Huck Matures in Huckleberry Finn Essays -- Adventures of Huckleberry F

In the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn a young adolescent's journeys and struggles are portrayed and questioned with Huck's maturation. Throughout the book, Mark Twain examines societal standards and the influence of adults that one experiences during childhood. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn have been condemned since its publication, usually focusing, especially in modern times, on its use of the word "nigger." While this could be a valid argument had the author portrayed Jim negatively, I find another reason to argue against the novel because it subverts the ideals that many parents wish to instill in their youth. Reading this book for the first time since high school and my departure from my parents this year, watching Huck live without parental controls made me realize how impressionable one is to the values instilled by his or her constant role models. Without being forced to conform to societal standards, Huck is supposed to use his own logic to realize what is good and bad, rather than blindly following his elders' "wisdom." †¨Ã¢â‚¬ ¨At the beginning of the novel, Huck shows his skepticism of the values that society imposes when the Widow Douglas attempts to â€Å"civilize† him, running away to his freedom until his friends threaten to kick him out of the gang. Given the option of loneliness or independence, Huck chooses to return. When his father returns and takes custody of him again, Huck is deprived of his friends against his own will. Locked alone in the cabin, Huck is given plenty of time to consider his options. If he remains in the cabin, he will continue to be power less to the will of his father. If he escapes and returns to town, he will only be returned to his drunken father, who will certainly beat him. He r... ...ny of the lessons that Twain previously informed us in the books' Notice are not in the book. Huck is completely freed of the fear of his father, as Jim realizes that it is time that he learns the truth about his death. Jim is now a free man, showing that Miss Watson realized the error of her ways right before death. Most importantly, Huck realizes how his life has changed throughout this experience and chooses that the society that he was born into is in many ways corrupted by the people within it. Fortunately, because of the money and lack of legal control, he has the ability to retire from it, as he plans to "light out for the Territory ahead of the rest" (Twain, 1256) before mainstream society has the ability to come and ruin it with the misguided traditions and beliefs. Works Cited Twain, Mark The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Norton Anthropology 2008

The Influence of Genre on Five Plays’ Approaches to Social Issues Essay

The Influence of Genre on Five Plays’ Approaches to Social Issues What could a naturalistic â€Å"problem play†, a tragedy, a historical drama, a comedy, and a piece of â€Å"epic alienation theatre† have in common? Works of drama are created to have some kind of â€Å"effect† on an audience, and while the effects each of these plays are markedly different, each play attempts to lead an audience to think or feel a certain way towards a social problem. â€Å"A Doll’s House† by Henrik Ibsen, Oedipus The King by Sophocles, Walsh by Sharon Pollock, Edible Woman by Dave Carley (adapted from the novel by Margaret Atwood), and The Good Woman of Setzuan by Bertolt Brecht are plays which contain characters involved in dramatizing social problems. By examining the relationships between the characters and their dramatic audiences, we gain insights into the genres of the plays. As in many naturalistic plays, the characters in â€Å"A Doll’s House† are â€Å"round† and worthy of analysis. A characteristic of naturalism is that, â€Å"while constrained by a material environment which might be difficult to change, [characters] still [have] the possibility of overcoming their condition† (Bloomsbury 1). Through her actions, the character Christine suggests to the audience that they too can overcome their conditions, by following her example. The particular social problem that Christine illuminates is the problem of acquiring human understanding. Through Christine’s character Ibsen gives evidence to suggest that achieving deeper understandings of the world outside the â€Å"doll’s house† is possible. In confiding to Krogstad, â€Å"I have learnt to act prudently. Life, and hard, bitter necessity have taught me that,† Christine is indicating to the audience that knowledge... ...h approach social problems varies along with their genres. In today’s world, in which social problem are ever so urgent, plays such as these are clearly becoming increasingly relevant. Works Cited Aristotle. Poetics. Trans. S. H. Butcher. Rpt. The Internet Classics Archive (1994). 19 Nov 2001 . Brecht, Bertolt. Brecht on Theatre. Ed. and trans. John Willett. New York: Hill and Wang, 1992. Brecht, Bertolt.The Good Woman of Setzuan. Trans. Eric Bentley. MN: University of Minnesota Press, 1947. Ibsen, Henrik. Four Great Plays by Henrik Ibsen. Bantam Classic edition. New York, NY: Bantam Books, 1981. Pollock, Sharon. Walsh. Revised edition. Burnaby, BC: Talonbooks, 1998. Simpson, David L. Comedy and Tragedy (1998). 18 Nov 2001 .

Negligence Definition Essay

A failure to behave with the level of care that someone of ordinary prudence would have exercised under the same circumstances. The behavior usually consists of actions, but can also consist of omissions when there is some duty to act (e.g., a duty to help victims of one’s previous conduct). OVERVIEW Primary factors to consider in ascertaining whether the person’s conduct lacks reasonable care are the foreseeable likelihood that the person’s conduct will result in harm, the foreseeable severity of harm that may ensue, and the burden of precautions to eliminate or reduce the risk of harm. See Restatement (Third) of Torts: Liability for Physical Harm  § 3 (P.F.D. No. 1, 2005). Negligent conduct may consist of either an act, or an omission to act when there is a duty to do so. See Restatement (Second) of Torts  § 282 (1965). Five elements are required to establish a prima facie case of negligence: the existence of a legal duty to exercise reasonable care; a failure to exercise reasonable care; cause in fact of physical harm by the negligent conduct; physical harm in the form of actual damages; and proximate cause, a showing that the harm is within the scope of liability. Negligence is an actionable tort. This means that if one person’s carelessness causes an other personal injury, the injured party may sue to recover damages (money) for his or her injuries. The idea that a person can sue for negligence is a relatively new phenomenon, only about a century old. The reason for negligence’s late recognition is because common law traditionally recognized only intentional torts; that is, it held parties responsible for injuries that were the result of intentional acts. It was irrelevant that the actor did not intend to injure anyone, much less the injured party, but it only needed to be shown that the actor intended the action that caused the injury. In these cases, evidence of who caused what injury was affirmative, direct, and fairly objective. The concept of permitting someone to recover damages for injuries caused by someone’s lack of action or failure to do something was a revolutionary concept. Since its recognition as an action in tort, negligence has become a major source of very large jury awards. It is the root of all product liability cases. When  people complain about our legal system and the outrageous verdicts being awarded nowadays, they are speaking about negligence. Originally, negligence was recognized by the courts as part of the common law. Over time, as causes of action became more numerous and as damages became larger, various efforts were undertaken to limit the appeal of negligence lawsuits. The doctrine of contributory negligence eventually evolved, in some states, into a system of comparative fault that permitted recovery on a completely relative scale. Thus, in an accident one could be 90 percent at fault for one’s own personal injury and still sue to recover the 10 percent of the damages suffered that were caused by the other party.

Chaucers View

It is said that Geoffrey Chaucer was one of the greatest English writers of all times. With Chaucer's straight forward personality, it is not shocking that he would express his arguments or beliefs through his work. One main points he made apparent in his writing was corruption going on in the Catholic Church During Chaucer's time, indulgences were of great controversy and Chaucer, along with many other people, were against them. He took this time to voice his feelings about the situation and wrote one of his most famous works; The Canterbury Tales.The Canterbury Tales is a series of tales, told by pilgrims on their journey to the shrine of Saint Becket. Many thought that Chaucer was simply telling a story, but little did people know he was criticizing the Catholic Church. Chaucer wrote The Canterbury Tales in order to preach a sermon against the Seven Deadly Sins due to its corruption in the Catholic Church. Within The Canterbury Tales, Chaucer uses the tales of certain characters t o symbolize the Seven Deadly Sins and corruption. The fabliau, as it took new form under Chaucer's compelling interest in characterization, brought him up against problems of mortality that were to become basic in the developed Canterbury Tales† (Owen 226). He uses tales such as The Knight's Tale, The Miller's Tale, The Pardoner's Tale, The Reeve's Tale, and The Parson's Tale which was a sermon itself. Notice he uses characters such as the pardoner and parson; members of the clergy to show that sinning was taking place in a holy place like the Catholic Church. Chaucer makes sure that he displays all the Seven Deadly Sins in his tales and some tales represent more than one of the sins.The Seven Deadly Sins consist of Lust, Gluttony, Avarice, Sloth, Anger, Jealousy, and Pride. According to New Advent, Lust is the inordinate craving for, or indulgence of, the carnal pleasure which is experienced in the human organs of generation. Sloth is said to be the disinclination to labor or exertion. Gluttony means excessive indulgence. Avarice is the inordinate loves for riches. Anger is defined as the desire of vengeance. Jealousy is a sorrow which one entertains at another's well-being because of their view that one's own excellence is in consequence lessened.Lastly, Pride is the excessive love of one's own excellence (Delany). Everyone of these sins are used in the following tales. One of the first tales in The Canterbury Tales to symbolize the Seven Deadly Sins was The Knight's Tale. In The Knight's Tale, Duke Theseus of Athens, is on his way home from attacking Scythia. While he was there, he wins over a wife and what now is a sister-in-law; Emily. Along the way, Theseus runs into a group of crying women. They beg Theseus to take revenge on Creon, the King of Thebes, because he refuses to bury their husbands.The oldest women stated â€Å"Their bodies were dragged out onto the plain into a heap, and there, as we have learnt, they neither may have burial nor be b urnt, but he makes dogs devour them, in scorn† (28). Theseus decides to fight Creon, and beats him. After winning against Creon, he takes two of his men; Palamon and Arcite to be servants for his castle. The servants are thrown in the tower to work without ransom. Over time, they both fall in love with Emily after watching her through the tower window. One day Arcite is let go, but with the promise of never returning.Arcite is envious of Palamon being able to see Emily everyday. On the other hand, Palamon was envious of Arcite being able to form an army to get Emily back. Arcite comes back in disguise and Palamon escapes, they run into one another and decide to fight over Emily. Arcite wins the battle, but with complications that caused death. Emily ends up marrying Palamon in the end, â€Å"That is called matrimony, also marriage, by counsel of the Duke and all his peerage. And thus with every bliss and melody Palamon was espoused to Emily† (86). The sins associated wi th this tale are Lust, Anger, Sloth and Jealousy.Since the characters in the tale did wrong and committed these sins, they had consequences. When Arcite and Palamon both Lust over Emily, it makes tension among them and makes it harder on themselves because they have no way of showing her affection. When Creon refuses to bury the bodies of the husbands, that shows Sloth, because of this Creon and Duke Theseus fight. Jealousy shows when Arcite and Palamon envy one other for being able to see Emily, this leads to them being angry at each another which eventually leads to greater problems. Anger shows up when Arcite and Palamon fight over Emily, which ends up with Arcite dying.This shows that with sinning, comes consequences. The next tale that Chaucer uses to preach is The Miller's Tale. The Miller's Tale is the tale of a carpenter, his young wife and two students. To make money, John rents rooms in his house to a boy named Nicholas. Nicholas soon has his eye set on Alison. Another boy in town, Absalon also has his eye on Alison. The trouble begins when John leaves home on a trip. While John is out, Nicholas and Alison have an affair. Not much longer after the affair, Alison goes to church where she is hit on by Absalon. She shows no affection towards him because she is in love with Nicholas.Alison and Nicholas think of a plan to trick John so they can have more alone time. Nicholas convinces John that God is sending a flood. â€Å"Rain is to fall in torrents, such a scud it will be twice as bad as Noah's Flood. This world,' he said, ‘in just about an hour, Shall all be drowned, it's such a hideous shower, and all mankind, with total loss of life† (97). He says that God told him they should hang three large buckets from the ceiling to sleep in and when the water got high, they would cut the ropes. John believes him and goes along with the plan.John thinks his wife is in her bucket, but little does he know that she is with Nicholas. Later that night, Absalon comes to the window and asks Alison to give him a kiss Instead of her lips, she sticks her butt out the window. Angry, Absalon gets a hot brand to brand Alison, but Nicholas sticks his butt out. Absalon brands Nicolas and he yells out â€Å"Water. † John thinks the flood is here and cuts his rope. The whole town hears about the situation and makes fun of John. The two sins tied into this tale are Lust and Anger. Lust is shown when both Absalon and Nicholas lust over the young wife of John.Since Nicholas lusted over her, it caused them to have an affair and Absalon lusting over made him go to the bedroom window which caused more problems. Anger sets in when Alison sticks her butt out of the window instead of her lips, when Absalon realizes, he turns angry and gets the hot brand and ends up branding Nicholas instead. This makes Nicholas yell out and than John cuts the ropes and makes a mockery out of himself by the town. Chaucer did not stop at just one or two tales, he decided to take it even further and use The Pardoner's Tale to help further his voice.In the Pardoner's tale, he starts off by going on a rant about young Flemish people who spend their time drinking, gambling, and swearing. He than starts back to his story. Three rioters are drinking and talking about a friend who was killed earlier by a thing called Death, â€Å"Many and grisly were the oaths they swore, tearing Christ's blessed body to a shred; ‘if we can only catch him, Death is Dead† (251). Outraged about their friend dying, the men go on a hunt to find and kill Death. On their way, they run into an old man who tells them that they can find Death underneath an oak tree. Pleased, the men rush to the tree to only find gold.They plan to steal the gold, but wait until night. During the wait, they send one man to go get wine and bread. While he is gone, they plot to kill him in order to split the gold. The man who went to fetch the bread, and wine was also thinking sim ilarly. He poisons the other two's wine and heads back to the tree, but to only get killed when he arrived. Excited about the gold, they drink the dead man's poisoned wine and they soon die. He goes to end his story, but forgets he had pardons and relics in his bag and asks for contribution. There are both Avarice and Gluttony take place in the Pardoner's Tale.We see Avarice take place when they set their eyes on the gold, all men are eager to get all the gold and in the end, their greed kills them all. We also see Gluttony, it takes place when the pardoner starts off talking about the Flemish boys, we also see it when the men are drinking too much in the bar. Them drinking too much in the bar, lead to them making stupid plans to kill Death. In the end they end up dead because of greed and a little too much to drink. The Reeves Tale's is yet another tale used by Chaucer to preach. The Reeve's Tale is about a miller named Simpkin who likes to fight and enjoys wrestling.Most people do n't talk to him and he cheats his customers by robbing corn from them. He also â€Å"paddles† their flour cheap substances. When the manciple of a school gets sick, the miller takes the opportunity to cheat the school even more. Two students, Alan and John are sent to do it for the school so they will not be cheated. When they arrive at the mill, Alan and John tell Simpkin that they will watch the corn being ground so they are not cheated. Simpkin gets angry and he unties their horses. When they find out the horses are missing, they go looking for them, giving Simpkin time to steal flour from them.He later has his wife bake a cake with it. Having wasted the whole day, Alan and John decide to stay the night at Simpkin's house Alan sneaks and has intercourse with Simpkin's daughter. John does the same with Simpkin's wife. He does this by moving the cradle to her bed to his so she will climb in with him. When Alan goes to bed he mistakes the cradle and goes into bed with Simpkin . Thinking he is John, Alan tells Simpkin that he had intercourse with the miller's daughter. Enraged, Simpkin rises out of bed and punches Alan in the nose. Alan and John beat Simpkin up, then run away picking up the cake made of their robbed flour on the way out.In the Reeve's Tale, there are many sins. We see Avarice, Anger, and Pride. We see avarice when the miller robs all the corn and flour, which results in the boys sleeping with his daughter and wife. We see Anger when the boys find out about the miller robbing them and anger when the miller finds out about the boys sleeping with the women, which causes a fight. We also see pride when Alan brags about sleeping with the miller's daughter to which he thought was John, which caused the miller to throw the first punch. â€Å"Chaucer had in mind the other Tales, when he finally conducted the Parsons through his against the Vices they illustrate?To me the conclusion seems unavoidable that this division of the Parson's sermon is b ut the culmination of the frequently recurring motifs of the Seven Deadly Sins† (Tupper 117). The Parson splits his sermon up into the three parts. He speaks of contrition, he talks of confession and he goes into depth about each of the seven deadly sins. Throughout the tale, the Parson recites several passages from the Bible. Chaucer wrote The Canterbury Tales in order to preach a sermon against the Seven Deadly Sins due to its corruption in the Catholic Church.It is obvious that he used tales such as the Knight's tale, the Miller's Tale, the Pardoner's tale, the Reeve's tale and especially the Parson's tale to get his point across. Even though The Canterbury Tales was never finished by Chaucer, it was a strong enough work to make people ask questions and think about the corruption going in the Catholic Church. Works Cited Chaucer, Geoffery. The Canterbury Tales. New York: Penguin Classics, 1997. Delany, Joseph. †Anger. † The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 1. New Yor k: Robert Appleton Company, 1907. 13 Mar. 2013 ;http://www. newadvant. org/cathen/01489a. htm;. Delany, Joseph. â€Å"Avarice. The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 7. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907. 13 Mar. 2013 ;http://www. newadvant. org/cathen/02148b. htm;. Delany, Joseph. †Gluttony. † The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 6. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1909. 13 Mar. 2013 ;http://www. newadvant. org/cathen/02148a. htm;. Delany, Joseph. â€Å" Jealousy. † The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 8. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 13 Mar. 2013 ;http://www. newadvant. org/cathen/08326b. htm;. Delany, Joseph. â€Å"Lust. † The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 9. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 13 Mar. 2013 ;http://www. newadvant. rg/cathen/09438a. htm;. Delany, Joseph. â€Å"Pride. † The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 12. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911. 13 Mar. 2013 ;http://www. newadvant. org/cathen/12405a. htm;. Delany, Joseph. †Å"Sloth. † The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 14. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. 13 Mar. 2013 ;http://www. newadvant. org/cathen/14057c. htm;. Owen, Charles A. Jr. â€Å"Mortality as a Comic Motif in the Canterbury Tales. †Ã‚  National Council of Teachers of English. 16. 4 (1955): 226-232. Print. Tupper, Fredrick Jr. â€Å"Chaucer and The Seven Deadly Sins. â€Å"Modern Language Association America. XXIX. 1 (1914): 117. Print.

Education as a Social Institution Essay

The social institution referred to as Education is comprised of the school system and it is in the school system where knowledge and skills are developed along with cultural and social values and norms. Additionally, through the school system culture and society continue and further those social values and norms thus fulfilling a need prescribed by society. The purpose of this paper is to examine how the theories of functionalism, conflict, and interactionism perceive the social institution of education. As the functionalism theory states, each social institution exists in order to fulfill a social need in addition without the social institution in question, social order would falter. The conflict theory states, a social institution creates and/or furthers social inequalities and assists in maintaining an ascribed social status in the social order however, as the social order is continuously in flux, the social order tries to find a balance in and for society. The interactionism theory tries to understand why individuals who maintain a presence within a social institution act and/or react to each other under certain stimulations (Vissing, 2011). The social institution of education is comprised of what we term as schools therefore throughout this paper the terms education institution, schools, and the school system will be used interchangeably and accordingly. Each individual within a society is introduced to and educated in a system of values and norms pertaining to their particular society beginning at an early age and continuing through the individual’s lifetime additionally, the school system plays a large part in that education as the youth of that particular society develop into adults. The instructors or teachers within the school system act as role models to elicit proper behavior and strengthen cultural and societal norms (Beaver, 2009). Along with the academic curriculum taught in schools, schools also act as a large socializing agent where students are introduced to their first tertiary peer group. Education is a social institution and through the school system it fulfills a social need because the school system is our first tertiary peer group, the school system introduces us to societal norms, and the school system imparts to society, knowledge and skills. As a socializing entity, school is a basic and necessary universal structure for society. Using an interactionism view, this is so, because it introduces us to, reintroduces us to, affirms, and/or reaffirms most of society’s values and norms through a tertiary peer group consisting of other students and the instructors. The school structure shows the student through example and instruction how to integrate into and act within the group setting and the value/reward system of participating in a team setting. This is accomplished through the instructions and guidance presented to them from the instructors. The student is also influenced by the expectations of the instructor, the expectations of their peers, and the manner in which their peers perceive them and their accomplishments (Vissing, 2011). Additionally, failing to meet academic schedules the student may appear irresponsible to their peers and the instructors as they academically fall behind others in their peer and age groups. It has been noted that students generally meet the expectations made of them, in other words if students are expected to perform well they do so, conversely, if they are not expected to perform well they do not (Vissing, 2011). Therefore, the student’s academic achievement level may be determined by the manner in which the instructors view the students and the student’s behavior and achievements. For example, if an instructor views a student as a trouble maker the student will be labeled and treated as such thus deterring the student from reaching his/her full potential. Looking at this issue with the view of the student as the priority, the student’s academic achievement may be a determinant or a direct result of the manner in which the student views school and why the student views the school in such a manner. A student will not excel academically if they do not enjoy attending school in general, or attending specific classes therefore, what are some causes for a student feeling this way. It is evident that the interactions between the students and instructors play a large role in how the students feel about classes and school in general. Two major factors come into play here and they are, the instructors â€Å"social and emotional support for students and the nature of [the instructors’] expectations for students’ academic performance† (Hallinan, 2008). This interaction between student and instructor is of great value as it influences how a student perceives themself and their environment within the school system. For example, students that perceive they are being overlooked or their capabilities are being undervalued by the instructor will perform poorly. Conversely, when an instructor shows the student some attention, and shows them they are capable and of value as a student, the student will perform to the best of their ability. However, for either of these scenarios to persist the instructor must be consistent with their interactions with the student. Moreover, if the instructor’s expectations and interactions are not consistent with regard to the student then the ability in predicting the student’s success in school or their feelings toward school becomes problematic. The predictability of a student’s feelings toward the school system becomes problematic under these conditions because the equation used in this case is a feedback loop based on how well the instructor matches their expectations to the student’s academic abilities. Moreover, the main variable in the equation of predicting a student’s feelings toward the school system is the student’s reaction to the instructor’s expectations of them when trying to determine how satisfied the student is with a class or school in general (Hallinan, 2008). What we see with the interactionism theory is how the instructor can influence the student’s outlook and ultimately the students’ academic outcome by how they interact with the student and their overall expectations of the student and their academic abilities. Additionally the interactionism theory shows how the students peer group may also account for their success or failure in school and individual classes because of the influence the peer groups perceptions of the individual student’s academic performances. Lastly the interactionism theory shows how the students overall feelings and self-perceptions toward the school system as a whole, individual classes, and their own academic performance may also affect the students success and/or failure. What the conflict theory shows is how the school system supports the continuance of the social inequalities between the elite class and the lower class individual in relationship to their achieved status in a culture/society while maintaining the status quo. This allows the elite class of a society to control and direct the school system and its curriculum in a manner that will ultimately benefit that upper class (Beaver, 2009). The conflict theory also acknowledges the competition between peers that promotes a more rounded comprehension of subject matter through stronger and/or competitive study skills and this concept of competition follows a student through school and into the workforce. Additionally, the concept of competition is promoted through a system of rewards both in the school system and in the workforce such as the honor role, the dean’s list, acceptance into honor societies, or becoming employee of the month or year. The school system accomplishes this with its curriculum so that the lower class student will accept the inevitability of a position in the working class and catering to the upper class student by grooming them to acquire and maintain positions in the ruling class (Beaver, 2009) (Vissing, 2011). Additionally, the conflict theorist proposes that the school system controls the thinking patterns and reasoning powers of the students and the manner in which the student acts and reacts in social situations (Vissing, 2011). In addition, through example the students are introduced and instructed in the social values and beliefs of their society and culture. This seeming agenda of the school system is better explained by Yvonne Vissing (2011) when she states, â€Å"this role of education [is called] the â€Å"hidden curriculum†. [It is because] inequality results in a variety of forms, including structured differences in quality of educational institutions available to the rich versus the poor† (p 167). However, this hidden curriculum is not a set curriculum but it is implied and taught in such a way as to be unnoticed by the student’s daily attendance in school system. To explain the hidden curriculum an example of comparison between two different societies will be used. In society-a one of the more important values is individualism; individualism implies the right to freedom of thought and action by the individual. Therefore, in society-a, the school curriculum is designed to promote self-identity and self-esteem. However, in society-b, the value of individualism is looked upon as an undesirable social trait and the students are taught through implication that to be singled out is shameful and social esteem is of more importance than self-esteem. Therefore, in society-b, the curriculum is designed in such a way that students are taught that group honor is of more importance than self-honor is (Davis, 2010). The conflict theory also shows how the business world has a large stake in the type of students the school system turns out and these needs are addressed through a school’s curriculum. Additionally, as the business world, which is directed and controlled by the elite, advises certain change in the curriculum in the school system to meet its needs the school system in some cases modifies and adjusts its curriculum to meet those changing needs. However, this raises the question, in fulfilling the needs of the business world does the school system always advance and groom the best candidate for a controlling position in the workforce or is there a bias in place where instead the most likely candidate is advanced and groomed for those positions (Beaver, 2009). According to Daniel Ashton, in England a collaborative program between government and education tries to address the issues between the school system (Educational Institution) and the business world. One of the issues that is being addressed is, the gap between industry and the school system relating to â€Å"workplace skills† and present educational curricula. The manner in which this gap is being addressed is with an assessment of a person’s natural abilities to assist in developing that person and those abilities to help â€Å"build a dynamic and vibrant society† (2009). It is worthy to note here that among the youth in lower class urban and rural America the perceived likelihood that a high quality education will be of any significance in their future working status is small. Additionally, this is because the sub-culture of the urban and rural lower class American is where they feel comfortable, and the middle/upper class urban/city culture of America is not only unfamiliar to them but also uncomfortable to them. Moreover, as the higher educational concepts are unfamiliar and have no real bearing on their daily lives the lower class student can at best only absorb the higher educational concepts by rote alone if at all (Becker, 1955). Even though many rural school systems persist in advancing the conceptual educational theories, many students in these rural areas still find it difficult to advance and succeed outside their natural comfort zone. Therefore, the ability to excel beyond the working class is deterred by the many technical and vocational training schools in these areas (Becker, 1955). We see with the conflict theory how it supports social and status inequalities through class stratification, the status structure, and through peer competition. Additionally it shows there is a hidden curriculum or agenda that controls the thought pattern of students headed into the workforce of society where they are expected to accept a status of the controlled or controlling members in the workforce based on their family status level in society. In addition, it shows how the business world has a stake in the level and focus of the curriculum administered to the student in relationship to the workforce and social skills the student has acquired upon graduation as they nter the workforce. Lastly, it shows how education is split into generalized higher education, specialized higher education, and vocational education and training in support of both professions and trades in the workforce and business world. Emile Durkheim’s view of education was that over time the school system became comprised of an ordered composite of social disciplines and social structures with the ability to intermesh with like and unlike social structures. However, Durkheim also postulated that society as a whole had a greater ability to modify its structure than that of the social structure of school system (Clark, 1973). Therefore, looking at Education through the school system from a functionalism point of view, the school system is a viable social structure as it fulfills many primary and secondary social and cultural needs. Some of these primary needs are the teaching and reinforcing of cultural values and norms, in addition to the teaching of â€Å"work ethics† and certain general and specific aspects about the work environment the students will eventually enter. One of the more important concepts schools teach in the area of the ‘work’ environment, both in school and out of school, is how to accept success and/or failure and how to move forward under both conditions (Beaver, 2009) (Vissing, 2011). It is also important to look at some of the secondary social needs fulfilled by the school system. In the early introduction to the school system, the student is immersed into a tertiary peer group where they begin to socialize with many others in their age range. In today’s society schools also act as a form of day care system and with extracurricular (sports) programs after the academic period the students are kept â€Å"off the streets and out of the competitive workforce until they have reached a certain age† (Vissing, 2011). In the attainment of viable and competitive employment in the current and future workforce, the school systems offer many specific elective disciplines for many professions and trades in society’s business industries. This system of elective classes assists the student in assessing and being assessed in their abilities and compatibility of a particular profession and/or trade. Additionally, to assist the student and satisfy the business industry the school system has incorporated specialized schools that follow a narrowed or focused curriculum in order to fulfill the burgeoning needs of particular industries in the business and economic worlds. However, these types of schools hold an additional outcome for the more generalized school and its students. Even though a larger number of people enjoy the financial benefits supplied in their profession of choice, the student who graduates from this type of school has a less rounded education than the student who graduates from a traditional school. Additionally, for the business world, the only purpose for this type of education is to fulfill its needs for semi-qualified workers and the benefit derived from this type of education for the worker is that of being employed in a trade and/or profession of their choosing and acquiring the achieved status they desired. Therefore, through this type of narrowed and focused education both the student and the business world are satisfied and share a sense of success (Tufts, 1909). The control of how and what is taught in the school system is directed and enforced by the dominant culture of a society. Therefore, in all school systems students are taught nationalism, nationalism is formed of the values and norms particular to each individual country and that countries culture/society, and each culture will present that nationalism with a bias leaning toward that particular nation/culture. For example, in the United States of America the schools teach about the struggle we had in becoming a nation, the meaning of our national flag and how we honor it with our pledge of allegiance to the nation it represents. What the school system does not teach is the degradation caused to the aboriginal peoples of this country by the dominant imperialist mindset of the people who conquered those aboriginal peoples. Our dominant culture may be intrigued by and even be sympathetic toward the culture and society that was decimated in the making of this dominant nation/culture however, that culture and its values and norms are of little significance in the indoctrination of the nation’s society of its dominant cultural values and norms (Becker, 1955). Although the primary function of the school system is the indoctrination of the student in knowledge and skills to be used later in the work arena it is the latent function of the school system, i. e. : the social interactions within the peer groups the students are introduced to, is of greater importance. The functionalism theory shows that as a bureaucratic structure the education institution is steeped in tradition, and is less likely to change than society is as a whole. The functionalism theory additionally shows the needs of society being fulfilled, through the social values, norms, national icons, work ethics, and accountability of the society it serves. Additionally, the functionalism theory shows how the values of accountability and ethics are accomplished with active peer group integration. In addition, work ethics accomplished through academic structure and schedules. Lastly, we see how the national icons on the dominant culture are instilled on a society with little regard to the subjugated culture that may have been in place prior to being overshadowed or have immigrated to that culture. Using three sociological theories and looking through the school system at the social institution referred to as Education we see how this institution affects society as a whole and fulfills certain social and cultural needs. With interactionism, we see how the expectations of the group affect the individual’s self-expectations and actions within the group, society, and particular culture. Interactionism additionally shows how the school system introduces and instructs students how to interact with each other and society in a positive and healthy manner. When we look at the school system with the conflict theory, we see how it supports the inequalities between the class stratification and the status structure in a society, both at the individual level and the collective level while maintaining the status quo. Additionally, the conflict theory shows how the elite class uses the business sector to influence the curriculum in the school system, which also contributes to the continuance of social inequalities. Moreover, the conflict theory shows how the school system has the power the control the thinking patterns of a society through a ‘hidden curriculum’. What functionalism shows us about the school system is the school system is a viable social structure as it fulfills many primary and secondary social and cultural needs. It additionally shows us some of those social needs, which are the teaching and reinforcing cultural values and norms. In addition, that the school system teaches students â€Å"work ethics† along with specific and general aspects about the work environment they will eventually enter. Moreover, when we look at the educational institution using the functionalism theory we see how the school system confirms the validity of education as a social institution by fulfilling certain needs of a culture and society. Lastly, we see the interrelationship between these three sociological theories and the educational institution. This is shown to us through our peer group, teacher, business, social, status and workforce expectations and interactions. Additionally, we are shown how the educational institution can and does affect our self-esteem, self-perception, and achieved status level.

Exam Guide Ling

LING 160 Guidelines for Exam 2 Exam Date, Time, and Room # Exam 2 is on Thursday, March 28, 2012, room #3310, at 2:30 p. m. It will be about one hour long. Exam Format Mostly multiple-choice questions and a few open-ended, short-answer questions, like exam 1. We’ll have between 45 and 50 questions total. Unless stated otherwise, provide short, bullet-like, answers to the open-ended questions including only the relevant information and skipping unnecessary parts. For example, do not write â€Å"I believe that one of the most important factors for XXX is†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ; just provide the most important factor(s), and do not exceed the space provided.If you have one line for an answer, do not write more than that. There will be deductions for lengthy answers. What to Bring Your SFU student ID, a pencil and an eraser for the Scantron Sheet, and a non-erasable blue or black pen for the open-ended questions. General Guidelines ? Practice doing the exercises in the text. Answers for m ost of them can be found at the end of each chapter. ? Though exam 2 will mostly cover the material discussed after exam 1, exam 2 will be cumulative. It will cover everything up to and including week 9, i. . , Chapters 1-10 from the textbook, including Ch. 10 â€Å"Style, Context and Register†, and the accompanying articles from the Reading List. ? Focus on main ideas and key examples supporting them. ? You do not have to memorize every single example in the textbook chapters and articles from every language. However, you do have to know the definitions of major terms, their application, and be able to provide examples illustrating the terms discussed in the texts and in the lectures. 1 LING 160/Dr.Ivelina Tchizmarova March 14, 2013 What will the Exam Cover? Textbook: It will cover Ch. 1-10, including Ch. 10 from the textbook. Articles: It will also cover the articles from the reading list up until and including week 9’s readings on Style, Context, and Register (see t he Reading List). Focus particularly on the following six articles and book chapters; there may be open-ended questions on them, so read them carefully, and be prepared to come up with your own answers: 1. De Wolf, Gaelan Dodds. 990. Social and Regional Differences in Grammatical Usage in Canadian English: Ottawa and Vancouver. American Speech. 65. 1:3-32. 2. Clarke, Sandra. 2006. Nooz or Nyooz? : The Complex Construction of Canadian Identity. The Canadian Journal of Linguistics. 51. 2/3:225-246. 3. Hoffman, Michol and James Walker. 2010. Ethnolects and the City: Ethnic Orientation and Linguistic Variation in Toronto English. Language Variation and Change. 22:37-67. 4. Clarke, Sandra and Philip Hiscock. 2009.Hip-hop in a Post-insular Community: Hybridity, Local Language, and Authenticity in an Online Newfoundland Rap Group. Journal of English Linguistics. 37. 3:241-261. 5. Battarbee, Keith. 2010. Shifts in the Language of Law: Reading the Registers of Official Language Statutes. Tex t and Talk. 30. 6:637-655. There may be multiple-choice questions on all of the remaining articles from the reading list for weeks 1-9 (not just the articles after exam 1); they will be based on main ideas and key supporting examples. ? Below is a sample list of topics to review for exam 2.For each topic: (1) be able to provide definitions of the sociolinguistic terms; (2) illustrate them with specific examples from different parts of the world; (3) relate the term specifically to Canada based on the articles in the reading list and the group presentations; (4) when terms are given in pairs (or groups), you need to be able to tell how they are similar and how they are different from each other. ? For a more detailed list of topics, see the main text’s table of contents on pp. ix-xii. 2 LING 160/Dr. Ivelina Tchizmarova March 14, 2013Sample List of Topics to Review Please note that this is not an exhaustive list, and the questions on the actual exam may differ from these in con tent and format. 1. Regional and Social Dialects. 2. National and Official Languages. 3. Vernacular and Standard Varieties. 4. Language loss, language death, and language revival. 5. Gender-exclusive and gender-preferential language. 6. Age-graded features of language. 7. Ethnicity and language. 8. Social networks. 9. Language Variation and Language Change. 10. Style, context, and register.Other Reminders: 1. Be on time. If you are late, you will not be given extra time to complete the exam. 2. Write legibly. If your answer is illegible, we’ll mark it as wrong. 3. Please remember that there are no makeup exams in this course. If you are sick and can’t write the test, inform me by email. Make sure you see a doctor and obtain a doctor’s note for that day. The only medical form I accept is the Health Care Provider Statement from the SFU website below. If you need it, print it out, and have your doctor complete it: http://students. sfu. a/content/dam/sfu/students/pd f/healthcare-statement-general. pdf 4. Please do not email me questions about the exam. Ask your questions in class, so everyone can have the chance to contribute to and hear the answer. 5. Answers to exam questions will not be posted on webct or distributed to students. However, we’ll discuss the answers to exam 2 in class a week after the exam, so if you would like to hear them, you need to attend the lecture. Remember also to bring your instructions with you, so you can check your answers. 3 LING 160/Dr. Ivelina Tchizmarova March 14, 2013

Global Growing Challenges Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Global Growing Challenges - Case Study Example International Monetary Fund has also confirmed the fact that the ten fastest growing economies of the world would be emerging as powerful nations in the near future (Dewhurst, Harris and Heywood â€Å"The Global Company’s Challenge†). Against this backdrop, the discussion in this report would be on the growing global challenges that a plastic bottle manufacturing company, Logoplaste was facing. The objective would be to conduct a strategic analysis of the company, its products and the industry it is functioning in. This would assist in identification of the critical success factors for the growth and development of the company. Company Overview Logoplaste, a company that produced rigid plastic containers, was established in the year 1976. This company has been a pioneer in the plastic packaging segment since a span of 35 years. It has more than 60 factories in 16 locations around the world. Logoplaste utilizes state-of-the-art machineries in its factories. It follows ju st-in-time and â€Å"Hole in the wall† method of product delivery, which gives the company an advantage over its competitors. Logoplaste is the third largest company for container transformer in Europe and second largest in Brazil. The goal of the company is to attend an annual growth of 15 percent in every country it has its operation in and acquire a new business contract every year. This goal of the company is inspired by its vision, which states that in order to retain the position in the industry; the company should keep on growing in terms of size and revenue (â€Å"Logoplaste Activity†). Business Model The business model of the company is based on five pillars; focus, close relation with customers, win-win approach, services and investment. In order to maintain a balance between these pillars, Logoplaste has certain strategies, which provides competitive edge to the company. Logoplaste consider itself to be a global player, so it focuses on the leading companies present in the market. The motto of the company is to invest in technology and innovate, so that not only the company can grow but its employees can mature in terms of their standard of living (â€Å"Logoplaste Activity†). Customers Logoplaste mainly functions in the fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) segment. The customers of Logoplaste are Procter & Gamble and Coca Cola are the largest customers of the company, which Logoplaste supplies containers and packages for many well-known FMCG companies around the world. The FMCG companies find the plastic containers to be the most convenient and cheap alternative for product packaging. Almost all the FMCG companies directly or indirectly avail plastic containers of Logoplaste (Alcacer and Leitao 1-19). Distribution Transporting the plastic containers in high volume is economically unviable because when they are empty there are ample chances of damage. This is the reason why the suppliers of the containers set their plants near the filter plants of the clients, so as to eliminate the cost of transportation, but this decreases the diversification benefits and scale (Alcacer and Lei