Free Essays on Its Not Strange To Mistake Change For Progress

â€Å"It is not strange†¦to mistake change for progress.† Millard Fillmore At the beginning of the story, Manor Farm is prospering. However, the animals are very tired and often unfed. The cruel owner, Mr. Jones, is often drunk, and neglects taking care of the animals. They are desperate for any change. Meanwhile, Old Major begins talking of his â€Å"Socialist Utopia†, where the animals would overthrow the unkind owner and establish their own government, Animalism, where all animals are equal. The exhausted, underfed animals agree to this, because it appeals to them as a place where they would be happy. Animalism was captivating in part because the animals were desperate for a change. In the Battle of Cowshed, they overthrew the farmer and his wife and accomplished what they had set out to do. They renamed the farm â€Å"Animal Farm†, and established the Seven Commandments, which basically stated that no animal was to have contact with humans, or kill another animal. The last of these was â€Å" All animals are equal.† The animals bega n to do everything on the farm themselves. By the end of each day, they were still exhausted, however, they ate as much as they liked. They also believed that there was a difference between working at Manor Farm and working at Animal Farm: they now weren’t working for some human who didn’t feed them, but were working for their own benefit, because all the crops they produced would be divided equally among them. This mentality continued in the more feeble-minded animals until the very end. However, some of them were beginning to see a significant attitude in the pigs (the wisest animals, and self-appointed leaders) after only a short time. The pigs begin, little by little, to take more food than the rest of the animals, covering it up with: â€Å" The pigs need more food, for they are managing the whole farm†. As time goes on, they take more and more food, and change the commandments to suit their n... Free Essays on It's Not Strange To Mistake Change For Progress Free Essays on It's Not Strange To Mistake Change For Progress â€Å"It is not strange†¦to mistake change for progress.† Millard Fillmore At the beginning of the story, Manor Farm is prospering. However, the animals are very tired and often unfed. The cruel owner, Mr. Jones, is often drunk, and neglects taking care of the animals. They are desperate for any change. Meanwhile, Old Major begins talking of his â€Å"Socialist Utopia†, where the animals would overthrow the unkind owner and establish their own government, Animalism, where all animals are equal. The exhausted, underfed animals agree to this, because it appeals to them as a place where they would be happy. Animalism was captivating in part because the animals were desperate for a change. In the Battle of Cowshed, they overthrew the farmer and his wife and accomplished what they had set out to do. They renamed the farm â€Å"Animal Farm†, and established the Seven Commandments, which basically stated that no animal was to have contact with humans, or kill another animal. The last of these was â€Å" All animals are equal.† The animals bega n to do everything on the farm themselves. By the end of each day, they were still exhausted, however, they ate as much as they liked. They also believed that there was a difference between working at Manor Farm and working at Animal Farm: they now weren’t working for some human who didn’t feed them, but were working for their own benefit, because all the crops they produced would be divided equally among them. This mentality continued in the more feeble-minded animals until the very end. However, some of them were beginning to see a significant attitude in the pigs (the wisest animals, and self-appointed leaders) after only a short time. The pigs begin, little by little, to take more food than the rest of the animals, covering it up with: â€Å" The pigs need more food, for they are managing the whole farm†. As time goes on, they take more and more food, and change the commandments to suit their n...

The network society Essays

The network society Essays The network society Paper The network society Paper With this rise in the service sector employment there was an inevitable rise in stability in that sector. However this, lead to an increase in both upper and lower levels of the occupational structure. There was an upgrade of the occupational structure in terms of jobs that require increased skill and higher levels of information. (Castells, M. 1996: pp229) The dominance of service sector employment through information technology has lead to significant managerial developments. Call centres and telecentres are workplaces, which are designed and operate with the aim of providing telephonic customer service. These workplaces depend upon state of the art communication and information technology. (Wyatt et. al, 2000: pp184) By incorporating these technologies into the once purely human service the employer is able to monitor the agents efficiency and output in terms of customer interaction. The demand of for customer service outside working hours (Wyatt et. al 2000: pp185) has actually reshaped the working day of the call centres agents and in doing so they have reshaped and it could be said that they have taken control of their social patterns. The ambition to make every form of work controllable in order to gain a clear indication of efficiency, which can be accounted for on balance sheets, has been an ongoing process since the industrial revolution. This goal of achieving some sort of measurement system has always been achieved through technology. The question is can we attach any form of economic valuation system to a human service? The technology that is used in telecentres are being specifically designed to supply demands for technology which will be able to generate high levels of management information on performance of the individual telecentre agents (Wyatt et. al 2000: pp186) The unpredictability of the of human element in the workplace has been a taunting management ever since the workplace came into being and attempts of gaining control has been pursued ever since. Here again we see the controlling feature of a capitalist system. The question lies whether this was the reason for the transformation. Previous control of efficiency and output was gained trough the commitment of the worker which was determined by job satisfaction, in these call centres however the commitment toward the job is gained through control which is achieved by the monitoring which are common on a Fordist assembly line. In a common factory setting the worker is required to detach himself from his emotional state and attitude and adopt one that will allow them to perform the job most efficiently, this system is being brought into service sector employment by training the agents on specific techniques and attitudes in order to achieve maximum output. There isnt so much a move from manufacturing sector employment to service sector employment but merely a transformation of the service sector to ensure the control and output principals that the manufacturing sector works under. With this flexibility that the network society demands comes the issue of weakening of social intuitions and organisations that served to speak for the worker and even represent the worker. With outsourcing and contractual employment there has been a significant reduction of representation power. The fragmentation of work makes the worker to an extent expendable hence removing their control of the job itself. This fragmentation coupled with the outsourcing of labour renders unions and those they represent powerless. Castells also claims that the unions inability of unions to adapt to the changing worker and organisation has rendered them powerless. He goes on to emphasis that the new network technologies could be just as helpful the unions as it is to organisations in that they can organise labour anywhere and any time. (Castells, M. 1996: pp278). There is said to be strength in numbers, and the capitalist system has noticed this and adopted the warfare strategy of divide and conquer by this I mean there has been a polarisation of the individual in the work environment. With heightened surveillance options at their fingertips management has no need to have workers collectively together to ensure supervision hence work is organised to ensure greater autonomy. It is this transformation of work, the individualisation of labour that Castells (1996) underscores in his work on the Information Age (Castells, M. 1996: pp265). Castells emphasises that this technological transformation especially exacerbates the trend towards increased flexibility of labour. This flexibility is hidden behind the illusion of home-based work and the ability for a work environment to co-exist in a social environment. Capitalism deceptive nature is thus shown again. From control of the occupational environment capitalism goes to the next stage with an attempt to control the culture of society. Culture plays a vital role in the way we think which determines what we consume. The capitalist system has used technology of the Network Society to shape our cultures to suit their needs and objectives. It is an indirect way of shaping and directing our thoughts and emotions. According to Castells our culture is shaped by communication. Previously our languages were our form of communication in the written and heard form, however with the emergence of network technologies the earliest of which was the television (networked through the media channels) the heard written and seen are combined in order to grant the ability to convey views, beliefs and emotions (Castells, M. 1996: pp328-329). Through his writing on The culture of real virtuality Castells shows how communication technologies have become part of our lives (Castells, M. 1996: pp327-375). He however fails to address the avenue of the liberation of society due to the abundance of information and media avenue available. I on the other hand feel that it should be address due to the fact that people have that frame of mind instilled in them which is misleading. Sure there is the element of choice in the media and we choose what we watch, but the communication industry, mainly the media (which includes the internet) is a business like any other and it will broadcast what is profitable. This profitability is determined by information on individuals. It acts on human characteristics such as curiosity and amazement. So whatever amazes us and whatever we enquire about is always best for us. By feeding human character traits our thoughts and in turn our cultures are reshaped to that which exists in the virtual world and suits the capitalistic system. Pierre Levys book, Cyber Culture, (Levy,P : 1997) provides one of the most coherent and persuasive expressions of the contemporary technocultural vision. Levy argues that knowledge is no longer abstract but has become the visible and the tangible expression of the individual and groups who inhabit it; interactive networks work towards the personalisation or incarnation of knowledge (Levy, P. 1997: pp184). This ability to reshape our cultures in effect influences and affects our political ideals. The ability of the Networks and Society to be accessed by politicians has made it a vital breeding ground for election campaigns. The media space has become a battlefield for politicians with weapons such as negative messages, scandal, spin, political marketing and legitimacy (Castells, 1996 : pp362). The political struggle is dependent on the media to such an extent that the media determines consequences, actions and ideals. (Castells. 1996 : pp476). This leads me to the issue of access to the media; by this I mean that media campaigns cost allot money and if the outcome of a campaign is determined by the best media campaign, which in effect depends on the availability of capital, we can assume that those with the money determine political outcomes. We covered all the elements of the network society except for the concept of time which is linked to Castells theory of the space of hows. I have left these two aspects to the end because they actually reveal the capitalist ambitions for control through the network society. Time and space has always been factors of production, which have only been regarded as such fairly recently. New technologies and initially compressed geographical space by reducing relay time of communication. The whole ordering of meaningful events looses its internal chronological rhythm, and becomes arranged in time sequences depending upon the social context of their utilisation (Castells, M. 1996: pp462). Here we see that time itself, an uncontrollable element of human existence, which was thought to be uncontrollable is manipulated to suit consumer trends in order to achieve the ultimate goal of the capitalist system. The capitalist system has thus gained control of the time, which governed the consumers purchasing habits. With new network technologies there is now a twenty-four hour day, which does not consist of, designated times to do specific tasks (Evident in the flexible workers of the network society). This pursuit for control has lead to the relinquishing of control that space has over us. This has lead to the movement from Castells (1996) space of places to the space of flows (Castells, M. 1996: pp276). Space has been a concept, which has been used to emphasize time simultaneity which is based on physical distance between actions, which determine the ability to accomplish various tasks simultaneously. This concept however has changed with technology in the sense that the ability to accomplish more than one task at the same time is no longer bound by vicinity between tasks (Castells, M Inch. 2003: pp56). This space of flows is not just about telecommunication technology but also the pursuit of technology to link places together to achieve the common ambition (eg. Stock Markets). Castells argues that the reason access to this technology in order to form part of the network is not a matter of availability but a matter of choice (Castells, M Inch.2003: pp58). He emphasises the fairness of the space of flows by stating that the first is linked to the third world via the space of flows. This justification however is sceptical and contradicts with his theory of nodes (Castells, M. 1996: pp413). Castells space of flows is made up of nodes. These are information gathering, communication and analysis hubs. These nodes are dependant upon the Network and their inclusion in the network is determined by their value to the network (Castells, M. 1996: pp413). My argument lies in Castells (1996) mentioning the link between the first world and third world, if inclusion into the network is determined by the value to the network then it isnt a matter of fairness but a matter of exploitation, something that has been common in capitalist systems. Under ideals and principles of a capitalist system, from evidence throughout the essay we can see capitalisms fundamental tool, which is control, has been a result or cause for the various elements of the Network Society. So as a concluding point, I would say that the Network Society is a more advanced form of capitalism, which is international, and carefully hidden. IOLS 2B Technology and Work Essay Name : Kubendran Govender Student Number : 202522553 Topic : Castells Network Society. REFERENCE 1. Castells, M. (1985) High Technology, space and society sage publications, inc 2. Castells, M (1996) The rise of the network society Blackwell publishers. 3. Castells, M and Inch (2003) Conservation with Manuell Casteller- blackwell publishers.4. Levy, P (1997) Cyberculture Paris, Edisions Odile Jacob 5. Stanier, T (1983) the wealth of information: a profile of the Post industrial economy London Methusen 6. Susser, I (2002) the Castells reader on cities and social theory Blackwell publishers. 7. Sylvia Downs, (1982) who learns whom training and development 8. Visvanathan, S (2001) knowledge and information in the network society indiaseminar. com 15/09/03 9. Webster, F (2002) Routledge 10. Wyatt et al (2000) technology and inequality Routledge.

Mega events on their effct Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Mega events on their effct - Essay Example This work will take into consideration the Muslim event of Hajj as the central theme of discussion and aim to find the effect of Hajj on tourism industry in the region where this pilgrimage occurs annually. Literature suggests further research in the area of consumer behaviour in mega events tourism (Jago, 1997: 113). On the basis of this, it is important to understand the behaviour of those who attend such mega events. Value perceptions have been approached in mega events (Doukas, 2007: 62). However, further research is required to better understand religious mega events attendees’ behaviour, and particularly, value perceptions and place attachment. As far as the research gap is concerned, academic research to highlight the importance of place attachment regarding the holy places of Saudi Arabia is scarce. It is well-known that religion can contribute significantly to place attachment and this attachment is learned through performing rituals and visiting places (Mazumdar, & Mazumdar, 2004: 385-397.). Muslims from all over the world gather together at the holy cities of Saudi Arabia for performing rituals and visiting their sacred places; an act that contributes to their place attachment. It should be understood that place attachment in this case is different from others, since religious emotions are involved in this case. Therefore, place attachment serves additional purpose in this case. If tourists have a purpose of visit, other than entertainment, the behaviour and choices may differ. Since Muslims visit Saudi Arabia due to their religious beliefs, they have a special kind of relationship with this place. Research should be directed towards revealing the differences in behaviour of people if they have a place attachment different from the normal ones. Additionally, an analysis of the perceived value of this form of tourism is an area that has

The rock'n'roll era and beyond Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

The rock'n'roll era and beyond - Essay Example The identity does not only include personal identity, but also regional, national, gender, ethnic and cultural identity. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to briefly present an overview of how music can reflect a generation identity. It will also analyze two artists from different decades and how the two musicians connect to listeners at specific stage of life and finally. Finally, the paper will discuss what music reveals about the changes and continuities in the perception of that age identity. In discussing the identity in music, we need to ask ourselves whether it is true that everyone has a musical identity. Few people say that they lack interests in music or liking of the music whatsoever. Most have strong liking of music and dislikes depending on the type of music. Taste for music have always been shown to related to age, music training level and some aspects of cognitive style and personality. Most people listen to music of different levels of engagements to regulate th eir moods in different contexts while they are also involved in other activities. It may seem reasonable that in analyzing the musical identities to look at all the concepts of the people. The broad patterns of musical preferences among people and also the transitory likes and dislikes form the integral part of our music identities (Jennings 1991). It is widely believed that the taste and preferences in listening form the most important part of most people. However, this may not be so among other people in the society. Furthermore, domain music importance varies very much in self-identities. This level of variation may depend on the level of involvement such as the musicians themselves or the solo performers. One of the factors that play a role in teenager’s generation identity is music. They identify with artists and different musical styles to reflect their individual identity as a generation. Over many generations, you will find many parents lamenting on the type of music their young ones listen. Over a period of a hundred years ago, it was jazz, followed by big band, rock n’ roll, then funk, electronic music, rap and finally hip hop. The parents mostly complain about the noise that the young stars listen to hence refusing to listen or understand â€Å"that music.† It is true that music can connect us with each other if we open to listen, understand and receive it. Therefore, in finding identity, people of different age groups do tend to prefer particular type of music. In the 1950s in its last half, as rock ‘n’ roll of the Americans began to assume its hegemony over the airwaves and the habits of the young people of buying records across the whole of the industrialized world, this popular new brand of music began to be primarily perceived as a phenomenon for the youth. This perception was reinforced in the 1960s by the development of the youth movement, which expressed itself self-consciously through distinctive forms of p op and rock music. Many believed that this conjunction resulted to the success of the rock music. It was primarily due to the young stars articulation of their sense of identity mostly based on the idea of age and generation. In the word of Frith (1978), the sociology of rock cannot be separated to the sociology of the youth. In the 1970s, the youth to music relationship differed significantly along a number of dimensions especially in social class, ethnicity and gender (Murdock et al

Jukushop Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Jukushop - Essay Example To ensure effective communication and coordination, Jukushop has an organizational structure which interrelates groups of the organization. Jukushop has adopted divisional structure. Divisional structure is formed when an organization is split up into a number of self contained business units, each of which operates as a profit centre. The division occurs on the basis of the products or market or a combination of the two with each unit tending to operate along functional or product lines, but with certain key functions such as personnel, finance and corporate planning. (Burns and Stalker, 1961) Jukushop has invested heavily on marketing especially in sale promotion. Sales promotion is one of the four promotion mix. The other three are advertising, personal selling, and publicity or public relations. Sales promotions are non-personal promotional efforts that are designed to have an immediate impact on sales. It is usually a media and non-media marketing communication employed for a pre-determined and limited time to increase consumer demand and also to stimulate market demand or improve product availability. Examples of sales promotions aspects include: discounts and sales, free samples, gifts and incentives, coupons and rebates. In their sales promotion, Jukushop has been targeting both consumers and retailers/wholesalers hence they applied consumer sales promotion and trade sales promotion. (Mitchell, 2005) International Involvement Companies that are international involved have a major market to deal with hence they have to be aware of all the required regulations in the international market. They have to be aware of the requirements with various countries and even join a number of international trading bodies. II. INTERNSHIP GOALS A formalized internship program gives a hands-on experience in ones preferred field so that one can truly determine if it is the right industry for him. It is very important for one to participate in an internship program as one receives the exposure to his chosen industry. The beauty of an internship is that it helps one determine what he is looking for in a career before graduation such that one can make adjustments to his curriculum if needed. Internship helps one to apply the skills learnt in college and allows one to identify opportunities for improvement. Recognizing where improvement is needed is essential for one to have proper skill and become competitive in the job market by the time one graduate. For this case, in my internship, I have received a lot of exposure in the marketing field and more so I have applied what I learn in class. III. TASKS ASSIGNED Jukushop being a house of style of pets that are marketed internationally, I was assigned a number of marketing duties in the organization. I was assigned the duty of formulating marketing strategies for the firm. Marketing strategies serve as the fundamental underpinning of marketing plans designed to reach marketing objectives. A marketing plan contains a list of specific actions required to successfully implement a

Susan Hills Im the King of the Castle and L.P Hartleys The Go-Between Essay Example for Free

Susan Hills Im the King of the Castle and L.P Hartleys The Go-Between Essay A comparative study of the role of children and the presentation of the experiences in fiction as illustrated in Susan Hills Im the King of the Castle and L.P Hartleys The Go-Between. The world of the child is often one of intense emotion, confusion, pain and suffering and is a rich source of material for the novelist Having only been alive for about twelve years, the lead characters of Im the King of the Castle and The Go-Between are inexperienced. The intense emotion, confusion, pain and suffering that a child would go through is caused by this. Adults have the advantage over children. They have faced these things before and got through them; the knowledge and experience from childhood that they use to get through bad times as adults is what helps them. Not having such weapons, children react very differently. Im the King of the Castle has a prime example of a boy, Charles Kingshaw, being bullied and not knowing what to do; as this had not happened before, he does not have the experience. Leo, the main character of The Go-Between, is an example of how a pursuit of knowledge can harm a naà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ve, inexperienced boy. A novel with children in these situations can be very emotional and is thus a rich source of material for the novelist. The similarities that these books hold become apparent very early on. The main character in both are boys and of roughly the same age. Both Leo and Kingshaw have a personality that makes them vulnerable to the bullying which takes place. Romantic, sensitive Leo was easily manipulated into being the go between for Marian and Ted; his imaginative nature meant that he would always wonder what was in the notes, but his ethical beliefs, based on a school boys code which everyone followed, meant he that could not read the notes as they were always sealed. In class and out I had often passed round notes at school. If they were sealed I should not have dreamed of reading them; if they were open I often read them indeed, it was usually the intention of the sender that one should, for they were meant to raise a laugh. Unsealed one could read them, sealed one couldnt: it was as simple as that. Kingshaw was also very imaginative; his encounter with the crow in the field gave him a weakness, which Hopper exploited. His imagination ran wild, terrifying him in the case of the red room and the crow. He thought that the corn might be some kind of crows food store, in which he was seen as an invader. Perhaps this was only the first of a whole battalion of crows, that would rise up and swoop at him. Get on to the grass then, he thought , get on to the grass, thatll be safe, itll go away. He wondered if it has mistaken him for some hostile animal, lurking down in the corn. He was both attracted and repelled by the red room and what it held, as Leo was with the deadly nightshade. I was prepared to dread [the deadly nightshade], but not prepared for the tumult of emotions it aroused in me. In some way it wanted me, I felt, just as I wanted it; and the fancy took me that it wanted me as an ingredient, and would have me. Though Kingshaw had a brief friendship with Fielding, and Leo had Marcus, they were both, to all intents and purposes, alone. Marcus, being ill, gave Leo the chance to start being the postman, and by the time he was well again Leo was too caught up in it. The more I thought about these expeditions in Marcuss company the more impractical did they seem and the less I liked the prospect of them. Nor, though I practised in deceit and an uncritical upholder of the no-sneaking tradition, did I relish the idea of deceiving Marcus not on moral grounds, for any system of ethics, as distinct from the school code, I barely recognised but because I felt it would spoil our relationship. If Marcus had been there the whole time, Leo would not have been able to start taking the letters. The fact that the boys were both in a new, strange environment, Leo visiting some rich friends and Kingshaw having to move in with these strangers as his Mother was hired as the housekeeper, did not help the feeling of being alone. The only person Kingshaw had was his Mother and, in an effort to fit in, his mother sided with Hooper over Kingshaw in most situations even though Kingshaw was innocent. Charles, how can you speak like that, how can you be so naughty? I didnt touch him. Then why ever should Edmund say that you did? I am quite sure he would have no reason to tell an untruth. Oh yes, he would, hes a sneaky little liar, hed say anything. Well I didnt touch him. Oh, what a way to speak! You make me so ashamed of you. In The Go-Between it was the adults, the supposed carers, who were doing the bullying. In a way, it was similar to Im the King of the Castle, as it was not only Hopper bullying Kingshaw, but the adults, too, bullying them into being friends and siding with Hooper. The similarity in the way the boys relate, Leo and Marcus in The Go-Between and Kingshaw and Hooper in Im the King of the Castle, is also different. Both pairs of friends are fighting physically and verbally. However in the case of Marcus and Leo it is in jest; it is the way they relate as friends, although they are almost rivals. Often when we talked there was a spirit of verbal rivalry between us; we trod the knife-edge between affection and falling out; Yet in the case of Kingshaw and Hooper it is meant as harm: Youd better shut the window, Kingshaw said, its my window now. Hooper turned, hearing the new note in his voice, considering what it meant, and hearing the tremor of anxiety, too. He raised his fists and came at Kingshaw. The scrap was brief and wordless and violent. After that first fight, Kingshaw realises he is capable of a violent act. Hooper has brought out violent impulses in Kingshaw that he did not know were there. Leo, however, never reacted violently to the bullying adults. Though both Kingshaw and Leo almost allow the bullying, Leo does not realise they are bullying him into taking the notes so reacts differently. Whereas Hoopers bullying is more obvious, Ted and Marian are more subtle. Leo does what Marian and Ted say because he likes them. He admires Ted as a male role model substituting for his father and he thinks he is in love with Marian. Also Ted exploits his quest for knowledge, especially about spooning, and his inquisitive nature. Well, [Ted] said, Lets make a bargain. Ill tell you all about spooning, but on one condition. I knew what he was going to say, but for forms sake I asked: What is it? That youll go on being our postman. I promised, and as I promised the difficulties in the way seemed to dissolve. Really he neednt have added that final bribe. Kingshaw, however, acted as he did because of his fear of Hooper. However the power did occasionally switched to Kingshaw. When they were in Hang Wood during the storm and when they were climbing the castle, Hooper became afraid, and Kingshaw was the King of the Castle for a little while, but the power always returned to Hooper. Leo never had the upper hand though. He kept taking the notes right to the end. The most obvious technical difference between these two novels is the narrative. The Go-Between is a first person narrative. It is Leo as an old man looking back at his summer in the house. This gives the story a bias as you can only see the thoughts of Leo, giving the reader a sympathy towards him. Im the King of the Castle is, however, in the third person narrative. In this way, it is more neutral. You can see the thoughts of all the characters, and feel a sympathy for each, in a different way. It helps one to understand the characters a little better. Like the opening of the novel where Mr Hooper comes back from visiting his dying father. I am only showing respect now, to behave towards my father as I should because he is dying, because he is almost gone away from me. This helps the reader see that Mr Hooper is a caring man yet is unable to show or act upon his emotions. Because of changing social circumstances, it is harder to understand the thoughts and actions of Leo. It is hard to accept his naivety. In our society, a twelve year old boy would have no difficulty in coming to the conclusion that these secret business notes were in fact love letters but in the 1900s there was no media or social acceptance of discussing personal relationships. Totally ignorant as I was of love affairs, and little as I knew about their conventions, I felt sure that when a girl was engaged to a man she did not write letters to another man calling him darling. She might do it up until the day of engagement, but not after. It was automatic; it was a rule: like leaving the wicket at cricket when you were out; and it scarcely crossed my mind that to comply with it might be painful. However the idea that a twelve year old boy might kill himself as a result of bullying is more believable as this still happens in todays society as it did in the 1950s. Both books have a suicide at the end though in Im the King of the Castle it was the bullied and in The Go-Between it was the bully. Though these books hold some similarities they are also quite different. Though they both present the children in the same way, having similar personalities and experiences, they present those experiences differently. The role of these children also differs; Kingshaw is seen as a victim, and, though Leo is a victim too, in some ways he is almost considered the hero of the novel.

Importance Of Speaking And Listening Across The Curriculum Education Essay

Importance Of Speaking And Listening Across The Curriculum Education Essay Richards and Rodgers (2001) suggest that there are essentially four methods of teaching which are speaking, listening, reading and writing. An effective teacher achieves a good balance between these four methods throughout their lessons. As speaking and listening are two of Richards and Rodgers (2001) methods of teaching, it is evident that all teachers need to include speaking and listening in their lessons (DES, 1975 cited in Corson, 1990). Literacy involves the integration of speaking, listening and critical thinking with reading and writing (Wray, 2001, pg12). Literacy is the set of skills which allows an individual to engage fully in society and in learning, through the different forms of language, and the range of texts, which society values and finds useful Literacy can take many forms including mathematical expressions, websites, graphs, scientific symbols, signs, body language and cartoons (Paterson, 2007). Speaking and listening are intrinsically interlinked since there is no benefit to speaking if it is not being listened to, even if that means listening to oneself. Speaking can take place in a variety of ways within the classroom. These primarily include questioning, pair work, collaborative group work or whole class discussions. Each of these is suited to different tasks or situations and the success of the activity depends on the planning skills of the teacher (Capel et al, 2009). In terms of how the talking begins, planned talk or questioning is more likely to result in an informative discussion as more preparation will have taken place. Incidental talk at any time during a lesson can be equally as useful but can also more easily lead to idle chat (Capel et al, 2009). Listening is often considered as a skill which is very difficult to perfect (Lewis and Graham, 2003). Wragg and Brown (2001) state that there are four different types of listening; these are skim, survey, search and study. They believe the types of listening range from little awareness to trying to search for the underlying meaning of what is being said. The reasons for these four types of listening could be due to the amount of information which can be conveyed through speech and the challenge of the listener having to process this information (Capel et al, 2009, Wragg and Brown, 2001). In order for literacy to be taught effectively there needs to be some consistency across the curriculum (Paterson, 2007). Literacy should not just be the responsibility of the English department, as it applies to all learning and subjects cannot be taught effectively without speaking and listening. For example, to get a good grade in an exam or essay requires the student to have a good understanding of literacy (DfES, 2003). The Department for Education and Skills (2003), also states that for there to be effective literacy strategy across the school there needs to be a common framework which enables all subjects to work together to achieve the common goal. All subjects need to have the same standards to ensure consistency. The National Literacy Trust (2010) state that every school needs to have a literacy co-ordinator who should be responsible for providing training, recognising the needs of other subjects and developing teacher confidence and enthusiasm. It is important that teachers have the correct opinion with regard to the inclusion of literacy in all subjects ensuring that they regard reading or speaking aloud as ways for students to learn subject content rather than just generating additional workload (Paterson, 2007). Although perhaps taking longer to plan than other activities, speaking and listening tasks could actually save the teacher time as students can take responsibility for some independent learning and creative thinking, which can be followed up by group discussion or questioning. To ensure that the speaking and listening within the classroom is valuable and effective, it is important to make sure that a variety of questions are planned in advance and these questions are aimed at differing abilities to ensure that all students have access to the curriculum (Capel et al, 2009). Open questions should be used to get a better understanding of students knowledge as they require a more detailed and comprehensive answer. Throughout the lesson some pupils should be targeted as it is a good way to assess their level of understanding. Another area which should be considered is pupil response time as some students may take longer to respond not because they do not know the answer they could just be thinking about it (Corson, 1990, Capel et al, 2009). There are some advantages and disadvantages to having discussions within a classroom. Some advantages are that teachers can get a more detailed understanding of a students comprehension of a particular subject area or topic. Fassinger (1995) discusses how speaking and listening can invoke concentration, keep students involved and is a proven confidence builder. However, a disadvantage is that the teacher would be unaware of where the discussion would end up and it could go off track. Teachers also need to take care to avoid sensitive issues with open discussions (Capel et al, 2009). Part of the role of a teacher is to give students feedback on their work to help them to learn and develop further (Murphy, 1997). However, the assessment of a student based on speaking and listening alone can be difficult simply because it is arduous to evidence (Brooks, 2002). For example if the student was relatively quiet and did not say much the teacher may assume that they are not achieving their goals. Too much speaking within an assessment could mean that the conversation has become more general and the student could be talking a lot but not covering a topic in depth. In conclusion, having literacy skills allows people to connect to our society. Richards and Rodgers (2001) state that there are four methods to teaching; speaking and listening account for half of these methods. There are a variety of different ways in which speaking and listening can be used within the classroom to raise and measure achievement and understanding.