The False Moon by Shirley Golden Essay Example

The False Moon by Shirley Golden Paper Socialization is the procedure where a child slowly develops into an independent person. During the process, sociologists say that the main socialization happens at home. We reflect ourselves in our parents. It is therefore central for children to have stable homes, with good values and love, which is the essence of this short story. The False Moon is written by the American writer, Shirley Golden, in 2011. In this assignment I want to analyse the short story by looking at the narrator, the main character relationship to his mother, the title and the symbols. The short story is told by a first-person narrator, who is called Matt. On page 1, line 14, we get a physical description of the narrator, which helps us visualize how he looks: â€Å"I’m lanky, skinny, Im told, with large eyes and lashes more suited to a girl†. We also get the impression of him being lazy and tired of life. Page 1, line 26: â€Å"It was easy not to care, and I wasnt the sort to start a fight†. Here we can feel how tired the narrator is of his life conditions. Matt is very fervent about painting, and this is the only thing which drives him, which you can see on page 3, line 103: â€Å"Nothing else is important, not checking in at registration, not the fact Im covered in bruises from the gang down the road. This quote shows that nothing else than painting is important in his life. We will write a custom essay sample on The False Moon by Shirley Golden specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on The False Moon by Shirley Golden specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on The False Moon by Shirley Golden specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer On page 2, line 42 the narrator says: â€Å"I didnt trust words, and that excluded me from most subjects; and I struggled with numbers, which barred me from the rest. But lines were reliable. I’d always liked lines. Here again, we get the impression that painting means everything to him, since it typically consists of lines. In contrast, he tells the reader that he does not trust words, which could have something to do with his relationship too his mother, because he thinks that the most things she says to him is bullshit. (Page 1, l. 12). The reason he likes lines so much, is becaus

Citizen Kanes, essays

Citizen Kane's, essays The film Citizen Kane, by Orson Welles, creates its deep inner meaning by displaying its characters in numerous interrogations and situations from the past. Not only are we offered with an excellent use of lighting, cuts, and angles, but also a great use of the technique of time distortion. Since the film was made out of sync, we as the audience have the opportunity to piece the plot, theme, and characters together piece by piece. Once developed, Orson's strong theme can be understood. Interwoven in a lot of the scenes is the word "Rosebud". We are first introduced to it in the opening scene of the film. After the many eerie shots of Kane's mansion in Xanadu, we get a close up of Kane's rubbery lips as he utters his last word, "Rosebud..." Little do we know that this is the driving engine of the film. We our only left wondering what Kane meant in his last statement. It is this wonder and misunderstanding that draws the audience to the film which allows for Welles to develop his theme. He did this purposely because he knew that from that point on he'd have all of his audience's full attention. Discovering Rosebud's true meaning is a hunt all the way through the film. In one of the final shots of the film, it's finally revealed that Rosebud was the name of Kane's snow sled from his childhood. Seeing the sled burn reveals that Kane was one who lacked the happiness and love from his mother and father. Already knowing about Kane's rough past and pain filled life by means of the interviews, the audience is at last able to see the symbolism of Rosebud. As stated before, there are clues all throughout the film that lead up to the meaning behind Rosebud. In the projection room sequence, the word rosebud is mentioned when the editors speak about Kane's death, "What were the last words he said on earth? Thompson, you've made us a good short, but it needs character." It's interesting that Rawlsto ...

EA Sports Games Competitors Overview Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

EA Sports Games Competitors Overview - Essay Example It is the third fastest growing industry in the entertainment and media market field, and the key companies in the industry are Sony, EA Sports, Microsoft and Nintendo. The Electronic Arts Company competes with other companies in this dynamic video and highly competitive games industry. There are very many companies worldwide engaging in the business of distribution, publishing, marketing and the development of video games – the business that EA engages on. The direct competitors of the company are Activision Blizzard incorporated, the Nintendo Company, Konami, Ubisoft, Vivendi, Take-Two and in the online games its competitors include Gameloft and Glu Mobile. Competition in this unique industry takes different forms and strategies and the rivals adopt their own unique strategy of increasing their market share, their revenue and image. Since this an interactive industry the company that adopts the most finesse products ends up with these benefits as they have been mentioned abo ve. In order to cushion themselves from the intense competition companies in this industry have resulted to mergers and acquisition to enhance their economic status in the industry and market. Comparison among these three industry key competitors reveals that revenue comparison, EA sports made$ 3.9 billion while Activision Blizzard Company and Nintendo Company 4.86 billion and 8.06 billion respectively. However, despite these huge profits with the entry of many entrants in the market, these profits will dwindle as they have cheaper., more technologically advanced, and better games as compared to these main players in the games industry. Currently the EA(sports) company is the largest independent publisher by sales volume, the company control a worldwide market share of 19.9% compared to other companies such as Japanese Konami which controls 19.7% . The others are Activision Blizzard which controls 9.7%, Vivendi controls 6.9%, Take-Two controlling 6.3%, Ubisoft controlling 5.8%, the rest control the remaining 31.5%.Video games appeal to two

European business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

European business - Essay Example In addition, reforms are being made in the government policies to allow free trade with various foreign countries that would serve beneficial for the economic growth of the EU countries. Nevertheless, these policies have its negative effects as well if concerned with the sovereignty of the individual member states of the EU. In this paper, the discussion has been focused on critical evaluation of such encouraging and disadvantageous factors related with the free trade network followed within the EU. International trade plays a major role in the economic growth and development of a country. Today, almost every country in the world follows an open economy framework, through which they can import and export goods and services with various foreign countries, to which, UK is also not any exception. International trade in the UK allows the country to gain economic strengths as well as help in their progress to the global competitive environment. Even though international trade helps in the development of the UK economy, although, it has resulted in the loss of local jobs due to higher dependency on various foreign markets. However, the introduction of international trade in the country has helped the organizations and industries of the UK to operate effectively and gain competitive advantages (Crown, 2011). This is fundamentally owing to the efficient manpower, technology and machineries those can be imported from other foreign countries as per the requirements. Moreover, the open ma rket has also augmented facilities to outsource commodities to other countries those have helped it to attain cost effectiveness as well as efficiency in the manufacturing process of industries. The UK is one of the top players in producing palm oil, which has become a profitable business in the country. As per the given case scenario, it can be also be asserted that there is a high demand for palm oil in

Violent Pride Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Violent Pride - Term Paper Example On the contrary, as Baumeister will conclude, egotism and feeling of superiority are the major reasons of violence towards others. The researcher writes that counselors, teachers and social worker of the US have always had a wrong and groundless view on the reasons of violence. As a result, what they, together with the parents of aggressive or violent yang people, were doing is trying to improve the kids’ opinion of themselves and their self-esteem. For this reason, as Baumeister observes, many competitions give awards to all the participants, parents and teachers are afraid to criticize children and social institutions encourage youth to perform various kinds of feel-good exercises. Roy F. Baumeister considers such behavior inappropriate since, as he claims, no one has ever proved that low self-esteem is the cause of aggressiveness. The very first statement that helps the author in his research is that self-esteem is relatively stable. Though small fluctuations may take place every day, they are not significant enough to influence the overall picture. However, the correlation between self-esteem level and manifestations of violence exist. While reviewing literature, the author finds out that people with high but unstable self-esteem are the most aggressive. This and other findings lead Baumeister to the conclusion the low self-esteem theory is faulty. The scientists gather a group of people and gather data on the participants’ self-concepts and level of narcissism. The results showed that though people with high-self esteem are not necessarily narcissistic, those with a high level of narcissism have, in most cases, high self-esteem. They also measured the people’s aggression and, finally, evaluated threatened-egotism responses. Finally, the major conclusion of the studies stated that narcissists who receive insulting criticism are the most aggressive individuals. The scientists also point out that high opinions of themselves shown by aggre ssive people do not hide low self-esteem behind them. They also outline that a narcissist is not aggressive by nature. One becomes such only if gets an external stimuli – an insult. So the theory of threatened egotism takes into account both internal peculiarities and external situations. In general the article is rather well written. The author uses clear and simple language, explains the major concepts that might be not easy to understand for a person not related to the field of psychology. The report is well structured, has an introduction, the main body and a conclusion. The subheadings that divide the content into smaller parts cannot, however, be said to explain the content of the parts following them. ‘Take a Swig, Take a Swing’ subheading, for instance, does not tell much about what the subpart of the report will be about. The same can be said about the ‘What about Deep Down’ and other subheadings used by the writer. In the general, the ideas of the author are presented in a rather clear and concise manner. Baumeister explains why he decided to conduct such a study, what the implications were, and how the study itself was conducted. At the same time, it can be noticed that the results of the literature review of the author show that there are not works that discover the relation between low self-esteem and aggressiveness.

six main principles in the property insurance

six main principles in the property insurance In property insurance, there are six main principles that govern a contract of insurance. If one of those requirements is not met by the insured or the insurer, the contract could be avoided. The main six principles that apply to property insurance include; Insurable interest, utmost good faith, indemnity, contribution, subrogation and proximate cause. In an Insurance contract, a person is not insuring the property as such, but the interest in that property. If a person is said to have an insurable interest on a property, he should enjoy benefits from its existence and would suffer a financial loss from its destruction .The case, Lucena v. Crauford expresses this point well; A man is interested in a thing to whom advantage may arise or prejudice happen from the circumstances which may attend ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ To be interested in the preservation of a thing is to be so circumstanced with respect to it as to have benefit from its existence, prejudice from its destruction. When an owner of a factory wants to insure his premises, he must demonstrate to the insurer that he has an insurable interest in the factory. He should benefit from the existence of the factory and would suffer a financial loss if it is damaged. The law requires that a person has a real interest in a property. A mere hope or expectation of acquiring an interest in the future does not create an insurable interest. The interest must also be a legal interest. The Macaura case held that An insured had an interest in his shares not in the property of the company for which he held shares in. Insurable Interest may arise by common law, by contract and by statue. The most common example of insurable interest is the interest which a person has in property which they own. Ownership is an interest which is recognised and protected by law. However, holding title of property is not necessary. Thus, a bailee has an insurable interest in its customers goods. A tenant has an insurable interest in the leased premises which he occupies. Other types of persons who have an interest to insure are; Mortgagees, mortgagors, lessees, shared or joint owners, trustees, legal guardians and people living together. Possession gives you also the legal interest to insure. According to the Marine Insurance Act 1906, Insurable Interest must exist at the time of the loss but not necessarily at inception. In fire and accidental policies, the Acts require that there must be insurable interest also at inception. A policy without interest is generally void and premiums could be recovered. The rationale behind the principle of insurable interest is to ensure that contracts of insurance are not taken as gambling transactions.   Insurance contracts are defined as contracts of utmost good faith or contracts of uberrimae fidei. The insurer relies on the truthfulness and integrity of the proposer whilst the insured relies on the companys promise to provide adequate cover and to pay claims. In commercial contracts, the doctrine of Caveat Emptor (let the buyer be aware) applies. The proposer knows more about the risks which are linked with a property, whilst the insurer knows nothing. The proposer needs to positively disclose all information, even if not asked. This principle applies also to the insurer. This doctrine emerged from the case Carter v. Boehm; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦the special facts, upon which the contingent chance is to be computed, lie more commonly in the knowledge of the insured only: the underwriter trusts to his representation, and proceeds upon confidence that he does not keep back any circumstance in his knowledge, to mislead the underwriter into a belief that the circumstance does not exist, and to induce him to estimate the risquà © as if it did not exist. The duty of the proposer is to disclose all facts or circumstances that are material to the risk. A material fact, as stated in the Marine Insurance Act 1906 is; every circumstance is material which would influence the judgment of a prudent insurer in fixing the premium or determining whether he will accept the risk or not. Material facts hold the basics of a decision. Insurance companies use proposals forms to help the insured in giving the right information. A surveyor may also be sent to a property to inspect clearly the risk. Insurance slips are used in the case of brokers to gather material facts. If for example, a factory is located near a fireworks factory, the fact needs to be disclosed by the owner when filling the proposal form. The fireworks factory is an external factor that makes the risk higher. If the fact is not disclosed and damage is caused to the factory, the insurer has a right to avoid paying the claim and will also be entitled to avoid the contract. The fact must be material at the date at which it should be communicated to the insurer. A fact which was not material when the contract was made but becomes material later on; need not be disclosed. However, the insured has an obligation to disclose the material facts which he has control of. Facts which by their nature improve the risk need not be disclosed. At common law, the duty of disclosure continues until the contract is formed. At renewal the duty of disclosure is revived. A  warranty  is a promise by the insured to do certain things or to satisfy certain requirements. If the insured breaches the warranty, the insurer can void the contract and refuse to pay for a claim. A breach of good faith may take the form of misrepresentations and non-disclosure. Whether there is fraud or not, insurers have the right to avoid the contract ab-initio. If fraud is discovered, the insurer can sue for damages and keep the premium. Insurers can also waive their rights and allow the contract to stand. If the insurers are in breach of their duty, the insured will be entitled to avoid the contract. Indemnity requires that the insured is placed in the same financial position as he occupied immediately before the loss. In effect, this principle aims to prevent the insured from making a profit out of his loss. This principle is applied where the loss suffered is measurable in terms of money. It does not apply where it is not possible to measure the financial loss caused by the death of the insured or bodily injury sustained by him. Indemnity is important as it deals in part with moral hazard. In the case Castellian v. Preston, Mr. Justice remarked: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦the contract of insurance à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ is a contract of indemnity only, and this contract means that the assured, in case of a loss against which the policy has been made, shall be fully indemnified, but shall never be more than fully indemnifiedà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Sometimes, property loses value for reasons other than depreciation. In many of these cases, market value is used to calculate cash value. If an insurer pays a replacement cost deducting depreciation, that is higher than the market value, then some property owners would be tempted to destroy their property to get the higher value over what they would get selling it in the market. Indemnity is a contractual principle and not a statutory one. The policy can be varied to provide either more or less than a strict indemnity. The Sum insured is usually the maximum recovery possible. If the sum insured is less than the value of the property, the principle of average is applied. The person who underinsures is considered his own insurer for the difference. Excesses, franchises and policy limits are other factors that limit the insureds entitlement to full indemnity. When cover is on a new for old or reinstatement basis, insurers pay for the full cost of rebuilding as new with no deduction for wear and tear. Agreed value policies enable also the insured to recover more than a strict indemnity. The methods of providing indemnity are; repair, replacement, reinstatement and cash. Indemnity is applied at the date and place of loss. Under property insurance, the policyholder can recover only the amount of the value of the property. As regards to buildings, the basis of indemnity is the repair or rebuilding cost at the time of loss, with a deduction for betterment. With a reinstatement clause, no reductions are applied for depreciation. Insurers are entitled to receive any salvage left. The goods become the property of the insurers if they make a full indemnity payment. The principle of indemnity is closely related to both the requirements of an insurable interest; an insured can only be indemnified to the extent of his insurable interest and insurance is not gambling; the insured doesnt win or lose. Contribution is about the sharing of losses between insurers when double insurance exist. Contribution is another principle that aids indemnity. Since indemnity forbids the insured from recovering more than the loss, then he cannot recover the full value of the loss from each of the two policies. The law does not forbid people from engaging in double insurance; it only forbids making a profit from a loss. Contribution is likely to arise when there is more than one policy. It does not matter that the policies do not cover precisely the same perils or property. They do not have to be identical but there must be an overlap. For example; one policy covering building A only and one covering buildings A and B. It the case American Surety Co of New York v. Wrightson (1910); it was held that for contribution to apply, the two policies involved must cover the same interest, same subject manner; same peril and same period. An overlap is quite common when there is home insurance overlapping with travel insurance, since certain items of property are insured under household insurance as well as insured whilst the policyholder travels abroad under the travel policy. There is a case law relative to the question of a common insurable interest. The case is North British Mercantile v. Liverpool London Globe (1877) The King and Queen Granaries case. As there were different interests, one as owner and one as a bailee, it was held that North British had to pay the loss in full and there was no right of contribution. Under the common law, a person who has more than one policy can look to any of the insurers involved for compensation. The insurer, who would have paid in full, can then claim contribution from the other insurer involved. However, the majority of policies include some form of contribution condition. With this condition, insurers will be liable for their rateable share only. When the two policies contain the contribution condition, the insured must proceed with the claim against the two insurers. Some policies may even contain a non-contribution clause. This prevents an insurer from being liable if the insured is covered under another policy. If there are two policies with this condition, the clauses in effect cancel out each other and contribution arises in the usual away, as in accordance with the case Gale v. Motor Union (1928). Subrogation is the right of a person who has provided indemnity to another, to stand in the shoes of that person to recover from some third party. The main aim of this principle is to ensure that the insured obtains an indemnity but no more than an indemnity. According to the case Castellain v. Preston, Subrogation is; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦a doctrine in favour of the underwriters or insurers in order to prevent the assured from recovering more than a full indemnity. It is a corollary of indemnity and therefore does not apply to non-indemnity contracts. If a third party causes damage to the insureds factory, the insurer will settle with the insured. However, by virtue of the subrogation right and the subrogation condition, the insurer can sue the third party who has caused damage, in the name of the owner of the factory and subsequently make a recovery under the claim. Ex-gratia payments are payments outside the policy obligations and therefore are not recoverable. Subrogation operates by means of tort where a third party causes the insured loss or damage. It arises out of the negligence of a third party. Subrogation could arise under a contract as in the case, a tenant causing damage to the landlord; the tenant is made liable to pay under the contract. Subrogation rights may also arise under statute as in the case of riot. For example, insurers have a right to sue the police who are responsible for civil order to make a recovery, if as a result of riot the property of the insured is damaged. Insurers are also entitled to any materials left by the loss where they have agreed to pay the loss in full. This is expressed in Rankin v. potter (1873). Following indemnity, the insured ceases to be the owner. The case Scottish Union National Insurance v. Davis (1970) shows that the insured must have been indemnified for an insurer to exercise subrogation rights. For this reason insurers always insert a condition which enables them to commence their rocevery against the other party before they have settled the insureds claim. Subrogation rights are modified under market agreements between insurers to try to reduce administration expenses in recovering money from each other. Subrogation rights can also be modified or cancelled through a contractual agreement. Proximate cause is a claims related principle. The practical effect of this principle is to define the scope of the insurance contract and to protect the relative rights of the insured and the insurer. It allows for application of common sense to the interpretation of insurance contracts. Proximate cause relates to the main cause of a property loss. It is not necessarily the first or last cause but the dominant cause. It must be the operative cause which is directly linked with the result. The cause must not be remote. Proximate cause was defined in a classic case of Pawsey v. Scottish Union and National (1907); the active efficient cause that sets in motion a train of events which brings about a result without the intervention of any force started and working actively from a new and independent source. Property may be damaged but not directly by an insured peril. By the proximate cause rule, the loss will be covered. For example; smoke damage from fire, water damage from fire fighting, and damage caused by fire fighters. Normally, the cause and effect of a loss is quite easy to recognize. For example, a fire occurs and property is damaged. But in real situations, the loss may be the result of two or more causes and it become more difficult to decide the proximate cause. Losses can occur due to different situations, such as; single cause, chain of events, or concurrent causes. For example, if there is a storm that causes a wall to collapse, then a short circuit results in a fire and to extinguish the fire, water damage is caused by firemen. In this case, it is easy to determine that the storm was the proximate cause, since it started off a train of events causing water damage In many law cases, it had been decided that the last cause in time was the proximate cause where there was a chain of events. However, the case Leyland Shipping Co. Ltd v. Norwich Union Fire Insurance Society Ltd (1918) changed this theory. When there is a chain of events, insurers are liable where the loss flows in an unbroken chain directly from an insured peril. If the chain is broken, with no excluded perils, an insurer is liable only for that loss caused by an insured peril. When there is an excluded peril, the subsequent loss caused by an insured peril will be a new and indirect cause, interrupting the chain. Damage following novus actus interviens is not covered. Concurrent causes may be independent or interdependent. If one of the losses is not insured, then only the loss arising from the insured peril is covered, unless the causes cannot be separated and in which case all of the loss is covered. If one of the concurrent causes is excluded, then no cover operates, unless the other cause is insured and can be separated. Insurers sometimes exclude losses caused directly or indirectly by the peril in question. The effect will be to widen the exclusion and reduce the scope of cover. For example; If a policy excludes losses directly or indrectly caused by erathquake; it means that the policy will not cover neither the earthquake shock nor the fire damaage which might result.

Never Back Down Review Essay -- Movies Film

Never Back Down Review A) Event Synopsis and Theme 1. The film opens in the middle of a high-school football game, with Jake Tyler helping his team to win. Frustrated, one of the players from the opposing team taunts him about the death of his father from drunk driving. Known for his hot temper, Jake immediately begins a brawl with the opposing player. The brawl is captured on the crowd's mobile phones and personal video cameras, and soon is downloaded to the internet. This is in fact the last game Jake will play at this high school as he and his family is moving to Orlando, Florida. His younger brother, Charlie (Wyatt Smith), has received a tennis scholarship at a school there. His mother (Leslie Hope) is upset that Jake often seems to be fighting and getting into trouble, but despite this, Jake and Charlie are close. At his new school, Jake has a hard time fitting in. He catches the eye of a pretty classmate named Baja Miller (Amber Heard) who seems to flirt with him. Later, he spots a fight going on campus where he sees a young man getting beaten. Although this is actually a street kickboxing match, Jake mistakes this as bullying, and attempts to defend the man. He is surprised when everyone, including the young man, tells Jake to leave. In school the next day, the young man introduces himself to Jake as Max Cooperman (Evan Peters). He tells Jake that there are videos on the internet of Jake's football brawl, gaining him a positive reputation on campus. He offers Jake a chance to learn mixed martial arts with his teacher, but Jake declines. Baja comes by and invites him to a party. At the party, held at a mansion, he meets the host, Ryan McCarthy (Cam Gigandet), who has seen the internet footage, challenges Jake to a fi... ...we were enjoying it. We sat in the best seat and no annoying sound. F) Most Memorable Moment 1. The last fight impressed me most. A lot of scene flashed in Jake’s head and he use all his techniques to knock down Ryan. 2. The music delivered a victory-like feeling, the flashing scene of his life and the slow motion were responsible for this affecting moment. 3. I and my friend nearly yelled out when Jake finally wins. G) Audience / Personal Response 1. My friend, who likes talking while we are watching movie, seldom makes noise in this film. 2. I would recommend this film to young male. There’s really a lot of muddled commentary to be found here. Explorations of class structure and bored teenage anomie are attempted in Never Back Down, but who wants their social critique served with a garnish of male anguish? You do? Okay, well you’ll like the film then.

Learning Definition

Definition Learning Abstract: What is Learning? Does a new term need to be coined for learning? One hundred and four students undergraduate and graduate were asked to respond to the question. Their responses were coded using the five levels researcher designed rubric which was modeled after Bloom‘s Taxonomy for depth of knowledge. Of the responses coded fifty-one were from Pre-Service teachers and fiftythree were from graduate students enrolled in the Principals Masters Program. The effects of understanding learning include the preparation of lesson plans, classroom instruction, the guiding of student learning, and the professional development of teacher leaders. Introduction: Learning is a term that is being used with great frequency in Education. Learning is a critical event today, because if a child has learned, then doors are opened to the world. If the student has not learned then their opportunities for success have been narrowed. Teachers are heard to say, ? my students learned their multiplication tables today.? It is concrete and measurable, either they can recite them from memory or they can not. Can they recite them today and a week from today? Other teachers are heard to say, ? my students learned to write an essay.? They learned the parts of an essay. They learned the parts of an essay, but can they write an essay? The question of ? What is Learning? has become critical in the lives of children, adolescents, and adults. In some states children cannot move from one grade to another without passing a criterion referenced test which is given on one day of the year. If on that day the child can answer an appropriate number of the given questions they can pass on to the next grade. Should the student fail the test, then he is given the test repeatedly-until he/she ? passes? and then he is permitted to move on to the next grade. If the student does not pass, then the student is retained, to try to learn again (Texas 726 Education Agency, 2010). When the student reaches High School they may face end of course exams that determine whether or not they are able to graduate or the level of the diploma that can students receive. Scores on one test determine whether or not a student is required to take remedial classes before entering the regular college program, even if the student ? assed? the course in high school. If the student received a passing grade and then can not perform on the designated test, did they really learn? No, by our measures they did not learn. When then, has learning occurred? It is often said, ? when I can teach someone else, when I can apply the information, when I can make ? learning? connections of content across conceptual areas.? All the r esponses and many more may be correct. The question still remains, when has learning occurred and to what degree has that learning been embedded for connections to new learnings? What is Learning It is no longer acceptable to say, ? I know that the students are learning as they all are smiling and giving positive body language of acceptance during the lesson?. This was at one time considered a ? check for understanding‘ however, understanding is also a vague term which is not measurable unless ongoing formative assessments are given by the teacher (Popham, 2008). Schlecty (2002) identifies the behavior of smiling and nodding on the part of the teacher pleasing student as either 1) Ritual engagement, or 2) Passive compliance. According to Schlecty (2002) ritual engagement occurs when the student is undertaking the task or assignment because of the end result which is often identified as a passing grade. Passive compliance serves to identify the necessary effort that student will expend in order to avoid negative consequences, which can include a bad grade or not passing the ? test.? Again, the question emerges did learning occur? Can you ? pass? a test and not have learned the information; is the ? learning‘ only in short term memory to be dumped when the 727 goal ? passing the test‘ is achieved. This could lead to another discussion to be addressed at a different time. It is critical for today‘s educators to be able to document a student‘s progress or lack of. Ron Edmonds put forth the belief and is quoted in 1979 as saying ? It seems to me, therefore, that what is left of this discussion are three declarative statements: (a) We can, whenever and wherever we choose, successfully teach all children whose schooling is of interest to us; (b) We already know more than we need to do that; and (c) Whether or not we do it must finally depend on how we feel bout the fact that we haven‘t so far.? (p. 22) Ron Edmonds believed that all students can learn. He based his life‘s work on learning trying to determine why in some schools all children were learning and in other schools, the same level of learning was not happening. There have always been pockets of schools ? where learning occurred? and other similar schools where students were not learning as identifie d by state criteria. Yet, defining learning is still an area that is often unclear for teachers, parents, and the larger community they serve. When education faculty members are asked to define learning, they are seen to smile and write an answer that is a collection of vague terms or words. By vague, the researchers are defining it as being unmeasurable or something that can not be documented without a judgmental reply on the part of the person attempting to define learning; it is abstract. So what is learning? Learning is defined in about as many ways as the number of people you ask. The dictionary thesaurus states that learning is knowledge, education, erudition, scholarship, understanding, research, study, teaching, instruction, edification and wisdom. The definition in the dictionary defines learning as acquiring of knowledge, acquired knowledge and change of knowledge. The term ? learning? seems to float around teacher meetings, in-service and professional development training, the teachers lounge, parent-teacher conferences, university faculty meetings and even in 728 the classroom with the students. The term learning seems to be used in many cases to indicate a mastery of a concept, yet if a ? number of‘ or ? mount of‘ learning (a quantitative amount) had to be documented for any student, that amount would be a human guess, which maybe altered by the State to reach identified targets for learning for that year, that testing cycle. Learning in this context is not or has not been measured, when the targets for learning continue to move up and down based upon the scores of the students on the test. We are all familiar with movement of the learning—in the University classroom it is called a curve. The moving targ et that maybe unidentified leads to a vagueness or lack of clarity if we want to know ? ow much? or ? what? did the student learn? Learning by necessity in conversations about curriculum is generally connected to assessment in order to determine if learning has occurred. This ? learning? becomes critical for the classroom teacher. W. James Popham says, ? †¦That formative assessment process must be based, not on a whim, but on evidence of the students current level of mastery with respect to certain skills and bodies of knowledge? p. 7. This being the case, then the role of determining learning becomes the responsibility of the classroom teacher. When observing in classrooms, today, many of us have witnessed students being given a passing grade because they were compliant teacher pleasers, or a terrific problem that the teacher did not want to deal with again, they passed on to the next level of learning without understanding the ? learning?. Assessment did not occur and if it did, it was ignored. These children who have not learned and who have been passed from grade to grade experience the frustration and failure that accompanies, never learning. During a recent observation an eighth grade science class, the teacher stated to the observer that this ? as a difficult group of students.? The day before the classroom observation a fight had occurred with three boys in the class and another teacher had to come into the science teacher‘s class to intervene 729 and stop the fight. The planned lab for the observation day was excellent, even though students were threatened, ? if you don‘t behave you will not get to go ou tside for the lab. It is a really good lab and it will be fun. You are going to miss the lab if you don‘t finish the lab sheet. You are going to keep everyone from getting to do the lab; it is fun. You are going to get beads.? Finally, with help and coaxing all of the students finished the pre-lab form. Then students were given string and colored beads to put around their wrists, to go outside and see what happened to the beads in the sun. It was exciting for the Junior High students to watch as the beads as they changed colors. Then it was time to complete the lab sheets. The teacher relished the curiosity of the students as they asked questions about the process of the color transformation and she skillfully guided their responses. Now the students had to write up the lab report. One African American student walked around with his head down looking for beads. Other students, also African American and Hispanic, never attempted to complete the form. The observer offered to help, finally going over to one black child sitting on the ground with his head between his legs. The observer asked, ? can I help you finish the form the student had not started to write. The black child responded that, ? He did not want to.? It became ever so painfully obvious that a number of the students in this predominately low-income classroom could not write and were reading at an elementary level. Had science learning occurred for the students who were actively involved in the lab with the changing colors of beads when exposed to sunlight? Learning was not evidence for the classroom teacher, since the lab forms were not completed. Yet, for the school by state standards, reading is rated at an acceptable level of performance for the majority of the students tested. Given the significance of high stakes testing that effects children and teacher‘s lives, it is no longer acceptable to say learning has occurred, when one child has been left behind. Learning must be measurable and real. It must last. Today educators need to be able to document a student‘s 730 progress or lack there of and the interventions for learning are essential. Yet, is high stakes testing the answer for the dilemma of ? learning.? It is very difficult to pass a high stakes test, and to learn if a child can not read, yet they must also be able to demonstrated learning in science, math, and social studies. High stakes tests provide a framework for accountability. High stakes tests may serve to distribute teaching fairly and equitably for all students. Funding for schools is connected to learning or the lack thereof, but much more is learned in schools than can be measured on one test, on any given day of the week. The measurement for learning and of learning is critical to the life of the child. For the purposes of this work an attempt was made to determine a definition for learning based upon the understanding of Teacher-candidates (pre-service students) and graduate students in the School of Education and Human Development in a regional institution that serves a predominately low income, rural, minority population. Additionally, this institution serves a large metropolitan area, which has a population that is diverse financially, ethnically, and culturally. Research Study This research study began as university faculty reviewed lesson plan assignments of teacher candidates. It was found that an acceptable assessment/evaluation of the skill being addressed was missing in approximately 90% of the plans submitted. This seemed to be very odd that the students would just omitted one of the components of the lesson plans which they were developing even though it was listed in the assignment directions. In the directions, it was stated that all lesson plans must contain a title, objective/s, supplies, procedure and assessment/evaluation which matches the objective/s. It was noted that most of the lessons which were missing components cited an online source for his/her lesson. In her work, Patton (2009) found that many of the lesson plans on the Internet were not quality. Using the very basic components, she found that less than 10% were 731 complete. There was not any judgment used as to the quality of the component as at this point it was a simple response of yes if the was there and no if it was not. The study evaluated approximately 200 lesson plans which were retrieved from the Internet. These lesson plans were just picked randomly after a Google search was done to locate the various sites. Only one lesson plan was printed from each site to be included in the study. Further while in consultation with a graduate faculty member who also teaches ? learning? for teachers becoming principals, it was determined that several class sessions were being spent on ? learning.? What is learning and when has learning occurred? Again, the responses were vague, non-specific and general, without the extended focus and discussion on learning, there was no real determination of ? learning? by prospective principal students. Purpose The purpose of this study was to determine what undergraduate and graduate students in the School of Education and Human Development consider to be ? learning.? That is: The researchers for this project were attempting to determine how others describe and interpret learning. Methodology The subjects of the study were 104 teacher candidates and graduate students preparing for the principalship. There were 51 teacher candidates and 54 graduate students. These students were surveyed to determine how or what they perceive as learning. The teacher candidates are in the last semester of coursework before doing student teaching. These Teacher candidates have been busy preparing lesson plans and were asked as a part of a multiple phased assignment to give their personal meaning of learning. In an additional, second assignment, they were asked to write a paper on learning and to state how they could document a student‘s progress. Definition Learning 732 will be addressed in this paper with the primary question being ? Does a new mental model need to be developed for the Teacher candidates The future principals were given the same assignments; we must remember that these graduate students are in the classrooms, thus preparing lesson plans on a daily basis. The process was equally important to these future Teacher Leaders, as they help others at the campus find their meaning of learning. The ethnicity of the students in this study is very diverse. Approximately 50% of the student body is majority and the other 50% are minorities including about 4% international students. Instruments: Survey A: quick 3-4 minute response to the question ? hat is learning Rubric: researcher designed. See figure 1 below. Levels of Learning Level 5 Level 4 Level 3 Level 2 Level 1 Gained information, able to apply and then have that information which was gained measured in some way Gained information, complex definition and the person is able to apply what was gained. A detailed definition however is just banking the info rmation and is not able to apply the gained knowledge Is able to give an answer however, is not able to do more than bank the information. Lowest of levels. Only repeat the word, learning; does not give an answer or defines learning with learning. This one is almost lower than the knowledge level on Bloom’s taxonomy. Figure 1 Researcher –designed Rubric of the levels of learning Several weeks prior to the survey being distributed, the researchers developed a hierarchical, five-tier ranking system to evaluate the surveys. Bloom‘s taxonomy served as a model 733 of hierarchical ranking to evaluate the surveys. Charles Randall‘s work with problem solving was also an influence. Responses to the surveys were scored using the rubric to measure levels of thinking. The grading rubric was a 1-5 Lickert scale. Level 1) The lowest of levels. The student only repeated the word, learning; does not give an answer or defined learning with the word learning. Level 2) The student is able to give an answer however, it not able to do more than bank the information. Level 3) The student is able to give a detailed definition, however, but is not able to apply the gained knowledge. Level 4) The student gained information, provided a complex definition and is able to apply what was gained. and Level 5) The students gained the information was able to apply and then have that information which was gained measured or evaluated in some way. The participants in the survey were asked to write their definition of learning. They were given about 3 minutes to do so. They were told well in advance that the task was not a graded exercise as to the quality. It was either a full credit if you participated or no-credit if you did not. It was hoped that this would relieve some anxiety and allow the participants to elaborate on the task. Graduate students breathed deeply and hesitated to respond to the quarry. The responses which only had a few words and repeated the word ? learn‘ or used the word ? earn‘ to complete the definition were rated a one (1). A rating of a two (2) was reserved for definitions which were of very low level and seemed to believe that the human mind was a bank for the information and was not be used. It was to be stored or banked. This banking was more like a safe deposit box where the info was safe but did not gain any interest or in this case no new information could be added. The ranking of a three (3) was given for a more detailed definition and possibly even added a little information but it was still kept in the safety of the bank. For a four (4) the response illustrated that the person gained the information and was able to apply and 734 use it in a constructive manner. The highest tier on the hierarchical chart was a five (5). In this highest ranking the students illustrated gained information, which he/she was able to apply and then have that application measured or evaluated in some manner. After the surveys were completed the responses were first coded into two categories. The first being very simply responses and in the other the responses were more complex. Next the responses were evaluated using a researcher-designed rubric which was modeled from the very low knowledge level response to the highest level which utilized a judgment and evaluation in the explanation. The two researchers rated the surveys individually and then met and re-evaluated each. The ratings of the two researchers were very close. When there was an evaluation not in agreement, the two discussed and came to a consensus. Using the criteria there was 90% agreement thus, establishing inter-rater reliability. Results/Findings: For the purpose of the findings to the question ? What is learning , only one student, a teacher candidate, 1 of 51 responded at the lowest level. None of the graduate student responses were evaluated as a level one response, meaning they only repeated the word learning and did not give an evaluation or an answer to define learning. Fourteen of 51, (27%) teacher candidates responses, were at level two, as did 11 of 53, (21%) of graduate students. By a level two response, they were considered to have given an answer to what is learning, but they did not apply or evaluate learning as apart of the response. Twenty-three of 51 teacher candidates (45%) of the responses were a level Three. A detailed definition was provided, but there was no application indicated in the response. While 20 of 53 graduate students (38%) responses were rated as a level three. 735 Thirteen of 51, (26%) teacher candidates‘ responses were a level four. They gained the information and provided a complex definition which included application. Seventeen of 53, (32%) teacher candidates‘ responses were rated as level four. While 5 of 53 graduate students (9%) had a level 5 response. There were no level 5 responses from the teacher candidates. Level 5 is the highest of levels and most difficult to achieve. To be rated a level 5 response the answer to ? What is learning , encompassed the lower levels of knowledge, application, and added the element of evaluation, the responder could document the ? learning? results. See Table 1 below for these findings. Teacher Graduate Candidates Students Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5 0 13 23 14 1 5 17 20 11 0 Table 1 Number of responses at each level Figure 2 represents a graph comparing the teacher candidates and graduate students at each level of the rubric. See the Figure below. 736 25 20 15 Teacher Candidates Graduate Students 10 5 0 Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5 Figure 2 A comparison of teacher candidates and graduate students at each level Implications Do we as educators need to change the language of the education community? The answer is a definite yes if we are going to document a number which can and does open and close doors for students? Students are allowed in programs where they really do not have the background knowledge or even need in those particular programs. By the same token, students are refused entrance into programs as they did not empress certain adults who are making the call, yet if given a measurable instrument, these students prove to be very proficient in the topic. Further, as Educators we need to define, ? what is learning so that teachers and principals can focus upon the importance of the learning in the classroom. A new term needs to be coined that can describe to the world of education and to the larger community, what is implied when it is said that, one has learned. Did they master the concept, will they remember the learning six months or five years from now? Or, did the student only learn to pass a test and then forget the information to go on to a new ? learning. ‘ The new term needs to be 737 one that is measurable, can be documented, described and explained, have a common meaning so that everyone, including all ethnic groups, will have a fair chance when it is used. If learning is a process rather than a test as suggested by Popham, then clarity is required when the use of the term is applied. Curricular aims need to be determined. Sub-skills leading to learning should be identified and our own beliefs about learning must be clear. (Popham, 2008, Lambert, 2002, Schlecty, 2002). Teacher‘s cognitive development when explored by Ammon (1984) in a study of a two-year teacher education program with an emphasis on teaching teachers about child development (Piagetian theory) found that teachers as they studied Piagetian and related developmental theory, their personal conceptions of students, learning, and teaching changed. The participating teachers progressed from simplistic to more complex, interactive explanations of student‘s behaviors, development, and learning. These teachers moved from ? showing and telling,? to designing a learning environment that fostered the construction of knowledge for learning. The teachers‘ views on learning shifted from passive receptions to active construction of learning. A young teacher is described by C. Yarema as she moves conceptually into understanding a mathematical concept that she herself had never grasp, until reflecting with her learning community (Yarema, Smith, and Hutto under-review). The teacher learning example is a problem for the 5th -6th grade research lesson in mathematics which was stated as follows: ? A new season of sports has started and programs are being designed for printing. Certain companies purchased spaces on your 8? nch by 11 inch rectangular advertisement page to be seen in the next program. Given the ad pieces, your group must design an advertisement page for the program. You will notice that ads are in three categories: entertainment, apparel and food. What fraction of the page is covered by entertainment ads A teacher volunteered with the rest of her group observing and gathering data on student learning. The pri ncipal, an education faculty member, evaluator of the project, university mathematics faculty, and teachers in the 7th-8th grade group were invited to join the 5th– 6th grade group in this phase of their lesson study. 38 Students were introduced to advertising by perusing sports programs, then the teacher posed the problem and gave each group of students materials for designing an ad page using 8 separate ads with different areas. Out of the 8 ad pieces, three fell into the category of entertainment. After some difficulty with designing an ad page, all groups stated the answer to the problem as 3/8. Although this answer was anticipated by the teacher‘s lesson study group, she became disturbed that all students ? got the wrong answer.? Instead of following the suggested interventions recorded in the group‘s Plan to Guide Learning, apart of the Lesson Study Process, the teacher chose to focus students‘ attention on her. From the front of the room, she then directed students through a paper folding exercise, folding the advertisement page into halves, fourths, and eighths. At that point, she asked students to place the 3 entertainment ads on the page. Following this set of instructions, students saw that 3/8 of the page was not covered, and some changed their answer accordingly to (3? )/8. Although this answer is technically correct, the teacher did not see this as a possible answer and instructed students to fold the paper again into sixteenths, thus leading all students through the same solution process to the answer 7/16. During the post lesson discussion with the observers, the teacher learning was identified; the teacher spoke first. She elaborated on the decision made as an individual teacher. Then the group moderator called on various people to ask the Teacher questions. A teacher colleague asked her how she thought her students would have responded if she had focused them on the whole to the fraction in the problem. The Teacher referred back to a mathematics lesson in a summer professional development that she had attended, and she state, ? that she never thought in terms of the whole to the faction.? Then the Teacher‘s principal complimented her on introducing the paper folding exercise and asked her the reason she chose to continue folding the paper to sixteenths. The Teacher admitted that she did not know what to do when all the students answered 3/8 and that her 739 pedagogical choice of folding the paper into sixteenths took away the opportunity for students to engage in problem solving as it led them all to the same answer of 7/16. She also stated that she did not know if they understood this answer. Next, the outreach mathematician asked her why she redirected students away from the answer [(3? ) / 8] of the page being covered by entertainment ads. The teacher was unable to respond as other teachers from her school commented about the need to hear students‘ explanations so the group could learn more about what students were thinking. During this discussion, another teacher commented that she finally understood why [(3? ) /8] of the page is a correct answer. The teacher then reiterated what she had learned from the debriefing? The question evolves again, when has learning occur? Is it incremental, in stages as concepts develop both for students and teachers? Students are held to a different level of accountability for learning. Yet, with the learning, can they move to application and evaluation of the learning? Benjamin Bloom understands the responsibility of the teacher in the classroom for student learning. He states that students, maybe different in the rate that they learn, but not their potential for learning. (Bloom, 1981). Other factors can be identified that effect and influence learning. One of the primary factors effecting student learning is the effectiveness of the teacher, (Podesta, 2000). Studies have shown that students with teachers who are highly effective out perform other students on standardized tests. The expert teacher work can be very different from that of the novice teacher. The implications for the learning of the student are significant. Learning is required. While there are graduations in teacher content knowledge and pedagogy, there still should remain a sense in all teachers in every classroom, what is learning for that day, for that subject, if students are expected to learn. John D. Bransford and Nancy J. Vye (1989) cite the variations in knowledge from ? know that,‘ something is true to ? knowing how‘ to think, learn, and solve problems.? p. 193. The stakeholders of today‘s 740 educational society demand to see documented evidence that the students are learning and mastering the required content. Each school, public and private, answers to a higher entity who in turn reports to the State and ultimately the Federal government the level of learning of the students. Reports i. e. , STEM, etc keep the progress or lack of learning in the public eye. The effectiveness of the schools is closely monitored. The level of learning of the students is monitored by the government, business, parents, and tax payers as they determine whether or not families will choose to move to a town, a neighborhood, or a state. Internationally the educational level of each and every country is compared daily to determine the intellectual capacity of the citizenry. Conclusions If, as a country, we are using high stakes testing to determine if students are learning, then the teacher should be able to state the learning goal and know the scaffolding steps that would lead to the learning goal. What is learning, when did it happen, or if the student did not learn, then what action did the teacher take to re-teach, re-mediate so that the student did learn. Are there learning progressions-scaffolds and have they been identified, in order for the student to learn the larger concept of the lesson. Deep and important discussion should be a part of the teacher education curriculum that include what is learning, when did learning occur, did the information pass the attention threshold for the student, is it stored in long term memory. How do we encourage student‘s to learn? As the Nation moves to National Standards for learning, then translating learning goals into real learning and mastery of concepts become crucial for teacher effectiveness in the classroom (Bulter and McMunn, 2006). Each teacher must be able to identify the timeline for that individual student learning has taken place and for her/him and what is learning for that individual lesson, concept, unit, or area of study. While it is impossible to know everything in 741 today‘s society, it is critical that educators understand learning, in order to assure that all students do learn. Jennifer B. Chauvot, in her article ? Grounding practice in scholarship, grounding scholarship in practice: Knowledge of a mathematics teacher educator-researcher,? speaks to the importance of teacher training, citing that there is limited research focused upon what teacher educators need to know and how they develop that knowledge. There tends to be an assumption that a good teacher will be a good teacher educator, but in reality little attention has been given to the support of teacher educators. The state of Texas is currently involved in attempting to augment teacher training of teacher educators as end of course assessments are requiring a higher level of teaching at the university so that teacher candidates will be prepared to teach the curriculum in the public schools. Bridging the gaps of current teaching and elevating the practice for teacher education has become a focus of the statewide initiative. The curriculum becomes the knowledge to be learned by the student and taught by the teacher. With State and National curriculum standards serving to focus education, teaching and learning, then a clear expectation of ? earning? is necessary for both the teacher and the learner. Implications for colleges and universities as they change their instruction to assure that the teacher candidates become avid classroom teacher. These teacher candidates will progress from the university classroom to the being the confident and secure classroom teacher. Connecting teacher learning wi th student learning is the theme of the ten key principles of professional development as outlined by Timperly (2008), whereby experts work with teachers to assist them as expert teachers who teach others content and skills of pedagogy. Focusing upon student learning whether in the k-12 classroom or the university setting becomes a priority, if all students are going to ? learn.? Additionally, the professional development of teachers to extend and 742 scaffold content knowledge become an important role of school districts and universities as they reach out and build learning communities. Newmann and Wehlage (1995) noted that ? Schools with strong professional communities were better able to offer authentic pedagogy and were more effective in promoting student learning.? p. 3. The next area for research will be for the students to identify their learning goal for their students and then determine, if learning has occurred. 743 References: Ammon, P. (1984). Human development, teaching and teacher education. The Teacher Education Quarterly, 11 (4), 95-108. Bloom, B. (1981). All Our Children are Learning: A Primer for Parent‘s, Teachers, and other Educators. NY: McGraw-Hill Book Company. Bransford, J. D. ; Vye, N. J. , A Perspective on cognitive research and its implications for instruction in Toward the Thinking Curriculum: Current Cognitive Research. 1989 Yearbook of ASCD. Edited by Laureen R. Resnick and Leopold E. Klopfer. Arlington, VA. Bulter, S. M. & McMunn, N. D. (2006). A Teacher‘s guide to classroom assessment: Understanding assessment to improve student learning. Jossey-Bass. San Francisco, CA. Chauvot, Jennifer B. (2008). ?Grounding practice in scholarship, grounding scholarship in practice: Knowledge of a mathematics teacher educator-researcher.? Teaching and Teacher Education. 1-14. Emonds, R. (1979). Effective schools for the urban poor. Educational Leadership. 37(1), 15-24. Jarvis, P. (2006). Towards a Comprehensive Theory of Human Learning. London. Routledge Taylor and Francis Group. International Academy of Education (IAE) and International Bureau of Education (IBE) Retrieved from http://unesdoc. unesdoc. unesco. org/images/0017/001791/179161e. dpf. Lambert, Linda. (1998). Building Leadership Capacity in Schools. ASCD. Alexandria, VA. Newmann, F. M. & Wehlage, G. G. , (1995) Successful School Restructuring: A Report to the Public and Educators by the Center on Organization and Restructuring of Schools. Madison, WI: Center on Organization and Restructuring Schools. Patton, B. (2009) Lesson Plans and the Teacher Candidate: Is the Internet helping or hindering? National Social Science Association Journal. 1(2) 146-9. Podesta, J. , (2007). ?Quality Teachers, Quality Schools Testimony to the House of Education and Labor Committee.? Center for American Progress. May 11, 2007. Popham, W. J. (2008). Transformative Assessment. ASCE. Alexandria, VA. Randall, C. (1985). The role of problem solving. Arithmetic Teacher 38. 48-50. Randall, C. (1985) How to teacher problem sol ving step by step. Arithmetic Teacher 15. 62-6. Randall, C. (1989). Steps toward building a successful problems solving program. Arithmetic Teacher. 36. 25-6. Schley, P. , (2002). Working on the Work. Jossey-Bass. San Francisco, CA. 744 Timperly, H. (2008). ?Teacher Professional Learning and Development.? Educational Practices Series. Yarema. C. , Smith, P. , Hutto, N. , (under-review, 2010). ?A Community of Practice: Productive Professional development of Mathematics Teaches through Lesson Study.? 745 Copyright of NAAAS & Affiliates Conference Monographs is the property of National Association of African American Studies & Affiliates and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.

An Analysis of Young Goodman Brown and The Lottery Essay Example

An Analysis of Young Goodman Brown and The Lottery Essay Example An Analysis of Young Goodman Brown and The Lottery Paper An Analysis of Young Goodman Brown and The Lottery Paper Essay Topic: Everything I Never Told You The Lottery and Other Stories Young Goodman Brown and Other Hawthorne Short Stories An Analysis and Comparing of Nathaniel Hawthornes Young Goodman Brown and Shirley Jacksons The Lottery There was a time when majority of Americans were preoccupied with religion. Well, it can also be argued that even in the 21st century most Americans are still into religion but nothing compares to the sincere devotion and strict adherence to religious precepts by those who lived a century ago. They were sometimes called Puritans or Quakers or simply devout Christians. And the atmosphere of religious zeal influenced every fabric of society and as a result literary figures in that era and even those who rose to prominence in the early part of the 20th century could not help but write about God, his saints, and the consequences of righteousness or sin. As far as literature is concerned everything turn out for the good for in the same age classical works flowed from the pens of great writers such as Nathaniel Hawthorne and Shirley Jackson. Two of their respective works will be analyzed in this study. This paper will take a closer look at Nathaniel Hawthornes Young Goodman Brown and try to understand it using basic rules of characterization. The proponent of this paper will also try to figure out what Hawthorne was trying to say to his generation and the implications of such insights in todays world. Moreover, another classical work will be examined, The Lottery by Shirley Jackson as it is also one of great works out there with religious undertones and yet complicated enough to challenge even the most wary of readers. Characterization It is a fact that it is much easier to describe what happened to the characters in the story rather than to describe the characters as in doing a characterization. Arp, Johnson and Perrine were able to put it succinctly when they made the following remarks: Analyzing characterization is more difficult than describing plot, for human character is infinitely complex, variable, and ambiguous. Anyone can summarize what a person in a story has done, but a writer needs considerable skill and insight into human beings to describe convincingly who a person is. Even the most complicated plot in a detective story puts far less strain on our understanding than does human nature (2006). To aid in the understanding of the characters in the two short stories, British novelist E. M. Forster pointed out that there are two types of characters: 1) flat and 2) round ( see Arp, Johnson and Perrine, 2006). Flat characters were never developed by the author for a reason and one reason is to allow the reader to focus on the protagonist of the story. Round characters on the other hand are described more in detail and the author allowed more space to describe the development of this particular character because in most cases they are the main characters. It is interesting to note that while a typical story requires the presence of both flat and round characters there are others that can still be as effective even if the story is populated with only â€Å"flat† characters. This is the case with Jacksons The Lottery according to Arp, Johnson and Perrine (2006). And indeed it is interesting as to how Jackson was able to get away with, presenting the reader with only two dimensional characters lacking depth and juicier details that would have satisfied the curiosity of the reading public. But Jackson was not deterred and it added to the power of the narrative about a small town agog about a game of chance with lethal consequences. The Lottery Now, there may be some who will disagree with the idea that Shirley Jacksons masterpiece has religious undertones. Well, that is understandable because there is no mention of any deity in the story. In fact the only major landmark that the author pointed out was the post office and the bank in the middle of the town, suggesting that it is a typical small town during that time. On the other hand it is very clear that Shirley Jackson was trying to economize in her use of words and she omitted the obvious knowing fully well that the audience are well aware that America during this period are very used to another major landmark aside from the two already mentioned. The fact that Jackson did not mention the Church building speaks loudly about her assumptions – the audience already knew the people in the narrative were religious, if not deeply religious. But there is also another reason why one can deduce religious undercurrents and it is the usage of stoning a person to death – or simply stoning her to cause extreme amounts of pain as no one knows if the character died or not – as a ritual to satisfy a religious command. Again, others may counter that Hutchinson was stoned not because it was a religious edict but simply because the people were irritated by her complaints. But there are other evidences that will point to the contrary first of all the stones were already prepared beforehand. The instrument of death was conveniently located where the people can have access to it – piled near the square. Secondly, the word lottery has nothing to do with its modern connotations of grand prizes and multi-millionaire winners. No, on the contrary it was a mechanism to single out a person from a group. And one is reminded of Biblical story where Achan a soldier in the Israelite army refuses to confess his sins, a â€Å"drawing of lots† had to be done to figure out who among the multitudes was guilty of a despicable sin. In the Biblical narrative the offending party had to be narrowed down by first finding out what clan and then what family and finally the lot fell to Achan. Now, there is just so much similarity. In Jacksons tale it was narrowed down to the Hutchinson family and then finally it was narrowed down to the mother, Tessie Hutchinson. And that explains the reason for concluding that religion is the basis for stoning the woman in the story. The attempt to get a good grasp of the story can sometimes become frustrating. And there is only one simple explanation, there is a scarcity of information or seen from another angle there is too much information but not enough to make any connections. For instance there is the Dunbar family which was placed in the narrative for a purpose but it is not obvious to the reader as to the exact reason why Jackson included them in the narrative. But the simpler explanation is really the dearth of information that gives plenty of room for speculation and the possibility of getting lost in ones thoughts as he or she tries to piece it all together. Very little is known about the characters in fact it is very hard to determine which one is the main character. Others would conclude that the heroine was Tessie Hutchinson because it can be argued that she was murdered unjustly as a result of a game of chance. But prior to the stoning there was nothing written to help the readers achieve a deeper understanding of Mrs. Hutchinsons character. When things began to make sense, the story was ended abruptly. Now, others praise the economy of words and infer that it must have been designed that way to create a modern day parable but even going this route does not satisfy because a basic study of parables does not leave a person wanting for more. In fact Biblical parables although much shorter than Jacksons tale does not leave the audience guessing as to what was the moral of the story. In the popular Sunday school parable of a The Foolish Builder – a man who decided to build on sand was rewarded with calamity as the shifting foundation could not hold up the recently completed structure. At the end of the story, those who are eager to listen were admonished to build on the rock which is more stable and much stronger than sand – and no one can miss that lesson. But in the lottery story what was the point of all that? Some critics find common ground in saying that the moral of the story is to resist the evil of herd mentality where the power of the mob rules over reason and also the stupidity of not questioning traditions. Beach et al. explains this phenomenon, â€Å"The townspeople blindly adhere to community traditions regardless of their destructiveness; when some townspeople begin to question this practice, noting that a nearby town discontinued the lottery, an older man comments, Weve always had a lottery, reflecting blind adherence to status quo community norms† (2006). This is an acceptable argument but there are still some unanswered questions, such as whether the stoning was part of the tradition or was it merely a violent reaction to Mrs. Hutchinsons protest? Young Goodman Brown Although Nathaniel Hawthornes work is arguably a byproduct of genius it can be said that this one is easier to understand than Jacksons short story. In Young Goodman Brown the reader is taken to familiar territory. There is one round character and a host of flat characters whose interactions blends well to create a fictional world able to instruct the reader about the danger of falling away from their faith. Unlike the previous work of fiction there is a wealth of background information that can be used to fully understand Hawthornes work. For instance Michael McCabe research allowed a glimpse into old world America where Puritans were a great influencer of society and McCabe wrote, â€Å"Puritan doctrine taught that all men are totally depraved and require constant self-examination to see that they are sinners and unworthy of Gods grace. Because man had broken the covenant of works when Adam had eaten from the tree God offered a new covenant to Abrahams people which held that election to Heaven was merely a possibility† (1998). This piece of information illuminates, it gives the reason as to why the story was told that way. Goodman Brown was vexed with an almost schizophrenic existence always suspicious and imagining that everyone around him is not one hundred percent sincere with their motives and this is because he is merely reflecting the anguish he is feeling inside as a result of the legalistic pressure coming from the Puritan society. Conclusion Two works of fiction can be compared and contrasted by simply studying the characters. In Jackson’s masterpiece all the characters are flat characters and she did not allow one to develop more fully than the others. It was already late into the story when the reader realized the importance of Mrs. Hutchinson and by that time the story was ended abruptly. This technique added to the popularity of the story as more and more people find it a challenge to interpret it correctly. On the other hand Hawthorne’s Young Goodman Brown is very much interesting in two ways. The first one is due to its ability to bring the audience into a place where he can get a glimpse of what America was like a few centuries ago; the impact of religion constructive and destructive – able to build and at the same time destroy if paranoia and legalism are allowed to roam free. Secondly, Hawthorne was able to demonstrate his genius by manipulating rules about characterization. It has been said that flat characters need no further description because the reader had enough stock knowledge about this type of character. For instance the Sheriff is tough and yet fair, a symbol of law and order. But in the story of Goodman Brown the flat characters did not stay true to the assigned roles. The minister did not stay pure but became the leader of the witch coven and that the pure young ladies in Church where actually guilty of abortion.

Critique Of The Book Call It Sleep Essays - Call It Sleep

Critique Of The Book Call It Sleep Essays - Call It Sleep Critique of the book "Call It Sleep" written by Henry Roth The book ?Call It Sleep? written by Henry Roth is a literary work that explores immigrant life as they adjust to the new and unfamiliar ways of American life. The book is somewhat of a social commentary on the period of the Eastern European immigration to America at its peak. The novel gives an inside view on how foreigners (primarily Jewish immigrants) fit into main stream society. Throughout the course of the novel, you travel along with the main character David Schearl as he ages from six to eight and grows up in Brownsville on the lower East side of New York. David is torn between the love of his over protective mother and the hatred of his angry and mentally disturbed father in a quest to make sense of his life in contrast with all of the other immigrant children that he comes in contact with. All of the adventures that David encounters and all of the people that he comes in contact with are simply the author?s way of depicting an immigrants inner struggle and deal! ing with the pressures of life as seen through the eyes of a remarkably perceptive and imaginative child. The opening scenes are set in New York harbor in 1907 at a time when the inflow of foreigners is at its peak. A woman and her small child come off of the boat to reunite with her husband that had gone before them to the new world to start a better life than they were used to in their old country. The author has you experience what it is like to come into New York Harbor and see the city skyline and the lights; and also to experience the feeling of hope and promise for a brighter future for the immigrants. However when Albert Schearl shows up late and uncaring to greet a wife and son who don?t recognize him right away, it is hinted to the reader that trouble is in store for the Schearl family. The father Albert Schearl is introduced as a very haughty and proud individual that believes that he should abandon all signs of his former upbringing and conform to the American ways of life. He is a printer by trade however he cannot hold down a job long enough due to his violent and uncontrollable temperament. He thinks that people are constantly watching his every move therefore he cannot give t************************************************************************************* ************************************************************************************** ************************************************************************************** ************************************************************************************** ************************************************************************************** *********************************************************************************** Yiddish and his son is wearing a bonnet that clearly blows their cover in ! their attempts to masquerade as Americans. Later on in the book we learn that Albert?s anger towards his wife and son is brought about by his doubts of David?s paternity due to the fact that his wife had a brief affair with a Gentile in the old country. Thus it can be said that the reason for Albert?s rage and insanity came about by this betrayal. This issue arises again when David receives a rosary from his Polish friend Leo and tells the rabbi a lie about how his mother is really dead and he is half Christian. When the story finds its way back to his father and the rosary is accidentally discovered, Albert is sure of his suspicion about David?s paternity is accurate. Throughout the course of the story Albert is seen almost as the villain that has an iron fist rule over his household thus creating a Freudian mother son bond that cannot be severed. His rage strikes fear into the heart of both his wife and his son thus causing young David to wander the streets of the nei! ghborhood in search of a way to break free from his fathers imprisonment. At the end of the story when David is burned and the thought of actually losing his son become apparent to Albert, this is his moment of catharsis and he exchanges his hatred for his son for that of a concerned parent. Only then is it evident that there is hope for change in Albert and that things will eventually work themselves out. It finally becomes evident to the reader that Albert?s true anger was not directed towards his family but rather

Mill's Utilitarianism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Mill's Utilitarianism - Essay Example That is why he tries to show that justice and utility are able not only to coexist, but also cooperate. He points about that a fundamental part of justice is the desire to punish. Indeed, the former notion is often connected to various actions which might have a certain violent aspect, for example, a court ruling is basically a punishment for a person (50). So, he draws a connection between justice and some negative effects that it may have on people. Mill also suggests that justice might be perceived as a form of retaliation or vengeance that is applied to people who violates the rule and regulation which were created by the society (52). In other words, the social environment takes defensive actions in the form of justice in order to punish those how did not follow the conventions and thus became a treat to it. What is more important is that this desire to retaliate is seen by Mill as an essential constituent of a human being. Indeed, it is a part of our nature to hurt those who hurt us (55). He points out that this kind of attitude to others allows people to build a social environment that provided them with security. Nevertheless, in the case of justice this natural desire is conditioned by other characteristic features of a human being, such as intellect and sympathy (11). In other words, when violent actions addressed to those who hurt as go through the prism of intellect and sympathy, they become justice that is being applied to those who should be punished. Finally, the range of people who are likely to experience the consequences of justice is defined by Mill in the following way. On the one hand, this number includes those people who hurt a particular individual (50). For example, a person who commits robbery hurts another person and the latter perceives it is an act of injustice that was directed at him or her personally. In this case the

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