Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Utopian literature through the time of World War II Essay

Utopian literature through the time of World War II - Essay Example This research will begin with the definition of utopia, by the very sense of the word, is the fantasy of a non-existent society and it could not have crept into literature as far it did without the help of its pivotal device called ‘science fiction’, which, in the words of Darko Suvin, is characterized by ‘cognitive estrangement’. Understandably, the literature produced through the period of World War II and after was more dystopian in nature than utopian, considering the pessimism generated (by the events in the contemporary world) among intellectuals giving rise to the portrayal of degraded societies as in H. G. Wells’s â€Å"The Time Machineâ€Å". Often, the pessimism manifested in the title itself like Chad Walsh’s From Utopia to Nightmare (1962), â€Å"New Maps of Hellâ€Å" by Kingsley Amis and â€Å"The Future as Nightmare: H. G. Wells and the Anti-Utopiansâ€Å" (1967) by Mark Hillegas. Utopian literature, its suggestive nature n otwithstanding, is interesting only because it reflects mankind’s worst fears at a crucial point in history and not because it contains anything that has the potential to make the world a better place. The dystopian predictions of doom by a host of writers, from John Brunner to Margaret Atwood, never came true. It is worth recalling here, however, that Ray Bradbury’s apprehension (that television would kill books) in his 1953 iconographic work â€Å"Fahrenheit 451â€Å", was not entirely misplaced.... It points out how knowledge can be harmful unless it is combined with wisdom by the example of a scientist who â€Å"studies the composition of atom from a disinterested desire for knowledge and incidentally places it in the hands of powerful lunatics† (Yardi 103). Interestingly, Lost Horizon written by James Hilton in 1933 prophesies a devastating war that engulfs most parts of the world in less than a decade. In the classic, Hilton envisions a utopian civilization with Oriental character in a remote monastery, Shangri-La, in the Himalayas where wonderful people live. The faith of the Shangri-La monks is a combination of the features of Christianity and Buddhism, the motto being ‘everything in moderation’: the rule is moderately strict, only moderate obedience is expected and people are moderately sober, moderately chaste and moderately honest. The book, for most part, is a deep meditation on noble ideas like pacifism and philosophy, instead of being a mere adven ture story. Shangri-La people teach us that exhaustion of passions is the key to the beginning of wisdom and that the most impossible things in life become possible if we believe in them. Nevil Shute’s On the Beach (1957) portrays a massive nuclear war and the resulting radioactive dust marking the end of the world. Another post-apocalyptic masterpiece The Day of the Triffids (1951) by John Wyndham, with its ever-present threat of walking plants and blinding comets, is more like a horror novel than mere science fiction. Without any mention of nuclear warfare, this book still deserves to be labeled apocalyptic for its story is centered on rebuilding the society after a devastating

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Issues Of The Work-Life Conflict

Issues Of The Work-Life Conflict Work-life conflict occurs when time and energy demands imposed by our many roles become incompatible with one another; participation in one role is made increasingly difficult by participation in another. Work-life balance (WLB), from an employee perspective, is the maintenance of a balance between responsibilities at work and at home. When the employees have conflicts between their work life and personal life it creates distractions in their work, preventing employees from performing in their best level, which creates obstacles in the achievement of organizational and individual goals. Therefore failure in managing work-life conflict among the employees could lead to problems within the organization. Hemas Hospital is a newly started hospital in Sri Lanka in the year 2008. It is a multi specialty hospital which caters for the whole family by providing highly specialized medical services according to the highest international standards. Around 100 consultants practice in this hospital. As a newly started hospital working for 24 hours they are confronted with problems of employees struggling to strike a balance between their work and life. Employees commitment to their service is vital to provide to provide a according to the standards. At Hemas Hospital Nurses play a major role. Professional nursing is a highly skilled practice directed towards improving the health status of individuals, groups and communities. Nursing activities encompass promoting health, preventing disease, aiding and supporting people in daily living as well as during recovery and rehabilitation, and helping people to die comfortably and with dignity (Nursing, n.d.). The purpose of this essay is to highlight and discuss on the issues of work life conflict how it affects further to discuss about the solutions that could be applied to tackle the conflicts. Secondary researches have been used in order to support the discussion in an effective way. 2.0 Causes 2.1 Womens Family Commitment Over recent years there has been an enormous increase in the number of women employees entering to the paid workforce labor of Hemas Hospital Wattala. Despite the rapid growth in womens involvement in the paid workforce; it appears that little has changed for women in terms of their family commitments. Culture plays a big role in Sri Lanka in relation to this topic. Traditional gender roles prescribe for women to place the role of wife and mother above all others; men are expected to be the family breadwinner. Given the burden of household responsibilities and child care, women employees (doctors, nurses, receptionists) face the demands of multiple roles, which often go beyond the general three roles working mothers generally take on (wife, mother, and worker) to include responsibilities such as: caretaker of aging parents, sister, aunt, cousin, etc. (Scott Coltrane, n.d.) As a result of these multiple tasks work life conflict has been identified as a common problem among most women employees at Hemas Hospital. 2.2 Personal Health Problems Health is the general condition of a person in all aspects. Having problems is a part of life. Most of the researches have found that effects of stress affect the health. The reason is the stress and health is closely linked. And also they have found that the risk factors for health caused by chronic stress causes as much as 60 to 90% of all illnesses. The impact it has on your health, both physical and mental, can be very harmful. And individuals stress does contribute to high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and other cardiac risk factors such as addictions and obesity. We found that 55% of Hemas hospitals nurses getting sick because of the stress they have. Some of the shifts they have to cover up without taking breaks. Therefore they cannot balance their personal lives with the work they have. So that stress arises and automatically they get ill. 2.3 Tight Work Schedules Workers have to control their working hours to enjoy a better life. Most of time nurses have to do night duty and also they have to do over time work because of this reasons lack of flexible working hours can be arising. Most of times who worked as nurses are young mothers so then they have do their children work, they have to care about children and also their home work. It is very hard to do night duty person who has small child then they might feel time is more important than money after that there can be arise a stress on work place. Organization culture can shape the work life balance. According to our culture most of time mothers are house wifes and also childrens need care of mothers. If mother busy with her job then there will be arises social problem and also family problems. In Hemas hospital every nurse has to do two night duties in each week and then there arises conflict between work life balances. 2.4 Lack of Employee Rewards and Appreciation As a nurse Caring for the sick and dying has never been easy. Though it is a respected, intellectually stimulating, and deeply meaningful career today it offers limited benefits and many challenges. Though its been 2 years Hemas Hospital started their management hasnt introduced proper rewarding system for the nurses. This will directly affect the employees morale; therefore employee productivity would be less. 2.5 Transportation Issues Transportation is one of the main issues that Hemas Hospital employees are facing. Since there are both day and night shifts, the employees main problem will be the transportation. In Sri Lanka with the cultural situations most of the people think in negative way when the females doing the night shifts and/or when they arrives at home in mid night, Since the public transportation is not too safe for female after around 7.30 8.00 pm the transportation will be highly regarded when comes to night shifts. 3.0 Effects 3.1 High Absenteeism Absenteeism is an expensive problem in both public and private sector organizations. Over the past decade, there has been increasing interest in the impact of womens family responsibilities, personal health problems and transportation problems on absenteeism. Many women employees at Hemas Hospital find it hard to achieve their desired combination of work and family time. For example, family responsibilities appear to constrain a womans choice of occupation. Women taking leave due to illnesses of children or their elder parents. 3.2 Less productivity Due to personal health problems, lack of rewards and appreciations and tight work schedules employees productivity getting reduced. This situation is not good for a working place like hospital. Productivity is one of the most important factors when it comes to work. When employees are not healthy they are unable to work properly. Therefore their productivity comes down and the job they do cannot be performed properly. When working in a hospital, the employees have to work very effective manner, because they are the savers of patients lives. It will be a big disaster if they forget or neglect to give proper medicine or giving wrong medicine to a patient. This would highly affect to Hemas hospital if they do not work properly up to the standard. 3.3 Dissatisfaction While the majority of reasons for dissatisfaction usually point to elements of the workplace itself such as: management style, environmental conditions or opportunities for growth, lack of rewards and appreciations, tight work schedules etc. (A guide to grow your personal growth, n.d.). It was found that especially nurses are dissatisfied with their job. Due to this they may move towards competitors or leave the job. Therefore Hemas Hospital has to consider ways of minimizing the work dissatisfaction. 3.4 Stress Stress is the most hated part of the job of healthcare employees. This can be occurring due to personal health problems, womens family commitments and tight working schedules. Therefore it leads nurses to be dissatisfied with their work. Due to the dissatisfaction they will not perform efficiently and effectively through less performance. Furthermore their loyalty for the company will be less and will tend to move towards competitors or leave the job. One of the respondents at the Hemas hospital said that, Too much pressure on this shift Scanty facilities very meageryou feel really exhaustedamounting to tensions and conflicts which are often displaced onto people aroundyou knowyelling at colleagues 3.5 High employment turnover This can be happened due to all of the causes mentioned above. More than the cultural influences nursing is a more stressful and challenging job therefore its a must to recognize them as very precious for the hospital to make them retain in the hospital. The impact of turnover has received considerable attention by senior management, human resources professionals, and industrial psychologists. It has proven to be one of the most costly and seemingly intractable human resource challenges confronting organizations. Analyses of the costs associated with turnover yield surprisingly high estimates. The high cost of losing key employees has long been recognized. When consider the Hemas Hospital the situation also same. It appears high employment turnover, especially nurses. 3.6 Work overload for other employees Due to health problems and family commitment some employees cannot perform their duties to the expected level. So others will have to carry out the sick employees work load too. Some times since they havent time to fulfill the work load they might not do even their assigned duties properly. They do not care about the patients very well. Then again it will affect to the overall performance of the Hemas hospital. In addition, inadequate facilities, improper functioning of other employees and neglected responsibilities created pressure and conflict among the personnel. These inadequacies eventually reduced the tolerance threshold, which in turn contributed to the conflict experienced. One of the respondents at Hemas hospital said that, We cant ignore the fact that heavy workload and shortage of skilled human resources affect our performance; despite our effort to get used to the situation, we are limited in coping. When you see that the supervisor stops backing us up and never steps into the ward to listen to us it makes us feel our rights have been violated. 4.0 Solutions 4.1 Paternity leave Paternity leave is the time a father takes off work at the birth or adoption of a child. This kind of leave is rarely paid. A few progressive companies offer new dads paid time off, ranging from a few days to a few weeks. Hemas Hospital can arrange paternity leave for doctors and therefore can avoid the absenteeism and dissatisfaction towards the job. 4.2 Dependent care arrangements Many nurses will be faced with issues of child or adult care giving. Without adequate support, these can create a host of distractions from work. There are many ways that the Hemas Hospital can support their nurses with their personal responsibilities. Some of the ways are on or off site child and adult care centers, lactation programs, dependent care referrals, etc. 4.3 Job sharing Job sharing is a form of permanent part-time work in which a full-time position is divided between two or more people, each of whom shares responsibility for the entire workload. Each job sharer receives conditions of employment and entitlements on a pro-rata basis in proportion to the hours worked. Job share arrangements are suitable for both professional and academic positions. A change from full-time work to a job sharing arrangement does not break continuity of employment. Job share arrangements can facilitate increased workplace flexibility because job sharers can relieve or cover for each other without loss in efficiency and effectiveness. Hemas Hospital also can implement this program and can get the maximum benefit out of it. 4.4 Flexible work schedules A flexible work schedule is a type of flexible work arrangement that allows employees to vary when they begin and end their work day to accommodate their individual and family needs. This flexibility greatly eases the burden of busy employees as they try to juggle their work and home lives Flexible work schedules benefits both employees and organization it self. For employees Increased satisfaction and productivity, reduced stress and health care costs, decreased absenteeism and reduced commuting time. For organizations improved retention and reduced turnover, higher levels of loyalty and commitment ,no change in managers supervisory time, attracts diverse employees who may not be able to conform to rigid schedules (i.e., disabled) 4.5 Incentives As a result if the hospital is not rewarding nurses well the Sri Lankan culture influences them to be not loyal towards hospital and as well to perform poorly. If an employee appreciated or rewarded it will influence them to work hardly than the before and also motivate to keep the work and personal life in a balance. For that reason this is the best time for Hemas to start an appropriate rewarding and appreciation system for their nurses to make them satisfy and happy situation between work and life. 5.0 Recommendations 5.1 Short Term Out of the number of solutions available, according to the situation, a strategy needs to be developed according to the problem but this would consume lots of time and energy to be done, So till a proper strategy is developed, in the short term the hospital can reward employing workers with an incentive programmed to facilitate them to balance their work /life.Hemas Hospital can reward financial non financial incentives to encourage their work force. Under financial incentives they can grant child vouchers and can have a special funding system for employees children. Furthermore the management of Hemas Hospital can introduce a transportation allowance system for the employees who come from distance areas. Under non financial incentive system Hemas Hospital can arrange family friends benefits or annual trips or get together, so that they have sometime to spend their leisure time with their colleagues. Furthermore nurses can be given promotions, scholarships or they can select best nur se annually to encourage nurses. 5.2 Long Term But in the long term proper strategy should be developed to address this problem, because incentives cannot be a solution for all the problems of the employees. While developing strategies the different situations of nurses need to be considered to facilitate them. Providing a flexible work options is a good method that could be developed, because job satisfaction is directly connected to a persons work schedule, especially to a nurses healthy mentality it is very important when dealing with patients. A variety of schedule options could be made available to fit their priorities and life styles. Full-time Options include: Three 12-hour shifts Five 8-hour shifts A combination of 8 and 12-hour shifts Part-time Options include: 8-hour shifts 12-hour shifts A combination of 8 and 12-hour shifts Weekend Program This program is an appealing option for nurses who are in school or who care for children during the week. This option provides short-term disability coverage. Weekend nurses work 24 hours each weekend They receive pay equivalent to 32 or 36 hours The schedule begins Friday at 7:30 a.m. and ends Monday at 7:30 a.m. Casual This option is appealing to nurses who want to work fewer hours but maintain a relationship with their unit and with Northwestern Memorial Hospital. Casual nurses work 40 hours during a 6-week schedule Float Pool Nurses may choose the flexibility and variety of working on multiple units through the Float Pool. Float Pool nurses are required to work two weekend shifts per month. Options include: Full-time work Part-time work Dynamic scheduling to accommodate personal work requirements. Schedule Choices Many nursing units offer nurses a Self Schedule option. They are able to select the days on the upcoming schedule they want to work. When their manager creates the schedule, he or she will balance the schedule requests with current patient needs in the unit (Careers, n.d.). The best recommendation would be to make available lots of flexible work schedule options and offer the nurses with a self schedule option, so that they can use choose a schedule according to their life style. These work options should be for the mutual benefit of both the employee and the employer so that employee can fulfill their responsibility towards their work place and as well as their families. 6.0 Conclusion There is a big difference between doing things and getting something done. Most work-life efforts by HR and work-life balance teams fail despite lots of doing. The problem is that all the doing didnt get anything done. If the organization wants to get something done that produces strong positive results and feedback, it should be start by taking an action in order to ensure success. Good work-life balance seems to be something that well-run firms in competitive markets do naturally. They need to treat their employees well to keep them if not; their competitors will hire them away. Government policies on work-life balance should take this into account. Whether the organization just introducing a work-life program or making an already great one better, the organization will be substantially improving its bottom line results and changing individuals lives for the better. To be an effective worker he/she has maintain a better balance in between work life and the personal life. We can see that there is a clear link between causes for the conflicts and effects of them. So that if Hemas can implement the above mentioned recommendations we think that Hemas can be the best hospital by getting the maximum use of their employees while providing them a conflicts free work life environment. Hence the entire organization and employees will be proud of the results.

Friday, October 25, 2019

Risk Management Essay -- Business Management

Risk is a commonly used term and its usually liked with bad impacts on our objectives. The Oxford English Dictionary define risk as â€Å" a chance or possibility of danger, loss, injury or other adverse consequences†. There is no agreeable technical definition of risk as it went through many developments. The first stage was the management of threats only then the term is extended to cover the threats and the opportunities which face the organisations. The latest stage which is the management of the threats, opportunities, uncertainties and its sources. Of uncertainty (Ward and Chapmen, 2003). Therefore, Dowie argues to banned use the term â€Å"risk† in the risk management because of its misleading. The definition will be used in this paper is the Australia/New Zealand standard definition which is "The chance of something happening that will have an impact on objectives" (Australia/New Zealand Standard, 1999). The reasons of using this definition are the simplicities and the coverage of the negative and positive effects on objectives. Risk management has been done for thousands of years (Bernstein, 1996). The Risk management term was first introduced in the 1950s by the insurance industry. The first text book published about risk management in 1963 titled Risk management and the Business Enterprise by Robert I. Mehr and Bob Hedges (D’Arcy and Brogan, 2001). Risk management is a integrated process and risk manger need to assist the company’s business process are constant with its strategies, and the what is the relation between risk management and the investment and performance choices (Nocco and Stulz, 2006). Organisations should develop a risk management long term strategies depending on the business environment and shareholders an... ...ment guide 2001. London: White Page. Hodgkinson, R. (2001). Enterprise-wide risk management . Risk management guide 2001, London: White Page. Committee of Sponsoring Organizations (COSO), (2004). Enterprise Risk Management—Integrated Framework. New York: COSO. Beasley, M. Clune, R. And Hermanson, D. (2005), Enterprise risk management: An empirical analysis of factors associated with the extent of implementation. Journal of Accounting and Public Policy. 24. pp. 521-531 Kleffner, A., Lee, R., McGannon, B., (2003). The effect of corporate governance on the use of enterprise risk management: evidence from Canada. Risk Management and Insurance Review 6 (1), pp.53–73. Liebenberg, A., Hoyt, R., (2003). The determinants of enterprise risk management: evidence from the appointment of chief risk officers. Risk Management and Insurance Review 6 (1), pp. 37–52.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Fast food †Obesity Essay

Obesity is an epidemic that is sweeping over the United States today. It’s affecting both adults and children. With the increase in fast food availability and a decrease in the time most Americans have to prepare nutritious meals at home, it’s obvious why more people are eating at fast food restaurants. Obesity is a growing problem in the United States and more and more children are being affected. But do uneducated families have the right to put the blame on fast food restaurants for the health issues they could easily prevent? I believe that we are taking it too far by blaming fast food restaurants for obesity and that it is an individual’s responsibility to take the blame. While R. A. Ames â€Å"The Food Isn’t to Blame† and Richard Daynard â€Å"You Want Fries with That? † use different themes of blaming fast companies and individual decisions to underscore the effects of fast of food on America, the Rahul K. Parikh in â€Å"Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of Fats Kid† picks up the same theme, he blames advertisements for America’s Obesity. In the article, â€Å"Fast Food Isn’t to Blame? † R. A. Ames states that weight difficulties are the responsibility of the individuals and we should not blame the fast food industry or other biological and environmental causes. Human beings are individuals with the freedom to make their own choices. Nobody forces us to eat anything we do not want to. Choosing to eat fast food is all our own decision, and we put ourselves at risk for obesity. Obesity due to excessive consumption of fast food can only be blamed on our own actions. Fast food chains appear everywhere in today’s world. Home delivery of various foods is more accessible than ever before. These are common excuses when overweight people blame fast food industries for their bodies. Before reading these essays, I already had an opinion about fast food in my mind. I believed that if someone was overweight or obese, that it was no one’s fault but their own. In his essay, however â€Å"You Want Fries with That? † Richard Daynard explained why he believes that today’s fast food industry is largely responsible for the dramatic rise in obesity cases in both children and adults of America. Daynard discussed how the fast food industries played a large role in deceiving the public into buying their food. Daynard said that society needs to find a happy medium when dealing with the fast food industry, whether it be through lawsuits or some other action! Daynard also backed up his claim by using supporting statistics surrounding fast food and obesity in America over the years. Ames’s essay on the other hand used no statistics. He based his entire essay on personal opinion. His frequent use of the word â€Å"I† also made the essay less effective. Overall, Richard Daynard had a much more objective argument about fast food than R. A. Ames. Daynard used specific statistics, and facts about the fast food industry, and he kept himself out of the article for the most part. Daynard was very effective in making me believe his argument. Another essay I have compared R. A. Ames is with Rahul K. Parikh’s â€Å"Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of Fats Kid† . Both of these essays had strong opinions concerning who is to blame regarding obesity in America. The â€Å"Fast Food Isn’t to Blame† was more persuasive I thought because it placed the blame for the obesity problem on the individual person and what he/she put into their bodies not on the fast food industries. According to R. A. Ames, â€Å"Americans tend to drive to Burger King and order a Double Whopper with Cheese with a King size fries instead of driving to a supermarket and pick up some turkey and whole wheat bread† (326). They are obese because they make a choice to eat fast food themselves, not because fast food chains force them to stop by their restaurants to eat their food. Ames went on to say that instead of people taking responsibility for being obese they are blaming the fast food industry. Ames compared obesity to smoking. He made this comparison because both can be deadly and that in the end â€Å"you still have to put the cigarette in your mouth the same way you put a candy bar. After this Ames said that in the â€Å"land of the free† we are able to make our own decisions but with this freedom we as people have to be responsible for our decisions. Rahul Parikh said in his essay that â€Å"Parents need to take charge of what foods they’re buying and how they’re preparing those foods† (1). This statement is suggesting that instead of blaming fast food companies parents should control their children’s food buying habits. They should limit their television hours where they see all those advertisements that attract them to eat fast foods. Rahul said that companies use superstars, action heroes, cartoons to promote their products in the market that attracts people and mainly children’s. Rahul compared child advertisement to obesity and suggested that today children will see 40,000 advertisements in a year. In this huge number of advertisements, two third of those are for junk and fast food. Ames and Rahul were both arguing that it is our individual choices to eat fast food, so we should not blame companies who provide them. In our society, we are always looking for someone or something to blame for our problems. We seem to want to avoid taking responsibility for our actions and their consequences. Overall obesity has nothing to do with the fast food industry and genetics, but rather the choices. People should be encouraged to take personal responsibility for their actions and realize what they put into their mouths, and that how much exercise they do contributes to their health and well-being. When overweight people admit that they cause their own obesity, they can swiftly move away from being obese and recognize a healthy lifestyle. While in R. A. Ames â€Å"The Food Isn’t to Blame† and Richard Daynard â€Å"You Want Fries with That? † use different themes of blaming fast companies and individual decisions to underscore the effects of fast of food on America, One other hand Rahul K. Parikh â€Å" Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of Fats Kid† has same theme has R. A. Ames essay, he blamed advertisements for America’s Obesity. I have discussed the Ame’s essay with my friends and family. Most of them are agreed with the essay but there were also some people who were disagreed. I eat very precisely, before eating anything I check calories and fat of the product I am going to eat.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Analogy of Nature vs Nurture

The Human Genome Project, which has attracted its fair share of controversy, set out in the early 1990s to map all 25,000 genes of the human genome (â€Å"About†). The hope was that such discoveries would provide a roadmap to the specific genes which could â€Å"allow us to accurately predict who will develop heart disease, become violent, or become homosexual† (Young). Psychologists, however, have countered this process by pointing out the importance of environmental factors to overall social development. Professor Robert Plomin of the Institute of Psychiatry in London says that â€Å"individual differences in complex traits are due at least as much to environmental influences as they are to genetic influences† (qtd. in Young). This is, in essence, a modern-day battle of nature versus nurture. In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein the conflict is perfectly encapsulated in the character of the monster; is he inherently evil and bloodthirsty, or did harsh societal treatment force him to be that way? It is an age-old question, still yet to be solved. However, through her writing and characterization it becomes clear that the monster began life as fresh and innocent as a regular newborn baby. He only became a true â€Å"monster† in the archetypal sense after enduring hatred and isolation at the hands of the humans he so longed to be. He is, in effect, nurtured into being the murderer that he becomes. Despite his unnatural birth, Frankenstein's creation still exudes the freshness and naivety of a young child discovering things for the first time. The prime example of this is his discovery of fire: â€Å"I found a fire which had been left by some wandering beggars†¦ in my joy I thrust my hand into the live embers, but quickly drew it out again with a cry of pain† (Shelley 89). He obviously has no life experiences to guide his actions and spends his first few weeks investigating and trying to understand the world around him, much like a newborn would. He even says that â€Å"no distinct ideas occupied my mind† (Shelley 88). This is not a being born a raving lunatic, his mind awash with murderous thoughts. He is simply a blank slate. Once he begins to distinguish light and sound, he continues his fresh exploration, discovering such things as animals, foliage, and warmth. At one point he wanders into an old man's hut, scaring him off. He doesn't intend to cause the man harm, nor does the reaction his appearance receives cause him any emotional distress or give rise to vengeance. He is not the being that he is by the end of the novel, a clear indication of the influence of social and environmental factors on development. In fact, it is not until he sees the De Lacey family for the first time that he begins to truly grasp basic emotions like happiness and sadness; until that point he had only known physical pain and hunger. The De Laceys are essentially the monster's first nurturers, however unknowing they may be. By observing them he becomes aware of human relationships, human emotions, and even human history. He develops a high level empathy for the family; their trials and tribulations were his, and when their were sad so was he. In a way he is exhibiting a highly pure and limited form of emotional expression and understanding for, much like a very young child or even a pet, his own feelings are greatly influenced by, and reflective of, those around him. Since the family provides the basis for the monster's impression of humans, he originally thinks fairly highly of them. The monster, who had started out taking some of their food for his own survival, stopped doing so when he â€Å"found out that in doing this [he] inflicted pain on the cottagers† (Shelley 96). To make amends he instead gathers firewood for them, and is filled with satisfaction upon knowing that he saved them from even a small amount of hardship. It is from the De Laceys that he first learns of kindness and love, and of the bonds of family and friendship. If he was truly born a monster it is doubtful that he would have any capacity whatsoever for empathy and love. At this point in the novel, though, it's quite apparent that the so-called â€Å"demon† has a interior that belies his frightening exterior appearance. The monster also learns how to read, write, and speak by intently observing the De Laceys. This act of humanization further endears the family to him, and is his major step towards joining human society. Of course this is all thrown out the window when, after meticulously planning on how to reveal his presence to the family, they receive him with less than open arms: Felix violently ejects him from their cottage, while Safie runs away in disgust and Agatha faints upon seeing his form. This is the first of several traumatic experiences with the human race that totally throws the monster's worldview out-of-whack; where before he saw only gentleness and love he soon comes to associate humans with hatred and violence. Next the monster gets shot after saving a girl from drowning in a river. However he still does not respond violently towards either the girl or the attacker; instead he merely wanders off, injured and confused. It would seem that he has yet to become the violent murderer the majority of the story sees him as. At this point, though, he does vow â€Å"eternal hatred and vengeance on all mankind† (Shelley 126), which is a far cry from the admiration he expressed for their race only days before. This is the turning point in the monster's behavior; from here on out his thought process is radically changed. Society and mankind have totally rejected him by this time, and again like a child he takes these insults to heart and responds in a somewhat over-the-top manner. The monster's brutal murder of William, Frankenstein's younger brother, is the first occurrence to truly display any sort of demonic tendencies. By this point, though, his heart and mind have been shaped by nearly two years of life experiences, many of them negative. After all, he lives, apart from observing the De Laceys, in total isolation. He is then deemed a monster by all of society, and cast out. He is even shot for doing a heroic deed. Add on his knowledge of the bloody history of human civilization (which is filled with war and revenge) and his exposure and identification with Satan in Milton's Paradise Lost and it is not entirely surprising to see his mindset so rapidly altered. Of course he goes on to kill many more of Frankenstein's loved ones, and eventually indirectly causes the death of Frankenstein himself, though these heinous crimes are born out of a lack of nurture, not simply just his natural personality. In fact, like many serial killers before and after him, the monster lacks any sort of parental figure. His father, Frankenstein, was so disgusted by him that he ran away and never came back. History has shown us that growing up fatherless can have severe ramifications upon a child's psyche and development. Numerous sociologists and psychologists have come to the conclusion that a fatherless childhood increases the likelihood that said child will turn to a life of crime or depression, and with 70% of long-term prison inmates and 72% of adolescent murderers coming from fatherless homes that assumption appears to be correct (Popenoe). This is a clear endorsement of the importance of nurture over nature in that this environmental change has such a large effect on the future of these children. Many, of course, come to resent and hate the man who walked out on them. This is the case with the monster, whose quest for vengeance against his creator provides the main plot of the novel. The monster falls victim to the numerous environmental forces working against him, from societal isolation to the abandonment of his father. His ultimate personality is filled with rage and anger, though it is not without the kinder traits he picked up from the De Lacey family. He confesses at the end of the novel of his remorse at his crimes: â€Å"No guilt, no mischief, no malignity, no misery can be comparable to mine† (Shelley 203). Two of the most important quotes, though, appear at the end of the novel as well: the monster essentially conveys Shelley's exact point in the nature vs. nurture battle when he says that his â€Å"heart was fashioned to be susceptible of love and sympathy† (Shelley 202) and that he â€Å"cannot believe that [he is] the same creature whose thoughts were once filled with sublime and transcendent visions of the beauty and majesty of goodness† (Shelley 204). Even he recognizes the changes that have taken place inside his own psyche, and he understands that it is his life experiences and environment that is to blame for this. In these final quotes, he also makes it clear that he started out life fresh and new, without a demonic cell in his body, and that his first experiences were those of kindness and joy. It was not until after his mind began to form that he was exposed to the concepts of hatred and vengeance. With the character of Frankenstein's monster, Shelley has created not only one of the most iconic misunderstood villains of literature but also formed an entire thesis on the concept of nature versus nurture in human development. By making the monster a blank slate, and morphing his personality based upon the different cataclysmic events that shape his life, Shelley clearly states her support for the nurture side of the argument. In a way the entire novel could be seen as an argument in defense of the belief that it is the child's environment and form of nurture received (be it good, bad, or non-existent) that provides the basis for their personality and character. Of course genetics does play a role in such areas. People are generally not born serial killers, nor are they born as charitable saints. Parenting plays a huge role in early development, as many professionals have proven, and the monster's lack of a single parent largely attributes to his personality defects. This point, combined with the isolation and hatred that he endured, are the reasons that he turned towards a path of murder and destruction.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Five ways your web writing is annoying your readers - Emphasis

Five ways your web writing is annoying your readers Five ways your web writing is annoying your readers Having a website is a wonderful thing: it allows you to confuse and  frustrate people thousands of miles away without ever having to hear their complaints. This makes it very hard to see what the problems are – and very tempting to pretend that they don’t exist. Your web pages don’t have to be like that. It all comes down to avoiding the five most common web-writing traps. Here’s how. Skip the happy talk Imagine stepping into a lift or elevator and hearing this announcement:  Ã¢â‚¬ËœThank you for entering this building’s lift. We’re pleased you’ve chosen the number one lift provider in this building. To select your desired floor, please use the illuminated buttons.’ Clearly ridiculous – yet a similar thing happens on many web pages:  Ã¢â‚¬ËœThank you for browsing our widgets. We are the market leaders in widgets and are dedicated to producing the best widgets for you. We’ve been making widgets since 1990. To browse our widgets, click on the links below.’ Web usability expert Steve Krug calls this kind of space-filling, meaningless text ‘happy talk’, and recommends a simple test to root it out: read it out loud. If you hear a quiet voice saying in your head ‘blah blah blah’, then it’s happy talk. In this example, the only potentially useful information is ‘To browse our widgets, click on the links below’. But if simple tasks such as browsing your site require instructions, there’s a very good chance that it’s not better phrasing you need, but more intuitive web design. Don’t be afraid of keeping text content to a minimum, if it makes things clearer. An excellent example of this is the Gov.uk site, which won the Design of the Year award in 2013. See the section for drivers as an example. There’s no happy talk or clutter, and all the links are self-explanatory. Answer the golden question Everyone visiting your web pages will have a need. This can range from the highly specific, such as a need to buy a particular product, to a vague need for distraction. You need to work out which of these needs also benefits your organisation, then tailor your website to meet them. This is hard because people can arrive in a bewildering variety of ways. Imagine a large shopping centre with an underground car park, an internal metro station, a bus-stop, a helipad, several pedestrian entrances – and, just for added complication, a few ladders leaning up against windows. Where do you greet the visitors, and how do you establish what they need? Website visitors can come from search engines, social media, reference by a friend, a link from a site, by directly typing the address into their browser after seeing an advert, or just from memory. You have no way of telling where the next one will come from, and no control over which page they see first. This means each page, by itself, needs to answer the golden question of web writing: ‘Am I in the right place?’ Within about five seconds. This is a hard test to pass. Try it for yourself: Get someone who isn’t familiar with your website to look at an important page. Ask them what they think that page is about after a few seconds. There’s a good chance you’ll be surprised by their answer. Go to FiveSecondTest.com (the free version is fine for this) and ask some anonymous people from the internet to do the same thing. If this all sounds too painful, try it on the sites of your competitors or similar organisations. You’ll be surprised at how many of them fail. This can be quite satisfying, but bear in mind that your site probably suffers from some of the same problems. People will tend to stay on your site if they think they’re in the right place – just as you’ll keep searching for what you need in a department store if you think you’re likely to find it. However, you’ll need to make sure they can find it reasonably swiftly, as anyone who’s ever stormed off in an empty-handed huff will attest. Be credible If Google is to be believed, the world is crammed full of ‘world leaders’, hundreds of thousands of them, all leading the world in something or other. A Google search for ‘world leader in the field of’ returns more than five million results. Phrases like this give no information and are not by themselves credible. They only take a few key strokes to type and anyone can claim them – and your readers know it. They will filter it out. This applies most obviously to marketing copy, where a handful of testimonials from satisfied people are worth more than anything, however wondrous, the company claims about itself. But it also applies in a more subtle way to non-marketing claims. For example, if you claim you are ‘always there to help’, then back it up by making your contact details easy to find. Make your headlines work The pressure on headlines is staggering, which makes writing them hard. But it doesn’t have to be, if you follow three rules: They must be informative. They’re the first thing the reader scans, and often the only thing they’ll bother to read, so they need to communicate essentially what the page is about. They need to be concise, to the point and short. And they have to be easy to understand for everyone in your target audience. So think twice before using industry-insider terms that a new customer may not understand. When writing a headline, keep in mind the golden question: ‘Am I in the right place?’ Your headline needs to answer that in as plain a way as possible. Gov.uk does well again here – its section covering areas as diverse as apprenticeships, school applications and university loans is summarised as ‘Education and learning’. It’s short, informative and easy to understand. The body copy (also very short) lets people know the detail. KISS with confidence Keeping it Short and Simple is a fundamental part of all professional writing, and it’s particularly important when you’re writing for the web. On the web, you’re always fighting to hold your audience’s attention (and to keep them away from the back button), so the shorter the sweeter. Also, your visitors will have different levels of English comprehension – some may have lower levels of literacy, including those for whom English is not a first language. Keeping it short and simple will help all the visitors to your site by making it easier to use and understand. This in turn increases trust, and helps your visitors achieve their goals quickly and simply. Bob’s your uncle Apply these five rules to your website, and you’ll soon see your communications becoming leaner, cleaner and more efficient. And while you may not be able to see your website visitors’ blood pressure lowering, you’ll soon start to witness the effects. When they realise they’re able to find what they’re looking for on your website quickly and easily, they’ll trust your organisation to be able to meet their needs with the same efficiency. To find out how to optimise your web writing for search engines, see  A beginner’s guide to keyword research.  For tips on how to keep it short and simple, see Three ways to tame your sentences and the  Power up with the active voice  video.

Monday, October 21, 2019

Human Growth Development Essay Example

Human Growth Development Essay Example Human Growth Development Essay Human Growth Development Essay Erikson believed personality development was an ongoing process affected by social and cultural events in which a state of maturity is aspired to. Stage 1 The infancy stage covers the childs first one and a half years, where primary care givers need to maintain a nurturing environment in order for the child to develop trust. Stage 2 The anal-muscular stage from eighteen months to four years sees the child enter a phase where a level of independence is achieved. Care givers need to generate an environment in which firm but fair boundaries are implemented in order for the child to develop an assurance of own abilities. Stage 3 From the ages of three to six the child enters the genital-locomotor stage were an understanding of right and wrong develops. An even balance of guilt and initiative should produce a child that is aware of its own capabilities and the affects its actions have on others, however, the child that has no clear understanding of right or wrong could be prone to hurting others and would see guilt as being weak. Stage 4 The Latency stage occurs from approximately age 6 to twelve years where social skills are derived from the young persons surroundings. However, during the Latency stage development is affected in a larger degree by external factors such as school friends, teaching staff and the extended family. At this stage the child has to learn how to feel competent. Stage 5 From the ages of approximately 14-20 years the young person enters adolescence where a sense of role identify is developed with the individual understanding who they are and their place in society. Stage 6 Young adulthood is entered between the ages of 20 35 years where intimate relationships are developed with the expectation of giving and receiving love, and where many couples decide to begin a family. Stage 7 As adults enter maturity (ages 35 65 years) they are seen to develop through guiding their own children. Love, at this stage, is given freely to children without the expectation of receiving it back. Investment in future generations is the motivating force in this stage; however an extreme of this Erkison calls Overextension. Stage 8 Adults in this stage are referred to as many different things such as Old Age Pensioners; The Twilights, Senior Citizens; War Babes; Veterans; etc. In different cultures individuals entering this stage are treated with different measures of respect. In some cultures adults in this stage are seen as having achieved wisdom with a sense of well-being and are sought after for their perception and knowledge. In contrast Jean Piaget saw development in terms of attaining balance of intellectual structures. Piaget believed that children are fundamentally different thinkers than adults, being incapable of understanding particular things before achieving certain stages in their development . He also described children as being egocentric. because a young child cannot understand how someone elses point of view may be different from their own.. (Edmonds, V. , 2006). Piagets proposed four major stages of development can vary greatly due to the individuality of the child and cultural influences. The first of Piagets developmental stages, Sensorimotor, occurs between the ages of 0 to 2 years in which the child identifies the difference between self and other objects. This is also the stage where a child learns by touch or as Piaget relates touch tutors vision (Butterworth, G. , Harris M. , 1994, p234). The Preoperational stage from 2 to 7 years identifies the period when language is developed. Between 7 to11 years the child is in the Concrete Operational stage where the ability to think logically in regards to events and objects in the here and now is developed. The Formal Operational stage between 12 to 15 years is when the young develop the ability to solve abstract or hypothetical problems. Piagets theory behind these stages was that logical thinking develops slowly with intellectual development being a gradual evolution. When looking at the different theorists perspectives in relation to Human Growth and Development I feel more drawn to the work of Piagets and Eriksson in their acknowledgement of the impact of social factors upon development. There are many social factors that could affect psychological and social development, these may include the social class that a child is reared in; the level of wealth or poverty within the household or surrounding environment; disability of the child or other family members; the ethnic group to which the child or family belong to; gender of the child; religious observances within the family; or abuse towards the child or within the home environment. A subsequent resulting factor could be the affect of living within a different lifestyle to others in the surrounding environment be it relatives, peers, neighbours etc. This could apply to a child or young person who has been raised in a working class environment whose parents decide to send them to a better school. The child could feel very different from others in the school and may feel inadequate in comparing themselves and their families to those at the better school. The young person may then present with low self-esteem or self-worth. When applying social factors to myself I realise that I can relate strongly to Bowlbys theory of attachment and Ericksons eight stages. Sterns theory of attachment at a early age is very significant, but being the middle child of nine and coming from an era and culture where It takes a whole village to raised a child (old African saying) I found it difficult to subscribe to the non-verbal messages that transfers from the child to its primary carer, especially when everyone and anyone could be that primary career. I am the middle child of nine children, my mother worked as a cleaner in the local hospital and my father was a musician who travelled for months on end, they both came over from St. Kitts to England in the late 50s. By the age of 10 my father immigrated to America promising find a job there and take us over but I never saw him again until the day of my mothers funeral when I was 38. There was only three main rules, Love the Lord, Never fight each other and whomever was the eldest in the house at any given time was the person with the responsibilities. Coming from a working class, area and living in a predominantly white community in a time where discrimination was unacceptable but not against the law, I struggled in stages 3 to 5 of Eriksons model. Being Black, female, young and not knowing of my learning disability had a dramatic impact on my self-esteem, confidence, identity, individualism and acceptance within society but not the community I lived in. Within my community, social circle (which in the beginning was predominantly black) we all shared similar or the same stories, it was where I held on to my identity, self-image, confidence, integrity, and faith. I learnt there were good and bad in all people regardless of their race, faith and social background. We had an elderly English neighbour who looked after her disabled daughter, she constantly had us over for tea, and brought us gifts for no reason. I experience a teacher who knew I was constantly being bullied and attacked in the playground, so made me the milk monitor bringing authority and respect from the other children as they had to collect their milk from me.

Sunday, October 20, 2019

Should You Become a Special Education Teacher

Should You Become a Special Education Teacher Are you ready for a very demanding, challenging yet very worthwhile and rewarding career? 10 Questions 1. Do you enjoy working with children with special needs? Are you committed to helping those in need achieve their potential?Some of the types of disabilities youll be working with include: learning disabilities, speech or language impairments, mental retardation, emotional disturbance (behavioral, mental FAS etc.), multiple disabilities, hearing impairments, orthopedic impairments, visual impairments, autism (autism spectrum), combined deafness and blindness, traumatic brain injury, and other health impairments. 2. Do you have the required certification? Certification/licenses to qualify you to teach?Special education certification will differ according to educational jurisdiction. North American Qualification 3. Do you have endless patience?I spent many months working with a child with Cerebral Palsy with the main goal being achieving a yes/no response. After months of working on this, it was achieved and she would raise her hand for yes and shake her head for no. These kinds of things are often just taken for granted, this was a very big learning leap for this child and made the world of difference. It took endless patience. 4. Do you enjoy teaching life skills and basic literacy/numeracy?Basic life skills overview here. 5. Are you comfortable doing the ongoing and what seems like endless paperwork required? IEPs, curricular modifications, referrals, progress reports, committee notes, community liaison forms/notes etc. 6. Do you enjoy assistive technology? There are more and more assistive devices available to students with special needs, you will be on a continuous learning curve to learn about the technologies available to students. 7. Are you comfortable with the inclusive model and teaching in a variety of settings? More and more special educators are supporting special needs student within the regular classroom. Sometimes, teaching in special education could mean having a small class of all life skills students or a class with students with autism. In some cases, there will be a variety of setting from small rooms for withdrawal combined with special and the inclusive classroom. 8. Are you able to handle stress?Some special educators burn out easily due to the additional stress levels caused by heavy workloads, administrative tasks and very difficult to handle students. 9. Are you able to develop good working relationships with a wide range of professionals, community service agents, and families? It is important to be empathetic and very understanding when working with the many individuals involved in the students behalf. The key to success is often a direct result of having exceptional relationships at all levels. You need to feel that you have a very strong ability to work as part of a team in a cooperative and collaborative manner. 10. The Bottom Line: You need to feel very strongly about your ability to impact the future of children with disabilities. If your main personal goal is to have a positive impact and to make a positive difference in the lives of children with disabilities this may well be the profession for you. It takes a special teacher to become a special education teacher.

Saturday, October 19, 2019

Austerity Measures of European Governments Essay - 1

Austerity Measures of European Governments - Essay Example As a result, it caused several problems which it was intended to resolve. With political motivations, governments of the Euro zone have developed austerity measures to demonstrate their discipline to their creditors and credit rating agencies. The governments essentially targeted government spending to reduce their budget deficits because they were directly affected by the sovereign debt crisis which made their budget deficits relative to GDP to soar significantly (Traynor and Katie Allen 2010). Therefore, the austerity measures were focused on the government, although it had significant effects on all sectors of the economy in the affected countries. Increase of taxes as part of the austerity measures is also intended for the citizens, businesses and companies of those countries. In this case, the people and businesses in the country were made to pay for the government deficit. This increased the problems of the Euro zone rather than reducing or solving them. In 2010-2011 when the a usterity measures were used, all European countries except Germany experienced an increased in public debt to GDP ratio. For instance, the public debt of Greece increased from 143% in 2010 to 165% in 2011 (Eurostat 2013). This indicates that as the budget deficits declined, the GDP growth was not sufficient to support the rising ratio of debt-to- GDP. The reason why austerity measures failed in the Euro zone is because the problems of sovereign debt crisis after the 2008 financial crisis were not caused by policy choices. Following the 2008 crisis, private sector retrenchment occurred and capital account surpluses increased. However, the austerity measures did not target these sectors. Instead, it aimed at the government; hence becoming counterproductive (Blyth 2013).

Friday, October 18, 2019

The use of criminal law in relation to insider dealing in the United Essay

The use of criminal law in relation to insider dealing in the United Kingdom is both draconian and unnecessary. Discuss - Essay Example The proposed criminal laws purport that the act is unfair since an investor who has inside information is highly likely to make more profits as compared to a typical investor. Other scholars claim that unauthorised insider trading tends to increase the cost of capital on the issuers of securities; hence, reducing economic growth (Alexander 2007, pp. 229-230). However, it is undoubtedly that though the set criminal laws are meant to help the investors and ensure economic success, they are unnecessary, draconian, and obviously counter-intuitive. Wagner (2011, pp. 974-975) asserts that the criminal laws are extreme and there is a need to legalise insider dealings to benefit the markets, ensure more transparency, reduce accounting fraud, and act on timely and factual information. Various scholars posit that criminal laws regarding insider trading in the UK are unnecessary and are a burden to some market participants. This is because though such trading has been illegal since the year 1980, it has always been difficult to effectively prosecute persons who have been accused of such dealings. In most cases, the suspects are able to escape arrest or prosecution; thus, the regulators often rely on fines to punish those who are found abusing the market. It is unfortunate though that the fines have always been perceived as inefficient since the perpetrators are able to walk scot-free since they have the necessary resources to cover their fines. In that case, this only increases the rate of misconduct; making the set laws redundant (Ferran 2004, pp. 44-45). The number of insider dealing cases by the Financial Conduct Authority in the UK has heightened in the past years. Since the year 2009 to 2013, there have been roughly 23 convictions. For instance, in 2009, Christian Littlewood who was a corporate financier and an insider trader was sentenced to three years and four months in jail. It was believed that the gross profit accumulated from his

Impact Of Arab Spring On The Dynamics In The Middle East And North Essay

Impact Of Arab Spring On The Dynamics In The Middle East And North Africa - Essay Example The term â€Å"Arab Spring† refers to the revolutionary wave that has hit the entire Arab world which has resulted in the â€Å"awakening† of all the Arabs in the Middle East and North Africa. This led to a series of demonstrations, strikes, and protests in the Arab region which marked the beginning of a revolution in the Middle East and North Africa. Few of the revolutions that changed the history of the Arab world are a Tunisian and Egyptian revolution, civil war in Libya that toppled the government of General Gaddafi, civil disobedience in Bahrain, Syria, and Yemen. Different protests and strikes against governments have also been observed at a large scale in Algeria, Iraq, Kuwait, and Morocco and Oman whereas, on the other hand; Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Lebanon, and Mauritania also faced the wave of revolution This Arab revolution also added fuel to the fire to the Palestinian Conflict with Israel. The â€Å"Arab Spring† involved a series of civil resistance in t erms of violent strikes, campaigns, public demonstrations and marches against the government. Media coverage and social media platforms have played a vital role in shaping the revolution and creating awareness. This civil resistance was suppressed by the government and the authorities in a violent manner which triggered the revolution more aggressively by the protestors. Arab Spring which is also known as â€Å"Arab Awakening† or â€Å"Arab Uprisings† refers to the series of protests and public demonstrations.... This civil resistance was suppressed by the government and the authorities in a violent manner which triggered the revolution more aggressively by the protestors. THE RISE OF ARAB SPRING: Arab Spring which is also known as â€Å"Arab Awakening† or â€Å"Arab Uprisings† refers to the series of protests and public demonstrations held against the government and the authorities by the Arab people. These protests and the demonstrations were observed throughout the Middle East and North Africa which changed the history of the Arab politics in the region. The incident in Tunisia on 18th December 2010 became the major reason for triggering this revolution5. The Tunisian revolution begins with the self-immolation of Mohammad Bouazizi against corruption and unjust treatment by the government authorities. This sparked the fire in other African and Middle Eastern states such as Algeria, Egypt and Yemen which was followed by a number of violent protests in other countries as well6. However, a wave of political unrest and public demonstration against governments was felt even outside the Arab region which marked the new era of revolution and rebellion against state corruption, ill treatment, unemployment and human rights violation by the official authorities. As a result of this revolution, different governments around the region as well as outside the Arab region were brought down by the protestors. These demonstrations and political unrest in the Arab states drew the global attention towards the demands of the Arab nationals. CAUSES OF THE ARAB SPRING: It is important to understand the motivating factors and causes behind the violent aggression by

Health Sector Service Management Research Paper

Health Sector Service Management - Research Paper Example The research paper â€Å"Health Sector Service Management† discusses various aspects that include a brief overview of wait times of the patients relating with health sector, causes along with their consequences. It is worth mentioning that in order to gain an in-depth knowledge about the prevalence of wait times across the health segment, a cross-examination of two hospitals namely Tawam and Al Ain is considered. One of the critical challenges faced by the healthcare organizations in recent times relating to wait times of the patients is patient satisfaction. Thus, certain challenges and solutions to mitigate these challenges are also depicted in this research paper. In healthcare sector, waiting time is fundamentally regarded as the duration of time that passes particularly between receiving ‘Recommendation for Admission’ form by a hospital and the specific day of the admission of patient in the hospital. In general, waiting time associated with healthcare segmen t is viewed to be a time period between when a specific activity is mandated or requested and its happening. It has been apparently observed in this similar circumstance that if the aforementioned form is arrived at a certain delayed time at the hospital, the waiting time would generally appear quite shorter. Besides, waiting time in healthcare sector is also described as the total time taken by a patient starting from the registration till the consultation with the doctor. There generally exist two sorts of waiting time in this similar circumstance.... There generally exist two sorts of waiting time in this similar circumstance. One type of waiting time is viewed to be the time taken by a patient for making consultation with the doctor and the time taken for obtaining any medicine. The other type is the time taken by a patient particularly in registration is also regarded as one of the components of waiting time of a patient (Abdullah, 2005). The significant concern of waiting time can be related with triaging of patients. In this similar concern, the term â€Å"triage† is fundamentally regarded as a procedure that was initially executed especially by the militaries for the purpose of sorting their soldiers effectually who were wounded in any battle. Generally, ‘triage’is viewed to be the sole method through which healthcare professionals act proficiently towards categorizing the urgency of the medical requirements of the patients resulting in the deliverance of proper, secure and quality medical care to the pat ients. By taking into concern this particular approach of triage, it has been viewed that the prime intention of this process is to make sure that every patient is appropriately as well as timely treated at the time of their any clinical urgency. However, different healthcare organizations have been witnessed to face critical issues concerning waiting time that needs to be mitigated largely in order to support the patients by offering secure and quality medical care to them (Rambaran, 2009). In this research paper, a detailed investigation about a current management of service quality issue or problem faced by an organization today will be taken into concern. In this

Thursday, October 17, 2019

Ethical Egoism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Ethical Egoism - Essay Example For example, while working at the Single Stop in Miami Dade College Kendal campus, it was clear that every activity had both benefits and costs. First, experience gained in working is very essential as one gets exposure to various challenges and thereby learning ways of overcoming them. Secondly, one gains the ability to manage time and to interact with people with different views and ideas that are usually helpful in life. It is also motivating to learn that through own efforts somebody else lives a better life through the role one played in their life success. In most cases, every action will have a cost under whatever circumstances. The costs are sometimes are minimal and outdone by the benefits, and acts as a motivation to others in most cases. Time is one of the major costs in engaging in an activity. It is a challenge to allocate time to assist others especially when there are no benefits tied to the activity. Engaging in an activity also requires dedication of own efforts, resources such as money or knowledge. These costs in most cases are necessary to part with in  daily  lives. The theory of ethical egoism offers a suitable platform for justification in every action one engages. The theory states that it is sufficient and necessary for action to stand as morally right if it maximizes one’s self interest (Shaffer-Landau 193). It takes two versions the individual and the universal ethical egoism. In individual ethical egoism, one should check on one’s own interests, and one should concern with others only if the extent of involvement contributes to own interests. In universal ethical egoism, everybody has an obligation to act on their best self-interest and ought to concern about others only if the extent of concern contributes to their self-interests. Thus, the theory outlines that before engaging in an action it is necessary to evaluate the benefits and the costs attached. If the costs exceed the benefits, then it is not

Corporate Governance Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Corporate Governance - Research Paper Example Introduction The term corporate governance is employed to refer to the systems through which companies are controlled and directed. This is through the involvement of the market and regulatory mechanisms. It also encompasses the relationship that exists between the board, the management of the organization, stakeholders and shareholders that are involved with the organization. Corporate governance also involves the goals through which the company is governed (Jo & Harjoto, 2012, 58). One of the key interests of corporate governance includes the mitigation of conflicts that may arise among the stakeholders in the company. This involves ensuring that there is no disagreement in the agenda of the stakeholders in regards to policies, processes, laws, customs and institutions that have influence over how the company is managed. Corporate governance has been necessitated in recent times, with the wake of a number of high profile company collapses, with the principal cause being attributed to accounting fraud. This, therefore, made it necessary for corporate to come up with to avoid such occurrences. Principles of Corporate governance For corporate governance to be effectual, some principles were agreed upon as a framework for the practice. One of the principles is in regards to the treatment of shareholders. Corporate realized that how they treat their shareholders has a significant impact on their operations. Therefore, it is imperative for organizations to respect the shareholders liberties and assist them in employing those liberties (Norwani, Mohamad & Chek 2011, 210). This can be achieved by encouraging the shareholders to be proactive in the general summits, and through the establishment of a communication that is open and effective. Another principle includes organizations ensuring that the other stakeholders’ interests are addressed. This is because; it is the obligation of the corporate to ensure that the interests of these parties are addressed. Stak eholders may include employees, investors, the community, creditors, customers, suppliers and policy makers. Among the principles, the board’s roles and responsibilities are also stipulated (Johnson, Moorman & Sorescu, 2009, 4755). The board has a critical function, which requires them to have sufficient skills that are essential in addressing challenges that may affect the corporate in its operations. Corporate governance ensures that the board is aware of their mandate. The board needs to be autonomous, committed and of an adequate size, to handle its mandate capably. It is crucial for the corporate management of an institution to be triumphant; there ought to be transparency in the Corporation. This is through the making public of the mandate of the board and the general management. This disclosure will ensure that there is accountability on the part of management, and the board to the stakeholders of the Corporation. I this case, procedures should be implemented to ensure the corporation safeguards the veracity in its finance reporting. It is also fundamental to make certain that there is an accurate and timely disclosure, to give the stakeholders a vivid representation of information regarding the corporate. These principles were formulated to ensure that

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Ethical Egoism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Ethical Egoism - Essay Example For example, while working at the Single Stop in Miami Dade College Kendal campus, it was clear that every activity had both benefits and costs. First, experience gained in working is very essential as one gets exposure to various challenges and thereby learning ways of overcoming them. Secondly, one gains the ability to manage time and to interact with people with different views and ideas that are usually helpful in life. It is also motivating to learn that through own efforts somebody else lives a better life through the role one played in their life success. In most cases, every action will have a cost under whatever circumstances. The costs are sometimes are minimal and outdone by the benefits, and acts as a motivation to others in most cases. Time is one of the major costs in engaging in an activity. It is a challenge to allocate time to assist others especially when there are no benefits tied to the activity. Engaging in an activity also requires dedication of own efforts, resources such as money or knowledge. These costs in most cases are necessary to part with in  daily  lives. The theory of ethical egoism offers a suitable platform for justification in every action one engages. The theory states that it is sufficient and necessary for action to stand as morally right if it maximizes one’s self interest (Shaffer-Landau 193). It takes two versions the individual and the universal ethical egoism. In individual ethical egoism, one should check on one’s own interests, and one should concern with others only if the extent of involvement contributes to own interests. In universal ethical egoism, everybody has an obligation to act on their best self-interest and ought to concern about others only if the extent of concern contributes to their self-interests. Thus, the theory outlines that before engaging in an action it is necessary to evaluate the benefits and the costs attached. If the costs exceed the benefits, then it is not

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Case study write-up Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Case study write-up - Essay Example The Envirofit team thought the venture was simple and hoped it will help to reduce the pollution in the motorcycle engines. Social and environmental challenges can be tackled through development of technology such as the one developed y the team of the engineering students. The snowmobile technology that was developed for the Yellowstone National Park was aimed to avoid noise and pollution in the park. They used the technology to to fit onto existing machines and placed initially on the emissions event in the clean Snowmobile challenge that reduced hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide emissions by over 99%. Since this was successful, it was subsequently applied in motorcycles. The inventory of the Envirofit was instrumental in ensuring an environmental safe and friendly vehicle. Modification of existing technology is instrumental in promoting and bettering the existing technology. For instance, the snowmobile was to be abandoned from the national park. However, the modification by the team made it relevant for the snowmobile to be used in the park as well as motorcycles as well as other vehicles. While working in the project, the team was engaging with each other as well as other relevant interested people as the NGO and the community. This helped in forming relationships as well as fostering teamwork among the team. Working in a project as big as the Envirofit is challenging and requires perseverance and a lot of patience. The project is time consuming and requires dedication as well as commitment for it to be accomplished successfully. This instils discipline in the participants in the project who get to learn on how meet deadlines and deliver satisfactory results. As the team in Envirofit observed it is beneficial to get local partners to participate in an environment. This would give businesses the concept of credibility; it would make the business more effective and efficient. The real

Monday, October 14, 2019

Wisdom Literature And Psalms Religion Essay

Wisdom Literature And Psalms Religion Essay Within the Hebrew Bible itself, the wisdom literature is exciting, because it deals directly with life. The life-death situation is expressed positively in the image of the tree of life. Wisdom is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her; those who hold her fast are called happy. (Proverbs 3) There are five books in the Hebrew Bible that deserve the title of wisdom literature; three primary (Proverbs, Job, and Ecclesiastes) and two Apocrypha (Ecclesiasticus and Wisdom of Solomon). Within this literature is a distinct lack of what one would consider typically Jewish or Israelite as there is no mention of the promises of the patriarchs, the covenant and Sinai, the promise to David and so on. Wisdom literature is not confined to the Bible. Every culture that has left a written patrimony has something similar to the wisdom literature (Socrates the unexamined life is not worth living, Plato know thyself, Aristotle all men by nature desire to Know). The fundamental desire for knowledge as such characterizes human nature. Wisdom literature includes various authors trying to understand human nature, themselves, and understanding God and Gods relation to us. Within the Bible itself, Lady Wisdom remains an elusive figure despite considerable attention given to sapientia [hokmah], or wisdom. She is the object of a quest in the first recorded petition for wisdom (Solomon in 1 Kings 3) and in the last wisdom book to be written (Wisdom of Solomon). What is striking about these biblical texts is that they embody not only the faith of Israel, but also the treasury of cultures and civilizations which have long vanished. As if by special design the voices of Egypt and Mesopotamia sound again and certain features common to the cultures of the ancient Near East come to life in these pages which are rich in deep intuition. (Fides et Ratio 16) Wisdom is described in so many ways: She is fear of the Lord, instruction for moral formation, human experience, the mysteries of creation, Law, a mysterious divine call, and even a spouse. Wisdom literature provides a biblical model for understanding divine revelation apart from the historical mode (salvation history) in which it is usually cast. Wisdom literature transcends all of this and is not tied to any specific happening. The openness of Israelite wisdom to the wisdom of Israels neighbors the clearly international character of the wisdom movement, the actual borrowings from Egyptian wisdom, the controlling references to creatures and creation provides a biblical basis for the possibility that the non-Israelite can also respond in saving faith to the creator, who is the God revealed in Israelite and Christian experience. If God saw fit to recognize the wisdom of the pagan Egyptians in Proverbs, then we should be open to finding divinely inspired thoughts and wisdom in other cultures: through dialogue with other Christians (Ecumenism); dialogue with other non-Christians (Inter-religious); dialogue with regards to other faiths such as Animists and Buddhists (see Ad Gentes encyclical on the Churchs respect for other faiths and the Churchs desire to bring the leaders of other religions in to the fullness of Gods revelation, spirit and Gods self-revelation in Jesus Christ). Within the genre of Wisdom, there are many definitions on the categories of the literature. Biblical Wisdom is focused on practicality. It is on how we ought to live here and now. In Job and Qoheleth we find practical discussion spilling over into the broader meaning of life and the challenges of life. Wisdom books along with the Wisdom literature of other cultures move with in an ambience of the religious, in general, but not overtaken by a religious outlook. Proper fear of the lord is an often theme in Wisdom. What you find in Wisdom often doesnt have a necessary connection to religion. For this reason, these books appeal to the agnostics of today. This Wisdom also appeals to agnostic writers who find something they can hold onto in Christianity or in religion in general. Something that they value and is essential or creedal in nature. Many of the Proverbs show this side; the interpretation may be Christian but keep a cross cultural appeal as their beauty. Wisdom literature is also a good source of evangelization. For example, Paul goes in to the Areopagus (Acts 17) and the people start to mock him before he speaks. Paul uses some well-known verses of Greek authors and poets to bridge a common understanding and that have a bridge to the pagan audience. He succeeded in bridging the culture gap on their love of knowledge and love for wisdom and learning. In an increasingly secularized culture we will encounter these Pauline episodes more often. Wisdom literature is characterized by being called secularized as it is often devoid of any specific Christian content. The non-religious nature of Wisdom literature is not necessarily bad. A tinge of secularity doesnt hurt in the study of theology and the practice of ones own faith. With respect to Creation, Wisdom books move within a religious atmosphere but are not taken over by a religion. Creation is a work of Gods hands and therefore intrinsically good and should be stewarded carefully. By properly understanding those points, we come to an understanding about ourselves as the crowning glory of creation. Humans are made in the image and likeness of God (imago dei). If forgotten, any statement on theology is foundationless. Many denominations believe Man is fallen, evil or corrupt. But we are inherently good and this is not oblivious to everyone. Wisdom by which many generations of cultures is elevated, affirmed, and ratified in the books of Wisdom and are given the stamp of Divine Inspiration. Due to the straightforward nature of the Wisdom, we must be careful to not over analyze the literature or over analogize. Church Fathers interpret the books at the Literal and Sapiential meaning. So we too should not look too deeply in search of the obvious literal meaning as the Wisdom books wear their meaning on their sleeve. Many parts of the Wisdom books are difficult to date. Poetry is difficult to date and uses play on words, vocabulary and sometimes antiquated terms to bring together literary elements that are difficult to pin down a specific time and place. For example in Job there is not a single identifiable historical reference in the book. We cannot locate it accurately in time. We study the vocabulary, but Job has one of the broadest ranges in the bible. All of the personalities are literary creations and cannot be attached to an actual person. The place names are intentionally made obscure [Job lived in the land of Uz]. A similar Wisdom text to that of Job is found in the Persian Shahnameh (The Epic of Kings) by Hakim Abol Qasem Ferdowsi Tousi. In this Persian Wisdom book, the theological emphasis regarding God being unfathomable and unchallengeable is similar to the teaching at the end of the book of Job. In Sirach the author tells us who he is in the preface and can accurately date. A simila r Wisdom text to that of Sirach (and Proverbs) is found in Prologue of The Code of Hammurabi King of Babylon (from about 2250 BCE). The Psalms were written over a very broad period of time. Some were composed in the 10th century BCE and have their literary roots in earlier times. Job, Proverbs and Psalms express the heart of humanity; common things that people have experience of and understanding in. Sophia or wisdom is the understanding of the cosmos as a whole in terms of its ultimate cause and principle. So the search for wisdom is our search for whatever it is that is first in itself that is THE cause of the things that are first for us in sense perception. In studying Wisdom we can come to see the importance of Creation in biblical thought and in Jewish/Christian faith. We can also come to see the interdependence and interrelatedness in the reality of the biblical world view. Nothing is profane in the Wisdom book. All is sacred somehow. Perhaps we will need to adjust our perspective in order to see and understand and perceive that inter-relatedness of all reality. In studying Wisdom today, we are seeking to look into the life and times of Jesus. Jesus frequently spoke in a manner of the Wisdom literature and we find He spoke of Solomon in his teachings of the Gospels. Studying the Wisdom literature will give us a broader appreciation of the Bible in general. The Book of Job describe how the main theme of this book is developed, how we read it in the light of Christian Revelation, and how its message may come into use in pastoral situation. The Book of Job points us to (in the Christian era) the belief in the God revealed to us in the person Jesus Christ. This book can only be fully grasped in the light of the Cross and Resurrection of Christ. Job is all about suffering and theodicy. Job is steadfast, not patient in this reading. The scenes have been deliberately worked to set before the reader a picture of a living saint, one who has won divine approval for his lifestyle and who holds firmly to God despite cruel afflictions. In this book Satan is one of the sons of God, the members of the heavenly court who do the Lords bidding and serve as his counsel. (Murphy 36) The devil does not make us do it, but only shows us and we do the rest and the manner of which evil manifests itself in life varies. The office of Satan was responsible for putting a person to the test. A person whose job it is to prosecute or point out things persons do not want to see. A Satan is a person who God has commissioned and Devils Advocate is the actual title of Promoter of the Faith. For Ancient Israel, there was a dark side, to God that was simply accepted. This dark side resulted from the worldview that attributed to divine agency all that happens, evil as well as good. In the first chapter of Job, his sons and daughters are taken away; livestock are also taken away from Job. The Satan goes back and asks God for further trial. In the next chapter, the Satan gives sores to Job and Job sits in ashes (a gesture of mourning/sadness). Jobs wife asks if he is still holding to his innocentness. Job still does not sin with his lips, but oscillates between despair and ardent faith. In the third chapter, Job gives his perish the day on which I was born plaintive speech of deep darkness. This is the dark night of the soul. This is the type of thought that goes through peoples minds before suicide. Only known to God is the moral culpability or responsibility of the action by the suicide. But there is hope for the survivors on the Via Dolorosa. When we walk in this valley, we know that Christ walked there before us. Authentic hope is there. The Crucifixion cannot be taken for granted. We cannot presume that all the suffering we go through is for nothing and that the person is presumptuously in heaven. The taking of a life is wrong. God still loves the departed and there is the possibility of redemption but we must then walk the dolorosa. Job is a model of Virtue and of Patience and of Friendship with God. Job 4 begins 28 chapters of a cycle of speeches by Jobs friends (Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar). The three friends have the outlook that associates earthly rewards with goodness and earthly punishment with evil. This is the gospel of prosperity. In Job 5:8-27, his friends give a fraudulent response to his state: God rewards good people and punishes bad people. Job acknowledges his guilt, but no sin that merits the suffering that is being visited upon him. In Job 13:3, Job pushes back saying If he should kill me, I will wait for him; I will defend my conduct before him. And this shall be my salvation that no impious man can come into his presence. In Job 13:15-16, Job is saying that he has a clean conscience. He dares God to smite him. He has such confidence that God will respect a clean conscience and respect that he will defend himself. The cycle of speeches by the three friends begins to wrap up and Jobs understanding of his plight begins to open up. He expresses an inchoate belief in some kind of resurrection (this is a pre-curser to NT belief). In Job 29, he has an introspec tive moment and describes what it was like to have favor with God. He looks to the past with rose-colored glasses with all the what if statements. Through this questioning, his spirit begins to change and moves closer to God. We must trust in God even though we may not see the reason as to why we are going through a trial. In Job 29:15, he says he was eyes to the blind and feet to the lame. He was so devoted to helpless people that he perceived himself in their suffering. He intimately associated himself with the others plight that they became one (charity). The Theological Virtues: Faith, Hope, and Love are so called because we are imbued with these virtues (being gifts of grace) as they have God as their ultimate end. Elihus (name meaning He is my God) speeches follow with the theme arrogance with God will bring you punishment. His friends realize Job is able to rebut them, but Job has not come to any conclusion on his own. But this does not lift his suffering. In Job 38:1-40:2 and 40:6-41:26, we see that God is always patiently listening. At the end, God speaks: How dare you question My ways. God never says that Job is in fact guilty of sin and that is why he is punishing him. He is angry with Job for Jobs method of dealing with the justice, righteousness and sovereign right to deal with His goodness. Job did not give in to the facile explanations of his friends. He knew he did deserve what had happened, but he had not blasphemed, murdered, or done anything else of seriousness. He is just like most of us. When confronted with his friends trying to pawn off his suffering, he knew it was false. This is similar to the Deuteronomistic line of thinking: Do wrong and be punished, do right and be blessed. Contemporary evangelical points focus on the being blessed or the book of prosperity. Until tragedy or suffering strikes and then we see these preachers drift away and become disillusioned. At the end of the speeches by God, Job realizes that he has nothing to oppose the wisdom of God. Gods wisdom is entirely other, beyond that which Job can attain. Job realizes he has no right to question Gods Will. Gods Will is always good, and beyond that silence. He confides his very being to the Lord: I know my Creator lives. The mystery is not always solved. The suffering and questions may remain and this is alright. If there is no mystery left, then that person as perpetrated a fraud on you. God walks with us (by Job) in times of suffering. In such situations, the simple answer never works. We must walk with the person. We deny the transcendence of God if we think we understand everything. We best understand God when we are in suffering with someone. To share in the suffering, we come to understand Him better. He has gone before us on this path of suffering. Describe the progression of biblical thought on women that is found in the wisdom books and in the related passages which we have studied. Where do these views leave us with respect to our Christian views? You may wish to recall figures such as the wife of Job, Lady Wisdom or the Ideal wife from Proverbs, and others. Perhaps the best way to sum up the book of Proverbs and possible all of Wisdom literature is the line from Deuteronomy I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse; therefore choose life. (Deut. 30:19) This is the choice that is laid out before us and Lady Wisdom and Lady Folly are anthropomorphic language that helps express the allurements of each. The Proverbs are an expansion of the Decalogue. It is the practical how to for everyday life and implementing the policies laid out in the Decalogue. Wisdom is often personified as feminine, perhaps in part because, in Hebrew, wisdom is a feminine noun. Grammar does not fully explain, however, Proverbs interest in repeated and varied development of the female persona. The female imagery for Lady Wisdom is also closely connected to her negative counterpart in Proverbs, that embodiment of evil referred to as the loose woman (Lady Folly). The part played by women in the Book of Proverbs is worthy of note. High praise is given to the virtuous woman in Proverbs 31:10-31 and also in a number of sayings scattered throughout the book. It is evident that monogamy is contemplated throughout as the regular married relationship (Prv 5:18), whatever deviations might be permitted by the law for the hardness of mens hearts. He who finds a wife finds a good thing, and obtains favor from the LORD, (Prv 18:22) provided, of course, that she be a good wife. There is another kind of wife, whose shortcomings are denounced in righteous language: A good wife is the crown of her husband, but she who brings shame is like rottenness in his bones. (Prv 12:4) By contrast with the woman of virtue, the sage utters stern warnings against the foolish woman, the brawling and ill-tempered woman, and above all the strange woman whose house is the way to Sheol. (Prv 7:27) A variation on the feministic imagery is seen again in Proverbs 1:20-33 and 8:1-21, where she appears as a prophet, calling out for followers in the most public places: in the street and squares, at the busiest corner and the city gates (1:21-22), on the heights and at the crossroads (8:2). Her rhetoric offers enticement and warning. To the one who chooses her way, she offers wealth and power. To those who ignore her counsel, she promises mockery when panic strikes and ultimately death (1:26, 32). Lady Wisdoms vocabulary mirrors that of prophetic language. She calls, (Prv 1:24) is refused, stretches out her hand, (Prv 1:28) needs to be sought and found (Prv 8:17) [compare 2 Chr 15:2, Is 6:9-10, 65:1-2; Hos 5:6, Am 8:12 [C.V.Camp]]. The prophets use such language to describe the relationship of Israel to God while Wisdom speaks of relationship with herself. In all these moral precepts it is presumed that men and women are free agents, responsible for the way in which they exercise the power of choice. Yet there is no suggestion that it is possible to lead a moral life without having any regard to religious considerations. Disregard of God leads to moral ruin (Prv 22:14), but by the fear of the Lord a man avoids evil. (Prv 16:6) Wisdom is to be embraced and is counterbalanced with Folly. Folly caused the Exile and shame. Wisdom will keep us out of it and on the right path. The Jewish people did not have a clearly defined afterlife. The Sadducees did not believe in the Resurrection or the ideal of Sheol (abode of the dead). Because of this, the focus on passing on to the children is dominant of ones inheritance. Proverbs is filled with Father/Son and Mother/Son and Child language imagery. Look to those who have gone before you in this life. Imitate them and learn the lessons from them and pass them on to your children (and so forth). In literature today, books given to children have a point or lesson imparted. This is a sort of an attempt to pass on our wisdom to our children. The end of Proverbs 31 talks about the place of women in Israel. It talks about the ideal woman and gives a description of one who is familiar to the post-Exilic reader. In literature that is a little more recent, Julian of Norwich treats Christ as Mother. This is not a feminist notion. Julians tradition comes from her identification of the second person of the Trinity with the traditional character of Wisdom and her understanding of the identity between Mother Church and the Mystical Body of Christ. For Julian, Christ is the Church, and the Church is the Mother. Christ is Wisdom, and Wisdom is the feminine. Julian never uses anything but masculine pronouns in referring to Christ. She also never characterizes Christ as mother, but describes motherhood as preexisting in Christ. Earthly motherhood, she says is an imitation and reflection of Christ. It is not a characteristic of femininity that Christ shares, but a characteristic of Christ that women share. Wisdom has always been personified as feminine and in some instances to such a degree that Wisdom is characterized as the feminine aspect of God. Lady Wisdom is a personification of a mental power that claims to have preceded creation and to exist in a daughter-like relationship to God. She transcends the mundane reality and human minds. The wisdom that Lady Wisdom signifies corresponds to the teachings of human sages. In Proverbs, the voice of Wisdom and the voice of the teacher do not blend. The teacher, in this case a father, offers wise and lifesaving teachings to his son. The teacher is wise, but wisdom itself transcends any human wisdom. Being personified as a woman, she is a heavenly creature, residing in angelic proximity to God. (John Bright, History of Israel). At the same time, she is traversing the streets and speaking to all. This image tells us that the various proverbs of the father and of Israels sages speak with the same voice: that of Wisdoms own voice. The collection of wisdom literature tells us that in the observations of the sages of ancient Israel and of the wisdom taught in the home both echo transcendent wisdom.