Thursday, November 14, 2019
St. Thomas Aquinas Third Way Modalized :: Aquinas Third Day Philosophy Papers
Aquinas' Third Way Modalized ABSTRACT: The Third Way is the most interesting and insightful of Aquinas' five arguments for the existence of God, even though it is invalid and has some false premises. With the help of a somewhat weak modal logic, however, the Third Way can be transformed into a argument which is certainly valid and plausibly sound. Much of what Aquinas asserted in the Third Way is possibly true even if it is not actually true. Instead of assuming, for example, that things which are contingent fail to exist at some time, we need only assume that contingent things possibly fail to exist at some time. Likewise, we can replace the assumption that if all things fail to exist at some time then there is a time when nothing exists, with the corresponding assumption that if all things possibly fail to exist at some time then possibly there is a time when nothing exists. These and other similar replacements suffice to produce a cogent cosmological argument. Aquinas' Third Way is a cosmological argument for the existence of God which "is taken from possibility and necessity." It is surprising therefore that philosophers of religion have not shown much interest in applying modal logic to its analysis. (1) There are a couple of reasons. First, Aquinas does not always use the words 'possibility' and 'necessity' in the same way that they are used in modal logic. Second, cosmological arguments generally purport to build a bridge between some property of this world and a supreme being, making it unnecessary, it might be thought, to appeal to modalized features of other possible worlds. Modal logic has of course been applied extensively to the analysis of ontological arguments. Ontological arguments purport to build a logical bridge between thought and a supreme being. Most ontological arguments proceed from the assumption that it is possible for God to exist. They then link this assumption with some rather "strong" and controversial principles of modal logic in order to prove that God must exist in all possible worlds, from which it follows that God exists in the real world. (2) It might be possible, however, to prove the existence of God with the use of a weak and noncontroversial system of modal logic if we root the proof with some plausible possibilistic principles about what might be true of the cosmos. The Third Way is not sound per se.
Tuesday, November 12, 2019
Blood Brothers
The past few weeks I have been reading the play Blood Brothers written by Willy Russell. It is the story of twin brothers who are separated at birth. Wealthy Mrs Lyons, who is not able to have her own children, blackmails her maid, Mrs Johnstone into giving her one of her new born twins. Mrs Lyons says all Miss Johnstonââ¬â¢s other children well benefit, as the Johnstonââ¬â¢s have little money. The women agree that it should be their secret and no one else will ever know the truth. The play explores many themes, some being, superstition, friendship and social class.This essay will discuss the changes in the relationship between Edward and Mickey, while also looking at the conveyed themes. The first time Edward and Mickey meet is when they are seven. ââ¬Å"My best friend always had sweets to share. â⬠Mickey is describing Eddie as his ââ¬Å"best friend. â⬠When the brothers first met Edward shared sweets with Mickey, this small gesture started their friendship. If Ed ward had not shared his sweets the brothers might have never became friends. When they find out that they were born on the same day Mickey asks Eddie to become his ââ¬Ëblood brother'.The boys both made a small cut on their hand, then linked the cuts together, making the blood from the boys join. Both mothers find out about their friendship and are fast in telling their sons to break it up. Edward tells Mickey, ââ¬ËMy mum says I havenââ¬â¢t got to play with youââ¬â¢ Mickey replies ââ¬ËWell, my mum says I havenââ¬â¢t to play with youââ¬â¢. Both mothers are trying to get the twins to stop communicating. By this time the brothers are good friends and blood brothers. Against their mothers wishes the brothers continue to have a friendship until Mrs Lyons even decides to persuade her husband to move the family away.Soon after, the Johnstonââ¬â¢s are moved to a house in the country ââ¬â unknown to them itââ¬â¢s the same area in which the Lyons moved to. The br others meet again in a field at the age of 14, not knowing who the other is. After the move the Johnstonââ¬â¢s life has improved, Mickey still has a crush on Linda but doesnââ¬â¢t know how to ask her out. This is another part of fate, they live close by and were both excluded from school at the same time. The twins go to the cinema together, then they finally realise who the other is and meet up with Linda.Mrs Lyons spots Mrs Johnston and tries to kill her. The boys friendship is still strong but the time gap has left a toll. Edwardââ¬â¢s vocabulary is not as posh/strong. Also the contrast in backgrounds shows. Mickey smokes, while Edward doesnââ¬â¢t. Edward lives in a ââ¬â¢poshââ¬â¢ area Mickey lives in the estate. Also Edward attends a private school while Mickey goes to the county school. The next time Edward and Mickey meet is when they are 18. ââ¬ËIf I was Mickey I would have asked you years ago. ââ¬â¢ Edward is jealous of the feelings Linda has for Mick ey.He knows Mickey feels the same for Linda and puts his ââ¬Ëbest friendsââ¬â¢ feelings over his own and persuades him to ask her out. While Edward is away at University Linda falls pregnant and Mickey looses his job. This pushes Edwards life further away from Mickeyââ¬â¢s. Edward socialises and is in further education. Mickey is on the dole with a pregnant wife, heââ¬â¢s a lot more pressured than Edward. When Edward returns Mickey doesnââ¬â¢t have any money, ââ¬ËThe Christmas Partyââ¬â¢s gonna be on me. ââ¬â¢ Mickey had promised to take Edward out for a treat.Edward said he would pay, but if anything, this put more pressure on Mickey and it pushed him into participating in a ââ¬Ëhold upââ¬â¢ with his brother, Sammy. The job goes all wrong, Sammy shoots someone and they both end up in jail. While in jail Mickey is put into a depression and ends up on antidepressant drugs. ââ¬ËI get depressed anââ¬â¢ I need to take these cos they make me better. â â¬â¢ Edward helps Mickey and Linda get a house and gets Mickey a job. This puts a strain on Mickey and Linda, Mickey feels he is a failure as his wife had to get help off a friend. ââ¬ËIââ¬â¢m not stupid, Linda. You sorted it out.You anââ¬â¢ Councillor Eddie Lyons. ââ¬â¢ He thinks Linda and Edward are having an affair. Mickey gets a gun and goes to confront Edward. ââ¬ËIââ¬â¢ve been thinkinââ¬â¢ again, Eddie. You anââ¬â¢ Linda were friends when she first got pregnant, werenââ¬â¢t yââ¬â¢? Does my child belong to you as well as everythinââ¬â¢ else? ââ¬â¢ The police enter, and try to convince Mickey to drop the gun. Mrs Johnstone enters, and pleads with Mickey to not shoot. She blurts out that they are brothers, and that she couldnââ¬â¢t afford to keep them both. Mickeyââ¬â¢s jealousy is shown, ââ¬ËWhy didnââ¬â¢t you give me away!I could have been â⬠¦ I could have been him! At this point Mickeyââ¬â¢s gun goes off accidentally, th e police open fire. Both brothers are dead. In conclusion the relationship between Edward and Mickey has its upââ¬â¢s and downs. At first they are close friends and are then separated, at fourteen they meet up again and are coincidentally separated once more. By the age of eighteen Mickey realises the differences and is betrayed by Edward. In the end realisation hits the brothers as they are told the truth, a childish pact was for real. The overall message is that although everyone has secrets, if they really matter they will be found out. Blood Brothers Blood Brothers is a musical by Willy Russell which was written and first performed in 1981. The musical is about twin brothers, separated at birth, with one kept in a low-class family and the other adopted into a wealthy family. The characters of Mrs Johnston and Mrs Lyons, the mothers, are total opposites. Mrs Johnston is a struggling, single mother of seven, with another two on the way, whereas Mrs Lyons is a privileged, yet childless, married woman. One of the main themes of the musical is superstition for example; the song ââ¬Ëshoes upon the tableââ¬â¢ is all about superstition.Another big theme of the musical is fate. Eddie and Mickey meet almost as if they are meant to, and instantly take a liking to one another. When they lose contact, they meet again, proving they are supposed to be a pair. Also the narrator plays the role of the devil and he sings the song lyrics ââ¬Ëyou know the devilââ¬â¢s got your numberââ¬â¢ and that is implying that no matter what, fate i s going to happen wherever the characters are living or whatever they are doing. The last theme to the musical is social class, the whole way through the musical we are being reminded about how different these characters are to each other.Willy Russell shows this by their clothes, accent or speech. The opening scene started with a funeral we saw some men dressed in black suits putting two bodies into coffins (Mickey and Eddie) however the gauze curtain was still not raised. This seemed like the past and present of the story, as this first scene was the inevitable end. I think that was effective because it immediately gets your attention and you become eager to know whatââ¬â¢s going on. Mickey and Eddie lay side by side both dead. The narrator then tells us the story of what happened. This is cross-cutting as it shows a different time period then returns to the current one.When we are first introduced to Mrs Johnston, she is a single mother ever since her husband left her for a yo unger woman. She is not dressed in the best of clothes as she does not have much money and her job is cleaning Mrs. Lyons house. Mrs. Johnston is a lowââ¬âclass Liverpudlian, who is extremely hard working. Mrs Johnston is shown as a woman in her thirties but a very worn out woman because of the stress of work and her children. Mrs Johnston stutters at times because of her being under pressure, like when Mrs Lyons is persuading her to give away one of the twins.And by Mrs. Johnston stuttering it shows she is unsure and pressured into something she doesnââ¬â¢t want to do. Willy Russell presents Mrs Johnston to the audience as a decent woman, who gives lots of love to her children, but she canââ¬â¢t give them more than that because she hasnââ¬â¢t got a well-paid job and she is working as Mrs Lyonsââ¬â¢ house maid, which takes a lot of her time, which could be spent with her children instead. That is why Mickey and his siblings are left to learn about life themselves on the streets. That makes the audience sympathise with the poor people.She shows that to the audience after she learns she is going to have twins by saying: ââ¬Å"With one more baby we could have managed. But not with two. The Welfare have already been on to me. They say Iââ¬â¢m incapable of controllinââ¬â¢ the kids Iââ¬â¢ve already got. They say I should put some of them into careâ⬠so because she loves her children and wants to keep them she makes the sacrifice of giving Eddie to Mrs. Lyons with hope that he will have a better life then what she could give him. Even though she regrets giving Eddie to Mrs. Lyons her superstitions stops her from telling anyone about what she has done out of the fear of killing her own children.Mrs Lyons contrasts really strongly against Mrs Johnston. At first, Mrs Lyons is shown as a bright person in her thirties, unlike the stressed Mrs Johnston who is the same age. Mrs Lyons is an upper middle-class woman. She is dressed very smartly as she has the money to have nice clothes. Mrs. Lyons is a very patronising woman, who is forceful and pressurising. Mrs Lyons uses negative views about extra children so that Mrs Johnston will have to give away one of the twins to her. She doesnââ¬â¢t do this in an aggressive way, but in a dangerously sweet way. So that Mrs.Johnston doesnââ¬â¢t feel like she can cope any more. Willy Russell also shows Mrs. Lyons to be self-centred as Mrs Lyons is willing to take a child away from its mother, so that she can save herself. Mrs Lyons is a very sly and devious woman, as she uses superstition against Mrs Johnston, so that she can keep one of the twins. Her facial expressions are very stern and persuading and her body language comes across very confident as she knows thatââ¬â¢s she is manipulating Mrs. Johnston. The Narrator is also a very important part to the musical; he acts as a shadow of the other characters. Firstly he was like the host.He constantly kept appearing and kep t the performance flowing. It seemed as if he had the remote to slow things down and also to speed things up when he wanted. He wore a smart black suit which gave him a high profile. His voice was used quite well because he adjusted it to make it loud and directive as a narrator should have but it also had a bit of power in it. During the performance he popped up here and there just to clarify things for the audience. The Narrator is there as a reminder of Mrs Johnston and Mrs Lyonsââ¬â¢ agreement. The other characters donââ¬â¢t acknowledge him which shows he is of a ghostly nature.The Narrator raises suspicion and builds up tension between the characters. The Narrator also has no emotions and he comes across as a very cold person which makes the audience feel as if he is like a devil type figure. Although he is a devil like figure, he is a neutral character because he doesnââ¬â¢t choose sides and we donââ¬â¢t know anything about him, other than he knows the fate of each character. The Narrator is trying to tell Mrs Johnston and Mrs Lyons that their pact wonââ¬â¢t work, because the truth will be known. He uses repetition and rhyme, so that his lines are more catchy and memorable.The character of Mickey was portrayed really well as the person playing this role was showing great child like movements such as pulling his jumper over his knees and also by the way he was speaking. The way Mickey was speaking came across very child like as he was doing a lot of rhyming and simple sentences. Mickey also plays childhood games, like mounted Police and Indians, and runs around with a toy gun. When Mickey was playing his cowboy like games he pretended to have a horse between his legs and he galloped around the stage like a child would do.As Mickey got older he showed he was acting more mature and he understood that life wasnââ¬â¢t going to be easy for him and he needed to work for things unlike Eddie who had everything sorted out for him. When Mickey has got out of prison he is really unsteady and has to take pills to calm himself even though he doesnââ¬â¢t need the pills, he just thinks he does. But when Mickey takes the pills, Willy Russell uses stage directions to give the characters emotion with their physical movement, so when Mickey takes the pills the lights come up on Mickey.We see him go to take his pill, we see him struggle not to take itââ¬â¢Ã¢â¬â¢ Russell does this to get the audience to feel sad and sympathetic for Mickey. So in this scene the lighting is really dim, which reflects on Mickeyââ¬â¢s thought processes which are slow and aged. You can see from this scene that prison has aged Mickey beyond doubt. Mickey used movement and his voice to really portray Mickeyââ¬â¢s vulnerability. Mickeyââ¬â¢s movements were slow and it seemed like every step he took was agony. His speech was slow, and his voice was extremely quiet.He walked hunched over, as if trying to protect himself from an unknown fear. Edd ie is the complete opposite to Mickey as he was raised in a wealthy family and he shows this in his body language because he stands up straight, speaks politely and is never rude. When Eddie first meets Mickey, Mickey speaks in common English and uses slang around Eddie and he finds it amazing because he has never heard any one talk like that. Eddie seems to have grown up very fast because at the age of seven, he is already very polite and well spoken. His parents have influenced him because he is like a miniature adult.Throughout the whole of the musical Mrs. Johnston sings about Marilyn Monroe, Marilyn Monroe is a very clever icon to use throughout the musical. This is because using her as a reference sets us in the correct time period. She is also a good symbol, because she has links to many of the themes in the play including death, addiction and beauty. All the scenes were set in the same location; and the set design remained the same for the whole performance, even when the ba ckdrop changed however, the insides of houses, occasionally descended from the ceiling to show the insides of each home.One the right side of the stage was a wall which had graffiti on it and that represented the lower class type of area that Mickey and Mrs. Johnston would live in. Class difference is displayed very clearly in Blood Brothers, in particular the difference in wealth between the two families. Eddie's parents ensure that he has a comfortable upbringing and is able to study at university and receive a qualification, resulting in a highly paid job. This is completely different to Mickey.He comes from a poor family which meant that he was stuck in a dead end job in a factory. ââ¬Å"I bleeding hated it, standing there all day never doing anything apart from putting cardboard boxes together. â⬠This reflects Mickey's frustration and highlights the lack of opportunities open to him, which adds to the dramatic effect of the musical because it prepares us for trouble in t he future. A good example of dramatic irony in the musical is when Eddie and Mickey decide that as they are such good friends they will become blood brothers. Hey, we were born on the same day. That means we can be blood brothers. â⬠The audience knows that they were actually brothers so that creates dramatic irony. I really enjoyed the musical Blood Brothers and it helped me understand the class difference which is displayed very clearly in the difference in wealth between the two families. I also liked the way the actors never came out of role when bringing in props e. g. chairs, tables and carpets. I also loved how the lighting would make a very serious point feel more real and intense. Blood Brothers The past few weeks I have been reading the play Blood Brothers written by Willy Russell. It is the story of twin brothers who are separated at birth. Wealthy Mrs Lyons, who is not able to have her own children, blackmails her maid, Mrs Johnstone into giving her one of her new born twins. Mrs Lyons says all Miss Johnstonââ¬â¢s other children well benefit, as the Johnstonââ¬â¢s have little money. The women agree that it should be their secret and no one else will ever know the truth. The play explores many themes, some being, superstition, friendship and social class.This essay will discuss the changes in the relationship between Edward and Mickey, while also looking at the conveyed themes. The first time Edward and Mickey meet is when they are seven. ââ¬Å"My best friend always had sweets to share. â⬠Mickey is describing Eddie as his ââ¬Å"best friend. â⬠When the brothers first met Edward shared sweets with Mickey, this small gesture started their friendship. If Ed ward had not shared his sweets the brothers might have never became friends. When they find out that they were born on the same day Mickey asks Eddie to become his ââ¬Ëblood brother'.The boys both made a small cut on their hand, then linked the cuts together, making the blood from the boys join. Both mothers find out about their friendship and are fast in telling their sons to break it up. Edward tells Mickey, ââ¬ËMy mum says I havenââ¬â¢t got to play with youââ¬â¢ Mickey replies ââ¬ËWell, my mum says I havenââ¬â¢t to play with youââ¬â¢. Both mothers are trying to get the twins to stop communicating. By this time the brothers are good friends and blood brothers. Against their mothers wishes the brothers continue to have a friendship until Mrs Lyons even decides to persuade her husband to move the family away.Soon after, the Johnstonââ¬â¢s are moved to a house in the country ââ¬â unknown to them itââ¬â¢s the same area in which the Lyons moved to. The br others meet again in a field at the age of 14, not knowing who the other is. After the move the Johnstonââ¬â¢s life has improved, Mickey still has a crush on Linda but doesnââ¬â¢t know how to ask her out. This is another part of fate, they live close by and were both excluded from school at the same time. The twins go to the cinema together, then they finally realise who the other is and meet up with Linda.Mrs Lyons spots Mrs Johnston and tries to kill her. The boys friendship is still strong but the time gap has left a toll. Edwardââ¬â¢s vocabulary is not as posh/strong. Also the contrast in backgrounds shows. Mickey smokes, while Edward doesnââ¬â¢t. Edward lives in a ââ¬â¢poshââ¬â¢ area Mickey lives in the estate. Also Edward attends a private school while Mickey goes to the county school. The next time Edward and Mickey meet is when they are 18. ââ¬ËIf I was Mickey I would have asked you years ago. ââ¬â¢ Edward is jealous of the feelings Linda has for Mick ey.He knows Mickey feels the same for Linda and puts his ââ¬Ëbest friendsââ¬â¢ feelings over his own and persuades him to ask her out. While Edward is away at University Linda falls pregnant and Mickey looses his job. This pushes Edwards life further away from Mickeyââ¬â¢s. Edward socialises and is in further education. Mickey is on the dole with a pregnant wife, heââ¬â¢s a lot more pressured than Edward. When Edward returns Mickey doesnââ¬â¢t have any money, ââ¬ËThe Christmas Partyââ¬â¢s gonna be on me. ââ¬â¢ Mickey had promised to take Edward out for a treat.Edward said he would pay, but if anything, this put more pressure on Mickey and it pushed him into participating in a ââ¬Ëhold upââ¬â¢ with his brother, Sammy. The job goes all wrong, Sammy shoots someone and they both end up in jail. While in jail Mickey is put into a depression and ends up on antidepressant drugs. ââ¬ËI get depressed anââ¬â¢ I need to take these cos they make me better. â â¬â¢ Edward helps Mickey and Linda get a house and gets Mickey a job. This puts a strain on Mickey and Linda, Mickey feels he is a failure as his wife had to get help off a friend. ââ¬ËIââ¬â¢m not stupid, Linda. You sorted it out.You anââ¬â¢ Councillor Eddie Lyons. ââ¬â¢ He thinks Linda and Edward are having an affair. Mickey gets a gun and goes to confront Edward. ââ¬ËIââ¬â¢ve been thinkinââ¬â¢ again, Eddie. You anââ¬â¢ Linda were friends when she first got pregnant, werenââ¬â¢t yââ¬â¢? Does my child belong to you as well as everythinââ¬â¢ else? ââ¬â¢ The police enter, and try to convince Mickey to drop the gun. Mrs Johnstone enters, and pleads with Mickey to not shoot. She blurts out that they are brothers, and that she couldnââ¬â¢t afford to keep them both. Mickeyââ¬â¢s jealousy is shown, ââ¬ËWhy didnââ¬â¢t you give me away!I could have been â⬠¦ I could have been him! At this point Mickeyââ¬â¢s gun goes off accidentally, th e police open fire. Both brothers are dead. In conclusion the relationship between Edward and Mickey has its upââ¬â¢s and downs. At first they are close friends and are then separated, at fourteen they meet up again and are coincidentally separated once more. By the age of eighteen Mickey realises the differences and is betrayed by Edward. In the end realisation hits the brothers as they are told the truth, a childish pact was for real. The overall message is that although everyone has secrets, if they really matter they will be found out. Blood Brothers Blood Brothers is a musical by Willy Russell which was written and first performed in 1981. The musical is about twin brothers, separated at birth, with one kept in a low-class family and the other adopted into a wealthy family. The characters of Mrs Johnston and Mrs Lyons, the mothers, are total opposites. Mrs Johnston is a struggling, single mother of seven, with another two on the way, whereas Mrs Lyons is a privileged, yet childless, married woman. One of the main themes of the musical is superstition for example; the song ââ¬Ëshoes upon the tableââ¬â¢ is all about superstition.Another big theme of the musical is fate. Eddie and Mickey meet almost as if they are meant to, and instantly take a liking to one another. When they lose contact, they meet again, proving they are supposed to be a pair. Also the narrator plays the role of the devil and he sings the song lyrics ââ¬Ëyou know the devilââ¬â¢s got your numberââ¬â¢ and that is implying that no matter what, fate i s going to happen wherever the characters are living or whatever they are doing. The last theme to the musical is social class, the whole way through the musical we are being reminded about how different these characters are to each other.Willy Russell shows this by their clothes, accent or speech. The opening scene started with a funeral we saw some men dressed in black suits putting two bodies into coffins (Mickey and Eddie) however the gauze curtain was still not raised. This seemed like the past and present of the story, as this first scene was the inevitable end. I think that was effective because it immediately gets your attention and you become eager to know whatââ¬â¢s going on. Mickey and Eddie lay side by side both dead. The narrator then tells us the story of what happened. This is cross-cutting as it shows a different time period then returns to the current one.When we are first introduced to Mrs Johnston, she is a single mother ever since her husband left her for a yo unger woman. She is not dressed in the best of clothes as she does not have much money and her job is cleaning Mrs. Lyons house. Mrs. Johnston is a lowââ¬âclass Liverpudlian, who is extremely hard working. Mrs Johnston is shown as a woman in her thirties but a very worn out woman because of the stress of work and her children. Mrs Johnston stutters at times because of her being under pressure, like when Mrs Lyons is persuading her to give away one of the twins.And by Mrs. Johnston stuttering it shows she is unsure and pressured into something she doesnââ¬â¢t want to do. Willy Russell presents Mrs Johnston to the audience as a decent woman, who gives lots of love to her children, but she canââ¬â¢t give them more than that because she hasnââ¬â¢t got a well-paid job and she is working as Mrs Lyonsââ¬â¢ house maid, which takes a lot of her time, which could be spent with her children instead. That is why Mickey and his siblings are left to learn about life themselves on the streets. That makes the audience sympathise with the poor people.She shows that to the audience after she learns she is going to have twins by saying: ââ¬Å"With one more baby we could have managed. But not with two. The Welfare have already been on to me. They say Iââ¬â¢m incapable of controllinââ¬â¢ the kids Iââ¬â¢ve already got. They say I should put some of them into careâ⬠so because she loves her children and wants to keep them she makes the sacrifice of giving Eddie to Mrs. Lyons with hope that he will have a better life then what she could give him. Even though she regrets giving Eddie to Mrs. Lyons her superstitions stops her from telling anyone about what she has done out of the fear of killing her own children.Mrs Lyons contrasts really strongly against Mrs Johnston. At first, Mrs Lyons is shown as a bright person in her thirties, unlike the stressed Mrs Johnston who is the same age. Mrs Lyons is an upper middle-class woman. She is dressed very smartly as she has the money to have nice clothes. Mrs. Lyons is a very patronising woman, who is forceful and pressurising. Mrs Lyons uses negative views about extra children so that Mrs Johnston will have to give away one of the twins to her. She doesnââ¬â¢t do this in an aggressive way, but in a dangerously sweet way. So that Mrs.Johnston doesnââ¬â¢t feel like she can cope any more. Willy Russell also shows Mrs. Lyons to be self-centred as Mrs Lyons is willing to take a child away from its mother, so that she can save herself. Mrs Lyons is a very sly and devious woman, as she uses superstition against Mrs Johnston, so that she can keep one of the twins. Her facial expressions are very stern and persuading and her body language comes across very confident as she knows thatââ¬â¢s she is manipulating Mrs. Johnston. The Narrator is also a very important part to the musical; he acts as a shadow of the other characters. Firstly he was like the host.He constantly kept appearing and kep t the performance flowing. It seemed as if he had the remote to slow things down and also to speed things up when he wanted. He wore a smart black suit which gave him a high profile. His voice was used quite well because he adjusted it to make it loud and directive as a narrator should have but it also had a bit of power in it. During the performance he popped up here and there just to clarify things for the audience. The Narrator is there as a reminder of Mrs Johnston and Mrs Lyonsââ¬â¢ agreement. The other characters donââ¬â¢t acknowledge him which shows he is of a ghostly nature.The Narrator raises suspicion and builds up tension between the characters. The Narrator also has no emotions and he comes across as a very cold person which makes the audience feel as if he is like a devil type figure. Although he is a devil like figure, he is a neutral character because he doesnââ¬â¢t choose sides and we donââ¬â¢t know anything about him, other than he knows the fate of each character. The Narrator is trying to tell Mrs Johnston and Mrs Lyons that their pact wonââ¬â¢t work, because the truth will be known. He uses repetition and rhyme, so that his lines are more catchy and memorable.The character of Mickey was portrayed really well as the person playing this role was showing great child like movements such as pulling his jumper over his knees and also by the way he was speaking. The way Mickey was speaking came across very child like as he was doing a lot of rhyming and simple sentences. Mickey also plays childhood games, like mounted Police and Indians, and runs around with a toy gun. When Mickey was playing his cowboy like games he pretended to have a horse between his legs and he galloped around the stage like a child would do.As Mickey got older he showed he was acting more mature and he understood that life wasnââ¬â¢t going to be easy for him and he needed to work for things unlike Eddie who had everything sorted out for him. When Mickey has got out of prison he is really unsteady and has to take pills to calm himself even though he doesnââ¬â¢t need the pills, he just thinks he does. But when Mickey takes the pills, Willy Russell uses stage directions to give the characters emotion with their physical movement, so when Mickey takes the pills the lights come up on Mickey.We see him go to take his pill, we see him struggle not to take itââ¬â¢Ã¢â¬â¢ Russell does this to get the audience to feel sad and sympathetic for Mickey. So in this scene the lighting is really dim, which reflects on Mickeyââ¬â¢s thought processes which are slow and aged. You can see from this scene that prison has aged Mickey beyond doubt. Mickey used movement and his voice to really portray Mickeyââ¬â¢s vulnerability. Mickeyââ¬â¢s movements were slow and it seemed like every step he took was agony. His speech was slow, and his voice was extremely quiet.He walked hunched over, as if trying to protect himself from an unknown fear. Edd ie is the complete opposite to Mickey as he was raised in a wealthy family and he shows this in his body language because he stands up straight, speaks politely and is never rude. When Eddie first meets Mickey, Mickey speaks in common English and uses slang around Eddie and he finds it amazing because he has never heard any one talk like that. Eddie seems to have grown up very fast because at the age of seven, he is already very polite and well spoken. His parents have influenced him because he is like a miniature adult.Throughout the whole of the musical Mrs. Johnston sings about Marilyn Monroe, Marilyn Monroe is a very clever icon to use throughout the musical. This is because using her as a reference sets us in the correct time period. She is also a good symbol, because she has links to many of the themes in the play including death, addiction and beauty. All the scenes were set in the same location; and the set design remained the same for the whole performance, even when the ba ckdrop changed however, the insides of houses, occasionally descended from the ceiling to show the insides of each home.One the right side of the stage was a wall which had graffiti on it and that represented the lower class type of area that Mickey and Mrs. Johnston would live in. Class difference is displayed very clearly in Blood Brothers, in particular the difference in wealth between the two families. Eddie's parents ensure that he has a comfortable upbringing and is able to study at university and receive a qualification, resulting in a highly paid job. This is completely different to Mickey.He comes from a poor family which meant that he was stuck in a dead end job in a factory. ââ¬Å"I bleeding hated it, standing there all day never doing anything apart from putting cardboard boxes together. â⬠This reflects Mickey's frustration and highlights the lack of opportunities open to him, which adds to the dramatic effect of the musical because it prepares us for trouble in t he future. A good example of dramatic irony in the musical is when Eddie and Mickey decide that as they are such good friends they will become blood brothers. Hey, we were born on the same day. That means we can be blood brothers. â⬠The audience knows that they were actually brothers so that creates dramatic irony. I really enjoyed the musical Blood Brothers and it helped me understand the class difference which is displayed very clearly in the difference in wealth between the two families. I also liked the way the actors never came out of role when bringing in props e. g. chairs, tables and carpets. I also loved how the lighting would make a very serious point feel more real and intense.
Sunday, November 10, 2019
Assessing different approaches to customer service
For my Customer Service Unit I will be interviewing two leisure centres, College of St. Mark and St. John and the Mayflower leisure Centre. I have chosen these two centres because they are slightly different and I thought it would be interesting to see how different companies have different customer service. The College of St. Mark and St. John is in Derriford, Plymouth. It covers a very large area and its facilities include a 25 metre indoor heated swimming pool, a fitness suite, two squash courts, a fully equipped gymnasium, three sports halls, each with four badminton courts and a specialist built-in rock-climbing wall, computing facilities, and an outdoor pursuits centre. In addition to extensive playing fields, there is a full size all-weather floodlit pitch for top level hockey and football. A smaller all-weather surface accommodates tennis and provides a good training surface all year round. In addition to this there is a 36m. square sports hall for participation in a variety of sports which is also large enough to accommodate Trade Fairs and other large events; a gymnasium for martial arts, aerobics, ââ¬Ëstep' and tone & trim classes; a standard size sports hall available for volleyball, basketball, badminton; 2 squash courts and a Fitness Suite with up to date cardiovascular and weight training equipment. Although this sports centre is within the college, it is open to any member of the public, not just the students at the college. The Mayflower Leisure Centre is situated in Central Park, Plymouth. It is quite old and may need to be revamped within the next few years. It's facilities include a fitness suite which has treadmills, cross trainers, climbers, bikes, rowers and resistance machines and it also has squash courts, indoor bowls and sun beds. There are two sports halls, one is a 5-a-side football hall and the other is a multi purpose sports hall, which can house badminton, volleyball, basketball, short tennis and dry board diving. The College of St. Mark and St. John is a sports college therefore it has numerous amounts of sports facilities. The college is a Church of England voluntary college, with a history of over 150 years and it moved from London to Plymouth in 1973. The Mayflower Leisure Centre is quite old, as I mentioned previously but is the most well used public sector leisure facility in the area. It works in close partnership with the Central Park Swimming Pool which is it's neighbouring building. To find out the information I want, I am going to visit each venue for an interview. For letter, see Appendix 1. I am going to ask them several questions on different topics to find out as much as I can about the Customer Service in their establishment. For questions, see Appendix 2. I will then analyse the answers of the questions and compare the two companies to see who has the best customer service.
Thursday, November 7, 2019
Ivan Pavlov And Behaviourism Essay
Ivan Pavlov And Behaviourism Essay Ivan Pavlov And Behaviourism Essay Ivan Pavlov and behaviourism. Joanne Keenan Behaviourism is based upon observable behaviour. Pavlov theorised that it was possible to change behaviour by introducing new stimuli. This means that planned positive reinforcement is effective in promoting change in a learnerââ¬â¢s behaviour. Ivan Pavlov tested this theory on dogs. He observed that the dogs would salivate every time they saw him because they associated him with food. He suggested that this was a conditioned response because the dogs had become used to him bringing them food. He wondered if it was possible to condition the dogs into associating a neutral stimulus with food. Pavlov introduced a bell. Every time Pavlov fed his dogs he would ring a bell. After repeating this for a number of times he wondered if he rang the bell without the food, that the dogs would salivate in anticipation. He was correct and the dogs began to salivate as soon as they heard the bell. The dogs had learned a new behaviour and this was now a conditioned response. Pavlov also noted that the stimuli must be presented close together in time to allow for conditioningâ⬠¦ if not then no new behaviour will be learned because no association will be made. This can be used in a classroom situation when attempting to keep learners under control. If learners discover that when they misbehave for example and no action is taken by the teacher then they will learn that that particular behaviour is acceptable and will
Tuesday, November 5, 2019
How to Teach the ACT A Guide for Tutors and Parents
How to Teach the ACT A Guide for Tutors and Parents SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips I spent four years as a test-prep tutor, working with students on all aspects of the ACT and SAT. When I started out, I knew how to take the tests, but I wasn't that good at teaching them. Over the years, however, I've learned a lot about how to be an effective teacher, and it's largely not about the kinds of tips and tricks you might expect. This guide will give you all the tools you need to guideyour student through the ACT prep process.Just follow these six steps: Set a Goal Learn the Test Use the BestResources Make a Plan Teach the Strategies Dissect Mistakes Step 1: Determine Your Goals and Challenges This step will vary a lot depending on who you are and who your student is. If you're a parent, sibling or friend, you'll need to determine whether you're qualified to teach this student and what challenges you'll face. If you're a professional or volunteer tutor, you'll want to focus more on the student's own score goals. Are You Qualified? In order to be an effective tutor, you need to be better at the material than your student. If you struggle to explain questions they miss it will undermine herconfidence in you, and if you don't really understand the material you won't be able to diagnose what your student's weaknesses are. A good rule of thumb is that you should be scoring at least 4 points higher than your student. If she is already high-scoring youââ¬â¢ll want to be at or near perfect. If you are not academically-minded or were always bad at standardized tests, donââ¬â¢t try to teach them to someone else. Potential Challenges Your student has to want to improve. Itââ¬â¢s impossible to raise your score on the ACT without doing a lot of practice, so you arenââ¬â¢t going to be able to be an effective tutor unless your student is also invested in the process. Encouraging a student to participate in the learning process can be especially tricky if she's a friend or family member. One of my biggest challenges as tutor was working with my cousin. Because we didnââ¬â¢t have the usual student-tutor relationship, it was harder for me to motivate her and hold her to account when she didnââ¬â¢t complete the work that I assigned. Setting a Score Goal Having a goal to work towards is an important motivational tool, so make sure to discuss with your student what score she's hoping to reach. Donââ¬â¢t just assume she needs a 36, since she almost certainly doesnââ¬â¢t. Your studentââ¬â¢s goal will depend on what she needs the score for. The score sheââ¬â¢ll need as a middle schooler to get into summer programs is very different from what sheââ¬â¢ll need as a senior to get into Columbia. Moreover,what score she needs to get into college will depend on where she wants to go. Look into the score ranges at schools sheââ¬â¢s interested in to help determine what score she should shoot for. Another consideration is whether your student needs to raise her score as a whole or simply increase her score on one of the sections. A particularly low score on one section (especially math or reading) can count against an application, and some schools and programs have a cut off score for certain sections. Again, it's important to understand what she's planning to use the score for in order to determine what her goal will be. Setting a specific goal (and having a reason for it) will help your student stay focused. Step 2: Familiarize Yourself with the ACT You canââ¬â¢t be an effective teacher if you donââ¬â¢t know anything about the ACT. If you aren't accustomed to tutoring- especially if you applied to college before smartphones were invented- you'll need to spend some time familiarizing yourself with the test. A good first step is to try taking a practice ACT: doing so will help you understand your own strengths and weaknesses as well as how the ACT is formatted and what kinds of skills it tests. I've included some key reminders about what you need to know if you aren't familiar with the test below. Remember that the ACT Is Different from the SAT The ACTââ¬â¢s popularity is relatively recent and somewhat location dependent. If you applied to college before 2000or you went to high school in a state on the east or west coast (rather than in the Midwestor a mountain state), you probably took the SAT. Though both are standardized tests, the current ACT is very different than the older versions of the SAT. For starters, it has English and science sections in addition to the math and reading ones. It also asks different types of questions about slightly different material- for example, there are no vocab questions on the ACT, but there are trigonometry ones. If you're going to tutor the ACT, make sure you know the ACT- don't just assume it's the same as theSAT you took 10 years ago. Know the Format of the ACT It sounds silly, but itââ¬â¢s important make sure you understand what the ACT actually looks like and what kind of questions it asks. The ACT is very different from the type of test students take in high school and you need to understand the test's unique logic and formatin order to guide your student to a higher score. For example, letââ¬â¢s say your student has a low math score, and you know he really struggles with logarithms. You might decide that you should focus on studying logarithms and really practice that skill. This plan sounds logical enough, but itwould actually waste a lot of time because the ACT has at most one logarithm question per test. Unless your student is already scoring a 33 or above on the math, studying logarithms is not an effective use of time. Let's consideranother case: your student is having a hard time with the science section. You might think that it will be helpful to review the science your student has learned in school: go over osmosis and electromagnetism. But the science section doesn't actually test knowledge- it's about reading graphs.Studying science topics won't help your student at all. If you aren't sure what the ACT actually tests, you can use the following guides to learn aboutwhatââ¬â¢s on each section: English Reading Math Science Step 3: Gather the Best Resources If there was one lesson I learned as a tutor, it was that bad materials make it very difficult to tutor effectively. When practice questionshave errors or look nothing like the the questions on the actual ACT, students end up confused or frustrated and, worse, lose some of their trust in you. To avoid these issues, the best plan is to use official practice materials whenever possible and, if necessary, supplement them with high quality books. Official Practice Tests Official ACTs will be the backbone of any tutoring program. Practicing with real tests will give students the best idea of what to expect on test day. There are a number of official ACTs available for free online. You can also purchase The Real ACT Guide, which includes extraofficial tests. Best General Books Though The Real ACT Guideprovides a lot of great practice material, it doesn't include much in the way of strategies or content review. As such,you'll likely need other materials assupplements (though it will depend on your approach as a tutor and the strengths and weaknesses of your student). One great resource is the ACT Black Book by Mike Barret. This book lays out how to think effectively about the test and can really help students understand how the ACT is different from the tests they take in school. It includes some of the best strategies, but it also lacks math andEnglishcontent review, which many students will need. For more info about these books and others, check out our round-upofthe best ACT prep books and our list of best books for intensive ACT study. You might also consider taking a look at our free online ACT guides, including the 5 strategies you must be using and how to get a 36. Best Section Books If your student needs particular help on one of the sections, consider getting a book specific to that topic. There are fewer of these specialized options for the ACT than there are for the SAT, but there are still some great options. We also have free guides to each section, which include some of the best, most comprehensive info anywhere. English Our complete guide to thebest ACT Englishbookscan help you pick out the best option for your student. Our Ultimate Guide to ACT English Math We recommendRichard Corn'sUltimate Guide to the Math ACTfor most students. Our CompleteGuide to ACT Math Reading For reading, we generally recommend Erica Meltzer's Complete ACT Reading. Our Ultimate PrepGuide to ACT Reading Science There aren't any really great ACT Science books, though Barron's ACT 36 can be helpful for high scoring students. Our Complete Guide to ACT Science Good resources are worth their weight in gold (not literally). Step 4: Make a Plan Once you know your goals and have the materials you need, sit down with your student and work up a full plan for how you're going to get her to the score sheneeds by the test dateshe's signed up for. ACT prep is one of the easiest things to procrastinate- because it's spread out over such a long period, it's easy to put off until the very last minute- but studying is most effective when it occurs over months, not days. As a tutor, one of your most important roles is making sure your student stays on track. Let's go over some ways to achieve that. Establisha Schedule First, figure out when your student is going to take the test. Then plan out what needs to get done between now and then: most students benefit from roughly 40 hours of studying- it will depend on the student how much of that is tutoring and how much is independent work, but all students should take at least three full practice tests. Set a specific time for your lesson each week. I generally prefer to meet with students once a week, butif you'reon a tight schedule you can certainly do twice a week. With more than two lessons per week,most students will quickly get burned out and frustrated. If you're working with a student who you only see that one time each week, then you'll needto give homework, either extra practice questions or material review, depending on the student's needs and weaknesses. As a parent or sibling, you probably won't be able to convince your student to do extra homework, so instead set aside an extra time during the week for them to study on their own. Prioritize When deciding how to approach the material, it's helpful to have a system: are you going to tackle one section at a time? Break them up into individual skills and mix things up a bit? Have your student practice each type of question and hone in on what's tripping himup about it? Each of these approaches can work- it really depends on how your student learns best. Then decide where you're going to start. I like to begin by tacklinga student's weakest sections, because that's often where they have the most room for improvement. But every student is different. Some may only need to raise a specific section score. Some may already know a lot about the ACTand mostlyneed to review the material it tests. Others will need you to start with the very basics like format and scoring. Set Expectations ACT prep is easy to put off and avoid, but itââ¬â¢s impossible for students to improve without dedicated practice. A big part of your job as a tutor is keeping your student motivated. Talk to your student about how much work she'llneed to do and when it needs to be completed. Remind herwhy the ACT is important. Hold herto your schedule. Ideally, your plan will be less complicated than this one. Step 5: Discuss Strategies So far I've talked mostly about the big picture of how to set up an successfulstudent-tutor relationship, but now I want to go into a bit more depth about how to be a really effective teacher of the material. To succeed on the ACT, students need to have a systematic approach to each section. These overall strategiesare often what students expect to learn when they start tutoring, and although they aren't the be all, end all of learning about the ACT, these kinds of tips are still important. Below are some guides to key strategies for each section to get you thinking about the types of ideasyou might want to cover. You'll also want to diagnose any content weaknesses for English and math. English How to approach the English passages: This guide explains the best methods for reading the ACT English passages- have your student try each and determine which works best for her. 5 critical concepts: This article covers a number of general ACT English strategies like using grammar rules (not your ear) to determine the answer and not rushing through the questions. What's actually covered on ACT English: Go over this list with your student to help determine if there are any topics she's especially unfamiliarwith. Math Hownot to run out of time on ACT Math: The math section includes a lot of questions, and students will need to move quickly. This guide offers tips to help students manage time effectively. 31 must know formulas: Unlike the SAT, the ACT doesn't provide the formulas you need to know. This list lays out all the formulas your student needs to memorize to ace the ACT math. How to plug in answers: Make sure your student understands the most efficient way to plug-and-chug. How to plug in numbers: This strategy will help your student approach questions that ask about abstract variables and unknown quantities. Reading How to read the passages: It's vital that students have a plan for efficiently reading the passages. This guide outlines the most effective methods. The #1 rule for ACT Reading: A common mistake students make on ACT Reading is overthinking the questions. This guide explains why that will give you the wrong answer. How to stop running out of time on ACT Reading: Time management is one of the trickiest parts of the ACT reading- this guide can help with it. Science ACT Science isn't really about science: This article explains how students can use the fact that ACT Science is really a reading test to their advantage. How to approach the science passages: As with English and reading, students must know how to approach the passages systematically- this guide explains the most effective way to do so. Step 6: Dissect Mistakes ACT questions follow certain patterns: look at enough tests and you'll see that the test writers ask the same kind of questions over and over again. The best way to get a feel for the style of those questions is to do a lot of practice, so as I mentioned above you should have your students regularly practice with real ACT questions. Of course, it's not enough to simply assign the work, you also need to discuss the questions your student misses. Your role as a tutor isn't just to say, "Bis the rightanswer"- it's to help your student understand why they gotthe questionwrong and how they can avoid missing similar ones in the future. For more details on how to effectively go overmissed questions, take a look at our guide to reviewing mistakes. The keys to unlocking your student's potential. Review: 3 Key Tutoring Tips The specifics of what you cover and how you work on it will depend a lot on you and your student, but there are a few big picture ideas that every tutor should keep in mind. Be Organized Students take their cues from you. If you aren't on top of the material and don't seem to have a plan, they'll pick up on your lack of preparation and feel less confident in your knowledge. Make sure you have a clear plan for everything you're going to cover, since this will help you feel prepared as well as giving you the chance to prepare for lessons ahead of time. However, leave yourself some extra time for reviewing tricky topics and answering your student's questions. It's impossible to predict exactly what students will need help with, and it's important to be responsive to their concerns. Motivation is Key I can't overstate the importance of practice: students won't improve if they don't put the work in. As such, it's vital that you motivate your student to do the work you assign. In some cases, this will be easy (I've had students who actually requested extra homework), but in others you will need to really emphasizewhy the practice is important and how it will help your student reach her goals. They Don't Call It a Standardized Test for Nothing As a tutor, I've found that my greatest strength is an encyclopedic knowledge of the ACT. The test includes the same kinds of questions again and again, so once you really know the different styles of questions and different topics they cover you can explain just about any permutation. I gained this knowledgeover years of tutoring, but even if you're just starting out, you can use the fact that the ACT is standardized to your advantage. Go over official tests carefully and look for patterns in the questions. Remember that because the test is standardized there is only ever one indisputably correct answer. Help your student understand both what will and whatwon't be covered by the test. Further Reading I've listed tons of helpful resources throughout this article. If you're looking for more ACT prep content, you can also explore all of our posts using the topics listed in the right column. If the test is just around the corner and you're pressed for time, make sure to go over these last-minute study tips with your student. For parents: check out these guides to help you determinewhat the best study format for your childwill be. A tutor?Self-study? An online program? Want to improve your ACT score by 4+ points? Download our free guide to the top 5 strategies you need in your prep to improve your ACT score dramatically. Have friends who also need help with test prep? Share this article! Tweet Alex Heimbach About the Author Alex is an experienced tutor and writer. Over the past five years, she has worked with almost a hundred students and written about pop culture for a wide range of publications. She graduated with honors from University of Chicago, receiving a BA in English and Anthropology, and then went on to earn an MA at NYU in Cultural Reporting and Criticism. In high school, she was a National Merit Scholar, took 12 AP tests and scored 99 percentile scores on the SAT and ACT. Get Free Guides to Boost Your SAT/ACT Get FREE EXCLUSIVE insider tips on how to ACE THE SAT/ACT. 100% Privacy. No spam ever. hbspt.forms.create({ portalId: '360031', formId: '2167ba30-e68e-4777-b88d-8bf3c84579af', formInstanceId: '2', submitButtonClass: 'btn-red-light btn', target: '#hubspot-container2', redirectUrl: 'http://ww2.prepscholar.com/blog-subscribe-thank-you', css: '.post-bottom .hs-form.stacked label {display:none;} .post-bottom .hs-form.stacked .field div.input {padding-top: 55px; padding-left: 300px;} .post-bottom .hs-input {width: 220px} .post-bottom .btn-primary, .hs-button.primary {margin-top:0px; padding-left:350px} .post-bottom .hs-form-field {margin-bottom:5px}' }); $(function(){ $(".exclusive-tip-form #hubspot-container2 label").hide(); }); function replace_tag(a, b){ $(a).each(function(index) { var thisTD = this; var newElement = $(""); $.each(this.attributes, function(index) { $(newElement).attr(thisTD.attributes[index].name, thisTD.attributes[index].value); }); $(this).after(newElement).remove(); }); } $(function(){ replace_tag($(".posts-by-topic h3"), "h2"); }) Ask a Question BelowHave any questions about this article or other topics? Ask below and we'll reply! Search the Blog Search jQuery(function(){ var $ = jQuery; var url = 'http://google.com/search?q=site:' + location.protocol + '//' + location.hostname + ' '; var $searchModule = $('.hs-search-module.3c600dd3-4a33-4e4c-b4fe-344530c36b29'); var $input = $searchModule.find('input'); var $button = $searchModule.find('.hs-button.primary'); if (false) { $input.val(decodeURIComponent(location.pathname.split('/').join(' ').split('.').join(' ').split('-').join(' ').split('_').join(''))); } $button.click(function(){ var newUrl = url + $input.val(); var win = window.open(newUrl, '_blank'); if (win) { //Browser has allowed it to be opened win.focus(); } else { //Browser has blocked it location.href = newUrl; } }); $input.keypress(function(e){ if (e.keyCode !== 13) return; e.preventDefault(); $button.click(); }); }); Improve With Our Famous Guides SATPrep ACTPrep For All Students The 5 Strategies You Must Be Using to Improve 160+ SAT Points How to Get a Perfect 1600, by a Perfect Scorer Series: How to Get 800 on Each SAT Section: Score 800 on SAT Math Score 800 on SAT Reading Score 800 on SAT Writing Series: How to Get to 600 on Each SAT Section: Score 600 on SAT Math Score 600 on SAT Reading Score 600 on SAT Writing Free Complete Official SAT Practice Tests What SAT Target Score Should You Be Aiming For? 15 Strategies to Improve Your SAT Essay The 5 Strategies You Must Be Using to Improve 4+ ACT Points How to Get a Perfect 36 ACT, by a Perfect Scorer Series: How to Get 36 on Each ACT Section: 36 on ACT English 36 on ACT Math 36 on ACT Reading 36 on ACT Science Series: How to Get to 24 on Each ACT Section: 24 on ACT English 24 on ACT Math 24 on ACT Reading 24 on ACT Science What ACT target score should you be aiming for? ACT Vocabulary You Must Know ACT Writing: 15 Tips to Raise Your Essay Score How to Get Into Harvard and the Ivy League How to Get a Perfect 4.0 GPA How to Write an Amazing College Essay What Exactly Are Colleges Looking For? Is the ACT easier than the SAT? A Comprehensive Guide Should you retake your SAT or ACT? When should you take the SAT or ACT? Michael improved by 370 POINTS! Find Out How Stay Informed Get the latest articles and test prep tips! Looking for Graduate School Test Prep? Check out our top-rated graduate blogs here: GRE Online Prep Blog GMAT Online Prep Blog TOEFL Online Prep Blog
Sunday, November 3, 2019
Managing a Global Team Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words
Managing a Global Team - Essay Example James was an effective and brilliant leader to which he sought to carry on the same to the operations of Sun Microsystems, but he had not prepared himself for the reality that dwelled in the company (Tsedal and Delong 3). However, James managed his global team effectively as he conducted conference calls on every week at a usual time in order for the team to receive updates on the status of operations. Despite him allocating time for these video conference calls, the Indian team felt as though they were not party to the global operations of the company as the addressing of their concerns were always last on the agenda sheet. Further, the time difference also proved ineffective for the Indian team as they felt that the time allocated by James for the weekly conference calls were at a time considered by many to be family time. James also failed to understand the causes of the failure to meet deadlines with the Middle East team and was quick to pass judgement that they were incompetent and that he was inconsiderate to the French team. The implication of this was that the US team was his favorite as he considered them more competent as compared to the other teams hence making James to have poorly managed his global teams (Tsedal and Delong 10). 2. ... The other companies that supply HS Holdings with software and hardware could have also been liable for the losses as this was not entirely Sun Companyââ¬â¢s fault (12). Further, James is responsible for this crisis because he did not treat the Indian team with the regard that they required hence making them not to work in tandem with the organizational goals of Sun Microsystems. 3. What role did the ââ¬Å"Open Workâ⬠environment play in the case? The ââ¬Ëopen workââ¬â¢ policy was a program that allowed employees to work across different time zones by incorporating technology, support systems, and apparatus by using technology that would make this process achievable. The application of this program by Sun Microsystems began in 1995 where the physical presence of an employee was not necessary in ensuring that the company was operational (7). This led Sun to reduce its housing fixed assets by a significant percentage, which also translated to the saving of millions of dol lars. The application of the ââ¬Ëopen workââ¬â¢ program in this case was in terms of the recruitment of team members in the Far East countries as many worked from home while others worked at Sunââ¬â¢s facilities, which registered efficiency and cost reduction (8). James also made use of the video conferencing facility, which allowed him to schedule meetings with all team members at the same time making the Company to save on the travel expenses for the global team manager. Therefore, the ââ¬Ëopen workââ¬â¢ program applied by Sun through James served as a cost reduction measure and a uniting factor for the global team members. 4. What role did diversity play on this team? In this case, diversity played an important role in the recruitment of the global team members as James recruited
Friday, November 1, 2019
Book Summary about the book Train Go Sorry by Leah Cohen Essay
Book Summary about the book Train Go Sorry by Leah Cohen - Essay Example The plight of the deaf persons is shared through the analysis of Sofiaââ¬â¢s life. When she takes her journey to join Gallaudet University, there is much doubt even amongst her family members, regarding the possible chances of Sofia surviving independently at the institution (Cohen, 172). Nevertheless, through the determination to partake the journey of improving her life, Sofia later realizes the vast opportunities that exist for the hearing-impaired persons in the society. Through Sofiaââ¬â¢s journey, the book by Leah Hager Cohen demonstrates how being a deaf person in a new environment can be challenging, considering that Sofia is a deaf Russian immigrant, who is trying to settle in the new university environment. Thus, Cohen uses the American Sign Language idiom ââ¬ËTrain Go Sorryââ¬â¢, which is interpreted to mean the ââ¬Ëmissing the boatââ¬â¢, as an indication that there is a great deal of miscommunication between the deaf and the hearing people, both at the individual and at the societal level (Cohen, 127). Nevertheless, the challenges faced by the deaf can be overcome, where there is a sense of independence and desire to live a normal and fulfilling life,. This was demonstrated by Faye Cohenââ¬â¢s, who is Leah Cohenââ¬â¢s grandmother. Despite her challenges as a deaf person, coupled with the tragedy of loss of her mother, she married another deaf person, and went ahead to live a fulfilling and respectable life, as a wife and a mother (Cohen, 77). However, there is a real threat to the deaf peopleââ¬â¢s world by the world of the hearing, where the advancement in technology has come to undermine any assistance that the deaf could have obtained in communicating with the hearing. In this respect, there is less technological advancement in the hearing-impaired devices. The effect has been the discrimination of the deaf people and those who struggles to fight
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)