Absurdity of a “Sivilized” Society-an Analysis of Huckleberry Finn Essay

The Absurdity of a â€Å"Sivilized† Society Authors often express their views on any given subject through their works, and Mark Twain is no exception. One may read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and believe it is simply a novel about a young boys childhood; however, a deeper analysis of the text reveals many of Mark Twain’s expressions about important moral and social issues. Perhaps one of the most prominent being the frailty of human justice and the hypocrisy we as a people foster in our societies. Throughout the novel, Huck meets people who appear to be good, civilized people, but always end up having a hypocritical fault about them. Though not every instance is a grave matter, Twain’s writing shows that societies in Huck’s world are based upon corrupted laws and principles that defy basic logic. Twain’s writing leaves the reader with an understanding that cowardice, illogical choices, and selfish as well as hypocritical people mark these societies. Twain begins weaving hypocrisies and cants early into the story; one of the most appalling being the issue of Huck’s custody. This flawed system of thought is first shown when the new judge in St. Petersburg rules that Pap has rightful custody of Huck. Although this would be bad for Huck if his father became his legal guardian, the judge asserts Pap’s rights to Huck as his biological son, despite the fact that this is placing Huck’s welfare below the so-called rights of his father. Ironically, this system would put Huck under his dad’s custody, leaving him worse off, whereas Jim is separated from his family despite being a far better father and person. However, the welfare of the individual isn’t highly valued in society, and thus they are placed in uncomfortable, often dangerous situations. The judge tries to put Huck back in contact with his horrid father and therefore abuse, but Jim, a loving parent, never receives help to be with his children and help rescue them from slavery and separation. This decision defies all logic one would find in a normal society, and yet this kind of thinking was commonplace. The values and welfare of a black person were nowhere near as important as those of a white man, and even though Jim is a grown man with the most in tune moral compass of any character in the book, Huck still has power over him simply because he is white. By comparing the situation of Pap and Huck with slaves and their masters, Twain hints that it is impossible for a society to be civilized so long as it practices slavery. Though not quite as harmful, another example of a hypocritical character can be found in the Widow Douglas and Miss Watson. In an attempt to â€Å"sivilize† Huckleberry, Miss Watson reprimands him for smoking a cigarette and yet she snuffs tobacco. â€Å"Pretty soon I wanted to smoke, and asked the widow to let me. But she wouldn’t. She said it was a mean practice and wasn’t clean, and I must try to not do it any more†¦ And she took snuff, too; of course that was all right, because she done it herself† (Twain 2). She prevents Huck from doing what she believes is uncivilized and detrimental to his health, yet doesn’t think twice about proceeding to do something very similar simply because she herself enjoys it. This example of hypocrisy is not particularly malicious, but yet another example of how all the characters Huck is involved with has some form of a hypocritical flaw. Furthermore, Miss Watson is quite religious and, in efforts to teach Huck, tells him that all he must do is pray for something and he will have it. However, when Huck needs fishhooks and asks her to help pray for them, she calls him a fool. â€Å"Then Miss Watson she took me in the closet and prayed, but nothing come of it. She told me to pray every day, and whatever I asked for I would get it. But it warn’t so. I tried it. Once I got a fish- line, but no hooks. It warn’t any good to me without hooks. I tried for the hooks three or four times, but somehow I couldn’t make it make it work. By-and-by, one day, I asked Miss Watson to try for me, but she said I was a fool. † (Twain 8). Miss Watson tells Huck that if he does something, he can expect a certain result but when things don’t work, he asks for her help and she chides him for it! The widow Douglas and Miss Watson are religious, educated, and yet, they are slave owners. They educate Huck, and teach him religion but find it perfectly acceptable to do things contrary to their teachings, such as snuff and practice slavery. The latter, being a more insidious humbug of St. Petersburg, is shown over and over again throughout Huck’s journey. As Huck begins to stray from his backwards, insincere town, he reaches different places with different people, all different in their own way and yet, very similar to those in St. Petersburg. The Duke and Dauphin are two despicable con men who join Huck and Jim as they continue to drift on the river. The Duke and Dauphin cause trouble for Huck and Jim, as well as the towns they visit. The fault here is that, the Duke and Dauphin are able to scam entire communities by lying, pretending to be someone they’re not, and cheating their guests. Though they spend most of the novel doing awful things or planning awful things, they both are hardly punished. After the first showing of The Royal Nonesuch, the first group of attendees realizes they have been cheated. However, instead of chastising the Duke and Dauphin, the audience that night chooses to lie about the performance in order to cheat a second group of attendees. Hold on! Just a word, gentlemen. † They stopped to listen. â€Å"We are sold—mighty badly sold. But we don’t want to be the laughing stock of this whole town, I reckon, and never hear the last of this thing as long as we live. NO. What we want is to go out of here quiet, and talk this show up, and sell the REST of the town! Then we’ll al l be in the same boat. Ain’t that sensible? † (â€Å"You bet it is! —the jedge is right! † everybody sings out. ) â€Å"All right, then—not a word about any sell. Go along home, and advise everybody to come and see the tragedy. † (Twain 114). Most hypocritical, however, is the fact that the Judge of the town conceived this plan. He who stands as a pillar of justice and truth in the town decides to cheat the others in order to save face. By the third night, everyone in town has seen the play and the Duke and Dauphin make a large profit from their misconduct. Immoral acts committed by the Duke and Dauphin never yielded punishments, but brazen, drunk insults led to execution. Boggs, described as the â€Å"most easy going old fool in Arkansas†, began shouting insults and anathemas at Sherburn, the man who had cheated him. He [Sherburn] was standing perfectly still in the street, and had a pistol raised in his right hand—not aiming it, but holding it out with the barrel tilted up towards the sky†¦ Boggs throws up both of his hands and says, â€Å"O Lord, don’t shoot! † Bang! goes the first shot, and he staggers back, clawing at the air—bang! goes the second one, and he tumbles backwards on to the ground, heavy and solid, with his arms spread out. † (Twain 108). The Duke and Dauphin cheat entire communities and remain unpunished by their terrible acts; however, peccadilloes like shouting drunken insults result in execution. Twain’s writing exposes the issue of faulty justice and duplicitous nature of men. Furthermore, Sherburn’s speech to the angry mob around his house in relation to a lack of logic and cowardice capitulates Twain’s societal views. Twain’s use of hypocrisy helps express his views on societal issues. Though not every instance is harmful, such as Miss Watson’s snuff usage, other notable examples such as the execution of Boggs and the custody of Huck highlight his belief that cowardice, lack of logic, and selfishness are at the core of society, not the communal welfare that it should be. The repeated instances of insecure, logic defying justice are the root of the problem, as thoughtless crimes are punished severely whereas serious crimes go scot-free. Throughout the novel, Huck meets characters that appear good, yet Twain makes a conscious effort to prove they are prejudiced slave owners. The illogical choices and hypocritical people presented throughout the novel show the hypocrisy and ludicrousness of the â€Å"sivilized† society.

Bedside table development evaluation Essay

It is important for surveyors to convey to their client whether members of the public, builder or contractors in general proper care in establishing the variables that will affect any given project. Time upon reflecting these variables and the implications that can bring to a project need to be carefully reviewed, whether from a traditional procurement route or form example a design and build method. In reviewing these factors is it feasible to determine the relevant specifics whether to demolish a particular building? As new buildings through poor workmanship can also cause snagging problems or greater issues after practical completion. Therefore a written record of what has to be done in form of a pre-condition report is to be completed to ascertain all factors whether to reinstate, through either refurbishment or to demolish. Of course other variables such as the client’s costs programme and end user use must all be taken unto account, the current climate of environmental and carbon footprint issues continue to be an ever enforcing element with construction. Only when such a report is commissioned can it determine that the building is ‘statutory defective’ can the final decision of a building to be torn down can be decided. This can also be called a dilapidation report. In evaluating the varied mechanisms by which buildings are deemed to fail refurbishments is the valid reason to unsure that such a pre-condition report is submitted to the relevant parties to see much works are required to re-instate the building whether to its original form or improvements to current building regulation standards. An example of how the government is seeking to explore refurbishments activity into existing dwellings was the introduction of the Home Condition Reports (HCR) in 2004 which formed part of the Housing Act 2004. It is intended to aid that of the general public placing their property on the market for inspectors to create a pre-condition report for those prospective buyers. This would enable those buyers to identity areas with dwelling or single portfolio item to in more than one ways to fit into the whole-life cycle of a building. Put in lay mans terms what works needs to be done (if any). The report itself was in 4 parts as identified in table 1 below. What is important is that the government is seen to work towards improving the large stock of dwellings with in the United Kingdom (UK) that need to be graded into energy ratings and of which then people can through builder and contractors alike to start upgrade or enhance their own homes whether for resale or for their own purpose i. e. to reduce bills by adding another layer on insulation within the attic. Adding a greater life span to elements within the building through whole-life cycle of a building. This is further reflected within the new European Union (EU) Directive 2002/91/EC (2002) for the energy ratings. It is important to note that these HCR where later replaced by the Home Information Packs (HIP). Refurbishment and upgrading are the alternatives to demolition when appropriate. In a recent article Existing Stocks: The Facts, www. building. co. uk (Aug 2008) in this country i 24billion a year is spent on repair and maintenance of homes – Refurbishment is defined as to renovate, restore or revamp an existing building either to enhance its current state of repair or to update to other building regulations, it may be an office building where an air tight part L building regulation has to be stipulated or a dwelling to increase it’s thermal requirements under the new guild lines from the HIP’s Refurbishment works well when the building falls into correctable obsolescence, which means it has reached obsolescence stage only because it has poor acoustic, fire, or thermal performance, construction defects such as dampness or fungal attack, inadequate or relatively inflexible layout, poor amenities or facilities. But should refurbishment actions be taken when building falls into non-correctable obsolescence: is in poor location, inadequate building morphology (very inflexible layout or restrictive floor, ceiling heights, or serious construction failures). The decision to establish the reason(s) to either demolish, refurbish a building can vary significantly from the client requirements, through to building control, and of course things can change during the construction period, i. e. it may be that during a refurbishment programme that a greater amount of work is required like dry rot, and therefore a particular building may well be need to be gutted further or even take the step of demolishing it. When works to start on a building such issues can arise which may change the programme of works or structure of the building completely. With the best will ion the world unexpected items like this to happen, but with a good project team in place, then hopefully the advantage is to continue with the best solution possible, which may even be to demolish. The variables are unique to every single project and have to be taken on merit at that given time. The life expectancies of the components of a house depend on the quality of installation, the level of maintenance, weather, and climate conditions, and the intensity of use. These can of course through a good level of planned maintenance continue the whole-life cycle of the building and have the advantage of refurbishment opposed to demolition. Investing in home refurbishing work can save money if they are invested in it sooner than later. For example, fixing a potentially leaky roof at the early stage will save money in the long run by avoiding a costly repair job, when the roof becomes much more difficult to work with. It is much cheaper to ‘patch’ a small problem than to repair a large one. Same principle is found everywhere in life. For example, cars have some similar principle, unbalanced wheels, steering wheel shake will damage further down suspension, or unchanged oil, timing belt might cause complete engine failure. In maintaining what you have through either servicing or in construction case, whole-lie cycle refurbishment can the reasons to maintain an existing building are established. Some components may remain functional, but become obsolete due to changing styles and preferences or improvements in newer products as the same applies to the building. It can be structurally sound, but over a period of time parts of any building need to be maintained. Douglas, reports that the ‘Obsolescence is the process of an asset going out of use’ However, there are couple main issues why buildings become obsolescence. In addition, Clark (2009) noted that obsolete buildings as ‘those that suffer from structural, vacancy due to expire of their former use and require intervention (market or otherwise) to achieve a subsequent useful function’. Upgrading existing buildings rather than demolishing them avoids the loss of the embodied energy, making a valuable contribution to avoiding additional carbon emissions from demolishing. It is perceived that recycling a building rather than building from scratch is a step forward in maintaining a low carbon footprint. It could be then argued then why the government do not charge any Value Added Tax (VAT) on new building construction. Often the cost of maintenance and repair is the driving force to demolish older buildings. This can be especially true when there is a major defect within the building, e. g. base build defect from a structural problem. Most older buildings are poorly insulated and thus expensive to run, problems occur for example when a building is listed and therefore is unable to change many features due to the law and English Heritage constraints. In addition the cost of financing the project and the effect of inflation on building costs is less than that of building from new as for the most part refurbishment projects have a shorter development period. To demolish a building creates a huge waste of embodied energy (as mentioned above), a report by the government funded body Empty Homes Agency found that: ‘new construction emits nearly five times as much carbon dioxide per square metre as comprehensive refurbishment of an existing building’ Ward (2009). Furthermore, saving time is a major factor when proposing a refurbishment project, the pre-contract design and official permissions phases are normally faster than for a new development. As often building control can be less involved where plans for a new build are required to obtain planning permission. Consideration of the various factors of matters from the initial report and feasibility studies are the key to ascertain the extent of what can and can not be done to any given project. Refurbishment can in itself be extensive from a ‘facelift’ to a major remodelling of the interior of a building. Although, no doubt this will still be debated, but the way forward within industry seems by those through the government and institutions such as the Royal Institutions of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), and English Heritage to seek the benefits of maintaining buildings in terms of whole-life cycles through sustainability and economies

Shake the salt habit Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Shake the salt habit - Essay Example The sodium in the American diet does not significantly come from the saltshakers but in the abundance of processed food consumption. It should be noted sodium is usually used to enhance the flavor, stabilize, and preserve processed food. Accordingly, sodium intake can be reduced by opting fresh, whole food closest to their natural state. Another option is to look for canned food which are sodium-free or with reduced-sodium content. The DASH (Dietary Approach to Solving Hypertension) eating plan, which prescribes a diet comprised of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low-fat dairy food, and food with limited saturated fat, cholesterol and sodium, is clinically proven to dramatically reduce blood pressure by infusing enough levels of potassium in the body to counter the effects of sodium. It has been verified by the Tulane University Health Science Center that adequate potassium intake may lower systolic blood pressure by 3 points and diastolic by 2 points. The level of sodium in the body as well as its effect is tied to an individual's physiological sensitivity to salt.

Week 5 Project #2 Research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Week 5 Project #2 - Research Proposal Example Malicious damage could be prevented through the utilisation of different security checks aimed at authenticating identities of individuals utilising the system. Passwords remain a common method utilised in identification of authorised individuals accessing an information system The system shall consist of a self assessment strategy aimed at ensuring multi-level security of the entire system. The approach adopted for the system shall occur at different layers of the system stack. The various layers shall include the following These applications are implemented to monitor malicious activities within an information system platform (Whitman & Mattord, 2009). Network behaviour analysis shall be utilised in the prevention of intrusion. This kind of prevention analyses network behaviour and identifies threats through monitoring unusual activities. Statistical anomaly based detection shall be employed in detecting threats occurring within the network. Information system audit is aimed at analysing the development strategy for the information system. The auditing process shall be undertaken by a professional IT organisation to ensure all aspects of the system are effectively checked. The working processes and practices must also be analysed as a way of improving the functioning of the system. Information assurance could be defined as the application of numerous methods of providing protection for information systems, like computer networks. In providing protection of computer systems there are five fundamental qualities which as system must sufficiently satisfy to ensure successful protection. The five qualities are as listed below Non-repudiation – this ensures that the system maintains a record of all activities undertaken. This works in ensuring that individuals remain responsible as their actions can be retraced within the system. This refers to the process of encoding information to ensure only

Strategic Marketing Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Strategic Marketing - Assignment Example Nike’s strategy has always been to develop their brand with global perspective by creating a motivational consumer base for the company. Nike tries to influence the brand perception of the consumers and can sustain it by adding materialistic benefits in marketing strategy. In order to sustain in the competitive scenario, it is recommended to the company that enhancing their business into the motor sports segments will create a bigger market place for the Nike. Also they can develop their connection with the consumers if Nike endorses athletes who are close to their consumers or local athletes. Marketing concepts and strategies are evolving rapidly with the growing competition in the corporate sector. New forms of marketing such as viral marketing, guerilla marketing, etc. are now forming exclusive segments of the marketing process of the business houses. As defined by Beard (2008), strategic marketing helps the firms to align their business objectives with the market demands and creates consumer awareness. Grà ¶nroos (2010) added that the primary objective of a strategic marketing process is to help the business develop a long-term sustainable competitive advantage. Combining the above two definitions it can be observed that strategic marketing helps in developing a competitive advantage by allying the business objectives with market requirements. Nike is known to be one of the pioneers of the modern day marketing process. They have established themselves as one of the leading brands in the sportswear industry (Anderson and Narus, 2007). The strategic marketing concept o f Nike will be analysed in context to the role of services in marketing and factors that can be included to boost the marketing effectiveness of the company. The researcher will try to evaluate the gaps in the marketing strategy of Nike in terms of the service marking strategy and provide

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Talent Management - Assignment Example Organizations need to manage these employees effectively so as to ensure their retention for a longer period of time. (Scullion and Collings, 2011). This challenges the conventional approach to growth in favor of a more harmonized approach (Identifying Natural Talents Lets Company Make Right Choice, 1999). In this essay, important aspects associated with the manager’s role in effective talent management are highlighted how much it is important to identify and appoint appropriate talent for the company to achieve its goals (Schweyer, 2010). A core feature of top personnel is their innate wish to progress, and their dedication towards self-growth and empowerment (Keeping your talent, 2008, pp. 6-8). These employees establish and enhance because they wish to, however not articulating a point in which they can enhance will not offer the impetus needed for this self-growth (Effron and Ort, 2013). Discovering effective leaders and managers to occupy challenging responsibilities is always a preference since it facilitates companies to overcome unpredicted outcomes and to capitalize on introvert opportunities (Berger, 2004). As per a talent management survey, more than 50 percent of organizations use a formal or informal talent management initiative, highlighting that human capital issues are among the prime objectives of strategic planning (Stadler, 2011, pp.

Management auditing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Management auditing - Essay Example This leads to the development of targeted objectives and standards, and the actual standards and objectives are compared to identify the potential gaps and flaws in the system (pickett, 2005). Management Auditing is applied at the core and structure of an organization with its basic emphasis on comprehensively examining the structure, functionalities and governing bodies, departments, division heads and all the major operations of an organization. Moreover, management auditing acts as a powerful tool that has the potential to ascend deep down into the core operations of management of any organization from a highest point to the lowest one. It further ensures that a sound and foolproof management is being conducted internally and strengthens on the enhanced relationship with the outside world only if the internal operations of an organization are run smoothly (Leonard). Management auditing is much frequently interchanged with Internal Auditing or even Operational Auditing. According to IIA Institute of Internal Audit’s CEO, the regulatory environments and complex business systems have evolved as a result of dynamic environment and for this internal audit function has been established to cope up with the solution to these problems. This system has been developed by the internal auditors and the corporate management, therefore this system is significant to the improvement of business performance and suggesting constructive ways of improvements to the line managers. (Wilson and wood, 1985). Management auditing ensures the efficient and managed workability of all business operations. It furnishes improvements and outlines suitable recommendations. It frequently strengthens and enhances the managerial efficiency. Moreover it delineates efficient methods and effective processes whilst designing responsibilities and duties of the work force and lastly it actively seeks the

Anlysis of The Dechra PLC Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Anlysis of The Dechra PLC - Essay Example 36.6 million and ?11.7 million, respectively. The paper illuminates Dechra PLC’s investment, financing, and dividend payout trends in the recent years. Moreover, the paper will also conduct an in-depth analysis of the financing, investing, and dividend trends using tools such as standard deviation, averages and charts. Part 1: The company in the recent past has undertaken significant investments, changes in divided policy, and changes in its capital structure. Changes in capital structure In general, over the last five years the company has been experiencing increase in the indebtedness. In the year 2009, the company was indebted to a tune of 23.08 while in the year 2013 the indebtedness has swollen to 103.84 in just a span of five years (Dechra, 2013). This is not a good indicator in the financial statement because the more the debts the company the company has the worse its leverage ratio gets. The thumps rule requires that the ratio should not be higher than 1. That is to s ay that the debt to equity ratio should be 50:50. In the case of Dechra PLC., this is not the case the leverage ratio judging from the table below. In order to clear its debt and register a sound capital structure the company has embarked on an ambitious process to sell off its veterinary services wing at a cost of GBP 86.2 million with transaction costs and taxation on disposal cost expected to cost 0.9 million and 0.4 million respectively. The proceeds from these sales will be used to offset the debts of the company. This viable move will overhaul the financial structure of the company for the better and put its going concern concept back on track. Capital structure of Dechra PLC in the last five years Year 2013 2012 2011 2010 2012 Non current debt (millions) 103.84 114.05 56.08 17.76 23.08 Shareholders equity (millions) 174.62 103.68 98.33 86.23 80.69 Leverage ratio 1.68 0.909 1.753 4.855 3.496 Retrieved on 8 November 2013 from http://www.hl.co.uk/shares/shares-search-results/d/d echra-pharmaceuticals-plc-ordinary-1p/financial-statements-and-reports Changes in investment The company is strategically involved in various investment activities that will ensure that it commands a sizeable share of the pharmaceutical industry. One such investment is the acquisition of â€Å"Eurovet Animal Health B.V.† which was acquired on 5th of April, 2012. This acquisition is in line with the company expansion strategy. The strategy goes a long way to ensure that the company expands its foothold into the pharmaceutical market (Dechra, 2013). The other strategic investment that has been effected by the company is the successful exclusive worldwide licensing agreement with SCYNEXIS Inc. the exclusive license gives the company the authority to manufacture and commercialize SCY-641, a medication used in the treatment of KCS. This world right to produce this drug is a great achievement for the company that cements the company’s going concern concept. Changes in divide nd policy The company has been steadily increasing its dividend payout over the years judging by the financial reports in the last five years. It is worth noting that dividend policy is the discretion of the management of Dechra PLC. They have the freedom to settle on any kind of distribution policy whether stock repurchase, share split, or dividend policy (Booth & Maksimovic, 2001). It is worth noting that Dechra has over the years stuck to dividend payout as their default distribution

Wal-Mart Business aroung the World Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Wal-Mart Business aroung the World - Essay Example As the paper highlights, Mexico was not a driving region so they have to be within their consumers’ neighborhood. Aside from that, Mexicans preferred fresh products so they had to offer their goods fresh. With their thirst to succeed in their endeavor and the help of Grupo Cifra, Mexico became their first international expansion in 1991.   Aside from big established retailers like Metro AC, Aldi and Kaufland, Wal-Mart’s big mistake in their venture in Germany was not having a cultural context on their strategy. Same thing with their business in South Korea, Wal-Mart seemed to cater to Americans alone and did not mind the region’s culture. Unlike with their business in Mexico, they didn’t try to adapt to the needs and wants of their consumers. They eventually had to pull out their business in these countries. Offering freshly harvested products is a must for Chinese. Given that China shares 1/3s of Asia’s population, Wal-Mart considers China as the center of their growth strategy.   International business venture is never easy. There are so many factors to consider. Culture is on top of the listr. As a retailer, you should know the goods a region will buy to stay in business. A rigorous supply and demand and shopping habits study will be essential in order to succeed in your venture. Remem ber that to stay in business, you should get a good percentage of the market. Wal-Mart posted their third quarter profits reaching $3.23 billion, which is 3.2% from a year ago. Their net sales for the third quarter were $98.667, which increased 1.1% from the same period last year. Wal-Mart has more than 7,970 stores including Supercenters and discount stores.  

Poststructuralism Paper Essay Example for Free

Poststructuralism Paper Essay What is post-structuralism? How did come about and who started it? How can it be used as a strategy? It cannot be defined without a reference to Ferdinand de Saussere.   He is considered as the â€Å"creator of the modern theory of structuralism (UXL Encyclopedia of World Biography, 2003, p.1).†Ã‚   He was responsible for what was said to have started the entire post-structuralist movement, A Course in General Linguistics.   He did not actually write it; his students, Charles Bally and Albert Sechehaye simply compiled and edited it for publication (UXL Encyclopedia of World Biography, 2003, p.1). Saussere considers language as a â€Å"system of signs that evolves constantly, in which particular words hold no meaning (UXL Encyclopedia of World Biography, 2003, p.2).† Words do not have definition on their own; they need to be involved in a kind of structure wherein together with other words, they begin to make sense.   Moreover, he believes that every idea or object has a sign (UXL Encyclopedia of World Biography, 2003, p.2.), which in turn, has two other parts.   A sign has a signifier, which refers to what a word originally looks or sounds like, while the signified refers to what is represented.   The connection of the two is unpredictable; it is always fluctuating.   This premise is basically the foundation of what is known as post-structuralism.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Post-structuralism actually started in the 1960s in France (James, n.d., p.1).   It is considered both as a critical theory (Henderson and Brown, 1997, p.1), and an interdisciplinary movement (Jones, n.d., p.1) which includes other fields as well like the â€Å"deconstruction of Jacques Derrida, the late criticism of Roland Barthes, and the psychoanalytic revisionism of Jacques Lacan (Henderson and Brown, 1997, p.1)† just to name a few.   Post-structuralism has been discussed alongside postmodernism, but Peters (1999) was quick to differentiate the two: â€Å"Poststructuralism takes as it theoretical object structuralism, whereas postmodernism takes as its theoretical object modernism(p.1). The key word in determining its definition is structure.   Post-structuralism develops a new body of knowledge apart from the pre-established structures.   It claims that the formation of knowledge then may no longer hold now.   There is no such thing as an established truth; what was considered true then, might be dubious now.   Peters (1999) adds, â€Å"Poststructuralism, then, can be interpreted as a specifically philosophical response to the alleged scientific status of structuralism to its status as a mega-paradigm for the social sciences and as a movement which, under the inspiration of Friedrich Nietzsche, Martin Heidegger, and others, sought to decenter the structures, systematicity and scientific status of structuralism, to critique its underlying metaphysics and to extend it a number of different directions, while at the same time preserving central elements of structuralism’s critique of the humanist subject (p.1).† One of the people famous for their contribution in post-structuralism is Frenchman Michel Foucault.   Although he is considered as a philosopher, his work is not confined to a particular body of knowledge.   Throughout his career, his works covered a range of topics, which included â€Å"sexuality, madness, illness and knowledge (UXL Newsmakers, 2005, p.1).†Ã‚   He is also associated with new historicism, which Henderson and Brown (1997) considers as â€Å"history as a species of narrative with gaps or ruptures between epistemes modes of thought and ways of knowing that characterize a given historical moment (p.1).†    He is not interested with history per se; rather, he is more interested in how events become part of history and what made it possible for them to be part of history.   Needham (1995) writes, â€Å"he believes that human nature, instinct, and other intrinsic underpinnings of mankind are not fixed; humans are conditioned through discourse: how we talk, how we formulate knowledge, and who we look to for knowledge. No universal certainties exist; justice, sexuality, insanity, morality all knowledge is a construction of discourse (p.1).†Ã‚   Overall, Foucault forces us to think out of the box.   For him there is no such thing as truth; the structure which developed our notion of truth should be analyzed. Because there is no one stable structure that holds, all that we know is influx all the time and it is better to focus on how these ideas are formed rather than being preoccupied with the ideas themselves.   Because of his post-structuralist ideals, many feminists are turning to him to further their cause.   His ideals help them challenge what was then regarded as true about women in patriarchal discourses.   One of the women who have been regarded for her feminist efforts is Mary McLeod Bethune.   Unlike Foucault, she is not an intellectual.   Smith (1996) calls her â€Å"essentially an activist (p.1),† and rightfully so. Her works is not even limited to women, though she pushes for their opportunities to.   All her life she has fought for the rights of her fellow African-Americans, and released the literary work My Last Will and Testament which is one of the most influential African-American literature out there.   She dared to push the envelope for her race, and defied the odds to help her race â€Å"maintain racial dignity (Smith, 1996, p.105).†Ã‚   S he made sure African-American girls can also be educated like their fair-skinned counterparts.   She opened a school for girls in 1904, which became the Bethune-Cookman College (Smith, 1996, p.106).   At first glance, she may not seem to be a post-structuralist, but she is.   Instead of conforming to the existing structures available to her race that operate in society, she tried to create new possibilities.   That is a move that is post-structuralist, indeed.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Post-structuralism as a strategy is simple; all that needs to be done is to challenge the existing premises by trying to get to the root of the very same premises.   In a post-structuralist sense, the normative condition is taken as such, but not considered stable or fixed.   It is like one of the possible scenarios, not the only one.   In essence, post-structuralism defines the possibility of many other structures, any of which are neither true or false.   From the examples established by Michel Foucault and Mary McLeod Bethune, one must not be satisfied with what is out there.   There should always be a need to ask important questions and look for other solutions.   The status quo is no longer; the possibilities are endless. References Henderson, G. E., Brown, C. (1997). Glossary of Literary Theory. University of Toronto English Library. Jones, R. (n.d). Post-structuralism. Retrieved November 16, 2007, from www.philosopher.org.uk/poststr.htm. Needham, A. (1995). Foucaltphobia-philosopher Michel Foucault. Whole Earth Review, n.v.,1. Peters, M. (1999). Post-structuralism and education. Retrieved November 16, 2007, from www.ffst.hr/ENCYCLOPAEDIA/poststructuralism.htm. Smith, E. M. (1996). Mary McLeod Bethune’s â€Å"Last Will and Testament:† A Legacy for Race Vindication. The Journal of Negro History, 81 (1/4), 105-122. UXL Encyclopedia of World Biography (2003). UXL Newsmakers (2005).

Factors that Affect Child Development

Factors that Affect Child Development Unit 2: Understanding and Promoting Children’s Development. All children develop at different speeds, but will usually follow an expected pattern. Gaining an understanding of the expected pattern of development can help to identify where children have significant delays in their development. It is important for practitioners working with children to have a good knowledge of child development in order to identify any development delays early. When we are looking a child development, it some areas we need to examine the areas of physical development, cognitive development, communication development, social development, moral development.When we talk about physical development in children, we usually mean two things: the development by which children grow physically, and their increasing skill at achieving a range of different motor tasks, using their large and lesser strengths. As their great weights develop, children go in stage from rolling over to riding a tricycle. As their slight muscles develop, children go since seizing a rattle to easin g beads or eventually writing. Cognitive development is concerned with the child’s intellectual development. Children often change faster than we understand, changing and developed  until they reach a  fundamental milestone. One second they are throwing board books in the toy box, the next they are exploding through the pages of  story books  and as they grow older, they start reading for their own enjoyment and choosing their own books. Piaget was a main theorist and psychologist who developed stages to understand cognitive development. He used to observation the on the child’s thinking and suggested that children progress through a series of stage in their thoughtful, each of which agrees to wide-ranging changes in the structure or logic of their intelligence. Piaget called the main stages of development the sensory motor, concrete operations, and the preoperational and Formal operational stage and emphasised that they occur in that order. Good link to Piaget’s theory. With communication development of the child, in the first five years of life, when brain development is most speedy, children are more open to learning and more receptive to educational experiences than they will ever be. If a child is communicating less than others of his age, he is unlikely to develop the responses essential to his progress. That child’s communication development may be delayed. Freud and Erikson believed that a child’s development can be affected by their personalities rather than their ability. Concrete learning needs may affect progress because a child having difficulties with reading and writing and they are not receiving the extra help they need will probably reduce their chances of progress. As a person and a human being a child is different from other beings as children grow older, they become increasingly more independent and will often find themselves in situations where they need to make their own decisions. A childs effective development al ways occurs in relation to the dynamics of education and can never be explained apart from them, but decision making can seriously stress them out and affect their health. Later incapacity to make decisions could be because of knowledge incapacity, psychological health problems, brain damage, alcohol and drug misuse, or any other of illness or disability. However, some types parental of decisions such as marriage, civil partnership, divorce, sexual relationships and adoption. Social and emotional development is about the way in which children learn to be with others. Children will find it hard to make friends if they have not learned; for example children have their earliest strongest relationships with their parent which is called attachment and appears to be essential for children’s late development. In the 1950s research showed how important they were. John Bowlby was one of the researches who believe there was a link between later abilities to form relationships and respect society’s rules and children’s early attachments. He noted that moving from home to when children enter nursery or school, they separation anxiety which can be tough for children of the all ages. It is important to identify this and find ways of helping them. Moral development is the way in which children learn the difference between right and wrong. This is a question that is difficult to answer. Some theories are presented by Lowrence Kohlberg and Piaget. Both believe people change as they are grew up including behaviour, social and their different abilities and may react very differently to real life situations that they find themselves when they are in a dilemma or strange environment. Piaget results was distinguished different stages in children’s and how they aware of the rules of play games and judging children or punish them which could be the child subjectivism which child cooperation but not understanding the rules and consequences as chosen to fit crime. However, Kohlberg agree with Piaget’s theory he believe dilemma can occur in real life. Kohlberg hypothesised that in societies still limited of some stages of moral development. There are factor that influence a child’s life denied from nature or genetics, such as: problems during pregnancy and at birth, health, disability or mental health conditions. However, children’s development is a shaped by both what they are born with and the experiences that they have. Children’s development starts from conception. Genetic information packaged together from the egg and sperm. This process at conception is not always perfect as sometimes genetic information is faulty and this can affect children’s health or development. Babies’ development can also be affecte during pregnancy by such conditions as: smoking, drugs and alcohol which can harm babies. Foetal alcohol syndrome can also affects the way a baby’s brain develops and is caused by exposure to alcohol whilst in the womb. The premature birth of a child can influence later development. If the baby may not breathe straight away or may be injured during the birth this could c ause learning difficulties. Child health is determined by a variety of factors such as their genetic make up for example: a child may be born with a blood disorder and sickle cell disease and poor health can affect a child’s development as children may find it harder to make friends because they miss the sessions or they cannot physical enjoin in. This means that professionals who work with children have to look at ways of making sure that children do not lose out. There are reasons why development may not follow expected patterns. Disabilities or health conditions are genetic that begin in the early years of children’s lives and influence their development. Also different types of disability will affect development in different ways, such as Down syndrome a genetic disability that affects a child’s cognitive ability and growth. External factors from the environment can affect a child’s development such as poverty, diet, family background, family circumstances, personal decision, education and housing. Poverty is one of the most devastating yet stoppable conditions working against the health development of children. In the UK increasing numbers of children are experiencing poverty. This can influence a child’s physical health, emotional and psychological health. Absolute poverty is a lack of basic human needs including food, shelter, warmth, sanitation, health care and education. Children’s growth, behaviour and development can be affected by their diet. A stable diet will help children to continue healthy, as well as grow. Families experiencing poverty may buy cheaper food, which are often or highly processed, containing amounts of saturated fat, salt and sugar and minimal nutritional value. These types of food can lead to obesity and malnutrition in children making them lethargic, unse ttled and hyperactive in certain health conditions. Families experiencing poverty or those on lower incomes may live in housing that is of poor conditions can lead more susceptible to illness. Children who live in crowded housing or who have limited access to large areas may not get the opportunities to exercise and develop their physical skills. This can lead to obesity and delay in physical development. Different cultures may hold different values and beliefs about how children are brought up, for example: girls in many cultures are not given the same opportunities as boys, which will limit their development because they are not able to go to school. Another example: in traveller families traditionally they see the female as the homemaker and girls from around the age 10, are removed from school in order to take care of the families. This can affect their development as they are not receiving the statutory education as recommended in the UK. Unexpected delays and disabilities can develop as the child grows up. If a practitioner is about concerned the child and is truly doubtful somethings wrong, they should speak up, although parents are often the first to notice developmental delays because they know their children best. Most developmental testing is done by health visitors but, if theysuspecta child hasnot been successful to reach a milestone at a given time, it is important to identify their support needs early in order to get the appropriate intervention in place to support overall learning and development, and to reduce the impact that the delay may have on the child. When the child has development delay this can lead to frustration, changes in behaviour and less opportunity. Early Intervention is a national programme that created in the 1975 Education of All Handicapped Children Act the early intervention programme was designed to provide cognitive stimulation and an aim is to prevent the lower intellectual functioning of the children at risk and to achieve the best thinkable outcome for the child.. For example, this would suits low income, pregnant women with low educational achievement, also providing facilities to children and toddlers with disabilities and their families or carers and helping children growing up to learn the basic skills that emphasise the development of cognitive, language, social and motor skills for the first three years of their life. This programme will help to meet the child’s individual’s needs and may include the different services to provide for them, for example, medical services, nursing, health status, physical therapy, psychological services etc. Services may also be provided to address the needs and priori ties of the child’s family. Family-centred services are supposed to help family members understand the special needs of their child and how to enhance their development. Early intervention practitioners are allocated by the Educational Individual Plan (EIP) agency according to the knowledge, assistances and expertise needed. Different developmental outcomes may be covered by early intervention practitioners. Firstly, a specialist doctors needs to diagnose the child’s development status to establish the need for early intervention. Next, the child must be assessed to identify its strengths and development needs. Thirty, support should be provide for the family to help them understand the child’s special needs and enhance its development. Health services will enable the child as benefit from other early intervention such as special needs therapy and an audiologist should identify any auditory problem. Learning activities should be planned to help the child learn new skills. The key worker should identify technical equipment to assist any child with development delays or disabilities. Early intervention is essential to achieve the best possible outcome for the child. However multi-agencies working is important too especially when all the professionals are involved with a child as they share information and co-operate with each other lives can be improved and even protected. Multi-agency working will be established following on from early intervention of a delay in a child’s development. Baby P is an example of multi-agencies not working together properly, early intervention did not occur and they did not work together to help prevent the unnecessary death. Early years practitioners can provide information for local services which may be helpful to disadvantaged or helpless families, we can work together with social workers, health authorities and even DHSS by helping to complete forms for additional benefits the family may be entitled to. The best interest of the child is always the importance, policies and guidance must also be followed when a referral is being made to a separate agency, working together for the advantage of the child. References: Department for children, schools and families (2010) Early Intervention Securing good outcomes for all children and young people http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20130401151715/https://www.education.gov.uk/publications/eOrderingDownload/DCSF-00349-2010.pdf In 1975 Education of All Handicapped Children Act in UK http://www.educationengland.org.uk/history/chapter07.html Freud and Erikson (1930) child’s development can be affected by their personalities rather than their ability http://psych.ku.edu/dennisk/CP333/Emotional_Mid_Child.pdf Jean Piagets (1973) Stages of Cognitive Development http://www.icels-educators-for learning.ca/index.php?option=com_contentview=articleid=46Itemid=61 Kohlberg, L. Turiel, E. (1971). Moral development and moral education. In Lawrence Kohlberg,Collected Papers on Moral Development and Moral Education (1973),pp. 410-465.