Reflect on the importance of a child centred approach in the Early Years Essay

A – Reflect on the importance of a child centred approach in the Early Years A child centred approach in early years settings is important as it makes sure the children’s needs are met fully and it helps them reach their full potential. Children reflect their interests through their learning and different experiences. It is important for practitioners to encourage this so they can find out what the children are interested in and then later use the information when planning activities. Having a show and tell gives practitioners a chance to find out about what the children like and enjoy. They are also showing the children that they are interested in what they get up to when they are not at school. (Also relates to C) Another way of finding out more about the children is by getting them to take a toy home for a period of time then getting them write a diary of activities they did with the toy. Knowing what the children like can also help the practitioner improve their tea ching methods. For example, if they know some of the children like the police, they can turn the home corner into a police station. This would encourage the children to take part in more activities because they would enjoy what they are doing. (C) It is important to have different ability groups in an Early Years setting because it can help the children reach their full potential as they would be going at a pace that is suitable for them and not for someone else. This also gives the children the chance to help each other in the group because they would be at the same stages and most likely get caught out at the same sections. According to Vygotsky, â€Å"By letting students of similar but differing abilities work in groups, they can help each other: often a lot more effectively than a teacher would be able to.† (Urbano, 12/07/12, Scaffolding and Peer-learning: Thinking about Vygotsky’s â€Å"Zone of Proximal Development†) Performing observations can also help children reach the ir full potential because practitioners can see if the children are at the expected development stages for their age, and if they are not, they can support the children in the specific areas they need help with. It is important to work in partnership with parents because â€Å"parents have the most knowledge and understanding of their child† (Beaver et al, 2008, pg 27) so practitioners can learn from them about how best to help the children and encourage them to improve their abilities. The planning cycle is a useful guide for helping practitioners look at the different types of development in a child. Using the cycle can  help practitioners respond to the children’s needs because they can work out what needs to be observed, then after the observations they can analyse their findings and make plans that would benefit the child. When the plan has been put into motion another assessment can be done on the child to see if there have been any improvements. The cycle can be repeated to continue helping the child.

Legalizing Abortion

Topic: Abortion Question: Should abortion be legalized in East Africa? Claim: Yes, abortion should be legalized in East Africa. Outline: I. Introduction A. Definition of the term B. Historical background II. Reasons A. Abortion helps in stability and minimizing the effects of poverty in a family. B. It helps in controlling the population of a country. C. It helps in preventing the deaths of women caused by illegal abortion. III. Unstated assumption: It is good to have a decrease in population because when population of a country increases, it may lead to decrease in the national income and economic growth, and increase in unemployment.IV. Opposing views A. Choosing adoption as an alternative to abortion. B. Abortion can lead to a decrease in population which may endanger the economy of a country. C. Legalizing abortion does not guarantee the survival of the woman after abortion. V. Responding to opposing view A. In Kenya, adoption in Kenya has a long process and restrictions. B. A de crease in population is also a positive impact to the country. C. Legalizing abortion reduces the unsafe abortions hence, gives hope to the woman aborting. VI. Conclusion A. Summary of pointsB. Recommendations Abortion Abortion can be defined as ending of pregnancy or termination of pregnancy by choice or one that happens accidentally in case of miscarriage. The pregnancy is removed from the womb, either by taking pills which involves taking medicines to cause miscarriage or by surgery. In East Africa abortion is common and is almost always illegal and unsafe. Even though induced abortion is highly restricted in most of Eastern Africa, an estimated 2. 4 million unsafe induced abortion occurred in the region in 2008.Nearly one in five maternal deaths can be attributed to unsafe abortion and more than 500 women die per 100,000 unsafe abortions. If compared with United State, where abortion is legal and safe the case fatality ratio is 0. 6 deaths per 100,000 abortions (Hussain, 2012). Hence, legalizing abortion will reduce unsafe abortions and the expense of the procedure. Abortion helps in stability and minimizing the effects of poverty in a family. Most of these abortions results from unwanted pregnancy, hence the family or the woman is unable to support the child decides to do abortion.Because a child needs a lot of care and support therefore money is involved. And this will help in minimizing the effect of poverty that would have likely occur if the fetus was kept. Abortion helps in controlling the population of a country. Kenya is among the under developed countries. This means there are fewer resources compared to the number people in the country. There abortions help in decreasing the population of the country which reduces the dependency ratio in the country and increase employment.It is good to have a decrease in population because when population of a country increases, it may lead to decrease in the national income and economic growth, and increase in unemployment. Abortion helps in preventing the deaths of women caused by illegal abortion. Most of the abortions performed in Kenya are unsafe due to lack of proper professional performing the abortion or lack of proper environment including equipments and surrounding where the abortion is being performed. Hence, endangers the health of the mother. I agree that women should choose adoption as an alternative to abortion.The woman should give the child away to a needy family which lacks children instead of aborting. But that is not likely to happen in a country like Kenya. It’s because childless families most of the time takes the children of their relatives to take care of. And also Kenya adoption process is very long and the court is the only legal body that approves the adoption. I concede that abortion can lead to a decrease in population which may endanger the economy of a country. A country like Kenya is still growing hence needs human labor. Decrease in population may le ad to decrease of the countries performance.However, a decrease in population is also a positive impact to the country. Because it will lead to increase in employment which will lead to an increase in the country’s Gross domestic product (GDP) and also leads to an increase in living standard of people. While it is true that legalizing abortion does not guarantee the survival of the woman after abortion. This is because the chances of surviving the abortion is 0. 6 per 100,000 people but legalizing abortion reduces the unsafe abortions hence, gives hope to the woman aborting.When abortion is legalized even the big hospitals will offer the services which are better compared to these illegal and dirty places where most of the abortions are performed. Abortion therefore helps in stability and minimizing the effects of poverty in a family, it helps in controlling the population of a country, and it helps in preventing the deaths of women caused by illegal abortion. However, the go vernment of Kenya should limit the number of abortion to be done per woman and this should not imply in miscarriages.

The Life of Prophet Mohammad Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Life of Prophet Mohammad - Essay Example The hermit asked them where they were from and they replied Mecca, he then told them that God would send a prophet from their people. When they inquired the name of the prophet, the hermit told them he would be called Muhammad and would lead them to new life (Kalby et al 1992). In the meantime, while saddened by the death of her husband, Aminah, felt healthy and stronger during her pregnancy. At his moment, she had dreams of many things. On one instance, it was as if a great light was coming from her and on another occasions heard a voice which told her that she would deliver a baby boy and would name her Muhammad. She did not tell any one about the voice. On the 12th day of Rabi al-Awwal, the year 570 A.D, a baby boy was born of Aminah. It's believed that when a chosen prophet is born, God (Allah) gives signs. Such signs were seen that day, for instance, a scholar from Yathrib saw a new star that had never been seen before in his studies of the stars and heavenly bodies. He called people to witness the star and told them a prophet must have been born (Kalby et al 1992). Aminah sent news to her father in law Abd al-Muttalib, who was so much delighted and immediately started thinking of naming the grandson. No ordinary name was to be given. After six days, he dreamt of Muhammad as the name just as Aminah herself had done and so he was named Muhammad meaning the 'Praised One' (Teece 2004). His Childhood Just like many families at that time, Aminah sent her son to the desert in his early ages so that they could grow and develop into a healthy boy as the desert was healthier. Muhammad was taken by a Halimah, a Bedouin woman. She was not very rich and in fact that year the harvest were even worse and she could not even breast feed her own baby. Nonetheless she and her husband opted to take Muhammad since he was the only child left as no one wanted to take him since the wet nurse had to be paid by the baby's father yet Muhammad had lost his dad (Teece 2004). Halimah never wanted to pick him either but she did not want to go back without a baby. When they reached home, Halimah noticed that a lot of things changed, the land was greener and lots of foods were harvested and she had plenty of milk from her sheep. She knew this was fortune from the new child. By the time Muhammad tuned two years, she had grown fond of him and Muhammad played with her children and would even go to take care of the sheep in the grazing fields. She had to return him and when she reached there she pleaded with Aminah to keep him a little longer which she accepted (Teece 2004). Muhammad (pbuh) Often sat alone and it's believed that at some instance two angels had washed his heart. This was to make his heart pure. Muhammad would be greater than all men ever born (a seal of prophets). On his return, Muhammad (pbuh) was a very healthy boy, Aminah decided to take him to visit his uncles in Yathrib. He had a great time with his cousins. Unfortunately, on their way home, his mother felt ill and died. He was later taken up by his grandfather. They lived together happily until when the grandfather also felt ill and asked Abu Talib, His son to take up Muhammad (pbuh) upon his death. Muhammad was easily assimilated into the family of Abu Talib though he (Abu Talib) had many

Developing Professional Practice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Developing Professional Practice - Essay Example But in order to become professional accountants or future business leaders, it is very important for the academic students to maintain the ethics and codes of conduct. Several researchers have made researches in order to find out the impact of ethics standards on the accounting students. It has been found that the ethics and standards could not change the overall moral capability of these students to a great extent. It is an important factor associated with the ethical codes and standards set for the accounting students. It has also been stated that the lack of awareness of the term ‘plagiarism’ is another serious educational misconduct, which additionally contributes to student plagiarism. The third factor was related to excessive pressure, which influences the students in conducting plagiarism. However, research on this ground suggested that students who are above 25 years of age have less pressure as compared to the younger ones. It has been recommended that the educa tors must have a supportive approach for motivating the students in acting consistently throughout their academic life. Critique The purpose of the paper is to critically analyze the reason behind conducting plagiarism. The paper has developed several hypothesis based on the factors associated with plagiarism and done research on such hypothesis. It has helped in evaluating the reason mainly responsible for this plagiaristic behaviour of the students. This would help in reducing the scope of occurrence of this activity in future by eliminating or reducing the associated factors. This can be counted as the strength of the research paper. The paper failed to find a conclusion related to the hypothesized factor- new technology. This factor has been removed from the paper totally as it failed to relate with the other factors. This can be counted as the weakness of the research paper. The methodology that was adopted for conducting the research included questionnaire survey and other dat a analytical techniques. The method have been appropriate for finding out the key issues as well as recommending that how the issues related to plagiarism can be resolved. It has accurately drawn the correlation between the associated factors and plagiarism. However, the study still needs to advance its methodology portion in order to reach to a conclusion related to the hypothesized factor ‘new technology’. There have been several researches made on the topic of plagiarism and its associated factors. It has been found that there are various factors which are responsible for conducting activities such as plagiarism. Among them moral capability is one of the factor. The major reason behind the non conduct of plagiarism was that it is a dishonest and immortal activity. It is a common scenario that the students doing any project in a group often copy small portion of text from the others in the group, without having appropriate acknowledgement. Another factor was the aware ness of plagiarism. Reduced knowledge of plagiarism is the reason behind conducting plagiarism even if the students do not intend to do so in reality. According to several researchers, the students having poor integration to the academic environment possess higher chances of performing plagiarism. Moreover, it has been stated that the pressure created on the students also influence them in conducting such activities. The students who rely on their family for continuing their studies have high chance of conducting

Social Justice Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Social Justice - Research Paper Example From a broad point of view, the concept of social justice advocates the equality among the individuals who comprise the society. The above mentioned equality might be perceived from different points of view. For example, socially, it means that all the citizens will be able to enjoy the same kind of treatment. In terms of economic status, they all will have access to financial resources that are irreplaceable for the well being. The most important point here is that the people who have excessive financial funds will be urged to distribute the extra among the needy. Speaking of the political aspect, one might point out that the interests of all the classes will be equally represented in the political process. It would not be an exaggeration to point out that a considerable number of different institutions promotes the notion of social justice, but the United Nations Organization is the one which adopted the most modern version of it. It envisions its application through the specific laws that will be adopted in all the countries all over the world. It would be quite interesting to analyze the benefits as well negative aspects of implementation of the above mentioned notion in various areas. Thus, from the social point of view social justice will ease the tension between the strata. However, it will also contribute to the dissatisfaction of the upper classes that would feel that their portion in the contribution to the overall welfare is exaggerated. As for the economic aspect of the notion with regard to current issues, one might point out that it is likely to fight one of the biggest global problems, namely poverty which is the basis for other issues, such as hunger. However, keeping in mind the weak economic of different states which rely heavily on the loans from different political institutions, one would have to point out that the achievement of it is not possible in the foreseeable future. Finally, there is also the political aspect that

Human Resources. The role of the workforce Essay

Human Resources. The role of the workforce - Essay Example This paper will address two challenges faced by business organisations as outlined by the article Slippery Slope which looked the evolving role of the human resource practitioner due to the structural changes in companies. The first section will look at why Ulrich's well-known employee champion role is disintegrating in business organisations. Before the in depth discussion, the first section will also give a background on the four key roles of human resource practitioners as laid out by Ulrich. The second section will tackle how the changes to the operations of HR function have often created problems for HR practitioners, line managers and employee in general. This paper will also look at specific solutions to address these problems. David Ulrich recognized the role of the human resource in furthering the thrusts of business organisations in the face of rapid technological advancement, globalisation, growth and changing customer demands. He emphasized that in the evolution of this hypercompetitive environment, requires a competent workforce. In fact, he cited that organisational capability can be a source of competitive advantage in a company. Thus, Ulrich challenges businesses to "redefine business capabilities to sustain and integrate individual competencies" (Performance Management 1998) In relation to this, Ulrich presented f... ners should be strategic partners who translate the organisation's strategies into action; administrative experts who build efficient business infrastructure; employee champions who increase employee's commitment and capability; and change agents who substantially understand the theory of change and apply them to business organisations (Performance Management 1998). Among all the four key roles mentioned above, this paper will solely focus on the employee champion role of human resource practitioner. Ulrich described this role as listening and responding to employees and finding the right balance between the demands of employees and resources available on employees. In order to do this, the company's HR department must find time to know their employees well and spend time meeting and listening to their concerns. This role also includes promoting communication through the use of "employee surveys, employee suggestion programs, all-employee meetings, on-going communication on business status, and any other program that can make employees part of the team and dedicated to customer service" (The HR Philosophy 2006). Nowadays, employee champion is also referred to as employee advocate. However, as will be discussed in the next paragraphs, this role is rapidly being eliminated in business organisation due to various changes in company structure. According to the study conducted by Helen Francis and Anne Keegan, the current business structure facilitated the deterioration of the employee champion role of human resource practitioners. However, it should be noted that the disintegration of this role can be traced to current emphasis on business or strategic partnering. The authors note the rapid increase in the number of companies looking for HR business partners as

Compare and Contrast The Learning Process Research Paper

Compare and Contrast The Learning Process - Research Paper Example Learning has turned out to be a life-long process and the dividing line between youth learning and learning in adulthood is fast vanishing. Merriam quotes Geissler (1996,pp.35-36), â€Å"Youth in fact, who are sent out into life with a dwindling sackful of values,....face a situation in which they have to keep filling up their sack. This leads adult education to take lifelong learning as its motto. The duty to be free(with the pressure to realize oneself)is the duty to go on learning.....The hole in the ozone layer provides the stimulus for courses to which people turn for advice, mad cow disease pushes up the numbers attending vegetarian cooking courses, and backache creates a need for posture classes(p.6) By the time a student graduates from the traditional college education and enters the competitive job market, or if he is an entrepreneur thinks of establishing ones own production unit, technology has moved faster than what is taught in the syllabus and merits of ones degree certificate. The process of learning has become continuous from the point of launching ones career to eventual retirement. Merriam writes, â€Å"...technology has had an enormous impact on the economy. Robotics and automation displace production workers but create other jobs; technology has fostered whole new work structures such as telecommuting; and so on. The effect of the global economy and technological advances on the nature of adult learning is staggering. Adults find that they must continue their learning past formal schooling in order to function at work, at home, and in their communities. The need for new knowledge for updating old information, for retraining, has resulted in multi-billion dollar edu cational enterprise.†(p.2) Before comparing and and contrasting the learning processes through adult development and learning models, it needs to be clearly understood that most of the theories are inclusive and they have something to give and

Architecture and Avant-garde Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Architecture and Avant-garde - Essay Example As acknowledged within the abstract section, Avant Garde is the French version for vanguard culture. In the context of art, vanguard culture refers to non-conformational and experimental approach of developing objects of art like music, structures and paintings. Dorita (2013) says that Avant Garde is distinct from traditional art of 19th Century because it employs substantial innovation and advanced skills in developing iconic pieces of art. This form of culture became dominant during the first four decades of 20th Century, especially in Europe and America. In operation, vanguard culture opposed mainstream norms. It labeled mainstream values as resulting from mass production effects of industrial revolution during the 19th Century. Early founders of Avant Garde criticized the manner in which traditional art and architecture incorporated superficial styling of objects in the name of innovation. In this regard, it sought to distance itself from mainstream habits and foster individual c reativity. It involved seeking autonomous excellence in artistic merit rather than following rigid conventions. Having gained an insight about Avant Garde, it is appropriate to extrapolate on the two concepts of modernism and postmodernism. Sharp (2002) says that most essayists including Max Horkheimer and Adorno assert that vanguard culture serves as an icon for modernism. According to Sharp (2002), autonomy in stylish creativity and innovation creates a distinction and draws boundaries between modernism and the post form. of modernism. In this context, modernism covers the artistic period of early 20th Century, especially the first four decades of this century. According to Heynen (2000), it was a period marked by employment of human intellect in enhancing aesthetical values of art. Innovations and autonomous creativity of modernism led to significant improvement in science and technology. In addition, vanguard ideologies motivated experimentation on almost all spheres of life as seen in architecture. It adopted a hierarchical and procedural approach of acquiring and applying knowledge in improving state of art. According to Heynen (2000), modernism is closely associated with the use of rational thinking models and logic in gaining and utilizing knowledge. Supposedly, modernism ended after 1945, thus giving way to postmodernism. Postmodernism Goldhagen (2005) says that as opposed to modernistic principles of logic and rational thinking, postmodernism adopts unscientific and irrational approach towards art. In the first four decades of 20th Century, architectural designs were taken as representing unique and genuine creativity of artists. However, postmodernism does not regard the work of architecture as the originating from authentic skills of an individual. According to Scoffham and Machedon (1999), postmodern era is marked by subjective and hyper-realistic models of thought as opposed to rigid and logical

You decided Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

You decided - Case Study Example This will achieve the board member’s aim of listening first, and then delivering a message that has measurable results, impact, and truth. This will also help on the best ways to reach the students. The social media specialist has a good point because in order to reach students, fellow students need to lead in this campaign. It will be advisable to involve student leaders in this campaign because other students are most likely to listen to them and we can be assured that they will lead a no-nonsense and honest message. Involvement of the student leadership team will also help the committee save on the money that would have been used to pay outside specialists. This is because this group will most likely be willing to be involved in the campaign as volunteers or on condition that they paid a small amount of money since improving the lives of other students is their mandate. Overall, it is crucial for the organization needs to do a proper market research before starting the campaign. This will help the committee address its concerns of understanding the target group, how to reach this group, and the best place to reach them. When a good marketing plan has been developed, unnecessary costs will be avoided and therefore, we can be able to work with the limited budget. I hope this input will be helpful to the successful completion of this

The Parents and their Children Essay Example for Free

The Parents and their Children Essay The family is the basic unit of society.   It is the first social group one immediately and involuntarily becomes a part of.   The immediate family consists of the father, the mother, and the children.   Ideally, the father is the provider of the family.   He is superior, because he holds the foundation of the family.   If the father is weak, the rest of the family collapses.   The mother is the light of the family.   She is the guiding factor for decision-making in the house.    Ideally, she makes sure the house is in order and whatever the provider gives her, she makes it work.   In order for the family to be happy, the children need to be emotionally and physically loved. In the poem, After Making Love We Hear Footsteps,  the author described  the love-making  between the husband and wife,  and then a baby appears.   It is notable that the parents are delighted to have the baby and was described to be â€Å"this blessing love gives again into our arms.  In turn, the baby is very happy to be with loving and snuggling parents and wants to join.   The baby can feel the acceptance and great love from his parents, so in feeling loved, the author wrote: his face gleaming with satisfaction at being this very child.   (Galway, K. 1980). When fathers partake in taking care of the children even after a hard day’s work, it gives the children a sense of greater comfort to know both parents love them.   In the poem, My Papas Waltz, the boy was dancing with his father: The hand that held my wrist Was battered on one knuckle; At every step you missed My right ear scraped a buckle.   (Roethke, T.   1908-1963.  3rd stanza). In this poem, the boy doesn’t want to go to bed yet.   The first and second line described the hand of the father that was calloused  due to hard work.   Note that the author of this poem lived during the time where most fathers work with hard machinery as factory workers, you can just imagine how tired the father must be at the end of the day.   The third and fourth line described the height of the boy how young and small he was because his ear was just at the waist level of the father.  Ã‚  The father’s technique of putting him to bed was done in a positive way.   He danced and played with his son, even though they made a mess in the kitchen.   The mother in this poem, however, was trying to control her laughter, as stated in the poem: her countenance could not unfrown itself.   (Roethke, T.   1908-1963.  2nd stanza). One is very fortunate if a family is functional.   A functional family is a family where all the members are emotionally and physically sound.   If a family is sound, the parents can be very protective of their children.   They want a good future for their children like any loving parent would.   If something happens to their children out of the ordinary, the parents are the greatest to suffer. If death occurs in the family, the members will normally become depressed.   Killings,  is a story which tells about the parents dealing with the pain of  loss of their son, Frank, due to murder.   Here, one of the siblings has thought of killing the murderer.   The father also bought a .38 gun because he has the same intention too and being  the father, he suffered the most.   His thought for revenge was greatly influenced with his wifes depression, And at nights in bed she would hold Matt and cry, or sometimes she was silent and Matt would touch her tightening arm, her clenched fist.   Eventually, the father killed the murderer.   (Dubus, A. 1979).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In reality, most families are dysfunctional.   The children are the ones greatly affected when this happens.   Barn Burning, is a story of a father hurting his son.   It was accounted many times how the father hit the child, His father struck him with the flat of his hand on the side of the head, hard but without heat, exactly as he had struck the two mules at the store,  and this happened not only once in the story.   It was also described that the child, being just a son, had  always been brushed off whenever he speaks out to his father.  Ã‚  Then the  slapping of the father eventually progressed into  an abuse. The abuse was clearly identified, This time his father didnt strike him.   The hand came even faster than the blow had, the same hand which had set the can on the table with almost excruciating care flashing from the can toward him too quickly for him to follow it, gripping him by the back of his shirt and on to tiptoe before he had seen it quit the can, the face stooping at him in breathless and frozen ferocity, and after that the father wanted the son to be tied up to the bedpost.   The sad part here was that the childs mother, aunt, and siblings were indifferent.   The child was able to run free into the woods, and, like escaping a nightmare, he ran as far away from the house and did not look back.   (Faulkner, W. 1939).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The role of the father as the provider is indeed very important.   The mother and the children are powerless over the actions of the father because they are dependent on him financially.   The children tolerate abuse from parents because they are too young to become independent.   Moreover, they are still innocent and confused.   If the child grew up with loving parents, most likely the child will be loving and caring too. If the child grew up in an abusive environment, chances are the child will grow up with personality disorders one day.   Children view their parents as their role models, because they mirror themselves to be as strong as them.   In the short story, Barn Burning, although the child ran away, when he learned that his father joined the army,  (which may have caused his fathers leg to be amputated), he was proud.   The father is still the figure of strength in the family.   Ideally, fathers should do their best to provide.   (Faulkner, W. 1939).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   If a family member dies, the rest of the family grieves.   Depression is the result of a long grief.   Due to this, family members might think of revenge over the death of a loved one, for instance, the father killed the murderer in the short story, Killings.   The father here didnt act alone, and he was helped by his friend, Willis, to plot  and kill the murderer. At the same time, the father didn’t reveal anything to his wife, although the wife suspected that her husband was plotting to kill the suspect.   Even though the wife knew there was a plot, she was calm and â€Å"waited† for it to happen, in short, she agreed to kill the suspect too.   The father was not a bad person, but the suspect took the life of his son and the sight of the suspect pained him and his wife so much.   In this case, the murder done by the father was justified because of grief.   (Dubus, A. 1979).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It is good to know why these poems and short stories are written as such.   Authors write something for a reason.   Their works are forms of expression of their real experiences.   For example, Emily Dickinson wrote â€Å"The Bustle in a House,† which describes â€Å"mourning after death.†   Ã‚  (Dickinson, E. 1866. 1st stanza.).   It may be related to her real life story due to loss of loved ones.   She stated:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The sweeping up the heart   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   And putting love away   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   We shall not want to use again   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Until eternity.   (Dickinson, E. 1866. 2nd stanza.). Death is a fact of life so one should resume his normal life to be able to recover from depression.   This view of death is also similar to the poem, â€Å"February,† which stated on the last line, â€Å"Get rid of death. Celebrate increase. Make it be spring.† (Atwood, M. 1995). Parents will always â€Å"fear for their children† whether their parental ways are good or bad.   (Dubus, A. 1979).   Parents know the value of having children and it’s priceless.   They just have different ways of showing value.   Some of them treat their children as possessions, because of their fear and insecurities, so there’s a tendency to be abusive.   Still, the love of parents will always be there and they will always be the first ones to grieve over the death of their children.   Grief is associated with love.

Reasons For The Merging Of Companies Economics Essay

Reasons For The Merging Of Companies Economics Essay There is no doubt that mergers play a great role in the development of an economy. In this essay, a merger will be defined as a combination of two corporations in which only one corporation survives and the merged corporation goes out existence (Gaughan, 2007, p. 12). After a merger, the newly-established company will hold two merged companies assets. In this way, mergers offer more chances for companies to become bigger and stronger. At the same time, customers may receive better services than those before a merger. However, the topic of mergers motives has long been the subject of debate, as different companies put forward different reasons to merge. Some of them are economically sound, while some of them are not. In fact, from the current studies, it can be seen that there are two big types of motives, one is economic motives and the other is non-economic motives. Although some people argue that motives of mergers lie in some non-economic reasons, such as the political reasons, the managers reasons, and so on, others take a different view and emphasize that because of that the raison dà ªtre of a company is to make profits, most motives of mergers are for sound economic reasons. Thus, this essay is an attempt to argue that the main motives for mergers are economically sound reasons. It also aims to show the importance of different economic motives, even though some people claim that there are many failures that resulted from those motives. In addition, the ineffectiveness of non-economic motives will also be checked to support the main argument. In order to demonstrate this, this essay will first focus on the growth motive of mergers. The case of PO and Stena will also be added into the discussion. Second, different types of synergy will be illustrated to explain how valid this motive is to help companies to become stronger. Third, the electronic giant General Electronic (GE) will be given as a good example to discuss the significance of the diversification motive. Fourth, the example of the Exxon-Mobil Oil Company will be used to show some other economic motives. Finally, there will be discussion about some non-economic motives such as power motives, achievement motives, and political motives and so on, though these are some less common motives for mergers. 2.0 Economic Motives 2.1 Faster Growth If a company seeks to make a merger with other firms, the most popular motive may be growth. As Denzil (2001) points out, one of the most successful types of merger may be a merger with a growth motive, because it is easy and quick to beat competitors and take the lead in markets. When a company wants to expand, there are several choices: internal growth or growth through mergers. Internal growth means companies go to buy land and build more factories, employ new staff, or search for a market to sell products and so on. This is a long way to go. However, if companies use the method of merging, it will save them much time to do other things such as research and development or market promotion. Moreover, through merging, companies may easily occupy the market, enlarge the market share, and beat the competitors (DePamphilis, 2003). If mergers occur in different regions, this means companies are improving its fame and becoming more globalised, this means more customers may know about the company, in other words, more potential benefits will move to the company. Although there are a great number of obvious benefits that companies will face, others disagree with the motive of growth. In their opinion, growth is a difficult goal to achieve and is not a sound economic reason. As Gaughan (2007) indicates, when a company has already accomplished growth in the past, it is difficult for corporate managers to keep growing. However, after achieving growth in the past, managers will look for some other ways to keep growing. Among those ways, Mergers could be the fastest and the most efficient way. Companies do not need to take couples of year to build workshop, and recruit new employees. In addition, with less time to spend, growth via mergers can be gain through the lowest-risk way (DePamphilis, 2003, p. 356). Long time means more uncertainties, which are more risks. How to avoid those risks? It is better to spend less time, and complete mergers quickly. As a good example of growth motive, the case of Johnson Johnson should be introduced. Johnson Johnson is one of the biggest manufacturers of health care industry in the world. It was established by Johnson and his two brothers in 1986 in New Jersey of United States. At that time, it was a company which only had fourteen workers. In the early 1920s, with the development of businesses, Johnson Johnson began to build branches in other places such as America, Europe, Asia and Africa. However, over the period 1995 to 2005, Johnson Johnson took a series of mergers. Through those mergers, Johnson Johnson have gained a greatly fast growth. So far, Johnson Johnson have owned more than 250 subsidiaries in 57 different countries and 115 thousand employees. Its products are available in nearly 175 countries (Stock Johnson Johnson, 2010). The global revenue of Johnson Johnson in 2008 was 63.7 billion US dollars (JNJ Income Statement, 2009). From the example of Johnson Johnson, we can see, with the development of an increasingly globalized world, growth can be one of the most efficient and fundamental motives of mergers. 2.2 Different Types of Synergy As another important motive, synergy is the popular choice for companies to make a merger. Synergy means the extra energy or effectiveness that people or businesses create when they combine their efforts. In mergers, according to DePamphilis (2003), synergy refers to corporate combination will produce more profits than that the sum of their separate status. Therefore, synergy is often used to explain the phenomenon of 1+1=3. In mergers, this means the combination of two companies may generate three companies effect. Just because of this, many companies try their best to seek the opportunities to combine with other corporations. If synergy occurs in mergers, it focuses on two sides to raise the profitable ability of companies: revenue enhancements and cost reductions (Gaughan, 2007, p. 133). For example, if Coca Cola make a merger with a fruit producer, as a result, it will save more spending to buy raw material for its soft drinks. This is called cost reductions. When Coca Cola have gained a lower price of raw material, it can reduce some prices of its drinks. In this way, lower price will make a promotion of its drinks. This is named revenue enhancements. Though the actual fact is more complex than this example, the truth is the related theory would be basically the same. Although synergy has enhanced the profitability from revenues and costs, some people do not agree synergy should be a good economic reason for mergers (Gaughan, 2007). From their point of view, the synergy effect can only be described the mergers of companies in the same industry or seller-buyer relationship, and it is not suitable to other diversified mergers. In order to respond this, economies of scope should be introduced as a concept that is confused with economies of scale. Economies of scope can be defined as the ability of a firm to utilize one of set of inputs to provide a broader range of products and services (Gaughan, 2007, p. 129). If a company is able to utilize its workforce, and facilities, synergy also can be achieved. Most failures of mergers with synergy purpose are because of their leaders inefficient management ability and not the motive of synergy. Several examples of mergers motivated by the pursuit of synergy have achieved the success. After the 1994 merger between Radisson Diamond Cruises and Seven Seas Cruises, the combined cruise lines began to provide cheaper price of beds and itineraries. This is because, as a result of merger, fewer managers will be needed to maintain the relationship with the same districts travel agencies. Hence, costs reductions are gained. Moreover, with the larger size of company, the fame of company is improving. This enables sales force to make a promotion more easily. As a result, more customers will come to enjoy their trips. Therefore, revenue is enhanced by this way (Gaughan, 2007, pp. 127-128). With motive of synergy, companies are not only able to increase its revenue, but also decline its cost. Thus, we may see how valid the synergy motive is. 2.3 Diversification When a company has already been the bellwether of one industry, managers of the company may consider some diversified merger to expand its size and make more profits. Diversification provides conditions of expansion by applying companies goodwill in former industry to other different product field, and it can also provide conditions of forming scale effect (DePamphilis, 2003, p. 20). Through diversification, it is foreseeable that companies may have the chance to gain significant earnings, because a new industry means a new opportunity. Opportunity should be the best thing for companies managers. Another side about diversification, as Gaughan (2007) pointed out, is that companies may obtain continuous competitive advantage. This is because if General Electronic can hardly sell its military products to armies in a peaceful time, but it can also seek profitable opportunities in other field such as insurance, healthcare, plastics, energy, and so on. This is the theory about continuous c ompetitive advantages. As long as a company becomes a diversified one, it will acquire the privilege of enjoying continuous competitive advantage. Compared with its positives, one accusation for diversification as not a valid economic reason is that there are some potential risks when companies expand into another industry. If companies cant handle the risks well, it may bring damages to them. A study carried out by Berger and Ofek (1995), using a large sample of firms over the 1986-1991 sample periods, found that diversification caused an average 13% to 15%s loss of firm value. The study also found that the loss of firm value was less than that of when the diversification occurred, and it was not affected by firm size. However, some evidence suggest diversification do not directly lessen firms value. One finance researcher, Villalonga, believes that the diversification discount is because of incorrect use of data of several researchers (Villalonga, 2004, cited in Gaughan, 2007, p143). As Gaughan (2007) points out: The data used by those researchers were artificially restricted by Financial Accounting Standards Board definition of segments as well as requirements that only segments that constitute 10% or more of a companys business are required to be reported. Using a data source that is not affected by this problem, Villalonga finds a diversification premium, as opposed to a discount (Gaughan, 2007, p143). Although there are many companies that have suffered failures at diversification, others argue that they have achieved great success with mergers at diversification. The most successful example is General Electric (GE). Unlike its name, now GE is no longer an electric company. Through a series of mergers at diversification, GE has become a diversified giant with operations insurance, television stations, plastics, medical equipment, and so on. Especially during the 1980s and 1990s, during the fourth merger wave, GE had made a great number of Mergers with various companies, and it has benefited significantly from those combinations (Gaughan, 2007, p. 137). In short, although mergers with diversification might have potential risks to the newly combined company, more diversified mergers may provide a bigger market for companies to make profits as what GE have gained. 2.4 Other Economic Motives There are two sound other types of economic motives for mergers: horizontal integration and vertical integration. Generally, in horizontal integration, market power and market share are raised through mergers. While in vertical integration, both merged firms have a buyer-seller relationship, hence, the combination may provide a dependable source of supply and lower costs advantage (Gaughan, 2007, pp. 145-155). In horizontal integration, market power stands for the leadership of a market (DePamphilis, 2003, p. 69). Sometimes, market power may gain from market share, and it is well-known that market share may easily gain as a consequence of horizontal integration. Once market power is achieved by one company, all the other rivals in the same market will probably be affected. Their pricing strategy, promotion plan, product research and development and so on will probably all follow with the leader of the market. This is similar to the situation of Nokia in the Mobile Phone industry. However, in a vertical integration, both merged companies will benefit from the integration. One company will not worried about the sales of its products, and the other will not be concerned with the source of its raw materials. However, there has been a debate that both horizontal integration and vertical integration may bring several negatives to the market and consumers. One of the most being criticized is monopoly competition (DePamphilis, 2003, p. 24). After mergers, the power of merged companies will get bigger. Thus, the structure of the industry will tend to monopoly, which means merged companies may beat others using pricing strategy and the public will pay significantly for this. Although, sometimes, when this situation happens, government will release various policies to prevent this situation from continuing. This is the reason why Coca Cola failed to merge with one of Chinas biggest juice companies, Huiyuan Juice Group. In 2009, Coca Cola planed to purchase Huiyuan Juice with 2.4 billion US dollars. This deal was blocked by Chinas ministry of commerce with the reason that Coke might abuse its dominant position in Chinas soft drinks industry (Sundeep Tucker, 2009). However, most of the time, as long as companies will not affect markets and customers by means of some illegal ways, government wont stop these mergers. In fact, the worlds largest Oil Company, Exxon-Mobil Oil Company, comes from a merger. In 1998, there was a megamerger in the Oil industry. Exxon announced its merger with the Mobil Oil Company. At that time, both two companies were the leading companies in the Oil industry. After merging, in order to achieve the synergistic gains, the companies need to successfully integrate its resources. As a result, this merger was extremely successful. Two years later, the combined Exxon-Mobil announced that the merger saved them approximately $4.8 billion which is higher than the estimated $3.8 billion. With successful operation of the following years, in 2006, Exxon-Mobil announced its highest annual profits that the firms annual profits in 2005 were $36 billion and its sales were $371 billion. Exxon-Mobil became the largest company in the world (Gaughan, 2007, p. 146). From the example of Exxon-Mobil and discussion above, we could see that no matter horizontal integration or vertical integration, those economic motives will be beneficial to merged companies. Therefore, these economic motives are the sound motives for mergers. 3.0 Non-economic Motives There are several non-economic motives which exist in mergers such as power motives, achievement motives, and political motives and so on. Most of the time, these motives only exist in the mind of managers of merged companies. Therefore, it is less sound for researchers to pay attention to them as motives for mergers. 3.1 Power Motives and Achievement Motives Power motives refer to the peoples pursuit of control over others by means of increasing source of power, and this is particularly serious in some top managers in merged companies (Schmalt, 1987, cited in Carsten Lausberg and Teresa Stahl, 2008, p.6). With the possibility of a higher position through mergers, it is no wonder that these managers will often support the proposal of mergers. Usually, after mergers, these newly combined companies will have a bigger size. More workers will add into different teams or departments for mangers to supervise. These things are what the managers seek for. Through this way, they have got a continuous increase of power. It is common to see that a person will be judged successful or unsuccessful by various criterions. Hence, achievements become the most vital thing for some managers. Since it may be the fastest and most efficient way to enlarge companies size and improve companies value though mergers, most managers who have the achievement motive will let companies go to merge. Furthermore, merger is a highly complex and energy consuming thing and people will recognize the managers of successful mergers. Therefore, a person with a strong achievement motive will take the risk of pushing companies to merge (Carsten Lausberg and Teresa Stahl, 2008, p.7). However, the reason why these two motives and motives like that are not main reasons for companies mergers is that, in nowadays companies, decisions are made by the whole members of the Board. Any single man could hardly affect the entire Board of directors opinions about decisions except for family firms or totally private companies. In addition, according to Gaughan (2007), mergers often take place in companies that have a good corporate governance structure and a clear responsibilities right of shareholders, board of directors, board of supervisors, managers. Hence, it is less common to see mergers with these personal motives. 3.2 Political Motives It is difficult to find one accurate definition for political motives. In general, however, people regards political motive as a motive which aims to serve for politics. Sometimes, politicians need more economic successes to earn more votes. For instance, in order to enable the Chinese people to enjoy more about the telecom service, in 2008 the Chinese government decided to make several mergers among the six largest state-owned telecom companies including China Mobile, China Unicom, China Telecom, China Netcom, China Tietong, and China Satcom (Xinhua News Agency, 2008). However, it is hard to see mergers with political motives. This is because, primarily, political motives mergers often occur in the countries which have a similar political system like China. There are less of them in the world. Secondly, even though this situation happens, the core of a merger with a political motive is also the economic success. Hence, the political motive is, actually, an economic motive. Non-economic motives can either be some personal motives or the alias of economic motives, thus, they will not be seen as the sound motives. 4.0 Conclusion In conclusion, this essay has attempted to demonstrate that economic motives are the main reasons for different companies mergers. Despite the fact that some people argue that there are some potential risks among these economic reasons, focusing on negatives, the positives of these economic motives stand out. Furthermore, it is also true that various successful examples have shown the importance of these economic motives that have been discussed above. This is why, in recent years, more and more researchers have put their effort to study the topic of MA. Economic motives are not only the first step of merging, but the root of mergers, although, in the process of a merger, there will a great amount of works to be done in future. Currently, after the global financial crisis, there is another trend for companies seeking for mergers. How to avoid the potential risks of these economic motives and transfer them to the real profits is an issue that is open to question.

The Commencement of W.J. Bryan :: William Jennings Bryan Elementary School Essays

The Commencement of W.J. Bryan In 1905, the first school house was built where William Jennings Bryan Elementary now stands. It was a tiny one-room wooden building, which housed ten boys and girls. There were no screens on the door to keep the mosquitoes out. It was located between a pine thicket and a guava grove, and on each side of the little beaten path to the door, coleus were planted. In 1907, the school opened for the third term. At that time, the school was named Arch Creek District School and still had only 10 students. In 1911, another schoolhouse was erected which had thirty students and was known as the Knights of Pythias Hall. In 1916, the school board decided that a larger building was needed and the present site of William Jennings Bryan Elementary School, consisting of ten acres of fine land, was purchased. In 1928, there was a terrible fire, which burned down all of the buildings. Our present school building was built during that same year and was ready for occupancy in September. It was built large enough to house the junior high school as well as the elementary school. It was known as the Miami Shores School until the death of William Jennings Bryan, when it was renamed in his honor. Consequently, it was the first school in Miami-Dade County to be declared a Historical Site. Today, W.J. Bryan is filled to capacity with twenty-two portables, also known as "Portable City", necessary to accommodate over 1,500 children from grades Pre-K through Fifth, who attend our facility. The Nora Brandt West Wing, added less than a year ago, was named after our previous principal, who retired in the summer of 1997. Here we find the Kindergarten and Academic Excellence classes (grades 1-5), as well as our renowned "Media Center", one of the most beautiful in the country. Our current project, "The W.J. Bryan Primary Learning Center", under construction, is located a block away from the main building, to house a pre-k and eight kindergarten classes. In addition, an administrator, lead teacher, cafeteria, and complete office staff will staff the new center. Its doors are scheduled to open to staff, students, and parents in April, 1998. Where Lions ROAR with PRIDE William Jennings Bryan Elementary is over seventy years old, yet it still portrays the same strong spirit as it did when it first opened. Our school’s mascot, "The Bryan Lion", was chosen as early as the 1930s for its proper representation of the pride everyone feels who are or has been part of the Bryan family. The Commencement of W.J. Bryan :: William Jennings Bryan Elementary School Essays The Commencement of W.J. Bryan In 1905, the first school house was built where William Jennings Bryan Elementary now stands. It was a tiny one-room wooden building, which housed ten boys and girls. There were no screens on the door to keep the mosquitoes out. It was located between a pine thicket and a guava grove, and on each side of the little beaten path to the door, coleus were planted. In 1907, the school opened for the third term. At that time, the school was named Arch Creek District School and still had only 10 students. In 1911, another schoolhouse was erected which had thirty students and was known as the Knights of Pythias Hall. In 1916, the school board decided that a larger building was needed and the present site of William Jennings Bryan Elementary School, consisting of ten acres of fine land, was purchased. In 1928, there was a terrible fire, which burned down all of the buildings. Our present school building was built during that same year and was ready for occupancy in September. It was built large enough to house the junior high school as well as the elementary school. It was known as the Miami Shores School until the death of William Jennings Bryan, when it was renamed in his honor. Consequently, it was the first school in Miami-Dade County to be declared a Historical Site. Today, W.J. Bryan is filled to capacity with twenty-two portables, also known as "Portable City", necessary to accommodate over 1,500 children from grades Pre-K through Fifth, who attend our facility. The Nora Brandt West Wing, added less than a year ago, was named after our previous principal, who retired in the summer of 1997. Here we find the Kindergarten and Academic Excellence classes (grades 1-5), as well as our renowned "Media Center", one of the most beautiful in the country. Our current project, "The W.J. Bryan Primary Learning Center", under construction, is located a block away from the main building, to house a pre-k and eight kindergarten classes. In addition, an administrator, lead teacher, cafeteria, and complete office staff will staff the new center. Its doors are scheduled to open to staff, students, and parents in April, 1998. Where Lions ROAR with PRIDE William Jennings Bryan Elementary is over seventy years old, yet it still portrays the same strong spirit as it did when it first opened. Our school’s mascot, "The Bryan Lion", was chosen as early as the 1930s for its proper representation of the pride everyone feels who are or has been part of the Bryan family.

The Role of Women in Ancient Egyptian Society Essay -- Ancient Egypt W

It is difficult to fully understand the role of women in ancient Egyptian society because the understandings of the society and government are still incomplete. There are also two other major problems, those being that there is very little source material on women, and the material that has been found was biased by the ideas and minds of previous Egyptologists. The only source material that has survived from great kingdoms of Egypt is material that has been either found in tombs on the walls and sarcophaguses, or carved on major government and religious document. None of the writings on papyrus and other delicate materials survived. This material, which has survived, is the writings of the Egyptian literate male elite. In their writings the also did not show any emotions or feelings, this was not the style of the Egyptian people, writings were purely a record keeping device. Because of these limitations, â€Å"It is essential to avoid the temptation to extrapolate from the par ticular to the general, a process which can only too easily introduce error.† Upper class men, who had been schooled in their craft, did all the writings. As a result, there is very little material that deal with the lower peasant class. They were all illiterate and unable to record their tales. When studying women in Ancient Egypt, the great majority of the available texts discuss the lives of the upper class, which composed only a small percentage of the Egyptian population. In Pharonic Egypt, women were the legal equals of men. They were not denied any rights in accordance of the law because of their gender. Women, like men, could own property, coming into it either through inheritance, as a payment for goods or services, or through purchase. Women could buy houses and goods, and with them, they were allowed to do as they chose. Being landholders and people of property afforded ancient Egyptian women a reasonable amount of social freedom. They could travel about freely in towns without veiled faces. In their own homes, women could move about as they pleased, they were not forced to remain in one section of the house or forbidden from other common areas as they were in other societies of the time. Women could initiate legal proceedings, and they were responsible for their own actions. They could be the executors of wills and even sign their own marriage contrac... ... Egyptian women were looked at differently than men; their role was that of the nurturer and the caregiver, the bearer of a family’s future. They were just as important to the society as the men. Ancient Egypt was a very complex world, and just as complex was the role that women played in its society. They were not free, but they also were not enslaved. They were vital, but only in terms of their husbands and their children. Egypt offered women a far more free life than the rest of the ancient world. In the end, women played a secondary role to men putting their desires for achievement aside so their husband could be king. Bibliography: Fischer, Henry George. Egyptian Women of the Old Kingdom and the Heracleopolitan Period. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, New York. 1989 Hawass, Zahi. Silent Images: Women of Pharonic Egypt. Cultural Development Fund, Cairo, Egypt. 1995. Robbins, Gay. Women in Ancient Egypt. St. Martins Press, New York, New York. 1991. Tyldesley, Joyce. Daughters of Isis, Women of Ancient Egypt. Penguin Books, London, England 1995 Watterson, Barbara. Women in Ancient Egypt. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts. 1993

Speak Noah

Bogeyman Mrs.. Johnson February 14, 2013 English Honors Period 3 An Untold Story â€Å"There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you. † (Maya Angelo) The novel Speak details the life story of Melinda Sordid, a freshman in high school, and how both the traumatic and happy events of her life shape her character. In the summer before entering high school, Melinda is invited to a party that changes her life; and it is not for the better. A senior in high school named Andy Evans rapes her, and since she is so scared, she calls the police, they arrive shortly, and proceed to reek up the party.Throughout Speak, Melinda is reassured by a poster of Maya Angelo, who was also raped as a child, but went on to become a successful public figure and author. A major theme that echoes throughout the novel Speak is that all people are made smarter not by aging, but by the experiences they have been through. This fact that experience defines a person is evident in Melanin's l ife by both the traumatic experience she has of rape and the enjoyable experience she has attending Mr.. Freeman's art classes. These two opposite influences wage war and, in he end, Melinda decides to emerge from her shell.When she speaks to her middle school friend-turned-enemy Rachel about the event at the summer party, Melinda is accepted with open arms and forgiven of her accusations. Through the symbol of the white couch and the metaphors of the seasonal change and the tree, which is each effectively inserted into Speak, one can tell that a person grows through learning from his experience rather than by mere aging. Most trees are a symbol of life when they are full of leaves in the summer, or a symbol of death when they have lost all heir leaves in winter.In Speak, however, as shown on page 12 by Mr.. Freeman and Melanin's brief conversation, the tree actually represents Melanin's life story, â€Å"By the end of the year, you must figure out how to make your object say somet hing, express an emotion, speak to every person who looks at it. † This introduction to art by Mr.. Freeman turns out to play a big role in Melanin's life because the object she chooses mirrors the Journey of her life. Melinda thinks to herself, â€Å"Some people groan. My stomach flutters. Can he really let us do this? It sounds like too much fun. Tree?It's too easy. I learned how to draw a tree in second grade. I reach in for another piece of paper. † Just as she is about to grab the second paper, Mr.. Freeman dissuades her by saying, Mimi Just chose your destiny, you can't change that. † This quote is the beginning of a book-long metaphor for the progression of Melanin's life; as Melinda improves her drawing of the tree, her life improves. Throughout the rest of Speak there are many other references to the tree metaphor; with each successful encounter of Melanin's tree project, her artistic ability has shown improvement.This correlates with her life improving t hrough the experience she has gained. On page 15 of Speak, Melinda returns home from school, sits down on her white couch, and orders pizza. The white couch symbolizes Melinda; this is shown by the following trick to eating on it is to turn the messy side of the cushions up. The couch has two personalities: ‘Melinda inhaling pepperoni and mushroom' and ‘No one ever eats in the family room, no ma'am. ‘ Flip, flip, flip – cushions reversed to show their pretty white cheeks† (15).This quote is a symbol of Melanin's life because the hidden underside of the couch is symbolizing Melanin's secrets that are buried and not visible to people on the outside. Although, what makes the couch such a great example, is that the visible exterior of the couch is white, which symbolizes purity. On the contrary, the white couch looks repulsive if it is dirty; this relates to a possible reality for Melinda because if she does not speak up, but instead buries her abuse under neath a clean exterior, she cannot be fully clearness of her burden.Thus, by not peaking up to the world about how she was raped at a party last summer, she can never reach her true potential of the beautiful, white couch. Melanin's reasoning behind hiding the real couch and the truth behind the party is that she fears that people will Judge her for her imperfections. Through the experience she has gained in her freshman year of high school, Melinda realizes that the only way for her to conquer her fear is to use those various positive and negative incidents to help her grow in maturity through experience.A final example of metaphoric language append to occur on the final page of Speak. It is the last day of Melanin's freshman year and the person she must talk to is Mr.. Freeman. Melinda ideates, â€Å"The tears dissolve the last block of ice in my throat. I feel the frozen stillness melt down through the inside of me, dripping shards of ice that vanish in a puddle of sunlight on t he stained floor† (198). The ice in this quote represents Melanin's secrets that are weighing her down, not allowing her to speak up for herself, and harming her physically (Andy hurt Melinda after she told Rachel Andy raped Melinda).The tears signify the experiences she has undergone in high school and how those experiences allowed her to mature. The sunlight on the stained floor symbolizes Melanin's artwork of the tree; how the tree emanates warmth to cure Melanin's ailment of a frozen mind. Without the experience Melinda had by communicating with Mr.. Freeman, she would never have been able to face her fears and come out of her shell. Speak is overflowing with metaphorical expressions, but many readers do not understand the implications behind the author's use of a particular metaphor in a even situation.People think, â€Å"Oh, I know this is a metaphor,† and then move on reading. This ignorance of the meaning behind symbolism is actually a symbol for how those indiv iduals live their lives. The following quote by Maya Angelo shows this ignorance of symbolism in a real world sense, â€Å"Most people don't grow up. Most people age. They find parking spaces, honor their credit cards, get married, have children, and call that maturity. What that is, is aging. † For example, whenever a person attends a party, the driving factor behind that party's success is the quality of inversion.If everyone there was one of the â€Å"most people† that Maya Angelo mentions, the party would be dull and boring, and it would only age the people rather than provide them with new experiences. In summation, if one is to truly live and contribute to society, he must be so overflowing with experiences that he will use metaphors to describe accurately a situation that he has encountered; without wasting the time that could be spent living through more life Journeys and garnering experience, rather than aging by merely passing through life.

“Life of Pi” Analysis

Life of Pi: The Importance of Storytelling What is the importance of storytelling? What are stories for? In the novel Life of Pi, Yann Martel considers these questions as he writes about a boy who survived in a lifeboat with a Bengal Tiger. Martel elaborates on the theme of storytelling as a coping mechanism. â€Å"That’s what fiction is about, isn’t it, the selective transforming of reality? The twisting of it to bring out its essence? † Martel writes this within the first few pages of the Life of Pi, and this idea is carried throughout the novel.He goes into vivid detail of an unbelievable story of Pi and Richard Parker stranded on a life boat together, however it is not until part three that the reader learns that the story they first think to be true is in fact a fictionalized version of an animal-less story. Pi twists the reality of the last 227 days to cope with what has happened to him since the sinking of Tsimtsum. It is a more efficient way for Yann Mart el to bring out the essence of Pi’s story through fiction.Martel twists the reality of the humanistic story to bring about the animalistic essence of Pi in a better light, and in this better light Pi is able to deal with the tragedy and be able to move past it. Pi also finds himself through religion or rather, three religions; Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism. He is guided by curiosity and through his fascination of God he learns many stories that guide his morals and actions throughout life. With this, Pi takes on many overwhelming issues and questions that he has to deal with.These religions use many variations of one Story to show other life lessons, and although the details contradict each other, Pi chooses to believe in their similar essence. In doing this, he is coping with and responding to his philosophical search. For example, when the three religious leaders meet, they begin to disagree. The Priest argues that Hinduism believes in multiple gods whereas his religion , Christianity, only believes in one, so therefore Hinduism should not be a religion Pi should practice. In response to the noisy quarrel in the street, Pi refutes, â€Å"All religions are true.I just want to love God. † Earlier in the novel, when Pi is atop the hill with Father Martin and hears an unpleasant story, he explains, â€Å"I asked for another story, one that I might find more satisfying. Surely this religion had more than one story in its bag—religions abound with stories. † Pi found the first story displeasing and to cope with this, he asks for another one. In the end, Pi turns it around and now questions Mr. Chiba and Mr. Okamoto, â€Å"So tell me, since it makes no factual difference to you and you can’t prove the questions either way, which story do you prefer?Which is the better story, the story with animals or the story without animals? † and they both state that the story with the animals was the better story. Through the storyte lling of the adventures of Pi and Richard Parker, Martel shows a tragedy in a more human light because it is easier for one to cope with the hurt of a different living creature than it’s kin. Instead of sharing the horror of his mother’s head flying into his arms, Pi tells the Japanese officials of Orange Juice dying in a fight, because his mother is more important to him than an orangutan.Yann Martel uses symbolism in his novel within the prominent stories to convey the importance of storytelling. Martel wants to show that storytelling is a way of life for Pi, within his religions, and his tragedy. Pi is able to see religion in a more abstract and meaningful light, which he does in his tragedy as well. He uses this as a coping mechanism, so he may be able to understand the essence behind the reality of what happened to him and, to some extent, the significance of life.On a larger scale, Martel is saying that the importance of storytelling in general is to cope with th e all encompassing question of the â€Å"meaning of life†. The stories of religion and faith try to tackle this question through the twisting of reality. Zooming in on a microscopic level of life, Martel shows that stories can help one cope with tragedy because hearing a â€Å"better† story can help one understand the more factual story. An altering of the truth can make the meaning of almost anything more understandable and bearable to explain or hear.

Achieving Strategic Fit

Strategic fit express the degree to which an organization is matching its resources and capabilities with the opportunities in the external environment. The matching takes place through strategy and it is therefore vital that the company have the actual resources and capabilities to execute and support the strategy. Strategic fit can be used actively to evaluate the current strategic situation of a company as well as opportunities as M&A and divestitures of organizational divisions.Strategic fit is related to the Resource-based view of the firm which suggests that the key to profitability is not only through positioning and industry selection but rather through an internal focus which seeks to utilize the unique characteristics of the company’s portfolio of resources and capabilities. [1] A unique combination of resources and capabilities can eventually be developed into a competitive advantage which the company can profit from. However, it is important to differentiate betwee n resources and capabilities.Resources relate to the inputs to production owned by the company, whereas capabilities describe the accumulation of learning the company possesses. Resources can be classified both as tangible and intangible: Tangible: Financial (Cash, securities) Physical (Location, plant, machinery) Intangible: Technology (Patents, copyrights) Human resources Reputation (Brands) Culture Several tools have been developed one can use in order to analyze the resources and capabilities of a company.These include SWOT, value chain analysis, cash flow analysis and more. Benchmarking with relevant peers is a useful tool to assess the relative strengths of the resources and capabilities of the company compared to its competitors. Strategic fit can also be used to evaluate specific opportunities like M&A opportunities. Strategic fit would in this case refer to how well the potential acquisition fits with the planned direction (strategy) of the acquiring company. In order to ju stify growth through M&A transactions the transaction should ield a better return than Organic growth. The Differential Efficiency Theory states that the acquiring firm will be able increase its efficiency in the areas where the acquired firm is superior. In addition the theory argues that M&A transactions give the acquiring firm the possibility of achieving positive synergy effects meaning that the two merged companies are worth more together than the sums of their parts individually. [2] This is because merging companies may enjoy from economics of scale and economics of scope.However, in reality many M&A transactions fails due to different factors, one of them being lack of strategic fit. A CEO survey conducted by Bain & Company showed that 94% of the interviewed CEO’s considered the strategic fit to be vitally influential in the success or failure of an acquisition. [3] A high degree of strategic fit from can potentially yield many benefits for an organization. Best case scenario a high degree of strategic fit may be the key to a successful merger, an efficient organization, synergy effects or cost reductions.

Pornography is not harmful to American Society Essay

This essay will argue that pornography is not harmful to American society. However, there are some important reservations to be made: the acceptable form of pornography is legal adults engage in this activity with full consent. Obviously, there are some forms of exploitation that are harmful and dangerous, such as forcing subjects to take part in pornography production or involving minors in this process. However, this essay will not discuss these activities that are already illegal and prosecuted to relevant authorities. Instead, it will argue that pornography is a legitimate form of self-expression. Furthermore, it will dispel many myths that are used by anti-pornography lobby (such as pornography leading to rape or being addictive) to appeal to public sentiment with a view of enacting a more restrictive regime regulating the field. At the first glance, banning of pornography pursues a plausible aim: protecting American citizens from the temptation of watching it. Giving this issue a second thought, it becomes evident that everything can go terribly wrong if such prohibition is instituted. Not only will it fail to achieve its goals, it will also harm the economy and society in the most dramatic fashion conceivable. In a debate on pornography, ‘liberals defended the freedom of consenting adults to publish and consume pornography in private from moral and religious conservatives who wanted pornography banned for its obscenity, its corrupting impact on consumers and its corrosive effect on traditional family and religious values’ (West, 2004, para. 3). Weighting such an intangible and relative thing as decline in social morale against a far more serious development of restriction on freedom of speech and expression guaranteed by our Constitution, it is necessary to admit that human rights are more important for the functioning of society than morale. Moral codes vary among different religious, ethnic and age groups; therefore, it would be unreasonable to base a federal policy on moral considerations only. In every debate on civil liberties, the discussion is often narrowed down to the traditional dilemma of decriminalization and control v. prohibition and black market. This argument is hard to run in a debate on, for instance, legalization of drugs, since governments of the world have proven to be sufficiently successful in combating illicit drug trafficking. However, it perfectly applies to restrictions on pornography. The demand for pornography soaring, there will be abundant supply. The police will be incapable of preventing illegal pornography production. The sector might be heading towards wide-scale corruption. Moreover, lack of regulation in pornography production might result in exploitation, use of minors, or unacceptable working conditions. Thus, it is better to regulate this sector than to let black market overtake it. There is a lesson America should have learned: the 1920s were the time of alcohol prohibition, and the regulation provided for a huge black market in alcohol to flourish, giving rise to bootlegging business and speakeasies. Many gangsters, including Al Capone and Bugs Moran, made fortunes selling alcohol illegally. Another hackneyed argument in a debate on civil liberties is that it’s better to tax than to let shadow economy grow. However, this argument should be taken seriously in the U. S. at the present moment of its history. The falling dollar and slowdown in the housing market has placed the U. S. economy on the verge of recession. At the same time, more government revenue is needed to support the national welfare and healthcare programs. More money is needed in education and research. Large-scale foreign policy initiatives also require additional funding. Refusing another source of tax money is unacceptable for the time being. If the aforesaid is not enough to dismiss the feasibility of restrictions on pornography, another argument can be introduced into the debate. In general, civil liberties are in danger in the U. S. , and by clampdown on yet another one the government will send a very wrong message. In fact, the government should leave citizens the ability to think for themselves. Individuals should be able to make decisions about their life careers themselves, and the government should be supportive of these decisions if they are deemed to be beneficial for the individual and society as a whole. Yet it is far beyond the jurisdiction of the government to protect an individual from the consequences of his/her conscious choices. In fact, it is the traditional dilemma of governmental regulation v. individual freedom. It may seem that restrictions on pornography would be in line with the theory of social contract. The state, which is the product of social contract, has the function of setting the limits on individual rights and freedoms. Social contract implies that agents give away a part of their freedom in return for security delivered by state. John Locke (2004, p. 33) writes: ‘Men†¦ by agreeing with other men, to join and unite into a community for their comfortable, safe, and peaceable living, one amongst another, in a secure enjoyment of their properties, and a greater security against any that are not of it†¦make one community or government†¦and make one body politic. ’ The situation is fairly clear-cut when one individual’s activity results in the violation of another individual’s rights. When the realization of rights of one individual infringes on rights of another individual, the state should intervene to reestablish the balance between these rights of different individuals. However, in the case of pornography, the practice does not pose a danger to society. Feminists argue that pornography is dangerous because it perpetuates exploitation and oppression of women. However, this is not necessarily true. Men also star in pornography production, and women are not always featured in subordinate roles. In the 1960s, a more liberal approach to sexuality was hailed as a major advancement of women’s right. Pornography means that both male and female sexuality is no longer a taboo but rather a subject for public discussion and business activity: ‘Pornography breaks cultural and political stereotypes, so that each woman can interpret sex for herself†¦ Pornography tells them to accept and enjoy them. Pornography can be good therapy. Pornography provides a sexual outlet for those who – for whatever reason – have no sexual partner’ (McElroy, 2004, ‘A Pro-Sex Defense’). For some females, pornography might be a pleasurable way of expressing themselves, given the popularity of home videos. Liberals ‘continue to maintain either that pornography does not cause harm to women (in the relevant, usually narrow, sense of ‘harm’), or they admit that pornography probably does cause some harm to women’s interests, but deny that this harm is sufficiently great to offset the dangers inherent in censorship and to justify the violation of the rights of pornographers and would-be consumers’ (West, 2004, ‘Recent debate: liberals and feminists’). A riskier argument that feminists were running was that pornography increases the number of instances of rape in society. However, empirical evidence in support of their claim has been scarce and contested. It leads to an obvious conclusion that ‘[p]ornography will not cause otherwise normal, decent chaps with no propensity to rape suddenly to metamorphose into rapists,† (Feinberg, 1985. p. 153). Some researchers have gone as far as to argue that consumption of pornography might decrease rape rates (Landsburg, 2006). Since citizens can satisfy their sexual fantasies by watching them on the screen, their urge to commit sexual assaults in real life is weaker. In fact, empirical evidence suggests that porn actually decreases rape: ‘The incidence of rape in the United States has declined 85% in the past 25 years while access to pornography has become freely available to teenagers and adults’ (D’Amato, 2006, Abstract). While there are many critics contesting the actual correlation between the two variables, increase in accessibility of pornography would have led to skyrocketing rape rates, which is not happening. There is another positive feature of pornography being pointed out by sexologists and family therapists. For some couples, watching pornography together might enhance their sexual relationship and make them freer in expressing their desires and fantasies. One more oft-cited danger of pornography is that it might cause an addiction. The government has long established itself as a body responsible for protecting its citizens against addictions, since they might foster compulsive behavior and lead to citizens harming themselves or other. This might be true about physical addictions, like addiction to drugs. However, addiction to pornography, if it exists, is a psychological phenomenon. Psychologically, people can be addicted to anything, from computer games to chocolate, which does not provide grounds for the government to ban everything that is enjoying considerable popularity. Taking all those arguments into account, it is possible to conclude that pornography is not as dangerous as it is portrayed, and prohibition of pornography might have devastating consequences for the society.

Four Views on Religion in a Pluralistic World

With the understanding that religious pluralism is the greatest challenge facing Christianity in today’s Western culture, Dennis L. Okholm and Timothy R. Phillips assembled the writings of five scholars to address the issue of whether explicit belief in Jesus is the only way to salvation. The contributions of these scholars, along with introductory comments by Okholm and Phillips, are found in the book, Four Views on Salvation in a Pluralistic World, edited by Okholm and Phillips.In this work, John Hick argues the view of normative pluralism and its assertion that all ethical religions lead to God. Clark Pinnock promotes inclusivism and the view that salvation is ultimately based in Christ even though people of other religions may be saved apart from explicit faith in Christ. Alister E. McGrath argues for a particularist view of salvation from a post-enlightenment perspective. R. Douglas Geivett and W. Gary Phillips present a particularist view from an evidentialist perspectiv e. This paper will give a critical review of Four Views on Salvation in a Pluralistic World.It will attempt to accurately summarize the views of Hick, Pinnock, McGrath, and Geivett and Phillips. This paper will also evaluate the arguments made by these contributors. Introductory Issues as Presented by Okholm and Phillips Okholm and Phillips offer a helpful introduction to the issues of pluralism, inclusivism and particularism. They do this by discussing the rise of religious pluralism and the challenges it has brought to Christianity. Okholm and Phillips point out that the traditional Christian view of particularism was challenged during the Enlightenment (8).Schleiermacher took an important step toward inclusivism when he asserted that God is salvifically available in some degree in all religions even though the gospel of Jesus Christ is the fulfillment and highest manifestation of this universal awareness (8). Classical liberalism followed Schleiermacher’s inclusive asserti ons until the late nineteenth century when historicism and its heightened awareness of cultural and religious relativities challenged the claim that Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of religion.Ernst Troeltsch argued that all people at all times are purely historical creatures, therefore, all religious claims are culturally conditioned perspectives of the divine. Being unable to make normative religious judgments, Troeltsch espoused pluralism (8-9). Okholm and Phillips assert that the late twentieth century â€Å"has heightened the dialogue regarding other religions† (9). In the current pluralistic environment normative religious claims are becoming increasingly difficult to maintain.Likewise, arguments for the uniqueness and superiority of Christianity are not well received. They also point out that the differences between liberal inclusivists and pluralists are only a matter of degree (10). In fact, in recent decades some liberal leaders have crossed over to religious plural ism. The strong pull towards pluralism has also affected conservative Christianity as more within the conservative camp question whether explicit belief in Christ is always necessary for salvation (11). Pluralism as Presented by John HickOkholm and Phillips point out that John Hick â€Å"towers over all other pluralists in influence and renown† (13). Hick believes salvation must be understood in more general terms than Christianity has traditionally allowed. According to Hick, salvation should be understood as a human change—a gradual transformation from natural self-centeredness to a radically new God-centeredness (43). He calls this transformation â€Å"salvation/liberation† (44). Hick believes that all ethical religions lead to God and rejects the view that Christianity alone is superior or uniquely true.He opts for the view that â€Å"the God-figures of the great theistic religions are different human awarenesses of the Ultimate† (39). Presenting hims elf as a former Christian fundamentalist who is familiar with traditional Christian claims, Hick explains why he rejects Christian particularism in favor of pluralism. First, Hick rejects the Bible’s authority and its ability to settle theological issues. He believes that the Bible presents pre-scientific beliefs and cultural assumptions that are no longer acceptable today (33).He also does not believe that God reveals propositions to people in human language. To Hick, the formulation of theology â€Å"is a human activity that always, and necessarily, employs the concepts and reflects the cultural assumptions and biases of the theologians in question† (36). Second, Hick rejects the New Testament teaching of the incarnation. To him, Jesus was not God and never claimed to be divine. The New Testament declarations of Jesus’ deity were written by people who did not know Jesus and reflect a gradual deification of Jesus in the minds of Christians.Hick’s denial of the incarnation naturally leads him to reject the â€Å"central doctrines of Trinity and Atonement† (52). Hick says the idea of the incarnation was a metaphor. To him, Jesus embodied as much of the infinite divine moral qualities as could be expressed in a finite human, but Jesus himself was not divine (57). Third, Hick argues that the morality of Christians is basically the same as people who follow other religions. If Christianity were uniquely true, he asserts, Christians should be morally superior. This is not the case according to Hick (39-42).Since people of differing religions have basically the same sense of piety and morality, this suggests to him that the major world religions are basically equal and saying the same thing. The primary appeal of pluralism is that it fits well with the thinking of modern Western society. Today’s society holds to a high view of man that has carried over from the Enlightenment. It also likes to stress fairness and equality and shows a disdain for the idea that large numbers of people may be lost for eternity because they never heard of or trusted in the Christian message.Hick’s pluralism appears to be an enlightened approach to religion but it has more problems than solutions. The first major issue with Hick’s pluralism involves his starting points for understanding people and religions. Hick’s starting point appears to be the Enlightenment’s positive anthropology and Western conceptions of fairness. He also explicitly states that he rejects the Bible’s authority when it comes to evaluating religions. Not only is this high view of man being challenged in the new postmodern environment, Christians who believe the Bible must reject Hick’s starting points.For those who accept the Bible’s authority, Hick’s perspective on these important matters is certain to be skewed since he rejects the one true source that is able to give us direction on these import ant matters. Second, Hick disrespects and even insults the major religions by claiming that they are basically teaching the same thing. As McGrath’s analysis showed, Hick’s perspective is shallow and shows a disregard for what the major religions actually teach.Certainly, there are aspects of Christianity such as the Golden Rule that have parallels in other religions, but there is much about Christianity that is mutually exclusive to other religions. The Christian belief in one personal God, for instance, cannot be reconciled with Buddhism and Hinduism. The Christian view that God is a God of grace and mercy who can be reached only through faith alone is foreign to the Allah of Islam. The deity of Jesus Christ is a particular of Christianity that is rejected by other religions. This reviewer also disagrees with Hicks’ attempt to mold Christianity into his own image.Hick wants to acknowledge that Christianity is a way to God but only after stripping it of its ess ential elements. He also wants to keep the elements of Christianity he finds acceptable while rejecting other parts. For example, Hick wants to keep the ethical teachings attributed to Jesus in the New Testament but rejects any claims concerning Jesus’ deity. Such distinctions appear arbitrary and subjective. Third, this reviewer rejects Hick’s modern assumptions that religious beliefs are totally culturally conditioned and that true knowledge of God cannot be reached.It is true that humans are influenced by culture and that no one person or group has a complete understanding of â€Å"the truth. † If God does exist, however, why should He not able to reveal Himself in such a way that humans can have some true knowledge about Him and His ways? Inclusivism as Presented by Clark Pinnock Clark Pinnock believes that inclusivism correctly offers a middle ground between exclusivism and pluralism. To him, â€Å"Inclusivism believes that, because God is present in the w hole world (premise), God’s grace is also at work in some way among all people, possibly even in the sphere of religious life (inference)† (98).Pinnock asserts that inclusivism rightly holds to two equal theological truths—the particularity of salvation through Christ and God’s universal plan to save sinners. Particularists, Pinnock says, hold the former and not the latter. Pluralists, on the other hand, deny the former and affirm the latter. â€Å"Inclusivism,† Pinnock asserts, â€Å"permits us to hold both particularity and universality at the same time† (142). Pinnock points out that inclusivism is not a tightly defined position. He says his form of inclusivism is â€Å"cautious† or â€Å"modal. Unlike another influential inclusivist, Karl Rahner, Pinnock stops short of stating that other religions possess salvific status or are vehicles of salvation. Pinnock holds that â€Å"Religions can be pathways to damnation† (113). He does believe, though, that the Holy Spirit is operative in human religion in a way that prepares people for the gospel of Christ (96). He also claims that wherever the triune God is present, grace must be present (98). Using the examples of Melchizedek and Cornelius, Pinnock states, â€Å"I believe that the Bible supports inclusivism† (109).Important to Pinnock’s inclusivism is the belief that â€Å"God can use both general and special revelation in salvific ways† (117). Pinnock rejects the traditional idea that God reveals himself in such a way that worsens the condition of sinners and makes their plight more hopeless (117). Pinnock should be credited for emphasizing the vastness of God’s mercy and encouraging particularists to reexamine their beliefs. As a reader, though, I was disappointed with Pinnock’s defense of inclusivism. First, Pinnock appears to have a higher view of human religion than Scripture does.Scripture consistently presents the other religions as wicked and idolatrous. God viewed the religion of the Canaanites as an abomination (Ezra 9:1). Paul was persecuted for teaching that the gods of the Gentiles were â€Å"no gods at all† (Acts 19:26). In his letter to the Thessalonians Paul commended his readers for turning to God from idols (1 Thess. 1:9). Second, Pinnock’s anthropology is not true to Scripture. He does not address Scripture’s strong emphasis on man’s depravity. He appears to share with Hick the idea that people are basically good and are deserving of a chance at salvation.Salvation in Scripture, though, appears based more on God’s choice than on something God owes the human race. His claim that general revelation can save is also not supported by Scripture. Pinnock’s inclusivism is most striking in his assertion that people of other religions may still be saved even if they reject the Christian gospel and remain in their current religion (120). How can th is be reconciled with Jesus’ message in Matthew 10:37-39 that no one who is unwilling to deny mother, father, and even his own life to follow Him is worthy of salvation?McGrath’s Post-Enlightenment Particularist View McGrath presents a post-Enlightenment particularist approach to salvation, but the main focus of his chapter is to highlight the major problems with pluralism. After acknowledging that the issues raised by pluralists are important, McGrath shows why he believes pluralism is seriously in error. According to McGrath, the whole issue of religious pluralism has been â€Å"fatally flawed† by a mentality that demands that all religions be â€Å"reduced to the same mold† (156). The assumption by pluralists that all religions are asically saying the same thing reflects an outdated foundationalism and a view of religion that reflects a Western cultural bias. McGrath argues that interaction between people of different faiths is good. He disagrees, thou gh, with religious discussions that overlook important areas of disagreement. Proper discussion can enhance understanding of other religions and cause Christians to reexamine long-held views that rest on inadequate scriptural foundations, but it should never be at the expense of downplaying key beliefs (159).McGrath, therefore, calls on theologians to respect all religions and their unique elements. Christianity, for example, holds to key beliefs that separate it from other religions. As he states, â€Å"The New Testament thus affirms the particularity of the redemptive act of God in Jesus Christ† (163). This foundational difference should not be ignored or â€Å"merged into the various concepts of divinity found in other religions† (165). McGrath also draws attention to the Reformed view that God has revealed himself to all people through natural revelation.Thus, McGrath, unlike Karl Barth, does believe that people of other religions know some true things about God fr om the creation. Knowledge of God from natural revelation, though, does not necessarily translate into salvation. In the last four pages of his chapter, McGrath specifically addresses his personal views on salvation. He states that we can be assured that all who respond in faith to the explicit preaching of the gospel will be saved. He does not, though, conclude that only those who respond to the explicit preaching of the gospel will be saved.According to McGrath, â€Å"We must be prepared to be surprised at those whom we will meet in the kingdom of God† (178). He cites the Ninevites, the queen of Sheeba and those who lived in Tyre, Sidon, and Sodom and Gomorrah as examples of people who may have experienced salvation in untraditional ways. McGrath says the traditional evangelical view that a verbal proclamation of the gospel is always necessary for salvation is â€Å"flawed† (178). This approach, he says, â€Å"limits God’s modes of action, disclosure, and sav ing power† (178). For McGrath, â€Å"A human failure to evangelize cannot be transposed into God’s failure to save† (178).God’s prevenient grace is at work and may bring salvation to people even if their â€Å"act of hope and trust may lack the fully orbed character of an informed Christian faith† (179). Although giving no documentation or explanation, McGrath claims that many Muslims are becoming Christians through dreams and visions of the risen Christ. For McGrath, then, human preaching is a means that God uses to bring salvation, but it is not the only means. In the end, McGrath states his confidence that the Judge of the earth will do what is right (Gen. 18:25).As mentioned, McGrath’s discussion is mostly a critique of pluralism. In this area he does well. McGrath rightly charges Hick with disregarding the particularity of Christianity and overlooking the major differences between the world’s major religions. I also agree with McG rath’s emphasis on the particularity of Christianity and the necessity of belief in Christ for salvation as it relates to Christianity. He may also be correct in his assertion that we may be surprised as the number of people we will meet in heaven (178), although the texts he uses to support this assertion are questionable.His use of the Ninevites, queen of Sheba, and the cities of Tyre, Sidon, Sodom, and Gomorrah are not true challenges to traditional exclusivism. The Ninevites and the queen of Sheba had access to special revelation. The Gentile cities he mentioned may be less guilty than Jewish cities that rejected the message of Christ, but this is no evidence that people in those cities were saved. McGrath may also be correct that human preaching is not always necessary for a person to be saved. God may use extraordinary means outside of human proclamation to bring people to saving faith.Like McGrath claims, God may use visions of the risen Christ to bring people to faith . How much of this activity takes place is not known. I wish McGrath would have documented his statement that many Muslims are coming to Christ through special visions of the resurrected Christ. Geivett and Phillips’ Evidential Particularist View Geivett and Phillips promote the view that â€Å"individual salvation depends on explicit personal faith in Jesus Christ† (214). Their position is a version of Christian particularism that is sometimes called exclusivism or restrictivism.This view has been the traditional view of Christianity up until the Enlightenment and still has many adherents today. Geivett and Phillips set forth their methodology for engaging inclusivists and pluralists. The discussion with inclusivists is a â€Å"first-order intramural debate† between those who accept and believe the Bible. Thus, debate over what the Bible says becomes primary. In this context, they do a theological analysis of texts they believe support particularism. The texts they use include Acts 4:12; John 3:16, 18; Romans 10:9-15; and John 14:6; 17:20.Geivett and Phillips argue that these texts affirm the necessity of explicit belief in Christ for salvation to occur. With pluralists, however, there is a â€Å"second-order intramural debate. † Here arguments from Scripture are not the starting point since pluralists do not accept the Bible’s authority. For Geivett and Phillips, discussion with pluralists is possible, but the starting point must be natural theology. In particular, they begin with arguments for the existence of God to set the base for their eventual conclusion that we can trust God’s special revelation as found in the Bible.To them, natural theology and Jesus’ resurrection from the dead give strong evidence that the Bible is true and that we can trust it when it speaks to how one must be saved. I am mostly in agreement with the position of Geivett and Phillips. The strong emphasis in the New Testament on faith in Christ for salvation and the emphasis on taking the gospel to the ends of the earth are strong evidences for Christian particularism. Plus, although John 14:6 and Acts 4:12 do not present an airtight case for particularism, these texts do emphasize the exclusive nature of Christianity.Geivett and Phillips are to be commended on two points. First, they are to be commended for their scholarly and humble attempt to establish the truth of their position. As they say, â€Å"We have not argued merely for the coherence of our position; we have argued that it is true† (245). They not only offered the most specific exegesis of any of the writers, they also interacted seriously with the texts most emphasized by their opponents. Geivett and Phillips also point to a practical issue in their favor. If the pluralists are correct there is little danger in preaching inclusivism or particularism.If the inclusivists are right there is little danger in promoting particularism but it is risk y to promote pluralism. If particularists are correct, however, there is great danger in promoting pluralism and inclusivism for many will be deceived into thinking they are saved when they are not. The consequences of this last scenario are disastrous. Not all of the points made by Geivett and Phillips were equally good. I did not find their discussion on Christian evidences as being particularly helpful. Though I am in agreement with their conclusions about general revelation, this discussion appeared out of place.Perhaps this space could have been devoted to more important matters and amplifications of other points made in the chapter. Plus, one could believe in the particularism of Geivett and Phillips and also hold to a presupposition apologetic that would not start with evidences for the existence of God. In sum, Four Views is a significant work that presents the major views on salvation in a pluralistic world. It is a helpful read for those who want a basic overview of the ma jor positions on this important issue.