Poverty and Children in the United States Essay

Poverty can be hard to describe at times especially when involving children. â€Å"Last year, 35.9 million Americans – including 13 million children – lived in poverty† (de Leon, 2004). There is no need for these kinds of rates, especially when it comes to our children. Children in poverty are issues that cannot be ignored in today’s society. Over coming child poverty would take enormous energy and strength from everyone in the United States. â€Å"While we are the richest country, we rank highest in child poverty rates among rich nations† (Bezruchka, 2007). The thing that most people overlook is the insufficient nutrition along with unemployment and housing that is overcrowded. Some people like to believe that these children do not exist and everyone is happy and carefree. When in most cases there could be a child living in poverty next door. There are many low-income people in the United States; a huge number of them are children. â€Å"In 2003, the government classified 35.9 million men, women, and children—12.5 percent of the U.S. population—as poor† (Macionis, 2006). A person being poor is another word for a person being in poverty. Poverty can be defined in many ways, for example, inadequate income can make a family be below the poverty line. The home environment can also add to the poverty issue because, most homes that look in disrepair mean that the family living inside might not have the income to fix things. When a family is in the poverty zone they feel bad and inadequate which can make them unwilling to ask for help. This can be harmful to the children because they do not have a say when the adults need help. A child in poorer family can also have poor health due to inadequate healthcare and routine visits. Lower income families try to buy enough food for everyone but, this does not always carry the vitamins and nutrients a growing child needs. The nutritious and healthy food is not always low cost and can be hard for a low-income family to afford. A number of nutritious meals takes time to prepare and when guardians work all day they probably do not feel like or have time to cook a full course meal. For example, a single mother works in a pizza parlor to support her children, every night the owner lets her take a free pizza home, this is good to eat but does not supply the every day nutrients a child needs. A child who does not get adequate nutrition can suffer academically. Children who live in poverty endure hardships in academics, social problems and sometimes physical problems. Children who live in low-income homes are more likely to have problems in school, making friends and staying healthy. When children from lower income families attend school they can be ridiculed due to them not having the best clothes or the right supplies. This takes a toll on their self-esteem and socializing, the children will continue to be nervous about these things. The grades will sometimes show when a child has esteem issues or is too nervous to pay attention. Healthcare is a growing concern for children because most people cannot afford coverage and sometimes make too much for programs like the medical card. Without the right type of medical visits the child will suffer. Sicknesses like colds or the common flu can go undiagnosed which if bad enough can lead to serious health problems. Diseases like Attention Deficit Disorder also know as ADD which can be easily diagnosed by a doctor can be mistaken for misbehavior. Most parents without coverage wait until it is absolutely necessary to take the child to a doctor, which at time can be damaging. Some people would think that low-income children would not have weight issues but, they do, due to unhealthy eating habits. The numbers of children in the United States living in lower income families continues to grow.   The number of children living in poverty has increased by more than 11% between 2000 and 2005. There are 1.3 million more children living in poverty today than in 2000, despite indications of economic recovery and growth† (Fass and Cauthen, 2006). Most people want to believe since the economy is growing the poverty level is dropping but, it is not. Sure there are more jobs and higher paying jobs but these require training which is costly. The other thing to remember is this occurs when wages go up the merchandise goes up also. People tend to help children in other countries rather than help their own. There are many commercials about saving the children from disease and famine in other countries no one thinks about the children here. The number of children in poverty would fall if people would recognize the troubles in their own back yards. There are people who make millions from making movies or music and do not help the children in the U.S. They would rather have the publicity from adopting a child or donating money to children in another country. In all honesty how much of the donated money, in fact goes where it belongs. To aide in the costs of healthcare for children and elderly Medicaid and Medicare were formed. â€Å"The government’s most substantial — and most successful — involvement in health care came in 1965, when it created Medicare to help the elderly and Medicaid to help the poor† (2000). Medicare and Medicaid were brought about because people were going into debt for medical attention and most children could not afford medical treatment. Medicare is a health insurance program made for people over 65 and Medicaid, which is funded by federal and state governments, is for children who cannot afford coverage. As for the ones who do not qualify for either Medicaid or Medicare there is SCHIP which is for low to middle class families. â€Å"The State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) was established in 1997 to provide government-paid coverage for children whose parents aren’t poor enough to receive welfare and Medicaid† (2007). These programs made a drastic improvement upon poverty ratings in children because healthcare was made affordable. These are good things, but there are some problems with the plans and people do not qualify. Some medications are not approved to be covered along with needing tests done that have to wait for approval. There are cracks in the system as well, because the Department of Health and Human Resources does not take into the account the medicines family members are on and how much out-of-pocket cost they are covering. For example a family may bring in roughly eight hundred dollars a month and have to spend one third on medications. The DHHR just sees they make too much money to qualify for different types of assistance. However, for the most part Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP have made poverty levels in children decrease. The next thing to be reckoned with was bills and finances. Temporary Assistance for Needy Families helps with the financial responsibilities of the household. TANF is for families with children who have no income or ways of supporting themselves. The amount received depends on the size of the family, but only covers two children and two adults total. TANF is there for when a family looses a job or becomes unable to perform job related tasks anymore. Welfare assistance such as TANF now has a limit to how long a family can receive assistance. This limit is 60 months, which can be spread out, used only when needed or for 5 years straight. Food Stamps aide in the families food needs, these pay for food only. Like TANF there is a set income level to receive these. The Food Stamp program was first started as a type of supplement, a person would buy stamps with cash and use them in a store but, they would be worth more than what the person had paid in cash. Later on the food stamps became free to qualifying families. This means food stamps no longer had to be bought, a family just had to meet certain income requirements. There are a number of people currently receiving food stamps because the cap for income is high, which helps a number of families out with purchasing food. There is no limit to how long a family can receive food stamps as long as they continue to qualify. A regular yet harmful part of the welfare system is that some of the public which do not try have a tendency to take the low road and receive assistance when the assistance is not needed. While other people put forth immense effort to make an honest livelihood end up paying taxes to help maintain the welfare system. Some people believe that the food stamp program has made it too easy on some people to sit around and does nothing while collecting TANF and food stamps, but for the people who truly need it they are wrong. There are many people who go to welfare for assistance who truly need help for a short time while they get back on their feet. There are also people who are temporarily disabled, parents who have lost their counter part and have nowhere else to turn for financial help, or other unforeseen circumstances, these are the people who need these types of assistance. However, for the people who take advantage of these systems they make things harder for the people who need help. Low-income families with children need these services in order to survive; some make it difficult for them. Without the help from agencies child poverty would continue to rise drastically. Child poverty in the United States is high right now but guesses how high the rates would be without programs like TANF, Medicaid, Medicare, and food stamps. Low-income children would be unhealthy and without the minimal requirements needed to sustain normal life. Even though there have been improvements to the programs which help children in poverty there is still a long way to go. Sometimes children fall through the cracks because they are right on the cusp and do not qualify for government assistance or have enough income or medical coverage. Policies need to be changed and assistance groups should look over qualifications better. The responsibility of the United States residents is high because these children who live in poverty is our future and need to be taken care of. People in the United States need to take better care of their own and worry less about what is going on in other countries. References Bezruchka, Stephen (2007, April 29). Give U.S. Children Our Best; Poor Report Card On Child Health Should Be Our Call To Action: [FINAL Edition]. Seattle Post – Intelligencer, p. J1 Retrieved February 03, 2008, from Business Dateline database. (Document ID: 1262409031). Fass Sarah and Nancy K. Cauthen (December, 2006). Who are America’s Poor Children? Retrieved February 03, 2008, from http://www.nccp.org/publications/pub_684.htmlNO Macionis, J. (2006). Society: The basics (8th Ed.). P.216 Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.

Robert Frost Theme on Death

Throughout Frost's poetry it is clear to envisage that Frost himself had experienced great loss. His poem’s take you through some of the stages of grief he had experienced at various points in his life. There is a certain cathartic quality to his poems, it is obvious Frost used the medium of creative writing as a release from his grief, enabling him to process his losses, to accept and heal from them. His own father had died when Frost was just a boy himself and during his married life Frost found himself a father also to six offspring.His life was touched by tragedy again as he and his wife lost two of these children. One child was still born the other died at three years old. The echoes of grief can be found in the poem Home burial. â€Å"Tell me about if it's something human. Let me into your grief. I'm not so much unlike other folk as your standing there. This sections comes as the husband is pleading with the wife to communicate with him. The wife is inconsolable and is trying to flee and says to her husband â€Å"There you go sneering now!†Frost breaks this line in the middle to suggest how profoundly at odds they are, how much psychic as well as literal space separates them. (Kilcup 1988. ) Again he pleads with her â€Å"A man can't speak of his own child that's dead. Any rhetorical question demands, expects, the hearer's automatic agreement; there is nothing it expects less than a particular, specific denial. The man's â€Å"Can't a man speak . . . † means â€Å"Isn't any man allowed to speak . . . ,† but her fatally specific answer, â€Å"Not you! † makes it mean, â€Å"A man cannot—is not able to—speak, if the man is you, (Jarrell 1999.)â€Å"She then implies how insensitive he has been over the child's death and repeats the words to him that he had said after burying the child† Three foggy mornings and one rainy day will rot the best birch fence a man can build. † Amy's interpretation o f her husband's words in the kitchen reveals, ironically, that her husband may be far more subtle and sophisticated in expressing himself than she understands. Her question is really an accusation, and she believes not only that he would not care but that he is fundamentally incapable of caring (Faggen1997.)The husband through his wife Amy’s eyes has lost the ability to interact with his wife, also his wife fails to see that in fact he was referring to the child's death by his comment. As a farmer close to nature he was referring to the unfairness of it all, that no matter how hard you try fate plays a part in everything. The fence being a metaphor of how a perfectly strong structure can be taken by bad weather. In the case of the baby's life it taken by death. In the case of this poem both the husband and wife had misinterpreted each other's grieving.Failing to appreciate each other's pain in that process. In the poem â€Å"Death of a Hired Man†, there are four charac ters. Mary and Warren, partners or married it does not actually state this in the poem. Harold a young farm hand and the hired man Silas who seems to be the main character of the poem. In comparison to the couple in Home Burial and the obvious lack of empathy they seem to have for each other, Mary and Warren seem close and communicate effortlessly with each other. This is reflected in the opening verses of â€Å"death of A Hired Man†.It seems they have a relationship of mutual understanding between them. â€Å"When she heard his step, Mary was obviously familiar with Warren enough to know it was his foot fall without first seeing him. This is the opposite in Home burial obviously the wife is trying to flee from her husband a marked comparison between the two relationships. Silas has returned to this couple to die, when Mary comes across him he is â€Å"Huddled against a barn door fast asleep. † In the middle of winter this must have appeared strange to Mary.She goes o n to describe his appearance to Warren, â€Å"a miserable sight, frightening too â€Å"I didn't recognize him-I wasn't looking for him-and he's changed, â€Å"This describes a change in Silas's appearance enough to shock Mary who has known him a number of years. May be he has grown thin and worn looking. The verse paints a mental picture, you can visualize poor withered Silas curled up in the doorway of the barn and the look on Mary's face on finding him there. Warren asks Mary if he said anything she replied â€Å"but little,† Mary describes his speech to Warren almost in-coherent.This symbolises the demise of Silas as he its unable to string a sentence together. Warren is confused by this and refers to a disagreement between Silas and Harold Wilson. Wilson a young boy and Silas were good work colleagues. Harold had other ideas and went into education Silas tried everything to coax Harold back to working the farm but with little success. Silas frowned upon formal educatio n this shows through in this verse, â€Å"He said he couldn't make the boy believe He could find water with a hazel prong-which showed how much good school had ever done him.Warren says at one point â€Å"well those days trouble Silas like a dream. † Maybe Silas had regret in his life, he cut a lonely person roaming the land looking for work. His own family were well to do and educated, his brother is quoted as a Director of a bank. They are shades of Silas not been good enough in some way in his family’s eyes. Maybe he viewed Warren and Mary as family at one point Warren states† he won't be made ashamed to please his brother. † The simile between Silas and the stray hound that came from the woods and given a home on their farm paints the couple as empathetic and caring of nature.Maybe this is the reason why Silas chose them to die with rather than alone. With all the problems that arose between Silas and Harold while working for Warren and Mary. Mary stil l found it in her heart to give him a bed for the night. Mary asks Warren to check on Silas while she sits a watches the night sky. Mary is particularly watching the clouds and says to warren â€Å"I'll sit and see if that small sailing cloud will hit or miss the moon. † â€Å"It hit the moon. † This line symbolises the point as Warren looks in a Silas and realises Silas has died in his sleep.Frost reflects the mood of the poem with this short line, you can almost hear the cloud exploding off the moon as warren realises Silas is dead. Warren returns to Mary â€Å"Dead†, was all he said. The ending of the poem also shows the impact of death, as Warren silently sits beside Mary and he only gives a one-word answer of â€Å"Dead†. This emphasizes the impact of Silas’ death and what it means to the couple. The bluntness of his reaction gives a feeling of grief and disbelief (Study Mode, ND) In both these poems Frost deals with death in an intimate way, you can tell by the style of each verse he is writing from experience.The mood and tone of each poem is dramatic and it is as though you are a fly on the wall actually witnessing the events that unfold in each verse from beginning to end. Again in the poem â€Å"Out Out†, there is a comparison between the disbelief of the wife in her reaction towards her husband, at his perceived lack of care towards the child’s death in the poem, â€Å"Home Burial,† and the reaction of the gathered crowed after the poor boy perishes.As it states in Out Out, â€Å"And they, since they, (the gathered crowd,) Were not the one dead, turned to their affairs. Certainly there was sorrow, mourning and a tearful funeral, but none of that pertains to the poet’s message. The living have lives to lead (Wood 2008. )This is the last line of the poem after the poor victim, 16yr old Raymond Fitzgerald dies in the accident of horrific injuries caused by a buzz saw. The poor child bleeds to death after his hand is severed by the saw.Robert Frost clearly accomplished great things as a poet. After a long and successful career as a professor teaching poetry, he went on to win The Pulitzer Prizes twice for his literary works. This gentle farmer-poet† whose platform manner concealed the ever-troubled, agitated private man who sought through each of his poems â€Å"a momentary stay against confusion. † (Burnshaw. S 2000. ) Frost became the voice of the ordinary American and to this day is still held in the highest regard even after his death.

Free Essays on Sexual Harassment

HOW TO HANDLE SEXUAL HARRASSMENT There are appropriate and inappropriate ways to handle sexual harassment. The wrong way is to blow a little circumstance into something big. If something someone is doing is bothering you then let them know. Do not accuse them of sexual harassment without even letting the person know that you are offended. Sometimes people do things that do not offend some people, but they offend you. Examples of this are when people make certain jokes or if people invade your personal space. This might be okay with certain people, but not with you. The best thing to do is to let someone know when situations are making you feel uncomfortable right away. There are three forms of communication that you can use. These are verbal, non-verbal, and written. Non-verbal communication is a very effective way to let someone know that they are acting unsuitably. This form of communication should be used before circumstances turn into harassment. If someone tells an inappropriate joke then you can give them a blank stare. That will let them know that you do not think that it is funny at all. A serious look on your face can also let them know that you do not think that it is funny. You can also use non-verbal communication if someone is getting too close to you and invading your personal space. In this instance simply taking a step back and raising your eyebrows might let the person know that they are behaving in a way that makes you uncomfortable. Non-verbal communication can be very effective in letting people know that they are not acting properly. You can use facial expressions and body language to get your point across. Most of the time using non-verbal communication will be sufficient to get your point across, however sometimes y ou will need to use other forms of communication to be heard. There are some instances where the situation needs to be addressed verbally. Sometimes people are afraid to verbally ... Free Essays on Sexual Harassment Free Essays on Sexual Harassment HOW TO HANDLE SEXUAL HARRASSMENT There are appropriate and inappropriate ways to handle sexual harassment. The wrong way is to blow a little circumstance into something big. If something someone is doing is bothering you then let them know. Do not accuse them of sexual harassment without even letting the person know that you are offended. Sometimes people do things that do not offend some people, but they offend you. Examples of this are when people make certain jokes or if people invade your personal space. This might be okay with certain people, but not with you. The best thing to do is to let someone know when situations are making you feel uncomfortable right away. There are three forms of communication that you can use. These are verbal, non-verbal, and written. Non-verbal communication is a very effective way to let someone know that they are acting unsuitably. This form of communication should be used before circumstances turn into harassment. If someone tells an inappropriate joke then you can give them a blank stare. That will let them know that you do not think that it is funny at all. A serious look on your face can also let them know that you do not think that it is funny. You can also use non-verbal communication if someone is getting too close to you and invading your personal space. In this instance simply taking a step back and raising your eyebrows might let the person know that they are behaving in a way that makes you uncomfortable. Non-verbal communication can be very effective in letting people know that they are not acting properly. You can use facial expressions and body language to get your point across. Most of the time using non-verbal communication will be sufficient to get your point across, however sometimes y ou will need to use other forms of communication to be heard. There are some instances where the situation needs to be addressed verbally. Sometimes people are afraid to verbally ... Free Essays on Sexual Harassment Despite widespread publicity about the perils of sexual harassment, surveys demonstrate that businesses operating in the United States have yet to address the problem. Moreover, recent news reports indicate the sexual harassment has reached the highest levels of management. Although businesses know it exists, they appear unsure of what to do about it. As a result, the spector of employer liability for sexual harassment continues to loom over the workplace. Failure to attempt to solve and to take a stand on this aggressive subject can result not only in costly lawsuits, but also in a loss of employee morale, decline in productivity, and an erosion of a company’s public image. This may prove costly because these risks have substantially increased in years. In 1991, Congress amended Title VII to permit victims of sexual harassment to recover damages (including punitive damages) under federal law. Moreover, in 1993 the U.S. Supreme Court broadened the reach of this law by making it easier to prove injury. As a result, sexual harassment in the workplace presents a clear and present danger to businesses. They must now take action or face increasing risk of liability. To play it smart, companies need to understand the whole issue of sexual harassment. They need to consider the disturbing statistics behind an often forgotten and hidden problem, the legal grounds available to victims, the current trends in the law, and the ways that companies can protect themselves. On-the-job sexual harassment is not a recent problem, although legal liability for it is. It’s a problem that is just shrugged off and forgotten about. Surveyed in Redbook magazine, a poll found that nine out of ten women have been subjected to unwanted sexual advances at work. In 1980, the federal government surveyed it’s own employees and found that forty-two percent of the women stated that they experienced some form of work-related sexual harassme... Free Essays on Sexual Harassment How Long will Sexual Harassment Remain a Hush-hush Affair? By Selamawit Seyoum Women at all levels of education and occupation endure humiliation and ordeal in the hands of men at work places. Many women live in a complete riddle why they are sexually harassed by their male counterparts even today, at the turn of the new millennium when enhanced efforts are being exerted to eliminate all forms of violence against women. In fact despite the enormity of the problem, sexual harassment has never been given due attention in this country. Some women approached by the Herald cited cases that harassment begins right from the day of interview for a job. That is the day when, they said, employers, especially in the private organizations, "remind" women that meeting their sexual advances is part of the job description. "When you go into the boss's offices for an interview, you can't escape those lusty eyes of his that run from the tip of your hair down to your toe assessing your sexual worthiness. That leaves you in a very uncomfortable situation. Your qualification for the job is not enough, the boss needs more. He makes it clear in his own way that you will have to accept his invitation for a date if your really want the job," Simret Tesfaye said while explaining her personal experience with a couple of employers. There are women workers who live in traumata due to sexual abuses. They are confronted with hard choices either to succumb to the sexual advances or give up their jobs. Mekdes Ye*censored*ila, in her twenties, who had been working in a private company explained that the owner of the company forwarded sexual demands following repeated invitations for lunch and dinner which she never accepted. She said, "I did not quit my job the first time he asked me to go out with him. I told him right to his face that he was a married man with a kid and should behave accordingly. However, that did not deter him...

Semantics Pragmatics Essays

Semantics Pragmatics Essays Semantics Pragmatics Essay Semantics Pragmatics Essay Essay Topic: Invisible Man SEMANTICS PRAGMATICS Analysis of Two Texts, 1500 WORD Linguistics is the science of a language. Linguists depend on the use of certain aspects in order to analyse, describe and explain a human language; these aspects include semantics and pragmatics. Semantics can be defined as the study of meaning of lexical words and expressions independently of context. Where pragmatics is the process of recognising the invisible meaning of lexical items and expressions; taking into account the speakers/ addressees intention, the status of hearer/ receiver and the actual situation. This paper will explain the process we, as humans usually follow to understand a certain text or utterance. This explanation would be achieved through the analysis of two journal articles from semantics and pragmatics perspective, taking into account a range of techniques associated with each of the two concepts including: Semantics Aspects: Synonymy, antonymy, hyponymy, prototypes, homophones and homonyms, polysemy and ambiguity. Pragmatics Aspects: Deixis and Distance, reference and inference, conversational implicature, anaphoric and cataphoric reference, presupposition, entailment, direct and indirect speech acts and speech events, cultural context and cross cultural pragmatics, conversational analysis and background knowledge, denotation and connotation meaning, the four maxims and hedges. Analysing Article One We will begin by observing the semantic and pragmatic features in article 1 being Men are sulks say surveys . This article is taken from the hot topics section of the popular msn website. The main topic of this article is a medical concept being flu/cold, where the unspecified writer of this article discusses the reaction of men, compared to women when it comes to having flu. The article also lists a number of readers comments on the subject topic. As a whole, article one is rich with lexical items that belong to the medical lexical field, such as cold, flu, Panadol, tablets, sick, suffer, diseases, chicken pox, depression, doctor, coughs, headache etc. The extensive use of these terms throughout the article was a necessity since the main topic is about a medical condition. Another lexical field was elaborated in this article being the family relationships such as mothers, fathers, husbands, wives, children etc. Antonymy or the use of two lexical items that represent the opposite meaning appear in this article such as men and women, males and females, wives and husbands, mothers and fathers, vent and defend etc. The use of these terms in this article is more likely for the purpose of comparison. Most of these antonyms are relational opposites; these opposites indicate two ends of a relationship between persons. Also there were synonymous sense relations between few lexical items in the text for example, husband and hubby, males and men, females and women. These lexical items have the same meaning, however they are not absolute synonyms because the terms males and females are more general than the terms men and women because the first set could refer to a larger group of people, being all males/females. Another non-absolute synonyms are the terms hubby and husband, where the word hubby is the more colloquial term for husband. Homonymy also occurs in this article through the use of the term food in the phrase here is a little food for thought shown in comment 1. The term food here even though it has the same phonological and written form of the term food which means the nutrients eaten by human or animals for the purpose of staying alive. However, in this context food for thought can be expressed as a positive idea or piece of information given from the writer to the reader to enhance the knowledge of the reader. In comment 2 the expression wouldn’t lift a finger has a homonymous sense relation because such expression could be interpreted literally as not lifting a finger, where in this context this expression means that the writers husband failed to help her with the housework even by doing little things. Pragmatically speaking, verbs like love in comment 1 love the way everyone gets emotive about men forms an expressive speech act because the writer or the addressee is expressing his feelings. There is also a referential relationship between some expressions, for example in comment 2 in the first phrase being â€Å"Last week, hubby came home with flu. I also had â€Å"it†. The expression â€Å"It† in this context is an example of anaphora meaning that the â€Å" It† here refers back to an already introduced entity, being the â€Å"flu† in this case. Also based on the pragmatic analysis of article 1, the lexeme sympathy which occurred in the first paragraph of the actual article to seek sympathy for their ailment from their partners has a different denotative meaning than that of the writers intention because the most direct meaning of the this lexeme is associated with the feelings and emotions of the sympathy that needs to be paid when someone passes away. Where in this context the term sympathy means the need to be looked after. Another pragmatic expression is used in comment 5 where the writer said a man that would rather chew his arms then complain, the writer used this expressions in order to convey the idea that her dad has the ability to put up with the discomfort associated with flu/cold. Analysing Article Two Article two is called â€Å"Choosing Babys Gender, it is originated from the same website as article one and most properly written by the same author, however the commentators are different. This article discusses the controversial issue of gender detection of baby’s and the selective termination. The writer then asks the question â€Å"Do you think parents should be able to choose their baby’s gender? then it lists few comments of the readers, answering that question, some agreeing and others disagreeing with the subject process. The expression turning their back in comment 2 has a pragmatic meaning in this context meaning giving up on, or rejecting something or someone. This expression has a negative connotation. Where the expression in comment 1 being I do understand where you are all coming from can pragmatically interpreted as I understand your point of view and not as the semantic meaning being I know the place where you all come from. The terms children, babies, boy, girl, child, all belong to the same semantic field of young humans. The words boy and girl form an absolute antonyms because they express absolute oppositeness; where the terms parent and child are relational opposites because its oppositeness indicates two ends of a relationship between persons. Also the gradable pairs healthy and disabled in comment 3 have an antonymous sense relationship because their oppositeness is a question of degree. The lexical items abortion and termination have a synonymous sense relationship because both terms have the same meaning; however the term abortion is the more specialised term for such process. The denotative meaning of the expression so coldly used in comment 2, is usually associated with temperature degree cold, however in this context it means â€Å"in a uncaring manner† or â€Å"not giving the subject topic the concern it deserves†. Semantically speaking the term sad in the title of comment 3 poses an ambiguity because sad could have two meanings one is distressing or heartbreaking, the second meaning is the adjective meaning upset or unhappy†. In this context, the term sad means distressing or heartbreaking. Through the analysis of the two texts, it became quite clear that they share many similarities as they both are medical articles. In terms of language use, they both include many terms of the slang English particularly, in the comments section. The use of this everyday/colloquial language in both texts contributed in making the articles more objectives and convincing to the reader. Overall both articles were rich in terms and expressions that could be analysed semantically and pragmatically; however, we observed only a number of them due the limitation of word number of this essay. On a different subject, the two articles did not tell us much about the author/s, because the writer/s of both texts were mainly providing facts and asking questions about the subject topic. However, the author of article one seem to have a humorous and sarcastic personality because of the word choice in some sentences for example mighty men. The use of this term here with its connotative meaning indicates that the writer is being sarcastic Even though article one had more terms and expressions that could be analysed from the semantic and pragmatic perspective, article two on the other hand is considered to be of a greater importance due to the issues raised in it, as the topic of â€Å"choosing baby gender and deciding on abortion† seems to be of more importance and interest than â€Å"mens reaction to flu†. REFERENCES: 1-Jackson, Howard, Words and their meaning, Longman Inc (1988),New York. 2-Grundy,Peter, Doing Pragmatics 2nd Edition (2000), London. 3-Finegan, E Blair D Collins P Language, its structure and use 4th

Arrays in Mathematics

Arrays in Mathematics In  math, an array refers to a set of numbers or objects that will follow a specific pattern. An array is an orderly arrangement (often in rows, columns or a matrix) that is most commonly used as a visual tool for demonstrating  multiplication and division. There are many everyday examples of arrays that help with understanding the utility of these tools for quick data analysis and simple multiplication or division of large groups of objects. Consider a box of chocolates or a crate of oranges that have an arrangement of 12 across and 8 down rather than count each one, a person could multiply 12 x 8 to determine the boxes each contain 96 chocolates or oranges. Examples such as these aid in young students understanding of how multiplication and division work on a practical level, which is why arrays are most helpful when teaching young learners to multiply and divide shares of real objects like fruits or candies. These visual tools allow students to grasp how observing patterns of fast adding can help them count larger quantities of these items or divide larger quantities of items equally amongst their peers. Describing Arrays in Multiplication When using arrays to explain multiplication, teachers often refer to the arrays by the factors being multiplied. For example, an array of 36 apples arranged in six columns of six rows of apples would be described as a 6 by 6  array. These arrays help students, primarily in third through fifth grades, understand the computation process by breaking the factors into tangible pieces and describing the concept that multiplication relies on such patterns to aid in quickly adding large sums multiple times. In the six by six array, for instance, students are able to understand that if each column represents a group of six apples and there are six rows of these groups, they will have 36 apples in total, which can quickly be determined not by individually counting the apples or by adding 6 6 6 6 6 6 but by simply multiplying the number of items in each group by the number of groups represented in the array. Describing Arrays in Division In division, arrays can also be used as a handy tool to visually describe how large groups of objects can be divided equally into smaller groups. Using the above example of 36 apples, teachers can ask students to divide the large sum into equal-sized groups to form an array as a guide to the  division of apples. If asked to divide the apples equally between 12 students, for example, the class would produce a 12 by 3 array, demonstrating that each student would receive three apples if the 36 were divided equally among the 12 individuals. Conversely, if students were asked to divide the apples between three people, they would produce a 3 by 12 array, which demonstrates the Commutative Property of Multiplication that the order of factors in multiplication does not affect the product of multiplying these factors. Understanding this core concept of the interplay between multiplication and division will help students form a fundamental understanding of mathematics as a whole, allowing for quicker and more complex computations as they continue into algebra and later applied mathematics in geometry and statistics.

Potential Rewards and Risks of Strategies for International Essay

Potential Rewards and Risks of Strategies for International Organisations - Essay Example Planning and preparation of strategies for an organisation become very crucial as those, at times, determine the fate of the organisation. Globalisation is the modern approach of business. Many organisations operate their business globally providing it with huge market to operate. In the present context, the strategies of an organisation are quite developed which mostly deal with the overall development of the business enterprise, generally focusing on the growth of the organisation, nationally and internationally. Strategies can be referred to the set of plans which are prepared and developed by the higher level of management of the organisation. This paper involves with the reasons behind the preparation and usage of strategies by the organisation. It also includes the means of strategies used by the organisations for their international operations (John & Gillies, 1996). Reasons behind the International Businesses Usage of Strategies Strategies are prepared by an organisation with an intention to deal with any unfavoured consequences, if occurred, in future context and so to grow the business in both future and present context. A well planned strategy helps to organise and to allocate the available resources of an organisation into a distinct and feasible position focusing on the internal competencies and drawbacks. Strategies prepared by the organisation are expected to anticipate changes in the environment and the moves taken by intelligent competitors (John & Gillies, 1996). ... Strategies are prepared by the organisations with various intentions. Quite a few strategies are prepared by the organisations which operate its business nationally and internationally. Strategies once prepared help an organisation to achieve a clear sense of direction for the business which also helps the organisation to take a forward view and establish a clear set of objectives and goals. Strategies prepared by the management have proved to be helpful for the better functioning of the business as they provide important integrating and co-ordinating function for the companies operating largely in context of economy. Strategies are prepared by the internationally functioning organisation to ascertain the marketing trends and to help the organisation by supporting it with sustainable growth. Strategies help the organisation through this role of co-ordination to minimize intra-organisational conflict including tensions in headquarters and relationships among subsidiaries. The higher l evel managers of organisation prepare strategies as it serves as a guide to action, providing a framework for the companies functioning and operating their business worldwide to take operational and administrative decisions. The strategies encourage the corporate performance by maximising strengths and opportunities, minimizing weaknesses and treats. Strategies enable an organisation to respond successfully to the uncertainty, complexity and competitiveness of the international business environment encountered by firms of increasing global scope (Mintzberg, 2003). Preparation of the strategies is done by the management with great attention. There are various required fields where

Fast food sector Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Fast food sector - Essay Example Having taken advantage of the economic growth, the organization has expanded phenomenally and has presence in virtually every country in the world (Orji, 2005). Their business model too is unique as their restaurants are owned and operated by local people in the country of presence. In mature and developed markets, however, they have company-owned restaurants. The key to McDonald's success is the use of franchising. McDonald's however, has reached the saturation point in their home market – the US – and hence started looking for overseas opportunities. The growth in the US has been slow but in the other markets it is leading. There still exists high potential in the developing countries but they need to realign their strategies. McDonald's wanted to create a multi brand corporation and hence invested in other brands such as Piles Cafe, Boston Market, Pret a Manager (Orji, 2005). They also had a majority stake in had a majority stake in Chiptole Mexican Grill and owned D onatos Pizza for several years. Their idea was to offer healthier options and compete with the fast casual sector. McDonald's has been reeling under difficult times as the global economy worsens. Consumer lifestyles, preferences and tastes have changed along with the changed business environment. It experienced declining sales as consumers and investors moved away from the brand. Globalization appears to have impacted the standards and operations at McDonald's (Cuneen, 2008). These require a change in the marketing strategy of McDonald's in the UK. An environmental analysis would help evaluate the right marketing strategy under the circumstances that should be applied in the UK. 1.2 Environmental analysis 1.2.1 PESTLE analysis This helps scan the external environment and is the acronym for Political/Economic/ Social/Technological/Legal/Environmental – all of which are external to the organization. Political Currently the UK is facing a period of instability as there is no sig nificant popular support (Social Equality Party, 2010). The country is more divided than ever before. Economic According to Keynote the fast food sector was valued at ?9.3bn in 2007 which shows the market has increased during recession (Riley, 2010). Economic factors such as prices and income have an impact on consumer behavior. As the food prices rise the purchasing power declines and the price changes affect the composition of the food basket in the UK (Knowledge Scotland, 2009). Socio-cultural factors More than half the adults are heavier than recommended and this is particularly rising among the young adults (EMIS & PIP 2005). Tasty food in the UK can be found at any location at any time of the day or night. Most foods are high in calories and dense in energy. Food portion sizes have increased and there is a tendency to eat more. Physical activity levels have gone down and are considered as the major cause of obesity in the recent years. However, there have been growing concerns of obesity in the UK and consumers have become health conscious. The UK has a high number of immigrants and good habits differ across cultures. Each culture and society has its own set patterns of behavior and food preferences and cultures are not pervasive. Globalization has been unable to penetrate these set patterns and converge the food habits. Technological factors Fast food brands are using technology to target kids via games, videos and cartoons on their websites. They thus exploit the legal