Cat on a Hot Tin Roof Essay

Cat on a hot tin roof is a tragicomedy. There is a deep meaning shielded by bits and pieces of humor which best symbolizes how actual day to day activities come to pass. In every day life we will laugh about things that hurt in order to keep an experience of normalcy. An example of this is when Big Daddy calls out the minister on his obvious attempt to gain assets for the church. The key issues faced in Cat on a hot tin roof are homosexuality, control, love and facing death. Brick, which is an appropriate name for him considering he is a brick of a man, is an alcoholic who will not face the fact that he has homosexual desires. He is the atypical American man, the personification of the American dream if you will. A football star who has a ridiculous amount of money through his father, a wealthy plantation owner. Brick has a history of not accepting they way things are. After not making it to the pros he and his â€Å"friend† created a football team in order to deny the realiza tion that they were not good enough. As in most dramas there is a lot of symbolism. The most profound that I came across was when Mamma and Maggie were arguing over what went wrong in the marriage between Maggie and Brick. Mamma points to the bed and states that the bed is the problem. At first I took it at face value as though the problem was that Brick wasn’t â€Å"getting any† but later we find out that the bed they slept on was the same one shared by the two gay lovers that previously owned the plantation. Also the title, â€Å"Cat on a hot tin roof†, the characters within the play are constantly torn between continuing to hide the secrets they keep, or confessing which would mean certain exile. Big Daddy and Brick are so similar there is no way that they would be able to coexist with one another. Both are cold and calm as far as appearance is concerned, but both have a guard that no one can penetrate unless by the other. An example of this is when Big Daddy trys to have a heart to heart with his son. Even though he appears to have his guard down they really don’t have a conversation until Brick trys to leave, then they get to the more important issues. Brick and Big Daddy also treat there woman the same. Big Daddy says for the last how ever many years he has wanted to find a  different lover because he has never enjoyed having sex with his wife. The same goes for Brick as he said he was made to marry Maggie and uses the imagery of two cats humping on a fence post. It took the fact that Brick was drunk and Big Daddy was on his death bed to finally initiate a conversation of importance between the two. Though the play hit controversial topics and had a little bit of humor I was not a big fan of it. One of main arguments was every thing was so jumbled and clustered together. It wasn’t as if there many underlying plots or anything, it was the way the story was put together that made it an agitating read. For example when Maggie is trying to have a conversation with brick, why the croquet out side or the screaming of the children. I can see where it might be important that the other brother is discussing the matter of his fathers death and the fact that nether of them seemed to concerned with the actual death but for the money, but all in all the are just too many distractions. Also with all the stage directions it was hard for me to imagine anything. When I read a book or play I want to be able to allow my imagination to run wild with it. It is amazing how a book or play becomes your own if you are allowed to play with it in your mind.

Educational Outings

Educational Outings- L2B Leeds Tropical World This is a very popular Tropical Haven where you will find a range of exotic fish, reptiles and Birds from all around the world, all in various theamed room's to match their natural environment such as- The Butterfly Room- This room holds up to 40 different varieties of butterflies and it is also an ideal place for them to breed in a mature habitat.Step Ashore- This is the room which is based on a tropical island where many animals will be found in what appears to be there natural environment. The Amazon Tank- In this room there are many different species of tropical fish from all around the world. Desert House and Meerkats- This is the room where you are introduced to many different species of birds from places such as south America and the Canaries. Amazon South America tank- This room holds rare whistling ducks in its ponds creating an Amazonian environment.Creature Corner- This room involves many reptiles such as lizards, snakes and to rtoises and many other reptiles. What will children learn from tropical world? Tropical world will introduce a child to animal's in what appears to be their natural habitat, they will see a range of reptiles, birds, fish plants and gardens all in what apperas to be their home. This will help children learn activley and it will give them a better understanding of animal life.It will give them an oppourtunity to learn activley outside of the classroom, seeing smelling and hearing instead of reading out of a book. Tropical Room's- Birds eye view of tropical world Potential Hazards- Ponds/Swamps- People could slip or trip into the water causing a fatal injury, minor injury or worse. Rocks from walls- Rocks could fall off the wall and onto the walk way and cause someone to trip and injure themselves. Ropes on Bridges- People could fall onto the ropes and fall over them or get rope burn from them.Steps- People could Trip and fall over them. Risk Assessments for Hazards- Ponds/Swamps- Foll ow instructions and rules at all times to ensure safety to you and others, Stay within a safe distance of the water to be on the safe side. Rocks from walls- Be well aware of your surroundings and staff keep all rocks secure and safe. Ropes on Bridges- Stay aware and away from all ropes keep small children in sight at all times to avoid aany risks of an accident. Steps- Have signs marking where steps are such as ‘please mind the step' in order to keep people aware.Educational Outings- Temple Newsam Temple newsam is a freindly open space environment with miles and miles of greenary, ponds, streams and rivers. There is also Temple Newsam House a historic land mark, Court with shops and The very popular temple Newsam Farm where part of the landscape is covered with various farm animals and settings of what farm life was like back in the day, Also a newly built park for childrens entertainment. Birds eye view of Temple newsam farm and house What will Children Learn from temple new sam?Children will learn a large amount from of useful things from a day out at Temple Newsam, The farm will teach the children all about farm animals, the environment they live in, the food they eat and how farm life used to be. They will learn from a variety of historic farm setting's, the animals there pens and the descriptions situated around the farm. The historic house will walk the children back in time as they move from room to room and it will teach them all about how the past owners and their families lived in their time. Potential Hazards-Slipping on animal mess- If animal mess is lying around people could slep on it causing themseves harm. Falling into animals pen- If the fencing around the animals are too low then people could fall into the pen or children could climb in. Getting bitten by an animal- If people put their hands into the pens they could be bitten by one of the animals if they are not careful. Tripping over steps- In the house courtyard or farm people could trip over steps. Risk Assessments for Hazards- Slipping on Animal mess- Farm keeps should ensure that all animal mess is cleared from visitors walk ways as quick as possible.Falling into animals pen- Ensure that the fences of pens are a resonable height to prevent people from falling in or leave signs up warning of low fencing. Getting bitten by an animal- Leave signs warning people not to feed the animals if there is a danger of being bitten . Tripping over steps- Put clear signs up ‘mind your step' to be sure people will see it and hopefully avoid tripping. TEMPLE NEWSAM HOUSE TEMPLE NEWSAM FARM TEMPLE NEWSAM COURTYARD ONE OF MANY GARDENS TEMPLE NEWSAMS HISTORIC HOUSE AND ROOMSEducational Outings- Leeds museum Royal Armories Leeds museum of Royal Armories is memorabilia from different era's of past wars, showing members of the public Arms, Armours, Artillery and different military atire. This museum consists of 40AD Befor the Romans, 400AD Twilight of the Roman City, 1080AD Conquerors of Castle, 1200AD The Castle Enlarged, 1240AD The Classic Castle, 1300AD Apogee of the Medieval Castle, 1547AD The Tudor Power House, 1700AD Showplace of the nation, 1841AD The Great Conflagration, 1890AD Remedievalisation of the castle, 1940AD The castle at war, 2000AD the tower at war.These memories are kept safe to hold to teach future generations. Leeds Royal Armories Birds eye view BIRDS EYE VIEW OF ROYAL ARMORIES MAIN ENTRANCE What will children learn from here? From the Royal Armories children will learn all about past wars, how they worked, how they fought, what they fought with and how they dressed. They will be able to study them and increase their knowlegde of them. They will learn all about the Medieval times whilst working amoungst friends gaining social skills.Potential Hazards- Slippery floors- People Could slip over if there has been a spillage or the floors have just been cleaned/mopped. Car Parks- If people are not being aware whilst driving or walking t hrough the car park their could be an accident. Statues- Statues could be knocked over causing breakage or knocking into someone causing injury. Weapons- if the weapons are knocked over they could cause somebody harm or damage to other parts of the museum. Risk Assessments for Hazards-Slippery floors- Put up a wet floor sign after cleaning or a spillage until the floor is completly dry. Car Parks- Be aware of the cars in the car park and watch where your going at all times to prevent crashes or other accidents. Statues- Leave signs up ‘Do not touch' keep an eye on children at all times to prevent people from touching the statues. Weapons- Put signs up ‘Do not touch' and ensure that they are secure in the museum to prevent accidents.

Analysis, segmentation and marketing mix of Apple

Analysis, segmentation and marketing mix of Apple Introduction The aim of this report is to analyse the current position of the company which includes the products, current strategic position, and current financial strength. Different types of marketing tools are used in this report. PEST analysis and Porter’s five force model for looking into the external environment. SWOT analysis for looking into the internal environment of the organization. This report also looks into market segmentation and the marketing mix of the product. Apple was first introduced by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne on April 1, 1976 to market and sell the Apple personal computer kit. The first computer kits were hand built and was kept for a public display first at the homebrew computer lab. This computer kit consisted of Motherboard with RAM, CPU, and some video chips. Since then apple have come a long way in the market all over the world and they are one of the leading companies in electronic products. This can be known with the informat ion given below: Current Strategic Position Apple believes in continuous improvement and they look into all the key sectors like environment, health and safety management systems and the quality of our products, processes and services. Looking into the Principle and goals of Apple, Apple has set out their own principles where they look to meet all the health and safety requirements, promote energy efficiency, and their main goals are; innovation is the most important thing for apple, to increase the number of sales of the product in the education field, providing new and user friendly software for the customers, and last but not the least providing high quality products to the customers. Looking into the current strategic position of Apple, with the introduction of its own operating system, hardware, software application, and with a completely new design, Apple looks to meet all the customer requirements like new products, ease of use, and an innovative design of the product. Apple is currently focusing on, brand awareness and improving the product by increasing the financial investment on marketing and advertisement, they are looking at expanding the retail segment by opening more number of stores all over the world, they are looking at keeping it up with the competition by implementing a cost leadership strategy, and they are looking to continue the reputation of being the leader in innovation for new technology by implementing product differentiation strategy. Looking into the current finance position of Apple, on October 19, 2009 Apple announced the financial results for the year 2009. The company posted revenue of $9.87 billion and a net quarterly profit of $1.67 billion. These results can be compared to the revenue of $7.9 billion and net quarterly profit of $1.14 billion in the previous year quarter. International sales also helped 46% of the quarter’s revenue. Gross margin is 36.6% when compared to the previous year quarter which was 34.7%. Appl e reached 17% increase when compared to the previous year quarter by successfully selling 3.05 million Mac computers during the quarter. PEST analysis and Porter’s five forces are very important tools to establish the external environment of Apple:

Kathrin & Becky Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Kathrin & Becky - Research Paper Example In simple terms, they were the custodians of the man’s ‘creation’ and hence the name ‘house wives’ was coined. However, it reached a point where the women in our society could take it no more. The oppressions and inferiority complex had gone overboard and they united and decided to demand for their rights. This marked a new dawn – a dawn where the inferior lot was informed of their rights. The demand for a just and fair world has been imminent with attention drawn from street debates to national discussions. They all have a similar ending; the world is never fair to the oppressed and minority groups and that the law is made for these people. Surprisingly, the legislators who push for these laws find themselves in situations and positions where they are breaking them. Feminists rely entirely on the law for existence. They believe that the law is meant to protect them. However, this is not the case. Governments have been in the limelight for failing to protect these groups of people. Women are an interesting lot. They love associating themselves with an icon with whom they follow her lifestyle and when Marilyn Monroe, a feminine figure killed herself out of an overdose in 1963, there was an outrage from the feminine society. There was no turning back and an exaggerated femininity was being held up and revered as an ideal for all women. Racism and sexual harassment were thriving and black women were mostly the victims where they were referred to as ‘chocolate bunnies’. However, in a quick rejoinder, Gloria Steinem, a freelance Journalist who was working on an undercover mission highlighted the plight of black women who were on the brink of segregation from the rest. She described that all women were treated as bunnies. This attracted the attention of all women who responded to the urgency to rescue the black woman from the racial stereotype. A look back at history reveals that women have achieved huge milestones that are

Hamilton summary Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Hamilton summary - Term Paper Example The country has not been able to maintain commerce or command respect from other countries, which would be a major step towards safeguarding the country against encroachments (Hamilton, 298). Most significant is the poverty and disorder that threatens to tear the country apart, while it is endowed with great natural advantages. Therefore, the councils and maxims that hinder the adoption of the proposed constitution are the main obstacles towards the achievement of American union (Hamilton, 299). The maxims work towards denying US government the energy it requires, by advocating for the sovereignty of the member states. This is dangerous since it would create a situation of state alliances and rivalry against one another, demolishing the unity of the people and jeopardizing the achievements of togetherness (Hamilton, 296). There are many challenges associated with a federalist government. However, the only solution towards avoiding the creation of a League of Nations, and instead pres erve the union, is to adopt a government, which has the overall authority over the states (Hamilton,

History of a Winery Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

History of a Winery - Research Paper Example The high quality wine that is produced by the company is among the list of 150 top brands in Burgundy region. Some of the notable brands includes white Bourgogne Aligotà © , red Bourgogne Passe-Tout-Grains , Crà ©mant de Bourgogne, Crà ©mant de Bourgogne blanc de noirs, and AOC Bourgogne Pinot Noir among others. The company is known for its reputation of producing high quality wine and this has been successful due to the acquisitions of vineyards in 1980s up to 1990s (Fred, 2013). Maison Louis Jadot has more than 300 acres that belong to the family. This makes the company to yield high profit since the 300 acres belong to the family and thus the company management takes effective control of it. As a result, the company supplies large quantity of wine that is of high quality. The company management has been authorized to negotiate for the grape requirements with other growers with non binding agreements (Boehm, 1987). They sign agreements like willing seller willing buyer so as to strengthen the relationship between the company and the growers and finally they attain a collaborative partnership. The good terms of trade between the company and the growers of grapes makes the company to maintain the supply of grapes thus making it easy to attain a consistency in the production of its brands. Louis Jadot has specialized in wine making for almost 150 years and has been expanding to other wine making facilities and making contracts with growers to meet the demand of high quality wine. Louis Henry Denis Jadot is the man behind the Maison Louis Jadot, when he founded it in 1859 though the first vineyard was established in 1826 by Jadot family. The company is known for producing Burgundy wine in the market under the leadership of Jadot family. The family has its own vineyards. Because of large consumption of wine in the area, the company buys grapes from estates such as Domaines Lapalu, Medoc,

To what extent was Malcolm X a typical American Or To what extent was Essay

To what extent was Malcolm X a typical American Or To what extent was Malcolm X a typical African-American A MUST At lease A- paper - Essay Example ntified himself as a Muslim and black American living in the white American society, there are characteristics that make him both typical American and African-American. Drawing primarily from his autobiography, specifically on the speeches he delivered during the height civil rights activism in the 1960s, this paper discusses the characteristics that make Malcolm X a typical American and African-American. This paper posits that religion is the common denominator found in Malcolm X’s being American and African-American. Malcolm X is a typical American because he subsists to the fundamentalist view of religion and politics: for him, African-American society should seek its own society independent from white American society and guided under the values and teachings of Islam. Malcolm X is also a typical African-American because he confronted his unique experience of oppression by subsisting to religion and faithfully following the teachings and religious principles of Islam. The first position this paper discusses is how Malcolm X became the typical American. As a Muslim fundamentalist, Malcolm X strictly adhered to the teachings of Islam, which includes the belief in establishing an independent society wherein the rules of Islam religion dominate and becomes the socio-political structure of this new, independent society. This is the proposition that has always been advocated by Malcolm X, citing how the religious teachings of Christianity have been used to oppress and take advantage of the African-American society. To demonstrate that the African-Americans always had the right to become independent from the white Americans, Malcolm X argued that the white man had ‘no sense of history.’ In his speech, â€Å"After the Bombing,† Malcolm X asserted that the Negro has a sense of history because all races take root from the Negro heritage—even the white man. From Latin America to Europe, the African-American race dominated the world, until the white

Journal research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Journal research - Essay Example The introduction gave a brief description of body mass index ( BMI) as a measure for obesity.The historical background of the research is focused on the increased cardiovascular risk for obese children. The importance of measuring BMI and its validity in establishing obesity was a good platform in establishing a good hypothesis. The study was conducted no less than one of the authors ( Pietrobeli) with another group of researchers. Studies citing complications that arose from obese children in a 40 yr follow-up study by Jacques et al in was presented. Accordingly, the study by Jacques revealed that childhood obesity did not only result to diabetes but led to increased mortality due to coronary artery disease as well. The present study hypothesized that early childhood obesity along with a sedentary lifestyle increases the risk for diseases such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. This translates to higher incidence of mortality when these children become adults. For the methods section, a comparative survey that compares the BMI across teens in the US was used. The cited study was done by Lissau et al published in 2003. The method engaged was a cross-comparison of incidence of obesity in teens in US against teens in Europe. The comparison resulted to the conclusion that occurrence of obesity in US teens is three times higher than European counterparts. Unfortunately, much cannot be said about statistical data since the study was just referenced in the journal Much of the given conclusions were summaries of compiled studies. In fact, the journal is more like of an informative and persuasive article that warns the public of the dangers of childhood obesity. The journal also comments on what directions , programs and policies that European Commission must do so that European teens would not experience same situation as American teens. The suggestions posed by the researchers were interventions

Compare and contrast the political and economical rights of the free Essay

Compare and contrast the political and economical rights of the free working class in the united states during the 1780s with the 1830s - Essay Example In this same the period, the capitalist mode of production appeared. Many of the workers were not happy, giving rise to the first strike. The journeymen organized the first rule to govern their rights â€Å"rule of the game† and this is what made them prosper. Here it is evident that the first political and economic rights were oppressing the workers a lot but there have been numerous changes, which gave the workers (artisans) more power.i The bill of rights has several amendments that help to streamline the coexistence of the people and the laws. Amendment V1 gives a suspect the right to remain silent in an absence of their lawyers. The suspect has the chance to enjoy fast and fair trial publicly, and have their witnesses to testify in favor of them. Amendment 1 gives the people the right to worship anywhere, freedom of expression even the freedom to question the government performance. Amendment V 111 does not allow extortion of people in the court of law or by the police when giving out fines or bails. The amendment also protects the prisoners from severe punishments. Amendment 11 allows people to own licensed firearms. For economic development to prosper there is the need for security for people to be in a conducive environment. All these amendments are to ensure that there is a protection of the citizen’s rights both economically and politically. ii Marcus Rediker states that in between 1770 to 1830, labor was turned to be a commodity that the workers would display to the masters, giving rise to a centralized mode of agriculture. Centralization of agriculture came with right fewer proletarians. The unruliness displayed by the proletarians made a sailor wonder â€Å"but a pair of good hands and a stout heart to recommend him?† The laborers had no rights and thereby were mistreated. In this period, only the rich alone enjoyed political and economic rights. The communal practice that was common among the Native Americans was killed by capitalism, and it

Herd Behavior in Financial Market Essay Example for Free

Herd Behavior in Financial Market Essay Definition of herding On Friday 14 September 2007, when Northern Rock in the UK opened it branches, many customers wanted to withdraw their savings and à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½1 billion, about 5% of the total bank deposits were withdrawn that day. And on Monday 17 September, a similar situation happened in front of Northern Rock branches in the UK. Even though every customer does not have the same amount of information, they all decided to behave in the same way and some were following the others on the following days without any clear plan. People thought that they were going to lose their bank deposits and that type of bank customers behavior caused liquidity problem and made the situation even worse. However, none of the clients who kept their deposits lost due to the fact the British Government and the Bank of England would guarantee the safety of the deposits. How can we explain that kind of behavior? Originally Herding is a term meaning animal flocking behavior. And according to the definition of Wikipedia Herding is the act of bringing individual animals together into a group (herd), maintaining the group and moving the group from place to place-or any combination of those. Apart from this bank run case, Herd behavior describes how individuals in a group can act together without planned direction. POSSIBLE EXPLICATION AND MECHANISM OF HERD BEHAVIOR Animals Herd Behavior According to evolutionary biologist W. D. Hamiltons theory animals are forming a group to reduce the danger of being hunted by predictors. As a unit, they are moving together to the same direction. Animals are behaving in the same way to minimize the risk on the behalf of self-protection. Maybe this kind of behavior sounds rational if the result is always optimistic but copying your neighbor can be the worst decision sometimes. When something goes wrong and someone leads the group to the wrong direction, the whole group is going to be in danger. Human Herd Behavior However, human herd behavior is much more complicated than animals one and several scholars tried to explain it. Friedrich Nietzsche referred it as herd morality and the herd instinct which explain the phenomena when a lot of people are behaving in the same way at the same time. And according to Thorstein Veblens theory, some people imitate the other people with higher status. Human beings are continuously competing with others in order to survive or surpass others, and they try to move faster in order to take advantage of the others. As the proverbs says the early bird catches the worm, they think the faster they make the decision or do whatever they can, the better it is. However, this does not always lead to success. Those decisions are based on the sources they have and the sources are Sanctions upon deviants dictators put their rivals in the prison (opposition is not allowed) Preference interactions some people are wearing Burberry coats just because the majority is wearing it while others prefer to wear coats with the colors they like Direct communication someone from your reference group or someone with credibility says that s/he likes certain products Observational influence you observe the consequences of others actions Based on such sources, people make decision whether to herd or disperse, but people are herding for different reasons and their behavior is classified into several models. Herding Models Payoff Externalities Models (also called Network Externalities) If more people are using facebook, it will attract more people to use facebook. In this case, people feel like they have to participate in the same situation so that they can have the same benefits. Information Cascade Models When you have a flood of information coming in, it is much more difficult to make a rational decision. Nowadays there are too many sources to consider and you can barely judge if information is true or false. In this kind of situation, people are getting irrational and they tend to make decision based on the decision of the majorities, and this situation is called information cascade which occurs when people observe the actions of others and then make the same choice that the others have made, independently of their own private information signals. They are seen in groups under immediate stress from external forces, such as herd behaviour. A cascade arises naturally when people usually see what others do but not what they know. Because it is usually sensible to do what other people are doing, even this can be against what the individual believes to be true. This behavior is independent from their own private information or opinion. Concept of information cascade is based on observational and social learning. People learn from their environment. Generally, people are oriented to avoid negative consequences of their decisions or behaviors. They wish to have positive results or effects. Thats why their behavior is related to social and observational learning. People subconsciously have the idea of It is more likely that I am wrong than that all those other people are wrong. Therefore, I will do as they do. Examples of Herding Behavior Bank runs: depositors running on banks when they observe other depositors doing so. More specifically, First; investors can observe in long run when others are running on banks. Second, forcing long-term projects to liquidate early possibly leads to shortfall of funds. From the payoff externalities models view, people are withdrawing their deposits because they feel like they are losing their money if they keep their money on the bank account. And from informational cascade models view, some people may think they are not going to lose their money on their bank account but they are following the others because they think they are not wise enough and others are withdrawing their money. In real case, Argentina experienced such a run in the last two days of November 2001, with total deposits in the banking system falling by more than 2 billion (US) dollars, or nearly 3 percent, on the second day of the run alone.1 Such runs were a common occurrence in the United States in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and have also occurred in recent times in several developing countries, including Brazil in 1990 and Ecuador in 1999. Asian crisis of 97-98, herding and speculation infection The Asian crisis of 1997-98 that led to a regional economic fall in East Asia can be traced to overexpansion and under-regulation. The center of the Asian crisis was Thailands careless macroeconomic management that featured a fraudulent financial sector. The Asian expansion of the crisis was a due to the existing global financial integration (and similar export dependencies), current account inequities and attached exchange rates all mixed with the damaging effect of speculation and herding spreading all over the region. Resulting structural reforms and adjustments in Thailand and other damaged Asian nations came from the International Monetary Fund. A major result was a balanced exchange rate regime now prevalent in much of East Asia. Facts: During 1995 a number of experts started to wonder if the countries of Southeast Asia might be vulnerable to a macroeconomic crisis do to the poor administration of its financial procedures and to the volatility of their related economies. The main indicator was the rise of very large current account deficits among several Asian countries. Closer examination also revealed that several of the countries had developed some financial weaknesses: heavy investment in highly speculative real estate ventures, financed by borrowing from badly informed foreign sources or by credit from non regulated domestic financial institutions. Its now known that during 1996 officials from the IMF and World Bank actually began warning the governments of Thailand, Malaysia, and other countries of the existing risks by their financial situation, and asked them to apply corrective policies. However, those governments rejected the warnings. On July 2 1997, after months of declaring that it would not happen, the government of Thailand abandoned its efforts to maintain a fixed exchange rate for its currency, the baht. The currency was quickly depreciated by more than 20 percent so within a few days most neighboring countries fell like Thailand. What forced Thailand to devalue its currency was the massive speculation against the baht, assumptions that over a few months had consumed most of what initially seemed as a large war of foreign exchange. And why were speculators betting against Thailand? Because they expected the baht to be devalued, of course. This kind of circular logic in which investors escape a currency because they expect it to be devalued, and much of the pressure on the currency comes precisely because of this investor shortage of confidence is the defining actor of a currency crisis and is known as Bank Run theory. In the context of a currency crisis, such behavior could mean that a wave of selling, whatever its initial cause, could be magnified through complete imitation and turn, into a rush out of the currency. Bank run in Thai currency devaluation can be viewed in two main behaviors. First; investors run when other investors are running the bank; a magnified opinion of a certain group starts to be spread in some others by just herding or imitation. Second, when banks that were investing in long-term projects were forced to liquidate early (because of the invertors running away), there was a potential lost of funds. Consequently, the last depositors to withdraw were left empty-handed (first-come, first-served limitation). BUBBLES Bubbles are sort of mass errors caused by the nature of herd. Even though there is a convincing evidence of bubbles, people are still overly convinced by their belief that market is efficient and rational. Therefore people are optimistic of their investment and they take part in the bubble. Some people may doubt the situation and find some evidence of bubbles but they still invest their capital in the market because others are doing it which is a sort of informational cascade. However, the bubble collapses and that sort of herding behavior makes the impact of the collapse much significant. The Dot-com Bubble The dot-com bubble (also referred to as the Internet bubble) was a speculative which had its climax on March 10, 2000, with the NASDAQ hitting up to 5132.52 but closing at 5048.62 in the same day. During the dot-com bubble period mostly the developed countries experienced the growth in the Internet sector and related fields. Companies such as Cisco Systems, Dell, Intel, and Microsoft were the dominant player of NASDAQ. And related to the Internet business a group of new Internet-based companies commonly referred to as dot-coms were founded. Just because of the fact that Companies had a name with an e- prefix to their name and a .com the stock price was going up. Investors were overly confident of their future profits due to the advancement of technology and individual speculation while they overlooked traditional stock market value until the bubble was collapsed. Conclusion As we can see massive herding behavior turned out to be a cause of crisis at the end, and herd behavior is seen as something very negative to the market. As we have seen bank runs, bubbles, and several forms of crises. However, we cannot prevent from herding because it is a sort of instinct and it is closely related to psychological factors. Partially, individuals can make profit of their herding behavior as they are following famous investors such as Warren Buffet but the fact is that no investor can really avoid bubbles and forecast the coming crises. What we have to remember is the financial market is a complex of rational and irrational behavior and we can barely categorize them before the disaster happens. We have to be prepared of the consequence the herd behavior and be rational when the irrationality happens. Works Cited BIKHCHANDANI, S., 1998, Learning from the behavior of others: conformity, fads, and informational cascades BIKHCHANDANI, S., D. HIRSHLEIFER and I. WELCH, 2001. Informational Cascades and Rational Herding: An Annotated Devenow, Andrea and Ivo Welch, 1996, Rational Herding in Financial Economics, European Economic Review 40, 603-615 Ennis, Huberto M. and Todd Keister, 2009, Bank Runs and Institutions: The Perils of Intervention. Hirshleifer, David and Teoh, Siew Hong, 2011, Herd Behavior and Cascading in Capital Markets: A Review and Synthesis, MPRA Paper No. 5186

Contributions that can be made by emotional literacy for social and emotional wellbeing of childrens

Contributions that can be made by emotional literacy for social and emotional wellbeing of childrens How can parents and carers, schools and communities aid the social and emotional wellbeing of children? Discuss what contribution can be made by emotional literacy. For many years, the emphasis on childhood as evolved on the cognitive and physical aspects of child development. Recently, more attention has been given on the emotional and social welfare of childrens development. Childrens emotional maturity and immaturity on their personal happiness, performance and behaviour has finally been recognised, as a consequence, this is currently being recognised by schemes such as, The Healthy Schools Initiative. The Healthy Schools Initiative contributes significantly to emotional health and well-being. All children deserve the opportunity to achieve their full potential. This is set this out in the five Every Child Matters (ECM) outcomes that are key to children and young peoples well-being: The five outcomes are: * Stay safe * Be healthy * Enjoy and achieve * Make a positive contribution * Achieve economic well-being To achieve ECM, The HM document states children need to feel loved and valued, and be supported by a network of reliable and affectionate relationships. If they are denied the opportunity and support they need to achieve these outcomes, children are at increased risk not only of an impoverished childhood, but also of disadvantage and social exclusion in adulthood (HM Government, 2006, pg 32). In a nutshell, the promotion of positive emotional health and well-being helps young people and children to build their confidences and express their feelings. It embeds the understanding and their capacity to learn effectively. Emotional literacy is the ability to understand ourselves and others and to be aware of, understand and to use information about the emotional states of others with competence. It includes the ability to understand, express and manage our own emotions, and respond to the emotions of others, in ways that are helpful to ourselves and others. Developing the Emotionally Literate School (Weare, 2004) Emotional Intelligence is linked to The Nuturing Programme. The programme origniated in the United States as a result of research undertaken by Dr Strephen J. Bavolek who pioneered in the prevention of child abuse and neglect and the development of family life. The progamme aims to enable children to become emotionally literate by exploring ideas which can contribute to learning to mange our emotions. Learning these skills can improve our motivation, help us feel good about ourselves and explores ideas for managing our emotions. Learning these skills can contribute to building self-esteem, which is crucial to provide positive attitude towards living. This is important as it controls how you think, the way you act and more importantly, how you relate to other people. Consequently, emotional literacy leads to emotional health; this health can have a huge impact on your potential to be successful in every aspect of life. All ingredients for emotional literacy are reflected in the Nurturing programme. The programme offers an effective way of encouraging co-operative behaviour, which empowers both parent/carer and children. It is also an emotional literacy programme. It is therefore crucial to state, that as a facilitator we need to reflect upon our own level of emotional literacy, as we cannot help others to become more emotionally literate unless we are emotional literate ourselves. We are all born with emotional intelligence and naturally, wired to our brains. However, how this emotional literacy develops depends on the kind of relationships they have and the adults caring for them. There are five elements of emotional literacy reflect the key principles of the Nurturing Programme. These are required in order to develop and become emotionally literate. Family Links quotes these key principles as:  · Knowing our emotions Self-awareness recognising a feeling as it happens is the first stage. We can eventually learn to stay aware, simply noticing the emotion rather than being overwhelmed by it, however turbulent we may be feeling at the time. This takes a lot of practice!  · Managing our emotions Handling our feelings builds on our awareness of them. Its helpful if we have ways of reassuring ourselves when were feeling anxious, calming down when were angry, soothing ourselves when we are upset, and so on. Every feeling has its value and significance theyre signposts to whats going on in our lives. The ratio of comfortable to painful feelings determines our emotional well-being.  · Motivating ourselves Harnessing our emotions to help us identify our goals and reach them helps us to achieve our aims. If we are kindly in charge of our emotions, rather than being overwhelmed by them, we can also take charge of our actions. We can guide our behaviour positively, and also resist the lure of instant gratification in other words, we develop self-discipline.  · Recognising emotions in others Empathy, the ability to be sensitively aware of what another person is feeling, is the most important people skill of all, and essential for satisfying relationships. Children who are treated with empathy and respect will grow up to be empathic and respectful towards others. * Handling relationships Building on empathy, the art of relationships is based on skill in coping with emotions in others while also managing and expressing our own effectively having good communication skills. Emotionally skilled people are great to be with because we enjoy their rapport. People who have these skills are easy to trust with our feelings, and learning these skills ourselves enhances all our relationships. (Family Links, 2004) Contained in the Nurture programme are four constructs, which fundamentally become the programmes building blocks. All the approaches, strategies and ideas in the Nurturing Programme are based on these four key concepts as outlined by Family Links:  · Self-awareness and self-esteem The art of self-awareness is to know ourselves well what we do and dont like, what our needs are, how we feel. If we are sensitive towards ourselves, its easier to look after our needs. Nurturing ourselves by meeting our own needs helps to boost our self-esteem, making it easier for us to nurture others and particularly to help children develop their self-awareness and a healthy, positive self-esteem.  · Appropriate expectations Children grow up in different ways: physically, intellectually, socially and emotionally. We need to match our expectations to what they can actually do. They learn all the thousands of skills at different rates. What one child finds easy another child of the same age might find hard. If we expect too much or too little of them, children tend to become rebellious, frustrated and angry, or to give up in despair. It is helpful to them if we recognise each small step in their learning.  · Positive discipline All children need discipline to learn what behaviour is OK and what is not. Positive discipline focuses on praise, rewarding their efforts, giving choices, negotiating and awarding responsibility. There are also fair penalties for poor behaviour. It makes life more enjoyable for adults and children, and helps to build self-esteem. Negative discipline, on the other hand, uses punishment and fear; it is stressful for everyone. There is convincing evidence to suggest that developing the social and emotional competence of children and young people leads to improved well-being, self-esteem, pro-social behaviour and higher achievement.  · Empathy This is the cornerstone of the Nurturing Programme. Empathy is the ability to sense how someone else is feeling, to tune in to their emotional point of view. We dont have to agree with what the other person thinks just to be sensitive to the way they feel, and to accept it. An empathic response to a childs inner world, to their excitement, frustrations and fears, fosters a close, trusting relationship, and helps them learn to respond sensitively towards others (Family Links, 2004) The author works with children weekly within the school environment. The work centres on supporting the development of childrens personal, social, emotional and behavioural growth. The aim is to: * Raise childrens self awareness * Develop healthy self esteem and confidence * Help children to manage their emotions and behaviour/social difficulties * Improve motivation and improve learning opportunities in and out of school The children work on individual targets, and sessions help them practice the skills they require to meet these targets both within class and all areas of their lives. A balance of role models promote group dynamics and peer support. A wide range of techniques are used within the session which includes: * Art focused work * Structured play * Drama * Counselling approaches * Relaxation, visualisation and reflection exercises * Circle time discussions * Reflection exercises Parent/carers play a huge role in their childs social and emotional well-being. It is important in its own right, simply because it can affect their physical health for both the child and parent/carer and can have a detrimental effect on how well the child does at school. Therefore, good social, emotional and psychological health protects children from emotional and behavioral problems, misuse of drugs and alcohol, for example. Therefore, it is equally important to pay attention to the social and emotional skills that children develop in their earliest years, as it will enable them to succeed through the transition from primary to secondary school and into adulthood. In a nutshell, responsibility for school readiness lies not with the child, but with the parent/carers who care for them and the educational systems in place to support them. Critically, intervention may not be successful with all children and families, especially those with Special Educational Needs (SEN), English as an Additional Language (EAL) and a withdrawn and shy child. One must take into account the dynamics of the group and these must be taken into account when actively planning intervention. Therefore, group work may not be the appropriate solution, therefore one to one teaching may be a useful strategy in order to provide intervention. This work complements existing national initiatives to promote social and emotional well-being. It should be considered in the context of the Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning (SEAL) programme and related community-based initiatives. These initiatives stress the importance of such programmes to enable children to participate fully in the development to ensure their views are heard. To conclude, we are now beginning to understand that by providing these enriched environments children and young people are more able to develop emotional intelleigence and maturity far more effectively than they used too. Many schools, like mine, is putting so much empahisis into the development, simply because it leads to so many benefits. Therefore, schools are finding ways to explicitly place emotional literacy at the heart of the curriculum with their approach to learning, teaching, delivery, behavoiur and well-being. Staff are being specificially training and coaching enable them to put the theory into practice. It is important to stress, virtually all the interventions described, only work if they are embedded in the whole community. Those efforts can promote resilience and build the strengths that already exist in the family and the community. References DCSF, (2008) Every Child Matters Resources-and-Practice, Nottingham: DfES Publications, (online), extracted from http://www.everychildmatters.gov.uk/deliveringservices/caf/ (Accessed 8th Feb 2010) Family Links The Nurturing Programme Handbook for Parent Group Leaders, 2004 Weare, K, Developing the Emotionally Literate School, London: Paul Chapman Publishing, 2004 Knowledge and understanding of: * 1.2 the emotional, physical, intellectual, social and moral lives of children aged 0-12 as they develop and experience transitions in their lives. Cognitive skills: * 2.4 identify and re ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡ect on own values and positions and those of others, and assess their relationships to policy and practice. Practical and professional skills: * 4.3 develop communication and engagement skills that could be applied to work with children * 4.4 understand the importance of sharing information and developing critical analytical practice that will contribute to a) listening to children b) promoting childrens wellbeing and c) multi-agency working with children and families. After many years of emphasis on the cognitive and physical aspects of childhood development, recently more attention has been focused on the social and emotional developmental cycles of children. The impact of a childs relative emotional maturity or immaturity on their behaviour, performance and personal happiness is finally being recognised. Furthermore, the issue of mental (emotional) health has been acknowledged as part of schemes such as The Healthy Schools Initiative. Against a background of increasing social exclusion, a worrying trend in diminishing self-esteem in teenage boys, and increasing numbers of children being recognised as having additional learning needs or presenting challenging behaviour, there is a growing pressure to find solutions. A childs capacity to learn and grow depends to a very significant extent on their ability to manage personal and social tasks. Without the ability to be aware of their emotional states and self-management skills to contain and handle these, their work will suffer. Without the ability to be aware of others, what they are feeling and to practise relationship management skills, their friendships and social support will vanish. There has also been a steady rise in recognition of the importance of sound self-esteem for children. This recognition has emerged through psychological studies into the aetiology of behaviour disorders, learning difficulties and other disturbances to the steady development and maturation of children. This has coincided with research into human Emotional Intelligence and the development of emotional literacy training programmes. Emotional Intelligence is now known to play a very significant part in achieving goals set, as well as being the foundation for personal satisfaction. Many gifted educators and child-care workers have already developed excellent emotional literacy programmes to support and develop children at every level of need. These enable children to learn the skills and abilities to give them greater emotional awareness, more emotional control and strong relationship building skills. This in turn leads to higher emotional intelligence, and usually, sound self-esteem.http://www.schoolofemotional-literacy.com/content.asp?ArticleCode=147 We now understand that by providing these environments, together with specific training and coaching in personal and social skills, we can enable children and young people to develop emotional maturity far more effectively than we could before. Many schools believe that emotional intelligence can and must be developed because it leads to so many benefits. They are therefore finding ways to explicitly place emotional literacy at the heart of their approach to learning, teaching, achieving, behaviour change and well-being. The environments that encourage emotional and social competence are: * an enriched physical environment * an enriched emotional environment. Aspects of emotional literacy The various aspects of emotional literacy as described by Katherine Weare in her book Developing the Emotionally Literate School are outlined here. Self-understanding: * having an accurate and positive view of ourselves * having a sense of optimism about the world and ourselves * having a coherent and continuous life story. Understanding and managing emotions: * experiencing the whole range of emotions * understanding the causes of our emotions * expressing our emotions appropriately * managing our responses to our emotions effectively: for example, managing our anger, controlling our impulses * knowing how to feel good more often and for longer * using information about emotions to plan and solve problems * resilience: processing, and bouncing back from, difficult experiences. Understanding social situations and making relationships: * forming attachments to other people * experiencing empathy for others * communicating with others and responding effectively * managing our relationships effectively * being autonomous, independent and self-reliant. Every parent, every politician, and every teacher want young children to enter kindergarten ready to succeed. Often the focus is on cognitive skills, early literacy, or early math, and indeed there are exciting new developments in early education. But it is equally important to pay attention to the social and emotional skills that young children develop in their earliest years. These skills-how children manage their feelings, follow directions, concentrate, relate to other children and to teachers, and approach learning-will enable them to succeed as they transition to kindergarten and first grade. . Importantly, virtually all the interventions described here work best if they are embedded in a larger community effort to promote resilience and build on the strengths that exist in families and communities. Four core assumptions shaped the guide: * The family plays the most important role in a young childs life. * Responsibility for school readiness lies not with children, but with the adults who care for them and the systems that support them. * The first 5 years of life are a critical developmental period. * Child development occurs across equally important and interrelated domains-physical and motor, social and emotional, language, and cognitive. The guide is intended to be especially useful for: * Child care providers, preschool and kindergarten teachers, and others who work directly with young children and their families. * Families and school readiness coordinators and administrators involved in organizing early childhood school readiness and early literacy campaigns. * Family support advocates and others who provide support to parents and other caregivers (e.g., grandparents and foster parents) of young children. * Community leaders and coalitions who understand the importance of reaching out to young children and families to ensure early school success. * Mental health and other professionals who want to do more to ensure that young children and families get help when they need it. Section I answers frequently asked questions about why it is important to pay attention to social and emotional development as part of school readiness. Section II provides examples of the resources that are available to help programs and community planners as they seek, intentionally, to promote social and emotional school readiness. It is organized in three parts: * Resources to Help Parents describes resources and strategies that can help parents, particularly low-income parents and others raising young children, promote healthy emotional development in young children. * Resources to Help Child Care Providers and Teachers describes resources and strategies that can help child care providers and teachers promote healthy social and emotional development and school readiness. * Resources to Help Young Children and Families Facing Special Stresses describes resources and strategies that can promote resilience in the most stressed young children and families so that these children, too, can enter school ready to succeed. Each part provides examples of specific resources that can be embedded into and adapted to particular program and community circumstances. Section II of this guide highlights several informal and community-based approaches that bring families and community leaders together to develop preventive strategies, connect existing resources better, and take action around high-priority challenges to promote early school success for all young children in the community. The guide concludes in Section III with a set of questions to guide community action and 10 principles to guide action. This guide complements Spending Smarter: A Funding Guide for Policymakers and Advocates to Promote Social and Emotional Health and School Readiness, as well as a series of issue briefs that the National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP) has developed over the past several years. (For more information, see Appendix B or www.nccp.org.) Both documents recognize that for every young child to enter school ready to succeed, focusing solely on supporting the early physical, emotional, and cognitive development of young children is not enough. There must also be powerful and sustained attention to ensuring that families can earn enough to support their children, to improving the overall quality of child care and early learning experiences, and es- pecially to ensuring that when young children enter schools, the schools are ready for them. However, the guide also recognizes that for some young children and families, without intentional strategies that are focused on social and emotional well-being, even ready schools and ready communities may not be enough. http://www.nccp.org/publications/pub_648.html