Benjamin Franklin’s Life and Study Essay Example for Free

Benjamin Franklin’s Life and Study Essay The following discussion is based on an article, â€Å"Franklin, Modernity, and Themes of Dissent in the Early Modern Era† by â€Å"Carla Mulford† from â€Å"Modern Language Studies, Vol. 28, No. 2. (Spring 1998), pp. 13-27. This has been taken from â€Å"JSTOR† Archives. JSTOR Archive is a trusted digital repository for academic journals and scholarly literature around the world. It is supported by Libraries and Scholar Societies. The article discusses about Franklin’s views on Religion, Metaphysics and Deism. One can see how dissent was meant in Franklin’s days and how it’s perceived now. Creation of American Dream, learning about socio metaphysical ways of leading a life and several facets of Franklin’s views on religion can be seen here. Franklin was a precursor among â€Å"natural scientists† and his work on natural philosophy is also discussed here. Also his association with his friend’s daughter as a tutor and assisting her to pursue her study on natural philosophy and his views on historical production can be examined. He was more a deist than an atheist but people see him more as an atheist in his days and some of his family members too were of the same view. His similarities with George Whitman and other personalities are discussed. His spoofs on religion, advice to people to indulge in philosophy and to be useful to fellow beings, his facts about Bible and Christianity during her grand fathers’ days can be examined here. Franklin was a pioneer in more than one field and he was also a successful businessman and a diplomat. In author’s view, history production involves some assumptions about the past and some relevance to national myth making and silencing the past. Since the stories of the past are forever expandable, the accumulation of multiple stories blocks a nation’s ability to accommodate stories of other sort which might disrupt the conventional and accepted wisdom about their founding fathers. She quotes Trouillot suggestion that if the producers of the stories in the past lived inequalities then the stories yield unequal historical power (Carla Mulford, P 13). In the same context she says, US citizens who knows much about Benjamin Franklin doesn’t know about his son and who bore him and the records which exist are silent on this issue. Also when people speak about confederation and constitution, they tend to speak about Anglo-American debates and the Civil war instead of the native people representing the six nations. Also she quoted Benedict Anderson’s words; US community alienates themselves from conventional ideas of â€Å"dynastic empires, absolutisms, serfdoms, ghettoes† and is more inclined to â€Å"republican institutions, nation-states† (Carla Mulford, P 15). Benjamin Franklin was a Scholar, Deist, Philanthropist, Writer, Diplomat, Journalist, Civil Leader and a Scientist. There is more to his astounding brilliance in every respective field. Franklin and Religion: His was a puritan family and it had much influence on him. His religious views were simple and straightforward. According to him, religion should make people do more good and help our fellow beings. Deists don’t believe in orthodoxy and age old superstitious customs. Although he was a deist, he was more outspoken and sometimes confesses that this doctrine though true is less useful in making people virtuous. He always believes that service to mankind is service to God. He had Unitarian views and sometimes visits Unitarian Churches along with his friends. However he cannot be included among the Unitarians as he never openly stated about his inclination towards Unitarianism. He used to go to Unitarian Churches with his friends. According to Wikipedia, â€Å"Deism is a religious philosophy and movement that derives the existence and nature of god from reason and personal experience in contrast to theism†. He rejects orthodox Christian views. In a way he dissents the principles of Church. In his days, dissents were those who speak against church. Religion used to be associated with almost everything and hence to speak against something orthodox was treated as dissentious. Explaining about the dissenting nature of his family he says how his Great Great Grandfather conceals the English Bible from the officers of the spiritual court. He admires the Evangelist Preacher, George Whitefield. He says religion should be the best way in explaining morals to the people. In Geoffrey Sills lines of similarity between Franklin and Whitman Their strong interest in science and technology and America was a radical experiment in democracy and their similar views on religious dissent†. Thus Franklin’s view of religion as a moral freedom brings closer outlook on the religion disciplines which people follow. He had friends among Unitarians, Deists and other religions. He treats all religions the same. When he supported his friend to setup a Unitarian Church he stated that whoever leader comes irrespective of religion should be allowed to preach. On his funeral, people who thronged to see him were a mix of all religions. There were views in those times that people who believe in science doubt religion. Franklin doesn’t agree to this. Instead he sometimes confesses the virtues of religion. Franklin, a Scientist: Franklin was arguably the first American Scientist. He crossed the Gulf Stream and he used to take weather forecasts on his horse ridings. He studied storms and discovered Electricity. He was also the founding father of Civic Science in America. One can see Franklin flying a kite in their school text books. Being a Civic Scientist, he did public service and organized sermons. He formed the JUNTO, a discussion group for his friends, leaders and business people. He promoted Libraries, Civic Societies and Education, Hospitals and Schools. He developed Mail Delivery System and Dead Letter Office. With one of his French friends, he once queried, â€Å"What signifies Philosophy that doesn’t apply to some use? † He regards insects worthy of an enquiry and research because, as per him, even appropriate use of insects can benefit humans. He says one should never neglect one’s essential duties in keeping line with the study. He wrote in â€Å"Poor Richard† for October, 1750, â€Å"Hide not your Talents, they for use were made, / what’s a Sun-Dial in a Shade! † He invented Franklin stove and bi focal lens. He also studied sea water luminescence and ocean temperatures. He explained about the dangers of Lead Poisoning and hypothesized about Wave Theory of Light. Franklin, a Diplomat: He encourages Education. He wasn’t sent to school due to his father’s poverty. He was mostly self educated. He worked in a printer shop initially and then later shifted to work in a press. He was one of the founding fathers of America. His role in American Revolution is still remembered. Franklin was courageous and bold and had very good rapport with French and resolved most of the issues during the war. Franklin with all his diplomacy skills worked in forming a peace treaty during the war with French. He helped in the establishment of Pennsylvania’s first State University. A town was named after him due to his services. He was also famous for his anecdotes. Conclusion: This article covers almost all aspects of Benjamin Franklin, his personality and his achievements. I can clearly examine his views on religion and how he was a dissent among his people. Till date whenever I hear of Franklin, I can only imagine a bald guy flying a kite and running as this should be the case with most of the people. Our schools teach Franklin’s discovering Electricity in thunder storms. It’s only after reading the essay that I found the innumerable qualities and facets of his life. I came to know now that he was not only a scientist but a diplomat. You would see him in almost every walk of life. There is no surprise to find his name under every subject. Apart from Electricity I usually hear his name linked with American Revolution, his diplomacy in having a peace treaty with France. Now I can imagine how great a personality like him would be. His life spanned over eighty years ranging from a writer to a scientist and to a Legislative member. He was the founding father of the concept of Great American Dream. I’ve also found out from this essay about his works on Natural Philosophy. I’ve also learned about his role as an educationist and in promoting Women Education. Also I came to know about his friends among several religious groups and about his mutual interest in both deism and Unitarianism. He is famous for his wit and humor. There was a story that during Constitution Writing which Franklin resolved a hard stop by asking the Ministers in the Council to pray for a few minutes. Most of them didn’t agree and he resolved the issue without a prayer. America would remember Franklin as long as they remember Martin Luther King. Work Cites World Wide Web: 1) â€Å"Ben Franklin Scientist and Philanthropist†. http://www. nps. gov/archive/inde/Franklin_Court/Pages/franklinscientist. html 2) â€Å"Franklins Contributions to the American Revolution as a Diplomat in France†. http://www. ushistory. org/valleyforge/history/franklin. html 3) Lane, Neal. â€Å"Benjamin Franklin, Civic Scientist†. October 2003, page 41. http://www. physicstoday. org/vol-56/iss-10/p41. html 4) Rev. Clear, Bruce. THE RELIGION OF BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. Sunday. May 1. 2005. All Souls Unitarian Church. Indianapolis. http://allsoulsuuindy. org/ser20050501. htm.

Tackling Problem Behaviour in Classrooms | Case Study

Tackling Problem Behaviour in Classrooms | Case Study Single Subject Design Abstract The following addresses the case study level C, case 2. It concludes on how to tackle problem behavior faced by teachers in class rooms through single subject research designs and offers a few solutions on how to counter act them. Dependent Variable The dependent variables (DV) in this case are two specific behaviors demonstrated by Rachel, which are: Not raising her hand before answering a question Unnecessarily communicating with her peers during class lecture Independent Variable The independent variable (IV) will be the response of the teachers to Rachel’s problematic behavior, that is how they reprimand her and the corrective measures they take to correct her behavior in class so that she learns to follow the class room norms and maintain discipline and abides by the rules similar to her peers. Behavior Which Needs To Be Changed Rachel demonstrates two sets of behavior related to disturbing classroom discipline which she needs to rectify in order to maintain the decorum of the class room. Firstly, Rachel needs to learn to raise her hand before answering questions asked by her teachers during comprehension and reading activities like everyone else instead of just blurting out answers without being called upon or waiting her turn. Secondly, she must learn not to pass notes to her friends or talk to her peers during class unnecessarily and pay attention to the lecture and focus on what is being taught. Single Subject Research Designs (SSRD) In SSRD, basically, the participant is passed through a non-treatment (baseline) and a treatment (experimental condition) phase and his performance is identified during each phase. Since Rachel is the only one in her class demonstrating problem behavior, she will be the only test subject and will act as her own control group. In this type of design a non-treatment stage is first initiated till the performance in question validates steadiness. When the behavior becomes steady, the treatment stage is started. Since Rachel’s obtrusive behavior is already very consistent we can move on to the next phase in our research design. Based on the data collected through direct observation of Rachel’s behavior, in Mr. Smith and Mrs. Patel’s biology class during reading and comprehension activities, and the personal insight of the observer a treatment plan for Rachel will be developed as a corrective measure for her behavior. The behavior in demand, the dependent variable in the experiment, that is, Rachel not raising her hand before answering a question and passing notes to her friends in class and talking to her peers will be measured through appropriate data collection methods. In this scenario event recording (frequency of the target behavior is noted with each one having a specific beginning and end) and interval recording (observation of an individual during specified observation periods divided into equal time intervals) will be most appropriate. The observer has to be discrete while collecting data so that the subject remains unaware that he/she is being observed as this might cause them to bec ome cautious and change their pattern of behavior causing distortion in the data collected leading to incorrect results. It is always wiser to assess a group of students than a single individual as to ward off suspicion. (Sachse-Lee) The event recording chart shows on which specific occasions Rachel has spoken out of turn in class and on which ones she waited to be called on. A written record provides an actual proof of her behavior and provides a justification for taking corrective measures against her actions. The interval recording chart shows how many times the problem behavior has occurred over a specific period of time. If the frequency of occurrence of problem behavior is greater than what otherwise might be considered normal, it calls for corrective measures to be taken to correct the situation, which is the case for Rachel. The results of a single subject experiment are classically understood by mentioning to the behavioral chart in which the data is shown graphically. For example, the ‘number of lectures’ can be plotted on the x-axis and the ‘number of times hand raised before answering a question’ can be plotted on the y-axis. The effectiveness of IV can be measured by the direction of the behavior before and after the experimental condition was implemented. Statistics are not usually used to understand the outcomes of single subject experiments but if the slope of curve moves upwards and becomes steeper it means that Rachel raised her hand before answering a question a greater number of times after the implementation of experimental conditions than she did under the baseline conditions. A distinct slope is stronger indication that the behavior is varying than if the slope is a gentle one. (Strain) ABA Change Format An ABA design is such type of single subject research design in which contributors are first presented to a baseline state (A). In the baseline state, no treatment or experimental variable is presented. After this the participants obtain the experimental state or treatment (B), after which they arrive to the baseline condition (A). The ABA design enables the experimenters to detect behavior before treatment, throughout treatment and after the treatment. To establish a course of action or experimental conditions to rectify Rachel’s behavior is important to first establish goals, that is, what is hopped to be accomplished after the experiment or what kind of short term and long term behavioral changes are expected to be demonstrated by Rachel. Short term Rachel raises her hand to answer and awaits her turn to speak in class. Rachel stops talking to her peers unnecessarily during lectures or pass notes to her friends. Rachel concentrates more on what is being taught and improves her grades. Long term Rachel discontinues all problem behavior and learns to follow the discipline and norms of any institute that she may attend after graduating and develops a sense of responsibility and maturity. Teachers are faced with challenges even before they begin to educate students. Not only are teachers responsible for teaching the core academic subjects such as reading, math, science, and social studies, but teachers are also presented with nonacademic challenges that influence their instruction (Lassen, Steele, Sailor, 2006). First of all, in the face of discretion Rachel cannot be made to feel the center of attention or that steps to rectify her behavior are being taken. As this can cause her to rebel and worsen the condition by making her behavior more extreme. Secondly, sending Rachel to the office every time she demonstrates any kind of problem behavior must be terminated. It only makes her feel like she is being bullied or unfairly targets. Under both these scenarios Rachel’s behavior cannot be improved or rectified. A more group focused approach is required for positive results. The entire class should be told what kind of behavior constitutes as acceptable or unacceptable in class with a set of rules mandatory for all to follow under the pretense that problem behavior will lead to negative marking which will affect their grades. Another approach can be to reinforce positive behavior instead of punishing negative behavior. Students who behave in a desirable or exemplary manner in class can be rewarded via a small token of appreciation, which be wither verbal appreciation, a piece of candy or deciding which chapter to be quizzed on. The teachers can be as creative as they like. Bibliography Sachse-Lee, C. (n.d.). A Meta-Analysis of Single-Subject. Retrieved March Sunday, 2014, from http://ldx.sagepub.com/content/33/2/114.short Strain, S. L. (n.d.). Evidence-Based Practice in Early Intervention/Early Childhood Special Education: Single-Subject Design Research. Retrieved March Sunday, 2014, from http://jei.sagepub.com/content/25/2/151.short How Can a Midwife Support the Family? How Can a Midwife Support the Family? Title: Describe the positive and negative aspects of being in the NUCLEAR FAMILY. How can the midwife support the NUCLEAR FAMILY. Undergraduate Degree Level Essay 2,500 words Essay The family unit is an entity which is defined by environment and culture as much as behaviour. Different civilisations and cultures will define â€Å"the family† in different ways. Economic considerations are often paramount in the transition from an extended family to the nuclear family and social commentators often refer to the difficulties in establishing a new household base (in areas of high rent or commercial property value) as being one of the major obstacles to the emergence of the nuclear family as the common features of society. To quote Margaret Mead: Nobody has ever before asked the nuclear family to live all by itself in a box the way we do. With no relatives, no support, weve put it in an impossible situation. It is not surprising perhaps that members of the nuclear family can find themselves in emotional and practical turmoil. (Mead M 1972) Cultural factors may also be significant such as the Hindu â€Å"joint family† where a marriage will being two family groups together as one family unit. (Bengtson V L 2001) The first task in this essay is to describe and define the nuclear family. It first appeared in the scientific literature just after the war and was used to describe the family structure of a mother, father and their children. A formal definition could be: The nuclear family is a social group characterised by common residence, economic cooperation and reproduction. It contains adults of both sexes, at least two of whom maintain a socially approved sexual relationship, and one or more children, own or adopted, of the sexually cohabiting adults. (Murdock, G P 1949). In modern social literature it is also sometimes used in the context of stable single parent families or families where the parents are a non-conjugal couple. In this essay we shall consider the nuclear family to be in the original Murdock tradition. In the context of the implications for midwifery, we should also consider the implications of a being nuclear family. The literature often describes its positive features as including being a haven which encourages intimacy, love and trust where individuals may escape the competition of dehumanising forces in modern society†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ a place for escape from the rough and tumble industrialised world, and as a place where warmth, tenderness and understanding can be expected from a loving mother and protection from the world can be expected from the father. (Popenoe D 1997) The family life was famously pilloried by Nancy Mitford in her autobiography: â€Å"The great advantage of living in a large family is that early lesson of lifes essential unfairness.† (Acton H 1999) Although this was clearly intended as a flippant comment, one can suggest that the concept of the family as a haven is still both admitted and encouraged by social scientists, but in modern UK society the mechanisms of social protection and support that are currently available to most somewhat reduces the role of the father as â€Å"protector† and some commentators now add the concept of facilitating the ideal of personal fulfilment (or family fulfilment) as being the major role of the family unit The media would have us believe that society is decaying (The Guardian 2004) and cite the suggestion that the move towards self sufficiency, personal gratification and the move away from the extended family unit is evidence of that degeneration. The transfer of responsibility for the elderly from the family to the state and, to a lesser extent, the responsibility for childcare being assumed by the state is often put forward as further evidence of that decline. Such considerations are of peripheral importance to this essay and therefore will not be discussed further. We can examine the factors which are relevant to the change in prevalence of the nuclear family however, and these are often cited as Increase in sole occupancy dwellings and smaller family sizes Average age of marriage being older Average number of children decreasing and first birth at later age The historical pattern of fertility. >From baby boom to baby bust (instability) The ageing population. The trend towards greater life expectancy. Rising divorce rates and people who will never marry. (after Kidd K E et al. 2000) Clearly many of these factors have a resonance in the field of midwifery and we shall discuss them further. We should note however, that despite comments being made about the move away from the nuclear family structure that in the UK it is still the most prevalent stable family structure accounting for in excess of 70% of all households. If we consider briefly how the nuclear family developed, we can look back to the days of the industrial revolution when social scientists point to the move from the extended family unit to a mobility dictated by the absence of a welfare state and family members moving to live with others who were in employment. Such changes were seen as an influence to extend and modify the family unit as a whole. As the welfare state evolved, the economic pressures referred to above became less of a compelling factor and the nuclear family emerged. Some commentators use the term â€Å"dispersed extended family† due to the fact that a nuclear family is now able to keep in functional contact with other family members through the medium of telephone, fast easy travel and now email (Shaw M et al. 2002) Other factors that have changed and that are relevant to our considerations here are the relationships between parents and their children. In the past it was comparatively common to find that parents had children for economic reasons and were typically very authoritarian. The advent of social prosperity and the social support mechanisms available to UK households now mean that the economic necessity for having children is no longer viable. Parent / child relationships are said to be more loving and warmer and children are typically allowed a longer period of childhood in modern day life. There is also a considerable body of evidence to show that children are dependent on their parents for much longer than they used to be.(Wilkinson R et al. 1998) We should not suggest that this comparatively rosy assessment of the nuclear family is the only consequence of social evolution. We can point to evidence that the traditional order of life events marriage, sex and children is becoming progressively reordered. Marriage is progressively less likely to come first and progressively more likely not to happen at all. In the last three decades the levels of cohabitation has trebled and the number of babies born outside marriage has increased fivefold. In the same period the number of single parent families has increased by a factor of three. Other significant statistics are that over the last 30 years the divorce rate has doubled which currently has the effect of finding that 50% of children under the age of 16 have had to live through their parent’s divorce. The midwife is often central to the portal of support systems to the newly pregnant mother and thereby to the family. The possibilities of interaction between the midwife and the family are virtually endless and the opportunities for support and guidance at a vulnerable time in life are legion. (Pennebaker J W et al. 2002). We shall therefore use a few examples by way of illustration. One of the prime reasons cited for relationship breakdown is depression in one or both partners. This is a well recognised sequel of childbirth and the midwife can clearly play a major role in spotting the early signs, enlisting prompt intervention and offering support to the whole family unit in such circumstances. (Davidson L 2000) One recent paper examined the role of the midwife in actually preventing (or minimising) the onset and severity of post natal depression with the simple expedient of holding â€Å"debriefing† sessions. (Small R et al. 2000). The aim was to allow the mother to verbalise her experiences and to gain support and empathy from the midwife. The paper was both long and involved but, in essence, it examined the practice of debriefing, which has been successfully employed in other fields of healthcare as a means of reducing the burden of psychological morbidity, in its application to the field of midwifery. The authors point to the fact that there has only been one other qualitative trial in this area in the field of reproductive medicine and that was after spontaneous abortion when it was found to have a marked beneficial effect. (Bland J M et al. 2000) This particular paper emphasises the role that the midwife can play in providing support. The significance is that the debriefing process, as such, does not measurably reduce the incidence of maternal depression but that the support that was provided was found to reduce the psychological distress felt by the mothers. The downside of such an intervention is that it can be seen as causing introspection and medicalising of the patient’s symptomatology. Empathetic handling and a sympathetic approach would clearly be part of the midwife’s clinical acumen (Lavender T et al. 1998) and nearly all of the women who underwent the debriefing sessions said that they found then helpful. In terms of bonding and fostering the loving relationships that were commented on earlier, one could postulate that the role of the midwife in the promotion of breastfeeding activities is fundamentally important. The literature does not show any good evidence base for this hypothesis, mainly because of the fact that it would be both hard to quantify and measure, but the trial from Graffy (J et al. 2004) does support the fact that positive help and advice from healthcare professionals in the immediate postnatal period helps to promote maternal bonding which, in turn is associated with and increase in bonding in later life (Hamlyn B et al. 2000). Curiously enough the trial did not find that the intervention significantly increased the rate of breast feeding, which may be a reflection of the fact that the modern mother in the UK is bombarded with promotional messages about breast feeding from many different sources and the intervention of the midwife is not fundamentally critical to achieving this goal. The mothers interviewed afterwards who were successful in their attempts at breast feeding commented on the fact that they felt emotionally satisfied with a greater frequency than those who were not able to do so. >From the point of view of our considerations here we should note that there were a significant number of women (26% in this trial) who positively refused any help or support from any of the healthcare professionals, and this group may well benefit from careful handling and empathetic intervention in the pregnancy when the midwife is the main healthcare professional in contact with the expectant mother. The midwife has a number of constraints upon her professional involvement and, generally by virtue of time constraints she has little time to act as a councillor to the family’s problems. We should therefore consider the effect of the modern concept of the seamless interface of care and multidisciplinary team working. (Kvamme O J et al. 2001). If the midwife is working in the hospital setting and becomes aware of family difficulties she should consider it part of her professional remit to pass on her concerns and knowledge to other appropriate professionals in the healthcare team whether that is at the level of the primary healthcare team or to a specific councillor or other related agency. Clearly this is easier if the midwife is already working in the community setting (Haggerty J L et al. 2003) as both continuity and coordination are more easily controlled The thrust of this essay is to suggest that a role of the midwife is to support the newborn child as it begins its presumptive relationship with its new family and this can sometimes best be achieved by supporting the family unit during and after the birth of the child. In this regard we could finish this examination of the nuclear family with a comment from Pearl S. Buck who criticized the current system on part of emotional security aspects. He said The lack of emotional security of our young people is due, I believe, to their isolation from the larger family unit. No two people no mere father and mother as I have often said, are enough to provide emotional security for a child. He needs to feel himself one in a world of kinfolk, persons of variety in age and temperament, and yet allied to himself by an indissoluble bond which he cannot break if he could, for nature has welded him into it before he was born. (ODQ 2004) References Acton H 1999 Nancy Mitford: A Biography (Paperback) Macmillan : London 1999 Bengtson V L 2001 Journal of Marriage and Family ; Feb 2001 ; 63 , 1; Bland J M , J. Lumley, and R. Small 2000 Midwife led debriefing to reduce maternal depression BMJ, December 9, 2000 ; 321 (7274) : 1470 1470. Davidson L 2000 Psycho-social interventions in maternity care; the need for evaluation BMJ, 22 Dec 2000 Pg 24-7 Graffy J, Jane Taylor, Anthony Williams, and Sandra Eldridge 2004 Randomised controlled trial of support from volunteer counsellors for mothers considering breast feeding BMJ, Jan 2004 ; 328 : 26 ; Greif, Avner (2005). Family structure, institutions and growth: The origins and implications of Western corporatism Health Bull 2005 ; 39 : 166-72. Haggerty J L, Robert J Reid, George K Freeman, Barbara H Starfield, Carol E Adair, and Rachael McKendry 2003 Continuity of care: a multidisciplinary review BMJ, Nov 2003 ; 327 : 1219 1221 ; Hamlyn B, Brooker S, Oleinikova K, Wands S. 2000 Infant feeding 2000. London: Stationery Office, 2002. Kidd K E, Altman D G. 2000 Adherence in social context. Control Clin Trials 2000 ; 21( suppl 1) : S184 7. Kvamme O J , F Olesen, and M Samuelsson 2001 Improving the interface between primary and secondary care: a statement from the European Working Party on Quality in Family Practice (EQuiP) Qual. Health Care, Mar 2001 ; 10 : 33 39. Lavender T, Walkinshaw S A. 1998 Can midwives reduce postpartum psychological morbidity? A randomized trial. Birth 1998 ; 25 : 215 221 Mead, Margaret. 1972 Blackberry Winter: My Earlier Years. New York : William Morrow Company, Inc., 1972. Murdock, George Peter (1949). Social Structure. New York: The MacMillan Company. 1949 ODQ 2004. Hamlyn : London 2004 Pennebaker J W, A. L Teixeira Jr, H. Alvarenga-Silva, and A F Schilte 2000 Somatisation in primary care BMJ, March 2, 2002 ; 324 (7336) : 544 544. Popenoe D 1999 Can The Nuclear Family Be Revived? Society Volume 36, Number 5 / July 01, 1999 Pages: 28 30 Shaw M, Dorling D, Mitchell R. 2002 Health, place and society. Harlow: Pearson Education, 2002. Small R, Judith Lumley, Lisa Donohue, Anne Potter, and Ulla Waldenstrà ¶m 2000 Randomised controlled trial of midwife led debriefing to reduce maternal depression after operative childbirth BMJ, Oct 2000 ; 321 : 1043 1047. The Guardian Saturday September 25, 2004 Wilkinson R, Marmot M, ed. 1998 Social determinants of health. The solid facts. Copenhagen: WHO, 1998 : 308. ################################################################ 8.12.06 Word count 2,576 PDG

Life Is Difficult :: essays research papers

Feburary 24th, 2004 two days beffore my first draft is due. For my personal essay. I've chose number 3 for my question but how do i answer...so many people I look up to and so many lessons learned. Walked in the door of my Grandmother's house, it was cold you could feel the chill go down your spine and the goose bumps forming on your arms. My mom had dropped me off. It had only been five mintues and i already missed her. Do I miss her cause she's the only one on my side that knows how I am feeling or is it because she's going away for vacation? Well my mom is gone she had planned for my uncle Dave to pick me up for the next two weeks aand my god mother would pick me up the two following weeks after. But there was a misunderstanding with my aunt obviously. She had asked me who was going to drive me for the first two days of school. She has told me my mother said Dave was, so of course I told her that Dave was. My grandmother had decided for us to call Dave and make sure what was going on. I was like whatever I dont mind because theirs nothing wrong with making sure. Time had passed, dinner had been served. Me and my aunt had already been on bad terms since I was young. Anyways lets get back to what i was saying. Nine o' clock has hit just doing what I have to do in my room by myself. It got closwer and closer...time. The later it got the worse things would get. I could feel it in my heart something bad was going to happend to me. Bump bump bump..BOOM! Someone swings my door open. Already i knew somethings wrong. By the teffifying look on her face. Then she apporached me in a hoarse tone of voice saying "Go to bed". I said to her in a very calm voice and said "Welll its only nine thirty and i dont go to bed until ten thirty". The voice got even more demanding "As long your in this house you sleep at nine thirty". I had said nothing, afarid I would make things worse. She asked has my mother left on the plane yet. I said "No I had jus got of the phone with her".

Essay on Picture of Dorian Gray: The Character of Lord Henry Wotten

The Character of Lord Henry Wotten of The Picture of Dorian Gray  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The purpose of this essay is to explore the character of Lord Henry Wotten, from The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. Oscar Wilde once said: I only know that Dorian Gray is a classic and deservedly. With this in mind, this essay is aimed at looking at how Lord Henry Wotton manipulates various conversations and how he effects the story with his challenging speeches, which is the reason The Picture of Dorian Gray is a classic. Henry is such a memorable, cleverly developed character, that his influence on the text elevates the novel's value. In the conversations of Lord Henry Wotton and the behaviour of Dorian Gray [Wilde shows that] †¦. self-expression can be turned into an art. - Acroyd. Lord Henry's conversations are used to introduce humour and intelligence to a tragic story. Lord Henry has a cynical view of the opposite sex, and also to marriage or any form of relationship which involves both genders. Henry says: Men marry because they are tired, women, because they are curious: both are disappointed. Henry here is humorously analyzing marriage, and summing it up in one sentence, which is typical of his conversation. He says things quickly and sharply so the story can move on with humour arising from the conversation. In this example Henry is giving quite a bleak outlook on marriage. This theme is explored further when he says: Young men want to be faithful, and are not, old men want to be faithless, and cannot. In this example, Henry explores the driving force between the nature of old and young men, and how they relate to the opposite sex. He uses irony to demonstrate his knowledge of how males relate t... ... parallel, as Henry's influence on Dorian Gray is evident, but Dorian Gray doesn't affect Henry's character at all. The reader also gets a contrast with Basil's relationship to Henry. Basil appears to ignore the humorous speeches that Henry gives by dismissing them as being "not serious" in nature. Because of this, Henry doesn't effect Basil in a negative way, as he does Dorian. Dorian appears to hang on every word that Henry gives, whereas Basil practically ignores what Henry says. Lord Henry's influence in the novel The Picture of Dorian Gray is that is gives a meaningful, ethical story a further contextual layer. Dorian Gray is a superb story, but the character of Lord Henry Wotton is what elevates the novel to its classic status. Works Cited: Wilde, Oscar. The Picture of Dorian Gray; For Love of the King. London: Routledge/Thoemmes Press, 1993.

Adolecsent Depression Essay -- Suicide Teenagers Depressed Disorder Es

Adolecsent Depression The suicide rate for adolescents has increased more than 200% over the last decade. Recent studies have shown that greater than 20% of adolescents in the general population have emotional problems and one-third of adolescents attending psychiatric clinics suffer from depression. The majority of teenage depressions can be managed successfully by the primary care physician with the support of the family, says Maurice Blackman MB, FRCPC. Depression has been considered to be the major psychiatric disease of the 20th century, affecting approximately eight million people in North America. Adults with psychiatric illness are 20 times more likely to die from accidents or suicide than adults without psychiatric disorder.[1] Major depression, including bipolar affective disorder, often appears for the first time during the teenage years, and early recognition of these conditions will have profound effects on later morbidity and mortality. Is depression in adolescents a significant problem? The suicide rate for adolescents has increased more than 200% over the last decade.[2] Adolescent suicide is now responsible for more deaths in youths aged 15 to 19 than cardiovascular disease or cancer. Recent studies have shown that greater than 20% of adolescents in the general population have emotional problems and one-third of adolescents attending psychiatric clinics suffer from depression.[3] Despite this, depression in this age group is greatly underdiagnosed, leading to serious difficulties in school, work and personal adjustment which often continue into adulthood. Why is depression in this age group often missed? Adolescence is a time of emotional turmoil, mood lability, gloomy introspection, great drama and heightened sensitivity. It is a time of rebellion and behavioral experimentation. The physician's challenge is to identify depressive symptomatology which may be superimposed on the backdrop of a more transient, but expected, developmental storm. Diagnosis, therefore, must rely not only on a formal clinical interview but on information provided by collaterals, including parents, teachers and community advisors. The patient's premorbid personality must be taken into account, as well as any obvious or subtle stress or trauma that may have preceded the clinical state. The therapeutic alliance is very important since the ad... ... should the patient be referred to a psychiatrist specializing in adolescents? Referral should be considered under a number of circumstances. If the physician cannot engage in conversation with the teenager because of the patient's resistance or the physician's own insecurity about dealing with this age group, then referral is suggested. This is particularly important if the depression is judged to be severe or if there have been some suicidal concerns. Referral should also be considered if the patient's condition does not improve in the expected time or if there is any deterioration or worsening of the depression despite adequate treatment. It should be stressed that the majority of teenage depressions can be managed successfully by the primary care physician with the support of the family. Works Cited: 1. Murphy, JM, Monson, RR, Olivier, DC, et al: Affective disorders and mortality: A general population study. Arch Gen Psychiatry 44:470, 1987. 2. Hodgma, CH, McAnarny, ER: Adolescent depression and suicide: Rising problems. Hosp Pract 127(4):73,1992. 3. Kovaks, M: Affective disorders in children and adolescents. Am J Psychol 44(2):209,1989

Plant Growing Lamp Presentation Essay

Good morning, everybody. Thank you for coming to my short presentation today. Let me introduce myself first. I’m Chris Wong, a medical assistant of Willis Health Centre. I’m very glad today to present to you our team’s proposed product, Dino, a plant growing lamp. My presentation will be covered into three parts. I’ll, first of all, introduce to you the background information about our environment. Next, I’ll explain our proposed product, Dino. Finally, I’ll outline some problems that our team concerned about. Afterwards, there will be a question and answer session. Right, let me start with the background about our environment. In fewer years, do you feel the weather is unexpected? Do you think this is terrible? Do you know why? Let me talk you. Nowadays, human do lots of things to damage our environment is caused the bigger problem, global warming. That why the weather is unexpected. They use lots to things to release the greenhouse gas. It is global issue because the effects are very important. That why we developed this plant growing lamp. Fine, I’ll now explain our proposed Dino. To start with, let’s look at the aesthetic value. This lamp can come with different pattern and color. Most important is it will have some seed inside the lamp. You can choose the pattern and color to match your home design and your home will be more modern. After the plant grows up, it also can offer fresh air. You will have a wonderful environment in the house because it can be a pretty decoration. Now, let’s turn to the user’s needs. The lamp has deep penetrating infrared light. Do you feel tired after a whole working? It can help you to relief pain and stimulate blood circulation. You feel more relax after using Dino. It really can bring you a health benefits. So much for the user’s need and the aesthetic. Let’s now look at the benefits for our company image. As you know, our company directions are focusing on health and environment. I think the health benefits of the user are already to promote our images. For the environment, the lamp is using a bio-degradable material. It is less damaged to our environment and it is very eco-friendly since Dino is also using the recyclable material.

The Return: Midnight Chapter 19

Bonnie decided, with seconds precious and seeming to stretch for hours, that what was going to happen was going to happen no matter what she did. And there was a matter of pride here. She knew that there were people who would laugh at that, but it was true. Despite Elena's new Powers, Bonnie was the one most used to confronting stark darkness. She was somehow alive after al that. And very soon she would not be. And the way she went was the only thing left up to her. She heard a glissando of screams and then she heard them come to a halt. Well, that was al she could do for the moment. Stop screaming. The choice was made. Bonnie would go out, unbroken, defiant – and silent. The moment she stopped shrieking Shinichi made a gesture and the ogre who had hold of her stopped carrying her to the window. She'd known it. He was a bul y. Bul ies wanted to hear that things hurt or that people were miserable. The ogre lifted her so her face was level with Shinichi's. â€Å"Excited about your one-way trip?† â€Å"Thril ed,†she said expressionlessly. Hey, she thought, I'm not so bad at this brave thing. But everything inside her was shaking at double time in order to make up for her stony face. Shinichi opened the window. â€Å"Stillthril ed?† Now that had done something, opening the window had. She was not going to be smashed against glass until she broke it with her face and went sailing through the jagged bits. There wasn't going to be pain until she hit the ground and nobody would know about that, not even her. Just do it and get it over with, Bonnie thought. The warm breeze from the window told her that this – place – this slave-sel ing place – where customers were al owed to sift through the slaves until they found just the right one – was too highly air-conditioned. I'l be warm, even if it's just for a second or so, she thought. When a door near them banged, Bonnie nearly jumped out of the ogre's arms, and when the door to their own room banged open, she nearly jumped through her own skin. You see? Something surged wildly through her. I'm saved! It only took a little of that brave stuff and now†¦ But it was Shinichi's sister, Misao. Misao, looking gravely il , her skin ashen, holding on to the door to hold herself up. The only thing about her that wasn't grayed-out was her bril iant black hair, tipped with scarlet at the ends, just like Shinichi's. â€Å"Wait!†she said to Shinichi. â€Å"You never even asked about – â€Å" â€Å"You think a little airhead like her would know? But have it your own way.†Shinichi seated Misao on the couch, rubbing her shoulders comfortingly. â€Å"I'l ask.† So she was the one inside the two-way mirror room, Bonnie thought. She looks real y bad. Like dying bad. â€Å"What happened to my sister's star bal ?†Shinichi demanded and then Bonnie saw how this thing formed a circle, with a beginning and an ending, and how, understanding this, she could die with true dignity. â€Å"It was my fault,†she said, with a faint smile as she remembered. â€Å"Or half of it was. Sage opened it up the first time to open the Gate back on Earth. And then†¦Ã¢â‚¬ She told them the story, as if it were one she'd never heard before, putting an emphasis on how it was she who had given Damon the clues to find Misao's star bal , and it was Damon who then had used it to enter the top level of the Dark Dimensions. â€Å"It's al a circle,†she explained. â€Å"What you do comes back to you.†Then despite herself, she started to giggle. In two strides, Shinichi was across the room and slapping her. She didn't know how many times he did it. The first was enough to make her gasp and stop her giggling. Afterward her cheeks felt as swol en as if she had a very painful case of the mumps, and her nose was bleeding. She kept trying to wipe it on her shoulder, but it wouldn't stop. At last Misao said, â€Å"Ugh. Unfasten her hands and give her a towel or something.† The ogres moved just as if Shinichi had given the order. Shinichi himself was now sitting beside Misao, talking to her softly, as if he were speaking to a baby or a beloved pet. But Misao's eyes, with their tiny flicker of fire in them, were clear and adult as she looked at Bonnie. â€Å"Where is my star bal now?†she asked with dreadful gray intensity. Bonnie, who was wiping her nose, feeling the bliss of not being handcuffed behind her back, wondered why she wasn't even trying to think of a lie. Like, let me free and I'l lead you to it. Then she remembered Shinichi and his damn kitsune telepathy. â€Å"How could I know?†she pointed out logical y. â€Å"I was just trying to pul Damon away from the Gate when we both fel in. It didn't come with us. As far as I know, it got kicked in the dust and al the liquid spil ed out.† Shinichi got up to hurt her again, but she was only tel ing the truth. Misao was already speaking. â€Å"We know that didn't happen because I am† – she had to pause to breathe – â€Å"Stillalive.† She turned her ashen, sunken face toward Shinichi and said, â€Å"You're right. She's useless now, and ful of information she shouldn't have. Throw her out.† An ogre picked Bonnie up, towel and al . Shinichi came around the other side. â€Å"Do you see what you've done to my sister? Do you see?† No more time now. Just a second to wonder if she real y was going to be brave or not. But what should she say to show she was brave? She opened her mouth, honestly not sure whether what was coming out was a scream or words. â€Å"She's going to look even worse when my friends are done with her,†she said, and saw in Misao's eyes that she'd hit her target. â€Å"Throw her out,†Shinichi shouted, livid with fury. And the ogre threw her out the window. Meredith was sitting with her parents, trying to figure out what was wrong. She had finished her errands in record time: getting enlarged versions of the writing on the front of the jars made; cal ing the Saitou family to find that they would al be home at noon. Then she had examined and numbered the individual blow-ups of each character in the pictures that Alaric had sent. The Saitous had been†¦tense. Meredith hadn't been surprised since Isobel had been a prime, if entirely innocent, carrier of the kitsune's deadly possessing malach. One of the worst casualties was Isobel's own steady boyfriend, Jim Bryce, who had gotten the malach from Caroline and spread it to Isobel without knowing what he was doing. He himself had been possessed by Shinichi's malach and had demonstrated al the hideous symptoms of Lesch-Nyhan Syndrome, eating away at his own lips and fingers, while poor Isobel had used dirty needles – sometimes the size of a child's knitting needles – to pierce herself in more than thirty places, besides forking her tongue with scissors. Isobel was out of the hospital and on the mend now. Still, Meredith was bewildered. She had gotten approval of the cards with enlarged, individual characters off the jars from the older Saitous – Obaasan (Isobel's grandmother) and Mrs. Saitou (Isobel's mother) – not without a good deal of argument in Japanese over each character. She was just getting into her car when Isobel had come running out of the house with a bag of Post-it Notes in her hand. â€Å"Mother did them – in case you needed,†she gasped in her new, soft, slurring voice. And Meredith had taken the notes from her grateful y, murmuring something awkward about repayment. â€Å"No, but – but may I have a look at the blow-ups?†Isobel had panted. Why was she panting so hard? Meredith wondered. Even if she'd run from the top floor al the way fol owing Meredith – that wouldn't account for it. Then Meredith remembered: Bonnie had said Isobel had a â€Å"jumpy†heart. â€Å"You see,†Isobel said with what looked like shame and a plea for understanding, â€Å"Obaasan is real y almost blind now – and it's been so long since Mother was in school†¦but I take Japanese classes right now.† Meredith was touched. Obviously, Isobel had felt it bad manners to contradict an adult when they were in earshot. But there, sitting in the car, Isobel had gone through every card with a blown-up character, writing a similar, but definitely different character on the back. It had taken twenty minutes. Meredith had been awed. â€Å"But how do you remember them al ? How do you ever write to each other?†she had blurted, after seeing the complicated symbols that differed only by a few lines. â€Å"With dictionaries,†Isobel had said, and had for the first time given a little laugh. â€Å"No, I'm serious – to write a very proper letter, say, don't you use Thesaurus and Spel Check and – â€Å" â€Å"I need those to write anything!†Meredith had laughed. It had been a nice moment, both of them smiling together, relaxed. No problems. Isobel's heart had seemed just fine. Then Isobel had hurried away and when she was gone Meredith was left staring at a round circle of moisture on the passenger seat. A tear. But why should Isobel be crying? Because it reminded her of the malach, or of Jim? Because it would take several plastic surgeries before her ears would have flesh on them again? No answer that Meredith could think of made sense. And she had to hurry to get to her own home – late. It was only then that Meredith was stricken by a fact. The Saitou family knew that Meredith, Matt, and Bonnie were friends. But none of them had asked about either Bonnie or Matt. Strange. If she had only known how much stranger her visit with her own family would be†¦