Metaphysical Poetry

Metaphysical poets The metaphysical poets is a term coined by the poet and critic John Dryden to describe a loose group of British lyric poets of the 17th century, whose work was characterized by the inventive use of conceits, and by speculation about topics such as love or religion. These poets were not formally affiliated; most of them did not even know or read each other.Their style was characterized by wit and metaphysical conceits—far-fetched or unusual similes or metaphors, such as in Andrew Marvell’s comparison of the soul with a drop of dew; in an expanded epigram format, with the use of simple verse forms, octosyllabic couplets, quatrains or stanzas in which length of line and rhyme scheme enforce the sense. The specific definition of wit which Johnson applied to the school was: â€Å"†¦ a kind of discordia concors; a combination of dissimilar images, or discovery of occult resemblances in things apparently unlike. Their poetry diverged from the style of their times, containing neither images of nature nor allusions to classical mythology, as were common. Several metaphysical poets, especially John Donne, were influenced by Neo-Platonism. One of the primary Platonic concepts found in metaphysical poetry is the idea that the perfection of beauty in the beloved acted as a remembrance of perfect beauty in the eternal realm. Though secular topics such as scientific or geographical discoveries interested them, there was also a religious or casuistic element to some of their work, by which they attempted to define their relationship with God.John Donne (between 24 January and 19 June 1572 – 31 March 1631) was an English poet, satirist, lawyer and a cleric in the Church of England. He is considered the pre-eminent representative of the metaphysical poets. His works are noted for their strong, sensual style and include sonnets, love poetry, religious poems, Latin translations, epigrams, elegies, songs, satires and sermons. His poetry is noted for its vibrancy of language and inventiveness of metaphor, especially compared to that of his contemporaries. Donne's style is characterised by abrupt openings and various paradoxes, ironies and dislocations.These features, along with his frequent dramatic or everyday speech rhythms, his tense syntax and his tough eloquence, were both a reaction against the smoothness of conventional Elizabethan poetry and an adaptation into English of European baroque and mannerist techniques. His early career was marked by poetry that bore immense knowledge of British society and he met that knowledge with sharp criticism. Another important theme in Donne’s poetry is the idea of true religion, something that he spent much time considering and theorising about.He wrote secular poems as well as erotic and love poems. He is particularly famous for his mastery of metaphysical conceits. A Burnt ShipOut of a fired ship, which by no wayBut drowning could be rescued from the flame,Some m en leap'd forth, and ever as they cameNear the foes' ships, did by their shot decay;So all were lost, which in the ship were found,They in the sea being burnt, they in the burnt ship drown'd. John Donne A Lame BeggarI am unable, yonder beggar cries,To stand, or move; if he say true, he lies. John Donne

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich Analysis Essay

Joseph Stalin strategically came into power in communist Russia in the 1930’s. Within just a few years, he turned Russia from a communist state into a totalitarian dictatorship. Few people chose to speak out against Stalin, but those who did were put into Siberian work camps or gulags. Alexander Solzhenitsyn was one of the few that chose to speak out against Stalin and his totalitarian regime. He used his years in the work camps to illustrate a vivid portrayal of what camp life was like in his book, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich. The novel is a criticism against Stalin’s communism, and is a commentary on why a communistic system will never work. Three of the biggest ways the novel critiques communism are: by attempting to dehumanize Russian society, displaying forms of unjust punishment, and arguing the importance of faith. Solzhenitsyn propagates the radical idea that communism doesn’t work. Communism is the idea that everyone in society receives equal shares of the benefits resulting from labor. It teaches the poor to rise up and attain financial and social status equal to that of the middle-class. In order for everyone to be on the same level, wealth is redistributed so the members of the upper class are brought down to the same financial and social level as the middle class (Coffin 660-665). In theory, communism is presented as to be a utopia where everyone has adequate food and shelter but in the novel One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, it is clear communism in practice is very different from communism in ideology. The communism Solzhenitsyn presents in this novel actually tries to take away any form of human dignity. The story takes place in a Russian prison camp after World War II. The protagonist is a man named Ivan Denisovich Shukhov, but referred to as Shukhov for most of the novel . The author refers to Ivan as Shukhov to emphasize the how the camp sets him at a cold, official distance. â€Å"Ivan† is Shukhov’s first name and Denisovich is his patronymic, a name that is derived from one’s father’s name. In Russian society, addressing someone by his or her first name and patronymic is cordial but respectful. The early Soviet Communist regime tried to eradicate this form of address because the respect it entails suggested class differences among people, something communism seeks to destroy. On the other hand, addressing someone by his or her last name has an official meaning. The Soviet manner of addressing people as â€Å"Comrade† followed by their last name was an attempt to replace the old way of addressing someone with a new one better adapted to a class-free nation. â€Å"Even in the camp they were polite to people and addressed them by their full name† (Solzhenitsyn 26). The prison camp workers always addressed each other with the same degree of respect in order to preserve each other’s dignity. The labor camp in which Ivan is imprisoned is designed to oppress and dehumanize its prisoners. The living conditions are simply unbearable. The mattresses do not have sheets, prisoners share tiny portions of bread and porridge per meal, and the guards force the prisoners to undress in sub zero temperatures for body searches. The camp replaces the prisoner’s names with letter and number to erase all hints of individuality, â€Å"S 854†¦three days penalty work,† says the new warden to, Ivan as punishment for not getting up on time (Solzhenitsyn 7-8). The camp gives everyone numbers and makes them all dress identically take away their identities, â€Å"from the outside, everyone in the squad looked the same- their black coats were identical-but within the squad there were great distinctions† (Solzhenitsyn 15). However, Denisovich does not accept the camps attempts to dehumanize him. He shows maintaining human dignity does not have to be achieved through violent rebellion but rather, through developing a system of personal rules. For example, at meal time, no matter the conditions, he always removes his cap before eating, â€Å"then he removed his hat from his clean-shaven head- however cold it might be, he could never bring himself to eat with his hat on† (Solzhenitsyn 16). From his childhood, this practice gives Ivan a sense that he is behaving in a civilized manner. No matter how famished he becomes, he never stoops to Fetyukov’s level, begging for scraps. He scorns Fetyukov’s behavior, which he believes is inhuman. Ivan may be treated like an animal by the Soviet camp system, but he subtly fights back and refuses to submit. In one instance, Shukhov is tempted to ask a fellow prisoner for a cigarette which the other man has already half smoked but, â€Å"but he would never lower himself†¦ he would never look at a man’s mouth† (Solzhenitsyn 27). Ivan never allows the labor camp to get the best of him but gets punished for things one in his control on top of being imprisoned. Another criticism of communism throughout the novel is the description of unjust punishment upon the prisoners. In the beginning of the novel, Shukhov does not get up on time because he is sick and is then threatened with three days in the hole. Similarly, Buynovsky receives ten days in the hole for trying to bundle up against the cold with a flannel vest. Neither Shukhov’s illness nor Buynovsky’s attempt to stay warm harm anyone, but the camp treats both as strict violations of the law, worthy of severe punishment. Such harsh punishment for such petty offenses is absurd. These men are already locked into arduous prison sentences, heaping on unfair and illogical punishment upon them is just a brutal exercise of power by the guards. Through this unjust treatment one thing that help the prisoners survive was having faith in something whether it is a strict moral code or faith in god. One of the main goals of communism was to eradicate religion from society. According to the founders of communism religion hinders societal progress; it was Marx who said â€Å"religion is the opium of people.† Solzhenitsyn implies it is much easier to get through hardships with faith in something rather than without. During a march, Shukhov thinks of Alyosha, the devout Baptist, he wonders, â€Å"What had he to be happy about? His cheeks were sunken, he lived strictly on his rations, and he earned nothing. He spent all his Sundays with the other Baptists. They shed the hardships of camp like water† (Solzhenitsyn 38). Shukhov is making the point when you believe in something, like religion, it is much easier to keep a positive attitude and survive a terrible situation. Although Ivan does not mention religion for most of the novel, his final conversation with Alyoshka, reveals faith can be a means of survival in the oppressive camp system. Ivan adheres to a strict set of rules, like always taking off his hat before eating or trying to waste as little as possible. Alyoshka, has faith in god and the human spirit â€Å"for my part I am not ready merely to be bound but even to die for the name of the Lord Jesus† (Solzhenitsyn 163), this comment really affects Shukhov to a point where he begins to reflect on his own philosophy. Shukhov’s s sense of inner peace in the novel’s last paragraph, which resembles Alyoshka’s sense of inner peace throughout the novel, demonstrates that religious faith offers strength in the face of difficulty. Having any type of faith can carry someone through hardship, religious faith is simply one type of such a faith. Though the labor camps were filled with suffering and misery, the men continued to exhibit acts of humanity in their day to day lives. The only way these men could have survived this inhuman treatment was by subtly fighting the system in their own personal way. Solzhenitsyn uses three simple yet powerful ideas: the dehumanization of the human society, displays of unjust punishment, and the importance of having faith in no matter how awful the situation is, to speak out against Stalin and the terrible consequences of Russian communism. Works Cited Coffin, Judith G., and Robert C. Stacey. Western Civilizations: Their History & Culture. New York, NY: W. W. Norton, 2008. Print. Solzhenitsyn, Aleksandr Isaevich. One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich. New York: Dutton, 1963. Print.

Bed Bath & Beyond’s Plan for Growth Essay

Bed Bath & Beyond (BB&B, www.bedbathandbeyond.com), the power retailer of domestics and home furnishings, has annual sales of $7 billion and a net income of $562 million. The firm’s profitability can be explained by its increasing gross profit margins at the same time it decreases selling, general, and administrative (SG&A) expenses as a percent of sales. BB&B is able to increase its gross profit margins due to its excellent atmosphere, wide assortments, and a deep variety within most merchandise lines. Its control over SG&A expenses is partly due to the outsourcing of its distribution centers to a third party. BB&B has opened hundreds of stores over the last few years, ranging in size from 30,000 to 80,000 square feet. Because it uses a flexible real-estate strategy, BB&B is able to situate in a variety of locations. BB&B is now also being allowed into large shopping centers. In the past, department store anchor tenants blocked BB&B. In 2004, BB&B had about 630 stores with a total of 20.5 million square feet of store space. By the end of 2008, these numbers had expanded to nearly 1,000 stores with 31 million square feet of store space. Its long-term goal is to operate 1,300 stores. In addition, BB&B plans to remodel and expand many existing stores. In 2003, BB&B purchased Christmas Tree Shops (www.christmastreeshops.com), a chain of stores specializing in giftware and household items. Although the Christmas Tree Shops’ name suggests that it concentrates on Christmas merchandise, the chain is positioned against Pier 1 (www.pier1.com). In March 2007, BB&B acquired buybuyBABY (www.buybuybaby.com), a retailer specializing in infant and toddler merchandise. In December 2007, BB&B opened its first foreign BB&B store in Ontario, Canada. In May 2008, BB&B purchased a 50 percent equity interest in Home & More, a Mexican home goods retailer that operated two stores in Mexico City. BB&B management (as well as many retail analysts) attributes the chain’s strong sales performance to its superior customer service. BB&B is obsessive about its consumers receiving a consistently high level of customer service. For example, one recent shopper at a suburban Long Island store reported that a sales clerk was highly attentive: When the shopper asked the clerk where she could find a set of dishes listed on a bridal registry, the clerk immediately dropped what she was doing. The clerk then located the dishes and stood by the shopper as she decided whether to purchase the set and even had the dishes brought to a nearby checkout so that the shopper could continue buying at the store. The sales clerk then met the shopper at the checkout to facilitate the transaction. In 2008, BB&B was tied for second place in an annual study of the top â€Å"20 Most Competitive Retailers† in the United States. The study, conducted by Capgemini (www.capgemini.com) and W Ratings Corporation (www.wratings.com), measured the ability of retailers to beat consumer expectations and deliver superior profitability. Each firm’s rankings were based on its profits over the prior five years and the responses from a sample of 6,000 consumers. Questions 1.Explain how Bed Bath & Beyond practices the retailing concept. 2.Evaluate Bed Bath & Beyond’s growth plans. 3.How can Bed Bath & Beyond further increase the overall quality of its customer service? 4.Explain the concept of value from the perspective of a Bed Bath & Beyond customer.

International relations - contemporary global security Essay

International relations - contemporary global security - Essay Example Social constructivism may be a helpful tool in studying international relations. The discussion will be based on the thesis developed by Alexander Wendt: â€Å"Anarchy s what the state makes of it†. International relation theory is basically material. Social constructivism brings in a social ‘zest’ to theory of international relation. This research paper considers social constructivism as a perfect alternative for neorealist theory widely applied for international relations. Materialist theory analyzes behavior of states on the basis of material assets distribution. A balanced relation between states is usually measured by distribution of material power. It is relevant to note, that â€Å"social constructivists reject this narrow approach to analysis of the states’ power† (Social constructivism). From the perspective of social constructivism, a social aspect of international relations is of crucial importance. This point of view can be explained as f ollows: politics and society is developed under the influence of human consciousness (Social constructivism). Moreover, international system doesn’t exist separately. There are a lot of external and internal factors influencing on the global system development. Therefore, making analysis of global relations basing on a material basis is a narrow approach and there is a need to apply another theory that is more complex and socially-oriented. Anthropocentric context of the modern world’s development coincides with the ideas of Wendt, whose claim is discussed further on. Basic claims of social constructivism and neorealism applied for international relations The international society exists among people and thus is influenced by people’s ideas and not just by material assets. The system represents the result of human mental activity. As it is explained, the international system is â€Å"a set of ideas, a body of thought, a system of norms, which has been arranged by certain people at a particular time and place, a human invention or creation not of a physical or material kind but of a purely intellectual and ideational kind† (Social constructivism). In this paradigm, a claim made by Alexander Wendt â€Å"anarchy is what states make of it† (1992) may be interpreted in a different manner: for example, the system stability is questioned for sure. A constructivist theory of international relations should be considered in detail. For example, the main claim of constructivists is that it is possible to observe a correlation between neorealist uncertainty and materialist nature of the theory. Thus, in accordance with the social constructivism, it is better to focus on thoughts and ideas to realize the core essence of theory about anarchy and power balancing (Wendt, 1992). The difference between neorealism and constructivism can be seen in the following explanation of anarchy from these two different perspectives: thus constructivists c laim that structures (i.e., factors and regulations which direct social actions) can’t give explanation to the actors’ mechanical activities and neorealists state that â€Å"the structure of anarchy is oppressing for the state actors† (Fierke at al, 2001). Thus, we can see that both theories are focused on discussion about interrelation between actors and structures (Booth, 2005). Structures are actors’ constraints, but constructivists claim that structures can act in such a way that structures would be transformed in new directions. Therefore, there is a need to refer to ‘structuration’ which provides with a more flexible vision of structure and actors interrelation (Wendt, 1992). If to apply structural constructivism to international relation theory it will be clearly seen that anarchy should be considered in a less rigid manner. Power and interests of the state are not material factors, but rather are ‘objective entities’ (Wen dt, 1992). Moreover, Wendt claims that anarchy doesn’t lead to self-help. The interaction between states is a decisive factor of the

Comparing of service operation and manufacturing operations in the Essay

Comparing of service operation and manufacturing operations in the market - Essay Example As a result of research it was suggested that service or production operations are essential in any business as it bridges the customers and the manufacturers through provision of technical based for advancing business models. The operations are crucial to organizations due to guarantee of service delivery which is usually IT based. Despite the numerous services’ offered through service operations department, there are vast challenges experienced on how to monitor both simple and complex diverse business aspects that calls for deriving perfect solution in order to compete equally with other departments within organization. To grab an understanding of manufacturing operation it is adept to consider the meaning of manufacturing operation so as to create a perception of the subject; hence creating a baseline for comparison of its advantages to that of service operation. A manufacturer is an entity, enterprise or person that manufactures some product hence manufacture operations c an be described as a factory of company where merchandize and products are made from raw materials. Manufacturing process commences after obtaining raw materials which are then used to develop and process a finished product ready to be distributed or sold to the local citizens. However, manufacturing process is very sensitive as it designs and produce products that as supposed to convince the customers so that they would derive pleasure in the finished products. In order to obtain quality products (Drury, 2007, p. 74), it is the mandate of the manufacturers to work towards quality and taste to convince the consumers of the products availed in the market while service operations are aimed at providing perishable, intangible goods and services to the market for the public to buy (Camp, 2004, p. 24). Manufacturers in most cases do not sell directly to the consumers instead they trade with whole sellers and retailers hence, it is adept to consider manufacturers as the key players in pro duction and manufacturing sector (Hamilton, 2003, p. 17). In most cases service operations are aimed at easing the work of consumers and customers who would be struggling to obtain the services from then sources. However, since not every customer would be able to raise the minimum amount required to acquire products directly from the manufactures, the service operations providers would act as links between the product manufacturers and the consumers hence, it is the work of the manufacturers to derive products that would persuade the consumers (Swammidass, 2000, p. 52). The service operations organizations are challenged to design better processes of delivering services so that customers would recommend further the functions of service operations for instance, in the manufacturing operation, products have to undergo extensive checks to affirm that the availed products are in accordance with the requirements. For instance, the product composition should compose of the

A worn path Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

A worn path - Essay Example sion, one incident shows the roundness of her character as she picks up the nickel that slides from the Hunter’s pocket, â€Å"God watching me the whole time. I come to stealing† (Welty, 3) This god fearing nature is also typical of her age and racial background who had none but God to trust their fate upon and hence needs to fear them at times. The sole aim of her life is to save her grandson and for that reason she even opts for stealing but her realization that of the commission of her guilt is unmistakable.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Other characters of the story are also of round type. The hunter, for instance, initially appears to be harsh but when he sees that the old woman does not fear death, softens his tone and admires her courage. The nurse and the attendant though both of them spoke initially with the old woman in a harsh note but finally sympathize with her. These ups and downs are signs of a normal human nature. As these traits have reflected from the approach of all these characters, thus, neither of those can be classified as flat characters. The main aim of literature is to reflect different dimension of life and due to the roundness of characters, the story has become a real depiction of life. The treatment of a poor, racially inferior old woman normally initializes with a poor welcome. The disadvantage of old age, economic backwardness and also racial inferiority has been reflected here. However the author does not forget to bring out the courage, typical of a black woman through the other characters’ behavior after knowing her. All the characters she meets later become kind towards her. However the woman indulges in the act o stealth but earns the readers sympathy when they know her cause.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Though is determined to save the life of her grandson yet she remembers her self-dignity. Thus, during the time of picking up the nickel she feels the bite of her conscience. Later on, at the doctor’s chamber in the town, when the attendant offers her to

Peter eisenman building germany holocaust memorial Essay

Peter eisenman building germany holocaust memorial - Essay Example Peter Eisenman: Building Germany’s Holocaust Memorial chronicles the creation of a major public sculpture in the center of Berlin. This sculpture was created by American architect Peter Eisenman and is a memorial for the Jews killed in the Holocaust during the Nazi regime of Germany. The public memorial is a soccer field size space filled with 2711 concrete stele. The stele are of varying heights, tipping to the left and right on a shifting, wavy ground. This has the effect of reminding the audience of a wheat field tossed by strong winds. The idea of this memorial was first propagated by a group of German journalists led by Lea Rosh in the year 1988. Two design competitions were held and finally the entry of American architect Peter Eisenman was accepted by German chancellor Helmut Kohl. The project was finally implemented in the year 1999 when the Bundestag (lower house of the German parliament) provided the financing for the project. Peter Eisenman succeeded brilliantly in completing the memorial when it was finally dedicated to the memory of the Jews killed in the Nazi genocide. The documentary also documents the feelings and impressions on the memorial of some prominent German politicians, academicians, literati and general visitors to the German Holocaust memorial. The documentary Peter Eisenman: Building Germany’s Holocaust Memorial is a well-shot one and is an example of the Cinema verite style of documentary filmmaking.

B-boy the Local Scene Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

B-boy the Local Scene - Essay Example The culture is also further subdivided on the locality; this is so because music and arts in general is normally a reflection of a society. The lyrics in a song or the type of facts that a movie refers to are normally borrowed from the occurrences in the society. Given the differences in the societal structure, the activities in one society may vary slightly with those of another. This is later reflected in the composition of the music in the locality (Kitwana 87). The town of Bloomington, Indiana, also has its own local hip hop culture. The culture, just like in American hip hop, is influenced by the national hip hop to a greater extent. Hip hop was a music mentality brought into existence by Americans of African descent. These people loved rapping; a type of narration in which an artist simply counts his wordings accompanied by a beat to make music. To make them stand out from any other music genre, artists of this type of music adorned unique type of attires. For instance, they dr essed in baggy and very fashionable dresses which constituted baggy trousers, most preferably jeans, baggy T-shirts, and very expensive jewelry. Besides, the culture involves a show of liking for the basketball sport. This was a culture that was specifically coined out of the preferences portrayed by the African American population in America. Given theikr big bodies, these people loved and played basketball very well. They thus incorporated the love for the sport in the music thereby succeeding in making the sport a black phenomenon. The city of Bloomington, just like many other cities in America, has a cosmopolitan population. It has both blacks and whites living together. However, African Americans tend to dominate in matters of entertainment. This thus implies that hip hop culture is a little bit more predominant in the entertainment scenes in the demography. A bigger portion of youths of the city appreciate the culture. This is a factor they portray in their mode of dressing, t heir hair styles and their speech patterns. Just like addressed earlier, the hip hop showcased in this city borrows much from the national and international hip hop scene. However, given the unique way of life in this city, the trend in music and movie creation has a variance of its own (Watkins 78). Arts and culture is strongly appreciated in the city. Bloomington is a home to a number of cultural centers which have been attributed to the growth of the hip hop culture in the region. There are a number of both professional and armature theater companies including the Indiana university department of theatre and drama. The other is the Bloomington Playwrights Project as well as the Cardinal Stage Company and even Theatre of the People. Besides, the streets of the city are dotted with clubs, cinemas and discos. This points to the fact that arts and culture are a vibrant social aspects of the people in the city. This is also a factor that has led to the development of the hip hop cultu re since very many artists in the city own their own in house production studios. Producing media content is therefore cheap and virtually anyone having interest has the ability to put his interest into practice and turn their talents into sources of livelihoods. There are a number of national arts festivals held in the city that further support the growth of arts and culture in the city. These are platforms that have been used to help promote the hip hop cultu

Presence and absence artist statement Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Presence and absence artist statement - Essay Example However this duality in the nature does not imply an absence of harmony. Embedding the impressions of presence and absence, my creations stand at the culmination of the Environment, the Viewer and the Artwork. â€Å"It is futile for an artist to try to create an environment because you have an environment around you all the time. Any living organism has an environment, the only people who don’t have an environment are dead† said Carl Andre1, the American minimalist artist. Building up on this proposition, my creations embrace three elements of the environment – Atmospheric(s), Nature and the Response. Atomospheric(s) are installations that engender an ambience within the viewer’s perception; Nature is the surrounding environment that supports and informs the artwork; and the Response are ways of knowing how the audience reacts to my work. The second piece, the Viewer is a central participant in my works. Art brings out feelings and emotions in the viewer t hat transcend him/her to his/her own experiences by arousing nostalgia or connections with the past. These nostalgic feelings range from a beautiful landscape to even a television program. Expending these nostalgic moments, I attempt to create a sensational view of everyday life with my installations. The nature of Nostalgia has intrigued many artists and intellectuals in the past. Roberta Rubenstein called Nostalgia as something that â€Å"never actually existed, or never could have existed, in the form in which it is ‘remembered’† while photographer Hollis Frampton connected nostalgia with identity and culture formation2. Finally, the third piece of my creation is the artwork itself, a channel to connect the other two (environment and the viewer). In this exhibition I present a sculptural video installation that includes the nostalgic association to the contemporary notion of an urban place and a corresponding sculpture piece that is made of soil and plant, mir roring the idea of nostalgic discrepancy between the natural setting and a still inescapable urban context in which it is installed. Nostalgic discrepancy suggests presence and absence. The impressions of portraying presence and absence in art can be extensively seen in works of artists such as Sooja Kim, Olafur Eliasson, Popolotti Rist and Jaye Rhee, who have deeply inspired my style. Sooja Kim examines the balance between presence and absence through her performance of harmonized settings between nature and herself. Likewise, I am using nature and its movement as stimulus elements to balance between presence and absence of the nostalgic notion of people’s ideas of nature and urban landscape of places. Swiss artist Popolotti Rist liberally uses atmospheric installations in his artwork to arouse viewer’s emotions. At his exhibition at Moma, he cultivated a lounge-like atmosphere covering the floor with chocolate color carpet, a donut shaped sofa in the center of the ro om and accompanying music. Pour Your Body was a relaxingly inviting video installation. However, unlike Popolotti Rist’s work, I invite the viewer to respond to their feelings in a much more guided way. My projection strengthens the sense of enforcement and the individual loss that we encounter from nature’s needs. Perhaps my intention is closer to Olafur Eliasson’s creations in Multiple shadow house. His work explores boundaries between inside and outside, experimenting by positioning the viewer in his

Critical Analysis of the Use of Fate Imagery in The Tale of Kieu Essay

Critical Analysis of the Use of Fate Imagery in The Tale of Kieu - Essay Example In most cases, abstract imagery bears imposed characteristic. Fate imagery is one of the abstract imageries that have been traditionally used in literature all over the world from the very beginning of human civilization. In Nguyen Du’s â€Å"The Tale of Kieu† fate imagery plays a very crucial role in the development of the theme of the poem. I say this because in â€Å"the Tale of Kieu† fate has been portrayed as a villain that inflicts pains, sufferings and miseries upon the protagonist, Kieu. Indeed it is fate that takes a test of Kieu’s virtues and psychological strength. To a great extent, fate appears as a scapegoat which, in a number of ways, serves as the replacement of the oppressive patriarchy. Very often Kieu tends to blame her fate for the pains and sufferings in her life. In a male dominated society she is conventionally accustomed to accept the male hegemony as it is. Though her sufferings are mainly induced by her male counterparts, she fail s to acknowledge them as the root cause of her sufferings. She accuses fate of causing sufferings to women, while ignoring the inferior position women subjugated by men: â€Å"Since ages out of mind, / harsh fate has cursed all women, sparing none. / As I see her lie there, it hurts to think / what will become of me in later days.† (Line 106-110) Kieu believes that women are cursed by fate for ages. She is fully aware of the legacy of the social injustice that women have had to face. She knows that she is also destined to face the same fate: â€Å"As I see her lie there, it hurts to think / what will become of me in later days† (Line 109110). Indeed Kieu’s view of â€Å"cursed womanhood† is the reflection of what Confucian patriarchy teaches them to think of themselves. In Confucian women are viewed as some existence that is both physically and mentally fragile and frail. They are beautiful but weak. Therefore they should be under tutelage of their male g uardians such father, brother or husband. They should go against the decision of their male guardians. A girl needs the guardianship more than a boy does, because she is fated to be such. For Kieu, fate is somewhat that equals to God to a great extent. In some cases fate seems to be God’s decision. She believes that either fate or God is responsible for cursed womanhood. When Dam Tien’s lover mourns at her deathbed saying, â€Å"Harsh is the fate that has kept us apart! / Since in this life we are not meant to meet, / let me pledge you my troth for our next life† (Line 74-76), he essentially refers to heavenly decision. Indeed fate’s association with God’s decision is evident in the following lines in which she directly accuses God of being cruel: â€Å"How sorrowful is women's lot! -she cried / We all partake of woe, our common fate. / Creator, why are you so mean and cruel / blighting green days and fading rose-fresh cheeks?† (Line 82-5) I n these lines, â€Å"Creator† or God is directly held responsible for â€Å"women’s sorrowful lot†. Kieu considers God’s decision as women’s â€Å"common fate†. She believes that god is responsible for â€Å"fading rose-fresh cheeks†. Indeed the frequent of fate imagery in â€Å"the Tale of Kieu†, contributes a lot to the portrayal of the faith of Confucian society

Organizational learning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Organizational learning - Essay Example It is suggested that â€Å"organizations should operate themselves as experimenting or self-designing and should maintain themselves in a state of frequent, nearly continuous change in structures, processes, domains, goals, etc., even in the face of apparent optimal adaptation. This view takes into account how learning is achieved but does not consider the individual learner. Some organizations go through major changes more frequently than others, particularly when they are new entrants into an industry and in the so called learning stage. This is perfectly acceptable and even expected. However, there comes a time when new organizations settle into processes and procedures that have been perfected or improved over time. After having gone through numerous changes, there are individuals who may not be able to withstand or go through many more changes. They may believe that the current procedures are highly effective and do not need to be changed. They might become restless, irritable or most importantly, resistant to further change. For some learners, there is a limit to how much learning and behavioral change that can be processed within a certain time frame. Much of this depends on the individual learning style and specific characteristics of the learner. Huber’s assertion rests on the assumption that for an organization to behave as though it is in a constant state of change, all those within the organization who must attain some type of learning will always be open to new information or ideas.

Kindergarten-Full Day Versus Half Day Essay Example for Free

Kindergarten-Full Day Versus Half Day Essay The sky is the limit for children. The benefits of children attending full day kindergarten are far greater than those children that attend half day. Some parents and educators disagree; they say that children should not be forced into their educational career so young. Whether for or against full-day kindergarten, the common goal for all parents is the well being for each individual child. Every child has different needs and capabilities. Parents have to make an informed decision on full day or half day kindergarten. That decision can be a difficult one. Ultimately that decision is the starting point for the next twelve or more years of education for these young children. Connecticut does not have a law mandating all towns have full day kindergarten. The budget process has to make full day kindergarten a priority. The curriculum for kindergarten is limited during half day sessions for children. Because of the time limitations during half day, these children are getting significant amounts of homework to bring home. Before and aftercare is needed due to the short school day for the half day kindergartners, causing parents to pay for childcare. The most important point is that children’s cognitive learning is so crucial at age five. They can absorb so much information at a kindergarten level. Taking advantage of that will give them the best opportunities for the educational career and give them a head start. Kindergarten was originated in 1837 (Burkam 3). Children develop their mental, social, and emotional faculties through play, music, movement, interaction with the outdoors, and opportunities to engage in independent and creative pursuits (Burkam 3). The goal of kindergarten is to prepare children for first grade academics (Burkam 5). Children show great resilience so can therefore adapt to any formal routine, especially education. We must constructively use this critical stage in their lives to have them absorb all the information they can. Most towns in eastern Connecticut have full day kindergarten except Montville. There is no set standard in Connecticut law for all towns to have at least one full-day kindergarten. East Lyme, Niantic, Norwich, Waterford, Ledyard, and Groton have already established a full day program for kindergarten. Montville being the only town in the surrounding area that does not have a full day option available makes it very difficult to those parents in that town to make arrangements for care of their children. Planning a town budget for full day kindergarten is not as complicated as it may seem. Child care is financed primarily by families, who are estimated to be paying between $40 and $50 billion annually (Mitchell 8). Only a small percentage of those funds being spent could be used for funding all schools with full day kindergarten programs. Demonstrating better ways to increase and combine local, state, public and private sources to finance all types of programs so that they can meet higher standards and that all families can afford kindergarten and preschool education (Mitchell 12). Some educators say the biggest obstacle is hiring teachers. They would need twice the amount already staffed. Splitting up the groups of half day classes and teachers could be a solution to that issue. There would not need to be any additional teachers hired in that case. There is so much for children to learn at the age of five. A full day of learning, social interaction, and play is so beneficial. Research comparing half-day and full-day kindergarten shows those children benefit from a developmentally appropriate, full-day program, most notably in terms of early academic achievement—a foundation for school and life success (Villegas 1). Full-day kindergarten can afford children the academic learning time needed to prepare for mastery of primary-grade reading and math skills (Villegas 1) In particular, the weight of evidence shows that full-day kindergarten benefits children in these ways: contributes to increased school readiness, children that are adapted to full day kindergarten are already prepared for the transition into regular grade level schooling, most importantly, they understand rules and behavior, which leads to a higher academic achievement. Standardized tests and classroom grades find that full day students achieve higher and improve student attendance. There is better attendance in full-day kindergarten due to the parents understanding that there is so much more information and teaching provided during a longer day and does not want their child to miss, supporting a childs literacy and language development has long lasting effects that are greater in children that attend full day kindergarten (Villegas 2). One study showed higher reading achievement persisting through third grade and in some cases even seventh grade (Villegas 1). Enrolling a child in full-day kindergarten benefits them socially and emotionally. Full day gives children a balance of structured play and self play. Being with classmates for more hours in a classroom forces them to build positive relationships. Those relationships last sometimes all the way through twelfth grade. Decreases costs by reducing retention and remediation rates (Villegas 1, 2). One study, which found full day students to be more than twice as likely to remain on grade through third grade, showed that this academic benefit helped to offset 19 percent of the first year’s cost of extending the kindergarten day (Villegas 2). For those children in half-day kindergarten, they need to have before and after care in some families, especially when both parents work full time. If there were full day kindergarten, it would eliminate some of that cost of after care. Due to these children needing to go to multiple places throughout the day for care and schooling becomes the issue of transportation. During a parents work day, that child could be bused to as much as three different locations just for child care. Parents prefer longer kindergarten programs because children have to make fewer transitions within a day and they believe their children will be better prepared for first grade (Mitchell 5). Day care programs are valuable, but do not have the curriculum and equal age structure that kindergarten does. Proponents of full-day kindergarten believe that children, as a result of their various childcare and preschool experiences, are ready for more demanding and cognitively oriented educational programs (Burkam 6). Having group play with children ages 0-5 is not beneficial educationally. Children at age five are at an important learning stage in their lives. The more education they can receive in kindergarten the better prepared for school they will be. Full-day advocates suggest several advantages for the longer kindergarten day: it allows teachers more opportunity to assess children’s educational needs and individualize instruction, it makes small-group learning experiences more feasible, it engages children in a broader range of learning experiences, it provides opportunities for in-depth exploration of curriculum, it provides opportunities for closer teacher-parent relationships, it benefits working parents who may need a longer school day (Burkam 6). Reading, math, science are subjects that are the beginning fundamentals in learning Researchers found that children who attended full-day kindergarten scored higher on reading comprehension and mathematics concepts and applications (Burkam 9). Having more hours in a school day allows teachers to take a more one on one approach for the children to really delve deep into counting, the alphabet, writing, speaking, and so forth. The foundation of learning stems from kindergarten. Cognitive development is the most important issue with having children in a full-day kindergarten program. Kindergarten is more than play and social interaction with peers, this time must be used to take full advantage of a child’s potential in learning. Education should be the first priority and focus in a child’s life. The bigger picture is laying the groundwork for children’s educational experience. The younger the child the more prepared they will be for the future and the most successful in life.

Conflict Resolution between Teacher and Parents

Conflict Resolution between Teacher and Parents Introduction From time to time, all teachers will be faced by a difficult and demanding parent. From challenging academic results to accusations of bullying, some parents can be very intimidating or even aggressive. Until relatively recent times, the school was viewed as the realm of the professional, the educator, the teacher. As Carol Vincent states: ‘No parents beyond this point such signs could have been seen in schools around the country, symbolizing the clear division between home and school. She goes on to describe schools as: ‘[I]slands of professional expertise, of calm, order and learning. How we all miss the good old days in the midst of a hectic, stressful Parents Consultation Meeting, when we see the approach of Mr and Mrs Smith, looking as happy as we might have predicted with Johns latest report! Conservative government educational policy, from 1979, was underpinned by the notion of parents as the â€Å"consumers† of an education system, who would be empowered with considerable influence over the way in which the â€Å"producers† the teachers operated, not least by the use of â€Å"parental choice† as a factor in determining which schools would thrive and which close. More recent educational policy, during the Labour Partys terms of office, has stressed the importance of the home/school partnership in promoting the learning of young people. Carol Vincent, quoting a 1986 study by Cowburn, summarises this shift in perception as follows: â€Å"Parents were once kept out of schools so as to allow the professionals uninterrupted control: parents are now being encouraged to get involved, to come into school so that they can understand why the professional exercises control in the manner he/she does†. Communicating clearly, therefore, what we do, what we have done, being prepared to justify our actions by reference to school policy, to educational theory and practice, to the statutory demands of the National Curriculum, for example, needs to be at the forefront of the teachers agenda in any meetings with parents, whether arranged or a surprise encounter. We are no longer autonomous rulers in our own little world, but need, as professionals and experts, to be prepared to explain, or justify, our actions and decisions in language that is accessible to the parent. Situation H or S Heated? In the table above, jot down in the first column possible situations which might generate an ‘interview with parents. For example: report sent home detention issued o praise postcard sent home * In the second column, indicate whether the ‘invitation to meet is most likely to come from Home (H) or School (S) * In the third column, rate the likelihood of the meeting becoming heated on a scale of 1-5, 1 being highly unlikely, and 5 highly likely. Getting the basics right conflict avoidance The importance of the dialogue between school and home cannot be underestimated, and those schools which have taken steps to ensure that their relationship with their parents is a good one, based on mutual respect and concern for the young people whose care they share for at least five days each week will have fewer flashpoints on the level of personal interaction between parent and teacher. Everyone has an experience of school life, so, in that respect, all our parents feel that they are experts! For many, their own experiences of school and of teachers are not particularly good ones: some find entering school premises a daunting prospect, and this unease can quickly escalate into difficult or aggressive behaviour. Many associate their visits to school with negative emotions: they have responded to so many summons because of a childs poor behaviour, attitude or progress that any chance to â€Å"get ones own back† by criticising the school is pursued with relish. Make a note below of skills which you use in the classroom:  · to defuse tension  · to manage behaviour  · to foster co-operation  · to ensure compliance  · to foster a good working relationship A couple of examples are included to get you off to a good start! Skills I use daily:  · Friendly greeting as pupils arrive.  · My ‘no nonsense face.  · Standing up full height to look imposing Which of the above are also useful in dealing with parents? Many difficult encounters can be avoided if the school:  · Has clear policies on a variety of relevant topics e.g. uniform, behaviour, information that is shared with parents on a regular basis. As a teacher, ensure that, in your dealings with pupils, you apply such policies with fairness, consistency and equity.  · Takes steps to involve parents in the life of the school whenever possible the good old school play, or talent show, provides opportunities for parents to cross the school threshold in a non-confrontational context. As an individual, seek out opportunities to establish a dialogue with parents, even if it is only a nod of acknowledgment, if you meet them outside school in a supermarket or in the queue for a plane at the airport! Look for, and utilise, any opportunities to share an interest in something other than the child who is the focus of your relationship.  · Has clear and well established practices for communicating with parents e.g. on behaviour, attendance, progress. Such communication should be timely and prompt, not restricted to key points in the school year e.g. end of year report, and should also inform parents of a childs positive contributions to the life of the school, for example via â€Å"praise postcards†. As a teacher, try to ensure, wherever it is reasonable, that particular parents do not always associate your name with bad news.  · Provides a welcoming environment for parents a cheerful reception area; a cheery greeting from reception staff; a light, warm room in which meetings can take place In many ways, the parents who arrive at the school fired up in defence of their child, or who demand to see a teacher to find out why progress is not being maintained, is less of a threat to the life of the school than those parents who refuse all attempts to initiate a dialogue, to the point that their child is excluded. Parents who are moved to anger by something they believe has happened, normally because their child says so, can potentially become the teachers greatest ally, once a more appropriate relationship has been established. Communicating with parents  · In the table below, in the first column, list the means of communication which your school uses with its parents. There are 3 examples to get you started.  · In the second column, rate the effectiveness of each, on a scale of 1-5, 1 being of little use and 5 being highly effective. Communication Rating Annual written report Grade card termly Consultation evening How could any of the above be adapted to improve effectiveness? What makes a person angry? Anger is a natural part of the human condition, but it isnt always easy to handle. Some people mask their anger. Others explode with rage. Good parents invest a great deal of emotional energy in their offspring: which of us, as a parent, has not been moved to strong emotion by something that our child tells us, or something that they have done, or not done? We also acknowledge the importance of social and emotional intelligence for our young people in school, and many schools are delivering extensive programmes to support this aspect of their pupils development. Since youngsters learn more from models than from lectures, it is reasonable to assume that many of those pupils who have difficulty expressing emotion, or controlling an outburst of anger, are not seeing positive role models at home in this respect. It may be, therefore, that a parent does not intend to show anger or aggression, but has never learned to express concern in a more appropriate way. There are a number of courses which schools can access and provide for their parents, to support them in developing their own emotional literacy, which will not only be of benefit in your encounters, but will also help them to reinforce, and model, the behaviours and responses that you are hoping to develop in the children. The Millennium Cohort Study by the Centre for Longitudinal Studies, Institute of Education, University of London, published in October 2008, shows that what parents are most concerned about in choosing a school in the first place is not only the schools performance, but other characteristics that, taken together, parents rate even more highly the â€Å"good impression† created by the school, a strong anti-bullying policy, its ability to accommodate an ethnic mix, and its facilities amongst others. It therefore follows that these are the sorts of issues that parents are most likely to seek to approach the school with if they feel that it is â€Å"all going wrong† for their child. Psychologists recognize that anger arises for different reasons in different types of people, which may need to be handled in different ways by the sensitive teacher. You may recognize parents that you have had, on occasion, to deal with in the profiles detailed below, although it is highly unlikely that any parent has ever reached the point of hatred towards their childs teacher it just feels like it sometimes! Understanding what may be the underlying cause of parents anger, over and above the particular incident that has provoked this meeting, may help you not to respond too quickly, with mounting irritation, to what appears to be an unreasonable display from across the desk. Types of Anger Disguised Anger These individuals may not, at first, let others know how angry they are. Sometimes, they dont even know how angry they are. But the anger will come out! They look hurt and innocent. They gain a sense of control over their lives by frustrating others. The teacher needs to become practiced in interpreting body language, which may indicate anger bubbling below the surface, just waiting to explode when a trigger point in the conversation is reached. Paranoid Anger This type of anger occurs when someone feels irrationally threatened by others. They seek aggression. They believe people are against them, dont understand their viewpoint or their concerns. They expect others to attack, verbally at least. Because of this, they jealously guard and defend what they think is theirs these parents are often those who say things like: â€Å"My son wouldnt do that† â€Å"My daughter says she has done the work and you lost it and I believe her†. People with paranoid anger give it away it is self evident from their body language, both their verbal and non-verbal communication, that they are very, VERY annoyed. Such parents may often feel insecure, especially in the school environment, and unwilling to trust the school, or you as its representative. Sudden Anger People with sudden anger are like thunderstorms on a summer day. They zoom in from nowhere, blast everything in sight, and then vanish. Sometimes its only lightning and thunder, a big show that soon blows away, but can cause damage, occasionally physical, but certainly in terms of the relationship between the teacher and the home, and to the home-school partnership, that will take a long time to repair. Sudden Anger people gain a surge of power. They release all their feelings, so they feel good or relieved: you, on the receiving end, feel battered and emotionally exhausted. These are the people in danger of losing control: they may get physically violent and, at the least, will say and do things they may later regret. Sometimes, all you can do is simply let the anger blow up, and blow over do not attempt to interrupt or respond until the storm has passed, but keep calm, keep still and make it clear that you are listening. It may even be that the best solution is to simply let this parent have his, or her, say, then suggest a return appointment, in the hope that regret has tempered their anger, and allowed reason to surface. Shame-Based Anger People who need a lot of attention or are very sensitive to criticism often develop this style of anger. The slightest criticism sets off their own shame and since they share such close emotional links with their children, any criticism of the child is felt to reflect badly on them. They feel worthless, not good enough and, like any living creature, when they feel backed against a wall, they will come out fighting! When they feel the teacher is ignoring them, like not giving in to their demands to move their child to a different teaching set, they take it as proof that the other person dislikes them as much as they dislike themselves. That makes them really angry, so they lash out; You made me feel awful, so Im going to hurt you back. They get rid of their shame by blaming, criticizing, and ridiculing others. Their anger helps them get revenge against anybody they think shamed them. Such parents need reassurance; they are good people; they are doing their best for their child; thei r child has huge potential that is not yet being realised because of the issue at hand. Deliberate Anger This anger is planned. People who use this anger usually know what they are doing. They arent really overtly emotional, at least not at first. They like controlling others, and the best way theyve discovered to do that is with anger and, sometimes, violence. Power and control are what people gain from deliberate anger. Their goal is to get what they want by threatening or overpowering others. Firmness and fairness are the best responses to this: such individuals have to learn that he who shouts loudest does not always get what he wants, that you as an individual, and the school as an organisation, does not respond to threats and bullying, but decides what is best in the interest of the pupils. Addictive Anger Some people want, or even need, the strong feelings that come with anger. They like the intensity, even if they dont like the trouble their anger causes them. Their anger is much more than a bad habit it provides emotional excitement. It isnt fun, but its powerful. These people look forward to the anger rush, and the emotional high. Anger addicts gain a sense of intensity and emotional power when they explode. They feel alive and full of energy. You, as an individual, are not going to break this addiction alone but nor should you have to tolerate it repeatedly. If every encounter is the same, this problem needs dealing with at a higher level. It may even be that, in the interests of the health and safety of staff, it may not be possible to continue to accommodate such interviews. Moral Anger Some people think they have a right to be angry when others have broken a rule. They view the offenders as bad, evil, wicked, sinful. They have to be scolded, maybe punished. People with this anger style feel outraged about what bad people are doing. They say they have a right to defend their beliefs. They claim moral superiority. They justify their anger as being for the best, in a good cause. They dont feel guilty when they get angry because of this. They often feel superior to others, even in their anger. These people suffer from black-and-white thinking, which means they see the world too simply. They fail to understand people who are different from themselves. They often have rigid ways of thinking and doing things. Another problem with this anger style is crusading attacking every problem or difference of opinion with moral anger when compromise or understanding might be better. For these people, you need to â€Å"prove† that you are operating â€Å"within the rulesâ⠂¬ : it is not your decision, but one dictated by a policy which you have to enforce. They may not like the rule, but should appreciate the evidence that you are applying it consistently! Hate Hate is a hardened anger. It is a nasty anger style that happens when someone decides that at least one other person is totally evil or bad. Forgiving the other person seems impossible. Instead, the hater vows to despise the offender. Hate starts as anger that doesnt get resolved. Then it becomes resentment, and then a true hatred that can go on indefinitely. Haters often think about the ways they can punish the offender and they sometimes act on those ideas. These people feel they are innocent victims. They create a world of enemies to fight, and they attack them with great vigour and enthusiasm. However, this hatred causes serious damage over time. Haters cant let go or get on with life. They become bitter and frustrated and their lives become mean, small and narrow. Golden Rule NEVER trade anger with anger! You do not extinguish a fire by throwing more fuel on it. Whatever anger type you recognise yourself to be, in the context of a meeting with parents; you are the professional cool and collected. Breathe deeply, switch off your more sensitive self, dont take the insults personally and dont respond in kind, trading hurt for hurt, insult for insult. Learning to read the signs à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ Ã¢â€š ¬ a guide to non-verbal communication! As teachers, we are generally adept at recognising the subtle signs that all is not well with the pupils in our care; we need to adapt and enhance these, often subconscious, abilities when assessing the degree of anger, or annoyance, or high emotion, in the parents before us. When people are tense or nervous, there are clear visual signals, long before the volume, or pitch, of their voice increases! Their fists may be clenched, or their hands or feet tapping. Their hands may be interlocked, as if praying, and the apparent pressure between the hands gives an indication of just how tense they may be. Their arms are crossed, but they are gripping their biceps. Look at the parents mouth: upward turns in the corner of the mouth are often positive signs, and downward turns, or flat lines, demonstrate negative behaviour. Are lips pressed together or relaxed and comfortable? When the parent speaks, emotion is betrayed by a high pitch, fast pace or stuttering, long before the voice becomes over-loud, or the language abusive. Parents may repeatedly clear their throats. Their eyes evade you. Be aware of these signs of unease, and respond sympathetically; you may avoid the situation escalating into anger. Be welcoming and placatory: listen attentively to their concerns; nod in acknowledgment of what they are saying; feed back your understanding of what they are saying. Offer a comfortable environment and perhaps a drink and a biscuit. Do not approach over-assertively; if you put such parents on the defensive, they will move quickly from unease to anger. One of the most valuable ways of discovering whether someone is being open and honest is to look for palm displays. When someone begins to open up or be truthful, he will expose all, or part, of his palms to another person. Like most body language, this is a completely unconscious gesture, one that gives you a hunch that the other person is telling the truth. When a child is lying or concealing something, his palms are hidden in his pockets or he adopts an â€Å"arms folded† position, for example, when he tries to explain where he was. One of the tricky things about body language is that we are often unaware of how we are reacting to it. We may, for example, form a negative judgment about someone because she slouches, wont look us in the eye or talks with her hands. Because we are unaware of why we made the judgment, we are unable to filter out our biases about what body language means and what it tells us about an individual. Be aware, also, of what you are communicating through your own body language. Be open, physically. Do not cross your arms across the chest or hold obstructive objects (such as your marks register) protectively between the two of you. Approach parents with a hand outstretched in greeting, make eye contact and smile as if pleased to see them even, or perhaps especially, if you are not! Aggressive body language will only alienate, and probably exacerbate what may already be a tense or confrontational meeting. You need to appear relaxed, with an upright posture, and maintain direct eye contact. Rounded shoulders tend to imply that you are afraid or subservient, although a rigidly upright posture can, by contrast, convey inflexibility think of the regimental sergeant major! Drooping, hunched shoulders have the connotation of carrying a heavy burden, and will not create the impression of someone who is confident in the decisions they have made. Beware of using arms and legs unconsciously as a protective barrier. Be aware of overall position: put simply, we lean towards people we like and lean away from people we dont. Avoid gazing at the floor, one of the cardinal sins of body language: if you avoid looking at people, you avoid connecting with them. It will make the parent feel youre not interested in them or anything theyre saying if you cant even be bothered raising your eyes to fake interest, what hope have they got? or perhaps that you are arrogant its rude not to look at someone who is talking to you or nervous and slightly dodgy avoid looking someone in the eye and they automatically assume youre hiding something. Try not to resort to habitual actions which convey nervousness, such as fiddling with your collar or scratching your neck. You might as well have a neon sign hanging round it that reads My names John/Jane and youre making me feel horribly insecure and/or as nervous as hell. Both gestures are signs of doubt and uncertainty. People pull their clothes away from their necks when theyre in a hot spot, literal or otherwise; this may be how you are feeling, but do you really want to convey the fact so openly? And finally, propping up your face with your hand putting your hand on the side of your face and leaning on it could be sending a clear message, either â€Å"Im so bored and tired, I can hardly hold my head up† or â€Å"Im feeling faintly superior and quite possibly judging you while Im at it.† We simply would not sit like that in front of a boss or someone we respected. Your facial expression needs to be responsive to what the parent is saying. Keep your hands relaxed and your voice confident, measured in volume and pitch. Bear in mind that, when holding a conversation, people use certain head movements to indicate that they have come to the end of a sentence and are waiting for the other persons answer. Lowering of the head may indicate the end of a statement or raising the head the end of a question, and a demand for your response. Look for signs of growing â€Å"congruence†: when we are starting to see another persons point of view, we tend to imitate their body language. When a group is in congruence, the positions of their bodies mimic each other, in some cases like a mirror image: when one member of a congruent group changes his position, everyone does so with him. Congruence within a group usually indicates that all the members are in agreement. If the group has two points of view, the defenders of each opinion will adopt different positions; each subgroup will be congruent within itself, but not congruent with the other subgroup. When interviewing two parents, looking for congruent movements may help you to establish who is the dominant partner, and it may not necessarily be the one who first begins to speak: they may be holding the â€Å"big guns† in reserve, to catch out the unwary teacher, who is beginning to think that he, or she, is winning the argument. Manage the situation by trying to bring the â€Å"silent partner† into the discussion at a point that suits you â€Å"What do you feel has happened, Mr Smith?† When those on the â€Å"other side† of the discussion begin to mirror your movements, you know that they are getting on side, and listening to what you have to say. To try to break the tension at the beginning of the interview, to increase a persons comfort when they are closed-off, utilize mirroring; observe the parents behaviour and then, in a subtle way, act the same way they are acting. If their arms are crossed over, sit back, relax a little, and then begin to cro ss your arms. The Managed Meeting The majority of times we have an interview with parents, we are well aware that the meeting will take place. There is, of course, the annual Parents Consultation Evening, or you may have sent a letter home about a disciplinary related incident, for example, that you can confidently predict will elicit a response from home and even, perhaps, that it is likely to be an emotional, or even heated, exchange. There are also social events, a â€Å"Celebration Assembly† perhaps to which parents have been invited, which might also prompt some to request a few words with you in private regarding a long running issue. And, sometimes, the meeting has been suggested by you, effectively a summons to the parents to attend a meeting of crucial importance to the youngster, for example, if there has been cause for a temporary exclusion or a permanent exclusion is on the horizon. Whenever you have the opportunity to â€Å"manage† such meetings, make the most of the opportunity to ensure a good outcome for all parties, and the minimum of stress for yourself. It is, perhaps, worth emphasising that most encounters with parents are perfectly amicable, or may be emotional for them, although not in any way expressed in angry exchanges. It would be a mistake to always assume the worst; your own tension will be conveyed to parents and might be the â€Å"last straw† that tips them over the edge! a) Fixing a Date When a parent requests a meeting in advance, or if you are issuing the summons, think carefully about the timing. Allow enough time to prepare effectively a few days at least. When confirming the time and date, if you are not really sure why the meeting is being requested, politely enquire as to the general topic. Pick a time which you can â€Å"manage† i.e. that will have a definite start time and a definite finish: meetings during the school day are often better from this point of view, since parents will anticipate that you will have classes to teach at some point! However, it is also often the time least favoured by parents, who may work during the day or have other commitments, for example younger children to make arrangements for. If the meeting must be at the end of the school day, make sure that you have established with the parents how long the meeting will last, and inform a reliable colleague, whose job it will be to bring the meeting to an end by â€Å"interrupting†: this could be a teaching colleague, a member of non-teaching staff, even a cleaner or caretaker, reminding you that the room needs to be cleared. Emotionally charged meetings have a tendency to become circular, the tension rising and falling, and can, if you dont manage them, carry on for disproportionately long times, and they are no more effective than a short, sharp, focussed meeting in bringing about a satisfactory outcome. When you have fixed the date and time, make sure that it has been entered into the school calendar. Book a suitable room, if available. Inform the appropriate line manager which parents you are meeting and why curriculum leader, pastoral team leader, senior management. Informing the SEN coordinator would also be appropriate for certain pupils. Make sure that the reception staff know, and will be ready to greet the parents warmly. Make it clear to all how long you are scheduling the meeting for, and make sure that there will be some support for you, should matters become heated or should the meeting drag on interminably and have an â€Å"exit plan† agreed to address these possible scenarios. Use the interim time wisely to gather as much information as you can. Check school records for any information from previous meetings, perhaps with other members of staff: ask colleagues for any tips or pieces of information, about family circumstances perhaps, that you might not previously have been privy to. Do not forget support staff and those in reception, for example, who may have had cause to speak to these parents before. Use â€Å"local knowledge†: many support staff live locally and may know these parents in an entirely different social setting, as neighbours perhaps, and may also have useful information to add. Dont forget the child who is the stimulus for the discussion but beware of appearing to pump for information! Always remember that the child has his, or her, own agenda, and you never know what the little dear has been saying at home that may potentially have already inflamed an otherwise perfectly amicable meeting. Gather together the â€Å"evidence† you may have relating to the meeting examples of class work, attendance records, records of missed homeworks and some comparative information (no names of course) with other class members, photocopies of graffiti, photographs of damage whatever supports the issues you need to put across. Have copies available of relevant policy documents, or previous written correspondence, and a clear note of when, and how, such communications have been conveyed. Make sure that you have carefully read records of any previous correspondence, whether on the matter in question or another: incidents which may appear to you to be unrelated, to parents desperate for a reason to excuse their childs behaviour may seem to provide evidence of a â€Å"conspiracy† at least if they bring something up, you will know roughly what they are referring to! The watchword for your preparation should be â€Å"Forewarned is forearmed!† b) Managing the Environment How we guard our personal space boundaries, and how we enter into the others personal space, is integrally connected with the way we relate with other people. It is important for people to have their ‘own space, and how you manage the space in the meeting room will establish the relationship between you and the parent, and possibly the emotional tone that the meeting will take. Make sure that you have established a â€Å"space† for yourself that you are comfortable with, in terms of the distance between you and the parents, and your relative positions. If the meeting is taking place in your â€Å"teaching space†, this is, in one sense, a kind of temporary home territory for you, perhaps marked by personal belongings, and one in which you may feel comfortable. Conversely, you may see this as a potential battleground, or a territory you want to protect, and feel happier in a more formal meeting room. Each school will, in addition, have its own established practices which may dictate the venue. Arrange the chairs in the interview room before the parents arrive, giving thought to the atmosphere you want to establish, as well as more practical issues. A desk between you and them may feel â€Å"safe† and protective, but also conveys that you feel in need of protection, and creates a barrier between you, enforcing an â€Å"us and them† mentality. The room layout should reflect the home school partnership in action. If you want to have the comfort of a desk, or simply need one on which to gather your evidence, consider having the parents sitting at right angles to you, rather than directly across the desk. Think about the position of chairs, and who will sit where, relative to the doorway in the worst possible scenario, you want to be sure that YOU are the one closest to the door and can leave before they do! This may be to seek help or support from elsewhere, to remove yourself from a highly charged atmosphere and allow â€Å"calm down† time, or to bring a meeting to an end when it has gone way beyond sensible limits, despite your best efforts. In these circumstances, always make sure that you h

The link between capital market and economic growth in Rwanda

The link between capital market and economic growth in Rwanda 1.1 Background Today most economies around the world are judged by the performance of their capital markets. The potential role of financial markets in economic growth has been well documented. Most African countries including those in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) have recently under gone financial sector reforms such as restructuring and privatizing of state owned banks and establishment of capital markets. In the literature there are different views on the link between capital markets and economic growth of a nation. North (1996) shows that, differences in economic institutions are the major sources of cross-country differences in economic growth and prosperity. High quality institutions have a positive influence on the depth and development of the financial sector of nations. This proposed research will mainly consult with the literature about the link between capital market and economic growth and the role that institutions play in capital markets and try to pinpoint and relate these to the Rwandan context. In developed capital markets households are the major participants as investors. Saunders and Cornett (2004) claimed that in the United States, households are the single largest holders of corporate stock. However, the capital markets of least developed countries are very shallow in terms of capitalization because of a limited number of listed companies and limited participation of households (savers) either due to lack of capacity or lack of awareness as to the capital markets. Therefore this study will also examine the impact of the households (savers) in the capital markets in least developed countries in Africa including Rwanda. 1.2 Statement of the Problem Despite a surge of global investor interest in the 1980s and 1990s, Africa has been bypassed by the massive international capital flowing to developing economies. Aggregate capital flows to developing countries have been rapidly exceeding official development assistance flows since 1980s. However, Africa remains the only developing region in which development assistance flows exceeds private capital flows (Senbet and Otchere, 2006). This was mainly attributed to the lack or absence of a well developed financial sector (capital markets, banks, finance companies, life insurance companies, and insurance companies) and the poor economic policies and institutions in African countries. Capital markets are a vital part of an economy making it possible for industry, trade and commerce to flourish without any obstacle in terms of resources. The financial markets serve a vital purpose in the growth and development of a company that wants to expand. For such companies with expansion plans and new projects in need of funding and investors looking for a better return, the financial market is the best platform. The private sector usually lacks access to credit facilities. Investment, growth and economic welfare are all too low in developing countries. This is more severe in Africa, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa (Platt, 1998). Most African countries, particularly those in Sub-Saharan Africa, have recently undergone extensive financial sector reforms. The reform package includes restructuring and privatization of state owned banks, the introduction of private banking systems, along with bank supervisory and regulatory schemes, the introduction of a variety of measures to promote the development of financail markets; including money and stock markets (Senbet and Otchere, 2006). Rwandas economy primarily depends on agricultural productivity. The industry and service sectors are not entirely developed to push the economy towards higher growth. Rwandas long-term development plan, as articulated in Vision 2020, seeks to transform Rwanda into a middle-income country and an economic trade and communications hub by the year 2020. An effectively functioning financial sector is a fundamentally important and essential element for achieving this objective.   Rwanda seeks to develop a financial sector that is effective, in particular, by  expanding access to credit and financial services; enhancing savings mobilization, especially long term savings; and mobilizing long-term capital for investment. A key strategic goal of the Vision 2020 plan is to make Rwanda an economic trade and communications hub in the heart of Africa.   This will require significant investment in infrastructure in the form of roads, power, rail, airports and telecommunications.   These plans also call for the active participation and expansion of the private sector in Rwandas economy which will require long term investment in infrastructure and industry, which can only be provided through the mobilization of domestic savings through capital markets.   The Rwanda capital market now referred to as the Rwanda Over the Counter (OTC) market was established by the Capital Market Advisory Council in January 2008. It is from this perspective the researcher is undertaking this study to see the link between capital market and economic growth in Rwanda. How does Rwanda stand to benefit from this capital market? 1.3 Purpose of the study The main purpose of this thesis is to investigate and review the literature on the link between capital market and the economic growth and prosperity of a nation, particularly in Rwanda. This study will also examine the importance of institutions for the performance of capital markets and households (savers) contribution to the capital market so that companies can raise the required capital easily in a country where financing is limited to the banking sector and yet accessible only to a few big private companies and state owned enterprises. 1.4 Objectives of the study The objectives of this proposed study are mainly to find out: Whether capital market is an alternative towards the economic growth of least developed countries such as Ethiopia. The role of institutions toward the development of capital market. Whether households savings will make a real impact on the overall performance, liquidity, and market capitalization of the capital market in Rwanda. 1.5 Research questions This thesis is intended to answer the following questions: Is a capital market an alternative towards the economic growth of least developed countries in general and for Rwanda in particular? Will institutions be vital for the performance of capital market in Rwanda? Will domestic savings in Rwanda have a role to play in the capital market? 1.6 Scope of the study This study presents the different views as to the link between capital markets and economic growth, and the role that institutions play in the performance of capital markets. The focus being the capital market in Rwanda; it also investigates the impact of households savings on capital market in Rwanda. 1.7 Significance of the study The researcher intends to collect data in order to analyse the link between capital market and economic growth in Rwanda. This study will examine the role of institutions toward the development of capital market as well as the impact of the households (savers) in the capital market in Rwanda. Additionally, this research is to fulfill the requirement of the Masters degree in Business Administration. 1.8 Definitions of terms Financial sector: The Reserve Bank of Australia (www.rba.gov.au/Glossary/text_only.asp), defines financial sector as the sector of the economy that comprises financial institutions and financial markets. Financial institution: A company whose primary function is to intermediate between lenders and borrowers in the economy. (www.rba.gov.au/Glossary/text_only.asp). Institutions: in this proposed study institutions could be defined as follows: Definition 1 (Businessdictionary.com) Establishment, foundation, or organization created to pursue a particular type of endeavor, such as banking by a financial institution. Definition 2 (Businessdictionary.com) Consistent and organized pattern of behavior or activities (established by law or custom) that is self-regulating in accordance with generally accepted norms. For example, political institutions are involved with (and regulate) competition for power; and economic institutions (such as markets) encourage and regulate production and distribution of goods and services. Least Developed Countries (LCDs): In its latest triennial review of the list of Least Developed Countries in 2003, the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations used the following three criteria for the identification of the LDCs, as proposed by the Committee for Development Policy (CDP): a low-income criterion, based on a three-year average estimate of the gross national income (GNI) per capita (under $750 for inclusion, above $900 for graduation); a human resource weakness criterion, involving a composite Human Assets Index (HAI) based on indicators of: (a) nutrition; (b) health; (c) education; and (d) adult literacy; and an economic vulnerability criterion, involving a composite Economic Vulnerability Index (EVI) based on indicators of: (a) the instability of agricultural production; (b) the instability of exports of goods and services; (c) the economic importance of non-traditional activities (share of manufacturing and modern services in GDP); (d) merchandise export concentration; and (e) the handicap of economic smallness (as measured through the population in logarithm); and the percentage of population displaced by natural disasters. REFERENCES LIST Demirguc-Kunt, A., Maksimovic, V. (1996). Stock Market Development and Corporate Finance Decisions. Finance Development, 33(2), 47-50. North, D. C., Weingast, B. R. (1996). Constitutions and Commitment: The Evolution of Institutions Governing Public Choice in Seventeenth-Century England. In L. J. Alston, T. Eggertosson D. C. North (Eds.), Empirical Studies in Institutional Change: Cambridge University Press. Nyong, Michael O. (1997): Capital Market Development and Long-run Economic Growth: Theory, Evidence and Analysis First Bank Review, December 1997: 13-38. Samuel, Cherian (1996): Stock Market and Investment: The Governance Role of the Market The World Bank Review Volume 10 Number 2. Saunders, A., Cornett, M. M. (2004). Financial Markets and Institutions (2 ed.). New York: Mc Graw-Hill/ Irwin. Senbet, L. W., Otchere, I. (2006). Financial Sector Reforms in Africa: Perspectives on issues and policies. In B. Francois B. Pleskovic (Eds.), Annual World Bank Conference on Development Economics: Growth and Integration (Senegal Proceedings). Washington, D.C.: The World Bank. www.rba.gov.au/Glossary/text_only.asp Rwanda financial sector development program (2007). Retrieved January 12, 2011, from www.bnr.rw/ www.cmac.co.rw Businessdictionary.com http://www.un.org/special-rep/ohrlls/ldc/list.htm

Role Playing in Ernest Hemingways A Farewell to Arms :: Farewell Arms Essays

The Role of Role Playing in Farewell to Arms Listening to the radio today, I heard a song written a couple years ago that reminded me a lot of the relationship between Catherine and Henry in Hemingway’s novel Farewell to Arms. In this song, a girl asks a guy if he will be strong enough to be her man. She asks this question many times, each time changing the scenario for the worse in which she places them. Plaintively she implores, "will you be strong enough to be my man?" She seeks reassurance of her man’s strength by inventing roles for them to play just as Catherine and Henry invent roles in order to protect themselves from the discovery of their insignificance and powerlessness in a world indifferent to their well being. Role-playing by Henry and Catherine is their way to escape the realization of human mortality that is unveiled by war. Hemingway utilizes role-playing as a way to explore the strengths and weaknesses of his two characters. By placing Henry's ordered life in opposition to Catherine's upside-down one, and then letting each one assume a role that will bring them closer together, Hemingway shows the pair's inability to accept the hard, gratuitous quality of life. Hemingway's characters revert to role-playing in order to escape or retreat from their lives. The ability to create characters that play roles, either to maintain self-esteem or to escape, is exploited extraordinarily well in A Farewell to Arms. Hemingway is quite blatant in letting us know that role-playing is what is occurring through the thought and actions of the main characters. During Henry and Catherine's third encounter, Henry thought, "this was a game, like bridge, in which you said things instead of playing cards. Like bridge you had to pretend you were playing for money or playing for some stakes"(30). This meeting becomes a turning point in their relationship for afterwards the two become increasingly comfortable with their roles and easily adopt them whenever the other is nearby. This is apparent also in that they can only successfully play their roles when they are in private and any disturbance causes the game to be disrupted. The intrusion of the outside world in any form makes their role-playing difficult. Evidence of this difficulty is seen at the racetrack in Milan, where Catherine tells Henry "I can’t stand to see so many people"(131).

Your Dog is Your Father: The Deceptive Simplicity of Eristic in the Euthydemus :: Essays Papers

Your Dog is Your Father: The Deceptive Simplicity of Eristic in the Euthydemus What is particularly striking about the opening exchanges of the Euthydemus between Socrates and Crito is that they seem to establish the setting and characters of the dialogue concretely—Socrates and his attractive young friend Clinias meet the well-known brothers Euthydemus and Dionysodorus at the Lyceum and ask them to display what Crito calls their â€Å"particular wisdom,† and what they call simply â€Å"virtue.† However, within these first few pages of dialogue, we already begin to sense something about the brothers that makes them difficult to pin down. When Crito asks, â€Å"Where do they come from, and what is their particular wisdom?†, Socrates is vague on their origins—they are from both Greece and Italy, and at the time of the dialogue, they are exiles with no proper city (271c). Thus, they seem to be from everywhere at once. Their â€Å"particular wisdom† turns out to be quite unparticular as well—Socrates claims they can win any fight, making them, one would assume, wise at everything. Whereas both Socrates and Crito dwell on the physical and character descriptions of Clinias and even Ctesippus, the brothers, who are ostensibly the primary focus of the dialogue, are given no personal description at all (271b, 273a). Indeed, when Ctesippus takes up a tirade against them in the Lyceum, he is completely unable to identify them, addressing them as, â€Å"men of Thurii or Chios, or from wherever and however you like to be styled† (288b). In his frustration at their elusiveness, he articulates this very unnatural ability of the brothers to be from everywhere and argue any position, and quite accurately compares them to Proteus, the shape-shifter (288c). Moreover, the brothers are interested in hiding their past occupations in order to appear to be purely teachers of â€Å"virtue,† as Euthydemus insists (273d). Socrates makes a point of reminding both the audience in the Lyceum and Crito that the brothers achieved their reputation as teachers of military combat and rhetoric (271d-272b, 273c). Euthydemus is eager to belittle these skills, laughing when Socrates praises them and calling them â€Å"diversions† to his main interest (273c). However, Socrates does not discard them as easily, and in his later conversation with Crito, he praises the brothers as â€Å"all-round fighters† and considers their skill at eristic to be the â€Å"finishing touch to pancrastic art,† implying that we must view it in concert with their previous interests in order to understand what is so striking about it that it should motivate Socrates to want to seek out their tutelage (272a). Your Dog is Your Father: The Deceptive Simplicity of Eristic in the Euthydemus :: Essays Papers Your Dog is Your Father: The Deceptive Simplicity of Eristic in the Euthydemus What is particularly striking about the opening exchanges of the Euthydemus between Socrates and Crito is that they seem to establish the setting and characters of the dialogue concretely—Socrates and his attractive young friend Clinias meet the well-known brothers Euthydemus and Dionysodorus at the Lyceum and ask them to display what Crito calls their â€Å"particular wisdom,† and what they call simply â€Å"virtue.† However, within these first few pages of dialogue, we already begin to sense something about the brothers that makes them difficult to pin down. When Crito asks, â€Å"Where do they come from, and what is their particular wisdom?†, Socrates is vague on their origins—they are from both Greece and Italy, and at the time of the dialogue, they are exiles with no proper city (271c). Thus, they seem to be from everywhere at once. Their â€Å"particular wisdom† turns out to be quite unparticular as well—Socrates claims they can win any fight, making them, one would assume, wise at everything. Whereas both Socrates and Crito dwell on the physical and character descriptions of Clinias and even Ctesippus, the brothers, who are ostensibly the primary focus of the dialogue, are given no personal description at all (271b, 273a). Indeed, when Ctesippus takes up a tirade against them in the Lyceum, he is completely unable to identify them, addressing them as, â€Å"men of Thurii or Chios, or from wherever and however you like to be styled† (288b). In his frustration at their elusiveness, he articulates this very unnatural ability of the brothers to be from everywhere and argue any position, and quite accurately compares them to Proteus, the shape-shifter (288c). Moreover, the brothers are interested in hiding their past occupations in order to appear to be purely teachers of â€Å"virtue,† as Euthydemus insists (273d). Socrates makes a point of reminding both the audience in the Lyceum and Crito that the brothers achieved their reputation as teachers of military combat and rhetoric (271d-272b, 273c). Euthydemus is eager to belittle these skills, laughing when Socrates praises them and calling them â€Å"diversions† to his main interest (273c). However, Socrates does not discard them as easily, and in his later conversation with Crito, he praises the brothers as â€Å"all-round fighters† and considers their skill at eristic to be the â€Å"finishing touch to pancrastic art,† implying that we must view it in concert with their previous interests in order to understand what is so striking about it that it should motivate Socrates to want to seek out their tutelage (272a).

How does Alan Ayckbourn make use of comic resources in the play? Essay

From â€Å"A Small Family Business† a play in which people work together as a team, united to reach to the same goal and sharing values, the author Alan Ayckbourn exposes atmospheres of humorous situations to cut with tension and make the scene weird and funny at the same time. Various comic resources are used in this first scene where Jack is coming back from work and his wife, Poppy, waits for him with a great welcome surprise where family and friends are gathering together too. He makes use of ironic situations, sarcasm, visual and black humor, dramatic and embarrassing situations also, to make up this scene a humorous scene. The first situation of humor in this scene is between the dialogue of Yvonne and Ken: Yvonne: â€Å"Jack is here, Mr Ayres. He has just arrives† Ken: â€Å"Jack who? † Ayckbourn is using black humor in this situation as a comic resource. We can interpret this because it’s obvious of which â€Å"Jack† Yvonne is talking about, and Ken is trying to call the attention asking what Jack, Yvonne is talking about. Ken knows the answer, but he makes the situation funny by asking that question, and as an objective he wants to cut with the tension they were all passing through while they were hidden in the dark silence. As another comic resource, we can stand out the visual humor, because of the ridiculous situation of when Poppy moves into the kitchen, and pretends to be busy herself at the sink so that Jack doesn’t suspect anything out of the ordinary when he sees her, while on the next room, the whole family is hidden in the dark and giggling for silence. Everyone knows from where Jack is going to arrive, and in which moment, but Jack doesn’t have a clue of what’s going on. Here, the author makes use of visual humor because of the actions that the characters are making; they make quite a comic scene. Sarcasm is also state in this scene when Jack refers to the Fond farewells: â€Å"Cheering me through the gates, they were. Goodbye, you old bugger, goodbye† The author is making this phrase sarcastic because in a way, Jack is exaggerating the situation and he knows it was not really like that. He is in a way, telling Poppy that they wanted to get rid of him and he is making them seem like bad persons, when they didn’t really said or done something wrong to him. We can also see an atmosphere of humor, when Jack says to Poppy â€Å"thanks god for that. I don’t want to see anyone else. Not today†. Here, a dramatic irony is used as a comic resource because the reader understands the whole funny situation of the family hearing this dialogue hidden in the same house, but the character who in this case is Jack, does not. Also irony, because again, Jack uses exaggeration, disparity of expression and says something he doesn’t really mean. In this first scene, Ayckbourn has also made moments of embarrassing situations. Poppy: â€Å"Oh God, I want to die. I really want to die† Here Poppy is very embarrassed because she knew the whole family was listening to her dialogue with Jack, who was quite intimate and she doesn’t know how to fix it. This also makes the situation humorous because the character actions are seen as embarrassing by the audience because they know the consequences. As a conclusion, Alan Ayckbourn does use of many comic resources to break with the tension, the nervousness, and to give a funny atmosphere to the scene which is a bit anxious, at first, and uncomfortable at the end not only for Poppy but with the family also.