Final Response Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Final Response Paper - Essay Example In college writing the readers target to encourage an interesting claim, evidence to the claim as well as the analysis of limits and claim objections. The provision is different from those provided in the secondary level since the secondary level does not prompt utmost rationality and demands for simplicity in their conformation. The synthesis necessary in secondary school writing targets the dummies a converse scenario to the college writing (Sommers 382). Even though many discourses involve writing and reading, some do not involve the outlined practices (Gee 11). Academic writing entails the format, type, and the language. The writing requires the use of formal language throughout to abide by the conventional demands. Under such provisions, the writing discourages the use of short forms of words and abbreviations. The writing has to be in a specific format such as the APA, MLA, Harvard or any other format (Hyland 96). Through the formation of the paper, it has to maintain a type such as an essay, coursework, and dissertation amongst other types as well. The dominant discourse is however contrary to the academic writing since it mostly promotes the passive voice and does not consider formats. Academic writing is different since it also involves instructions that guide all its aspects including the themes to be written about (Sommers 376). The main controversy is the time of engagement into the discourses and the effectiveness of their impacts. There is a group of students considered â€Å"special† in this aspect and cannot be compared to those who get engaged in discourse at tender ages (Gee, 14). Another trouble around teaching academic writing is the conflict of the daily experiences in communication and the requirements of academic writing. The common language and communication tends to be informal and appears not to abide by the demands of academic writing.

The Bus Strike In Singapore Essay Example for Free

The Bus Strike In Singapore Essay Fundamental lessons which we can all learn from the bus strike (Singapore) Against the backdrop of the now famous bus strike, there have been efforts undertaken by the following parties: The Singapore Government calling on all parties to voice their grievances through the appropriate channels and a flurry of measures adopted by SMRT in response to public and government sentiment. Whilst the reactions and actions undertaken after the strike are laudable, one can’t help but express concern that the underlying issues of wages, worker’s living conditions and a clear lack of communication channels between all relevant parties have surfaced only via the drastic action of a strike. Indeed, all parties involved have to clearly reflect on the events of the past week and do their utmost to prevent future occurrences of such incidents. Complacency setting in Citing how strikes would affect workforce productivity and deter potential investors, the Singapore Government has long taken a dim view towards strikes and strikes have been few and far between throughout the annals of Singapore’s history. This has and still must be the key driving policy: A zero tolerance towards illegal strikes. In an attempt to maintain the welfare of general workers in Singapore, the National Union Trade Congress, businesses and National Employer’s Federation had been established. Tripartism was vaunted as the the way to progress and to cultivate the symbiotic relationship between businesses, employers and employees. Indeed, the system of tripartism saw much success till the early 2000’s where there were troubling signs of complacency setting in and cracks slowly but surely emerging from the system. This was further compounded by the fact that there was a massive influx of foreign workers as the Government sought to open its doors to foreigners to maximize economic growth. It would be naà ¯ve to conceive that the strikes were one-off actions or actions taken by an irrational group of foreign workers. Conversely, it is clear that the issues stemming from the strike ie. low wages, poor living conditions, lack of proper communication channels between businesses and employees alongside with an inability to manage the influx of foreign workers were long drawn. Therefore, it is illustrative that complacency had long set in between the relevant parties and the event of a strike or any forms of dramatic action were only a matter of time. An overall reflection Whilst I am in unequivocal agreement that a firm stance should be undertaken against the workers for taking the law into their own hands, there must be similar punishments meted out to SMRT as well for failing to take into account the welfare of its foreign workers and to serve as a strong deterrent for businesses not to mistreat its workers. When profits should not be at all costs It has been a long accepted norm in Singapore that a company should be primarily judged on its financial performance and has a responsibility to its multitude of stakeholders for fulfilling that responsibility. Nonetheless, the profit at all costs model has come under siege and this is inherently inferred from none other than SMRT. Relationship between grow at all costs and severe ramifications Admittedly, it would be an uphill task to draw a direct co-relationship between pursuing profits at all costs and the recent spate of events that had besieged SMRT. Having said that, one can look no further than how the incidents of trains breaking down due to inadequate maintenance and the recent uproar over wages of workers seem to connote some conclusions about a continual focus on increasing profit margins each quarter. Statistics have shown that the under the tenure of then SMRT CEO Saw Phaik Hwa, profits at SMRT had saw a steady increase quarter after quarter and everyone (from savvy investors, government and the general public) were duly impressed. However, the aftermath of the slew of incidents that have occurred (MRTs breaking down due to improper maintenance / lack of empathy for staff as evident by the strike) suggested that all was not well in the quest for grow and profit at all costs. How SMRT should not get away with a mere slap on the wrist It is indicative that all is not well at SMRT. There is a clear lack of communication between its staff, the upper echelons of the organization and a lack of distinctive and definitive direction being undertaken. Clearly, SMRT needs a wake-up call and the onus is on the Government to adopt a hardline stance against the company. Whilst some commentators have suggested heavy fines, I am of the belief that more drastic measures needs to be undertaken in the form of the government stepping in to perform the role of the company or possible suspensions in operations of the firm if the need arises. There would inevitably be some trade -offs in the form of services being affected in the short term but it would send a strong message to SMRT to step up or be replaced entirely either by the government or in the form of another private company. Aftermath of the strike In sum, the recent strike has revealed the stress points of tripartism and the relevant parties would do well to address them to prevent such a scenario from happening in the foreseeable future. With swift action being undertaken against the perpetrators of the strike, one can’t help but wonder whether SMRT should similarly be punished or be allowed to get away scot free?

Scout’s Maturity Essay -- English Literature

Scout’s Maturity Maturation is a stage of growth that we as human beings begin at birth. â€Å"To Kill a Mockingbird† in Harper Lee shows Scouts growth as she experiences and understands the prejudice of Maycomb. In the beginning Scout is a naive little girl but as the story commences she begins to understand what goes on in Maycomb and by the end she may still be young but she has matured. In â€Å"To Kill a Mockingbird† author suggests the actions we take lead us to become human beings and what we have done and learned from it leads to mature beings. In the beginning, Scout is an outsider, a tomboy who is not accepted by her brother or his friend. She is known as â€Å"the girl† also she announces that she is five years old but she tries her best to fit in and play with he brother and Dill. Scout thinks of herself as an adult in the beginning, like at when at school she thinks of herself and her school mates as little adults, who must take care of the first year teachers, this shows she is still small but is working her way to adulthood. As the first part of the story progresses we learn another quality which makes Scout immature; the fact that she can’t control her anger. For example when Scout beat up her cousin, this shows she needs to accept something’s and let them go because if she keeps getting angry she is going to go on a rampage because in those days bigotry existed and she has to get use to it.. Scout makes very little progress in the first part of â€Å"To Kill a Mockingbird† but that doesn’t mean she isn’t determined. To fit in and feel as old as achievable is one of her true goals so she does as much as she can do to fit in and act as old as possible. One thing she does that is mature is she tries her b... ...but in the beginning she made childish accusations. As the story progressed she was shown the true colors of people and understands how life is in Maycomb County, Alabama. Near the end she makes better decisions and the ideas that come to her mind make her seem more mature. After Tom Robinson gets shot Scout matures into a woman mentally and the court trial was the route that showed her the people and there prejudice decisions from a girl to a man. In â€Å"To Kill a Mockingbird† Harper Lee says that in life we encounter many situations that affect us deeply but from the mistakes of others we learn valuable lessons. Scouts maturation from a young girl to a young woman is a slow alternation she made as she went through the tunnel and showed how she matured. People far prefer belonging than wisdom, but that is like wanting to be immortal without getting older.

Haruki Murakami’s Short Stories Essay

Haruki Murakami pens many a short story about a disenchanted character walking through life without much of a reason to be there. His protagonists share a sense of isolation from the other characters; their siblings, significant others, parents and coworkers all fail to get through to them in their different quests to find answers to life’s most important questions. Example: why did a strange man appear at the foot of my bed and lead to my eventual inability to get a good night’s sleep? The literal isolation of the characters from meaningful relationships creates an overarching sense of isolation in the mood of the stories, making the reader too feel as though no one understands them. The protagonists of each of Murakami’s stories share a sense of loneliness and disconnect with the people around them. In â€Å"Sleep,† the protagonist is a woman who has inexplicably lost her ability to sleep. This leads to her discovery of her disinterest in her life. The mundane aspects of her marriage, her relationship with her son, her duties in her everyday life, all become suddenly and horribly apparent to her. However, she does not feel propelled to tell her aforementioned husband or son about her problems with sleep. â€Å"Neither my husband nor my son has noticed that I’m not sleeping. And I haven’t mentioned it to them. I don’t want to be told to see a doctor. I know it wouldn’t do any good. I just know. Like before. This is something I have to deal with myself. So they don’t suspect a thing.† This inability to share experiences with family members illustrates the general attitude Murakami creates within his stories. Obsession with things separate from the self is very apparent in Murakami’s work. â€Å"The Kidney Shaped Stone that Moves Everyday† is a short story in which the protagonist himself is a short story author. Junpei’s own life experiences, in particular his father’s advice that only three women in a man’s life have real meaning to him, informs a story Junpei himself writes, about a doctor who finds a stone that eventually overtakes her life: â€Å"She is engaged in hurried coupling with her lover one evening in an anonymous hotel room when she stealthily reaches around to his back and feels for the shape of a kidney. She knows that her kidney-shaped stone is lurking in there. The kidney is a secret informer that she herself has buried in her lover’s body†¦ The lady doctor grows gradually more used to the existence of the heavy, kidney-shaped stone that shifts position every night. She comes to accept it as natural. She is no longer surprised when she finds that it has moved during the night†¦ After a while, it becomes increasingly difficult for her to take her eyes off the stone, as if she has been hypnotized. She gradually loses interest in anything else.† These excerpts from the story illustrate Junpei’s inability to rid himself of the advice given to him from his father, and in a way illustrate a person’s inability to let things go, how small things like stones grow to large sizes inside of us, and when we try to cast them away, it is not always easy to rid ourselves of them. â€Å"Having cast away the stone, she feels a new sense of lightness. The next day, however, when she goes to the hospital, the stone is on her desk, waiting for her.† This metaphor is a two-layer cake (excuse the metaphor to explain a metaphor!) in which the top layer is, of course, Junpei’s inability to let go of his father’s possibly misguided advice, and the bottom layer is our culture’s inability to unplug the phones, and get off the internet. Social networking digs inside of humanity to create a deep addiction that cannot simply be cast away. Nearly all of Murakami’s stories use a sort of emptiness in the life of his characters to show the effects of the narcissism of the modern age on people and their loss of faith, disconnection from family and friends and the general sense of loneliness. The isolation in Murakami’s work is an elegant metaphor for the isolation social networking creates in modern day society. The hilarious juxtaposition between being just the touch of a button away from someone, whilst being incredibly far away from them at the same time, is shown in Murakami’s character’s inability to truly connect with his or her families. This loneliness and disconnect is created by showing a deep-set misunderstanding between the characters and those around them. In â€Å"Sleep† the protagonist feels unable to share her problems with her family partly because of the fact that previously, people did not notice her going through major turmoil, â€Å"I lost fifteen pounds that month, and no one noticed. No one in my family, not one of my friends or classmates, realized that I was going through life asleep.† She believes that her family truly will not notice, or understand her predicament. She does not want to go to a doctor, because she believes her problem to be something she must go through alone. While this belief that she should not see a doctor could arguably be seen as misguided, it stems from the sense of isolation she already feels from the world. In a certain way this character is invisible to her family. They see her everyday, they quietly appreciate the meals she prepares for them, how she keeps the house for them, but they do not understand the deeper aspects of her personality, or so she feels. The protagonists in Murakami’s stories often feel as though no one in their lives truly knows them, or understands the way that they are feeling. The elegant metaphors in Murakami’s stories hit readers where we least like to be hit. They outline the aspects of our culture’s narcissistic obsessions with the self. Self help books, carefully, obsessively groomed profile pages, meticulously managed comments, and continuously growing corporations all geared towards making a better ‘you.’ For this essay I specifically addressed two of Murakami’s stories, â€Å"Sleep† and â€Å"The Kidney Shaped Stone that Moves Everyday.† These two stories exemplify the aspects of isolation in Murakami’s work, and how that isolation bakes the double layer cake, with the top layer the general goings on in the stories, and the bottom layer the overarching themes of narcissism, and cultural collapse. Pessimistic viewpoint and objectifying attitude towards women aside, Murakami weaves a tight tapestry that is certainly beautiful to look at.

Job Evaluation at Whole Foods Market Essay

Introduction The goal of any company is to attract and retain employees who share their core values. Whole Foods Core Values include selling the highest quality natural and organic products, satisfying and delighting customers, supporting their Team Members (Whole Food Employees) happiness and growth, creating wealth through profits and growth, caring about the communities and our environment, creating win-win partnerships with their suppliers and promoting the health of their stakeholders through healthy eating education. I will take these core values and apply them to the job analysis and prepared job descriptions when determining the job structure at Whole Foods. Evaluation of Jobs and Job Structure In looking at the job descriptions provided in the case study, I was able to assign job titles in the following manner: Job A- Prepared Foods Team Member Job B- Customer Service Team Member Job C- Prepared Foods Department Team Leader Job D- Prepared Foods Supervisor Job E- Dishwasher Job F-Customer Service Front End Supervisor Job G- Prepared Foods Associate Team Leader Job H- Associate Store Team Leader Job I-Grocery Retail Team Member The job structure that I came up with put the above jobs into two categories: Managerial and Store Support. In the Managerial structure I would place Job C, Job D, Job F, Job G and Job H. In the Store Support I would place Job A, Job B, Job E, and Job I. Process, Techniques and Factors The Job evaluation technique I used in my case study is the job ranking method. My reason for choosing this technique was simple. While looking at the Whole Foods website and their career paths page, the job opportunities  in each store appeared to be hierarchal in nature. While Whole Foods itself is quite a large corporation, per the information on the company website; there are less than thirty different job classifications. While this is the simplest method of job evaluation, Whole Foods themselves have placed the jobs in order, ranging from the highest, Store Team Leaders, Facility Team Leaders, Regional Presidents, and Presidents at the top and Team Members or Specialized Team Members at the lowest or entry level. The compensable factors that I used in determining these job rankings based on the job descriptions provided: job responsibility, skill, knowledge and ability. While Whole Foods does have various departments in their stores, with distinct job requirements, these types of jobs can be grouped into one classification and put into a predetermined grade. My meaning with this is that a Team Member in Bakery has the basic skills and knowledge as a Team Member in Meat. The respsonabilities may be different, bakery versus meat, but at Whole Foods the responsibilities and qualifications are the same. Excellent customer service and maintaining the departments that they are working are a few that come to mind. As Whole Foods is a team focused working environment, placing more value on one job versus another goes against their core values. Of course there will be different pay scales based on the person’s position in the hierarchy; it is not something that makes one person more important than another. Per their own company website, â€Å"Whole Foods seek individuals who believe in their mission of Whole Foods, Whole Foods, Whole People, Whole Planet-people who are enthusiastic about food and our products, and who want to join a culture of shared fate† (Whole FoodsMarket.com). Therefore, individuals who work for Whole Food realize they are valued and with the training and development programs that are offered, a person can promote to a higher level with the experience, knowledge and skills they have obtained in their positions. Evaluation of Job Descriptions The job descriptions in this case study could use more structure. I found it very difficult to decipher some of the information within the job description. Even after going to the WholeFoodsMarket.com website to compare, I had difficulty giving a job title to some of the descriptions. While the job descriptions themselves did have most of the information  needed to help a person place a job title with the description, they could have been better written. These job descriptions did not give a very general position overview which would have been helpful. For example, for Job A, the position overview could have listed some of the tasks the job has. The following is taken from the Prepared Foods Team Member position description under the position overview: â€Å"Performs in the Prepared Food Department all of the following tasks: preparation, counter service, sanitation and stocking of products. Maintains a positive company image by providing courteous, friendly, and efficient Custome r Service. Supports team leader and regional coordinator in training and maintaining regional standards†. (WholeFoodsMarket.com) Instead of listing all of the job duties under â€Å"Kind of Work†, listing them out in a responsibilities section would have made it much easier for the reader. The requirements sections were sufficient. Listing out the reporting structure for each position also would have been helpful. All the information that was listed in the job descriptions I used to compare to the actual job descriptions on the Whole Foods Market website; it was just a difficult process without a better layout. The knowledge, skills and abilities needed for each job should have been listed in its own section for a proper job description. Having had these, it would have been a much smoother process in assigning job titles. Conclusion As this is my first attempt at assigning job titles and job structure, I found it to be a difficult process. When you do not have the best job descriptions available to you, or the opportunity to job shadow a person in the position, the realization that a lot of work needs to be done on the front end. It starts by collecting and summarizing all the job information for each position at a company. By having all the possible information needed to complete a proper job description, a compensation specialist can properly determine the value of the job, assess the relative value of the job and place it in a job structure that is clear and concise to all stakeholders. (Milovic, Newman and Gearhart) This case study showed me what happens when things are not done properly in the beginning. References http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/. Whole Foods Market http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/values/corevalues.php. Whole Foods Market core values http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/careers/index.php. Whole Foods Marker careers Milkovich, Newman and Gerhart. Compensation, 10th Edition

An Introduction to the French Language and Linguistics

An Introduction to the French Language and Linguistics A good place to begin if youre considering learning any language is to learn about where the language came from and how it functions within linguistics. If youre thinking about learning French before your next visit to Paris, this quick guide will get you started on discovering where French came from. The Language of Love French belongs to a group of languages identified as a Romance language, although thats not why its called the language of love. In linguistic terms, Romance and Romanic have nothing to do with love; they come from the word Roman and simply mean from Latin. Other terms sometimes used for these languages are Romanic, Latin, or Neo-Latin languages. These languages evolved from Vulgar Latin between the sixth and ninth centuries. Some other very common Romance languages include Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and Romanian. Other Romance languages include Catalan, Moldavian, Rhaeto-Romanic, Sardinian and Provenà §al. Because of their shared roots in Latin, these languages can have many words that are similar to each other.   Places French Is Spoken Romance languages originally evolved in Western Europe, but colonialism spread some of them all over the world. As a result,  French is spoken  in many regions other than just France. For example, French is spoken in the Maghreb, through Central and West Africa, and in Madagascar and Mauritius. Its the official language in 29 countries, but the majority of the francophone population is in Europe, followed by sub-Saharan Africa, North Africa, the Middle East and the Americas, with about 1% being spoken in Asia and Oceania.   Even though French is a Romance language, which you now know means that it is based on Latin, French has a number of characteristics that set it apart from the other members of its linguistic family. The development of French  and basic  French linguistics  go back to Frenchs evolution from Gallo-Romance which was the spoken Latin in Gaul and even more specifically, in Northern Gaul.   Reasons to Learn to Speak French Aside from becoming fluent in the worlds recognized language of love, French has long been an international language for diplomacy, literature and commerce, and has played a significant role in the arts and sciences as well. French is a recommended language to know for business as well. Learning French can allow communication  for various business and leisure travel opportunities across the world.

Immigration Healthcare essays

Immigration Healthcare essays As many as 830,000 non-citizen immigrants are residents of California. Nearly one in five non-citizens, under the age of 65 in California, is covered by Medi-Cal. Medi-Cal is an essential source of healthcare insurance for millions of low-income, elderly, and disabled residents of California. Despite its anti-immigrant reputation, California has been among the most generous of the 50 states in providing public aid to needy non-citizens who lost benefits in the 1996 federal welfare overhaul. Under current law, legal immigrants are eligible for Medi-Cal if they meet income and other requirements established by the state. Illegal immigrants may obtain Medi-Cal only for emergency medical services and for prenatal care. California, home to about one-third of the nations immigrants, passed ballot initiatives in this decade targeting illegal immigrants, health care, affirmative action, and bilingual education. Last year taxpayers spent more than one-hundred million dollars in aid and benefits for immigrants. Governor Gray Davis, in one of several early attempts to reverse his republican predecessors policies, wants the state to spend $60 million on prenatal care for poor pregnant women who are illegal immigrants, money that former Governor Pete Wilson repeatedly fought to cut from Californias bugdet. It is estimated that for every dollar the state spends on health care for pregnant women, it saves $3.00 in health care costs for infants who otherwise would be born with preventable maladies. The loss of this health coverage would primarily affect children and women by cutting access to essential health services such as prenatal care and emergency rooms. This would then result in higher medical costs (increased cost to taxpayers) due to people delaying to seek medical attention and unnecessary hospitalization ...