Hamlet essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 2

Hamlet - Essay Example The complexity of action as well as the impossibility of certainty is prominently highlighted when it comes to discussing the execution of revenge by Hamlet, the protagonist in Shakespeare’s Hamlet. The lack of self-confidence and hindrance of inaction of the protagonist distinguishes the play remarkably apart from other revenge plays in English literature. Shakespeare portrays Hamlet as an able yet reluctant hero who is characteristically more prone to apprehension than to action. This is the case of his dilemma: of realizing the truth behind his father’s murder followed by the ghostly encounter, of acknowledging the plan of revenge and yet choosing to postpone this action. This thin demarcation between action and inaction is prominently expressed in the innermost thoughts of Hamlets, what is more appropriately known as Hamlet’s soliloquies or his self-conversation. Among the soliloquies of Hamlet in the play, the most debated one expressing the protagonist’s innermost projections is the â€Å"To be or not to be† soliloquy from Act III, Scene I of Hamlet. It most undoubtedly holds the central place of the entire discussion of action and inaction on the part of the protagonist for planning his ‘revenge’. Indeed the soliloquies speak of more action than does the protagonist himself. In Davies’ (2008) words, â€Å"Hamlet is rarely more dynamic or on the move as a character than in the action of his soliloquies, which remain the vehicles for an unfolding ‘drama of thought’ throughout Hamlet rather than expressions of a fixed kind of ‘dramatized thinking’. In soliloquy, we have the Hamlet who is ready ‘to drink hot blood’ in Act III, Scene II, and yet who refuses to kill Claudius in Act III, Scene III; who knows not why he lives ‘to say this thing’s to do’ in Act IV, Scene IV, but even at this most hopeless point, implicitly recognizes that

Art Museum & Gallery Studies, Art Curatorship ( curatoring for an Essay

Art Museum & Gallery Studies, Art Curatorship ( curatoring for an exhibition ) - Essay Example â€Å"Front Door, Back Gate† took "domesticity" as its theme, complimenting an on-going Jeannie Finaley exhibit at the Hatton Gallery, a challenging yearly endeavour by students from University of Newcastle upon Tyne. The exhibit reflects the spaces and limitations of domestic life as well as domesticity as a theme for art. The group chose interior as â€Å"Front Door† and exterior as â€Å"Back Gate†; which showcases Hatton’s historical collection along with other works on loan. We used complementary home and garden furniture to create a welcoming homelike atmosphere. Traditional gallery displays are very different from the way we display art in our homes. Domesticating the gallery provides a refreshing experience for visitors and shows domestic art and artworks on that theme in a new context. The vivid â€Å"Red Table† by Patrick Heron reflects love and solitude as well as suggesting lifestyle and joie de vivre. Heron has an affinity for vivid, exotic and captivating reds in this abstract still life. The interior space shows a table set for one, giving a sense of solitude, but also loneliness. It echoes survival in that, even when alone, we still set the table. Domestic traditions have survival value too. The composition is inspired by forms and patterns extracted from domestic surroundings, activating the space around the objects, enlarging upon the subject to encompass the whole of domestic reality, or bringing the whole world in and simplifying existence down to a table set for one. Simplicity adds innocence and invites the mind to invent the story. It is provocative in the use of colour and contrast, yet mysterious as shapes are obscured while details jump out like questions. Leon Maurice’s â€Å"Net† photograph shows a sense of belonging. Likewise, the â€Å"Net† curtain photograph reflects a sense of place with a hint of voyeurism: a glimpse through a net curtain looking out onto a blurred view, creating a visual link

A Critical Analysis Of Fast Food

A Critical Analysis Of Fast Food The paper is an essay a critical analysis of fast food. Both arguments for and against fast food are brought forth and thoroughly explained. A brief history of first food also constitutes part of this essay. It has been argued that change is as good as rest. The development of fast food was instigated by swift pace of life, the need to save time, energy, engaging in other activities other than cooking and spending time in the field and hectic schedule currently experience by the working human populations. Fast food is refers to those kinds of food that are prepared and ready to be eaten within the shortest time possible. Additionally, fast food constitute foodstuffs that are available for sale in restaurants and stores made up of ingredients that that can be preheated or precooked without any problem and served in a take away form (Egerton Bleidt 13). Fast foods are characterized by high fat content, high calories, high cholesterol, and quick, convenient and high sodium concentration. Similarly, it is inexpensive made from ingredients that are cheap such as fat meat and refined grains. These kinds of foods are not only available in restaurants but also in vending equipment as well as 24-hour expediency stores. According to Brown 1, U.S.A had the number of fast food restaurants about 14,000 followed by Japan which had approximately 4,000 restaurants. Globally, there are close to 11, 000 restaurants that serve fast food as at 2008. Additionally, close to 10 million people are served with fast food in the entire world in any given day. It is worth noting that although fast food has gain popularity, there are disadvantages as well as advantages of the same which thus forms the backbone of this paper. Examples of fast food include the following, sandwiches, hot dogs, pitas, fried chicken, French fries, chicken nuggets, tacos, pizza, hamburgers, fish and chips and ice cream to mention but a few (Egerton Bleidt 313). 2.0 History of fast food History of fast food can be linked to urbanization as well as the various activities done by certain persons within the community for instance soldiers, shepherds, hunters among others who were in need of foodstuffs that can be consumed very fast and of course far from homes. Historically, in the past men were born to work in the field while women were to spend most of their lives in activities associated with the kitchen which include cooking. When we consider family size, the work done by a woman for instance cooking for a family of 10 for a full year using the tradition way of chopping, grinding is nothing but slavery. For instance, in Mexico, those families that had no servant in their disposal, a woman could spend over five hours preparing dough and waking as early as 3:00am in the morning to prepared breakfast (Laudan 38). The need to change this scenario is attributed to development of fast food. In the wake of 20th century Italy enjoyed the first pasta made from a factory and canned tomatoes. Later, Japanese women were relieved from waking up early to prepared bread by simply buying bread baked in factories. Similarly, in Greece, barley was roasted so that it can be eaten straight or mixed with milk, water or butter. In Mexico and the Aztecs, they roasted and ground maize. Further development followed in coming up with fast food and eventually supermarkets opened their doors in Eastern Europe making people enjoyed convenience and reliability of ready made food. This is what was needed over this long period of time; food that was fast can be preserved, affordable and processed. 3.0 Arguments supporting fast food It is worth noting from the onset that there is a tussle between supporters and opponents of fast food. According to Laudan 34, those against the idea of fast food lack appreciation by demeaning the efforts of and home economists that have tried to come up with crops that have very high yield and recipes for our daily meals respectively. 3.1. Saves time The most notable argument brought forth in support of fast food is that it saves time as well as convenience. Considering the fact that the current society is characterized with hectic work schedule making individuals be very busy most of their times, no time is available for them to look for food (Egerton Bleidt 203). Hence, fast food comes in handy. It is worth noting that minimal time is spend by visiting those restaurant as customers are served quickly, the time that could be lost in waiting for other foods to be cooked or cooking at home can be used to do other things. Additionally, the traditional role of men working in the fields and women spending almost their entire life in cooking for their families has changed as they can engage in other activities that are profitable to the society. On the same note fast food save time in the context that one will not engage in all those activities of buying, cleaning such food stuffs, cooking as well as washing dishes. It is also true that when one gets home after a tiresome day thus very tired and bored, the efforts needed to cook can be substituted with having fast food which are considered God sent especially during such moments. 3.2 Saves money Similarly, fast foods are cheaper. This is because they are made from cheaper ingredients such as refined grains, meat with a lot of fat among others instead of ingredients that are expensive and nutritious such as vegetables, lean meat and fresh fruits. On the same note considering people who live alone, the expenses of cooking are much higher compared to when buying fast food. It has been noted that with as low as $5.0 one can get a fulfilling meal without undergoing the numerous hustle of acquiring the same. In addition taking the context of soldiers or those who engage in similar activities, a lot of money is saved when these individual carry processed fast food. One, they will not need energy to cook such food and if need be, energy consumption will be minimal as compared to energy needed to cook à ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒâ€¹Ã…“slow foodà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢. The money save can be used elsewhere. 3.3 Health advantage Despite the fact that those opposing fast food claim that it results to various problems in human health, it is worth noting that fast foods have contributed to taller and individuals with higher life expectancy. When our ancestors are compared with the current generation, it is evident that we are better off in fighting diseases hence living longer this is thanks to better medication, health science as well as fast food stuffs (Egerton Bleidt 113). 3.4 Sharing and convenience It is evident that fast food are usually packed in away that it can be taken out of the restaurant and eaten from anywhere, be it in the car, office, at the bus station. Additionally, unlike other kinds of food, fast food comes with the absolute advantage of splitting and sharing between or even amongst individuals (Watson 32). On the same note, there are those individual who do not like eating in public places, in this case fast food comes in handy as it can be consumed from any point. On the same note, when one is in a rush, he or she does not need to find a parking space; similarly, one does not need to get out of the car especially during bad whether. 3.5 Provision of employment and revenue generation In the current society, job opportunities have proved to be scarce. The faster growth of this industry globally stands at bout 5% and in the case of India, it stands at 41%. This kind of growth has seen to it a number of individuals are absorbed in this industry easing the problem of unemployment and overdependence on those few individuals who are employed. It is worth noting that the industry provide job opportunities to a range of professionals such as chefs, accountants, drivers, bakers, human resource managers (Lee et al 84). In terms of revenue generation, U.S alone generated about $100 billion in 2000 up from around 6 billion dollars thirty years ago. This value hit $145 billion mark in 2006; this kind of money can be used in various areas of fostering economy of the country such as financial medical care, education building infrastructure and so on. 3.6 Reliability A study carried out asking why individuals bought fast food established that reliability of such kind of food is what propels them to buying them. Fast foods are easy to obtain, are in plenty, varied in nature and readily available. 3.7 Nutritional information Most of the fast food joints have adopted a culture of making available the information concerning nutrients of their food. It is worth mentioning that with such kind of information as well as a number food stuff variety, one has a chance to choose the best kind of food that suits him or her. According to Conway many fast food restaurants provide guideline on nutrition in their menu, and those menus have significantly changed to include various healthy food stuffs for instance salads (Lee et al 77). 3.8 Promoted agriculture Since the ingredients used in making fast5 food are either from plant or animal origin, the rapid development of the industry has tremendously increased the number of individuals who practice crop farming as well as livestock keeping. Considering the large number of chickens, fish, grain mattock and beef needed more and more persons have engaged themselves in agricultural activities with the aim of earning an income as they try to meet the demand of fast food market (Watson 43). It is worth noting that agricultural development and growth especially in third world countries provide a larger portion of the population with job opportunities. This in turn help cut down the escalating number of unemployed citizen in any given country. The economic multiplier effect of expansion in agriculture has resulted to a positive Gross Domestic Product of various countries. 4.0 Arguments against fast food Those individuals that strongly oppose the idea of fast food in most cases cite the health risk the food poses to human kind. They totally disagree with those points brought forth by those who are pro fast food saying that nothing comes first than human health. 4.1 Health issues It has been brought forth that fast foods are characterized by high fat content, high calories, high cholesterol, and quick, high sodium concentration and made from ingredients that are cheap such as fat meat and refined grains. All these pose a greater risk to human health. Prominent scholars and health professionals have linked too much eating of fast food with such health problems as obesity, high blood pressure, cardiovascular disorders, and liver problems. 4.1.1 Heart attack Fast foods are prepared using Trans fat which is an artery-clogging fat. Food prepared using this fat includes French fries as well as chicken nuggets to mention but a few. When an individual takes this kind of food, there are very high chances of such an individual to have higher level of cholesterol which tremendously increases the risk of suffering from heart failures that can be fatal. 4.1.2 Increased high blood pressure As previously mention, fast food contains a good deal of sodium concentration, this aggravates the risk of high blood pressure. Higher concentration of sodium not only causes high blood pressure but also leads to a build up of fluid in those individuals affected by cirrhosis, heart problems as well as kidney disorders (Brennan Carpenter 510). 4.1.3 Obesity According to Wood 21 food such as cheeseburger do contain substantially larger amount of calories than what our body needs. Continual eating of such kind of food means that we accumulate a lot of calories in our body that are not useful leading to individuals being obese. This scenario is a perfect environment thus for a number of serious health problems as heart attack, cancer as well as diabetes. It is important to remember that this leads to other cost. In 2006 it was estimated that approximately $145 billion were spent in buying fast food, the amount coined to treating the problems associated with fast food did surpass the revenue generated. 4.1.4 Liver problem According to Doctor Ballantyne Christine of Center for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention, frequent consumption of fast food leads to liver damage. Since the liver is responsible for purification/filtering of harmful substances as well as producing substances that help breakdown fats, when fast foods are consumed every now and then, the liver will be overloaded and damaged. This in turn leads to very serious health problems that can be fatal. 4.1.5 Stroke A study carried out by the University of Michigan established that those individuals who lived within a walking distance to a restaurant where fast food are sold have 13% chances of suffering from stroke. This is thus linked to the effects of obesity, high blood pressure and so on. 4.2 Addiction It has been documented that fast food is addictive. What this means is that individuals who are used to eating such foods cannot go for long without having a bit of such food. This is despite the fact of the health risk they are posing themselves to. Addiction is attributed to the fact that fast food high in calories, fats, salt and sugar usually reconfigure certain hormones in human body making the body yearn for more fast food (Brennan Carpenter 510). This leads to uncontrolled intake of such kind of foods making it more difficult for an individual to change their eating habits. 4.3 Higher chances of contamination Since fast food constitutes the type of foodstuffs that can be prepared within a very short time, some ingredients especially from plant origin have contaminants. The presence of these contaminants coupled with such cooking methods as frying and grilling do aggravate the problem of carcinogens as well as other kinds of contaminant which are deadly to human health. Additionally, the manner with which fast food are cooked leaves room for survival of microbes this is due to the fact that they are half-cooked. The presence of such microbes usually leads to a suffering from numerous diseases that when not properly and quickly treated lead to death. 4.4 Family bond The issue of fast food has been brought forth as another factor that jeopardizes family bond. This is because no or very minimal time is used in preparing food together, leave alone eating together. Young people are spending more of their time in having a meal with their fellow friends other than their family members (Schlosser 211). Psychologist hold that meal time is a family meeting where each and every member is in a position to share their thought, ideas, problems as well as feelings. This usually helps in strengthening the bond between and among family members. This is in jeopardy during this era of growth in fast food industries. 4.5 Lower nutritional content Fast food has been linked and it is a fact that most of them apart from pizza lack dietary fiber as well as essential micro-nutrients such as vitamin and minerals. It is worth mentioning that food that lack fiber brings with it a number of stomach complication such as constipation. In the same respect, fruit usually lack in this sort of diet. In addition fast food are not nutritionally balanced, this lack of essential nutrients leads to malnutrition to both adults and kids (Arsenault 5). 4.6 Environmental impact Although this can be disputed as mere statement with no facts, the impact of fast food when critically analyzed will leave one puzzled. According to the finding of New Community Project, approximately 15 pounds of grain and close to 2,500 gallons of water is used to come up with one pound of hamburger. Similarly considering the pace with which meat is consumed through fast food, more land will need to be created especially through deforestation to provide enough space to rising up castles, sheep and goats (Brennan Carpenter 507). What this mean is that our natural ecosystems will be interfered with in the long ran leading to serious consequences as species extinction, habitat destruction, global warming and many negative environmental impacts that do have serious and lethal consequences to human beings. Additionally, over reliance on animal food product will mean that both terrestrial and marine life will be overexploited to meet the ever increasing human demand on fast food (Schlosser 300). 4.7 Expensive Although previously it was stated that fast food is inexpensive, that was only true when considering an individual buying such kind of food Vis avis cooking at home. It is important to not that a family visiting or buying fast food once in a while is not that expensive, but when this is done more often, then the amount of money spent can be quite much more as compared to if the family could just buy the food in super market, take the time to prepared it and enjoy a dinner or lunch together as a family (Arsenault 12). Additionally, in fast food joints, even if the whole family goes there, the environment is not very conducive to ensure that each and every family members share their thought, feeling and ideas because the time to spend in such areas are always limited. 5.0 Dealing with the problem On the basis of the argument for and against fast food, it will only be rational if we seriously think and act properly. Proponents of fast food usually say those who that argue against fast food are misplaced, what they need to do is to advocate for high quality processed food. At present, what is needed is to develop a culture that is in line with fast processed food. The culture need to provide choices to individuals, ethos that does not intolerant. It is worth to note that this will create the kind of uniformity we need at the present (Laudan 39). It will be responsible if; Parents do not encourage their kids to frequently eat fast food as well as teaching them on how to eat healthy Parent should lead by example and encourage eating together at home Choosing healthy food with vegetables, less sodium, sugar and fat In cases where one is addicted to such kind of food, efforts should be made to help him/her out of the problem through the various available ways for instance seeing a nutritionist (Laudan 39) 6.0 Conclusion From the review of both arguments for and against fast food, it is very easy for one to advocate doing away with it. But further consideration can make one to on which side to take. Among the arguments brought forth by proponent of fast food include the following; fast food are cheap, convenient, reliable, Saves time, provide an opportunity of sharing, provision of employment and revenue generation among others. On the other hand, the various disadvantages that have been used to argue against fast food include the health concern of such food stuffs, the lower nutritional content, the negative impact it posses to the environment, higher chances of contamination there by increasing the risk of diseases, addiction, destruction or jeopardizing family bond to mention but a few. It is worth mentioning that the types of diseases or health hazard associated with fast food include but not limited to obesity, high blood pressure, liver problems, and heart problems/failure. From my point of view, I do not advocate for doing away with fast food due to its various disadvantages, I thus borrow from what Laudan, Rachel brought forth, that we should not fight the industry and bring it down to its knees but rather champion for further improvement of fast food that will bring out high quality and healthy food. This will indeed ensure that people consume healthy foods and at the same time cushioning those that depend on the industry for their daily bread from economic uncertainty of doing way with the sector.

Driving Essay -- essays research papers

I always thought learning how to drive would be easy until one afternoon when I was 14 I decided to teach myself how to drive. I found out that afternoon that driving is not that easy and cars aren’t made for running into ditches. From my experiences and others experiences I have found out that it is not easy to learn how to drive.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When first learning to drive you will definitely need a car and a person to teach you how to drive. I found out that if you first learn how to drive a manual it’s a piece of cake to drive an automatic. If you start out with learning to use a clutch then you have already got the hard part out of the way now you just have to learn the rules of the road.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  After you learn how to drive a manual it will come so natural to you that you will wonder why you weren’t able to figure it out. First off to drive a manual you need steady feet and good hand eye coordination to shift. To start the car push in the clutch (far left pedal) and turn the key away from you. After starting the car keep the clutch in and put the shifter into first gear. Slowly let your foot off the clutch until you can feel a catch, and then apply a little gas to get the car going. It wont happen the first time you try it but by the time you get the hang of it the person in the passenger seat will need a neck brace from the car stalling time and time again.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When I was in the stage of learning how to d...

Hindi as a Language

The constitution of India (Article 343) recognises Hindi as the official language of India. Hindi is also the main language in many states of India such as Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal/ Uttarakhand, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Chhatisgarh and Himachal Pradesh. It is spoken by more than 437 million people in the world. The other dialects of Hindi are Brajbhasha, Bundeli, Awadhi, Marwari, Maithili, Bhojpuri, to name only a few. Hindi can be traced back to as early as the seventh or eighth century.The dialect that has been chosen as the official language is Khariboli in the Devnagari script. Other dialects of Hindi are Brajbhasa, Bundeli, Awadhi, Marwari, Maithili and Bhojpuri. It was in the 10th century that authentic Hindi poetry took its form and since then it has been constantly modified. History of Hindi literature as a whole can be divided into four stages: Adikal (the Early Period), Bhaktikal (the Devotional Period), Ritikal (the Scholastic Period) and Adhunikkal (th e Modern Period). Adikal-Adikal starts from the middle of the 10th century to the beginning of the 14th century. The poetry of this period has been divided into three categories Apabhramsha Poetry, Heroic Poetry and Miscellaneous Poetry. Apabhramsha Poetry includes the Siddha literature (750-1200), the Nath literature and the Jain literature. Siddha literature was written in the popular language and this echoed devotional themes combined with a strong erotic feeling. Between the 7th and the 14th century, the poet Gorakhnath and his followers mainly composed the Nath literature.They avoided eroticism, scorned racial discrimination and put stress on moral values, using the Doha (couplet) and the Chaupai (quartet) styles in their poems. These compositions had a great influence on the Sant (devotional literature made popular by Rahim and Kabir et al) literature. During this period Jain poets like Swayambhu, Som Datt Suri, Sharang Dhar and Nalla Singh composed the Charit Kavyas, which pr opagate moral tenets and portrayals of Nature. Heroic Poetry was composed wholly in the native speech. Bhakti Kal or the Devotional Period :The bhakti kal stretched between the 14th and the 17th century. During this age Islamic customs were heaped upon the common people and the Hindus were quite dejected by this. The poets of this period felt that it was their moral duty to arouse a sense of devotion through religious poetry. These poets have been divided into two groups: Nirguna and Saguna poets, depending upon the devotional attitude towards the Lord. Nirgunas have been further divided into two groups on the basis of different sadhanas (disciplines) followed by them.Those that put emphasis on the importance of knowledge for the realization of God were called the Saint poets. Kabir Das, Guru Nanak, Dharma Das, Maluk Das, Dadudayal, Sunder Das belong to this genre. In their Sakhis (couplets) and Padas (songs) they condemned rituals and laid emphasis on the theory of Monotheism (the belief that there is one God). Poets who believed love was the path of realizing God were called Sufi Poets. Jayasi, Manjhan, Kutuban and Usman were the pioneers of this school. Poets of the Saguna style are also divided into two groups: the followers of Rama and those of Krishna.Tulsi Das is the leading poet of the former group along with Agra Das, Nabha Das and Pran Chand Chauhan. Tulsi Das depicts Rama as the Ideal Man in his classical works Ramacharitamanasa, Gitavali, Kavitavali and Vinay Patrika. The devotees of Krishna have, however, portrayed him according to his popular image, that of the playful Krishna. These poets like Surdas, Nand Das, Parmananda Das and Meera have written about love and beauty. The devotional period created immortal literature and is distinguished as the golden age of Hindi Poetry. Ritikal or the Scholastic period:The poets of Ritikal can be classified into two groups on the basis of their subject: Ritibaddha (those wedded to rhetorics) and Ritimukta ( free from rhetorical conventions). The former poets composed on definitional and (Lakshana) and illustrative (Lakshya) themes. The essential nature of Rasa, Alankara, Nayikabheda were illustrated by them through Saviyas and Kavithas. Poets like Chintamani, Keshav, Mati Ram, Deva, Kulpati Misra and Bhikari Das were leaders of this style. The second group consists of free-minded poets like Alam, Ghananand, Bodha and Thakur. They wrote in a spontaneous manner ith feelings of love, quite quite dissilimar to rhetorical poetry. This age saw two more poetic trends. Didactic poetry in stray verses composed by Vrinda, Vaital and Giridhar and Heroic Poetry by Bhushan, Sudan, Lal and various others. Adhunikkal or Modern Period: Modern Hindi literature has been divided into four phases; the age of Bharatendu or the Renaissance (1868-1893), Dwivedi Yug (1893-1918), Chhayavada Yug (1918-1937) and the Contemporary Period (1937 onwards). Bharatendu Harishchandra (1849-1882) brought in a modern outl ook in Hindi literature and is thus called the ‘Father of Modern Hindi Literature'.Mahavir Prasad Dwivedi later took up this vision. Dwivedi was a reformist by nature and he brought in a refined style of writing in Hindi poetry, which later acquired a deeper moral tone. This was the age of revival when the glory and grandeur of ancient Indian culture was fully adopted to enrich modern life. Social, political and economic problems were portrayed in poetry while songs were of social awakening. This trend helped in the emergence of National Cultural Poetry whose leading poets were Makhanlal Chaturvedi, Balkrishna Shama ‘Navin', Siyaram Gupta and ‘Dinkar'.These poets put more stress on moral aspect of life rather than on love or beauty, which later evolved in the Chhayavada style of poetry. Kamayani is the zenith of this school and Chhayavada was best represented by Prasad, Nirala, Pant and Mahadevi Verma. After the decline of this movement in came the leftist ideology which found voice in two opposite styles of Hindi poetry. One was Progressivism and Prayogavada or later called Nai Kavita. The former was an effort of translating Marx's philosophy of Social realism into art. The most notable figure of this movement was Sumitranandan Pant.The latter safeguarded artistic freedom and brought in new poetic content and talent to reflect modern insight. The pioneers of this trend were Aggeya, Girija Kumar, Mathur and Dharamvir Bharati. A third style called Personal Lyrics also appeared, aiming at free and spontaneous human expressions with Harivansh Rai Bachchan as the leader of this trend. The history of Hindi poetry, thus, extends over a period of almost one thousand years. The proper development of Hindi prose followed the rise and growth of Khari Boli (colloquial dialect).Pre-Bharatendu writers like Ram Prasad Niranjani, Sadasukh Lal, Insha Allah Khan and Sadal Misra composed proses mainly based on mythological stories. Insha Allah Khan used the ty pical Khari Boli while others were more influenced by Sanskrit and Braj Bhasha. The development of Hindi prose has been classified into three periods: The first phase (1868-1918), the period of growth (1918-1937) and the present age of excellence (1938 onwards). The First Phase: Prose literature of Bharatendu and Dwivedi era covers the first phase.The writers of this age developed drama, novel, short story, essay and literary criticism. Popular dramatic compositions were done mainly by Bharatendu Harishchandra, Bal Krishna Bhatt and Radha Krishna Das. They inclined more towards satires on contemporary conditions, social and patriotic plays. Eminent prosateurs of this age included Devaki Nandan Khatri (novelist), Chandradhar Sharma (short-story writer), Mahavir Prasad Dwivedi (essayist) and Padma Singh Sharma (critic). The period of growth This is represented by Jayshankar Prasad, Rai Krishna Das and Mahadevi Varma.Drama acquired a distinct place for itself in this period but the the atre did not respond to it. Again, fiction attained new proportions with Premchand as its most outstanding representative. The period of excellence This period came more whole-heartedly after the Independence of India in 1947. Hindi drama of this period laid emphasis on realistic expressions and two new forms evolved like poetic Drama and radio play. Now the theatre also became interested in enacting these plays. ‘Ashka' Jagdish Chandra Mathur, Mohan Rakesh and Lakshminarayan Lal have acquired distinction amongst modern playwrights.Fiction made a wonderful progress during this period. Realism, psycho-analytical techniques and prose-style was the main ingredient of the plot structure. Modern Hindi fiction found its mentors in Yash Pal, Agyeya and Renu. Essay and literary criticism also developed during this period. Essayists like Hazari Prasad Dwivedi, Mahadevi Varma and Siyaram Sharan Gupta found new ways of expressing themselves through reminiscences, reportage and sketch. Th e history of Hindi prose is not expansive, as it had started out quite late. However, it has progressed at a rapid pace.

An Investigation of the Gender Gap of Boys’ Underachieving in Literacy Essay

The purpose of this study was to investigate the gender gap, especially of boys’ underachievement in literacy, and discover if there are particular strategies that schools can implement in order to raise the attainment levels of boys. As the issue of the gender gap is so wide I selected literature to review which covered a wide range of theorists and existing studies. Specifically I wanted to identify some of the suggested causes for the underachievement of boys and any already proposed effective strategies which I could execute in my own study. The data I collected from the study was both qualitative and quantitative in order to give a more valid outcome; these included an open-ended, semi-structured interview, which I felt would enable the respondent to provide a wider range of ideas; questionnaires, observation and existing data. The results showed that there is in fact a close correlation between boys who do not read for pleasure/enjoyment and boys who underachieve. However it also showed that there are specific strategies that can be applied to meet the learning needs of boys in order to raise their achievements. However due to the scale of the topic this small study cannot provide a definitive outcome for the causes and solutions of boys literacy, it has merely suggested some probable reasons for and some possible remedies. HYPOTHESIS During the past twenty years there have been rising concerns over the achievement gap between boys and girls, particularly with boys underachieving in literacy. The aim of this investigation is to identify if reading is the main factor for the achievements of boys in literacy, or if there are other strategies that can be implemented to raise the attainment levels of boys and therefore close the gap. To complete this study, I will undertake the investigation at an all boys’ school (for ethical reasons of anonymity, the school will be known as School A) located in a leafy suburban area in the North West of England. School A is a high achieving school compared to other mixed and same sex schools in the Local Area. The current Head of English (HoD) is driven, ambitious and highly motivated towards pupils’ achieving the best results possible. During the research I expect outcomes to show that there is a correlation between high achieving boys and enjoyment of reading for pleasure. I also expect to find that particular classroom strategies can effectively impact the attainment levels of boys, particularly in those who do not read for pleasure. LITERATURE REVIEW In 1993 Ofsted reported that boys do not perform as well in English as girls (cited in Bearne, 2004), and more recently the National Assessment of Education Progress (2009) has found that ‘female students consistently score higher than boys on average in both reading and writing’ (Watson et al., 2010: 356). However this concept is not a new one; researchers for the Gender and Education Association noted that in the 1950s and 1960s the pass rate for the eleven plus examinations, taken by almost all eleven year olds at this time, were different for boys and girls; Epstein et al. (1998 cited in Watson et al., 2010) claims that the pass rate for boys was lower than girls because girls supposedly matured earlier than boys. Gareth Malone, writing for the Telegraph in September 2010 stated that nationally ‘boys lag behind girls in reading by 6 percentage points and in writing by 15 percentage points’ (Malone, 2010). Despite this, Gorard (2001, cited in Malacova, 20 07) believes that, the panic about the gender achievement gap is exaggerated; he blames the concept on lack of sufficient data, which until recently had not been available, and believes that a lot of the assumptions regarding boys underachievement is based on statistical misinterpretation. Gorard (2001, cited in Malacova, 2007) conducted the first UK analysis of national data set over a six year period; he found that the gap only appeared amongst high-ability pupils and that the number of boys and girls failing exams was similar. His conclusions found that the gender gap was, if anything, decreasing. Regardless of Gorard’s (2001) analysis, there are many who still feel that the performance gap is a concern. In 1993 the Ofsted report offered some insight into differing perspectives and explanations for boys’ underachievement, including the lack of male literacy role models, classroom strategies, curriculum literacy content, perceptions of behaviour, social class and ethnicity (cited in Bearne, 2004). Solsken (1995, cited in Bearne, 2004) added to this list claiming that literacy is associated more with females and femininity and believes that this possibly has a negative effect on boys and their attitudes towards reading. Solken’s (1995) argument links very closely with Watson et al.(2007) who proposed that popular explanations often focus on boys’ ‘biological make-up’. They claim that evidence shows that ‘hegemonic masculinity is central to †¦ the struggles boys face as literacy learners’ (Watson et al. 2010: 357). Rowan et al (2002) also believes that ‘boys are biologically different to girls and that this biologically difference is the cause of behavioural differences’ (Rowan et al. 2002, cited in Watson et al. 2010:357). He believes that due to these biological differences, boys and girls are defined by inherent masculinity and femininity characteristics and in order for educational success this must be acknowledged and accommodated for. This is an important assertion to consider for this particular case study; due to the domination of boys in School A it is important to understand how masculine characteristics are catered for in an all boy s’ school. One of the suggestions to improve literacy for boys is to make education more ‘boy friendly’ by including more reading materials that boys enjoy, such as action and graphic novels, which will motivate boys to read. Hornton (2005) believes that adolescent boys could rediscover the magic of books by using texts that appeal to their interests. Young and Brozo (2000, cited in Brozo, 2010) deem that encouraging boys and actively helping them to find access points into literacy and reading should be made priority by teachers. During this particular study the idea and notion of actively promoting literacy through any route possible is addressed by School A’s English department head in the interview, and shows that it is essential for boys be aware that reading does not have to be confined to specific genres and authors. Furthermore Cole & Hall (2001, cited in Taylor, 2004) claim that boys read less fiction than girls, preferring to opt for texts that contain more facts and less narrative, such as magazines or texts that are analytical. Similarly Millard (1997) claims that boys tend to opt for genres such as action and science fiction whilst reading as little as possible in school that they think they can get away with. Due to these preferences, boys’ are at a disadvantage in academic literacy as their motivation towards school texts and curriculum texts is affected. Probst (2003, cited in Taylor, 2004) believes that if boys are to engage with reading, the texts that they are asked to study need to be significant to them. In other words it seems that in current literacy education, there is not enough stimulating material which addresses the needs or interests of boys. Millard (1997) relates the findings of boys’ apparent lack of interest in reading as significant to low achievement in English, while Holland (1998) attributes lesson style and strategies as some of the other causes for underachievement. Both of these arguments are valid for this particular study and will be investigated further by studying the reading habits and the predicted GCSE grades of boys in a high set and a low set, and by exploring particular teaching styles implemented in School A. Holland’s study (1998) showed that boys can spend any amount of the day, stemming from 25 percent up to 75 percent, passively listening to the teacher rather than actively engaging. When trying to reason why boys had a tendency for this she found that the boys preferred lessons which were practical, had a range of different activities (such as personal research, groups work or discussions), or involved competition. If boys are passive during English lessons they are not learning the essential literacy skills required to help them achieve results. Taking this into consideration it seems then that pedagogical practice needs to be addressed. Taylor (2004) suggests that teachers contemplating their own practice could reflect on whether they are meeting the individual learning needs for each boy through learning pace and style, and innovative strategies which build on boys’ existing interests to maximise their potential, development and emotional needs. Pollack (1998, cited in Taylor, 2004) agrees with this theory suggesting that numerous opportunities should be presented to boys for hands on, interactive learning. METHODOLOGY My approach to research was identified by the nature and context of the question. After considering the purpose and desired outcomes for the investigation I decided that the research would take the form of a case study, incorporating a combination of both qualitative and quantitative data to ensure validity and reliability; ‘qualitative methods may supplement the findings by identifying gaps from the quantitative study’ (Bryman & Bell 2007:650). The decision was made to collect evidence using a multi-method approach including interviews, questionnaires and analysis of existing recorded data. According to Gillham (2000) ‘different methods have different strengths and different weaknesses’ (Gillham 2002:13), and so ‘triangulation†¦ to strengthen your findings’ (Greetham 2009:184) was implemented to strengthen the validity of the study. To form part of the qualitative data I arranged an interview with the head of the English department. The purpose of the interview was to gain a deeper understanding of the context of the department and of the strategies which have raised attainment and achievement within the subject. Jones (1985) claims that ‘In order to understand other persons’ constructions of reality, we would do well to ask them†¦ and to ask them in such a way that they can tell us in their terms (rather than those imposed rigidly and a priori by ourselves)’ (Jones cited in Punch 2009:144). Taking this into consideration I decided that the interview should be open-ended and semi-structured for flexibility; Cohen et al. (2007) claim that semi-structured interviews gather ‘more intangible aspects of the school’s culture, e.g. values, assumptions, beliefs, wishes, problems.’ (Cohen et al., 2007:97). A semi-structured interview then would enable me to gather more in-depth information regarding the Head of Department’s ideas and beliefs surrounding School A’ s successes. To understand boys and literacy, and whether reading habits have an impact on GCSE results, a questionnaire was compiled to collect primary data and distributed to a top set and a bottom set year 11 English class. According to Gillham (2002), questionnaires are not typical of case study research; however they can be used to obtain simple, factual information. For the purpose of this part of the study I felt that a questionnaire was a practicable way to acquire important facts regarding the reading habits of a group of high ability boys and a group of low ability boys. These would then be compared to analyse and identify any correlation between reading habits and English predicted exam results using samples from the furthest range on the ability spectrum. During the research I also decided to collect additional data through participant observation. The aim of this was to gain an ontological perspective of the pupils enabling me to observe interaction, relationship and actions performe d by pupils. I felt that this would help me to make sense of the data collected in both the interview and the questionnaire. In regards to validity and obtaining accurate results from my observations, I first needed to develop a relationship with the classes I intended to observe to ensure that my presence was unobtrusive and did not affect their normal behaviours and create a bias observation. To achieve this I regularly participated in classroom observation at the back of the room in attempt to become a participant in the classroom context. Trochim (2001) claims that ‘the researcher needs to become accepted as a natural part of the culture to ensure that the observations are of the natural phenomenon’ (Trochim, 2001: 161), therefore I attended certain classes as an observer over a series of months to ensure that the pupils were comfortable with my presence and so acted within normal behaviours. The final set of data collected was secondary data compiled of the school’s GCSE results since the Head of English was appointed, including results form 2008, 2009 and 2010. The data also provided average GCSE results for the rest of the Local Authority enabling me to compare the school’s results against average achievements in the LA. The purpose of this data was to compare the information obtained from the interview with the head of department, about strategies implemented to raise attainment, against the GCSE results. ANALYSIS The Interview: The aim of the interview with the English Head of Department (HoD) was to discover if GCSE results had improved since being appointed Head of English at School A, and if so to discuss the strategies and provisions which had been implemented to raise the achievement levels in literacy at School A. The current HoD had taken over the English department in April 2008; the English GCSE in the Local Authority that year was 64.5 percent of students achieving A*- C; School A achieved 58 percent, more than 6 percent less than the LA average and 2.1 percent less than the national average. However in 2009 the following year, after just one year as the department head, School A had improved their results by 20.7 percent. The LA’s average results in English in 2009 was 66.7 percent achieving A*-C, the national average was 62.7 percent, while School A’s results were up to 78.7 percent. In 2010 the GCSE results at school A dipped slightly to 76.8 percent due to the school’s wea ker cohort for that particular year; however the results were still higher than the Local Authority’s average of 70.4 percent and the national average of 64.8 percent. Due to the weaker cohort that year the HoD considered this result to be an excellent achievement. Strategies implemented in the department were a crucial factor for the improved attainment levels across the Key Stages at School A. In September 2009 a centralised, uniformed English curriculum was introduced to Key Stage 3 aiming to â€Å"drip-feed† appropriate skills and assessments to pupils that prepares them with relevant GCSE experience before they enter Key Stage 4. Pupils in Key Stage 3 are assessed each half term (part of Assessing Pupils’ Progress) and are assessed in relatively the same way as the new Specification GCSE, ensuring the identification of weakness areas for improvement. Despite the success of raised attainment across the Key Stages, these strategies cannot be considered as part of School A’s GCSE progression; the first year group from Key Stage 3 in September 2009 are due to sit their GCSE exams in the summer of 2011, only then will it be pos sible to determine if this strategy attributes to the departments achievements. There are, however, specific strategies in place which can be measured against the department’s raised achievement results. These are those that have already been applied at Key Stage 4, including a uniformed teaching curriculum incorporating, for example, all of the same poets and clusters in the GCSE specification; personalised revision packages which identify individual’s weakest areas combined with personalised intervention to improve these weaker areas and ensure pupils’ achieve highest marks possible; ceased timetables for year 11 pupils close to exams and new timetables put in place to prioritise learning for the nearest exam. The Head of Department believes that all of these are essential contributing factors for the departments improved results. Other elements, which the Head of English believes help pupils at School A to maximise their achievements, are more innovative and practical activities for example the employment of production companies to perfor m GCSE texts such as Of Mice and Men; and school trips to events such as Poetry Live, an event hosted by poets from the GCSE anthology. Pollack (1998) argues that ‘we need to develop and implement innovative teaching approaches†¦ this may mean providing numerous opportunities for hands-on†¦ as well as interactive teaching’ (cited in Taylor, 2004:294). The English Head felt that these opportunities expanded the boys learning and understanding by developing them outside of the classroom context. Bearne (2003) claims that ‘There is a tendency for boys to draw on visual sources for their writing’ (Bearne, 2003:3) and so visual performances such as Of Mice and Men help the pupils to draw on their experiences through vision and memory. In addition to those already mentioned, the Head of Department also felt that the ethos created in the department combined with class room methods were an essential factor in the development and attainment of the pupils at School A. The department has a strong focus on literacy which is promoted broadly amongst all pupils, including reading groups and book clubs, as well as spelling and reading lessons delivered to pupils on a weekly basis. Pupils are encouraged to read regularly, regardless of material, to ensure positive enjoyment of reading. In contrast, Brozo (2002, cited in Taylor, 2004) felt that teachers were more likely to choose texts with narratives that did not appeal to boys. The HoD however regularly promoted the reading of any materials, whether it was comics, newspapers, information books or autobiographies; she felt that if pupils were to enjoy reading and increase their confidence with literacy, they should feel that any text that they enjoy to be suitably considered. In terms of classroom strategies the department endorses well paced positive learning in an environment of mutual respect between pupil and teacher; clear personal targets which are monitored explicitly; strong Assessment for Learning to test and extend pupils’ understanding and learning through challenge, feedback and routes to improve; short, sharp activities; a strong focus on reading; regular homework; and clear learning objectives which are reviewed during the plenary to ensure all pupils know the direction of learning. These techniques are consistent to that of a survey which was conducted of fourteen schools in 1997. The survey was performed by former HMI Graham Frater; he concluded that the most successful schools in regards to boys and literacy were the ones that paid a lot of focus towards teaching methods. Particular methods that he felt where important for success included: prompt starts to lessons with clear learning objectives shared; a challenging pace sustained throughout the lesson; lesson endings which reflected on the learning objectives and achievements within the lesson; a variety of activities; high expectations of the pupils combined with a non-confrontational attitude towards discipline; and effective modelling. It seems quite clear then that pupils’ achievements at School A can be attributed to the methods and strategies implemented consistently across the department. The pupils are suitably challenged with pace and activities, they know what the aims of their lessons are and how they have achieved these aims, they regularly assess their strengths and weaknesses and so understand what they need to do in order to raise their achievement levels. On the contrary, however, it is difficult to determine whether classroom and reading strategies are the most influential factor for raising attainment in boys and literacy. From observation of quiet reading lessons I discovered that many of the high ability pupils in the top set classes within Key Stage 3 welcomed the lesson as a chance to read an engaging book; however the lower ability groups were often much more difficult to set on task. Indecision over which books to read, reluctance to read quietly, and regular disruption amongst the pupils seemed a frequent occurrence in the low ability classes. When addressing reading, the HoD spoke about the issues regarding boys and reading, specifically in respect of boys’ loss of motivation of reading in their teenage years. She believed that possible causes in lack of motivation in boys and reading was due to their increased socialisation as they grew older, the introduction of more complex reading materials in preparation for GCSE, peer pressure from others that could overshadow pupils’ personal preferences, and she also felt that a lot of teenage boys only read to obtain information and not for pleasure. Taking these factors in to consideration she claimed that it is important to understand the reasons why boys do not enjoy reading but it is more productive to motivate and encourage them to read. The HoD considers the best way to encourage reluctant readers is by getting to know individual pupils and then gauge their interest levels and preferences as a starting point. Some of the suggested strategies, she felt were particularly useful, are to provide a variety of books, both fiction and non-fiction with appropriate reading levels; to keep in touch with boys current interests and provide books that reflect them; respect reading interests of young people and don’t expect them to only enjoy books suggested by the teacher; allow pupils to self-select their own books; encourage an interest in short stories, graphic novels and magazines, working up to full-length books; and to give academic recognition and credit for books read. These ideas meet the suggestions put forth by Hornton (2005), who stated that boys’ motivation should be encouraged with texts that appeal to their interests, and Young and Brozo (2000, cited in Brozo, 2010) who find it important to aid boys to seek access points into literacy and reading. The Questionnaire: The questionnaire was distributed to a high ability top-set year 11class and a low ability bottom set year 11 class. There were 32 pupils in the high set and 13 in the low set. The aim of the questionnaire was to compare the reading habits and attitude towards reading from a range of pupils of different abilities. According to Hornton (2005) there is a correlation between individuals with low level literacy skills and those who dislike reading for pleasure, and so I predicted that an individual’s attitude toward reading would correlate with their predicted GCSE grade; the more pupils enjoy reading and feel that it is important, the higher I expected their grade to be. The predicted GCSE grades in the set one class ranged from A* – C while the set five classes’ grades ranged from B – G. The questionnaires revealed that in the top set group 84.38 percent of pupils enjoyed reading and 90.63 percent felt that reading was important for reasons such as expanding vocabulary, increasing knowledge and learning new things. There was a vast difference in comparison with the lower set where only 23.8 percent of pupils enjoyed reading and just 53.85 percent felt that reading was important. It appears then that there is indeed a correlation between literacy skills with enjoyment of reading, however other elements surveyed in the questionnaire aimed to establish whether boys and literacy could have a direct link to their parents’ relationship with reading. The survey asked pupils if their parents enjoyed reading and if they had been encouraged to read as a child. Sadowski (2010) analysed the literacy gap between working and upper class boys, he found that the gap for more affluent boys was not as large as those from working class backgrounds and attributed this to richer boys growing up with father’s who were readers. This suggests that pupils whose parents enjoy reading and encouraged them to read from a young age would achieve higher results than those whose parents either did not enjoy reading or did not encourage them. Surprisingly the results did not reflect this to an extent that one would have expected. In regards to pupils’ parents who enjoy reading, 76.92 percent of pupils in the lower ability set agreed that their parents enjoyed to read while 81.25 percent of pupils’ in the high ability group confirmed the same. Of parents who encouraged their sons to read as a child, 61.54 percent from the low ability agreed and 78.31 from the higher ability group. Despite a difference between the percentages for both groups’ parents who read and encouraged them to read when they were younger, the gap is not a remarkable one and does not qualify a distinct correlation between pupils’ ability in literacy and the relationship their own parents have with reading. The questionnaires revealed that in spite of 76.92 percent of their parents having an enjoyment of reading, only 23.08 percent of pupils in that class enjoy reading, which suggests that perhaps even if a higher percentage of parents had encouraged their son to read this would not necessarily have affected their attitude towards reading for pleasure and therefore would not affect their achievements in literacy. EVALUATION The outcomes and findings from this case study have, to some extent, complemented a lot of the existing research addressed in the literature review. For example Holland (1998) discovered that boys tend to spend a lot of time listening passively to teachers because they prefer lessons that are practical and involve a range of activities. From my observations in the classroom and confirmation from the Head of English in the interview, the boys at School A also learned best when lessons involved a series of different activities such as discussions, group work or practical tasks such as drama-based role plays. This outcome also corresponded with Malone (2010) who, in a venture to discover why boys where underperforming in literature, stated that he aimed to perform short, achievable tasks with the boys, he also suggested that giving explicit time frames focused the boys into completing their work. During the interview the HoD explained that by giving the boys at School A short time frame s to complete specific task, it kept the pace of the lessons challenging and rigorous and therefore engaged them in learning more effectively. However the problematic outcome for this particular study is that only one school has been investigated and so it is difficult to determine whether the observations, questionnaires and interview conclusions, pertaining to strategies and the improved GCSE literacy results for School A, are a true reflection of causes and solutions of underachievement. The English GCSE results were really poor at School A in 2008, just as the current Head of Department took over, and from the interview questions and answers it would seem that the department and classroom strategies implemented since then have helped to improve the pupils’ achievements. Nevertheless it is certainly impossible to verify whether these are the sole reason for improvement; one particular reason is that it was never established what mode of departmental and classroom strategies were in place before the current HoD took over from the previous. Another reason is that School A’s GCSE results prior to 2008 were not obtained for this study and so results before this year have simply been generalised based on the last available statistics. It could be assumed that the 2008 result may have been an isolated case and so accessing results prior to 2008 would have endorsed whether or not the results had improved substantially. Gorard et al (2001, cited in Malacova, 2007) believes that the gender gap is exaggerated and to some extent it is possible from this research to argue in favour of this. Over the past three years School A has achieved excellent GCSE results, especially in English and particularly in comparison to local and national results. School A is an all boys’ school and so advocates that boys in this particular context are not underachieving as are others in other contexts. This suggests that if School A can produce results above the average mark, particularly in a year when the cohort was extremely weak, i t should be possible for other schools to raise the achievement levels of literacy in boys just the same. However it would be possible to prove or disprove Gorard’s theory of the gender gap, if the strategies implemented at School A could be put into action in a school of a different context. If successful this would validate the outcomes from this case study, it would also give rise to further research based on boys and literacy and whether these strategies could be used in a co-educational school or if they are too specific to the needs of boys’ learning and therefore not beneficial to girls’ learning. I felt that the findings made regarding boys reading habits and their attainment levels were significant. From the sample of questionnaires taken there seemed to be a direct correlation between predicted grades A*-C and boys who enjoyed reading or felt that it was important; 100 percent of the boys in the high ability group were predicted a grade A*-C (although three pupils were unaware what their predicted grade is, the school setting procedures ensured that only bo ys predicted A*-C would be allocated to set one). Of this a high 90.63 percent felt that reading was important and 84.38 percent enjoyed reading for pleasure. There were however exceptions to this; one pupil in the higher ability group stated that he did not think reading was important because ‘I do not read and I am predicted A’s at GCSE’. Another boy from the high ability group, who has been predicted a C grade, also felt that reading was not important because it ‘doesn’t do anything’, however this boy also claimed that he enjoyed reading and so regardless of whether he felt that it was important or not, reading is part of his literacy development. Despite the boys who did not feel that reading was important, the majority of the boys in the class felt that reading was important; this suggests that the highest achieving literacy pupils in School A were ones that enjoyed reading and so this would also be an essential contributing factor to the success of their achievements. It is difficult here to state whether the reasons for the boys’ enjoyment of reading is owing to the strategies for motivating reading encouraged by the HoD and so part of the questions on the questionnaire should have been more open ended to allow pupils to explain perhaps what motivates their enjoyment of reading. The lower ability results from the questionnaire were also significant for showing a correlation between literacy achievements and reading habits. Only 23.08 percent read for pleasure and only half the class felt that reading was important, this suggests that the reason for low ability achievers is possibly due to the lack of enjoyment in reading. Once again the problematic issue with these results is that the number of pupils in the low ability class was considerably less than the number of pupils in the high ability class. To gain a perhaps more informed result from the questionnaires a larger sample from low ability classes should have been obtained to match the number of pupils in the high ability class. This may or may not have produced different results, but, whatever the outcome, they certainly would have been more valid. One final evaluation to consider, in regards to the low ability group, is how effective the suggested motivation strategies have been in engaging boys in reading. With only 23.08 percent of pupils in this class finding an enjoyment in reading it would seem that the strategies have been ineffective in increasing motivation and achievement in these particular pupils. What would have been an interesting study if had been possible, would be to assess pupils attitude towards reading and predicted grades before the HoD had taken over and implemented strategies, and then to compare them to the results that have been found during in this study. CONCLUSION Returning to the hypothesis, my aim was to find out if reading for pleasure impacted on boys’ attainment levels; whether the achievement of boys who did not enjoy reading was affected. I also wanted to identify successful teaching strategies and whether these would raise the levels of those boys who again did not enjoy reading. The study has shown that there is a correlation between boys reading habits and their achievement levels’; it has also identified some strategies that can be used to raise their attainment levels. However from this study alone it is difficult to say if those strategies implemented in an all boys’ classroom would be equally effective in a mixed sex classroom. Due to this it would be interesting to expand the research on a larger scale to investigate the impact of those strategies, which are effective for boys learning, on a) girls learning in a mixed classroom and b) boys learning in a mixed classroom. The gender gap issue is such a broad topic that research can be extended to a greater degree of investigation. For example I have covered some possible causes of boys’ underachievement in this study; however on a wider scale other possible causes could be explored such as masculinity and identity, class or ethnicity. I feel that the most important route to take continuing from this particular investigation would be a focus on masculinity stereotypes in the single sex classroom and the mixed classroom. Holland (1998) states that: Boys do appear to be locked inside a stereotype which appears to make them succumb to peer pressure and which inevitably impacts on their attitude to work’ (Holland, 1998: 177). Therefore researching ways that can reduce or even prevent these macho stereotypes in the classroom would be an important factor for understanding boys and underachievement. Despite that there is no definitive outcome from this study; I feel that it is something that I will take forward into my professional development; whether it is through consideration of differentiation in boys learning style in a mixed classroom, or through a focus of raising attainment levels in my classes. Whichever way I incorporate consideration of gender into my teaching, it is certainly something that needs to be addressed. Gorard (2001) believes that concern over the gender gap is exaggerated; however it is clear through GCSE tables that boys tend to achieve lower than girls. In relation to this then, it is important for both newly qualified teachers and established teachers to consistently strive to meet the learning needs of their pupils. It seems the most important way is by adapting their style and approach to learning styles to ensure that both girls and boys have equal opportunities to work and achieve their highest potential. BIBLIOGRAPHY BOOKS Bleach, K. (1998). Raising Boys’ Achievement in Schools. Staffordshire: Trentham Books Ltd. Brozo, W. G. (2002). To Be A Boy, To Be A Reader: Engaging Teen and Preteen Boys In Active Literacy. US: International Reading Association. Bryman, A. and Bell, E. (2007) Business Research Methods 2nd Ed. Oxford University Press Cohen, L. , Manion, L. & Morrison, K (2007). Research Methods In Education. London and New York: Routledge. Cox, T. (2000). Combating Educational Disadvantage: Meeting the Needs of Vulnerable Children. London and New York: Falmer Press. Frances, B. (2000). Boys, Girls and Achievement: Addressing the Classroom Issues. London and New York: Routledge. Frater, G. (1997). Improving Boys’ Literacy. London: The Basic Skills Agency. Gillham, B. (2000). Case Study Research Methods. London and New York: Continuum. Greetham, B. (2009) How to Write Your Undergraduate Dissertation. Palgrave Macmillan. Mason, J. (1996). Qualitative Researching. London, Thousand Oaks, N ew Delhi: Sage. Millard, E. (1997). Differently Literate. London, Washington DC: The Falmer press. Punch, K. F. (2009). Introduction to Research Methods in Education. Los Angeles, London, New Delhi, Singapore, Washington DC: Sage. Rae, T., & Pederson, L. (2007). Developing Emotional Literacy With Teenage Boys. London, California and New Delhi: Paul Chapman Publishing. Trochim, W. M. (2001). The Research Mothods Knowledge Base. Cincinnati, OH: Atomic Dog Publishing. Weeks, A. (1999). The Underachievement of Boys. Northants: First and Best Education. JOURNALS Holland, V. (1998). Underachieving Boys: Problems and Solutions. Support for Learning , 13(04), pp.174-178. Hornton, R. (2005). ‘Boys Are People Too: Boys and Reading, Truth and Misconceptions’. Teacher Librarian ,.33(2), pp 30-32. Malacova, E. (2004). ‘Effects of Single-sex Education on Progress in GCSE’. Cambridge Assessments UK , 33, pp233-259. Mills M. & Keddie, A. (2007). ‘Teaching Boys and Gender Justice’. International Journal of Inclusive Education ,11 (03), pp.335-354. Myhill, D. (2002). ‘Bad Boys and Good Girls? Patterns of Interaction and Response in Whole School Teaching’. British Education Research Journal , 28 (03), pp.339-352. Reichert, M. & Hawley, R.(2010). ‘Reaching Boys An International Study of Effective Teaching Practices’. Phi Delta Kappan ,91 (04), pp35-40. Sadowski, M. (2010, August). ‘Putting The Boy Crisis in Context’. Education Digest , pp 4-6. Taylor, D. L. (2004, December). â₠¬ËœNot Just Boring Stories: Reconsidering the Gender Gap for Boys’. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy , pp290-298. Watson, A., Kehler, M. & Martino, W. (2010, February). ‘The Problem of Boys’ Literacy Underachievement: Raising Some Questions’. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 53(5) , pp356-361. WEBSITES Bearne, E. (2004, September). Raising Boys’ Achievement in Literacy. Retrieved March 2011, from RBA: www-rba.educ.com.ac.uk/PaperEB.Paf Boys’ Underachievement. (2005, November). Retrieved December 2010, from Teaching Expertise: www.teachingexpertise.com/articles/boys-underachievements-101 Gender and Achievement. (n.d.). Retrieved December 2010, from National Strategies: http://nationalstrategies.standards.dcsf.gov.uk/node/46121?uc%20=%20force_uj Malone, G. (2010, September 2nd). Extraordinary School For Boys: helping boys love literacy. Retrieved April 11th, 2011, from Telegraph: www.telegraph.co.uk/education/7976044/Extraordinary-School-for-Boys-helping-boys-love-literacy.html Mendick, H. (n.d.). Retrieved April 12, 2011, from Gender and Education:

Free Essays on Childhood Depression

Childhood Depression Childhood depression is a major issue in America. It is an issue that should not be taken lightly and any child that is experiencing symptoms of depression should be treated or helped in any way possible. Here are three articles that I read that gave me more information and insight on this childhood illness. The diagnostic criteria and key defining features of major depressive disorders in children are the same as the are for adults. However, recognition and diagnosis of the disorders may be more difficult in youth for several reasons. The way that symptoms are expressed varies in youngsters. In addition, children and young adolescents with depression may have difficulty in properly identifying and describing their internal emotions or moods. For example, instead of communicating how bad they feel, they may act out and be irritable towards others, which may be interpreted simply as misbehavior or disobedience. Some signs that may be associated with depression in children include frequent vague, non-specified physical complaints such as headaches, muscle aches, stomach aches, or tiredness. Also, frequent absence from school or poor performance in school, talks of efforts to run away from home, outbursts of shouting, complaining, unexplained irritability or crying, being bored, lack of interest in playing with friends, alcohol or substance abuse, social isolation, poor communication, fear of death, extreme sensitivity to rejection or failure, increased irritability, anger, hostility, reckless behavior, and lastly, difficulty with relationships. In this article that I read, depression relates to a child’s cognitive development. If a child is missing school or concentrating on other issues during class time, they won’t be able to develop intellectually. Also, their physical development can be effected if they are depressed and expressing reckless behavior or experimenting with drugs and or alcoho... Free Essays on Childhood Depression Free Essays on Childhood Depression Childhood Depression Childhood depression is a major issue in America. It is an issue that should not be taken lightly and any child that is experiencing symptoms of depression should be treated or helped in any way possible. Here are three articles that I read that gave me more information and insight on this childhood illness. The diagnostic criteria and key defining features of major depressive disorders in children are the same as the are for adults. However, recognition and diagnosis of the disorders may be more difficult in youth for several reasons. The way that symptoms are expressed varies in youngsters. In addition, children and young adolescents with depression may have difficulty in properly identifying and describing their internal emotions or moods. For example, instead of communicating how bad they feel, they may act out and be irritable towards others, which may be interpreted simply as misbehavior or disobedience. Some signs that may be associated with depression in children include frequent vague, non-specified physical complaints such as headaches, muscle aches, stomach aches, or tiredness. Also, frequent absence from school or poor performance in school, talks of efforts to run away from home, outbursts of shouting, complaining, unexplained irritability or crying, being bored, lack of interest in playing with friends, alcohol or substance abuse, social isolation, poor communication, fear of death, extreme sensitivity to rejection or failure, increased irritability, anger, hostility, reckless behavior, and lastly, difficulty with relationships. In this article that I read, depression relates to a child’s cognitive development. If a child is missing school or concentrating on other issues during class time, they won’t be able to develop intellectually. Also, their physical development can be effected if they are depressed and expressing reckless behavior or experimenting with drugs and or alcoho...

Current Issue in Financial Accounting Essay Example

Current Issue in Financial Accounting Essay Example Current Issue in Financial Accounting Essay Current Issue in Financial Accounting Essay People have curiosity over the world, including information such as how it operates. The Information derived from the world can affect peoples behavior. This also holds true In the financial world. However, there has been debate about the approaches that can be taken to increase the understanding of the world. In accounting, the traditional scientific approach, which has enjoyed its monopoly for a long time, is attracting extensive criticism, especially from those who propose an alternative approach (the critical approach). This essay will compare and contrast these two approaches and discuss how they are utilized for accounting research. The eclectic approach (also known as the postvocalic approach) differs from the critical approach significantly in the ontological aspect. Positivists hold the idea that truth is out there to be discovered. For the critical approach, accounting should not be perceived as something objective or indicative of what the real world is (Hooper, Dave, Lancashire ; Prescott, 2008). The information collected by positivists from studies can disclose what Is found to be right In the sampled population but the Information should not be extended to cover a wider range of conclusions. Besides, the world is multifaceted. What appears to be right on one dimension might not be the same in another dimension. Positivists present the idea that information collected is adequate for reaching conclusions, but the critical approach does not consider this adequacy as the strength of the conclusions but as the cause of conclusions fallibility (Humphrey Escapes, 2007). The Impact of social domination provides a strong argument against the notion that accounting is not a natural or precise science. The critical approach has also attacked activism on the drawbacks of the statistical methodology it has developed and relied on. However sophisticated the methodology or the research instrument is, positivism is to varying degrees yielding to researchers subjective analysis, management of interpretation of data (Fleischman, Radcliff ; Shoemaker, 2003). Researchers understanding and deflation of subjects and terminology might also be different (Tinker, 2005). In other words, findings released by the scientific approach are informative to some extent but not entirely reliable. Needless to say, statistic tools are valuable when subjects can be quantified. Economic activities cannot be quantified all the time (Fleischman et al. 2003). For example, it is unlikely to quantify the Impact of the agency cost on accounting figures. The quantification of some elements which are not easily measurable makes the research methodology controversial and unconvincing. In addition to theoretical and subjective matters, the critical approach also suggests that the scientific research undervalues or omits the effect of cultural factors, economic factors, political factors and other external forces that mould accounting practices (Humphrey Lee, 2007). There are two implications for the critical approaches emphasis on the contextual factors that have a bearing on accounting- related research. I nee TLS Implication Is Tanat ten contextual Doctors, wanly are complex and ever-changing, account for why accounting is malleable rather than definite. For instance, the creative accounting theory argues that organizations take various approaches to affect accounting statement users opinions (Siskin ; Schneider, 2008). There can be a complex of factors contributing to this, managers incentives, the fear of investors pessimism, tax obligations, and so forth. Even more important is the fact that in many cases, some factors are overlooked but still of importance to a specific phenomenon. In these circumstances, the scientific approach is fallacious at its root, because the use of statistical tools is not reasonably applicable in accounting, at least not as applicable as it is in physical sciences (Hooper et al, 2008). Due to all these barriers (researchers biases, imperfections of research methods and the ever-changing external environment), an increasing number of scholars have put forward the argument that the scientific approach can never attain its objective of exploring the rules of the world reliably; alternatively, it is a pragmatic tool developed by capitalists to achieve social domination and a tool to relieve the potential intention among different actors in society (Dullard, 1991). This argument is reasonable, either in the past or in contemporary society. Accounting in the early 20th century was used to attract investors attention and investment in new ventures. Today, for instance, the shareholders and the managers do have some interests in conflict, but accounting can serve as a bridge between them and reduce the distrust caused by information asymmetry (Macintosh ; Baker, 2002). Critics of positivism also argue that both accounting and research on accounting are social phenomena, which are ephemeral in nature and cannot be perpetuated (Hogue, 2006). Accounting does not measure and disclose the actual accumulation of wealth in society but merely provides an explanation of resource distribution (Tinker, Merino ; Marker, 1982). Accounting standards change in responses to the changes in the dominating ideology of the society, as suggested by the critical approach. For instance, the importance attached to an organizations intangible sets in recent years leads to the emergence of the balanced scorecard, a brand new performance measurement tool that includes more than an organizations financial performance. These accounting practices were not useful a century ago, where the labor-intensive economy predominated. This kind of examples can pose a challenge on positivism, which is captured by the idea of finding the genuine and perpetual truth of the world. The critical approach also suspects other rationales behind drawing a causal relationship between events in the economic world. There are two possible arguments against this attempt. The first argument is that the causal relationship validated by the scientific approach is in fact fallible (Hogue, 2006). It is satisfactory only because the incidents that prove otherwise have not yet been discerned. Another argument is that even though a causal relationship does exist and accounts for a majority of incidents, the scientific approach does not foresee all elements that can come Into play, nor does It measure ten elements In ten order AT Importance conclusively (Humphrey ; Lee, 2007). For these reasons, attempts to launch scientific research are fruitless and meaningless (Humphrey ; Lee, 2007). The scientific approach is also based on an assumption that everything occurs logically (Hooper et al, 2008). It is too simplistic to lay out this assumption. Humans are always possibly driven by their will rather than rules (Tinker, 2005). For instance, even though accounting practices have been developed to measure an organizations ability to pay off debt, the collapse of banks in the supreme crisis indicates that organizations would overstate their assets rather than be mindful of their liquidity. Therefore, if the irrationality always exists, researchers should not anticipate their search findings to contribute to the effectiveness of the world and identify the best practices. Paradoxically, after the crisis deepened, some countries enacted laws to allow banks to put doubtful debt (which was in fact bad debt) in current assets constantly in order to prevent public panic. This contingency policy is in conflict with some basic accounting standards (treating bad debt as expenses). The scientific research is also theory-laden, which means that it starts from the analysis of existing theories (Hooper et al, 2008). Its attention is concentrated on verifying the relationships presupposed by existing theories. For this reason, it is passive and not friendly to changes. It does not take initiative to introduce new solutions that might become meaningful to meet unprecedented needs and challenges. Despite all these problems of positivism, it is important to note that the critical approach in itself is not a method of research but a method of examining research (Hooper et al, 2008). There is the preposition to associate the critical approach with the qualitative research, a methodology which is also concerned about contextual factors and characteristics of the subject (Tinker, 2005). However, more often than not, qualitative research leads to the establishment of some hypotheses and assumptions which are speculative in nature. Case-based research, another research methodology commonly used in the critical approach, cites exceptions to attack the generalized findings of positivism (Humphrey Escapes, 2007). However, this is also the weakness of the critical approach. The critical approach draws attention to what is wrong or what can be wrong but performs no function in finding what is right (due to the belief that it is unlikely to do so) (Humphrey Lee, 2007). Another problem found in the critical approach is that even though it tries to evade a conclusive answer but attacks a perceived reality, the evidence it brings together is controversial, because of the lack of the use of well-recognized research methods (Morgan Wolcott, 1993). The irony is that the critical research offers some novel perspectives to view some subjects, but these perspectives do not receive more attention unless they are tested by statistic tools (Hogue, 2006). Thats why despite the growing influence of the critical research, positivism still predominates in accounting literature (Hogue, 2006). I nee Ideal AT ten critical approach Is Tanat researchers can evaluate ten accounting system as an outsider. The main rationale behind this is that researchers can detect the problems of the system more easily (Hooper et al, 2008). However, beyond any doubt, researchers have to rely on their knowledge in evaluation. Such knowledge is basically derived from what was found in the scientific approach. It therefore brings attention to the impracticability of the critical approach, as the objective and legitimate critique of the system in which accounting standards develop is impossible (Dullard, 1991). The accounting scandals that have been disclosed in recent years illustrate this point, despite the continued development of standards during the same period. Instead of debating about whether positivism is superior to the critical approach or vice versa, accounting research should recognize their pros and cons and use them with caution. The scientific approach can be adopted to test the validity of some hypotheses or at least to what extent the hypotheses hold, but it should be compensated by the critical approach, which leads people to examine hypotheses from a variety of perspectives (Humphrey ; Escapes, 2007). While positivism gives management or other users of accounting statements convenience in interpreting financial data with a number of shared and generalized understandings of such data, the convenience can be misleading if it does not consider the complexity of variables such as contexts. As Tweeted (2010) states in the article, accounting students should be aware of the circumstances prevailing when analyzing issues and Judgment. Positivists should evaluate their knowledge, assumptions and hypotheses according to the most powerful external forces that are present where the discussion and analysis are carried out. People should also be aware of their own assumptions and beliefs (Hooper et al, 2008). For example, if people assume that current assets of an organization should be more of liquidity than non-current assets, they might need to evaluate what constitutes an organizations current asset. This can be different in different countries and periods of time in a fiscal year. One important lesson that has been learned from the scientific approach is that there should be more than one explanation of an event. There is no point in arguing that one explanation is better than another and then the less satisfactory explanation would be discarded (Hooper et al, 2008). Each explanation has its drawbacks and also its rationality. It can find its Justifications in different contexts. This can help people gain a better and more comprehensive understanding of an event.

Participles Fused and Otherwise

Participles Fused and Otherwise Participles Fused and Otherwise Participles Fused and Otherwise By Maeve Maddox If you dont know what a fused participle is, read on. The present participle is the form of the English verb that ends in ing: walk walked walking To function as a verb, the present participle must be used with an auxiliary verb: Jack is repairing the roof. Used without an auxiliary verb, the participle retains some shadow of its verbal origin, but functions as other parts of speech. participle functioning as adjective: Mr. Jones is a loving husband. participle introducing participial phrase: Sitting by the window, I watched the parade. (The phrase is adjectival, describing I) participle functioning as a noun: The ing participle form can also be used as a noun. In that case it gets a new name and is called a gerund. Gerunds Gardening is my favorite hobby. (noun, subject of is) He likes shooting skeet. (noun, object of likes) He loves to talk about hunting. (noun, object of the preposition about) Do you mind my asking a question? (noun, object of mind) NOTE on Example 4: If I had written Do you mind me asking a question, many of my readers would be quick to scold me for having written a sentence containing a fused participle. Fused participles The term fused participle is credited to H.W. Fowler, who hated them. Heres the definition from the OED: fused participle a participle regarded as being joined grammatically with a preceding noun or pronoun, rather than as a gerund that requires the possessive, or as an ordinary participle qualifying the noun. The fused participle resides in the same category as the split infinitive: some writers abhor it and will avoid it any cost, while others recognize that, sometimes, defusing a fused participle is worse than leaving it alone. My practice is to use a possessive noun or pronoun before a gerund in a sentence like the one above. If the result is ugly or nonsensical, I figure out how to rewrite the sentence without using the -ing word. Speaking is another matter. In conversation I probably fuse participles all over the place. Some views regarding the fused participle: H. W. Fowler David Rusinoff (click on fused participle in the frame) American Heritage Book of English Usage Columbia Guide to Standard American English William Safire Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Grammar category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Passed vs PastCapitalization Rules for Names of Historical Periods and MovementsLetter Writing 101

The Safety Of Airport Security Scanners Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Safety Of Airport Security Scanners - Essay Example According to the article, there are currently two types of scanners used in airports to screen various travelers. The first type is the scanner that â€Å"employs millimeter wave technology, which delivers no ionizing radiation†Ã‚   The other type is the scanner that â€Å"uses backscatter X-rays that expose the individual being screened to very low levels of ionizing radiation† (Radiological Society of North America par. 1). To determine the effect of low levels of ionizing radiation, one decided to confirm other studies on the subject and the article published in the ScienceDaily on low levels of ionizing radiation indicate that a report from the National Academies' National Research Council have indicated that â€Å"the committee's thorough review of available biological and biophysical data supports a "linear, no-threshold" (LNT) risk model, which says that the smallest dose of low-level ionizing radiation has the potential to cause an increase in health risks to h umans†. This article confirmed the risks involved in low levels of ionizing radiation, however, since it was published in 2005, the reliability and applicability could be diminished.According to the article, there are currently two types of scanners used in airports to screen various travelers. The first type is the scanner that â€Å"employs millimeter wave technology, which delivers no ionizing radiation†Ã‚   The other type is the scanner that â€Å"uses backscatter X-rays that expose the individual being screened to very low levels of ionizing radiation† (Radiological Society of North America par. 1). To determine the effect of low levels of ionizing radiation, one decided to confirm other studies on the subject and the article published in the ScienceDaily on low levels of ionizing radiation indicate that a report from the National Academies' National Research Council have indicated that â€Å"the committee's thorough review of available biological and bioph ysical data supports a "linear, no-threshold" (LNT) risk model, which says that the smallest dose of low-level ionizing radiation has the potential to cause an increase in health risks to humans†. This article confirmed the risks involved in low levels of ionizing radiation, however, since it was published in 2005, the reliability and applicability could be diminished. The article being reviewed was actually effective in providing a balanced discourse by first presenting the arguments of Brenner, to wit: â€Å"given that up to one billion such scans per year are now possible in the U.S, we should have concerns about the long-term consequences of an extremely large number of people being exposed to a potential radiation-induced cancer risk, no matter how slight†.

Complexities of the U.S. Financial System Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Complexities of the U.S. Financial System - Essay Example One (1) Way the U.S. Financial Markets Impact Businesses. Financial markets provide funds for business units so that they can operate in a large scale. Funding needs are among the most significant for any business sufficed by the financial markets (Bhattacharya & Bonser-Neal, n.d.). Notably, business that intends to grow consistently seeks the assistance of the investors and the financial markets and acts as that potential investor in this context. Furthermore, the foreign companies that operate in the US market, also considers the financial markets, as one of the major source of funds (Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, n.d.). One (1) Way the U.S. Financial Markets Impact Individuals. Individuals also consider financial markets or financial institutions as a source of getting personal funds against particular interest rate. People rely heavily for their financial needs on the financial markets (Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, n.d.) Explain the Primary Role of the U.S. Federal Reserve and Their Effectiveness In Today’s Economic Environment. It has been comprehended that the US Federal Reserve is involved in conducting the activities relevant to the monetary policies of the country. It also works towards supervising as well as regulating the banks and financial institutions. Notably, the Federal Reserve also provides financial services directly to the US government. It is deemed to be quite effective in ensuring, the accomplishment of the financial goals of the nation (Federal Reserve, n.d.). Explain the Primary Role of the U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman and Their Effectiveness in Today’s Economic Environment. The chairman of the Federal Reserve, work towards supervising the regulatory bodies and the banking system of the FEDs. He/she also leads the open market committee of the FEDs within their respective department. The chairman

Personal Statement Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 33

Personal Statement - Essay Example Therefore, I have decided to take a step to pursue the next level of education in order to continue acquiring more knowledge that is beneficial to the society and me. In this case, in order to realize my full potential, I had to apply in one of the best institutions offering the PhD program that I need to proceed with pursuing of my academic goals. After identifying this institution, I had to apply hoping that I stand a chance to be one of your students, having met all the requirements for pursuing the program. Knowledge  acquired from my degree and master’s program has facilitated interaction with different people and sharing of relevant ideas with them. After graduating in 2002, I worked as an English teacher under the ministry of education until 2006. Later in 2009, I joined the Arab Open University, where I became a part-time lecture until 2010. During the same year, I worked with the Training center of public security as a part time English Instructor. I later joined Taif University under the ministry of higher education working as English lecturer. Therefore, throughout this career path, I have faced challenges, which serve as a source of inspiration to acquire more knowledge in the field, in order to develop other ways of dealing with the problems in my field. In this case, I believe that by pursuing the PhD program, I will be able to acquire more knowledge that will benefit others people and me. I have spent a significant part of my life acquiring knowledge, and spending time and energy on gaining experience in the field of linguistics. I had set objectives such as laying a good foundation of knowledge by acquiring basics from the degree program, which facilitated achievement my long-term goals to pursue my PhD program. Therefore, through this way, I have been able to learn and cope with the rate of changes occurring in this field. In this case, my perception towards achievement of career objective is not about making a good living, but has