Book Review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Book Review - Essay Example to the authors, a small group of remarkable leaders and scholars has been changing the world by influencing people’s behavior and they encourage the readers to be influencers. They maintain that it is essential to find vital behaviors as big problems succumb to changes in just few behaviors and that changing behavior requires changing minds. In the second part of the book, the authors deal with the six sources of influence to make change inevitable and they are personal motivation, personal ability, social motivation, social ability, structural motivation, and structural ability. Personal motivation is important to make the undesirables desirable and to overcome reluctance and resistance by connecting to values. Personal ability helps one in surpassing one’s limits and it is important to overinvest in learning how to master skills and emotions, because new behavior requires new skills. Social motivation is another important source of influence as it straps up peer press ures. Another significant factor is social ability which amplifies influence through just-in-time teamwork. Structural motivation and structural ability help one in designing rewards and demanding accountability and changing the environment. â€Å"There is a growing body of knowledge as well as impressive supply of real-life success stories that teach exactly how to change almost any human behavior. Read the scholarly works of Dr. Albert Bandura. Then watch what Dr. Mimi Silbert does at Delancey Street. These two influencers alone demonstrate that, if you know what you’re doing, you can indeed change remarkably resistant behavior.† (Patterson, Grenny, Maxfield, McMillan and Switzler, 2007, p 253). Therefore, Influencer: The Power to Change Anything is an essential book dealing with the strategies to develop influencers who can replace bad behaviors with powerful new skills, motivate others to change, and make things happen. In a reflective exploration of the book Influencer: The Power to Change

The Social Mobility Of My Family

The Social Mobility Of My Family The following paper includes research of Social mobility within social classes and how this has affected my family. This is a controversial issue whether socioeconomic inheritance or the class one is born into plays a role to the social mobility of the individual in one direction or another. I will give examples of my familys social mobility for the past four generations. Some may argue that starting off at a lower social class can restrict one from social mobility. From this perspective, it is thought that not having access to education or many opportunities for success make it much harder to get out from under a life of always working from paycheck to paycheck. On the other hand, others argue that we all have the same opportunity to advance our social status and move up or down the class structure within generations. The textbook spells out several different philosophies in regards to social class. Karl Marx believed that social class was created by a persons relationship with labo r. Marx separated people into those who own the means of production, and those who sell their labor (Henslin 188). Another concept the textbooks talks about was established by Joseph Kahl and Dennis Gilbert, and they based their opinions on Max Weber. Weber alleged social class is a large collection of individuals who are categorized carefully to each other in property, power and prestige (Henslin 202). Kahl and Gilbert added to this notion to include a persons education or lack thereof. Kahl and Gilbert state that today the quality of education that an individual receives also denotes the capabilities a person may possess. Kahl and Gilbert created a class social structure that contained of capitalist, upper middle class, lower middle class, working class, working poor and underclass. The higher one is in social class the greater their property or income is, along with prestige of the university they attended and the power they hold in their occupation. After analyzing the two diffe rent ideas of social class structure, I believe the most adequate structure is the social class structure of Kahl and Gilbert. Their structure allows for more wisdom and inconsistency in social class as well as superior means for explaining the difference of classes. My familys story My analysis of my familys social mobility starts with my mothers grandparents. Prior to the great depression they were that of upper middle class and would have been considered very well off. They had several farms a very large house with servants and over 1000 acres. My grandfathers part within the family of 8 was to work on the farms with his older brother getting a management role and other siblings going to college and waiting to be married. My grandfather was a very hard worker and fell into the role to handle the farms and such even though he was from the same class as the rest of the family he was seen as lower because of his younger age and hardworking mentality. Much of the family looked down on him for getting his hands dirty. His father did not allow him to continue school and he dropped to work the farms in the 8th grade. His older brother and father handled the money and management of the farms operations until the Great Depression occurred in the late 20s. After a fire which resulted in them losing several animals, a house and barn as well as other circumstances from the depression they ended up losing it all. My grandfather ended up renting a farm being a time of the dust bowl he was unable to raise sufficient crops so he began buying horses and cattle that were in poor health for very little. He would clean them up train the horses and sell them back months later for a large profit. He did this several time until he eventually saved enough to buy back the family farm where he began to milk cows and cash crops as the land was much better. My grandmother came from a very low social class but did get to go to college as her oldest sister and her husband made it possible by paying for all of their siblings to go to college as well as they both became professors and continued to live very frugal lives never having children and having a very giving life. My Grandmother graduated college at 16 and soon met my Grandfather they had 5 children with my mot her being the youngest. My grandmother started teaching soon after the children were out of diapers. A very large age gap made it so that my mother was still young when the oldest brother joined the navy during WWII. A few years later my mothers other siblings went off to college as the economy recovered as a result of the war. My mother and father started dating while my mother was 16 and they married soon after meeting and had my oldest sister at age 17. They moved into a small house just down the road from my grandparents farm and had three more children. Eventually my father built us a house on the family land that my grandmother gave them. My father is a very hardworking man and worked as a farmhand then a machinist and a carpenter until an accident in 1975 that left him disabled and unable to work. This along with a recession in the 1980s hurt my parents financially. After struggling to make things work they divorced in 1981. My mother, brother and I moved to an apartment in M adison. My sisters moved out by themselves or with boyfriends and got working class jobs as my parents did not have the means to help pay for college. Our income, status and social class level dropped to the poverty level. Living in a single parent household led by the mother we experienced the Feminization of Poverty (Henslin, p. 206). My father was on disability with very little means to even care for himself let along his children. My mother took on several jobs but with no education it never seemed to be enough. I started working to pay for food and such and help out with clothes and such. I was washing dishes and odd jobs mowing lawns. On my fifteenth birthday I decided to move out on my own. My mother had met someone and they were getting married. He had moved in and I did not get along with him or my mother very well. I tried to do well in school but trying to make rent made that a difficult task. I did try and go to college but never having enough money for rent or food made that impossible. I eventually dropped out of school and took on construction jobs. I guess I inherited some of those skills from my father and I am not afraid of hard work so I focused on that. I did well in construction and eventually married and had two children. During the 2000 construction boom I flipped several houses and built myself a very nice house. I had moved my family back up to middle class life. After my children were born my wife struggled with depression and eventually it got so bad that we decided to separate and were divorced in 2002. I had decided I would not make my children go through what I went through with my parents divorce so I decided to give it all to them and my ex-wife so we would not have to sell the house and make them possible change schools. I had paid down the mortgage to around 100,000 on a house that is worth well over 500,000. I took all other bills credit cards and car payments. I felt with my skills that I would be able to rebuild my life and they would be taken care of. Then a recession hit slow at first with construction getting slower and slower and eventually in 2008 the economy got really bad. It has been hard to turn around and the recession could not have hit a worse time. I have actually moved several times in the past years downgrading to a lesser quality home and car to save money. With very little work and the economy slow to recover I decided to apply to go to school. This is my second semester at Madison College and I am doing well. I am on the deans list with a current 3.9 GPA. Being the only one of my siblings going to college it is important that I finish. I am hopeful that the US economy turns around and I can find a decent job or get my business back making money. The problem is that I am now somewhat stuck not making enough to borrow money to buy my way out and with no college education to get a great paying job while the construction market is saturated and not coming back very fast. Having circumsta nces affecting each generation has had an impact on the social mobility of my family in a negative way starting with the great depression and continuing with the current recession. I feel that education is a key factor for social mobility. In the past younger siblings lost out on getting to go to college and getting to take over families businesses with the oldest male child usually taking over. My view My own view is that while there is a real disadvantage with education and opportunity advantages it is still possible to move up or down within social class that we were born into but for some it is very hard if not impossible. Though I concede that this may be a hard thing to overcome and defiantly harder for the lower class than within the middle or upper class. I still maintain that good work ethic and faith can increase the success of social mobility. For example my grandfather took an approach to find new innovative ways to make money and save for the right opportunity to come and then follow through. Although some might object that upper middle class and upper class should not have to pay for those born into lower class. I would reply that it is our social responsibility to give everyone an education and increase the opportunity for success for each and every individual within the United States. The issue is important because of how we are evolving humanity and making everyone so they can contribute to their potential is better for all. The alternative is that many will go on welfare or break laws and end up in prison as they have no way out of the life they were born into. This cost is much higher than the cost an education would be. Family disruption or economic loss The experience of family disruption during childhood substantially increases the odds of ending up in the lowest occupational stratum as opposed to the stable families having a better chance to be in a high class. Family disruption also weakens the association between dimensions of occupational origins and destinations. The socioeconomic destinations from nonimpact family backgrounds bear less resemblance to their socioeconomic origins that those from intact backgrounds. Those from traditional two-parent homes exhibit a stronger pattern of intergenerational occupational inheritance than those from disrupted families. Upward income mobility has decreased to such a point that the United States appears to have the highest rate of income inequality in the industrialized world, according to the non-partisan Congressional Research Service. Longstanding partisan battles in Congress about policy issues such as instituting a more progressive tax code, the tax treatment of capital gains and in heritance, and the expansion of social welfare benefits like food stamps and healthcare in recent years have not ended very well for the nations poor. Empirical analyses estimate the United States is a comparatively immobile society, that is, where on starts in the income distribution influences where one ends up to a greater degree than in several advanced economies (Cite). Reports suggest the U.S. is no longer, if it ever was a nation where the poorest can feasibly lift themselves up by their bootstraps. If income were equally distributed, each fifth household would account for 20 percent of total income. The poorest of these has long since accounted for far less than its proportionate share, barely budging from about 4 percent in recent decades, according to the U.S. Census Bureau (Cite). Meanwhile, since 1968 the middle class has seen its total income share decrease steadily, while those among the top-fifth of earners particularly the top 5 percent have seen their incomes skyr ocket. For instance, the top 5 percent held 22.3 percent of the nations wealth in 2011, up from 16.3 percent four decades earlier. The advantages offered by an affluent lifestyle clearly influence an individuals chances for economic mobility, the CRS reports. According to an analysis of empirical data, the study authors estimate there is a positive relationship of about 0.5 between a parent and adult income. Children of parents with above-average salaries are more likely, on average, to also bring in high incomes. Half the economic advantage the children of well-off families enjoy comes from having been born into wealthy families in the first place. On top of that, the chances of adults moving up from their initial income economic position has decreased or remained stagnant in recent decades, which is of particular concern since most Americans still believe economic mobility in the U.S. is completely within their reach. Americans may be less concerned about inequality in the distrib ution of income at any given point in time partly because of a belief that everyone has an equal opportunity to move up the income ladder. Different types of family structures experienced during childhood have varying effects on socioeconomic attainment and social mobility. Those within the middle class will, statistically, experience some economic mobility. According to a study by the Pew Economic Mobility Project, 43 percent of children whose parents were born in the bottom one fifth remained at the bottom when they became adults. In contrast, 40 percent of children born to parents at the top one fifth were also at the top as adults. The study compared intergenerational mobility rates between 1984 to 1994 and 1994 to 2004. Conclusion The topics of particular importance in contemporary sociology seem to be the inequality of educational opportunity and mechanisms of social mobility or immobility. Also the effects of the households saving behavior and the implication of this behavior for the distribution of wealth and the relationship between the extent of free enterprise and opportunity in the economy and socioeconomic mobility, that is, the movement of families across wealth classes over time. Some studies suggest that as technology advances, lower income workers do not have the skills or educational requirements to keep up with changing labor needs. The demand for highly skilled workers trained in engineering or information technology has elevated, while the need for lower skilled and middle skilled workers has diminished which is one of the casualties of globalization. The philosophical battle over how to achieve economic growth and social mobility has escalated to a point that conservatives have resisted attemp ts to direct more investments in programs such as early childhood education and college tuition aid. The battle continues as Democrats are pushing for more investments in social safety net programs while Republicans are calling for a self-reliant approach. Education gap creates more inequality and arguably promote equality in the opportunity to move up the income ladder, which an increasingly unequal distribution of income may suggest a lack of and which may itself curb the potential productive capacity of the economy an education gap is one of the main reasons commonly offered to explain the nations widening income inequality. Although many still firmly believe, and constantly argue, that Americans have an equal opportunity to move up the economic ladder, the researchers conclude that opportunity is far from equal.

Essay --

Based upon the assessment of these important aspects, therapist psycho-educate the family and adolescent about the important findings of the detailed interview and plan out the intervention. Case example of assessment findings in obese adolescent girl: The mother of a 12-year-old girl came for consultation for her daughter’s weight concerns and comments that the girl is concerned about her weight and is being teased about this at school and in the family. There is a family history of obesity in parents and grandparents. During the assessment it was found that the girl’s main interests are sedentary activities like watching T.V., internet use and playing video games. Physical activity is limited, ‘screen time’ is 4-5 hours a day and dietary habits put her at risk of weight gain (skipping breakfast, frequent snacking, consuming soft drinks, and high preference of junk food). The girl has not attained menarche and has a BMI above the 95th percentile on the US-CDC growth chart and normal lipid profile, liver function test, glucose and insulin levels. On psychosocial assessment, she was found to be anxious and depressed due to her increasing weight, body image concerns and previous failed attempts of weight lo ss. She lost her confidence and has low self esteem. She indulged in emotional eating as well to overcome her stress. She has fewer friends as most of the people tease her about her weight. So she prefers to stay alone Impression: Obese with high risk of further weight gain and psycho-social problems. Components & Structure of Cognitive Behaviour therapy There is enough evidence to support the effectiveness of comprehensive behavioural intervention program that include dietary modification and exercise routine as treatment of ... ...cific and realistic goals that can be easily measured (e.g. walking/ running for 40 minutes, five times per week). Give them rewards for achieving goals. 9. Don’t use food as reward. 10. Limit sedentary behaviour Limiting television/computer/video game time gradually from 3 hours/day to 2 hours/day, finally to 1 hours/day (most of the time the strategy of reducing children’s sedentary behaviour can be more effective than a strategy of promoting physical activity). 11. Teach self monitoring to the child Give responsibility to monitor his/ her eating behaviour and physical activity by maintain logbooks/ diaries. Verbally praise the child for taking responsibility. 12. Enhance open communication with the child Let the child be comfortable in sharing his/her feelings with you because many a times child would resort to food to overcome these negative emotions/feelings.

Dogfight over Europe: Ryanair Essay

Ryanair was launched at a time that did not seem highly favorable to the airline industry. As a matter of facts, in 1986, the market was still recovering from the aftermaths of the OPEC oil embargo and the 1979’s oil crisis which led to an important increase in the jet oil prices, along with a recession that cut demand for air travel and thus gave an impulse to the aircrafts’ cheaper substitutes, such as trains and ferries. Despite that high bargaining power of suppliers and threat of substitution products that made the external environment unfavorable, the Ryan brothers’ wish to launch their airline did not diminish. The company’s first service was launched in 1985 between the southeastern Irish city of Waterford and Gatwick Airport, located on the outskirts of London. One year later, the newborn company started operating between Dublin and the British capital. Two majors Airlines operated on this latter route at that time: British Airways and Aer Lingus, the Irish flag-carrier company. Moreover, some strong US airlines reached out for new routes into Europe after the deregulation of the domestic US airline industry, which made the pressure of competitors even more intense in the airline industry. Last but not least, charter flights, which thrived during the 1960’s to bypass the European regulations and to tap the increasing demand for leisure travel, were transporting 60% of all European passengers by the mid-1980’s. Despite this high unwelcoming rivalry in the market, Ryanair made the choice to focus on the challenging Dublin-London route, which was reputed to be quite lucrative for both British and Irish flag-carriers. At that time, data showed that three-quarters of a million round-trip Dublin-London travelers opted to use rail and sea ferries rather than aircraft. This information, highlighting the high pressure and threat that the airline industry was undergoing on behalf of the substitution products, confirmed the unattractive character of the local market. In spite of this fact, Ryanair initiated service on the Dublin-London route in 1986, using a 44-seat turboprop during its early stages. Ryanair adopted a launch strategy that differentiated it from its competitors in two main ways. First, it employees would focus on delivering first-rate customer service; second, the company would charge a simple, single fare for a ticket with no restriction, while British Airways was offering a spectrum of ticket prices with varying restriction and the full range of classes of service. The company publicized its first Dublin-London service fare of I £98 dollars, whereas Aer Lingus’ and BA’s least expensive, unrestricted round-trip fares on the route were priced at I £208. At the same time, Ryanair would offer meals and amenities comparable to what Aer Lingus and British Airways provided. Thus, the newborn company benefited from the beginning from a distinctive business model focused on low operational costs and low fares, but which was not undermining the quality of its services. These low operational costs are partly linked to the company’s choice to operate on secondary airports, located outside London. Indeed, Gatwick and Luton airports were charging low landing and take-off charges compared to Heathrow main airport, which allowed Ryanair to keep its overhead costs at a lower level than British Airways, and thus gave it a competitive advantage toward other airline companies. However, this choice of secondary airports could also arise as a weakness of the company, since it prevents it from reaching a broader target of customers who predominately go through main airports such as Heathrow. Finally, British airways’ and Aer Lingus’ tickets for the Dublin-London round-trip were priced at I £153 higher than the cheapest rail-ferry ticket (costing I £55), which may have deterred most travelers of flying the route. When launched, Ryanair charged fares which were only I £43 higher than the rail-and-ferry ones’ for this journey. Knowing that the journey took nine hours by rail and ferry and only one hour by air, the newborn company could therefore tap into a segment of customers who might be ready to pay an additional I £43 for gaining 8 hours while travelling comfortably, which might be a valuable offer. Thus, this pricing strategy could enable the company to gain large shares in the market of these potential customers. (2) How do you expect (a) Aer Lingus and (b) British Airways to respond? And why do you expect each of them to respond that way? Ryanair’s launch is 1986 put a pressure on its two major competitors who are operating on the same challenging Dublin-London route. Indeed, the newborn company, benefiting from low costs, setting low fares, but offering a similar level of quality, would rapidly gain market shares over its competitors. British Airways and Aer Lingus had therefore to respond on an efficient way to retaliate to Ryanair’s entry in the airline industry. a) When Ryanair was launched, Aer Lingus domestic and European routes earned a modest operating profit while its trans-Atlantic flights sustained operating losses for the sixth time in seven year. Despite these difficulties, Aer Lingus, whose main profits where coming from its diversification in the hotel business (among others), was still backed by the Irish government, and aiming at its objectives of providing an air transport service that was â€Å"safe, efficient, reliable, and profitable†. Moreover, for being the only Irish airline before Ryanair, the company, which was touting the many benefits it brought to the Irish community, might have been benefiting from a good reputation and reliability in its local market. Thus, thanks to the state support but also to its reputation, Aer Lingus operations’ were well established in Europe, but also in the United States, where the airline has been operating for years. These resources and capabilities, reinforced by the recent successful introduction of a computer reservation system, therefore gave to the company a – temporary – advantage toward the newborn Ryanair. To retaliate to this latter’s entry, we expect that Aer Lingus reduces its European routes’ fares to match Ryanair’s ones. Thus, relying on its value of â€Å"safety† and â€Å"efficiency†, and implementing a low cost / low fares business model on its European and domestic flights, the company could protect its market shares from Ryanair’s prospective growing success. Besides, it may be all the more attractive to customers since it was spending tens of millions of pounds in renewing its fleet of jets, while Ryanair was just starting to operate with turboprops, and still did not have permission to fly larger jet aircraft on the route. b) As Ryanair started operating in 1986, British airways (BA) had been earning record profits for the last years, and its forthcoming privatization in 1987 was planned to improve these performances. The company’s strategy was mainly focusing on international routes and intercontinental flights. Indeed, BA was operating one of the world’s most extensive airline route networks, serving 145 destinations in 68 countries. This focus is highlighted by the fact that international journeys accounted for roughly two thirds of the seats that the company sold, and nine tenth of its revenues. One of British Airways’ advantages is its establishment in Heathrow airport, a major international transportation hub, through which 80% of the company’s passengers were passing. This focus on London’s main airport therefore arises as a competitive advantage toward Ryanair, whose flights, which are taking off and landing in secondary airports, hamper it from reaching a broader target of customers. Besides, British Airways’ large range of offers, implying from first class to economy tickets, distinguishes it from a low cost company as Ryanair, and may also arise as an advantage to some customers, looking for a better quality of service. As a result of this importance differentiation in service, and from our analysis, British Airways’ reaction to Ryanair entry should not be as thundering as Aer Lingus’ one. Indeed, BA already operates on a different segment than Ryanair, targeting business class and international customers. Since BA is mainly operating on international flights from and to main airports, Ryanair’s new focus on point-to-point flights and minimizing overhead costs should not arise as a threat to the British company. Moreover, with the prospective deregulation of the European airline industry whose foundations were laid by the 1986 Single European Act, British Airways should benefit from a major opportunity to expand to new European routes, relying on its valuable international experience. These forthcoming benefits and growth therefore make British Airways a company which does not â€Å"share the same playground† with Ryanair.

Problems at Perrier Essay

The case study Problems at Perrier faces issues of resistance to change and strained relationships. By the end of this short essay we will understand two things about Perrier’s troubles. There will be a clearer definition of the key elements of the resistance to change and we will have also developed a strategy for dealing with the situation. The Communication Connection One thing that can be noted is management may not agree with the changes because of the unfamiliarity and lack of knowledge based on the real issues. Managers, at least as much as any other category of employee, are likely to have within their ranks a range of opinions as to whether a proposed change is a good idea. † (Palmer, Dunford, & Akin, 2009, p. 170). When the managers look back and see that profits were large and growth developed at a rapid pace, moving forward with change is difficult. Often people need to see what is in it for them or have a clear idea of why exactly any change is needed when t hings worked fine previously. Personal Attachment Change can be taken personal and have an affect on a person’s interest in the organization. People who have stocks or retirement plans built in as part of their income might show a strong resistance to the change. That self-interest shows concern for how the change will affect them rather than focus on whether it will be good for the organization. [no notes on this page] -2- Working With Change at Perrier 3 This personal attachment can be built on many factors and opinions which people use to justify their resistance. Something that is similar to personal attachment is the fact that the employee’s and management at Perrier had different ideas as to why the change was happening. They can possible take if personally because they have different thoughts and are confused about the plans being applied. According to the Nestle CEO Peter BrabeckLetmathe, â€Å"We have come to the point where the development for the Perrier brand is endangered by the stubbornness of the CGT† (Palmer, Dunford, & Akin, 2009, p. 183). A New Strategy for Management One of the most effective forms of delivering a solid speech and plan is to have clear communication. The managers at Perrier should help educate the employees and build a chart defining the connection between the change and new strategies. People can be afraid of the unknown and being uneducated and then not being involved with the change is relevant to the â€Å"unknown. † Nestle and the management at Perrier should have began a strategic plan by developing a higher level of communication between themselves first. Once that relationship was established, a plan to rebuild the relations between anagement and the employees would have been easy to build. Becoming Involved People like to generally be involved with things when it will have an impact on them, whether it be at work or at home. Jean-Paul Franc, head of the CGT at Perrier was continuously working against Nestle. Having the employees involved could have brought new insight and ideas into the negations which might have been relevant for Jean-Paul Franc to use in making plans with Nestle. Allowing people to have the opportunity to be involved also increases their knowledge about the situation and allows them to form their no notes on this page] -3- Working With Change at Perrier 4 own opinions which will not be based just on pure resistance. If they have an understanding then their acceptance or resistance will feel justified. Leadership and motivation can also be high points for management at Perrier. Motivation through education and rewards for increasing productivity could encourage new direction. Conclusion A level of support and education needs to be built into a solid f oundation for anyone to understand why change is needed.

Hybrid Wars

Hybrid Wars , economic, and social reasons. For instance, the non-governmental and international organization in states may comprise of civilians who are not only ill-equipped, but are also unable to work in hostile environment. Bond notes that such hostile environment could be regions where both the government authorities and militia organization compete for control. Therefore, the affected population may capture the vested interest of their region and join either of the forces through irregular practices thereby contributing to hybrid warfare. Conclusion In conclusion, neglecting the root causes of hybrid war among the non-states actors or nation-states and the general population will continuously lead to international conflict. There is the need to identify and address the underlying contributing factors to hybrid wars that continue to threaten the global economy, security, and peace. It is important for the international communities to put the interest of the population first at the expense of their national interest or self-interest. This way, the international community would be able to effectively address the un-ending unrest that results into continued hybrid wars.

10 Tips for Critiquing Other Peoples Writing

10 Tips for Critiquing Other Peoples Writing 10 Tips for Critiquing Other People’s Writing 10 Tips for Critiquing Other People’s Writing By Mark Nichol You’ve agreed to review someone else’s writing. You’ve taken my advice and determined whether the person is requesting a general impression or is asking for an in-depth critique. If the writer has the latter in mind, you’ve offered to evaluate a brief sample as a guide to help the person extrapolate what they should look for when they revise their draft. (If you’re asked to critique an entire book in depth, you should do so only for pay or as part of a bartering arrangement, because you’re being asked to devote dozens of hours of your time.) You have also determined to be honest and objective, because that is what the writer wants and needs: If you note structural weaknesses or flaccid prose, a literary agent or an editor will certainly do so, and your task is to help the writer resolve such flaws so that they are absent from the manuscript the writer eventually submits to an agent or a publisher. Here are ten tips for a positive, productive critiquing experience: 1. Tolerate the Task When you write, you don’t have to be an aficionado or expert to produce an article or a story on a given topic. Editors don’t need these qualifications, either, and they don’t have to be enamored of the writer’s voice or technique. The same goes for someone conducting a critique: Don’t turn down a request for feedback just because you’re not interested in the subject or you don’t like the writing style. Help the writer succeed in reaching the audience they are writing for. (But don’t hesitate to express your opinion if you think the approach is flawed.) 2. Ask for a Clean Copy The manuscript sample you receive should appear exactly as it would look when it’s ready for submission to a publishing professional. Hard copy should be double spaced and must be free of handwritten annotations or emendations. An electronic document should be professionally formatted and at least mostly devoid of the writer’s notes to self. 3. Mark It Up If you’re reviewing an electronic copy, activate change tracking and edit it. Insert notes using the comment feature or by entering them in brackets, highlighted in boldface or with colored type or background, so they are easily located and distinguished from the content. If you’re working on hard copy, use a pen or a colored pencil for brief notes, and write or type your detailed queries and comments on a separate sheet of paper or in a computer document. 4. Evaluate the Writing, Not the Writer Compliments and complaints alike should focus on the product, not the producer. Refer to the sentence or the section, the character or their actions, the narrative flow or the exchange of dialogue rather than to the person who requested your help. Suggest how to improve the article or the story, not the writer. 5. Start and Stop with the Positive Whether you’re responding with general impressions or providing detailed feedback, begin by lauding the strengths of the sample, and reiterate your positive feedback when you summarize your critique. Refer to strengths, not weaknesses, and use positive language: â€Å"stronger,† â€Å"more interesting,† â€Å"a better approach.† Be frank but diplomatic: Even people who can take criticism need to hear that they’re doing something right, and that’s what you should start (and end) with. 6. Craft Your Critiques Be specific, not vague. Be active, not passive. Point out problems, but suggest solutions. Your goal is to clearly communicate to the writer about how they can more clearly communicate to their readers. 7. Guide, Don’t Carry The writer will appreciate focused feedback, and you should feel free to model precise changes in structure or tone and detailed revisions of narrative or dialogue, but do so sparingly. Think of your advice as patterns for the writer to use as templates, or you may end up rewriting the piece, and the writer will have learned little or nothing (except never to ask for your help again). 8. Invite Questions Set up a time to go over your critique after the writer has had a chance to review it. Welcome the writer’s requests for clarification and discussion. If the writer becomes defensive, mention that you have offered your perspective, and that they are free to act on your critique as they see fit. 9. Follow Up Check in with the writer and see how they’re progressing. No matter how careful you are about being diplomatic, the writer may feel a bit battered, and part of your unwritten contract should include a clause requiring you to keep in touch about the project. 10. Know Your Limits It’s reasonable for a writer to ask you for a second light look at the piece after they have made changes in response to your comments, or to request that you provide a general impression about a revision based on your in-depth critique. But establish boundaries about how much time and effort you expend on the writer’s work. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Fiction Writing category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:35 Synonyms for â€Å"Look†Used To vs. Use ToHow Do You Fare?

How to Write a Killer a Cover Letter

How to Write a Killer a Cover Letter How to Write a Killer a Cover Letter Writing a great cover letter isn’t easy for everyone. Creating strong sentence structure and highlighting your background and skills are key points. Depending upon the strength of your letter, you may get a call for an interview or be outdone by another applicant. The goal is to expand upon your resume in a way that reflects your personality. Your resume/CV highlights your education, skills, and experience. The cover letter supports your resume with examples of your relevant working experience and success stories. Here are several pointers on writing a killer cover letter: Personalize Add your own style and use examples that suit the job for which you’re applying. You can start with a generic cover letter and personalize it based on the job. This effort takes more than swapping company names and adding random thoughts. You can only stand out if your wording reflects you have the experience to fulfill the job description supplied by the employer. Be honest When promoting yourself don’t stray from the truth. Be sure you can live up to your promises and back up any claims of experience. If you’re found to have been dishonest in your application, you may be out of a job pretty quickly. Don’t make it all about you In addition to sharing your academic degrees and skill sets that are relevant to the job, outline your unique abilities that can benefit the company. Do some research about the company and who’s doing the hiring. Instead of writing â€Å"to whom it may concern,† use LinkedIn to identify the personnel who’ll review your application. Keep it to one page Avoid being redundant. Write with a professional tone, with one page of text that has three to four paragraphs. If you find cover letters challenging to write, explore ideas and tips provided on the Internet. Avoid spamming Follow up must be done respectfully and not too often. If the company doesn’t specify that they don’t want to hear from applicants, send one follow-up email after the submission deadline. If you don’t get a response, continue your job search. Proofread Avoid sloppy typos; your potential employer will remember such errors, and likely discard your application. Consider hiring a proofreading service to check your work before it is submitted. Writing an effective cover letter is not a simple task. It requires time and plenty of effort. Always aim to stay relevant to the position for which you’re applying. For help with cover letters, contact at (647) 436-7280. We’ll strengthen your writing and help you put your best foot forward.

There Are Taxes to Be Paid Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

There Are Taxes to Be Paid - Research Paper Example uired that the direct taxes that are collected by the federal government should be apportioned to the States, in accordance with their population numbers (Buenker, 1981). Further, the Sixteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution granted the federal government the powers to collect the taxes without regard to the provisions of Clause 4 of Section 9 in the Article I of the USA constitution, which required that the collection of direct taxes should be done with regard to a census or enumeration (Jensen, 2001).Therefore, the basic t salient points of the Sixteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution are: The Sixteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution gave the congress, and consequently the federal government the right to collect taxes from whichever sources that an income was being generated by the American public (Buenker, 1981). Thus, it was now within the discretion of the federal government to apply tax towards the incomes that individuals were earning from their payroll incomes, where the federal government set the minimum taxable labor income at $3000. In addition, the federal government gained the right to impose tax on gains derived from capital (Jensen, 2001). In this respect, the earnings in relation to properties owned by individuals or corporations would now pass for taxation, including the profits obtainable when such capital properties are sold or when they change hands. The other basic tenet of the Sixteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is that; the federal government gained the right to use the direct taxes obtained from the various sources in whichever way it deemed necessary (Buenker, 1981). This provision was a desertion from the provisions of the article I of the U.S. Constitution, which provided that the federal government should apportion all the direct taxes it collected to different States, based on the population numbers of each state, such that the States with a high population would be apportioned a higher amount of the direct taxes

Scientific inquiry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Scientific inquiry - Essay Example ccording to National Standards for Science Education (NRC, 1996, p.23), scientists learn about the natural world in diverse methods on the basis of evidences derived from their work and they propose explanations for the study. The scientific inquiry includes some core elements such as ‘making observations, posting questions, examining information sources, planning investigations, analysis and interpretation of data, proposing answers, explanations and predictions, and communicating results’ (NRC, 1996, p.23. Cited in Simonson & Schlosser, p.2). Thus science and scientific inquiry are differentiated in various respects; the later tries to acquire knowledge about natural world through an assortment of observations and investigations whereas the knowledge obtained through the scientific inquiry constitutes science. I/O psychology refers to Industrial and Organizational psychology which is also called work psychology or organizational psychology or talent assessment. In the opinion of Spector (2003: 6) ‘the application of psychological principles to organizational settings’ and people at work in the organization is called Industrial and Organizational psychology. The primary objective of this branch of psychology is to preserve the ‘health and well-being’ of employees and thereby it helps the organization to ‘get the most from their employees or human resources’ (Spector. Cited in Furnham, 2005, p.2). Even though science and scientific inquiry are the fundamental elements of I/O psychology; scientific inquiry benefits more than science in the field of I/O psychology. In today’s complex business structure, priority is given to HRM strategies and thus organizational psychologists mainly concentrate on behavioral science and psychology. They analyze in dividual’s behavior through a sequence of processes such as close observations, interviews, investigations and interpretations. Organizational psychologists also make use of science for the thorough

Contract law part 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Contract law part 2 - Essay Example A meeting was arranged for Monday Spet. 14th to discuss the matter. At the meeting Brian told Alley that if alley did not accept to pay the  £14,000 claim food galore will no longer agree to make delivers on credit to alley and that the delivery for the next day will not be made. Alley was convinced that the claim by foods galore is unjustified; however, as he needed the credit arrangement offered by foods galore and since he did not have enough time to look for alternative supplies, he signed an agreement admitting that he owed foods galore  £14,000. Part of the agreement was a schedule for payment installment on a weekly basis. Alley paid the full amount of  £14,000 over a period of two years. One year later he commenced proceedings against Foods Galore seeking to recover the money on the grounds he signed the agreement under duress. Advise Foods Galore. Foods Galore has already intimated Alley regarding the invoicing error that happened two years back and gave advanced notice for the same. However, Alley was not convinced for this additional dues claimed by Food Galore. According to English court of law, the buyer (Alley) or seller (Foods Galore) has the choice to appeal his case if the terms of the contract are violated (Pollock, 1952)) between two persons or parties. The violation of terms of contract in tender calls is governed ultimately by English contract law. In the present case study, it is clearly apparent that Alley has already agreed that he was having due to Foods Galore and hence the Alley committed a mistake by agreeing to pay in accordance with the contract law provisions. However, Foods Galore was challenged for its claim by Alley after two years which is a matter of concern. There is every possibility that Foods Galore may be drawn to court of law for reconsideration of his decision. Hence necessary legal steps hav e to be taken by Foods Galore to get protection. Foods Galore has not

Environmental Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Environmental Management - Essay Example The city is mostly built on the hillsides and five of the rivers flow together near the city. Flooding grasped many parts of the city in the year of 2007 when River Don over flowed. The flood had devastating effects on the city which completely paralyzed the normal routine activities of the city. The businesses of the city were also affected because of which they could not operate. Many of the residents suffered from health hazards and electricity problems. Following the flood many of the organizations took part in the rehabilitation of the city. Deaths were also reported after the flood occurred but immediate services from the environmental agencies helped the city to revive its earlier grace. Environmental agencies played a great role in the rehabilitation of the city. But the effects of the flood are still felt in the city. Moreover efforts by these agencies have helped the city to a great extent to carry out the normal activities. This report would further revolve around the floo d that occurred in Sheffield in the summer of 2007 and would provide with different details about the disaster (Smith 207; Environment Agency 2010) The floods which were caused in United Kingdom were basically because of different reported rainfalls in the country. Summers in United Kingdom always witnessed heavy rainfalls but in the summer 2007 these rainfalls were record breaking. Two significant causes for the 2007 flood have been highlighted. Flash flooding is considered one of the basic causes which disturbed the normal level of water in rivers. Flash flooding occurs when heavy rainfall occurs in a very short time such that it raises the level of water in rivers but after some time the level gets normal again. It occurs when the ground does not have enough capability to hold water and urban landscapes usually do not have enough space to hold water. It was June 15th that heavy rainfall started in England which filled the rivers with

Genesis 1-11 is structured in such a way to reflect certain Essay

Genesis 1-11 is structured in such a way to reflect certain distinctive Israelite articles of faith. Discuss - Essay Example and as, it introduces not only the beginnings of the world but specifically, the formation of Israel as God’s chosen people giving them a sense of religious identity (Gooder 2000, p. 2). The book of Genesis, which in Hebrew is ‘Bereshit’, generally translated as ‘In the beginning’ (Zucker 2005, p. 31), can be divided topically into two parts: the Primeval History (1-11) and the Patriarchal History (12-50) or genealogically into 11 parts: general creation (1:1-11: 3), man’s creation (2:4-4:26),Adam-Seth’s generation (5:1-6:18), Noah-Shem’s generation (6:9-9:29), Noah’s sons’ generation (10:1-11:9), Shem’s generation (6:10-11:26), Terah- Abraham, the chosen seed (11:27-25:11), Ishmael’s generation (25:12-25:18), generation of Isaac-Jacob, chosen seed (25:19-35:29, Esau’s generation (36:1-37:1) and generations of Jacob-Joseph, chosen seed (37:2-50:26); or according to general subject analysis: generation (1-2), degeneration (3-11), and regeneration (12-l); or into its 2 major divisions: Human Race History (1-11) and Israel’s – the chosen nation’s history (12-50) (Evan s 2009, pp. 11-14). Generally, seven major themes characterise the Book of Genesis: origins, order/meaning in history, blessing, covenant, punishment, sibling conflict, and test of faith. It is filled with various tensions that essentially centre on individual survival: ‘fertility and barrenness’; antagonistic sibling rivalry; hostile interfamilial struggles; jealousy; wives competing for attention from the same husband; starvation; ‘incest, rape and murder;’ threatened and real total destruction; ‘love and exile’. (Zucker, 2005, p. 32-33) For the Israelites, the Book of Genesis stands out from the rest of Torah, and between its topical parts, its Primeval History (Gen 1-11) provides the very foundation of the Israelites monotheistic religion. Genesis 1-11 sets Judaism apart from all other religions with regards to its belief in one omnipotent, omniscient,

Scottish Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Scottish Law - Essay Example A separate parliament for Scotland was established in 1999, with power to legislate on most areas of private law." (Real Property Law, 16 September 2008). The year 1707 saw the union of Scotland and England; prior to this both the countries were separate states and many similarities in their laws. English Law has a great influence on the Scottish Law; many rules followed by the English were included in the Scottish Law. This paper will throw light upon the Scottish law focusing majorly upon three traditional rules of statutory interpretation which are mischief rule, the golden rule and the literal rule Mischief rule is applied when the judge can't quite make out whether an act done by a person can be called as a prohibited law, this creates a confused situation and this is exactly when the mischief rule can be applied. "For example, the Street Offences Act 1959 made it an offence for a prostitute to solicit men 'in a street or public place'. In Smith v. Hughes the question was whether a woman who had tapped on a balcony and hissed at men passing by was guilty of an offence under the Act. Parker, L.C.J., found her guilty: 'I approach the matter by considering what is the mischief aimed at by this Act. Everybody (sic) knows that this was an Act intended to clean up the streets, to enable people to walk along the streets without being molested or solicited by common prostitutes. Viewed in that way, it can matter little whether the prostitute is soliciting while in the street or standing in a doorway or on a balcony." (Interpretation of Law 16 September 2008). The case given as an exa mple did not create a big hitch in applying the Mischief Law because the circumstances in which the mischief was committed were well known but in other cases it is often a very difficult task to apply the Mischief Rule. This rule has several benefits over the Golden Rule and the Literal which will be seen in the paper at a later stage. One advantage which this rule provides is that, the Law provides a feeling of satisfaction to the Law commission the Law commission considers this as one of the most satisfying rule to judge a situation because when this rule is applied, the Law commission looks at various things like what does the Law provide before the act is made and numerous other things, this rule is applied with reasoning hence it provides the Law commission with satisfaction. Another advantage of this law is that it provides the convict with what he/she deserves, in the sense that there is room for unjust in this rule, making this as one of the want to bee's for any legislature . The Golden Rule "Where the meaning of words in a statute, if strictly applied, would lead to an absurdity, the golden rule is that the courts are entitled to assume that Parliament did not intend such absurdity, and they will construe the Act to give it the meaning which Parliament intended." (Interpretation of Law 16 September 2008). This rule mainly focuses upon giving an absurd or a silly result, when a judge feels that he/she is about to pass a silly result or verdict this is when the Golden rule plays its part. This rule is also called a compromise between the two other rules which are the mischief rule and the literal rule. This basically means that this rule falls somewhere in the middle of the two other rules and tries to find a way out and the way out differs from the solutions provided by

Genesis 1-11 is structured in such a way to reflect certain Essay

Genesis 1-11 is structured in such a way to reflect certain distinctive Israelite articles of faith. Discuss - Essay Example and as, it introduces not only the beginnings of the world but specifically, the formation of Israel as God’s chosen people giving them a sense of religious identity (Gooder 2000, p. 2). The book of Genesis, which in Hebrew is ‘Bereshit’, generally translated as ‘In the beginning’ (Zucker 2005, p. 31), can be divided topically into two parts: the Primeval History (1-11) and the Patriarchal History (12-50) or genealogically into 11 parts: general creation (1:1-11: 3), man’s creation (2:4-4:26),Adam-Seth’s generation (5:1-6:18), Noah-Shem’s generation (6:9-9:29), Noah’s sons’ generation (10:1-11:9), Shem’s generation (6:10-11:26), Terah- Abraham, the chosen seed (11:27-25:11), Ishmael’s generation (25:12-25:18), generation of Isaac-Jacob, chosen seed (25:19-35:29, Esau’s generation (36:1-37:1) and generations of Jacob-Joseph, chosen seed (37:2-50:26); or according to general subject analysis: generation (1-2), degeneration (3-11), and regeneration (12-l); or into its 2 major divisions: Human Race History (1-11) and Israel’s – the chosen nation’s history (12-50) (Evan s 2009, pp. 11-14). Generally, seven major themes characterise the Book of Genesis: origins, order/meaning in history, blessing, covenant, punishment, sibling conflict, and test of faith. It is filled with various tensions that essentially centre on individual survival: ‘fertility and barrenness’; antagonistic sibling rivalry; hostile interfamilial struggles; jealousy; wives competing for attention from the same husband; starvation; ‘incest, rape and murder;’ threatened and real total destruction; ‘love and exile’. (Zucker, 2005, p. 32-33) For the Israelites, the Book of Genesis stands out from the rest of Torah, and between its topical parts, its Primeval History (Gen 1-11) provides the very foundation of the Israelites monotheistic religion. Genesis 1-11 sets Judaism apart from all other religions with regards to its belief in one omnipotent, omniscient,

History of oil and gas in China Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

History of oil and gas in China - Research Paper Example With a mounting population of more than 1.3 billion people, China depends greatly on other countries for prime resources, for example, oil and gas. In order to enhance its association with other Southeast Asian nations, China always considers diplomatic action over military intervention, especially in regards to disputed territories like the Scarborough Shoal in South China Sea. China is frequently involved in a political clash with Malaysia; perhaps, it is due mainly to the two countries' diplomatic dissimilarities. Nevertheless, China's ties with Malaysia are interdependent in that China relies on the huge oil and gas resources of Malaysia in return of China's defense policy and assurance for Malaysia. At the present, Malaysia is the largest producer of petroleum products in the Southeast Asian region, constituting more than fifty [Student’s Last Name] 2 percent of the oil and gas production in area (Global Security, "South China Sea and Natural Gas"). Ironically with China, while it possesses significant deposits of oil and gas reserves, they do not substantially account to the world’s aggregate oil supply; its natural gas reserves is merely one over twenty of the world’s oil and gas reserves (Li and Du 1). ... Early on in history, about 500 B.C., consistent with some historical accounts about China, the old Chinese express about wells with depth of 100 feet holding significant volume of water and natural gas. Also, the Chinese were pioneers in conceptualizing the use of bamboos to serve as pipelines to draw natural gas and oil from wells. These recovered gas and oil were originally used for lighting (Business Reference Services, "History of Oil and Gas Industry"). In addition, the Chinese eventually ventured in searching and excavating wells with depths of over 2000 feet (American Petroleum Institute, "All about Petroleum - As Old as History"). While China was the first country to venture in the exploration and excavation of oil and natural gas reserves, it was not the first country to take innovative approaches in developing petroleum products like kerosene, gasoline, etc. It commenced to adapt a modernistic method in developing oil and gas products only during the 1950s. Even up to the p resent, China is comparatively [Student’s Last Name] 3 fresher in modern oil and gas discovery and production compared to the US. Initially, China was an oil importer but later managed to become independent; and even became an exporter between 1965 and 1993; however, it went back to being an importer in 1993 (Li and Du 1). At first, China imported oil products such as Kerosene in 1863; and in 1949, the country independently produced crude oil; nonetheless, China’s need for oil exports from other countries was never eradicated until after the discovery of the enormous Daqing oil ground in the 1960s that made China ultimately oil-independent (1). Eventually, from being an oil importer, China turned out to be an oil exporter. In fact, between 1978 and 1985,

Overview of Culture in Taiwan

Overview of Culture in Taiwan The republic of China took over Taiwan and the surrounding islands from Japan in the year 1945. The official language used is Mandarin. Taiwanese people are all citizens of the Republic of China who hold the countrys citizenship and the people living in Taiwan. There are three paradigms that are used in identifying the Taiwanese people; self-identification, national criteria and the social cultural criteria. Taiwanese are popular for holding on to most of their traditions, customs and beliefs despite the influence of modernization and external cultural influence (Schubert 2011, p. 4). In this essay, we will look at cultural aspects that define the identity of the Taiwanese Chinese and the essence of being one. Values The Taiwanese people have a considerable diversity among them in regard to genetics, cultural and linguistic. This is as a result of the assimilation of various ethnicities and tribes within china and thousands of years of immigration (Immigrant adaptation, 2012). Confucianism has had much influence on the Taiwanese culture. Confucianism is known for shaping the thoughts of the Chinese and initializes the values of filial piety, which implied the conducting of certain shared rituals (Chen 2001, p. 45). The villagers in this society lavished on wedding and funeral ceremonies, imitating the Confucian virtues of the emperors. Most of the Taiwanese wear the Western style clothing with just a few wearing the traditional clothing on a regular basis. In terms of family matters, the Taiwanese have a family manager who is in charge of income and the family head that represents the family to the world. The families are run on set rules and the whole family traditionally stays in a large triangular house (Chen 2001, p. 48). The cross-cultural psychology makes an effort to understand individuals of different cultures and how they interact with each other. The implicit culture theory indicates that the underlying stereotypes, assumptions, beliefs, and schemas influence the way they relate with each other. The beliefs, stereotypes, and schemas differ across cultures, and given that Taiwanese is formed of different people, some assimilated immigrants who come with their own beliefs, then the implicit culture can help us as a society to understand each other (Hsiau 2000, p. 67). Literature and Art The Taiwanese have literature and art that defines their culture. Dancing is part of the community activity which started as early as 8000 years ago. A dance is the main component of Taiwan culture and involves worship and prayer. The community uses sleeves, long scarves and extensions to contribute to the unique forms of dances (Hua 2001, p. 84). Similarly, we use metaphors in this society to define peoples character traits. For example, the spider is used to represent varied things in society. In this society, the Spider symbolizes persistence and patience because of its hunting technique. The spider sets webs and waits for the prey to become ensnared. The Taiwanese use the spider web to indicate malice and mischief since the spider has poisonous venom that kills slowly (Eberhard 1974, p. 56). The onion metaphor has been used to describe the learning styles in Taiwanese culture. The external layers of the onion represent the peoples preferences with regard to where they wish to study. As one peel the onions, the inner part represent the way people perceive information differently and the inner part of the onion represents the cognitive styles of information processing. The core of the onion represents the personality traits of the people. The metaphors describe ones character and attributes as the onions metaphor can be used to describe an extrovert or introvert (Taiwanese Literature Movement, 2011). The five factor model of personality; extraversion, neuroticism, agreeableness, openness to experience and conscientiousness are used to explain the character traits of the people in different societies. The five factor model originated from two independent research traditions. The first research was that of the Lexis analysis of personality terms which occurs in Natural language. Lexis analysis insists that encoded language can be used to describe the individual differences in traits. The other approach is the factor analysis which is based on different theory-based personality inventories (Martin Gates 1981, p. 91). One of the researches based on the NEO Personality Inventory established that all the five factors had strong genetic bases. Despite the fact that individual differences are substantially stable, personality traits show modest maturational changes that are briefly summarized by noting that most people tend to decline N, E, and O and increase A and C in their adulthood. The model generalizes across cultures despite the differences in history, languages, political systems, religion and other cultural features. The model considers the age differences and the sex differences too (Martin Gates 1981, p. 93). The other forms of art found in this culture include the sculpturing, drawing and music. The society has beautiful patterns of ancient cooking utensils which are as a result of sculpturing. Using pictures and paints to express the imaginative thoughts is a common happening in Taiwanese society. Similarly, the culture has classic texts such as the Art of War and the analects of Confucius (Martin 2003, p. 23). Customs, Traditions, and Practices of Taiwan Culture The mainland China and Taiwan, the traditional Chinese customs and culture still hold sway. However, Cultural Revolution and political movements have contributed to the destruction of the culture and customs. The traditional religious beliefs are almost extinct. In addition, Taiwan members in the society rarely read the classics for themselves. The Taiwanese people have been able to absorb the western customs and cultures (Hsin 2012, p. 23). Taiwanese offer traditional cuisines whose richness surpasses that of Korea and Japan. The traditional festivals have been preserved, and people still do reunite with their families in these festivals. Among the festivals are the Lantern Festivals, the Chinese New year Eve, Dragon Boat Festivals, Chinese Valentine day and the Tomb Sweeping Day among others (Martin 2003, p. 23). The ancient Chinese did not celebrate their birthdays because it was seen as the day the mother to the child was suffering. After the Tang Dynasty, the Chinese started celebrating birthdays as a result of influence from India. The fusing of the Western and the Chinese tradition has made the celebration of birthdays more enjoyable than that of the decade. As we are not too bothered about the religious differences, we have different funeral practices in Taiwan. With the Taiwanese people having an open mind, it is easy to blend the traditional and the foreign customs. This has resulted into a diversified Taiwanese culture (Liao Wang, 2006, p.81). There exist harmful socializing practices among the Taiwanese youth. On normal family interactions, a caregiver spends time with children on a variety of playing and mundane activities. Research indicates that more than 300 events of shame are identified in over a hundred hours of video typed spontaneous home interactions (Katz Rubinstein 2003, p.19). Language and Ethnicity Taiwan is a multiethnic and multi lingual society. The majority of the ethnic groups are the Holos with 73.3%, mainlanders 13%, Hakka 12% and the indigenous 1.7%. The Holo, Hakka and the mainlanders constitute the Han people whose language is a contrast to the Abogriges. The Abogriges differ from the Han people by their ethnic language. Language and ethnicity are bound to change with alterations in the environment. Research has indicated that the Hakka are losing their mother tongue faster than their identity. The Taiwanese identity has been promoted through its language (Davison 2004, p. 45). Religion and Rituals Religion plays an essential role in the cultural identity of the Taiwanese. The Chinese folk religion has had a profound influence on the people. Taoism and Confucianism share aspects of a religion without a demand for exclusive adherence, which culminates to cultural syncretism and tolerance. In the 20th century, the Confucianism was a state official philosophy that governed the moral code with some religious elements like the ancestor worship (Davison 2004, p. 48). One of the ancient rituals is the Ji-tong ritual. It involves people hitting themselves on the head until a gush of blood comes out. Tainan and Lugang are the destinations popularly known for the ancient Chinas culture, old temples and the traditional religious practices. Probability of witnessing the Ji-tong ritual in these places is half given that the ritual takes place on the birthdays of the Chinese gods. As such, the people depend much on the spiritual communication (Davison 2004, p. 56). The Taiwans indigenous people ritual is often focused on the adulthood, good harvest, hunting and spirits rituals. The aim of these rituals is to request for good fortune, consolidating peoples hearts, thanksgiving and survival training. The rituals are considered the major spiritual symbols of the Taiwanese traditional culture (Davison 2004, p. 58). In-Groups According to Murray Hong (1994), the Chinese culture is more of collectivist than individualist. However, both the individualist and collectivist values are endorsed in this society. Two layers of personal relationship have been identified to distinguish how people conduct their social interactions. The in-group perceives others to be part of them while the out-group does not consider themselves as part. In Taiwanese culture, our immediate family members always constitute our in-group while our current and potential enemies constitute the out-groups. As much as we are collectivists, the world sees us as middle group because we do not view the people outside the in-group as totally out-group. We do not categorize them immediately as in-group or out-group when we meet people for the first time. Being a Taiwanese teaches one to be part a member of the larger society and not to be individualistic (Murray Hong 1994, p. 64) There is flexible acculturation during the transmigration process of the Taiwanese in China. The Taiwanese government has identified three strategies that enable flexible acculturation; reinvention of the ethnic identities, spatial movements and the graduated sovereignty. The different transmigration processes have been found to have influence on the Taiwanese women social image, ties to the children, careers, spatial relocation and self-perception. In the Taiwanese acculturation, we single out the extramarital affairs between the Taiwanese men and the Chinese women (Liu 2008, p. 70). Family Importance in Taiwan Culture Taiwan culture emphasize on familial bonds as it shapes the culture of the entire nation. Family plays an influential role in the Chinese culture despite the modernization role of family in China has shifted. The Taiwanese believe that the family membership is inherited through the father. This implies that families are normally headed by the Chinese male members in that family. The elders in the society command much respect and have the most authority (Lu 1997, p. 96). According to the filial piety rationale, the older people within the family have the prevailing will over the younger and inferior members of the society. The culture emphasizes on paying reverence to the ancestors that have passed on, especially the male with failure to do so attracts bad luck to the family. Families that lack the male descendants are thought to become volatile ghosts upon death. In the family set up, each position has its own name allocated to it. For example, fathers older brother is referred to as the Bo fu, while the younger one is shu fu. In the modern society, women are gaining more power in the family set-up which has challenged the traditional patriarchal set-up. The young ones have apparently been allowed to have a say in their future life unlike in the previous decades (Lu 1997, p. 96). The Chinese citizens of the Han descent had a child policy in 1979, which stipulated that a couple ought to only bear one child to themselves (Gu 2006, p. 21). The law was to help control the Chinese population boom. A couple faced a hefty fine on breaking this rule. A great number of cases of sterilization and forced abortions existed in this era. The policy was exempted for a family that bore male children as maleness is highly valued in the Chinese culture (Schubert 2011, p. 33). The relationship guanxi describes the basic dynamics in personalized networks of influence, in the Chinese society. In this relationship, the people are to be of equal social status. It refers to the social benefits gained from the school friends, extended family workmates and members of the same organization. The Guanxi relationship echoes the collectivism that is emphasized in this culture. The collectivism just as Guanxi relationship helps maintain the family and friend contacts and strengthen the bond between groups of people and family. The reciprocal favors are the ones that maintain this Guanxi web where failure to reciprocate is considered an unforgivable offense (Lin 2011, p. 42). In conclusion, being a member of the Taiwanese brings a sense of belonging. The cultures and traditions are friendly to assimilate. This has seen most immigrants being assimilated into this culture without much difficulty. The society is more accepting to the out-group than any other countries. We hold the family set up of importance to the image of the entire country. We uphold the cultural values emphasized in the Confucianism and classics. In addition, the people in this culture are allowed to perform their religious rituals in regard to their religion.

Inductive Knowledge Paradox Essay -- Philosophy Reasoning

In Nelson Goodman’s The new riddle of induction, the problem of inductive knowledge is brought into question and a collection of possible solutions are presented. The paradox of inductive knowledge has been misunderstood into bringing forth a radical ideology of relativism by philosophers such as Quine and a variety of other modern thinkers, however a possible solution presented by Hempel and a new version outlined in this paper present a different case all together concerning the acquisition of knowledge. In order to understand the new paradox presented in this paper the argument presented in the original raven paradox has to be made clear. The paradox of the raven stems from the belief that viewed scientific phenomena, in connection to a hypothesis in fact does not necessarily lead to truth but instead only serves to strengthen the held hypothesis regardless of what facts the evidence presents. The belief that all ravens are black under normal scientific standards is thought as being supported by the evidence of only black ravens being observed, in logic such a statement would be described as their being such a thing that it is a raven and it is black. From this statement a logically equivalent hypothesis can be made, if an object is not black it holds that it is not a raven, this statement unlike the initial hypothesis of all ravens being black however presents problems, all evidence of non-black objects seems to strengthen the prior held belief even though there is virtually no co nnection between all those possible objects and the raven. The observation of non-black things that are not-ravens strengthening the hypothesis unjustifiably is arguably showing how inductive reasoning is ungrounded in truth, however Hempel ... ...r a possible world, which itself is a problem. The issue of inductive knowledge is still one that remains unsolved, however in the various attempts at a solution the problem has changed from being one of a seemingly impossible actual knowledge to a further examination into a criterion of meaning. Because of the misinterpretation of this paradox there has been a great deal of confusion over the legitimacy of modern science however the paradox itself can be seen as only a matter of philosophy and is more concerned with the solution to a long standing philosophical puzzle then a critique of modern science. Works Cited Nelson Goodman, The new riddle of induction; knowledge readings in contemporary epistemology, oxford university press: 2005. Willard Quine, Two dogmas of empiricism; From a logical point of view 2nd edition, Harvard university press: 1980.

Imagery in Othello Essays -- Othello essays

Imagery in Othello  Ã‚         The vast array of natural imagery in Shakespeare’s tragic drama Othello dazzles the audience’s minds. Let us survey in this essay the varieties of imagery referred to by the playwright.    The vulgar imagery of Othello’s ancient dominates the opening of the play. Francis Ferguson in â€Å"Two Worldviews Echo Each Other† describes the types of imagery used by the antagonist when he â€Å"slips his mask aside† while awakening Brabantio:    Iago is letting loose the wicked passion inside him, as he does from time to time throughout the play, when he slips his mask aside. At such moments he always resorts to this imagery of money-bags, treachery, and animal lust and violence. So he expresses his own faithless, envious spirit, and, by the same token, his vision of the populous city of Venice – Iago’s â€Å"world,† as it has been called. . . .(132)    Standing outside the senator’s home late at night, Iago uses imagery within a lie to arouse the occupant: â€Å" Awake! what, ho, Brabantio! thieves! thieves! thieves! / Look to your house, your daughter and your bags!† When the senator appears at the window, the ancient continues with coarse imagery of animal lust: â€Å"Even now, now, very now, an old black ram / Is topping your white ewe,† and â€Å"you'll have your daughter covered with a Barbary horse; you'll have your nephews neigh to you; you'll have coursers for cousins and gennets for germans.† David Bevington in William Shakespeare: Four Tragedies comments that the imagery in the play is quite mundane, and he tells why:    The battle of good and evil is of course cosmic, but in Othello that battle is realized through a taut narrative of jealousy and murder. Its poetic images are accordingly focused t... ...s Desdemona before stabbing himself to death:    Cold, cold, my girl!   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Even like thy chastity. O cursed slave!   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Whip me, ye devils,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   From the possession of this heavenly sight!   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Blow me about in winds! roast me in sulphur!   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Wash me in steep-down gulfs of liquid fire!   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   O Desdemona! Desdemona! dead! (5.2)    WORKS CITED    Bevington, David, ed. William Shakespeare: Four Tragedies. New York: Bantam Books, 1980.    Ferguson, Francis. â€Å"Two Worldviews Echo Each Other.† Readings on The Tragedies. Ed. Clarice Swisher. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1996. Reprint from Shakespeare: The Pattern in His Carpet. N.p.: n.p., 1970.    Shakespeare, William. Othello. In The Electric Shakespeare. Princeton University. 1996. http://www.eiu.edu/~multilit/studyabroad/othello/othello_all.html No line nos.   

Media Portrayals of Criminal Justice System

A limited number of people have interaction with or are having the real experience of what and how the criminal justice system works. This is because majority of our ideas are generally drawn from the various forms of mass media – news, television, movies, and print media. Generally, all media forms show a very positive representation of the attainment and honesty of the criminal justice system.   The media helps to mold the mental positions and impressions of the society. It also assists in shaping the public's perceptions regarding criminals, crime, and justice, as well as the people within the system. In fact, the media is a vital source of details and an effective tool of shaping one’s views on the criminal justice system.For the reasons that media builds a social reality, creates a public's plan of action, and designs the government's response toward crime and justice, suggest that there is a complicated interaction between media portrayals of crime itself and th e criminal justice system in general.Broadcast and Print News PortrayalsAn article by Shannon Petersen suggests that modern broadcast and print media portrayals of the criminal justice system unveil greatly about journalism. Petersen coined this as the yellow journalism due to the significantly and specifically shocking, challenging, and unreliable characteristics of the news it brings. This is also because the characteristics of yellow journalism were evident in news stories in broadcast media (television and radio) and in all the nation's major newspapers (Petersen, 1991).The article titled â€Å"Yellow Justice: Media Portrayal of Criminal Trials in the Progressive Era† also states that newspaper, television, and radio companies were motivated more by the financial gain instead of its justice awareness. This oftentimes led to misleading and inaccurate news reports (Petersen, 1991). Petersen (1991) also noted that yellow journalism was very apparent during industrialization boom of newspapers and broadcasting companies.The lack of internal restriction regarding the manner and topic to report also contributed to the wide practice of yellow journalism. In fact, Petersen (1991) reported that during the early part of the twentieth century, courts had not yet adopted judicial practices like jury segregation to avoid the presence and eventually limit the influence of media practitioners in the courtroom.Lastly, Petersen (1991) stated that media portrayals of the judicial trials in the early twentieth century promote more about an advance era of the society. For instance, even a credible newspaper such as the New York Times was tainted when it published a report which showed racism and sexism (Petersen, 1991). This is because the report strengthened tendencies in the society and the criminal justice system.Newspaper and broadcast reports which sensationalized the criminal justice system are stories which deal with racial and gender stereotypes, bigamy, divorc e and traffic violations (Petersen, 1991). According to Pterson (1991), these articles display a knowledgeable skepticism of the ability of the society to refuse the power of the media. Surprisingly, they even show the public's willingness to sacrifice the freedom of the press in the name of justice (Petersen, 1991).Television PortrayalsAltheide (1985), Gerbner and Gross (1976), and Gerbner (1993) presented a great relation between heavy television screening and the socialization of television-prejudiced ideas of reality (cited in McNeely, 1995). According to McNeely (1995), there is a significant involvement and study addressing the concern on violence on television and its influences on the viewers. A large number of works focuses on the issue of whether or not television portrayals of crime and violence have an effect to the viewing population on the aspect of engendering, rather than simply attesting similar mental positions and human conducts.McNeely (1995) suggested that telev ision programs should be utilized to ascertain public images of the criminal justice system itself and how those images might or might not change the knowledge, perspective, and basic understanding of the judicial system and its operation. He added that those said images and impressions can be compared with â€Å"reality† in order to add to one's understanding of the criminal law and social interaction (cited in McNeely, 1995).McNeely (1995), however, clarified that with television portrayals, people might expect to find a comparative match and an increasing level of influence on public notion of the criminal justice system. A growing level of television viewed by the â€Å"postmodern† individual may result in more television-defined public perspectives of criminal justice and law enforcement. McNeely (1995) added that the suggested research, aside from being distinctly absorbing and suggestive, can lead to a somewhat different and persuasive examination of the interac tion between the public and judicial system especially in terms of their interactive investigation. This is because of their significant abstract and experimental implications for related studies of the tradition, government, and the criminal justice studies in general (cited in McNeely, 1995).Movie PortrayalsIn his presentation of the movie portrayals of the criminal justice system, Myers (2006) said that movies reflect some realities about the judicial system regardless of the agreement of their screenplays to Hollywood's commercial mood. The movies shine an unflattering light on the justice system and which gives encouragement to its viewers. The movies tend to illustrate that the justice system is not essentially interested in finding the truth, despite the fact that seeking the truth is a necessary aspect of the crime victims' sense of justice (Myers, 2006).A lot of movie portrayals are critiques of the criminal justice system. Most of them show how the current system lacks in providing true justice to crime victims. This is because in movies, many crime victims and proponents of the legal system participants must resort to their personal and more risky manners of seeking justice for the crimes committed against them or their love ones. This is where the judicial practice fails which the movies apparently portray.First, it does not provide enough resources or counseling to victims that have suffered from the crime. Second, the criminal justice system legal system does not adapt the appropriate punishment for crime suspects. While the court is still wondering whether law is a reflection of the public or simply impacts the perspective of the people, there is no doubt that the justice system, with all its strengths and weaknesses, is portrayed most dramatically and largely on the silver screen.The various media portrayals of the criminal justice system as presented in this paper have true and important impacts on the behavior of the public and the society. B y knowing and understanding the ineffectiveness of the justice system as portrayed by the media, people can become more decisive consumers of media images.The various media forms are in the business of affecting how and what people think of the criminal justice system. Nowadays, it is quite hard to believe that people can just ignore everything they perceive in the media because the portrayals presented are not literally correct or because they are loosely staged models of reality.Although most people understand that what they are seeing in media is not a depiction of â€Å"real events,† the persuasive and powerful presentations of media have somehow affected how the human mind works. In order for a portrayal to be efficient, the audience must, in some way, identify with the characters and what they are doing, even if some aspects of the situation are â€Å"unrealistic.† This is where the media proves to be effective in presenting the true facet of the criminal justice system.ReferencesMcNeely, C. (1995). Perceptions of the Criminal Justice System: Television Imagery and   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Public Knowledge in the United States. Journal of Criminal Justice and Popular   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Culture, 3(1), 1-20.Myers, R. (2006). Movies About the Legal System and the Portrayal of Crime Victims. Fordham Law Forum on Law, Culture & Society. Retrieved February 5, 2008 from    Fordham Law and Culture Database.Petersen, S. (1999). Yellow Justice: Media Portrayal of Criminal Trials in the ProgressiveEra. Stanford Journal of Legal Studies, 1, 72.

History and Archives Essay

She was born in Moscow, Russia and spent all her childhood and most of her young years in the Soviet Union. She went to school in Moscow from 1973 to 1983, for 10 years. At school she was very interested in history especially in ancient history. She loved to read books about history of Egypt, Italy and Mexico and also started to develop an interest in how the people live in different countries and why they all are different in some ways and the same in other ways. During her childhood every summer she went to different camps, where she met new people from different republics (that now after the crash of the USSR they are all different countries. In 1983 she was admitted to Moscow Order of Honor State University of History and Archives. She was there for 6 years and received a Diploma for Master of History and Archival Science. While at the University she witnessed the last years of the Great Empire of the Soviet Union and its Collapse. She saw how people started to change when their lives were drastically changed by Perestroika. She saw how families collapsed under the strains of a new social and economic system which imposed new financial hardship and drastic even overnight changes in societal norms. She saw how children from those families reacted to escalating divorce rates and how their lives changed for the worse. Deep interest in history and cultures of different countries led her to explore on human behavior, their similarities and differences. †¢ Having grown up in a totalitarian system and experiencing the perceived freedoms we enjoy here, she have an appreciation for issues related to how human beings deal with different pressures and expectations. †¢ In the time that she was with people from other cultural backgrounds, she developed a great appreciation for the differences in cultural traditions and social behavior. †¢ She pursued this interest and took up a master’s course in History and Archival Science. †¢ As she witnessed the tragic collapse of her nation, she saw how society as a whole abandoned the notion of Social responsibility and any feelings of obligation to others that were mandated by the government at one time were replaced with a vacuum that left many in search of a new vision of their place in society. †¢ She observed how people react when their dreams and expectations taste the bitterness of reality and adjust to changes and stress and most of the times take up the negative route and enter into alcoholism, drug abuse, prostitution, felony. Personality The collapse of society happened almost overnight. It was shocking to her that the transformation of millions within such a short time, and to the extent of that transformation. Unfortunately it did not getting better; in fact it started to affect her. She now faced to adapt to her changing environment after adhering so closely to my traditional beliefs of honor and respect. Later she adapted to a new marriage and followed her spouse to the US. The move to the US was a very drastic change for her at that time. A totally different country, traditions, language and social norms. She had some difficult time in adjusting and understanding that country. Yet another adaptation was required of her. Her daughter was born and once again she was entering a different world with no guidance. She found her â€Å"loving† husband of 20 years cheating on her with another woman. This was not what she expected in the least. Her life made no sense. Her beliefs that were honed for so many years were critically tasked. This new information made the pathways in her brain over taxed. This was not what she could accept. But she had too. There was no other reality. Still it took her years to grasp with that reality. Much as others deal with change she had trouble. It was her dispassionate belief that with coaching, that people could deal with a fast changing environment, including a new economic and social reality. She ended with a divorce. She then even had to adjust and live with the situation when her little girl was taken from her based on fraudulent allegations that swayed a person (one of many) who was the judge. Her heart was cut; she was drowning in ocean of emotions, and ones again in her life for the purpose to survive. †¢ After the collapse of her nation, she began reading books on psychology, philosophy and religion, in order to adjust to the drastic change and realized that adaptation was the greatest tool that humans possessed. †¢ For the purpose of dealing with the new challenges confronting her after the birth of her daughter, she began to educate herself through reading in order to learn more about the child development and psychology. †¢ When she found her husband cheating on her, she could not accept it. But she had too. There was no other reality. She took years to grasp with that reality. She faced troubles initially but dispassionately believed that with coaching, that people can deal with a fast changing environment, including a new economic and social reality. †¢ To get through her divorce, she returned to reading books on psychology and started to speak with counselors and therapists. She learned an incredible amount of practical applications of behavioral and cognitive tools she could use to adapt to this latest crisis. By reading and learning more she developed the desire to help and support people who face change and find it hard to adapt. She learnt enough to allow her to make a greater impact on how to teach people from an early age to handle change and look for ways to adapt that benefit society has a whole. She realized that her way, she and many others can adapt to new environmental stresses can and must be influenced by people who can motivate people who can show them how to deal with situations that were never expected. Whether it is dealing with a Cultural Revolution, and actual revolution, a great upheaval, a great loss, or a custody battle in a divorce or more recently fuel prices that will effect the poor’s heating in Northern states, peoples’ financial stresses; people need to have help in guiding them through these transitions, and she wanted to make a difference in this way. She understood how different people are and how the behaviors of various groups are allowed to flourish. This dichotomy intrigued her as it would seem that a healthy society had to strike for some balance. She loved to explore the issue at greater length and have some guidance in understanding socio-psychological issues. She was not so much interested in pathology as she was in theoretical psychology of social norms and patterns along with how to setup systems to manage the needs of individuals along with the pressures of societal needs and peaceful coexistence. She wished to use adaptation tool to grow as a person. She looked for something to help her on this journey and I thought a respected school and her desire together could be used to help other’s who have undergone serious social stresses in life, while maintaining a positive social framework in which they can function. In this way she was on her way to growth. References Pavlov, â€Å"Conditioned Reflex† (1903), [Internet], Available at , Accessed on: 3 August 2009 Skinner,† The Behavior of Organism† (1936), [Internet], Available at, Accessed: on 3 August 2009

Poverty in Canada Essay

Poverty in Canada is a serious issue that needs to be effectively and efficiently addressed. Approximately one in six Canadians lives in poverty despite Canada being among the wealthiest developed countries. The poor live in poor housing conditions, earn minimal wages and overcrowded regions with some being forced into the streets, in cars or old vans. (www. kairoscanada. org). Poverty makes them live in fear, become malnourished, bad health conditions that make their lives a misery. Canada has a record of having the strongest economic growth especially from 1997-2003. What are the causes of poverty in Canada? Poverty rates for the minority groups’ for instance aboriginal people, new immigrants, single parents and one disabled are higher. These people lack secure employment from which they can earn a decent source of income. Without the finances they cannot cater for their basic needs like food, shelter and clothing. Lack of adequate and efficient government support also contributes to the higher rates of poverty. The poor get poorer when relevant authorities fail to provide or open channels through which they can access financial assistance. Poverty in Canada is highly correlated to gender, race and a citizen’s status in the society. (www. ccsd. ca). Those from families that are at a higher rank in terms of social power will be of better economic status compared to those from poor families. Poverty tends to be inherited as wealth and riches are. (www. kairoscanada. org). Education is a vital factor affecting or contributing to poverty. Parental education level affects how their children will be whereby those with tertiary education have the skills or knowledge to acquire decent employment that can enable them lead decent lives. The family size and structure also contributes to poverty. Single parents have higher chances of living in poverty as they have to single-handedly cater for their children. Large families also need more finances to cater for all their needs and small families generally tend to be better off. Cultural barriers and prejudice affects or influences government policies as well as social attitudes and economic structures. Distribution of wealth and not lack of it acts as a major cause of poverty in Canada. Poor pay act as a major determinant of poverty. The government allocates a minimal amount of resources for overall social transfers for instance on income assistance, child benefits, old age security, disability assistance, employment insurance and social assistance. New immigrants get poor wages and work under hostile conditions. Since they do not have permanent residency they are very susceptible to exploitation. They work for long hours, earn sub-standard wages, lack over time pay and are physically or verbally abused. (www. kairoscanada. org). Discrimination against women and people of colour hinders them from employment opportunities. Gender inequalities and domestic responsibilities, lack of appropriate childcare and language barriers hinder effective employment and consequently poverty levels rise. Family characteristics for instance the age of becoming a parent affects or rather influences family income levels and increases the chances of poverty. Research has shown that families of single mothers are generally poorer than families headed by men. In terms of wages paid women tend to earn less than males as they participate a lot in domestic chores and childcare (www. kairoscanada. org). They also tend to be more represented in the service and less paying employment opportunities as compared to men. What are the effects of poverty in Canada? Poverty in Canada has detrimental effects in economic, social as well as psychological aspects of those it involves. It deprives off the poor important things like food, shelter, clothing, education, health and employment. Inability to adequately provide for the poor is a cost to the government especially when cost of housing for example increases. Quality of healthcare provided is undermined as the demand for these services increases. Poverty is linked to poor health and since Canada provides universal health care it has increased expenses providing for more patients. Poverty and income inequalities have a major effect on health where health effects of poverty are felt more among the poor. The costs incurred on other services like education, recreation, transportation, security and pension also face a blow as the demand increases. (www. kairoscanada. org). Poverty affects people’s self esteem, dignity and belonging as it exposes them to hostile indecent living conditions. Those discriminated upon are emotionally affected by the way the society treats them. Poverty has a negative impact on social cohesion as well as economic prosperity. Poverty is also responsible for increased incidences of child labour and child abuse. Poor families can use their children to supplement their incomes. Criminal activities are aggravated by poverty since the poor may use illegitimate means to attain the basic necessities. How is poverty addressed or handled in Canada? Canadians fight or react to poverty in different perspectives. Direct donations and charity are offered to the poor and they include money, time, clothing and food. Economic based strategies are also developed for instance the creation of cooperatives and local businesses that are supported and run by the community in terms of funds or loans. This approach is beneficial to the community at large as what an individual could not have afforded is now affordable. Government protests and advocacy is another response to poverty. Churches and other non governmental organisations lobby to government to address vital issues like on income security where minimum wages can be set, employment insurance, childcare, social programs and fairness of taxation. Anti-poverty groups create or rather raise awareness of poverty and by so doing, keep the government in check. What are the strategies of fighting poverty in Canada? Government policies should be changed so as to increase more income supports for the Canadians. There should be increased security and remuneration in the labour markets whereby minimum wages as well as observance or adherence of human rights to part time and contract workers are considered. (www. socialjustice. org). There should also be increased accessibility to public facilities like housing, childcare as well as recreational programs. The children are a vulnerable population that ought to be adequately attended to. The Canadian government ought to be committed in setting targets of progress. Setting a parliamentary committee would also be appropriate especially in ensuring that there is transparency and effectiveness in the process of poverty eradication. It can establish fair tax systems for instance a low-income tax that can promote education to uplift the poor people’s living conditions. The government ought to assist single parents by increasing their benefits. Child benefits should also be increased so as to improve the living standards of children from poor families. Cultural transformation is also crucial if poverty is to be eliminated in Canada as cultural aspects influence poverty. (www. socialjustice. org). People can be encouraged to value and pursue academic goals so as to increase their chances of getting jobs that can enable them lead decent lives. An effective poverty eradication strategy is one that is made for the people and by the people. It is therefore very important to involve the minority groups like people of colour and women in the design and implementation of poverty eradication strategies. Families can be encouraged to raise small families so that their educational levels can be higher as their family incomes would be higher. Cooperative societies and other forms of community efforts to mobilize finances for the overall development should also be encouraged. They will be very important in ensuring that the status of the poor is uplifted. Education is very important in ensuring that people attain the necessary skills to fit in the job market. (www. conferenceboard. ca) Concerns of the poor should therefore be felt or reflected in the government policies as well as in its decision-making processes. Their human as well as economic rights should be fought for or respected. Reducing the gap between the rich and the poor would be an appropriate measure by the Canadian government. (english. napo-onap. ca). It only works to make the rich richer as the poor languish in poverty. Hiring processes should be fair and just so that the human rights are respected. Discrimination has negative effects, as it would result to under-utilisation of skills, capacities, talents and opportunities all of which are beneficial to the country as a whole.