ideal permanent dentition. Dentists also increasingly wish to facilitate normal facial appearance in case of teeth and space abnormalities in children and adults. What constitutes the ideal occlusion, ideal intra-arch and adjacent space and correct arch curvature is a matter of comparison among leading dentists and orthodontists. Previous studies done in analyzing dental arch shape have used conventional anatomical points on incisal edges and on molar cusp tips so as to classify forms of the dental arch through various mathematical forms like ellipse, parabola, cubical spline, etc, as has been mentioned in the foregoing paragraphs. Other geometric shapes used to describe and measure the dental arch include the catenary curves. Hayashi (1962) used mathematical equations of the form: y = axn + e Ã‚ ¡(x- Ã‚ ¢) and applied them to anatomic landmarks on buccal cusps and incisal edges of numerous dental casts. However, the method was complex and required estimation of the parameters like Ã‚ ¡, Ã‚ ¢, etc. Also, Hayashi did not consider the asymmetrical curvature of the arch. In contrast, Lu (1966) introduced the concept of fourth degree polynomial for defining the dental arch curve. Later, Biggerstaff (1973) introduced a generalized quadratic equation for studying the close fit of shapes like the parabol a, hyperbola and ellipse for describing the form of the dental arch. However, sixth degree polynomials ensured a better curve fit as mentioned in studies by Pepe, SH (1975). Many authors like Biggerstaff (1972) have used a parabola of the form x2 = -2py for describing the shape of the dental arch while others like Pepe (1975) have stressed on the catenary curve form defined by the equation y = (ex + e-x)/2. Biggerstaff (1973) has also mentioned of the equation (x2/b2) + (y2/a2) = 1 that defines an ellipse. BeGole (1980) then developed a computer program in FORTRAN which was used to interpolate a cubic spline for individual subjects who were studied to effectively find out the perfect mathematical model to define the dental arch. The method due to BeGole essentially utilized the cubic equations and the splines used in analysis were either symmetrical or asymmetrical. Another method, finite element analysis used in comparing dental-arch forms was affected by homology function and the drawbacks of element design. Another, multivariate principal component analyses, as performed by Buschang et al (1994) so as to determine size and shape factors from numerous linear measurements could not satisfactorily explain major variations in dental arch forms and the method failed to provide for a larger generalization in explaining the arch forms. ANALYSING DENTAL ARCH CURVE IN CHILDREN IN NORMAL OCCLUSION Various studies have been conducted by different experts for defining human dental arch curves by a mathematical model and whose curvature has assumed importance, particularly in prediction, correction and alignment of dental arch in children in normal occlusion. The study of children in primary dentition have led to some notable advances in dental care and treatment of various dental diseases and conditions, although, an exact mathematical model for the dental arch curve is yet to be arrived at. Some characteristic features that have emerged during the course of various studies over time indicate that no single arch form could be found to relate to all types of samples studied since the basic objectives, origin and heredity of the children under study, the drawbacks of the various mathematical tools, etc, do inhibit a satisfactory and perfect fit of any one model in describing the dental arch form to any degree of correction. However, it has been evident through the years of continu ous study by dentists and clinical orthodontists that children exhibit certain common features during their childhood, when their dentition is yet to develop into permanent dental form. For example, a common feature is the eruption of primary dentition in children that generally follows a fixed pattern. The time of eruption of various teeth like incisors, molars, canines, etc follow this definite pattern over the growing up years of the child. The differences of teeth forms, shape, size, arch spacing and curvature, etc, that characterize a given sample under study for mathematical analysis, also essentially vary with the nationality and ethnic origin of a child. In one longitudinal study by Henrikson et al (2001) that studied 30 children of Scandinavian origin with normal occlusion, it was found that when children pass from adolescence into adulthood, a significant lack of stability in arch form was discernible. In another study, experts have also indicated that dental arches in som e children were symmetrical, while in others this was not so, indicating that symmetrical form of a dental arch was not a prerequisite for normal occlusion. All these studies based on mathematical analysis of one kind or another have thrown up more data rather than been correlated to deliver a generalized theory that can satisfactorily associate a single mathematical model for all dental arch forms in children with normal occlusion. CONCLUSION Factors that determine satisfactory diagnosis in orthodontic treatment include teeth spacing and size, the dental arch form and size. Commonly used plaster model analysis is cumbersome, whereas many scanning tools, like laser, destructive and computer tomography scans, structured light, magnetic resonance imaging, and ultrasound techniques, do exist now for accurate 3-D reconstruction of the human anatomy. The plaster orthodontic methods can verily be replaced successfully by 3-D models using computer images for arriving at better accurate results of study. The teeth measurement using computer imaging are accurate, efficient and easy to do and would prove to be very useful in measuring tooth and dental arch sizes and also the phenomenon of dental crowding. Mathematical analysis, though now quite old, can be applied satisfactorily in various issues relating to dentistry and the advances in computer imaging, digitalization and computer analysis through state-of-the-art software program s, do herald a new age in mathematical modelling of the human dental arch which could yet bring in substantial advancement in the field of Orthodontics and Pedodontics. This could in turn usher in an ideal dental care and treatment environment so necessary for countering lack of dental awareness and prevalence of dental diseases and inconsistencies in children across the world.

Thursday, September 19, 2019

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee :: essays research papers

Atticus Finch is a man who fought for what he believed in. He stood up for what he thought was right not what the rest of the town thought. Atticus was real brave for defending Tom Robinson in court, he knew a lot of people would get mad and try to hurt him, but Atticus stood up for what he believed in. Atticus had a lot of courage he was the only man in town that would fight for Tom Robinson, because he knew it was wrong to accuse him of something he did not do. I think Atticus knew that Tom Robinson did not have a great chance of wining the case, but he tried to do the best that he could to prove that Tom Robinson was innocent. I think that Atticus is in some way the town’s spokesmen, there is a lot of people in town that have the same views on racism as Atticus but, they were scared to admit it. The town knows that Atticus is right but no one wants to agree with him because they are scared for there own selves, that’s why I think Atticus is very courageous he is not scared in admitting that he is not a racist, and that he will try to prove that Tom Robinson is innocent. Atticus believed that everyone is equal. He believed that all races should be treated the same no matter what. I think that Atticus was real frustrated with the town’s racial beliefs. Atticus was a great man because, he could decide what was wrong and what’s right, something that the rest of the town had trouble doing. Atticus had convinced the jury that Tom Robinson was innocent, that’s why it took them so long to make there decision, but in the end there was no way that the jury was going to believe a black man over a white man. I think what Miss Maudie said was very correct â€Å" well, we’re making a step-it’s just a baby step, but it’s a step†,(216) that’s what she said after the trial, what she means is that the town will not start to except blacks overnight, but slowly the town is starting to understand that being black does not make you a bad person. The town new that the Ewell’s were a bunch of liars, but they couldn’t chose a black man over a whit man, so Miss Maudie is saying someday they will. â€Å"Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit ‘em but remember it’s a sin to kill a

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

The Influence of Economic, Political, and Social Factors on Firms Essay

The Influence of Economic, Political, and Social Factors on Firms The long controversy exist over the influence of economic , political and social factors on the success of the firms. With many economist believing that economic factors such as management structure contribute to the success of the firm. Karl Marx (1976)[1] and other economist argued that economic factors are not the sole determiner of firm’s success. Marx believes that political, social and economics plays a part in making the firm to be effective. So the following paper will address the question of whether political, economic or social factors contribute to success of the firms. The discussion of economic, political and social factors will be based on the argument between Marglin and Landers. Competition creates a spur for companies to innovate, improve efficiency and drive down prices. Competition is a model of industrial structure in which many firms compete in the supply of a single product in a competitive environment where only the fittest or most affective firm succeeds. Before going further I will like to emphasise the competition I’m referring to is perfect competition where new firms can enter the market if it appears profitable[2]. Because of insignificant barrier to entry firms are faced with challenge to innovate and to improve efficiency. As stated by the neo-classical theory of the firm it is in the interest of the firm to keep the marginal cost as low as possible. The need to lower the average total cost persuaded firms to look for efficient form of production. Competition from rivals forced firms to adopt management systems that will allow them to outperform their rivals .I clearly agree with Landers that the new management system emerged because its effectiveness[3]. Firms adopted the putting out system because it allows them to have edge over other firms The creation of the factories overcome the control that workers had over their work in the early phase of capitalist through the cottage system. Under the cottage system workers were working from home and the domestic craftsmen was master of his time. The lack supervision under the cottage industry meant that workers had no control over how much worker produced per day. Firms were not benefiting because it was easy for workers to steal raw materials. As stated by Karl Marx and the o... ... as mentioned by Marglin both social and economic factors play a part , but they depend on competition .For example in the factory system firms exploited workers because of competition if I wasn’t because of competitions firms wouldn’t have exploited workers. [1] Landers ,†what do bosses really do ?p.591 [2] Landers ,†what do bosses really do ?p.591 [3] Marglin â€Å"What do bosses do ?p.18 [4]Marglin â€Å"what do bosses do ?p.16-17 [5] Marglin what do bosses do? [6] Chandler (1992)managerial enterprise and competitive capabilities, business history .p16 [7] Elger ,T & Fairbrother , P (1992)fordism and flexibility .p.40 REFERENECE LISTS Chandler , A .(1992),†managerial enterprise and competitive capabilities; Business history review , vol.58,no .4. Elger, T & Fairbrother ,P.(1992),’inflexible flexibility ‘ in N. Gilbert et al (eds) Fordism and flexibility :Division and Change(London , Macmillan) Lazonick,w.(1991), Business organization and the myth the economy. Landers, D.(1986), â€Å"What do bosses really do† The journal of economic history Marglin.S.(1976)’What do bosses do ‘ .In A .Gorz (ed),The division of Labour (Brighton , Harvester) The Influence of Economic, Political, and Social Factors on Firms Essay The Influence of Economic, Political, and Social Factors on Firms The long controversy exist over the influence of economic , political and social factors on the success of the firms. With many economist believing that economic factors such as management structure contribute to the success of the firm. Karl Marx (1976)[1] and other economist argued that economic factors are not the sole determiner of firm’s success. Marx believes that political, social and economics plays a part in making the firm to be effective. So the following paper will address the question of whether political, economic or social factors contribute to success of the firms. The discussion of economic, political and social factors will be based on the argument between Marglin and Landers. Competition creates a spur for companies to innovate, improve efficiency and drive down prices. Competition is a model of industrial structure in which many firms compete in the supply of a single product in a competitive environment where only the fittest or most affective firm succeeds. Before going further I will like to emphasise the competition I’m referring to is perfect competition where new firms can enter the market if it appears profitable[2]. Because of insignificant barrier to entry firms are faced with challenge to innovate and to improve efficiency. As stated by the neo-classical theory of the firm it is in the interest of the firm to keep the marginal cost as low as possible. The need to lower the average total cost persuaded firms to look for efficient form of production. Competition from rivals forced firms to adopt management systems that will allow them to outperform their rivals .I clearly agree with Landers that the new management system emerged because its effectiveness[3]. Firms adopted the putting out system because it allows them to have edge over other firms The creation of the factories overcome the control that workers had over their work in the early phase of capitalist through the cottage system. Under the cottage system workers were working from home and the domestic craftsmen was master of his time. The lack supervision under the cottage industry meant that workers had no control over how much worker produced per day. Firms were not benefiting because it was easy for workers to steal raw materials. As stated by Karl Marx and the o... ... as mentioned by Marglin both social and economic factors play a part , but they depend on competition .For example in the factory system firms exploited workers because of competition if I wasn’t because of competitions firms wouldn’t have exploited workers. [1] Landers ,†what do bosses really do ?p.591 [2] Landers ,†what do bosses really do ?p.591 [3] Marglin â€Å"What do bosses do ?p.18 [4]Marglin â€Å"what do bosses do ?p.16-17 [5] Marglin what do bosses do? [6] Chandler (1992)managerial enterprise and competitive capabilities, business history .p16 [7] Elger ,T & Fairbrother , P (1992)fordism and flexibility .p.40 REFERENECE LISTS Chandler , A .(1992),†managerial enterprise and competitive capabilities; Business history review , vol.58,no .4. Elger, T & Fairbrother ,P.(1992),’inflexible flexibility ‘ in N. Gilbert et al (eds) Fordism and flexibility :Division and Change(London , Macmillan) Lazonick,w.(1991), Business organization and the myth the economy. Landers, D.(1986), â€Å"What do bosses really do† The journal of economic history Marglin.S.(1976)’What do bosses do ‘ .In A .Gorz (ed),The division of Labour (Brighton , Harvester)

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Doctor Faustus Essay

Born in Canterbury in 1564, Christopher Marlowe was an actor, poet, and playwright during the reign of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth I. Traditionally, the education that he received would have prepared him to become a clergyman, but Marlowe chose not to join the ministry. After leaving Cambridge, Marlowe moved to London, where he became a playwright and led a turbulent, scandal-plagued life. He produced seven plays, all of which were immensely popular. Among the most well known of his plays are Tamburlaine, The Jew of Malta, and Doctor Faustus. Marlowe was a great innovator of blank verse, unrhymed lines of iambic pentameter. The richness of his dramatic verse anticipates Shakespeare, and some argue that Shakespeare’s achievements owed considerable debt to Marlowe’s influence. Doctor Faustus was probably written in 1592, although the exact date of its composition is uncertain. Doctor Faustus is a play of deep questions concerning morality, religion, and man’s relationship to both. England was a Protestant country since the time of Queen Elizabeth I’s father, Henry VIII. Sorcery and magic were part of widespread belief systems throughout Europe that predated Christianity. But as Christianity spread and either assimilated or rejected other belief systems, practitioners of magic came to be viewed as evil. In the fifth century CE, St. Augustine, perhaps the most influential Christian thinker after St. Paul, pronounced all sorcery to be the work of evil spirits, to distinguish it from the good â€Å"magic† of Christian ritual and sacrament. The view of the sorcerer changed irrevocably. As this new Christian folklore of sorcery evolved, certain motifs rose to prominence. Once Christ was rejected, a sorcerer could give his soul to the devil instead, receiving in exchange powers in this life, here and now. Numerous Christian stories feature such bargains, and one of the most famous evolved around the historical person Johanned Faustus, a German astrologer of the early sixteenth century. Marlowe took his plot from an earlier German play about Faustus, but he transformed an old story into a powerhouse of a work, one that has drawn widely different interpretations since its first production. Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus is first great version of the story, although not the last. In the nineteenth century, the great German writer Johann Wolfgang van Goethe gave the story its greatest incarnation in Faust. Faustus’ name has become part of our language. â€Å"Faustian bargain† has come to mean a deal made for earthly gain at a high ethical and spiritual cost, or alternately any choice with short-lived benefits and a hell of a price.

Monday, September 16, 2019

Ap English Literature and Composition

AP English Literature and Composition â€Å"Only connect!†¦. Live in fragments no longer! † General Course Information 1. 0 Credits (. 5 per semester) Prerequisites: Accelerated English is recommended Course Overview †¢ This class will prepare students for AP English Literature and Composition Exam, as well as the AP English Language and Composition Exam. When registering for exams in the Spring, students will choose which exam to take. †¢ This course is set according to the requirements listed in the AP English Course Description. †¢ The reading in the course will cover a wide variety of genres.You will be introduced to everything from formal literary theory to creative writing. Deep reading, the kind that poses as many questions as it answers, will be expected. We will read for a variety of reasons, sometimes to grasp a thematic element and sometimes to simply enjoy the sounds of words. We will not only identify literary elements, but also why they are us ed and discuss their effectiveness. We will read across curriculums and relate English literature and its themes to those in philosophy, science, and psychology. †¢ This course also intends to hone your skills as writers.We will learn how to appeal to a certain audience and how vocabulary and structure change depending on the type of writing. We will practice deep revision and constantly recognize that writing is not simply putting thoughts down on a page, but a craft that takes a lifetime to perfect. We will discover our own individual styles as writers and use these to our advantage. Mechanics, citations, and technical writing will all be monitored closely. Above all though, we will see how our own words can excite, persuade, and create understanding. †¢ Finally, the course will hopefully make you a critical thinker.We live in the information age and no skill will be more in need than the ability to interpret information. The critical thinking skills you develop in this class will go on to help you on the AP Exams, the SAT, and in almost every aspect of your life. †¢ This course is divided around the different thematic ideas of conflict in literature, non-fiction, and life in general. While the traditional elements of conflict seem simple, we will explore the motives behind them. Finally, we will attempt to figure out how the characters choose to live (or die) with conflict and find resolution.Through non-fiction, we will explore how conflict has been created and resolved through rhetoric and argument. And how a well-written and polished argument can create a path of possibility even through the most mired of conflicts. Elements of the course: †¢ Writing. Drafts will be submitted to me and returned with comments. All papers will have a first and a final draft. Students may be asked to correct their drafts twice before submitting a final draft. All compositions will be graded on the AP rubric. One Friday a month, students will access their writing from the past month from their portfolio in class.During this time, we will have a writer’s workshop and address specific revision strategies. We will focus on revising sentence structure, organization, rhetorical structures, transitions, detail, imagery, conventions, and grammar. While timed writings are a part of this class, the Friday writer’s workshops will illustrate the importance of constant and careful revision. Students will also sign up for a meeting with me after-school every 2 months. At the first meeting, students will discuss with me their strengths and weaknesses. Together, we will assess their improvement throughout the year. †¢ Wordly Wise Vocabulary book will be due weekly.Periodic quizzes will test students’ knowledge. Wordly Wise is an excellent preparation for the SAT. The class will also have a Word Wall. The Word Wall will function to remind students of past vocabulary learned and encouraged the use of new vocabulary in writi ng. †¢ One interactive class project will happen for every unit. The project will often involve synthesizing knowledge from the unit and applying it to something outside English class: art, nature, current events, family life, etc. †¢ Reading journals: Students will keep dialectical reading journals throughout the course. These journals will help facilitate deep and thorough reading. he reading journal is also a great place to practice writing and collecting your thoughts cohesively. We will continuously use the reading journal in class discussion and come back to it to get ideas for essays. The reading journal will be counted as a grade underneath the writing category. Grading: |Writing (Journal included) |50% | |Exams |20% | |Vocabulary |10% | |Assignments and Projects |20% | Course Syllabus: Unit 1: Introduction 4 weeksReadings: †¢ Class Handouts †¢ â€Å"Allegory of the Cave† by Plato †¢ â€Å"Good Readers, Good Writers† by Vladimir Nabokov †¢ Excerpts from â€Å"Why I Write† by Joan Didion †¢ â€Å"Finishing School† by Maya Angelou †¢ Excerpt from Dust Tracks on a Road by Zora Neale Hurston †¢ â€Å"My Mother Never Worked† by Bonnie Smith-Yackel †¢ Everything’s an Argument by Andrea Lunsford and John J. Ruszkiewicz †¢ Current articles from the New York Times Discussion Topics: The first few days in class will be spent looking at class policies, organizing notebooks, and receiving helpful information on the strategies we will use throughout the year. SOAPSTone, Dialectical Journal explanation, AP terms list, DIDLS, etc. ) Our first reading will be Plato’s â€Å"Allegory of the Cave. † Plato tells us that ideas, not necessarily our experiences, are reality. This argument will encourage us to look deeper into the ideas behind what we are reading and writing. Essays from Didion and Nabokov will give us specific tips on how to begin our journey as acc omplished readers and writers. Then, we will switch gears to a short segment on narrative writing where will read 3 excellent examples of narrative in time for us to write our own narrative essay.While studying narrative writing, we will focus on specific examples of excellence in sentence structure, form, organization, and conventions. Finally, we will spend two weeks studying the text Everything’s an Argument, which we will continue to refer to throughout the year. We will learn how to identify successful rhetorical structures and use them in our own writing. During this examination of rhetorical analysis, we will use current New York Times editorials. Our writer’s workshop will for this unit will focus on varying our sentence structure for emphasis and effect. Assessments: Composition: AutobiographyComposition: Narrative essay over family Timed Writing: 2010 English Language and Composition Released Free Response Questions Argument Analysis: NY Times articles Writer ’s Workshop: Sentence structure Unit 2: Person vs. Nature 5 weeks Reading: †¢ Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe †¢ â€Å"The Santa Ana† by Joan Didion †¢ Poetry of William E. Stafford †¢ Excerpts from Maslow’s â€Å"A Theory of Human Motivation† †¢ Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey †¢ Excerpts from Walden by Henry David Thoreau †¢ â€Å"The American Forests† by John Muir Viewing: †¢ Clips from Man vs. Wild Discussion topics: Person vs. Nature is possibly the oldest conflict in the world.Maslow theorizes that we cannot ascend up the hierarchy of needs until our most basic needs are met. Robinson Crusoe is essentially the story of a man having to begin at the bottom of the hierarchy and work his way up. Person vs. Nature is often illustrated with diction and imagery. In Stafford’s poetry and Didion’s essay, we are invited into their personal experience of nature through word and image choices. Finall y, we see how the person vs. nature conflict changes as technology begins to take care of our rudimentary needs. In Desert Soltaire, nature maintains little of its aggressor status.Instead, man takes over as the force bent on destruction. Finally, we will end our discussion of person vs. nature by taking a field trip to McKinney Falls State Park. There, we will take pictures to provide visual evidence of multiple points of conflict. Our Writer’s Workshop will highlight organization. We will review our own strengths and weaknesses in organization from our past unit’s writing. Assessments: Composition: Using Maslow’s â€Å"Theory of Human Motivation† to explain Robinson Crusoe Composition: Literary analysis of imagery in Stafford poetry Composition: Compare/Contrast- Abbey and ThoreauTimed Writing: 2002 AP English Language and Composition Free-Response Questions Form B Argument analysis: John Muir’s letter to Congress Project: Field trip to McKinney Falls State Park. Capture visual evidence using cameras that illustrates the conflict of person vs. nature. Writer’s Workshop: Organization Unit 3: Person vs. Person 6 weeks †¢ A River Runs Through It by Norman McClean †¢ â€Å"Speech to the Troops at Tillbury† by Queen Elizabeth †¢ â€Å"A Vindication of the Rights of Women† by Mary Wollstonecraft †¢ â€Å"The Story of an Hour† by Kate Chopin †¢ Excerpts from â€Å"A Room of One’s Own† by Virginia Woolf †¢ â€Å"I Want a Wife† by Judy Brady All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy †¢ Selected poetry of e. e. cummings Viewings: Discussion topics: A River Runs Through It is the perfect bridge between discussion of the conflicts in nature to the conflicts between people. We will explore familial conflicts and traditional family archetypes. After we finish the novella, we will take a look at another reoccurring person vs. person conflict: gender roles. Queen Elizabeth, in her â€Å"Speech to the Troops at Tillsbury† used certain rhetoric to explain herself that was needed at the time. We will focus on how that language changed as women gained more equality.Finally, we will focus on style and the creative use of structure across two genres: novel and poetry. All the Pretty Horses will take us through several conflicts as John Grady Cole becomes an adult. Most striking though is McCarthy’s mastery of prose and creativity in structure. We will then make a comparison to e. e. cummings poetry, which also manages to leave out what we expect in format, in order to open our eyes to the exuberant images the poet provides. Our writer’s workshop will focus on how to add specific and concise, yet eye-opening detail to our writing.We will use our previous work in Unit’s 1 and 2 to revise and add detail. Assessment: †¢ Composition: Jung’s Archetypes in Literature †¢ Composition: The changing language of the women’s movement †¢ Composition: Analysis in style of either Cormac McCarthy’s All the Pretty Horses or e. e. cummings †¢ Timed Writing: 2004 AP English Literature and Composition Free-Response Questions (Form B) †¢ Argument Analysis: â€Å"A Vindication of the Rights of Women† by Mary Wollstonecraft †¢ Project: Use Feminist Literary Criticism to analyze a children’s picture book. Writer’s Workshop: Detail Unit 4: Person vs. Himself 6 weeks Readings: †¢ King Lear by Shakespeare †¢ Sylvia Plath poetry †¢ â€Å"The Jilting of Granny Weatherall† by Katherine Anne Porter †¢ â€Å"Fate† by Ralph Waldo Emerson †¢ Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad †¢ â€Å"An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness† by Chinua Achebe †¢ â€Å"Shooting an Elephant† by George Orwell Viewings: †¢ Excerpts from Apocalypse Now Discussion Topics: King Lear will b egin with family conflicts but by the end of the play, we will see a new type of conflict arise.Lear will have to grapple with his failing sense of reality and atone for what he now sees as his past sins. Katherine Anne Porter’s short story will also show the failure to grasp reality. Through the stream of consciousness point of view, the reader will feel like they are losing their grip on reality as well. Emerson’s poem will help us to understand if Lear’s problems were fate, or if fate merely took the fall for Lear’s bad judgment. Heart of Darkness is tied very closely to two types of conflict: person vs. himself and person vs. society. We will see how Kurtz’ descent into madness (yes!There will be many descents into madness in this unit! ) was caused by the evils of colonialism. Achebe argues in his essay â€Å"An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness† that while Conrad was arguing against imperialism, he was doing so from a racist standpoint. We will analyze Achebe’s argument. Orwell will close out the unit by illustrating his own personal conflict with duty and attempt to â€Å"avoid looking a fool† in imperialist times. The Writer’s Workshop will focus on conventions, specifically advanced punctuation and its uses.Assessments: †¢ Composition: Characterization. Choose a character from King Lear, The Jilting of Granny Weatherall, or Heart of Darkness. Analyze the literary techniques that are used to illustrate insanity and the onset of madness. †¢ Composition: From the 2004 Exam- â€Å"Contemporary life is marked by controversy. Choose a controversial local, national, or global issue with which you are familiar. Then, using appropriate evidence, write an essay that carefully considers the opposing positions on this controversy and proposes a solution or compromise. †¢ Timed Writing: 2003 AP English Literature and Composition Free-Response Questions †¢ Argument Analysis: â€Å"An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness† †¢ Project: Using the class copy of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 1994, create a power-point presentation that diagnoses either Lear or Kurtz with a particular mental illness. †¢ Writer’s Workshop: Conventions Unit 5: Person vs. Society 6 weeks Readings: †¢ The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien †¢ Political Cartoons from the Vietnam Era †¢ â€Å"Mutual Deterrence† Speech by Sec. f Defense Robert McNamara †¢ War Poetry Selections: â€Å" Dulce Et Decorum Est† by Wilfred Owen; â€Å"The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner† by Randall Jarrell; â€Å"An Irish Airman Foresees His Death† by William Butler Yeats; â€Å"My Father Leaves for Vietnam† by Lenard D. Moore; â€Å"Palestine† by Lorna Dee Cervantes; â€Å"The Daisy Cutter† by Louise Rill †¢ The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner †¢ â€Å"Living Under Circe’s Spell† By Matthew Soyster Viewing: †¢ â€Å"The War in Vietnam- A Story in Photographs† from The National Archives †¢ Excerpts from â€Å"Reporting America at War: The Reporters† from pbs. org †¢ Excerpts from The Fog of WarDiscussion Topics- We will begin studying person vs. society by examining how the life of a soldier is deemed honorable and sometimes necessary by society, but often looks mundane and horrific on an individual level. The Things They Carried will take us to one of the more controversial wars, Vietnam. By looking through collections of war photography from the National Archives and watching evening news broadcasts, we will determine what role the media had on the society’s opinion of the war. By reading a collection of war poetry, we will look at the emotional toll that war exacts on individuals.Then, we will shift gears and begin reading The Sound and the Fury, a novel where each character struggles against societal norms that no longer fit the family’s reality. Finally, we will read Soyster’s essay on disability and the struggles associated with it. The Writer’s Workshop for this unit will focus on broad, thematic revision by evaluating the effectiveness of our thesis statements in our portfolio. Assessments: †¢ Composition- Research Topic: Choose one form of media. (Some examples could be television, movies, internet, telephones, etc.You may not choose photography. ) Research and examine the chosen media form’s impact on modern warfare. It should include both positive and negative impacts. †¢ Composition- Persuasive essay: Where should we draw the line with war photography? †¢ Composition- Literary analysis of symbolism in The Sound and the Fury. †¢ Timed Writing- 2001, Question 3- the Sontag photography piece, On Photography, 1977. †¢ Argument Analysis- â€Å"Mutual Deterrence† Speech by Sec. of Defense Robert McNamara †¢ Project- We will create a family tree that spans back 3-4 generations.As a class, we will discuss what â€Å"societal values† are family tree puts on us. We will take a particular look at any â€Å"values† that are placed there because of our blood and not because of our reality. †¢ Writer’s Workshop- Thesis Revision Unit 6: Resolutions 5 weeks â€Å"Only connect! That was the whole of her sermon. Only connect the prose and the passion, and both will be exalted, and human love will be seen at its height. Live in fragments no longer. Only connect, and the beast and the monk, robbed of the isolation that is life to either, will die. – Howard’s End Readings: †¢ Howard’s End †¢ â€Å"Cathedral† by Raymond Carver †¢ â€Å"On Self-Respect† by Joan Didion †¢ Poetry of Kahil Gibran †¢ Faulkner’s Nobel Acceptance Speech †¢ Woody Allen’s â€Å"My Speech to the Graduates† Viewings: †¢ Howard’s End 1992 version †¢ Discussion Topics: We will end the year with a Victorian class study in the novel Howard’s End. With a host of characters, we will see how some are able to overcome the conflicts and others do not. We will also look at â€Å"connecting the prose with the passion† as we reflect on our studies this year.Before exams, we will take a full week to do practice exams and prepare the final touches on our AP experience. Finally, we will read several writers who focus on resolution rather than conflict. Through emotional experience, logical thinking, and even humor, we will see how characters and people in real life live and deal with conflict. Assessments: †¢ Composition: Analyze the role the house plays in the novel Howard’s End. †¢ Composition: Write a mock graduation speech that includes at least 4 quotes from readings throughout the year. †¢ Composition : â€Å"A picture is worth a thousand words. In our age of information, is a picture/movie/symbol worth more than the written word? Use the Rogerian style to persuade your audience. †¢ Timed Writings: Students will choose 3 timed writings to practice from released exams. †¢ Project: Collage. As a class, we will create a pictorial collage that represents conflict in the literature we have read and in life. We will then put quotes and phrases from the literature and essays we have read that illustrate overcoming conflict. The last part of the collage will show representations of different resolutions in life.