Monday, September 30, 2019

Behavioral Influences Essay

Expectancy theory is related to the motivation of the employees which is dependent upon the employees’ behavior and incentives given by the management. If the management is able to motivate its employees they will put in more effort while working, which means efficiency higher returns for the company. The three components of the expectancy theory are expectancy, valence and instrumentality (Vroom, 1964). All of these three variables are required if an employee needs to be motivated positively. The expectancy component is the belief that increase in efforts will accounts for better performance and vice versa. This means that a person is motivated if there is a positive relationship between efforts and performance given that he has proper training, resources and direction to perform the job. Expectancy is also affected by the confidence the employee has about on his capabilities. Valence component in the expectancy theory refers to the value people place on the expected outcome or rewards of their efforts. If a person is motivated mainly by money, he might not value free insurance given by the company. Valence is the intensity of the desire of a worker for extrinsic and intrinsic rewards such as promotion, fringe benefits, bonuses, overtime and satisfaction (Droar, 2003). Instrumentality, the third component of expectancy theory is the confidence on the higher authorities that if the performance is well, the desired or promised reward will be received (Vroom, 1964). Instrumentality will be affected by the trust in people who make decisions of the outcomes and degree of biasness of the process of getting an outcome. Therefore the theory tells us that the relationship between the effort and performance is positive, which means that increase in effort will enhance performance (Vroom, 1964). According to the theory the relationship between performance and rewards is also positive, which implies that better performance will result in more rewards. In the given scenario, Supervisor A’s employees are facing difficulty in coping up with the new production process. The main reason for this is that the employees are not being compensated for their work. Those who achieve their goals are not given enough compensation therefore they feel unmotivated. When employees are not motivated, they do not put in enough effort to achieve their goals and hence their performance is not fine. The employees who have mastered the production process are not worried about accomplishing their goals because they know that even with added effort if they attain their goals, the compensation they will get is not worth the effort. Other employees, who have not mastered it, are not putting in enough effort because they think they are not capable of doing so. Therefore there is a dire need for motivation of the employees who are under Supervisor A. The supervisor should find out what resources, training or management of employees is needed to motivate the employees; this is the expectancy component of the expectancy theory. The supervisor should also find out what do the employees value, their bonuses and salaries should be increased according to their performance; this is the valence part of the expectancy theory. Supervisor also has to make sure that the perception of the employees about their supervisor’s promises is correct, they should be compensated as promised; this is the instrumentality component. In the scenario, the employees’ salaries are not being increased as promised by the supervisor; their bonuses after withholding tax are very small. Thus if the supervisor is able to fill the gaps in all of these three components, he will be able to motivate the employees to increase effort and hence performance and the goals will be achieved. Task 2 The leadership style of Leader B is transactional, Leader C is transformational and Executive has a â€Å"Level 5† leadership style. Transactional leadership focuses on setting specific goals for each team member and encourage them to meet the agreed upon goals (Bryant, 2003). In the scenario it is given that Leader B establishes clear goals by clarifying role and task requirements and continually guiding subordinates in the direction of these goals, and therefore it is a characteristic of transactional leadership. In transactional leadership, the team members are awarded when they are able to achieve their goals on time and punished when agreed upon goals are not achieved or are not achieved on time (Iain, 2007). In the scenario given, Leader B considers the team member to be personally at fault if the delegated task is not completed and issues punishments for failures. Transactional leadership recognizes accomplishments of individual subordinates and they are rewarded for achieving the objectives agreed upon (Iain, 2007). In the scenario given, Leader B believes in a clear chain of commands and in rewarding good performance and recognizing employee accomplishments. Leader B also rewards subordinates for their successes. Leader B’s transactional leadership style has been justified now by including the examples from the given text. Transformational leadership depends more on personal relationship with subordinates and is supported by trust rather than committing to contracts (Jung & Avolio, 1999). In the scenario it is given that Leader C tried to remember his team members’ birthdays and makes an effort to work with them as their coach instead of their manager. Transformational leadership also tries to satisfy its followers’ self-interest and encourages the followers to replace these interests with the interests of the team. In the scenario, Leader C encourages the group to surpass their own self-interest for the betterment of the organization. This type of leadership also focuses on organizational change through stress on new values and different vision of the future which transcends the status quo (Gellis, 2001). Leader C in the scenario also believes that the group can have great success when they are passionate and enthusiastic about a vision. Transformational leaders motivate its followers to achieve their goals through nurturing their individual skills and capabilities (Barbuto, 2005). Leader C in the scenario sets high hopes for subordinates, instills individualism of employees for the benefit of organization and takes a rational problem-solving approach. The Level 5 leadership is described as being hesitant and unruly, shy and fearless and modest with a stern commitment to high standards (Jon Jenkins and Gerrit Visser, 2001). This type of leadership takes struggling organizations from being fine to great and produces other fine leaders within the organizations for future. The Level 5 leadership takes responsibility for the failures and accredits other leaders for accomplishments (Jon Jenkins and Gerrit Visser, 2001). This leadership also establishes unique ideas, long-term vision and values for the organization. In the scenario, Executive A is clearly a level 5 leader as he shies away from attention and accredits others for achievements. He accepts responsibility for failures and poor results; and feels delighted to produce strong leadership within the organization. Therefore it is apparent that Executive A is a Level 5 leader as he took the struggling organization into hands and reshaped the stock prices and company profits into eye-catching ones and he also shares his long-term vision, ideas and values with other leaders of the company. When the Executive A retires and if Leader B is appointed as the CEO, then most of the employees in the organization will start working for their own interest as they will be held responsible for their failures and accomplishments and will be compensated accordingly. Supervision of the employees will become an integral part of managers’ routine as they may use organization’s resources for their personal interests. Transactional leadership is successful in stable organizations because it helps to improve control over employees and reinforces constructive administrative actions through rewards and punishments. Therefore Leader B may find his style appropriate in the organization. Transformational leadership maintains employees’ performance through loyalty to organization, trust in the leader and changes in values and standards of the organization. Leader C has this style of leadership, and if appointed the CEO, the employees will surely have higher motivation and self-confidence; they will get chances and supervision to improve their skills and capabilities. Through self-realization of employees and personal relationships with them, Leader C will be able to make them feel an integral part of the organization and increase their performance beyond expectations. Task 3 Individuals often take one of the bases of power in an organization in which they are employed. There are five bases of power which act as a source of organization; they will be discussed one by one. The first one is Position in Hierarchy (Woldring, 2001), that is the rank of the individual in an organization. The higher the individual’s place in the organizational rank structure, the greater the power he will have. In the given scenario, Employee 1 is using position in hierarchy as the source of his power. He has worked in the marketing department for 12 years and he frequently comes to the office on weekends or stays late to make sure smooth running of tasks. The second base of power is Referent Power (Woldring, 2001); this is the personal relation of an individual with others who are higher in the organizational hierarchy. It only exists if the individual can actually reference the authenticity of relationship so that it can act as a basis of power. Employee 2 has this power as he negotiated with his manager to work four days a week and is the only person who is allowed to have a shorter work week. Third type of power is Reward Power (Raven, 1959); individuals who have a greater degree of control over resources of organization, have greater power. Individuals even lower in the organizational hierarchy can have greater controller over resources of the organization (Woldring, 2001). This power is based on the ability to give valuable reward to others who perform well (Raven, 1959). In the scenario given, Employee 1 has this power as he is controlling the resources of his department to get the large bonus at the year end, and he will spend this bonus on his vacations. The fourth base of power is Demonstrated Expertise (Woldring, 2001); an individual who has an exceptional capability or special knowledge that no other has in the organization. Only having expertise is not sufficient, others should know about the importance of this person’s expertise and its value. Employee 2 has this power as he is the only company employee who can prepare financial statements. The fifth and final source of power is Personality Power or Coercive Power (Woldring, 2001); the perceived personality of the individual is the power here. If the person has strong interpersonal skills, charming and attractive personality, then he will be able to influence others to conform to his ideas or demands (Raven, 1959). This is the case with Employee 3, who has been in the organization for just a year, but because of his personality power, he was able to change entire department’s beliefs. Relationship between Bases of Power and Dependency: The Bases of Power use the concept of Dependency. An employee can only use its base of power on another employee if the other one is dependent on him. As Emerson (1962, p. 32) argues that â€Å"power resides implicitly in the other‘s dependency† and that â€Å"the power of A over B is equal to, and based upon, the dependence of B upon A†. Therefore if a person B is dependent of another person A, only then the power of A exists. The level of power of person A depends upon the degree of dependence of person B on person A and the alternatives available to person B. If there is no dependence then power over another person does not exists. The accounting manager in the given scenario is the person who is dependent upon Employee 2 because of the Expertise power of Employee 2. Employee 2 is the only person in the organization who can prepare the financial statements and so the manager is dependent upon him to prepare it. Employee 1 is dependent upon marketing manager for the award he wants, that is why he stays late in the office to make sure of the completion and accuracy of the work and he often come to office on weekends. Employee 3 was selected as the leader of the team working on new project; all others related to the project are dependent upon him because of his Coercive power. Task 4 The first problem with the company’s current evaluation form is that the rating scales in the form mostly focus on relationships with other employees and on the personality; it is more of a personality test rather than performance and skills evaluation. Instead of evaluating the neatness of the workplace, relationships with peers, attitude with others and friendliness, the questions should be more specific to the performance and quality of work. Performance factors such as knowledge, skills, abilities, quality and timeliness of work, efforts of the employee, works habits, supervisory factors, cooperation, adaptability and effectiveness of communication should be evaluated. The second concern in the evaluation form is that the rating scales are not specific and measurable. The scale being used is to rate an attribute is not numeric or scalar, high, low-medium, medium are being used to score against the attribute. A better approach of scoring will be to use a scale with numeric scale, the highest described as â€Å"Superior† and lowest as â€Å"Unsatisfactory†. Another option of â€Å"Not Applicable† should also be present with all attributes. The use of measurable scale will ease the work for evaluator and he will be able to rate the employee’s attributes more accurately. The third concern in the evaluation form is that the performance factors are not specific. When the manager had to give rating on the engineer’s attitudes, he had to take in to account the engineer’s attitudes towards his job and tasks that he is assigned to do and also his attitudes towards co-workers and manager. The factors should be more specific so that the evaluator can give the ratings to specific attribute and every attribute is taken into account. In the scenario, the manager gave engineer a low rating in the attitude factor although his attitude towards work was very serious and he completed his tasks in a very well manner. He got a low rating because of his poor attitude towards the peers and manager. The 360-degree approach to employee evaluation involves supervisor, peers, and subordinates into the evaluation of an individual. This approach has its own pros and cons. Many people participate in evaluating a person so it gives complete view of the performance of the person. The performance view is captured from the supervisor, peers and the subordinates, they respond as they see the person’s performance. It reduces the bias of the supervisor or the manager towards an employee. It the supervisor does not likes the attitude of appearance of the employee, and then he might rate the employee with a lower score. If the employee’s attitude with the supervisor is not favorable but the peers and subordinates like the attitude of the employee, then this can be captured in the evaluation process. Many people participate in the evaluation process, so the score becomes more reliable and more accurate. The supervisor may not have a personal relation with the employee and may not know him too well to rate his personality and attitude towards work. It is also possible that the employee have had some kind of incident with the supervisor in the past and since then the attitude towards the employee had become unfavorable. Then the supervisor would obviously rate him low in the performance factors. Most of the times in an organization, peers and co-workers know the employee better than the supervisor; so when the peers will evaluate the employee, they will be able to give the ratings more accurately and their ratings will be more reliable than any others. The attitude of a person towards his sub-ordinates is also very important, this attitude can be recorded when sub-ordinates will take part in the evaluation process of the employee. And then after the evaluation, the employee can leverage his strengths according to others’ perception of his performance and personality. So, 360-degree approach to performance evaluation helps in evaluating the employee from many views and in recording reliable and more accurate information then the traditional forms of evaluations and is not only helpful to the management to make important decisions but also is useful to the person being evaluated . There are some disadvantages too of including the supervisor, peers and subordinates in the evaluation process. One of the main disadvantages is that all the peers and subordinates may not like the personality of the employee being evaluated and may rate him very low based on his attitude and personality. The main purpose of evaluating an employee is to evaluate the performance and skills and attitude towards the work and tasks assigned to him. The co-workers and subordinates may have issues with employee being evaluated because of personality clash, and although his work is up to the mark and performance is well, but still the peers, supervisor and subordinates might give him low score on performance. There are a handful of employee performance evaluation methods; three of them are top-down, peer-to-peer and 360-degree. Top-down is the most commonly used in the organizations today. It involves the direct manager of the employee in the evaluation process and is only useful if the manager knows his employee well enough. Peer-to-peer entails the employees of the same levels to review each other. Nobody knows the capabilities and performance of an employee better than his peer or co-worker. While it can be effective method, it can also be very unsuccessful at times. If there is jealousy among the co-workers or if there is competition then it is obvious that they will not rate each others in a reliable manner. When there are multiple managers or multiple peers of an employee then these methods prove successful. The third method is 360-degree evaluation which takes into account the reviews of peers, subordinates and the managers or supervisors. In some organizations even suppliers and customers are involved in the evaluation process. While the advantage of multiple points of views is clear, it poses some threats also. Sometimes the subordinates may not give the true feedback of their managers because of the fear that manager will get to know about it. The following are the errors and biases that commonly affect the accuracy of performance evaluation. The first one is that the employees may favor the evaluation questions of their manager as they will fear that the manager will find out and so their review will not be true. The second is that the peers might not be mature enough or experienced enough to evaluate each other and they may form a cartel and rate each other well. The third example is that the manager does not the performance of his employee whom he is to evaluate because of no interaction with him, and he might just do the evaluation providing inaccurate information. In the given scenario, the evaluation form should be made more reliable and bias free and should be more oriented towards the performance of the employee rather than the friendliness and the attitude towards the co-workers. The scale used should be numeric with the highest being the best and lowest being the most poor. Customers, subordinates, and co-workers should also be included in the evaluation process to make it fairer. References Online Journal Iain, Ph. D. Hay. (2007 ). Transactional and Transformational Leaderships Compared. Leadership of Stability and leadership of vola tility, Volume 4, Issue 4. Retrieved 04 16, 2009, from Academic Leadership database. Website Organization/Website/Author name. (Year, Month Day). Title. Retrieved Month Day, Year, from www. url. com Value Based Management. net/Victor Vroom. (2009, 03 23). Motivation and Management Vroom’s Expectancy Theory. Retrieved 04 14, 2009, from http://www. valuebasedmanagement. net/methods_vroom_expectancy_theory. html Arrod. co. uk/Dave Droar. (2006, 12 31). Expectancy theory of motivation. Retrieved 04 14, 2009, from http://www. arrod. co. uk/archive/concept_vroom. php Imaginal Training/Jon Jenkins and Gerrit Visser. (2001). Level 5 Leadership. Retrieved 04 14, 2009, from http://www. imaginal. nl/articleLevel5Leadership. htm Workplace Competence International Limited/Roelf Woldring. (2001). Power in Organizations: A way of Thinking About What You’ve Got, and How to Use It. Retrieved 04 16, 2009, from http://www. wciltd. com/pdfquark/powerorgv2. pdf

Sunday, September 29, 2019

A Game of Thrones Chapter Forty-four

Sansa He wouldn't send Ser Loras,† Sansa told Jeyne Poole that night as they shared a cold supper by lamplight. â€Å"I think it was because of his leg.† Lord Eddard had taken his supper in his bedchamber with Alyn, Harwin, and Vayon Poole, the better to rest his broken leg, and Septa Mordane had complained of sore feet after standing in the gallery all day. Arya was supposed to join them, but she was late coming back from her dancing lesson. â€Å"His leg?† Jeyne said uncertainly. She was a pretty, dark-haired girl of Sansa's own age. â€Å"Did Ser Loras hurt his leg?† â€Å"Not his leg,† Sansa said, nibbling delicately at a chicken leg. â€Å"Father's leg, silly. It hurts him ever so much, it makes him cross. Otherwise I'm certain he would have sent Ser Loras.† Her father's decision still bewildered her. When the Knight of Flowers had spoken up, she'd been sure she was about to see one of Old Nan's stories come to life. Ser Gregor was the monster and Ser Loras the true hero who would slay him. He even looked a true hero, so slim and beautiful, with golden roses around his slender waist and his rich brown hair tumbling down into his eyes. And then Father had refused him! It had upset her more than she could tell. She had said as much to Septa Mordane as they descended the stairs from the gallery, but the septa had only told her it was not her place to question her lord father's decisions. That was when Lord Baelish had said, â€Å"Oh, I don't know, Septa. Some of her lord father's decisions could do with a bit of questioning. The young lady is as wise as she is lovely.† He made a sweeping bow to Sansa, so deep she was not quite sure if she was being complimented or mocked. Septa Mordane had been very upset to realize that Lord Baelish had overheard them. â€Å"The girl was just talking, my lord,† she'd said. â€Å"Foolish chatter. She meant nothing by the comment.† Lord Baelish stroked his little pointed beard and said, â€Å"Nothing? Tell me, child, why would you have sent Ser Loras?† Sansa had no choice but to explain about heroes and monsters. The king's councillor smiled. â€Å"Well, those are not the reasons I'd have given, but . . . † He had touched her cheek, his thumb lightly tracing the line of a cheekbone. â€Å"Life is not a song, sweetling. You may learn that one day to your sorrow.† Sansa did not feel like telling all that to Jeyne, however; it made her uneasy just to think back on it. â€Å"Ser Ilyn's the King's Justice, not Ser Loras,† Jcyne said. â€Å"Lord Eddard should have sent him.† Sansa shuddered. Every time she looked at Ser Ilyn Payne, she shivered. He made her feel as though something dead were slithering over her naked skin. â€Å"Ser Ilyn's almost like a second monster. I'm glad Father didn't pick him.† â€Å"Lord Beric is as much a hero as Ser Loras. He's ever so brave and gallant.† â€Å"I suppose,† Sansa said doubtfully. Beric Dondarrion was handsome enough, but he was awfully old, almost twenty-two; the Knight of Flowers would have been much better. Of course, Jeyne had been in love with Lord Beric ever since she had first glimpsed him in the lists. Sansa thought she was being silly; Jeyne was only a steward's daughter, after all, and no matter how much she mooned after him, Lord Beric would never look at someone so far beneath him, even if she hadn't been half his age. It would have been unkind to say so, however, so Sansa took a sip of milk and changed the subject. â€Å"I had a dream that Joffrey would be the one to take the white hart,† she said. It had been more of a wish, actually, but it sounded better to call it a dream. Everyone knew that dreams were prophetic. White harts were supposed to be very rare and magical, and in her heart she knew her gallant prince was worthier than his drunken father. â€Å"A dream? Truly? Did Prince Joffrey just go up to it and touch it with his bare hand and do it no harm?† â€Å"No,† Sansa said. â€Å"He shot it with a golden arrow and brought it back for me.† In the songs, the knights never killed magical beasts, they just went up to them and touched them and did them no harm, but she knew Joffrey liked hunting, especially the killing part. Only animals, though. Sansa was certain her prince had no part in murdering Jory and those other poor men; that had been his wicked uncle, the Kingslayer. She knew her father was still angry about that, but it wasn't fair to blame Joff. That would be like blaming her for something that Arya had done. â€Å"I saw your sister this afternoon,† Jeyne blurted out, as if she'd been reading Sansa's thoughts. â€Å"She was walking through the stables on her hands. Why would she do a thing like that?† â€Å"I'm sure I don't know why Arya does anything.† Sansa hated stables, smelly places full of manure and flies. Even when she went riding, she liked the boy to saddle the horse and bring it to her in the yard. â€Å"Do you want to hear about the court or not?† â€Å"I do,† Jeyne said. â€Å"There was a black brother,† Sansa said, â€Å"begging men for the Wall, only he was kind of old and smelly.† She hadn't liked that at all. She had always imagined the Night's Watch to be men like Uncle Benjen. In the songs, they were called the black knights of the Wall. But this man had been crookbacked and hideous, and he looked as though he might have lice. If this was what the Night's Watch was truly like, she felt sorry for her bastard half brother, Jon. â€Å"Father asked if there were any knights in the hall who would do honor to their houses by taking the black, but no one came forward, so he gave this Yoren his pick of the king's dungeons and sent him on his way. And later these two brothers came before him, freeriders from the Dornish Marches, and pledged their swords to the service of the king. Father accepted their oaths . . . â€Å" Jeyne yawned. â€Å"Are there any lemon cakes?† Sansa did not like being interrupted, but she had to admit, lemon cakes sounded more interesting than most of what had gone on in the throne room. â€Å"Let's see,† she said. The kitchen yielded no lemon cakes, but they did find half of a cold strawberry pie, and that was almost as good. They ate it on the tower steps, giggling and gossiping and sharing secrets, and Sansa went to bed that night feeling almost as wicked as Arya. The next morning she woke before first light and crept sleepily to her window to watch Lord Beric form up his men. They rode out as dawn was breaking over the city, with three banners going before them; the crowned stag of the king flew from the high staff, the direwolf of Stark and Lord Beric's own forked lightning standard from shorter poles. It was all so exciting, a song come to life; the clatter of swords, the flicker of torchlight, banners dancing in the wind, horses snorting and whinnying, the golden glow of sunrise slanting through the bars of the portcullis as it jerked upward. The Winterfell men looked especially fine in their silvery mail and long grey cloaks. Alyn carried the Stark banner. When she saw him rein in beside Lord Beric to exchange words, it made Sansa feel ever so proud. Alyn was handsomer than Jory had been; he was going to be a knight one day. The Tower of the Hand seemed so empty after they left that Sansa was even pleased to see Arya when she went down to break her fast. â€Å"Where is everyone?† her sister wanted to know as she ripped the skin from a blood orange. â€Å"Did Father send them to hunt down Jaime Lannister?† Sansa sighed. â€Å"They rode with Lord Beric, to behead Ser Gregor Clegane.† She turned to Septa Mordane, who was eating porridge with a wooden spoon. â€Å"Septa, will Lord Beric spike Ser Gregor's head on his own gate or bring it back here for the king?† She and Jeyne Poole had been arguing over that last night. The septa was horror-struck. â€Å"A lady does not discuss such things over her porridge. Where are your courtesies, Sansa? I swear, of late you've been near as bad as your sister.† â€Å"What did Gregor do?† Arya asked. â€Å"He burned down a holdfast and murdered a lot of people, women and children too.† Arya screwed up her face in a scowl. â€Å"Jaime Lannister murdered Jory and Heward and Wyl, and the Hound murdered Mycah. Somebody should have beheaded them.† â€Å"It's not the same,† Sansa said. â€Å"The Hound is Joffrey's sworn shield. Your butcher's boy attacked the prince.† â€Å"Liar,† Arya said. Her hand clenched the blood orange so hard that red juice oozed between her fingers. â€Å"Go ahead, call me all the names you want,† Sansa said airily. â€Å"You won't dare when I'm married to Joffrey. You'll have to bow to me and call me Your Grace.† She shrieked as Arya flung the orange across the table. It caught her in the middle of the forehead with a wet squish and plopped down into her lap. â€Å"You have juice on your face, Your Grace,† Arya said. It was running down her nose and stinging her eyes. Sansa wiped it away with a napkin. When she saw what the fruit in her lap had done to her beautiful ivory silk dress, she shrieked again. â€Å"You're horrible,† she screamed at her sister. â€Å"They should have killed you instead of Lady!† Septa Mordane came lurching to her feet. â€Å"Your lord father will hear of this! Go to your chambers, at once. At once!† â€Å"Me too?† Tears welled in Sansa's eyes. â€Å"That's not fair.† â€Å"The matter is not subject to discussion. Go!† Sansa stalked away with her head up. She was to be a queen, and queens did not cry. At least not where people could see. When she reached her bedchamber, she barred the door and took off her dress. The blood orange had left a blotchy red stain on the silk. â€Å"I hate her!† she screamed. She balled up the dress and flung it into the cold hearth, on top of the ashes of last night's fire. When she saw that the stain had bled through onto her underskirt, she began to sob despite herself. She ripped off the rest of her clothes wildly, threw herself into bed, and cried herself back to sleep. It was midday when Septa Mordane knocked upon her door. â€Å"Sansa. Your lord father will see you now.† Sansa sat up. â€Å"Lady,† she whispered. For a moment it was as if the direwolf was there in the room, looking at her with those golden eyes, sad and knowing. She had been dreaming, she realized. Lady was with her, and they were running together, and . . . and . . . trying to remember was like trying to catch the rain with her fingers. The dream faded, and Lady was dead again. â€Å"Sansa.† The rap came again, sharply. â€Å"Do you hear me?† â€Å"Yes, Septa,† she called out. â€Å"Might I have a moment to dress, please?† Her eyes were red from crying, but she did her best to make herself beautiful. Lord Eddard was bent over a huge leather-bound book when Septa Mordane marched her into the solar, his plaster-wrapped leg stiff beneath the table. â€Å"Come here, Sansa,† he said, not unkindly, when the septa had gone for her sister. â€Å"Sit beside me.† He closed the book. Septa Mordane returned with Arya squirming in her grasp. Sansa had put on a lovely pale green damask gown and a look of remorse, but her sister was still wearing the ratty leathers and roughspun she'd worn at breakfast. â€Å"Here is the other one,† the septa announced. â€Å"My thanks, Septa Mordane. I would talk to my daughters alone, if you would be so kind.† The septa bowed and left. â€Å"Arya started it,† Sansa said quickly, anxious to have the first word. â€Å"She called me a liar and threw an orange at me and spoiled my dress, the ivory silk, the one Queen Cersei gave me when I was betrothed to Prince Joffrey. She hates that I'm going to marry the prince. She tries to spoil everything, Father, she can't stand for anything to be beautiful or nice or splendid.† â€Å"Enough, Sansa.† Lord Eddard's voice was sharp with impatience. Arya raised her eyes. â€Å"I'm sorry, Father. I was wrong and I beg my sweet sister's forgiveness.† Sansa was so startled that for a moment she was speechless. Finally she found her voice. â€Å"What about my dress?† â€Å"Maybe . . . I could wash it,† Arya said doubtfully. â€Å"Washing won't do any good,† Sansa said. â€Å"Not if you scrubbed all day and all night. The silk is ruined.† â€Å"Then I'll . . . make you a new one,† Arya said. Sansa threw back her head in disdain. â€Å"You? You couldn't sew a dress fit to clean the pigsties.† Their father sighed. â€Å"I did not call you here to talk of dresses. I'm sending you both back to Winterfell.† For the second time Sansa found herself too stunned for words. She felt her eyes grow moist again. â€Å"You can't,† Arya said. â€Å"Please, Father,† Sansa managed at last. â€Å"Please don't.† Eddard Stark favored his daughters with a tired smile. â€Å"At last we've found something you agree on.† â€Å"I didn't do anything wrong,† Sansa pleaded with him. â€Å"I don't want to go back.† She loved Mng's Landing; the pagaentry of the court, the high lords and ladies in their velvets and silks and gemstones, the great city with all its people. The tournament had been the most magical time of her whole life, and there was so much she had not seen yet, harvest feasts and masked balls and mummer shows. She could not bear the thought of losing it all. â€Å"Send Arya away, she started it, Father, I swear it. I'll be good, you'll see, just let me stay and I promise to be as fine and noble and courteous as the queen.† Father's mouth twitched strangely. â€Å"Sansa, I'm not sending you away for fighting, though the gods know I'm sick of you two squabbling. I want you back in Winterfell for your own safety. Three of my men were cut down like dogs not a league from where we sit, and what does Robert do? He goes hunting.† Arya was chewing at her lip in that disgusting way she had. â€Å"Can we take Syrio back with us?† â€Å"Who cares about your stupid dancing master?† Sansa flared. â€Å"Father, I only just now remembered, I can't go away, I'm to marry Prince Joffrey.† She tried to smile bravely for him. â€Å"I love him, Father, I truly truly do, I love him as much as Queen Naerys loved Prince Aemon the Dragonknight, as much as Jonquil loved Ser Florian. I want to be his queen and have his babies.† â€Å"Sweet one,† her father said gently, â€Å"listen to me. When you're old enough, I will make you a match with a high lord who's worthy of you, someone brave and gentle and strong. This match with Joffrey was a terrible mistake. That boy is no Prince Aemon, you must believe me.† â€Å"He is!† Sansa insisted. â€Å"I don't want someone brave and gentle, I want him. We'll be ever so happy, just like in the songs, you'll see. I'll give him a son with golden hair, and one day he'll be the king of all the realm, the greatest king that ever was, as brave as the wolf and as proud as the lion.† Arya made a face. â€Å"Not if Joffrey's his father,† she said. â€Å"He's a liar and a craven and anyhow he's a stag, not a lion.† Sansa felt tears in her eyes. â€Å"He is not! He's not the least bit like that old drunken king,† she screamed at her sister, forgetting herself in her grief. Father looked at her strangely. â€Å"Gods,† he swore softly, â€Å"out of the mouth of babes . . . † He shouted for Septa Mordane. To the girls he said, â€Å"I am looking for a fast trading galley to take you home. These days, the sea is safer than the kingsroad. You will sail as soon as I can find a proper ship, with Septa Mordane and a complement of guards . . . and yes, with Syrio Forel, if he agrees to enter my service. But say nothing of this. It's better if no one knows of our plans. We'll talk again tomorrow.† Sansa cried as Septa Mordane marched them down the steps. They were going to take it all away; the tournaments and the court and her prince, everything, they were going to send her back to the bleak grey walls of Winterfell and lock her up forever. Her life was over before it had begun. â€Å"Stop that weeping, child,† Septa Mordane said sternly. â€Å"I am certain your lord father knows what is best for you.† â€Å"It won't be so bad, Sansa,† Arya said. â€Å"We're going to sail on a galley. It will be an adventure, and then we'll be with Bran and Robb again, and Old Nan and Hodor and the rest.† She touched her on the arm. â€Å"Hodor!† Sansa yelled. â€Å"You ought to marry Hodor, you're just like him, stupid and hairy and ugly!† She wrenched away from her sister's hand, stormed into her bedchamber, and barred the door behind her.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Lotteries Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Lotteries - Research Paper Example In the United States, total annual lottery sales have grown into the billions of dollars. Lotteries also provide an excellent opportunity to use elementary financial mathematics, as well as some probability, in a context familiar to students. Most students do not have major financial decisions to make, so the principles of financial mathematics may seem far removed from their lives. However, most of them are familiar with the lottery and the topic readily engages them. The application of these mathematical concepts in the lottery is discussed in this paper. In several USA states and Canada Provinces, the 6/49 lottery operates as an average lottery. To win the lottery grand prize the contestant needs to select all six numbers exactly as drawn in the weekly or monthly contest. This will be used as the model system for the computations in this paper. Starting with a bag of 49 differently-numbered lottery balls, there is clearly a 1 in 49 chance of predicting the number of the first ball selected from the bag. Accordingly, there are 49 different ways of choosing that first number. When the draw comes to the second number, there are now only 48 balls left in the bag (because the balls already drawn are not returned to the bag), so there is now a 1 in 48 chance of predicting this number. Thus, each of the 49 ways of choosing the first number has 48 different ways of choosing the second. ... This continues until the sixth number has been drawn, giving the final calculation, 49 48 47 46 45 44, which can also be written as : . The order of the 6 numbers is not significant. That is, if a ticket has the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, it wins as long as all the numbers 1 through 6 are drawn, no matter what order they come out in. Accordingly, there are 6 5 4 3 2 1 = 6! or 720 ways they could be drawn. Dividing 10,068,347,520 by 720 gives 13,983,816. This can also be written as: . This function is called the combination function, denoted as COMBIN(n, k) in some spreadsheet. Taken as a class, the number of possible combinations for a given lottery can be referred to as the "number space" (n). "Coverage" is the percentage of a lottery's number space that is in play for a given drawing (k). Mathematical concepts can also be applied in making strategies in picking a number. Frequency analysis is a popular strategy that is used. It involves keeping track of the individual numbers that are drawn over a period of time. You might compare it to handicapping a racehorse; rating his past performance to determine what his chances of winning are in the future. The figure below shows how many times each of the numbers has come up in the main National Lottery draw. Here we look at whether the observed distribution of the number of times each of the 49 numbers has come up fits with what would be expected with a truly random draw. Figure 1. Number of occurrences of 1 to 49 in 1240 lottery draws (UK National Lottery, 1997). Numbers that appear often in a certain game are called hot numbers. Some players will play these hot numbers exclusively on the assumption that since they have appeared often in the past, they should appear again in the future.

Friday, September 27, 2019

An outline for my methodology chapter Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

An outline for my methodology chapter - Essay Example It is a naturalistic approach that seeks to study and develop intervention impacts in both learning and teaching, and unfolds in four phases: informed exploration, enactment, local context evaluation, and design principle development. In addition, it will offer this research study a potential for better comprehension, improved learning and practice, and generation of theory by using multiple methods, as well as ongoing assessments of change impact (Reeves, 2005). Design based research as used in this research study is important because it provides a methodology for design and assessment of ESL innovations, in this case the use of Adobe Connect. It is also iterative and systematic, which is in line with the emerging comprehension of how ESL students learn. In addition, it is based on educational situations in real life, which makes it relevant for design and teaching practitioners, such as in this study (Celce-Murcia, 2011). Finally, design-based research will also encourage the researcher to work collaboratively in the creation and assessment of what impact the solutions to the learning issues have on the students. Design-based research will act as an analytical technique set that balances interpretivist and positivist paradigms while also attempting to bridge practice and theory in ESL. Design-based research, as a combination of theory-driven learning environment design and empirical educational research, will be important in understanding the manner in which educational interventions practically work (Norwich & Ylonen, 2013). Design-based research seeks to uncover underlying relationships between practices, designed artifact, and educational theory. In aiming to explain the connections between practice, tools, and theory in ESL, design-based research has dual objectives intending to respond to the needs of the learning environment and striving to increase the researcher’s comprehension of teaching (Ellis, 2013). In

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Local and Federal Courts System (Structure and Jurisdiction) in the Essay

Local and Federal Courts System (Structure and Jurisdiction) in the State of Texas and the Impact of its Structure on the Justice System - Essay Example Immediately before these two courts are the 14 intermediate courts and these handle appeals from trial courts. The Texas constitution has also established the District courts that come below the Intermediate courts of appeal. The district courts are followed below by the county level courts and these include the Constitutional County Courts and two other courts, statutory county courts and the statutory probate courts. These two are established by the legislature. The Texas constitution has a provision for the local courts and these include the justice of peace courts and the Municipal courts (Anderson, 2005). The Supreme Court is a court of last resort for civil and juvenile cases, and original jurisdiction to issue writs in the State of Texas. It is composed of the Chief Justice and eight justices each elected to serve for a period of six years (Anderson, 2005). The court is responsible for the efficient functioning of the Texas judicial system; it has powers to enforce rules of civil trial practice and procedure, evidence and appellate procedure. It is also responsible for the promulgation of rules of administration of justice in Texas. The court also has final authority over involuntary retirement or removal of state judges and has also the authority to transfer cases between the 14 appellate courts under it (Walsh, Kemerer, & Maniotis, 2010). The Court of Criminal Appeal is an appellate court with statewide jurisdiction. It has a final appellate jurisdiction in criminal cases. It hears all death penalty appeals. It also may- but does not have to- review cases which have been decided by the courts of appeals to clear up confusion in the law when it feels the case will affect a number of other cases. The court has the authority to change the decision of the court of appeals if it feels the decision was wrong. The only appeal from this court’s decision is to the United States Supreme court but this is

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Discuss the evolution of style in Greek sculpture, naming and Essay

Discuss the evolution of style in Greek sculpture, naming and describing specific works that illustrate each of the stages you mention - Essay Example For instance, one of the major statues from this period includes the Karditsa warrior, which was found in Athens; another prominent statue was the mythological Mantiklos ‘Apollo’ found in Thebes (Boardman). The next prominent Greek stylistic era is referred to as the classical period. The classical period is recognized as extending between 500 to 400 BC (Stewart). The classical period was ushered in after the Greeks ended the Persian invasion at Marathon in 490 (Stewart). This optimism is reflected in the style, as Greek artists strove towards a new sense of realism. Among the prominent statues of this period includes Discobolos created by the artist Myron; this statue depicts a man in the process of a discus throw (Stewart). The final recognized Greek stylistic period is the Hellenistic period. This era is recognized as lasting from the late 4th to the 1st century BC. (Stewart) This period witnessed greater sculptural detail, as well as an attempt to demonstrate dynamic motion. The most seminal statue of this period is the Nike of Samthrace Statue, as it expertly demonstrates dynamic movement of wind flowing through the

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Human Resource Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 11

Human Resource Management - Essay Example Employees may submit, in writing, any comments or documentation related to their job performance. If a performance review contains a recommendation to refute a salary increase, the supervisor or Chief Executive Officer must give clear and logical action for the employee to follow to get the increment. An employee’s performance must be re-evaluated after six months and, if required, the increment is permissible. Informal reviews may take place throughout the year; however, for any information to be included in the employee’s personnel file, the review must hold a written document read and signed by the employee. Other than the formal review and any informal reviews conducted by employees’ supervisor, the Executive Director can talk about performance with any employee regularly. Such discussions may be followed up by written statement, a copy of which will be placed in the staff member’s file. Health Benefits: The employees are given a choice between HMO (health maintenance organization) and a PPO (preferred provider organization). Also, the Company will bear 80 percent of the cost of medical insurance for employees and their dependents. Dental coverage is also included in the health benefit. The Vision plan is also a part of the health benefit offered by the Company which includes free yearly eye test and an annual allowance for new glasses or contact lenses.   Based on the judgment of the Chief Executive Officer, the Company may top up an employee’s salary while he/she is on short-term disability. The amount of the â€Å"top up† will be one-third of the staff person’s salary at the time of the disability leave. Educational Assistance: The Company also offers financial back up for educational assistance for the employees and his/her immediate family. This entails in-house educational programmes for the employees, scholarships and educational loans for employees’ children. Our Company believes in safeguarding the rights of female

Monday, September 23, 2019

BPO and Cloud Computing (case study) Case Study

BPO and Cloud Computing ( ) - Case Study Example These applications range from external e commerce and business to business application to internal financial and human resources. An enterprise can have one or more than one data centers. The benefits of the data centers includes supporting business operations round the clock, rapid deployment of applications and consolidation of computing resources and maintenance for sustaining business functions. Enterprises make special arrangement of both the facilities that house the equipment and personnel required for such an operation. These facilities support high concentration of network infrastructure and server resources. A data center is based on the availability of power capacity, cabling, cooling capacity, temperature and humidity control, physical security like restricted access and surveillance systems, fire and smoke systems, rack space and raised floor. Data centers support high speed communication between servers, storage and devices of storage (Arregoces & Portolani, 2004, P.21) . It also increases the availability of mirroring, clustering and replication between database systems and storage devices. These facilities helps in storing the data in multiple locations thus lowering the chances of site failure that prevents chances of normal system operations. Site failures are recovered by the replica of data at different sites thereby creating the need for distributed data centers, distributed server firms and obvious transport technologies for enabling communication between them. Data centers can be local as well as one that is located overseas. A local data center does not rely on connectivity over the internet and therefore negates a possible failure point. Local data collection, correlation and processing are easier with local data centers. Corrective actions can be immediately taken to fix problems. The closer the management components are to the source of the problems, the3 more independent the firms can be for supporting their infrastructure. Corrective management activities can be taken even if the network to the management server is down. Continuous and autonomous monitoring is possible with the help of local data centers. A local database has access to all data sources which are not remotely accessible. In addition to remote interfaces like SNMP, scripting, WMI, the local data centers also have sensors for log files, discovery information, performance data sources- basically anything that is available locally. A local data centre can perform correlation which helps in reducing flood of data into meaningful set of events. Instead of sending thousand log file records over the network to the server for analysis, local data centers filters out extraneous information and allows important problems to be sent to a centralized event console. It helps in reducing false alarms and increases the productivity and efficiency as short term peeks are ignored and no time is spent in dealing with false alarms. It also helps in suppressing dupli cate events that is based on time interval, count of similar events or both. Identical messages that occur within a very short period of time are suppressed and the first event is only forwarded to management server (Murugesan & Gangadharan, 2012, P. 21). Local actions can be executed without the intervention from the management server. The disadvantage of local data center is that keeping each client side database in sync is very difficult. Programming, administration and maintenance of data become nearly impossible. Data integrity, security, data

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Disturbance of Corporate Personality and Law Coursework

Disturbance of Corporate Personality and Law - Coursework Example This research will begin with the statement that one of the moral issues in the co-operate scene today is the act of bribing company officials in order to get tenders and other orders in the business world. This is a situation where the company officials are given bribes in order to hand over a certain order to a particular supplier. Bribing other officials to hand over information regarding a competing company falls in the same category as unethical business behavior. These offences are legally punishable by the law in the United States of America. It is documented that most of these companies are oblivious of this as an offence that is punishable by international law. However, officials should not accept bribes under any circumstances. This makes the competition in the market to be unfair. The market share then is more likely to shift from a competitive market to a monopoly. Monopolization of the market makes it worlds harder to ensure the rights of the consumer are well adhered to . This kind of moral situation should not exist in an ideal society let alone a business situation. Eradicating such vices hides a bigger picture of ensuring that each of the people’s interests is better protected. This can only be done by the effective education of people both of their rights and of the wrongs they may commit if they stay ignorant. A recent example is the publication in a global corruption report made by transparency international. This report showed that companies are still in the habit of offering bribes to officials of other states in order to get their products into those states faster. Also bribes offered to political heavyweights for smoother navigation of the product within the political climate of the state. Problems brought about by corporations investing in countries with populations that have low returns differ from the main concerns of the companies in more mature markets. Diamond also initially focused on an e-conference he attended. According t o Diamond, â€Å"the consequences of all that deforestation include loss of timber and other forest building materials, soil erosion, loss of soil fertility, sediment loads in the rivers, loss of watershed protection and hence of potential hydroelectric power, and decreased rainfall.1† The conference was gathered on basis of the role that governments ought to take enabling a suitable environment that. CSR is one of the groups that cover a wide variety of ecological problems connected to trade conduct. Through the conference attended, I have not observed any guiltless references made by the writer with regards to negligence of ecological responsibility. I also have come across companies that the writer appears to be referring to successful funding and repairing of harm caused to the environment. An example used by Diamond is the EPA superfund program that righteous ecologists have supported to the extent of clearly deserving their fortune. Such programs have been reported to s upport the public from the actual damage that has been inflicted on the environment. The writer talks about the level or state of the compensation that EPA imposed on the environment as a result of the activities carried out certain companies2. Diamond opens up the occasional useful programs and policies huge corporations put into effect to inform companies that taking care of the environment is not the sole task of the people. During the aftermath of the oil spill, Chevron claimed to be in control of the situation. The writer simply reveals the programs initiated in the name of saving out environment, and does not let the companies off the hook. Some of the areas that signify that the writer does not the company off the hook for its environmental damaging operations include the

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Hotel Consultation Essay Example for Free

Hotel Consultation Essay It appears to me that the Dreschler Hotel needs to look into their rates. After comparing the other hotels and the Dreschler Hotel their rates seem too high compared to the other hotels and what they have to offer. I think if they would lower their rates this would generate more business and more business means more revenue. This would be reflected on the ADR if they did lower the rates. Yes, if your rates are higher you will take in more money at that moment but you might sell a lot more rooms if rates are kept down while being competitive. I think the Dreschler Hotel could make some improvements and then this would increase the revenue. I think it is very out dated and in order for the owners and shareholders to ever see their investments back in their pocket is to make this a mixed-use which would have hotel room suites, condo’s, pool, gym, retail shops, office building, and several restaurants. This will be projected at a Twenty Eight Million Dollar Project. It will have many retail shops for the guest convenience and it already is situated in the heart of the town with over 90 shops available now. It will then add a pool, hot tub, spa, sauna, gym, office buildings for lease or sale and many restaurants. We would like to have a tremendous view and possible farmers market in the complex or within walking distance as another food alternative. This is a fairly fast way to get cash flow moving fairly fast and also can sell if interested or they could hire a management company to run the development for them. The options are endless but they will need to do some marketing to get this development out there and get interested parties involved. One thing I feel this hotel is in need of its working capital. They are having trouble with paying the normal operational expenses. The owners have even been putting money in to use for the hotel and cannot continue to do this. They have no working capital to work with to do any renovations or add a few t hings needed to get more guests staying at the hotel. They have a couple of options to get this done. The first one is to apply for a SBA 7(a) Loan. They will loan money  to a business in need of working capital which the Dreschler Hotel needs. They can use this loan for operation expenses, renovations, inventory, or to add items needed. They also may look into the option of investors which will love to get involved in something this big. This would probably be a great choice for this hotel and its circumstances. I feel the owners and shareholders have already put in all the working capital or cash that they can at this time. They have to do something to start making some money and to do that I feel this hotel needs a lot. The only option would be to sell some shares of the hotel for some cash to use for working capital. Then they would have more owners or shareholders would have a say in how things are ran. Sometimes, this is a good thing and other times it can be a bad thing so it is a tough situation but sometimes they have good suggestions or ideas as well. They will have to show a good business plan and show they have the ideal location along with the town’s approval or possibly get guarantees on businesses coming to the mixed use such as retail stores, office spaces, and restaurants. You want a variety of restaurants so you have to have many restrictions on who you sell or lease to because you want variety. This will be an upscale hotel with the same in the retail and restaurant end also. We would be adding suites in the hotel rooms along with a pool and gym. While looking at financial schemes you must weigh the good and the bad or the risks involved to do this. After looking at converting the Dreschler Hotel into a mixed-use I found there are a couple of benefits that would be gained if we converted it such as you have a hotel for guests to stay in and then you have restaurants and food options for the guests that they can even walk to when staying at the Dreschler Hotel. They try to put retail, food and accommodations all tog ether and keep them on the same scale. At the same time there are disadvantages such as you have to have a large piece of land to do this and you have to look at the market around this area to be able to have the economics available to get the revenue there to pay for this. I researched the pros and cons of converting the property into a timeshare. I found the biggest advantage is the return of the money from the project to the owners or shareholders. Another huge benefit would be the construction time is cut way down so you would be up and making money much quicker. A big disadvantage is you are not the original developer and many issues can arise. One main thing is the  location. If you have the right location it will usually make a lot of money. The last one I looked at was the conversion of the hotel to a condominium. I found an advantage would be the increasing revenue by adding things such as a bar, spa, hot tubs, gyms and restaurants. This usually is an upper end hotel and they attract a lot of customers or guests and then the money and revenue will start coming in faster. Another benefit is the owner can sell the units much quicker and then can also hire a management company to run it for him and still bring in money or get his money returned quickly. Many condos have a disadvantage because they come with many restrictions. I think a mixed-use would be an awesome opportunity along with a lot of the things this hotel needed. With the location and the stores in the area it would be a great location so after consideration we will be calling the new mixed-use The Dreschler Village and Suites. References: DeFranco, A. L., Lattin, T. W. (2007). Hospitality financial management. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. Axia College’s Writing Style Handbook http://www.sba.gov/about-sba/what_we_do/resource_guides (retrieved 03/06/2014). http://www.aha-engineers.com/MEP-projects-hospitality.html (Retrieved 03/07/2014)

Friday, September 20, 2019

Effects of Risperidone in Children with Autism

Effects of Risperidone in Children with Autism   Crystal Branch   ANOVA Article Critique Researchers complied detailed data regarding two groups a sample group and a controlled group of children to study the cognitive effects of risperidone in children with autism and irritable behavior.  Ã‚   The study employed specific measurements designed to determine if children with autism and irritable behavior have an increase of cognitive performance while taking up to 3.5 mg of risperidone.   Recently a few studies have assessed cognitive effects of risperidone in children with severe behavioral disturbance. Gà ¼nther et al. (2006) assessed open-label risperidone in 23 children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and disruptive behavior disorders (DBDs) and in normal controls matched for age and IQ. This was a multi-site investigation that was conducted at five medical centers. After being assessed at the screen visit, participants who met inclusion criteria for the study were then reassessed with clinical instruments at baseline and weekly for the next 8 weeks.  Ã‚   So, researchers decided to conduct a double-blind placebo controlled groups on their attention span, how well their verbal learning skills are, diminished or improved hand/eye coordination, and spatial memory was evaluated.   Each of the areas was measured before, during and after 8 weeks of participation. All changes in performance were compared by repeated measures ANOVA. Will the use of risperidone in doses 0.5 up to 3.5 mg/day researchers want to know the question what the overall effect the drug has the on cognitive performance of children ages of 5-17 years old, diagnosed with autism and that suffer from irritable behavior. The review will show what was used to assess the variables and statistical methods created to decide if the study produced any valid result. The authors want to know answers through research if there are actually any significant effects the drug actually has on cognitive processing abilities in autistic children that also suffer from irritable behavior that uses risperidone. Through research and study, the authors looked for answers to this question and set a hypothesis they created around their research study. The authors implied that the null hypothesis (Ho) is that there would be no difference between placebo and risperidone (Aman, M. G., Hollway, J. A., McDougle, C. J., Scahill, L., Tierney, E., McCracken, J. T., . . . Pose y, D. J. (2008). The alternative hypothesis (Ha) should indicate that there would be a difference between cognitive performance of the sample group vs the controlled group.  Ã‚   A total of 38 children between the ages of 5-17 years of age were a part of the sample group, these children have been diagnosed with autism and severe behavior disturbance. Any participants receiving psychotropic medicines before the study went through a washout for at least 2 weeks prior to randomization (4 weeks for antipsychotics or fluoxetine). Cognitive assessments were done at Baseline, Week 4 and Week 8. Participants were started at either 0.25 or 0.50 mg with gradual adjustments over the first four weeks. Maximum dose for smaller subjects (15-45 kg) was 2.5 mg/day, whereas the maximum dose for larger participants (45 kg.) could be as high as 3.5 mg/day (1). As protocol requires during this period as in any clinical study, the subjects did not receive any form of their usual treatment so the effects of any current treatments are eliminated or assumed to be eliminated from their system for the benefit of this study.   Instead of immediately stopping and starting any new treatment, there will be a 2-4week time period where the treatment from the first drug is washed out of the patients system. Study participants were male and female children or adolescents, ages 5 to 17 years 2 months, with mental ages 18 months who had autism and severe behavioral disturbance. To be enrolled in the study, participants received a score of 18 on the Irritability subscale of the Aberrant Behavior Checklist (ABC) (Aman and Singh 1994). In addition, participants must have been rated with a Clinical Global Impressions-Severity (CGI-S) score of 4 by an experienced clinician (CGI-S; NIMH 1985, Arnold et al. 2000), and according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Edition (DSM-IV) (American Psychiatric Association, 1994) a lifetime diagnosis of autistic disorder. The diagnosis of autism was based on a clinical evaluation that included a DSM-IV interview with a parent and direct observation of the participants. The clinical diagnosis was corroborated by structured interview with one or more parents acting as informants, using the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (Lo rd et al. 1994). This study has several limitations that caution against over-embracing the statistically-significant (and one equivocal) findings. First, given the exploratory nature of this work (there is only one other study of atypical antipsychotics in children with PDDs), we adopted the .05 level for alpha. Had we corrected for multiple comparisons, none of the comparisons would have exceeded alpha. Second, only a minority of our participants were able to perform these tasks. This resulted in (a) small sample sizes and (b) the observation that the testable group had a higher IQ and was older than the untestable group. Despite these obvious limitations, the findings are noteworthy for several reasons. First, autistic disorder is often coupled with a substantial cognitive disability.   Secondly, the significant diversification, indicated by partial eta squared, indicates substantial gains in adaptive skills if upheld by future studies. Next, it is noteworthy to point out that data assembled from various sites under double-blind conditions, which may help to dismiss any individual examiner effects. Finally, the mechanism of any improvement is unknown.

Thursday, September 19, 2019

Kashmir: Paradise Exposed To Hell :: essays research papers fc

Our group topic: â€Å"Causes and Effects of Wars† provoked me to write about the threatening dispute of â€Å"Jammu and Kashmir† which has become more threatening after the nuclear capabilities of India and Pakistan. My main claim revolves around the theme that the burning dispute of Kashmir, between India and Pakistan can play a vital role in the emergence of third world war and can act as battle-field for a nuclear war. Due to geographical and social impacts on the world these countries have realized some big nations to resolve the issue. South Asia, a land of deep historical and cultural representations has more than one billion population. Dominated by British colonization for nearly a century, this region contains a variety of imprints of British rule. South Asia is the region that holds evidences of one of the ancient civilization of the world. The unsettled conditions of the eighteenth century provided an opening for the European imperialism in this region. In 1957, British Empire took hold of the Indian sub-continent and South Asia was colonized by British Empire. In 1947, when British Empire surrendered control of the Indian sub-continent, the land was divided into two major parts. The Hindu majority area became the independent nation of India and Muslim majority area became the independent nation of Pakistan. Since then they have fought many wars and several battles that have affected the both nations as well as the neighboring countries. Now as both nations have gained the nuclear capabilities so they are predicted as the battleground for a possible nuclear war. â€Å" If one were to take to praise Kashmir, whole books would be written†¦Kashmir is a garden of eternal spring, or an iron fort to the palace of kings-a delightful flower-bed, and a heart expanding heritage for dervishes†(Danger In Kashmir 3). Kashmir, with its lush valley nestled among some of the world’s most spectacular mountains, was once one of the South Asia’s premier tourist destinations; now, however, it is a battle-scarred war zone. Kashmir is an area on the northern borders of India and Pakistan: officially known as Jammu & Kashmir. Kashmir is famous for its natural beauty and has often been referred to as the â€Å"Switzerland of the East†. â€Å"The population according to latest data exceeds than fourteen million inhabitants† (Diversity Amid Globalization 505). The heart of the area is the fertile Valley of Kashmir, which lies between the Himalayas and the Pir Panjal mountain range. Kashmir: Paradise Exposed To Hell :: essays research papers fc Our group topic: â€Å"Causes and Effects of Wars† provoked me to write about the threatening dispute of â€Å"Jammu and Kashmir† which has become more threatening after the nuclear capabilities of India and Pakistan. My main claim revolves around the theme that the burning dispute of Kashmir, between India and Pakistan can play a vital role in the emergence of third world war and can act as battle-field for a nuclear war. Due to geographical and social impacts on the world these countries have realized some big nations to resolve the issue. South Asia, a land of deep historical and cultural representations has more than one billion population. Dominated by British colonization for nearly a century, this region contains a variety of imprints of British rule. South Asia is the region that holds evidences of one of the ancient civilization of the world. The unsettled conditions of the eighteenth century provided an opening for the European imperialism in this region. In 1957, British Empire took hold of the Indian sub-continent and South Asia was colonized by British Empire. In 1947, when British Empire surrendered control of the Indian sub-continent, the land was divided into two major parts. The Hindu majority area became the independent nation of India and Muslim majority area became the independent nation of Pakistan. Since then they have fought many wars and several battles that have affected the both nations as well as the neighboring countries. Now as both nations have gained the nuclear capabilities so they are predicted as the battleground for a possible nuclear war. â€Å" If one were to take to praise Kashmir, whole books would be written†¦Kashmir is a garden of eternal spring, or an iron fort to the palace of kings-a delightful flower-bed, and a heart expanding heritage for dervishes†(Danger In Kashmir 3). Kashmir, with its lush valley nestled among some of the world’s most spectacular mountains, was once one of the South Asia’s premier tourist destinations; now, however, it is a battle-scarred war zone. Kashmir is an area on the northern borders of India and Pakistan: officially known as Jammu & Kashmir. Kashmir is famous for its natural beauty and has often been referred to as the â€Å"Switzerland of the East†. â€Å"The population according to latest data exceeds than fourteen million inhabitants† (Diversity Amid Globalization 505). The heart of the area is the fertile Valley of Kashmir, which lies between the Himalayas and the Pir Panjal mountain range.

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Euthanasia Essay: The Hemlock Society and Assisted Suicide

Hemlock Society, Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide Dori Zook, Hemlock Society public relations director, claims that Hemlock supports legalization of physician- assisted death only in cases of terminal illness. And Hemlock's website asserts that the Society favors physician-assisted suicide strictly for someone "who is already in the dying process." But there is a glaring discrepancy between this official stance and what prominent members of Hemlock have said and done. For example, there is this little gem from Hemlock co-founder Derek Humphry's book, Final Exit: "What can those of us who sympathize with a justified suicide by a handicapped person do to help? When we have statutes on the books permitting lawful physician aid-in-dying for the terminally ill, I believe that along with this reform there will come a more tolerant attitude to the other exceptional cases." Or take the actions of Hemlock leaders in the case of Elizabeth Bouvia. Writing about the Bouvia case, Humphrey expressed Hemlock's support of the right to voluntary euthanasia for "a person terminally ill, or severely handicapped and deteriorating...." Hemlock Quarterly 14 (1984). But Ms Bouvia was not "deteriorating." Cerebral palsy is not degenerative. The open-ended term "deteriorating" can be made to mean almost anything in order to justify a disabled person's suicide. Bouvia's lawyers, led by Richard Scott, another co-founder of Hemlock, distorted the nature of her disability, likening her to a terminal patient. "Were Plaintiff Bouvia an 84-year-old woman whose life was prolonged solely by various tubes and numerous machines," they argued in the Riverside Superior Court, "and she sought to end such an existence, it is doubtf... ...rejudice against people with disabilities, they must publicly denounce Jack Kevorkian's bigotry. The statements and actions noted above are neither stray, nor taken out of context. RTD leaders, time after time, have demonstrated the same willingness to promote this final "solution" to the problems of people with disabilities. Taken together, these words and deeds mark a clear and consistent pattern of promoting assisted suicide for people with disabilities. Why, then do RTD leaders now claim to advocate a narrower application of assisted suicide? Perhaps they tailor their message depending on the immediate political climate and who they think is listening. For the benefit of all of us who are listening, we call on Hemlock, its leaders, and allies to come forward with boldness and honesty to clearly state their complete agenda.

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Raymond Carver Essay

Raymond Carver was a short story writer who was born in the Pacific Northwest. He was a textbook editor, lecturer and teacher while writing. His stories featured some of his trademarks of, alcohol, poverty, and people in real life situations. Carver was influenced to write about these trademarks through experiences he had lived and influences that were brought upon him, like alcoholism and divorce. Raymond Carver and his father were alcoholics and had both been divorced and remarried through out their lives which is why alcohol, divorce, and fading love are some of the biggest themes he incorporates in his stories. Raymond Carver also expresses puzzlement about the odd and battered condition of love in his profound themes. Specifically in his two short stories, â€Å"What We Talk About When We Talk About Love† and â€Å"Popular Mechanics.† As a writer Carver always tried to add some aspect of intensity or menace in his work. He was known as a literary minimalist because he likes to shorten sentences by removing words or phrases. This writing technique he uses creates a sense of uncertainty in the sentences and leaves the reader guessing. Minimalist writers like Carver, won’t tell you exactly what to think through their diction, instead, they leave their work open ended so the reader can participate in the interpretation of the story and fill in the blank themselves. Carver even says in one of his books called â€Å"Fires†: â€Å"I like it when there is some sense of menace in short stories†¦. there has to be a tension, a sense that something is imminent†¦.† ( Fires 17). Carver creates that state of uncertainty in â€Å"What We Talk About When We Talk About Love† when the four characters are conversing amongst each other about love. Terri and Mel tell stories about their past marriages. Mel had a very demanding wife while Terri was involved with a guy that abused her. The conversation in the room gradually becomes quieter and quieter as they continue to talk about love and drink gin. Mel says to Terri: â€Å"Just shut up for once in your life, Mel said very quietly. Will you do me a favor and do that for a minute?† (What We Talk About 146) Sentences like these seem out of place in a conversation about love, and because of those lines Mel and Terri’s relationship seems unclear and uncertain. The entire story revolves around a certain speech or passage by Mel. As Mel drinks more and more the title of the story, â€Å"What We Talk About When We Talk About Love†, has more meaning and makes the reader and the characters think, just what do we talk about when we talk about love. Even though Mel is drunk when he says his speech, there is truth in his words: â€Å"What do any of us really know about love? Mel Said. ‘It seems to me we’re just beginners at love†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..Am I wrong? Am I way off base? Because I want you to set me straight if you think I’m wrong. I want to know. I mean, I don’t know anything, and I’m the first one to admit it.† (What We Talk About 144-145) Fred Moramarco, a professor at San Diego State University, wrote an article called â€Å"Carver’s Couples Talk About Love† and said: â€Å"When I read this passage in my class, my Southern California students, nearly all of them from families that have experienced divorce, both understand it and are bewildered by it simultaneously. Which is to say they recognize it as the contemporary world they live in, a world of serial relationships where one year’s love is the next year’s courtroom adversary.† (Carver’s Couples Talk About Love-Moramarco) This article is beneficial in explaining and showing how relationships can be deceiving and not always straight forward. This is an other example of how Carver’s condition of love puzzled Moramarco’s students even when they understood it. Raymond Carver underlines the confusion about love with two motifs. He uses his structural element or symbolic structure in his story through things like alcohol and light. Carver uses a symbolic structure in his work that he excepts the reader to make sense of. He uses symbolic images like metaphors to help add to the interpreting the story. In the first paragraph of â€Å"What We Talk About When We Talk About Love† Carver says: â€Å"Sunlight filled the kitchen from the big window behind the sink.†(What We Talk About 137) Which is a symbolic comment because as the characters talk about their experiences with love the light that once filled the room is gone and the story ends with: â€Å"Not one of us moving, not even when the room went dark. (What We Talk About154) These lines show that as the characters keep drinking they start to think, and realize the complexity of love until they figure out that love is not as straight forward as they think. Carver again links alcohol and light when Nick says: â€Å"Maybe we were a little drunk by then. I know it was hard keeping things in focus. The light was draining out of the room, going back through the window where it had come from. Yet nobody made a move to get up from the table to turn on the overhead light.†(What We Talk About 152) The transient love that the characters experience is short and it makes them feel that they have arrived somewhere, but really they have not accomplished much. As the story progresses and the characters keep drinking, they talk more and more about love. Also as they talk about their experiences with love it becomes clear to them that they do not know as much about love as they thought they did. The stories conclusion hits the characters with a sense of reality. All the gin is finished and Nick and the readers hear the sound of four human hearts beating in the darkness: â€Å"I could hear my heart beating. I could hear everyone’s heart. I could hear the human noise we sat there making, not one of us moving, not even when the room went dark.† (What We Talk About 154) Raymond Carver uses the same symbolic structure in his short story, â€Å"Popular Mechanics.† In â€Å"Popular Mechanics† Carver uses great detail and many symbols to carry his theme that not all relationships end happily. He uses these things to bring out the theme of this depressing, but truthful story that many couples these days experience. Carver starts off the story with: â€Å"Early that day the weather turned and cars slushed by on the street outside, where it was getting dark. But it was getting dark on the inside too.† (Popular Mechanics 288) This line represents the relationship between the man and the woman. The line: â€Å"it was getting dark on the inside too† (Popular Mechanics 288), is representative of the feelings of the couple, which are changing from happiness to hatred and anger. He uses the same symbolic structure again when the weather outside is dark and he says: â€Å"But it was getting dark on the inside too.† Sentences like these make the reader believe that there is something wrong in the relationship. The details Carver uses helps the reader interpret so many images and help the reader piece together the big picture. Also it is very obvious to see that the man and women are unhappy just by their attitudes towards each other. The couple argues about who will take the baby to the point where they are both pulling on it. By showing the couple arguing immaturely, Carver tries to show that they are far from happy. He lets us know this through his extreme detail in his symbolic structure. It is essential to look for these symbolic elements to understand the meanings of Raymond Carver’s work. Carver is known for his minimal writing style, simplified language, and irregular plots. His writing style helps capture the experiences and emotions his characters face, which often include guilt, grief, hopelessness, and the effects of fading love. Also his common themes are a response to his history involving the influence of alcoholism and divorce with himself and his parents. In â€Å"What We Talk About When We Talk About Love† Carver hints puzzlement and confusion about love through his symbolic lines about alcohol and light, along with expressing the confusion more clearly through certain passages his characters say like Mel’s speech. However in â€Å"Popular Mechanics† Carver shows it by using great detail, symbols, and through the actions of his characters.

Monday, September 16, 2019

High School and Younger Girls Essay

I chose to write this paper on bullying and its effect on school. In my middle school years, after I had moved here from Alaska, I was bullied a lot because I was new to the school and it was such a small town. It had effects on me that still affect me today. For example, if someone says my name or taps me on the back I don’t turn around because when I was younger girls would do that to me and then laugh at me. I feel bullying is a serious subject and that’s why I chose to look further in to it. The article I chose to do was Bullying in School: The Traumatic Effects of Bullying on Children by Dr. Terry Ehiorobo. The beginning of his article starts off by explaining how bullying has gotten out of hand and what is being done about it. For example, a child getting bullied ended up suing his school because on one was doing anything to stop the bullying, and he even won. In his article he explains different types of bullying situations using certain examples. Dr. Ehiorobo says in his article, â€Å"The world of bullying has a life of its own. It takes no prisoners and its effects can be long lasting and endemic in some cases.† Bullying is a very serious issue in today’s society and I’m glad something is being done to put a spotlight on it. If a stop is put to bullying kids will do better in school, therefor having a better effect on the rest of their lives. Works Cited Ehiorobo, Terry Dr. â€Å"Bullying in School: The Traumatic Effects of Bullying on Children.† CPI. n.p. 25 September 2013. Web March 2012. http://www.crisisprevention.com/Resources/Article-Library/Nonviolent-Crisis-Intervention-Training-Articles/Traumatic-Effects-of-Bullying-Children

Sunday, September 15, 2019

Functional Skills

Functional Skills Functional skills are qualifications in English, maths and ICT that  equip learners with the basic practical skills required in everyday life, education and the workplace. To ensure that Functional skills are assessable to all learners they are available at Entry Level 1 through to Level 2. Employers are crying out for workers with sound Functional Skills – they are essential skills that are genuinely in demand. With good Functional Skills your students will have the ability to draw on a bank of transferable skills to help them succeed in all areas of life.Functional skills where introduced due to the Wolf Report to replace the old key skills as a result of a gap in skills whichThe Secretary of State for Education commissioned Professor Alison Wolf of King’s College London to carry out an independent review of vocational education. She was asked to consider how vocational education for 14- to 19-year-olds can be improved  in order to  promote suc cessful progression into the labour market and into higher level education and training routes.She was also asked to provide practical recommendations to help inform future policy direction, taking into account current financial constraints. The review has been informed by over 400 pieces of evidence from the public, a number of visits to colleges, academies and training providers, and interviews and discussion sessions with key partners in the sector. Alison Wolf comments in FAQ’s in edexel. com that , â€Å"Functional Skills pass rates are lower than Key Skills pass rates.This is still true post-pilot, and on one level may be due to this being a new qualification. However, rather than having negative connotations, this proves that standards are higher and a more legitimate marker of quality (cross-reference Key Skills where the pass rate is almost 100%). Functional Skills are challenging, worthwhile qualifications, denoting a marker of student excellence FAQs – Func tional Skills and the Wolf Report – Edexcelwww. edexcel. comFunctional skills ran as a three year pilot scheme from Sept 2007 and was officially rolled out nationally in Sept 2010 We use basic skills on a daily basis – while driving a car, cooking, making purchases, supporting our children in schoolwork. These daily tasks may present challenges for adult literacy learners, because they incorporate skills from a variety of academic areas – when driving you must read street signs very quickly; when cooking you use measuring tools or calculate with fractions.Yet some learners may state, â€Å"I don’t read much,† or â€Å"I never use math. † Teachers can help learners make connections between what they are learning in class and every-day functional skills by the contextualization of instruction. The 3 functional skills are MATHS Functional maths is what we use every day e. g counting money, calculating shopping bills basic money management addin g these childrens dinner money ? 2. 00 per day x 5 Days a week = ? 10, measuring area etc for carpets , wallpaper, cooking we weigh and measure ingredients.ICT Functional ict is everyday uses including online banking , paying household bills , renewing car insurance , online shopping and searching for best deals , reading e mails, texting friends ENGLISH Functional English is everyday tasks such as writing a shopping list , reading the mail reading the newspaper, reading the road signs when driving, checking shopping purchases on receipts, using e mail reading and replying. holding an everyday conversation requires speaking and listening skills. The delivery of Functional Skills should be embedded into all curriculum areas by using contextualized teaching materials, In my area of Art I can incorporate and plan functional skills in sessions by †¢ Maths , in art learners regularly use ratio to mix art materials , e. g paint and water 2-1, mixing plaster of paris 3-1 measuring dim ensions for drawing patterns e. g dividing a canvas in half or into four requires an overall measurement and then divided by 2 for half or 4 for quarters and so on. English, in art learners have to read to understand e. g study of an artist , YP read a biography of the artist and pick out relevant key points and write them down, so using sentence formation , punctuation . listening is a skill , to follow instructions in art either verbally or from a list which is used in making a clay pot , or plaster mould. †¢ ICT in art , learners use ict to find images , so using a google search , also knowing their way around a website to find relevant images or information.Usually images are printed and formatted to their specifications for tasks , so printing knowledge is used also saving work to relevant files are all everyday ict skills we use in day to day life and work How functional skills are implemented and supported in my organisation We are a small education setting with up to 30 YP at any time so I think we have a thorough pathway for YP Learners are assessed when they arrive at Aycliffe before entering education by the online goal assessment which gives a clear score on maths and English ability they are broken down into separate curriculum areas e. spelling , punctuation , number sequencing, adding , subtracting so can clearly give a good assessment for extra support regarding functional skills across the curriculum The senco then highlights areas for concern and distributes Strategy sheets to teaching staff and relevant support staff these give an indication of hints and tips useful in teaching a particular identified need in a student.Provision mapping and planning sheets are used to track continual level of need and progress, In Aycliffe secure centre we also use for identified pupils a computer programme called Successmaker which is has numeracy and literacy programmes aimed at all levels this is an excellent tool to boost the attainment in functiona l skills as learners are supervised on a 1-1 basis by teaching and support staff, and Successmaker shows a clear improvement and highlights areas for extra need.In our establishment the most level of need is in reading and we use SRA reading scheme which has 4 levels and the learners are assessed and placed in appropriate groups , we also have journal reading groups which are for competent readers which concentrate on reading own material and reviewing and understanding text. We also run an individualised Life Skills Programme , through assessment YP work through a life skills programme which offers a cross curricular array of Functional / Life skills from making a bed , budgeting and shopping for a healthy meal, booking a train ticket to accessing further education in their communities.

Anglo-Saxon/ Christian Heroes Essay

Heroes are examples of what is good and noble in a culture. British culture has changed their view of a hero between the 5th century and the 10th century. Anglo-Saxon literature is literature expressed orally during the Anglo-Saxon period of Britain, from the 5th century to the Norman conquest. During the Anglo-Saxon era, warriors were to follow a strict code of heroic behavior emphasizing bravery, loyalty, and vengeance. Because Anglo-Saxon was an oral culture, people could keep talking about your past deeds; being remembered makes you famous. Anglo-Saxon heroic values are revenge and boastfulness. One of the most famous Anglo-Saxon poems is Beowulf, which was written in the century. The character Beowulf is a great example of an Anglo-Saxon hero in British literature. Later in the 10th century, Christianity had spread and now Christian values were being considered heroic behavior in British culture. Christian heroic values are forgiveness, self-sacrifice, and humility; kindness mak es you famous. In the 10th century, Dream of the Rood was written. The character Christ is an example of a Christian hero in British literature. Even though Beowulf and Dream of the Rood were Anglo-Saxon heroic poems, they were preserved, because the Anglo-Saxon beliefs in the poems were compatible with Christian beliefs. In Beowulf poem, the hero is Anglo-Saxon epic hero. Beowulf is a mighty and noble warrior who helps Hrothgar and the Danes. He is also is a boastful hero. A boastful hero talks about oneself with excessive pride, so everyone will know about their heroic deeds. Beowulf’s boastfulness isn’t a Christian value. But later in the poem, Beowulf becomes a wise old man who is humbled. A humble person has no pride, egotism, conceit, or arrogance. Instead a humble person has altruism, humility, and modesty, which is a Christian value. In the poem, Hrothgar, the King of the Danes, whom Beowulf serves, warned Beowulf that â€Å" sickness or age will strip you of your strength, or the fangs of flame, or flood-surges, the sword’s bite, or the spear’s flight, or fearful frailty as bright eyes fade, dimming to darkness. Afterward death will sweep you away†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Pg. 65) Hrothgar is not as strong as Beowulf, but he is wiser, cunning, and generous. Hrothgar foreshadows what will happen to Beowulf and that he will become like Hrothgar. In The Dream of the Rood poem, the hero is a Christian hero. Christ is a generous hero. A generous hero is a person who is willing to give and share unsparingly. This quote shows how in the poem, the generous Christ honors the cross and Mary. â€Å"Lo! The Lord of Heaven, the Prince of Glory, honored me over any other tree just as He, Almighty God, for sake of mankind honored Mary, His own mother, before all other women in the world.† (Pg. 129) Because Mary and the cross had honored Christ, he was willing to share his praise with them. Both Beowulf and The Dream of the Rood poems, Beowulf and Christ are warriors in battle â€Å"Then the young warrior, God Almighty, stripped Himself, firm and unflinching. He climbed upon the cross, brave before so many, to redeem mankind.† (Pg. 128) This quote shows that Christ is a warrior in battle, which is an Anglo-Saxon concept, but in this poem it is meant to show strength. In Beowulf, Beowulf is a warrior his job is to protect people from danger. He was able to protect the Danes and Hrothgar from danger by killing Grendal and Grendal’s mother, but when he was older he still able to protect his kingdom from the dragon, but it costs his life. Both Beowulf and The Dream of the Rood poems, promotes courage and describe the ideal of sacrificing oneself to save others, which is prevalent in Christianity. In Beowulf, the narrator describes how Beowulf courageously battled Grendal, Grendal’s mother, and the dragon. Beowulf fights Grendal while he is young. He courageously fights Grendal without a sword. He rips off Grendal’s arm in Hrothgar’s mead hall, Heorot. Later Beowulf fights Grendal’s mother in her cave beneath the swampy lake. Beowulf brings a sword, Hruting, which he borrowed from his f riend, Unfeth, but he is unsuccessful. Then Beowulf miraculously finds a magical giant sword in the underwater cave and uses it to kill Grendal’s mother. In Beowulf the older, wiser Beowulf fought the dragon in order to protect his people. Beowulf comes fully armed and has an army to help him. Beowulf fights the dragon with his sword Naeling, which is ineffective against the dragon. The dragon morally wounds Beowulf and with Wiglaf’s help the dragon is slain. In The Dream of the Rood, Christ shows courage by climbing upon the cross and knowing his fate. In Christianity, they believe in the willingness to say and do the right thing regardless of the cost, which is defined as courage. According to the Christian Bible, Christ sacrificed himself to save us from our sins. The Dream of the Rood tells the Christian Biblical story to show Christ’s courage. In the story it says, â€Å"many enemies fastened me there. I saw the Lord of Mankind hasten with such courage to climb upon me.† (Pg. 127) This quote shows that Christ is a courageous hero in the poem. A courageous hero has strength in the face of pain or grief. Both Beowulf and The Dream of the Rood poems, describe judgment and consequences for one’s actions. In Beowulf, Wigluf says â€Å" You shall have no joy in the homeland you love. Your farms shall be forfeit, and each man fare alone and landless when foreign lands learn of your flight, your failure of faith. Better to die than dwell in disgrace.† (Pg. 86) Wigluf speaks to the earls and other warriors for not being loyal to Beowulf. Only Wigluf supported Beowulf in his last battle. After Beowulf’s death, Wigluf speaks of feuds and strife after Beowulf’s death, because the Swedes are fighting with the Geats. In The Dream of the Rood, the cross describes the Apocalypse, which is the cataclysmic destruction of the world, followed by resurrection of the dead, and judgment day. Beowulf and Dream of the Rood w ere Anglo-Saxon heroic poems. Both Beowulf and The Dream of the Rood have the Christian ideals of generosity, humbleness, courage, sacrificing oneself to save others, judgment, and having consequences for one’s actions. Similarly, Both Beowulf and The Dream of the Rood have the Anglo-Saxon ideal of a warrior in battle. Beowulf and Dream of the Rood were preserved, because the Anglo-Saxon beliefs congruent with Christian beliefs.